The sun was peeking over the horizon. Bella was fighting back sleep. I could hear her stomach rumbling from hunger.

"Rose, the sun is coming up. We should probably rest," I called up to Rosalie.

I heard her sigh heavily. Fine. We can stop. We'll have to find an abandoned house or something.

I followed Rosalie as she zig-zagged around, searching for an empty house. I listened for thoughts, or at this time of day, dreams. She didn't find any suitable houses in actual civilization, so we went for a more rural setting. A few minutes later, we stumbled upon an abandoned farm house. It was in a moderate stage of dilapidation, but it would do for now.

The floorboards creaked beneath my feet as I carried Bella inside. She was barely awake. "Where are we?" she asked.

"We're just stopping for some rest," I sat her on the floor. "Is there a bed or anything like one for her?" I turned to Rosalie, who had just ran through the house.

"No, there isn't," Rosalie replied, sitting on an old wooden table in the kitchen. Or what appeared to be the remains of a kitchen.

"It's okay," Bella said, her voice flat and eyelids heavy. "I'm so tired now, I could sleep on nails and wouldn't notice." She laid on the floor, putting her hands beneath her head. I sat next to her. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

I forgot that Bella did not know the full truth of my, um, condition. To her, I was just some freak that ran fast. She didn't know that I hadn't slept in nearly hundred years. "Yes," I replied, "Yes, I am."

No, I wasn't. But I wanted to lie next to her.

I lied next to her, our faces almost touching. Thoughtlessly, I grabbed her hand and held it firmly. I smiled at her. "Go to sleep. When you wake up, we'll go find Alice."

She murmured something before closing her eyes one final time before giving into sleep. I looked at her for a moment, noting how peaceful she looked.

How precious Rosalie sneered.

I turned my head towards Rosalie and let go of Bella's hand. I stood up and went into the kitchen where Rosalie still sat on the table. "Alright, Rose. It's time for an explanation for all of this. How did they find us?"

Rosalie widened her eyes before rolling them, "Are you really that arrogant? You really thought that Jasper and James would never find you, even by accident? Edward, Chicago might be big for humans, but when you're one of us and can cover the entire thing in a matter of minutes, Chicago is like an ant farm."

I knew what she was saying was true, and I should have known better than to try to hide from a vampire in the town that said vampire lives. It was stupid. I had been blinded by my selfish need to be near Bella.

"So that's it? They just happened upon me? I wasn't even at the apartment when they came last night."

"No, they saw you and some girl at Magnificent Mile awhile back. They put false thoughts at the forefront of their minds so you wouldn't realize that they were looking right at you."

I thought back to when I bought my bed with Alice. I knew James and Laurent were there- I had read their thoughts. But my mind-reading ability was limited in that I could only read what a person was most blatantly thinking about, not all the thoughts they were having at one moment in time.

"So what? They followed me?" I asked. I had made sure they hadn't. I had a headache once we got back to the apartment that day from having concentrated so hard on the tenor of their thoughts. I hadn't smelled them either.

"James managed to get a human to do it for him. To follow you, I mean. After James found out where you were living, he immediately told Jasper. Then Jasper staked out the place a few times before deciding to...Visit. Last night, he didn't know you weren't there. So when we got there and no one was home, he decided we could wait for you and your humans."

"What did he have in mind for his 'visit?'"

Rosalie looked down, "I don't know specifically, but I know it ended with Alice and whatshername-"

"Bella."

"It ended with Alice and Bella probably dying. You know Jasper and his sick sense of humor. Use your imagination."

"No thanks," I muttered, feeling sick at the thought of what gross delights Jasper had in mind.

"Anyway, we waited, trashed the place to pass the time. Then we heard someone talking outside the apartment door and messing with the door knob. We hid, just to assess the situation. They came inside. The taller girl, she apparently didn't live with you all, she seemed to think that the mess was the natural state of the apartment and complained about Alice living in such squalor. Alice was..Sleeping?"

"Drunk. Probably passed out."

"Yes, well, the taller girl put Alice to sleep on the sofa, put her things on the kitchen counter, and left. So we came out of hiding, and decided to just sit and wait for you. Jasper wanted to see the look on your face when you walked in an saw us all sitting around your helpless, sleeping human. But you took longer than Jasper had patience for, so he decided to just take her and turn it into a game. A scavenger hunt. Although, he's not going to be leaving any clues behind for you. He wants you to have to embrace all your vampiric abilities in order to find him"

"Aren't you a clue? Didn't he leave you behind to point me in the right direction?" I asked.

"No. When I opted to stay behind in case you came by the house, I told Jasper it was because I didn't care about any of this, but that if you did come looking for him, I would lie to you about where to go."

"Didn't he sense your dishonesty?"

"He could have, had it not been that I was primarily feeling loyalty towards you. He felt my loyalty, but he didn't know it was loyalty to you- not him."

"Wow," I scratched my head, "You're a sneaky girl. I'm impressed you went to the trouble for me."

Rosalie shrugged, "You were always better to me than the rest of them ever were, despite our...Dietary differences. Speaking of which, I am rather thirsty. And by the looks of it, you are, too."

I looked at Rosalie, the venom in her eyes had eaten away at the purple contacts, revealing her hungry black eyes- no distinction between pupils and irises. I assumed my own looked similar, it having been nearly a week since I last fed.

"You can go first," I offered, not wanting to leave Bella alone with a hungry vampire. I trusted Rosalie, but every slips up.

She looked outside at the sunny day. "Maybe I'll come across a farmer or something. I hope I don't have to get too close to civilization before happening on a human."

I shrugged, not sure what to say. Obviously I'd prefer it if she didn't happen on a human, and if she did, not to kill it. But I also knew I couldn't ask her to go against what she was.

"Well, wish me luck," Rosalie flashed me a mischievous smile and a wink before running outside into the sunlight.

I roamed around the farmhouse, seeing if there was anything useful I could find. I went upstairs. It was mostly empty except for a few stray pieces of old furniture. From upstairs I could hear Bella shivering. It didn't seem cold to me, but then again, I never felt cold. I searched through a closet and found an old, raggedy blanket. I shook it, making sure there were no bugs on it.

I went downstairs. Bella still lay on the floor, her legs drawn slightly to her chest. She was still wearing her dress from last night, but her hair had fallen from Alice's updo and was now wind-swept and messy. And she still looked beautiful to me.

I laid the blanket over her small frame and sat on the floor across the room from her.

I sighed heavily and waited for Rosalie to get back, turning over my thoughts. I thought of Alice. I thought of how I would tell Bella- if I told her- what I was really was. I could leave out the fact that I live on blood. I could just tell her Oh, well, I can run incredibly fast, my senses are all vastly superior to that of a regular person, I'm stronger than any human, and I read minds- save yours. That would be enough, wouldn't it? No need to scare her with any vampire talk, especially when I didn't even drink human blood.

I owed Bella the truth. I'd dragged her into this. Yes, she had invited me into her life, but I should have known better than try to live with a human. She deserved the truth. But I knew the truth would scare her off. And I didn't want her to leave- Even after we rescued Alice.

But maybe she could handle it. I thought back to the night we first met. There had been something in her eyes that suggested she was different. No, she had not been as good and innocent as I had thought her to be, as the situation with Carlisle had proven, but I knew she was a lot braver than most humans.

I covered my face with my hands as I remember Carlisle. Why would Bella do something like that? How could she? Did she know he was married? Had he tricked her into it? Had she tricked him into it? Was she using him? Was he using her? Did she love him?

I thought about how Jasper was most likely headed to Mississippi. I had lived there with them for a few years a couple decades ago. It was when I was at my most desperate to rid myself of my vampirism.

These thoughts swirled about in my head for what seemed like forever until Rosalie returned.

Her eyes were bright red, and there was a slight pink tint to her cheeks. "How far did you have to go to find a human?"

"Not too far. You ready to go get yours?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll watch Bella?"

"Sure," she rolled her eyes.

"Rose..."

"Yes, Edward. It's not like there's anywhere for her to run to around here anyways."

"I'm more worried about something finding her."

"Don't worry," Rosalie assured me. "Now go get something to drink."

"Alright. I'll be back soon."

I left, hoping that putting my trust in Rosalie to keep Bella safe was a good decision.

A/N: Woopwoop, another chapter. This would've been up sooner, except there was a major storm here the other night and my laptop's power cord got zapped and no longer worked, so my computer was running on nothing but battery power while I was sleeping and when I opened my computer the next morning, it was practically void of any power. Lamesauce. And then my modem somehow also got zapped, so I couldn't get on the internet. So I had to buy a new modem (well, my dad had to buy a new modem, bwhaha) and I had to buy a new power adapter for my computer ($70 WTF??) Anywho. Time for responding to my reviewers' questions ^_^ And oh, Bella and Alice's dresses will REALLY be in my profile now...I totally forgot to put them up two chapters ago :s ALSOOOOO: If you've seen the New Moon clips from Comic Con..What did you think?? Let me know!

slyt: Edward didn't dance because...Well, the first time I wrote that chapter, he did dance :O I'm not sure why I didn't have him dance in the final version of that chapter. I think just for pacings sake. The dancing scene didn't seem of integral importance to me, so I scrapped it. However, if you'd like to read it, I still have it, just let me know :D As for what Bella did that you weren't sure about, the way I wrote it, some might be able to infer what she did, but it will be explicitly stated soon. :) As for Bella running off...Yes, it was her idea to come along, but now she is starting to realize that she has no clue to Edward is or anything about him. I think reality is setting in for her now, that maybe Edward isn't this sweet, shy guy that she always saw him as. Thanks for your reviews and everything..They always make me smile :)

Dawn Run: Yep, Esme found out Bella and Carlisle's little secret! Bwhaha :) I think that was your only question, so..Thanks for always reviewing..You're such a sweetheart ^_^

emzigale07: Wow, your review was like..Amazing. Lol. As for whether other traditional pairings such as Jasper/Alice and Rosalie/Emmett will happen..I'm not sure. I know where things are going for Bella and Edward, but to be honest, I haven't put tons of forethought into the other characters..At least, I haven't definitively decided what to do with them yet. So maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to see ;) :P

RealMenDoSparkle: We'll find out what Bella is up to next chapter :)

And thanks to my other reviewers..Y'all didn't have any questions, but you guys are flipping awesome ^_^