The breeze that had been a consistent tickling on my face as he carried me suddenly stopped, and I opened my eyes. It was still dark, but we were under a streetlight, beside a familiar red and rusty Chevy truck. I was still parked a decent walk from the furniture store, so I knew we'd have to head that way before heading home. Edward set me on my feet by my truck and I looked around at the almost deserted street. I looked up at Edward as he waved at me, his beige leather jacket glinting yellow under the streetlight. I saw a few splatters of dark red on that jacket and winced. That was definitely my fault, and I knew I looked like a mess. I tried not to think about it, as I focused on why he was catching my attention. With his hands free he began to talk, and sign to me.

"Please don't fight me on this." I wasn't sure yet what I was supposed to be fighting him about, but I was momentarily distracted by his flawless ASL form.

"You sign?" I asked, incredulously. "Since when?" This question elicited a smile from him.

"I've taken it up very recently. This weekend I spent a lot of time practicing with Alice and Esme actually." He even spelled out Alice and Esme in flawless, and fast, finger spelling. So quickly that had their names not already been familiar to me I would have needed him to repeat himself.

"Okay then." It was something else I would have to quiz him on. Again, later. The numbers of questions I had for later was starting to get ridiculous. I huffed, and then refocused on the present, on why I was about to fight him. "What are we going to be fighting about exactly?"

"I'm not letting you drive yourself home. Not in this state. You're very confused and I'd rather you get home alive after all of the effort I've put into keeping you that way." His signing was obviously not an exact transcript of his speech, but the two together made it easy to fill in the words and context I may have missed. It was the clearest sentence I'd probably ever read/heard.

I looked down at my truck. I was on the passenger side. That was what he had expected me to instantly pick up on. Perhaps now wouldn't be the best time to fight about this.

"But we still need a chair." I tried to divert.

"If we stop by my house on the way back, I have several spare you can choose from. I'll even let you pay me for them." His tone was light and joking, but his eyes were serious, watching, and tense.

"I…I can't d-"

"I'll let you ask questions. Anything on your mind. I won't hold back." He said, earnestly.

"I'm not sure if that'll be a big enough distraction." I muttered nervously.

"I think it could be. I know to keep well under the limit, and trust me when I say that my reflexes are infinitely superior to yours. The truck won't sway an inch. We're also going to stop to get some food."

"And gas. I'm nearly out." I thought aloud, twisting my hands with worry. Why, after everything that had happened tonight, was this causing me the most worry? I could pretend he was Charlie. We would be in the cruiser, safe and sound. I balled my hands into fists. "If I even start to…"

"We'll pull over." Edward said firmly.

I didn't respond. I unlocked my truck and slowly slid in, trying to keep my hands off of my car seat. I was still uncomfortably aware of the blood I had on me. I took a deep breath and looked beside me. Edward was waiting patiently, his hand outstretched, for my keys. I slowly dropped them into his hand and focused on putting on my seatbelt. He put on his, turned on the truck, and set both hands on the wheel.

"Aren't you going to ask me anything?" Edward asked, turning his head toward me.

"Eyes on the road." I said.

"We aren't even moving yet." He complained, but obliged.

"On. The. Road." I took a deep breath, focusing on his lips. I turned the light on in the cab of the truck so I could see him better. It made the outside world extremely dark. I wasn't sure if that was better, or worse. Questions. I was supposed to be focusing on questions. Which one came to mind first? Are you a vampire? That wasn't the best opener probably. "What were you doing in Port Angeles?"

Edward's face crinkled in disgust for a moment, and I wondered if he was going to go back on his holding back policy.

"I was keeping tabs on you." His head was tilted slightly towards me, but his eyes were fixed on the road as I had asked. I reflexively looked at the speedometer. We were 10 under the limit. I didn't look forward, and tried not to think about the fact that we were moving at all.

"On me? You were following me? I thought you were camping." I rambled.

"We got back yesterday. I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before. And I'm sure it's just your bad luck that's making things all the more difficult. You could have single-handledly devastated the crime statistics of the Olympic Peninsula for decades."

"Rude." I muttered, jokingly. He wasn't overly wrong. Since my car accident, the world seemed to have it in for me. "But why were you trying to keep me alive? Not that I'm not appreciative of course."

Edward screwed up his face and was quiet for a moment. "Pass."

"Really? That's not even one of the worst questions I have."

"Pass." He repeated, firmly.

"Okayyyyy. How did you find me earlier tonight? I noticed you said 'what they were thinking' when talking to your father. Is that how?"

Edward's mouth set into a hard line. I watched him bite his teeth together and then sigh.

"Yes. I hear the thoughts of those around me. I used it to track you down earlier tonight. If I had been paying better attention, the timing wouldn't have needed to be so close. I wouldn't have been late." He started to look angry again.

"How? How does it work? What's the range? Can your whole family?..." I trailed off, wondering if I was being foolish. We turned a corner of some kind and I fought the urge to scream. I hadn't been expecting the change in acceleration and it made my stomach flip. I gripped the dashboard, breathing quickly and deeply. Calm. It's fine. You're fine. Breathe. I felt the car begin to slow slightly. "No. I'm fine. I'm okay. Just warn me on curves I guess." I couldn't hear my own voice, but I assumed Edward could. He began answering my question, quite loudly, and it drew my attention back to his face.

"It's only a couple of miles. Some of my family have their own talents, but I'm the only one with the ability to read minds. I'm not sure how it works. I try and tell people to picture a crowded room in which everyone is talking. If I need to I can pick out specific conversations and focus in on those. Everyone's voice is unique. Everyone's thoughts are too."

"Must give you a headache." I wondered aloud, earning a smile from him.

"Actually, you've been the only person to give me a headache." He looked over to me, to see how I was faring I suppose.

"Eyes. Road." I snapped. His gaze returned to the highway. "Why do I give you a headache?" I asked, hoping the sadness was not evident, and then wondering if he could hear that I had hoped that my voice wasn't sad.

"Because I can't hear you. I've given myself a headache trying to find your mental voice, to no -"

"I missed the last word." I admitted. His hand lifted from the wheel, spelled 'avail' quickly, and then returned to the wheel. I took a moment to think. "You can't hear my thoughts?" He shook his head.

"How did you find me then tonight? Their thoughts?" I asked. It was the wrong question. I saw his hands tighten around the wheel and his eyes squint with menace. "Gotcha. Is that how you figured out I couldn't hear well? Your father, or Charlie, or Angela?"

"All three actually. I think you get your mental silence from your father though. Although I can read him, he proves more difficult."

I took some time to mull that over. I had wondered how he had found out so quickly, and there it was. How much of my life was actually a secret to this man, if he could be inside my doctor and my father's heads? I suppose I had remained quiet for too long, as he began talking again.

"The others have kind of gotten used to it, especially the ones with gifts, and so I forget how difficult it is breaking the news to newcomers."

Others with gifts? Which members of his family had more talents, and what could they do? Edward prattled again, clearly nervous at my lack of response.

"No one outside of my family and a few dear friends knows this about me. Please tell me what you're thinking. The silence is killing me."

I looked over at him, and he was looking at me.

"If I have to tell you to focus on the road one more time…." I threatened idly. I'd what? Bleed on him? "I'm just processing it. What you've told me. It's unusual to think that I'm the only one you can't read. I wonder if my brain was like that before…" I noticed that we were coming up on the gas station I'd intended to stop at. Edward saw it too, and was slowing down.

"You might want to stay in the car. People will think I've forcibly kidnapped you, with the way you look."

"Help, someone keeps trying to save me!" I cried faintly in mock horror. Edward was not amused. He got out to get gas, and I sat, slouched in the passenger chair, breathing slowly and forcefully. I knew what my next question would be.