A/N: Your reviews are making me laugh... Yes, Edward is in for a rude awakening, and very soon. I'll tell y'all that I'm currently writing my version of the family vote meeting and I'm having so much fun with it! It's uh... not going well for him.

So this chapter is hella long but I ended up combining two chapters. I didn't want to cut out the part about the family because the Cullens embracing Bella as one of their own - with or without the petulant drama king - is important to the plot, but I'm also impatient and want Edward outta the fucking way.

So we've got decision-making Bella, family 'vote' meeting, and then our very patient Jasper will finally get to woo his girl. And Bella's not stupid, so with her heart open, after all the comparing of relationships she's done it won't take her long to see how perfect her favorite Texan vampire is for her:)

Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone taking an extra few moments to review, I love hearing what y'all think! Take care, M. x

Return to Forks

Trailing behind Edward and a half-asleep Bella, Alice and Jasper walked in silence to meet the rest of their family.

After the two had spoken to Bella and finalized their plans for the trip to Italy, the family had all sat down to talk about what came next. Keeping back the information about Victoria and the wolves for the time being, Alice did let their 'parents' in on the fact that they had seen Bella since the family left Washington. She didn't say much, simply that the two had stopped into Forks on a handful of occasions and had seen the family's favorite human.

Carlisle and Esme had been surprised at that news, but they were glad to hear that Bella had been doing well.

As coven leader, Carlisle was ultimately responsible for the safety of each member, so when Alice and Jasper didn't offer much more than that, he'd looked at the two searchingly.

"Is there anything else I need to be made aware of?" he asked.

"No," Alice assured them with a shake of her head. "Nothing else that you need to know now."

There was a slight hint of mischievousness in her eyes, but Carlisle knew her well enough to know that it was likely because she'd seen something in the future she found amusing.

Alice knew how seriously he took his family's safety and security, so if there was something she was holding back, he trusted her enough to know it wouldn't put them in any jeopardy. And Jasper still saw himself as the family's protector, so Carlisle trusted that if there was something he needed to know, the two would share it with him.

Carlisle and Esme may outwardly wear the mantle of parents, but their 'children' were all adults, fully capable of taking care of themselves. Jasper, obviously, had lived for more than a century before joining the family and was a coven leader in his own right, Alice had been on her own for nearly thirty years before meeting Jasper in Philadelphia, and Rosalie and Emmett often took time away from the rest of the family to travel and live on their own.

Even Edward, their least emotionally mature 'child' and the youngest in terms of human age, had gone off on his own for a few years.

So while Carlisle and Esme tended to handle the running of their everyday lives, they were certainly not typical parents. They loved the others unconditionally, and guided and supported them when needed, but they never attempted to control their actions. They respected each coven member's autonomy.

Carlisle had glanced at Jasper, but saw that he was in agreement with Alice, so Carlisle simply nodded at the two.

"You know we saw Bella last weekend when we stopped at the old house?" Emmett spoke up. At Carlisle and Esme's nods, he reached over to take Rosalie's hand and she smiled at him. "We want to move back to Forks."

"I'm not sure how Edward—"

"Edward doesn't get to decide," Rosalie cut Carlisle off. Her words sounded harsh, but her voice was gentle. "Putting aside our current situation for the moment, Edward left. Yes, we all agreed to leave with him. But we have all missed Bella, and seeing how happy Emmett was spending time with her…" Rosalie glanced at her husband, who gave her a nod. "We've decided we're moving back to Forks whether we do it as a family or not."

When Carlisle looked at the others in surprise, he saw Esme smiling proudly at Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice both nodding their agreement.

"If the rest of you don't want to join us, we'll understand," Emmett continued. "Rose and I are supposed to be off at college anyway, so it's easy enough to say we missed Washington and decided to take some online classes instead. Bella was my sister, Carlisle, and I'm not leaving without her again."

Esme could hardly contain herself. She got up and gave Rosalie and Emmett each hugs, telling them how proud she was of them. She then moved to hug Alice and Jasper also.

"I'm proud of all of you. I'm so honored that I get to call each of you family."

At that moment, Carlisle knew that the wishes of the majority of the Olympic Coven had to take priority over the wishes of one.

However the following days in Italy played out, whether Edward joined the family or not, he and Esme voted with the others to move back to Washington.

When Esme hugged each of her four returning family members at the Seattle airport, Jasper didn't miss the bright flare of anger and the cold bitterness of disappointment inside her when she hugged Edward.

If the boy thought he'd be happily welcomed home with no questions asked, he was sadly mistaken.

Esme's love would certainly never falter, but that didn't mean she was a pushover, nor was she blind to the telepath's faults.

During the initial waiting period after Alice and Jasper had left to meet Bella at the airport, Esme's worry and fear had been her predominant emotions. When Jasper called her as Bella was doing her best impression of a marathon sprinter - finally able to reassure her that, according to Alice's last vision, Edward wasn't going to be killed - Esme's emotions had changed swiftly and severely.

Esme was fully aware that there was something Alice and Jasper had left out of their description of events. She knew there was a key component of their story missing that led to Edward misinterpreting a partial vision he'd plucked from Alice's mind, but she trusted every single one of the 'children' and she knew Alice or Jasper would explain in due time. She certainly wasn't going to question either of them about it with the others around. If they weren't sharing everything, they had to have a good reason for it.

But Edward hadn't even given Alice the chance to explain what he'd seen, he hadn't taken even a minute to call Bella directly to find out the truth, and he hadn't given a moment's thought to the larger repercussions of his actions.

So yes, Esme was disappointed and angry with the boy. And they would be talking about it in the near future. For the moment, however, they needed to get the half-asleep human home to her father.

Emmett and Rosalie offered to drive Bella home, and knowing that Edward wasn't going to relinquish his hold on the girl, Alice and Jasper had easily agreed to ride with Carlisle and Esme. After hugging Bella one last time, the group had separated and the four of them made their way to Carlisle's car to start the drive back to Forks.

Before anyone could begin a conversation, Jasper pulled out his phone to call Charlie Swan.

"Hello?" the man's gruff voice answered.

"Hey Chief Swan."

"Jasper? I thought you were going to practice calling me Charlie."

"Sorry, sir. It's been a long few days," Jasper laughed. "I just wanted to let you know that we've landed and are on our way back to Forks. My sister and brother met us at the airport so Bella is in their car. Given that she was hardly walking on her own, my guess is she was asleep the second she was buckled in."

"Rosalie and Emmett?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, sir. And…" Jasper trailed off, not sure how the man would take the next bit of news.

"Let me guess, Edward's with her," Charlie said dryly.

"He is," Jasper nodded. "He was awfully glad to see her, so he wasn't in much of a hurry to leave her side."

Charlie snorted. "He left her side pretty easily seven…" he trailed off with a sigh. "Sorry. It's not my place to make a judgement. If she wants to give him another shot, that's her decision. But she's been so happy these last few months that I'm not too optimistic about the kid's chances."

"I might just agree with you there, sir, but I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see," Jasper answered with a smile.

"Right. Wait and see," Charlie sighed. "Alright, Jasper, thank you for letting me know they're on their way. And thanks for tagging along and keeping an eye on the girls for me."

"It was my pleasure, but don't let Alice hear you say she needed someone to look out for her," Jasper laughed while Alice rolled her eyes and smiled.

"True, the girl is sweet as can be but I've seen her glare. I don't want to be on the other end of that," Charlie said with a faux shudder.

All four vampires in the car laughed quietly at that. Alice did have a fierce glare.

"Will I be seeing you and Alice while you're in town?" Charlie asked.

They hadn't told him yet that the family would be moving back to Forks. Jasper and Alice exchanged a glance and Alice gave him a quick nod.

"Yeah, we'll be by to see y'all in a couple days. That'll give Bella some time to catch up on her sleep."

"Alright. Thanks, Jasper. And thank Alice for me, too."

"Sure thing, Charlie. And I can't tell you how grateful the whole family is that you let Bella come with us. Thank you for trusting us to take care of her."

"Well, from what I've seen the three of you take care of each other, so I was pretty confident that you were all in good hands. And I'm just glad your brother is safe. I'll see you soon, Jasper. Take care."

"You too, Charlie. See ya."

The car was quiet for a few minutes after Jasper hung up, though he could feel both Carlisle and Esme's curiosity.

"It's no secret we were close to Bella while the family was living here, and I always liked Chief Swan. When Alice and I visited we'd make sure to pop in for at least a quick hello," Jasper explained before they could ask questions he didn't want to answer fully.

"And pizza," Alice laughed. "Don't forget the pizza."

"Pizza?" Esme asked.

Jasper shrugged. "Charlie got us all dinner sometimes and it would have been rude to say no."

Esme gave the two of them a beaming smile. "I'm so proud of both of you. Not just for caring enough about Chief Swan's feelings to eat human food, obviously, but for the way you've handled the last few days. I can't lie and tell you I wasn't frightened, because I was, but if anyone had a shot at saving this family from the kind of pain Edward's death would have caused us, it was the two of you. Thank you. Both of you."

"Thanks, Esme," Alice and Jasper said quietly in unison, making the two in the front seat smile.

"I think Bella did most of the hard work," Alice laughed. "You should have seen her run through those streets! She didn't so much as stumble even once."

"So it truly was that close?" Carlisle asked hesitantly.

"It was," Alice nodded. "But I knew she'd make it."

Jasper reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Well, I agree with everything Esme said. The two of you have my eternal gratitude that we're driving away from that airport with our whole family intact, Bella included," Carlisle said earnestly.

"About what Chief Swan said," Carlisle began hesitantly after a few minutes of silence. "Is there a chance of Edward and Bella getting back together? Have you seen anything, Alice?"

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers right now. It seems likely that Edward believes they can get past what's happened, but I'm not so sure Bella feels the same," Alice answered carefully. "And if Bella decides to share with you how Edward broke up with her, the things he said to her… I'm not sure you would be so quick to assume she should take him back."

"What do you mean?" Esme asked.

Alice simply shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you. If Bella chooses to, that's her decision. All of this is Bella's choice. Don't put pressure on her to accept Edward back into her heart when you aren't aware of everything he's done. And not just with their breakup, but in Volterra also."

"I'm not sure she's in love with him anymore," Jasper added quietly. "I won't say there's no chance of them getting back together, but… she's not the same girl you left last fall. Charlie's right. She's happy now. Genuinely happy."

Alice tightened her hold on Jasper's hand as Carlisle and Esme simply nodded, all four lost in their thoughts as they raced down the highway towards home.

When Bella eventually started to surface from her deep sleep, she let out a soft groan. She wasn't ready for real life yet.

A low chuckle had her shooting up in bed fast enough that it made her dizzy.

"Good morning, love. Or afternoon, I suppose," Edward greeted her. He had a small smile on his lips but the same tortured look in his eyes she'd seen so many times before.

Edward had always been an odd mixture of arrogance and self-loathing.

Bella just stared at her former boyfriend for a moment. She'd forgotten he had a tendency to sneak into her room when she was asleep. She sure hadn't missed that.

Feeling the cold, Bella looked down to see Edward was holding her hand. She slowly untangled her fingers from his and let out a tired sigh.

"Edward, I didn't give you permission to climb through my window. You don't get to come into my room just because you want to," she said, trying to use her most polite voice. The last thing she felt up to at that moment was an 'argument' with her stubborn ex-boyfriend. "Right now I want a hot shower, some food, and to see my dad. If you want to come by in a few hours, that's fine. But you can pull out those manners I'm sure Esme has drilled into you and use the front door just like everyone else."

Edward frowned as he listened to her, as if he was expecting to hear something else.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I didn't mean the things—"

"Edward," Bella interrupted with another sigh. "Please. Respect my wishes for once. I'd like you to leave. We can talk later."

Edward's frown deepened as he stared at her, as if he didn't quite understand why she wasn't throwing herself in his arms. He stood up slowly and made his way to her window. He gave her another long look before he nodded.

"You're tired, I understand. We'll talk later," he said quietly, and in the blink of an eye he was gone.

Bella was confused by the way Edward was behaving, feeling like she was missing something. Hadn't he broken up with her? Told her he didn't love her? Bella mentally shrugged and pushed those thoughts aside. She wanted to wash the last few days off her, hug her dad, and eat a hot meal. She'd deal with the rest when she was feeling a little more human.

A few hours later, Bella had hugged her dad and eaten, but Jacob had knocked on her door just as she was heading upstairs to shower.

The two sat in the living room as Bella relayed everything that had happened since they had last seen each other, with only a few exceptions. Jacob had asked her not to tell him anything she didn't want Edward to know. On the off chance that the wolf and the telepath saw each other, Jacob didn't want him to hear any thoughts in his mind that Bella wanted to keep from him.

Jacob was glad he'd made that request because it was just as the shower upstairs was turning off that there was a knock at the door. Jacob smelled that it was a vampire, and knowing it wasn't Alice or Jasper's scent, it didn't take much brainpower to figure out who it would be. He debated ignoring it but figured it was Bella's house, not his, so it was her choice if she wanted to talk to him.

So Jacob got up and swung the door open and was greeted with Edward Cullen's scowling face.

"Dog," the telepath sneered.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Real mature, Cullen. How many decades have you been on this planet?"

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked rudely.

"What am I doing here? This is my best friend's house. I think the better question is what are you doing here?"

"I don't answer to you," Edward snapped.

"Whatever," Jacob sighed, equal parts annoyed and amused at the telepath's attitude. "Bella's just getting out of the shower. I'm sure she'll be happy to know you used the door instead of her bedroom window like the creepy stalker you are."

Edward growled low in his throat, but the wolf just laughed and shook his head. "You don't scare me, Cullen. Go sit in the living room. I'll let her know you're here."

Before the telepath had a chance to respond, Jacob turned his back and walked upstairs. "Hey Bells?"

"Hang on, I'll be out in a sec!" Bella called through the bathroom door.

"I'm gonna head out. Take all the time you need. Your ex with the questionable boundaries is downstairs, I'm sure he won't mind waiting for you."

Bella's laugh rang out as she opened the door, dressed but with her hair wrapped in a towel. "Did he use the door this time?"

"He did," the wolf laughed.

"Maybe there's hope for him yet," Bella shrugged.

Jacob looked at her skeptically. "If you say so."

"Thanks for coming over, Jake. If you want to join me and my dad for dinner later, give me a ring," she said, hugging her favorite wolf. Jacob heard the growl from Edward but it was too quiet for Bella's human ears.

"I'm gonna be on patrol for a while, but I'll let you know," he smiled. When she looked at him curiously, he shrugged. "There are a lot more vamps around, it never hurts to be cautious."

"More vampires?" she asked, not yet knowing that the Cullens were all moving back to Forks. Jasper had called Jacob to let him know but Bella hadn't been conscious long enough to talk to anyone besides the wolf.

"I'll let his highness fill you in," Jacob said with a shake of his head. "See ya later, Bells."

"Bye Jake," she smiled. "I'll be down in a few minutes, Edward," she added as Jacob gave her one last hug.

When Jacob got to the bottom of the stairs, Edward was glaring at him. He looked like he was just holding himself back from attacking the wolf.

"Stay away from her," Edward snarled through gritted teeth.

"Grow up, Cullen. You don't get to decide who Bella spends time with. And maybe calm your ass down before you talk to her. You've already put enough people in danger the last few days," Jacob snapped.

Ignoring the telepath's growl, Jacob turned his back on him and walked out the back door. Jacob wasn't worried about leaving Bella so she could have some privacy to talk to Edward. Well, privacy from him. Jacob knew Jasper wasn't too far from the Swan's house so he could make sure Edward's bloodlust was under control. Jacob trusted the soldier enough to know he would never let any harm come to his best friend.

Still, he couldn't help muttering to himself about the telepath as he walked into the trees ringing the Swan's backyard. "God I fucking hate him."

Hearing Edward's angry hiss, Jacob shook his head with a smile. It sure was easy to rile the guy up.

Bella Swan was alone in her room, not sure what to make of the previous hour of her life.

"I didn't mean any of those things I said to you, Bella. I didn't leave because I didn't love you… I've always loved, I still love you. I left because you were never going to be safe in my world."

That's what Edward had said. He lied to her, assuming it was the only way she would let him go. He'd used every one of her insecurities against her just so it would be easier for him to leave.

How was she supposed to make sense of that? That the boy she loved had, yet again, made a unilateral decision about her life, not thinking she deserved to even have a voice in what her own future looked like.

"But I don't want to stay away from you anymore. I can't stay away. Marry me, Bella."

Bella had gone completely still, eyes wide. "Marry you?"

He gave her that crooked grin that used to make her heart skip and she felt… nothing.

"Yes. Marry me. Isn't that what young people do when they're in love?"

It didn't escape Bella's notice that Edward hadn't asked her to marry him. He'd made it sound like a demand. Just like everything else in their relationship.

She didn't have the brain capacity at the moment for his usual form of communicating - bulldozing her into compliance. She wasn't the same girl he left in the woods. She wasn't going to just let him have his way with barely a token protest.

Edward Cullen was going to have to have a real conversation with her, not just a one-sided monologue.

But that was for tomorrow. She needed to sort through her tangled thoughts firsts. She was also still furious about Edward's actions - not just in the past, but over the course of the last few days - and she didn't want to say anything she might regret later.

She stood from the couch. "I need some time to think, Edward. So much has happened recently and… I just need some time to think," she said slowly and walked to open the front door.

Edward was frozen in place, again seemingly shocked that their 'talk' wasn't ending how he'd expected it to.

"Edward," she said quietly, hand on the door.

Edward slowly got to his feet and walked towards her. He paused in front of her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Bella flinched away from him. "I love you, Bella," he whispered before walking out the door.

Bella shut it behind him and turned the lock. She stood there silently for a few minutes, not sure how to process any of what just happened.

She slowly walked upstairs and climbed into bed, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. Not only was her body clock all out of whack, but her mind was racing.

After laying in the dark for a few hours, she threw back her covers with a sigh. She made her way downstairs and quietly made a cup of hot chocolate, then wrapped up in a blanket and went to sit on the back porch to think.

All of her tangled thoughts seemed to boil down to one thing.

Edward kept saying he loved her, but Bella wasn't sure that Edward's definition of love was the same as hers.

She thought about her friends and family - her dad, Jake and the other wolves and Angela, Alice and Jasper, even Rosalie and Emmett. Not one of them ever tried to control her or limit her choices. They supported her in the things that meant something to her, things that made her happy.

Take Rosalie, for instance - the Cullen she was least close to - and her offer to pick up Jacob to bring him to the airport. Rosalie had no connection to the wolf, didn't understand her 'siblings' friendship with him, but she knew Jacob cared about Bella, Jasper, and Alice, and that he was worried about his friends. So she'd put her own feelings aside and did what she thought was best for the four of them. Supporting them even though she didn't quite get it.

Or cliff diving. Bella had always paid a lot of attention to the way Jasper treated her, she'd learned how to read him pretty well, and she knew he was a little nervous about her throwing herself off a cliff. But there hadn't been a moment's hesitation when she asked if he and Alice wanted to come with them. He felt that little bit of fear in her when she stood at the top and looked at how far the fall was. But he never tried to change her mind, never tried to tell her it was a bad idea, never tried to tell her she couldn't do it because it wasn't safe.

The man had simply stepped forward and taken her hand so they could jump together.

Those things all felt like love to Bella. Loving someone was letting them be who they are and giving them room to grow and change. Loving someone was respecting them enough to let them make their own decisions about their life, even if that meant making mistakes. It meant trusting them enough to let them keep their secrets, even when your curiosity makes you want to pry. It was having complete faith in them, knowing they won't let you down regardless of the circumstances, that they'd be by your side through anything life could throw at you.

Bella thought back to that day so long ago when she didn't want to go to 'big girl school'. Her dad hadn't promised to protect her from everything, hadn't promised that she'd never be sad or scared or worried. He'd just promised her that he would always walk beside her, holding her hand and supporting her.

That was how Bella saw love. How her friends and family saw love.

Bella was pretty sure that wasn't what love meant to Edward Cullen. The question Bella had to answer was, could her former boyfriend change - could he try to understand what love meant to her and adjust his expectations and actions accordingly? And if not, could she be happy living a life in the narrow confines of Edward's interpretation of love?

After all the looking back Bella had done over the past seven months, she couldn't help but think the answer to both questions was no.