A/N: All your reviews for this story have made me smile like crazy. I would like to thank every one of you, who has reviewed, favorited, put on alert or simply... read RoALS. You guys make it worth my time to put my crazy thoughts in writing. Thank you.

A special thanks to DataByteDL-FangirlinGranma. Love you, Granma. xo

Ready for the next chapter? Read on!

Chapter-10: Peek-A-Book

EPOV

"Wanna tell me what you were doing beside my bed now?" Her question made my eyes widen.

Fuck! And here I thought humans don't catch much.

I opened my mouth but couldn't seem to find an appropriate response. So I closed it. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I opened my mouth once more. "Not really," I responded finally.

She stayed silent for a heartbeat before giving me an incredulous look. "That's it? That's all you've got to say?"

I shrugged, suddenly finding her flushed cheeks very amusing. "Pretty much."

A rebellious look appeared on her face and her eyes narrowed as she opened her mouth again. "Why are you like this?"

"Like what?" I asked back, tilting my head to the side and making another futile attempt at reading her thoughts.

"You act so mysterious," she answered with a shake of her head before raising a hand to place on the side of it. "Wow. That probably wasn't such a good idea. So no more head shakes," she muttered in a low voice.

The thought of her being in pain made me want to help her which was a first for me. I mean, come on! I was Edward fucking Masen. I didn't care for puny humans. That's not who I was.

A small voice in the back of my head told me that maybe I didn't know who I really was. But that's ridiculous, right?

I moved to stand up from her bed and said, "Listen, you're not feeling well. So you should rest …"

"No!" she exclaimed and grabbed my hand in her warm one again. "I want to talk to you."

Seriously, doesn't she have any self-preservation instincts? I wondered again. I'm her predator for fuck's sake! She's supposed to be repulsed by me, not intrigued by me!

"About what?" I asked curtly. "I'm not a very interesting person to talk to." Yeah, that's a lie. I'm a de-fucking-light to talk to … if you like the sarcastic asshole types, of course, I added mentally.

The corners of her lips turned upwards as she let out a giggle. "On the contrary, Mr. Cullen, I find you very intriguing."

I flinched when she called me "Cullen", and unlike every other human being, she caught onto it. She squeezed my wrist, which was still held in her hand, and asked in a soft voice, "You prefer being called just Edward?"

How …?

Shocked by the perceptiveness of this seemingly ordinary girl, I nodded.

She smiled at me. "Alright then, Edward. As I was saying, you intrigue me."

I raised an eyebrow at her in silent question which made her laugh softly. "You're like a mysterious stranger whom I find at every corner that might be dangerous for me," she said before widening her eyes at me. "Hey, you're not my guardian angel, are you?"

"No, I'm not," I replied sharply before standing up and moving swiftly out of her grasping hands. "I'm anything but your guardian angel, Isabella."

Before she could say anything else, I got out of there, leaving her alone.

If I was being honest with myself, this girl was making me want to be a guardian angel—just for her.

No, I thought to myself. All I'm ever gonna be is her worst nightmare. A soulless monster can never be a guardian angel. Never.

BPOV

Waking up the next morning, I tried to remember what happened the night before. I remembered thinking that Dobby was coming to see me at the hospital, but then he turned out to be …

I gasped, remembering the first real conversation I'd had with my Mysterious yet Handsome Stranger—Edward Cullen, who preferred being called just Edward.

Our conversation from last night and his subsequent escape from me rushed back to me.

He's always running away from me, I thought again.

I was brought out of my very jumbled and confused thoughts by the sound of the curtain around my bed being pulled back.

"Ah, Isabella, I see that you're already awake."

Looking up, I saw Dr. Cullen standing next to my bed with a smile on his face. I quickly allowed my eyes to glance over his shoulder, somehow hoping to see his son there with him. But the spot behind him was empty.

He looked behind and asked curiously, "Are you looking for someone? An attendant perhaps?"

I shook my head and noted with satisfaction that the headache was gone. Sitting up on the hospital bed, I replied, "No. As I told you already I live alone. So no attendant for me."

He took in my smile and smiled back. "Well, as it turns out, you don't need one anymore," he said, flipping through the stack of papers in his hands. "Your chart looks good."

"So I can leave now?" I couldn't help but ask eagerly.

Chuckling, he nodded. "Yes, you can."

"I'm sorry. It's just … well, I start a new job today so …" I explained.

He signed some papers and tapped his pen closed. "Good luck with your new job then. There's some paperwork for you'll need to sign, but after that, you're free to leave."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

As I started to gather up my stuff, I felt a small pang of regret that I wouldn't be able to see Edward again. But then, a small voice in my head whispered that we'll meet again … we always seemed to end up meeting anyway.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

After grabbing a quick breakfast of a muffin and coffee from the hospital cafeteria, I walked across the street to get to the bookstore.

"Isabella, dear, you're right on time," Mrs. Goff greeted me as soon as I walked into the shop. However, when she looked at me closely, she frowned. "Are you okay, dear?"

"Good morning, Mrs. Goff. Yes, I'm okay. Why shouldn't I be?"

She gestured at my clothes with her hand. "You didn't go home last night? Or …"

I grimaced when I remembered that I was wearing the same things from the day before. Then I realized what she must have meant by the "or" and I felt my cheeks heat up. She doesn't think that I hooked up with anyone and am essentially doing the walk of shame now, does she?

"I actually spent the night at the hospital," I mumbled. "I got hurt when I got home." When her eyes widened, I added, "I'm fine now though. Really."

"Oh, poor dear! Do you need to take the day off?" she asked kindly.

"No," I said with a shake of my head. "I'm feeling better."

She led me inside the store by the elbow and made me sit down. "Well, if you're sure," she said with a caring smile. "But at least eat a cookie. Mr. Goff says my cookies can get rid of his headaches just like that." She snapped her fingers, making me laugh.

Cookies actually sounded good.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

It was almost the time for my lunch break when I heard the doorbell chime, indicating someone walking into the store.

However, when I looked at the door, I found it closed, and the doorway was empty. What the hell was that? I wondered, having clearly heard the bell chime.

"Mrs. Goff?" I called out, but no answer came.

Cautiously, I got out from behind the counter and headed for the rows of bookshelves.

"Hello?" I called again, but again, only silence greeted me.

I started to make my way to the back of the store, walking as soundlessly as I could.

When I reached the bookshelves at the back, I gasped. A pair of eyes was looking at me from behind the shelf facing me.

A pair of vibrant green eyes.

"Edward?"

EPOV

I closed my eyes when she called my name and cursed my lack of self control. Why the fuck did I come here?

Opening my eyes, I saw her deep brown ones stare at me. "Hey," I said, feeling beyond lame.

A startled laughter escaped her lips before she said, "Let me guess, you're here to play peek-a-boo?"

Her playfulness made my lips turn upwards, and I nodded. "You could say that."

"Wait up," she said before disappearing from my line of sight. I heard footsteps and then she was beside me. "Hello again. You're not working today?"

I shook my head. "I'm on my lunch break. When I got to the hospital, you had left."

"I had been discharged," she corrected me. "There's a difference."

"Really?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

"Uh-huh," she responded. "I would've left last night if I could leave. Your dad made me stay the night."

"Forced medical help?" I exclaimed dramatically. "What's the world coming to, huh?"

A light blush colored her cheeks as she murmured, "I can't say that I wouldn't have regretted it if I'd left last night though."

"What?"

My question made her look up into my eyes, and she smiled mischievously. "But then again, we seem to be running into each other quite often anyway."

Does she mean that she'd have regretted leaving because she thinks we wouldn't have met then?

"So … uh, what are you doing here?"

Her voice stopped my train of thought, and I shrugged. "I wanted to check out a book."

"Cool. Which one?" she asked eagerly.

I grabbed a random book from the shelf behind me and held it out to her. "This one."

"Really?" The teasing glint became more pronounced in her eyes as she dragged the question out. "You don't seem like the type to enjoy that."

"What …?" Feeling confused, I looked at the title of the book and then wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

Erotic Novels for Women? Really, Masen?

She giggled and tapped a finger on the book cover. "This one's for women, you know?" she asked with a wink.

Thanking the fact that I had lost my ability to blush with my humanity, I pushed the book back into the shelf. "I … uh … yeah," I tried to find a smart-ass comeback before arching an eyebrow at her and saying, "You know what they say, never judge a book by its cover. Besides, I hear that this stuff is very enjoyable to share with a partner."

She let out an audible gasp before looking down at her feet, her cheeks looking flushed once again.

Fuck! I wish I could feel the heat of her cheeks when she blushed like this!

"I didn't realize that you have a partner to share it with," she said after a moment of silence.

Immediately, I knew that I had given her the wrong idea, and for some fucked up reason, I really didn't like that. "I don't. I just heard my brother say that," I replied, remembering how I had heard Emmett thinking about wanting to play out some disgusting sex scenes from a book with Rosalie.

"Oh!" She looked up at me then. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

With a smirk, I replied, "You just did."

She shook her head at me and asked, "Did you really come here for a book?"

I knew that the rational thing to do would've been to say that yes, I was interested in buying some medical books or something equally believable, but instead, I said, "No."

"Then why are you here, Edward?" her eyes looked into mine as she asked in a low whisper.

"Because you work here," I replied.

A small frown appeared on her forehead. "How do you know that?"

"I saw you through the hospital window." By this point, I wasn't even trying to think of a lie to tell her, and all I was saying was the truth.

"Oh!" She looked surprised by my answer. "But why …?"

Before she could finish her question, I let out a resigned sigh. "Because I can't seem to keep away from you."

"Who said you have to?" her voice was sharp when she asked.

"It's the right thing to do," I told her.

"Maybe I don't want to do the right thing," she murmured.

Fuck! Is she for real?

"Do you like Italian?" I asked, already knowing that this was a bad idea.

Frowning, she nodded.

"Then I'll take you out to Port Angeles tonight." My words didn't sound like a question, but rather a statement.

Raising an eyebrow she said, "That's not the way it works, Edward. You have to ask me."

Not believing that I was actually doing this, I did as she asked. "Would you like to go to Port Angeles with me tonight, Isabella?"

She remained silent for a long second before a smile started to make its way on her lips. "Yes, please. You can pick me up from my home if you want."

Unbeknownst to me, a smile stretched on my lips as well.

I was going on a date after a hundred and fourteen years … my first date ever.

Fuck! What am I doing?

A/N: So … thoughts? Share them with me and leave a review.

Thank you for reading.

If you want some light-hearted fic that makes you smile after reading this seriousness, you can check out my other WIP, DreamWeaver. It's funny, it's fluffy and it updates daily. :D

Song rec for this chapter: Escape by Enrique Iglesias.

On a sad note, I'm going on a work trip later in the next week. So there's a very big possibility that there won't be any update next Friday. But do check in on next Saturday because who knows? Maybe VampWard would like to say hi to you?

Take care.

Ann