"If you do not, I will find a way by myself!" Closing her eyes, clearly an attempt to calm herself, Bella asked, "Why does this bother you so? You used to want to kill me."

"Well, things have changed." He'd rather pull out his tongue than confess any more feelings for her, but he didn't want her to die, either. Maybe it would take some kind of grand gesture to knock some sense into her.

Maybe that was exactly what she was looking for.

He closed his own eyes, because if there was any mocking in her expression he wouldn't be able to stand it. "Bella, I—"

"I love you," she blurted, her voice hitching, as if she couldn't believe she'd said it, or she wanted to take it back. Opening his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Bella as he'd never seen her before. Frightened, not of an enemy or unseen force, but of her own actions. Terrified of rejection. Ashamed that she'd displayed human feelings.

His chest constricted so painfully he wondered if it were possible for vampires to have heart attach. He didn't know what to say, didn't have any words. What could he say when faced with such an unlikely reflection of himself?

Taking his silence for rejection, she looked down at her hands. "Now you will mock me."

"No." His voice was oddly hoarse. He cleared his throat. "At least, not for this."

"You are mocking me now." Her shoulders slumped. She didn't wear defeat well.

Having never been in love—at least, not this way—he found himself in wholly uncharted territory. It wasn't fair he had to feel so vulnerable.

"I'm not making fun of you." He slid two fingers under her chin to turn her face to his. "If I had said what you just did, would you have made fun of me?"

She lifted one eyebrow in a mocking expression, and for a second the Bella he knew was back. Just as quickly, though, she grew serious. "If you had said it to me, it would have been different. Because I. would have wanted to hear it."

"I wanted to hear it" He dropped his hand and shook his head. "But something tells me you won't believe that."

"Why would I?" She laughed bitterly. "You wish me to believe that you do not love anyone. That you drown yourself in meaningless sex. That was fine, when it was what I wanted from you. But you wanted more from me than that, and I would not give it. And now, you will reject me as a punishment."