AN ~ last chapter for today...man I'm tired...off to bed! I'd loooooove to wake up to an inbox full of reviews! C'mon three chaps ppl I'm sure you can think of something!

btw Edward's weirdly cheerful entry may seem a little bizarre (it certainly does to me) but that's what Steph and this story is completely canon!

Disclaimer: Twilight, Midnight Sun, are mine! (LOL nah I wish)

Chapter Nine: Exposed

Esme:

"STUPID IRRESPONSIBLE IDIOT!" Rosalie screeched as she threw the door open. "What a fool. What an inconsiderate fool."

"Rose, it was going to happen eventually," Emmett assured her. "I mean, come on. The guy's been watching her sleep for a couple weeks now."

"And if she's going to be one of us, she ought to-" Alice was cut off when her sister turned on her, screaming.

"SHE IS NOT GOING TO BE ONE OF US!"

Jasper entered the room, struggling not to smile at the twisted expression on Rosalie's face. She knew Jasper was manipulating her, yet she couldn't help feeling what he wanted her to feel. She scowled at him but said nothing, instead storming outside and sprinting off into the forest to take her anger out on an unfortunate boulder.

"What's going on?" I asked, now that the room was silent.

"She knows," Alice told me quietly.

"Knows…what exactly?" I asked. I looked around at their expressions and needed no answer. Their faces said it all.

Bella knows what we are.

"Oh."

I sat on the corner of Edward's piano bench, hardly daring to believe what I was hearing. This couldn't be happening. A few days had past since the incident in Port Angeles, and here I was thinking everything was beginning to pan out. I sighed. Poor Edward, I lamented as the sad final strains of Bella's lullaby drifting through my head.

...

I don't know how long I'd been sitting there when Carlisle walked in. He hummed quietly, cheerful as he usually was when he returned home from work. Only two steps through the door, his enthusiastic demeanor wavered. I hadn't come to meet him: instantly he knew something was drastically wrong.

"Esme?" he wondered, looking first to the kitchen, then to the living area. He saw me alone on the piano stool and rushed to my side. He knelt beside the piano stool, one hand on my knee and the other at my cheek. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"She knows," I choked. "Bella knows. About us."

"Oh."

He came and sat beside me, enveloping me in his strong, inviting arms. He was my sanctuary at times like this, and I his. I reveled in the warmth of his hold, but at the same time it made me sad: I couldn't help considering that this is what Edward and Bella almost had.

"I can't believe this," Carlisle whispered. "I so thought it was going to work. Edward was so committed...he loved her so much...he's going to lose so much..."

Silence fell between us again. There was no point saying it aloud. On matters like these, our minds and hearts were identical. We both knew what would happen now - I mean, how hard was it to predict? The girl would run, screaming, and Edward's chances with her, with love and ultimate joy, would be torn to shreds.

I hoped Edward had managed to persuade her otherwise, but this was a hope with very thin legs. Bella was smart, perceptive and stubborn. If she knew, she'd have investigated. Not to mention, Edward would face the challenge of lying to the face of the one he loved, about a dark, dangerous secret he had to keep to protect her. Could I lie to Carlisle, if he were human - even to protect him from something brutal as the world of vampires? Of course not. In fact, especially not. I couldn't hide anything from him.

I knew how reckless it was to place so much upon such a fragile hope, but part of me would not give up. For Edward's sake, I had to believe that Bella would not run. But she should. For her safety and, quite possibly, her sanity, she should definitely be running...

...Shouldn't she?

...

Early the next morning, Edward came in, wearing the biggest smile I had seen on his face in a long time. In less than a second, Rosalie raced into the room, grabbed him by the neck and shoved him against the window before he could get a word out.

"How-could-you-even-THINK-of-letting-this-happen?" she hissed at him, all in one breath.

"Rosalie, please," Jasper interrupted, making Rosalie smile as she let Edward go.

"You're evil," she said through gritted teeth, lips still frozen in a welcoming smile, eyes still glaring at Jasper. He smirked, and she roared with fury, breaking free of Jasper's influence for a moment.

"Curse this family!" she declared, running out of the house. Emmett shook his head, torn between sympathy for his wife and - as he put it - 'appreciation' for Jasper's trick. He chased Rosalie.

"I'm sorry," Edward said. His eyes glistened with passion and joy, and he was still smiling even though he knew he shouldn't be. "I mean…now she knows, for sure. I never meant for this to happen, Carlisle, I never meant for her to find out! I swear! It's not like I told her. She figured it out all for herself; she just…I had to say yes."

"Edward, it's fine. Really. She was going to find out anyway," Carlisle said, smiling for his son, though his shoulders were tense.

"She won't say anything," Alice put in.

"She's not scared, Edward," Jasper said. "Why is that?"

"I don't know," he replied. "But she's insistent on it. I don't know what's gotten into her. I mean, she just won't leave."

"You want her to leave?" I choked. Leaving every night to watch over this girl, tracing her around at school, growing less and less enthusiastic about every second away from her…and now he wanted her to give that up?

"Well…she should." Edward turned to me, examining my thoughts.

She means so much to you, Edward, don't you see? I told him, taking advantage of his attention being on me. She's staying for a reason. She loves you. Why else would she risk..? Edward's face changed slowly - clearly he was still anxious about the concept of Bella's changing - and he turned back to Carlisle.

"I tried, Carlisle, I swear, but I just can't do it any more," he explained. "She wants to be with me…and I'm getting more inclined to let her. It's stupid and reckless, I know, but I suppose I should have been expecting that…" he drifted off, and I remembered the glint in his eye that Bella had inspired: the gaze of first love that Carlisle still looked at me with. He's finally embraced it, I noticed with a smile. Not denied it, not reluctantly accepted it - Edward had finally opened his mind and embraced all these feelings. It was a lot to deal with; love was actually quite intimidating at first.

Not to mention, love with someone you knew you should be scared of. Bella Swan must be braver than I gave her credit for. Maybe it would be dangerous in the end but for now, I couldn't think of any happier news! My Edward still had his Bella.

Edward ducked out of the room, leaving us to ponder this miraculous occurrence, and returned a few seconds later in fresh clothes.

"Would you mind if I brought her over tomorrow?" he asked on his way out.

He nodded in my direction, already knowing the answer.