A/N: Hey, here's an update. woot-woot. Thanks for reading, people!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, there's this chick that does. I don't remember her name.

Chapter Thirteen – Foundation

He was walking me home?

Why would he walk me home?

Maybe he wants to walk you home.

He stood there, in perfect stillness, grinning down at my face.

My heart swelled at the prospect, but the confusion was tearing at me – why? It seemed like it was the only questions I was bothering with lately, why did Edward do that, why did he do this? My mind was getting redundant.

For a minuscule part of a second his eyes changed, something flickering within their depths, and his previously cocky grin faded.

"You don't have to accept." His voice was barely above a whisper, but his words were still laced with firmness, as if he was sure of something.

Sure I'd accept, or deny him? I wasn't sure myself, his glistening eyes told me something while his words told a different story.

"No, no. You can walk me home." I spoke softly as if I didn't want the words to disturb the greenery around us.

"Will you get in trouble with Charlie?" His words came from behind me on the narrow trail back to my house.

"No, not really. Why?"

"You were very distressed when you noticed the time earlier."

"Y-yeah, I know. I just don't like leaving Charlie alone for too long."

"Look, that trail over there is really deep. I bet it's at least a hundred years old," my voice cracked a little as I changed the subject. I bit my lip, hoping he wouldn't pry anymore. Naturally, my hope was short-lived.

"Why is that?"

"Well, when a lot of people take use of the same road over a long time they tend to-"

"Bella –" he interrupted.

"Edward –"

"You're really pushy," I said miffed. I didn't want to talk about Charlie. Or relationships. Or relationships with Charlie.

"I think you've mentioned that once," he chuckled. I couldn't see his face, but I imagined his full lips turning upwards.

I sighed when I finally gave in. Why did I tell this boy everything he asked me? It was a question I didn't hold the answers for, not for a long time.

"I don't want him to feel lonely," I exhaled the words out in defeat.

I let the rustle in the trees distract me from the silence and the anticipation that was growing inside of me. I wanted him to answer, but at the same time, I wanted the silence to continue.

We walked; I watched my feet tread carefully over the numerous twigs and roots beneath me. I hadn't noticed earlier, but to my great surprise the woods were absolutely quiet. The animals were all there; I could feel them, but they were hushed. Almost as if they were all listening in on our conversation – anticipating Edward's response as much as myself.

His voice cut through the thick silence – the harmless creatures hidden in the darkness stirred with his voice before they settled back to their previous stillness. I could feel my face scrunch up in understanding.

"You don't want him to be lonely. Is this why you moved to Forks?"

"Why are you so interested in me?" I abruptly turned to face him. He could ask me questions for hours if I didn't stop him, and I didn't know the first thing about him. He was playing an unfair game.

He was obviously caught off guard as he peered down at me with wide eyes and complete motionlessness as he processed my question. For a mind reader, this guy really sucked at foreseeing – anything.

I kept up my stare – taking note of how his eyes appraised my face while indecision still ruled them.

"What do you mean?" His jaw set and he took a step closer.

I was in the thick of the woods discussing God knows what, mere inches from a vampire.

I gulped and watched his Adam's apple move.

He was trying to intimidate me.

Not going to work, lover boy.

My breathing became shallow, "You know what I mean. You can ask as many questions as you like, but you won't answer any of mine?" I breathed the words, still fixated with the movements of his throat.

The cold of the night vanished as the heat built up in between us, like someone decided to set up a fire right there between us. The moon light bounced off of Edward's face and I basked in the weak glow. I saw his features in a new light – perfect angles were still all there, but for some reason he looked better under the moon. He looked like he belonged. He looked less pale, less dangerous, less inhuman – less perfect.

I remembered we were having a conversation when his lips moved and started spilling words.

Yes, questions. I reminded myself.

"I don't answer your questions, you say?" His tone changed from the firm dominance-seeking Edward to I-know-something-you-don't Edward.

His scent wafted to my nostrils as he deliberately breathed on my face.

I inhaled discretely before I put my game face on.

"I don't know the first thing about you." I exhaled deeply, unleashing my own scent on him.

"Yes you do," he said with a smile before he went around me and left my sight. When I turned around I saw his retreating back, I couldn't do anything but follow him back home.

"You know my name. That would be the first thing about me," he shouted back to me, his back still facing me and me trailing behind him.

I rolled my eyes at the statement. "That doesn't count; you probably even know my full name."

"Oh, do I now, Isabella Marie Swan?"

"Tell me yours."

"Edward Anthony Cullen."

Anthony. "What's your favorite color?" I was talking to his back, he laughed loudly.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked back.

"Edward –"

"I don't have one. What's the point of choosing to elevate one color over the others?"

"What do you do in your spare time?"

"I play the piano. I listen to music."

"What kind of music do you enjoy?" The questions were just tumbling out me.

"A little bit of everything – it ranges from Stravinsky's symphonies to progressive metal bands from the eighties like Pain of Salvation, although I appreciate them equally."

When he finished his sentence, we broke through the shrouded trees and were standing in my backyard.

We stayed silent, only listening to the sounds our feet making as we crossed the yard and made our way to my door.

"Did that satisfy your interest? Did I answer your questions correctly?" He eyed my intently, as if to measure my reaction.

"No. No, it didn't." A smile crept up his face. I noticed, once again, that he was closer, leaning in even.

"Let me propose a deal – we'll play 20 questions. On Monday maybe?"

He looked hopeful, like he'd be pleased at the prospect of seeing me in two days.

Would he really?

As Edward stood there, awaiting my answer, with his hands behind his back while simultaneously leaning into me, I understood that this boy was interested in me. His topaz eyes were glimmering.

"You have something in your hair," he said suddenly. He pointed to right side of my head, staring intently at whatever that had gotten stuck to my hair.

"It's still there," he stated after I apparently failed when I combed my fingers through my hair.

The next thing I knew, his cold fingers were entangled in my hair. I shivered at the sensation as he all of the sudden brushed his fingers against my neck. His touch heated up my skin; he left a hot trail when the fingers decided to continue their travel. When they had reached their destination, Edward was cupping my right cheek.

My mouth parted by itself in astonishment.

Edward's eyes fell to my lips in what must have been an involuntary response.

We had inched closer together, and yet again I was left staring, this time at his lips.

The dark that surrounded us felt like a cocoon, lulling us into a safe and private world containing only the two of us.

The intimacy of the situation both frightened and excited me at the same time. I had never experienced anything like this; I had never wanted anyone to kiss me before. I had never wanted to kiss anyone before.

I didn't know what do.

So I stepped even closer.

I couldn't control it – my body was on its own while my head was screaming profanities at it.

You can't do this!

I breathed out my anxiety. I let my eyes drift to his.

You can't do this!

He looked conflicted; the glimmering eyes were no longer topaz but had changed to a depthless onyx. Danger was lurking its way to our carefully constructed cocoon, threatening to shatter it.

You can't do this!

The palm left my cheek, and soon he was dangling something in front of me.

"It was a leaf," he whispered before he took three steps back and filled his lungs with fresh oxygen.

Okay, so I really couldn't do it. I sighed quietly when I heard his next words.

"Goodnight, Bella."

Charlie was thankfully asleep.

I didn't think he'd appreciate me sneaking back in at that hour.

In my defense, most teenagers would probably sneak out at this point.

But, then again, I wasn't like most teenagers.

I hadn't really done much sneaking around before this, so of course – I sucked. The floor boards would creak and each time they did, I would pause to hear if Charlie noticed anything.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I was feeling victorious. I was like a freaking ninja!

"Ehm…"

The voice came behind me, and had me jumping ten feet up in the air. "Oh my god! Dad, you scared the living crap out of me!"

"Language," his stern voice told me he was all business.

"Hey, dad," I said carefully when I regained my breath. He crossed his arms, lifting one of his brows skeptically.

"What were you doing out all this time?"

"Um, I met a… friend." He looked even more skeptical when he heard the hesitation in my voice.

"A friend?"

"Yeah."

He scratched his moustache, "What friend would this be?"

Crap, I really didn't want to tell him about Edward. Not yet, anyway.

"Edward Cullen." Edward Anthony Cullen. I felt my cheeks redden.

Damn it.

Charlie straightened, shaking the grogginess off before taking a protective dad stance.

Double damn it.

I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped knowing it would make matters so much worse.

"A boy?"

"Yes."

"How old?"

"17." Yeah right…

"Carlisle Cullen's son?"

"Yes."

"Boyfriend?"

"No, not at all."

"Okay then, kiddo, get some sleep."

I was running.

Where was I running?

Home…

The ground under me was hot. It felt like I was on top of burning coal. Running as fast I could trying to avoid the contact my bare feet had, I would jump to try and reach the much cooler sky. It would freeze me down to the bones the few seconds I made contact. The burn of the fire beneath me was forgotten when the ice replaced it with its own pain. I would fall to the ground, rolling around on the fiery pits of the forest I was in.

As any sane person would anticipate, it would burn me and the process would start over.

I wanted out.

It was like a well-planned and painful purgatory.

I wanted home. Now.

I wondered how I didn't have any injuries. Any burns or frostbites.

My musings came to an end when I was able to break through the foliage, and ended up at a beach.

Well, there went the well-planned in purgatory.

But I wasn't any beach, it was the beach. The beach that had chilled my soul when it last froze over.

The prickling sensation on my hand was swapped with a painful scratching. The butterfly had turned coal black and let out a deafening screech as it got bigger and bigger. Soon enough the butterfly was transformed to an unrecognizable beast with pointy and deadly sharp teeth. Its menacing eyes were focused on me, glowing with the same red the sky was colored in with.

As I stood there I saw myself sitting on the same rock, at the same beach with the same coal black butterfly on my hand. Except it wasn't a butterfly.

I couldn't identify what it was. But, its sharp teeth were soon digging their way into my neck as I screamed along with myself.

As it lunged at me, the beach froze over.

My feet were now grounded because of the ice.

I was trapped.

This monster was eating at me; my lungs couldn't keep up with my screams.

Someone put a lid on my shrieks – when I reopened my eyes relief flooded to me.

Maybe he came to save me.

I was wrong.

He peered down at me with a wrong kind of gleam in his eyes. As if he was preparing me for the mischief that was about happen.

Then, Edward bit me.

Vampire.

That was my first thought as I awoke, a sheen of sweat covering my body. My bedroom was colder than usual, which was odd in itself, but when I glanced at my window I saw that the curtains were fluttering. Almost as if a wind had blown through my room thus creating the movement.

My brows furrowed in confusion before I laid back on my pillow. It was still the middle of the night, if I was lucky I could maybe get a goodnight's sleep.

Yet again, I was wrong.

Ignoring my nightmare, I opted to stare at the ceiling.

When I got tired of that, I stared at my alarm clock.

The red digits were glowing 4.35 am when I gave up, and decided I might as well read a book.

After reading for what felt like an eternity, I got up.

Charlie had gone fishing, and as I anticipated he had left a note for me on the refrigerator door in his typical handwriting.

Bells,

gone fishing, will be gone for most of the day.

Dad.

I must've gotten my handwriting from Renée, Charlie's handwriting was a lot more tidy than both mine and my mom's.

I sighed at the thought of my day.

Alone, again.

It was okay, I needed to think anyway.

The sun was to starting peek out and it was filling the kitchen with its rays. It seemed that Forks was having a sunny day, finally. The smile on my face was immediate and inevitable. On my way to take a shower I thought the day might not be so bad after all.

My damp hair won't be problem, right?

It's sunny, who cares!

With a plaid blanket, a book and a delightfully sunny and warm day, you couldn't keep me inside even if you tried.

"Yeah, this is definitely a nice change."

Trying to read the book failed.

Every time I'd get remotely immersed in the paragraphs, I'd have a flashback that would jolt me out of my poorly constructed escape.

The ridiculous dream wouldn't leave me alone. Nothing ever just left me alone, did it?

I groaned out of exasperation and put the book down.

That was it for the peaceful day, I guess.

I couldn't lie to myself – the dream had to mean something and hold some sort of significance. Especially when the dream gave me a freaking recap of the last strange one.

The dreams had to have a connection to Edward. Since he ate me and all…

But why would he bite me in the first place?

He's a vampire? Du-uh.

It didn't make any sense. I recalled thinking he was going to save me. Was that so absurd? Considering he'd already saved me twice, I didn't think it was ridiculous that was my first thought.

I twisted one of my fingers in a lock of hair while I contemplated the facts. The hair was still damp from showering, but it would probably dry before I went back inside.

Edward was the only one who had ever saved me from anything.

It was different, but it was kind of nice. That someone was taking care of me – even though I had to be careful he wouldn't bite me. Like I really needed more to worry about…

Also, I was running – I remembered feeling like I had to escape before the dark foliage, that was threatening me, suffocated me. I wanted home…

I briefly wondered if people dreamt as much as I did, and then proceeded to interpret them.

Running away can only mean one thing; I was afraid of something and I wanted a home. Obviously somewhere I could be safe. From what though? It's not like I didn't know what I had to fear in this weirdly crowded town.

Vampires, and vampires…and oh, werewolves.

Both dreams felt like warnings – as if they were foreshadowing something. It was ridiculous, obviously my mind knew what it was, but it wouldn't tell me. Talk about difficulties…

I squinted against the sun above me; maybe I'd even get a decent tan.

I chuckled at the absurdity.

I sighed.

The only conclusion I could come up with, was that Edward wanted to harm me.

And that fact alone made my heart squeeze and made me physical ill.

Why would he want to do that? After everything? It doesn't add up.

Think about it, he is a predator. He knows what he's doing to lure you in.

I am not that stupid, am I?

Experience weighs a lot; the "boy" has lived for over a century.

My internal debate only added fuel to the fire of indecision.

I wanted all of it to be lies. So badly.

The sun decided to hide behind some clouds, and all went black.

Just like in the paragraphs I was able to read earlier, it felt like someone had poured cold water all over me.

My eyes flew open by themselves when I almost choked because of the overflowing water in my mouth.

Damn it.

The sun was nowhere to be seen, the milky clouds that had dotted the sky earlier was now a part of the dark legions of rain-heavy clouds that was covering the sky.

I must have fallen asleep. My mouth must have fallen open; water had accumulated in my mouth, I quickly spit out the rainwater.

I puffed before I swiftly gathered my soaked belongings and ran as quickly as I could inside.

"This is the best thing ever!" I shouted my aggravation.

My book was ruined, but I settled on leaving it in the heated closet along with the clothes in hopes that I could still read it.

I shivered my way upstairs.

A/N: That's all for now, folks!