A/N: So, for the sake of my plot, I've thrown in a werewolf rule that didn't necessarily exist in Stephenie Meyer's book. Just so everyone knows. Reviews?

He didn't stop running until they were completely out of the forest's shade and into the bright, bright daylight. After a moment of her eyes adjusting to the violent change in ambient light, Callie's breath caught in her throat. She stared in awe around her at a perfectly round meadow glowing in the sun. Wildflowers blossomed from the knee-high grass like fireworks of the earth, explosions of color on a bright green canvas. The trees near the edge of the forest were blooming in white-green and pinks and yellows. The sky was a perfect blue behind a couple marshmallow clouds.

She was too mesmerized to notice Edward behind her, unfolding a white and red gingham blanket and billowing it into the breeze before letting it fall to the ground, completely open. She hadn't even noticed Edward yet. He listened carefully to her thoughts to gauge her reaction, and smiled as she remembered the last time she saw a day this beautiful.

Suddenly, she remembered who had brought her to this lovely place, and turned to face him, already saying, "Thank you so much, Ed –"

Again, her breathing was halting by surprise. In front of her was a crystalline god, someone that belonged in Grecian myths of majesty and mystique. He smiled softly at her as she took in the spectacle before her, mouth still agape. Suddenly, she stepped very slowly towards him, until she was less than a foot away. Then, she reached out her arm, again, ever so slowly, and brushed the back of her hand against his cheek.

Edward's eyes fell closed and he sighed, blowing sweet breath against Callie's ever blushing face. Nothing had ever felt so good to him.

In this state of bliss, he failed to realize that Callie had gotten closer to him, and it wasn't till he heard her breath in his ear that he realized how close she was. She wasn't touching him yet, but she was getting closer by the second. Then, not in a climactic fashion but with more of an air of inevitability and rightness, she pressed her warm cheek up to his, the same place where she had brushed her hand. His hands rested themselves on her hips, hidden behind her belly, and her arms snaked around his neck.

They had been close before, when he carried her to this place, but his phantom heart hadn't pounded so hard then.

It was too soon, though the moment had seemed to last forever, when she whispered, "Thank you," and pulled away slowly. She took his hands and squeezed them, then said, "What's all this?" She gestured to the picnic basket. Edward grinned.

"I figured you'd get hungry at some point, so I packed a picnic for us. Well, mainly for you."

She blushed and smiled slightly. "I must seem like the ever-hungry beast of food to you." She sat as she spoke, arranging her gangly legs beneath her and leaning back onto her palms.

"Oh, of course, you're the monster of this relationship." His humor was overcast as both of them looked away, embarrassed at their thoughts on the word "relationship."

Callie was the first to overcome it. "What kind of relationship is this, Edward?"

He slipped towards the ground in a fluid, graceful movement which in no way reflected how he felt that moment. He puffed out a breath of air and said, "What do you want it to be?"

Her eyebrows furrowed immediately. "Uh-uh, Edward Cullen, none of that. I asked you now, and I want an answer from you, now! None of this round-about 'I'll answer you when you answer me' nonsense!"

Her abrasiveness shocked him, but made him smile as well. "Fair enough. I want you to be around, and be in my life, and you are. That is good." He paused, considering his next words carefully.

Callie's thoughts interrupted him. "Generally, people call that a girlfriend." When she realized what she had just allowed to pass to his mind, she looked at him, shocked and embarrassed at her own mental comment.

Edward smirked. She hadn't thought it with any sarcasm or implications, he noticed. It was just another one of those thoughts that drifted into the forefront of her brain, thought before she could choose otherwise. He decided to let it pass without a tirade of teasing, and resumed the more important conversation. "As I was saying, that is good. However, I am worried for your safety and for your happiness. What does that make this relationship?"

Callie was about to answer when she caught herself. "No way! I'm not answering my question for you, not this time. And I don't appreciate your trickery, sir."

"Damn," Edward thought for a moment. He tried to scan her thoughts.

"Get out of my head and say what you mean." Her eyes narrowed a little, though he could tell she wasn't truly angry. He smirked. Something about the contrast between her courteous side and her demanding side intrigued him. There was no sense of false, wishy-washy, polite small talk when it came to Callie, something that usually accompanied courtesy in his experience, and her demands were not overwhelming or inconsiderate, and they were never pushy. She expected everyone to perform to their fullest potential around her, and would accept nothing less. She seemed to see very aptly through the façades he established. Suddenly, he wondered to himself why those masks and walls were even there.

"I mean, my dear, that I care for you. You see through all my pretenses, and I can appreciate that. Close friends?"

Callie nodded, and Edward noticed that she had held no preconceived notions of what he would say.

Her next question surprised him. "Why bother with the pretenses, then, Edward?"

"It's funny you say that; I was just asking myself the same thing."

"So, why?"

He never answered, just stared off into space. Callie let the subject drop, and they were silent for a moment. The meadow even sounded beautiful, birds singing melodiously, the wind whistling through the trees and the reeds. It even blew some flower petals into the air, and they spiraled around the two of them. Each time Callie looked around, it took her breath away.

"God must be a painter," She said quietly. Edward raised an eyebrow at her. To answer his questioning look, she explained, "Otherwise we'd never have so many colors."

Edward smiled, then recalled what Carlisle said: "We will probably be nothing short of demons to her."

"You're religious, then?"

Callie sighed. "I was raised religious," She said.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know." She paused. "I believe in God, yes. But not such a malevolent one, nor one so lenient on those who do horrible wrongs. You can be a Buddhist monk, live a perfectly moral life, and still not get into heaven, as if you don't deserve it. You can kill ten people, but if you say you're sorry and you mean it, you're fine. No punishment. How is that just?"

Edward merely nodded her on, enthralled by her passion.

She noticed that he was encouraging her, and became shy immediately. She was silent for a moment, then said, "Well, I don't know, anyway. I guess I wouldn't know. I'm not one of God's people anymore."

Edward's eyebrows furrowed. "I think that's ridiculous. There is no one I know, in my credible experience, more deserving of God than you are." He paused. "Except maybe Carlisle," He said, smiling.

She laughed. "Yes, Carlisle…I know of no better man." She took a pause like he did, and said, "You know, Edward, you're not so low on the totem pole of morality yourself."

He smiled sadly. "Morality doesn't compensate for damnation."

She didn't say anything for a while. He took the opportunity to change the subject. "Speaking of Carlisle, I'm to propose an idea to you."

Callie's eyebrows shot up at the word "propose." Edward shook his head, and as he did, a thought from her head seeped into his mind.

"At some point we're going to have to relieve this romantic tension." He didn't know if she sent it to him on purpose or if it was unintentional, but if he could have, he would have blushed.

"He told me to ask you if you wanted him to arrange for you to be home from school for the rest of the year, due to your 'parasite'. He said he could make it so you still graduate.

A pensiveness crossed her face, and she sat in contemplation for a few minutes. "If Carlisle thinks that is what's best, then I will not disagree with him."

Edward nodded. "I'll see if he can arrange it for me, as well. I'll be your tutor," he said with a big grin. "I know the entire curriculum like the back of my hand."

This caught her attention. "How?" She paused, and a question occurred to her. "How old are you, Edward?"

He bit his lip. "Seventeen."

"How long have you been alive?" She asked, more annoyed.

"Just over a century," he said quietly.

She gulped. "Woah."

"Woah, indeed."

Callie's hunger then, after a few minutes of silence (which seemed to be a recurring theme between them). She opened the quaint picnic basket and munched away on a carrot. Eventually, the two of them shifted to more comfortable positions, and then positions even more comfortable, until Edward ended up sitting, leaning back on his palms, with Callie's shoulder tucked into his armpit and the rest of her body resting against his. Sitting down, she was about a fifteen inches shorter than him (standing, she was closer to ten inches shorter). He teased her about it.

"Well, someone up there just changed their mind halfway through when it came to making me," she said in response, sticking her carrot-covered tongue out at him. He smiled. They relaxed into a quiet, and watched the clouds roll over the sun.

When the sun began casting shadows from the trees that were just as tall as said trees were, Edward stretched. "I forgot to tell you the other part of Carlisle's request. He wanted me to take you to the hospital where he works so he could make sure everything was in proper working order."

Callie nodded, then bit her lip. She opened her mouth, about to speak, then stopped. Edward noticed. "Yes?"

She looked away. "You're vampires."

Edward nodded hesitantly. Was this some sort of last minute change of mind?

"Then you know what Jake is, don't you?"

Edward nodded again, trying to keep a scowl from his face. Not only was he a werewolf, he was a scumbag, for doing what he did to Callie.

Callie noticed his souring expression. "He's not a bad guy, Edward."

"Oh? And how do you figure such a thing?"

"It's not his fault he's not able to take care of me. It's a rule of the tribe to stay away from… reproduction until you imprint."

Edward didn't recognize the term. "Imprint?"

His lack of knowledge on the subject surprised her. "You don't know?" He shook his head. "How much do you know?"

"Very little, I suppose. We have some theories. Why? How much do you know?"

"Edward, I'm carrying a werewolf's baby."

"True. Start with imprinting."

"Imprinting is when a werewolf recognizes his soul mate. From that day on, he has eyes for no other."

"So Jacob Black did this without loving you?"

Callie became defensive. "I never said he didn't love me."

Edward backed off the subject. "Alright, so he slept with someone who isn't his soul mate. Why is that such a big issue, besides the "no sex before marriage" business?"

"This has nothing to do with religion, Edward. The problem lies when Jacob does his job as a father for a year or two, and then maybe he imprints on the neighbor girl. He can't help his love for her, and I'm left up the creek without a paddle, so to speak. It's a rule the tribe put into place, to protect the people around them. Jacob broke the rule, but he can't break the second part. This baby is mine to care for, now."

Edward sighed. "Alright. The werewolf lore will have to wait for Carlisle, at least. He needs to hear this too. Meanwhile, let's get you to the hospital and check out that baby."

Callie nodded. He started to gather the blanket and food when he realized there was no food left. Callie had eaten everything he had packed. He chuckled. "You are the ever-hunger monster of food."

She pouted, trying not to laugh. Smiling, he picked up the basket, then he picked her up, and took off into the woods once again.

Over his shoulder, Callie watched the meadow fall into the blur of distance and sighed.