Dialogue! YAY!

so Bella and Edward finally have a human conversation, sort of... leave it to Mike to ruin the moment

If you're interested, i posted a link to a picture i think depicted Jessica's living room pretty well on my profile. i was going for Jessica to almost be the spoiled rich chick, but she lives with her mom during the week, so when she goes to her Dad's she breaks out the snobby qualities i think we all knew she had been suppressing for years lol

Hope you guys enjoy!

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much love

~Marie

BPOV

"U-um…" I didn't know how to explain my sudden appearance, "hello."

Once again the presence of this human boy blurred my thoughts into one droning hum. I clenched my hands into fists and relaxed them at my sides, breathe Bella, you can do this.

I kept myself from looking behind me at Carlisle who was standing with one firm grip on Alice's shoulder. She was blocking me from seeing into her thoughts and I couldn't help but worry knowing that she was keeping something from me.

Jessica cleared her throat and glared at me again, "this is an invitation only party, Cullen."

"Oh, I'm s—"

Edward stepped between us, "Come on, Jessica, she soaking wet."

I'm sure she would have said something more on the topic that I shouldn't come with them back to the party which I agreed with, but her body had other ideas. Her knees wobbled and I almost felt bad for the girl as she fell to her knees and emptied her stomach onto the grass. Edward peeled his eyes away from me long enough to step away from Jessica, and help her up when she was finished. She scrubbed the back of her hand across her mouth, "what the hell are you laughing at?"

Startled, I just stared like an idiot, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't give me the whole 'deer in the head lights' look," she snarled, "you think you're so fucking perfect and better than us, but you're not."

"Jessica," Edward reached for her elbow but she ripped it away and continued screaming at me.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Don't fucking apologize," she stumbled over to me and jabbed her finger into my face.

Normally I ignored humans, even the obnoxious ones, but this little girl was seriously starting to piss me off. I ground my teeth together while she continued to curse and hiss at me. I opened my mouth to say something, and surprisingly Edward stepped in to pull the human away.

It was probably for the best, since my words would lead to actions that would end up bad for all three of us. Edward turned the girl to face him and he began whispering something to her, but I wasn't paying attention as I slowly began picking away at the block in Alice's mind. Carlisle was still measuring my body language, and began backing away from the clearing; deeper into the forest with my sister close by his side. My nerves were on high alert as I realized that Carlisle was testing me, or more that he was trying to prove to me that I was strong enough to do this on my own. Apparently him and Esme had talked about it the night before, and they believed it would be a way for me to not run off again.

"Dammit," I hissed under my breath, too quiet for the humans in front of me to hear.

Jessica sighed dramatically, throwing her arms in the air, before turning back to me, "Bella," my name came out with a slight hiss, "the party is over, and we have a huge fire place, would you like to come back with us and warm up a little? Angela and Mike are still there…"

"I don't think—"

Go, Bella, you need to do this, Carlisle was almost a mile away and I groaned inwardly.

He had too much faith in me.

"Sure," I sighed and was about to take a step forward before Jessica bent over and threw up again.

Edwards eyes widened a little while Jessica emptied the contents of her stomach on my shoes, and I just froze on the spot.

"Oh my god," Jessica choked and jumped back, "I'm s-s-so s…"

She trailed off and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was about to pass out. Edward jumped forward and caught her by the arm before she could stumble into me.

"Holy shit," Edward scooped Jessica up in his arms and looked down at me, "those weren't expensive were they? I'll buy you another pair if you want."

"No, no," I waved a hand and kicked off the shoes, "it's fine."

For the record, they were expensive, but they were also about twenty years old. Edward explained that the party was at Jessica's house and that we would have to trek back through the woods to get there but I dismissed his concerns about my feet with a shrug and began walking towards the trail.

His human steps were strangely quiet, almost as if he had memorized the path and knew how to maneuver through the foliage without snapping any twigs or stumbling over any tree roots. I admit that it was impressive. His heart beat was at a steady tempo, not like the pounding beat it was the last few times I had seen him, and his green eyes were scanning my face every few seconds as if searching for answers. Carlisle was now completely gone, I could still hear his thoughts vaguely but he was home with Esme and explaining the events of our hunting trip.

The house was simple, Victorian; pale blue siding, glossy cherry shutters, and a large set of stained glass French doors. I followed Edward up the wide front stairs, ignoring the questioning gazes from people that were picking up trash in the front yard. Angela Weber was huddled on the front steps, her head between her knees, and I stiffened slightly at the scent of fresh blood. The burning sensation was a grateful distraction to Edward's intoxicating scent, but I kept my distance, not trusting myself around the delicate human. Jessica's unconscious body was passed off to Mike, who I guessed was her boyfriend, and he took her upstairs to put her to bed.

Edward walked deeper into the house, past a few knock-off oil paintings that I noticed as early renaissance, and into a large living room. The walls were plain glass, allowing a full view of the forest surrounding the house, the floor was glossy white tile with a large area rug, and there was a large couch in the middle of it all. The wall in front of the couch had a brief strip of stone and inside the stone was a sleek looking fireplace. Blue flames shot up from the white coals, giving the room an underwater feel as the dull gray light trickled in through the windows. I continued to follow Edward over to a corner of the room with a table of human junk food, and a large cooler with ice and beer in it. Edward fished out a bottle of water, which surprised me, and look over to me as if he forgot I was there.

"Do you want anything," he asked, his green eyes still probing.

I shook my head, sending a small spray of water onto the expensive carpet, "no, thank you."

He nodded to himself and walked over to the overstuffed couch. I watched with a guarded expression, reminding myself that we were alone in the living room of an unconscious girl, with the only other humans around in the front yard, out of ear shot.

As if you could have forgotten, the beast inside grinned at me with her red eyes and nodding hungrily when Edward patted the cushion beside him.

My muscles tensed and I slowly walked over to sit beside him in the middle of the cushions so that I sunk in my seat a little. The beast inside growled at my cautiousness and seemed to push me closer to the warmth Edward was emanating from only a few inches away. I kept my muscles taunt, keeping myself from moving an inch, slowing my breathing to almost nothing, and focused on Edward's steady heart beat to calm myself.

"So…" he trailed off and I found myself trapped in his green eyes.

They weren't as deep as I would have imagined; the irises almost seemed to reflect so that I couldn't look down into his thoughts. It was extremely frustrating as I continued to poke and prod at the block in his mind, a slight grin pulled at the corner of this mouth as if he felt my frustration.

He reached over and touched the skin between my eyebrows, "what's wrong with you?"

The red eyed beast beat at her cage, throwing herself forward, reaching for his pulse. I stopped my breathing, trying to think of something to clear my mind.

"Bella…" he tried again, resting a warm hand on my own that was carefully folded in my lap.

His skin felt like an open flame and I attempted to relax my muscles to keep him from touching me again. He pulled his fingers away, probably in disgust of how cold I was, and once again did something that surprised me.

I realized that I had lost my jacket when Emmett and I were wrestling earlier and that if any other human was in the state I was in—tank top and jeans with no shoes—they would probably be contracting pneumonia. Still Edward's actions were completely unexpected as he reached behind me and tugged a blanket from the back of the couch. It was warm from the fire a few feet away, but I couldn't help from inhaling his scent as he leaned closer to me to wrap the blanket around my shoulders.

"You're cold as death, Bella," he said in a disapproving tone and leaned back once he was done.

I laughed at how spot-on his comment was, enjoying the confused look on Edward's face.

"What did I say," he asked.

I shook my head, my curls finally dry, "nothing, nothing."

His green eyes flashed with amusement and he leaned in closer, "so are you going to tell me what you were doing in the woods by yourself when it was raining?"

The fire had shifted from blue to roaring honey colored flames, and the light brought out gold flecks in his hair and eyes. I bit my lip, forcing down the growl that was trying to bubble up from my throat, and tightened my grip on the blanket.

"Hiking," I mumbled, not realizing that we were now leaning in towards each other, our faces only a few inches apart.

Edward's mouth pulled up at the corners to form a crooked grin that almost made my dead heart beat again, "Really? In the rain?"

"It wasn't raining when I started," I tried to explain.

His eyes flashed again, and I knew he wasn't completely buying the story, but he would have to suffer with his confusion, just like I suffered not knowing what he was thinking. I would have given anything to peer into his thoughts and see what he was thinking now, with his eyes flickering with that secretive amusement that tortured me.

"What are you thinking," I couldn't help but ask.

His expression changed, from amusement to curiosity, "I was about to ask you the same thing…"

I chewed my lip and thought of the right answer, "I was thinking about how bad Jessica must be feeling right now."

I played it safe, not wanting to lead him on to any more questions that I could see were bubbling in his head. A frown began to pull at his lips; clearly he was disappointed in my response.

I cleared my throat, "so what are you thinking about."

"Same," he looked over to the flames dancing in the wall.

It killed me that I couldn't look into his thoughts and see what was forming the crease between his eyebrows. His jaw clenched and unclenched, his fingers drummed against his thigh, and I was suddenly entranced by the way his hair seemed perfectly windblown even though he was completely soaked with water a few minutes ago. My fingers itched to reach out and stroke his jaw, to calm the muscle there, to smooth his brow, to trace his lips…

Get a hold of yourself Bella, I chanted to myself and pushed down the burn rising in my throat.

"Well you two look cozy," I jumped a little at the sound of Mike's voice.

He was leaning against the door frame, his hair ruffled and his eyes glazed over a little.

"Jess, isn't feeling well and her dad will be home soon, so you guys need to bounce," he looked over to Edward and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the thoughts running through his head.

First, the shower he and Jessica had, and then he began painting images of what Edward and I had been up to as the only ones in the house. Wait, only ones? I stretched my mind out to the front yard, around the house; even a few miles into the forest surround the property.

We were the only ones.

I tensed on the couch when Edward shifted and his knee hit my thigh, "Alright," he said and looked over to me, "ready to go?"

"What," I was side tracked with the fact that I could have lost it at any moment and no one would have been there to stop me.

Not that any human would have been able to stop me once my instincts had taken over.

"You don't think I'm going to let you walk home do you?"

"Umm…" I was suddenly conscious of Mike's eyes on me.

Edward shook his head and sighed, "let's go, Cullen."