After a lot of confusion and more crying, and an unconscious Olivia now having to stay in the hospital in Vale's place, Vale had fallen asleep to the beeping of his heart monitor. When he woke up, it was to the mumbling of voices.

"Not sure… happened earlier… Edward…" he heard. There was only small snippets of the conversation of the two people in his room, but he could have sworn that was his dad talking.

"No worries… rather in psychology ward… hospital trusts me…" That had to be Dr. Cullen discussing what he had explained to Vale about earlier. He was a little worried his dad was going to totally refuse whatever offer it was Dr. Cullen was making, because he really didn't want to spend more time in this damn place. There was sigh and a muttered, "fine" before he finally opened his eyes and lifted his hands to his eyes to rub away the sleep. "Ah, Vale! You're awake! How are you feeling?" Dr. Cullen greeted him cheerfully. Vale sighed.

"I'm tired and I'd like to go home," he grumbled. Dr. Cullen laughed.

"Well I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you some bad news," he said. Vale cocked an eyebrow at him. "Your father and I have agreed for you to stay at my home with my wife, children, and I until you have completely recovered. We know you don't want to stay at the hospital, and the board trusts me enough for you to stay with us. Of course, your father is also invited to stay," he mentioned, turning away from Vale toward Akin. Akin frowned slightly. "So, Vale, what do you say?"

"Of course, you don't have to, Peanut." Akin added.

"I'd like that, I guess it's better than here, eh?" Vale mumbled. Dr. Cullen chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, we'll get you signed out right away. I think you've been here long enough. Would you like to see your friend Olivia before you go?" Vale moaned slightly.

"Yeah, I should…" He hesitated. "Where is she?" The blonde doctor motioned toward the door.

"She's in the room across from here. You can go visit her any time. We already unhooked all of your monitors, so you're about free," he stated cheerfully, on his way out the door to go sign Vale out. "When you're ready, your clothes have been washed and they're on the table," he said, pointing his pen toward the nightstand. Akin shuffled over to his son.

"Peanut, I'll go wait with Dr. Cullen," he said. Vale nodded slightly and watched as his father vanished. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Jesus, how long was I out?" he muttered to himself.

"All day," came a voice from the corner of the room. Vale watched as Edward Cullen stepped out from the shadows. "It's around six now."

"Why are you here? How long have you been here?" Vale questioned, drawing slightly away toward the edge of the bed. Edward ignored the latter question and answered carefully.

"I came to apologize about your friend."

"Yeah, well something about you set him off. You did something, you made Jacob…" his voice faded. He was not going to give Jacob's secret away. What if this Edward wasn't what Vale was sure he was?

"Not that friend."

"Well you owe that friend an apology."

"I know," he answered simply. Vale made for the edge of the bed and slid off. His feet hit the floor, but his newly healed twisted ankle cracked sickeningly, re-injuring himself. He was about to collapse to the floor when two large, icy obstructions seized him around the middle. "Could you at least try not to kill yourself?" Edward growled, plopping Vale back onto the bed and rapidly releasing him. Vale gritted his teeth.

"Fuck off," he ground out. Edward knew that Vale was trying to be menacing, but he couldn't get over how cute his little mate got when he was angry. Edward immediately softened.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, "But you need to be a lot more careful." Vale ignored him completely.

"You realize you just proved my theory? That you're not human? There's no way in hell you could get over here that fast. That, and you're freezing fucking cold. You feel like my best friend did when he died." Edward hated when the little one cursed, he did it way too much, and in Edward's opinion, overused the word fuck, but what bothered him was that Vale was so smart, so able to analyze every tiny detail around him, and how quickly he was able to draw conclusions. And it also bothered him that when Vale mentioned his friend, he cringed slightly. He wanted to draw the little one into a warm embrace, and hold him while he sobbed, but he knew the chances of Vale allowing him to do so were slim to none.

"I believe we already established that," Edward answered, "And I have full intentions of telling you why that is, but I believe our fathers are waiting for you," and Edward reached over and handed him the clothes folded on the dresser. Vale waited patiently for Edward to leave but when he didn't, he shook his hair from his eyes and pouted slightly.

"Are you going to leave so I can get dressed?" He asked. Edward smirked and turned around, crossing his arms. "Oh, come-" he started to complain, but Edward shook his head and snickered.

"Would you rather I watch? I'm not leaving. You might kill yourself."

Vale was going to argue, but finally he decided against it and slid out of the hospital gown he had been wearing and into the now torn at the knees jeans and newly ironed shirt. He made sure his bandages were hidden. When he finished, just as he did up the last button, Edward spun around.

"Why did you cover for me?" Vale asked, looking up toward the amber eyes. They looked darker…

"Because I expect an explanation, you owe me," he said simply, and began walking from the room. "I'll wait with your father and mine," and then he was gone.

"Weird," Vale mused, then stumbled from the bed and limped out the door to Olivia. He wasn't wearing any shoes yet, only the pair of socks the nurses had left on him, but he figured his father must have the ratty old things. "Hey, Liv," he waved toward the figure in the small hospital bed. She was leaning against a pillow reading a large book. He was pretty sure it was called Sharp Objects, but he couldn't be certain, for she had slammed it down and smiled brightly when he walked in.

"VALE! Are you going home?" she asked excitedly. "I just woke up, my mom and dad went to bring me something to do. I'm stuck here ALL NIGHT! You get raped and you get to go home after a little sleep, and I hit my head and have to stay here over night! You're so lucky you're Edward Cullen's boyfriend," she sighed dreamily.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Vale asked shocked, "Edward Cullen is NOT my boyfriend!" he argued. Olivia smiled slyly.

"Right," she smiled.

"He's NOT!"

"Okay, Vale, hun, whatever you say," she winked, "So do you feel better?" She changed the subject. Well, played, Liv, Vale thought.

"Yes, much. I came to say hello before I go home," he answered. Olivia nodded.

"Well, hello! I won't keep you from your boyfriend now," she teased, waving him off.

"Shut up Livvie," was the last thing he said, grinning at her, before he closed the door to her room and walked down the empty hall.

It turned out, the nurses had thrown out his ratty old converse and Alice, Edward's sister, had ran out and bought him a new pair. These had bright green laces instead of white ones. Vale liked them much better, but because he wouldn't have felt right having not, he threw a temper tantrum all the same over his lost shoes. He had only stopped when he had noticed Edward thoroughly enjoying his anger. Then he had civily thanked Dr. Cullen and extended his thank you to Alice, whom had only stopped by to drop off the footwear and would be awaiting his formal apology upon his arrival back "home". Then he, Edward and Dr. Cullen had loaded themselves into the car and headed toward the Cullen household.

Although Vale was certain it should be called the Cullen Manor.

The house, wait, no, castle, was, to say the least, the most amazing thing Vale had ever seen. An entire wall was made entirely of windows, letting in more light than Vale had ever seen in a house. The hole thing was large and open, with high ceilings and wooden floors and a grand staircase that lead up to a second floor. Vale was to stay here for the next two weeks to be observed by Dr. Cullen, and was going to be granted medical leave from school once his suspension was over. Akin had declined an offer to stay with the Cullens, trusting Carlisle completely, which Vale was glad for. It was already awkward enough, he didn't need his father to hover over his shoulder. Vale had been lead up to the home, flanked by Edward, which he found a little annoying. When he had mentioned it, however, Edward had only smiled mischievously.

"I hope you like our home," Dr. Carlisle said to Vale, waving his arms around at the open space. He proceeded up the stairs.

"It's amazing, Dr. Cullen," Vale answered, awestruck. He followed the man down a long hallway, past several doors. He stopped at the second to last door.

"This is your room, and the one next to it is Edward's, the one across is Alice and Jasper's, and down the hall is Rosalie and Emmett's, as well as my wife and mine's," he explain, pointing out the various doors. Vale nodded as Carlisle opened the door. "I'm sorry it's not perfect, but Esme and Rosalie had insisted on decorating," he said. Vale stepped into the large room.

To say it was spacious would be an understatement. The room was huge, almost as large as Akin's entire top floor, with a large, intricately carved black wooden bed. There was a small plasma screen television, with a long black leather couch covered in orange pillows, and a black desk and a comfortable looking chair sitting along the window. There was a small bonsai tree sitting proudly upon the desk. "Holy sh-cow" he whistled, changing his words at the last minute so as not to offend a now chuckling Dr. Cullen. "How did they know my favorite colors? And about the tree branch…"

"Your father may have mentioned it," Edward shrugged. Vale turned swiftly into him.

"You told them? Whatever it is my father said, you told them? You shouldn't have… it must have been so expensive…" Edward snickered.

"Vale, my wife and daughter were more than happy to have someone to experiment on. Chances are the rest of the week you'll be showered in clothing and gourmet food," Dr. Cullen beamed. Vale shrunk.

"I really couldn't, you can't go to so much trouble-"

"You try telling them. They'll hate you for ruining their fun." Edward told Vale. Vale frowned defeatedly.

"I believe you and Edward were discussing something before your father interrupted," Carlisle cocked an eyebrow. Edward nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it." And he walked out.

Vale stationed himself on the edge of the large bed before beginning, "Tell me what you are." Edward swallowed slightly before joining Vale on the bed. It made the small boy uncomfortable, but he didn't fidget.

"I'm surprised you've figured so much out already," he answered wryly. "I think you already know exactly what I am, what my family is, and I would rather you tell me what you think-"

"I already told you though, why I won't do that, why you have to te-"

"No, and I'm giving you permission to, as you put it, "know", so tell me." Vale nodded before hanging his head.

"Jacob told me that I was in danger here," he said quietly. He had a feeling Edward could hear him, though. "That you were- That you had a mate and that I was yours." Edward nodded in confirmation, but also urging for Vale to continue. "You're…"

"You can say it," Edward assured the boy, reaching forward and pushing his chin up so Vale's green eyes were staring directly into his. "Tell me," he whispered.

"You're a vampire," he finally said, and quickly ducked his head. Edward stiffened slightly. So he did know exactly what was going on. Did he understand what being Edward's mate meant? Maybe… The bloodlust was almost gone… Could he control himself? He could try…

"Look at me," He said, trying his hardest to avoid saying Vale. The boy shook his head. "Please," he asked. Vale sighed slightly and looked up. Color stained his high cheekbones, and his black hair was falling in his face. The eye liner that rimmed his eyes was smudged from yesterday's ordeals. He couldn't have looked any more angelic. Without warning, Edward's lips came crashing down upon Vale, who for a second, was stunned. He was knocked back onto the bed, a vampire now loosely straddling his hips. Vale nearly screamed. He fought harshly to escape, pushing against the Vampire's chest with all of his might. Edward mistook it for lust and kissed Vale harder. Finally, though, Vale shook his head free and burried his cheek into the mattress.

"GET OFF!" He shouted, and Edward immediately complied, dashing from his position to the door. Vale had panic written across all of his features.

"Love, I'm so sorry!" He apologized. Vale bared his teeth.

"Don't call me that, you asshole! What are you doing?! Did you even think that maybe I'd like to think a little about the fact that I'm now your little whore or something?! That now I belong to you and you're a fucking VAMPIRE?! No, I'm just a pretty whore, aren't I?!" Vale was nearly sobbing now, "I bet it was you! You did this to me! You ruined me!" Vale's body shook with rage and sorrow. It made so much sense. Edward had to have been the figure, there was no other explanation. Realization of what Vale was driving at hit Edward like a ton of bricks.

"Oh, Love, no," he whispered, holding out his arms and walking toward Vale like he was a frightened animal. Vale was inching toward the pillows on the bed, burrowing into them to get away from the advancing Vampire. It hurt Edward to see Vale so afraid of him. The slight teen was now almost pressed against the headboard while Edward walked over to the bed's edge.

"Leave me alone," Vale sniffed, staring wide-eyed at Edward. The immortal frowned before he walked over to the headboard and extended his arms toward Vale, who did nothing to try and leave. Edward took this as his opportunity and encased Vale I his arms, pulling him toward his freezing chest. Vale fought weakly, but finally gave up all together and allowed himself to be held.

"I would never hurt you. Is that what you think? Love, I would never do that to you. You mean too much to me. You don't know how badly I wanted to kill whoever did this to you, you have no idea," Edward knew he would be crying himself if he could. Vale was now pressed into him, and after hearing Edward's reassurances, was beginning to wail again. "Shush, you're okay, you're safe," Edward rubbed Vale's back, holding him in his arms. He heard the door open and a few people walk in. His head turned toward the source of the noise. Standing in the doorway, Alice was beaming, her arms crossed matter-o-factly. Jasper was behind her, watching Vale intently. When Edward started to feel Vale calming down, he shook his head at the other vampire, who nodded. Edward knew Jasper must be having a hard time controlling his hunger, but trusted Alice enough to be sure that he wouldn't attck the little one. It just wasn't helping that he was trying to calm down the sobbing boy. He probably hadn't cried in ages, and Edward had a feeling he just needed to let it out. Standing behind Jasper, with a blank expression, was Rosalie. Edward could hear the war raging inside her.

Poor thing, how could this happen? But he's a human! He doesn't deserve Edward! What if this ends badly?! But what just happened… and Edward saved him… Does he care so much for the little human? He's nothing! But Vale has been through so much. And he's not afraid of us… Edward deserves someone like him… Edward was slightly annoyed at a few of her thoughts, but he was glad her feelings toward his mate were changing. Rosalie had been through exactly what Vale had been through, so he was sure she could relate. He would have to find some way to remind her that she was no better than Vale when she was a human. Edward knew that Vale was just as beautiful, if not more, than Rosalie. Holding the blonde around the waist, was Emmett. He was watching Edward and Vale, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hi," came a timid voice, muffled by Edward's shirt. Edward hadn't even noticed Vale stop crying, which was odd for his vampiric senses. The boy was now pushing against Edward, who quickly released him. Vale hadn't expected this and fell backward onto the bed, tumbling onto the pillows and sending them everywhere.

"AW! He's so cute!" Alice cooed. "I can't wait to take him shopping. Hello, Vale!" Vale chuckled nervously, wiping his moist eyes on his shirt sleeve."

"Uh, how do you know my name?" He asked. Alice giggled. "Oh, Edward has told us all about you. I'm Alice."

Vale looked at Edward curiously. Edward shrugged. "Vale, this is Alice, Jasper, Roaslie, and Emmett." Edward introduced the cluster of people by the door. "Vale's staying here for a few weeks, thanks to the, ah, incident." It seemed that it was then that Rosalie realized how alike she was to Vale, as she pushed her way through the crowd and rushed toward Vale. Pressed into a crushing hug, she began running her fingers through his hair.

"I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry," she murmured into his hair, pressing small kissed to his forehead. Vale was completely confused.

"Do I have a twin or something here that you all are mistaking me for? What did you do wrong?" He asked Rosalie pulled him in tighter.

"Rose, you're going to suffocate him," Emmett chuckled, earning and rapid head nod and pleading eyes from Vale. Emmett only laughed harder, clutching his stomach. Edward glared slightly at his brother before attempting to pry Rosalie away from his mate.

"Well…" Rosalie said, pushing away from Vale, but keeping him at arms length. "I'm sorry, Vale, that I thought my family and I were better than you. But it's obvious you mean a lot to Edward, so that makes you important to me, and Vale, I know how it is. To be, you know…" No way. Rosalie had been..? No. Who would do that to her? She was just too… pretty.

"I'm sorry that happened to you…" Vale told her sincerely. Rosalie nodded slightly. Vale knew he should probably change the subject, so he turned toward the rest of the group. "Eh, so now what?" he asked quietly. Alice danced across the room toward Vale, Jasper gliding along behind her, and Emmett bounding toward Rosalie. Edward pulled the desk chair toward the bed and sat down in it, next to where Vale was now sitting with his feet hanging over the edge. Jasper stood behind Edward, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Emmett next to him. Rosalie kept her place on the bed, but had moved so she was kneeling next to Vale. Alice sat down on the bed cross legged behind him, placing her hands in his hair and messing around with the shiny black locks. Edward couldn't help but be a little jealous of the way he relaxed into her touch.

"Aw, look! He already likes me! We're going to be best friends, Vale," she said giddily. Vale blushed. "Hey, Esme? He's all relaxed now," she spoke. As soon as she had finished her sentence, a short woman, who looked barely in her early thirties, appeared in the doorway. She had butter colored tight curly hair and pale skin like the rest of the Cullens. Had she been standing there? Or was she like Edward? A vampire who was impossibly fast and had extreme hearing? Well, of course she was. They all had to be vampires. There was no other explanation.

"Hello, Vale hunny," she greeted him cheerfully. Vale smiled politely at her. Esme walked over to Edward and placed her thin hands on his shoulders.

"Hello, Mrs. Cullen," he greeted her.

"Oh, please, call me Esme. Mrs. Cullen makes me feel so old," she laughed. Her laughter and voice sounded like silk, it was absolutely one of the most wondrous things he had ever heard. The only voice that rivaled it was Edward's. Wait. Did he really just think that? There was no way. No. He didn't find Edward Cullen attractive, and he didn't have the urge to sigh contentedly when Edward spoke, and he didn't wonder what it would feel like to fall asleep on top of him. Speak of the devil, it was Edward's voice that pulled him from his thoughts.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked him, a little bit agitated. Why couldn't he hear the little one? Why did being his mate have to make him impossible to hear? It wasn't at all fair.

"Oh, nothing," Vale covered for himself. Great comeback, Vale. Now let's try to think of a convincing one, shall we?

"You were thinking something. It bugs me that I don't know. I know what everyone is thinking but you." Wait, what? How did he know what people were thinking? Why didn't he know what Vale was thinking? For some reason, Vale was a little thankful for that fact. "I can hear people's thoughts. Some vampires have special abilities. Jasper can control emotions, and Alice can see the future. I can hear the thoughts of every mind I've ever come across. Except yours." Vale nodded slowly.

"So, when I was crying," he blush grew, "That calming sensation. That was Jasper?" Jasper and Edward nodded at the same time. Wow, Vale noticed everything. Edward wasn't surprised though. Vale noticed Jasper hadn't said a word to him.

"Yes, it was him. Jasper is the newest member of our family, so it's harder for him to resist killing humans. That's why he hasn't been talking to you," Edward explained Jasper's lack of words. He may not be able to hear the teen's thoughts, but he had very expressive eyes. Edward's explanation didn't help Vale understand. "Our family drinks the blood of animals instead of humans." Now Vale understood. So it must be hard for them to resist humans. They must miss the taste of human blood. Animals must taste different…

"Vale, we wanted to talk to you about the fact that you're Edward's mate," Esme told Vale. Vale looked at her confusedly. "Well, didn't he tell you? You're his mate, Vale. The one he spends all eternity with?" Vale nodded.

"He mentioned it…" Vale hung his head, "But I was too scared and shaken to understand what he was saying. I- I thought he was the man who-"

"He thought I was the bastard who raped him," Edward growled angrily. He shot forward out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Vale's now shaking form, pulling the small boy into his arms and sitting back on the chair. Edward ran his nimble fingers through the spiky black hair and rocked him back and forth while he sobbed.

"I'm so sorry!" Vale cried into Edward's shirt. His fingers were wrapped around Edward's shirt sleeve like it was the only thing in the world keeping him alive.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT THAT ASSHOLE DID TO HIM?" Edward snarled, clutching Vale harder to his chest, "DO YOU SEE?" Esme enveloped her son and his mate into a timid hug.

"Edward, you need to forget about it. There's nothing you can do now. You need to be there for Vale and help him. That's all there's left to do." Edward shrugged her away.

"No. I'll kill him. I kill the person, no, the scum that did this to my mate. Vale's name has never been truer. It was a mistake hurting him. I'm going to make that dick regret doing this if it's the last thing I do." And as happy at those words as he was, Vale couldn't get past what Edward had said about his name. He gave it a new meaning. One that didn't make him worthless. Edward had finally freed him from the last thing linking him to his were no words he could use to express just how amazing that was.