I awoke to an odd sensation on my skin. As soon as I had the energy to stir and open my eyes, I realized that it was warmth —sunlight. Golden rays of late morning light were beaming through Edward's window, which spanned the entire wall, and warming what little skin I had exposed, namely just my face and a leg I had wrapped around the white comforter.

I gasped as memories of last night came to me in a rush, instantly noticing that I was still naked and that Edward lay beside me under the comforter as well, resting on his side and gazing at me. Rays of sunlight bounced back from his face, making his skin sparkle like a diamond.

"You seem confused," he whispered, a slight smile on his lips. He extended a hand and I felt his thumb on my cheek, and I couldn't help but lean into it.

"Did last night happen?" I found his eyes and saw nothing but tenderness there. I was mesmerized by the light reflecting from him, creating dancing flickers that chased each other on the golden fabric around his room.

"I certainly hope so." Edward grinned at me, although I noticed it didn't quite touch his eyes.

My heart thudded in my chest as he re-positioned himself, sitting upright. I realized he did not redress, either, and I felt my insides turn to liquid. I felt my heart rate increase and understood that he could sense that, too. I tried to regain my composure.

"How long was I out?"

"It's just past ten." He paused and gave me a concerned look. "I have somewhat of an odd request."

I bit my lip nervously as I saw him eyeing me. "Okay, let's hear it."

"Can I examine you?"

"What?"

He frowned slightly, a sadness creeping into his eyes. "I'm worried I might have hurt you last night. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Edward. Really."

"I'd still like to check. You were covered all night and I couldn't see."

I smirked. "Are you sure this isn't just a ploy to see me naked again?"

He laughed. "Maybe that's part of it, but truly I am very nervous. I've been thinking about it the entire time you were asleep. You barely moved, and you didn't talk."

I mentally scanned myself, and then removed the blanket so I was completely uncovered. Edward leaned over, kissing the edge of my jaw, before his eyes examined me in an almost clinical fashion. I watched his eyes linger slightly longer than necessary in certain areas. He extended his hand, and hovered it over my hips. I noticed I had a very faint bruise on each side, in the shape of his hand.

He was suddenly very still, and fell silent.

"Edward, I honestly can't feel it at all. I'm maybe a little… tender, but otherwise I'm… wonderful."

He continued to frown as he sat up, resting against the headboard. "I should probably get Carlisle."

"You don't believe me?" I choked out. Having his father examine me after sex was the last thing I wanted, especially since the placement of his son's hands painted a very strong visual of exactly what we were up to last night. I swallowed. "There is truly no need and I don't want Carlisle to look at me like this."

I got up out of bed, and spun around to prove my point as he remained silent. I felt completely normal. I did a clumsy pirouette to prove my point, and almost fell right back into bed.

"Graceful," he teased, a smile now returning to his face. "That does give me reassurance though that perhaps you are…okay. I'd be more nervous if suddenly you had balance."

"Ha, ha," I fake laughed at him as I crawled back into the huge bed. "How are you this morning?"

He inhaled and looked away from me, his gaze instead turning towards his window, into the sunlight and extending over the mountains. "I don't think I have the right words to describe how I'm feeling."

"Was I so good at sex I made you speechless?"

He smirked and ran a hand through his hair. His topaz eyes came back to mine, suddenly filled with light. It was like he had stored the sun in them. "Well… yes, but that's not quite what I meant."

I sat upright beside him, suddenly nervous as I felt my stomach tighten. "Did I do something wrong?"

Horror painted his face, and his arm reached around me. "No. You were —and are— wonderful. There's no need for you to blame yourself, you know. I meant, I wish that it had happened under different circumstances."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What circumstances?"

"Fear that we might die." He laughed darkly and no humor touched his eyes. "Or, if I'm honest, I always thought we would be married first."

Oh. I'd never considered that. "I don't regret it."

He extended his arm behind me and brought me close to him. The strength of his arms, holding me so close to him, no barriers between us, was perfection. "Neither do I, especially knowing you are supposedly alright."

"Better than alright," I said as my lips found his neck.

"Maybe you should spin around again to show me."

I felt heat rush through me. "Okay," I said simply. I felt much less brave now, in the daylight. I trembled as I got out of the bed and walked around to his side, extending my hands as I spun around close to him.

"I think you should go slower." He said, his voice deeper.

"Am I too fast for your vampire eyes?" I teased as I spun at a comically slow pace, trying carefully not to trip.

"Not at all."

I could feel his eyes watching me. The heat inside me intensified. "See?" I murmured, my voice suddenly shaky. "I'm…whatever word is a thousand times better than alright."

"Still need to work on that vocabulary," he breathed. His stone grasp was on me as he pulled my lips to his own.

It was early afternoon before I made it out of the bedroom.

I could have stayed there forever, if I was honest. I had become a big fan of the bed, and was immensely glad that Edward had purchased it. It was my annoying human urges that required us to leave our oasis —it had been almost twenty hours since I'd eaten anything at all and I was ravenous.

I showered and got dressed quickly, walking alone down the stairs to the kitchen, noticing that once again the sun was gone. I wasn't entirely sure I'd find anything at all there, since nobody in this house ate. But I found Esme, standing near the stove and staring intensely at a completely liquid egg in a pan. "I'm trying to make you breakfast, dear." Esme said, her voice sweet.

"That's really kind of you." I said, looking over at a plate with some toast on it.

"I haven't cooked an egg in decades and I'm afraid I don't know how long to cook it."

I walked over to the stove, passing along the way an empty carton of eggs and a lot of scraped off eggs in the garbage, indicating she'd been trying this for a while. "I can take it from here," I chuckled.

"Will you teach me?"

"Sure," I laughed as I turned the heat to a higher level and whisked the egg directly in the pan. "Do you have any butter?"

"No, sorry. Should we?"

I laughed. "It helps with the sticking."

"Noted," Esme smiled. "I'll pick some up next time I'm at Thriftway."

"Why do you go grocery shopping?" I asked, puzzled as I kept cooking the egg.

Esme smiled. "It helps with appearances, you know. We are supposed to be feeding five teenagers." She laughed as she watched me, her hand delicately resting on my shoulder. Esme was always a little more restrained around me, only because of my human frailty and the temptation that was there that was so hard for them to master.

"Do you…throw it all away then?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, Carlisle takes most of it to the hospital as care packages for the patients and staff sometimes. We keep a few things on hand in case somebody comes over, but it's never happened before you."

"This is very thought out," I smiled at her as I finished cooking the egg. I slid it onto a dish. "Do you have salt?"

"Yes!" She looked excited. "We do have that, it's over here." She moved past me and opened the top cupboard.

As she was pulling the salt down, a noise I hadn't heard in some time floated its way up the stairs. Edward was playing his piano once again.

"Oh!" I gasped, suddenly excited to see Edward.

"Eat first, dear," Esme smiled at me. She put a little tiny amount of salt on the egg. I scooped it onto a slice of the dry toast and ate it as fast as I could before I was dashing off.

"Thank you!" I said as I placed the dish in the sink. "I'll come up to take care of the dishes later."

"No! I've got it. Go see Edward," Esme smiled and I raced out of the kitchen and down the stairs, grabbing another slice of bread on the way out.

The music stopped as I approached, as Edward's gaze found mine. Jasper and Emmett were lounging on a couple sofas nearby, in the main sitting area.

"She lives!" Emmett cried out, laughing. Edward glared at him, an eyebrow raised. "What? It's not like all of us knew what was going on last night."

I dropped my toast.

Edward clapped his hands on his thighs. "That's very unnecessary, Emmett. Can you have a drop of empathy?"

"Dude, we are all on her side and have been for a while." Emmett looked at Jasper.

"Can't say he's wrong," Jasper smirked. "It seemed like it went… well?" He cocked an eyebrow.

I turned crimson. I must have been delirious with lust to have done this in a house full of vampires, one of which could detect emotions from afar.

"It's okay, Bella," Jasper said, undoubtedly experiencing my mortification. "There are really no secrets here."

"And our boy needed that," Emmett said.

Edward gave his brothers a look I imagined was once reserved for victims in his vigilante days. "Should we leave? Is that what your goal was, to drive us away with your vulgarity?"

"You are composing a song because of what a great time y'all had last night," Emmett continued. "That is some great sex."

I turned around, the embarrassment getting too intense for me to stay. "I think Esme is making me more food," I said, making up something on the spot as a means for my escape.

"No, stay. Ignore these idiots." Edward pleaded at me and gestured for me to sit next to him. Jasper and Emmett feigned offense. "Come here and help me practice."

How could I pass up on his demand? Despite the crushing weight of embarrassment that for some reason Jasper was allowing me to experience with extreme acuity, I moved close to Edward and sat down next to him on the bench. My head rested on his shoulder and I stared at the line of keys ahead of us, and his long, slender fingers hovering above.

I thought about where those fingers were last night, and swallowed.

Edward caught me staring at his hands and gave me an odd expression. I was eternally grateful he couldn't read my mind. He smirked at me and began to play, the timbre gentle and soft, the tempo steady, building.

"It's beautiful, Edward."

"I thought of this last night, while you slept."

Emmett's laugh shattered our moment. "Told you," he said.

"Can you get out of here?" Edward shot at him. "Where's Rose?"

Emmett stood up, gesturing that he understood he might have been infringing on something intimate between us. Jasper followed suit. "She's out in the garage again. She wanted to stay out last night."

Edward's expression turned sour. "Of course she did."

"Am I missing something?" I asked, lifting my head from Edward's cold form.

"Not at all," Edward said. "Rose just being Rose, that's all." He didn't elaborate further.

"I'll go find Alice, too." Jasper said. "Has anybody seen her today?"

Edward lifted a hand from the piano and pointed up the steps. "She was in Carlisle's study when I came downstairs. I think they are talking about her visions."

Jasper sighed. "Any more developments?" He looked at Edward, fully aware that he experienced the visions in the same confusing way.

"None. Timeline hasn't changed." Edward's voice was dark, filled with grief. He stared not at the piano, but at me.

They were all staring at me.

It was only interrupted when a loud sound came from upstairs. All of our eyes looked up the staircase at once.

And before I understood what was happening, I was in Edward's arms and being carried, bridal style, up the stairs at an impossibly fast speed.