A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this one out, but here you go. Enjoy!

Chapter-17: Memoirs of Days Gone By

BPOV

Wordlessly, I pulled him inside my house. He followed in silence until we reached the living room. I motioned toward the couch and said, "Make yourself comfortable" before turning to go to the kitchen. I stopped after a few steps though, wondering if he would even want water. "Would you like a glass of water?"

I was trying to act as normal as possible, not wanting to let him know how much this little rift between us has cost me. He was quick to call me on my bullshit though. "A glass of water to drown myself in?" he asked, quirking his eyebrows upwards. "If yes, then please. But if you mean for me to drink it, then no, we don't need water."

The distinctive tilt in his voice as he said 'we' made me realize that we needed to have a talk—a serious and mature talk—without him running away me. I took a deep breath, puffed up my cheeks and then let the air out of my lungs slowly. "Alright then, tell me."

He tilted his head to the side, silently asking me to take a seat next to him. I nodded before sitting on the sofa across from him. His lips moved a little as he tried to hide his smile. I shrugged. "I need my distance to keep a clear head."

He nodded back before asking, "Okay. What did you want to know?"

"Let's start with the part where you claimed to be a vampire," I replied. "Were you saying that metaphorically or …" I trailed off as I saw him grimace. "Oh! You weren't using metaphors, were you?"

He was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "Unfortunately, no. I was being honest with you, Bella, more honest than I've ever been with anyone lately."

"So you're a vampire," I said, letting the words sink into my mind.

"Yeah. I've been one for a long time now."

"How long?" I asked, feeling a sudden chill run down my spine. Oh my God! I am dating a vampire.

He looked at my face closely and then frowned. "Your heart is beating faster than usual. Are you …?" His eyes widened, and he almost whispered the next few words. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Should I be?" I asked back, needing to know.

"Never!" he replied fervently. "You never need to be afraid of me. You're far too important to me for me to ruin this."

I didn't respond to his promise. Instead, I asked again, "Will you tell me the truth about who you are?"

"Yes," he said before closing his eyes and holding his head in his hands. He stayed like that for a long moment, making me wonder if he had fallen asleep.

Do vampires even sleep?

My musings were cut short by the sound of his soft voice. Looking at him, I saw that though his eyes were open, they had a faraway look in them … as if his mind wasn't in my small house anymore.

"I was born in 1901as Edward Anthony Masen," he started. "My parents, Edward Masen Sr. and Elizabeth Masen, were one of the most influential couples in the Chicago society. We were so happy. I was always surrounded by love. It all changed when I turned seventeen though."

He stopped to let out a breath, and I couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

I was expecting him to say that his parents broke up or even one of his parents had died, but never what he replied with. "The war happened."

"War?"

"World War I, to be precise."

I gasped. "You went to the war?"

"No," he said slowly. "I wanted to go though. I was almost a man when the war broke out and I guess I was enthralled with the idea of bringing honor to my country … of bringing pride to my parents …" He trails off before scoffing. "I was an adrenaline-driven delusional asshole."

"It was brave of you …"

He cut me of mid-sentence. "Brave? I don't know anything about bravery, but I was just … so ready to be a man, you know?"

I nodded in silence because even I was desperate to grow up and leave the group home when I was seventeen. So I knew what he was talking about.

With a heavy sigh, he started talking again. "I didn't get to go to the war though because before I could leave to sign up for the army, I died. Carlisle killed me."

His declaration made me stop breathing for a moment before I could manage to speak again. "Carlisle? You mean your dad Carlisle?"

"He's not my father, he's just my creator." He looked angry as he snapped at me. One look at my widened eyes and he was apologizing though. "Bella, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't get my anger out on you. What I meant was that Carlisle isn't my birth-father. He turned me into a vampire."

Okay, I tried to calm my nerves. So the good natured doctor who treated me was a vampire as well. Great.

Edward was quiet for a moment with an intense look on his face before he relaxed once more. "Technically though, it was the Spanish Influenza that killed me and my family, but …" He looked unsure as he stopped talking.

"Hey," I called to him softly, hesitantly reaching for his hand. He stayed completely motionless until I laid my hand on his and then, he let out a deep breath—as if new life has been breathed into him. I waited for a moment, fascinated by the sudden change in his posture just from my touch, and then I said, "Edward, tell me. I want to know you—the real you."

He nodded and continued talking. "It was 1918 when the Spanish Influenza broke out. My mother was very upset that day because I was stubbornly insisting to join the army when my father returned home from work with a fever. Fever turned to the flu in no time—first for him and then for us as well. Our servants had abandoned the house to save their lives and I managed to make my parents agree to go to the community hospital and get treatment. That was the first mistake I made."

"Why?" My voice was barely audible even to my ears, but he heard me.

"That's where we met the amiable Dr. Carlisle Cullen," he replied. "He was so helpful and sympathetic that my mother thought the he must be some sort of angel." He laughed dryly. "Little did she know that he was the angel of death. She requested him to save my life, and after I had seen both of my parents die right before my eyes, he offered to save me. I still remember how he sounded so fucking sad when he expressed his heartfelt condolences for my loss, and then taking my hand in his, he whispered to me that he could help me … that he knew of a way to save me."

"What happened then?"

He shrugged, flipping his hand over and taking mine in his. "I woke up three days later without any hint of a fever or any kind of disease, but with a killer thirst." He looked into my eyes as he added, "A thirst for blood, Bella. Human blood."

That sent a shiver through my body. What was I getting into?

EPOV

Her heartbeat picked up just as I expected and her mouth opened before she closed it and then opened it again. "Do you drink human blood?" she asked me finally.

I nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes it's from blood bags Carlisle brings me."

"And other times?"

I could detect the shaking in her voice as she asked me the question as if she's afraid of my answer. I wasn't going to lie to her though. So I told her the truth. "I'm a predator, Bella. I prey on unsuspecting humans."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What were you doing in the middle of the road the night we met?"

She was connecting the dots.

"Hunting," I answered, waiting for her to run away from me screaming at the top of her lungs.

Of course, being Bella, she did the exact opposite. She nodded slowly as she said, "So I was supposed to be your prey." Then she looked at me. "Why did you stop?"

I hoped to hell that she wouldn't think my answer rehearsed as I responded. "Because you got out of the car. Something about you stopped me from killing you that night. You were so much different than every other human I've ever come across to. You were kind and so damn innocent."

She stayed quiet for a long moment and when I couldn't take the silence anymore, I said in a voice louder than earlier, "Say something." She raised her eyebrows, and I felt like an asshole again for getting my frustration out on her. "Please," I added, and finally I could see a hint of a smile curl her lips slightly before she schooled her features back to seriousness.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, "I guess I believe you. I mean it's crazy as shit that the first guy I've been interested in will turn out to be a vampire, but yeah, I've got proof of that myself." She raised a hand as she talked about the proof.

"What kind of proof?"

Holding her hand out to me, she said, "Slapping a human wouldn't normally bruise my hand now, would it?"

Bruise? Oh fuck!

I grabbed her hand and pulled it toward me—apparently, rougher than I thought because she winced a little. As soon as it registered to me that she was in pain, I stopped myself and then slowly scooted over to the sofa she was sitting on.

She allowed me to hold her hand to my chest as I placed kisses on the blue bruise marks on the palm of her hand.

"I'm sorry, baby," I kept saying over and over.

She snorted as she cupped my chin in her injured hand. "I was the one who hit you so why are you saying sorry."

"Because I hurt you," I said truthfully.

"You did," she agreed with me. "You hurt more than my hand though, Edward. You hurt my heart."

Does this mean that I hold a small piece of her heart? I wondered silently.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am, Bella," I told her. "Leaving you—or attempting to, anyway—made me feel like a vital part of me was missing." I took both of her hands in my mine and pulled them to my lips. "I swear I'll never hurt you again."

"Don't make promises you might not be able to keep," she said, shaking her head a little. "You said it yourself. You live on human blood. I'm a human, Edward."

I know, I replied to her in my mind. You're my human.

Out loud, I said, "Bella, you don't understand how much you mean to me. I can't hurt you. Because if I hurt you, I'll only hurt myself. I learned that the hard way." I took her beautiful face in my hands and added, "You are a human, Bella, but you're my human now. And the scent of your blood? It drives me into a frenzy."

Her eyes widened a little at my confession, and I smirked a little as I whispered the next few words in her ear. "A frenzy of wanting you. I've never wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you, Bella."

She licked her lips as she averted her eyes from mine. A shuddering breath left her body as she movesd her face away before I can kiss her. "You should go."

She doesn't feel the same for me. Hurt—like I've never felt before—tore through me for the millionth time that day at the thought of her rejection.

She must've seen it in my eyes because she laid a hand on my face as she leaned into me again. "Hey, I'm not saying that I don't want you with me because that'll be a big fat lie, but I'm also a little bit weirded out. You've shared so much with me, and today has been a really emotional one for me. So all I'm saying that, I need time to think. Can you give me that, please?"

Silently, I nodded before standing up from my seat. "I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," she said back as she stood up with me. "Thank you, Edward … for letting me know the real you."

As I left her house that night, I realized that no matter how much it sucked to wait for her answer, I was willing to wait … for her.

Because she was my mate.

My human.

A/N: Before anyone says anything, I respect all army-men. That was just Edward being cynical and not me. Thought I should clear that one.

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Song rec for this chapter: Secrets by One Republic.

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Ann