Edward

I slowly pulled away from her, and examined her expression. I tried valiantly to ignore the color of her shocking eyes, and focus solely on what they told me. They filled quickly with shock and confusion. I felt like a boulder had fallen on me with the fear that I was wrong -- maybe she didn't really remember me after all. But she had said my name, I had to remind myself. I didn't know what to think.

Don't do that again for a bit, man, Jasper warned me. That was sensory overload. Careful.

Before he had even finished his instructions, I knew he was right, and my impromptu kissing had been too much. She leaped through the air, her body acting on instinct, and backed herself into a corner, crouched defensively.

I was careful not to approach her, no matter how much I ached to do so. "Bella, honey? Are you okay? Talk to me."

I watched as she took in a shaky breath, and her eyes went wide and panicky. Too many smells, I realized. "It's okay," I told her, keeping my voice soothing. "If you hold your breath, you won't be able to smell anything. That should help."

She did as I suggested, but her posture was still tense. "Jasper!" I hissed. "Help." Seconds later, she relaxed visibly, and moved from her crouching pose, sliding down to the floor with her knees brought up to her chest. It broke my heart to see her so scared, so lost, but at least this was a start. She hadn't run from me -- yet.

I took a tentative step towards her. "May I..." I pointed towards the spot on the floor next to her.

Unwilling to waste any air on speaking, she just nodded, her eyes trained on mine as I slowly approached her, and dropped myself down by her. I was careful not to touch her, and decided to start very slowly.

"You know what's happened, right?"

Her brow crinkled slightly, but she nodded.

"Do you remember who I am?"

This time, an indulgent smile, and another nod.

"Do you remember your birthday party?"

She closed her eyes, deep in thought. "Jasper," she whispered, and quickly clamped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide, as she realized her mistake.

"It's okay, it's okay," I soothed, unconsciously reaching my hand out towards her, and having to pull it back at the last moment. It pained me deeply to keep my hands to myself, but my fear that anything scraping her skin would be too much, kept me in check. I knew logically that it was for the best, and my burning need to hold her would have to wait. Until she decided that it was okay, at least. Once I had her permission, I wouldn't be able to keep away, I was sure. "It was just one word," I explained. "You should have enough breath for a couple of sentences. Don't worry."

"Do you feel okay?" Her nod was hesitant, and was followed by pointing at her throat.

"It hurts?" Another affirmative. "We'll get that taken care of very soon. But one step at a time, okay? I don't want you getting scared and running away from me. I doubt even I could catch you."

I was watching her face so intently for any tiny change in emotion, tracing with my eyes how it softened slightly at my comment, it was a shock when I felt her small hand on my sleeve. "I won't run from you," her clear, beautiful voice proclaimed, and I was stunned into silence. If I could have shed tears, I believe I would have. I could listen to her speak for the rest of eternity without problem -- and the fact that I now could, amazed me. Watching her face still, I placed my hand over hers, and squeezed it, automatically keeping only the same amount of pressure I had always used with her. It took a beat before I realized that was unnecessary. Unable to keep the smile from flooding my face, I took the hand into both of mine, and clutched it at my normal strength. No broken bones from just being myself. No bruises. She didn't even flinch. It was liberating. No more holding back every time I touched her.

She grinned at me, and squeezed back - hard. It felt so surreal to actually feel her grip like this.

I flinched. "Ow." Who would have thought we'd see the day when Bella could hurt me? Not I.

She giggled until she ran out of breath.

"I'm so glad my pain amuses you," I grumbled.

She looked like she had the perfect comeback ready in her head, but didn't want to take the necessary breath to express it. A suggestion heard in my mind from Carlisle, though, seemed to have some merit. Now that the touch barrier had been broken without any adverse reaction from her, I pulled her easily onto my lap, facing me. She looked up at me questioningly.

"You trust me, right?"

A firm nod.

"Okay." I pulled her against my chest tightly. "Keep your face against my shirt, and take a deep breath. Hold it until you get used to the scent. It should drown out the other scents in the room." She did so faster than I expected, almost as if she'd been holding out from doing so.

Her expression changed to awe. "Wow," she whispered.

"Does that feel comfortable?"

"Yeah. Just confusing. It's like there's a rope tied around me that's pulling me outside."

I stroked her cheek. "That's your instincts urging you to hunt," I explained softly.

She grimaced slightly, and clung to my shirt, breathing it in again.

"Now try breathing normally. The main scents in the room are the two of us, and you should be able to smell Jasper, who's in the hall. The rest of the family aren't quite as strong, since they're downstairs, but you should be able to pick them out. Each one is unique."

I watched her movement as she breathed, tense at first, but then relaxing slightly with each inhalation. "It's so intense," she explained.

"Yes. You'll get used to it." I pushed an errant strand of hair off her face. "Talk to me, love. Tell me how you feel."

"I don't really know. I feel.... different. I still can't comprehend that I'm like you." Her face brightened somewhat as an idea occurred to her. "Could I beat Emmett in a fight?"

"Most likely," I smirked. I pressed my lips to hers briefly, and to my great pleasure, she didn't frighten. The electricity I felt between us while we were joined was intense, so I could only imagine how it must feel for her, being unaccustomed to her heightened senses.

"Cool," she grinned as we pulled apart.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Bella," I sighed.

"Don't be silly. You can't protect me from everything. Something was bound to kill me eventually."

I cringed. "You never feel the way I expect you to. It's so frustrating."

"Why? What am I supposed to be feeling?"

"Angry? Sad? Betrayed? Hurt?"

She touched my cheek. "Is that how you felt when you were a newborn?"

I thought back to my own experience. "Confused mostly. I didn't believe in vampires as a human, so it was exceedingly difficult to believe that I was one. I guess the whole mind-reading thing made things worse, because I had all these people yelling in my head all at once, and didn't know how to ignore them. Angry that nobody has consulted me about whether I even wanted this. Sad that my parents were gone." I shrugged.

"Charlie," she gasped. "He must be worried sick. Is he okay?"

I kissed her forehead. "He's fine, love. He... uh... thinks we eloped. Carlisle and Esme visited him the day after.... you know."

"The day after I was bitten by a vampire?" She smirked at me. "Vampire, Edward. What we both are now. The first step is admitting it."

"Good to see you didn't lose your ability to mock in the change."

"Never." I watched her cringe dramatically as she swallowed.

"Let's go hunt," I suggested. "This is only going to get worse." I caressed her neck as I spoke.

Apprehension and fear flooded her face. "I... don't know..."

"You'll be fine. Trust me. Your body knows what to do."

She nibbled slightly on the corner of her lip nervously. "But... blood." She shuddered. "What if I faint?"

I couldn't help but roar with laughter, and I could hear the rest of my family laughing too, to various degrees.

She frowned at me, and pulled back off my lap.

"I'm sorry, love," I chuckled. "Firstly, you no longer CAN faint, and secondly, once you smell the blood, disgust will be the very last thing on your mind."

"I guess." I helped her to her feet, even though she was more than capable of leaping up herself. Old habits die hard.

I raised my voice slightly. "Alice, are there any humans around?"

After a beat, my sister replied. "Go east. You'll be fine there -- and there's more prey. But, she's erratic. Take Jasper with you."

On cue, Jasper creaked the door open. Startled, Bella fell into a defensive crouch, and let out a low growl. Jasper's influence was needed to relax her.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to alarm you."

She stood back up. "S... s... sorry, Jasper. I didn't even realize I was doing it."

I wrapped my arm around her waist, and breathed her in deeply. "They understand," I reminded her.

"You have no reason to be sorry," Jasper told her. "You've been a vampire for a whole fifteen minutes. I've been one for one and a half centuries, and there are still times when my body works before I realize it. Just look at what I did to you...."

Bella interrupted him before he could begin the long-winded apology he had been mentally practicing all day. "Don't."

Jasper, however, was more than eager to say his piece. His guilt was eating him from the inside. "But, Bella...."

"No," she growled. "Really, Jasper. You didn't truly want to hurt me, right?" He shook his head 'no'. "Then why should I be upset about something you couldn't control. Gosh, I don't even want to know how many times in the next few years I'm going to do something that requires an insane amount of apologies. I should be thanking you -- you've probably saved me from years and years of trying to convince Edward to change me."

Even after the fact, the thought of changing her ripped at my core, and I couldn't stop the growl that escaped me. A growl which just made both of them laugh. When they calmed down, two things happened instantaneously - Alice cried out "Bella, no!" from downstairs, and I felt my love tug on my shirt, swiftly ripping it at the seam.

"Oops," she giggled. "As much as I'd love to stand here and chat, that rope pulling me outside is getting stronger."

"Christ, I'm sorry, Bella. Let's go." I grasped her hand tightly for the first time, and led her to the window.

She looked at me questioningly. "What's wrong with the door?"

"Less distractions this way. Trust me. You're not going to hurt yourself. It's easy."

"Okay."

I pulled her close into my body, and relished the feeling of kissing her again. "Just keep reminding yourself that Jasper and I aren't going to hurt you. Try not to attack us."

"I wouldn't...."

"Yes, you will," I corrected. I could see Jasper nodding his head out of my periphery. "You won't be able to help it."

"I'll try to remember."

I reached out with my free hand, and slid the sliding glass open. "Ready, love?"

"Yeah," she whispered. I locked eyes with her briefly. She stepped forward, and bit her lip nervously as she looked down at the ground below us.

"Just take the next step," I murmured softly in her ear.

And she did. Pulling me along with her.