Chapter 3

RPOV

I watched as Edward left the kitchen, looking a bit green again. Bella was at the sink, just watching the water splash down over the dishes she'd just put in. I slowly walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That was rather rude," I told her quietly. "The boy is sick; he doesn't need to think that someone hates him now."

She growled, and turned to glare at me. Her eyes were lightening up again from a dark shade of amber.

"Yeah, well, if he's sick, I'd rather just take care of him," she snarled, reaching up to turn off the water faucet without looking. "No human has the right to smell so freaking good, Rose!"

I blinked. "Is that why you glare at him? So he stays away? You live in the same house as him now, Bells, you can't stay away from him forever."

"I can stay away from him for as long as I want, Rose," she growled again. "He smells so good, and I'm afraid that if I go near him again I'm going to kill him."

I sighed. "So you're taking your hate out on Edward? Is that how it is, Bells?" She glared at me again. "It's not right to hate someone 'just because they smell good.' He was terrified of you earlier. That Emmett kid smells pretty good to me, but you don't see me glaring at him to stay away." She sighed this time, her gaze seeming to fall in shame.

"You're older than me, though," Bella whispered quietly. "You can control it better."

"But the fact you didn't attack him the first time you smelled him is enough," I tried to assure her, reaching up to place a hand on her cheek. "Don't worry about it; you won't attack him. If you were able to control yourself the first time, you'll be fine."

Bella whimpered quietly and I reached over to pull her into my arms, holding her gently to me as I tried to soothe her, her breaths coming in shaky, tearless sobs. It were times like these when I wish we could cry, because the sensation of tears falling from your eyes would have probably helped…but we couldn't cry.

Slowly, Bella calmed, and kept her face buried into my shoulder.

"Feeling better now?" I asked her, and she nodded. "That's good."

I held her gently in my arms for a few minutes, running my hand gently over her hair. After a moment I pulled away, and smiled at her. "Now come on, Alice is going to want us to help her unpack the boxes tonight."

She groaned, and I laughed. "And Alice already told me that we're taking you shopping. There's no way you're getting out of it this time."

I grinned as she groaned again, and I patted her shoulder, my arm still around her shoulders as we began to walk out of the kitchen, "Just grin and bare it, Bells, just grin and bare it."

EPOV

I went upstairs to go back to my room to try and go back to sleep, but as I passed Jasper's room a large hand whipped out and latched onto my arm. I was pulled in, and I groaned as the sudden motion made my stomach do flips.

"Emmett," I grumbled, closing my eyes for a moment and tried to keep myself from swaying, a hand going to my head. I felt strong hands on my shoulders to keep me steady, and I didn't move for a while as I tried to let my stomach settle.

"Eddie? You all right?" Emmett's voice was concerned, and I heard footsteps coming up beside him.

"Gimme a minute…" I whispered, swallowing, and after a few moments I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Emmett was looking down at me in concern, and Jasper was now standing beside him, looking worried. "Please don't pull me like that…"

"Sure…sure, Eddie…" Emmett whispered. "You all right?"

"Yeah, now…" I swallowed, looking up at the two of them after a minute.

"Sorry about that…" Emmett told me, taking one of his hands off of my shoulder, but kept the other there. I must have still looked green and he didn't want me to possibly fall over.

"It's fine, now…" I whispered. "Just be careful…"

"I will," Emmett said. From his tone, I could tell that he really would try, unlike in the past when he said he would do something and he didn't even try to do it. "We were wondering if you wanted to play a game…"

"What game?" I asked, looking up at him and then over at Jasper.

"Racing game, you interested?" Jasper asked me, and I smiled at him slightly.

"Sure, why not?" I asked, crossing over to pick up one of the controllers. Jasper and Emmett began to grab their own, Emmett letting out a loud laugh.

I picked my car and my characters, and we began to race. We had just finished the fifth race of the competition when Emmett threw his controller at Jasper, who was currently in the lead. I was losing, but it was entertaining to watch my brothers compete. Emmett was such a sore loser, which made it so much better.

Jasper began to laugh, and I smiled as I watched them begin to wrestle as Emmett tackled Jasper, though he was careful and didn't attack him as we used to when he was a kid. He let Jasper take control of the fight, and soon Emmett was pinned on the bed.

"You beat me, Jazz," he said with a laugh. Jasper just rolled his eyes, knowing that Emmett had let him win, and he turned to pick up his controller again, not moving from where he sat on Emmett's stomach, pulling his legs up to sit Indian style on his older brother.

Emmett laughed again, shaking Jasper, as he grabbed his controller.

"Looks like this next race is going to get interesting," I commented as I pressed the button to continue onto the next course.

Emmett roared with laughter, shaking Jasper above him again he was laughing so hard.

"I'm gonna kick your ass this time, Jazz," Emmett said, and Jasper smirked slightly down at him.

"Wanna bet?" he questioned, and Emmett laughed again as the race started.

As I had guessed, the race was interesting. For once, I actually won…but, it could have been due to the fact that every time Emmett laughed, Jasper was flipped slightly to the side, causing his character to swerve all over the road and run into bad items while Emmett's view was blocked by Jasper when he fell.

I smiled slightly in triumph, glad that for once I had actually won…but I wasn't the type to brag, and I just started the next race. Jasper stayed on Emmett's stomach, even though the younger man was playing the game sideways.

Both Emmett and I knew that this was good for Jasper…it was good for him to know that he could be in control of the other men. We went through the other six races, Jasper coming out the winner.

"You always win, Jazz," Emmett whimpered quietly, looking up at Jasper with a pout.

Jasper chuckled down at him, reaching down to pat Emmett's chest in order to calm him down a bit.

I yawned and stretched, and Jasper looked up at me.

"You should go to bed, Edward," Jasper told me, and I nodded.

"What? It's not even ten yet," Emmett said as I began to stand slowly, reaching up to scratch at my head, ruffling my hair slightly in the process.

"I'm tired, Emmett…" I mumbled, beginning to yawn heavily again.

"But you've been sleeping all day…" he tried to protest, watching me in concern. He was still pinned beneath Jasper, but he didn't want to force Jasper to move. He wanted Jasper to choose when he wanted to move, so he wasn't going to make him do anything.

"I'm tired, Emmett," I repeated, turning to look at him. I felt beaten down, exhausted. It was true, though, I had been sleeping all day. I slept in late and skipped breakfast, barely ate anything at lunch, and went back up to my room to take another nap, then another again before dinner where I still hadn't eaten much. "I'm going to bed…"

"All right, Edward," Emmett said, looking up at me. "Sleep well."

"I'll try to…" I whispered, waving to them as I walked out of the room. I made sure no one was in the hall before I stepped out, not wanting another encounter with the Bella girl. She frightened me, and I hated that feeling, so I was trying to avoid it at all costs.

I made it to my room and sighed at the welcoming look of my bed. I turned off the light and went over to the bed, curling up on it after getting under the covers. With a wide yawn, I closed my eyes and lied my head down on my pillow. With a few soft, quiet breaths, I was soon drifting off into sleep.

EMPOV

"All right, Edward," I said, looking up at my younger brother. He looked so tired, and I was worried about him. I could see the bags weighing heavy under his eyes, which were slightly dull. His face was barely flushed with slight fever, shoulders slumping slightly. He'd been looking bad lately, but it was just now that I actually took in his appearance.

"I'll try to…" he mumbled, and I watched after him as he crossed to the door in a slow shuffle, yawning as he walked out into the hall. I looked up at Jasper, who was still on my stomach, and he was looking down at me, too. We sat there staring at each other for a few minutes, not really knowing what to say. When I was sure that Edward was out of hearing range, I decided that now would be the best time to break the tense silence that had started up in the room.

"What's he feeling? Can you tell?" I asked him quietly.

He shrugged. "He seems exhausted, to me…" Jasper whispered. I laced my fingers back behind my head, looking up at him as he turned slightly so that he could look at me. "I'm worried, Emmett…I've never seen him looking so sick for longer than a couple days…"

I sighed, shaking my head. "I haven't, either, Jazz…how long has he been like this?"

"It's going on six days now," Jasper told me, a sadness creeping up into his tone. I hated that tone.

I groaned slightly, looking up at my ceiling for a moment. Deciding that both of us needed a change of subject, I looked up at him. "So what do you think of the girls?"

He shrugged. "They're nice," he mumbled, looking away from me and across his room, though there wasn't really anything of interest at that end.

"Just nice?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…what do you think of them?"

I shrugged. "They're all really pretty," I mumbled. "You notice that?"

He nodded. "I did," he whispered. "They left me speechless, to be quite honest…I don't really think that Edward got to notice any of them really besides Rosalie." I snorted, and Jasper looked down at me, a confused look on his face. I was jealous of Edward, actually, because it seemed that while we ate our dinner with Alice and Bella that he got to actually talk to Rosalie. I couldn't help but wonder if she was single…

"What?" he asked me, a slow smile creeping onto his face.

I rolled my eyes, looking to the side.

"Oh, someone has a crush," he grinned, reaching down to poke me accusingly in the chest.

"Shut it, Jasper," I told him, though I could feel my cheeks growing slightly hot as I looked away.

"And I'll bet its Rosalie," Jasper said, chuckling. When I didn't say anything, he took it as his answer and let out a hearty laugh. I smiled; I had missed that laugh. "It is! I knew it!"

"And what about you?" I asked, smiling up at him, and it was his turn to blush. "You sure did seem to get a bit fresh with Alice earlier when she was in here cheering us on."

He looked away, and my laughter boomed through the room. It shook his frame above me, and he still sat in silence. When it was clear he wasn't going to say anything, I just rolled my eyes.

"Did you notice that their skin is really cold, though?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Huh?" he muttered, looking down at me again, confused. "What're you talking about?"

"Their skin is like ice…" I muttered, sounding confused, myself. "When that Alice girl kissed my cheek after I first met her, my cheek hurt because her lips were so cold…"

"Hmmn…" Jasper murmured, looking thoughtful. I looked up at him, my head tilted slightly to the side in question. He sat like that for well over five minutes, and finally I couldn't take it.

"Got anything?" I asked.

"Nope, haven't got a clue." He grinned innocently down at me and I rolled my eyes. "We'll find something out, though…maybe."

"Yeah, maybe," Jasper said, looking down at me with a smile as he reached for his controller again. "Race you."

"Anytime."

BPOV

I sighed. The rest of the humans had already gone to bed. I was sitting in the bedroom with Alice and Rose, watching the two of them play a card game. I wasn't interested in it…I'd rather read a book, but I didn't feel like unpacking it yet.

I sighed, watching as Rose managed to win another round, and Alice groaned. I thought she would be better at this game since she could see the future, but I guess not.

"I'm going to go look around," I said, standing.

"I thought Esme showed you around earlier?"

I looked over at Alice as she asked this question, and I nodded.

"Alone," I decided to clarify. She nodded.

"All right, suit yourself," she said, smiling over at me. "You better be in a good mood tomorrow, Bells. Once you finish tidying up a bit, Esme agreed to take us shopping tomorrow for things to decorate our rooms."

I groaned. "Why?" Why was the human so torturous? Did she not realize what she was doing by letting Alice run free?

"She wants to see what we would do to decorate our rooms so she knows what to expect when I start to decorate other rooms."

I rolled my eyes. "Why does she need an interior designer, anyway? Haven't they already been here for a while?"

"Because," she said, "her 'job' is an at-home painter. She doesn't have time to go out a lot and look for things. If you look at most of the rooms, they aren't decorated. In case you haven't noticed, this place is huge. That's why they need one."

"Oh, I never would have guessed," I said, rolling my eyes again. I turned, almost tripping over a shoe that was in the way. Eyeing it, I saw that it was Alice's, and I turned to watch her suspiciously. She smiled innocently, and I threw the shoe at her before I turned to go out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

No, for my real objective…Alice hadn't had a clue, had she?

I quietly went over to Edward's door without making a sound, and opened the door. I stood there for a moment, listening. No sounds other than breathing.

I smiled deviously before I ducked into the room, the door shut behind me in a flash. I stood there beside his bed then, watching him. His scent was so delicious, so pure. Just one little taste would make a world of difference for me, but I knew that it was forbidden.

Once again, the candy bar scenario. It was like the human was waving a candy bar in a child's face, but they were unable to eat it. It was forbidden to me, and things that were forbidden just made me want them all the more.

I don't know how long I stood there and watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful and calm, quiet as he slumbered. It was amazing how creatures that could be so cruel – I knew, because I had seen what they could do first hand – could look like such angels. It was torture to smell so good…maybe he really was an angel, and I was the demon. Yes, that's the right description. As I sat there, watching him, I contemplated how much it would hurt for me to actually kill the angel. It wouldn't take all that long…

But I could imagine it now. Alice would be sick with rage at me that one, I had blown our cover, and two, I had killed a human. I quickly thought against the idea. But still, the idea of sneaking him away was still in my mind. I could lead him away from the house in the dark of night, no one would even know he was gone until it was too late…

I stood at the foot of his bed, my head tilted slightly to the side as I watched him sleep. I watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, the shifting of his skin as he breathed. I could see his eyes moving beneath their lids…he was dreaming.

I wish I could dream, I thought dryly. I missed sleeping. Back then, if I had known that I was going to become this…this monster, I would have quickly, gladly gone to sleep so I could dream enough to last me the rest of eternity…but it had been a split-second decision, and I hadn't had any say in it.

He shifted again on the bed and I quickly, silently darted back behind the wardrobe, watching him carefully from around the corner. He shifted again, though he was still asleep. He groaned in heavy discomfort, my brow creasing in confusion. Was he really sick, like Rose had said?

I began to go towards the bed, fighting with the monster that wanted me to attack him, to kill him, to drink his warm, delectable smelling blood. Finally I made it to his bed and I sat down on the edge, careful not to jostle the mattress.

He was shifting into a restless slumber, and I watched him silently as he began to mumble, his face becoming contorted slightly with his dream. He was flushed in the face, and I could tell the signs of a fever when I saw one. He began to toss and turn slightly, his eyes shutting tightly though he still did not awaken.

Carefully, quietly, I reached over. I wanted to place my hand on his forehead, to see how hot he was. Just before my hand made contact with his skin, I stopped. I had never willingly touched a human yet. I swallowed, and slowly placed my hand on his forehead.

He let out a heavy breath of relief and snuggled closer to me, because to him, I was like a giant ice pack. Soon he was half curled on my lap, though I didn't really mind. His wonderful smell swirled all around me as he moved more onto my lap, and I kept my hand on his forehead. Slowly, I let my fingers gently thread through his hair, watching him sleep as he drifted off into a deeper, more relaxed slumber.

His skin felt like fire against mine, but I ignored the hot feeling. I didn't exactly mind. Just having him close like this was enough. I was amazed that I had such strong self control over myself at the moment.

I closed my eyes as I fully brought him onto my lap and he curled up slightly, his head resting on my shoulder, as I moved to go further onto the bed, leaning against the headboard while I wrapped a blanket around him.

I held him like this for the rest of the night, making sure that he was comfortable. When I heard someone coming down the hallway, though, I stiffened slightly.

"Edward?"

I quickly moved from beneath him and lied him back down on the bed, covered him with the sheets, and ran to his closet, just managing to shut the door as they came in.

Esme walked inside, still in pajamas. She went over to him, sat on the edge of the bed, and placed a hand to his forehead. She sighed, shaking her head and stood silently. I heard her walk out again, and only came back out of the closet when I was sure she was gone.

I went back over to the bed, where Edward was beginning to shift around a bit in discomfort. I reached down to gently run my hand over his flushed, heated cheek before I leaned down. I kissed his forehead, keeping my jaws clenched together so I wouldn't have the urge to bite him. I then sighed as he settled back down, watching him slip into a deeper sleep again.

With that, I headed for the door and slipped out, going back to Rose's room.

She and Alice were still playing a card game, though this time they were actually playing for real money, and it looked like they were currently tied with the same amount.

"Have a good night with your boyfriend?" Alice asked me without looking up, and I glared.

"Hah hah," I grumbled, slumping down onto the floor to make a semi-circle with them, watching as Rose dealt a card.

"What're you talking about?" Rose mused, though her voice was slightly distracted as she concentrated on the cards that were in her hand.

"Oh, Bells just let a kid sleep in her lap last night is all," Alice commented, and Rose tured to look at me with wide eyes.

"What?" she demanded, a smile on her face. "Is that where you were all night?"

"Uh huh," Alice confirmed before I could even speak.

"Why?" Rose questioned. "How did you do it?"

I shrugged. "He was hot…he had a fever…" I'm sure that if I could have blushed then I would have. "So…I put my hand on his forehead and he relaxed…curled up around me and I just put him on my lap and let him sleep there…" My voice was becoming shy and sheepish. "I only really thought about attacking him when I first went in…"

Alice hummed. "Looks like Bells' got a crush!" she squealed, throwing her cards up into the air, and Rose laughed as Alice was suddenly crashing into her with a laugh, hugging onto Rose's neck. They pulled away from each other, smiled deviously, and turned to look at me.

"No…oh no!" I gasped just before they both tackled me, hugging me like crazy.

I groaned, managing to shove the two of them off of me. "Shut up, guys…it's not that big of a deal…besides, he's a human. A human, for God's sake!" Even though I didn't believe in God, I tacked on silently at the end. "I'm a monster! I can't fall in love with a human, think about it!"

"So?" Rose asked in a whisper, her smile falling. Alice lowered her head slightly, looking down at the floor. She was suddenly completely silent, something that rarely happened.

"What?" I asked the two of them.

"We like humans, too, you know…" Rose whispered as Alice got up and walked out. "You know how you said that he smells so good to you?"

I nodded, looking after Alice as I watched her go into the adjoining bathroom, shutting the door to begin quietly whimpering.

"Well, you're not the only one living with someone who smells so good," Rose said sharply to me before she stood, as well, walking off to go to the bathroom too, pulling Alice into a hug once she had the door open.

I sat there, dumbfounded.

I couldn't possibly be in love with a human…

Or could I?

Okay, I know, it probably sucked. I'm sorry…but it will get better, I promise! If you have any ideas that you want in the story, please leave them in a review!

Thanks!