I would like to note that I have been having problems editing my work on fan . So the previous chapter was underlined, and the first part was all in italics. I have no idea how that happened because I did not do that on purpose. I tried to fix it on this site, but I couldn’t get it to work out. Sorry if it happens again.

Disclaimer--I am not Stephenie Meyer, so I do not own the rights of Twilight.

Midnight Sun--Edward’s Story

Chapter 4--Phenomenon

After school, walking into my house, Esme came up to me, and thought, Can we talk? Nodding in confusion, she led me to the kitchen where she leaned up against the counter.

“You were smiling when you came home today,” she pointed out. “I haven’t seen you smile in a very long time. It’s nice.”

Smiling slightly for her, I replied, “Well, today was a very…uh…decent day.”

“That’s good,” she said. Did you speak with Bella today?

Oh, so that’s where this is going, I thought.

“Yes, I have,” I replied in memory. “However, it raised a lot more questions. You have no idea how frustrating it is not being able to hear her thoughts when I can hear everyone else’s.” I was growing more and more frustrated at the memory.

Esme nodded in sympathy. What did you learn about her?

I sighed, thinking of Bella’s sad face. “Mostly I learned she is unhappy here. She misses her mother.”

“Well keep talking to her. The more you do, the harder it will be to hurt her. I have complete faith in you, Edward,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder briefly and then walked away.

After a few seconds, I also walked out of the kitchen and made my way to my room. Striding in I placed a CD in my stereo and hit play.

Lying down on my sofa with my arms behind my head, I stared at the ceiling.

I had made it through the day, thankfully, with only a couple of close calls. I knew I would have to go hunting soon, so I could face Bella again tomorrow and speak to her again. For some reason I could not fathom, I found her completely fascinating. Not just because I couldn’t hear her thoughts, but it was something else. Part of it was that, but it fascinated me when the blood would rush to her face, when she seemed flustered not knowing what to say. It amazed me. Even the sudden movement of her hair would stun me, and not just because of the scent, but because of how the light would shimmer her mahogany hair and you could detect red hints in it.

It was everything.

Her blush, her scent…her incredibly floral scent like lavender or…or freesia. Her voice, which was so soft, but it held power of some sort and a confidence I didn’t quite understand. And the words she would say. They entranced me, as I tried to figure out if what she said was what she really meant. I actually loved watching her facial expressions and body language.

I couldn’t quiet understand any of this, but I knew I needed to know everything, everything about Bella Swan.

Driving to school the next morning, the air was thick with early morning fog and the road was slick with ice. I was driving a bit slower than usual to avoid the black ice, but of course my driving was flawless.

I was anxious to get to school for the first time in my existence and I secretly knew it was because I’d be able to see Bella again. It shamed me.

The car ride was very quiet, even my families thoughts were pretty silent. They were not filled with so much tension as before, yet it was still there. Worrying that I may screw things up for them today. Yet it wasn’t as prominent. The only one that didn’t think this way was Alice. She kept a perfectly blank mind, but she had a small impish smile on her face and she kept shooting me knowing looks. She confused me.

Pulling into a spot in the school parking lot, we all got out of my Volvo. Seeing Bella pull up and park four spaces away, I began to watch her with no hesitation, as my family started to slowly walk away.

Bella got out of her sturdy truck hesitantly as if she were afraid of falling and walked over to her back tires and slightly leaned over and examined them. From the distance I could of sworn I saw moisture in her brown eyes.

Suddenly, I heard an odd sound, and Bella looked up at the same noise. Her eyes became wide with fright as she took in everything. Eyes sliding from me to a dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes was spinning wildly across the icy parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of Bella’s truck and she was standing between her truck and the out of control blue van. She was going to get crushed in a second!

And all I could think of was, Not her!

In a split second decision, I raced to Bella and pushed her out of the way. The force of my hit caused us to fall to the icy blacktop and Bella’s head cracked on the ice. Hearing the van curl gratingly around the end of her truck, I noticed that it was still spinning and sliding right to us.

“Damn it!” I exclaimed in a low oath. I shot out my hands protectively in front of me as the van collided with my hands, creating dents.

The van shuddered to a stop as I realized Bella’s legs were going to be crushed! Gripping under the body of the van, I dragged Bella like a rag doll from where the van would have crushed her. The van groaned, glass popping as it settled.

That’s when the screaming began. People shouting out Bella’s name.

Leaning low into her ear, I frantically asked, “Bella? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said in a strange voice. She tried to sit up, but I held her close against me.

The close proximity of her was highly frustrating and dangerous. I was going to go insane! The shock of all the events had increased her heart rate and it was torture. I so yearned for her sickly pungent blood. I tried to block it out.

“Be careful,” I warned, as she struggled. “I think you hit your head pretty hard.”

Thank God she wasn’t bleeding!

“Ow,” she said, sounding surprised.

“That’s what I thought.” I had to try very hard to suppress my laughter.

“How in the…” she trailed off. “How did you get over here so fast?”

How in the world did she remember that I wasn’t even near her after this whole ordeal? It’s definitely best to lie.

“I was standing right next to you, Bella,” I lied, trying to be as innocent and convincing as possible.

She turned to sit up. This time I let her, releasing my hold around her waist and sliding as far away as possible in the limited space between cars. I made myself appear even more innocent as she looked upon me. Her eyes glazed over, marginally.

Then a crowd of people found us with tears on their cheeks and shouting.

“Don’t move,” someone instructed.

“Get Tyler out of the van!” someone else shouted.

There was a flurry of activity around us. Bella tried to stand up, but my cold hand push her shoulder down.

“Just stay put for now.”

“But it’s cold,” she complained. I chuckled low under my breath, a bit bitter.

“You were over there,” she suddenly replied, which cut my laugh short. “You were by your car.”

Giving her a stony expression, I said, “No, I wasn’t.”

“I saw you,” she continued.

Why must she persist?

“Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way.” Opening my eyes wider, I tried to unleash my power of persuasion on her and at the same time trying to communicate this crucial lie. Believe me…don’t say anything else…

“No.” She set her jaw.

Staring at her some more I made my eyes blaze. “Please, Bella.”

“Why?” She demanded.

“Trust me,” I pleaded in a soft voice.

The sirens roared. They were getting closer to the scene.

“Will you promise to explain everything to me later?”

“Fine,” I snapped, exasperated by her determination.

“Fine,” she repeated angrily.

Though I told her I would explain later, I knew I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t have promised anything.

Standing up as six EMTs and two teachers shifted the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in, I vehemently refused mine. Bella tried to do the same, but I told them that she’d hit her head and probably had a concussion.

She glared the whole time at me when they strapped her on a stretcher and put a neck brace on her.

Hopefully, she did have a concussion, so maybe in a few hours she’d dismiss what she’d seen as a delusion.

Sliding into the front of the ambulance that Bella was in, I saw my family in the distance. Their expressions ranged from disapproval to fury. Their thoughts were no better.

Don’t worry Edward…I erased the marks on the vehicles already before anyone was close enough to examine them, Alice disapproved.

That idiot! Rosalie yelled in her head in anger. He better hope no one saw his rescue mission…he should have let her die!

Why in the world would he do such a thing? Emmett wondered in fury.

Jasper’s thoughts came last. We’re going to have to leave…I know it. Why would he do this? Didn’t he always try to protect me from exposing us…when now he probably did the same thing!

What have I done? I thought in panic. I needed to see Carlisle now at the hospital. Hopefully he’d know what to do!

Chief Swan arrived at the scene at that moment.

“Bella!” he yelled in panic.

“I’m completely fine, Char--Dad,” Bella sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Then I heard Chief Swan turn to whom I assumed was a EMT to get a second opinion.

In a rush, I went through every thought in everyone’s minds and found what I was searching for. No one had seen my heroics. Thankfully. However, I still had to worry about Bella. Would she tell? There was no way of knowing.

Arriving at the hospital, I walked through the doors and found Carlisle’s office. Not even bothering to knock, I knew he would be expecting me. Entering the room, he fell upon me.

“What happened, Edward? Rosalie called in near hysterics! She said that you may have exposed us. What’s going on?”

As calmly as I could, I replied, “Bella Swan was nearly killed in the school parking lot this morning. I ran and saved her in time.”

And you used your vampire strength and speed, didn’t you? He disapproved.

“Yes.”

“And why did you do it?” He demanded. Shaking his head, he replied, “No, I know why you did it. You saved her life. I’m proud of you for that. But you could have exposed us.”

We were less then a foot apart.

Walking to the far end of the room not facing him. My explanation was a lie. “If I wouldn’t have saved her, her blood would have spilled. Do you think that I would have been able to resist the thirst then? I would have ran wild…and we would have been exposed anyway.” I was becoming angry and frustrated.

Carlisle sighed from behind me, and I knew he nodded. “Okay. Did anyone see you?”

Facing him, I replied, “No. I went through everyone’s minds before we left the school and no one saw.” I hesitated, before continuing, “However, Bella seemed to notice everything I had did.”

Silence fell and Carlisle started to pace the room. I blocked out his thoughts until he was ready to say something. I didn’t understand why I lied to him, but I did. It wasn’t the truth, but I started to wonder why I had saved Bella. When the van almost killed her, I kept thinking, Not her! But why?

God I couldn’t comprehend anything at the moment.

“Okay,” Carlisle finally said. “Did she have any injuries? Anything that may make her think she imagined everything?”

“Yes,” I confided, “She may have a concussion.”

Carlisle stopped pacing, and smiled at me. Good, that may work out for us! Go to Bella and I’ll get her paperwork and x-rays. I’ll see you in a little bit.

Nodding, I left his office, and made my way through a curtained corridor where I knew Bella would be. Hearing Tyler apologizing in a remorseful mumble, I found Bella.

Seeing Bella lying on a hospital bed with her eyes closed, I turned to Tyler and asked, “Is she sleeping?”

Bella’s eyes flew open. Seeing my smirk, she glared at me.

“Hey, Edward, I’m really sorry--” Tyler began.

I lifted a hand to stop him.

“No blood, no foul,” I said, flashing a smile. I took a seat at the corner of Tyler’s bed, blocking his rambling thoughts. A safe distance away from Bella.

Turning to her, I smirked again.

“So, what’s the verdict?” I asked. Hoping that she had a severe concussion.

“There’s nothing wrong with me at all, but they won’t let me go,” she complained. “How come you aren’t strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?”

This was going to be complicated now, if Bella really wasn’t hurt at all.

“It’s all about who you know,” I answered. “But don’t worry, I came to spring you.”

At that moment Carlisle appeared around the curtain.

“So, Miss Swan,” Carlisle said, “how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” she said.

He walked to a light board on the wall over Bella’s head and turned it on.

“Your X-rays look good,” he said. “Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard.”

“It’s fine,” she repeated with a sigh. She scowled at me.

Carlisle began to examine her head, probing it lightly with his fingers. She winced.

“Tender?” He noted.

“Not really.”

I chuckled at seeing how annoyed Bella was. Her eyes narrowed as she took in my patronizing smile.

“Well, your father is in the waiting room--you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all.”

“Can’t I go back to school?” She asked, horrified.

“Maybe you should take it easy today.” It’s best she doesn’t go back right away. She may tell someone. Now that I can’t rule anything out with head trauma…, Carlisle thought.

I mentally agreed with him.

Bella glance at me. “Does he get to go to school?”

“Someone has to spread the good news that we survived,” I said smugly.

“Actually,” Carlisle corrected, “most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.” Edward, go home. We are going to have a family meeting in forty-five minutes when my shift ends. We need to work some things out.

“Oh no,” she moaned, covering her face with her hands.

Carlisle raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to stay?”

“No, no!” She insisted, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. She staggered as Carlisle caught her. He was concerned.

“I’m fine,” she assured him again.

“Take some Tylenol for the pain,” he suggested as he kept her steady.

“It doesn’t hurt that bad,” she insisted.

“It sounds like you were extremely lucky,” he said with a smile as he signed Bella’s chart. Maybe too lucky…, he thought, though not meanly. He was worried about his family, as was I.

“Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me,” she replied, giving me a hard glance.

“Oh, well, yes,” he agreed. Edward talk to her. See if she is still suspicious of us. But make it quick, we need to get home. This is very unfortunate. I’m sorry, son. His thoughts were full of regret, as he moved next to Tyler and began to speak with him.

As soon as Carlisle turned away from her, Bella was at my side.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” She hissed under her breath.

Taking a step way from her, I clenched my jaw muscles. Her scent had just over-powered me.

“Your father is waiting for you,” I said through clenched teeth. Despite what Carlisle told me to do. I didn’t know if I could trust myself to be alone with her.

She glanced at Carlisle and Tyler.

“I’d like to speak to you alone, if you don’t mind,” she pressed.

I glared at her, and then turned my back and strode down the long room. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me.

“What do you want?” I demanded, annoyed and becoming cold to her.

“You owe me an explanation,” she reminded me.

“I saved your life--I don’t owe you anything.” My voice was laced with resentment.

She flinched back. “You promised.”

“Bella, you hit your head, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied with an edge to my tone.

She glared defiantly at me. “There’s nothing wrong with my head.”

I glared back. “What do you want from me, Bella?”

“I want to know the truth,” she said. “I want to know why I’m lying for you.”

“What do you think happened?” I snapped, enraged now. I couldn’t stand this. Standing here vehemently lying to Bella and treating her like this. But I knew I had to. I had to convince her she didn’t see what really happened.

Her explanation came out in a rush.

“All I know is that you weren’t anywhere near me--Tyler didn’t see you, either, so don’t ell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both--and it didn’t, and your hands left dents in the side of it--and you left a dent in the other car, and you’re not hurt at all--and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up….” She trailed off not seeming to be able to continue. She ground her teeth as I saw moisture fill her eyes in anger.

I stared at her incredulously. She had seen everything. I was incredible tense now.

“You think I lifted a van off you?” I made my voice and expressions seem like I was questioning her sanity. Hopefully that would be better, then for her to believe.

She merely nodded once, with her jaw set.

“Nobody will believe that, you know,” I replied with and edge of derision.

“I’m not going to tell anybody.” She said each word slowly.

What?

That was very surprising. She wasn’t going to tell? Seeing her proclamation in her eyes I believed her, as odd as it sounded.

“Then why does it matter?”

“It matters to me,” she insisted. “I don’t like to lie--so there’d better be a good reason why I’m doing it.”

“Can’t you just thank me and get over it?”

“Thank you.” It seemed like she was waiting for something. She was fuming and expectant.

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?” I knew that was true.

“No.”

I sighed. “In that case…I hope you enjoy disappointment.”

We scowled at each other in silence. I was livid at her determination to reveal my secret. My families secret. She could ruin everything.

“Why did you even bother?” She asked frigidly.

I paused.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

I turned away from her and walked away.

And I really didn’t know why. Why couldn’t I leave her to die? Why did I have to put us in this mess? I thought of the reasons as I left the hospital, and began my way home. Awaiting an explosion a fury from my family when I would walk through the door.

Not my best chapter, but I promise that the next couple chapters will be good. I rushed through this one, just to get it out of the way. The next chapter will be a fantastic. You get to see the biggest fight the Cullen family has ever had.

Please review.