*I have restored the original Chapters 43 and 44*

I eyed Edward suspiciously. I wasn't sure what he wanted to try. Edward shifted his weight nervously.

"What?" I asked.

"I wanted to see if we could talk to each other."

I broke into laughter. "How's that going?"

Edward flashed a toothy grin at me. "I mean how Alice and I talk to each other, through our minds."

"Huh." I said, "I never thought about that." I had mostly been focusing on my newfound mind powers in relation to my species. It hadn't yet occurred to me that there could be a practical use to my abilities. I sort of wanted to try it out too now.

"So, what are you doing over there?" I asked.

Edward shifted his weight and smirked mischievously. I became suspicious. What was he doing? Could he hear my mind?

"What?" I asked.

Edward shifted away from me; his eyes locked on to mine. I started to feel apprehensive like I was waiting for something. Curiosity began to push out my suspicion. I was so confounded that I let what I was thinking slip out of my mouth

"What are you thinking?"

You always ask me that. I thought to myself. Wait. What had just happened? Why would I answer myself? Unless…

Excitement rushed through me, and I noticed that it also flowed in from a direction. I wasn't the only one thrilled. I turned to Edward, who was beaming at me.

"Woah," I breathed, "Did I just read your mind?"

"It worked." Edward crowed.

"Huh?" I piped. Edward looked away sheepishly.

"I noticed your mind bubble fluctuates in size," He said quietly, "especially when you're curious." I felt a smile play at my lips. Edward was executing another experiment.

"Is that what you were doing?" I asked coyly. Edward dashed over and appeared next to me.

"Are you upset?" He asked, tentatively. I sighed exaggeratedly.

"I'm a bit annoyed you didn't tell me what you were doing," I said, "But I totally understand why you couldn't."

I felt relief seep into me from him. I had an emotional flinch from it, and I felt my face scrunch up.

"What?" Edward asked cautiously. I glanced at him and realized that he couldn't hear me even though I could hear (… hear? Is that the term I want to go with?) him.

"Can you hear me?" I asked, "Because I can hear you."

Edward felt startled, then intrigued.

"Can you?" He asked, "I can't hear you at all." We made eye contact, and I flinched. Edward wanted to see how close to me he'd need to get to hear me. It intrigued me that I could feel what he wanted rather than hearing his thoughts in my head. His emotions were infectious, now I wanted to know too.

"Jack?" Edward whispered.

"Let's find out," I whispered back. Edward knew what I was talking about. He slowly eased his face towards mine. Our faces were about an inch apart when my senses sharpened dramatically. I paused. He was inside of my mind bubble, and I felt a zing of excitement from him.

Can you hear me? He asked. His question echoed in my head. I tried to think of the word "yes," but my mind got distracted and started flitting through thoughts that came from me but were fueled by Edward's emotions. I got flustered and I pulled away, blushing terribly.

"Hey, it's ok!" Edward said, "I understood you!"

"This is really weird, Edward," I muffled into my hands. "I'm so weirded out!" Edward's emotions swung through fear, need to console, awkwardness.

"Stop!" I squawked, trying to hold in the laughter at the absurdity of my next request. "Stop feeling things!"

Edward vanished from my side, once again in the shadow. I began to laugh.

"Are you crying?" Edward called.

"I'm a freak!" I laughed. "I'm on the Halloween list too!" I flopped onto my back and sighed.

"You're not upset?" Edward sounded closer to me.

I chuckled. "It finally all hit me, all at once. Just a few months ago, I thought I lived in a normal world with just humans, but now I live in a world with vampires, werewolves, Satodi's and whatever I am!"

"Satori?" Edward asked curiously, "From Japan? When did you run into one of those?"

"Oh, Alia told me about them," I said nonchalantly. Edward felt a pang in his chest, the same pain I had when I had thought Alia was interested in Edward over me. I stopped laughing and glanced at him with a painful understanding.

"Yes?" Edward asked softly.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

Edwards feeling shifted. He felt unsure and a little nervous. If his heart had been beating, it would have started beating fast; like mine did.

"I was thinking about the first time I saw you," Edward said so quietly it was almost a whisper. He felt regret.

I tried to remember when we first met, but I just couldn't. I know we met at school, but a lot of the events were all muddled. I guess three concussions will do that to you.

"I don't remember that," I said, "Why do you feel so bad about it?"

A jolt of surprise shot through Edward.

"You're really warming up to your powers." He noted. I scoffed.

"I know, right?"

Edward went silent. I could feel his thoughts racing, but I couldn't hear them.

"It took everything I had not to jump up in the middle of that class full of children and —" He stopped abruptly, his heart metaphorically heaving. "When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn't been denying my thirst for the last, well, too many years, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself." He paused, full of self-loathing.

Though I was looking at the sky, I felt him glance at me grimly. "You must have thought I was possessed."

"I probably thought you were a raging transphobe," I noted.

"To me," He continued, "it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me. The fragrance coming off your skin… I thought it would make me deranged that first day."

We sat in silence as I let that sink in.

"Please tell me what you're thinking." He whispered. I laughed nervously.

"Please don't kill me?" I joked.

Edward was suddenly next to me, his face over mine. My breath caught.

"What are you really thinking?" He asked. His golden eyes scorched from under his lashes, hypnotic and deadly.

"Uh…" I was suddenly confused. I really wanted him in my headspace, but I had lost track of who was feeling what. With him so close to me, our emotions started getting mixing up.

Edward leaned down and rested his forehead on mine.

I had my eyes closed in preparation for the onslaught of Edward's senses.

But I wasn't prepared for what happened. Edward's mind seemed to mingle with mine. I heard his thoughts, saw his memories, and felt his feelings. I remembered the day we met from his perspective. I felt his affection for Alia and me. I smelled my blood, and I saw me through his eyes. You look amazing in the sunlight. His thoughts echoed in my head.

I gasped, and Edward vanished.

As I curled up, I felt my mind bubble recoil from the world.

"I'm sorry," Edward said, just loud enough for my ears. "Jack?"

"Give me a moment," I called. I sat very still.

After ten incredibly long seconds, I heard him approach me. I looked up at him. He stopped, still several feet away, and sank gracefully to the ground, crossing his legs. His eyes never left mine. I took two deep breaths and then smiled.

"I am so very sorry." He hesitated. "Would you understand what I meant if I said I was only human?"

I chuckled weakly at his joke. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as the flurry of emotions left my body aroused. He could smell that from where he sat. He looked away and smiled awkwardly.

"Stop that!" I exclaimed, "It's your fault!"

Edward bit his lip as he clearly held in laughter. I fumed with embarrassment. Suddenly next to me, he wrapped an arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.

"Don't be embarrassed," He said, "I'm easily flustered too." I looked into his eyes, abruptly grasping that this was every bit as new to him as it was to me. As many years of unfathomable experience as he had, this was hard for him, too. It was worse for him because he knew his feelings weren't returned.

"I'm sorry." I sighed.

Edward remained silent. He seemed to be lost in dark thought. It was like he was in the middle of an unpleasant memory.

"Hey," I said. "You ok?"

Edward blinked.

"Jack," his voice was strained. "I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you." He looked down, ashamed again. "The sight of you, still, white, cold… I never want to see you like that again. The thought of a world where I'd never see you… it would be unendurable." He lifted his agonized eyes to mine. "I'm sorry about Zhi."

I looked away and tried to remember that day. It was weak, but I recalled being deadnamed, being bitten by Zhi and… that was about it. I shivered.

"This really turned into an apology fest, didn't it?" I muttered.

"Do you want to call it a night?" Edward whispered.

"Yes." I hugged my knees tighter, "Not that this wasn't fun, but it is getting late."