Okay, So for those of you who have this on story alert, you'll notice that you just read this chapter. I got a couple of messages and people felt like the chapters were a little long so I just split them into two, so feel free to skip this if you already read it. But make sure to skim it and be sure so you don't miss anything! Sorry for the problem, I originally thought longer chapters were preferable, but I can see that they are probably a little draining.

So much is happening in the next couple of chapters - I can't wait to share it.

Enjoy!

Edward

At last. I'd found something to break the tedium of my day. Nathan remained unmoven when it came to letting me read his thoughts. Because of this I was forced to become a voyeur to his every movement. Thankfully no teacher called on me, today may have been the first time I'd miss a question. Every action of his from the way he walked to how he became flushed whenever anyone mentioned my name left me feeling so satisfied.

No place but Forks would gossip about two people driving to school together draw more attention than an abduction. Nathan had carefully avoided the topic for the past two classes, although he wouldn't be nearly as successful with Jessica Stanley. She was planning on asking him to the school dance today, she had actually thought of it as a welcome back gift. How would he reply? Would he say yes?

Depression spiraled around me. Of course he would prefer Jessica Stanley to myself, first and foremost she was a woman. Nathan was sure to consider our love unnatural – maybe even immoral – but most importantly… Jessica was human. His life wouldn't be in danger around her…I knew it was only a matter of time, life would be better for him, but then why wasn't I happy with the choice?

The bell echoed throughout the building. I was out the door before the rest of the class had even ascended from their seats. 4th Period – I had Calculus with Alice, and from Nathan's conversation with Mike Newton, he was heading toward painting. It took more willpower than it should have to resist meeting him in front of his next class, but I would spare him the attention for now. He was getting more than his fair share without any help from me.

I walked to building D; watching the whole way. Only my unnaturally attuned instincts kept me from walking into a wall. Alice caught up with me and we walked to class together in silence. Once we nearly reached the classroom Alice thought You aren't going to sit with us at lunch today are you?

"No." I grinned, allowing a genuine smile to escape my lips; a rarity when we were in school.. He's so creepy a sophomore that I didn't recognize thought – carefully avoiding looking into my eyes. I was oddly comforted by this – Nathan was beginning to make me think I'd lost my ability to be terrifying! Apparently I wasn't out of practice just yet.

Can I sit with you two? Alice asked hopefully. She wanted to sit with Nathan and I during lunch. That was a no for so many reasons. Even though my family had unparalleled self control - I couldn't help but feel protective of him. All it took was the smallest slip and Nathan would be at their mercy.

This is what I told myself – my somewhat logical and devoid of emotion reasoning – but it was clear that I just wanted him to myself. Atleast for now…calling what Nathan and I shared unconventional would be an understatement. There was still so much I didn't know, and so many questions left unanswered. It would be easier to get those answers alone

"Not yet." I reminded her quietly.

Edward! She whined internally

"What would Jasper think?" I teased

Alice smiled and remained quiet for a while after taking her seat for Calculus.

You really are different. I like it.

"Me too…."

And then class began.

Mrs. Maddox felt a thorough lecture was the best teaching method; so I was left to my devices for fifty minutes.

Nathan never mentioned that he enjoyed art. Maybe he didn't, I watched through Angela's perspective while Nathan maintained a perpetual frown. Mr. Lee was the resident art teacher at Forks High School, and developed a disliking to Nathan.

Typical private school child – entitled, pretentious, and arrogant. He continued on a tirade of insults while he hovered over Nathan's painting.

Nathan's watercolored rendition of a white oleander stood out amongst the others. Even the example, done by Mr. Lee, seemed to lack the same love and craftsmanship that Nathan achieved with little effort. The result seemed something created out of a fiery passion, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud in the middle of lecture when I saw his expression. I quickly tried to disguise my laugh as a cough but wasn't quite successful – earning myself a glare from Mrs. Maddox.

Nathan held his head up only with the other hand while he lazily brushed the flower onto the canvas. Mr. Lee continued to hover, watching his every movement, obviously irritated by Nathan's cryptic mood.

"You're using violet for the shadow?" Mr. Lee asked precariously.

I knew Nathan was perfectly capable of handling himself – but I couldn't avoid the urge to go and protect him from Mr. Lee's malicious intentions. In fact, Nathan being treated in such a way angered me so much I had to ball my hands into fists to contain this sudden and passionate rage.

"Yes." Nathan replied in an even voice after rebelliously dabbing an extravagant dash of violet on the canvas.

I moved back to Angela's perspective before Mr. Lee could continue with his string of angry thoughts. If someone had actually hurt him…

Forgiving Jasper was something I've been struggling with. Part of me had wanted Jasper to continue in the pain that Nathan had inflicted. I was equally intrigued by how Nathan managed to resolve the problem…

At the time, I was certain Jasper would attack and kill him. After my…hasty rescue attempt I began to understand exactly what Nathan had done. It took…a lot of work to drown out their thoughts and sounds. How on earth did sex improved Jasper's condition? I have to admit that Nathan could do something like that…it peaked my curiosity.

The depression hit me again. I would never be able to taste what the rest of my family had…sex was an impossibility. The kiss yesterday proved that… I'm not sure how I could resist such an urge. Nathan seemed to wreak of a contagious sexual energy that passed onto everyone around him. Dating a human was one thing; he was a new creature entirely, no pun intended. Every urge, every desire was multiplied ten fold with him…

The bell rang.

Was I that lost in thought? These 50 minutes felt like they passed in seconds.

Lunch with Nathan…Would he expect to sit with me?

The art building was the farthest from the Cafeteria so it was no surprise that I beat Nathan there. Instead of taking my usual seat, the only place I've eaten since coming to Forks for the second time, I sat at an empty seat across the room from both of our residing tables. No one seemed to notice, but Alice warned me about the attention we were going to harbor with this little fiasco.

He's really going through with this... Emmett thought.

I hope everything works out. Jasper's thoughts . Since Nathan have cured him of the visions Jasper had take a liking to him to nearly the extent of Alice.

And then there he was…

Wearing black made his skin appear nearly as pale as mine, even his dummed down eyecolor stood out against the blackness. His expression wasn't nearly as somber as it had been during Painting. He seemed to be relieved to be in the cafeteria, maybe even anxious. Nathan sat down with Angela and exchanged smalltalk – although he was obviously uninterested. He glanced at Alice and the rest of my family several times before he caught something in Alice's eye, pointing in my direction. Without thinking his gaze quickly turned toward me.

I grinned without thinking which earned me a smile. I could tell from just his body language he was relieved – didn't have to be able to read minds to know he'd come sit by me without any need for an invitation.

"I've got to go tell Edward something." Nathan said in almost a whisper before waving to his friends and walking in my direction. I couldn't keep the smile off my face – thankful that he was…normalized…Being so entranced infront of my family would have been embarrassing to say the least. As he came closer I couldn't mange to tune out the thoughts that were echoing throughout the cafeteria.

"Hi" Nathan beamed at me, taking his seat.

"You seem in a better mood." I mused.

"I wasn't crabby this morning was I?" Nathan asked me alarmingly.

"Not at all. But what about painting?"

He let out an exasperated groan and crossed his arms looking at me.

"Wait." He commanded.

"Hm?" I could hear the playfulness in my voice. His brow furrowed in thought, or was it faux-frustration? This boy had such an extraordinary affect on me, just his presence brought me into vivacious state; quite the juxtaposition from the apathetic Edward my family has grown accustomed to.

"I thought you couldn't read my mind!" Nathan complained

"I can't. But I can still watch you through others." I said grinning waiting for what was I was positive would be an aghast look.

"Isn't that boring for you?"

"On the contrary – it can be incredibly entertaining." I said smiling while leaning a bit closer to him.

Nathan gave me an irritated glare that was quickly replaced by eagerness. "Well?"

Had I missed something? It was so troublesome having a conversation with him when I couldn't hear his thoughts. How did everyone else answer deal with these open-ended questions?

"..Hm?"

"Why does he hate me?" Nathan asked with such genuine malice that I laughed. Apparently he found no humor in this, so it was best that I didn't tell him that I found his anger incredibly endearing.

"You should eat, lets go stand in line." Not even trying to be subtle in my change in the subject.

Nathan apparently took my silence as victory. He didn't need to know why Mr. Lee hated him, just that he actually did. This was a topic that would be best if I could avoid. There was no reason for me to explain the level of anger that Mr. Lee's thoughts had provoked – and I always said too much around Nathan. So it was safest to just ignore the topic all together.

"I can't get anything here." Nathan said, sounding vexed.

"Why? You need to eat." The boy needed to take better care of himself. A small part of me enjoyed this act, taking care of him seemed to give me another reason to stay in his life. With the danger I put him in just by being in his presence – I would need as many reasons as possible to continue this very selfish endeavor.

"I'm a vegetarian – everything they're serving today is dowsed in meat, and they don't have the salad bar."

I had no idea that he was a vegetarian. Another reminder of how little time we've been acquainted.

"Well that's a dilemma…" I teased.

"You sound like you have a solution!" Nathan remarked with false enthusiasm.

"How would you like to go out to eat next period?" Would I ever stop smiling around him? Hopefully not, our smiles seemed to provoke each other – so we were in a perpetual state of euphoria in each other's presence.

"But we have class." He said hesitantly. Initially I wasn't certain if he would ditch class because he seemed to be a studious. However, some people seem to get their grades from discipline while others it just happened naturally. I was willing to guess that Nathan was just naturally smart. That combined with a schooling system that was undoubtedly more rigorous than Forks high School – he wouldn't be opposed to missing class.

"I know."

It took me until now to realize that the two of us had been consistently leaning into each other – our faces were less than a foot apart. About fifteen seconds passed in silence.. Nathan developed that same blank look while looking into my eyes; only when the brilliant colors of his true eyes appeared did I know I'd won.

"What?" He asked still a little blankfaced – his eyes returning to the dull green that he wore during school hours.

His peculiar expression forced me to laugh out loud enthusiastically which seemed to cause several heads turn. My laugh isn't something people outside of my family regularly heard – and then a typhoon of thoughts rushed toward me.

Are they a thing? No wonder Edward won't look at any of the girls!

Jessica Stanley, even in her thoughts she seemed completely outraged. Malevolent thoughts bellowed from her mind while she was glared at us. It seemed like we'd attracted more attention than just Jessica Stanley, because now there were more than just thoughts focused on us; but hushed whispers.

"Hey, look at Edward and Nate." I heard repeated over and over from nameless faces. I watched from others' perspective to see if Nathan and I were being so overtly romantic. We weren't even half as obvious as Emmett and Rosalie, but I guess I wasn't surprised when I watched from outside myself. Not even my family had seen me be this intimate with another being.

Can you atleast attempt to avoid having the entire school talk about you? Rosalie thought bitterly.

I ignored her but leaned back into my chair and casually laid my arm on the back end still grinning at Nathan.

"What's wrong?" He asked, suddenly fully aware of his surroundings again.

"We seem to be attracting a lot of attention…Your friend Jessica is ready to jump out of her chair."

"Oh god." Nathan said and leaned back on his chair just as I had, except his cheeks had turned a hue of milky pink. He was quiet for a couple of seconds; deliberating. He made his decision, and turned around to look around his shoulder first to his old table, where they had quickly whispered to each other to look down from our table, and then to my family. Unfortunately for Nathan they weren't quite as accommodating, and Rosalie shot him an icy glare.

He quickly turned around and pleaded with me "Can we go now?"

I grinned, we were guaranteed to be the focus of everyone's attention if we walked out of the cafeteria mid-way through the period…together.

I watched carefully while Nathan stood up from his seat in a fluid motion that was way too graceful for a human. He took his jacket from the chair and folded it across his arm, only to adjust his shoulder slightly without noticing. I still wasn't used to this sexual attraction that had developed between us…features that were typically something I overlooked were so…appetizing.

Nathan's shirt was tight enough to show his flat stomach that hid the muscles under the shirt carefully. His arms were just like the rest of him, slim but there was a hint of mass that I was sure would be unveiled once his shirt was off. How bizarre…these masculine features were so inviting.

Get up Edward, everyone is watching you stare at him like a piece of meat, Alice interjected – there was an edge of disapproval to her voice.

"What's up?" Nathan asked – addressing my grin.

"Later."

We attempted to walk out of the cafeteria nonchalantly although it seemed no one was willing to comply with our desire for privacy. The hushed whispers continued. It didn't help that the table I'd chosen was the farthest from the exit – so everyone would be able to get a glimpse of our unintentional performance.

"I thought we were being subtle?" Nathan whispered to me – careful to maintain a healthy distance, something that I was both despondent and grateful for.

"I think we gather enough attention just being ourselves…together seems to make it impossible to keep under the radar." I said, trying to hide the amusement in my voice.

"If they only knew…" Nathan said so quietly I wasn't sure if it was meant for me. He was right, two high school boys helplessly in love was a story in itself. What if one of those boys was a Vampire, and the other a faerie?