Gifted

Chapter 12: Pain

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Please read and review, if you've gotta moment. Enjoy!

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"I can't believe I of all people have to say this, but have you all lost your minds?!" Edward shouted.

Emmett winced, but held his ground beside Rosalie. The entire family assembled for this meeting, well, if you want to call Edward's temper tantrum a meeting. Edward gave him a dark look, but again Emmett did not waver. He was not going to let his brother win this one.

"We all appreciate your concern, but I think in this case you may be overreacting," said Carlisle, ever the diplomat.

"Overreacting?" said Edward incredulously. "Overreacting?! You let a human into the house! You let her spend hours, days with you. God knows what she could have seen! What? You don't think she might notice how none of you ate in front of her? You don't think you might slip and run a little too fast? Or break something that's impossible to break? Did none of you THINK at all before you decided to adopt her?"

"Dude, chill," Emmett interjected. "None of that happened, and she's spent practically every waking hour of the week here. If we were gonna screw up, it would've happened already. So stop freaking!"

Edward curled his lip. "And did you think about what this would do to me? Or should I stop freaking about that too?"

"You've improved," Jasper said quietly. "I've been watching you carefully with her scent. I think you might manage staying in the same room if you focused."

Jasper was referring to the dozens of clothes saturated in Bella's scent. It was a brilliant idea on Alice's part, and he helped her carry it out all week. Everyday Alice had forced the poor girl (who in this respect, was the complete polar opposite of his fashion-obsessed wife) into as many of her outfits as she could stand for the express purpose of leaving her scent. Almost always Alice would get carried away, especially when she realized how little Bella had. Then when Jasper felt Bella's panic and discomfort reach too high a level, he would rescue her with whatever distractions he could concoct. That night, Jasper or Carlisle would travel to Denali to deliver the clothes to Edward, where they patiently watched him struggle with the madness and coached him as best as they could.

He smiled as he thought back to the "distractions" he came up with. Bella had an amazing mind...she loved history as much as he did, and had read recreationally on the subject beyond anyone her own age. His own uncomfortable thirst for her appealing blood had subsided considerably, simply because of all the time he spent with her discussing this and that. He cherished her company enough to swallow the venom that still dripped from his teeth when a breeze blew her aroma in his direction. But for the first time in his existence, he refrained from attacking her not just because he didn't want to hurt an innocent human, but because he liked the individual in question-he truly did not want any harm to come to this girl, whether caused by him or by another. His observations over the last week told him his family felt the same way.

"Why can't you comprehend the danger you're putting us all in?" Edward asked, staring each of them down, "the danger you're putting her in? If the Volturi catch wind of this..."

"I think I can speak with more authority on this subject than you can, Edward," Carlisle started, "and I don't believe the Volturi will knock on our door anytime soon. They've never graced us with their presence before, and there's no reason to think they will now."

"And I've been looking," said Alice, referring to her unusual ability to see the future. "There's nothing to be worried about. Please Edward, I really like her!"