Chapter 3
Bella POV
The second the words left Edwards mouth, I saw the stars start to dance before my eyes. I didn't know quite what was happening, apart from my head was spinning and the white sparks before my vision was gradually clouding into darkness. Was I fainting? I hadn't fainted since I was young, when I and Renee moved to Arizona. The heat made me faint frequently, until I got older, and got used to the temperature.
I did miss the heat - I realized how cold it was in Forks on the way here, when Renee had to crank the heat in the car right up. We had never had to do that, the whole time we'd had the car. We'd hardly had to use the windscreen wipers either, but the steady drizzle of rain made it impossible to keep the windows clear.
Anyway - back to the dilemma, I'd fainted, and Edward was holding me, after declaring he would make me love him. What was he going to do with me now? More to the point - what could I do to stop him? Nothing! It was one of those weird half and half states, where I was conscious enough to talk to myself in my head, but I had absolutely no idea what was going on around me. I just hoped I'd be in the comfort of my mother's arms when I got out of this.
It's one of those things; I felt absolutely fine before I fainted, and it would just happen out of the blue, and when I woke up I would feel awful. I already had a horrendous head ache, my stomach felt like it was going to turn itself inside-out, and my arms and legs absolutely ached. Why was this happening to me? I never felt this way after I'd fainted, from what I could remember. I felt my eyelids begin to flicker, and groaned. I didn't want to even attempt to open my eyes with this migraine I had. The light felt as if it was burning through my eyelids
"Bella?" I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard that rich velvety voice that I craved to hear, as much as I hated to admit it, literally right next to my ear. I peeled my eyelids open, blinking against the offending light. We weren't in the living room anymore. We were in a bedroom. Were we still in Carlisle's house? I really did hope we were. I didn't want to be anywhere alone with Edward, as nasty as it sounded. There was something telling me I should trust Edward, and I wanted to listen to it so badly, because I definitely felt a certain pull to him - but I didn't know the man! Could I trust the Volturi that they had paired us up correctly?
People were right. Mating was a beautiful thing, and I wished that I could love Edward someday. I wanted that sort of love. But I didn't like the fact that the choice was taken away from me. I wanted to be able to meet a man while buying a coffee, while out shopping, while out with friends. I got sick of having to tell every boy I'd ever got close enough to that nothing could ever happen between us, because I was destined to the Volturi. They left me alone pretty quickly, after that. I'd cry for days, at the unfairness of it. Why me? I asked myself constantly. When I finished school, I had very few friends left. Angela, mostly. She was the one truest to me, the whole time. She would try to get me excited for finding my mate, so it wouldn't seem so daunting. If it wasn't for her, I'd have been absolutely petrified. Like I wasn't already.
"Imagine; someone to love you, unconditionally, forever. I'd love that, Bella, you're so lucky!" She'd tell me. I'd just shake my head, tears dribbling down my cheeks. I'd probably never see Angela again now. Maybe I should ask him. I knew it was unlikely I'd ever see Ben and Mike again - the only boys that understood my situation, and didn't dis-own me when I told them about the Volturi thing - because they were boys. I knew male vampires were extremely possessive, and didn't take kindly to other men hanging around with their mates.
"Where are we?" I asked, remembering with a start that we were no longer where I fainted. My voice was scratchy and raspy from having not used it for however long I'd been out.
"Our house." He told me, and I shuddered. 'Our' house? I looked around the room I was in. Tastefully decorated, I'd give him that. If I had the choice, my decorating choices probably would have been something along the line of this.
"I hope it's to your liking. I decorated it with you in mind, from what you said you liked in your portfolio."
"It's lovely. I do like it, thank you." I told him, finding it very sweet that he'd decorated the whole thing to please me. I craned my neck and shoulders up off of the bed, as my waist was encased in his arms, creating a tight cage making me literally immobile. I smiled at him, to show that I was grateful. He beamed back at me, and I was thankful for my good manners. I didn't want to come off across as a spoilt brat - that was the last thing I needed someone who was eternally bonded to me to think.
I took note of the way we were laying. I was on the left side of a bed, and he was on the right. Well - we were both sort of on the left. I had my back pressed to his chest, and surprisingly found myself quite glad of his cold body temperature. One of his arms was twined tightly around my ribs, and the other on my hip around to my waist. My ribs felt like they were pressing painfully into my lungs and as much as I'm sure he wasn't meaning to, it was really restricting my breathing. I tried to shift my waist slightly, to test how much I could move, and Edward immediately held me tighter and his breathing became heavy, probably thinking I was trying to get away. As silly as it sounded, I didn't actually want to try and get away. The temperature... Yes, his temperature was the reason.
I sighed, and reached a hand back to touch his cheek. I wanted him to relax, so he'd maybe release me slightly. If I thought my breathing was a bit restricted then, I don't even know what it was now. He leant into my touch and his breathing gradually returned to normal. His arms loosened slightly, and I thanked the lord for that, even if it was only a miniscule amount. I removed my hand and put both of them between my thighs, hoping it could pass off as they were cold. Secretly, I just needed to be sure they wouldn't wander back to touch him.
"I've waited so long for you, you're not leaving." I heard Edward say very quietly under his breath, seemingly more for his benefit than mine. Almost as if he was assuring himself, reminding himself.
"You're mine." He whispered, and I shuddered. I actually didn't mind being 'his', surprisingly. I never really thought I'd enjoy being addressed as someone's possession.
"Do you think you could learn to like it here?" He said, louder, actually talking to me this time. The question shocked me slightly, and he was patient while I thought carefully about my answer. What did I say as not to offend him? Lie? Tell the truth?
"I don't know. I don't find it as bad here as I thought it would be... I think I could." I told him, blushing at admitting something to him that I hadn't even truly admitted to myself.
Edward POV
When Bella had fainted, the first thing I'd done was panic. I know that I should've done anything else, you always hear that you should just keep calm in those situations, but Bella was my newfound mate! Of course I was going to panic! I yelled for Carlisle, who was there in seconds, only to have him chuckle in my face, telling me she had only fainted. If I could've blushed, I wouldn't have. Actually, honestly - I wouldn't. I was more worried about Bella than my self-pride.
She woke up slightly, which comforted me enough to lure me out of my complete frenzy, but went straight back to sleep. I couldn't remember what it was like to sleep. I'd seen inside people's heads while they were sleeping - it wasn't a very interesting place to be. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Carlisle about the fact that I couldn't see into Bella's mind. It was like a blessing and a curse, at that moment, I wanted more than anything to be able to see inside her head, to see what she thought of me.
Anyhow, I got to hold my angel in my arms for that little while longer as I carried her back to our house, the one I had built for us. I figured it would be better if she was asleep when we got to the cottage, I had a fear she'd try and run away the second we got outside if not. Of course I'd catch her, but the sentiment behind it would hurt far too much. She had to stay here with me.
Leaving was not an option anyway. Humans who are newly mated usually have a bit of a shock when they realize that from the second they see their mate; they literally can't leave us. Humans get ill, really ill sometimes and usually re-think their decision to leave their mates. I had a feeling that unfortunately my beautiful angel may be finding that out for herself, she had no desire to stay here with me, so why would she? Of course she'd try to leave!
I was abruptly shifted from my thoughts when I heard a quiet groan.
"Bella?" I spoke quietly, hopefully, glad she was finally awake so that I could talk to her some more. Talk her into loving me. She opened her eyes drowsily. So beautiful. She blinked against the light, slowly.
"Where are we?" She asked, quietly, her voice raspy from having just woken up. She looked so cute, like this. So vulnerable, all tucked up and safe in my arms. Only my arms. It'll only ever be my arms.
I pondered for a second or two on what to say - what do I call it? It will definitely always be 'our' house, but is that how she'd want me to introduce it? I'd spent weeks making this house perfect. The second I knew what she liked from her portfolio, I literally rushed to find things to her liking. Nothing seemed good enough, but it was as close as I could get to perfect. I only ever wanted perfect for her.
"Our house." I decided to tell her simply, just to see what her reaction would be. She shuddered lightly in my arms, and I felt my expression crumble. Was I really that revolting to share a house with? She took a second to look around the room, and I smiled bashfully inwardly, hopefully. Would she be proud of me for finding everything she liked? I hoped she would be.
"I hope it's to your liking. I decorated it with you in mind, from what you said you liked in your portfolio." I told her, hoping to draw a half decent reaction out of her. Did she not like the way I had set it up? It seemed impossible; I'd made sure I'd read that portfolio cover to cover, there was nothing I could have missed.
"It's lovely. I do like it, thank you." She told me, twisting slightly in my arms so that she could smile up at me. Her smile was truly breath-taking. So gorgeous. And all mine. Only ever mine. My heart soared. I was beaming on the inside, but didn't quite want to absolutely terrify her with my answering smile.
I instead just settled for smiling brightly back at her, but almost had a panic attack when she tried to struggle out of my arms. What was she doing? She was all smiley with me, now we're back all of a sudden to what we were at earlier? Had we not got past this? I knew this was a very intimate position to be in, but I'd only just found her. She had to understand that when vampires first find their mates, all they want is to be close to them. I figured that pressing myself up against her like this, my chest to her back, would give me some time to be close to her, and she wouldn't have to be awake for it. Little did I know how hard it would be for me to let her go, when she did try to get away.
I tightened my arms quickly, to just before the point I knew my grip would be painful for her. I didn't want her in any type of pain and I was certain she could not wiggle away from me now. Never.
My breathing went shallow but fast, and Bella sighed and reached a hand back to touch my face. I was touched and shocked by her sweet gesture, after she'd just attempted to get away from me. I leant my cheek into her hand, relishing in the closeness and warmth of her skin. I gradually calmed down, and much to my dismay, Bella took her hand away and place that along with the other one between her legs. I deduced that they were probably cold, I knew how cold my skin could be. But I wanted it to be my hand between her legs. Not her own. Silly Bella, she didn't need that now she had me. I'd willingly do anything for her. But then I remembered that she was a human; all I'd do was make her cold.
"I've waited so long for you, you're not leaving." I said under my breath, having to stake my claim on her somehow, even if she couldn't hear it. Her breathing hitched and I wondered if our position meant that maybe she'd heard it... But she didn't protest.
I couldn't wait to make Bella mine. We'd most likely have to be kept away from my family and society for a few months, vampires can get pretty crazy when other men talk to - scrap that, when other men so much as look at - their newly bonded mate. It's pretty intense.
"You're mine." I whispered so quietly that I was sure she wouldn't hear it - although I couldn't be certain, we were huddled as closely as I could manage to get us.
"Do you think you could learn to like it here?" I asked her gently, praying she would say yes. My voice came out a lot louder than I anticipated, vibrating around the near silent room. I held my breath, waiting for what she had to say next. I don't think my Bella could be as cruel to tell me she would always hate it here.
"I don't know. I don't find it as bad here as I thought it would be... I think I could." She informed me, with that beautiful blush spreading across her face. My cold, dead heart warmed to the point the heat was spreading through my whole body, and I felt all tingly with love for this tiny creature I held in my arms. I beamed instantly, nuzzling my face into her hair and breathing in deeply. She was mine. She could learn to like it here. She would learn to love me. Suddenly, the best day ever was looking up even more.
