Okay, everyone; I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I lost interest in writing this for a bit during the summer and I've been busy with school. Plus, I'm still having trouble figuring what direction to go in. I'll try to post as often as I can. Please, please,please review! :) They give me encouragement.

-Julia

I drove slower than usual, with Alice following patiently behind in her Porsche. My nerves and reluctance reflected the normally intolerable speed showing on the speedometer. I stared ahead at the road blankly. I focused on the passing landmarks, keeping stressful and painful thoughts out of my head.

Unfortunately, driving slowly didn't prolong the trip enough for my liking and soon I was turning onto the extensive driveway. Once I parked in the garage, I turned off the engine and took a deep, relaxing breath. This is not what I want to be doing right now. Alice was already standing outside my door. With hesitancy I pushed it open and stepped out of my Mercedes. I searched around the garage, looking to see who was home. Great… everyone. I took another deep breath; nervous as to what they would all say and think of me. I could hear footsteps inside, coming to meet me.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked considerately.

"Let's go." I sighed.

We started walking swiftly towards the door that goes inside of the house. I entered first, into the foyer, with Alice right behind me. Everyone in my family was already gathered. I examined all of their moods. They wore a variety of expressions on. The two that stood out the most to me were Esme's and Rosalie's. Esme looked concerned, worried, curious and hurt. This made me feel guilty, for not informing her about what has been happening.

But, the expression on Rose's face just scared me. She partly knew about what has been happening; about Edward. And she hasn't shown much happiness towards me for it. She had a malicious glare on; clearly disapproving of what I've been doing. When I looked into her eyes, I heard a growl starting to form in her chest, so I looked down quickly and stopped breathing. I saw Emmett put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. All of that only happened within a second. This is going to be a really lengthy conversation.

"Bella," Esme sighed with relief. She came up to me and hugged me tightly. "Where have you been?" she asked and released me. I felt everyone's eyes watching me, but I only looked at Esme.

"Um," I didn't know how to answer. Do I say I'm falling in love with a human yet? I thought about it carefully for about five seconds, before I finally decided. "I've been hunting a lot more recently."

"Why? Have you been having trouble restraining?" Carlisle stepped forward towards me while he asked.

"Yes, there's a student who is my singer. His scent is very… difficult to resist." I stated truthfully. Rose started laughing uncontrollably. Everyone stared at her.

"You're doing a great job at that!" She said sarcastically. I looked down again.

"You've been trying so hard, right Bella?" she continued.

"Rose, that's enough." Carlisle told her calmly. "Bella, what's been going on?"

I decided to get right to it. I looked up at Carlisle. "I have strong feelings for a human." Esme gasped in surprise. I looked at her, expecting disappointment, but I was surprised when I saw happiness and relief. I was taken aback by her reaction, but everyone else was quiet, thinking carefully over what I just said. After a few seconds of silence, Carlisle spoke up.

"For how long has this been going on?"

I sighed. "For quite a while actually. At first, I didn't know what was going on. A sort of gravitational pull has existed since I first saw him, but I put that off as bloodlust also. But, now I really understand that feeling was actually a romantic connection."

"I'm so happy for you Bella." Esme said lovingly.

"But the human doesn't know what he's getting himself into! Surely, he'd run away if he knew what you really are! We should just all leave, before this gets even more out of control!" Rosalie seethed.

I looked down at the ground again and bit my lip. "Well, I've already told Edward and it doesn't matter to him." I spoke softly. Rose quickly started yelling before anyone else could say anything

"What?! You… Exposed… Our… SECRET?!" She paused between each word and screamed the last one; the fury showing on her face was becoming increasingly more intense. I subconsciously took a step back, while Rose stepped forward. "You selfish creature! You've put us all in danger for an insignific…"

"Rosalie, calm down." Jasper said soothingly and he sent a wave of peace around to everybody. It actually seemed to make her angrier. She hissed.

"Don't interrupt me Jasper!!" she yelled and took another step forward. Her arm quickly darted towards mine trying to grab it. Someone instantly caught her hand and pulled her away. "I'll end this and kill him right now if I have to!" she continued. My fists instantaneously shook wildly, my jaw tightened and I felt my eyes darken in rage. Anger pulsed through my whole body and I immediately saw bright red. A monstrous growl ripped from behind my clenched jaw. "No!" I screamed and lunged for her at lightning speed. No one expected my outburst, so I was able to tackle her to the ground. She screamed and fought back. Everyone else immediately reacted. Esme was yelling, begging us to stop. I felt someone pulling me away by my legs and saw Emmett's arms around Rose's waist, holding her still. I then felt two hands on my shoulders, keeping me still. I looked up and saw it was Carlisle. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked upset. I heard Esme's panicked, rapid breaths.

Emmett pulled Rosalie away, while we continued glaring at each other on her retreat. He walked her outside to probably hunt. She was still beyond enraged, but listened to Emmett, who looked back and gave an apologizing glance at me. I was still tense from our fight, so complete silence engulfed us for a long time and everyone who was left, composed themselves. After a while I was able to continue with the conversation. "I'm ready to talk again." There were no comments about the previous altercation. We continued.

Alice went to stand next to Jasper, and he put an arm around her. She smiled encouragingly at me, obviously seeing how everything was going to turn out from now.

"Okay, you told him our secret?" Carlisle asked calmly.

"Well, he figured it out himself."

"When?"

"It just happened after school today. I actually started to attack Edward and almost bit his hand." I said the last part in a soft voice again. Jasper looked confused.

"You attacked him and he doesn't care?" he asked.

"No, it's very strange to me also, but I can't stay away, like he can't. He makes me unbelievably high spirited with his presence alone." Esme's smile grew wider and she looked over at Alice, who also looked very enthusiastic.

"Are you sure that you can handle this situation?" Carlisle asked with concern.

"I will not hurt him." I answered determinably, trying to convince myself also.

"But, what if something like this happened again?" Jasper asked. I flinched at the thought of going through all this again.

I answered simply. "I won't let it."

"Can you explain exactly what happened today after school? I have a feeling you're not saying something." Jasper asked. The memories from my flashback that I've been blocking came rushing throughout my mind and I tensed immediately. My face showed my pain and everyone became concerned around me.

"What happened?" Esme asked, visibly upset by my reaction. She hates to see anyone upset. Alice nodded slowly to me, showing me to tell them about my last human day. Hesitantly, I told them in a low, strained voice. By the time I finished I was near sobbing and their faces had dropped dramatically. I had gone into much more detail than the version I previously told Alice.

Esme, Carlisle, Jasper and Alice all had expressions of horror on, probably close to what mine was like. I took deep breaths again. No one around me moved an inch. They looked like statues and that made everything worse.

"I'm going to my room." I murmured, running swiftly up the stairs. I looked back, before I entered and saw them looking at each others faces with shock. I shut my door and put some uplifting music on to compose myself.

I stayed there until it was pitch black outside, midnight, then decided to head down to the first floor. When I made it down, I went to see who was around. I saw Esme reading a book on the couch, so I went over to where she was.

"Hey Esme."

"Hi Bella. Are you okay now?"

"I'm feeling better. I am going to hunt. Do you want to come?"

"Sure, it's been a while."

"Where's Carlisle."

"Night shift at the hospital."

"Did you ask the others if they need to come?"

"No, I was hoping only you and I could hunt. I want to talk to you and I need advice."

"Okay, give me a couple minutes." She went up the stairs to her room and came back minutes later changed in a different outfit. "Okay, I'm ready."

We drove towards the mountains and I parked behind a tree. We ran through the sullen forest at a steady pace, with green surrounding us everywhere. It was quiet while we searched for a temporary relief for our bloodlust. I was trying to formulate a coherent sentence to break the silence and talk to Esme about what I should do.

"Do you think… I'm doing something wrong by getting too attached?" I asked.

"No, I don't Bella. I have waited so long for you to be happy."

"But, I don't want Edward to have this fate! He has so much potential and he doesn't need me to ruin his life."

"You won't be ruining his life if he loves you and gets to be with you."

I sighed, "But it's a very unsettling thing for him to be so okay with what I am. It's almost like he doesn't have any instincts."

"I've noticed that you have had light showing in your eyes lightly. Like a flame has been lit. You are in love with him. In your existence, has anyone ever affected you as much as he affects you?"

"No, this is all completely new."

"I believe that you should give this a try." With that, we hunted in silence as I thought over Esme's words.