Narrator P.O.V
"How much longer?" Katnis asked.
"Five minutes." Edward says,"Ten at the most."
"Okay, that gives me enough time to ask a few questions."
Edward stiffened,"Like?"
"How tempting is my blood?"
Edward met her gaze for a few moments before glancing back at the road,"Why do you want to know that?"
"Well, if anything were to happen I would know how important it was not to be in the same room as you are. I could help out." she states.
Edward tightens his hands on the steering wheel, "I've never wanted a humans blood as much as I want yours." he states calmly but strained,"Your blood tempts me beyond comprehension. I find myself in a constant battle with myself and the monster that wants you to himself."
Katnis gazes at the side of his face. He looked like a man who was slowly being broken down and she didn't like it. She hated the thought of being the reason he didn't trust himself. So, taking a deep breath she reaches for his hand, once again, but this time she laced her fingers with his.
"Is that why you stayed away when we first met?"
He gazes down at their joined hands before nodding,"Yes, only because of how badly I wanted you." He meets her gaze,"I still don't know if I can control myself around you for long."
Katnis gently squeezed his hand,"I know you can." she states, "You have to give yourself more credit."
He shakes his head,"You have no idea how close I was, how close I still am, to giving in. I've never been this close to losing any and all control."
"Do you want to give in now? Do you want me now?"
He meets her gaze for a moment,"Are you afraid?"
She shakes her head,"No. Far from it."
He looks back at the road,"You should be."
Again she squeezes his hand,"Cullen, can I ask you a question?"
He nods,"Yes."
"Are we friends?"
"I don't thin-"
Katnis shakes her head,"No, I'm not doing that. I didn't ask what you think we should be or why you think we shouldn't be." she states,"Are we friends?"
He nods,"Yes. Katnis, we are friends."
"Then you should know that friends don't walk away from friends. They stand beside them through the easy and hard times."
He shakes his head,"I can't let you do that."
She then removes her hand from his and turns her body in her direction,"You can't LET me?" she questioned with an amused yet annoyed look on her face.
Pulling up behind Bella's truck, Edward shut off the engine and gave Katnis all of his attention,"I didn't mean it in a controlling way. I know you're going to do what ever you want -"
"You're right." she says.
"but I wish you didn't. I wish you'd realize how dangerous it is for you to be near me, to be this close to me." he gestured at the not so much space between them,"I could hurt you without even trying and that fact scares me."
"Do you not trust yourself?" she questioned him.
"Around you? No, I do not." he replied,"In the three months that you've been in Forks I've never had to...hunt so often as I have since my transformation."
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?"
"My parents died of the Spanish Influenza. My father was the first to go and my mother followed not long after." she states.
"Spanish Influenza. I read about that. It took the lives of so many." she says,"I'm so sorry you lost your parents."
"It was a long time ago." he says.
"It doesn't matter. Losing your parents is never easy, even with time."
"Are you speaking about me or yourself?" He questioned.
She offers a small smile,"Both." she states before glancing back at the house,"Would you like to meet Charlie?" she asked.
Edward couldn't help the smile that shaped his lips,"Yes, I'd really like that."
"Well, let's go." she says,"Alice, you can tag along if you'd like." she says, knowing she can hear her.
Edward let's out a soft chuckle,"She says thank you. She can't wait to meet your father."
Katnis nods as she gets out of his car,"I'm sure she is." she says as she walked towards a excited Alice and a smirking Bella,"What?"
Bella shakes her head,"Nothing." she says, casting a quick look in Edwards direction,"Nothing at all."
Katnis decided to see ignore her sister,"Shall we head inside?"
"Yes!" Alice squealed.
Katnis shakes her head and moves to Bella's side,"Let's get going before Alice dies of excitement." Bella chuckles.
"She's just excited to meet dad." Katnis.
"Speaking of meeting dad...does this mean you and Edward are -"
Katnis shakes her head,"Cullen and I are friends. That's all. I wanted him and dad to meet seeing as he's a man and I'm a woman." she states,"You know how dad is. It's better to get everything out in the open now before he goes all macho dad on me."
Bella chuckles,"You're right about that."
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"So, I heard the two of you." Alice says with a smile.
Edward fought back the urge to roll his eyes and scoff,"Of course you did, Alice."
"So? Are the two of you working on becoming more than friends?" she asked just as Bella asked Katnis the same thing.
"Alice." He warned.
"What? You love her, right?"
He glances over at his sister,"You know the answer to that."
"Well, then, I don't see what the problem is "
"She doesn't feel anything for me." he says.
"She has to feel something for you. Bella is still in our future, I've even seen Charlie, which means Katnis -"
"...and I are just friends. Maybe she's in our future because she and I will only remain as friends."
Alice shakes her head,"Never give up hope, Edward." she says as they entered the house.
Alice and Edward both are stunned into silence from the overpowering smell of Katnis scent. The entire house smelled of only her, her scent masking Bella's and Charlie's scent.
"Edward." Alice hissed, covering her mouth and nose.
"I know. We just have to meet their father and then we can go." he says through clenched teeth.
Alice nods,"I'm going to go and get Charlie." Bella says before disappearing down the hall.
Katnis nods before turning to Alice and Edward who she noticed were as still as statues,"Is it me?"
They shared a glance before nodding,"Yes." Alice says.
Katnis moved passed them and towards the door, opening it," Will this help at all?"
Edward shakes his head but Alice spoke,"Your scent is one that over powers everything around you."
Katnis looked around for a few moments before sighing,"Why don't we all just step outside? I could introduce you to my father out here." she says moving out into the yard.
Alice and Edward followed her, quickly, outside,"Thank you." Edward says.
Katnis nods,"You're welcome." she says just as Charlie and Bella walked out.
"Why are you outside?" Bella asked.
"It's a bit stuffy inside." Katnis says,"Hey dad." she moves towards him, wrapping her arms around his middle,"How was work?"
Charlie wrapped his arms around her,"Same old, same old. How was school?"
"Good. Made new friends." she says pulling away.
"Is this them?"
She nods,"Yes, dad, this is Alice Cullen." she states,"Alice, this is my father, Charlie Swan."
Alice stepped forward,"It's a pleasure to meet you sir!" she says with a wide smile.
Charlie chuckles,"Hello, Alice." he says taking her cold hand,"It's nice to meet you, too."
He then turns to Edward and his smile disappears and is replaced with a guarded look,"Dad, this is Edward Cullen, my -"
"Boyfriend? I thought you didn't like any boys in town?" he said quickly, throwing her a look.
"Technically, Cullen doesn't live in town but in the outskirts of town." she says,"And he's not my boyfriend, dad. He's my friend...that happens to be a guy."
"So calm down, dad. They wanted to meet you officially."
"He did?" Charlie asked, singling out Edward.
"Chief Swan, we wanted to formally introduce ourselves." Edward speaks up, holding out his hand,"Edward Cullen, sir."
Charlie stares at his hand,"Dad, be nice." Katnis says.
He draws an invisible halo around his head before he shakes his hand,"Hi, Edward."
"Pleasure to meet you."
Charlie nods and drops his hand,"Yeah, uh, it's nice to meet you, too."
"Well, this was fun but Edward and I should get going. Esme hates when were late for dinner." Alice says before moving to hug Charlie, Bye, Mr. C." She then hugs Bella,"See you later, Bella."
Bella chuckles,"Same."
Alice then moves towards Katnis and smiles,"I'm so glad we met. You're an amazing young woman and I hope you're in our life forever." she says before kissing her cheek and embracing her.
Katnis met Edwards gaze before smiling,"Me too." she says as Alice pulled away.
Edward stepped forward,"Mr. Swan, Bella, thank you for allowing us to enter your home and for welcoming. Thank you." He says.
Charlie nods and Bella smiles,"You're welcome." Bella says.
He smiles at her before turning his attention onto Katnis,"Thank you, for not judging me and my family. I don't know what I would have done if you'd run away from me or if you were afraid of me."
Taking a few steps forward, Katnis lifts a hand to gently caress his cheek,"You don't ever have to worry about me running away from you in fear. It'll never happen."
He nods,"Thank you."
She smiles up at him before getting on her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck in an embrace,"Don't thank me, but..." she pulls away and kisses his cheek,"you're welcome." she says meeting his gaze.
Edward couldn't believe she'd kissed him. It was just a kiss to the cheek but he hasn't been kissed by a human, in any way, since his mother died. It felt...amazing. She was so warm.
"I'll see you later, Cullen." she says, taking a few steps back.
"Be safe." he says.
"Always." she says before her, Bella and Charlie headed inside.
"He seems...likeable." He hears Charlie say.
"Yes, he is." They hear Katnis mumble.
Alice squeals,"You two are destined to be together!"
Edward shakes his head,"It was a kiss to the cheek, Alice. We are friends and that's it."
Alice shakes her head,"No, you two are meant to be together. It will work out in the end." she says before a vision hits her.
Edward is standing beside Bella who's eyes are crimson red,"I want to see her. I won't hurt her, I'm in control of my thirst." a vampire Bella says.
Edward nods at Jacob,"She won't hurt our daughter." Edward says with a small smile.
"Are you sure?" another voice questioned.
"Leah? Since when do you care about Carlie?" Bella asked.
Jacob, Seth, Leah and Edward shared a glance,"Bella, we're just being cautious." Jacob states.
Bella sighs,"I'm fine."
"She's right. She won't hurt our daughter." Edward states.
"Alright, fine, just...control yourself." Leah states,"Katnis is in there, too."
Bella glances up at Edward who smiled down at her,"Everything is going to be alright. My wife can handle anything. You'll do fine." he says before leaning down and kissing her hair.
Bella smiles,"I can do this. I can do anything." she states before they headed inside.