Mom came home to find me on the couch, buried under multiple blankets and Edward's coat. My eyes were red and swollen, but I looked so much like a sick invalid, she didn't inspect any closer. Since I wasn't up to anything too heavy and Mom wasn't in the mood to make a more complex dinner, she made a simple meal of chicken and noodles. I smiled when the smell of the hearty broth hit my nose. When she placed one of the bowls on the coffee table I sat up slowly, careful not to let Edward's coat show through my makeshift nest. She never noticed, her attention on the random movie playing on TV.

I sipped on the warm soup, savoring the salty taste. It was a minor distraction, focusing on the flavors and the love of my mom who made it for me. When she left this morning, I wasn't sick at all. Now my whole body ached. It was possible that I was now truly getting sick. I didn't want to go to school tomorrow. Or the next day. I didn't want to go and see the lunch table empty or the parking lot void of a Tesla. I didn't want them to be gone simply because I had discovered the truth. Would they uproot their lives just because I couldn't mind my own business?

"Do you think you'll be up for school tomorrow?" Mom asked from the kitchen. With both bowls empty, she'd volunteered to put them in the dishwasher so I didn't have to get up. The metal shelves clanked and rattled as she opened it. I waited to see if she would mention the bowl and cup that weren't there this morning, but she closed the door without a word.

"I don't know yet," I called back honestly. If she gave me an out, then I should have leapt at it. But the inevitable couldn't be put off forever.

"That's alright," she said once she came back to the living room. She ran her hand over my hair like I was five years old again. It should have been annoying, but instead I found it overwhelmingly comforting. "Why don't you go upstairs and get some more rest. We'll check back in the morning. Sound good?"

I nodded. "Best laid plan." I gathered the blankets, carefully wrapping the coat at the center. Mom might not have noticed the new sweats and plain shirt that I was still clothed in, but a high end coat like this would surely catch her eye. "Good night, Mom."

"Good night, sweetie. Let me know if you need anything."

"Of course."

Getting up the stairs was an interesting challenge. The blankets were heavy, dragging along the steps and threatening to slither under my feet in order to send me tumbling back to the first floor. I made it, though. With the extra blankets folded and back in the hall closet, I opened my bedroom door, Edward's coat draped over my arms.

"Oh, my god!"

Edward was sitting on the edge of my bed.

Mom's scurry steps could be heard from the bottom of the stairs. "Sloane, honey, is everything okay!"

"Yeah, everything's fine!" I yelled back, leaning through the door frame. "It was just a tree's shadow!"

"Oh, okay." Even at this distance, I could hear the chuckle in her voice.

As quickly as my clumsy hands could manage, I closed my bedroom door and turned the lock. Though my parents were purveyors of privacy, I still wanted to have at least a few seconds headstart if Mom felt the need to investigate further.

Seemingly amused at what he had been witness to, Edward leaned forward on his elbows. But after a second, the humorous look disappeared. He remained quiet, not offering an explanation for his sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, my voice cautious as if approaching a cornered animal .

He answered in a tone that reflected my own. "It didn't feel right, leaving the conversation like that."

An odd reply. After dropping his coat off on the back of my desk chair, I shuffled over to the bed and sat on the mattress beside him. He didn't say anything or move away from the closeness. I folded my legs and laid my hands in my lap. "Well, I was kind of the one who left the conversation first."

"But I didn't stop you."

"I didn't expect you to, Edward." I snorted, trying to lighten the mood, even minutely. "Your personality has told me that much. It was pretty obvious that you were waiting for me to run."

"But you didn't run away because of what I am," he pointed out, very much correct. His brow furrowed as he shifted so one leg was on the mattress and bent, while the other foot rested on the floor. He took a hold of one of my hands with both of his, his finger tracing the lines along my palm. "I'm used to being able to know the unfiltered versions of those around me. So, I'm at a loss as to why."

I ignored the implied question, not ready to make a strong confession of my own. "How are you able to know people so well?"

He laughed wryly. "I… have a talent for it."

"A talent for knowing things that you shouldn't." Eager, I scooted closer to him. "Like what? Mind reading?" I meant it as a joke. I figured what he was actually implying was extraordinary hearing or an expertise in body language. His expression–and prolonged silence–told me otherwise. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

I gaped at him. "You can read anybody's mind?"

He nodded, his eyes trained down on our hands. "Anyone's–but yours."

"You… can't read my mind?" I was both happy and disappointed. My revelation in the car was safe, locked away. But I was also the odd one amongst a sea of normalcy. "Does that happen a lot? Coming across people that you can't read?"

He shook his head. "No. I've only come across it once before." His throat bobbed. "With Bella."

"Oh." Of course. I really shouldn't be that surprised. Something different could be the only thing that would draw him in. But I doubted that I would be able to compare, even with that on my side.

"Your's is different, though."

My eyes snapped up and grew wide. "What do you mean?"

"You're not completely silent to me," he elaborated, finally looking at me again. My heartbeat raced at this news. What was he able to hear? "It's okay." He came closer, pushing my hair behind my ear. "Your thoughts are still safe from me. All I can get from you is a vague emotional state and only when it's strong, when it's enveloping those thoughts that escape me."

I nearly sighed in relief. "So, it's more like an empath kind of thing?"

"I'm sure Jasper could verify that for me."

My eyes widened. "Jasper's an empath?"

"More or less."

"Do all vampires have special talents?" Today was becoming a treasure trove of information I never knew I could learn.

"Some of us do," he admitted.

"Wow," I urged. I opened my mouth to ask more, to get in deeper to the details of his family. But, instead, my mind took an unexpected turn. "Does your family know you're here?"

It seemed Edward wasn't expecting that question either. "Yes," he said after a pause. "They know I'm here. It's not easy to hide things from them. And right now, they're watching me very closely."

I frowned. "Why?"

He went back to tracing my palm, this time making his way up each of my fingers. His skin was still so cold, nearly sending me into a shiver. "They know that… you know. The truth of us, that is."

My legs started to go numb underneath me, but I didn't dare move. "Are they upset?"

"I lied to them, my family."

I was dumbfounded. Why would he do that? "You told them I wasn't onto you?"

"No," he corrected. "I simply omitted that there was any danger at all."

"Ah. The classic lying by omission." That blunder had gotten me into a bit of trouble before. Though, mine were quite as dire. "For some reason, people tend to hate that more than a flat out lie."

"Only Alice and Esme aren't upset with me for it."

The little pebble of guilt in my stomach grew two sizes. His family was fighting because of me. He was ostracized because of me. As I feared, would they have to leave because of me?

"It's not your fault."

I pursed my lips. "I thought you couldn't read my mind?"

"I can't," he said. "But as I said, if the feeling is strong enough from you, I can pick up on it. Right now, its overwhelmed with guilt. Not to mention, its written all over your face." A small flicker of a smile pulled up on his lips before disappearing. "This is no one's fault of my own. I should have stayed away. I should always stay away."

Taking him by surprise, I flipped my hand over so it now covered his. I squeezed his fingers in an offer of comfort. "It's kind of hard to stay away when I'm egging it on."

Edward laughed softly, but ruefully. "You are very stubborn."

In another display of my so-called stubbornness, I took the conversation back a few steps. "Can I ask a question?" Politely, of course.

"I'm not sure I could stop you at this point," he said, a bit of his own teasing coming to the surface.

Tilting my head, I rested my chin in my palm. "Why do you think you just discovered my weird way of thinking a few weeks ago?" I wanted to get back to a more lighthearted conversation and not think of the consequences of my own actions.

"Most likely because I wasn't paying attention," he answered. "I tune everyone out, no one feeling of thought caught my interest."

"Oh." Good to know that I was so boring from afar. I tapped my fingers against my chin, playing multiple choice with my next round of questioning. There were too many in my head. And a few I was certain would cause him to disappear however he came in. The window, probably.

Edward huffed in frustration. "I've forgotten how irritating it is to be kept out."

"Guess you shouldn't take it for granted, huh?" Straightening up, I began running my fingers through my hair, absentmindedly braiding and unbraiding the strands. "EJ knows about you, doesn't he? That's why he reacted that way in the woods."

Edward grimaced, but didn't deny it.

I scoffed. "How do they know?"

"It wouldn't be right to tell you."

"Why not?" I exclaimed. A tad too loudly. Edward shushed me quietly, freezing into place. His eyes were trained on the door. Mom's footsteps grew louder out in the hallway. Panic rushed through my veins. Neither Mick nor I had ever snuck someone into the house. I had no idea how Mom would react to finding Edward on my bed. With the door locked, Mom would be even more suspicious.

But she didn't even try to open the door. Her footsteps paused at my door and, apparently accepting the silence, turned and went on to her own room.

"Oops," I whispered once I heard her door close. "Sorry. But come on. You can tell me that fire kills vampires and that you can read minds, but you won't say why one of my best friends knows your family is a coven of vampires?"

He shook his head, unmoving. "It's not my secret to tell."

My jaw went slack. "There's a secret behind it?"

Edward seemed particularly put out at my eagerness. "That isn't an invitation to go find it for yourself."

I stuck my tongue out. "I wasn't taking it that way." Though it certainly was going to nag at me for the long term. Maybe if I hinted at EJ that I knew something, he'd let whatever he was holding back slip….

"Stop it." At my shocked response, he smirked. "You're not that good at hiding it from your face."

"Oh, curse this expressive face of mine." The joke made Edward laugh, though he was much better at keeping it at a lower volume than I was. A yawn emerged and split my face in half. It was getting late, but I didn't want to say goodbye just yet.

"You should get to sleep. We have school in the morning."

"You'll be at school tomorrow?" Despite his presence here tonight, I still wasn't confident that he wasn't going to disappear. There was always a chance that this was the final goodbye. That he was merely giving me one last face to face before disappearing into the wind.

"Of course." Edward stood from the bed, but didn't go over to the window. "We'll go about as usual. Nothing needs to change."

I smiled broadly at this news. They weren't going to leave. I hadn't ruined anything, anyone's way of life.

Edward lifted the corner of my covers and helped me settle in for the night. But then he stayed there, making no moves to leave.

I sat up. "Is something wrong?"

He frowned. "No. I should go."

"I could always make a little palette for you to sleep on." I didn't think he would take the offer, but his response was the last kind I would have prepared for.

"I don't sleep."

I gasped. "You don't sleep? Like ever?"

"Not at all," he said matter-of-factly. "We don't need it."

As someone who adored my sleep, I couldn't fathom being awake twenty-four-seven. How would someone fill their time? Sooner or later, you would run out of things to do, one would think. "Then what do you do at night?"

He shrugged. "Read, run, anything we want."

A piece of thread had come loose at the edge of my comforter. My finger absentmindedly found itself wrapped in the short string. "What are you going to do tonight?"

He shrugged again. His eyes flickered down to the bed and then around my room, never settling on any individual object. Now I understood his earlier hesitation.

"Are you wanting to stay here?" I guessed. His lack of immediate denial was confirmation enough. "What would you do?"

"I would… watch over you."

I gaped at him. "You want to stay and watch me sleep?"

"I know it seems strange–"

"A bit." The image of someone standing over you while you slept was reserved for horror movies. But the idea of Edward awkwardly roaming through my room while I slept, able to look through every picture, ruffle though old school papers was enough to make me want to hide forever under my blankets.

"I've stayed before."

I wasn't sure how that was supposed to help. Then again, that means any rummaging that would be done, already was. "You have? When?"

"Sunday night. And last night."

At least he was honest. I mulled over this new information. "But now you want my permission?"

He gestured at my desk. "I'll stay in the chair."

I shook my head. "The chair feels too weird, like I'm being monitored." I shuffled over so my back was nearly against the wall and patted the newly freed space. "Just lay here, on top of the blankets." If I wasn't feeling this way towards him, I certainly wouldn't be agreeing to this. But he looked so lost and–though he wouldn't admit it if I asked–he needed space from his family for the time being.

Surprisingly, he gave in, taking his shoes off and lying on his side so we were nearly nose to nose. He was beautiful in the moonlight that managed to break through the blinds. The paleness of his skin seemed to glow, gaining color rather than losing it. His eyes were growing closer to black, their faint golden hue getting lost in the darkness.

"What happens when the gold leaves your irises?" I whispered.

"It's an indication that we need to feed," he explained while he traced the raised bone of my right cheek. His touch was cold, but I suppressed a shiver, not wanting him to pull away. "A sign of danger to those who might become food."

Though he was trying to tell me about a certain warning sign of when a vampire gets hungry, all I could focus on was his actions, this moment. It was affectionate, intimate. As his fingers moved down to my jaw, I began to wonder if I wasn't the only one feeling this way. Was there a spark of hope after all? I tried to stamp it out. I didn't want to let the hope grow too large. The bigger it got, the more pieces there could be to pick up were it to shatter.

"When will you eat?" I asked, more to distract myself than really wanting an answer.

"Friday, after school. Emmett and Carlisle are going with me."

"I thought they were upset with you?"

Edward curled in one shoulder and then let it relax. A sideways shrug. "Carlisle was merely hurt that I didn't share my struggle with him. Emmett gets over things fairly quickly. I doubt there will be any awkwardness."

I bit down on my bottom lip. "Will you be gone long?"

"Just overnight," he assured me. "I was hoping, if you don't already have plans, that we might go hiking together on Saturday."

I nodded eagerly. "I'd like that. Where do you want to go?"

"I thought we could go back to the meadow."

"It was pretty there." A pocket of peace in the thicket of the woods. Most common trails and map-dot spots were full of tourists and recreational backpackers. It was hard to find areas that weren't littered with footprints and trash. That meadow was a rare gem. I couldn't fathom how I came across it by accident. Perhaps fate had her mischievous hand in it.

"We'll make more thorough plans tomorrow, love. Got to sleep."

Love. That was the second affectionate nickname he had used for me. It fell from his lips as easily as water from a glass. Hardly anyone spoke like that anymore. It was from another time, another way of life. One that I had romanticized for nearly half my life.

I parted my lips to ask him how old he was, from what time he had found himself frozen, but he pressed a finger against them, preventing me from forming words.

"Shhh, tomorrow," he promised. "Right now, sleep."

Knowing I wouldn't win, I gave in to his request and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep soon after.

My bed was empty when my alarm violently yanked me awake the next morning. I frantically searched my room for any sign that last night's conversation hadn't been a mere fever dream. A small note sat on the nightstand.

See you at school.

I smiled ruefully at the paper. The handwriting was elegant, with strong hints of cursive that had long gone out of style. Truthfully, I should be surprised that he left before I woke up. We both needed to dress for school and his family probably wanted an explanation for where he was all night.

Placing the note back down, I threw the covers off, shocked that the vacant half next to me was like ice despite the warmth engulfing the room. Another clear sign that last night wasn't a dream.

I got dressed in a hurry, not putting much thought into what I was hopping into. Ankle boots zipped and hair brushed, I paused after unlocking the door. Edward's coat was still draped over my desk chair. He hadn't taken it with him. I wouldn't wear it. That would be crossing a very thick line. If it was important to Edward to have it back, then he would have taken it. So, for now, there it would stay.

"You're doing better," Mom commented happily when I stepped into the kitchen.

"Yeah, whatever it was, it passed pretty quickly." My smile must have been too secretive. Mom checked my forehead with her hand.

"Hm." Her eyes searched my face for the answer I certainly would not give. She pressed the back of her fingers to my cheek, then gave up. "Must have been something you ate."

"Could have been," I agreed, thankful for an easy out. "Who knows what's all in those school lunches." We laughed together and sat down at the table with the breakfast Mom had made. I helped her clean up the kitchen before bolting out the door.

Maintaining my speed was a first time difficulty as I drove to school. The clouds above were a heavy dark gray. No rain was predicted to fall today, but in the Pacific northwest, that could always change.

My heart leapt as I pulled into the parking lot. Even though I had sped through my morning routine, he still managed to beat me here, sitting at our usual table, waiting. When I approached, I nearly stumbled into the table. Edward was practically glowing. He smiled in a way that was almost identical to the photo. And it was pointed in my direction.

"What?"

He gestured towards me with a nod. "You're wearing green again."

I looked down and sure enough I had put on one of my favorite green henley's, this one a darker shade with silver rivet buttons. I could feel my cheeks warming. "I honestly wasn't paying. But you did say it yourself that I wear this color most often."

"I did say that," he conceded, still smiling so brilliantly. "The color suits you."

Praying that I wasn't turning the same shade as a tomato, I sat down across from him. "My brother used to say it made me look like a leprechaun."

"I've never met one, but I doubt they would look like that."

"Are you saying they exist?" I asked as I leaned forward, my butt rising from the bench in anticipation.

"No," he said curtly. Rather smartly, he went on, "And I doubt they're what you're most curious about right now."

I was too easily read. "You could say that again."

Edward's eyes shifted away from me to the parking lot beyond. I followed his distracted gaze to see that the rest of his family had arrived. While Rosalie swiftly and gracefully exited the giant, souped up Jeep without a single glance in our direction, Alice was much more chipper. She waved and even started in our direction, but was pulled away by a snickering Jasper. Though he was a fair distance away, I still caught the wink Emmett sent our way.

"You drove separately," I pointed out stupidly.

"It was for the best," Edward said, his smile losing its previous shine. "Though the ride itself would have been silent, I didn't want to listen to Rosalie's thoughtful insights."

I nodded to try and keep myself from laughing. "I'm guessing that's a euphemism for flinging curses at you?"

"You are insightful."

I sniffed. "Always the tone of surprise."

He was quick to agree. "You're a surprising individual."

It was nearly impossible not to beam from that compliment. But it also felt like a distraction. "Since I didn't get to ask last night, I will now. How old are you?"

Edward smirked ruefully. "I should have expected the questions to start this early." I nearly pointed out that it couldn't really be considered "early" if he never went to sleep, but I stayed quiet, not wanting to start a different conversational route without getting the answer. "I was born in Chicago in nineteen-oh-one."

That was beyond the answer I had prepared myself for. "You're over two hundred years old?" It was one thing to understand that vampires stayed young and could be any number of different ages. It was completely different to be confronted with that sort of information. "How old were you when you were turned?"

"Seventeen."

Two hundred years stuck in the body of a seventeen-year-old. That sounded like a nightmare. Though he didn't really act like a teenager, not fully, anyway.

Pretending to pick at my nails, I kept my eyes down, unsure if I should even ask my next inquiry. "What… happened? If you don't mind me asking?"

"It was the Spanish Influenza in nineteen-eighteen." He said it as a matter of fact. Time had given him distance from the event. "Both of my parents had died and I was alone. Carlisle had been thinking about making a new vampire for a while, for a companion, but he wouldn't take the life of someone who had another choice. I was on the verge of death, so he took me home and I became his son."

"Wow." That was quite the way to go. It would change someone more than physically. I wondered what kind of person he was before the Influenza ravaged the country and took his family. Was he similar to the person sitting across from me? Or had time molded and carved away at him until a whole person had been formed?

"What's the next thing you're curious about?" he invited, pulling me back to the present.

The scrunch in my face from thinking so hard released into an eager grin. "You're really going to answer any question I have about you and vampires in general?"

He nodded. "I think I owe you that much, given my appalling behavior towards you."

It didn't feel like a fair trade. No, he wasn't entirely cordial, but there was a decent reason behind it. However, I wasn't going to voice that argument. It wouldn't be to my advantage. "How come you can come out in the daytime?"

"That myth just won't die out," he sighed, though there were hints of a growl beneath it. "Although, it has its advantages, since coming out during the day indicates that we're human. The sunlight doesn't hurt us," he clarified as he stood, slipping his bag onto his shoulder. "We don't burst into flames. In direct sunlight, without the clouds, we merely…." He paused, eyes narrowing as he thought through his words. "It's hard to explain."

I followed his movement, pulling my hood out from under my backpack. "Can I see sometime?"

Edward didn't look too pleased at my request, but he relented without much fight. "The next time the clouds break. As long as it doesn't pull you out of class."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry, Dad. I don't plan on skipping again for a long time."

"I'm much older than several of your ancestors," he reminded me.

I bit back a retort as we walked towards the language arts building. Edward kept his place slow, matching my small strides while his hands were in the pockets of his beige leather jacket.

"Can I talk to Alice now?" I asked when we reached my classroom door.

Edward's features morphed into an incredulous expression. "I can't stop you. Nor can I truly stop her, now that you know."

I punched a small victory fist into the air. "What?" I whined when he gave me a frown. "I like Alice. And I didn't think it was fair for you to tell her to keep her distance."

"I wasn't the only one," Edward defended. "It was a family decision."

I glared at him. "You made a better argument, didn't you?"

"I have had debate training."

I wasn't even going to try to counter that. He'd had two centuries to build his skills. Arguing with a vampire didn't seem like a logical thing to do when class was about to start.

"Wait for me! Wait for me!" a high pitched voice cried. Within seconds, the tiny figure that was Alice Masen landed next to me. Her hair was smooth today, flat but shiny under the harsh lighting. A row of bright white teeth was revealed from her wide smile. Edward stared up at the ceiling, his jaw clamped shut. "I've been waiting for this."

"You were hoping that I would figure it out?" It was flattering, her immediate acceptance and eagerness for my friendship.

"Oh, no, I knew it was coming!"

I looked at Edward, confused. He was finally released from the ceiling's hold on him and met my gaze. "Alice has the ability to see possible futures."

"You're psychic!" I gasped. Then quickly glanced around to make sure I didn't accidentally give them away to a hallway of students. If anyone had heard it, they didn't think anything about it and Edward didn't move at the emergence of accusatory thoughts. "That is so cool," I said at a lower volume.

"Thank you," she beamed proudly. "At least someone appreciates my talents."

"So, you saw me figuring it out?" I egged on.

She nodded proudly. "It was one of two possibilities, like Edward said."

"What was the other one?"

"You never showed Edward the pictures," she said. "I don't know why, but you didn't. That one was always weaker, though. Less likely to happen."

Edward hissed under his teeth, but I ignored it. "What does that mean?"

"You can explain it later, Alice," Edward said stiffly. "We all need to get to class."

"Party pooper," I teased. He tried to glare at me, but it broke in a millisecond.

"I'll see you after class." Edward gave Alice a pleading look and then stalked off down the hall.

"What was that about?" I asked Alice.

"That requires a lengthy explanation," she said. Looping an arm around my own, she declared, "We're going to be great friends."