“How are you, Bella? You seem to be better,” Carlisle noted.

Bella sighed, “I wish. I want to get out of here.”

“Sick of me already?” Carlisle grinned.

Bella looked down, more aware of her feelings than ever before. Suddenly, she felt cold hands grip one of hers, taking it from her and she followed them to see Carlisle looking intensely at her with her hand in both of his in front of him.

“Bella, do you like Edward?” he asked quietly.

Crooked grin, boyish charm, and sweet nature…

“Yes,” Bella admitted.

‘But he’s not you.’

“But?” Carlisle prodded, having caught her hesitation.

Bella just gave a pained grin and didn’t answer, so Carlisle just continued his task on checking on her vitals.

The tension between the two grew exponentially after that.

“Bella, I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, but I know you so well,” he murmured. “A first step from you won’t come without prodding. So, from my stipulations, I am not allowed to be able to do certain things. But I’m not restricted from confession…I have very deep feelings for you, Bella.”

He took her hand and tenderly placed it against his cold cheek.

“When you’re better, please let me take you out on a picnic?”

She dazedly stared at him, forcing herself to nod through her daze. He smiled at her, once again making her warm and happy, and she shakily smiled back.

“I do have good news for you. You can get out of here tomorrow, but you’ll have to be in a wheelchair.”

She sighed in mock exasperation, “Oh, alright. At least I’ll be out of here.”

And they shared a laugh, the tension diminishing a little.

Carlisle left and in just seconds, he was replaced with Caius.

“Caius, hey! I have great news!” she smiled brightly at him. “I get to leave here soon.”

“I was informed,” he smiled coolly. “I’ll be picking you up. You will be fine on your own with the wheelchair?”

“Of course! Before my powers grew,” she’d lowered her voice to a whisper. “I was on a wheelchair for a long time. Marcus helped me learn to walk without it.”

“Ah. I’ll have to ask him about that time. This is when you two first met, yes?”

She nodded and Caius took out a brush. She scooted sideways and turned her head, letting him gather her hair behind her and begin to brush the long locks. He continued their conversation, both of them relaxing at the brushing motions.

“Why don’t you tell me about that time? I’ll hear it from your point of view and ask Marcus about it later.”

So Bella began telling him all about it, and though his face didn’t show it he was listening closely, filing things down for him to ask Marcus about later. But for now, he contented himself with her story, eyes bright as he heard her detail learning to control her power and learning to finally walk and be free.

“Is it truly difficult without your power?” he asked curiously.

She froze, almost curling in on herself at his question. Worried, he put down the brush and comfortingly wrapped her in his arms.

“Without it, I’m just helpless,” she exhaled shakily. “I can’t walk at all. I’m completely immobile. Worse, I don’t think I can survive for more than minutes –seconds if I don’t have my power. When I was born, I was unable to breathe and eat on my own. They had all sorts of machines hooked up to me so that I would be able to survive for as long as I could. Then a miracle happened. I started to breathe on my own, and then I started able to almost eat properly. It was my power coming into work, starting in the beginning with running my organs in a way so that I could live on my own a little, until it became absolutely instinctive. It’s why, these days, I’m completely terrified of losing all control or even worse. I’m afraid of being so exhausted that I can’t use my power, even to the point that the instincts I’d developed to help me live without those machines will fail and I’ll die.”

She sniffed, almost about to cry as she remembered her fears. He frowned and squeezed her gently for a second.

“You don’t have to worry about that. That’ll never happen. Marcus and I will never let that happen. So don’t be afraid,” he said firmly, voice brooking no argument.

Bella smiled weakly at him. “Thanks, Caius.”

He sighed to himself. She didn’t believe him, but it was truth and she’ll see. He reluctantly even conceded that the Cullen family would definitely side with the brothers, especially Carlisle but exempting that Edward brat.

“What are you planning on doing first after you get out?” he asked, going back to brushing her hair as he changed the subject for her.

She brightened up almost immediately.

“Carlisle promised to take me out to picnic,” she revealed happily.

Outwardly, he was calm and he hadn’t even so much as twitched at the news. Inwardly, he was snarling and quietly ranting under his breath angrily about blond English vampires that he needed to have a “talk” to.

He immediately stalked to Marcus after pushing Bella to go to sleep so she could rest up. He took one look at his brother and Marcus only responded by raising an eyebrow.

“You! Did you know that Carlisle is –is trying to court Isabella?!” he practically shouted at Marcus.

Marcus’ face darkened considerably, his mouth twitching into a scowl.

“Yes. I informed him of things,” and Marcus explained how he found out, his original rules and his new ones.

Caius growled, “Well, he seems to think that a picnic will suffice to appropriate Isabella’s feelings.”

Marcus shrugged, “He will still have to get Bella to kiss him. Knowing her, that’s more an impossibility no matter what Carlisle plans to do. And a picnic is not against the stipulations, unfortunately…”

“We should tell her what we are,” Caius drawled.

Marcus stiffened, “No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not? If she’s turned, she won’t have to suffer her disease any longer. Her power may help, but what happens when it fails? And we are not there in time to save her? If I had not been there when those two cars crashed, she would have been crushed by them as she tired out from using her power. She very nearly was!”

“We would be sentencing her to death by the knowledge of what we are! There is no guarantee she would be turned –whether her body can handle the change or if Aro will even permit it! And who is to say she will have wanted this life?” Marcus hissed at him.

“And who is to say she wouldn’t? Her life would become so much more easier. At least she wouldn’t be afraid of her organs and her power failing and being unable to save herself!” Caius shouted back.

Marcus sighed, “And what if she doesn’t accept what we are? Accept us?”

Caius quieted down at that.

“And what if she were?” Caius finally broke the silence with a determined stare.

Marcus grimaced. “You don’t know that.”

“You don’t either. Let’s just…tell her we’re not quite human. We don’t have to tell her we’re vampires, or even that we’re anything at all. Just that we’re special, like her.”

Marcus nodded reluctantly, but he was slowly warming up to the idea. He was fond of the idea of keeping Bella by his side forever.

Meanwhile, Bella was just getting released and there waiting for her at the entrance was Mike, Jessica, and Angela. All three wore excited grins and Jessica even had a poster board brightly colored, glitter everywhere, proclaiming “Welcome back, Bella!” in huge letters. She was waving it high in the air, occasionally bumping Mike and Angela to her sides with it.

“Hey, guys!” she grinned at them, wheeling herself towards them.

Immediately, Mike went behind her and started to wheel the chair and the other two went on either side of her.

“What are you guys doing here?” Bella asked curiously.

“Your dad agreed to let us kidnap you and take you out to eat,” Angela grinned cheekily.

“So off to the diner we go!” Mike hollered.

“Quiet you! You’ll give Bella a headache,” Jessica slapped him upside the head.

The blond pouted, “You give me a headache.”

She hit him again.

“See!”

Bella burst out laughing, enjoying their antics. They got into Mike’s mom’s minivan, loading Bella up and putting her wheelchair into the back after folding it. The drive to the diner was filled with a lot of catching up, mostly on school stuff.

“Lauren’s been bitchy as always,” Jessica rolled her eyes. “She’s been trying to soak up all the attention while you were gone.”

“Yeah. Yesterday, she was all bragging about how her parents were going to take her to Florida for Spring Break, and how she was going to get a ‘real’ tan,” Mike sneered.

Of course, it was an obvious jab at Bella.

Bella chuckled, “Good luck to her with that. Tans can be really painful if you overdo it, and it’s really easy to do that.”

“I hope she does get sunburned,” Jessica lifted her nose haughtily. “Who does she think she is? Queen of the School? I don’t think so. That’s my title. She can’t take it from me. And all of you are my subjects.”

The rest of them burst out laughing, Mike slowly moving to park now that they were already at the diner.

“All hail Queen Jessica,” Angela said sarcastically, gaining a sardonic half-smile.

They all started laughing again at the unusual response from the usually shy girl, before they began pouring out of the minivan. Bella was helped out and then wheeled into the diner, where she was greeted enthusiastically by a bunch of the townsfolk there.

“Hello there! How have you been?” and all were exchanged by the plenty by everyone, many inquiring into her health and all wishing her well and to get better soon.

They were seated quickly and served their usual drinks, ordering their food and then waiting together at their table.

Mike whistled, “If this is the kind of service we get when you’re sick or injured, maybe you should stay injured for a little longer, eh? Or get sick more often!”

This time, both Jessica and Angela retaliated, grabbing his cheeks and pulling them harshly to the side.

“Ow, ow, ow!”

“That’s what you get,” Jessica huffed.

Bella giggled, “It’s okay, guys.”

“See? Bella thinks it’s funny,” Mike pouted, rubbing his red cheeks with a scowl.

Jessica and Angela just held up their hands threateningly.

“So,” Jessica did a 180, smiling brightly. “I was thinking, next weekend, we should go to the beach. Maybe First Beach?”

“Sounds good,” Bella said, actually starting to get excited about it. She was stuck in that hospital for so long; she was willing to do anything. She was too bored and restless to just recuperate at home.

“I’m in too,” Mike agreed.

“Great idea,” Angela agreed also.

“Are you going to bring Erik?” Bella asked her.

Angela turned thoughtful. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Is Lauren coming?” Mike scrunched up his nose adorably.

“No,” Jessica said immediately. “Absolutely no. No, no way, nope. No way in a snowball’s chance in hell.”

She was stared at, but she just stubbornly glared.

“You know…we’re going to have to bring Lauren,” Angela reluctantly said. “She’ll whine and bitch to everyone, including her parents.”

“But I don’t want to,” Jessica whined herself.

Bella smiled, turning out more like a grimace. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Ah, hell. She’s going to be so clingy,” Mike grumbled. “I’ll drag Tyler along, so that she can bother him for most of the trip.”

“Good idea!” Jessica brightened up slightly. “She can go bug him.”

“Can I bring someone?” Bella asked, wondering if any of the Cullens could come. Her face lightly blushed when she thought of Carlisle and asking him to come with her to the trip. Though, that might be a little too awkward and raise questions. And there was Jacob too! She could ask him to come. She hadn’t seen her friend for awhile.

“Sure. Why not?” Jessica’s eyes glinted and Bella chuckled nervously, knowing that meant Jessica was going to grill her for information. “Who did you have in mind? One of your Italian friends? The Cullens? Maybe the doctor himself?” a mischievous smile was quickly on the girl’s lips, leaving the others to sweatdrop at her.

“Well, maybe it might be a good idea if Doctor Cullen came,” Mike surprisingly said. “I mean, if Bella’s health changes or something goes wrong, it would be good to have him there.”

Not that he was going to also say that a part of him was more threatened by the other Cullens and them trying to take Bella away mostly. Or that her Italian friends were scary as hell, and he was definitely threatened by them. Frightened more like. So let’s just stick with Carlisle being less of a threat than everyone else.

“We’ll see,” Bella shrugged. “I’d have to ask.”

Their food finally came and discussion halted for a second as they started to eat ravenously. Sporadic chatter did erupt though.

~*~*~

“Hello, Bella. Are you ready to go?” Carlisle stood in her doorway, and she couldn’t help blushing.

He was dressed handsomely, casual in jeans and t-shirt, hair slightly ruffled, though most of it was still fixed back. A soft smile graced his lips, and aimed solely at her. Her blush reddened when she realized that he had also been observing her.

“Y-yes. Let me just write a note, just in case Charlie comes home early and finds me gone. He’ll freak out,” Bella rambled, trying to get the nerves to leave her system.

His smile just brightened and he nodded. She wrote the note quickly before wheeling back towards him and letting him start wheeling her to his black Mercedes. Helping her into the passenger seat, she waited a little while in the car as Carlisle put the wheelchair into the trunk and then traveled to the other side to slip into the driver’s seat.

“Where to?” she asked tentatively.

“It’s a secret,” he winked at her, showing his good mood.

She started to relax at the sight of it, smiling back. With the way he was right then, her nerves was going away without her noticing and she was enjoying and relaxing herself in no time. They were driving for awhile; listening to surprisingly 90’s music. At the moment, Duran Duran’s Come Undone was playing.

As Carlisle was humming along, Bella asked him about it.

“I didn’t know you like 90’s music. I didn’t think it was your type,” she told him honestly.

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “It’s my generation, isn’t it?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I just pictured you as liking…older music.” She couldn’t really explain it.

But she did miss the slight tensing of Carlisle’s body, but he forced himself to relax.

“Oh, I don’t know. I quite liked the 90’s,” Carlisle just said cheerfully. “I especially loved the music from the era.”

Bella hummed and Carlisle grinned, getting an idea. He began singing the song to her, causing her face to become adorably red as usual. By the time they reached the spot, she was redder than a tomato. Carlisle laughed good-naturedly, even as he got out and walked around to her side, opening the door and helping her out. Instead of using the wheelchair, he chose to carry her bridal style to the little spot he’d picked out, picnic blanket and basket already laid out.

He’d found a perfect place to watch the sun set, and they could have a small picnic there while watching it.

“Oh, this is really lovely,” Bella gazed, seeing the field of flowers that led off to a cliff. There the sun was beginning its journey down.

Carlisle set her down on the blanket, pulling out a strawberry shortcake they could share, along with several finger sandwiches and several raspberries. Quietly, they ate together, though mostly Carlisle would pretend before slipping it back into the pile for Bella to eat.

“Bella, I want to repeat to you that I am very serious in how I feel about you,” Carlisle murmured, brushing back a strand of her hair that had fallen forward in front of her face. “I’ve come to care for you so much, in such a small amount of time. It’s nearly unbelievable, and yet I would not take any of it back.”

Bella blushed, staring at him in awe.

Carlisle was tempted to kiss her right then and there, but he knew he couldn’t. Instead, he substituted the act with something very similar and intimate. He leaned closer and nuzzled her neck, moving slowly up to finally nuzzle her jaw affectionately.

He pulled back.

“Let me court you, Isabella,” he breathed out, gold eyes intense as he stared at her.

She felt faint, and she almost did.

“Y-yes!” she squeaked out.

And then he smiled gently but infinitely happily at her, the soft glow of dusk bathing him in its colors and making him even more beautiful than usual. And she felt that everything in her life was worth every second of this moment, from her curse of a body to the strain of her power –just to be with Carlisle now, just seeing him like this.

Bella couldn’t believe how happy she was.

She didn’t know that her happiness would be short-lived.

The next day, as she went through school, everything was going smoothly. It was a bit awkward, what with her having to go around in a wheelchair and all and Lauren making snide comments whenever Bella saw the other girl…but nothing could bring her from her high from such a fantastic yesterday.

That is until Edward Cullen came up to her with a crooked grin.

She had some butterflies, but they had lessened considerably since her…date with Carlisle and him professing similar feelings to hers. Still, she couldn’t deny that Edward was cute and in some small way she felt a little bit for him. But Carlisle made her very happy and whatever she felt for Edward didn’t equal to what she felt for the blond.

Until Edward took her away at lunch, the watchful and angrily heated eyes of his siblings bearing down, and the bronze-haired god kissed her tenderly on the lips.

Butterflies exploded.

Omake! I 

“Sir?”

The voice on the other line nonchalantly continued and Demetri hung up, staring at his cell phone with a grimace. That had been Caius, with yet another mission for him to do. The 16th in fact.

He sighed tiredly, but got ready to do his job. That is…until his phone rang again. With another grimace, he reluctantly answered it. After another few minutes, he hung up wearily.

That was Marcus. With his 30th mission. The man was on a roll, Demetri could tell you.

Along with these side missions, he still had that mission that both Caius and Marcus had given him about a rogue vampire that was terrorizing young girls, and had bronze hair. The details were sketchy and he was having a hard time locating this guy, especially with both Volturi leaders calling him every other day (other than to call for a new side mission) with leads that led to nowhere.

It was all very frustrating and he would like to go home to Volterra now.

Omake! II

“But it’s not fair, Jazz,” Alice pouted, sulking in a corner of their room with her husband similar to her.

Jasper sighed, “I know, Alice. I wanted to be there too. But we do take up quite a bit of her time, and at least with this we would give her some space. And not seem like we’re monopolizing her time. Or like we’re stalkers.”

They both contemplated that, looking up at the ceiling as they held their chins in a thinking pose.

“But I still miss her,” Alice sniffed.

Both of them hung their heads in shared misery, hovering in on themselves in their separate corners of woe. Purple clouds of gloom could be imagined hanging above their heads as they dramatically leaned against their walls in depression.

It was a very anime-ish moment.

Omake! III

Esme sweatdropped. She had been dragged by her first son into the living room, sat on the couch and for four hours straight…had been listening to Edward play the piano dramatically. Even as a vampire, though it shouldn’t bother her… 

She was really getting restless. Don’t her wrong, she loved her son, but when he got into these moods it just becomes very stressful.

And annoying.

She sighed irritably as Edward started in on another depressing song.

Esme didn’t believe that vampires couldn’t get headaches. She was living (undead) proof of that.

Omake! IV

“How does this look?” Aro preened in front of the mirror, observing his Hawaiian t-shirt and khaki shorts combo. He narrowed his eyes at the reflection of himself. “Hm, it’s wrong.”

He whipped out a pair of sunglasses from out of nowhere and put them on his face, perching them neatly on his nose.

“There! Much better!”

Heidi passed by at that moment, shaking her head at the fashion disaster.

“Master Aro, you can’t leave the castle. Without Masters Caius and Marcus here, if you leave as well, there won’t be anyone here to keep order.”

Aro pouted and went to his own corner of woe, dejectedly sulking in his very own atmosphere of gloom.

Omake! V

Marcus sniffed in disgust, smelling his prey. His eye twitched and he readied himself, mentally also preparing himself for this venture.

All for the greater good.

With forced enthusiasm, he went after the deer and had it tackled in a matter of seconds. Killing it quickly and mercifully, he scrunched up his nose and couldn’t help the slightest bit of discomfort and the grimace on his face. He sent a quick prayer to his ancestors before hoping to just get it over with and just biting the damn thing.

He reeled back in revulsion and gagged, only just barely refraining from spitting.

How the hell did the Cullens eat this shit?

Humans taste way better.

Screwing up his face in nausea and distaste, he forced himself to try it again. It was for Bella, he kept telling himself. This was all for her.

He tried to keep that in mind as he drank from the animal.

Omake! VI

Caius fumed. He was supposed to pick up Bella.

So where the hell was she?