Chapter 2
News
He took my hand and led me into their garden. He was silent for a long time. Then he sat in a big patch of lilies. I sat down next to him and said, "What's the matter." He inhaled deeply and then met my gaze and said, "Bella, There's a problem. Charlie's in the hospital." He waited for it to sink in. I laid down in the flowers and tried very hard to keep my voice steady. " Is it serious?" He laid down beside me and replied, " We don't know. Carlisle said he had a stroke." Edward stroked my hand, and leaned his head against my shoulder. "Is he going to be alright?" I said in a whisper, barely able to say it. I could tell he didn't want to be the one telling me this. "Carlisle is doing everything he can."
I didn't want to hear this. I turned and buried my head in his shoulder. I tried to remember the last time I had seen him. It was at my wedding. He had walked me down the aisle. He pulled back my veil, kissed me on the cheek and said, " I love you Bells, If you love Edward, then I love him too. I want you to be happy for eternity." He had no clue how true that statement was. I wished I could go back in time and give him a hug. "Do you want to see him?" Edward inquired. I sniffled and admitted, "I don't know. I don't want to see him...dying." I choked on the last word. It hit me like a hammer. I knew that this would eventually happen someday, but it still knocked the wind out of me. I rolled up into a ball, and Edward cradled me in his arms. This felt very childish, but very comforting.
He picked me up and took me to our room, even though we no longer we actually needed the bed, but he still kept it in our room, for special occasions. He sprang onto the bed and pulled the covers over my head. "It's going to be all right." he said, and that's when the tears started poring out of me. I couldn't hold them back. I felt bad for Charlie, He thought that Edward and I had moved to a foreign country. I wished I could tell him the truth. That I'd been in Forks for the last two years but I hadn't come to visit him. I had been so selfish, Charlie must hate me, I hadn't even called him or sent him a letter since I got married. Edward left and returned with a tissue box. I blew my nose once, and then crushed the tissue box in my other hand like it was aluminum foil. "Oops." I said wearily. Edward laughed weakly and said, "it's okay." he put my hair behind my ear and said, "Are you sure you don't want to visit him?" I thought it over and said, "Yeah, I do want to see him actually."
He wiped the tears from my face and pulled me even closer to him. I breathed in and out at the same time as Edward. Our chests rising and falling at the same time. He rubbed my shoulders, then sat up. "Alice wants you." He reported. I sat up too, and walked over to the mirror. I turned and glared at a box of tissues. The tissue was so light that it came flying toward me and hit me in the face. Edward chuckled and said, "Bella, be nice to the tissues." I smiled faintly and wiped my face. I stood examining myself in the mirror for a few moments, and then walked out the door. I was halfway down the hallway when strong arms wrapped around me and lips kissed my temples. "I love you." Said my favorite voice. We held hands and walked down the stairs together.
Alice and Jasper were at the foot of the stairs. Jasper could feel my anxiety, and began pulsing calm waves throughout the room. "Thanks Jasper, but I'm fine." He smiled, and I felt the calmness drain out of me. Now I wished I had let him control my feelings. But I inhaled deeply and kept a straight face. I tried very hard not to think about the circumstances. I grimaced as I remembered Alice already knew the outcome of my father, she already knew if he was going to die or not. I shook the thought away and turned my attention toward Alice and Jasper again. .She looked at my face. "Bella?" she said cautiously, "Are you still up for the hunting trip tomorrow?" I had completely forgotten about that. "Yeah, I'm up for it. I guess I should hunt before I see Charlie again." I tried to smile. Alice put her hand on my shoulder and then walked away. I was left standing with Edward. He smiled and said, "Let's do something fun."
Edward put a blindfold over my eyes and was leading me somewhere, I could tell we were outside, I could feel the cool breeze on my face, and I could smell the outdoors. But He had walked me up some stairs. "Can I look now?" I said Impatiently. "We're almost there." He said. Then he picked me up and jumped. I instantly squeezed my arms around his neck. I had not expected this, I hoped I hadn't hurt Edward. Edward landed and pried my arms from around his back. "Sorry," I muttered. "That surprised me." he chuckled. "It's fine, I keep forgetting that now you're a vampire you're not...weak." He concluded. My mouth dropped. I crossed my arms. "Edward Cullen!" I yelled. "That is the rudest and..." But he cut me off as cold lips pressed against mine. I tried not to kiss back, but that didn't last very long when he held my head in his hands. Then he pulled off the blindfold. I had forgotten I was wearing it. I opened my eyes to find we were sitting on top of our house. Surprise shot through me. I felt Edward laugh at my surprised expression. Then I pulled away and looked up at the sky. I could see a million stars lighting up the black sky before us.
I sat dazed for a minute, then stood up. I had never seen anything like it before. You were lucky if you could even see one star in Phoenix, and I had never bothered to look at the stars in Forks. But the sight truly stunned me. "It's beautiful isn't it." Edward whispered into my ear while wrapping his arms around my waist. I suddenly remembered what he had said about me being weak. I turned around and said, "Edward, what on earth did you mean about me being weak? Are you trying to pick a fight?" he smiled and said, "Of course not, I already know who would win." "And what is that supposed to mean!?!?!?!" I practically yelled at him. He put one finger over my mouth and said, "Jeez, Bella, I was kidding. I was just trying to get you to take the blindfold off yourself. But I got impatient and took matters into my own hands." I rolled my eyes and said, "Thank you?"
He guided me to the other side of the roof onto a small balcony. "I didn't know this was up here!" I remarked. It was very pretty with a small wooden fence around the edges and it had a blanket, and two pillows laying on it. I could see where this was going. Edward picked me up bridal style and set me down on the balcony, "It'll be our secret hideout." I thought about this for a second. "But what about our other hideout?" I asked questioningly. "Excuse me?" he said smiling. "Our meadow." I replied. He smiled a big toothy grin and said, "Fine, then this is our alternative secret hideout." I nodded. "Much better."
Edward sat down on one of the pillows, and motioned for me to sit on the other. I reluctantly sat down . He pulled me back so that I was laying on his lap gazing up at the stars, but I ended up just gazing at his face. It was so perfect. I reached up and stroked the side of his face. He exhaled and stroked the side of my face. There we were stroking each other's faces. I bet this would look kind of weird to someone else, but it was really quite romantic. He took my hand and lifted it up to his face. Kissing the wedding ring on my hand. I did the same to his, but then he started kissing my arm, and then he moved slowly closer and closer to my shoulder. He then moved up my neck, and then back down. This was one of the best things I loved about being a vampire, The immortality, and super strength was great, but Edward no longer had to be careful with me. All our previous lines had disappeared.
In between completely hypnotizing me, Edward whispered, " What are you thinking?" It was the same game we used to play before I was immortal. I decided to play along and said, "I'm thinking only of you of course." He began kissing my chin and said, "Do you love me?" I was shocked. "Of course I do Edward! What a silly question!" I would have rambled on but he said, "How much?" I was about to start rambling again when I said, "Taking matters into your own hands again?" he exhaled and sent tingles through my naturally cold body. "Indeed." he said in a low, insanely attractive voice.
I let him take control for a while when he suddenly said, "You didn't answer my question." I sat up and said, "What question?" He sat up as well. I couldn't help but giggle at his appearance. His perfect hair was tasseled in every direction, and I could still see the eagerness in his eyes. I wondered what I must look like. " How much do you love me?" he asked again. I rolled my eyes, "Oh Edward, you know I love you with all my heart, mind, body, and soul. I could never live without you. Well, technically I'm not living anymore. So I couldn't exist without you," a smile started to form on his face so I wrapped it up with, "You complete me." He pulled me back down to lay down and said, "Good, just checking." Then he resumed taking matters into his own hands.
