I saw the sun break through the clouds, exactly as Alice had predicted moments before. I had whisked Bella upstairs to my room, and her eyes had lit with wonder and curiosity as she peered around. I had watched in silence as she had peered around the room. Her hands twisted together slightly, her rings clicking with the sound. She had turned back towards me, to ask me about the 'tight schedule' I had mentioned. I had chosen not to answer her, I couldn't possibly warn her in the second and a half we had left. Instead I pointed towards the sun, wondering if I could possibly get creepier inwardly. A wave of reassurance trickled in from Jasper and I watched. And waited. The sun had broken through the clouds, exactly as I had seen in Alice's mind. I saw the reflective sparkles that emanated from my skin during the brief periods the sun touched it. A predator's skin. Designed to entrance and attract. Would it scare her? Or enthrall her? As her heart skipped a beat I knew the answer. I waited for her human reflexes to catch up to mine. She spun, tediously slowly in my opinion, searching for the source of the dancing flecks of light that had splattered the walls.

Her eyes finally fell on my frame, and her mouth fell open with a tiny pop. I tried to restrain a smile but a short chuckle slipped through.

How do I look? I asked, foolishly. I knew exactly how I looked. The small diamond-like facets that covered my body were alight. Every colour of the rainbow was being bounced of off my skin. A thousand tiny mirrors. Twisted and unnatural. Unlike her.

She took a breath as if to say something, and then let it go abruptly. She blinked for a second, composing her thoughts. If only I had access. What had her first thought been? She now edited, altered her thoughts, to say something different. Something funny undoubtedly. She had a habit of deflecting and making others laugh if she felt things were getting too serious. It was both endearing and infuriating.

"Well it's better than bursting into flames."

I rolled my eyes obviously at her. She squinted at me as she stepped closer, reaching for my hand. I raised it to her. She flipped it over, observing the nails, palm, knuckles. She squinted at my face.

"Smile for me."

I smiled in response, showing a set of sparkling teeth. She blinked in surprise.

"Your hair, teeth and nails. Interior epithelial too?" What a bizarre girl. Her first thought was not that I sparkled, but whether all of me sparkled. I poked out my tongue childishly at her. I knew that it too glittered in the brief light. The sun would be making alternate appearances today, she would get plenty of opportunity to stare.

"All of you?" she asked.

"I think that you can take my word for the parts you can't see." I smirked at her, stroking my hand on her cheekbone. She blushed furiously.

"Not- I mean – That isn't what I was asking." Her shoulders raised defensively towards her shoulders as she stayed a furious red. The scent of the fresh and warm blood pulsing under her cheeks was thrilling. "I meant to ask if all vampires sparkle. Not if your butt does."

I laughed heartily at this. She was trying to deflect again, this time from her own embarrassment at my presumption.

Oh Edward. Your laugh is true music to my ears. Esme cooed happily in Carlisle's arms from his study where she was blatantly listening in.

I'm sorry. I signed. I assumed your brain was thinking like a teenage girl's.

"Since when have I ever thought like a teenage girl?" She responded, pulling my head down towards hers so she could peer at my hair. She probably didn't realise how close she had gotten. Drawn to me. It was a magnetic and instinctual pull. She began examining tufts of my hair, while breathing softly into my face.

I was torn between two distinct and very different emotions. To kiss or to kill? Alice's sudden trickle of apprehension at my indecision had obviously alerted Jasper, as I was overcome with an urgent sense of lethargy and calm.

I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent deeply. Although it scorched the back of my throat, it also soothed me. She was so trusting, so human. So unafraid. I wasn't entirely sure which one of us was more mentally unstable. I gently set my hand on her shoulder, pushing her back ever so slowly. Should I kiss her here, with all ears in my house tuned on us? They were all curious, and trying desperately not to listen. You try and tell someone not to think about something, and see how successful they are.

Ugh. Surely she can't be here that much longer. Hey, here's the spook house, here's my family, peace out.

Rosalie, in the garage outside was possibly the only person not intruding, and that was because she was too infuriated at me even bringing Bella here in the first place. It was, to the rest of my family, a matter of our safety and secrecy, but to Rosalie, it was a matter of her pride and her life's disruption. She always recanted the cruelest thoughts she had, but they were still the first thoughts to enter her mind. The rest of my family was supportive, and Rosalie would come around. It might take her a few years, but she'd get there. How could anyone not like Bella? The family had begun ASL lessons, practicing amongst themselves. They were probably more proficient than Bella now.

Bella, my curiosity. My lifeline. I was going to kiss her.

I leant in slowly, even for my standards, I would go almost all the way, and let her make the last inch of contact. I wasn't entirely sure how much force I could actually apply. All I knew was that this was a milestone I did want to reach, and now seemed like the best time to do it. It took her a half heartbeat to look from my hair, to my eyes, to my firmly closed mouth. Her heartbeat skipped into a faster gear, and she suspended her breathing. She shyly pressed into my lips and the rush of emotion that filled me was so intense that I heard Jasper break something in surprise. The heat against my lips was intense, as if her skin scorched mine as much as her scent assaulted my throat. I stepped backwards quickly, away from the sensations I was sorely unprepared for, and hit the wall hard enough that I saw flecks of plaster cascade down from the ceiling.

Warn me next time. Jesus. I'm glad I only broke a desk. Alice would have ripped my arm off if I'd broken her dresser.

Bella's heart hadn't stopped racing, her breath hadn't resumed. Her eyes flicked open, and she sat down. Exactly where she was. I bent to her new level, watching her carefully.

"Warn me next time," she exhaled shakily. I smiled at her unknowing repetition of Jasper's sentiment. She looked around at me and the room, as if searching for something that was missing. "It just occurred to me that there's a bunch of people in this house who probably just heard me collapse."

"True." I said, wondering where she was going with this.

"I'm kind of shocked that no one came running to my rescue." She laughed.

"Ah, but you aren't really in any danger, love. A bruise or two is nothing." I smiled at her. I hoped she wouldn't bruise from her abrupt floor arrival.

"I probably won't bruise." She thought aloud. "Didn't feel like I fell, more like I just, kinda chose to sit down."

"That's what it looked like." I nodded. "I'm not a hundred percent sure how they do it in the human world, but my kind tends to use these marvelous inventions called chairs."

That snapped her out of the dreamy and breathless spell. She squinted at me again, this time in a sardonic way.

"Sure, you be all proud of yourself over there." She quipped at me, ignored my attempt to assist her and rose, unsteadily to her feet. She was independent, a fighter, and absolutely beautiful, even in her flustered state. The sun disappeared for a short segment of time, and if anything, Bella looked upset about the lack of colour suddenly in the room.

"I could get used to you sparkling." She sighed, turning to look at my music collection instead. "Why do you do it? I mean, is your skin actually made of mirrors or something? I must admit I haven't noticed you sparkling in the ambient light, or flashlights." Her attention wasn't directed at me, so I waved at her to get her attention.

"That is a question better suited for Carlisle I feel. He's spent hundreds of years studying our kind." I reached out for her hand again. "As far as I'm aware it's more of the fact that my skin is made of a very shiny marble-like substance. Refractive under normal light conditions. We do look a little more 'sparkly' as you aptly described it, to ourselves, but our eyes are more sensitive. It's only under direct exposure to the dazzling light of the sun that we're pulled into your visual spectrum."

She stood quietly for a few seconds, frowning slightly.

"Any other vampiric surprises I should know about?" she smiled coyly at me. I half wished there was something up my sleeve I could scare her with, but I had a feeling that my impressive arsenal of weapons would only fascinate her further.

"Let's see… I'm venomous. My body is running alive with a painful and deadly venom. I sparkle in the sunlight. I don't sleep. I read minds. I'm extremely strong, fast, and generally deadly. I can smell you, hear you and see you in great clarity. My perception of time is different from yours, and I can multi-task like you wouldn't believe."

"And you play piano, dance, sign, speak two zillion languages…" she laughed. "I suppose it could take a hundred years to get to know all of your talents."

"I will spend every day telling you, if you'd like." I offered. She beamed at me, and reached up to stroke my hair again. The sun had reappeared, and I was throwing light all over the room.

"I think I'd like that a lot." She folded herself into my black leather chair, tucking her feet into her thigh. She began rubbing them slightly. Was she cold? I made a mental note to check the heat settings in her house later. She rested her head on the back of the chair and stared out at the scenery. What was it that entranced her so? I sat down gently beside her, caught her eye.

"What are you thinking?"

She sighed, sadly, it sounded like. Jasper was providing no helpful commentary. Alice and the others had been unusually silent during this entire visit. Even Rosalie had spent her energies focusing on her cars instead of the extra person in our house. I waited patiently as I could for her to explain.

"I just feel very small sometimes in comparison. Very much like a flea trying to understand the complexity of the dog it's riding on." She stared determinedly out at the scenery, but that wasn't going to dissuade me. I moved gently into her field of view.

"I've felt very much the same way. As if you're an unspeakably deep cave. Every time I think I'm close to the end I find another bend, another cavern, another place to explore."

"I missed a word in there. Just before cave." She sighed, sadly again. I fingerspelled out 'unspeakably' and 'deep', unsure of which she had missed. Bella nodded.

"Alright. You have a very skewed perception of this relationship." She smiled. "And, show me more. How are your CD's organized? Do you have a library? What's the oldest thing in this house?"

"Besides Carlisle?" I clarified.

Well you aren't wrong. My father chimed in.

Bella snorted a rush of air out of her nose and shook her head. "Shame on you."

"The CDs are by year, then favourites. We do have a library yes. It isn't Beauty and the Beast grandiose, but it is full of books I promise you have never seen. Half of which you'd need to speak another language to read. And I would say the oldest thing in this house is the antique cross we have at the top of the stairs. I may have whisked you past it too rapidly earlier for you to process it." I signed and spoke slowly, loudly. She nodded and looked curiously out the door towards the the cross I had mentioned.

"Show me?"