You'd think that after seeing Edward so many times, the butterflies in my stomach would calm someday, but for me that seemed to be a myth. Because every single time I saw that beautiful face, the butterflies returned and that smile of his almost knocked me off of my feet. This time, the smile was bigger than most of the others as I opened the door to let him into the house. Charlie was at work, off saving Forks and it was the perfect time to sneak Edward in.

"Hello, Bella," he greeted me and kissed my forehead. His wide smile almost killed me.

"Um, hi. Edward should I be worried?" I asked, already feeling worried. Now that I really looked, his smile was too big. I didn't trust it.

"For what reason?" he wondered, not giving anything away.

"You tell me."

He sighed. "Well, maybe you should be worried. But after you do what I'm going to ask you to do, you'll feel great about yourself. Trust me."

I stared at him, waiting for him to tell me what he wanted me to do. I couldn't read minds.

"Well, you see, Forks Hospital is having a blood drive and I think you should donate blood." He smiled again. "You see, not such a big deal."

I gawked at him and scoffed. "Not a big deal? Are you kidding? This is me you're talking to!"

"But it's a contribution to the town you adore. To the people you adore."

"Edward, if you want blood, you can just ask. I won't tell Carlisle, I swear. You don't have to set up some phony blood drive to get a bag of my delicious blood." I winked. "And, the venom donation to me will come at no extra cost."

"Although that would be great of you, that isn't what I'm trying to do. I'm serious, there is an actual blood drive. It's being held by the doctors at the hospital. That's how I know about it, Carlisle is helping out."

I sighed. "When is it?"

"Today. All day." He smiled again. "That means I have all day to convince you. Please Bella. Think about the dying patients. Think about the lives you'd save. Think about helping them. How would that make you feel about yourself?"

I stared at him blankly.

"Great right?" He took my chin and made me nod. "Yes, Edward, it'd make me feel awesome because I know that I'm such a good person."

I bit my lip to make myself not laugh, but I failed miserably. "No, no, no. I'd faint and that'd be the end of it. Ugh. How many other people are going to be there exposing their blood to the air? You could go on a frenzy and I could go into a coma. I'd say this is a terrible idea."

"Ouch. That hurt. I won't go into a frenzy. I just drank, I'm strong. I'll be able to resist. And ask for your coma…at least you donated blood before you did. That way, if you died, you'd get a free admission ticket to heaven." He smiled sweetly. "Who could turn down someone that gave up their blood?"

"The answer's still no."

"But you said that if it was for me, you would. How is this different? Well, yes, different reasons, but still, same idea."

I thought a moment as his innocent eyes burned into mine. It wasn't fair when he did that. It made it so I couldn't concentrate and I started to lose focus. And yet, I couldn't look away. "Um, I…err…well…maybe," I said stupidly.

He looked away for me and smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."

I shook my head as if to clear my it. "Woah, wait. That's cheating mister. That's completely unfair. I didn't agree to it yet."

"You said maybe."

"That's not a yes."

"But it will be." He smiled wickedly, but I saw humor in it. So, I shook my head again and rolled my eyes. He still stood there, just watching me, waiting for my maybe to turn into a yes.

I exhaled. "What's in it for me?"

This time his smile was one that showed he knew he'd won. "Plenty," he answered and pulled me close to kiss me. He was such a cheater, but a good one at that. At first I was skeptical of whether I was getting an even end of the bargain, but once our lips met, I knew I had. It was just fifteen minutes right? Go in, give blood, get out. It'd be easy, right? At that moment, I really didn't care.

When he pulled away, he still held me in his arms. "There's more where that came from."

I smiled. "There better be," I joked and he chuckled.

"So, does this mean you'll go?" he wondered, double checking that I wasn't going to back out.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess it does. But if I go into a coma, you're being held responsible."

He frowned. "So much pessimism. Tisk, tisk. You won't go into a coma."

"Only Alice would know that."

"True."

"So, when are we leaving, Mr. Do Good?"

He then smiled. "Right now," he said and then it was my turn to frown. But he ignored it and led me over to my shoes. I put them on, taking my time, but he waited patiently.

"What about Charlie? Shouldn't we tell him where we are?" I asked and he disappeared and reappeared before I could even blink.

"Done."

I finally blinked. I'd never get used to his supernatural powers. It was too alien, but something I wanted to do too. I wanted us to be equal. "What did you do?" I wondered.

"Wrote him a note."

I stood up. "Impressive."

He shrugged modestly. "Ready?"

I sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"You'll do fine. And I'll be right there beside you to hold your hand."

With that, we walked out to the truck, Edward insisting to me that he drove and me arguing. He, of course, won the argument and I got into the passenger seat reluctantly. We drove in silence for the most part, making small talk, but speaking of nothing of importance. And then, we reached the hospital.

"Um, Edward," I said shakily as we parked the truck. "I'm not feeling so brave anymore." I had the image of me passed out on the linoleum floor with my head split open. Oh yeah, I'd be donating blood all right. To the floor. I shuddered at the vivid picture.

"Oh, Bella. You're one of the bravest people I know. You've taken on a killer vampire. Donating blood should be a piece of cake for you."

I cringed. That wasn't exactly the two things I would put together: donating blood and cake. It wasn't cake, it was torture. But no matter, I followed robotically into the hospital with Edward holding my hand. We came in and looked for the place to start. Edward read people's minds and led me to a desk to fill out papers. I filled out the form and from the corner of my eye, I saw a man approach us.

"Ah, what a lovely sight. Youngsters donating blood. It just makes me ecstatic," he purred. His voice almost sounded…like a vampire's. I looked up half expecting Carlisle to be there smiling at us, but it wasn't Carlisle. Instead another vampire. A creepy one.

Edward froze and the man smiled at us. "I'll be taking your blood miss. Just follow me. You can leave your…um, friend here."

I swallowed. "Um…err…" Then I stopped. I looked to his name tag and my eyes widened as I put the two words together. "Your name is…is….Dr. Acula?" I asked quietly.

"Why yes, it is."

Edward and I both screamed and started to hurry out of the hospital.

"Wait! Don't you want your suckers?" he called after us and we screamed again. "Wait! Where are you kids going? I need your blood!"

Suddenly Carlisle appeared and we let out a sigh of relief and stopped power-walking.

"Hey you two! Bella, I'm so glad that you finally worked up enough courage to donate blood!"

"Carlisle, there's a man in there that I believe to be Dracula," Edward said, worriedly.

"Oh, Dr. Acula? Yeah, he's a little creepy, but he's not such a bad guy. He's a little wacko though. Has a multi-personality disorder. One day he thinks he's a farmer, the next he's a doctor. We just go along with it. We gave up on trying to hold him off from the hospital, and hey, we need all the help we can get. Today, I guess, he's a doctor. Yesterday he thought he was the president."

"Is he actually a vampire?" I asked.

He looked around and leaned towards us to whisper. "He is, but like I said, he has a multi-personality disorder. Most of the time, he doesn't know he is."

"What about his craving for blood?" Edward asked in awe. I looked from Carlisle, to him, to Carlisle again.

"You know, I've been wanting to ask him about that, but I'm too afraid I'll make him have a revelation and he'll go on a feeding frenzy. Best just to let him deal with it himself."

Suddenly, Dr. Acula ran passed us flailing his arms in the air. "WHO HAS CHOCOLATE?! WHO IS TEASING ME WITH THAT SMELL?! STOP IT!"

"Carlisle, I think someone needs to put him in solitary confinement," I said quietly.

Carlisle was thinking and he didn't say anything for a minute. "So that's how he handles it," he muttered to himself as Dr. Actula ran passed us again with a chocolate bar shoved in his mouth.

"THIS CHOCOLATE BAR IS DEFECTIVE!" He stopped then, took a deep breath and turned to look at us staring at him. "I swear, there's something funny in chocolate now days. It just doesn't taste good."

Yeah, as if that made him sound less psycho.

Edward hesitated. "It's the factories. The…um…pollution from the factory stacks is getting in the candy."

"Oh," Dr. Actula said then like Edward's explanation sounded logical. "Well haven't they heard of controlling pollution?"

"They have…but they don't want to pay for it," Edward explained again.

"Damn Willy Wonka." And with that, he started to walk away.

Edward turned back to us. "Definitely wacko," he whispered.

"Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"I don't have to get my blood taken still, do I?"

Edward smiled sweetly. "Bella, Bella, Bella. Of course you do."

I glared at him.

"Carlisle will do it, won't you?" Edward asked looking to Carlisle.

"Yes, of course. That is if Bella really wants to. I don't want to force her into something that might put her into a coma."

"Your father understands my blood fear," I muttered.

"And yet you want to become a vampire…hmm…what is wrong with these to things?" Edward mused.

"Don't turn this around on me. When I'm a vampire, I won't care. So there. And just to prove that I won't care, I will give blood."

He smiled, but then his smile faded. "Carlisle's right. I shouldn't force you into this if you don't want to do it."

"Don't start being considerate now! Now that I gave in! Come on you two. I'm donating blood today and I don't care how." I stopped. "Actually I do, but that's besides the point."

"Did you slip something into her food?" Carlisle wondered.

"I swear I didn't," Edward answered.

Carlisle shrugged and we started to make our way to a chair where I would be donating blood soon. I'd just think about not breathing. I would just think about the lives I would be helping. I would think about proving to Edward that I was strong enough to be a vampire. Even though, deep down, I knew he already thought I was.

Carlisle wrapped a band around my arm, rubbed alcohol on the spot he'd insert the needle, and then grabbed a sterilized needle. I almost backed out right when I saw the needle. I wondered if it'd accidentally go right through my arm.

I grabbed Edward's hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carlisle asked and I nodded. I was sure. He watched my expression for a moment and then came forward. "This will only hurt a little. Bella did you know you're father was in here this morning?"

"He was?"

He nodded. "Yes. When I asked him if you were planning on coming, he told me the day that you donated blood was the day he got pregnant. I guess the day has come. Give him my congrats."

I laughed softly. "Are you going to take my blood or not?"

He smiled. "I already did." He held up the needle he took out of my arm. He had distracted me so that I wasn't scared. He was good. I guess it was a good thing to have a vampire take your blood. They could do it fast without hurting you.

And then I saw my blood in the blood bag. That's the last thing I remember seeing before I passed out.

"…go into a coma. Who's paying for life support?" I faintly heard Charlie say.

"She won't go into a coma. Look, I think she's waking up," Edward said.

"Told you," I heard Alice say.

"Alice, you're stealing all of my money. Stop winning bets. You'd be a great gambler," Charlie told her and as I opened my eyes, I saw him hand her a twenty dollar bill.

"Wouldn't I though?" She happily took the twenty as Edward gave her a glare. Then his attention turned back to me. I looked around to find I was at my house on the living room couch.

"How long have I been out?" I wondered.

"An hour," Edward answered.

I sat up and started to feel dizzy. Despite the dizziness, I found that I had a small audience. Carlisle, Alice, Edward, and my dad were all there watching me. They were all waiting for me to throw up or something because they all backed up a little. Instead of throwing up, I looked at my arm. Hardly any harm done. Just a tiny hole where the needle was inserted.

Edward smiled at me and was the first person to come close to me. "You did considerably well I thought." Then he chuckled.

"I don't think Bella's going to be donating blood again anytime soon," Charlie said and there was sternness behind whatever he was trying to cover it up with. Humor?

"I don't think she should. It's too much for her," Carlisle agreed. Then he looked at his watch. "I'm terribly sorry, but I must get back to the hospital. They're short on volunteers already. They don't need me gone as well." He looked to me. "Bella, the dizziness will pass, I promise."

It was true. The dizziness was already fading.

"Even though you did faint, I'm proud of you. You donated blood and you lived to tell the tale." He smiled at me and then turned to face the rest of my audience. "Good day, everyone."

"Thank you for staying to make sure she was all right," Charlie said.

"Oh, it was no problem at all."

And with that, Carlisle left.

"Well, I should get back to work too," Charlie then told us. "You'll call me if you need anything, Bella."

I nodded. "You shouldn't even left work. I'm perfectly fine."

"You didn't look it," he replied as he made his way to the door. "Oh, and Bella?" He turned to face me. "I told Carlisle that the day you donated blood was the day I got pregnant. So, if I get pregnant, I'm blaming you." He smiled wide and then turned and left.

I bit my lip and then turned back to Edward and Alice. "So…"

Alice smiled. "It's going to be interesting when you a vampire. I'm afraid you actually will go into a coma."

I looked to see Edward's reaction. His expression was hard.

"I'll get over it," I assured them and started to stand up. Except when I did, the faintness returned and I almost collapsed. I would've fell to the floor if Edward hadn't caught me.

"Careful," he warned me, but didn't set me back down on the couch. Instead he kept me in his arms. "You know, I have to keep my part of the deal." His golden eyes burned into mine like earlier that day.

I blinked a few times and then forced myself to look around the room for Alice. She had disappeared.

"She went to get you a glass of water."

"In that case, yes, you have to keep your part of the deal."

He smiled then and brought his head down to kiss me. Which didn't really help with the dizziness. In fact, it made it worse, but I wasn't about to complain.

He pulled away then as if he could read my mind. "That's right, you are still in a faint state. I'm not helping, am I?"

"Who cares?" I breathed.

He chuckled. "I do."

"Can I come in there yet?" Alice asked from the kitchen.

I started to blush, but the smile that was planted on Edward's face never left.

"Yes, I suppose you can," Edward said back and Alice appeared with a glass of water in her hand. She came over to me as Edward sat me down on the couch and she handed me the glass.

"Here you go. You should probably drink something."

I took the glass. "Thank you, Alice. Soon, I'll have to join you in the mountains to get something to drink." I smiled and lifted the glass to my mouth. Edward and Alice plopped themselves down on the couch on either side of me.

"For now though, you just need to get it from the fridge," Edward said.

I smiled again. "For now."