I turned back to look at her as the sun touched my arms. She was staring at me, eyes wide, her mouth hanging open a little. "I don't believe it," she whispered.

I had to smile. "I told you."

"Yeah, and I knew before, but still - " she stopped, squinting at me.

Though obviously curious, she showed no signs of coming closer. I sat down in the grass and beckoned to her. "Come here." She hesitated, so I lay down, closing my eyes and letting her approach on her own time.

Finally I heard her footsteps. They halted next to me, and the grass rustled as she sat. There was a moment of silence and stillness, where I was tempted to open my eyes again, but then - warmth.

I held completely still as Bella gently touched the back of my hand, then trailed her fingers up and down my arm. Back at my hand, she picked it up, pulling it toward her. I opened my eyes a little to see her holding it up to her eyes, examining it closely.

She caught my glance and smiled timidly. "It's so different - hearing about something, and actually seeing it."

I let my eyes drift closed again. "So you can understand why I'm interested in seeing you shift, even though you've told me about it?"

"Yeah." Her voice was more calm, her reluctance and nerves absent for the first time since she'd come down the stairs dressed. "I mean, I still think you're going to think it's weird or something, or that it's just going to be awkward." Her hand tightened momentarily on mine, but relaxed just as quickly. "But I guess you could have thought the same thing about me seeing you."

I chuckled. "I'm always worried you're going to suddenly think I'm too strange. There are so many times when you should have run away from me - several that night in Port Angeles, for example."

"Hm." She laid my hand gently back down in the grass, her fingers sliding up my arm again. She shifted, coming a little closer to me, touching my shoulder, the collar of my shirt, and then my neck.

Her fingertips paused on my collarbone. "Is this okay?" she asked in a near whisper.

I replied as honestly as I dared. "I don't think there's anything you would do to me right now that I wouldn't be okay with."

"If you say so." She sounded a little unsure, but her fingers remained.

Her hand slid up my neck, up to cup my cheek. Her thumb brushed over my cheekbone and I sighed at the touch. Her warmth, far stronger than the weak sun that warmed my other cheek, was comforting - but there was also something else. Her touch as her hand and fingers caressed me stirred something deep in my chest. I worked to keep my breathing smooth and even, worried that if I made it clear how much I was enjoying this, she'd stop.

Her fingertips carefully explored my face, skimming my nose, lightly brushing my eyelids, combing back my hair. I let my lips turn up in a smile as she outlined my jaw.

"You like this?" Bella asked, unsure again.

"You can't tell?" I said with a chuckle.

"Oh." Her hand continued its exploration for a few more moments, brushing back across my collarbone, but after far too short a time her heavenly warmth withdrew. I opened my eyes again, looking at her curiously as she tucked her hands into each other. "Is something wrong?" I asked in a murmur.

"I was just wondering..." Bella trailed off, biting her lip. I raised my hand, but she didn't respond, so I gently ran my thumb along her lower lip. She released it then with a puff of air that warmed my hand.

Unwilling to stop touching her now that I had started, I let my hand cup her cheek and my thumb caress her, much as she had done to me. Her eyelids fluttered closed. "Maybe you just answered my question."

"I'd like to hear it, all the same," I said.

I brushed her cheek with my thumb again, and Bella let out a soft sigh. "You've held my hand a few times now," she said quietly. "I was just wondering... if you wanted more. If you wanted to touch me the way I was just touching you."

I smiled. "I've just been waiting for you. I wasn't sure you wanted me to touch you."

She smiled in response, shyly, hesitantly. But I understood. She was indicating her answer - and it was the answer I'd been hoping for.

Finally touching her as I'd been dreaming of for weeks, I couldn't be content with just one hand. I sat up carefully, keeping my hand still on her cheek as I did. I sat facing her and brushed her hair away from her face before cupping her other cheek as well. Then both my hands slid down her neck. I noted her racing pulse, and I imagined my own heart beating in time with hers.

"Isn't it - " Bella's eyes opened a fraction. "Isn't this hard for you?" Her hand rose and touched her chest over her heart.

"You do still smell good," I admitted. "But that doesn't matter."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember? I told you by the car." I brought one hand up to cup her cheek again, leaning close until our foreheads were touching, breathing her in. "It's impossible. Bella, I could never hurt you."

Her hand covered mine on her cheek.

I hadn't realized how true those words were until I said them aloud. No matter how tempting her blood was, I couldn't imagine giving in. I meant what I said. I wasn't a bloodthirsty vampire when I was with her. I was simply a boy.

I could have held her forever, but I was starting to regain my own curiosity. I leaned back again, considering Bella's face, noting how content she seemed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked back at me. "When is it your turn?" I asked.

Bella immediately bit her lip. This time I didn't warn her; instead I caressed her, my thumb on her lip, moving too quickly to give her time to let go before I did. Her lips were so soft. I swallowed hard, even more desires rising up the longer I touched her.

But Bella interrupted my thoughts with a sigh. "I guess now is as good a time as any."

She rose to her feet, my hands dropping as she moved, and backed a couple of steps away from me. "You have to close your eyes," she said. "The shift can be weird to watch. And I have to take my clothes off first."

I gulped again. "You... aren't wearing clothes when you shift?"

"Of course not. We'd ruin them whenever we shifted." She was watching me closely.

"So... then... others have..." I couldn't finish.

She tilted her head to the side. "Are you trying to ask if I've shifted around others?" I nodded. "Yeah, other shifters. It's no big deal for us, being naked. But I know it's a big deal for humans, which is why you have to close your eyes."

"All right." I closed my eyes and waited, trying not to think about it.

I wasn't very successful. I could hear Bella's clothes rustling as she removed them. The sun warmed my cheeks, making me almost feel as if I was blushing, as my thoughts returned to when I'd seen Bella this morning, wearing nothing but that sweater as she'd yawned...

You can look now.

I hastily banished my memories as Bella's voice entered my mind. I could only hope that she hadn't had time to see them. I opened my eyes.

A large wolf, fur the same dark brown as Bella's hair, was staring me down only a few paces away.

Even knowing it was Bella, I automatically tensed - after all, the only time I came this close to large animals was when I was hunting. But the tense moment was brief. Looking into the wolf's eyes, I could see Bella looking back at me.

She was sitting on her haunches, keeping her distance from me. I smiled at her, hoping to put her at ease as her worry and apprehension swirled in her mind. "You have nothing to worry about. You're still you."

I was unused to having another read my mind, and realized as I spoke that Bella had already gathered the meaning of my words before I said them. She believed me. She had to, reading my meaning directly from my mind. She relaxed a little. I can't help but worry. I've never shown myself to anyone who wasn't a shifter.

This time I didn't bother to speak aloud. Thank you for showing me.

We stared at each other a long moment, neither of us thinking much of anything specific. I could still hear some apprehension in her mind, but she was growing calmer every moment, as she could hear nothing in my mind to alarm her. In fact I was intrigued. She tilted her head to the side, forming a question. You still want to touch me?

Always.

She was a little surprised, but after a moment rose to all four paws and padded softly over to me, her almost-human eyes holding mine. She stopped directly in front of me and softly lowered herself to the ground, her head in my lap. I placed my hand on her head and she closed her eyes.

I gently pet her head, her fur soft under my fingers. Her ears felt like silk. I stroked downward, running my fingers down her leg, over her paw.

Has Chief Swan seen you like this? I asked. Could he live with her without having seen her in wolf form?

I just said you're the first non-shifter I've shifted for. She considered the possibility of Chief Swan seeing her like this with embarrassment.

How had she even ended up with him?

There are people in country we have a base in, normal humans who know somehow. They give us information, serve as safe houses for shifters to stay in instead of hotels or whatever, and occasionally do what Charlie is doing for me - watch over young shifters like me who can't live with other shifters.

I thought back to when Bella had first been introduced to the school. Your last name isn't Swan, then.

I don't really have a last name. The sentence was accompanied by a memory - Jacob's amusement when he'd heard she'd be called Swan, an animal name, but not at all the one she actually was.

I couldn't help a little jealousy flaring in my mind as Jacob's face crossed hers. She caught it, but wasn't sure what it meant, and looked up at me with questioning eyes and mind. I sighed, embarrassed to admit it. I was jealous of him. I thought he was my rival.

Jealous? Rival? Bella wasn't sure what I meant.

He looked like he was close to you. My own memory of her time with him, what I saw in Alice's vision, ran through my mind. He was close to you, and I wanted to be.

Thinking that, I couldn't help but think of the other person I'd been jealous of; Mike's face flashed through my mind, and Bella caught it. I was jealous of him too, I admitted. I thought back to that month and a half when she wouldn't talk to me, but talked to Mike almost every day in biology.

But you're the one I've shown my real self to.

She was right. I didn't really have cause anymore to be jealous of Mike. Or even of Jacob, even if it was Alice's hug, and not mine, that Bella looked forward to.

After that, our thoughts drifted into vagueness again, simply enjoying each other's company, each other's nebulous thoughts. I knew it was a long time since Bella had felt comfortable just leaving her mind open. And for me, it was the first time anyone had been in my mind at all.

We'd been in the meadow possibly an hour or two now, and Bella was starting to think of human things again - specifically, lunch. She gently got up from my lap, walked a few paces from me, and stretched. She glanced back at me, a thought crossing her mind. Wanna race?

I smiled, smug, sure I would beat her. She was skeptical of my confidence. You have to carry my clothes, she added.

I gathered her clothes and my sweater, wrapping them in a compact bundle and tucking it under my arm. Ready?

She responded by leaping into a run.

She was fast, I had to give her that. I'd never moved close to my full speed with her before, and had assumed she'd been underestimating vampire speed, but she nearly kept pace with me. What won me the race was the fact that I'd been in these woods countless times, and could anticipate trees and rocks and other obstacles better than Bella could. On even ground she might have beaten me.

I burst from the tree cover a moment or two ahead of her, skidding to a stop by the car. I turned to see Bella collapse on the ground behind me, panting lightly. I would have been worried, but her mind assured me she was only winded. I walked back to her and dropped her clothes by her side.

She made her way up to her paws and took the clothes gently in her mouth. No looking, she reminded me.

I smiled and obliged, turning to face the car.

Her mind closed, and abruptly I was alone with my thoughts again. In some ways it was comforting. In other ways, I felt very alone.

I turned back to Bella when I heard her walking toward me, now on two feet, in human form and dressed. She grinned at me. "I'm almost as fast as you."

I laughed. "You are." But I was distracted. She was relaxed, it was clear from her posture, and flushed from the run. She came fairly close to me, stopping less than a foot away, her head tilted as she took in my expression. "You're thinking something."

She was learning to read me just as I was learning to read her. "I... want to try something."

She looked intrigued. "Try what?"

I held out my hand. She gave me hers, and I gently drew her closer to me, until our bodies were nearly touching. Her eyes stayed on mine, a curious light in them as she waited to see what I would do. I cupped her cheek with my other hand, and her lips parted in a soft sigh.

"May I kiss you?" I asked in a quiet murmur.

She blushed and nodded. I gently pressed my lips to hers.

We both held perfectly still, but even that simple touch was nearly overwhelming. I pulled back again quickly, worried what Bella thought of our kiss, but her eyes were sparkling. She grinned at me as our eyes met.

I leaned back in. She responded eagerly this time, her lips moving against mine, her breath coming in gasps as I pulled away and came back again, a thousand breathless kisses. Her scent intensified around me, but it awakened a hunger rather than a thirst. My hand slipped into her hair. Her hands grasped my collar. I leaned back against the car and put my arm around her waist to pull her body snug against mine.

I wanted to stay like this forever, kissing her, touching her, but the sun was shining and I couldn't risk being seen. After a few moments I reluctantly pulled away, taking time to admire her, cuddled close to me, smiling and breathless.

"I love you." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could think better of them.

Bella's already thumping heart increased in speed. "I - I don't know how I'd know if I loved you," she said, sounding embarrassed. "But... I like this. I like you."

It was good enough. We could continue figuring things out from here. I stroked the her cheek, planting one light kiss on her forehead, then released her. "Let's get you home to lunch."