A/N: Wow, you guys have gotten great at reviewing! I really appreciate all of this support from you guys. I hope it's because you actually like my story and not because you feel obligated to review it…

Nine

My Other Half

BELLA

Charlie was yelling like I'd never seen him before. He was, undoubtedly, angry with me, but I could not figure out why to save my life. "Bella!" he was shouting repeatedly, shaking me by the shoulders. "How could you do this to me? How dare you?"

"What… what have I done?" I cried, terrified of the bitter, determined look in his eyes.

"What have you done?" he repeated, desperation thick in his voice. "You've besmirched our name! How dare you disrespect our family's good name with that… that… bloodsucker?!"

What was he babbling about? And when was the last time our "family" had had a good name? He and Renee were on the verge of divorce, or, at best, separation, and everyone in Forks knew it. "Dad? No! What do you mean! I didn't…"

He shook me again, this time piercing his long, bony fingers into my forearms. "You know very well what I mean, Isabella Marie Swan! How long have you been sneaking around with that boy behind our backs? Months? Years?"

"Dad! Dad!" I stalled him. "It's only been three weeks!" I conveniently left out the fact that it had been the most blissful, heavenly three weeks in my entire existence.

"You stay away from him, you hear me?" he ordered. I shook my head violently, weeping.

"No! You can't make me! I-I won't!"

"Bella?"

"Bella!"

"Edward!" I gasped, sitting straight up in my bed. "Did… did you sleep at all last night?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. Then, I was pretty content watching you sleep. Until you started thrashing all over the place and screaming." He stroked my cheek gently with the back of his hand, staring into my eyes comfortably. "What was that all about, Bells?"

I realized I was still breathing hard, my heart beating a mile a minute. I must have been a sight to see, what with my hair frizzing out all around my head, my eyes wide with horror. "Bad…" I gulped, licking my bottom lip. "Bad dream."

"What about?" he persisted, moving on to caress my hair, trying to fix it, probably.

"I… you," I admitted, seeing no reason to lie to him.

"What about me?" he continued, worry working itself into his expression.

"It's… you're not going to believe me," I began cautiously.

"Try me."

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EDWARD

I couldn't read Bella's mind, but I had one good guess as to what her dream had been about. What I could not understand was how she could possibly dream such a real, current thing. It couldn't be purely coincidental… could it? Either way, I could no longer lie to her.

"It was… Charlie and I… and he was shaking me… telling me that you were a…a…" she stammered. I took her face in both of my hands, kissing her forehead.

"A what, Bella?" I urged, patiently as I could pull off. "What did he say I was?"

"Well, I don't know exactly… I think it was something like… bloodsucker… but I don't… I don't understand what that means…" I inhaled deeply, silently counting to ten. The last thing I needed was to have her think I was angry with her.

"A vampire, Bella," I breathed.

"I guess that makes sense in the context. But why would my dream-Charlie think you were a… vampire?" she wondered.

"Bella," I said calmly, holding her intense, figuring gaze. "In your dream, the fact that Charlie claimed that I was a vampire… it might have something to do with the fact that… I am."

She looked confused for a second, but then her befuddled expression turned oddly humorous. She laughed. "That's hilarious, Edward," she said. "But seriously, I don't know why I'd have such a weird dream…"

"Bells!" I interrupted, taking in another unnecessary breath. "I'm not joking here."

She stopped laughing abruptly and looked up at me. "What do you mean, you're not joking?"

I wished there was an easy answer to that question. "I am… a… a vampire… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…"

"You what?" she roared disbelievingly. Now this was the reaction I'd expected. "How can… how can you be a… a…"

"Vampire?" I supplied. She cringed at how easily I used the term.

"I don't believe you," she concluded, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't look anything like a vampire."

I chuckled. "What exactly does a vampire look like, Bella?"

"I… you're supposed to… not like you!" she argued. I ran my hand over the length of her arm, and, to my surprise, she did not flinch away from me.

"I see," I said quietly. "You were expecting a story-book vampire. Coffins, no reflections, shape shifting into a bat, that sort of thing." She was nodding, and I could only guess that it was because I had hit the nail on the head with my assumption.

"How… vampires are… they're not real," she said, her voice meeker, less resistant now. She was giving in to the idea.

"And yet, here I sit," I joked. She glanced away from me face.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I apologized, all of the humor vanished from my voice. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't… if you wanted to… I mean, if you wanted me to leave…"

"I don't care what you are, Edward Cullen," she whispered, her voice resolute.

"You… you don't?" I asked incredulously. Hadn't she been listening? I was… dangerous. And though I knew that I could never hurt her, not after I'd seen firsthand all she'd dealt with because of Mike, she could not possibly be so sure.

"No. I don't. I need you, no matter what you are. That's for sure," she replied.

"But… you… could be in danger…" I explained.

"You won't hurt me," she said, as if it were the most obvious statement possible.

"You don't know that," I answered. This time it was my turn to look away uncomfortably. After all, I'd never been in this close proximity to a human. How could I be sure that my self-control would be enough to protect Bella?

"Yes I do," she rebutted, pressing her face into my rock-hard chest. "I know you couldn't hurt me if you wanted to." I hoped, for her sake, that she was right.

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BELLA

I knew, that if I lived to be a thousand years old, I would never get used to Edward being a… vampire. I also knew that I could not exist without him, either. In a short five weeks, he had become my other half. So, whether he was a vampire, a snake, or the boogie man, Edward was permanently with me.

"So, is there anything else I should know about the whole… vampire thing?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light and teasing.

"Well…" He looked uneasily at me, tightening his arm around my shoulder. I snuggled deeper into his chest, pulling the blanket with me.

"Well?"

"I… some of us… have gifts…" he said.

"Some of us as in…?"

"Emmett… and my sisters, Alice and Rosalie… you haven't met them yet but…"

"Emmett, too, huh?" I grinned. "I knew there was something special about him. He's not exactly… normal, in case you haven't noticed. But I had no idea you had sisters. And when you say gifts, do you mean…"

"Well… it's mainly Alice and I… I can… read people's thoughts…" he said.

I gasped. "That's incredible, Edward!"

"I suppose it's pretty handy. And Alice, she can see the future," he continued.

"Astounding," I whispered. "But… if you could read my mind all along… then why did you…"

"Actually, that's just it, Bella," he interrupted. "I can't read your mind. There's something special about you… I can't quite put my finger on it… but…"

"Wow. Something special about me. That's a new one," I sighed bitterly. I had, and always would be, plain in comparison to Edward.

Before I knew it, his hands were encircling my face, his lips crushed against mine. "Bella Swan, you are the most unbelievably special person I've ever met."

I was beaming. I could feel it. After all, it's not every day that someone as breathtakingly gorgeous as Edward Cullen tells you that you're special. "Whatever you say, Edward."

"It's true," he assured me. "Any more… questions you would like me to answer?" I bit my lip. "Alright, I can see the curiosity in your eyes, Bella. You're not that hard to read. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

"Well…" I started, unsure of how to phrase the inevitable question. "I was just wondering… you know… what… you guys… eat…"

A/N: Cliff hanger. Dun, dun, duuuuuuunnn. Haha. If you review, I will update. It's as easy as that. So make sure to leave a quick little comment on your way through. Thank you,

C.J.