Not much to say today, except thanks to CoppertopJ as usual, so I'll let you get on with it!

I ran through trees and bushes, not quite as unaware as I'd been when chasing my prey, but I still trampled everything in my way. I ran and ran, unsure of how far I had gone, only slowing when I heard footsteps behind me. Once again my newborn instincts took over, pulling me to a stop and turning to face my pursuer. I crouched ready to attack.

Edward appeared through the trees in front of me, still completely naked (as was I), his hands raised in front of him in a surrendering gesture. The haze of my anger dissipated enough for me to realise just how ridiculous I had been. How angry I had been over Edward laughing at something that really was quite funny.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to control the anger that still flowed through my veins despite my mind knowing that it was uncalled for. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense Edward standing very still a few feet away from me. After a few minutes, when I thought I had some control over the anger, I opened my eyes, looking at a very contrite Edward, who braved coming a few steps closer to me. When he realised I wasn't going to run anymore, he closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his chest, the shame of how I had reacted taking over from the anger, "I don't know what came over me." I waited for the blush to spread over my face, but it never came, would never come again. I had always hated how easily I blushed, always giving away my emotions and making it almost impossible for me to lie, but now, knowing I would never blush again, I kinda missed it.

"I'm the one who should be apologising," Edward said, lightly kissing my forehead, "You are a newborn vampire. Your emotions are going to be all over the place. I shouldn't have laughed."

"It was funny though," I said, tilting my head to look up at him, "If it had happened to you or any of the family, I would have laughed. I know that it wasn't something that I should have been so angry at. How can I know that, yet not be able to control myself?"

"That's what it's like as a newborn," he replied, pulling me down into his lap as he sat on the forest floor, "It happened to all of us as newborns. Rosalie threw a fit and destroyed the living room a few days after her change because Esme moved some of her things. Even Esme lost her temper with Carlisle at the slightest thing."

"I just hate feeling like this," I murmured, "I've never been a particularly volatile person. It's hard to grasp that this is what I'll be like for a while."

"It's not forever," Edward said, "But it will take a while for your emotions to settle. It's probably the hardest part, after the bloodlust. Tempering your strength will come naturally after a while, but the emotional side of things takes a little longer, unfortunately." He looked up into my eyes, his full of worry. Worry that I regretted my decision, no doubt.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy," I said, wanting to erase that worry, "Nothing worth it ever is." The corners of his mouth curved up into that amazing crooked smile of his, reminding me exactly why I was doing this.

"Ready to head back to the house?" he asked, "I'm sure the others are desperate to see how you're doing."

"Yeah, just one problem," I said, gesturing to our naked bodies, "I guess you didn't bring the clothes with you?"

"No," he laughed, "I was too busy racing after you to stop and pick up the clothes. It's just as well there's no one around for miles."

With that, we jumped up and ran hand in hand back the way we had come. I had always wondered how Edward had been able to follow a scent so easily, but now I could see just how easy it was. I could effortlessly pick out Edward's sunshine and honey scent lingering in the air mingling with my own freesia and strawberry scent. It was almost like a string hanging in the air, leading us back to exactly where we had been before my outburst.

Edward helped me dress, ensuring that I didn't ruin the clothes Alice had been thoughtful enough to leave for us. As soon as we were both dressed, we headed back towards the house.

~~~PS ILYF~~~

When we reached the house, the rest of the family were standing in the garden waiting for us. I looked towards Alice, silently mouthing a thank you to her for making sure we didn't have to return home naked. She smirked as she gave me a slight nod, acknowledging my thanks.

Esme and Carlisle approached us first, the rest of the family staying back so as not to alarm or frighten the volatile newborn. When they reached us, Esme tentatively held her arms out to me and I rushed into them, though I kept my own arms down, worried that if I tried to return the hug, I would hurt her.

"How are you, my dear?" Esme asked, lightly rubbing my back in a very motherly way.

"I'm doing okay," I replied, "It's all very overwhelming and I hate how out of control I am. My emotions are all over the place. The slightest thing sets me off and I can't do anything about it. Plus, I don't know my own strength. I'm afraid to touch anything or anyone."

"I can help you with the emotional side of things," Jasper said quietly, as I looked up to see the rest of the family had finally come closer, "I spent a lot of time training newborns and the first part of that was to reign in their tempers so they wouldn't all kill each other."

"And I can help with controlling your strength," Emmett boomed, "I was stronger than a normal newborn so it took me a while to temper my strength; so, I have some ideas on how I can help."

"Thanks, guys," I said sincerely, looking up at them both, "That would be amazing."

"Anything for you, baby sis!" Emmett exclaimed, and Jasper nodded his agreement, "We'll start tomorrow."

"Now that's sorted," Alice began, "How is it that you've been awake for hours now and Edward still hasn't shown you a mirror?"

"I had more important things to do," Edward said, rolling his eyes.

"I know all about that," Alice replied with a wink and I felt myself once again waiting for the blush to creep over my face.

"I meant taking her hunting," Edward grumbled, but Alice had already grabbed my hand and was towing me towards the house.

I let her guide me into the house and up the stairs. Just before we reached the main bathroom, she turned to me and said, "Close your eyes." I did as she said, before she led me into the bathroom, positioning me in front of the mirror.

"Okay, open them," she said, her voice hardly containing her excitement.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I wasn't excited like Alice was, I was nervous. What if I didn't recognise myself? What if I was the only plain vampire in existence? I knew that was a very vain thought, but I had always felt plain and boring next to Edward and now, I hoped to look like I belonged beside him.

I slowly opened my eyes, opting to look down, not yet ready to see my face, taking in my feet and legs first. I had always been fairly slim, but I could tell through the tight leggings I wore, that my legs were more toned than before. I shifted my eyes higher, taking in the curve of my hips and my slightly flatter stomach. I smiled a little when I noticed that my breasts were a little fuller than before. I had always been fairly flat-chested and, while it hadn't bothered me that much, I was still pleased at the increase in size.

I took another deep breath, gathering myself as my gaze reached my face. I gasped as I looked at the beauty in front of me. While I definitely still recognised myself, the venom had enhanced every aspect of my face just enough to make me feel beautiful. My complexion was completely clear, not a blemish to be seen. My cheekbones were more prominent. My lips were a little plumper, though the bottom one was still a little fuller than the top. My hair was more luscious, the mahogany colour was a shade deeper and richer. My eyelashes were longer and thicker, without the need for mascara.

The only thing that took away from my beauty was here to enter text. the bright red irises that stared back at me. I'd known that they would be red as a newborn, but the sight of them still shocked me. I missed my brown eyes, though I had always thought brown eyes to be boring and dull.

"Wow," I whispered, "I'm beautiful."

"You always were," a velvet voice said from the doorway. I turned around to look at Edward, seeing the truth in his eyes. He had always found me beautiful, even though I had never been able to see it about myself.

"My eyes," I said, looking up into his beautiful amber ones," How long?"

"A few months," he replied, "Animal blood takes a little while to dilute them."

"And you'll be even more stunning when they change," Alice piped up. Edward's eyes glazed over, a smile tugging at his lips, and I could tell he was watching a vision in Alice's mind of me in a few months' time.

~~~PS ILYF~~~

We headed back to our little cottage later that evening. We had spent some time with the family chatting about my first hunt. Emmett had been overjoyed that my first animal had been a bear and was convinced that it would now be my favourite, just as it was his. As night began to fall, the couples began to excuse themselves, all heading upstairs for some alone time and Edward and I left quickly. As we walked home, I hoped that I had been wrong and our cottage was far enough away from the main house that we wouldn't have to hear their activities.

I held back, allowing Edward to open the door to the cottage, and followed in behind him. I had been wary of touching anything all day, remembering clearly how easily the rucksack had disintegrated in my hands earlier and loathe to do anything that might destroy either the main house or our lovely cottage.

Despite how subtle I thought I was being; Edward clearly noticed my hesitance to touch anything. He took my hand gently and led me to the sofa, sitting me down beside him before asking, "How are you doing, really?"

"I'm okay," I answered, "Everything is just so... different. I can hear everything, I can see everything, I can smell everything. I struggled a bit concentrating on the conversation up at the main house because I could hear animals outside rustling through trees, see the dust motes floating in the air, and along with all the individual scents of the family, I could also smell the leather of the sofas, the wood of the furniture, even the fabric from my own clothes. I don't know how to tune it all out so I can focus on what someone is saying."

"You'll soon be able to tune it all out," he assured me, pulling me into his side, "Your brain has expanded. You can focus on more than one thing at a time now, but it's all so new that it'll just take a while for you to be able to use the full capacity of your brain."

I sank into his embrace, carefully keeping my hands and arms away from him so I wouldn't hurt him. His fingers trailed lightly up and down my back, gently grazing my neck each time they reached it. I felt every movement of his fingers in a way that I hadn't when I'd been human. My skin, despite being hard as granite, felt more sensitive. Every cell in my body seemed to light up as his fingers gently curled under my shirt. His fingers, now the same temperature as me, grazed along the skin of my lower back. Liquid heat pooled in my core and I could almost feel my eyes darken as something in my brain clicked.

All other thoughts left my head. A growl escaped my lips as I shifted quickly, pushing Edward down onto his back on the floor and straddling him, needing to be as close to him as possible. The room around us seemed to blur out of existence. Edward and the throbbing between my legs were the only things my mind could focus on. Within seconds, I had reached between us, removing the thin barriers of clothes that separated us. I looked down into Edward's pitch-black eyes as he stared up at me.

There was no preamble, no foreplay, my mind couldn't contemplate anything but being filled by my mate. I raised myself up before lining myself up with Edward's rock-hard arousal and lowered myself swiftly onto him until he was buried deep inside me. That feeling of being filled by him had always been amazing, but now that we were both vampires there was something more to it, our mating connection zinging through my body.

I lay my hands flat on his chest and began riding him hard and fast, watching his dark eyes drink me in as I towered over him. He gripped me by the sides, as he had done when I was human to help guide me over him. This time, however, I needed no help. My legs would never tire. I could go on indefinitely.

Every time I slammed myself onto him, I felt waves of pleasure radiating out from my core, through every cell in my body, reaching the very tips of my fingers and toes. Edward grunted beneath me, his face contorted in pleasure as we both neared our releases. Edward growled loudly as he emptied into me, just seconds before my own pleasure overtook me. Stars exploded behind my eyes as my whole body tensed.

It was a few seconds before my senses came back to me and I opened my eyes and looked down to see Edward grimacing beneath me. His face was no longer filled with pleasure as it had been just moments before, nor was it a sated, post-coital face. It was a face filled with pain. My eyes flickered to where my hands were gripping his chest. Cracks splintered across his chest, radiating out from where my hands were gripping him. Gripping too tightly.

In an instant, I was on the other side of the room, as far away from Edward as I could get in the small room. I had knocked over tables and lamps in my wake, but I couldn't even think about the damage I had caused to our cottage. All I could think about was the damage I had caused to Edward. To my mate.

Sobs wracked through my body, though no tears could fall. I'd hurt the most important person in my life. I'd always believed that Edward could never hurt me, that our mating connection prevented him from ever physically hurting me. But I had hurt him. I had cracked his perfect chest. All because I'd lost focus and allowed my instincts take over.

"Bella, love, it's okay," Edward said, getting up and slowly walking towards me, "I'm fine. I promise. It's already healed. Look."

I lifted my head from my hands, not really believing that it could be healed already, but sure enough, I could see no cracks on his chest. As he knelt in front of me, I looked more closely at his chest still expecting to see the cracks I had caused, but there was not a mark on him. As relieved as I was that there was no permanent damage, it still didn't take away the fact that I had hurt him.

"I hurt you," I muttered, "I cracked you. You must hate me." I lowered my head to my hands once again, unable to look him in the eye, to see the disgust and hatred that must be there.

"I could never hate you," he whispered, as he tilted my head up to look at me. I continued to avoid his eyes, staring down.

"Look at me," he said, his tone soft but firm. I reluctantly obeyed, staring into his eyes, readying myself for the hatred. "I love you. There's nothing you could ever do that would change the way I feel about you. I once flung you into a glass table. I threw you onto the ground, breaking your arm during the fight with Victoria. Did you hate me then?"

"You were protecting me from other dangers though," I said quietly, wanting to look away from him, but his hand held my chin firmly in place, "It's not the same." He sighed, but he had no argument.

"Can't you see the love in my eyes, Bella?" he said, his eyes never leaving mine, even for a second. I looked, really looked into his eyes, looking for the hatred, the disgust, but he was right. I could see nothing but love for me shining there.

"I'm so sorry," I said, moving to curl up to his side, but keeping my arms at my side. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close and resting his chin lightly on my head.

"You know," he began, "Emmett's done much worse than that during our wrestling matches."

I looked up at him to see if he was telling the truth or just trying to placate me, but I could see a small grin on his face that suggested he was telling the truth.

"It's true," he said, answering my unasked question, "I'm just lucky I have no scars from him. Small cracks heal quickly themselves, but bigger cracks or removed limbs require venom to heal properly and venom leaves a scar. Jasper wasn't as lucky. Emmett almost ripped off his left arm once. I had to use my venom to help stick it back on. That wasn't pleasant. For me or Jazz." He shuddered as he remembered.

We sat there for the rest of the night while Edward told me stories of all the antics he and his brothers had gotten up to over the years, particularly all the times Jasper had tried to exact his revenge on Emmett. I laughed at all the ridiculous stories, but the sight of those cracks in Edward's skin never left me and I vowed that I would not let myself lose control like that with Edward again. At least, not until I had learned to control my strength.