Thank you all for the overwhelming response! I really appreciate it! So I have decided to turn this into a fic since it was so well received. I hope everyone has a great week!

Edward's POV

--

When you become a vampire all the senses you possessed as a human are increased exponentially. There is a period of time where you are amazed at how well you can hear, see, smell, and taste and all you want to do is experiment with your new found powers. Then, that luster wears off and you are left with, what you now consider, as normal. However, as Carlisle and I made our way back to our home that night, I found myself feeling as alert as a newborn. I noticed every leaf that rustled in the wind, I found myself carefully analyzing every scent that crossed my path, and I even felt as if my sight was sharper than normal.

I stopped dead in my tracks as the powerful scent of a frightened deer crossed my path. Its pulse was racing; pumping is hot, rich, blood throughout its body. I felt my eyes smolder and my mind thought of Bella; how hot her blood had been when she had been pinned beneath me, how her heart had raced, and how I had not slaughtered her. The anger built again inside of me and a let a growl rumble from my chest. Carlisle took notice,

"Do you need to hunt Edward? I think you should, son. With the way you're looking you're going to give poor Jasper a heart attack as soon as you walk in the door and I would really like to avoid any additional instances of anger tonight. I'll wait here if you'd like to take your time, we're in no hurry." My "father" leaned against a nearby tree and, in that moment, a rush of gratitude flooded my being. He was my "father" in more than just paperwork. He lived the part, not just in public but in private as well and, for that, I knew I would be eternally grateful. He would patient with the children he had taken under his wing; after all time had never really been a factor for vampires and if he was going to fix a problem he might as well take his time at doing so. I knew he would forgive me, he probably already had…

But did I deserve it?

I had, after all, almost ruined everything that he had worked so hard to build for our family. We would have had to move again, relocate in a different state, possibly a different country. We may have even had to go into hiding for a few years just to be safe. Carlisle would have forgiven me, Esme would have felt sorry for me, but would my siblings have? Or, would they have shunned me, damned me for uprooting them? Would they have accused me of being weak, would they have cast me out into further darkness leaving me behind with nothing but my inner monster to keep me company? And, would they have been just in their actions?

Of course they would have been.

I nodded at Carlisle and took off at a good speed. Running that fast always made me feel weightless, and tonight, as the severity of my actions had begun to weigh down on me, this was a particularly exhilarating feeling. The wind whipped past my ears, blowing my bronze hair back, as I stalked the deer for awhile. I finally exited the tree line to find the deer at the edge of a small pond; it was staring into the water, curiously looking at its own reflection. I stopped in my tracks about thirty feet back, far enough to where I wasn't going to be noticed, but close enough that I could still examine its every move.

It stood there for awhile, just staring at its own orbed eyes reflected in the lake. The moonlight provided enough light for the deer to see itself clearly in the water, it couldn't hide anything in the shadows but, then again, what would a deer have to hide? She reminded me of Bella as she stood there, perfectly content with her reflection. Bella had nothing to hide, she had no sins to confess, at least none that could even hold a candle to mine. As far as I knew Bella Swan had no body count, no blood on her hands, and nothing to be ashamed of. Her reflection would have shown as brightly as the deer's on the surface of the lake, she would have been able to look at herself without feeling sickened, she would have been able to see her features clearly, Bella was innocent. I didn't even want to know how murky my own reflection would be.

The deer finally inclined her head and drank from the pond. I should have sprung in that instant, I should have snapped her neck and drank heavily. I could feel my hunger burning my throat, scorching it to the point of pain, but I was so damn intrigued at how much I was reminded of Bella. Bella, who had made me almost break my oath to my family, Bella who had smelled so delicious but had felt a thousand times better. Bella, the fucking little girl who had made me feel so human. I was amazed at how much I loathed her for making me feel like a man, but at how much I felt something more for her in the same instant for the exact same thing.

Confusion was not flattering.

I wanted to give into the monster inside of me, that I knew how to handle. I could handle being a vampire, I could handle killing animals for nourishment, and I could handle drifting through time and history perpetually being a high school student. I could handle the knowledge I possessed about the other world that existed in the darkness, and I could handle the darkness itself. I wasn't sure if I could handle humanity, and that was what terrified me the most.

It took all of my power, every ounce of it, to let my guard down and kill the deer. She didn't even make a sound as I grabbed her and ended her short life, she didn't even put up a fight and that made me a little sad. Who the hell was I Emmett? Since when did I crave a fight? Since when did I feel bad about killing a deer so I could sustain the burning hunger? Since when did I give a flying fuck?

Damn human.

I took my fill from the deer and could almost feel my eyes lightening back up to their rich topaz color. It was an odd sensation, feeding. Feeling the blood course through you, charging you, giving you energy enough to face another monotonous day, and trust me every day was monotonous when it came to high school, giving you enough self control not to kill the humans even when that is what the monster inside of you wanted to do most of all. Or at least my monster used to feel that way. Blood was everything, it's what wars consisted of, what life consisted of. Blood was life.

I turned from the deer and couldn't help myself; I stared into the abyss of the pond. My own reflection was there, staring right back at me. Nothing was hidden from me like I had expected it to be, like I had hoped it to be, everything was so perfectly illuminated for me that I felt as if I were on display for everyone to see. I self consciously wiped the blood from my mouth, my eyes were slowly turning back to the golden color I had become accustomed to, they could have so easily been red. The blood, that I now washed from my hands in the cool pond water, could have so easily have been Bella's.

Then why hadn't it been?

My anger spiked again and I almost took off running just for the sake of going somewhere when I remembered Carlisle. He was waiting patiently for me, and I knew he would wait until I returned however long I chose but I knew I couldn't, I wouldn't, keep him waiting. I took one more glance at myself in the now rippling water and, disgusted, took off. I met back up at my father who, taking a quick glance at my eyes, offered me a kind smile. Then, we turned in silence and continued on home.

Home was beautiful and warm, it was forgiving and pleasant, it was where family was and problems ceased, it was where I felt excepted. So why did I feel so damn terrified to enter my own home? Carlisle entered first and I almost turned around and fled like a coward when her scent hit me. The same scent that I had first smelled in Biology, the scent that had been deeper, richer, in her bedroom, the scent I longed to smell again but was terrified to smell all at the same time.

Bella.

Terror flooded me as I stepped into our foyer to find Bella, wearing my shirt and a pair of her own pajama pants, seated on our couch in between Alice and Esme. Jasper had, more than likely, excused himself and I had no idea where Emmett and Rose were. I felt an odd anger as I saw my smallest sister smiling at me, I had wanted her to stop me, and I had wanted her to keep from doing what I had done. I had wanted her to keep the humanity at bay, but she hadn't and I was furious at her for it. Alice skipped over to me,

"Hi Edward…we have company." She whispered. I didn't know what came over me but in an instant my anger overcame me and I grabbed Alice by the throat and pinned her against the wall,

"EDWARD!" Esme shouted. Carlisle grabbed me and threw me off his youngest daughter, off my sister, off the one person that understood me better than anyone, and that included myself,

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?! WHY IN THE HOLY HELL DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?! YOU KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! WAS THIS JUST ANOTHER GAME ALICE?! YOUR VERSION OF FUN?!" I shouted as Carlisle held me back,

"Eward, I—" Alice stopped but I cut her off,

"JUST SAVE IT ALICE!" I roared and finally tore myself out of my father's grasp. I fled up the stairs and, like a little kid, like a human, I slammed my bedroom door behind me.

It was exactly seven minutes and thirty-two seconds before I felt a light tap on my door,

"Come in Alice, I'm so sorry for what I did." I said as light from the hallway flooded into my room. But it wasn't Alice's voice that met my ears,

"Would you like to tell me what is going on? Who you are? What you are? And how I play into your story? Or am I going to have to find out for myself?" Bella's voice met my ears and I froze.