"Hey, Ev, it's me. Um, I guess I'm calling to tell you that my dad died. The doctors said he had a massive heart attack and... I don't know, I guess I just don't really know what to do right now. Can you meet me at my house? I'll see you in a bit."

***

"Hey, it's Leah. Ev, I really don't know what to do right now. Can you please call me? Or come over? I just really need someone to talk to who isn't my family. Please hurry."

***

"Evelyn, something crazy just happened to me and my brother and I feel like I'm losing my mind. Can you please pick up your goddamn phone and call me back? I'm so scared right now. Please just — just call me back."

***

"Hey. So thanks for telling me that you're here for me and all that before, but it looks like when I actually needed a friend you just bail. Anyway, not that you even care, but Seth and I phased. Sam and Jacob told me that you know about us. And now I know about you and the bloodsuckers that you love so much. I hope he was worth it. Next time, don't make promises to people that you can't keep."

Evelyn groaned, throwing her phone down on the bed beside her in frustration. She had been listening to the voicemails Leah had left her over and over, trying to think of some way that she could explain things and make it up to her. But Leah was having none of it; Evelyn had been sent straight to voicemail each and every time that she had tried to call her back.

If she wasn't grounded, she would already be in La Push right now trying to make it up to her, but Marie was only letting her leave the house for school and work for the forseeable future.

After Edward had dropped her off, Evelyn had expected Marie to be relieved first and then understandably upset that she had left. But what she did not expect was her anger.

Marie had shown no mercy the day that she had come home. Of course, she was frantic with relief when Evelyn had walked through the door. Her aunt had bombarded her with hugs and couldn't stop expressing her joy that her niece had finally come home. And then she got angry.

"What the hell were you thinking, Evelyn? Running off to Italy without even so much as a warning? And don't you dare say that you texted me because you know damn well that that's not enough."

Evelyn nodded, slightly surprised but also knowing she deserved every bit of Marie's anger. "I know, Marie. I'm so sorry I didn't call or wait to talk to you, but Edward was in trouble and he wasn't listening to anyone. I was just trying to help him." It wasn't a total lie, but she did her best to sound convincing enough for her aunt.

Marie scoffed, throwing her hands in the air as she stalked off towards the kitchen. Knowing the she was expected to follow, Evelyn trudged along behind her. "Oh, I heard all about it from Carlisle on the phone last night. 'Misunderstanding' my ass, what kind of a parent just allows their son to do that kind of thing? It's just irresponsible, Evelyn, and I'm so disappointed in you for getting wrapped up in it, too." Marie sighed, slumping into one of the kitchen chairs and rubbing her face tiredly. "You know better, Evelyn. You know better."

Evelyn's heart clenched seeing how much she had worried her aunt. She slid into the seat next to her, watching Marie carefully. "I'm so sorry," she said, and she truly meant it. "I just wanted to help my friend and I didn't think about how it affected everyone else."

"You're damn right you didn't think," Marie agreed, her eyes hard as she met the concerned gaze of her niece. "And it won't be happening again, not while you're under my roof. I never thought I'd ever have to do this, but you're grounded until further notice. You can leave the house for school and work and that's it until I decide that I'm not upset at you anymore."

Evelyn smiled softly, nodding. "Understood, I deserve it. I'll do whatever you need me to do here or at work and I promise I won't even complain."

Marie scoffed, rolling her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. She shook her head, taking her niece's hand. "Can you stop being so agreeable about this? I'm trying to be mad at you, you know."

The two of them laughed then, the burst of anger and tension dissipating just as soon as it had come. But Evelyn knew that her aunt would not forget what happened; she would have to really find a way to make it up to her this time.

"I'm sorry for being so angry with you, Ev, but you're all that I have left. What if something had happened to you? After everything with Harry, I don't know that I could have handled that."

Evelyn nodded, her heart sinking a little at Marie's words. Her aunt had no idea how close she had come to death in the past forty-eight hours, and she had no intention of ever revealing that to her.

"It won't happen again," Evelyn promised, but it felt like a lie as it slipped past her lips. There was no way to know what would come with the future, especially where the Cullens and Volturi were concerned, but for now, the best she could do was reassure Marie and try to gain back her trust.

They were silent for a few moments, before Marie raised a cautious glance at the girl beside her. "Since the Cullens are back, that means he's back too."

Evelyn visibly stiffened, avoiding Marie's eyes. "I know," she said softly, her voice just above a whisper.

"I can't make your decisions for you," Marie said carefully, "and I certainly can't control your actions, but I can set limits in my own home. I don't want him here, Evelyn. Not after everything he put you through. If I see him anywhere near the house, I'm calling Charlie."

"And I won't stop you," Evelyn said. "There isn't anything between us anymore. We've already spoken, and I made it clear that it's not happening any time soon." It wasn't entirely true; of course there was still something between them, but she truly had no desire to rush into things with Jasper without taking time away to think and make sure it was truly what she wanted. She knew that she wouldn't know for certain for a long time.

Marie tried not to look to pleased. "Good," she said, crossing her arms with a huff. "I really don't like him anymore, if I'm being completely honest. I'm glad you're aren't just rushing back into a relationship. Here's to hoping Bella won't, either. I know Charlie is worried."

It's a little too late for that, Evelyn had thought.

After that night at the kitchen table, Marie had been true to her word. She did not allow Evelyn to come or go without knowing exactly where and when she was going, and she always kept an eye out for a certain blond boy to come snooping around the house. Evelyn had not even been able to see Bella outside of school; Marie and Charlie had agreed some time away from each other might be beneficial. Evelyn had rolled her eyes at that, but she knew they were trying their best to teach them a lesson. If it was the only way to gain Marie's trust back, then she would just have to put up with it.

Evelyn picked her phone up from the bed again in vain, hoping to see some sort of communication from Leah. But of course, there was nothing. She knew that it would take time for Leah to calm down and let her explain what happened, but she couldn't help but wish that it wouldn't take so long. She hated knowing that she had deeply hurt one of her closest friends and could do nothing to fix it.

She needed some type of distraction. It was late at night and she intended to keep her promise to her aunt and follow the rules of her grounding, so going out was out of the question. With her aunt asleep in a bedroom that was so close to the front door, it would be difficult to sneak out, anyway. She could try to sleep, but lately even that had been difficult. Every time she closed her eyes, she was forced to relive seeing Aro kill his sister or stare Jane in the eyes as the burning pain overcame her in her dreams. It was unpleasant, to say the least, so she had begun to avoid sleeping as much as possible

Evelyn thought of calling Alice or Edward just to have someone to talk to, but then that ran the risk of one of them mentioning to Jasper that she had called, and she did not want to deal with the possibility of him showing up one day and upsetting Marie. So instead, she picked up her sketchpad and pencil and began to draw.

She carefully began to outline the large, elegant archways that she had observed in the Volturi throne room, listening to the soft sound of rain outside her open window. Despite everything that had happened that fateful day, she had hung on to mundane details like the architecture to keep her sane. She did her best to emulate the sweeping stone and delicate light filtering on the page, losing herself in the easiness of it; it was easier to move her hands and focus on details rather than remember what had happened. It was easier to try and forget.

Evelyn was so engrossed in her work that she did not notice the sudden shift of her window being lifted open; she did not notice the soft gust of air that indicated the immortal speed of someone moving within her room. In fact, she did not notice him at all until he spoke.

"Your memory is impeccable," Will said, eyeing the page from across the small bedroom. "Your attention to detail in your art never fails to impress me."

At the sound of his voice, Evelyn's breath caught in her throat as her pencil suddenly stopped moving. She could feel her heartbeat quicken; she could feel the anger within her begin to boil her blood. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to scream or cry.

"Why are you here?" She asked, her voice deathly quiet. She kept her eyes trained on the page in front of her, clenching her fist around the pencil in her hand. Her knuckles turned bright white from the strain.

Will kept his distance, keeping his voice low. "I needed to see you," he said finally. "Not being able to speak to you has been eating me up inside."

Evelyn let out a humorless laugh. "Are you sure it's not just guilt?" She met his eyes then, her sharp gaze seemingly piercing his soul. "I don't feel bad for you. If it's sympathy you want, you won't get it from me."

"That's not why I'm here, Ev-"

"Don't call me that!" She hissed, eyes blazing. "I don't care why you've come or what you have to say. Get out of my room."

Will stepped towards her, his eyes pleading. "Please, Evelyn, I only came to explain. I figured I owed you at least that after everything that's happened between us."

"Explain what? I saw all I needed to know written all over your face in Italy when Aro told me the truth. You led them to my parents, Will. My family. You're the one responsible for their deaths, and you knew this whole time." She rubbed her face with her hands, growing more and more emotional as she spoke. "Was it just some sick game to you? Getting close to me and making me care about you? Was it just some twisted way to try and make up for what you've done?"

The vampire shook his head, his eyes sad as he dropped to his knees in front of her. He reached for her hand, but she was quick to snatch it away and move farther back on the bed. She couldn't help but enjoy the flash of hurt that she saw on his face; it was nothing compared to what he had done to her.

"How I feel about you is not a game, Evelyn. It never was. I failed your parents and I have spent the last year trying to make up for it. I thought that if I found you and protected you from Victoria because I had failed to protect them, then maybe I could atone for what I've done. I never expected things to get this far."

"You should have told me," Evelyn said, her eyes hard. "You should have told me everything from the moment that we met. But you chose to lie to me for months, Will. Months."

Will was crestfallen as he stared at the human girl who currently held his breaking heart in her hands. He knew he deserved all of her anger, but it still didn't hurt any less when he heard her say such cold things to him. "I'll do anything, Evelyn. Please tell me what I can do."

She shook her head, fighting back tears as she avoided his eyes. "There's nothing. Will, you helped them kill my parents. There is no way for me to forgive that. I'm sorry."

"Evelyn please, I am begging you to let me explain. I love you," he said at last, imploring her to look at him. She refused. "Please, Evelyn, I can't lose you, too."

The girl shook her head, finally meeting his eyes with a blank stare. "I want you to leave," she said at last, her voice low and smooth, "and I want you to never come back here. I never want to see you again."

"You don't mean that," Will stammered, but he sounded unsure. He didn't like the look of deadly resolve in her eyes. "Evelyn, please, I just want to tell you what happened because you have a right to know. I understand that now."

She shook her head; she knew all that she needed to know, and nothing he said could change her mind. "Get out," she said at last, and this time he did not argue. The hurt in his eyes was clear, and Evelyn couldn't help the guilt that sunk her heart as she watched him slowly rise from the floor.

He only paused at the window, and Evelyn prepared herself for another round of begging and pleading from him, but he only looked at the photo of her parent's on the desk. She was reminded of a moment from months ago when he had done that exact same thing; she should have known then that there was something off about him.

Her heart ached when she watched him leap out of her window and into the night, but she knew that she had done the right thing. She just prayed that he would stay away; him being here was all the more reason for Aro to pay close attention to her, and that was the last thing she needed in her life right now.

***

A couple of nights later, Evelyn was lying awake in the darkness of her bedroom praying for peaceful sleep. She had awoken from the nightmare about Aro and Didyme again, and all she wanted was to slip into a peaceful sleep for just a few hours.

She tossed and turned for a few moments, growing more and more irritated that her brain just couldn't seem to shut itself off for the night. With a tired glance at the clock, she groaned. It was already almost three in the morning.

Just before she was about to angrily flip to her other side again, her attention was immediately grabbed by the soft buzzing of her cell phone. She reached for it and accepted the call before even looking to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ev, it's me," Bella's familiar voice put Evelyn a little bit more at ease. "Did I wake up up? I'm sorry if I did."

Evelyn shook her head even though no one could see her. "No, I haven't been able to sleep at all tonight, anyway. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. But there's something important that I need to talk to you about. Edward and I are on our way to your place. We're gonna meet everyone at his house and I figured that you should be there too."

Evelyn sighed tiredly, closing her eyes. "I don't know if I'll be able to get out, Bella. Marie sleeps with her bedroom door open so she'll hear me if I try to leave."

"Just leave your window open," she heard Edward say in the background, his voice clearly exasperated.

"We'll be there soon. See you in a bit, Ev."

Evelyn was up out of bed fairly quickly, curiousity and trepidation about what could happen tonight fueling her. She slipped an old crewneck over her tshirt and decided to just leave her sweatpants on since it was cold outside. She slid on a worn pair of shoes over her mismatched socks, careful not to step too loudly and wake her aunt downstairs.

She had just tied her tangled hair up into a messy bun when she saw Edward on her windowsill, knocking at the closed glass. She hurried over and slid it open as quickly and quietly as she could, stepping aside to allow him in.

"I thought I told you to leave it open," he said, his voice tinged with annoyance.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and shoved his arm. "You gave me literally two minutes to get ready after Bella called, I was gonna get to it. Let's just go before Marie wakes up."

Edward carefully swept her into his arms and leapt out the window, landing gracefully on the damp grass below. The pair walked together towards his silver Volvo down the street with Edward sliding into the driver seat and Evelyn slipping in the backseat behind Bella.

As Edward drove off way too quickly down the empty road, Evelyn turned her attention to Bella. "So why do we have to go to his house at three in the morning?"

"It's complicated," Bella said, glancing at her friend. "Edward and I had a... disagreement earlier tonight."

Beside her, Edward scoffed, shaking his head with a cynical smile on his face. "That's certainly one way to put it." He met Evelyn's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Despite all common sense, Bella wishes to be changed into a vampire as soon as possible. She refuses to listen to reason."

Bella scowled at him. "You heard the Volturi in Italy. They're going to come for us, and I don't want to put you or your family in anymore danger. It's the smartest way."

"We wouldn't let them hurt you. You're both safe from them for the forseeable future," he argued back, and it was clear that the idea of Bella becoming a vampire repulsed him.

"But for how long?" Evelyn asked him, drawing his attention. "You saw Aro's thoughts, Edward. You saw what I saw. Even Carlisle said he wouldn't forget that. How can we avoid them forever?"

Edward's eyes were pained as he met her stare in the mirror. "I thought you didn't want this."

I don't, she answered him mentally, and she showed him her true thoughts and emotions about the situation. He saw her fear, the uncertainty, the potential grief of losing the human life that she loved so much. It was clear that becoming a vampire was the last thing that Evelyn wanted for her life.

"I don't think that we have a choice anymore, Edward," she said softly, her green eyes sad as she held his gaze.

Edward's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "We'll find a way," he said, though Evelyn noticed he did not sound completely sure of his words, either. It did nothing to make her feel better. The rest of the car ride passed in a tense, uncomfortable silence.

They arrived at the Cullen house soon after, Edward flying out of the car and around to the passenger side using his immortal speed to open the doors for both girls. They both stumbled out onto the grass, and suddenly Evelyn was nervous. She looked at the brunette next to her.

"So what exactly do you have planned?"

Bella sighed, her brown eyes searching the other girl's face. "I figured that the fairest way would be for everyone to vote about us changing, since we would be in their family. And it would give everyone a chance to talk about it and voice their opinions. I thought it was fair, since the situation implicates everyone now."

"Oh... okay, then," Evelyn said, nodding in agreement although inside she began to feel herself panic. Of course, she knew the possibility of her becoming a vampire had existed from the moment she met Jasper, but to have it be talked about in the open and become more concrete was terrifying. She wasn't ready to face that reality.

She followed Edward and Bella into the house, where they found the rest of the Cullens gathered in the living room. Bella and Edward came to a stop closer to the center of the circle of vampires. Evelyn slipped behind them, taking a seat on one of the lower stairs as she surveyed evertone in the room.

Esme and Carlisle stood together, along with Rosalie and Emmett. Jasper hung slightly behind them next to Alice, looking curiously between Edward and Bella, before his eyes finally rested on Evelyn. He did not know why they had been gathered here tonight, but by the anxiety he sensed rolling off of Evelyn in waves, he began to worry. He offered her a small, reassuring smile, which she returned, but he noticed it did not reach her eyes. The anxiety within her did not go away. She turned her attention to Bella, who was wringing her hands nervously as she decided what to say.

Bella looked around at each of them before she began. "You all know what I want. And I know how much I'm asking for." She paused, taking a deep breath. "The only thing I can think of to be fair is to just vote -- for both of us," she added, glancing back at Evelyn, who she noticed had gone extremely pale.

"Are you alright?' Edward asked, his voice soft as his concerned gaze swept over her. Evelyn nodded, but she did not feel okay at all. She couldn't believe they were actually talking about this as if it were so simple; she knew it was a logical way to go about it, and that she really did not have a choice, anyway. At some point in her life, she would have to become a vampire-- it was now just a matter of when. But not knowing how much time she had left as a human terrified her.

Jasper didn't like how unwell Evelyn had started to look, and because of his powers he knew it was because she was afraid of what would be decided tonight. He wasn't opposed to her becoming a vampire at all; selfishly, he wanted to change her so that he never had to be without her for the rest of eternity. But he knew all too well that it was not what she wanted. He watched her in concerned silence, not yet brave enough to risk the fragile remnants of their relationship by moving to comfort her.

Carlisle looked cautiously between the two humans. "Are you sure?"

"I am," Bella replied, sounding so sure and so confident that Evelyn thought she was crazy. How could she be so okay with this? She watched Bella look around expectantly at the group, and when no one answered, she turned to the pixie-like vampire standing across from her. "Alice?"

Alice beamed, striding across the floor to capture Bella in her delicate arms. "I already consider the both of you to be my sisters. Of course I vote yes." She moved to Evelyn, gently picking up her hand and squeezing it comfortingly. Evelyn could only manage a small squeeze back.

"Thank you," Bella said, her chocolate brown eyes turning to Rosalie, who looked sad as she stared back at her. "Rose?"

Rosalie's eyes flickered to Evelyn's, holding her gaze for a moment before she addressed them. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, to both of you, for how I've acted. And I'm really grateful that you were brave enough to go and save my brother." She looked between them again, shaking her head. "But this isn't a life that I would have chosen for myself. And I wish that there had been someone to vote no for me... so no."

Beside her, Emmett came forward. "Well I vote hell yeah," he boomed, scooping Bella into a bone-crushing hug. He grinned broadly down at the two of them. "We can pick a fight with these Volturi some other way."

Jane's bright red eyes and Aro's sadistic grin flashed in Evelyn's mind at Emmett's words. She was unable to bring herself to return his smile.

Edward and Jasper shared a look, both of them knowing what Evelyn was thinking about by her thoughts and feelings. Edward felt so guilty for being the one responsible for their pain in the first place; had he not forced his whole family to leave and had he not gone to Volterra, they would not even be in this position. He hated that he helped destroy two people that he loved like they were his blood siblings, and now they were forced to decide the fate of the two girls they loved in their living room.

"I already consider both of you as part of our family," Esme said, beaming at them. "My vote is yes."

Evelyn let out a shaky breath, her stomach in knots. That was already three for yes. Her eyes found Jasper's gold ones, and he knew what she was going to ask before the words left her lips.

"What about you?" Her voice was quiet, soft. If all of them had not been vampires with excellent hearing, no one would have heard her.

Jasper's heart broke at the pure sadness on her face. It was the look of a girl who knew that her life as she knew it was slipping through her fingertips. He considered his words carefully, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke to her like they were the only two people in the room.

"I won't lie to you, Evelyn. Part of me wants to say yes because I never want to have to worry about losing you to death one day. I can't imagine spending forever without you. And I know it's selfish, but it's the truth." He paused, searching her eyes. "But I know it's not what you want, and all I care about is your safety and your happiness. We'll find a way around it, Ev, I promise. And I swear to you that I won't let them hurt you. So my vote for Evelyn is no."

Evelyn's eyes were stinging from tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. Even after all these months, his words still managed to take her breath away. She smiled softly at him, silently thanking him with her eyes, and the warm smile he gave her in return was almost enough to make her flush red, had the situation been different.

He turned to Bella. "I know this is what you want. And I suppose it would be nice to not want to kill you all the time," he joked. "Yes."

Bella grinned triumphantly, turning to the only one left in the room who had not voted. "Carlisle?"

But the Cullen patriarch did not meet her eyes. Instead,  he stepped forward, his gaze on Edward who had shifted over next to Evelyn on the stairs. They seemed to have a conversation within their minds, with Edward finally letting out a long breath of frustration.

"Why are you doing this to me?" He questioned, his voice gruff with emotion. "You know what this means."

Carlisle kept his attention on Edward. "And you've chosen not to live without her, which leaves me no choice." His eyes were hard as he implored Edward to see his point of view. "I won't lose my sons."

"So it's settled, then?" Bella asked tentatively, looking around at everyone in the room. "You're all okay with this?"

Carlisle nodded, turning his attention to Bella. "We'll have to discuss when would be the best time for the transformations. We'll need time to find a cover story and a new location to start over."

"Well.." Bella began, eyeing them all uncertainly. "I was thinking that maybe we could do it after graduation. Then we could pretend that we moved away for college or something, make it easy."

Graduation. That was less than three months away. Evelyn' stomach dropped into her feet and her palms started to sweat uncontrollably. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and her breaths became more strained and shallow. She had the odd feeling that she was starting to suffocate.

"Evelyn, are you okay?" Alice asked from next to Bella, suddenly genuinely concerned for the girl's well-being; she did not look good at all.

Emmett grunted in agreement, peering around Alice to get a good look at her. "Yeah, Ev, you're looking kind of pale."

Evelyn stood, shaking her head as she bounded down the stairs. She needed to get out of that room. "I just-- I think I need a minute." And then she was running, straight through the front room and out the door into the cold night.

The cool night air was refreshing on her skin, and she gulped it down like it was water. Tears were now falling freely down her cheeks, but Evelyn didn't care. She still felt like panicking everytime she thought about what Bella had said. Graduation. She felt as though her life was sliping through her fingertips before her eyes, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do to stop it. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to be like this.

Inside the house, Jasper moved to go after her, the panic he felt inside her nearly engulfing him, but a hard, marble-like hand fell down on his shoulder to stop him.

"Let me talk to her," Rosalie said, her voice soft and calm as she implored Jasper to listen to her. "I think I understand how she's feeling, maybe even better than you," she said, a teasing but genuine smile on her face.

It took a few moments, but finally Jasper nodded and moved aside to let his adoptive sister pass. It took everything in him not to run after her, but he knew Rose was right. She probably was the best person to talk to Evelyn right now, no matter how much he wanted to be the one to comfort her.

Outside, Evelyn was leaning against a front porch column and taking deep, shaky breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. Unfortunately, it wasn't working very well. She couldn't get herself to stop crying and it felt like every time she was starting to get a hold of her emotions, the fear would just start building right back up again.

The sound of the front door opening behind her made her jump in surprise, and she immediately started swiping at the tears on her cheeks in a futile attempt to hide the evidence of her feelings.

"I'm okay," she said, her voice shaking as she agressively wiped at her eyes. "I'm fine, I just need some time to think about everything--" her voice faltered abruptly when she turned to see Rosalie standing in the door way.

Rosalie's red lips were pressed into a pretty smile as she looked at her with understanding in her eyes. "No, you're not fine. Come here," she said, extending her arms, and Evelyn willingly fell into the vampire's cold embrace.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, with Rosalie holding her and stroking her hair as she let out the tears that seemed like they would never stop falling. It was nice to release all of the pent up emotion and stress that had been building over the past few days. She knew that she would probably be embarrassed about it later, but for now, she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Once the tears had fially began to ebb and the tautness in her chest had faded, Evelyn pulled away from Rosalie to wipe her face and move the hair out of her eyes. Without a word, Rosalie helped gently sweep the hair from her face and once they were done, she took both of Evelyn's hands in her own.

"Better?" She asked, squeezing her hands comfortingly.

Evelyn nodded, a laugh escaping her lips as she looked sheepishly at her feet. "A little bit," she admitted. "I'm sorry for crying so much, it seems like I've been doing that a lot recently."

"Don't apologize," Rosalie said, guiding them to sit together on the front porch steps of the house. "Feelings are not something to be ashamed of. It's okay to cry and to be sad or angry. Especially in your case. And I just want you to know that I know how you feel... all too well, in fact."

Evelyn met her golden eyes then, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You do?"

Rosalie nodded, smiling softly as she held the human girl's hands. "There isn't one vampire in that house that wanted to be changed... that genuinely wanted this life," she began, nodding behind them towards the house. "But there is no one who longs to be human more than I do. I was just like you, Evelyn. I wanted everything that life could offer me... marriage, children, growing old with the person I love. And it was taken from me like it probably will be taken from you."

Her words were brutally honest, but in a way Evelyn found herself appreciating the harsh truth. She suddenly realized that she knew nothing about Rosalie's story; she had never even bothered to ask her. "How did it happen for you?" she asked, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"It certainly was not very pleasant," the blonde said, smiling privately as if at her own macabre joke. "I grew up in Rochester, New York, and I had everything I could have ever wanted. I was beautiful, had the finest clothes, and attended all the major gatherings of high society at the time. I had a family who loved me. Looking back, I know that I was selfish and shallow. Perhaps I still am. But I was happy."

Rosalie stared off into the forest as she continued. "My best friend at the time, Vera, had the one thing that I did not: an adoring husband and a beautiful baby boy. I envied her, Evelyn. All I wanted was a family of my own. And when Royce King came into my life with his pretty words and expensive gifts, I thought that I would have what she had, too. We became engaged after only a few months. I was desperate to get what I wanted, and I thought Royce could do no wrong."

"One night, about a week before the wedding, I was walking home and I ran into him and his friends. They were all drunk, of course, and then when I tried to leave, they wouldn't let me." Her eyes were sad as she met Evelyn's gaze. "I'm sure you can guess what happened next."

Evelyn was horrified. Suddenly, some of her own problems seemed very small. "Rose, I'm so sorry, I can't even imagine what that must have been like."

Rosalie laughed, a melodic yet bitter sound. "No, you can't. I prayed for death, Evelyn. But Carlisle found me and changed me to save my life. I hope you don't misunderstand; I am truly grateful for what Carlisle did. But I lost everything that I had ever truly wanted." She sighed, a smile turning up the corners of her lips. "Things got better for me after I found Emmett. I couldn't imagine life without him."

"But you still wish to be human," Evelyn finished, searching her face.

Rosalie nodded. "This is not something that I would wish on anyone, and I am so incredibly sorry that it may be forced on you. I didn't tell you my story to scare you, Evelyn. I told you because you need to know that you aren't alone. I just want you to know that even though the future isn't clear now, there are so many who care for you and that doesn't change if you do end up like one of us. You're part of our family now. That will never change."

Evelyn felt tears welling up in her eyes again, so all she could do was smile and squeeze Rosalie's hands in gratitude. She leaned her head on the vampire's shoulder, closing her eyes as the pair sat in the silence of the night.

She was still terrified of what was to come and had no clue about how she could avoid the fate that the Volturi had condemned her to. But after tonight, knowing that she was not alone helped alleviate the heaviness that had settled in her heart since they had returned from Italy.

******

for those of you who don't follow me: my computer basically died-died last week and i lost the last three chapters of this book completely, sooo i had to rewrite them from scratch :)) not fun but i think this one turned out better than the original one so yay! last chapter and epilogue coming this weekend (hopefully) but if not then definitely early next week. thank you so much for reading and for your patience!