Nope, still don't own anything, except for a sinus headache and an inferiority complex. Ah, the luck.

I'm really glad that this story is going over so well with you guys. Thanks for reading, and your reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Black Swan

Chapter Four

Bella Swan-Black

"What are you so happy about?" Mike Newton, former classmate and Golden Retriever turned manager for his parents store, inquires as I hang my vest up for the night, "You've just worked fourteen freaking hours, nobody should be as happy as you."

"I'm happy because this day is over and I have the weekend off," I happily admit, feeling more energized the closer the clock gets to midnight, when I can clock out and go home.

"Let me guess, you have a hot date?" his tone is dripping with sarcasm as he deliberately looks up and down my bulky form.

I go to rub my wedding ring to cease any further annoyance, but stop short when I realize for the hundredth time today that I'm no longer wearing it. I look down at the indent in my finger where the modest heart shaped diamond engagement ring and simple gold band had rested for so long and a wave of anger rolls over me.

"Look Mike, I know you had hoped that I was still the beanpole that I was back in high school so you could spend every day ogling me and you regret ever hiring me because you think I'm repulsive now, but don't talk or ask anything about my relationships. Ever," I snap with more than a little venom coating my words, "I got this job to make money and take care of my children, not feed you with eye candy and endless stories about my life. I show up, I work, I go home, that's all there is to it."

He winces as I brush passed him and punch out before he can say another idiotic word. I'm really pissed off that he ruined my good mood. It gets worse as I drive through the rain and remember that Seth and Leah won't be home when I get there, Jake had picked them up after school and taken them to his new place on the reservation.

Dark thoughts invade my brain while I make my way into the house. Will Jake introduce his precious fucking imprint to our children? Is he going to admit that he cheated on their mother? Will he try to make me the bad guy in all of this?

When we had sat down with our kids and told them of the divorce, we left things very vague, stating that we didn't get along like we used to and felt that we could be better parents and friends if we lived apart from one another.

I had promised Jacob that I would not talk down about him to Seth and Leah, and I've kept my word. I haven't even mentioned Liz to them. I pray that he extends the same courtesy or my own children may hate me come Monday when they get home from school.

After grabbing a shower and making a sandwich for dinner, I sit my big ass down on the floor in front of the coffee table and open my laptop. I check to see if Edward has left a message. Nope. Must have had something come up at the clinic. Ignoring the slight pang in my chest, I open up my fan fic profile and check my numbers.

After doing a happy dance at the hit quota and booing the usual lack of reviews, I decide to catch up on my story. I haven't gotten much writing done this whole week as a result of the new job and I feel that I owe it to my readers to give them something for not giving up on me, so I spend a few hours working out my frustrations on fiction characters and post a new chapter.

When I am finished for the night, the clock tells me that it's three am, so I close the computer and lock up the house before turning on my mp3 player and going to bed.

I'm standing on a rock amidst a clearing filled with wildflowers, the area surrounded by trees. I hear my name being called and turn to see Edward, dressed all in black.

"Bella, come with me, I need you," he pleads, his voice liquid velvet, as he extends a pale hand towards me.

I begin crossing the flat-topped boulder, "What's wrong Edward?"

"Bella, no!" Jake's voice rings out from the other side of the clearing. I turn to see his quivering form sprinting across the space, "You can't go with him!"

He explodes in a flurry of fabric and fur as he launches himself at Edward, who smiles and reveals a mouth full of sharp fangs.

"Nnnooo-oooooo!!" my scream follows me into consciousness as I bolt upright from my place on the sofa.

"Just a dream," I mumble to myself and rub my face in a weak attempt to rid my mind of the image of Jake attacking Edward.

Wait. Werewolves only attack vampires.

He was most definitely a vampire in the dream, remember the fangs?

"Not possible," I argue as I throw the faded blue comforter off and stagger to my feet.

Think about it for a minute. Edward and his family disappear for years and when you finally see him again, his eyes are amber gold, not the emerald green that you remember. His hands are frigid, his body hard as stone, and he kept wrinkling his nose like something smelled bad when he was visiting. Of course, Edward having yellow eyes would mean that he was part of the group that has sworn off feeding from humans, but come on Bella, how could you have missed it?

"Oh shit," my legs become rubbery and I sink down on to a step halfway up the stairwell. I have to tell Edward when he gets here. He deserves to know about my ties to the wolves even if it ends with him severing all contact.

With that decision made, I continue up to my original destination and take the shower that I'd skipped over last night. I'm still contemplating my odd dream as I pull on a pair of comfortable jeans, a long-sleeved black thermal, and my standard hoodie. After quickly pulling my hair back into a wet bun, I successfully navigate the stairs without tripping and killing myself.

While folding my blankets and putting them in the wicker basket I use to hide them during the day, I get a text from Edward.

Bella, got out of work earlier than expected, stopping at home to shower and change before heading out- Edward

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I expected to have more time to get the house cleaned up! I can't tell him that though, he might cancel.

That's great Edward, I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Drive safe- Bella

I really hope that I didn't come off as pathetic as I feel. Add to that a heap of teenage giddiness, a sprinkle of self loathing, a dash of the warm and fuzzies, and just a pinch of tingling girly parts. Toss in blender, hit the button, you get the Bella special.

I spend the next few hours running around the house like a lunatic, trying to get everything straightened up before Edward shows. I haven't been this nervous since I had to sit down and have 'the talk' with Seth and Leah after catching Leah's Geometry tutor with his tongue shoved down her throat the second week of school last semester. It took all of my self control not to pull out Jake's rifle and shoot the boy.

My hoodie gets discarded in the middle of mopping the kitchen as I am dancing and belting out 'Sex on Fire' from Kings of Leon playing on my surround sound.

"That is so damn cute," Edward's amused tone cuts through my haze, making me stop dead in my tracks.

"Oh shit," I mumble and hastily turn to face him.

Oh my long neglected nethers, he is sex incarnate as he leans against the arch way, his arms and ankles crossed and a Cheshire cat worthy smirk on his ivory face. My face burns as it occurs to me what song I was murdering when he caught me acting like an imbecile.

"There's no need to stop on my account," he waves a hand, indicating for me to continue, "You are still so beautiful when you dance with such abandon. I missed seeing you get so lost in music that you forget everything, including someone knocking on your door."

"I'm so sorry Edward," I gush as I put the mop back in the bucket and slide it against the wall, "I'm, uh, going to turn the music down."

I push passed him and into the living room to grab the remote and lower the volume. "I didn't realize that I'd been busy for so long."

"You weren't actually," he admits, uncrossing his limbs and sauntering over to me, "I told you a little white lie when I sent you that text message. I was already halfway here, but I didn't want to seem to eager to see you. Can you forgive me?"

His penetrating ocher orbs lock with mine and my brain instantly turns to mush. "Um..okay," I finally manage to say and spots begin to form as his plump lips twitch upwards into that perfectly crooked grin again.

Edward's face draws ever closer and my heart irrationally leaps at the thought of his lips on mine. "Bella," he whispers when our lips are less than an inch apart and his cool breath washes across my face, nearly shocking me deeper into stupidity. Then everything goes black.

Edward Cullen

I'm so close that I can taste her scent, kicking my venom glands into overdrive. The luscious bouquet of her blood is nothing I have ever smelled before. Every scrap of my willpower is strained to the limit as I fight the urge to have my way with her body and her blood.

Suddenly her face pales, then her eyes roll back in her head and she drops. I swiftly catch her and ease her to the hardwood floor. "Bella? Bella, can you hear me?" I ask, alarm ringing in my voice.

Three agonizing seconds later, her lavender eyelids flutter open and she peers up at me from under her thick lashes. "Oh crap," she groans and buries her face in my chest, her heat feeling amazing against my cold flesh, "I fainted, didn't I? I haven't done that since....high school."

I wind my arms around her and give her an extremely gentle squeeze, "It's nice to know that I still have that effect on you. What did you used to call it? Oh yes, 'dazzling'. You used to say that I dazzled you."

"Doesn't seem like much has changed," I can hear her mutter under her breath. I obviously was not meant to hear it, but I cannot pry the satisfied grin from my face.

"Let's get you to the couch and I'll gt you something to drink," I tell her as I slide an arm under her legs and back and lift her, bridal style, to me. I hold my breath, just in case, while toting her into the living room.

"Put me down!" Bella nearly shrieks, her eyes wild, "I'm too fat to be carried around like this Edward!"

"Nonsense," I counter, using some of my precious air supply, "You're a lot lighter than you give yourself credit for Bella. Besides, you shouldn't be walking just yet."

She glares up at me, "Edward, I weigh a ton, you don't have to be nice just to spare my feelings. I'm nothing like the twig you used to throw on to your back when I'd hurt myself hiking."

I gingerly lower her to the couch and kneel down so that our faces are level, "Bella, stop it. I don't care whether you are one hundred or five hundred pounds, I will always be willing to carry you wherever you need to go. Please don't insult yourself any more, it hurts to hear it."

I stand and stroll into the kitchen, able to breathe safely once again, "What would you like to drink?" I open the refrigerator, "You have iced tea, Gatorade, and juice, what shall it be?"

"Um, iced tea is fine," Bella answers, "Thank you."

I get a clean glass from the cupboard, fill it, and bring it in to her. I'm glad to see that her color is coming back so quickly. She takes the glass and sips it as we sit in silence for a while. Again I find myself growing frustrated at not being able to hear what's going on in that beautiful mind of hers.

"What are you thinking?" I softly inquire after she breathes out her fourth sigh.

"What made you decide to become a vegetarian? Isn't that what you call it?" she asks and I feel myself freeze, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did, but most of your kind find that way of life beneath them."

"I didn't want to be a monster," I retort in a flat voice, "And neither did my family. I discovered it while trying to find an alternative to human blood for my niece and nephew. It doesn't taste as good, but it sustains us well enough."

She lifts her right hand and slowly brings it back down on my own hand. "You're niece and nephew are vampires too? How did that happen?"

I run my free hand through my hair, "It's complicated, but I'll give you the abridged version. Evidently male vampires can breed with female humans and one particularly nasty one chose Rosalie and Alice as incubators for his offspring. The mothers usually don't survive the birthing and if Jasper and Emmett hadn't have found them and turned them, they would have died." I go on to explain that Ben and Tia have heartbeats, sleep, can go out in the sun without alerting humans to their natures, and can live on blood and human food, but blood is preferable.

I also tell her about the rest of the family and the unique abilities some of them have. I admit that Carlisle, Esme, and I are, in vampiric terms, slightly younger that my sisters and their children, having only been living this way for a decade. We had been turned the by others when I was just barely twenty five, after contracting a jungle disease that killed 99% of it's victims. We had been searching for Alice and Rosalie for two years when it happened.

I lose track of how long we talk, but am grateful as I slowly become desensitized to her scent. I make a mental note to hunt before visiting in the future, to prevent any mistakes on my part that could endanger Bella or her children.

"Damn, that's wild," Bella, now sitting with her back against my chest and her legs stretched out over the rest of the couch, confesses in an awed tone, "And I thought living with werewolves on a daily basis was crazy."

"Oh, I think each way of life brings it's own unique brand of insanity," I laugh and lay my cheek against the top of her head, "We just have to find a way to work around it."

"I think we can do that," she qualifies, holding up our now joined hands and gazing at them like she used to do when we were younger. I'm not sure when we began holding hands, but I'm too thrilled to dwell on it. "But it's going to take time for everyone to get used to the idea of not killing each other on sight."

"Time is one of the things I have plenty of, my Bella," I assure her, then on an impulse, kiss her chestnut waves.

"That makes one of us," she growls nearly silently then clears her throat and says in a louder voice, "I'm a thirty five year old single mom who happens to have an ass the size of a small continent Edward. My ex husband stills looks like he's eighteen, his imprint looks the same age and my son and daughter a growing up faster than I can even bear to think about. My hourglass is emptying pretty damn quickly."

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Bella," I quickly retort, hoping my sincerity reaches her ears, "I just meant that taking things slowly with the pack is probably best. I had no intention of making you feeling old, sweet girl."

She turns to face me, her free hand falling on to my chest, "I'm sorry, it's just that my age has been a sore spot for a very long time. You tend to develop a complex when your husband and his brothers look the same age that they did fifteen years ago while you start noticing the crows feet and frown lines beginning to etch themselves into your skin."

I glide my fingers over her smooth face and kiss her forehead, "You will always be beautiful to me Isabella. There isn't a damn thing on this earth that could convince me otherwise."

"Can vampires get brain damage? Because I think there is something seriously wrong with your brain," she jokes, pushing herself off of me and getting to her feet.

"Har-har," I scoff and allow her to pull me up alongside her, "Are you wearing that to dinner?"

"I'm not hun-" she begins to argue but her stomach chooses that moment to make itself known, contradicting her words.

"Get your shoes on and we can go," I tell her before pressing a kiss to her temple and nudging her towards the entryway closet where I know the shoes are still kept.

She obliges me and after tugging a hooded sweatshirt on that is two sizes too big, she turns to me, her gaze thoughtful, "You make it look so easy, you know that?"

"What do I make look easy?" I ask, confused, as we walk to my car.

"You haven't tried to eat me once," she mutters while I open the passenger side door and motion for her to get in.

I wait until I get in as well to answer. "Do I now?" I take her hand and ghost my nose along her exposed wrist and feel the flames in my throat intensify a thousandfold.

"Y-yes," Bella stammers, her eyes locked onto where our skin meets, "Care to tell me how you're doing it?"

I allow myself once last whiff of her tantalizing scent before resting her hand in her lap and pulling on to the road, "It's not easy, by any means, I just keep how much you mean to me firmly in the forefront of my mind. Mind over matter."

"I trust that you won't hurt me," she admits as the small town fades behind us. I feel her soft touch on my hand again and cannot resist holding it in my own.

"You shouldn't," I warn her honestly, "If I miscalculate even a little, you could end up dead."

"Then why force yourself into a confined space with me?" she argues, not looking at me.

"Because I don't have the strength to stay away," I admit, only partially ashamed at the confession.

"I'm glad," she whispers before using her free hand to turn on the radio.

Port Angeles is next chapter, don't worry lol. Give the author some love now by pressing that little button and leaving a review!