The Rings of Saturn

By Aly

Disclaimer: As much as I dream and wish it, all recognizable characters (Edward, Bella) and places (Forks, School) and general storyline and all the stuff that needs to be included in Twilight and New Moon are property of Stephanie Meyer. Over and Out.

Chapter 2: Disposal and Question

As usual; Edward was watching my attempt to cook. I was actually a decent cook, but he could do better. He could do everything better.

"What are we doing today?" I asked as I added water to a pancake mix AI found in the cupboard over the stove. I grabbed a pan and flipped the burner on.

He was seated in the chair Charlie usually claimed, I kept my eyes on the mix, though I was tempted to turn around and glance at his expression. "I don't know what you're doing." he said, slowly. I couldn't resist anymore. I turned around.

"Then what are you doing?" I asked, I guess my voice was a little more sharp than necessary. But he ignored my tone.

Edward looked at me in silence for a long moment. "Your pancakes are burning." He stated. I turned back to the stove and discovered he was right. I pulled the spatula from the counter and put my attention to flipping the pancakes. I waited a few more moments before interrupting his thoughts.

"Have you made plans?" I figured he might be hunting. Most of Forks was under the impression that the Cullens' were very outdoorsy and liked to go camping when the weather was sunny. I figured it would be a reasonable excuse for him to leave me alone for an hour or so.

"Yes," He said; his voice smooth and irresistible.

"Plans that don't include me?" I pushed, trying to decode the tone he was using.

He shifted in the chair. "Plans that don't include you being there."

I poured the rest of the uncooked batter into a container. Placing the uncooked mix in the fridge, I watched him speculatively. "Are you hunting?"

"Not exactly," he replied. I thought, if he wasn't hunting, he could be tracking, and if he was tracking, it was probably…

"I forbid you to look for Victoria! There is no way you should -can- go looking, seeking, trying to find-" I was yelling and repeating myself, I knew what I was telling him was stupid but the words seemed to just tumble out of my mouth. "You can't just go looking for danger; I don't want you to get hurt. I love you, Edward; I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I won't get hurt, Bella," his words were just loud enough to hear. I just stared at him. "And that's not what I was planning to do anyways, so calm down."

He stood up and came to wrap his arms around me shoulders. "I was planning to eliminate a death trap."

I could tell he was trying to be playful. He was trying to break the tense atmosphere. Edward buried his face in my neck, I pretended to ignore him, but my heart quickened and gave me away.

I was completely charmed. "And how where you planning to do that?"

"Well, would you like to hear my four step program to success?" he teased; I knew he was still trying to calm me down from my explosion over him stalking Victoria. I turned around so my face was pressed to his chest.

I mumbled something incoherent to his chest. "I'll take that as a yes."

"First I invite Alice over to keep an eye on you. To make sure you don't do anything that is either dangerous or stupid or both."

I moved my body so I could see his expression; he was smiling a perfect crooked smile.

"Then I call Emmett" He looked startled in response to my expression, but it was only a fraction of a second before he realized what thought he would need Emmett for. "We're not going after Victoria, I promise."

"What we are going to do is explain to Charlie that the motorcycle is totally broken, so there's no way you could have ridden it anyway."

"But it works." I said, puzzled.

He looked out the window; I followed his gaze and spotted a very burly figure making some adjustments to the thing chained in the driveway. Since Jacob brought it over three days ago I had been under house-lockdown. Eventually I told Charlie that it was killing me, and I wouldn't leave if Edward could come over. So he caved.

"So where are you going after that? You said four things, if that were it, you wouldn't be asking Alice over."

He smiled a heart-retching smile, it tugged at my heart. But his rich tawny eyes were sad. For a while he just held me close, not saying anything.

Finally he sighed, his breath dancing across my face with that sweet smell. I concentrated very hard on his words, which were so soft I had to strain to hear them. "I have to talk to Carlisle."

He leaned in and kissed me very carefully. I was still stricken by the sadness in his voice, but as an involuntary response my hands still reached up to weave in his hair. Even his arms clutched my too him. Eventually he pushed my face back carefully.

"I have to go." he said, though he made no move to leave. "About an hour, okay. Alice is here."

I didn't even realize that she had walked into the kitchen, let alone entered the house.

"See you later." he attempted to smile. "Love you."

He was so fast he was out the door and into his car before I could think of a rational response.

Alice leaned against the doorway as I turned to open the curtains. She made no comments on mine and Edward's exchange. By now I figured she must be used to things like that.

"Did you have breakfast?" She motioned to my pile of dishes in the sink.

I thought back. Then looked over to the counter where my pancakes were stacked and cold. "Oh, I made it, but I haven't eaten it yet." I grabbed the plate and threw it in the microwave. "Bella, you left the burner on." Alice said, flicking the switch on the stove. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I must have just gotten distracted." I pulled my pancakes from the microwave and smothered them with syrup. "Alice?"

"Yes Bella," She replied, dainty and striking.

I tried to get to the point. "If Edward was going to hunt down Victoria, would he speak to Carlisle first?"

She thought about what I was trying to say. "I doubt it. Look we're all keeping out eyes out for the rogue vampire but I don't think he'd just go stalking her after talking to Carlisle. He wouldn't approve, if it was Carlisle he was talking to, he probably was talking about you."

"About me?" I asked. "Why?
"Eat up, Bella. Then maybe I'll tell you." She said. I cut my pancakes into squares, keeping a watchful eye on her expression.