Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction story. I'm looking for a beta reader, so please forgive the mistakes. If you know anyone who is interested, let me know. Thanks.

I sat near her window, waiting and watching. Bella was almost in a deep sleep, and that was the best time to enter her room. She was clueless about how stealth I was. Every night, I used that to my advantage. Thank God breathing wasn't necessary, but the scent of her blood was strong. That was what drew me to her in the first place.

Bella hadn't turned over in several minutes; it was time for me to make my entrance. Her hand was resting under the pillow. There was a steady up and down movement of her chest. The strap of her shirt fell down exposing her skin. This was the tenth night I'd stayed in her room; she never ceased to intrigue me.

For the past month, I'd followed her around Forks while learning every detail possible about Bella. She moved recently from Seattle, was single but lonely. All of her relatives were dead, and her closest friend moved to Colorado. Life had become stressful for the aspiring writer. She fought off the loneliness with a string of empty dates. None of the would be suitors appealed to her old fashioned tastes. Nights were long as she put pen to paper. Inspiration wasn't coming to Bella until she made the choice to move to a smaller town.

She enjoyed the walks into the woods, especially in the morning. I stayed in the background as I studied her. Or should I say stalk her? Her fucking blood was driving me insane. I had to walk away sometimes to keep from attacking her. Yet I kept coming back for more.

Welcome to the world of Edward Cullen, vampire obsessed.

Yeah, that would be perfect to put on a business card, but who the hell would I give them to?

I thought about this as I eyed her sleeping form. Why was I so interested in this woman? I'd told myself to get over it but that plan wasn't working. Now here I stood, only feet away from Bella. My first impulse was to selfishly take whatever I wanted. She had no living relatives, and her career wasn't taking off as she wanted. For a time, I thought death would be welcomed. One quick flick of my wrist and all of her problems would be solved.

Then one night as I was plotting, I found a chapter she'd worked on during the day. The paper was smeared with ink and water – tears perhaps? Bella had written about the death of a character. In the margin, there was a writer's note.

This is how I plan to end it all. 10/24.

The subtle irony of it all is that, while I was thinking about killing her, she was also thinking about suicide. That was when I decided to keep her alive at all costs. If she needed a reason to go on, then I was determined to find one. I began copying her chapters, setting them aside for the future. Her writing was good enough, but the story drew me in for some reason. Bella was writing about a wealthy woman who had everything, yet her cheating husband walked out on their marriage Sure she wasn't writing about anything that other people hadn't written before. That wasn't important. After the fifth chapter, I finally knew what it was that held my attention. She'd managed to pack significant emotions into the characters, which in turn brought them out of me. The pain of the wife came across the pages easily. Her husband's narcissism made me angry. I wanted to hit something or someone when he told her that she was a 'lousy lay compared to the woman I fuck now.'

Now I had to change my plans. Bella could be a great author if only she had encouragement. If it wasn't me, then I'd find the right person. Maybe I was going soft, but this was necessary. I sat across from her in the frayed chair. Through the night, Bella made few if any noises, and, before her alarm went off, I silently left the room. It was enough for now.

Around lunchtime, she left the house and went to the local diner. I slipped out of the car when she walked inside. Our eyes met as she looked up from the menu to the door. Neither one of us stopped until I was standing near the booth.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked as she pulled her glass over.

"No, not at all. I assume you want to sit down?"

"Yeah. I'm not too hungry, but I'd like some company, if that's okay with you."

She smiled slightly as a waitress came to take her order. I only asked for a glass of water. We made our introductions, but I kept the conversation focused on her. She was a guarded girl, keeping some of herself hidden. Yet I could respect that because wasn't I really doing the same thing? My dry wit took her by surprise as I responded to her comments. Bella became more relaxed as she ate, and, eventually, she told me about the chapters. It also surprised her when I said that I wanted to read them.

"What if it's shit?" She told me after thinking about my offer. "You don't know if I can string together a sentence, much less write a story. I don't want to waste your time."

"Bella, believe me when I say that you will not waste my time." The tone of my voice was serious as I made my point.

"Here," she began while digging out some paper from a bag. "This…this is the first chapter, but I have to warn you. No one has read any of this besides me. If you find yourself laughing, don't be surprised. I scanned the first chapters as I had several times before. Her gaze was on mine, and when I looked up, I gave her a genuine smile.

"If you must know, I want to read more. You can improve on the writing skills, but…damn…you have to give me more."

She said nothing out loud, but her mind was busy. At once, her mouth opened, but she closed it before speaking.

"All I want to hear is yes," I told her after a quiet time. Maybe I was taking advantage of her vulnerability, but, like I said earlier, Bella needed someone in her corner.

"I need some time to get the chapters together, but why are you this interested in my story?"

"Call me crazy, but, like any good story, I've got to know what happens. I might just be your first fan."

She laughed at my statement and shook her head. "If you are, then thank you. I'll get the rest of the chapters together. You have to know that I'm nervous, but if you're that persistent, then why not? That's a trait I like in a person."

"Then we should get along just fine."

We made plans to meet tomorrow back at the diner. I let her take control of the situation for now. So long as I could make her feel at ease, then we could become closer.

Tell me if I need to keep going or not.