THE TWENTY-SECOND TIME

After work that evening, I realize that we need some physical space from each other if we want to truly see how my body processes the venom within it.

I tell Edward the next day, and he reluctantly agrees.

So, the next week passes as is our new routine. I meet up with Aaron at the track four days a week. I go to class. I work. I meet up with Chelsea for a drink after work one day.

Edward does not come over.

Interestingly, even though we see each other on Tuesdays and Thursdays for class, I notice some small changes with him. His movements become a bit more twitchy, almost preternatural in a way - people begin to part around him as we walk to class together - like he's struggling to hold part of himself back.

On Friday morning, I look in the mirror to still see red flecks in my irises. My mile time hasn't changed, is still faster than normal. My body also feels weird, strange, and it's hard to describe. It feels almost like a live wire, like a string pulled too tightly. At night, I'll wake up covered in sweat and need to take a cool shower to wash away the electricity pumping in my veins.

So, I sit on the floor in front of my bed and toss my phone from hand to hand for a good five minutes before I bite the bullet and call Carlisle.

It rings twice before he picks up.

"Hello, Bella. Alice told me you might be calling." He sounds like he's smiling faintly.

My teeth worry my lip. "Hey, Carlisle. How are you?"

"Doing quite well, thank you. Esme was wondering earlier when you'd grace us with your presence."

I repress a sigh. "Oh, well, maybe when classes are over this semester. Sometime this summer." I pull on a loose thread in my joggers.

"We'd very much like that."

"Me too," I realize. Esme was always more motherly than Renee.

Carlisle hums into the receiver. Then, "How may I be of assistance?"

"Erm. Did Alice or Edward talk to you?"

"About you? They've said nothing out of the ordinary."

I'm a bit surprised at that. There's usually no secrets in the Cullen household; it's always been a little strange to me. But then again, maybe living thousands of miles away is a good thing for them. Figure out how to maintain some boundaries.

"Oh, well… Edward wanted me to talk to you about something. Having to do with us."

"Are you both okay?"

"I think so…? I mean… it has to do with two things…" Fuck, this is embarrassing.

Carlisle waits with four hundred years of patience for me to gather my courage.

"The first is about, erm, the mating process. And what happens if you get close but don't necessarily…." My voice trails off.

"Well, typically vampires tend to give in to the physical desires associated with mating."

"So there's no real understanding of what would happen if you get close…?"

"No, though, I suppose there are known factors with being apart from one's mate afterward."

"And what are those?"

"Well, notably, what you and Edward experienced when he left you." I physically tense at the unwelcome memory. "Other symptoms - like increased agitation, for instance - can present themselves."

Okay, that makes sense to me. While Edward isn't necessarily agitated with me, I can tell something's brewing underneath his skin.

"What was your other wonder?" Carlisle prompts.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Just get it out. "If, erm, a vampire were to, say, bite a human just a little. And that venom was to, say, stay in their system…" I trail off again. Close my eyes tightly.

"They'd change." He says it simply, like it's that easy. I think of all the symptoms I've been experiencing and something doesn't line up: there's no pain like when James bit me.

"Would that hurt?"

"Intensely so. Just like we have all experienced." Like being flayed alive.

But… the thing is, it doesn't hurt. Which feels… weird.

"Has Edward…?" Carlisle asks.

"God no! No. I'm good. We're good." I cut him off. I'm such a bad liar.

There's three quick raps at my door and I jump like I've just been caught stealing.

I have a feeling I know who it is. I hasten to end the call. "Thank you, Carlisle. I appreciate your time. Please give Esme my best."

"It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Bella. We hope to hear from you soon."

As soon as we say goodbye, I'm yanking open the door to see Edward standing there, looking a bit like a man possessed.

"Here's the thing," he says, taking down his hood and stepping inside. I notice his hands are shaking as he unzips his raincoat. Movements are a bit wild. "I feel like I'm on fucking fire and if I don't touch you, I'm going to literally go insane." He takes my face in his hands and I can feel the trembling in his fingertips as he tilts my face up to his.

"Are you okay?" My eyebrows draw together. Even though his eyes are honey today, they seem… off. Different.

"No, not in the slightest." He leans forward and his lips brush mine. He sighs contentedly. "I think you're going to win the bet. I'm going to break first."

I can't help but smile. "Do you think you're having this reaction because we haven't…?"

"Yes." He grits his teeth. "And I honestly need to know right now…" His eyes shut tightly and a muscle ticks in his jaw.

I know exactly what he needs and I'm only human - well, mostly, and I'm also willing to give it to him. But I'm going to drag this out a bit. For research purposes. "If you can, what?" I whisper.

"Bella…" He shakes his head back and forth. "Being this close to you helps, but I can smell how turned on you are right now and it's killing me."

I tap my foot, watch as he struggles to gain control of the desire pulsing underneath his skin. His lips twitch. Finally, I say, "I don't have to work tonight."

His eyes fly open. Stare hard into mine. Then, he leans forward and kisses me hard.