Disclaimer: Own this, I do not. Care about what you think, I do. Yoda's favorite, I was. At the end, the A/N is. The story, you should read. I'll stop now.

Saturday, September 14 8:02 A.M. Pacific Time Forks, WA BPOV

I woke up that morning feeling exhausted. After the events of Thursday night, I had been terrified to go to sleep, and I kept waking up at odd hours and times. Once, I'd gotten up out of bed to go get a drink of water, and I could've sworn I saw something moving around out in the woods next to the house. I didn't get up again the rest of the night. Now, I sat up in bed and stretched, my muscles creaking. I heard my back pop twice and grimaced. I sighed, but stood up and got dressed, a t-shirt and jeans.

I sat down at my desk, and opened up my computer. As it booted up, I sighed and started thinking about yesterday. So. Made three friends. Must be a record. Well, actually, two friends. I agree with Paul, I don't think Lauren likes me very much. At least the feeling is mutual. I began to play with the ends of my hair, studying it. I hope they're not mad at me, or anything, because I left yesterday…and then didn't even go back to see them or go home with them. I grimaced. Jeez, Bella. How socially inept are you? I sighed. Which brings us to our next topic of confusion. The man in my room, and what the hell is actually wrong with him. I felt more confident in the morning light, more determined. The computer was finally ready so I opened up a web browser. Time to find some answers. I took a deep breath and typed in, 'reasons for having hard and cold skin'. The results were not promising. A few were links to 'adult content' sites, others were links to sites about some rare skin condition, and the rest were mainly junk. I cleared the search bar and typed in, 'reasons for having fangs'. That got me nowhere, too. All of them seemed to be about bats and other assorted types of animals. I huffed. This was going nowhere, fast. Alright, Bella. You've assuaged your need to look for a reasonable answer to this weirdo. Now you can either give up, or look for a not so reasonable answer.

So I gave in. I cleared the search and replaced it with, 'common features of a vampire'. What did I have to lose? This search did actually bear some possibilities. I opened up one that read, 'Vampires: How to Spot One and How to Stop One'. The article, or website, was organized horribly, but I trudged onward. "Ok, Bells. We've got Vampire Weaknesses, Vampire Appetite, Vampire…" I paused and leaned closer, making sure I was reading it correctly. "Vampire Sexual Preference? No thanks. Vampire Appearance, that might be helpful." I clicked the header and the passage expanded for me to read.

"Although some people claim that vampires are mortal just like the rest of us, they are not. Vampires are immortal, and don't show any signs of aging beyond that of the day that they were bitten and turned. (See section 7, Vampire Creation, for more details.) Vampires are very attractive beings, very appealing to the human eyes, as they are this way to put humans, their prey, at ease. It has been claimed that they also appeal to every other human sense, as their voices are soothing to human ears, but not to the ears of the other supernatural's. The human sense of smell is alerted by the specifically designed scent of every vampire that encompasses their personality's main tints, and some have testified that breathing in the vampire's scent rejuvenates you, while others say it makes you ill. The human sense of touch is stimulated because a vampire's skin is very smooth and it has been claimed that their skin is ice cold to the touch."

I sat back. Huh. Well. That all seemed to fit, but after a few glances at some of the other topics, I found myself doubting the author. Of course you doubt him, these things don't exist! I huffed in agitation. What the hell was I supposed to believe? I knew, I just knew, that something wasn't human about that man, but what was it? I glared in frustration at my computer screen. I just wished I could talk to someone who knew what the hell was going on. This was getting increasingly ridiculous. I rubbed my eyes, and poked around on a few other websites. None of them were helpful, some were downright disturbing, and others were just really, aggravatingly, stupid. So I gave up and shut off the computer, then stared out the window of my room. Apparently the good weather from yesterday was gone, because out the window there was only gray skies and murky clouds. I wonder when Sam wants me to come over…

We hadn't exchanged numbers or anything, so I had no way of contacting him. I frowned. I'll leave around ten, and if he's not home, I'll go by the Black's and see Jacob. I smiled when I thought of my childhood friend. My stomach rumbled, and I groaned. When I'd looked in the fridge last night, there was almost nothing edible, and I was really not looking forward to whatever Charlie ate for breakfast. I more or less fell down the stairs, and upon entering the kitchen, noticed that Charlie'd left me a note. 'Bells, sorry I didn't say goodbye this morning, but you were asleep when I left and I didn't want to wake you. I'll be at the station until six if you need me. –Dad'

I grinned, and walked over to the pantry to check for anything more appetizing than three week old pizza, to no avail. I jumped when the kitchen phone began to ring, and guessed that it must be Charlie checking to make sure I woke up, or something. I answered, "Hello?" A bubbly voice answered back, "Hey, is this Bella? Because you really sound like her and this is Chief Swan's house number, at least I think it is, and I'm calling to find Bella is Bella there, can I talk to Bella please?" I found myself grinning and saying, "Jeez, Jessica, it's eight o'clock in the morning, slow down." She laughed. "No! Are you busy right now, because some serious shit went down last night after you left with those three gorgeous Natives, who you are so going to tell me all about, and I really need to catch you up. Lauren has a hangover, and Ang's doing…something, I'm not entirely sure, and this is the fourth time I have called this morning, where were you?" "Well, I-" She gasped. "No. Way. Bella. Did you spend the night with that guy from the beach?" I blushed scarlet. "No! No, no, no, no, you see he's the brother of a friend. No spending the night occurred." "Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Well, at any rate, do you want to come over for breakfast or something, because I seriously can't wait to tell you this stuff and it's stuff I have to tell you like, face to face."

I glanced at the clock. It wouldn't hurt to spend time with Jessica, and after all, as wild and crazy as she was, I actually did like her. "Sure, but we can't eat here because Charlie has like, no food whatsoever in the fridge." I could practically hear her flap her hand the way she always did. "No prob, girl, I got yo back! That's my rapper accent, do you like it?" "Uh, yeah. Why do you have a rapper accent?" She huffed in impatience. "Uh, because I'm going to be an actress, duh! Or a teacher, I change my mind. Now, do you need directions to my house or do you remember the way?" "I remember it. Be there in, I don't know, five minutes." Jessica giggled. "Alrighty! You are going to flip when you hear the news!" Before I could pry her for better details, she hung up. I smiled and set the phone back in the hook. I ran back up to my room and grabbed my keys, then my forgotten cell phone from my carry-on that I'd used when I flew here. On my way down the stairs, I switched on my phone and tried to think of what was so important that Jessica would want to talk about it right away, but in truth, I didn't mind. I grabbed a sweatshirt from the coat rack next to the front door, shoved my sneakers on my feet, went outside and locked the front door. When I turned around, as if on cue, it began to rain.

I smiled ruefully. But of course. I threw the sweatshirt over my head to shield myself from the rain and raced to my truck. I swung my body in it as fast as I could, trying not to get myself or the interior wet, failing for the most part, and slammed the door shut. I began to hum as I started it up, backed out of the driveway, and began the drive to Jessica's house. When I got there, I was highly amused to see the girl herself standing on the shelter of the front porch, waving crazily at me. I waved back and hopped out of the truck. And immediately slipped in the rain. I managed to catch myself on the truck's door handle before I landed, and I yanked myself back upright, my face burning. Good Lord, woman. How clumsy are you? I ran to meet Jessica, the rain pouring now. "Bella, finally! Come on, let's go inside and get you dried off so we can start eating!" The way she rolled her eyes dramatically when she said eating made me smile, and she opened the door, motioning me inside. Her house was small, but clean and almost painfully organized.

This was even further evidenced when she pulled me into the kitchen and a piece of paper on the fridge documented where you could find everything kitchen related. It even had a diagram of under the kitchen sink. Jessica caught me staring at it and rolled her eyes. "Oh, that thing. My mother's crazy, she goes through all these 'phases', one day she's planning on becoming a nun, and the next day she swears she'd be the best model the world has ever seen. Right now she's really into organization." I nodded. "My mom's a lot like that, too." Jessica gave me a curious glance over her shoulder. "Really? Then we have a lot to talk about. You want cereal?" I shrugged. "Sure." She handed me a bowl and motioned to a cabinet above my head. "We have Trix, Captain Crunch, Lucky Charms, and some kind of Indian cereal my mom bought on a health kick from last month." I grinned, picked up a random box and poured myself some.

Jessica opened the fridge and wrinkled her nose. "Some of the stuff we have to eat when my mom's on a health fix is incredibly disgusting. Once, she made up eat the balls from a sheep." At the look on my face, she laughed. "Yeah, it's grosser than it sounds. Milk?" I nodded. "So what did you-" "Ah, ah, ah, not so fast! Here, I'll pour the milk, you get in that drawer- no, the other one, no, more to the left, there you go- and get us two spoons. Trix, Bella, really? I'd have pegged you for a Lucky Charms kinda girl." I shrugged, grinning. "Because you like Lucky Charms?" She smiled and set the bowls down on the table in the kitchen, and as she put the milk away she said, "Ok, just three more seconds…" She plopped down in the seat opposite me and grinned. "Ok. Go."

Imeddiately I asked, "What happened after I left last night?", knowing that was all that was required to get Jessica going. Between bites of cereal, she said, "Ok, so after you and that hunk of manly goodness and his two hunky friends left, Lauren got all pissy because apparently one of the guys you left with is her Paul-man-meat. So she then proceeded to hit on Eric until he led her out into the woods, and they were gone all night. All night, Bella. So without a wing-girl, I was forced to stand on the sidelines more or less as an all out brawl went down between Ben and Mike." I choked on my Trix. "Wait, what?" She swirled her spoon in her bowl. "Well, apparently Mike really doesn't like Angela or something, which is weird because she's like, the nicest person I know. But anyway, Mike started being ugly with her, she kinda started crying, and Ben walks right up to Mike and punches him right in the face. Yeah, I know! It was ridiculous! Both boys were drunk off their asses, so what little fighting that did happen was all slow motion and shit. And then the La Push cops came around and rounded everyone up and threw us out. But that's not the best part. The best part is that when Angela went to go thank Ben for standing up for her, he asked her out. Right there in front of everyone, me, Mike, the La Push po-po, half the juniors and seniors from our school, and in front of Tyler." I cocked my head to the side. "Wait. Why is it such a big deal if Tyler was there?" Her eyes widened. "Shit, you don't know. Tyler's had a massive crush on Ang since third grade. He's asked her out so many times that everyone else has lost count, and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, he misses his chance to show her exactly how much he cares about her. Now he's doomed to forever stand by and watch the love of his life being happy with someone else." I stopped chewing to glance up at Jessica. Her eyes were wide, her hands were clasped in front of her chest, and she was speaking almost reverently. She grinned at me cheekily. "That's out of one of my mom's favorite romance novels."

I gave her a hesitant thumbs up. "Yay?" She giggled. "No, but seriously, I kinda feel for the guy. I mean, he must be heartbroken. Oh, Angela said yes to Ben. In case you didn't get that. And oh my god, was the ride home a catastrophe…" Jessica had finished eating by now and could make more use of her hands to gesture and point to emphasize what she was saying. At one point I noticed that the more she talked, the happier she became. So after about twenty minutes of ranting about Mike's unwillingness to accept the terms of their relationship (i.e. nothing was ever going to happen), she sighed contentedly and leaned back in her chair. "Ok, enough about that loser, tell me about what you did last night! Who were those guys?" "Sam Uley was the one who was carrying me, and his friends were Jared and Paul." Jessica made a 'go-on' motion, so I smiled before launching into my own tirade, mostly talking about my conversation with Jared in the kitchen and then our conversations at the table. Jessica laughed hysterically when I told her how Jared tricked Paul, through a bet, into agreeing to let me and one of my friends do his makeup.

"Jesus, Bella, are you serious?" I nodded happily. "Yup. Goes down next week!" She gave me puppy dog eyes and asked, "Will you bring me along? PLEASE?!" I nodded quickly, and she settled back, pleased. I cocked my head to the side. "Jess, what do you really want in a guy?" Honestly, I was certainly curious, but I had no idea where the question came from. She gave me a sly grin. "Well, he's got to be hot for one thing." We grinned at each other and she continued in a more serious vein, "But uh, he's got to be really talkative, happy, and especially nice, I'm so tired of dating assholes. I want him to be sweet, you know? I want him to be a little protective when necessary, but only when necessary. I want to be an equal in the relationship." I nodded. "I'd want an equal, too. I want him to be protective too, but in a way that I always know I'm safe, but I can still do the stuff I want. I want it to be a little easy and a little hard to work him out, but I want to be able to look across a room at him and have him just know what I'm thinking. But I really want him to not be afraid to go after what he wants. Be assertive. Sweet, but assertive." Jess grinned. "We don't want much, do we?" We laughed and I grinned at her. "Look at us, getting all deep and girly and all feely together." We cackled and Jess shook her head.

"Ok, then what happened after you guys had your little pow-wow dinner thing? Did Sam drive you back home?" I nodded, blushing. She noticed that and an evil grin came over her face. "Something happened when he drove you home. Something totally happened. Tell me. Tell me now." I ran a hand through my hair before saying slowly, "Well my clothes were kind of ruined when Paul brought them back from the beach, and Sam gave me one of his shirts to wear so I wouldn't freeze." At her excited nod, I smiled, knowing she was dying for me to continue. "And when we were in the car, we got to talking and he said…" I mumbled really quietly, "He said I looked good in his shirt." Jessica was leaning so far forward over the table; she was almost laying on it. "Sorry, what?" I blushed. "He said I looked good in his shirt. But it wasn't a derogatory thing, he said it like…oh I don't know." She beamed, an excited gleam in her eyes. "And what did you say back?" I blushed further. "I said he looked good without one." She squealed, clapping her hands together and stomping her feet on the floor. "That's perfect, Bella, oh my god that was amazing! I'm so proud of you!"

She lept up from the table and rushed over to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders and hugging me tightly. I laughed in surprise. "Uh, thank you?" She let go, beaming. "So, did you guys make a second date?" I rolled my eyes. "Jess, it was not a date. It was just four kids hanging out, and then one drove me home." She flapped her hand, and I smiled at the gesture. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. When are you going to see him again?" I looked down, smiling. "Well, actually, I'm supposed to go over to his place today to talk to his sister." She spread her hands out in front of her. "What the hell are you still doing here?" "Um, talking to you?" She rolled her eyes. "Bella. If I had a man as hot as Sam waiting for me, I wouldn't ask any questions. And I wouldn't walk to where said man was waiting, I would run." I laughed. "If I tried to run, I think I would fall on my face and die, with my luck."

Jessica cocked an eyebrow. "You're in a really good mood." She grinned. "Would that have anything to do with a certain man, named Sam?" I pretended not to hear her. "I'll call you later, as I'm sure you'll want all the dirty details." She nodded her head. "You are correct. Now go get him, tiger!" I stood up and gave her a hug. "Thanks for breakfast, Jess." She flapped both hands at me in a shooing motion. "Yeah, yeah. Go, go, go! Run, Bella, run!" I laughed, and with one last wave, stepped out the front door. I was still grinning when I turned off of the main road of Forks to the one that led to the La Push turn-off. And promptly lost both the grin and my happy attitude when my passenger side door was ripped off of its hinges and a man lept easily into the seat.

He turned his pale, handsome face towards me, a crooked grin spread across it. He ran an ivory hand through bronze locks, and locked eyes with me. But instead of my nighttime intruder's eyes being coal black, the way they had been last time, now they were red. Blood red.

I slammed on the breaks, my heart pounding, my eyes wide. He grinned. "I never got to introduce myself properly, the other night. I am Edward Cullen." My mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation. So my mouth channeled it's inner Jessica and began to spew forth words. "Cullen, like the Cullen's that left town not too long ago?" He grimaced. "I, regretfully, am no longer with them." He motioned to the road. "Turn around and return home." "Why?" He swung that beautifully hideous face towards me, giving me a lazy smile. "You can either live for a few more minutes and plead for your life, or you can die right here, in this truck." I shuddered, but complied. What choice did I have? "Why do you want to kill me?" He scoffed. "I'm a vampire, Bella Swan. It's what we do." My heart skipped a beat. "No. Vampire's don't exist." Edward gave a mocking laugh. "Silly Bella. We do exist. Watch." I looked over, and with a blur of movement my eyes couldn't follow, he did something. I looked at the dashboard in front of him, and a dent the size of my own face was now there.

He said disinterestedly, "You see, Bella love, vampires have certain…abilities." I swallowed hard and clutched the wheel in front of me. "Like what?" He shrugged. "Incredibly enhanced speed, strength, and senses. Including, I'm told, our sense of taste." He let his blood red eyes scan lazily over my body, a look in his eyes that I really didn't want to think about. "I can't wait to break you." The whispered words were followed by him leaning closer to my shaking body, and as he pushed his head closer to mine, I cringed away from him. I clamped my mouth shut before a scream of terror could escape. Anger flashed across his face, clouding the perfect features. "I can't hear you." I didn't look at him. "I didn't say anything." He sighed delicately. "Bella love, vampires gain a special trait, a gift, when they turn. My trait is the ability to hear people's thoughts."

He raised one lone finger to my cheek and rubbed the skin there gently. His skin was just as icy and hard as I remembered. "But with you, Bella, I can't hear your thoughts." He smiled crazily. "That, love, is most fortunate." I felt my heart beat faster as we re-entered Forks. Time is running out, Bella. "Why is that fortunate?" He leaned all the way over to me and whispered in my ear, sending violent chills down throughout my body. "Because this way I won't have to listen to your pain as I sink my fangs into your neck and drain your body dry. I won't have to hear any of your pathetic human thoughts as the life leaves your body behind, and you are plunged into darkness." He gave me a cold, feral smile. "Instead," he said as he drew back slightly, and raked one of his marble hard hands down my arm from my shoulder to my wrist; ripping the flesh apart all the way down to the bone.

I screamed in agony, going blind from the pain for a split-second, and he wrenched away from me so fast I felt his hand get snagged and rip through the skin on the back of my wrist. From the inside of my skin. His hands clapped over his ears at the sound of my screams, and he wrinkled his nose, but continued. "Instead, I will be able to enjoy myself fully, drinking the liquid from your veins in ecstasy." Through the pain of my new wound, I felt my emotions begin to divide. One half was scared shitless, but the other half was disgusted at his actions. The fact that he was even near me made my skin crawl. He looked at me speculatively. "You know, Bella love; after I'm finished with your blood, I think that I will indulge in something that used to disgust me." I glanced at him. He explained further, "I think I will succumb to my desire to taste not only your blood, but your flesh."

Bile rose in my throat, my stomach roiled. Partly from the scent of my own blood pouring out of my arm, partly from the things he was saying, and partly from the spinning I felt as I felt something divide inside me. On one half of the divide was sickening pain and crippling fear. On the other half, the half that I had sensed disgust in, held roiling anger. How dare this man try to do these things to me? How dare he frighten me and threaten to kill me, promising disgusting things that he planned to do to my own body? The angry half faded from my notice almost as soon as it appeared, and the spinning in my head stopped abruptly, and my thoughts turned crystal clear. I became focused on one purpose. Getting away, alive. Edward swirled his pale hand in the blood that had pooled in the seat between us. "You are much braver than I thought you would be." I nodded tightly, my mind now picking up speed as it searched for a way out of this situation. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he lifted his now blood-soaked hand to his mouth and licked every drop from his digits. His eyes rolled back into his head in obvious pleasure, and I felt disgust uncurl within me yet again. He opened his eyes, they seemed to almost glow, and he gave another delicate sigh. "You taste so delicious, love." I decided to try and distract him with a question, try to buy as much time as I could. "How come you're going to kill me at home?" He snarled. "I would have very much enjoyed killing you back when we were across the border, but I couldn't or I'd risk breaking the treaty that Carlisle worked so hard to create with those dogs." He shifted and gave me an indulgent, demeaning smile. "And also for sentimental reasons. I plan to drain you in your bedroom, the very place that we first met. But don't get any ideas, Bella love." His smile became feral once more, and the expression sent every molecule in my body reeling in terror. "Bella, you will never escape."

I looked away from him. I couldn't look at this insane vampire's face anymore. "Oh." He reached over and trailed one long, cold, marble hard finger against my throat. "You have no idea how enticing you smell. Much better than when you first came home last night, you reeked of wet dog." I felt my eyes widening. "You've been watching me?" He raised his eyes; once again coal black, to look at me. "Of course. You're my singer, Bella, do you know what that means?" I shook my head. "It means that your blood calls to me, beckons to me you might say. It's the most enticing scent I have ever smelled." He inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. "But I can't do that again or I will lose control and suck you dry right here. Why don't you start talking now? You can tell me about your mother, Renee." I shuddered. Just how much did this guy know about me? My mind still whirling, I let my mouth speak without my brain's consent. "Just nod your head, please, I would like to ask some questions." He didn't look happy, but he nodded graciously.

"Are you really planning to kill me as soon as we get to my house?" Nod. "Do you want to kill my dad?" Head shake, no. "Did your family throw you out?" Nod. "Are you all vampires?" Nod. I had no idea what questions I was asking, but I was trying to buy time. It was no use, because all too soon, I turned into my driveway. And then I was moved so fast I couldn't see. One second I was sitting in the cab of my truck, the next I'm standing behind a literally shaking Paul. Edward hissed at him. "Dog, this is not your land." Paul scoffed. "Is now, fucking bloodsucker. Your eyes are red, and you've hurt a human. Treaty's broken, you leech." Edward began to circle Paul, and with a flash of intuition I knew that he was going to try to distract him in order to get to me. Paul saw it coming, though, and made a motion with his left hand.

Jared materialized next to him, his usually happy face now twisted in anger. Both hulking men stood shoulder to shoulder in front of me, protectively. Jared spoke in a rough, hard voice. "If you leave right now, without any more harm coming to Bella, we won't kill you." Edward gave them a feral grin. "I'll leave. For now. But don't worry, Bella, love. I'll be back for you." He snarled. "I'll always be back." And he was gone. My head spun. Paul and Jared's voices babbled over me. I was lost in a world of horror. Edward was a vampire. With ungodly amounts of superhuman speed and strength. And whatever Paul and Jared were, they seemed to be something that would give him pause. They had to be something dangerous, too. More dangerous, though, than Edward?

A chant began to go off in my head, and the divide reappeared. Send the boys. They can kill him. Send the boys. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. My breathing became even more erratic, but my thoughts were clear. I snapped out of my trance. "Paul. You need to go after him. Take Jared. Go after him, you've got to stop him." Paul gave me an odd look. "He has a whole coven behind him, Bella." I shook my head furiously. "No, he said it was just him. He said they threw him out." Jared pulled off his sneakers and his shirt, and Paul did the same before Jared asked, "Are you sure he was telling the truth?" I gave him a breathless laugh.

"He was going to kill me, Jared. I don't think he was hiding anything from me. Go, before you lose him. I'll be at Leah Clearwater's. Be careful, though. He said he can read minds." They nodded in determination. I had no idea where the calmness or the words I was saying came from, but somehow, somehow, I knew that I was right. Somehow I knew exactly what to do.

I needed to go to La Push.

Jared and Paul were gone in the blink of an eye, and although I should have been continuing to have a freak out over my expeirinces, I held out. Not yet. Get to La Push. I jumped into the truck, landing with a sickening squelch in the blood sitting in the drivers seat. I revved the truck to life, and drove down to La Push at over eighty five miles an hour in a daze. Even though I had a feeling that if he wanted to, Edward could still get to me. And he did want to. As I passed over this little bridge that led into the first few houses of La Push, I saw him in my rearview mirror. Pale, beautiful, angry. And covered in blood. I didn't know if it was my blood, Jared's, or Paul's. I hoped distractedly that it was my own blood.

And then he was gone. Another bout of hysteria threatened, but I pushed it down, along with the blackness swirling at the edges of my vision. Not just yet. Keep going. Go to Leah. Even though every bone in my body ached for someone else. Someone with coal black eyes, high slashing cheekbones, authority and power staining every action, and an unerring ability to make me feel safe. Something I needed right now. Something I craved. I stopped in front of Leah's house, surprised I'd remembered the directions she'd given me my first day here in Forks.

Even though it had only been two and a half days since then, it felt like an eternity. Life just moved so fast. Go inside. Go to Leah. I stumbled out of the truck, and onto the Clearwater's porch. I watched my fist bang into their front door, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. Ok. Now. I began to scream, sob and shake all over. I felt so violated. My privacy had been invaded so horribly it literally hurt to think about. I felt so vulnerable. So weak. I could never have fought him off. Never. I fell to the ground, my screams echoing around me. I saw myself bleeding all over their porch from the wound on my arm. Now it was bleeding much worse than when he'd first created it. I heard the babbling of voices, and the sound of footsteps. Then everything turned black, my mind retreating into the depths of my consciousness, seeking safety.

I knew I'd never find safety there.

I'd only find it one place.

Sam.

A/N: So…yeah. This was incredibly hard, at first, to write, and then my savior, sofyyeah, swooped in with some ideas to get me unstuck. And WHOOP! This was born. Thanks goes out to everyone who's reviewed, I will continue sending PM's if you do, and as a bonus, there's this! If you are one of the first five people to review the last chapter I published before I publish a new chapter, I will send you a little sneak peak. Not a big one, but one nonetheless. So, review and review and review, my beauties! I adore ALL of you! And I lied. I thought that Sam wouldn't be revealing the truth to Bella for awhile yet; but given the way this chapter turned out, I think we can all guess that that line of story won't happen. I already have the next chapter mostly written, all I have to do is type it up and edit it. So, send me love! I'm being greedy this week. Send me love anyway!