A/N Hey, it's been a long time, but I'm back. If you're still reading, thank you. I literally hate this chapter, but I wanted to post something. I'm trying to get back into writing again.

September 13

Today was my dreaded birthday. I was now veering into my mid-twenties, my childhood long behind me. One more year away from my mother's death and another year closer to finally being released from this miserable planet. I knew the Cullens, specifically Alice, would force me to do something special. On the bright side, it's been over a week since the onset of my mental breakdown, and I've been given the greatest birthday gift of all.

Ruby.

When I brought Ruby home after I found her on the side of the road, Carlisle performed emergency surgery. He told me that she had several broken ribs, and she fractured her front right leg, just like I had back in June. Ruby was given a little cast and could barely walk. She needed to be carried around everywhere.

My mom had a red golden retriever puppy as a kid, but she had to give it up after only a few months. I'd seen a photo before of her as a little girl laying out in the sun with the dog, and she looked happier than ever. The fact that Ruby also had red fur was a sure sign I had to keep her. Once Carlisle finished Ruby's surgeries, we did some digging to find out why she was stranded on a highway outside La Push. Apparently, a local resident's labrador gave birth a few days prior, and Ruby was one of the puppies who somehow managed to escape. She was most likely hit by a car.

Carlisle deduced she was a red fox labrador, so it was only fitting to name her Ruby. Plus, I wanted to give her a name that started with the letter R. I had to find any way possible to honor Renee.

Since Ruby moved into the Cullen household, she never left my side. At first, she was scared anytime someone tried to touch her at first, but eventually, she warmed up to me. Now, she couldn't sleep alone at night. She would start crying if any of the Cullens approached her.

After a long shift, Jasper and I clocked out, and I waved goodbye to Mike.

"I can't believe you don't like Ruby," I lamented to Jasper as soon as popped into my truck.

Jasper chuckled. "I'm not particularly fond of dogs or any small animal for that matter."

"But she's so cute and helpless," I sighed as we turned out into the road. I was just as excited to see her as she was to see me. I could hear her wailing before walking through the door whenever she saw our car pull up in the driveway.

"And greedy and selfish. She only follows you around for food, and you know that."

I laughed, though I knew that because Ruby was a lost, young puppy, she definitely needed more than just someone to provide food. She needed a mother, but I couldn't be around to take care of her all day. I didn't want her to be hiding in my room everyday afraid of anyone but me touching her. I knew Esme did her best to take care of her while everyone was out of the house, but Ruby wouldn't even eat her food if she was in the room.

"Ruby needs all the love she can get while we're nursing her back to health. Besides, dogs are allowed to be greedy and selfish as long as they're adorable while doing it."

"I don't find shitting on the floor anywhere close to adorable."

"Hey, she's getting potty trained. She'll get there. You have to give her time," I sighed.

Ruby only really left my room when I would carry her downstairs to get her to take a dump outside. I tried rewarding her with treats when she did it, but she still preferred the floor right next to my bed.

"I don't have patience for animals, really any living being for that matter," Jasper said.

"You never fail to be a cynic," I laughed. "Have you ever owned a pet before?"

"Never. I didn't think I'd be living with one until now."

It was surprising to hear that with all the money the Cullens had, they never had any pets. Not a single dog or cat. Or even just a pet fish. I guessed they were all adverse to animals. I was very lucky I stumbled upon Ruby and Carlisle and Esme were nice enough to let me keep her.

Jasper and I walked side by side once we arrived home and hopped out of the car. I anticipated Ruby would be there to greet me once we opened the front door. She would always bark and wag her tail in excitement, waiting for me to pet her after being trapped inside all day without me. She was too injured to try to jump on me like most dogs would.

I unlocked the door, and Jasper stood beside me. Once inside, like always, I saw Ruby waiting near the bottom of the stairs, gleaming at me with her doe brown eyes and barking. I dropped my purse and knelt down to pat her head.

"Who's a good girl? Did you miss me? Cause I definitely missed you." Ruby wagged her little tail and began licking my hand.

"I like your fake baby voice you put on for her. It's cute," Jasper chuckled from behind me. I turned around to see him standing and staring down at me with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes and his arms folded over his chest.

"Was that supposed to be sarcastic?"

"No, it's just interesting how you speak to her. I'm not used to it."

I wanted real badly for Jasper to become close to Ruby one day. I didn't want to be the only person in the house she felt comfortable around. I wouldn't be home all the time to care for her. Plus, we could start taking her on walks and to dog parks together. Just another excuse for us to spend more time together.

I thought back to when I came back from La Push with a new dog and Jasper's complete panicked reaction. I left him in a daze at the store, but I never anticipated how much that would affect him. He was worried I got hurt. He said something about disappearances. I suspected there was something much bigger going on that he wasn't telling me. I'd left the house many times without telling anyone where I was specifically going, and no one made a big deal about it. His behavior that night was incredibly confusing.

A small part of me was surprised that he cared about me so much. I still found that hard to believe. How could someone like him who's so kind, beautiful, and perfect actually be worried about some nobody like me who was homeless just a few months ago? I'd never understood why he wanted to spend so much time with me and go so far to work at the store with me nearly everyday. He'd become so special to me in such a short amount of time. I really hoped that Jasper out of everyone in the household would warm up to Ruby.

I picked Ruby up to take her to the kitchen for food. She nuzzled herself in my arms.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. Jasper shrugged. Normally, Esme was always home to greet me, and I could hear the others upstairs. Alice and Edward were always out of school by this time.

"Surprise!"

One by one, all of the Cullens leaped up from someplace behind the furniture in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Rosalie were here, and so was Angela?

I jumped back when I walked into the kitchen, and Jasper held my arm back to keep me from nearly falling. I could hear him laughing behind me.

"Alice, you didn't." I saw her standing behind the kitchen table with a smirk across her face.

"Oh, but I did. I'm an evil genius you see. You weren't expecting this."

"That you would do this? No, this is totally not like you at all." I was definitely not expecting to see Angela. "Hi, Angela. I'm glad you came."

I haven't seen Angela in a couple weeks when we both got lunch together. She walked around the table to come by and give me a hug. "Happy birthday! I can't believe you're twenty three. You're getting so old."

"She's practically a granny by now," Emmett snickered. Rosalie smacked his arm.

"Hey now, twenty-three is not old. She's twenty-three years young," Esme insisted. "Happy birthday, Bella." Esme came around to give me a hug as well, and I gave her a light squeeze back.

"That's right. Thanks Esme."

I heard a plethora of "Happy birthdays" come around from everyone in the room, even a monotonous birthday greeting from Edward and Rosalie. I was civil now toward both of them, but we still hardly ever talked.

"Let's go guys. We have plans," Alice announced.

"Where are you taking us?"

"It's a surprise. You'll like it. They let you bring your pets there."

I perked up when she told me that. I didn't want to leave Ruby at home by herself.

"Ruby, come on. We're going somewhere. You're coming with me, baby girl!" Ruby started crying when I called her name. I retrieved a small dog bed and leash for her and let her sit on the bed in my arms.

"Do you always have to speak to her in a baby voice?" Rosalie sneered. Typical.

"She gets the baby voice because she's cute, and she likes it." I rubbed Ruby behind her ears. She leaned into my touch.

Emmett came over and began lightly petting her back. "Aw, who's a good girl?" he whispered.

Ruby whined and buried her head into my chest, pulling away from Emmett. She seemed to have that reaction around everyone except for me.

"She's scared of me," Emmett said.

"She's been through a lot. She just needs time to get used to everyone." I held Ruby tight as all of us left the house and headed back into the car.

We arrived at an Italian place in Port Angeles with outdoor seating. The hostess led us to a long outdoor table that had about ten seats. I was sandwiched between Angela on my left and Jasper on my right. Ruby lay silently in my lap, probably scared to be in a foreign place.

"When you said it's a surprise, I thought you were gonna take us somewhere real scary in the park or something."

Alice laughed. "I know you'd hate doing something like that. I thought you'd like to go somewhere simple, so Esme and I chose this place."

"It's a good choice. Thank you Alice."

"It's nothing." She waved her hand at me.

"Have you guys all met Angela before?" I asked everyone once we all finished settling in. "I've seen you at Pacific Pizza before with your boyfriend Ben, right?" Emmett asked.

"Um, well, we're not seeing each other anymore," Angela stated.

"Oh no, what happened?" I gasped. I was absolutely not expecting her to say that. Last I heard from her, they were very much together, and she seemed happy.

"Things just didn't work out. It doesn't matter. This is your day," Angela waved her hand at me, effectively dismissing the conversation.

"Tell me about it later?"

"Oh I definitely will," she whispered.

Before anyone could ask more questions, a tall, lanky guy in a simple white uniform approached our table. His eyes shot wide open once he saw all of us sitting here. He was perhaps shocked to see a group of some of the most beautiful people on the planet all in one place. I was too the first time I saw them.

"Hello. My name is Ernest. I'll be your server tonight," he mumbled awkwardly and coughed into his shirt. "Can I start you all off with something to drink?"

Everyone seemed to hesitate to answer, and an awkward silence fell upon the table. I decided to go first.

"I'll have a coke."

"An iced tea, please," Angela said.

"I'll just have water," Alice said, who was sitting right next to Angela. Literally, the rest of the Cullens all ordered water. Every single last one of them including Jasper.

This is the first time I'd had a full meal with all of them since my first night at their house. I only ate lunch or dinner with Jasper on most days. Sometimes Alice joined. There for sure has to be something wrong with this family. I couldn't believe they all maintained these weird eating and drinking patterns for months.

"It's Bella's birthday today," Alice announced very loudly to the waiter, pointing at me.

Right when I was musing about Cullen's strange behavior, Alice just swoops in and makes me the center of attention. Fucking great. I shout her a death glare.

"Oh is it? Well happy birthday! How old are you?" Ernest asked in a fake chipper voice.

"23," I bemoaned.

"Nice. Nice. We'll bring you the birthday special at the end, okay?"

I nodded. That usually means I'll get a yummy dessert, right? That's what usually happens at restaurants on birthdays. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Still, once the waiter left, I turned toward Alice, irritated.

"Alice, why the hell did you do that?"

"You should've seen the look on your face," Alice snorted. I heard Jasper and Angela

chuckle beside me which only enhanced my annoyance. Jasper patted me lightly on the arm, and I relaxed a little. His touch always seemed to have that effect on me.

"Relax Bella, he's just gonna bring out a cake later," Alice explained.

"What kind of cake?"

"It's a surprise." Of course, everything with her was a surprise. The cake better be good. I could really use a good dessert after my whole week of long shifts. Plus, I wanted to see how much of the cake the Cullens would actually eat.

"So Bella. You're practically an old maiden now. You're older than all of us here except Carlisle and Esme." Emmett was smirking at me from across the table.

"That's fine. I think being a little older gives me an edge in a way, don't you think?"

"That's true, but you have to start thinking about a career soon."

"I'm working on it," I told him. Truthfully, I had a long way to get there. I didn't want to start thinking about it right now. "You know, one day, you'll be in my shoes. 23 is not that far off for you."

Emmett didn't reply to that. In fact, everyone fell silent, mostly looking around in different directions or staring at their phones. Rosalie frowned, looking down at her lap, and Emmett put his arm around her as if to comfort her. Did I say something wrong? They were acting like someone just died.

Some small chatter started up after a few moments. I looked over at Jasper, and he was humming quietly to himself and twiddling his thumbs. Ruby started getting restless in my lap, kicking her legs around and whining.

"Aw Bella, Ruby seems so scared," Angela said. She leaned over to try to pet the dog's head, but Ruby recoiled and melted further against my stomach.

"Ruby, are you okay?" I tried petting her gently to soothe her. She could just be hungry or maybe needed to go outside.

"Maybe, we shouldn't have brought her," Esme said.

"She'll be okay." After a while, Ruby started to relax a little bit and sit still again.

"Bella, you're the only person that dog likes. She shies away from all of us, but she relaxes around you," Angela pointed out.

"She must have been abused by her previous owner. Or maybe traumatized from getting hit by a car. But I got her to trust me. It'll take some time for everyone else."

"She's so skinny. They must have starved her." Angela looked down at the dog with sympathy in her eyes. Ruby sank further into my lap.

"Now, she's in good care," I whispered, gently stroking her belly. I glanced over at Jasper who was also looking down at Ruby with his brows furrowed. If any Cullen was going to start getting close to Ruby, I wanted it to be Jasper.

"Hey, she's relaxed now. You want to try petting her?" I nudged Jasper's arm.

"Let's not tempt fate. She might start to panic again if I touch her."

"Well, she needs to get used to other people eventually. If you gently rub her back, she should be fine. She won't bite, I swear."

Jasper merely looked at Ruby like she was an alien. You'd think he'd never seen something with fur before.

"Here, I'm gonna pet her head to distract her. Just gently rub her back."

Ruby was nuzzled into my lap, looking up at me with her cute puppy eyes. I stroked my hand against her chin, and she seemed to like that. Jasper moved his hand ever so slowly out to reach her and softly touched her back. Ruby didn't react, so Jasper gently started petting her. At first his hand was really stiff, but he started getting into a rhythm that Ruby liked.

"See, she's getting used to your touch. It's not so bad now, is it?"

"I guess not," Jasper whispered. He seemed to relax a little.

Ruby turned her head slightly, and surprisingly didn't jump when she looked at Jasper. She tried to reach her head out to sniff his hand. When her nose got too close, Jasper abruptly yanked his hand back, startling Ruby. She started crying again.

"I'm sorry sweetie. No one's trying to hurt you," I cooed. She grew restless, so I set her down on the ground.

"Sorry, I'm not used to dogs at all." Jasper looked at me apologetically. It was weird that he was the one to pull away from her and not the other way around. Maybe he was afraid of dogs.

"It's okay. At least you tried." I would work more on him a different day.

Dinner was delicious. Angela and I shared a large Hawaiian pizza together. The chef later brought out a small piece of unseasoned chicken in a dog bowl for Ruby to eat. I put the bowl at my feet, and she took her time eating the chicken bites with her small puppy mouth. I occasionally pulled off pieces of sausage and the crust to feed to her.

The Cullens, unsurprisingly, barely ate anything. I saw Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Alice munching on small portions of spaghetti. Rosalie simply ate a garden salad with no dressing. Preposterous! Emmett and Jasper were the only two who ordered proper meals. Emmett had a full steak on his plate. You'd think a guy of his size would be consuming the whole plate with no problems, but he was only taking small bites. At one point, I swore I saw Emmett in the corner of my eye spit out some of his food into his napkin. He quickly hid the napkin under the table before I could take a closer look. Jasper ordered a small cheese pizza, and he was also eating slowly. However, out of all the Cullens, he ate the most and actually got almost halfway through his pizza before asking for a box.

I was about ready to leave when I saw half of the wait staff walk out of the kitchen in a single file line. Ernest was in the front of the pack, holding a giant tray with what looked like a cake on top. My stomach dropped.

Before I knew it, all the waiters began singing "Happy Birthday" and the Cullens and Angela began singing along too. It felt like I was having an out of body experience hearing all of the Cullen's voices together singing completely out of sync.

"Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear Bella!

Happy birthday to you!"

It was so awkward. I never heard any of the Cullens sing before. Alice had a high-pitched, very musical voice which was in stark contrast to Rosalie's very monotonous tone at the end of the table. She was completely unenthused. Edward was sitting beside her, and I could see him somewhat mouthing the words. I could hear Jasper's low whisper beside me. Even he sang! I was shocked to hear the sound of his voice like that.

All around, I saw people at nearby tables looking at us and then towards me while everyone was singing. I covered my mouth with my hand and immediately looked down at the floor at Ruby who was laying on top of my foot.

"Smile!" Alice cheered as I looked up when the song was over. She whipped out her phone and snapped a picture before I could put my hands up to block her. Jasper was bellowing with laughter beside me.

"Oh my god, you should've seen the look on your face, you looked . . .," he tried to tell me in between uncontrollable chuckles. I tried to hit him in the gut, only to hurt my wrist in the process.

"Oh my god, this is so mortifying," I groaned to no one. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry or fall asleep and hope this wasn't real.

"Hey, it's not so bad, Bella. This could be happening in front of hundreds of people," Emmett hollered.

"Yeah, thank god it's not hundreds. Just a big crowded restaurant. Jeez," I sighed.

"By the way, happy birthday, Bella!" I heard Rosalie snicker from across the table. I flipped her off only to laugh myself at the ridiculousness of the situation. The waiter set the cake down in the center of the tab;e

"Wow, this looks so delicious. I love chocolate," Angela said. It was a large lava cake with chocolate sauce pouring from the middle and vanilla ice cream on top.

Once the waiters left, I took off a large piece with some ice cream and passed the plate along to Angela. "It's so big. We'll never be able to eat all of it." The cake looked so mouthwateringly tasty, but I knew I could never manage to eat the whole thing in one night.

Angela passed the cake to Jasper who simply raised his hands and pushed the plate back to me. "I'm too full. I don't think I can eat anymore."

I sighed. Unbelievable. Jasper only had like three slices of pizza. He was the only one who would eat in front of me. Now suddenly when something super sweet and delicious is right in his face, he's too full?

"You barely ate. Come on, doesn't anyone else want to have any? It's too big for Angela and I."

"I'll take it and pass it around," Carlisle suggested. He took a small portion of the cake for himself and passed it to Esme.

"I'll have some," Emmett said, reaching for the plate.

"Me too," Alice called.

"I guess I'll have one too," Jasper sighed as he took a small slice for himself.

"No, you don't have to if you don't want to," I told him.

"It's okay. I do want to." Jasper took a small bite, and his face quenched. He looked like he might spit it out, but managed to swallow.

"Is it good?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's a bit too sweet though. I don't usually eat desserts that often." Jasper almost sounded out of breath as he spoke.

"Rosie, how about you?" Emmett asked, passing the cake next to Rosalie.

"I'll pass. It looks disgusting."

"It's delicious. It's a chocolate lava cake!" I told her. Were these people serious? Why would they want to drag me out to this restaurant but barely touch the food? It's a fuckin birthday cake! What could be so bad about it?

"Come on, Rosie. Try it," Emmett insisted.

"Fine."

Rosalie huffed and cut off a small piece for herself. I watched as she took off a small bite and slowly moved the fork up towards her lips. Everyone else turned to watch her as well. It was like she was slowly about to dip her feet into freezing cold water. Apparently eating a chocolate cake was this difficult.

The cake finally landed in her mouth, and she chewed ever so slowly, looking up at the ceiling. Once it appeared she was done, she grasped onto her chair tightly like her insides about to explode.

"It's okay Rosalie," Alice whispered.

Suddenly, Rosalie bolted out of her seat and sprinted toward the restroom.

"I should go check on her," Alice decided.

"I'll go too." I got up to follow Alice. It looked like she was about to protest, but she turned around and quickly ran behind Rosalie. "Angela or Jasper, watch Ruby."

I followed Alice into the bathroom, and breezed past the waiters walking the aisle.

Once inside, I saw a single bathroom stall. The door was pulled wide open as Rosalie crouched on the floor, hanging over the toilet. Alice stood beside her and held back her long hair as Rosalie threw up. She kept coughing loudly.

I stood by the door, not knowing whether to stay or go. It definitely felt like I was invading her privacy, though I just wanted to see if she was okay. This was the most extreme reaction I'd ever seen to eating a chocolate cake. There was one hundred percent something wrong with the Cullen's eating patterns. This couldn't be ignored any longer.

After what seemed like ages, Rosalie finally stood up and wiped off her mouth with toilet paper. Her normally beautiful, luscious blonde hair was now a huge mess, and her shirt was stained.

"I'm not happy," she croaked. She turned around and glared at me before walking out the door. I swore I saw a tiny amount of blood coming out of her mouth.