Midnight Sun

Edward returns to Bella’s house to watch her sleep again. In the morning, Edward notices that Charlie’s thoughts, while indistinct, are still overly concerned with Bella’s happiness. After Charlie leaves, Bella comes out. Edward asks a series of questions about all her interests, from her favorite color and movie to her favorite candy. At lunch, they discuss her favorite books, which are mostly regency era and other classics. As Edward learns more about her, he begins to think about what he can give her in the future and where he can take her to make her happy. When he asks her what her favorite gemstone is, she says Topaz. Edward asks why it embarrasses her to admit that, and Bella says it is because it is the color of Edward’s eyes that day. They suffer through another movie day in biology and both hold themselves back from temptation. Later, Mike Newton bothers Edward again by thinking of how he does not like Bella and Edward together. Emmett’s thoughts about a bet some of the Cullens have over whether Edward will kill Bella this weekend distracts Edward, who is bothered that none of them seem to care about Bella for her own sake.

After class ends, Bella tells Edward about her childhood and her room back in Phoenix, Arizona. Edward realizes how late it is and says he considers twilight and night to be sad times. Bella appreciates the night, saying, “without the dark, we’d never see the stars” (284). Edward wants Bella to introduce him to her father so he can be a part of her normal, human life, but she does not want to. As Edward says goodbye, the Blacks come around the corner, and Billy Black, Jacob’s father, is terrified to see Edward. Hiding around the corner, Edward notices that Jacob’s mind is good and friendly, even if he clearly likes Bella. Billy does not give away any information to Bella or Charlie, keeping the treaty. On Edward’s way home, he stops by the hospital to talk to Carlisle, assuring him that the treaty is still sound. He stops home briefly to appease Esme, who has missed Edward. Esme tries to comfort Edward and cheer him up about Bella, who she is excited to meet, but she still accidentally reminds him of the danger he poses. Edward tells her that he struggles, watching Bella at night, knowing that he can never be human with her.

Edward returns to Bella’s room to watch her sleep peacefully. In the morning, Bella tells Edward about her wild mother, for whom she always played the role of caretaker. Alice is delighted to see that she will get to introduce herself to Bella today, which Edward decides he will allow. At lunch, Edward wants to know about dates that Bella has been on, but she has not really had any before. Nobody that interests her has ever asked her out. Edward is both pleased and troubled that they are both each other’s first loves. Edward also asks about her college plans, struggling to imagine how he can continue fitting into her life. Edward gets distracted, thinking about spending an entire day with Bella and showing her what he looks like in the sun. Alice interrupts his thoughts in horror, reminding him that where he plans to take Bella is the same place where she saw him having to make the final decision between killing or not killing her. Alice does not want Edward to kill Bella because she wants to be Bella’s friend, so she insists that they skip the rest of the day to talk about this. Edward tells Bella he needs to hunt before they spend a full day together. He is annoyed when Bella is able to make excuses for herself so that Charlie will not suspect Edward if Bella does not return home, although Bella thinks the subject is funny. Edward explains to Bella that Alice is the most supportive of their relationship. He also tries to excuse Rosalie’s behavior, saying that she is only worried about the Cullens’s reputation. Alice finally introduces herself to Bella, and Alice and Edward leave school.

Edward tries to tell Alice that she is overreacting, but he realizes that Saturday is the day when he might kill Bella. When he first saw Alice’s vision, Bella’s death was too traumatic for him to realize where it took place. Edward wants to avoid this, but Alice knows he cannot. She explains to him that all of Bella’s futures converge on this one moment, that Edward must go through the meadow to find out what is on the other side. However, to Edward’s relief, Alice has seen the slim possibility of a third option after the meadow—that Edward will stay with Bella while she is human, although this will not be something that Bella will want. Edward begins to resolve his mind, planning to be strong for Bella and not kill her, which makes Alice’s vision of him not killing her seem more likely.

They go hunting, and Alice explains her plans to take Jasper hunting the next day in case Bella survives and comes to meet the family on Sunday. When they get home, everyone leaves Edward alone to his own thoughts. Edward picks out his clothes to wear for Saturday. Most of his clothes cover as much skin as possible, but he has one sleeveless shirt that he has never worn. He goes to Bella’s house to get himself used to her scent again before his big test. He realizes that Bella has also worried about what to wear, which triggers a memory from early in his vampire life. Carlisle tried to help Edward adjust to living with humans slowly, since he was as concerned about Edward suffering without a human life. At first, Edward wanted to live up to his father’s expectations. After meeting other vampires for the first time, he began to wonder what human blood tasted like. This led to a life of vigilante justice before he returned to Carlisle and Esme. Edward now knows that Bella’s life is more precious to him than any blood.