Hi. Uhh, I think, even though you all reviewed, as I asked, I think I owe everyone an apology… so, sorry for going off on everyone last chapter. As I went back and read it again, I realized that all I was doing was yelling at you about how much you didn't review, and I feel bad, hehe. Please forgive me? Oh! I know how to make it up to you!

Hehe, extra long chapter, plus no crazy a/n thingy!

Chapter 10:

-Ideas-

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3RD POV

"Edward is going crazy with this!" Alice exclaimed, falling back into the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

Esme had nothing to say. She just looked down at the ground, arms folded across her chest as though she were trying to hold herself together.

Emmett, who had been deathly quiet up to this point, let go of Rose's hand and put it on his mother figure's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Maybe Bella would know something," Rosalie suggested.

"Yes, that is possible, but it might not be the best idea to bring her into-" Rosalie cut Carlisle off.

"Yeah, but she's already been brought into it," she pointed out.

Carlisle sighed. "Too true."

"Rose and I could talk to her," Emmett suggested.

Alice nodded. "They'd be the ones to get a few answers," she assured.

After much consideration, Carlisle nodded. "Fine."

---

Bella's POV

Jake had helped me to get the back of my dress undone, and after that, he laft me alone.

I hung the dress up, put my night clothes on, and tried to go to sleep, but it was a wasted effort.

So much was going through my mind that it wasn't even funny.

I couldn't help but think that Edward had broken his promise to me. Granted, he only said that he'd give me a week, and he hasn't broken that so far, but who's to say that he won't? You never know with him, and that was the worst part. He scared me to the point of not even being in the same room as him.

Plus, he had taken my ring! Jake didn't know yet, but who knew how long that'd last?

After lying there for what seemed like hours, I realized what I had to do to have some peace of mind.

I had to pay my parents a well over-due visit.

I got out of bed,, and got my dark blue cloak from its place atop my mirror.

I placed it on m shoulders, and tip-toed to my door. I opened it as quietly as I could, and slipped through, closing it behind me gently. I rushed past Jacob –who was asleep at my doorway—and sped down the stairs, to the stables.

The wind was blowing hard tonight, and the snow hadn't stopped falling since last week, so when I got outside, I pulled my cloak tighter around me, and shivered, but continued toward my destination.

As I turned the corner, I saw two shadows. One large one, a man by the looks of it, and a smaller one, a woman. I instantly knew that the larger one was Emmett, Esme's son, so that calmed my instincts to go run and hide a tiny bit.

I continued on my way and was just about to enter the stables when my name was called.

"Bella!"

Out of instinct, I turned around to see Emmett and Rosalie coming toward me. "Yes?" I called back.

Somehow, they were right in front of me the next second after I called their names. Hadn't they just been over there? Maybe I AM going crazy…

"Can we ask you some questions?" Rosalie asked. I nodded. "Well, let's go inside for this; you must be freezing." She took my hand and led me inside.

--

"Can you tell us how he kidnapped you?"

Of course I could. "He locked me in my room and took me through the mirror to his lair."

They nodded, and I couldn't help but feel good. They had believed me! Almost no one else would have if I had even had the guts to tell them—in fact, it hardly made any sense to me and I was the one who it had happened to!

"Did he do anything… eh… wrong, while you were with him?"

"Nope." And it was true—he hadn't. "He kept me well fed and rested."

"Did you happen to see anything… weird?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"A manikin and a painting of me in a wedding dress."

Rosalie's eyes went wide, as did Emmett's. "Really?" she asked. I nodded. She shook her head in disappointment. "Oh, Edward, Edward, Edward. What are we going to do with him?"

I wasn't even sure that I was supposed to hear that last part, but I did.

Rosalie stood up and Emmett followed suit, "Thank you, Bella. This has really helped." And then they were gone.

I stood up from my chair as well, and ran out the door, back to the stables, as I had originally planned on doing.

This time I made it there with no distractions, for which I was grateful for.

I paid the man with the carriage and told him where I wished to go, and after I grabbed a few dozen roses, I got in the carriage and he took me to the cemetery.

Once we got there, he dropped me off and asked if I'd like him to wait while I finished up. I told him no, and gave him some extra money for a drink for himself, hoping it would get him inside. No one needed to be out in this weather but me.

I glided slowly through the cemetery, placing roses on the ones of people that I knew in some form or another. But, no matter how vain and rude it sounded, I wasn't here for them.

Soon, I came to a stop in front of a large cabin, my mother and father's grave.

I stopped in front of the steps that led up to it, kneeling down in the snow. Wetness instantly soaked through the cloak and thin dress I was wearing, but I didn't really notice enough to care.

Charles and Renee Swan

Beloved Parents

1894-1918

1896-1918

They had died when I was eight. They were one of the firsts to be taken away by the epidemic. Jacob and his mother had moved to another part of Paris and had taken me with them, thinking that we were to be safe there, which we were.

We couldn't afford a hotel, let alone a house, and the owner of Opera Populaire told us that if Jake's mother would participate in the shows at the opera, we could stay at the opera until we had enough money to leave. It only took a few months to get the money that we needed to buy a large MANSION, but, no matter how much money we had, we didn't have the heart to leave the place that had sheltered us when we needed it most.

And now here I was, out in the snow, with a crazy obsessed stalker on my tail, in a cemetery, where said stalker could get me at any moment.

I set the rest of the roses down in front of me, sort of like an offering, and began to talk to my long-since departed parents.

"Hi, mum and dad, sorry I haven't visited in so long, I've been busy, but I promise to visit you again really very soon.

"Mother, do you remember Jacob Black? He's the one I always played with as a child. He proposed to me! Can you believe it? But, I'm kind of worried, you know, to get married to him. You see, mother, there is another man. His name is Edward. I keep telling myself that I absolutely loathe him, that I positively hate him, but, I don't know if it is out of pity or of fright –he kidnapped me, you see,- but as long as he is in the picture, I don't wish to marry anyone.

"He scares me, father, and I don't know what to do. I can't say I love him, because that would be absolutely unethical, but, oh, I don't know. I'm sure you would, you're good it these kinds of things. He keeps telling me that 'fear can turn to love' and things like that. He loves me, you see, but he kidnapped me and won't leave me alone, so I wouldn't exactly say that I LOVE him, but, I guess I AM fond of him… I don't mind being around him."

"Isabella…"

My eyes snapped open and widened as I looked around for the source of my name. It sounded exactly like my father, and it sounded like it was coming from their grave!

I decided to take a chance. "Father?"

"Isabella…"

I surely didn't believe in ghosts, but I couldn't help but believe right them; was it truly my father? "Father? Is that you?"

"Isabella…"

Completely forgetting any rational thoughts I might have had up to this point, I stood up from the snow-covered ground and ran up the steps, to the cabin which held my dead parents.

I wrenched the door open, and peered inside. Seeing nothing, I journeyed even farther in. I let my hand graze against the wall as I walked, calling my father's name every once in a while.

When I reached the end of the cabin, I had given up. He wasn't here; it was just a trick my mind had decided that it would be funny to play on me.

I sighed, and turned around to leave.

Something grabbed me from behind, pressing me against something cold and hard.

Edward's chest.

"Miss me?" he whispered in my ear, making me struggle to get away, though I knew I wouldn't. "Have I ever told you that I am very good at imitating, say, dead fathers?"

"How DARE you imitate my dead father! You're horrid! I HATE YOU!" I screeched, and he covered my mouth with his hand. I tried to bite down on it, but to no avail.

----

"Bella?"

I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge him, and continued my position on the bed, arms folded tightly across my chest, facing opposite of him as he sat next to me.

"Please talk to me, Bella."

Once again, I shook my head.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I couldn't give you a week. It's your fault; if you hadn't gone off and gotten eng—"

"Oh, so now you're going to blame me?!" I screeched, standing up and going over to the manikin. I knocked it over with one of my arms, and then spun to glare at him with the most murderous look I have ever given anyone. "How DARE you."

He sighed, and stood up, walking out of the room. I saw my ring on his desk, and, while I had the opportunity, I swiped it up and put it back on my finger. Then I followed after him. He was seated at his piano, so I came up to him.

"What are you?" I asked suddenly.

He spun around to look at me.

He smiled a wonderful crooked grin. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Try me."

He leaned in closer to me, picking up my hand and putting it to his face. He saw the ring on my finger, took it off, put it in his pocket. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent at my wrist. "Alright. I will. I'm a vampire."

I yanked my hand away from him. "You jest!"

He chuckled. "See, I told you that you wouldn't believe me. And he was right, I didn't. He wasn't a vampire! And, if he was, that would prove so much…

--

After that, he wouldn't stop talking about how wonderful I'd be in his Don Juan Triumphant. But, truth be told, I didn't want to be in it… but, then again, if I was in it, then he'd have to let me go, right?

"I'll have to be let go if I'm going to be in your play," I told him. "So won't you let me go?" I walked up to him, and put my hands on his chest in a flirtatious manner, hoping that this would drive him to actually let me go, since my tears hadn't worked so far—believe me, I had tried at LEAST seven times this past week.

"They won't start rehearsal until you're back," he replied, and fervently, gathered my hands in his and forcefully set them at my sides. He spun around and headed for his piano. He sure likes that thing, didn't he?

I stamped my foot quietly, and furrowed my eyebrows. Surely my flirtatious behavior towards him would have… well… aroused him, right…?

Then I came up with something, a way to get him to let me go. Smiling mischievously, I snuck up behind him and put my hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them. I bent down so that I was at ear-level and whispered, "Please?" He shivered slightly, just a little, but enough to let me know that he was enjoying this.

"No," he stated. He sounded firm, but I knew better. He was enjoying this just as much as I was!

"Hmm, you know, it's not fair," I muttered, using my nose to glide over the nape of his neck.

"W-what isn't fair?" he stuttered, voice wavering slightly. I smirked, and upped my actions, using my lips instead of my nose.

"I won't see my family again, of course." I began to slide my hands down his arms and up again. "Not that I mind, I'd be here with a good-looking man like you and all, but I'd be much happier if you gave me that week."

"But I need you here with me."

"And I need my family and friends." I put my hands back on his shoulders and slid them into the hem of his shirt. I found myself inclined to actually feel his chest, since my hands were already in his shirt. "So won't you please let me go?"

I waited for the disgust at where my thoughts were heading, and was appalled to find that there was none. Pretending that said appalling was at my actions instead of lack thereof, I continued my actions, enjoying it more and more every minute.

"Eventually, perhaps," was his reply, seemingly unfazed by my actions, though his breathing and occasional –and quiet—moans gave him away.

Eventually, knowing that it would definitely up my chances at getting released, I slid my hands further into his shirt and let my head rest on his shoulder.

I couldn't help the smile that broke out across my face, nearly splitting it in two. It was a bit unnerving though, truth be told, but I also didn't have it in me to exactly care at the moment.

"Why not now?" I asked, standing up straight, and then going to sit next to him on the piano bench. I used a single finger to bring his face to look at me. "You promised me a week, and it has only been five days. Two more, Edward, that's all I ask."

"I can't risk that in that week, you run off with Jacob Black or you run away period. I know that's what you were doing at the cemetery; you were saying goodbye to your parents one last time."

Our faces were rather close to each other now, and I couldn't help how my eyes glanced down at his lips –which were also close to mine—for a split second. They did it so fast, though, that no human eye would have been able to see.

That was the first indication that he was something else.

And I didn't care.

He breathed in deeply, bringing his hand to my shoulder. It slithered around so that it was resting at my neck, and he began to-slowly, oh how painfully slowly—lean in, all the while giving me the opportunity to pull away in case that I didn't want this, but I was surprised to find myself leaning in as well.

It didn't take long for our lips to meet, and at that moment, I realized something.

No matter how many times I had kissed Jacob, and will kiss him, they were never this sweet. No matter how much Edward frightened me, no one would be able to kiss me in the same way he had at that moment. No one.

And, I found that the side of my brain that harnessed all of my girlish thoughts was asking me what had taken so long for this—this was all I had needed.

However, the rational side of my brain was telling me to pull away.

The girlish side one.

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Hehe, I am very happy with this chapter. Please review! You all did amazing with that last chapter xD