Chapter 2: Questions


Bella hadn't come to find him after school. Edward was alone as he walked to the parking lot.

She was busy dealing with a hysterical Jessica, crying over her fake pregnancy. Edward was enjoying that situation far too much to ever fix her mind. Regardless, not having Bella around left him anxious. He needed someone to talk to.

His telepathy practically sang within him, knowing just what would entertain Edward. He could find another person…another tool to be shaped by his gift.

Edward thought about using his family. He didn't know how altering a vampire's memories would work. It shouldn't be impossible, but perhaps it might be more difficult. Unlike Bella's teenage friends, his vampire family had lived for decades. There was so much more memories to watch, control, and distort. The challenge was alluring.

Despite that, he would wait. Other minds called to him.

Eric was also walking to his car. Edward momentarily read his thoughts, noticing how distraught the teenager felt. Sadly enough, Eric wasn't that concerned over Jessica and her unborn child. He was more worried about losing Mike as a friend. Once again, Edward enjoyed how silly human emotions could be.

He walked over to Eric, stopping him before he could get in to his car. The teen looked at him, his face still wet with tears.

"Edward…?" Eric sniveled.

Edward tried sounding reassuring, "I saw what happened at lunch."

"I'm pretty sure the whole school did."

"Yeah…" Edward couldn't stop himself from smirking. "But you shouldn't listen to Mike."

"I am a loser…and I don't need Mike to tell me that to know it's true." Eric didn't stop staring at him. It seemed that the teen was desperate to have anyone to talk to.

"So what if you messed up…I'm sure he'll come around."

Edward wondered why he was even talking to Eric. He could easily just mess with his mind and watch the results. There was no need for this conversation. Maybe he just loved toying with people.

"No, he won't."

"Alright…but maybe there are other people who will stick with you." Edward faked that he was sincere, almost believing it himself.

"Like who? I got Jessica pregnant. Angela and Bella won't even talk to me."

"Like me," Edward whispered, offering a slight smile.

Eric only looked confusedly at him. "You? But…why?"

Why indeed. That question applied to this whole conversation. Edward should have no reason to want to talk with Eric, let alone mess with his mind. Despite that, he could feel an urge rising with him. That urge needed to be sated.

He didn't have to think before his gift ripped into Eric's mind. Just as with Mike, Edward gave the teen memories of being attracted to Edward. No longer did Eric remember looking at Angela, Bella, and Jessica. In all of their places, Eric remembered Edward.

"Edward…"

"Yes, Eric?"

"Would…you want to hang out with me?" Eric looked at him, nervous of rejection. Edward's telepathy had made him into a love-sick wimp. It almost made him laugh.

"Why, Eric…that sounds amazing." Edward cracked a grin.

Edward realized that he hadn't erased Eric's fake memories of getting Jessica pregnant. That lapse might actually make Eric more interesting. How would the teen rectify his attraction to Edward while dealing with Jessica?

Before either could get in Eric's car, Edward placed a quick kiss on the other teen's lips, but he felt nothing. He loved controlling Eric's mind, but that couldn't make Edward enjoy being around Eric.

Suddenly, Edward realized just how weird this situation was getting. He couldn't go on a date with Eric. Not only was he cheating on Bella, but he had never shown an interest in other men. He was not acting like himself…

Those thoughts quickly subsided. He was just experimenting with his telepathy. It shouldn't matter who he was using, let alone a boy like Eric. Regardless, he could not waste time dating Eric. He could save that train wreck for another day.

Edward grabbed Eric's arm, focusing in on his mind. He erased memories of their conversation and Eric's attraction to him.

Everything had returned to normal, or as normal as Eric could be given that he still had the memories of getting Jessica pregnant. Edward could have also fixed those memories, but they were too fun to stop.

Edward quickly left Eric, wondering just who he could use his telepathy on next. He had wanted to wait using it on his family, but the challenge of sifting through the decades of memories that his fellow vampires had was alluring. The challenge of the task called him. It at least drove away the questions about why he kept meddling with the minds of other men.


It didn't take long for Edward to get home. He rushed into his house, trying to get a sense of where his family was. Carlisle was working at the hospital and Esme was likely gone shopping. Only his siblings were home.

Edward believed that he could change all of their memories, but he didn't want to tackle dealing with the entire group yet. Luckily, Edward sensed that Alice was alone in her room reading. Jasper was outside wrestling with Emmett while Rosalie watched. There was no one to stop him from changing Alice. He swept up the stairs, moving to Alice's room.

His sister smiled as he entered, putting her book down. "Edward, how was your day?" She was as perky as ever.

"Good..." His day hadn't been just good, but intoxicating. Edward couldn't picture living any other way. His newfound powers gave new meaning to his life.

"Where's Bella?"

"She's off dealing with her friends. I feel bad for Jessica." He tried looking like he actually meant it. Truthfully, he loved that Bella was busy with her friends. Edward wouldn't fix the situation with Jessica just to have more alone time.

"That was so sudden. I didn't even see it in my visions."

He sighed, "Well, luckily Bella is taking care of Jessica."

"Just like you almost took care of Mike?" Alice winked. Her expression at any other time would have seemed sweet, but now filled Edward with a sense of dread.

"What do you mean?" He would pretend not to know. Edward tried reading her thoughts, but Alice's mind only focused on the image of Mike standing close to him, holding his shoulder.

"You were about to kiss him. I foresaw it."

"I think you were mistaken." He couldn't get snide with her.

"I haven't seen anything else beyond your almost kiss. Maybe you're too unsure to act on it."

Edward had no idea where this conversation was going. Alice might have had a vision of Mike leaning closer to Edward, but she hadn't truly seen the situation for what it was. She had only seen a vision and not the inner workings of Mike's mind and Edward's telepathy. Alice's gift had limits.

He sneered, "I would never act on that."

"Maybe. Maybe not. No one would think less of you." As always, Alice spoke kindly to him. She exuded warmth. Edward wondered just how she would react if she knew about his mind games. Her cheery face might finally recoil in horror.

"Bella would."

"Bella and you don't have to be together. You're at a crossroads, Edward. You could kiss Mike. You could kiss anyone. You've never even tried. Well, you didn't until Eric."

Alice saw too much. Edward would have to be careful in the future with her. She might never be able to realize how his telepathy controlled others, but she could at least see his actions and words in her visions. If he ever spoke about what he had done, her gift would see it.

"That meant nothing."

"But you still did it. You were at least a little interested in what kissing another guy was like." She was smug.

Once again, Edward focused on her thoughts. She merely wanted to help him realize his feelings for another guy. He probed further, pushing into the vampire's memories. Her mind flooded with decades of different memories, but also her visions of the future. It was even more overwhelming than reading Mike and Eric. Edward lashed out of her mind, unable to focus on reading her.

"I was...just experimenting." Edward was just experimenting with toying with their minds. It didn't mean anything.

"I am a little surprised that you kissed the boy who got Jessica pregnant, but I'm more concerned about you denying your feelings." Alice stood up, moving close to hug her brother.

Edward rested his head on her shoulder, sighing. The hug deflated some of his nerves. "I am not...gay." He couldn't believe he was having this conversation.

"You can be anything you want, Edward, but you can't deny that kissing other guys interests you."

"No." Edward whispered, letting go of Alice.

He was confused about his feelings, but Edward was stubborn. Reading Alice's mind would distract him. Unlike before, he was more driven as he pushed into her memories.

Edward would prove that he wasn't interested in men.

He sifted through her mind, erasing her memories of Jasper while replacing them with himself. This method of redirecting love had gotten easy to manipulate. Edward wondered if he just did it for the thrill of control or he truly was desperate to have someone love him. It only made him feel pathetic, but he continued fixing Alice's mind to avoid reflecting further.

Alice's eyes widened, her lips pursing. "Edward." She whispered his name, sweetly as only a lover would.

"Alice, I love you." Edward forced himself to say the words. They didn't feel right. Even though he hadn't cared for being with Eric or Mike, something had felt more natural with them.

"And I you, Edward." She moved closer, brushing his lips.

Edward tried focusing on kissing her, but it felt utterly lifeless. He couldn't do this. Without a second thought, he pushed himself away and stared at Alice. She looked at him, awaiting another kiss.

"I don't think this will be the last time I do this." He held back the urge to cry as he erased the change in her memories. She now forgot about her attraction to Edward and remembered Jasper. Everything could go back to normal.

Edward ran from room, moving to his own. He needed a break from these mind games. He wasn't sure if he should be more concerned about the ethics of his telepathy or his burgeoning attraction to men. It confounded him.


Later that night, Edward came back to Alice. He wondered if she had already had a vision of this. Edward had given back her memories of Jasper, but he had also allowed her to keep her memories of talking with him about Eric, Mike, and his feelings. He hoped he wouldn't regret it.

"Alice..." He whispered as he entered her room. She and Jasper were laying on the bed, smiling at Edward as he moved closer.

"Sit down." She beckoned him to sit at the edge of the bed.

"I need to talk." He spoke, somewhat awkwardly. Edward had hoped that Jasper wouldn't also be here. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk with more people than just Alice, but he wouldn't force Jasper out of the room.

"I know. I just didn't expect you to come back this soon." Alice smiled innocently. Edward felt a pang of regret for fixing her mind earlier, but she remained unharmed and oblivious.

"What...what if didn't want to date Bella anymore?"

He wondered if there was no going back from this point. Edward had set into a motion not only his developing mind control, but also the questioning of his own sexuality. He surely had chosen Mike and Eric over girls for a reason.

Alice tried reassuring him, "We would support you no matter what."

Jasper looked between the two with a curious look on his face. "You were obsessed with her. Are you sure?"

"I don't think she's right for me." The words came out more confidently from Edward. Bella and him were not meant to be. He wasn't sure how to deal with breaking up with her, but he could admit that his attention lay elsewhere.

"That dog is going to love this." Jasper spoke.

Edward hadn't thought about Jacob lately. For some reason, seeing Jacob appealed to him. He wondered just how Jacob would respond and if he could be the man for Bella that Edward could not. Yet some part of Edward didn't want Bella seeing Jacob, even if he and her were no longer together.

"Edward, if you need to talk more, you can always come to us." Alice tried changing the conversation away from Jacob. She didn't want to stir old memories of Edward's rivalry with him.

Alice thinking about Jacob only caused Edward to think even more about the shifter. He would find him. Although he regretted using his telepathy on Alice, his gift practically called out to Jacob. The teen would soon be brought under Edward's spell.

Jacob would no longer hate him. Edward would at least change Jacob for that.


AN: I will finally have Jacob meet Edward next chapter. Thank you so much for the kind reviews.