As promised this chapter is like the others. I'm trying to play with the pacing a bit more - I think I was focusing too heavily on the mundane so people may be getting bored. The changes may not show just yet - but will in the next couple of chapters.

Enjoy! And Please review!

Nathan

To say that these past two days have been interesting would be an epic understatement.

A date with the world's sexiest vampire, getting nearly killed by that sexy vampire's adopted brother, (Jasper wasn't nearly as terrifying as my Aunt) and dealing with Aunt Clarice, who was going through conniptions during my absence. It took me the rest of the day to finally convince Edward that I was both mentally and physically capable of returning home. Only after several checkups from Carlisle and much begging was I allowed to go home.

Apparently my 'abduction' had attracted attention as far as the Seattle news networks. When Alice went to get me new changes of clothes, she also had the fun task of setting up my room to make it look like an abduction. Granted, there wasn't much to do, the room was already torn apart from the night before. Fights between immortals do tend to get a bit messy.

I was surprised at the relief in my aunt's face when I limped into the house. She rushed over to me and nearly suffocated me in a tight bear hug. There wasn't much time for kisses and hugs –the police chief, Officer Swan was called in immediately. Following him were other cops that I could tell weren't quite townies from the questions they asked. It wasn't really a surprise – small town police weren't really trusted with high profile cases like mine had become. Well, atleast that's what Law & Order taught me.

I rehearsed my story at Edward's countless times. This was easier said than done – we had to come up with a solid story, supported by evidence, without me lying. Initially they all seemed frustrated with my constant rejections to their plans, but Edward must have explained something to them to them without my knowing, because they became understanding after about the 15th rejection.

I suppose I'm technically capable of lying. However it is one of the only true taboos that we have as a culture. Out right lies are forbidden. There was no governing power, or anyone to punish us, but I guess faeries are a superstitious lot. In this world there were a lot of dark things that hid in the closets of not only children, but apparently both Vampires and Fey alike. My mother always explained how we must never lie – if we do we are risking a fate worse than death. Sure I didn't really believe it, but it was so thoroughly reinforced into my mentality that these white lies were second nature. Plus, I wasn't going to be the first to test the worse-than-death theory.

When the police asked me what happened – I told them I was abducted – Truth.

Of course it didn't remain that simple. Officer Swan was easily to misguide and distract. By the end of my 'interrogation' I was the one asking the questions. However the big-town police were much more zealous in their pursuit to find my abducter.

"They were mistaken what type of person I was. People assume I come from a rich family just because I lived in Hong Kong."

That is where the real art of these white-lies exists. People do assume I come from a rich family, but that wasn't the assumption Jasper had made. Of course I wasn't going to tell them that.

Eventually the police wanted except for a description of the intruder – I vaguely, and I mean very vaguely described Jasper. Old, blonde, and short with dark eyes were my primary adjectives. Jasper was quite old – however I was pretty confident the police and I didn't have the same perspective of old.

It was a Wednesday morning now. 7:50 am to be exact. Normally I would just be waking up – but I'd been up since 6:30. If my complexion wasn't naturally perfect regardless of how much sleep I got, there would be dark eyes for sure. I'd only gotten a couple of hours of sleep – and most of that had been tossing and turning. Too many things were going through my head from the past couple of days, go figure.

I probably would have been able to get more sleep if I hadn't received a text message at 12:14 am stating :

I still owe you that ride. I'll be there at 8:00

It was from Edward. I'd probably checked the message atleast fifty times since I received it, waiting for myself to wake up from the dream, it had to be a dream? Right? I still haven't, and I hope I never wake up from this dream.

. I couldn't help but wonder what Alice had thought of my wardrobe while I began to casually pick out my clothes. Out of all of my possessions I wished Alice hadn't gone through, it would be my closet. If I had to guess – there was atleast 1 million dollars worth of designer clothing in my closet.

My mother was immortal, beautiful, and had a natural ability to inspire those around her. She was more Sidhe than me – because of this she had much more Sidhe features which happened to be coveted by all women in the fashion industry. Tall, skinny, and a flawless complexion.

She'd taken to designing clothes around 40 years ago and was now on the same level as Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Lauren, and all of the other iconic powerhouses of the fashion-world. With her status it was only normal that I received a plethora of clothes from every corner of the fashion spectrum. This wasn't something I was particularly ashamed of…but I didn't want Edward to know the type of place I came from. I didn't change my last name before coming to Forks without reason.

If I dressed to my mood this morning – it would have every color imaginable in some awful warm hodgepodge. Unfortunately, I was sure that I would be receiving much more attention than was welcome because of my somewhat-false abduction. So, black seemed to be the perfect choice.

I opted for a pair of skinny-leg black jeans, a generic grey tshirt that clung to my frail frame and a leather jacket that was probably Gucci. In Hong Kong this outfit would have been appropriate attire for most occasions. The circles that I frequented in HK you stood out more for dressing poorly than dressing over the top. Leaving those types of expectations was one of the things that had made me most excited about a small town like Forks. Even in this all-black, plain outfit, I was sure to stand out in Forks.

I stopped with my little melodrama at the sound of a honk outside my window. Rushing to the window, my entire spirit immediately rose at the sight of his silver Volvo parked in my driveway. So it wasn't all a dream after all

Forgetting about all of my worries I put on my sunglasses and ran out the door, schoolbooks in hand. I looked up at the cloudy sky – it wasn't raining yet but probably would be by the time school was out. I opened up the door and slid in his car, hitting the seat a bit hard in my rush.

His ocher eyes were all for me. Edward had a small smile on his face that took my breath away. I'm not sure I'd ever get used to how beautiful he was. I simply sat there dumbfounded. I couldn't remember what I'd been planning to say, or if I had even planned anything to say. I couldn't remember my name..

"Good morning. How are you?" he mused.

Nate. Say something. I growled to myself.

"Hi." I said lamely.

I shook my head and told myself to focus, quietly thankful that he wasn't able to hear how very little was going on in my thoughts at that very moment.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Quite well." He nodded and put the keys in the ignition. The engine came to life with a dull humming while he backed out of my driveway in a fluid motion with just one hand. For once I was glad that I lived far from the school, I wanted to prolong this car ride as long as I could.

"I have some questions." He said happily.

Of course he did. So did I.

"Shoot"

"What's your favorite color?" Edward ignored the road and looked to me while asking, his topaz eyes felt like they were burning into me. although the car never deviated even a fraction of an inch from its intended path. He seemed thoroughly absorbed in his question which made me want to laugh – it seemed so bizarre.

My favorite color? Random. Easy enough to answer I guess.

"Black."

"Why?" He demanded less than a second after my reply.

"Um…It can either fade into the background or demand attention. It always has a different personality." What a stupid answer. I probably sounded insane.

His eyes scanned me up and down carefully – smiling smugly to himself.

"What?" I asked defensively and looked down at what he could have been staring at.

"You look nice."

The compliment made turn a bright shade of crimson before I could suppress it. Normally it would have taken just one mental image of me without any the dull pink that I knew was covering my face and ears. I couldn't concentrate. "You look nice" echoed over and over in my head – I was lost to his face an words. My pulse increased to adrenaline pumped through my veins, causing me to become light headed. All from one simple remark …Edward must have no idea the affect he had on me. If he did he would probably go running.

"Thanks" I said sheepishly, looking down from his gaze trying not to smile – even though my quiet reply seemed to just reinforce his grin.

"You have quite a… vault of clothes Alice tells me."

"Its not a vault"

"It takes a lot to impress Alice. One of her hobbies is to constantly reinvent our wardrobe. She was…very impressed." He said – his tone was implying that he wanted to know more.

I sighed, "You're not going to let me avoid this are you?"

"Nope" he said smugly. How could I say no to him anyway? I probably couldn't…

"Have you heard of Eliziah Ayre?" I asked somewhat apprehensively, secretly hoping he had no idea who she was so this conversation could be over.

Edward paused while in thought. Until replying with confidence "Yes."

Ug.

"She's my mom." I gave in reluctantly

"Interesting." He paused for a moment before continuing shooting off another question.

"What's she like?"

I laughed unintentionally. Describing my mother was easier said than done, the first words that came to mind were controlling, ambitious, brilliant, and ruthless. None of which were particularly motherly words.

'She is very Sidhe' would be the most accurate statement, but I had a hunch that wouldn't really mean anything to Edward…

I liked the color questions better.

"She's really strong and independent. Very used to getting whatever she wants. I think she comes off as harsh at first, but she is an incredibly warm person…She loves giving – its probably why she chose fashion. When raising me she wanted to shape me more like her….didn't seem to work out that well though old habits die hard for our kind." I grinned. I missed my mom. Maybe I would give her a call soon – although she was probably swamped…HK fashion week being only a month away.

"Do you have similar…features?"

"She's more Sidhe looking, if that's what you mean." I said trying to keep the envy out of my voice. "But we have the same eyes."

"Why are your eyes that color?" I asked while looking into his eyes – ready for my brain cells to start slowly fading.

"They turn this color because we only hunt animals."

His explanation brought the images of the first day I'd seen the Cullens to mind. I remember being so sure that they were Sidhe. At the very least fey. Their eyes weren't human…I was very wrong in my assumptions. Not that it mattered, this was better than I'd ever imagined. Something must have shown on my face – and of course Edward wouldn't let that go.

"Why?"

"Nothing, its stupid" I said dismissively.

"Nathan…"

I sighed – there really wasn't a point of resisting. I knew I'd give in eventually.

"I thought you were Sidhe when I first met saw you guys….the eyes." I tilted my head toward him and looked down. Embarrassed at my own ignorance.

Edward laughed without censure. The sweet sound of it made a shiver run down my spine.

"Jerk" I pouted, which made his laugher continue.

The interrogation continued for the rest of the short car ride. I was so focused on Edward and his questions that I didn't notice the car had been parked until he said, "We'll be late for class if we stay in here much longer."

I sighed "I'd rather stay in here."

"We could, if you'd like." He smiled to his eyes – but there was a hint of something in them that I couldn't quite place.

I shook my head. "Lets just go"

I slipped out of the car apprehensively. The car ride seemed too short –I was relieved to be spared from his questions – but leaving him right now was the last thing I wanted. He took his place next to me and we both treaded through the parking lot. I'd put my books in a bad and slung it around my shoulder so I could put my hands in my pockets. The both of us walked in silence through the packs of people that typically gathered in the parking lot before class.

The walk through the student-infested lot was perfectly innocent, but I couldn't help but notice that nearly everyone was staring at us. Expressions of complete shock and confusion seemed consistent with the entire student body during what would normally be a very short walk. There was no way that they could expect anything from the way that we were carrying ourselves. Edward and I had an unspoken understanding that we needed to be tactful with our relationship.

"Is it just me, or is everyone staring?" I asked Edward quietly, not daring to look at him. I was already nervous. The last thing I needed was to be mesmerized by his gaze and drop my illusion. That would be bad.

Edward leaned into me and whispered in a voice that made me want to writhe from the sound of it. "Yes, they are."

"Why?" I hissed.

I was grateful for the image of large glass doors of building C towering in front of me. Edward and I treaded up the cement steps, he went several paces ahead and opened the door for me, with the same smile that I would never grow tired of seeing. This time it wasn't just me seeing it though – probably half of Forks was staring at this very second. I didn't care though – his eyes were just for me – the rest of world seemed so insignificant when we were together.

As perfect as this whole situation was, I couldn't avoid the aching suspicion that we should be more discreet.. How could we possibly be more secretive though? Just walking together today – and I had a feeling that an uproar was slowly building.

"Maybe we should be more subtle?" I questioned.

Edward's expression remained neutral. I leaned against the wall to my first period class. He stared at me unmoving. He was annoyed, why?

"What's wrong?" I tried to break the silence – taking my sunglasses off so he could see the concern in these fake eyes of mine.

"What are you thinking?" He tapped his foot, Edward never seemed to make movements that were so…human. He must be upset about something…

"I don't want to put you in a bad position…" I said, looking down.

Edward shrugged and looked at me with an array of emotions in his eyes. I wanted so badly to understand but couldn't seem to grasp it.

"I'll be fine."

"What if you put yourself in danger?"

"You're the one in danger…even being near me." He growled.

"We've been over this." I sighed.

"I'm going to keep on reminding you…hopefully it will eventually sink in."

"Don't hold your breath." I muttered rebelliously

Only now did I realize how close we were. His face was mere inches from mine, I could feel Edward's chilling aura lightly brushing my skin due to our proximity. I should have probably told him to back off a bit. Well, if I was someone else, who was actually disciplined and careful. I always had a hard time not giving into my desires…

"Why won't you let me hear your thoughts?" He demanded – still filled with chagrin.

"Because I can't hear yours."

"That isn't a reason." He said through pursed lips.

"Reason enough." I said – hoping my bemused tone wouldn't irritate him.

His eyes warmed up and he hesitated a moment "I need to go."

I eyed my cell phone. Class started in less than a minute. "Okay, see you." I said – trying to keep the sadness out of my voice. I watched him walk off without looking back. I had to fight the urge to wave pathetically while he disappeared into the crowd. Yes, a crowd. Holy shit. I'd need to pay more attention to my surroundings next time…it was too easy with Edward to pay attention to the little world we created when we were together.

I turned my head to take a second look at his perfection, the look of horror clear on my face. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like he was grinning as he walked off. Of course he knew there was a crowd of people; he'd pay for ignoring that fact. Once I recovered from my embarrassment I walked into homeroom prepared for the very slow class. Anything without Edward seemed completely pointless and boring to me now.

In my few days that I've actually attended Forks High School, it never really bothered me that everyone stared at me. As long as they weren't talking to me I could easily ignore it. Now it seemed to be a different creature entirely – the hair on the back of my neck stood on end while I went to my seat. The stares that were undoubtedly focusing on me. Maybe it was my clothes. Probably not. Apparently walking with Edward Cullen was enough to attract school-wide attention. I should have guessed.

Mr. Weiss was hastily writing the title Catcher and the Rye on the blackboard.

Oh shit.

Between the Vampire attacks, flirting, and being interrogated by both Edward and the police I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to start reading Catcher and the Rye. Much to my satisfaction; we read the book my freshman year of High School in Hong Kong.

"Hey Nate." Eric greeted me. Something was hidden in his voice…Of course! The news had been airing me repeatedly for the past two days as a recent abductee. Or was this about Edward? Probably about the news, atleast I hoped. I can take questions about being abducted; that would take a lot less clever wording.

"Yo." I grinned sincerely. Any second now.

"So tell me what happened!" he said excitedly in Cantonese. Probably thinking I'd be more likely to answer if no one else could understand our conversation.

"The news covered it pretty thoroughly" I replied in English.

"Come on dude! Spill the dirt!"

"Later" I ended the conversation. Mr. Weiss started the class by asking a random poor girl about the premise of the book out of the blue. It was clear she hadn't read either. Yes, this was going to be a very long class.

If I paid close enough attention to the lecture I would hopefully remember the book from three years ago. That plan didn't work…

Something bizarre happened. It was like a day-dream, except unlike the dreamworld that I typically create during class, this hit me like a truck. One moment I was trying (with great difficulty) to focus on the contents of the book, the next I was seeing something very far away.

Edward's icy touch on my face brought thrills through my entire body. The two of us were in an impossibly intimate position. Our bodies were completely entwined while we rested on an unfamiliar bed. There was a smile on my face while I repositioned to rest my head on his unmoving and muscled chest.

Viewing Edward in this somewhat out-of-body perspective made me realize I'd never fully grasped his beauty. Although I'm sure everyone would find Edward, reincarnate of Adonis, attractive…I was confident that it was something different for me. Every single characteristic of his, both physical and mental were what I had always perceived as the 'ideal.' I held onto him like I would never let go. His arms wrapped around me, I watched from a third-person perspective while I shuddered in pleasure.

Edward opened his mouth to speak but the sound that emitted from his flawless lips was muffled…

Mr. Weiss was looking at me expectantly while the rest of the class had began to fidget uncomfortably in the silence. Had he asked a question?

"Er..Can you repeat the question?" I asked while recovering my bizarre daydream.

"Who did Holden have a flashback about in the lobby of the hotel?"

Ugh. Couldn't he have asked something more generic?

"Uh…" Stalling while I quickly scanned through my memories of the book. Who would Holden have a daydream about? I wasn't positive, but Jane could be the only answer. He'd thought about her throughout the book. Yea, it had to be Jane.

"Jane?" I answered, albeit not confidently.

That must have been the right answer because Mr. Weiss went to lecture about Holden's grasp of reality; or lack thereof. I glanced at the clock desperately – 10 more minutes.

What was that? I couldn't escape the unfamiliar vision that I'd just experienced. Was it just a daydream or something more? I had a feeling whatever took place in my dream wasn't the present. The sense of time was really unclear…

I dismissed the thought. It wasn't worth mentioning.

Only 100 minutes to go before I'd have time with Edward. My heart felt like it would jump out of my skin at the mere thought of it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to hold onto this feeling for very long, but instead had to focus on keeping the shine out of my skin.

Even though I was proud of being Sidhe and would never give it up, times like this reminded me of how abnormal it really was… it made me wish I was fully human. I wondered if Edward felt the same?

Hiding didn't seem so bad if Edward was with me.