AN: None of these characters belong to me; they are all the work of Stephenie Meyer.

This will only be from Bella PoV, and so will the next chapter. I am running out of time, New Moon ships this week from Amazon. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story even if the chapters are a little shorter.

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18 Time alone – Bella

The first weekend of summer vacation, I spent in Edward's room. The cover story was that Alice wanted to have a slumber slash makeover party, and since Charlie would be fishing all weekend, he was glad to know I wouldn't be bored or alone.

Edward and I planned to spend the majority of the time alone in his room. Of course, he did have plans for Saturday night, which included dinner out. I made Edward promise nothing fancy, but when he warned me Alice bought me a dress for the occasion, I tried to protest, but he gently coaxed me by saying it would please Alice, and that Alice assured him it was a simple dress. Simple in Alice's eyes meant sleek, stylish, and probably too expensive, but I unwillingly gave in because I had nothing else in my meager wardrobe to wear to a stylish restaurant. I knew Edward would not down grade, but it was worth a try. Alice was ecstatic about the date because it meant she would do my hair and makeup, except this time I gave her a one-hour limit. I told her if she couldn't do it in an hour than she was doing too much. Beside, I had no intension of spending the entire day imprisoned in Alice's luxurious bathroom.

Edward told me the dinner was my reward for passing my trig exam, something that might not have happened if Jasper hadn't been around to keep me calm just as he promised.

He did have one teacher who stopped to ask what he was doing loitering outside the classroom door. In the typical Cullen-Hale manner, he smiled at her – yes it was a female teacher – and told her he had a message for me from my doctor, his dad, but it wasn't important enough to disturb the test, but it was important enough to wait for me to leave class. I imagine she melted at his smile and from that point on he wouldn't have had to say anything, but he did and his soft alluring voice probably caused her heart to beat wildly and she probably experienced a shortness of breath. He didn't tell me her response, but it was probably something like 'whatever you do is fine with me' and then wishing he'd do whatever with her. It was all very predictable because I'd seen it happen so often with all of the family, male and female alike.

Edward used the same tactic on Ms. Cope in the office on my first day of class, but that time it failed as he tried to change his biology class. I was extremely pleased it didn't work. Maybe fate had already taken a hand in my life.

I drove over to the Cullen house soon after Charlie left on his fishing trip. As I drew closer to the house, I decided either Alice had a vision, or Edward had heard my truck because he was standing on the front porch waiting for me. As soon as I reached him, he rushed me up to his room. I had little time to say hello to anyone.

"What's the rush?" I inquired breathlessly. I felt embarrassed by my apparent rudeness caused by my brief greeting to Carlisle and Esme. "And I noticed, besides Carlisle and Esme, no one else is around."

Edward just smiled. "That was the whole point. Jasper's keeping Alice occupied so I could get you alone before she railroaded you into her bathroom."

"For that I am heartily grateful. So, where are Emmett and Rosalie?"

"Let's just say for his own good Emmett is distancing himself from you, as per my request." I noticed his crooked smile slowly spread across his lips.

I felt like I missed some kind of inside joke. "Okay, so why are you requesting Emmett to keep his distance from me?"

His smiled broadened more. "So, what would you like to do today?"

"Have you answer my question." I stomped my foot in frustration. I didn't like it when he avoided answering my questions, especial since there were times when he asked questions I didn't want to answer but he'd smile and look deeply into my eyes and I would blurt out the answer without conscious thought.

He growled playfully as he stared at me, and then leaped. I instantly closed my eyes and felt myself sailing through the air. When I finally opened them, I found myself cradled in his arms on his sofa.

I laughed remembering the first time he did that. It scared me, surprised me, and thrilled me all at the same time. I liked it when he became playful, but I did have an idea of how I wanted to spend the day.

"Edward, do realize every time we are together, we spend most of that time locked in each others arms? Now, don't get me wrong. I love your arms around me, but what does everyone else do just to have fun?" I could tell from the hungry look in his golden eyes just what he was thinking, so I quickly amended my comment. "Besides that, what do the others do just for fun?"

"Throw snowballs, race through the forest, play baseball, hunt; you know the usual." He grinned knowing I did not excel in athletic activities and he'd already said I wasn't allowed to watch him hunt.

"Ha ha, that's very funny. There must be something we could do together that would be entertaining and interesting, yet not involve, you know, the other thing." There went that blush again. Would I ever be able to talk to him candidly without blushing?

A thoughtful look came over Edwards face. "That is an interesting question, and brings up another interesting one. Is our relationship based on any other interests besides the physical attraction?"

"Or the scent attraction for that matter?" I countered.

"Oh, because I find your scent so intoxicating?" He gave one of his most alluring smiles.

"And visa versa," I replied.

He blew his breath on my face. "You mean like that?"

"Do you have any idea of the effect your scent has on me? Do you remember when you said I was your brand of heroin? Well, the same is true of you. Even that first night, when you handed me your jacket to keep me warm, I couldn't resist your scent that clung to that jacket. I can some times tell when you're walking up behind me because of your scent." I was leaning toward him because I found his scent as irresistible as he found the scent of my blood.

A sigh escaped Edwards slightly parted lips. "And I though you liked the smell of leather? You can really smell my scent on my clothes and in the air? Bella, you shouldn't be able to do that. I should only be noticeable when I breathe on you like this," and he gently blew on my face again, but this time I nearly passed out. "Bella, are you okay?"

"No. Twice too close together overwhelms my sense. Do it again," I smiled weakly, "and I will totally pass out on you." I noticed I was still cradled to him.

"Only you Bella, no one else has ever been as affected in this manner like you. It only increases my belief that you are a very unique human being."

"Everybody keeps telling me that, but I still find it hard to believe."

"What do you mean everyone?"

"Well, awhile back Jasper and Alice both pointed out the fact that for a human I was special. In their opinion, more special than other humans they've generally met."

"They're right. You are one of a kind." He chuckled.

"I'm odd, in other words, like I don't fit in with everyone else." I frowned at the thought; it was what I always felt about myself.

"No, you're not odd. Let's call you exceptionally unique. If I looked for the next one hundred years, I don't think I'd every find anybody else like you."

"That means I would be an exceptionally unique vampire also, given the chance." I knew what was coming next, so before he could utter a word, I rushed right on. "But that does not answer my current question? What can you and I do together just for fun? Do we have any common interests that we can share with each other?" I pushed away from him and sat upright on the sofa. If we were going to talk, we needed to break from our romantic embrace.

"Nicely side stepped."

I turned toward him and tried to put as shocked a look on my face as possible. "I don't have any idea about what you are talking about."

"Oh come on Bella," there was that crooked smile again. "You deliberately changed the subject."

Trying to sound offended, I replied, "No, I was returning the conversation to the subject at hand. Do we not have any interests in common? Is there nothing we could do together that would be fun and entertaining?" Now I was becoming a little worried that our only shared interest was the physical love we felt, but a good relationship had to be built on more than that. I felt so strongly about this that I told him what I had just thought. "Edward, a relationship is built on more than just the attraction we have for each other," and without realizing it, I added aloud, "Maybe that is why mom and Charlie's relationship did not work out?" That realization made me feel sad and a little empty inside.

Edward looked thoughtful and then asked. "What do you enjoy doing?"

From his look, I could tell Edward was beginning to take our conversation a little more seriously.

"Well, I like to read, and I would lay out in the sun in Phoenix and try to tan while I was reading. As you should have been able to tell when I first got here, tanning didn't work very well."

"What would you and your friends do for fun?"

The decisive moment had arrived. In the past, I avoided this subject, but it was time to reveal the horrible truth about my past in Phoenix. "I didn't really have any friends, just acquaintances." I decided, as long as I had started, I might as well tell him everything. "I usually sat alone at lunch. At night I would do my homework and watch television with my mom, and on weekends, I would clean house and then curl up on the sofa or lie in the sun and read."

"That's sad. Did no one see what a truly lovely and wonderful person you were? Was everyone in Phoenix blind?" For a fleeting instant anger flashed across Edward's perfect features, but then his look softened and empathy replaced the anger. "Poor Bella, alone in the world with only strangers who wouldn't keep you company."

"No, not alone, I did have my mother, and for the most part, I preferred to be alone."

"Yes, but she deserted you by getting married." He caressed my face with his hand. It was an extremely loving and comforting touch.

"But it was her life to live, and she chose to live it with Phil. Maybe that's why I came here to live with Charlie, because I knew he was alone too. Maybe I was thinking we could be alone together." I had a moment of feeling sorry for myself, but then I collected my thoughts and realized we had once again detoured from the original topic. "What do you do, Edward, to have fun?"

"I collect cars and music. I play the piano, but not always for fun. Sometimes music helps when I need to think, or get over being angry. Sometimes I would just go off by myself to be alone, but I don't enjoy that anymore. I don't want to be alone; I want to be with you." His eyes took on a serious look, and then they brightened. "You realize you've changed my world. I had always felt complete in myself. When you entered my life, I discovered a hole I didn't know existed. Then I found out you filled that hole. All the things I though about myself in the past were lies I told myself because I didn't know any better."

"Didn't you ever have a girlfriend before, some one you were serious about or felt something special for?" I really didn't want him to answer this question because if there were someone in his past, I didn't want to know about her.

"Well, there was someone a long time ago, but that was an arranged match."

I noticed he avoided looking in my eyes as he said this. Was she someone he cared for? Did he lose her when Carlisle changed him? Was that why he wouldn't look at me?

"My father arranged it. He thought it would make me happy, and if not happy, at least less lonely."

If it were possible, I would have growled. How could any father do that? Pick someone hoping they might find happiness. "So, what happened?" Did I really want to know?

"She found someone else, and is now very happy," he finally looked at me and I saw the laughter in his eyes.

"Rosalie," I said under my breath.

A deep chuckle escaped his lips as he continued to stare into my eyes. "Yes, can you imagine what my life would've been like if I would've agreed to that match?" He reached out and gently moved a stray piece of hair off my face and behind my ear.

The surge from his touch caught me off guard. It made me wonder if his touch had ever affected Rosalie like that or if she had ever touched him and caused him to feel that way. "How did you know she wasn't what you wanted?"

"First, I never felt interested in her. Second, when we talked, we always ended up yelling at each other. Her voice gets a shriek to it when she is extremely mad, and when she's that mad she throws things."

I saw him slightly shiver, and I knew the temperature didn't cause it so it had to be the memory.

"We're all much happier when she found Emmett, and I gladly relinquished her to him. Not that I ever had her or wanted her, I was just happy Carlisle finally understood that it would never work between us."

"Why do you suppose he choose Rosalie for you in the first place?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe because she was beautiful and thought that's all I needed was someone beautiful, plus I guess she was handy."

"What do you mean handy?"

"She was dying. As I said, Carlisle never changed anyone who wasn't first dying. And what about you, was there never anyone who you had a crush on?"

"No." That was any easy question. I found most boys rather shallow and uninteresting. Even when I was younger, I discovered you couldn't have an intellectual conversation with them. The boys I knew only wanted to talk about sports, cars, and girls, three topics that held little interest for me.

"Why, weren't they pretty or brawny enough?"

I slapped his arm playfully and lightly knowing it would hurt if I hit too hard. "More like nothing interesting upstairs. Now tell me something about you that I don't know."

"Like what?"

"When did you start collecting music?"

"Almost from the beginning of my change," he replied with a far off look in his eyes.

"Tell me more."

"What do you want to know?"

It was at times like these that I wished he could read my mind. "Why did you start collecting it, what makes you choose some and not other, and everything else about your collection."

He took a deep unnecessary breath and began. "I was always interested in music even as a human, but my real talent didn't appear until after Carlisle changed me. From that point on, I could hear things in the music that I hadn't heard before and that fascinated me, so I had to learn more. It helped to go to concerts and then to collect the pieces I really liked. Of course, when I first began my collection it consisted of records. The old records were almost a quarter of an inch thick, very durable unless thrown. That was when I first learned Rose threw things when she became very upset." He paused for a moment and scanned my face.

I figured he was deciding whether I was interested enough for him to continue. My face must have reflected my interest because he started to tell me why some music was better than others in his opinion. He then preceded to explain why he choose to collect some types and not others, how he decided on the merits of individual works, and how his collection progressed from records, to LPs, to 8-track tapes, cassettes, and finally CDs.

When he finished telling me about his music collection, I asked his about his car collection. It was easy to follow his discussion about what made on piece of music worth keeping while another he considered a piece of trash, but when he pointed out the merits of one car over another, I had a hard time understanding some of what he was saying. I remembered mom once advising me that if I was interested in a boy and he started talking about something I was either not interested in or didn't understand, then I should look interested, nod my head a lot and make appropriate short remarks like 'yes, interesting, tell me more, or really.' She said any small acknowledgement like that would assure the boy I was listening and wouldn't reveal my ignorance or disinterest in what he was saying. I used that piece of advice while Edward talked about cars.

I thought I was doing well hiding my lack of understanding until Edward asked. "How much of what I'm saying don't you understand?"

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"Bella, did you understand any of what I said?"

"Yes I did."

"Okay, tell me what you understood about why one car is better than another."

I felt like I was being given a pop quiz over a lecture that had been confusing and for which I had little interest, other than it was Edward who was speaking. "Speed was a factor in choice." Maybe I could redeem myself a little so he wouldn't know how lost I was about what he had been saying.

"What about it?"

"The thing about how long it takes a car to go from 0 mph to 90 mph, and how fast a car is actually able to go." There, that wasn't so bad, I thought.

"What else?" His smile took on a wicked look.

Maybe this would be worse than I thought; I knew I could pull out one more factor I understood. "Gas mileage was another consideration." Maybe I could salvage his opinion of me just a little. "You compare the difference of in town to highway driving, and look at how much fuel each vehicle does or does not burn." I smiled slightly.

"Anything else?" Yes, his smile had a definite edge to it.

I looked away shining topaz eyes. "No." I admitted hanging my head.

Edward chuckled, put his finger under my chin, and tilted my head up so our eyes met. "At least you seemed interested, but I could tell you were lost early on."

"How could you tell?"

"From your eyes, they are very revealing when I take the time to look deeply into them."

"Then why didn't you say something earlier. I would have understood if you had been disappointed in my ignorance."

"I didn't stop because I wanted to see how long you would've let me ramble on, and I wasn't disappointed."

"Then what did you feel?"

"I found it fascinating that you would allow me to bore you without telling me to stop. I wanted to know how long you would've pretended to be interested."

"I would have let you continue until you were ready to stop." I may not have understood what he said, but I loved the tone of his voice and that edge of excitement I heard in it when he talked about his cars he cherished over the years.

"Why?"

"I was enjoying watching and listening to you as you became more animated and excited about your hobby and because you were enjoying yourself,"

"You are amazing Bella. Most girls would have given subtle hints that they were disinterested and wanted to change the topic, but not you. You allowed me free reign, and I actually did enjoy telling you about my cars and my choices, I'm just sorry you were bored."

"Oh no Edward, not bored, just lost. I didn't understand all the car terminology, but I enjoyed hearing about the different cars, even though I have no ideas of what most of them looked like."

"You're amazing Bella." He kissed me lightly. "So tell me, what was your childhood like?"

"Two words, accident prone." I laughed.

"Surely not all of it, there must've been other significant moments." I notice his eyes searching mine as if wanting to see what was in my mind.

"Not really. I generally marked the passage of time by what accident happened around the time."

"What's the first accident you remember?"

"You really want to know?" I looked at him questioningly. What possible interest could it be to him?

"We're building a relationship remember. I want to know every detail of your life."

"Okay, first incident, believe it or not, was when I was about three. Mom kept me in a crib thinking the bars would keep me safe, not that I remember that part, but she told me that a lot. Anyway, I had this teddy bear and he fell out of the crib and I leaned over the railing try to reach him," I stopped as Edward burst out laughing. "Well, if that's your response, I'm not going to finish."

His laughing stopped a little, but his eyes held all the laugher he was not releasing. "No, please," he chuckled a little more, "I want to hear the rest."

"Promise not to laugh." I replied seriously.

He looked at me for a moment and said honestly, "No, I don't think I can promise that, but Bella, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the picture this is creating in my mind. I do promise to try to hold back."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, I guess that will have to do. Anyway, I leaned over and tumbled out. I remember biting my tongue because that was the first time I knew I could smell blood and that it made me dizzy and sick. Mom rushed in because of the crash and the crying. When she asked what happened, I told her teddy pulled me. She had no idea what I meant. She just kept saying everything would be okay, and I didn't have the words to tell her about feeling sick. She didn't learn about the affect of blood on me until I was almost four when I split my chin open falling off a chair. By then I could tell her about the smell and how sick it made me feel just before I passed out."

I noticed Edward shaking silently as he suppressed his laugher as best as possible.

"Okay, enough accident stories or you'll burst. Just let it out and get it over with." I huffed.

Edward's laughter echoed around the room.

I gave him a few minutes before I finally asked, "Are you finished laughing at me?"

"Bella, don't you ever laugh at yourself?" He asked after suppressing some of his laughter.

"No. I generally get angry, maybe not always at myself but at my lack of coordination. I use to believe it was extreme bad luck, but I've discovered luck has nothing to do with it. Instead, it's just part of who I am, admittedly a part I don't like. Now I just try to live with it and avoid people who might get hurt if they're too close when the next accident happens. Maybe that's why I've never really made friends, and maybe that's why I'm so comfortable around you. No matter how accident prone I am, I know I'll never hurt you."

Edward became more serious. "I wish I could say the same," he said thoughtfully.

"What? That you'd like to avoid me?" I countered. I knew he didn't mean that, but I wanted to see what his response would be. He hadn't looked at me when he made the comment so he didn't see the slight smile I had as I replied.

"No!" He looked up instantly, and then paused as he noticed the look on my face. "Don't joke Bella. I worry about your safety especially when you're around me."

This time I laughed. "Who's more dangerous to my life, you or me? I don't need to be around you Edward to put my life in danger. I did that all the time when I was growing up."

"I don't find that funny. I could hurt you without meaning to."

"And I can do the same thing to myself, without meaning to." I countered.

He briefly looked dumbfounded. "Okay, I can't really argue that point any more because you're right. You can be just as dangerous to yourself as I can be." Then he added, "Do you realize we have been talking for sometime without, as you put it, being locked in each others arms? Maybe part of building a relationship is just talking to each other and sharing feelings and thoughts."

"Well, I must admit, I do feel closer to you because of what I have shared and learned. So maybe you're right. We're building our relationship just by talking."

We both smiled as he noted that fact.

"So, I told you what I do for fun, now tell me what did you and your mom do for fun?"

"Sometimes we'd go shopping. We didn't always buy things, sometimes we'd just go into fancy stores and talk about what we'd like to buy, and then daydream about what we'd do with the purchases, or where we'd wear the fancy clothes we had imagined we bought."

"Much like Alice, accept she buys everything she wants and then brings it home to show everyone, and she talks incessantly about where it will all go."

"Yes, she does like to shop." I stopped for a moment lost in thought. "Edward," I paused wondering if I should ask my question and then decided he could only say no but I hoped he'd say yes, "My mom is coming to Seattle next week. She thought this could be our summer vacation. She plans on taking me shopping while we're there." The next part was harder. "Maybe you and Alice could come to Seattle for a few days. You could get to know my mom better, and she could have some time to adjust to us being together. Maybe Alice would like to go shopping with us." I looked at him expectantly but before he could reply, Alice answered from the opposite side of the door.

"Yes, we'll both be there, and I'll see you in one hour Bella to do your hair and makeup."

I smiled at Edward seeking confirmation.

"She decided quickly," he laughed, "And I've learned never to argue with her when it pertains to shopping. I guess we have a date in Seattle."

I liked that idea, besides I had been wondering how hard it would be to be separated from Edward for an entire week. Two-day hunting trips were bad enough, but a whole week was incompressible. "So, what would you like to do for the next fifty minutes?"

"I have a few ideas," he growled playfully as he looked intently at me.

It was a very enjoyable fifty minutes; fifty because I knew Alice would be early.