"Who was it? Someone we know?"

"A stranger," Edward said, "I didn't recognize their scent."

Eleanor, Bella and the Cullen family sat around the living room in a circle. The Coven had no clue what vampire would invade Bella's house, and leave her father alive. It was strange to all of them.

"A nomad passing through?" Esme suggested, her worried glance focused on Bella.

Rose shook her head, "a passer-by wouldn't have left Bella's dad alive."

Eleanor looked down at her hands, trying to think. Who would break into Bella's house and only take a t-shirt?

Jasper and Emmett walked into the living room, just getting back from trying to track the vampire. Jasper came to a stop beside Alice, "his scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house."

Carlisle squeezed Eleanor's hand, "someone's orchestrating this."

"Victoria?" El suggested, looking around the group.

"No," Alice disagreed, "I would've seen her decide."

"The Volturi?" Bella asked.

"I've been watching Aro's decisions, too," Alice admitted, glancing at Bella and Eleanor.

"So we keep looking," Emmett said.

"We can take shifts, guarding Bella at her house," Carlisle suggested.

"Another protection detail?" Eleanor looked over at Rose to see her rolling her eyes. The girl's eyebrows raised in amusement, but she somewhat agreed with the vampire. There was always an excessive amount of protection needed for Bella.

"Rosalie." Carlisle shot her a look.

"No, she's right." Bella agreed. "You guys can't protect me, watch my dad, and search for the intruder. Or Victoria. Or keep yourselves fed."

"We can have Eleanor help us too," Alice said, smiling at the girl.

"Absolutely not," Carlisle shook his head, "not while she's still human."

"Hey!" Eleanor chuckled, "I helped you guys with Victoria, didn't I? I can help."

Bella smiled at her friend. Although she was somewhat jealous of Eleanor's abilities, she was glad she had her for extra protection.

Carlisle just shook his head at his mate. "If you get hurt..."

"I can protect myself, Carlisle," she smiled at him, and reached up to peck his cheek.

"I'm not leaving her defenseless, Carlisle." Edward muttered.

'Maybe she wouldn't be defenseless,' Eleanor thought, but quickly pushed it out of her mind. After what happened with Jacob, she didn't want to ask for his help. But it may be the only solution they had.

"Whoever it was, they definitely left their stench behind. It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here."

Eleanor stood beside Bella and Edward as Jacob Black searched through Bella's house. She had her arms crossed and a frown of her face. She was still hurt by what Jacob had said to her, even though she knew half of it was true.

She was going to turn into a vampire. Maybe not as soon as Bella, but still, it was happening.

"We don't need you to handle anything." Edward said to him. "Or anyone."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. The two boys were absolutely ridiculous.

"I could care less about what you need."

"Jacob, knock it off!" Eleanor spat at him. Jacob shot her a dirty look, which she returned. He just couldn't get it through his thick skull.

"I'll let you know when we need you, Jake," Bella said, shooting a thankful glance at Eleanor.

El threw one more look at Jacob, before turning and walking out of Bella's house with Edward.

"What's going on with you two?" Edward asked.

"Nothing," she mumbled, hurrying to the truck.

"Eleanor."

She stopped before opening the door, and sighed, "I know I shouldn't be mad at him. I mean Bella's over it, so I should be too right?"

"What'd he do?" Edward pushed.

"Just basically said that I'm no good because I'm eventually going to turn into a vampire. I hate the fact that I'm going to lose my mom and sister in a few years, but I hate leaving Carlisle too." She explained.

"You're not a bad person, Eleanor," Edward looked up to see Bella walking out of her house, "at least you're waiting."

Eleanor sighed as she walked up the steps to her front door. After spending a few nights with Carlisle, she was happy to be home with her family.

"I'm home!" She shouted, closing the door behind her.

"In here!" Jess shouted from the living room.

Eleanor walked down the hallway, smiling when she saw Jess and her mom sitting on the sofa. A bowl of popcorn sat in between them, and The Little Mermaid was playing on the television.

"Come sit," her mom patted a spot next to her.

She moved over by her mother, and lifted the blanket to snuggle under it. Her mom wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into her side. She pressed a kiss to the side of her daughter's face, "I'm glad you're home, Ellie."

Eleanor smiled at her childhood nickname, "me too, mom."

"Where have you been?"

Jess caught Eleanor's eye with a smirk, then reached to grab the remote and pause the film.

El blushed, "I, um-"

"She's been with her boyfriend!" Jess teased, causing Eleanor to glare at her twin.

"Ohh," her mom smiled, and poked Eleanor in the ribs, "who is it?"

"I'll have to bring him over one time so you can meet him," Eleanor avoided her question, "I think you'll really like him."

"Well I'll be looking forward to it," Mrs. Stanley smiled.

Jess resumed the movie, and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Eleanor copied her actions, and cuddled up into her mom's side.

She knew there were few movie nights with her family left, and the thought made tears come to her eyes. What was she going to do without her twin? Or her mom? The two girls had been her rocks for the past eight years, and soon she was going to be leaving them.

The thought of it was too much to bear.

As the ending song came on, Eleanor pushed those sad thoughts out of her head, and sang along to the film. Why dwell too much on the future, when the present was happening right now?