I was there, as promised, right after Chief Swan left. Bella climbed into my car with a smile.

"How did you sleep last night?" I asked, watching as Bella settled comfortably into the passenger seat.

She gave me a glance, her head tilted to the side as if he couldn't understand why I'd ask. "Not too well. I have a lot to think about."

"I'm sorry."

Bella shrugged. "It's not your fault. Well, not really."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh..." Bella sighed, but she was smiling. "My life would be so much easier if I didn't have Mike and Jessica fighting over you and me, and if your family wasn't freaking out about who I am, if everything was just... a little bit more normal. But I guess that's too much to ask."

"Yeah, normal's a bit much to ask when supernatural creatures are involved," I replied.

I walked her to her first class again. Would this become our routine? We chatted lightly, this time talking about Arizona, comparing it to living here.

"I like the forest a lot more than the desert," Bella said as we reached her first class. "It makes me feel... safe. The desert is too open. And way too hot," she added, wrinkling her nose. She lowered her voice so only I could hear her. "When you have a lot of fur, you prefer cooler weather."

We exchanged smiles, symbols of the secrets we shared with each other.

The warning bell rang, and Bella sighed - for real this time. "Lunch?"

"Lunch," I replied firmly.

She turned to go into her class, and as she did I involuntarily raised my hand - to do what? Take her hand? Touch her face? I pulled my hand back before she could notice. This was different from signaling she was biting her lip, or touching her hands to comfort her. I was wanting to touch her as someone touches the person they're dating. And Bella hadn't agreed to that, and least not yet.

But that didn't mean that I didn't think about it. I met Bella for lunch (Jessica could barely contain her jealousy as she bid Bella goodbye) and I wanted to put my arm around her waist as we walked to the lunchroom. In the lunch line, as I got the food I wasn't going to eat, I wanted to hold her hand. Sitting next to each other in biology, I wanted to play with her hair. Doing homework at her kitchen table, I wanted to rest my hand on her leg or brush it down her arm. Leaving her for the night, I wanted to touch her cheek. And picking her up in the morning the next day - the whole thing started over again.

I didn't want to make a move that she wasn't ready for. I'd told her how I felt, and her answer had been full of uncertainty and hesitation. I was going to wait until she could be happy that I wanted to touch her. Until she wanted to be closer to me.

But it certainly wasn't easy. And of course, life conspired to make it even more difficult.

On Wednesday Mr. Banner entered the biology classroom dragging a stand with an ancient TV. The class lit up in anticipation - movie days were something they didn't take lightly. No notes, little to no testable material, and the darkness of the room made napping, note passing, and other clandestine activities easy.

I too was happy for the break, happy to spend more time just sitting with Bella. Maybe, with our hearing capabilities, we could risk having a conversation. If not I'd be happy to just sit and watch her - or so I thought, until the lights went out.

I wasn't sure what it was, but in the darkness, it was like I could already feel her. I was so aware of her body next to me - her heat so close, her scent gently swirling around me, her arm and leg and face within my reach. I balled my hands into fists, tucking my arms tightly against my chest, fighting against the suddenly much stronger impulse to touch her.

I don't know how I got through that class period without giving in. I watched as she shifted in her seat, tapped her fingers softly on the table, drew patterns on her jeans, rested her head on her hand with her elbow propped on the table, and, every few minutes, forced open her drooping eyelids. Every moment a new idea of how and where to touch her crossed my mind. My hand was tingling, almost numb, at the ideas that crossed my mind, wanting the warmth she'd give me.

By the time the lights came back on I was completely tense. I stretched out my arms in front of me with a sigh, then turned to see Bella looking at me curiously. "You okay?"

"Yes," I said, giving her the best smile I could muster.

She didn't look as if she believed me, but she gave me a tired smile back.

Car rides, homework, reading aloud, lunch, and all I could think about was biology. We had at least one more day of the video. Would that energy between us be as strong as before?

It was stronger.

And what was worse, Bella was even more restless. She seemed to be on the edge of falling asleep; several times she would droop only to start awake, and her movements seemed less out of boredom and more an effort to keep her from falling asleep. Finally, she settled on combing through her hair, which was a new kind of torture: she was using her left hand, the one closest to me, and every time she pulled her hair into my field of vision she sent a gust of her scent over me.

The scent was powerful in both ways. The sweetness was striking me with more force than usual, and I found myself swallowing down excess venom. However, the spiciness was more than present enough to keep my thirst under control - but that meant it was strong enough to keep me obsessed with the idea of touching her.

Finally I broke. We still had fifteen minutes left in class, and if I didn't do something soon I was... well, I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I didn't want to find out. I carefully unfolded my arms, keeping my actions slow and controlled, and when Bella's hand next escaped her thick hair I snagged it.

Bella started slightly, turning to look at me with round, confused eyes. I leaned in close, murmuring as softly as I could into her ear. "You're driving me crazy."

Bella's fingers curled around mine as she leaned toward me. "I"m sorry," she whispered, her breath warming my ear. "I'm just so tired..."

"I can tell." I'd only intended to stop her - at least that's the promise I'd demanded of myself before allowing myself to touch her - but letting go was harder than I thought. And after all, she was holding my hand back! So instead I brought our clasped hands down to rest on my knee. "We only have another fifteen minutes."

Bella sighed. "I can try to stay awake."

After a couple of minutes she started rubbing her thumb in circles over the back of my hand. I hadn't been paying any particular attention to the movie to begin with, but now I had absolutely no idea what was going on. All my attention was zeroed in on the back of my hand. Likely the room could have caught fire and I wouldn't have noticed.

The bell rang after far too short and far too long a time. Bella's hand had left mine by the time the lights came back on. She leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms over her head, letting out a tired sigh. She shook herself lightly and stood.

We walked silently to the gym. Bella's eyelids were still drooping, her feet dragging a little. I watched her with concern, and when she turned to say goodbye to me I spoke. "Are you sure we should meet for homework today? You look exhausted."

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but yawned instead. Still, she shook her head. "I usually take a nap after school, but since we've been doing homework... but it's okay. Moving around in gym will wake me right up. It worked yesterday."

"If you're sure." She looked more tired than yesterday, but I wasn't about to let go of an opportunity to be with her if she was willing.

However, it seemed she was right. She looked quite awake when I came to pick her up, smiling as she saw me. "I told you I'd wake up."

"Okay, you win."

We followed routine for the car ride and doing her homework. When finished all of the day's homework - we'd caught up the day before - Bella pushed away from the table and stretched, much as she'd done in biology class. "Let's read, then. On the couch. That should be more comfortable, and I'm tired of sitting at the table."

I stood too. "Whatever you say."

I headed for the couch in the living room, sitting down at one end. Bella paused to pull a blanket off the other side of the couch. She sat in the middle, close enough that we could both see the book, but far enough that we weren't touching, though I could still feel her warmth. She arranged the blanket over her lap and opened the book to read aloud.

She'd gone a couple of pages, with occasional pauses for me to correct her pronunciation or define a word, before I realized she was reading slower than yesterday. A glance at her face told me why: her eyelids were drooping again. Apparently gym had only been a temporary revival today.

I took advantage of a pause to say something. "You're exhausted."

"No."

That was all she said. I raised an eyebrow and continued. "You're falling asleep again."

"Am not."

"I should go and let you take a nap."

"Shhhhhhhhh." She drew out the sound, as if to cover anything else I'd say. But instead I obeyed and closed my mouth.

The book slid from Bella's hands and hit the floor. She slid slowly sideways until her head rested against my shoulder. Her breathing was slow and quiet, her heartbeat even. Her eyes were closed. She'd dozed off.

Well. This was an acceptable turn of events. Carefully, so I didn't jostle her at all, I pulled the blanket up over her shoulders, gently tucking it around her. She wiggled a little in her sleep, snuggling closer to me, and I thought my heart would burst out of my chest. I leaned my head back against the couch, closed my eyes, and sighed, letting my mind wander.

It took several minutes for me to realize there was something different in the room and to figure out what it was. Contentment, exhaustion, a feeling of safety, and an undertone of stress and worry - these emotions didn't seem to be my own, and all at once I understood.

Bella's mind had opened when she fell asleep.

Her open, sleeping mind wandered from nebulous thought to ephemeral feeling, never forming clear words, never staying in the same place more than a few moments. I focused in on it and a stillness fell over me. Relaxation, as these wisps of thought floated around me. It was the closest I had gotten to feeling like I was sleeping since I had become a vampire.

A car door slammed nearby.

Bella woke all at once, tumbling off the couch, tangling in the blanket and nearly falling to the floor. She ran to the front window and peeked through the blinds. When she turned back to me, her face was as white as mine. "Run."

I stood up but made no move to leave. "What's the matter?"

"Run," she repeated, a note of desperation in her quiet voice. "Out the back door. Be fast and quiet. Out at least a couple of miles." She turned to look toward her front door. "I'll find you when it's safe."

Though I was more confused than anything, I understood from her demeanor that something was seriously wrong. I obeyed, fleeing through the back door as I heard footsteps approaching Bella's front door.