"Speaking out loud."
'Thinking.'
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[Titles, books, signs]
Written Knowledge.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight and its characters, and do not write this story for any financial gain.

Chapter Five - Exposure.

Beau POV.

It was cold today, and even though I liked the cold, I had to wear two pairs of gloves and two pairs of socks to try and retain some heat. I drove to school, trying not to let the euphoria of being able to see her again take over my mind, but I failed all the way. Once I parked in my spot, I got out and went to the back of the truck, seeing that the small snow chains were holding tight. Charlie and I did the installing for his cruiser and my truck after he told me it was ice season. I was kicking the tire when I heard steps and turned to see my nemesis, looking stunning as ever, her hair with a few more braids than usual, her face with an educated, beautiful smile.

"Good morning." She said kindly, and I looked away from her so she wouldn't see the tiny smile on my face before I controlled my expression, turning back at her.

"Good morning."

"How was your weekend?" Her voice was still polite, but I frowned at that question. She was a little nosy, now that I thought about it, but before I could think of an answer, we both heard a loud skriech, turning to see which idiot was about to crash, when I saw Tyler's van coming our way, sliding over the ice, spinning towards me and Edlynn.

I only had time to look at her, and at the moment she turned to me and our eyes met, I saw her eyes full of fear, making me turn my attention back to our impending deaths.

I didn't have time to do anything other than grab her by the arm, pulling her close and down to the ground by her waist, against my truck, covering her form with mine while trying to push her under my truck, bracing for the impact. In that moment, I was looking at her face from up close, seeing how her eyes were wide open, as she stared at me.

I saw the moment she leaned closer to me, pushing her free arm between my arm and my body, making me turn to see that she had her palm wide open at the moment the van hit me, or so I thought. I saw the van stopping as if hitting a roadblock, the door being crushed by her hand, feeling the impact through her body, as I was still holding her close. She leaned even closer and pushed her arm forward, making the van almost capsize before it stopped, the windows breaking in unison.

I couldn't believe my eyes, slowly turning to stare at her, who was so close that I could feel her chilly breath against my lips. We stared at each other for a moment, and all I could see in her face, was worry.

She placed her hand on my chest delicately and pushed me away lightly, until my back hit the van, and I let go of her waist, seeing she getting up, her eyes still glued to mine, and then, we started hearing screams from afar and she looked away, quickly turning and jumping over my truck.

I got up as well, trying to see where she was going, but when I looked over my truck, she was gone.

I turned and looked at the van's door, seeing a distinct shape of her hand against it, feeling my heart speed and my head spin. What the hell did I just witness?

I was so shocked that I sank back to the ground, just staring at the dent in Tyler's car, hearing people arriving, but not really hearing their voices.

She stopped the van with her bare hand. That was all my mind was telling me right now, and I felt a touch from the side, turning slowly to look at Jessica's face, who was crying, but it was weird, her mouth was moving but there was no sound, until I blinked a few times, and her voice washed through me.

"Beau?! Beau, are you okay?! Oh my god- are you hurt?!"

"Give him some space!" Someone shouted from close by, and I turned my gaze away from the door, now hearing everything around me.

"I'm ok." I was able to say, getting up again, just to see Tyler inside her van, her forehead bloodied, and that made me gasp.

"Is she okay?"

"We don't know-" A voice answered, and another shouted.

"Don't move her! I already called an ambulance."

I was led out of the broken glass, and many hands touched me, people asking if I was okay. I nodded at all of them, my focus shifting from Tyler to the door, just when I saw. They were giving a wild birth to Tyler, who was speaking to someone, and then she leaned back in the car seat, and her head dropped down.

I quickly got up from the car hood I was sitting on, pushing through people, and started running.

"Get out of the way-" I shouted, and people made way, just when I reached Tyler, holding her neck and pushing her head back against the seat, seeing her eyes barely open. I quickly grabbed her and carried her out of her car, sitting her on the floor.

"You shouldn't move her dude-" A student said just when Larry grabbed my arm with one hand, using the other to grab my jacket.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING-" He shouted with crazy eyes

"She's not breathing-" I started explaining but felt him pushing me away, so I knew I had no time to play nice right now, not when the girl was dying in front of me, so I simply punched his wrist upwards with the back of my closed fist, making him let go of my clothes and pulled his other arm towards me while twisting and placing my leg in front of his, taking him down with an Aikido move, twisting his arm again before he screamed in pain. I quickly let him go and turned to Tyler, kneeling next to her.

"She's not breathing." I hissed and held her head up, seeing she was trying to move her hands, her breathing parting, and I sat her straight against the side of her van, pulling her head up, meeting her eyes.

"Calm down, Tyler... you're not choking, it's just shortness of breath, c'mon, breathe in slowly, c'mon." I whispered, hearing people freaking out around us, while others were holding Larry, who was trying to come at me again, but she managed to look me in the eye, pulling air through her mouth, the raspy sound making everyone gasp with relief.

"That's good, don't rush it, keep it slow... look at me, like this... yes... that's it." I said and was about to let go of her neck when she held my hand in place, holding me there, so I just nodded to calm her down, helping her sustain her neck to keep her head up.

"What the hell did you do?" Someone asked, and I sat on the ground next to her.

"The crash wasn't that hard, but I'm guessing she hurt her chest with the seatbelt- shortness of breath after a car crash can indicate cardiac contusion by blunt trauma." I looked around and everyone was staring at me with confused eyes, but I wasn't in the mood to explain that Renée almost put me through med school by osmosis before I could finish high school.

The EMTs arrived after a while, and I quickly told them my assessment and saw when one of them pulled Tyler's shirt up a little, revealing a bruise, making the man look at his partner before nodding, loading her into the ambulance.

Charlie arrived shortly after, looking at my truck before scanning the crowd for me, and the relief I saw in his face when he saw me made me feel a little bad.

"Beau- oh, thank god-" He grabbed me into a hug, making me hug him back with one arm.

"I'm okay, nothing hit me."

"What the hell happened?!" He asked frantically and I instinctively looked towards the place the Cullens parked their cars, seeing all of them, except for Edlynn, making me sigh.

Edlynn POV.

What did I do?

I was hiding in the forest after the accident, unable to think straight. What have I done?

There was a commotion down in the parking lot, and I tried reading the minds down below, seeing that Beau was all right, and that he was now tending to the girl named Tyler. I saw the moment he carried her out of her car, just when another human child became aggressive towards him, grabbing his jacket and his arm. That shot me a pulse of anger, to the point I wanted to run down from my hiding spot to teach him some manners, until I saw Beau using what looked like Judo or Aikido to quickly take him down and restrain him. That shot another sensation through my body, making me walk to the other side to have a better look, seeing him helping Tyler breathe, a hand on her neck, and when he pulled his hand, she grabbed it and held it in place, making me break the tree I was resting my hand on.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I could've pulled both of us out of harm's way, but if I did that, he would've seen my true nature. In that moment, I really saw no other alternative, because I couldn't moderate my strength enough to push him out of the way without breaking a few of his bones, but when I felt his hands pulling me back and down, seeing his face when he shielded me- I never felt like that before. I never needed protection from anything after I was reborn, but when I felt his hands around my body, I froze. In that moment, I forgot I was a nearly indestructible vampire and turned into a normal girl. I felt his warmth against me and looked up just in time to see his eyes, how he pushed me down to protect me from harm, making my heart beat again if possible.

No, I couldn't have allowed him to die.

It didn't matter he saw, I could find a way to explain that, or I could just say he was crazy, but saving him wasn't a mistake, at least, that was what I chose to believe, thinking my family might not share the same view as me.

Beau POV.

"Are you okay, Mr. Swan? I heard you were in that accident this morning."

"I was, but I'm ok, thank you for asking."

"Any news on Tyler?"

"None, just that she was taken to the hospital."

I repeated this answer a few times during the day, hiding Edlynn's involvement in the incident, wondering why nobody noticed her there with me at first, until Angela touched my arm.

"Beau?"

"Yeah?"

"About the accident this morning- sorry for bringing it up again, but I was wondering about something."

"That's ok, what is it?"

"Was Edlynn Cullen with you?"

I felt my heart racing, trying to not let it show. So someone did notice her there. I knew I should tell the truth, but I also had the feeling there must be a reason she just up and left the scene.

"She walked by when I got out of the truck, but she was far away when the van lost control."

"Oh."

I saw how she looked down with a frown, probably trying to fit my explanation into what she saw. I wasn't sure she bought it, but she didn't ask about it again.

Lunch hour kicked in, and I arrived at the cafeteria as if it were day one. Everyone was looking at me, but I was looking for someone, scanning their table to see the person I wanted to talk to. I thought about just going there and asking her directly to come and talk to me, but Angela would find that suspicious, so I just ate in silence.

After a while, people received calls about Tyler's condition, and I was right, she had a contusion in her heart, which caused the shortness of breath, but she was stable now, already recovering.

The classes were starting, and I saw Angela leaving, but instead of going with them, I stopped by the entrance and waited, seeing the Cullens coming.

One by one, they walked by me, ignoring why I was just standing there, not looking at me, except Alice, who held my stare with a serious gaze as she walked by, and then, I blocked Edlynn's way, making her halt.

"Do you mind if we talk?"

I saw her face shift from normal to stress in a heartbeat as she crossed her arms in a defensive stance.

"Class is about to start."

"I know, but I think you and I can both agree there's something way more important than that right now." I gestured and walked to the exit, and she followed me. We arrived at the outside of the cafeteria and I turned at her, waiting.

"What?" She asked with a hint of anger in her voice, her arms still crossed.

"I think you owe me some answers."

"I saved your life, I don't owe you anything." Her voice was sharp, and I felt stunned by that, seeing how she looked away, hugging her arm.

"Edlynn- you did stop the van with your hand." I said low, and she slowly turned to me, her face twisting into a mocking smile.

"You think I stopped the van with my bare hand? Are you sure you didn't hit your head when-"

"Why?" I cut her short, and she stopped smiling.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? You know that I saw- and you're trying to gaslight me into believing I didn't? Why?"

She held her expression in place.

"I don't know what you think you saw, but you're wrong. You're probably stressed because of the accident, and I'm pretty sure you're not thinking straight."

"That's your plan? Lying to my face and accusing me of being out of my mind?"

She stood quiet, and I took a step closer, not thinking straight, caught in this insanity.

"Tell me the truth." I whispered and saw how she dropped her arms, her eyes switching to my mouth before settling into my eyes, and I felt my face heating, but it looked like she was reminded of something, taking a step back.

"Can't you simply thank me and let it go?" She asked without meeting my gaze, and I could barely answer her, my mind filled with reasons for her to be acting this way.

"Thank you."

She closed her expression again, shaking her head.

"You're not letting this go, are you?"

"I'm not sure if I can." I answered in the same tone she once used, and she bit her lower lip.

"Well, I hope you enjoy disappointment."

And she walked away, not looking back once.