BPOV

It was amusing to see the immediate wall stand erect as Edward took in my words. As soon as I had mentioned his soul, his vehement denial reared its ugly head, causing his eyes to narrow in disbelief. His aura rippled with his battling beliefs, ironically enough. He rolled his eyes and scoffed, ripping his hand from mine sharply. Immediately, I ignored the flash of cold that shocked my system, already used to the warmth that our now bonded connection brought.

"Right. My soul. Whatever, Bella." I shrugged and looked away from him, turning back to my screen full of useless results.

"Go ahead and argue with the divine being who knows a hell of a lot more about souls that you do." I muttered with a roll of my eyes, quickly clicking through the pages of Google. While the first pages were riddled with forums, anime clips, and links to psychic websites, I knew that if there were even an inkling of information for me, it would be lost in the pages that no one bothered to look through.

"You can't be serious," he scoffed again, unsure of whether he should be angry with me, as if I were playing a joke on him, or if he should just discard the idea as if I never suggested it.

His complete rejection of the very idea that he has a soul, could be seen as a rejection toward you. The bleakest part of me mentioned with a cackle. I clenched my fist in response, forgetting for a moment that the pain I had intended to use to cast these thoughts out of my mind was no longer present. The thick green cord that continued tighten around the appendaged pulled, causing me to reach and grab Edward's ice hand. Comfort immediately flooded me, relief and an absolute truth pushed against the brief thought. He automatically squeezed my hand, the anger that had begun bubbling quickly evaporating into calm. I watched our joined hands, the knot still tightening-would it ever be tight enough?- as I spoke.

"Edward. My business is in souls. I see them, I am connected to a multitude of them, and I can use them to manipulate the physical body." He stiffened beside me, no doubt remembering how I had taken hold of his aura and brought him toward me, lifting him off of the ground and hold him suspended. "I understand your wariness, believe me I do, but I have seen those who have had their souls ripped away from them, and those who have mangled them so much through horrendous deeds that, in the wake of blood and chaos, they leave their own tattered soul amongst the corpses. They are creatures of nightmare, and you… you and your family are nothing like them." The shudder that passed through me was involuntary and did not go unnoticed by him.

I shook my head at his questioning eyes and continued.

"What I took from you, memories of your human life, everything that made you happy in this life… all of that resides in the soul. I had easy access and…. somehow took them away from you."

"Somehow?" He asked quietly, processing my words. I shrugged.

"I had no idea I could do that. Honestly." I insisted when he glared at me accusingly. "I have a pretty good idea of what I can and cannot do, and soul stealing was never even an option." I could name only a select few who I knew had the power to take something so precious from someone… and they were so dangerous, they rarely got to see the light of day. He glanced at the computer screen, quirking an eyebrow.

"And you thought a Google search would clear it up?" His lip twitched, fighting back a sarcastic smirk. Rolling my eyes, I quickly exited out of the search and logged off the computer.

"It was a long shot yes… but I would rather turn to the Internet than proceed to option two." The words came out much more quietly than I had intended, my dread for the coming confrontation leaking through. Edward squeezed my hand. "Do you feel like actually attending class today?" I asked, not looking away from the blank computer screen. In the dark reflection, my eyes were wide and carefully shifting to a darker shade of brown as my internal defense began to rise up. I focused on his cold hand wrapped around mine, his smooth fingers interlaced between my own, and watched as my eyes lightened back to normal again. It was a balancing act, but there was something serene about knowing that his presence could keep me in check. I was not at risk for completing what I started last night.

But this one relaxation did nothing but raise more questions. Why had I done it? Why did it not come naturally? How could I be close to him now but not then? How could we be mates if I was at risk for destroying him at every turn?

You did it to yourself.

"Bella?" His voice cut through my train of thought. I blinked and tore my gaze away from the screen and met his cautious one. "I said that I don't mind skipping the day." He clarified, knowing that I had been too far gone to hear what he had said. I nodded once and stood. He followed obediently as I lead us through the empty halls and out of the front entrance.

"Where are we going?" He asked, opening the passenger door of his Volvo for me before flitting around and sitting in the driver seat.

"Seattle." I answered simply, taking his hand back into mine again as anxiety began to claw away at me again. Could I do this? I had tried for so long, but with Edward there with me, could I really do this?

He was quiet for a moment, searching for the right moment to ask the obvious question. We had already left Forks behind when he finally could not hold back anymore. "What is in Seattle?"

My answer was immediate, an acknowledgement I had never been able to make out loud finally spilling off of my tongue. "My father."


A/N: Sorry guys, school started and I've been in the weeds ever since! But I am not letting this die just... it will be updated very slowly with probably super short chapters (this one was actually written two weeks ago, but I never got around to adding to it so... here it is :P) I really appreciate your patience with me!