Disclaimer: I own nothing.

BPOV

My mind was reeling from this sudden truth: everything that I had dreamed in my fiery haze was real. Edward had saved me from death by making me a vampire. It was a good thing I was now immortal because I am sure I would've died from shock. The fact that I was alive was mind-bending, but the existence of vampires was a lot to take in on top of that. Add in the fact that I was now one of these mythical creatures that had never existed in my world before this and I was at a complete loss.

How was I supposed to react? I wanted to curl in a ball and hide from everything one minute then run away as far as possible from all this the next.

As if this wasn't enough, my new mind hadn't missed anything that Edward had said to me. This included the way he said that he couldn't lose me and the strange way that I seemed to be so aware of every little thing he did.

I felt an enormous amount of pressure and I didn't even know why.

"In the beginning, I wasn't here at all. I couldn't even remember my own name. As the burning became more manageable, I could hear every single thing you said."

I could see Edward thinking very hard. He looked as if he was in pain.

I was feeling so overwhelmed and I couldn't deal with him falling apart as well. I didn't even know him well enough to know understand how to help him.

The ridiculousness of the whole situation came to the forefront of my mind. I was standing in a room somewhere in Edward Cullen's house. The same Edward Cullen who had terrified me beyond belief my first day at school and then proceeded to disappear for some time, only to return and act as if he had never acted so strange the first day.

He had explained that day to me while I was turning, but it still was completely surreal to think that a vampire had been plotting thousands of ways to kill me the second he smelled my blood.

I would have been satisfied to pretend that's where the weirdness with Edward Cullen ended but then there was the Edward I had met when he returned to school. He was polite, charming, and interested. He was disarmingly gorgeous and he had a way of getting to know me in a way that my other "friends" had failed to. I looked for him in the halls, the lunchroom and the parking lot. I had developed some strange fascination with this boy and now I would live forever. And so would he.

Edward cleared his throat and hesitantly began speaking again.

"Bella, I know it's a lot. It's too much and it's unfair that you are in this situation in the first place because of my decision. You owe me nothing, but I owe you everything and I vow to do everything in my power to help you. You're probably very thirsty, right?" He trailed off, waiting for my response.

I hadn't even thought of that aspect of my new life with all the thoughts running rampant in my head, trying to catch me up. Upon the mere mention of thirst, my throat blazed. The dry heat was a ghost of the fire I had felt while changing but it was consuming and I suddenly could think of nothing else.

My hands flew to my throat.

"Edward, it hurts," I breathed, "What do I do?"

With a sad look on his face, he gestured for me to follow him. Warily, I trailed behind him as he made his way downstairs.

We passed a huge, open living room where the rest of his family had gathered. I desperately needed to quench the dry ache in my throat and I was terrified of seeing and talking to them. I needed to get out of there. Sensing my desperation, Jasper nodded to Edward and told him that he needed to take me hunting. Immediately.

Another knowing, handsome man interjected, who I assume was Carlisle.

"Bella, I know you are thirsty and we have to deal with that before anything else. Has Edward explained our diet to you?"

I nodded. I thought back to the things Edward had told me about how his family preferred not to be monsters—to do anything to abstain from taking a human life. Apparently, this meant Bambi was on the menu.

Honestly, I didn't care what I was about to do. The burning needed to stop. I felt I was going mad with thirst.

Carlisle smiled a genuine and radiant smile at me and ushered us out the door.

"Bella, welcome to our family. Edward will take you. When you come back we can talk and explain everything much more."

I saw Edward and Carlisle engage in some sort of silent exchange and Edward's face darkened. Beyond curiosity and etiquette, I pulled his hand and reached for the door.

The doorknob ripped out of the solid oak door with a loud crack. Horrified, I looked back at the Cullens.

Emmett and Alice were laughing while the rest had a look of shock on their faces and I felt a flash of shame before the thirst clouded my vision again.

"Don't worry, Bella. Let's go. I'll teach you everything I know."

We headed out the door and started running. I felt this incredible rush from the sensations of the trees flashing by me. I was moving as fast as Edward, faster than I'd ever driven, and yet I could still make out the tiniest details of the forest around me.

Edward stopped in front of the river quite gracefully while I skidded to a halt. I looked at him questioningly, wondering where we were going. He put his long, slender index finger over his lips and pointed to the clearing across the water.

My mind simultaneously took in the herd of deer some hundred meters away, while also cataloguing the way his finger had brushed his mouth. If I had still been human there was no way I could've seen the deer from this distance. I marveled at my new sight.

He tapped my shoulder again and pointed to his nose.

"Close your eyes," he paused. "What do you smell?"

I lowered my lids and took in a deep breath. My mouth watered at the scent of the warm, wet blood I could smell pumping through the fast-beating hearts of the deer.

With a desperate tinge to my voice, I asked Edward what to do.

"Watch and learn," he said with a smirk.

I observed him as he melted away with the forest, silently stalking the herd. The deer were blissfully unaware of the predator hunting them. When he was a car's length from the closest deer he stopped and looked back at me quickly before motioning for me to join him.

Something primal was stirring within me as I quietly retraced his steps. I could feel the energy radiating off the animals and it was making me crazy.

When Edward looked over at me, his eyes were black. He gave me a look before he nodded for me to go.

As quiet as anything he whispered, "follow your instincts" and leaped onto one of the herd.

I jumped and caught a doe by the throat. My teeth cut effortlessly into the animal's throat and I began to draw the blood into my mouth.

Overpowering relief came with each pull and I felt like I was flying.

Once I had sucked all the blood from the body, I dropped the poor thing. Realization hit me that I had just drained the life from a deer, in the middle of the forest with my strangely fascinating vampire Biology partner. I had to suppress a giggle as I looked over at Edward.

My giggles died in my throat as my eyes locked on Edward feeding. I felt a sudden and intense wave of lust and I felt like pouncing on him and licking off the blood that had trickled down the side of his mouth. Thank God for small miracles—he was distracted and hadn't seen my sudden hunger for him.

He finished and looked over to me before smiling and looking away.

"How did that feel?"

I would be as red as a tomato if I had the ability to blush.

"Good. Really, really good. The burning in the back of my throat is still there though."

He walked over to me and motioned to my cheek, wiping his own mouth as he did.

"I'm afraid that will always be there. It's part of the curse of this life. It will never be as bad as now—I am sorry. As a newborn, this is the strongest your thirst will ever be."

I must have looked panicked.

"Don't worry. As time goes on, the thirst becomes more manageable. You do realize we met in school, where my family and I were surrounded by hundreds of people each day?"

Of course, I hadn't thought of that. The thirst felt very strong but I trusted Edward that this would be something I could handle in time.

"I feel okay but it still hurts," I responded. "Can we maybe go again?"

Edward gave me a heart stopping look as he raced off after the deer that had scattered after our attack.