The following morning, Lydia went on as if nothing had happened. She had been painting all night, another canvas that would be rolled up and left in a storage unit when the house ran out of space. Painting had been the easiest way for her to cope since being turned.

As a human she'd never been particularly good with art. Most of her time was spent outside or asleep. But now, with infinite time ahead of her, it was something she had decided to try.

Her first project was a drawing, a copy of an old family photo. The image of her mother was beautiful, just as she was. Lydia tried her best on getting her blouse and pleated skirt, but the shadows nearly made her break the pencil. Thomas looked obedient as always.

When she got to George, the pencil pressed harsher into the paper, leaving indents in the sheets beneath it. It wasn't as detailed as the other three, but it was possibly to identify who it was. Her pencil had gone through the paper before she finished the shape of Lyle.

But she kept the drawing, buried at the bottom of a box.

Most of her human memories were gone. She would document what she could remember.

Pottery was alright. Her inhuman stillness made it easy, but she didn't like it as much. Decorating them was what she enjoyed.

That was when she turned to paints.

Oils; acrylics; water colours; chalks; she loved it. The acrylics were her favourite.

There were several paintings of her mother, rolled up and left in the attic of the house. The majority were of her shining face in the sun, but the more recent few were much darker. Maryse Crawford passed away a few years earlier at the age of 83.

Most of the canvases held images of her beloved human home. Her favourite tree to climb. Mothers garden. The side of the lake with the rope swing. The path into the woods only she could see. The darkness of those trees looming over her at night. The section of river her body had been left in. Moonlight filtering through leaves, casting eerie shadows that never scared her onto the ground of her favourite little clearing.

That wasn't true.

Lydia had been afraid in the forest for one entire night. The night was her last, and then her first. Besides; nothing natural had been the source of her terror.

The painting she had been working on was of that very clearing, only it wasn't dark. It was early in the day — sunrise in the summer — and the glow of it warmed the scene. She remembered the warmth, and the sound of the river running a hundred yards away.

In the protective hollow made by a ring of bushes, a red blanket was lain over the grass with two small containers of food. Lydia smiled faintly at the blanket, remembering the hours she'd spent getting it right. It wasn't difficult, as the very blanket was laid carefully across the back of her massive white couch. The identical armchair was next to her bookshelf.

The blanket was the same; worn wool with growing holes, loose threads, stained and burnt. It was a well loved blanket, and had been well used.

Sitting on top of the blanket was herself. A small girl with long blonde hair in a pleated dress, drinking tea. She was laughing, and had a hand set on the shoulder of a tall black man with no features.

It was last night that she realized it. It hadn't even been half of a century, but Lydia could no longer remember the exact shade of Joseph's eyes. The proper shape of his nose, or the unevenness of his smile.

With her inability to cry, the thought was shattering. Already kneeling on the floor, she dropped her paintbrush and stared at the blank face in front of her. She didn't move for hours.

Then morning came, and with it the expectations of normalcy. So she put everything away in their proper place and got dressed; a fitted pair of jeans, long-sleeved top and a pullover sweater. When Edward had gotten back late last night, he had greeted her and sifted through her thoughts as he often did, then went to speak with Carlisle. They were were having a near silent conversation in his study now.

Alice was waiting downstairs at the front door as she always was. One perk of her gift? None of them were late.

Lydia heard Jasper follow shortly behind her as she went to grab her boots from the front closet. When the four of them were finally ready to go, she watched Esme disappear upstairs as they made their way out to the cars; likely to Carlisle's office as well.

Eyes narrowed, Lydia looked at the stairs and then over to Edward, who simply wasn't acknowledging her. He simply got into his car and went to pick up Bella. Likely to tell her the events of last night. She then angled her gaze to Jasper and Alice, as they would both be going with her and had no chance of escaping her questioning.

Something was going on, that much was obvious, and it was something they were keeping from her.

She used her speed to cut in front of Jasper and slid into the passenger seat. When he growled lowly in the back of his throat, she simply turned to him and raised a brow. Wisely, he settled for the back seat. As soon as Alice twisted the keys in the ignition, the statement came out.

"Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," was Jaspers plain answer.

Lydia bit down harshly at her bottom lip. "Don't bullshit me, Jasper," she said quietly. "Tell me what's going on."

"We're just sorting out what happened last night with the dogs," Alice stepped in, her voice soft and high pitched.

The voice Alice used when she lied.

"And you weren't telling me that because?" Lydia demanded. The inhuman silence she had grown accustomed to filled the car. "That's what I thought," she glared at them, "come and get me when you'll tell me the truth."

Neither spoke up for the remainder of the car ride.

Due to the fact that both Alice and Edward drove like sociopaths, they pulled into the parking lot at the same time. Him and Bella stayed in the Volvo, talking for a moment while Lydia stepped out. The first thing she looked at were Bella's human friends. Since coming back, Alice had taken to enjoying lunch with the humans. As Jasper went wherever she did, and Edward never left Bella's side, Lydia had taken to spending her lunch breaks alone.

They had offered to bring a seat for her, but she declined.

Humans had already done enough.

The second was the smell. It was faint at first, and then grew stronger with a gust of wind. Wet dog with a hint of nature. She found the source of the smell immediately, and found herself grinning. Sat atop his black motorcycle in jeans and a tight black tee shirt, was Jacob Black. He was massive now, much bigger than any of the human males in either today. The best estimate she could make was six and a half feet tall.

Several girls waiting in the parking lot were staring at him with wide eyes, taking in the wet black hair and the way his damp shirt clung to his body.

Jacob was obviously here to irritate Edward, and based on where his attention was, he was going to to an incredibly good job.

"If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?" She heard Edward ask irritably. Either he'd caught the scent or heard the thoughts, or maybe both.

The moment he got out of the drivers seat, Bella was out of the passenger seat and he was grimacing. "Course not."

Rather than stepping in to help, Alice and Jasper wisely went inside. Lydia, on the other hand, walked gracefully up to the Volvo and leaned against it. Not to help, but to have a better vantage point. This would be interesting.

For the first time in nearly forty years, Emmett and herself were the problem. The fact that the problem was with Edward only made it better.

Bella flipped up her hood and walked quickly over to her friend after realizing why Edward was in such a mood. "Hey," she said quietly.

Probably offered him a little smile.

She seemed to like doing that, the small and awkward smiles. It seemed to be quite common with humans now.

Not bothering to hide her grin, Lydia swung her feet the tiniest bit as Jacob walked forwards to meet her. They stopped in the middle of the distance. "Charlie said you left town," was all he said, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah," Bella nodded slowly. "To visit my mom, why?"

A low growl in Edward's throat became just loud enough for everyone but Bella to hear.

Possessive bastard, she thought pointedly to him.

When he turned his glare that terrified humans, clearly not impressed with the sentiment, she snickered and raised her palms. "I'm just thinking what eeeeeveryone else is too scared to," Lydia grinned.

Edward stared at her for a moment longer, eyes narrowing into slits. Then he ignored her completely. "He's checking to see if you're still human," Edward rolled his eyes, shooting his girlfriend a rueful smile.

The answer to Jacob Blacks impossible question.

When will she become a monster too?

Another snarl from edward, though he didn't turn to face her.

The other two did.

Bella had her bottom lip caught between her teeth and was glancing those brown human eyes from her, then back to her boyfriend.

The moment she thought of brown eyes, a chip was made in the barricade that held back her human memories. Of those few memories that immortality allowed her to keep, part of the most important one slipped through.

Moonlight sifted through the tree branches on either side of the river. Cool water gurgled in the shallows of it over mossy rocks.

Lydia stood in the shadow of her favourite tree, waiting.

No one was aware of where she was. They weren't even awake. She loved it.

Two fallen branches cracked under someone's heavy weight. She hid within her shadows.

The foot falls came closer.

Maybe one person knew who she was.

A large, dark figure emerged from a thicket of trees and the features became close enough to see—

Lydia forced the thought away.

Sitting there watching the typical snarling match wasn't as entertaining now. Now all she wanted was for the day to end.

For a moment quicker than the other two could process, Edward glanced back at her. She could see the mixture of bitterness, horror and rage.

Not at her, but for her.

For what she had lost that night.

Then he returned to the conversation as if the last two beats of Bella's heart hadn't happened.

Jacob had no problem following.

"Look; I'm here to warn you," he said calmly, a muted kind of rage simmering beneath it. "If your kind come on our land again—"

"—wait what?" Bella cut in.

Lydia paused.

All of Bella's body movements indicated confusion. She had no idea why the reminder of a possible trip to Phoenix so her mother could meet the boyfriend had been such short notice.

"You didn't tell her?" Jacob scoffed. Now he spoke quietly in astonishment.

Not one movement; Edward's face was blank. "Just leave it alone, Jacob."

Bella turned to look at him with furrowed brows. "Tell me what?"

Now that he had no choice, Edward forced the words out. "Emmett and Lydia had a slight... disagreement with Paul," was all he gave up. "It's nothing to worry about."

As her name was mentioned, the three silently looked over at her. Because she was upset and Jacob black had an awful smell, Lydia only raised a brow and waved.

The faster they finished this conversation the better.

Jacob turned his attention back to Edward, abruptly crossing his arm over his chest. "Did you lie to get her out of town, too?" He demanded, his grin smug.

Clearly he believed he was in higher favour.

Edward took two steps towards him, still not a shift in his expression. "You should just leave." A moment of silence. "Now."

It was obvious Jacob was enjoying this, because he all but puffed his chest and  tilted his head. "She has a right to know." A nod to Bella. "She's the one the redhead wants."

A choked sound came out of Bella, and Lydia watched her take a step away from Edward. "Victoria?" She demanded.

Edward closed his eyes in exasperation. She could see him debating on killing Jacob Black right there. When she didn't get the answer, Bella turned and looked at her.

As Lydia opened her mouth Edward stared at her, demanding she say nothing.

Begging.

Looking him directly in the eye, Lydia said, "yes, two nights ago."

"Alice's vision," Bella scoffed.

"I was trying to protect you," was Edwards response.

Lydia snorted under her breath, and earned herself a glare for it.

But Bella wasn't done. "Okay; we're gonna talk about this, but you—" she turned her body and attention to Jacob "—why haven't you called me back?"

For the first time since arriving, Jacob looked uncomfortable. "I had nothing to say," he muttered. He stalked over to his bike again.

Silence.

Then Bella followed after him. "Well I have tons, so hold on—"

Edward gently grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop in place.

Instinctively, her eyes narrowed.

Though he would do anything in place of hurting her, Edward had a tendency to be overprotective. He was muttering something to Bella that Lydia ignored completely. Protective was good in their world, it was part of the reason Bella Swan was still alive.

But that gesture was possessive.

She readied herself to go over and throw him halfway across the parking lot, humans be damned, but Bella took matters into her own hands. "You have to trust me," she said, then climbed onto the back of Jacob's bike. He tossed her the helmet and they tore out of the parking lot.

When they were out of sight, Edward stalked his way over to her. "You shouldn't have said anything," he hissed.

Lydia stared right back at him, her dark eyes reflecting against his own. "You should've told the truth," she countered. "You love her, Edward. You don't own her. There's a difference."

Then she shoved him out of the way and climbed into the drivers seat of the Volvo, ignoring her technically not being allowed to drive. Edward had left the keys in the ignition in his hurry to follow Bella so Lydia simply twisted them and backed out of the parking space.

He glared at her from the curb.

Briefly, she considered running him over with his own god damn car.

But instead, because she never wanted to leave the beautiful Pacific North West, Lydia pulled of the parking lot and began the drive back home.