I do not own these characters, they belong to the magnificent Stephenie Meyer, to whom I will forever be grateful.

A/N – Also there is one line in this story that does not belong to me, kudos to you if you can find it but leave the answer to where it comes from in the comments.

Now my friends read on.

The Truth

Her mahogany hair pooled around her head on the blackness of the pillow she was laying on. The onyx sheets, which she said reminded her of his eyes, contrasted magnificently with her milky skin. She was currently laying beside him, with her leith legs entangles around his own, and her small hands placed soothingly on his chest. It struck him just how exquisite she was even with her nose scrunched up in annoyance at whatever dream she was having at the moment. Every so often her small hands would clench tightly around the shirt he was wearing and her face would roll into the his shoulder to inhale his scent. He found happiness in the fact that even just his smell brought some comfort to her as she slept.

The old ring on her left hand sparkled occasionally when the new rays of light would hit it, throwing pale rainbows of colour on her cheek. He did not want to wake her. He knew she rarely slept in on the weekends like a normal human her age. But he wanted to hear her voice, not just the cute sighs she let out every so often. He knew he was being selfish, so he tried to wait a little longer to see if she would wake on her own. When the sun had moved another degree in the sky, Edward decided he could wait no longer.

The thin membrane that hid her expressive chocolate eyes from his own, now golden ones, flickered and twitched as he pulled her into a tighter embrace. The tempo of her breathing quickened slightly and with it so did her heart. He took a deep breath, inhaling her intoxicating scent. This new speed of her heart pushed her liquid life through her veins which assaulted her nose in an instant.

He bent his head down to her, placing his nose at the crook of her shoulder and neck. Her scent was magnified ten fold and he could her the rush of blood pass just under his nose. The very same tongue that was once between his cold lips, now came down to lazily like the very same spot he had just smelt. Her head moved ever so slightly to the right, almost instinctually knowing just how much room he would need, in her half awake, half asleep state. Her lips parted a tiny bit, allowing a soft moan to escape. He smiled against her neck. Moving his head, he lightly brushed his now exposed teeth up and down her smooth, milky white neck. Another moan, this time louder, was pushed past her lips. He moved his lips up to her jaw, kissing, licking, and nipping his way to her lips. She opened her lips slightly wider. He know she was awake now.

He placed a sweet kiss on her lips, which he soon turned a little deeper. Her heard the intake of breath through her nose and the slight bunching of her muscles in anticipation that told him she was getting ready to deepen the kiss further. He knew he should stop. He knew if he got too excited, if he got too out of control, that he could easily hurt her. She was so vulnerable, so accepting, so trusting. He knew with the very same hand he was using now to ever so slightly bring her lips closer to his, he could easily break her neck. He could just as easily suck her dry, hardly moving an inch other then his head and neck.

The thought both repulsed and excited him. The part of him that loved her so fully, so irrevocably, was entirely repulsed by these thoughts. But there was a part of him, this monster that lay so closely under the surface, that was excited by this revelation. Constantly plotting the death of this beautiful angel in his arms. It was just silent enough that he could ignore it, but not silent enough that he could ever fully forget for long periods of time.

Every cell in his body fought this demon. And he knew that as he lay there with her, holding her, kissing her, loving her, that he was taunting that demon, flaunting the fact that he thought he could control himself. He was a selfish idiot to endanger he so, but he knew he could never leaver her again. He knew he would hurt her more by leaving again, then he could ever endanger her life by saying. But that had taken a while to figure out.

He pulled away from her lips enough that they were not touching, but only by bare millimetres. He could feel her hands move closer to his neck, where he knew she would entangle her thin fingers in his hair, trying fruitlessly to get him to come closer. He was right.

He could feel the slight tug at the base of his scalp and the warmth of her hands at the same place. "You know full well that I cannot give you what you want." he told her soothingly as he took her left hand from his hair and placed it to his lips before running his hands up the length of her arm.

She took a deep, soothing breath then opened her eyes fully. The full force of her enchanting eyes hit him squarely. She eyes raked over his chiselled face, stopping for a second at his own amber eyes before moving down his nose to trace along the line of his lips. Her tapered fingers followed the path her eyes once took, brushing over his eyebrows and eyelids and then moving to trace to outside of his lips. "And you dare say that you cannot dazzle me, as I dazzle you."

She laughed at that, but let out a large gust of air soon after. "What is wrong, my love?"

"You are very much the tease this morning, and I'm not sure how much more I can take before imploding."

"Well we can't have that now can we." he stated, but contrary to his words he rolled himself fully with his back to the ceiling, and Bella underneath him. He rested the majority of his weight on his arms which were place near her head, bent at the elbow, and on his legs which were now between Bella's.

Bella bent her own legs, so she could tighten her thighs slightly on either side of his waist. "You know this is not going to help any with that imploding I mentioned. In fact, I get the distinct impression that this can only make it worse."

"I know that, but I could not resist."

Bella sighed happily. He was exactly where she wanted him, as she could feel some of his comforting weight on her even as he rested on his legs and arms. She brought her left hand to the side of his face again and rubbed it across his cheek. He took a long glance at the ring that she was actually wearing and smiled softly.

Bella caught him staring fondly at the glittering rock on her finger. Suddenly, as though a ton of brick had hit her right in the face, Bella realized that of all the questions she had asked Edward about himself, there was one question she had never gotten a real answer to.

"Edward, I need to ask you a question. But I need the truth."

"You know I don't lie to you Bella."

"Yes, I know. But this is just for the record so you can't deny it later on."

Edward gave a little laugh at that. "Alright, I will give you the truth. Although the truth is very much bases on opinions and experiences, you know."

"What do you mean by that. The truth is the truth."

"Well the truth is how you see it. The truth to . . . lets say Angela, perhaps, is that there is no such thing as vampires, and that they are only heard of in storybooks and fairytales. But to you, me, and the whole of my family, vampires are a way of life and therefore very real to us." Edward explained softly. "So if I were to ask Angela 'do vampires exist?' she would have said 'no.', because her experiences and opinions have only every led her to that truth. But if I were to ask you, my dear, if vampires exist, you would say . . ."

"Of course you silly vampire, your right here in front of me." Bella interrupted with a laugh.

Edward laughed again. "Yes, you would probably say that, but only because your opinions and experiences have led you to that truth."

"Alright then, now that you have sufficiently led me off my previous train of thought, I am going to bring us back. Now Edward, I want the truth according to you."

Edward leaned forward so his forehead was resting against Bella's. he brushed his lips against hers, not close enough to be a real kiss but not far enough to be mistaken as anything else. "Alright, ask away."

"Do you really hate what you are?"

Edward paused for a few moments, mulling this surprising question over in his head. "I'm sorry," she panicked when she saw that look n his face. "You don't have to answer that."

"No worries, my love. I am only thinking of how to answer you, you did say you wanted the truth, so that is what I am trying to give you. But to do that I need to think about it. I haven't thought about this in a long while, and every time I did, I came up with the same answer. But I am a different man now, and I do not know if my answer has changed as much as I have."

"Alright, take as much time as you need. I did ask for the truth." Bella brought her lips firmly against his own before pulling away slightly. She brought her hands up to run through his hair, just feeling the silky strands though her fingers. He had told her once that this had always soothed him and she loved the feeling anyway. She saw Edwards face relax slightly, and his deep, golden eyes shut. She waited for what could only be a minute before he opened his eyes again and she smiled.

"I used to."

She wasn't sure if she was meant to, or if it was really there, but she had caught his meaning. "And you don't now?"

Edward gave her a loving smile and kissed her lips again. "How can I hate what I am, when it has made it possible for me to be with you, to love you, to kiss you, and to hold you."

She stared into his eyes, almost gauging just how truthful he was being. She curled a lock of his hair around her fingers. And then she smiled as a single tear silently rolled down her cheek towards her neck.

A single cold thumb came up to brush away the tear. He brought his arms around her and lifted her slightly, he then switched their positions so that he was now beneath her. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and one leg came to rest over his waist so she was laying half on him and half on the bed. The two of them lay there in that embrace for over an hour before Bella finally spoke.

"You know, I think I would miss you, even if I had never met you." she looked directly into his eyes as she said this and could not miss the love shining in them more intensely then they ever had, before she was locked in his cold embrace.