DISCLAIMER- I'm writing this story, using these characters, but only one of these two things is mine. Guess which one belongs to me and which belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 2: Fascinated

I was ignoring the text messages that kept coming in from my siblings. No doubt I would get hell for skipping orientation when I eventually went home, but right now that didn't seem so important. I couldn't go into that school today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I would let Alice and the rest of them drag me into the school kicking and screaming. But today I would avoid it and all talk/thoughts about it at all costs.

I walked and walked along the busy sidewalks, ignoring the looks I got from the curious or attracted humans, just listening to the din of the city: the traffic, the thousands of feet on the concrete, the busy humans on their phones, and their thoughts that accompanied them. There were so many voices, internal and external, that instead of being overwhelming, it all just settled into a background buzz as I tuned it all out. It was vaguely amazing to me that I could stay so numb in such chaotic surroundings.

About an hour later the sound of music broke through my barriers. I was standing in front of a small music store that had its doors open and was blaring sound from the inside. "Beats" was the name of the store.

Why not, I decided. It's not like I had anything more important to do with my time. Or rather, anything more important that I planned on attending to.

I walked into the store to see that it was decently full of young people looking for their idea of good music. Music was the one thing that hadn't lost its complete magic for me. I still had my piano and I even took up guitar, I still went CD browsing on a regular basis, I still went to whatever local band concerts of whatever town we were living in. It was what I was enrolled in Julliard for, or course. And since I was here, why not take a look at the place.

I wasn't in there long before one of the working girls there, with a fluffy name like Candy, or Mandy or whatever, came to ask "if I needed help", but of course I knew those weren't her real intentions, so I brushed her off with a barely worded refusal, and started looking for where to start. I never had trouble finding what I was looking for in a music store.

I started out in Rock, looking for the latest Twisted CD I'd neglected to get before. Great band with an original rock sound, not really as modern as what one would here in this day and age.

I was in the T area of the rock section, when a scent became noticeable to me above all the others. It was a spicy, fruity scent, mixed with something floral, like night blooming roses. I hadn't smelt anything so amazing since Bella.

I quickly cranked down on every muscle in my body. Since Bella had died, I hadn't had to deal with anymore singers and I was thankful, but that initial surprise at the first meeting with her still lingered in my mind enough to realize what was happening. I held my breath and looked to where the fragrance was coming from.

There was a girl standing about ten feet away from me in the same isle. She was the only person standing close enough to me for a scent to register. Was it her? I wasn't about to check.

Calm down, I chanted in my mind. This wasn't anything I was unfamiliar with. Bella had been the most divine smelling thing in the world, and I had been able to resist her for the whole duration of our relationship. I'd even been strong enough to drink form her when the need arose. I could handle this. I would find my CDs, buy them and not leave a damn second before that moment. I wouldn't be chased away from anything by another human again.

But this human was making it really hard to not notice her. I looked at her again, still keeping all air passageways blocked. She had a pair of red headphones over her ears, the really expensive, high-tech ones, vintage-looking ones. I had a pair in green at home. She was bobbing her head eccentrically, like no one was around to see her, to whatever music was coming through them. Extending my senses a bit I could hear it was an older one, the genre alternative rock. A little concentration and I recognized it from the "All We Know is Falling" album that was released way back in 2005 by Paramore. I had that one at home as well. "My Heart" was the song. One of my favourites.

She came down the aisle and the music from her headphones became even more present to me. It looked like the CDs in the selves and the music in her ears were the only things that held her attention because she really didn't seem to notice me.

I got back to searching for my CD, trying to ignore the music coming from her, trying to ignore her all together. I wanted my numb barriers back so I could get what I came for and leave.

She was close now, and I could feel the warmth of body radiating to mine as it came off her in waves and she danced to what she was listening to. She either had no clue that I was standing here or was ignoring me like I was trying to do with her—but wasn't succeeding at— and wasn't reacting the way normal humans would when around one of us.

Finally. Twisted. I could grab this one and go find whatever else I may want. But as I reached for the CD, a small hand landed on top of mine. My hand snapped back from the warm, soft touch, more out of surprise then discomfort. I was surprised at how...nice that warm skin felt on mine. I hadn't let a human touch me in twenty years. It was also the same amount of time since I'd felt that electric current run over my stone cold skin.

I looked at the dancing girl. She still didn't seem to pay any attention to me at all.

"Sorry," she said vacantly, then grabbed the last Twisted CD there was and walked to another aisle.

What the hell? Did she not feel the temperature of my skin? What was she thinking?

I couldn't resist the urge to follow her. The lyrics of that song kept playing in my head:

"Sing us a song, and we'll sing it back to you

We could sing our own, but what would be without you?"

She was in the hip-hop section now, still browsing. What was she thinking? Only one way to find out.

I looked over the shelves at her, and she didn't even see my eyes at her. I started probing, trying to get into her mind, trying to see what she was seeing and thinking.

I got nowhere.

What the hell? This hadn't happened since…

She looked up at me, as if sensing that someone was watching her. Her expression wasn't what I expected; instead of looking upset or weirded out at some random man staring at her, she smiled a little, looking only a small bit confused and lot curious. But she didn't seem flirtatious at all, like I was used to from other women, she just seemed…interested, or maybe she looked fascinated.

She didn't look away from me as I stared into her eyes, trying to get through whatever was blocking me from her brain and the answers I wanted. In fact she stared back into mine. That was another thing about her. When humans saw our eyes, they were immediately repelled from, struck by our alieness and made uncomfortable by it. They usually shifted their positions, looked anywhere but at us, fidgeted with their clothing. But she just stayed where she was, staring right back at me, like there was nothing unusual about me, like I was completely normal. What was going on with her?

Why couldn't I see her mind?

Her eyes were an intense shade of blue, kind of like sapphires. No, they were exactly like sapphires. There was an interesting crystal look to them that dragged me in and kept me there.

I was only free when she looked away from me to take off her headphones.

"Can I help you?" she asked, still with that slight smile on her lips.

The most amazing thing happened when she spoke. All the other voices, all the other thoughts went silent. I was trapped in her voice, and what thing of beauty to be stuck in. The way she spoke, the rhythm of her speech had a musical appeal to it. It was like I was listening to a perfect piano chord.

I was afraid to answer, afraid that if I spoke I would breathe in that scent again. And if it was her that smelled that way, it really wasn't safe for me to be standing just a shelf's width away from her. In fact it pretty much spelled trouble.

So I just shook my head like an idiot.

The confused expression started to cloud over the fascinated one. "Are you okay?"

"Not exactly," I said without thinking, and the spicy fruity smell ripped down my throat in a burst of flames. It was her. The scent was her. She was the singer.

"Okay," she said a little awkwardly. "Is there something you need from me?"

Yes. "No."

"Uh, okay." She looked at me for one more second, the shook her head with a little chuckle. With her head phones around her ears again, she was down the aisle and away from me once more.

I held my breath again as I followed where she was going. Why I was reacting this way to some human I wasn't sure, but she was intriguing. With a start I realized this was the first time anything had interested me in about… twenty years.

She browsed a little more, picking out what she liked and I realized that we had a lot of the same taste. She stayed mostly with the older stuff, passing over most of the modern things, like did a lot of the time. And when she had paid for her findings, I followed her out of the store and into the city. Once we were outside, I was able to let out a breath. There were so many other scents around us that hers held no special significance to me as long as I kept an inconspicuous distance behind her.

She kept dancing along, as if she were in her own private space with no one around, and yet she managed to keep out of touch with all the people around her, never making any physical contact with any of the other humans. How could someone have so much confidence in such a strange, busy environment was amazing. She acted like she was by herself as she moved to the new song in her ears. It was another older one by Flourence + the Machine: "Dog Days Are Over."

Her phone started ringing and I was surprised she was able to hear it.

Rummaging through the vintage messenger bag that hung from her shoulders, she searched until she found what looked like a blackberry. "Hey, Anya," she said casually once her headphones were around her neck and her phone was at her ear. Just like that, every sound around us disappeared.

It sounded like whoever Anya was wasn't happy with her. I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying to her, seeing as I was too far away from her, but it sounded like my Jane Doe was getting reprimanded.

"Oh shit, I forgot that was today!" she said when Anya was done yelling at her. Now she sounded anxious.

"Well, you weren't even home last night and you said we go together."

More talking from Anya, then, "Okay I'm sorry I missed it. Pick up my package for me and be home later…. Yeah okay I'll meet you in an hour. Bye." She sounded annoyed now.

She did an exasperated spin and found me standing a little ways away from. This time she did look a little upset and confused at a strange guy following her. She stared at me questioningly for a moment.

What was she thinking now? How was she feeling now? What did she see in me that kept her from reacting like a regular human should?

She shook her head at me again, then started walking down the way she had been originally.

I was about to follow her again, when my own phone call came in.

"What, Rosalie," I demanded once I'd answered and was following my mystery girl again.

"Where the hell are you?" she demanded, beyond angry. She was probably more upset at the fact that I was ignoring her calls then that I wasn't where I was supposed to be.

"I'm out," I said as fought through the human bodies on the side walk, trying to keep up with her.

"Then why aren't you here?"

"I'm not in the mood right now, Rosalie," I said as I sped up my pace to stay with her.

"Do you think I care? What exactly is so important, other than your wallowing, that you couldn't make it to orientation?"

"Nothing in particular," I answered absently. Her head was distant now and it was getting more and more busy on this street. She was slipping away.

Rose took a few deep, annoyed breaths, and then I heard he explain to the others my lack of reason for not being with them.

"It's pretty much over," she bit out. "Just come home, please."

"Rose, I'm—"

"Let me rephrase, Edward. Go home now. We'll see you there in a half hour."

I cursed as we hung up, but I might as well go home now anyway. I'd been out for hours, and I couldn't see my Jane Doe anymore.

It took me more than half an hour to get home, mostly because I was three hours away on foot, partly because I wasn't looking forward being bitched out by my siblings for missing today, especially Rosalie.

I knew Rose was as worried about me as the rest of them. She just had a more…passionate way of showing it.

"Well, look who actually showed up," she said scathingly when I got up to the apartment.

All four of them were there, all four of them were pissed off.

"I'm sorry I missed today," I told them, deflated. I was too tired to fight.

"No you're not. You promised to be there, and you weren't," Rose started angrily. "But somehow I'm not surprised."

"Rose," Emmett cautioned.

"No, he should hear this." She looked me dead in the eyes focussing only on me. "When are you going to wake up, Edward? When are you going to move on?"

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

"Bella is gone, Edward," she said loudly, annunciating each word, as if the extra volume and precise pronouncing would finally get through to me. She took a few steps towards me. "She's gone. The Volturi killed her and she's not coming back. Get over her and move on."

"Don't say her name," I said warningly to her. "Don't you dare say that name."

"Why not, it's just a name. Bella. Bella. Bella Bella Bella!" she taunted me. "It's just the name of a dead girl."

I didn't think. I launched myself at Rosalie, to angry to speak, so infuriated that she would be so insensitive.

Rosalie stood her ground, waiting for the impact of me. But Before I could even touch her, Emmett was right in front of me, holding me back.

"Rose, stop!" Alice yelled at her.

"Why? All this time, we've been coddling him like a baby, waiting for him to snap out of it, but get this Alice: he's not going to. He's never going to, unless someone does it for him."

"You insensitive bitch," I snarled at her.

"If that's what I have to be to get you back to normal, then so be it," she replied.

"You don't get it," I yelled at her. "You don't even care."

"I get what you're going through," she said. "I know you're in pain. But you're not even trying to move on. You've been sitting on your ass for two decades doing nothing but stewing in your own misery. You need to try to get your life back on track. You're being a selfish jerk. Do you even think about what you're doing to Esme or Carlisle? Or how your emotions affect Jasper? Everyone is miserable because of you."

"Of course you have to make this about yourself, Rosalie," I accused. "What's new?"

"This isn't about her, Edward," Jasper said quietly. "This is about our family."

"Edward, we're tired of this," Alice interjected. "It's time you started to live again."

"None of you understand," I shouted, exasperated. "I know what you think. I know that the way I act hurts you all and I wish you didn't have feel it, but there's nothing I can do about it." I pegged them all with a hard stare. "You think I haven't tried to move on? I wish I could forget about all the misery and live my life like I did before I knew Bella. But forgetting the pain means forgetting Bella. And I can't do that yet. I'll never be able to do that."

"It doesn't mean you forget her, to move on," Alice said. "It only means you get to be happy again. You can stop blaming yourself for what happened. You can find some peace."

Isn't that what you want? she asked in her head.

"I don't want anything anymore," I replied.

"You want her," Rose said quietly. "And until you can forget about that yearning, you'll never be able to be happy again."

"Happy isn't something I remember anymore," I told them truthfully. "And if it hurts you all so much, then I'll leave. I'll leave and you'll never have to deal with me again."

"You know that's not what we want," Emmett said angrily. "You leaving doesn't solve anything."

"Well that's the only solution I can see." I looked to what Alice. "Can you see anything? Jasper, can you make me feel something else?" I asked scathingly.

"You know I won't do that," he answered in a low voice.

"Then I can't help you anymore than I can help myself."

I turned away from, sensing that was all they had to say on the issue. For now. They hadn't gotten through to me today but they would try again eventually. They always did.

My anger was already dimming into the numb nothingness I often found myself in.

"I'm sorry I missed today. But thank you for picking up my package."

"Are you going to put it to use?" Alice demanded, but only her voice was hard. Her thoughts were pleading and desperate, begging me to come out of my funk.

"I'll be there tomorrow."

I left the room at that, but their thoughts still floated in the air around me. I still heard what they thought about the pathetic state being I was in now. They were angry, sympathetic, annoyed, frustrated, hopeless…

I needed a way to mute them out. I knew that leaving wasn't an option; one of them would follow me no matter what I said to them. The only option was music.

I went to the piano, taking residence at my usual seat there. I started off with an older piece, Esme's Favourite, paying specific attention so that I didn't drift off into one melody in particular. The notes fell from my hands effortlessly, and I played until nothing else came through to my consciousness. But the sound of my piano reminded me of a voice. The human's voice. And soon the notes and harmonies of Esme's Favourite wasn't what was coming from the piano. It was a new song, a different song, one that wasn't of my compositions. The lyrics to the song came back to my head again, as it had over and over again this afternoon.

I am finding out, that I was wrong.

That I've fallen down, and I can't do this alone.

Stay with me. This is what I need, please.

There was something about that human girl from the music store. The way she moved, the way she talked. The way she acted so sure of herself with me around, showing none of the usual discomfort and fear that was expected of a normal human, and that was why she fascinated me.

But it wasn't just that. Her thoughts were hidden from me, just like Bella's had been.
The reasoning behind her every action, her every movement was hidden from me, and that wasn't something I was used to. I wanted to know why I didn't frighten her, why she didn't look away when my eyes bore into hers, trying to probe her silent thoughts. What had she been thinking when she'd noticed me following her? Did my cold skin shock her as much as her warmth had shocked me? Had she been scared and just too righteous to show it, or was she really just that self-confident? Whatever it was, I wanted to know. And those eyes, those sapphire eyes. I could tell that those eyes held such stories and depth, stories that I would like to pry out of her, get her to trust me and tell me everything.

But it wasn't like I would get the chance to ask her anything. The chances of me seeing her again were pretty much impossible in a city this size. And it was probably for the better that I never caught sight of her again. Because she was a singer. My singer.

That made three things she had in common with Bella.

Her scent had punched down my throat like a fist of flames, ripping it into fire. I had handled it well, managing to talk to her without ripping her neck open, but that didn't mean that getting anywhere near her was a good idea. Or even a remotely okay idea. If I ever saw her again, the number one priority was to avoid her like the plague. The danger that she could potentially be in if I were to be around her struck me hard, and the thought that she would be put in peril at my hands sent an odd pain through my long dormant heart.

Sing me a song, and we'll sing it back to you.

We could sing along, but what would it be without you?

I shook her off and let the lyrics and the melody become the focus of my mind, though if I was truly committed to not thinking about the strange girl, I would have picked a different song to play.

I am nothing now, and it's been so long.

Since I've heard a sound, the sound of my only hope.

It all didn't matter, anyways. My fascination would wear off and I would never see her again, and it was all for the better. She was too much of temptation for me, and I wouldn't pretend with myself that it was just her blood that attracted me to her. She was something different, something fascinating.

Something that I needed to steer clear of.

It should be easy. After all, she was just another human, I told myself.

Just another human.