I spent the rest of the ride to the Cullen house looking out the window and thinking excitedly. I had a superpower, not only that, but a rare one that was manifesting itself as a human. Maybe I could compare to Edward, at least a little more than I thought before. And perhaps my destiny always was to become a vampire since I clearly had the ability for it.

I was trying to visualize my shield and think of ways I could control it now. Would it be possible for me to lift it when I wasn't relaxed, even though Eleazer said I'd likely need to be changed first? Could I extend it to another person, against the odds? I tried to visualize it, but I couldn't imagine what it would look like.

Edward pulled me out of my thoughts as he opened my car door. I hadn't even noticed us arriving at the house. He reached for my hand and led me inside and in front of the fire. "Edward," I started "I want to try something. I'm really curious now." I held both of his hands in mine and tried to focus on pushing my shield away, but it didn't work. I then tried to picture my shield just dissolving and going away, but that didn't work either. I even tried to relax, but slightly discouraged at my attempts with my supposed shield, he still couldn't hear me.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, I caught Edward admiring me in the glow of the fire. When he touched me, placing his hand on my face, I gladly pulled him to me for a kiss, placing my hand on his cheek as well. It was like the room suddenly started spinning and like a very slight weight pushed away from me and towards Edward.

Before I could really think about what happened, I started feeling a bunch of emotions, like my own but multiplied. I felt love, joy, passion, and a hint of desire. All of a sudden, the emotions were joined with words, unspoken except for in our minds, Bella. Mine. Love. Warm. and then my own, similar thoughts, Edward. Here. Love. Happy.

I began to see visuals. Me, sitting in front of the fire just minutes ago. This slightly amplified the feelings of passion and desire I was already experiencing. Then, in what I assumed must be Edward's point of view, I felt nervous and terrified watching my truck speed towards him, but then his joy and relaxation at seeing me wearing his locket and walking to embrace him. I felt his relief at pulling me into his arms and me wrapping my arms around him.

I felt exactly how he did when we were re-united that day with a kiss, like a part of him that had been missing was suddenly back in place. I had felt exactly the same. I was overwhelmed and my shield snapped back to just me. Edward continued to kiss me and didn't break away as quickly as he normally did when things got too intense. Neither of us could stand to break our physical contact after sharing such raw emotions. He held me tightly, rubbing my back and caressing my hair and face.

When he pulled away and looked at me, his eyes were dark with desire. I had never seen him look so intense. "Now you know." He whispered. "You are everything to me. You have been, though at first, I tried to deny it, since the second I saw your face. No one compares. No one will ever compare."

I leaned in to kiss him again and reached for his hand, putting it on my face in the same position as before. After a few seconds, when I stopped thinking and just started feeling, it happened again. I saw myself the first day I attended Forks High School, looking nervous and a little scared through his eyes. What I felt from Edward though, was curiosity, anger, and desire. His thoughts told me that he was angry both that he couldn't read my mind and that he found me beautiful, knowing it was wrong. He felt like a monster, but underneath, he was in love, even if he wouldn't acknowledge it. I thought of myself in that moment and by his gasp, I knew that Edward was seeing himself through my eyes and feeling my complete wonder and desire from the first time I saw him.

He showed me how he felt when he first smelled me walking into Biology and how badly he desired my blood. He was angry and terrified because I smelled so amazing to him. He hated me at first, or at least he thought he did. He was plotting my murder, trying to figure out how he could get away with taking me right there. I showed him that I was scared that day, wondering what I did to offend him so easily without a word.

Next, Edward showed me him pushing me out of the way of Tyler's van and his fear that I was harmed or that someone saw him rushing towards me at inhuman speeds, followed by his complete relief that I was alright, and his anger that he had risked revealing himself to save me, but he didn't regret saving me even then, not really, he only feared how his family would react.

We traded memories back and forth, at this point resting our foreheads together with our hands on each other's cheek, until we were caught up to Edward's decision that he had to leave me. I took my hand off of his cheek and instead scrambled into his lap, wrapping my arms tightly around him. It would hurt too much to see and feel him actually leaving me, even though he was right here with me. It comforted me some that now I understood exactly why he did it and what he was thinking, but still, I couldn't help but feel the hole in my chest that he had left by leaving me.

It looked like tonight was the night that everything was going to be out in the open. I was crying and hiding my face against his neck. Edward was holding me back as tightly as he could without hurting me. "I'm so sorry, Bella, so much more than I can ever say. It was the worst thing I've ever done. I've regretted it every single second since." He was shaking and resting his head on my shoulder as well. I could feel his silent sobs against me.

I pulled back a little and placed my forehead back against his, rubbing his back to help him calm down. "I understand now why you did it. I'm sorry that I didn't take your worries for me more seriously. I had no idea how much it hurt you to be around me and to not try to kill me, but even then, I still love you more than anything. I truly didn't, and don't, care about the risk as long as I get to be with you. Edward, it's not me being irresponsible, I love you. Now that I've found you, my soul doesn't feel complete without you." I kissed him, careful not to touch his face and do whatever witchcraft made us able to share our thoughts and emotions again just yet.

After a few minutes, we had both calmed down a little. "It's going to be painful," I started "But do you think we should finish what we started? Then, there will be no more secrets or doubts for either of us. We'll both completely understand each other." I hovered my hand just over his face and looked into his eyes, asking permission. He nodded, clearly scared, and I connected us together again, pushing out my shield to surround him too. I still felt a little thrilled, even with the pain we were both experiencing, that I had the ability to do this. I had a superpower, even as a human!

Edward showed me how hard it was to leave me in the woods that day, but how he tried to comfort himself with the thought of me getting married and having kids and being human. I couldn't help but think of how twisted that was and how I could never love anyone else having loved him. I felt how much the realization hurt him, that his leaving me was never going to accomplish anything and he made us both suffer for no reason. I also felt how my love for him both scared him (because of his need to keep me safe) and brought him intense happiness and desire.

Edward showed me the time he had spent attempting to track Victoria. I gasped, shocked. He had never mentioned this to me. I almost broke our connection, but I knew that it was important we finish what we started. He showed me weeks of him sitting outside, through intense sun and rain and through the night, empty and lonely. He didn't bother to hunt or talk to anyone. He didn't see anything but my face, no matter how hard he tried to focus on other things. Then, he showed me his decision to come home and all of the care and thought put into my gift, including the letters his family had left for him and their contents.

I showed Edward what it was like feeling like part of my soul had left me. I showed him the loneliness and the pain, the way everyone looked at me, at first with pity and then with disbelief or anger that I wasn't over Edward yet. I showed him how much it hurt me to even think his name. He saw all of my doubts and all of my nightmares. I could hear him sobbing and I could feel his pain, but I knew that we had to go through this together to heal.

I also showed Edward how scared I was to open his present, but how I felt hope for the first time since he left me. I showed him how much I loved each item through my fear, especially the picture of him as a human and his mother's ring.

Then, I showed him my realization that he was in town and myself rushing to get ready to come find him. I accidentally remembered how I threw on my clothes that day, pulling a shirt over my head, but looking down at my breasts in my bra as I pulled the shirt past them, oops. I heard a "wow" pass through my head and felt him shift me slightly in his lap. I couldn't help but laugh, remembering the innuendo I had accidentally made in the car after I hit him. I'm sure something was hard now, judging by the way he shifted me away from it.

And suddenly, we were laughing. The pain was gone and we were both sharing pleasant things back and forth like our first day in the meadow, the first time he cursed in front of me and my laughing at it, me burping and amusing him with how badly I blushed for doing that in front of him, prank calling Carlisle, me blushing and hiding my face after telling Esme how we had prank called Carlisle, and finally his explicit thoughts on my innuendo in the car.

"Oops" he whispered, but he didn't break our connection. He did try to think about other things, like our snowball fight earlier, always the gentleman, but his brain went back to seeing me undressed in my thoughts and hearing me say "hard" in the car, always the teenager. Edward, laughing and shaking his head, was the one to move my hand from his face and pull me in for a hug. "Bella." He whispered. "That was amazing. You are amazing."

We snuggled in front of the fire, mostly in silence, but with the occasional kiss or I love you exchanged. I was relieved to have the painful part behind us finally. Now, everything was out in the open and not only that, but I could truly see with my own eyes that he loved me and that I was enough to hold him. "Always" he whispered as I drifted asleep in his arms.