After the prolonged wait (I am so so so SOOOOOO sorry about that!) here it is, the Solstice sequel! Doesn't it have the best title ever? I hope you enjoy it, and I promise it will get better later on. :D
Chapter 1:
DISCOVERY
My eyes fluttered open to a blinding sunlight peeking in on me. I yawned and stretched my arm groggily, wrapping it around the body beside me. I snuggled into the back of the person beside me, expecting their delicious smell and frigid temperature. Instead, what I smelled a woodsy musk and an intense warmth.
"E-Edward?" I stammered, shaking his shoulder. He wasn't responding, but his chest rose and fell with his breaths.
I shook his shoulder, trying to stir him. A low groan rumbled out of his chest and he rolled over onto his stomach.
"Ahem," I cleared my throat loudly. "Edward!"
This was starting to scare me. Why wasn't he answering me?
"Edward!" I said louder, shoving him hard.
A deep, muffled voice said, "Five more minutes."
That voice didn't resemble Edward's musical voice in the slightest. With my heart pounding in my chest, my shaky hand drifted to the shoulder of whoever was laying beside me and yanked them over, turning them to face me. A pair of dark eyes, clouded over with groggy annoyance, opened and met mine, and they were surrounded by a very familiar tan face. I stifled a gasp.
"May I help you?" Jacob asked.
I shrieked, holding the blanket over my body.
"Jacob, what are you doing in this bed?" I demanded.
He stared at me incredulously as he sat up. "You don't remember?"
I blinked. "Remember what?"
"Last night," he replied, winking at me suggestively.
I replayed last night in my mind...and I had no recall of doing anything with Jacob that required a wink that suggestive. I do, however, recall a certain event with Edward...
"What happened last night?" I asked feebly, confusion saturating my voice. I clutched the blanket against my body protectively as he reached towards me.
"Did you hit your head?" He gently placed his large hand on the side of my head.
"No," I muttered, swatting it away.
"Then why don't you remember anything?" he demanded.
"Remember anything about what?" My patience was slowly drifting away.
"Do I have to spell it out?" he asked condescendingly.
"It sure wouldn't hurt," I grumbled.
"We made love, Bella," he murmured, taking my left hand. While I felt my heart stop in my chest, he leaned over and kissed me passionately. I was unresponsive under his lips and he pulled away, looking concerned.
"We did what?" I demanded in disbelief.
He sighed. "You weren't kidding about spelling it out, were you? We had sex, Bella. Sex."
I lifted my hand up to stop him. "Jacob--no. Just no! Why are you here? Where is Edward?"
His brow furrowed in confusion. "Why would Edward be here?"
"Because he's my husband and we're on our honeymoon," I replied, eyeing him like he was insane.
"You chose me, Bella," he explained gently to me, enunciating each word slowly.
"No, I didn't!" I shrieked. "Where is Edward?"
I tried to maintain a satisfying level of dignity as I tugged at the blanket, trying to wrap it around me and storm away, but Jacob yanked on it and caused me to collapse back onto the mattress.
"Bella, you married me!" he snapped.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"We're on our honeymoon, we married in La Push, and that's the ring that I gave you!" he explained angrily.
"What do you mean? Where is Elizabeth Masen's ring? Where is my husband?" I heard the frantic desperation in my voice, but I didn't care. I was horribly confused and I was only getting more questions than answers.
"Your husband is right beside you," he snarled. "The bloodsucker is in Alaska."
It took me a second to fully absorb that. "Edward's in Alaska?"
"He took off once you left him at the altar," he muttered.
"I...I left him?" I asked weakly.
"Yes, and you chose me! Geez, Bella, are you having a premature case of Alzheimers?" he muttered.
"No, but I think I'm going insane!" I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I felt Jacob's warm hand on my shoulder and I felt like crying.
"Bella..." he murmured. He gently lowered me down onto the pillow and kissed my neck. No matter what he'd said, this still felt so wrong. I had to get things sorted out, and having Jacob's lips glued to my neck wasn't solving anything.
I slid out from under him and toppled onto the floor. I scrambled for my robe and wrapped it around me before I stormed out of the room. Jacob seemed annoyed, but I slammed the door behind me and jammed a chair under the doorknob.
I found my cell phone on the kitchen counter of the foreign cottage and dialed Edward's number with shaky fingers. My breaths were shallow as I listened to the multiple rings.
"Hello?" said a sullen, yet still staggeringly beautiful voice.
"Edward!" I cried in relief.
"Bella?" he asked, sounding confused.
I took a deep breath. "Edward, what happened?"
"You left me for Jacob on our wedding night," he replied darkly.
Each one of his words was like a stab in the heart. "Edward, please tell me you're joking. Where are you? Where is the ring?"
"I'm in Alaska and my mother's ring is back in my possession, considering you threw it at me when you ran away with Jacob," he growled.
I shook my head, praying that this couldn't be true. "Why are you in Alaska?" I asked weakly, my voice cracking.
"I'm starting over, Bella," he said simply, his voice sounding dead.
"What does that mean?" I whimpered.
"It means I found love with someone else, Bella. Be happy with Jacob." The line went dead, and the phone fell out of my hands and toppled to the floor. I heard the sound of the wooden chair I had wedged under the doorknob being broken as Jacob kicked it open.
From behind me, a pair of arms wrapped around me.
"Bella, I love you, wake up," came the voice of the person whose arms were snaked around me. Only it wasn't Jacob's. I gasped and wondered if this was just my own form of personalized torture.
It was then that I opened my eyes and realized it had only been torment in the form of a dream. With an anxious expression on his face and worry in his golden eyes, the real Edward studied my face.
"Edward!" I said breathlessly, tackling him in a hug, gripping him tightly to me.
"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked, stunned by my sudden, fervent embrace. His arms gently wrapped around me and his lips pressed against my hair. It felt so true to be in his arms, protected from any threat, and my heart was swelling with love and the unmistakable sense of safety.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block any thoughts of the daunting experience, and pressed my face against his chest. "A dream. No, a nightmare."
His hand rubbed my back gingerly. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," I said firmly. "I don't even want to think about it."
His eyes were sympathetic, but nothing escaped his lips.
I squeezed his hand. "Thank you."
"For?" he asked, his eyes appraising me gently.
"Waking me up," I sighed, snuggling into his chest.
"Anytime, love," he murmured, stroking my hair gently. I exhaled and closed my eyes again.
"It's morning," Edward whispered in my ear. His breath tickled my skin and I clamped my hand over my ear, giggling. "Wake up, Bella."
"No," I whined, squeezing my eyes shut as I buried my face in his chest. He sighed and got comfortable underneath me, giving into my brattiness.
"What do you want to do today?" I asked, trailing my fingers on his chest.
His fingers interlaced in mine. "It's sunny. There's not much for us to do until the sun sets."
"I have a few ideas," I whispered, glancing up at him to gauge his reaction.
"Of course you do," he sighed. "Bella, we tried it."
I pouted. "Yes, and it was fine."
"Yes, it was very pleasurable. And I'm glad that we did it, but please don't push my limits too far. I don't want to hurt you," he said gently.
"You didn't hurt me," I reminded him.
"I seem to recall you crying," he said.
I glowered at him. "You didn't hurt me any more than any human male would have," I amended.
He still looked unconvinced.
"I'm serious, Edward," I said.
He exhaled. "I know. I believe you, but I really would not like to take that risk again," he said firmly.
"Why?" I pressed.
He sighed. "I promised you that we would try, Bella, and we did, and I kept up my side of the compromise. As much as I would love to share myself with you again, I'm too worried about your safety. Please understand."
Unwillingly, I muttered, "I do."
His hand clasped mine. "Good. Please understand that I'm doing this because I love you."
"I love you, too," I murmured against his lips that were already on mine.
"Your heart is pounding," he said suddenly, pulling away. "Are you feeling okay?"
I blinked, surprised by his question. Heart palpitations were as normal as breathing when I was around him. "Fine."
He placed his hand on my forehead. "Bella, I know I'm not an expert on healthy temperatures, but you're burning up, and more than usual."
"I feel fine," I insisted.
He wasn't convinced. "Stay here," he ordered, slipping out of the bed. I noticed he was wearing a pair of plaid pajama pants now and nothing else, but he didn't hesitate to climb out of the window and take off running.
I quickly pulled on some clothes and then returned to the bed, ignoring the painful throbbing in my forehead. I rubbed my temples with my forefingers and hummed to myself.
"I'm back," Edward's voice said suddenly, and I opened my eyes. I noticed he had a drugstore bag in his hand, and I glared at him disapprovingly.
"You went out in the sun to the drugstore?" I asked.
"It was an emergency," he muttered. "And nobody saw me. Now open your mouth."
I obeyed simply out of curiosity.
My breath hitched when he leaned over and pressed his lips against mine passionately. When he pulled away, he sneakily placed a thermometer under my tongue. I glowered at him, and he smiled sheepishly. His kiss alone would be enough to raise my temperature a couple degrees.
We waited in silence and I continued to glare at him even when it began beeping and he removed it from my mouth.
"Ninety-nine point eight," he diagnosed, tossing it to the side. "You have a fever, Bella."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine!" I repeated.
"Yeah, well that's not what the thermometer said. You need to rest," he ordered.
"You've got to be joking. I can't have a fever on my honeymoon!" I exclaimed incredulously.
He smiled sympathetically. "Just try to rest."
I groaned helplessly and collapsed back onto the mattress, imagining that the fever would pass spontaneously and we could continue our honeymoon as planned. Whatever was planned, anyways. I started to crawl out of bed towards my bags to fish Alice's note out, but Edward intercepted me.
"What are you doing?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me suspiciously.
I gulped. "Nothing," I lied.
"You're lying, Bella, what are you hiding?" he accused.
"Nothing!" I repeated, my voice going up an octave.
He rolled his eyes and gently shoved me back on the bed.
"Hey!" I said, trying to disentangle my limbs from the blanket, as I was now burning up. Edward reached towards the pocket that I had stored Alice's note in and opened it up. Before I even had time to protest, it was already in his hands.
"Shit," I muttered as his eyes raked over it.
He finished instantly, and then stared at me in disbelief. "How long has this been going on?" he demanded.
I smiled shamefacedly. "Since the wedding night. I swear I had no idea until we got to the Inn back in Port Angeles."
His jaw tightened as he studied me. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"She told me to keep it a secret unless I wanted her to face your wrath!" I said defensively.
"Yes, I'm aware of that," he snapped. "And apparently, she has something to tell you this morning." He flung the note in my lap, and I raised it to my face hesitantly.
Bella, Edward will find out about the note today. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Don't let that grouch stop you, though, since you need fashion help way more than you know. So sorry about the fever, by the way, and both me and Jasper hope you feel better soon. I wish you nothing but happiness (and luck, when it comes to Edward.) Alice.As soon as I had finished, I met Edward's angry gaze.
"Apparently, I'm a 'grouch'," he muttered.
I cleared my throat. "Right now, she's kind of right."
He glowered at me. "Very funny. Now just get some rest before I come over there and make you really sick."
I silently sunk into the cushion and felt myself drift off to sleep, completely unaware until I was dreaming that Edward had begun to sing my lullaby soothingly in my ear.
I sighed one final time and then let happy dreams overtake me.
Was it worth the wait? I doubt it, because I think I may have lost some of the inspiration I had when Solstice was my only story, but if you liked that, hated it, had any questions about it, etc. please leave me a review. And if you have a chance, I would SO appreciate it if you could check out my other stories, Remembering Sunday and Robbed. They are both newly updated ;D Thanks a million, -legallyxbrunette, Lauren