A/N: Okay, first I want to apologise for how long I have been away. Basically I am extremely bad at organising my time. But I've decided to do shorter, more frequent updates to keep myself motivated, if that makes sense. But I need your advice, dear readers. I've decided only to update one story at a time, till its finished, then move on to the next one. So which should I finish first? This one, 'Sparkles and Sunshine' or 'My Unattainable'?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4.

Bella's POV.

I found myself back in 'my' room sooner than I would have liked. The house was beautiful, and seemed in keeping with the forest, and, just like the forest, it seemed impossible to escape from. It reminded me a little of Alcatraz Island. My mom had taken me there when I was younger, and I remember peering out from the prison windows, able to see the life and laughter exuding from San Francisco, held at arms' length by a stretch of deathly water. I pitied any person who had to endure such a thing. Right now, I pitied myself. I knew home was out there, just a few miles away, with only trees to get in my way. Trees, and a strangely intriguing, angry, bronze-haired young man...

Hours passed, but it could have been minutes. The sun passed over the sky. I sat on the bed, thinking of home, random thoughts and ideas flying round my head, trying to settle into some sort of logical pattern. It wasn't working.

A little while later, I heard a light rapping on the door, and Alice appeared in the doorway. I stood up.

"You know, you can leave the room; you don't have to stay in here." She wrinkled her nose as she looked around the plain room, the décor clearly not in her taste.

"The size of the cage doesn't change the fact that I'm trapped here," I muttered.

"Don't be like that," she smiled, dancing over to my side. "Edward has asked you to join him for dinner."

My eyes widened in disbelief. Such an idea mustn't have originated with him, it didn't seem in his nature. And for some reason, the idea of him eating seemed... almost out of place. I was sure that the kitchen I had seen had never been used.

"I don't want to," I said gruffly.

Alice frowned a little. "Think about it-"
"I don't have to think about it." I knew I was being rude, and that Alice hadn't done anything but be kind to me, but I wasn't exactly in a good frame of mind. "I'm not eating with that man!"

Alice heaved a sigh, and headed to the door. "He won't like that."

Edward's POV.

I felt the anger bubbling in my chest as I heard the conversation upstairs. How could she do this? I looked at the food I had made myself. It was meant to be a peace offering. It looked and smelled repulsive to me, but I knew she would be hungry. Now I wished I hadn't bothered. I flung the plate down across the room, and headed for the West Room.

Bella's POV.

It must have been past midnight. My stomach was reminding me every minute of how long it had been since eggs that morning.

I hadn't felt bad about rejecting Edward's meal until Alice had come back and told me how upset he was, and that he had made it himself. He had actually made an effort to be kind...

I was absently looking out of the window down into the dark garden, and a sudden flicker of movement interrupted my flow of thought. I peered through the moonlight and saw a figure leaping gracefully from the ground into the branches of a tree. I gasped. The movement was so graceful, so impossible...

The figure looked at me, as if hearing my gasp, and carefully – and more slowly – made its way through the treetops towards my window. My heart raced ridiculously as I realised it was Edward. He smiled at me – a sort of genuine smile – and hit the frame of the window with his fist, before opening it with ease. His gaze was intense as he stared into my eyes. No human could ever be so graceful, so strong and terrifying, and yet utterly safe at the same moment. So did that mean he's not human? Does that mean he is... something else?

"I'm... I'm sorry about... dinner?" I had no idea why I was apologising, but he seemed to draw out a side of me that I hadn't even knew existed. I had never found anyone so infuriating, terrifying and intriguing all at the same time.

The smile wavered from his face, and he just nodded, still gazing at me intently.

The silence was almost solid around us as I stared back, trying to work out what was different. His manner had changed, his attitude, but something else...

"What happened to your eyes?" I asked, finally realising what was different. They had been black, almost dead but alive with fire at the same time. Now they were calmer, mellow, and a buttery gold. The contrast was unbelievable.

He looked away, refusing to catch my eye or answer my question.

"You must be hungry." It was a statement, not a question.

I was about to answer when he froze suddenly, his face going impossibly paler. He didn't move a muscle, he didn't even breathe. His eyes flickered over the forest, as fast as lightening, from one tree to the next.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly panicked.

He took a long time in answering. "Wolves."

A/N: Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Love you guys! x