Hi All, sorry for the horrid delay on this. My muse only comes out when she wants to, and she only works for certain stories at certain times. This time around it was this story, so here's a new chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 8

Once at home, Bella filled Jasper's food bowl with kibble, dribbling a little gravy over it as an extra treat. He'd been so good on the flight, he deserved a little something extra. After he finished his bowl, he pranced off to the living room to take up residence in his old dog bed. Bella watched as he scratched around at the blanket, nesting before spinning around three times and curling up like a croissant.

Charlie was still gone, likely working late at the police station. Bella thought he put in too many hours, especially for being the one that creates the schedule. But anytime a deputy or other officer needed time off, Charlie was there to fill in their place. He was just loyal like that. Bella thought of her Dad and how blissfully unaware he was about the truth of what's out there.

Not much ever happened in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A plane ride away was a totally new world. Without all the supernatural goings on, New York was vastly different than Wisconsin. Bella loved it. But did she love the supernatural? Enough to become one?

The way it was put to her was that she really didn't have a choice in the matter. It was become a vampire or die. Then Angela gave her the option behind door number two. Become a Silverblood. She'd be immortal but wouldn't have to sustain herself on blood. Bella never liked the smell of blood anyway. Would that change if she became a vampire? Probably, considering it was how they survived.

Becoming a vampire, she'd surely have to give up Jasper. Although, he seemed okay around the Cullens at least and was warming up to the other Jasper and his ilk. There was also the speed, strength, and agility to consider. From what Angela described, turning into a Silverblood would merely make her immortal and immune to vampire venom. She'd still have the same strength and abilities as she did as a human.

As she contemplated her options, she made a list of pros and cons. On the cons list for both options was giving up Charlie. She knew he'd never be able to know the truth. However, if she became a Silverblood, he could remain in her life for a few years. At least until she could no longer pull off her age. Charlie would notice that she didn't look her age eventually. If she became a vampire, she'd have to cut him out right away. Bloodlust was certain to be a thing, and she wouldn't want to risk his life by being around him.

Plus, the vampires looked so other-worldly. Charlie would surely be suspicious if Bella's appearance suddenly changed. Bella made herself a cup of tea while she deliberated. As the tea-bag steeped in the hot water, her phone went off.

"I know you asked for no contact, but I'm just making sure you arrived okay at home – Jasper."

He had a sweet side to him; she had to admit, even though the text itself went against her wishes. Though, she couldn't fault him for checking in, as long as he didn't make a habit of it. She fired off a quick reply that she and Jasper the dog had arrived safely and all was well. Jasper's reply was a simple smiley face emoticon.

When Charlie came home, Bella and Jasper had already gone to bed. Bella stirred enough to hear him ascend the stairs, but drifted off soon after. In the morning, she began her usual routine of taking Jasper for a nice long run and then getting some painting done at her studio, which was housed above the gallery that sold the Destiny paintings. To retain her anonymity, the studio was in Angela's name and Bella had a secret entrance to it. She entered through the back of the Chinese place next door, up the stairs, through a narrow hallway and into the studio. It may have been a bit much, but she really didn't want the world at large to know who Destiny was. Bella dropped Jasper off at home before coming over, as he wasn't allowed at the studio, per the landlord's rules.

Once at her desk, she fired up her laptop and typed in one word. "Volturi." The first thing that popped up was a google translation box that said Volturi was plural for vulture in Italian. "Well that seems appropriate," she mused to herself. There wasn't much available as far as the actual Volturi, only some mythology and something about a Saint Marcus Day festival that described the historic event in which some guy named Marcus got rid of all the vampires in Volterra, an ancient city in Italy.

A further search of that place revealed a Wikipedia article. Bella read aloud, "Volterra is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy of which its history dates to before the 7th century BC and has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods." She scrolled through some photos of the city and they had her wanting to visit. Not because it was the capital city of the vampire world, but because the architecture was absolutely breathtaking. Right up there with Rome, really.

Deciding to put away all thoughts about immortality for the moment, Bella put on her headphones and set to putting paint to canvas. There was no commission to worry over, no orders to fill. She was simply painting what was in her soul to paint. Often times, she'd simply fill her palette with as many colors as it would hold and then brush them onto the canvas blindly.

Eventually the images would take hold and the canvas would be moulded into a scene of some kind. Whether it be a riverside lit up by city lights at night, a forest, or a busy thoroughfare, or even a still-life. Eventually the abstract brushstrokes always became a clear image, even if she painted with her eyes closed. It was as if she didn't need to see what she was doing when she painted. Her mind's eye would guide her brush and often, she wouldn't even know what she was painting until it was done.

To aide in this process, she always put her paint colors in the same order on her palette, so as not to have to open her eyes to consciously choose a color.

An hour later, she opened her eyes and in front of her was a black and white painting that depicted an alleyway in New York. Specifically the alley where James and Victoria had tried to kill her. Rather than the gruesome scene that surely would have been her reality had Jasper's minions not been there to save her, there was a single silhouette standing among the wood pallets and rubbish that lay along the walls. Upon further inspection, Bella noticed that black and white weren't the only two colors she used. Red was used as well, and it was only visible in the silhouette's eyes.

"Jasper, then," she decided, also figuring in the hint of curls on the silhouette's head. "So what does this mean?" she asked herself. "Am I choosing him? I mean, either way, I could be with him if I wanted to, as a vampire or as a Silverblood. If I'm truly his mate as has been suggested to me, it shouldn't matter to him what I am, right? If he truly cared for me, he'd want me to choose what I wanted, not do what he wanted."

Breaking for lunch, Bella popped down to the Chinese restaurant and ordered her favorite: chow mein, white rice, chicken fried rice, and plenty of crispy noodles. While she ate, she chatted with one of the cooks who she'd known pretty much her whole life. He asked how Jasper was and gave her a little doggy bag of unseasoned chicken and beef for him.

Back in the studio, Bella knocked out a couple more paintings, all with the same black, white and red theme. The third one was the most haunting. It was her, she knew. Not one to do self-portraits very often, but Bella knew her own form well enough. Like the painting of Jasper in the alley, she was standing in a darkened space, a mere shadow against the background. The red eyes striking in their contrast. The image gave Bella shivers and she knew she'd made her choice.

She cleaned up her mess, set the canvases up to dry and locked up behind herself. On the way back home, she called Angela and asked her to meet her at Charlie's house. He was home this time, so Bella started dinner under the guise of having Angela and Ben over. "When are you going back to New York?" Charlie asked as she cooked the meat for spaghetti sauce.

"Another couple days, I should think," Bella answered. "I'm not really sure. I have no deadlines approaching or anything, so I don't have a set time I have to be back."

"I know you're happy out on your own now, Bells, but it sure is good to have you home for a bit. Thanks for making supper. You know you don't have to."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Dad, every time I leave you for more than 24 hours, I come home to pizza boxes and take out containers. The rubbish bins were full of them yesterday! Of course I'm going to cook for you, and before I leave, I'll make a bunch of meals and freeze them so you don't have to go to the Cholesterol Diner every day or have Diabetes inducing pizza every night, at least for a couple weeks."

Charlie merely chuckled and went back into the living room to watch whatever game had his attention. Soon after, Angela showed up with Ben in tow. Jasper yipped to signal their arrival and Charlie got the door. "Come on in, kids," he said greeting Angela with a kiss on her cheek and a firm handshake for Ben. As Bella looked at her immortal friend, she was assured that she'd made the right decision.

Conversation was light throughout dinner. Ben and Charlie talked about the game, Angela and Bella chipping in here and there, and talking with each other about the studio and gallery. Once dinner was done, Ben and Charlie retreated to the living room while Angela and Bella went upstairs to Bella's room.

"Well, have you made any decisions yet?" Angela asked the moment the door was closed. Bella smiled at her friend. She never was one to beat around the bush.

"Yes," Bella answered. She produced her cell phone which had images of the paintings she had done that day. "You can try and sell them, I suppose… though you may have to target a more gothic market for their sale, I'd imagine."

"They're beautiful, Bella. As always. But you're right, they're kinda… um… dark?"

Bella snorted. "To say the least. For these I did that method where I simply paint with my eyes closed. Let my subconscious be my guide. Anyhow, it led me to these dark images and the moment I saw the one that showed me with red eyes, I knew that wasn't what I wanted. Sure, I can potentially live in the world of blood-drinkers. Evidently I have been doing just that without knowing it for some time now. But I don't think I could actually be one. You've seen me around blood, Bunny. I get sick the second it hits the air. How on earth would I ever actually drink it?"

Angela blinked at her friend. "So are you saying you'll become like me, then?"

Sitting down on the bed, Bella nodded. "It appears as though I don't have a choice in regards to immortality. I have a feeling that if I were to refuse to become a vampire, they'd simply turn me against my will, or kill me. I'm not so into the idea of actual death, so my only other option is to become a Silverblood. That way, if they try to turn me, it won't work, and apparently, if they try to kill me, they'll also fail. Right?"

Angela gave Bella a grim nod. "There have been times where I've been lonely beyond belief, in complete despair. I hated what I was and wanted it to be over. This was before I'd had any children, of course. When that happened, I tried absolutely everything there was to try. Poison, drowning, gunshot, knife, electrocution, burning… everything. And nothing has ever worked."

"The last attempt was around when I met Joham, the vampire. He wined and dined me, seduced me, and so forth… when he learned what I was, he was even more ecstatic. I thought, once I knew what he was, that he'd drain me. But even that doesn't work, as I explained.

"Oh, and, if you do decide to be with this Jasper Whitlock… by the way, super weird that he has the same name as your dog… anyway, you can let him drink from you. It'll leave a scar every time, but you could ask him to bite you in the same place always, and make it a hidden place. But, the more vampire venom that enters your system, the stronger you'll be. And a bit faster, too."

"Is that why you were so good at track?" Bella asked. Angela smiled and nodded.

"It is… Whatever is in the venom that causes the change doesn't work… it's like a virus, I suppose, and my body creates the antibodies before the venom can change, but whatever is in the venom that makes the recipient strong and fast does work a little bit. I let Joham bite me all the time, and now I'm pretty damn strong and fast. Nowhere near as strong as a vampire, but definitely stronger than any human I've ever met."

"Don't tell Mike Newton that," Bella teased. "Or he'll want to arm wrestle you all the time."

The pair laughed together, all the worry of the impending immortality suspended for the moment. They were just Bells and Bunny, best of friends as they had been for ten years. Bella heard Charlie call up and tell her the timer on the oven dinged and the whole house smelled like pie. The two friends descended the stairs together, pinky fingers linked, arms swinging. Ben looked up and smiled at the two of them.

Bella winked at him, hopefully conveying what she had decided. Plus, Bella thought, any sane person would pick silverblood over vampire, right? Being a vampire wasn't as romantic as so many books made it seem. Given the two options, Bella picked the ability to still sleep, eat, and bear children over the unending bloodlust and inability to be out in sunlight.

After the pie was demolished by the four, Angela and Ben left together. Bella had made plans with Angela to start the process of immortality as soon as possible. She agreed that Bella already be a Silverblood when she returned to New York. That way, her vampire friends couldn't surprise her with biting her or anything before she was already immortal. Ben's transformation was a ways off though. Bella would have liked more time, but given the situation in New York, she knew sooner was better than later, and far better than too late.

The next day, Bella set about cooking as many meals as she could. She stopped at the local market first to buy a ton of ingredients, and once back at Charlie's, cooked up a storm until the fridge, freezer, and deep freezer were chock full of meals for her father.

Immortality wasn't a death sentence, Bella knew, but she couldn't help but know that her life would be irrevocably altered. "At least I'll always have Angela," she mused to herself. And Ben, too, once he was changed. Regardless of what happened with Jasper and his ilk, or the Cullens, she'd always have her Bunny. She then looked down at her loyal Golden, Jasper, who she had been recently thinking of as Jazz, so as not to confuse him with the red-eyed vampire of the same name. He was four years old, and likely would still be around for quite a few more, but someday, she would have to say goodbye to him. Immortal or no, dogs' lives are short compared to humans.

"What'll I ever do without you, buddy?" she asked as she knelt down and scratched the top of his head. He licked her hand and went back to his nap. Completely oblivious to the inner turmoil his mama was going through, Jazz was a contented Golden, enjoying an afternoon snooze in the small patch of sunlight that streamed through the kitchen window.

By the end of the day, Bella had filled the fridge, freezer, and deep freezer with easily reheatable meals for her Dad. On each container, she left fool-proof instructions for what to do to re-heat. Some things could be microwaved; others needed some time in the oven, or a couple other simple steps. Knowing her Dad wasn't an idiot by any means, he was however lazy when it came to preparing meals for himself. The less he had to do, the better. So she saved the more complicated items for when he may have people over like to watch the game or something.

"Jeez, Bells, you act like you're never coming back," Charlie said, as he peered into the fridge and saw it was plum full. "You know I never expect you to cook for me, but this is real nice. Looks like I won't be visiting the diner or ordering pizza any time soon."

Bella nodded. "That's right, pops, and if you do, trust me, I'll know. I have eyes everywhere. Angela will be by to check on you weekly. As per our agreement.

"When do you have to go back?" Charlie asked.

"It's not so much a have to go back, but should. I have a couple more days. Angela and I have plans though. Unless you wanted to do something?" she asked, hoping he'd say no.

He rubbed the back of his neck. His tell that he did indeed have other plans. "Well, I was gonna go fishing this weekend with Harry and Billy. But I can stay home if you wanna spend more time together."

Bella shook her head. "No, it's okay, Dad. I know this was a spur of the moment trip home and I don't want to get in the way of what you've already got going on. Like I said, Ange and I have plans. I just wanted to make sure you were good for the weekend."

He smiled his Charlie Swan smile and said nothing more. A man of few words. Bella sent a text to Angela confirming that she was off the hook in regards to plans with Charlie. She packed a bag with a few provisions and headed towards the agreed upon meeting place. Angela had told her it would be fine for Jazz to be there. He shouldn't be bothered by what was going on. Bella hoped that was true, she wanted him there for support.

Adjacent to Bella's studio was a vacant shop. The Chinese restaurant owned it and had yet to find tenants, which was perfect, as it was ideal for Bella to do her transition. The front windows were blacked over and it had a small room big enough for two beds to fit in that had no windows and was practically sound proof. Angela had assured Bella that beyond the initial pinprick of the needles, the process would be relatively painless.

"We're going to drain your blood while replacing it with mine," she explained, trying to be delicate as she knew of her friend's uneasiness around blood. "Then my DNA will convert the cells in your body to be that of a Silverblood."

"Where's my blood gonna go?" Bella asked. Angela gave her a non-answer by shrugging her shoulders. Bella knew though, that was her friend's way of telling her she really didn't want to know. "Can I… can I save it?"

Angela furrowed her brows. "Sure, but why?"

It was Bella's turn to shrug. Angela knew this was her friend's way of saying she wanted to keep her reasons private. As it happened, Angela had planned to simply drain Bella's blood into pint blood bags. In another life, Angela was a nurse and well versed in how to take blood and fill blood bags. From there, she hadn't decided what to do with Bella's blood bags. She couldn't very well stroll into a hospital's blood donation center and say, "here ya go."

Putting a blindfold over Bella's eyes and a plug over her nose, so she could neither see nor smell the blood, Angela began the process. "Last chance to back out," Angela said to her friend. Bella shook her head and told her this was what she wanted.

"This or vampire, I'll choose this. Every time," she assured her.

Nodding, Angela placed a hollow needle into Bella's left arm and allowed a pint to drain, watching it carefully. Yes, she had drained blood before, working as a nurse, but it had been quite a few years. Another two pints of Bella's blood would need to be gone before she could start transfusing her own into Bella's body.

"How soon will I know if it worked?" Bella asked, her voice altered by the fact that her nose was plugged.

"Well, the best way is to simply cut your arm or something and see if it heals right away. Plus my blood looks a little different than yours does, so I'll know we're done if the blood coming out of your right arm starts to look like mine. Once the transfusion is complete, we'll give your body a few hours and then test it. You let me know if you get cold, hungry, or anything, and we'll break for whatever you need." Bella simply nodded in agreement. On a table next to her was several bottles of water, cookies, chips, and other snacks.

She winced slightly as Angela put the needle into her arm, but relaxed soon. Having never given blood before, she didn't know what it would feel like. Before long, her arm started to feel cold. Angela pulled the sleeve of her sweatshirt down over her arm to help preserve her body heat before she was able to replace Bella's blood with her own. While she waited for the first bag to fill, Angela placed the other needle in Bella's left arm, and then did her own arm.

Once three pint bags were full, Angela attached a tube between her arm and Bella's, watching as her blood left her arm and went into Bella's. "It's working," Angela declared, knowing her friend would not want to watch the progress. She also likely wouldn't want to know that her blood would soon take on an opalescent shimmer to it. Maybe that's why we're called Silverbloods, Angela thought to herself.

Bella dozed off for a while, as Angela continued to work diligently to replace the filled pint bags with new ones. The human body had an average of nine or ten pints of blood, so Angela knew she'd need to fill at least six of them to ensure a proper ratio of her blood to take over Bella's. "Better do seven just to be sure," she whispered. It took about ten minutes to fill a bag, so the process only took a little over an hour to get seven bags filled. At the tail end of the seventh bag, Angela noticed a bit of the shimmering in the tube.

Knowing that was the cue for stopping, she pinched off the tube and began removing the needles from Bella's arms. Without checking the healing rate, she quickly placed a piece of gauze and tape over the needle marks and removed Bella's nose plug and blindfold. She knew it would only be a matter of time and Bella's body would alter to become a Silverblood. Unlike the vampire transition, it would be painless and she wouldn't look any different afterwards.

"We're done?" Bella asked, blinking as her eyes adjusted to being in light again.

"Yep, just gotta let my blood do its work now," Angela said with a smile. She was just finishing packing the pint bags away in a cooler which would then go in a fridge until Bella decided what she was going to do with them.

"I felt cold when you started taking out my blood, which I guess is normal for giving blood, right? Anyway, once you started putting your own in, I got super warm. Not like, overheated or anything, but it was an interesting sensation. I still feel warm now."

Angela nodded. "Yeah, I don't remember the last time I actually felt cold. I don't think my body temperature is any higher than average, but cold doesn't affect me at all, I guess."

"So I'll be like that too, now," Bella stated. "What about the immortality? Am I going to get any older or what? I mean you were born a baby and got older until you were what, twenty, you said? And you said something about getting injured a lot?

"Mm hmm," Angela agreed. "I stopped aging when I was nineteen. Immortality can happen at any time, it has to do with how many times you're injured and how badly. However, had we done this before I was officially immortal, you would still age. I think though, that since I'm already immortal, I passed that on to you. It's only a theory, mind you, but the science is sound."

Bella nodded. "So either I'm immortal, or I need to go around getting papercuts as often as possible to stop aging. Not that I'm against aging as a rule, but if I'm going to be surrounded by those that look not a day over 25, I don't want to either. I'm vain enough for that, I guess."

Jazz started sniffing at Bella's hand as if she had something in it. Her hand was still somewhat fisted, so she opened it up to reveal nothing. He sniffed and licked all up and down her arm as if smelling her for the first time. "What gives, Jazz?"

"You smell different," Angela said. "My blood is still converting yours. It'll take a couple days, but you'll smell like you again soon."

"Can vampires smell like that?" Bella asked.

Angela nodded. "Yes, their olfactory senses are off the charts. They could smell you a mile away. This is another reason I told you we should allow a couple days for this. The transfusion is the easy part. Once your blood has fully converted, there should be no reason that your vampire friends will suspect anything. Until you tell them, that is. And you should. When you're ready, of course."

"Yes, I imagine Jasper will be the first I tell. I don't know why, but I feel a connection with him. He annoys me more than anything, but still."

"Is he the one that's supposedly your mate?" Angela asked.

Bella pursed her lips and nodded. "Whatever that means."

"Bella, Vampires aren't like humans. Well, apart from the obvious. They don't casually date, they mate for life. In my case, I was more a science experiment to Joham than anything real. It took me a long time to realize that, but that's what it was. If Jasper Whitlock is your mate, then you're set for eternity, my friend."

Bella furrowed her brow. "But I'm human. How can I be his mate and be human? I mean, sure I'm attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? He's drop dead gorgeous… and that voice. Dear god that voice. Like warm molasses or honey or something. Yum."

Angela grinned. "You've got it bad. You may not feel the mating pull as strongly as he will. Nothing will solidify until you're officially mated anyway."

"What does that mean?"

"Sex, Bella. It means sex."

Bella's eyes went wide. "I have to sleep with him to know if he's my mate?"

"Not exactly. That's just how the mating bond is solidified with vampires. I think even you'll know that he's the one for you once that happens."

Bella had to think on that for a moment. She wasn't a virgin; had that taken care of in college. But she hadn't slept with anyone in quite a while. What would sex with a vampire be like? Jasper's body was hard as granite and chilled like ice. Could it even be enjoyable? "Yes," Angela murmured, answering Bella's unspoken question. "Sex with vampires can be incredible. Especially since you're immortal now, too. There's something animalistic and carnal about it with them. At least, that was my experience. Sex with Ben is amazing, too, and for different reasons. I love him more than I've ever loved anyone, save my children. And that's a different love entirely. But I digress… Yes, you should be satis-fied with Jasper, I'd think."

A deep crimson blush came over Bella's cheeks. "At least I can still blush."

"It's like I told you. You're still you… just more durable."

After a few hours and a shared meal from the neighboring Chinese restaurant, Angela had Bella test her skin. She handed her a small knife and instructed to just make a small cut on her arm. "Don't open a vein or anything. But a small cut should heal almost instantly if everything is going to plan."

Bella hesitated, never liking the sight or smell of her own blood, but gently pressed the knife into the back of her forearm. She felt a stinging pain, followed by the warm sensation of blood flow, but then it stopped. She looked down and saw the blood receding into her arm and the cut healing. The whole process took maybe two seconds. "Holy shit it worked," she rasped. "Ange. I'm immortal! Like well and truly. It's not a theory or an idea anymore. It actually happened."

Angela smiled. "Are you okay? I know it's too late to back out but…"

Nodding, Bella replied. "Yes, I'm fine, Bunny. All is well. I think… I think this is right. I mean, I thought it was the best option before, but now that it's a reality, I think this was meant to happen. Not that I believe in fate or destiny or any such nonsense, but this way I get to keep my best friend. Jasper Whitlock, The Cullens, The Volturi, they can all go to hell so long as I don't ever have to lose my best friend. And now you won't ever have to lose me, either. You're stuck with me."

Her friend gave her a face-splitting grin. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Bells."

Bella made plans to return to New York in another two days. That would give her blood plenty of time to return to her normal scent, according to Angela. On the day of her departure, Charlie drove her to the airport, having a day off. "Gonna miss you, Bells," he mumbled as they pulled up to the drop off area.

"I'll miss you, too, Dad," she replied. "But we'll always have the phone, y'know. And e-mail. You gotta have Angela help you figure out your laptop. Need to join this century, Pops." He rolled his eyes and harrumphed in the way only Charlie could. Kissing Bella on the top of her head, he saw her off.

While waiting for her flight to board, Bella texted Jasper Whitlock. "I'm on my way home. Should be there by 3 p.m."

Moments later, his reply came. "I can pick you up from the airport, if you like."

Deciding riding in one of his nice cars would far outweigh riding in a cab, she agreed to his offer. Jazz sat happily at her side in the terminal, getting occasional smiles and offers to pat his head from passersby. He was wearing his required uniform for flights as he was an emotional support dog, so most people knew to ask before approaching him. "Yes of course you can pet him," Bella said to everyone, especially children. By the time the flight was boarding, Jazz had been pet by about a hundred people and Bella had been asked a few questions on how she was able to get her dog on the flight. She simply responded that while no, she's not blind, Jasper is a working dog, and airports are generally very accommodating for those who have support animals.

She overheard some of the passengers assumed she had Jazz because she had PTSD as a result of being overseas in the military or something. They were commenting on her bravery and sacrifice. Thankfully, none of them thanked her for her service, requiring her to then tell them that no, she wasn't in the military, and didn't have PTSD. Yes, she legitimately needed a support dog, but not for those reasons.

It mostly had to do with Charlie. Not a lot happened in Sheboygan, but there was enough crime that Charlie's job could get dangerous. A few years before, he'd nearly been killed in a shoot-out that happened after some kids tried to rob a convenience store. Charlie took one to the shoulder, narrowly missing major arteries and his heart. Bella was such a wreck afterwards, constantly worrying that his next call was going to be his last. Charlie got her the puppy to help keep her company when he was working nights, the most worrisome of all his shifts.

When Jazz proved to help Bella immensely, he went and got him certified as an emotional support animal so that she could go anywhere with him. Yes, it may not have been as legit as say a soldier suffering from PTSD post war, or post conflict, but Jazz was definitely needed in Bella's life. Charlie could see how much he made a difference in her life. Especially when he saw her off to New York, he knew the dog would keep her safe and happy.

Bella thought about all this once on the plane as she absently pet Jasper's head and scratched his ears. He lay across the seat, his head on her lap. Charlie hadn't noticed any changes in Bella. Angela had assured her that she looked the same, would smell the same to the vampires, and basically was the same, only would never change again and couldn't get hurt or sick.

Never getting sick again was an excellent reason for what she did. Just that by itself made it worth it. There were some other perks, too, the least of which was immortality. She had no basis for comparison, but she didn't think living forever seemed all that great. But Angela made it work okay, and so did the Cullens. Hell Carlisle had lived through three centuries already. If they could do it, so could she. She'd find a way to tolerate forever. And if what she had done with Angela made it so the Cullens or even Jasper hated her, at least she'd have Angela and Ben. They could be a trio of silverbloods in a world of humans and vampires.

A/N: I know many of you wanted her to become a vampire, but I decided to go this route. I think given the choice, this Bella would have decided to stay as human as possible. Remember this Bella is quite a bit OOC, as she's not clumsy and doesn't have all the self-esteem/self-worth issues that the original Bella had. However, like the original Bella, this one also doesn't like the idea of some plan being made for her without her knowledge or consent. Remember how many times Edward made decisions for her or kept things from her… she hated that. So this is her way of sticking it to the Volturi for dragging her into this mess with their prophecies and rules.

Also with Bella's scent changing, I recall in Twilight when Bella got transfusions at the hospital after the incident at the ballet studio that Edward told her she smelled all wrong for a while. I figured that would happen here, only on a grander scale as she got a LOT of Angela's blood, so I gave her an extra couple days of scent-restoration time.