10. TRUTHS

Everyone watched as we walked together to our lab table. Edward no longer angled his chair to sit as far away from me as the desk would allow, and it didn't go without notice that we sat quite close together, our arms almost touching.

Mr. Banner backed into the room then, pulling a tall metal cart housing a heavy-looking, outdated television and a VCR. A movie day… the lift in the class atmosphere was practically tangible.

The reluctant VCR finally accepted the tape Mr. Banner was trying to shove into it. As it began to play, he walked to the wall and turned the lights off.

As the room went black, I found my thoughts taking a different turn. I was hyperaware that Edward was sitting less than an inch from me. There was unexpected electricity flowing through me, and I was amazed to discover just how conscious of another person I could be.

My mind was racing with a hundred ideas from a hundred movies about young love. It was too early to be thinking in those terms, I didn't even know if he was interested in romance or not, and I tried to shove them away. I failed. But somewhere, deep down, I knew that he was on the same page as me. There was some basic, instinctual reaction I had to him, a chemical attraction on top of the mental draw I felt for Edward. I couldn't convince myself that he didn't feel it, too.

I crossed my arms tighter to my chest, trying to resist the crazy impulse to reach over and touch him – just stroke his perfect face once in the darkness – but I failed once more. After balling my hands into fists, the opening credits began to roll and I lost the self-restraint I'd been exerting up until that moment. My arm darted across the desk and I closed my hand around Edward's fingers. There was an instant of uncertainty and despair before, after what felt like an eternity, Edward's hand reacted and clasped around mine.

My eyes, of their own accord, flicked to Edward's face. I smiled sheepishly as I met his eyes, searching my face for clarification. I could tell from his expression that he'd been unsure whether I was holding his hand because I wanted to, or if it was an act to back up our 'secretly dating' story. My own uncertainty had confirmed for him what his look had confirmed for me: neither of us was acting. And both of us were treading new ground, far from experts on how to proceed.

The hour seemed very long. I couldn't concentrate on the movie – later I'd even be unsure of what subject it was on – but every second of touching Edward's cool hand was clear in my memory. I tried unsuccessfully throughout to relax, but the electric current that seemed to be originating from somewhere in his body never slackened. Every once in a while our eyes would meet, and I would feel warmed again by the idea that we were both feeling the same way toward each other, and the delight of that strange secret.

It was almost a relief when Mr. Banner turned the lights back on at the end of class, and Edward and I both pulled our hands away from each other at the same moment. I knew what it must look like to everyone else – two people trying to hide their affection for each other from their peers – but even the knowledge of what other people must be thinking didn't quell the feelings I had. Butterflies in the stomach, and a new level of knowledge about what Edward was that made me feel somehow cleverer than the rest of the world.

I had to leave him for the next class, and I'd never felt the loss of someone so acutely. It struck me that I should feel bad that I didn't miss even my mother so seriously, but there was something about the newness and excitement surrounding Edward that made it seem somehow more.

I was preoccupied as I entered the gym, as though I needed something to make me even clumsier. I was handed a racket, and although it wasn't heavy, it felt unsafe in my hand. I could see a few other students eyeing me furtively as Coach Clapp ordered us to pair up into teams.

Mercifully, I shared this class with Mike.

"Want to be a team, brown eyes?"

I turned toward him. "You don't have to do this, you know. I understand if your sense of self-preservation warns you away."

"Don't you worry, dear Bella. My moves are enough to make up for us both." He winked at me, grinning. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike.

Unfortunately, Mike's suave statement hadn't been completely accurate. He did not, in fact, have 'moves' enough to fully make up for my clumsiness. I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing, at which he tripped forward and shouted, "Sabotage! Sabotage!" I spent the rest of the hour in the back corner of our court, racket held safely behind my back. Despite being handicapped by my lack of athleticism and high level of distraction, Mike was pretty good; he won three games out of four singlehandedly. He gave me an unearned high-five when the coach finally blew the whistle that signaled the end of class.

"So!" He said cheerfully as we walked off the court.

"So..?" I countered.

"You and Cullen, huh?" I detected a hint of rebelliousness to his tone, though he was trying to sound cavalier. I hadn't really thought he was interested in me, and he was clearly happy with Jessica, so it was strange to hear any reservations from him at all.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said. I remembered the butterflies in my stomach at touching Edward's hand, and found myself smiling in spite of everything.

"I don't like it." He said, his tone plain. My eyebrows drew together and I stopped walking.

"You don't have to." I said defiantly, as he looked at me in surprise.

"Remember that day you first started here, and he acted like you were the scum of the earth?" He reminded me. I frowned. "Remember when you were trying to talk to him in class and the hall, and he would just walk away from you? Because I saw it happen more than once, Bella. I don't even care about what happened at the beach, because God knows what I'd have done if I were him, but think about how he treated you before. A pretty face doesn't change that."

I watched his face, angry at his protectiveness. Weeks of joking and flirtation, and suddenly Mike became the concerned parent? I didn't like his attention to my interactions with Edward, but in actuality I didn't like what he said mostly because I knew it was true. I remembered those things as clearly as my friend had, and I'd been trying hard to forget them.

"Besides." Mike said, his voice turning to a reassuring lilt. He felt bad for speaking so harshly to me. I indulged it, because it was easier to forgive him than to stay angry and hurt. "Only I'm allowed to look at you the way he does."

"How's that?" I asked dully.

"Like you're something to eat." He waggled his pale eyebrows at me.

I found myself giggling – hard – and was just happy that he seemed to take my laughter as a reaction to his wit rather than The Big Cullen Secret that added irony to his words. When I got control of myself, I took a deep breath and set more serious eyes on him.

"Look, Mike. I know what you're saying. I remember those things, too. In fact, I've discussed them with him. I want to give him another chance. But I'm not stupid, and you don't have to worry about me."

"Okay, then. Just know that I'm here to help, Bella my darling. If you ever need it."

I went to the locker room and dressed quickly, feeling my butterflies turn to pinballs that hammered hard against the walls of my stomach. My discussion with Mike quickly became a distant memory as I was overcome by the feelings of anticipation about being free of school. Edward had driven me in today – would he be waiting for me after class? Should I meet him at his car? What if his family was there? They knew that I knew what they were – even if they hadn't known before today, my conversation with Edward about Emmett's past would have clued them in – would they be angry at me for knowing their secret? Was I supposed to pretend I didn't know?

By the time I left the locker room, I had nearly decided to walk straight home without even glancing at the parking lot. But my worries turned out to be unnecessary. Edward was waiting, leaning casually against the side of the building, his face breathtaking and untroubled.

I followed him to his car, pins and needles, and we pulled out of the parking lot without trouble. As the silence began to feel uncomfortable, I tried to think of something to say.

"So…" I began. "Can I watch you hunt sometime? It's got to be an interesting sight."

Edward's jaw tensed and he stared straight ahead on the road. It seemed as though he wasn't breathing. "No." He said shortly.

"Wh… why?" I asked, startled by his reaction.

"Have you ever seen a medical show? A police drama? Because you should know that, most of the time, the way that people bleed on those kinds of programs is severely downplayed. Made palatable, to add drama to a story without horrifying the audience too much. That's not how it really is. Man or animal, when you tear into a living creature with your teeth – especially on an artery, like how we hunt – the blood comes shooting out. It covers you. It covers everything. It's horrible." He took a deep breath. "You shouldn't see me like that. You shouldn't see anyone like that. Not to mention the danger!"

"Danger?" I asked.

"When we hunt…" he spoke slowly, unwillingly. "We give ourselves over to our senses. We govern less with our minds. The sense of smell is especially powerful then, and once we smell blood… it's like a frenzy starts. It's nearly impossible to stop. Having you there would be – God – Bella, it would be beyond terrible. I can't even entertain the idea that I'd be able to resist."

"Like sharks." I said.

He gave a shake of his head. "No. It's like nothing you've ever seen. Sharks, they're part of nature. It's different."

"You're part of nature, too." I countered.

"No, I'm not. I can't be."

I stared. "But you have to be, Edward. What else could you be?"

He shrugged. "Something made by the devil."

I had no response for that. I had never been religious – my family just didn't seem to have many spiritual interests – and it had never occurred to me that Edward could think of himself in such terms.

"When was the first vampire made?" I asked suddenly.

Edward blinked. "What?"

"Who's the oldest vampire? Does anyone know where or when you started?"

Edward shook his head again, apparently not understanding where I was going. "Esme's over four thousand years old. Over four thousand and four hundred years." He said.

I sucked in a shocked breath.

"Her people built Stonehenge." He added, a half-amused smile playing on his lips.

"She – oh." I said. "Is she… the first one? The original vampire?"

He gave me a blank look. "No, of course not. She was turned just like the rest of us. By a woman named Aspasia who lived wild."

"And was Aspasia the first one?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said thoughtfully. "I don't think so. Esme's told me some of her peoples' stories. They had beliefs already about our kind, their name for us meant 'red-blood drinkers'. She said that even then they talked of the ancients, and that vampires started in the ancient times. She believes the first of us was someone who died and whose body was improperly dealt with."

"So even four thousand years ago, no one knew where vampires came from. Even then they had legends about you." I said.

"I guess." He conceded.

"Then you can't really say you're unnatural. Vampires might've been around just as long as humans have. You can't say they're made by the devil if you don't even know how they started."

Edward said nothing as we pulled into my driveway. He put the vehicle into park and I looked at him, not sure how to proceed. Would he kiss me? Was it too early to wonder that? Had our conversation been too tense to wonder that? I watched his long eyelashes flutter with the movement of his private thoughts, and found myself wishing I had the power he did. What was he thinking? Finally his eyes darted toward mine and held them, and flickers of the electricity I'd felt this afternoon began to charge the atmosphere.

I drew in a deep breath, breaking the stillness, and he closed his eyes.

"I think you'd better go inside now." His voice was rough and he turned his gaze to the clouds pulling in above us.

I stepped out of the car and walked to the house. I heard the whirr of his automatic window and turned back.

"Bella, tomorrow it's my turn." He called after me, his voice more even than it had been moments before.

"Your turn?" I asked, confused.

"My turn to ask the questions." He smiled, his teeth gleaming.

And then he was gone, the car speeding away and disappearing before I could collect my thoughts. I smiled as I walked to the house.

...

After the cruiser pulled away the next morning, I tried to resist the urge to look out the window. I went about brushing my teeth and gathering my things, telling myself that Edward probably wouldn't pick me up two days in a row – we'd only been on one date, after all – and telling myself not to be disappointed.

As I was putting on my jacket, I peeked out the window. The silver car was already there, waiting in Charlie's spot on the driveway. I hastily locked the door behind me and tried to keep from skipping with happiness as I headed to Edward's car. I paused shyly before I opened the door to the Volvo and stepped in. Edward was smiling, relaxed, and looking as beautiful as ever.

"Good morning." His voice was silky. "How are you today?" His eyes roamed over my face, as if his question was something more than simple courtesy.

"Good, thank you." I felt better now that I was with him, not that I'd say as much.

His gaze lingered on the circles under my eyes. "You look tired."

The incredulous laugh escaped before I had a chance to stop it. "Thanks." I followed, my voice heavy. "So do you." He was the one who apparently had a chronic case of bag-under-eyes.

He gave me an amused look. "That's different." He feigned a lofty air. "My people aren't able to sleep."

"What, ever?"

"Never. Not once since the day I was changed."

I looked at him curiously. "And when was that?"

"Ah-ah-ah!" He scolded. "Today I get to ask the questions, remember?"

"But I'm an open book! There's nothing interesting about me."

"It's not my fault if I just happen to be more brooding and mysterious than you, Bella." He teased.

"It is so." I said. "You do that thing with your eyebrows, it's a total scam."

"My eyebrows?" He grinned.

"They're highly mysterious."

He didn't seem to know what to say to that, but his gorgeously crooked smile remained. "Well, too bad, a deal's a deal. And as far as how open you are goes, I told you before that I find you very difficult to read. You're all secrets to me."

"Well, fine then. Have at it." I finally said.

He was silent for a moment, apparently musing on what he wanted to know the most.

"What do you value most in another person?" He asked.

I was surprised at the question. Somehow I had expected him to be asking more about my experiences, or the trivial details of everyday life. I expected him to ask about what movies I like, music, books, that sort of thing. The stuff I talked about with Tyler.

"Honesty." I answered after a moment.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because!" I said, looking at him. It didn't seem to me to be something that needed explaining. Then again, I realized suddenly that his entire family survived based on lies. "Because you can't know a person unless they're honest. Anything other than truth is only given in order to make things easier for the person talking."

"Sometimes it's necessary to lie, Bella." Edward said.

"Yes, sometimes it is. In your situation, it obviously is." I agreed. "Your security depends on it. But when it comes down to two people talking to one another, it's not. And, I know I'm only seventeen, but so far that seems to be what life really consists of – your personal relationships with other people. You can be honest with me, and I expect you to. Whatever the rest of the world needs to know is a judgment call that you have to make, but don't lie to me, Edward."

"I can't tell you everything, though." Edward said, his pale face staring steadfastly forward. "About my family."

"I know that. What you said to me yesterday, about how you couldn't share Jasper's story with me because it was private? That wasn't lying, was it? It was the truth, it's his personal story and he should have control of whether or not I know it. And when things like that come up, I'm fine with you saying that to me."

"Okay." He said, blinking. My terms seemed acceptable to him. He moved on. "You used to spend summers in Forks, didn't you? Why did you stop doing that?"

"I never liked the cold and the wet. I didn't know the kids here well. The usual stuff, I guess. And some family things, too. I guess I always thought that bringing my dad south would help my parents get along again. Maybe even get back together. It's stupid, of course. Every kid thinks they can fix their parents' relationship, but it never works that way. Anyway, Dad always ended up taking me to California for our time together instead of staying in Phoenix."

"Your parents don't get along well?" Edward pressed.

"Oh, better than most divorcees, I guess. They don't argue or anything. They're just very different people, they didn't know each other as well as they should have when they got married. They were so young. They wanted different things from their lives." I answered.

Edward mulled that over as we pulled into the parking lot of the school. I hadn't realized we were so close already. He pulled into a parking spot and turned to look at me.

"What do you want from your life?" He asked.

"I don't know yet." I said honestly. "To survive high school. Go to college if I can get the money. And see where I go from there."

"If you need money…" He said.

"Edward, I'm stopping you there. We have not known each other anywhere near long enough for you to offer me money for college." I said firmly.

He smiled sheepishly, and we got out of the car.

"Well, what about you? What do you want from life?" I asked him.

He grinned, pulling a jacket over his collared shirt. "It's a little late for that," he said, arching a copper eyebrow at me.

"No it isn't!" I said, pulling my own jacket on. "Come on, you must have some dreams or goals for yourself. For the future."

He shook his head, giving me a dark, troubled look. "Bella, be serious. I can't have goals like you can."

"I don't understand."

"I'm always going to look like this. I'll be seventeen forever. It's not like I'll grow up, or get a respectable adult job. People will always treat me like a child. I can go through college, and I have done, but I'm always the one that looks like a seventeen-year-old. I can get internships at real jobs, I can get stupid high school jobs, but that's it. I can't even stay in the same job for more than a couple of years before people start noticing my age." He pushed his hand through the back of his hair, looking toward the ground rather than looking at me.

"Then what's your plan?" I asked.

"This." He gestured toward the school.

"What, you're going to go to high school forever?"

He looked at me flatly. "Bella, I've been doing this for over fifty years."

I stared. "By choice?" I said. "What could you possibly gain from being in high school for so long?"

He laughed, the empty humorless laugh that he sometimes gave when he had to talk about his own life. It seemed to be triggered by any conversation about choice. "Bella, it's not about me."

I suddenly remembered what Emmett had said to Edward at the beach. This isn't about you.

"It's your life. It is about you." I said. The idea seemed foreign to him, and I could see that he was getting upset, so I decided to let it go. "Never mind, then." I said. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

"No, it's just – don't be sorry." He said. "It's just my old baggage." He gave me a tentative smile.

"Because you were changed so young?" I asked. He smiled vaguely again, though other students were beginning to arrive in the parking lot and I could see he was concerned about whether or not they might overhear our unusual conversation. He stepped closer to me, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah." He said. "The others have more options than I do. If I'd just been a little older…"

"Why do they go through the school thing, if they don't have to?"

"So that we can all be together." He said. "To keep an eye on each other."

"Each other, or just you?" I wondered. It had become apparent that his family exerted a lot of control over Edward. He stepped closer again, and I followed his gaze. His brothers and sisters had arrived, this time in the red Jeep that had come after Edward at the beach.

"All of us." He said, turning back to me. "Really. Jasper especially struggles."

"I can't imagine coming back to high school for so long. You must be bored to death."

"Ha!" He laughed, and I felt myself flushing slightly at the unintentional pun. "Usually, yes. Lately it's been a bit less dull." He smiled at me, and we headed toward class.

It continued like that for the rest of the day. Though his questions were more subdued during school hours, he walked me to every class (even the ones we didn't share) and we sat together at lunch again. We were careful not to speak about anything sensitive in the presence of others, but by the end of the day I felt we both knew each other better. Of course, it was his day for questions, so he mostly grilled me about my family. What it was like to live with the chief of police, what memories I had of Forks from before I moved, what my new favorite place in town was, what kind of things I did with my parents when we were on vacation, what I missed most about Phoenix.

"What were your friends in Phoenix like?" He asked in the minutes before Biology began. My face reddened, and he suddenly seemed concerned and curious all at once. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's okay." I said. "I didn't have very good friends there. A few, but we didn't have much in common. We just didn't have anyone else to hang out with. When I told them I was moving here by choice, they acted like I was abandoning them. None of them would talk to me after that. I haven't talked to any of them since I left. I'd always thought we were as much friends as anyone else was, but it's clear to me now that they weren't my friends at all."

Mr. Banner entered the room, then, dragging the audiovisual cart again. As the lights turned off, Edward reached out and took my hand the way I had done the day before. "Well, then, they're crazy." He said softly.

The rest of the day passed easily, more easily than any day so far. Even Gym was no problem. Mike seemed more than content to let his opinion about Edward go, even though he'd seen us hold hands again. He teased me about failing to hit a single birdie and claimed I was missing on purpose just for a good view of his athletic prowess. I let him know what I thought about that. I changed quickly after class and said goodbye to my friends, giving them an answer that would soon become a natural response when they asked about Edward: "I'll tell you about it later!"

The drive home was more relaxed than the drive in. I was starting to feel more comfortable with Edward, and less unsure of whether we were on the same page. The 'truth game' was starting to become a thin excuse for asking questions, and it became more of a normal conversation. It was reciprocal.

"Did you ever wish you had brothers or sisters?" He asked, parked in my driveway.

"All the time." I admitted. "I had such a hard time making friends. I was always worried about my mother, she needed so much help being the adult, so I never connected to kids my own age. When I started to get a little older I really wanted to be social, but I didn't know how. I always thought it would be great to have a brother or sister."

He smiled vaguely. "I know what you mean." He said.

"But you have siblings!" I protested.

"Well, now I do," He gave a slight laugh. "Come on, Bella, I was changed when I was seventeen. I didn't know any of my current family before that."

"Of course, I should have known." I said. "It's hard to process all the unusual things about your, you know, situation. What was your childhood like, then?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He said. "Unlucky?"

"How so?"

"You know what Emmett said?" He asked. His shoulders were suddenly tense, and I felt a knot form in my stomach.

"Which part?"

"About… my mother."

"I remember." I said. Emmett had basically called Edward's mother a prostitute. I didn't know what to say, other than that I remembered.

"She worked in this club in Chicago. It was kind of famous, actually. The Everleigh Club. I grew up there, in Chicago. I don't really know how she got involved in that kind of work. I never knew who my father was, she got pregnant after she started working there, so. It could have been anyone. I used to ask her all the time when I was really young, but she refused to answer. When I was ten years old, the club closed. She had wanted to find another profession, but she was unable to. She moved from brothel to brothel." He turned his eyes away in shame. "Right before she died she told me she thought my father was this man, Anthony. I guess he was a regular at Everleigh. She wouldn't tell me his last name. She did say he was an important person in Europe, but… at the time, it wasn't so easy to research people on such a small amount of information. And I was changed so shortly after I found out, I had other things occupying my attention. Now it just doesn't seem to matter anymore."

"Of course." I said. I didn't want to discourage him from his story, but I also didn't want him to think that I was silent because I was judging him somehow. He gave me an insecure glance and I nodded for him to continue.

"She stopped seeing clients while she was pregnant, but after I was born she went back to work. It was an upscale club so my mother made good money. She was able to take care of me and send me to school. But, I'm sure you remember how kids are when you're younger. I got a hard time about it. Everyone seemed to know what she did, I don't know how. Their parents told them, maybe. I guess it was selfish that I wanted to have a brother or sister, because I knew what it was like growing up that way, the way people treated you. Adults pity you and judge your family, and other kids treat you like a freak. But it would have been nice to have somebody around my age to be with."

"I don't think that's selfish at all." I said.

"Why not?" He asked, giving me a skeptical look and leaning his arms against the steering wheel. "I think it is. It's selfish to want someone else to suffer so that you will feel better."

"But that's not what you wished." I said. He looked at me blankly. "It wasn't about making someone else suffer. You're not wishing for that. You just wanted companionship. And anyway, if there had been a brother or sister, their life wouldn't have been like yours."

"How do you mean?"

"They would have had you, Edward. You'd be there for them as much as they would be for you."

He smiled. "I never thought of it that way."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." I said.

"I guess I'll have to work on that." He said. He gave me another crooked smile, nearly taking my breath away.

"How did you die?" I asked suddenly. I hadn't meant to ask, but it slipped out before I managed to stop myself. Edward's open expression closed off, and I regretted having asked. "Sorry, never mind. It's none of my business. Forget I said anything."

"It's not that interesting, really." He said. "There was a terrible flu outbreak. My mother and I both caught it, and it killed us both."

"The flu?" I asked.

"Spanish flu. It was one of the deadliest diseases in human history, supposedly. Some estimates say it killed 130 million people."

"Really?" My shock was evident.

"I've read a lot on it, for obvious reasons." He said. "It was a different strain of flu than you're thinking of. It killed by turning the immune system against the body. The young and healthy were most at risk."

"That sounds horrible."

"It was pretty bad." He said. "Carlisle was researching the disease at the time. My mother and I were admitted into the hospital where he was working. That's how I met him."

"What about your mother?" I asked.

He set his jaw. "He didn't turn her, if that's what you mean." He said. His tone was cold, and I knew immediately that I could not push the issue. There was more to it, but he wasn't ready to talk about it.

The sun was beginning to fade away, and Edward looked out the window at the mellowing sky. "It's twilight," he murmured. His voice was now thoughtful, distracted. I watched him closely as he gazed out the windshield, his mind far away. I was still staring when his eyes suddenly shifted back to mine.

"It's the safest time of day for us." He said. "The easiest time. It's exciting for some of our kind, but for me… I don't know. It's just another day gone. Darkness is so predictable." A sad smile crossed his face.

"Depends on where you're looking." I said. "You can't see the stars in the daylight. No meteor showers, no phases of the moon. No northern lights."

He gave me a slightly amused look. "You see stars right now?" He asked.

I looked at the cloud cover that blocked the sky from view. "Okay, okay. Night in Forks is predictable. Just like everything else in Forks."

He laughed abruptly, leaning back against his seat, and the mood lightened. "You've got me there." He said. "But complaining about your boring hometown is such a teen movie cliché!"

"It really is." I agreed. "But getting all philosophical about nighttime is such a vampire movie cliché, you have to admit. Anyway, I'll take a boring hometown with people I care about over an exciting city full of strangers. Forks turned out to be a nice surprise for me."

He smiled. "You're a nice surprise for Forks."

There was a heavy moment as we looked at each other. I felt warm and strangely alert, my stomach doing excited turns. I had little experience with boys … was he going to kiss me? His eyes flickered over my face and his smile faded. He lifted his hand and touched mine lightly, with the tips of his fingers. I felt myself leaning toward him.

Then he recoiled, slumping back into his seat and pulling his hand away from mine. I watched him for a moment in confusion before the headlights of my dad's police cruiser washed over the driveway. I laughed, embarrassed at the surge of insecurity I'd felt when he had pulled away from me, and he gave me an uneasy smile. I opened the door and unbuckled my belt.

"Come meet my dad." I said. He touched his lips, looking through the driver's window toward Charlie, who was getting out of his car and looking curiously toward me and the unfamiliar vehicle in front of his house. He gave me a knowing grin when he saw that it was Edward Cullen, as if he had known all along. "Don't worry, Edward, he likes your family."

Edward stood and emerged from the car, looking slightly nervous. If he'd been able, I felt certain he would be blushing. Luckily for his pride, it seemed impossible for vampires to blush the way people did, and he managed to look confident when he walked over to my father.

"Chief Swan, it's nice to meet you. I'm Edward Cullen." He said, holding his hand out. My father shook it, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Edward. I know your father, he's a good man."

"Thank you, I think so too." Edward said. He stood awkwardly for a moment, so I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I know you were worried about me going to Seattle alone, Dad, and after going to Port Angeles with the girls I'm a little burnt out on shopping. Edward was telling me earlier that he's not going to the dance either, so I asked him if he wanted to do something else that day. He has to ask Dr. Cullen first, though." I looked at Edward, and saw that he was following my story, nodding.

"I'm sure he'll say yes," Edward said. "It's just that my brothers wanted to go hiking that day. But I'm not as into hiking, anyway. I always liked fishing more."

I shouldn't have been surprised that Edward knew how to win people over. After all, he could read their minds. And I wasn't so certain that he was even saying it just for my dad's sake, he was so convincing. Regardless of what might have been going on in Edward's head, my dad took the line wholeheartedly.

Before I knew it they were in a full-fledged conversation about fishing. The type of rods they liked, the lures, what kind of bait they preferred, and comparing their best catches. If I hadn't been so impressed that Edward had won my dad over so easily, I would have been bored to tears.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Edward?" My dad said after a moment. I felt my stomach twist. Edward didn't eat, that would be hard to explain. "My fishing buddy Billy is coming over tonight, we're going to get a couple pizzas and watch the game. His son's coming too, he's around your age."

"Billy and Jacob Black?" I asked. That could only make the idea worse. Edward shook his head slightly.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Edward said, recognizing the names. "Carlisle and Esme will be waiting for me. Thank you so much for the invitation, though. Maybe another time."

"Oh, I understand." My dad said, grinning at me. "Maybe we'll all go fishing sometime. If you went, we might even convince Bella to come along."

At that moment, a dark car pulled up the street, parking in front of our house. Edward looked toward me, then back toward the car.

"That'll be Billy and Jake," Dad said, waving obliviously toward them. Jacob had told me how angry my dad was when he found out people on the reservation wouldn't be treated by Dr. Cullen, why didn't he realize that Billy would not want to be around Edward? Was he that naïve?

"I'd better go, Bella." Edward said, touching my shoulder and distracting me from Jacob, who had just gotten out of the car. "I'll see you later, alright?"

"Okay." I said, watching him walk to his car. My dad seemed confused. Jacob was still getting Billy's wheelchair from the car for his dad, so he turned to me.

"He sure ran out of here. He ought to have said hello to our guests." He said.

"Dad, you know how Billy is about the Cullens." I said quietly.

"But it's stupid." My dad said, stubbornly. "Besides, I think that's more about the doctor."

"I don't know the whole story, but none of the Cullens are allowed down at La Push. I mean, Edward tried to come along when we all went to the beach, but his brothers came after him and Emmett started a fight with him in front of everyone. Even if there wasn't bad blood there, he's got to still be embarrassed about that."

"Emmett's the huge one, isn't he?" My dad asked. "No wonder he's embarrassed, even I'd think twice before fighting that kid."

"That's not the point." I said, frustrated. Luckily, Billy and Jacob were coming up the driveway and my father had at least enough tact not to continue the conversation in front of them.

"Hey, Bella." Jacob said.

"Hey, I was wondering when I'd see you again." I said, smiling. Jacob shifted his weight awkwardly, and I knew he was reacting to having seen Edward.

Next to him was his father, who I immediately recognized in spite of having not remembered his name when my dad first mentioned him, when I arrived. He was a much older, heavyset man with a memorable face – a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against the shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket. And the surprisingly familiar eyes, black eyes that seemed somehow to be both too young and too ancient for the broad face they were set in. He was staring at me, scrutinizing my face, so I smiled tentatively at him. His eyes were wide, as if in shock, and his nostrils were flared. My smile faded. I knew instinctively that this would complicate things.

Had Billy recognized Edward so easily? Could he really believe the legends that his son had shared with me, had considered nothing more than a scary story? The answer was clear in Billy's eyes. Yes. He could.