A week later, Bella sat in front of Barbara Stinson, Peninsula College's one of two counselors. The woman was in her early forties with a kind, compassionate demeanor, and she was examining her computer screen as Bella waited patiently for her to read her file.

"I think your schedule looks great," she said eventually, spinning her monitor around for Bella to see. "You push Calculus II to Spring, and that gives you the time slot to take Art 200 to fulfill your Gen-Ed requirement. And I think that's a better idea. You shouldn't try to take Chem 205 and Calc II in the same quarter."

"That's what I figured, too," Bella said. Two major STEM classes in a quarter—that was generally a very, very bad idea.

Barbara clasped her hands together in one loud clap. "This is it, and you're applying for fall quarter, with the deadline…"

"February fifteenth," Bella completed.

Barbara pushed up her glasses and chuckled. "Well, I don't even know why you need me."

Bella smiled back, but her gaze lingered at her transcript on the screen. "You think this is good enough for UW Biology?"

"University of Washington would be lucky to have you."

"But biology, Barbara. You know how competitive it is."

"Which is why you're transferring in with a higher GPA than all of those other undergraduates that are already there, fighting each other in those ridiculous weed-out classes." She gave her a knowing look. "And don't even get me started on how much money you've saved."

Barbara had given her this speech many, many times. Picking up her backpack, Bella stood. "I appreciate this. Thank you."

"Of course! Are you excited about Seattle? Big city."

The application wasn't even open. "Maybe. I need to get in first."

"Positive energy, Isabella Swan," she tutted. "It makes a difference."

"Why do we do this?" Bella sighed at Edward with a little smile, eying the plates and plates of food that were laid out in front of them. They were in Port Angeles, seated at an upscale restaurant with views of the Pacific. Bella wore a dress and heels, and Edward was in slacks. There had been makeup and a curling iron involved.

"I think your question is—why don't we do it more often? There's so much to celebrate."

Celebrate? Bella had written her first draft of her essay for her transfer application—which wasn't even open for submission yet. Edward had decided that it was an important accomplishment that they needed to waste food for.

"You won't eat any of this."

Edward gave her a cheeky smile, then placed a small cut of steak in his mouth. And he chewed. Bella watched, mildly horrified.

"Really?" She asked him, trying to maintain a smile. He was going to be uncomfortable until he could throw it back up. "You really don't have to do this."

"And why not?" He asked, and then made a face at the taste in his mouth. "Was I supposed to dip this in the sauce?"

"Yes." Bella scooted the little bowl of goodness towards him. "But I doubt it'll taste any different."

Edward tried again, this time dunking the meat into the green sauce. After chewing for a bit, he said, "You're right."

"What does it taste like?"

Edward put his fork down and intertwined his hands in front of him, smiling. "Does it matter? Bella, I want to do this. I want to do normal things with you. I enjoy it."

Bella began cutting into her own steak. "Are you nauseous at all?"

"I'm fine."

But he wasn't. Vampires weren't meant to eat human food. Edward took a sip of his chardonnay, and its color shined with his golden eyes—practically identical in hue. Bella stared at her own glass, knowing full well that a red would have gone better with steak. But Edward couldn't have possibly known that when he ordered from the wine list.

Bella was shocked that they were drinking in the first place, given that she was underage, and Edward was usually a stickler with rules.

They had done this human food thing a few times. Edward would suffer through regular meals with Bella whenever he came over for dinner with Charlie, or whenever he took her out for nights like this. She never witnessed the aftermath herself, but she knew the food had to be completely purged from his system. Edward told her that it was like carrying stones in your stomach.

Bella took a sip from her glass, wincing slightly at the mismatched tones. Renee, though distantly her mother, had been a major wine connoisseur and great influence on the subject. In retrospect, it was probably irresponsible for her mother to start serving Bella wine at only thirteen.

"You're so quiet, Bella," Edward eventually said, slicing into another bite of meat. "What are you thinking?"

Bella swirled the wine, admiring the fine crystal. "I'm thinking how I might be in Seattle in less than a year."

"Might? You will."

"Well, perhaps." He had too much faith in her grades. She still lacked some extracurriculars."Actually, I was going to ask Carlisle if I could volunteer at the hospital. Just a few hours a week."

"Absolutely. That can be arranged."

Bella nodded, and gave him a smile. But the smile faded, as her own comment about Seattle came back to bite her. "Can we talk about us?"

"Us?"

"As you said, I will be moving, and long distance—"

"Long distance?" Edward shook his head. "I'll come to Seattle. I'll help you move. I'll rent a place."

"You'll come to Seattle?"

"Yes. Why should we be apart?"

Bella sighed, and she wasn't entirely sure why she felt a little sad. "I don't think we've had a serious conversation about the future." Mostly because Edward's middle name was avoidance. "I think we should have it, and I think we need to be completely open and honest with each other."

"Open and honest…?" Edward trailed. "That hasn't been a problem for us."

"But it has been," Bella said calmly, then lowered her voice. "You're a vampire, and I'm human. I think there's a lot that we should talk about—a lot that we haven't."

Edward shook his head. "Our differences shouldn't set us apart."

"That's not what I'm saying. I just want to understand what this means for me—staying with you, spending time with you. What will my future be like if I continue to date a vampire?"

Edward was silent as Bella watched him. His brow was pinched, and he seemed entirely… uncomfortable?

"Can vampires have offspring? I'm leaning towards a no, but…"

"No," he said, a little withdrawn.

Kids were something Bella had imagined she would have when she was just a little girl—playing pretend with her dolls and playhouses. But now that she was a young adult, she wasn't sure. Was she even capable of having kids?

"You're immortal, and…" Indestructible, she was going to say, but Jasper had disagreed with her. "…I'm not. I have a relatively short lifespan, don't I?"

"Yes," he said.

"So, I just—"

"Are you breaking up with me, Isabella Swan?"

That wasn't her intention, and it was odd how Edward would jump to such a drastic conclusion. "I don't think I am."

"Are you sure? Am I not dateable because of what I am?"

That wasn't the point—not at all. "Do you have any intention of changing me in the future? Because I know nothing about you and your world beyond the surface level, and frankly, I don't even know if I'd want to make that transition."

He stared down in front of him, and he wouldn't look at her. "I understand."

"You do?"

"Maybe you should learn more about my world," he said quietly. "Maybe that would convince you to make the right decision."

Bella scooted forward in her seat. "Edward—"

"Half of my family would have rather stayed human. There are reasons why I enjoy and appreciate your world. There are reasons why I choose to be with you than try to stick with my own kind."

"You never wanted to be a vampire?"

"No," he told her. "I was dying, and Carlisle thought that he was saving me. But all he did was condemn me to a life of constant struggle for control." Only then did he glance at her. "I'm lucky that you don't see me as a monster. I'm lucky that you stick around."

He wasn't a monster. "You're Edward Cullen, and you're not a monster."

"And you're Isabella Swan, and you shouldn't become a monster."

They seemed to stare at each other for ages before Edward broke off and looked down at his plate. "I love who you are. I love your humanity. It's not something you should give up."

Edward had just said love, but Bella wasn't there to hear it. She stared at him a little blankly as the gears in her mind worked to consider a life of vampirism. Edward seemed entirely opposed to it, but Bella felt that she couldn't make much sense of it without more knowledge.

No kids—that was a tradeoff. Immortality—probably a plus. The blood thing? She winced.

"Bella." Edward drew her to the here and now.

"I don't think I know enough to make any decisions," she told him after pushing her food around her plate. "I hardly know what your life is like." And before he could interrupt, she pressed on. "What your life is really like. Your hunts, your struggles with control. What you feel, how you view life, what your beliefs are." Besides his refusal to touch her before putting a ring on her finger. "You've never mentioned vampire politics—there's a whole government? And what about… other vampires?"

"You're asking about human drinkers," Edward said lowly.

"Yes." Bella watched him carefully. "I don't have enough information, and you—you rarely talk about any of this."

Edward nodded, still withdrawn. "I understand." He picked up his wine glass. "But human drinkers—they're closer to another species. We don't identify with them."

"Really? Are there more of you out there?"

"A few," Edward said. "Feel free to talk to my family and gain their perspective."

"Your family rarely talks about this sort of thing. They barely use their vampirism around me. Why can't you talk to me?"

The gentleness in his face had vanished moments ago. Now, he stared at her as if he was part of a forceful interrogation. "I choose to assimilate. While yes, I need to hunt—and kill," he said, in a very venomous tone, "I prefer the rest of my life to be comprised of the simple things that remind me that I was once human."

"Like going to school, and driving a car…"

"Interacting with humans, forming relationships. Studying and learning beside them." He paused, and that gentleness returned. "Caring for them, protecting them." And then light shone in his eyes. "Falling in love with them."

This time, Bella heard love, and she almost choked on her sip of chardonnay. "What?"

Edward stared at her for a moment longer with a ghost of a smile, and then looked down fondly at his food. He didn't even seem remotely bothered by Bella's expression. "That's alright, Bella. My feelings grow quickly."

This was incredibly awkward. Wasn't it? "I'm sorry, I—it's been three months."

"I know," he said evenly. "That's okay." His smile was bright and genuine, almost as if he were expecting this.

Bella took a proper sip of her wine, carefully swallowing this time instead letting it down her windpipe. "That's very sweet, Edward."

Bella didn't know what romantic love was supposed to feel like, but she certainly knew that she didn't feel it for Edward—at least not yet. If they were to break up, there wouldn't be too many tears.

Quickly, she returned to their previous topic of conversation. "Your family assimilates too."

"My siblings do attend classes, take on jobs. Finish degrees. They travel the world." Edward smiled at her. "It isn't easy with the way our appearances are frozen, and constant. We have to move frequently to avoid suspicion."

"And documentation? Like passports, and IDs?"

"We have a guy." Edward chuckled. "There's always a guy."

Bella smiled back. "Probably a hefty sum for all that secrecy."

"Well, money isn't quite an issue for us."

Bella pointed her fork towards him. "See that's where your human immersion ends. Money is definitely an issue for a lot of humans."

"Good point. Perhaps we can discuss a more immersive strategy for our next move. A modest, three-bedroom house. A car to share. We'd need to convince Alice to not jet around the world every few months."

Bella nodded, but then came to her own understanding. "And Jasper… he's not part of any of this."

"No, his eyes are stark evidence of that." He took a sip, and Bella didn't miss the slight waver of his mask at the taste. "He has a different background."

Bella glanced at her own wine glass. "I figured. He doesn't quite…" she used their favorite word, "…assimilate."

He swirled his gently. "No. As I've said, humans aren't anything but a means to feed for him."

"But that's true for most of your population, is that right?"

"Correct."

"So, maybe he can give me perspective on the rest."

Edward didn't seem too happy about that, but he seemed to agree. "Talk to him, as well, if it helps."

It would help. He had been the most forthcoming out of all of them.

The waiter came by with a disconnected smile. He picked up the chardonnay bottle from its iced bucket and tipped it forward above Bella's glass. But she quickly raised a hand, covering her lips with her other as she swallowed her food. "Actually, could I have a red please?"

A/N: Red meat = red wine. No exceptions.

This chapter: Bella's preparation for her future, and dinner with a vampire.

Excerpt for next time:

"At times, their humanity feels forced." She thought for a better term. "Synthetic. I don't always understand why they have to pretend." Bella paused, the confession light on her tongue. "I find vampires to be unsettling."

It was probably the first time she had ever admitted that out loud. And her explanation changed something in the way that Jasper was looking at her.

See you next week.