(A/N) Wow, you guys are awesome. I bribed for 5 and I got 18! Whoop!!! Therefore, as a reward, I promise to attempt to not bribe for any more reviews...see how I do :)

Anyways, here's the next chapter...and I tried to make it a little bit longer - it's roughly 1700 words whereas my longest chapter before this is only roughly 1500. I'm wondering if anyone wants me to write an Edward's version...I don't know if or when I'll write it...but I just might do it if there's enough people wanting to hear his thoughts...or something...I'm rambling.

Disclaimer: "Do I have to?" I asked. -- "Yes," Bella and Edward both said together. "You don't, and we'll leave your story." -- "Fine," I pouted. "I don't own Twilight and I really have no wish to own it either...which is not true...but...you didn't need to know that...;)" -- "Okay, now you can continue," the little naughty couple said happily. lol ;)

Chapter 11

I awoke to some very forceful shaking of the bed. It bounced and bounced, squeaking until I thought it was going to break. Add a delighted high voice shrieking, and my sleep was permanently disrupted.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" I grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Finally! I thought you'd never wake up!" I opened my eyes to see Alice, her dress a little rumpled, sitting on my bed. I guessed that the disarray was caused by jumping on my bed so hard. I was surprised it hadn't broke yet.

"Now that I'm awake, tell me why you woke me up," I paused to take a look around the room. The sun had barely risen. "Before the sun came!"

"Come, come, it's going to snow later today, so we must hurry," she said, dragging me out of bed. Sophie chose that moment to come into the room. Alice squealed in delight. "Oh, Sophie! Just in time, too. Help me dress Bella. We're going dress-ordering right now." All this was said while she hugged Sophie, went through a door on the far side of the room, and began tossing out dress after dress. Some of them were mine, but others I had never seen before. The picture was quite amusing, actually.

By the time the sun had fully risen, she finally clothed me in a warm dress with a "built-in" cloak and hood. It was very pretty, and I was very afraid that I would fall and tear it.

I must say, dress-ordering, as Alice called it, with Alice was a very amusing and frustrating affair. She insisted that I try every color of fabric, every style. Some were slightly off the shoulder, revealing much more of me than I felt comfortable with. Others were very conservative and stuffy, leaving me no room to breathe. Still, some were delicate little pieces of work that looked wondrous, but I knew those would not last too long on me. She even forced me to try on some saris, the popular Indian fashion.

Her two favorite colors on me were yellow and red, though she did mention that shades of blue were really pretty on me, too. I always found a smile of amusement on my lips as I saw her bustle about, arguing with this seamstress, complaining about the fabric quality with that tailor. It was just plain amusing. There is simply no better word to describe her behavior.

By the tenth shop, I was almost bored out of my mind. I had no idea how many different dresses she ordered me, but I knew it was no small number and the gold she spent was no small number either.

Freed from playing dress-up, I decided to give myself a tour of the gleaming castle. Most of the corridors were brightly lit by some invisible light-giving element. There were no torches, nor windows, yet they were very bright. I guessed that the castle was composed of five different wings – one in the middle and four all around it. There were three floors with a tower in each corner that added an additional two floors.

The outside walls were white-washed with lazy ivy clinging to it. During the summer, the castle would be almost completely green, but the winter was white. The white-branched ivy gave the castle an enchanted look about it – old yet beautiful.

Upon entering the main entrance was a round room with two side doors leading to the side-wings and one glorious silver double-door leading into the throne room. The entire throne room was three floors tall, with wide sky windows to let in the light. Special chandeliers were also hung from the ceiling, illuminating the entire room. A plush carpet led from one end to another, and the seats on the other side looked very comfortable – more than very comfortable.

A doubl-door on the left led into the ball room, which was also three floors tall. Side-staircases led up to high balconies. Seven golden chandeliers hung above the dancing floor. The musician's stage was placed on a slight incline specifically made to magnify and spread the music. On the far right, near a main set of staircases, was a sleek white piano, its polish sparkling.

I walked towards it, opened the lid, and sat down. I did not know how to play the piano, but I pressed several keys, hearing the crisp sound vibrate around the ballroom. I tried some chords. I liked how the room seemed to ring with the sounds, but never produced a true echo.

"Do you play?" a sweet voice asked. I heard footsteps echo in the hallowed room as Edward made his way to the piano.

I shook my head. "No. Do you?" He smiled yes. "Can you play for me then?"

He sat down beside me, letting his hands slide across the piano before jumping into a complicated set of notes and rhythms. I watched in fascination as the music flowed from his fingers to the piano, and released into the entire ballroom. I faintly recognized the piece as a version of "Clair de Lune." I listened hard for the familiar tune, but it was caught among the other grace notes that made this version sound so much better than any that I had ever heard. His fingers only seemed to gently graze the keys, dancing in a graceful manner, yet the music continued.

When he ended with a final flourish, the last chords still ringing in the room, I sighed. I clapped loudly, the lonely sound of my clapping the only sound in the ballroom for a moment. "That was beautiful," I said, leaning on his shoulder, closing my eyes in bliss as I remembered the tune.

He did not answer, but started into another piece – a sweet lullaby that was more impressive than the last. It had a certain grace and style to it that seemed to strike my soul. I was very content where I was, feeling as if I was in heaven.

By late afternoon, when we finally left the ballroom, hand in hand, it had already snowed four inches outside. Alice seemed to be very precise about the weather. I made a mental note to myself to never bet against Alice when the weather was concerned.

To speak the truth, I had never, in my life, seen snow flurries before. Italy was simply too warm for true flurries to fall without turning into a drizzle first The last of the sun, though it could not be seen, illuminated the thousands of snowflakes, fluttering to the ground. Edward and I sat on a balcony, my head on his shoulder, his cloak wrapped around me, watching as the skies got darker and darker with the receding sun.

"What are you thinking?" he asked as I absentmindedly traced patterns on his pale hand.

"I'm thinking about how happy I am right now, how everything is so dream-like." I sighed. "I wish I am not afraid that I will just wake up and realize that this is just a dream. I wish I am not afraid to believe that this is real…"

"Don't be afraid. There's nothing to be afraid of." He seemed to be trying to convince himself more than trying to convince me.

"Why? Are you hinting that you are dangerous?" I asked. I remembered all the times in Italy when the same topic was brought up. He avoided them like cows avoid short grass. This time, though, he did not seem to be in the mood of changing the subject.

"Yes, I am dangerous. You are not safe. Most people avoid my family like we are vermin or something that they are afraid of, yet you come to us, was happy when we brought you away from your family into foreign land," he burst out, his voice fast with a hint of desperation.

"What are you, then? If you consider yourself so dangerous, then you must not think yourself human. If you aren't human, what are you?" I asked, knowing that something was about to happen. I knew the answer, but my heart was pounding with anticipation.

"Guess," he answered, a strained smile appearing on his lips.

Adrenaline rushed through my body. I seemed to loose control of what I do. I straightened, ever so slowly. His body steadily became rigid, but I didn't care. I reached his ear and whispered, "Are you a vampire?"

I watched his beautiful face as shock, anticipation, will, and other conflicting emotions played across it. His jaw clenched, and his eyes turned black. I looked where his pale hands were clenched, bluish veins clearly visible under the strain. Tentatively, I resumed tracing patterns on the back of his hand, a smile appearing. His hands seemed to relax under my nonchalant touch.

"And?" he prompted.

"And what?"

"What if I said yes?"

"I would stay as I am. I've thought about it. It doesn't matter."

"You've thought about it? You knew?" I looked into his eyes. He was seriously shocked.

"I read something about it in the old records in Italy. I decided then that it doesn't matter whether if it's true or not," I said. "It doesn't matter."

He was silent for a long time. Too silent. "Am I right?" I asked, unable to hold the question anymore.

"Yes, but I mean, 'it doesn't matter!'" he said, still shocked. "Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you? That I might kill you? That your life is in danger every moment you spend with me?"

I shook my head. "It's not as if I'm not in danger when I'm not with you. Besides, 'It makes no difference who you are, I am your angel…I'm your angel'" I sang, smiling as I remembered our duet. I saw a smile tug at the corners of his lips.

Warning him with my eyes and moving ever so slowly, I leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek before I walked away, leaving him sitting there to think. I, myself, felt as if a great burden had been lifted off of me. I knew that it may sound odd, but it was true. One secret done, one left to do, I thought to myself happily. I knew he will know of my curse some day, I just wonder how it will happen.

I am thinking of using the "cows" theme as a subplot somehow, but I haven't figured that out yet. It almost seemed like Bella uses her "cows" analogy every time she tries to explain/think something important (or you could say I forced her to do it). Anyways, review!