Peach Scone- Hobo Johnson
Mystery of Love- Sufjan Stevens
Until You Came into My Life- Ann Peebles
"N-no, of course y-you should go," He said insistently, running his finger along the back of my hand. I shivered at the heat as he lazily spelled out my name with looping letters. "What is it l-like, I w-w-wonder?" He whispered, his green eyes surveying the room. I knew no one was paying us any attention, and certainly no one but Emmett and Rose could possibly hear us.
"What is hunting like, do you mean?" I clarified. He nodded, with each move a tousle of his bronzed hair caught the fluorescents at a different light, shining softly.
"Hunting, the h-hunger… a-all of it." His finger was still tracing meaningless patterns along the back of my hand. There wasn't much time left in the lunch hour, and I would be leaving Edward after this. I didn't want to leave him on such a morose topic, leaving hours between us for him to contemplate. But Carlisle had been right. If I wanted Edward to consider me a partner, if I wanted him to love me, he had to truly know me.
"It's more a thirst than a hunger, honestly. It begins as a dull burn in the throat that grows and spreads," I switched our hands, running my fingers softly across his palm. He shivered, but didn't draw away, "It's always there, too. But it's a bit different for Carlisle and me.
"When our kind first changes, that's when we're meant to be our least human, completely absorbed in our thirst. But when I awoke, I had family and friends near me." I thought of my friend next to me after I was finally able to move from the burning torture, holding the frail baby I had birthed. My only thought was of her, sickly after having a cord wrapped around her neck. The burn in my throat seemed negligible when there was a tiny, fragile life that depended on me. "I was didn't even really notice the thirst at first. It felt like a sore throat, I suppose. But the pain grew considerably, and I began to hunt.
"It's the only time we give ourselves over completely to our senses. Hunting is a completely primal experience. We're faster and stronger than anything else out there, so there's not a challenge. Up here, it's mostly deer or elk, and the occasional mountain lion or bear. Predators taste better," I smiled at him, spelling out I love you continuously on his palm, though I doubt he could make out the words.
He didn't seem nervous or upset about what he had learned. Only contemplative. He was a human who was always deep in thought, an unusual trait for their kind.
"Lunch is almost over," I commented, pushing his sandwich closer to him. Whatever it was, Esme got a great deal of joy out of making Edward and Alice a lunch every day, and they both seemed to enjoy eating it.
"Not f-for you," Edward said with a smile, taking a bite out of his food. I couldn't hold back a chuckle, and from across the room, Emmett barked out a laugh. Heads turned to look at him, bewildered that one of the cold Cullens was showing any emotion.
"Can h-he h-hear us?" Edward exclaimed, looking over at his sister with my siblings.
"We have excellent hearing," I confirmed as the bell rang. I gathered Edward's trash to throw out as he slid his bag over his shoulder and slipped his hand into mine. Rosalie would be waiting for me by my car, but I needed a moment.
I left Edward in our Biology class, promising to see him that night. But I waited outside, listening to the steady thump of his heart, hearing his even-keeled breath. I lived for that sound.
Rose was waiting in the car. She had the heaters blasting and heavy techno music blaring, and we screeched out of the parking lot under the direction of her lead foot.
We were home in minutes, the roads empty due to the hour, and Rosalie peeled through the driveway to deposit the car in the outer garage. We left right after, running on a straight pathway east to Mount Rainier National Park.
The world was a green blur around us as we sped across the land, our feet barely touching the ground as they carried us hundreds of miles towards our destination. Rose was leaps and bounds ahead of me, being the fastest member of our little family (though Emmett could outrun her if he used his strength to propel him forward).
I could see her golden hair whipping behind her as she sped forward, catching a scent and leaving me behind. I smelled it too. Just a herd of elk. I had no interest in that right now, I didn't leave Edward in the middle of the day for some deer to hardly abate my thirst.
I trekked further, jumping across the West Fork White River and becoming completely consumed in the smells and sounds of the forest until I smelled them. Two black bears.
I had no need to make a mess of things. Emmett and Rose liked to play with their food, fighting off our prey and pretending to be human, but I didn't want to prolong the suffering of any sentient being.
The kills were quick, and I drained them and properly disposed of their bodies. I could feel a little extra strength returning to me as the burning in my throat dulled. Rose was right. Three weeks had been long enough.
I stopped and drank three mountain goats before running off to find Rose, blood sloshing in my stomach with each step. It was clear that I wasn't feeding unless reminded to do so, so it didn't hurt if I overdid it on the blood for the time being.
Rose was waiting for me near the top of Mount Rainier, sitting on some rocks. The cloud coverage was low, so we could sit above the fog and rain and sun ourselves. I looked over at my dear sister, her skin glimmering and her hair fanned out like a halo as she laid still in the sun.
"Edward and Alice sure are different," Rose commented, her eyes still closed.
"Truly exceptional," I responded in truth.
"Bella, you know I love you, and all I want in the world is for you to be happy," Rose started, sitting up to look at me with her long-lashed golden eyes, "But I wish someone had said this to you and Carlisle when you changed me. Edward could have a long and fulfilling life ahead of him. He could go to college, be normal, have kids. So you're going to need to be one-hundred percent certain that this is what he is choosing for himself before you take him away from his sister."
She breathed deeply, then laid back down on her rock. She had said her piece on the matter, and she was completely correct. But I didn't want to have a conversation with Edward about changing him or not before we were on solid ground.
"Carlisle told you about the newborns, right?" Rose asked.
"Yes, he told me last night that he would be keeping track of the situation. I really hope it's not an army. I can't leave Edward." Even thinking about leaving him made me feel ill, like my chest was cracking and all the blood I'd just consumed would come gushing up my throat.
"Well, there was an attack last night. In Brinnon."
I sat up quickly in alarm. Brinnon was just a forty-five minute run through Olympia National Park to Forks. If I thought Seattle was too close for comfort, being on our side of the Hood Canal was far too close.
"It didn't look like newborns. Too clean, and someone covered their tracks well enough, so Carlisle isn't worried, and you shouldn't be either," Rose said confidently. But even a regular coven of nomads was troublesome news. I'd make sure to stay close to Edward until I knew they were gone.
"Emmett will stay with him until you're back," Rose promised, noting my worry and attempting to assuage it. Emmett being there was the next best thing to being there myself, being stronger and a better fighter than even Felix, the established strongman of the Volturi Guard.
I couldn't stay put any longer, though. The sun was setting over the volcano, casting a lovely orange glow over the forest below, but I just couldn't appreciate it without Edward. I trekked carefully through the snow, not wanting to wet my clothes so I wouldn't have to go home and change.
Rose ran back with me, choosing to run at my side, and we carefully navigated our way down Mount Rainier and through the forests back to Forks.
It was dark by the time we got to Edward's house. Emmett was sitting in the trees, keeping a watchful eye over everything, and I felt a sense of relief.
It was reassuring to have my family at my back.
"Hey, baby," Emmett called to Rose, jumping nimbly from his post to scoop Rose into his arms. She laughed and kissed him as he swung her around. I had never felt anything but happiness when watching Emmett and Rose, but I felt a little… jealousy bubbling up. It was so easy for them. Their touches didn't have to be measured, their feelings didn't have to be held back.
"That's a good guy you got in there, Bells," Emmett said.
"I know," I sighed wistfully, looking to his bedroom window. Emmet and Rose bade farewell before running down the street. I heard the Jeep engine start up, so Emmett hadn't even gone home after dropping Edward and Alice off at home.
I ran a quick lap around the neighborhood, then the house, searching for any unfamiliar scents. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
I peered through the window. Edward had headphones in, listening to soft, classical music with him eyes closed, his thick lashes casting shadows across his sculpted cheekbones in the dim light. He looked like a contemplative angel- out of place in a shabby and sparsely decorated room.
I rapped lightly on the window, not wanting Charlie, right in the living room, to hear. Edward didn't move though. He almost seemed to be sleeping, his heart was steady and slow. I didn't want to startle him or invade his space by just inviting myself in when he looked so… vulnerable.
Just then, Alice dropped a large book on the floor of her room, which sat directly above Edward's. Edward opened his eyes, slightly startled at the noise, but he then noticed me, and a crooked smile graced his lovely face.
I took that as permission to come in and slid the window open gently before slipping inside. It was early in the evening, but Charlie was already snoring in his chair, and Alice was in bed with a book.
"Hey," Edward whispered, "H-how did you g-get here?"
"I ran," I said. He always seemed surprised at my quickness, my otherness. I had perfected acting human after centuries among them- how they fidget, how they lose their balance, break eye contact, mumble, cough and sneeze. I didn't even need to consciously do those things anymore, it came naturally.
"Did Emmett behave today?" I asked. Emmett could often be highly inappropriate, especially since he now thought he had nothing to hide from Edward.
"Emmett is g-great. R-Really funny, which I w-wasn't expecting," Edward responded with a smile, holding his hand out for me to take. I gladly allowed his larger, warm hand to envelope mine, always desperate for any physical contact I could get.
"What were you expecting? A big, dumb jock?" I picked out the most common stereotype I heard of Emmett, and if Edward's blush was a good metric, I was correct.
"He m-mentioned something," Edward said softly. I internally groaned, worried about what dumb thing Emmett had blurted out without a second though. "He s-said you'd b-been alone all y-your existence. I w-was wondering why? How?"
I was prepared to answer the question, but it was just then Edward yawned. I grinned at him. It was such a soft, tender thing, watching him express his tiredness.
"Bedtime for the human," I announced gleefully, wrapping together the headphones he had left on his bed and unfolding the threadbare blanket at the foot of his bed. While it was warming up outside during the day, nighttime still brought a chill that could easily affect a human's fragile health.
Edward seemed reluctant, though he yawned again, cementing my resolve to leave the deep conversations for the following day, our date in the meadow, and I promised him as such.
"I'll see you t-tomorrow m-morning, then?" He asked as I opened the window. Charlie was still snoozing in his recliner in the living room.
"You don't want to sleep in?" I asked, "It is Saturday."
"D-Definitely not!" He exclaimed, pulling the blanket over his shoulders while still sitting on the bed.
"The same time as usual, then?" I asked, and Edward nodded in confirmation.
"Sweat dreams, Edward," I called as I crawled out the window. I was already in Alice's room, seated in the rocking chair with a book in my lap, when Edward replied.
"Good night, Bella."
The night passed quickly after that. Both Edward and Alice slept deeply and soundly, and by the time dawn broke, Rose was sitting on the bough of a large tree, watching over the house.
"I thought you'd want to go home and change, and get your car," Rose smiled down at me, clearly pushing her contempt for my relationship aside. I appreciated that. Rose was usually an inherently selfish creature, as was most of our kind. That she would put another above her strongly-held moral code…
My run home was quick. I changed into a white button down, fitted black pants, and soft-soled boots. I bounded downstairs to meet Esme in the kitchen. She had already set out a large blanket and one of Carlisle's jackets. She hummed as she packed the wicker picnic basket with all sorts of human food. There was fruit, salad, some type of mushy potato mixture, the steak sandwich that Edward had enjoyed so much, and piles of freshly baked cookies.
"Have a good day today, sweetheart," Esme kissed me on the cheek softly as she handed me the basket. I knew she loved mothering me in a way she had never been able to before, though I viewed her as more of a mother to me than she could imagine.
I deposited the supplies in the back seat and sped back to Edward. There was never any traffic in our sleepy small town, but on a day when the sun was due to be shining all day, there were certainly more people out and about than usual.
When I pulled into the driveway, the police cruiser was gone. I glanced up into the trees, searching for Rose, and her smiling face appeared from the shadows of the brush.
"Bella, oh my God," She gasped, "He is the sweetest creature on the planet!" She disappeared, but I didn't have to wait long for an explanation.
I could hear that Alice was still sleeping, but Edward was out the door before I could get out of the car to knock.
He looked as delectable as ever in dark jeans and a tan sweater. His hair was darkened by dampness, and it looked as if he had made some effort to comb it down, though the front of his hair formed a cow lick as it dried. But it wasn't his hair that caught my attention.
In his hand was a delicate bouquet of wildflowers, the kind that grew behind Charlie Swan's house. He had trimmed the stems and tied a blue ribbon around them to hold them together.
He locked the door behind him and quickly walked down the steps to slide into the passenger's seat of the car, still softly clutching the flowers. He had picked the most fragrant ones, and each flower was blooming without a petal missing. Sweetest creature on the planet indeed.
"This is f-for you," He finally handed me the flowers, blush spreading from his neck to his cheeks. His heart thumped heavily. I grinned wildly, unable to conceal my teeth as I usually did, and his heartbeat picked up even more.
"Thank you, they're lovely," I pressed the flowers to my nose unnecessarily, overwhelmed by the momentous gesture.
I reached to the back and pulled out one of the many water bottles Esme had picked (she was still uncertain exactly how much a human was supposed to eat and drink and erred on the side of caution by overpacking). I opened the bottle and poured some of the water out the window, put the flowers in the bottle and placed it in the never-used cupholder.
"Wonderful," I sighed, gazing at my flowers. Edward reached out to lace his fingers with mine, squeezing my hand softly. I looked up to meet Edward's gaze, getting lost in his depthless green eyes. "Absolutely wonderful," I sighed again.
Soft clouds still obscured the sun, but they would be clearing up soon. I made a point of driving slower than normal with Edward in the car, and we inched up the one-oh-one, thick underbrush soon replacing the small homes that Forks was comprised of.
I drove down the one-ten until the pavement ended, pulling onto the grassy shoulder where the hiking trail began.
"Hold on," Edward said as I turned the car off. I looked at him curiously, then smiled when I realized what he was doing. He got out of the car, jogged around, and opened my door for me, even holding out a hand to help me out.
The walk to the meadow wasn't bad. Edward had proved to be a decent hiker, always paying attention to where he walked and even holding back brush for me to walk through.
For the most part, we walked in silence. Occasionally, one of us would ask a random question that we hadn't gotten to. He asked if we celebrated birthdays or kept pets- a no to each-, and I asked about his grade school teachers and failed art projects. Apparently Alice was the only one with a gift for drawing. When I told a particularly funny story about attempting to get a dog and Emmett's insane adoration for the old mutt, Edward laughed, louder than I was used to, and the sound echoed back to us from the empty woods.
The air was warming considerably as the sun parted the clouds. This would be the first hot day since winter fell, the humidity cloying and heavy in the air.
Perspiration sprung from Edward's brow. It was only a light sheen, but he looked shiny and glowing, his skin flushed healthily. I handed him a bottle of water out of the basket I was carrying and we stopped for a moment.
I followed the bobbing of his Adam's apple with each swallow, feeling the wholly inappropriate desire to reach out and place my mouth on his throat. It wasn't even that I wanted to change him. I had managed to push away the pull to complete our bond because that was certainly not a priority at the moment.
Edward handed the bottle back to me to stow in the basket, then wiped his face before pushing his sleeves up past his elbows.
I had never seen Edward wear anything with short sleeves, though of course I understood why. The soft inner skin of his forearm was marred with lines of scars from self-harm and a few round burns from cigarettes.
We held hands the rest of the way, the walk getting easier the closer we got to the clearing. We reached the edge of the pool of light, stepping through the last fringe of ferns to the blooming meadow. It really was the most lovely of places.
I let go of Edward's hand as he walked through the meadow. He was perfect there, the sun lightening his bronze hair to an almost reddish color. There were all sorts of wildflowers- yellow, white, violet, and the stream that ran on the other side of the trees was loud and bubbling as the snow from the mountains melted. Edward walked almost to the center of the clearing before turning around to find me still in the shadows outside the clearing.
His eyes were alight with curiosity.
"Promise you won't run off screaming?" I called out loud enough for him to hear me.
"It w-won't hurt you, w-will it?" Edward asked, his brows knitting together in concern for me. If only he knew how physically unbreakable but emotionally delicate I was! I could jump from the top of the Empire State Building and be fine, but one word of rejection from Edward and I knew I would fracture into a million pieces.
"No," I promised, stepping into the sun.
I heard his gasp of breath, but I wasn't looking at Edward. I didn't want to see the disgust on his face. I walked over to him, not bothering to move at the slow pace of a human. If he was going to see me like this, he might as well see all of me.
He reached out and touched my hand, and I let him hold it up to the sun. His thumb rubbed warm circles on the cold, glittering skin of my forearm. I still couldn't bear to look at him. His rejection was moments away, I could feel it. This would be when the other shoe would drop and Edward would finally realize that he was good and kind and human, and I was not. I could never give-
He reached down, cupping my cheek in his large, warm hand, stopping all my thoughts in their tracks.
"Beautiful," he whispered.
My gaze shifted from the distant forest up to Edward. Standing like this, so close together, he towered over me. It was rare that I felt small or soft, but there, glittering in the sunshine with Edward holding my face and looking down at me… I felt protected.
We laid in the grass for a long while, not talking but not silent. The world around us teemed with life, from the birds twittering their songs of spring to the green leaves rustling in the soft wind.
I had folded up the sleeves of my shirt and unbuttoned the top few buttons, leaving more skin exposed for Edward to fully see the spectacle of my skin. But I made no efforts to appear human. Normally, I would be bouncing a leg, shifting my weight, and generally fidgeting as humans do. But if Edward was to know me, he might as well see my true nature first hand.
So I laid bare and still. Edward was sitting up on his side, one finger stroking my palm. Then his whole hand moved up and down the exposed part of my arm. His touch was wonderful, radiating warmth.
"What are y-you thinking?" He asked me, breaking our silence as his hand moved up my arm and past my collarbone to trace the outline of my chin.
"You can't imagine how good that feels," I sighed. Between sunning myself and the trail of fire that followed his touch, I felt almost warm enough to be human.
"I was w-wondering… about what Emmett s-said," His finger traced lower again, down to my exposed collarbone.
"Why I've been alone, you mean?" I clarified unnecessarily. Though my eyes were still closed, I could feel his nod in confirmation.
"There has never been anyone but you, Edward," I said honestly, "I've travelled throughout the world. I've met all different types of people from different cultures, both human and vampire. But I've never met anyone like you."
I sat up, finally opening my eyes to look at Edward. I wanted to convey all the emotional sincerity of my following statement.
"You're gorgeous, of course. But besides that, you've made an effort to know me, to understand me. I've seen how selfless you are to the point that you risk your own comfort and health to sacrifice for someone you love." I paused before continuing, searching his emerald eyes for any signs of doubt or fear.
"When we fall in love, it is a bond that is permanent and eternal. Most of our kind find companionship outside of love, but I've never felt that need. I've never felt anything like this before.
"When I first saw you in that lunch room, sporting that lovely blush, it was… as if my whole universe realigned. Everything around me went silent but for the beat of your heart," His brows rose in surprise.
"You c-can hear my h-heart?" I nodded, reaching out to place my hand on his chest, right over his heart.
"As if it was my own."
I moved my hand from his chest and reached over to lay out the picnic. As he picked through the food, I stood up.
"I can hear everything around us. The soft flutter from the wings of a bumblebee, the deer lapping at the stream two miles north, the scurrying noises of an army of ants moving the body of a beetle.
"I'm stronger and faster than you can imagine," I ran to the edge of the trees, grabbing the trunk of a relatively small black cottonwood. It took little effort to pull the roots from the ground, and I held it in front of me before crushing the thickest part of the trunk, my hands meeting in the middle.
I tossed aside the fractured tree, launching it outside the meadow so it wouldn't corrupt the beauty of the meadow, and moved back to Edward, appearing at his side in a moment.
He was sitting up, legs crossed, holding a forgotten strawberry in his hand with his mouth slightly open. I didn't see any fear on his face, but I was still waiting for that. I placed my hand in his free one, looking into his soft eyes.
The next five seconds felt like an eternity, but then Edward resumed rubbing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb, and took a bite out of the strawberry before throwing the stem out in the grass.
"Don't be afraid," I whispered, sinking down to sit close to Edward on our picnic blanket, "I could never hurt you." His heart was thumping heavily, and I knew I had, in fact, scared him. If it had been Emmett yanking up and crushing a tree, maybe it would have been less astounding.
I waited, but he still didn't say a word, only looked into my eyes and traced a finger across my palm.
"I'm really not dangerous. I've never hurt a human before, and I would never hurt you," I promised, flipping my hand to squeeze his.
"I'm n-not a-a-afraid of you."
"You're not?"
He shook his head and smiled softly. Then, his stomach rumbled softly, and I couldn't hold back a laugh. Of course such a human reaction would interrupt such a tense moment.
"Here, eat," I urged, pulling out a sandwich and handing it to Edward, "Esme loves cooking for you, did you know that?"
Edward unwrapped the sandwich and took a large bite out of it, humming softly in enjoyment.
"She loves taking care of people, and she so rarely gets to do that with Emmett, Rose, and me."
"Why d-do you call Esme y-your mother, if she's s-s-so much younger than y-you?" He asked between bites, staring at my skin curiously.
"Well, by the time Esme joined us, Carlisle and I had been together for about two hundred years. And sure, we were civilized and lived in a house and owned an art collection. But we weren't a real family.
"When Carlisle changed Esme, it was like she brought warmth to us. She made our house a home- decorating and adding comforts. But it was more than just the physical. She brought Carlisle out of his shell of self-doubt, and she showed me how much I missed being around people for more than just work.
"Carlisle has a theory that each of us brings a gift with us into this existence. When you becomes a vampire, everything about you is amplified and intensified. For Esme, it was her capacity to love."
Edward was listening intently, his brows furrowed as he thought about what he had heard.
"What d-did the rest of y-you bring?" An astute question from a sharp mind, but I didn't want to wholly answer it. I would have to hold back half the story- it was too messy, too gruesome.
"Carlisle is endlessly compassionate. Emmett is one of, if not the strongest vampire I've ever come across. Rosalie is stunning, even among our kind." He scoffed, but waited for me to continue. When I didn't, he prompted,
"And you?"
"My gift is… more subtle. And complicated."
"A g-gift of an air of m-mystery?" Edward joked, and I burst out laughing.
"You think I'm mysterious?" I asked, grateful for the distraction.
"R-Remarkably so."
"Really now? And Rose always says I'm too expressive for my own good."
"I disagree," His dropped his gaze to look down at the grass and flowers beside us, swaying softly in the warm breeze, "I f-find you difficult to r-read."
Difficult to read was a new one. My connection to my humanity meant that I wasn't usually as terrifying or predatory as other vampires, and thus people got closer, saw more of me. I wondered…
"S-So what is it?" He followed up, looking back at me, "Y-your gift?
I had promised myself I was going to be honest with Edward, to let him know the real me.
"I have something called a mental shield. It's easier to explain with an example," I began, "There's a man I once knew, a vampire, Aro, who can read every thought you've ever had with just one touch. But for me, he can't at all. Anything telepathic and non-physical can't get through."
Edward was quiet again, thinking. He had finished the sandwich, and I pushed the fruit salad towards him. I no longer smelled any deficiencies in his blood, but he still needed to gain a bit of weight.
"What o-other s-superpowers are there?" He asked, shifting the topic off of me. I happily told him about the unique gifts I had encountered throughout my travels and time with the Volturi.
I told him about Corin, with her ability to make those around her feel content and even happy, and Kate, able to psychically shock those who touched her skin.
He was enraptured, constantly prompting me for more. It was fun, telling someone about some of the most famed vampires in existence, like Chelsea and Marcus. He didn't need to know about the Volturi, but he wanted to know everything there was to know about being a vampire.
"Why d-does your skin d-do this?" He asked, holding my hand up to the sun.
"When we change, our cells transform. They harden and become more crystalline structures, and are thus refractive in the light, creating the phenomenon you see before you."
"And y-your eyes? Y-Yesterday, and most d-days, y-your eyes are black."
I blinked, surprised. Of course, I knew he noticed the eye color change. I spent too much time staring at him for him not to notice such a stark change. And with all humans, they would notice. Emmett and Rose could get away with not hunting and having no one notice the physiological signs of their hunger, but I was too approachable, too friendly, and people felt comfortable looking me in the face and coming close to me.
"Red marks the irises of vampires who feed on humans- the sign of a true and dangerous predator. Our golden eyes are an anomaly amongst our kind, indicative of our abstention. The black comes from thirst. I hadn't hunted for three weeks until yesterday."
"Is th-that very long? To g-go without hunting?"
I began to trace my own finger along his hand, finding the discussion slightly uncomfortable. Hunting was so primal that even thinking about it with Edward in mind made me uneasy.
"A week is preferable, two weeks is usually the limit."
I moved my finger up to brush against the exposed skin on his arms. The scars were healing nicely. He hadn't bled in weeks, so the newest lines were puckering and turning white with fresh new skin.
"Y-You're not even t-t-tempted?" He asked, looking down at our hands. I was tracing one of the blue veins, feeling the steady pulse as it carried blood up to his heart.
I encircled his wrist and brought it up to my face. His face was calm, but his heart beat picked up- a natural reaction.
I closed my eyes and parted my lips slightly, holding the inside of his wrist up to my mouth. I inhaled deeply, then gently kissed the pulsing vein.
"Not by your blood, no."
He smelled like sunshine and lilac, like the meadow, like happiness and life.
And that was the first time we ran.