Crescent Moon

Chapter 7: New Arrivals

EPOV

We were settled around the mahogany table, in deep discussion about the meanings behind Alice's visions. I cannot believe that just ten minutes ago, I was kissing Bella on her front porch. It seems like a world away. We were all still dressed in the clothes we wore to the dance. Carlisle was incredibly concerned about the entire thing, alternating in-between questioning Alice and thoughtful silence. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, and he was trying to sort through them.

Esme was incredibly worried. She knew exactly how happy I was with Bella, and had a fairly clear idea of what would happen if she died. Jasper was hugging Alice tightly, sending out calming feelings to everyone, but they weren't helping much. Emmett was gearing up, already in big brother mode. He thought of Bella as family, and he would put his existence on the line for her. So would I, come to think of it.

Rosalie seemed disturbed. I didn't know her feelings for Bella ran along the same lines as the rest of us. It seems she had been hiding her thoughts and feelings; rather effectively too, might I just add. Rosalie saw Bella as a really annoying, irritating younger sister, but a part of her life nonetheless. If I were not so worried, I would be amazingly happy to see how Bella was so accepted into our family.

We might have to change her… Alice had a worried tone of thought, and my head snapped up in to her direction. A growl left my lips, and I snapped, "We are not changing her."

"Why not? You obviously have intense feelings for her, and may I be so bold to say they even border on love. You would be heartbroken without her," Alice replied.

Love? But I wasn't in love, was I? I had never experienced love, but the same could be said that never had I felt anything as amazing as what I shared with Bella. Shaking my head, I knew that there would be time to go over this later. For now, I had to convince everyone that changing Bella was not for the best.

"But we don't even know whether she is a human or not!" I half-yelled. "And I… I could never live with myself if I doomed her to our kind of existence. Would any of you turn down the chance to be human again?" I looked at them all, and they slowly shook their heads. "So you see, I cannot do that to her!"

"Then what are we to do about these visions?" cried Esme. Her eyes were frantic with worry, but her thoughts were accepting of the fact that changing Bella was my choice.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose and said in a weary voice, "I don't know. We can deal with it later."

"You cannot keep putting this off, Edward! Be a man and make a decision!" snarled Rosalie. In between her hands was a lump of metal that used to be a lamp, but in her frustrations, she had wrung it into its current condition.

Growling, I said, "There are times when I am almost certain she is not human. Sometimes, I swear she can hear and see things other humans cannot. Then there are other times when the humanity shines through her like a light. When she blushes or falls… the list could go on for days. It would be so easy if she was one of us, but I know one thing for sure, and that is she is not a vampire. But I will not be responsible for dampening the light of her humanity."

Rosalie whole-heartedly agreed with me. She thought of humanity as a major gift that was often overlooked. Changing Emmett was a slightly different thing, as he was near death. Life shone through Bella like the sun. Me changing her would be bona fide murder.