Oh hey guys! Um. Don't hate me. I ended up getting sick and then going on vacation right after. Still have a lingering cough. So that's fun. Plus, Carlisle and I had an argument about his attitude. Thankfully, Emmett and Jasper intervened or there might not be a hero for this story anymore. Who's ready for some mounting tension and conflict?!

The song for this chapter is Change On The Rise by Avi Kaplan.

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Disclaimer: I'm only doing this for a friend. I don't get anything from it but her undying appreciation. I certainly don't get to have fun with Emmett and the boys in my head.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Change On The Rise

CPOV

"Are you going to sit around and mope the whole time or were you planning on joining us?" I didn't bother turning around at the sound of Esme's voice. She approached and settled on the rocky cliff next to me. Wind whipped at our hair and clothes, futilely trying to blow us from our perch. I gave her half a smile.

"I find that I'm preoccupied," I admitted and she snorted.

"Really, Carlisle, none of us have noticed." I turned a raised brow to her and she smiled. "I guess Bella's sarcasm is catching," she teased and I grinned.

"I should be upset but it almost feels like she's lit up the whole family."

"Hmm, I know what you mean. I've never seen Edward so animated. It frustrates him at times but he's told me what relief her mental silence provides. He enjoys the quiet. I keep a calm mind around him but I can only imagine the kind of solace that she provides, giving him absolute peace."

"Careful, Esme, I might worry that your husband is going to steal my girl away from me," I teased and she elbowed me gently.

"She's been so good for Rosalie as well." My laughing quieted as I stared at the vista of mountains, forest and ocean before us. "She's really helped her open up. I've loved having her so involved in the family. Before… she really kept to herself. I worried about her; that she doesn't feel connected to us." I rested my hand on her knee.

"No one could feel unconnected with you around, dearest," I assured her and she gave me a wavering smile.

"You always see the best in people, Carlisle Cullen. But you can't deny Bella's influence on all of us. Jasper hasn't struggled as much since she started coming around. And you." I scoffed.

"If anything, I think Bella's presence has made me more erratic, irrational and territorial. I'm sure all of you are ready to hog tie me and toss me over the treaty line." She chuckled.

"You are a bit more possessive but… you seem more… alive. You laugh more. You smile almost all the time. You engage with the children. Not just in conversation or hunting trips, but you tease them and seek them out."

"I just worry what will happen when…"

"When she finds out about us? It won't be pretty. Bella is strong but she values honesty. She's already confided in Edward that she's worried your relationship will be too much of a strain and inevitably drive you to hate each other." My heart trembled at the thought of hurting Bella or the impossibility of hating her.

"It's safer for her to not know the truth," I said but even I could admit the words rang false.

"When are you going to stop lying to yourself, Carlisle? You know that Bella is in this for good. She won't grow to hate you or grow tired of you. While we can't take Alice's visions as gospel, the fact that the majority of them are of you two together for eternity should be enough to convince you to do right by her." I snorted.

"If you wanted me to do right by her, we should have packed up and left right after Edward tried to kill her."

"And if we'd done that, then Edward would have eventually snuck back to Forks and murdered her," she said flatly and I flinched, snarling at the thought of Edward's teeth ripping the delicate skin of Bella's neck, drinking the ambrosia that pumped through her veins.

"For hell's sake, Carlisle, could you not think about that," Edward yelled from his vantage point fifty feet away where Emmett was taunting and wrestling a bear. "I've done a remarkable job so far of resisting her and I love her too much now to hurt her but you thinking about the intimate details of my draining her is a little more than my self-control can handle!" I forced myself to calm down and think about mundane things.

"I apologize, Edward. That was unfair of me."

"Not as unfair as this stupid idea you're holding onto about keeping Bella in the dark," Alice sang from the tree branch above Edward's head where she was lounging.

"Please, children, can we not have this argument again? We came out here to enjoy the sunshine and re-energize. I know being around Bella isn't the easiest for you."

"Speak for yourself, old man. I have no problem controlling myself around Bella," Jasper drawled from the branch behind Alice.

"Yeah, we know what she is to you and none of us want to be the reason you end up as the kindling for s'mores," Emmett huffed, ducking out of the way of the bear's swiping paw.

"Emmett, haven't I taught you better than to play with your food," Esme teased. He grinned.

"They taste better when they're angry."

"Look, we know that you think that if we don't tell her, Bella will never find out about us. But that is just a horrific complication waiting to happen. Because there's no way that she doesn't find out somehow. She already asks me a million questions about how I stopped that van. Bella is tenacious and intelligent. She knows that you are keeping a secret from her. And even if she can reconcile that knowledge right now, she won't always be willing to overlook the blatant signs that you are keeping something from her. And if you keep lying to her to keep the secret, when she does find out -and I do mean when -it's going to be about a million times worse than it needs to be because not only will she be coming to terms with the fact that we're vampires but she'll also feel totally and utterly betrayed by all the lies you told her. And she'll remember them. Every. Single. One."

Guilt soured in my stomach as I considered the grim picture he painted. I hated lying to Bella. But how on earth was I supposed to break the news that not only is her boyfriend a three hundred something year old vampire but so are her best friends? The entire task seemed daunting and fraught with the eventuality that Bella would think we were insane and try to have us committed.

"So little faith in the woman you love," Edward grumbled and I imagined tying him up and tossing him over the treaty line. He laughed loudly. "I could probably talk my way out of that."

"You could talk your way out of a firing squad," I retorted. He waggled his eyebrows at me.

"I've talked my way out of a lot of things." I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"Why did I think you would make a good companion?"

"Because I'm awesome?" I chuckled and watched as Emmett finally killed the bear he'd been taunting and began to drink from it.

"Alice, is the weather still sunny tomorrow," Esme asked as she swung herself up onto the same tree branch as Edward.

"For the beginning of the day, yes, but then it should become overcast and rainy in the afternoon. We could potentially go to our last few classes with no issue."

"Hey, what did you tell Bella we were doing so that I can make sure our stories align when I see her tomorrow," Edward asked me. I frowned.

"What do you mean? I didn't tell her anything. I thought you or Alice texted her." Everyone went still as they stared at me. "What?"

"You didn't text or call her before we left," Rosalie practically screamed.

"Was I supposed to?" Jasper buried his face in his hands.

"God, Carlisle, I know this is your first relationship but even you should know that communicating with your significant other is the top priority," he complained.

"I assumed Edward or Alice would text her since they talk so often."

"But you're her boyfriend! You should be telling her things, not us." Edward groaned.

"So… no one told Bella we were leaving and she's spent the last two days wondering where we are and why no one is talking to her," Emmett asked. My eyes widened with realization.

"Oh," I said quietly.

"Yes, Carlisle. Oh." Alice whipped her phone out and swore. "I don't have any reception out here. You're going to have to run somewhere with service and make contact. She's probably already tried to get a hold of us all." They all turned to stare at me expectantly.

"Right, I'm going. Does… does someone want to come with me to help me decide what to say," I asked quietly.

"You really are hopeless at all this, old man," Edward teased, swinging down gracefully from his tree and landing effortlessly beside me. "Let's just hope that Bella will be forgiving. She is… kind of terrifying when she's mad. Which no one will tell her I admitted to or your deepest secrets become public knowledge," he said pointedly to his siblings who grinned in reply.