How Do You Do?
I lay in my bed, anything but peaceful. I fidgeted this way and that, trying to at least get comfortable, but I knew I was fighting a losing battle. There was no way I would be able to settle until Edward arrived. Even with all of Edward's assurances that he would never be able to leave again, I couldn't help but feel a small fraction of the pain I had experienced from his previous long term absence every time that he left me.
I could still hear the sounds of baseball floating up the stairs and knew Charlie wouldn't be moving anywhere for a while. I sighed and sat back up in bed, reaching for my well thumbed copy of Wuthering Heights.
I had just reached the end of chapter 1 when I saw movement in my peripheral vision. I looked up and gasped when I saw Edward standing next to my window.
Just as perfect and just as beautiful as ever.
No words were exchanged between us as he made his way over to my bed; he simply stared at me just as I stared at him. He gently pulled my book out of my hand and flung it onto the rocking chair in the corner of my room.
I moved over on the bed, making room for him, and lay down once more. Just as he always did, Edward lay next to me, never breaking the eye contact we held. We smiled at each other and I wrapped an arm across his waist and cuddled up to his chest. I was home.
I see you comb your hair and
gimme that grin.
It's making me spin now, spinnin' within.
I looked up at him again; he was staring back. I sat up slightly, and my lips met his without a thought, it was the most natural thing in the world for my warm lips to mould themselves to his. I could kiss him forever and never tire, but obviously, my lungs had other plans. I broke unwillingly from him and drew in gasping breaths.
Edward ran a hand through his already unruly hair and smiled my favourite crooked grin. My breaths became wilder, if it was even possible, and his gaze held mine like I was a deer caught in his headlights. My thoughts spun, but they spun around one thing, the most important thing in my world - him.
Before I melt like snow, I say
Hello -
How do you do!
His eyes were closer to black than gold today, and yet, they still held mine as easily as any part of his body would. I could feel myself melting, like my bones were jelly, and the only thing stopping me from becoming a puddle on the floor was his cool body against mine. I released the breath I hadn't realised I was holding and uttered the first words of the night.
"Hi… I missed you."
Edward chuckled once and swept the length of my cheekbones with the back of his hands, while whispering, "Half an hour away from you is far too long. I couldn't stay away any longer. Charlie will be going to bed in around an hour, but until then, we'll have to keep our voices down."
I grinned at him again and pressed my lips to his once more – a sure fire way to stay quiet.
I love the way you undress
now. Baby begin.
Do your caress, honey, my heart's in a
mess.
Why was it that I had so little control? Or was it because Edward had so much control that my own seemed feeble?
With my arms locked around his neck, it was his control that kept me at bay. Edward pushed my face back and smiled gently. "Carefully, love." His expression was slightly amused.
"Fine," I whispered quickly before kissing him again, though not as fiercely. My hands finally managed to unlock from his neck and they began to trail down his chest. My fingers traced every contour of his perfect, cold, marble chest and my heart took off on a rhythm of its own.
His hands predictably moved to restrain mine, but I whimpered against his lips, and for once, his restricting hands fell away and settled on my back, caressing up and down my spine, and making me shiver uncontrollably.
My fingers found the hem of Edward shirt, while my heart practically pounded against my ribcage. The ice cold feel of his skin almost burned, and the nerves in my fingers turned into live wires, but before the electricity could shock me further, Edward's restraining hands were back on mine.
This time, there was no whine escaping my lips. It was a growl, a growl of pure undiluted frustration.
Edward broke away from me and smirked as I tried to glare at him. Then, he did something that shocked me to the very core - he moved away from me.
"What do you think you're doing?!" I almost shouted at him, shooting up in the bed. But he placed a finger on my lips to remind me to be quite. It was silent for a second as we both listened, but the sounds of baseball still drifted up the stairs.
Edward grinned, and what he did next made it impossible for me to speak, even if I had wanted to.
Edward moved to the corner of the room, confusing me further, and then, in the blink of an eye, he had removed the thin grey t-shirt he wore and dropped in on the rocking chair beside him. Then, he moved back to me with deliberately slow movements.
"Just because you have to be dressed doesn't mean I have to be." His crooked grin graced his face again as I stared at him in shock. Surely, this was crossing the line? The line he had quite clearly defined to be absolute. And yet, here he was, lying back down beside me, wrapping my body in his arms once again.
My hands fell back against his chest, and my finger traced every line.
"Wow!" I breathed, not able to look away from his perfectly sculpted chest.
"I'm glad you approve but don't forget you need to stay warm," he murmured, tugging at the edges of the blanket I was wrapped in and making sure they were secure. I sighed in annoyance and tore my eyes away from his beautiful chest, focusing on his face.
He stared back at me and I saw the incredible emotion in his eyes. His fingers trailed from my temple down to my lips, leaving a burning trail behind him. His finger rested on my bottom lip.
"Bella."
He barely breathed my name, and yet, it started my heart off into palpitations. My breathing took 'erratic' to the next level and hitched in my chest as he leant forward and pressed his perfect marble lips to mine.
I love your blue-eyed voice,
like Tiny Tim shines thru.
How do you do!
A little while later, we heard Charlie make his way upstairs. Edward reluctantly pulled away from me and hid in my closet; we both knew Charlie would come to check on me. I quickly lay down and closed my eyes. The door opened softly and I heard Charlie's quiet breathing as he put his head around my door.
"Bella?"
Something wasn't right, Charlie never actually spoke to see if I was awake. I lay still trying in vain to keep my breathing even.
"Bella!"
His voice was angry now and I was completely confused, I figured it was time I 'woke up'. I pretended to stir and slowly opened my eyes to see Charlie's furious face just inside of my door.
"Dad? What's the matter?"
My voice was coarse from worry, which added to the pretence of being asleep.
"Can you please explain what's going on?" he demanded, anger ringing off every syllable as he pointed towards the corner of my room.
For one split second, I thought it was Edward, but in the same second, I realised he would never do that. I sat up slowly and looked towards the direction he was pointing at. I instantly knew what had made Charlie so incredibly angry.
Edward's shirt was still draped over the arm of the rocking chair. A hundred excuses and cover up stories flew through my head, but I knew none would convince Charlie. This time, I couldn't even think of a half truth, so instead I set my face in its current emotion and lied through my teeth.
"Oh, that! When Edward was helping me cook dinner, he spilt some of the sauce on his top, so I told him I would wash it."
I shrugged to try and make it more convincing. Thanking Edward silently that he had got changed before climbing in my window, I then added,
"He drove home to get another top and then came back so we could do our homework."
Charlie contemplated my story for two long minutes and my face set into a hard mask. Whatever was on my face seemed to work because Charlie visibly relaxed, then mumbled something that sounded like,
"Oh, sorry go back to sleep," before he left the room.
I held my breath for a second longer, then let it out in a loud sigh and fell back against my pillow, relieved that was over.
Cool arms wrapped around me once more, and I smiled before turning into his chest and wrapping my arm around him in a tender hug.
"I'm sorry, Bella," his golden voice whispered in my ear. "I can't believe I forgot to move it."
I chuckled and hugged him closer. "Hey, don't worry about it, I finally told a lie that someone actually believed," I said before giggling again. I looked up at him and he smiled back.
"That's true. Who would have thought that was possible?" He smiled my favourite crooked grin, and bent down to kiss me.
He broke off and trailed kisses down my jaw to the hollow under my ear, with his cool breath causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up and goose bumps to erupt along my skin.
"Sleep, Bella. Sleep, my precious, beautiful, Bella." I sighed in complete contentment and rested my head against his chest, his perfect musical voice muttering in my ear famous poems, poems I had never heard before, poems I couldn't be sure he hadn't wrote himself, and lyrics from songs old and new.
As sleep began to take me, I bathed in the soft timbre of his voice, allowing it to wash away ever worry, every care in the world, every thought that occupied my head apart from how deeply and desperately I loved the being next to me. The last thing I heard was the quiet, smooth, flowing rhythm of my lullaby.
How do you do, do you do, the
things that you do.
No one I know could ever keep up with you.
How do you do!
Did it ever make sense to you to say Bye
Bye
Bye?
How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.
No one
I know could ever keep up with you.
How do you do!
Did it
ever make sense to you to say Bye
Bye Bye?
I slept with only good dreams present in my mind, thanks to Edward's cool arms that were wrapped around me. It seemed my subconscious mind was just as intent on figuring out why Edward affected me so much as my conscious one. My dream, though good, was not usual.
For one, it skipped quickly from one scene to another, replaying almost every memory I had with him.
From the first murderous look, to the first time we touched, to the fist kiss, even to the first time that I realised I loved him.
If Edward could see these dreams, then maybe he would finally have some idea of just how much he meant to me, just how much I loved him.
More than anything man could measure.
Then the dream settled on the meal we had in Port Angeles. I could clearly see the look on his face from after I had told him he dazzled people. The shock and hint of smugness had only proven to make me love him more.
It was still a mystery to me why Edward wanted me, why he loved me so. I was a plain human, someone who didn't fit at his side, someone who didn't belong. And yet, here he was, refusing to leave my side for too long, controlling himself to the point of pain, for me. It made my head hurt to think about it.
The feelings coursing through me, even within a dream, were astonishing. It felt like I was reliving everything I had ever felt, with him as the trigger. How did he do it? Was it purely supernatural or was it something else? I knew I was weak to resist him, though it didn't bother me. As long as he never thought about leaving again, I was happy.
I see you in that chair with
the perfect
skin.
Well how have you been, baby, livin' in
sin?
Hey, I gotta know, did you say
Hello -
How do you do?
I woke to Edward's cool lips running along my collarbone. I sighed and reached out with my hands to find him, his fingers interlocked with mine as his kisses began to run up my jaw. His lips found mine and I kissed him with the passion I couldn't contain.
Edward broke off first, as usual, and I gasped for breath.
"We need to be at school shortly, love," he murmured in my ear.
"School can wait," I replied, kissing him again. He chuckled against my lips and broke off once more.
"Maybe it can, but Alice can't, she's waiting to harass you into a shopping trip this weekend, while I'll be hunting,"
I sighed in frustration; I had forgotten that Edward was away this weekend, though his dark eyes were a clear clue.
"Wonderful," I mumbled, before dragging myself away from him. I got up off the bed and grabbed my shower bag and clothes. I looked back at the bed before I went to the bathroom, and my breath caught. Edward was stretched out along the bed with his hands behind his head, staring at me.
I smiled at him and whispered, "Stay," before heading to the bathroom.
I took my time, allowing the warm water to relax me. I then dried my hair and kept it simple by putting it in a twist at my neck. When I was done, I got dressed and went back to my bedroom. Edward had moved.
He was sat in the rocking chair with a small smile on his face as I walked in.
"I thought I told you to stay," I told him with a smirk.
"You did, but that meant I wouldn't be able to do this," he said, smirking back and opening his arms for me. I grinned and flung myself across the room to his waiting arms.
I focused on trapping the image of Edward waiting for me into my memories. The way his skin was a pale contrast to the darkness of the wood on the chair made my own skin tingle. Even looking at him dazzled both my body and my mind.
I was wrapped in his cool embrace, and with my head resting on his shoulder, his skin sent waves of electricity pulsing through my body.
My mind wondered back to my dream, sorting though the scenes. I settled on our first 'date' in Port Angeles just after Edward had saved me for the second time. It was the point where Edward had told me he could read minds, the point where I realised I couldn't go back.
Then, when I told him it didn't matter to me what he was, he had tried to make me take the danger seriously, tried in vain to persuade me to tell him it was over, that I wanted nothing more to do with him. But how could I do that when he was the point to which my whole life revolved?
He had told me time and again that I could do better; he believed himself a monster. True to say, he had killed people, and lived in sin. But was it truly sin when he was saving the innocent? He only killed those who were true monsters.
He could never be one; I couldn't and wouldn't believe it.
Well, here we are spending
time in the
louder part of town
and it feels like
everything's surreal.
When I get old I will wait outside your
house
cos your hands have got the power meant to
heal.
I began to think about everything we had been through, the good and the bad. And personally, the worst time – apart from when he left, obviously – was prom. It wasn't the dancing, but the words. That was the day he had first told me that he would never change me.
Things were different now; the Volturi had made sure of that. There was no way Edward could carry out his original plan of letting me grow old, and yet, I got the distinct feeling he was going to try. His assumption that Demetri wouldn't be able to track me gave him enough reason to try, in his mind, anyway.
I was extremely thankful for every second I had with him and I didn't like wasting them by wallowing, but I knew that one human lifetime would not be enough to fulfil the need I felt for him.
I lifted my head from his shoulder and kissed his neck, trailing kisses up underneath his ear and along his jaw, until I finally found his mouth. The kiss was careful, but full of love all the same. And I realised in that moment that as long as he stayed, I would wait.
I would wait until he could see that this is what I wanted… what I needed. And I would wait, even if it took until I was old and grey. I shuddered at the thought, and instantly Edward began to pull away. But I clung to him and kissed him again.
All I could do at the moment was to wait. I would continue down this human path until Edward decided, or, and it was an interesting thought, until a time came when he would have to change me. What if something happened to me – it was extremely likely, because it was me – that meant Edward had to change me, to use his healing hands, or teeth, to stop me from being taken from him too soon. I could only hope.
How do you do, do you do, the
things that
you do.
No one I know could ever keep up with
you.
How do you do!
Did it ever make sense to you to say Bye
Bye Bye?
Edward must have seen me pondering, because his cool fingers were under my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his. He smiled gently at me, and once again, pressed his lips to mine. His hands held me to him securely, one at my lower back and the other at my neck. I turned to straddle his lap and locked my hands around his neck, deepening the kiss.
Edward pulled away, but his lips never left my skin; they trailed down my jaw, along my throat, along my collarbone.
With my breathing becoming more and more erratic, I managed to stutter out, "How do you do this to me?" I pulled his lips back to mine, and I stared into his onyx eyes, whispering fiercely, "Never leave me."
He stared back at me, the depth in his eyes overwhelming.
"Never."
