Exploring the forest seemed to have become a favorite pastime of mine, and after Elijah drove us home, I left for the dark, woody part of Forks. I spent my time passing under the great, green canopy of leaves and listening to the stories the forest had to tell.

But I thought, too. I thought about Edward, how he might be taking an interest in Bella. How he knew there was a lot more to my story than he could decipher. And the thing with him being unable to read even Elijah's mind was fascinating; I had no idea Elijah was able to do that. I wondered why he hadn't opened up about it before. Did that mean there were even more things I didn't know about Elijah?

By the time I left the forest and made it into Elijah's front door (Michelle was staying at some friend's house for the night), it was dark, the wet, somber sky growing steadily blacker and, well, wetter, as night approached.

Inside, the house was surprisingly quiet and dark, with a certain peace about it I didn't understand. Immediately feeling apprehensive, I warily tasted the air. I smelled food... and candles... and... Elijah?

Following the scents, I poked my head around the corner and into the living room, and saw a large cardboard box sitting in the middle of the room, with several candles placed carefully around it, and the warm, salty smell of chicken and rice oozing from the plates stacked on it.

Okay... something's definitely up. Was Elijah having a girl over? I inwardly growled, disliking the thought for some reason. As I approached the peaceful, lonely scene, there came footsteps, and I turned, surprised yet again.

"Elijah!" I said. He had been in the other room, and now walked towards me, and leaned in the door-frame. His blond hair looked shinier than usual, and his gray eyes sparkled like silver stones in a river.

"You got home a little later than I thought, pussy cat," he remarked.

I crossed my arms. "What's up? You having a girl over?"

His face crinkled into a semi-mocking laugh. "Come on, Nessie, I wouldn't do that. You know you're my number one girl," he smirked, walking towards the box with food set carefully on top of it.

"Real mature," I muttered.

"No," he went on, waving a hand towards the food, then grinning at me. "Actually, I did this for, uh, you. Since, you know, the whole time-travel thing today kinda screwed things up... and then Edward had to poke his nose into it... well, I figured you needed a relaxing dinner. Even if I'm really the only one who eats," he added, as if in an afterthought.

I smiled at him. That was really kind of him. "Thanks, Elijah. It was really great of you to cook all this-"

"Cook? Oh, heck no, I don't cook. I went to the store and basically bought all this, then warmed it up, and there ya go."

I bit my lip, unable to keep from smiling. "Well, let's tuck in. I'm hungry enough to eat some disgusting human food, I suppose," I joked.

Elijah looked indifferent to my decision to go ahead and eat the meal he'd thoughtfully prepared, but I saw the pleasure sparkle in his gray eyes as we sat down to the strange arrangement. For the first time, I looked at his clothes, and thought he looked, well, cute; in a red and white button-up and a crisp tee under it, he wore baggy jeans and some old socks.

"So, why a box?" I asked when he handed me a fork and knife, and had poured some water. Guess he wasn't in the mood to really drink tonight.

Elijah laughed, looking at the large cardboard box that held our plates and glasses. "Well, actually, it's kind of a, uh, memory. See, the first night me and my family ate in our new home, there was no furniture yet, so we just grabbed a box for the table, and ordered some food. It's a good memory, years old," he added, looking a little sad as he swallowed a bite of chicken. "Mmm. I'm pretty good," he laughed.

I twirled my fork in the crisp mountain of rice on my plate, thoughtfully watching my friend. I had a question I'd been biting back, but since he'd mentioned it first, I hoped he was okay with it. "Elijah... look, you don't have to tell me since it's not my business... but what happened? When did you move here?"

A cold look came into Elijah's soft gray eyes, and I almost regretted bringing it up, until he spoke, voice calm. "When I was fourteen and Michelle was sixteen, my parents were hiking... and never came home." He hesitated, staring at the chicken on his plate, as if, for the first time, seeing it not as food, but as a dead animal, killed to be eaten. I flinched at the comparison he must be making.

"When the police found their bodies, they were bitten and ravaged. All of a sudden... I was an orphan. It's the strangest thing in the world, to suddenly be without the people you love most. To know you will never talk to them again... hear their voice." He stopped, and I felt shivers climb my spine. I hated seeing Elijah, usually so full of spirit and amusement, this unhappy. Clearly he had his own memories and demons that haunted him, too. "We lived in southern Washington back then, but we had an uncle up here that took us in, raised us until a year ago, when he passed away. It's just been me and Michelle since then... and we've managed just fine on our own."

I felt terrible for Elijah. He had been through so much, and I'd never taken a step back from my own issues to think about him. Feeling selfish and guilty, I reached over, and touched his hand.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

He looked at me for a long moment, then drew his hand away. "It's fine, really. It was years ago. And if it hadn't been for this... this time-travel thing, well, I would have never seen another purpose in life. And you, Renesmee," he said suddenly, taking me off guard by saying my full name. "You've become my one reason in life now. To help you, to get you home. Fulfill whatever deal the old man speaks of."

I looked down, not sure how I felt to be his only reason in life now. Had my situation really become that important to Elijah?

"Thanks for dinner," I sighed, getting up and leaving the room. Elijah watched me go, a little surprised, but didn't tell me to come back. I sensed he wanted to be alone, and I respected that. But the truth was, I wanted some alone time, too.

As I lay on Elijah's guest bed, I stared up at the ceiling, thinking. I almost wanted to go visit Jake again, but I knew I couldn't. I wanted to be with the Cullens, my beloved family, but they barely knew me in this world. Trying to piece away this ball of sadness pressing down on my chest, I tried to focus on what I wanted most.

My parents.

It's the strangest thing in the world, to suddenly be without the people you love most.

Feeling a new determination come over me, I sat up, and turned to the window. Visiting Edward was out of the question- I was still attempting to pry the memories of that kiss from my mind- but Bella. My mom. I needed to see her.

Out the window in seconds, I was on the grass, and felt the Forks wind rush over me. The wet nights here were very cool, and I enjoyed the refreshing blast of coldness as I stretched my muscles, and ran. I hadn't run like this in ages; it felt so wonderfully empowering to race through the shadows and tress. The wind snarled past as my feet carried me in distances no human could imagine. I listened to my heart-beat increase, rattling against the inside of my chest, as bone and muscle worked together to carry me across the ground as if I were flying.

I made it to Bella Swan's house- my house- within minutes.

I felt jittery, and tried to walk off the rush as I paced under Bella's window. Finally, I had relaxed enough, and I grabbed some small rocks, carefully pinning each between my thumb and index finger as I angled it at the window, and threw a perfect shot. It hit the glass with a bang subtle enough for her to hear and to keep Charlie sleeping peacefully.

There was a brief pause, and then there came a girl in the window's face. Bella. She stared at me, almost taking a double-take, and I gave a friendly little wave. Sure, this was weird, and it anyone saw me creep into her room like some perverted Romeo, yeah, they'd probably assume Abigail Bird and Bella Swan were a lesbian couple. But Bella knew about a lot of stuff now; she was going to have to accept the weird.

Finally, she inched the window open. "Abigail Bird? What- what are you doing?"

I smiled up at her. "Wondering if I could come up?" I asked cheerfully.

She stared down at me incredulously. "Do you realize how strange this is? It's nine at night!"

"Yeah. It's pretty strange. Then again, it's pretty strange that you say really big, weird words that belong in the eighteenth century."

Bella considered this. "Yeah, you have a point. Okay, I'll go sneak downstairs to the door-"

"No need," I cut across her, motioning for her to stand back from the window. She frowned, and stepped back. Smirking to myself, I easily launched up and grabbed the tree by her window, then swung and found myself standing perfectly on my feet in the middle of her room.

"Whoa," she said flatly, blinking.

I smiled politely, tucking a hand in my pocket. "Hello, Bella."

She looked very apprehensively at me, her eyes glittering, as she warily sat on the edge of her bed. It sagged slightly under the sudden weight. "Hi," she mumbled.

I knew something was wrong. Uncertainly, I put a hand in my pocket, and tossed my curly hair. "Alright, what's wrong?"

Bella stared at me, then spoke, voice shaky. "I know what you are."

I blinked. "Well that was surprisingly anticlimactic."

Her gaze hardened. "I'm not joking around. Abigail... you and the Cullens, you're all..." She hesitated. "Vampires."

The word was thrown into the air like a handful of dead leaves, and it fluttered down, gently, finally falling at my feet, where it sat down and looked up at me, shamefaced.

"Is it true?" Bella whispered.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with my two first fingers. "Alright, Bella, look..."

"Edward does that same thing!" she suddenly said, shrill.

"What?"

"That thing with your nose," she muttered.

I blinked, then shook my head, taking a step towards her. "Bella, listen to me. You know our talk the other night, after I- I saved you? From those guys in the ally?"

"It was a parking-lot."

"I don't care. But do you remember what I said?"

Bella's lip trembled. "That you're a monster."

I nodded, feeling like a mother dealing with a terrified daughter who'd just figured out what sex is. "Why do you think we're... vampires?"

She took a step away from me, hand pointing towards her laptop and a stack of books on her table. "I researched. I... I read some things. Abigail, your skin is pale. You avoid sunlight. You don't eat. You're fast, and impossibly strong..." she said breathlessly, almost like she'd memorized these lines and was spewing them out of memory now.

I listened carefully. She'd finally put the pieces together. Now all I needed was for her and Edward to finally hook up, and I'd be all good. "I know it may seem... shocking. But I'm not good with those kind of things, and I'm gonna need you to skip past the freaking-out stage for now, okay?"

She blinked at me, shocked anyways. "You're not angry! I've discovered your secret. The one you've kept for years. How old are you, anyways? Who bit you? Why are you here? If you're a vampire, why is your skin warm, and not cold, like it should be?"

I shook my head quickly, unable to register all these questions. "Uhm, Bella, I need you to skip the 100-questions stage for now, too..."

"I can't just ignore these facts! Abigail, you're a legend! A vampire, for heaven's sake! I mean, holy crow!" Her eyes were wide, cheeks flushed, as she flapped her arms excitedly when she spoke. I stared at her, unamused, arms folded.

"Okay, two more things," I finally said, voice curt and business-like. "One... I don't know any high-schoolers who say "heaven's sake", so why don't you skip the 'name-in-vain' thing and say "God's sake". Secondly... don't... ever... say, 'Holy crow' again. Ev-er. Never, ever, ever."

She blinked, then shakily crossed her arms, nodding. "O- okay, sure."

I sighed, and walked over to her. This time, she stayed put, eying me uncertainly. "Bella, you were meant to discover the truth about us. Your destiny is intertwined with ours. For some reason, you- pale, antisocial, pre-vamp

Bella- were chosen to be a part of the Cullen family."

She seemed to choke. "What?"

I reached out and shook her. "Edward Cullen. Ed. Ward. Cull. En. You have to talk to him."

Bella began to shake her head swiftly, hair flying slightly from the violent shakes. "He's- he's like, a god. I can't- it's not-"

I sat her down roughly, glaring. "Isabella Marie Swan. Damn it, you are going to fall in love with him!"

Her face went blank. "Excuse me?"

"Yes! Yes, you like him, right?"

I released her, and she stumbled back, rubbing her arm. "Well... yeah, but-"

"You want to kiss him, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"You want him to be with you forever, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Are you falling in love with him!"

"I swear to God, if you cut me off one more time, I will kick your rock-solid ass!" Bella shrieked, pointing a finger at me.

We were silent for a moment, and I laughed. "That's what I'm talking about!" I punched her gently on the arm. She looked distracted, laughing nervously.

"Sorry. I don't now what came over me."

I shrugged it off.

"What I was trying to say... I like Edward, sure, but he's a vampire. He eats human blood." Sudden horror crossed her face. "You eat human blood!"

I rolled my eyes. Shoulda seen this one coming. "Bella, we're vegetarian vampires. We don't want to be the monsters legends tell us to be, and we eat animal blood. I've never even tasted human blood. But... the other thing,is that... I'm half-vampire."

Surprised and relief flickered over her face. "Oh. Well, how?"

I immediately decided to lie. "My mother was a vampire, and my father was a human. They made it work," I added.

"Oh. Cool."

"Yup."

We fell silent for a moment, each brooding their own thoughts. "Abigail... why are you so interested in... me, in Edward? Why does it matter to you?" Bella finally asked, softly.

I turned, gazing out the window. It was dark out, and drizzling just a little bit. "It matters to me... because I'm not from Forks. I don't belong here. I was sent here, to help. To change both of your destinies." Yeah, that was a pretty good answer.

She was awed into silence for a moment. "So you're here because you want to make sure I get with Edward... because it's meant to be?"

My body swung towards Bella, and I held her gaze a heartbeat before replying. "Bella," I said, voice trembling a bit, "the lion and the lamb must fall in love. You two are the most important people in my life, and I would do anything to get you together."

She blinked. "That's actually kinda weird. You're, like, a total stranger."

I smiled slightly. "I know."

Bella studied my expression, then crossed her arms and scuffed the heel of her foot on the floor thoughtfully. "You're sure this is meant to happen? It seems wrong. Like, a vampire and a human. It's forbidden love," she said simply.

Grinning this time, I made sure my teeth glowed in the faint light of her room. I was sure they looked like fangs. "Exactly."

Funny. I don't usually listen to country, yet Carrie's "Undo It" is blasting from my speakers, and I'm enjoying it. Intriguing. I love listening to songs while writing(:

On another note, has anyone seen the "Vampires Suck" trailer, the spoof by the guys who did stuff like "Date Movie"? I cant wait for it to come out, honestly, even though I love Twilight. Is this wrong? Ha.

Thanks for reading, loves. I'll update soon(: