Someone recently asked me on Tumblr who I envisioned Peter as—actor wise—and I gotta say I've been in love with Hayden Christensen ever since I saw him in Awake and Star Wars. He's also become the main fancast for Aaron Warner in the Shatter Me series which is funny but I'm not mad about one bit.

Also in the next time jump, the romance that will eventually come between Bella and Peter will be a slow burn. Hope you look forward to that :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter x

Carter is dead.

Peter confirmed Bella's words before she fell unconscious, calling his friend's cellphone more times than he could count before ultimately deciding that she had indeed told him the truth. Alice had received a vision of the death as well, so there was no mistaking it. The vampire had always been a good tracker, which was reason enough to ask Carter to keep an eye on James. If he'd been captured then there must be more than Victoria up the nomad's sleeve. Another obstacle he hadn't counted on...

Peter had to admit that Bella's gifts, even as a human, were exceptional. Dangerous, he thought to himself as he finished feasting upon an elk in the forest. Ridding himself of the aching thirst in his throat. It had been a mistake to get so close to the girl last night. He'd known that.

For some reason, however, he couldn't stop the instinctual urge to rush to her side the moment his gift picked up on what was going on with her. The blinding panic to be near her if only to be sure she was safe was unlike anything he'd experienced.

When he realized she was seizing—her mind taken elsewhere—it was all he could do to not rip her bedroom door clean off it's hinges. The agony on Bella's face when he knelt beside her...

He gritted his teeth, wiping the remnants of blood away with the back of his hand with disgust.

Never in his hundred years alive did he think he'd be drinking blood from an animal. Not after praying on the criminals and rapists of the earth to sate his thirst. Cleaning up the world one monster at a time.

That had been his excuse to not feel guilty for taking lives.

It still would be if he hadn't been given a mate who was human of all things.

Human.

Fragile.

Breakable.

Too pure for the likes of you.

Peter scoffed, pushing aside the thoughts that seemed to constantly hound him for weeks now.

Once he was done burying the elk at the base of a tree in the forest a few miles away from the Cullen residence, he made to walk back towards the house. With every step he took however, he started to pull the carefully crafted mask up around his inner most thoughts. Keeping them hidden once again.

He knew that was why Edward Cullen disliked him so much now. Because he didn't reveal an inkling of any of his thoughts towards Bella out in the open.

To be used against him.

Peter knew what they thought of him. Saw it in Rosalie's scrutinizing gaze. In Jasper's attempts to read his emotions and always coming out confused. They were all wary of him...except for Alice oddly enough.

Then again Alice was always an enigma.

She'd been the one to convince him to come here after all. Saying it was time he faced the future that waited for him. If she meant hunting down James to keep Bella safe or because they were somehow meant to be together when she was older—hell if he knew.

All he knew was that the latter would be impossible. Bella was human, would probably always remain human. Therefore she would choose the human boy she'd fallen in love with.

Peter didn't have to be an empath to recognize it. He'd seen the way Flynn and Bella were around each other. Even from a distance, he could see it. There was real love there. Innocent and young, but a first love nonetheless.

Peter couldn't see himself being an obstacle between them. Not him, the villain of the story.

His mood was becoming infinitely more sour as his thoughts ran wild. All of them surrounding the human girl sleeping fitfully in her room while her family thought of ways to protect her.

None of them resulting in Bella's happiness, as far as he could sense with his gift.

Jasper hadn't left Bella's side all night.

Couldn't even if he'd wanted to seeing as she'd kept a vice grip on his hand. Keeping him close. Eventually he opted for laying down next to her, making sure to cover her up with two blankets to keep her from getting cold.

The moment he did however, Bella curled onto her side beside him. Her hand moving to clutch the hem of his shirt. Just like when she'd been a little girl, always fighting to keep him—anyone of their family members—close at all times. Even in sleep, she was afraid of being alone.

How could he blame her? Now more than ever.

Eventually Carlisle came to check on them, easing into the room and slowly making his way towards his children with an adorning look in his eyes. It did little to stop Jasper from sensing his turmoil.

"Where will we go from here?" Jasper murmured, his voice a deep rumble in his chest.

Carlisle sat on Bella's side of the bed, gently running a hand over her head.

The subtle peace Jasper felt from his sister as soon as he did that made him smile.

"We'll go to New York for a time, it's cold enough there that we can still blend in. Although Alice suggested we eventually head down to Forks. I know, son. I don't like it either." Carlisle said when he saw the look of incredulity on Jasper's face at the mention of the town where it all started for their family and Bella. Nothing good could come from going back to Forks.

"She suggested did she?" Jasper murmured.

His father gave him a wry smile, clearly Alice's suggestion was much more than that and they both knew it.

"Just for sometime, until she and Peter can see what James' next move will be. I'm afraid there isn't much time to debate the decision and I won't even consider anything else if it means putting Bella's safety at risk. Her seizures are getting worse and too frequent," Jasper understood Carlisle's worry. As strong as the child between them was, eventually the weight of possessing such an incomprehensible gift will take a toll on her. Sooner than later.

They looked down to Bella when she mumbled, her brows pinching together.

"Alright then," Jasper sighed, "to New York it is, I guess."

Carlisle left shortly after placing a kiss on Bella's temple and ruffling Jasper's hair with affection, letting him know they would all be downstairs discussing the trip they were all about to take. By the sounds of things, Esme had already started packing a few things. Not that they were taking them, but if any neighbors grew curious to know why the Cullen's hadn't been seen lately they would only find an empty house.

An hour later, Bella woke up with a start. Her big brown eyes lost and panicked for a moment due to whatever dream she'd just escaped.

"Hey," Jasper smiled when her gaze found his.

Bella's heart was beating a little harder as she sat up. Jasper gently helped her up, keeping a bit of distance between them while she sorted through her emotions that always ranged from one extreme to another before simmering back down to forced calm.

She'd been doing that a lot lately.

Battling with herself to keep her emotions under the surface. Never wanting to show her true feelings to him. Jasper knew it had to do with what she'd seen when he'd "died", but he still didn't like it. It only added to his list of worries. In a way he was glad to be immortal, forever stuck in time, otherwise he would have a head full of grey hairs.

Bella's hands were trembling on her lap. She quickly wiped her face in an attempt to steel herself before saying to him, "You don't have to stay with me. I'm okay now. Sorry for keeping you here."

So she's going to try and shut down on me again. Like hell will I let that happen.

Jasper said, "I wanted to stay. I'll stay for as long as you want me to, you know that."

"Do I?"

He frowned, "What do you mean, darlin'?"

Bella looked at him then, a torn expression on her ashen face. When she spoke however, there was a slight hint of irritability, "How do I know if you'll stay? Can you swear it?"

"Of course," Jasper reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, "I would never break my promise to you, Bella."

Bella shrugged his touch away, inching closer to the edge of the bed. She resembled that little girl he'd found huddle on the floor of her bedroom all those years ago, needing him to hug her when she was sad.

How could he ever get that little girl back after everything?

"Bella...talk to me. Tell me what's going on. I just want to help—"

"You gave up," She suddenly blurted. Jasper's lips parted, suddenly feeling all the anger and sorrow she felt being shot towards him. A fire blazed in Bella's eyes in a way he hadn't seen before. They were bright with unshed tears as she said through gritted teeth, "You. Gave. Up."

Jasper reached out towards her hand but she stood up, pacing. He watched her, taken aback by her outburst. Her emotions started to match the rhythm of her heartbeat: frantic.

"Y-you let him win. He killed you! Right in front of me and I couldn't do anything. Y-you c-could have stopped him, but you didn't! You j-just let it happen. I saw it! I keep seeing it, every time I look at you. Charlotte and Peter even fought more than you did," Jasper actually flinched. Her voice shook as she gestured with her hands. Running one through her hair as she relived the nightmare she hadn't wanted to talk about with anyone.

"Darlin'...I'm okay." Jasper sat on the edge of the bed, forearms resting atop his knees as he leaned forward.

"But you wouldn't have been!" She whirled on him. This time the tears really were running down her face. God, what he wouldn't give to make it so she would never cry again. He couldn't stand seeing those tears. "You ignored Alice's call, no matter how many times she tried. And then you lost it when you saw that woman...the one who looked like me."

A strangled sob escaped her.

Dread was a cold knife to his heart.

Fuck, what had she seen? To what end?

Bella's breaths came out shallow, struggling to keep up with her words as she started to find it difficult to breathe. She'd start hyperventilating soon if he didn't calm her.

"James—I know he wants me. I know it because it's all he talks about when I'm there. And because of me, he's killing all those women. The one's who look like me."

Jasper stood and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from wearing a hole in the carpet.

"Breathe, Bella," His gift reached out to her and he could see her visibly calm down, though the panic was still in her eyes as she looked up to him.

Her voice broke as she covered her face with her hands, shaking her head, "I can't stop it. I can't stop him from hurting any of them. All I can do is run away and hide just so I don't hear them scream anymore. I'm a coward, and it's my fault, I know it is."

"No, Bella," He said again with ferocious protectiveness, "No."

Gently prying her hands away from her face, he made her look at him. Every inch of her was trembling, badly. But she still gathered the courage to face him with tears swimming in her eyes. Always brave, no matter what she thought of herself.

There was an endless pool of despair in her gaze. Drowning her slowly. Carlisle and him had been wrong. This gift was already taking a toll on her.

The guilt she felt was excruciating to him. It was his turn to sound broken when he said, "Listen to me. None of this, none of what has happened in your life is your fault. James' obsession with you is not your fault. He's sick. A monster who only wants to kill his prey. It's what he's always done, only you're the first who has ever gotten away from him.

"Little one, look at me," He eased gently when she shut her eyes and shook her head. "I'll never give up on you. On this family. I don't know what you saw and I wish to god I could make you forget it all if I had that power, but I will never let James or anyone ruin us. I will always fight for you, Bella. You're my sister," Tears shined in his eyes as he said softly, his voice trembling, "you can be mad at me all you want for protecting you. You can throw things at me and ignore me even. I know you do them because you're scared. I'm scared too. I'm terrified of losing you someday. But none of it will change how much I love you. I won't stop fighting until you are safe."

A sob broke out of her, the last of her walls finally caving into themselves as she admitted, "I'm scared of being alone again, Jasper. I don't want to go back there. I don't want to, I can't..."

He shut his eyes as he pulled her into his arms and held her to his chest as tightly as his strength would allow without harming her, his hand cradling her head as he whispered, "I'm here, Bella. Right here. We'll fix this, darlin'."

"Don't leave me again." Her hands trembled as they clutched the back of his shirt.

"I won't." He swore it. Even if it did result in him unleashing the monster within him upon everyone in sight, he would do it. To protect this frightened, brave girl in his arms.

Everyone downstairs heard Bella's heartbreaking confession.

Esme clutched Carlisle's hand to keep herself from running upstairs to be with her children. As much as she wanted to do so, this was a moment between her youngest and Jasper. They needed this time to fix what had been slowly breaking because of James.

Rosalie had left the room as soon as she heard what James had been doing to the girls that resembled her sister. Disgusted and horrified by what that meant for Bella if the bastard ever got his hands on her. He wouldn't. Over my dead body, she had thought with venom in her entire being. Emmett followed after his wife, enraged but knowing his mate needed him more than he needed to destroy something. Alice looked more tired than Edward had ever seen her.

He knew what she was thinking of course, saw it on her face. He sat down beside her and draped his arm around her shoulders. She let him pull her into his side, giving her some semblance of comfort even while they still heard Bella's sobs trickle downstairs.

"We can't stay here past tomorrow," the pixie murmured. "He'll go to the Denali's first. Look for Laurent. Carter told him we were in Alaska before he was killed, that must have been enough for him to relate us to the Denali Coven."

"I've already contacted Eleazar and explained the situation. He says Laurent and Irina are due to arrive tomorrow night. Just to be safe, I've told him not to disclose our next location to the rest of the coven," Carlisle stated though his tone clearly indicated he wasn't entirely happy with the secrecy between the only other coven they considered family. But it was necessary. Now that the Denali's met Bella, they had to know this would happen eventually. The less people knew about the human girl, the more of a chance they had of preventing news from reaching the Volturi.

"What of Flynn?" Esme asked. "He's grown so close to her. It won't be easy for her if he starts to ask questions." Everyone looked to her, clearly not having an answer either.

Edward suggested, "It's up to Bella if she wants to say goodbye, but I think it wise if she didn't tell him where we're going either. Take no chances."

Carlisle nodded despite the sadness that filled the room. Flynn had grown up alongside Bella, and it would be a loss they all felt.

Edward's eyes were two distant orbs of amber as he envisioned the two inseparable children, watching them grow up and gradually care for one another. Falling in love. Because there was no doubt about it, Edward thought. Flynn was in love with Bella. As in love as a teenager could be he supposed.

"If ever a true friend existed, it's that boy. It makes what we're going to have to do all the more difficult. And so unfair to Bella."

Alice followed by saying, "I couldn't agree more."

Flynn had come over later that afternoon.

Bella had been a ball of nerves the whole time she waited for him to arrive. No one told her yet, but she knew what she needed to do. The girl may be young, but the things she'd seen had told her there was no way they could stay here with James coming to hunt her down.

Per usual, she and Flynn took a walk around the lake after they finished eating. Emmett, Edward, and Jasper made themselves scarce by playing a round of games though they were keenly aware of the teenagers. Reading Bella's nervous energy as anxiety.

Peter had been nowhere to be seen ever since the night prior when he'd helped her out of the seizure. Charlotte went in search for him, grumbling something under her breath that Bella hadn't been able to catch when the pretty nomad walked out onto the back porch.

She now knew that she wasn't merely experiencing any ordinary seizure. The jump as Carlisle had explained to her. Apparently she wasn't simply going crazy, she was developing some sort of gift on top of it.

Perfect, just add more things to the pile of nonsense in my life.

"It was good to see all of them again," Flynn said after some time regarding her siblings who were supposed to be heading off to college again. He'd bid them farewell today, utterly unaware it would in fact be the last time they would be seeing each other. Esme and Alice had gone as far as hugging the boy too. Both of them hiding their already grieving expressions.

It made it difficult for Bella to see it all unfold before her so she turned her back to Flynn and her family, pretending to take an interest in one of the fashion magazines Rosalie had on her lap.

Rosalie hadn't been reading it either. The blonde had been too preoccupied watching Bella with a worried glance.

She had to ignore that too.

Otherwise she would break completely.

Bella bit her lip hard enough to hurt, "Yeah."

He took her hand in his. It was so warm, so strange to her when she'd been used to nothing but cold gentle touches from her family.

"So tryouts are soon," Flynn said, talking about hockey again like always. He really loved the sport. It made Bella smile up at him as she listened to him discuss the team he wanted to play for in high school.

"I'm sure you'll get in."

"Yeah?" He grinned, utterly oblivious to how hard it was for her to keep an easy smile on just for his sake.

How crushing it was on the inside to have to pretend.

To lie to him.

Try as she might, it was hard to come up with the words she needed to say. The more she wanted to pay attention to him, spending the last few hours they had left, the harder it was getting.

"Are you not feeling well? Should I get Carlisle?" Flynn asked when they reached the house again. Apparently he'd noticed how pale she'd gotten.

"No, I think I'm just tired. Rough night."

"Okay well, if you need me you can always call. You know that." He gave her a hug and started to head for the van parked in the driveway.

A ball formed in her throat as she watched him go. Turning her back on him, Bella felt the unnerving urge to run. Run away. Get as far away from all of this—from her life—as she could.

But she couldn't leave Flynn like this.

Footsteps approached behind her and it was her undoing.

"Flynn, I—" Bella turned back around, wanting to tell him...to tell him...

She never got the chance to when Flynn suddenly cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. The joy she would have felt wasn't there when he pulled back. It nearly broke her completely to see that he was smiling down at her with love.

That's what it was, wasn't it?

Love.

Flynn loved her.

And she loved him.

What a fool.

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" He asked, taking a step back towards the van with the same warm smile he always gave her.

Bella couldn't bring herself to say the words. Not yet. Even if she knew what was going to happen in the end. So she gave him one more day of happiness. One more day of loving her.

She nodded with a small smile that she hoped didn't betray how heartbroken she felt inside, "Yeah. Tomorrow."

Instead of coming home after Flynn left, Bella walked off. Going as fast as her legs could take her, following the trail around the lake until she reached the chairs Carlisle and Esme had always sat in to watch the sunset together.

Carlisle watched her from the front porch, worry etched in his features as he listened to the heaviness in her breathing. The way she struggled to catch her breath even though she hadn't ran.

In the cold, it wouldn't be surprising if she got sick. She never did well with cold environments, but put up with it for her family.

Knowing they could never go somewhere sunny.

Not without risking exposure.

Always sacrificing something for us as we do the same for her. But that's family, isn't it?

Carlisle waited a moment before slowly making his way towards her.

When she finally calmed down, Bella sat in his usual seat. Curled up on the Adirondack chair facing the water, hugging her legs to her chest. The breeze gently caressed her face as if in greeting. Her unbound hair was a stream of mahogany in the wind, sending the familiar scent of strawberries and lavender his way.

Carlisle had always known she was beautiful, but seeing her now surrounded by utter tranquility amidst the chaos in her heart, he realized his little girl wasn't a child anymore. Even if he still saw her as one—would probably always see her as such.

She glanced up when he came to a stop between the two chairs, "May I sit?" Bella nodded. He sat down in Esme's chair, facing her. He watched her for a moment longer before saying, "We know James is coming soon. Alice is keeping an eye out but there's no telling when he'll be here for sure. Only that it will be sooner than we would have hoped. Too soon."

Bella nodded, biting her bottom lip. Her tone was flat as she murmured, "We have to leave, don't we?"

It was in moments like these where he wished his daughter could still feel like a child. Where she didn't have to worry about death as much as she did, or had to see it so often. That she didn't have to give up her humanity because of it. It hurt him greatly to know that he couldn't protect her from it all.

What good is a father if he can't protect his children from the monsters of the world?

Carlisle's gaze softened, "Yes. We do."

"When?"

"...Tomorrow would be best."

Though her expression was the same—unaffected and considering—her voice quivered, "So we really can't stay..."

Carlisle swallowed, "I'm sorry, Bella."

"Can I still say goodbye before we leave?"

He knew she meant Flynn.

"It's up to you, sweetheart. Although, I think it would better for both of you if you did."

"What should I say to him? How do I tell him this?" Bella looked uncertain when she found the pained look on her father's face which reflected her own.

"You say what is in your heart. Tell him how you feel, as you always have. I know this is unfair to you, Bella. We all know it and we can only imagine what you feel being asked to sacrifice such an important person in your life. If it were up to me, we'd all stay here forever just so you could have this." He didn't let himself think what that would mean for Bella's future. If she chose Flynn and the humans over them. If she grew old with a man she loved, had a family of her own and eventually died someday while they watched from a distance. It was all...too painful.

"I knew it. I knew this would happen and I shouldn't be surprised. It's inevitable, right? This is...my life. Because I'll always choose you no matter what I feel. I'll always choose this family even if I want to stay with Flynn," Bella's brows bunched together and tears instantly filled her eyes. As if saying those words out loud broke the control within her. She whispered, "So why do I feel so terrible inside?"

Carlisle knelt in front of her, taking her hand in his. Bella took him by surprise by launching herself forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding onto him. Despite the situation, he was glad to be holding her again like this. That she'd forgiven him for keeping secrets to protect her.

He ran a comforting hand over her back, "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I truly am."

Bella didn't say anything. What words could possibly convey how she truly felt? It was too much for her young mind to comprehend.

Carlisle held her as she cried in silence, grieving for the closest thing to a normal life she never truly had a chance at having. Because after today, she finally let it all slip through her fingers.

Thanks for reading x

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