Give Into Us Chapter 22

Leaving was a lot easier than Bella thought it would have been. As soon as the funeral was over and after listening to everyone’s well wishes and being given so much food she would have been able to eat for over a month, Bella quickly made her way home. She only stayed long enough to see the humans and shifters that attended the funeral, Heidi was instrumental in making sure the Cullen’s weren’t anywhere near her. Thankfully it didn’t take them much to realize she didn’t want to see him. Heidi was also perfect in keeping Jacob away. He had only tried to go to her a few times; even after Heidi’s mental warning Bella was sure was filled with colorful words and imaginative images.

By the time Bella was getting into the car Athenodora had rented, no one was questioning why she was the first person leaving. Renee was actually, more likely unknowingly, keeping everyone’s attention on her as she played up the heartbroken ex-wife that was apparently still close to Charlie since they were ‘co-parenting’. It was a lucky break for Bella that everyone was more than willing to give into Renee’s theatrics; even the shifters seemed to be giving Bella her space. The only who noticed her leaving was Jacob and while Bella knew he was looking towards her, likely looking for some sign she was going to forgive him and talk to him again, Bella ignored him in went straight towards Didyme.

Didyme wrapped Bella in her arms as soon as the door was closed. All three vampires in the car, the two queens and Jane, had kept as close as eye on Bella during the whole funeral. Thankfully, since Charlie was such a big fan of the outdoors, Bella had insisted on having everything outside where she knew Charlie would have preferred, the rest of her vampire entourage were able to be close while not being seen.

“Don’t worry love, I’ve got you.” Didyme said as she pulled Bella as close as possible to her.

She had watched as Jacob had tried to get closer to Bella several times; only to blocked by his fellow shifters with a harsh glare in his direction. A female shifter even punched him in the shoulder when Bella noticed Jacob staring at her and he didn’t take the hint to look away. Didyme was, for just a moment, thankful not all people that had been around her daughter were bad.

Bella tried to keep her tears at bay, having already shed so many since she got the news, but she couldn’t help it. She had just said goodbye to her father and was literally running away to another continent before he was actually even buried. She felt like a horrible daughter for not at least trying to preserve his memory in someway with his house. But she knew, without a doubt, if she stayed in Forks any longer, it would only be harder to leave.

She knew she would only grow closer to the pack because of their connection through Charlie and then there was also the Cullen’s she was so desperately trying to avoid as well. The Cullen’s had officially moved back; the story was they wanted their youngest children to finish their final year of high school in familiar territory. With Bella also having to finish her senior year, she would be stuck seeing the Cullen’s when she didn’t want to.

Her feelings on who she wanted in her life and who she didn’t were so drastically different from when she first met the Cullen’s, she was having a hard time keeping up with everything. It was getting harder to shift through her emotions and figure out exactly what she was feeling versus what she knew was expected of her to feel. But with Didyme’s arms around her, it was not only a comforting feeling that had enveloped her, it was also allowing her mind to shake off the fog and clear up her thoughts.

It didn’t mean she knew exactly what she was feeling with all the hits she had just taken emotionally and physically, but at least she could figure out what she wanted to do without feeling she needed to make anyone else happy. She knew she wanted to move to Voltera. She knew she wanted to moved to Italy to live with the queens and with Jane and Heidi. She knew that. Deep in her bones, she knew that was the best thing for her.

At the same time, she still she was dishonoring Charlie by abandoning the one place he loved. By literally leaving him behind without so much as an explanation; regardless of the fact he wasn’t actually with her to be told anything.

“I just feel like everything in my life is crumbling and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Bella said into Didyme’s shoulder as she hugged the noir queen tightly. She was in the middle of the backseat, in between Didyme and Athenodora. She was cuddled into Didyme, nearly sitting on her lap, but Athenodor was gently rubbing her back, giving what support she could awkwardly give with feeling so out of her depth.

“I know,” Didyme said, mourning for her child. While Didyme and her mates were sure Bella was only moving towards a future where Bella would be cherished and loved more than she ever had before, she knew it hurt her daughter to be in the situation in the first place. Losing everything Bella had, her family and friends, because of actions that were no fault of Bella’s, was hard to watch. But Didyme was sure Bella would come out of everything stronger and with more family. “I promise you won’t have to go through this alone, we will always be with you. Everything you are feeling is very valid and I will do whatever you need me to do to help you through this.” Didyme promised. She briefly wondered, after hearing how Renee treated and acted around Bella, if Bella had ever had consistent and unwavering support in her life. She didn’t think so.

“You will always have us Bella; we will help in whatever way we can.” Jane promised from the driver’s seat as she drove towards the airport where she knew their private jet was waiting for them.

“Thank you.” Bella said through her tears, knowing they would all be able to hear her.

The rest of the drive was in silence, each lost on their own thoughts on what they were expecting and wanting to happen once they were all home. Didyme was making plans of coercing her daughter to possibly watching a movie with her and her mates, maybe Jane and Heidi as well depending on if Didyme felt like inviting them at that time, all together. She wanted to bond with her child some more and she figured her daughter was tired of all the heavy conversations she had been having for the last few days and could do with some bonding by just being near each other.

Athenodora was going through all her plans of security she had been setting up for having a her very human and vulnerable daughter in the castle. She knew her daughter wouldn’t be human for long, they couldn’t break their own laws after all, but she would be for at least a little while. During that time, Athenodora was coming up with plans to make sure their castle was still available to vampires who needed them in any capacity, no matter how weak or strong their control, and to make sure their daughter remained entirely safe. She knew the average vampire that visited had to have some sort of control to be able to be near all the humans in Voltera, but her daughter’s blood seemed to be sweeter than most humans’ blood. Athenodora would make sure her daughter would have nothing to fear in her own home, no mater who was visiting and where Bella was in the castle.

Jane and Heidi were thinking along the same lines of what they wanted to do once they were home. They were each debating on whether or not they wanted to move into the room they knew the queens had prepared for Bella or if they were going to wait for their mate to invite to move in. They both knew they didn’t want to be away from their mate, especially while she was going through the emotional blows she had just taken. They both wanted to be completely available to their mate whenever she wanted them and they wanted to keep an eye on her in case any of the vampires in the castle, guard or not, got too close to her. They wanted to show their mate how well they could provide for Bella and keep her safe at the same time. The biggest problem they were running into with their planning was they hadn’t exactly talked with Bella about what she wanted in terms of living with them. Moving to Voltera hadn’t exactly been her decision in the first place; it was more or less thrust upon her when she lost her father, was attacked by her close friend, and the Cullen’s kept showing up around her bring up bad memories Bella had tried to forget. They would need to talk as soon as they could; as soon as Bella was willing and able.

Bella, for the entire trip to the airport and even the plane ride, kept mostly to herself. She hadn’t slept for much of the tip, too lost in her thoughts and desires of trying to figure out her new life to let sleep take over. She knew going to Voltera was the right thing; even if it was sooner than she wanted. But she knew she would have ended up in Volter eventually; it was only a matter of time. She kept trying to think of what she wanted of what she could possibly expect moving to a castle full of vampires while she was still human but she had no idea. She was at a complete loss of what even deciding of when she wanted to be turned.

As they drove to the castle, Bella finally allowed sleep to take over. She was still tucked in Didyme’s arms, finding her presence at least calming to her turmulant thoughts, and after eating after landing in Italy and then driving once again, Bella could no longer fight off how tired she was. She had long since dried her tears up but she was still so stuck in her head. But even her head couldn’t fight off sleep forever. So, as they neared the castle, Bella finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

Didyme smiled down at her daughter, happy she was finally sleeping. She had been worried her daughter was trying to avoid sleep; it seemed it was just her thoughts were too loud for her to be able to slumber. A single look towards her mate let Athenodora know that they would wait a few days to have the serious talk they needed to have about Bella living with them. In the mean time though, Didyme knew there would be a lot of family bonding happening to show Bella the universe hadn’t made a mistake when putting all of them in same family. Didyme was determined to make Bella see she and her mates were the perfect mother’s to have.