As you can guess from the title, Bella Swan shows up in this chapter. Before the story ends both Edward and Elle will encounter their canon love interests. How will this affect their relationship?

Chapter 30: Bella

2 days later

"Are you sure you want to do this, Edward?" Esme's eyes were wide with concern as they probed his. "You can take more time…"

"Yes, I'm sure," he patiently reiterated for the third time. "There's no reason I shouldn't go back to school; although I don't enjoy it it's important to our blending in here, and my absence already looks strange enough without prolonging it further."

"That's true; some teachers have asked me if I knew when he would be back," Alice commented.

Esme didn't look convinced. "I'm just worried about you. You seem to have recovered from losing Elle so fast that I can't help thinking you haven't really given yourself enough time to fully process it."

"Please stop thinking that." Edward glanced around the room at the rest of the family. "That goes for all of you - I wish you would all stop thinking about me 'losing' Elle. I haven't lost anything; I just spoke with her yesterday-"

"Over the phone, because she's in New York, not here with you," Rosalie interjected slyly. "Her job matters more to her than you do."

"Rosalie," Carlisle said warningly.

"What? I'm just saying that I don't see how their relationship can last like this."

"Well that's an opinion you can keep to yourself," Edward snapped. "I am going back to school tomorrow, and Elle and I are still together, and that's that."

###

When Edward returned to school on Monday morning, his first stop was the attendance office - he'd been absent for a week after all - where he lied his way through a series of questions from Mrs. Cope. Where had he been? What had happened? Why hadn't any of his siblings been able to say where he'd gone? And finally: "Do you know if Elle will be coming back to school as well?"

Edward's tongue seemed to freeze; he swallowed hard and said, "No… No, I don't think she's coming back."

Mrs. Cope nodded, not seeming to notice him choking up. "Oh, all right. I guess that's lucky - we've just had another new student join us, and if Elle came back as well there really wouldn't be enough room-"

"New student? What new student?" Edward demanded.

Eager to share the gossip, Mrs. Cope leaned forward. "Police Chief Swan's daughter, Isabella. The chief's wife left town with her when she was just a baby, and now she's moved back. She started here just last Wednesday."

"How fascinating," Edward said flatly. Really, he couldn't care less about Isabella Swan. She might be taking Elle's place in the school, but she was sure to be a poor substitute.

###

Isabella, or Bella as she preferred to be called, arrived in the biology lab and headed for the seat that used to be Elle's. When she looked up and saw that the other side of the table was occupied she stopped short, stepped on her own toes, fell and scrambled back up, blushing furiously. No one reacted with any surprise or concern - it seemed Bella Swan fell down a lot. She put her head down and scurried the rest of the way to her stool, dropped onto it and hunched up as if trying to disappear.

With her timid demeanor, lack of coordination, and understated outfit - she wore blue jeans, a brown sweater, and tennis shoes - she seemed to be the polar opposite of Elle, at least until her scent hit Edward's nose. She smelled like freesias and strawberries, and underneath those pleasant aromas he could smell her blood…which carried the unmistakable scent that marked her as an evolved human.

At first Edward felt only surprise - after more than a hundred years of not even knowing these people existed, the odds that he would be partnered with two of them consecutively in the same class had to be very long indeed - which quickly gave way to curiosity and caution. Did she know what he was too? How would she react? Was she dangerous? He listened for her thoughts but heard nothing. Everyone else's inner monologues came through loud and clear; he could even pick out mental 'voices' from the neighboring classrooms, but nothing from the girl sitting right beside him. Not knowing what she was thinking could prove inconvenient, but as powers went an impenetrable mind wasn't a very threatening one. He relaxed.

Feeling his stare, Bella glanced over at him, inadvertently looking straight into his probing golden eyes. Her face turned red and she immediately dropped her gaze to her book, letting her hair fall over her shoulder as if to shield herself from further scrutiny.

Edward looked away, which seemed to give the poor girl some relief, though he still saw her fingers trembling when she folded her hands on the tabletop. She spent the rest of class trying to get as far from him as possible without falling off her stool; he spent it surreptitiously watching her while pretending to be engrossed in the chapter review questions Mr. Banner assigned, an act that didn't fool her for a minute. As soon as the bell rang she jumped up and hurried out, mumbling apologies to the people she ran into in her rush to escape.

Edward took his time gathering up his things, then strolled out like he didn't have a care in the world. He didn't see Bella again until after the final bell rang and he headed out toward his car; that was when he caught a glimpse of her talking to Jessica Stanley. Hearing his name in their conversation, he stopped to listen.

"-Something weird about the way he stared at me," Bella was saying. "It freaked me out a little."

"I wouldn't read too much into it if I were you - the Cullens are always weird," Jessica said reassuringly, "although Edward's girlfriend seems to have disappeared, so maybe you should be worried if he's checking you out now."

A light pink flush tinted Bella's cheeks. "I don't think he was checking me out, especially if he already has a girlfriend."

"Well I don't know if he does anymore or not. Neither of them came to school for about a week so everyone thought maybe they ran away together, but now that he's come back without her I'm starting to wonder if he did something to her."

"Jess! That's a terrible thing to say!"

Jessica shrugged. "Like I said, the whole family isn't right. They have no friends and nobody's ever been inside their house. It wouldn't surprise me if they turned out to be serial killers. Oh my God, he's watching us right now! How creepy!"

Bella looked over her shoulder, measuring the distance separating them from Edward. "I don't think he can hear us from here. …Can he?"

Edward waved at the girls. Bella frowned and turned her back to him.

###

"She's like me?" It was eight at night, New York time, which was when Edward and Elle usually conducted their daily chats on the phone or Skype. Tonight they were using Skype, allowing Edward to watch Elle's reaction as he described his new lab partner; her interest was obvious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's almost like Forks is turning into Haven."

"I don't think Forks is that overrun with my kind - Bella Swan only makes an evolved population of one. What does she do?"

"She trips frequently, and I think she may suffer from idiopathic craniofacial erythema."

"I don't know what that is. Something with her face?"

"It means she blushes very easily."

"That's great, Edward," Elle growled, "but last time I checked blushing wasn't one of the abilities we typically look out for. Is that the best you can do?"

He grinned. "The fact that I couldn't hear her thoughts also stood out. I don't think you need to worry about her; she's quite harmless."

Elle had sat back in her chair, pondering what she'd just learned; now she leaned forward again, her nose almost touching her computer screen. "You can't know that for sure. I want you to keep an eye on her."

"I'm not your spy," Edward said sharply, "and I have no interest in Bella Swan."

Elle frowned. "You better not, or I'll have to fly down there and fry the little bitch."

"That won't be necessary." Boring though she might be, Bella seemed like a nice girl, and he didn't want to bring Elle's anger down on her. Elle would eat her alive. "If you're ever in Forks again I'd rather you come to see me."

"Maybe I will; they're not really using me for anything here, and I know other agents get vacations. I've never asked for one 'cause I didn't have anywhere to go, but I should be able to get time off too."

"Don't you think your father would put a stop to it if he knew you wanted to use your vacation time to visit Forks, though?"

"Daddy's leaving for some meeting with Mr. Linderman in Vegas next week. Who says he has to know?" She flashed a sly smile at the webcam.

"You would lie to him?" Edward was surprised but also pleased that Elle's loyalty to her father seemed to be wavering.

Her smile faltered. "I wasn't gonna lie, exactly - I just wouldn't tell him. That's not the same as lying…is it?"

He quickly assured her that it wasn't. It was a lie by omission, but he didn't want to make her reconsider sharing her plans with Bob, who would probably put her in a Level Five cell before he'd let her gain any degree of independence from him.

It worked; she didn't worry any more about Bob. "See you next week then."

"I can't wait."

"Well you're gonna have to. Of course if you need something to keep you busy till then, you could always check up on Bella."

"Your memory may not be as good as mine, but I know you remember me saying I don't want to do that."

Elle rolled her eyes. "So you've killed people, but spying on teenage girls goes against your moral sensibilities?" Edward's lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes hardened; seeing that she had offended him, she quickly backtracked. "Sorry, that was a little harsh. I know you don't want to hurt people anymore. You don't want her to hurt anybody either, do you?"

"You didn't see her, Elle - I doubt she would be capable of hurting anyone even if she wanted to." He sighed. "Is there no way I can convince you that she really is not worth your interest?"

"Probably not, but I am starting to wonder why you care so much. Are you afraid I'll do something bad to her?" she asked tauntingly.

"Are you saying you wouldn't?" he countered.

"Only to stop her from doing bad stuff to someone else. You may not think she's dangerous, but you didn't think I was dangerous at first, did you?"

Edward was forced to admit she had a point, but the next day as he watched Bella shuffle to her seat in Mr. Banner's lab he really couldn't imagine her posing a threat to anyone. Even if her ability was somehow dangerous, he doubted she would ever use it aggressively. "Hello," he said softly as she sat down.

She stiffened, then peeked across the table to check if he was really speaking to her. "Hi," she said uncertainly. "Is there, um…something you need?"

He silently gave her points for being tactful enough not to say 'what do you want?' even though he would have bet his most prized possession that that was what she was actually thinking. "We'll be sitting next to one another in this class for the rest of the school year, and since you seem uncomfortable with that arrangement I thought I should tell you that I'm not a serial killer. My girlfriend is alive and well in New York."

Bella's face went bright red. "Oh no, you did hear me and Jess yesterday! I'm so sorry, and I want you to know I-I didn't believe what she was saying…about you and your family…" She snapped her mouth shut, fearful that she had said the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, we're all well aware of what they say about us in town. We've become inured to the gossip over the years."

"Lucky you," she muttered. "I hate how everyone's been talking about me since I moved here."

"They'll get over the excitement of your arrival soon enough."

"I hope so."

Mr. Banner called the class to order, giving them no chance to talk further, but Bella already seemed to have let go of her misgivings about Edward - she didn't keep as much space between them as she had yesterday. When the bell rang, she gave him a tentative smile before she left.

Wednesday night

"My request for time off was approved and I'm flying to Seattle on Sunday," Elle announced when Edward answered her call, completely dispensing with greetings. She didn't seem thrilled by the news.

"So why do you sound unhappy?" he asked. "Having second thoughts?"

"No. They're only letting me out on the condition that I have a babysitter, so Bennet's coming with me."

"Oh." This was an unpleasant surprise - still, while Edward wasn't eager to see the man again, having him along was hardly the worst possible turn of events.

"At least he won't be around all the time - he doesn't want to sleep in a house full of vampires."

"But you do?" He had hoped she would stay with him but, aside from telling her she would be welcome in the Cullen house, he hadn't pushed the issue.

"I don't see the point in staying in a hotel when you have a perfectly good house. Just keep Rosalie away from me if you want to still have a sister when I go home."

Edward heard Rosalie scoff from downstairs. That won't be a problem - as if I would want to hang around the human anyway!

"Don't worry about her; she won't bother you."

"Good. And what about Bella?"

Edward sighed. He'd thought - or maybe just hoped - that Elle had forgotten her. "She hasn't massacred the town yet."

"Okay, then I guess I won't need to spend any of my time in Forks checking her out." Edward seemed glad to hear that. Elle smiled. She would keep her promise; she wouldn't go near Bella Swan. At first she thought capturing Bella might be a good way to earn more points with her bosses, although she didn't really need to - killing James had more than made up for her screwing up the Jeremy Greer case - but now she had other plans for the girl.

Next chapter: Elle arrives in Forks and she and Edward have a nice night together, while Bella has an absolutely terrible night.