Chapter 7: Familiar Monster

(Alice)

Moving at human speed was frustrating, especially because Bella already knew that we were anything but human. Jasper was already in the yard by the time I made it outside. He met me wordlessly, but he sent me the relief he felt at being reunited again. After all that he'd lived through, Jasper didn't take separation as lightly as the others in our family. Even this immortal life is not a sure thing.

I touched his face. I could smell no blood. They hadn't hunted.

Rosalie appeared next, jumping from treetop to treetop. Emmett ran beneath her, giggling whenever he caught a glance up her skirt. They bounded over the river and stopped to Jasper's left.

"She's still here?" Rosalie groaned. Bella's voice floated just above the sounds of the piano. "Listen, I'm not leaving-"

"It's fine, Rose. I think we should go in quietly, though. Try not to frighten her."

Emmett chuckled. "Our boy's making some progress, eh?"

I smiled, knowing he could hear us. "Well, I haven't seen hide nor hair of Edward, but there's a debonair gentleman in there wooing her with the piano. He hijacked my playdate."

Jasper wrinkled his nose. "What's that terrible smell?"

"Cookies," I shrugged. "Hey, it does a pretty good job covering up the human."

"We're going to have to air out the house for days," Rosalie whined.

"So can we go in?" Emmett asked.

I nodded, reaching out for Rosalie's hand. "Just please, please keep things going like they are. Don't make any rash decisions. I see Emmett talking to them for a moment-"

Emmett smiled, nodding in agreement. He was already planning on it, of course, which is why I could see it happening. He was both eager to meet Bella and itching to tease Edward.

"-but Jazz and Rose, I see you leaving them be."

"Fine by me," Rosalie muttered. She linked her arm through Emmett's and marched him to the back door.

Jasper reached for my hand and we headed inside.

(Edward)

Bella followed our eyes, of course, when both Alice and I turned reflexively at the sound of Emmett's thundering laughter. I couldn't hear her mind, but her unease was evident in the thunderous thumping of her heart. We would have to be more careful. She was far too perceptive for her own good.

I'll go meet them, Alice told me. And maybe she's just waiting for the right person to ask her to the dance, genius. She sent me a flash of Bella sitting next to me at the piano, meddling once again.

Even though I had seen the same vision earlier, it shocked me. Would Bella really sit so close to me? Each of her fluttering heartbeats echoed in my ears, a testament to her fear. I wanted to comfort her, but proximity to me only put her in more danger. One wrong look, one wrong movement or sound could terrify her, driving her away from me forever.

Still, Alice's vision was clear. If I invited Bella to join me, would she come? Would she choose the familiar monster over the one in the shadows?

I took a deep breath and tried to form the words, but my courage failed me. Oh, how vehemently I had despised that Newton boy for his cowardice, only to prove myself even more unworthy than he! I knew now why he had trembled so at the prospect of Bella's no, for that single word had the power to rip this immortal to shreds.

What a foolish, fragile hope I had nursed!

Bella stared out at the dark, her eyebrows creased in the center. She had wrapped her arms around her torso in a hug, and now she was fiddling anxiously with the side of her sleeve. Wordlessly, for I am nothing if not craven, I patted the bench beside me and waited, breathless, for Bella to decide which monster she would face.

Miraculously, she sighed in relief and hurried to join me, sliding so close that her warmth spread across my skin. A yes? For me? I didn't dare breathe, I didn't dare look her in the eye. I didn't know what to say, so I played.

My fingers took over, moving with a confidence I did not truly possess. My Bella leaned closer and watched my hands. I wished yet again that I could hear her thoughts so that I would know what to say to her, but they were hidden from me.

I suddenly realized exactly what I was playing and smiled. Water Music. Handel's grand apology. It seemed my hands knew what to say, even if my mind did not.

I apologized with my mouth, too. "I'm sorry for teasing you," I murmured, forcing myself to meet her eyes. "And I'm sorry for trapping you with Tyler."

Bella's lips fell apart as she looked into my face. Her heart rate spiked, and she blinked too rapidly. Was she frightened?

"For what it's worth," I added, "I think you've handled yourself with remarkable grace and kindness."

"Um… thanks," she mumbled, still staring at me like I had too many eyes.

I dropped my gaze and let the music fill the silence, agonizing at the mystery of the thoughts that filled her mind.

(Bella)

The way his hands moved was entirely mesmerizing, like watching the light dance on the surface of water. My heart was still pounding in my ears, but sitting so close to Edward was strangely soothing.

He had stopped breathing again, confirming my suspicions that it had something to do with me. I caught his eyes lingering on my still-bare toes, and suddenly my face felt warm. Why did I paint them that stupid Barbie-doll pink? He probably thought I was superficial, no better than Lauren Mallory.

"Jeez, Edward, is there anything you can't do?" I teased.

I was close enough to his side to feel the vibrations from his chuckle. Goosebumps spread up my bare arms, sending a shiver down my spine. His eyebrows drew together when he noticed, but before he could voice his concern, I asked, "What song is this?"

"This is the fifth movement of Handel's Suite in F Major. It's part of his Water Music collection. The story goes that old King George felt slighted by Handel, so, naturally, Handel wrote a bunch of music and threw him a party on the Thames to smooth things over."

"So you're playing an apology?"

He smiled the sweetest smile, not quite meeting my eye.

"Fine, you're forgiven," I said, shaking my head with mock exasperation. I nudged his arm with my own so he knew I was just teasing.

"You really do understand me, Bella. Sometimes I do better with music than words."

I bit my lip until my heart settled down again. Edward Cullen was somehow even more amazing than I had thought.

"When did you learn how to play?" I asked, more breathless than the vampire who wasn't breathing.

He was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke, the sound was vulnerable. "I don't have many memories of my birth mother. Even her face is fuzzy in my mind's eye, but I remember with vivid clarity the way her hands moved across the piano. I taught myself over the years. A tribute to her."

"I'm sure she would have loved to hear you play like this."

"Thank you, Bella."

He ended the music softly, his hands lifting from the keys like steam from the waters. Thick silence filled the space between us, muggy like the cloud-smothered air, the sweat of trees, the prelude to the storm. His skin was cold, but I was submerged in a mysterious heat.

"What song would you like to hear?" His face was too close to mine, and yet somehow not close enough. The delicious smell of his breath did strange things to my limbs, turning me to wax, melting me into his fire. I was paralyzed before him, entirely helpless. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and I couldn't think of the name of a single song.

"Do Piano Man!" called a thundering voice behind me.

I jumped. The rest of the Cullen siblings had returned from their walk, and they were all standing silently by the entrance to the kitchen. I hadn't heard them come in.

"Oh, hello," I squeaked out.

Rosalie didn't acknowledge me at all. Her chin was high as she strode away. The blond boy, Jasper, nodded once and headed upstairs with Alice. Emmett, the one who had spoken, grinned at me, his white teeth glimmering in a way that made my hands shrivel into fists.

"Bella, right?" he asked.

Without really meaning to, I felt myself leaning towards Edward. It wasn't that I distrusted Emmett, necessarily, but I trusted Edward infinitely more.

Casually, as though he sensed my unease, Edward slid his arm behind me on the bench. He didn't touch me. His arm didn't even brush against my clothes, but my skin still tingled at his nearness.

"Bella, this is my oldest brother, Emmett. Emmett, this is Bella Swan. She's Alice's partner for Mason's class."

"Nice." Emmett glanced at the table. "Mom made cookies, huh?"

Edward grinned. "Take a few dozen."

"And the lemonade is delicious, too," I said, letting my gaze drift lazily back to Edward's eyes.

His lips twitched. His full glass was still sitting on the table. Lost for words, he spun back to the piano and began playing something I recognized.

"Clair de Lune?" I asked.

His eyebrows lifted, pleased. "You know Debussy?"

"This one, at least. Renee has it on a CD. It's one of my favorites."

"Mine, too."

I wrapped my arms around my torso. "It reminds me of home."

"Oh, come now, Bella," Edward chided. "This is the perfect song for Forks. Phoenix is far too bright for a piece like this."

"Hey, we have clouds in Phoenix, too. We had three last year."

Emmett laughed, and I was surprised how much it pleased me to hear the sound. Until then, I hadn't realized how desperate I was for Edward's family to like me.

While he was playing, I noticed Edward turn his head away from me and try to take a breath. Immediately, his shoulders went rigid and his eyes snapped closed. The song continued flawlessly beneath his skillful fingers.

I tried to give him a moment. "How was your walk, Emmett?"

"Better when the rain stopped. What are you and Alice working on?"

"Um, Canterbury Tales. Did you guys do that one last year?"

Edward was seemingly in control again. He leaned close, filling my nose with his dizzying aroma. "He doesn't know how to read." He winced like it was a painful secret.

Emmett smirked and clapped his mammoth hand on Edward's shoulder, making the bench beneath us shake. "Good one, bro…. Good one. Hey, Bella, has he played the song he wrote for you yet?"

My breath caught in my throat. He wrote a song for me? He wrote a song for me?

Edward's hands never missed a note, but his teeth snapped together so hard that I was worried he might have broken one. "Fratricide," he said with a glare. "That's what they'll call it on the news, you know. It's a big word, but maybe Rose can help you look it up."

Emmett's laugh was as big as he was. It filled the whole room, echoing off the walls as he climbed the grand staircase. Alice laughed, too, and I realized she had taken Edward's spot on the loveseat, a fashion magazine in hand.

"Edward-" my mouth gaped open and closed- "you wrote a song for me?"

His golden eyes met mine, and I swear I forgot my own name. "Well, it's not really for you, as I never intended for you to hear it. It seems I live in a whole family of meddlers." The last word came out almost like a growl. Emmett's laugh swelled again from the floor above us. "But, yes, I suppose it was inspired by you."

I chewed my lip raw, trying not to let my smile spread too wide.

"You're not upset?" he asked.

"Of course not. Why don't you want me to hear it?"

He turned to breathe again, and he was silent for many moments. His hands danced across the keyboard. When I had given up hope of ever hearing an answer, he spoke.

"Surely you can feel it, Bella. Surely you can feel that we are different. Strange."

"Dangerous?" I asked with a wry smile.

He missed a note, but he recovered quickly. "Yes. As much as I want to be near you, as much as you... fascinate me, it's not a good idea for us to be friends. I would never forgive myself if I hurt you."

My face flushed again. He wanted to be near me? I examined his perfect profile, and my heart broke at the depths of self-loathing I found there. "You may be dangerous, Edward, but that's not the same as bad."

"Bella-"

"Why didn't you kill me that first day?"

It was enough to stop his hands. He looked at me in shock. "You remember?"

"If you're so bad, why did you bother to save me from the van?"

"Bella," he gasped, "how can you sit here so calmly with the knowledge that I nearly murdered you? To this day, I'm not sure how I resisted-"

"But you didn't kill me. So really, you've saved me twice. At least twice. Probably more than I'll ever know, though, right?" Looking into his eyes was too much. I turned my attention back to the gorgeous instrument in front of us and plucked out the melody to Pachelbel's Canon, one of the only things Renee had ever taught me to play on the piano.

Edward's hands were tight fists in his lap. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

I wanted to bite back, but I smiled instead. "So what? Should I run out the door right now, Edward? Should we just go back to pretending we hate each other?"

"If you have any regard for your own well-being, you will get in your truck, go home, and do your best to pretend I don't exist." His words were harsh, but his eyes betrayed him. They were full of agony. I could finally see an ancient sadness reflected in their depths, like he himself had fallen for the serpent's tricks- he had tasted the apple, and now he could see the world as it truly was, harsh and naked.

"I'm not going to run away from you," I swore to him.

I stumbled through the left hand part to my simple little song. My untrained fingers resisted the strange shapes they had to form to play the right notes, but I got through it alright. I didn't play the two parts together, though. I wasn't quite coordinated enough for that.

"You've run out of air again," I murmured. "Go breathe and come back."

Edward was completely still, stiller than I have ever seen a living thing. He didn't blink, he didn't twitch. It was nearly eerie. I wondered if I had broken him by finally admitting that I knew he wasn't quite human. I completed the chord progression four times before he stirred. He gripped the bench, knuckles white, and sniffed in the shallowest of breaths without turning his head away from me.

After a minute or two, I broke the silence. "Would it be easier if we were outside?"

His index finger lifted from his fist. "A moment, please."

I played all the black keys from the highest down to the middle, careful not to get too close to Edward. He was taking slow, deliberate breaths, relaxing slightly each time he exhaled. I picked a white key towards the middle and played all of the notes in order until I reached the highest one.

I looked over my shoulder at Alice. She glanced up from her magazine like she could feel my eyes, and she smiled. She didn't seem at all concerned with Edward's struggle, which was encouraging.

Finally, he turned to me. "How did you know?" he asked.

"How did I know that you don't breathe?" I giggled. "Edward, how do I know anything? How do I know that it's cloudy outside? I look. I sit next to you every day. You don't move, you don't take a single breath. You sit as far away from me as possible. You sure know how to make someone self-conscious, by the way. For a while there I was re-applying deodorant at lunch."

Alice's musical laugh rang out behind me.

Edward spun towards her. "Why did you hide this from me?"

"I do the biddings of the Fates, Edward, dear. You would have fought it had you known, just like you've fought against everything else. You two should have been friends weeks ago. Bella should have been my friend weeks ago, too, but you're so stubborn. You keep getting everything all tangled up again."

"What have you done?" He glared at her for a few silent moments- another one of their wordless conversations, no doubt- and then he stiffened. "No, Alice-"

"Ask her," Alice urged, waving a casual hand.

His eyes turned on me, gold and wet and sparkly, and I was putty in his hands again. "Say it," he pleaded.

"Say what?"

"Say what you think I am."

His eyes pulled the truth from me, and I couldn't even resist. "Wonderful."

Alice giggled again.

"Bella," he groaned, pained.

I couldn't let him suffer. "You're a vampire," I whispered, and the despair in his eyes confirmed it.

Phew, you made it! That was a long chapter. I added point of view labels. Did that help or distract? Let me know!

Thank you for reading, and please leave a review.

Also, I am going out of town this week, so I imagine my updates will be slower for the next few days. Bear with me, I'll come back :)