I am speechless. Over 100 reviews for one stinking chapter!? Wow. Excuse me while I drown in my own bliss :)

I am aware that some of you were confused about Bella's power in the last chapter? Well basically, Bella can look into people's eyes and whatever emotion they are feeling goes straight to her chest. If a person is feeling pain, the spot where her heart used to be feels pain. Edward believes this is because she was such an observant human. And no, she can't manipulate emotions. That's Jasper :)

I hope you enjoy!

Reason One

The class would have been silent when we entered, had I not been able to hear their thoughts. Bella stiffened beside me and I glanced at her hand. The need to hold it corrupted within me but I suppressed the urge as we strode into the classroom.

The thoughts that circulated were all too familiar.

Wow…

Gale was right! He's so cute!

Really pale skin…

Oh great. Just great. They're hot. This ruins everything…

Look at that girl. What a babe. And that body… I think I need a cold shower.

My entire body tensed at the last thought, and I could feel the need to seek out the host of this particular thought, and immediately dispose of him.

My chance to look vanished as the teacher meet us halfway into the classroom. Her diminutive eyes were gray and lifeless, the same as her skin. Wrinkles made her flesh look withered and frail. Her long colorless hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Hello," she said cautiously, glancing between Bella and I. "May I help you?"

Her thoughts weren't very distinctive in the sea of judgmental phrases, but her expression exposed her shock, admiration, and her natural instinct, advising her to retreat from the creatures before her.

I glanced down at Bella, speculating the effect that this classroom full of humans had on her. I wasn't surprised to find her glance inverted towards the blackboard, terrified to meet a curious pair of eyes.

"I'm Edward Cullen and this is my," I hesitated, though it didn't register in the human's mind, I frowned quickly, "sister, Bella."

In reaction to the word sister, half of the adolescent teen males were already filling their minds with the absurd idea that they could make Bella theirs. If it was possible, my body tensed more.

"Masen," I added quickly, speaking to the teacher. "Bella Masen." I spoke the name again, just to see how it felt on my tongue. Altering her last name did little to modify the minds of the admirers, but I could feel the smile tugging on the corner of my lip. "We're new here."

The teacher smiled vigilantly. "Of course. Welcome to eleventh grade history. I'm Mrs. Varban." She glanced around the classroom for a moment before discovering two seats in the back of the small room. "You can both take your seats back there."

I smiled and nodded, turning to make my way through the clutter of students. I had felt Bella's eyes on me the entire time Mrs. Varban had been speaking, but I hadn't looked at her.

We took our seats in our separate desks. With an audience, we opened our notebooks.

The boy looks too old to be in the eleventh grade.

How is she his sister if they have different last names? I bet it's a separation thing.

Edward? That's such an old-fashion name.

That Bella girl's so hot. I can't wait to get her in bed…

The monster clawed at my chest and a thick pool of venom formed in the back of my throat. This monster was not driven by scent, or thirst, but by rage.

The few students that were still studying us, flinched and turned back towards the teacher as they met the hostility in my expression.

What's his problem?

I remember being new. I hated it when everyone stared at me.

Geez, he's scary.

"Edward?"

The last one was spoken aloud. The voice was soft enough for only my ears to hear, but I didn't turn to look at Bella. I didn't want her to suffer from the anger in my gaze.

It wasn't until the bell rang thirty minutes later, and we were out of the classroom, did I allow myself to meet Bella's gaze that had dwelled on me for all thirty minutes. Just as I had expected, she immediately captured my eyes and refused to let them go.

"You called me Bella Masen," she whispered finally, biting her lip against the smile, a habit she had failed to lose through her change.

I stared at her, chuckling softly in amazement. I had just come close to slaughtering half of our history class, and she was pleased that I had substituted Cullen for my human last name?

"You are remarkable," I marveled after a moment. My self control was leisurely diminishing as she continued to bite on her lip. I didn't know how I could possibly sham the fact that Bella was my wife. Being denied the pleasure to kiss her, currently felt like suicide. I needed it more than I had needed to feel that vulgar boy's blood flow down my raw throat.

Bella suddenly brought her hand to her heart and smiled up at me thoughtfully. "Desire?" She asked innocently, tilting her head to the side, drinking in my gaze. My eyes stayed focused on hers while I nodded.

"It's very hard," I confessed, "harder than I thought."

She nodded her head in acuity. Or was it agreement? She suddenly freed my gaze from her own, and let her eyes wander towards the floor. A strand of dark hair fell onto her cheek. I had a feeling she would be blushing, if that were still possible. That realization made my chest feel hollow, much like it did every time I would notice Bella's embarrassment and recall the delicate blush that had once been there.

"Bella?" I reached forward, gently brushing the strand behind her ear. I frequently found myself touching her like this, gently. I suppose it was just a habit I had failed to lose after her change as well.

Suddenly, the bell rang a second time. She looked up with wide eyes. "I'm late," she gasped. She turned to dash to her next class.

"Bella," I warned in a hiss, "slow down!"

She did as she was told but didn't turn back to look at me. "I'll see you at lunch," her voice echoed mutely in the vacant hallway.

The rest of the day passed routinely. I walked Bella to the classes that we didn't share, and this happened more than I would have liked. Though our surroundings were never adequate for the type of conversation I longed to have, that would all change soon as I sat through biology, my last class of the day.

I had originally been relieved that Bella had not been placed in my biology class. I didn't think a trip that far down memory lane would be in our best interest. But at this moment, I craved her presence.

Before Bella, time had meant nothing to me. But suddenly, it was my worst enemy as I glared at the small timepiece.

The second the shrill buzzing noise reverberated, I was out of the classroom. I wasn't certain how fast I was running exactly, it was likely that I would receive a few letters requesting that I join the school's track team, but I wasn't at all concerned.

I slowed the second my eyes found her beautiful face in the sea of students.

Okay. Maybe time wasn't my worst enemy. Not if I got to spend it staring at this angel.

She hadn't seen me yet, her eyes were searching the muddle of students. Somebody was speaking to her loudly, trying to be heard over the clamor of the hallway.

My mouth pooled with venom the second I located the human's thoughts.

I wonder if she'll moan my name when we do it…

The Olympics was next on my list as I materialized – as it would seem to the human – beside Bella.

The boy was startled, his scruffy baseball hat falling off in his attempt to back away. He was the same adolescent boy from our history class.

He was about to receive the warning that would appear in his nightmares for months, I was sure, but before I could get a word out, Bella's hand was in mine, dragging me towards the parking lot. It had taken a while to get used to the idea of Bella being able to drag me.

I was surprised when Bella pushed me towards the passenger seat, but I didn't object as she climbed into the driver's seat of the Volvo.

She didn't look at me as she threw the car into reverse, and flew from the school parking lot like somebody was chasing her.

"Bella?"

The second I spoke her name, the car turned sharply down a side road, the rain still drizzling down the windows as car came to halt. I searched outside of the window, trying to understand our surroundings. My search came up blank. It seemed as if she had drove us straight to the middle of nowhere.

I turned to look at her, but before my gaze even had time to settle on hers, her slender fingers were knotted in my hair and the sweet taste of her mouth was heavenly against my lips. Her body leaned over the console separating us, and without breaking the kiss, she moved onto my lap, her legs straddling mine. I took my own hand, and weaved in gently into her hair, cupping the nape of her neck.

I smiled against the kiss, not willing to contain it. This was one of my favorite parts of Bella's change, and I wasn't ashamed to admit it. To be able to show Bella actually how much I love her, not having to restrict myself with painful boundaries was true bliss.

Finally she pulled away and smiled at me, her finger curled around a strand of my hair and I removed my own hand from her neck. I pressed my hand to her cheek.

"I've been waiting all day to do that," she breathed. She tortured me with her deep beautiful eyes as she smiled so brilliantly that I felt my breathing hitch. "And I've decided what my first reason is."

I felt my smile fall immediately into a grimace.

Bella sighed and reached forward, tracing the shape of bottom eyelid with her finger.

"I know that you're mad about that," she said finally. "But I don't know why."

I was the one to sigh this time. I caught her finger in my hand, as she finished tracing the shape once more. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled own the small golden ring and slipped it back onto her finger. I kissed her hand once before meeting her gaze.

"I don't want you to prove anything to me Bella. I am more than aware of the fact that you love me. This," I sighed frustrated, holding my hand to her chest where her still heart lay beneath, "would be beating, if you didn't love me. I know that."

Her expression mirrored my own aggravation as she swatted my hand from her chest. "Then why do you insist that you love me more than I love you?" She demanded.

I didn't answer her, so she moved on. "I let you say your thirteen reasons. Do you believe that was due to the fact that I didn't think you loved me?"

"No," I answered, my forehead crumbling with her words.

"Then let me have my fun," she insisted quickly.

We glared at each other. Her imposing eyes were definitely weakening my defense.

"Fine. But you have to tell me something first."

"Anything," she agreed quickly.

I brushed away another strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "I want to know what you were thinking today in the hallway. You seemed… embarrassed."

She quickly inverted her eyes and slumped against my lap. She peeked at my eyes quickly before letting them fall once more. "I'm not embarrassed to tell you," she clarified softly. "I'm just afraid you'll say no."

I used my finger tip to tilt her chin back towards me. She stared at my through her lashes warily.

"I still want to know," I decided after a moment of thought.

She sighed and her sweet breath burned wonderfully against my lips. "I was going to ask you if we could be like… Alice and Jasper were, or Rosalie and Emmett were, when I first came to Forks," she barley mumbled the last part, looking up instead of down now, avoiding my eyes. "You did say my last name was Masen. So I thought we could still pretend to be… together." She flinched, uncomfortable under my gaze.

I laughed softly. She was so absurd. "Bella, my love," I chuckled. Her gaze shifted to mine, questioningly. "Not only do you not see yourself clearly, but you obviously suffer from the same blindness when you look at me."

That lovely smile spread across her face. "Is that a yes?"

I laughed loudly and pressed my lips to hers. I pulled away and grinned. "That's a yes."

She beamed and looked down to trace the collar of my shirt. Suddenly, her finger followed the curve of my neck and twisted itself back into my hair.

"Reason number one why I love you," she declared, laughing at the sudden fall in my face. She bit her lip as she spoke. "Your jealousy."

I could feel my mouth fall open in annoyance, but she once again silenced me with a kiss. She pulled away, and I spoke immediately.

"You love me for my… what?"

"Your jealousy," she giggled. "I think it's… " she rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, as if searching for the word. "Sexy," she said finally. Her eyebrow arched, in an attempt to be seductive, I supposed. Her attempt was succeeding wonderfully.

"Say that again." I hadn't meant to make my voice sound so husky. Her eyes widened but she didn't think twice before obeying my command.

"Sexy," she whispered, her eyes captured mine and I was a goner once more.

My lips fell against hers quickly, like a magnet, and I was more than ready to graduate school forever, and spend the rest of my life just like that. With her.

Hm, no matter what you people say, I'm still terrified out of my mind. Living up to expectations and all that fun stuff. Ha.

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