Bella POV

Damn Him! Charlie had the worst timing ever! I decided to pretend to work on my calculus, so I walked back to the kitchen and down onto the blue chair.

"Bella?" Charlie questioned as he walked inside.

This seriously bothered me. Who else would it be?

"Yeah Dad? I'm in here." I answered as I heard him hand his coat up.

"Hey Bells. I had some pizza at the station. How was Port Angeles?" he asked/

For a second I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then I remembered my afternoon before he sowed up in it.

"Uh... good, I guess. I couldn't find any books that I wanted, though." I lied.

"Well, I 'm beat. I'll see you later Bells." Charlie yawned, already on his way upstairs.

I quickly gathered up my calculus and history homework and put it in my backpack, which I place to the left of the door. I dragged my feet upstairs, careful not to trip.

I brushed my teeth and splashed my face with water, thoroughly exhausted. I trudged back to my bedroom and pulled on a lilac tank-top and light blue SOFEE shorts. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I might have been aware I was dreaming.

Edward was walking ahead of me, holding my hand in his cold one, pulling me forward. He was wearing a thin dark brown sweater. It was tight against his sculpted chest... and back... and arms.

He turned around to give me a crooked smile, and y heart started beating twice as fast as it had been.

The forest around us was dark: I could barely see the clouds through the thick canopy of branches and leaves. The trees looked... short. The canopy seemed low, imposing.

"Edward," I groaned. I got the feeling I has been doing this a lot lately. "Where are you taking me?" I asked impatiently.

"You'll see." He turned around again, grinning.

We continued to walk briskly through the forest. I was surprise I never tripped, never stumbled. That convinced me even farther of my dream theory.

"Edward!" I complained again.

And then I stepped out into the clearing.

I was about the size of a little-league baseball field. Along the far side was a sheetrock cliff. Its beautiful red and tan stone captivated me... until Edward spoke again.

"Do you like it, Bella?" He asked, his cool breath caressing my cheek.

I was about to answer, but his lips stopped me, crushing into mine. His hand reached down to my waste, where he picked me up, ran with me, and lightly crushed me against the cliff. I closed my eyes and allowed him to deepen the kiss.

"Edward!" I gasped as he let me breathe. His lips traveled down my jaw line and onto my neck. His hands dropped so they held my backside.

"Edward, stop." I mumbled as he kissed down the neckline of my shirt. "Edward, please stop." I begged him. "Edward?"

I opened me eyes to see deep, crimson red ones. The face that held them was 100 percent average. He had blond hair, cut army style. I screamed.

I woke up; my tank-top was sticking to my skin with cold sweat. That wasn't the only cold thing though.

"Bella, are you alright?" a musical voice asked. Cold arms were wrapped around me.

Edward POV

I sat in Bella's room, on her rocking chair. I watched her chest rise and fall, slow and steady as she slept.

I had only been in Bella's room three times before, since Alice had told me what she'd seen. The first night I thought it might be a good place to think, to remind me of her innocence as I considered telling her, and changing her.

That first night, after about half an hour of sleep was when the talking started.

She had started to toss and turn in her sleep, her heartbeat increasing slightly. Then she turned and mumbled my name. At first I thought she had woken up, but then she rolled over and mumbled again.

"Alice, why did you tell me that?" She had asked. For another few hours she mumbled about school, her truck and the rain. Once she said, "It's too green."

And so I came back the next night, wanting to hear the thoughts that had evaded me that first day come out of her mouth.

Tonight, however, I noticed things I hadn't noticed before. I noticed how her mahogany brown hair splayed over the pillow, creating a beautiful contrast between it and her pale skin. I noticed how the thin comforter and blanket hugged her body. I noticed how her lips pouted out slightly as she breathed.

I also thought about more things then I ever had. I thought about what it would be like, to lay next to her warm body on the bed. What it would be like to wrap my arms around her fragile body, just as tightly as the comforter, holding her close to me.

I thought about whether or not I should change her. I hated to admit it, but Alice was right. The selfish part of me did want to change her. It wanted her by my side for all eternity. But the other part of me couldn't even begin to believe how even a small part of me sided with Alice. How could I change her? She was only seventeen, with an entire life to live.

I was sure that if I asked her if she wanted this, she would say yes. She didn't know how the monotony of life after just a few years of no changes could affect a person. She didn't understand the burning, unrelenting thirst. She didn't know how lonely it could be.

But she would have you, my selfish side whispered. You would have her.

I'm fairly certain that my other side would have argued back if Bella hadn't started mumbling.

"Edward," she moaned. The selfish side of me smiled with satisfaction. "Where are you taking me?"

She turned in her sleep, she was facing me again. "Edward."

Then she smiled. She was so beautiful. "Edward!" she gasped. Her heart rate was increasing. The selfish side of me rejoiced again.

Then her smile faltered. "Edward, stop." She mumbled. She was starting to sweat under her covers; something was turning her dream into a nightmare. Me. "Edward, please stop." She whimpered. Her voice was weak, scared. I was horrified, even in her dreams I couldn't imagine myself hurting her. I was disgusted at myself.

"Edward?" her voice was so frail, so terrified. I sat next to her on her bed, afraid that if I touched her, her nightmares would continue to worsen.

She bolted upright, wide awake. My entire body ached to comfort her. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling her pulse.

"Bella, are you alright?" I asked.

She stared up at me with vacant eyes. "He wasn't you." She whispered before turning her face into my chest and sobbing.

"Bella, what happened in your dream?" I wanted so desperately to know how I could help her.

"You... you were showing me a place, a large meadow with a cliff on one side. And then... then you started kissing me." She stopped, unsure how to continue, perhaps.

"Go on, Bella." I urged her, pressing my lips to her hair.

"And then you started... touching me. I was asking you to... to stop, but you... you wouldn't." she sobbed into my shirt.

"I'm so sorry, Bella." I told her, tightening my hold around her fractionally.

"It wasn't you though." She told me.

It wasn't me? I thought, she just told me I had practically been raping her. If she hadn't woken up, I would have. I shuddered at hat. Even in her dreams I couldn't keep her safe, not when I was the one hurting her.

"Would you care to explain that?" I asked. Her heart was finally beating at a normal rate. She was calmer now.

"Would you care to explain what you are doing in my bedroom?" she asked, finally looking back at my face.

"You first," I demanded.

"Fine," she huffed. "It was you at first, but then it was someone else. They had short blond hair," I thought of Mike Newton and tensed. "He was a... vampire, too." She told me. "Your turn."

I sighed, deciding that the truth was the easiest way to go.

"I came here to watch you sleep. You're so beautiful when you sleep." I whispered in her ear.

She looked up at me, into my eyes. I wondered what she saw there. Whatever it was gave her strength, because her eyes hardened slightly with determination.

"I know the answer to my first question." She bragged quietly.

"And what is that?" I questioned, playing along.

She took a deep breath, "You love me." She stated simply.

I smiled. "Truly I do." I told her, before leaning over and tucking her back in. "The human needs some sleep."

"How am I supposed to sleep with you here?" she questioned lightly.

"You've done it before." I told her, kissing her on the forehead. "Would you like me to leave?"

"Never." She whispered, close to losing consciousness.

"Then I will never leave." I promised her. I doubted that I could leave her now.

I sat at the foot of her bed, watching her chest rise and fall as she took deep, even breathes. She was an angel. I was a monster.

How could an angel truly love a beast like me? I questioned to myself.

"Edward." She mumbled, smiling. "Edward, I love you." And at that point I didn't care the how, only that she did, and that, undeniably, I loved her back.

Bella POV

I was dreaming again.

Edward held me close to his chest, never letting go. He was carrying me, bridal style, through the forest at breakneck speeds.

We stopped when he reached a stream. He set me down in the grass; it was cool, but not damp.

He sat down next to me, leaning over to kiss my forehead.

"Edward." I sighed, contented.

He looked at me, smiling his crooked smile that made my heart melt. I had a feeling he knew what it did to me.

"Edward, I love you." I told him before he kissed me again. This time, lightly on the lips.