A/N: Welcome back! Sorry for the wait, you lovely, fabulous readers. This chapter was difficult for some reason, but now it's whipped into shape ;-) And a very special thank you to ShowTunesJesus and furious kitten, most excellent betas, Goddesses of all things grammar and awesomeness, for not throwing their hands up in disgust no matter how big, small or utterly bizarre my errors may be.

Please take a moment to kowtow to goldenmeadow, who pwns me like no other and wrote a lush and exuberant recommendation for tCatS at the Fictionators blog (www(dot)fictionators(dot)com) and if you're not reading her hilarious, irreverent and terribly brilliant Dead Confederates… go forth now and be converted to Religion Rebelward. I also highly recommend taking a moment to peruse her slashy bit of fabulousness and heartache Incarcerated.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. In other words, I do not own Twilight, or anything by Thornton Wilder. And the yearbook line is 99 percent coined by Rie, who hopefully won't evict me from the attic for my blatant thievery. (2 shout-outs in one A/N and both totally earned).

Chapter 12: Bursar of Happiness

I woke when Dad's cruiser pulled into our driveway, and I watched the glare from his headlights cut across my room and eventually stop on my closet as he parked. Staring at the illuminated door, I recalled the nights during my summertime visits when I insisted on having a flashlight by my bed in case monsters (alligators in particular) decided to sneak out of my closet. Despite now knowing that light didn't scare the kind of monsters I should be worrying about, and in fact made some of them glisten, in a way I still wished I had a flashlight beside my bed, preferably the kind my dad carried on him that could also be used as a weapon. If I was being perfectly honest with myself, hitting a monster over the head with a flashlight probably wouldn't be as effective as hitting one with my fists.

Dad entered the house and wandered about, and though he was probably trying not to make enough noise to wake me, I listened to his ascension up the stairs. I turned my gaze away from the closet door to the bedroom door, wondering if I should confront him before he went to take his shower. My vision from earlier in the night had raised more questions than it answered, and I was even more frustrated than before at Dad and Thane's teaching method, allowing me to flounder across a vision with just the barest of an idea of what I was seeing, and only then would they tell me another disturbing fact of my past life.

Thinking of Thane sparked another flare of annoyance in my already agitated mind. So much for the curmudgeonly librarian I had always pictured in my head when I spoke to him. Despite the fact that the voices in Lyssa's memory were not speaking English, there was no denying that the handsome black-haired man called Thanatos sounded exactly like Thane. There was also no denying that he was quite obviously not just some researcher, not the "supernatural customer service" I had assumed him to be. Thane was a man in charge of everyone around him, a leader, and Lyssa had brought her sister's broken body to him with words indicating that he was indirectly responsible for her abuse.

I remembered seeing him in the second vision I ever had, fighting with a red-eyed man I now knew to be a vampire, and for some reason I had a vaguer memory of the two of us dancing. Also, a feeling welled up inside of me as the images floated through my mind that I had once been fonder of Thane than of my other siblings, even more than Dad during his previous incarnation and definitely more than Lyssa with her strange love/hate games.

Itching to get out of bed, corner Dad, and demand a teleconference with the mysterious and dubiously helpful Thane, I clutched my comforter to my chin, knowing if I went on the offensive now, I was not going to help Edward's and my case. We needed Dad to be open-minded before he'd even let us try to convince him that we needed to be together, and making him wary of my motives by yelling at him about Thane was not the way to go.

Reluctantly conceding that nothing would be gained by trying to talk to Dad at the moment, I rolled over on my stomach and closed my eyes. Sleep didn't return to me, and I punched my pillow in frustration, only to be startled a moment later when I smelt the distinct musk and felt the delicate sensation of feathers settling on my skin. I sat up, staring at my arms incredulously, disturbed by the feeling of rightness that settled in my stomach at the sight of my arms covered in down. Unfortunately, my bed was also covered with the stuff, and my pillow was irreparably ruined. I couldn't stop the laugh that gurgled up, and I didn't even try. Sinking back onto my bed, I chuckled myself to sleep.

Dad wasn't waiting up for me when I came downstairs in the morning, and half of me was appreciative I wouldn't have the opportunity to muck everything up before Edward and I could talk. The other half was easily silenced with a mug of the strong black liquid Dad had set the coffee-maker to produce for me at just the right time for it to still be piping hot as I walked out into the pleasant chill of the morning. Bless the confounding man.

I pulled into the parking lot determined to talk to Edward before class, but before I could make my way to the Volvo, Jess ran up to me holding a bundle of black fabric by two fingers with a look of disgust like it had cooties. I recognized my hoodie and took it from her, stuffing it into my backpack with a mumbled "Thanks."

"So?" She queried.

I just looked at her, examining her face for a clue as to what exactly she was "so"-ing.

She huffed, and I think she wanted to shake me, but she clasped her hands in front of her in a move that was almost venerative. "C'mon, Bella, don't hold out on me! Did you plan to meet up or what?"

I glanced behind her to see if Edward was listening, and though he was looking away from us, his smirk indicated that he was indeed catching the one-sided conversation. I wanted to be annoyed by his smugness, but I was too overwhelmed by the sight of him casually leaning against his car (a sight that by all rights only had a place in a magazine ad) waiting for me. ME of all people, the girl whose only friend until recently was her father, the girl who blended in with the limitless browns of the dessert she grew up in, the girl who now knew she was once a demanding and vengeful goddess.

I turned back to Jess with a smile. "We'll talk all about it in Trig."

I didn't miss the grateful twist of her lips before she adopted a knowing grin. "You bet we will. Go do tasteless things now and give me the deets later," she finished with a wink before she pranced back to our group of friends.

I laughed under my breath as she walked away, and I continued my trek to the Volvo. Edward didn't look up as I approached, so I stepped up close to him, just a hair's breadth apart when our eyes finally met. He still smirked, but I could sense his concern even though we weren't quite touching. I smiled up at him, hoping I radiated cautious joy, and his smirk relaxed into a gentle smile.

"Hey, you. Glad I didn't scare you off," I whispered for his ears alone.

"Oh, yes, I was terrified, but I thought I'd take my chances," he cheekily assured me.

He lifted one hand to brush my hair from my cheek and then ran his fingers down to my chin to tilt it up. His head lowered and our lips met, softly, naturally, and though my heart seemed to stop in exhilaration and my lips tingled where they touched his, it felt like our mouths were always meant to be pressed together. His other hand came around and soothed a path down to the small of my back, pressing me closer until the rest of our bodies mimicked the cordial meeting of our lips.

The simple pleasure of the moment was interrupted by the sounds of catcalls from the direction Jess had gone and the sound of a throat clearing close behind me. We parted, and I turned around to find Coach Clapp frowning at us with his hands on his hips, though his eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Mr. Cullen, Ms. Swan, need I remind you that public displays of affection will not be tolerated on school grounds?"

It seemed pretty ridiculous that we would get called out on a chaste little kiss, but I swallowed back any retort. "Sorry, sir."

His eyes moved up to Edward behind me. "Understood, sir."

Coach Clapp nodded and walked away, and I turned back to Edward.

"You have to be kidding me. No man who wears shorts that tight has any right to lecture about PDA or any other untoward behavior," I muttered with disgust.

He chuckled and swiftly glanced over my head at the Coach's retreating back before dipping his head for one last peck on the lips.

As his head lifted I smiled back at him but tried to sort the conflicting emotions I felt from him. "So, why'd you do that?" He quirked an eyebrow at me as if to ask if I was really complaining about his kiss. "I mean, last night you didn't seem to really want to…"

"I definitely wanted to, I just wasn't sure if the time was right."

I could tell that he was being honest, but there was still something off with his emotions. "Okay, but why did you really kiss me today?"

He shot a glance towards my group of friends, and I followed his gaze. Angela shyly waved, and Jess tossed me a thumbs up, but Mike's glare indicated that not everyone was so happy for me.

"Jessica has big plans to interrogate you later on today, and she was going to ask you if I had kissed you. I was just graciously keeping you from having to confess that you were the one who couldn't keep your hands to yourself." It was almost surprising that his face hadn't frozen into a smirk as often as he used it.

"So you were just trying to save me some embarrassment?" He nodded, but it still wasn't the whole truth. I shook my head at him with a disappointed frown. "That's not it. Try again."

Realizing he wasn't going to get away with lying to me, he sighed. "Your friend Mike over there was wondering about the two of us, so I thought I'd make it clear that you are my girl."

I should have been at least a little ticked off that he had the nerve to refer to me as a possession in the twenty-first century, but the way he called me "his girl" had a ring of truth and pride, and I imagined him as a young boy at the beginning of the twentieth century, hoping to someday call someone his. My eyes stung a little, so I let my thoughts follow another path until I remembered the other girl I had thought was his.

"If you're going to call me 'your girl,' I better be the only one!" I tried to sound like I was joking, but I felt like it came out more like a jealous fishwife.

His smile held true but he seemed perplexed by my statement. "Of course you're my only girl. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you."

A surprised laugh escaped me, and once he realized what I found funny an answering chuckle rumbled out of him. "Okay, maybe you do know how long, so you should know how foolish it would be for me to even think of another girl."

My laughter quieted as a twinge of guilt shot through me. I shouldn't be happy that he spent a hundred years alone. After all, Issy was married to someone when she had her affair with Anthony. I nearly groaned aloud. What must he think about me having the memory of sleeping with his great-uncle? I didn't want to borrow any more trouble than I already had on my plate so I put the thought out of my mind.

Luckily, he interrupted my distressing thoughts. "Have you thought about what we can say to your father? Not knowing him, it's been hard for me to come up with a solid plan."

I glanced up at him, thinking about my vision from the previous night and my determination to try to engender trust in Alice. I glanced around, and when I didn't see his siblings, I said, "I think we should get your family involved, especially Alice."

He mulled it over for a moment before asking, "Wouldn't Alice be the last person he would trust since he thinks she betrayed your family?"

I shook my head with a smile. "If we go to her, we show that we trust her, and maybe she'll be more willing to open up to us. If she really has no memory of her past life and she and Dad get along, then his biggest objection to us is busted."

"But what if she does indeed have some of her old memories and is planning something?"

I could tell the words pained him to say, so I lifted my hands to rub his arms in comfort. "If she is plotting something, then that will be a bigger concern than anything the Chief can throw at us. I'm hoping that if we show her trust, she'll let her guard down and show us her true intentions, one way or the other."

He nodded in agreement though he was still concerned. Reaching his arms around me in a loose hug, he rested his chin on top of my head with a sigh.

"Hey," I whispered with my cheek lightly pressed to his chest, "Weren't you the one who said we'd be invincible? Like some superhero, crime-fighting duo?"

His firmer-than-humanly-possible pectorals shook against my face as he chuckled. "Not quite what I meant. I can't really see myself donning tights anytime soon."

I pulled my face away to grin at him licentiously as I wiggled my eyebrows up and down. "I can see you in tights, and what a sight it is."

His response was interrupted by the sound of the first bell. We both sighed, and he grabbed my hand to walk me to class. We stopped outside of the room, and I argued with myself to let his hand go so he could go on to his own building.

"I'll see you at lunch and we'll talk to Alice." I nodded, and he pressed his lips to my forehead before turning and heading to his class.

When I entered the room, Mike was already waiting next to my usual seat, and I could tell he was struggling to keep a blank expression. Before I could ask what was wrong, Mr. Mason entered and announced a pop quiz. I groaned along with everyone else as an act of solidarity and because I didn't want my friend sitting next to me for an hour stewing about whatever was bothering him.

I didn't have a chance to talk to Mike during class, and as soon as the bell rang, he was out of his seat and through the door, leaving Eric to escort me to Government. Jessica was waiting for me outside the door when the class was over, and she practically skipped all the way to Trig as she barraged me with questions.

"So how long have you two really been seeing each other?" she asked with a glimmer in her eye.

"Well, I don't know if I'd say we're seeing each other…"

"I would! And don't try to pretend last night was your first date or whatever. You were far too comfortable and, I don't know, familiar this morning, so 'fess up! How long have you really been at it?" She smiled as she interrogated like she'd caught me with my hand in the cookie jar.

Old Bella would have been beet red by now, but I just shrugged. What could I say to her? After a couple hundred years of chasing the fellow, cuddling in the parking lot just seems natural. No amount of falsely injected sarcasm could make that sound like anything but the words of a mad woman.

"Edward just makes it easy to be around him." And easy to touch him, and easy to kiss him…

"Ummm, how 'bout no? Most girls can't even talk to him without stuttering, and you just walked up to him all nonchalant this morning and made yourself cozy. I'm onto you, Bella Swan."

I laughed at her accusation. "Well, get off me then," I responded with a smile. We had reached the classroom, but of course Jess didn't let up.

"Have you decided if you're going to be exclusive yet?" There was a certain weight to her question that I wondered at, but knowing that Edward would most likely be listening in for the answer if he was within range, I decided to give a playful response, despite the fact that we had already discussed the subject.

"I think we're both still a bit too young to settle down just yet. I might want to play the field a little bit more before I make any kind of commitment." I hoped Edward would catch my teasing tone since he could only be considered young in comparison to my primordial spirit.

Jessica's smile was tight, and I thought back to my answer to try to figure out what had displeased her. When I still couldn't think of anything, I patted her hand with a smile. She relaxed some, though I could read a sense of panic and unhappiness coming from her and realized she had been hoping my exclusivity with Edward would mean I was off the market and would no longer be competition.

"Although, I am the jealous type, so I might have to buckle him down soon," I teased, and she giggled, relaxing further.

Over the next two classes, she continued with her questions, and I responded in half-truths of varying degrees. She wanted to know what we talked about on the way home ("history" made her call me a hopeless dork, "him meeting my dad" nearly made her fall from her chair in a parody of a swoon), if his car had a good sound system ("ummm, yes?" because what do I know about cars?), how long we made out (to which I actually told the truth, that I had forced a kiss on him and then run inside the house like a complete freak). She told me I somehow must have done something right to earn the greeting I received that morning.

We walked to lunch without Mike for once, and I informed her I would be eating with all of the Cullens. Her eyes widened, and she sincerely replied, "Good luck winning over Little Miss Eerie and the Queen of Mean!"

I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh as she walked to the line, and I waited for Edward who I could feel entering through the doors behind me. I turned to him when he was close enough to hear me and reached out my hand. "I don't feel like juggling any props today; let's just go sit down."

He smirked in response and allowed me to tug him to his family's usual table. We were the first ones there since his family insisted on buying food they wouldn't eat. We sat across from each other but kept our hands clasped together. Emmett approached first with a friendly smile that was still somewhat intimidating and waved a meaty hand that was holding a bottle of soda. I was momentarily thankful that he wouldn't actually be drinking it, considering the amount of foam that I could see building up inside the pressurized container, until Edward pointed one long finger at him and muttered, "Don't you dare."

His smile briefly turned into a mocking pout before returning with a rumbling laugh. Rosalie approached behind him and sat without a glance in Edward's and my direction. Alice floated to the seat next to me, her eyes meeting Edward's questioningly. "Just let her talk," he gently responded to her silent question, and her eyes darted to me before she gave one short nod.

Jasper appeared next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders to give her comfort and to show us that they were a unified front, though he smiled politely as he did it. Even from two seats away I could feel him radiating calmness, which I found odd since I couldn't even feel anything from Edward at the moment, though he sat across from me.

I returned Jasper's smile before looking back to Alice who raised an eyebrow as if encouraging me to get on with it. As I carefully considered my next words, I couldn't help feeling like I was holding a grenade with a loose pin; there was a very real chance this would all blow up in my face, but it was a chance I would have to take.

"I'm not sure how much Edward told you about my past…" I began before Alice interrupted in a bored tone.

"You're not just a shape-shifter, you're the re-incarnated goddess of vengeance, and you believe I was your sister and a fellow goddess."

I shifted my gaze to Edward who had tensed but was merely looking at Alice with consternation. Looking back at Alice, she seemed somewhat pleased to have garnered such a response from him.

"So how do you feel about all of that, Alice?"

Annoyance flickered across her face before her bored mask fell back into place. "Well, Dr. Phil, I would say you had either gone completely 'round the bend or were an utter liar, but since Edward believes you, I'm willing to listen, at least for a little while."

I needed to touch Alice to really find out how she felt, but I doubted outright asking to hold her hand was going to go over well. I wondered if I could show her a memory the way Dad and Jake had shown me some of theirs. Perhaps Alice wouldn't mind me reading her emotions if she got something in return. Even if I managed to do my part correctly, I wasn't sure a non-shape-shifter would be able to see anything, but I figured it was worth a shot.

"I think I can show you a memory from your past life if you would like." She looked skeptical, and Edward seemed surprised by my offer.

"Okay," she replied hesitantly. "What do I need to do?"

"Just stay still and concentrate on what I'm sending your way."

Pulling my right hand away from Edward so I wouldn't be disrupted, I lightly placed my left hand on her chilled forearm, and her eyes drifted closed. I could pick up on her curiosity and a hint of fear, but she was being completely open. There was not a shadow of deception crossing her mind. I tried to think of what memory would be best to show her. Though my latest vision was from Lyssa's memory and not Issy's, Lyssa never looked in a mirror nor did anything that would help me prove to Alice that she really was reincarnated as well. The only vision I could think of that clearly showed that Lyssa and Alice were the same person was when Issy cursed Lyssa to forget her past, and that seemed like a bad introduction.

My mind kept flipping through images until it landed on one that surprised me. I didn't remember seeing the image before, but it felt familiar. Alice was wearing a dove-gray, empire-waist dress decorated with lilac ribbons. Lilac feathers bobbed on her head where they were pinned to her cropped, curled hair. She was dancing with a man who had to be Jasper, though his hair was trimmed shorter than the way he wore it now, and he was uniformed in full military dress.

I pulled the memory forward with a sense of déjà vu and projected it to Alice as I watched. She gasped as the image took full form, expanding to a large, candle-lit ballroom filled with people dressed in Napoleonic garb. Alice appeared to be teaching Jasper a dance, and her sweet laughter peeled across the room where I approached from several yards away.

I reached her side, and if I could have stopped the hand that reached for her arm, I would have. Watching in retrospect, knowing that somewhere along the way Lyssa and Issy had begun to hate each other, I couldn't help wishing I could give Alice and Jasper their moment of happiness.

The hand reached its destination, and Issy's blandly pleasant voice filled the resulting silence. "Lyssa, my sweet, would you come with me for a moment?"

She turned her gaze up to me, storm-gray pools swirling with despair and pleading with me not to follow my course. "No, Issy, please, not this time, let me have him, just this once. I will even leave him human."

I wished I could have made Issy drop Lyssa's arm, but instead I released Alice's and pulled myself out of the memory. Alice's eyes were still closed and her lips trembled. I glanced at Jasper who was gently rubbing her back with one hand.

Her lids fluttered open to reveal the golden Cullen eyes I had become accustomed to seeing on Edward, but to me it seemed that Alice's eyes should be the same shade as Lyssa's. Alice was obviously shaken, but I had no idea if she would be more or less likely to help Edward and me after seeing the memory.

"Why was Jasper there?"

"He was reincarnated too, but not like us, he was a human as far as I know. He just seemed to keep finding his way to you."

Jasper looked down at Alice with a soft smile. "You always say we were meant to be together through all time. 'Spose you were right."

She briefly smiled at him but turned back to me with a frown. "Then why was I begging to keep him?"

I looked around the table of vampires all looking at me questioningly (except for Rosalie who was looking in the opposite direction distractedly). I took a deep breath before I continued. "You kept making him into a vampire which angered the other gods and the Fates because he was cheating his destiny. The rest of the family would dispose of him, and you weren't too happy about it."

Edward tried to mask his shock, and Rosalie's growl indicated that she was paying attention after all. Alice, however, seemed to be taking the information calmly, as if she was academically removed from the subject. "That memory was clearly from the early nineteenth century. Were the other gods and the Fates even active at the time?"

She had a good point. "I'm really not sure, but I doubt that mattered much to the family by then. The vampires and the Strigoi Vii had been fighting for millennia, occasionally calling truces, and in the end, the vampires decimated our family, perhaps with the help of one of our own."

Alice's eyes brightened with awareness. "You think I betrayed our family."

I shook my head. "I don't know what to think; my memories are too choppy for me to form an honest opinion. My dad, on the other hand, believes you're the guilty party. He also thinks it's possible you still remember what you did and may be planning to do further damage. It is a bit of a coincidence that we would all land in this tiny town about the same time."

Emmett spoke up from across the table. "You think this is bad, you should visit Spoons."

Edward grimaced and looked at me apologetically. "He's been waiting for an opportunity to say that for seventy years."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Sorry we can't all be brooding geniuses. Maybe you should go crawl back in your coffin if you don't like my wit."

"Well, if you'd use more than half of it…"

"Boys!" Alice interrupted. "Serious conversation here. Let the grown-ups talk."

I continued what I had been about to say before Emmett's wise-crack. "I think my dad just needs to see that you and the rest of your family have no intention of hurting us. If he can get some one-on-one time with each of you and sees that you're willing to be completely honest with him, I think he'll be willing to accept that you're not hiding anything."

Edward was obviously picking the plan apart in his mind. "Do you really think that's all it will take to get him to trust us? To make him willing to let you and I see each other?"

"That's not all of it. I'm also trying to think of a way to make him see the connection between us. If he sees that it's more than just a high school crush, that it might be supernaturally strengthened, maybe he'll be more willing to listen."

I think he would have blushed if he could have. Instead he just smiled bashfully.

Rosalie and Emmett were quietly arguing, hissing quickly back and forth so that the rest of us couldn't figure out what they were saying. Emmett threw his hands up in the air in defeat and leaned back with his thick arms crossed over his chest, angrily glaring at the ceiling.

I looked to Rosalie to figure out what had caused the dramatics, and she was glaring at me. "Why should we help you with anything?"

To my surprise, Alice spoke up before I could. "Edward is our brother, and we should support him in any way we can."

Rosalie's lips twisted into a wry grin, though her eyes remained narrowed. "Yes, but what if she—" Rosalie shot me another nasty glare, "--intends to lure him away and cut him into bite-sized pieces? She went on and on about how her family didn't trust vampires, so why should we trust her?"

Alice was about to snap at her again when I spoke up. "You're right, you don't have any reason to trust me. You hardly know me. I do want you to know, though, that just as Alice and Jasper were together in the past, so were Edward and I. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him." Other than accidentally killing him in a past life while I was trying to make him into a vampire.

The statuesque blonde examined me, then shrugged and looked away. She looked bored again, but I still believed she was a little impressed that I didn't let her steamroll me.

The conversation continued with plans for me to try to convince my dad that there was something special about my relationship with Edward, and so he should give the Cullens a chance to show that they meant no harm. I found my hand once again wrapped in Edward's, and occasionally my mind would stray when he would rub his thumb across my knuckles. When we couldn't come up with anything better than just begging dad to go along with meeting the Cullens, Emmett changed the subject.

"You ought to go hunting with us the next time we go up to Goat Rocks. I can't wait to test my strength against a goddess." He grinned with excitement.

I laughed, imagining us chucking logs in an open field. "I'm positive you're stronger than me, but I may have a few tricks up my sleeve."

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch, and Alice and Edward were once again holding a near silent conversation, punctuated only by the nod of his head. He turned to me. "Hey, we've got a couple of things to talk about, so I'll catch up to you." Our hands parted and mine felt bereft, missing his touch already.

I started to walk to class and was startled when someone grabbed my arm. I looked up to meet Jasper's laughing eyes. "Slow down there! I thought you were about to fly across the courtyard."

Looking around I realized I had made more progress than I realized and smiled back at him ruefully. "Whoops. Wasn't paying attention, I guess."

We continued walking and he quietly yet purposefully spoke. "Thank you."

I glanced at him curiously. "You're welcome. I take it we're talking about my wanting to make amends with Alice."

One side of his mouth tugged up. "Well, no. But thanks for that too. I want to thank you for sticking by Edward, even when it means you're going up against your father whom you obviously respect and admire. Edward told me that your job was once to distribute happiness to those who deserved it, and if anyone deserves it, it's Edward."

I wondered if Edward had bothered to mention that more recently my job description was somewhat less pleasant. "What if I don't deserve happiness?"

His grin turned thoughtful. "Maybe if you work at making Edward happy, you'll earn your own happiness if you haven't already. I said Edward deserves happiness. I didn't say he was going to make it easy for you to give it to him."

I chuckled, trusting his judgment as someone who had known Edward longer than I had been alive (this time around). "I'll remember that."

"Good, but if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it."

I laughed again. "Duly noted."

He started to walk away with a short wave, and soon Edward took his place by my side, though he reached out for my hand.

"What was that about?" he asked in confusion.

I reached my free hand up to smooth away the wrinkle between his eyes. "We were just talking about happiness."

He quirked an eyebrow but didn't press for details. "What did you and Alice discuss?"

He smiled secretively. "My after school plans. Do you think it would be alright if I came over after your dad goes to work tonight? We can hang out in your backyard if you like, so I won't stink up your house."

I sighed, thinking about how much I would love to have my house smell like Edward. He could be my own personal air-freshener.

"Sure, come on over. My dad should be gone by six." His eyes glinted mischievously as we walked into Biology. We sat at our table, and once we were settled, our hands found each other once again.

"Are you sure you have to go to Seattle on Saturday?" He asked with a note of petulance.

I sighed, not wanting to talk about the dance again. "Yes, I'm in desperate need of some new kicks, and I want to look at some other things. Besides, I thought I'd use the time to butter up the Chief."

"Can we see each other when you get back? Will he be going to work?"

"Yeah, we can hang out when I get back. But no dancing."

He smiled. "Are you sure? Not even in private?"

I wondered what he was plotting. "Maybe in private, but definitely not at a teenage hormone-fest."

"Agreed then, it's a date." I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at his words and nodded timidly.

Mr. Banner entered the room pulling a television stand, and cheers went across the room when he turned out the lights. The pull between Edward and I seemed to intensify in the dark, but I managed to keep from crawling into his lap. Instead, he moved our clasped hands onto our table and carefully moved his fingers around every millimeter of my hand and lower arm as if memorizing each tiny bit. I shivered as his fingers traced along my veins on the underside of my forearm, and he chuckled quietly.

Class passed more quickly than Biology ever had in my life, and soon he was walking me to the gym. We parted with easy smiles though I keenly felt the loss of his touch already.

After I changed into my P.E. clothes and walked out onto the court, I went over to Mike who was leaning against the railing of the bleachers with his arms crossed and a glare on his face. "Hey, Mike, what's wrong?"

He slid a glance my way and seeing my genuine concern, he sighed. "Bella, Cullen? Are you kidding me?"

I stiffened, knowing I was likely to be harsh if he dared to criticize Edward. "What about him?"

"He looks at you like you're some possession, like he wants to drag you off and lock you away in a tower somewhere!"

I held in a laugh as I shook my head. "Thanks for the concern, Betty Friedan, but there's no reason to worry."

He was clearly flabbergasted, his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging. "Betty… what?"

"Never mind. Look, he's not going to go all caveman on me and haul me off over his shoulder so just chill."

Mike chewed on his lip with an aggravated expression. "I still don't like him."

"Fine, then don't date him, and if he ends up being a jerk, you have my permission to say 'I told you so.' Deal?" I proffered my hand.

He rolled his eyes and slapped his hand into mine. "Deal."

With my most winning smile I clapped my arm around his shoulder. "Let's go get medieval on some shuttlecocks."

The rest of the class went by pleasantly, at least for Mike and me. Our opposing teams on the badminton court might have disagreed, but all those who watched us left the class feeling satisfied, if drowsy, after I spent the hour feeding off their energy.

Edward was waiting for me by the door of the gym after I changed clothes. He wrinkled his nose in faux-disgust as he took in my bedraggled appearance. I playfully elbowed him in his rock-hard abs, which might have just been an excuse to touch them. "Hey, I was working hard in there. Give a girl a break."

He enveloped me in a hug, pulling me close and laying a loud lip-smack on the top of my damp hair. "Gotta love a broad who's not afraid to get a little dirty."

I wiggled away, suddenly self-conscious when I realized that with his extra sensitive sense of smell, I probably reeked of sweat.

Knowing what I was thinking despite his claim that he couldn't read my mind, he pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "You smell wonderful. You always do."

I glanced up at him in disbelief and shook my head. "Flattery will get you nowhere. I'm going to go home and shower, and I guess I'll see you around six."

His grin mystified me. "I'll see you later."

When I walked through the front door a few minutes later, I was humming and dancing along to the song on my mp3 player. Dad watched me from the kitchen table with a smile. He was already in his uniform, though he still had more than a couple of hours until he had to go in to work. I came up behind him and hugged his neck, glancing down at the newspaper he had open. "Thirty-three down is asparagus. Hey, why are you already all khaki-ed up?"

He didn't look at me as he answered. "I'm leaving in thirty minutes. I switched my shift around tomorrow. Danny's going to take the night shift for me so I can catch the game, so I'm going to pull a twenty-four hour now."

I grimaced, knowing a full day at the Forks P.D. was never fun. "Why aren't you just watching the game at the station as usual?"

He lowered his head even closer to the newspaper as he filled in an answer. "Jake and Billy are coming over here to watch the flat-screen," he mumbled.

My eyes widened at the news, and I laughed. "Did you and Billy finally make up? Are you going to start doing everything together again? Would you prefer we call you Barles or Chilly?"

"It was just an accident," he muttered irritably.

"What was an accident?"

"I got excited about the game, and I just picked up the phone without thinking. By the time I remembered we weren't on speaking terms, he had answered."

My mouth dropped open, and I stared at him in shock for a moment before I dropped into a chair with side-splitting laughter. "You—you didn't mean to call? That's priceless!"

He glared at the newspaper, not at all amused, and I calmed myself and dashed away my tears of giddiness. "And to think, I was about to congratulate you for acting like an adult and letting bygones be bygones."

His lips finally twitched in amusement. "Yeah, well, guess I'm still a rotten little kid at heart. Speaking of rotten, shouldn't you go shower?" His eyes shifted to glance at me, filled with humor.

I stuck my tongue out at him as I stood. "Be nice or I'll hug you again."

As I climbed the stairs he called behind me, "You better not have stunk up the duds."

After I showered and dried my hair, I went back downstairs to find Dad buckling on his holster by the door. "Alright, kid. You know where to reach me if you need anything."

I nodded and waved as he stepped out the door. My cell phone was still in my backpack upstairs, and I thought about calling Edward to see if he wanted to come over earlier than we had planned. Then I remembered that he had behaved strangely whenever we talked about what time he could come over, and I was struck with suspicion.

Slipping on my shoes, I opened the back door and glanced around the yard, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Edward was very near, though, judging by the pull in my chest. I followed the sensation into the woods until I reached a tree a few yards away from my house. Stopping, I looked around in confusion, and then I looked up.

A black Puma (of the shoe variety) dangled from a blue-jean clad leg ten feet above my head. I jumped and to my surprise actually managed to slap the shoe. It retreated onto the branch and was replaced with a hand splayed open to help me up. Once more I jumped and gripped tightly to the hand which pulled me up onto the branch.

Edward perched on the branch next to me and lowered his legs again as he smiled at me. "Fancy meeting you here."

Returning his smile, I leaned against the tree-trunk, mirroring his position by draping my legs on either side of the branch. "You knew Dad was going to work early, didn't you?"

His smirk was already in place. "Just one of the many perks of having a psychic in the family."

"So Alice can see my dad but not me?"

"Well, she can only see him when whatever he's doing isn't related to you at all, but it seems he rarely does anything without you in mind. However, Alice saw me disappear about this time, so she knew I must be with you."

"What a quirky little gift she has."

He chuckled. "Tell me about it."

Shifting closer to me, he reached out for my hands. We sat quietly for a moment, and I listened to the sounds of birds and wildlife rustling about the forest and realized that all of the tiny living things were keeping their distance from us. We were in a sphere of solitude, and I wondered if the creatures could sense us as predators encroaching on their territory.

I glanced at Edward and found him staring at our joined hands thoughtfully.

"Whatcha thinking?" I asked with a smile.

He returned the smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Earlier today, when you were talking to Jessica, were you joking about wanting to play the field?"

Sighing, I glared at him with consternation. "Of course I was joking. You know, if you don't want to hear things you dislike, maybe you shouldn't eavesdrop."

His smirk returned full force. "Ah, but there's nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different than the world inside your head."

I snorted indelicately. He so didn't want to start a quote war with me. "Well, if you're so familiar with Mr. Wilder, than you should have known I was joking without asking. After all, people are meant to go through life two by two. 'Tain't natural to be lonesome."

Edward's smile became melancholy, and I curiously probed. "What, not a fan of Our Town?"

He shook his head. "I went to see it the year it opened in New York. It was billed as 'a sentimental journey through the early twentieth century.' I suppose I wanted to relish in nostalgia for a night. Instead I was force-fed the concept that life is too short, and we should appreciate our loved ones. My life was anything but short and almost devoid of love."

"What about your family? The other Cullens, I mean."

"I was feeling very much like a fifth wheel at the time. Alice and Jasper hadn't found us yet, Emmett had just joined us a couple of years before, and he and Rose were still in their honeymoon phase, ignoring the existence of everyone else. Things were a bit strained between me and Carlisle and Esme."

"Because you felt like you were alone?"

"Partly, but mostly because I had gone out on my own a few years earlier, and Esme still blamed herself for my leaving. She still does blame herself, truth be told. Just another reason for me to feel guilty."

"Why else would you feel guilty?"

He glanced up at me sadly, and then looked back at our hands. "When I was alone, I ignored Carlisle's teachings and fed from and killed humans."

My stomach churned uneasily. "Did you pull a Dracula and seduce your way into young women's bedrooms to steal their lifeblood?"

Surprised by my question, he looked at me curiously. "The way your mind works, Bella Swan, is a complete mystery. No, I read minds until I found the vilest criminal in the vicinity, and once I found them alone, I killed them."

My distress seeped out of my body, which probably should have worried me even more. "That doesn't sound so bad. You were just making sure justice was served."

He shook his head in wonder at my statement. "Bella, I had no right to cast judgment on them. I was just a foolish young vampire with a God complex."

Trying to pull him out of his funk, I smiled. "Maybe you were just unknowingly carrying out my will while I was unable to kill them myself. What a team, huh?"

He chuckled ominously. "I can see our senior yearbook quote now: Couple most likely to maim and dismember in the name of vengeance."

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. "Would it be morbid of me to laugh right now?"

"Probably, but go for it anyway."

It wasn't long before his laughter joined my giggles, and soon we were on to other topics. I told him about my vision from the night before, about the oddity of Lyssa having a vision within the vision (and about Helen of Troy's curious resemblance to Rosalie, which he begged me never to tell her considering that her ego was already too inflated for her own good).

The conversation segued to more inane subjects and before I knew it, it was dark, and I was yawning.

"I forget you need to sleep," he stated apologetically.

"Yeah, it's a terrible nuisance," I replied as I swung my legs to one side of the branch. We jumped down still holding hands, and we both landed steadily, though I disturbed the leaves on the ground more than he did.

Without a word, he turned me toward him and pulled me close. Our lips met without hesitation as if we had been kissing for ages. I kept myself from pressing further, following his lead as he kept the kiss sweet and innocent, despite that it was stirring less than pure emotions inside me. I sighed when we broke apart and he responded by kissing the tip of my nose.

"Until tomorrow," he whispered gently, and then disappeared in a blur, drifting leaves the only sign of his passing.

E/N: Thank y'all so much for the outpouring of love last chapter. It really buttered my biscuits. Think you could do it again? That review button could use some lovin' too :-D

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