BPOV

I climb on to my bed and motion for Edward to sit on the end. I tuck my hair behind my ears self-consciously. What now? I really want Edward to kiss me again but I'm too shy to say anything, so I just sit in silence waiting for him to make the first move.

"Bella, I don't want to make you nervous, if you wish for me to leave there is no problem. I can go, I'll call back in the morning if that would make you more comfortable."

"No, no it's not that at all. It's just, I…I…I'm not sure what happens now, you know…with us." I put my flaming face in my hands, oh god that sounded so pathetic. I'm an idiot.

I feel Edward scoot up the bed beside me but I can't look at him. "Bella?" he coaxes me. "Please look at me, I don't know what you are thinking unless I can see your face."

"I don't want you to know" I mutter into my hands.

"Please, Bella, please look at me." damn that begging voice, I can't deny him. I look up sheepishly.

"There now, that's better. I need to see those beautiful eyes" Edward cups my cheek, causing my heart to race and my breathing to stop. I flush again at his expression and realise he can hear my heart. I may just die of embarrassment before Edward and I ever get a chance to be together.

"Love, tell me what you are thinking?"

My heart melts into a puddle at my feet at his endearment. I decide it's now or never. "I…I love you Edward. My voice shakes and my lips are trembling awaiting his response. He says nothing for a full minute, he looks so shocked I have to look away. Tears fill my eyes and just as my chin starts to wobble Edward gently takes hold of my face in his hands and begins to kiss me.

Once again I return his kiss passionately, but unlike the last time he doesn't pull away. "Bella" he whispers as he pushes me back against my pillows gently. He lays down with me and continues to kiss me tenderly. I embarrass myself by making small whimpering sounds that cause him to smile into our kisses. He keeps one hand pressed against the side of my neck while he wraps the other around my waist, holding me to him. I cling to his shirt front with both hands.

We eventually part when I need to breathe but Edward doesn't move away, he simply pulls me closer to him, tucking my head under his chin. "I love you Bella, more than life." I sigh with happiness, I told him how I feel and he's still here. This gives me the courage to snuggle even deeper into his embrace, resting my cheek against his chest. He is hard and cold…and insanely comfortable.

"Tell me about yourself Edward, I want to know everything."

"I already told you…"

I lift my head to look at him "No, you told me what you are not who you are. I want to know your thoughts and how you feel about things. Where are you from?"

Edward looks surprised but tells me what I want to know "I was born in Chicago, but I haven't lived there for a long time. Once Carlisle…saved me we had to leave straight away. When a vampire is 'born' we find it almost impossible to control our animalistic instincts. It takes many years to gain enough self-discipline to be around humans again. I have only been back there to live once since my creation. I was living with Carlisle for about ten years when I decided to leave our family, Esme and Rosalie were with us by then. I wasn't sold on the idea of abstinence from human blood so I turned away from my family. I went back to Chicago for a while and then travelled around a bit before finally returning home. I saw what I had become, a monster. Carlisle forgave me though and took me back, I am very lucky he is such an understanding man. I always made sure that the men I killed were the worst kind of humans. I have never killed an innocent."

His answer has raised so many questions for me I don't know where to start, so I blurt out the ones I can't hold in "How did you know they were innocent…how old are you Edward?"

"Quite the little chatterbox tonight, aren't we" Edward teases.

I flush "sorry I didn't mean to pry…"

"Its fine Bella, I already told you that you can ask me anything" Edward reassures me as he kisses me lightly on the tip of my nose.

"Where do I start? I don't want to frighten you." Edward pauses and looks at me intently for a moment. I blink back at him, I don't want to ruin his train of thought. "I was born in 1901, Carlisle saved me when I was seventeen, dying of Spanish Influenza. I was alone, the disease had already claimed my parents."

I gasp "Edward I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say."

"Don't worry my love, it was a long time ago, I have little memory of it now. Vampires don't really retain many memories from when they were human." Edward takes a deep breath before continuing "To answer your other question, the reason I knew those men were guilty is the same reason I know what Mike was going to do to you. Bella, I can read minds."

I surprise myself with my reaction. I shrug "I half guessed as much. Nobody is that good at reading body language. It's really embarrassing to know you've been able to see my thoughts all this time though." I am bright red when I remember some of the more intimate thoughts I've had regarding Edward. I frown, I will have to be more guarded with my thoughts from now on so as not to completely humiliate myself.

"I just told you I can read minds and you shrug? You're not disgusted or afraid, you're just embarrassed about the thoughts you've had about me?"

"Stop it" I screech "I don't want you to read my mind."

"I can't read your mind Bella"

"What? But you just said…and you knew what I was thinking right now."

"I can read everyone else's mind Bella, you are the first person I've met who is blocked to me. It's very frustrating. And the reason I knew what you were thinking now is because of the look on your face. Your expressions give everything away."

"Well…good, that's good. I don't want you in my head" I shiver at the thought.

"You're cold" Edward moves to get off the bed.

"No, stay, I'll be fine" I don't want him to leave.

"It's late, I don't want you to be tired you need your sleep. I should go…" Edward looks towards the window.

"Okay" I whisper, trying to hide my disappointment. I don't want him to go.

Edward turns back to me "Unless you really want me to stay."

"I do" I answer too quickly making him smile.

"Alright I'll stay, but you have to go to sleep."

I yawn in answer as Edward wraps a blanket around me so I won't get cold while he lays down beside me, holding me to his chest. Edward strokes my hair softly as he hums me into the most peaceful sleep I've had for many years.

EPOV

She loves me. Isabella Swan, the most beautiful girl in the world…loves me. I hold Bella close as she sleeps. I kiss her hair every few minutes because I cannot stop myself. She is warm and soft and I'm so happy she wanted me to be here with her tonight. I could watch her sleeping forever. I can barely contain the love I feel in this moment. I have to be careful I don't kiss her too hard or hold her too tightly in my eagerness to be near her. I am terrified I will forget myself and not be gentle enough with her. If I were to cause any harm to come to my Bella I would never forgive myself.

She has been asleep for a few hours when the dreaming starts. I can tell because she starts to shift and jerk in my arms.

"The baby monkey doesn't like blue bananas" she mumbles.

What?

"My shoes are made of cheese."

"I want to go to Disneyland."

Bella continues like this for a short time, each statement getting more and more ridiculous. I can't help but smile. She is beyond cute, I lean in to kiss her forehead, carefully so as not to wake her. She sighs and relaxes into my chest again.

"Edward?"

Is she awake? I take in her closed eyes and deep breathing, no, still asleep. "Edward…I love you." Ah she's dreaming about me, this fact fills me with happiness. I listen for more but Bella seems to have fallen into a deeper sleep and I hear no more from her for the rest of the night.

The following morning is Saturday so Bella doesn't need to get up early for school. I expect her to sleep in, isn't that what teenagers do? So I'm surprised when Bella wakes at the same time she does every morning. I don't think she remembers I'm here at first as she stretches herself like a cat. Watching Bella move that way has my body reacting in ways that are foreign to me. I recognise the feeling as desire, I want her. Of course I will never act on it as that would be much too dangerous for Bella.

Bella suddenly freezes and her eyes snap open. I am still lying beside her on the bed. "You stayed" she whispers with a smile.

"Of course, where else would I be" I answer honestly. There is no place else in the world that compares to being in the presence of Bella. I am a lucky man.

"I um, I need a human minute"

"Oh, yes of course" I release my hold on Bella and she makes her way to the bathroom.

While Bella was sleeping I decided to bring her to our meadow today, she needs to see me in the sunlight and Alice told me yesterday that from noon today the sky over Fork's would be a clear blue. Once Bella is dressed and ready I take her hand and lead her downstairs where she eats a bowl of what I can only describe as soggy cardboard. But she seems to like it.

"How's your ankle Bella? I noticed you're not using the crutches anymore."

"It's not too bad, it'll be fine if I don't walk on it too much."

I frown "Oh I wanted to bring you somewhere today but its okay I can…"

Bella cuts me off "Don't worry Edward I can stay here, I don't want to slow you down." Her brow furrows as she thinks this, then she does a nervous little laugh. "I suppose everything I do slows you down huh?"

I kneel in front of her "Bella, you don't slow me down, I want to be with you, all the time. I was just going to say that if walking is too much for you I can carry you."

"Can't I just use my crutches if there's going to be a lot of walking involved?" I shake my head no.

"Not where we are going."

"Where are we going?"

"Hiking"

Bella pales "Hiking" she whispers, "Edward I can't hike, even on a good day. You should just go ahead without me."

"I'm not going without you Bella, I need to show you something anyway."

This peaks Bella's interest "Really, what is it?"

"It's a surprise, and if you don't allow me to carry you, then you won't find out" I grin.

Bella scowls adorably, "Fine, you can carry me. How far is it?"

"We have to drive some of the way, then its a few miles on foot, it won't take us long to get there."

"I have some housework to do before we go so, because I got nothing done while I couldn't get around all week, the place is a mess." The place looks just fine to me, I shrug "Okay, I'll help you."

"You don't have to do that."

"It's okay I want to, I don't want you doing too much and hurting your ankle again." Bella rolls her eyes at me but says nothing.

We spend a while cleaning the house and Bella does some washing. I could have done all of the housework in seconds but I liked doing things at a human pace with Bella, it was relaxing.

Once we are done we head out to my car and I drive to the outskirts of town before turning off down a narrow dirt road. After about ten minutes the road ends so I park up and get out. I rush around to open Bella's door and scoop her out of her seat. I can tell she is about to protest so I cut her off with a kiss. Bella seems to forget what she was about to say while I am kissing her.

Her eyes are closed and she wraps her arms around my neck. I hold her close to me while I kiss her and break into a run. I can run faster than a speeding train, and because my running causes very little movement, Bella is not disturbed from our kissing. I am surprised she doesn't notice the wind whipping around us. I note once again that for such an observant girl Bella can be quite oblivious when I am distracting her with other…pursuits.

I break our kiss once we are almost at our destination and Bella doesn't even look around as she stares at me. I badly want to know what she is thinking, especially when she blushes, but I don't get the chance to ask as Bella looks around suddenly and the shocked look on her face is so cute I have to kiss her again.

I pull away and answer her unspoken question. "We are deep in the forest Bella, you didn't notice me running as you were a little bit… preoccupied." She blushes again and I kiss her warmed cheek quickly before I set her down. "I like to come here when the weather is nice, which isn't very often."

"Who are you telling?" she laughs. "I grew up in this town."

"I've been here many times before Bella, my family has lived here a number of times over the last hundred years."

"Oh, right. I didn't think."

"Come, I have something to show you. I never bring anybody here with me. You are the first." I lead her to the edge of the forest and pull back a few branches while motioning for Bella to go ahead of me. I hear her breath catch as she enters the clearing and her whispered "wow" before she turns and beckons me to go to her.

I take a deep, unneeded breath and step out from the trees and into the sunlight.

A/N Thanks for reading. Please Review.