A/N: Ok, I really HAVE to apologise for this wait--I'm really, REALLY sorry. I'd like to consider that wait my . . . Christmas hiatus, if you will. Sure enough, I'll try to update as fasr as I can from now on. I don't think this story will have any more than . . . . oh, fifteen chapters, but then again, I have no idea at the moment. It could very well end up with thirty, but for now, I'm trying not to subject myself to the horrors of a ridiculously long story. But who knows? This story's getting way more attention than I ever thought it would, for which I'm ecstatic. I love the reviews! Keep 'em coming! And again, I'm really sorry, and just hope you enjoy.

The Hunt

We were ready. All three of us, Bella, Edward and I. To go and hunt--for animals.

To be honest, this whole thing seemed repulsive. I felt slightly nauseous at the thought, like a human eating flies. It just seemed so unright, not to mention utterly unapatizing.

It had been decided hours ago that I would try my first hunt with Edward and Bella now, as soon as possible, so as to wash the tantalizing taste of blood from my mouth or something. I wasn't really sure I was ready. I thought that maybe we could just set a date, like a smoker would in an attempt to throw away their last cigarette.

But Carlisle seemed to think otherwise, and the other Cullens agreed with him, that I should try to get my bearings with this new lifestyle before any more innocent life was lost. Of course, I was abashed, but nonetheless I was determined. I didn't feel this way now.

Edward, Bella, and I ran, into the forest behind the house, Edward and Bella running quite close together, myself off to the side. We didn't speak. The two had been very distant with me since the incident with thier daughter. This, too, abashed me. The Cullens seemed like warm people, but they were by no means warm to me.

We were running, gracefully, into the mountains, where no human would stumble upon us. I was instructed to hold my breath until then, though I didn't. It wasn't necessary--I'd just fed recently, and though my thirst for blood would never be quenched, it was quite bearable. I'd been a vampire for forty years, how could it not be bearable?

Suddenly I was aware of a closer presence. Bella was running alongside me now, Edward still stubbornly looking away from me. Bella, looking rather gentle, said to me beseechingly, "I'm sorry about Edward. He's stubborn, and he's protective. . . . . But he's very kind once you get to know him."

"Undoubtably," I said, trying to keep a quaver out of my voice. So she wasn't mad at me?

I'd noticed the love between the two. . . something of envy for me. I looked at the young man, Edward, from over Bella's shoulder, running in pace with us, determinedly looking away. It was . . . . intriguing. I don't know why, but he somehow captivated my interest. Just as the revelation reached me, I noticed him tense.

"So. . . ." I said, turning back to the kindly vampire, trying to ignore the boy as vehemently as he was ignoring me. "You're not . . . y'know, mad at me?" I couldn't eep the shame from my quiet voice.

She shook her head, and cast an exasperated glance at the beautiful boy. "Neither is he. He . . . I don't know, he acts strange sometimes." She shook her head again, wearily, but I could see an unwavering tenderness for him in her eyes, that she would love the enigma no matter what what he did. Who could blame her, seeing his own commitment and passion first-hand? Edward grew noticably tenser.

He suddenly stopped in the middle of the clearing. I had to double back to him. Bella and he were standing together again, not too close for comfort, but closer than that--and it looked very comfortable.

The way he looked at her! How could I have been a little scared of him before? He looked so gentle and tender and passionate, even I was softened slightly.

"There's some dear nearby," he said, in a hushed voice, looking down only at Bella, who stared back lovingly. I felt a bit intrusive here, and lonely, among these two, two halves of a whole. He inclined his head towards me, though his eyes were still locked on Bella's, and I understood that I should go and . . . hunt.

Bella broke away from Edward, and smiled at me. "I'm kind'a hungry, too," she said, walking swiftly to the east. I sniffed the air, and smelled some mile away, the obvious scent of deer, white-tailed, that I'd smelled so many times in my travels. I shuddered. It was not unpleasant, I suppose, but it was not at all appatizing--like, to a human, the pungeant smell of leather. "I think I'll tag along with Blaire."

I wasn't sure what to say, but nodded, and followed her, to the dear. To my mild surprise, Edward followed, probably because he just liked to be around Bella. They seemed to be so in tune together, I could imagine why.

I could see, through my oh-so acute crimson eyes, an entire family of dear, grazing peacefully, completely unaware of our presence, down the hill I stood at. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Bella's soft eyes turn suddenly fierce, and Edward's teeth bare.

How could these animals look so tantalizing to them? I checked back, just to make sure we were looking at the same things. Ugh. I considered wrinkling my nose like a child and stubbornly staying at the top of the hill, but the idea hadn't really taken hold when Bella and Edward sprang rapidly down, at the speed of a bullet, towards the poor, unsuspecting animals. I followed numbly.

They took down two deer, a buck and a doe, and the rest scattered. I lunged for another doe, deciding to leave the fawns be, and began, to my own disgust, to tear her throat open and drink her blood. It was like mud to me, gross, unnatural, though I supposed it was, at the very least, thirst-quenching.

I had sucked the poor, writhing animal dry, and I wasn't at all satisfied. Another movement caught my eye--another buck! I sprang lithelysfter the slow animal, sinking my teeth into his spine, grappling with it. But someone else, too was feasting on my meal.

My mind, so unsatisfied by the meager blood, registered Bella there. But she didn't recognize me--and suddenly she was upon me, grappling with me, digging her nails across my marble face. Her breath was shrill and menacing, hissing and spitting, snarling at me. I tried to retreat, but she had such a hold on me, her mind tainted with the desire for animal blood that I in no way shared with her. The buck lay cringing a few feet away, all but forgotten.

Suddenly, someone else was there, too--Edward. He seized his partner and pulled her, dexterously as if she weighed nothing, off of me, growls ripping through the morning light. Bella's hisses began to subside, and I just stood there, frozen, as she calmed in her lover's arms.

I just watched, out of breath. Edward's and my eyes met, and I knew of no way to show my gratitude than continue to stand there, staring.

"I'm sorry, Blaire," Bella said meakly as we swiftly leaped back to the house. She seemed embarrassed.

"It's okay, Bella" I said, equally embarrassed. I had other reasons for being embarrassed though.

Edward had saved me, even though I'd thought he'd detested me. I supposed I owed him. I watched his back as he sped ahead of us, watched the rare (in these parts, anyway) sunlight glimmer smoothly off of his skin through the canopy mof leaves.

What was this feeling I had? Gratitude? I didn't know, but something about Edward had . . . changed. To me, at least.

Reneesme, far too energetic to sleep, even at this late hour, spun blithely around the cottage, dancing. She giggled, and smiled at Edward, as he watched her with Bella snuggled on his lap.

"Thanks for saving Blaire from me," Bella said, a touch of humor in her voice. "Who knows what I would have done if you hadn't intervened?"

Edward didn't reply, lost in thought, watching his daughter. Those feelings he'd deciphered through Blaire's mind. . . . . Was she, perhaps growing too close for comfort? Was she a threat, to his happy family?

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, noticing his uncomfortable silence. He shook his head at her, and whispered "Nothing." Nothing was going to break the strong bonds forged here. Right?