Corina slipped on her wool sweater and sat on the floor beside her bed with her sketchbook, carefully sketching a new drawing when Edward stepped in. She glanced up at him and spotted the look on his face. It was a sort of mischievious grin and he had one hand behind his back, hiding something. She stared at him curiously, when, without warning, he pulled out a snow ball and threw it at her. At first her mouth was open in shock, but when she saw him run for the door, a smile slowly formed on her face and she rose to her feet, chasing after him and down the stairs.

Everyone was shoked to see Corina barge outside with Edward with a smile on her face, and were even more surprised to see her spring on him and bring him down. Edward looked up, laughing as she climb off of him, smiling and helping him to his feet.

"Corina, glad you could make it," said the doc, acting casual. "Wanna join us?" She nodded and she and Edward got on opposing sides, hammering each other with snowballs. It was a pleasant sort of relief for the others to see her smiling and sometimes giggling a little. She did not speak at all though, but it didn't seem to matter to the others.

For a minute, some of them caugh a glimpse of her old self, those who had actually been around long enough to know what that was at least.

When the war had finally ended, they all slipped inside for hot cocoa and a movie. Edward, however, lingered in the common room with Corina, sitting in the padded windowsil, a fireplace not too far away from them so they stayed warm.

"I didn't know if you'd get mad about the snowball," he said softly with a small smirk. "Guess not."

"I haven't had a snowball fight in years," she said softly, sipping her cocoa. "It rarely snows here, but I used to live in Colorado." Edward glanced at her, a little surprised. This was more talking than normal for her.

"I thought you always lived here," he muttered. She shook her head.

"I went through three foster homes before here. The second was in Colorado, up in the mountains." She smirked a little. "It was so beautiful up there. Even in the winter. I really wish I could've stayed with that family."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Family crisis," she muttered, shaking her head and frowning a little. "Their little boy died from a sudden asthma attack. No one had seen it coming." She sighed and looked down. "Things just got too hard for them and they decided that it'd be better for me to be in a happier environment. I never wanted to go."

"I'm sorry," he said softly. She glanced up at him.

"Why? It's not your fault. These things happen. We're all going to die sometime."

"I never did," said Edward. "Everyone else grew old but I never did. I just stayed the same."
"Forever young," she muttered. "Wish I could have stayed young."

"You're not old," he said, staring at her confused. "You don't look old."

"Appearences can be decieving. I feel old, Edward. I'm too young to be feeling like this. I'm only seventeen, but I've been ready to die for years."

"You shouldn't be," he said softly.

"I know I shouldn't be, but I am. You have no idea what I've been through. No idea." He wanted to say that he heard the story, but suddenly thought better of it.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked softly. She looked at him and smirked.

"You can't take the weight of the world on your shoulders, Edward. It's too overbearing. If I were you, I'd be more worried about that operation coming up."

"Are you going to be there again?"

"If you want me to. Waking up alone in that room is a scary thing, believe me, especially if you can't remember how you got there."

He smiled a little.

"And we can talk, right?" She stared at him for a moment.

"Why do you want to talk to me?" He adjusted his seat a little and smirked.

"Because your eyes lighten up when you talk. You don't seem so sad." She looked back out the window, biting her lip. Her eyes were growing wet, and Edward moved a little closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Please don't cry," he said softly. She broke, and he put his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder.

She stopped a few minutes later, and they sat around talking until it was dark outside, and the only light was the fire place. "Do you mind if I play some music?" she asked. "It's getting too quiet around here." He nodded, and she walked over to the stereo, staring at the CD rack next to it. "Dave Matthews Band okay with you?" He shrugged. He had heard of them, but had never listened to them (poor deprived soul...).

"Yeah," he said softly.

"Just checking. Some people just can't stand him. Don't understand why though." She placed the CD in and let it play. "It's their latest album, 'Some Devil.' I love it." She smiled a little and went back to where she had been sitting.

"I used to listen to music when my inventor was alive," he said softly. "That was a very long time ago."

"What kind of music?"

"Classical, with violins and things." She nodded and leaned back.

"I like listening to piano and guitar music. I can play the guitar too." He raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" he asked.

"Can't sing, but it's a start," she said, cracking a smile. "Do you read?"

"Sometimes," he said. "I like Edgar Allan Poe."

"He's an awesome writer," she said with a grin. "Have you read 'The Tell Tale Heart?'"

"It sort of scared me," he said, snickering.

"I love that one. Scary stories are my favorites. Same with movies. If it's not a horror film then it's not worth it."

"I've never watched one, and I'm not sure I'd want to," he said with a shrug.

"Some time you and I should watch 'The Sixth Sense'. It's not horror, but it's scary, sort of. I think you'd love it."

"Why do you like being scared?" he asked. She snickered and glanced out the window, trying to think of a reason.

"I guess... it's the rush I love. The way you get the urge to look over your shoulder every two seconds, or the way you become scared to death of the dark for a while. I just like it." Even her tail started wagging with excitement. Edward laughed a little.

"I'm going to get some dinner," he said, standing up and stretching, realizing they had been there for a long time.

"Can you bring me a plate?" she asked.

"We're allowed to eat out here?"

"No," she laughed. "Never stops me though. I hate eating in that crowded cafeteria with all those people. It's a lot nicer out here." He smirked and nodded.

"What do you want?"

"It's pizza night isn't it?" she asked, sitting up.

"I think so."

"Bring me a slice of pepperoni then. And bring the parmesean cheese too." He nodded and headed out the door. "Thankyou," she called as he left.

A few minutes later he returned with an entire pizza box of pepperoni pizza, a 2 liter bottle of Mt. Dew, and the parmesean cheese. "The doc caught me and said to take the whole box," he said with a laugh. "He said he trusts us to finish the entire thing." Corina laughed and sat down on the floor with him, sitting crosslegged.

"I pig out on pizza, so trust me, I think we can eat it all." She poured herself a glass of Mt. Dew and took a big gulp. They both chatted while eating pizza. Edward had to be careful not to make her laugh while she was biting into the pizza, or else the parmesean cheese would shoot out everywhere. After a while the pizza was long gone, and they sat around, talking. Corina had found a tennis ball and they tossed it back and forth while talking. Each time they caught it, they would have to ask a question.

"Alright," she said, catching it. "What's your favorite color?"

"Red," he said with a smirk. She tossed it to him and he thought for a minute. "What's your favorite ice cream?"

"Cookie dough," she said without hesitating. He tossed it and she leaned back. "Have you ever been kissed before?" He snickered and nodded.

"Once," he said softly.

"Only once?" she asked, seeming shocked. He nodded. "That's one more time than I've ever been kissed." She tossed the ball.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" he asked.

"Nope. I was an unexpected pregnancy. Mom died of AIDS and my father just disappeared. Don't really care to know where he is now." She caught the ball and thought for a while.

"Favorite soda?"

"Orange soda," he said with a grin. It was his turn again. "Have you ever painted instead of drawn?"
"I attempted to."

"What happened?" She chuckled to herself and shook her head.

"Let's just say I only draw for a reason." He smiled and tossed her the ball. "Have you ever been in love?" He paused for a moment, almost seeming as though the question pained him.

"Yes," he answered. "She's dead by now." Corina's eyes widened.

"You've only been in love with one girl, and you've only been kissed by one girl in your entire life?" she asked, seeming amazed.

"Yes."

"That's so sad, and so sweet. Have you ever tried to fall in love again?" He glanced at her for a few minutes, staring her down almost.

"Why should I? They all go anyway and I end up alone in the end." This answer seemed to surprise her more than the last one.

"That's sort of lonely. How could anyone live like that?" He looked at her.

"You tell me."

"I seperate myself from everyone for a reason," she said, a little deffensively. "I made the mistake of trusting people once and almost got killed for it. You can't trust people."

"Not all people are bad," he said, shaking his head. "What about the doc?"

"He's the exception, and so are you. But that's it. People here, they all act like they've got it all together but they don't. You can't believe everything you see in here. You'd have to have been here as long as I have to know these things."

"That's not true," he said, staring at her in disbelief. "The others, other than Joshua, they don't hurt people." Corina stood up.

"Oh yeah? Let me introduce you to the real Lance sometime. He told me once that I should just kill myself and get it over with. And then there's Carrie. Sweet and nice on a good day, but once you see her on a bad day... let's just say you'll be lucky to have all your fingers still in tact. Then there's..." she stopped, biting her lip and turned away from him, looking out the window at the snow that was falling. She took a minute to calm herself. "People here, sometimes are no different from people out there." Edward walked up to her.

"Who was the last one you were going to say?" he asked suspiciously. She shook her head and tried to walk away.

"It doesn't matter. There's no one." Edward placed his hands on her shoulders and stopped her.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, in his regular innocent tone.

"Nothing, alright? I just got a little angry is all," she said, forcing a smile.

"Who's hurting you?" he asked, not fooled.

"God, Ed, no one is hurting me." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm just really tired, okay? I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry." He sighed. It was a poor excuse, but he took it, knowing he wouldn't be able to get her to talk. He didn't need to get envolved with her problems, right?

"Sorry," he said softly, stepping back from her. "I didn't mean to make you angry." He sat down on the windowsil and leaned against the wall.

"It's not your fault," she said softly. "I'm going to bed now. Good night." He looked up at her a smiled warmly.

"Good night."

She gave him a half smile and headed up the stairs. Edward looked back out the window and decided he'd stay there for a little while longer.

Corina reached her bedroom and flipped on the lights. She didn't know why she had gotten so out of control down there, but she felt bad. Her head was throbbing and she realized she still needed to take her meds. A yawn escaped her mouth and she stretched, her eyes looking around the room, spotting something on her pillow. She stopped stretching and walked over, picking up the rose from her pillow case.

Her lips curved into a smile, and without thinking she ran down the stairs and back into the common room where Edward still sat, watching the snow. She stood there, completely unnoticed for a while until she opened her mouth to speak. "Edward, I-" she stopped suddenly, catching what she was about to say. "...thank you," she said softly. "For the rose." He looked at her, knowing there was something else, but deciding to ignore it.

"You're welcome," he said softly. She stood there for a while, then, deciding there was no point in standing there, she went back up the stairs and into her bedroom.

She paused briefly in the doorway, whispering the three words she was going to say but didn't. "I love you."

(A/N: Thankgiving is coming! I can't believe it. Wow, how time flies. G2G. Hasta la vista, bebe... hehehehe...)