The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: # 10

Pen Name: twilly

Pairing/Character(s): Edward/Bella

Rating: M

Photo prompts can be found here:

thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts

Wish

Word Count: 498

She lagged behind him, focused more on her own feet than the the beauty of her surroundings, only occasionally noticing a fern or cluster of columbine along the trail.

The sound of a falling pinecone, dislodged by the breeze rustling through the trees or a woodland creature scurrying through the branches, startled her. He laughed indulgently and brushed his thumb over her knuckles, always reminding her that he was there.

He stopped suddenly, causing her to crash into him.

"Are you okay, love?"

She nodded and bit her lip, trying to hide her reaction to his favorite pet name.

"This is what I wanted to show you." He motioned to a picturesque, stone wishing well, complete with red shingled roof, that looked like it belonged in the pages of a fairytale.

She smiled brightly as thoughts of wishes and secrets and dreams coming true floated through her head. Memories of tales that she'd been told and stories she'd yet to tell bubbled through her mind.

"I knew you'd love it."

"Thank you for bringing me here."

His rough hand cupped her pale cheek; he waited in silence for her eyes to meet his. "You know, I'd do anything to make you happy. I want you to be happy."

The sincerity in his eyes and the timbre of his voice convinced her that he believed that with his entire being. She nodded and he tenderly kissed her forehead.

"Come on. Let's go make a wish." He led her to the edge of the well.

He stood behind her, his hands braced on the top of the wall at either side of her hips. They playfully yelled silly quotes from their favorite movies and listened to them bounce off the stone walls before he took a handful of change out of his pocket and held it out for her.

"How many wishes would you like today, milady?"

"Just one. I don't want to be greedy."

He snorted. "So like you, love." She shivered as his lips pressed to her temple.

She took the shiniest penny in his hand and held it to her heart. Trying to hide the tear that escaped, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tossed her wish into the well. Her eyes remained closed as the copper piece pinged off the walls before splashing into the water.

He turned her to face him, but she couldn't look at him. He wiped another tear from her cheek, lifting her chin to meet his gaze.

Her heart raced.

"Tell me what you wished for, love?"

"It won't come true if I tell you," she said, barely above a whisper.

He brushed her cheek bones. "If you don't tell me, I can't make it come true."

She looked into his eyes, and knew she couldn't get away with anything but the truth.

"I wished you'd let me go."

Hurt flashed across his face, quickly supplanted with fury.

"Please.

"Let me go back to my family.

"Please."

Thanks for checking out my TT25! This one was a little different for me, I'd love to know what you think.

Are you wondering about the title? ORS 163.465 is the Oregon Revised Statute for public indecency (i.e. flashing) ;)

My eternal gratitude to GeekChic12 for giving this the once over. When I was in fake tears over not being able to come up with a title and flippantly suggested ORS 163.465, she said DO IT.

PS: The next chapter of The Love Boat is coming, I promise.