Disclaimer: I own nothing. Alfred Noyes owns The Highwayman. Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, not me. :) I'm just having some fun with her characters.
Quotes at the beginning of the chapters are from Alfred Noyes' poem, The Highwayman. This story is not inspired by The Highwayman, the quotes are mainly intended to set a mood or tone.
Huge thank you to my beta, LJ Summers, and my prereaders, Bratty-Vamp and hott4j. You ladies rock!
Okay, so I didn't make it till Friday. ;)
He whistled a tune to the window
His rickety bicycle barreled through the quiet Ilwaco streets. His hands were fisted, knuckles stiff, his cheeks cold from the bite in the air, his eyes watering from the wind.
He reached the edge of town and still he pushed, careening onto the shortcut through the misty trees. He slid on loose pebbles, his ankles whipped by the ferns.
Pedaling harder, his teeth aching in a frozen smile, he burst from the green till all he could see was gray and white. Gray sky, white clouds, gray water, white caps.
He looked up to see her jump from her seat in her window as he skidded to a stop at her home. He hurried up the steps, and waited for her on the porch, kicking his feet, hands jammed in his pockets.
The door flung open; she was all bright eyes and sweet smile, her dress limp over her rapidly changing form.
She bounded down the steps, her thick braid bouncing on her back.
Tumbling and stumbling, their blithe feet slipped in the sand, down the cliff to the beach below, wind thrashing their clothes against their gangly bodies and hair from their face.
They raced to the surf, giggling and shrieking till they were out of breath, then collapsed against a large pile of wood, returned from the sea.
Her chest caught his eye as she panted in the briny breeze. His eyes snapped to hers as she turned to him, his cheeks a fire despite the temperature outside.
She laughed: his favorite sound. He licked his lips as her pink ones beckoned. What would they taste like? He smiled and just as his mind was made, she was up and skipping away. Skirting the drift wood, she disappeared from his sight. Spurred on, he hurried to follow; clambering to a run, sand scattering in his wake.
"Bella," he called.
She was dropped to her knees as he approached her from behind. Their rippling reflections gazed back as she dipped one finger into a tide pool. She brushed the billowing anemone, purple tentacles retreating to safety.
He dropped to the ground beside her and she giggled with glee as she pestered another victim. Pushing his sleeve to his elbow he plunged in, removing a dark jagged rock, sending several small crabs scattering for cover. A big bright orange one beckoned and he grabbed it hastily by its shell, the size of his face.
"Look, Bella, a crab!" he exclaimed dangling its dripping and squirming body over her head.
Shrieks of fear erupted and she was on her feet, running yet again.
He was emboldened and they were in flight; this game they played of who could catch whom. She'd been faster for quite some time but he was older now, better. She was nearly within reach till she scrambled for a kelp whip, warding him off with its hollow snap.
"Keep that away from me, Edward!" she yelled.
He smiled and lunged forward, dropping the crab, grasping the end of the kelp, and yanking till she was there. So close. But so far away. Before he lost his nerve he seized her hand and pulled, kissing her soundly on her soft lips like he'd wanted to for so long.
Her eyes flashed and she jolted back in an instant, "Edward Cullen!" she spluttered, her hands balled by her side. He waited with bated breath for his sentence, for the wrath he knew would come but couldn't find it in himself to care. His lips burned but his mind screamed for a repeat, Again! And again.
But instead of wrath, her face flushed an intriguing deep red and she turned walking away from him.
He let out a puff of breath, scratching the back of his head, and ran to catch up. Then walking beside her, casting sideways glances as she bit her lip, her eyes trained on the broken sand dollars that littered their path, he smiled to himself.
She stopped along the surf, picking up a green glass float that rolled in a bit further with each new wave. She turned it in her pale hand and offered it to him with a small smile, eyes soft and shy.
"Thank you for coming for me, Edward."
His answering smile split his face as he took the float and she took his heart.
I'll always come for you.
A/N: Next update will be on Tuesday, unless I get anxious to post early again! :D
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