I roll on impact, my newborn instincts getting me away from my attacker. Alice snarls, jumping to her feet. The sound coming from her seemingly fragile body is truly terrifying. I flip to my feet to see her gripping the bronze-haired Edward around the throat. He is motionless, only staring at Alice with an eyebrow raised. "What the hell Edward?" She growls at him.

He grins jovially, his handsome features lightening, like Alice isn't currently trying to strange him. "Just thought that I'd give you a scare, that's all. I figured there was no point in running anymore as you'd just continue to pursue me so since I couldn't get away from you, I could at least have a little fun." He says in a velvety voice. "Trying to sneak up on a mind reader is impossible."

Alice releases him, sighing petulantly. "Do you know how long it took us to catch up with you?"

"About…" he cocks his head towards her, "seven hours." He winces. "Wow. I am fast." He laughs, his laugh so beautiful I can only stare.

Tiny Alice narrows her eyes at him. "No one likes a smart alec, Edward." She chastises.

"No one likes a freaky little pixie who can foresee their every movie either." He replies, grinning at Alice with such warmth and love I can tell it's just a joke. "Alice, will you give me five minutes alone to speak with Bella please?" He asks, not taking his eyes off her.

I blink in surprise. It was the first time he'd acknowledged my presence. Alice's eyes unfocused for a few seconds before returning to normal. She inclines her head to Edward, before flitting away with a small smile on her face. Edward's golden eyes follow her and then seemingly reluctant, he turns to look at me. I force myself not to melt under his intense expression, slapping myself mentally. What on earth was wrong with me?

"I must apologise for my behaviour earlier, Bella." Edward says quietly, meeting my eyes with a soft intense look. "I… I lost all sense."

"Why aren't you attacking me now?" I ask warily, my body tensing slightly. "I still smell like a human."

He swallows suddenly, backing away as if he's just noticed my scent once again. "Yes you do but your scent isn't as strong outdoors. I… You'd been in our entrance hall for a while. The room was full of your scent and it was… maddening. It's easier here." He pauses for an instant. "Besides, Alice has just checked I can control myself." His eyes close briefly and I notice he has lavender coloured eyelids. "I'm Edward Cullen, by the way. I've not introduced myself." He says, when his eyes open.

"Isabella." I say automatically, then I grimace. "But I prefer to be called Bella."

Edward's golden eyes flicker to mine eagerly and then a look of shock appears on his face. He leans forward slightly, still peering at me intently. "What?" He exclaims, after a few seconds silence.

I match his expression, seriously confused. "What is it?"

"Your mind. I can't read it." He says bluntly, suddenly right in front of me and peering into my eyes.

"But why?" I ask, taken aback by his sudden close proximity.

He blinks and then immediately backs away, swallowing hard. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be that close to you yet." He murmurs.

I bite my lip, not wanting to point out to Edward that he was the one who'd put himself in close proximity to me in the first place. A small part of me also wondered why he'd included the word 'yet', as though he was planning on being closer to me later in time.

Edward sighs. "Please don't be afraid of me." He murmurs.

"I'm not." I blurt.

Edward blinks rapidly. "But you were biting your lip, like you were afraid of something." He says in astonishment.

I laugh, unable to help it. So that's how he'd read me. "I was biting my lip because I was wondering something." I admit, trying to put him out of his misery.

Edward instantly looks annoyed. "If I was able to read your mind I wouldn't have made that mistake." He scowls, his full lips pressing together. "I hate not being able to read your thoughts. How do you cope with not being able to know what people are thinking?" He rants passionately.

I smile at his question. "Edward," I say, loving the way his name sounds in my mouth. "It's not normal to know what people think. It makes life pretty interesting, don't you think? It's guessing the thoughts behind people's words that is fun. Life would be boring if you knew what everyone was thinking."

He smiles crookedly and I'm sure that if my heart still beat it would have stopped at that moment. "Not boring." He murmurs. "Practical. It makes life a lot easier."

"Well we don't all have that advantage." I mutter cynically.

"Well, we don't all smell like humans either." He points out.

I scowl. That was sore point for me right now. "It's not my fault I'm a freak." I growl at him.

Edward's expression instantly darkens. "You are not a freak. Don't ever call yourself that." He growls, so much more menacingly than I did.

I flinch. "Why do you care what I call myself?" I mutter defiantly.

Edward blinks, his eyelashes long and reverently beautiful. "I'm not sure." He says quietly. "There's just something about you Bella…"

I tried to keep myself from shivering at the sound of my name coming from his perfect velvet voice. "It could be just because you can't read my mind." I tease lightly, trying to distract myself.

He steps forward slightly, his golden eyes piercing. "No, I don't think that's it." He says softly.

I attempt to change the subject, his golden eyes unnerving me. "Why can't you read my mind?"

"I don't know." He says softly. "I can only assume that your mind is on a different wavelength to everyone else. Like I'm only getting FM and your mind is on AM."

"Great. I'm getting more normal by the minute." I deliberately avoided calling myself a freak.

It didn't satisfy Edward, who scowled again. "You need to stop being so degrading to yourself Bella." He says firmly.

I sigh and finally say what is on my mind. "You can't deny I'm a little strange Edward." I meet his eyes challengingly. "I have a human scent and not only that, it drives you crazy. Doesn't that make me different?"

He swallows again. "Yes, your scent is rather… appealing, but I will… I can control myself around you." He takes a deep breath. "Stop changing the subject Bella. I notice you haven't actually replied to my thoughts that there's something different about you."

I sigh. Here we go again. "Alice was right. You are a smart alec."

He chuckles at my avoidance again. "No. I'm just a good observer. You tend to be if you can read minds. I've gotten very good at reading people in general."

"Oh, really?" I question, seeing my opportunity to avoid this conversation. "And what can you tell about me? Go on, read me."

Edward looks momentarily surprised but bows his head in compliance. "Well firstly," he says, chuckling again, "I see my sister got to you. I don't remember what you were wearing when I… When we were back at the house, but those clothes are definitely Alice's design."

"Yes," I admit, "but anyone can tell that just by knowing Alice. These are not exactly running clothes."

"Have patience." He says softly. "Secondly, I can see you are quite a young vampire, with surprisingly good self-control for someone so young. Your eyes have a golden tinge to them – you drink animal blood, don't you?"

I am surprised. Edward had noticed my eyes straight away and they weren't even that noticeable unless you were a lot closer to me. So either he'd been staring into my eyes when I'd not been paying attention, which seemed pretty unlikely, or he really was good at observing. A small movement from Edward brought me back to the present and I realised he was waiting for an answer. "Yes. I have drunk animal blood ever since I was created, eight months ago." I admit.

Edward gasps. "You're a newborn?" I refrain from rolling my eyes at him as I nod. This conversation was getting old, fast. "I should have known, I guess." He says quietly. "There are things that give it away. But your level of control is astounding which is why I assumed you were a young vampire as opposed to a newborn. It's rare for a young vampire to have your level of self-control and practically impossible for a newborn. You didn't attack me back at the house, you simply defended yourself. Usually newborns are governed by instinct for the first year – all they can think about is blood." He explains solemnly.

"Jasper said that too, but it's not true. I hardly ever think about blood." I inform him.

Edward gasps again, his golden eyes widening. "You don't… like blood?"

"Not particularly. Even human blood repulses me for a few days. After a few days it starts to appeal a little. After a few weeks I can stomach animal blood but I prefer to wait a few months until I begin to get thirsty to drink it since it tastes so foul." I tell him honestly.

Edward gasps again, his golden eyes shocked. "Have you told Carlisle this?"

"No why? Why would he want to know my hunting habits?" I question.

Edward sighs. "Those hunting habits are not normal for any vampire, especially for a newborn. Even mature vampires have to feed every two to three weeks at the barest minimum to maintain full strength. With newborns it has to be every few days and even then it is human blood which sustains them more."

I frown in shock at his revelation. "But I've been four months without drinking any blood and it wasn't until then that I began to feel weak."

Edward bites his lip. "Carlisle may be able to help you. I have no answers. All I know is that you're one extraordinary vampire, Bella."

I feel a prickling in my eyes, one that reminds me of the feeling you get before you cry, except I was a vampire so I couldn't cry. I covered my face with my hands, feeling a flood of frustration. "I'm not extraordinary," I whisper, "I am a freak. Why can't I just be normal?"

Warm, soft hands suddenly gently prise my hands away from face and I look up in surprise to see Edward staring at his hands in shock, like they'd betrayed him. An electric tingle runs down my spine, the skin on my hands burning hot where he'd just touched. "Bella you wouldn't want to be a normal newborn, trust me. All you'd be able to think about is human blood. You wouldn't be who you are now. However different you are to the average newborn is a good thing. Don't be ashamed of it." He says fiercely.

I can't meet his eyes as I answer. I bitterly disagreed with him. "It doesn't feel like a good thing Edward. This life is confusing enough, the fact that I'm different makes it so much harder."

I hear Edward swallow reflexively and he let go of my wrists immediately, leaving a strange coldness behind. However, his voice is soft when he speaks. "Look at me Bella." He commands.

I instantly look up. There's no disobeying a tone like that. I see Edward's backed away a few paces but he meets my eyes steadily, the golden colour of them burning intently. "You're fine the way you are. Trust me, you wouldn't want to be any other way," he hesitated momentarily, "I wouldn't want you to be any other way."

Our eyes connected and held. "I do trust you." I say breathily, feeling weak under his gaze. It was completely true. Inexplicably, I trusted him.

He never looked away from me, although I registered surprise in his eyes. "I'm glad." He says quietly, his gaze travelling briefly over me. Then he laughed, his voice soft and velvety. "I can't believe Alice dressed you like that."

I laugh too, quelling the intense moment. "I have the feeling no one can stop Alice and I've only known her for a day."

He smiles, that same crooked smile that makes my knees weak. "No you're perfectly right. She is impossible to reign in." He pauses, before continuing so slowly it's almost as if the words are being taken from him involuntarily. "It suits you though. You look… beautiful."

I knew that if I wasn't a vampire my cheeks would be bright red at his words. "Thank you." I murmur.

"Edward's right you know. My handiwork is amazing." Alice says suddenly, materialising by my side.

I force myself not to jump at her sudden appearance as Edward grins at her, completely relaxed. "I should have known you'd be listening when I actually deign so low as to compliment you." He winks at her.

She laughs in her soprano tone. "But of course you weren't complimenting me as such Edward. You were complimenting Bella."

He smiles, feigning nonchalance. "Well I'm sure it makes your job easier when you have someone like her to dress up."

Alice studies me briefly. "Yes it does." She sings.

I force myself not to squirm under their combined gaze. "Will we be returning back to Carlisle and the others?" I ask, as neutrally as I can manage.

Alice's expression tells me she's not fooled but she smiles anyway. "I've just rang Carlisle to tell him where we are. It's been almost twenty-four hours so he was quite worried. I told him we had Edward and we'd be returning home soon."

I feel a flash of guilt. "Is he angry?" I ask softly.

Alice shakes her head as Edward laughs quietly. "Carlisle doesn't really do anger. He's relieved that Edward's okay and we're all coming back in one piece." She looks pointedly at Edward as she speaks and he sighs.

"I'm under control." He promises, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

She skewers him with a glare. "I don't care what you think. I want you to hunt before we go home. It's a long journey and I don't want you trying to eat Bella on it."

Edward goes very still and I can tell Alice's words have offended him. "Alice. I don't think Edward is going to hurt…" I begin, but she interrupts fiercely.

"No Bella. He may be fine now, but he's going to be around you for the next twenty-four hours. Edward, go now. We'll wait here."

Edward stalks off angrily without another word.