Chapter 18 - Knowledge

EPOV

I reached Port Angeles only minutes after Bella, Jess and Angela due to my rather fast driving skills. I couldn't get out of the car as the sun was still a few hours from setting, so I was stuck here. I settled and listened to Jess and Angela's thoughts. They had been relatively easy to find as there was only one store in town that sold dresses suitable for a spring dance.

I was a gentleman and pulled out of their minds every time they went into the change rooms. Most of their talk was uninteresting observations about the dresses Jess and Angela tried on, and I found it incredibly boring to listen to. I knew that Bella was going to look much better than any of the other girls at the dance- she always did.

I was looking forward to tomorrow when I would finally be able to be with Bella again and actually talk to her. I would be sharing lunch and biology with Bella again, although I probably couldn't steal her away from my family again and keep her to myself. Alice had complained loudly after we sat away from them last week and had threatened my piano if I tried it again. Besides, I reasoned, as much as I wanted her all to myself- my family loved her, and she seems to love them too.

I continued to tune into the conversation of the three girls in the dress shop. One conversation in particular caught my interest. Jess had asked Bella about her previous boyfriends, and Bella had told them that she'd never had one before. I found that astounding- it couldn't be for lack of interest in her, Bella was quintessential. "I've never found anyone I wanted to date before," she explained.

"What about Edward?" Angela suggested knowingly.

Bella blushed, looking adorable, "Maybe," she answered, "If he ever asks me out." I was intrigued. Did that mean that she would go out with me if I asked? My dead heart felt like it was beating at the thought.

"Well if he doesn't, at least Tyler is taking you to prom." Jessica mentioned.

I growled lightly, nobody was getting their hands on my Bella. I was definitely going to ask her to prom soon. I was pleased with Bella's reaction though. Her eyes opened wide with surprise and she got a look of disgust on her face. "Tyler?" she asked incredulously. At their nod she continued, "I would never go with Tyler, I'd rather go alone than with him." I was insanely pleased by this, but was shocked by her next words. "Besides," she continued, "I'll be going to the prom with Edward." She stated it with complete confidence, and I began to wonder if she would always throw me for loops like this. Yet again I found myself wishing I could read her mind. What could make her so sure that I would ask her to prom? Of course I intended to, but I didn't know how she could know that.

I pulled out of their thoughts after that as Angela was trying on another dress and Jess was wondering what kind of lingerie to but for the night of the dance. Apparently she had great plans for Mike. I was disgusted by the turn of her thoughts. Those two were made for each other. Bella seemed content to read, so I decided to give them a little privacy as I pondered Bella. She was incredibly confusing to me: the way her mind worked was a mystery that I desperately wanted to solve- yet somehow I doubted that I'd ever be able to, even If I could read her mind.

After puzzling for some time I searched again for the thoughts of Jessica and Angela. I found them heading towards an Italian restaurant- La Bella Italia. I soon realised however that Bella wasn't with them, and hadn't been for some time. I got worried. From Jess and Angela's thoughts I ascertained that Bella had gone off on her own in search of a bookstore. I groaned, hoping that she wouldn't run into any trouble on her own.

I was uneasy. I didn't like not knowing where she was so I drove to the only bookstore in Port Angeles, a new-age store. By the time I got there the sun had almost set. I could see from the shopkeeper's thoughts though that nobody had entered the store in the last couple of hours, so it was obvious that Bella had taken one look and decided against entering.

I checked back with Jess and Angel and found them in the restaurant ordering their food as they waited for Bella. Bella was still nowhere to be found. I anxiously drove around the streets near the restaurant and bookstore, searching frantically through everyone's thoughts for any sign of Bella.

The sky was getting darker and my only hope came from the thought that soon I would be able to get out and track Bella's scent.

Finally I found someone thinking about her, but my relief at having found her was extremely short-lived when I realised the dark turn of the thoughts I was hearing. I realised that the man had 3 companions, and they were all stalking Bella, their thoughts intent on raping her. I snarled angrily, gripping the steering wheel tightly as I drove towards the industrial area of Port Angeles. I didn't know exactly where she were, all I could see were tall buildings, but I knew roughly the area she was in. I hoped desperately that one of the men would look up and give me a clue so that I could find them.

My rage continued to build as Bella walked on, seemingly oblivious to the dangerous threat closing in on her. Thankfully, a moment later I spotted a street sign in one of the men's thoughts and I recognised it. Changing my route slightly I sped towards them, hoping I could get there before they hurt her.

I watched fretfully as she suddenly stopped and turned to face the four men shadowing her. They moved to surround her. How thoughtful of the little lady to not put up a fight, the leader thought, although it's almost disappointing- it's always more fun when they're feisty. Bella wouldn't be his first victim. He was surprised however, when she simply looked straight into his eyes and smiled.

To say I was shocked by her smile was an understatement. Only Bella would not find the situation she was in scary- any other young human girl would be rightfully terrified. The leader mentally ran though a list of his victims- none of whom had smiled.

Even more surprising was Bella's next words, "Excellent," she said, and I started to wonder whether she should be admitted to a mental institution. "I haven't had a good excuse to beat someone up in a long time." All our men were now disconcerted, but it only made them more determined.

The leader stepped forward, "Hello darling, we're gonna rock you're world tonight," he smiled evilly at her, moving to grab her. Before he could get hold of her arm she lashed out hard with her leg, her foot hitting the side of his thigh with a sickening crunch. For a moment I was worried that Bella had broken her foot, but I soon realised from the pain now clouding the leader's thoughts and the funny angle his leg was sticking out, that she had broken his femur. I was stunned- she shouldn't have been able to break the largest bone in the human body with a simple leg kick.

Bella didn't look surprised at all though, she simply turned to the remaining three men, "Who's next?" she asked calmly. All three converged on her. One by one she took them all down, using extensive martial arts moves that combined the use of her legs, arms, elbows and knees. Every time she hit them a bone would break, and if I hadn't been so worried about her, and angry about them I would have spent more time puzzling over her strength. Only one of the men managed to hit her, but Bella looked as if she didn't even notice. "You picked the wrong girl to mess with," She snarled at them. I agreed- I was going to tear them apart for intending to hurt her.

I continued watching, infuriated at the men as I neared them. The men were now all in pain; three of them writhing on the ground, while the last one was still fighting Bella. I finally reached them, spinning the car onto the street at top speed and letting the car spin around so that the passenger door was only metres away from Bella. Just as I reached over and opened it Bella gave the last man a broken nose before viciously kicking him hard in the groin. He collapsed in pain and my previous plans of killing them dissipated as I saw how thoroughly beaten they all were. I also knew that as much as I wanted to kill them for their thoughts, I also wanted Bella far away from these despicable creatures. Besides, I reasoned, these men weren't going to be moving anytime soon- I could always come back later, I was sure Rose would love to help me.

All of these thoughts only took a few seconds as I looked out the open passenger door at Bella. "Get in," I commanded, my tone betraying how murderously angry I was.

She got in, grumbling, "Spoilsport," under her breath as she closed the door. My mind boggled over that comment as we sped away. I rushed through stop signs and red lights to get as far away from temptation as possible.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella look over at me and smile a little. Then she seemed to notice how angry I was. She sighed, "So are you more angry because you didn't get to save me, or because those men were trying to rape me?" she asked calmly.

Yet again I was left perplexed by how her mind worked. Her question distracted me slightly from my angry thoughts. "The latter," I answered, before remembering that I should make sure Bella wasn't going into shock. "Are you alright?" I asked. "I saw one of them hit you." I stated, baffled by the fact that she seemed completely calm and pain free. Perhaps she was having a delayed reaction.

She chuckled dryly, "Trust me Edward, I'm fine." For some reason she seemed uncomfortable with this line of questioning, because she quickly changed the subject. "So, it looks like I'm going to have to run Tyler over with my truck." She stated cheerfully as we finally came to a stop in a misused side road on the outskirts of Port Angeles.

I had to chuckle at that, "Why?"

"He's telling everyone that he's taking me to prom," she huffed indignantly, "So I figure that if I run him over he'll probably get the picture that I don't want to go with him and he'll stay away from me," another thought seemed to occur to her, "Maybe I could total my truck at the same time," she mused, her expression thoughtful.

I laughed, my anger dissolving as I listened to her melodic voice and compared the beautiful, fragile girl calmly sitting beside me to the fierce, vicious creature I had seen in the rapists' thoughts. Bella was an enigma to me.

She seemed to notice that I was calmer as she joined me in my laughter, "You really are desperate for a new car huh?" I asked.

"Yep," she answered cheerfully. Suddenly her expression changed as she noticed the time on the dashboard. She cursed, "I was supposed to meet Angela and Jess at the restaurant hours ago," she groaned.

I sighed, and started the car, swiftly driving us back into town before parking in front of La Bella Italia. I hopped out and hurried over to Bella's door, opening it for her. She smiled up at me before accepting my proffered hand and stepping gracefully out of the car. I shut the door behind her, keeping her hand in mine, enjoying the warmth of it. She didn't seem to mind.

I looked down the street and immediately noticed Jessica and Angela walking away from us in search of Bella. I nodded towards them, "Your friends are going to look for you." I informed Bella. "You'd better stop them before they run into our other acquaintances tonight." She shuddered in disgust at the thought of the four men, "Jess, Angela!" she called. They immediately turned and rushed towards her, their eyes lit up with relief.

When they saw me standing next to Bella, her hand still comfortably ensconced in mine, their expressions changed. Angela was happy, thinking about how content Bella looked now that I was there. Jessica's thoughts were clouded with jealousy, her mind suspicious as she wondered whether Bella had planned to ditch them and meet me here. I inwardly rolled my eyes at her thoughts. "Where were you?" Angela asked, "We were so worried."

Bella looked sheepish, "Sorry, I just ran into Edward and we got talking and lost track of time," she lied smoothly.

I took that as my cue to jump in, "Would you mind if I joined you for dinner?" I asked to be polite, knowing they'd already eaten.

"Actually, we already ate while we were waiting," Angela apologised.

I smiled, "That's fine, I'd be happy to take Bella home myself after we've eaten, we don't want to hold you up." I offered.

They looked to Bella for confirmation, and when she gave them a small nod they quickly agreed, saying goodbye before hopping in their car and driving off.

I smiled once they were gone, happy with my good fortune in keeping Bella to myself for a little longer. We walked into the restaurant, and I managed to get the waitress to sit us in a private area, knowing Bella was likely to have some questions as to why I had been in Port Angeles and how I happened to show up when she got into trouble.

Once Bella's dinner order was taken and her drink had arrived I watched warily as she took a small sip, waiting for her to ask a question that I would probably have to lie about. She shocked me with her first question though. "So what's the range of your mind reading?" she asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be discussing.

I gaped at her. How did she know about that? "What makes you think I can read minds?" I asked guardedly.

She rolled her eyes at me, "Please Edward," She held up her hand and started picking things off on her fingers, "You knew which restaurant I was going to without me telling you, you knew where to find me this afternoon, you always seem to know what everyone around you is thinking, and sometimes you even react to something before a person had done it." Was I really that obvious? "But," she continued, "You don't seem to be able to read my mind, so there must be a few exceptions to your talent," she mused.

"Only one," I muttered, an unintentional note of petulance in my tone. She smiled triumphantly at me, and I realised that I had accidently confirmed her theory. The waitress arrived then, bringing Bella's plate of mushroom ravioli. Bella thanked her and dug in.

Once the waitress was out of sight, Bella turned back to me. "So you were stalking me?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with humour.

"Yes," I admitted, "and my range is around 10 miles I guess".

"Well thank you for trying to save me again, but as you saw, I am quite capable of taking care of myself."

"I noticed," I said dryly, "You seem to know a lot about martial arts." I observed, remembering the combinations she had thrown at her attackers.

She grinned and nodded, "I've been studying martial arts since I was four." She admitted, "I could probably take on you, Emmet and Jasper all at once and win," she remarked. I laughed at her incredulously. There was no way she could win against even one of us, not with our superior strength and speed. Bella turned back to her food.

I sat there and watched her eat, stunned by the fact that she didn't seem the least phased by my gift, or that I had admitted to stalking her. I was somewhat relieved though that she hadn't seemed to cotton on to the fact that the reason I had such a gift was because I wasn't human.

She finished her food quickly and I paid the bill, leading her out of the restaurant and back to the car.

We started the drive back to Forks quietly, me driving slower than usual to prolong our time together.

My curiosity soon got the better of me. "Why don't you seem surprised by the fact that I can read minds?" I asked.

She looked over at me calmly, "It's fairly common for vampires to have gifts," she remarked casually, watching for my reaction.

I nearly swerved the car off the road, but managed to keep my hands from moving. "You know what I am?" I whispered in shock.

She sighed, "You and your family aren't the first vampires I've met Edward." She said softly. "When I was four I met three vampires in Europe. I was lost and I watched them drain 3 men, but afterwards they were full and they didn't think I'd make much of a snack, so they let me live. They even helped me find my mother again, and told me a little out vampires. I guess they knew nobody would ever believe a four year old's story about supernatural beings that sparkled in the sun and never slept." She remarked dryly. My hands clenched as I realised just how much she knew about us. "In any case, as you can tell, I'm not scared of you or your family, and judging from the colour of your eyes, and the fact that there haven't been any suspicious deaths in this area, I'm pretty sure your family doesn't have a traditional diet. Not to mention, the Quileute legends about the 'Cold ones' mention that your family only drink from animals."

I was astounded by her knowledge, and extremely surprised that human-drinking vampires would let her live. I was also a little annoyed that the Quileutes had turned out treaty into a legend which the younger generation didn't believe. "How can you not be afraid when you know what we're capable of?" I asked incredulously, "You've seen vampires kill humans with your own eyes, and yet you're completely calm sitting next to me?" I was seriously starting to question her mental health.

She shrugged, "You won't hurt me Edward, and neither will your family."

She said it with such confidence that it made me mad. "You don't know that," I growled, "We are so much stronger than you Bella, we may not intentionally hurt you, but being near us is dangerous. Emmett could accidently hug you too hard and crush you, or your scent could just overwhelm one of us." I explained, frustrated that she didn't see how dangerous it was for her to be around us, and yet some part of me was happy that she wanted to be near us.

"You won't hurt me," she repeated, her voice still completely sure. "If you did, you would have already done it."

I sighed, realising that with Bella's stubbornness I wasn't going to win this argument tonight. "So you really don't care that I'm a monster?" I asked as we passed the sign welcoming people to Forks and headed to her house.

It was Bella's turn to look mad. "You're not a monster Edward. Don't ever say that." Her tone was full of anger. Then she sighed, and calmed down. "I need you to understand something Edward," she started, and I looked at her curiously as I parked to car at her house. "I don't care what you are, I probably wouldn't care even if you did hunt humans." She took a deep breath. "I love you." She admitted softly.

I was stunned, my body tingling with sensation as I revelled in her words, for once pushing my brooding and guilty thoughts about how unworthy of Bella I was aside. I lived in the moment, deliriously happy that this beautiful creature beside me loved me.

I got out, and went around the car, opening the door and helping Bella out, pulling her softly into a hug. "I love you too my beautiful Bella." I whispered softly, looking down at her luminescent face, her eyes shining brightly with happiness at my admission. I leaned down cautiously; making sure the burn in my throat was in check as I softly placed my lips on Bella's. As I softly kissed her, intending on keeping it light, Bella's arms suddenly wound tightly around my neck and her body pressed up against mine as she opened her mouth and sighed into mine, pressing her lips tighter against mine. Our lips moved together, and my whole body felt warm for the first time in nearly a century.

All too soon we were forced to stop as Bella needed to breath and I needed to keep my vampiric urges to drain her blood at bay. I looked down at her and smiled, kissing her softly on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella," I said softly, releasing her from my grip and getting back in the car. As I drove away I watched her, smiling after me as she made her way to the porch.

As much as I hated leaving her, I was content, revelling in the feelings that three words from her and a kiss had brought out in me. I couldn't wait to hear her sleep talking tonight.