A/N: I don't own Twilight.

BPOV Olympic National Park

The drive to our camp site was entertaining to say the least. Alice, Esme and I couldn't resist singing with the radio. Every now and then, Edward and Jasper would try to hush us up, but we were unstoppable. At one point Edward held me hostage, tickling me anytime I tried to squirm away from him. Unfortunately for me, I'm just about ticklish everywhere, and he found out. I tried plenty of times to tickle him back, but he never squirmed away, flinched, or anything. He just gave me a triumphant smile and left it at that. I looked to Alice for any ammunition, but she sat there, looking blanked out for about a minute. When she finally came to, her face was etched with a minute amount of worry, then it vanished. As her gaze matched mine, she gave me a wink and turned around in her seat to cuddle with Jasper. I tried not to think about her face, but I couldn't help it. Every now and then, her image would fill my mind at any random silence between Edward and I. I made a mental note to myself to ask her about it, wondering why the usually chipper Alice would be worried.

Carlisle followed Emmett and Rosalie through an old, rotting wooden gate. Immediately the trees became denser, and the sun's rays weren't as easily visible. I rolled down my window to take in the fresh air. It was such a beautiful day outside, with a slight breeze and the fresh smell of the forest. In the distance I saw movement. As I focused in, I realized it was a family of deer, drinking from a small creek. The mother deer was close by her young fawn, which looked like it had just learned how to walk and was still on the wobbly side. Both mother and fawn shifted their gaze in our direction, but the large male deer kept his gaze away from us. As we drove away I watched as his gaze never shifted, and as he stayed still as a statue.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" I felt Edward's breath caress my neck, making the tiny hairs stand erect. I turned to meet his eyes. He flashed his crooked smile before gently sitting his forehead against mine.

"Mmmm…they are very beautiful. The baby was still a little wobbly I noticed. It would have been amazing to see him take his actual first steps." I thought about Bambi and how he slipped on the ice. That part of the movie always cracked me up as a kid. It would have been both amazing and funny, but overall a nice experience.

Edward chuckled, "yeah, I noticed that too. Little fella just needs a little practice, that's all." He brought his lips forward and grazed my nose right before kissing it. In that moment, I felt extremely content. Nothing was going to ruin this experience for me. I laid my head down on his shoulder and watched out the window as Carlisle took multiple twists and turns.

MPOV Olympic National Park

Today felt different. A good kind of different. The air was warm, the sun was out, Victoria was hunting alone…the list goes on and on. I lifted my hand above my head, watching as my wet skin sparkled in the sun. Millions of rays of lights refracted off my stony skin, casting over forty different colors into the wind. A soft breeze blew by, picking up some loose strands of hair and making them dance across my face to the sweet tune of the birds and the whistling of the grass. In the distance I heard a couple of hikers arguing about which trail to take. Unfortunately for them, they were lost, and the wind was not working in their favor. The pain in my throat surged to an absolute scalding burn. I wanted so bad for the hikers to make up their minds and leave already and allow me to continue my peaceful meditation, but they were a newlywed couple, apparently, and decided to verbally duke it out half a mile up wind from me, their worst nightmare.

I waited as the seconds turned to minutes, their annoyed tones turned to anger. If they kept it up, they wouldn't have to worry about which path to take at all, just who could run faster. But that wouldn't help them either…My hand slammed into the boulder beneath me, somehow anchoring my body down. I felt the stone turn to dust beneath my fingers, so I dug harder, clenching my eyes shut. I wasn't ready to give up my disturbed moment of peace, especially since I hadn't got much since joining up with James, but even if the hikers decided to move on, there was no going back. I would have to feed soon, the pain was past bearable.

When it was apparent they still weren't going anywhere, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Grabbing my shirt to my left, I pulled it over my swim suit top and headed against the wind. The closer I got, the clearer their voices became, and the sweeter their blood smelled. The woman, who was clearly the one who wore the pants in the relationship was being very degrading to her husband, who was trying to calm her down, but would fail every so often and become angry. I felt bad for the man. By the tone of his voice, it was apparent he loved her, but couldn't do anything to shut her up. If I had my way, I would drink from just the woman and let the man go, but that most certainly wouldn't work. So I had to be quick with my first and savor the last…Man first to minimize his terror, his wife second. Maybe then she'll shut up…

By now I was about a fifty yards away. I stood stark still behind a tree and focused on my prey. Using my speed, I ran up from behind the man and grabbed his head, breaking his neck, deciding I didn't want to drink from two humans today. The woman barely had an inkling of what was going on by the time I crossed the rotten log that was between them and pulled her back against me, unnecessarily restraining her arms against her chest. I could feel her warm skin through both of our clothes, seeping into my core, warming me slightly. Her neck, exposed by her up-do was slightly beaded with perspiration, but easy access never the less. In a matter of a fourth of a second I had her positioned and brought my teeth to her neck. My teeth slid into her neck like butter, so soft and easy. Immediately the blood rushed into my mouth, wetting my aching throat like water on a hot summer day. The vessel beneath my lips pumped at a faster than normal rate, sending the delicious liquid faster across my tongue. Now I really felt warm. The feeling of drinking from a human was like no other feeling. It was refreshing and made me feel like my body was coming to life each and every time.

The woman was limp in my arms as I drained the last of her. Had I been able to control myself, maybe I would have left some life in both of them and taken them as new additions to my army, but the urge to completely take her was too strong. Plus, by the way they were bickering, I'm sure I would have demolished them after they were vampires, at least her…

I dragged their bodies to a heavily wooded and brushy area very unsuitable for hiking and placed them in a ditch and covered them with many leaves. I normally didn't cover up my tracks because I never stayed in one city for too long, but I planned on hanging out here for awhile.

As I walked out from the bushes I heard two cars in the distance. One engine strong and powerful, the other not so much. Before I found the cars directly with my sight, my eyes landed on a family of deer drinking from the creek. The mother stood close by her young, newborn fawn watching as the car drove down the entrance path to the park. I gazed at the newborn with awe. The first signs of life. Innocence, uncertainty, and a rapid heart beat. The newborn, shaky from unused muscles watched as the car drove by, learning the first signs of danger. But the male buck, knowing the true signs of danger stared away from the car, directly at me. His strong, lean body unmoving, looked like a statue, showing his protection and love for his family. I turned my back on him, walking back towards my boulder, hoping to find a few more moments of peace before the true hunt begins.

BPOV

I sat against a tree with my knees curled against my chest, watching as the men pitched tents. Esme had been stationed next to the Jeep unloading all our cooking material and sorting our personal bags. I had offered to help, but she insisted she was fine, enjoyed it actually and that I should rest or take a walk around our camp. I think it was her way of relaxing, as weird as it seems. Alice and Rosalie left as soon as we got there to "gather" firewood. At first, I felt a little left out when they didn't invite me to join them, but Edward told me they were planning something secret, probably dealing with the two of us. I accepted that excuse, but only because I was fine relaxing against a tree and watching Edward use his muscles!

Four tents and a pile of firewood later, we all decided to go for a swim. Carlisle and Esme opted to stay behind. I got the impression they wanted to test out the tent, but I would never say that aloud. I searched through my bag Alice packed for me and found a rather nice midnight blue two piece. My favorite part about it was it's modesty, for a two piece. I also found a white cover and put it on over my suit. There were no mirrors, obviously, in the tent, but I didn't need one. I felt pretty. Maybe it was because of some newfound confidence, or the fact that there was a man on the other side of my tent who made me feel like the only woman in the world. Either way, I liked the feeling and never wanted it to leave.

I exited my tent and walked straight into the arms of my Edward. Everyone else was still in their respective tents getting ready, so we were alone. Yet, it still didn't seem private enough, like there were eyes everywhere. In the trees, in the wind, in the grass. I just wanted to be alone with him for a minute.

I grabbed his hand and started walking away from our camp site until we were hidden by a few trees. I finally turned to face him and once again melted into his arms. The silence around us was deafening. I felt like the world around us was muted, and all the energy of life was centered on our love in that moment. The intensity between us grew until I had to get as close to him as humanly possible. I pressed my body to his and laid my head against his chest, right beneath his chin. I could hear his strong heart beat pulse through my ears, his warmth radiating into me as his arms coiled protectively around my body, banishing anything other than heat.

"Bella…" He finally spoke. His voice brought my head away from his chest and my eyes to his. "Bella, I can't explain how happy you make me. Please know that these last few weeks have been the best, and all because I have finally found someone to love." He took a deep breath and averted his gaze to take in the forest around us. "I will cherish my every moment with you because they are the most important. Besides, I couldn't possibly think of a better, more loving and sweet person to share this experience with." At his words, I too averted my gaze to the forest around us. I didn't realize how much of the scenery I took for granted every day I lived in Forks, or Washington for that matter.

"Beelllllaaa!" This time, the voice wasn't sweet and loving, but demanding. "Edwaaard!" Alice. No voice could sound so controlling yet tinkly at the same time. I grinned up at Edward. "Guess we better get going, Ranger." I watched as his gaze turned from one of annoyance to hilarity.

"Sure thing, my lady! We better skidaddle before the hungry bear catches up with us!" Edward said in a mocking tone of someone trying to frighten another person. I laughed and play slapped his chest. He raised his eyebrow at me and grinned. I started to slowly back away, but was too late because in one fell swoop he had me slung over his shoulder and heading back to camp. Fortunately my cover was long enough for him to hold against the back of my legs so my behind wouldn't be on display for his whole family.

"There you guys are! Where were you? We are ready to leave!" Alice said quickly, her voice chirping at the end with enthusiasm. "I haven't been swimming in forever! At least it feels like forever." Edward let me down so I could grab my towel.

Down at the the lake, there were only a handful of people, and it looked like they were already leaving. "Bombs away!" Emmett bellowed as he sprinted full force towards the dock. I won't lie, it is a pretty funny thing to see Emmett and his big lumbering body sprint.

His jump from the dock started out unorganized, but then he quickly curled himself into a ball before splashing into the still water. Cannonball or not, it still looked like it hurt. He stayed under for a few seconds before resurfacing with multitude of chants. He then proceeded to tease Jasper and Edward about being wimps and pussies until they dove in after him. It was definitely an interesting start to a fun evening.