Sunrise, for the First Time

Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I don't own Twilight. (Nor am I the state of Washington, nor own the town of Forks -- does that exist? -- nor am I the ancient Romanians, nor own the concept of vampires. I thought I'd elaborate fully for this last chapter, so you know the extent to which I am not plagiarizing.)

Author's note (yes, again!): Thanks again for your reviews. I'm thinking about doing this story from Edward's POV, but only the interesting parts -- it's a tad long. Or I may skip straight to a sequel. Or I may come up with a new story. If you like, let me know which you'd rather see and I'll work on it, seeing as how, obviously, I have far too much free time.

Chapter 10: Resolutions

I awoke in Edward's bright, warm room well past noon, having slept more soundly than I had in almost a year. Edward was sitting beside me, reading a book written in what appeared to be Cyrillic, though I couldn't be sure. He looked up when I moved and sat the book down.

"A little light reading?" I teased groggily.

Edward chuckled. "It's about the Russian civil war. I was wondering if I might be in there somewhere post-reformation."

"And?"

"Not yet, but it is still quite interesting. Would you like to borrow it?"

"No, thank you; I'm afraid my Slavic language skills are a bit lacking these days."

"Well, maybe one day we could study it together. I bet you could speak Russian better than I do; I'm not very good at it."

I sincerely doubted that. "Edward, it would take me a century to be half as good as you are at pretty much everything, and by then, you'd have learned twice as much."

Edward chuckled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. I furrowed my brow. "What?" I asked.

Edward blanked his face. "Nothing, love," he said.

"Edward, I'd really appreciate it if you could just tell me things, because obviously, miscommunication doesn't work out very well between you and me." I put my hand in his. "Why do you think keeping things from me will protect me?"

His eyes searched mine for a brief moment, then he drew in an unnecessary breath, "You just reminded me something that Alice said, something she… Predicted," he said hesitantly.

I didn't respond as I put the pieces together. "Oh," I said slowly, "Right. About changing me."

Edward didn't say anything, but his features took on a stubborn and vaguely childish look. I couldn't help but smile at him. "Edward, I know you're worried about what will happen, but you should know that I'm not."

Then, he looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know that whatever has to happen to keep us together forever will happen."

He sighed. "And I suppose you have a definitive idea of what that entails?"

I nodded, smiling still. "And if Alice is right," he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to interject, but I put my finger to his lips, "If Alice is right, I'll still drive the speed limit, even as an immortal."

Edward shook his head and leaned into kiss me, allowing his cold body to press against mine as my heartbeat quickened and my fingers tangled in his hair. I parted my mouth, inviting him in, but he pulled away and smiled at me. I didn't say anything, but kept my hands around his neck. We stayed like that for what seemed like hours before he forced me out of bed, insisting that I shower and eat before I talk to Charlie.

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I pulled the Chevy into my driveway, behind the cruiser. It was a Saturday, so I knew that Charlie would not be working, but I had secretly hoped he would be gone fishing when I returned so I could further collect my thoughts before speaking with him. No such luck: the Chevy's engine had obviously announced my arrival, as a stern-looking Charlie stepped out onto the porch.

Here goes nothing, I thought, and clamored out of the truck cab. I walked toward my father, willing my knees to hold me steady and my voice not to shake. "Charlie, I just want to talk," I said, "I don't expect anything." Edward had coached me through my explanation, so I knew what to say. I only hoped I could remember my lines.

"So do I, Bella." Charlie waited for me to walk up the steps, then sighed, looking at me intently. "You alright?" He asked sincerely.

I nodded. He sighed again and embraced me awkwardly. I must have really worried him.

"I'm sorry, Dad; I really am." I started to cry, but willed myself not to start sobbing. Charlie didn't have much patience for tears, mostly because he didn't know what to do with them.

Charlie pulled away. "Alright, let's talk about it inside." He held the door open for me.

I smiled and led the way into the kitchen. I reached to put my keys on their usual post, but hesitated: did I still live there?

Before I could decide what to do, Charlie took them from my hand and put them where they belonged. I tried not to smile with my relief as he led me into the kitchen.

"Let's sit down," he said, pulling a chair out for me and sitting across the table. I obliged, waiting for him to start. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, looking at me and nodding his head. I bit my lip. I thought this might be his routine when he interrogated suspects: try to intimidate them into a confession with silence. The effect was almost comical, and I stifled a laugh.

Before I could burst into giggles, Charlie spoke. "Bella, not only did you disrespect me last night, but you really worried me. You've been gone almost 19 hours now. I had decided that at 24 I would file an MPR."

"You kicked me out, Charlie; I was never missing; and --"

He put a hand up to stop me. "It's my turn to talk; you'll talk when I'm through," he said patiently.

I nodded. He put his hand down.

"What I'm trying to say is that I was really worried about you. I know you've been going through a tough time this past year, and I've been at a loss as to how to help you. That's why I don't like the idea of you dating the Cull-- of you dating Edward, because it seemed like he was the reason behind your having a tough time in the first place."

I kept my mouth shut with effort and looked down at my hands.

"But I've been doing some thinking," he continued, "And I think that, even if I don't like this boy," he sighed and shook his head, "Even if I don't like him, I think that you're right: I can't tell you who to date, and I wouldn't want to. It's not up to me to keep you from living your life the way you want to live it, even if I think it's a mistake." He reached across the table and took my hand, a very uncharacteristic gesture for Charlie, but I appreciated that he meant to express the sincerity of his words. "I love you, Bells, and I want you to be happy. If you really think that Edward can do that for you, I won't stop you from seeing him."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Dad, and I promise, Edward --"

"Hold on, little girl, let me finish." I nodded again, and he continued, pulling his hand back across the table again. "And I didn't mean it when I kicked you out. This is your home, and you'll always be welcome here." He smiled, then set his face into its authoritative grimace again. "You're still grounded for the motorcycle business, though, for two months, and an additional month for deliberately disobeying me last night. You can have visitors, but only between 5 and 7 on weekdays, and it's up to my discretion on weekends." He hesitated. "And, uh. This isn't required, but I do request that you have visitors other than Edward every once in a while. I don't want you giving up on the rest of your life for your boyfriend."

He stopped, done with his explanation. I waited a moment before speaking, taking in his words. "Okay," I declared finally, looking at him. I didn't know what else to say; I considered trying to convince him of Edward's good intentions, but I decided that was something he was going to have to decide for himself, anyway -- and if anyone could change the mind of a distrusting, overprotective, police-chief father, it was my patient, polite, considerate, telepathic vampire boyfriend. I stood up. "Thank you, Daddy," was all I could say, and I walked around the table to hug him. "I'm really sorry for everything. I love you."

He chuckled slightly, then cleared his throat. "Love you too, Bells." He stood up. "I'm off to La Push to visit Billy, there's a game on today." He paused as he walked across the room. "I'd be willing to suspend the beginning of your sentence to tomorrow if you wanted to come with me," he said hesitantly.

I, however, was quite sated in my desire to see any of the Blacks at the moment. "No, thanks, I have a paper due on Monday." Never mind that I had already finished it.

Charlie seemed to expect my answer. "Alright. Well no visitors just yet; you can have someone over tomorrow."

"Okay. 'Bye, Dad."

"Later, Bells."

He closed the door behind him and I listened for the sound of his car leaving the driveway, then I ran up to my room, where Edward was waiting for me.

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The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur of boredom. Edward kept me company when Charlie was gone or asleep, but otherwise, I had very little to do. I was almost relieved when Monday came and, along with it, school. This was going to be a long three months, especially after school let out for the summer.

Charlie had conceded to let Edward pick me up for school, much to my surprise, so when the shiny Volvo appeared in the driveway the next day, I kissed Charlie on the cheek before I headed out the door, making him blush. Guess that's where I get it, I thought as I half-ran to Edward. He wrapped me in his arms for an instant before waving goodbye to Charlie, who was watching from the porch. I climbed into the car before Edward could open the door for me.

"You're going to have to start letting me treat you like a lady," he said with mock sadness. I laughed and tousled his hair.

The school day passed by uneventfully, for the most part. It was pouring outside, so between the rain pounding on the roof of the classrooms and Edward sitting as close to me as the desks and propriety would allow, I had difficulty paying attention. I wanted so badly for it to be night, to find Edward stealing silently through my window so that he could lie next to me, his cold chest pressed against me and his arms around my body, with my hands weaving through his thick hair….

I suddenly realized that the teacher was looking at me sternly. "The quadratic formula", Edward whispered from behind me. "The quadratic formula," I said, and the teacher narrowed her eyes but moved on. I looked back at him to express my gratitude.

"A bit distracted, love?" he whispered, as if he knew what I had been daydreaming about. I blushed, and Edward chuckled quietly.

The only real excitement came when, after the only class that Edward and I didn't share, Mike approached me outside the classroom where I was waiting for Edward. "Bella, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I sighed. I guess he was still determined to say whatever it was that had upset Edward so badly on Friday. "What, Mike?" I hoped he would interpret my impatience correctly and change his mind.

No such luck. "Well, I wondered what happened to... I mean, Did you..." He stopped, and I resisted the urge to stomp my foot on the ground with childish impatience. "How did you get that bruise?" He finally managed.

Alice had done such a wonderful job with the makeup, I had all but forgotten about the bruise that was now turning a lovely shade of yellow on my cheek. I was so surprised at his question that I momentarily forgot my excuse. "Uh, I… got hit with a ball." It sounded more like a question.

"What kind of ball?"

I'd had about enough of this. Besides, Edward had shown up to walk with me to lunch; he was standing a few yards behind Mike, glaring at him. "Is there something you need, Mike?"

Mike sighed. "Bella, if that Cullen guy hit you, you need to tell me. I'll beat his brains in," he declared childishly.

I looked at Mike as the meaning of his words sank in. At first I was angry, outraged that he could suggest such a thing, and then I recognized something in his eyes: hope. He hoped Edward had hit me, and I could easily guess why.

That was all I needed. "Actually, Mike, you're right. Someone did hit me. But the guy who did it was really jealous of Edward, and he tried to attack him; I got in the way. Luckily, Edward was there to beat his ass -- poor guy had about 30 broken bones!" I clucked with mock sympathy and ran to Edward, jumping in his arms, leaving a defeated and somewhat frightened-looking Mike Newton behind me.

"Bella," Edward said, laughing. I had hoped he was listening to our conversation; wonderful, reliable, eavesdropping Edward. "You are, indeed, the most fascinating creature in existence."

I smiled back at him, tousling his hair. "I don't know about that, at least not just yet," I said quickly, "But I'll be one of them soon enough."

Before he could respond, I pressed my lips to his.