EDITED, RE POSTED JAN 22

Title: Twisted Twilight
Author: Midnight
Beta: Moonlite
Synopses: A different version of Twilight. What if Renee never married Phil, but John Reed, a local cop. John is actually an alcoholic, and is abusive to Bella and Renee. It's after a brutal attack, that Bella decides to go to Forks to live with her Father. As Bella's life experiences have changed, so has our beloved story. See how!
Rating: T

Chapter: Eight
Chapter Title: Blood Type
Warning: Includes mention of violence, and rape.
Authors Note: Hello everyone, hope you enjoyed your weekend. I'm sorry about the delay with the chapters, I know it's pain and I'm sorry, but school comes first. I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed; I've beaten my old record of 72! Every review means so much to me, I hope you all know that. And to those of you who have reviewed to every chapter; you're all fantastic. And to the new readers, welcome, I hope you're enjoying the story.
A couple of reviews have said that you're not sure whose version is better, mine or the original. I just want to say that, that is the biggest compliment you could possible give me; thank you so much. But, it's also easy when you've got good material ;).
Special Thanks: Suuz112, Nekokitten1123, Crystallized Hope, Emazuelle, dolphingirl79, McPatty, -Azn-Grl-Twilight-Fan-, RoryAceHayden147, A is for Angel, Drama Kagome, mikan kisses, Liebe Leben, NinjaHandyMan08, elemental13m Gothic Saku-chan, twilight wolves

I ran threw the classroom door, knowing I was late. Mr. Mason gave me a questioning look, but said nothing. My hair and face were soaking wet, and I was breathing deeply. "I'm sorry!" I said, hanging up my coat.

"Take your seat, Ms. Swan."

"Yes, sir." I hung up my coat, and stumbled to my seat. My hands were still shaking, and rather badly. It was at the point that I didn't bother even taking notes, I just listened. Or tried to, any ways.
It wasn't until the end of class that I realized Mike wasn't in his normal seat next to me. I felt a little guilty, but not enough to do anything about it. When class was over Mike and Eric were both waiting at the door to walk me to my next class, so clearly I wasn't completely unforgiven. Mike gained enthusiasm as he walked, talking about how the rain was supposed to take a break this weekend so the beach trip should be possible. I tried to sound eager to make up for the disappointment of yesterday, but I really wasn't that excited; it would still only be in the high forties if we were lucky.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked. Not to mention the sneaking suspicion that he had been in my room the night before last; which lead to suspicions that I was finally going crazy. My daze was so bad over the last two days, I feared that even Charlie had noticed. Maybe all of it was just a very convincing dream that I'd had, and I now confused with reality. Dr. Cullen had warned of me losing touch with reality. Was it actually happening? I mean, my insanity was far more likely then my appealing to Edward on any level.
So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I wandered in to the cafeteria. I wanted to see his face, to see if Edward was really his same old, cold and distant self, who I'd come to know over the last few weeks, or if he was the kind, warm person from this morning. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans- Lauren and Angela had asked other boys and they were all going together- completely unaware of my inattention.
Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerring focused on his table. I was right, I was going crazy; Edward wasn't even here today. Hyperventilation started to creep its way into my chest as my mind began to race. What the hell was happening to me? His four siblings were there, but he was absent. I started to rationalize; maybe he'd gone home? Or was outside? I followed the still babbling Jessica through the line, distort. I did everything I could just to appear normal- the same thing I'd been doing my entire life. I just got a bottle of lemonade, hoping the sugars would give me a boost. I suddenly felt exhausted.
Jessica and I sat down with everyone else, and finally stopped talking.

"Did you see that thing on the news last night?" Angela asked quietly. Suddenly the whole table erupted into conversation.

"I never really thought about those things before; but I guess that's what we get for living in a small town." Everyone chuckled. I looked around, confused.

"I don't really watch TV," I said. "What was on the news?"

"They did a feature on teenage depression in America. They talked about a whole bunch of things," Angela explained. "It was very detailed; took up about ten minutes."

"Yeah they covered eating disorders, different types of self mutilation, suicide, rape, drug use, and some other things. It was pretty intense," Eric elaborated. "And detailed. They even interviewed a few people."
My stomach tighten up, and my head began to spin.

"I think people who do those kinds of things are just stupid." Jessica said, rather bluntly. She was so insensitive to other people, that she didn't even see the extreme depression in the girl sitting right next to her- me. "What do you think, Bella? I mean, you probably saw that kind of stuff in Phoenix, right?"

"Yeah, it was pretty common," I shrugged. The walls seemed to keep closing in as everyone talked. None of them seemed to understand any of it; all them seemed to think people who let those things happen were completely idiotic. Small town mentality was crushing me.

"How about that one cutter chick- that was pretty intense. I mean, you've got to have a high pain tolerance to run a knife continuously across your wrist. She had so many scars though; I mean, you might as well just scream at the world about what you used to do. She'll never be able to wear a t-shirt when she's older," Mike babbled on about her, but I couldn't listen. I dropped my arms under the table, the multiple white scars seeming to burn on my skin, screaming at the world. I felt like everyone could see them.
I dropped my head, and tried to tone of the conversation out.

"She wasn't that bad- remember that rape girl? She had tried to kill herself, like four times," Lauren cut in.

"What I don't get, is why she didn't just tell someone," Jessica added. Her and Lauren broke into a side conversation. My heart was going a million miles an hour. Tell someone, like it's just that easy. Like people will automatically listen, and believe you.
Not when it's an important community figure.
I looked up in hope of comfort from the face of Edward Cullen. But he handed come yet.
Anger started filling into my claustrophobia. Abruptly, I stood up; if I stayed, I was far too likely to say something I was going to regret.

"I don't feel so well, I think I'm going to step outside." No one seemed to notice as I left. They'd gone back to the cutting, and 'how to recognize the signs' of severe depression. I couldn't breath. It was like being put under a microscope, poked and examined, but still unseen. I wanted to leave before anyone put two and two together.
Not to mention that all those triggers were staring me in the face.

The cold air ripped through me, shaking me to my senses. I was still shaking. Of all the times something this perfect had to come into my life, why was it now? Just another bitter disappointment to destroy me? Was he toying with me? Why couldn't I be normal for once in my damn life? Why did this shit have to keep piling up; I mean even if he was interested in me, which he so totally wasn't, why did it have to be now when I can barely go a day without feeling like my whole world is falling apart at the seams? Maybe it was all in my head, and I was just going crazy. Maybe all of this was just some twisted reality I was creating in order to calm myself or something? I mean, the mind is a powerful thing.
I had been so concerned with keeping my cool, and appearing normal inside that the full force of the conversation hadn't hit me. After a minute of standing in the cold, my whole body just collapsed from the pressure. I kneeled on the cold pavement.
I wanted to scream and cry, all at the same time. Memory's I'd long since repressed resurfaced with a force of a title wave. I feel forward on to my hands, my breathing turning into hyperventilation.
The coffee stain on my ceiling that I stared at an attempt to block out what was happening.
The cold, uncontrollable rage, which filled me.
The hole in my wall from where I had punched clean through the drywall, and fixing it.
His strong hand slapping me across the face the first time. The stinging sanitation which followed a minute later, and then the burning. My eyes stinging as I tried not to cry. The tightness in my throat as I fought to stay to calm.
The slap became a punch only weeks later. I remembered the strange feeling of landing in water when I hit the floor; the sign of a concussion. And the prickly carpet on my face, that felt distant.
My mother's hysteric cries as she attempted to tell me he didn't mean to hurt me.
The strange calm that fallowed running a blade along my arm; pain that made sense. Something I could control. The trickle of the blood as it ran down my arm, and dripped into the sink or on the floor, or me.
The desperation that consumed you when you couldn't cut, and you needed the release.
And the cold, silent rage that filled me, only to kill me.
The numbness. Nothing helping, nothing changing.
I stopped cutting, because it did nothing. I stopped cutting after the blood soaked through a bandage, and my shirt in the middle of an exam.
And fighting to get better, only to have that ripped away from me too.
Then Edward, holding me in my room after the dream.

A scream escaped from my lips as years of abuse exploded out.
I slowly rose to my feet, new rage filling my body. I walked over to the side of the building, and rested my head against the wall. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't realize that someone was standing with me. I had no idea when he'd walked out; had he seen the whole thing?
Very slowly I turned around, and leaned against the building. Edward Cullen was staring, his mouth slightly open, eyebrows creased. The rage was too fresh inside of me to stuff down and act rational; I needed to yell. "What? Come out to watch the freak show?"

"I-" He looked confused, worried, and even scared. "I don't think you're a freak show, Bella."

"That makes one of us," I snapped, bitterly.

"That conversation was bound to upset you, you've been hurt by people you where supposed to be able to trust. That can mess you up. That doesn't make you a freak show, that makes you human."

"Humans are social animals; I'm not. I've need to be alone in order to feel safe, Edward. I'm a freak."

"But it doesn't have to be that way anymore." Tenderly he stepped towards me, his arms outstretched.

"You want me to trust you?" The words where cold, and unemotional. He didn't realize I already did; I was leaning on him like a crutch. I needed him to keep sane. Either that or he was proof I was going insane. My head spun.

"I don't think either one of us have a choice anymore." He whispered. Part of me wanted to scream at him, hate him. But I couldn't; there was some strange attraction between us. It was almost unnatural. When he pulled me into a hug, I only pressed myself into him and hugged back, instead of pulling away.
It was possibly the best hug I've ever had.

"You can trust me," He said, his breath tickling my ear, "I'm not going to hurt you, Bella. I'm not going to lie to you, like everyone."

"Don't say that," I chocked, the tears starting to escape, "you've already been lying to me. Not to mention, you can do the worst damage of anyone."

"What do you mean?" His left hand started stroking my hair. "Are you talking about what happened in the parking lot?" I suppose he would have tried to pull away if I wasn't gripping onto him so tightly.

"No, I'm not talking about the parking lot. It's far more then unnatural physical strength, Edward. I can take a punch or three." He cringed as I said it; I hadn't meant to imply that he would hit me, but the cold anger had flashed out.

"It's this strange connection I have to you. I'm unable to lie, or hide. And for some reason, I innately seem to trust you, I talk to you about things I never wanted to think about again. I'm talking about the power you have with that, don't you understand?"

"Control," He chocked the word out like it was poison. "You're scared of the level of control I have."

"No, it's not control. You're not, and you've never, made me do something. I'm scared that this one good thing, is a lie." Part of me questioned why I was suddenly pouring my soul out of him, but it just seemed to make sense. Like I couldn't avoid it.

"A lie?" Confused colored his musical voice.

"It's like an extremely believable dream, or a hallucination. It's like my mind is so deprived, that I'm just making this up. And if this is real, and you leave, then I'll just be worse then I was before. I'm terrified of my own mind."

"Bella, I don't think I could leave." His tone was so honest, I didn't understand what he meant. It was like he felt the same way, like he was so consumed he couldn't leave. But that just didn't make sense.

"You're only lying to yourself. Sure, you could put up with it for awhile, but it would begin to get to you, Edward. Look at me; I'm a walking disaster, on the verge of a mental breakdown. I go day to day, attempting to keep busy to stop thoughts of suicide. You know why? Because death, is easy. Once it's done, it's done. But life; it keeps going, it keeps fucking you over, keeping ripping you apart, breaking you down, so you can't even recognize yourself in the morning. I don't know who I am anymore.
"I've been so hurt, so many times, by so many people, that I'm completely broken. It's gotten to the point that I walking out of lunch with my friends because I'm scared they're going to see the truth. I'm not like them; I'm not normal. I can't be normal, because I don't know what normal is anymore. Every time I think I've got things balanced, they tip.
"There's a part of me that can never show, a part that's just scratching to get out. The Bella Swan everyone here knows, is a mask, a show. And I can't keep doing it, yet I don't know how to stop. Because I've diluted myself so far, that even I don't know what's under that mask. All I know, is it's a monster.
"The worst part is that I came here to start over. To forget everything that's gone wrong, and I can't. I can't let it go to move on. I don't know how to stop. It's so bad, I've actually snapped. I'm have nightmares every night, I've just taught myself to stop screaming when I wake up so Charlie thinks I'm getting better. But it's just another lie. Just another game.
"I'm tired to lying, and fighting just to stay alive."

"I know what you mean," Edward responded after a minute. "We have more in common then you'd think. Just in a different sense."
We sat like that for awhile; entangled in each other. After about ten or so minutes, I stopped crying. And about five minutes after that, he pulled me away from him to look me in the eye. "I feel that by being close to you, I'm hurting. But by being away from you, I'm hurting both of us. I'm terrified of myself too."

"You always say that it's bad for me to be around you, and I'm saying the same thing to you. I'm broken, I'll emotionally exhaust you. What are you?" I asked, now thinking back to the parking lot. He smiled sadly.

"Does it really matter to you?"

"No," I answered, honestly, "I'm just curious. I think, you think, you're a bad person. You clearly keep telling me you're dangerous. But you're not bad. You wouldn't be here if you were."

"I hope you're right," Edward said, his voice full of remorse. A moment passed, then the door suddenly flung open again.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Mike's voice was low, anger clearly ebbing through.

"Yeah, I was a little dizzy and passed out. Edward caught me." Edward and I both stood up, while he kept his hands around me, as if to stop me from passing out again.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Edward asked, his voice laced him concerned.

"I am now."

Edward walked me back over to the table, Mike glaring at him the whole time. When we reached the table, I grabbed my coat and threw it on; I had been outside the whole time without it on, like a fool. With my luck, I was going to get sick from this. Everyone else was getting up to leave for class. Mike was waiting, but I instructed him to go ahead of us, and that I'd catch up. He was reluctant, but left any ways.
"We should get going." I said, pulling my bag over my shoulder.

"I'm not going to class today," he said, looking off towards where his siblings had sat.

"Why not?" the disappointment rang through me voice.

"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at me, but his eyes were still troubled.

"Well, I'm going," I told him. I was far too big of a coward to risk getting caught.

"I'll see you later then." He said, and looked down at his feet. I hesitated, torn, but the first bell sent me hurrying out the door- with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimeter.
I had been so concerned with being on time, that I ran to class without thinking about anything. I even beat Mr. Banner. Quickly I hung up my jacket, and shuffled over to my seat. Everything was in a daze, nothing making sense. What was going on between me and Edward was unbelievable. Was I just an extremely close friend to him, or did he have feelings for me? Would I be able to have a healthy relationship with him, or would I hurt him? Would I be scared of him? What if he wanted sex? I doubted that I'd be able to even think about that for at least a year. What I did know, was that I was need in some therapy. I seriously needed to get my life on track, because I wanted a healthy relationship with him.
When I looked around the room, I noticed Mike looking rather resentful, and Angela slightly in awe. I turned back to my table, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself.

I sighed in relief when Mr. Banner walked into the room, and yet was saddened that my lab partner was missing. Mr. Banner called the class to order, and put a couple small cardboard boxes on Mike's desk for him to hand them out.
"Okay guys, I want you all to take on piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator-" he held up something that looked like nearly toothless hair pick "-and the third is a sterile micro-lancer." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The brab was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped any ways.

"I'll be coming around with a dropped of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting on drop of water in each of the four squares. "Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with lancet..." He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.
"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." he demonstrated, squeezing Mike's till the blood flowed. I swallowed, convulsively, my stomach heaving. I'd never been bothered by the sight of my own blood; I'd seen it a lot. But other people's caused me to being dizzy. It wasn't even just the sight; but the smell.
"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears. All I could see behind my eyelids was the blurry image of my mother, and Edward laying in their own flood on the floor.
My eyes shot open, and anxiety began to creep in. Everything went black. This was not good.
"...red cross is having a blood drive in Port- Bella?" I heard the thunk before I felt it. Whispering voices seemed to far away, as I attempted to hold onto the little level of consciousness I had.

"Bella, are you alright." His voice was close, and alarmed. I slowly opened my eyes, but things were still foggy.

"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner," I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to lift my head. I was on the floor, surrounded by curious heads.

"Mike, give her a minute, then take Bella to the nurse."

"Yes, sir."

"Everyone else, please take your seats." Everyone dispatched. I was starting to regain myself, but I knew that I'd only pass back out if I stayed in here.

"Bella, can you get up?"

"Little help?" I held out my hand. Mike helped me to my feet, then placed his arm around my waist. I leaned heavily against him we walked towards the door. I would crawl if it meant getting out of that room.

"You weren't kidding when you said you weren't feeling well," he said as we made it out the door. The fresh air helped to clear my thoughts, but that just brought the nightmarish picture back to mind.

"Please, let me sit down," I pleaded once we were out of sight of the classroom.

"Easy," Mike helped me down the pavement. I felt my vision blur, and I laid down on the cement. "Wow Bella, you look green."
This was not my day.

"Bella?" a different voice called from a distance. He was concerned, and the tapping on the ground told me he was running.
Maybe this was my day, in a strange little way. "What's wrong- is she hurt?" I squeezed my eyes shut, and resisted the urge to puke.

Mike seemed stressed. "I think she's fainted. I don't what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."

"Bella." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieve now. "Can you hear me?"

"No," I groaned. "Go away."

He chuckled.

"I was taking her to nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."

"The image," I wined to myself. Realizing I said it aloud, my eyes shot open. I sat back up, and debated standing. My legs seemed to just shake at the idea.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Edward placed his hand on my neck to check my pulse. The electric storm raged through my body as his freezing cold hand touched the tender skin. A chill ran down my spine. "Sorry." He went to pull his hand away, but my hand stopped him. The cold was almost- pleasurable. It was the only thing in my mind I could focus on.

"I didn't shiver because your hand was cold," I said, unable to lie to his beautiful face. I blushed right afterwards.

"I don't understand." His middle and index finger searched for my pulse again, his movement very slow and cautious. My breathing became quicker as his skin trailed along mine, leaving a burning sensation. Either this was the best hallucination ever, or he was real. "You're heart is going a mile a minute. Are you feeling faint again?"

"You're really here," My vision was actually becoming slightly blurry again, "I thought- there's just no way. You skipped."

"It's very simple, actually." He moved his hand to my forehead to check my temperature. "I was sitting in my car, listening to a CD. You two stopped right in my line of vision. You don't have a fever, but your pulse is all over the place. Your breathing is off, to. Do you feel dizzy, nauseous or suddenly extremely tired."

"All of the above." I whispered, my vision fading more so.

"Any ringing in your ears?" I closed my eyes.

"A little. And spots to." My voice was distant, even to me. I knew all of the signs; I was passing out. Again. At least time it had enough respect to sneak up on me like a good fainting spell, one you can prevent, instead of smacking me in the face like the last time.

"Okay, lay back down." He placed his hands on my shoulders, and helps me lay on the cold cement. "I'm going to elevate your legs to help with blood flow. Try and keep your breathing slow, and equal. It's hard, I know- there you go. You need to keep yourself , keep breathing. In, out. In, out. Good."

"You sound like a doctor." I said a minute later, as the ringing stopped and my vison began to clear. I opened my eyes to see Edward with this gorgeous crooked smile on his face, like he was enjoying a private joke.

"Is she going to be okay?" Mike asked, desperate.

"She's fine," Edward placed his hand on my wrist this time. "Pulse is normalizing. Do you feel ready?" I nodded.

"Let me help you up," Mike insisted, and grabbed my arm. Before I hand a chance to protest, he ripped me to my feet, and my head suddenly became very light. My knees gave out, but Edward caught me with ease.

"The process of getting someone up one they've passed out, is a slow one done in steps. Other wise, they'll pass out again." Edward's voice was aggravated.

"My head hurts," I whined into his chest. He had the most amazing smell; I can't even explain it.

"It's from the sudden rush of standing up," Edward whispered lightly. "It'll pass in a moment."

"Is she going to be alright?" Mike asked, sounding defeated this time.

"No thanks to you, yes. Why don't you go back to class?" There was an unbelievable edge to Edward's seemingly calm words.. He shuffled me up in his arms with ease, and lifted me up. "Are you alright?"

"I think so. It feels like it's passing any ways." I mumbled. "Thank you."

"I just realized you're not wearing a coat; you're going to get sick! Let's get you back inside."

"Neither are you," I pointed out. Edward chuckled, then, very slowly, began to walk. He held out, away from his body- like I weighted ten pounds, and not a hundred and ten.

"So you faint at the sight of blood?" He asked. This seemed to entertain him. I moaned in protest of him increasing speed; his walking was making the nausea worse. "And not even your own blood."

"My blood doesn't bother me. It's other peoples; it's smell mostly."

"Humans can't smell blood."

"It's like rust and salt. It makes my stomach twist into knots." I mumbled. "But I'm a freak, remember?"

"You look absolutely awful, by the way."

"Really? Cause I feel great." The sarcasm was lost to my weak sounding voice. I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but ti was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside.

"Oh my," I heard a female voice gasp.

"She fainted in Biology," Edward explained.

I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter towards the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redhead front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung into the door and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited, but his face looked stern. Concerned. Strange combination, I thought.

"She's just a little faint," he reassured the startled nurse. "They're blood typing in Bio."

The nurse nodded and chuckled slightly, "There's always one."
He muffled a snicker.

"Just lie down for a minute honey; it'll pass."

"I know," I sighed. They nausea was already fading.

"Does this happen a lot?" she asked.

"Sometimes," I admitted. Edward coughed to hide another laugh.

"You can go back to class now," she told him.

"I'm supposed to stay with her." He said this with such assured authority that- even though she pursed her lips- the nurse didn't argue it further.

"I'll go get some ice for your forehead, dear," she said to be, and then bustled out of the room.

"You were right," I moaned, letting my eyes close.

"I usually am- but about what in particular this time?"

"Ditching is healthy." I practiced breathing evenly.

"You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a pause. His tone made is sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."

"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal with every minute.

"Honestly, I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned I might have to avenge your murder."

"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad."

"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said, cheerfully.

"You can't know that," I argued, but then I wondered suddenly if he could.

"I saw his face- I could tell."

"And you're good at reading people," I recalled. I chuckled lightly to myself.

I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand.
"Here you go, dear." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking better," she added.

"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up. Just a little ringing in my ear, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.

I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope stuck her head in.
"We've got another one," she warned.
I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid, and handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this."
And then Mike Staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephen, another boy in our class. Edward and I drew back against the wall to give them room.

"Oh no," Edward muttered. "Go out of the office, Bella."

I looked up at him, bewildered. "Trust me- go."

I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edward right behind me.

"You actually listened to me." He was stunned.

"You said we have no choice but to trust each other now," I whispered, even though the office was empty because Ms. Cope was helping the nurse. Edward's eyes became soft, warm. He smiled at me softly, and nodded. "And you already proved you can't leave."

"True."