"Courtney is the bravest human I have ever met... scratch that, bravest thing I have ever met." 

-Rosalie Hale 

****

(A/N: I'M SO SO SORRY BUT I ABSOLUTELY HAD TOO DON'T HATE ME) 

Intrepid. 

 That would be my response for describing Courtney Swan in one word. Emmett may say, relatable... Rosalie may utter something along the lines of plucky. As for Alice. I am sure she would call her new best friend generous. Jasper thinks only one word. 

 Perfect. 

 Yes, perfection may be ludicrous when describing a human... actually, it would be the wrong choice for describing any species. As close as we are, even vampires are not perfect. No, far from it actually... living in fear of what you are capable of quenches your chances with perfection. Blood-lust is something we possess, that humans do not have to worry about. 

 I'll admit, the girl may be close. 

 She is radiant. She seems to glow all of the time. I've seen her angry, I've seen the glint her her eye that reminds me of steel. Her inner commentary is almost as amusing as her external opinion. I feel intrusive listening to her thoughts, even if it is against my own will. I guess I simply can't help myself... Bella Swan's mind is a gaping hole, but Courtney's seems to be filled enough for both of them. 

 Being around Bella Swan could be excruciatingly painful. 

 It seems being around her sister eases that pain... slightly. 

 I didn't need to see into Bella's mind to know that she was on something of rocky grounds with her sister. I tried to ask her about it, to gain insight in that dreaded biology classroom, but I didn't get anything more than a "my twin sister, Courtney." 

 Courtney could go on about Bella in her mind for hours. It fascinates me how vivid her thoughts are. I knew that they were close, I knew that Bella kind of turned a shoulder as they moved... too much change is what Courtney thought, but always after she thinks that, she laughs and mutters a very creative curse word in courtesy of her twin. I always feel strangely protective of the older Swan sister, but I knew the rest of my family developed a firm liking on the younger girl. 

 Carlisle and Esme included. I remember when I first came home from Alaska... a few days later the Swan girl was at our house. I heard her singing the songs to musicals in Alice's room with Emmett... neither of them possessed a firm musical talent, but they were laughing so hard it barely mattered. 

 'Edward.' 

 My head turned, to see my father staring back at me. Carlisle's eyes were glittering, and I knew immediately that he liked the girl as well. 'Jasper is doing well.' 

 "I know." I spoke aloud, and as if to prove my point, I heard Courtney call him "Texas," and Jasper laugh and retort in an accent heavier than his was. "He's stronger than we give him credit for." 

 Carlisle smiled, patting my shoulder, he didn't speak out loud, probably because he didn't want Jasper to tune in on what he was saying. 

 'I can't help but wish that we met her sooner.' 

 ***

 "You son of a bitch!" 

 Courtney's mouth was dropped open in shock, her hands held out as the cold ball of snow dripped down her head. Emmett, the culprit, was laughing his head off a few feet away. 

 The dreary weather of Forks had dumped a hearty amount of snow on us. Alice, naturally, invited Courtney over, and now we are all aware of how much she loves the snow. It is funny, how Bella hates the cold, but Courtney enjoys it. It reminds her of when she came to visit her dad for Christmas. 

 'Its official... Emmett has lost his mind.' 

 I gave Jasper a sideways smirk, "maybe not." 

 Courtney bent down and gathered a ball of snow in her hand, giving Emmett a challenging look. He wiggled his eyebrows, obviously over-cocky that he could out-run the snowball. Courtney was a baseball player... I think I have my bets placed on her. 

 Alas, she whipped the ball of snow from her hand, managing to hit Emmett squared in his buff chest, making Rosalie laugh, and Jasper plan a bunch of different ways to propose. Alice threw her head back and giggled like a banshee. I managed a chuckle myself, mainly at the expression of triumph on the human girls face. 

 It was... refreshing to take a break from Bella Swan. You know? Like, I always find myself wanting to be around her, but the scent can grow overwhelming... quickly. 

"Ahh!" Emmett screeched, although I was pretty sure he saw that coming. "I have been hit!" 

 'Serves him right,' Courtney thought, her pink lips curving into a grin. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, as well as the tip of her nose, but it didn't bother Jasper in the slightest... was I jealous? Yes. I wish that whenever I was around Bella Swan, I didn't have to wonder about how I could kill her without drawing too much attention to myself. I just had to occasionally hold my breath. 

 "Incoming!" Alice yelled, before promptly jumping up and wrapping her legs around Courtney's middle. Jasper watched, his usually hard features softening, and his mind flooding yet again. Courtney bent her knees, but otherwise found no trouble lifting Alice. I laughed when Emmett threw a snowball in her general direction, making Alice screech and almost pull Courtney over into a snowbank. 

 "This kind of stuff doesn't happen in Arizona!" She yelled, ducking to avoid a particularly aggressive snowball from Emmett, that made Jasper swear under his breath, gathering enough snow in his hand to chuck at Emmett, so hard that it knocked him over. 

 Thankfully, Courtney wasn't watching this exchange, as she was rubbing her hands together, and laughing as Alice cart-wheeled in the snow. 

The term winter wonderland has new meaning to me. 

 ***

 The cold isn't always good.  

 Hearing Courtney's panicked thoughts, before and after I had pushed a van out of the way of her sister, was making me more nervous than I already was. I am sure that Jasper wasn't doing much better, as he was hugging her to his chest so tightly in an effort to smother her fear. 

 That was past, and now we were in a hospital. I wasn't close enough to my brother to hear what he was thinking, but I am sure he was pulling his hair out somewhere. Jasper and hospitals mix as well as oil and water. The scent of blood in this place is strong enough to make Alice look like she was going to throw up. Neither of us understand how Carlisle does this daily. 

 I peeked my head into the hospital room, just long enough to see Alice and Courtney take a selfie, before she proceeded to take off of the oxygen mask, and suck in a deep breath like it was cutting off her air previously. I laughed to myself, slipping behind the curtain where I knew Carlisle would be working. He was examining an X-Ray for reasons unknown to me, and slowly shaking his head in astonishment. 

 'Would you look at her bone structure? That girl could bench press a horse.' He thought, before laughing at his own joke, and turning to me. 'They both are fine.' 

 I nodded, pursing my lips. Carlisle continued to internally marvel. 

 'Seriously, Edward, I have never seen such straight muscular formation...' 

 "She's strong," I shrugged, "some humans are stronger than others." 

 'I have never seen anything like this,' was what he thought, but what he said aloud was "of course." 

Carlisle is the one most likely to remember my gift, but sometimes I guess it... slips his mind.

 "She is strong, though." I agreed, remembering when I thought that Bella was the most selfless person I have ever met.  I glanced over, watching Alice clasp her hand and say something that made her giggle. 

 "Very strong." 

 A/N: Wow, that took years. I am so sorry for the long wait, and that this isn't even an update technically. School is re-starting for me in a week, and I am super stressed already... I could rant for hours about how much pressure I feel,  but I don't want you all to suffer that much!

 Thank you for reading, and I was wondering if any of you had any requests for  future stories? Like, what would you want to see? I just love planning out stories, and who knows? If I like one enough I might write it!

 Lots of love to you all!