A/N: New chapter, yay! I own nothing recognizable as Twilight, obviously. This one is very short, but I wanted to finish the New Moon part and get the next it uploaded. Eclipse begins next chapter and a few things will be very different from canon. Enjoy!

Forks, Washington

"This affects all of you now." Bella had found a moment of steel somewhere and Vince couldn't say she was wrong. "We're putting it to a vote, who agrees I should become a vampire?" Esme looked down at her hands with a wobbly smile and Carlisle shifted in his chair.

"Bella, you must think this through, it's not a choice you can reverse if you change your mind later."

"I won't change my mind." Her arms folded across her chest. "I want this, Carlisle, you know I do. One lifetime with Edward isn't enough, and we all know what he'll do when I inevitably die."

"Bella, love –"

"Shut up, Edward, this is my choice, not yours. We're all in danger if I don't become a vampire and soon." She flung a hand in the direction of Italy, narrowly missing a vase perched on the shelf behind her. "You saw what she can do! Demetri may not be able to find me, but he can find any of you. And where he is, Courtney will always be right beside him. Which means none of us stand a chance of escaping."

"Alice will see her intentions," Jasper insisted, only to be shushed by his mate.

"That much is true," his sister replied slowly. "But as for who would win that fight?" Alice retreated into herself for a moment, then shook her head. "It's too close, we're too similar, I can't say what would happen. Sometimes I win, sometimes Courtney wins. There's no telling how it would fall in the end."

"But you do see her beaten," Emmett pressed. "It is possible."

"The actual count is something like five out of a hundred," Alice said softly. "And every time Demetri killed me a split second later." Silence followed her pronouncement and Bella huffed, arms folded across her chest.

"And what if you add me?"

"With Bella as a vampire, the fight doesn't happen."

"See?"

"Doesn't happen yet," Alice clarified. "I see something, far away, that might happen, but it's just shadows right now, so many things could affect the outcome that it may not happen at all and parts of it just disappear when I try to visualize it."

"If we have to fight either way, we might as well add Bella," Emmett reasoned. Rosalie glared at him before speaking.

"It's not that I don't want another sister, I just don't want to see you give up on life before it's even really begun. Yes, I have Emmett, but there are some things I will never have and it's not what I would have chosen. I wish someone had been there to vote no for me." His sister stood up and left the room without another word. Esme sighed and Carlisle took her hand.

"Of course we want you to join the family, Bella, I just want you to be entirely sure this is what you want."

"It is."

"Carlisle!" Vince rolled his eyes at Edward's outburst.

"What do you expect us to do? You don't want to live without her and unless she becomes a vampire, she will die someday. There are only two options in front of us, Edward, and we must make the choice sooner rather than later."

"We could –"

"No. We are not doing this again, Edward. Bella either becomes a vampire, or we all leave Forks and never interfere in her life again. Considering how well that option didn't work, I see only one choice."

"We vote yes," Alice said into the sudden silence.

"So do I," Vince added. "What are you afraid of Ed – that she'll change her mind about you afterwards?" He scoffed. "She wouldn't have chased your sorry hide to Italy if all she wanted was to sparkle her way through eternity." Emmett snorted. "I should have just changed her myself before now. Had you listened to me when James was after her, we might not be sitting here discussing this."

"Well?" The steel was still present when she folded her arms again and practically glared at Edward. His brother scraped a hand over his face.

"I'm afraid you'll grow to hate me."

"Never."

"You will," he insisted. "Once a hundred years have passed, all your family and friends are dead, and the novelty has worn off. Once you realize you can't die, you can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't do anything except exist, day in and day out forever."

"You are not a novelty," she hissed. "If vampires didn't exist, we'd have never met, but they do and we did. We are meant to be together, Edward, so you'd better get used to it, because you are going to be stuck with me forever." Vince wanted to applaud; textbook intimidation tactics there. Her voice never rose above normal, she didn't cry or scream … it was perfect.

"I don't know about you, Ed, but if it were me, I'd say 'yes, Bella,' and move on."