I knew that it would be too much to ask for a dreamless sleep. My mind ran through the events of the day in much more detail then I would have thought possible. I was standing at our meadow, looking out over the cloudless sky, when I heard a snarl I would have recognized anywhere. The low, deep sound erupted from his chest and ripped into my soul.

"Edward!" I gasped leaning over the side to look down at the land a few feet bellow.

I saw, with horror, a pair of gleaming, ruby red eyes that paralyzed me for three long seconds. Urging my feet to move forward I bounded into the form of Edward's opponent without a second glance. My eyes shut, bracing for whatever pain would come next, and then I was being flown into the air, landing with a resounding thud on the cold uneven ground.

My head ripped across a rock and my spine protested the sudden fall. My nerves went into overdrive, sending shocks of pain through my body. And then the creature was hovering over me inches away from my face and……

I sat bolt up right on the bed, my whole body quaking despite my best efforts to control it. Though it was relatively cold inside the dark room, my forehead was dripping with sweat. My hands rubbed absently at the bruise on the back of my head and I panted, trying to control my breathing.

In less time than humanly possible, I was cradled in Edward's arms. My hands wound around the back of his neck and I let him rock me gently back and forth. I had no energy left to be embarrassed, my head rested on his chest and my eyes closed.

Whether I fell asleep or not, I could not tell, but when my eyes next opened it was light outside and I was lying back on the bed as if nothing had happened. I sat up slowly and scanned the room, it didn't take long to conclude that he was not there, and though I knew it was ridiculous, my heart sank.

I flung back the covers of his bed and slipped downstairs where he was sure to be. I felt more than a little self conscious as I stepped into the living room to find seven beautiful, waiting vampires. I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly noticing how much of a rats nest it really was.

Edward was by my side in a second, taking my hand and guiding me to a couch. I could feel all fourteen golden eyes on me as I sat and was instantly wary.

"Did I interrupt something?" I asked, looking around

Edward gave his family a warning look before answering

"no" The glance only lasted a second, but it was enough to peak my curiosity

"Alice?" I turned to Edward's sister for support, if anyone was going to tell me, it would be her, but something in his eyes made even her shake her head.

This made me furious. How did they expect me to stay out of trouble if I didn't even know what trouble was coming?

"Edward!" I tried to hiss but it came out more like a whine and I settled on my best stern look.

He just laughed and kissed the top of my head, Stupid, condescending, idiotic, overprotective, beautiful, seductive... Urgh, even in my thoughts I couldn't say bad things about him. I flushed pink with frustration and Edward looked at me curiously, no doubt annoyed that he couldn't read my mind.

I was fortunate enough to be the only one immune to Edward's gift; it was one of the things that had attracted him to me. If I wasn't, if he could read my mind, would he have been so eager to get to know me? The resounding answer in my head was no, though I would never ask, afraid.

I felt his thumb rubbing against the back of my hand and was brought back from my daydream. Probably a good thing, overanalyzing was never productive. And then it hit me like an electric shock wave,

"Charlie!" I gasped. Scrambling from the couch and making my way clumsily to the door.

Edward's hand caught my wrist before I could turn the handle.

"I called him," Alice said, amused as she watched my expression "said I was all alone and asked you to sleep over"

She smiled as relief ran through me. No one needed Charlie bursting in with all of the Forks sheriff department.

I spent the day with Edward and his family, mostly just watching their grace and loveliness, each time with an unwelcome surge of envy. Then Edward would turn to look at me, the full power of his eyes unleashed, and all previous thoughts would be gone, my mind hopelessly scrambled.

The hours passed easily and it wasn't until noon and my stomach growled in that inevitable human way, that I decided to go home. Since Edward was supposed to be away I had to ride with Alice. She flitted into her car soundlessly and waited for me to follow. My movements sounded so loud and clumsy after her demonstration.

Like all the Cullen's, Alice had the frightening habit of driving at twice the speed limit. I was used to it now though, and as we weaved past cars and greenery, I began to think about the morning's strangeness.

"Will he ever trust me?" I asked nervously, fidgeting with a hole in my jeans.

Alice, who had probably seen this coming, took no time in answering,

"He does trust you Bella; he just wants to make sure your safe."

"I won't need protecting soon" I answered, staring straight out the windshield.

Alice looked over and threw me a small smile, "that hurts him Bella, having to make the choice"

"What choice?!" I fumed, how dare he think that he would have any say.

She was exasperated, at if this was the most obvious thing in the world,

"Bella no matter what decision you've made, he still has to be the one to change you"

I was about to say something when she raised a hand to stop me,

"Imagine if you had to do it, if you had to stop Edward's heart"

"That's not the same thing" I mumbled

"Don't get me wrong Bella," Alice continued, "I want you to be with us forever, but it's harder for Edward, it's not something you can just take back"

By the time she said this we were pulling up to Charlie's house. The lights were on and his car was in the driveway. With one last look at Alice I shut the door and made my way inside. She waved as she pulled away, a smile on her face as always. I however, had much too much to think about to be cheery.

I stumbled through the door to hear Charlie's inevitable call, "Bella?"

"Yeah dad" I kicked the door shut (not a good idea for someone like me) and caught myself right before I fell flat on my face. I headed straight for the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"How's Alice?" he asked from his usual position in front of the TV.

"Fine," was my response as I took out bread to make a sandwich, "Edward gets back from his camping trip today"

Silence. Edward was not his favorite subject, even now when we had been together for a while. I took my lunch into the living room to sit with him and we talked briefly about how my day was and what I had done. Most of my responses were a lie, but there were several truths that I snuck into the conversation; listening to music (I didn't mention who with), chattering all night (and again the party with whom I was doing this didn't come up). Time passed too slowly, as it always did when Edward was absent, but finally there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it" I said, sliding from the couch and practically running over. I wrenched it open and revealed the most heavenly image there could possibly be; Edward, his eyes burning into my soul, with that breathtaking smirk in place.

"I'm home" he said, winking at me.

"How was your trip?" I asked, playing along.

"Long" he smiled, leaning in and touching his lips to mine. I resisted the urge to grab hold of him, and in a second, we parted.

Charlie was glaring at us from his seat, but I paid no attention, grasping Edward's hand and towing him to the couch. I wanted to curl up onto his lap and hold onto him for hours, but with Charlie there I had to behave myself.

Edward left before dinner, whispering in my ear that he would be back and Charlie and I ate in silence before I excused myself to get ready for bed. I mulled things over in the shower before quickly combing through my hair and hurrying to my room.

Although he hadn't failed to be there in months, the sight of Edward lounging on my bed still took my breath away. His eyes scanned my frame and a gleaming smile spread across his face. I crawled over the covers and into his lap where he was waiting to wrap his arms around me. He ducked his head and burrowed his face into my hair, inhaling the scent of me.

"Hmm" he breathed, his eyes unfocused, far away.

"I miss your house" I whispered once a few moments had passed.

"And why is that?" he asked, amused

"It's more comfortable, and we don't have to be so quiet" I answered, without hesitation

"Really," he said, smiling devilishly, "and what else do you like?"

"More time with you" I said quickly, blushing and looking down at the blanket beneath us

"We're here now" Edward pulled me to him and squeezed my arms gently

"That's true"

And I fell asleep in his arms, matching my breathing with his.

A/N: I promise more will happen, Im just waiting for the perfect moment...