Edward came back from paying for gas with a handful of chip bags, cookies, chocolate bars, a few cartons of milk and a pack of cheese strings. I laughed as he offered them to me.
"I suppose you did promise me food." I took a few cheese strings and a carton of chocolate milk and waited until Edward was settled. We began driving and my stomach knotted itself again. I hated the fact that I was this afraid. He was trying so hard to be so careful. What was I about to say? "I was about to ask you about your family. You said some of them have gifts?"
Edward smiled grimly, and began explaining.
"All of my family members have something in abundance. Some of them it's easy to place. Emmett has strength, Esme has a limitless capacity to love, Carlisle has the largest streak of compassion I've ever seen. Rosalie is …tenacious. But Alice and Jasper, their strengths turned into more, like mine. Alice sees visions of the future."
"Which is how she warned Carlisle to come after me?" I clarified. He nodded. "And Jasper?"
"Jasper can feel, and often manipulate, the emotions of those around him."
I sat, trying to imagine the sinister looking blonde boy manipulating me. Would he calm people? Could he help me in cars? It was starting to become an issue, as - despite being distracted by food, and epic question answering time – I was becoming more nervous again. I'm sure Edward could probably sense it.
"Can I ask you something?" Edward asked.
"As long as it's not 'why are you so scared of cars?" I said darkly. I didn't need to be thinking about why I was trying to breathe slowly and focus so intently on the face of the boy beside me.
"I wanted to know what it is you think you know about my family." He said. That one took me a second to decipher. He wanted to know what I knew. I looked out of the window, the darkness around us, and realised that my truck's lights weren't on, so I couldn't see the road. It didn't seem to phase Edward, and I wondered how much he could see in the dark.
"You all have some kind of super strength." I managed, without looking towards him. I could see his icy white reflection tense in the windshield. I focused on the reflection's lips. "And super speed. And apparently some occasional stalking." His face remained unmoving and supportive, but his body was still tense.
"And do you have a theory as to why?" he asked, loud enough that I didn't need to read the reflection's lips.
"I had a few at first. Some radioactivity, aliens, good old-fashioned kryptonite…" I laughed at myself. "I tried not to think about it too much. I figured that I was hiding enough secrets of my own that it would be hypocritical to push into others."
"But something changed. After you ran for several miles this weekend?"
I stayed quiet, and he continued. "You nearly ran up to my front door. Alice diverted you by sending Carlisle to assist you, and you had an interesting conversation."
"Why the diversion?" I asked, still avoiding.
"To save your life. You were bleeding, even if only a little. And that… well it wouldn't have boat well."
"Two things." I held up a hand, saw a flash of a moving street sign and my head started spinning. "Actually three things. One, can we pull over?" I asked, hurriedly. My heart was starting to flutter, and Edward slowed us down pulling onto the side of the road. I got out in a hurry, lying flat on the ground, and breathing hard. It was pitch black and I could see nothing except for the thin beam of light streaming from the window. Edward was suddenly beside me, using his phone as a flashlight. He set the phone on the ground so that it projected light onto both of us, illuminating his face.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, and signed, then resting his hand gently on my head.
"Dizzy. Too much breathing." I answered honestly. He stayed crouched beside me, but slipped his jacket off, resting it over my body. It smelled fantastic.
"So what were two and three?" he asked, looking comfortable where he crouched. Was it even possible to be comfortable in a semi-squat like that?
"Uh… two was that it looked like you said 'boat well'. In hindsight I'm guessing it was 'bode'?" I asked. He nodded. I sat up, resting my back against my truck. "Three… three was another question related to the bleeding thing. Earlier tonight, when I was checking to see how injured I was, you dismissed the fact that I was bleeding, even though I was – or rather – am covered in blood."
Edward frowned, his lips contorted as though I'd asked him to eat octopus. I waited. He pressed his hands together, and then began signing as he spoke.
"You know how, although all … popcorn is the same technically, different brands smell unique?" he asked, and signed, looking awkward about the comparison.
"Movie food analogies? Wonderful."
"Well, different people have different scents. Your blood smells very different from the blood of your attacker. His doesn't smell anything like yours in fact." He answered me, looking almost shameful. I focused on the shadows flitting across his face. He seemed so sad, and worried. Like at any moment something he'd say would be too much for me.
"Makes sense." I nodded, and began to pull myself up. Edward was standing in a microsecond, pulling me up gently, and slowly. I got back into the truck, holding onto Edward's jacket for warmth. He pushed more food at me. I rolled my eyes but got to work on a small chocolate bar. He started up the truck's engine again, and we began driving slowly. I looked back at Edward's reflection in the windshield. Somehow this slightly distorted version of him was easier to focus on, less intense, than the real Edward beside me.
"So this weekend…" Edward pushed.
"I went to La Push. Got some local legends from a kid I know there who thinks his dad is crazy. He told me a few things, some old stories about… supernatural beings. Wolves… Vampires." I was sure my heart skipped a beat as I said it.
"And you immediately thought of us?"
"No, he kind of mentioned your family. Explained that you weren't supposed to be a threat because you fed differently to others of your kind."
"He thought we weren't dangerous?" He asked, coldly, and with a laugh I didn't like.
"No, they didn't want you on their land in case. He said that there could always be accidents. But considering your father works the ER, and you're beside me, all blood splattered now, I figure you all have some modicum of control beyond what they expect." I shrugged.
"You don't think we're dangerous?" Edward clarified, incredulously.
"I didn't say that. But I think you all try very hard not to be, and that's what counts." I shrugged. "I've seen more than enough human monsters to figure out that you all don't classify as such. The scariest thing about you is your insistence on driving." I shuddered and breathed deeply again. "Besides, if you were going for scary monster, you're doing it wrong. They tend to put people in danger instead of removing them from it."
Edward remained quiet for a long while, battling with himself. "How can you take this so calmly?"
"I'm not worried about being near you. I am frankly more worried about your lack of headlight usage." I twisted my hands together, and Edward frowned, suddenly clicking the headlights on.
"I'm sorry. I hadn't noticed." He admitted sheepishly.
"You can see that well in the dark? Well now I'm just jealous." I harrumphed. I though hard about what other abilities he might have. "Okay load it on. What else can you do? Strength, speed, eyesight, special sight, anything else I should know?"
"All of my senses are heightened. I cannot age. My reflexes are obviously superior. I cannot go out in direct sunlight."
"You burst into flame?" I asked, skeptical.
"No. But it's a very conspicuous look for my family, so we tend to avoid sunlight." He said, cryptically.
"Could I see that sometime?" I asked, shyly. Edward looked over at me, unbelieving, before snapping his eyes toward the road again.
"I… I suppose."
I sat, watching him squirm.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"I'm wondering how you could possibly be taking this so well. It doesn't bother you that I'm not, well, not human?" he said.
"Not particularly." I said. "Does it bug you that I am human?" I countered.
"It concerns me." He admitted, with a smile. "You're awfully breakable. And you in particular seem to be prone to life-threatening situations."
"Yeah well, my number's been up for years. You are just increasing my odds of survival." I thought back to the accident that had so thoroughly ruined my life for over a year. My breathing started to increase again as I realised we were replicating the scenario relatively thoroughly. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. I was fine. As fine as I could be.
"I could argue that I'm decreasing them." Edward said darkly. "You don't understand how much of a draw your blood is to me."
"Well I'll try not to bleed on you." I laughed. Edward smiled in response.
"We're nearly at my house. Do you think you can handle sitting in your truck for thirty seconds while I grab a desk chair?"
"Make sure it matches the décor." I sarcastically muttered through gritted teeth. He shook his head, as if I were insane. He pulled the truck over to the side of the road, and with one, intense, look back at me, disappeared. I felt my truck shake with the addition of what I hoped was a classy-ass chair, less than forty seconds later. Edward also presented me with an empty shopping bag, and an overly large sweatshirt.
"This is to cover your clothing. You look like you've been attacked after all." Edward signed and said. I pulled it over my head, wincing while I was inside it at the pain the motion caused my ribs, and then tucked Edward's jacket on top of me again. Edward then began driving me home. "You may want to ask your father to help you get the chair indoors. It's heavy."
"After I shower and change." I was still trying not to think about eye goop. I was surprisingly calm on the last stretch of our journey. Something I wouldn't have thought possible in a car, with someone I barely knew. And yet, I felt like I knew more about him than I knew about myself somehow. I felt like despite the scary car situation, I was safe. We pulled up to my house, and I looked over at Edward, handing his jacket back to him. He left it on his arm while he got out of the truck.
"Will I see you at school tomorrow?" I asked, reluctant to let this conversation end.
"Of course. I have a paper due." He smiled.
"Is it still going to be question time? Or is that reserved for scary car rides?" I asked again, blushing slightly.
"It can be question time. As long as I get to ask some back." He smiled at me in the dark. He began to back away into the dark woods beside the house.
"Hey Edward? One last one. What's the sign for vampire?"
He rewarded me with a laugh, pressing two curled fingers into his neck.
"I'll see you tomorrow Bella." And he was gone.
It took me a few moments of staring into the darkness before I headed inside. Charlie was watching the game, but did look back at me.
"Nice sweater." He called. I smiled at my memory of Edward casually throwing it at me.
"Thanks. I picked it up in Port Angeles. And a desk chair. I'm going to need your help actually getting it out of the truck. I kind of want to shower and change first though. Feeling gross." In ways you couldn't even imagine.
Charlie signed a 'yes' and called out something along the lines of 'commercial break'. I headed upstairs to shower. My bruises were numerous, but I had no serious injuries. My scratches were all superficial and none had bled. Edward was right after all. I made sure to scrub the eye goop out of my fingernails, and the blood off oh my skin as much as I could. I balled up the rest of my clothing and threw it in the garbage in my room, tucking an extra bag on top, so Charlie wouldn't see it when he came in. I made sure my pyjamas were long sleeved, to avoid any questions about bruising, and sat on my bed. It had been one hell of a day. My phone buzzed from my desk, where I had chucked it before I had showered. There were two messages. One was from Angela, asking if I'd got home okay. I responded with a reassurance and a goodnight. The other was from an unknown number. Two little words:
Be safe.