As much as I knew that Bella would need some human time, and I needed to clean up my tracks by taking my car home and bringing a change of clothes for the morning, being away from the girl was like taking a dog's favorite little chew toy. Hm...Bad analogy, perhaps, but the sentiment remained the same. Parting was such sweet sorrow, even if it was only for ten minutes. It didn't have to take that long, I zipped back to the family home in three, and was driven out by the ridiculous thoughts of my siblings in only fifteen seconds, but I wanted to make sure Bella could have the time to herself. I was interrupting a ritual, a nightly routine, I knew that.

So when six minutes had passed, I let myself rest on a branch outside her bedroom window, listening to her human moments through the walls and the thin curtain separating us. Bella hummed in the shower- the tune wasn't quite recognizable to me, what I wouldn't give to hear the lyrics in the voice of her thoughts. It was something new, something I hadn't heard before, but was very much interested in. Perhaps she would keep humming it when we were together, and I wasn't being an absolute creep. I listened to the sink running, teeth brushing, bottles squeezing. I could only assume that was some form of skincare, judging by how soft the girl was.

A creak of her bed, the switch of her lamp that created a shadow of a silhouette now that she had turned off the main light. A buzz, right in my back pocket.

Where are you?

I grinned, pushing myself forward on the branch and letting my hands grip the edges of her window. I tapped the glass, and I didn't have to have brilliant senses to know that I had scared her out of her skin. Ah, well, something had to prove that there was indeed some small reason to fear me, no matter how sweet and kind she thought I was. I could at least get her heart pumping. She stepped forward, pulling the curtains back and staring at me with her jaw dropped as she saw how I was basically attached to the worn siding of her home. Emmett would have said it was a Spider-man move, he had replicated and recreated many a scene with climbing and flying through the air. I was more aerodynamic, though, and he hated that fact. "Evening, Bella," I crooned, an air of smugness in my tone as she pushed the window open.

As she leaned out more into the cool air, the scent of her was more overwhelming than ever. Her hair was damp, much darker and curlier, with a strong aroma of strawberry. Her skin had a slight dewiness, from moisturizer. There was some sort of vanilla lotion on her arms, and even if the dessert itself wasn't appetizing to me, she smelled sweeter than a strawberry shortcake. I knew it was mouthwatering despite having tastebuds that weren't quite equipped for such flavors. "Of course you can scale walls and have no issue climbing up to my window," she nodded to herself, laughing in disbelief. She stepped back, and I took the chance to swing myself in to her warm, cozy room. More blankets had been piled onto her bed, more than had been there when I'd left.

Bella closed the window behind me, and crawled into her bed, just a full size. "You're welcome to lay with me," she told me, and the hope in her voice was painfully clear. I smiled and obeyed the request, sitting beside of her over the myriad of covers. I was still keeping a respectful distance, whatever boundaries were between us were quite blurry for me. I never knew how much I had relied on my mindreading before; being with Bella was much like a nearsighted person going for a drive without glasses. If their sight isn't too too bad, they might get where they need to go based on instinct and muscle memory. In such a scenario, I would very likely have driven my car into a lake by now. The girl shook her head. What was she disapproving of? She made a "shoo" gesture, and I stood up again in confusion. I watched as Bella folded back the layers of blankets, patting her patterned sheets. I sat again, raising an eyebrow as she started to pile the covers on top of me.

"What are you doing?" I had to ask. What was her motive for all of these comforters, throws, even an afghan or two, layering over me. The weight was interesting, but not uncomfortable. The room had gotten cooler, the hum of a fan caught my attention.

The girl smiled as she nuzzled herself under all of the layers as well, and sat her phone on her bedside table. "You're cold," she replied, as if the answer was completely obvious. Which, it sort of was, but did she really think all these covers would change that? Admittedly, I'd never had the desire to try and warm myself up. It wasn't like the temperature of my skin was anything that affected me, I didn't shiver, my teeth didn't chatter. "You deserve to feel warm."

Oh. Maybe she didn't mean heat. Perhaps Bella meant...coziness. The pleasure of being snuggled up, hidden by a myriad of different fabrics and weights and textures. I had heard thoughts and memories that humans reminisced upon; rainy afternoons making forts out of blankets, or having the flu and worried mothers or fathers tucking them in and making sure they were warm, protected, safe. I didn't know if I'd ever felt anything close to that until now. Not in this life, at least. Shockingly, her methods worked. I felt safe. I felt cared for. I felt happy. Every time Bella brought that feeling out in me, I would probably find it as surprising as the time before, if not more so. How could such a random girl make someone like me happy, time and time again, consistently, and yet more and more intensely with each burst of joy?

Except she wasn't random! Nothing in this world was random, a fact I had become certain of in the past century. As cliche as the phrase was, everything did happen for a reason. There was a purpose for each and every relationship in one's life, no matter how great or small, and nobody met by mistake. Bella came to Forks for a relationship with her father, to give her mother space to pursue and deepen a relationship of her own, to perhaps leave relationships that she no longer got joy from in Arizona. I was not the only person in Forks to fall in love with Bella, but I was the one who was lucky enough to have her want me in return. "Thank you," I whispered to her, letting my cheek rest on one of her extra pillows. The bed was rather slim for the two of us, so we were already so close to each other.

She smiled, pulling back only for a moment, and within seconds, I began to hear the soft voice of Bob Ross narrating. I raised an eyebrow when she turned off her lamp and laid down again. She was dimly lit by the video on her phone, and she chuckled at my expression. "Charlie won't think I'm sleeping if I don't have that on," she explained quietly. "He knows my routine." She was right, of course; I heard the passing thoughts of Bella's father as he stepped through the hall outside her door, how he acknowledged that Bella must have been tired out from a real girls' night. When his own bedroom door closed, the girl nudged closer to rest her head just centimeters away from mine. Thank god I had built some control, each breath was a small temptation, but I was strong enough.

"Do you have questions for me?" Bella asked, and I was perplexed by this question. I knew I hadn't said much, I was opting to stay as out of her way as possible while I was invading on her space. Even if I was invited, even if she clearly wanted me close, I was respecting every boundary that might have been there. I felt as if I was doing this all wrong, and while there was a slightly liberating feeling in breaking all the rules...It would be a struggle for me to not practice every age-old custom for relationships. Or whatever Bella and I were. Fuck. She nudged my shoulder, and I made the muscles in my face move into a smile. I had been so confident and playful jumping in through her window, and I was already regressing back to Victorian virgin now that I was tucked under the covers with her.

"I always have a million questions, Isabella, as I'm sure you do for me," I assured her with a chuckle. We were from two different worlds, two different times, two different species, one might say. It was completely natural that we would be endlessly curious about one another. I reached forward to brush back a strand of hair that had fallen from the braid I'd tied for her. "I don't know where to even begin. I've been thinking about how I'm...I'm going about this the wrong way." I had to be honest with her, even if my insecurities might be annoying at this point. I knew she didn't want me to think poorly of myself. She would get along with my family so well.

Did Bella know how her nose crinkled the slightest bit when she was confused? How her head somehow tilted even when it was nuzzled into a pillow? How endlessly adorable her every expression and emotion was? "Going about what the wrong way?" she asked me, catching my hand before I could pull it back from her, intertwining our fingers and letting them rest on the mattress between us.

I looked into her eyes for a long few moments, but I had to glance away. My eyes focused on a small painting of a dog on her night table as I worked to bare even more of my soul to her. "I was raised in a different time," I began. "Chivalry, grand gestures, courting, all of that. I realize that everything from my human life is now horrendously outdated, and even I don't understand why it's stuck with me so strongly when the memories of that life are so far away. As if I don't feel guilty enough for bringing you down with me, for endangering your quality of life or your life itself, I am not...romancing you in the way that I believe is right." Hearing the words spoken aloud made me feel the tiniest bit humiliated, but Bella was listening, attentive and considerate as ever. She nodded me along, and I was grateful for her patience. I knew it had to eat at her to not cut off my self-loathing; she was fully allowing me to spill my thoughts, no matter how irrational they might have seemed. "I want to know what you think. How you feel, what you're used to. How your standard for relationships and their processes differ from my own." I smiled just the slightest bit. "Suppose I want to hear how the kids see it nowadays."

Bella mirrored my small, sheepish smirk, squeezing my fingers in her own. "I think you put too much pressure on yourself," she told me, as if the thought was an admission to some sort of controversial opinion. And honestly, I hadn't heard that before. "You don't have to be perfect, or virtuous, or ethical. You don't have to fret over every move you make, or how you approach every situation. I will never be angry with you for being your genuine self and following your instincts. I understand overthinking, completely, but...You don't have to with me, okay? Just know I'm not judging, I'm not going to be scared off. And honestly, E, I don't know enough about the early 1900s to know just what kind of courting you have in mind, so that's not anywhere near the standard I have for romance." She laughed, affectionately rolling her eyes. "As for what I'm used to, that doesn't even matter now. You're so completely different than anything and anyone I've ever known, I don't want you trying to mimic what other kids my age do, or what the usual societal standard for dating is." She shrugged. "I just want you in my life. If you aren't ready for anything serious, I would completely get that. You're learning about a side of yourself that you hadn't tapped into in a century, I don't expect you to be so eager and ready to jump into anything like that." She let go of my hand to caress my cheek. "I hope you'll tell me if you have feelings like that. Like I'm doing too much too soon. I don't want to be the one to scare you away."

My smile grew, and though my muscles didn't feel pain anymore, I was certain that Bella would have kept my face sore. I would have never complained. That was the best sort of pain I could have, even if I deserved much worse...No. No, perhaps I didn't deserve the worst torture. How could this be sin, if Bella was here, smiling, happy to touch me? I knew that Bella was such a good, whole, sweet, intelligent human. She was brave, yes, and clearly enjoyed a bit of a rush, but if someone like her cared for me, how bad could I be? A startling revelation, one I would have to work through on my own time. Time with Bella was not for self-reflection or psychoanalysis. I had to cherish every single second. I learned forward to press a soft, fleeting kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Thank you, Bella. I will make a strong effort to...not make so much of an effort to conform to what my or your society thinks." I chuckled, and her eyes crinkled up. Soon after her sweet smile, her lips stretched out into a yawn.

So sweet. Bob Ross was still dabbing paint onto a canvas, I glanced over the brunette's shoulder to see the man building a landscape of mountains, trees, a winding river. I could see where Bella gathered her artistic inspiration, but I preferred her style much more. "You're tired," I added, my voice dropping in volume. I stroked her hair, watching the curls bounce with the movement. "Please, rest. We have plenty of time to chat in the morning."

The girl sighed, but shifted closer to me so that her head was pressed into my chest, wrapping an arm around my waist to hug me under the covers. I understood another purpose of the covers; she could stay close to me remain toasty warm. "I could talk to you all night, you know," she mumbled, her voice muffled against the fabric of my top.

"I know," I whispered, pressing my lips to the top of her head and breathing deeply. I'd never forget her scent. Not just in a predatory sort of way, but the familiar, homey feeling that came with her shampoos, her lotions, just the natural smell of Bella. "But you've got to be human, and you need to sleep. I'll be right here, all night," I promised her. Rather than continuing to keep speaking, to keep holding her attention, I began to hum. The song started off as simple classical, Beethoven and Mozart, but started to morph into some melody of my own creation. I let Bob Ross autoplay until Bella's phone died, and I slipped from her grasp just quick enough to plug it in so it wouldn't be drained in the morning.

The absence didn't go unnoticed by Bella, a small whine slipping from her pouty, parted lips as she dreamed, and I happily settled beside of her again. I laid on my back, letting her cuddle against me in whatever way was most comfortable for her. I didn't stop serenading her, quite grateful that I didn't need to breathe, and that my vocal cords would never wear out. The music seemed to soothe her, to a point where she was even beginning to sigh contently, or hum, or even...

"Edythe."

I'd studied almost every subject, every philosopher, every aspect of math, science, human behavior. I'd read so much about how it felt to love and be loved, even hearing the thoughts in the members of my family. Hearing my name from Bella's lips while she was in a phase of deep sleep was something completely different. The closest sensation I could relate it to was the feeling of my parents praising me, or when I confidently finished a song I'd composed. Almost like a modest sort of pride, something close to guilt for feeling so fulfilled and happy. Like the emotions were so strong they were nearly painful.

My arms tightened ever so slightly on Bella's form, which was tangled up against mine, and wrapped up in layers of blankets and throws. I would never let her go.

A/N: as always, sorry for the wait, thank you for your views and your feedback, follow my tumblr, love you all.