Twilight The Stranger's Gaze

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It had been a few days since that night with Alice. Quiet days, at least on the surface. Nate had spent them almost entirely at home—partly because he was still suspended, and partly because he needed to think. Not about the suspension, or even about what he did to earn it—that was clear, and he'd do it again if he had to—but about what he'd learned in that car, parked beside a park lit by flickering streetlamps.

Alice's words kept spinning in his head. The fact that the Cullens chose not to feed on humans, that they tried to live against a nature they hadn't asked for… was, in a way, admirable. Human, even. But that didn't change what Nate had already concluded on his own: Edward Cullen was a risk. It didn't matter how noble his self-control was, or how careful he tried to be. He knew—with the same certainty that let him see through lies—that sooner or later, one way or another, Edward would drag Bella into a world she wasn't ready for.

During those days, Bella had sent him an indecent amount of messages. She didn't talk about class, or homework, or Jacob, or any trivial topics. Just one question, disguised in many forms: What happened with Alice after you dropped me off at home?

Nate avoided answering directly. He blamed fatigue, and distractions, or said there wasn't much to tell. But the truth was different. Deep down, he didn't want to face it. Not yet. He told himself he had just gotten caught up in the moment, in that brief connection… but he knew it was a poor excuse. Because he still felt it. He'd told her things he'd never told anyone. He had felt understood. Seen.

Nate shook his head. It was similar to the feeling he had when she was near. One he had managed to keep in check. He just needed to focus. There were more important things needing his attention. He couldn't let himself get carried away by a brief encounter. But his mind, as if betraying him, kept replaying the closeness he felt during that conversation.

And despite all that synergy they had shown, she hadn't sent a single message since. Not one.

"She's the one who said she wanted to reach out," he muttered with a small grimace, throwing a tennis ball against his bedroom wall, and watching it bounce back again and again.

But nothing. Silence.

He forced himself not to dwell on it. He knew that if things between Edward and Bella escalated, anything he might feel—whether for Alice or for that unsettling pull she awakened—would end up tangled in something dangerous. Something he couldn't control. And if there was one thing Nate hated, it was losing control.

Bella, on the other hand, didn't stop. She had told him how she was now pressing Edward more and more about what happened the day of the van accident. He always dodged the topic with vague answers or by changing the subject. Nate wasn't surprised. What did surprise him was the way Bella told him everything, almost as if she needed his approval. As if, deep down, she knew Nate was the only one who could see what was going on.

It almost tempted him to tell her the truth. But Nate knew that wasn't the right thing to do. Even if he didn't like Edward, the secret extended to his family too, and Nate didn't feel he had the right to reveal it.

Then Sunday came. The last day before school started again.

He woke up early, more out of habit than necessity. There was something in the air. A kind of silent pressure. He grabbed his phone without expecting much—but there it was: a new message.

"I think it's time we talked."

No name. But he didn't need one.

For a second, an unconscious smile crept across his lips. He thought maybe it was Alice, finally breaking the silence that had lasted for days.

But as soon as he finished reading the sentence, he knew it wasn't. That dry, direct, almost authoritarian tone… it wasn't hers.

It was Edward.

He remembered Bella had mentioned a few days ago that Edward wanted his number "for his sister." A weak excuse at the time, but enough not to raise suspicions with Bella. He had almost forgotten. With everything that had happened, he thought Edward would do the same as him: take his time. But once again, Edward's impulsiveness won out over his better judgment.

Nate stared at the screen for a few seconds, in silence. He had promised himself he would give Edward a chance to convince him. That he would give him the benefit of the doubt.

But he knew things wouldn't be that easy. If there was one thing his encounters with Edward had taught him, it was that when they were face-to-face, Nate became someone else. He was no longer the good friend Bella saw in him, nor the thoughtful, attentive guy he turned into around Alice.

When he stood in front of Edward, he became something different. Something fierce. As if the threat Edward posed to his new life pushed him toward the darkest part of his soul. As if it turned him into the real predator.

He closed his eyes for a moment, channeling that feeling once more, and buried any remaining doubt.

He typed quickly, with determination:

"In the woods. Near the school. Thirty minutes."

He didn't add anything else. He didn't need to.

He put the phone away and stood up without hurry. He got dressed in comfortable clothes and tied his shoelaces firmly.

He didn't know exactly what Edward Cullen expected from that conversation.

But he knew that, whatever it was, it would be the end of the conflict between them.

For better… or for worse.