"You've already made more friends than you had in Phoenix," Renee said happily.

"Yes," I said softly.

"Sure," she said.
I smiled. "Thanks."

That's what happened when I asked.
It could've been worse.

Alice opened the front door to her beautiful house.

I just stared.

I thought the outside of the house was beautiful. Damn. The inside was perfect.

"This is beautiful," I whispered.

Alice laughed. "You said that outside."
"That was too," I said quickly. "It all is."

She smiled. "Tell Esme. Which reminds me."
A young woman, maybe mid twenties, walked in.

"Hello," the woman said. "I'm Esme. You must be Bella."
I smiled. "Hi. You have a really beautiful house."
She smiled a warm and friendly smile. "Thank you dear. You're welcome anytime."

Alice took my crutches. "I'll be right back."
"She needs those," Carlisle said as he walked in. He grinned at Alice, so I guessed he was teasing.
"I'm getting her the walking part for her cast," Alice said innocently.

Carlisle smiled. "Nice to see you again Bella."
I smiled. "You too."
"How is your ankle?" he asked curiously.

"It's already feeling better," I said honestly.

He nodded. "That's always good."
I nodded and bit my lip.

Shy Bella! You're too damn shy!

Alice ran downstairs. "Hold up your leg."
I did what she said, and she attached the attachment on the bottom that enabled me to walk.

"There you go," she said happily. "You're all set."
Esme grabbed her keys. "Sorry to rush off, but I've got to go to the grocery store."
"I'll come along," Carlisle offered.

"Ooh!" Alice squealed. "There was something I needed. I can't remember now what it was."
"Can we come too?" Rosalie asked, gesturing to Emmett and Jasper.

"What about Bella?" Esme asked gently.

"She needs to rest her leg," Alice said quickly. "Bella, do you mind? Edward will be here."
I just blinked. "I, uh, I don't mind."
Edward walked downstairs and stared blankly at them.

Alice smiled innocently. "Well, bye! Be back later." She rushed everyone out of the house and shut the door.

"She hates me," Edward muttered.

"Hey!" I protested. "Are you saying being alone with me is a bad thing?"
He grinned. "Yeah."
"That's mean," I said softly.

"That's me," he informed me.

It got silent.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked curiously. "What Alice doesn't know won't hurt her."
I smiled. "Sure."

He grinned and we walked out to the woods beside his house.

There was a look on his face that seemed like he wanted to do something. Like he was being held back.

We walked to a clearing, and my ankle was throbbing.

He looked at me. "Would you like to sit down for a while?"
I smiled. "That'd be nice."
He grinned and softly sat on the grass. He patted the ground beside him, and I laughed. I sat down beside him, and we were silent.

Should I say it now? I have to know.

I couldn't go on like this.

I opened my mouth but shut it back.
"Were you going to say something?" Edward asked gently.
"I changed my mind," I said quickly.

"What?" he insisted. "It'll bother me until I figure out."
I took a deep breath.

Now he knows how I feel.

"Edward," I said softly. "You can't do this to me."
"What?" he asked.

"The other day," I said quickly. "You just magically appeared in front of me. You made a handprint in the car, and don't you dare tell me I'm imagining, because Bradley came up to me today and was talking about how he can't figure out where the big dent came from."

He looked down. "What do you want me to say?"
"You're impossibly fast, and strong," I started. "You gotta give me some answers."

"I'd rather hear your theories," he said blankly.

"Well," I said slowly. "I've considered kryptonite, and radioactive spiders."
He laughed. "It's all superhero stuff, right?" I nodded.
His face was suddenly a hair away from mine. "What if I'm not the hero?" he breathed, his mouthwatering breath making me have to swallow. "What if I'm the bad guy?"

He pulled away quickly and stared at me.

"Well," I said before shrugging. "All I know is you're not the only one."
"What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"Whatever it is about you, it's about everyone else too," I said simply.

"Don't bring them into this," he said quickly.

"But they're as much in this as you are," I said quietly. "Edward, there's something about yall. I can't figure out what it is. And, even when I do, I doubt I'll tell you. I know I won't tell anyone else. But I'm going to figure it out."
He smiled. "You do that," he said softly. "But tell me when you get your next theory. I like hearing these. They're funny."
"How are they funny?" I demanded.

"Kryptonite?" he asked while laughing. "There's no way I'm Superman."
"You could be," I mumbled. "How am I supposed to know?"

He smiled. "You're never going to figure it out."

I let out a deep breath. "That's what I was afraid of."
He looked behind us. "We should get going. They'll be back soon."
"Okay," I agreed.
We stood up, and I brushed off my blue jeans.

He smiled at me, and we walked back towards the house.

"Hey guys!" Alice called as she walked in.

Edward just looked at me, and I laughed.

We were trying to make them think they missed some sort of joke. They really didn't.

Edward laughed. "I know."
"That was the funniest joke I believe I've ever heard," I said, trying to breathe.

I really had been laughing.

Edward grinned and stood up. "Oh. Hey guys."
I stood up from the couch and waved.
"Did you two have fun?" Alice asked slowly.
I looked at Edward, and he looked at me. We both grinned.

"Yep," I said happily.
"A blast," Edward said with a smile.
"You missed all the fun," I said honestly.

Truth was, the short time we had been inside, we started trying to get to know each other, and it turned into who knows the best jokes, who can make the other laugh more, and who can go the longest without talking. I lost. I talked after like five seconds.

Oh, and we had a staring contest.

He won.

Edward smiled innocently at them.
"I don't want to know," Emmett teased as he walked in.

My cheeks started burning. Was he talking about what I think he was?
Edward looked down at me. "Ignore him. He always does that."

"Okay," I agreed.
"What have you two been up to?" Alice asked curiously.

"Nothing," I said innocently.

Edward smiled, flashing his white teeth. God he was perfect.

Alice gaped at us. "You're not going to tell me?" We shook our heads. "That's mean!"
"You just left us," Edward reminded her. "But, thanks for that. Now, I see, Bella's really cool."
I smiled. "You are too. When you're not being all mean and hating me for no reason."
"I had a reason," he said with a grin. "It just goes back to the thing you're trying to figure out."
"Ugh," I groaned. "That just confuses me even more!"

He grinned. "Exactly."
I crossed my arms. "That's mean."
"You didn't," Alice said, glaring at Edward.

"No!" he exclaimed. "That's what she's trying to figure out."
I thought.

Not hero. Bad guy.

"You're the Joker!" I exclaimed.
Edward looked at me. "Do I look like the Joker?"
"Yeah," I said teasingly.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "That's mean."
I grinned. "That's me."

He laughed.

No one else got what was funny.
"Does anyone else see the chemistry here?" Emmett asked curiously.
Alice grinned. "I do. I think Bella and Edward should get married!"
My cheeks turned bright red and Edward just stared wide-eyed at her.

I couldn't breathe or slow my heart down. What?
Edward took a slow deep breath but stayed silent.

"Oh come on," Alice said. "Can't you see I'm trying to get you to tell me?" She grinned at us. "Why are you all nervous?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "For someone so small, you can be the most annoying person on the face of the planet."
She smiled sweetly. "I know."