Disclaimer: Do I have to be pained so? Not mine… ::mope::

A/N: Thanks for the support everyone :D I have a vague plot as of right now, but I might just keep this a series of short fluff stories about vampiric life if I can't make it more than vague. And of course I'll add lemons (listens for the chorus of "yay!"s). I'm still open to suggestions, if you think something would be really cool.

Short Term Memory

Alice dragged both Edward and Bella out of the house, both of them smiling behind her back at her impatience. "Alice, we can walk on our own, you know," Bella complained.

"Only if you promise to keep up with me," Alice whined.

"Of course!" Bella answered, somewhat eager herself. She had waited a long time for this existence; she wanted to do everything that she now could do.

They all raced off, Bella enjoying her new speed once again. She had run while hunting, but now she ran for the pleasure of running. The darkness of night added new elements to her awareness. She could still see almost as clearly as if it were day. Edward and Alice's eyes had a faint glow to them, reflecting what little light there was. They both seemed shocked that her own eyes were glowing almost brightly; the red of her eyes must have picked up and reflected more light than the Cullens thought her eyes would. She thought with a smile that she was a Cullen now, in name and in her now-bizarre existence.

She found that she didn't have as much experience running as she thought she did. Several times she had to suddenly swerve to avoid trees before she crashed into them and knocked them down. The area around and moving away from the Cullens' home was far more wooded than the mountainous hunting range. She could swear she could hear Edward laughing softly, and mutter something about no balance to Alice.

The now familiar scent of blood was ever present, but Bella affected not to notice it. She had fed well enough that the scent was no longer so enticing to her. But now they were closer to civilization. She could also faintly smell rubber; skid marks from tires on a road.

Alice and Edward were turning the relaxing run into an intense race, increasing the pace rapidly. Alice was soon pushing her limits, though, while Edward could keep increasing speed. Bella kept pace with Edward, thanks to the human blood still in her system keeping her faster and stronger. Edward and Alice were trying to trip each other, laughing as the incredible speed made everything out of control. Bella was paying attention to their antics, and was surprised when she tripped and crashed face first into a tree.

The tree groaned loudly before cracking and falling to the ground. Edward and Alice couldn't help but laugh. It looked like Bella's clumsiness would continue for eternity. Emmett would be very happy.

Bella felt at her cheek where she first made contact with the rough bark. It felt… sharp, somehow. Alice retrieved a mirror from somewhere on her person and gave it to Bella. Interested in what she would see, Bella looked at the spot and gasped. Her skin looked cracked and peeled, coming to hard edges and points. Small dribbles of blood made their way down her cheek, blood from when she was human and from hunting.

Almost immediately, her skin started to tingle slightly. She watched as the hard flesh knit itself back together quickly and perfectly. Now that she was thinking of it, she looked at the back of her hand where James had bit her. The scar from his venom remained, standing out against her skin as obviously as ever. Only she couldn't seem to remember exactly how it got there. Something stirred in her mind, a wisp of a memory about a dance studio, but it no longer seemed important.

Bella looked at Edward, about to ask him to tell her what had happened, but his face had already become more serious. "Let's go, people are curious as to why trees are falling down for no reason in the middle of the night," he told them, a slight smile gracing his face near the end. Edward directed them away from the fallen tree so that they wouldn't meet up with any humans by accident.

As they were leading her away, Bella caught scent of human blood. Her head whipped around to face back towards the tree, her nostrils flaring. She growled quietly, and felt both Edward and Alice's hands on her arms pulling her back. She struggled, fighting against their hands to go back. Alice's arms came up around her shoulders from behind, locking her in their grip. Edward's hands left her, calling home on his cell phone for someone else to come out just in case.

"Let go of me!" Bella complained, her instincts taking over. Alice's arms sprang from her body, and Bella's shock overcame her instincts. She turned around to look at Alice's complacent, almost blank face, and Edward's appalled face that Alice let her go. Just then Alice seemed to realize what she had done, but couldn't seem to make herself reach out and grab Bella again. Edward threw the phone at Alice, and took hold of Bella himself, pulling her back before she could come out of her reverie.

Bella was now growling and struggling too hard to form coherent words. The people were drawing ever closer, their scent becoming stronger and stronger with each stride. Edward kept pulling her back, murmuring to her, trying to keep her quiet and calm her down while Alice talked to someone back home. Soon Emmett was there, practically dragging Bella back towards the house. Once they got her inside, Bella made herself take a few breaths to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry… I should have just kept calm and left while they were still far enough away…"

"It's alright Bella, we're here to help you learn," comforted Esme.

"There were a lot of people on the way Bella, the scent was pretty concentrated. It's very hard to have any control at all at first," Alice informed her.

"Alice, what were you doing?" Edward exclaimed. "Why did you let her go?" Everyone turned to look at Alice, waiting to hear the whole story.

"I… don't know… Bella told me to let her go, and it was like I didn't know any better than to just do as she said." Alice looked apologetic and disappointed in herself.

"I felt that way earlier…" Emmett mused. "When she told me she didn't want a rematch at arm wrestling. It was as if I didn't care anymore."

"I think we may have found Bella's gift," Carlisle stated, a little awed. "A compulsion, of sorts."

"Well, she had complete control of her own mind before, I guess she can control all of ours now too," Jasper commented.

"I guess it's still too early to do fun things, then," Alice sighed. "Until she has more resistance to blood, or we find a way to not obey her, we're stuck with boring things…"

Edward laughed. "In time, Alice, in time…"

For about a month, Bella and Edward prepared to go to college at Dartmouth, building Bella's self-control and ability to resist blood. They had bought almost black contacts for her to hide the brilliant burgundy color. She could now get remarkably close to humans, but only if she'd very recently fed.

She kept in contact with Charlie, but it remained slightly awkward as she kept making excuses to not be able to see him. Even phone conversations were kept short, as Charlie might notice the slight changes in her voice. Her voice had become silkier and irresistible when she changed.

Alice was quite dejected as her time in close proximity with Bella was coming to an end for a full school year soon. They still had not been able to do anything Alice labeled "fun," but Bella's gift had proven a little inopportune at times. A simple "go take a long walk off a short pier, Emmett," almost turned into a disaster. It was something Emmett would never be allowed to forget for the rest of eternity.

A few days before Edward and Bella leave for Dartmouth

The night had been clear, not a cloud in the sky to block the light coming from the moon down to the earth. The next morning dawned bright and cheerful.

"Bella, let's go to the meadow," Edward said cheerfully. They hadn't visited the meadow since the day before their wedding, and it had rained every day since Bella first became a vampire.

She simply stared for a moment, trying to remember. "The meadow…" Edward tilted her face to look at him, perplexed. Just then she remembered a bright place, the first place she had seen him in sunlight. "That's a good idea!" she said excitedly, smiling. He smiled back, and took her hand to lead her from the house.

They ran to the meadow, both of them eager to see how Bella would look with the tiny facets of light shining from her skin. They both stepped out from the shade of the forest into the sunlight together, holding hands. Bella looked at her skin, fascinated by her sparkling skin. At every point where it seemed a small piece of glitter was stuck in her skin, she could feel points of concentrated warmth from the sun's rays.

She turned to Edward, and he was smiling at her, knowing what she was thinking, how she was feeling. He had been through this, too. He bent to kiss her, sharing this moment as the first time they visited this meadow.

They lay in the meadow for all of the morning, simply enjoying each other's presence. Free of humanity, they could ignore the world around them and relax for some time before they would need to return home, fighting the battle against bloodlust on the way home.

Edward finally stiffened, able to hear someone approaching in his mind, because Bella couldn't hear or smell anything coming. But he didn't warn her; whatever was coming must have been alright. He wouldn't let her stay if it could become dangerous for the incoming being.

"Bella?" came a male voice from the shadow of the forest behind her. She supported herself on her elbow, and twisted to look at whoever had come. His face was hopeful, yet sad at seeing her. Or… maybe it was at seeing her with Edward?

"I'm sorry… Do I know you?" Bella asked. The man was familiar, but she couldn't place him in her memory. He didn't smell right…

The hope on the man's face shattered. He could only stare at her, his jaw dropped, pain suffusing his face. Bella felt Edward's fingers under her chin, and her face was turned to look at him.

"You don't remember? You've lost memory that fast?" he queried, concerned. "Bella… that's Jacob."

At his name, memory crashed back into her head. Everything that had happened; her sun in her darkness, the Quileute pack, all of her memories about Jake. If she could have cried, she would have been bawling. She stood up awkwardly, and ran to hug Jacob, sobbing. He crushed her to his chest, practically crying himself. He didn't seem like he was crying for the same reason.

"Ugh, you smell terrible."

"You too, Jacob. Gosh, you reek," she laughed and cried at the same time.

"What have you done, bloodsucker," he growled at Edward. He was shaking from head to foot. "My Bella is gone."

"Jake, I'm right here," Bella replied, looking up at him. Edward had moved to stand close. "It's still me."

"No, Bella. You didn't remember me. He's your entire world now. You're not the Bella I knew," he told her harshly. "Goodbye," he whispered, some of the anger fading from his features. And then he left. He never looked back.

They spent the rest of the day in the meadow, quieted now. A blanket of clouds had come and shut out the sunlight. Typical Forks weather had returned. They lost track of time, and finally returned home at night.

Upon entering the elegant house, no one could be immediately seen, a rare occasion in a house full of eight people.

"Where is everyone?" Bella asked.

"Bella, it's night. Where do you expect them to be?"

"Oh… right…" Bella muttered, embarrassed. Edward grinned.

"Come on, let's go up to our room."

A/N: Poor Jake :( Yes, it hurt to write that.

Next will be a lemon :D Hurray!