III. Follow You Down

"I'm sorry," I said, looking first at Rose, then Jasper, and then Emmett. "I didn't mean to put any of you at risk. It was thoughtless, and I take full responsibility for my hasty action."

Rosalie glared at me balefully. "What do you mean, 'take full responsibility'? Are you going to fix it?" (Midnight Sun, page 78)

My eyebrows shot up. "Fix? There is nothing to fix. She doesn't suspect a thing." But then, eyeing the apprehensive gazes of my family around the dining table, I added, "I could always leave, if that would make things easier."

"No," Esme murmured. "No, Edward."

I reached across the table and placed a hand over her's, meeting her eyes. "It's just a few years."

Emmett leaned back against his seat from where he sat further down the table, beside Rosalie. "Esme's right. You can't be fully sure this girl doesn't suspect anything when you can't even read her mind. If she does, and she says something, then we need to know what people are thinking."

I wanted to come to her defense; to assure them that Isabella wouldn't say anything. But I supposed I truly didn't know if she would.

With a frown I switched my gaze over to Alice, who sat beside Esme and was rubbing her forehead as though warring off a headache. "Alice? What do you see?"

Alice heaved a sigh and eyed Rosalie at the other end of the table, and Jasper, leaning against the wall behind her. "I can't see anything until this is settled."

Rosalie's palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang. "We can't allow the human a chance to say anything. Carlisle, you must see that. Even if we decided to all disappear, it's not safe to leave stories behind us. We live so differently from the rest of our kind―you know there are those who would love an excuse to point fingers. We have to be more careful than anyone else!"

I scoffed. "Stories? What stories? She didn't see anything."

But Jasper was nodding in agreement with Rosalie's words.

"No," Carlisle said decisively before she had a chance to lay out her plan of assassination. "I met the girl myself, Rosalie. It is clear to me that she has no suspicions in regards to our family. And unless that changes, we are tabling this discussion."

Rosalie scowled and dropped her gaze. "Fine," she bit out grudgingly.

I withheld a sigh of relief. Despite her fury, I could see that Rosalie would go along with Carlisle's decision.

"Moreover," I added, "There's a chance she's something more than human."

My statement immediately drew the attention of my family.

"Alice and I were going to gather more evidence before sharing this with you all, but from what little we've observed, Isabella appears to possess a gift of precognition," I explained.

"You believe that is what explains the abnormalities in her brain scans?" Carlisle's eyes lit up with curiosity.

"Hold on," Rosalie cut in. "Brain scans? What are you going on about?"

"Either that, or it could explain why I'm unable to read her thoughts," I said to Carlisle, before turning to Rose. "The CT scans Isabella had taken at the hospital today are currently the only physical evidence we have that there is something not normal about her. Carlisle brought copies home, if you're interested enough to take a look."

Rosalie frowned thoughtfully, contemplating my offer, before shaking her head. "You're investigating the girl, then?"

"I suppose that's one way to look at it," I shrugged. "She's clearly hiding something."

"What? You think she's a witch or something?" Emmett snickered.

"I've yet to encounter any type of witchcraft that is effective against our kind, but I suppose there's a first time for everything," Carlisle chuckled.

Despite everyone else's intrigue regarding the mysterious Isabella Swan, Jasper remained impassive.

"Jasper."

He met my gaze, his face expressionless.

"She won't pay for my mistake. I won't allow that."

"She benefits from it, then? She should have died today, Edward. I would only set that right."

I repeated myself, emphasizing each word. "I will not allow it."

His eyebrows shot up. He wasn't expecting this―he hadn't imagined that I would act to stop him.

"Jazz," Alice cut in, gaze boring into Jasper. "There's something else."

I inhaled a sharp gasp, seeing the vision flashing across her mind.

"I know you love me, but this isn't something you're meant to protect me from. You can't kill Isabella. First of all, Edward's serious and I don't want you two fighting. Secondly, she's your friend. At least, she's going to be."

It was clear as glass in her head: Jasper, smiling and relaxed, towering beside Isabella's fragile frame. And Isabella, laughing. The vision was rock solid; only the timing of it was unsure.

"Alice…what…?" Jasper gaped.

Alice's expression softened into a sweet smile. "You're going to love her someday, Jazz. She'll be your best friend. I'll be very put out with you if you don't let her be."

An unexpected resentment caused my hands to curl into fists, part of me craving to stand in his place, to be the source of her laughter.

And then, the future shimmered as Jasper's resolve floundered in the face of her strange request, his thoughts a clutter of unease and confusion.

Alice released a breath. His indecision had cleared a new future. "See? Isabella's not going to say anything. There's nothing to worry about."

"Alice," I choked out. "What…does this…?"

"I told you there was a change coming."

And then, a new vision sprung to life.

It was as though some higher power had heard my plea, because in it, I stood beside Isabella, in place of Jasper. Except we were physically closer, and her soft human hand was gently encased inside my stone one.

A storm of emotions thundered inside of my chest―fear, hope, wonder. But most of all―longing.

I struggled to contain the flood of emotions within me, and all of a sudden, I felt rather foolish, once I was able to identify my previous anger; the same anger which had gripped me earlier today in the hospital, when I had listened in on Tyler's thoughts.

It was an old memory which allowed me to put a name to it.

I had met Alice for the first time and we had effortlessly been drawn towards one another. Unable to comprehend the natural way in which Alice and I wordlessly communicated, Jasper had, for a moment, been fiercely jealous. I hadn't fully understood it then, but now…

It wasn't until we had assured him that it was nothing more than friendship, that he had relaxed enough to verify our words through our emotions.

To feel this way, to be jealous of Jasper standing beside Isabella―it meant…it could only mean…

That I was falling for her.

"Alice…this…this isn't right," I forced myself to say, though it pained me. It was dangerous to allow a human so close. Especially one like Isabella, whose scent I found so deeply intoxicating.

And the other vision―my own eyes, deep crimson with human blood, the eyes of the monster. Isabella's broken body in my arms, ashy white, drained, lifeless.

I buried my face into my hands, nausea rippling through me, before turning to Alice and whispering, "I have to leave."

"Edward, we've already been over that," Emmett cut in. "If you take off, we won't know for sure whether she actually saw anything and confided in someone. You have to stay and deal with this."

"It's a better chance than before," Alice said gently, reminding me of when Isabella would have surely died at my hands, if I hadn't been able to control myself.

I roughly swallowed the venom that gathered on my tongue at the reminder.

"Besides," she tacked on, "I don't see you leaving."

That pulled me up short.

I paused, and the moment I attempted to make the choice to leave, I knew I was incapable. I should…but I couldn't.

Emmett heaved a loud sigh. "Will someone please let the rest of us in on the mystery?"

Alice turned to him. "If Edward can control himself, and not kill her, he'll come to care very deeply for Isabella."

Rosalie scoffed. "He's going to fall for a human? How classically Edward."

"What?" Emmett said, startled, before bursting into laughter. "Is that what's been going on? Tough break, Edward."

"Fall for a human?" Esme repeated in a stunned voice. "For the girl he saved today? Fall in love with her?"

"You're positive?" Jasper checked, mentally shoving aside his own involvement in this.

Alice shrugged. "I see it. Clear as day."

I stared at Alice, and everyone else stared at me. I could see my own stunned expression from five different viewpoints.

After a long moment, Carlisle sighed.

"Well, this...complicates things."

"I'll say," Emmett laughed.

"I suppose the plans remain the same, though," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "We'll stay, and watch. Obviously, no one will...hurt the girl."

Least of all me.

With a rough scrape of my chair, I pushed away from the table and bolted to my feet, hands fisting at my sides.

If I was incapable of leaving, then…

I would have to be inordinately careful.

I would never, ever be able to let my guard down.

I would have to control my every breath.

I would have to keep an always cautious distance.

I could not, would not make a mistake.


The next day, I felt both dread and longing at the thought of sitting beside Isabella in biology.

But when the moment came, and she joined me without so much as a glance in my direction, reality came crashing down around me.

It was strange to remember that she was still apprehensive of me, and with good reason.

I wanted to laugh at myself―or kick myself. All my plotting and planning was entirely moot if she didn't care to give me the time of day.

"Hello, Isabella," I greeted her, with a pleasant smile, ignoring the flames that clawed at my throat.

She practically jumped in her seat, as though startled by my acknowledgment of her.

How strange.

Finally, she twisted in her seat and eyed me critically, before offering a belated response, "Edward. Hi."

My eyes briefly paused over the bump on her head hidden by tresses of brown hair. "Are you feeling any better today?"

"Huh?" she blinked, and then mumbled, "Yeah, sure."

Before I could say anything more, she turned to face forward once more, just as Mr. Banner was calling the class to attention.

Unfortunately, we weren't scheduled to have a lab again for another two weeks. So, it wasn't until the end of class, when Mr. Banner finished his lecture a couple of minutes early, that I was finally able to get a word in edgewise.

"Isabella?"

She stiffened, but continued to shove her pens and notebooks into her backpack. "Yeah?" she answered, peeking at me through her peripherals.

"In the hospital, what did you mean when you said this wasn't your 'first rodeo'?"

Although the number of healed contusions on her brain scan had painted a clear picture, I couldn't help but want to know the specifics. I feared that I would have to watch her more closely, if incidents like the one that had occurred yesterday were the norm for her.

And to my growing horror, she proved my misgivings right.

Isabella jumped to her feet and swung the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "Exactly what that phrase implies," she shrugged. "Yesterday wasn't my worst car crash."

Before I could think to ask her for more concrete details, the bell rang, and she was speeding away.


The rest of the week continued with similarly stilted conversations.

I learned more from observing her, than from any words exchanged during our short time in class together. Because while she tended to be closed off and tight lipped around me, the same could not be said for her behavior around the rest of our classmates. Isabella certainly wasn't a chatterbox like Jessica Stanley, but she was just as friendly and cheerful.

More than that, Isabella was audacious and prideful. She was always ready with a snappy retort on her tongue and never appreciated being treated like she was less than. It was a rare kind of confidence that one seldom saw in someone of our age group.

Rare because while Isabella always enjoyed being right, she was uncommonly kind about it.

It took me a tad longer to realize that the ones she found undeserving of that kindness were overbearing adults like Mr. Varner or Mr. Mason. All the while she functioned almost like an older sister around her friends, with patience and advice always ready at hand.

But perhaps, the strangest thing I had noticed was the way she told the story of how I'd rescued her.

To my relief, Isabella had not revealed anything that could possibly incriminate and expose myself and my family. Instead, her story was a combination of not remembering exactly what had happened, and like everyone else, assuming that I had walked up to her just before the accident.

But Isabella clearly wasn't an experienced liar.

The hint of nerves that forsook her voice, and the way she swept her eyes to the side while carefully reiterating the exact same words every single time, betrayed what I had fiercely hoped wouldn't result from my interference.

Isabella knew something.

Not only did she know something, she was protecting me. And for the life of me, I could not begin to guess why.


A/N: I should be working on the main story, but to my horror, I'm still stuck in Edward's head :(

Reviews are appreciated! :)

In Reference to A Body of Water and Bones: Chapter 2.