A/N: Hi all! Thanks for reading, please enjoy :) I was listening to the soundtrack to beauty and the beast when I wrote this, if that means anything.

Disclaimer: Twilight, alas, is not mine.

Chapter 10

My heart sank. Tanya! She'd seen us. I pushed Edward away from me, disgusted with myself. How could I do this to her? I'd thrown everything I'd wanted to do, everything I wanted to say, out of the window. For him. For Edward. Regret did not come easy, however. I knew in my soul that this was my mate. I barely knew him, but found myself unable to imagine spending a day of my life without him. In one fell swoop, Edward had become my everything. When Carmen had explained it to me it had sounded so romantic, the idea of absolute love, virtually at first sight. I had longed for it. Now that I was experiencing it myself it was….madness. I, Bella Swan, was not a fool. I knew this to be true. But it seemed utterly divorced from the fact that I wanted to spend eternity with this man. Something deep within me, something primal, longed to be with him. Love him. Do a great deal less savoury things to him. But I was getting side-tracked. I brought my mind back to Tanya, my sister. Who I had just betrayed. I hadn't even asked her. It must look as though I had set her up for this. Like Edward and I were laughing at her. Not 5 minutes after their disaster of a date I was in the same spot, kissing Edward; what she had tried and failed to do. I was distraught at the thought of what must be running through her head.

I took off in pursuit of Tanya, following her back to the house. She sensed me coming and stopped, just outside of the houses perimeter. I tentatively walked up to her. Her eyes shot daggers at me, but her voice came out soft, pained.

"How could you?". My heart broke. It was a perfectly valid question- how could I? What had I done? I had been selfish, ignoring my family to gratify my own selfish wants.

"Tanya, I'm sor-"

"You're sorry?!" She cut me off, incredulous. "Sorry? Like that's supposed to make it better? You're nothing but a thieving slut. How could you do this to me? After everything I've done for you?"

Tanya was living, hurling hurtful words at me. They stabbed like knives, cutting into my very heart.

"He's my mate". This was my only excuse. It sounded feeble to my ears.

"Your mate?" Tanya's voice turned cruel, mocking. "What would you know about mates? You've been a vampire for all of five minutes, and now you think you know more than me? It's not like you're reduced to a useless mess. You still have a brain. You still have a heart. You didn't even tell me. You just set me up for failure. Well, congratulations. I'm a laughing stock. My heart is broken. I could have expected it from Edward, he's turned me down before. I would never have expected it from you". Her voice was bitter, cold, cutting. She turned from me and entered the house.

I ran in behind her and encountered Kate and Irina blocking the stairwell, their arms crossed. "How could you, Bella" Kate softly questioned me, pain in her voice. "We thought of you as family. Tanya did".

"No! I never meant for this to happen, you have to understand- you have to believe me. Where's Carmen and Eleazar, they'll explain!"

"They went on a run together. They aren't here to defend you. As if they would." I had never experienced this hostility from Kate and Irina. But I understood. I had crossed a line. I had betrayed the very people who had opened up their home to me, but hurting Tanya the one way I knew would hurt her most; where she was vulnerable". Kate and Irina looked over to the Cullen family.

"I think it's best if this visit is cut short, in light of what's happened". The Cullen's stood together, protectively, pained expressions on their faces. Carlisle spoke, "I think that would be for the best, yes. Thank you for your hospitality. We are sorry things have gone this way. It was never our intention." They turned and exited the house, hurriedly re-packing their things.

"You too Bella". Kate spoke to me, her voice soft once again. I heard it break, just as my heart was doing at that very moment. "You may not have meant it, but the damage is done. It will hurt this family too much to have you remain. We're sorry. We tried". I knew they were right, but it did not stop me from hacking out pained sobs. They had become my family. What was I to do now?

I walked outside the house in a daze, and took off running. I ran blindly, not paying attention to where I was going. I heard Edward approach me and slowed to greet him. I didn't know what to say. He was everything to me, but at that particular moment I didn't have anything else. Because of him. Or because of me. I didn't know, I was so confused. Everything had gone so wrong, so quickly.

"Bella". Edward reached out a hand to me and I fell, sobbing, into his arms. "I'm sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. I didn't expect this to happen". I looked up at him "me either".

"Come with us. My family will accept you. They're all mated couples; they know the intensity of the feeling". At this point I didn't have any other options, so I numbly nodded my assent. We took off running in a south-east direction. We ran for several hours and the landscape gradually changed, turning into the tamer forests of Washington that I had grown used to growing up in Forks on my summer holidays. We talked along the way, Edward described his family to me in more detail. As Edward described his family to me I began to grown a larger picture in my mind of the friendly, warm Cullens. I had had so little opportunity to get to know them in Alaska before all the drama. I felt guilty about that, for ruining their holiday. I learned about the hostile, kind Rosalie. She had a strong protective streak and loved fiercely, when she actually did come to love someone. She was the polar opposite of her mate Emmett, an open hearted loving bear of a man. Then there was the pixie, Alice, who was fun loving and excitable. This was again, the opposite of her mate Jasper. In the short conversation I'd had with him I had come to learn he was steady and calm. He was the sort of person who thought carefully about every word he said. Esme and Carlilse were a perfect match, both loving, caring people, considering their coven mates their 'children'. It was a comforting picture, the one of their family. A thought occurred to me:

"Where are we going? I forgot to ask" I had become distracted in my grief. Edward responded, "We live in a small town named Forks in Washington State".

I immediately ground to a halt. Forks? That's where my father lived. Not to mention hundreds of other humans, all ripe for me to kill them. I felt very cold all of a sudden. I couldn't do that. I couldn't put my father, my only remaining family member, at risk. I explained this to Edward and he considered me gravely.

"We live a few miles outside of town, you can't smell the humans from our house. And I will always be by your side. If we ever encounter a human scent, I will protect you. I promise." His words brought joy to my heart, but I remained trepident. "I don't know Edward".

"Trust me, Bella." I couldn't not. Everything inside me told me to trust this wonderful man in front of me. I took his hand, and we continued running to Forks.