Thanks for the reviews guys! We're starting to get into the swing of things!

Previously…

Bella sniffled. "Why were you mouthing and nodding your head? He never said or mouthed anything."

Bella POV

Edward looked kind of nervous. "Well, I can read minds." His golden eyes looked cautious as he surveyed my expression. Well, this was just wonderful. Although I wonder if he'll do anything about Ms. Shelly……..

"You can read my mind?" I asked, just for confirmation. He ran a hand through his already tousled bronze hair and shook his head.

"No, not your's. I don't know why…" That was a relief. If he knew what I was thinking about him… My face turned crimson at just the thought. He seemed to note that.

"Are you okay?" he wondered.

My answer was lame. "Um, yeah, just dandy." He didn't look convinced. I decided to ask another question. "How did we get here so fast? I didn't see any houses. Why are you so cold?" I shivered and he pulled away.

His wonderful eyes looked wary, like he was afraid he'd scare me. "Well, don't be afraid, but my family and I? We're vampires." I guess that didn't surprise me. We were invited to a bonfire one night at La Push, and Billy Black told stories about vampires in Forks long ago. He spoke of their ice cold, hard skin, and their unbelievable strength and speed. He also said that these ones in Forks hunted animals, not people, and they were supposedly civilized. I couldn't doubt this now, after they'd taken me in to fix me up.

I decided to ask another question. "When my blood was flowing, didn't that bother you?" He looked relieved that I wasn't running and screaming.

"Um, I was holding my breath." he answered.

"That was awful long time to hold your breath."

"As vampires, we don't need to breathe. Just a habit."

"At all? You can hold it forever?"

"I imagine so. No one has ever tested it. It gets a bit uncomfortable without a sense of smell."

"I would guess so. What about the other one? He was breathing."

"Yes. Carlisle has near perfected self control. He works at the hospital."

"Wow, how old is he?"

"Three hundred fifty-ish."

"And you?"

"Seventeen." He smiled a crooked smile. I scowled.

"In vampireness stuff."

"About a hundred."

"Who's in your family?"

"Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper, and myself"

"What a……large family you have."

He chuckled. "I guess I do."

"Can anyone else read minds?" I didn't want to risk it. Just because he couldn't doesn't mean the others can't.

He seemed amused by my question. "No, no one else. If your that worried about it though, you might want to control your emotions." I gave him a confused glance. He laughed and answered my unspoken question. "Jasper can sense and manipulate emotions." Yikes. Better stay away from Jasper.

"Any other 'special' powers I should know about?" I asked.

He smiled. "Just one. Alice sees the future. It's not set in stone though. She can only see what happens if the person stays on the path their on." She seems fine. I wasn't planning on doing anything with Edward. After all, he was a one hundred year old vampire, and I was a 12 year old human girl.

"Um, Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Where am I going? Please don't send me back to the orphanage!" I pleaded.

"No, Bella, of course not." He hugged me again. "I'm not sure yet. I've got an idea, but I'm not sure it's the best. I'll have to talk to Carlisle. And Esme. And Alice and Jasper. And probably Rosalie and Emmett."

"What is it?"

He bit his lip and pulled away. "Don't get your hopes up, because it is extremely dangerous, and Jasper has poor self control." I gestured for him to continue. "I was hoping that you would stay here. For a little while at least." He looked at my face with intense scrutiny.

I'm sure I looked like an idiot with that grin across my face. I hugged him tightly. "Okay. That would be okay with me."

He chuckled and hugged me back. Then his face went cold and he pulled away.

I was worried for a moment. "Edward, what's wrong?"

He looked at me. "They're here." he said quietly.

"Who?"

"My family." He looked down at me.

I gulped. Carlisle and Edward liked me, I think, but how about the others? He pulled me up and stood. I hid behind him as the door opened.

Sorry! I didn't want to make it too long, and I don't know what to put next. I'm sorry if Bella seems OOC, but I've never done this before. I know what I'm going to put for the others, but I don't know what Jazz or Rose will think or say. I don't know if Rose should be motherly or pissed off. Tell me what you think.