The Cullen house became a temple to worry and anxiety, the emotions permeating the rooms as Bella's stomach grew. Rosalie and Edward hovered around the human, offering physical support and trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. It did not help that they argued about what to do with the Baby constantly.

"It's killing her!" Edward stressed, hands in his hair. He made sure to keep his voice below human hearing, not wanting to disturb Bella sleeping upstairs. She was taking a nap despite the afternoon sun still shining brilliantly, her body physically exhausted.

He was right, with every passing hour almost, Bella grew thinner and more worn. Her hair became lank and her skin turned pale and thin like paper. She looked more like a dying patient than a expecting mother. But as the baby grew, despite the vampiric strength of it's kicks, Bella seemed to fall further and further in love with her child.

"But it's her decision!" Rosalie hissed back. "She will hate you forever if you took her child". The sentence made Edward pause and he pressed his face into his hands, visibly worn and scared. He took a deep shuddering breath as Esme wrapped him in a hug. Ellis honestly felt sorry for him. Edward was faced with the decision of possibly losing his wife, or losing his child. It was a choice that no one wanted to make.

There was a noise upstairs, shuffling that indicated that Bella had woken up, and Rosalie turned and disappeared towards the stairs. She returned slowly, with Bella leaning on her for stability as they entered the room. She was still sleepy, dark bags hiding under her eyes and sallow skin, dressed in loose clothing. But she greeted them all with a smile as Edward embraced her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as a hand went to her bump. Ellis felt suddenly small.

"I'm just going out to hang with Seth", he mumbled, loud enough to be a human noise. Esme was the only one who nodded and smiled at him as he turned to leave, a sour feeling in his gut. Edward didn't notice, too busy with his wife. Whilst Jasper was off hunting with Emmet, Carlisle and Alice, too far out of range to pick up on Ellis' emotions. With a blank gaze, he shut the door behind him.

Trudging through the forest, he berated himself for the lapse in emotions. Where did the shield he had with Victoria go? That self assured control of himself had cracked long ago, too overwhelmed with trauma and the constant changes. Ellis knew this, but it didn't make him feel any better.

One minute he was the plaything for a psychopathic woman. The same woman who killed his family and turned him against his will. The same woman who has ruined him both internally and externally, making him a monster. And the same woman who made him a killer.

The next he's fighting against the same woman with a vampire family and a pack of over grown dogs, both of which could kill him at any given moment. A vampire family who sort of held him captive, then unexpectedly offered him a home. As well as a wolf boy who broke through his defences and wiggled his way into his heart with that infuriating grin and patient eyes.

Then he's on his own for the first time in his existence, exploring how to be a vampire and live beyond his survival. Rediscovering the world and exploring the confusing American culture, whilst missing England and his human life. Finding music again and realising that he would have to relearn how to play again with an inhuman body. A body which has never quite felt his own since he was turned, too filthy, too scary, too wrong to be his.

Only to return to the only place which offers him safety, and be overwhelmed by every ounce of kindness shown to him. Constantly expecting rejection or violence. Victoria was never kind unless she wanted something. Only ever sweet in the face of violence or pain. Esme's warmth, Alice's excitement, Emmet's joking, even Rosalie and Jasper's reassuring smiles set him slightly on edge.

The rising, confusing feelings for Seth doesn't help. Nor does the sudden chaos of Bella's pregnancy which leaves him once again feeling like an outsider to the Cullen family. Detached from them and their world.

He felt incredibly small.

Small and alone, removed from himself. Nothing recognisable as the human boy he once was.

It left a absorbing pressure in his chest, so tight it was almost painful.

Somewhere, a safe distance from the Cullen house and removed from pack patrol lines, Ellis hunched into a ball under a huge oak tree and Sobbed. He cried quietly, unable to produce tears, tiny noises escaping from his lips despite not needing to breath. The occasional small, whimpers and the shaking of his frame exposing his inner turmoil. Until he blinked out of existence and the area was nothing but trees and the wind.