Edward is a problem. If Rosalie had a dollar for every time she'd had that thought, the Cullens would be richer than Bezos. He had irked her every step of the trip home so far: buying the tickets on the plane, waiting at the airport, arguing into first class, and finally, trying to sit by Bella when he obviously couldn't. Rosalie had thought some choice insults in his direction, and he had finally relented.
Rosalie didn't want to sit by Bella—not really. However, the subterfuge they had pulled off required dedication; their lives hung in the balance. She would sit by Bella, with Bella, even on Bella, if it meant they all lived a little bit longer. As they settled into their separate first-class seats, Bella looked uneasy. Rosalie tried to mind her own business, but she could tell Bella was shaking.

Oh no. Humans experience shock. They had been in the airport for two hours, but now it seemed like shock was setting in. Humans didn't make sense. Why break down so much later? There was a short panel between them, designed to give separate first-class passengers privacy if they wanted. Rosalie hit the switch to drop the divider between them. The wall slowly lowered as the flight attendants did the final check before takeoff. She reminded herself that anyone could be on this flight. Any member of the Volturi, anyone else praying for their downfall.

"Take a deep breath." Rosalie's quiet voice was barely loud enough for Bella to hear. "We're safe. The family is safe." She paused. "Your dad is safe." Rosalie didn't know if that was true, but she followed her instincts again anyway. What would Esme do? She lifted her seat's armrest, and Bella's as well, then took the nervous girl's hand. She could feel the unsettled quaking as Bella took a deep breath. "Right now, just know that we're okay. We'll talk more when we're home, okay?" She locked eyes with Bella, begging the girl not to say anything stupid that could get them killed. If a member of the Volturi were present, they would absolutely crash an entire plane to cover their tracks. Please, Bella, please.

The girl squeezed Rosalie's hand in return, then took a few slow, steadying breaths. She whispered back, "You promise?"

Rosalie could see Edward glaring at her across the aisle, the divider between him and Alice firmly in place. "I promise. Just try to relax now." She tried not to think of anything else, like how she and Emmett were over now, how they had barely survived the last twelve hours, or how everyone in their pathetic school would react. She didn't even know if Bella understood what had been done to save her. All that mattered was they stuck to it.

And they end her human life.

Edward groaned next to Alice. Bella probably couldn't hear him over the sound of the plane engines spooling up, and Rosalie was grateful. She reached across the girl with her free hand and quickly buckled Bella in with a quiet, "Excuse me." She didn't trust that Bella's shaking hands would be able to secure herself right now.

The flight attendants took their positions and went over their safety spiel on the loudspeakers. Rosalie did a quick glance to her left. The safety exit was ahead of where Alice and Edward were whispering. She hoped like hell they wouldn't have to find out if the three of them could keep a human alive after jumping out of a plane at 30,000 feet. Maybe they could, but that seemed extremely unlikely. They had thirteen hours ahead of them to try and stay alive. Maybe Bella would sleep the entire time, and Rosalie wouldn't have to be fearful of what the girl could say. She looked around them, bothered by the seclusion of first class for the first time in her life. She couldn't tell if they were being watched, or more likely, listened to.

Rosalie's phone buzzed. She took it out and saw someone had airdropped a message to her. We're watching. That answered one question. She looked at Alice and Edward. They had apparently gotten messages, too. She powered down her phone.

Did you see who it could be? Edward gently shook his head, not looking at Rosalie, though she knew he was answering her thought.

Thirteen hours. They could do this.

The flight attendants disappeared from view as the captain relayed a message. The plane taxied to it's place, and Bella's grip on Rosalie's hand tightened. Rosalie was pulled from her doom spiral thoughts. "Are you afraid of flying?"

Bella snorted, and when she spoke, her voice almost sounded steady. "No one is afraid of flying. They're afraid of crashing. I am very afraid of crashing." The engines revved up, and the plane began moving. Bella gripped Rosalie's hand tighter. This girl, who apparently fearlessly associated with both vampires and werewolves, was afraid of being murdered by gravity. As the ground fell away below them, the grip grew tighter, tighter, until they leveled out, and suddenly she relaxed. "Sorry," Bella said as she took her hand back. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Bella."

"Right. I forgot." What a strange girl. How could she forget she was sitting within five feet of three apex predators?

Rosalie looked at the black screen of her cell phone. Whoever sent that message had dropped it to her. She attempted to remember the range of airdrop, but it was a piece of information she'd never needed. She didn't want to turn the phone back on to look it up now, either. The light above their head dinged as it turned off, signaling that passengers could now move throughout the cabin. The brunette shivered and ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm herself up. Rosalie tried to decide how to handle this. As a cold-blooded creature of death, she couldn't warm Bella up. She also didn't want to warm Bella up, but that was a whole different problem. She was playing the dutiful mate, and she would continue to.

With a sigh, Rosalie took off her sweater and dropped it in Bella's lap. Bella jumped, her frayed nerves on display. Edward was glaring at Rosalie over Bella's shoulder. "I see that you're cold. You can wear my sweater. They'll be by with blankets and pillows soon, too. You could sleep if you want to." The look Bella gave her in return implied that Bella would not sleep during this flight, no matter what. Rosalie finally really looked at the girl. They had been in a frenzied rush to get on a plane to Italy and then strategically planned and checked to see Alice's ever-changing visions on the way to Italy. Now, Rosalie could really see the circles under her eyes and how thin she looked. Bella had always been a thin girl. (Maybe a little too thin. Did Edward ever feed her?) But this was something new. She looked haggard. She didn't seem unhealthy, exactly, but there were changes only a vampire would notice. The new lines around her mouth were frown lines. Her wrists seemed slightly thinner, and the way she gripped herself when she thought no one was looking wasn't normal. (Was it?) There was a new scar on her temple, like she had fallen or been attacked. It was months old. Their absence was supposed to be good for her after Edward ruined her life. Not only had it not been good for her, they had now truly doomed her to an eternity with them. Edward was glaring at Rosalie again, angered by her thoughts. Fuck off, she thought angrily. Bella recoiled a bit, and Rosalie tried to fix her expression.

"Would you like a blanket? A pillow?" The stewardess interrupted, and Rosalie was thankful.

"Yes, please," Bella said gratefully.

"And you ma'am?" The woman was beautiful, and she was a little too interested in Rosalie. She handed Bella a blanket and pillow, then gripped the cart, watching Rosalie's face. Was she a threat planted by the Voltaire, or just an interested human pulled in by vampiric beauty?

"Yes, please. One of each." The flight attendant handed Rosalie the items. "How do we close the curtain here? We'd like some privacy, if possible."

The flight attendant looked disappointed at that. She gestured to a button behind Bella. "If you press this here it will auto close the curtain. Press again to open. It does a wonderful job of blocking out light. Sound, not so much." Rosalie nodded, then looked back to Bella. "If you need anything, ladies, please don't hesitate to press the call button. I'll be right here." There it was. An interested human.

"Thank you. When are meals served?"

"In just a few hours. Would you like me to make sure you're both served, even if the curtain is closed?"

"Yes, please. Thank you." Rosalie kept her eyes on Bella. "Do me a favor, Bella? Press the curtain button please?"

The flight attendant took the dismissal as it was and had already turned to Edward and Alice by the time Bella was able to depress the button for the curtain. The burgundy curtain slowly slid across it's rails, enclosing their small area of the plain to give them the thinnest veil of privacy. Rosalie slid the shades on their two windows down and turned the lights down as well.

"Is this mood lighting?" Bella joked weakly. Even her laugh seemed sick.

"If the mood is," she leaned closer to whisper, "The human looks like she's going to die if she doesn't sleep for most of this flight." She leaned back, "Then yes. Mood lighting. Very, very moody lighting."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep." Bella gripped the blanket tightly, pulling it towards her. "I feel like-" Rosalie waited, but Bella didn't continue.

Rosalie wanted to know what she felt, even if she was deathly afraid of what Bella would say next. She pictured a plane crashing into the ocean and never being found, but pressed on anyway. "You slept while we were in the belly of the beast. Why can't you sleep now?"

"In the room, you were holding me." Rosalie cocked her head. She had never offered Bella comfort, so before she just assumed the girl had been exhausted. Bella's cheeks turned red as she continued, "I knew in that moment that, no matter what, I would wake up if you all left me again."

Alice's sharp intake of breath told Rosalie she and Edward were listening. Rosalie almost said, 'If I wanted to sneak out from under you, I could have, and you never would have known,' but that felt like a bad idea. She couldn't antagonize Bella now. Rosalie breathed in and out, slowly. After a pause, she quietly said, "Bella, we're not going anywhere. Our futures are now inextricably linked. By the time we land, the entire family will be moved back into the house." Rosalie spread out the second blanket across Bella. "Also, we're on a plane. I would not do anything that would make me disappear from a plane."

As she nodded at Rosalie, it looked like gears were turning in her mind. "I'll sleep if you can do something for me." She must have looked apprehensive, because Bella pointed at her and whispered, "I saved your brother."

Offended, Rosalie quietly shot back, "You saved your ex-boyfriend." Bella raised her eyebrows and waited. God, her under-eye dark circles were so pronounced. "Okay. You saved my very annoying brother." Alice quietly giggled. This was going to be a long flight.

"Because you made a mistake." Rosalie didn't trust her voice. If she said something back, it would be mean, spiteful, and likely loud. She was the reason Edward and Bella ended up in this particular predicament. It was her fault that Alice and she were here too, risking all their lives. If she had waited one day, everyone would have known Bella was safe. Everyone would still have been scattered across the globe. Rosalie swallowed hard. She nodded instead of trying to speak. "I can probably sleep if we have contact. If I know you're not going anywhere, I should be able to relax. That helped in Italy, and it might help now."

With an eyebrow raised, Rosalie just watched Bella. The girl met her eyes with a steady gaze. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Bella seemed surprised. Was she really that unapproachable? Edward laughed, and Rosalie knew the answer was yes. "Come here." Bella began to scoot over, and Rosalie considered the way Bella had slept in the church. Trying to help, she put her arms under Bella and pulled the girl into her lap, attempting to cradle her the exact same way. If this was what she needed, Rosalie could do this much. She reclined both their seats until they were lying in what essentially felt like a reclined queen mattress. She offered a pillow to Bella so the girl could arrange it however she wanted. "How is this? Secure enough?"

"Um..." Rosalie realized Bella's temperature was rising and her heart was racing. She looked down at the girl, watching her cheeks go from pink to red. "This is fine."

Rosalie whispered again, hoping no one was waiting to kill them. "What? Something wrong?"

"When I said contact, I just meant touching. It didn't have to be this much." She covered her face with the blanket.

"Oh." What a fool she was. She had not had to care for a human in so long, she'd forgotten how to do it. (Had she ever known how to care for humans, even when she'd been one?) She should have had Alice sit next to Bella on the flight. That could have been believable for a few hours, right? They are best friends. Rosalie tried to slide out from under Bella, trying to fix her mistake.

Bella ripped the blanket down from her face, and grabbed Rosalie's arm. "Please, don't. If you can tolerate this, I do think it's what I need." Still embarrassed, Rosalie nodded. She put her pillow behind Bella's back, and the girl was tucked into her, with her legs across Rosalie's lap and the rest of their first-class bench. Both blankets were around her, insulating her against the coolness of Rosalie. Finally, the second pillow was in Bella's arms, and she gripped it tight, her head resting on Rosalie's shoulder.

The plane hit a small bit of turbulence, and Rosalie instinctively wrapped an arm around Bella, keeping her in place. The shaking ended quickly, and neither of them moved. Rosalie tried not to breathe. Every moment Bella slept was a moment she couldn't put them in danger. The girl tucked in tighter, her proximity causing Rosalie to put her chin on top of Bella's head. Neither of them said anything after this. Rosalie waited for Bella's breathing to even out and her heart rate to slow. She hadn't expected the young woman to relax so quickly. She let out the breath she had been holding, relieved she could finally relax.

Rosalie's position was actually quite comfortable. The seats were soft, and Bella was extremely warm. If she stayed quiet, if they all stayed quiet, they should safely land in Seattle. They could drive to Forks and live there for a while in relative safety. Maybe. The first step was just to make it. Eleven hours left.

Two more hours into the flight, the flight attendant carefully opened their curtain. She allowed her eyes to adjust and looked at Bella's sleeping form with jealousy in her eyes. Rosalie watched her consider what to do. She expected the woman to loudly announce meal service. The woman hesitated a beat, then quietly said, "We have three options for meal service. Would you like to hear them?" Rosalie nodded very carefully. "We have short ribs with mac and cheese, golden chicken, and Chef Russo's grain bowls with many drink options. What would you two like?"

"Could we please get the chicken, the ribs, and two bottles of water?" Rosalie did her best not to wake Bella. She felt the girl stir against her, and irritation at the attendant rose in her. Bella needed her sleep.

The flight attendant nodded, and quietly whispered, "Five minutes," while holding up five fingers. Bella stayed asleep in the interim. Alice's face appeared and disappeared around their curtain. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her sister's intrusion. They had about nine hours to go, and neither Edward nor Alice had intervened in any way. It was only a matter of time.

Alice snuck into the space Bella's legs weren't occupying. She stayed quiet as she took in the image before her. "You've seen it?" Rosalie didn't explain what she meant. Alice would know what she was asking about. She needed to know if Alice had truly seen Bella becoming a vampire.

"We wouldn't be alive if I hadn't."

The next question was difficult to word without giving anything away to any potential spies. Expecting her sister to understand, Rosalie only asked, "When?" She decided to say the entire question. 'When did you see her as a vampire?' When had Alice seen it? Was this vision old or new? She took back the decision, hoping Alice would see the vision before she changed her mind. She couldn't vocalize this question.

"Last year."

Fuck. Alice had seen it last year when Edward and Bella started dating. Before they left, and certainly before this extended nightmare of a trip.

The flight attendant reappeared, surprised to see Alice in the small space. "Oh, excuse me."

The little vampire turned her sparkling smile on the girl and winked. "No, excuse me, ma'am. Allow me to help." Alice gently took the meal platters from the woman. She set them in front of Rosalie. "Thank you so much," Alice smiled at the woman again, who put a hand over her chest as she backed away, stunned.

Bella shifted. "Alice," she grumbled sleepily. "It's rude to stun humans like that." A little further down the aisle, a tray hit the floor.

Alice cringed. "That was my fault." She disappeared around the curtain and said, "Morgan, are you alright? Let me help!"

Bella chuckled and stretched. She started to relax back into Rosalie's lap before she remembered where she was. She very quickly scooted off Rosalie's lap and fully back into her own seat. "Thank you."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. The girl was shy now? She charged across a giant fountain, rescued a vampire, and slept on a different vampire twice, but now she was shy. Was it just a persona? Was Bella pretending to be shy? She realized she actually didn't know much about the girl. In fact, she didn't even know if the meals she picked were things Bella would eat. Rosalie mentally kicked herself. She was pretty sure she had been a picky human, throwing food she didn't like back at whoever had brought it to her. She had no idea if Bella was the same. It seemed unlikely, but... "I didn't know what you would want to eat, but I thought you should. Are you hungry?" The answer came as Bella's stomach growled aggressively. Rosalie slid both meals over to Bella. "Bon appetit."

As Rosalie watched Bella unroll her utensils, open the lid to one meal, and poke at it, she realized that Bella used to do everything in an extremely self-conscious way, almost as if she was hyper-aware of her every movement. The girl wasn't quite like that anymore. Bella began eating without looking around, hiding behind her hair, or folding into herself like she used to. The girl was thinner, but she was…better, somehow. What had happened in the time they were gone? "If you're gonna watch me eat, I'm gonna get very weird about it."

Rosalie averted her eyes, and said, "You'll get weird? That's news to me. I thought you were already weird."

The girl scoffed and carried on. She ate the first meal quickly. Rosalie carefully avoided looking at her. She listened instead to Edward and Alice. Edward was chastising their sister for dazzling the flight attendant. "Alice, you knew it was going to happen. I don't understand."

"I don't know everything."

"I saw you have the vision."

"She's cute. Jasper wouldn't mind if I got to know someone!"

"Rosalie," Edward sounded frustrated, "Mind your own business." Yeah, Edward, you're one to talk.

"What are you smiling at?" Bella had finished the first meal and was opening the second.

"Just listening to my brother and sister bicker. It's fun for me."

The human nodded as she took her first bite of the next meal. Rosalie had known the girl needed to eat, but she hadn't known how badly. She should have woken her up earlier. She needed to play the caring mate, starting several hours ago. Again, she wondered how one successfully cared for a human. "You wouldn't know," Edward mumbled.

A growl escaped Rosalie before she could stop it. How dare he intrude. This was his fault. All of it. She couldn't even fight with him now without destroying everything. Bella looked at her. "Are you hungry or something? Because if you're gonna kill me after everything, I will be very disappointed." The girl didn't even stop eating, though the hand holding the plastic knife was shaking slightly.

"I'm not going to eat you." She tried not to sneer. She had never eaten a human. Well, not in the way that would change her eye color. There had been a time in the seventies when she was experimenting with many different people. There was one girl with whom she spent three weeks in a commune.

"Rosalie, please!" Edward grumbled across the aisle. Prude.

"Good. I would like to talk to my dad again. He's going to ground me."

"He's definitely going to ground her. We're talking months." Alice, at least, had the kindness to stick her head through the curtain and speak so Bella could hear her.

Bella's hand shot out and caught Alice. She yanked the girl towards her, and Alice gracefully landed between the tray and the girl, wrapping her arms around her. Rosalie averted her eyes. The moment felt private, almost awkward. She didn't want to intrude, but she couldn't help it. Alice was in Bella's lap, holding the human as tightly as she safely could. "Missed you," Bella whispered it like a deeply held secret.

"I know," Alice whispered back.

"We made it?"

"So far."

The curtain opened again, and this time it was Edward. "Bella, can I-"

All three women spoke at once. "No."

He withdrew, and Alice followed shortly. Bella looked exhausted again. Rosalie pushed the food to the side and folded up her tray. Given the danger they were in, she didn't have anything to say. Instead, she held the blanket out and opened her arms.

Bella was more alert, even with how exhausted she clearly still was. There were questions dancing in her eyes. She clearly wanted to know why they were alive. Rosalie hoped, no prayed, silently to whatever god was out there that Bella would just accept the comfort that Rosalie could offer (even though she truly didn't understand why Bella relaxed around her). "Are you sure?"

Rosalie nodded and held the blankets open in invitation. The human crawled across their large seats and settled in Rosalie's lap. This time, it felt more like when she had held the human in the church. Bella's arm slipped around Rosalie's back as she tucked into the blonde's chest. Rosalie made sure the blanket was tucked between her body and Bella. The last thing she wanted was hypothermic shock at ten thousand feet. This was weird. It was fine. With only a few hours left, maybe they would be fine.

When they met the rest of the Cullens at the gate, Rosalie was repulsed. Esme and Carlisle both held Edward. Jasper and Alice held hands and just stared into each other's eyes. Rosalie had managed to text Emmett that she would explain later, but he could have a quick hug and nothing more. After that, she gave Bella a loaded look, took her hand, and led her away. She felt the girl's hesitancy, but she did follow Rosalie's lead. Maybe it was because of the amount of time she'd spent sleeping in Rosalie's arms. Maybe it had been the short note Rosalie had given her on the plane that said, ''Follow my lead, I'll explain later.'

Whatever it was, the human didn't blow their cover. She was grateful for that, at least. There were no bags to grab, and for that, they were all thankful. Together, they piled into two cars and were on their way. Emmett was in the BMW with Rosalie and Bella.

"Em, you know how we always knew we might find our mates?" He nodded, and she saw it in the rearview. "I found mine. And the Volturi are threatening all of us. So, Bella and I don't have time to waste. Do you understand?"

From his squished place in the backseat, he nodded again. She did feel bad. Their life together had been good. It had been comfortable.

Now, it was over. He put a gentle hand on Rosalie's shoulder. "We had a good time."

"We did." They pulled up outside Bella's house. "Could you take the car home? Bella's in trouble, and I want to be here for her." He nodded, and Rosalie and Bella left the car together.