A/N: I just wanted to make a note on this in reply to some of the comments I've gotten. I'm going with a canon approach to Bella and Edward's relationship, in that even SM didn't have all of the vampires falling into lust-filled, instant love with their mates. Need I point out Kate and Garrett? I'm take an approach closer to their relationship here because I think it is more fitting for Edward and Bella's personalities, unlike the instant attraction and consummation of Emmett and Rosalie. I like to think that Carlisle and Esme took their time, too, and probably also Alice and Jasper. I think of Emmett and Rose as an anomaly, strictly due to their own personalities.

So this will be a slow burn romance, at least for a few more chapters. But it WILL get there. I promise.

I followed Edward Cullen into the trees surrounding his home at human speed and marveled at the events of the past few hours. For the past year, when I envisioned meeting Carlisle Cullen I wondered what it would be like. Would he be glad to meet someone else who was able to resist the draw of human blood? Would I find someone willing to spend the next however many long years in my company, or would he turn out to be a recluse like that strange vampire I met in Scotland during the first months of my exploration?

Instead of finding a reclusive, lonely vampire, I found Carlisle to be the patriarch of a coven of vampires—one who called themselves a family. It was a strange and yet wonderful notion. When the small dark-haired girl first mentioned her family, I felt a longing that surprised me. As a human I was the only child of divorced parents who were also only children. Until my mother's remarriage I had only spent time in the presence of one family member at any point in time. As a newborn vampire, I was the youngest, the least experienced and most ignored in Volterra. I held no familial feelings for any of them, although Renata would always have my gratitude for her guidance at the beginning and the end of my time there.

The Carlisle Cullen I found didn't need me in his family, but he invited me anyway. How could I have said no? I wasn't sure how I felt about most of the members of my new "family", but even though I didn't know them well I somehow felt at home with them. Alice, the small girl, I could easily see her as a sister. Her spirit drew me, even though she seemed like the bubbly type of person I would have avoided as a human. Carlisle and his mate, Esme, wore the roles of patriarch and matriarch easily, and I already felt comfortable with them even in the short time we had spent together. I was a little unsure about Alice's mate, Jasper, and the other two, Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett seemed excited, but I noticed an almost resentful look in Jasper's eyes when I described how I learned to hunt animals. Rosalie was the most difficult to read, and I had the feeling it would take a while for her to warm up to me—if she ever did.

Then there was Edward. I glanced over at him, trying to be quick enough that he wouldn't catch me. His hair, a mixture of copper, blond, and light brown strands in the weak afternoon sunlight, caught my eye first, of course. I was fascinated by the color and wondered if it felt as soft as it looked. Just as I thought that, his gaze captured my own, and I realized he'd caught me staring after all. I rushed to look ahead at the trees before us, suddenly finding the individual patterns in the moss on the trunks fascinating. Another quick peek sideways revealed a smile that made me weak in the knees, which should have been impossibly. It was a crooked quirk of the lips, just one side lifted up, but it was beautiful. He was beautiful.

"So, Bella, where did you go once you left Italy?" The question in that soft velvet voice took me by surprise, but I was more than willing to talk about my travels.

"I went to England first. Renata said that she believed that was where Carlisle originated from, which made sense considering his name. It's very English. There weren't many friendly vampires in England—they're very territorial—so I moved on to Scotland. I met a few vampires there who had heard of him, but none knew where he might be. I moved on to Ireland, where I met a small coven who did have occasional contact with him, at least enough that they were sure he went to North America at some point in the last century or so. Eventually I made my way over to the U.S., where I was able to piece together his travels a little bit at a time. No one really mentioned any of you, though." I was curious about that, of course. Surely some of the vampires who knew Carlisle were aware of his expanded social circle, so to speak.

Edward shook his head and gave a little laugh. "I think most of Carlisle's acquaintances from the east coast are unaware of the rest of us. I've met a handful, but we've stayed away from others for the most part, preferring smaller communities whereas traditional vampires try for large cities where the occasional missing person goes virtually unnoticed."

I sighed at that, knowing he was right. That was how I'd been taught by the Volturi, after all. Hide your kills in plain sight if you can so that you don't attract undue attention.

"Well, it's pretty inconvenient, if you ask me!" I teased him, shocked at my own light tone.

Thankfully he took that as the joke I intended and grinned. "I apologize on behalf of all of us, of course." His retort startled a laugh out of me as well. I tried to remember the last time I laughed, truly laughed, and couldn't.

"In a way I'm glad I didn't find Carlisle right away, though," I confessed quietly.

Edward raised his eyebrows a little. "Really?"

I nodded. "Don't get me wrong. It would have been nice to have some reassurance in the early days that I would be able to stick with the animal diet, but I'm glad that I was able to do it on my own. I feel…at peace with myself because of it. I'm not letting myself be a monster, a killer, and it's all my own doing."

His eyes were full of understanding as they met mine. "I wish that we could all say that," he murmured.

It was my turn to be surprised. "Have you ever—?" I couldn't complete my question for some reason. I didn't want to think of this beautiful boy as someone who gave in to his vampire side when he came into the life knowing there was another option.

"A few years after Carlisle changed me, I went through what you might call a rebellious phase. I thought that I knew so much better than he did what it meant to be a true vampire but still do some good in the world." He took a deep but unnecessary breath, and all I wanted to do was reach out and take his hand to help steady him. The impulse surprised me, and so I kept my hands to myself.

"With my ability, I was able to weed out the very worst of humanity. The rapists, the murders, the child molesters and wife beaters. These were my prey. I can guarantee without a doubt that none of my victims was in any way innocent of wrong-doing. However, after several years I began to realize that I was in danger of becoming just like them. They all had their reasons for acting the way they did, justifications they told themselves, no matter how twisted they might seem to others. What I was doing, doling out vigilante justice, was no better. I returned to Carlisle and begged his forgiveness for leaving, and of course he took me back. I haven't tasted human blood since, although there have been temptations when I hear a particularly vile human's thoughts."

A part of me wanted to run far away so that I wouldn't hear any more. A larger part of me wanted to reassure him. "I can understand that, in a way. I asked Heidi for the sick and dying so that I could ease my own conscience. Of course, I didn't know about feeding from animals, but occasionally I have been tempted by a human who smells too sweet since I left Volterra. I just think of my parents and run in the other direction when that happens, though." I didn't know why I told him that, revealed the weakness that ran through me no matter how hard I tried.

Edward shook his head and gave a little laugh. "Bella, you have no idea how strong you are, do you? You're not seeing yourself clearly at all. Barely two years into this life and with more control than almost another other vampire I know, including most of us who have been attempting this diet much longer."

I wasn't sure I believed him but decided to change the subject instead of argue. "You know, I've told you and your family a lot about myself today. Care to answer some questions in return, since it looks like I'll be joining you?"

"Of course."

"How are you able to maintain homes so close to humans? Don't they notice that you never age?"

"When we move to a new area, we try start out as 'young' as possible," he explained. "Emmett and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper, and I are usually high school students, or at the very least young college students. Esme and Carlisle are our adoptive parents or older brother or sister, something like that. We are able to stay four or sometimes even five years in one place that way."

The thought of being constantly on the move made me sad for a moment, but at least they did have each other. And now they would have me, too. The life of wandering alone didn't hold much appeal, but surely in a group it wouldn't be so bad.

"Do you ever return to an area that you really liked?" America was huge, although the weather limited a vampire's mobility in a lot of places.

Edward nodded. "Oh yes. We've been here to Forks twice in the last eighty years, for instance," he told me.

I wanted to ask how old he was, how old they all were, but the Volturi taught me through glares and growls that questions like that aren't considered polite in vampire society so I held my tongue despite the perfect opening. Instead I focused on the fact that he'd been to this area when my grandparents were helping to build the community, before it even became a town. "What was it like back then? I only have some fuzzy memories of childhood weeks spent here."

He gazed out at the trees thoughtfully. "It was beautiful, and peaceful. There were so few humans here, mostly the natives, that we were able to act more like our natural selves while still becoming part of the local community for a time. It was just Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and myself. Of course, the weather is perfect, with the least amount of sunny days in the entire United States. We didn't have Alice then to tell us when the sun might give us away, so that was very important."

That made sense. "The sun makes things so difficult, doesn't it? Sometimes when I'm stuck because of it I just sit there and stare at my skin, wondering why we have this particular change. It doesn't make any sense, if you consider that being inconspicuous would be our best defense against detection."

"Carlisle has a theory about that. He believes that whenever vampires first came into being, they didn't need to hide. Humans didn't know about our weaknesses, and our looks would stun them into terror or awe if they happened to catch a glimpse of us without us killing them. It probably wasn't until thousands of years later that someone let slip to humans that fire would kill us. It's the closest vampire myth to the truth, as well as one of the oldest. He thinks that can't be a coincidence."

"What do you think?"

"It makes sense, I guess. I hate it because it makes us different, so I try not to think about it. My family thinks I brood enough as it is. They don't understand how difficult it is to be burdened by the thoughts of others wherever I go unless I want to be entirely by myself."

His words made my heart hurt. I could only imagine what that must be like, especially when there are so few people he can even be himself around. Instinctively I reach out to take his hand, only caring about comforting him. I had never been very touchy feely, but I couldn't seem to help myself with him. He jumped at the unexpected touch, but then his fingers curled around mine. I pulled away after a few moments, confused because that didn't feel as awkward as I expected it to. Instead, it felt right, familiar even.

"So, high school over and over again? Does Carlisle enjoy torturing you?" I tried to make light of the moment, only now bringing in a little of the awkwardness I was expecting.

Edward snorted. "It has its benefits, since we look so young anyway. But it has its drawbacks as well, especially for me. Most human adolescent minds are focused on one thing and one thing only."

I think if both of us could have blushed, we would have. Instead, we settled for looking off to opposite sides of the forest as we walked. He was right. It was so beautiful, something I didn't expect to find from my hazy human memories of weeks spent trapped here enduring the rain and the various outdoor summer activities my father loved.

"And how does Forks now compare to Forks from decades ago?" I felt the desperate need to keep him talking but away from embarrassing topics.

"Well, there's the obvious increased human population, more buildings, what you would expect from a growing community. We were quite happy to see that the tensions between the natives and the whites had decreased over the generations. That was a big one when we were here last."

I started a little at what seemed like blatant racism coming from him, and I wondered how old he really was yet again. Still, what he said made sense, too. I knew that a lot of Native American tribes resented the encroachment onto their territories, especially when they saw what happened to those in the eastern part of the country. I could imagine the kind of conflicts that would ensue as a new community of non-natives settled into the area.

"Yeah, my dad's best friend is Quileute, I think," I absently murmured as I followed the trail of a single raindrop along the trunk of a nearby tree.

Edward's laugh surprised me. "Well, you don't want to go near them now," he warned me. "The Quileute are special. We have a treaty specifically with them, guaranteeing that we will stay off of their lands. I guess I should warn you about that. They know about vampires, and they're very protective of their people."

I stared at him. "You're kidding me, right? No one is supposed to know!" Unease gripped me. If the Quileute knew, did my dad know? Was he in danger without my even realizing it?

Edward reached out a hand and laid it on my arm. "It's okay, I promise. They have their own secrets to keep, ones directly tied to vampires. Centuries ago, one of their warriors was able to figure out how to shapeshift to protect the tribe from roaming nomadic vampires. They are a very effective weapon against us."

"They? You mean…what do you mean?" I couldn't wrap my head around what he was trying to say.

"Whenever we have lived here, there have been some young men of the Quileute who are able to shapeshift as well. They take on the form of very large wolves."

Wolves. He had to be joking.