A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been struggling to find the time to post but I plan to get the next lot of chapters up in more efficient time.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Bella

The following day Charlie was already sitting downstairs, a mug of coffee and a paper in hand as I walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Bells," his gaze flickered up when he heard me enter. "How was Port Angeles?"

Oh, it was brilliant. I got lost going to a bookstore, stalked down an alley before nearly getting gang raped by a group of dunk arseholes all before being saved by Edward Cullen who I seemed to be forming an addiction to…

"It was fine."

He grunted in reply. "You get yourself a prom dress?"

"No," I snorted. "I already told you that I'm not going to prom."

"I thought looking at all those dresses with your friends would change your mind, don't all you girls like dancing and dressing up and stuff?"

"Stuff?" I raised a brow.

He waved me off. "You know what I mean, Bells."

"I know. But it isn't really my scene, and I thought you would be relieved I wasn't like most girls. Do you want me to be boy crazy?" I wiggled my brows.

His moustache twitched, "Fair point."

It wasn't long until he had to leave for work, I didn't mind. As I poured myself my own cup of coffee, needing it to wake me up, I soon found my mind wondering back to last night. I had woken up feeling sweaty, the damp sheets sticking to my skin and limbs aching as if I had been tossing and turning a lot in the night.

I didn't know whether to be relieved that I didn't remember what it had involved, or curious on whether it had been due to last nights near attack.

With the reminder of my savour, not that I needed it since Edward seemed to be on my mind constantly, I rushed upstairs before reaching for the brown paper back on my desk. With all the drama last night it had completely skipped my mind the reason I had been in Port Angeles in the first place.

Taking a seat on my bed, my previous intentions of leaving early in the hopes of catching sight of Edward arriving gone momentarily from my mind, I was flickering through the hardback book with a critical eye.

It wasn't until I got to the section on the un-dead that my skimming soon turned into intense reading. The rational side of my brain was telling me I was being foolish, stupid for even considering such a thing, and yet my gut wasn't telling me the same thing.

I listened to my gut.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood – supposedly, the ancient Quileute's tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest tress on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled to show me ow little sock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves – and that wolves are our brothers still."

But that wasn't the legend that Jacob had told me which my mind flashed back to, as if part of me was pushing me to learn the truth instead of shying away from it.

"You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf – well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"So, you see," Jacob had continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did – they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our land, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces."

The cold ones, no wonder that had seemed to familiar.

Moving to my laptop I had it booted up in seconds, glancing at the time only to see that even if I left now I would end up being late. I didn't see the point in rushing; I would only be missing Gym which wasn't exactly a major disappointment.

It was one site in particular that caught my attention, my whole body going rigid as a number of words made my blood run cold.

'Speed' – he always seemed to be able to be in two places at once, never being out of breath…

'Strength' – how his fingers had curled around the steering with such force the rubber had begun to crack…

'Cold skinned' – when I had touched him…

'Immortal' – how he spoke using old fashioned terms and language, his neatly scripted writing and intense knowledge…

'Drank blood' – his special diet…

I pushed my head between my knees, my breathing suddenly ragged and I found myself breathless. The very idea should have sounded absurd, but everything in me was telling me that what I had was indeed correct, that it wasn't some sort of imagination that I had just drawn up in my head.

He was a vampire, an immortal, a cold-one.

Did me knowing this change anything, though? I already knew that I couldn't let him go, every fibre in my being telling me that I needed him in my life in one way or another.

Jacob had told me according to the legends that they weren't meant to be dangerous, that they were different. So did that me he didn't drink human blood, or that he simply didn't scream danger even if he moved so predatory?

Then again, Jacob had used 'supposed' in the same sentence and didn't seem to believe them. But it had been a memory from a long time ago, when I was a child and I had been surprised when the memory seemed to suddenly bubble to the surface. Jacob had told me more of them, but since I had moved here to live with Charlie he had never brought up the 'cold-ones' again, even if he did ask me if I remembered anything he had said before.

Did he regret telling me back then? And if so, why? It was years ago.

It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that I wouldn't be running from him, that as far as I was concerned just wasn't an option. If what I had found out was indeed a correct assumption, and I knew it was, then had this been what he had been afraid of me finding out?

I lay back on my bed, my hands scrubbing my face as I thought about what I was going to do next. Confront him? Tell him I knew what he was? To be honest I didn't see any other way of getting around it. I wasn't going to ignore it; it felt too much like lying to him which didn't sit well with me either.

What I was sure on was that I couldn't lose him. That wasn't an option.

Pulling myself together I glanced at my bedside clock only for my eyes to widen when I realised I had missed the first two lesson periods of the day; gym and English.

Jumping up I grabbed my coat before hurrying down the stairs, being careful not to trip. If Edward as a vampire and I was going to confront him, I'd prefer not to be bleeding when I did.

I sniggered at the thought, relieved I wasn't freaking out but a little concerned that I was taking my realisation so well.

What I didn't expect was Edward to be waiting in the parking lot, pacing in front of his Volvo looking almost agitated. It was a look I had yet to see on him.

He was facing me before I had even pulled into the school property, but if he had more sensitive hearing I wasn't surprised if he had heard me coming from miles.

Turning off the engine I was out of my truck before he had the time to humanly reach me.

"Bella," he sighed in relief. "You were not in this morning and you were not ill, I was concerned that because of last night-"

I shook my head. I may have had nightmares, something even I wasn't completely sure on, but I wasn't worried. I think it was due to how protective Edward felt of me, how safe I felt even though he wasn't even human.

How could I be scared when I had my savour watching over me?

I didn't ask him how he knew I wasn't ill, it seeming minor compared to what we were about to discuss.

I turned around and walked away from him even if it pained me to do so. The parking lot wasn't right for such a secretive and personal conversation.

I knew the moment he realised I had put everything together, his features turning to stone, his hands in his pockets as his eyes seemed to steel further.

It made me wonder, did he think I would run after he confirmed it? That was what any sane person would do.

Did that worry him?

Why did the fact it did make me pleased?

He moved silently as he followed behind me, his intense stare making me shiver. Once we were deep enough in the forest I paused, my breathing uneven as I played with my fingers nervously in front of me. I wanted to be confident, but I knew that wouldn't be happening.

"You impossibly fast, and strong, and your skin is pale white and ice cold…your eyes change colour, and sometimes you speak like-like you're from a different time. You never eat or drink anything; you don't go out in the sunlight," I took a deep breath. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," he breathed against my ear. I shivered; he was closer than I had first thought.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

"A while."

I turned around. "I know what you are."

"Say it. Out loud," he demanded. "Say it!"

"Vampire," I breathed.

He was quiet. "Are you afraid?"

I paused, was I? I was fearful of the unknown, of what this meant, but of him? I could never fear him.

I slowly, cautiously took a step forward. However bold I wanted to be with him, I wasn't so naïve to push my luck. I didn't know his limits, and I didn't know whether I was already pushing them or not.

I wasn't about to press my luck, or his.

"No," I looked up to face him. "I wasn't lying when I told you that I felt safe around you, Edward. If anything, I'm scared you're going to leave." Leave me I added silently in my head.

The thought alone was almost unbearable.

"You should be scared, Bella."

I shifted closer, desperately trying to resist the urge to reach out and touch him. I ignored the rain; I ignored the cold and anything that wasn't Edward. He absorbed my every thought, every feeling…I wanted him, more than I had wanted anything in my life.

"And you shouldn't be real," his lips quirked. "There is a reason you make me feel so safe, Edward. I don't want to lose that, ever."

I tried to ignore the fact I had basically promised him forever, especially since forever to him was actually a possibility. Rather I concentrated on maintaining eye contact with him, desperately trying to portray with my eyes that I wanted this, that I wanted him.

"I will show you what kind of monster I am!" he spat.

The next thing I knew he had effortlessly swung me onto his back, my whole body tingling at where we touched, even though the layers of fabric. It made me question just whether I would be able to handle the sensations if we actually touched, skin to skin, if I felt as if I was in heaven by touching him through his thick coat.

A large part of me hoped so.

Reaching the top of what I guessed to be one of the highest points of the forest I was gently placed on my feet, Edward quickly removing his jacket leaving my jaw slack. I would be lying if I said I hadn't noticed his defined chest through his shirt before, it had crossed my mind many times…

.…and my dreams.

Seeing what he was about to do I step forward as he moved towards the sunlight. If what the myths said were true, then the last thing I wanted was for him to burn.

I realised as soon as he stepped into the light rays that instead he was ashamed of something different, something that revealed just what he was when the sun hit him.

"This is why we don't show ourselves in sunlight," he refused to turn around at first. It wasn't until I saw him start to unbutton his shirt that I felt myself grow hot under the collar. Was he really going to…? "People would know we were different."

When he turned around, it was the last thing I expected.

"This is what I am."

"It's like diamonds," I gasped, because that was the only way I could describe it.

His already pale skin seemed to sparkle brightly, the sun reflexing and rolling off his defined chest and any exposed skin he had revealed to my gaze. I was thankful for the shock of what was happening in front of me that I wasn't distracted with lust by how he had displayed himself for me viewing.

"You're beautiful," I breathed.

"Beautiful?" he cringed in disgust. "This is the skin of a killer, Bella" he looked away and it pained me that he felt such a way about himself, that he was anything other than perfect, inside and out.

I didn't know him well, yet, but I knew him well enough that he wasn't the monster he portrayed himself to be. No, he was anything but evil.

I shook my head slowly, "I refuse to believe that."

"It's what I am, Bella!" he spun around. "You deserve better than that!"

I hurriedly moved to stand in front of him, hating that he refused to look at me. It hurt.

"The fact you are even saying that, tells me you care, Edward" I reached out only to pause just before I touched his bare chest.

Fuck…it looked so pale, so smooth…

"Don't run from me," I pleaded.

Dark amber eyes locked onto my own brown ones, his expression unreadable. I took that as a sign I was going in the right direction.

"You are on my mind every minute of every day, I'm constantly questioning myself and just being around you makes me, it makes me feel whole!" I cried out in frustration. "I don't know what's going on with me, Edward. I feel my heart tightening when you aren't around, as if part of me is missing and it's confusing the hell outta me!"

Through blurred and misty eyes I saw Edward staring at me in surprise.

"You feel that?" I sniffed, nodding. "Oh Bella,"

"What does it mean? Tell me what it means!"

He shook his head slowly, but refused to break eye contact. "Come home with me after school," he told me. "Meet my family, and I'll explain everything. Please" he added as if I would refuse.

I nodded, my hand still reached out but not touching.

"Can I?" I asked hesitantly, not knowing whether he would refuse.

He stared at me before visibly bracing himself for my touch. "I belong to you, Bella."

Shivering at his words, his meaning, I took that as a yes. Hesitantly, slowly, I took another step forward before laying the palm of my hand on his bare and sparkling chest. Almost instantly I felt complete, but most importantly, I felt whole, I felt safe.

It was a feeling I hadn't felt so intensely until that moment.

"Oh," I breathed airily.

I felt Edward tense under my touch. Thinking I was making him uncomfortable I started to remove my hand and step away only to feel the cool skin of his hand pressing on the back of mine lightly, keeping us connected.

"I apologise," his muscles tensed and rolled under my palm, as if he was getting used to the sensation. "I am not used to being so close to the warm blooded," his lips curled into a familiar crooked grin.

I smiled; relieved he was attempting to lighten the situation.

"What's it feel like?" I asked curiously.

He seemed to think about it, probably trying to find the right words to describe it. "You feel warm," his lips trembled just slightly. "You make me feel more alive than I thought possible."

"And you'll answer my questions, if I meet your family?"

He nodded. "I did not-do not," he corrected himself, "ever want to lie to you, Bella."

Satisfied that he gave me his word that he would I dropped my hand reluctantly once he removed his own, his fingers gliding over the buttons of his shirt as he had them done up in seconds right before my eyes.

"Wow,"

He laughed. "I throw you onto my back and flash you up here in seconds, and you are impressed by something so simple," he smiled in delight.

I shrugged with a blush. "It kind of made me feel sick," I admitted sheepishly. "The speed, not you!" I blurted out encase he got the wrong idea. If him being half naked made me feel anything, it was the opposite of sick.

His arm was thrown over my shoulder in the next instant and he looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him. Was him hiding his true self from me that difficult for him? I couldn't help but hope that was the case.

Bending down his lips were just millimetres from my ear. "Close your eyes this time," he smirked.

The next thing I knew I was back on Edward's back and he was running through the forest at impossible speeds. I took his advice, clenching my eyes shut tightly as my arms wrapped firmly around his neck.

Was it just me or was he purring?

Reaching the forest edge he seemed to pause before gently setting me down. I blushed under hi intense gaze, shifting nervously on my feet.

"I adore this," I felt just the tip of his finger gently run my heated sheet. I shuddered, unintentionally leaning closer. He retracted his hand slowly, reluctantly.

Walking through the forest edge and back into the parking lot I momentarily paused when all of a sudden we were centre of attention. Had I missed the entire day?

Every single student seemed to pause and stare, whispering loudly. Could this get anymore awkward?

"You know everybody's staring," I muttered, just standing there like an idiot. Glancing up I noticed he was now wearing a pair of dark shade, and fuck me did they make him look that much hotter.

"Not that guy," he flicked his dead towards the right hand side of the parking lot where a curly haired boy stood with his mouth open. "No, he's staring just for me," he winked.

I couldn't help it, I laughed.

"I'm breaking all the rules now anyway," he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Since I'm going to hell…"

Leading me towards his car I looked down shyly at my feet as literally everyone still remained speechless. I didn't blame them, seeing me with Edward wasn't exactly expected to say the least, especially seeing the both of us coming out of a forest after skipping school together wasn't helping matters.

"Ignore them," I heard him mutter. Opening my door for me he bent down as I slipped in side, smiling more than I had seen him smile before. "You ready go?"

To his parents' house? I nodded nervously.

As he slipped into the driver's seat it was hard to miss the disapproving and confused looks of the rest of the Cullen's, my cheeks flushing deeper with humiliation when I caught sight of Rosaline's look of disgust.

I was suddenly second guessing my decision to agree so quickly, but one look at Edward's blissfully exited expression of introducing me - for whatever reason - to his family had me refusing to back down.

If it didn't go well, at least I could say I tried.

Un-beta'd so all mistakes were mine

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