As always everything belongs to Stephanie Meyres.
2. EVASION
Things pretty much returned to normal, which included attending school. Resuming all the classes I had at the beginning of the year, meant spending my days with Bella at my side, which was exactly the way I wanted it. No one had taken up residence next to her in any classes. People talked and thought various things of what really happened, but no one knew the truth, they weren't even close.
People still wondered, especially Mike, who had nasty thoughts about my return. His thoughts didn't bother me as they once had… for the most part I ignored him. His only thoughts I couldn't tune out were the ones of what she was like while I was gone. Through his mind I saw what it had done to her and how she appeared to the outside world. It was not pretty and I felt like such a heel seeing this. Knowing she never meant for me to find out I would never let on I knew. Feeling bad enough for having done this to her, I couldn't allow her to feel worse.
Most other thoughts among our classmates were our upcoming commencements. The end of our high school careers was drawing to a close. For Alice and I this was nothing new, we had experienced this a hundred times over. But for Bella, this would be her first time and it would be a human experience she would not miss. Wanting her to have every human experience was important to me, unwilling for her to miss anything.
Everywhere we looked throughout the school was reminders of the special event. All through the cafeteria and hallways were posters reminding us to buy our yearbooks, class rings. Announcements were made reminding us of deadlines to order graduation gowns, hats, and tassels. The juniors were campaigning for class office, ominous, rose-wreathed advertisements for this year's prom. The big dance was this coming weekend, but I had promised her that I would not subject her to that again. She said she already had that human experience.
Convincing her to attend a dance, she was unwilling to go to was the last thing on my mind. We had bigger problems then graduation or prom and her safety was the number one priority. We were all watching the situation carefully, Alice and my family; along with myself were keeping vigil on Bella and her house. We had to make sure nothing happened to her or Charlie. Our biggest worry was that someone may get by us. Well, that was my biggest concern, my family wasn't that worried now that we were here to stop anyone. They never thought anyone would get by us.
Walking into the cafeteria we sat at our usual table.
"Have you sent your announcements, yet?" Angela asked Bella as we sat down.
Alice and Ben were already there, too, on either side of Angela. Ben was intent over a comic book. Alice was scrutinizing Bella's jeans-and-a-t-shirt outfit in a way making her look self-conscious. She was plotting another make over, making Bella sigh. She could probably pay more attention to her wardrobe because this outfit did nothing for her and the color was very boring on her. But that was Bella and I loved her the way she was, it really didn't matter to me.
"No," Bella answered Angela. "There's no point, really. Renee knows when I'm graduating. Who else is there?"
"How about you, Alice?"
Alice smiled. "All done."
"Lucky you," Angela sighed. "My mother has a thousand cousins and she expects me to hand-address one to everybody. I'm going to get carpal tunnel. I can't put it off any longer and I'm just dreading it."
"I'll help you," Bella volunteered. "If you don't mind my awful handwriting."
Smiling at Bella I knew she was fulfilling Charlie's wishes becoming acquainted with her friends again. And this would not involve her other friend.
Angela looked relieved. "That's so nice of you. I'll come over any time you want."
"Actually, I'd rather go to your house if that's okay –I'm sick of mine. Charlie un-grounded me last night," Bella grinned announcing her good news.
"Really?" Angela asked. "I thought you said you were in for life."
"I'm more surprised than you are. I was sure I would at least have finished high school before he set me free."
Knowing that wouldn't have happened, Charlie wanted her to hang out with her friends again. He was hoping that by allowing her out she would see more of her friends and less of me. This was an attempt that was not going to work.
"Well, this is great, Bella! We'll have to go out to celebrate."
"You have no idea how good that sounds."
"What should we do?" Alice mused, her face lighting up at the possibilities. Alice's ideas were usually too grandiose for Bella and I could see her thoughts were heading that way again. Bella must've sensed this too.
"Whatever you're thinking, Alice, I doubt I'm that free."
"Free is free, right?" she insisted.
"I'm sure I still have boundaries –like the continental U.S., for example."
Angela and Ben laughed, but Alice grimaced in real disappointment.
"So what are we doing tonight?" she persisted.
"Nothing. Look, let's give it a couple of days to make sure he wasn't joking. It's a school night, anyway."
"We'll celebrate this weekend, then," Alice's enthusiasm was impossible to repress.
"Sure," she said.
Alice and Angela started talking about options; Ben joined the conversation, setting his comics aside. Bella's attention drifted, while the others discussed things to do in Port Angeles or maybe Hoquiam.
Bella was no longer excited, in fact she was deep in thought and I was sure of the subject she was pondering. It hurt her not to see Jacob, she was very sad about not being there for him in his time of need. And if I were a bigger man I would allow her to go to him, but I wasn't and I couldn't allow that. There was too much danger in that possibility and I couldn't wrap my mind around it. If I allowed her to go to him and she got hurt or worse, I couldn't live with myself. How could she expect that from me?
Jacob was a big boy, he would get over this and besides he had a different life now, one that couldn't include Bella and he knew that. I was sure that's why he hadn't attempted to contact her, he knew as well as I did that he would put her in danger if he were near her now. Maybe someday when he could control himself more I could…
"Alice? Alice?"
Angela's voice yanked me from my reverie. She was waving her hand back and forth in front of Alice's blank, staring face. Recognizing Alice's expression immediately the next moment I was lost in her vision. It was confusing at first, my family was in the clearing and so were the wolves, it appeared as if there would be a fight. In one quick flash it was over.
Laughing a relaxed sound to cover for Alice I kicked her chair under the table, knocking her from her vision.
"Is it naptime already, Alice?" I teased.
Alice was herself again. "Sorry, I was daydreaming, I guess."
"Day dreaming is better than facing two more hours of school," Ben said.
Alice threw herself back into the conversation with more animation than before –just a little bit too much. Locking eyes with me only once.
We'll talk later! Was all she said?
Knowing this was neither the time nor place I would let it go for now. I also didn't want Bella to know what was going on, especially since it appeared to have something to do with the wolves. There was no way she would listen to me if she knew what might happen with them. She would want to go to him now and I couldn't allow that.
Hiding things was more difficult now, as she knew me so well. After lunch I slowed my pace to match Ben's and began talking about an assignment that I had already finished. Then I made sure that there was always someone else there in between classes where we usually had time to ourselves. When the final bell rang, I struck up a conversation with Mike Newton of all people… I was desperate. Falling into step beside him as Mike headed for the parking lot. Bella trailed behind, allowing me to tow her along.
The conversation progressed to Mike's car, which he was having trouble with. "… but I just replace the battery," Mike was saying.
"Perhaps it's the cables?" I offered.
"Maybe. I really don't know anything about cars," Mike admitted. "I need to have someone look at it, but I can't afford to take it to Dowling's."
"I know a few things –I could take a look, if you like," I offered. "Just let me drop Alice and Bella at home."
Mike and Bella stared at me with their mouths hanging open. Okay, I pushed this a little too far. She would know something was up, I mean, I was being nice to Mike for god sake.
"Err… thanks," Mike mumbled when he recovered. "But I have to get to work. Maybe some other time."
"Absolutely."
"See ya," Mike climbed into his car, shaking his head in disbelief.
All right, I went way overboard attempting to dissuade her from asking me about Alice's vision. Stooping to speak to Mike, I knew this was too much, but I couldn't help myself and my emotions took over.
"What was that about?" Bella muttered as I held the passenger door for her.
"Just being helpful," I answered. She knew I was lying.
Alice was waiting in the backseat, and babbling at top speed.
"You're really not that good a mechanic, Edward. Maybe you should have Rosalie take a look at it tonight, just so you look good if Mike decides to let you help, you know. Not that it wouldn't be fun to watch his face if Rosalie showed up to help. But since Rosalie is supposed to be across the country attending college, I guess that's not the best idea. Too bad. Thought I suppose, for Mike's car, you'll do. It's only within the finer tunings of a good Italian sports car that you're out of your depth. And speaking of Italy and sports cars that I stole there, you still owe me a yellow Porsche. I don't know that I want to wait for Christmas…"
Tuning her out after a minute allowing her quick voice to become just a hum in the background. Thankful for what she was attempting to do, I just couldn't listen one moment longer. That girl could talk about nothing of consequence, she had the gift of gab as the saying goes, and I just thought it was annoying most of the time. It did help me avoid the questions that were building up in Bella.
Dropping Alice at the mouth of the driveway as usual. As she got out, she threw a sharp look at my face; I however didn't react to her. She shot one last comment that was meant for my ears only.
We'll talk later! she said firmly. This is important, Edward!
"See you later," I said and then ever so slightly I nodded.
Alice turned to disappear into the trees.
It was quiet as I turned the car around and headed back to Forks. She waited to hear an explanation to what was going on, but I had no intention of telling her anything. Surprisingly she didn't ask me anything as we headed for her house.
"Light homework load tonight," I commented.
"Mmm," she assented.
"Do you suppose I'm allowed inside again?"
"Charlie didn't throw a fit when you picked me up for school."
Following her up the stairs to her room I was strategizing what to do about the vision I'd seen. Something had to be done and I just wasn't sure about what that would be yet. Needing more time to figure this out I would also need to know more information from Alice.
Walking into Bella's room I immediately went to sit on the bed. Bella stowed her bag and turned her computer on. She began drumming her fingers on the desk, which was interrupting my thoughts.
Rising from the bed I went and put my hand on top of hers.
"Are we a little impatient today?" I murmured.
She glared up at me intending to make a remark to my comment, but my face was closer than she thought. My eyes glared straight into hers and my breathing was unevenly brushing her face. Reaching out I put my hands around her head pulling her closer to me until my lips touched hers slightly.
Braiding my fingers into her hair I secured her face to mine while ours lips moved in perfect synchronicity. Spending all my time this way would suit me just fine, but I knew this was not the answer. Her arms locked behind my neck, as I slipped one hand down her back, pressing her tighter against my chest. Even through my sweater and hers she shivered at the coldness of my body, my hands began to loosen in response.
Feeling her this way was the height of my life and it was becoming more and more difficult to put an end to it. Pushing it further and further every time we were together like this, my strength was being tested over and over. Bella crushed herself to me making the excitement overwhelming and I almost couldn't remember why I had to stop this.
Almost.
Pulling my face away from hers, breaking her hold with ease. Chuckling once, a low, throaty sound. My body, filled with excitement, began to fade as I stepped away from her.
"Ah, Bella," I sighed.
"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not."
"And I should feel sorry that you're not sorry, but I don't. Maybe I should go sit on the bed."
She exhaled. "If you think that's necessary…"
Smiling at her I disentangled myself.
She shook her head a few times, and turned back to her computer.
"Tell Renee I said hello."
"Sure thing."
Bella worked on returning an e-mail to her mother and I went to work on ensuring her safety. Attempting to figure out what I was to do about the vision Alice had. Somehow I would have to get Bella away from Forks this weekend. She didn't need to be here for what we saw would happen. Preferring for her to be far away from the danger that may come our way.
Having no way of accomplishing this, no matter what I said to her she would be suspect. It would not be easy to convince her there was nothing wrong, especially since I never told her what Alice saw, and that I pretty much avoided any questions about it.
There had to be something, a way to convince her without raising suspicion, I just couldn't figure out a way. There were many things I could come up with such as hiking, camping or just going away for the weekend together, but I knew this would bring up unwanted conversations. Being together so long now, she knew me well… well enough for her to know when I was lying. Simple things I could get away with, but bigger things were getting harder to hide from her. She knew me too well.
Well, having a couple of days to contemplate it before I had to make a move, I would give this some serious thought. Pulling me from my thoughts, I saw something near her closet and went to investigate it. Standing behind Bella, examining the flat black box with wires curling crookedly away from the main square in a way that didn't appear healthy for whatever it was. After a second, I recognized the car stereo Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper had given her for her last birthday.
"What did you do to this?" I asked horrorstricken.
"It didn't want to come out of the dashboard."
"So you felt the need to torture it?"
"You know how I am with tools. No pain was inflicted intentionally."
Shaking my head in a mask of faux tragedy. "You killed it."
She shrugged. "Oh, well."
"It would hurt their feelings if they saw this," I said. "I guess it's a good thing that you've been on house arrest. I'll have to get another one in place before they notice."
"Thanks, but I don't need a fancy stereo."
"It's not for your sake that I'm going to replace it."
She sighed.
"You didn't get much good out of your birthday presents last year," I said as a brilliant idea crossed my mind. An idea she couldn't say no to and wouldn't be suspicious of. Picking up the stiff rectangular paper and fanning myself.
She didn't answer not wanting to be reminded of her birthday. This is how it all began, the moment I decided to leave her. For all the reasons I thought were right and to know now they were all wrong, I didn't like to be reminded of this, but this was important. To get her out of town this weekend was more important than that, and I would suffer anything to make her safe, the only way to be safe was to get her out of here.
"Do you realize these are about to expire?" I asked holding the paper out to her. It was another present –the voucher for airplane tickets that Esme and Carlisle had given to her so that she could visit Renee in Florida.
She took a deep breath and answered in a flat voice. "No. I'd forgotten all about them, actually."
Keeping a positive attitude, also being careful not to sound over anxious. "Well, we still have a little time. You've been liberated… and we have no plans this weekend, as you refuse to go to the prom with me," I grinned. "Why not celebrate your freedom this way?"
She gasped. "By going to Florida?"
"You did say something about the continental U.S. being allowable."
She glared at me, suspicious, trying to understand where this was coming from.
"Well?" I demanded. "Are we going to see Renee or not?"
"Charlie will never allow it."
"Charlie can't keep you from visiting your mother. She still has primary custody."
"Nobody has custody of me. I'm an adult."
Flashing a brilliant smile. "Exactly."
She thought for a short moment, probably contemplating Charlie's reaction to this request. Already knowing his response, and yes, he would not be happy, but he would get over it. This was the perfect solution to my problem and I wouldn't let it go. We wouldn't have to lie to Charlie and Bella would be with a parent. Finally, I would be with her too. How could she refuse?
It had been too long since she had seen Renee. She talked about her while she slept quite often. It was time she had a visit that was simple and quiet because every time she had seen her in the last year there was something wrong with Bella. In Phoenix last year Bella was hospitalized the entire time. Then, when she came in fall Bella was more or less catatonic. Not exactly the best memories to leave her with.
Also, I wanted Renee to know me under more pleasant circumstances. She only knew what Bella and Charlie had told her about me. I was certain Charlie was not painting a nice picture of me for her.
Scrutinizing her face while she deliberated she gave no indication either way.
She sighed. "Not this weekend."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to fight with Charlie. Not so soon after he's forgiven me."
My face stressed. "I think this weekend it perfect," I muttered.
She shook her head. "Another time."
Thinking of something fast, as much as I hated sounding selfish, if she believed it was for me, she may agree.
"You aren't the only one who's been trapped in this house, you know." I frowned at her.
Suspicion spread across her face. She knew this was not like me to be so pushy.
"You can go anywhere you want," she pointed out.
"The outside world holds no interest for me without you."
She rolled her eyes at the hyperbole.
"I'm serious," I said, continuing to push the issue.
"Let's take the outside world slowly, all right? For example, we could start with a movie in Port Angeles…"
I groaned. "Never mind. We'll talk about it later."
"There's nothing left to talk about."
Shrugging, knowing I was not about to win this argument at this moment. Why did she have to be so stubborn?
"Okay, then, new subject," she said, bringing up the subject I'd been avoiding. "What did Alice see a lunch?"
Lying with perfect concentration as not to give her the slightest hint of my untruth. I'd been preparing for this question all afternoon. "She's been seeing Jasper in a strange place, somewhere in the southwest, she thinks, near his former… family. But he has no conscious intentions to go back," I sighed. "It's got her worried." That came out better than I hoped it would.
"Oh," She said not expecting that answer, it took her a minute to regroup. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I didn't realize you'd noticed," I said. "It's probably nothing important, in any case."
Hopefully she bought this explanation, she appeared to. She didn't ask any more questions, which I was grateful for, as I didn't think I could keep up the act much longer. Hating to hide things from her I knew it was the best thing for her. She didn't need to know everything, it would just make her worry, more than she already did.
We went downstairs to work on our homework, just in case Charlie showed up early. Finishing in minutes; she slogged through her calculus until she decided it was time to fix dinner. Helping her, I made faces every so often at the raw ingredients –human food was mildly repulsive to me. Attempting to please Charlie, she made his favorite dish –stroganoff from her Grandmother's recipe.
Charlie appeared to be in a good mood when he got home. Not even going out of his way to be rude to me. Excusing myself from eating with them, as usual. Going to the living room I turned on the news and pretended to watch. Conversation was minimal while they eat, picking up a bit when they were done.
"That was great, Bella."
"I'm glad you like it. How was work?" she asked.
"Sort of slow. Well, dead slow really. Mark and I played cards for a good part of the afternoon," he admitted. "I won, nineteen hands to seven. And then I was on the phone with Billy for a while."
"How is he?"
"Good, good. His joints are bothering him a little."
"Oh. That's too bad."
"Yeah. He invited us down to visit this weekend. He was thinking of having the Clearwater's and the Uleys over too. Sort of a playoff party…"
"Huh," was all she said. What could she say, that I wouldn't allow her to go? That was going to be a problem, but if we did what I wanted to do there would be no problem.
She got up and piled the dishes together; dumping them into the sink she started the water. Appearing silently I grabbed a dishtowel.
Charlie sighed and gave up for the moment, thought I imagined he would revisit the subject once I was gone. He heaved himself to his feet and headed for the TV, just like every other night. It was now or never, I had to revisit the trip to Florida.
"Charlie," I said in a conversational tone.
Charlie stopped in the middle of his little kitchen. "Yeah?"
"Did Bella ever tell you that my parents gave her airplane tickets on her last birthday, so that she could visit Renee?"
Bella dropped the plate she was scrubbing. It glanced off the counter and clattered noisily to the floor. It didn't break, but it spattered the room, and all three of us, with soapy water. Charlie didn't even seem to notice.
"Bella?" he asked in a stunned voice.
She kept her eyes on the plate as she retrieved it. "Yeah, they did," she was angry.
Charlie swallowed loudly, and then his eyes narrowed as he turned back to me. "No, she never mentioned it."
"Hmm," I murmured.
"Was there a reason you brought it up?" Charlie asked in a hard voice.
I shrugged. "They're about to expire. I think it might hurt Esme's feelings if Bella doesn't use her gift. Not that she'd say anything."
Bella stared at me in disbelief. She was writhing with anger.
Charlie thought for a moment. "It's probably a good idea for you to visit your mom, Bella. She'd love that. I'm surprised you didn't say anything about this, though."
"I forgot," she admitted.
He frowned. "You forgot that someone gave you plane tickets?"
"Mmm," she muttered vaguely, and turned back to the sink. She was angry, and there'd be hell to pay later. But, I had to get her out of Forks for the weekend.
"I noticed that you said they're about to expire, Edward," Charlie went on. "How many tickets did your parents give her?"
"Just one for her… and one for me."
That did it; Charlie's mind was working faster than his words. He was upset, really upset. And so was Bella, she had dropped another plate in the water. Charlie's words finally caught up to him, his spoken words were much softer than his thoughts.
"That's out of the question!" he shouted in rage.
"Why?" I asked my voice innocent with surprise. "You just said it was a good idea for her to see her mother."
Charlie ignored me. "You're not going anywhere with him, young lady!" he yelled. She spun around to see him jabbing a finger at her.
That sent her into flying rage. Knowing this would be her reaction, I loathed having to do it, but I couldn't stop myself.
"I'm not a child, Dad. And I'm not grounded anymore, remember?"
"Oh yes, you are. Starting now."
"For what?"
"Because I said so."
"Do I need to remind you that I'm a legal adult, Charlie?"
"This is my house –you follow my rules!"
Her glare turned icy. "If that's how you want it. Do you want me to move out tonight? Or can I have a few days to pack?"
Charlie's face went bright red, I instantly regretted having started all of this. It got completely out of control and I couldn't stop it.
She took a deep breath attempting to restrain herself. "I'll do my time without complaining when I've done something wrong, Dad, but I'm not going to put up with your prejudices."
He sputtered, but managed nothing coherent.
"Now, I know that you know that I have every right to see Mom for the weekend. You can't honestly tell me you'd object to the plan if I was going with Alice or Angela."
"Girls," he grunted, with a nod.
"Would it bother you if I took Jacob?"
Her father struggled to compose himself before he answered. "Yes," he said in an unconvincing voice. "That would bother me."
"You're a rotten liar, Dad."
"Bella…"
"It's not like I'm headed off to Vegas to be a showgirl or anything. I'm going to see Mom," she reminded him. "She's just as much my parental authority as you are."
He threw her a withering look.
"Are you implying something about Mom's ability to look after me?"
Charlie flinched at the threat implicated in her question.
"You'd better hope I don't mention this to her," she said.
"You'd better not," he warned. "I'm not happy about this, Bella."
"There's no reason for you to be upset."
He rolled his eyes but the worse was done.
She turned to pull the plug out of the sink. "So my homework is done, your dinner is done, the dishes are done, and I'm not grounded. I'm going out, I'll be back before ten-thirty."
Not sure if she was including me, I knew I was in for it when we got out of here. Feeling bad for starting this in the first place, I was not sorry for the end result. It had worked and we would be out of here for the weekend, that's all that really matter to me.
"Where are you going?" Charlie's face, almost back to normal, flushed back to red again.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I'll keep it within a ten-mile radius, though. Okay?"
He grunted something that was not approval, and stalked out of the room.
"We're going out?" I asked, my voice low but full of enthusiasm.
She turned to glower at me. "Yes. I think I'd like to speak to you alone."
Hiding my fear of her wrath. She waited until we were safely in my car.
"What was that?" she demanded.
"I know you want to see your mother, Bella –you've been talking about her in your sleep. Worrying actually," boy, I was truly a monster, to use her mother as my excuse. Not seeing any other way, there was no way I could tell her what was really going on. She would want to be here and I couldn't have that.
"I have?"
I nodded. "But, clearly, you were too much of a coward to deal with Charlie, so I interceded on your behalf."
"Interceded? You threw me to the sharks!"
Well, that was true, but I had her best interests at heart.
Rolling my eyes. "I don't think you were in any danger."
"I told you I didn't want to fight with Charlie."
"Nobody said that you had to."
She glowered at me. "I can't help myself when he gets all bossy like that –my natural teenage instincts over-power me."
I chuckled. "Well, that's not my fault."
She stared at me, speculating. Keeping my gaze out the windshield I couldn't face her. She would figure me out if I looked at her. I got this far; I needed to hold it together a little while longer. Knowing this was entirely my fault. I'd started this fight with a good reason. It didn't change the fact that I was a monster.
"Does this sudden urge to see Florida have anything to do with the party at Billy's place?"
My jaw flexed. "Nothing at all. It wouldn't matter if you were here or on the other side of the world, you still wouldn't be going."
She didn't like hearing me speak this way, but I couldn't help it. Seeing Jacob was one thing, but to be at place where all the wolves were… never going to happen. Not wanting to fight with her, not wanting to have our evening end as hers and Charlie's did.
I sighed, and softened my voice again. "So what do you want to do tonight?" I asked.
"Can we go to your house? I haven't seen Esme in so long."
I smiled; glad she didn't seem as furious at me. "She'll like that. Especially when she hears what we're doing this weekend."
She groaned in defeat.
We didn't stay out late, as she promised. The lights were still on when we pulled up. Feeling Charlie's mood made me smile. Bella was in for quite an earful when she arrived in the house. Here's a conversation I'm certain she's not expecting to have with Charlie.
"You better not come inside," she said. "It will only make things worse."
"His thoughts are relatively calm," I teased, smiling a smug smile. I couldn't help it.
"I'll see you later," she muttered glumly.
Laughing I kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back when Charlie's snoring."
Watching her walk into the house I felt sorry for her. This was not a position I would want to be in, and for that matter it was a position Charlie didn't want to be in either. Almost feeling sorry for him; he was just concerned for her safety, as I was. Wishing I could let him know that I would not let anything happen to her, especially that, not while she was with me.
Driving away a feeling overwhelmed me –the feeling that had to do with the talk –the talk that every parent has with his or her child. The thought… that I would never have that talk with my daughter… or son for that matter. The thought… that Bella would never have that talk either… if she remained with me. This thought saddened me. She really didn't know what she would be giving up and that thought saddened me even more.
What was I to do about that? Was there a compromise we could make? She was hoping for a transformation after graduation, which would leave very little time to have a child. And, just whom could she have this child with? There was no way she would agree to have some else's child, but it would be a nice thought.
Wishing I was normal, wishing it were I who could give her a child, I was suddenly overwhelmed with an empty, hollow feeling. This wasn't right… none of this was right, and, if I were any kind of man I would let her go and have everything she deserved. Since I was such a selfish creature, that when I did attempt to do the right thing, it didn't work. I'd promised I would never do that to her again… and I wouldn't… not for anything in the world. My selfish side refused to let me leave again, unless it was her that asked me to leave.
With that I arrived at home where Alice was waiting for me on the porch.
"Alice," I said.
"Edward, what's going on?" she asked.
"Nothing. What do you want?"
"I want to know what you told Bella?" she asked.
"Nothing, and neither will you. It's all right were leaving town for the weekend. She'll be safe," I answered.
"Where are you going?"
"Florida, to see Renee," I said.
"Are you sure that's the way you want to handle this?" she inquired.
"Yes, I saw your vision, and if Victoria's going to be near here this weekend, I want Bella far away. I would stay and help, but she would get too suspicious if I put her on the plane alone," I explained.
"I know, I know, but maybe you should tell her, Edward," she pleaded.
"No, she can't know, she'll just worry and probably put herself in danger, you know that Alice," I said with chagrin.
"Your right. Don't worry about it, Edward. We'll take care of everything here, including Victoria. We'll get her; I mean there are six of us and one maybe two of her. It shouldn't be that hard," Alice said with confidence.
"Thanks, Alice. I trust you. I know you guys will take care of this. It helps to hear that though, so thank you."
We went into the house where everyone seemed right back into the daily routine around here. It did not take long for things to return to normal. Rosalie was on the sofa with Emmett watching TV. Jasper sat on the computer. Esme was in her room working on some blue prints. Carlisle was at the hospital, always working.
Going to my room, I needed to kill some time before returning to Bella's. The talk she was embarking on with Charlie would probably take a while. Smiling I know how uncomfortable she would be discussing this with him. It did make me wonder what she would tell him, not that there was anything to tell. It still made me wonder. Certainly he knew how we felt about each other, I knew he did, and he was right, we were in love with each other. But what he didn't know was how deep these feelings were, and I'm not sure I wanted him to know. Somehow I believed it was better if he remained in the dark.
Alice entered the room with a vision in her head. One that made me jump up and run. She didn't need to say anything I could see exactly what was going on. Having to stop this before it was too late. Running through the forest I couldn't believe she would attempt such a thing, knowing how this terrified me. Her safety was my only concern and she couldn't be safe there.
Arriving at Bella's house, I went right to her truck; pulling open the hood I pulled a wire. Proceeding to the passenger door I sat on the floor of the truck.
Bella proceeded out of the house and to the truck. She got in, put her key in the ignition and turned it. The engine clicked and she tried again. Still nothing. She looked to the left and jumped.
"Gah!" she gasped in shock when she saw that she was not alone.
Sitting very still, she hadn't noticed me. Moving my hand I turned the wire around and around in my hands. Staring at the object as I spoke.
"Alice called," I murmured.
She didn't say anything. She must've forgot about Alice. I'd had her watching Bella for anything that may happen.
"She got nervous when your future rather abruptly disappeared five minutes ago."
Her eyes, already wide with surprise, popped wider.
"Because she can't see the wolves, you know," I explained in the same low murmur. "Had you forgotten that? When you decide to mingle your fate with theirs, you disappear, too. You couldn't know that part I realize that. But you can understand why that might make me a little… anxious? Alice saw you disappear, and she couldn't even tell if you'd come home or not. Your future got lost, just like theirs."
"We're not sure why this is. Some natural defense they're born with?" speaking primarily for myself, still twirling her engine part in my hand. "That doesn't seem entirely likely, since I haven't had any trouble reading their thoughts. The Black's at least. Carlisle theorizes that it's because their lives are so ruled by their transformation. It's more an involuntary reaction than a decision. Utterly unpredictable, and it changes everything about them. In that instant when they shift from one form to the other, they don't really even exist. The future can't hold them…"
She listened but said nothing.
"I'll put your car back together in time for school, in case you'd like to drive yourself," I assured her after a minute.
With anger riveting through her, she retrieved her keys and swiftly climbed out of the truck.
"Shut your window if you want me to stay away tonight. I'll understand," I whispered just before she slammed the door.
She stomped into the house, slamming that door, too.
Loathing the fact that I made her angry, it couldn't be helped. Her safety was a bigger concern, then how she felt about me. Protecting her was the most important part of my life now. There could be nothing else more important than her safety.
Easing out of the truck I went around the house to my treetop to wait. Waiting to see if she would rather not see me again tonight. I would quite understand if she shut me out, I wished she wouldn't, but if she did, I'd wait. Wait for her to allow me to come in again.
After a while she entered her room. She shoved the metal frame closed, roughly, breaking my non-beating heart. She paused staring out the glass for a moment. Then she sighed, and opened the window as wide as it would go, sending a warm chill threw me. This was my angel, never remaining angry with me for too long.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.