10.

"You still haven't explained to me how mind reading works," I murmured.

"You're changing the subject," Edward said, and I noted sadness in his voice and on his face. "Is your theory really that bad?"

I sighed and looked away.

He said, "It's like being in a room full of chattering people. Their voices are just a hum in the background, until I focus on one and then I can hear what they're thinking. I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I need to be fairly close, and often the more familiar I am with their mind, the farther I can be from them. But still, no more than a few miles. Most of the time I try to ignore it. That way it's easier to be 'normal' when I'm not answering questions people haven't said out loud... Now, are we finished with being evasive?"

I fingered the hem of my long sleeved t-shirt, picking mindlessly at a loose thread. "I ran into an old friend, from when I used to visit Forks as a young boy." Edward said nothing, perhaps sensing that this was not my way of avoiding the unspoken question. His face was interested and open. I kept Jacob's name out of the story, remembering the look on his face as he confessed that he'd technically just broken the treaty. "His father is a Quiluete elder." Edward froze as I said this. We sat for a short time in silence before he encouraged me to continue.

"He told me stories.. About vampires."

"And you immediately thought of me?" Edward asked quietly.

"Well. Your family was mentioned actually. But... the things he said did... fit."

"This was before today... recently... wasn't it," Edward mused.

"Yes, last night. Why?"

He looked at me with a pained expression. "You asked if I play with my food this morning."

Oh, that. I covered my face with my hands. "Sometimes the way you act makes me feel like I'm being toyed with," I confessed. Edward looked distressed and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "But you confirmed what I was already almost certain of."

"What's that?"

"That you're a... vegetarian, as you put it."

Edward grunted. "My diet... that's a rather important topic between us, don't you think?"

"No. I know I'm not on the menu."

Edward growled. "I don't want you to be on the menu, that doesn't mean– I make mistakes, Char. Human blood is hard to resist sometimes."

"Is it hard to resist right now?"

"Yes. Extremely so."

"But you aren't hungry. You've been... hunting recently. Or whatever you guys call it."

He looked confused. "How do you know that?"

"Your eyes."

Edward's face was contorted in shock.

I laughed at that, just a little, shrugging. "I– and most guys I know– get pretty pissy when I'm hungry. And... so do you, quite frankly. Your eyes are darker when you're in a worse mood. So... drawing the logical connection..."

He allowed his lips to turn up, but a moment later he was frowning fiercely again.

"Do you just not care?" he asked suddenly, his voice seething.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a vampire. I drink blood. Animal blood, mostly, but there's always a possibility I'll slip up."

I sighed. He really couldn't let go of this, could he? "I trust you not to."

"I have before," he told me.

"How old are you?" I asked then, completely ignoring his last comment. I wasn't about to sit around and discuss him eating me, though that seemed what he was most interested in doing.

"Seventeen," he answered promptly, apparently willing to let me steer the conversation.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

"Awhile," he admit after a moment, smiling a bit.

"So... Now that I've confirmed my theory, I do have a few more questions."

"You're too curious."

"How can you come out in the daytime?" I pressed.

"Myth." Edward was laughing at me.

"Burned by the sun?"|

"Myth."

"Sleeping in coffins?"

"Myth." Edward hesitated a moment, and then said in a peculiar tone, "I can't sleep."

"Not ever?"

"No."

Edward's face looked wistful, but I envied him.

"You're lucky," I muttered, and added weakly, "No nightmares."

"Do you have nightmares often?" Edward's voice was nearly inaudible.

"Every night. But... some nights not as bad as others." Given the day's events, I wondered if my dreams would be terrible or gentle.

I hardly wanted Edward to question me further, and he didn't. I suspected it was because he already guessed what my nightmares were about.

The car drifted down the black road, and a heavy silence settled between us. But it wasn't awkward, thankfully. Yet I couldn't let it stretch on; it occurred to me suddenly that I had no idea how much time I had with Edward, and for reasons I couldn't quite place, this distressed me. I felt like I couldn't waste a single minute with him.

"Why don't you hunt animals?" I asked him, leaning back into the head rest and closing my eyes. I paid attention to nothing but the sound of his voice as he responded.

"I don't want to be a monster," he said. "But I can't very well stop eating altogether."

"Would you die?" I wondered aloud, morbidly curious.

"No," he chuckled. "I would just slip slowly into madness and then go on an uncontrollable hunt for blood, except that I would no longer have the intellect to discern between human and animal."

I opened my eyes and stared at him; it felt like my eyelids were trying to curl up into my socket.

His expression was dark with amusement, and I understood that this was his way of trying to scare me off.

"Well, keep up with your diet then, please." I tried to keep my tone as noncommital as possible; it must have worked because he focused on the road once more, expression perturbed.

I glanced out the window and realized that our surroundings were very familiar.

"We're back already?" I exclaimed, looking at the clock. Barely 20 minutes had passed since we'd left Port Angeles. I looked at the speedometer and understood instantly.

"Dear God, we'll be a Volvo pretzel."

Edward looked confused. "Um, pardon?"

"You're going over 100," I told him a little dazedly.

"Well, yes. But I promise I'm a very good driver."

I would have argued, but he'd gotten me this far safely already.

All too soon Edward's car had been turned smoothly into Charlie's driveway. We sat in silence and blackness before I breathed deeply, and undid my seat belt.

I tried to think of something to say, but all I could manage was a simple "Goodnight, Edward."

I opened the car door and set one foot out into the misting rain.

"Char?" I heard behind me.

When I turned I found myself face to face with Edward, mere inches separating us.

"Will you promise me something?"

"Uhm, maybe." This close, I noticed that he smelled unnaturally good. I wondered if it was a vampire thing, or an Edward thing, and then had to ask myself where that thought had possibly come from.

He smiled, very briefly. "Don't go into the woods alone."

"Why?"

"I'm not always the most dangerous thing out there."

I nodded. "Sure thing."

Edward dipped his chin in approval and leaned away. I stepped out of the car, resting my hand on the frame for a brief moment as the rain drizzled against my back.

"Edward?"

He had been staring at his hands, but looked up at me curiously.

"Thank you," I said one more time before shutting the door and heading inside. As I crossed the threshold I became suddenly aware that I was hungry once more, which was funny considering I had finished eating under half an hour ago.

"Char?"

Charlie was sitting on the sofa, staring at me strangely as I came in.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You're back early, is all."

I looked at the clock. It wasn't quite eight yet.

"Damn good thing, too," I found myself saying before I was quite aware of thinking it. "I consider myself a pretty patient guy, but even I can only handle so much girl drama before I explode."

Charlie snorted, and I took it as some sort of agreement.

I quickly headed to the kitchen and made a grilled cheese sandwich, only because it was relatively fast and I was bloody hungry. And it was one of few things we had the ingredients for. Charlie and I lived on a buy-it-when-you-need-it basis, but I wondered if one of us shouldn't try to actually stock up our kitchen sometime.

I ate as I trudged upstairs, and as I had for the last two nights, kicked off my jeans and shoes and slept in whatever I had left on.

I woke up at 7 and eagerly bounced out of bed. No nightmares! Well, one... but it ended sooner rather than later when a car pulled alongside me on the dark road and all I had to do to escape was step inside.

I was throwing my things into my school bag, for once not dreading classes with Edward but anticipating them, when I realized: it was Saturday. I sank back into bed with a groan. This weekend was going to be a long one.