Author's note: So, lots of things about to go down in this chapter. Part II will be up shortly!

This time you haven't got to hide
It doesn't do any good to fight
Or keep it inside

- Joseph Williams

I hate Wednesdays.

Wednesdays means that I have to work the long shift at Cafe L'Eclaire.

To cheer myself up, I got a quick lunch at mcdonalds, since there wasn't a very long lunch hour until I had to get back to work. What?! I love cheeseburgers dude, get off my case. You know you enjoy them as much as I do. Geez.

Anyway, there I was, stuffing my face full of lard and calories on the mcdonalds parking lot when I feel someone staring. Instead of doing the sensible thing, aka running away, I turn around.

A homeless man approaches me. I always felt so so bad when I saw one, that I always gave them whatever coins I had on me.

"Hey, here you go." I said, tossing him a dollar. He let it hit his chest and falter down, never picking it up. Awkward.

"Ehm. Your money…" I began, but then I noticed how familiar the face was. Even though it was dirtied up, and the hair matte with soot and earth and garbage, he strongly reminded me of someone.

"You." He said, enraged, in a voice that sounded unmistakably like…

"Edward Cullen?" I asked, but since my mouth was stuffed it came out more like "Effard Colon?" but he got the gist of it anyway. Maybe it was because he could read minds. Shit. He looked really, really pissed off. I got out my cell phone to call for back up. Too late.

Without so much as a handshake, he threw me over his shoulder and took off into the woods. I almost choked on my hamburger.

Since I lost my cell phone at the parking lot, there was no chance of me telling anybody where I was or who I was with. Edward kept running for awhile at super speed, until we came to an old damp cave in the forest. He sat me down, but warned me not to try and run away. Shakenly, I nodded. What the hell did he want? And when would vampires stop raining down from the sky from an alternate dimension?

He paced to and fro in front of me, looking very distressed, and slightly lost. It was cold out here and I wasn't wearing much, only a tshirt and shorts. It was also getting dark very quickly. Whatever he wanted, I hoped it would soon be over.

"Tell me where she is." He demanded, taking a step forward threateningly.

"Who?" I asked, since I had no idea.

"BELLA! TELL ME WHERE YOU KEEP HER CAPTIVE IN THIS-THIS-HORRIBLE PLACE!" he screamed, his near frantic behavior was making me nervous.

"Hey, you've got the wrong idea sport. I have no idea where your bella is. I mean, where did you see her last?"

"Pronto."

"Mr. Romero?"

"Speaking. Is this possibly the lovely Heather?"

"It is. Listen, have you seen Mina around?"

"…Your other little friend have escaped my notice as of late. "

"What, you guys have a fight or something? "

"Heather, state your business. Please."

"Well, she was supposed to show up for work two hours ago but she never came in. The manager called me."

"And you are informing me because?"

"Look, I don't feel good about this. Something is wrong…"

"Wrong?"

"Aro, they found her cell phone on a parking lot an hour ago."

"But that doesn't mean that-"

"- and next to it, an uneaten cheeseburger."

"..."

"..."

"….Stay where you are, I'm coming."

Wow, at least Edward had the decency to start a fire when it got dark.

Seriously, what is that smell..

Oh right, it's him.

I thought all vampires were supposed to smell like daffodils and baby dandruff, but evidently not. From the looks of it, he hadn't showered in weeks. Does he know, is he aware?

"Stop insulting me!" he cried, but it had stopped sounding threatening and more like panicking/whining awhile ago.

"Oh, sorry." I said again for the fifth time. I forgot about the mind reading constantly. Soon after he had concluded that I did in fact have no idea about where his precious Bella was, he dropped the tough guy act. But I was still wary of him. It seemed to me like he was having some sort of identity crisis…

"Maybe." He muttered from across the fire. I blinked. Oh right, he read my mind again.

"Look, I've already told you – Aro and blondie bear do not have bella holed up in some cave…unlike some vampires. She doesn't even exist here, at least not yet. Maybe she won't ever. You understand?" I said, trying to reason with him. He gave me a long, calculating look.

"I would know if you were lying, and you're not. But how do you know that they do not have her hidden? They probably are keeping many secrets from you that your ears will never hear a word of."

"So even if that were true, what are you gonna do about it? Hold me hostage until they prove it?"

"Yes."

Hostage. In a cold, icky cave for god knows how long, with a vampire that didn't even practice proper hygiene routines.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm always serious."

Heather's P.O.V

"Maybe we should let the police handle this." I suggested, walking alongside Mr. Romero to the place where Mina had allegedly disappeared. He seemed tense. I wondered not for the first time what he felt for my friend but decided not to ask just now.

"No. Won't be needed."

"But we have no clue as to where she could have been taken!" I protested, as he crouched down at a seemingly random spot in the parking lot. He pointed a finger into the sky theatrically.

"Ah, not yet." he sing-songed, sniffing the air. We were both quiet for a moment as I finished the cheeseburger Mina had left behind.

"She's not too far away from here."

"What? How can you tell?"

"Her scent. It's weak, but traceable."

"Well where is she then?"

"Come."

"What!?"

"Jump up on my back."

"You...you want to give me a piggy back ride?"

"..."

"..."

"If you mention this to anyone that I have done this, I think you know what the penalty will entail."

"Fair enough."

So, here we were.

After I had gently prodded some about Edwards outward appearance, and why finding Bella was so important, he burst out crying. Now he was sitting in my lap, crying into my t-shirt like a child.

"I never really knew my father." he sobbed, staining my shirt blood-red, since vampires naturally only cry tears of blood. It wasn't my favourite outfit anyway. I patted his back in a semi comforting way.

"Uhm, there there. It doesn't matter anymore does it?"

the answer was louder bursts of crying.

"Hey! Hey it's okay. "

"No it isn't. I can't even live an eternal life without trying to find a meaning to it with somebody else, not for myself!"

"Well, at least you're insightful enough to admit to it. I don't think a lot of people can say that."

"You..think so?"

"Yeah. Maybe Bella was just...not right for you. You know?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I just wanted to be in a normal, loving relationship."

I nodded.

"And Bella was so very normal, and sweet. I thought it was just what I needed."

"Maybe you coming to this universe is a second chance for you. Nobody knows who you are here, which could be seen as a fresh start. Maybe that's exactly what you need." Edward wiped off the last of his tears on his own sweater (what a gentleman) and nodded at me. We said nothing for awhile and stared into the fire in an awkward silence.

"So...what's really going on between you and Aro?"

"Going on? What do you mean?"

he gave me a look that said please, you are not fooling anybody.

"You've only been thinking about him every 5 minutes or so. Thoughts that I'm trying to ignore because some of them are surprisingly explicit in nature."

"Fuck me." I muttered, kicking a few pebbles. Edward cringed.

"That's one of them."

"Is it really so strange to be attracted to him though? I mean, all vampires are pretty." I said, trying to laugh it off. Edward looked at me as if I was the dumbest person on earth.

"But you don't merely feel an attraction for him, you silly girl."

"Oh no?"

"I might even suggest that you love him."

Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. If you haven't already done so, please stow your carry-on luggage underneath the seat in front of you or in an overhead bin. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. And also make sure your seat and folding trays are in their full upright position.

I felt completely knocked over, shocked. Somehow it hadn't even occurred to me..

"Love."

"Yes."

Goddard it.

Me, in love with a man who changed personalities as regularly as his clothing? Who probably had as many psychological issues as Tila Tequila and then some? And yet. I felt myself blushing. Oh my god..

"But that's...absurd!"

"It's the truth though, isn't it?"

Just as I was about to open my mouth to answer him, I saw a large, foreboding shape over his shoulder at the mouth of the cave. It also seemed like the temperature dropped by several degrees. What the hell? Is that a bear?

Wait, since when did bears smell like hugo boss, velvet and roses?

"Treacle Tart and Ice Cream pops!" the bear sang out in a velvety voice, red eyes glowing like hell flames of doom from the light of the camp fire.

...And since when could bears speak, much less offer delicious treats? The voice made Edward jump a mile, his complexion turning even paler, if that was possible. Behind the looming dark figure, a familiar face appeared. It was Heather. She waved happily at me.

"There you are! You had us worried sick, babes!"

"We?" I asked in a stutter, since I was pretty cold at this point.

The dark figure stepped forward into the light of the fire, and I was not particularly surprised to see that it was Aro himself. His sudden dramatic appearance should have been accompanied by Liszt's Totentanz.

A wave of relief washed over me at the sight of him. Edward uttered a choked, petrified noise. He knew he was in deep shit.

Aro did not look at me, keeping his eyes pinned to Edwards. His hair seemed to stand on end, like on an angry cat. His hands were shaking. To say that he seemed a bit angry was the understatement of the year.