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Chapter Nine

Danielle smiled to herself as she walked through the emerald green forest, letting her fingers trail along the sturdy tree trunks on either side of her and giggling a bit whenever the leaves of the bushes she passed tickled her ankles. She looked down and saw that the white, flowy dress she wore had an inch's worth of mud and muck caking the bottom hem, but she didn't much mind. She didn't care that her bare feet were dirty either. She liked the feeling of mud between her toes, liked the way the forest floor felt beneath the soles of her feet.

The sound of a twig cracking in the distance made her pause. Danielle frowned a bit and looked around, her heart beginning to beat just a tick faster. She had thought she was alone in the woods, but obviously she was not. Was there another person nearby? Or was it an animal that had made that noise?

There was a flash of color in her peripheral, which made her quickly look to the right. No one was there, however. There were only green trees and bushes and moss for as far as the eye could see. Gulping, Danielle continued forward, mindful of her surroundings now, her eyes bouncing around cautiously. When another twig cracked behind her, she gasped and whipped around, her hand pressing to her heart. Was something following her? Was something stalking her? Danielle stood there for a moment, eyes searching the trees, her breaths coming a little quicker and a little harder. When nothing presented itself to her, she finally turned back around to resume her trek.

That was when she saw him. Jasper, looking beautiful as he leaned against a tree, wearing clothes that were most certainly not from this time period. Danielle jumped in surprise, but instantly felt herself relax as he gave her a slow, charming smile.

"Jasper," she breathed, a smile tugging at her lips. She was happy to see him, even if his choice of clothing was very strange. "What are you doing here?"

"I came for you," he said, his deep voice sending pleasant shivers through her body.

He pushed away from the tree he'd been leaning against and walked toward her. Danielle felt mesmerized as she watched him approach, feeling her heart pound in her chest for an entirely new reason now. When Jasper reached her, he placed one hand on her neck and the other on her waist, pulling her close to his chest. The material of her dress was thin, which made it easy to feel how ice cold his hands were. She shivered, but did not pull away. Not when he was looking at her the way he was.

"Do you trust me, Danielle?" he asked, his amber eyes searching hers intently.

Danielle leaned into him, knowing that her expression alone was likely already giving him all the answer he needed. "Yes, Jasper," she said quietly. "Yes."

Jasper smirked. "Good."

He hesitated for only a moment, then leaned down to claim her lips in a fiery kiss. Danielle moaned with pleasure, her arms snaking around his neck and her fingers twirling into his soft, blonde hair, her lips moving eagerly with his. Jasper kissed her until she melted against him, then pulled his lips from hers so that he could press kisses all along her jaw, making her head fall backward with pleasure. He stopped once he was at her neck, then lifted his gaze to hers.

"Don't worry," he said, his voice gravely and full of yearning. "This will only hurt for a bit."

It took a moment, but eventually his words broke through the haze of desire that had clouded her mind. Blinking, she looked at Jasper with confusion…then felt her eyes go wide with fear. Jasper's eyes were black, and he now had two sharp, lethal looking fangs protruding from his canines. He suddenly hissed at her, his beautiful face contorting with hunger. Danielle realized in an instant what was about to happen, and as Jasper reared back and violently sunk his teeth into her neck, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Danielle jerked awake, gasping as she sat upright in bed. Her chest was heaving as she panted with fear and she was covered in sweat. She reached a hand up to her neck, certain she could still feel Jasper's teeth in her neck. Finally, after a few seconds, the feeling subsided and, as she realized she was still safely in her room, she began to relax.

Releasing a heavy breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and let her feet rest on the floor, her face dropping into her hands. The dream was still fresh in her mind, and though she knew good and well that the Jasper from her dream was not anything like the Jasper from real life, she still shivered a bit with fear. She could clearly remember how incredible Jasper had looked, and how wonderful his kiss had felt in the dream. But she could also remember the way Jasper's fangs had shined and glimmered, how painful they had felt when they had torn into her neck.

Danielle let out a shaky breath. "It was just a dream," she muttered to herself. "It wasn't real."

For the rest of the previous day, she had tried very hard not to think about what she and Bella had discussed. She had kept herself busy by cleaning the house from top to bottom, washing all of her and her mother's dirty clothes that had accumulated over the week, and finishing up any homework she hadn't already done. It had been an enormous relief when her mother had come home from work, simply because she hadn't wanted to be alone, and it had been an even bigger relief when Lynne, impressed with how clean the house was and reluctant to do anything to mess it up, had suggested they go out for dinner. It had been a welcome respite, getting out of the house, where it was hard to avoid thoughts of Jasper and vampires and the Quileute werewolves from La Push. Instead, she'd been able to distract herself with sights of the town, conversation with her mother, and the hustle-and-bustle of the Forks residents around them.

Night time had been a different story, however. Once she was alone in her room, all of the thoughts she'd been trying to avoid flooded back to her. Nothing – not reading a book, listening to music, or even talking with Tom – had been able to fully chase away the strange stories and theories that Bella had told her after the beach trip. And considering the dream she had just had, sleep, evidently, hadn't been enough to ward those thoughts away, either. It was as if a seed had been planted in her mind, and she had a feeling it would only continue to grow, regardless of whether or not it was watered.

A knock on her door finally caught her attention. "Dani? Sweetheart?" Lynne's voice floated through the closed door. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," she called back, her voice still a bit hoarse with sleep. "I'm awake."

The door opened and Lynne poked her head in, smiling in her usual, loving way. "I've made some breakfast if you're – " But then she stopped smiling abruptly, her face filling with concern as she got a good look at Danielle. "Dani! Are you alright?" she asked, rushing into the room and hurrying over, so that she stood right in front of her. "You look awful," she said, before pressing a hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No, I'm okay," Danielle insisted, not wanting her mother to worry over her. "I just…didn't sleep well and have a monster headache." But then Danielle cringed, immediately regretting saying the word 'monster'. The word made her think of horror movies, which made her think of vampires, which then, inevitably, led her to think about Jasper.

Lynne clicked her tongue with sympathy, clearly mistaking her cringe as one of pain. "I think you need to rest today," she said in a motherly tone. "Why don't you skip working at the shop today and stay here? I don't want you pushing yourself if you don't have to."

Danielle's eyes went wide at the thought of being home by herself all day long. There was no way she would make it. She would drive herself insane if she was left alone with her thoughts. "No, no," she said, shaking her head quickly. "I'm fine, Mom, honestly. I'll just take some migraine medicine and I'll be right at rain, I promise."

Lynne seemed doubtful. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Danielle nodded. "Yes, I'm sure," she said without hesitation.

Lynne took a moment to think about it, then finally sighed and nodded. "Alright," she said. But then she pointed a stern finger at Danielle, her expression all business. "But if your headache doesn't go away or I think, for even a second, that you're not feeling well, I'm bringing you home. Is that clear?"

Danielle smiled gently. "Crystal."

Lynne sighed, then leaned down to kiss Danielle on the forehead. "I'll be downstairs eating breakfast. I want you to come eat, too, then take some medicine. We'll leave for the shop in a few hours."

"Alright. I'll be right down. I just need to take a shower first," Danielle told her with a nod.

"Good," Lynne said, quirking a brow. "Because you stink something fierce," she then said, waving a hand in front of her nose as if trying to wave away a stench.

Despite everything, Danielle still cracked a smile. "Thanks, Mom. You're so sweet," she said with sarcasm.

Lynne just laughed, then patted her on the shoulder and left the room.

Alone again, Danielle sighed and ran a hand through her hair, before finally getting up from the bed and going to the window. She pulled the curtains back and looked outside, unsurprised to see that the momentary sunshine from the day before was long gone and that the sky was filled, once again, with thick, grey clouds. She stared at Bella's house for a moment, wondering how her friend was holding up and if she'd had just as rough of a night as she had. It was almost enough to have her texting Bella – she even went to pick up her phone and started typing out a message. She stopped after only a few words, though, then pressed the backspace button until the message was gone, before setting her phone back down. There was no use asking – she'd probably see Bella soon, anyway. They could talk when they saw each other next. For now, she just wanted to take a shower and try to turn off her brain.

Danielle walked into the bathroom, turning on the water first, then turning to the sink so she could brush her while she waited for her shower to heat up. She eyed herself in the mirror, understanding very quickly why her mother had been concerned – she was pale, and there were bags under her eyes from a restless night of sleep. Danielle turned her gaze downward, not wanting to look at herself anymore, and quickly finished brushing her teeth. Then, after testing the water to make sure it was hot, she peeled off her slightly sweaty night clothes and stepped underneath the hot spray of the shower.

She did feel a bit more like herself after taking a shower, and she felt even better once she had a nice, hot breakfast in her belly. The moment she finished eating, Lynne came over and pressed to Advil into her hand, which Danielle quickly took. They sat around for a little while longer while Lynne finished what Danielle suspected was her second cup of coffee, then finally decided to go ahead and go to the bookshop.

Being at the shop was the exact distraction she had been hoping for. There was a new display that needed to be set up in the window, which Danielle happily volunteered to take care of, and several shelves that looked as though they were in need of a good dusting. Even though it started raining not long after they arrived, there was still a steady flow of customers that came through the shop. Some came just to socialize with Lynne, while others came just to peruse the books or to hang out on some of the sofas that were set up in the corner. The highlight of Danielle's day came in the form of a cute little five year old girl, who had grabbed a book while her mother was busy chatting with Lynne and came over to Danielle to ask if she would read it to her. Unable to resist her big, pleading eyes, she nodded and followed her to the kid section, where she and the girl made themselves comfortable on a couple of bean bags and began reading together. By the end of it, Danielle found herself surrounded by a whole crowd of kids, all of whom listened on with smiles as she animatedly read not one, but three different children's books.

"You know," Lynne commented once the reading session was over and all the children had finally been whisked out of the store by their parents. "You should consider coming in on Saturday mornings to read to the kids. You're a much better storyteller than I am, and those children were drawn to you like moths to a flame," she pointed out.

Danielle smiled, then shrugged. "Could be fun. I'll think about it," she said, nodding.

Lynne smiled, then nodded toward the clock. It was almost two, though how she had managed to be at the shop for three hours already, Danielle wasn't sure. "Why don't you take a break?" Lynne suggested.

"Okay," Danielle said. "I'll go grab us some sandwiches from down the street. You want the usual?" she asked, already heading for the door.

"Sure. Thanks," Lynne confirmed, before going to help a customer when they asked for help looking for a book.

Danielle left the shop and walked down the street, heading for the small coffee shop located on the corner. When she walked in, she was greeted by the barista, who knew her pretty well by now. She ordered the usual sandwiches that she and mother always got, as well as an iced tea for herself, then, after paying and receiving her food, headed back to the bookshop. She dropped her mother's sandwich off at the counter, then continued on toward a table located in the very back of the store, which was almost always vacant simply because hardly anyone ever went back there.

Danielle sat down and unwrapped her sandwich before taking a few bites, staring absentmindedly at the shelves of books around her. She had been too busy to think about Jasper since she'd arrived at the bookshop, but now that she was alone and her mind unoccupied, his beautiful face was the first thing that came to mind. She sighed and set her sandwich down, suddenly unable to eat as her stomach flipped at the thought of seeing him at school tomorrow.

In a way, she was excited to see him again, simply because this was the longest they had gone without seeing one another since they had become friends and because, at the end of the day, she missed him. At the same time, however, how was she supposed to act normally around him after everything that had happened yesterday? How was she supposed to be around him when she was going to look at him and immediately find herself debating whether he was a vampire or not?

Danielle frowned as that word echoed through her mind. Vampire. It was a word that had taken on an entirely new meaning to her now, a word that made her feel like she didn't know how the world worked anymore. As adamant as she had been about the fact that vampires absolutely were not real, as quickly and as assuredly as she had rejected the notion that Jasper, her Jasper, was a blood-sucking, immortal being, now that some time had passed and her brain had had time to process everything, she could admit that there was a part of her that was starting to get…curious.

Danielle sat there for a moment, resting her chin on her hand, brows furrowed with thought. She allowed herself a moment to put rational thinking aside and to see things from a different perspective. What if Jasper was a vampire? What if the Cullen's were the coven from Jacob Black's stories?

Thinking back to everything she knew about the Cullen's, she supposed, in some strange way, that it did explain a few things. If they were vampires, it made sense that they had distanced themselves from other people at school – getting too close to humans was likely a very big risk. It also explained why Jasper hadn't kissed her, why he was reluctant to let their relationship get too physical, and it shed a new light on the more confusing things he had said to her in recent days. As far as Rosalie Hale was concerned, Danielle thought that maybe it explained just where her animosity had come from. She obviously did not like the fact that Jasper was getting close to a human, which could end up being a serious problem for their family if something were to go…wrong…between them.

But what she found herself thinking about the most was the day Edward had saved Bella from being crushed by Tyler's van. For weeks now she had thought that Bella had gotten it all wrong. That she had been confused and had seen things that hadn't really happened. But it had been a month and a half since that day, and Bella had not changed one word of her story. She was still adamant that Edward had done incredible things, things that no mere mortal could possibly do.

Now, she felt like she knew Bella pretty well by now – she would even go so far as to say that she was becoming one of her best friends. And she knew, without a shadow of doubt, that Bella was not crazy, nor a liar. Perhaps, Danielle finally admitted to herself, Bella had been telling the truth all this time. Perhaps Edward was the one who had lied to her when she'd talked to him at the hospital. He had seemed reluctant to talk to her at first, which was why he had tried to make a run for it when she'd gone to talk him. And once they had actually got to talking, he had been really quick to disprove all of the things she had shot at him, hadn't he?

Danielle tapped her fingers on the table now. If Bella was telling the truth, then that definitely changed things. If Edward had crossed the parking lot in less than a second, if he had stopped a van with his bare hands, then he had to have some kind of power, right?

And that was where the vampire question came back into play. Did vampires have super strength? Did they have super speed? What exactly could a vampire do? Danielle realized in that moment that her knowledge about vampires was limited only to what she had learned through books and movies. But that was all fiction, things that had been exaggerated for entertainment purposes. If vampires were real and walking the earth, what were they really like?

Danielle, feeling on a mission now, got up from her chair and made her way to the non-fiction section. She knew finding books on vampires was probably a long shot, but it didn't hurt to try, right? She walked along the shelves, her fingertips running along the spines of the books. When she came across the tiny section dedicated to the Civil War – a section that was even smaller now that Jasper had purchased nearly half the books – she paused and sighed longingly, thinking of the different times she and Jasper had stood right here in this very spot together. After a moment, she shook her head and continued on. Now wasn't time to be getting sappy over Jasper – she had research to do.

It took some time, but she eventually managed to find some books dedicated to vampires. She picked out three – The Vampire Encyclopedia, The Vampire: Myth or Real?, and Vampires: Legends from Around the World. Danielle carried the books back to her table in the back, opened the first one, and immediately began to flip through the pages.

She soon became immersed in the world of vampires in a way that she never had before. The books she had chosen far surpassed what vampires were presented as in movies, which painted them as lustful, bloodthirsty monsters who slept in coffins, were allergic to garlic and crucifixes, and couldn't step into sunlight without bursting into flames. Granted, most of what she read still didn't make vampires sound very enjoyable to be around, but there were bits and pieces that very much caught her attention. Like the story of a vampire in Romania who could move so quickly, he had been able to attack and kill most of the inhabitants of two towns separated by hundreds of miles in less than an hour. Super speed? Check. There was another story from Britain hundreds of years ago claiming that a vampire had taken up residence in a nearby castle, and when the village people discovered him and came to kill him, he used his strength to bring down the castle and kill his would be executioners. That was all the proof she needed to confirm super strength, as well. There were also a number of accounts emphasizing the ethereal beauty of vampires, of their alluring natures and their ability to manipulate people with their looks and their voice alone. Some stories even eluded to the fact that some vampires possessed special powers, like being able to read the thoughts of others.

When she took a break from reading to compare what the books had said against Jacob Black's story and the general behavior of the Cullen's, she could admit that there were definitely some differences. For one, according to Quileute legend the Cullen's did not attack people, which was certainly a good thing. They were all beautiful, just as the vampires in these books were, but they didn't seem to use that as a means of ensnaring unsuspecting victims…though, admittedly, Danielle could think of a number of times where Jasper needed only to look at her and she turned in bumbling, brainless idiot. When it came to coffins and garlic and sunlight, Danielle had no idea how true that was. But other than that, the Cullen's did not seem to fit the description of your typical, scary vampire. If they were vampires, then they were – for lack of better description – the good ones.

Danielle sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. What was happening to her? Was she honestly sitting here, buried in vampire books, and allowing herself to seriously consider the possibility that the Cullen family was a coven of vampires? Had she lost her mind?

"Here you are!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, making Danielle jump with surprise. She pulled her attention away from the books strewn across the table and looked up at her mother, who was standing a few feet away with her hands on her hips. "I haven't seen you for over an hour!" Lynne pointed out. "I thought you had left, or that you had passed out!"

Danielle blushed and quickly closed the books, them stood up and began collecting them before her mother could see what she had been reading. "Sorry! I just started reading and kind of got…carried away," she said with a sheepish smile.

Lynne quirked a brow. "Uh huh," she grunted, before looking at the books in Danielle's arms. "What are you reading?" she asked curiously, taking a step closer. She grabbed the books from Danielle's reluctant hands and shuffled them around, peering at the titles with interest. She then looked at Danielle with uncertainty. "Since when are you so into vampires?" she asked.

Danielle quickly wracked her brain for a good excuse. "It's part of that project that Jasper and I are working on. You know, the one he was telling you about when he picked me up for school?" she lied. "We have to prove whether or not vampires were real, and present what we discover to the class."

Lynne made a face of understanding. "Oh, I see. Kind of a strange topic, if you ask me. And I'm no expert, but I'm pretty certain vampires have never – and will never – exist," she then added, shaking her head.

Danielle just smiled weakly in return, thinking it better if she didn't say anything on the matter.

"Well," Lynne said, passing the books back to her. "If it's for school, why don't you keep the books? That's a perk they comes with having a mother who owns a book store. Free books for life," she said with a smile and a wink.

Danielle smiled grateful as she held the books to her chest. She'd only been skimming the books for information so far – now that she was able to keep them, she already knew she'd read the books cover to cover as soon as she got home. "Thanks, Mom. That's a huge help."

"No problem," Lynne said. "Oh, and speaking of Jasper," she continued, which made Danielle instantly stiffen, "I was thinking…the dance is coming up quick and you don't have a dress yet. How about you and I cut out of here a little early and go do some shopping?" she offered, wagging her brows excitedly. "I hear there's a nice place in Port Angeles."

Danielle blinked in surprise, then sighed heavily. With everything that had happened in the past few days, she hadn't really been thinking about the Spring Fling. In fact, the only time it had crossed her mind had been when Conner had brought it up. Considering the way Jasper had left her, and considering the very weird turn things had taken in the past twenty four hours, she couldn't say with confidence that he would even still want to go.

"I dunno, Mom," she said with reluctance.

Lynne frowned at once. "What's wrong? Aren't you and Jasper still going?"

Danielle shrugged. "I think so," she said with skepticism. Then she sighed again. "I hope so."

Lynne suddenly looked concerned. "Danielle, has something happened between you two? Are you fighting or something?" she pried, clearly sensing that something was definitely wrong.

"I wouldn't say that we're fighting," Danielle said with a shake of her head. "It's just…it's complicated. He's complicated," she finally admitted.

"You're both in high school. What could possibly be so complicated?" Lynne asked with a fair amount of skepticism.

Danielle shrugged helplessly. "That's the same question I've been asking myself for three days now," she grumbled.

Lynne looked at her for a moment, then stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Look, I don't know what's happened between you two, but I saw the way that boy looked at you. He cares about you, Dani. And I know you care about him, too. If you really like each other, you'll make it work," she said with an encouraging nod. "Just…talk to him. Communication is the key to everything."

As much as she appreciated her mother's heartfelt advice, she had a feeling that talking to Jasper would be much easier said than done. Still, she nodded her head just to appease her mother. "You're right. I should talk to him. And I will talk to him," Danielle said. "Thanks, Mom," she added with a smile.

"You're welcome," Lynne said. She then raised her brows expectantly. "So, back to my original question. Do you want to go dress shopping for the dance?"

Danielle thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Why not?" she said with a shrug. "If Jasper changes his mind and I don't go to the dance, I can just save the dress for something else," She reasoned

Lynne pursed her lips. "Kind of a glass half empty way of thinking, but I guess I'll take it," she said. She kissed Danielle on the forehead, then turned to leave. "I'll go and ask Patricia if she's okay with locking up tonight," she said as she walked away.

"Alright," Danielle said, watching her mother go.

Lynne paused before she could round a shelf, though, and turned back to Danielle. "And Dani?" she said, raising her brows. "I hope everything works out between you and Jasper. I've never seen you this happy before, and I want it to stay that way," she said sincerely.

Danielle smiled and nodded. "Me too, Mom," she said. "Me too." And she truly, honestly, meant it.

Danielle and her mother left the book shop right around four and headed to Port Angeles, where they quickly located a store that sold both formal and semi-formal dresses. As preoccupied as she had been all day, it was actually fun to try on different dresses and put on a little fashion show for her mother, who was more than happy to give her opinions, both good and bad. Eventually Danielle decided on a deep purple dress that had thick, tank-top style straps, was fitted around the torso, and flared out gently at the hips. The hem went to her knee, which meant she wasn't showing too much leg, and the neckline was modest enough to appease her mother, but still let her have just enough cleavage to be a bit sexy. Danielle knew it was perfect the moment she put it on.

They bought the dress, then decided that since they are already out, they might as well find a place to eat. They chose a local bistro and sat there chatting and eating for the next two hours, before Lynne finally seemed to remember that it was a school night and announced that it was time to head back to Forks. By the time they returned home it was starting to get late, so they said goodnight to each other and headed off to their respective beds. Danielle didn't go to sleep right away though. She changed into comfy clothes and grabbed the books she'd brought back from her mother's store, before climbing into bed and resuming her research from earlier that day. She spent the next few hours reading more tales and legends about vampires from all over the globe, only stopping once her eyes began to grow heavy and her brain no longer could retain information. Finally, Danielle set the books aside, clicked off the bedside lamp, and went to sleep.

Because she had spent her entire day thinking and reading about vampires, it was no surprise that Danielle had another night full of dreams centered around the immortal beings. For most of the night, she had one dream after the other where she was chased by frightening, unfamiliar vampires who wanted nothing more than suck her blood. Though there had been one dream in the midst of it all that had been just strange, if not somewhat comical. In that particular dream, she had been thrust into a world that strongly resembled Alice in Wonderland, only instead of having tea time with the Mad Hatter, she'd found herself seated at a long table with Jasper and his siblings, all of whom had been dressed very eccentrically, had talked in strange accents, and extended their pinkies whenever they drank from their tea cups. Instead of drinking tea, like herself, they had been drinking blood.

For the second morning in a row, she woke feeling lethargic and unrested after a night of tossing and turning in her bed. It took several minutes before she was able to even fully open her eyes, let alone climb out of bed. When she finally did open her eyes, she was greeted by a very surprising sight. There was orange light illuminating the curtains over her window and peeking in from around the edges.

Gasping with surprise, Danielle jumped out of bed and went to the window to throw back the curtains, her eyes going wide when she saw clear, blue skies and bright morning sunshine. This was, by far, the sunniest day she had seen since moving to Forks, and as the warmth of the sun's rays hit her face and filled her room, she closed her eyes with pleasure, relishing in the feeling.

Danielle got dressed for the day, wearing lighter, more breathable clothes since it wasn't quite as cold outside, then ate breakfast by the window, eager to get any ounce of sunlight she could. When she had finished, she grabbed it backpack and went to meet Bella so they could go to school.

Seeing the sun had put her in a good mood and had made her momentarily forget all about Jasper and the Cullen's and Jacob Black's stories of vampires and werewolves. But the moment she stepped outside and saw Bella waiting by the truck, all of it came rushing back to her, making her purse her lips with uncertainty and her stomach flip. She walked across the street, wondering how Bella had been handling everything and feeling like her previous day of researching had given them a lot to talk about.

"Hey," Danielle greeted as she stopped in front of Bella.

"Hey," she said back, giving her a small, awkward smile. "Great day, huh?" she then said, looking at the clear skies overhead.

"Yeah, it is," Danielle agreed.

A beat of silence passed. "How…how was the rest of your weekend?" Bella asked, trying to sound conversational.

Danielle shrugged. "Honestly? It's been a weird couple of days for me," she said bluntly.

Bella slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Me too," she admitted.

Danielle looked at her for a moment, then sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about Saturday," she felt the need to apologize. "I wasn't trying to shut you out or make you feel like you were a crazy person or anything. It's just…of all the things you could have thrown at me, the last I expected was for you to bring up vampires."

Bella quickly shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. I know how crazy all that sounded. I don't blame you for not believing it. I don't even know if I believe it myself."

Danielle gave her a long look, then sighed. "Well, you see, the thing is…I've been thinking about what you told me. A lot," she confessed, which definitely caught Bella's attention. "My curiosity got the better of me and I did a little bit of poking around yesterday, just to try to find out more about vampires. Real vampires," she added pointedly. "And now, after really taking a long, hard look at everything, it's got me thinking that maybe…" Danielle sighed. "Maybe this isn't as farfetched as I thought."

Bella seemed completely taken aback. She had obviously not expected Danielle to have a change of heart when it came to her feelings toward this vampire theory. "Really?"

Danielle nodded. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Bella," she then confessed, knowing the time had come to tell her friend all of the things she had been keeping from her. "There are some things that have happened with Jasper that I haven't told you about."

"Like what?" Bella asked eagerly.

"Remember when Jasper came to talk to me after I invited him to the dance?" Bella nodded. "He told that he wanted to go with me, but was afraid that it would be unsafe. He said he thought that dancing with me and being close to me would be difficult for him. He also said that there were things about himself that he hadn't told me, things he didn't feel ready to tell me," she revealed, much to Bella's surprise. "And last Thursday, when he dropped me off at home, he…he almost kissed me," she said, which made Bella's eyes go wide. "But he didn't. He chickened out at the last moment."

"Why?"

"He said he couldn't kiss me. That he wasn't ready. That he needed more time. He said it was too dangerous," Danielle said pointedly.

"Dangerous?" Bella echoed, sounding dumbfounded.

"Dangerous," Danielle repeated firmly. "And I've never told anyone about this," she continued, "but when I'm around Jasper, something weird tends to happen. My emotions just kind of start bouncing all over the place, like I'm not even in control of them anymore. If I'm not with him, I'm fine. But then he comes along and they start doing all kinds of weird things."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked curiously.

"Well, if I get annoyed or stressed about something around him, I'll instantly feel calm. Or if I'm having a bad day, he'll suddenly make me feel happy. Other times, I'll feel unexpected rushes of affection when he looks at me, like I'm feeling his feelings or something," she explained. "And when he was about to kiss me, the things I felt were just …" Danielle trailed off and blushed, her body tingling a bit as she remembered exactly how it had felt. "I tried to write it off as mood swings. I tried to tell myself that it just happened because I like Jasper that much. But I don't think it's true. It happens too frequently."

"You think Jasper is doing all that? That he can, like…control emotions or something?" Bella asked.

"I didn't think so when I still firmly believed that he was a normal guy," she said with a shrug. "Now I'm…not so sure. After everything I read yesterday, after what Jacob told you and after what his friend said to me – "

"Wait," Bella interrupted. "Back up. What did his friend say to you?" she asked with furrowed brows.

Danielle's sucked in a breath. "When you and Jacob left to go talk, one of his friends – the same one who said the Cullen's didn't go to La Push – started asking me how I knew Jasper and whether or not we were together. When I asked him why he wanted to know, he wouldn't say. He just told me that the Cullen's were dangerous, and that I should stay away from him. That we both should," she added, motioning back and forth between them. "That's what I was gonna tell you after the beach trip, but after everything you told me, I wasn't sure if I should bring it up."

Bella stared at her for a long moment as she fully processed what Danielle had told her, then sighed and shoved a hand through her dark hair. "So then what are you saying?" she finally asked. "You think it's true? You think they're…vampires?"

Danielle heaved, then shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what I believe anymore," she said honestly. "But I suppose it does explain some things that didn't make sense before. And I figure that if Edward really did the things you say he did the day of the crash, then he has to be something. And if he's something, then they're all something, right?"

Bella blinked in surprise. She then gave her an earnest look, as if she was afraid to believe that she had heard what she thought she had heard. "You mean…you believe me about Edward?" she asked.

Danielle hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. I think I do. I thought about it a lot yesterday, and I think…I think you're telling the truth."

There was an enormous look of relief on Bella's face now, as if it made her happy to know that someone else didn't think her crazy theories were so crazy anymore. But then she seemed to realize that if they both believed Edward had done what Bella had been saying all along, then that also meant that their other crazy theories regarding him and his family being a coven of vampires might be true, too. She gulped and shifted on her feet, looking unsure now.

"So…what do we do now?" she asked. "I mean, I've been thinking about this a lot and did some research of my own," she admitted, which Danielle was not surprised to hear. "But if it is true, I'm nowhere closer to knowing where we're supposed to go from here."

"Well," Danielle sighed, "something tells me that asking them point blank if they're vampires wouldn't go over very well, regardless if they are or not," she said. "I guess we just…wait and see what happens?"

Bella pursed her lips. "Doesn't sound like much of a plan," she commented.

Danielle quirked a brow. "You got a better idea?"

Bella thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "No," she admitted.

"Alright then," Danielle said with a nod of finality. She then looked down at her watch, her eyes widening when she realized that they had been talking for longer than she had realized. "We should get going or were gonna be late for school."

Bella nodded, and without saying another word they both tossed their backpacks in the bed of the truck and climbed into the cab. Just as Bella went to the put the key in the ignition, however, she paused and turned a look on Danielle.

"Dani?" she asked. "If by some slim chance we're not insane and all of this turns out to actually be true…what are you gonna do about Jasper?" she questioned uncertain.

Danielle frowned, then took a good, long minute to consider her answer. If Jasper actually was a vampire, what would she do? She had always thought herself a sensible person, and a sensible person would understand that getting too close to a vampire would mean putting their life at risk. A sensible person would run away, would never talk to said vampire again and pretend as though they had never even met in the first place.

But Danielle cared about Jasper. She cared about him very much. He was kind and smart and he made her laugh. He was the reason she woke with a smile on her face most mornings. He made her feel things no one else ever had. He was important to her. Even if he was a vampire, the thought of not having him in her life, of not seeing him smile at her, of not being able to talk to him or even just be close to him…her heart ached so painfully it almost made her feel nauseous.

It was then, in that moment, that she realized it. The thought of Jasper being a vampire was scary, simply because it was crazy and unexpected and completely shattered the way she had always looked at the world. But what scared her even more was the thought losing Jasper.

Danielle finally looked at Bella and shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. But I do know that I don't want to lose him," she admitted.

Bella just nodded in understanding. "I know exactly how you feel," she said.

Then she finally shoved the key into the ignition and started the truck, before they headed off to school

They made it to Forks High with a little over five minutes to spare, which gave them just enough time to go to their lockers, get their things for class, then rush off to first period. There was an anxious feeling in her stomach that hadn't been there skin quite some time. She was eager to see Jasper. She had missed him more than she cared to admit – she needed to talk to him and just be around him again. At the same time, she was scared to see him. He could read her like an open book – what if he took one look at her and knew exactly what she had spent the last two days thinking about? Or what if their last moment together had scared him and he pushed her away? What if things were different now?

Danielle stepped into class, unconsciously holding her breath, then let it out in a giant whoosh. Jasper wasn't there. Frowning, she sat down at her desk, eyeing his empty seat. She then looked across the room, where Rosalie always sat. Her desk was empty, too. Danielle looked to the door, thinking that maybe they were just late and that they would arrive any moment. But then the bell rang and class began, and neither Jasper, nor Rosalie, ever showed.

Danielle held on to the feeble hope that Jasper might make an appearance in second period, but that hope was quickly squashed when class started and be still did not show up. It only made matters worse when she reached her History class and discovered that Emmett wasn't there either. Danielle hadn't really expected him to be there, seeing as both Jasper and Rosalie had been absent, but still...that didn't make it any less disappointing.

Bella beat Danielle to Spanish, as usual, and was watching the door when Danielle walked in. She gave her an expectant look, clearly eager to hear any news of the Cullen's. "Well?" she hissed as Danielle took her seat.

"No Jasper," she reported unenthusiastically. "No Emmett or Rosalie, either," she said.

"Do you think that means Edward and Alice are gone, too?" Bella asked with a slight frown.

Danielle only shrugged at her friend. "Guess we'll find out."

Bella's question about the status of Edward's and Alice's attendance was quickly answered when lunch period began and they walked into the cafeteria, only to find that there wasn't a single Cullen around. Danielle stared at the empty table, let her eyes wander around the cafeteria just to make double sure they weren't there, then finally shared a look with Bella. It seemed a little coincidental to Danielle that the entire Cullen family would be gone on the only sunny day she'd seen since moving to Forks, and she had a feeling Bella was thinking the same thing. They didn't voice those thoughts to each other, though, simply went to grab their lunches before joining their friends at the lunch table.

"Okay, ladies," Jessica said excitedly once they were seated at the table and digging into their lunches. "It's official. Port Angeles tonight for dress shopping. You in or what?" she asked, wagging her brows.

Danielle cringed. She had forgotten that Jessica had invited her to go dress shopping with her and Angela. "I actually already got a dress," Danielle said with a look of apology.

Angela and Jessica looked disappointed in an instant. "What? You went without us?" Jessica demanded. "When?"

"I went yesterday evening. My mom offered to take me shopping and she was just so excited. I couldn't say no," she explained with a shrug. "I'm sorry."

Angela smiled understandingly. "Don't worry about it, she said, waving off Danielle's apology. "That was nice of your mom to make you. I bet you guys had fun," she said.

Danielle smiled. "We did, yeah," she confirmed.

"Well," Jessica interjected, drawing the attention back to her. "Just because you already have a dress doesn't mean you can't come with us. Angie and I still need dresses, and we could use a few extra pairs of eyes around to help us find the right ones," she insisted. "So what do you say?" she asked, looking back and forth between Danielle and Bella.

Danielle shared a look with Bella, before they both shrugged. "Sure," Bella agreed with a smile. "We're in."

"Great!" Jessica exclaimed.

After lunch, the rest of the day passed fairly quickly. Nothing interesting happened in Physics, and Gym was uneventful, since the next activity they were moving on to was badminton and the coach had taken the class period to lecture them about the sport. Once they were back in their normal clothes and had collected their backpacks from their lockers, they headed out to the parking lot and made a beeline for the truck. Once they had left school and were headed back toward their neighborhood, Danielle let out a long sigh.

"Well, that day didn't exactly go as planned," she commented, still feeling more than a little displeased with the fact that Jasper hadn't shown up to school.

"Where do you think they were today?" Bella asked unsurely.

Danielle shrugged. "Maybe the guys are still camping," she offered as an excuse. "And as for Alice and Rosalie, well…" She thought about it for a moment, then, when she couldn't come up with a reason as to why they were gone, she shrugged again. "Who knows," she finished.

Bella looked at her for a moment, then turned her eyes forward again. "Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room, then?" she asked, her brows furrowing together. "Are we just going to not talk about the fact that the Cullen's, who may or may not be vampires, just happened to miss school on the one super sunny day Forks has seen in who knows how long?" she asked.

Danielle sighed in response. She hadn't wanted to bring that up simply because it made all of this seem way too real. "The thought had crossed my mind," she admitted. "But just because they didn't come to school today, that doesn't automatically mean that they're vampires," she said in a very rational tone.

"Well, no. It's not the nail in the coffin," Bella countered. Danielle gave her a sharp look at hearing the word 'coffin', which made Bella cringe a little. "Okay, poor choice of words there," she admitted. "But still," she continued. "It seems a bit suspicious that they weren't there, don't you think?"

"Suspicious I can agree with," Danielle said, nodding her head.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the ride, mostly because they both retreated to their own thoughts. As much as she didn't want to, she found herself imaging Jasper enclosed in an ornate coffin, tucked deep into the recesses of a darkened house to shield him from the harmful sunlight outside. Had he not come to school because he would have burst into flames the moment he stepped outside? Or had he just decided to extend his camping trip with Emmett and Edward? It didn't explain the absence of Rosalie and Alice, but, then again, Jasper had said that their parents didn't care if he and his siblings missed school, so long as their grades didn't suffer. Maybe the two sisters had just decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather, rather than waste it by sitting behind a school desk all day.

When they reached Bella's house, Bella parked by the curb and then cut the engine. Just as they got out of the truck and went to collect their backpacks, the cell phone in Bella's back pocket began to ring. She retrieved it, then frowned as she looked to see who was calling. "It's Jessica," she announced, before accepting the call and pressing the phone to her ear. "Hey, Jess. What's up?"

Danielle lingered by the truck, fixing the straps of her backpack on her shoulders as she listened to Bella's side of the conversation. "Really? He did?" Bella asked, though Danielle thought she looked more pleased than surprised. "That's great, Jess." Pause. "No, don't worry about it. I totally understand." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll tell Dani," she said, glancing at Danielle. "Have fun tonight and I'll see you tomorrow. Okay, bye."

Bella clicked her phone shut and stuffed it back into her pocket. "Port Angeles has been rescheduled to tomorrow night," she revealed. "Jessica is going on a date with Mike," she then added with a small smirk.

Danielle's brows shot up in surprise. "Really? Mike finally realized you weren't into him and decided to give Jessica a shot, huh?"

Bella suddenly blushed, looking a bit guilty now. "Well…he might have cornered me after first period and asked me to dinner first," she admitted. "But after I not so subtly hinted that Jessica liked him and would be very upset if we went to dinner together, he had a change of heart."

Danielle nodded in understanding. "Well good," she said firmly. "I hope things work out for them."

Bella nodded in agreement. "Me too." She paused for a moment, then jerked a thumb toward her house. "Wanna come in and hang out for a bit? It'll be a while before Charlie's home. I'll probably be bored out of my mind hanging around by myself," Bella said.

Danielle thought about it, then shook her head. She had a feeling that if she hung out with Bella, they'd probably end up exploring this vampire theory even further. And to be honest, after spending two and a half days thinking of nothing but vampires, she was ready to put the subject on a shelf for now and try to give her mind a much needed break from it all.

"I've got a ton of homework to get done and a book I need to start reading for my English class," Danielle excused. "I should probably just go home."

Bella seemed a bit disappointed, but nodded in understanding anyway. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Danielle smiled and nodded. "Yeah, see ya." She turned to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and turned back. "And Bella?" she called. Bella, who had started walking up her driveway, glanced back at Danielle curiously. "If you need anything, just come over," Danielle offered, not wanting her friend to get the wrong idea about anything. "My door is always open."

Bella smiled at her and nodded. "Thanks, Dani. I'll keep it in mind."

With that being said, they shared one last smile and went their separate ways.

The next day went exactly as the previous, only it felt exponentially worse. It was another bright and sunny day, which probably should have made her feel happy, but it didn't. The moment she saw the morning sunlight streaming through her window, a nagging feeling in her gut told her that Jasper and his siblings would probably be absent from school again. Her suspicions proved to be correct when her first period Calculus class began and, for the second day in a row, neither Jasper, nor Rosalie, turned up. Emmett was also a no show, and when she stepped into the cafeteria for lunch, the Cullen table was, once again, empty.

There was a part of her that felt her suspicions about the Cullen's begin grow stronger, simply because she could not ignore the fact that they had conveniently disappeared on yet another sunny day. Missing school on one beautiful day? That was reasonable. But missing two in a row? Not so much. There was another, much larger part of her, however, that felt sad and mopey and incredibly disappointed for the duration of the day. This marked the fifth day that she had gone without seeing Jasper, which officially made this the longest they had gone without seeing one another since the very first day she had met him. By the time lunch was over, she found herself beginning to care less and less about whether he was a vampire or not. All she could think about was how she missed him so much that it actually hurt, and how she wanted – no, needed – him to come back.

After school, Danielle decided against going to Port Angeles, so when Jessica and Angela came to pick Bella up, she went outside to tell the girls that she wouldn't be joining them. She just wasn't feeling in the mood to go anywhere and knew she would only be a Debbie Downer, so she thought it better to stay home and not ruin her friends' shopping trip. Bella, Jessica, and Angela were disappointed that she didn't want to come and tried to convince her to come along anyway, but Danielle insisted that she had too much homework to do and that going to Port Angeles would only get in the way of that. When they finally realized that nothing they would say would change her mind, they finally gave up and left.

She spent about an hour working on homework, then watched television until it was time to start figuring out something for dinner. While she cooked, she turned on the radio and switched it to the classic rock station, hoping the music would make her feel better. In a way, it worked. She sang along with songs that she knew and bopped her head to the beat, but no matter what she did to distract herself, Jasper was never far from her thoughts and the longing in her heart never fully subsided.

Lynne came home from work just after seven, and they soon sat down to eat dinner. They made small talk while they ate, chatting about school and work. After dinner they cleaned up the kitchen together, smiling and laughing as they turned on the radio again and both sang along with songs they liked, before retreating to the living room to watch some evening shows together. Around seven forty-five, as they were in the middle of watching a funny sitcom, the doorbell rang unexpectedly. Danielle and Lynne looked at the door for a moment, then turned curious looks on each other.

"Who could that be?" Lynne asked, before she started to get up to see who it was.

"Stay," Danielle urged her mother as she got up from the couch. "I'll go see who it is."

As Lynne sat back down, Danielle went to the front door. She peered through the peephole first, then, when she saw who was waiting on the other side, she quickly opened the door. Bella was looking back at her, her expression one of urgency as she practically bounced on her feet. "Bella?" Danielle said, not sure why her friend was coming to see her. "What's up?"

"We need to talk," Bella said. "Now."

Danielle could sense that whatever this was, it was obviously very important. She nodded, then glanced back toward the living room. "Mom? I'm gonna step outside real quick! Bella needs my help with something!" she called.

"Okay!" Lynne called back.

Danielle stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind her, before crossing her arms over her chest. Bella was still fidgeting around, looking like she might very well explode if she didn't say what was on her mind soon. "What's going on?" Danielle asked, brows furrowed uncertainly.

Bella didn't hesitate. She just came right out with it. "It's true, Dani!" she blurted out in a rush, her eyes wide. "Everything Jacob told me about the Cullen's, everything we've been talking about - it's all true!"

Danielle suddenly felt as though somebody had thrown a bucket of ice water on her. She stood there frozen, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with shock, her brain struggling to process what Bella had just said. After opening and closing her mouth a few times, she finally shook her head. "What?" she asked when her vocal chords worked again. "How do you know?"

"It's kind of a long story, but Edward was in Port Angeles tonight," Bella told her. "He saved me from some jerks that were giving me a hard time and then we went to dinner, and after we got to talking it all just kind of…came out. They're vampires, Danielle," Bella stressed, her expression telling Danielle just how amazed and dumbfounded she was that their wild theory had actually proven to be correct.

There it was. The truth. The answer to all their questions. Jacob Black's stories hadn't been just stories after all. The Cullen's were vampires.

Danielle suddenly felt weak in the knees, and as her stomach flipped violently, she couldn't decide if she was going to be sick or not. "I think…I need to sit down," she croaked out.

She wobbled over to the porch steps and plopped down heavily on the top step, before immediately putting her head between her knees to try to ward off the feeling in her stomach. She heard and felt Bella sit down next to her, but didn't look up just yet. She took a few steadying breaths first, then finally looked over at Bella, who was waiting as patiently as she could for Danielle to recover from her shock.

"What did he tell you?" Danielle finally asked. "Are they like the vampires in movies?"

"Not really," Bella said with a shake of her head. "They don't ever feed on humans, only animals," she revealed, which did make Danielle relax the tiniest bit. "They don't get burned by sunlight or anything, but they try to avoid it for some reason, which is why they haven't been at school. And they definitely don't sleep in coffins," Bella listed off. "In fact, according to Edward, they don't sleep at all."

Danielle shook her head in disbelief. She felt like she'd just been thrown into an episode of The Twilight Zone. "So this weekend, when Jasper and his brothers went camping…" she prompted.

"They were hunting," Bella confirmed.

"Hunting animals?" Danielle asked for verification, despite the fact that Bella had already said they didn't hunt humans. She just needed to hear her say it again.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "They're 'vegetarians'," she said, making air quotes with her fingers.

Danielle released another heavy breath and shook her head. "I can't believe this," she said, feeling completely and totally discombobulated by this turn of events. "I mean. I can, because Edward told you it's true," she added. "But I just…can't believe it," she reiterated.

"It's a lot to take in," Bella agreed. "Kinda makes you wonder what else is out there, huh?" she then asked. "If vampires are real, then what else is?"

Danielle held up a hand to put a stop to Bella's train of thought. "I'm having a hard enough time to fully wrapping my head around the vampire thing as it is," she said. "Let's leave everything else out of the equation for now, okay? One supernatural thing at a time."

Bella smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," she apologized. She then gave Danielle a very long, scrutinizing look. "What do you think of all this? Are you…scared?"

Danielle had to think about that one before answering. How did she feel about all if this? Was she surprised? Absolutely. Was she feeling more than a little disoriented? Yep. Was she shocked as all hell that this had all actually turned out to be true? You bet your bottom she was. But was she scared? Danielle took a moment to assess herself for any signs of fear, but to her complete and utter astonishment, it wasn't there. Jasper was a vampire, someone who was probably a million times stronger and more powerful than herself, someone who could easily hurt her – or worse – if he really wanted to…but she wasn't afraid of him. Because she knew Jasper, and she knew in her gut that he didn't want to hurt her. He cared about her, he had told her so himself, and she cared about him in return. She trusted him, and this new revelation about him hadn't changed any of that.

"No," Danielle finally answered, shaking her head. "I probably should be afraid, but I'm not," she admitted. She then looked at Bella uncertainly. "That makes me an idiot, right?"

Bella gave her a small smile. "If it does, then we're both idiots," she said, which immediately told Danielle that Bella wasn't afraid either.

Danielle offered a tiny smile, then sighed heavily and ran a hand through her red curls, which made them turn a bit frizzy and stick out in weird angles. "So now what?"

"I don't know," Bella said. "I guess we just take it one day at a time."

Danielle nodded slowly. "So they'll be at school tomorrow?" Bella nodded in confirmation, which made Danielle's stomach do another somersault. "How the hell am I supposed to talk to Jasper about this?" she wondered aloud. "I can't exactly just walk up to him and say, 'Hey, Jasper! How's it going? Did you have fun hunting, you know, seeing as you're a freaking vampire?'"

Bella gave her a look. "Well, I don't know if it helps or not, but Edward asked if I was going to tell you and I said yes. So I'm pretty sure Jasper already knows that the secret is out."

Danielle huffed. "That doesn't help actually. Whether he knows or not, I have a feeling it's still gonna be awkward as hell," she said.

"Yeah, maybe. But you guys are good at talking stuff out," Bella pointed out. "I'm sure it'll all be okay," she then added optimistically.

The door behind them suddenly opened, which brought their conversation to a quick halt and had both if them glancing over their shoulders. Lynne slowly poked her head out, looking mildly concerned. "Hi, Bella," she greeted.

"Hello, Ms. Clark." Bella said back politely.

Lynne looked back and forth between them, her brows raising a tick. "Is everything alright?"

Danielle shared a quick look with Bella. "Yeah, everything's fine," Danielle told her with a nod. "Bella and I were just talking about…" She trailed off and looked at Bella for help, unable to come up with a lie on the spot due to her scattered thoughts.

"Talking about boys," Bella finished for her, which wasn't really a lie. "I just needed some advice. Nothing to be worried about."

Lynne made a face of understanding. "Ah, I see." She then opened the door wider. "Would you like to come in? You can talk in the kitchen," Lynne invited. "I swear I won't eavesdrop," she promised with a smile.

"Actually, I should be getting back home," Bella said. "I've still got some homework to finish up before school tomorrow. Thank you for the invitation, though," she added with a smile.

"Anytime," Lynne said understandingly.

Bella stood from the porch step she had been sitting on, then stepped out onto the cement walkway that snaked through the middle of the yard. Danielle stood too, and was glad her legs felt a bit more stable now. "Thanks for listening," Bella said, looking at her. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Danielle nodded. She didn't know if she was ready for Bella to go just yet because she felt like they still had a lot to talk about, but in the end, she decided maybe it was better to go their separate ways. This whole vampire business was a lot to take in, and she felt like she could use a bit of time to herself to process everything. "See you tomorrow."

After Bella left, Danielle followed her mother back into the house. She did not rejoin Lynne in the living room, however. Instead, she said that she was feeling a bit tired and that she was going to go upstairs and lay down. Lynne seemed the tiniest bit suspicious, but still nodded and didn't try to stop her.

Danielle flopped onto her bed the moment she was in the privacy of her own bedroom, her eyes sliding closed as she took a few deep breaths. She felt like she was all over place, being pulled into a million different directions. It was hard to reign in her jumbled thoughts and actually focus, but when she finally did, all she could think about was Jasper.

Jasper wasn't human. He was a vampire. Jasper Hale was a vampire.

No matter how many times she said it in her head, it didn't make the truth any less astonishing. She found it incredible how quickly things could change – three nights ago she had been certain that Jacob Black was just too superstitious for his own good and that there was no possible way vampires could exist. Now here she was, faced with the cold, hard truth that vampires were real, and that the world as she knew it had ceased to exist. She had been living in the presence of vampires for over a month now. She had happily spent time in their company, had befriended them. And she, Danielle Clark, had even gone and fallen head over heels for one of them.

Danielle couldn't help but wonder what Jasper was doing in this exact moment. Had Edward told him that she knew their secret? And if he had, how was Jasper taking it? Would he be angry that she knew? Would he be scared? Or, by some absolute miracle, would he be glad that she knew? Would he be glad that the secret was out and that they could finally be completely and totally honest with one another?

Danielle pondered these questions over and over again, but in the end, the fact of the matter was that she had no idea how Jasper might handle this. She had a feeling, however, that she'd find out the answer pretty quickly when she saw him at school the next day. All she could do now was hope that Bella was right, and that somehow, some way, all of this would turn out okay in the end.

Oh geez! Big chapter coming up!

Let me know what you guys think!