Something was going. By the end of school, Bella could tell something wasn't right. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and even Emmett were acting differently…more guarded. They positioned themselves as close to Bella as possible without it looking strange to the other humans. Rosalie was always within arm's reach of Bella, whether it was in the locker room or in the gym. She was also more on edge, growling softly at any human that got near Bella.

By the end of the day Bella was losing her patience. "What is going on?" Bella demanded. She stopped in the middle of the parking lot, waiting for an answer. She knew she was being childish but in this moment she didn't care. She was tired of all the hovering and no one was telling her a thing.

Rosalie stopped and turned to Bella. "Alice had a vision," Rosalie said. "We now know there are three nomads working with Edward," she answered. "Come with me to the car please. We can talk there."

Bella followed Rosalie to the Jeep where Emmett was patiently waiting for them. "I don't understand," Bella said once they were in the Jeep. "You knew there were nomads. Why is it an issue now?"

"Alice's visions are starting to get clearer," Emmett answered this time. Rosalie glared at him but he ignored it. "You should talk to her about what she saw. But she has reasons to believe things are more dangerous for you. So, we're keeping a closer eye on you."

Bella frowned. "But the nomads are working with Edward," she muttered. Did Edward want her dead now? It wouldn't surprise her if he tried to kill her instead of keeping up the ridiculous idea that they were mated.

"Nomads are unpredictable," Rosalie said softly. "I'm sure they only agreed to work with Edward as long as it was beneficial to them. Once the tracker found a target… a hunt… there was no reason to continue the charade." Rosalie pulled Bella into her arms. "I'm so sorry Bella. We're doing everything we can, but I'm afraid, so afraid something will happen."

Bella kissed her lips. "I'm not going anywhere," Bella promised. "We'll be okay." For some reason, she truly believed. "We have Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Peter and Charlotte. I like the odds with a psychic, the strongest vampire and three expert fighters."

Emmett grinned at the thought of being the strongest vampire. He was pleased Bella thought so highly of him. His face immediately fell. Bella put so much faith in him. He didn't want to let her down. The thought was terrifying, especially considering that if he let Bella down… he let down Rosalie too.

"I'm glad you have so much faith in us Bella," Emmett started. Bella turned away from Rosalie to look at Emmett through the rearview mirror. "But don't underestimate these vampires. We may have the numbers and even the skill but it doesn't mean they're not strong."

Emmett carefully navigated through the school parking lot. "You're coming to the house for now," Rosalie told her. "I'll take you home later."

Bella nodded. She knew things were going to be…different, for lack of a better term. All the vampires were on red alert which meant even if she was safe, she wasn't safe. Alert vampires meant overprotective and annoying. "Can we go somewhere tonight? Just you and me?"

Rosalie studied her face. She wanted to say no. The more of the family around them, the better it was. Rosalie would die to protect Bella. But she was worried she wouldn't be successful. Still, she didn't want to deny her mate. She had a feeling there was something going on, perhaps something Bella wanted to talk about, and that's why she wanted to go somewhere just the two of them. As much as she hated the protection, she understood how serious the situation was.

"Okay," Rosalie agreed.

"Rose," Emmett warned low enough Bella couldn't hear. "That's a terrible idea and you know it."

"Quiet," Rosalie hissed at him. She turned her attention back to Bella. "I will have Alice and Charlotte stay close by, just in case."

Bella nodded in understanding. "Thank you," she said gratefully. There was something she wanted to talk to Rosalie about. Something that had been on her mind for a while. She wasn't sure how to say it…which is why she wanted time away from the family to do it. She knew Alice wouldn't make fun of her if she overheard. She didn't know much about Charlotte but she assumed she would also be nice about it.

"Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?" Rosalie questioned.

Bella shrugged. "I don't care," she said. "Maybe the beach? Obviously not La Push, but there are other beaches not too far away. Unless that's not safe."

"The beach sounds nice," Rosalie said. She was more confused now then she was before, but she would let Bella do this in her own time. Maybe she could get Alice to tell her what was going on.

Emmett pulled into the driveway and the three made their way into the house. Jasper and Alice were already home. Jasper was in a serious conversation with Peter and Charlotte. Esme and Carlisle were both home as well, which surprised Bella since Carlisle was usually at work.

"Alice told us about the nomads," Carlisle explained, seeing Bella's surprised face. "I called Sam and gave him an update. We agreed on an amendment of the treaty. The wolves will be allowed to patrol on our side of the treaty line. In return, Jasper will be allowed to patrol around La Push." Jasper nodded.

"Bella and I will be going to the beach tonight," Rosalie announced.

No one was surprised by the news so Alice must have told them. "Charlotte and I will be nearby. I don't see anything happening. But you should call Charlie, Bella."

Bella agreed. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and dialed Charlie's number. The others left the living room to give Bella some privacy, except Carlisle, who wanted to talk to Bella when she was finished. Rosalie led Bella to the couch so she could be comfortable while talking to Charlie.

"Chief Swan," Charlie answered.

"Hi Dad, it's me, Bella," Bella said awkwardly.

"Bella," Charlie exclaimed. "Whose number is this?"

"Um, it's Rosalie's phone," Bella lied.

"Okay," Charlie said slowly. Bella wasn't sure if Charlie believed her or not. "What did you need Bella?"

"I just wanted to let you know I was spending some time with Rosalie and the Cullens," Bella said.

"Oh, good. That's good. I'll be home around 7. I would like for you to be there. I haven't seen you in a while," Charlie said.

Bella glanced at Rosalie and Rosalie nodded. "Yeah, I'll be home Dad. I'll cook something extra special tonight," she promised.

"Great. Listen Bella, I have to go. I'll see you tonight," Charlie said.

"Bye Dad," Bella said before hanging up the phone.

As soon as the phone call ended, Carlisle stood and walked over to them. "Bella, I was hoping I could talk to you for a moment," Carlisle said.

Bella grabbed Rosalie's hand and squeezed it. "Okay," Bella agreed.

"Thank you," Carlisle said gratefully. "I realized that while I had apologized to Rosalie, I never apologized to you Bella. I am truly sorry for siding with Edward. I am deeply ashamed of my actions when I learned you two are mated. I was blinded by Edward and because of that you were hurt." Bella tightened her grip on Rosalie's hand. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I hope one day I may earn it." He turned his attention to Rosalie. "I know Edward's actions have signed his death warrant. I want you to know, if he does somehow make it out of this alive, he will be banished from the Cullen coven."

Rosalie was surprised. Not only did Carlisle admit Edward deserved to be killed for what he had done, but he had dismissed Edward from the coven. It was something Carlisle had never even threatened them with, no matter what they had done. "Thank you Carlisle," Rosalie said. While what he had done still hurt, in that moment, she forgave him.

Carlisle nodded. "I should have done it when you brought Bella here," he said sadly. "I hope someday to make it up to both of you." He stood. "I need to go to the hospital and check on a patient. Be safe tonight girls."

Carlisle left and the two mates were left alone.

Rosalie and Bella were still seated on the couch. And didn't appear to be in a hurry to move. "What do you think of Carlisle?" Rosalie questioned conversationally.

"I don't know," Bella admitted. "What he said… I liked that he admitted his faults and that he realizes Edward is a lost cause. But he hurt you… and I don't know if I can forgive that."

"Bella," Rosalie said shaking her head. "Don't worry about me and my feelings. We're vampires, we live forever. I will forgive him in the future, but whether it takes months or decades… I don't know. If you're comfortable forgiving him, then forgive him."

Bella nodded but she still wasn't sure if she forgave Carlisle. Perhaps she would give him a chance, like she gave Esme a second chance. "Okay," Bella agreed.

"Care to tell me what tonight is about?" Rosalie asked curious.

"No," Bella replied. She glanced at Rosalie's face. "I'm still thinking about what I want to say and I want privacy. I mean, I know Charlotte and Alice will be close by but I know Alice won't say anything."

"Charlotte won't say anything either," Rosalie promised.

"Okay," Bella said trusting Rosalie. "When are we going to go?"

"Whenever you want," Rosalie answered. Rosalie stood with Bella in her arms. "But first, I want to grab a few things to take, just in case," Rosalie said.

"What kind of things?" Bella asked, following Rosalie upstairs.

Instead of going to her room, Rosalie went to the linen closet. She grabbed a few of the blankets that Esme had stashed for some unknown reason. "Blankets," Rosalie explained. "I don't want you to get cold." She held onto the blankets and walked to her room to pull out another one of her sweatshirts, this one was from University of Alaska. She handed the sweatshirt to Bella and she pulled it on.

"How many different university sweatshirts do you have?" Bella asked curious.

Rosalie shrugged. "A few," she replied. "Alaska, Dartmouth, University of Washington, Harvard, NYU."

"Did you go to school at all of those places?" Bella wondered. She was now beginning to wonder how much about their lives she didn't know.

"Yes," Rosalie replied. "NYU was night classes. The sun is out too much there for us to do real school."

"If I decided to go to college, would you come with me?" Bella wanted to know. She already knew the answer though.

They headed down the stairs, with Rosalie still carrying the blankets. They would walk for now and after their conversation Rosalie would run. Rosalie could hear Alice and Charlotte close by, both on either side, running back and forth to make sure the path was clear and would remain clear.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Rosalie questioned, just as Bella predicted.

"Yes," Bella said without hesitation. "But I'm concerned… there's only so many places you can go."

Rosalie laughed. "Don't worry about me Bella. If you want to go to college, pick a college you like. I can do night classes again." Rosalie used her free hand to take Bella's. "I want you to have everything you can dream of. If that means college in Hawaii or Florida or even Texas then so be it. I will follow you anywhere as long as that's what you want."

"Well, you can rule out Texas," Bella told her. "I wouldn't mind visiting but I don't want to live there. I don't know where I want to go. All I know is I want to be with you and I want to go to college. Where isn't important to me."

"Okay," Rosalie said. "You have another year before you graduate. There's no rush to decide. If you can't decide we can always go to Alaska. We have family up there that would love to meet you. Or if you prefer the city, New York."

"You're from New York, aren't you?" Bella questioned, remembering their conversation about Rosalie's past.

"Yes," Rosalie replied. "Rochester. It's several hours from Manhattan."

Bella nodded. "Have you visited since…?"

"No," Rosalie said honestly. "After I killed my attackers, I never went back. I didn't see any reason to and for the longest time I couldn't go back due to the risk of someone recognizing me."

"Do you want to go back?" Bella asked curious. She knew eventually she would love to come back to Forks. But she wasn't attacked and raped in Forks and was still weary of going to Port Angeles.

"Not really," Rosalie said. "I've never really thought about it. There's nothing there for me except terrible memories." Rosalie pulled Bella closer to her. "Do you want to go there?"

"No," Bella said shaking her head. She couldn't imagine going to the place where Rosalie died, or almost died in this case.

"It's okay," Rosalie said softly. "We never have to go there."

They were walking through the woods now. Bella was concentrating on not falling and it wouldn't be long before Rosalie had to carry her. "I think…I think I might want to take a year off and maybe travel."

Rosalie nodded. "We can do that," Rosalie agreed. "I can show you the world if that's what you want." Rosalie caught Bella's arm just before she fell again. "It would be better if I carry you now."

"Yeah," Bella agreed with a blush. She took the blankets from Rosalie and Rosalie lifted her into her arms.

Bella laid her head over Rosalie's silent heart and closed her eyes as they sped through the woods. It took only about ten minutes for them to get to their destination. Rosalie sat Bella down in the sand and made sure she was steady before taking the blankets from her and laying them out.

They sat down together on the blankets, Bella in between Rosalie's legs and Rosalie's head resting on Bella's shoulder.

"I don't know where to start," Bella admitted. "I've been planning this talk for a while, and I can never decide where to start."

"It's okay Bella," Rosalie said gently. "Take your time." They had a few hours before they had to go back to Charlie's.

They sat in silence for a while. Rosalie was curious as to what was stressing Bella out so much. She was certain Bella wasn't leaving her, not that she would stop Bella if that's what she wanted. But Bella had been making plans with her earlier and Bella wasn't the type to lead her, or anyone, along.

Bella closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Rosalie's arm wrapped around her. She really wished she had taken the time to talk to Alice, to ask Alice if she knew how to start this conversation. She knew the conversation would go well. Rosalie had proven time and time again how much she loved Bella and despite all her insecurities, Bella whole heartedly believed it. So, why was it so hard to say those three words.

"I love you," Bella blurted out in a whisper. It was so low that Rosalie almost missed it. Bella pulled away so she could turn to face Rosalie. "I love you," she repeated a little bit louder. "I think I've loved you for a while but I didn't know how to say it.

Rosalie knew she had to say something, otherwise Bella would think she didn't love her. "I love you too," Rosalie said. She leaned forward and kissed Bella. "Is this why you wanted to come out here? So, the others wouldn't know?"

Bella shrugged. "In part," she admitted. "I'm sorry. I know it's not the best to be separated from everyone else. I just… I wanted privacy, and there's one other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay," Rosalie agreed. "What else did you want to talk about?"

"After…after Emmett was turned… how long was it before you… you know, had a relationship with him?" Bella struggled to ask.

Rosalie frowned. She was confused about the point Bella was trying to make. "Bella, if you're jealous about me and Emmett you don't…"

Bella held up her hand and Rosalie stopped. "It's not about jealousy," Bella said quickly. "Okay, maybe a little," she admitted. "But that's not why I'm asking."

Rosalie frowned but still answered the question. "Emmett was turned two years after me. In that time, I wasn't with anyone. I wasn't ready to be with anyone. Honestly, I never even thought about it. Emmett… Emmett had feelings for me the moment we met. It took longer for me." She paused to look at Bella. "It took another two years before we got together. Emmett was there for me in ways that no one else was. He was patient and kind. He dealt with my tantrums and pushing him aside. Looking back, I have no idea how, or why, he tolerated me."

"He loved you," Bella muttered.

"Yeah, he did," Rosalie agreed with a sad smile. "Bella, what's going on? Why do you want to know about Emmett and I? I don't mind tell you about us but I also don't want to hurt you talking about my past with him."

"It's not that," Bella assured her. She knew they had a past. She also knew Emmett still loved Rosalie and Bella didn't fault him for that. "I…I've been thinking about us." Rosalie waited patiently for Bella to continue, mostly because she still had no idea where Bella was going with this. "I want you…uh, us to be more intimate. I mean not right now, but in the future, can we try?"

"Bella," Rosalie started. Bella tried to pull it away, seeing it as a rejection. Rosalie tightened her grip so Bella couldn't try to leave. "Bella, look at me," Rosalie said softly. Bella met her eyes. "If this is what you truly want then yes, we can try. But I would like to talk to Emmett first, and maybe Alice. I don't want to risk hurting you."

Bella nodded in understanding. She was thrilled at the idea of the others knowing but she was sure Emmett wouldn't tease her…much. And Alice probably already knew.

Bella shivered and Rosalie pulled away. Despite Bella's protests, her body was much too cold right now. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Jasper paced back and forth along the treaty line. He could have called, he knew that. But he didn't want to. He was still trying to figure out what to say. The wolves, especially Paul, would be pissed but he was running out of options. They were running out of options.

Nomads were dangerous under the best circumstances. They killed whenever, and wherever, they wanted without remorse. They were careful to not bring the Volturi's attention but they weren't that careful. And now they had their eyes set on Bella.

The tracker was the biggest obstacle. The tracker would stop at nothing to get to Bella. Whatever allegiance they had to Edward… well it didn't matter. And hiding Bella wasn't an option because any half decent tracker could still trace her scent. No, it was better to deal with the tracker now, on their turf. But to do that they would need some help…

It didn't take too long before a wolf showed up. But it wasn't the wolf Jasper was hoping for. He couldn't tell who it was. The only wolves he recognized were Sam and Paul. "I need to talk to Paul," Jasper told the unknown russet wolf.

The wolf stared at him for several minutes. He was curious mostly. But Jasper could feel a hint of anger at his presence. It was strange because the wolves generally accepted him. Not in a friends kind of way, but it had been a long time since they were truly angry with him.

Suddenly the wolf ran away and Jasper growled angrily. He was seriously debating crossing the line to go looking for Paul when he smelt the wolf approaching. Paul was slower than normal which meant he was in human form.

Paul stepped out in the open in less than a minute. "Jacob said you wanted to talk," Paul said.

"We've confirmed there are three nomads," Jasper informed him. "It's more dangerous for Bella now. We have to act soon."

"Three nomads doesn't sound bad, not with all of us," Paul said confused.

"Normally yes, but you're not accounting for the tracker," Jasper said. "If it was just three nomads, we would have hidden Bella somewhere out of state. But the tracker can find her no matter where she is." Jasper paused. His next words were certain to anger Paul. "What we need to do is draw the tracker out."

Jasper waited for the words to sink in. "You want to use Bella as bait?" Paul yelped. "Are you out of your mind?" His body shook. He closed his eyes and fought back the urge to shift and kill Jasper for what he was suggesting.

"Listen Paul," Jasper said softly. He didn't manipulate Paul to stay calm. He understood the wolf's anger. But he needed Paul to understand his view. Paul opened his eyes and glared at Jasper, but he wanted to hear what he said before saying anything himself. "There are three nomads. At least one is a tracker from what we have observed. Even with our skills we cannot take them all out without risking Bella or other humans in the process. And that includes Angela." Paul deflated. The one thing he cared about above everything was Angela. "Bella won't get hurt," Jasper continued. "She will be a distraction. The tracker and the others will be too distracted to notice us coming in to destroy them. It might be the only way."

"I don't like it," Paul admitted. Jasper could see he was no longer fighting the idea.

"I don't either," Jasper agreed. "I love her too you know." Paul nodded. "Besides do you really think Rosalie—" He stiffened. There was one nearby. Not the tracker but still. "Phase. Now. And follow me."

Jasper felt paws slam to the ground just as he started running. He was glad the wolves were quick because he wasn't going to wait. He would end this nomad himself.

The nomad knew he was being followed. Jasper could feel his fear. He wasn't expecting to find Jasper with a wolf. Perhaps he hoped Paul would attack him. Jasper didn't know…or care. He just needed to get a little closer…. A little closer and it was all over. He had to admit. If he couldn't have Peter or Charlotte by his side, he was glad he had Paul.

He pushed himself harder and harder. His shoes were leaving indents in the Earth because of how hard he was running. Paul kept pace with him, following his lead.

Finally, he got close enough. He unleashed a cocktail of emotions that would sent even the Volturi to their knees. The nomad tried to resist but it was no use. No one could resist Jasper's gift. It was why he was so deadly in the Southern Wars. The nomad sank to the ground and Jasper launched himself into the air. He grabbed ahold of the nomad, ignoring the weak fight he put up. He held his arms back behind him and waited.

"You're too late," Laurent choked out. "The human is as good as dead."

Paul lunged for Laurent. "Wait," Jasper commanded, shifting to the side so Paul would miss. "What do you mean? Bella is with Rosalie. She's fine." He pressed harder on Laurent's arms. The metallic screeching as Laurent's arms were slowly ripped off made Paul wince.

"Not Bella," Laurent moaned in pain. "The other one. Her father. He's dead."

Jasper tensed up. He nodded toward Paul and Paul lunged forward. Laurent screamed as Paul removed his head. Jasper pulled harder and his arms were removed as well. Jasper removed a lighter from his pocket. He lit the flame and dropped in on the ground. He watched as Laurent's body caught fire.

"Stay here," Jasper instructed. "Make sure he is completely burned up. I have to find Rosalie."

He didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed his phone and took off running.