A/N: Let's check in and see how Edward is enjoying humanity, hum?

At first, Edward was sure something had gone wrong during the change. His all-human body didn't work right. He couldn't speak except in two or three word sentences. His mind was too muddled. When he tried to stand, his legs refused to hold him. He'd wobbled and crumpled back down to the floor. His moods swung wildly; he'd never been so scared and out of sorts.

Bella had been there, comforting and calming him. She stroked her fingers through his hair, holding him spooned against her. That was his first lesson about his brand new body and mind.

"It's called stress, you dimbulb," Bella said, holding him when he shook again. "Our bodies react when our minds are overburdened. I don't think you're actually weak. I think you're just overwhelmed."

"I don't like it," he'd growled out, his teeth gritted against the shivers that wracked his body.

He gave in and let her wrap herself around him, let her rock him. It helped. When he calmed, he let her guide him to his feet and support his weight as he tried to pull himself together.

Bella led him to the bathroom. His breath caught when she began to undo the button of his jeans, and she smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not trying to jump you." She slid his pants down into a puddle around his feet. "A hot shower is a perk of the whole humanity thing." Making sure he was standing upright, she took a step back and started to remove her own clothes.

He watched her. How strange it was. His vision was so limited. All of his senses were more limited now. Yet, when he looked on her, he felt as though he saw and smelled too much. His fingers twitched at his sides. The feel of her fingers in his hair earlier had been his anchor to earth. That and her voice.

He followed her voice home.

Her look almost shy, Bella twined their fingers together. The shower was already on. She tugged him with her into the shower. He hissed, flinching backward out of the too-hot spray. Bella smiled and held his hands tighter. "Give it a second."

It was somewhat irritating. He could have dived to the bottom of a volcano as an angel. He could tell the water wasn't hot enough to scald. And, after a few seconds, Edward's skin acclimated to the heat. He stepped forward under the spray and tilted his head up into the water.

"So?" Bella asked when he opened his eyes again. She was holding his hands.

The heat had enveloped him in rivulets. "That feels amazing." His body was calm again. He could feel his strength. Not like before, but he was strong enough.

He cupped his hands around Bella's elbows, bringing her close to him. She tilted her head up and kissed his chin. This had always been his favorite part of having her in his arms—the way she fit in his arms, tucked up against him. He liked that his body was hyper-aware of the lines of hers. He shivered. The delightful kind of shivers.

Bella reached past him and poured a dollop of shampoo onto her palm. Her eyes were amused and warm as she began to massage it into his scalp. He sighed, content. "That feels amazing too."

It was another odd thing to consider—how much maintenance the human body took. To keep it cleaned and groomed. To soothe and calm it when he got anxious. To sleep to replenish his energy.

"Do your…" Bella gulped. "Does your back hurt?"

Edward didn't understand what she was talking about until her fingers brushed gingerly along his shoulder blades. He rolled his shoulders. "Is there a mark?" he asked, more curious than anything.

"Yeah. It looks horrible and painful."

"I feel...off balance without them. Awkward. But no, it doesn't hurt. Rosalie mentioned it leaves an impression for a time." He reached his own hand back. It did hurt, but he knew the ache was that of loss, not physical pain.

Bella rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

He smiled and squeezed her. "Again—I'm not."

When all the soap had washed away, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her up against him again. He dipped his head to kiss her, liking the taste of her mouth with the taste of the hot water. He cupped her ass, deepening the kiss.

Bella laughed into his mouth and pushed back a bit. "Ah, shower sex takes a lot more dexterity than you'd think."

He huffed. "I'm still more dexterous than the last...or, I suppose, first, hour of my life would lead you to believe." He kissed her, long and slow. "Though it would probably be more prudent to wait to test that theory."

His stomach chose that moment to grumble, making a loud, low growl of protest. It had been doing odd things for some time now.

Bella giggled. "Oh, honey. Come on. Let's feed you."

"Oh, food." Another necessity.

Edward stood obediently still, letting her wrap him in a soft robe and towel his hair dry. Then she took him by the hand again. He thought he probably should protest being led around like a dog or a small child, but he found he liked the closeness.

He watched Bella move around the condo's small kitchen. It made him happy to watch her. His thoughts were fuzzy. Was his mind trying to work on all the levels it had before? Or was he simply overwhelmed? It was difficult to tell. Strange to feel so many things at once. Now that he understood the cloying feeling in his stomach, he knew he was hungry. When Bella set a glass of water, he identified thirst. He was muddled and simply off somehow.

When Bella brushed by him on the way to the fridge, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down onto his lap. He kissed her neck, breathing in her clean scent. "I love you," he said.

What he felt for her was bigger than anything else he felt.

~0~

"What's the worst part about being human?"

Edward opened his eyes slowly, blinking. He felt a rush of annoyance, but he was beginning to get used to the fact his vision didn't adjust automatically. His sight worked well enough. He could see her in the darkness. More importantly, he could feel the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips, could feel the heat of her body against his.

"It's only been what? Eight hours?" He pressed a lazy kiss to her mouth.

As his lips moved with hers, he thought over her question. He felt the the lethargy of his body. That was frustrating when he thought of it. He didn't want to stop kissing Bella, yet exhaustion tugged at the edge of his consciousness. Gladly, he would have followed it under.

"The worst part of being human? Hmmm." He kissed along her neck to her chin, tasting the salty flavor of her skin. "I don't care for going to the bathroom."

She snorted and laughed, caught off guard. She rolled over, draping her nude body over his, leaning into his kiss. "And the best part?" she asked against his mouth.

"That is—" he spoke between kisses, "—a most unfair question to ask me while I'm still basking in a post-coital glow."

She snorted again. "You haven't lost your way with words."

Summoning all his energy, he rolled them to the side and pushed her legs open with his. Tired though he was, he found it took little to stir him again. He gathered her close, rocking his hips, teasing her entrance as his cock slid along the slick folds. He caught her gasp with his lips and kissed her long and languidly.

"You are and always will be the best part of my existence, angelic or otherwise," he said, looking into her eyes.

They made love slowly, their hips rolling in an easy rhythm. Climax wasn't the goal. Sleep was going to win sooner than later—it must always be so with humans. What better way to fall than with Bella wrapped around him, surrounding him?

~0~

"How did you do this alone?" Edward asked Rosalie. It had been five days since his fall. There were so many things that frustrated him. "I don't regret it. I can't." He smiled as he looked to where Bella and Jasper were in the kitchen, chatting as they made dinner. "But it's not easy. Not even with all of you here. You didn't even have Emmett—just the idea of him."

"The idea was enough," Rosalie said. "We were made with limitless patience, Edward. We've spent thousands of years on end in one place, set to one task. What's that to days, weeks, or even a few months of struggle acclimating to being human?"

"That's different. There was no struggle when we were angels. Obeying orders is what we were born to, and what is time to immortal beings?"

"We're still immortal beings. It's simply that the rules that dictate our lives have changed. Our essence is held by impermanent bodies." She looked at him and smiled. "That's why I fell in the first place. It was change I wanted." She tilted her head in the direction of the kitchen. "As a human, Jasper doesn't understand our choice. He sees the power we gave up, the ability to see and do incredible things. But answer me this, Edward. You've seen incredible things on this planet and so many others. Before Bella, did you ever wonder at them?"

"No," Edward said instantly. "They were what they were." There was no such thing as awe to an angel. "I think, seeing some of those things with Bella, I felt the enormity of the universe. I watched it on her face and knew what it was to be moved by something that was, to me, only natural. The status quo."

Rosalie nodded. "Exactly. What I wanted was the ability to change. Humans may be whom they like. They are free to question orders, to question existence and fate. You and I were both punished for taking fate into our own hands, and for what? Even angels in the upper echelons don't claim to know why. Why some points are fixed. Why it was our destiny to fulfil orders from an invisible higher power. I wanted none of it." She shrugged. "So I couldn't very well complain at how difficult it was to lose what I wanted so desperately to be rid of. I miss my wings and my abilities, but choice comes at a price. That's what being human is."

"Agreed, and all that being said, I greatly admire your strength."

Rosalie flashed him a grin. "All humans need a hero to look up to, after all."

~0~

It had been five weeks since his fall, and human life was getting easier. Well, as easy as human life ever could be.

"I'm beginning to understand just how cruelly the human body was made," Edward said. He sat at the table in Rosalie's kitchen again, surveying the contents of several small bowls Bella had set in front of him.

Bella, both endlessly curious and wanting to help him discover the unique features of his own body, had taken to introducing him to as many foods as possible. She arched an eyebrow as she looked back at him. "What do you mean cruelly?"

"Well, these are delicious." Edward picked up a carrot and took a bite. He liked the satisfying crunch and savored the taste of it as he chewed. He swallowed. "But the flavor is enhanced greatly by this." He dipped the carrot in Ranch dressing and took another bite. "Mmm. And yet this…" He picked up a fork and used the side to cut through a slice of the decadent cheesecake she'd made for him. She called it simple—just cheesecake with a strawberry glaze on top. He put the bite in his mouth and moaned as the flavor soaked into his tongue. "I would gladly eat only this for the rest of my life."

When he looked at her, he saw that her eyes were dark with lust. A thumb played at her tongue. She looked as though it was him she wanted to devour. Her voice was throaty when she spoke. "I don't get where the cruelty comes in."

"Well, what I want to do is just eat and eat and eat all these delicious things. However, I'm well aware the human body only needs so much food for fuel. Do you know how much exercise I'd have to put in to keep me looking so hot if I ate the entire dish? Who the hell thought taste buds were a good idea; that's what I'd like to know. And if you're going to burden me with taste buds, why can't a carrot—without the Ranch dressing—taste like a bite of cheesecake and cheesecake taste like a raw onion?" Thus far, Edward had enjoyed most foods. Raw onions were among the few exceptions. He was actually a little pissed off that something as vile as a raw onion existed.

Bella cackled, shaking her head. She got up and settled on his lap, looping one arm around his neck. She took the fork from him and, her eyes steady on his, took another bite of cheesecake. "The trick with food like cheesecake is to share," she said and kissed him.

"Mmmm," he rumbled into her mouth, licking the taste from her tongue.

"And I can think of a few good workouts you might enjoy."

Edward groaned, feeling his cock twitch. He knew exactly what kind of workouts he would enjoy with Bella. He groaned again. "Not ones we can, er, practice in Rosalie's kitchen."

She sighed. "Damn."

"Agreed."

~0~

If Edward didn't know better, he'd have believed it was fate.

It was a flat tire of all things. A flat tire forced Edward and Bella to pull over when they happened to be driving through the wrong neighborhood. It wasn't that the area seemed so dangerous. It wasn't. It was an industrial area, mostly devoid of people on an early Saturday evening.

What was dangerous about the neighborhood were the people occupying a small warehouse a block or so from where Edward and Bella pulled over.

It was raining. Of course it was. Both Edward and Bella were drenched to the bone, struggling first to find the jack that was supposed to be in the car.

"Fuck it. I'm calling Emmett. He has AAA," Bella said.

They got back in the car, but when Emmett asked for an address, they both got out of the car again to find a street sign and a number on one of the buildings.

"You should wait in the car," Edward said, shivering because the jacket he wore was no match for the cold rain.

Bella shook her head. "I'm going to walk that way. You walk that way." She pointed in opposite directions. "One of us will find a damn sign."

He turned to do just that, hugging the side of the buildings to find some shelter from the rain. He craned his head, looking for a sign somewhere, even on the buildings, but saw none. What was most annoying was that he'd once had a map of almost every street in America easily accessible in his own mind. That would have been much preferable to getting soaked to the bone.

As he got to the corner, someone else was coming around it. Someone he recognized.

Felix.

They stared at each other, each uncomprehending for two long seconds.

One of the things Edward didn't miss as much as he thought he would was his ability to read minds. He found that he was good at reading faces.

The instant their eyes met, Edward saw fear in Felix's eyes. Just as quickly, the look changed to something else: pure and bitter hatred.

What Edward knew from the time he'd spent in Felix's head was that he didn't want to believe Edward was a supernatural being. He wanted to believe what Edward had done to him was no more than his imagination. It couldn't have been real. Edward had to be human.

Right then, he looked the epitome of human—bedraggled and hunched against the rain. He could see the instant it registered in Felix's eyes. Surely no superhuman being could be felled by something as simple as rain.

It happened all at once. Felix's face twisted in a sneer. Edward saw him reach for something at his waistband at the same time he heard a scream. Bella. She screamed one word.

"No!"

She was a blur as she barrelled past him, running at Felix. Edward lurched forward, screaming her name as he reached for her. He got a hold of her waist and pulled her back, away from Felix.

A gunshot went off. Bella slammed back against him. All three of them ended up on the floor—Felix because Bella had grabbed his wrist, yanking him off balance. Edward and Bella because…

Because…

Edward's body wasn't working right again. He couldn't get it to cooperate. He couldn't get his mind to wrap around the images flashing before him. He saw Bella move. He processed raw horror—there was blood blooming in an ever-widening spot on her back. Still, somehow she moved faster than he could have imagined. She scrambled forward, grappling to get her hands on…

A gun. Felix's gun. It had clattered to the ground between them. Felix scrambled for it too. Edward couldn't get his body to move right. He wanted to move forward, but nothing was working.

Bella got to the gun first. She screamed—Felix towered over her, about to engulf her with his massive body. Another shot sounded.

Felix fell on top of her, a crushing, dead weight.

And when he couldn't move, couldn't even scream her name, that was when Edward realized. He was hurt. He was bleeding. Blood was pouring out of him, draining his essence, his strength. He couldn't get his body to work right because it was broken. The pain was incredible. So incredible, he hadn't been able to process it—not on top of the horrific scene playing out before his eyes.

It had all taken maybe ten seconds to play out. Probably less.

Edward gasped, fighting for each breath. When had it gotten so difficult to breathe?

Felix moved.

No. Bella moved beneath him. She gasped, her head emerging from under the bulk of his body. She clawed the unforgiving pavement, reaching for Edward. So close and yet so far.

"Edward. Edward, please. Look at me." She struggled, and he wanted to tell her to stop. He remembered the blood stain. He wanted to speak, but he couldn't breathe. "Just keep looking at me. Edward. Edward, don't close your eyes. Edward!"

Her frightened voice was the last thing he heard before darkness encroached.

It was three days from moving day.

A/N: Yes, I will make updating this a priority.

Many thanks to Packy, Mina, and MoH for the threats of bodily injury. Much love to baburella and songster.