MY HAPPY ENDING

I COULDN'T REMEMBER WHEN THE dreams had first started, only that I looked forward to them now. They were soundless, but I watched his mouth move. I watched his lips curve into that now familiar, mischievous smile. His dark eyes bore at me, warm and full of promise. Promise that reflected in the gleaming silver band on his ring finger.

But he was older. His hair was lush and full and white as snow, flowing back behind his head down to his ears like a romance novel character. His pale skin, nearly every inch visible covered in tattoos, hung wrinkled like over ripe fruit. He was skinnier, frailer. He sat beside me on a porch in some dreams, and somewhere nice and indoors in others. There was always sun. Too much sun, it beamed and washed over us like some ethereal filter. There was always some kind of water, a lake, a beachfront. And there were always children. Faceless teenagers, adults, toddlers. It depended on how old we were in the dream. Like I was flicking through a reel of potential futures on a ViewMaster toy.

I began to have these dreams so often I was convinced they were premonitions.

But the shrill ringing always stole me away into reality. I was starting to really hate my alarm clock. My body jerked too hard to the sound, as if I had some form of PTSD. The little calendar in the corner of the clock's display informed me that today was September thirteenth.

They were only dreams, but at the very least I was getting closer to making them a reality. Today was my birthday. Our birthday. Bella and I were officially eighteen years old.

It was going to be a big year.

All through the perfect summer — the happiest summer I had ever had, the happiest summer anyone anywhere had ever had, and the rainiest summer in the history of the Olympic Peninsula — the red X's on my wall calendar started building in numbers. I didn't feel any older, but that didn't matter. Eighteen meant a lot of things.

Eighteen meant Charlie couldn't enforce his curfew anymore, because I was a legal adult. He could try to argue that as long as I lived under his roof I had to follow his rules, but we both knew I'd leap at the chance to move out and in with Adam. And I could, now. Because Eighteen meant I could live legally by myself. Eighteen meant we could go on road trips together and stay at book motel rooms without using my fake ID. Eighteen meant I could vote. Eighteen meant I could get my first tattoo and Charlie would never have to find out. I could not be more excited for Eighteen.

Adam had graduated from high school but he was waiting for me before we'd both go to Washington State together. Since the summer, he was working at the Forks Forest Ranger's Department and still keeping his weekend shifts at the grocery store to save up for college. The two jobs kept him swamped, and still somehow he found time to fix up the old cabin his brother had left him to move to LA. I spent most of my summer working on the cabin with him. The plan was to build a life together. To build a home. A family.

The Camaro sat parked on the opposite side of the road from our house. It had rained the night before, so the droplets remained all over the shiny paint job. I'd given it a full superficial makeover for Adam's birthday in April. The Rust Bucket was no more, fully transformed into the beautiful "Wex-Machine", as the boys had dubbed it. It was as black as night with thick white double racing stripes along the hood. Thin white lines along the front and back fenders, the chrome work absolutely gleaming. I'd spent a good chunk of my car fund on it. And now, I got to drive it more than Adam, waking up a half hour earlier than even Charlie just to drive across town to pick up my boyfriend and drive him to work before school. It might have seemed like a ridiculous thing to do every single morning, but if I could avoid driving with my sister I would.

There had been a time when I would be creeping into her bedroom minutes before midnight, attacking her as the clock struck twelve just so I could be the first to wish her on our joint birthday. Those days had passed. Over the course of the summer, she had made it abundantly clear how much she dreaded the start of our eighteenth shared year on this earth. She held no remorse for her choice. She had asked Edward to turn her on the night of Prom, and when he refused, she had threatened to have Alice do it.

I still hadn't forgiven her. For the first time ever, we were hardly on speaking terms. It upset me that, while I had indeed begun to ignore her first, Bella's reaction was to avoid me and give me space. As if she had accepted that she had chosen to leave my life, and she was fine with the loss of me, her own twin. We behaved at home, for Charlie's sake — but everyone at school had seen the change happen long before summer. If she was determined to leave me, fine, then I would leave her first. I would move on.

The bitterness swelled in me for a moment, as I slammed the car door shut on the driver's side and cranked the key in the ignition. The restored engine thrummed to life, the sound system booming with it. We'd been listening to Adam's new Fall Out Boy CD. I turned down the volume, skipping back to the start of A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me. It was a good way to stay awake and try not to think of my sister.

At least Rosalie understood. Our time was limited, but we would enjoy it while it lasted. She would leave me one day, and accept my wish to live my human life without the interference of vampires. It was safer this way. I had to think of my family. Of Charlie, and Renée. Even Phil. That incident in Phoenix would be the last time I would risk their lives.

Adam was already coming out of his front door when I pulled up, pulling the ugly green baseball cap lower over his head. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the Mora Ranger Station down by La Push, and fifteen minutes back to get to school. I was still getting used to making this trip, and I was still getting used to seeing Adam in a uniform. Any uniform. Adam wasn't great with The Great Outdoors, but it paid better than the grocery store. "Hi baby, happy birthday."

"Hi." I smile as he greets me in the car, leaning over the center console to kiss me long and tender. "Mmmm, toothpaste and cereal milk, happy birthday to me."

He broke away with a snort at my sarcasm. "You're getting your present tonight."

My smile dropped at once, and he laughed. "Come on babe, you gotta learn to be patient."

"Says the guy who literally couldn't wait for the weekend to watch Batman Begins, no, we had to go for the midnight premiere during finals." I complain right back.

"You did the same thing for that stupid Star War—"

"Do not call Revenge of the Sith stupid. Do not. No. My birthday." I remind him, pulling the car out of neutral.

Today didn't really feel any different on the drive to La Push. The excitement lingered, as I thought of our romantic dinner plans tonight at the cabin. Adam said he was going to make me dinner, but considering the kitchen was just a tiny wood burner stove and I had never seen Adam cook I figured he meant he was going to buy us dinner. I was still thrilled. This was already the most romantic thing he had ever done for me. But while I couldn't keep from grinning for long, I could see he was upset about something. And I knew exactly what it was. "Still no word from Paul?"

He sighed, shaking his head and looking out the window. Paul Lahote was Adam's drummer and, though they fought often, one of his closest friends. Then a couple of weeks ago, out of nowhere, Paul had stopped showing up for their band rehearsals. He hadn't picked up anyone's calls, either. For a whole week, we were convinced he'd gone missing... only for his mother to call Adam and insist he not bother her son anymore. Paul hadn't even had the balls to end their friendship in person. "Saw him in the woods the other day with his new buddies I guess. They all have their hair cut, did you know? I thought long hair was like a Native thing, like a culture thing."

"I don't really know." I admit with a shrug, hearing the sadness in his voice. I glance over to check in more than once while I drive, but he's still gloomy, staring straight out at nothing. "You're really torn up about this, huh?"

"I don't know." Adam lifted his cap up to run a hand over his short hair. "I just...Ed and Toby are great, don't get me wrong, but they're kinda idiots. And they're way closer with each other than they are with me. Paul was my guy, you know? Like we did dumb shit together."

"The McCartney to your Lennon." I joke.

"As if, I'm totally McCartney. Are you kidding? Look at me." He scoffs, and I laugh. "I mean, I guess Paul's not dead like Lennon. Maybe this is just a phase, you know?"

"People grow apart after high school. That's okay." I try to comfort him. "I mean, he was a total jackass about it, but you can't blame him for branching out, you know? We don't know the whole story."

"When'd you get so understanding?" He fixed me a quizzical look.

"Well I'm a legal adult now." I smirk, pushing my shoulders back and perking up. "At least one of us has gotta act like one."

"Yeah, sure." He laughs.

I was back to singing in the car by myself as I drove to school. My mind kept running over the schedule for the day. I'd get home after a few hours at work and do the regular long routine, shaving my whole body, doing my English homework, fixing a small leak in Bella's truck. Charlie would come home before Adam got there, long enough for him to wish me happy birthday and give me my presents. I'd have to somehow force him into a picture to add to the collection on the wall. I wondered how I would get Bella to cooperate with that one. Maybe guilt her into it, that it would be the last one with her in it for Charlie to see for the rest of his life.

No, stop thinking about it. Not today. I sang along to the radio as I turned the corner into the familiar parking lot behind Forks High School, only to see a sight I don't expect. Rosalie Hale stood leaning motionlessly against her polished, blood red classic Mercedes, putting any master sculpture of a Young Aphrodite to shame. I would never grow immune to seeing my best friend. Her lips stretched into a soft, relieved smile reserved only ever for me. Her brother Emmett was standing at her side, waiting for me, too.

Of course, Rosalie and Emmett weren't really related (in Forms the story was that all the Cullen siblings were adopted by Dr. Carlisle Cullen and his wife, Esme, both plainly too young to have teenage children), but their skin was precisely the same pale shade, their eyes had the same strange golden tint, with the same deep, bruise-like shadows beneath them. His face, like hers, was also strikingly beautiful. To someone in the know — someone like me — these similarities marked them for what they were.

I was a little concerned at the sight of the pair. For one thing, they shouldn't be here. They had graduated with Adam, though unlike him, had begun their first semester at Washington State. They were supposed to be eight hours away from me, in some boring lecture hall. But this was not the only reason I was concerned.

I loved presents. Gifts and surprises, I lived for them. I saved every scrap of wrapping paper and every twirl of ribbon, and had kept shoeboxes with birthday cards for as long as I could remember. They didn't have to be expensive gifts; like the generous concert tickets Jess had gotten for us both last week to go see The Killers in Seattle in October — but it was the physical reminder of the people who cared about me that mattered. A token of their love, that I had hoped I had earned. But the open truck full of multi-colored, shimmering gifts was perhaps overkill. Emmett carried two bulging presents beneath his massive, muscular arms. People were staring.

And Jess was one of them, already waiting for me when I parked next to her old Mercury. "Oh... my God." I climbed out to greet her, hearing a few early 'Happy Birthday Gracie!'s as people passed us by. She almost sounded disappointed when she spoke next. "What the hell did they do? Raid Santa Claus?"

"Don't." I could already feel my cheeks burning as she pulled me into a hug.

"Happy birthday!" She lit up, leaning up on her tiptoes to let me cuddle into her. "I can't believe — okay no, go, go, go before they come over here. I'll see you in class."

"Thank you." I laugh lightly, pulling away from her with a grin. "And thanks again for the tickets, I can't wait."

Emmett strode forward to meet me, his big wide dimpled grin stretched all the way across his face. According to Rosalie, we shared the same childish smile. "Happy birthday kid!"

He sets the presents down on the gravel in a dip that should have been too fluid and quick for his large build, picking me up and spinning me around in the air like a dancer before I'm buried in a bear hug. I know he's being careful. If Emmett had ever given me a real bear hug, I'd be smushed into a paste. "Em, put her down, you're causing a scene."

"Oh, you didn't think this was already a scene?" I counter Rosalie's sarcasm as he puts me down back on solid ground. She's incorrigible, grinning proudly at me. At least I was more immune to that now. "What the hell is this?"

"Eighteen presents, for every year we've missed and the year that has just started." Rosalie answers triumphantly.

"Eighteen each." Emmett corrects. My mind was whirling with the quick math, horrified. "Some of them are tiny, don't worry. I know you're gonna like mine more."

"Please." Rosalie scoffs as I get closer to her, pulling me in for a very brief embrace. This, I was still getting used to. The Cullens were growing more and more desensitized to my blood as the months wore on. It was nice, because I didn't have to think so much about boundaries, about what would be crossing the line — it also made it easier to forget what they were. I still waited for them to make the first move, just in case. "Hi doll, don't you look heaven-sent?"

"You like?" I grin, pleased that she approved. It was my birthday. Of course I'd pulled out all the stops. "Wait 'til you see what I bought for Adam tonight."

"He'll be late." Rosalie informs me, and my smile falters. "Not too much, half an hour. So you shouldn't leave until seven thirty at the latest."

"Sometimes I think I'm cheating using Alice." I sigh.

"Welcome to my world." Emmett jokes, holding the larger of his two presents out. "Me first."

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my excitement. "Em you're a literal child. There's no way I'm getting through all of these before first period."

"No, but we have all of lunch. The weather will be nice." Nice meant miserable and overcast, but not raining. "We got permission from Mrs Cope to come visit you then, because it's your birthday. We can sit outside and you can eat and get through all your gifts."

"This could've waited until after school." I still protest, even if I'm thrilled to be able to spend the extra hour with them. I would be joining them at college next year with Adam, but for now, I missed them. Even if they were around impossibly more than they should be with their schedules and assignments. "I'm not picking Adam up until tonight. I'm all yours 'til then."

"You're all mine regardless." Rosalie's amused, watching me finally take off the last piece of tape with meticulous precision. I was happy with myself that I hadn't ripped the paper, though I suspected they had wrapped it in a way that would be easy for me and my ritual. There were few surprises when Alice Cullen was in your life.

"I— oh, Emmett." I can't help my little laugh. It was such a unique gift. Of course he would think of it for me. I was probably the only girl in town who would want an orbital sander as a birthday present, well, the only human girl anyway. My eyes flick to Rosalie, who was still openly happy, perhaps the longest she had been in public with Emmett's arms slung over her shoulder.

"Figured you'd appreciate expanding your tool collection a little. Don't worry, they're not all paint kits and orbital sanders."

"I kinda wish they were." I confess, sheepish, and they both share chuckles.

"My turn."

Rosalie stepped out from under Emmett's arm, liquid eyes boring into me. I set the orbital sander down on the pile of gifts in her trunk, waiting. "Close your eyes."

I raise an eyebrow, nose scrunched, but she raises one back while her smile grew. I sigh, reluctantly fluttering them shut. I barely felt it, something delicate clasping behind my neck, the tiniest brush of her ice cold fingertips against my neck. There was no weight. I couldn't feel a pendant. I reached up anyway, my fingertips discovering a fine, thin locket against my collarbone. It was smooth and small and flat, a disc the size of a dime. There was no clasp, just a ridge around the seam that would open upward. I opened my eyes and smiled at the thoughtful gift. She had it engraved in the back, a tiny set of neat letters. G.H.S.

"The pictures will have to be small." She warns me, but I'm still smiling, chin all the way back so I could see the cute little necklace. "I thought you could use a family heirloom to pass down."

"I love it. Thank you Rose." I insist to her. "It's perfect."

"We're driving you home after school." Emmett slipped back in, reminding me there was a world beyond Rosalie then.

"Home?" I question, wondering if he meant mine or theirs. He grinned. "I have work."

"You don't." Rosalie dismissed easily, and I raised a brow. "We went to Dowling's first. Everyone says 'Happy Birthday'."

I went to grin, but I stopped myself for short. "It's for her too, isn't it?"

I didn't really need to wait. Rosalie never disappointed when Bella was brought up. The glower was instantaneous, lips lifted into the faintest starts of a snarl. If I did my best to distance myself from my sister, Rosalie did her best to hate her with the passion of ten burning suns. "Unfortunately."

"I don't mind." I sigh, trying to be the bigger person. "It's our birthday. It'd be weird to spend all of it apart."

"She won't get there until seven." Emmett explained. "We'll be taking you home by then, to get ready for Adam. It gives Rose an excuse to escape without spending a lot of time with her, but I don't get why you guys can't get over it just for a night. I mean it's a party.We're supposed to have fun!"

"She is the last thing I think of when I think of the word 'fun'." Rose sneers. "Come on, I'll walk you to your first class."

"I really don't need the escort—"

"It's your birthday. You don't get to choose."

"I think that's the exact opposite of how birthdays work, Rose." I frown as she steers me away. Over my shoulder, I see Emmett return his second present to the trunk, pushing it shut extremely delicately. Rosalie would tear him to shreds if he slammed anything on her car. "Why can't you just come pick me up after school if we're spending the whole day together?"

"Because time is precious." That shuts me up. "I'm already spending days away from you, you won't steal your special day from me too, will you?"

"You just don't want to end up on decorating duty with Alice." I squint with suspicion.

"No, that's why Emmett came." She chuckles. "But it's certainly a bonus."

My morning was filled with birthday wishes, and a lovely undercurrent of celebration that seemed to buzz through everybody. Back in Phoenix, having a birthday during the school year meant your friends would remember to do something but everyone else would never even notice. Here, in small town Forks, everyone knew. And only Bella suffered for it.

Emmett and Rosalie were waiting outside for me at lunch, just like they promised. It felt a lot like Christmas, only better than any Christmas I had ever had growing up on a kindergarten teacher and small town cop's pay. I took comfort in the fact none of the gifts were over-expensive, and Emmett and Rosalie with their immortal savings would not miss the money much. It was clear the gift-giving was more a present to them than it was to me. They watched my reactions carefully, even for things as small and ridiculous as a Washington State keychain.

The afternoon passed quickly. School ended, and the Camaro had disappeared when I came outside. Emmett had taken the keys from me, insisted on driving it back to my father's house and refueling the low tank. Across the lot, I could see Edward helping Bella into her truck. That didn't matter. Rosalie was waiting for me right by the stairs, leaning against her car with a smile to greet me. People were staring, because even after all these months it was just as impossible for everyone else as it was for me. But the impossibility grew as she pulled the driver's side door open wide with some air of theatricality. My heart dropped to my feet. "You're letting me drive?"

"Another birthday gift." She supplies. "Next year, if you're good, I'll let you drive the RH33."

Ah, that was where my heart went. It was racing just as fast as her car now. "Oh, I don't know. I mean, you can drive, I'm a little zonked from trigonometry it's probably for the best if you just—"

"Get in the car, Gracie."

Often, there was little arguing with Rosalie Hale.

I drove slow, perhaps a little too slow because I could feel Rosalie's agitation grow with every minute. It was the single most terrifying drive of my life, and I didn't get to enjoy the power of the engine behind my steering wheel even for a moment. I was well aware Rosalie's cars were the single most important things in her life to her. They were her replacement children. She took tuning them and taking care of them to an extreme even I could not fathom. And now I, a teenager who technically did not even own her own car, was driving it.

I knew the drive to the Cullen house by now. I knew where to expect the sudden turn into the woods, where the private lane was perfectly concealed. "We're out of sight of humans now, don't you think you could afford to speed just a touch?"

"Do you want your pretty car wrapped around a tree?"

"You wouldn't. You're a better driver than that."

"I don't want today to be the day we find out." My concentrated mumble made her laugh at my side.

"Well you'd have more practice if you had your own car. I'm thinking a nice blue Corvette — classic, of course. You're not a fan of the newest editions." She tuts as she often does. I couldn't help my glance her way. No, things were much better built a few decades before.

"I'll buy my own car during college." If I could save up enough for that. I was working as many hours as I could as it was just to afford the first year's tuition. "And no, no Corvettes. Something cheap."

"Gracie I want to buy you nice things. Let me buy you nice things. It's really not all about spoiling you rotten, honest to God, it's an excuse for me to have another car to add to the collection. The others won't let me get another unless I get rid of one and I'm really not ready to let go of the 33 yet." We were pulling up to the house now. "I'm warning you now, I've been told to be on my best behavior tonight but I'll struggle."

"Apparently that means I have to be on my best behavior too." I sigh. There was a reason Rosalie and Emmett had gone across the state for college instead of waiting for their siblings and me. And that reason was named Isabella Swan. "Oh shit, I forgot her present at home."

I mean, I was mad at her. I wasn't a monster.

"Emmett's brought it, it's upstairs in my bedroom. I think Alice will have re-wrapped it by now." Rosalie's lips twitch with amusement, and I glower. I had spent hours on wrapping last night. "Try to ignore the little thing, she's on a roll. Everything has to be perfect for the darling Swans."

"I heard that." Alice was at the door suddenly, glaring pointedly at Rosalie. I couldn't really take anyone's glaring seriously anymore after half a year with Rosalie's death glares aimed regularly at anyone and everyone, including myself — but Alice's cute little face scrunched up into a squint had the same effect of a rattled kitten. "Hi, Gracie! Happy birthday!"

"Thank you—please don't tell me you got me eighteen presents too." I add on quickly as we hug and her twinkling laugh rings in my ear. Hugging Alice was a lot like hugging Jess, except I had to bend even lower. I wasn't exactly towering like Rosalie who had me beat by a solid two or three inches, but I was still lanky compared to tinkerbell. "Charlie misses you. He complained over dinner last night, I had to remind him it's only been three days. What have you done to my father?"

"What my sister's struggled to." Alice raises her chin with pride, Rosalie rolling her eyes a step behind me.

"I don't really care about the humans like you do."

"You care about Gracie, you should care about her father." Alice shut her down easily.

"Yeah Rose, care about my Dad." I can't help but tease her, and she scowls at me for ganging up on her just like I expect her to. I grin lazily, stepping in with Alice. Bright light shined from every window on the first two floors. A long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch eaves, reflecting a soft radiance on the huge cedars that surrounded the house even in the gloomy daylight. Big bowls of flowers — pink roses — lined the wide stairs up to the front doors. I spun around to appreciate it all, before turning for what would await me within the house with a wide grin.

They were all waiting in the huge white living room; when we walked through the door, they greeted me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Gracie!" while I grinned even wider, cheeks pink with delight. Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding two separate birthday cakes, one pink and one white, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and two separate piles of silver-wrapped presents.

It was a hundred times better than I'd imagined.

Rosalie's parents, Carlisle and Esme—impossibly youthful and lovely as ever—were the closest to the door. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as I bent down enough for her to kiss my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders.

"Happy birthday, Grace." He repeated. "We tried to rein Alice in."

"I wish you hadn't, I can't imagine it getting cooler than this." I laugh, well aware Alice could hear. She was beaming with delight.

Emmett stood behind them. "We have plans after you're done unwrapping presents."

"Shouldn't I wait for Bella?" I frown as I pull out of his quick embrace.

"No, she'll be too flustered if she sees how happy you are. It'll make her more miserable." Alice explains, and I'm a little annoyed that Bella could possibly not appreciate the lengths Alice had gone to. I'd tried to play nice here. "We'll deal with the happy twin first before we get to miss grumpy. Honestly, it's too soon to be worried over aging."

"She's upset she's a year older than Edward." I explain with a sigh, smiling and nodding at Jasper who smiled back, but kept his distance. He leaned, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. Of al the Cullens, I had always been the most distant with Jasper, and with good reason. After the day he saved my sister's life, he'd gone back to avoiding us as much as possible — the moment he was free from that temporary obligation to protect us. I knew it wasn't personal, just a precaution, and I was grateful for how far he kept himself. Of all the Cullens I was always wary of him. Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens' diet than the rest of them; the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others — he hadn't been trying as long.

"Well that's ridiculous, Edward's a hundred and four." Emmett snorted.

"Exac—wait, a hundred and four?" I balk, and they all exchange amused smiles. "Okay you know what, that explains a lot." He could be a little backward. A lot backward.

It was a fun party. The Cullens all had turns (except Jasper) with me, dancing together to all sorts of eras of music I'd never heard — I gathered the feeling this was the pre-party that they could not have with Bella, who hated parties and would certainly not dance.

Rosalie and I escape for a walk through the woods. This was always our favorite thing to do together, besides driving. It was easy to lose ourselves this way, to have nothing to focus on but walking and talking. She told me about the past few days at Washington State. About Emmett and how the Cougars had been trying to convince him to try out for football, and the frat and sororities that were after them both. I couldn't picture Rosalie in a sorority. I couldn't imagine her anywhere with pep and ditzy 'sisterhood', but then again my only experience with sororities had been high school movies. She wasn't Regina George, she was Hannibal Lecter.

We started making our way back when Alice called Rosalie's cellphone. It was time. We reached the house as the sun set, reluctant, taking turns getting changed in Rosalie's bedroom. I didn't question how they'd brought all my things over. I'd long given up having any sense of privacy around the Cullens, who didn't always understand what boundaries were when they were used to convenience above all else.

Like they had for me, we waited together in the living room for Bella, shouting out "Happy birthday, Bella!" as she came through. Bella blushed and looked down. She'd never done well with attention. She took a quick sweep of the room, and her face turned to one of horror, as if she'd come across a murder scene. Poor Alice. I hoped my reaction had been worth it at least.

Edward, sensing my sister's distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. He coddled her too much, I thought. Shielded her from anything that brought her out of her comfort zone. But I was grateful he shared the same feelings as Rosalie and I over Bella's desire to become like him. His eyes swept away from her to me, and after a little pause, a firm nod. He could not read my thoughts but he could see images just fine. I always wondered what he saw through my eyes.

Carlisle and Esme greeted Bella first. Emmett went next, his face stretched into a huge grin. Bella looked at him in wonder.

"You haven't changed at all." Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always."

His innocent observation made me snort, Rosalie's fingers drifting up to the small of my back in the barest of brushes. A warning.

"Thanks a lot, Emmett." Bella said, blushing deeper.

He laughed. "I have to step out for a second"—he paused to wink conspicuously at Alice, and I squinted with suspicion—"Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."

"I'll try."

I went next, sharing a look of warning with Rosalie. She was behaving perfectly well, her expression one of such utter disinterest it was as if she wasn't even present. The perfect cold shoulder I had gotten for over a month when we first moved to Forks. I didn't envy Bella for being on the receiving end of it for the past several months.

I held my arms open wide, smile weak — a truce. Bella blushed, smiling back and accepting my tight hug. We spoke at the same time, a rare twin moment. "Happy birthday."

I rub her back before letting her go, my eyes saying what I needed to. We were good, at least, for the moment. Her smile brightened, and I nodded awkwardly, moving back to my place beside Rose as Alice stepped in to take my place.

"Time to open presents." She declared, putting her cool hand under Bella's elbow and towing her to the table with the cakes and the shiny packages.

Bella turned toward me, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What about Gra—"

"Oh she's been here since school was over, come on, let's go." Alice was impatient, practically buzzing on her feet.

"I'm leaving soon, for Adam." I explain to my sister, who's expression turned to one of betrayal. She didn't want to go through her party alone. I smiled with amusement.

She put on her best martyr face. "Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything—"

"But I didn't listen." She interrupted, smug. "Open it." She took the camera from Bella's hands and replaced it with a big, square silver box.

Bella read the label first, seemingly surprised by the lightness of the box. I already knew what it was, Emmett couldn't keep it in. The gift was from him, Rosalie and Jasper. Seemingly self-conscious, Bella tore the paper off and then stared at the box it concealed. She didn't look like she had any idea what it was, opening the box quizzically. "Um... thanks."

I giggled. Rosalie smiled at the sound. Jasper laughed. "It's a stereo for your truck." He explained. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."

Alice was always one step ahead of her.

"Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie." Bella actually grinned. "Thanks, Emmett!" She called more loudly.

We could hear his booming laugh from outside, and Bella laughed, too.

"Open mine and Edward's next." Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand.

Bella turned to give Edward a basilisk glare. "You promised."

Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. "Just in time!" He crowed. He pushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look.

"I didn't spend a dime." Edward assured my sister. He brushed a hand of hair away from her face, eyes intense as ever as they stared into each other.

Bella inhaled deeply and turned to Alice. "Give it to me." She sighed.

I chuckled at how impossible she was being.

She took the little package, rolling her eyes at Edward while she stuck her finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape.

"Shoot." She muttered when the paper sliced her finger; she pulled it out to examine the damage. My eyes widened with horror, but Rosalie already had a stone arm wrapped rigid around my waist, holding me against her, helplessly trapped. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.

It all happened very quickly then.

"No!" Edward roared.

The world blurred. I was standing, dizzy, halfway up the staircase now, Rosalie's hard body in front of me, her arms locked back around me like a cage. I was pressed between her and the wall, protected, but it didn't stop me being able to see everything.

Edward threw himself at Bella, flinging her back across the table. It fell, as she did, scattering the cakes and the presents, the flowers and the plates. She had narrowly dodged the ribbon-decorated cake knife, but she still landed in the mess of shattered crystal. My reaction was abysmal— I forgot Rosalie was even there, jolting against her but it was like bumping against a solid brick wall. "Bella!"

Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide.

There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper's chest. Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward's face.

Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steep grip, but Jasper struggled on, his wild, empty eyes focused only on my twin.

Beyond the shock, there was utter terror. It ripped through me just like it had the first time I saw her, covered in blood, leg strapped to wood, pale as a ghost that awful day in Phoenix. I watched Bella, dazed and disoriented, as she looked up from the bright red blood pulsing heavily out of her arm from where the jagged shards of glass had imbedded themselves into her skin. Her eyes were horrified at last. She saw what I saw — the fevered eyes of six suddenly ravenous vampires.