"Okay, we'll stop there for today," said Dr. Tanner, "We'll pick up next class with wave-particle duality. Make sure to read the chapter before class."

Bella snapped her laptop shut with relief. Chem 101 was a royal pain in her ass. She was kicking herself for declaring a Biology minor, and it was only her first week. Edward, of course, had a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from MIT.

"You'll learn to like it," Edward promised as they walked towards the parking lot, "Chemistry makes up the fundamental building blocks of our universe. It's really fascinating stuff."

"Yeah, sure." Bella grumbled. It had begun to rain and she walked quickly, wanting to get to the car as fast as possible.

"I could tutor you."

"No thanks. I'll figure it out myself."

As they approached, Bella noticed a crowd of people gathered at the far edge of the lot. Blue lights flashed beyond the crowd – a police car.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Edward was silent for a moment, scanning the thoughts of the people in the crowd. "There's a body," he reported, "the police think his neck was slashed by an animal. A wolf or a feral dog, maybe."

"Woah." said Bella. She shouldered her way into the crowd, ignoring Edward's attempt to steer her back towards the car.

The police had already set up a makeshift privacy tent with large blue tarps. Alongside it was parked a white van marked "CLALLAM COUNTY CORONER". Two officers stood at the front of the crowd, preventing the onlookers from getting too close. Overhead, the whirring blades of a news helicopter approached.

A hand appeared between two of the blue tarps and out walked an officer. Bella recognized his mustache and kind face immediately. She breathed a sigh of relief to know that Charlie Swan was still alright. Laurent had kept his promise… so far. Charlie Swan was speaking to the coroner intently, but from her distance and drowned out by the noise of the helicopter his words were unintelligible.

As she continued to watch, two paramedics wheeled a stretcher out of the tent and towards the back of the van. On it was a roughly human-sized lump covered by a white sheet. Suddenly, Bella was overcome with the smell of blood. It wasn't fresh, like living human blood, but it was far more intense. Bella realized she was so thirsty. Her vision began to tunnel.

The two paramedics had wheeled the body into the back of the van and were stepping out, about to close the doors. The burning in her throat intensified, nearly unbearable. No. She wouldn't let her prey get away. Tensing, she prepared to barrel her way through the crowd towards the van. She focused her attention on one of the paramedics, the one that was younger, prettier.

A hand clamped on Bella's shoulder. She tried to shrug it off, but its grip held firm. She glanced behind her. Edward. Bella sneered at him, enraged. How dare he try to stop her?

"Not. Now. Bella." Edward hissed through clenched teeth.

Bella twisted and thrashed, trying to break away from him. A few of the students nearby began to take notice.

"Hey!" a girl with a pink backpack grabbed Edward's sleeve, trying to pull him away, "what are you doing? Let go of her!"

Edward glanced at the girl but didn't loosen his grip. Realizing that they were causing a scene, Bella inhaled sharply and forced herself to calm. After several long moments, her vision began to clear. Finally, Edward let go of Bella's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked Bella, still shooting glares at Edward.

"Yeah, fine, thanks." Bella replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Want us to drive you home?" she gestured to herself and a second girl who was with her.

"Um, no thank you, that's not necessary."

"Let's go," Edward muttered, grabbing Bella by the wrist. She allowed herself to be led briskly out of the crowd, back towards Edward's car. The rain intensified to a downpour, soaking through Bella's clothes almost instantly.

"I'm sorry," Bella said, almost pleading, "I just got into a frenzy, it-it came over me all at once."

"It's not your fault. We'll take you hunting tonight." Edward said tersely as he unlocked the car, shaking wet hair out of his eyes. "I shouldn't have let you go so long without a meal. I forgot you're a newborn. You need to drink more frequently than the rest of us."

Bella stepped into the Volvo. "You're not mad?" she asked weakly, knowing she sounded like a whiny child.

"No. I signed up for this." Edward replied, his hand on Bella's headrest as he reversed out of the parking spot. "A crowd of humans around a mauled body? It was a disaster waiting to happen."

The drive home was silent. Edward drove fast. Faster than usual. Bella listened to the steady rhythm of the windshield wipers and watched the raindrops roll down her passenger window.

By the time Edward pulled into the Cullen's underground garage, Bella's dripping hair had left a small puddle on the leather seat. She entered the house and stood shivering in the foyer. Being a vampire meant she was immune to the cold, but she could certainly still feel the wet.

"Just us," said Edward.

No one else had arrived home yet. The other Cullens were still in class and Carlisle was working at the community clinic. Esme didn't appear to be home either. Bella remembered that she had mentioned a Pilates class that she attended in the afternoons.

Edward's hair stuck to his forehead and his wet shirt clung to him, revealing the toned form of his shoulders and chest. Bella looked away.

"Come with me," he said, "You can borrow some of my dry clothes for now."

"Thanks." Bella was relieved. She had only one outfit of her own – the one she had been wearing when the accident happened. And it was getting ragged from being over worn. For the past few days she had been borrowing clothes from Alice and Esme at their insistence. Alice had promised to take her shopping for a new wardrobe at the end of the week.

She followed Edward up the stairs, curious to see what his room looked like. It was on the second floor, at the end of the mezzanine.

Like Alice's room, Edward's had no bed. The only furniture to sit on was a chic white daybed. A tall spider plant stood against one of the huge windows, looking out into the forest beyond, and two doors opened onto a small balcony. There was a large bookshelf on one wall of the room. Besides books, it included a stereo, a row of old trophies, and a few framed photos. Bella reached out and brushed dust away from one of them.

It was a group of three people; two seated women and a teenage boy standing behind them, memorialized in black and white. The women wore high-necked dresses with ruffled bodices. The boy wore a suit and bowtie, and his hair was parted severely down the middle. All three of them looked very serious.

"My mother… and her siblings." said Edward, looking over Bella's shoulder. He smiled a little and pointed to the woman on the right. "That's her. It's the only picture I have."

Bella squinted at the photo. The woman's face was grainy, but she could see a fair resemblance to Edward.

"When was it taken?" she asked,

"'94 I think. Before I was born. My Uncle Bill died in the war." He tapped the teenage boy.

Bella realized that he meant 1894, not 1994. Uncle Bill must have died in World War I. She suppressed a shiver, realizing once again that the Cullens were vastly older than she was.

Edward pulled open his dresser drawers. "The other one is my Aunt Phoebe. She died young also. Tuberculosis – 'consumption' we called it back then. But I have distant cousins still living in the Chicago area."

He handed Bella a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "You can wear these until your clothes dry. They're a bit big — sorry. When Alice comes home I'm sure she'll have something that fits you better."

"Thanks." Bella murmured, accepting the clothes. She felt the lump rising in her throat again. "Do you miss her? Your mom?"

Edward looked down, carefully closing the drawers in his dresser. "Yeah," he said, "I miss her."

In her room, Bella put on the clothes Edward had given her. The shirt was blue and black plaid flannel, soft on her diamond skin. She buttoned it down the front and rolled up the sleeves. The sweatpants were baggy, but she was just glad that they were dry.

Pulling out her laptop, she mentally groaned and opened the pdf of her chemistry textbook. She would need to reread the chapter they had covered today, and also prepare for tomorrow's chapter. She flipped to a blank page in her notebook and wrote "Chapter 3" at the top.

Deep in the throes of wave-particle duality, Bella hardly noticed when the door downstairs opened and closed. Voices floated up from the first floor, indistinct despite her sharp hearing. After a few minutes, the intensity of the voices rose somewhat, and snippets of conversation reached her ears.

".. You let her…. how … can't believe you…"

Edward's voice replied but the words were unintelligible.

Bella looked up from her notes, though she didn't intend to eavesdrop.

"I told you …newborn!"

Despite her better judgement, Bella slid off the bed and walked out of her room. She quietly made her way down to the second floor landing.

"Like I said, I had everything under control." Edward was saying, his voice low but forceful.

Below, Bella could see Jasper and Alice in the living room, across from Edward. Alice sat on the edge of the couch looking rather defeated. Jasper paced in front of her.

"It's not. sustainable." he whisper-shouted, "she could have exposed all of us. Sooner or later—"

Bella started down the first floor staircase, making herself known. All three Cullens turned toward her. Jasper quickly cut off mid-sentence.

"I made a mistake." said Bella.

"Bella – " Edward cut in. Bella ignored him.

"I put us all at risk…and I should have known better. I'm sorry." She met Jasper's gaze. "It won't happen again."

Jasper stayed silent, as though evaluating her apology.

Bella swallowed and looked down. "I hope… I hope you can still allow me to stay here. But if not… I understand."

There was a long pause. Bella shifted on her feet, uncomfortable. Edward looked from Jasper to Bella, and back to Jasper. Internally, she was begging the Cullens to let her stay. Over the past few days, she realized she had really come to enjoy living with them.

"Jasper." Alice hissed, nudging him hard.

Jasper cleared his throat. "That's not how we treat family." he said finally. "Just… be more careful. Please."

Bella nodded. Relieved, she couldn't suppress a small smile. Did the Cullens really think of her as family already?

"Come on," Edward said, gesturing at Bella, "Let's get your appetite under control."