Disclaimer: Don't own it, just get a kick out of writing about it. Thanks Stephenie!

AN: Again, my apologies for the slow update. Hopefully the nature of this chapter makes up for it!


"They want us to get along."

I was on my back, staring up at the multitude of stars blanketing the heavens. Next to me, Rosalie was stretched out in the soft grass of the clearing we had discovered a week earlier, her hands tucked behind her head. She was counting each pinprick of light in her mind, and continued to do so, ignoring my comment. I tried again.

"Rose, they're getting suspicious. We can't keep avoiding one another in their presence. Carlisle wants us all together."

She sighed loudly, causing me to glance over. She was still staring up at the predawn sky, but I heard her cease the monotonous tally as she finally answered me, albeit it silently.

I suppose it's unavoidable.

I continued to study her delicate features, noticing how her expression gave nothing away despite the tone of her thoughts. Such an actress.

"We just need to be civil – nothing more."

They want more than that, Edward.

She finally turned to face me. Rosalie's eyes had been steadily fading from bright crimson to a rusty hue as more gold flecks dotted her irises. The present color itself was magnificent – totally unique to only her, and honestly, quite captivating. But I really couldn't wait to see how much more beautiful she would become once they were fully amber. As she continued to stare at me, I found myself in a bit of a lugubrious trance, unable to look away even if I wanted to. My thoughts drifted back to the taste of her lips against mine, the feel of my fingers tangled in her long, blonde hair…everything about her was thoroughly intoxicating, yet my fascination morphed into perplexity every time I circled back to contemplate the force that irrevocably drew us together.

We must keep this from them.

Slowly, I nodded in concurrence, despite the fact that I was somewhat confused about what exactly we were struggling to hide. Rosalie repeatedly refused to talk about everything that had been happening – especially the day we quietly held one another up on the hill. I had replayed the scene in my mind dozens of times, trying to figure out what had happened between us to cause the unexplainable vortex of emotions, but I was at a loss to find a suitable label for the incident.

Her lips parted slightly as she took in a breath, her tone shaky. "He made me for you."

My eyes grew wide in shock from her blunt statement, and I felt my body start to shift as I unconsciously rolled to my side to face her fully.

"I…" Struggling to find the words, I paused, but then realized I had no idea what to say. Because Carlisle had made her for me, for better or worse. And we both had to live with that stark reality. "I never asked him to," I finally spit out lamely.

Rosalie sneered at me viciously before looking back skyward. "I know that. But it doesn't change their opinion – or their wishes."

"So because of that reason, you refuse to try and be civil to me in their presence?"

"It'll give them hope."

I rolled my eyes. "I've asked them not to push us together like that."

She sniffed, glancing over at me again. "But what do you hear in their heads? It doesn't change how they feel, Edward. I saw it in both of their eyes during the card game - they want us together in more ways than just friends or adopted siblings."

"Maybe they know something we don't."

Rosalie shot up to a sitting position, pivoting so she fully faced me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

I was torn completely in two – part of me wanted nothing more than to throw everything that had occurred between us out in the open and let the chips fall where they may. But at the same time I was completely terrified – I was incapable of explaining my feelings for her, even to myself. Did I really want to open that can of worms and force us both into an awkward and potentially volatile place?

My mind was much braver than my heart. I felt my mouth open, ready to tell her exactly what I had meant; but at the last minute I completely chickened out.

"I don't know," I uttered quietly, ducking my head in embarrassment and expecting a fair amount of harrowing wrath aimed at my inadequate statement to dispense from her mouth at any second.

But she said nothing. Instead, she reverted back to conversing telepathically.

I'm afraid, Edward.

Instantly, my head shot back up as I pushed myself forward towards her, reacting automatically to her anxiousness and filled with the sudden urge to protect her from anything in this world that could possibly cause her grief. I wrapped my free arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards me.

Just hold me like that day on the hill. Make it all go away…

Happily I obliged, pulling her head into the crook of my neck. I rolled onto my back, bringing her with me so I could wrap my other arm around her waist as I simultaneously buried my face into her sweet-smelling blonde curls. Once again, the energy started to flow effortlessly between every point where our bodies touched, warming the venom in my veins and causing it to race faster and faster. Instinctively, my breathing increased as well, consequently making me nearly hyperventilate as I sucked in deep gulps of her bewitching scent. After several seconds, I became faintly aware that I was rocking us back and forth as I continued to hold her closely; contently. And suddenly I realized with a painful jolt of clarity that I never wanted to let her go.

It was all so easy to exist like this – easy, and oddly comforting. I never had habitual, physical contact with anyone since I had lost my parents. Esme hugged me on occasion, even Carlisle from time to time…but it wasn't the same. Their touch didn't soothe my strained nerves, nor did it stop the torrent of ceaseless thoughts that barreled uncontrollably through my over-burdened mind. It wasn't uncomfortable – but it also wasn't something I craved…something my body yearned for.

Rosalie's touch was the complete opposite – ever since she first kissed me, and especially since that riveting moment up on the hill when the sparks between us became a tangible force, I had been thirsting for not only her attention, but her electrifying touch as well. The only thing more commanding of my attention was inexorable bloodlust.

As I continued to rock us gently back and forth, I felt her grip tighten on my back, almost to an excruciating state.

"Rose, it's okay," I murmured against her, placing a light kiss on her earlobe. Her grip didn't lessen, so I continued to nuzzle my face against her neck, repeating whispers of reassurance as my hands stroked her hair, comforting her the only way I knew.

I gave her a few minutes to calm before speaking again. "I'm here, don't be afraid. I'll always be here for you."

She exhaled loudly before taking in another shuddering breath, almost akin to a sob. Was she crying? I pulled back at once, just far enough so I could look into her sorrow-filled eyes. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, she just shook her head as she simultaneously closed her inscrutable mind to me. Although that cognizant action never made me happy, this particular time it felt like she was pushing me away altogether. My mood instantly reverted to a state of irascibleness, and I felt my jaw tense from the laborious onslaught of new emotions.

I continued to glare at her, waiting to see if she'd read the change in my facial expression and open her mind back up. Or at least say something. After all, she always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking at any given time. When she did neither, I felt my frustration mount to a breaking point, and I spoke before thinking through my words.

"What is wrong with you? First you refuse to discuss our relationship like an adult. Then you open your mind and heart up to me, inviting me in, begging me to hold and comfort you. But as soon as I comply and try and help you, you shut me out! I can't take this anymore!"

My vision turned red in absolute fury as I released my hold and roughly pushed her away. I am done with this – and with her, I told myself repeatedly. A snarl ripped through my throat before I could stop it, and instantly I was on my feet, standing menacingly above her.

"It's over."

Rosalie's eyes grew wide upon hearing those two words, and she jumped to her feet in a split second, hands on her hips. "What on earth are you talking about?" she hissed.

"I'm done with you. And I'm done with your deceit. I can't handle it anymore."

"Edward Cullen!" I fought back the urge to flinch as she spat my name out like vile-tasting ordure. "I have never lied to you, and never deceived you! Why would I start now?"

I narrowed my gaze – she was still blocking me from her mind. That could only mean she was keeping something from me. "You may not be outwardly lying, but you're not divulging everything either! You're playing more games – always games, Rose! You claim to be frank with me, yet you pick and choose when to let me into your thoughts, whenever it's convenient for you. I know you're hiding something!"

Laughter erupted from her throat, chiming through the forest around us and effectively silencing every breathing creature within earshot. "Hiding something? Remind me again why you continually insist that I allow you into my head at will? Tell me Edward, are you my master? Did part of the eternal arrangement Carlisle bestowed upon us include my servitude to you?" Pausing temporarily during her diatribe, she took a step towards me, pushing her sneering face to within an inch of mine. "Because I don't remember that significant, little detail during his speech!"

"You know you're hiding something. You refuse to talk about us!"

She took another step forward, now nose to nose with me. "Us? What about us? There is no 'us', Edward."

As my name seethed from her lips, she finally opened her mind to me, and nearly knocked me off my feet in the process.

I can't, I won't, I can't let him in. Stop it! You're stronger than this! Fight it, fight it, you know you can…he won't win, he can't win, it's not good, I'm not good…

Brusquely, I grabbed both of her arms, shaking her violently to snap her out of the mental spewing. "What's not good?"

It's not good, it's not good, you can't do this…

"Rosalie!" My voice thundered around us, reverberating through the saplings and undergrowth and visibly moving the blades of grass as if a rogue gust of wind had descended from the heavens. "What are you saying?"

She ignored me, teeth clenched in determination, her mind repeating the same thing over and over again. My head throbbed from the mental onslaught as it soaked in the acrimony that dripped from every word.I shook her again.

"Tell me what you mean." I lowered my voice, yet each syllable still reverberated with menace. "Tell me."

Her eyes unfocused, eyelids fluttering as she blinked several times before glancing over my shoulder. I watched as her jaw became acutely lax, yet her mind remained fixated on that infuriating phrase.

It's not good, it's not good…

I released my hold on her arms and captured her cheeks in my palm, forcing her gaze back to me. "What's not good?"

She shook her head, mouth still slightly open.

I can't do this…

"Tell me Rose. Please!"

Upon hearing her name, she stiffened, and seemed to stare straight through me to some unseen world past my head. I watched in awe as a million emotions flashed through her eyes all at once. I felt my lips part, preparing to ask her again what was going on in that numinous mind of hers. But before I could speak, she hit me with one last thought.

I just… can't…stop…it…

She threw her entire weight against me, crushing her lips painfully to mine and knocking me flat on my back. I was still cradling her face, and she jerked my hands away, pinning them above my head as she kissed me like she never had before. All of the angst and tumult and disgruntlement and dolor that had been plaguing her mind came flooding out, transposed into the most fervent passion I had ever witnessed up to that point. My mouth was still parted, and suddenly I tasted her inimitable nectar inside of me. I was so caught up in her ardent embrace that at first I didn't register the warm sleekness of her tongue slipping between my bruised lips. My mind ordered me to push her away and close my mouth against her assault. But something primordial that was buried deep within directed my body to react in a completely different and unfamiliar way. Instead of pulling back, I pressed further into her embrace and moved my own tongue forward, searching out some unattainable something that I couldn't begin to understand.

But Rosalie did understand. The moment she felt me reciprocate her visceral embrace, she opened her mouth further. Before I could stop, we were completely fused at the lips, fighting one another urgently for dominance as my rebellious body rose up to search for some strange sort of connection to hers.

I was entirely lost within myself, unable to form rational thought or analyze my behavior. All I knew was that I had to get closer to her - nothing she did was enough, yet at the same time everything felt so right and so inherently good. A voice within my head screamed at me to just let go – stop thinking, stop worrying, stop insisting on controlling every minute detail of my urbane existence. It directed me to forget all society graces and mannerisms that my parents, as well as Carlisle and Esme had taught me – instead, it told me to just subsist as a primitive being, acting on instinct alone. And my instincts at that moment were telling me to either submit or dominate. Give in to her.

Since she was indisputably the stronger of both of us, I finally abdicated fully, submitting to her control. She felt my muscles relax immediately, which drove her to tear her hungry mouth from mine and search out my hooded eyes.

"Why'd you stop?" she demanded, gasping for breath.

I tried to focus on her, but my brain was still deliriously nebulous and entirely beyond functional. Unable to speak, I forced my head up to capture her chin with my lips instead.

Rosalie pulled back again, causing me to unknowingly groan in protest. "Answer me!" Her voice was gruff and grating, but it didn't discourage me in the least. Instead, it encouraged me to push myself up even more, this time grazing her silken cheek with my tongue.

She froze in place above me, allowing just enough room for my upper body to bend upwards a few inches off the ground. Unconsciously, my covetous mouth traced a line of impassioned, open-mouthed kisses along her well-defined jaw, eventually leading back to the slight hollow behind her ear. There, I lingered, allowing myself to relish the honeysuckle taste of her creamy skin. Somewhere within the hazy numbness of my present existence, I felt her sigh, a slight tremble dancing through her taunt muscles.

"Edward." Rosalie paused dramatically, her throat contracting twice as she swallowed reflexively. "You never answered me." The resolve from earlier was now completely devoid in her words; no longer was she demanding an answer. Rather, she seemed to be reminding herself that she still needed some sort of reassurance for my lack of struggle. I continued to ignore her words, instead focusing my way down her neck, my tongue laving a trail of venom along her fossilized jugular.

I saw the familiar flash of a thought pass through her distracted mind.

I can't do this…

Reaching her prominent collarbone, I tried to tune out her contradictory thoughts, especially since her responsive body was telling me not to stop.

We shouldn't…

Finally, I pulled away, falling back to the ground beneath her and breathing heavily myself as I tried to focus my attention on anything but her beguiling face. The lack of my body pressed so intimately against hers distracted her from the spell, and she peered down at me, her face clouded with a mixture of discomfiture and avidity. I was no longer able to avoid her heated gaze. The apparent fervor in her expression left me temporarily breathless – the beautiful, blonde angel I had been surreptitiously coveting hovered just inches above me, her intoxicating breath washing down the planes of my face, causing me to shiver uncontrollably in sheer rapture.

We stared at one another for what seemed to be eternity - that inexplicable current of energy passing between us once more, and quickly growing to a frenzied state. Finally she spoke, repeating her question from earlier.

"Why'd you stop?" she whispered almost inaudibly. The sudden vulnerability in her voice was palatable, and struck a chord deep within my chest. At that very moment, I felt my entire existence bend on its steadfast axis of familiarity, routine, and discretion. And as terrifying of an event as that was, the predominant emotion coursing through my body was the complete opposite of what I expected – exhilaration. I felt alive again, and in the same instant that I thrust myself back up into her warm, enticing body, I answered her breathlessly.

"I'm not stopping."


AN: Thanks again to everyone who bid in the "Support Stacie" auction – and to the winner, Irodriquez! As always, reviews are appreciated – thanks!