Hey guys, Belle here...obviously. Anyway, I have some GREAT news: my new website is up. It's full of stuff for my CHAPTER-ED stories, meaning that the only stories I wrote with multiple chapters are included in there. So that includes War, By Moonlight, and it's sequel (don't get too excited yet, it's not posted) By Starlight. That will be available soon, though, and you know I'll tell you guys when it is. So go ahead, go to freewebs. com/xlolliluvax! YAY!
Oh yeah, and thanks SO much for the reviews: 85 for just three chapters! And for all you hotshots out there who are saying "85 reviews? PSHH...I get that many in one chapter!" Yeah, I have one thing to say to you guys...
Screw. You.
Cause ya know what? Eighty freaking five reviews is a lot for me, okay? So why don't you take your big Paramount studios away from my little Indie films, and go get nine hundred reviews on your next chapter, cause obviously this little story is too unfamous for you. POWER TO THE TINY AUTHORS!
Oh yeah, and since I'm rattling on, SHOULDN'T YOU ALL KNOW BY NOW THAT THIS IS NOT, AND I REPEAT, IS NOT A STORY BY STEPHENIE MEYER? If it was, don't ya think I would have more reviews?
...
Ah, just read.
Ah, damn.
My feet sloshed angrily through the amazingly deep mud puddles, already soaked to the point where I believed it would surely take ages to dry. But even as the thousands of freezing droplets pounded on my now-throbbing head, even as the dark brown wet spots that were quickly accumulating on my stockings seemed to multiply every half second, I didn't stop once or even slow my pace.
No, I was much too stubborn for that.
Although I was quite pleased with myself for delivering the oh-so-clever, spur-of-the-moment, not-so-accidental spill of my deliciously dark wine on the front of Lauren's crisp white church dress, I had, in my haste, failed to realize the harsh conditions of the world outside of the protective inside walls. The sky had, since I had stepped into the Ballroom, decided that now was the perfect time to pour out all of its crystallized, freezing, wet goodness in buckets. In damn large buckets, too.
There is a saying that "idle hands make for the devil's work". My mother, being the stern woman that she is and always was, had repeated it on more than one occasion in my childhood-usually when one of us kids was slacking or refusing to do our chores. She had said that the saying meant children who were left with nothing to do allowed minds to wander to less than appropriate behaviors.
And so I thought of Edward Cullen.
Of course, it wasn't as if he had ever managed to escape my mind this evening- although I tried to force him out every time he made an appearance in my thoughts. This disturbed me, as it had when I'd previously had the same thought earlier this afternoon; why was I not able to get him out of my mind? He was just another soldier; another boy. Just another charming, witty, clever, upstanding, confident, ridiculously good-looking boy with incredible taste in novels, that just might, by any slim chance, be interested in me.
Oh, shut up, Bella. My mind, of course was aways there to shoot down my glimmers of hope.
But, of course, I always tried to counter-attack. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? I snorted, and pushed the opposing team back to the dark corner of my mind.
And so I did.
I imagined Edward Cullen, grinning lopsidedly (and simultaneously gorgeously) at me, with not one more person in the room. It was just me and him, and of course, a sunny, cloudless sky. His beautiful bronze hair shone in the sunlight, a piece hanging loosely in front of his dazzling eyes. Those emerald irises, boring into my own as he moved toward me, lips forming soft words...
"Bella!"
I stopped my daydream for a moment, surprised. Well, that was weird. Of course, amazingly realistic and altogether perfect...but wierd. Definitely not how I imagined him sounding...at least, in this scene. I'd expected his voice to be soft; alluring; unbelievably velvety smooth, as it always was when he was speaking. But now, he seemed almost...frustrated, worried.
But, of course, I shook that though off, and got back to the part where he was almost ready to kiss me.
"Bella!"
Okay. Definitely not fitting.
And, when I thought about it, his voice did seem rather distant, like he was far away. And, to add to the strange qualities of the sound, he sounded tired. Did I catch a hint of breathlessness? Well...I suppose it's just another weird factor to this abnormal night...
"DAMN IT, BELLA, WILL YOU PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST STOP WALKING?"
"Oh!" Realizing that this was, in fact, not a figment of my apparently active imagination, and that someone in real life was actually speaking to me, I turned around. At least I tried to, except, in my shock, I found myself barreling towards the wet, sludge-coated earth. At least I was lucky enough to land in an abnormally large, foot-deep muddy puddle that had accumulated on the side of the road.
Not.
Edward immediately rushed over to me, a worried look on his perfect face (had I not been trying to cough up all the wet dirt that had gone down the back of my throat, I would have informed him that it wasn't right for angels to be worried). He stooped down beside me in the mud-no doubt ruining his uniform-squatting at the edge of the puddle. "Are you hurt, Bella? I truly did notmean for you to slip-I just wanted you to slow down!" He paused, his features changing as he chuckled. "You actually run quite fast for a wine-chucking, amazingly stubborn, apparently inattentive girl, you know that?"
I smirked, not amused. "Ha. Ha." Maybe if I hadn't been covered in gross muck, my hair a complete mess, and my favorite dress not completely ruined, I would have been in a better mood.
He sensed my annoyance, and grimaced. "Sorry."
I didn't reply.
He continued. "But how was I supposed to know that you are completely uncoordinated? And, if you had even been paying attention to your surroundings, maybe you wouldn't have been so surprised. It's really not my fault, when you think of it. "
Well, yeah I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I was paying attention to my unbelievable daydream about this incredible soldier that seems to have me infatuated in less than six hours. "Well, that's not true! I was...well...I was..."
"Sure." He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"No! Really! I-"
"Look, Bella, just because you are shocked by my mere presence, does not mean that you have to fall into a large puddle of mud." He was really enjoying himself now, with a large grin plastered on his face.
"Ugh!" He was impossible. Frustrated and saying no more, I tried to get up, wiggling this way and that and pushing behind me with my forearms. But to no avail. All I ended up doing was looking like a complete idiot, sliding and slipping in the stupid puddle.
Edward watched me with amusement for a few moments, that perfect eyebrow pleasantly arched. After seeing that I would, in fact, not be getting up any time soon, he stood up. Now he was towering over me in my current position, like some sort of giant. A gorgeous angel giant, of course, but I tried not to pay attention to that.
He didn't notice my staring, and stuck out on long, pale hand. After a dazed moment, I realized that he was offering it to me as an escape from this death-trap water hole. Gratified, I took it, eager to get up and squeeze the water out of my thousand-pound dress. But, as I leaned all my weight on to my legs and Edward pulled my upper body up, I suddenly collapsed back into the water, the mud yet again splashing all around me. This time, it didn't matter, because I was currently focused on the excruciating pain shooting through my left ankle.
I winced. I looked up at Edward accusingly and whimpered, "You broke my ankle!"
His face was no longer kidding, but slightly pale. "Shit." He paused, looking at me quickly. "I mean shoot."
He was worrying about rudeness when I just told him I'd broken my ankle? This boy was unbelievable. "Edward," I said slowly, looking up at him with serious eyes, "I don't give a damn whether you swear until the world stops turning. But will you please, for the love of God," He smiled at my use of his words from earlier. "Just get me up from here!"
After a few blank stares, he understood. Gosh, this boy could be dense when he was panicked, I thought briefly, until I had to focus on him lifting me up onto my feet.
Or foot, I suppose, depending on which way you looked at it.
"Okay," I said, looking him directly in the eyes to explain the plan. However, instead of starting to give a lecture on what we were going to do and how we were going to do it, I was lost. Unable to speak, I just gazed dreamily into those amazing emeralds, still dazzling through the pounding rain. I could stay here forever, if only I was able to...if only he'd let me.
"Have a plan, Miss Swan?" He broke me out of my reverie, and all too soon. He wore that amazing crooked smile, the one that made my heart melt until I thought there would just be a small, helpless puddle.
I paused, trying to think while he was looking at me like that. "Well...I...Um..."
"Exactly. Which means we'll be doing things myway." I was about to ask what exactly he meant by that, until he began his "master plan". To start, he took off his coat to reveal a crisp white, airy shirt, placing the thick, coarse coat around my shoulders. Instantly, I felt cozier and...safer. Something about having a part of Edward, if not him himself, so close to me, was very warming, like nothing would happen to me.
But then my wish to have Edward so close to me was granted, as I soon found myself being lifted off the ground. I screamed, watching as he started to walk, me cradled bridal style against his chest. "Put me down, this instant!" I wasn't worried about him dropping me-of course not-but of us being caught in this rather compromising position. After all, had I not know him for less than seven hours?
He only responded to my panic with mere amusement. "Ah, I believe you have found your voice again, Miss Swan."
"Put me down!"
"Nope."
"Please?"
"Nope."
"Ugh! You are the most insufferable, intolerable, annoying man on this planet!" I huffed and made sure to glare at him. Those stupid, beautiful green orbs only stared at me back, wicked humor dancing in their irises. I gave one last stubborn sigh, for the sake of being stubborn, and finally rested my head against his chest.
His chest, I soon found the moment I lay my head against it, was hard; chiseled, the thin, now-soaked cotton fabric of his shirt not giving any sort of cushion. I wondered vaguely if all soldiers had this sort of chest...or if it was just another display of perfection by Edward Cullen. And then, as I thought, I answered myself: it was probably the latter.
Okay, so maybe I could get used to him carrying me, if I tried hard enough.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What's your favorite color?"
I frowned. "Come on, Edward. Don't coddle me with annoying, easy questions. You probably don't care to know what my favorite color is, but inside you're itching to know my deepest, darkest secrets...that's the idea of Lies."
"But I do want to know your favorite color."
I sighed. As we had been walking, I suggested playing a game to pass the time. Of course, he having been at war for the past few years and having no time to play silly little games (and plus, come on: he was a guy), it was I who suggested playing a favorite childhood game called "Lies".
Lies was, in fact, about just the opposite. You were to tell the truth, the only truth, and nothing but the truth. You took turns asking questions about serious things, and if the other person lied or couldn't answer, it counted as a forfeit and you won, usually just for amazing bragging rights. It was something I'd only played with my sisters, when I wanted to know something they were hiding. The idea that they wouldn't want to play never occurred to me; Swans were, and always had been, extremely competitive people.
Edward and I were playing for something, though, and I was determined to win. We agreed that, by any slim chance, if he were to win, he would get his choosing of how he would pay me back for injuring me. If I however, was the winner, then he would not be paying me back at all (I never liked people giving me things, and "paying back" was just as bad).
"Fine. My favorite color is blue. Happy?" To my surprise, he actually looked like he was storing that in his brain, that it actually mattered. Quickly, I continued. "But I'm not going easy on you, so don't count on 'what's your favorite book'."
He laughed. "Go ahead, shoot."
I had a million questions buzzing around in my brain-far too many to ask in just one game of Lies. So I picked the easiest one. "Why did you go to war?"
His face got serious for a moment, and he didn't respond. I worried that it was too personal of question for this early in the game. but before I could say anything, he gave a half-hearted smile. "The reason a lot of men do: I wanted to do something for my country, to keep it safe from anyone who threatened our strong bond."
He sounded just like my brother. Before going to war, when we would ask him why he was doing this, he would respond proudly, his chest high, "I am going to war because it's right. Am I not a coward if I sit back and watch while my brothers are killed doing the deed that I would not?" We would cry no, that he wasn't a coward, just stay with us...stay with us Larry...we need you here...
The memory of him stabbed at my heart, and, in my effort to soothe that, I spoke with bitterness. "But didn't you ever stop to think about what your family would say? How they would be hurt by your absence? Don't you know what it's like not to know if someone you love isn't coming back?"
"I believe that's more than one question," he said coldly, his eyes hardening.
I wanted to argue, but the look on his face told me not to tread into this water any deeper. "Fine," I said, a little less harshly. "I guess it is your turn by now."
"What is your beau's name? The one that you were looking for today on the porch of the grocery shop."
I froze, and I could tell that he noticed my now-tense posture. I was stiff in his arms, I was sure, and he tightened his hold. "I-I wasn't looking for my beau...I was looking for my brother, Larry. It was a lost cause, though, because he's not in the army..." I stuttered, suddenly nervous. I didn't know why, but somehow it just felt different discussing my beau (or lack thereof) in front of Edward.
His face seemed unnaturally curious now. "Larry? If he's not in the army, why were you looking for him? And where is your beau, if that's not who you were looking for?"
I smirked, relieved to repeat his earlier answer. "I believe that's more than one question."
"But-"
"Ow! You touched my ankle..." I whimpered, looking up at him with what I hope looked like sad, helpless eyes.
I was lying. The unbearable shooting pain had reduced to a monotonous throbbing over the time span that we had spent walking; or rather, the time span that he had spent walking with me in his arms. The rain, too, had slowed, and it was now only a slight drizzle.
My little stunt worked, though, to my great pleasure. His face immediately softened, the beautiful green orbs that were his eyes melting into a delicious mix of liquid gold and peridot. He smiled slightly, and bent his head down to kiss my ankle gently. "I apologize deeply, Miss Swan, for being both the cause and continuation of your injury."
The place where his lips touched my skin burned with such ferocity that I could hardly hold back the gasp that appeared in the back of my throat. I ached to touch it, to feel the amazing fire that had built just from him touching me with the slightest of pressure, but was afraid that he'd never want to speak or go near me again.
"I suppose it's your turn, now."
His statement brought me out of my thoughts, and I immediately snapped back to attention. "Right," I said, and began to think.
It didn't take long. I knew that this had been a question burning in the back of my brain the entire time we had been walking; even the entire time that I'd known him. "Edward," I said slowly, making sure I didn't come across jokingly. "Edward Cullen, I have a question to ask you that will require a lot more explanation than a one-word answer. Can you promise me that you'll answer it to its fullest extent?"
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
"Edward, why do you care so much about what happens to me? And don't tell me you're being polite, because I know of quite a few men who would have just ran away and left me lying there in the street."
He paused looked straight ahead, as if he were thinking very hard. "I..." He began, but paused yet again.
"You...?"
Finally, he looked down at me, his intense gaze penetrating mine. "Throughout my three years in war, Bella, I've seen more than you probably ever will in your entire lifetime, even if you were to have another hundred years to live. I've seen my mentors, my idols, my best friends drop dead beside me, and never have I ever stopped to try to help them. They're already gone, Edward, I would say. You have to keep going. They can help themselves. I'd not look twice at them again. And so it has been that way for three long years." Another pause. "...Until now."
My eyes widened.
"I don't know what happened, Bella, but somehow, something within me told me to follow you when you ran out of that place back there. And then, not knowing whether you were hurt or not-the very idea that I had caused you pain in any way-made me stop and try to help you up. It was a strangely involuntary force, the need to help you up again. It's been that way since I met you this afternoon, and I don't know what's causing it..." He trailed off, and I sensed that he was now in deep thought.
"Wow," I breathe, and it was the only thing I could utter.
He had just described the exact same way I felt about him. It was like an invisible, yet ultimately powerful connection; minus the fact that I was the one being saved, and not him. But even so, it was nice to know that he understood what I was feeling.
"Yes, I believe 'Wow' is an accurate way to put it." He chuckled and looked down at my face again, noticing something. "And now, Miss Bella Swan, you shall go to sleep. You can use the rest-we've been talking for quite sometime."
"But I still have more questions for you!"
"Ah, and I you. But you need to sleep. And don't worry, we'll finish our game another time-I can promise you." He laughed, a musical sound that might have been the best I've ever heard in my life ( I made a mental note to make him laugh more often). "And besides, why would I give up when it's my turn?"
"I'm going to take you up on that promise..." My voice was already groggy with sleep, and I could feel the dark unconsciousness starting to sweep me away.
"Of course. And Bella," He smiled beautifully. "Goodnight, Goodnight, for parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say goodbye, till it be morrow..."
Romeo's sweetly spoken words were the last thing I heard before I was drifting away.
Ha! Extra long chapter, and I really hope you like! I personally enjoyed the last part there, when Edward is quoting Romeo (how many of you got that, by the way, before Bella told you that those were Romeo's lines?)
Anyways, thanks to all who have reviewed; see? I TOLD you that reviewing makes me update faster!! So go ahead, push that fantastically gorgeous blue button on the left-bottom side of the screen!!
Belle