Paul and I had gone inside to help Emily and to clean my arm, make sure it doesn't get infected. She was a flurry of movements, so anxious for Sam and the boys to get home.

"So, everyone is okay? Nobody was hurt?" She asked, concern thick in her voice. I looked at Paul – I didn't think anyone was hurt but I wasn't sure.

"No, Emily, they're all fine, nobody was hurt. Just her," he reassured her, hugging her quickly. "Now, they'll be home soon, they're just trying to be as thorough as possible. What can we do to help?"

She hadn't been able to really do anything while we were gone, she had been too stressed out. She told us to help her make sandwiches and cut up some carrots and cucumbers for snacks. By the time they were back we had almost finished.

Emily and Sam didn't say anything, they just ran to each other and threw their arms around each other. They just stood there, holding each other and gathering comfort that they were both okay. Sam kissed all of Emily's scars like he always did when he came home and she laughed. Everyone else just looked riled up and excited to have gotten into a fight and to have won. Paul, Jared, and Embry were being rowdy teenage boys and I smiled fondly at them.

Jacob came over to me to hug me and looked like he was going to try and say something about my helping. But before I could say anything to him, Paul said loudly: "Don't worry Jake, I already talked to her about it. She said she isn't sorry and that nothing is going to change that. She was helping us and, honestly, she wasn't wrong."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Paul's words, but shrugged. I wasn't hurt, and I wasn't sorry, and we all knew I was too stubborn to change my mind.

"Can we talk outside?" I asked him.

"Uh, yeah," he said slowly, looking suspicious about why I would want to talk to him privately. He followed me outside and we went and sat in the back of my truck.

"Okay, so, what were you and Billy talking about last night? If you don't mind me asking," I added. I hoped he didn't mind, he was still my best friend and I wanted to be able to talk to him about everything.

"So, you did hear us," he laughed. "I wasn't sure, you hadn't said anything."

"I figured I would wait, I didn't want to distract you or anything before today," I shrugged. He smiled gratefully at me.

"Thanks Bells, I just needed to only focus on today, I couldn't be thinking about anything else," he explained, which I understood. "I, uh, I Imprinted on someone… A new girl at school actually," he told me, blushing and trying to hide the huge grin on his face and failing.

"Really?" I exclaimed. "This is great! She's obviously gonna be great! We can all hang out!" I was so excited about this. I was happy for Jacob, he deserved the chance to love and be loved in return, he deserved to be happy.

"Okay, what's her name? Have you talked to her yet?" I needed to know as much about her as I possibly could, I hoped we would become good friends.

"I didn't talk to her, I ran out of there as soon as I saw her and I couldn't think straight. It was a couple days ago and I didn't want to be distracted or anything so I bolted," he told me, sounding really sad about this.

"I'm sorry Jake," I told him sincerely. If it hadn't been for me he would have had the opportunity to talk to her. He wouldn't have felt like he couldn't make time for her.

"It's not your fault Bella, I just wanted to wait until this danger had passed and then I could spend time getting to know her. Now, I'll have all the time in the world," he told me, smiling. I smiled back, glad that he wasn't upset.

"Okay, so what's her name?"

"Lydia. And she's beautiful, Bells," he gushed.

"Okay, so, on Monday, you go to school and you introduce yourself, get to know her," I told him. I would help him through this as much as I could. I owed him that much.

"Okay, okay, I will," he told me, sounding like he was trying to convince himself that he could do it. "What if I get nervous though? What if I look at her and forget what I'm going to say?" He really did sound nervous. I laughed.

"Jake, you'll be fine! You just faced a vampire – who could have killed you – and you're fine. This is the person that keeps you grounded, you'll be great." He looked slightly more reassured and we started talking about what he should say to her.

"Come on Bella, you can't leave, we're gonna have a party tonight to celebrate!" Embry whined, Jared and Jacob nodding their heads vigorously.

"For the last time, I'm not leaving, I'll be back in a few hours! I just want to wash these clothes so Charlie doesn't see the blood and question what I was doing this weekend. I'll be back to celebrate with you, I promise," I told them, grabbing my stuff.

"Okay, fine! But only a few hours, or we're dragging you back here!" Jared informed me. Paul and I laughed because we knew he really would.

Paul drove me home, I was too tired and I could lean against him, soaking up his warmth. We didn't talk, we didn't need to. When we got to my house, we went in and I got all my laundry from my room to add to my bloody clothes. After I had started the washing machine I grabbed another set of clothes for tomorrow because I was wearing the extra clothes that I had brought.

We sat in the living room while we waited for the laundry to be put in the dryer. At first we just sat and talked and it was nice, sweet. But then he pulled me into his lap and then I had my knees on either side of his legs and I wrapped my arms around his neck, he put his hands on my hips. I pressed my lips to his, running my tongue along his bottom lip. He opened his mouth and my tongue slid along his. I sighed and slid one hand into his hair, the other one on the back of his neck. He moaned quietly and moved his hands up my back, his skin soft and warm against mine, making me shiver pleasantly.

I pressed my body against his, the kiss becoming deeper as he leaned back and held me even tighter against him. He moved one of his hands across my stomach and then returned it to the middle of my back while the other one moved down and grabbed my ass. He rolled his hips up into mine and I moaned again, feeling him straining against his pants under me.

He pulled his mouth away from mine and I whined which turned into another moan when he started kissing just behind my ear and then started making his way down my neck towards my collar bone.

"That feels so good, Paul," I sighed. He rolled his hips up into mine again, earning another moan from me.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful," he groaned, his voice husky and shit, that was so hot.

I grabbed his face and pulled it back up for his lips to meet mine again. It was desperate and we were both moaning and wanting more. His hands were on my ass and mine were in his hair and it probably would have gone farther.

Until Paul stopped abruptly and pulled away looking pissed. I was a little out of it and it took me a moment to take in what was happening.

"Wha-Why did you stop?" I practically whined at him, disappointed at the sudden stop to the best make-out session I had ever had. He shushed me and I started to recognize his body language – his eyes were alert, his body tense, his arms protective around me. He was hearing or smelling something that concerned him, so I stayed quiet, getting off his lap so that he could move quickly if he needed to.

He was up and crouching in front of me in a blur of movement, and despite the fact that I was possibly in danger, I was calm. I touched my bracelet, Paul would protect me, I would be fine. I heard the front door open and I heard a growl growing in Paul's chest. I reached out to touch his back to calm him down and I felt him become a little less tense in feeling that I was there.

"Bella?" I heard a familiar voice say from the door. I was momentarily shocked into silence.

"Alice?" I asked, barely louder than a whisper. She was one of the last people that I ever expected back here. Paul realized that I knew her though and relaxed a little more, sitting beside me but he still stayed between me and the door, his body tense and ready to spring at any moment.

She walked into the room, her movements just as graceful as I remembered, all of her was just as I remembered her. But her nose was wrinkled like she smelled something terrible.

"Bella," she said my name again, this time sounding confused and staring at Paul like he had personally offended her. He just looked at her apprehensively. "Bella, why is there a wolf in your house?"

"How did you know Paul was a wolf?" I asked incredulously.

"I can smell him," she sounded absolutely disgusted. I guess that's why her nose was wrinkled.

"Okay then," I said, not wanting to pursue that any farther. "Alice, this is my boyfriend Paul. Paul, this is Alice Cullen," I introduced them. I could see comprehension dawn on Paul's face and I saw further annoyance pass over Alice's

"Your boyfriend? You're dating a wolf? Are you insane? Wolves are dangerous, Bella," she told me in the same tone of voice someone would use to explain a simple concept to a child.

"We can be," Paul admitted, not sounding the least bit bothered by what Alice was saying. "But I don't think we're any more dangerous than vampires."

"He's got a point," I told Alice. She looked like she wanted to argue further but I interrupted her. "Anyways, what are you doing here, Alice? As far as I knew you guys had all disappeared off the face of the Earth," I told her, a slight edge to my voice. I wasn't still bitter that Edward had left me, I was over that. But Alice and I had been best friends and she had just abandoned me and lost all contact when I had needed my best friend more than anything.

"I, uh, I had a vision," she said having the decency to look a little guilty for abandoning me. "You and Victoria were-"

"In a field, talking? Yeah, that happened a couple hours ago," I told her.

"But, how are you alive? I just saw you talking and then everything was black, I couldn't see any more than that," she said, sounding confused and annoyed. I was also a little confused, why hadn't she seen the rest of it?

"Well, the pack and I trapped-" My explanation was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Can you guys wait here? That might be Charlie. Paul can explain everything if you want," I told Alice before running to the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?" I answered. I waited for a response. Nothing. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked, thinking maybe I had answered too quickly and they hadn't heard me. I just got silence, then a click and the dial tone. They had hung up. I put the phone back and walked to the living room.

Paul was just finishing telling Alice about Victoria being killed. She looked mildly impressed.

"Was it Charlie?" Paul asked when he was done the explanation.

"No, I don't know who it was, they never said anything," I told them, unfazed. It wasn't that weird, it had probably just been a wrong number. "Anyways, sorry to worry you or whatever, but I'm okay," I told Alice.

She looked confused, "What do you mean 'or whatever'?"

"Well, I don't know if that's why you came here or if you just felt obligated to," I told her honestly. This only seemed to confuse her more.

"Bella, we're best friends, I care about you, of course I was worried about you," she told me sounding exasperated at having to explain this to me.

"Sorry, I didn't realize we were still best friends," I knew I sounded like a bitch but I was just trying to be honest. I wasn't exactly pissed at her, not now that she was stood in front of me. I had been mad at them before but after what happened today I decided to let it go. My life was full of happiness and love right now, I didn't want to dwell in the past and ruin that.

"What do you mean?" She asked, sounding hurt.

"Just, after you guys left, I was a mess and I kept trying to talk to you because I really needed you. You never answered any of my emails, because you never got them, because you deleted your email account. Edward told me he didn't want me anymore and I just assumed that meant all of you," I confessed. Paul put his arm around my shoulders and I smiled up at him, reassuring him that I was fine.

"Bella, I'm so sorry," she took a few steps towards me, but not any closer, eyeing Paul warily. He hadn't moved or reacted at all to her moving forwards, I think he knew that he needed to let this just happen. "Edward told us – me – to leave you alone, let you move on. He told us that he just couldn't put you in any more danger and that was why we all had to leave. We all just wanted what was best for you…" She trailed off, possibly realizing what a half-assed excuse that sounded like for abandoning me, especially with Victoria still after me.

"I get it, you guys wanted to protect me from yourselves. But don't say you wanted what was best for me, because nobody ever actually asked or listened to my opinions of what was best for me," I pointed out. "Not that I regret anything because I'm now very happy, but it would have been nice to have been given a choice." She looked slightly uncomfortable, possibly ashamed.

I heard the washer stop and I looked at Paul, seeing if he would put it all in the dryer. He nodded and left the room. Alice followed his movements with her eyes, and once he was out of the room she was beside me on the couch, grabbing my hands. I twitched a bit, I had forgotten how cold vampire's hands were, it was strange after getting used to the heat of werewolves.

"Bella, please, I'm so sorry," she pleaded with me. I was about to say that I wasn't upset, there wasn't anything to be forgiven. Until she continued with, "But please Bella, werewolves are dangerous, you shouldn't be alone with them, you shouldn't even be around them at all. You don't know what they can do to you!" She sounded desperate and a little crazed, her eyes darting from me to the doorway where Paul would come back in.

"Are you finished?" I asked and I was surprised to hear how cold and calm my voice sounded because the rest of me was shaking with anger. It was one thing to leave and think they were all protecting me and doing what was best for me, but to then come back and criticize my friends, my boyfriend, how I lived my life? That was going too far.

"Wha-Bella, I'm just-"

"You're just overstepping," I told her, cutting her off. "First thing, Paul can still hear you," I told her, and I heard Paul laugh from the other room. "Secondly, Paul and the pack have been the people protecting me, after you and your family abandoned me. I'm not mad about that anymore, I don't care. But to then come back and tell me how to live my life after you all stepped out of it? I will not allow that. And I will not allow you to say a bad word against the man I love and my family," I finished, my voice slightly louder than necessary out of anger.

"You-you love him?" She questioned, and I nodded briskly, not trusting my voice right now. "Well, how do you know he loves you? What if he's just pretending to take advantage-"

The rest of her argument was cut off by a low, dangerous growl behind me in the doorway. I wasn't worried about me, but I didn't think I would be able to explain away the destruction of Paul shifting in the house to Charlie. I quickly got off the couch and moved to stand in front of him. I touched his cheek gently, rubbing my thumb along his cheekbone. I brought his hand to my chest to feel my heart beat and he buried his head in my hair, taking in my scent. "It's okay, it's okay," I whispered to him and I felt him calm down.

He took a deep breath then looked at Alice, "You can say anything you want about me except that. Don't ever question my feelings for her, don't ever assume you know what this is," he told her quietly, still trying to keep control of his anger.

I turned around to see Alice's face and she looked confused and… shocked? Surprised? Paul had put his arms around me and I smiled softly when I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"I'm just trying to protect her, I only want her to be happy and safe," she justified. She sounded extremely defensive now, which I honestly thought was amusing. She had no problem criticizing him and the pack but couldn't handle being criticized herself.

"Well, she's both, no thanks to you or your family," he said and I knew he was gritting his teeth. He never really said anything to me about it but I knew it made him angry that they abandoned me. "I love her, more than I can explain, she is everything to me and will be until the day I die. I would never hurt her and I will do anything and everything to see her happy," he told her.

"You've Imprinted on her," she realized, her eyes widening. Paul and I both nodded, but said nothing else. "Oh," was all she said, possibly she didn't know what else to say.

"Well, you can stay if you want, I have no problems if you want to, but Paul and I need to get back to the rez. We only came back to wash my clothes because they had blood on them and to grab some for tomorrow," I told her.

"Why were your clothes bloody?" She asked me sharply.

"I helped with Victoria," was all I said, I didn't really feel like getting into it again.

She must have understood because she didn't push it. "Okay, well, I actually can't really stay… I have to get back and let everyone know that you're fine, and I have to call Edward to let him know as well," she told me, sounding apologetic. I wasn't expecting her to stay, but I thought I would offer anyways.

"Why do you have to call Edward?" I asked, thinking that was weird.

"He doesn't live with us right now. He didn't handle leaving you very well and keeps to himself," she explained. Part of me wanted to question that but the more dominant part of me just wanted to put him behind me, I wanted to move on and be with Paul. I couldn't do that if I was constantly worrying about Edward.

"Oh, okay," was all I said.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "We miss you, Bella. We really do," she said and the next second she was gone. I was glad she had left after saying that because I don't know how I would have responded. Because, yes, I did miss them sometimes, but then I would look at Paul, the pack, my friends, and I would realize everything else I would have missed out on if they had stayed. I was happy that I had moved on and found this life.

"Okay, let's get back to Sam's," I told Paul, grabbing his hand and my bag. I started walking towards the front door but he stopped me.

"Do you want to talk about what just happened?" He asked me quietly, hesitant. I turned around to look at him and he looked so vulnerable, he kept his eyes down, staring at the floor and his shoulders were hunched, like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

I walked towards him and stood so that I could look up into his eyes. I smiled at him, and wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my tip toes and bringing him down to meet my mouth to his. I felt him breathe a sigh of relief before he wrapped his arms around me, picking me up and kissing me back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and relaxed into the kiss, opening my mouth to give his tongue better access. It was all lazy movements, just us relaxing into the kiss.

I pulled away first, and smiled at him again, resting my forehead on his. "Paul, I just want to be with you, with our family. There's not much to talk about anyways. The Cullen's are my past, you are my present and my future. And that's exactly how I want it."

It had been a month since the 'Vampire Confrontation' as we all liked to call it. We hadn't heard from any of the Cullens or any other vampires since then, and it had been one of the best months of my life. My relationship with the pack was so strong now that we had gone through Victoria, my friends at school were great and Mike had begun to realize what a jerk he had been (though he would never admit it), and I felt so secure in who I was because of all of this. But Paul was the reason for all of this positive change in my life, I couldn't imagine where I would be without him.

Paul and I had decided to wait a year to make any college plans, because we hadn't had much time to decide what we wanted to do after high school – we had just been trying to survive until graduation. We had the rest of our lives to work and we just wanted to take a year to appreciate everything we still had.

I rolled over in the bed, trying my best not to wake him up. He just looked so peaceful when he slept and I didn't wake up before him that often. I reached my hand out to run it through his hair, which was getting a little long. He looked cute, but I knew he would need to cut it soon. The second my hand touched him he shifted slightly, taking in a deep breath. He was starting to wake up and I smiled at him as he began to open his eyes slowly.

"Good morning," I greeted softly, leaning over to kiss his nose.

"Mmm, morning," he hummed contentedly, smiling at me. He reached out to wrap his arms around me, kissing all over my face and neck, making me giggle. "It's always so nice waking up to your beautiful face beside me," he told me, making me blush.

I nuzzled my face into his neck in an attempt to get even closer to him. He always smelled so good and was so warm and comforting. He was just perfect and beautiful and I loved him so much.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," I admitted to him. "It's just so surreal, I never thought I could be this happy with every aspect of my life, I never thought I would have someone as wonderful and perfect as you."

"I am pretty wonderful," he said, making me laugh again.

"I agree. And you would be even more wonderful if you made me some pancakes," I teased him. I brought my face away from his neck so I could smile at him.

He smirked and rolled his eyes at me. "I guess I could do that for you," he conceded. My smile grew even bigger, he made the most amazing pancakes. I jumped out of bed to grab pants so we could go downstairs.

Paul groaned behind me, sitting up, "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything when you're standing there with no pants on?" He whined at me.

I turned around and smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm so sorry," I apologized, feigning innocence. "I could just put these pants on, would that be better?" I teased him, holding up a pair of sweats that I had found in my closet.

"No!" He shouted desperately, making me smile mischievously. I walked back over to the bed and sat in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. I kissed his jaw and down his neck, earning a quiet moan from him.

"Well, I suppose we could wait a bit for breakfast," he breathed out, running his hands up my back. I hummed my agreement, bringing my mouth up to his. We could definitely wait to eat breakfast.

And that's the end of the story! I can't believe it's finally done, I've been working on this story for over a year and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. This was my first multi-chapter story so I appreciate everyone who stuck with it and with me.

Thank you to everyone who commented, favourited, and followed this story, you definitely kept me writing. And thank you to just anyone who read the story, and I hope you all liked it!

Also, the phone call Bella got - Edward's call to check up on her. He didn't answer because he knew she was safe and he had promised that it would be like he never existed.
I'd had a struggle over whether or not to put any of the Cullen's in the story but I thought that Bella needed some closure on that front, so I put Alice in.
Also I know it was a little bit of Cullen-bashing, but just to be clear, I like the Cullen's but I also like to believe that in this story Bella realized how shitty it was for them all to abandon her and that she deserved better and so she stood up for herself.

And that's all I have to say! Thank you again! xxx