I'm having trouble finding enthusiasm for this story, and for that I apologize. I'll try harder. Well, I still only own Ian, who I think is going to come back in the next chapter. How I'm going to connect the problem with Suze with the problem with Ian, I'm not sure yet, so some suggestions would be nice. That's all. Read, and if you still think I deserve a review, even after the lack of updates, it would be nice if you'd send one. Thanks.

Carlisle P.O.V.

As we go back into the living area, Edward says quietly, "I need to talk to you."

Seeing his face, I know it can't wait. "I need to step outside and talk to Edward for a moment. It's important. We'll be back soon."

As soon as we step outside, Edward starts speaking to me, barely maintaining his calm. "During dinner, when Bella asked about Jesse's family, he said he was the only member of his family still alive, then evoked the policy to avoid telling how that had happened. Of course, with me there, there isn't anything he can really hide. But all of his family died of old age; well not really that old, in their sixties, most of them. But you get my point. I can't pinpoint an exact year based on his thoughts, but they all lived when that age was considered old. And on top of all that, his thoughts are cloudy. Not in the way of he's not entirely sure what to think, but in the way of me not being able to hear them clearly. Like there is a lot of background noise covering up a voice, except for the fact that there is no other sound. All that happens is that something is taken away from the voice. That's it. I thought you might want to know that." He seems much calmer, now that he's told me everything.

Suze P.O.V.

Just as Edward and Carlisle step out the front door, onto the steps outside, Bella turns to Jesse and says, "I don't mean to leave you with everyone here, but would you mind if spoke to Suze alone for a moment?"

He glances at me, "Susannah?"

"It's fine."

I glance at Bella, and she gets up, so quickly I almost miss her movement. She then freezes, as if she has made a mistake, but the drop-dead gorgeous girl behind her flicks her wrist, as if to say, 'It's fine; mistakes happen; just go.' Bella seems to take her advice and follows me. Of course, it all happens so fast, I might just have imagined it all.

I walk up the stairs, and Bella steps gracefully behind me. I walk into the guest room, and shut the door after she passes me.

She looks at me then says, "I realize the question I am going to ask severely violates our pact. But I would appreciate it if you would still answer and answer honestly. In return, I'll allow you to ask one yes or no question about me. If it is something about my family, something that isn't my secret to tell, I won't answer, but I'll let you ask another."

I feel the shock cover my face. But I also realize that this means Bella trusts me. So I nod.

Her response is, "The only reason I even ask this is because I know there is something different about you, and something even more different about Jesse. I just want to make sure these differences won't put my family in danger. My family—Edward and Nessie in particular—is my life. Nothing else matters to me, and I would do anything for them."

Again I nod, seeing the perfectly seriousness in her eyes. Golden eyes that really don't belong to the teenager she looks like, but rather someone older than both of us. Much older, as if she has been through more than anyone should ever have to go through in a lifetime. Suddenly it occurs to me, that my eyes look like that, too, after all the traumatic ghost-fights. But along with that seriousness is a powerful, raging love I've never seen before.

Bella takes a deep breath then asks, "Can you see ghosts?"

The question itself catches me so off guard that I answer, "Yes. And talk to them. And hit them, if the situation demands it."

She looks relieved, before saying, "Ghosts. That is something my family can deal with. Ghosts can't put them in danger. Now… I promised; your question?"

I think for a moment, trying to find something that doesn't involve her entire family. "Is it okay if I ask more than one?"

She thinks for a moment. "Yes. But I only have to answer one."

"Okay. First, Rosalie told you something just before you came up. It looked as if she was reassuring you. Had you made a mistake? Second, was the mistake the fact that you moved too fast? Last, is your secret related to the way you all look alike, without looking alike and moving with an unnatural grace and speed? If that even makes sense."

She looks at me. Then she laughs. "Suze, you're too observant. You kind of remind me of me when I first met Edward. Except now I'm in his place, and you're in mine. The answers are, yes, yes, and I can't answer the last, as it isn't just my secret."

I nod. "Edward and Carlisle are probably back inside now," she says. "We should probably go save Jesse from my family, don't you think?"

Again I nod. I feel like I'm a bobble-head doll, I'm nodding so much. As we walk down the stairs, I watch her carefully. Her movements are graceful and, what's more, she doesn't make any noise as she steps down the stairs. She sees Edward and walks over to him, sitting down on his lap.

I begin observing the interaction between them all, and there is more care, and tenderness, with simultaneous mocking and teasing, in their contact with each other than I have ever seen in any family before, much less a family that isn't even biologically related.

And the way they look at each other seems to say that they know each other better than any words could possibly tell; almost as if they've known each other for decades. I can't imagine what an expert on human behavior would say observing them, but it would be that they aren't normal. But the thing that strikes me most is the fact that the relationships built within that one family are all as strong as mine and Jesse's. And for that, I envy them, because I don't have brothers and sisters that I am that close to.

But the most significant thing I've learned since they arrived, is that my relationship with Bella is going to change dramatically. And if it was up to her, she would tell me everything, and I would tell her everything. That and the fact that I get the feeling that one day—and probably soon—my secrets, all of them, will be revealed to her, and vise versa.