So, like I said, I like this story. It's pretty cute (So says I)
Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight, Don't own any of it's charaters, I bend them to my will, blah blah.
I was pacing back and forth, trying to clear my head. Bella was downstairs, sleeping on the couch. Everyone was still gone, and I had a strange feeling that Alice was somehow behind it. Why? I didn't know. But she obviously felt confident that I wouldn't harm the girl who's blood lured me, who's blood practically sang to me, la tua cantante.
I let out a sigh, and went downstairs to see if she was awake. She was, and she was sitting on the couch, her small legs dangling and kicking through the air. A smile crept onto my face.
"Good morning sleepy head." I greeted, feeling a little more friendlier. She beamed at me, and jumped off the couch.
"You know, you still haven't told me your name." She said, coming over and hugging my legs. I ran my hand through her hair, causing her scent to fill the air, and replacing the stale smell of wall paper.
"My name is Edward." I told her. She stepped back, smiling again. I looked at her chocolate colored eyes. They seemed to twinkle, making myself smile again.
"You know, my mom got me a pet fish, and I named him Edward."
The mention of her mother brought back memories of my talk with her only a few hours ago.
- - -
"Did one of them give you my blanket?" I asked. "It's okay if you use it, I was just wondering."
"No, I found it in a box by the door. It's very cold in here, but you wouldn't know."
"How would you know I wouldn't know?"
"Well, your a 'cold one' as Billy puts it. In my translation, a vampire. Cause, only vampires drink blood. But then when you killed Mark, that other vampire, I knew you were a 'cold one' too. I used to laugh at Billy's silly stories and say they weren't real." She explained.
"Who is Billy?"
"He lives at La Push. With Rebecca and Rachel, and Jacob, but Jacob's still a baby."
"Where is your family?" She was quiet for several seconds, and her face fell.
"Mark...killed them. I ran away trying to escape, but got lost."
- - -
My heart twisted when I remembered. I felt so bad, and wondered where she would go. She told me how she didn't know many of her relatives, because they wouldn't talk to her mother because she got married right out of high school and had Bella.
My mind snapped back to the child in front of me.
"Oh, so you named a fish Edward? I'm sure I've had the name longer then him." I teased. She smiled again, then frowned.
"Well, Edward is no longer with us. He died cause I forgot to feed him." She started crying. I panicked, and was totally at loss for what to do. Never before had I had to comfort a child.
"Oh, um, please don't cry!" I begged. I looked around, wondering if I could distract her with something. Then I remembered, Rose hugs Emmett when he's upset, and he's pretty close to a child sometimes.
I got down, and wrapped my arms around her gently, knowing I could crush her body with a simple squeeze. She wrapped her one arm around me, and cried in my shoulder. I really hoped she would stop, I felt bad, and wasn't sure if I was helping.
"Why are you crying?" I asked, putting as much tenderness in my voice as I could. She pulled her face away, and looked at my eyes. Hers were rimed with tears.
"Well, I'm a murderer!" She cried out, as if it were obvious. I smiled, and laughed a little. She glared at me, and fear suddenly sparked through me. Never had I seen something so evil on someone so small. I stopped laughing immediately.
"Your not a murderer. It was an accident. I'm sure Edward forgives you." I said, patting her on the shoulder. Her smiled returned. For a brief moment, I thought I should get some sort of reward for comforting a crying child, but then I realized her smile was the reward. I smiled back. Her stomach growled.
"Are you hungry?" I asked, obviously knowing that she was. She nodded shyly.
"Um...er, I think I'll take you out to eat because I don't know how to cook!" I exclaimed, happy with my decision. She laughed, and took my hand in her good one. The warmth from her hand caught me off guard, and threw me into a daze Her touch was gentle, and loving. When I came to, I smiled, and carefully lead her to the garage, going at her pace. She swung our arms back and forth happily. We stopped at the Volvo. I looked down at her.
"I don't need a car seat, but I can't ride in front." She explained. I smiled, glad that I didn't have to flat out ask her, and admit I didn't know. I opened the back door for her, and she crawled in. I buckled the seat belt since she was having a problem with her shoulder. I walked around and got in the drivers side.
"So, er, where do you want to go?" I asked, turning in my seat to look back at her.
"Mmm, how about McDonalds?" She asked. I nodded, and pulled out of the garage.
When we arrived to the fast food restaurant, I helped her out, and she took my hand again. I smiled, happy to have the warmth of her little hand back. We went inside, and got in line. I looked down to her, only to discover her chocolate eyes were watching me. She turned away, caught in the act, and her cheeks turned red.
The pooling of her blood awoke the monster inside. It growled, wanting out, but my inner self kicked it back into the closet, or where ever it came from. I wouldn't harm a hair on the child's head for anything in the world. I already had enough guilt from her shoulder.
"So, what do you want?" I asked as we got closer to the front counter. She looked back up to me.
"Are you going to pay? Cause I don't have any money." She said softly. I smiled.
"Of course I'm going to pay." She smiled timidly.
"Thank you." She looked up to menu. "I think I'll have a kids meal, cause then I get a toy." When we were next in line, I ordered her a kids meal, and then lead her to a table near the play area should she want to play.
She ate her food, not touching the toy till she was done. I watched her eat. I had never paid much attention to humans when they ate. But I watched now, and every so often her eyes would flash to mine, and her cheeks would heat up seeing me watching. When she finished, she tried to open her toy, but couldn't get the plastic with one hand.
"Edward, could you open this pretty please?" She asked sweetly. I took the toy from her hand, a ripped it open. I handed her the red racecar. She smiled, and ran it along the surface of the table for a few seconds, then she caught sight of the play area. She pouted a cute little puppy face at me, and I felt like putty.
"Edward, will you come play in the thing with me?" She asked. I had already begun nodding when she said 'will you'. She smiled, hopped out of her seat, and put the car in her pocket for later. I threw the trash away, then allowed her to pull me towards the large maze of plastic. We had to take our shoes off, and I helped her out seeing as she was only able to use one hand. After taking mine off, I put the shoes in the cubby things, and we went to play.
I don't know how long we played, but eventually someone called my name, and we went down the slide to see who awaited us. I had her sit in between my legs, so she wouldn't get hurt at the bottom or something. Plus, I liked seeing her hair get all static. It was very entertaining.
When we got to the bottom, I was surprised to see the entire family there waiting. If I could have blood pool in my cheeks, it would be pooling big time. I smiled to them, and waved half-ass at them. Bella smiled, and jumped up. She ran over to Alice, and hugged her.
"See I told you it was a good idea to get out of the house." Alice told everyone. Carlisle and Esme were smiling at me, Emmett was plotting to tease and taunt me later about this, Rosalie wasn't even remotely interested, Jasper gave me a crooked smile, and was thinking about how happy Bella was, and Alice was grinning like 'I-told-you-so'. I stood up.