Edward had never felt so disoriented. Vampires weren't supposed to feel nauseous, but he had no other way to explain the horrible twisting in his abdomen. His awareness was slow to pull everything together after the freefall. He was sitting in the back seat of a car with the couple in the front seats talking softly.

Edward focused on what they were saying and realized that it was Bella speaking to who he assumed was her mother. It was dark out and the streetlights cast flashes of brightness into the cab of the car.

"Bella?" Edward leaned forward to look at Bella in the passenger seat.

"She can't hear you." Bella's voice said from next to him. Edward jumped. He hadn't noticed her there.

How had he not seen or heard her? In fact, why couldn't he hear their heartbeats or smell her scent. In these close quarters it should have registered immediately. Edward felt deaf in the car, not being able to hear the sounds he had become accustomed to. The minute sounds of the engine parts moving, the pulse of the bodies in the car, even the wind passing through the windows was deafened.

"Bella, what's going on?" Edward looked back at the Bella in the passenger seat. She and her mother were acting as if there was no one else in the car.

"We're in my memory." The Bella beside him swiped her hand under her eyes. "They can't see or hear anything. It's just a reenactment of what happened that night."

Somehow, with her gift, Bella had brought Edward into her mind to show him her memories. This was far beyond what Edward could do with his telepathy. He could hear people's thoughts and see images in their minds, but to be able to walk through their memories was incredible. He could only experience what Bella could recall and since Bella couldn't see or hear as well as any vampire, Edward was left with diminished senses.

"Mom, I just really don't want to go alright? Can't we just go grab ice cream and watch old movies at home?" Bella said, pouting from the front.

"Really, Bella, you need to live a little. You'll only be sixteen once and I'd hate for you to look back on high school and regret anything." Renee's voice sounded stern as she glanced over at her daughter.

Bella crossed her arms and looked out of the window looking every inch the petulant teenager.

"C'mon Bells. It'll be fun I promise." Renee reached out a hand and poked her daughter in the side. In response Bella only huffed and rolled her eyes.

Edward felt the Bella beside him clench his hand as tightly as she could. Her hand was warm in his grasp, but Edward's attention was drawn to the front. In the distance headlights turned onto their street.

"One party isn't going to kill you."

Edward watched as the oncoming car swerved into their lane and his instant reaction was to protect Bella. He reached over to pull her from the seat and leap free of the car, but before he could the scene shifted.

Bella was still clutching his hand like his life depended on it. They were now on the side of the road. They watched from afar as the two vehicles collided, the suv had been going too fast and hit the smaller white car head on. The glass windows on both cars exploded on impact. Bella's car flipped and skid across the street coming to a stop just a foot from where Edward and Bella stood.

Edward was horrified. Bella and her mother were hanging upside down in their car, their seatbelts the only thing keeping them in their seats. For several long moments there was no movement and then suddenly he could see Bella crying and struggling in the front seat. Her face was bloody and he saw her attempting to use her arm without success.

I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. I'm fine.

Bella coughed and wiped her hair out her face smearing blood into it. Edward felt compelled to go to her, rescue her from the wreck and take her to safety. It was only the weight of the real Bella's hand in his that kept him from moving. Even knowing that what he was watching had already come to pass it was difficult to remain still.

"Mom. Are you okay?" Bella's voice cracked as looked over into the driver's seat at Renee. "Mom?"

Renee was staring out the windshield, her green eyes were dull. Glass shards were embedded in the side of her face and neck protruding out and glimmering in the lamplight. Blood was staining her blouse and dripping onto the pavement below. Her arms hung limply and Edward was sure that Renee had passed. There was just too much blood.

"Mom!" Bella shouted. He could see her shaking her mom's arm. "Mom!" Bella was sobbing hard. She had managed to unbuckle herself and crawled over the broken glass to her mom.

No! She's not dead. She's not dead. She's alive. She's alive!

Renee hung there for a moment lifelessly before she gasped for breath.

"B-bella." Renee rasped.

Edward watched as Bella pulled her mother from the wreckage and ambulances arrived. Someone else must have called them, but they didn't see who. There was no one else around at this time of night. They saw Renee get loaded onto a gurney and Bella climbed into the back with her. Edward's heart was torn open at the look on Bella's face as she looked at her mother, clutching her hand then just as tightly as she held his now.

"Bella…" Edward began, but the words died on his lips. What could he say for comfort? How could he ever explain how astounding her strength was? To not only share one of the most horrifying moments of her life, but to relive it to show Edward what happened. He turned to look at her, but her gaze was stuck on the blue suv in the middle of the road.

Emts were working with the other car, but everything appeared hazy in that direction. As if Bella didn't know or couldn't remember what happened.

"I didn't know at the time that it was Riley driving the other car. It's not even his." Bella's voice was a low whisper. "I was so concerned with Mom that I didn't even bother checking the other car. To see if they were okay. To see if they needed any help. He's the one who called 911."

"Your mother died that night." Edward said, looking at Bella in amazement. She had used her gift to bring someone back from the dead. It was true that vampires were changed from human to something else entirely, but that was different. Vampires could only be brought back from the brink of death not from beyond it. Bella had revived her mother with only the power of thought.

"She did." Bella's voice shook. "I stayed with her in the hospital for three days. The doctors were astounded that her injuries hadn't killed her and after surgery she was asleep for a while. I had to lie to them about where I was during the accident. I had healed myself so how could they believe I was in the car when I had no injuries?

I told them I was walking home, waiting for Mom to pick me up when it happened. That it was just by chance that I was nearby. They said she was so lucky that EMS got there when they did. That she was the luckiest crash victim they'd seen considering the extent of her injuries and the fact that Riley hadn't survived."

"Is that why you believe you killed him? Because of this accident?" Edward asked hesitantly.

"Yes and no." Bella said, closing her eyes and turning to Edward. There was that feeling of free falling again and they were seated beside one another in the meadow again. Bella let go of Edward's hand to hug her knees to her chest and Edward placed his hand on her arm to keep the connection.

"Tell me." He urged.

"It was Bree. When my mom and I finally came home we saw Bree and her dad. We had heard about Riley in the hospital, but hadn't seen them since. When I told her about everything that happened she screamed at me saying that I killed him by bringing Mom back to life. That everything I do has to pull the power from something."

"That every action has an equal and opposite reaction." Edward said, reciting Newton's 3rd law of motion. Theoretically this could be correct, but there would be no way of knowing or proving that.

"Bree tried to convince me to bring him back, but I couldn't. I didn't even know if I could bring back someone who had been dead that long and I told her that, but she wanted me to try." Bella stared off into the woods beyond Edward's shoulder. "Underneath everything though I was worried that if I brought him back that would mean my mom…" She shuddered her next breath.

"That she would exchange places with Riley?" Edward's voice was soft and comforting. "That she would pass on to bring him back?"

Bella looked at Edward with glassy eyes and so much pent up emotion in their dark depths.

"I couldn't do that. As much as I had loved Riley. I couldn't take the chance that I would lose my mom again. Because what if instead I just lost them both?"

You don't understand. I don't regret the things I've done. That's what makes me a monster.

The conversation from the other day finally made sense. Bella was tormented by the idea that wishing her mother back to life made her a villain. It didn't matter that she hadn't intended for anyone else to get hurt in place of her mother. It was clear now though that Bella was keeping everyone around her at an arm's length. She didn't want anyone else to be hurt by her powers as Riley had.

"It's not your fault what happened Bella. You couldn't have known what would happen that night. Nor could you have stopped it. I don't believe that you killed Riley." Edward tightened his grip on her arm minutely to accentuate his words.

"Bree does. Her father did."

"Her father?" Edward's brows arched with his question. Bella looked away from him and held out her left arm.

"One night over summer Bree had been drinking. She got into a fight with her father and she told him everything about my power. How long she had known about it, what I could do, and that I had brought Mom back the night Riley died. He had come over to confront me about it and he got rough.

He twisted my arm so hard that he fractured it and when Mom came out to see what happened he told her I fell. I tried to brush it off, but she brought me to the hospital and they gave me a cast. Later that night I healed it, but I couldn't get the cast off without raising suspicion."

Heat rose up in Edward that wasn't associated with thirst. It came from the pure anger that someone would touch Bella in such a way. His Bella. Edward could barely contain the growl that threatened his composure, but he wanted to do far more than that. He wanted to hunt down this man and rip his throat out for placing his hands on Bella.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Edward's voice was clipped and rough and Bella flinched at the sound. It was far closer to the monster that had planned to drain Bella on her first day of school than the Edward who had brought Bella out into this meadow. Immediately Edward felt regret that he couldn't contain his emotions as well as he should have.

Bella tucked her arm back into her legs. She was hunched over with the weight of the secrets she was spilling. A wilted flower against a powerful storm. Edward had never seen such a forlorn look on Bella's features.

"He wanted me to bring Riley back. He said he would do anything to bring him back. After he broke my arm he threatened my mom. Told me that it would be such a shame if she ended up in the hospital again." Bella rubbed the tears off of her cheeks before she continued. "I made him forget everything Bree told him. I made it easier for him to grieve, but I couldn't forget what he did. So I told my mom I wanted to live with Charlie and I moved out here. She had just gotten married to Phil and it felt like the perfect time."

Bella straightened her back and turned to Edward expectantly. "So now you know everything. All my secrets."

Edward gazed back at Bella reverently in the way she had exposed her soul to him. The sacrifices she had made to keep her mother healthy and happy. Bella had given up the life she had known and had moved hundreds of miles to keep her mother safe. The weight of all this trauma had made Bella stronger, had reinforced her convictions and had not altered the kindness she showed to others.

This moment was the one Edward had been waiting for. Bella had entrusted him with everything and this was the precipice their futures were balanced on. On one side Edward broke off this untested path they were treading and he let Bella go. It was the best option for her, so that she could live her life as it was intended to be before he had wandered into it. She would move on and forget about Edward and in spite of the crack that gave to his dead heart he knew it would be for the best.

But Edward was selfish. He wasn't as self-sacrificing as Bella. Given the choice between letting her go and keeping her close Edward couldn't help but reach out to her.

Edward pushed some wayward strands of hair from her heart-shaped face.

"I am in awe of you Bella."

Bella shivered at the contact of his fingers on her cheek, but kept her eyes on his.

"It's only fair that I be as candid as you, but I fear that the things I say would frighten you."

He watched Bella shift her position so that she was cross legged facing him. Her knees a scant inch from him. There was no sign in her body language that showed an ounce of hesitation or that she felt anything other than trust in him. Trust that he wouldn't have if she knew the truth.

Would this be the moment that pushed her away?

"Start at the beginning." Bella said softly, watching him.

The beginning? Of course that would have been where Edward started, but which beginning would be best? When Carlisle changed him or when Bella stepped into his life and altered it so absolutely.

"I am unsure of how much you have observed of myself and my family. Certainly there are things that must have struck you as strange about us." Edward led on, hoping that Bella had already put together some pieces of the puzzle. He was encouraged when she nodded eagerly. Part of him felt a sense of trepidation, had she shared her suspicions with anyone else? But no, Edward would have heard of anything from anyone she had been close to.

Bella unconsciously leaned forward towards him. She was craving the answers to her questions as much as he had been compelled to get the answers for his.

Edward hesitated. Bella already knew that he was gifted, that he shared a similar burden. She had worried once before that she would scare him off, that he would be disturbed by her. Does that mean there's a limit of weirdness that she would accept herself? Would he be able to hide his and his family's true nature from her for however long she wanted to be around him?

"You've already shown me that you have a gift like mine, but I can't help but think that there is something more."

Bella looked away from his face, instead watching his hand as she pulled it into her grasp. She ghosted her fingers across his knuckles and played with the tips of his fingers. Her touch was completely innocent, but Edward had to suppress a shudder.

"Your hands are always cold, colder than they have any right to be." Bella whispered, moving her fingers up to Edward's wrist. Edward flipped his hand so that his palm faced upward and Bella traced the lines in his hand. "Not just you either, Alice too." Bella glanced up to see him watching her and peered closely into his eyes.

"For a family made up of all adopted children you all have the same gold eyes." Bella purses her lips together almost like she wants to hold back all the words she's saying. "On my first day of school I watched your eyes turn black."

Edward tensed, holding as still as a marble statue. She had watched him change from fellow student to blood-thirsty monster. She had known from that moment that there was something off about Edward Cullen no matter how amiss she would be in her suspicions.

"I've never seen you or your siblings eat anything. You've bought food in the cafeteria, but I've never seen you take a bite." Bella blushed and looked away quickly. "Not like I watch you constantly, I'm sure you must have, but I just have never seen it."

Edward's lips twitched. Oh how he wanted to smirk at her. She's noticed quite a bit more than he realized. Without his knowledge she had picked out some of the few differences between the Cullens and humans that couldn't really be hidden. Edward was caught between being impressed at how observant she is and panicked that his family wasn't playing the human charade as well as they had used to.

Over the years there had been several people who had figured out that there was something weird about the Cullens, but they were never close enough to the truth for worry and oftentimes the Cullens moved on before more questions were asked. Edward was always on alert to hear any suspicions before they were voiced and then they addressed these concerns as a family. Right now Edward was breaking the rules he and his family had followed for decades.

Edwards' voice was low, just above a whisper, but Bella appeared to hear every word.

"My family is different from everyone else. We are faster, stronger, and far more capable than humans." Edward stressed the word, hoping to draw a clear line between the two of them. "We don't eat regular food, but must appear so in order to blend in."

Bella's brown eyes were wide, but she kept any comments to herself. Edward found it difficult to focus on anything besides her face, he was trying to read any of the questions she was clearly struggling with. Once again he found it so frustrating not to be able to peer into her inner thoughts. His only indication that she heard his insinuations was her increased heart rate.

"Show me." Her voice was full of curiosity.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"I won't."

Edward looked at Bella hard, almost trying to see beneath the surface, but she showed nothing but open curiosity. For a moment Edward contemplated showing her his full strength, but the thought of frightening her was too much to bear.

With his split second decision Edward rose to his full height and raced around the meadow. Bella would only see a blur of color if anything at all, but Edward could see everything about her. The way her dark hair whipped around her face, how her eyes widened, and how her perfect mouth dropped open in surprise.

Edward made three circuits around the clearing before plucking several of the leftover summer flowers into a bouquet. He was seated before Bella before she could turn her head again to follow him.

He held out the flowers to her, unsure if she would take them or run screaming, but she took them from his hands with a smile. He could hear her heart fluttering.

"So….what are you?" Bella said, studying his face.

"A vampire."

The word sounded so silly in the mid afternoon even though the sun was hidden behind soft gray clouds the light still dusted everything around them.

Edward waited for the other shoe to drop. Waited for Bella's expression to fall and horror to cover her face. Waited for her to run from him as she should have from the first moment they met.

But Bella was nothing short of astounding. She sat there contemplating for a while and Edward couldn't quite meet her eyes. Instead he played with the grass as she had done before revealing her own great secret. He watched the grass twirl between his fingers slowly as apprehension filled him.

Bella shifted to her knees before him. Edward glanced up to see her hands raised.

"May I?" Bella gestured that she wanted to touch his face and Edward nodded slowly.

He closed his eyes at her first touch. He felt her warm fingers graze his rock hard skin in the same manner she had touched his hands. The feeling was nothing short of euphoric. She was hesitant and gentle yet each pass of her fingers drew fire across his skin. Edward froze completely when she pressed her thumb against his lips, he didn't want any part of her so close to his teeth.

"Do you have fangs?" Edward's lips twitched under her ministrations combined with her question. He waited until she pulled away to smile widely at her, showing perfectly even pearly whites that were definitely not fangs.

Bella made a sound of almost disappointment and Edward looked up at her then. She was mere inches from his face, but not looking into his eyes. She seemed to be studying him too intently to notice his gaze. Her fingers continued along his jaw and up to his ears and then down his neck until they reached his sweater.

Caught up in the act, Bella flushed brightly and sat back at a reasonable distance and Edward hated it. He was loath to put more space between them.

"Your skin feels hard like stone." It wasn't a question and Edward wasn't quite sure how to respond. "You said you were fast and strong. How strong are you?"

Edward pointed to a palm sized rock beside them. Bella picked it up and hefted it in her hands a moment before handing it over to him. With a crooked smile Edward closed his fist around it and within seconds he had reduced it into a handful of dust.

Bella leaned back onto her hands as she watched. Edward dusted his hands off slowly, more slowly than he would have if he was human. He was hoping to give Bella some time to process everything.

"So, Edward, you said you don't eat human food so why is there so much?" Bella asked.

Edward looked over at the forgotten picnic basket. It was indeed a lot for one person, but he and Esme hadn't been sure if Bella had any allergies or preferences. When he relayed that to Bella she smiled sweetly, but then frowned suddenly.

"Am I your lunch?" She asked, putting her hand to her throat.

"No! Of course not! I would never!" Edward said emphatically, holding his hands up and away from her. Edward should have thought that this would have been her logical train of thought. A monster bringing a beautiful young woman out into the middle of the woods and then admitting to only surviving on blood. Of course her first assumption would be that she would fall prey to him.

Bella betrayed the tone of her voice with a wry smile. She looked a touch sheepish, so perhaps it had just been a joke and Edward had simply missed the humor of it.

"I'm sorry, too soon?"

Edward released a heavy sigh, but couldn't help but to return her smile.

"I apologize. I've never had to explain myself in such a manner before. I find myself trying to make this easy for you to comprehend and I didn't expect you to react like this." Edward raised a questioning brow to the girl across from him. "You're not scared at all? This isn't too weird for you?"

Bella looked closely into Edward's eyes, but there was only open fascination.

"I just pulled you into my memories so that you can see what happened to me a year ago. I heal my bones without thinking about it. I brought my mom back…" Bella's voice faltered slightly but she kept going. "I've been the weird one for years and you think this is too weird for me? Honestly? I've been thinking about you for so long that I had thought up a bunch of theories."

Bella blushed and Edward couldn't help but feel a warmth growing in his chest. She had been thinking about him, probably not nearly as much as he had thought about her. His thoughts were so absolutely consumed with pale skin and deep brown eyes.

"Would you tell me any of these theories?" Edward inquired, but Bella waved him off with her hand.

"Absolutely not. They're far too embarrassing."

Not for the first time today did Edward wish that he could hear Bella's innermost thoughts. He wanted to know everything no matter how embarrassing, silly, or mundane. Edward wanted to know what she thought of the flowers she had left by her side, why she blushed at his gaze, and what she felt when she placed her hands on his skin. Did the touch affect her as much as it did him? Did she wish for a chance to do it again such as he did?

"You're sitting in the middle of nowhere with a vampire and you're worried about telling me something embarrassing?" Edward questioned. Was this beautiful girl mad? "Do you have any sense of self-preservation at all? I would have thought you would have been running for the hills right about now."

Bella tilted her head at him and Edward had to suppress a smile at how absolutely confused she looked.

"You act like I couldn't defend myself against you if I had the need for it." Bella bit her lip and Edward's gaze was drawn there. "Besides, I don't believe you would hurt me."

"I almost did." Edward confessed. "That first day we met. You smelled…you smell so enticing I almost took you there." He watched Bella's expression turn thoughtful and she looked off into the trees, she was likely remembering their first encounter. She had admitted to seeing his eyes turn black with thirst. "You have nothing to worry about though, I have practiced control for many years and I am confident that you are safe."

"So, if you won't drink me, what's your type? Mike Newton?"

It wasn't natural for a vampire to stammer yet that's what Edward was doing with the uninvited mental image of him devouring Mike Newton. Edward felt a touch scandalized and it showed across his face. Bella's laughter rang out in the meadow and Edwrad felt himself relaxing at the sound.

"Bella, I'm a vegetarian."

She leaned forward, captivated by Edward's voice.

"Alright, you're going to have to explain that one to me." Bella said with a wide smile.

Edward did explain and then he answered hours of questions and asked some in return until the sun dipped lower into the trees.