AN: Oh, wow! I can't believe how many reviews I got for the last chapter and every single one was so supportive, so thank you very much! They have really made my day and proved this story needs to continued despite the previous temporary hiatus! Thank you to Guest, April-Showers82, serenity1006, echo58, Anony, Karma, and I'm-an-angry-baby for reviewing, I really appreciate your thoughts and enthusiasm, so thank you so much for the amazing reviews!

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Chapter Thirty Five: Routine Enlightenment.

It had been months since Sam had returned now.

Three months, to be exact.

While Sam still refused to answer any questions, we had fallen back into a routine again. Sam would turn up as the sun was rising, falling into bed to sleep for a few hours, before joining me for breakfast. We'd eat together before going to school. After school, we'd both go to work. I was always back first, so I'd shower and make dinner while I waited for him. We always ate dinner together, even if it was late at night and we were both tired. When we went to bed, I'd pretend I couldn't hear Sam slipping out into the night when he thought I was asleep. He still had the obsession of walking the woods through the night, but he always came home in the morning this time. Sometimes, Leah would join our routine; appearing at breakfast or dinner. Occasionally, she'd even stay the night, but she didn't seem to notice his disappearances. Or, she ignored them like I did. It was an odd routine, but we made it work.

At work, Edward would frequently visit. Apparently, his family liked to camp a lot. But, when I mentioned this fact to Mike, he'd huffed and walked away, muttering to himself. As the weeks fell away, Edward and I began spending more and more time together. We'd spend Saturdays talking in his car after I'd finished work until I had to go home. Slowly, we fell for each other, as he offered me baked goods from his adoptive mother, Esme. He didn't eat any, he was on a special diet, but I appreciated the delicious cakes and pastries. He would treat me to shopping trips and dinner at Port Angeles and Seattle on my rare days off. These were moments of perfection interrupting my strange routine.

It was when I met his family that I realised there was something odd about him, about all of the Cullen family. They were too perfect, too pale, and too cold. They didn't eat, at least around me, and they seemed too still. Out of the corner of my eye, I was sure they moved too fast too sometimes. And even tiny Alice seemed stronger than anyone I knew. The whole family had odd eyes, varying between shades of gold to black, that changed seemingly randomly. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different about the family. Something very strange to anyone else I had ever encountered. For weeks, I tried to ignore that fact. I felt no fear that these differences, but I couldn't stop my internal questioning.

It was Jacob who made the puzzle pieces fall together. We were in Quileute studies, learning about the myths of the Tribe; the Spirit Warriors, the Great Flood, and the Cold Ones. All of these stories we had heard a thousand times from Billy or Harry. Many of the older Tribe members still believed every word of every myth, but we scoffed at the ridiculousness of these legends. There was no such thing as werewolves and vampires. Jake had been talking about how Billy was so superstitious he'd proclaimed the Cullen family were Cold Ones. We had laughed it off at the time, but the point stayed with me for days. When I went to Port Angeles with Edward after that, I bought a book of local myths and hidden in my room that night to prove my suspicions wrong. Sam was away with Leah at her house, so I booted up our slow dialup internet and typed the most ridiculous things into Google. It was all nonsense and I went to bed frustrated.

In the morning, I left after breakfast to spend the day with Edward. We were parked down a dead end street, watching the rain fall steadily outside the window, as we talked. But my heart wasn't in the light conversation. Edward paused and hesitantly placed a cool hand on mine; closing his long, pale fingers around my warm ones. He'd asked what I was thinking, pulling the familiar expression I often found on his face when I was quiet. Thoughtful, focused, and ever so slight frustrated. It was as if he was trying to read my thoughts from my facial expression. In a moment of bravery, I had confessed my thoughts to him. Admitting how crazy I was and how stupid I had been. But he didn't tell me how preposterous my outlandish thoughts were; he wasn't outraged. He had looked at me for a long time and I knew in that moment why he didn't laugh at me. My nervous stomach had sunk to my knees as he sat there as a statue, but I wasn't afraid. He would never hurt me, I was certain of that.

At first, he tried to drive me away. Claiming I should be afraid and run away from him, screaming. But I shook my head and smiled at him. Edward explained his family were 'vegetarian'; they didn't drink human blood, but I should still be afraid. I told him I wasn't leaving him, that I wasn't scared of him. I told him I trusted him completely. He'd scoffed at this, but relented. Slowly, he relaxed again and accepted the truth of the situation. I knew this secret and I wouldn't let it come between us. My feelings were too strong to let him go.

That evening, I returned to home and stood in the shower for a long time, letting my thoughts run uninhibited. A smile lit my face in a way I had never seen before and my heart beat faster than ever when I thought of Edward. I knew then that I had fallen for Edward. On that day, I had learned three things for certain.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him – and I didn't know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood.

And thirdly, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.