(1) Katnis Swan: Lost

Chapter 14: Meeting Charlie

That statement had her wanting an answer to another question,"How old are you, Cullen?"

"Old enough." he states.

"Don't be a child. Tell me, please?"

"Are you sure you would like to know?"

"Why are you acting as if your age is going to frighten me away?"

"It may do just that." He says before his eyes widen slightly,"In that case, I'll tell you."

Katnis shakes her head,"It won't so, just tell me."

"I was born June 20, 1901 but I was changed in 1918." He says slowly as if the revelation of his birth would cause her to scream.

Katnis just sits there for a few moments. She'd already done the math in her head. He was 107 years old. His age isn't what was causing her to stay quiet but the fact that he thought that revealing his age would somehow cause her to be repulsed enough by him that she'd just walk away.

Without warning she let's out a soft but carefree laugh startling Edward who was staring at her, waiting for a response,"Are you alright?" he questioned.

"I'm sorry, I just...did you really think I would be repulsed by you being 107 years old?" she asked with a chuckle.

He looks down.

"Cullen, I don't care that you're older than I am. It's not a big deal."

He lifted his head so quickly she thought it would fall off,"Not a big deal? Katnis, I'm ninety-one years older than you are. I'm beyond older than you."

Katnis shakes her head and shrugs,"I don't care. Cullen, you need to stop trying to push me away. I know how this works and trust me...it won't turn out how you want it to so, you mind as well stop now."

"You know how this works?" he questioned. He was curious as to what she meant by that. She was like an encryption code no one, nor he, could crack. Since she's arrived in Forks she has been a complete mystery to him and he's never had that problem before. No Ines ever grabbed his attention, and kept it, the way she has. He had the need to get to know more about her, to find out who she was and what makes her...her.

Katnis nods, her eyes drifting downwards,"That I do."

Edward could see that she didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to push her but his need to know more about her overpowered everything else,"May I ask how?"

She lifts her head slightly, meeting his gaze from under her long, thick lashes,"After my mother died I started pushing people away. I pushed away my friends, family, anyone I felt that I didn't deserve in my life any longer." she states softly,"Isabella and Charlie, as you can see, never gave up. They stuck by me no matter how hard, and I pushed hard, I tried to push them away."

"Why did you believe you didn't deserve them?"

She shrugs,"I just didn't. My mothers death triggered something in me and I guess I just wanted to shut down. I made up any excuse I could think of to push them away. I believed it enough to walk away from them." her gaze drifting down.

Edward takes a deep breath, through his mouth of course, before asking his next question,"How did she die?"

He watched as hr body stiffened at his question and he then wished he could take it back. He didn't want to hurt her anymore than she already was nor did he want to be the reason behind her shutting down again.

"She was...there was a home invasion. She didn't make it." she states, lifting her gaze to meet his once more,"What about you? How did you lose your parents?"