LENA RETURNED TO the Cullen household in Jake's car a little later than she'd planned. Her detour that consisted of going to Paul's, running away from Paul's and then going back to Paul's took quite a while. When she got back, the family were no longer in the house and had ventured out into the woods where Lena and Benjamin were earlier.

She walked up to the family, but just as she was about to greet them, she heard something. It was running, from afar, and it was definitely a vampire - only these ones weren't invited. Almost as soon as she heard them, she sprung into action, sprinting towards where they were coming from and shifting on the way.

Her growls echoed around the forest as she got closer. She could hear other wolves around her now, hopefully chasing them right into her trap. She could sense some uncertainty from them, making her believe that they could be some newer shifters. She sped up.

The two men were dressed in odd black clothing, one with dark hair and the other with bright white locks. They both had shining red eyes, and their grins were obvious tells of their intentions in Forks. They spotted her quickly, and moved to leap over her, but Lena quickly switched up and stopped herself from running too far before moving to chase them from behind once they had landed on the other side of her.

Before she could, however, the wolves that were behind her crashed into her instead of going around and they landed in a heap. Lena could briefly spot Jacob running in front of them before she untangled herself from the newbies and followed behind. When she caught up, the men were perched on a tree and the rest of the Cullens had caught up too.

"Vladimir, Stefan." Carlisle spoke, "You're a long way from home."

"What are they doing here?" She heard Kate mutter.

"We heard the Volturi were moving against you." Stefan's Romanian accent was thick as he spoke, "But that you would not stand alone."

"We didn't do what we were accused of."

"We do not care what you did, Carlisle." He rolled his eyes.

Vladimir put in his two cents, "We have been waiting a millennium for the Italian scum to be challenged."

"It is not our plan to fight the Volturi." Carlisle commented, but Lena saw Edward make a face.

"Shame." Stefan muttered, "Aro's witnesses will be so disappointed."

"They enjoy a good fight." The two men laughed with themselves, smirking.

"Aro's witnesses?"

It wasn't long before everyone was gathered in the Cullen's living room - it made Lena and Jake a little uneasy, which caused them to uncharacteristically stick together in one corner of the room whilst Eleazar explained what he knew.

"When Aro wants someone from a Coven, it isn't long before evidence turns up proving that coven committed some crime." He spoke gravely.

"So he's done this before?" Bella asked.

"It happens so rarely, I never realised it was a pattern." The man responded.

"Apparently he always pardons one person who's thoughts he claims are repentant." Carlisle added.

"This person always has an ability." Eleazar continued, "And they're always given a place with the guard."

"This is all about Alice." Edward said, "He has no-one like her."

"Which is why she left." Bella deducted.

"Why does he need witnesses?" Lena asked, "Aren't they, like, the Royal Family of the Vampire community or something?"

"To spread the word that justice has been served." Aliaster jumped in, "After he slaughters an entire coven."

That last sentence made all of Carlisle's guests share their own fearful looks. It was Benjamin's parents that stepped up and claimed they were leaving, but Edward wasn't having it.

"Where will you go?" He said, "What makes you think they'll be satisfied with Alice? What's to stop them from going after Benjamin next, or Zafrina or Kate or anyone else with a gift? Anyone they want. Their goal isn't punishment, it's power, it's acquisition. Carlisle might not ask you to fight, but I will. For the sake of my family, but also for yours. And the way you wanna live."

There was a moment of silence, everyone sharing looks on what to do. Lena and Jacob did the same, and the former stood, "The packs will fight. We've never been afraid of vampires."

After them, it was a canon of others. First the Denali Coven, then Garrett, Benjamin despite his father's protests, and soon everyone was standing and agreeing to fight the rule of the Volturi.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Edward reasoned, against the moral views of the newest Romanian guests, who were alive at the thought of a fight. Lena and Jacob went off to call Sam and explain the situation, and he too seemed all too ready to murder a bunch of vampires.

As winter got closer, the household grew tense. Lena tried to split her time - between Bella, Paul, Bex, Teddy, her head was spinning. Rebecca was understanding, she was more than aware of the supernatural creatures that lured in her town after a freak accident involving Embry where luckily nobody was hurt. Teddy, too, knew the importance of the situation, and was using his new free time to spent with Luke, his boyfriend. Paul was a little salty that she was spending so much time with the Cullens, but only because she was leaving him alone to deal with Marcus in all of the pack meetings at Sam's house. Bella was just grateful Lena was there for her, a voice of reason whenever things got too tense.

Renesmee was getting bigger by the day, now looking like a solid preteen. She split her time between her parents, Jacob and Lena. Whenever Edward and Bella were busy, Lena liked to take the reigns on babysitting, to ensure Jacob stayed away until he had a much-needed psychological evaluation.

Today was one of those days. Despite the Autumn weather wearing into something colder, the trees were still an amazing place to be. Lena and Renesmee were gathering stones and leaves for...whatever the younger girl had planned while Bella worked on expanding her shield.

"Lena." The girl drawled, kneeling on the ground and arranging the sticks into a formation.

"Rey." She responded, sitting behind her, watching the little girl in her element.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Raising her brows in amusement, she tilted her head at the girl, "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Renesmee stood, huffing out a breath and sitting cross-legged in front of her godmother, "Are you and your boyfriend like Mom and Dad?"

"Uh," Lena chuckled, tucking a stray piece of Rey's hair behind her ear, "No. Not exactly. Your mom and dad are married, me and Paul are just boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Do you have a best friend?" Was her next question.

Confused as to where this was going, Lena replied slowly, "Yeah. His name is Embry. Why?"

"Does Embry like Paul?"

"Yeah. They're super good friends." Lena laughed, "Why do you ask, Rey?"

The little girl huffed again, fiddling with her shoe laces, crease between her brows, "Then why does Jake not like Daddy?"

Lena fought the urge to laugh, instead reaching forward and smoothing out the crease with her thumb and tilting Rey's head to look at her, "Because Jake and your dad have a history of not liking each other."

"But why?"

"Because sometimes, people don't like each other. It can't be changed."

"But why?"

"I dunno, Rey." She shook her head, "Why can your daddy read minds? Why can I turn into a wolf? Why is the sky blue?"

Renesmee twisted her lips, hauling herself up and walking back towards the house, "I don't know. Let's ask daddy."

Rolling her eyes, Lena followed her, knowing Edward would give his daughter whatever scientific reason there was for the colour of the sky.

It was like that for the next few weeks. Vampires wandering the halls of the Cullen house, Lena narrowly avoiding their stares and spending time with Rey. She attended more pack meetings with Sam - even Jacob started going, just to make sure things were running smoothly. Before she knew it, it was Christmas.

The holiday hadn't been a huge thought in her head since Bella woke up. The last thing she could remember celebrating during the hectic period was Embry getting into early college admissions. But now it was Christmas, and it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

"I don't wanna be here." Paul complained for the fifth time as he pulled into the driveway of Sam's house. Ever since Marcus had made himself comfortable in the Rez, the Lahote boy had been more and more uncomfortable with being there. Despite Lena's choice being made abundantly clear to them both, he still hated the guy. And since Lena didn't pick Marcus, the feeling was mutual.

"Well, suck it up." She replied, "Because we're only gonna be here for a little bit, then we're going to Bella's. It'll be fine."

He rolled his eyes, but conceded anyway, and the pair made their way up the driveway and into the house. The smell of cookies was apparent, and the noise from the living room echoed towards them. She grinned, slipping off her coat and not looking back before entering with a wide grin, "She's here!"

Kim grinned back, "She is!"

The pair hugged, having spent little time together in the previous weeks. They sat beside one another on a love seat, joined not long after by Claire, who had been officially inducted into what they were dubbing, The Pack Partner Panel.

(Lena liked to argue that she was a member of the pack before she was Paul's girlfriend, and they agreed that she was an honorary member. Rebecca was also a member, but didn't know it yet because Leah was yet to make things official and introduce her to the pack.)

The group exchanged gifts, shared stories, caught up on gossip, took pictures and ate so many cookies they thought they might pop. Then they played a soccer game on the field and Embry and Lena teamed up to annihilate the opposing team. When Paul and Lena were gearing up to leave and head for Bella's, Embry pulled her aside.

"Hey." He wrung his hands nervously, "I just wanted to say thank you. For everything. Helping me out when I first shifted, being my friend even when we were on opposite sides."

"You're welcome." She smiled, "Thank you, too, Em. I love you."

"I love you too." He responded tearfully, before enveloping her in a hug so tight she thought she might die. Whispering, "I hope this isn't our last Christmas together."

"It won't be." She firmed, "The Vampire Trump Party have got nothing on us. Okay?"

"Okay." He nodded, and Lena was reminded that he was only seventeen. A fresh senior, on track to having an amazing life, who was spending Christmas preparing to walk into a battle he might not walk out of. She took a deep breath, and the two of them shared a meaningful look before she got into Paul's car and they set off down the road.

She texted Bella to let her know they were on their way, her eyes darting to the falling snow nervously. It wasn't sticking, but it was there, and it sent chills down her back. She was shook out of her stupor when her phone chimed,

BELLS
hi lena!!! it's rey!!

BELLS
jake got me a bracelet for christmas!!!

BELLS
are you nearly here?

She chuckled, smiling fondly at the messages, and remembered a vow she'd made to herself not too long ago. She would protect Bella no matter what, and it extended to Rey too.

She just hoped nothing bad would come from the future. Even if it was unlikely.

- mills speaks!

i. don't even know what to say.

first of all, I AM SO SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU GUYS PLS FORGIVE ME PLS PLS ! EXAM SZN HAD ME STRESSED! but i've finished my a levels and it's officially summer for ya girl - the summer for petrichor.

i wont be going awol again, even though i said that last time and straight up lied. but i'm BACK FOR GOOD!!

i promise <3

lena and paul:

yall when i say i'm coming back but then disappear for three months: