Its has if an invisible line had been drawn in the middle of the room, the Cullens on one side and the Volturi on the other. The silence was deafening, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. The guards stood behind the queens, as the queens sat on the dining room chairs that been brought out for them. Sulpicia with her legs crossed, Didyme had her hands clasped in her lap, and Athenodora smirking as she stared back at the Cullens. Carlisle had yet to arrive from a small trip he had taken, until then it had turned into an intense stare off with no exchange of words besides "hello".

Athenodora looked over at Sulpicia, her expression screamed boredom. Yet, having done this before she knew how things were supposed to go. Didyme, however had taken a fond interest in the bonds between the Cullens, to someone who didn't know it would just look like her eye were darting back and forth between the olympic coven. To Sulpicia and Athenodora however, they knew she must've found something particularly interesting in the bonds between the Cullens. Sulpicia wanted to take her hands so she could see what Didyme was seeing, but refrained from doing so. Sometime ago they made a promise to each other that they would keep their relationship private, that any semblance of public display of affection they did not want. It's not that they were afraid of any judgement, they were afraid of the vampire world having a true grasp of how close they truly were. Each of them knew that if something were to happen to one or the other, they would go to hell and back to help them. It's this very fact that helped them to realize just how easy it would be for them to be blackmailed or manipulated. Instead they simply allowed their relationship to remain a rumor, gossip, or just plain speculation.

Every head snapped towards the door as the sound of a car pulling up the driveway and into the garage could be heard. Carlisle and stood in the doorway as he took in the sight of the Volturi and his family in his home.

"Hello, Carlisle." Sulpicia simply said.

"Sulpicia." He nodded, as he made his way to his wife, immediately holding her close to him.

"I suppose you and your family know why were here, that I don't need to thoroughly explain myself. So I will simply proceed to the topic at hand." Sulpicia clasped her hands."Your family I do not doubt has seen what's been happening in Seattle, therefore I know that you understand the severity of this situation and why it requires our presence."

Carlisle opened his mouth to speak, only to be silenced by a death stare from Didyme. Athenodora signaled to one of the guards, and a tall muscular man stepped forward and dropped a stack of newspapers on the coffee table.

"Take one each of you, I want you to open them and read them. So that you may understand the level of mercy you are being shown at this current moment. So that you understand that this mess your family have created should have you kneeling in front of me so that I may rip your heads from your shoulders and burn you to ashes. Especially you Carlisle, you of all people should know that when you kill one mate you must kill the other." Sulpicia stood as she spook.

"Sulpicia please-"

"Silence!" Athenodora hissed. "Bodies strewn across the street for the world to see, newborn vampires running around Seattle like it's their playground. You are not a fool Carlisle surely you understand the gravity of this matter."

"You and your family are going to clean up this mess, our guards will train you so you and your family are adequately prepared. Depending on how well the seven of you does we will decide on the next course of action." Didyme said.

"The next course of action?" Carlisle asked.

"Well yes," Sulpicia sat down and crossed her leg."We have gaged the severity of this, but have yet to gage the severity of your actions that led to a vampire creating a newborn army. So simply put a course of action must be taken to prevent this in the future."

If Carlisle was human he most certainly would've grown gray hairs and wrinkles by now, it was clear to see the man had no clue what to do in this moment let alone what to say. His jaw was clenched tight, and he ran a hand through his hair, he pursed his lips in a tight line. Secretly, Didyme found his reaction amusing, for a minute she thought about saying that they would all be executed just to gage their reaction. She continued to watch each and every one of them as Sulpicia continued to talk, the Cullen's family dynamic is something that has peaked her curiosity ever since she heard of them. And now she would get the chance to study them as she pleased during their time here.

"You should've seen it Sulpicia, I mean the bonds between them," Didyme shook her head in disbelief. "a slight breeze would be all it take for it to break. That family is quiet literally hanging on by a thread! A thread Cia!"

"What are you talking about Di?" Athenodora turned to ask. "All of them seemed to present a very united front if you ask me."

"True, but beneath the surface they're all one argument away from never speaking to each other again."

Sulpicia chuckled and set her book down."That coven was bound to disband at some point, considering it has lasted has long has it has is a feat within itself."

The three women had taken up residence on the outskirts of town, similar to the Cullens. They had gathered in the living room to debrief their visit with the Cullens, and so far the conversation had solely been focused on how long it would be before Carlisle and his "children" would cease to be.

"If what i've heard of high schools are true, I wonder who in their right mind would ever even consider the possibility of going to one, much less go repeatedly." Athenodora scoffed."To be constantly surrounded by hormone raging and emotional humans all day long would drive me mad."

"All that and the animal blood too, don't forget." Didyme rolled her eyes.

While the matriarchs poked at the Cullens way of living, the fourth soon to be matriarch was at home enduring a very awkward and silent dinner. Deafening silence would appear to be the theme of the evening in the small town of Forks.

-Bella-

On one side of the table you had Sue and I and on the other you had Jacob and his dad. At the end of the table was Charlie, with his jaw clenched tight, his hands balled into fist, and his face red as a tomato. To say I was caught in a shit storm, was sugarcoating it at best.

I was hoping to deal with one angry person at a time, starting with my father first. Jacob, I hadn't really come up with a way of dealing with. Before I left for Italy Jacob directly, but indirectly confessed his love for me. Had Alice not interrupted us, I'm very sure we would've kissed. I never explicitly turned him down, however I'm pretty sure running away to Italy to save my suicidal now ex boyfriend did the job pretty well. Billy of course being in the loop with everything, definitely knows about what happened. Which is why I did my best to dodge the intermittent death stares being sent my way every time Charlie wasn't looking.

As soon as dinner was over, I rushed to be on dishes duty while everyone was out in the living room talking and enjoying the game. I took my time cleaning up the kitchen so I wouldn't have to go in there and talk to everyone.

"Hello, Bella."

So much for that.

"Hi, Billy."

He wheeled himself towards me and set a glass in the sink. He clasped his hands together and cocked his head at me.

"Is there something you wanted me to get you? Did you guys need more beer?"

"Actually yeah, we could use some more beers."

I went to the fridge and grabbed a six pack. He smirked as I gave it to him, and grabbed my hand just as I was about to pull away.

"You know Bella, while you were in Italy did you finally find the common sense you needed to stop picking the wrong side? Better yet while you were there did you finally find the ability to stop whoring yourself out to every blood sucking leech that came your way?"

I was stunned that for a minute I was left mulling over his word in front of the open fridge door. I guess it was safe to assume that the pack also knew I had ditched Jacob to run off to Italy for a vampire. It was also a pretty good sign that any and all attempt to try and smooth things over with him would be difficult at best. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and decided I'd go for a little walk, just to get some fresh air and ready myself for what was going to be a long night. The only thing stopping Charlie from completely losing his shit when he saw was the fact Billy and Jacob had come over. My stomach churned from the anxiety of having to deal with Charlie, adding on to the fact I hadn't eaten much earlier didn't help at all either.

It didn't take long for me to find my secret spot, a massive pine tree where the roots where growing in a way that it made a little nook. It was a nice little spot I had discovered when I first started going out for walks out here. Ever since then I liked taking a nice blanket and a book to sit out the read. I would miss the little place when I returned to Italy, I must admit when I first came here I wasn't the biggest fan of all the rain and absurd amount of greenery. Over time though it grew on me, to the point where I even bought a sound machine so I could listen to rain sounds on the nights it didn't rain. Which brought me to my other dilemma.

How was I going to explain to Charlie I would be returning to Italy, and this was only a brief visit.

After some time hiding away, trying to prolong the happening of a dreadful conversation I decided to return home. I braced myself for what I knew would be a night of yelling and screaming, even worse was the fact I knew I had to sit there and take it. I put this man through hell this past year, from what happened last spring with James all the way to now.

I found Charlie sitting on the sofa, beer in one hand and a remote on the other. He took a sip of his beer and gestured for me to sit, turning off the tv. When I saw the look on Charlies face it broke me, it was the most gut wrenching pitiful look I had ever seen. It was then I truly realized just how much he had been forced to deal with. Charlie wasn't old, but he wasn't young either. He looked exhausted and stressed, and I could've sworn he was losing weight.

"I'm not going to yell at you, hell I'm not even going to tell you how pissed and disappointed I am in you." He stopped to take another sip of his beer, and just as he did he closed his eyes for a moment. His head tilted back and he took a deep breath, his lips pursed into a tight line as they started to quiver. When he opened his eyes again tears spilled from them, spilling down his cheek in droplets. "I remember the day you were born, down to the exact second. I remember what I ate that day, what I wore. The name of the nurse who delivered you, the way your mother smiled when she held you in your arms. I can remember how soft and small you were, how you gripped my thumb so tight like your life depended on it."

He took another breath. "When your mother and I divorced and she took you with her, it broke me. It felt like someone tore a piece out of me. So when Renee called and said you wanted to come live here I was estatic, I was so happy. I love you Bella, but I can't tolerate this any longer. You are welcome to stay here until graduation, but starting next fall semester I hope you get accepted into a college because you will be no longer welcome to stay here any longer." He took another sip of his beer and turned back towards the tv.

We didn't speak at all for the rest of the night, I remember I stood there stunned trying to register his words. Even as I lied in bed staring at the ceiling wondering what could've made Charlie make such a huge decision. It didn't effect me that much per say, at least now I wouldn't have to break the news to him that I actually did not plan on staying here and would be returning to Italy.