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"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

It's been about half an hour and Edward hasn't stopped his relentless ranting and continuous pacing. In all honesty, Mia started tuning him out once the fifteen minute mark was reached. Now she's just nodding along to his words and praying his scolding stops any minute now.

"You should have never used your magic if you knew it was dangerous!" Edward flails his hands up in irritation and proceeds to run them through his disheveled hair. "You're lucky they haven't found you and I can't believe you're still considering doing another spell again! Do you realize how stupid it is?!"

Not bothering to say anything, she nonchalantly shrugs and just continues watching him pace around her living room in hysterics. She glances at the grandfather clock standing by the corner, urging the time to go by quicker so that way, Isobel would finally come home and stop this little ordeal.

"You're out here acting like a foolish child with no regard to your safety and not to mention how selfish it is that you're not thinking how everyone will feel if something were to happen to you!" His words are rushed and loud, making her glad the Muffliato charm had been casted to give them some privacy. "I understand that you were trying to help, but in circumstances like these, you have to put yourself first above everything and anyone!"

"Uh-huh," she says while continuing to watch him walk back and forth. "I can see that you're very upset."

"I have met a lot of reckless people, but never one this irrational!" Edward's hands are waving all around and his pacing is turning quicker by the second. "You're so dense that you can't even realize the severity of doing this and especially by not telling me when I have a right to know! You're my best friend and I need to know if anyone is coming to hurt you so I can keep you safe – but no! You just kept quiet with no regard to your life! I mean, how selfish can you be?!"

She takes a prolonged sigh, still not bothering to say anything since quite frankly, she's finding his panicked look humorous. He's always been composed and sometimes leads her to believe there's not a funny bone in his body, but maybe she's wrong since he's performing this little show for her.

"What are you doing?!" Edward stops pacing and stands right in front of her, making her lean her head up to get a better view.

Mia shrugs and stares at him with a deadpan expression, "Nothing. I'm just sitting on this couch."

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, "Stop trying to be funny. What the hell were you thinking in keeping this a secret?!"

She looks at him for a few seconds, "I was trying to help. I know how important it is to keep a secret, so I did what I knew best-"

"Not best. It was something stupid," Edward interrupts, gaze flickering to anything but her. He's getting more infuriated at how calm she is. If anyone were to see this, they would think it's him that's at risk and not her.

"Okay, can you just stop?" Mia groans loudly and rolls her eyes before standing up. She places her hands on her hips and tilts her head slightly. "I have to admit, listening to your rants was amusing at first, but it's getting very stale and it's been about half an hour. For my sake, just stop reprimanding me and panicking."

"I have every right to panic-"

She scoffs, "You don't, because it's me that risked everything. Not you, not your family, me."

Edward ignores her words and moves a few inches closer to her, "What the hell happened?"

"I was just keeping my secret safe, which you out of all people should understand," Mia ignores his words, choosing not to actually respond to the real question.

"You know that's what I meant," he argues, his voice getting louder by the second. "What the hell were you thinking? Using your magic when you know it's important that you don't?!"

Mia sighs and shakes her head, "I am very aware of that, but I don't need you to reprimand me when I already have my mother for that!"

"You're an idiot. That's what you are."

She stares at him in disbelief, "An idiot?"

"Yes, an idiot," he repeats. "You could have gotten caught and the fact that you're thinking about doing this again makes you a fool. You have to stop thinking about others and put yourself first!"

Clenching her jaw, she turns around as irritation starts brewing under her skin. It's getting so hard not losing her patience, but if he keeps calling her an idiot and scolding her like he actually cares, she might as well lose it.

"And you wonder why I didn't tell you anything," she mutters. "You keep acting like this will affect you in any way. If anything, you should be grateful for what I've done and let me handle my messes!"

"I can't let it go!" Edward yells, but there's a shift in his tone that catches her attention. He pauses for a brief moment, his gaze softening as he firmly stares at her. "And of course I would be affected if they found you. How couldn't I be?"

Mia turns quiet as she studies the subtle change in his expression. She wonders if somewhere deep inside, he's actually worried for her. It's hard knowing when someone actually cares about you and yes, they might be friends, but her doubts always cloud her judgment into believing the worst.

His voice is now barely a whisper, "I'm not letting you do this anymore."

She comes closer to glare up at him, "I don't remember asking you for permission."

Edward's eyes widen in disbelief, refusing to believe she's not grasping the severity of this, "Are you being quite serious?"

Mia groans and turns around. She understands where he's coming from, but she's not about to let Bella get involved in this mess just to cover up her secret. If she did, what type of friend would she be?

"I have to fix this," she declares in a much louder voice. "It might be too late for me, but it doesn't mean I won't try to keep those I care about safe. If they find me and know that others have gotten involved in my life, they're going to hurt them. I have the ability to fix this, so don't you dare ask me not to do anything."

"What about you?" he asks.

Her brows furrow in confusion, "What about me?"

As much as he loves how selfless she is, he's unable to ignore his worry that she's not putting herself first. Every person she cares about is first in line and she's last. How is that fair? How can she expect him to accept this?

"You say you're going to keep everyone safe, but I don't hear anything about you."

"I can take care of myself," she tries reassuring him, but it sounds like she's reassuring herself instead. "I've been doing it for years and not to brag, but I've gotten pretty darn good at it."

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he mutters under his breath, but it doesn't go unnoticed.

Mia's not sure what game he's trying to play, but something is telling her he's saying this to get a rise out of her, and it seems to be working.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He nonchalantly shrugs, "It doesn't look like you can. If you were so great at it like you say, you wouldn't be this foolish to risk yourself."

"Can you stop calling me a fool?"

"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me," Edward's once low voice starts to gradually rise. His anger at her carelessness begins to get the better of him that he can't help his frustration from worsening. "I thought we were friends and that we trusted each other."

She understands where he's coming from, but just because they're friends, it doesn't mean every single thing has to be told. The only reason they know about each other's secrets is because the circumstances forced them to. It wasn't something that was brought up in a casual conversation after becoming friends, and in all honesty, if it hadn't been for the Halloween incident, she probably wouldn't have told him about being a witch and he wouldn't have told her about being a vampire.

"I have a hard time trusting people, so excuse me if it's taking me longer to open up," she folds her arms across her chest and moves away from him, not wanting to witness his offended look.

Edward rubs his forehead anxiously, "I get that you're a distrusting person and I respect that, but I just..." he trails off and his struggle to speak is starting to make her more curious. "I hoped that our secrets would have-"

"Bonded us? Brought us closer?"

There's a sharpness in her words – one that was piercing right through his heart. They were beholding frustration, resentment, and the most terrible of them all, disdain. Her delicate gaze had disappeared and only the darkened one remained. He knew he messed up in pushing her buttons, but this worry expanding all over his body has taken over him, causing him to say words he usually never would.

She walks away from him to stand by the window. The thunder from outside casts a shadow on her face, allowing her perfect features to be seen. If the circumstances were different, he would offer a compliment disguised as a form of teasing. Now, he wouldn't dare say anything as it would only make everything worse.

"I have a habit of trusting the wrong people," Mia has never had the best of luck in opening up with someone. Call it a side effect of the abandonment issues her father left her with, but throughout all her years growing up, she never wanted to trust someone from thinking they would leave her in the end. If her own father left, what's to say others won't?

It took her a long time to allow herself to trust her friends back home. Her first year had been filled with ups and downs and it was all due to her. She excluded herself from functions, chose to remain in her common room and just listen to all the gossip, and if it hadn't been for the pushing of Harry, her life would have turned out differently. She could see he was worthy of trusting, so she figured, why not take a leap of faith? So far, it's been the best decision she's made.

But what's to say history would repeat itself? What if when she tells Edward her truth, the real one, what if he doesn't like it?

A small part of her believes who would ever leave her, but the greater part convinces her on who in their right mind would stay?

No one.

Edward notices her anguish filled eyes and strides closer, hoping she doesn't push him away like earlier. He stands next to her, but gives her enough distance so she wouldn't feel suffocated. "I remember a good friend once told me there's people out there worth getting to know. Finding someone is like shopping and trying on various clothes until you find the right one. When you do, it's worth it in the end."

Mia smiles at him quoting her words. She didn't think he would've remembered their first phone call and settled on being the one to hold the memory for them. Seems she was wrong after all.

"Sounds like a wise friend," she says.

He smiles at her, loving the blush gathering in her cheeks, "She's an incredible one and the best friend anyone could ever have."

Mia can't prevent her heart from racing, which she's pretty certain he's able to hear. Even through this terrible evening, he still manages to know the right thing to say. It's almost like this is another one of his vampire gifts – being able to console someone.

She forces herself to look away from the window, but one look into those breathtaking eyes of his is enough to make her weak to the knees. It is truly a crime that he's the most majestic person, making him worthy of spending the rest of eternity behind bars for injecting this foreign feeling into her blood.

Fidgeting with her hands nervously, she comes to the conclusion that he deserves to be given a leap of faith. He took one with her by trusting his secret and it'd be unfair to not give him a chance to prove he's worthy of being trusted.

"My father was a death eater," she blurts out and once that first sentence leaves her system, regret consumes her as anything can happen now. "That's why they're after me. They think that because I'm his daughter, I'm supposed to follow in his footsteps and pledge my loyalty to them. It's all I've ever heard growing up and I hate that everyone expects the worst of me because of him." She tries to suppress her anger that forms whenever speaking about him, but just breathing is preventing her from finding an ounce of composure. "He left my mother and I when I was born and even with his absence, he's still here. He still manages to ruin everything and now, I'm hiding like I'm some kind of fugitive."

Her throat begins running dry and her hands are trembling to the point she no longer can control them. Speaking about this to someone other than Harry is terrifying as she doesn't know how he's going to react, or if he's going to cut ties with her for having this darkness inside. The unknown is horrifying, especially in moments like these.

"Everyone sees him when they look at me," she pauses for a moment as her mind inexplicably starts thinking of her mother. It's obvious she sees his reflection in her eyes and as much as Mia tries pretending it's not hurting her, it's getting harder to accept that she resembles the demon of her nightmares. "I don't want to be like him, but I'm terrified they'll force me into becoming one of them by hurting the ones I love, and I don't know if I'll be able to live with that."

Mia starts hyperventilating when imagining the dark mark on her forearm; the ink burning her from the inside out, serving as a reminder of how inevitable it was to escape her destiny.

"I know that it's only a matter of when I'm forced to become one of them, but I risked everything because I care about you," she admits despite feeling bashful on expressing herself. "I didn't want you and your family to leave your home or to have to go through everyone's judgment. I know how that feels and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, especially to you."

Edward is silent, unsure of how to respond to her candor. She waits for him to say something, anything, but he remains still like a statue. There's an unreadable emotion in his eyes and it's torturing her not knowing what he's thinking. She just revealed her truth and she might not have known what to expect, but she didn't expect silence.

Mia could feel her heart drop as the seconds turned to minutes. She knew opening up would only bring more harm than good, and now she's lost her best friend. "And now you think I'm a horrible person too."

He shakes his head in denial, "No. I could never think that. I'm just thinking that if they were to find you, I would do everything to protect you. I'd make sure to get rid of every single one of them to ensure you're safe."

She stares at him with confusion, wondering why he would go through all that trouble for her, "Why would you do that for me?"

Edward opens his mouth to speak, but the words become trapped in his throat. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for her and he wants her to know that, but saying it aloud is proving to be harder than he thought.

He places his entire focus on her eyes, loving the way the flashing thunder allows for a few golden tints to appear. Even with the pouring rain, he can still hear her heartbeat and the harmonious ballad it's performing.

"Why wouldn't I?" Edward's answer disguised as a question is not what she was expecting. She wants him to say the words, but thinking and feeling them is easier than expressing them aloud. "I'd do anything for you because I-"

Smash!

The sound of the window breaking takes them off guard. Thinking the worst is happening, they take cover on the ground, waiting for anything to occur. When only hearing the howling wind and the stormy rain, they glance up and realize the maple tree had crashed into the living room.

Edward briskly rises from the ground and looks over in Mia's direction. The rain splashes against his face, making it difficult for him to fully check if she's okay. He pushes a few of the branches away and peers his head over the large trunk.

Still on the ground, Mia inspects the area and notices how flooded it's getting despite it being just a few seconds of the impact. The small red carpet is completely soaked and there's tons of glass shards covering every corner. She stands up and moves a few branches out of the way. It's only with the flashing thunder that she's able to see Edward on the other side.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm okay."

Author's Note

damn that tree for interrupting 🤦🏻‍♀️
anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter even if it's mostly dialogue

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