A/N: I think I may change the upload schedule. I feel like it's moving way too fast, so I'll be posting every other day instead of every day.

Song of the Episode: Glitter & Gold by Barns Courtney

EXT. THE MEADOW - DAY

Shadowed trees surround a brightly lit meadow. Wildflowers of all colors are scattered through the grass. EDYTHE CULLEN is laying in the grass, her eyes closed, her skin literally glittering. She wears jeans, a white tank top, hiking boots, and her hair is in a low bun. BEAU SWAN stays curled up, his chin resting on his knees, watching Edythe. He wears a white t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Beau reaches out and strokes the back of Edythe's hand. She opens her eyes and smiles.

BEAU
Does that hurt you?

EDYTHE
No. Are you scared now?

BEAU
No.

EDYTHE
What are you thinking?

BEAU
I am...I didn't know... I've never seen anything more beautiful - never imagined anything so beautiful could exist.

EDYTHE
It's very strange, though.

BEAU
Amazing.

EDYTHE
Aren't you repulsed by my flagrant lack of humanity?

BEAU
Not repulsed.

EDYTHE
You should be.

BEAU
I'm feeling like humanity is pretty overrated.

Edythe smiles wider and closes her eyes again. Beau brings his knees down and traces her forearm with his fingertips.

BEAU (CONT'D)
Do you mind?

EDYTHE
No. You can't imagine how that feels.

Beau reaches to turn Edythe's hand over. Realizing what he wants, she turns it over in a blindingly fast movement. Beau freezes.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Sorry. It's too easy to be myself with you.

Beau lifts her hand and turns it this way and that, watching it glitter in the sun. Edythe opens her eyes.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Tell me what you're thinking. It's still so strange for me, not knowing.

BEAU
The rest of us feel that way all the time, you know.

EDYTHE
It's a hard life. But you didn't tell me.

BEAU
I was wishing I could know what you were thinking...

EDYTHE
And?

BEAU
I was wishing that I could believe that you were real. I'm afraid...

EDYTHE
I don't want you to be afraid.

BEAU
That's not the kind of fear I meant.

Edythe sits up quickly. Her face is inches from Beau's.

EDYTHE
Then what are you afraid of?

Beau leans in close to Edythe. Edythe rips her hand from Beau's and disappears. She reappears by a tree at the edge of the meadow, facing Beau.

BEAU
Edythe. I'm...sorry.

EDYTHE
Give me a moment.

After a few seconds, Edythe makes it back and sits down cross-legged. She smiles in apology.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I'm so very sorry. Would you understand what I meant if I said I was only human?

Beau nods.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I'm the world's best predator, aren't I? Everything about me drives you in - my voice, my face, even my smell. As if I need any of that!

Edythe disappears again, but appears under the same tree as before.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
As if you could outrun me.

Edythe laughs bitterly. She reaches up and tears a two-foot thick branch from the tree and slams it against the tree; it shatters. The tree falls with an echoing BOOM. Edythe appears again two feet away from Beau, still as stone.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
As if you could fight me off.

Beau sits without moving, then struggles up onto his knees, a hand extended toward Edythe.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Wait.

Beau freezes. Edythe takes a step toward him.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Don't be afraid. I promise... I swear I will not hurt you. You don't have to be afraid.

Edythe steps closer and takes Beau's outstretched hand; they are a foot away from each other.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Please forgive me. I can control myself. You caught me off guard. But I'm on my best behavior now.

Beau is silent.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I'm not thirsty today, honestly.

Beau laughs. It's shaky and breathless.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Are you all right?

Edythe slowly puts her other hand on top of Beau's. Edythe kneels down. Beau copies her so that their knees are touching. He looks up and smiles timidly. Edythe smiles back.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
So where were we, before I behaved so rudely?

BEAU
I honestly have no idea.

EDYTHE
I think we were talking about why you were afraid, besides the obvious reason.

BEAU
Oh, right.

EDYTHE
Well?

Beau pauses, looking down at Edythe's hand.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
How easily frustrated I am.

Beau looks up.

BEAU
I was afraid...because, for, well, obvious reasons, I probably can't stay with you, can I? And that's what I want, much more than I should.

EDYTHE
Yes. Being with me has never been in your best interest.

Beau frowns.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I should have left that first day and not come back. I should leave now. I might have been able to do it then. I don't know if I can do it now.

BEAU
Don't. Please.

EDYTHE
Don't worry. I'm essentially a selfish creature. I crave your company too much to do what I should.

BEAU
Good!

Edythe withdraws her hands gently.

EDYTHE
You should never forget that it's not only your company I crave. Never forget that I am more dangerous to you than I am to anyone else.

BEAU
I don't think I understand exactly what you mean by that last part.

EDYTHE
How do I explain? And without horrifying you?

Edythe places her hand back in Beau's.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
You know how everyone enjoys different flavors? Some people love chocolate ice cream, others prefer strawberry?

Beau nods.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I apologize for the food analogy - I couldn't think of another way to explain.

Beau smiles. Edythe smiles back.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
You see, every person has their own scent, their own essence... If you locked an alcoholic in a room full of stale beer, she'd drink it. But she could resist, if she wished to, if she were a recovering alcoholic. Now let's say you placed in that room a glass of hundred-year-old brandy, the rarest, finest cognac - and filled the room with its warm aroma - how do you think our alcoholic would fare then? Maybe that's not the right comparison. Maybe it would be too easy to turn down the brandy. Perhaps I should have made our alcoholic a heroin addict instead.

BEAU
So, what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?

EDYTHE
Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin.

BEAU
Does that happen often?

EDYTHE
I spoke to my sisters about it. To Jessamine, every one of you is much the same. She's the most recent to join our family. It's a struggle for her to abstain at all. She hasn't had time to grow sensitive to the differences in smell, in flavor.

Edythe glances back at Beau.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I'm sorry.

BEAU
It's fine. Look, don't worry about offending me, or horrifying me, or whatever. That's the way you think. I can understand, or I can try to at least. Just explain however it makes sense to you.

EDYTHE
So Jessamine wasn't sure if she'd ever come across someone who was as appealing as you are to me. Which makes me think not. She would remember this. El has been on the wagon longer, so to speak, and she understood what I meant. She says twice, for her, once stronger than the other.

BEAU
And for you?

EDYTHE
Never before this.

BEAU
What did Eleanor do?

Edythe's hand clenches into a fist in Beau's and her face grows dark.

BEAU (CONT'D)
Okay, so I guess that was a dumb question.

EDYTHE
Even the strongest of us fall off the wagon, don't we?

BEAU
Are you...asking for my permission?

EDYTHE
No!

BEAU
But you're saying there's no hope, right?

EDYTHE
Of course there's hope. Of course I won't... It's different for us. El...these were strangers she happened across. It was a long time ago. She wasn't as practiced, as careful as she is now. And she's never been as good at this as I am.

BEAU
So, if we'd met...oh, in a dark alley or something...

EDYTHE
It took everything I had - every single year of practice and sacrifice and effort - not to jump up in the middle of that class full of children and -

Edythe cuts off.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carine has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn't been denying my thirst for the last...too many years, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself. You must have thought I was possessed.

BEAU
I couldn't understand why. How you could hate me, just like that...

EDYTHE
To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my personal hell to ruin me. The fragrance coming off your skin...I thought it would make me deranged that first day. In that one hour, I thought of a hundred different ways to lure you from the room with me, to get you alone. And I fought them each back, thinking of my family, what I could do to them. I had to run out, to get away before I could speak the words that would make you follow... You would have come.

BEAU
No doubt about it.

EDYTHE
And then, as I tried to rearrange my schedule in a pointless attempt to avoid you, you were there - in that close, warm little room, the scent was maddening. I so very nearly took you then. There was only one other frail human there - so easily dealt with. But I resisted. I don't know how. I forced myself not to wait for you, not to follow you from the school. It was easier outside, when I couldn't smell you anymore, to think clearly, to make the right decision. I left the others near home - I was too ashamed to tell them how weak I was, they only knew something was very wrong - and then I went straight to Carine, at the hospital, to tell her I was leaving.

Beau stares at her in surprise.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I traded cars with her - she had a full tank of gas and I was afraid to stop. I didn't dare go home, to face Earnest. He wouldn't have let me go without a fight. He would have tried to convince me it wasn't necessary... By the next morning, I was in Alaska. I spent a few days there, with some old acquaintances...but I was homesick. I hated knowing I'd upset Earnest, and the rest of them, my adopted family. In the pure air of the mountains it was hard to believe you were so irresistible. I convinced myself it was weak to run away. I'd dealt with temptation before, not of this magnitude, not even close, but I was strong. Who were you, an insignificant little boy to chase me from the place I wanted to be? Ah, the deadly sin of pride. So, I came back... I took precautions, hunting, feeding more than usual before seeing you again. I was sure that I was strong enough to treat you like any other human. I was arrogant about it. It was unquestionably a complication that I couldn't simply read your thoughts to know what your reaction was to me. I wasn't used to having to go to such circuitous measures, listening to your words in Jeremy's mind... His mind isn't very original, and it was annoying to have to stoop to that. And then I couldn't know if you really meant what you were saying, or just saying what you thought your audience wanted to hear. It was all extremely irritating. I wanted you to forget my behavior that first day, if possible, so I tried to talk with you like I would with any person. I was eager actually, hoping to decipher some of your thoughts. But you were too interesting, I found myself caught up in your expressions...and every now and then you would move, and the air would stir around you... The scent would stun me again... Of course, then you were nearly crushed to death in front of my eyes. Later I thought of a perfectly good excuse for why I acted at that moment - because if I hadn't saved you, if your blood had been spilled there in front of me, I don't think I could have stopped myself from exposing us for what we are. But I only thought of that excuse later. At the time, all I could think was "Not him."

BEAU
In the hospital?

EDYTHE
I was appalled. I couldn't believe I had put us in danger after all, put myself in your power - you of all people. As if I needed another motive to kill you.

Beau and Edythe flinch.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
But the disaster had the opposite effect. I fought with Royal, El, and Jessamine when they suggested that now was the time...the worst fight we've ever had. Carine sided with me, and Archie. Earnest told me to do whatever I had in order to stay. All that next day I eavesdropped on the minds of everyone you spoke to, shocked that you kept your word. I didn't understand you at all. But I knew that I couldn't become more involved with you. I did my very best to stay as far away from you as possible. And every day the perfume of your skin, your breath...it hit me as hard as the very first day. And for all that, I'd have fared better if I had exposed us all at that first moment, than if now, here - with no witnesses and nothing to stop me - I were to hurt you.

BEAU
Why?

EDYTHE
Oh, Beau.

Edythe brushes Beau's cheekbone lightly.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Beau, I couldn't survive hurting you. You don't know how it's tortured me - the thought of you, still, white, cold...to never see your face turn red again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretenses...I couldn't bear it. You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever.

Beau looks down to study Edythe's hand in his.

BEAU
You already know how I feel. I'm here because I would rather die with you than live without you. Sorry, I'm an idiot.

EDYTHE
You are an idiot. And so the lion fell in love with the lamb...

BEAU
What a stupid lamb.

EDYTHE
What a sick, masochistic lion.

BEAU
Why...?

EDYTHE
Yes?

BEAU
Tell me why you ran from me before.

EDYTHE
You know why.

BEAU
No, I mean, exactly what did I do wrong? I need to learn how to make this easier for you. This for example, seems to be all right.

EDYTHE
You didn't do anything wrong, Beau. It was my fault.

BEAU
But I want to help.

EDYTHE
Well... It was just how close you were. Most humans instinctively shy away from us, are repelled by our alienness... I wasn't expecting you to come so close. And the smell of your throat -

Edythe breaks off.

BEAU
Okay, then. No throat exposure.

EDYTHE
No, really, it was more the surprise than anything else.

Edythe reaches up and places her hand on the side of Beau's neck.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
You see? Perfectly fine.

Edythe frees her other hand and brushes it along Beau's cheek. She holds his face in her hands.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Be very still.

Edythe leans toward Beau and rests her cheek over his heart. She puts her arms around his neck. Beau and Edythe sit there for some time. Then Edythe releases him.

EDYTHE
It won't be so hard again.

BEAU
Was that very hard for you?

EDYTHE
Not nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. And you?

BEAU
No, that wasn't...bad for me.

EDYTHE
Here.

Edythe takes Beau's hand and places it against her cheek.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
Do you feel how warm you've made me?

BEAU
Don't move.

Edythe freezes, closing her eyes. Beau caresses her cheek, the hollow under her eye, and her nose. When he brushes her lips, they part. Beau slides his hand down her neck and lets them rest on her shoulders. He wraps his arms around her waist. Edythe leans in. Beau presses his face into her hair for a moment, then moves his hands and leans away. Edythe opens her eyes.

BEAU (CONT'D)
Sorry.

EDYTHE
I wish...I wish you could feel the...complexity...the confusion...I feel. That you could understand.

Edythe brushes her hand across Beau's face.

BEAU
Tell me.

EDYTHE
I don't know if I can. You know, on the one hand, the hunger - the thirst - that, being what I am, I feel for you. And I think you can understand that, to an extent. Though as you are not addicted to any illegal substances, you probably can't empathize completely. But...there are other things I want, other hungers. Hungers I don't even understand myself.

BEAU
I might understand that better than you think.

EDYTHE
I'm not used to feeling so human. Is it always like this?

BEAU
For me? No, never. Never before this.

EDYTHE
I don't know how to be close to you. I don't know if I can.

Beau leans in and rests his forehead on Edythe's.

BEAU
This is enough.

Edythe kisses Beau's forehead.

BEAU (CONT'D)
You're a lot better at this than you give yourself credit for.

EDYTHE
I was born with human instincts - they may be buried deep, but they exist.

Edythe leans away.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
You have to go.

BEAU
I thought you couldn't read my mind.

EDYTHE
It's getting clearer. Can I show you something?

BEAU
Anything.

EDYTHE
How about a faster way back to the truck? Don't you want to see how I travel in the forest?

BEAU
Will you...turn into a bat?

Edythe laughs.

EDYTHE
Like I haven't heard that one before.

BEAU
Right, I'm sure you get that all the time.

Edythe stands and offers Beau her hand. Beau takes it and stands. Edythe turns around.

EDYTHE
Climb on my back.

BEAU
Huh?

EDYTHE
Don't be a coward, Beau, I promise this won't hurt.

BEAU
Edythe, I don't...I mean, how?

Edythe turns around.

EDYTHE
Surely you're familiar with the concept of a piggyback ride?

BEAU
Sure, but...

EDYTHE
What's the problem, then?

BEAU
Well...you're so small.

Edythe sighs and runs away. She returns quickly, holding a huge boulder.

BEAU (CONT'D)
That's not what I meant. I'm not saying you're not strong enough -

Edythe throws the boulder over her shoulder. It sails deep into the forest, and falls with a BOOM.

BEAU (CONT'D)
Obviously. But I... How would I fit?

Edythe turns around so she's facing away from Beau.

EDYTHE
Trust me.

Beau climbs on her back awkwardly.

BEAU
Am I hurting you?

EDYTHE
Please, Beau.

Edythe begins running. Trees blur past them.

EXT. THE TRAILHEAD - DAY

The pavement road cuts off and is surrounded by a brightly lit forest. A gravel trail cuts through. Beau's truck sits at the end of the road. Edythe and Beau come out of the trees.

EDYTHE
Exhilarating, isn't it? (beat) Beau?

BEAU
I might need to lie down.

EDYTHE
Oh. I'm sorry.

BEAU
I think I need help.

Edythe helps Beau off her back. He leans against a tree, closing his eyes. Edythe leans against the tree next to him, slightly worried.

EDYTHE
I guess that wasn't the best idea.

BEAU
No, it was very interesting.

EDYTHE
Hah! You're as white as a ghost - no, worse, you're as white as me!

BEAU
I think I should have closed my eyes.

EDYTHE
Remember that next time.

BEAU
Next time?

Edythe laughs and leans toward Beau.

BEAU (CONT'D)
Show-off.

EDYTHE
Look at me, Beau.

Beau opens his eyes.

EDYTHE (CONT'D)
I was thinking, while I was running -

BEAU
About not hitting trees, I hope.

Edythe laughs.

EDYTHE
Running is a second nature to me. It's not something I have to think about.

BEAU
Show-off.

EDYTHE
No, I was thinking there was something I wanted to try.

Edythe puts her arms around Beau's neck and stands on her toes. Beau doesn't breathe as Edythe leans in and kisses him. Beau tangles one of his hands in her hair, the other around her waist, bringing her closer. Edythe pulls away gently. Beau opens his eyes, dazed.

BEAU
Whoops.

EDYTHE
That's an understatement.

BEAU
Should I...?

Beau takes his hand out of her hair and puts it on her waist.

EDYTHE
No, it's tolerable. Wait for a moment, please. (beat) There.

BEAU
Tolerable?

EDYTHE
I'm stronger than I thought. It's nice to know.

BEAU
And I'm not. Sorry.

EDYTHE
You are only human, after all.

BEAU
Yeah.

Edythe takes Beau's hands off her waist, but keeps a hold of one of them.

EDYTHE
Are you still reeling from the run? Or was it my kissing expertise?

BEAU
Both.

EDYTHE
Maybe you should let me drive.

BEAU
Uh, I think I've had enough of your need for speed today...

EDYTHE
I can drive better than you on your best day. You have much slower reflexes.

BEAU
I believe you, but I don't think my truck could handle your style of driving.

EDYTHE
Some trust, please, Beau.

BEAU
Nope. Not a chance.

Edythe grabs a fistful of Beau's shirt and pulls him close to her.

EDYTHE
Beau, I've already expended a great deal of personal effort at this point to keep you alive. I'm not about to let you behind the wheel of a vehicle when you can't even walk straight. Friends don't let friends drive drunk.

BEAU
Drunk?

EDYTHE
You're intoxicated by my very presence.

BEAU
I can't argue with that.

Beau raises the keys high and drops it, watching Edythe's hand flash out to catch them.

BEAU
Take it easy. My truck is a senior citizen.

Edythe laughs, then lets Beau's shirt go and ducks under his arm.

BEAU
So you're not affected at all? By my presence?

Edythe raises her face to Beau's and brushes her lips across his jaw.

EDYTHE
Regardless...I have better reflexes.

A/N: Awww! They're so cute!

As always, reviews are very much appreciated. PM me if you have any ideas for the future!