A/N: AU, Bella and Edward divorced after 5 years, no Renesmee` (EVER) and Bella had all but forgotten that she'd attracted the Volturi's attention until she starts to receive reminders.

ONE

There was no card, there never was, but it was obvious who sent the presents.

The delicately painted figurine twirled elegantly, her dark hair carefully sculpted into loose waves while a melody I couldn't place played softly enough to be background music for vampires, rendering it inaudible to human ears. I watched the dancer spin, refusing to admit she looked like me, until the final strains faded, unable to decide between stuffing the music box back into the velvet box it came in and heading to the post office, or cramming it into a drawer already crowded with other unwanted valuables.

We lived in Vermont now, Carlisle still pretending to be a small town doctor, but it was only the three of us. Jasper and Alice were in Bali and Rosalie and Emmett were in Tennessee. I wasn't old enough to travel alone and I didn't have the control to be a high schooler. I could run errands and hold short conversations with people, but trapped in confined spaces with crowds was still beyond me.

I had infinitely more sympathy for Jasper.

We hadn't heard from Edward in almost two years, which was my fault. I hated that I'd torn up the family.

I picked up the music box with all the care of trying to carry a soap bubble between chopsticks and left my room.

Carlisle looked up from a note too thick to be paper, hand poised over his inkwell. The contrast was odd considering the silver laptop pushed to the corner of the desk. "What a lovely music box."

I felt like growling in frustration but swallowed it. Newborn instincts were still strong but growling at my coven leader was unacceptable. Worse still, growling at Carlisle felt...blasphemous somehow, like flipping the bird to a nun. "It's not a lovely music box. It's a present."

"A gift?"

"For my anniversary. From the Volturi."

"Ah."

Carlisle shuffled some papers on his desk that were already in perfect order. I narrowed my eyes.

"How is sending presents for someone else's anniversary not a complete social faux pas?"

"Now, Bella. That's not true. Many couples receive presents on their anniversary."

"This was just addressed to me, though. Aren't the gifts supposed to be to the couple? Like a….toaster or something?"

Carlisle blinked at me and I felt my face tingle although I could no longer blush. "You know what I mean."

I traced one of the edges of the box. I'd been receiving gifts from Aro Volturi ever since Alice and I raced to Volterra to stop Edward from killing himself. A gorgeous (enormous) diamond necklace still sitting in the box, a Monet that I refused to admit was real. An autographed first edition of Jane Eyre. Last year, he'd sent ruby earrings that I still hadn't worn. Now, a music box.

Edward and I broke up two years ago. Apparently, he couldn't stand the fact that he'd 'damned my soul to hell' and fled the country. Last I heard, he was somewhere in Brazil, but he never took my phone calls or answered my texts. I stopped trying a few months ago.

Carlisle started rifling with papers on his desk, something like chagrin twisting his beautiful face. "Aro enjoys giving gifts." Carlisle lifted the pen in his hand, which looked to be made of similar glass to the music box I held.

"But that doesn't explain why they're specifically anniversary presents-wait-" I stopped and narrowed my eyes at my coven leader slash ex father-in-law. "There's something you aren't telling me."

Carlisle pretended not to hear me, focusing instead on not reading some notes from his shift at the hospital. He would've fooled me, except his eyes weren't moving.

"Carlisle-"

"Aro is operating under the assumption that you and Edward are still married."

I blinked. I wasn't expecting that. "Okay, so if I tell him I'm not married, this will stop."

Carlisle shifted uncomfortably. "I would advise against it. It's better that he believes you to be attached, so to speak."

"But I'm not."

Why would Aro care whether or not I was married? The condition was that I became a vampire, not Edward's wife.

"I know, but please listen to me, Bella. I know Aro very well. It is better for him to believe that you are still married. Trust me."

I still didn't understand, but there was an edge of Carlisle's voice that I wasn't entirely familiar with; it was harder, almost jarring.

I looked at the box again. "I guess it's not a big deal. I just," I tucked my hair behind my ear, a leftover human habit "-could do without the reminder, you know?"

The reminder that I wasn't good enough. That I gave up everything and it wasn't enough to last five years. That I was now facing eternity alone in a coven full of happy couples.

He winced. "Forgive me, Bella, I had only considered that with Edward's behavior, he might be considered too erratic for the Volturi's comfort."

I went still, music box all but forgotten. "What do you mean?"

Giving up pretending to be busy, Carlisle looked at me. And for the first time, I could see the age in his eyes. "Vampires by nature rarely change. For Edward to so quickly vascillate between being unable to live without you to-" he broke off when I winced "-it would not bode well for him to continue to attract the Volturi's notice. I had thought, still think, that Edward will return, but I am sorry for not anticipating the strain on you."

He did such a good job of blending in, that it was easy to forget that Carlisle had walked the earth for 400 years. I suddenly felt very small and foolish. "They'd kill him?"

"I cannot guarantee that they would not if they determined Edward to be a threat to secrecy. His recent behavior is…troubling, and I dare not over rely on Aro's goodwill."

"Isn't he your friend?"

Carlisle set his pen down, but stared at it. "He is as much as possible for him."

I frowned. I thought they got along. The portrait Edward showed me on my eighteenth birthday, hung on the far wall. It was even more intimidating now that I'd met them. The dour look on Aro's face as he watched the crowd below seemed out of place with the manic oddball I remembered from the throne room.

I looked at the music box in my hand again, turning it over slowly, ignoring the slight tinkling of the finely tuned innards, and looked back at my coven leader.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think-It doesn't matter."

I ended up putting the box on top of the chest of drawers with the other gifts apart from the painting that hung on the wall above the bed. It was the only place where it would fit, according to Esme, after telling me that I couldn't possibly stick a priceless painting in a closet.

I delicately stroked the top of the dancer's head, tracing the waves of dark hair down her back.

Would they really kill Edward?

I remembered Felix and fought back a shiver.

It took another five years for my resolve to crack. It was too much, the presents, the pressure, the constant reminders of my failed marriage and the uneasy feeling of deceiving the vampire ruling body. After turning, Alice struggled to see me, she said I was muffled, like watching grainy footage as opposed to a movie. I felt a twinge of conscience as I took advantage of this.

At the top of a cliff, I folded myself until I sat with my feet dangling over the edge as I dialed the main number for the Volturi stronghold. I still couldn't believe it could be googled.

"Buongiorno! Grazie per aver chiamato il castello dei Volturi, come posso aiutarvi?"

Even after becoming a vampire, my grasp of languages was tenuous at best. I could manage some Spanish easily enough, but that was mostly Jasper's help.

"Um, I'd like to speak to Aro, please?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, sorry. I just thought-this should be really quick-"

"Mi dispiace, signorina. Signore Aro is in meetings all day. May I take a message?"

"Uh, sure, it's Bella Cu-Swan- S-W-A-N." I rattled off my number. "It's nothing super important I just-never mind."

I barely hung up my phone before it started ringing again. "Ali-"

"Do you know what you've just done?!"

"Er, I-"

"No! You just-" Alic broke off, she could either be thinking or having another vision.

"What?"

"Hush!"

There was another pause, then Alice muttered a four letter word I wasn't sure she knew before the line disconnected.

I started to redial, when the phone buzzed in my hand, nearly making me drop it. Vampire reflexes aside, I'd never handled being startled well.

I didn't recognize the number. "Alice?"

"Not quite, Signora. Were you expecting someone else?"

"No! No! I, sorry, you caught me by surprise."

Aro laughed as though he was delighted by my clumsy attempt at a greeting. "Buon anniversario, piccola. Have you enjoyed your gifts?"

"My anniversary presents!" -I grasped for the purpose behind the call, to stop myself from stuttering like an idiot. What kind of vampire stuttered? "Yes, they're beautiful. I-uh-I've been meaning to talk to you about them."

Carlisle was wrong. Aro would be angrier about being lied to, than whether or not someone he'd barely met, divorced.

"Oh?" He sounded like he was on the verge of teasing me again. I hoped his good mood held. "Finally feeling guilty after not returning any of my letters? I was beginning to despair of your manners, piccola."

Inhaling to rip off the bandaid, I nearly choked as he tutted. "Letters? What letters?"

He paused and I could hear the levity dissipate on the other side of the phone.

I was not expecting this to upset him, but I was regretting everything about this phone call. Why couldn't I just listen to Carlisle? It was too late now. It's not like I could hang up on him, but I was still clinging to the hope that maybe I could salvage the original point.

"I-uh-I'm sorry I didn't get your letters, but you don't have to send the presents anymore?"

I hated how I trailed off and cleared my throat, especially as the silence continued. "It's a-not that they aren't beautiful!-" Great, now I was rambling "-but, it's um, no longer applicable. So, uh-" for god's sake Bella, just say it! "-Edward and I aren't married anymore."

I spoke so fast the words slurred, but they were still perfectly audible to vampire hearing.

Another pause. "Is that so?"

I swallowed and nodded, then realized he couldn't see me. "Yeah, but it's not his fault. It's mutual and-"

"Mutual?"

I nodded, then stupidly remembered he couldn't see me. "Right, so he hasn't done anything wrong, so please don't-"

"And you called specifically to inform me of your unattachment?"

Now I felt stupid. This was the closest thing vampires had to a king and I was telling him about my…divorce? Runaway groom? I wished the cliff behind me would crumble, it would give me a reason to hang up. "I just-it felt wrong to take presents from you-"

"Che coza preziosa sei." He breathed over the phone. "Isabella, are you under the impression that I was sending gifts as a present to celebrate your union?"

"Er…aren't you? They're anniversary gifts, right?"

He chuckled again and I could almost see him shaking his head. "Of course not, cara ragazza. Your relationship with the tiresome Edward was un male necessario - a necessary evil - if you will. But, you becoming a vampire? That is a joyous occasion indeed, much worth remembering."

That's…not what I was expecting him to say. "Oh, uh, well thank you, I um…still don't think-" that I was capable of doing anything but stuttering like an idiot.

"Prego, I assume Carlisle told you they were anniversary gifts in addition to hiding my letters?"

I stayed quiet. I didn't want Carlisle to be in trouble. He sighed. "Come now, ragazza. You called me to tell me the truth, why not tell me everything?"

He sounded coaxing, like it was just casual conversation.

When I stayed silent he huffed in reluctant amusement. "You have such loyalty, even to those who mislead you. Never mind, bella cigna. I will have my answers soon enough. Enjoy your gifts, ciao."

The line clicked and I stared at my phone.

What had I done?