Howdy! This is a short one, but important I think to show the other side.

makayla. : will she? Hm, I don't know... heh

MysticEm: I had never thought about that pairing, and gosh that'd be fun. The truth is, I totally forgot about involving the wolves because of how much I focus on the vampires. Maybe in the future, I'll throw something in!

marlastiano: They are definitely different, aha. Edward can be an idiot, but at least he has people around him with braincells.

Guest 1: Thank you, I appreciate it! :)

overlordred: Whoo! All I will tell you is to hang in there, buddy. Let's see where this goes.

TheLadyO: Here I am!

Guest 2: Hoo boy! That's kind of the entire point? Though, horrible's kind of a strong word, lol. There's no way to start this relationship with them being equals because you know, immortal vampire and all. It's totally your right to find it to be too much though. I'm actually very happy that you caught that the biggest issue in this relationship isn't that Edward is a bloodsucking vampire, but that he's a mind reader. That is what I was going for, not that I expect you to stick around based on your tone, haha.

Thanks all for your feedback. I thrive off of it. Enjoy this short chapter and hopefully I have time tomorrow to write cause I have a day off. Whoo!

...

The thought occurred to Alia in the early hours of the morning when she couldn't sleep. She shot up, shocked awake at the sudden realisation. She turned on her lamp and went straight to her desk, where she began furiously writing in her journal, the black ink a blur on the pages:

I think I'm in love with Edward.

Why am I surprised? I mean, part of me has loved him since I saw him. That shallow, childish part of me. That lonely part of me that saw a beautiful boy within reach and immediately began fantasising about being important to him, of him singling me out and seeing worth that no one else ever had.

What happened next was a shock. I did become important to him. He did see the worth in me. He drew me out of my shell and made me a better person.

A different part of me resents how much I owe to Edward. If he hadn't befriended me, would I have remained a ghost, drifting along, trying to minimise my presence in the world? I'd like to think I owe myself a little more, that I always had the potential to be who I am now, and could have found it on my own. But I can't deny that it was his support that gave me the courage to flourish.

But is that why I love him? Because he helped me out? No, I don't think so. In my naive opinion, I think that love is a lot more than what the other person can offer you. That would be selfish, wouldn't it? That wouldn't be love. I think love is more than the aesthetic, more than greedy exchange.

It's in the little things about him.

His brilliance in every subject he approaches. The way he quite smugly approaches every situation as if he has secret knowledge no one else has. The way in which new knowledge renders him awestruck.

The poetic passion he has for music, the confidence in his pianist fingers. I don't know what it was like to witness those old virtuosos from centuries ago, but watching Edward play the piano so effortlessly renders me speechless. There's something beautiful in how he plays for himself, for his own love for the sound, how he loses himself in his art.

The gentleness he consciously puts into every action. He moves and speaks gracefully, but it's more than that. He is so aware of everything. I would say calculating, but that word implies a certain coldness that just isn't there no matter how he tries to act like it sometimes.

The sarcasm. The wry humour that always puts a stupid smile on my face. Shame on me for ever thinking him serious and stiff. He always knows exactly what to say to make me either groan or to reduce me to fight a fit of laughter.

His thoughtfulness which goes both ways, causing him to remember everything important to me, even while remembering perfectly any flaws in my arguments to use against me when he feels like arguing. I think I even love his pettiness, at least when I have time to cool down after said arguments.

Even the melancholy that sometimes surrounds him like a cloud draws my affection. It makes me want to protect him despite the fact that I don't understand what causes it. Sometimes he acts like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders even though he's a boy like any other.

A boy like any other. I think that's what's doing it in for me as I reflect on this now. Edward seemed surreal at first, this alien perfection masquerading as a human being. But he's so human it hurts. Multifaceted and flawed like any other. Certainly like me. The more I realise how real he is, a physical being that I can reach out and touch, hold close to me, the deeper I fall.

And yet, I am overcome with doubt. I tried to justify my love just now by listing out the things I like about him. But I liked those things as his friend too. Where did love come into this? Can I even try to define love? I don't think so, but it's comforting to try. I'll stop trying to think about 'how' or 'why' and just accept this as something that 'is'.

But what am I going to do with this revelation? Tell him?

Of course not.

This is a secret for the recesses of my mind and the pages of this journal. I love him, but am content to express that love for him as my friend. I know he loves me in that way too, so why would I want to ruin our relationship by making him uncomfortable with my feelings?

I know I shouldn't think this, but it's the truth. He is out of my league. He deserves someone as beautiful and brilliant as he is, and I'm just not that. I'm good enough to be his friend, nothing more. I will express my love through selflessness. As long as I can stay near him, I'll be happy.

Still, it feels good to write. I love him. I love Edward.

Alia left it at that, feeling a few tears gather in her eyes that she blinked away. She forced a smile on her face and shook her head. She put the journal back on her shelf, and then crawled back into bed, staring up at her ceiling with the glow in the dark stickers meant to replicate the night sky. Now that her thoughts were on paper, she could stop worrying about it and go back to the way things were.

After all, Edward deserved so much more than her immature feelings.