Ok, so here's chapter two. Reviews please!!

The Harsh Light of Day

Chapter 2: Too Late

Bella:

What was he doing? What was I doing? His careful boundaries were in place for a reason; I knew that, even if he thought that I didn't. So just what was this? Questions flew through my mind at the speed of sound, but I couldn't catch up to them, couldn't hold on to them. I couldn't think or breathe. Edward's presence flooded my senses. I tried to hear, but there was only his breathing. I tried to feel, but there was only his touch. I tried to smell; there was only his scent.

I gasped for air, my heart pounding out a speeding drum roll, as he kissed my neck with cold, trembling lips. Some part of me shot out a warning, telling me to speak, to stop this before…before what? Before he killed me? That wasn't what was happening, was it? Maybe things were getting out of hand, but he wasn't so far gone to allow that to happen…was he?

I somehow thought that I should feel afraid; but fear wouldn't touch me. It gave me a wide berth, circling the room, perhaps, but I never felt it. All I felt was…well, Edward.

I exhaled sharply, my breath behaving about as well as my heart. Edward must have thought that this was good enough; suddenly his lips were on mine again, his mouth moving in perfect accord with mine. My blood ran hot and thick through my veins, pushed faster by the erratic beating of my heart.

Our lips separated again. I tried to ask him what was going on, to form a coherent question in my mind that wouldn't come out sounding like a moan of pleasure. But my voice refused to form words and my brain refused to support any ideas that would discourage whatever Edward was doing. I still couldn't figure it out. It was impossible to concentrate as he again pressed his lips to my neck.

But this was something new, something frightfully different. I felt a twinge of panic as I gripped his shoulder. Was it my imagination…or was this uncannily akin to what I'd imagined it would be like when he…? I let that thought falter.

And then I felt a sharp pinch on my neck, right where his cold mouth was. It was so quick-and even light enough-that I couldn't be certain of what had caused it. But I had my theories.

Edward:

I gathered all of the force I could muster and wrenched myself backward, off of Bella and away from her beckoning throat. I had barely caught myself in time, breaking my own spell just before I felt her warm blood rush to meet my waiting tongue. I hadn't bitten her. Relief filled every crevice of my being.

I sat on the floor for a few minutes, letting my breathing steady itself; a strange gesture, perhaps, for someone who didn't require the oxygen, but it helped. As my ragged breathing calmed down, I calmed down. That, at least, was necessary before I even looked at Bella again.

Bella. I lifted my head in surprise when I realized that I hadn't heard her move at all. She was probably terrified, poor thing. I could only imagine what this battle with my self-control must have done to her emotionally.

"Bella?" I said her name cautiously, trying not to frighten her more. I slowly stood, gazing over to where she still lay on the bed. I froze.

She hadn't moved a millimeter. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her body trembled when I said her name. More terrified than I'd thought. I took a slow, careful, obvious step toward her and softly called to her again. This time there was no reaction.

"Bella!" I raised my voice just a fraction of an octave, growing very anxious. I crept slowly toward her. Her eyes flew open and her gaze locked on mine, agony and confusion apparent. I didn't understand. She swallowed, and then winced, as if the insignificant action had hurt her. I glanced down at her throat.

"No!" I couldn't stop myself from almost shouting. There, on her neck, right where I'd last kissed her, was an angry red crescent mark, bleeding just a bit. I was at her side before I even thought about it. I hardly noticed her normally intoxicating scent as I knelt at her side, panic wildly replacing every particle of the sick, cruel relief I'd felt moments earlier. I couldn't think. I was too furious at myself. I knew that I could do something to help her, I knew it, but the memory wouldn't surface, which only made me more furious.

I looked at her, hoping that her face would give me the key to her survival. It didn't. The sight only made me want to die.

Her eyes were squeezed shut again, and her face was contorted in pain. She bit her lip hard, her brow furrowed and her nostrils flared. Her body went rigid; she writhed and shook, amazingly restraining herself from screaming or even crying out. I knew from experience that the pain was enough to drive even the most reasonable person to the edge of sanity. The only person I knew who'd endured in silence was Carlisle.

I gasped suddenly as the realization hit me. I buried my hand in my pocket, sifting for the tiny silver cell phone. Before I flipped it open, it buzzed in my hand. I pressed it to my ear desperately, without even a glance at the number.

"Carlisle!" I breathed without thinking. There was a pause.

"No, it's Alice." The fear in her wind-chime voice did nothing to calm my hysterics. "Edward, whatever you're doing, you have to stop. I had a vision—"

"It doesn't matter, get me Carlisle!" I couldn't remember my voice ever being so panicked…except once.

The memory hit me like a wrecking ball. Her body had lain there, crumpled and broken. Terror spread through me like venom-the venom that had, even as I'd seen her there, been poisoning her system. James' venom. Vampire venom. And now, her body was being ravaged by the same type of poison. But mine this time.

Fighting through the terrible images that would have haunted my dreams if I'd had them, I urged my brain to work, to remember what I'd done, how I'd saved her.

Like a rattlesnake bite. I remembered someone describing the process. I had to suck the venom out. Like a rattlesnake bite. Yes, that was it.

"Edward, trust me," Alice's voice, forgotten in my moment of recollection. Even now, I was barely listening to her. I was much too preoccupied with trying to find a way to hold Bella still without hurting her, to save her again…to fix my mistake. "I saw…oh…oh, no."

"What?" I demanded, frantic.

"Edward," Alice whispered. "You bit her." It wasn't a question. I couldn't bring myself to answer directly.

"It doesn't matter," I insisted. "I'm going to fix it. I'm going to do what I did when James bit her. She'll be fine." I still sounded panicked and hysterical. I was really trying to convince myself as much as Alice. But it had to be true. She would be alright. She had to be.

"No, Edward," Alice contradicted in a whisper so low that it was almost inaudible even to me. "It's too late."

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