Day: Friday, October 30

Time: 3:35

TTTTRRRIIILLLLLLLL! "Get up!" Mark's voice yelled, but I can barely hear it over the ringing from his whistle. "Be downstairs dressed and ready to train in ten minutes!" He stomped out of the room, but I can't move. Everything in me feels sore and my head is pounding. I only got two hours of sleep.

I quickly did a systems check before I decided to get up. The bruises that covered my body hurt but it wasn't something that I couldn't handle. There was a bump on my head so I didn't have a concussion. Then I couldn't move my wrist and my ribs hurt. I sprained my wrist and two of my ribs. I got up and walked to the bathroom. I went under the sink and found the gauze bandages. I wrapped it around my wrist and my stomach and chest. There was a sharp pain where I wrapped the bandage but I ignored it. I found some pants and a tank top and went downstairs.

"You're a minute late!" Mark said as I came down. He was holding a stop watch, and his whistle hung around his neck. "Let's go! Now move! I want to see those legs up. Run! Run! Run!" Mark shouted out at me. I reluctantly start jogging. My body still sore from last night. Or this morning. I could feel the bruise-like bags under my eyes. I want to quit but he keeps pushing me.

"Come on! Faster! Faster! Faster!" With each word, each syllable, each sound my headache worsens and I feel my body becoming weaker. I start to think of random things. Things like sunsets at the beach. Waterfalls sliding down rocks. A full moon on Halloween. A blazing fire on a house. And, finally, a lifeless woman laying on her bed half naked with blood trickling down her neck. I think I might have stopped because Mark blew his whistle in my ear.

"Let's go! Get a move on! We've only been out here for twenty minutes!" Only twenty minutes? It has to be more than that! I feel as though I'm going to pass out right now. Mark hit my back with a stick. It hurts and I go faster. "Hustle! Hustle!" His voice is seeping through my skull. Implanting itself into my brain. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it now. My head continues to pound.

"That's it, let's get back home!" I must have run ten miles. Mark was in his truck. I stop running and walk over to open the door. "What do you think you're doing? I want to see those legs up. You're back straight. And trees flying by." I just look at him. I don't say anything. "Come on! This isn't a break! Let's go!" I start to jog back.

The sweat was pouring down my face when I finally reached the house. I stopped once and Mark screamed in my ear, blew the whistle, and then hit me hard with a stick. I kept running after that. I headed for the kitchen to get some water.

"What do you think you're doing? Go down to the basement. This isn't over." I look at the clock. It's 4:46. This is going to be a long day. Somehow I brought my body down to the basement and was facing the only bag left without HIS face on it. I start kicking. But I barely make the bag move. I barely kick above my waist.

I feel so out of it. I lean against the bag for a minute and close my eyes. I can see a little girl on a swing. Her mom's pushing her. The little girl wants to go higher, she wants to touch the sky and feel the clouds. She's almost there. One final push and she can taste the warm, citrusy sun on her lips. But her mom stops pushing her. Her mom is gone and the little girl doesn't know where she is or where to find her. The little girl gives up and goes home with a man. That man takes care of her until she can take care of herself. Then the man disappears too. Leaving the girl all alone. All by herself.

TTTTRRRIIILLLLLLLL! The whistle rings in my head again. Then Mark's voice blares through my eardrum. "This isn't sleepy time! Wake up Isabella! I want those kicks high! And I want that bag to swing! And I want you to kick over here!" He points to a bag that has HIS face on it. "I want you over here now! I want you to stop mopping around! And I want..."

"I want you to shut up." I wanted it to come out strong and powerful. I wanted him to back away and be frightened. I didn't get what I wanted. My voice came out a little above a whisper.

"What did you say?" He asked deadly quiet. Scary serious. Painfully calm. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He was yelling again. No surprise! He grabbed me and threw me on the floor like a rag doll. I was expecting this and had mentally prepared myself for it. But I couldn't fight back. My muscles just weren't responding. He reached down and shook me. "ANSWER ME!"

I looked straight at him, squared my jaw, and tried to put all of what's left of my power in my voice. "I said 'I want you to SHUT UP!'" I somehow made him let go of me and ran out of the room. By a miracle I made it out of the house. And by pure chance I made it out to my car.

I drove off. Not completely sure of where I was going. I was just drove. Then I made it to a hidden road surrounded by trees and green brush. I continued to drive until I got to the end of the road and came upon a huge mansion. Like the one in my dream. The one with Edward. Shock took over my body as I realized that this really was Edward's house. Though I've never been here before. I instantly knew that he lived here.

I got out of my car and slowly walked up to the front door. I bet they could sense I was here. But I rang the doorbell anyway. I didn't have the strength to knock. Then suddenly, he was standing there looking down at me. My head began to swim. And the earth began to shake.

"Edward! She's going to faint!" Someone in the background yelled, but I couldn't make out whom. I just tried to look up at Edward.

I started to lean forward. When I felt that I was safe in his arms I spoke. "Don't be mad." Which meant 'Don't do anything stupid or irrational that I will kill you for when I wake up'? Then I passed out.

There was black, quiet nothingness. I was swimming in a dark peace. I don't know how long I was there but I didn't want to leave. Slowly I could start feeling my muscles. I was becoming aware of my surroundings. I could hear voices and things breaking.

"Who the hell could do something like that to her?" Edward's voice seemed to reverberate throughout the house. Then I heard wood splintering.

"Edward, son, you need to calm down. Bella's fine. There was no permanent damage done to her physically." Carlisle's calm voice was soothing compared to Edward's.

"No! But it could have left permanent damage mentally!" Glass Shattered. "What sick bastard could get pleasure out of doing something like this?"

"It's going to be alright. She's going to be fine." Alice's light voice was soft and comforting.

"How could you know? You can't properly have a vision about her." Edward sat down next to me on whatever it was that I was lying on. He was taking his anger out on his family.

He shouldn't do that. It's not right. They didn't do anything. My thoughts were slurred.

"But I still get feelings. And they have been getting stronger." Alice was trying desperately to make her brother understand that I was going to be ok.

"But you still can't have a definite vision of her." His voice was muffled.

I slowly opened my eyes. His head was in his hands. I reached up to pull his hand away from his face. "Don't be angry with your family." My voice sounded weak. I smiled a little. He pulled me up and held me.

"Bella! Are you ok? Who did this to you?" His voice was filled with worry.

"Ya. I'm fine. Thanks for letting me stay here. What time is it?" I said looking around for a clock.

"Of course we would let you stay here. You passed out. We wouldn't just leave you somewhere." Esme said motherly. I gave her a warm smile.

"It's 9:10." Jasper whispered from the doorway.

The whole family must be in here. I looked around. And sure enough everyone was in the room. Carlisle and Esme were standing by a window. Jasper was standing by the door. Alice was standing by Edward who's sitting on the bed with me. And Emmett and Rosalie were standing by the closet. This must be a guest bedroom. I mean if anyone ever wanted to stay the night with a family of vampires. Just saying.

Edward pulled my face up to look at him. "Can you tell me who did this to you?" His voice was calm but his eyes were filled with rage.

Without turning from him I spoke to the whole family. "Can you give us a moment alone, please?" They left without a word. "I really don't want to talk about it." I pulled myself away from him, stood up and moved to look out the window.

"Please, Bella. They shouldn't get away with what they did to you." He wrapped his arms around my waist, and rested his head on my shoulder.

"But I don't want you to kill him. It's not that big of a deal. You don't need to protect me. I'm a big girl and can take care of myself." I turned around in his arms and wrapped mine around his neck. "He doesn't need to die because of this." I gently kissed him.

"But I still want to know who did this to you. I promise I won't hurt him." He leaned down to kiss me again. "Much."

"It doesn't matter anyway. Sunday you won't be here anymore." He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "And I'll be with you. So we won't need to even think about who did this to me." He smiled and kissed me again. "I really like this. Kissing you. Being with you."

"It's about time." He joked kissing down my neck. He held my broken wrist gently, unwrapped the bandages, and placed his hand over it, cooling it. It felt good.

"Can you do that with my ribs?" I asked jokingly.

"Sure." He smiled, lifted me up and placed my down on the bed. He started to lift my shirt up. His fingers leaving a frozen trail of fire behind. I stopped breathing. He placed kisses down my neck and onto my shoulder. "Are you feeling better?"

"Hhmm?" I managed to get out. He chuckled softly. His fingers are still slowly trailing up against my stomach and toward my bandages.

"I love you Bella." He murmured against my lips. When he kissed me I exploded and kissed him back. My arms wrapped around his neck, bringing him closer to me. My legs wrapped themselves around his waist. My body took on a life of its own. I was no longer in control of it. I licked my longue against his lips. I could feel him tremble above me.

Then I felt nothing at all. I looked up to see Edward was across the room. He was standing there breathing hard. His muscles flexed, his eyes angry.

"Sorry." I looked down at my hands. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's ok. You just took me by surprise." He was still breathing heavy and so was I. "I didn't know that I had that much self control." He whispered this to himself. He walked calmly back over to me. He sat down next to me and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. "We shouldn't do that again for awhile. I might not be able to control myself. Next time I might hurt you. And I don't want to hurt you. Ever." He held my face between his hands.

"It's ok. I understand." I kissed him softly. "I lost control of myself too."

A thought then occurred to me. I smiled up at him.

"What?" He asked absentmindedly.

The smile remained on my face. "Nothing. I was just thinking."

"Oh? What were you thinking about?" He asked playing with my hair.

"Well. When I kissed you, I made you tremble." I teased.

"So?" He pouted.

"It's just nice to know that I have the same effect on you that you have on me." I smiled up at him, brighter than before.

"And what effect would that be?" He said pulling me into his arms.

"The one where you seem so absolutely perfect that you make my chest implode whenever I'm with you." I kissed him. He laughed.

"Ok." He leans down closer a rests his head next to mine on the pillow. "So what do you want to do today?" He said, kissing my head.

"Can't we just stay here like this all day?" I sighed leaning into his shoulder..

"No! You two lovebirds have to leave. I can't have you around the house!" Alice said stomping into the room. We sat upright so fast the room spun for a minute.

"Why?" I asked confused.

"It's a surprise." She said coyly.

"I don't think that's a good idea Alice." Edward said shaking his head.

"What's not a good idea?" I asked looking between them . I hate it when they have a private conversation.

"Just bring her home by five!" Alice stomped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ok, fine." He held up his arms in surrender. "I still don't think that it's a good idea." He said picking me up and carrying me to his car.

"Can you please tell me what Alice is going to do?" I asked.

"Nope." I pouted. He laughed at my expression. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Can we go to IHOP? I'm starving." I said just as my stomach grumbled.

"Sure." He reached over and took hold of my hand. The five minute drive there was silent but

nice. I rested my head against his shoulder. I liked being close to him. It felt right. Comfortable.

We pulled into the parking lot and again he helped me out of his car.

"Not that I don't like being spoiled, because I do, but I can walk on my own two feet thank you very much." I said right before I fell. He caught me in his arms. He was trying not to laugh.

"You were saying." He helped me onto my feet then placed a protective arm around my waist to make sure that I would hurt myself.

"I guess I wasn't saying anything." I leaned against him.

He, somehow, got us seats right away. The waitress brought us some menus, gave Edward a dirty, flirtatious smile, then left. I gawked after her.

"What is it, love?" He said reaching over the table to take my hand. My heart flew when he called me 'love'.

"It's just that whenever I'm around you I seem to become invisible, and other girls try to go after you. It's like I'm not sitting right here."

"Last time I checked my heart was in your possession, and I never want you to give it back." He kissed my hand. "Plus, you are insanely clear to me." I blushed a deep red. He rubbed his hand against my cheek, following my blush. "I love it when you blush. It's so beautiful."

"So did you decide what to order?" A rude, snotty, annoying voice asked.

I looked down at my menu. "Um? I'll have these strawberry pancakes, with a side of hash browns and a glass of hot chocolate." I looked up at her and held Edward's hand, only slightly rubbing in the fact that I was his.

"And is there anything that I can get you?" She asked Edward with the flip of her hair and sexy smile. Puh-lease.

"I'll have a glass of milk for right now thank you." He said very politely. He started to trace patterns on the top of my hand, again demonstrating that I was his.

"Will if there is anything else I can get you, just ask. Ok?" She said twirling a piece of her hair.

"Thank you, but I have everything I need right here." He said while looking into my eyes. I smiled, blushed then turned away and looked out the window.

I froze as I saw a big, russet colored image through the window. Edward felt me tense and looked to see what I was looking at. I turned to face him. I could almost see his thoughts threw his eyes. He thought it was Jacob that did this to me. Crap!

"Edward calm down. It's not what you think. It's not him. He did nothing." But I might as well have been talking to a stone. Well, one that can't hear and isn't insanely gorgeous. He just got up and walked out of IHOP. Marching straight for Jacob. "Shit!" I ran after him.

"You ass whole!" Edward yelled. He was furious.

"What the hell are you talking about, leech?" Jake yelled equally furious.

"I know you're dumb, but this is just pathetic!" Edward's fists were clenching and unclenching.

"Say that one more time and see what happens!" Jake's figure was shaking. Damn! He can't change here, people are watching!

I run up to Jake to calm him down and place a hand on his chest. "He doesn't know what you're talking about, Edward! Just read his mind and you'll find the truth!" I yell over my shoulder.

"Calm down Jake." I said calmly. His figure stopped vibrating. He pulled me in for a hug. Then he leaned down kissing me. I slapped him so hard there was a cracking sound. "What the hell are you doing here, Jake?" I yelled at him as I hold my throbbing hand. I walked back over to Edward to try to calm him down.

"I just wanted to check up on you. You seem in one piece." Jake said, laughing off my slap.

"Look closer and you won't find that she's in one piece." Edward growled at him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and took a semi-protective stance in front of me. I placed my arm on his chest. He relaxed a little.

"What are you talking about? She seems fine to me..." He dropped his sentence seeing that I had light bruises on my face and my wrist was in a makeshift cast. "What the hell happened!" Jake yelled. "She never looked like that when she was with me!"

"She is standing right here thank you very much!" I yell in between them. "And she doesn't want to talk about it!"

"What happened?" Jake growled.

"Who did this to you?" They said at the same time.

"Obviously someone beat me." I said sarcastically to Jake. "I mean really what does it look like happened? I fell down stairs? And how the hell did you know that I was going to be here of all places?" I continued to yell, ignoring the second question.

"You weren't at school and you weren't at home," I cringed when he called that place my home. I think Edward might have felt it and Jake probably saw it. "So I figured you would be here ordering strawberry pancakes with hash browns and hot chocolate, since it's before noon." Jake was eyeing me carefully.

"Well, I still don't know why you're here." I stated very matter-of-factly.

"I told you that I wanted to check up on you." He said taking a step closer towards me.

"Ya? Well there's this really nifty thing called a phone. You could have used it." I said getting frustrated.

"Well I also, might have wanted to talk to you about something, too?" He kicked a rock that was resting harmlessly by his foot.

"Well you're not leaving till I hear it. So out with it." I said annoyed.

"I need to tell you privately." He said under his voice, glaring at Edward.

"Well? Since you asked so nicely..." My voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"Please Bella?" He begged.

"Fine!" I unhooked myself from Edward's grip and leaned up and kissed him. Slightly to get on Jake's nerves. "I'll be right back. If he does anything I don't want him to do, I'll scream or something and you can break his nose." He laughed and leaned down to kiss me deeper. Pissing Jake off even more.

"I'll break something...." He trailed off.

"Can we go now?" Jake whined

"So pushy." I joked. "Ya, ya. I'm coming." When we were a far enough distance away from Edward that he could barely hear us (only if he listened closely) but not too far away where he can't see us, Jake stopped walking an turned to face me.

"Do you remember that project we had a couple months back? Where we were trying to track down all the vampires and vampire slayers?" Jake asked really seriously.

"Ya?" I was hesitant. I told Jake to do this to see who was on our side and if there were anymore of the coven that killed my mother and destroyed my family.

"I started searching again, and well...?" Now he was hesitant.

"Well what? What did you find?" I asked, flushed. Did he find more of my mother's killers?

"It's more like what I didn't find? Mark wasn't in any of the files."

"Well that's not a surprise he hasn't been an active for like twenty-five years." Was that all the information he had? Was that really what he wanted to talk about? Or was this a ploy to get back together with me? "Look Jake, I really appreciate all the work you've done on this for me, but that's not news. When we started this project I told him what we were doing and he said something like this might come up." I was careful not to mention his name aloud, for fear that I would give away what happened last night.

"Bella, you don't understand. Mark wasn't in any of the files. I went through all of them. Tracing back the last fifteen decades. I was trying to see how far back you're mother's killer's ties went. They stopped around the 1900's. But I found no one with the name or description of Mark Swan. In fact no one with the last name Swan was ever a slayer or werewolf."

"So according to the files Mark doesn't exist?" This time I shivered when I said his name. And this time Jake noticed my reluctance to say it.

"It was Mark that beat you?! That bastard!" I could see his neck vein popping.

"Don't tell Edward. I'm afraid Edward will kill Mark. And I'm not sure that it's what I want." I looked down at my feet, trying not to show how much this hurt me. How much HE hurt me.

"But the ass whole beat you and has been lying to you throughout your whole life. How can you not want him dead?" Jake was furious about the whole situation.

"I don't know. I just don't alright!" I was on the edge of a break down when realization hit. "What do you mean 'lying to me my whole life'?"

"Bella there's more about Mark. I did some extra digging and I found that..." Jake started to glare behind me, cutting him off.

"What?" I turned around and was enclosed in stone arms. I was pressed against Edward and his lips came down on mine. I was completely taken off guard. Before I could wrap my arms around him I realized that Jake was watching us. I pulled away, slapping him across the face. I didn't hurt him and he chuckled.

"What?" He asked innocently. I glared back at him.

"You know what!" I exclaimed, turning to face Jake. Jake was furious.

Edward wrapped his arms around my stomach, pulling me closer to him, and resting his head on my shoulder. I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm sorry Bella. You're right that was rude of me. But I couldn't stand to be away from you any longer." He whispered in my ear. A shiver passed through me. He blew in my ear. "I'm I forgiven?"

"Yes. Just stop it!" I wanted my voice to be stern but it came out as a whisper. I placed my hands over his. Then I focused my attention back onto Jake. "What were you saying about Mark?"

"Never mind. Just call me later. Ok? I'm worried about you." He said with concern in his eyes.

"Well don't be. She's safe as long as she's with me." Edward's voice was hard and cold. I hit him again. But it had no effect. "I won't let anything happen to her."

"You better not!" Jake was seething. I walked out of Edward's arms and toward Jake. He pulled me into a hug. "Don't trust Mark and stay close to your vampire." My heart sped up when he called Edward mine. "And call me later. Bye Bella. Bloo-Cullen." He said walking to his car.

"Jacob." Edward said coolly.

"Bye Jake." I watched as he walked away. Then turned to Edward. "Can I go eat me pancakes now?" I asked looking up at him as my stomach rumbled.

He laughed. "Yes. My little, hungry Bella." My heart soared as he called me his. He laughed, obviously hearing my traitors' heart. "I love what I do to your heart." He wrapped his arm around my waist heading toward the restaurant.

"You won't love it when I get a heart attack!" I pouted.

He leaned down and ran his nose against the side of my face. He blew into my ear again and kissed my temple. The whole time my heart was pounding against my chest begging for escape. He pushed me up against the side of the building and held my arms down at either side of me so I couldn't move. He leaned down and kissed me passionately. I wanted to kiss him back but his arms wouldn't let me.

"I'm not sure that you getting a heart attack is even possible." He smiled against my lips.

"If you keep going we'll find out." I was breathless. A frown came over his face. He pulled away.

"You're probably right." He looked up at the sky.

"I never said that it was a bad thing." I pulled him in for another kiss. He pulled away after twenty seconds.

He laughed again. "I promised I wouldn't hurt you. If I gave you a heart attack I would be breaking that promise."

"What if I told you being away from you hurt me?" I said pulling him close to me and kissing him. It wasn't as deep as before, but it was still nice. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me closely to him.

"Then I would have to fix that." He leaned in to kiss me again. "I love you." He murmured into my lips.

"This is nice." I leaned my head against his chest. My stomach grumbled again.

"But you're still hungry, so we should get inside." He wrapped his arm around me, heading back to our table.

We sat down just as the food arrived. But the chick didn't bring it. Some teenage boy did. He was about Edward's height with blond, curly hair, high cheekbones, deep blue eyes, and very muscular. He was one of those preppy guys that always gets what they want.

He winked at me then slid a piece of paper toward me face down. I rolled my eyes as he walked away. Edward's chest ripped a low menacing growl. I placed my hand over his and threw the piece of paper across the room. Not even bothering to look at what it said.

"Calm down." I cut up my pancakes and took a bit. "I don't like blonds, or humans for that matter." It was meant as a joke but he took it the wrong way.

"But you should be with humans. It's not right for you to be with me. You were meant to kill me and my family." His face was grim. I moved around the table so I was sitting next to him.

"But I want to be with you. I don't care about what I should or shouldn't do. As long as I'm with you I'm happy." I leaned against his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around me. "I don't have to hide anything from you. I would have to do that if I was with a human. Besides, I like it when you hold me, when you kiss me, when you touch me, talk to me, whisper in my ear, I love it when I'm around you. Not someone using me because they think their friends think that it would be cool if we went out. I like you for you and I like that you like me for me. That simple. End of discussion!" I closed my eyes for a second then returned to my pancakes. Edward just sat there holding me.

"Bella? About that thing Jake was talking about? The one where you can search vampires and vampire slayers, how is that possible? How does it work?"

I swallowed then answered. "It's kind of like Facebook or MySpace, I guess. I'm not sure how it works really. You learn when you turn twenty-one. It's this big graduation ceremony or something where you learn all the trick-of-the-trade. But Jake can get on. You first need to pass the slayers courses, then during the ceremony you create an account. Then you can log on anytime. What you do is search other slayers, novice slayers, vampires, and sometime werewolves.

"People create accounts for the vampires and novice slayers. They fill out all this information that other slayers could use to help track and, eventually, kill vampires. They list eating patterns, coven groups, appearances, known aliases, and locations they have been to or areas that they could currently be in. I, uh? I know this must be weird keeping tabs on the 'enemy' like this but

it's an easy way to communicate with other slayers." I looked up at him, hoping I didn't upset him too much

"Do you..do you know if my family is on there?" He was looking off into the distance, his face would seem blank if anyone came by, but I could tell he was worried about his family.

"I'm not totally sure. I can have Jake check it later if you want. But there's a good chance you guys are. I mean you've been around almost a century, and you're an abnormally large family."

"Is there any way to terminate a vampire's account?"

"Not that I know of. You can only mark if that vampire is dead or alive. But, even if I could do that people would get suspicious that a whole coven of vampires is no longer there. I mean, if your account doesn't say if someone is tracking you. I can check on it when I get home."

"How many people usually track a family?"

"Normally one or two but depending on the size and how dangerous that coven is, it could be a whole team. But because your family doesn't feed on humans and even though you have a big family, there are probably three at the most. And they can't be very skilled if they haven't even found you yet."

"So we are safe?"

"For the time being. They might not have been able to track you because you move around a lot. And that's if anyone is even tracking in the first place. There's a pretty good chance that no one is searching for you."

"How can that be? Someone not tracking us?"

"Well, I should have heard someone say something about a coven of vampires that big and that seems to feed on animals." I thought for a moment. "But then again Mark doesn't always tell me everything. And as long as you're not harming humans and pose no immediate danger, they could have other covens to track and take down."

"Ok. But this website, you can trace slayers on there too?"

"Ya I guess. If you were interested in their accomplishments," I though and after a minute said, "or failures."

"So if a vampire found out how to log onto the site, they could track the slayers and use their weapon against them?" He asked innocently.

"Ya but they would have to find a slayer willing to... No! I'm not getting the code from Jake and helping you track slayers! That is so beyond out of the question!"

"I would only use it to see if there were slayers in the next town we wanted to live in. I wouldn't actually use it to harm them." He defended.

"I still won't do it." I stated stubbornly.

"That's fine." He wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into him. "Are you done?"

"Yup. What time is it?" We started walking to his car. His arm wrapped around my waist pulling me close into him.

"About 12:30." He opened the car door for me then quickly got in the driver's seat. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"I did, but your evil, pixy, sister ruined them." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well, I have an idea." He said cryptically.

"What?" I over up at him.

"You'll see." He leaned down and kissed my nose.

We drove in silence for about a half hour. But I didn't mind. I was happy just being near him. Alone with him. I was so comfortable that I didn't even realize that we were parked in the mall parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as Edward pulled me close to him and started walking towards JC Penny's.

"We are going on a date." He stated.

"Weren't we just on one?" I asked, confused.

"No that was breakfast, besides the wolf ruined it." He grimaced.

We walked out of the store and into the mall's core. When we got to the food court he stopped walking and turned to me. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Ok." When he was out of sight I went to buy water at Subway. The line was short so I didn't have to wait that long. When I got up to the counter a guy of about twenty was at the cash register. He was ogling at me.

"Welcome to Subway. How may I help you?" The guy, Nathan his name tag said, was trying to check me out but the counter was in his way.

"Um, I'll just have a bottle of water, please." I said politely.

"Is that all you want?" He asked obnoxiously.

"Yes it is. I have a boyfriend." I smiled warmly at him.

"Well, I don't think he has anything on me. I know how to treat a lady right. And I'm not too hard on the eyes, either, if I do say so myself." He flexed his muscles and flipped his long sandy blond hair.

"I'm very happy with my boyfriend right now." I was trying hard not to lose my control and yell at this kid. I paid for my water and was about to walk away.

"Go on a date with me, then decide who you like better, me or your boyfriend." He wrote his number on the back of my receipt.

"Look, I'm sure you're a great guy, but I really like my boyfriend and I wouldn't trade that for the world."

"Just one date?"

"Look kid. I'm getting really annoyed with you right now! And I'll tell you what you can do with yourself if you're bored at home..." I felt Edward's cold arm wrapping around my waist, and I instantly calmed down.

"Is there a problem here?" Edward asked smoothly, looking straight into Nathan's eyes.

Nathan flinched. "N-no problem."

"Bella paid?" Edward's voice was confused.

"Y-yes."

"You gave her what she paid for?" He was still calm.

"Y-yes."

"Then why is she still here, and not with me?" He asked with impatience and anger in his voice. When Nathan didn't answer him, he looked at me. "Bella?"

"He was trying to hit on me. Even after I told him I had a wonderful boyfriend that I cared for deeply. But he just wouldn't listen." I sighed and leaned against Edward.

"I think next time a woman says 'no' you should respect her wishes and leave her alone. Get it?" His voice was angry again. I was trying hard not to laugh at the expression on Nathan's face.

"Y-yes."

"Good. Come on Bella lets go."

"Ok." I took my water bottle and we left Nathan standing there in shock.

As we were walking out of the food court Edward shook his head. "What am I going to do with you, Bella?"

"I don't know since you won't tell me where we're going." I said stubbornly. He laughed softly. "I was being serious."

"So was I." He hesitated, wanting to say more, but stopped. "Here we are." He spread his arms wide. I looked around and realized we were by the ice rink in the middle of the mall. "I already got us skates and paid for our tickets."

"Cool." We got our skates on and headed toward the ice. "Um. Edward? I'm not very good at this." I gestured to the couples gliding across the ice.

"It's ok, Bella. I won't let you fall." He laughed placing his hands on my waist and setting me down on the ice. I instinctively threw both arms in front of me for balance. Edward laughed harder. "Don't you believe me? I won't let anything harm you."

"I believe you. This is just an extra precaution." My arms stayed in front of me. Edward gave my body a small push. "Ahhh!" I screamed out as the cold, slippery ice slid under my skates.

"Bella, its fine. You're just moving." He was trying to keep from laughing.

"Uh-huh." I managed to squeak out.

A small child of about seven gracefully flew by with one leg in the air, well above her head. When she saw Edward trying to keep me from falling and me panicking from soaring a whole two inches, she burst out laughing and glided away into a spinning death leap into the air.

"Show off." I mumbled under my breath.

"Ok how about we try this way." Edward turned in front of me and put his hands in mine. So he was gliding backwards in front of me and pulling me along with him. I nodded my head. "Just look at me and nowhere else. It's going to be fine." I nodded again. He started moving and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming. "You can fight and kill vampires but you're afraid to ice skate?" I nodded looking him in the eye. He laughed again.

"You laugh at me a lot. Well, not at me but what I do or don't do." I pointed out.

"I just find human tenancies, especially yours, very interesting. The way you will do one thing but not another fascinates me."

"You speak as if you weren't once human." I questioned

"That was a long time ago. I can barely remember what it means to be human." He said dully.

"You were still human." I pointed out.

"But I'm not now. Now I'm a monster." I slapped him across the face. "What was that for? Are you alright?" He looked shocked.

"You are NOT a monster Edward Cullen! You didn't choose this life. You can't help what you've become!" I yelled quietly.

"That doesn't mean I'm not what I am. That doesn't make me any less of a vampire." All the light behind his eyes was gone. He seemed to be an empty shell.

"True, but you and your family don't behave like others of your kind. You are more civilized."

"We still drink blood. We still kill to survive." He argued.

"Everyone kills to survive. And you eat less often than we do." I explained.

"Animal blood isn't like human blood. Even if I drink it for the rest of my existence, I will always crave for human blood. Your blood. I don't want to put you in danger, but I'm too selfish of a creature to stay away from you." He looked down at his boots.

I placed my hand under his face to make him look at me. "I don't want you to stay away from me. I want you right here beside me."

"How can you want to be with me? With a monster?" His eyes were pleading with himself to let him cry. But he couldn't, ever.

"I don't want to be with a monster, I want to be with you." He was going to protest but I interrupted him. "Yes, I believe there is a difference."

"That's funny because yesterday you said you couldn't love someone like me." He was getting frustrated now and his voice was rising.

"No. What I said was 'it's too dangerous for us to be around one another.' besides women are fickle and subject to change their minds."

"It's the same thing."

"Not to me it's not. I don't want to lose you. I just got you." My voice started to break. I sent a silent plead to drop the subject.

"I don't want to lose you either." He leaned down and hugged me. Before he pulled away he whisper in my ear, "But I still think of myself as a monster." Before I could respond he was skating away from me. Amazingly I kept my balance. "Catch me if you can!" He yelled over his shoulder.

"Are you kidding me?" I attempted to skate after him but I fell down on my butt. I glared after Edward's gliding figure.

"You going to sit there all day? Or are you going to come get me?" He stood in the middle of the rink waiting for me.

"I'm keeping my options open." I shot back at him. He laughed and twirled into a graceful sit spin. "Stupid, show-off vampire." I cursed under my breath.

I got up and skated slowly to the middle of the rink, so I was standing right next to him. I was about to tap his arm when he sped away to the far corner of the rink.

"Not fair!" I shouted across the ice. By now the people on the sidelines were watching us.

"Missed me, missed me. Now you've got to kiss me." He sang like a three year old, laughing.

"Having fun?" I continued to slowly skate towards him. When I got there he skated to the other side of the rink.

"Yes. Now hurry up slow poke. I want that kiss." All the guys on the sidelines were laughing along with Edward. I glared at them and continued to skate. I think I'm getting the hand of this.

"If I catch you I'll give you that kiss," And as I got closer I added in a whisper, "and you have to admit that you're not a monster."

"Deal." Then he skated across the rink. "But how are you planning on catching me?"

"You'll see." I whisper under my breath, a smile was plastered across my face. Edward's expression dropped.

I took long strokes, my body was moving faster and faster, and then I was right next to him. The girls on the side lines were cheering for me, their boyfriends were in shock.

"Damn." Edward skated faster away.

I was following rapidly behind him. He was just barely going at a human speed. The people around us were having trouble keeping track of us. We were both laughing. Every time I got close to him he would add vampire speed and zoom away. The other skaters were by the rail to keep from getting hurt. I think there was a skate guard trying to get us to stop, but we just kept chasing each other.

"How did you get so damn fast? You could barely stand without screaming twenty minutes ago." He exclaimed the third time I almost got him.

"I'm a fast learner." I laughed maniacally before tripping over my feet. I got up and we continued our game of cat-and-mouse.

After about an hour, I started to change my strategy. I skated in the opposite direction as him. Before he realized what I did, I was coming at him head on. He tried to change directions but I side-stepped him, doing this toe-touch thing. When he was a foot away from me, I jumped on top of him. The crowd around us, that grew steadily until the whole mall was watching us and had us on every TV there, drew in a sharp breath. The chase was over. I landed on top of him. He was flat on his back and I was sitting on him with my hands pinning him down. We were both breathing hard.

"So about that kiss?" Edward laughed up at me. His eyes seemed to be on fire, full of his happiness. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down to him. He was about to kiss me when I turned my head at the last second.

"AAWWWW!" The crowd yelled in protest. Edward looked at me in confusion.

"So about our deal?" I raised my eyebrows at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes.

"Bella?"

"Nope. You have to say you're not a monster or I won't kiss you." I teased him by leaning down so I was only an inch away from his lips.

"Fine. I'm not." He reached up, but so did I. "Bella?" He warned.

"You're not what?" I asked confused.

"A monster! I'm not a monster!" He yelled through his teeth.

"Why didn't you say so." I smiled and leaned down to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around me, bring me closer to him. He sat up on the ice. Then stood up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He didn't break our kiss until we were off the ice.

"WWHHOOOO!" The crowd cheered, whistled, and clapped as we made our way through them.

"You on the other hand are a monster." Edward joked and leaned down for another kiss. I blushed a deep red when we broke apart and the crowd cheered again. He sat me down and started to take off my skates.

"We're leaving?" I asked. "But I just started getting the hang of it."

"I don't think the officials liked us playing tag." He laughed just as one of the rink's guards approached us.

"I think you two have had your fun. Now it's time for you to go." The guy looked flushed, like chasing a vampire and a vampire slayer were too much for him to deal with. Which I probably was.

"I'm sorry. Were you the one that had to chase us? That must have been exhausting." I smiled kindly at him. "We'll be leaving as soon as we get our skates off, sir." The guard seemed to be shocked. But he was still checking me out. Trying to determine how close our relationship was.

"Was there something else you wanted? Sir?" Edward asked placing an arm around me showing I was his. As if that kiss we had wasn't proof enough. I rolled my eyes at him.

"See we're leaving right now. Come on, Edward." I carried our skates to the counter and pulled Edward behind me.

The blond girl behind the desk gave Edward her number and winked at him. Edward was still jealous from the way the guard was looking at me, so I had to pull him through the crowd of people who were cheering as we passed them. He didn't even give the blond a thought as he threw her number into a passing trash can. When we were out of sight of the rink I turned to Edward.

"You need to learn to control your jealousy. I'm yours and no one else's." I kissed him softly.

"I'm sorry. I just get so mad when some guy thinks about inappropriate things about you, when you're just trying to be nice. They disgust me." He fisted his hands.

"It's ok. Just think about me and block out their thoughts." I rubbed his arm soothingly. "I only want to be with you." I kissed him sweetly. "Besides that blond seemed to have a thing for you too, but you don't see me getting jealous."

"That's not the same. You can't hear her thoughts."

"Oh, I can hear her thoughts. They say, 'He is hot. I wonder if he would dump that nobody brunet and go out with me.' or something along that nature."

"You're not a 'nobody brunet'. You're a beautiful women whom I love and want to devote my whole existence to." He wrapped me up in his caring embrace. "I love you. You're somebody to me. Isn't that what counts. Not some bimbo blond who hasn't any self respect." He kissed the top of my head.

"I was trying to make you feel better and now you're making me feel better." I whipped away a fake tear and gave a little sniffle. "See you're not a monster. You're a caring and sensitive being. And I wouldn't give you up, ever." He was going to protest, but I interrupted him. "Now if only you could tell yourself those kinds of things whenever a guy looks at me, or thinks about me. Just say 'Bella, is with you. She cares about you and no one else. She will not leave you. She wants to spend every minute she can with you.' And all of that would be considered true because I do." I walked back to the car with him following me.

"You know it's not that simple. About anything." He protested as he opened the car door for me.

"Oh, yes it is! You're the one making everything more complicated. I want to be with you, you want to be with me. Nothing else matters." I huffed when he was in the seat beside me. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared through the window in front of me.

"You're right. I'm not a monster." He whispered with a smile on his face. I look over at him hesitantly. "I want to be with you. I love you, and nothing else in the world matters." He reached over and gave me a tight hug. "I'm an idiot for thinking otherwise."

I smiled when he kissed me. "I guess you should get me to Alice before she calls and yells at you for keeping me out to late." I looked at the clock. It claimed that it was 4:10. Edward started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. "What is she going to do to me anyway?"

"I think she said something about 'Bella Barbie'?" My eyes widened. "I'll drive slowly to delay the torture?" All I could was nod my head. He reached over and pulled me into him. I instantly relaxed and rested my head on his shoulder. The ride to his house was slow and silent, but comfortable.

When we pulled into the driveway, Alice leapt of the porch and ran in front of Edward's car. He stopped short, and Alice ran and pulled me out of my seat. "Bella! God, I thought you were going to be late!" She dragged me up to her room. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"What is?" I asked fearfully. She shoved me into the bathroom with a robe and towel.

"Clean up. Then I'll explain everything!" I was in a daze from all her excitement. "Hurry!" She slammed the door.

I took a fast-for-me, slow-for-her shower. Right as I wrapped the robe around me, Alice and Rosalie barged in and sat me down in front of the mirror.

"Ok. I'll do her hair, you do her make-up." Alice came at me with a blow drier and a curling iron. Rosalie came at me with mascara and eyeliner.

"What are you going to do to me?" I held up my hands to ward them off.

"Getting you ready. Duh." Rosalie stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Alice glared at her.

"What?" Rosalie shrugged. "You didn't tell her?"

"Not yet." Alice hissed.

"So what are you getting me ready for?" My hands were still up so they hadn't touched me yet.

"Alice is throwing a par...OW!" Rosalie yelled, as Alice elbowed her in the ribs.

"Shh." Alice hissed again. She lowered my hands, cautiously and started drying my hair. "You trust me right Bella?" She asked innocently.

"I guess?" I was hesitant of her.

"Then let me have my fun and I'll tell you when we're done." She smiled, moving onto curling my stubborn hair.

"Alice." I warned.

"What if I tell you that it involves Edward." Her face glowed knowing she won.

"Fine." I crossed my arms in defeat.

Rosalie and Alice giggled while they were attacking me. While Alice was curling my hair, Rosalie put on eye liner and mascara. I couldn't tell you how much, they wouldn't let me see myself until they were done. Stupid, excitable, perky vampire. Then Rosalie added blush and lip stick. When they were done I turned to look at myself in the mirror.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rosalie said turning me away from the mirror and carrying me to Alice's room.

"We're not done yet." Alice said closing the door. She went to her closet while Rosalie watched me to make sure I wouldn't escape. Alice came out holding some clothes. "Here Wear this." She threw the clothes at me and smiled.

I looked them over as I changed. There was a pair of black skinny jeans. A white long sleeved blouse with red lace patterns of flowers. The corset fit me tightly and looked like it came out of the dark ages. A red velvet cropped sweater that had white intricate designs along the hem. Finally there were black leather boots that went up to mid-thigh. And a belt that had a sword and gun scabbard with the sword and gun in them.

"Where did you get this costume? I look like the chick from Van Helsing!" They both looked guilty. "No! No, no, no, no, no! I can't believe it! You're not throwing me a costume birthday party! No!" I started to get undressed.

"Please Bella?" Alice begged.

"We've been working hard all day." Rosalie stated.

"It'll only be a few hours." Alice looked like she was going to cry.

"It won't kill you. Will it?" Rosalie demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"Do it for Edward!" They said at the same time.

"You've rehearsed this haven't you?" I glared at them. They smile in response. "Fine. I'll go down there, have a good time, play along, but the next time you do something like this," I gave them a stern expression, like a mother scolding her kids. "I'm going to walk out." They smiled and gave me a group hug. We all started laughing. "So what's everyone else going as?"

"Well, Edward's going as a vampire." Alice and Rosalie found this funny. "I'm going as Tinkerbell and Jasper's going as Peter Pan."

"I'm going as Naomi Watts and Emmett's going as King Kong. He's even going to get toy planes and attach them to his head like they're flying around him." Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"When does this thing start?" I asked, picking at an invisible thread on my ridiculous costume.

Alice looked at the clock. It said 5:57. "Shoot Rosalie we only have an hour and three minutes!" Alice pushed Rosalie and me out of her room. "Gotta change! See ya at seven." She shut her door and Rosalie ran to her room.

"What to do for an hour?" I whispered out loud.

I walked downstairs to the living room. I froze at the foot of the stairs. The room looked incredible. There was an old Victorian chandelier the ceiling. The furniture had a gothic black lace covering to it that sent a shiver down my spine. A large D.J. booth stood in the corner. A long table with black lace place-mats and ancient silver trays full of food led into the kitchen. The walls had black velvet tarps covering them. There were vines covering the windows so you could just barely make out the sunset. Old-fashion candle sick holders were scattered around the living room and leading into the kitchen. Which, from the looks of it, had the same eerie feel as the 'party room' and dance floor. The house really did look like vampires lived here.

I walked over to the mirror in the bathroom across from the kitchen. I looked at myself, and my breath hitched. The person reflected from the mirror wasn't me. This woman had wide beautiful brown eyes that were accented lightly with soft eyeliner. Her lips were full and had a red-purple color. And had perfectly pale skin with a soft pink blush. She really was the chick from Van Helsing.

"You look amazing, Bella." Edward breathed looking at me in the mirror from the door way.

"You look...interesting." I smiled.

"This is the 'costume' Alice laid out for me." He laughed.

He was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt with a black leather jacket. A metal belt wrapped around from his waist. His hands were trapped in black leather gloves. Crosses hung from his neck. He had on eyeliner to bring out his sleep-deprived eyes.

"I'm also supposed to wear these." He pulled out two white triangles from his jacket pocket. "But I would much rather not." He pulled me into his clod, comfortable embrace. "Oh. Alice wanted me to give you this." He showed me a delicate sliver chained cross necklace. I held my hair up for him to latch it around my neck.

"Thank you." I started playing with the chain. Thinking absently about nothing.

"We make quite the pair, don't we." He laughed looking at me.

"Hm?" I asked distractedly.

"You the vampire hunter and I the vampire. Alice has a wicked sense of humor." He shock his head, making his already messy hair, even messier.

"Edward? I've been thinking." I looked into his eyes. He sobered up at my strangely serious expression. Curious as to what I was getting at. "I want to show you something."

"Ok?" He was still confused. "What do you want to show me?"

"My favorite escape spot." I smiled just thinking of sharing it with him.

"Where is it?" He asked looking back at the stairs.

"You're going to need your car." I pulled him toward where I thought the garage was.

"What about your party?" He asked letting me drag him.

"I would rather show this to you." He still looked doubtful. "It's my birthday party. They won't mind us being a little late will they?"

"Ok. But the garage is this way." He pointed in the opposite direction. When I passed him to go the other way, he pulled me into his arms and picked me up. He carried me all the way down to his car. "Now where is this place?" He asked buckling my seatbelt for me.

"It's about a mile from my house." I said as he started the engine.

He was silent for a minute. "So what is so special about this place?" He asked.

"It's calm, peaceful, and beautiful. It's a good place to think or rest. And then there's the fact that I'm going to share it with you. So that'll make it even more magical." I think my eyes glazed over. "Oh. Take a left up here. Then drive about five minutes to the beginning of the trail."

He did as I said and when we reached that point he helped me out of the car. When I was safely on the ground-eye roll (men)-he started walking towards the trail.

"Nope. It's this way." I smile pointing to the small deer trail.

"Well in that case..." He reached out for me again and placed me on his back like a backpack. "Direct me." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Just go straight until you get to the clearing." I laughed has he flew through the forest. When we reached the clearing he set me down.

"Wow. This is beautiful." He seemed stunned.

"Yeah. When Ma-" I couldn't bring myself to say his name. "When I'm having a hard time, I come here to relax. And I wanted to share it with you."

"Bella. Thank you." He wrapped me into another hug. The sun was just barely out.

"Edward." I looked into his eyes. "Do you remember when I told you that I hated you. When I said 'with all my soul and being, I hate you'?" He nodded. "I was wrong. I never hated you. I was just scared of what you were making me feel." A tear was rolling down my cheek.

"Bella..?"

"I was afraid of losing control of my feelings. So I lied to you. I lied to myself." I hid my head into his shirt. "And I'm sorry for that." He rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"You're not the only one who's changed. Bella, you've made me feel things that I've never experienced. You've made me want things I've never wanted before. I'm scared, too." He whispered in my ear. "You're not alone. I'm here for you."

"I....I love you." I looked into his eyes. They changed. They got lighter.

"You've never said that before." His smile was bright, warm, huge. "I love you, too." He laughed and leaned down and kissed me.

There was so much passion and emotion behind this kiss that my knees become weak and I fell. He caught me and sat me down on the ground. He sat beside me and I leaned my head against his shoulder.

"I do love you. With every fiber of my being and all of my soul I love you." I smiled, closing my eyes.

"I don't understand how, but I'm happy that you do." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and leaned back, laying down, pulling me with him.

"I can't imagine a world without you anymore." He started playing with my hair. "Promise me. Promise me that you won't leave me." I looked up at him. "Please."

"I promise. I won't ever leave you. I don't think I could ever leave someone as nice, caring, loving, and beautiful as you." He gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"Edward? Do you think you could change me?" I whispered, afraid of his reaction.

His body stiffened. "No." He growled sternly.

"So you'll let me get older as you stay seventeen forever?" I didn't say this pointedly, but calmly, like a statement.

"I won't doom your soul to an eternity of a damned existence." He fisted his hands.

"You don't really believe that you live a damned existence, do you?" I asked looking at the slowly appearing stars.

"I don't live at all." He said between his teeth.

"I don't believe that." I stated.

"What?" He was taken off-guard.

"I don't believe that you believe that you have a damned soul. Or that you don't live. I believe that you are a just a different kind of creation. But you still have a place in this world." I thought aloud.

"How can you believe that? I have no heart beat. I have no brain waves. None of my organs work." His eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"And yet you lay here with me, breathing, experiencing, loving, living. You may be a vampire, you may have died, but you still have a life. You still have an essence, a life force, which is keeping you functioning." I turned on top of him so that I could I look at him. So I could let him know I was being serious. "You don't have to believe in it, but it's still there. Still letting you be here with me now."

He was silent, thinking over what I just said. His head was positioned to look at the stars but I doubted he was really seeing them. Then his hand started playing with my hair again, absentmindedly.

"Besides, what does your body tell you when I do this?" I leaned up and kissed him so strongly that he was taken off guard. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his head. I pulled my body closer to his and ran my tongue against his lips. His body shuddered under mine. I smiled and pulled away from him, knowing I went too far.

"You shouldn't do that again." His words trembled. I got off of him and gave him some room to recover. My head rested on my knees. "Ok, I'm good." He said after a minute of silence.

"So how did your body respond? The man part of it not the vampire part." I asked calmly ready for an explosion.

"You can't get one without the other." He stated.

"Try." I closed my eyes, waiting.

"The 'man' told me to take it farther." I smiled. "But the 'vampire' told me to take you in a completely different way." He wrapped himself around me and pulled me back to lay with him. "I don't want to risk your life."

"I know." I rested my hand on his chest. "I trust you." He took my hand.

"Do you really want that? To become like me? To give up your soul to be with me?" He whispered, scared for my answer.

"Only if you think you can handle it. My blood." I said just as softly. "If I'm with you I won't lose my soul. Without you I would be soulless." I kissed his chest.

"Let me think about it. Let me hunt first." He kissed my hand.

"Ok." I was lost in his golden gaze.

Electric sparks went off between us. I felt a strong pull toward this un-dead man that held my heart in his protective clutches. I was unconsciously moving up toward his lips. His hands were moving up my back making me shiver. Everything was moving in slow motion. Our eyes were locked into place. I was feeling dizzy. His hands came to my collar. They took off my jacket, which left me in a thin blouse. He moved his head closer to mine, closing the space between us.

When our lips met fire blazed through me. This was deeper and more passionate than any other kiss. Everything speed up, like it was on fast-forward, but I was still aware of what was happening. Edward rolled over on top of me. He threw of his coat and kicked off his shoes. I took off his shirt as he took off my boots. When his chest was exposed I ran my hands up and down his abs. This made him shiver and a low growl came out of his chest. He speeded up undressing us.

When we were just in our underwear, our clothes scattered around us, I pulled away from his mouth and looked into his eyes. He wanted this and so did I. He saw that I wanted this and that I trusted him completely. He leaned down to kiss me.

Somehow I bit my lip. When I tasted the metallic liquid, I pulled away from his mouth. I looked into his eyes. They were black with desire for my body, and my blood. He was scared for me, but I wanted to continue. I leaned into his neck and left bloody kissed down his neck and onto his chest. A growl escaped him again. I bit my tongue, this time on purpose. Blood was flowing into my mouth freely.

I leaned up and ran my tongue against his lips, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. His fingers dug into my skin, a moan escaped my lips. His mouth opened and pulled me into him. When my blood touched his tongue the vampire took over. He started sucking on my mouth. But he couldn't bit me. The vampire tried but he couldn't succeed. When my blood was gone. The vampire left with one final growl.

"Edward." I breathe out. "I love you."

This calmed him down but excited him at the same time. The man took over. The vampire was forgotten. The last of our clothes was ripped off. I fisted my hands in his hair as we made love under the stars. Under the canopy of trees. We made love in my favorite place in the whole world. That was the most romantic night of my life.

When we were done I lay on top of him. My head rest against his chest. One of his hands was on my lower back, the other was playing with my hair. I closed my eyes. Just laying next to (or on top of) him was enough to make my heart speed up.

"Bella." He sighed.

"Hm." I kissed his chest.

"Thank you." He brought my face up to his. "You've brought the human man back to me. You've made me feel so alive this last week. I love you." He kissed me sweetly.

"You're welcome." I smiled into his kiss. "I love you, too." I kissed him back. "I can't get tired of saying that." I smiled into his eyes. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

He laughed petting my hair. He looked at the watch that was sitting next to us, screaming that it was 11:59. "Happy birthday, Bella." Right as he said my name the time switched to 12:00.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!" Fire was burning though my body. Edward went stiff under me. "THE FIRE! PLEASE GOD! MAKE THE FIRE STOP! EDWARD! HELP ME!"

Edward rolled me off of him and started to get me dressed. My back arched from the pain.

"PLEASE HELP ME! THE FIRE! IT HURTS!" Tears were streaming down my face.

"Shh. It's ok Bella." Edward's worried voice didn't sooth me. I could hear the tears in his voice.

I continued to scream. My head fell to the side, so I had a view of the watch. When the time turned 12:01, I blacked out.

sorry 4 da cliffy. & sorry that my chaps r sooooo long, but the next 1 is going 2 short. so good news, it should be out by Wed! hopefully Tues! then da next 1 should b out by Sat da latest! thank god 4 summer vacation! hopefully i can finish this story by da time skl starts! i don't hav much 2 do so it should b don by den. oh well i g2g write more.

oh & da pics of Edward's & Bella's costumes r on my profile or r going 2 be shortly!

oh & my friend-allyson-wanted me 2 tell u guys that i talk 2 walls. but really i talk 2 da voices in my head. they r very fun 2 talk 2. except 4 Fred. he's evil so i try not 2 listen 2 him.

well i just want 2 say tnx 2 all of those who review. it makes my day when i get a new review! even if i get flamers-i laugh them. did i mention i was insane? if u didn't already realize this go check my profile. it lists all my problems. i think i might b schitzo.-oh well 8D oh & tnx 2 my friend allyson! she rox! she's da only reason i can get chaps out. because she bugs da crap outta me till i give her something 2 read. laugh it up allyson it's annoying as hell!

kk well i hope u enjoyed this chap i sure did! next 1 should b up soon i promise! well review! tnx 4 reading!

peace 8D (I'm insane!)