He pulled up to the front of her house and paused for a second before looking at her. Bella was sitting still, her hands folded over her coat, looking at the dark, empty house. She was unusually quiet. It had never bothered her to go in alone, and anyway, by now it was more like a routine. Edward was curious about her hesitation and lifted his chin up a little.

"Why don't you want to go inside?" He asked, his hands resting on the wheel.

"I…" Bella trailed off. She realized it was not necessarily that she didn't want to go inside, more that she was tired and didn't want to leave Edward.

"It's just, do you think I could come to your place?" Bella asked, picking a leaf from her hair.

"If that's okay….I mean Charlie won't be home from his fishing trip until tomorrow afternoon…"

"You don't want to be home alone?" He asked, eyes flickering to where her room was.

"It's not that, it's just. I don't want you to leave right now."

"It's okay." Edward promised with a crooked smile. He backed out of the driveway again, turning down her street quickly. For all she had scoffed in her mind about not caring about being alone, she had recognized she did care now–she cared about the absence of Edward's presence, more when she had nothing to distract herself with, even if it was just the drone of Charlie's baseball games on the flat screen, or the deadlines for papers. She determined she could use the bright openness of the Cullens' house, instead of the small bleak rooms of her own home, however much she did love being there.

Edward sped out toward the deserted area where the house was. Bella closed her eyes, her forehead against the window, arms tucked around herself. She could feel his gaze, even as he drove.

"You should really watch the road." She said with her eyes closed and sensed him smiling in the silence. The car was silent, absent of music. She could only hear his light breathing. He pulled up the steep highway and parked, before getting out and opening Bella's door.

She shivered for a moment.

"You won't even wear a jacket when you have one. No wonder you're cold," Edward smiled slowly, "Put that on, I left the doors in my room open."

Bella sighed and slid her arms through her raincoat, before taking Edward's stiff hand. They walked up the wet gravel driveway, their sneakers crunching rocks.

"Is your family home?" Bella questioned, noticing the missing cars from the driveway.

"No."

Bella smiled. She liked the Cullens, but it was a further relief that it would be just the two of them. Not like she tried extraneously to impress them, or anyone, but it was a slight edge to her confidence, a hesitance in her speech, that didn't exist with him. She didn't need Rosalie's stares either. Edward opened the sleek wooden door slowly, his eyes focused down on hers. She felt her lips part a little.

"Don't look at me like that," He said, "it's worse than your scent."

Bella sighed again, "What, am I giving you a 'prey' look?"

"Yes, exactly." He smiled slowly, calmly, and though his body was tense, his eyes were obviously excited.

"I'm sorry," He paused, "I shouldn't have brought you here when I knew we would be alone. But, I got better at resisting today."

Bella bit her lip, "Yes, you can sniff my hand and neck now and everything…"

"You should be impressed," He retorted.

She tried not to smile, "I am."

He lead her inside the house, gently sliding his long, thin, white fingers through hers. She felt her chest tighten and the electrical current travel through her body. Her eyes scanned the clean white walls, decorated sparingly with modern art and some gothic pieces. Everything was so clean, untouched.

They walked into Edward's room, the wind blowing still through the open doors. The books had been shelved since the last time. He rested his hands cautiously on the back of his hips. Bella yawned.

"Um, can I get you something to eat?" He asked, golden eyes smoldering, nodding towards the sleek kitchen, "We don't have much but Esme bought a few things for last time you were here."

She felt her forehead and shook her head gently, "No, no. Is it…okay if I just lay down?" She asked, sitting down on the white leather bound couch in his room. He nodded and stood for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Bella curled up on top of the couch, too dazed and tired to notice where he was. She felt incredibly safe just knowing he was watching her.

He slid down next to her carefully, sliding his arms around her again. It was a human act, and he carefully brushed his hands over hers, still getting used to the temptation of their contact, the proximity of his mouth to her skin, without her flinching or in fear. He brushed his lips softly on her neck as she slept, but pulled his face back when he felt his lips pull back more over his teeth.

In the middle of the night, Bella awoke suddenly, startled, and disoriented.

"Where am I?" She gasped, squinting, pushing Edward's arms from her.

He chuckled, "Bella, it's okay. You're just in my room."

She felt her face flush. Oh, right. Edward's room…and this really wasn't a dream?

Bella rested her chin on her shoulder, catching her breath.

"Careful, there. If I hadn't been holding you, you would have fallen off the couch. Do you roll out of bed often?" He joked, loosening his arms around her. She laid her head back more in his chest and rolled over to face him.

"So…you know how we tried that thing today…." Her eyes lifted to his.

"You mean," he said huskily, "kissing?"

She bit her lip again, "yes, that," she lifted a hand to her forehead.

He nodded slowly, "I think I remember something about that, yes."

"Can I try something on you?" She asked, whispering, looking through the sliver of his door at Alice and Jasper watching television in the next room. Right, they didn't sleep.

Edward looked at her curiously and slid his hands carefully down her arms. He closed his eyes and nodded. She felt his inhumanly strong arms tighten around her. Bella leaned closer, inhaling Edward's scent, and began kissing his neck, the way he had kissed hers that afternoon. She felt him tighten even more, his hands gripping her with bone-crushing strength. She was quickly discovering that his scent and taste were addictive.

Bella leaned up more and kissed by his ear. He tilted his face and kissed her strongly, sliding his hand to her cheek again. She felt his sharp teeth open, so close to her own, as they kissed. He slid his hand down her back, and climbed on top of her, pressing her down. Bella sighed a little. And then, in a quick instantaneous blur, Edward was off of her and in the hallway, covering his mouth with his arm. The only quick sign that he was indeed off of her was the slam of the door against the wall as he left. He couldn't look at her.

Bella was still on her back, breathing quickly, confused and paralyzed. She could picture Edward's eyes tight and black now. She tilted her chin just so she could see what was going on. That was when Carlisle opened Edward's door slowly and saw Bella lying on her back, unable to move.

"I can't look at her," She heard Edward gasp angrily as Carlisle tried to calm him down. Alice was now standing in the doorframe.

"Bella?" She asked softly, "Are you okay?"

Bella sat up, sliding her hair back, "Yeah…I think I'm okay…" Everything was spinning.

Alice turned a soft standing lamp on and came to sit next to Bella.

"Don't worry," Alice said, "Edward will be fine."

"Wha– I don't even know what happened."

"Carlisle!" She heard Edward yell, irritation ripping through his voice, "Just drive her home, please. I can't go back in there."

She heard more whispers but was unable to make out anything they said. And then, suddenly, she saw the rush of Edward's body out into the trees, flying between them.

Carlisle opened the door to Edward's room slowly.

"I'm afraid, Bella, it might be best if I drove you home now."

Bella glanced over at the clock. It was three in the morning.

"I'll drive her." Alice interrupted Carlisle. He shifted his gaze from Bella.

"OK Alice." He looked back to Bella.

"Don't worry about Edward," He said soothingly, his white blonde hair combed back perfectly, his perfected bed manner already working.

Bella was tempted to ask what had just happened even though she already knew. Alice slid on her own jacket and got the keys to her car. Jasper was waiting for them in the stairwell by the door.

Bella said softly, "Goodnight Carlisle, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, don't worry. We're all awake. It's no trouble, really. I apologize for Edward."

Bella nodded slowly, fixed her jacket on her arms and followed Alice and Jasper out of the house.