Esme led the way into the spacious house. I gaped at the beauty of her home's structure, décor and lightness. My gaze whipped back and forth, taking in the gorgeous living room, the huge but nice stairwell; everything was amazing in here. Esme turned back to me as I looked around, appearing to appreciate my liking of her hard work.

"Esme is very talented." Edward commented, reminding me that he was listening. I thought about Harry Potter in this moment, how Dumbledore and Snape would sneak through people's thoughts and wondered if occlumency could be an actual thing if you worked on it? I doubted it, but out of curiosity, I slammed a door in my mind trying to neutralize all thoughts and bury them deep.

Edward momentarily jerked, then laughed softly. "That won't work. Sorry."

I frowned. At least I tried.

"What did she try?" Emmett asked curiously.

"She tried to slam the door of her thoughts in my face." He had humor on his face. "Never had anyone try that before, though. Interesting theology."

Emmett and Peter snorted. Carlisle looked thoughtful. "Where did you come up with that?" He asked, curiosity and fascination mingled.

I ducked my head in embarrassment. "Harry Potter." I murmured, hoping they wouldn't hear me. Emmett laughed uproariously.

I looked up and Jasper and Peter's lips were quirked upwards in a small smile. "Shame it didn't work." Jasper drawled in his southern accent. "It'd be nice to have some privacy here and there."

I nodded and decided I was going to come up with some way to keep my thoughts private – somehow. Edward shook his head at my thoughts, apparently, but kept his thoughts to himself. Which, not fair, because we have to share ours. He began to laugh quietly again.

"She's upset you all have to share your thoughts with me, but I don't have to with all of you." Edward said out of nowhere. "Carlisle was wondering what I was laughing about," He informed myself and possibly others. Maybe they were used to this kind of thing.

In the meantime, I'd be careful. While I don't remember how I came to be like this, I do remember parts of my past and I was not willing to share. Like – no, I won't think on it.

I saw Edward purse his lips, thoughtful, but didn't comment which I considered a good thing.

"So," I said as I sat, but mostly everyone else stood around me. That was an uncomfortable thing, having people tower over you, like they have extensive power over you. I was about to continue, but Edward disturbed my process.

"We should sit." He said to everyone else. Alice bobbed her head happily, but a few were slower to take a seat. I appreciated his concern, though.

"What is going on? What happened to me? What will you do with me?" I asked in a rush. My anxiety was building, but then all at once, it began to drift away. I looked up immediately, suspiciously at Jasper.

He held his hands up in a sign of meaning no harm. "Just helping you relax," He said calmly. I guess I could accept that, but I famously did not appreciate things that affected my emotions. I did not like medications that drugged me up, things that affected how I felt or fogged over my emotions. I'd allow it for now, though. I nodded slowly, but my distaste did not go away. He gave me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry," He added.

Carlisle gave me a kind smile. "As Peter and Charlotte probably told you, you're a vampire now." His tone was lined with empathy while his smile never dropped.

I nodded slightly at him, averting my eyes uncomfortably.

"As a vampire, you thirst for blood, however, vampires generally choose a few different life styles; in the case of Peter and Charlotte, they drink from…the unsavory humans around. Some vampires drink from blood bags, like our family, some drink from animals and finally, most vampires drink without discrimination. One such coven would be the Volturi."

I withheld any judgement from my mind towards vampires and their lifestyles. It was easy to judge others when I didn't feel the thirst for myself. I could imagine how hard it was to pick to drink from animals, blood bags, or to discriminate, so to say. The brief time I was with Charlotte and Peter helped me see how human blood was nearly impossible to ignore.

A brief glance up at Edward had me frowning at the sympathetic twist of his lips. I didn't want sympathy, I just wanted to go back to my life… I shook my head at those thoughts, reminding myself that I woke up like this, not recognizing my own self. There was no going back.

I averted my eyes from Edward's face as his lips twisted further in distaste of my thoughts. It felt like a horrible intrusion, but one that Edward and I couldn't avoid. We could only learn to cohabit.

I looked up again to see Carlisle staring at me in curiosity. "Anything else I need to know?" I asked him, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.

I could see him shift whatever he was thinking aside, focusing on the here and now once again as he smiled at me patiently. "We have a treaty with the werewolves in the reservation. We don't drink from humans, and we get to cohabit peacefully. As long as we don't go on their land or drink from humans, we don't have problems from them. We've managed this for many years now."

I nodded again seriously at his words, considering. I tilted my head at him. "Will you have to explain to them that you have a new edition?"

"We will," He replied simply. "I'll make the phone call after you've had time to get adjusted."

I bit my lip contemplatively. "I'm sorry, stupid question…what year is it?" I grimaced as I asked the question.

I felt a wave of calmness hit me and I relaxed immediately. Esme is the one who answered, a small smile on her face. "It's 2005."

I couldn't withhold a grimace at the date, trying to avoid thinking too hard about it. "Is there anything else I need to know?" My voice was strained, and I could tell they picked up on it immediately.

"That should be enough for now." Carlisle replied, "We can answer questions as we go. Just remember you need to stay away from civilization for a while until you're more comfortable."

I nodded, but was blindsided by a small girl grabbing my arm and pulling me up from my seat, but Jasper was immediately there, halting her with a hand on her shoulder. "Careful, Alice," He warned as he watched me closely.

She dropped my arm immediately and pouted, sending the look towards Jasper. "She wasn't going to do anything, I checked first."

I brought my previously yanked arm closer to my body with trepidation. "I wasn't," I agreed, but then said, "but I'm not a big fan of being touched, so perhaps baby steps?" I tried to suggest.

Alice didn't seem to like my suggestion, but nodded.

I wasn't sure what she wanted from me. I wasn't really going to complain; I needed a distraction, but it would be nice to have someone ask first before dragging me off somewhere.

"How about you ask her?" Edward commented, seemingly towards either Alice or Jasper.

I could see the small tilt down of Alice's mouth at his comment, but it was gone before I could even be sure I saw it. "Let's go shopping for clothes! We'll do it online, so we don't have to leave. How does that sound? That way you will have clothes that fit you."

I shook my head lightly with a small smile on my lips. "Why do I get the feeling you are going to play dress up with me quite a bit in the future?" I asked rhetorically.

That brought a bright grin to her lips as she beamed happily. I could almost see her bouncing in place at my response. "Because I will!" She said excitedly.

I sighed slightly but shrugged. "If I get free clothes out of it, I guess I can't complain."

Alice, beyond reason at this point, jumped in place once in excitement and grabbed me again, intending to lead me towards a computer. I tensed lightly under her hands, but forced myself to relax.

She pulled up a chair for myself along with the computer chair and sat me down, scrolling through sites. "What kind of clothes do you like to wear?" I was blindsided by the question, not sure what to think.

"Um…" scrunched my eyebrows together in thought, wondering about colors and designs.

"How about we scroll through things until you find something?" She asked kindly.

"Sure…?"

So that's what we did. I picked what I thought would be nice, choosing clothes I normally wouldn't or were too expensive normally. When I tried to stop, Alice kept going, though. Not only that, she tried to go through accessories and make up as well. I tired to stop that as well, but she powered on through and I was helpless to get her to quit.

By the end, despite the fact I couldn't sleep as a vampire, I was drained emotionally. I had to be rescued by Edward who had wandered up and suggested Alice give me a break. She insisted on continuing, so she would be doing that as Edward took me for a run.

Edward and I ran together, basking in the lack of sunlight, cool air and a light shimmer of rain.

Sorry about the wait and for the little chapter. This was super hard to write. I am having a massively hard time with Edward being a mind reader and not knowing how to go about ignoring his ability while also having the MC know things. I'll have to think more about it. I think I also managed to pick out a power for her as well, so that's good. Hopefully next chapters come easier. Again, super sorry.