I don't own anything Twilight. The idea of Bella being a mind reader is mine and a few events. Everything else belongs to Stephenie Meyers. No copyright infringement intended. Nearly all my chapters have mild language, mainly name calling.
Chapter 2: Trips
OH. MY. GOD. Alice always goes overboard when a party or special event is involved. There was a large banner hanging over the front of the house that said 'Congratulations Rose, Em and Jazz!' different colored crepe paper streamers hung from it and danced in the minuscule breeze.
I was dreading going inside, this wasn't even for me and I was scared. "I changed my mind, take me home."
Edward laughed loudly and shook his head then wiggled his eyebrows at me. "I don't think so; I actually value my life now."
Idiot.
As soon as the Volvo pulled up to the front of the house and turned off the engine, Alice had me pulled out of the car and towed into the house. I was terrified at seeing more streamers and even a disco ball was hanging from the ceiling.
"Um, Alice, how many people are you expecting?" I asked as she went over and turned on the stereo.
"Everyone is here now, why?" she answered then pranced over and took my hands and started to spin me. 'We're going to have so much fun.'
"Isn't this a bit much for just the family?" she just grinned sheepishly as we danced together, and then the real horror hit me. "It's going to be worse when we graduate isn't it?"
'What ever do you mean?' her grin became very wicked at my question.
Crap!
I felt cool fingers tickle across my back and around my ribs, causing my breathing to cut off. "Mind if I steal my girlfriend for a little bit?"
Alice spun me around into Edward's chest. "Go ahead, but only for a little bit though. We leave in half an hour."
I watched as Alice pranced up the stairs to her room then my eyes shot back to Edward, full of panic. "What did she mean we're leaving?"
He sighed as he pulled me closer to him and we started to sway to the music. "Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice and I are going out hunting together for the last time, for awhile anyway, since Em and Rose are going to Africa. Will you be alright here with Carlisle and Esme for about two hours?"
I stuck out my bottom lip and pouted. "I'll manage…somehow."
He cupped my face with his hands and pressed a small kiss to the tip of my nose then smiled crookedly. "Ho, poor thing, we'll be back shortly then we can really start the party."
He twirled me away from him and I stood staring at him. "I'll be patient, on one condition." I grinned when one of his eyebrows shot up and I whirled back to him, placing my chest firmly to his. "I want a real and passionate kiss before -"
He cut my sentence off with exactly what I had asked for. We stopped dancing and he wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me closer to him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. I flung my arms around his neck and wove my fingers into his unruly tresses and a low purr started in his chest. I felt one of his hands pursue up my back gracefully and his fingers tangled into my hair. His other hand traveled my back and lingered on the waist band of my pants, one of his fingers maneuvered between my pants and my skin. I was starting to feel weak in the knees and every part of my body felt like it was floating.
"Hey Esme, do we have any ice?" I heard Rosalie holler from somewhere in the house but I didn't care.
"I don't know, why?"
"Because it's getting rather hot in the living room." I turned my head away from Edward in time to see Rosalie descend the stairs and smirk at us. "Well, you two seem to be enjoying yourselves."
I glared then stuck my tongue out at her. "Oh, why don't you go to Africa already?"
She waved her hand in dismissal and walked toward the dinning room. "Don't worry; Em and I are leaving tonight." 'Then there will be two less interruptions for you guys.'
"I so wish I had something to throw at her right now," I continued to glare after her. Edward leaned down and chuckled into my hair.
"Ok guys, it's time to go," Alice appeared at the bottom of the stairs and looked apologetically at us. "Sorry Bella, he'll only be gone for a couple hours, it's tradition."
I scoffed at Alice's words then looked up at Edward's sad face. "Who am I to ruin tradition? Your eyes are a little dark; go get a mountain lion alright. I'll hang out and pester Carlisle and Esme till you get back."
His eyes lit up and he quickly pulled me in for a kiss. 'Love you, be back soon.' Then the five of them were gone.
That brat! He didn't even give me a chance to return his 'love you'. I'll get him tonight, maybe I'll raid Alice's closet, yeah right. I stared around the empty room, the music was still going and the bouncing lights from the disco ball were still moving. It felt unexpectedly depressing being in here alone. I went upstairs to the library in search of a good book.
'Bored already?'
The sudden mental voice startled me and I jumped probably a foot off the ground. I spun around to see Carlisle sitting in a colonial style chair reading a medical book, of course.
"Damn it Carlisle, unlike some, I do have a heartbeat, and it just stopped." I pressed my hand to my chest and I could feel the pounding through my chest plate.
He chuckled at my comment and closed his book. 'Sorry, I thought you knew I was in here." He cleared his throat and looked at me with sad eyes. "They haven't even been gone five minutes yet and you're already lost without him aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" he nodded with an awkward grin. Something I had been pondering over lately flashed in my head. "I was wondering if I could ask you something, since a vampire's memory is perfect."
"I don't know about it being perfect but it is near faultless. Ask away." He gestured for me to sit in one of the other large Victorian chairs.
"Since Edward can't remember very well, I was hoping you could tell me about him and his parents when he was human." I sat down in the chair across from him while Carlisle set his book on the table next to him.
"I didn't really get a chance to meet his father, Edward Senior. He lost consciousness and died soon after the first wave of the influenza broke out. His mother Elizabeth remained alert till almost the very end. Edward takes after his mother in appearance, though his messy mane came from his father, they both had the same shade of bronze in their hair and they shared the same rich and sparkling emerald green eyes."
"Edward's eyes were green?" I muttered, shocked. I tried to imagine his gorgeous face with green eyes smiling back at me. It was a good thing I was sitting because I felt my knees go shaky.
"Yes…" he snickered and smiled. "It was Elizabeth that convinced me to change him."
"His mother did?"
"Elizabeth ruined her chances of recover by trying to nurse Edward from her sick bed, she loved him so much." Carlisle's topaz eyes grew sad and distant. "Edward was actually worse off than she was, I expected him to go first. After my forced pretend rest session was over I went to check on them first. I had done the one thing truly dangerous for our kind, aside from revealing ourselves…I'd grown fond of them. The second I looked at Elizabeth I noticed she'd taken a turn for the worse, her fever was raging and her body had grown too weak to fight anymore.
"'Save him, please,' she begged me in a ragged and pained voice from her cot, her piercing green eyes were demanding and pleading.
"'I'll do everything I can to save him,' I promised.
"She clutched my hand so tightly I was beginning to wonder if she might in fact pull through this. 'You must do everything in your power to save him. You have to do what others are unable to do.'
"She had petrified me, did she know my secret? Did she know what I was? Did she realize what she was asking for her son? Shortly after her demand, the fever pulled her into unconsciousness, she died an hour later.
"I had spent nearly a century trying to convince myself to create a companion for myself. Two hundred years was an awfully long time to be alone. To have some one who truly knew me, not what I pretended to be, to not have to hide what I was when around them. But could I really do to someone what had been done to me?
"Edward lay dying; even while sick I could tell how beautiful he was. His face held purity and goodness and innocence. He had the kind of face I would want for my son, had I had the chance to have one.
"Elizabeth's words echoed in my head as I stared down at her newly orphaned son. 'Save him, please,' how could I deny a dying woman's last wish, she had unwittingly made up my mind to end my solitude.
"As if possessed, I wheeled her to the morgue, and then I came back for Edward. There were too many patients and not enough doctors and eyes; no one noticed he was still breathing when I wheeled him to the morgue as well. There was no one alive in the morgue, I wrapped up Edward in a sheet and stole him out the back door. I carried him across rooftops back to my house, and laid him out on the unnecessary bed.
"I was totally lost on what to do next. I thought back to my own change and decided to recreate the bite I had received in London. Three days of screaming later I had my first son. I have never regretted changing Edward; I only wondered that he was too young. Considering how long he went without a mate, but I see now, it was for the best." Carlisle winked at me as he finished his story. 'You are literally meant for each other.'
I blushed and smiled at Carlisle then stood up. "Thank you Carlisle, I think I'm going to listen to music in Edward's room till he returns." He nodded again with a smile that was more than joyful.
I made my way out of the library and headed for Edward's room. I don't know why but I stopped by Alice and Jasper's room, I had a sudden urge to look in her closet. The main door to their room was open so I casually walked in. Everything in the room was either white or silver; it suited the prancing pixie well.
I walked across the room and flung the French doors open. The amount of clothing she had always astonished me, I swear she has more clothes than most celebrities. Hanging on the back wall of the closet was a white nighty with black lace accents with a matching pair of panties* and there was a note taped to the front of it:
Bella, use this tonight.
Oh my god, what did she see? Maybe she saw us going past Edward's boundaries tonight. Do I dare? HELL YES!
I quickly retrieved the outfit and fled the room. I was in Edward's room in a few heartbeats and I shut the door behind me. Where was I going to hide this till I was ready for bed? I had been given a side of Edward's closet for all the clothes Alice had gotten me, I would carefully stash it there. Edward would have no reason to look through my clothes.
I stowed the lingerie behind a frilly hunter green dress and a light pink sweater. I then turned on the stereo on my way to the bed. The classical notes of Debussy filled the room and I closed my eyes, enjoying the melodies.
The bed shifted slightly beneath me and my eyes snapped open. I was shocked to see a pair of golden honey eyes staring at me from mere inches in front of me. My breathing caught in my throat as I gazed at the magnificent face with a charming crooked smile.
"Enjoying your self?" his topaz eyes flashed black for a second and I smiled at him.
I stretched my arms up and around his next leisurely. "More so now that you're here." Using his neck as leverage I pulled myself to him and locked my lips to his.
Edward moaned into my mouth and pushed me back onto the pillow without interrupting the kiss. I was soon aware of Edward's fingers touching around the hem of my shirt. I inhaled sharply when his cooled skin came in contact with my heated flesh and a jolt of electricity ran over my ribs.
'Don't get too carried away you two,' I whined upon hearing Alice's thoughts.
Edward sighed into my hair. "I should go take a shower and Alice was saying earlier that she wanted your help." He climbed off of me and the bed, ironically I immediately felt cold.
I lunged for him and grabbed his shirt, successfully stopping him in his tracks. Edward turned around to look at me. I moved so I was kneeling on the bed running my hands over his chest. "Mind if I join you?"
I was overjoyed when he started to look me over and I could see the deliberation going on in her onyx eyes. He grabbed me by the shoulders and the growl he let loose sounded sad. "No, I'll take a shower while you go see what Alice wants."
I stuck out my bottom lip and downcast my eyes in a pout. "Okay fine, but don't take to long."
Edward grinned and kissed my forehead, "never do."
I climbed off the bed as he scurried to the bathroom. I figured I should see what the sprite wanted before she came up here and dragged me away. When I made it to the living room I jumped the last three steps of the stairs and landed without a problem.
"What the hell Bella, since when could you do that and not break a bone?" Alice asked with wide eyes.
I simply shrugged at the question. "Don't know…I just felt like doing it. My balance and coordination are at an all time high. I haven't tripped or fallen in months, except my little trip in Cancun." I smirked as she winced at the memory of our trip during spring break and the lie we told everyone to explain my injuries. "So what were you wanting help with?"
Alice squealed and I had to plug my ears at the high pitch. She led me over to the dinning room table and sat down with some paper and a pen. "Jasper and I are going away for a week and I was wondering if you had any ideas of things to do. We're joining Em and Rose in Africa."
I sat thinking for a little bit. "Why in the world would a hundred year old vampire need my advice on travel plans?"
"I thought we could do something different besides shopping," I arched an eyebrow. 'Okay something along with shopping.'
Thought so. "Well, you could try the local cuisine."
"That's a given. Gazelle, zebra, giraffe, cheetah - that one would be fun." I giggled as I pictured them chasing a cheetah; that was comical. "Might pass on the rhino though, they seem rather tough."
I flat out laughed at her comparison and the use of human vernaculars to food. "Might be too difficult to chew? Well there are several museums and war memorials, you could go scuba diving and whale watching. Gambling at Sun City, there are a lot of safaris…that might be a bad idea; you might think it's a buffet."
I heard Jasper and Emmett erupt into laughter in the living room.
'A buffet, cool idea, I need to remember that.' I shook my head at Emmett's thinking, those poor animals.
"Well, if you have enough ideas I'm going up to bed." I looked at Alice and waited for the go ahead.
"I'm good here, thanks. Goodnight," 'And I do mean good-night.'
"Goodnight Alice," I walked into the living room and said my goodnight to the guys then ascended the stairs two at a time.
I walked into Edward's room to see him sitting on the bed, his hair still dripping and laying flat on his head, I had an overwhelming urge to lick away all the water droplets dripping down his skin. I leaned forward and bowed to him. "Oh hail, Poseidon, the mighty go-"
Edward growled and pulled me into his arms then thrust me down on the bed beneath him. I gazed up into his blackened orbs and I was lost in the amount of lust spilling from them. He kissed my forehead then stood up, leaving me confused beyond belief.
"I need to talk to Carlisle. Get ready for bed and I'll be back shortly," he then zipped out of the room.
I sat on the edge of the bed wondering what I had just missed. Before I went to help Alice we were on fire and now that I was back, he was Mr. Icicle. I then thought to the small article of clothing hiding in the closet. I would thaw him out, that was for sure. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom to take care of things then sprinted back to the closet and rather quickly changed into the nighty. I hit the light switch on my way to the bed and I laid down to wait for Edward. The stereo was still playing so that was one thing I didn't have to do.
Tonight! Tonight we would become a couple in every sense of the word. I got comfy under the exquisitely plush comforter and straightened out the blankets. Tonight, I will become his.
Despite my best effort, the warmth of the bedding and the soft classical melodies playing in the background lulled me into a wishful slumber.
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry for cutting it there, I had to set it up for the next chapter. That fact aside, how was it?
Will Bella finally become Edward's in mind, soul and body? What was so urgent that Edward had to speak to Carlisle at that moment?
