A/N: HOLY 1200 REVIEWS BATMAN!!! Thank you, gracias, merci beaucoup!

Huge apologies for this being so late. Bigger note at the bottom. And it definitely shouldn't take this long to get the next chapter out after this.

Oh, and give Edward a little slack for not believing Bella at first. The poor guy isn't used to humans being so out of the ordinary.

On with Chapter TWELVE!!!

"Vampires," I whispered, but he heard.

Time stood still for an agonizingly slow moment before he abruptly stood up from the table. "Are you finished eating?" he asked. It took me a second to answer. I wasn't expecting that question.

I looked down at my partially done food. Eh, I wasn't that hungry to begin with. I nodded. Edward reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, dropping a few bills on the table.

"Good. I think we should continue this in the car."

Chapter 12: Late Night Conversations

To say that the very short walk from the inside of the restaurant to Edward's car was not the most excruciatingly tense walk of my life yet would have been a lie. It was just that, and it didn't help that Edward's face was all stiff and tight. I mean, I thought he was serious before, but this was like, Yoda serious. Not really.

Once we were inside and buckled in (well, I was buckled in), the atmosphere didn't show mercy and lighten up at all. The tension was so thick, forget about cutting it with a knife; I could open my mouth and take a bite out of it.

About twenty-seven seconds after Edward started driving, he finally spoke.

"So, please explain more about what you were saying before. With the 'no numbers'."

"You mean how it led me to find out you're a vampire?"

He grimaced as I said 'vampire'.

"Edward, you don't have to hide it from me anymore," I said quietly. "I know what you are, so there's no use in pretending anymore in front of me." Edward opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to protest. "And don't even try to deny it," I cut him off.

"Just explain, please," he said, still all tense-like.

"Well, I saw you and your siblings on my first day here and noticed you have no numbers. Do you remember me running out of the cafeteria?"

He nodded. "Rosalie and Alice followed you. Alice was curious and she just dragged Rose with her."

"Yeah, that was awkward," I said, remembering.

"So, you saw us, saw no numbers on top of your heads, and then ran away?"

"I sort of freaked out," I admitted. "Never in my life had I ever seen something like you and your family before. At first I thought there was something wrong with me. Well, something more wrong than usual." I scrunched up my nose slightly, remembering the feelings of confusion, disbelief, and even vulnerability. I hated feeling vulnerable.

"And how did this lead you to your conclusion…" he urged me to continue.

"Conclusion that you're a vampire?"

He grimaced again and I snickered. "Really, are you going to act that way every time I say it?" I said. "It's who you are; you shouldn't be ashamed of it." I knew I wasn't really one to talk since I often wished I was normal myself, but at least I was more accepting than him. Edward's face turned stony serious again.

"Just… keep talking," he said.

"Okay, so I had a mini freak out and after that you guys seemed to always be on my mind." I purposely left out how it was mostly just him on my mind. "The absolute impossibility of the situation was staggering. Death is just something that is bound to happen to everyone. It's a way of life; nothing can go on forever. I guess I was wrong. I thought I was going crazy."

"Is that why you were always staring at me?" Edward asked, a little bit of humor entering his voice.

"Maybe," I said sheepishly. "Subtlety was never my strong point. Anyway, after I finally came to the terms that it wasn't me who was causing the problem, I grew more curious. There was something about you that makes you different from everyone else. Why else would you have nothing up there? And then…"

"And then…?" he near whispered.

"And then you saved me from that van," I said, looking out the window. "You may have denied anything was out of the ordinary then, but I wasn't convinced. That rescue just deepened my suspicions about you not being normal. The abnormal speed and strength; it couldn't be human.

"I started doing some research on why you don't seem to be dying, for a lack of a better word, and figured that you must be immortal. There was no other explanation."

"Immortality is something from stories not real life," Edward said, sounding surprised. "You weren't skeptical at all? You accepted the fact that I was probably immortal just like that?"

"I guess any normal person would have laughed and pushed that possibility aside, and I admit that I was a bit disbelieving at first, but I figured that if my ability existed, why couldn't this? My 'power' sounds like something that is taken out of a book, doesn't it? I doubt it is something science could explain. If I tell anyone, I would be thrown in a mental institution. I knew it would be hypocritical of me if I didn't acknowledge the probability of you being immortal for I wasn't exactly scientifically possible myself."

I noticed Edward look a little comfortable at the mention of hypocrisy. Good.

"This research led you to vampires?" he asked, glancing at me. He didn't flinch at the word.

"Not really. My dad's old friend, Billy Black, let me have a bunch of old books he was cleaning out of his house since I like to read. One of them was called Quileute Legends." I didn't miss how Edward's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I read through it, simply out of boredom, and came across a legend about the 'Cold Ones'."

I watched as Edward's knuckles turned even whiter than before, if that was possible. He obviously knew something about these Quileutes or he wouldn't have had such a reaction. My Edward-is-keeping-something-from-me senses were tingling.

"I'm guessing you know about that legend," I said. "And don't even think about saying otherwise," I quickly added.

Edward nodded. "I do."

There was more to this than just that, I could feel it. I may not have premonitions, but Edward wasn't saying the full story.

"Are you going to tell me more?" I asked.

"Another time." I tried to suppress the fluttery feeling I got in my stomach when I heard him pretty much confirming there would be another time. "Continue explaining, please," he said. Even in as tense a moment as this, he still was so polite.

"I read the legend and had another mini freak out, considering the way the 'Cold Ones' were described. There were so many similarities to you; the coldness, the strength, the speed, how pale you are, and so on so forth. When I was researching I had come across vampires, but it didn't seem like such a huge probability until then. After reading it, I was so sure of what you really were that the only thing I needed then was for you to confirm it for me, in one way or another."

"That little word game," Edward said quietly. I nodded.

"I said subtlety was not one of my strengths, and it isn't. I'm pretty sure I was making myself and my inquiries obvious by doing that, but I needed to know."

"That was a very foolish thing to do," Edward said through gritted teeth.

"I know."

"I don't think you do." I looked at Edward curiously. He continued, "By letting us know that you knew something about us and what we truly are, you put yourself at risk, Bella. Humans are not supposed to know about our kind. If it had been any other coven, you probably would have either been turned into one of us or killed for knowing. Any and every measure is taken to keep us a secret."

I gulped, a little nervous. Although it may not have been very smart, at least not to others, I trusted Edward. Yet that didn't stop me from having that little nagging thought in the back of my brain, 'Now he's going to take you to the woods and murder you! And suck out your blood too!' Yes, I know he wouldn't have done that and he did say that any other 'coven' of vampires would do that, but it was an automatic reaction.

"Well, curiousity killed the cat," I said teasingly, to lighten up the mood. Only Edward's mood was not to be lightened. Pity.

"If I hadn't defended you, that saying could have come true," he said darkly. A shiver ran up my spine. It was silent for a few moments. I didn't even want to think about what could have happened. I remembered how livid Rosalie Hale looked back at school; would she have let me live?

"So that's basically it," I said moments later, trying to shake off the creepy feeling of almost bringing on a near-death experience. "That's how I found out about you."

"And you say it's only my family and I who are like this. You have never encountered anyone with no numbers before?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Only you guys."

"You used to live in Phoenix, right? Arizona?"

"Yeah."

He chuckled humorlessly. "That makes sense."

"What?" I said, puzzled. "How?"

"Phoenix is always sunny. It is not an ideal place for a vampire to go to let alone live, so it makes sense that you've never seen one of us before." He glanced over at me and smirked, though he still looked tense and brooding. "Why else do you think my family and I live in the rainiest state? There's a reason behind it, you know."

I turned more towards him in my seat. "So it's true that vampires burn in the sun? Is that why you were away from school when it was sunny out?"

Edward shook his head. "That's just a myth. We don't burn in the sun, but we definitely do something out of the ordinary when in the sunshine. And yes, I was away from school that sunny day because if I did go to school, it would have been disastrous."

"So what do you do in the sunshine, if not burn to ashes," I asked, genuinely curious. Now that he was openly admitting he was a vampire, and actually telling me things about him to top it off, I was not going to loose any chance to milk information out of him.

Edward hesitated before answering, looking like he was thinking hard about something. "I'll show you sometime," he finally said. I knew I wasn't going to get it any better than that, so I let it go. Also, I was cheering on the inside about getting to spend more time with him.

Silence fell over the car for a moment before I said, almost whispering, "So, do you believe me now?" I looked down at my hands in my lap, clasping them together, twisting my fingers this way and that. I bit my bottom lip.

He didn't answer right away. In fact, he didn't answer for a long time. So long in fact, that I looked over at him to see if he even heard me. He looked very tense (surprise, surprise) and deep in thought. It was obvious he was thinking long and hard over this, and although it was rather hypocritical of him, I couldn't be too mad. My power did seem rather far fetched. People have claimed to be able to read minds before, but seeing numbers? No has ever said to do that.

"Yes."

It was so quiet I almost missed it. That one word in that velvet whisper which made my shoulders sag with relief. I didn't know why I wanted him to so badly believe me, but I guess I was tired of keeping it in. I wanted the first person to know, other than Renee who never believed me anyway, to not think I was crazy. I didn't want Edward of all people to think I was mentally unstable, because I wasn't.

I wanted to be accepted for who I was and for him to take me seriously. I was hoping he would understand the best since he was not normal like everyone else, but apparently I was wrong at first. Now, hopefully, he did understand.

"So you do actually believe me? You don't think I'm just insane?" I asked, needing to make sure.

Edward looked back at me, nothing but honesty in his eyes. "Yes, I do believe you. I was doubtful at first, of course, but after you've explained all this to me… it can't just be a coincidence that you cannot see these numbers for my kind and my kind only. I am immortal, Bella, immortal to time anyway, and it can't just be chance that you see numbers for everyone except my family and I. If it really all was in your head, and none of it was real, then why didn't you see numbers for me? It couldn't have been coincidence."

"Thank you," I said, and meaning it. It felt nice to be believed. To be taken seriously.

"I'm sorry for not believing you before," Edward apologized. "I wanted to believe you, but something like that, for a human no less, is just unheard of. Like your numbers, it is just common knowledge that humans don't have supernatural abilities like that. Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but that's how it has always been… until now." He thought for a second. "If this is possible for you, are there other humans who have strange powers too?"

I shrugged. "If there are, they're all in hiding." A sudden thought came to me. "Like that special school in the X-Men. If I exist, there could be others and we could band together."

Edward finally dropped a tiny bit of his stiff exterior to look amusedly at me. Wolverine was one of my childhood crushes, so sue me.

As much as I didn't want to, I directed the conversation back down the serious route. "Is it really that impossible for a human to have a power?"

"Well, not anymore," he answered dryly. "Really, though, it is completely unheard of. Humans are normal. They don't have anything to do with the supernatural or mythical creatures."

"So when you said it was different for you to have an ability.."

"I meant that I am a vampire and that you're a human; it is far more likely for a vampire to have powers than a human."

"But you were all humans once, weren't you?"

Edward paused. "Yes, we were, but that doesn't change anything. I couldn't read minds until I was changed. As a human, I was powerless. Vampires don't really develop powers, if they are meant to have any, until after the change."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't really know, but I'm guessing it has a connection to how we were as humans. My father, Carlisle, theorizes that certain strong characteristics we possessed as humans were strengthened even further after being changed. This evolved into our powers. Not everyone has power though. So for me, Carlisle thinks I was able to tell what people were thinking easily in my human life and this led to telepathy once I was changed."

That was actually a very good theory, though my main focus was on what Edward said about him being changed. He had a human life before this. I wanted to ask him about it, but I doubted he wanted to talk about something so personal to me. Yet.

But then again, this vampire stuff was pretty personal too.

I decided to say something else instead.

"I already have a pretty developed, unrealistic power. If I were to be turned into one of you, would my power stay the same or strengthen as your father's theory says?"

"I honestly don't know," Edward said truthfully.

Edward turned to look at me, I could feel his gaze burning a nice damn hole in the side of my head. I turned to look back at him. His golden eyes were looking at me, they didn't seem focused. I could tell he was lost in thought. He looked… disturbed.

"What's wrong?" I asked Edward.

He sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled bronze hair. "You know I'm a vampire."

I laughed lightly. "Well, yeah, I do. I thought I made that pretty clear."

"What do you think about it?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what do you think about me being a monster?" he said, almost growling. That was animalistic. "You couldn't have just learned about me being what I am, being a predator, and be perfectly at ease with it. I've been waiting this entire time for you to ask me the most important question."

"What…"

"What. Do. I .Eat?" He looked so frustrated and angry that for a split second, I was afraid. His tone was harsher than I had ever heard him use.

"You won't hurt me," I whispered. I was confident he wouldn't hurt me. I knew it was reckless or incredibly stupid, or a combination of both, but I trusted him. I may have been a little freaked out at first, but that was just my primal instincts of self-preservation kicking in. Now that I've had time to think about it, and get to know Edward (though there was much more I still wanted know), I trusted him.

"How do you know that?" he hissed. "I'm dangerous, Bella. How do you know I don't kill humans? How do you know I'm not going to drink your blood right now?"

I tried to hold back the shiver itching to run through me and attempted to answer as calmly as I could.

"If you were going to hunt people, why live in such a small town?"

"I could be hunting elsewhere."

"If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it long ago."

"Sometimes death will happen without the desire to."

"What are you saying?"

I noticed he was pulling into my street and I was surprised we were back in Forks so quickly.

He pulled into my driveway and stopped the car. I saw Charlie's cruiser parked in front of us, so he had to be home. I glanced at the house and saw a distant light through the window, indicating Charlie was watching the game. He wouldn't notice e sitting out here in a boy's car.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly.

"Bella, I'm dangerous. You should have stayed away when you had the chance."

"What do you mean, when I had the chance? Are you saying that if I wanted to back out now, I wouldn't be able to?" I asked. I didn't want to admit it, but there was some truth to that statement. I was in far too deep to just drop everything now and forget about all that had happened between us. Besides, I felt drawn to him; I couldn't leave if I wanted to, and God knows I didn't want to. I just wanted to know what he meant.

"I mean I wouldn't let you," he said. Then his eyes widened a little, showing his own surprise at his words. My eyebrows shot up at that statement. He wouldn't let me? What the hell?

"That came out wrong," Edward said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Then how was it supposed to come out?"

"I," he paused. "I can't stay away from you anymore." He said it so softly, almost tenderly, that it rang quietly in the stillness of the night. My eyes widened.

Surprised, I sat there, staring into his eyes, wondering what on earth he was implying with that statement. The silence between us was heavy with the words just said. Edward didn't look away like I might have, but instead stared right back. I finally spoke.

"Then don't."

Such a simple answer, yet when I saw the torment and conflict on Edward's face, I knew it was far more complicated than it seemed. He sighed again and leaned back against his seat. "This is wrong," he breathed out, closing his eyes. "This is not right on many levels."

"I don't think I could stay away from you either," I admitted.

Edward opened his eyes and looked at me closely, trying to decipher if I was telling the truth or not. He shook his head. "This is not right," he repeated, more to himself than to me.

"Then do you not want to…?" I trailed off, not wanting to think about trying to forget all of this. He knew my secret and I knew his. We were bonded in a way neither of us had been bonded before. True, his family of course already knew about his mind reading and they would probably learn about my ability if Edward and I continued to spend time with each other, but there was something unexplainable between Edward and I.

"No," he said quickly, shaking his head. "I just told you that I can't stay away from you anymore, remember? I may think it is wrong, but it won't stop me from continuing this… this odd friendship between us." I didn't like how he said 'friendship', but I wasn't going to complain.

I nodded and glanced at my watch. "I should go inside now. It's getting late. I'll see you at school?"

"Yes," he answered shortly. I turned around to get out when I remembered something suddenly.

"Wait," I said, turning back. He looked at me curiously. "You never clarified this before; do you drink from humans?" I didn't want to say it, but it would definitely throw a huge wedge between us if he did. I didn't think I would be able to accept he was eating my fellow man, for God's sake.

He chuckled darkly. "No, I don't. My family and I only hunt animals. Lucky for you."

"Why?" I asked, cocking my head slightly to the side.

"I'll explain it to you later."

"Okay." I paused. "I figured you didn't drink from humans, anyway."

Edward raised his eyebrows at me. "And how would you know that?"

"Your eyes aren't red. The legend said the Cold Ones had red eyes from the human blood they drank. Your eyes are a golden-ish colour. No where near red," I explained.

"How do you know I'm not wearing contacts?"

I snorted. "If you were trying to hide red eyes, you would have chosen contacts that were less conspicuous than gold. Come on, yellow eyes? I don't know if that's genetically possible and if it is, then it would be very rare. If you were really trying to hide being a vampire, you would have chosen green or brown or an eye colour like that."

"That's true. You're very observant."

"It's both a curse and a blessing," I said, I opened the door and began to reluctantly get out of the car. I know I just spent the last two or three hours with Edward, but I didn't want to leave him yet.

"Bella?"

"Yes?" I turned back, maybe a little too eagerly.

Edward was leaning a little closer than I expected, but I didn't lean away.

"May I drive you to school on Monday?" he asked politely, though I could see the brightness in his eyes.

"Okay," I replied.

With a little bit of hesitation I finally got out of that car and just before I closed the door I heard a soft, "Goodnight, Isabella."

He didn't drive away until I was safely inside my house.

A/N: Please review! I love them and do appreciate them all. I'm sorry for updating so late.

My Microsoft Word is pretty much fixed now (it was the reason my updates for both this story and my other one were slow), so rest assured it will not take 3 weeks for the next chapter to come out.

I'm going to ask you not to beg me to update ultra soon or any of those sort of requests (I got that a lot when I update LABNCS). I can't handle it right now. Something very bad and stressful has happened last week that put many things in my life on hold. But I repeat, it will NOT take 3 weeks to update again.

Peace out.