Carlisle was in his office reading a medical journal, and I was hiding in my room. I needed to ask his advice, but I didn't want to do so with Emmett still in the house so I was impatiently waiting for Rosalie to take him hunting. I knew that without Emmett to egg him on, Jasper wouldn't give me any grief when I asked Carlisle for advice on how to befriend Bella Swan.

Finally, I heard the pair leave the house and I waited until they were out of ear shot before I started to make my way towards Carlisle's office. I paused outside the large double oak doors for a moment before I found the courage to knock.

Come in. Carlisle thought pointedly in my direction.

I opened the doors and softly closed them behind me. Carlisle was sitting behind his mahogany desk, lounging back comfortably as he read. I approached him and sat opposite on one of the wing-back chairs. Carlisle finished the page he was reading before he closed his book and gave me a warm smile, "What can I do for you, son?"

I didn't know where to begin, and I briefly wished Carlisle could read my mind rather than the other way around. "I need some advice." I began

Carlisle frowned, "What's troubling you?"

"I want to befriend Bella, but I find myself…" I paused for a moment, "Experiencing some difficulties." I eventually said.

"Difficulties?" Carlisle repeated neutrally.

I sighed and ran a frustrated hand through my hair, "She's a challenging girl, every time I speak with her she responds in a way I find entirely queer."

It was impossible to miss Carlisle's amusement with my situation no matter how much he tried to hide it. "Yes, sometimes humans can surprise us." He relented with an amused smirk,

"Dad, please." I sighed, "I don't know what to do here. I don't know how to talk to her, she confounds me completely."

"Perhaps that's a good thing." Carlisle suggested.

I stared at him agape, "How can that be a good thing?" I grumbled,

Carlisle offered me a fatherly smile, "You want my advice?" He asked and I quickly nodded, "Just keep trying, ask her questions about herself, find some common ground. Friendships don't just happen, they take work." Perhaps she confuses him so much because he fancies her, I wonder if his desire to befriend her is not something more romantic.

I made a point to ignore Carlisle's inner musings, "Alright, I'll try. Thanks Carlisle." I slowly stood up,

"Anytime, son." Carlisle replied.

I didn't want to admit to myself, let alone Carlisle, that I was indeed smitten with Bella. Nothing good could come of it, and if I were a better man I would leave the poor girl alone entirely. As luck would have it, I was not a better man, hell I was barely a man at all.

XxXx

I crossed my arms over my chest and lent against my car as I stared across the school parking lot. I didn't want to go inside yet, I wanted to make sure Bella turned up and that she was okay. Perhaps I could go over to her and offer to walk her to her first class, that's something that friend's did, right?

I heard the deafening roar of her truck's engine well before I saw it. Bella carefully drove into the lot and parked across from me. I noticed that her side mirror was gone, snapped clean off. I frowned at the sight, that wasn't very safe and I hoped she fixed it soon. I briefly wondered how it had happened. Did she get into an accident? When would she have found the time? Between this and the bruises I was beginning to think the girl was just a magnet for danger.

I tried not to be obvious as I watched Bella get out of her truck. She slammed the door as if she were personally angry with the vehicle, and then she paused. Bella slowly moved to the back of the truck and she bent slightly to look at her tyres.

Bella seemed to hear it the same time I did. The terrible sound of screeching tyres against asphalt caused her to bolt upright. I looked across the lot to see the blue van skidding out of control on the ice, and heading straight for Bella.

I could see what was about to happen in my mind's eye. The images clear in my head, as if I had temporarily gained my sister's gift. The van would continue to serve out of control and Bella would become trapped between her truck and the oncoming vehicle. Her small, fragile body would bend and break and bleed as she cried out in pain. No one would be able to help her, no one would be strong enough to pull her from the wreckage as she continued to bleed out onto the asphalt. Red blood pooling against the black ground. Her cries for help would slowly weaken, and eventually stop as her heart eventually beat its last. Bella Swan would die a painful death.

No. I would not allow it.

I was moving before I even formulated a plan. My only thought was that I had to do anything to protect Bella. I had to save her. A rush of vampiric impulses drowned out any rational thought.

Protect her. Save her. Mine.

I rushed across the parking lot, moving faster than I ever had before, and I grabbed Bella in my arms. I pulled her against my chest protectively. I heard her whimper from the force of my embrace, but I couldn't stop to think about it, she still wasn't safe. I had pushed her out of the way of the van, but it hit the end of Bella's truck and once again veered towards us. I could feel Bella's panicked struggles, but she was helpless against my supernatural strength.

I swiftly raised my hand, and the side of the van crumpled around my iron skin.

I could feel Bella's frenzied heart beat. I was still holding her firmly against my chest and her warm body pulsated against mine as she collected herself from the terrifying experience. Slowly, I was coming back to myself. Gradually my head cleared and I was able to think clearly, rationally, no longer driven by the animalistic impulse to protect.

What the hell had I done?

I had saved Bella's life, but at what cost?

There was a roar of activity around us and I did my best to ignore the yelling and screaming, both mental and verbal. I needed to fix this, and I needed to fix this now. I needed to determine what Bella saw, and then somehow get her to believe that she didn't see anything.

Bella had begun to squirm in my arms again, but I didn't let her go. I circled my arms around her warm body and held her against me. I tried not to think too much about how much I enjoyed having her so close.

"Be careful, Bella. I think you hit your head." I whispered in her ear, trying to ooze every ounce of charisma I had into the words.

Bella shook her head angrily, "No, I didn't. I'm fine." She argued adamantly.

I resisted the urge to sigh, "You should stay still anyway, until the paramedics come."

Bella's eyes widened dramatically as she renewed her struggle. She was wriggling and writhing in my arms and I didn't need to read her mind to understand the sheer amount of panic that she was experiencing due to my words. I couldn't for the life of me understand why the mere thought of paramedics would make her so terrified. It was more than anxiety, or perhaps a fear of needles or hospitals, no this was complete and utter terror. A completely animalistic fear response, as if the idea of going to a hospital was likeable to her own execution.

I could hear her heart beat rapidly in her chest, "No!" She gasped out in a desperate attempt to plead her case. Her wide doe brown eyes stared up at me, and the fear I could see in there broke my undead heart.

Bella continued to struggle, and part of me wanted to release her, to try and ease her fears and her worries, but I couldn't. I needed to keep her still long enough to determine what risks she now posed to me and my family. Bella planted her hands against my chest and their warmth seemed to seep into my very soul. A soul I had long since thought I had lost, but having her touch me renewed my faith.

Bella pressed her hands against me, she furrowed her brow and… shoved me.

With more strength than was humanly possible, Bella Swan pushed me away from her.

I was stunned. Wide eyed with shock I watched as Bella stood up in the tight space between the two vehicles and dusted off her top and pants as if what had just happened was a minor incident and not a brush with death itself. It was incomprehensible, simply impossible. There was no way she should be able to push me away like that. How could a small, fragile, human girl posses so much strength?

Emmett's ludicrous jibe about her humanity suddenly came rushing back. Good Lord, what if he was right? What if Bella was… something else? No. I couldn't believe it. Everything else about her screamed human, that it was foolhardy to think otherwise. Besides, if Emmett was right I would never hear the end of it.

I still hadn't moved from where I sat on the damp ground, and I continued to stare stupidly up at Bella as she grabbed the side of her truck and jumped onto the bed of the truck with elegance and grace.

I could hear Bella's friend's frantic screeching as they saw her appear. I did my best compose myself as I stood up. I frowned down at the hand-shaped dent in the van and discreetly manipulated the metal to look less… hand-shaped. I could hear my sibling's thoughts from across the lot, decades of exposure meant that I was particularly in tune to their minds. Varying degrees of shock and anger emanated towards me, along with some colourful threats from Rosalie. I immediately wanted to tell them what had happened, that I had momentarily lost control of myself and my instincts. I also wanted to tell them about Bella's unnatural strength, but I was somewhat hesitant to do so. It just seemed so outrageous, so incredibly ridiculous I was sure that my family wouldn't believe me.

I jumped up onto the bed of Bella's truck just in time to hear her loudly exclaim how I had saved her life.

"What? He wasn't anywhere near you." Angela Weber replied.

"Actually, I was just walking past when I saw what was happening." I quickly interrupted, hoping to do away with any doubts as to my role in today's events.

Bella spun around and when she saw me crouching on the bed of her truck she smiled warmly up at me, "Need a hand?" She asked as she held out her hand for me. I was once again, stunned. Rendered momentarily mute by her kindness and beauty. I had no doubt that she had witnessed my horrible display, and yet here she was, willingly offering to help me. I placed my ice cold hand in hers, and I silently relished in her warmth as I curled my fingers around hers. I did my best to place minimal weight on her as I jumped out of the truck.

"You should really let someone check you out, you could be concussed." I implored her.

Bella took a minuscule step back, moving away from me and taking her hand out of mine. I immediately missed the contact. What was it about her that drove me to insanity?

Bella's demeanour changed, and her posture became tight and defensive. "I'm fine!" She sneered, her eyes narrowed as she looked me over with calculating eyes. "What about you?" She demanded, "Maybe you need to be checked out by the paramedics."

Bella stared me down, as if she were silently daring me to argue with her. I think we both knew that I didn't need any medical assistance. Our stalemate was broken as the ambulance came rushing onto the scene, quickly followed by a police car. I could see that it was the Chief who was arriving on scene, and I was hopeful I would be able to play on a father's worry for their only child to get Bella's head examined by Carlisle. Just long enough to confirm she did have a non-existent concussion.

Bella obviously recognised her father's car and she groaned to herself, "Well, this is the second bad thing to happen today. Two down, one to go." She muttered angrily to herself and I couldn't help but smirk at her. What an odd thing to say. Not to mention she seemed significantly more put out over her father's appearance than the accident itself.

Chief Swan wasted no time speaking to anyone else as he roughly shouldered his way through the crowd and approached his child. Immediately I tried to tune into his mind, hoping to use his own worried thoughts against him in the oncoming conversation. But where his mind should have been was simply… silence. Exactly like his daughter, Chief Swan was completely silent to me.

"Bella, are you alright?" Chief Swan demanded,

Seeing my opening I took a step forward, "Chief Swan," I greeted politely, "I think Bella hit her head. She really should be going to the hospital to be checked out."

Without moving from where he stood in front of Bella, Chief Swan turned his head to stare at me. He narrowed his eyes at me and I saw him clench his jaw. I couldn't help but feel like he was… studying me. It felt as if, with a single glance he suddenly knew everything about me, and the feeling was completely unnerving. "Thank you son, but I asked my daughter. Not you." He grumbled angrily, and I had to resist the bizarre urge to step back. I had never felt like this when confronted by a human before, hell I had rarely felt this way when confronted by a vampire before. The hostile glint in his eye seemed to set off alarm bells in my brain, warning me to tread very carefully. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from immediately apologising to him. Simply put, Chief Charlie Swan was an incredibly intimidating man.

"I'm fine, Dad. Edward saved me. He pulled me out of the way." Bella's words came tumbling out of her mouth, and I could see her quickly looking between me and her father as if she were expecting a brawl to break out and was bracing herself to come between us.

I still needed to get the Chief on board and I rushed to say, "Chief Swan, I really think it would be best if Bella went and got looked at by a doctor." I didn't like how closely my tone resembled begging, but if that's what it took I would happily beg on my knees. I needed Bella away from all these people. I needed her alone so I could talk to her. And preferably I needed her diagnosed with a head injury in case I had to discredit her later.

Chief Swan's mouth was a firm line as he scowled at me. "Thank you for your concern, but if my daughter says she is okay I am inclined to believe her." He said coldly.

I watched as the Chief's expression softened as he turned back to his daughter. He went from menacing and fearsome, to loving and kind. Their eyes met and they seemed to hold a silent conversation between the two of them for a moment, before the Chief nodded to Bella and she returned the gesture with earnest.

I was utterly baffled by these developments, so much so that I only noticed that Bella had slipped away when she was already disappearing into the crowd.

"Bella!" I called out. I knew she heard me, but she chose to actively ignore me instead. She simply picked up her pace and vanished into the school building.

It was critical that I speak with her, I had to know that she wouldn't say anything to anyone about what she had seen. I also had questions of my own. I wanted to understand how she pushed me away, how something like that could be possible for a girl so painstakingly human.

Much to my chagrin, Bella dodged me at every opportunity. It was irritating beyond belief, and the more she avoided me the more angry I became at her. At least I knew that relief would come as soon as biology class began. Bella was my lab partner, she wouldn't be able to ignore me or dodge my questions. I would have her trapped for an entire hour.

I eagerly attended biology class and started to mentally prepare my questions. However, once Mr Banner started his lecture it was clear that Bella wasn't going to arrive. She would rather ditch class than confront me.

What an insufferably stubborn girl.

A/N: Bam! There you go! I hope you guys liked it! Remember, this is the companion piece to In the Light of the Full Moon. So if you haven't read that one, go ahead and check it out! It's not necessary, you will understand this fic fine without reading that one first. But some things may become a little clearer if you do read that one first. Thanks for reading!