Chapter 6

There was a pounding feeling that echoed behind Bella's eyes. That was the first conscious thing she recognized. The second was the almost unbearable thick cotton feeling of her tongue. Bella groaned as she sat up, her head throbbing with the movement.

"Ugh" With her eyes squeezed shut she rubbed her face.

I'm not hungover. I feel fine.

The pain in Bella's head subsided and the horrible nauseous feeling dissipated. The lightness of her left arm immediately drew her attention.

Her cast was gone.

Bella's gasp stuck in her throat as fragments from the night before came back to her. The phone call to Bree. Getting drunk and trying to take off her cast. Riley? Edward's voice? Edward had been in her house and he had seen her breakdown. Bella blushed furiously at the realization that he had probably been the one to put her to bed.

Oh god what did I say to him?

Bella rolled out of her bed to see a glass of water, a couple of ibuprofen, and a note clustered together. She hesitated for a moment before grabbing the paper.

Bella,

I'm not sure what state you will be in when you wake, I would like to speak with you today.

If you are up for it, I will be there at noon to pick you up.

Edward

Edward will be back at noon? To pick her up? Panic crept up Bella's throat and tightened in her chest.

What the fuck happened last night?

He must have figured out what Bella had been hiding this whole time. He must want to tell her that he wants nothing to do with her. Why would someone as perfect as Edward want to put up with someone so messed up? It must have been such a let down for Edward to see her last night. To see Bella at such a low point.

Bella crumpled up his note and tossed it into the wastebasket.

The clock read a quarter to eleven so Bella first showered quickly, not even waiting for the water to warm up. All she could think about was what she was going to say to Edward when he arrived. Worst-case scenarios played through her head progressively getting worse as her anxiety spiked.

Bella ultimately decided to rip off the band aid and refuse to see him. Her father was still sleeping off his late shift upstairs and was unlikely to hear anything they said.

Edward, I never want to speak with you again so I would appreciate it if you kept my secret a secret.

The thought of Edward walking out of Bella's life forever sent a pain through her chest. Yet that made no sense, he was barely a part of her life to begin with. Why was the thought of him leaving so heartbreaking? And Bella wasn't sure how many gaping holes she could have before she finally fell apart.

The minutes ticked by as Bella paced a circle by the front door. Her lips were raw from biting them and she had checked the clock too many times to be healthy. Even though she was expecting it, the soft knock at the door still made her jump. Bella was quick to yank open the door, but all the words she had rehearsed died on her lips.

Edward stood in the doorway, he was standing tall with one hand tucked into his front pocket. He looked like a model swathed in a pale gray sweater and dark jeans. His bronze hair shined gold and red and his bright eyes looked at Bella ardently.

"Good Afternoon Bella. How are you feeling?" He sounded sincere, like he was concerned with her wellbeing. It was not at all what she was expecting.

"I'm…fine. How are you?" Bella mentally facepalmed. Of course he was wondering how she was, he had left her here passed out drunk.

"I'm quite well." Edward turned to the side and gestured out to the yard. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh…well I think…" Bella stuttered her words before clearing her throat. "I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore. If you don't want to be friends with me or talk to me."

Edward's face hardened slightly at Bella's words and he leaned in towards her. "Bella, I just want to be very clear with you. I don't want to be friends with you, I want to be more." He held out his hand to her as he spoke. "I want to take you someplace, do you trust me?"

If someone had asked Bella a week ago she would have said she didn't trust anyone anymore. Now though Bella was certain that she could trust him with anything and everything. The hesitation and insecurities Bella had seemed to disappear while in Edward's presence even though she had no idea why.

Bella looked down at his hand briefly and then back up into his golden eyes. They were standing here by her front door at the precipice of something. She wasn't sure why, but Bella felt that the entirety of her future was weighing in the balance. This feeling was frightening, but the thought of turning Edward away now was even worse.

Bella licked her lips and watched as Edward's gaze was trapped there. She paused for another moment before placing her hand in his cold grip. Bella was about to say something about how cold he was, but was stopped by the brightness of his smile. It was tilted up higher on one side and flashed his perfect white teeth. The crooked grin that had dazzled her in the past.

Edward tugged her hand gently, leading her out onto the porch. Bella stumbled over the steps and she blushed furiously as Edward caught her elbow. They were only a few inches apart and Bella was struck breathless.

"Are you alright?" Edward's musical voice asked her.

"Uh..Yeah." Bella cleared her throat again and tried to change the subject. "Where are we going?"

Bella let him lead her over to his car where he opened the door for her and waited until she was fully seated before closing it. Before she realized it Edward was beside her and pulling out into the road.

"I'm taking you to my favorite place."

Edward didn't elaborate about anything else and they drove in silence. Bella stared out the window wondering where Edward was taking her. There wasn't much of anything to do in Forks and Edward didn't seem like the type to hang out at the beach. Bella wasn't very familiar with the area yet, but every road looked the same, lined with tall dark trees.

It wasn't until Edward opened her door that she realized that they had stopped. The road had dead-ended and they were surrounded by forest. Confused, Bella looked up at him.

"What are we doing here?"

"We have to take the trail." Edward said pointing off to the side where a thin break in the trees showed a small path.

"A trail?" Bella's voice squeaked out. "We're hiking?"

Edward paused for a moment to bring a basket out of the backseat of the car. "I thought we could have a picnic."

"In the middle of the woods?"

"There's a meadow that I'm quite fond of." Edward appeared sheepish. "Do you want to turn back now?"

Bella, don't be a coward.

Bella squared her shoulders and started marching to the break in the trees. She managed to go forward a few steps before tripping over something. Her face flamed red and Edward stepped around her, grabbing her hand to guide her through the woods.

Bella was thankful that he led them. Everything looked absolutely the same to her and she would have gotten so impossibly lost without him. He didn't try to start any conversation and Bella was relieved that she still had time to think about what she would say to him. Would he reject her the same way Bree had? Would this solidify that Bella was meant to be alone? That even someone with a gift like hers couldn't be around her?

Time was felt only in the burning of Bella's muscles and the heaviness in her chest. Of course, perfect Edward didn't stumble or even appear to be fatigued at all, but it felt like Bella was struggling to stay upright every couple of steps. Although each time she had lost her balance enough to fall Edward had been there to catch her. They had been hiking for quite some time and just as she was about to ask Edward how far they had left to go he stopped walking.

Edward let go of Bella's hand only to pull a branch out of the way so that she could see into the meadow. Bella stepped out into it with awe written all over her face.

The meadow was perfectly circular with the trees surrounding it, hugging the edges with their branches. The field was covered in knee-high grass that still faintly smelled like summer. The leaves all around them were just beginning to change from green to yellow and some flowers were still dotted around. The overcast skies made everything look just a bit darker and hidden in shadows.

"Edward, it's beautiful."

Edward was still standing in the dark of the trees and Bella reached out a hand to pull him the rest of the way out of the woods. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before allowing her to take his hand and lead him out into the center. Bella could feel her heart pounding and her stomach twisting into knots. She had put this conversation off until the very last second, knowing that it could be the end of whatever she and Edward were tiptoeing around.

Bella sat down and avoided Edward's gaze as he settled himself down beside her.

"I don't know where to start." Bella admitted.

"Bella, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." He was being sweet by trying so hard to hide the burning curiosity he had. Bella felt him tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear and out of her face.

"I have to tell you." I have to tell someone.

"Start with your parents. You told me they don't know. How have you kept it to yourself for so long?"

Bella smiled softly while pulling grasses out of the ground by her feet. Bella hadn't kept it to herself. For years Bree had been her personal confidant, partner in crime, and best friend.

"Well, my parents always knew I was special, they just didn't know how much. They always called me their lucky girl."

Bella continued to pull grass and rip them into tiny little pieces as she spoke.

"I'm not sure when all this started, if I was born this way or if it changed at some point. I didn't even realize that it was me changing things until later. Until then I was just lucky. It was nothing very serious, just that I would get good grades whenever I was worried about them or I wouldn't get hurt when I fell.

It wasn't until we moved in next to Bree and Riley that I figured it out. I had never really made any friends growing up. Mom moved us around a lot when I was younger and so I never stayed anywhere long enough. Bree became my best friend practically overnight. She didn't take no for an answer." Bella laughed wetly, her eyes tearing up already.

"When I was thirteen Bree tried to climb this huge tree at the park just to prove that she could. She made it almost to the top when she slipped. I watched her hang by her fingers and I just remember yelling at her not to fall. The next thing I know, she's standing next to me at the bottom of the tree.

From that moment on Bree was convinced thatI had super powers and tried to learn everything she could about them. She read dozens of comic books and read me the whole 'with great power comes great responsibility' speech. Bree was scared that the government would take me and run experiments on me if anyone else found out so we made a pact not to tell our parents. I know that my parents would never let anything happen to me, but I still had nightmares for years."

Bella refused to look up at Edward fearing that she wouldn't have the confidence to continue.

"Everything was fine or at least as normal as it could be." Bella took a deep breath. "Until last year…last year my Mom was taking me to a party. Bree couldn't go, she was sick, but she wanted me to go anyway. She told my Mom all about it and persuaded her to take me. On the way there though…" Bella's voice cracked and all the tears that had been gathering finally fell.

I can't say it. I wish he could just see what happened that night.

You need to see what happened that night.

Bella blinked back the tears as the sounds of the meadow faded.

The familiar pull against her mind twisted quickly and then settled with a flourish. Bella had done this many times since the accident, hoping to find answers from that night from her memories, yet nothing but heartbreak had come from it.

Bella sat in the backseat of the sedan with Edward watching her younger self and her mother bicker about that night. Edward appeared dazed in a way that wrenched Bella's stomach. Maybe she should have warned him about this, but it was too late now. He leaned forward in confusion to the Bella in the passenger seat to whisper something to her.

"She can't hear you." Edward jumped next to her and looked at Bella in astonishment. His golden eyes flicked between them.

"Bella, what's going on?"

"We're in my memory." Bella swiped her hand under her eyes quickly to dispel the tears that gathered there. "They can't see or hear anything. It's just a reenactment of that night."

"Mom, I just really don't want to go alright? Can't we just go get 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 was using her "mom voice" to try and act strict, but the fact she was trying to get her daughter to go to a party instead of keeping her from one was funny.

The Bella in the passenger seat crossed her arms and stared out the window looking like a typical sullen teen, but she was hiding a smile and trying to keep from laughing. Renee was being ridiculous.

"C'mon Bells. It'll be fun I promise." Renee reached out and poked her daughter in the side trying to goad a reaction from her.

Bella reached across the seat and grasped Edward's hand in hers. Headlights shone from the other end of the street and the anticipation of the crash overshadowed the butterflies caused by Edward's proximity.

"One party isn't going to kill you." The irony of Renee's words cut like a knife. No matter how many times Bella heard them it never dulled the pain.

Through the windshield Bella saw the oncoming car swerve into their lane. She felt Edward tense next to her as he saw the same thing she did. His muscles bunched beneath her arm and she knew that he was going to try to do something, but it wouldn't matter anyway.

Bella blinked and they shifted position. Edward stood with her across the road with their hands still clasped tightly together. From this angle they could see with perfect clarity as the two vehicles collided. Bella managed to keep herself from flinching at the sound of crunching metal and exploding glass.

The SUV hit Bella and Renee's car head on and the smaller vehicle flipped over as it skidded across the pavement. The car's windows exploded on impact littering the pavement in shining shards of glass. Edward and Bella were only a few feet from where the white car stopped and they could see clearly the damage inside.

Renee and Bella were hanging upside down from their seatbelts, their hands dangling on top of the shattered windshield. For a long few moments the Bella in the car was motionless, but then she started struggling against the seatbelt and crying out in pain.

Bella swallowed thickly. No matter how many times she watched this scene it never became any easier. She still felt the phantom pains where her shoulder was dislocated and where she had been pierced with glass.

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

Healing her injuries had been automatic. A reflex from the previous years in response to the pain.

Bella could feel Edward's hand in hers. He was stiff as a board, watching the scene unfold before them.

"Mom. Are you okay?" Bella's voice cracked in the car as she looked at Renee. "Mom?"

Renee was staring out of 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 Bella knew that she was gone. There was just too much blood.

"Mom!" Bella shouted. "Mom!" She shook her mother's arm and she struggled to unbuckle herself. Once she was free, she crawled over to her mom over the broken glass and twisted metal.

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

It only took a moment before Renee was gasping for breath. She rasped Bella's name as Bella sobbed.

Edward and Bella watched as the other Bella pulled her mother from the wreckage. Ambulances arrived shortly after and Renee was loaded onto a gurney with Bella climbing in after. Edward appeared to be in shock, he stared off into the distance with a bewildered look on his face. Bella merely clutched his hand tighter wondering if it was uncomfortable for him.

"Bella…" Edward's voice was low and it sounded as if he was at a loss for words. Bella was aware of how strange all this was. How alarming it must be to walk through Bella's memories and see such traumatic things. She felt him turn towards her, but her attention was locked on the other car.

It was hazy over in that direction. Bella never saw the other driver. Never saw what happened to them once the ambulances arrived. She had been so focused on her mother that everything else was laid to the wayside. Later on in the night Bella worried about what had happened to the other car, but since her mother was rushed to surgery she wouldn't really think of much else.

"I didn't know at the time that it was Riley driving the other car. It's not even his." Bella whispered. "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 help. He's the one who called 911."

"Your mother died that night." Edward said, his voice full of amazement.

"She did." Bella's voice shook and she cleared her throat to steady it. "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 my 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 closed her eyes as she turned to Edward. There was the feeling of free falling and then as suddenly as they had disappeared they were in the meadow again. The dark streets were replaced with cloudy skies and the songs of birds.

Bella, losing her previous confidence, let go of Edward's hand and folded in upon herself. She wrapped her arms around her knees, but Edward appeared unwilling to separate so quickly as he placed his hand on her arm.

"Tell me." He urged and Bella couldn't resist his velvet voice. She would tell him anything and everything he wanted to know at this point.

"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 everything has an equal and opposite reaction." Edward recited Newton's 3rd law of physics. Bella couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. This theory of Bree's couldn't exactly be proven, but it made sense, especially when looking at the night Riley died. Bella's mom had been brought back from fatal injuries and Riley had died with only minor ones.

"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 remembering that night and the fight that ruined her and Bree's friendship. "Underneath everything though I was worried that if I brought him back that would mean my mom…" Bella couldn't continue.

"That she would exchange places with Riley?" Edward's voice was soft and comforting and Bella felt her walls come crumbling down with them. "That she would pass on to bring him back?"

Bella looked up at Edward through glassy eyes with tears she refused to shed.

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

Bella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Bree's accusations and harsh words reverberated through her head. She had been called a murderer and a monster by her best friend and she couldn't quite see where the lie was. Exchanging one life for another, no matter how accidental, was overshadowed by Bella's neglect in fixing the change she made. Bella had chosen to keep her mother in lieu of bringing back Riley.

"It's not your fault what happened Bella. You couldn't have known what happened that night. Nor could you have stopped it. I don't believe that you killed Riley." Edward tightened his hold on Bella's arm.

"Bree does. Her father did."

"Her father?" Edward's brows arched with the question and Bella merely raised 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 on 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."

Bella literally felt the change in Edward at the turn of her story. He seemed to bristle at the words and she couldn't help but flinch at his tone of voice when he finally spoke, he sounded absolutely livid.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"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 quickly swiped at the tears beginning to fall. She didn't want Edward to see her breakdown again. "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 that I wanted to live with Charlie and I moved out here. She had just gotten married to Phil so it felt like the perfect time."

Bella straightened her back, steeling herself for an onslaught of questions or comments. "So now you know everything. All my secrets."

The way that Edward looked at Bella caused the butterflies to return with a vengeance. He stared at her almost reverently, with a warmth and affection that sent tingles all the way down to her toes and fingertips.

This was the moment Bella had been expecting Edward to run, to see her as this selfish, cold hearted person who could pick and choose who lived and who died. Edward's gift was just so passive in comparison to Bella's. He couldn't control whose thoughts he could hear or what he heard. Bella could infiltrate someone's mind and make them forget things they had done or said. She could literally raise someone from death without breaking a sweat.

Bella was surprised when he pushed some wayward hair behind her ear. A small smile was on his face when he spoke next.

"I am in awe of you Bella." His fingers were cold on her cheek and Bella shivered at the contact. "It's only fair that I be as candid as you, but I fear that the things I say will frighten you."

Bella shifted so she sat cross-legged in front of Edward. They were so close that there was barely an inch between their legs. She practically thrummed with anticipation. He was still here, he hadn't run terrified from her darkest secrets. Bella wasn't sure what he could possibly say that would frighten her, but she couldn't imagine backing out now.

Edward looked hesitant, like he was sure that Bella would bolt out of the clearing like a fawn fleeing a predator. His golden eyes shined bright even under the cloudy skies and Bella felt like time was halting just for them to savor this moment.

"Start at the beginning." Bella said softly, watching Edward closely.

"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 paused thoughtfully as if testing the waters. Bella nodded eagerly in return, but he didn't continue.

Edward seemed to be hesitant to explain his own secrets, ones that Bella had already tried putting together herself with no results. Bella wouldn't force him to reveal anything he didn't want to say, but Edward apparently needed a little nudge to encourage him.

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

Bella looked away from his face, to give him a moment to recover and for her to gain the confidence she needed. She pulled his hand from his lap and ghosted her fingers across the back of it. His skin was as cold as she had remembered, but she didn't shy away from the temperature like she probably should have.

"Your hands are always cold, colder than they have any right to be." Bella whispered to him. She moved her fingers up to Edward's wrist and he flipped his hand quickly, offering her his palm instead. He seemed to be enjoying the tickle of her fingers on his skin as much as she enjoyed touching him. "Not just you, Alice too." She had brushed off his cold hands with some vague medical reason, yet Alice had felt much the same when they brushed hands making posters.

Bella looked up and found that Edward was watching her. His gold eyes were bright and filled with an emotion Bella couldn't quite find the name of. He appeared almost bewitched by her actions and words and Bella felt compelled to continue.

"For a family made up of all adopted children you all have the same gold eyes." With only a moment's hesitation Bella added "On my first day of school I watched your eyes turn black."

Dark honey eyes, and absurdly beautiful shade of gold. Replaced immediately with black.

Edward stilled completely, Bella could feel the tension in his hand that she still held. She knew that flash between them on that first day had been important and if Edward's change of attitude was anything to go by, he knew it too. Bella chose to ignore his reaction and continue on with her observations that would hopefully lead to answers.

"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 heavily at her accusation. This implied that Bella had been regularly watching him and she felt awkward in admitting it. "Not like I watch you constantly, I'm sure you have, but I just have never seen it."

Bella had never seen them eat, but she had watched Jasper throw out entire trays worth of food that neither he or Alice had touched. Edward played with the apples he took from the lunch line, but never put it to his mouth. Of course the only reason Bella had been watching them in the first place was because they were in her line of sight at her usual table. It definitely wasn't because she wanted to watch Edward from afar.

When Edward spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, but Bella hung onto every word.

"My family is different from everyone else. We are faster, stronger, and far more capable than humans." Edward stressed the word and Bella felt her breath catch in her throat. "We don't eat regular food, but must appear so in order to blend in."

Stronger and faster than humans?

Bella could easily accept the existence of other gifted people, but other…beings? This was something she hadn't anticipated yet would it be so far fetched for the world to be larger than she had known?

"Show me." Bella's voice sounded brave to her ears. Internally though Bella felt nervous. She was on the cusp of solving the puzzle that had distracted her so completely for the last few weeks.

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

"I won't."

As soon as Bella said the words she knew they were true. She had enough time to think about Edward Cullen and although he was mostly a mystery to her, she had never feared him. At least, not in the ways he spoke of. When he looked at her Bella was eager for answers and tried not to scream at him to hurry up.

Edward stood slowly, almost drawing out the anticipation until Bella was hanging on by a thread and then suddenly he was gone.

Bella could feel Edward's presence in the meadow but she couldn't see him. It was only because of the bright flash of his bronze hair that she had any idea of where he was. The wind whipped up around her and Bella's dark hair lashed against her face. Before Bella could react fully to what she was seeing, it was over and Edward was seated before her again.

Edward held out a small bouquet of wildflowers out to her, his expression oddly shy. Bella took the flowers and knew at that moment that he had seized her so completely. This remarkable, extraordinary, peculiar boy had stolen her heart.

"So…What are you?" Bella said, wonder coating every word.

"A vampire."

That was definitely not what she had expected.