BPOV
It was a dreamless black out. It seemed as though one second, I was being attacked by a former friend, and the next, all I could see was Edward.
He stared down at me in fear, and I started to realise what was happening.
We were running, I guessed. Everything was a blur, except for him. I felt his legs pushing themselves forward with more speed. I felt the wind hitting me with the force of a freight train. He stopped.
"Edward?" I whispered.
He continued to stare down at me in horror.
EPOV
I had saved Bella Swan. That was the most I could have hoped for. I felt idiotic to have wished that I could leave her and she would never find out about the monster that I was.
I didn't have time to stop. She just opened her eyes and realised that I was running faster than a jet plane. She didn't even looked afraid – just confused. I stopped running and stared down into her eyes.
"Edward?" she whispered.
I didn't know what to do. Explain? Lie? Make some insane story?
I lowered her to the forest floor and placed her on the ground gently. I backed up slightly and sat down as well. She continued to stare.
"I'll badger you in a second." She promised me.
That was good news. That gave me time to think about what I was going to do.
"Mike?" Bella asked quietly.
"Dead." I whispered.
The truth was the only way. She had to know. I couldn't lie to the one I loved forever. She looked scared right then.
"Did you-," she started.
"No." That one was a relief to tell.
She looked relieved that I wasn't a murderer. The stories of all the murders I had committed could wait for another day. She bit her lip.
"How did you get away?" Bella asked.
This was harder to answer.
"Help came." I started slowly. "I was able to distract him until a stronger authority came along."
"How did they know what was happening?"
I sighed. "Bella, can I trust you with a secret guarded by thousands of my kind?"
"Always. Anything. You can always trust me."
She was so loyal and pure. I took one second to look at her. This would be the last time I would see her eyes warm and loving. They would be full of hate and fear in a few moments.
"Edward?" she prompted.
"My family and Mike and I are vampires." I said quietly.
She was silent. She bit her lip. Then she began to laugh.
"Seriously. Come on, Edward, tell the truth."
I sighed and stood up. She looked up at me in shock. I grabbed a rock from the ground with one hand. It was larger than her head. I looked at her once and crushed it into a million pebbles. She stared. I ran circles around the small enclosure we were in. I hated myself for scaring her.
I hadn't realised, as I ran around in that small clearing that we were in the meadow that Alice and I had discovered. I hadn't realised that I had run her over this far. I would have taken her here for another date. That would have been nice. Alice and I had called this placed "the Meadow". It was a beautiful circular place with waving grass and sun… it was a nice place to be ourselves.
I stopped and turned towards her. She just stared.
"Bella? Please say something." I pleaded.
BPOV
A vampire. That actually made sense. The cold skin… the hard marble texture of it… the speed… the fight with Mike… the absence of blood after the fight… the inhuman beauty… the absence of Mike from school for a while… the attack he made on me in school…
It made sense. It was just impossible because vampires couldn't exist in a place like Forks. I bit my lip.
"That makes sense." I said slowly.
It was his turn to stare.
EPOV
Bella Swan was surprising me. How could she not be screaming? How could she sit there so calmly and not care?
"You aren't scared." It wasn't a question.
"No." Bella said simply.
"And why would that be?" I questioned.
"Well think of this from my point of view for a second. You have not hurt me. You must be good and nice, as vampires come. Your family goes to school and hasn't hurt anyone. Mike has tried to hurt you and me. He must be bad. It's sort of like any species, right? There's good and bad everywhere – you're just good. Mike was bad. Case closed, no questions asked."
"Doesn't this bother you?" I said, shocked.
"Not really. You've been a good friend to me. I'm more surprised than anything."
Being surprised was close to fear. That was a good sign.
"You're expecting me to be all afraid of you, yet you asked me out." She said.
She had me there. I was rather insane. Oh well, if I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.
"I was through trying to stay away from you." I said.
"Stay away from me?" she looked hurt.
"Me and my family can be in public. We usually don't get too involved with humans for their own safety. I know that this wrong to endanger you so much. It's because of me that Mike very nearly killed us both."
"How was it your fault?"
"Jasper turned him into a vampire shortly after you broke up with him. He was angry with me because I kept him inside so he wouldn't hurt you. He was mad at you for not liking him and he was furious at me again for stealing you." I explained.
She took that all in for a second.
"So Mike is dead then?"
"He was killed by others."
"Who?"
This was too much to explain. I sighed.
"Can we stop the questions for right now? Assuming that you aren't going to tell and that you aren't frightened, then I have a few questions for you."
"I won't tell and I'm not afraid." Bella said confidently.
How strange.
"Are you okay?" I asked quickly.
"Yes." I raised my eyebrows at her. "Well, I think my wrist might be broken." She admitted.
I swore silently.
"We have to get you to Carlisle." I said. "Are you sure you're not scared?"
She rolled her eyes. "Let's go, Edward."
I smiled at her.
"Up you go." I teased.
She jumped onto my back and hid her face in my hair. Her scent sent fire down my throat but I was too consumed with the warmth of her touch. I had to get her fixed, I had to tell Carlisle what happened, I had to get her safe, I had to find out why the hell Alice didn't see this and come to help me.