Edward had led me just outside of his room. The cross was ornate, carved from wood, worn, but in immaculate condition. It was at the top of the stairs, to our left was a bathroom, the door slightly ajar, on a space larger than my bedroom. I bet it had a huge tub. Still. Another day could take me exploring.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, wanting to touch it. I kept my fingers firmly in my pocket. If I truly wanted to touch something old I'd shake Carlisle's hand again. He was much less breakable and ornate looking. I spun slowly on the spot, wondering if my eyes could fall out of their head for looking so much, and wondering how bored Edward must be by the mundane ordinary-ness of my house and room. I was about to ask him how he could stand it, when he mumbled something.

"What do you think of the human -?" he asked.

"Huh?" I said, turning to face Edward, with my hands on my hips. He looked sheepish for a few seconds. He signed something with didn't help, and I felt my frown deepen. He then resorted to fingerspelling.

F-A-C-A-D-E.

"Ah." I needed to start writing some of these down. "I'm learning more signs hanging around you than I did in pretty much all my time at deaf school." I smiled, "I keep telling you to dumb it down."

I accidentally looked into his eyes at that moment, he was smiling and they were warm, excited, happy. I was momentarily distracted, and then I realised I had forgotten what we were discussing.

"Sorry what was the question?" I asked, beginning my slow descent of the stairs, my fingers sliding down the bannister while I admired the beautiful paintings that adorned the wall down the stairs – most of which seemed to have a Cullen signature on them.

How is the human illusion? He signed gesturing around at the house, while effortlessly descending the stairs backwards. I smiled at his unknowing supernaturalness. It made sense that the Cullen family might not actually even know how to look human. There was something slightly off, and I had to think about it. I glimpsed my empty boots, sitting where I had left them, askew at the door. I knew exactly how to put my finger on it.

"It's almost flawless."

Edward looked mildly shocked, and for a fleeting second I couldn't tell if it was real or fake.

"Almost?" he asked. Real then.

"Almost." I clarified, smiling. I paused on the stairs, gazing at a framed mount of what looked like five sets of graduation caps. It totally was. I continued descending, thinking about how awful that would be, living the same four years repeatedly over. It wasn't like my high school experience had been normal, but it at least had seemed fast so far. Their perception of time being what it was, I can only imagine how bored they probably were on a daily basis. And how the hell did they handle gym class? I had so many little questions. But first, to answer his question. I saw Edward's eyes move noticeably over my head, and I looked around. Carlisle and Esme had reappeared, descending the stairs behind us. I finished the stairs quickly, to get out of their way, but they took the stairs at the same pace we had.

I felt a gentle touch to my shoulder and turned to look at Edward. He looked extremely confused about the word 'almost'.

"Okay, well first off. Under no circumstances, not even under the grace of a doctor and architect, would five teenagers leave the house so spotless." I motioned around. "There isn't a stray phone charger, or discarded sweater, or even a stack of backpacks oozing out of a closet."

Esme looked thoughtful at my statement, Carlisle looked amused. Edward was looking speculatively around.

"Another thing… is that I haven't seen a box of tissues anywhere. I'm assuming you don't need to blow your noses?" I laughed shyly I had been fortunate that it wasn't too cold outside and that my nose wasn't running. Esme clapped her hands to her face in ashamed amusement. Carlisle shook his head, and looked at Edward.

"It's no wonder that Bella had us figured out so quickly." He spoke towards me, and signed for my benefit. He then turned to me directly. "You are far too observant for your own good." He signed 'You see too much' to accentuate his speech. I blushed.

"Honestly other than that it's perfect. It's homely and open and warm. It's beautiful. It's just far too clean for the amount of people that live here." I looked absentmindedly over at the piano and its black shiny bench. Edward was over to it, quick as a flash. As he sat down his hand patted the bench for me to join him, and there was not a smear to be seen. I began creeping forwards, and then turned to Carlisle.

"Do you leave fingerprints?" I asked Carlisle. On a surface that smooth and dark, they should have been obvious in the daylight. He smiled knowingly, and astounded.

"We do not. Our bodies are not covered in the oils that yours are." Carlisle looked amused and impressed.

"So I'm the only one leaving fingerprints here? Yikes. I'll wear a hazmat suit next time." I clasped my hands together, thinking about the banister I'd just essentially smeared oil all over. Esme shook her head furtively.

"Please no, Bella. Don't worry about a single thing like that. You have no idea what a pleasure it is to host you here."

As I blushed, the sun broke through the clouds again and I was dazzled with Esme and Carlisle's addition to the sparkle-fest. The room was alight with so many dancing balls of light I felt as though I'd been transported into a kaleidoscope tube. I sat down on the piano bench beside Edward, and he rested his hand on my lower back, stroking his thumb reassuringly, as I marvelled at the patterns dancing across the ceiling.

"How do you ever get used to sparkling like this?" I asked. "It's beautiful."

Esme looked so elated I wondered how Jasper was getting through all of this. "I haven't yet. I still thoroughly enjoy my sunny days."

I felt a cacophony of noise beside me. It was a very confusing sound, and I looked aroud to see Edward's hands flying across the piano at a speed I wouldn't have thought possible. I focused hard, trying to hear as much as I could, but the amount of noise coming out made the piece sound like it was being played underwater on a static-filled radio. I instead began watching Edward. He seemed so relaxed, so happy. It was a stark contrast between the first few times in biology class. I tucked my one foot under the crook of my other leg, turning slightly so I was facing him more. He was barely looking at the keys, watching me, watching him. His hands slowed, and I began picking up more of the notes. I wondered if it was the same song, dramatically slower.

I knew how to play a few songs. It had been part of my rehabilitation and therapy. Something to monitor my hearing range and loss. I wouldn't play in here though. Not in front of the family.

"Can you play?" He had asked me that before. I had managed to avoid really answering then. But now… I wonder if I could get him to play half of it. Would he even know the tune? And what if I got it wrong?

No, that was a silly thing to think of. I knew this. I began to work up my courage as I rested my hands on some keys.

"I don't know it you know it… and I haven't played in a year at least." I looked over at Carlisle and Esme, apologetically, but they looked only pleasant and patient. I could do this. I began pressing at the keys. Walking in the Air, by George Winston began slowly working its way out of my fingers. Edward took up the lower half, and I realised that between the both of us, I could hear his right hand and my left – the middle range of the piano. I couldn't hear anything my right, or his left was playing. I focused very intently on what I was doing, remembering the keystrokes as best I could. As we played I relaxed more, and could see Edward doing the same. I tried not to get distracted by the moving prisms of light that bounced around my field of view, and just focused.

I knew the piece was usually around 6 minutes long, but I also knew that I had begun it at a slower tempo than when I was practicing. When I finally got to the end of the song, everything seemed to be perfectly still. Even Edward's hands were frozen on the keyboard. I folded my hands into my lap, and felt my confidence, my assurance at being comfortable enough to play in front of Edward's family, vanish. I suddenly felt shy and awkward again. And then ever so slightly pissed off.

"Jasper." I whispered accusingly. I looked around, and saw him and Alice perched gently on the stairs. Obviously close enough to manipulate, but far enough that I hadn't noticed them. He stood and walked down the stairs slowly.

"Hello again Bella." He nodded his head, signing slowly as he spoke. Alice bounded down beside him, coming to rest beside Esme. "I'm sorry. Edward really wanted to hear you play." He looked sheepish, and not at all as guilty as I felt he should have. "To be honest I'm surprised you picked up on it. I was trying to be subtle."

I folded my hands into my lap and glared at him, not half as meanly as I should have.

"I don't appreciate the coercion, but I understand it. It was subtle at first. You got too cocky I think. You didn't ease off slowly enough."

He began laughing too. Apparently I was on fire today in the amusement department.

"I've never been given tips before on how to be better at coercing others. Most people are just as pissed as you were, and less forgiving."

I blushed a little, and this time, the traitorous sun disappeared, and I'm sure I was the most evident thing in the room. I looked back at Edward, to see how he was doing, and he seemed so happy it almost hurt to look at. He was legitimately beaming.

"Thank you for playing with me."

"Yeah well, think of it as your birthday present for the next ten years." I chuckled. Edward looked towards his family and I turned to face them. Alice had raised her hand to speak, and was waiting patiently for me. This insane courtesy would take some getting used to.

"There's a wonderful storm coming in. So I wanted to ask everyone if they'd be down for some baseball." She had signed and spoken very clearly, and yet I had still obviously missed something. I raised my hand to speak. Alice laughed, and pointed at me, as a teacher would indicate to a student that they could speak.

"I'm sorry, but I clearly missed something. I thought you said there was a storm coming, and that you wanted to play baseball."

"That's exactly what I said." She nodded. "We need the storm to cover the sounds of us playing. We're rather loud about it."

Carlisle raised his hand. I looked over at him.

"We're in of course." Carlisle said, placing his arm around his wife. He had been talking to Alice, but made sure that I didn't miss anything. This was the most I'd ever caught in a conversation ever. The Cullen family was inconveniencing themselves immensely, and yet they all appeared as if this was the most natural conversation they'd had. They all turned to look at us.

"What about Rose and Emmett?" Esme asked. I looked behind me, curious – had they snuck in? - and realised quickly that they were asking Edward. He tilted his head gently, towards the garage I had glimpsed outside.

"They're in."

Again I felt a flash of guilt. Rosalie and Emmett didn't feel comfortable enough being in the house with me. I resorted my emotion to calm but I was only half sure it was my doing. Edward touched my shoulder.

"Would you like to come?" he asked.