Thank you guys for all the kind words! You truly made my day!
I apologize for the short-ish chapter...I was up at all hours studying for a Geology midterm that I now need to go fail. Enjoy the chapter! I live for reviews!
xoxo
-Jill
PS: amble on over to LJ or look up twi-ction on here..read her new story "Mistaken Vows" it is AMAZING..for some reason I couldn't get it to link here.
Edward's POV
I took the seat reserved for myself and my siblings and waited patiently for Carlisle to explain himself. It took him a moment before he finally sat down, I tried my hardest to read his thoughts but over the years he had become pretty skilled at blocking me. Finally, Carlisle let out a sigh and sat down behind his rather large desk.
I stared into the eyes of the only father I ever knew and what I found there shocked me. Regret was evident on his young features and it saddened me to see him so distressed about something he had caused. His eyes were soft and apologetic as he looked back at me, the amber of his irises were beginning to darken signaling that it would probably be a good idea if he hunted soon. The idea of Carlisle hunting was something I found hard to believe, I wasn't sure if I would have believed it at all if I hadn't seen it myself a handful of times. His kind soul and mostly calm demeanor led us all to believe that Carlisle would have the most difficult time giving into his animalistic tendencies. Myself, and my siblings, always found it slightly preposterous to think Carlisle capable of hurting something… that's why it was that much more difficult to see him so guilty about what he had done. It didn't matter if it was a deer, a human, or one of his own children Carlisle Cullen hated hurting anything.
"Edward, I did what I did because I was trying to protect our family as well as Bella. I know it was a selfish act of, one would say, desperation, but believe me when I say my aim was never to hurt you. Your hurt was simply a very unfortunate side effect of my actions and for that I am truly sorry." Carlisle told me. His eyes never left mine as he leaned across his desk and placed his hand on my shoulder. It was a rare, fatherly, move for Carlisle. He was always fatherly, we had done the cliché things like playing catch (though we played a few dozen feet apart), and we talked constantly but when he hugged me in a way, like he had done then, it truly showed which parts of his humanity remained intact.
"How could that have possibly saved us?" I whispered. Carlisle leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his palms against his eyes as if he was exhausted, which I knew wasn't true. He seemed to be considering his answer very carefully and it frustrated me that he had mastered blocking me so well.
"Because, Edward, by Bella not knowing anymore about us, besides what she already knew, you saved her from searching for us. Also, if your letter had fallen into the wrong hands the results could have been disastrous. Not only did you put where we were planning on moving but you put Bella's full name on the outside of the letter. If the nomads had ended up coming through town anyway they would have discovered our home and your note, which would have led them to Bella and then to us. Can you see why I did it Edward?" He asked. I did understand, I just didn't really want to admit that I did. I felt foolish for thinking that it was a good idea to tell Bella where we were going, or to mention her name at all in my note. For some reason, though, I just had to make sure she knew that I loved her. I never wanted her to think that I hadn't cared deeply for her. None of that mattered now, though, because Bella and I were, once again, in the same town.
"She's here…Bella, she's teaching at our high school." I blabbed. Carlisle nodded, unsurprised,
"Alice called me. Edward we can leave again if you wish." He told me.
"No." I said quickly. I didn't want to move again, nothing could make me do that to my family again. My siblings still resented me for uprooting them from our great life in Forks, they never said it to my face (except for Rosalie) but I knew that they all blamed me for our sudden departure from a home that we all adored.
"Very well, what do you suggest we do?" Carlisle asked. I took a moment to collect my thoughts. I looked around the room, taking time to observe all of the paintings that hung on the walls, and read the spines of a few books that I knew Carlisle had to have memorized by now. Finally I took a deep breath and answered my father's question,
"We stay. We go to school, you work, we live our lives. I love Bella, Carlisle and nothing will change that. After all, we have nothing to fear anymore, we destroyed the two nomads and the third was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere for him Carlisle, the female even said he was dead." I told him. Carlisle nodded but I could that he was still worried,
"There is no way to know, for sure, if what the female said was the truth. But, if James is, in fact, dead then I guess what you said is true and that we have nothing to fear. But Edward, I'm telling you this now that just because we can see the tree line does not mean we are out of the woods yet. She could have been lying, we could have not looked hard enough, though I don't see how we could have missed him with Alice on our side, all I'm saying is you be careful. Especially if you intend to explore something with Bella." Carlisle looked at me and I could see in his eyes that he only wanted what was best for his family and for Bella.
"I don't know yet what to do about Bella. I don't know if she has moved on, if she still has feelings for me, or if she just wants me to stay away from her forever. Though, she acted like she wanted me back in her class first thing tomorrow morning." I couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of Bella in her teacher mode. I had felt a rush of pride, as soon as the shock of seeing her had worn off, when she had first addressed the class. Her confidence had increased exponentially since I had left, perhaps she was better off without me after all.
I stood up from my seat, the conversation seemed to be at it's end and I had quite a bit of thinking to do. Carlisle made no moved to stop me as I made my way to the door,
"Edward, whatever you decide, make sure it's for the best for the both of you. You're a smart boy, but you're still a boy…don't let adolescent feelings cloud your judgment, you know when to do the right thing, I trust you." He told me. I offered him a weak smile and nodded,
"I know. Thank you Carlisle, and, though I don't think you should have kept the truth from me, I'm glad you explained yourself." I said. He inclined his head and I left closing the door softly behind me.
Flashback
--
"WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!" I screamed as I held the female tightly on the ground. Her hair was the color of fire and her eyes were black as obsidian. She hadn't fed in awhile and it was clear that she was longing to get to the nearest town to feed. It had taken us quite a while to catch up with the group of nomads that had driven us out of Forks. If Alice hadn't seen them killing our entire family and Bella then we probably would have stayed.
"I'll never tell." She sang in an annoying sing-song voice that grated on my nerves. I heard a painful yell from less than a half of a mile away. I knew the voice did not belong to a member of my family and I was thankful for that. She thrashed in my grip,
"LAURENT!!" She screamed. One down, one in my grasp, one nowhere to be found. Her nostrils flared frantically as she writhed primitively on the ground beneath me. I growled at her, finally letting my animalistic side bleed through my carefully sculpted human façade. I felt like killing her without answers, I didn't care, I was furious that she was one of the reasons I had left Bella.
"Tell me!" I yelled. She spit in my face and I shook my head back and forth to remove her filth from my face.
"James will never be caught, he knows that he can outrun you and outsmart you. He's stronger, and more cunning that you can ever hope to be. The great Cullens, HA! You think your family is so great, you think you are so much better than we are just because you can abstain from human blood! It's only natural to crave it Edward!" That took me back a little,
"How did you know my name?" I growled. She let out a loud cackle,
"We know all about you Edward…we. know. Everything." She made it a point to drive those last three words home as she continued to laugh. I was slightly scared, I would never admit it. In that moment she was the most disgusting creature I had ever seen. I reached down and wrapped my fingers around her head, with a resounding rip her laughter was silenced.
Bella's POV
--
It had been such an exhausting day that I all I wanted to do was go get some dinner and a drink and watch a movie. I, technically, needed to grade papers but I was pretty sure 'vampire love interest randomly back on the scene' was grounds enough to ignore the pile of mistake ridden papers for the evening. The sky was beginning to darken as I pulled into the parking lot and, for once, I welcomed the darkness of the evening.
The rest of the day had gone alright. I hadn't seen any other Cullen siblings but, then again, I didn't exactly leave my room until the final bell of the day. My students were kind and I only had to raise my voice a couple times at the freshmen. Edward was never far from my mind, of course, and I wondered what he was doing at any given moment of the day. He promised me that he would be back in the morning and I really, sincerely, hoped that he kept his promise.
But, what would he say when he found out I had a boyfriend? What did I think now that Edward was back in my life? Would I just drop everything for him? Would he even ask me to? Had he moved on? For all I knew he had some vampire vixen held up in his room…someone as old as he was that could carry on an intelligent conversation with him. I was just a human, and, as much as I didn't want to admit it, he was probably better off with a vampire just like I was better off with a human.
I put my car in park, grabbed my overnight bag, and walked up he porch steps to my boyfriend's town home. Knowing him he had probably already eaten, but I was starving and ready for a night out. I was excited for a normal human night, full of normal human things. My news could wait for another day. I knocked twice and, when I didn't get an answer, decided to let myself in.
"Hey James? Are you ready to go? I'm starving!" I called as I shut the door behind me.
