Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Three

"We're going hiking?" I nervously eyed the white cotton socks and expensive-looking hiking boots that Edward was holding out to me. Hiking…the least likely of all the things I'd have guessed he wanted to do today. I would have preferred to hide in his room for the rest of the day, but his mouth was set into a gentle smile, encouraging me even as he tucked the socks and boots into my hands. He had to know that I wasn't exactly the outdoorsy type…I would probably sprain my ankle in the first five minutes.

"Not hiking, but we are going for a walk which will happen to take us through the woods. It's only for a few miles, and I can carry you if you get tired."

The boots fit perfectly, of course. "Alice?" I asked, lacing them up.

"No, actually I picked those out." He looked pleased with himself. "Peeking into your closet to check your shoe size was something I was quite capable of doing on my own."

I shook my head, wondering exactly what other little details he was privy to. "So where are we going, then?"

"It's a place I've visited for as long as we've lived here. Very quiet and beautiful, although not as colorful right now, with the season. In the spring, I'll take you back to see all the wildflowers that grow there."

I finished lacing up my boots and stood, sticking a foot out for his approval. "Am I okay?"

"Bella, you are so much better than just okay," he growled softly, pulling me towards him. We kissed for a moment before he reluctantly pulled away. "I suppose we should go before I change my mind and keep you locked in here for the rest of the day."

I laughed breathlessly. "By all means, then…let's go hiking."

He smiled and planted a kiss one last kiss on my forehead, his demeanor much more relaxed and playful than it had been the night before. We descended to the main floor and he led me to the back door before stopping suddenly, a small chuckle escaping him. "I'd planned to do a great dramatic revelation later, in the proper setting, but apparently the weather isn't cooperating. Bella," he turned to me, "Would you like to see why vampires avoid the sunlight?"

I glanced quickly at the sunny swath of light between the house and the garage, then eyed him cautiously. "You're not going to…burn or explode or anything like that are you?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "No, nothing that dramatic, although it's obvious enough that we always deliberately seek out overcast places to live, why we always skipped school on sunny days."

"I've seen you in the sunlight," I objected.

"No, you've seen me in the daylight. Indirect overcast light is very different from direct sunlight, but I'll let the effect speak for itself. After you?" He opened the back door and politely gestured for me to proceed. I took a deep breath and stepped outside, walked to the point where the sun shone down brightest on the driveway, and then stopped. "Can I turn around?"

"Whenever you're ready."

I wasn't quite sure what I expected…for him to have suddenly been rendered invisible, or wrapped up in a dark cloak away from the sun's rays perhaps. I certainly didn't expect the brilliance that met my eyes.

Edward stood only a step or two behind me, his hands spread in a self-deprecating manner, his crooked smile in place. Only the skin on his hands and face was exposed, but it was enough: the sunlight glinted and refracted off his skin like quartz in granite, like a million tiny diamonds embedded in the marble of his skin. It was a stunning sight and I couldn't help but slowly move back to him, my hand reaching out to take one of his. I ran my fingers slowly over his exposed skin, marveling in the way the way the facets glittered and cast reflections of the sunlight back over me.

"Strange, isn't it?" his voice was wry. I looked at him; his voice was calm but his eyes were waiting for my reaction. I stepped closer to him and wound my arms around his neck, squinting against the sharp points of refracted sunlight as I gently placed a kiss on his lips.

"I guess I need to get sunglasses," I whispered, and in a moment his face was buried in my hair, his arms wrapped hard around me.

"Bella…you will never cease to amaze me. You're handling everything better than I could have ever hoped."

I pulled back a little. "Well…it's unusual to say the least. Does Carlisle have a theory about this too?"

At that, his face lit up, he threw back his head and laughed. "Nothing useful, it's obviously a side effect of our skin's impermeability, but we don't know why, or what evolutionary purpose it serves. Emmett's theory is that it gives our prey some warning on sunny days. You could certainly see us coming, at least."

"Hence the tradition of vampires only coming out at night," I mused aloud. "What else haven't you told me?"

He hugged me close to his side and we started towards the garage again. "I promise you that all of the stories about bats and garlic and crosses are completely untrue."

I giggled a little, this conversation was surreal. "Thank goodness for that, I'd hate to have to wrap my mind around you turning into a bat."

He rolled his eyes as he opened the smaller entry door on the side of the garage, again gesturing for me to go ahead of him. Just as I stepped inside I felt a quick swat on my rear end and let out a screech which echoed embarrassingly in the enormous space. Lights flickered on as I turned accusingly to Edward, but his smile was innocent as he shut the door behind us. I narrowed my eyes, not wanting to give him any warning, going completely still before I pounced at him.

As quickly as I moved, he was faster, catching me and pulling me up to meet his lips. I balanced on my tiptoes, threading my fingers through his hair and pressing my body closer into his. He groaned into my mouth as I wriggled against him.

"It has been at least five minutes," I murmured, "Since you last kissed me. I am feeling deprived."

In a heartbeat, he spun us both around and pushed my back up against the door we'd just come through. "Let it never be said that I deprived you of anything, my darling." His hips pressed up tightly against me, limiting my movements as his hands traveled downwards, coming to rest on my waist. He nuzzled my jaw, cool lips nipping gently at my skin, his tongue following. I let my head loll back until it rested against the door, one of my hands ran down the unyielding muscles of his arm, the other scratched his back and I whimpered when he licked my ear.

"I could make you come right here, Bella. Is that what you want?" His voice was suddenly low in my ear, gravelly with the need that swirled around us both. It was like a flash fire, the heat that surged through me at his words, made only hotter as his hips tilted deeper against me and I felt him hardening rapidly through his jeans.

"Yes," I gasped out, the thudding in my chest stealing my breath. "Edward, please…I need you."

His hands were making quick work of the button and zipper of my jeans, his lips still pressed close to my ear. "Say that again, Bella. Tell me how much you need me."

I groaned, so aroused that the words felt thick and heavy as I pushed them out. "I need you, Edward. I need you inside of me. Please…I want you so badly right now." Cool air hit my legs as my jeans were pushed down below my knees, panties following, kept from going any further by the hiking boots laced tightly around my ankles. I felt his hand move between us to unbutton his own jeans, slightly rougher in his urgency, and a jolt of adrenaline rushed through my veins. Last night and this morning he had been loving, tender, and considerate, lustful yes, but this Edward was different. He was more demanding, gentleness overridden by his hunger, his desperation to have me, and I liked it.

A surge of confidence went through me at the thought, I tilted my face to whisper to him as his knees spread my legs as far as they could go with the jeans restraining them below. "I need you so much right now, Edward. Don't make me wait." Then I bit his earlobe, hard.

He growled, louder than I'd ever heard him, lifted my body slightly to hold me against the cold door, then pushed into me quickly and without preamble. The sensation of so suddenly being filled sent an overwhelming shock of excitement throughout my body, made more so by the constriction of my legs. The jeans shackling my ankles allowed my thighs to part only enough to permit him entry, forcing my body to squeeze tightly over him as he plunged inside of me. I was pinned up against the door, unable to wrap around him or to even rise to meet his thrusts, and I finally gave up control of my body and its escalating pleasure to him. His hands wrapped over my ribcage as he pressed his forehead against mine, forcing me to meet his hot gaze, eyes pitch-black with lust.

"Tell me again. Tell me how much you want me right now. Show me what I'm doing to you."

I showed him. I gave up trying to articulate the sensations that were screaming through my veins, instead letting him see in my mind exactly what I felt. All the raw emotions: excitement, desperation, passion, exquisite bliss and most of all, my overwhelming need for him. The rapidly-building pressure low in my abdomen was squeezing the air out of my lungs, allowing only little pants to escape, dragging all sensation away from my limbs, leaving them tingling as he pushed me over the edge. I forced my eyes to stay open but my vision blurred as I gasped his name and gave up to the pulses of pleasure rocking me.

"Bella…oh…so beautiful, so beautiful…ohhhh…" and then it was on him too, his hips losing their established rhythm as he jerked within me, throwing his head back, groaning through his own climax, lost inside of the moment between us. After a moment his head nodded forward again, forehead against mine, lips pressed close.

"You make me forget that I don't have to breathe," he murmured, the movement of his mouth forcing my own lips to move soundlessly.

I love you.

A hand came up to cup my face as he kissed me, tenderly and without hurry now. "Bella…whatever you do…please don't ever stop telling me you love me. With your eyes. In your mind. Down where only I can hear you."

Never.

His lips, so gentle now, kissed each eyelid as I shut them.

"Mine," he whispered.

We eventually moved away from the door, his cool hands easily helping me to pull my clothing back into place. When we were both reassembled he gave me a long thoughtful look, then pulled me close for another kiss. "Just when I think I can't love you any more, Bella Swan, you amaze me all over again."

I smiled. "I enjoy every part of you, Edward Cullen."

He chuckled. "And I you." He settled me into my seat in his car, then was in his own seat in a flash. His face was relaxed with that peaceful satiation I'd already grown to love, and I gave myself up to the enjoyment of just watching him as he started the car and pulled quickly out of the garage.

"Where exactly are we going again?" My concerns about our hiking trip had receded; I knew that he wouldn't force me to do something that I genuinely couldn't.

"It's a meadow, well, more of a clearing actually. I found it one day while I was hunting by myself and it's been my own hideaway since then. I thought a lot about you there."

I smiled, I couldn't help the little thrill that went through me when he said things like that. "I'm sure I'll feel right at home, then."

"I hope so," he said simply, reaching over to take my hand in his. We drove in a restful silence for a while, listening to the quiet piano music he had on the stereo. I watched the greenery flash by without any pressing thoughts on my mind, completely comfortable with the tranquility between us.

Eventually Edward pulled the car to the side of the road, dirt and gravel crunching under the tires. "We'll be walking from here, love, but you can tell me any time you need to rest." I nodded and my hand went to the door handle but he was already pulling it open, his hand outstretched to help me out. He placed a quick kiss on my lips before pulling a bulging backpack out of the trunk and slinging it over his shoulders. I gazed out into the thick forest surrounding us…we were hiking from here?

His cool hand slid into mine and squeezed. "Any time you get tired, just say the word. I can carry you, or we can sit for a while, whichever you prefer."

I took a deep breath and nodded, prayed briefly that I wouldn't trip over some tree roots and humiliate myself, and followed him into the muted quiet of the forest. From the moment we stepped foot into the shadows he began speaking again, this time telling me about Carlisle and his long story, the history of the Cullens.

The dark forest floor passed under me as I slipped further under the spell of his voice. He told me about Carlisle's life, his loneliness, and finally the circumstances that set him across Edward's path in 1918. He spoke unabashedly about his first few years as a newborn, as he called it, and then of Esme's entry into their lonely orbit. Of his rebellious years and what they entailed, then his return to Carlisle and Esme. He told me Rosalie's story, then Emmett's. A brief mention of their first interaction with the Quileutes, then of Alice and Jasper's joining them. He spoke easily of the relationships in his family, his voice giving no indication of his feelings about being the only unmated vampire amongst them for so long. I found that my feet moved with unconscious ease as I listened to him, too enthralled to worry about things like tripping.

Eventually, we came to a place where I'd just finally noticed a slight lifting of the forest's shadows around us. He stopped and wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me close to him.

"Bella, this is my place, the only place I've ever truly had away from my family while I was at peace. I wanted to bring you here because it's all I have right now that is completely mine. I want to always be able to think of you here, just you and I. I want it to be ours now."

"Ours," I promised him. He smiled luminously at me, placed a soft kiss on my lips, then moved again, urging me forward with him.

"As I said previously, it's much more beautiful in the spring and summer, when everything is growing and the flowers are blooming. But there's always a sense of peace to it." We finally came to the edge of the tree line, stepping back into the warmth of the sun, into a perfectly round little clearing. We walked to the center and stood for a moment before Edward dropped the backpack onto the grass, the blades still remarkably green for being mid-autumn.

"It's so quiet here," I remarked. "Like a little bubble away from the rest of the world."

"Exactly," he agreed, casting another crooked smile at me. He bent and began emptying the backpack: there was a soft fleece blanket with a canvas backing which we spread immediately, a brown paper bag containing fruit, granola bars, and bottles of water for me, and a tissue-wrapped package that he set aside. We sat down, then laid back, he held out his arms to me and I moved into them automatically, laying my head on his chest. It was an unseasonably warm day, especially so in the sun, and soon I was drowsy. I was blinking back sleep when Edward finally spoke.

"You haven't asked very many questions of me, Bella."

"I've been organizing my thoughts," I yawned.

"This is a very good place for thinking."

"Yes." I was quiet for a short while after that. "I guess I have so many questions that I'm not really sure where to start."

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Of course."

"At this very time, yesterday afternoon, your world was completely different. You were cleaning your apartment, getting ready for work. And now, twenty-four hours later…"

I nodded against his chest, choosing my words carefully. "I don't want it to sound as though I doubt you, or your feelings for me, or the feelings that I unquestionably have for you. I was very attracted to you in school, Edward, you know that. But this has all happened so fast, I don't understand it. Not that I'm complaining, but it's a little overwhelming when I step back and think about it logically."

His hand began stroking my hair. "I understand everything you're saying, love. For me, the answer is much more straightforward. Not only have I had over a year and a half to build up to this moment, but my very nature means that such passion is normal. Vampires don't date casually and then gradually fall in love. Our attachments are formed instinctually and without reservation. After I realized and accepted why I was so drawn to you, it was like a puzzle piece snapping into place. When we find our other half, our soul mate, we become bonded to them in every way. We mate for life and that bond is unbreakable. We may have friendships, even physical relationships with others, but when we meet the one we're destined to spend eternity with…it immediately creates a bond that cannot be severed. To me, you and I are two halves of one entity now."

"So, the short answer is that it is your nature to form such bonds, so quickly?"

"Yes. For a vampire, it is completely normal."

"But I'm not a vampire," I whispered into his chest. "I understand why it's like this for you, I just don't understand why it seems to be the same for me."

"I don't understand it either," he replied thoughtfully. "If we had met while I was human I have no doubt that we would have fallen in love the old-fashioned way, and we would have ended up together then too. But your response to me now is very similar to a vampire's…I have no idea if it's normal, as I've never met a vampire who was in an actual relationship with a human. Esme and Emmett were both dying when Carlisle and Rosalie found them, there's no way to know what their reactions would have been under different circumstances. I wonder if perhaps you're being influenced in some way by my own feelings…you and I share a deep bond already."

"That sounds possible."

"Or perhaps it would be this way for any vampire who meets their destined mate, while they're still human. Of course it can't be discounted that humans are able to love deeply and passionately as well."

"I feel," I hesitated, "The only word I can think of at the moment is that I feel right. I'm not afraid of all this, I'm not afraid of how I feel. I trust that and I trust you. But it's as though in the blink of an eye everything inside of me changed, without me even consciously realizing it. It makes me happy, but I'm not sure if I'm looking at a different world, or the difference is all me."

Edward laughed a little and hugged me. "Twenty-four hours ago, if someone had told you that tomorrow you'd be madly in love with a vampire, and that vampire was Edward Cullen…"

"Exactly. It's as though overnight my mind flipped magnetic poles."

"Bella, I don't want you to ever feel that you can't tell me if you do feel things are moving too fast. I understand what you're saying, and it brings me nothing but the greatest joy to hear it, but at some point it may seem overwhelming for you. For example, when we go back to the house…my family already loves you. You may feel that you barely know them, but they've known for some time that we were moving towards this point, and they'll just pick up from there. They consider you part of the family already. Alice especially…and her exuberance is overwhelming even to us."

"I feel like we have a lot to thank Alice for."

"Yes, we do."

"I can't help but wish there'd been some way…I feel like we missed out on a year and a half of this. I mean, I'm very happy that I didn't end up dead, but I just think back and wonder what if…"

Edward laughed again. "You wouldn't have liked me very much, Bella, even my own family could barely stand me during that time. I was constantly obsessing over you, worrying all of the time about your safety, berating myself for posing the greatest danger to you while at the same time being selfish enough to want you anyway. I was not a joy to be around, to put it mildly."

"When did that all change for you?"

"Charlie's funeral," he answered promptly. "You mentioned before feeling as though magnetic poles in your mind had shifted…that would be a very apt description for me as well. When we are changed, to a great extent our personalities remain frozen along with our bodies. It is extremely difficult for us to change our ways of thinking, although it's easier if it's a gradual evolution. The world we live in today is very different from the world that I grew up in, the one that Jasper knew, and certainly the one Carlisle was born into. We have adapted because the world gradually required us to. But a sudden and immediate change is almost impossible for us to make.

"Up until the funeral, you'd seemed like a waking dream to me, Bella. Even as I saw you every day, watched you, worked to know you, you were a beautiful untouchable dream. I spent every moment thinking about you, studying you, trying to force myself to be better for you. I could have done it eventually, I know, but it would have been…" Here he paused, struggling for words, "Superficial. I was doing it for the wrong reasons, I was doing it for me. I am a selfish creature, I wanted to be able to hold you for my own satisfaction. Love you because it pleased me. I'd hoped that you would love me back, Alice assured me that you would, but all my actions were centered around my needs and desires. All I thought about at that time was what I wanted.

"At the funeral, you stood there looking completely alone even surrounded by people. Emmett and Jasper almost had to physically drag me away because I wanted to be there by your side, giving you every ounce of strength I had. I was ready to break into your house and declare myself that night, to stand between you and whatever pain or loneliness might threaten you. But it was Rosalie, of all people, who snapped me out of it. She was exasperated with my moping at that point, and finally said "Think about someone other than you for once, Edward. Do you really think that's what Bella needs right now?"

I smiled a little, imagining Edward's intimidating beautiful blonde sister standing up to him.

"Her words truly knocked me out of my own little self-obsessed orbit. I hadn't even remotely considered what you needed. I'd heard enough from Alice to know that you would love me eventually, and I suppose I'd considered it a foregone conclusion. Everything else was about me. Suddenly, I had to ask myself what you needed, what you wanted. What kind of man you would want me to be. And I realized that the man I was, even if I eventually became completely immune to your blood, was not the kind of man you needed or deserved."

"Exactly how is what you wanted different from what I wanted?" I queried, genuinely curious. Edward and I fit together so perfectly now, our actions and thoughts so perfectly aligned, I couldn't imagine our needs being too dissimilar.

He laughed and tugged me on top of him, where I sat up, perched easily on his stone pelvis. His hands came to rest on my hips. "Bella, if it had been entirely up to me, I would have wrapped you up in cottonwool, as the saying goes. I would have second-guessed everything, trying to determine if it was in your best interest. I would have been in your room every single night, making sure you didn't stop breathing for an instant, I probably would have carried you around everywhere like an infant, and I most certainly had plans to disable your truck so I could put you in something safer."

"You didn't…" I started, raising my eyebrows. He lifted his hands in a gesture of self-defense, his grin broad now.

"No, your truck's untimely demise last night was pure chance. Or fate, if you will."

"I like my truck!"

"In that case, give it to Rosalie when she gets back. It'll be better than Christmas for her, to find such a challenge waiting in the garage. She's very capable with cars."

"What am I supposed to drive in the meantime?"

"You can use my car, if you like."

That brought my thoughts to another question that had been bouncing around the back of my mind. "Edward, I have to go back to school on Monday. I have a life, as boring as it is, back in Port Angeles."

"Yes?" His smile remained calm and unperturbed, his fingers rubbing little circles over my hips.

"It seems very far away, after last night, but I like my life there. I'm enjoying my classes, I have another two months on my lease…" Here my voice trailed off because Edward was still smiling at me, although his fingers were now inching up along my waist.

"I'll take you back to Port Angeles, love."

"I guess…after what you just said about what you wanted…I thought you'd want me to stay here with you."

He shook his head slowly. "You're more than welcome to, of course, and to drive back and forth from Port Angeles. But is that what you want?"

"No. Or, at least, not right now."

"I didn't think you would. Our house is not normally as private as it was this morning, and I would prefer to have you all to myself for a little while."

I cocked my head to look at him, my lips turning up into a smile. "You make it very easy to love you, Edward Cullen."

"I'm glad you think so," he murmured, his hands now wrapped around my ribcage, his long hard fingers edging to the underside of my breasts.

"Does this mean you're willing to move in with me?" I wiggled against him where I sat astride his hips.

"I was hoping you would ask me to," he half-groaned, his hands twitching slightly against me.

"Will you spend the night in bed with me? It's only a double, but…" My words trailed off into a gasp as his fingertips moved firmly over the peaks of my breasts.

"There is no place I'd rather be than in your bed every single night." I could feel his arousal growing under me and my body responded immediately, my heartbeat speeding up. I slowly ground my hips over him, thrilling to the moan that came from his parted lips.

"Tell me you love me," I whispered. I didn't need to hear it, but I wanted to his watch his face as he said it.

"Bella…I love you."

"Tell me you need me." Placing my hands flat against the ground on either side of his head, I slipped my feet back until I was stretched out over his body. His eyes darkened as I moved over him, watching me as I slowly licked my lips. I'd never felt more beautiful in my life, seeing the reaction of the man under me.

"I need you. I want you. Please…Bella…don't make me wait."

My words from earlier. I made quick work of his jeans and mine, pushing them just far enough to be out of the way, easing back down onto him, holding my breath as the pleasure of him filled me and scorched every nerve ending in my body.

Afterwards, we lay side by side, his fingertips gently tracing the lines of my face. "You are a most remarkably resilient creature, Bella."

"I prefer the word insatiable, myself." I shivered a little as a cool breeze blew over us, the temperature had been slowly dropping throughout the afternoon and the sun peeked out less often.

Edward noticed, of course. "We should probably head back soon. I can almost hear Alice yelling at me from here, to get you back home. Before we go, though," he sat up in of those lightning-fast movements I was still growing accustomed to. "I have a gift for you, and I wanted to give it to you here."

I sat up more slowly, a little nervous. I'd never been particularly graceful about accepting gifts due to Renee's penchant for always buying something completely inappropriate or ridiculously over our household budget. I zipped up my jacket, hoping it wouldn't be anything expensive.

Edward turned back to me, holding the tissue paper-wrapped package he'd set aside earlier. He reached out to take my hand, gently placed a kiss on the palm, and then set the package on it. It was wrapped simply, just the tissue held in place with a ribbon, and I opened it to discover a beautiful leather-bound book. I ran my hands over the dark rich cover and knew that although it was unquestionably expensive, that I couldn't refuse this gift from him.

I looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Edward."

"It's a journal," he said softly. "It goes without saying that we are required to guard the secret of our true nature very carefully, and there is no one, aside from us, that you will be able to talk to about it. I hope that you will feel comfortable writing down your thoughts in here, when the time comes that you wish you had someone to confide in."

"I can confide in you," I murmured.

"Yes, at any time and about anything. But sometimes you may not want to. I will never betray your confidence by opening it ever again, after this time." His hands gently covered mine and opened the journal's front cover. There, written in his copperplate script, was a verse.

I love you, not for what you are, but what I am, when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,

but what you are making of me. – Roy Croft

And under that:

I will love you eternally,

Edward Anthony Masen Cullen

I ran my fingertips carefully over his name, too full of emotion to trust myself to speak. The love, the trust, that this beautiful man was giving me…without reservation or hesitation, wholly offering his soul to me…it was almost too much. What had I done in my short unremarkable life to deserve such a gift?

Edward's finger under my chin tipped my head up to face him. "I can hear you, Bella. And I hope that someday you will understand that what you are giving me is so much more than I could ever hope to repay. But I will spend the rest of my life trying."

My smile trembled. I love you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.

His finger stroked my cheek. "I love you, Isabella Marie Swan. Never doubt that you will hold my heart for all of eternity." He pulled me into his arms after that and held me for a while, until a stronger gust of wind rippled through the meadow.

"We should go, the last thing I want is for you to get sick and have that memory of our meadow."

He packed up the bag again in record time, gently re-wrapping the journal in the tissue paper and tucking it into the front pocket. I watched, trying to hide my shivering from him…I could almost feel the temperature dropping as we stood there.

"Bella, I think I should get you back into a warm car sooner rather than later. Do you mind if I carry you?"

"I wasn't looking forward to the hike back," I admitted.

He carefully helped to settle the backpack over my shoulders, then turned around. "Hop on then, if you please." I hopped and he caught me even from behind, gently boosting me up onto his back and wrapping my arms and legs around him.

"Hold on tight, and if you start to feel dizzy, shut your eyes. I run very fast."

I was glad he'd warned me about feeling dizzy, after a few seconds of seeing the dark shadows of the forest whipping past at impossible speeds, I shut my eyes and buried my face in his neck, thankful when the dizziness went away almost immediately. His strides were so smooth that I almost couldn't tell we were moving after that, and literally within minutes, we were back at his car.

"Wow," was all I could force out.

He kissed both of my hands before helping me off his back. "Running is my favorite thing to do. Well…second favorite now."

"Ha ha," I retorted breathlessly, steadying myself against the car as he pulled the pack from me, handing me the journal before tossing the pack in the trunk. "I guess I'll get used to it…after I closed my eyes it was nice. And you can't beat the speed."

"Indeed," he concurred, opening my door for me. "Are you ready to really meet my family?"

I hugged the journal tight to my chest, the rich leather feeling warm under my fingers. "Yes, I am now."

A/N - A sweet little chapter, letting Bella understand a little more about Edward and where he was coming from. Next up, let's meet the Cullens! And in case I haven't made it clear, the party was Friday night, this was Saturday. They still have all of Sunday before they have to get back to real life on Monday.

I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful reviews you leave, they absolutely make my day, especially when I've rewritten something a dozen times and have writer's block! Your kind words get my creative juices flowing!