AN: This is my first Twilight fanfic. I recently discovered these books and am utterly in awe of them. The song is by the Beatles, but the version I think of is the one used in the movie "Across the Universe." Hopefully this story serves as a proper tribute to both the song and the beautiful world Ms. Meyer has shared with us.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, that belongs to the esteemed Stephenie Meyer. I also don't own "Something" that song belongs to the Beatles. The first paragraph in italics is an excerpt from "Twilight", I don't own that either!
He laughed, and then began to hum that same, unfamiliar lullaby; the voice of an archangel, soft in my ear. More tired than I realized, exhausted from the long day of mental and emotional stress like I'd never felt before, I drifted to sleep in his cold arms.
I lay in bed, for the first time in 80 odd years, reclining on my side, Bella's body a warm, comforting presence beside me. Around us the house creaked and groaned sporadically, the wheezing of a tired beast beyond its prime. The quiet sound of our even breathing filled the room, as I matched my breath to hers. From down the hall, Charlie's laborious snoring provided an unwelcome accompaniment to the steady lullaby of Bella's heartbeat. I did my best to tune him out, periodically listening in on his thoughts, in case he should decide to wake up and check on Bella again.
Today had gone far better than I'd dared to hope it would. Bella had taken everything in stride-perhaps discomfortingly so. A part of me had wanted her to be terrified of me, when she saw me in the sunlight, when she heard the awful truths I had to say. A part of me still wanted her to be, to run screaming from the room and never look back. She'd be so much safer if that were to happen. But I won't lie, not to myself, not now…a small dark voice in the depths of my being was only too pleased with her reaction.
A low moan escaped her lips and Bella shifted slightly in my arms, restless, as a quiet rain began to fall from the clouds that had rapidly converged over the course of the evening. Instinctively, I began to hum, a subtle refrain from the lullaby I'd composed for her. The sound of my voice seemed to soothe her. I'd sung aloud in the meadow earlier, and though it had been too low for her human ears to hear, she'd somehow seemed to sense the song and drawn comfort from it. Quietly I began to sing again, drawing up from the depths of my memory a song that could have been written with us in mind.
"Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how…"
I stared down at the angel in my arms, a small part of me still stunned to find her there. Holding her snugly against my chest with one arm, I cupped her face with one hand and slowly traced the features of her face; her elegant brow, her heart-shaped cheek, the throbbing pulse beneath the fragile skin of her neck. The touch of my fingers was as light as the brush of gossamer wings-but still she felt them, for she turned her head slightly towards me, a gentle smile curving her lips, setting her face aglow with happiness, though she remained deeply asleep. I smiled back in response, resting my fingers against her temple, running them lightly through her bangs.
"Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how…"
A feeling rose up in me then, a surge so strong it left breathless with its force. Truly, I'd never met anyone like her. I'd seen my share of beauties, human and vampire alike. Not one had ever drawn more than my passing notice. I was too young as a human to be bothered by this fact, too indifferent as a vampire to care. Never once had I felt as if I was lacking in anything. Now, I know it was because I was waiting for her. All that time spent waiting for this quiet beauty to be born….how could she not see it? When she looked at herself in the mirror, how could she not see her own loveliness? She was so beautiful, inside and out. How could she not see that? Did she not realize what her smile alone did to me? And she accused me of dazzling people! I gazed down at her fondly, one hand pressed against her beating heart.
I hadn't known it was possible to feel this way about someone. Realistically, I knew love existed. My own family could stand as prime examples of that! I'd just never believed it was meant for me. To discover that it was, and in such abundance, was humbling…and to think that Bella believed I couldn't love her more than she loved me. I highly doubted that, this feeling in me, it was so strong…I loved her so much. She was my life now. I leaned down and breathed in her scent, running my nose along her jaw, still singing softly,
"You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know…"
The sound of the rain outside increased and she shifted wildly in response, tilting her head back- exposing her neck. I was so close, the scent of her throat hit me anew and I immediately stopped breathing, pressing my lips together into a thin white line, clenching my jaw, as the beast within me raged to be fed. Slowly, still holding my breath, I pulled away, rising to my feet in one fluid movement, and backed away from the bed; unsteadily for a vampire, struggling to ignore the venom burning in my throat.
After several minutes I managed to regain a precarious hold on myself. The incessant thirst retreated marginally, leaving me horrified at what I'd nearly done. I'd nearly killed her, again. My angel. My beautiful, beloved Bella. The image of her, cold and dead, flashed through my mind again, clearing away what unsteadiness remained, strengthening my resolve.
I shouldn't have stayed the night. No, I shouldn't have stayed at all, shouldn't have allowed her to get so close to me. I was so wrong for her. She was a being of beauty, a soul of shining light. What was I? A being of darkness, lacking a soul, a suffocating night, good for nothing but roaming nightmares and thriving terrors. A demon who'd dared to want an angel.
I turned my head away and pressed my face against the foggy window, feeling the cool glass chill the remaining warmth of her skin from mine. I closed my eyes in an attempt to focus. But she was there too. Her face filled my minds eye; her smile wide and beckoning, her eyes alight with love. I groaned and pressed my fists against my eyelids, attempting to dispel the image…but she stubbornly remained and I couldn't find it in myself to hold it against her.
"Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how…"
That was just the problem. I didn't want to leave her. The very thought of being without her plunged me into a dark pool of knifing pain. To be away from her, to exist in a place where I couldn't see her shining smile, hear her voice in my ear, feel her secure in my arms...to even imagine returning to such a life was unbearable. Yet I couldn't keep risking her like this…
"Edward," she whispered, quiet voice startling me out of my musings. Slowly I opened my eyes and pivoted to face her.
The light of the glowing moon above spilt through the open window and around me, alighting on her, seeming to suffuse her with a tender faint light, forming a halo about her head. She'd rolled onto her side, facing me, one hand slightly outstretched towards me, as if she somehow sensed my distress.
I crossed the room quickly and knelt on the floorboards beside her head. "I'm here," I murmured soothingly, knowing she couldn't hear me, but wanting to reassure her nonetheless.
"Edward," she sighed, making my name sound like a promise. "I love you." I froze and stared at her, breath halting in my lungs. If my heart was still capable of beating, I know it would have begun to drum then, a dizzying beat loud enough for the world to hear. I knew already how she felt, but to hear her say it aloud filled me with an overwhelming sense of joy, satisfaction, and…
"I know," I murmured gently, reaching out a hand to lightly caress her face. "I know. I love you too." We shared a smile, though she slept on, the rain outside fading into the background, as the storm passed over. Decided, I rose up and moved around the bed to lie down once more beside her, my arms wrapping around her waist and securing her to me once more. I would stay, for now. She was my entire world and deserved all I could give her, and so much more. I would stay and do my best for her. If I had to leave…well, I'd deal with that possibility if the time came.
Humming quietly, I brushed her hair back from her forehead and sank back into my previous state of contentment, as the house settled around us, and the night, so much brighter now, carried on.
"I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how…"
AN: So what did you think? Thank you for reading, please review!