If the hunt with Edward had begun with some apprehension, it was gone quickly.
It went much the same as her previous hunt with the Cullens, but just with more questions.
He wanted to know everything about her, it seemed. He quizzed her about all topics, from her favorite color to what her training had been like in Louisiana.
"Do you remember much about your father?" Edward asked as Bella changed out of her ruined shirt behind a tree.
She had gotten her first taste of mountain lion and found it to be much better than elk, but still not completely satisfying. Her shirt, though, had become positively indecent.
Edward had chuckled, earning himself a growl from Bella as she tried to arrange the tattered material.
"I'm not laughing at you," he promised. When he had started taking off his gray T-shirt, spotless even though he had found his own mountain lion, Bella had raised her brow.
"Alice told me to layer today," he had offered in explanation before tossing it to her.
Bella came out from behind the tree now, looking pensive, trying to figure out how to answer his question about her father. She wasn't sure what was remembered versus what she imagined about Charlie. She knew his face, but it was blurred a little. She knew he was a quiet man, and that there had been some awkwardness between them. Beyond that, she didn't have anything of substance.
"Not much," she said. "I know that he's quieter, a little awkward. I remember his face enough that I would recognize him if he passed me in the street. That's about it, though."
Edward nodded in reply, and seemed about to ask another question when Bella interrupted him.
"I have some questions myself."
He smiled a crooked grin down at her. "Alright, then. Your turn."
"Alice's visions. How exactly do they work? She saw that I was going to destroy this expensive-looking shirt? And still let me wear it?"
Edward laughed as they started making their way back. She noticed that their pace was slower than before, certainly much slower than both of them were capable of.
"She can see…multiple possible futures, I suppose is the best way to describe it. The future is not set in stone, and is very subjective to the decisions we make. This, though," he said as he gestured at her appearance, "was inevitable, it seems."
He was smiling again, laughing at her, she guessed. She didn't mind it so much.
"So, when I decided to come to Forks…"
"Yes, that was an interesting night. You must not have made a conscious decision until you were very close by. Then, because of your encounter with the wolves, whom Alice can't see, your future kept flickering to different outcomes. We half-guessed where you would cross the boundary, though Alice was a little more certain about that."
"Alice can't see the wolves?"
"No. We found that out when Carlisle had to meet with Sam and warn him about some nomads that would be passing through the area. It scared her nearly half to death. And me."
"Oh, that's right. You can see her visions, too."
"Yes, but it's more difficult for me to understand what I'm seeing. She is an expert at sorting through them all. Plus, sometimes she purposely keeps me out."
"How does she do that?"
"She has her ways," he smirked again, but this time Bella wasn't in on the joke.
"So, what's your story? Where did you come from?"
Edward told her about how he was the first Carlisle had changed, how he had been dying of the Spanish Flu, and how his mother had made a dying request. He even went on and told her about how Carlisle found Esme, then his rebellious years.
It shouldn't have been a comfort to her, hearing about how Edward had rebelled against the "vegetarian" diet his "parents" followed. It shouldn't have made her feel better about herself when she heard how Edward had stalked and hunted human beings, even if they were the scum of the earth.
But it did make her feel better. She listened with a sense of relief about how Carlisle and Esme welcomed him home with nothing but love and joy. Edward seemed to know where her thoughts were, because he said, "So that's why you have nothing to worry about. I made monstrous decisions with my life, with no excuses of being a newborn or being created by someone like Jamie."
Bella didn't answer this; she didn't want to admit how much more secure she felt in her position with the Cullens.
"What about the others? Jasper and Alice? Rosalie and Emmett?"
"Rosalie was the next one added to our family," he said, then hesitated. "I think it's best if you ask her for that part of the story, though. None of us have had pleasant transitions into this life, but hers was even less so."
Bella wondered what this meant, but didn't push. He told her next about how Rosalie found Emmett and made the impossible journey back to beg for his life. Then about how Alice and Jasper had found them, rounding out their family into a perfect unit.
"Until you," he finished, and Bella turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we thought our family was complete. Perfect. Then you came along."
Bella's dead heart almost beat again when he looked down at her, a mischievous smile on his face.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Now the numbers are even for baseball."
She rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh, trying to hide her disappointment. But disappointment at what? What had she been hoping for?
"You might want to wash up a little."
They had come to a small creek, still many miles from the house. Bella looked down at her reflection and realized he was right. As she scrubbed at the blood and dirt, Edward picked back up with his questions.
"So, what was the dynamic like between the four of you? Back in Louisiana."
Bella sighed, holding up a finger to him to keep him from growing impatient, as he did whenever she paused before answering. This answer was going to take a little longer. She continued scrubbing, the water warm and pleasant. She watched the grime and blood sloughing off of her pale skin. It was cathartic.
"Well," she began. "Jamie and Xavi have been together the longest, but Xavi is probably the one person Jamie trusts the least, just because he's capable of manipulating him. Jamie created Leanne in 1949. She trains the newborns they think might last."
"Does he keep very many newborns?"
"No, not many."
"This Leanne, you said she's a tracker?"
"Yes, but she can't track me. Mentally, at least. I know she has other ways, but I was very careful to not leave a trail when I left." Bella panicked a little, picturing what would happen if shecouldtrack her up here. It would threaten the Cullens, not to mention her very human father in town.
But she had been careful. There was nothing to get worked up about.
"Was Leanne his mate?" Edward asked, and Bella stilled her movements in the water.
"No, his mate was Anne. Or, at least, it sounds like it was. She created him up in Nova Scotia. When she was killed in the south, he came down for revenge. Then found himself a home there."
"Is she who you looked like? That's why he didn't kill you?"
"One of the reasons, yes." Bella's voice was low and controlled. They were getting close to a truth she didn't want to share.
"So Leanne is loyal to him?"
Bella sighed in relief, drying her clean hands on her pants.
"Yes. Well, I mean, I don't think she cares enough one way or another to be disloyal, at least. Jamie trusts her, and Xavi respects her."
"But Jamie doesn't trust Xavi?"
"No."
"But he needs him to maintain control over the army."
"Yes."
Edward whistled. "Sounds like it can get tense."
"You have no idea." Bella clenched her teeth, feeling the ghost of a flush on her face.Tensedidn't even come close to the dynamics, but she knew if she cracked open that box, there would be no closing it.
"Is that why…" Edward paused.
"Yes?"
"You've been in a lot of fights," he said carefully. "Is that from fighting other covens? Fighting each other? Or controlling the newborns?"
Bella's hand automatically came up to touch one of the scars on her jaw, one she knew to be from Jamie.
"All of the above," Bella answered, her fingers lingering. She had never been embarrassed about her appearance before. She had acknowledged that she was damaged, but hadn't really cared. Until now. She wanted to be attractive to Edward, not repulsive. She wanted him to be able to look at her without cringing or flinching, the way so many of their kind responded to her.
Her feelings for him were starting to become clearer.
She jumped when she felt his hand pulling her own gently away from her face.
You're lovely," he said simply.
He let his fingertips brush hers for a moment before he pulled away, just as they were entering the clearing around the house.
The next couple of months were wonderfully uneventful. They continued sparring, much to Emmett's delight. Bella was a game changer apparently, both with her ability to cripple Edward's advantage and with her own style of fighting. Jasper joked that it was nice to have someone competent enough to challenge him, even if she had yet to win.
Esme was teaching Bella about her renovating plans and everything that went into it while Edward and Alice were at school. Rosalie and Emmett took frequent vacations, as they were supposed to be off at college, anyway, but Rosalie had even spent a few afternoons with Bella in the garage, giving her lessons on how to turn an average looking car into an average looking car that went really, really fast.
Bella had asked Jasper to continue with her combat lessons, partly for something to do, and partly because it was a familiar routine in an environment she was still trying to get used to. He was a much more patient teacher than Leanne, if not any less demanding.
Hunting was something she was still adjusting to, but she had managed to at least keep her clothes intact the last few times. They were even in good enough shape that Alice boxed them up for donation.
The biggest development, however, was how close she had grown to Edward. In spite of her first impression of him, he was one of the gentlest souls she had ever met. He found her fascinating, always wanting to know what she was thinking. When she had listened to his music collection and found herself to be partial to classical, he had even composed her a song on the piano.
If Bella had been human, she was certain she would've cried. No one had ever given her anything as beautiful as that song.
The others were watching carefully, Bella noticed, but they were watching Edward more than they were her. He seemed oblivious to the attention, but Bella knew better; he, of all people, could never shut out what others were thinking about him.
Maybe that's why he had been drawn to her initially. The mystery, the novelty of having to converse with someone to know their thoughts.
"You always surprise me. You never answer the way I think you will," he had mused to her one night. They spent most nights in her little room, a former guest room, both sprawled across the bed and exchanging meaningless questions.
"First broken bone?"
"Ummm, I'm not sure. I know I've broken one before though."
"First car?"
"I don't think I ever had one of my own."
"First vacation?"
Bella shrugged and said, "This game isn't very successful when I don't remember anything about my life."
He was undeterred, though. "First kiss?"
Bella froze.
I never kissed anyone before Jamie, my psycho vampire sire who used me for sex, murder, and a mental shield. Isn't that romantic?
Since she couldn't give that answer, she settled for replying, "I can't remember."
He knew she was lying, but she was grateful when he moved on to the next question.
"First piece of furniture you accidentally destroyed?"
Bella laughed. "Actually, it was the whole cabin."
He seemed to be intentionally not touching her, but she wasn't sure why.
Esme, out of everyone, seemed most delighted at their developing relationship, but Bella wasn't even sure what it was developing into.
"You don't know what he was like before," Alice had pointed out. The two of them had ventured out of hearing range of the house, and were sunning themselves on a precarious outcropping of rock. Sun was in the weather for a few days, so Alice and Edward had some reprieve from school. The academic year was winding down, anyway, and the school seemed to have given up trying to get the Cullens to attend regularly.
"I think I have some idea," Bella stated wryly, remembering how stoic and moody he had been at first, turning her hand to watch the sunlight glitter off her skin. It had been a while since she'd seen it, thanks to the ever-present cloud cover.
"Trust me, you don't," Alice said with a bit of dramatic flair as she laid back, her oversized sunglasses and polka dot bikini giving her the appearance of a modern day Audrey Hepburn.
"Then tell me."
"He was absolutely miserable, but he wouldn't admit it. It was becoming almost a chore for Jazz to be around him. He just moped around, useless and scowling."
"That's quite a picture you paint," Bella joked.
"I am an artist," she said, stretching her arms above her. "Oh, by the way, Bella, I have a huge favor to ask of you."
"What?" Bella remembered the last favor she had agreed to blindly, which had ended with her sitting in front of a computer screen for nearly an entire day shopping. It had been terrible.
"Do you think you could shield me whenever possible while we're around Edward? I'd owe you big time."
Whatever Bella had been expecting, it hadn't been this.
"Why?"
"Because, true love doesn't blossom the way it should if one of the parties knows how the story ends."
"True love? Alice, what—" Bella gasped. "Alice, you've got it all wrong."
"Oh, don't be dense, Bella. You're even blinder than Edward if you don't see where this is going."
"Alice, he hated me when I first got here. Then he tolerated me. Now he is just fascinated talking to someone whose thoughts he can't hear."
Alice just laughed. "Bella, if you are planning on sticking around with us for eternity—and spoiler alert, you are—then you need to learn one thing: don't bet against me."