A/N: Hello, people!

I don't own Twilight or Harry Potter.

I have no beta.

ENJOY!

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TAGS: Mild Language, Drama, Insensitivity, Queer Themes, and Angst.

-Y'all, I am so deep in MDZS/The Untamed that I've POSTED 6 fics
so far! I've written 16+ more that haven't been posted yet. I didn't
post them here on FFN because the section for Chinese works is
poorly managed. 1 section for ALL Chinese manhua? And the section
for The Untamed is really small. Anyway, all are posted on AO3 with
the same pen-name if you're interested.

-This chapter was apparently finished a while ago and I just didn't
remember, so I put it through a final edit. Sorry. This is what I am
like when I get into a new fandom.

Bella sighed and wrung her hands a few times. Angela had sent her the video by the time she'd made it home, and she'd uploaded it into a flashdrive to give to Charlie. Now she just had to actually hand it to him and explain.

It was a bit embarrassing. Bella wasn't really a prideful person but having to admit how helpless she'd been felt degrading in a sense. No one wanted to admit to their own weakness because it's seen as a flaw. Being flawed is 'wrong' and 'shameful' etc...

"Hey, dad?"

Charlie looked up from his favorite recliner, where he had a beer in one hand and a piece of greasy three-meat pizza in the other. He picked up on her demeanor immediately and set both items down. "What's wrong, Bells?"

She held out the flashdrive, glaring at her own hand for how it shook. "I got lost tonight," she told him, refusing to meet his eyes. One thing they shared was the ability to manipulate through their doey brown eyes. She couldn't bear to see his disappointment. "No lights were on. My signal kept failing me. I got followed by these guys for like an hour so I FaceTimed Angela when my signal was strong and Jessica had her screen-record the whole thing while they tried finding me. We got their faces in clear view and felt it'd be best for you to have them on file in case something happens in the future."

He didn't even hesitate to pull her into a tight hug. Bella wasn't big in any way so she folded right into the space easily. Charlie was warm and safe. He was okay. Trustworthy.

Crying also wasn't something she did often because she didn't really have reasons to. Awkward and antisocial leanings aside, Bella lived a very privileged life and wanted for nothing that was needed for a safe existence.

And yet…

"I'm getting you one of those knives disguised as lipstick or a pen. You can't conceal carry in this state but knives disguised to look like something else are acceptable. And I'm getting you some mace and a taser. You'll have to leave the taser in your truck since it legally can't be brought into the school building, but having it there would be useful," he murmured into her hair.

Already he was working out on how to limit the chances of her being left so helpless again. With Charlie it was always the actions that mattered most.

"I'm going to teach you how to throw a solid punch too. And how to redirect incoming attacks. I'll show you how to fight dirty. When your life's on the line, nothing is too 'cheap' to use."

He proceeded to squeeze her even tighter.

Charlie Swan was a good father.

Harry's mobile rang the moment he Apparated home. Right on time it seemed. It was already dark outside and the night had fully set in around Forks. And yet he was getting a phone call so late in the evening already.

It was Bella of course. There would be no one else calling his mobile at such a time since he didn't go around sharing his number with everyone. "Get over here!" she hissed into the receiver, sounding just a tad hysterical. "Shita happened!"

"Bella, it's like nine in the evening. I don't think your dad will want me coming over so late."

"Apparate or something. It's best we talk face to face for this shite."

He sighed. "Let me get some food quickly. I'll be there in a minute."

He proceeded to grab a box of [Cookies and Cream Pop-Tarts] - which had become a guilty pleasure in recent weeks - from his cupboards and did as requested, finding himself standing in Bella's room with the smallest of pops to announce his arrival.

She rushed over and locked her door for good measure, eyes wide. "I nearly got raped in Port Angeles."

And the box of food was forgotten instantly in his sudden bout of panic. Bella placed a hand on his mouth to halt the flow of questions that would have sprung forth otherwise. "Edward Cullen saved me."

That did serve to calm him a little bit, but he had so many questions.

"He followed us out there. They'd gotten back on Sunday and he was watching us because he was worried over what could happen with my horrid luck. I've learned that he and his family are vampires and that he specifically can read minds."

Distantly the words of Snape came to mind. About how the mind wasn't some book that could be easily read and it was far more complex than anyone could ever truly hope to understand. Still, the idea and understanding that came with it were appropriate for the situation so it wasn't really wrong per se. Besides, he didn't know the specifics of Edward's ability. There were so many version of telepathy out there and he'd wait for more information before judging.

"Edward can read minds?" he repeated, just to make certain he heard correctly.

She nodded. "Except ours."

"How?" Harry's Occlumency wasn't that good. He hadn't improved that much since the failed lessons with Snape and hadn't really tried to if he was being honest. Voldemort had still been able to get in whenever either was too emotional to block each other out.

"I don't know. I'm basically dead quiet as if I'm not there, while you have some sort of wall, I guess. Your mind makes its presence known but he can't see anything you envision or hear what you're thinking. And his ability is involuntary. He described it as existing in a room filled with thousands of people all talking at once, creating this din of noise he can't escape. And some people, being louder than others, have louder thoughts that others. And he can only somewhat dim the thoughts of others, if focusing on one person at a time. It's how his family knows when to move before people become too suspicious apparently."

Unfortunate. Perpetual Legilimency sounded like a pain in the arse to deal with. But also it explained a lot. Harry's go-to form of protection for his mind was a wall. Basically. Or like a dome of invisible bricks protecting the nucleus of his mind. It was the best he could do since he wasn't very good at shielding his mind with magic. Harry hadn't ever been a genius. He wasn't like Tom Riddle, mastering wandless and nonverbal magic before starting at school, or Snape, who was creating spells and counter-spells and revising existing Potions texts while in school.

He was just Harry.

"He knows you technically told me about vampires, but I didn't tell him about you being a wizard because I figured that was your secret to tell and I'm technically not supposed to know either secret," she went on to explain.

Okay. He took a deep breath. Okay. This was fine. It at least meant they didn't have to curb their tongues as much while at school. Keeping secrets was so much work so it was kind of a relief. Remembering not to give their knowledge away to listening ears had been a bit of a struggle. Bella had almost slipped up several times.

"And how do you feel about all of this?" he asked her. She was the one new to the magical world as a whole. She was at the bottom of the power tier so to speak. In basic terms, she was the most vulnerable person involved.

"I feel kind of calm and kind of nervous?"

"Then would it be the wrong time to mention that there's something magical about the people down in La Push? Specifically that Sam boy?"

A look of understanding filled her expression and she proceeded to excitedly smack his arm multiple times as she reached an epiphany. "The Cullens aren't allowed on their land! Remember those stories Jacob told us about the tribe's connection to wolves and Sam's comment about the Cullen's not going there ever! They must know!"

Harry nodded. He hadn't thought those stories were very important so he hadn't focused too much on them. He'd seen it as a teen boy trying to impress/scare a girl he liked. Thank Merlin Bella cared enough to listen though. "I don't know what's going on there yet, but it seems this is a hotspot for the supernatural." Weird how that happened.

"Damn. Who knew a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Washington would be more exciting than Phoenix?"

He shrugged. Vampires, Wizards, and Whatevers, oh my!

"So… the chances for that threesome are going up, right?"

She threw a pillow at him in response and he couldn't help but snort.

Edward Cullen was right in front of Bella's house the next morning, seconds after Charlie Swan left for work. Alice had been a great help in providing exact times for when to be ready.

He leaned on the hood of his Volvo, waiting for either of his obsessions to leave their houses. He could hear both going about their morning routines, though they had different methods.

Bella was rushing it seemed, opening and slamming doors of all sorts and tripping over herself every three seconds. She muttered a swear and gave a punishing kick to a chair she'd tripped over, making him smile at the imagined scene.

Harry though, was very calmly going about his morning and was humming something familiar though Edward's vast memory didn't help him place a name. It was something that was originally in French though, that much he could remember.

Finally, it was Harry who came out first, loudly slinging his bag over his shoulder as he put on his playlist called, [Up & At 'Em], which he listened to every morning to get himself to wake up fully. It was his extended 'Uh…' that made Edward turn to look at him.

Today he'd chosen to wear a white button-up shirt, and over it was a bright green sweater that matched his eyes, with a sparkling silver H stitched on the front. His jeans and boots were black, and his hair was artfully messy. His glasses were gone and he looked shocked to see Edward there. His green eyes seemed ever bigger without the wire frames in the way.

"So you're really taking the whole not staying away thing seriously, huh?" Harry asked once he crossed the street. He smelled divine as always, and wore no cologne thankfully. The chemicals always agitated his sense of smell.

The vampire inclined his head. "I don't want to anymore and it seems there's no longer a secret to hide, so why even bother?"

Harry nodded along with his reasoning. "Point."

Bella's door opened, interrupting any further conversation. She froze much like Harry did when she noticed them standing there. Her ensemble was a light brown coat and purple mittens, over a long-sleeved green shirt and blue jeans.

"Why don't you ride with me today," Edward suggested with an easy grin, making the young woman flush delightfully. That little bit of warmth on her cheeks was appealing considering how abnormally pale she usually was. For a human at least.

She looked at Harry for direction, and he simply shrugged.

Edward's phone vibrated and he looked down quickly to find multiple texts from Alice.

[Alice: WTF?!]
[Alice: OMG!]
[Alice: HOW?!]
[Alice: I NEED ANSWERS!]

"I'll meet you at school," said Harry.

Before Edward could assure him that he'd meant that he would take both of them to school and Harry wouldn't have to walk anywhere, Harry's entire body kind of twisted in on itself in a mass of colors and then vanished with a quiet pop.

He'd never felt his stomach drop in such a way ever since he'd begun this new way of existing. He looked around frantically, but nothing of Harry's presence remained. It looked as if he hadn't even been there at all, save for the indentation of his small feet in the mud on the ground, and the scent he left behind. "Where did he go?"

Bella sighed. "He Apparated to school. It's like teleportation but more fancy than that. Harry thinks strange things about himself and his worth in the eyes of others. So he probably assumed you only meant me since we've had more time together and he can't seem to fathom the idea that you want to be his friend too."

That… wasn't good. Had he not made his interest startling enough? His family thought he was acting quite brazen considering his past behavior. He even swindled eighteen specific answers out of the teen the other day! And he had many more questions he wanted to ask and planned to ask them!

"We can talk to him at school." Harry wouldn't be able to avoid them very well, even if he and Edward didn't have any classes together.

Also, the 'teleporting' thing explained why Alice suddenly texted him in a panic. She'd seen a Vision no doubt and reacted accordingly. He didn't really have any answers for her though.

The ride to school was more quiet and awkward than the ride from the previous night. Both were concerned about Harry and whatever was going on with him. Especially Edward since he'd never heard of a human being capable of teleportation before - or even a vampire for that matter - and certainly never saw it happen either in person or in someone's mind!

"What exactly is Harry, Bella?"

"Magic," she simply said, as if it would explain everything.

And it kind of did. As well as explaining nothing at the same time. It gave him answers and yet left him with more questions than anything else.

It explained how he could make a whole table move noticeably and how he had the lever of the gramophone moving on its own. How he could disappear from one place and presumably appear in another a second later. How he was so confident about himself. How he was a member of a former cult of pagans! How he did Tasseomancy as a hobby and had skill in it!

The pieces were coming together most surely, but there were still so many gaps.

They pulled into the school parking lot and found Harry waiting on the wall near the office. In his hands was a bag from [In Place] which was a restaurant with a breakfast menu that was considered a town favorite. He was finishing up what looked to be biscuits and gravy.

In the time he'd been waiting, he'd had enough time to stop for food across town. Just how fast could he… teleport?

Harry jumped off the wall and speed-walked on over to join them as he crumpled up his garbage. "Hey."

Bella didn't even hesitate to whack him in the arm with her backpack. "He wanted to drive us both, you drama queen. You didn't stay long enough to hear him out and everything was awkward as a result."

A dark blush spread across Harry's pale face, looking just as fetching as the one adorning Bella's.

"I would never take away your only mode of transportation by offering a ride to the person giving you rides," Edward told him. "That would be incredibly rude not only to a friend but just to a person in general who had done nothing wrong to me." He was offended that Harry would even assume he'd do something like that.

"Sorry, guys," the Brit murmured, looking away awkwardly. "We should get to class."

Edward walked them all the way to English, just because he could, and warned Bella ahead of time, of what was awaiting her. "Jessica plans to grill you the moment she sees you, so be prepared for a long morning spent gossiping."

Bella looked panicked, switching between looking to Harry and then Edward for guidance. "What does she want to know?"

He smirked. "Now that isn't quite so fair, is it?"

"You not sharing what we all know you know is what isn't fair here!" the young woman blustered, a look of deep embarrassment and adorable frustration on her face.

Harry nodded along in agreement. "She has a point, Spock."

Oh no. He could see the nickname sticking and he did not like it. Edward hadn't ever been into Star Trek. He preferred Star Wars personally, but he would admit to the music in both being spectacular.

Still, he knew enough about Spock as a character and did not want to have such a nickname following him around.

"Fine," he relented. "She wants to know if we're secretly dating and how you feel about me. And she'll go into details for the answers. Yes or No won't cut it."

Harry was looking back and forth between them, eyes wide. Edward would give anything to know just what he was thinking at that moment.

"What should I tell her?" Bella asked, looking worried.

Hmm… "I suppose you can just say yes to the first as it'd be easier on all of us. And for the second answer… I can't wait to hear what you say." He winked for good measure, and then turned to go to his own class. "See you at lunch!" he called over his shoulder as he went.

Eventually, the sound of the building's door opened, and he could hear Harry sigh. "So I guess the threesome is dead, huh?"

"Harry!"

The sound of a smack filled the air followed by a loud "Hah!" from Harry.

True to his word, Edward did keep an ear out the entire time, employing his superior senses and extra ability to hone in on Jessica. She, Bella, and Harry all had Trigonometry and then Spanish together before Lunch rolled around. It was very useful to have them all in one place in order to get good visuals on Bella and Harry.

Something minutely concerning was Jessica noting Harry's depressive mood when he walked into Trig. He'd just been in Biology II, away from Bella or anyone else in their usual friend group so Edward didn't know who to listen to to find out what had happened.

He wouldn't tell either Bella or Jessica what was wrong either.

As for Jessica, she put Bella through the longest and most teenage kind of game of Twenty Questions he'd ever witnessed.

The confirmation of Bella liking him far above what would be considered normal was nice. It made his obsession feel far less pathetic or creepy. Though yes, it was still creepy to an extent and he'd been made perfectly aware of that fact by Rosalie. Rosalie pulled no punches when speaking her mind.

He had to give her kudos. Bella managed to distract Jessica all throughout Spanish over what had to be the smallest interaction with Mike Newton that morning in English. It should be considered a talent of some sort. Jessica was far too easy to distract though.

Edward waited outside the Spanish classroom, leaning against the wall. Harry, Bella, and Jessica came out and noticed him immediately. Bella's eyes brightened. She looked thrilled to see him.

Both Harry and Jessica rolled their eyes. "See you later, Bella," Jessica said. You will dish even if I have to stalk you for information!

To Edward's astonishment, Harry walked away without even a backwards glance. This of course made both he and Bella frown and share a look of confusion.

And then Jessica ended up being useful for the second time in a day by quietly murmuring to Harry as they went, "Are you okay with that?"

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"'Cause you like him too. I know you do. And he seems to like you as well." She was a lot more observant than Edward had previously given her credit for.

Another shrug. "It's not like that. He really likes Bella and if you want to date someone, you have to make sure you get on with their mates otherwise it can cause some bad tension for everyone. I've seen it happen where no one got on, and it isn't pretty. So it's smart that he wants us to at least be friendly with one another since I've known Bella longer than anyone else here. Making her have to choose between her friends and her boyfriend wouldn't be fair. If we're all friends then it's fine."

It was like a slap in the face to hear how Harry perceived their growing relationship. Edward had been trying really hard to engage them equally, but it didn't seem like Harry saw it that way.

And Edward didn't know what to do about it. He'd never been in this sort of situation before.

Having no classes with Harry seemed to make it even more difficult. Perhaps he could get transferred into one of Harry's classes?

"I'll get the food, you get Harry," Edward told her the moment they stepped into the cafeteria. "He's not getting away without a fight."

That was a relief. She didn't want him to think he was getting left behind or anything. And being replaced was a horrible feeling. Bella had been replaced enough growing up because other kids realized how uninteresting she was as a person. She didn't want Harry to feel like that.

She went over to Mike's usual table and proceeded to take Harry's hand and give an insistent tug. "What?" he asked. "Where's the final third part of our now-dead thre-"

She slapped a hand over his mouth before anyone at the table could hear the rest of his question. "We want you to sit with us too, you know."

"Yeah but he's your boyfriend, not mine. Third-wheeling isn't very fun, you know."

"Who said you'd be a third wheel?" she demanded, ignoring how her heart did little skips at his declaration.

He shrugged for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.

"Come sit with us," she insisted, tugging more openly now.

Eventually he sighed and stood. "Fine." He had only his satchel with him and no food in sight. With a wave to Jessica, who was entranced like she was watching some kind of soap opera, they headed toward where Edward was seated at the end of the same table he'd been at the last time they'd all spent Lunch together.

The tray on the table was filled with everything possibly offered up at the snack bar, and he pushed it toward them when they sat. "For you. Both of you," he clarified with an intense look at Harry that merely elicited a flush of embarrassment but nothing more.

Unfortunately for them, Harry's mood didn't lighten up in the least. Even with his running gag about the threesome he didn't seem to be backed by happiness.

"What happened, Harry?" Bella asked softly. "You came back from Biology down in the dumps and I don't know how to make it better. I'm not good at these things."

Edward watched them intensely, he tended to do that a lot, but remained silent during their exchange.

Harry shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I was just hit with a lot at once."

"Would talking about it help?" She'd read that that was a thing people should do when they had problems. Personally she never wanted to tell others about her problems for fear of being a burden to them. Unload your grief enough times and people would get tired of you. But she wanted to help Harry since he rarely ever spoke about his problems.

"It was in Biology," the brunet revealed quietly. "Everything was fine as we waited for Mr. Banner to come in. The occupants of the table behind me were being a bit loud. The guy was whining about how his parents grounded him because they caught him drinking their beer. His seatmate was siding with him the whole time and he drew my seatmate into the conversation, which ended up with me getting involved by extension as he searched for a sympathetic ear.

"And while I was just prepared to wave off his words, he had the audacity to look an orphan directly in the eye and say, 'God, you're so lucky you don't have parents to tell you what to do all the time'."

Bella gasped in horror. It was very public knowledge that Harry lived alone. That his parents had been dead his whole life and the house he lived in was the last gift to him from a dead godfather. To even think such a thing would be remotely funny or okay to say to him was disgusting. To think to make such a joke in general was fucked up.

She felt an urge to wring someone's neck, which wasn't the first time her protective instincts came out in defense of Harry. This seemed like it was going to be a recurring thing.

"I'm sorry, Harry." She didn't really know how to go about making that better after all.

"Me too."

"Who said it?" Edward asked, face dangerously stoic. "Just for clarification purposes of course."

"No you don't!" Harry hissed, leaning over the table in the greatest show of emotion he'd managed that morning. "It's not that big of a deal in the long run. Besides, my seatmate made them feel guilty enough when they winced and then nodded toward me with wide eyes. I'm just not fully over this yet and it's my problem to deal with. I'm about to be eighteen and I'm still hung up on something that happened almost seventeen year ago."

Bella frowned. "But you remember the event perfectly," she said. "You even remember exactly what was said while it happened. There's no way you're going to let go of that on your own, Harry. And no one should just expect you to get over a traumatic event when it was constantly brought to mind every year for the past several years."

He was being far too hard on himself over something out of his control. Also, telling someone struggling with a mental illness or a traumatic event to just 'get over it, so-so time has passed' was terrible. Inconsiderate. Rude. And she had a feeling that someone had told him something like that before for him to be so hung up on it.

She'd hated it when people told her to get over the Glendale shooting. As if getting splattered in a girl's brain matter was so simple that she could close her eyes and forget about it. How dare someone trivialize what Harry had been through.

"I know that," Harry said shortly. "It just- people don't seem to understand. I am from probably one of the wealthiest families in Britain, whether people know it or not. My wealth extends enough that my line can continue through me for another thousand years, and all my descendants wouldn't have to work a day in their lives. And yet I would give all of that gold in my vaults to have my parents back. To know them."

It was tragic to think about.

"And even with all of my power beyond mortal imagining, there is no amount of money I can pay, or a ritual I can perform to bring them back to what I want them to be. My only method solely available to me is to selfishly recall their spirits to the mortal realm and if they remain in this world for too long, they languish and become despondent. And eventually try and convince me to die in some way to join them."

Bella's heart stopped at that. She didn't doubt that he could do what he said and just the thought of his parents actually wanting him dead? How? They died to keep him alive! That was what started the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing!

She could see Edward echoing her thoughts on his face. It couldn't be understood in plain terms.

"Don't be offended," Harry told them softly and with an age-old grace that seemed abnormal on his young face. "Once a soul crosses the Veil of Death, things change. When they go into the Afterlife it's fine. Death is no longer the fearful unknown to them. Everything is better there so why not want your loved ones to benefit too when Life is literally worse? The truly departed don't see things the same anymore as they start losing memories of their time Alive. Ghosts, which are like afterimages of spirits left behind because they can't bear to go yet, love regaling people of the tales of their deaths. They count their Deathdays like it's a game. They find their deaths to be amusing stories and will re-tell them as often as they can with relish.

"It's literally like, 'I botched a spell on a lady of Henry VII's court in 1492 and my head was chopped off! But because I was trying to heal myself at the same time and the blade was blunted, it took longer than anyone expected. Eventually I emptied my core too much to continue moving by the 45th chop and I just gave up and died! Ha ha ha! They still didn't succeed since I have a centimetre of skin connecting my ghostly head to my ghostly neck! Ha ha ha! Too bad I can't join the Headless Hunt though! My request has been denied for the three-hundredth year!'."

It was too much of a revelation for a Lunch period. This was something that should be talked about in the privacy of a warm living room. Or a bedroom. And Edward was still being exposed to what Harry was in general, so all of this piled on at once had to be confusing for him to sort through. And his family be extension since they had to be listening in.

Bella placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on Harry's arm. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with these things, Harry."

He shrugged. "That's Life. Literally. Can we leave the depressing topic of my loneliness and talk about something actually interesting?"

They sat in awkward silence for a moment, before Edward sat up suddenly and said, "Do you actually need to go to Seattle on Saturday or was that an excuse to get your many admirers off your backs?"

Her face flamed at the reminder of just what he'd done to give Tyler a chance to ask her out that convinced him he was taking her to prom of all things! "We actually did plan the whole trip and everything, thank you very much."

"We made an itinerary," Harry added. "And calculated all of the costs for petrol and food and the parking meters we might face. We weren't joking."

"And do you have anything planned on Sunday?"

She and Harry shared a look and shook their heads at the same time.

"Would you mind spending the day with me here? I'd like to show you both something."

"Um… sure?"

He flashed them a beautiful smile that left her hearts doing crazy little flips in her chest. "Perfect."

The first warning bell rang, and Harry stood, adjusting the strap of his satchel. "See you in Gym, Bella. Bye, Spock."

Edward crooked a finger. "May I have your bag?"

He proceeded to dump all the snacks he'd purchased, that were still unopened, into it and said, "You both can have them later."

"What would you do if someone dared you to eat?" she asked, immediately thinking of that book she'd read.

He sent her a look, lifted the lone piece of pizza left on the tray, and took a bit of it. His face screwed up into a grimace. According to the book Harry had, he would have to force that up and out later. "If someone dared you to eat dirt, you could do it, right? No matter how unappealing it is."

"Dirt isn't that bad," she said defensively. Raspberries were literally worse.

He smiled. "Only you, Bella. Let's get to class."

Edward was hyper aware of everything. More so than usual. Harry had said so much and so little at lunch. Things Edward couldn't hope to keep up with since he didn't have all the information involved. Bella seemed to have more, but that made sense since the two were practically best friends and did everything together.

If he took what Harry said as the plain truth, then Harry had magic and had abilities people could only dream of. One was the ability to predict the future to an extent through tea leaves. Another was making things move with his mind. And possibly another was bringing the dead back to life, at least in soul form.

They didn't even get to address the issue of their friendship because someone had honestly told Harry, sweet, good Harry Potter, that he was lucky to be alone in the world. Because that's what saying he was lucky to not have parents, meant.

Harry had been neglected by his mother's sister and her husband, at the very least. At the most he was severely abused and was simply trying to ignore that fact. That was not the kind of life any child should have to grow in.

Bella was on edge the entire class period. Her face kept twisting with her thoughts. Sometimes she'd peek at him and smile sadly, and others she would glare out the window fiercely. She didn't take the talk at lunch any better than him, and she had more information! Her finger tapped an agitated rhythm on the table for the entire class period.

He walked her to the Gym afterward, finding Harry waiting outside for them. The brunet smirked, mood seemingly having improved while he was in Government. "Hello. Bella, we're doing laps today."

"Oh God!"

"Thankfully, I came prepared!" Harry proceeded to pull out a pair of sporty gloves and knee pads from his satchel. "It is inevitable that you will fall, so I wanted to minimize the damage as best as I can."

She flushed, but accepted them anyway. "Thanks, Harry."

The two humans then looked at Edward expectantly, and without hesitation, he took up a free hand from each of them and pressed them to his cold lips, enjoying the flood of color in their cheeks in response. For once he liked having such an affect on someone. "I will see you after class."

He spent the class period paying heavy attention to Mike Newton's thoughts and what he saw. As usual, his attention was on Bella the most, but occasionally it would swing over to Harry out of jealousy for Harry being such a good runner. And Harry looked very good in his shorts and t-shirt workout gear. Bella's comment the other day about everyone thinking he was a long-lost Cullen, really had some merit.

And it was a thought many had. Harry was just so pale that he could pass for a vampire if he stood still enough. In the class though, he was anything but still, overlapping everyone easily as if he'd been born for running alone.

Eventually, he was free to wait for them outside the gymnasium, and smiled when he saw Harry holding Bella's elbow. She'd taken far too many tumbles the whole period. Those pads have saved her from even worse injuries.

"If I hadn't given you those pads and gloves, this would have been so much worse."

"No kidding," Bella grumbled as they walked.

Edward stepped into their view and smiled when they both blinked for several seconds. He was, apparently, 'dazzling' them and he wasn't even trying.

"Ready to go home?" he asked, making certain to stare at Harry while saying it so he'd get the picture.

The green-eyed beauty rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get it. Let's go."

A/N: Another is done!

How was it? Let me know!

See ya! :D