Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,

and I say it's all right

-Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles

Chapter 3

Damn Regret

Unexpectedly, I felt Edward's arm grip my waist and he pulled me onto his lap – the car did not swerve even an inch. I kept crying, leaning on his chest and he pulled me tighter to him, murmuring soft words to me.

"You're okay. Everything will be okay." He said softly.

After that, I barely paid any attention, only recognizing the signs passing by: Oak Harbor…Vancouver...and finally, Denali.

"We're here." Edward whispered in my ear.

:):):):):)

"Claire de Lune?" My tone gave away my surprise and I leaned against the door of Edward's room – our room – as I listened to the song I'd heard countless of times as a kid.

He quirked an eyebrow, "You know Debussy?" He said – his tone as skeptical as mine. It surprised that I did, in fact, have something in common with Edward.

"Only my favorites." I grinned.

"It's one of my favorites, too." He whispered and yet I heard him perfectly fine – another vampire perk. He smiled and this time it reached his eyes – making it the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I began to unconsciously realize that I liked this Edward, not the guilty one – and I would do anything in my power to keep it that way.

The feeling of having that same hopeless infatuation took over me one more time. The hormonal teenager thoughts invaded my mind and all I could think about was Edward… and how we'd be alone for the next month or two. I was acting like a little girl inside and tried not to show too much enthusiasm. Of course, once I looked at Edward's face again, the enthusiasm went down a notch. He was looking down at his hands, but I could tell his eyebrows were pulled together and his mouth was set in a straight line. The smile that had been on his angel's face a second ago had disappeared.

His room was unlike any other I'd seen before. It faced the south with a wall-sized window while the western wall consisted of thousands among thousands of CDs and albums organized on shelves. The floor was covered with a thick golden carpet and my mind instantly thought of Edward. It was the same color as his eyes. I sighed. Everything seemed to remind me of him.

As I examined the room, my eyebrows furrowed. There was no bed, only a black leather sofa in its place.

"What, no bed?" I asked curiously, and then as I realized what I could be implying I waited for the blush to rush to my face and give me away – thankfully, I couldn't blush anymore.

He chuckled, "We don't sleep, Bella." He reminded me with a half-amused, half-struggled smile on his face.

"Right." I whispered. Suddenly I felt self-conscious under his intense gaze and I let my eyes wonder around the room.

As I looked at his stuff in his room, I began to feel guilty for taking away half of his room.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I swear you'll barely notice I use this room. I mean, really, I don't even have anything to put in this room," I was rambling now and we both knew it. Alice had said before that the house only had four bedrooms and I'd have to share with Edward, since everyone else had already partnered up.

"Bella," He sighed and at that moment, it was just him and me and I could not take my eyes off of him. As usual, I got lost in his eyes….in his beautiful crooked smile…and the way he said my name. At that point, I felt extremely grateful that I was the one exception to Edward's mind reading ability. "First, I don't mind sharing a room with you," Was it just me and my active imagination or did his voice just get a little bit huskier? "And second, I'm sure Alice has already bought stuff for you online. She just loves shopping." He rolled his eyes and smiled at me.

I looked down at my hands, trying to form a coherent question or comment or anything to keep him from thinking I was mentally incompetent. He must have misunderstood my silence.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I could tell from his voice that it wasn't my Edward speaking, it was the guilty one.

"I'm fine," But I wasn't – everyone knows that when a girl says she's fine, she really isn't. Every time I saw the guilt in his eyes, it pained me.

I stood there awkwardly and then walked over to sit on the couch. I patted the seat beside me and Edward came to sit next to me. The silence was deafening and uncomfortable. I figured that it'd stay like this – awkward and silent - until I got him to put his guard down and stop feeling guilty.

"Hey, Edward?" I bit my lip.

"Yes, Bella?" He asked and turned to look at me. The girl in me giggled at the closeness. His face was inches from mine…all I'd have to do would be to lean in closer…

I stopped that thought before it got too far.

"Could you teach me how to hunt?" My voice had become squeaky. I chuckled nervously.

He sighed and then smiled at me but I could see right through him - he didn't want to.

"Let's go," He smiled tightly once more and held out his hand to help me up, though we both knew I didn't need help. I took his hand and refused to let go, grasping it firmly in mine and I felt a jolt of electricity from his touch.

Chemistry, I though. I laughed at myself for my ridiculous thoughts; it seemed I'd been reading too many Harlequin romances. I pushed the thought away and let him lead me through the huge house, that was now my home, and out the door.

It was snowing, of course. I was about to turn around to get a coat when I realized it didn't feel cold to me, it was nice – probably because the wind and snow where the same temperature as my skin.

We ran into the forest that was miles away. My body pushed itself faster and faster and I marveled at the speed – it was exhilarating! Like riding a motorcycle a hundred miles per hour but better. Holding Edward's hand made it a little bit harder to run, but I managed – unwilling to let go of him.

He stopped suddenly and I followed suit.

"Watch and learn, Bella." He said, trying to put up a macho front but I could see him struggling. If Alice was right and Edward hated himself, there was only one reason why he would hate himself: me. Not to sound egotistical, but I was the reason Edward was suffering. He regretted what he'd done and now he was stuck seeing me every day – a constant reminder of what he regretted most.

Edward gracefully lunged at a deer passing by and pinned him down. It was easy to see that he was toning it down a bit, as if to not scare me away. He bent down and placed his mouth against the deer's neck - curling his upper lip back and showing his ultra sharp teeth as they tore the skin. The venom in my mouth became excessive as I smelled the blood. My hands curled into tight fists as I barely resisted the animalistic instinct that was in me.

He smiled as he became satisfied – with not a spot of blood on the white snow or his shirt.

"Would you like to try now?" He asked, still polite and charming.

I shamefully bit my lip and nodded. Nervously, I mimicked Edward, but with slightly less grace and I ran after another deer. Doing exactly as he did, I bit into the poor deer's neck, accidently snapping his neck. As I finished, I looked up. Edward was leaning against a tree with his arms and ankles crossed – James Dean style. The crooked smile across his face was almost beautiful – everything dazzling except that it didn't reach his eyes. He had to stop being so hard on himself, it was getting on my nerves.

He looked at me, I swear his eyes raked down and up my body, and then, against his better judgment, he burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing at me?" I whined, stomping around. Carlisle had explained what I could expect from being a newborn – the mood swings, the thirst, the cool strength that could beat Emmett on his best day and the speed that could outrace Edward any day. My response only made Edward laugh harder, clutching his sides and rolling over. I should've been angry, but his laugh was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard and I determined to hear it every day of my life.

I froze for a second. What was I thinking? I shook my head, trying to push these thoughts away and turned my attention back to Edward.

"You have a little something right….there." He laughed, poking my flat stomach, getting a giggle out of me – all my life I'd been ticklish, he just didn't know it then. I looked down at my blue V-neck shirt and sure enough, it was covered with blood. I joined him, laughing hysterically. I blamed the stupid mood swings or maybe I just wanted to keep Edward laughing.

My giggle did not escape his attention and his eyes widened wickedly. I could see it in his eyes – the playful glint in them as he took a step toward me.

I backed away, glaring at him. Yet I was pleased he was letting go and having fun; forgetting about all of his regrets.

"Don't. You. Dare." I growled like a kitten who thought it was a tiger.

And then he was airborne, leaping at me. A blizzard of snow flew up around we landed softly in the snow. His arms formed a cage around me and then his fingers were everywhere – finding out my most ticklish spots and tickling me to death.

I thought of how we must look playing around in the snow and tickling each other – like a couple certainly – and I wondered at the possibility of it.

If only…

:):):):):)

We stood outside the Cullen house for the second time today. The first time, when I'd first walked in, I was barely aware of the house – only noticing how big it was. Now, I had time to really appreciate it. I'd never been impressed by big houses, but this one was unbelievably beautiful. It was surrounded by the white, untouched snow and its architectural view was amazing.

"Wow," I breathed, stunned by it. Mostly every side visible was filled with windows or glass walls. You could see everything inside, yet nobody was close enough to see. I looked around and my assumptions were right – there were no other houses around.

"You like?" He smirked, taking my hand and me inside.

"Are you kidding me? I love it," I smiled like that little kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"Good," He gave my hand a gentle squeeze and then let go; turning quickly on his heel and I walked right into him. I mumbled an apology after he placed his hands tentatively on my waist to steady me. "I just thought you might want to get your pretty shirt changed," He smiled crookedly and I waited for my heart to give away my excitement at his closeness.

"Thanks, Edward, for being here." I whispered and instantly regretted it.

"You shouldn't thank me for anything, Bella." He said with a grimace.

My eyes softened and I reached up to lightly caress his cheek in comfort.

"Edward, don't-" I started.

"The closet's upstairs and to the right, Bella." He whispered, taking a step away from me and looking at his feet. Could a dead, frozen heart break? It felt like mine would.

I stepped back too, trying to hide the hurt in my eyes and walked away, keeping my head up – refusing to give in to sad thoughts.

He's just going through a rough time, I thought. It was like a broken record playing in my head, trying to reassure myself.

I slowly made my way upstairs and just put one foot in front of the other before I reached our room and then turned right to find the spacious, walk-in closet. I could not stop the feeling of rejection that washed over me.

One sob was all it took for Edward to rush upstairs.

"Bella," He whispered, tentatively wrapping his arms around me, "I'm so sorry," He whispered into my hair and I got the feeling he was apologizing for more than what just happened downstairs.

Did he have a multiple personality disorder?

"Look, Edward, I don't want your apologies. I just…I want you to be happy, okay?" I pulled back infinitesimally and looked him square in the eye.

"Bella," He said – and I could tell from his voice that he didn't agree with me.

"No buts, okay?" I tried to say firmly but then again, his face was inches from mine and it didn't come out as firm as I wanted it to be. "What's done is done and no one can change that, Edward." The guilty look he was giving me made me soften my voice unconsciously. "Please," I begged. "Please just at least try to be happy. For me." I added and then wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest.

He hesitated a second before tentatively wrapping his around me and sighing into my hair.

:):):):):)

"So, Edward, how old are you?" I asked. I'd been asking the same question for a while now but he always replied "17" – ha, as I if were stupid enough to buy that. We were playing a game of 20 questions… well, more like 50 or 100 questions.

It'd been a month since we'd first arrive here and it amazed me how fast time passed when I was with Edward. I tried, keyword being tried, to stop feeling things for Edward – to stop my imagination from wondering what it would be like for Edward and I to be together – but I couldn't help it sometimes. He was just that wonderful – always the perfect gentleman, always charming, and always with that irresistible crooked smile on his face. Since the talk I had with him on our first day, he did get better, even if once in a while he had a bad day or two. Slowly, but surely he got better. He teased me, he laughed more freely without even a tiny bit of guilt.

We were sitting in the huge space they liked to call a living room, me watching TV and him just staring into space. I guessed that after a few centuries or two, you simply stopped caring about what's happening on Grey's Anatomy. I was getting too into the episode and I didn't even notice he didn't bother to answer my question – I was too busy looking at Dr. Shepherd aka Dr. McDreamy. I reigned in the sigh that would give me away.

"Dr. McDreamy?" Edward laughed and quirked an eyebrow.

Crap. Was I thinking out loud?

"Did I say that out loud?" I groaned.

He laughed heartedly. "Just out of curiosity, which one of them is Dr. McDreamy?"

"Shut up," I smacked his arm playfully and then remembered he hadn't given me an answer. "Are you going to answer my question?" I raised an eyebrow as I looked into those deep, butterscotch eyes – the same ones I fell in love with. Infinitesimally, I froze.

Fell in love with?, I thought and shook the thought away.

"Well, you didn't answer mine." He smirked.

I sighed. "Fine. If you must know, Dr. McDreamy is the brown haired one."

He laughed at this. "Bella, half of the cast has brown hair!" He rolled his eyes.

"Fine!" I stood up and pointed to Patrick Dempsey in a scene with Meredith. "It's him!" I said, exasperated.

He doubled over with laughter. "Okay, okay." He said, putting up both of his hands in the air like criminals do before police officers.

"Now, are you going to answer my question?" I sat back down

"I'm seventeen, Bella." He said very seriously.

"That's not fair," I whined. "You're going to tell me how old you are, mister." I said, leaning over to get closer to Edward and poking him, giving emphasis to every word I said, hard on his chest.

He opened his mouth to speak but then he closed it again.

"C'mon. I can take it," I gave him my most innocent smile I could come up with.

"I was born in 1901," He looked down at his hands, "I guess you can do the math," tentatively, he looked up at me from under his long, dark eyelashes and cleared his throat, "This is when you run away from me, Bella." He said as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Edward," I rolled my eyes. "You're not even that old! You're only about six times older than me! I'm about six times older than a three year old – you don't see the three year old freaking out." I laughed at my pathetic analogy.

"I guess," Edward said, obviously still waiting for the running and screaming, "Alright, you can continue with your interrogation," Edward chuckled.

"It's not an interrogation, Edward – look at it more like…20 questions!" I grinned.

"That's what they all say," He teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him like a five year old.

I'd already asked all the simple What's your favorite…..? questions, and I tried to come up with interesting questions.

"So when's your angry wife going to pop up and yell at me for hogging you?" I said playfully, though the question had awakened a feeling I didn't like.

You're jealous, the little voice in the back of my head said. Great, I was starting to hear voices in my head.

His eyebrows pulled together and an amused expression covered his face. "What wife?" He pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile.

"Oh, please, Edward. Someone as… you know, someone like you must be already taken," I rolled my eyes at him and couldn't help the smile that appeared across my face knowing he wasn't married.

"Someone like me?" He still had that same amused expression on his angel's face.

"Yeah, someone as beautiful, compassionate, understanding, smart and just overall perfect as you, Edward." I looked down, suddenly embarrassed. I'd basically told Edward he was perfect.

"I'm none of those things, Bella," I looked up at him, afraid he'd go back to his old self, and I was surprised to see him chuckling.

"So no wife?" I giggled like an infatuated thirteen-year-old.

"Nope," he said, popping the p at the end.

"Oh, I get it," I laughed, mostly at myself for not seeing it earlier. "So where's your girlfriend?"

"Never had one," He shrugged.

"Edward, I think it's time you settle down," I tried to look serious as I said this, but instead I winked and my grin was growing wider by the second.

He looked straight into my eyes as he said, "You're right."

Fast, loud, staccato footsteps from outside interrupted our moment. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion – the rest of the Cullens weren't supposed to arrive yet and I wondered who would come up to the house.

Within a forty-fourth of a second the familiar doorbell of the Cullen house rang and considering how fast they'd gotten here, it could only mean one thing: vampires.

Edward's body tensed and he stood up stiffly – as if he knew exactly who was waiting on the other side of the door and he wasn't exactly happy about it.

A/N: BUM BUM BUM Cliffe much? Hehe, you might want to get used to these cliffies :)

Hello, sweetiepies :) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing :) This chapter hasn't been rewritten, I simply replaced the AN here ;)

Disclaimer: I really don't want lawyers at my door tomorrow morning claiming Stephenie has sued me, so I'll say it - quickly preferably, like a band aid. I don't own Twilight.

LINK FOR THE CULLEN HOUSE ON MY PROFILE :) Go check it out, I love that house!

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Love, Alex