"Alice?" Bella sat across from her, hands encircling a cup of peppermint tea, the warmth radiating across her cold hands. Alice wasn't present, it seemed - her eyes capturing some distant image and holding there.

Bella waited for Alice's daydream to end, taking the opportunity to carefully observe the ethereal woman sitting across from her. She rubbed at her eyes, reminded by the gesture of how exhausted she was. It had been impossible to fall asleep after last night. Edward had left without another word, leaving Bella to her thoughts, leaving her to sort through the mess of emotion he'd left in his wake. She tried to find the relief of sleep, tossing and turning in bed, but no matter which way she positioned herself she could still feel his hands ghosting over her curves, resting underneath her breasts, pushing her against the door.

She stirred in her seat, the warmth splaying across her belly again, settling between her thighs as a blush painted itself across her cheeks. She was grateful that, for the moment, Alice seemed wholly otherwise preoccupied.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet with me..." Bella offered, trying to regain Alice's focus.

Alice blinked once, straightened her spine and redirected her posture to Bella's general direction. She inhaled sharply, and then smiled.

"I'm glad you finally decided to return my text. I'd been waiting for you," Alice explained, smiling while she fiddled with her tea cup.

"How have you been?" Bella asked.

"Oh, I'm good," she explained, swatting the air with her hand, "but how are you? How is Harborview? How have the first few weeks of your internship been?" Alice gripped her mug and leaned over the table, her eyes transfixed on Bella, who shrugged in reply.

"Fine, I guess. It's a great program." Bella bit back the questions that were bursting inside of her, trying not to overwhelm Alice with questions that might seem odd or intrusive. But Bella had texted Alice last night for a reason. When she'd finally given up on trying to sleep, she'd decided that she needed something - some kind of answer about this family, something that would explain why her interactions with all of them had been so strange. She remembered Alice had texted her right after the flight they shared so that Bella would have her number as well. Alice had encouraged her to be in touch anytime, and she decided to take the offer literally.

She hoped her 2am text of are you awake wouldn't be too much of a disturbance. Apparently, it hadn't been because she responded within seconds, and now here they were - a coffee date the very next day.

"I met your father, and your... Uncle."

Alice clapped her hands together excitedly, smiling widely, "so I heard! Carlisle tells me you're quite the impressive student."

Bella nearly choked on her sip of tea hearing Alice refer to her father by his first name.

"And Edward - how's he been? I know he can be... challenging. He's especially hard on interns and residents."

"It's been fine. Mostly."

"Mostly? What do you mean?"

"I'm just… curious? Confused..." Bella chewed at her bottom lip, remembering again the feeling of Edward's body pressing her into the door of her apartment, his hands roaming her body with careful, calculated control. The feeling wouldn't leave - not after she'd changed from her clothes, ridding herself of the reminder of him through his scent. Not after she'd climbed, reluctantly, into the shower, scrubbing herself with her freesia bar soap. Not even after she'd climbed into bed and fought sleep all night, waking up only to still feel as though his body was pressed against hers, as though his cool breath was washing across her face, as though his quiet whisper was filling her head. She was completely unravelling and she barely knew him.

Confused, she realised, was an incredible understatement. One moment he scathed in her presence, the next he growling against her, the sound rumbling through his chest, reverberating off her own while his hands ghosted across the expanse of her chest. And no matter how hard she tried to banish him from her mind, to remind herself that he was merely a distraction, and that trying to decipher whatever was growing between them was only further serving to hinder her performance as an intern, his face was burned into every corner of her conciousness.

She couldn't find more than minutes in the day without being distracted by thoughts of him.

"Can I be really frank? I know we've only just met, and I barely know you... but I'm a bit lost..." Bella explained, eyes narrowed as she observed Alice and her keen interest.

Alice's smiled faded, but her eyes were glimmering with curiosity.

"I'm listening..." she offered, hands palm down and splayed on the table in a gesture of her openness.

Bella's anxiety had piqued as this point, possibilities running through her head faster than she could process them. Her hands were clammy, her throat dry and her head aching. The cafe had emptied considerably by now, for which she was grateful. The morning rush had ended and the only sound to be heard was the quiet whispers of the baristas as they sipped their drinks of choice and clicked through their phones, enjoying their reprieve. The dull, overcast sky of Seattle was predictable and steadfast, leaving Bella with at least one part of her life that could be counted on.

"I want to know what..." she started but couldn't finish. In the gloomy light of Seattle daylight Bella was struck with the difficult realization that asking this question would likely sever any ties she had with Alice, someone that she could envision herself building a meaningful friendship with. And to make matters worse, that information would likely trickle outwards to the other members of her family, which would undoubtedly impact her working relationship with Dr. Cullen and Edward.

Bella pulled at the string hanging over the side of the cup, plopping the tea bag in and out of the remaining liquid. She gnawed at her bottom lip, eyeing her tea as she tried to find a way to reframe the conversation. She decided she had to find a way to be less crazy - that obsessing over your boss was a surefire was to lose and and all credibility, and that as an intern both of those things were in short supply anyway.

"Bella?"

Alice looked at Bella, her eyes wide but softening as she studied her.

"Your uncle. Edward? What's his deal?" Bella smiled, trying to hide her disappointment at having to jump ship on her reconnaissance plan. She wanted to know what was wrong with Alice's family, but knew that questioning Alice wouldn't yield much in the way of information.

Alice sat still, observing Bella wordlessly as she carefully considered the question. She seemed to be parcelling out genuine curiosity from Bella's desire to conceal the real motivation behind her question.

But, mercifully, she decided to play along.

"He wasn't always like that... but as time has passed, he's become more of an old soul, driven by a desire to serve and heal rather than a genuine affection for life. He was worse a few years ago, if you can believe it. Medicine grounds him, I think."

"This is the grounded version of him?" Bella scoffed.

"Afraid so. He's one of my favourite people in the world, Bella. I've never met anyone with a kinder, gentler heart. I know that might be hard to believe, but you'll see what I mean... in time."

Their conversation rattled on easily after that, Alice sharing pictures of Jasper, her boyfriend, while explaining how they came to find each other. She talked candidly about her family, offering Bella what seemed like an intentionally tame glimpse into her family life.

But it was perfect, in its own right. Bella came to understand more about Alice, and felt like she could listen to her talk about the people she loved and the things she was interested for endless hours. She overflowed with passion and a keen awareness that Bella wished she'd possessed at Alice's age. In fact, Bella wasn't sure she had that awareness even now, well into her 20s.

And she'd also learned more about Edward in half an hour than she otherwise might have. Edward had graduated early from high school, was accepted into a prestigious college and graduated with honours. Medical school hadn't been his idea - Carlisle had pushed him in that direction, feeling he would be a natural. He conceded, making easy work of medical school and his residency. It had taken him a few years, but he eventually fell in love with medicine and became a world class cardiothoracic surgeon. Alice even let it slip that his first and only serious relationship, a woman named Tanya, had ended over a year ago.

"Why do I get the sense that you're giving me more information than I really asked for about Edward, specifically?"

Alice shrugged, "don't you think it would be helpful to have as much information as possible about him if you're going to work under him for the next few years? But, now it's my turn!" Alice was giddy as she clapped her hands smiling widely.

Bella groaned, loudly.

"Why Seattle? You're from Phoenix - it's sunny and warm, and your mom is there. Why did you move here, of all places? The land of no sun and infinite rain. You gave me the Coles notes version when we first met, but there has to be something more to it?"

Bella was stunned by Alice's perceptiveness. She understood and gleaned things from their short time knowing one another that no one else had ever noticed about Bella, not even her mother. But Bella doubled down, providing more of the same excuse as an explanation, surely satisfying nothing in Alice.

"Charlie... my dad. I needed a fresh start and Charlie's here and I've been wanting to reconnect with him. Plus, it didn't matter how much sun there was in Phoenix... it never made a difference in this," Bella's hands pressed against her face, showcasing her paleness.

Alice laughed, the sound sending the fine hairs of Bella's body on edge.

"I know your dad. We all do."

"Oh... yeah, I guess that makes sense. Chief of Police, and your family has a property in Forks, right?"

"Yup. It's our favourite home. The only place where we can truly be ourselves, you know?"

Bella glanced down at her watch, wondering after the time but really wanting an out more than anything. Alice's first question was harmless enough, but she suspected her follow up would be more rigorous.

"I've really got to get going, Alice. Can we do this again soon?" Bella asked, standing and throwing her jacket on.

"You looked like you're dressed for a funeral," Alice offered.

Bella nodded, eyes casting downward, "I am, unfortunately."

"Oh no, I'm sorry. Was it someone very close to you?"

Bella shook her head, fighting against the fresh crop of tears that were brimming in her eyes.

"No, no we weren't. He was... a patient, at Harborview."

Alice nodded and said nothing more, linking arms with Bella and walking her out the door, leaving her at her car with promises of another coffee date soon.

The clouds above were thick and billowy, shades of grey and black merging into what promised to be a menacing storm. The air was thick with it, heavy and foreboding against the backdrop of the cemetery. He had found a spot far away from the prying eyes of other people, but close enough that he still felt like his presence was serving its purpose.

This was ritual for him. To watch and observe the mourners, to remember that the life that had been lost had meant something to someone and everything to a handful of people. Watching humans mourn was the work of desensitizing himself to their blood, reminding himself that humanity was frail, weak and vulnerable, that it needed protecting and that his kind were capable of doing that.

Edward took his place away from it all, leaning against a tree in the distance, paying his respects from afar, knowing that his presence would make for a lot of discomfort. So, he maintained his distance, solemn and thoughtful, trying hard to avoid the sorrowful thoughts of the crowd that had gathered in mourning today. This wasn't the first time he observed a patient's funeral from afar, and it wouldn't be the last, of that he was sure. Each time it was the same, the grief, the panic, the anguish that poured from the mourners was almost unbearable. The distance he maintained was for their comfort, but for his as well. It was easy to become overwhelmed in their thoughts, the misery of it lingering long after the funeral had ended. It was a hard thing to shake, but he had learned from past mistakes.

He hadn't known Marcus Cartwright personally before he'd been rushed to Harborview in critical condition, but he might as well have. He could still recall the panic-filled thoughts of his wife as she rushed out of the ambulance, blood staining the blue blazer she had worn that day, painting her hands crimson. Her thoughts were chaotic and nonsensical as she stumbled out of the ambulance, running next to the gurney while the EMT gave Edward a concise report of the situation and his vitals. Images of their children flooded her mind, panic giving way to concern for their well-being. Would they be ok with their grandmother while they were both here? Had she remembered to give her daughter, Alexis, her antibiotics that morning? The grief, panic and fear mingled together and made her train of thought difficult to follow, but bits jumped out at him and so in seconds he knew more about them than anyone else in the room.

He ran alongside Marcus, barking out orders to the crowd that had gathered, pushing the stretcher out of the ambulance bay and into the trauma bay. The smell of blood had long become muted to him. His first few years of medical school had been challenging, but he'd quickly learned to desensitize himself to it.

The burning never left, the ache in his throat, the rush of venom that pooled in his mouth would always remain, but he had learned to retrain his thoughts, to instead focus on the medicine, on the puzzle in front of him rather than the burn. He knew he'd never forget the look on his wife's face, or the way she fell to her knees as the nurses pulled her from the room, imploring her to give the doctor's the space they needed to save her husband's life. And then the wails that rocked from her as she waited, the wails that turned into small, choked sobs, eventually fading into small sniffles and worried pacing.

These were the steps he took to ensure he maintained his desensitization. It was much harder to lust after the blood of a human when you watched and observed their frailty - the things that made them so human. It naturally ignited in him a protective instinct, and urge to preserve life rather than take it.

Funerals did the same, he mused. Stark reminders of how fragile human life really was, and how preciously it must be guarded. He prided himself on his near perfect control, on the ways in which he felt he had mastered his bloodlust.

Though mourners had long gone, scurrying away from the rain and seeking shelter elsewhere to continue their grieving, but now he remained here because she remained.

She had arrived partway through the ceremony, and tucked herself yards away underneath the magnificent branches of an old willow tree. Marcus Cartwright's family had no idea she was even present, but he knew this was her intention. It was only when the last of his family had hurried away to their cars - grief still swallowing them and rattling their bodies - that she moved closer. She stood next to the upturned ground, kneeling down to run her hands along the rain-soaked earth, her lips moving silently, as if in private prayer.

To his dismay no thoughts accompanied her silent musings, and from the distance he maintained there was no way to read her lips, either. It was confirmed then – he still couldn't hear her and frustration burned through him at her silence. What he wouldn't give to hear her thoughts.

In the absence of them, he'd made quick work of using other means to learn about her.

Isabella Swan - or Bella as she apparently preferred.

She was 26 years old, had lived in Phoenix Arizona for most of her life, spending summers in Forks with her father, Charlie. She had graduated top of her class from undergrad and med school. She kept in close contact with her mother, Renee, but preferred the company of her father. Her move to Forks was partly motivated by a desire to be closer to Charlie, but there was something else that inspired the move that he still hadn't uncovered. Missing pieces to the puzzle that was her life that he was determined to demystify.

He had rummaged through every bit of information her could find in public registers to learn more about her, and in some cases used more sinister connections to find information that wasn't easily available to the public. He had formed what his family would refer to as an obsession, one that Jasper had chided him about and warned him against when he realized what he'd been using his law-enforcement contacts for.

But Edward couldn't bring himself to care. The obsession that was burning its way through him demanded this information. It demanded to know as much about this woman as was possible. He concluded that it was driven by his desire to ensure her survival, especially because her mind was frustratingly silent to him. He chose not to dwell on the darker part of this obsession, on his fascination with her blood and the lust that accompanied it.

The wind picked up, bringing with it small tastes of her scent, unique and irresistible, a delicacy he had never before experienced. At the mere suggestion venom pooled behind his teeth, knees bending as he crouched, body unconsciously preparing to pursue its prey. He quickly pivoted out of his hunting form, eyes trained on her, an easy reminder replaying through his head.

I want her alive more than I want her dead.

It was dark, he realized, to think this way about a human, but it was the only thing that had pulled him back from the brink when they'd first met - when he caught the first hint of her scent. Something about her pulled him in, kept him singularly focused, and encouraged him to do things he would later regret.

Like the night he'd followed her to the bar having overheard the plans she'd made with her friends. Some part of him, deep and primal, disliked the idea of this tiny, frail human going to a bar without protection. Some part of him wanted to be her protection, a larger part wanted the opportunity to stalk its prey. And so, he followed her there, and observed her from a distance: body language, tense and ridden with anxiety, her polite acceptance of an alcoholic beverage that she then spent ample time guarding and pretending to drink. She was purposeful in all of her actions, especially in volatile spaces, it seemed.

He'd been remiss to ignore Alice's warning - he'd assumed something about this human evaded Alice's gift as much as it evaded his own. He wanted to believe that Alice's vision of their future, of the way their paths were meant to cross was inaccurate. How could he, a monster, ever mate with a human?

His question had received its answer when the magnetism of his proximity to her had compelled him to drive her home from the bar, and then accost her in the hallway of her apartment building. No matter how he tried to strike the memories from his mind, the replayed in perfect recall through every spare second he had.

The warmth of her skin, blossoming beneath the pads of his fingers as his skin touched her flesh. His lips, wrapped around hers, hands exploring the supple curves of her body...

She kissed him back that night, too. A fact Alice had been quick to remind him of when he allowed himself to spiral into his thoughts. Bella had leaned into him, had moaned at the contact their bodies made, had encouraged more, and more… resurrecting a part of him that he'd long thought dead, lust for her body, for her mind, for her blood all melting together into one, his attraction to her completely overwhelming.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he was sure he knew who the message had been sent by.

Alice: Go talk to her. Now.

Alice was persistent and nearly omniscient, an aggravating coupling.

Alice: If you wait it'll be worse. Do it now.

He thought about crushing the phone into a fine powder, sprinkling the dust across the grass but resisted, experience being the best teacher. He always regretted underestimating Alice.

Even now, as he involuntarily walked in her direction, still uncertain about what the driving force behind his actions was, he strained to hear her, to capture the thoughts in her mind. But he found only silence. Tuning out the thoughts of others he attempted it again, if only to doubly confirm what he already knew to be true.

Silence.

It was welcome, in a peculiar way. Though he longed to understand the mind behind this human that had captured most of his conscious and unconscious thoughts, silence was not something he was afforded when in the company of others.

"Jesus, how do you move so quietly?" She gasped. She stood; her black dress filthy with patches of dirt from where she had knelt that she tried to brush away fruitlessly.

"I'm surprised to find you here," Edward said, reaching a hand out to steady her as she stumbled over the small heel of her strappy, black shoes.

"Surprised?" She looked thoroughly offended. "Why wouldn't I be here?" Bella looked outraged, her face twisting in a way that Edward found endearing.

You're a foul, demented creature. He chastised himself for the thought.

"I only meant that most physicians don't make a habit of attending the funerals of patients they've lost. Perhaps a handful over their careers, but really only in exceptional circumstances." His phone vibrated in his pocket and he could only imagine what aspect of their conversation Alice was critiquing over text.

"You're here, aren't you?" She questioned, struggling to brush the dirt off the chiffon of her dress.

"I am," he agreed.

"Do you make a point of coming to all of the burials?"

I do, to keep myself from killing the humans I serve.

"If I'm able to, yes."

A lie. He'd rearrange his schedule a thousand times over in order to make himself available for this ritual, but something about that information felt too intimate to share with this human girl.

"Well then I think we've settled this, haven't we?" She huffed loudly, pulling an umbrella from her leather cross-body bag, popping it open in perfect timing as the rain began pouring heavily again. She turned, heading back toward the parking lot.

Edward felt his phone vibrate again and growled lowly between clenched teeth.

"Bella," he called after her. She turned to face him, eyes wide and expectant though her brows furrowed together in anger. "Are you hungry?"

He regretted the suggestion immediately, but it was the first thing that had come to mind and he was unusually disarmed in the presence of this human that offered him no insight into her mind. He felt like he was interacting - really interacting - for the first time since his change.

"Am I hungry?" Bella repeated, playing with the suggestion.

"I think we need to talk," he clarified, jumping straight to the point, "and conversations are better had over a meal," he explained.

Bella didn't respond. She stood in silence for a long, protracted minute, staring at Edward, thinking intently, glaring occasionally, eyes softening moments later.

"Fine. Where?" She conceded, brushing a renegade raindrop from her bottom lip. The monster inside of him roiled, the gesture electrifying every cell inside of him. He'd thought of those lips and their softness, their give, for days. More than he cared to admit.

"Did you drive here?"

She nodded, confirming what he already knew.

"Then follow me, I have a place in mind."

Their journey to the parking lot was silent, filled only by the sounds of roaring thunder and the pelting of raindrops. He warred briefly with his bloodlust, a strong gust of wind hurling it directly toward him, their proximity intensifying his lust.

"You're soaked," Bella observed, eyeing him from the corner of her eye as she stalked her way through the now muddy cemetery.

Edward shrugged, "It's fine."

It wasn't as though he could feel the cold, anyway. And the pelting of the rain against his skin was a distraction as he walked alongside her, some other sensation he could focus on that pulled his thoughts away from her blood, away from the rhythmic thumping of her heart.

Their vehicles were only a few cars apart, with Edward arriving to his first. He expected Bella to continue along to her own, but instead he watched her stop and stare, fingers running along the Volvo emblem on the hatch. Realization dawned in her eyes as their subdued brown turned fiery in seconds.

"This is your car."

"Yes," he agreed, painfully confused.

"This is your car," she said again, chuckling to herself.

"I'm not sure I understand," Edward explained, completely enraged by the silence of her mind, especially in moments such as these. The long pause between them was intense, Bella's amusement fuelling Edward's frustration. Her hands traced across the hatch, and Edward found himself envious of his car – to be on the receiving end of her affections. To be nothing more than an inanimate object, unable to harm her.

"You drive like an asshole, you know?" She laughed, the sound light and airy, filling his lungs though they required no air. The sound was glorious, breathtaking, alluring. And it dawned on him that for the last few moments of their interaction he hadn't thought once of her blood, too entranced by every other part of her, by the mysteries she presented to see anything other than her.

Bella stalked away and called after him, "I'll follow you, then."

A/N: Edward drives like an asshole. ;)

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