My Lucky Girl.

She's so lucky.

The nurses and doctors are astounded. I can hear it in their voices when they describe her injuries and how she should have died. They think it was a miracle that she survived. That God was watching out for her. That she is the luckiest patient they've seen in the history of their medical careers.

They wonder how I managed to come out of the accident unscathed and I can't tell them the truth. So I lie and they believe me because how else could I have possibly survived a wreck like that?

The smell of blood and bleach is almost overwhelming, but I manage because of her. She needs me to be here and so I will. I will sit next to her and hold her small bandaged hand for hours upon hours. I will brush the hair out of her pale face. I will be here through every day and night until she opens her eyes.

Because I love her.

Chapter 1:

If there ever was a time Edward wished he could sleep through it would be high school. Surrounded in this purgatory by teens daydreaming about meaningless or impossible things. In every school, in every decade it was always more of the same. And Edward certainly had experience with things staying the same.

Today though there was a spark of change, a new addition to the students. It had been a few years since anyone had moved to Forks and so the entire student body was enthralled with the new girl. The chittering of the girls was a nonstop agony to Edward who was privy to every jealous and annoying thought. The boys of the high school were a different brand of annoyance with their lustful daydreams of the potential buxom blonde tanned from the Arizona sun.

If Edward could, he would have pulled a muscle from rolling his eyes so hard.

All 332 students and the 37 faculty members knew about the new student. Word traveled fast in this small town and the daughter of the Chief of Police was someone worth mentioning apparently. The scandal of his ex-wife leaving abruptly with his infant daughter to warmer climates was still mentioned even in the last two years since Edward's family had moved here.

Edward had anticipated that the warm welcome for Isabella Swan would be overwhelming. Nearly every student wanted to catch a glimpse of her and seemingly all the students in her classes were clamoring for her attention, asking questions about Phoenix, how she liked Forks, and every single tidbit of information they could glean from her.

By lunchtime Edward had discovered that she moved from Phoenix, Arizona where her mother still lived, didn't wear makeup, she liked to read, broke her arm over the summer, preferred sunshine to the rainy weather, and told everyone who would listen that she liked to be called Bella. He could see her face from every angle in the minds of his classmates. The heart shaped face, full lips, large brown eyes, and her thick mahogany hair. Bella was paler than expected coming from someplace so sunny and although she was thin she didn't appear athletic in any way. She was pretty in that ordinary way humans were attractive, but that didn't stop every boy in the vicinity from thinking themselves in love with her.

So what does the new girl think of the Creepy Cullens?

Edward was pulled from his reverie by his brother Emmett. Brother being the best possible term for their relationship. For what would you call a fellow vampire who lived in the same house and who shared a person you called Father?

"I'm not sure, we haven't been brought up in conversation yet." Edward replied softly, no one except his siblings at the table could have possibly heard him.

The table was filled to capacity with four others. Emmett, a rather large boy pretending to be a senior with curly black hair and muscles that made the football team envious. Rosalie, the most astounding blonde haired beauty who was currently inspecting her own reflection in the window across the room. Jasper, also a blond, but whose only focus was the girl whose hand he held like a lifeline. And finally Alice, the petite girl looking at Jasper with eyes full of love and understanding.

It had been almost two weeks since Jasper had last hunted and the toll was weighing on him heavily. Lunchtime was always the worst, with a third of the student body crammed into the small cafeteria. The warmth, close contact, and pulse of the heartbeats were tempting for a hungry vampire.

Edward heard their names brought up in the direction the new girl was sitting. Obviously she was being informed on the weirdness that was the Cullen family. Their adoption story and the fact that the siblings were with each other. Edward sighed mentally. It never failed that when girls figured out that he was single that they either attempted to flirt with him or just daydreamed all about what they would do once he finally noticed them and wanted to date them. In this aspect Edward's telepathy was more of a curse than a blessing since he was forced to see exactly what his admirers were imagining.

"-and the guy on the end is Edward. He's crazy hot, but none of the girls here are pretty enough for him."

Edward recognized Jessica Stanley's voice easily and rightly assumed she was speaking to the new student Isabella.

Bella. He corrected himself.

Of course she's crushing on him already. I mean who wouldn't with that face and that hair. Ugh.

Edward scoffed at Jessics's mental images, if only she knew what would happen if his teeth got that close to her throat.

He instead tried to focus on Bella to see what she thought about the Cullens. There was nothing but a void next to Jessica. It was almost as if there was no one sitting there, but a lightning quick glance showed the seat occupied and her big brown eyes locked on Edward's for a fraction of a second.

"Oh."

The word was so soft that it was only Edward's superior hearing that allowed him to recognize it. He forced his gaze to stay on the table in front of him, avoiding the new girl's table entirely. Alice tilted her head slightly to the side in Edward's direction, keeping her eyes on Jasper's face.

Something wrong? I can see it on your face.

Only Alice knew Edward well enough to decipher the miniscule changes in his face. He could never keep anything hidden from her.

I'll just get it out of you later then.

With a smirk Alice stood from the table, grabbing her tray and pulling Jasper to his feet.

"The bell is about to ring. C'mon Jasper, walk me to class?" She batted her long eyelashes at Jasper as if he ever would have denied her request.

It wasn't a long walk to the biology class, but it felt like everything was dragging in slow motion. The students walking in front of Edward had no urgency to get to class and so their steps were unhurried. By the time he arrived at class most of the students had claimed their seats and his table was vacant as usual.

Just after the bell rang the door opened once again. The new girl stepped through the door and stood by the teacher, speaking softly to him and handing him her schedule. She had a blush over her cheeks that was an appealing shade of pink. Mr. Banner motioned toward the back where Edward was sitting next to the only open seat.

Edward pulled his books from the other side of the desk and watched the new girl walk towards his table. She tripped over something and grabbed out at the table to catch herself. Her eyes met Edward's at the same time her scent reached him.

The change was instantaneous.

Edward felt his throat burst into flames and his muscles tensed without his consent. The scent of her blood. Sweet. Floral. Warm. He could practically feel the give of her tender flesh, the heat of her skin, the satisfaction when he tasted her blood. Edward flexed his fingers in anticipation. In just one more moment his prey would be around the table and within his reach and then the fire and hunger would be sated.

Nothing in this singular moment was as important as his need to taste her, to sink his teeth into her, to feel her pulse against his lips.

Edward could feel the venom pooling in his mouth, but that was overshadowed by the literal warming of his skin. His long dead heart felt superheated from the flames emanating from his throat. Calling. Begging. For the blood that would soothe the ache, calm the fire, and bring Edward to the brink of perfect bliss he had never before known.

The tension in his body coiled him so tightly he had to withhold a groan. He held her gaze deliberately in the way a predator monitors their prey. Her brown eyes were bright and he collected all the colors within them in the seconds it took her to regain her footing and move to sit beside him.

The second before Edward could spring out of his chair two things happened almost simultaneously. His sister's mind shouted out at him from the classroom across the hall.

EDWARD! NO!

And a brand new sound rang through his mind with such clarity.

He's fine. He's not mad. He's fine. He's fine. He's fine.

As suddenly as the hunger was brought on, it dissipated. Edward continued to stare at the new girl, Bella, as if nothing in the world had happened. All the tension that coiled his body and the bloodlust that overtook his caution were gone. He simply felt….fine. As if the scent of this girl's blood had never triggered his most basic instinct.

Confusion and embarrassment broke through as Edward contemplated exactly what happened to him. Bella had not even reached the chair at his table before Edward stood and gathered his things. He mumbled something about feeling ill to Mr. Banner and Edward excused himself from class with the last of the breath from his lungs, unwilling to taste the blood in the air again.

Edward held his breath through the hallway until he reached the clean air outside in the parking lot. If he allowed his emotions to cloud his features they would only show shame. He had almost exposed their secret, one he had held for almost a hundred years. He had almost snuffed out a young, innocent, tempting, life. Edward had never smelled someone so mouthwatering, never smelled anyone who he wanted to kill simply to taste them.

God what would Carlisle think?

Edward thought he had such good control over the monster within. The monster that held him captive for years when he struggled with the morality of what he was. This young woman. This girl. In just one breath had almost wrecked everything Carlisle had built in this town. Edward immediately hated her and she had done nothing more than to simply exist.

Her mere existence had almost ruined Edward. He knew though, that all the hatred he was feeling towards her should be directed at himself and his control or lack thereof. The thought of what had almost occurred didn't completely override the question that hung over his head.

If Edward hadn't been so utterly consumed with his own thoughts he might have recognized the footsteps approaching him. It wasn't until Alice was firmly placed at his side that she spoke the words he was thinking, almost as if she was a telepath herself.

"Edward, what on earth just happened?"