READ BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER FOR AUTHORS NOTE! SUPER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!
POLL RESPONSES ON VAMP BELLA VS HUMAN BELLA! As you guys know, I was having a difficult time deciding if I wanted to go the vampire route or, Human Bella route and it seems from your response that most of you guys wanted to continue exploring Bella's mediumship as a Human. But, for the VampBella team, don't worry! You will see a vampire Bella you have to be a bit more patient ;) Please stick with me until then.
Disclaimer: You guys already know. ;)
"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
Warren Buffett
Chapter 3: About Today
It all happened within a matter of seconds. Bella was the only one involved who didn't know that though - she was drifting.
There was no feeling of any limbs attached to each other, no sense of balance or the pressure of something solid under her. Bella's brain was glutinous - all gummy and melted and useless. She couldn't remember how to breathe, how to speak, how to move.
There was only the cool iron of arms wrapped around her midsection like steel cables, the icy-cold exhales that frosted that sensitive spot right between her neck and shoulder, and the feathery tickle of silken hair just brushing across the bottom of her jaw. She drowned in the sensations of the touch of a frigid nose poking into her neck, a hard form wrapped around her - rigid and coiled against her back - and the brush of a soft kiss beneath her ear, as fleeting as a candle in the wind…
They overwhelmed her, intoxicated her.
Then, abruptly, with a large gush of air, the alabaster figure was gone, torn from Bella's warmth, and she was left crumbling into a heap of limbs on the tile. Right before her head hit the floor thin, hard fingers wrapped tenderly around the back of her head, cradling her, stopping her from slamming against the hard floor and giving herself a concussion.
An awful maelstrom of noises broke through the muddiness of her conscious then - a vicious, terrible symphony of muted animalistic snarls and the whispers of what sounded like granite rubbing against granite. The sounds, though hushed and frantic, made the groggy Bella wince. A complaint had barely formed in her head before the racket was gone, practically as soon as it began, and the silence echoed around Bella loudly.
Until it didn't.
New sounds began to form; a slamming door and a raised voice mixed with the high soprano of something mystical, something magical weaved into it. Bella cringed and shied away from the harsh noise and tried to focus on the tinkling near her ear instead… it sounded so pretty… familiar almost...
Bella only caught bits and pieces of the conversation.
"What… Why is she…. Ms. Cullen..."
"She fainted…. Banged into the locker… she was sick… before… saw her….during lunch… offered to take…."
They were talking about her.
Bella moved to turn her head on instinct, but the pads rubbing her scalp tensed, keeping her in place. Bella, with great effort, blinked up blearily but her eyelids were too heavy; everything was too bright, they fell shut at the strain.
Who's squashing my brain? She gripped inwardly, drunkenly almost. Her head felt funny...
It's okay, Bella thought drowsily, It's okay I don't need to see. She was drifting; she was air… or maybe she was drowning? It didn't matter… everything was fine… she decided just to wait until she drifted far far away.
The magic woman spoke again, "Isabella?", the name came out like a chime of bells, jolting Bella a little further into awakeness - just barely.
Bella frowned, resisting the pull to consciousness… she was going away now; they had to leave her alone… it was time to sleep...
Eventually, with those cold fingers still wrapped around her skull, she did.
When Bella woke up again, it was still too bright, the cot under her was too hard, Grandma Swan's warm presence was wrapped around her like a soft blanket of silk, assuaging the dull ache in her head, and Charlie's mustache was too close to her face.
"Oh, Bells. Thank God, your up," he said from his place hovered over her, "how you feeling?"
"Fine," Bella croaked, her response instantaneous, instinctive and probably not true. "What happened?"
"You fainted… nausea and a stomach ache." Charlie's stare was loaded with implication, his eyes cautious, "must've been your breakfast and the nerves for the day. The school nurse wanted you to go to the hospital, but I told her you'd be fine once you wake up and get some more rest. She's in the other room. She'll be back soon."
Translation - Bella's gift acted up, she fainted, and food poisoning was the cover story. A hospital visit was avoided (which was for the best considering there was nothing provably wrong with her) and, they couldn't talk freely because they weren't alone.
Thank God for Charlie, her very own partner in crime - sort of.
Bella licked her chapped lips, nodded to show she understood and fought the fog clinging to her mind. There was a question she had to ask, something she needed to know, immediately.
"Where is he? The man, the one that was behind me." With a voice like honey and solid arms and a hard chest and cold lips and a mother who loves him. Oh, no his mother. "He needs my help. His mother, she -"
"Bella," Charlie snapped, then softened, "Bella, whoever you… whoever you heard, you can't say anything. You know the rules. You know how it is."
Bella shook her head wildly, mumbling her protest. She was groggy and tired, and her eyes felt too heavy, but she knew what she wanted. She knew what she needed to do.
Bella needed to see him, find him - whoever he was.
Him and his mother - they were in so much pain. Not too mention, Bella was about one hundred and ten percent sure this mystery man had kissed her, on the neck granted, but still - she needed to know why.
She needed to know what happened. In her muddled state, she couldn't make sense of it.
"Ch - Dad, please. I -"
"No, Bella, just -" Charlie paused when he heard the tap of shoes heading in their direction; he ran a restless hand through his short hair and stroked his mustache hurriedly, "go to sleep Bells. It's been a rough day. We'll talk about this at home. Now that you woke up I'm gonna sign the school's accident report, and we'll head out."
Bella scowled, not appreciative of being told what to do and being dismissed in such a manner; but, she settled down anyway as Charlie left the nurses office to head to the main one - taking Grandma with him.
The lost of Grandma's Swan's gentle aura made her sad.
Bella promised herself then she wouldn't just let the boy go. She would find out what happened.
She would discover who he was, why he was lonely as his mother put it and, Bella would bring peace to his mother's poor soul later - she'd make sure of it. There was no way she could ignore the sheer helplessness and desperation the woman emitted.
For now though, Bella's head was pounding, she missed Grandma Swan terribly, and the world was too bright.
Her eyes closed.
Sixty-eight.
In a box in his room, stashed away in an oversized closet under a pile of clothes he hadn't touched in decades, Edward Cullen had a file of all his high school diplomas. Sixty-eight of them, to be exact.
He regretted returning for a sixty-ninth.
Outside the car windows, the lush green trees streaked by at warped speed. Edward tried to focus on that rather than the inflexible grip of both his bothers hard fingers around his arm or the loud, panicked thoughts circling the car.
Most importantly, Edward tried to ignore the monster raging somewhere deep in his chest; awakened from the heady scent of Bella Swan still clinging possessively to him, taunting and rich.
Edward, as much as he loathed it, yearned for the little girl: he lusted after her sweet aroma and the alluring pounding of her heart. Even now, miles away, the addictive rush of her veins called to him, the feel of her throat brushing against his ready mouth warmed his lips. He was so close to tasting her. He needed to taste her, Edward had never craved anything, anyone, more in all his -
Alice saw it then. Edwards resolve to hold onto his humanity wavered and his most recent choice spun his future in a darker direction.
"Jasper, calm him" she gasped, from her place in the front seat, but, the future still unfolded. The visions still played out for both of them to see.
They saw it all.
The image of Bella Swan, dead. Edward's eyes, glowing crimson with fresh blood. The search that would follow. The careful time the Cullens would wait before it was safe for them to disappear and start again…
The picture grew more specific as the monster in Edward rejoiced and clutched onto that path; propelled Edward toward it.
He saw the inside of Chief Swan's house for the first time, saw Bella in a small kitchen with the yellow cupboards, her back toward Edward as he stalked her from the shadows...let the scent pull him toward her...
A roar of utter hunger tore itself from the depths of Edward's blazing throat. The strong rush of melancholy Jasper sent his way cut the sound off before it ran its course.
"Edward, don't." Jasper snapped at his side in the backseat of the Volvo. Emmett's fingers tightened - almost painfully - in response.
"Goddammit! Control yourself, Edward." Rosalie snarled, turning to sneer at Edward over her shoulder from her place in the front seat. She directed her vicious thoughts directly at him.
Selfish, uncontrolled bastard. Do you understand what you've done to us?! How close you came to exposing us?! How much danger you've put us in? When Carlisle hears -
The mention of his father sobered him almost immediately.
Without permission, a growl erupted from Edward, pushing past his gnashed teeth and clenched jaw. It was a sound rooted in shame as much as it was a warning.
Even though Edward's mind struggled with his monstrous desire to quench the inferno in his throat and the murderous need to taste the sweet nectar of Bella's blood still stirred in him, the cravings were no longer so demanding they completely consumed him.
As Edward thought of his father, he could set aside the monster, and he was allowed to feel his remorse, his regret.
And, oh was there regret.
Edward utterly disgraced Carlisle today; disregarded almost a century of teachings, and broke a sacred trust that had taken Edward eighty years to mend after the atrocities committed in his early years.
And then there was Esme, sweet, dear Esme, with her kind heart, ready warmth and caring nature.
How would Edward face her after what he'd done? After what he almost did? How was he supposed to tell her that he had succumbed so easily? That all it took was one poorly timed gust of wind to send him on a rampage? How would she react when she discovered that it took the combined efforts of Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmet to tear him away from the girl. How would she react when she knew he actually fought his siblings - her children - in his ravenous haze? How would Carlisle react when he realized the only reason they hadn't been exposed was sheer dumb luck?
They should've been exposed; having only one teacher step out of the hallway - after his siblings had already dragged Edward away - was nothing short of a miracle. The idea that somehow in their struggle all three Cullen children had the sense of mind -however small - to keep their animalistic sounds quiet and hushed was improbable.
No, he wasn't strong enough to look into the warm butterscotch of his eyes and see disappointment replace the usual adoration there.
Edward's still heart squeezed violently as a surge of self-loathing crashed over him, almost strong enough to substitute the bloodlust.
"Edward," Jasper said, his southern twang losing it's hard edge, "don't do that either. It happens, it's what we are."
"No, Jasper you don't." Rosalie hissed with a snap of her teeth, "Don't make excuses for him. He was a centimeter away from killing her. In broad daylight. In the middle of a school hallway! Do you understand what type of damage that would've done to us? We would've had to live like hermits for years!" Selfish, selfish, selfish… Ruining our lives...
For once Edward and Rosalie were in complete agreement. Although, her complete disregard for the human's life and focus on what would've happened to them if she had died irked Edward and plucked at his already strained nerves.
"No, we wouldn't have," Alice interjected, "we just would've left the country."
After a long investigation and months of constant worry, but that specific tidbit remained unspoken.
"Oh, and that's so much better, Alice?!" Rosalie shrieked, out loud and in her thoughts.
Edward winced.
"Better than a dead girl? Yes, it is!"
Edward winced again at the reminder of what could've been, sucking in a sharp bit of air on accident. He regretted the careless action immediately as the mouth-watering fragrance that lingered on his clothes sent him spiraling once again; invading his senses, and obscuring any portion of reasoning he had managed to salvage.
Jasper sent a wave of calm in both his and Rosalie's direction. If Edward were capable of it at that moment, he would've been thankful. But all he was capable of in his state was a vague sense of relief from his more human side and just an overwhelming feeling of want from the monster.
Relax, Edward. We're almost there, just hold your breath.
"And, why exactly did you not see this coming Alice? Aren't you suppose to see this kind of stuff."
Alice's nostrils flared, her lip curled and an agitated rumble shook her tiny body; Rosalie had hit a nerve."I see decisions, Rosalie! Edward didn't decide to try to kill her. This wasn't preemptive! It caught us all by surprise! Besides, I saw what was happening anyway, and we were able to stop him before it was too late!"
"It should've never happened, period!"
"Rosie," Emmet cautioned, "come on. Jazz is right this isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it sure as hell won't be the last. Cut them some slack."
I mean, of course, none of have fucked up quite this badly or publicly. But, at least the girl's alive.
"Yes, thank you, Emmett," Edward groaned, trying once again to focus on the green streak of the passing trees rather than the memory of his cold body pressed fully against the warm figure of Bella Swan, his mouth inches away from her throat and poised to strike. "That makes me feel so much better."
Sorry.
Any biting words Rosalie prepared to fling at her husband were interrupted when the Cullen residence came into view. Even before Rosalie parked - before she even stopped the car - the Cullen children fled from the vehicle in an attempt to get away from the tortuous smell on Edward's clothes.
Edward was the fastest of them all.
He held his breath as he bolted up the stairs - trying hard to quell the urge to run the opposite direction to where he knew the Cheif's daughter would be - and, started to rip apart the reeking clothes.
Distantly, Edward heard one of his siblings (he was mentally too far gone to decipher which one) call out, Burn those clothes, Edward!, with their thoughts.
He didn't dare stop moving.
Downstairs Edward also heard a frantic Esme, worried and wondering why they had called an emergency family meeting so suddenly, asking Edward mentally what was wrong. He ignored his mother's words and concerned thoughts along with his families confusion and Rosalie's rage. The monster still quaked within him, demanding every bit of Edwards practically diminished self-restraint to keep it caged while he continued to shred the fabric off his body.
Without realizing what he was doing Edward tore his way into the bathroom. He maneuvered himself into the large tub and broke the shower handle in his haste to get the water to run.
Relief. The scorching water steamed and cascaded down his cool skin while the thick moisture clogged up his nose wonderfully, dampening the sweet temptation that stuck to Edward's pores.
He finally, finally allowed himself to relax - just a smidge.
The thirst was still there, prominent and frenzied. The war between what was left of the man and the monster still waged within him; but, with the scent diluted and the warmth from the water making him feel a little more man than beast, Edward could think objectively for the first time since he caught whiff of the girl's scent - he beat back the savage hunger that welled up in him at the memory of her scent - in that parking lot.
What was that? In all of Edward's years practicing control, he'd never reacted to a human so intensely, especially from that distance and with fresh air all around him.
What was the problem with him? Sure, he hadn't hunted for a while before today but, that didn't merit such a monstrous response. What made her blood so utterly tempting, so mind-numbing irresistible? What was it about Bella Swan that turned Edward from a redeemed demon of the night to a mindless animal? Why was this simple, unimportant human girl able to turn Edward - a family man for all intents and purposes - against his own siblings?
Rage burned in Edward as he pondered the girl and her delicious blood. Edward hated her, however unjustly such a sentiment was. He knew deep down that what he really hated was himself - but, that didn't stop the resentment that flared up within him.
Edward hated Bella Swan. He loathed the simple, average human girl that brought out the worst in him because that's all she was, a plain girl that shouldn't be able to scramble his life, his sense of self, so forcefully.
That's not entirely true though, Edward remembered with a jolt. No, Bella Swan was no normal human. It had taken the Cullens, Jasper specifically, mere moments upon entering the cafeteria to realize this.
Almost as soon as walking into the lunchroom, Jasper had been assaulted with emotions so deep, grief-filled and all-consuming that only moments after sitting down Alice had to escort him out the cafeteria.
Between Jasper's constant battle with their way of life and the added emotional onslaught from the Swan girl, Jasper had been dangerously close to losing control.
Edward too had been shocked upon seeing through his brothers mind the types of emotions the doe-eyed girl was feeling; emotions seemingly too tortured to come from any small town girl.
As the water began to chill Edward remembered the look on Bella's Swan face earlier today; her delicate features twisted and splotched from some kind of phantom pain, her long mane of hair thrown over her shoulder, small body hunched over the table as if bracing herself against an onslaught.
At the time, Edward had felt nothing but pity and intrigue; obviously, Edward felt bad she had such intense negative feelings, she was too young to be experiencing such sorrow, but a part of Edward couldn't help but brush off the girl's feelings.
Humans - especially teenagers - were vapid and overdramatic. Edward had been sure whatever it was that bothered the girl, though it might've seemed like the end of the world to her, would pass eventually.
It hadn't been until a couple of minutes later, after the quivering girl had been escorted out by that awful Jessica Stanely and the kind Mayor's daughter, when Edward walked out to the parking lot to go check up on Alice and Jasper that he realized the Swans girls meltdown had been more than simple teenage angst.
"Edward, what did you see from the girl's mind?" Jasper had demanded as soon as Edward was close by, pausing his pacing momentarily before continuing his short aggressive, strides.
Alice had been there as well perched on the hood of the Volvo, thin brows scrunched together in concentration. Edward had seen a few flashes of the future from her mind but, the visions were watery and vague. Nothing was set in stone, though what Alice was looking for Edward hadn't known.
"Nothing, I didn't bother to look, and you know I prefer to block them out." Edward dismissed, "Jasper do you really think you should still be here? Go hunt. I can get your absences excused."
Jasper had snarled in agitation, eyes wide and black as night, his legs not breaking stride.
"Didn't bother to look," he hissed, "just perfect."
Edward hadn't paid the hiss any mind; he had been pulled into Jasper's thoughts. They were chaotic and stunted; different topics and concerns all pulling Jasper forcibly in different directions. Edward did his best to follow along.
His brothers raging bloodlust and shame were easy enough to understand, seeing as they were a common occurrence in Jasper's mind. The power struggle between the nature of Jasper's empathic abilities and Jasper's sense of peace was also easy enough to decipher; Edward could feel how the intense emotions Jasper picked up from the girl swirled and pulsed within him, instinctively searching for some kind of outlet while the empath mentally wrestled to bottle them up before he could unleash the negative emotions on Alice or Edward himself.
Then there was the massive confusion and disbelief centered around the Swan girl at the forefront of Jasper's frantic reflections. Jasper had recognized the emotions Bella experienced in the cafeteria as secondhand, radiating from her but drawn by some other source.
Even deep in the recesses of Jasper's brain, Edward hadn't been able to tell how Jasper had come to such a conclusion.
Edward wasn't sure he bought Jasper's theory of the Swan girl being some type of empath, different and tortured maybe, but not gifted. He had felt the steady rising of his brother's bloodlust, strengthened by his agitation and the phantom sense of loss and torment picked up from the Swan girl, consuming him almost as strongly as it did in the cafeteria. Edward was sure once Jasper settled down and hunted a more plausible explanation for her agonized emotions would come to light.
"Jasper," he had warned, finally pulling himself from the depths of the empaths mind. Edward's thirst had mounted to uncomfortable levels from his time following Jasper's thoughts. Being in Jasper's mind while his brother succumbed to his vampiric instincts was something Edward tried to avoid at all costs. The sensitivity of their abilities fed off each other and, between them, amplified their thirst whenever one of them was vulnerable. Edward had felt how dark his own eyes had turned and, how the flames that flickered in his throat had risen due to Jasper's thirst. "Go hunt. We can - we can talk about this later, okay."
Jasper had left then without another word as an unusually subdued Alice headed toward the building across the lot to check on Bella Swan, filled with pity for the girls suffering and frustration at her flighty visions. Edward had seen from Alice's mind that she knew something big had been coming, or at least the possibility of something coming, she just couldn't pinpoint what it was.
I'll let you know what it is when I figure it out Edward, Alice had mentally said, It's big, and it's inevitable I can feel it. But, there's so much unknown… so many decisions that haven't been made. It's up in the air. I don't - I don't understand it.
Edward scoffed bitterly as Alice's words from earlier played on repeat in his skull, guilt and disgust settled heavy at the bottom of his stomach like lead. Well, at least she understands now. After an eighty year sabbatical, the monster came out to play.
Disgusting.
Before he could continue to wallow, the faint stirrings of another conscious appeared right at the edge of Edward's gift. Edward would recognize that mind anywhere - it was Carlise and, he was close.
Suddenly, Edward was torn.
He saw two faces in his head, side by side. One was his own; the red-eyed monster he once was, a killer of other killers, a being that thought itself to be God. The other was the face of a kind being - someone devoted and dedicated and good. A man filled to the brim with light and forgiveness.
There was no resemblance between the two faces. They were bright day and blackest night. Good versus evil. The fallen against the prodigal son. The underserving versus the giving.
Edward versus Carlise.
Before he even realized what he was doing Edward was out the running shower and into his room in a panic, opening drawers and pulling out whatever fabric he got his hands on first.
Edward, are you leaving?
The question directed at him shocked him out of his mindless mission and broke the dam of Edward's temporary block on his gift; the thoughts of his family scattered around the house flooded in, loud and untamed as ever. It was a miracle he was able to block them out for the amount of time he did in the shower.
Idiotic! Selfish! Stupid! Moronic fool! How dare he?! It's one thing to slip up but, to do so in the middle of the day? At a school?! We're already watched more closely than any other vampires. He might as well have sent an invitation for the Volturi to come fry us, that would've been just as effective as that stunt he pulled today!
Wow, Rosie is pissed. Well, Rosie is always pissed about something, my little spitfire... but she's really pissed. I guess I can understand to a certain degree. I don't really know what happened today, either. I mean, what was that? Losing control like that isn't like Edward at all… Well, I'm not gonna lie it does feel kinda good to know that even Edward isn't completely perfect.I'm not the only one who loses control every once in a while... Wow, that's kind of a shitty thing to think… Oh, well. It's not too bad. It would be if the girl were dead but, she's not. Just a close call, we got there in time. Hmm, I guess that a win on our part. We did save her life and I technically did beat Eddie boy in a fight today. And, he wasn't holding back today either. Yeah, definitely a win.
Edward palmed his eyes; fighting the urge to march downstairs and rip one into both Rosalie and Emmet, and trying to shake off the assault of their self-absorbed thoughts. He knew that at heart they were caring, morally strong and loyal people (Rosalie a bit less noticeably than Emmet). But, they had the habit of forgetting that not every situation revolved around them. Not everything was about them. They were suited for each other like that.
It annoyed Edward to no end.
Then there were Jasper's musings, distraught and tightly wired. At least now he was well fed which made his still unsteady stream of consciousness a bit easier to follow which wasn't necessarily a good thing.
I've never seen anything like… Is it possible… Humans with abilities aren't unheard of, but how? Grief, guilt, anguish, desperation… where did those feelings come from? No one else in the room was feeling it - they weren't her feelings though… it had to come from something… someone. But, who? It was so violent, so intense… how does she live with it? The pain, the loss, the agony. Where did it come from… how...? I have to ask Carlisle. Would he know? Maybe Eleazar could help… he might know a thing or two of humans with gifts… I didn't even think... I've - we've never encountered...
Edward shut himself out from Jasper's head, concentrating on turning Jasper's monologue into nothing but a buzz in the background. He could handle Rosalie's and Emmet's narcissism - he could not handle a reminder of the girl. Even if a part of him - an alarmingly large part of him - was curious about whatever phenomena Jasper discovered in Bella Swan, he couldn't think of her now, not with the delicate balance he found between man and monster so fragile.
It was Esme's thoughts that gutted Edward.
Oh no, my poor son. He must be so guilty right now, knowing he almost hurt that little girl. Why did it happen though? Does he need to hunt more? I should've known he wasn't feeding enough. I should've noticed he was struggling with thirst.
Guilt shot through him, fire-hot and painful. He was abominable, a demon in every sense of the word. God, Esme was blaming herself. Edward would've preferred the disappointment and anger rather than the compassionate thoughts. He would've preferred hell-fire to that.
Edward never wanted Esme hurting, not because of his mistakes - not anymore.
Edward, Alice tried again, her bell-like chime drowning out the piercing whispers of the others in his head, the vision is solidifying. It's getting clearer, are you really leaving?
What other choice did he have? He could not face hurting Esme or Carlisle again.
"You tell me," he snarled, accidentally ripping the shirt and jeans clutched in his claws.
You can't. Not like this. Alice pleaded.
"Watch me."
Edward felt Carlisle getting closer; his mental voice grew louder, his state of mind became clearer. Edward began to move again, with more purpose if that was possible.
You don't have to go. From what I've seen Bella won't realize it was you who... well .. you know.
"You can't be sure of that, Alice." Truthfully, the possibility of her recognizing Edward didn't even cross his mind. Regardless, he was glad for another good reason to leave besides his own cowardice.
Well I'm not a mind reader, Edward and you're changing your decisions so much I can't see clearly, but yes. From the bit I saw before you got that stupid idea to book it to Alaska – Ahhh, so he'd be heading to Alaska – she won't mention what happened. I don't think she'd recognize it was you.
"Doesn't change anything."
I've seen the future, Edward. I'm not sure what's happening, what you've set in motion, but what I said earlier today hasn't changed. Something big is happening, something centered around you and you can't run from it, not forever. It's bigger than just a lapse in control.
"I don't care, Alice," Edward hissed, pulling on a sweater over his bare chest. He wasn't concerned with her cryptic messages or whatever premonition she saw. All that mattered was getting away before he could hurt anyone else - human or family.
The sneaky, manipulative little pixie knew this and switched tactics, aiming to hit Edward where it hurt.
They deserve better than this, Edward. They deserve an explanation. I won't stop you if you want to leave after, you won't be able to stay away long anyway I know that much but you owe them - owe us - at least an explanation.
He stopped again, right in the process of zipping up his pants, reeling.
Alice was right, of course, she was - she hit the nail on the head. He had messed up, had put his siblings in danger, almost ruined the life they had all chosen to live; the life Carlisle spent hundreds of years building. They deserved some type of explanation, even if he couldn't give a valid one other than he was just incredibly weak.
Edward also owed them an apology as well.
Said vampires mentally called out to him, annoyed and clueless, wondering what the brother and sister were talking about.
"No secret conversations," Emmet boomed, "It makes you sound like a whacko, Edward."
Well, even more of a wacko than usual.
"Thanks, Emmet," Edward said dryly.
No, he would not leave his family hanging in the aftermath of his mistake, not without seeking their forgiveness first.
"Anytime."
Carlisle pulled up the driveway and Edward, with hunched shoulders and chagrin etched into the solid, unchanging lines of his face, made his way to the living room at a sluggish, human pace.
He would buck up, make his amends and only then would he run like the coward he was - far away from Bella Swan.
Authors Note: There it is! Chapter 3! How'd you guys like my little Edward Interlude? I figured it was a good idea for the development of the story to show Edward's state of mind and, to show how Bella's gift now changes the way they meet and interact later in the future. Our dear Bella will def be doing some investigating!
OH AND! I'm so sorry for disappearing like that on you guys! Spring semester has been kicking my ass and today is the first day in almost two months that I can actually breathe! Sorry for the long wait! You won't have such a long one for the next chapter!
Now that that's said…. OMGGGG GUYS! My last chapter got such a strong response! I'm shocked already I have over 50 reviews and 50+ people following the story (That's halfway to 100!), AND it was only chapter 2! Wow! Thank you guys so much I never imagined I'd get such a good response so early in the fic. I expected to have like five people reading it.
Even though I wish I could give a shout out to everyone who reviewed my last chapter it's going to take up some space (there were so many eep!) but for everyone who did review Thank you again everyone for your insightful reviews, your amazing compliments, for being so accommodating about the direction of this story, for your continuous support and for clicking on this fic - I'm honored. Author's notes won't usually be this long promise haha.
This chapters special shoutouts to Zaphray who gave me a hello from Germany (Guten Tag!), GalitAvigail from Israel (Shalom! - I hope that's right), jansails, SunflowerFran, and sweetsouthernsongbird! Thanks, guys!
For those of you concerned with lack of E+B don't worry there'll be plenty of that ship next chapter *wink wink*
Until next time!
- PrettyLittleHeads
