Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, though I wish I could take ownership of Edward.
Be easy on me, it's my first try!
I woke up to the light streaming through the window, unnatural, foreign light and warmth. Where am I? I thought. Then I sensed him next to me. My rock, my pillow, my air conditioner, my Edward. I couldn't figure out why he was so far away from me, but I knew I hated the distance, so I sluggishly felt around next to myself for him, reaching out and patting the space beside me where I sensed he was. He didn't leave me waiting long.
"Good morning sleepyhead," he said. How could anyone ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed with Edward next to them? "Good morning," I mumbled, still not quite awake yet. He shifted closer to me, his cool fingers brushing up my searching arm. I shivered, but clasped my hand around his bicep, well, as much as I could clasp around his bicep, and started to pull myself to him while he wrapped his arm around my back and helped me pull myself to his chest. "Mmm…," I murmured, finally able to fully take in his scent.
I heard him chuckle as he pulled me in tighter and kissed the top of my head. His head moved down to my ear as he whispered, "What are we going to do today, love?" If the feel of his cool skin against my body didn't do the trick, his cold breath against my ear and neck got the job done. I was officially awake and alert. "I don't care," I whispered back, "What is the weather like? It looks like it might be sunny outside." I wiggled a bit in his arms, not to get away, but rather to settle in again, snuggling close to his chest with my head against his shoulder.
"It's sunny right now, but the clouds will be rolling in shortly. Quite convenient." He replied to my query. "Quite," I repeated, still thinking of things we could do today. A few ideas rolled through my head that I was glad Edward couldn't see. They were the kind of ideas that didn't require us moving from the comfort of my bed at any point today. The kind of ideas where it wouldn't matter whether it was sunny or not since we wouldn't be making it outside anyway. Unfortunately, these ideas were out of the question… at least for now. The question was, should I press my luck? Before I could make my move, or even my plan of attack, Edward spoke up again.
"I have an idea. This is something I have been thinking about for awhile. I was wondering if you would be interested in accompanying me to Seattle for a day in the big city. Well, bigger city at least. Carlisle ordered some books and I offered us to pick them up for him. I though the bookstore might be of interest to you." He paused waiting for my response. Interesting, I thought. I was definitely interested, but we never really strayed far from Forks, so I was skeptical. Usually when he took me away from here, he had an ulterior motive and I wanted to know what it was up front this time around.
"That sounds like fun. Is something up?" I questioned, wiggling again until his arms loosened up and I was able to look into his eyes. Hmmm… He looked innocent enough. "Nothing," he replied. "I told Carlisle I would pick up the books because we don't get out of Forks nearly enough, and I figured you would enjoy a change of scenery. If you would prefer to stay here, I can get the books at a different time. We can find something else to do in this area."
He seemed to be telling the truth and to be honest, I needed to get out of Forks, if only for a day. I scrutinized his face a bit more, and then replied, "I think you're right. We do spend a lot of time around here. Let's get out and see some things. You know how I have been wanting to get to a proper bookstore since I moved here anyway." He smiled, "Alright, it's settled. I am going to run back to my house to get my car and change. I will be back shortly." He bent in and softly kissed my forehead, then slowly trailed his lips to my temple to place a feather light kiss there before kissing each cheek. As he went in to kiss the tip of my nose I struggled to reach my lips up to capture his mouth with my own. He chuckled at my effort before placing a chaste kiss on my struggling lips. My attempts to deepen the kiss were futile, and he pulled away, smirking at the pout that suddenly became evident on my face as he made his way to the window. "I'll be back soon," he said, "We have all day. Patience, love."
I sighed as he exited out the window to retrieve his car, and then picked up my clothes and headed to the bathroom. I showered as quickly as possible and got out to get dressed, brush my teeth and do my hair. As I was working on the "do my hair" portion of my routine, the delicious smell of eggs and bacon wafted through my now-open door. Edward must be back.
I hastily finished my hair and made my way downstairs and asked, "Breakfast time?" as he turned to me with a full plate in his hand and my favorite crooked smile on his face. He crossed the room and pulled my chair out for me. As I sat, he simultaneously placed the mouthwatering food in front of me while pushing my chair in. The consummate gentleman. I inhaled deeply and breathed out a quick, "Thank you," before diving into my breakfast.
He moved around the table and seated himself in Charlie's usual chair to watch me eat. "So," I started in between bites, "the food is delicious, as usual." He smiled in response, always savoring the opportunity to do something that pleased me. "I'm glad you are enjoying it, as usual," he replied. I enjoyed the breakfast so much, I finished it in record time. He grabbed my dishes and told me to "go grab a sweatshirt, or a coat," since we would be taking a walk and seeing some sights in Seattle, and it can get cold there, even during the day. I ran upstairs to get the proper cool weather attire and then made my way back downstairs, meeting Edward at the door.
Charlie was quite conveniently out of town for the weekend, no there were no lies necessary on our way out the door to the car. In all of the time I had been living with Charlie, I had never seen him go on any type of vacation, so when he told me some friends from the station has asked him to come up to their cabin a couple of hours away to fish over the weekend, I was surprised, but not upset at all. He even asked me if I minded being left alone and if I would feel safe being home alone for the weekend, particularly at night. Little did he know I was never alone at night, but still… I assured him everything would be fine, and that I would call Alice to see if she wanted to come over and spend the night. He seemed content with that, mostly because I think he really wanted to go fishing at the cabin with his friends.
So, Edward held the door for me as we hopped into the Volvo before walking around car to get in his side to take off. No one had ever held the door for me before I met Edward, and I had never expected it in a relationship, but honestly, I loved it. Everything about Edward was perfect, manners and chivalry included. He let himself in and we headed to the highway. As we were getting on the interstate, he reached between the seats and grabbed out a new cd and put it in the player. "What is that?" I asked as the music started. "Oh, just something new I thought I'd try," he commented. "Do you like it?" I listened for a few more bars, "Yes, I think I do." I replied. It was interesting. I had definitely never heard this band before, but it felt familiar, calming… the kind of music that made you happy to be wherever you were.
We made it to Seattle in record time, no doubt, and immediately drove to Pike Place Market to begin our afternoon of sightseeing and picking up Carlisle's books. We decided to begin at the bookstore, then to walk around and see the sights in the area. I had been here so rarely, everything was still fresh and new to me. We walked down the street until we got to the bookstore, which looked like a hole in the wall at first glance, but upon entering through the rickety old door, clearly held literary treasures. I breathed in a quiet gasp, which of course, Edward heard. "Do you like it?" he questioned as he came up behind me, wrapping his long arm around my waist, his mouth whispering in my ear. I shivered from the sudden contact and replied, "Yes, I do." He kissed my cheek and said, "Let's look around and see what we can find."
I nodded and we headed forward into the store, the elderly shop owner smiling at us from behind the counter, before heading back into the storeroom. Edward and I looked through the various stacks of books on the shelves, when one in particular stopped me in my tracks. Wow. This was cool. An early edition of Pride and Prejudice. I slowly reached up and pulled the book out from the shelf. Amazing. It was in decent condition too, not perfect by any means, but it was still very interesting to see. Edward smiled at me as I looked at the book, and said, "I think we should probably get that book." I replied immediately, "No!" I mean seriously, there was no way this book was cheap.
"And yet, you will receive it anyway. Get used to it. With me you will be denied nothing. You need to start getting comfortable with receiving gifts if you're going to be my wife." I didn't protest during his little monologue, but muttered sarcastically under my breath, "maybe I'll change my mind." He laughed out loud as he pulled me toward the register, pulling my left hand to his mouth and placing a light kiss on his mother's ring, my ring, then flipping my hand and kissing my palm, then my wrist before intertwining our fingers and placing our hands up on the shopkeeper's counter, as if to show off. Somebody was in a playful mood today.
The elderly shop owner smiled at us as he returned to his post, a thick stack of ancient books in his arms. Clearly, the Cullens' were regulars at this particular store. "One more to add Mr. Cullen?" the shop owner asked. "Yes, this one is for my fiancé, Bella," he said, his voice oozing with pride as our intertwined hands up on the counter showed off my ring. "I see, well she is as lovely as the day is long. You are a very lucky man Mr. Cullen," the shop owner stated, smiling his approval at us. "The luckiest man on earth," Edward agreed as he bent in to kiss my now blazing cheek, then released my hand to pull out money to pay for the books. When he had finished paying for the books, we exited the shop and stowed them in the trunk of his car. As the trunk door slammed shut, he looked up at me with a smile in his eyes and asked me what I would like to do next.
"I figured you have everything all planned out," I replied honestly. I knew Edward better than that, of course he would have everything planned out, but he would always take the opportunity to ask me what I wanted first, dying for me to take the offer seriously and to actually ask for what I wanted. He was going to end up disappointed today. I was going to make him choose. He knew the city better than I did anyway, and I was sure whatever he had planned for us was going to be better than anything I could come up with anyway. He looked a bit sheepish, realizing he had been caught again, "Well yes, I do have something lined up, if that is what you would like to do, but we have some free time beforehand. I thought you might like to see some of the city before our evening plans start." Interesting, evening plans. I liked the sound of evening plans, particularly when Charlie was out of town for the weekend and I had nowhere to be tomorrow, except with Edward.
"Sounds good to me," I replied. "Should we check out the market?" He smiled brightly, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
This is just the first chapter. I've never written these before, so I'm a tad nervous about posting this. I'm working to update shortly when I finish chapter 2. Let me know how I'm doing.