Man, it was good she could sit for hours without the need to fidget. She felt like a nurse from decades before, doing a vigil for a coma patient. Every so often Carla would tiptoe past, poke her head in, and think about asking whether she wanted anything, before realisation popped upon her and she walked back off. Bella thought of Charlie, the Anti-Hoverer, and how much Carla and Rene were similar in that aspect. Enthusiastic, overbearing at times, hovering at random moments.

Stretching her legs before her, she stood and admired Scott's dvd collection. She'd never really spoken much to him, but he was similar to Jake in some ways. Maybe with hints of Emmett. Emmett could only really tolerate those as boisterous and weird as he was. The video games and movie tastes were definitely similar. Action, horror, thriller, no romance, no drama. No wonder the guys got along with him. She also noticed the distinct lack of vampire movies, perhaps the ones in which they burned in sunlight and slept in coffins. She had the same misconceptions of vampires in her own human years.

She heard a popping sound, and turned on her heal to find Scott, laying there, his eyes wide open. What she noticed about those eyes intrigued her, but not surprised.

"Stay still, you're safe," she assured him. He knew that was true, of course, the power would be surging through his body too surely to be ignored. She sat back in her chair, and leaned over to view his eyes. Sure enough. Like Renesme, before her version of changing, he'd retained some of his own eye colour. Renesme's were deep brown still, with only flecks of amber. Scott's were strikingly green, with a few flecks of red. Half and half, really, and eerily beautiful.

Bella only saw them for a second or so, before he dashed into a standing position.

"Scott, please, relax."

He stared at his own feet for a moment, and then his hands darted from his sides to hold out before him, looking at them like rapid aliens. Turning them around, he tested each limb, his eyes, his smell, and then stuck his head out of the open window, completely ignoring the other vampire in the room.

"How do you feel?"

He poked his head back in, his eyes wide and somewhere in between nerves and fear and excitement. "Im not sure," he began, looking away at the sound of another body in the house. "Not much different I guess."

Well, that was a start. Thirty seconds of being awake and he was still in the room. It was amazing that he'd not gone after his mother yet. Although, perhaps exposure to the vampire world prepared him in the way that it had for her…

"Look in the mirror, Scott," she advised, recalling again her first encounter with the stunning vampire she barely recognised as herself. She knew that he's be just as stunned. He left the room on orders, visibly a little confused by her words, and found the landing mirror. He stood before it for a few moments, still and lifeless, and then began tugging at his almost black hair, with hints of shiny golden-brown. His skin was paler, but held the life her own daughter's had retained. His eyes held him in place when he met them, and his hands froze.

"I know this is difficult, believe me, but trust me, once you get over the hunger-"

"Hunger?"

Bella frowned. "You don't feel it?"

He turned to her, but his eyes were far away, perhaps seeking out the hunger of which she spoke, like a foreign word. "No, why?"

Bella stared at him like he'd grown an additional torso. "Y-yes, erm," she began, struggling to recall the last time she stumbled over her words like that. "Scott, you've changed now. That means, you're as close to being a full vampire than anything. You should feel a hunger."

"Should, but I don't. Is that theory of yours certain?"

Although she was truly testing him, it was correct that in the first few days, he would feel something. That was when something like him chose; blood or not. Renesme, for Jake, chose not, but Bella was still able to recall the struggle, even around Charlie, her beloved grandpa. Looks like Scott had also chosen not.

"Is it dangerous? What would have happened if I'd felt it?" Scott quizzed, and bella mentally shook herself out of her reverie before looking back into his eyes. The red was, indeed, still there.

"I only have my daughter to compare you with, but yes. Its dangerous. That's why im here," she explained. He nodded, looking away and then back in a quick motion. "If that's the case, then why is Carla still in the house? If im truly potentially as dangerous as that, why keep my very human mother within a few feet of me?"

"She wouldn't leave, and it stood as a pretty decent test, evidently. You still regard her as your mother, whereas in the first few weeks, sometimes months, even their own children can be appetising to a newborn." Humans could be like an alcoholic chocolate to someone who was dependant, she added silently.

"But, I'm not a newborn," he countered, motioning his finger to make the point. "I've had this...whatever it is…in me all my life, and its been a gradual change. I know that now, because I don't feel much different to how I felt when I fell asleep." He glanced down at his own creased clothes. "Could have been worse, eh?" He observed, amused. "Least I don't have two fangs pointing out the front of a bald head."

She gave a short laugh, and, knowing he was okay, resolved to fetch Carla.

"Wait here."

…

The woman left his room, and the awkwardness instantly drifted off. He'd never really spoken much to her, just formalities, but she seemed nice. Understanding, definitely, because she was the newest of the bunch. Maybe that's why she was there; the distance between them made him easier to deal with, should he be out of control. In the few moments he had alone, he collected himself. He felt…odd. But not too far from normal. It was a physical thing, like the sleep he'd experienced had regenerated more cells than normal, like he'd gained extra strength simply by saving it, with interest. He turned again to make his way to the mirror, and stared at his face. He was thankful it was still him, thankful that he wasn't a toothy git with snake eyes or burning to a cinder in path of a single beam of light. He was able, however, to catch the particles floating within that beam of light, stretching right through his curtains to the side of his neck, pale and lean and muscular but still his own neck. He caught each particle as it clashed and interrupted the light, making new and unrecognizably vivid colours before they dashed away. Everything seemed to be slowed down, because he could see it, but he noticed no change in speed.

He was too preoccupied to notice before the two individuals standing at the base of the stairs, but a distinct breathing pattern sparked his attention. He turned, but didn't move further. His mother was frightened. He could see it, sense it, hear it and smell it. But it only made him sad, and less reluctant to move. Instead, he waved his hand in a quick motion. "Hey."

The Bella woman looked between them, visibly relieved for her defeated expectations. Carla, however, was still weary.

"Carla, it's okay. He's not dangerous."

That irritated him slightly; he wasn't exactly a giant bear at the top of the stairs. It didn't exactly help Carla, either, who was rooted to the carpet beneath her socks.

Silence had fallen, but its depth wasn't really noticed until the door went. Two quiet taps, and Carla and Scott flinched. Bella, however, opened the door to welcome Alenia, alone thankfully. He couldn't take anymore vampireness right now.

"Scott!" she exclaimed happily, and shot up the stairs to be near to him. Carla whimpered at how fast her movements were. "How're you feeling? Jasper told me that Bella text him to say you were okay, and that you didn't feel that hunger, that's great! How are you?"

He softened and laughed at his neurotic little sister, who had indeed become a little more accustomed to showing just how neurotic she was; almost as much as him. He smiled warmly at her. "In answer to the two of your questions, I'm fine. Bit weird but I'm fine."

"You've always been a bit weird," she observed, her eyes beaming. Scott revelled in the happiness she felt that he was okay, and when she took his arm to drag him downstairs, he followed suit. He followed until they were just two steps above the two women, facing him.

"Mom, he's fine, really."

"Yep, not like a gremlin at all."

Carla exhaled sharply, as though she'd been holding her breath the entire time, and her eyes cleared as though a film had settled over them. Bella backed away into the front room silently.

"What did you expect then, some Hulk moves? I'm not quite sure I can turn green, but as of yet most of my knowledge of vampires has hit the fan. Ya never know-"

In a move even Scott didn't feel he was capable of matching the speed of, Carla threw her arms around his neck and dragged him over the last two steps to hug him. Ever the emotional one, he scorned, but couldn't ignore how it made him feel. He hugged her back, careful not to crush her.