Learning to Breath

Disclaimer: None of these characters etc. belong to me. They all belong to the wonderful and amazing Stephanie Meyer. I don't think I could ever be that creative. Lol. Stephanie rules!

Author's Note: Hey peeps. This chapter is Alex and Edward's reunion. And something other stuff, explains more about Alex. Lots and lots of happy moment to come, to make up for all the depressing stuff. Happy readings! Please review!!! Peace!!!

Love

When the sun rose, I gently dislodged Alex's hand from my shirt, and stood. She frowned, and threw her arm out, like she was reaching for me. I smiled, and touched her face lightly. Then I jumped out of her window. I wasn't sure how I was going to get her to talk to me. I couldn't simply knock on her door, and say "Hey, sorry about ripping your heart out, let's make up." I shook my head. I'd really messed things up. So, I waited near her house, in a tree, hoping she'd choose to go for a walk in the woods today.

Alex made it extraordinarily easy for me. A few hours after sunrise, she came out the back door. She arched her back as she stretched her arms above her head, and I thought for the millionth time of how beautiful she was. She was smiling. I wondered if she was thinking of me. Her sister called to her, and Alex replied she'd be back in a few hours. Good. That gave me plenty of time to talk to her.

I was very careful to follow her at a distance. I had no idea how far the extent of her abilities went. She walked for about an hour, and I suddenly realized where she was headed. The meadow. Hope surged through me. Perhaps she would forgive me. She walked forward into the field, and sighed. I looked up. It was only partly cloudy. I thought I had about fifteen minutes of safe time before the sun reappeared. I had to be quick. I leapt down from the tree, and approached the open meadow. Alex was in front of the ruins, crouching down before a stone. She placed her palm on it, and closed her eyes. A single tear rolled down over her beautiful silvery skin.

APOV

My dream was still vivid in my mind as I walked into the meadow. I walked up to the ruins, and crouched next to the ancient stones. I place a hand on one of them, and closed my eyes. At first it had started out like all the others. The only difference was the clarity. Edward and I were in the meadow, which was terribly cruel. The best memory I had out of millions, was turned into my worst nightmare. Edward had turned away from me, and I had begged him not to go. I had begun to sob, and fell to my knees. Then suddenly he was back, and he touched my face. "I'm here. Shhh… I'm here." He had said. I made him swear he'd stay. He did. We had then laid down together in the grass, and I'd rested my head on his chest. It had felt to so real. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. God I missed him. Suddenly, I heard the grass rustle. My head whipped around, and I slid into a coiled crouch.

There was no need. It was Edward. My eyes widened, and I straightened. "Hello." He called quietly. I didn't answer. I couldn't. "Please, don't be afraid." He said. Was that how I looked? I supposed that was close. I was terrified of another rejection. "I would like to speak with you, if that's alright." He said. I nodded slowly. Edward sighed. "Alex, I am so very sorry. I have treated you in an unforgivable manner. I rejected you for keeping a secret, and being something different, when I had been doing the same. It is inexcusable, but I pray that you'll forgive me anyway. I have come to beg your forgiveness. I'm in love with you, Alex. And because of that, I can't bear to lose you. Especially due to my own blind foolishness. Please, Alex. I cannot exist in a world where I am not with you. I swear to you, here and now, that I will love you forever. And I do mean that literally, if you'll forgive me." He said. I couldn't believe it. It was as though my dream had come to life. "Alex?" he called anxiously. I closed my eyes, and then smiled slightly. I lifted my head, and looked into those beautiful golden eyes.

"You're forgiven." I said. Edward blinked, and then laughed. I laughed too, and ran up to him. I jumped and locked my legs around his waist. Edward wrapped his arms around me, and spun me around. When he stopped, I grinned. "Now remember, I'm much sturdier than your average human, so no holding out on me." I said. Edward grinned, and I pressed my mouth firmly to his.

God, his mouth was amazing. His hands braided into my hair, and I fisted my hands into his. My mouth demanded him for more, and he was more than willing to oblige. I nipped greedily at his lips, and he groaned quietly. His ice cold tongue traced my bottom lip, and I parted my mouth. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I gasped. It was truly fire and ice. He tasted heavenly, and felt amazing holding me against him.

When I came up for air, we were both breathing heavily. Edward's eyes were hot as they stared into mine. "I've really missed you." He said roughly. I laughed shakily.

"Likewise." I said. I kissed the side of his neck. His muscles shuddered. "You know, it's kind of freeing, isn't it? Having the truth out there. Kind of exhilarating." I said. He smiled.

"Yeah. I was always worrying you'd find out. Worried I'd hurt you." He said; his eyes suddenly sad. I smiled.

"Like I said, I'm a lot sturdier than a human. If you're rock, than I'm steel. Breakable, but it still takes a hell of a lot to bend it." I said. Edward sighed in relief.

"I'm glad. But I'm curious; how exactly does that work?" he asked. I jumped down from his amazing body, and backed away a few steps.

"Hold your breath." I warned. Edward nodded, and sucked in a deep breath. I called for the change; just enough that my canines lengthened, and became sharp. I bit down lightly on my wrist, so that twin red punctures appeared on my skin. Edward's eyes widened. I smiled, and held the wound up for him to see. I wiped away the blood; so that he could see the wounds close themselves up, leaving nothing but a smooth white scar. And then that was gone too. I licked the blood off, like a cat licks its wounds. Edward breathed again.

"That's quite the party trick." He said. I laughed.

"Yeah, well. It may heal, but sometimes it still hurts like a bitch." I said. Edward smiled, and walked forward again. Then suddenly, he froze, and became a statue. His muscles locked down. "Edward?" I asked. His eyes were black. Shit. He still smelled the blood. "Edward, come back to me." I said gently, but firmly. He looked at me, and then suddenly yanked me against him. Oh god. He crushed his mouth to mine, and I couldn't help but respond. He kissed me roughly, urgently, and I thanked each and every one of my ancestors that I was strong. Because there was no excuse in the world to miss this kind of kiss.

His tongue pushed inside my mouth, and I gasped against his lips. I tangled my fingers in his hair, and nipped at his mouth. I heard as well as felt the low growl sound in his chest. I returned it with a low purr of approval. His arms tightened around me, pressing me more firmly against the length of his marble body. God, he tasted so sweet. He broke away, and I growled in irritation.

EPOV

When I smelled her blood, I went into lock down. But it wasn't enough. I still didn't know if it was the monster that drove me, when I smelled her blood. "Come back to me, Edward." Alex said calmly. Before I knew what was happening, I was walking towards her, and yanking her roughly to me. I was acting on some buried instinct, the other side of the human I'd tried to revive. Primal instinct, which had nothing to do with the monster I'd worked to chain back.

I crushed my mouth to hers, and bit back a groan. God she was incredible. She responded instantly, and enthusiastically. I kissed her roughly, urgently, but she didn't seem to mind. She followed my lead. But I wanted more. I wept my tongue inside her mouth to taste her, causing her to gasp. She tangled her fingers into my hair, keeping me firmly in place. I couldn't contain the low growl that bubble up my throat. She answered with a throaty purr of approval. God, it was incredible to have her respond in ways that a human couldn't have. My arms tightened around her, and I could feel myself heating from touching her. I knew she needed air, so I broke away. The sound she made was no purr; it was all growl. I shuddered.

"I'm sorry." I said; my voice rough. "My behavior was most unbecoming." Alex smiled, that slow, dangerous grin.

"Don't be sorry, my love. I'm sure as hell not." She said. I laughed; a little shaky. I touched her face lightly, and frowned.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" I asked nervously. He shook her head.

"Nope. Not at all." She said. I sighed in relief, and kissed her gently. Then we both laid down in the soft grass. We looked up at the sky, our hands linked, and just as I had predicted, the sun appeared from behind the clouds.

APOV

The sun appeared from behind the clouds, and I looked at Edward, curious to see what would happen. Whatever I had thought might happen, was nothing close to the truth. His skin sparkled. It was as if there were billions of tiny diamonds embedded in his skin, which threw rainbow everywhere. Edward watched me calmly, but carefully for my reaction. I reached out, and brushed my fingers lightly over his skin. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. "You're beautiful." I said, breathlessly. He smiled, and touched my face.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." He said. I put my hand over his, but couldn't bring myself to look away. He was, in a word, perfection. I couldn't believe how lucky I was, to have someone as amazing as Edward love me. We stayed that way for an hour, before we had to leave. We walked back to my house, and just as we reached the edge of the forest, the sun hid behind the clouds again. Edward was still god-like in his beauty, but he was no longer the fantastic glittering creature from the meadow. It was a bit of a relief. It was impossible to compare yourself to that kind of beauty. I smiled when I thought of how Edward had insisted that I was much more beautiful than he. I rolled my eyes. Fighting over who was prettiest. Ha!

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked. I glanced at him. He looked honestly curious. I frowned.

"You don't know?" I asked. I knew what each of his families gifts were. His was the ability to read minds. He laughed.

"Oh! I haven't told you yet have I?" he asked. I shook my head. "Your mind is silent to me." He said. "In fact, your entire family is immune to my gift." He said. I blinked in surprise.

"Oh. That explains why you never knew… God I should have caught on to that before. I feel really stupid now." I said, laughing a little. Edward smiled.

"You never answered my question though." He said. I laughed, and touched his face tenderly.

"You. I was thinking of you." I said. Edward sighed, and closed his eyes.

"That's nice." He murmured. "To know that you like of me, almost as often I as I think of you." I raised a brow.

"Almost?" I asked. He grinned.

"It would be impossible for you to think of me as often as I do of you. Vampires think differently, there's a lot more… space," he said. "For thinking. That's why it tends to be easy for our kind to be distracted." He said. "And because of all of that space, I'm able to always have you in my thoughts. Sometimes in the back of my mind, like a pleasant memory, or at the forefront, driving me mad." He said, brushing those cold fingertips across my cheekbone. I laughed, shaky from his touch.

"And here I thought I was the only one going insane." I said. He smiled. Suddenly, I heard my sister inside the house. "Uh oh." I muttered. Edward frowned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My sister isn't too happy with you." I said.

"How can you tell?"

"Well, with in our pride, we can hear each other's thoughts, that way regards of whether we're in human or animal form, we can contact each other in case of trouble. That's actually what happened the night I came to your house. I was thinking about you, and unfortunately I let it slip who you really were. Tasha was worried. We fought, both said things we didn't mean, and well, you know the rest. But, um, when I came home, I was very upset, and she sort of blames you." I explained. Edward winced.

"I don't blame her. What I did was inexcusable." Edward said gravely. I glared at him.

"Now is not the time to beat yourself up. You need to be prepared, because what's about to happen may not be pretty." I warned him. "I need you on my side." I said. Edward nodded, and held my hand.

"Always." He said. I smiled, and took a deep breath. Then I led him in through the back door.

I was right. Tasha was definitely not happy. "He's not welcome here." She said as soon as she saw us.

"Tasha, calm down. Let me explain." I began.

"Explain what?" How he ripped your heart out, and now expects everything to be okay?" she demanded. I sighed, and started speaking to her in the language of our ancestors.

"Tasha, he made a mistake, which he openly admits. Just give him a chance." I said.

"No. He doesn't deserve another chance." She said furiously. I sighed. I didn't want to do this, but I had a feeling it was the only way to make her see. So I shut my eyes, and called forth the Queen of the Night, that lay slumbering within me.

"Tasha, I am giving you a direct order. You will not fight me on this." I said, my voice strong and pulsing with the power of a leader. Tasha resisted for but a moment. Then she kneeled, and exposed her neck to me, a sign of submission. I walked forward, still as the Queen, and lifted Tasha's chin. "I love you, my daughter." I said. I kissed her forehead, and then came back as Alex. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Tasha." I said. "But I love him, as he loves me, and I am willing to do anything to keep him with me." Tasha nodded.

"I know. I see that know." She said. I smiled.

"Thank you." I said, and then sighed. "I think Edward and I should go see his family." I said. "If that's alright with you?" I asked him. He smiled, and nodded.

"They've all been very worried about you. And me." He added. I nodded, and kissed Tasha's cheek.

"I'll be home soon." I said. "I love you."

"Love you too, my queen." She said, teasingly. I laughed, and walked with Edward outside, and towards his house.

Ending Note: Hey peoples. Hope you liked this chapter. It's become one of my favorites, I think. Anyways, please keep reading. Next chapter will be up soon. Please review!!! Peace!!! ~~~~~~~~:D~~~~~~~~