Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own Twilight or the characters featured here. I'm just using them for my own devious ends. :) Please read and review...and enjoy!


"What are you thinking about?"

Edward's voice shook Bella out of her thoughts for the second time that day. She smiled at him and shook her head in mock exasperation.

"You ask me that a lot," she said teasingly, stroking the back of his cold hand. He smirked, but didn't speak, waiting patiently for her reply. She hesitated for a moment.

"Tell me about the Denali coven," she said quietly.

"What do you want to know?"

Bella looked up thoughtfully. "How many are there? What are their names? What are they like? Do any of them have a special ability?"

Edward smiled. "Always so curious," he said fondly, rumpling Bella's hair. "There are five of them and their names are Tanya, Kate, Irina, Carmen, and Eleazar. Tanya, Kate, and Irina are all very outgoing and they all love men – human or vampire. Before they renounced human blood, they delighted in using their…physical attributes to lure men in. They're very spirited, if you can imagine. Tanya is the liveliest of the three of them. She loves to shop – she and Alice are very close."

Bella laughed. "I can imagine," she said, shaking her head. "What about Carmen and Eleazar?"

"Carmen and Eleazar are a couple and they are both very quiet. Carmen doesn't say very much, but what she does say is worth listening to. Eleazar is the only male in the group and he studies a lot. I think he probably knows every major language spoken in the world today as well as several that aren't as common."

"And none of them has a special ability?"

"Not in the sense you are thinking," he said, smiling slightly. "Nothing as amazing as being immune to the scent of human blood. I expect Eleazar will be very interested in you. He likes Alice, Jasper, and I because we have abilities outside the norm and I don't imagine that you'll be any different. He'll want to study you."

Bella grimaced. "Great," she muttered. "Just what I need."'

Edward squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry," he said. "You won't mind once you meet him. He's very easy to get along with."

Bella smiled and then fell silent, watching the snowy tundra zip past. It seemed as if no time at all had passed when Edward was pulling the Volvo up in front of a large manor house. She found herself staring open mouthed at the grand estate that the Denali coven had managed to construct. It very nearly put the Cullen house to shame. Edward grinned at the look on her face and then dashed to her door and opened it for her, ever the gentleman. She took his hand as they walked to where the rest of the Cullens had gathered and he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Ah! The Cullen family!" A strawberry blonde young woman came skipping out of the house just then, sporting the same topaz eyes that the Cullens did. She was nearly as tall as Rosalie and nearly as beautiful, though she seemed older, more weathered somehow if that was possible for a vampire. "It's been far too long since you were all here! This must be Bella. It's nice to meet you. I'm Tanya and this is my family, Kate, Irina, Carmen, and Eleazar."

Bella had been so focused on Tanya and her exuberant greeting, that she hadn't even noticed the other four vampires that had appeared behind Tanya. She nodded to them, still not really sure who was who, feeling overwhelmed, and then turned back to Tanya who was examining her with a critical eye. She flushed as deeply as she was able and tried not to fidget. Tanya smiled.

"You must have been quite lovely as a human," she said with a brilliant smile. "You're absolutely stunning, Bella."

Embarrassment washed through Bella at the praise and she peeked at Edward from the corner of her eye and saw that he was grinning. Tanya took in their hands, still entwined, and raised one eyebrow knowingly. Bella was relieved when Tanya finally turned away to greet Carlisle.

Once all the introductions and pleasantries had been exchanged, Tanya latched onto Bella's arm and insisted on giving her a tour of the house. Bella dragged Edward along, despite his protests that he had already seen the house on numerous occasions, and received a dazzling smile from Tanya in response. Tanya sounded like a realtor as she led Bella through the two story house, showing off each room and naming off that particular room's best attributes. Bella suffered through the tour patiently, eager to find out where she would be staying so she could escape for a little while. Once they had toured every room in the house, from the rarely used kitchen to the library where Eleazar's impressive book collection resided, Tanya came to a halt in front of a handsome oak door and turned to Edward and Bella with a brilliant smile on her face.

"I saved the best room for last," she said excitedly, with her hand on the doorknob. "This is where you and Edward will be staying."

Bella was barely able to hide her surprise at the assumption behind Tanya's statement as she glanced up at Edward quickly. His expression was a anger mixture of anger, amusement, and annoyance. She raised her eyebrow at him questioningly, but he shook his head infinitismally. Bella frowned as she walked past Tanya, who was holding the door open, and into the room. Her mouth fell open in awe.

"This is absolutely gorgeous, Tanya," she said breathlessly.

The room was painted a soft, pastel blue with a darker blue trim that matched the curtains that spread across the panoramic window on the wall opposite the door. A bed adorned with dark blue sheets stuck out from the left hand wall. The bed frame was white, along with the rest of the furniture, and two white doors were set into the wall opposite the bed. The carpet was a beautiful cream color. Bella was astounded at how much she loved the décor and she turned to Edward, a huge smile on her face.

Tanya clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I just knew you would love it!" She beamed at Bella and Edward and then put her hands on her hips. "Just a few things you should know though. The first door leads to your bathroom and the second leads to the closet. There is a linen closet in the bathroom and a laundry chute down the hall for the towels and things. I'll leave you to get settled now," she said with a wink. "Just let me know if you need anything."

She moved to the door and Bella noticed that Edward was glaring at her back as she left. She waited until she thought Tanya would be out of earshot and then turned to face him, her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

Edward growled softly and stared at the door. "She was thinking some things that were very rude…and very inappropriate."

Bella turned pink. "Oh."

Edward shook his head, ridding himself of Tanya's thoughts and turned to look at Bella, suddenly seeming shy.

"Tanya assumed a lot by giving us this room together," he said, not quite meeting her eyes. "I'd understand if you would rather have a room to yourself."

Bella gaped at him for a moment and he grimaced. "A room to myself?" she finally said tonelessly. Edward looked down at the carpet.

"Well, yeah," he said slowly. "I mean…we're not married and…like I said, Tanya assumed a lot."

Bella stared at him again. "Edward Cullen…what alien planet do you live on? How could you even suggest that I would want to be anywhere, but here, in this room, with you? Are you insane?"

Edward smiled sheepishly and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. Bella joined him.

"Sorry," he said, sliding his arms around her and pulling her to lie against him, her back to his chest. "I just didn't want you to feel like you had to stay in this room because of me."

Bella shook her head and turned to kiss him lightly on the lips. They lay there for a long while, simply enjoying the relative silence and the joy of being together. Bella traced patterns on the back of Edward's hand and she heard him sigh happily several times.

As they lay there quietly, Bella mused that time was beginning to have less and less meaning for her. Concepts such as hours and minutes, morning and afternoon, had little consequence when she never slept and she had all the time in the world to do something. She smiled at the thought of eternity with Edward and turned slightly so that she could kiss him. She was surprised to find that he was looking at her calculatingly.

"What is it?" she asked curiously, searching his eyes.

He didn't say anything, but, after a moment, he seemed to have reached some decision. His golden eyes were shining. Distantly, Bella thought she heard Alice cry out happily and she furrowed her brow, waiting for his answer.

"Well?" she prompted after a while.

"It's nothing," he said, smiling slyly. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking?" she asked, smiling at the reversal of their rolls. Abruptly he stood up and started to stride out the door. Bella scrambled after him, startled at his sudden departure.

"What's going on?"

Edward smiled again. "I need to get my stuff out of the car and the Uhaul," he said. "It's been two hours since we arrived and everyone else is already done unloading."

"Oh."

Edward kissed her forehead lightly and looked down at her. "Why don't you go talk to Alice while I unpack?" he suggested. "She's looking for you anyway."

Bella nodded, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Okay," she said. He smiled and walked away, leaving her frowning after him. She pursed her lips.

Edward was keeping something from her, of that she was certain, and she was determined to find out what it was.


A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter has taken so long. I had a severe case of writer's block, but last night it broke. :) I know this is kind of a filler chapter, but I hope the ending is just enough of a cliffie to keep you reading.

Also, I've decided to start telling you what my playlist is for each chapter. I usually listen to music while I write and this story is no exception :D. So for this chapter we have: Basket Case by Greenday, A Whole New World from Aladdin, My Wish by Rascal Flatts, My Immortal by Evanescence, Your Song from Moulin Rouge, and Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts.