(Katherine's POV)

After lunch, Jasper and I walked to our next classes. I didn't need to ask, Jasper could see my questions in my eyes. I could tell. What was it that Alice saw? Seeing Alice's face told me it was something bad. As the day went by, it was close to the final class. Thank god, we had class with Dax and Alice. Before the classroom began to fill up, I placed my stuff on my desk, then walk over to Alice, taking her hand and pulling her towards the other side of the classroom, away from everyone.

"Ok, what did you see?" I ask softly.

Jasper follows behind me with a sigh, knowing that I wouldn't let it go till Alice told me. From the look of Dax's face, he didn't know either.

Alice licks her lips and looks around to make sure no one could hear, then turns towards me.

"It's nothing for you guys to be concerned about. We'll take care of it." She gives me an assuring smile, but I wasn't falling for it.

"Alice." Dax warns.

She turns to Daxy, giving him an innocent smile, "Daxy, it's nothing."

"Alice, I don't wanna do this, but I will if you don't tell me." I warn as I hold up my hands, ready to grab her head.

She frowns and sighs, she knew I would force the truth out of her the hard way. And I don't want to do that.

"Ok. Ok." She takes a deep breath, "Victoria is here. I saw her making a decision to come through the rez into the woods. Where the borderline is between us and the wolves."

I look at her in pure shock, but I wasn't surprised that Victoria was still around, just shocked they are keeping this from us.

"Why didn't you tell us? Me, especially." Dax exclaims.

Alice stutters to find her words, but Jasper helps her out.

"We didn't want anyone to worry. We thought about your safety first. Especially, Bella's." He says.

Jasper could see how angry I was at him for keeping this from me and Dax. I swear it's like talking to a brick wall at times. What do I have to prove to him that I can take care of myself?

I cross my arms over my chest and frown deeply at him, practically glaring at both of them with an ice cold glare.

"You shouldn't be keeping secrets from us. Especially, with us being your mates. I thought we agreed after Volturi, no more secrets." I whisper furiously at both of them.

They both give us a guilty look and pleading eyes for apology.

"Katherine, I'm sorry. But, Edward told us to not inform either of you to save you from being worried. We're going to try and ambush her in the woods, but Edward is going to try and get Bella out of town. So, Victoria won't get to her if we lose." Jasper explains.

I sigh deeply, still pissed, but I understood. Still, I didn't like knowing they kept secrets from me. And, of course, Edward is the boss again. Last time, he gave orders, it nearly cost Bella's life. The final bell rang before I could speak. I gave them a curt nod and turn to head to my desk to finish my lesson. I tried to ignore Jasper's pleading looks, but it was difficult to see him in pain. I can't help it, I'm hurt, too! He tried to keep secrets from me!

After class was over, Jasper pulls me away from the crowd and into an empty classroom to talk.

"Katherine, I'm sorry. I know I promised no more secrets, but..." He stops to sigh. "I just worry so much about you. Edward's worry for Bella motivates my worry to protect you. I know you're not fragile, but it'll take time for me to see that. Please, have patience with me." He pleads.

I look away from his gorgeous golden eyes, but he uses a cold finger, to bring my gaze back towards his and looks for any sign of acceptance. I roll my eyes and scoff out a small laugh.

"Ok, I forgive you. But, next time you hide or lie, our honeymoon will be Vegas." I warned him. Which had him gulping in fear. A vampire in Vegas. That's bad news. Especially, when one who use to be a gambler in the 1800s. (I'm guessing)

As we exit the classroom, we ran into Alice and Dax. Looks like they made up as well.

"Edward is taking Bella to Charlie at the station. You and Jasper should go as well. Edward is going to ask her to go to Florida to see her mom, but Bella is going to ask him to come with her. Katherine, he can't. He needs to be here to lure Victoria out in the opening. You should go." Alice says as we walk to the parking lot.

"Me? Go to Florida?" I ask, incredulous.

I feel Jasper pull me into his arms, "We need to get Bella out of town before Victoria gets here. You can protect Bella in Florida if Victoria follows."

I couldn't help, but scoff, "Oh, now, you're believing me that I can protect myself?"

Jasper frowns, but brushes it off, "I know. I...we...have lots to learn about your kind. And we need to trust you. I'm giving you my trust right now." He gives me a crooked grin.

"You can invite Oriel as well. Turn it into a girls weekend in Florida." Alice suggests.

I let out a loud laugh, "Ha! Girls weekend with Bella." I give Dax a knowing look which had him grimacing at the memories.

Alice and Jasper both frown at us, "What? What's wrong with a girls weekend?" She asks.

I gesture at Dax, "I'm gonna meet Bella at Edward's car with Jasper. You tell her." I giggle as I pull Jasper to Edward's car.

I look over my shoulder and watch Dax throw an arm over Alice's shoulder and whispers in her ear about the weekends we had with Bella when the Cullens left.

Alice's eyes widen as I watch her mouth let out a gasp. She covers her mouth and looks over to me in surprise. I give her a big smile and shrug and turn to lead Jasper to Edward's car.

"What happened on a girl's weekend with Bella?" Jasper asks as we lean on Edward's car.

I sigh, "Basically, we went to the movies with Jessica and Britney." I grimace.

Jasper scrunches his face up in confusion, "What? Who's idea was that?" He exclaims.

"Bella's." I laugh.

Jasper nods, "Ah, that makes sense. She hangs with them more than you."

"Yup. It was during our depression." I give him a knowing look which harden his eyes. "Charlie wanted her to spend more time with her friends and Bella said out of the blue, that she was going to have a night out with friends. Me, Dax, Jessica, and Britney. All through the freaking night, I kept hearing them squawking back and forth about the stupid movie and Bella..."I stop myself. I didn't want to tell him about the bikers. "She went to get something and Britney and Jessica wouldn't stop harassing about her...and me as well...so, I got fed up. I slapped her."

Jasper's eyes widen, "You hit Britney?" He exclaims.

I didn't notice Bella walking up to us with Edward looking at me in surprise as well.

"Yup, she slapped Britney real good. She had a bruise for a few days. I can't say I blame her. Britney always kicked us when we were down, especially..." Bella's voice trials off as she thinks about that time. I knew what.

Edward tries to hide his amused smile, but a chuckle escapes his lips. Jasper covers his mouth, but I could see a grin behind his fingers. I could see them trying to imagine Britney's face when I slapped her.

I smack their shoulders as I brush pass them to get into the backseat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jasper's POV

On the way to the station, I still couldn't get over what Katherine said about Britney's harassment. Oh, there's no doubt that I am pissed. The major is extremely pissed. But, hearing how she handled it, I felt my heart swell up with pride for the mate. Even when she was hurting, she stood up for herself. For Dax and Bella. I'm very proud of my mate. I couldn't help but, smile at her and pull her closer. Kissing her softly and hold her in my arms. I could feel Bella and Edward watching us. I'm still in shock with the fact that Katherine was protecting me from Bella's scent. I was going to ask why didn't she do this before? But, it's stupid of me to ask that question. She couldn't. Because I didn't know. If she did, it would have raised questions that she and her family couldn't answer. At least, not then.

Soon, we pull up in front of the station and Bella and Edward were first to exit the car, then us. I could feel Bella's curiosity radiating off of her. She wanted to know about the vision. It was pretty obvious. Bella walks up to the door, but stops. We all could see Charlie speaking to two people. Parents. I feel the concern and fear coming off of them.

As Edward turns to lean on the rail, Bella turns to look at him, biting her bottom lip.

"I know you know what she saw. Tell me." She says, sighing softly as she rolls her eyes a little.

"It was nothing." Edward waves it off, giving her a small smile.

I could feel Katherine stiffening in my arms, but she gives Bella a curious look as she watches the two of them.

"You looked worried." Bella points out to Edward.

Edward shakes his head, "Just that everyone would notice how strange Alice is." He lies.

Bella scoffs and laughs a little, "I think that ship sailed long ago."

Katherine leans closer in my arms and I bury my face against her neck. Breathing her in. I always loved the smell she carried. The Earth always smelled so peaceful to me. When there wasn't any animals around, I could breathe in the Earth into my soul. Feel the dew covered grass, the warm sunlight, the dirt and moss...all into my lungs, my mind, my whole body.

I look up from her neck as Bella speaks up with curiosity and worry.

"I wonder what's wrong."

I look over and see the parents handing Charlie a picture of a teenage boy. Dark blonde hair, sharp features, and brown eyes. I recognized him. He was local.

"This is our Riley. We've been trying to get Seattle PD to look into the case, but no one can find a single clue about him. Everyone who has last seen him say that he left a bar at night. It was pouring and..." The middle age man chokes on his words as the woman next to him try to comfort him, but she was crying as well.

"I'll do all that I can to bring him home to you. I'll contact SPD and have them transfer their files on the case to me."

I knew Edward could hear what I heard as well. I watch him turn to Bella to explain.

"Their son went missing in Seattle over a year ago. Charlie is doing what he can, but..." Edward shakes his head in sympathy and sighs softly.

Bella eyes him with caution, she could see right through him. That's how strong their bond is growing.

"Do you know something about this?" She asks, but I could see she was talking to all of us.

I sigh softly and speak up for Edward when he tried to think of what to say without her worrying.

"We've been tracking the situation in Seattle for a while. Unexplained disappearances, killings..." I shake my head in pity for the people of Seattle.

"If the situation gets anymore conspicuous,the Volturi will step in." Edward says.

Bella's eyes widen in fear, "If they go to Seattle, they can come here. They can see I'm still human."

Edward shakes his head, "We won't get that far. But we'll go to Seattle if we have to."

We all stopped talking about it once we see Charlie making his way towards the door with Riley's parents. My throat nearly closed off at the smell of their worry, their sadness for their son. They loved him very much. I could smell it all over them. Their family love.

"I'll fax these down the first thing." Charlie assures them both and he shakes the father's hand.

"Thank you." And he guides his wife towards there car and leaves.

Charlie turns towards us, frowning as soon as he sees Edward next to Bella.

"Hey." Charlie greets.

"Hey, Charlie." Katherine smiles.

"Afternoon, Sheriff Swan." I greet him politely. I could feel that he wasn't so keen either with me being there.

"Hi, Kat." Charlie smiles at Katherine, but frowns at me, "Hale." Yup, does not like me at all. I'm honestly not so surprised. After what I did to Katherine, I wouldn't like me either.

"Hey, you're ready for dinner?" Bella asks.

"Yeah." Charlie nods, then looks unsure, "It is still just...you and I, right?" He asks hesitantly. "Well, Kat, you know you're always welcome."

Katherine smiles, "I kinda already have plans. Jasper is taking me out to dinner tonight."

Charlie nods, "Ah. Well, maybe next time. Well?" He turns and asks Bella.

Edward chuckles, smiling, "No, I'm just dropping her off." Edward turns to Bella, "See you later." He gives her a knowing smile, then turns to head to his SUV.

"Bye." Bella says as she smiles back and watches him walk to the SUV, but before we could say our good-byes, Edward turns to face Bella and Charlie again.

"Oh...Bella. My parents wanted to remind you about the...Airline ticket you got for your birthday." He says.

Charlie looks at them in confusion, scrunching his brows, "What airline ticket?"

Bella shuffles her feet, "A round trip ticket to see Mom in Florida."

Charlie looks at them in shock, and grateful for our parents, "Wow, that was generous."

"And it expires soon, they say you might wanna use it this weekend." Edward adds.

"Well, I can't just drop everything and go." Bella protests.

"It might be your last chance to see her before you graduate." Edward says, hinting at her with the double meaning. Bella's eyes light up with shock, the due date of the end of her mortality. If it'll go through. I know Edward is doing all he can to stop it.

"Might not be a bad idea. Get out of the town for a couple of days, get some distance." Charlie hints.

Katherine couldn't stop the chuckle erupting from her lips, even when she covers her mouth.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Mom...As long as you use the companion ticket." Bella says to Edward.

"Wait, there's two tickets?" Charlie exclaims. "Super, that makes me really happy." He grumbles.

Edward was about to protests, but Katherine speaks up.

"Actually, Edward was going off with his family this weekend. Jasper told me they were going to see their cousins in Canada. Right?" Katherine looks over to Edward with a knowing look. Edward nods in agreement.

"It's really important for me to go. But, Katherine can accompany you." Edward suggests.

Before Bella could protest, Katherine speaks up again.

"And Oriel. We could make it a girl's only weekend. It would be a lot of fun." Katherine suggests.

Charlie perks up to that idea, "I think that's a wonderful idea. You should take your friends to Florida. Bond. Have fun."

Bella sighs in disappointment, but she agrees nevertheless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Kat's bathing suit)

(Oriel's bikini)

Kat's POV

It was hard to say goodbye to Jasper, but Bella's protection was important for us all. Victoria means to kill her for revenge. Even me. But, she wouldn't be able to stand a change against me. With Bella, Bella is too vulnerable. It's up to me and Oriel to protect her and Renee.

Once we finally arrived to Renee and Phil's house, Renee opened her welcome arms to me and Oriel. Given the circumstances how we met last time, it was nice to meet her again for happier reasons.

I sigh in content as I lie in the sun next to Bella and Renee and Oriel. We all sat in our lounge chairs outside with the sun beaming down on us. It felt so good.

"God, I haven't done this in so long." Oriel sighs.

Renee chuckles, "I bet. Living up there with barely any sun, it must be terrible not getting a tan now and then."

I shrug, "It's not so bad. The beach in La Push is nice, but cold." I stop and laugh. "We went down there a few times, but first time, we went there and Cin and Dax went with us. Cin went in first and..."I laughed hard.

Oriel begins to laugh, "I never heard him shriek that high before."

Bella and Renee laugh with us.

"Total Opera singer?" Renee snorts.

I nod and laugh more.

Oriel mocked his shriek in a very high pitched sound that had us all in tears.

Renee claps as she laughs, then sighs, wiping her tears away.

"Aren't you gonna miss this? Don't you just feel the vitamin D soaking up in your pores?" Renee smiles.

Bella smiles softly, "Yeah, I'm gonna miss this." I knew she was thinking about what she'll miss when she becomes a vampire. Giving up the sun for the moon, for storm clouds, it'll be a big adjustment for her.

"You know, colleges in Florida are a lot sunnier. I'm just saying, if you go to university of Alaska...I'm never gonna see you." Renee pouts.

"They have a really great science program." Bella says.

"You mean Edward program." Renee teases her. "The way he watches you...It's like he's willing to leap in front of you, and take a bullet or something."

Bella smiles as she thinks about Edward. She places on her sunglasses and sighs softly, "Is that a bad thing?"

"It's an intense thing. You're different with him. If he moves, you move. Like magnets."

"I don't know, we're just..."

"In love. I get it. I just want to make sure, you're making the right choices for you. You know, cause you're the one who's gonna have to live with them."

I sigh deeply as I begin to miss Jasper. I just hope and pray that he'll be ok without me there. I rather be there with him, fighting with him against Victoria. Oh, that bitch! I can't wait to wrap my hands around her and give her true pain.

"And Jasper..." Renee snaps me out of my thoughts as she mentions Jasper's name. "I hope he's treating you well, Katherine."

I couldn't help but, smile, "He's been wonderful."

Renee smiles, but it doesn't reaches her eyes, "I know it's not my place, but as a mother, I hope you're making the right decisions as well. Is your mom still angry with Jasper? After what happened?"

I shake my head 'no', "Not anymore. She forgives him. It was a big misunderstanding and everything is better now."

I could see Bella taking off her sunglasses, getting uncomfortable with talking about the past. I couldn't blame her. It was a bitter past and it should stay and die in the past.

Sensing our discomfort, Renee sits up with a teasing body language, "Alright, enough with the heavy." She smiles and gets up, giving Bella's nose a boop and takes off into the house.

Bella frowns as she watches her mom, then groans as she sees her mom bringing a huge box that was wrapped up.

"Mom." Bella whines.

"Con-graduation." Renee cheers and places the box in Bella's lap.

"I didn't want you to spending you're money." Bella protests.

"I didn't, come on." Renee gestures her to open her present with an excited smile.

Bella pulls off the large bow and ribbons, then takes off the top of the box. She laughs in surprise as she sees a huge quilt with familiar pictures.

"Are these all our old trip T-shirts?" She gasps.

Renee nods and laughs.

"Get out!" Bella excitedly looks over them as Renee takes it and spreads it out for Bella to see it better.

"I saved' em all. I thought they'd make a good quilt. To keep you warm up in Alaska." Renee smiles big. She looks over to me and Oriel as we get up and sit in Bella's chair to look at the quilt. "Bella and I use to go on road trips to cheesy settings and tourist attractions. Like this. Remember this one?" She asks Bella. "Ensanada."

Bella nods, laughing and smiling at the memories, "The snake pit."

"Yep. But this one is my favorite. Here...The three-headed lobster in Maine." Renee points and smiles at the picture.

"This is amazing."

"This is really cool, Renee." I smile as I look at the logos and pictures. Seeing a few familiar ones.

"Honey, I'm glad you've like it. I just figured, you know,when you get older, have kids, we can add to it. Maybe go visit, the world's largest ketchup bottle or something." Renee smiles big.

Bella gives us both an uncomfortable look, especially when Renee brought up kids. I nod, understanding her feelings. Once she becomes a vampire, she won't be able to have kids. That's a dream she will have to give up if she wants to be with Edward...forever.

"Thanks." Bella gives her mom a smile and reaches to pull her in for a long hug. Never letting go of her. I could hear her heart cracking. She was saying good-bye to her. Her last painful good-bye.

"Oh...I'm glad you like it. I just thought, you should have a little piece of me, up there in Alaska." Renee smiles.

Bella holds on to her mom tightly, swallowing back her tears, "Mom."

"Yeah."

"I miss you."

"Oh, honey. I miss you too."

I sigh softly and look over to Oriel. I knew she was thinking the same thing. Maybe...just maybe...Edward could be right. I don't know if I could ever see Bella's life end. A future she deserves to be erased and taken from her. It won't be easy to talk her out of this. Her mind is set for this. But...to give up everything you love for a love that is almost worth dying for...what is the true cost?