A/N from before...

So… this isn't a real chapter, but I just wanted to say to everybody that's been reading my story that I haven't dropped it and I'm sorry that I haven't updated since… what, it must have been April or something. I've just been kind of lacking in inspiration and so I'm working on that.

On a different note, I started another fanfic. I haven't posted it yet, but I think that I will soon. In it then Edward tries to kill Bella when he first sees her, but Alice has a vision about it and the rest of the Cullens show up in time to keep Edward from killing her. However… she does turn into a vampire. I've really been enjoying writing it so far, and at least I think that it's WAY better than this one.

Thanks for reading my ramblings… I know that I kind of do that too much. If anybody has any ideas of what I should put in this story, I'd love love love (!!) to hear them. You can review this to tell me what you think. Thanks!!

-Taylor

Okay, on with the story! Sorry, this isn't a new chapter. I just had to rearrange things a bit!

Chapter 12 – 20 Guesses

Bella's POV

We had only been in the car for five minutes when he brought it up again. I had been expecting it, of course, but not looking forwards to it.

"So… will you tell me now?" he asked, not looking at me. I decided to play stupid, even though it obviously wouldn't work with him.

"Tell you what?"

"You know what."

I was completely silent, contemplating my options. Edward quickly became frustrated.

"You promised that you would tell me," he accused. I could barely stand listening to it because I knew that it was true.

"I never promised," I murmured quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. He sighed, whether in frustration or defeat I didn't know.

"I should have known you would say something like that." I didn't say anything, but his quiet mutterings cut to my soul. After a minute, he said, "So, you won't tell me anything, then?"

"No," I shook my head. "I mean, I might. I just… I don't want to scare you."

"You don't scare me. I already told you that," he protested.

"But I could." It was true and he knew it. We were silent for a few minutes as I drove.

"What if I guessed?" Edward suddenly said. I was dubious about it.

"I really don't think that you could guess… or at least I don't think that you could guess and be right," I admitted.

"I could try…" True. He always could try, and if he did get it right… well, I didn't think that he would believe himself if he did.

"Go right ahead," I replied, relinquishing my control of the conversation. Edward was quiet as he thought.

"So, I know that you're different…" he thought out loud.

"Yes," I answered.

"Are you human?"

The question caught me completely off guard. What, did I not look human? That kind of thing could be taken offensively, to be completely honest. In truth, though, I didn't particularly want to answer it. Still… I'd told him that I would answer his questions, and I had already gone back on my word once tonight. Better not make it twice.

"No," I answered reluctantly. Edward's face was composed, and didn't show any signs of surprise. There was something in his eyes, though. Almost like he had known the answer to the question but hadn't wanted hear it.

"Were you ever human?"

I nodded silently. Hopefully he wouldn't ask how long ago…

"So… are you, like, bionic? Or… a superhero or something?" His tone was joking, but the question was still serious. I laughed anyways.

"In a way, I guess," I said. It was kind of true – I was practically bionic. Almost indestructible, stronger than anything alive, and able to run at the speed of sound. "I'm not a superhero, though. Not even close." If anything, I was more of a bad guy.

"Well, you saved me."

I didn't know what to say to that. On one hand, it had seemed like pure dumb luck. On the other… maybe I really was trying to get closer to him. If saving him was the way to do it, it seemed to be working.

"How did you find me?" Edward suddenly asked, taking the conversation in a different direction. I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one, either. I couldn't just tell him that Alice had a vision and told me where to go, could I? It was pretty much the worst possible question for him to have asked.

"I… can't really answer that," I finally replied. "It was Alice that knew."

Edward's brow furrowed. "How?"

"Again, it's not mine to tell."

He nodded understandingly. Or at least as understandingly as one can when still insatiably curious. He fell silent once again and the air grew thick. That is, until he broke the silence.

"Fuck!" he suddenly yelped, making me jump.

"What?!" I screeched loudly. If my heart had still been able to beat, it would have been pounding.

"Slow down!" He yelled, clutching the armrests of the passenger seat. Confused and on an adrenaline rush, I looked at the speedometer.

"Why?" I was still very startled by his outburst.

"Because you're going a hundred miles an hour, that's why!" He was still shouting.

"Relax," I sighed as I rolled my eyes.

"Are you trying to kill us?" He demanded hotly.

"I'm not going to crash," I assured him. He didn't seem very assured.

"Say's who? You can't know that for sure…" his voice still had an underlying edge of panic to it.

"I've never been in a crash in my life, Edward," I declared – admittedly a little bit proudly.

"There's always time for a first…" he muttered darkly. Then, louder, "Anyways, if you wrap your car around a tree, you could probably just walk away. I, on the other hand, couldn't."

"That's true," I murmered. Slowly, the speedometer needle dropped to hover around 80. "Is that better?"

"Exponentially," he joked dryly. "Why are you in such a hurry, anyways?"

"I'm not. I just always drive like that," I tried to explain. "I hate driving slow." I was whining, unfortunately. Edward cracked a smile.

"This is slow?"

"Unbelievably…" Once again, silence descended on the car.

"What, no more 20 questions?" I finally joked after a few minutes. Edward laughed.

"I thought you didn't like answering questions."

I frowned. "It depends on what the question is."

"So if I asked you, say, what your favorite color is, you would answer that?"

"Sure," I nodded.

"So… what is your favorite color?"

I thought about it for a minute. "It changes from day to day. Today, it's brown."

"Brown?" Edward's eyebrows shot up questioningly.

"I like brown," I defended myself. "There isn't enough brown here. It's all just shades of green. Even things that are supposed to be brown aren't. Like dirt. And tree trunks. Everything here is covered in moss."

"That makes sense, I guess. Where did you live before you moved here?"

I had to think about this one, too. So many places, so many houses, over the years they started to blend together. "Mmm… I'm fairly certain that it was Alaska," I finally answered.

"Fairly certain?"

"Well, I've lived in lots of places. They've all started to blend together now."

"What do you remember most about Alaska?"

"The stars," I replied quickly. "And the sky. It was huge, and stretched as far as the eye could see. So many stars, the sky was on fire with them. It made me feel extremely insignificant. And kind of lonely."

"Lonely?" Edward's voice was soft now.

"When you're near that much beauty, it's hard not to be able to share it with somebody." He was silent, letting that sink in, and then broke the silence once again.

"What was your least favorite part of Alaska?"

I laughed at the question. "The people, definitely. At the high school there, it's like some cheesy 80's movie where they're all broken down into cliques."

Edward laughed. "Really?"

"Yes! There's the jocks, the mean girls and cheerleaders, the Goths, the geeks – having two divisions of chess and scienee, the musicians, and the artsy people, and a few slackers that everybody still manages to like. There's no room for leeway there."

"What were you?" He sounded extremely curious.

"I was a Cullen," I laughed. "We were our own special group."

"Just like here," Edward said quietly, suddenly serious.

"Well, most people stay far away from us," I replied, just as serious. "They're instincts tell them that we're dangerous."

"We? As in, plural?"

Silently, I cursed myself. It had been a stupid slip of the tongue, but now I couldn't take it back. He would be able to tell that I was lying easily.

"Is the rest of your family… different, too?" Edward continued.

"Yeah…" I said quietly, nodding my head. Much to my surprise, Edward laughed.

"Well, I should have seen that coming. I mean, they all look like you, in a way, and act like you, too."

"You aren't surprised?" Instead of him being shocked, I was.

"No, not at all. It only makes more sense, really. Are your parents different, too?"

I nodded. "That was why they… adopted us, I suppose you could say."

"Did they really adopt you?"

"Figuratively speaking, yes. Literally, however, no. There's no paperwork to prove that they have custody of any of us."

By this time we had reached Forks. I navigated the streets quickly and was soon in front of Edward's house. There was a light on inside the living room and I could see his mother, back to the window, reading a book.

"Thank you, for everything," Edward said as he reached for the door. Gratitude was evident in his eyes, for saving him, for speaking openly with him, for telling him things that I hadn't wanted to.

"You're very welcome," I replied simply. And then, he was gone from my car. In a desperate attempt to bring him back, to say anything, I rolled down the window.

"Edward?" I called, questioningly. He leaned over to look in the window. "Tomorrow, it's my turn to ask the questions."

His laugh filled my head, easy and gentle.

"Goodnight, Edward," I said quietly, fanning my breath out over his face. "Try to stay safe." With those parting words, I put my car in reverse and was gone, driving back to my own house and my waiting family.

Authors Note: Okay, so it's been, like FOREVER since I last updated. I know that this chapter is kind of short, but it's been something that I've been needing to write for a super long time and I just wanted to get it over with. Thank you soooo much to every body that's been reading and sticking with me, even when I drop off the face of the planet and don't update for ages and ages.

Hmm... this chapter was kind of hard to write and plus I kept on running upstairs to find my copy of Twilight every 5 minutes becuase it is the holy grail of all things fanfic realted and I was pretty much using it as a referance book for this chapter. I ALSO had to figure out how long it would take to drive from Port Angeles to Forks (about 70 miles) if you were doing 100 mph. I got 42 minutes... try doing the problem and telling me what you got! (Finally, those 8th grade algebra skills come in handy...)