All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer; no copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 1 (Bella's POV)
Edward was out hunting. I hated being away from him, but it had to happen, so I might as well grin and bear it. Since he wasn't coming back till late tonight, I had planned out my day so it might pass quicker and he'd be back with me sooner. So far, my plan had not succeeded. I missed him just as much as ever, and time dragged horribly.
So when I got home from work, it surprised me to no ends when I saw his car parked on the curb in front of Charlie's house. What was he doing here? When did he come home? Why didn't he come to my work first? I decided that the only way I was going to get my answers was to go inside. By now, Charlie could be trying to kill him.
I hopped out of my pickup and quickly made my way up the walk to the front door, eager to see Edward again. I was about halfway through the front door when I froze. There must be something wrong if he were coming home early, and not even coming to see me first.
By the time I started to walk again, I noticed the sound of the TV in the living room. I practically ran into the room, and tripped in the doorway. Both Charlie and Edward looked up and laughed. I frowned at them and then walked into the kitchen with Edward trailing behind me.
As soon as I got into the kitchen Edward put his arms around me and kissed me gently. "I missed you," he whispered. I buried my face into his chest and breathed in his scent. I never would be able to get over the way he smelled. He kissed the top of my head softly and rubbed my back.
"Why are you back early?" I questioned after I could breathe again. His brow furrowed for an instant, but then smoothed out quickly, as if the frown had never been there. I looked up questioningly, but he just kissed me again. It reminded me strongly of the time where he told me he was going to "tamper with my memory." It seemed like he wasn't going to answer, so I repeated, "Edward, why'd you come back early?"
"Don't you want me here?" he teased. I frowned at him, and he laughed quietly. "Well, I was done before everyone else and I was bothering Jasper because I was busy longing to be with you, so he told me to go home. And I had some business here too." He mumbled the last sentence as if he didn't want me to hear it. As if I could ignore anything his exquisite velvety voice could say!
"What sort of business?" I asked, but he pulled away and sat down in one of the chairs around the table. Then I noticed that the noise from the TV had stopped and I could hear footsteps coming toward the kitchen. Charlie never would leave us alone for long. We were lucky for the time he'd already given us today. He came in with a wary expression and sat down at the chair farthest from Edward. I was used to this behavior, so I ignored it other than rolling my eyes.
I went to the refrigerator and began pulling out some things for dinner, but Charlie stopped me. "Bells, I ordered a pizza. You cook too much; I thought I'd give you a break." He was definitely trying to soften me up. I looked at Edward to answer my question as to why Charlie would do this, but he was surprisingly looking away from me, as if he didn't want to respond to the question that he knew I was asking with my eyes. This could only mean something bad; something Edward didn't want me to know.
I sighed. "Edward, can I talk to you in the living room for a minute?" Without
giving him a chance to answer, I marched through the door. He caught up to me quickly, even when he wasn't using his vampire speed. "What's going on? Why's Charlie sucking up to me? What business were you talking about? And why won't you look at me?" By the end of my little tirade, I had worked my voice up so I was far past the whispering that I had started out with. Edward looked a little startled by my anger, so he began answering my questions his way.
"Nothing in the slightest is going on. Charlie's sucking up because he's going to give you a lecture after I leave. My business is neither important nor potent to anything that is going on right now. And I wasn't looking at you because you are far too beautiful for your own good and if I keep looking at you for too long I might carry you the church right now and marry you and then we would both be dead once Alice got hold of either of us."
I rolled my eyes at him and sighed, exasperated. He couldn't answer anything so that I understood. He did this on purpose, of course, and that made it all the more annoying. Edward's head swiveled instinctively toward the kitchen, automatically reacting to some thought of Charlie's. I looked at him, and he smiled down at me.
"Time for me to go, I think. I'll be back in about an hour, love, so don't fret." he smiled again wistfully. "Oh, and I suppose that tonight would be a good time to inform your father about our engagement."
I just looked at him. Where did that come from? I thought we had decided that he would be with me when I told Charlie. I was extremely confused. But he was already halfway down the hall when I said, "Edward, wait!" He turned slowly, and I ran to him. My arms went around him and I kissed him vigorously. He was not expecting this onslaught, and he kissed me back with just as much hunger. After I pulled away unwillingly, trying to breathe, he kissed me gently on the forehead.
"Bella, I'll be back as soon as you go up to your room. Now go tell Charlie. We can't wait forever. And…I guess you'll probably learn about my business. Just don't be mad at me." He was gone as soon as he said this, leaving me puzzled even more than I was before. After a minute of deliberating, I turned around toward the kitchen drawer, preparing to face my doom.
I know this chapter is short, but I've got to finish reading The Host. Great book so far! Oh, and I should probably do my homework too… Nah! I'll post again ASAP. Thanks for reading, please write a review for me. I need everyone's opinion. What should happen next? Thanks!