BPOV
I sat there at the table. I think I was frozen in place. He had found my bracelet. Of course he found my bracelet. He must have picked it up after I lost it fighting the bear.
I looked into his eyes and knew that this was some sort of test. He knew. He knew my families secrets. I wasn't that scared. If he knew our secret and had still come to the dance, then he must have already accepted it. He was just waiting to see if I was willing to acknowledge that it was mine. I knew if I took it I would be confirming his theory. But Alice said it would all turn out right.
I'm telling him. I sent it out to my whole family and was greeted with various levels of enthusiasm. I tried to convince them it was the right choice. He already knows. He's just waiting for me to confirm it. He found my bracelet. It fell off when I saved him from the bear that EMMETT set on him. Alice says it will work out well anyway.
I listened closely and was finally granted permission by my whole family. Rose was a little resistant, but I knew she was aware that we were out of other choices.
"At least take him to a more private place." She whispered, but it carried through the crowd to my ears.
"Be back before the last dance. People will be curious if we don't dance. It's become a tradition." Jasper was also whispering, but I heard both of them loud and clear.
Thanks. I sent out.
I turned to Edward.
EPOV (sorry about all the switching. I needed to let you get a look in Bella's head, but this is mainly an Edward chapter.)
I was sure she was going to leave it there; deny it was hers. She seemed frozen, with a look of deep concentration on her face. Suddenly she turned to me.
"What time is the dance over?" I was caught off guard with the randomness of her question, but answered quickly enough.
"It ends at eleven. We still have two and a half hours."
"Good. This could take a while." She stood up. I thought she was going to leave the bracelet-her bracelet-but then she snatched it up and hooked it on her wrist as she walked towards the door. I was sure that that was her way of handling it. She was going to accept that it was hers but then refuse to talk about it. She might even be angry.
But then she turned around halfway to the door and sighed. She made a motion with her hand. Wait, she wanted me to follow her??? And then I understood. She wasn't mad or angry. She was nervous and this was her way of dealing with it. She was going to talk to me.
I shot up and followed her out the door and along the path to the parking lot. We walked right up to the car and motioned for me to get in.
I walked to the other side and slid in. She seemed to have relaxed now that we were in her car. I could see why. The entire interior was black and cushioned. It seemed soundproof too and I wondered just how much money she considered a lot.
"So, what all do you know?" She broke the silence easily though I could tell I wasn't the only one tense.
"I know what you are. I know what you r whole family is. I know that you protected me from that bear and I know that you saved me from the car. I also know that you have some sort of influence over plants."
She seemed shocked that I had figured out so much on my own, but quickly recovered. I could tell that she was still worried about what I would think.
"What do you think we are then?" She was being extremely careful. She didn't want to give it away if I didn't already know.
I tried to respond without seeming scared.
"You're a vampire." She flinched at the word and I wondered if it was because she didn't like what she was or if she just didn't want me to say it. I waited for confirmation.
"Yes. I am." She seemed to stare into my eyes, waiting for me to disagree; to accuse her of lying. Maybe she thought I was going to run away screaming or something. I was determined to show her that I wasn't like that.
"So how do you come out into normal society? Do your fangs just disappear into your mouth?" she actually laughed at that and I knew I was getting somewhere, even if it was just a light chuckle filled with stress.
"No, no fangs. I don't need them." She smiled wide and it took all I had not to flinch. I knew it was just my survival instincts kicking in. She would never hurt me. I forced myself to look at her bright, white teeth and then right into her eyes.
This time her laugh was disbelieving.
"I never thought I'd see the day I sat in my car, telling a human all about my vampirish secrets." She seemed to be loosening up. I grinned. Then I realized that even though I liked the way this conversation was going, I needed to clarify something that would mean going back to more serious topics.
"So, you really did save me from that bear?" I was worried about her reaction and had a right to be. As soon as the question was out of my mouth, her expression had clouded. I ducked my head but that didn't keep me from hearing a deep, guttural rumble. I jerked my head up.
"Was that you?" I was incredulous, "Did you seriously just growl?"
She looked at me, knowing that I already knew the answer to that question.
"So when you get angry, you growl? Does no one ever hear?" she smirked. Another mood swing.
"Human's are exceptionally unobservant, well most of you at least. It's a good thing too. Most people don't notice my eyes that change color or that we always are a little faster than normal. A little stronger. If everyone did, we wouldn't be able to interact with humans like we do."
"That makes sense. So, what happened with the bear exactly? It was all so fast, I couldn't see anything." I could tell she was about to growl again and I put my hand on her arm, trying to calm her. Surprisingly it worked.
"It's my fault that bear was even there in first. I'm so sorry for putting you in danger like that." I was officially confused now.
"You didn't put me in danger. You saved me from danger." She sighed and I felt like I was missing something obvious.
"This would be so much easier if you had already asked the most important question of all." She whispered, seeming like she really didn't want me to ask the most important question, no matter how much it would help her explain what was going on.
"And what would that be?"
"What do I eat?" she forced it out from between her teeth in a hiss. This Bella was starting to scare me. She was different than I had ever seen her. The only time I could think of that she had seemed so animalistic was when she glared at me the first day in biology. I refused to let her see just how much she was terrifying me at the moment.
"You won't hurt me." I stated, more confident than I felt.
"You're right." She said, but seemed to be talking more to herself than me. "I would never hurt you. I don't want to. Damn, Alice was right."
"What do you mean, Alice was right?" I said, breaking her concentration. "You've said barely anything that makes any sense yet and the dance is over in and hour." That got her attention. She swore again and I looked at her, incredulous.
"Here, you ask questions and I'll answer them as truthfully as I can. No more going off topic anymore. If we want to cover anything, this is the only way we can." She sat up in her seat, back straight, as if waiting for a particularly nasty punishment.
"I'll start with the one you said will make it all easier. What do you eat?" I was desperately hoping that she didn't drain just any passing human. I needed to convince myself that this wasn't what Bella was about. She was nervous. That was why she was acting this way.
"I don't drain humans." She said quickly, reading my face. "My family and I consider ourselves vegetarians. We go against our nature and hunt animals rather than humans." Okay, so that was nothing like what I had been expecting.
"So now explain what went on with the bear and why you consider it your fault."
"I don't just consider it my fault, it is my fault. My family and I were going to go up to the mountains for a hunting trip. We wanted a bigger selection after being in the same place for so long. Everyone was excited. Then you came. Suddenly, Alice was insisting that we had to go to the dance instead. I didn't understand until you asked if we wanted to go 'alone together'. Alice knew that was going to happen. She always has something up her sleeve. Anyway, so we still had to go hunting. I went with Jasper and Emmett earlier today. I had gone to watch you when Emmett woke up a grizzly from hibernation. He wanted to fight it, but he wanted to give it a head start. Now, all bears are grumpy after getting woken up from hibernation. So it was a good thing I was there to help you. You were asleep for Pete's sake. You would have been dead and never even known what happened. Let me assure you that I gave Emmett quite an earful when I got home."
So that at least made a little sense, if I able to pretend that she was telling me a story. I still couldn't imagine Bella fighting off an angry grizzly bear.
"So why was any of that your fault?"
"Don't you see? If I hadn't agreed to go with you to the dance, that grizzly would still be in hibernation, you'd be home safe, and I'd be in the mountains." I felt my heart fall at that. So she regretted going to the dance with me. She really was just going to a friend all my life. I tried to distract myself again.
"Okay, I still don't blame you for that, but moving on. Were you being serious when you said your eyes change color when you're hungry?"
"Did I seem serious?" she teased, then sobered, "yes. I was completely serious. When I have just hunted, my eyes are gold. They darken to black as time goes on. Next question."
"What did you mean earlier when you were talking about how Alice was right, and how she knew something would happen, always had a plan up her sleeve?"
"Oh. One second." She got that same look of intense concentration on her face that she had on when I showed her the bracelet. Then her face cleared.
"Alice can see the future." She said it in a totally calm voice, but she knew that would bring on thousands of questions. She glanced at the clock. "Keep it quick. We only have forty-five minutes left."
"How is that possible? How can she see the future?"
"Carlisle thinks that when we are human and change into a vampire, our strongest traits are amplified. He thinks Alice could have little flashes of the future when she was human so now she can see it all as a vampire. She can't remember any of her human past though, so this is all just theories."
"Okay, well I guess that make a little sense. I think I'm on information overload right now. Let's not talk about vampires right now. I need to talk about something else. Let's take turns asking questions right now."
"Okay." I could tell she wanted a break from vampire topics as well.
"What is your favorite color?" I asked. She answered without hesitation.
"Green. What's yours?"
"Gold." I blushed and tried to cover it up. "What kind of music is in your car radio right now?"
"Why don't you check?" she teased. I ejected the CD in her player and was honestly shocked at what I found.
"Alicia Bell? Honestly? I didn't think you'd be in to all the popular music. She's at the top of the charts."
"I know. Trust me. This is her latest CD though. Do you listen to her or do I have to expose you to some good music before you leave this car?"
I shrugged. "I don't really listen to the popular stuff. I hear her every now and then, but I've never really listened."
"Well you should. The questions are now postponed until you've listened to some of her songs.
And then she hit play. A few notes drifted out, and I liked the way they sounded, it just seemed like they were missing something. She handed me the CD and I check what song we were listening to.
Fallin' for you (this is really by Colbie Caillat, but go along with it)
Words started coming out of the speakers.
I don't know but
I think I maybe
Fallin' for you
Dropping so quickly
Maybe I should
Keep this to myself
Waiting 'til I
Know you better
I am trying
Not to tell you
But I want to
I'm scared of what you'll say
So I'm hiding what I'm feeling
But I'm tired of
Holding this inside my head
I've been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I've been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I'm fallin' for you
As I'm standing here
And you hold my hand
Pull me towards you
And we start to dance
All around us
I see nobody
Here in silence
It's just you and me
I'm trying
Not to tell you
But I want to
I'm scared of what you'll say
So I'm hiding what I'm feeling
But I'm tired of
Holding this inside my head
I've been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I've been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I'm fallin' for you
Oh I just can't take it
My heart is racing
The emotions keep spinning out
I've been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I've been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I'm fallin' for you
I can't stop thinking about it
I want you all around me
And now I just can't hide it
I think I'm fallin' for you (x2)
I'm fallin' for you
Ooohhh
Oh no no
Oooooohhh
Oh I'm fallin' for you
I was amazed at how perfectly that fit the situation I was in. I was totally falling for Bella and she didn't even know it. I was keeping it to myself. I wondered how Bella had picked the perfect song for right now.
The next one came on and I looked again. I would have a more open mind this time. Your Anything. (Taylor Swift)
I bet you lie awake at night trying to make up your sweet mind
Wonderin if you'll ever find just what you want
A hometown number one
Or a california loaded gun
But you'll only get one
Thats what you thought
And heres what you got
I could be your favorite blue jeans
With the holes in the knees
In the bottom of the top drawer
I could be your little beauty queen
Just a little out of reach
Or the girl living next door
I'll be your angel giving up her wings
If thats what you need
I'd give everything to be your anything
Be your anything
If you want hard to get
If you want
All you have to do is let me know
If you want a bumby ride
Or someone with a softer side
Either one will be alright
Just let me know
Cause this is how it goes
I could be your favorite blue jeans
With the holes in the knees
In the bottom of the top drawer
I could be your little beauty queen
Just a little out of reach
Or the girl living next door
I'll be your angel giving up her wings
If thats what you need
I'd give everything to be your anything
It's not like i'm giving up who i am for you
But with someone like you it's so easy to do
I could be your favorite blue jeans
With the holes in the knees
In the bottom of the top drawer
I could be your little beauty queen
Just a little out of reach
Or the girl living next door
I'll be your angel giving up her wings
If thats what you need
Thats what you need
I could be your favorite blue jeans
With the holes in the knees
In the bottom of the top drawer
I could be your little beauty queen
Just a little out of reach
Or the girl living next door
I'll be your angel giving up her wings
If thats what you need
I'd give everything to be your anything
"So I'll admit that I did enjoy that a little bit. I'd love to stay out here and talk all night, but the dance is almost over." She glanced at the clock and sighed.
"Um, Bella? I think that this still a little too much to take in at one time. I think I'm going to go home and process it. I guess I'll see you Monday?" I reached for the door and was amazed to see that even after learning what Bella was, that she could kill me at any moment, I still didn't want to leave her.
"I could drive you home if you'd like. I could take you home and I'd get Alice to drive your truck home. Of course, that's only if you want to. I'd totally understand if you wanted nothing to do with me after this." I was glad she had made the offer. I would give anything to spend just a little more time with her.
"Sure. I've never ridden in anything this nice before." She smiled really big then, and laughed a little.
"Then you're in for a treat. Just one question? Do you like to go fast?!" Apparently, it was a rhetorical question, because I hadn't even started to answer when she slammed her foot on the gas pedal. I was expecting the engine to growl, but it purred to life and shot off, leaving my stomach somewhere behind. I looked at the speedometer to see how fast we were going, but it was maxed out.
"How fast are you going?" I felt like I should be shouting, but there was no need. The car was silent.
"I don't know! Rose and I tested it out at home and got up to four hundred, but I don't have a timer with me right now." She seemed exhilarated. I couldn't help but laugh too. This was fantastic! I had never gone so fast in my life and I knew I should be scared, but Bella was driving. She would keep me safe.
Within seconds we were pulling up outside my house. I turned to get out, giving Bella one last look. I wouldn't see her again until Monday. I turned around and got out of the car only to seeā¦
Bella in front of me.
"How did you do that?" I asked, after I was done with a mini freak-out. She had just been in the car.
"Vampire remember?" she laughed and started walking with me up to the house. We got to the door and she stepped in a kind of in-front-of-me and behind-me move that let me know she had one last thing to say. I turned around.
"Thank you Edward. That was the best school dance I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot." She looked right into my eyes to show she was serious and I smiled at her. Then she got up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to mine.
Before I could even register what had happened, she was halfway back to her car.
"Bye Edward. See you tomorrow." She got in the car and drove off, leaving me dumbstruck on the porch. Then what she had said registered. Tomorrow. She said she would see me tomorrow. Tomorrow was Saturday, but I had a feeling she wasn't the kind of person who would accidentally say something like that. She really was coming back tomorrow.
I walked inside and immediately went upstairs to my room. I was asleep in minutes.
BPOV
My lips were tingling as I drove away. That was really stupid of me, but I hadn't been able to resist. I had spent the entire night trying to appear only friendly, but I completely ruined it at the last second.
But it had been so hard to resist. He had taken it all so easily. He knew what I was and still wanted me to drive him home. And he wasn't scared of me. He hadn't gone running off. So when I was standing with him on the porch, I had wanted so badly to kiss him. It had been a need. It was hard to resist. What scared me most though was that I didn't want to resist.
So I hadn't.
And then I had told him I would see him tomorrow. Of course, I would see him much sooner than that, but he wouldn't see me until tomorrow. I drove back to the dance, danced the last dance with Jasper, went home, and was attacked by a bouncing pixie.
"I can't believe you did that! Of course, I'm so glad you did, but I still can't believe it. This speeds everything up! And it was last minute, which means I got to watch it happen as it happened. Oh, you two are so perfect together. And, yes I already ran his truck home."
"Thanks Alice. You're a life saver."
"I know. So, I was wondering if you would like to go shopping with me this weekend."
"Alice, you already know I have other plans. I can't go. This is urgent."
"Technically, this is just your definition of urgent. But I do understand. You might want to ask Rose to go with you. It surprised me too when I saw she would go, but I'm glad she will. I guess we should ease him into the Cullen family before he sits with us at lunch Monday."
"He's eating lunch with us?"
"Yes, but he's still more of a friend than a boyfriend. May I ask what was up with all the acting today. Why not just let him know you're in love with him?"
"He's human. I'm a vampire. It should never have happened in the first place. Besides, there's no way he could love me back. I'd rather just stay his friend and be around him than ruin his friendship and be forced to avoid him."
She sighed. "I guess I knew you'd look at it that way. Oh well. We need to decide what you'll be wearing to your almost-date tomorrow."
"Let me get Rosalie first." I walked off, avoiding this for as long as I could. I wondered what in the world Alice was going to dress me in. I was going to get so dirty. See, I had a plan.
Edward had said that he grew up with his mom and didn't know much about cars. His truck was unbearably slow though. I had decided that his car needed a makeover. If Rose would help, it would help ease him into our family, and it would help her realize that he was the perfect human for me.
I found her reading a fashion magazine in her room. I sighed.
"How you can be so much like me and yet so much like Alice will always baffle me." She smiled and looked up. I got right to the point. That's the way Rose was; the sooner you got to the point, the better chance you had for her to say yes.
"I was wondering if you would like to come with me to Edward's house tomorrow. I was planning on fixing up his truck. He grew up with his mom and never really learned how to do anything technical. Besides, if I'm going to be spending so much time with him, he has to be able to drive fast or I will go insane."
She smiled, once again with me on everything. "Sure I'll go with you. Emmett was going with Jasper to hunt again and I was wondering what I would do. I would much rather help you fix up cars than read fashion magazines all day."
"And that's where your and Alice's similarities stop." I waked out of the room in a fantastic mood. Edward had accepted it, I was going to see him tomorrow, and Rose approved of him-more than that-she wanted to help me fix up his car. I looked down and was hardly surprised to see my feet a few feet off the ground. I didn't feel like going to get Jasper right now, so I enjoyed it. I decided that Edward would definitely be asleep by now. I ran up to my room and changed into sweats and a tee-shirt. I knew Alice would understand, besides, she could pick out my outfit without me there. It's not like I got any say in the matter anyway.
Soon I was sitting in the corner of his room, cross-legged on the floor. The burn in my throat just another reminder that the man I loved was still gloriously alive and human. I sucked in deep breaths, getting entirely desensitized. I needed this.
I was jerked out of my thoughts by his sleep talking. I wondered what was on his mind tonight. At first it was just an unintelligible garble, but soon the words were clear.
"Bella." He sighed my name and I was surprised by how much that one word could affect me. It was just a name, but it was my name, and he had said it in a way that let me know he wasn't in the middle of a nightmare. He was sighing my name, quite tenderly, in his sleep. I was a few more inches off the ground.
"It doesn't matter. I don't care. I just want to be with you." I was shocked; he actually thought it didn't matter. I had an unimaginable urge to cross the room right then and kiss him, but I didn't want to wake him up, besides, that was one conversation I could skip.
"Bella, what are you doing kissing me in my room at night while I'm asleep?"
"Oh, it's just what I felt like doing. I come here every night. I like to watch you sleep, and besides, you have a small habit of spilling all your thoughts while you're asleep. It was a chance I just couldn't pass up."
No, I definitely didn't need that conversation.
He growled then, "You are NOT a monster."
But I was. I was a creature of the night, created to kill. I fed off the lives of others. I didn't age or die or follow any other natural pattern. He just didn't know what he was talking about. I was a monster, and he was an angel.
I sat by the window, immersed in my thoughts, until I noticed that it was getting lighter. I stood up and walked over to Edward's bed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. He didn't think I was a monster. He didn't care if I was a vampire.
"Oh, my Edward, how much you do not know." I whispered, jumping out the window. He was an innocent human. He deserved better than me.
It was a good thing I was such a selfish creature.
A/N: So yeah! I have over a hundred pages of this story and this story is only 56 pages long so far, so I guess I'll be updating more often.
I love the way this story is going, and I hope you all do. I got a few comments saying that this was a lot like Twilight, but I assure you that it will all change.
~school-is-my-purgatory
