The house was deathly silent, still, as she approached the front, frowning at the anxiety and fear that bounced against her from the short distance. There was no way to gauge their thoughts, not when she had been warned that there was some kind of something that she ought to prepare for, but that didn't leave her with much of an answer. 

Anything could have been behind those doors, hidden from her, and she allowed herself a singular moment to silent seethe at the thought. 

She steadied her heart, cooled her emotions the best she could, and made for the door, letting herself in (if the door closed harder than necessary, then she would deny it). Each step seemed to echo, announcing her, but not a word was spoken, not a singular sound, and it drew into a point at her back feeling as though she was being stabbed. 

Carlisle was first, standing in her path grim-faced with Esme close at his side. He didn't offer any words, but the look of him was enough to confirm Bella's temporary humanity. She wasn't sure if she ought to be relieved. 

He placed a hand on her shoulder, a fatherly touch, and she let him guide her up the steps to the front room, the one with the giant window and the balcony in which they all would have seen her approach, could have seen the destructive emotions that ran rampant beneath her skin.  

Part of her wanted to shake him off, but the comfort the gesture brought her was too much of an anchor to the present, keeping her from getting so carried away. 

Everyone was gathered around, standing by the walls statuesque in their eternal beauty -- unmoving as she came into the room, and it felt like a messed up museum as they stared unblinkingly and blind to her weak steps. 

On the couch, tugged under a blanket with Rosalie stood at her side, was her sister, a hand resting against a slightly rounded, pouched stomach -- smiling happily up at her. 

She ran through the days in her mind, trying to search for any sort of possible answer, but there was none -- at least not one that could ever make sense, and she glanced at Edward quickly, watching for any sort of flinch or tell in his expression. He gave none and she felt a snarl press silently in her throat. 

Andy dug deeper, letting her mind go as it tore into his, searching his soul for all the emotions it bore, ripping her way through for some semblance of confirmation. She nearly shrieked at the guilt speared through the entirety of his being, entwined so deeply with his essence that she nearly missed what he was guilty for this time -- the fear, and the desperation, and the mourning all paired nicely with his rage and self-loathing. 

Staggering as she pulled away, Andy wiped at the tickling over her upper lip, smearing blood against the back of her hand that she wiped dutifully against her pants, sniffing to clear the rest -- and oh, she was still wearing Quil's shirt, the smell shooting through her like a calming current.  

"What is this?" she breathes, surprised by how deep and low her voice comes out. 

"Andy," Bella smiles, reaching a hand out for her. 

She doesn't move. Jaw working as she stares at her sister. She looked thinner, tired and worn out, and she would have tried to convince herself that it was just from the honeymoon and the travel, but she knew better. It was almost as though she could see her stomach growing just standing here. 

"What is this?" she repeats, because she didn't want to believe it was true. "Tell me, Bella." 

Her sister glances to Edward, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm pregnant."

Breathing deeply, she turns to Carlisle. "How is that possible?" 

"You're going to be an Aunt!" Bella called and Andy winced, shying away from those words. "This is a good thing! You always wanted a big family."  

"That won't be a baby, Bella," she hissed, eyeing her rounded stomach and the faint purple stretch marks that she could almost mistake for bruises. 

On second thought, Andy moved closer, eyes narrowed, and placed a hand on her sister, sinking into herself into a soft glow emitted from her palm, radiating until she felt her stomach cramp, pain flashing through her. She pulled up her own shirt, eyeing the flat expanse that sprinkled with bruises.  She backed away.

"Whatever that thing is it's not good for you. How do you know it won't kill you, Bella? It's half-vampire! This shouldn't have even happened!" 

"Andy, it's not like that..." 

"Shut up! Do you even hear yourself? Do you just want to die?" Andy seethed, turning on Rosalie that stood behind the couch at her sister's shoulder. "Is this what you need my help with?" 

"Bella isn't compatible with the fetus," Carlisle murmurs and she twitches. 

Her thoughts whirled through everything she knew of pregnancy and human anatomy, and though it admittedly wasn't much, she knew that in such cases that the body could abort the fetus on its own. At the stage that her sister should have been no one would have even noticed, but this thing... this thing wasn't a normal case. It was almost parasitic, draining. 

"So take it out of her!"  

"It's just a little baby," Rosalie says softly, lovingly. 

"It's hurting her!" She cries, gesturing blatantly to how ill she already looked. It could have only been two, maybe three days since they've known, and already it was like she was fading. "How can you be okay with that?" 

Alice shuffles, moving close into Jasper's side as Esme did with Carlisle. They were all so tense, quiet, and the air tasted of grief and fear, mourning settled on the tip of her tongue washing down the guilt that oozed from Edward where he had placed himself in the corner, but he was the only one that had outright reacted to what she had said with how his jaw tensed and his shoulders curled in rage. 

He didn't want this, want to see this thing hurt his wife. Didn't want to watch his true love wither away. She agreed with him this much. but it didn't dampen her anger toward him at having put Bella in such a situation. Edward had promised he'd care for her, that he would protect her, and he couldn't even last a few weeks. 

"Andy, don't be angry with them. It's my choice. I want this," Bella defends, tone final and Andy rushes forward, dropping to her knees in front of her sister. 

"If this is just about a baby then there are other ways to do it, Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella, please, just reconsider, please," Andy begs, grasping her sister's hands tightly. "Think about it, okay? Having this baby is dangerous. You don't even know what it is. It could kill you. You could die. What's the point of having a child if you can't raise it?" 

"I can do this. I can do this. Carlisle could change me after the birth. I can have a baby, Ands," she whispers softly, as though in awe of herself. 

Andy wants to be sick. 

"If this is about a baby then I'll have one, okay? I can have so many that even you would get fed up with it. You don't need a vampire baby, okay? You can stay human and have as many babies as you want, but just don't do this. Don't be stubborn and let this thing kill you," she argues, rambling her pleas in hopes of reaching some sort of rational thought, but there is no recognition in her sister's eyes, only this distant, glazed gleam that shines her resolve to do this. 

"It won't be the same otherwise. It's going to be the perfect mixture of me and Edward."

Breathing shakily, Andy blinks heavily, staring up at her sister through tears that blurred her vision. "I'm not going to approve of this. I can't. Knowing that I'm going to have to live the rest of my life without you is one thing, but knowing that I can't be with you because you're dead is another. I'm not going to sit around and watch you die, Bella. I won't." 

She stands and her sister tries to follow, tightening her hold on their joint hands, but Andy pulls away, a tremor running through her. She can't keep her hands still, her fingers quivering with each wobbly step she takes backwards. 

There's a stillness to the room as she manages to stumble away, watching her as she goes, and Andy tries to hold herself together despite the way her lungs feel torn from her chest, her heart beating as a separate entity within her. Each movement was distant, a ringing screeched in her ears. 

Somehow she had made it back to the truck, the old door slammed firmly behind her keeping her caged in and the first sob broke free, tearing from her throat harshly and she gripped the wheel tightly,  knuckles screaming their protest, but Andy felt so indifferent to it all and she needed the reassurance, the feelings to ground her to the here and now, because her tears were too heavy for her to consider driving safely, her mind to jumbled to remember the steps to drive at all. 

Heavy steps sounded from nearby, a rustle and a crack that shook through her even with the window closed, and Andy gasped at the pain of a shift that crawled over her skin, eating at her tears and she breathed harshly -- thoughts no longer clouded. 

She peered out into the dark, hastily wiping away her tears and sighed in relief at the sight of Lynn standing in a large, loose shirt outside the truck facing the house with a scowl. 

Pushing her way from the truck, the door creaking as it opened, she flung herself at her friend, seeking comfort from her warmth and earthy scent. 

The idea that she couldn't just go inside and seek comfort from people she cared for, people that had taken up most of her life was a concept she couldn't wrap her head around. Andy didn't think there would ever be a moment that she couldn't trust in the Cullen's and she didn't think it would be for something like this. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" Lynn presses, hands brushing through her hair, pulling it away from her sticky cheeks. 

The words were heavy on her tongue. She just shook her head. 

"It is Bella?" She asks more softly, nervously, and a sob whimpers passed trembling lips. "Do you want to go back in? Is it safe to do that?" 

"I-- Can you take me home, please?" she whispers, eyes dropping to the floor.

Lynn presses a hand to the small of her back and guides her to the passenger seat, racing back around to the other side. 

Leaving the large house with the lights shining bright and silhouettes in the windows. Small petite Alice watched her, Jasper close to her side. There was another but Andy couldn't tell if it was Edward or Carlisle, but they all moved away when Lynn turned around. She shifts her gaze to the rearview mirror, watching as they make their way further into the room until she could no longer see them. 

Her heart pinched and she wasn't certain if she wanted them to come after her or not. 

It was surreal to feel as though she was alone. Sure, she knew that they would be there to protect her and care for her just as the pack and her parents would be, but it wasn't the same thing knowing she couldn't explain to the wolves or her dad what it was that was breaking her heart, that she couldn't be around Bella and the Cullen's, in turn, knowing that they were doing nothing to save her. 

Was a child worth risking your life when there were other, safe methods that she could have one? What did Bella even suspect her hybrid fetus would grow to become? 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lynn asks softly once we're suitably away from the house way out of hearing range. 

"I can't," she croaks, and the weight is blinding, pressing against her eyelids. 

Lynn seems to understand, a beacon of pure goodness in the murky waters of her thoughts. 

"How did you know to come?" 

"I could feel your anger and pain sharper than anything I've ever felt before," her friend tells her, shifting in her seat. "I was leaving Emily's and decided to take off. Quil was on patrol. I think he suspected something was off and nearly freaked when he got a peek at my thoughts." 

"Oh."

"He wanted to come, but I told him I was on it. That I would bring you back to him if you need it," she says, chuckling softly. "He wasn't for it at first, but Jake convinced him it was for the best to let me go... since I'm more in tune with your emotions and all that." 

"Maybe we should go see him instead since he's worrying," she offers. 

"Nah, call him over to your place. It's a Friday night so his mom won't care and you made him do all his catch up work already." 

She smiles at that, biting the inside of her lip. "Did you want to stay too?" 

"You'll be fine with Quil. He'll appreciate it if it was just the two of you anyway. Plus, Embry always gets nervous when I come out here so I gotta go tease him for a bit." 

Laughing softly, Andy scooches to the middle seat. "I don't deserve you as a friend." 

"Don't say that! It's us that doesn't deserve you. We... I don't want to think of what it would be like if you weren't around."

She crying again, sniffling in the front seat because, god, Andy just loves her friends, her family so much and she can't imagine what it would be like without any of them... and there Bella was, ready to throw her life away again as if it was less important than anything else undermining the meaning she held in their lives -- her life!

Bella was her only sister, her best friend, her first friend, and Andy was stuck walking her to the casket. 

"Don't-- try not to think about this around the others too much, okay? I don't want them to worry." 

"No problem." 

"You're really the best, Lynn."

"We're a team, Ands. You and me." 

Andy sighs, closing her eyes tight to hold back her tears. 

'You and me against the world, Andy. Always.'

Except, no, it wasn't. Not anymore. But she had always been just as naive as she was smart. Andy would follow Bella anywhere, and this adventure would be no exception, no matter how much she hated that thing trying to steal her sister. 

She would be back. She would go back. She just needed a little time. They just need to give her a little time. 

***

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unedited

2019-06-29