Hey, everyone, I'm back! Singapore and Malaysia were awesome. I went to this place called Genting Island in Malay, and we entered this ride called Haunted Adventure. Gosh, I was scared to death…my mom and dad were pretty nervous too, and don't even get me started on my sister.

Anyways, Living like a Star is back on! And here's the story so far: Bella comes to Forks, Ed+Bella in love, the wedding's cool. And in the last chapter, Bella finally gave up the only secret she'd ever kept from Edward—she showed him how Jane had tortured her. The chapter ended just as the memories concluded. And now, the story continues…

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT; ALL KNOWN CHARACTERS WERE CREATED AND STILL OWNED BY STEPHENIE MEYER (why does she have to own it? Why? Why…He he. Just kidding.)

Chapter 10: Close-call

BPOV

Both of us were silent as my memories ended and my shield automatically snapped back into position. I was scared to look at Edward, to see his reaction. His anger had been the only reason I hadn't shown him this memory. I forced my eyes to keep locked on the leaves under my feet, but they were itching to rise and stare at Edward.

I could feel him shaking in anger. I heard him clench his teeth shut, and fist his hands tightly. I knew instinctively that his eyes were still closed, but this time, it was an effort to control his fury. He had stopped breathing as well, but his shaking and trembling hadn't stopped yet.

I knew he was in pain too. My pain was his pain as well, that was something very difficult for me to accept. He didn't deserve any pain, not the slightest hint of it. And everything that hurt him stabbed me deeply as well. The agony of his hurt was worse than the torture Jane had inflicted on me, the one that had separated me from my beloved sister. Seeing me being tortured had been worse on him than I had imagined; by opening my mind to him, I had also had had to read his; it wasn't something that I could control. And I had watched his every reaction.

At the beginning, when I showed him the beginning of the day, he was clam, his mood lighted and pleasant. His love for me was shown in every breath he took, and I suppose my love showed just as clearly too. His quiet sadness when I had recounted my feelings for my obliterated father had been touching beyond belief. I had almost lost control and kissed him deeply right then. No doubt he had been amused by it.

But I had recoiled from his intense and nearly overwhelming fury when I had seen Jane for the first time. His feelings had mingled into an intensity beyond anything I had ever experienced my entire life, an incredible mix of fury, pain and sadness. His sorrow at my agony had been something far, far worse than Jane's infliction. Watching him hurt was something I could never bear to watch or feel, and this time, impossibly, it was worse. Because this time, I was the one causing him pain.

But he had wanted to know, and I could never deny him anything, even if that were something which might cause me feelings nearly unendurable. He had understood this the moment I had cringed away from his question, and, of course, he had given me free will: I could choose to show him this or not. Anything I wanted. But then I realized that I hated, detested, recoiled from the very thought of hiding something from him. And that was a feeling I never desired to experience. So I had opened my mind, and watched him react.

But now I realized I shouldn't have succumbed to my own will so easily. I should have fought harder against myself, and took his offer and not opened up this experience to him, one that had caused him so much pain. I felt horribly guilty and selfish; how could I ever have hurt him so?

"I'm sorry, Edward," I said, my sincerity showing in every word. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry…" I wrenched my eyes away from the forest-floor, and looked at his glorious golden eyes. They were twisted with horror and terrible fury at first, but as soon as I spoke, they softened. Love burned in them, ferocious and overwhelming.

But his voice was still rough with anger. "Its okay, love. I'm alright. But I had no idea you have so suffered so much. I guessed, but not to this intensity. That JANE!" His voice became a wild roar. "I'm to KILL her to touching you! She's going to regret she ever laid her pathetic, accursed eyes on you!"

I quickly grabbed his arm to steady him. My touch worked, his eyes softened once more and were calm and serene again.

"Never say that," I said severely. "You're never going anywhere near Jane. I'll tie you up if you so much as think about it. I'm not letting you go anywhere a hundred miles of Volterra. That place is off-limits to you, forever. You understand, Edward Cullen? You're banned from there."

He smiled. "Anything you want. But Bella, she hurt you. She tortured you for a full day! She separated you from Heidi! She tortured you, Bella! Don't you want to take revenge? Don't you want to avenge all those years she kept you away from your own sister?"

"No one wants that more than me," I replied quietly, my eyes swimming with tears. "No one knows how much those years agonized me. Of course I want to hurt her, Edward. Of course I do. It's in my nature, yours and mine! But I know that the moment I enter Italy will be my last. The Volturi are too powerful, Edward, and you know that. Even our family can't stand up to them! It's far too dangerous, and it's a serious risk I never want you to take. If you…if you're taken from me, I'd never survive. Do you want that? Do you want me to die?"

He inhaled sharply and flinched violently away from the idea. His face twisted in a mask of pain and torture.

"Exactly," I reasoned with him. "I'd feel the same you would if I was killed, and you told me several times you never want me hurt. So, please, for my sake, stay away from them. For as long as we both shall walk the Earth. Please, don't make me lose the one person who means more than my life to me. Please, don't do that to me. Please…"

My voice broke, and my tears spilled out, flooding my cheeks at the very thought of a life without Edward. No, I could never survive that much pain. It would be beyond impossible.

His cool finger touched my chin and tilted my head up, wiping away the tears. His face was sad and regretfully now.

"I'm sorry; I never meant to hurt you. If you don't want me to, I won't touch Jane. I'll do anything for you, Bella. Anything you want. You know I would never do anything that might inflict the slightest amount of pain on you. You know that. But it was just that...she hurt you so much. And not even once! Twice! First, she used her cursed and hideous gift on you, and then she took your sister away from you. It was really hard for me to stand here and watch you suffer. But if you don't want revenge, I'll never do that. You are my first priority; your happiness and safety are the two most important things in my world."

"I love you, too," I whispered, my fears and concerns gone with his velvet voice. I reached up and stroked his hair, smiling. "Thank you."

* * *

Edward, it seemed, loved the underwater dive I'd taken him for. If only I hadn't needed to breathe, we could've stayed there for much longer. But this time, I was determined to spend more hours under the sea. I told him so. At first, as expected, he was deathly worried about me, but I managed to convince I'd be fine and that I'd tell him the moment I felt bad, he agreed.

I was careful to make sure the weather was bright but very cloudy the day we planned to go for our second dive. I'd dived deep under the oceans a lot of times with Dad and Heidi when I was a kid, so I was used to the amazing sensations in aqua life. Edward was overjoyed and beside himself with excitement when we finally reached the seabed. We didn't find coral this time; we found an ancient ship wreck.

Since we couldn't talk underwater, I kept my shield away from me and Edward and I had frequent mental conversations. I always noticed that his mood was brighter and happier when I had my shield off. But it took a lot of energy to keep it away…

This place is amazing! He told me, swimmingly with incredible grace through the rusted and broken ship. I wonder when it sank. Must be at least a hundred years; every inch of this is rusted enough to last a lifetime. Human lifetime, of course. By the time we're ancients, this would be gone.

I laughed. How ancient is 'ancient' in vampire standards?

He hesitated slightly before replying, and his answer told me why he was reluctant. Aro and Caius are both a millennium old. Marcus is slightly younger than that. Of course, we have vampires a lot older than that, but I don't know of any.

The very mention of the Volturi leaders broke shivers down my spine that had nothing to do with the icy water. I knew it felt warm to Edward, due to his chilly temperature, but I was always overheated, so even boiling water felt cold to me. Everything was freezing and icy when it came to me. Edward looked ashamed he had mentioned the beings I was so afraid of.

He glided over to me swiftly and wrapped his arms around my body, his smile sad. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. Are you alright, love?

I kissed him lightly to show him I was fine. I was always fine when I was around him—well, more than fine; I was always glowing with him.

We explored the old wreck for a few more hours, before I felt my oxygen supply depleting. I told Edward, and he hurried up upwards toward the surface. I took a huge gulp of air when we broke through the water-skin, and felt a lot better at once. I smiled at his worried expression and he eased up. We flowed along with the current, sweeping us toward the beach. I glanced up at the sky, my fingers moving rapidly with lightening precision as I quickly created some thick clouds and covered the sun, so that Edward didn't start sparkling.

I loved it always when the sunlight hit his skin, and made it glistening and glow like millions of diamonds embedded into his skin. He always looked stunningly, a beauty beyond describe, like Adonis sent from heaven to Earth to love and take care of me. No matter how much he said he loved me, I never felt worthy of him, But I was always pleased he's chosen me from immortals who deserved him a thousand times more than me. But I never told him that; it might upset him.

As much as I would have loved to see him sparkling right now, I knew it was too dangerous and it would reveal to the human's crowded beach that Edward wasn't human. Also, I glowed, too. Not brilliantly and breathtakingly like Edward, but it was enough to attract a lot of unwanted attention.

But of course, vampires and hybrids have attractive features to lure humans, their prey, to them, so every eye in the beach turned to stare at me and Edward when we stepped out of the water and into the beach.

The women watched Edward with lustful, anticipating eyes, and I bit my lip hard to stop a threatening growl that was ready to rip out of me. Edward hardly seemed to notice the wistful glances women threw at him. The men stared at me. I cringed into Edward when I heard some of their thoughts (incredibly repulsive, most of them were) and his arms tightened around me. He glared at the most disgusting ones and the humans immediately retreated from him.

Holy crap, that's one hot girl! One guy was thinking. I whimpered as he started, er, fantasizing. Edward turned to look at him, his eyes black with fury, distaste and anger plain on his features. The man didn't notice him at first, but when he did, his pulse raced and he quickly strode away us. I sighed in relief; humans can be so disgusting sometimes.

I smiled my thanks and gratitude at Edward and he nodded. We made our way back to the hotel, my energy refilled. We walked this time, not wanting to waste the beautiful scenery around us and take a cab. England truly was a beautiful country. We wandered through the tiny hills we saw, the warm air drying our clothes and us in them. Edward found the sweetest little antique shop, and we rummaged around in it, looking for presents for our beloved family. I bought an enormous fishing line for Charlie, and Edward offered to have to air-delivered to him when we returned to Rochester.

The day was beyond perfect. We had emerged out of the water at around two at noon, so we still had most of the day left before us. We strolled through the malls and tiny shops, not buying anything, looking at the strange things just for fun. But more entertaining than the objects were the Britons, the people themselves. Edward and I found their accent and pronunciation hilarious, and the people we met in turn found ours very amusing.

I had never interacted with humans for longer than a few hours at most. Even with Charlie, I had never been truly at ease. During the first seven years of my life, while I constantly changed and grew and matured, Dad hadn't mingled us with humans much. Though humans were instinctively attracted to me, I was never allured by them. Humans made me a little uneasy, for some reason, and until I'd met the Cullens, I had though vampires had the same problem.

I was shocked at how easy and friendly Edward was with these fragile creatures. Though he could easily break their bone with his smallest finger, and he wasn't human (in the delicate, blood-filled, soft sense), he acted just like them when he conversed with them. Though I could tell that they kept their distance from him, they weren't uncomfortable. I was amazed and surprised at how at ease Edward was. I just couldn't figure it out.

I asked him when we were heading back to our new hotel late that night.

"Haven't you been around humans much?" he asked, a little surprised.

"No, not really," I admitted. "How come I'm so uncomfortable with them when I'm half-human, while you're so easy with them when you're not even quarter-human?"

"Practice, love, practice."

"You have to practice being close to humans?"

He smiled. "Both of us are dedicated to saving human lives. Shouldn't we be comfortable around the very ones we're trying to keep safe?"

I'd never thought of it that way. "Good point."

When we exited the mall, Edward's phone buzzed quietly. I knew it was probably one of the Cullens, so I didn't watch as he reached into his pocket and fished the tiny silvery thing out. I did notice him frown when he read who was calling, and that triggered my attention. I had thought it might be Emmett with a prank call or something, but I had never imagined it be Alice.

"Alice, is everything alright?" Edward asked, his voice worried. I listened closely, suddenly anxious about my family.

"Edward, you and Bella need to leave NOW!" Alice screamed in the phone.

"Why? What happened? What did you see?" Edward demanded, speaking extremely fast. No human could ever have understood him if they'd heard him right now.

"The Volturi heard of your arrival in UK," Alice replied hurriedly. "You need to leave. Jane and Alec are with them, and Aro's coming too. They're almost there. Please, hurry and come back."

"Alright." Edward snapped the phone shut and grabbed my hand, his eyes wild with anxiety. "You heard that?" he asked me quietly, struggling to keep calm for the humans who still walked by and around us. I nodded, my fear constricting my throat, making it impossible to speak.

He tightened his grip on my hand and we both jogged out of the mall, keeping a human pace. When we were out of sight or hearing of anyone human, we really sped up. The world around us blurred with incredible speed as we ran faster and faster, gaining speed with each minute that pass. I hadn't realized we had walked so deep into England today.

We ran for who knows how long. After an hour of running, I began to pant, struggling to keep breathing. Edward, being a full vampire who didn't need air, didn't have much need for oxygen, but stopped the moment he heard my breaths harden.

I bent down, resting my hands on my knees, breathing hard and fast. Edward soothed me, murmuring. After resting for a few minutes, Edward ran while I rode on his back. This was very restful, and before I knew it, I was asleep. I didn't dream of anything; I just slept. When I woke up, I was in a bed, Edward lying beside me, stroking my hair, his expression worried but calm.

"Where are we?" I asked groggily. "The Volturi! Where are they?"

"Calm down, Bella," Edward soothed me, laying his cool hand on my cheek. I was relaxed immediately. How did he always have that effect on me?

"We're in a hotel," Edward replied. "We're still in the UK, but the Volturi seem to have given up. We were both too fast for them. You fell asleep, love, and I carried you here. Alice called when we arrived here; they're giving up. I guess by now, they're all back to Italy. You can relax, love, everything is alright."

I sunk back in the pillows, my fists relaxing when he told me everything was fine. But I still couldn't believe we'd just outrun the Volturi! Holy, how did we ever do that? I knew we'd run fast, really fast, but fast enough to beat the Vampire Royal Family? Holy crow!

"We're leaving for home today, aren't we?" I guessed.

"Yes, our flight leaves in an hour," Edward told me, getting up from bed. "Get ready, love. The airport's a long way from here, and with the speed limits, it'll take a while to reach there."

I laughed. Edward loved driving exceedingly fast, but the law here was alert and strict and most breakers were jailed for a night and a day for speeding. How knew when the Volturi might decide to pursue us again, and a prison cell wasn't exactly the best place for a severe confrontation like that. I knew Edward wouldn't be able to control his rage if he saw Jane right before his eyes, and that might end in a fight.

I gulped, banishing the image from my head and I tugged on my T-shirt and shimmied into my new jeans. I knew if Heidi or Alice were here, they'd never approve of my outfit, but now wasn't the time for fashion, this was a time for speed—vampire speed. Edward was ready by the time I came out from the bathroom. We took the lift (like normal, boring humans) to the lobby and checked out. I didn't even bother looking around at the expensive hotel. All I wanted was to get Edward safely home to the Cullens. And since that would obviously involve me, we'd both be perfectly fine.

"I think it's better if we run again," I suggested as we left the hotel, leaving our luggage behind. "It's faster than a cab, and we don't have our own car here."

Edward nodded his agreement, too worried to reply verbally. We ran hand-in-hand again. This time, I didn't tire out like yesterday. I'd just had had a long sleep and was fully rested and pumped full of energy. Without having to worry about speed limits, we arrived at the airport forty-five minutes early. Edward quickly bought our tickets and brought some lights snacks for me, since I couldn't hunt here.

"Thank you," I said gratefully, as I dug into the burger. Human food was good. Slightly slimy and cold all the time, but good. Nowhere near as perfect as blood, but if I were desperate, I could eat instead of drink.

Edward and I remained in our seats while we waited for our flight to arrive at the runway. Time passed slowly, as I had expected. Time whizzed rapidly when I'm happy and with Edward, but when I'm bored, that stupid clock just doesn't move! It was frustrating me to no end. I was constantly fidgeting and checking my watch, waiting for the damn time to move on.

"Oh, this is taking forever!" I groaned, throwing back my head. "The plane's never getting here."

Edward chuckled. "We have forever."

I smiled back at him. How did he always manage to cheer me up no matter what my mood? Was he an empath, like Jasper? Because the way he always calmed me down and made me relax sometimes seriously made me suspicious about if he had another ability except mindreading, like Jasper's mood-measurement and mood-manipulation. A lot of 'm'-s, I know.

"I know a way of passing the time," Edward said suddenly, surprising me.

But I was eager; his ideas were always interesting. "Okay, I'll bite."

He laughed. Talking about biting to vampires…

"Tell me about your life before you met me," he said. "We've talked a lot about my past, but we've hardly ever discussed yours. I'm curious."

I smiled. My life. Possibly the most boring story in history, but he wanted to know, and I could never refuse him anything, even if I wanted to, which I couldn't. Gosh, I was totally captivated by him, and it felt so good. He was mine, and I was his. Forever evermore.

"Okay," I began. "As you know, Mom and Dad got married when they fell in love, a lot like you and me, except that mom was human. In their honeymoon, mom conceived me and Heid, but they had had no idea hybrids like even existed. From what I heard from Dad afterwards, her pregnancy lasted only a month. The birth was violent. Heidi and I.." I still remembered that day clearly. I'd hurt the very mother I'd adored. "We tore our way through her womb…"

"Being only human, mom died. I don't remember ever seeing her, but Heidi does. Dad was shattered, crushed, utterly devastated by mom's passing away. He wanted to follow her onto heaven or hell or whatever there is after this life, but he loved us so much. So he cared for us until we matured completely at age seven. Then he committed suicide. But before that, he taught us everything. Before…dying, he told us why he was about to do what he was about to do. He looked so heartbroken, we couldn't refuse.

"Heidi and I wandered through woods and forests for five years after he…left. It was agony, being without either parents, but we had each other, and that was a big help. But then Jane arrived—" Edward flinched "—and Heidi went away to save me. I lived a total of another five years without her. This was the worst period of my life, no parents, so sister. All alone. I trave;;ed through the world, going everywhere except Europe. I knew the moment I stepped there, I would want to rescue and bring Heidi back, and that would kill both of us.

"I had been without Heidi for only a year before I wandered into Washington, looking for big game. I ran into Charlie there, and we just instantly bonded somehow, though I wasn't comfortable around humans. He adopted me only weeks later. I stayed with him for a few days, but I'd never stayed in one place for more than a week, and it felt like I was suffocating. I told Charlie I wanted to travel, and he agreed, knowing I could take care of myself. I'd only just returned two days ago when I met you all."

"You gave us the most tremendous shock since Alice and Jasper joined the coven," Edward told me, smiling fondly. "You look human, better actually, smell human, sweeter somehow, and you even acted human. We were all one hundred percent sure that you were human. I never even guessed what you really were at that time."

"And the first time I talked to you all?" I pressed.

"Alice had a vision," he replied. "A rather short. It just showed you passing Emmett's chair and stopping, while I stiffened in my seat as well. It was really weird. We'd barely started puzzling over this when you did stop by us. When you greeted us, it was enough to shock out of our minds."

"I bet poor Jasper didn't even know about half-breeds," I teased, grinning.

"Of course not. He lived amongst wars and battles and death in his newborn years. You know about Maria from your touch-knowledge, you've seen what extremes he'd been through before meeting Alice. I was sure he'd get a brain-stroke or something."

I giggled, punching his forearm. He caught my hand and pulled me closer unexpectedly. Before I could take another breath, his lips were pressed against mine, and I completely forgot the busy airport around us and lost myself in his arms.

"All passengers for flight 907 please queue at Gate 16," the speakers boomed out, echoing across the huge halls. I sighed and pulled away.

"When you want this announcement, it'll never come," I complained. "And just when things start to get better, you have to stop. Darn it!"

Edward laughed, dazzling me momentarily, and smiled that irresistible crooked grin of his that I always went head-over-heels for. He was just so beautiful…how could something so breathtaking and incredible exist in a world alongside the vile and repulsive Volturi? I quickly banished all thoughts of that wretched coven and walked over to Gate 16 with Edward.

The Cullens always travelled in style. Incredible ships, impossible cars, luxury aircrafts and liners normal people could only dream of. Their style was expensive and comfortable, and amazingly personal. They never travelled anywhere in public planes or ships. Impossible! They had their own private crafts and liners!

Because of this fact, I was surprised at the long queue that waited in front of Gate 16. This had to be the first time I'd ever seen a Cullen use a public mode of transportation. I raised my brows in surprise, looking at Edward incredulously. He grinned, and nodded at me to tell me to stay here.

"I'll be right back," he whispered in my ear, his cool breath tickling me. I watched him walk over to the attendees standing and smiling at the people before them. Their eyes grew impossibly wide as they caught sight of Edward. The queue hadn't noticed Edward—everyone there was staring at me while I determinedly avoided their stares and clearly audible whispers.

"I'm Edward Cullen," Edward introduced himself to the attendees. "And that's my wife, Isabella Cullen."

I loosened my shield to watch their reactions more clearly. It was highly enjoyable.

Cullen? Cullen! "Oh, of course, sir. I got the call this morning, sir," one of them stammered, his eyes drifting to me where Edward had pointed me out. "If you would please follow me…?"

So he did arrange a private plane for us. I could just see the horrified look in Alice's eyes if she heard we might have used public transport. She'd have been in shock for days. Heidi would have been in a similar state. I giggled mentally to myself, a wide smile on my face.

Edward walked back over to me and ruffled my hair possessively while the human females watched, envy and jealously clear in their eyes. I eyes him accusingly, knowing exactly why he was publicly displaying his affection for me.

He understood my look.

"You're so lucky you can shut off your powers," he told me. "If you'd had to listen to the trite envy of these females all day…ugh. I had to let them know you're the only one for me."

Of course I couldn't hold a grudge against him, even a silly one like this. "Sure." I leaned up and kissed him passionately before following the man to where our plane was waiting for us. As expected, it had an air of Cullen-esque style and luxury about it. We were the only passengers on it, naturally. The only other people onboard were the pilots and the attendants to serve us food and drinks. Well, mostly serve me food, since Edward never ate. He'd gag.

"How does food taste to you?" I asked when the plane took off and the humans were out of earshot. "You know, normal human food, like chicken or pizza?"

"Slimy," he answered immediately. "Acrid, and smells like something out of the garbage dumpster. And swallowing...it goes down so slowly…makes me sick for hours unless I don't throw it back up. Up and out. Disgusting."

"I had no idea food was so bad to you vamps."

"Food is bad for everything except humans."

"And me."

"And you. And the fact that you like both real food and blood fascinates. Tell me, how does food taste? Can you compare it with blood? Which one do you prefer?"

"Well," I said, wondering how to answer. "I prefer blood, before I'm mostly vamp; the human part is only in some instincts, like blinking and breathing. And hunger, not thirst. If I drink blood, I don't get thirsty. But if I eat, a bit of the thirst remains. Not powerful, just a dull itch in my throat. It's rather annoying."

"But how does food taste?" Edward pressed on, his eyes glowing with curiosity. "I was never much interested in eating when I was human and alive, so I don't remember anything about it. What does it taste like?"

How do you explain food to someone who'd never tasted it before? I decided, like when I first told him I loved him, to show rather than explain. So I hefted my shield up and showed him the flavors and smells of different kinds of food. He watched, tasted and smelled in silence, his eyes wondering and speculative.

Our conversation flew around everything as we chattered happily throughout the long plane flight. At one point, I pressed my face up the window and watched the awesome sight. It was great. Edward pointed out all the exciting and important landscapes and landmarks in the cities and villages we passed, and the time flew by blissfully.

The plane landed safely in the airport. We collected my small handbag (which had nothing but a stack of cash and a bunch of pictures of Edward and me on our second honeymoon) from the conveyor belt, and had just stepped into the Exit when I was covered in hugs and kisses from Esme and Heidi and Alice.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Esme huffed. "I was so worried!"

"Bella, you're never going anywhere alone again," Heidi told me sternly.

"I wasn't alone!" I protested immediately. "I had Edward with me. I was perfectly safe."

"Yes, but the two of you don't really count as two," Heidi told me nonchalantly. "You're just halves of each other, so in that sense, you both are alone. And you're never doing that again. We're all going next time, so deal with it."

"Yes," Alice agreed. "This was a very close call."

A/N: And that's the tenth chappy done! But be warned, Bella and Edward escaped the Volturi very narrowly, and that had triggered their anger. The next chapter—lots of suspense and fear, some tears, loads of action, and a crushing tragedy.

Hope you're still enjoying Living like a Star!

Secrets of the Dark

XOXO!