Sorry this one took forever, loves! It's been hard trying to find time to keep on updating. I'm not absolutely positive if I want to keep writing this story anymore, but if you feel I should then do me a huge favor and let me know so that I feel like people are actually enjoying this. As much as I love writing it, I like to know people love reading it.

Anyways, to those who have been loyal I give you a little treat in this chapter. Without further ado here you go: Andrew's Point of View.

The song choice should be pretty obvious here. I used a Linkin Park song because it's absolutely perfect for Andrew (just as it was for Edward).

Chapter 7

Lying From You

Claire.

Claire Newton, the name rings through my head every ten seconds, I know because all I can do is count while I stare up at the ceiling its stark white paint taunting me with some kind of make-believe purity. I know how far from pure I am and I proved it to myself yesterday by luring the Newton girl right into a trap that would end her life. The taste would have been sweet, a scent that strong and so delectable could only be something worth dipping my instinct into.

I still don't know if I'm happy Edward showed up or not. Part of me had been ready to rip his throat out and then take what I wanted from Claire. Bella showing up is what really got me to stop, I had a soft spot for the woman who was a lot like a mother to me, she was wise about humanity, even though it had only been seventeen years since I was changed; I hardly remember it.

I closed my eyes, rimmed in gold after two deer and a bear, and listened to Edward pounding out a tune on the grand piano downstairs the emotions he usually kept hidden coming out in a pounding rhapsody. In the kitchen Bella was grading papers, muttering to herself about what she was going to do about school. Which brought about the thought, 'would Claire even go'?

Tomorrow I would know, Bella wouldn't let me stay, she'd make me face it first period. I'm not sure if Claire will be there, not even sure if she'll acknowledge my existence. Edward made it clear she wouldn't say anything to anyone, not until she'd cleared everything in her head would she be a risk. Still she was a risk to my health, and her discomfort killed me in some way. Did she even understand anything about us, what we were, how we lived? Could she make any decisions about never allowing me to apologize or speak to her without knowing the whole truth?

Than what was the point in saying anything in the first place? The minute I said something Edward would be at my throat telling me to stop, no one else should know about us and yet there was this thing in me telling me that Claire had to know it all.

Rolling over I looked at the small black device I'd pulled out numerous times when I'd thought about calling Carlisle myself. Edward was just as knowledgeable but the wise vampire who'd first found me seemed to hold the world in his calm hands and made things easier to stand. Would he be able to explain Claire to me?

No, my answers weren't with Carlisle; they were right underneath me with the vampire who'd fallen in love with a human girl.

Love.

No, it couldn't be love; it was some sort of lust but not love. Claire was just a snack I couldn't have and that's what made her all the more potent. Everything would be desirable until I could have just one taste of it; Blood and nothing else, right? Just the blood, and yet thinking of what should be disgusting and monstrous to my lifestyle wasn't helping, I wanted it even more. I would take it fast though, I'd already had her scent up close and it was addicting, her warmth, the blush and the spike of fear, all of it enticing and so very mouthwatering.

I jumped when I heard one of Edward's notes turn sour and suddenly stop. I heard the faint click of Bella's footsteps as she walked into the living room but I could barely make out their hushed tones. There was no doubt he'd heard every one of my thoughts and I wasn't surprised to feel the guilt in my chest. I was becoming a burden and I hated doing that to him. It was the reason I'd left Paris, the reason I'd left Carlisle and Esme, because there were more people and it was harder to keep track of me. In a place like Forks I could easily be kept on a leash and Alice was in California, already prepared to see if I was about to step a toe out of line.

Swallowing I thought about that and realized I probably owed Alice an apology for not picking up the phone. Claire was right beside me and I knew Alice would find a way to talk me out of what I had been planning to do.

"You're right." said a voice dripping in accusation beside me. Edward loomed over me his golden eyes piercing me in the most vital places. "If you'd had half a mind you would have answered so she could do just that."

"I wasn't thinking." I answered, making sure to say exactly what was on my mind so he didn't try to see another meaning in my words.

"No, you weren't. I know it's hard to resist, Andrew, and if it gets any worse I'm not going to hesitate." He hesitated for a minute taking in an unneeded breath. "No matter what Bella says, I'm not going to risk anyone's life."

I nodded.

"Andrew, we brought you here to get you started. Maybe we should have let Alice and Jasper take you instead, if you'd like-" he stopped right there already hearing the shock in my mind, the argument that would ensue if he'd finished that sentence. "Fine."

He turned to leave but I stopped him with my words rather then my thoughts this time. "Edward," I started, he turned, his eyes so enviously golden. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Turning all the way back around he shook his head and sighed. "It's different for everyone, Andrew. Some of us like Bella and I started off as vegetarians, albeit a mistake or two on my part in the distant past." he shuddered. "But when you were turned you were alone, instinct is all you had and that's got to be a pretty hard thing to just suddenly rein in. On the bright side in another few weeks you'll have flushed out all the red from your eyes." he smiled as if it made all the difference; it didn't.

"I'm dangerous. Maybe I'd be better off-"

"Stop right there. You're starting to sound like me and it took me a long time to make those thoughts disappear."

"How?" I didn't elaborate, he knew.

"Simple," he stated, a rather gentle and warm smile gracing his lips. "I met Bella. Of course I still thought I was doing nothing but risking her life by being near her but there was no way for me not to be near her in the first place. Think of it this way. We can't change what we are but we can change what we do. Our actions are what make us who we are and by choosing to become a part of our family you're already on the right track."

"I'll always be dirtier then the rest of you though." I responded.

"I don't know, you and Jasper are pretty close."

"That's not funny, Edward." We turned our heads to the door to see Bella standing with a silver phone to her ear her eyes passing on a glare that most likely came from Alice on the phone. I had no doubt it was her on the other line since I could hear the tinkling voice over the receiver standing up for her soul mate. "By the way, she accepts your apology, Andrew, and she looks forward to the flowers."

There was no way I could have helped grinning, "Thanks" was all I needed to respond with.

I liked talking to Edward more when Bella was around, and not because he seemed unconsciously more at ease around her but because the shield around her own mind involuntarily stretched out to include me so that Edward wasn't constantly in my head. I did have my own way of keeping him at bay but I learned some time ago that there were certain parts of my ability that hurt him and I didn't want to subject him to it. Despite my relief I could see it did somewhat irk Edward when he couldn't hear the minds of two people he was standing right next to.

"Okay, bye, Alice -love you too." Bella said her parting and closed the phone placing the small mechanism into a pocket of her pants. "She saw you shipping him off to her and she wanted to stop you before you did anything rash."

My gaze flickered to Edward's and his topaz eyes held a certain amusement that I found was also very mischievous. When Alice said he was prone to overreactions I didn't really get it until I was the victim of it. It was one mistake I didn't intend on making again, but I never intended for this one to happen either. I didn't want to leave Forks but I also didn't want to risk Claire's life again. I sighed, catching the attention of the other two in the room.

"What do I do?" I asked. The two looked at each other and immediately caught on to what I was saying. Claire knew something, if not some portion then all of it, this complicated things I knew that.

"We," Edward emphasized the plural; I smiled. "do nothing. Just watch her for a while, I won't be surprised if she doesn't talk to you again. This is our only choice, Andrew, to trust our secret in her but in my opinion leaving Forks, even for just a while, may be a good idea."

Bella beat me to it, "No." She rejected the idea immediately and I caught the gist of something in her tone.

Mine's and Edward's gaze flickered to her in confusion. The shield that was wrapped around hers and my mind dissolved and I had to hold a breath as something past through my mind. Edward was able to read the thought of a memory she remembered vaguely but due to my gift I saw the whole thing flash as if it were happening at that very moment. I saw the human Bella sitting in her Biology class and felt the guilt and torment at what she felt she did wrong to drive Edward off for so long back when she'd first met him, before she knew the true meaning of his nature.

My ability was unique in that I could read memories, not thoughts exactly, but I could see what happened in that moment and my overly observant mind could decipher it all like any other day of sitting in the cafeteria at school -so it was almost like I could read the thoughts of those memories. What I could feel more was the emotion of it all.

Edward saw thoughts of what was going on through the present mind of someone but I was flooded by memories merely by the close proximity of a person, things that happened all the way back to when a person was born. It was like everyone in the world had a photographic memory and I carried all the film. It worked better when I was touching a person but when you're as attuned to someone as I was Bella it came easier.

"Sorry." I heard her mutter as I came back to the present. "I forget sometimes."

"Yeah, next time warn me." I told her. I hadn't been prepared for the comfort of her shield to just be taken from me, when it was up I couldn't read any memories but when it was down I sometimes had a very bad case of mistaken identity. It's hard to tell whose memories are whose amongst the mess. Not to mention the pain that certain memories held.

"Well I see what you mean." Edward said, a grimace on his lips. The look he gave Bella was one of apology and I could see the grimace that spread across her pale lips. Their relationship was confusing to me and if it hadn't been for my ability I would never have thought that they could really love each other as much as they really do.

"So I guess my going down to California is out of the question?" I asked.

"Absolutely." Bella responded her golden gaze catching mine in one of solid trust, it nearly made me cringe. She was trusting that next time I would do the right thing, which also meant that she was expecting a next time- unfortunately so was I.

Later that night Edward and Bella left to go hunting, and since I'd gone earlier my thirst was, for the most part, pretty satisfied. Times like theses I wished for the ability to sleep and dream, instead I lay there with my eyes closed and sifting through the vague ghost of memories from all those that were dreaming nearby. My range wasn't as limited as some thought if I touched the person at least once then I could pick up on their memories with just a bit of concentration but if I'd merely met them then I could only see ghost like images in my mind that weren't clear unless they were nearby.

Bella was my only exception, much like she was Edwards, her ability to shield her mind where her memories were kept allowed her to be my safe haven when I had a headache. Of course I was trying not to think about it but it did occur to me that Bella wasn't the only exception, Claire was too. Her mind, I couldn't get anything out of and shortly before he left Edward mentioned that he as well couldn't penetrate her mind. Beside him Bella had pressed a sharp incisor to her bottom lip. I would have questioned her but I could tell she wouldn't answer and since neither Edward or I could see into her mind we wouldn't be recieving and answer any time soon.

I groaned in frustration sat up and immediately walked to the door just letting my feet carry me where they wanted. No one was close by and I could feel only a few faint memory traces from nearby hikers, of course it also meant that Edward was far enough that I couldn't pick up the flashes of his life that I normally saw with him around.

My feet had continued at a human speed until I was out the front door and I wondered for a moment what impulse was telling me I wanted to leave the comfort of home. I wandered further away from home picking up speed as I went until I was finally flying with the wind. If there was anything good about being what I am it was the speed, it was exhilarating.

Forks was black all around me, streets empty, and I was relieved as much as I was tense. It reminded me vaguely of the times before I'd met Carlisle where I hung around dark streets just waiting for someone to stumble across me. A shiver ran down my spine as I held back the burning in my throat, I would not forget the taste of human blood, ever, but it helped to not think about it.

There was a scent on the streets I knew well. Immediately I was intoxicated by it and thought I knew I should have ran back I continued to walk it's path. My eyes must have been dark because the burning in my throat grew stronger as the scent did. To admit I was frightened was an understatement, I was scared I would slip again and I didn't want to be that kind of monster anymore. With each step I tried to force it in the opposite direction from where I was going but my mind was set on it's goal and I had no choice but to follow until I was standing in front of a two story home with all it's lights out but two at the front that I assumed belonged to the same room.

In their sleep memories of the Newton family drifted into my minds eye but I was quick to ignore them and let them play out without paying any attention. Guilt washed through me at the blank holes in certain parts of their memories but I brushed it off looking up at the lit windows once more. Sheer white curtain hung over them and I could see a figure moving about the room. My brow lifted, it was near two in the morning.

Before I knew what I was doing I was sitting on the piece of roof just above the awning and right beside a window. I could hear the very faint volume of music, low so that she wouldn't wake the rest of the house, but crystal clear to me. It was a country song, I didn't hide my amusement and almost felt myself hum contentedly when a rock song began after that. I could assume safely that she was open to a lot of genres in music.

After ten minutes I was relaxed against the slanted roof, listening to the beat of her heart as it seemed to flutter with the change of each song; I tried hard not to imagine the blood that ran through it or the scent that flowed from every inch of her in mouthwa- I stopped myself before I could go any farther into my own thoughts. Suddenly I noticed as soft squeak as of one of the windows being opened, and a head of auburn hair peeking out.

I turned my head away from her, ignoring the burning sensation at the back of my throat. Claire took in a large gulp of air and leaned against the window frame, her voice drifting up to me as she absentmindedly muttered to herself.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." she said over and over, her voice remorseful and somewhat shaky. "Who walks out of the home of -of, vampires and says 'oh, it's no big deal'? Damnit, Claire, what next? You bring a werewolf home and ask Jessica if you can keep it as a pet?" she sighed, seemingly frustrated with herself. I had to suppress a snicker, I was sure she didn't even know there were werewolves in the vicinity.

"How do I go to school after this? It's not like I can just forget everything…" she was quiet for a moment and I turned in time to see a frown ghost over her lips. "It's not as if I want to forget."

My eyes were glued to her as she stared out the window, looking over at what I could only guess was the streetlamp shinning a block down. Her auburn hair was falling into her face blocking her expression from me and both of her tan skinned hands were holding onto the sill for balance. In a sudden flash though she'd grabbed onto it so hard that her knuckles turned a sheer white and I felt the hunger at the back of my throat start to burn in an aching torrent of a fire.

I could feel her anger roll off her. There was no way of telling who or what she was angry with but by the words she'd spoken to herself I could only guess it was herself. Angry, because she didn't run from our home in fear like a normal human would have done. Angry, because we'd let her go and trusted her with a secret only one other person in Forks had to hold. Angry, because she was unsure of herself.

Of course, it was all a guess, but as she turned her visage to look down the other side of the street and into my view I knew I was right. There was confusion in her chocolate brown eyes, and I knew then that this was hardly the beginning of the confusion she'd feel much later on.

I wanna be pushed aside, so let me go!!
(No, no turning back now)
Let me take back my life
I'd rather be, all alone!!
(No turning back now)
Anywhere on my own, cause I can see!!!
(No, no turning back now)
The very worst part of you…
IS ME

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Oh and I just finished writing Obsession of Possession my Teen Titans slash story; I loved writing it and it's proof that writers need to know how other's feel about it in order to continue wanting to write the story. I couldn't have completed it without those reviews.

Well that's all for now.