Yayness for all the reviews! I really do love hearing from you guys. It makes me feel loved lol. Anywhos. Here's twenty six. I'm going to try and shoot for thirty chapters or so, but I may not get to it. It's getting close to the end here.

Twenty Six: Intuition

Bella wasn't quite sure how she and Edward had moved so quickly from talking to playing with each other's tonsils. But some how, she found herself laying flat on her bed, lip locked with the vampire who lay atop of her. As always, his lips were ice cold, while the inside of his mouth was so warm, it was like licking at hot water. Bella could feel chills as his hands moved up and down her sides, and every once and a while, his long eye lashes would tickle the top of her cheeks, making her giggle just a bit. Her father was currently dozing off in his favorite chair, the TV on a high volume. Edward had dropped in to spend some time with her, the two of them talking about light things. Bella had just been showing him a few pictures she had taken with her new camera when she felt a cold mouth touch her neck. About five seconds later, she landed in the spot where she was now. She was so glad Charlie's doctor had prescribed pills for his leg that made him sleepy, and Renee and Phil had left a couple of days after Christmas. Finally, however, Bella had to pull away in order to breathe. She panted, her face flushed heavily. She smiled and Edward did the same, the tips of their noses together. She supposed Edward would be a bit of a rebound after Chris, but in all honesty, it didn't feel like one of those "pick me up" relationships at all. Whenever she tried to think about it, it usually confused her. So she decided to just leave it at what it was. Because whatever it was, Bella sure as hell enjoyed it.

Edward nuzzled her cheek like a fond puppy and she laced her fingers through his hair. "Hm..." she mumbled. "Hey."

"What?" he asked lowly.

"Do you have a reflection?" Edward pulled his head up and looked at her. His lips curled into a smile.

"Last time I checked, yes."

Bella pulled up her camera, turning it on. "So if I took a picture of you... would it show up?"

Edward thought for a bit, staring at it. "It should. Why don't you go ahead and try it?" Bella nodded and held it up to her face, getting the right angle. It charged, the flash nice and ready.

"Ok," she said, getting him into view. "Say... cheese!" She clicked the button. The flash filled her room. When she pulled back, she hit the menu, staring at the screen. Her eyes widened. "Woah..."

"What is it?" Edward tilted the camera so that he could see. Where Edward should have been was instead a very strange blur.

Bella shook her head. "How weird... Maybe it really does have something to do with your soul. Mom took a whole bunch of pictures of me when I was a kid. I hope I still have a good amount of it left... Oh God, I didn't lose any of my soul when I got my prom picture, did I?" She paused. "Hey... why are you laughing?"

Indeed, Edward had been holding his mouth closed, snickering uncontrollably. He finally pulled his hand away and laughed, pushing his forehead to Bella's collar bone. "Sorry!" he said, chuckling still. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself!" He pulled up, grinning from ear to ear. "I moved just as you took the picture."

Bella stared at him and then pouted, hitting his head with the pillow behind her own. "You made me think I lost my own soul, you meanie!" He continued to laugh, evoking a smile out of her as well. Leaning forward, the two kissed a little more, Bella putting her camera aside for now. After eating each other's face for a time, Bella pulled away to speak once more. "So, do you think you and your family are going hunting New Year's Eve?"

Edward furrowed his brow. "New Year's...? Mm... I don't think we are. Why?"

"Well," Bella began, "there's going to be a party at Tyler's house. I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

Edward didn't look like he thought it was a good idea. "Me in a house at night with a big group of humans...? I don't think that's the greatest thought in the world..."

"Oh come on," said Bella, patting his shoulder. "I'll keep you on a tight leash. Besides, what about all of those parties you went to in the twenties?"

"Two completely different things," said Edward. "When I went to those parties, it was usually to get a bite to eat."

"Well then just eat before you come," said Bella simply. "Oh please, Edward? Pretty, pretty please?" She gripped his neck gently, kissing him along his high cheek bone. Finally, he let out a sigh and caved in.

"Yeah, yeah... ok..." He smirked and nibbled at her neck with his front teeth. "But it won't be easy. Hell, I'm tempted to just take a bite right now... You smell great you know..."

They stopped abruptly when there was a knock at Bella's door. "Bells?" came the voice of her father. Charlie cracked it open and smiled. "I'm going to bed. You should probably get some sleep too, all right? Have you been talking on your phone this whole time?"

Bella, who had pulled her cell phone up just in time, smiled at Charlie sheepishly. "Sorry. I'll hang up. Love you, Daddy."

"You too, pumpkin."

She waited until her father was well down the hall, and his door had closed soundly. Her eyes then turned to the ceiling. Just before her father had turned the knob, Edward had jumped off the bed and stuck himself to the top of her room, Spiderman style. She put her phone beside the camera and whispered that he could come down now. He nodded and crawled like a crab from the roof, down her wall, and back onto her bed. He plopped comfortably beside her, head propped up on his elbow.

"You like cutting things close, don't you?" she asked, turning to press herself against him. He grinned, his sharp teeth flashing beneath his lips.

"It makes things fun," he replied softly. They kissed a bit more, Bella's fingertips playing with his earlobes. Suddenly, Alice's warning shot through her mind out of nowhere. She pulled back and lowered her head. She cursed herself for remembering at such a time. What happened to her resolve to let it go and never give it a second thought? She was supposed to have forgotten her haunting words by now...

"Something wrong?" Bella turned her eyes to him. They were fading gold by this point. He had hunted a couple of days ago. Bella chewed on the inside of her lip. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to bring it up...?

"Um..." Bella shifted uneasily, unsure of how to start the conversation. If Edward knew that Alice had paid her a visit, he'd be angry. That would just start a controversy that Bella didn't need. And if Edward pissed his sister off, she might take it out on Bella. Remembering just how quickly she had decapitated those Laurent copies, that was something she really did not want to do. "Well... you say that it wouldn't be a good idea to put you in with humans..." She cast her gaze to the side and finally sat up, twirling her hair a bit nervously. "Is... it going to be problematic that I'm a human and you're not?" The question was bound to come up sooner or later. She turned her eyes to Edward. "I mean... your family. What do they think of me?"

This time, Edward was the one who looked away. He rolled off the bed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually... they don't all know..." he confessed. He turned back to her. "I'm sure Rosalie has figured it out by now... but she's not cruel enough to go blabbing. If Carlisle knew about this... Well for lack of a better term, he'd go ape shit."

Bella's heart fell. "You mean... no one but Rosalie knows?" And Alice, but she figured she'd keep that information to herself. "Oh..." She turned her eyes down to her knees. Somehow, she felt disappointed. Like she was hoping she would be accepted by Carlisle and the others. But to wish to be accepted into a family of vampires without actually being immortal probably wasn't the most realistic wish in the world. "Ok. I see..."

"Don't give me that look," said Edward, sitting beside her. He touched his fingertips to her skin. "Your dad doesn't know either, does he?" Bella shook her head.

"But I'd tell him in an instant if you want me to!" she insisted, keeping her voice low. "In fact... you can pick me up for the party! I'll introduce you just like I would any other boyfriend..."

Edward gave her a worried look. "Well... I don't know about that."

"My dad respects Carlisle," Bella continued. "He'd have no problem with you. Really."

He mulled it over a little longer and then nodded. "Alright then. I'll meet your dad." He grinned, leaning forward and running his fingers through the back of her hair. "So now that that's settled..."

"Wait." Edward paused, his lips just an inch from hers. "I want Carlisle to know, too." A frown came to his lips. "Please, Edward? I don't want this to be a secret."

He rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Just... let's wait a bit. I'll tell him in time. Just not now. Ok?"

Bella sighed. She didn't like the idea of wading it out. It felt wrong to go behind Carlisle's back. Though in retrospect, feeling like that when Charlie didn't know that she had a vampire in her room was quite hypocritical. Still, emotions never really relied on logic. She nodded. "Alright. But only for a little bit. Then we tell him, ok?"

"Ok, ok..." Edward kissed her forehead. "I'll tell him soon enough. Don't worry." He ran his hand down her stomach, rubbing it slightly. "Now I'd rather if we stopped talking... We can use our mouths to do so much more..." He lowered his head, their lips connecting once again. At first, Bella wanted to pout because of their decision to remain secretive for a time. But a hundred years of kissing experience soon made her melt, her arms locking around his slender neck. Damn that boy was a good kisser...

He stopped without warning and jerked his head towards the window. Bella, her mind hazy, blinked up at him, confused. "What...?" He shushed her sharply and went to the window, peering through it. There was a silence, Bella's daze leaving her for tense confusion. He stood there for a good five minutes, just staring into the night. His jaw was tightly locked, his hands fisted at his sides. Finally, his body laxed and he turned to her.

"Guess it was nothing," he said, going to sit on the edge of her mattress. "I thought I heard them... The nomads."

Bella felt her chest contract as she sat up, gripping his arm. "The nomads...? But I thought they left Forks already... Rosalie said she hadn't felt anything in a while. She's never wrong... right?"

Edward rubbed his chin, his tongue obviously moving about his fangs beneath his lips. "Right... right... She's never wrong." He let out a sigh and allowed his head to fall to her shoulder. "Well... that kind of ruined the mood." Bella smiled kindly, stroking his hair.

"It's ok," she said gently. "I need some sleep anyway. New Years is just a couple days away. I need to stay awake to make sure you don't grab a snack."

Edward let out a faint laugh. "Right... Well I'll be going then." He leaned forward, placing a light kiss on her lips. "Goodnight, Bella..."

"Good morning, Edward," she joked. After kissing again, the vampire turned and slipped out of her window and into the night. Bella watched him until she could no longer detect his snow white skin. She turned then and went back to her bed, falling to the top. Her hand went to her camera and she pulled it to her face, turning on the menu to look at Edward's blurry picture. True, he had just played a prank on her... but it made her truly come to terms with the fact that the two were different. What would happen when Bella got older? Would he move on? Then again, those questions would really only apply on the presumption that their little affair would last. It may sustain for only a month or two. Who really knew? And with the way Edward felt about Carlisle knowing, telling him might put a damper on it as well. Perhaps that was why she didn't feel this to be a usual "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship. Because she and Edward were not the usual couple.

"To love a vampire is to damn yourself to hell..."

Bella put her camera aside and laid on her back, yanking the covers up to her chin. She was tired of thinking. Before she knew it, her eyes had dropped and she had drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

And here is the next chapter. A quick update, yes. But I wanted to get it out of the way – it's been in my mind for a while now. I guess i'm just eager to get to my finale. It's going to be fun... (evil smile) Remember to leave those reviews!

~T.