I have so many witty remarks to make about this story. For one, I apologize for any historical discrepancies and discrepancies from the Twilight books. However, in regards to the second apology, I'd like to say that really wanted to have a lot of creative freedom with this little story, anyway. ^^;
Spanish influenza? No, we'll never be affected. We're far too careful. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father leave for work and nodded goodbye to him, then returned to the newspaper I was reading. Tired of the bad news, I sighed and set the paper aside. Was the world falling into chaos? An influenza outbreak...well, my parents were far too protective of me, at least. They would not allow me near anything that even hinted of the flu.
I sat down at my piano and rested my fingers on the keys, hearing in my head the music I would play. I closed my eyes and mused over it. There were things I wanted to say that couldn't be said with words. Slowly, I started moving my fingers over the keys. Not quite there.... I took a deep breath then started moving my fingers over the keys again. That was about right. The music flowed from me with hardly any effort. It was chaotic, yet triumphant-reminiscent of the world I was living in right now. Even as the world fell apart with all the sickness and death, love still conquered.
Time slipped past me quickly, and before I knew it, it was seven o'clock. Quickly, I scribbled down the notes I had played-I would play it over again later and edit it to make it better, but for now I had promised a date with a special someone.
She lived not even half a mile away, so it was an easy walk to her house. I knocked on the door when I arrived, and her father answered quickly. Smiling, he said playfully, "Late again, Edward?"
I looked at my watch; I was half an hour later than I thought I would be. "I apologize, sir. I got caught up..."
He laughed cordially. "It's quite alright, I understand. We all have our passions." He knew and understood about my love for piano, though most people told me that that there was not much that could be done with a talent for music.
"Thank you," I said under my breath, a bit shy from his forgiveness. I was glad that her parents liked me, though. Many of our friends' parents were much stricter about timeliness.
Mary Ann came down in a few moments, unprompted. Seeing her beautiful smile caused a smile to spread across my face as well-I could not contain my happiness when I was around her. "Edward," she said breathlessly and took my hand. Her father smiled and bade us goodbye. I nodded politely and we headed out into the night air.
As soon as we were out of sight of the house, Mary Ann wrapped her arms around me, giggling. I smiled wider and hugged her back, then gave her a kiss. She kissed me back passionately, and I started to hesitate.
"What?" she asked.
"Ahh...Let's go somewhere a bit more...private."
She giggled. "My parents aren't going to see us from here!"
"All the same..." I smiled and her eyes lit up.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful, adorable smile...?" she mused.
"Once or twice before," I told her and kissed her again. She had described my own smile to me on several occasions-a crooked smile that she claimed lit up her life, though she often told me this in many more words. I held her even closer and kissed the top of her head.
"What happened to getting farther away from my house?"
I chuckled. "You're right." I took her hand and started jogging toward the park. I heard her laugh ring through the air behind me as we entered the park. We walked to the center, where there was a large tree we frequented.
"Didn't you tell my parents that we would be watching a picture tonight?" Mary Ann asked, making her way up the tree.
I looked up to her and smiled at her playfulness. "I like to rebel every now and then," I responded.
"You're so romantic," she giggled, leaning down and kissing me. I caught her lips with mine and held onto the branches that she was using for support. Gingerly, I pulled myself up and planted my feet to the tree, then climbed slowly upward. When I was fully positioned next to her on the branch that she was sitting on, I pulled away, hand moved to the back of her head. Her brown eyes were bright even in the moonlight, her skin its usual pale color. Her lips were a soft pink color, only a dash of lipstick on them to accentuate their beautiful color even more. I stroked her soft brown hair lightly. She returned the gesture, gazing back into my eyes. Surely this was the meaning of serenity-sitting underneath the stars with the one I loved, exchanging gestures of that love. I kissed her nose lightly; she giggled. Turning away, the giggle turned into a cough.
"Are you alright, love?" I asked with concern. It did not seem like an ordinary cough. Maybe she was coming down with something.
She cleared her throat and brushed it off, thankfully. "I'm alright. Just a little cough."
I rested my back against a strong limb and laid Mary Ann on my chest. Some people started rustling around on the ground, and I peeked through the leaves toward them. A boy and a girl were stumbling along down there, taking each other's clothes off and acting wholly indecent. Drunken fools. I was grateful that we were hidden behind the foliage, but at the same time I was a bit paranoid. I thought for a little bit, strategizing. If we were to move up, we might make noise and they would wonder what was going on. If we stayed where we were, they may come up anyway and possibly hurt themselves or us. Don't worry about it, I told myself. If they start to come up here, then we can move. Mary Ann is not difficult to carry.
I could tell that Mary Ann was looking over my shoulder to the people below us. Her thoughts were probably similar to mine. I stroked her hair lovingly. "No need to worry about them, love," I whispered softly into her ear.
"Never, when you're around," she whispered back just as softly.
We sat silently for a few moments, and eventually the two strangers left our company, thankfully. With the two of them out of the way, I started humming the music I had been playing, softly enough that it wouldn't ruin the moment, but with enough amplitude that she could hear me. "That's beautiful," she mused drowsily. I continued humming, my hand still moving through her hair.
"Nothing could be as beautiful as you," I muttered.
She moved her head to the side, her ear on my heart. "I could think of one exception..."
"No..." My hand brushed over her face, and with alarm, I moved it to her forehead. "Mary Ann, are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"I do feel a bit off now, come to think of it..."
"I'll take you home..."
"Edward--"
"You're not feeling well. It feels like you have a fever," I interrupted. "I don't want to be up here in a tree if you're feeling tired and sick. I'm not going to let you fall!"
"You're right..." she reasoned. "Just be careful..."
"Of course." I positioned her in my arms so that I could carry her down, making sure to keep her close to my body so that she wouldn't get injured.
"Do you think you can walk?" I asked her when we were on the ground.
"I should be fine," she said drowsily, with a sort of weakness in her voice. I didn't believe her--in fact, she was really worrying me--but I hated to question her. She was strong, and a little sickness wouldn't bring her down too much. I worried too much, anyway.
I took Mary Ann's hand, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. The walk back to her house was disproportionally long compared to the time it had taken us to walk here from her house. "How long have you been feeling sick?" I questioned her along the way.
"I guess I've been feeling a little off for the past few days," she admitted, then coughed again. "It's just a little cold, though. No big deal."
"You sound so tired..."
"I am tired. But I will be fine. Just a cold," she reassured. I just hoped she wasn't saying that to make me, and herself, feel better.
"Bed rest will do you some good, then," I told her, feeling no need to express my concern that there could be something more behind her cough than just the common cold.
"I agree," she said. She glanced up at my face. "Stop worrying so much, Edward. I'll be fine."
"Of course you will be." I held her closely to side, hoping that her sickness would soon pass. It had to pass.
Didn't it?
*insert witty remark here*: Duh, it didn't, Edward. We all know what's gonna happen at this point...but all the same, I am an attention whore who would like people to continue reading anyway. XD Puh. Regardless of whether or not we all know that Edward dies of the Spanish flu, the next chapter is still my favorite. LOL