Chapter Fifteen "The Beginning of the End"

EMPOV

I think I'll write a book: My Father is a Vampire and My Sister's Boyfriend Lives Downstairs. The title alone would sell. I'm not sure why I suggested the whole thing. It might have had more to do with my family than I was willing to admit. No sense throwing temptation in front of them, you know. In any case, Jasper and Rosalie came to live with us. Jasper ended up in Edward's room and asked if it was okay if he used the piano. I told him he could eat the piano for all I cared. I think he took it the wrong way. Rosalie took one of the guest rooms. I didn't tell her that it used to be our mom's den. Usually men have dens, but a woman with three unusual children needed a break now and then. Dad changed the room to a guest room a few years after Mom died… not that we ever had guests until now. The first night, we did our homework and went to bed relatively early.

We went to school, we came home, we ate, we slept, and Alice had nightmares. I can't count the times in those two months that she woke up screaming and ran into my room. Jasper always heard and came up to check on her. I always told him she was fine.

Alice had never relied on me because she always had someone else. Edward, or Dad, or Bella, then Jasper, but I was closest to her, and she was too terrified to be selective.

More than once, I suggested we move away. Every time, Alice glared at me and left the room. We hadn't seen Dad or Edward in a couple of weeks, when Bella dropped by one afternoon.

"I'm going over there," she said.

"No you're not," I insisted.

"I know what happened, Emmett. I know what they are. Edward probably thinks I'll hate him, but he needs to know I don't."

"He's fine."

"How would you know?" Alice asked. "I'm going with you, Bella."

"No way, Alice. You aren't going anywhere near that house."

"Emmett, you may be legally in charge of me, but you can't stop me. Are you going to lock me in my room?"

"Alice, what if something happens to you?"

"They wouldn't hurt me, you know that. They were going to live with us until you got scared."

"I got scared? Who's the one that wakes up screaming at one AM? The one who has nightmares of vampires?"

"They're not my thoughts. I may be sick in the head when I'm asleep, but I'm perfectly lucid now, and I'm going with Bella."

"Why don't we all go?" Jasper asked. "Safety in numbers, you know?" I felt my jaw clench and relax, clench and relax.

"Y'all go," I said, "but I'm not."

"Emmett," Bella reached out and touched my arm. I looked down at her and she let go.

"Come on," Alice said, heading for the door. Everyone followed, until only Jasper was left.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "You keep her safe, or I promise you, I will kill you."

BPOV

I was determined. I was going to talk to Edward and he was going to listen to me. Rosalie drove us down back roads, in a way only she knew. I realized I had never had a pleasant conversation with her. Now she was living with my best friends and I hadn't been around in weeks. I sunk further into the backseat of Rosalie's fancy car and wondered. What had caused her and Emmett to click the way they had? A month ago, he couldn't stand her, now they were the most talked about couple in Forks.

I wasn't in this loop. My parents weren't vampires, but I was in love with one. I missed Alice and Emmett, but they didn't seem to need me anymore. But Edward… he was my last hope to get everything back, and I knew, he wouldn't take me. He would think he was too dangerous. He would say I was better off with Jacob or Mike… but I didn't love them. That had to count for something.

We arrived at the house and from outside, it looked dead. There were no lights on. There was no sound coming from inside. But, as we got out of the car, the front door opened.

"Your mother isn't here," Edward said to Rosalie.

"We're here to see you," Alice interrupted.

"They won't be back until dark," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Edward," I said. I saw a strange expression cross his face. He wouldn't look at me. "Edward, I need to talk to you."

"You should all go home," he said.

"What's the danger, if you're not thirsty?" Jasper asked. Then, Edward did look at me. His eyes were a bright gold color, but I remember distinctly that they were black that day in Biology. Is that how Jasper knew he wasn't thirsty? Is that why he ran from me? Was it my blood that made him leave?

"What are you thinking?" he demanded.

"I… um, I was thinking maybe your eyes are black when you're thirsty and maybe that's why you were acting so strange in Biology."

"He was acting strange because you made him thirsty," Rosalie said.

"How do you know?" Edward asked.

"Emmett told me."

Edward swore, and I blinked. He'd never talked like that before.

"Well, you know Bella," he said. "You know, isn't that sufficient?"

"No," I said, "It is not sufficient. You promised me a movie." It was infantile to bring that up, but I thought it might get my point across.

"Do you know how inane that sounds?"

"Yes. I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be!"

"Why? If you really care about me, then I know you won't hurt me." His expression turned from one of frustration to one of pain and shame.

"I wouldn't be able to help myself," he barely whispered.

"I believe in you," I stepped closer, and he shrunk back. His hands clenched tightly and I could see bloodless tendons rippling in his forearms. He had stopped breathing. "I know you can." His brows furrowed and his mouth stretched out in a long grimace.

"I can't," he said, exhaling. Suddenly, he was a hundred yards away in the trees. "You can wait for Dad and Esme. I won't be here."

Through the clouds, I could barely tell, the sun was setting. Alice was crying, and I didn't have it in me.

CPOV

When Esme and I got back to the house, Edward had been replaced by several wide-eyed children. Alice ran to greet me first and I had to remember to switch back from hunting mode to human father mode.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, and jumped into my arms.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked, as I returned her embrace, albeit carefully.

"We came to visit, and Bella wanted to talk to Edward, but he ran off, and—"

"Slow down, baby. Where did Edward go?"

"I don't know, but he said we could wait for you and he wouldn't be back." I sighed and loosened my grip on Alice. Esme looked pensive. There seemed to be no solution to this matter. I noticed that Emmett hadn't come, and I was at no loss as to why. It only surprised me how overly sensibly he was acting.

After a while of talking to the kids, I asked Bella if I could speak to her alone.

"About Edward," I said, as she sat on one of the barstools in the kitchen. She nodded. "I'm not sure how to explain it, and I don't think he is either. But the truth is he loves you. He's staying away from you because he couldn't live with himself if anything were to happen to you. Bella… the two of you can never be what I believe you both want."

"But Esme… and you?" she asked.

"It's a delicate balance. And neither of us is in love with a human." I couldn't help but smirk a little at that, and I hoped she didn't notice.

"No," she agreed, "I know that things wouldn't be like… human, I guess, but… if we were careful…"

I shook my head. "He's far too in love with you for that. Unless he had supernatural control, which none of us has, it would be nearly impossible for him to be around you for more than a few minutes without danger."

She stared out the window, not seeing. In the space of those silent minutes, I memorized everything wonderful about her, things I could think of around Edward, perhaps to make him remember why he was doing what he was doing. He could always remember, and if the memory faded, I could remember for him.

"Tell him," she began, breathing in sharply, "Tell him I love him," her voice cracked, "and tell him I'll never give up… tell him I believe in him."

I brushed a tear from her cheek, leaned over, and kissed her head. "I will, Bella."

RPOV

Emmett was doing his homework when we got back. Alice and Jasper went into the media room and curled up on the couch. It was slightly disturbing seeing her in the fetal position all the time. She had lost all the color and life in her eyes. Those things used to annoy me about her, but now, it was as if Alice had died and been replaced by this ghost. I knew Emmett wanted to help her. He'd never admit that he was as distraught as she was.

It had been about a month and he hadn't even gotten around to proving that life didn't suck. Maybe now he knew it wasn't true. Maybe he believed me. I suddenly felt my insides twist into pretzels and an unrestrained sob escaped my lips. I hadn't realized I was crying.

Emmett got up from the table and was by my side.

"What's wrong?" he asked, with a strange urgency in his tone, as he wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest and just let it go. It would be better this way. Tears were a strange and welcome relief. But Emmett was worried. I swallowed my sobs and looked up at him.

"You haven't been keeping your end of the deal," I said.

"What?" He looked confused.

"You know that whole 'suspending judgment' thing?"

His eyes lit with their former mischievous look. "Oh, yeah…"