Since our house was technically in Cullen territory, Jake wasn't allowed to come by my house anymore. This only served to further alienate me from my sister and the choices she had made. So I was found at the res even more often than usual.

I'd found a plus side in being Jake's imprint at least. Even though I'd always been welcome at their house, Billy had informed me that this was essentially my home too. Pretty much every weekend was spent entirely at the res, spending what time I could with Jake, or when he was with the pack, with Emily.

On this particular Friday afternoon, I was seated at the Blacks' kitchen table. I was staring at my algebra homework, willing to make sense when my cell phone rang. I leapt off my seat with unusual enthusiasm to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Grace?" the lovely sounding voice at the other end confirmed vampire for me, and I frowned.

"Yeah?"

"It's Carlisle," he said. "We were just wondering if you would like to come over for dinner this evening."

"Dinner?" I echoed disbelievingly. "I think you've got the wrong sister."

"No, it was you we wanted to invite over," he chuckled.

There was a pause. I didn't know why the Cullens would want to talk to me alone. I no longer feared for my life in their presence, but that didn't mean I wanted to spend time with them. Jake, especially, would not take it well if I went over there.

"Why?" I asked bluntly.

"There are some matters that we need to discuss," he said. "And I would much rather it not be over the phone."

I had a sinking feeling that this had something to do with Bella's spontaneous trip to Italy that she was currently grounded for. In my opinion, it served her right. We barely spoke at the moment. Bella would make tentative attempts to speak to me, but I very rarely returned the effort.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that," I said doubtfully.

"Of course," he said gratefully.

I hung up. I'd have to head over to Sam and Emily's and hope a wolf was about, so I could get ahold of Jake. This couldn't be good.

"What was that about?"

I shrieked as Jake appeared beside me. "My God Jacob! You scared the crap out of me!" I looked at him suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling you already know what that call was about?"

"Wolf hearing," he shrugged, his arms folded.

"Well, I was just about to track you down," I said. "Carlisle Cullen inviting me over for dinner - apparently there's 'matters we need to discuss'."

"No way," Jacob said firmly.

"Excuse me?" I said incredulously.

"You heard me," he replied. "The treaty dictates that I can't go onto their land. I can't protect you there."

"Protect me from what?" I snapped. "Do you really think that the Cullens have come back to kill me? I have known their secret for like a year. I doubt they suddenly think I'm going to tell, especially when you're a part of the supernatural as well."

"You're not going there without me," he said. "And I can't go."

I picked up the phone, extremely annoyed with my overprotective boyfriend.

"Hello Grace," Carlisle greeted pleasantly.

"Hi, we need somewhere that's no man's land," I informed him. "Jake wants to come, and he can't come onto your land."

"I know a place," he began, but the phone was yanked from my ear as Jacob took over. He murmured into the phone, lower than I could hear. He hung up and I put my hands on my hips. I was furious.

He took a look at me and sighed. "I just needed…"

"You are not coming if you're gonna be like this!" I exclaimed. "Don't treat me like I'm a kid!"

I put my hand out and my cell phone was returned. I hit Bella's number, determined to get a few answers. The phone was answered pretty quickly.

"Hello?"

A thought had occurred to me. I wasn't stupid, I could hear her and Edward murmuring to each other through the wall between our bedrooms. She was seeing him again and would know why Carlisle wanted to speak to me.

"Bella," I greeted bluntly.

"Grace," she said, sounding happy to hear from me.

"Why does Carlisle want to see me?" I asked, leaving no time for pleasantries.

"Um, it's better if he explains it…"

"Explains what?" Jacob asked quietly. The worry in his voice almost made me forgive him for being such a jerk and taking over my phone call.

"Something happened in Italy," she admitted softly. "Go talk to him, please. This is something you need to hear, no matter how upset you are with me."

Bella refused to say anything beyond that, so Jacob and I headed to the neutral territory to meet with the Cullens. He had let the other wolves know, so they would be nearby if 'anything happened'. Our drive there was silent. We pulled up to where we would have to walk from, the forest too dense from that point to drive.

"I'm sorry, really," Jacob sighed.

"Fine," I said, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

"Grace…" he sighed as he got out.

"Jacob," I said warningly.

"I know I'm protective," he continued. I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'm overprotective. But we are dealing with vampires here."

"He was on the phone, Jacob, not lunging at my throat," I said with a roll of my eyes.

He nodded. "You got a bad feeling when Bella was in Italy and it kind of put me on edge," he admitted.

I finally softened and put my hand in his. He gripped it tightly, and we started to walk silently into the forest together.

It wasn't a long walk through the forest to the clearing where we were meeting the Cullens. The wolves were out in full force, patrolling the area 'just in case'. I had just rolled my eyes. There were certain aspects of Jake's overprotectiveness that I knew better than to try and argue against.

Carlisle, Edward and Alice were waiting for us and I was relieved that the whole coven had not turned out to talk to us. I barely trusted them not to kill me, not to mention I wasn't too happy with them for the way Bella was abandoned, even if I was mad as hell at her.

She hadn't deserved to be left behind by them the way she had.

We stopped with several feet still between us and the vampires, and I moved closer to Jake.

"Thank you for coming," Carlisle said gravely.

"What's going on?" I asked, with little time for pleasantries.

"I requested that Bella not explain to you what happened in Volterra," Carlisle said. He went on to explain that Edward had gone there to die, thinking that my sister was dead. However, she had stopped him and they came to the attention of the Volturi who were essentially the rulers of all things vampires.

"Aro has a particular gift," Edward spoke up. "If he touches your hand, he sees every thought you have ever had. Everything you know, he does too."

"Okay," I said slowly. I wasn't sure how this affected me, but the growl emitted from Jake's throat told me he had an idea and it wasn't good.

"They know that you and Bella are aware of the existence of vampires," Alice said, her usually cheerful face serious. "And that is something they cannot abide by."

My stomach rolled, and I felt like I was going to be sick. "But Bella came back," I protested weakly. "They let her come back…"

"We managed to buy you both some time," Edward said.

"How?" I asked weakly.

"Bella wants to become one of us," Alice said. "We used that to our advantage. We convinced them that you would both be turned."

"You did what?" Jake finally growled. He'd been mostly quiet, as I'd requested, after he'd taken over phone call. I couldn't be mad at this interruption though, considering. He stood away from me, his anger making him shake as his body threated to phase.

Carlisle held his hand up. "I assure you, it was only to buy some time. We are well aware that vampirism is not an option for Grace."

"But you need to be aware that the Volturi won't wait forever," Edward said. "It may take years, but they will come for her. They were very interested in her intuitive abilities."

"Abilities?" I said faintly. Yeah, my intuition was handy. It was hardly an ability.

"It's already strong and you're human," Alice explained. "Much like your sister's ability to block, and the idea of how enhanced it could become…"

"We will protect you," Edward said, really pissing Jake off.

"No, we'll protect her," Jake said furiously. "You leeches are the reason she's in danger! You can stay the hell away from her and from Bella."

Edward's face suddenly looked pained, and I realised Jake was thinking specific thoughts to result in this.

"I know how much I hurt her," Edward said. "But it hurt me too."

"You have no idea how much you hurt her," I said angrily. I looked at Alice, who was supposed to be a good friend of Bella's. "All of you."

"The point remains, this is a problem," Carlisle said gravely. "And it's one we all need to find a solution for."

Once again, the car ride was silent. This time, it was Jacob who was mad. Me? I was just terrified. There was so much more I wanted in life. When I thought about my future, Jake was always in it. Seventeen seemed too young to be facing death. The idea of growing old, that had Bella so panicked over on her eighteenth birthday, had never seemed so desirable. The idea that I wouldn't grow old, that I would either die young or be frozen in time, was incredibly overwhelming. It only showed how different Bella and I were. For her, those were the only options.

We pulled up outside the house and Jake turned off the engine.

"Grace…"

"I don't know how to go in there and act like everything's normal," I said, trying to blink away tears. Dad and Bella's cars were parked out the front of the house, confirming they were inside. Dad had no idea of any of this. I didn't know what it would do to him, if something happened to me. I looked at Jake, as if he could solve this for me. "How do you pretend like the world isn't ending?"

"It's not ending," he said, touching my face gently. "I promise you, we will protect you."

"How?" I asked, my voice cracking. "You heard the abilities these vampires have. This is beyond what the Cullens are capable of."

He kissed me then, and I clung to him desperately. He pulled back, and I held the hand he had against my cheek. "You can do this," he said. "You can pretend everything's normal, I had no idea you were even into me…"

"You were the only one!" I protested, though a small smile broke out at the thought.

"I'll check in with the pack," he said. "But I'll be back tonight, okay?"

"Okay," I said, still clinging to him. I took a deep breath and pulled away.

"Hey," he said, as I was getting out of the car. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said with a small smile, and closed the door.

Inside, Dad was watching TV and Bella was cooking dinner. I noticed it was spaghetti, my favourite.

"Hey," he greeted as I walked in.

"Hey Dad," I greeted him. Completely uncharacteristically, I went over and hugged him tightly. He awkwardly patted my back, and I pulled back abruptly. He looked at me, completely puzzled, but before he could respond, I smiled at him brightly and went upstairs to my bedroom. I allowed the bright smile to fall as I leaned against the door.

"Grace?" Bella was at the door. "Dinner's ready. Can we talk…"

I yanked the door open and glared at her. "I can't," I said, holding my hand up. "Not while Dad's home."

She nodded silently. I went down to eat, which I did quickly and excused myself to go do homework. I went into my room and launched myself at Jake.

"It'll be okay," he promised.

I tried to ignore the intuitive part of me that told me he was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

I'd put on a brave face, but I'd been sure someone would see through it. I hadn't anticipated being the one who needed to comfort others when I saw Gemma and Natalie huddled together, looking upset that morning at school.

"You know, you may have dumped him, but that doesn't mean you can act like Ryan leaving doesn't upset the rest of us," Gemma snapped, and my stomach sank.

"Ryan's leaving?" I asked quietly.

"Ryan's gone," Natalie said, sounding surprised. "He didn't tell you? His family's moved back to California."

I may not have been in love with Ryan, but he'd been one of my good friends for so long… I'd hoped we could've found our way back to that eventually. And now he was gone. I could try and email, or call, but he hadn't even bothered to tell me he was leaving.

I doubted he wanted to hear from me now.

"I didn't know," I said. I could feel the tears coming, and quickly muttered, "Excuse me."

I ducked into the nearest bathroom, and was started to find Alice leaning against the wall.

"Here," she said, handing me a bunch of tissues.

Stunned, I took them from her.

"I know you're not my biggest fan right now," she said, and I snorted. "But I wanted to tell you, you were right."

I raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"We should never have abandoned Bella the way we did," Alice said simply. "I love her like a sister, you know."

"Well, I know she prefers you over her actual sister," I muttered.

"Hey, Bella loves you, Grace," she said firmly. "More than you know. Maybe if you could just talk to her…"

"Bella has made her decision," I interrupted. "I better get moving. I don't want to be late for class."

"We still have twenty minutes," she said cheerfully. Damn psychic. "I wanted to invite you to sit with us at lunch."

"I'm fine, thanks," I said firmly.

"Grace…"

"Alice, I'm not one of you," I said. "I will never want to be one of you. Just… leave me alone."

"Yeah, Dad, I'm willing to bet next week's allowance that's not going to happen!" I called as I opened my bedroom door. Sports bets, they were the lifeblood of the Swan household. My grin immediately faded when I saw Bella sitting on my bed. My arms crossed, I said, "Why are you in my room?"

"You avoid me everywhere else," she said.

"That's for a reason," I reminded her.

"Grace, please," she said. "I'm not choosing one thing over another. It's not Edward vs. Grace."

"No, because in my world, there is no competition between your boyfriend and your family, Bella!" I exclaimed. "But hey, my mistake for thinking that things had changed between us when you moved here. My bad."

"You're my baby sister," Bella said quietly. "I love you. But I told you… I can't live for you, for Charlie, for Mom. But that doesn't mean I don't love you all."

"Forgive me if I'm not feeling the love," I said, indicating to the door.

She got up, then paused at the door. "I do love you, Grace."

I remained silent as she walked out. Would she still love me when she'd become a vampire? Would she still be the Bella I had pillow fights with, who was the mother hen of the house?

Dad was finishing up some paperwork as I lounged across from him, bored.

"Well, you seem excited for dinner," Dad said.

"Sure, sure," I shrugged.

"So, you and your sister going to ever tell me what's caused World War III in my house?"

"Nope," I replied easily. I spotted Edward and Bella outside. "They're here, finally. You nearly done."

"Yep," he said, signing off. "You ready to behave, or am I going to have to ban you from the res?"

I looked at him with wide eyes. "Dad!"

"I'm just saying, I never see you anymore, kiddo," he said, rising and stretching out his back. "Jake knows he's welcome in our house."

"You know Billy watches over us like an old mother hen and I know you're the one who put him up to it," I said with a roll of my eyes. "So what does it matter where we are? I know my big chief of police dad has eyes everywhere."

He didn't respond, but the smug look on his face showed he was appeased. We walked out of the station together to meet my two last favourite people.

"Hey," Bella greeted us.

"Hey," Dad said, nudging me to be polite.

"Hi," I nodded.

"You ready for dinner?" Bella asked.

"Yeah," Dad said, before subtly adding, "It is still just you, me and Grace, right?"

Edward laughed. "Don't worry, I'm just dropping her off. See you later."

Bella smiled at him as he headed to his car.

"Oh, Bella, my parents wanted to remind you about the airline ticket you got for your birthday," Edward said, as if suddenly remembering. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"What airline ticket?" Dad asked.

"A round trip ticket to see Mom in Florida," my sister answered.

"Oh, that was generous," Dad said, and his tone could not have sounded less impressed. I couldn't help but smirk.

"It expires soon, so you might want to use it this weekend," Edward suggested.

"Well, I can't just drop everything and go," Bella said.

"It might be your last chance to see her before you graduate," Edward said seriously, and it suddenly clicked. The emphasis on graduation – that was when Bella wanted to be turned. After graduation.

It was soon. It was way, way too soon.

"Well, might not be a bad idea," Dad said, not aware of the horrifying realization I'd come to behind him. "Get out of town for a couple of days, get some… distance."

She obviously needed distance from Edward.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Mom," Bella said, then caught my eye. "But I want Grace and Edward to both come."

"There's three tickets?" Dad said.

"Four actually," Edward said, looking at me. "One for Jacob too."

"Super," Dad said sarcastically. "That makes me really happy."

He shot me a look suggesting I needed to keep an eye on Bella and Edward.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty busy this weekend," I said, trying to put Bella's pending vampirism out of my mind and get myself out of these plans I'd apparently just been given.

"What, at the res with Jake?" Dad asked.

"You could still be with Jake," Bella said. "Just at the beach instead."

"As much as I'd love to hang with the two of you," I said with a fake smile, "And Mom, I just don't think it's gonna work out."

"Okay, remind me again why the hell you agreed to get on a plane with Edward and Bella to go see my mother?" I asked Jake.

"I've never met your mom," he replied easily.

"She's more Bella's mom than mine," I said dismissively. "And the part where you hop on a plane with your favourite vampire?"

"Yeah, that took a little more convincing…"