A/N: I am immensely sorry for the delay of this chapter. I was away for a week and my laptop was not with me so I couldn't post this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.:) Please read and review.

Chapter 6: Dawning Truth

BELLA CULLEN

After greeting Esme, I headed straight to my room and put a random CD into the stereo and lay down on the bed. I couldn't sleep of course, no matter how much I wanted to, but it was nice to have a place to lie down comfortably and think. The music started to play and I started to drift off to my own little world.

I gazed at the hand Edward held at the hallway. His hand was so warm and unbelievably smooth. I remembered feeling minutely disappointed as he let go. But why?

I recalled the emotions Jasper said I was feeling throughout the day.

There was confusion— well I was still confused. All because of that human with the most mouthwatering scent I've ever come across. Then there was lust and the longing. I felt that when I was recalling what I had done after Biology class, and those two emotions were point black directed to Edward.

I grimaced slightly. I was lusting after a human.

Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme would not be very happy about this if or when they found out. Well, Rosalie and Carlisle would be. Esme would inevitably do her best to understand and Emmett… well, after the shock has worn off, he would erratically be very amused and maybe slightly appalled. But who wouldn't be? Even I was disgusted with myself. A vampire who was longing to touch a human, to revel in the warmth of his skin and then to lust after him was atrocious. I swear, something was seriously wrong with my rationality.

But I couldn't help myself. Every aspect of Edward was inviting me in. His eyes, his face, his body, his voice, his hair, and in the most invariable degree— his scent. Even his off-handed mannerisms towards me caused me to think about him even more.

I closed my eyes and got back to my original trail of thought. There were two more emotions Jasper said I felt and it was during lunch when they appeared. Jealousy and anger. I replayed the events during lunch, trying to recall what had caused these feelings to come forth. I remember walking inside, looking at Edward, being swarmed at my table… at last I heard a click.

The people at Edward's table were discussing me and my family. They were explaining who we were, our connections to each other, the usual. It was an innocent enough conversation and I don't even know why I decided to eavesdrop on it, but then out popped the thoughts of Jessica and Lauren. They were about the new kid and the thoughts disgusted me. How dare they even think about him like that! What was he to them, a brand new toy that could be used in whatever way they pleased? Even just by remembering their horrid thoughts, I could feel a surge of anger coarse through me.

A soft echo in my mind caused me to open it. Jasper's thoughts came reeling in.

Whoa. Calm down, Bella.

Sorry. I sent back the thought to him and instantly closed my mind again. There were more pressing matters it needed to attend to.

Okay, enough about the anger. Now, the jealousy. What happened at lunch that made me feel jealous? Yes, I remember. It was because of Lauren. Edward had stood up, telling them that he was going on ahead and then Lauren stood up and clung to his arm for dear life. I had snapped the fork I was holding in half as she towed him out of the cafeteria and earned a booming laugh from Emmett.

Now, why would I be jealous of Lauren's little gesture? And why would I be angry with Lauren and Jessica's unnerving fantasies? As I struggled to come up with the answer, Edward's face materialized in my head.

I opened my eyes and went to sit by the glass wall. It's because of Edward. But what exactly was he to me, causing the emergence of these barely recognizable emotions so suddenly?

There was a soft knock on the door. I saw from the reflection on the glass that Alice had come in. I got up and sat back down on the bed with her.

"Jasper said something was bothering you."

Oh, he did, did he? I quickly sent a mental message to Jasper. Gee, thanks a lot Jasper.

He replied in a heartbeat. Sorry, I didn't mean to say it out loud. I heard the sincere apology in his voice, so I sighed and just decided to let it go.

I turned back to Alice and put on a small smile. "It's nothing really."

"Jasper's been fidgeting in his seat, having these mood swings that will surpass the average PMS-ing teen because of your emotions." She smiled, amused.

"Oh." I ducked my head, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry Jasper." I said in a slightly louder tone. I heard a chuckle and took it as a sign of forgiveness.

"Now, if it's really nothing, then you should be able to discuss it with me." Alice's voice sounded as cheerful as always.

"But if it's nothing, then what is there to talk about?" I countered with a sly smile.

Alice frowned. "You're too witty for your own good."

I laughed.

"Bella, you're my sister and it bothers me to know that something is troubling you." Alice continued. Then she sent me a thought. I know you like your privacy but please, let me help this time. And don't worry about the others, only Jasper is here. The rest went to see a movie.

I looked at her warily then with a soft thump, collapsed on my soft bed.

"I'm… very confused." I paused, struggling to find the right words. "This morning, I've been experiencing new emotions that are so foreign to me, and they've been hurtling out altogether with no warning… and I don't know why they're suddenly appearing out of thin air." There, I said it.

"Do you know what these emotions are?"

"Jasper said I felt jealousy, anger, longing and…" I trailed off, suddenly embarrassed. I continued in a mere whisper. "Lust."

Alice smiled at me. "You know what caused them?"

"Yes." I turned to look at her and saw amusement in her eyes. "But apparently, you do too."

"Chief Swan's cousin." She nodded. "Then why are you still confused?"

I frowned. "Because I don't know why I feel like that whenever he's involved."

"I told you in the car already Bella." Alice continued to smile in amusement. She was evidently enjoying my clueless-ness.

"You told me a lot of things in the car." I pointed out. It was true. Alice was a non-stop jabbering machine. Nothing could stop her when she gets in hyper mode, and she's been in that mode all morning.

"Is it that difficult to string together all these loose ends?" Alice was growing impatient but all the more excited. "Think. Longing and Lust keeping in the same company. You're jealous when the girls drool over him. You get angry when you hear inappropriate thoughts about him and get all protective. Don't you see what's going on?"

"I'm losing my sanity?"

Alice let out an exasperated sigh. "You're falling in love with Edward."

"That's impossible. He's a human." I said, quickly recovering from the slight shock. I knew I was attracted to him, but to fall in love with him? I shuddered at the thought.

"Bella, our mere existence is proof that anything is possible. And so what if he's human?"

"It's just plain wrong. And it's not safe. I'm a vampire, a monster! It's in our nature to feed off humans— to kill them. And I almost gave in… I almost killed him, for crying out loud!" I stood up and paced about. "Now you're telling me that I'm falling in love with someone— a human— that I barely even know?"

"But you didn't kill him. You fought it, you resisted the urge and that proves that you're not a monster. We're not monsters. And you're worrying about his safety. You like him and you're just too anxious to acknowledge it."

"I do not." I said. But it was in a surprisingly weak tone. "And I am not."

"Tell me then. Why did you do… whatever you did to him after your Biology class? That was something you never do."

"Alice…" I huffed angrily.

She sighed. Then her gaze became far off, brooding. "Carlisle told me that when he first laid eyes on Esme, it was like gazing at the sun after being trapped in a void of inescapable darkness."

"What?" I was a bit disoriented by the sudden topic change.

"He felt all these confusing, irrational emotions whenever he was with her. There was… something, something that was just compelling him towards her. He said that what he was feeling was all so different, it vaguely frightened him and he didn't want to recognize it for what it was. But then, he decided he didn't want to hide himself away anymore, he wanted to let someone else in. So he did. He let Esme in."

"How did you know all this?"

"You know the reason why Rose saved Emmett's life, right?" Alice continued, ignoring my question but not waiting for an answer. "She told me that during the first few days Emmett arrived, she couldn't keep her eyes away from him. She was fascinated with the way his dark hair curled, the way his dimples showed, the simple things his face held. But she was even more mystified because there were things changing even inside herself."

She looked amused as she continued. "Rose was not as… naïve as you so she recognized the growing emotions inside her. You may not know this, but Rose said she felt jealous whenever Emmett was with you, whenever you made him laugh. She felt absurdly insecure that Emmett would like you better than her, even if she knew that Emmett was attracted to her. She knew she liked him but she was still dumbfounded on how he could have caused her to behave so differently, on how he could unconsciously change her character."

I looked at her warily and said, "And you're telling me all this… why?"

"I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that there is completely no similarity between what you feel towards Edward and what Rose and Carlisle felt when they met Emmett and Esme." She said in a serious tone.

I looked away, now seeing the point of her speech. I couldn't do what she was asking. No matter how badly I didn't want to admit it to myself and to Alice, what Carlisle and Rosalie felt were completely and unfathomably too similar with what I felt.

Was I doing what Carlisle did? Running away, hiding from the plain truth— from the possibility that I was indeed falling for Edward Masen?

"I can't." I said to Alice in such softness that even a vampire would have difficulty in hearing.

She smiled, surprisingly, in a warm and kind manner. "Do you see now Bella? What you're feeling, what Carlisle and Rose felt, they all lead to one thing— love."

I plopped down the bed again and covered my face with the palm of my hands. Was I ready to accept what Alice was saying? Was I ready to face the consequences of the knowledge that I did, indeed, like this human boy far more than I should?

I felt Alice stand up and hear her close the door gently behind her. The snap of the door coincided with a snap in my thoughts.

I wasn't ready. I was far from being ready. But I knew now, after Alice's little talk that I had no choice but to face the grim truth. Because the first moment I laid eyes on Edward, I knew that my heart had already been snatched away from me.

It was more than physical attraction that bounded my emotions to him now, more than the scent of his sweet, intoxicating blood. My swirling, messed-up thoughts were now finally put to order as a single, horrifying but pleasantly heart-pounding truth dawned on me. A truth that Alice had been saying all this time which I refused to recognize and accept up to this point. But no matter what she might have said, I still could not fathom the possibility that I was falling in love with Edward Masen.