Eleanor's head rested on Carlisle's chest as she fought to keep her tired eyes open. She wanted to stay awake for as long as she could. Carlisle, however, was making it hard for her. His cold fingers gently massaged her scalp, easing her into a drowsy state.

It had been almost twenty-four hours since Eleanor and Carlisle reunited. She hadn't left his arms for a single moment; scared that if she did, he would disappear again. The thought made Eleanor squeeze him tighter.

Carlisle's gaze flickered from his book to her, "you okay?"

"Yeah," El mumbled, "just making sure this isn't a dream."

The man chuckled and placed the book on the table beside him. His arms wrapped around Eleanor in a tight embrace, "I can assure you it's not."

"Thank God," she whispered. The room went quiet again, allowing the two to relish in each other's presence.

A quiet knock sounded from the other side of the door, and Eleanor lifted her head. It cracked open enough for Rosalie to stick her head inside, "Bella and Edward are home. They want everyone in the family room."

Eleanor and Carlisle shared a look before moving out of the bed. They made their way to the room, stopping by the sofa near the staircase. Eleanor placed a hand on Carlisle's back, easing into his side when he placed his on her waist. She turned her attention to Bella and Edward, who were both standing on the stairs.

The room was silent as they waited for one of them to speak. Bella looked back towards Edward, before taking a deep breath.

"You all know what I want," Bella started, "and I know how much I'm asking for. The only thing I can think of for it to be fair is to have a vote."

Eleanor raised a brow. Of course Bella would bring this up the moment everyone arrived back into town. Her gaze moved to Edward, who looked more miserable than she had seen him in months.

However, while she wasn't happy with Bella's choice, she also wasn't happy with Edward. Sure Carlisle left her too, but she knew why he did it. Edward lied to Bella, and then came back and started to act as if everything was okay.

"You don't know what you just-" Edward said, but Bella turned to him.

"Shut up," she muttered. Eleanor's mouth quirked up into a smirk. Bella turned back towards the family, "Alice?"

The pixie girl skipped forward and enveloped Bella into a hug, "I already consider you my sister. Yes!"

Jasper spoke next, "I vote yes, it would be nice not to want to kill you all the time."

Eleanor grimaced, turning her attention to Rosalie. The blonde sighed, and shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, both of you, for the way I acted. And I'm grateful that you were brave enough to go and save my brother. But this isn't a life I would've chosen for myself, and I wish that there would've been someone to vote no for me... so no."

Eleanor's expression turned to one of confusion. She knew Rose didn't want Bella to be a vampire, but she never knew that Rose didn't want to be. Emmett interrupted El's thoughts as he embraced Bella, "I vote hell yeah! We can pick a fight with the Volturi some other way."

Bella's face lit up with grin, along with El. Emmett always found a way to lighten her mood. Esme took Bella into her arms next, "I already consider you a part of the family, so yes."

Edward groaned, "why are you doing this to me? You know what this means."

Carlisle let go of Eleanor, and walked to the bottom of the stairs. He looked at Edward with a grim face, "you've chosen not to live without her. I won't lose my son."

El pursed her lips at Carlisle's words. She knew how much his family meant to him, and wondered how he managed when he knew Edward was thinking about killing himself because of Bella. Bella looked over at Eleanor, who just shook her head. This was not her place to vote.

"Thank you guys," Bella smiled. With that, she turned back to Edward who grabbed her hand and lead her back up the stairs.

The family slowly disappeared out of the room now that the vote had ended. Eleanor reached forward to grab Carlisle's hand, and the two began to walk back towards his room. Once inside, El moved over to a chair by the wall.

It was silent for only a moment as Eleanor thought.

"Carlisle, are you going to want me to turn into a vampire?" She asked quietly.

Carlisle looked down towards the floor briefly, and then back at El. Eleanor saw his serious look, and swallowed harshly as she awaited his answer, "Eleanor, I've waited for my mate for over four-hundred years. But, your happiness comes before mine. If you want to live a long human life with me I'm okay with that. I just want you to be happy."

Tears pricked at the back of her eyes because of his sweet words, and she sighed, "but you want to spend an eternity with me."

He smiled, softly, "I'd love to spend an eternity with you, love."

El looked away from his eyes and attempted to blink away the tears in hers. Her thoughts wandered to her mom and Jess as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, "what about my family?"

"Don't worry too much about it now, El," Carlisle said, smoothing down her hair, "you've got a while."

Eleanor laid her head back on Carlisle's chest. She knew she wanted to be with Carlisle forever, but the thought of leaving her family terrified her. Eleanor knew if she did choose to be a vampire, she would have a group of people who loved her just like they did.

Her brows furrowed once more and she looked up at Carlisle once more, "what did Emmett mean when he spoke about the Volturi? 'We'll pick a fight with them some other way.'"

Carlisle shook his head, "Caius is angry that Edward is with a human. He wants her changed... or killed."

Her eyes widened, "but I'm human, too. What if they find out about me?"

He was silent as he watched Eleanor put the pieces together. She lifted a single hand, and the two watched as her magic came to life. Her eyes snapped back to Carlisle, "they already do, don't they?"

His silence was her answer.

Her eyes moved back to the scarlet tendrils that flowed between her fingers. The coven now had a new worry - something worse than shapeshifters, something worse than Victoria.

The Volturi.

Eleanor didn't know what this new threat meant, but she knew it was bad and it was coming for her.