Author's Rambling: I know, where have I been? Why haven't I updated? All my excuses are horrible, so take this as a peace offering? Thank you for the kind reviews. I dislike most of this chapter, but it's better than nothing.

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Bella Swan

I'd say the dining room for the slaves was one of my favorite places in the whole castle. The way the room always seemed at least half full, and was always so packed with good smells and chatter was comforting. It reminded me of home, in America.

The table in the far corner of the room was ours, mostly because it only had four chairs, and there were only the four of us. All the other tables had five or six chairs. We always figured that one day, a slave before us had simply taken one chair away, and sat at a different table, and had been too lazy to bring the chair back. But we always sat there. Every day.

We grabbed food, and I did too even though I wasn't hungry, and sat down at our table. I stared down at the celery I had gotten angrily. I hated celery. I picked up my fork and speared the nasty green vegetable, enjoying the satisfying crack it made.

"Hey-" Alice said, pulling the celery off of the end of my fork and popping it into her mouth. "It never did anything to you."

I sat down my fork, and turned my eyes to Rosalie.

"Why did you just forgive him like that?"

"Forgive who?" She asked, pouring ranch dressing all over her salad, and eying the remainder of the celery on my plate.

"Emmett," I said. I didn't say anything else. The episode that had taken place before in my room was never to be mentioned again, but I was curious. And I deserved an answer.

Rosalie sat her fork down slowly, squaring her shoulders.

"I have no idea what you mean," she said slowly, and her eyebrows rose fractionally. Her blue eyes told me to drop it. My brown eyes narrowed at her.

Alice and Esme watched with interested expressions.

"You were mad at Emmett?" Alice asked.

I answered 'yes', in the same instant Rosalie answered 'no'. Both of us sounded firm, but also as if we were trying to convince the other.

The table was silent for a minute of two, and eventually Rosalie picked up her fork again, and stole the last of the celery off my plate, dipping it in her dressing, before eating it; eying me angrily. She was daring me to continue.

I didn't want to start trouble with her- I was usually the peacemaker. But there was something that made my blood boil when it came to Edward and his coven. Or maybe it was just Edward. Yeah, that made more sense. I hated all of my masters. Edward was no exception, he was just exceptionally more irritating. And good looking. But didn't everything evil and despicable in the world have some level of temptation about them?

"I don't know why you're denying it. I think Edward's a jerk, and I'm not afraid to say it."

"Not all of us are as foolish as you, Bella," Rosalie bit out, pushing her chair away from the table to cross her arms.

Hot tears filled my eyes. I blushed.

"So that's what you think I am? Foolish?"

"Yeah," Rosalie said. Her eyes held a cool fury. "You're like a child. You never want to take responsibility for anything, and you're always denying what you really are! What we all are! Slaves!"

She stood, slamming her napkin down on the table top, before turning and stomping away, her shoes making severe clicking noises with every step she took. Other slaves had turned in their seats to watch, and they eyed us for a while even after Rosalie's exit, until the excitement died down.

"Am I really...?" I asked, trailing off.

"No, course not, Bella," Esme said compassionately. "Rosalie doesn't mean half of what she says! She's just angry."

"Yeah, don't listen to her. She has a stick shoved up her ass-"

"Alice," Esme hissed.

"What?" Alice shrugged. "It's true. I know she had an unhappy childhood, so did I! We turned out exact opposites, and it only proves that you don't need to be bitter all the time."

"You don't mean that," I said weakly. "Rose is your friend-"

"Of course she is. I love her. It doesn't mean I have to agree with her. She didn't even finish her salad." Alice leaned over to grab it off of the table, and dump it out onto her plate, shoveling it down quickly, as if Rosalie would turn around and walk back in at any moment and fight her for it.

"Chew with your mouth closed," I said tiredly, tossing my own napkin down. I left the dining all, headed for the gardens.

The gardens were my all time favorite place in the castle. The vampires who took care of them had nothing but time to carefully prune and nurture plants. Every possible surface in the castle always had some fresh flowers on them.

The gardens were massive. Laying in an ark around the east side of the castle, I frequently woke up early just to stand in them and watch the sun rise over the gray stone walls of the castle. The castle had few windows. Many vampires really didn't care for the sunlight, even if it didn't hurt them.

Being dead was a really sucky reason, so I thought.

I opened the thick door that kept out the severe August heat in Italy, and was hit with the smell of flowers- some so exotic that their names were unheard of. The colors were vibrant and of every range.

I settled myself on a bench to watch the birds that would settle on the broad tops of the wall that surrounded the entire castle. I wondered what was on the outside of that wall. Were things very different, in the years I had been gone? Had the entire world changed? Or were things in America the same? I wanted to go home to America, and never come back to Italy ever again.

It was only in the garden where I really dreamed of going back to my home in the States, and it made me feel like crying every time I thought of it; it really did.

After a while it got too hot, and my skin felt tight from being sunburned, so I went inside, headed for my room. I was sure that Rosalie would be there, lounging on my bed, reading some fashion magazine that she had brought with her from the 'before times' as I called them. It would be outdated, and probably completely memorized, but she would flip through it anyway. We would pretend like it never happened, even though it would sting at me for a while. It was just our nature.

But Rosalie wasn't in my room, so I laid on my bed, and ignored the fact that I was hungry, even though I had gone to breakfast only an hour before. I waited for her to knock and come in.

After a while, when there was no knock, I actually began to cry; even further after that, I fell asleep.

Edward Cullen

She was an incredibly intrusive thought. Whether I was trying to read in my room, listening to music, or attempting to have a conversation with someone in my family, something sarcastic she would have said would worm it's way into my brain, and I would feel the old sting of anger in the pit of my stomach. She was so hot-tempered, so insolent, so innocent-

But I didn't much like using that last word to describe her, so I pushed it away.

But she really was quite annoying, the more I thought of it. Her way of taking something that was said in the most innocent (there was that word again) manner, and twisting it into something rude, was astonishing.

I didn't like the way she treated Carlisle, either. Brushing off his words the way she did. Carlisle was such a good man; so much better than myself. When he spoke, people should listen.

The more I thought of her, the more I realized that she was actually quite entertaining. The longer that thought festered in my mind, the more I came to the conclusion that I definitely wanted to find her; fluster her, until she got angry again; because there was something in that angry hue of her cheeks that was quite hilarious.

So I searched for her. Walking the halls, until I found where her room was. Her scent was easy to track. Very floral. Very appetizing. But that thought was just as unwanted as her innocence, so I pushed it away too.

I knocked on her door, and didn't receive an answer. I could hear her breathing, hear her heart, like a steady thrum through the door, but she seemed to be ignoring me.

I opened her door anyway, hoping to frustrate her, only to find she was asleep.

Her face was streaked with dry tears, and I felt a little ashamed for some reason. She seemed to hate me, and I hoped that I had not been the one to cause her to cry.

"Rosalie."

She startled me- her eyes were closed, but apparently she was awake.

"No, Edward."

"Rosalie. 'm not foolish," she mumbled into her pillow, before rolling over.

Oh. Oh. She spoke in her sleep. Apparently, things were in discontent with her friend Rosalie (Emmett's slave, I realized, no matter how much I despised the word, really). She seemed much more human, worrying over her relationship with her friend.

"What do you think of Edward?" I asked, wondering if she would actually answer.

There wasn't any, and I was a little disappointed.

I turned to leave. There was no use just watching her sleep.

My hand was on the doorknob when I heard her stir.

"Jackass."

My head whirled around, and I shook with silent laughter. Jackass, I would have to remember that one.

"But so hot," she groaned, rolling even further.

A raised eyebrow was my only reply this time, and I left the room, pausing outside her door to ponder her last words.

She found me attractive. Well, of course. Vampires all had a look of perfection about them. But she wasn't fooled- I was quite the monster (jackass), and even in her subconscious, she knew it.

I walked away much more depressed than when I had entered. I was halfway back to my room when I turned around quickly, and began in the opposite direction, sniffing the air for the person I sought.

I found her in a room, and when I knocked and she granted me entrance, I realized it was her own room, not her masters (thankfully, that could have gone quite awkward).

She was combing her blond hair, and seemed quite dressed up, but with bloodshot eyes.

"Uh-" she seemed confused with my presence. "Bella's room is two floors up."

"I know. I just saw her. She's really sorry, for what she did. You're one of her best friends, she said. She's worried that you two will never make up. She's sorry for being- foolish?" I lied very convincingly, trying to give the air that Isabella hadn't fully explained things to me.

Well that's a first. Bella's never really tried to apologize, before. She's so stubborn. Usually we just... make up. I was too hard on her. I shouldn't have said those things to her- stupid of her to think though, that we would never make up, we're practically sisters for God's-

"She hopes you two will be like sisters again. Well, I should be going." I made for the door, but paused. "Oh, and don't tell her I was here, she was very stubborn in the fact that I wasn't to say anything."

I closed the door, and grinned, walking with a strange new happiness.

I passed it off as now, I would be the only one annoying Isabella.