Hey. So I am really, really sorry for taking so long to update. I had a busy, busy summer. But since school started, I should be able to start updating more frequently. I know that I had said that I had several chapters already done, but I went back and re-read them and I didn't like them. So I deleted them and started over. This chapter took so long for me to write. Every time that I tried to sit down and write, I always got distracted… Well it finally got finished So here you go! =) make sure to review!!

Disclaimer:This is the official definition to disclaimer: to renounce a claim or right to. So instead of putting something clever or witty or just "not mine" I really can just put disclaimer from now on!

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Ten

Somehow, the week got lost in her and it was Saturday. I jogged down the stairs at eight thirty and found a note on the kitchen table.

Will, I have a conference in Seattle today. Just remembered. Having to speed all the way there. See you tonight, Mom

It was scribbled in her fastest handwriting, only used when she is extremely late for something. I laughed aloud and tossed the note into the trashcan. I went back up the stairs and went into the bathroom.

When I walked out ten minutes later, I went down to the kitchen again. I walked over to the front window and saw Sophia sitting on the hood of her Mustang, with one leg pulled up at the knee and one leg out, pretending to sun herself. It looked like the cover of a muscle car magazine. Even though she was in hiking gear, complete with a blue and purple plaid shirt and intense hiking boots. Her hair was even French braided in one long braid running down her back, with wispy curls around her face. She was wearing her signature jewelry too. Those necklaces and bracelets didn't even look out of place with her hiking gear. She wore them with everything. This just proved that they looked good with everything.

I looked down at my blue and black plaid shirt, boot looking tennis shoes, and laughed. I grabbed my phone off the counter of the kitchen and walked out the door. She didn't open her eyes until I was right beside her. She looked me up and down and laughed like me. "We match." she giggled. Inside and out I added mentally. "Will I was wondering..." I raised my eyebrows at her. "Do you actually want to go to Olympia, or are you up for anything to get you out of the dance?"

I considered that. Yup, anything to get me out of the dance. I repeated that to her. She smiled and said, "Well then I have something I want to show you." She slid off the hood of the car and handed me the keys. I turned around and walked to the door on the driver's side. She was already in the car, buckled in, getting out sunglasses from the glove compartment. I rolled my eyes and got in the car.

"Where are we going exactly?" I wondered aloud. She laughed at me. "Don't you worry. I won't let you get lost." I rolled my eyes. I wasn't worried, I can read a map. She laughed, "I didn't say that you couldn't." Great, now I'm thinking aloud. "Take the 111 to 110; follow it to La Push Road."

I drove the dictated route, following the roads onto the reservation. We made some twists and turns passing little houses and stores. We started climbing higher and higher into the rocky terrain. I looked over at Sophia when she told me to park the car.

It made sense to park it then, there really wasn't anywhere else to go. We had reached an end; all you could see around you was trees. Big, little, and all green.

Sophia smiled and stepped out of the car. She walked forward into the line of trees and disappeared. I got out of the car and tentatively stepped into the tree line. I saw her standing a few yards ahead of me, facing the opposite direction.

"Are you coming?" I smiled and followed her as she moved her way through the trees. She weaved through the trees as if she had done it a million times. I stumbled along behind her, cursing slightly every time I tripped over a hidden branch, or overgrown moss. I watched her hair swing down her back as she danced ahead of me, almost disappearing into the trees.

We must have hiked for hours, climbing at a slight incline the whole time. I was getting tired, but Sophia made her way ahead of me not winded in the slightest. She was excited to be going to this place, whatever it was. Something about it made it special. It started to get lighter in front of us. I almost called out to her when I heard the crashing of waves ahead. I couldn't see her anymore and suddenly she was right in front of me. Her eyes were gleaming and her skin almost seemed to glow, as if she was flushed.

"Come on!" she cried, grabbing my hand she started to pull me forward. My hand started to tingle where she held me in a vice-tight grip. The warmth spread until my whole body felt it. It was as if it already knew her touch from others. Moreover, not just the cold, hard, smooth skin. The way that her hand seemed to fit into mine like a puzzle piece. It was as if we were designed to be together, every part matching up.

God being around her made me sound so poetic, so artistic. She had taken me over completely. And I was very happy about it.

"Will, look." She pulled me out of my reverie. I had been staring at her face, its perfection so wonderful it hurt the rest of us normal people. I followed her extended arm down to her pointed finger.

We were standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The streams of light from the sun that had escaped from their cloudy prison above gleamed on the ocean. As couples walked down the beach, and the brave suffered through the cold water to trying to catch the perfect wave, we watched from the concealment of our cliff.

She walked forward, dropping my hand. When she got to the edge of the cliff, she inhaled deeply.

"Mhhhmmm." she let out. "I've always loved the sea. The concept of water for miles and miles without ever ending...and the salty, fishy, fresh smell."

She slithered down, swinging her legs over the edge. I ran up behind her. She giggled. "Will, I'm fine. Vampire reflexes, remember? Plus, I've done this many times before. I found it when we first came here a few years ago. This is my special place.... We all have a place, The Meadow, The River Bend, The Cottage..." I waited for her to go on, but she just stared out at the ocean. The sun broke through the clouds. Her eyes shot open and she hit the trees so fast, I almost didn't feel the air stir from her movement. I turned to face her.

"Sophia is something wrong?"

She nodded, "Remember when I told you that I'd show you what happens to me in the sunlight?" I nodded remembering that day in the lunchroom. "Well, please don't be startled, I wouldn't want you to fall off the cliff." I rolled my eyes at her.

She took one deep breath and stepped out into the sunlight that was still streaming down. I gasped.

Her skin sparkled like diamonds. Like little facets had been embedded into her skin. "This is why we can't go out in the sunlight, people would know that we're... different."

"Sophia, you're beautiful."

She sneered. "Will this is the skin of a killer. I have this beauty because... God! I don't even know why! You'd have to be crazy to willingly choose this life...I mean knowing what you were giving up and still choosing this..." She had her hands twisted in her beautiful hair and then they moved down her face, as in realizing what she had said. "O God I mean... without any other options...I mean..." She trailed off. "I'm sorry, if someone were to choose this life without having any other options, they would be crazy. What I said originally was offensive, and rude to someone I care about."

I smiled at her tentatively. "If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea what you're talking about."

She smiled, "Thank God for that. It means there's still time."

I was confused. "Still time for what?"

She turned her head. "Time for you to come to your senses and change your mind about me."

I stood and shook my head, no freaking way was I gonna let her go. "Not a chance." She turned her body to face the trees, away from me. I walked up behind her.

She moved back into the tree line. The sun went behind the clouds a moment later. She stepped out from the trees. "The sun made me realize how late it has gotten. We should start to head back." I nodded, not caring what time it was. I'm sure she was right, but she had it so wrong. She wasn't the monster that she thought she was. She dragged me along most of the way, singing a song that I had never heard before. It was an oldie, really old. I could tell because pop rock went out of style in the 2020's and it was early pop rock.

When we got to the last mile or so, Sophia smiled at me. "Wanna do something fun?" I looked at the fire in her eyes, and the impish smile on her face. "I don't know, does it involve physical pain?"

She laughed, "It depends on what you count as physical pain... We're going to race to the car."

I laughed at her absurdity, "Yea right, OK, ha-ha, very funny."

She looked at me with wide eyes, "Please, I won't run full speed." I didn't believe her for a minute and didn't waste time telling her.

She smiled and said, "Run straight ahead, don't turn, don't move to the left or right at all, don't try and follow me. You'll hit the Mustang eventually. Ready, set, go!" She was gone, in the complete opposite direction that she told me to go. I shook my head and started to run, full speed, straight ahead. I got to the Mustang and collapsed on the ground. My heart was pounding so loud that I couldn't hear anything. Cool hands touched my neck. "Are you OK?" She was so much closer than she had ever been before, her sweet smell overtook my senses.

"I thought... I was supposed to be the guy... all fit and can run... without dying... or choking up a lung."

She giggled, "What are you saying I'm not a girl?" She slipped around to my front, her legs curled up beneath her. Her hands rubbed my shoulders.

My breathing slowed and Sophia whispered, "Will." I looked up and her eyes were right in front of mine, her face closer to mine then it had ever been in the months that I had known her. "I want to try one thing..." Her breath overwhelmed me. It was sweeter from her mouth, a condensed version of the smell that followed her around everywhere she went. "Hold very still", she warned. She started to lean forward. I kept still like she told me too, not wanting to ruin this moment. Her lips barely brushed mine, and she started to pull back. When she came closer again, her lips pressed harder on mine.

Fireworks shot off in my stomach, and my lips felt like they had been electrocuted. The tense energy that had been running between us since I moved here, was finally connected, in the way that it should be. I knew that this was how we should be, from here on out. After this magical feeling, just holding hands or being near her wouldn't cut it.

I ruined that amazing moment, by being an idiot.

I slipped my hands behind her, into her hair and pulled her tighter against me. Her arms slid around me for a nanosecond and then she stiffened. She all but flew back into the trees. She landed on a branch far out of arms reach. I stood, "I'm sorry!"

She shook her head. "I'm so much stronger than I thought." She started to swing her way down. When she landed in front of me, she finished. "I can't ever lose control when I'm with you...I could kill... to lose you would be like..." She couldn't finish, but I understood. To lose her would be a fate worse than the slowest, most painful death.

I reached out and put my hand under her chin, "It was my fault, you told me to hold still and I didn't listen." She started to shake her head, but I held my hand firm. She was in a good enough mood to act like I could hold her still. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault."

She smiled and said, "How was I ever living without you?" I shook my head and told her that I had no clue. We got in the car, and because I was in a good mood, I let her drive. She started to put the roof down. When I protested, because of the antique leather seats and the rain she laughed at me. As she tapped her head she said, "Will, I know that we're safe for the twenty minutes it will take to get home."

"What are you clairvoyant now?"

She laughed at me. "No, but I do know after watching the weather reports this morning and then consulting with a physic." She stopped suddenly and made herself very busy with making sure the roof was back properly.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"You said that you consulted with a physic."

"Did I?"

"Uh, yeah, you did."

"Oh, well, OK fine. Yes, I did consult with a physic this morning."

"Who?" I was really curious now.

"Someone in my family."

"Sophia! Tell me."

"No."

"Just tell me."

"Will that conversation would take way to long and I need to get you home before the rain starts."

"Fine."

I had forgotten how fast she drove. Damn her, getting me to let her drive. I watched the ocean roll by as we drove a new way home, across the cliffs. She flipped on the radio and tuned to the oldest oldie station she could find. She weaved her hand into mine and sang along to every song. She didn't just know the words, she sang intricate harmonies for everyone. I raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled, "My music was good." she stated simply. I laughed.

When we got to my house, her smile, which had been on her face the whole drive, started to slide away. She inhaled heavily and then exhaled through her mouth. "I can't stay. You have visitors."

I looked away from her face and saw Layla on my porch swing with my mother and a woman who looked about my mother's age. It had to be Layla's mother. They hadn't seen me yet.

Sophia leaned over across the seat and whispered in my ear, "I'll see you later." She kissed me on the cheek and pushed me back. As I got out of the car, she flipped on the switch and the hood started to come back and cover the car.

I shut my door and the noise made the women on the porch turn to look at me. As Sophia peeled out of our driveway, Layla's smile dropped and the other woman's pleasant grin became a frown.

I walked up the steps like I hadn't realized anything. "Hey Mom, Layla." I said simply. My mother smiled at me and said, "Was that Sophia Cullen?" I nodded. "Oh she is such a sweet girl, comes from such a nice family too. Is she coming back? Are you going to the dance together?" Only in a town this small would, a mother as disorganized as my own would know when the high school dance is.

I shook my head, "No mom the dance started..." I checked on my phone. "It started like almost an hour ago."

My mom's face sank. "Oh that's too bad. I really enjoy her." The other woman that was beside mom twisted her grimace into a small smile. It had something to do with the Cullen's, I could tell. Mom, oblivious, smiled and looked at our guests. "Oh Will, this is Layla's mother, Andrea White. We were best friends in high school."

I nodded at her and smiled, "Nice to meet you Mrs. White."

She shook her head at me, "It's Ms. White and please call me Andrea." I smiled and nodded.

I looked at mom, "So what's going on?" She shrugged, "Ask them I was pulling in and saw them sitting in their car."

I looked at Layla, but she shrugged her shoulders, "Don't look at me, I was surfing down at First Beach and my mom told me to high tail it home, 'We've got something that we need to do.'" She laughed and Andrea huffed.

"That is not true. I simply told her that seven hours of trying to surf is enough and that she should come home. I happened to think of stopping by in mid-conversation with her."

I laughed now too, but hearing Layla mention surfing at First Beach made me think of Sophia and our day on the cliff... No, I told myself, focus on here and now.

"Well it's great of you to stop by." I didn't mean it as a dismissal, but the women took it as one.

"Well, Will, they were actually going to stay for dinner." My mom said brusquely.

I nodded, "Well I had a long day, Sophia and I went hiking. I'm gonna go and shower." I tried to ignore it when Andrea's face drop open; I knew it was the comment about spending the day with Sophia. That had to be it; it wasn't like there was anything wrong with going hiking.

I opened the front door and ran up the stairs. I hopped in the shower and tried to ignore the laughing and giggling I heard coming from the kitchen.

When I went into the kitchen, my mom was cooking. She does not cook. Ever. One of her favorite things to say is 'If it can't be ordered to-go then why bother at all?'

Yet here she was in our kitchen, making Tex-Mex enchiladas. It smelled like Chewy's, this old time restaurant in Austin. We ate the enchiladas, and didn't get food poisoning, and then they made me watch some chick flick that they all loved.

As soon as our company left, I ran up the stairs and threw on my pajamas. I opened my window and the wind brought in a cool breeze. It smelled like rain, of course, but fresh rain. Like the kind you get when it hasn't rained in weeks and weeks and then it just starts to pour. I walked away from my window and slipped into bed.

I was almost asleep when I heard the gentlest thud on my floor. I looked up and saw Sophia leaning against the window frame. I jumped. She had said she'd see me later, but I assumed that she meant tomorrow or on Monday at school.

"Hey." She whispered. She slowly made her way over to my bed. I rolled over and flipped on my light. I've had this dream before and when the light comes on, she disappears.

When I rolled back, she was there. She smiled as I moved closer to her, sitting in the edge of me bed, one leg beneath her. She had changed from the days clothes and was in comfortable, though expensive looking sweats. She had taken her hair out of the braid, and her hair was curly and tousled as it fell around her face, glowing in the light from the lamp.

She smiled as I took her hand. She watched as I pulled them up in front of our faces and intertwined our fingers together. I watched her face as she put her other hand on my cheek, tracing the contours of my face, down my neck, across my shoulder, and then finally down on top of my heart. She left it resting there; I knew that she could feel the thudding of my heart, and how it was faster than normal.

"How did you know I'd leave my window open?" I asked, still watching her face as she watched her hand on my heart. She giggled at me and smiled a tiny little half smile. Her eyes were still on her hand when she spoke.

"I've been doing this for a while." I was utterly confused. "Meaning that I've been visiting you for a while." I looked at her closely.

"How long is a while?" She rolled her eyes in the back of her head slowly, most would think that she was trying to remember, but I could tell it was just for emphasis. I laughed at her.

"Just the past couple of months. I like to watch you sleep. I think it's kind of entertaining."

That made my stomach drop. When I was little, I talked in my sleep. When I had good dreams, bad dreams, or any dreams, my mom would come in and watch me sleep for the same reason that Sophia did. She would tell me in the morning what I talked about. She told me that I had stopped when I turned thirteen.

"Why am I entertaining?" I asked slowly. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know. She shrugged. "You talk in your sleep. I like to make up what you're dreaming about." I tried not to shudder. I could just imagine what she had heard the past few months. "I started coming right after our first conversation in chemistry." I exhaled. I had no idea how much she had heard. "Don't worry, I didn't hear anything to terribly embarrassing." She teased. I knew she was just trying to make me feel better. The dreams that I had in the past couple of months were very personal. I couldn't imagine her hearing anything that would have come out of my mouth.

I lay back on my bed. I closed my eyes and put my free arm over my eyes. I could feel her eyes staring at me. I could almost see the worried expression on her face. "Will?" she said slowly. "Are you OK?" She dropped my hand. I barely felt the bed shift as she crawled up to my side. I spread my legs out and let out a small moan. "Will?!" she was very worried now.

"What have you heard?" I said very slowly, through my teeth. I pulled my arm off my eyes and threw it on the pillow beside me. I opened my eyes. Hers were right above mine, big and golden. She bit her bottom lip. I sat up on my elbow. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing important, in the beginning. Some nights you didn't even talk. You'd just toss and turn. The night I saw you in Port Angeles you tossed all night. I thought that you were sick."

That surprised me. I thought that I had slept easily. She must be wrong. Whenever I had been with her, I always slept easily.

"Then you started talking almost every night. Sometimes you just said my name, others you would hold whole conversations. I only heard your side, but I have a good imagination. Then last night you said-"

I cut her off. "You've been coming every night?" She nodded. "How is that possible?"

She looked at me confused. "What do you mean?" Her tone mirrored her eyes and face.

"I mean, if you spend all your time watching me sleep, when do you?" She laughed aloud. If my mom hasn't of been all the way downstairs then I would have freaked. "Why are you laughing?" She shook her head and held up one finger. I waited.

"I am laughing because I forgot that I hadn't told you."

"Told me what?" I asked warily.

Her eyes were sparkling. "I forgot that you didn't know that I can't sleep."

I looked at her in awe. "Can't?" I repeated.

She nodded. "Not just don't, can't. I don't need to. My body doesn't wear down, ever. So I don't need it."

"Oh." Was all I could manage.

I laid back down, one arm over my stomach and the other thrown out. Sophia laid down and curled up on top of my spread arm. I pulled it in and wrapped it around her shoulder, instinctively. She tensed and I realized how close to my neck she was.

I dropped my arm about to seconds to late. She hit the wall next to my window.

Dammit! Why was this so hard for me to get through my head? She makes the moves, you hold still. I watched as she turned to look out the window. She was barely breathing. Now it was my turn to call out.

"Sophia?"

"I'm fine Will, don't worry. I just need to get under control." I waited and watched. Slowly she turned. "I think that having you know I come was a bad-"

"No!" I scrambled out of bed and made my way over to her. She turned and I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Hey… don't go. I can behave." I said lowly. She turned and slipped her arms around my waist.

"Hold still." She commanded. She put her head on my chest, right below my heart, and inhaled deeply. She stayed there for a few seconds and then lifted her head and rested it on my shoulder, her nose against my neck. She shuddered. She had to be hurting herself. I knew that her throat would be on fire.

"Sophia…" I started to croon, but she slightly shook her head. She started to inhale, winced and finished her breath. She held it for a long time. When she slowly released it, I cautiously wrapped my arms around her neck and my hands slipped into her hair.

As I did this, she started breathing deep even breaths. She tilted her head even more and kissed my neck softly. I shuddered at her kiss. It reminded me of earlier today and how I had screwed up.

She sighed. "Finally the appropriate reaction." She pulled out of my arms and turned to look out at the purple mountains. She thought my shudder was one of repulse not of attraction.

"Sophia, as much as you'd like to believe that I will somehow snap and start the running and screaming, it isn't going to happen. So stop thinking," I wrapped my arms around her waist, "that I'm shuddering in disgust or freight." I put my head on her shoulder and kissed her neck. She put her hand in my hair.

"You didn't let me finish telling you what you said last night."

"Hmm?" I mumbled into her shoulder.

"You asked me what I had heard when you were talking in your sleep."

"Oh." I pulled my head up and pulled my arms back. It was my turn to walk away. I went and sat on my bed. I looked over at her. "Well?" I questioned ready to get it over with; whatever terribly embarrassing thing I had said just out in the open. I could have cried out my undying love for pig Latin or I could have started singing the alphabet.

She walked over to me and sat down beside me. She weaseled her way underneath my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. "You said my name over and over again." I looked down at her exasperated. "Then, right before I left… you said that you loved me." I was still looking at her, with a new sense of awe.

She was almost… glowing. In a way that I had never seen her before, she looked incredibly happy.

"That's all I said?" She smacked my side. "What? It's not as if you didn't already know that. I could have said a lot more embarrassing things and you make me freak out over that?"

She sat up and looked at me. "Will, this isn't about what I know or knew. It's the way you said it. It was as if you knew I was there and you were speaking to me. It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Granted I don't remember my human life very well, and I live with Emmett and Jacob, so sweet a word commonly used around me but still." I laughed at her.

She returned her head to my shoulder and said quietly, "Will you say it again?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you tell me, to my face?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you love me. Will you?"

I easily pulled her head off my shoulder and put my hands on her face. I looked into her eyes and I knew how hard it was for her to ask me for those three simple words. "Sophia, I love you. Every single bit of you. I love your hair, no matter how it's done. I love your eyes, black or gold. Your outfits are always perfect and match your perfect face. Your smell is intoxicating. Someone should bottle it up and sell it that is how perfect it is. I love you."

Her smile grew larger with each word. She leaned in a kissed me. I kept telling myself to hold still, to let her make the moves.

Uhuh. Sure, that was going happen.

I wrapped my hands in her hair and pulled her against me. She kept kissing me as I pulled her on top of me as I laid back. She kissed me slowly, hesitantly. My heart was beating in my chest and I knew that the pulsing blood would make it harder for her. As I thought this, she pulled away.

I let her lay to my side. She curled up as I pulled her into me. She looked up at me and touched my lips with her fingers. She traced down my face, across my jaw, and then back up.

We started to talk. She wanted to know everything about me, and I was more than willing to share with her. I talked about my childhood, my friends, my school, my favorite colors, my old aspirations, my first imaginary friend. I told her everything that someone would now after a lifetime rather than an hour.

When I asked about her, it got tricky. She dodged every slight attempt to crack open her past she switched topics to put it back on me. I let her, I could tell that she needed to tell me in her own time and that she would tell me.

My eyes started to droop as she started to hum a sweet, almost melancholy melody.

"Will, go to sleep." I shook my head at her, in protest. "Yes." She demanded.

"No… I'm awake… I can stay awake for a little while longer…"

"Will, you have been on the boundaries of sleep for a while. It's OK; I'll be here when you wake up." She curled up even tighter against me and pulled my arms around her. I shivered at her touch, she was very cold. Through my thin t-shirt, she felt like a frozen rock. She seemed to realize this and told me to get under my blankets. I did because I was too tired to argue with her. When I was under them, she curled right up to me again and started to hum that melody again. I drifted off to sleep, her sweet scent enveloping me.

________________________________________________________________________

So what did you think? Make sure to review!