Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except myself. I don't own Twilight, or anyone/thing linked or involved with it except a shirt, books, a cd, and posters. I also don't own 'Hate Every Beautiful Day' by Sugarcult. I'm, sadly, not as amazing as Sugarcult or Stephenie Meyer. I make no profit from this work of fiction. Without further ado:
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I threw my arm up over my eyes to protect them from the bright light before I realized why my eyes were so bothered. I shot upright in bed before thinking of the consequences. Dizzy, I fell back onto something hard and unexpected. My eyes traveled up Edward's perfect body to his face, sections sparkling in the sunlight streaming through my open window.
I frowned, confused. He usually left before I woke up on these rare sunny days. He smiled up at me, causing my breath to catch before picking up speed.
"I wanted to see you this morning. You're beautiful in the sunlight. The light refracts in your hair, it turns the strands a stunning shade of golden-red. It's gorgeous." He said. Sometimes, I wondered if the whole not being able to read my mind thing was just a ruse. He sighed, blowing sweet air into my face.
I repositioned myself to lay pressed against his side, trying at the same time not to tempt him too much. I didn't want him to feel like he normally did, always defacing himself. He sighed again, though it seemed like he was frustrated this time. I lifted my gaze to his face, where I could see plain as day that he was fighting himself over something. I wondered absently at what could be running through his mind.
It seemed to me that if he was planning to spend the day away from me, he should really leave before I woke up. I didn't like being away from him, and I didn't know if I could pull myself from this bed, knowing that I'd have to go through school without him.
"I doubt Charlie would really mind if I played hooky today. He knows I'm a good kid, I'd get caught up. So what if I want to skip one day of the year?" I suggested. I could barely try to force hope behind the words, knowing his attitude towards me. He frowned, an expected reaction.
"Bella, no. As much as I would love to never leave your side, I have to speak with Carlisle about something. And I will not be responsible for the interruption of your educational undergoings. It's already vastly crude, the way I'm interrupting your normal human life." He defied, and I was reminded again, a time among many, that he came from a much more eloquent time than the current date.
I sighed, resigned. It was illogical, I knew, but I had hoped... I hugged him tighter for a moment, before he easily broke my hold, probably without realizing that I was using all of the strength I had stored in my body. I sat up, slower this time. Throwing my feet over the edge of the bed, I got my things together before taking a human moment to shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed.
I entered the room and pulled my backpack up from the floor next to the rocking chair and placed last night's homework inside before zipping it up. I grabbed a hair tie off my chaotically organized desk. I didn't know if I had time to do anything with the soggy tangle I'd barely managed to run a brush through is the steamy bathroom. Throwing my hair up in a messy ponytail, I grabbed my shoes and put them on. Debating before my closet for a long, indesicive moment, I decided finally on a light, cotton jacket I'd bought behind Alice's back on a shopping trip in Port Angeles. She'd been frustrated enough that I wouldn't let her take me anywhere more elaborate. I shuddered to think of where she would have taken me, based on what little of her I knew. She'd most likely seen what I was doing before I even did it as it was, though she allowed me my small, simple pleasure.
I grabbed my backpack and tramped down the stairs, Edward following noiselessly. I got out a package of Pop Tarts after a quick glance to the clock in the kitchen. I would probably have to eat it in the truck. I downed a glass of milk and placed the now white-tinted empty glass in the sink. I turned around, nearly crashing into Edward, who was standing closely behind me. It was amazing that I hadn't noticed the chill of his skin.
He smiled a bit before twisting a few errant strands of hair back to my ponytail. "Have a good day, Bella." He spoke softly, though we were close enough that I still heard him clearly. My name sounded almost delicate on his tongue, as though he were afraid he would break it. I felt my heartbeat kick up the tempo and begin to race as I stared into his darkened golden eyes. I was reminded as my favorite half-smile broke onto his face that he could hear my heart pounding in my chest for him.
Blushing, I pulled back, working hard to yank my eyes from his captivating gaze. His hand dropped to my side, grasping my to the door by it, I amazingly managed to not trip along the way, though I was certain he would not have let me come anywhere near the ground if I had. He opened the door and led me out to my truck. My key seemed to magically appear in his hand as he unlocked the cab and lifted me in as though I wighed no more than a feather. Which, for him, was probably about right.
He smiled at me, causing my breath to catch once again. "Be careful today. I'll try to be here when you come home." He said. I looked up as he shut the door and watched him stand, watching me, as I turned the key. The truck roared to life thunderously, causing me to jump. If it weren't an inanimate object, I would've thought that it was angry I had left it alone for so long. Though I couldn't hear him, I could see him shaking with laughter, a blinding smile on his mirthful face. I pulled into the street slowly, watching him carefully until he was entirely out of sight.
I parked in his usual spot when I got to the school parking lot. I wasn't all that surprised when I got there and nearly every parking spot had been taken, aside from our usual space and the one next to it where his adopted brothers and sisters, the Cullen's and Hale's, usually parked.
I turned off the tank-impersonator, got out and locked it before shouldering my backpack and jogging to the building holding my first class, watching for rocks and dips in my path, trying to be careful as Edward had instructed me to. I made it into the class and my seat seconds before the final bell rang.
The first few hours of my day flew by without much occurance, though that may have only been because Jessica fairly ignored me. I assumed that she didn't approve of my mellow attitude for the warm day. When lunch came, I walked silently into the lunch line, buying just a lemonade and walking off. I followed Angela and Jess out to the peeling picnic tables, nearly unused, outside.
Jess sat on the table and removed the pink half jacket she had thrown on over a cream tank top this morning. I mentally wondered how this could be that warm to any of them. They would all die in the Arizona heat. She leaned back a bit to absorb the sunlight. Angela and I talked a little bit about the Trig homework before we both fell comfortably quiet, listening to the bustle of the students around us gossiping and playing football. I frowned as Angela and I scooted forward, nearly lying on top of Jessica in order to get out of the way of Jason, a junior, running with a football cradled under his arm as a group of boys chased him, jumping over any and all obstacles in their way, fellow students included.
I frowned as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and looked around, the odd feeling of someone watching me coursing through me. Angela lightly nudged my side with her elbow. I turned to her, disregarding the uncomfortable reaction for the moment to be polite.
"Do you feel kinda like someone's watching us? I mean, not threateningly, just watching us?" She questioned in her quiet, calm voice. My eyebrows raised infitesimally. "Yeah, I was just thinking that. The hairs on my neck are standing up. Have you seen who it is?" I questioned, tossing my eyes around the lunch scene again. She shook her haid, tossing her loose dark hair around her face.
"Hey guys! Isn't the sun amazing? It's so warm today!" A familiar voice called as it approached. We turned to watch as Mike approached us at the table. "Yeah! I love it. Bella, though, doesn't seem to care all that much for it." Jessica said. It didn't really bother me; She like Mike, she was bound to try to put me down in front of him. Besides, it wasn't all that good as far as insults went. "You sure that's not just because Edward's not here?" Lauren's nasal voice questioned snidely from the other end of the table where she was mirroring Jessica's sun bathing. Mike frowned. He highly disliked when people hinted to the fact that me and Edward liked each other. I usually ignored Lauren, she really wasn't worth my time. She was only angry because Tyler payed attention to me. It was all really childish, actually.
"Maybe she's just having a bad day, you never know." Mike defended, sitting across Jessica from me. I sighed. I didn't want to let him convince himself that there was a possibility of me still liking him.
"No. I just know that I'm going to be bored in Bio without him here." I said, trying to get through to Mikeand discredit Lauren at the same time. I could see that half of my intentions worked, at least, when Lauren's natural scowl deepened. The bell, ringing loudly even outside, saved me from any other snide comments she was planning to make about my relationship with Edward. Me and Angela walked in silence as Mike chatted animatedly to us on our way to the Biology room.
As we entered the room, Angela and I split to go our seperate ways. I had assumed that Mike would follow me to my seat, so I was surprised when he went to Mr. Banner's desk, talking to the teacher as the bell rang. I sat my binder and textbook on the table, sinking in my seat and staring out the window at the grass and shrubs that were transformed to a pallette of light greens and bright yellows in the abnormal sunlight.
I looked up, feeling more than hearing someone standing by me. I raised a brow at Mike in question. He smiled brightly, setting his own textbook on the blacktopped table.
"Banner said yesterday that we were doing that Cell Anatomy project today. Sarah's not here today either, flu or something, so I asked if we could work together since it's only a one-day project. He said that was alright." He explained. I frowned, certain that I would have faired perfectly, even working alone. I worked to put a kind smile on my face for him.
"Sure, whatever." I slid my things along the desktop to Edward's side of the table. I just couldn't picture anyone sitting there but Edward, so I rectified the situation by sliding myself into his vacant seat. He slid into my seat easily, apparently not understanding my reason for doing so.
Mr. Banner stood before the class, drawing our combined attention as he began explaining the day's assignment. He couldn't hold my attention for long though, and I soon found myself staring off out the window into the brightly-lit forestry again.
I tried to focus throughout the hour on the assignment, however, I could not shake the feeling that I was still being watched. Little things Mike would say set me off to daydreaming, remembering little things and long conversations I had carried with Edward. Each time Mike would call me back I found myself staring out the window at the beautiful day that I soon realized was beginning to slowly fade away, the bright colors fading, bleeding into the dulled deep green colors I was now acclimated to.
Mike finished the project pretty much by himself, asking me only the occasional question. We turned the paper and accompanying drawing in along with everyone else at the end of the hour. I thanked him as we walked out of the class together. We walked toward the building housing the Gym. The feeling of being watched still hadn't left me and as we were leaving the Biology room I saw Angela glancing around a bit franticly.
We seperated to change and came back out when we were finished. Coach Clapp hadn't set up anything to tell us what we were doing, and he didn't appear to be out of his office to give us instructions, so we sat on the bleachers chattering, our voices bouncing around in the cavernous room.
After about fifteen minutes, a freshman went to his office, returning quickly to tell us that Clapp wasn't there. A few of his fellow freshmen worried over Clapp while the rest of us, knowing the coaches habits, went back to the locker rooms to change back into our day clothes and brought our things out with us to the bleachers. Most of us pulled out our iPods and mp3 players, deciding to waste the time listening to music. As I pulled out my own iPod, Mike came to sit next to me, smiling brightly. Sighing too low for him to hear, I passed an earpiece to him, pressing play as he pushed it into his ear. I'd been listening to Sugarcult last night before I fell asleep, and 'Stuck In America' from their Start Static album blared from our earphones before I raced to the scroll, pulling the volume down a few notches.
He knew this song, he hummed along with the last half of it as I stared off into space, thinking of only the countdown of minutes slowly ticking by until I could be in Edward's arms again.
This was how I was then, when the words 'I wish it was raining, cause I hate every beautiful day' captured my attention, yanking my eyes down to the lit-up screen on my iPod. I stared at the cover art for the CD for a long moment before nudging Mike, who was completely ignoring me for once, in the side. His eyes flashed to mine, questioning.
"Do you mind if I start this song over? It's one of my favorites, and I wasn't paying attention when it started." I questioned. He lifted one shoulder a bit before letting it slump back down. I pressed the back button. It was only a little white lie, there was no need for him to know I'd never really listened to it before. And even then, he would never guess the true reason behind my want to listen to it all the way through.
Unless I put it into a deep perspective, many of the lyrics didn't honestly fit all that well. Only the first line to catch my attention, that last line of the chorus, though Forks did seem like the 'cheap hotel' mentioned, and many of the people here watched the heat like hawks. I allowed the song to play out, mouthing the lyrics to myself, and listened to the rest of the album in a contented peace. The bell rang and Mike removed my earphone and handed it back to me.
As I got in the truck, I scrolled back to the song and put it on repeat, listening even deeper to it on the short ride to Charlie's home. I turned the key, shutting the truck down once I was outside the house. I rushed into the house and up the stairs, hoping to see Edward waiting on my bed as he usually did on these near-extinct sunny days, though it was sunny no longer.
I smiled and gasped lightly as I enterered the upstairs bedroom to see him relaxing back on my bed smiling at me. I dropped my backpack quickly to the floor and yanked out the headphones, letting them dangle from the pocket of my jeans as I hopped onto the bed next to him.
He smiled, quickly pulling the iPod out of my pocket, protecting it from my inherent clumsiness. He flicked back the hold switch as I sat next to him, quickly examining the song that I'd been listening to. He smiled a bit, looking up at me. "What's so interesting about this song that you have it on repeat? I've never seen you listen to it before." He questioned softly, causing me to blush. I didn't know if he would be angry or sad at my answer, but I was certain that he wouldn't approve.
I chewed my bottom lip softly, debating over what to tell him. He would be able to tell if I was lying, but I just couldn't tell him. I didn't want to ruin this time together; I settled for a vague description on the matter. "It reminds me of you." I said, the corners of my lips turning up.
He frowned a bit, and I knew that even though he couldn't read my mind, he knew there was more to the matter than I was giving. I didn't have time to even think of looking away, he changed so fast. One second he was frowning at me and the next, his marble skin smoothed and one corner of his lips pulled up into my favorite smirk, his eyes wide and golden, dazzling me effectively.
I sat, attempting to breathe, though I couldn't pull my eyes away from his. He seemed to worry about me after a few long seconds, and lightened up. He grasped the sides of my face lightly, searching my face for any signs of trauma. I gasped in crisp air, coming up with an odd mixture of his scent and my own.
"Bella, are you alright?" He questioned, I could hear a hint of hysteria inside of it. I nodded slowly, still waiting for all bodily functions to come back. He sighed lightly and I briefly wondered where my iPod had gone. He shook his head at me, then proceeded not to move as I slowly regained control of myself. I let my eyes drop to the bed as I tried to do so and recognized my iPod there. He seemed to only just realize he'd dropped it as I reached for it. He had it before my hand was halfway to it.
"You never answered my question, though. Well, properly, anyhow." He accused lightly. I sighned, looking up at him. "And my guess is that you'll just dazzle me until I tell you, right?" I questioned, trying fiercly to sound angry. I didn't make nearly as much headway as I would've liked. He smiled lightly at my answering accusation. "You're probably right." He said, too gentlemanly to deny the truth.
I sighed. "It reminds me of days like today. I'm sure that you can guess how just by the title. I hate any day that seperates you from me." I mumbled to him. He frowned deeply, but his expression flickered back to a calm facade I recognized. "Oh." Was all he said, in a muted voice. I frowned, I know this would happen.
I scooted closer to him on the bed, carefully keeping my eyes off his face as I lay my cheek slowly against his shoulder. He sighed, there was an undertone of exasperation to it. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me tighter to his arctic skin. We sat there, entwined in such a manner, as the sun fanded and the moon rose. I disentangled myself from him to cook a quick dinner when Charlie came home, eating and going back up to my room as soon as my dishes were cleaned. I took a shower as Charlie watched some late-running sports-game, washing and drying myself, throwing my ratty pajamas on before brushing my teeth and yanking a brush through my tangled hair for the second time that day. I rushed to my room after giving up the bathroom to Charlie. I was free for the rest of the night as Charlie slept unawares in his bed to converse lightly with Edward, listening to music and eventually drifting off into a comfortable sleep on his icy chest.
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AN: So. This was longer than 'Understanding', but the paragraphs were shorter. MUCH shorter. Haha. Oh well. R&R, please. I love hearing what you guys think about my stories.