Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the great and powerful Twilight originator and owner. I appreciate her work more than I can say. I own none of these characters but I sure am having fun making them jump through my hoops.

Chapter 24

~~~Anticipation~~~

I ran from the house and up the deeply wooded hillside. I didn't stop until I got to the very top, the pinnacle of the mountain range just north of his home.

Edward's home…where he had just asked me about biting him. I felt my throat tighten. I needed to be at least this far from him right now, actually maybe even in another state.

I decided that once I got my control back I'd hunt down the bear that I had smelled on my way up. I wondered if the good people of Telluride know that the bear is so close. This area hadn't had a deep snow yet, so he was still up and about, not dug into a cave somewhere. Maybe draining the blood of a carnivore would sustain me for a longer period of time, more so than the blood of the herbivores that I had been feeding on recently had. I hadn't had a predator since the day I saw Edward for the first time.

The view from up here was amazing. The entire valley was lit by starlight. I let it calm me before I thought back to what had just happened.

How could he ask me such a thing? I had thought that the monster was at bay, but when Edward had asked about being bit, the blood lust was suddenly rising in me and it nearly took over. My imagination was vivid with just how I could bite him, my teeth along his neck, feeling the pulse there thudding against my tongue. I could imagine how it would taste; how I would feel once the blood was flowing, pouring down my throat…

I don't know if I could stop once his blood was filling me. His scent was nearly overwhelming, but his blood, that was something totally different. I could feel the monster starting to stir again. I needed to hunt now, not later. Then I would think over this situation. I quickly made my way back down the mountain to the trail the bear had left…

~o~O~o~

"I have to call Bella now…" I said as I ran for my phone. The family was used to my leaving in mid-sentence when a vision called for it. They usually just went about their business, knowing that if it was something that about them, I'd let them know. But they were all concerned when I mentioned Bella's name.

They all looked at me with questioning expressions on their faces. I raised a finger as I dialed, urging them to wait. I knew that Edward would answer as I set it to speakerphone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi, Edward, this is Alice," I said. "I want you to know that Bella will be back pretty soon. She just needed to hunt. Tell her that Emmett is going to be jealous."

"How do you…oh I get it, the psychic thing. Why will Emmett be jealous?" he asked.

"Bella will tell you when she gets back. I want you to know that everything is going to be okay. Sometimes Bella just gets too far into her own head, she over thinks things sometimes. Just give her some time, she'll come around." We could all hear Edward breathing quietly into the phone as he thought my words over.

"Edward, are you still there?" I asked.

"Yes, Alice…Bella keeps telling me that you all aren't the good guys, that you aren't heroes, but I just want to thank you for finding me last week. If it hadn't been for you all, I don't know where I'd be right now. Thank you, Alice."

"Edward, you are very welcome." I could hear confusion in his voice and thought that he needed to be encouraged, "Now, you rest, Bella will be back there soon. She just needed to think things through, but she'll get her head on straight and get things figured out." I knew the next thing he was going to ask and I had already figured out what my response was going to be.

"Alice, can I ask what I did wrong? What made her run away like that?" There was a measure of sadness in Edward's voice.

"Sure you can ask, Edward." I waited for him to acknowledge that and then I went on, "Changing a human isn't something that we do on a whim. Each time Carlisle has changed a human, it was because they were dying. Carlisle is the only one of us who has that kind of control. You know that you are Bella's Singer. I know she told you that…right?" He affirmed that.

"She's been fighting that call since she first saw you. She thought that she had it pretty well under control, but then you asked about being bit--you surprised her. You do that to her a lot, by the way. I think it's good for her to be kept on her toes, but when you startled her like that, she was afraid that her control was slipping beyond what she could handle." I paused, "So she left to keep you safe. Your wellbeing is of the utmost importance to her. She would do anything to keep you safe and sound."

Carlisle was trying to get my attention. I think he thought that I was going to spill the secret that Bella loved Edward. I seriously thought about it for a moment. I know that they will end up together and I hated waiting for them to come to it on their own. They were both being too shy to do anything about how they felt. It couldn't hurt to give them a push, could it?

"Alice…" surprisingly it was Esme who was warning me. "Don't," she whispered.

I know that I really shouldn't give them a push, but they were going to end up together, and I was really ready to start planning the wedding. I already knew what Bella was going to wear. They should just get on with it!

But if I went against Esme, it could get ugly. I sighed and continued my conversation with Edward, but didn't say what I really wanted to. "She'll be back soon. Tell her that we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

We said our goodbyes and then I hung up. There were five pairs of eyes staring at me with varying amounts of anger and amusement in each set. "Hey! I didn't do much, but they really need to just admit how they feel about each other. The rest of us know!"

Everyone but Jasper rolled their eyes at me and went about their business. "Jasper, don't you think that I should…" I couldn't continue because my beloved husband had picked me up and was carrying me to our room, his lips on mine.

He raised his head as we got to our door and said, "Alice, they need to get there on their own…you can't force it. And you know that they will get there, which should give you some patience. Then they can be as happy as we are."

He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. And right now there were other things that I wanted to be doing, planning a wedding could wait for an hour…or two. I closed the door behind us after he carried me through.

~o~O~o~

Feeling like I was more in control after feeding, I headed back down the mountain. Emmett would have enjoyed the bear very much. It had put up a first-rate fight. That had been a good outlet for the tension that I had felt since Edward had asked me that question. I also felt satisfied; more so than I had felt with the diet of elk that I had been living on for months. I really needed to hunt predators more often.

I entered the house quietly, flitting into the living room where I could hear Edward's heart beat. The fire had burned down to embers and only a small lamp was lit, leaving his face in deep shadow where he slept on the couch. He had pulled an afghan over his lap. His left arm, with the cast and brace, was resting along his waist, held there by his right hand. My cell phone was lying on top of the cover, near his hand. I'm sure that it was Alice calling just before I had to leave. I wonder what she said to him.

Taking in a deep breath, I barely felt the burn in my throat. I sat down on the sturdy coffee table where I could see Edward's face. I thought about the conclusion I had reached on the mountainside. It must have been the shock of even thinking about Edward being changed, just like it had been the shock of finding out he was my singer last week that had caused my reaction this evening.

I couldn't let that happen again. I couldn't afford to be lax in this. I had to double my control. Again I felt the determination grow in me. I would not be the cause of his death.

He had been asking questions and had told me that he had many more things he wanted answers to. I should have been prepared for this question. Any human would have been curious about how we came to be. It was a normal reaction.

It was me that had reacted badly.

When I had watched him sleep the first time at his house in Seattle, I had wondered what he would look like as a vampire. So the thought had crossed my mind. I hadn't been actually thinking about changing him then, it was just a passing thought.

So what was different now? Why was I shocked at the thought of him being a vampire? The only difference that I could see is that I loved him now. I would love him forever. But he is human. He doesn't have forever. The only way I could love him forever would be if he were changed.

And I couldn't make that decision for him. Carlisle had changed each one of us only as we lay dying. It wasn't a decision made in cold blood, so to speak.

The only way I could even contemplate his change would be if he were to love me in return. Maybe if he loved me he would think it worthwhile to be changed, to be like me…to be a vampire.

Which led my thoughts in another direction: Could he love me? Was there even a chance now that he knows what I am? The information certainly hadn't kept him at arm's distance this evening. He had already kissed me several times since finding out. He had touched my face and pulled me close to his side. He wasn't afraid, much to my bewilderment…

Maybe he was beginning to care for me too. But would my reaction to his question send him away from me? Had I finally scared him? I needed to know the answers to those questions…

Reaching out to gently caress his face I spoke, "Edward, wake up. You need to be in your bed so that you can sleep in comfort." I continued to touch his face as he turned it into my hand. He hadn't opened his eyes yet.

"Bella…" He said as he kissed the palm of my hand. I guess he still wasn't overwhelmingly frightened of me.

"Come on, Edward. Let me help you to bed." He finally opened his eyes and the look on his face was anything but scared.

He sat up and looked deeply into my eyes. "I'm not exactly sure what I did, but I'm sorry," he apologized.

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, you have nothing to apologize for. I reacted badly and I'm the one that's sorry. Will you forgive me?" He had taken my hand in his and he gave it a gentle squeeze.

"So, we are both apologizing, but I'm really not sure what for!" He chuckled quietly. Suddenly the tension that I had been feeling left me. This was going to be okay. I just had to keep myself in control.

"It's been a long day, let me help you to bed and we'll talk more in the morning." He stood and let me lead him to the door and up the stairs to his room. I helped him remove his shirt, trying to keep my eyes from his sculpted chest and back. The doctor had said that he could sleep in just the cast, so I removed the brace that held his arm to his side.

Edward groaned as he flexed his shoulder. "I understand why I can't move this very much, but it's amazing how tired my shoulder gets doing nothing…" He rolled it slightly forward and groaned again. I told him to get onto the bed as I crawled up beside him.

"Let me massage it for you; maybe that will help." He agreed and I sat behind him and pressed my fingertips into his warm flesh.

He sighed as I started working the muscles there. "The coolness of your hands feels good too. Which brings me to another question…Can I ask, or are you going to run out again?" I heard the humor in his voice and gave him a gentle flick on the shoulder.

"Go ahead, ask." I said as I rolled my eyes, still keeping my hands working his warm flesh.

"Why are your hands, your skin, so cool?"

"When we are changed our blood is used up over a short course of time. No blood circulating to bring warmth to our skin. You feel really warm to me…" I continued to work the muscles in his shoulder and made my way across his back. The tension was quickly leaving his body.

"I hate to sleep right now, there's just so much more I want to know, but what you are doing right now is making me melt…" His head had fallen forward which left the nape of his neck arched before me. I waited to see if the monster inside me was going to make its presence known, but all I felt was the urge to press a kiss to the back of his neck. I quickly fought that down. He needed to sleep and we still needed to talk about what our relationship was, what it could be.

I slipped my arms around him instead, laying my head against his shoulder and gave him a gentle hug. He raised his good arm and pressed my arms tighter around him.

"Thank you...that felt wonderful." He lifted my hand and pressed a soft kiss on the back of it. "Would you sleep with me tonight, like we did after I had my nightmare?" His voice was a mere whisper and when I gave my acquiescence he kissed my hand again.

"Let me change my clothes, I'll be right back." Moving off the bed, I turned the lamps off while he slowly moved under the covers. I quickly retrieved a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt from one of my bags and changed in the bathroom. I crawled onto the bed, facing him. We were nearly nose to nose. His eyes were so sleepy and kept fluttering down.

Edward's voice was very quiet as he said, "You were right, that was Alice on the phone. She told me not to worry, that you were hunting and would be back soon…that things would be okay. She also told me to tell you that Emmett was jealous…but she wouldn't tell me why."

Laughing quietly, I whispered, "I'm sure he was."

"Why would Emmett be jealous…?" his voice was getting quieter.

"He was jealous because I found a black bear while I was hunting." Edward's eyes snapped open as he processed what I had just said.

"A bear? Are you okay? Or should I be asking: Are you nuts?" Concern was etched in his sleepy face.

I chuckled a little and quickly caressed his soft cheek. He needed a shave; there was a bronze shadow there. "I told you that we survive by drinking animals. I've been hunting elk and deer for months, with only the occasional predator animal recently. Emmett was jealous because his favorite meal is bear, any kind or color."

The concerned look had faded from Edward's face at my words. "What's your favorite?" he asked.

"Big cats are my first choice. I hunted a mountain lion the first night that I met you." Edward was shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're what, 5'4" and you fight bears and pumas?" He kissed me lightly on the nose, "You really are Wonder Woman." Still smiling, his eyes closed and he drifted into sleep.

I watched him sleep, listening to his heart beating and the steady breaths that he took for several hours. When he rolled over, I adjusted his arm for him, tucking pillows under it to keep it supported. After a couple of hours he started talking in his sleep again. Most of it was just mumbles, but I did hear my name and the words heroes and bears. When I was sure that he was deeply asleep I went downstairs and got my phone. I needed to talk to Alice.

Alice assured me, again, when I called, that the family was behind my decision to tell Edward all of our secrets. She said that her vision of us in a meadow, his eyes as golden as ours, was holding steady. She also reminded me that I needed to tell him about the Volturi. He needed to know the magnitude of what I had just divulged to him. They all agreed that if he didn't come to care about me like I cared about him, that the Volturi need never know that he knew our secret. Each of them felt that he would never tell anyone about us.

She also hastened to tell me that I had nothing to worry about on that score. Alice was sure that he was well on the way to loving me. That helped me a little, but I was still scared. I heard her snort into the phone, quite the annoyed sound it was too.

"Bella, let go! Just feel for right now." She paused to let me think about that. "You deserve to be happy too…" After a few more minutes we hung up. She told me to be on the lookout for the three boxes that she had sent to me. When I exclaimed that she had sent 15 bags with us and that we hadn't had time to wear even a small portion of them, she said that we'd need the coats she had sent by the weekend and to just let it go. She told me that a lot.

I just wished that I could be more like her, more carefree and living in the moment. Maybe I could start doing that today; just trying to live in the moments that I spent with Edward. Just enjoying the time spent with him…surely I could do that? What was I waiting for anyway? I should just tell him that I love him. Put the ball in his court…just let go.

As I heard him begin to wake, I sped up the stairs. I wanted to see him as he opened his eyes. Would he look for me again? I hoped so.

~o~O~o~

It was nice to wake up from happy dreams, instead of starting awake from nightmares. The dream had been confusing, but silly, not scary. There was a bear wearing a superman cape and Bella was riding it. She was laughing, her golden eyes shining in the light from a full moon. Emmett was trying to catch her, or maybe trying to catch the bear…it was mystifying. But that's how dreams usually are. I stretched as much as I could with my arm cradled against my side. As I opened my eyes I saw a beautiful sight. Bella was sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, a smile on her lovely face as she watched me. I noted that my heart beat faster when I saw her. I felt some awe that a vampire was sitting on my bed, smiling at me.

"Good morning Edward, how did you sleep?" She asked in her musical voice. I felt like my face was going to split from the width of my answering smile.

"I slept really well, thanks," I answered as I sat up and settled myself against the headboard.

"How do your hand and side feel? Do you need your pain meds?" She asked.

I rolled my shoulder just a bit. The massage she had given me last night had done wonders for my tight muscles. Maybe I could convince her to do that again today.

"I actually feel pretty good right now. I think your massage last night helped a lot. Thank you." Without thinking I reached for her hand and she gave it to me.

"I guess I can't ask you how you slept," I said with a laugh. "So I'll ask: how was your night?"

Bella was shaking her head, "Edward, I can't believe how well you have taken all of this. Are you just holding it in and you really think that I'm crazy? That I'm telling tall tales?"

I gently pulled on her hand to bring her to my side where I was laying back against the padded black leather headboard. She came willingly and tucked herself into my side, her head resting against my good shoulder as she looked up into my face.

"Bella I believe every word that you've told me. I've seen too many things that confirm your story." I couldn't resist any longer so I tipped my head and pressed a light kiss on her lips. "Now that's the way to wake up!"

She laughed and kissed me back. Before I could take the moment any deeper she leaned away from me. "We do need to talk about some other things and you should probably eat. I watched carefully last night, would you like bacon and eggs again, or maybe I could figure out how to make pancakes. I've seen those IHOP commercials and humans seem to like them very much."

I wasn't ready to move from this comfortable position with her body pressed against my side. "I'm not quite ready to eat. There are some things that I'd like to ask, if that's okay." Bella nodded her head.

"When I spoke with Alice last night, she said that you needed to figure some things out. And then you'd be back. She said that my safety was very important to you." Bella nodded again. "What are you afraid of?"

With a sigh Bella sat up but still held my hand. She started playing with my fingers, twining our fingers in and out of each others. I know she was thinking so I didn't push her, I just enjoyed the feeling of our hands touching. That little current was still running between us and now I was pretty sure that I knew what it was.

Yesterday and last night as Bella had told me her secret, one thought kept running through my head. This morning when I looked into her face I knew that it was true.

That thought was: I am totally in love with Bella.

It didn't matter that she was a vampire. All that mattered was that she was here, holding my hand, accepting and returning my kisses, looking into my eyes. Last night when she thought that she was losing control, she had left instead of hurting me. I don't think that she could hurt me. Maybe I was delusional, but I think that she felt the same way. I think that's what Alice was trying to tell me last night, that I should hang in here, that everything…that we would be okay.

As she finally opened her mouth to speak, I suddenly decided that it would be better if I went first. My question had been: What are you afraid of. But it was I who was afraid. I needed to step beyond my fear and just tell her what I felt. I took my hand from hers and placed my fingertips over her lips.

"Wait, before you start, I have something that I want to tell you." She looked confused but nodded for me to go on.

That's when I froze. So many words were welling up in me, but where to start? What if she really didn't feel the same? My heart rate increased as I thought about that. It was odd, but all my life I had had hunches about things, like what Jessica would want to eat when we went out. Sometimes I could tell when people were lying to me about things. It was almost like I could read their minds. I'd even had hunches or feelings about Emmett and Rosalie as they spent all that time with me in the hospital. But with Bella there was none of that. I didn't have a clue as to what she was thinking or feeling.

All I had to go on was the way she responded to my kisses, how she didn't seem to want to leave me; that she appeared to want to be near me as much as I wanted to be near her.

That would have to be enough. I took a deep breath and reached forward to cup her cool cheek in my hand. I could do this. I looked deep into her beautiful eyes and felt dazzled by what I saw there. It gave me the courage to continue.

"Isabella Marie Swan Cullen, I know that we haven't known each other all that long, but I feel like I've been waiting for you all of my life. I have never felt more complete than I do when I'm with you." I paused for just a moment to calm my nerves, "Bella, I love you."

Bella was totally still for several moments. So many emotions chased themselves across her face. It was hard for me to make sense of them. Finally one settled there, a look of joy that brightened her already gorgeous countenance.

"Edward!" She cried, "Oh, Edward…" and then she leaned forward and pressed the sweetest kiss that I've shared, ever, onto my smiling lips.

~o~O~o~

A/N…Ah! The truth is out there and LOVE is in the air.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing…I appreciate you all very much!

The love birds in Telluride are going to get some visitors…I wonder who they will be? Well, actually I know…but any guesses from you all?

And while you are waiting for my next chapter, check out AUTUMN KNIGHTS' DREAMS by kejce (formerly KELE SUNBURST), She's taken our heroes on to the wild seas, and it's so much fun! Check it out at: http://www[DOT]fanfiction[DOT]net/s/4745670/1/Autumn_Knights_Dreams

Kris and AMayes helped me with this chapter, I just couldn't come up with a title. My hubby suggested: Asteroid Attack! That didn't really help me...he thinks he's funny…

Besides Rob, one of my other favs is Keanu Reeves…check out AMayes Twilight/The Lake House crossover, Across the Years at http://www[DOT]fanfiction[DOT]net/s/4893622/1/Across_the_Years

It's great fun and I keep switching between picturing Rob and then Keanu!

Kathie