"Can I have the first shower?" Bella asked Edward.

While she loved Jake, she wasn't a huge fan of being covered in his fur and saliva.

Edward furrowed his brow. "Shouldn't we…you know…talk?"

Why was it that Edward always wanted to talk? Hadn't he ever heard of peace and quiet?

"About what?" Bella said. "I'm completely calm."

Why was it that Edward always wanted to talk? Hadn't he ever heard of peace and quiet?

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about," Edward said, running a hand through his hair. You seem completely unphased by what just happened. Given your previous…resistance to the supernatural I would expect you to be frightened."

Frightened? Why would she be frightened? So what if Jake morphed into a giant wolf on her front lawn? She'd seen much scarier things and lived to tell the tale.

"What happened today was serious," Edward said. "Normal Quiletes coming here would have been bad enough, but shapeshifters? There will be war if anyone finds out. Jake should have known better than to violate the treaty."

What treaty? While Quiletes rarely came to Forks, that wasn't because any laws prevented them from doing so. Jake always said it was because they had everything they needed on the reservation. What if that wasn't true? If the past few weeks had taught Bella anything, it was that there was far more to Forks than what met the eye.

Before Bella could ask for an explanation, Midnight appeared at the edge of the yard. As usual, she'd broken out of the house for a day of adventures while Bella was away at school.

"And where have you been?" Edward asked, scowling.

Midnight meowed.

"What do you mean, priorities?" Edward asked. "I thought protecting Bella was your priority."

Midnight sniffed Bella's legs. Bella braced herself but no claws came out. Strange. She usually threw a fit when other animals came anywhere near her owner.

"Harmless!" Edward exclaimed. "That thing tried to rip my throat out…twice!"

Midnight looked at Edward's scratched hand.

"Oh!" Edward exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Mostly harmless. That makes me feel a lot better."

Midnight started to lick her paw.

"My fault?" Edward asked. "How could him trying to kill me be my fault?"

Midnight continued licking her paw.

Edward stiffened. "He may think that but it isn't true. I wouldn't be here if it was."

Midnight glanced between Bella and the woods.

"And you'd be okay with that?" Edward asked.

Okay with what? First Jake, now Midnight. Bella was getting tired of hearing only half the conversation.

Edward reached out and tapped Bella's throat.

"One second," Edward said. "That's all it would take. One second and we'd lose her forever."

Bella rolled her eyes. It was Jake, not some terrifying monster. He'd never hurt her. Edward on the other hand…Bella couldn't make any promises.

"Some guardian you are!" Edward exclaimed. "If you won't protect her I will!"

Midnight hissed.

"Know my place?" Edward shouted. "I'm the crowned prince of Forks! I may look like a teenager, but I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"

Midnight scratched Edward on the shin and darted off into the woods. Bella didn't bother to follow. Midnight wouldn't be found unless she wanted to be found.

"Care to tell me what that was about?" Bella asked.

Edward didn't answer.

"Cat got your tongue, huh?" Bella asked.

Edward started to say something only for Bella to cut him off by slapping her forehead. "Oh wait, I forgot. My cat isn't a cat. She's some sort of mythical being meant to protect me from monsters. But you don't want to talk about that, do you?"

What was one supposed to feed a guardian? Steak? Salmon? The blood of her enemies? Definitely not Fancy Feast.

"Bella, I-" Edward said.

"Speaking of monsters, I bet you don't want to talk about what happened at my Dad's house, do you?" Bella asked.

"I do want to,"-Edward started.

"There really was a vampire upstairs, wasn't there?" Bella said. "You tried to warn me, but like a fool, I confused the sound of footsteps with the wind."

Bella thought of her former house. Next door lived an elderly librarian and an ever-expanding colony of cats. Next to her lived a retired marine and his wife. Across from the marine lived a brown-haired teenager who loved nothing more than football and making Bella Swan's life a living hell.

"The vampire got Mike, didn't it?" Bella asked. "It couldn't get us so it went for him instead."

Bella didn't know whether she should laugh or cry. On one hand, she'd never again be bothered by "the Newt." On the other, there was a blood-thirsty vampire enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet of local teenagers. In the end, Bella chose to cry.

"That was Jake and his pack in the woods, wasn't it?" Bella asked, tears streaming down her face. "They were hunting the vampire, like in legends. But you don't want to talk about that."

Mr. Black told a frightened five-year-old Bella that there weren't really vampires in La Push. The cold ones in the legends were meant to represent white settlers that tried to take the Quileute's land. Bella wondered what other legends were true. Santa Claus? Bigfoot? The Lochness monster?

"That's why Jake attacked you, isn't it?" Bella asked. "Because he thought you were a vampire. But you don't want to talk about that."

Jake thought he was protecting her from a bloodthirsty monster. A monster his pack was born to kill.

"Bella," Edward said. "Please don't-

"Please don't what?" Bella asked. "Please don't make that creepy fog come back?"

Why was it that she was only now finding out about this? How many fractures, burns, and cuts could have been avoided if she'd known it were possible to spawn forcefields? Could she have saved her parents?

"It's not fog," Edward said. "It's a shield. Emmett and I-"

Emmett! Bella had nearly forgotten about him. He was the force that set everything into motion. If not for him, she wouldn't have given that dusty old coffin a second glance. If not for Emmett, she'd probably be safe and sound at school unaware that Forks was crawling with monsters. If not for Emmett, she wouldn't have Edward.

"You probably don't want to talk about Emmett either, do you?" Bella said, tears streaming down her face. "Unlike me, he's not a total moron. He's known about the vampires and shapeshifters this whole time, hasn't he?" Bella took a deep breath and focused on Edward. "He knows about you too, doesn't he?"

Edward smiled. "What does Emmett know about me?"

Bella clenched her fist. "Who you are."

Say it, Bella." Edward said, taking Bella's hand. "Say it out loud. Who am I?"

She couldn't say it out loud. She wouldn't say it out loud. She had to say it out loud.

"You are the Son of King Luke II and Queen Esme," Bella said. "Edward Masen, Prince of Forks."

Edward smiled and kissed her hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Warmth spread from Bella's hand to the rest of her body. If Edward was who he said he was, then what did that mean for her? Did she get a choice? Did she want a choice?

Someone grabbed Bella's shoulders. On a normal day, she would have jumped, maybe even screamed depending on how off guard she'd been caught. On that day, a day about as far from normal as one could get, Bella didn't even flinch.

Emmett took note of Bella's tear-streaked cheeks and Edward's ruffled hair. "Let me guess, werewolf out of the bag?"

"Shapeshifter," Bella said. "The correct term is shapeshifter. Jacob Black, my best friend, is a shapeshifter."

It felt good to say it out loud for all the world to hear. She'd probably end up in an asylum, but at least she'd finally accepted the truth.

Emmett grinned at Edward. "Told you she'd come around eventually."

Alice came outside and joined them on the front lawn.

Alice looked at Edward, who was still holding hands with Bella, and smiled."Told you it would all work out. You just needed to be patient."

Bella immediately dropped Edward's hand as if she'd been burned. Meddling with her wardrobe was bad enough. But her love life or lack thereof? That was off-limits.

Alice froze. She was still making eye contact with Edward, but Bella didn't think she was seeing him.

"Carlisle will be home soon," Alice said. "He'll want to see us all in the dining room."

Bella and Emmett exchanged worried looks. The last time Carlilse called a family meeting it was to announce that he'd been offered a position at the Mayo clinic. While he didn't end up taking the job, the thought of leaving Forks had them all on edge for weeks.

"Has he decided yet?" Emmett asked.

"No," Alice replied. "Not yet. He didn't think this day would ever come."