Disclaimer: Anything recognized belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Bella's POV:

When we got into the living room, everyone was waiting for us. Because everyone was sitting in their groups, there was only one chair left. Edward smirked and motioned for me to sit with him. I happily complied; and saw everyone, even Rosalie, smile before Carlisle spoke.

"Bella, I think that you know why we are all here. I saw myself what you can do that day in Jacksonville. Jasper, Alice and Edward know more than I do; I've just mainly heard everything second-hand. But what I think is pretty obvious is that there is some kind of force making everyone's gifts stronger."

Jasper spoke now. "Edward, your gift has been strengthened the most, which I find interesting. You not only can read minds stronger than before, therefore being able to read Bella's," he smiled at me, "but you can also tamper with them, in a way. You can tell whether what people are thinking is true or not and incidentally if what they're planning is intentionally destructive, and you can now tell every thought that the person's mind has ever had. You can also make people forget things as if they had never happened. I'm not sure how Alice saw that..." he trailed off.

"In my vision, I had Edward's gift," said Alice. "I know that it was just for the purpose of my understanding of the vision; I'm never going to be able to read minds." She grinned. "But anyway, in the vision I got a look at a civilian's mind and saw that he had forgotten about the whole thing. And I knew that Edward was capable of doing this. I told Jasper as quickly as possible. I knew that you were our greatest hope for Edward's safety, Bella, as well as our own. You were closest to him and could tell him easier than we could. And I'm afraid that I feared our discovery too much to go into the sun." She was ashamed; I could tell. So was everyone else.

"It's okay. I'm still not sure quite why Edward went. I'm not that special. None of you should be risking your existence for me."

Edward smiled grimly. "Bella, it appears that I didn't teach you your lesson enough back in my room. We'll have to go back to it, I guess, and get it drilled into your head. I could, of course, do it with my new gift, but this way will be much more fun." He grinned at me, dazzling me. "You are worth it."

I then heard the strangest noise – it was the vampire's equivalent of the mix between a laugh and a sob. It was coming from Alice. "I'm so glad you're back with Edward, Bella," she said to me quietly. "You don't know how much it's hurt our family: especially Edward."

I looked down. "I'm glad I'm back too." Edward put an arm around me and held me close.

Jasper cleared his throat, and our attention was brought back to the gifts. "I studied geology back in 1981, just for fun." He grinned at me. "A lot of forces come from the earth's core. What if some of these forces affect our kind?"

I thought about that for a moment. It made sense. After all, if these forces affected the earth, and therefore its population, couldn't they affect vampires as well?

"I did some investigations," continued Jasper. "I wanted to know more about it than human education could give me." Another grin. "It turns out that there is a sensitivity force in the earth's core. (A/N: I'm completely making this up.) It affects everyone, but especially our kind. It can detect when certain areas of the population are completely ecstatic, or falling to pieces." He threw a meaningful look at Edward. "It can also detect when people are feeling so much of one emotion that it could eventually destroy the world. Something like this has never happened before, but I can imagine that this force would help towards saving the planet, if it came to emotions of this magnitude. It struck me how all of our expanded gifts helped to getting Edward and Bella back together. I thought back to that geology class and my investigations...those experiences really helped me to understand my gift more."

Edward raised his hand. Everyone laughed.

"So, Professor Hale, does this mean that now that Bella's back our gifts will go back to normal?"

"No. I think that they will stay the way that they are. I think that there is still one thing, one hint, if you will, that something isn't right still."

I felt Edward stiffen and knew what Jasper was hinting at once. I was probably the first human to get a gift. Jasper evidently thought that it was time for a change. Edward, however, obviously didn't. I felt on the edge of the precipice of despair. Was it really about his compassion for me, or did he just not want me around that long?

Edward spoke.

"We need to get back upstairs. There are some things that I need to sort out."

They simply nodded, and we went back to Edward's room. He turned to me.

"Bella, I would like nothing better than to have you by my side for eternity. Never, ever, ever doubt that. I will love you forever. I'm just not sure if it's what you want and if you won't outgrow me. Those are the only two things –"

"Edward, look at me. Look at my mind. Find how I feel, how I truly feel, about all of this."

For the next few seconds, I could tell that he was concentrating very hard. Finally, he smiled.

"Do you really love me that much? Your mind is practically overflowing with love for me." His smile turned wry. "And we can think about the other things once you are changed."

I blushed and felt his cool hand on my face. He lifted my chin. "That is one thing that I am going to miss about you: your blush."

And then I realized that he was going to change me. I would be with him forever. The happiness in my mind must have been too much for him to bear.

But his smile just got bigger as he read my thoughts. Then his face turned abruptly serious. He got down on one knee and pulled out something from his pocket. My heart stopped beating.

"Isabella, will you be with me for the rest of eternity as my wife? I have loved you since practically the first time I met you," he smiled again, "and I would love it if you said yes. Will you marry me?"

All I could do was nod. I didn't even have to think about it.

Shorter chapter: fluff and answered questions! Tell me if you are wondering anything still. Will update soon! I was at a sleepover and didn't get to the computer. Sorry! Please review!