Hello and welcome to IDBiV Outtakes, Oneshots! Here you'll find scenes that either just didn't quite fit into the flow of I Don't Believe in Vampires, or that fill in the little blanks or questions you may have had here and there. They will not necessarily be in chronological order, but I'll post pre-reading details/suggestions/spoiler alerts before each one. Got a suggestion/request for an outtake? Either leave me a comment or send me a PM! I can't promise I'll be able to write an outtake for all suggestions, but I DO promise to take them all into consideration!
Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
All original characters, plots, and the storyline contained within this derivative work are the property of Lazykate. This story may not be reproduced or reposted without permission from the author.
xoxoxoxoxo
This is a very special outtake in that it's dedicated to a very special person…IDBiV super-fan and all around sweetheart TwiCharmed! Tomorrow (11/28) is her birthday and I'm thrilled to be able to present this outtake as a gift to her, as a little token of my appreciation for everything she does for the fandom and for being such an awesome person in general. Happy Birthday hon!
This outtake essentially brackets Chapter Eleven of IDBiV, if you've read it this outtake will be spoiler-free. Remember Jacob…in the cemetery…and everything that happened after that? This is Edward's point of view.
Edward's POV – November
Goat Rock was a U.S. Wilderness Area, a rough unforgiving terrain that cowed even the hardiest of hikers. It was one of our favorite places to hunt when we were in the area, due to the abundance of game and absence of humans, particularly this late in the year when snow had already fallen in the higher elevations. Emmett especially liked chasing bears through the dense woods, and it was one of the few places where hunting actually felt like fun, as opposed to a simple quest for sustenance.
I normally enjoyed myself quite a bit when we hunted there, but I wasn't enjoying myself at all today. I was too far from Bella, and my mind didn't let me forget it for a moment.
We'd spent many hours deep into the night making love, and I still marveled at how she instinctively responded to me, fell apart under my touch...and how she loved me. If I did end up living forever, I knew her love was one thing I would never take for granted. It was a miracle in so many different ways, something that I could think about for endless hours and never grow tired of. She was a miracle.
After Bella had finally fallen asleep, exhausted, I'd held her gently in my arms and called quietly to Alice.
She'll be fine, Edward! she thought back at me, and immediately my mind was flooded with images from Alice's visions: the two of them laughing as Alice applied makeup to her beautiful face. Bella, on the phone. Eating yet another dinner prepared for her by Esme. And then my returning to her Sunday morning. Alice was utterly confident that the three of them could keep Bella busy enough that she would barely notice my absence.
I shook my head, knowing otherwise. There was something supernatural connecting Bella and I, and although I might have more anxiety about our separation, I knew nothing could successfully distract her from it completely. If it weren't for Emmett's insistence, and my own knowledge that Esme, Alice, and Rosalie were more than capable of taking care of my mate, not even brute force could have dragged me away for the weekend.
Now, though, two hundred miles southeast of Forks and Bella, I could feel my unease growing. I hunted half-heartedly, taking down a large buck and finally even a mountain lion, but my heart wasn't in it. I could hear Emmett's mental eye-rolling at my disinterest, and knew that Jasper was keeping his distance from the waves of worry and unhappiness that were pouring off of me. Only Carlisle was hunting nearby.
When I'd taken down another deer, I decided that I'd had enough for the day and began walking slowly back to Emmett's Jeep, where the last trail ended some miles distant. We'd made plans to swing around to the northeastern side of the park after today, since much of the game would have fled our immediate area by nightfall.
I hadn't gone more than a mile, hiking through the thick trees at human speed, when I heard Carlisle's quiet mind behind me and stopped to wait for him. The gentle tenor of his thoughts had always had a reassuring effect on me from the moment I first began to hear them, partway through my change. Carlisle's mind was a deep, fascinating place, but it was always calming, and I let his thoughts influence my own. He wasn't worried about me, he wasn't frustrated as Emmett was, he simply understood my restlessness and accepted it.
"I think Emmett's effectively scared off anything worth hunting in this area," he commented when he was close enough to speak aloud.
I shook my head; once Emmett had quenched his thirst on these hunting trips, he inevitably started playing with the local wildlife, chasing it through the forest for the fun of it, and generally acting like a complete buffoon. Jasper oftentimes joined in, stalking Emmett with military stealth until he got close enough to tackle him, usually taking down a few trees in the process. I didn't normally participate because stalking games were no fun when I could follow the hum of their minds like a homing beacon.
Carlisle fell quietly in step beside me, his thoughts easy and unconcerned. He was thinking about his work schedule for the next week, about Esme, and about me.
"Just please don't tell me that she'll be fine," I finally sighed. "I know she'll be fine. But being away from her like this...it's the furthest I've been from her in months."
"I understand," he replied gently. "You're not having irrational worries as much as you're physically responding to being apart from her."
"Yes," I said immediately, pleased that he'd been able to define the gnawing tug inside of me so neatly. "Rationally, I know it won't be detrimental to our relationship if we're apart every now and then. I'm sure she'll have a good time with a girls' weekend, especially since she and Rosalie have come to an...understanding. But it's as though I'm having a involuntary reaction to being this far away from her. Does that ever get better?"
"In time, yes. There was a time when I couldn't stand to be apart from Esme. Granted, I had to worry about her newborn instincts, but when she finally came to accept and love me, it was more than that. Only decades of being together, of gradually making the unconscious realization that there's no rush, that we have centuries more ahead of us...then it became a little easier. We don't enjoy being apart, but it doesn't cause the anxiety it once did."
"But Esme was a vampire," I said heavily. "Bella...anything could take her from me in a split second. An accident, illness...and I couldn't bear it, Carlisle. I couldn't exist without her."
He accepted that without any thought that I was overreacting. What I said was the truth, and in his centuries of existence, Carlisle had seen mates torn apart, and the irreparable damage done to the one left behind. The thought of it happening to me troubled him deeply. "We can go back tonight, if you like," he offered.
I shook my head. "There's no need for us all to cut the trip short, but I may run back on my own."
"I understand. Alice may not, though."
"I think both Bella and I will overrule any objections Alice may have to my early return."
"Indeed." Carlisle smiled, and in his mind he pictured Bella, and how he'd already accepted her as his next daughter, that he was overjoyed we'd finally come together. It was a comforting image, and one that made me feel better almost instantly. "Perhaps you should call her when we get back to the Jeep? I think we just barely get a signal there."
At his suggestion, I immediately began moving more quickly, wanting to hear Bella's sweet voice in my ear, to have reassurance that she was truly okay. We never bothered to carry our cell phones when we went this deep into the wilderness, they were just an extra thing we might accidentally lose during the hunt, and it wasn't as though we could get a signal that far out anyway.
Carlisle kept pace with me easily. He had no interest in Emmett's silly games either, and his thoughts turned towards calling Esme. We'd just reached the Jeep when Emmett and Jasper burst from the forest in the other direction, laughing and shoving each other. Despite my preoccupation I couldn't help but smile at my brothers; it was a rare pleasure to see Jasper so lighthearted. When around humans in general, or more recently with Bella in the house, he'd had to concentrate so much on resisting the burn their scents provoked that he was quiet and reserved more often than not.
As I opened the back of the Jeep and began rummaging through my backpack, looking for my phone, I heard the quiet press of buttons as Carlisle turned his own phone on and dialed into the voicemail. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I turned my attention towards finally unearthing my cell phone, and concentrating on Jasper and Emmett's continued horseplay.
"Hey man, at least I'm giving you a choice here. You lost, I won, fair and square. Now either give up the grand or you're drinking the first mountain goat we come across."
I shuddered in revulsion and heard a corresponding noise of disgust from Jasper. "I'll give you the money when we get back to Forks, you know I didn't bring that much with me."
"Goat blood it is then!" Emmett crowed. "Don't worry, I'll help you pick out a nice stinky one…"
...Bella!
That singular thought from Carlisle's mind pierced me, ramming through the slight mental block I'd put up against his thoughts, and the flash of worry and anger that accompanied it made my body react in an instant. My fingers reflexively closed around the cell phone I'd finally found, crushing it with a protesting squeal of plastic and technology. I dropped it, and was at Carlisle's side before it even hit the ground.
"What is it?"
She's fine now, Edward, please...
"Where is she?" I roared into Carlisle's firm expression. Terror like I'd never known before poured through my body, knowing that something was wrong with Bella, and I was too far away to protect her from whatever it was.
"Edward, stop, please."
I vaguely felt Emmett and Jasper's hands gripping my arms, and I realized I'd been practically shoving Carlisle back against the Jeep. They had me restrained before I could react, and I only struggled for a moment before I froze, then whipped my head back to Carlisle.
"Where. Is. She?" I asked carefully, willing myself to get all the information I needed before I took action. Bella, Bella, Bella...I couldn't panic now, I couldn't let her down again.
Carlisle gently put his hand on my shoulder, although Emmett and Jasper's grips didn't relax at all. "She's fine, Edward, I promise you that. Please calm down and listen to me."
"Tell me now," I ground out.
My mind was immediately filled with the sound of a piano concerto by Mozart, one of the few things Carlisle used to keep me out of his mind. It usually made me smile, because it was fairly rare that Carlisle felt the need to block me, but now it only heightened my dread.
"Bella was visiting her father's grave and had an...encounter with Jacob Black. It would seem that he's joined the other Quileutes in phasing."
I froze, the awfulness of his words washing over me. Jacob...a wolf now...Bella!
"He somehow discerned that Bella is now acquainted with us, and tried to take her to La Push for what he felt was her own safety. Esme, Rosalie, and Alice intervened. They've taken her back to the house."
I started struggling against Jasper and Emmett again, panic threatening to sweep over me and drag me under. This, this was exactly what I'd been terrified would happen...that the mutt would either injure her in his unbridled frenzy as a young werewolf, or that any of the Quileutes would find out about Bella's relationship with my family. And I'd left her anyway, left her and he'd seized the opportunity.
"Is she hurt?" Emmett grunted out, getting a tighter grip on my bicep and shoulder.
"I don't think so, I'm sure Esme would have said so if she was, or they..." Carlisle cut off his words then, but I roughly shoved my way through the thinning streams of Mozart and pushed into his mind, hearing what he'd almost said aloud.
...they would have taken her to the hospital.
At the idea of Bella...my mate, the only true reason for my continued existence, being injured, broken, put in the hospital by that mangy cur...it was at that moment that the last shred of humanity in me dissolved and all my vampire impulses snapped to the forefront. I could feel my eyes turn to the inky black of a bloodthirsty killer, the terror that had gripped me exploding into rage. There were only two thoughts in my mind now, and both were imperative: the instinct to protect my mate; and the absolute need to destroy, to obliterate the threat to her.
"Hold him!" I heard Carlisle shout as though from far away, as I fought against the hands that were restraining me, preventing me from getting to Bella. I knew the feral snarls were coming from me, could hear the panicked shouts, but they didn't matter. Every fiber of my being was straining toward the northwest, to where she was, where she needed me.
There was a wrenching, the whoosh of air, and then an explosive thud that knocked all the unnecessary air out of my lungs as I was thrown to the ground, the three men around me overcoming my struggles even as I fought against them. I bared my teeth, I snapped, I raved like a madman. I batted away Jasper's desperate attempt to calm me mentally as though it were an annoying insect. For the first time, I fought violently against my family, because they were trying to keep me away from Bella.
"We can't get him back to Forks in the Jeep like this."
"We can't let him go either. We have no idea what he might do in this state."
Oh, but I knew, and the moment the idea came to me, the monster I'd become pounced on it with dark glee. I wanted to murder, I wanted to burn. I wanted to raze all of La Push to the ground, ripping the throat out of every last Quileute to ensure their eternal damnation for posing a threat to my mate. Not until the sky was black with their ashes and the ground red with their blood would I stop. Not until every iota of threat they posed had vanished from this earth.
Jasper groaned as the violent plans tore through my mind. "Carlisle, do something, please..."
"Edward!" Never had I heard Carlisle's voice like that, harsh as a cracking whip, echoing the centuries he'd lived, the side of him we never saw. "Stop this immediately! Bella is in no danger at this moment, but you can't get to her until you've calmed down! Obey me, Edward!"
It was his final words, spat out in a tone of such cold authority that for a moment I was disoriented, unconvinced that it had been my gentle sire who'd uttered them. I stared at him in disbelief, shivers still wracking my tense frame, slowly becoming aware that my arms and legs were pinned to the ground by Jasper and Emmett, Carlisle's hands were pressing against my chest. Even with rage fueling me, I couldn't physically fight them off.
"Let me go."
Carlisle's eyes, which had blackened and become as cold as his voice, softened slightly. "We can't. But we can take you to Bella. Bella is safe. Bella is at home. You need to go to her, straight to her."
"I'll run..." I said thickly, trying to process his words. He was right, I needed to be with Bella, she needed my protection. I would eliminate the threat after I'd seen for myself that she was unharmed.
"No, we'll take you. Now, all of us. We'll go together."
Yes, together. I could make absolute certain of the Quileutes' extinction with my family's help. "Please...Carlisle..."
Carlisle nodded and I was hauled unceremoniously to my feet by Emmett and Jasper. I gave a moment's consideration to trying to break free and run as I was dragged over to the Jeep, but their grasps didn't relax at all as I was shoved into the back seat and bracketed by their unyielding forms. Carlisle was in the driver's seat in a flash of movement, and then the Jeep's engine roared as he turned around and we headed back down the rutted trail.
It was a miracle that the Jeep wasn't torn apart as Carlisle pushed it unmercifully over a trail that had barely been passable when we'd crept up it earlier in the day. I could hear his thoughts, a steely grim determination that they would get me back to Forks. I could hear the shock in Emmett and Jasper's minds, could see how I'd appeared to them. They'd never seen that murderous creature inside of me, one that would sacrifice anything and everything to protect his mate.
When we finally got onto Highway 12, Carlisle pushed the Jeep ever harder, to the limit of its engine and of the twists, turns, and blind spots in the road. We were at the I-5 interchange within fifteen minutes, just as the last fingers of twilight gave way into night. I swallowed back more pleas that they let me go, that I be allowed to run through the forest to get to Bella, instead of staying confined to these meandering roads that only lengthened our journey.
We were hurtling down the entrance ramp to the interstate, accelerating hard, when a sudden flash of red lights ahead had Carlisle's foot immediately jamming on the brake, slowing the Jeep so abruptly that it might have broken a human's neck. The tires squealed in protest, and both Emmett and Jasper cursed aloud.
...traffic jam...
That thought from Carlisle's mind, and the wave of frustration that accompanied it, along with my brothers' momentary distraction, were all I needed. I wrenched first away from Jasper, since I knew his reflexes and response would be quicker, rolling swiftly over Emmett's hulking body and throwing myself out the window, breaking the glass as I went. The moment my feet hit the pavement I was running, uncaring of any humans who might see me, ignoring the shouts of the three I'd left in the Jeep. I turned to the northwest and plunged into the forest, drawn toward Bella as steadily as a magnet would pull a needle.
I'd thought that once I was running, I'd feel a modicum of relief, to know I was going to her as swiftly as was allowable by the laws of science and nature. But I didn't, my anxiety only increased, and I pushed myself on, running faster than I ever had in my life.
Thoughts of murder returned to my mind more than once, and as I crossed Highway 8 between Montesano and McCleary, I very nearly turned to go directly into the heart of the reservation. It would be so easy to go there first, to wipe them out under cover of darkness, before a single wolf had the chance to phase in defense. I could eliminate the threat so that I could go to Bella with an untroubled mind, so that I wouldn't frighten her by letting her see the vampire I truly was.
But the thought of Bella frightened by anything quelled me immediately, and I skirted the easternmost edge of the reservation before turning again to the northwest and running the last few miles to Forks.
I could smell the faintest trace of her scent the moment I came within a few hundred yards of the house, and I could hear the steady beat of her heart when I burst through the doors. That sound was my beacon, but I couldn't feel her mind, and that terror pushed me up the stairs, flinging open my bedroom door so violently that it was nearly torn from the hinges.
My sudden entrance startled her, her deep brown eyes were wide and her face was pale. She was there, she was whole, but I couldn't hear her. I snatched her up in my arms, pulling her to me, thankfully remembering at the last moment to be careful of her fragile human body. I carried her to the bed, pressing frantic kisses against her lips. I needed to feel their warmth, to feel the blood that pulsed just under her delicate skin, to know that she was safe.
"Bella, I can't… I can't hear you." My voice was desperate, but I couldn't moderate it. "Please Bella, look at me. Please let me in."
Long dark eyelashes untangled and her eyes were open to me, letting me in. I plummeted into her mind...falling...always falling...and letting her catch me.
xoxoxoxo
I held her in my arms later, carefully mindful of the damage I now knew Jacob had done to her wrist. The cur would pay, I would see to it myself. But for the time being, it was enough to have her safely beside me, with my ring on her finger. This woman who would now be my wife.
My vampire brain was hammering madly through many channels even as I reveled in the peace that Bella always brought me. I owed Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett apologies, even though I knew from their thoughts that it wasn't necessary and that they weren't expecting any such thing. All three of them understood very well the vampire instinct to protect one's mate, and each of them would probably have reacted in much the same way.
I was deeply in debt to Rosalie, Alice, and Esme for protecting Bella...I'd seen their actions in her mind, and was humbled by gratitude that almost brought me to my knees. Esme was as kind and gentle as Carlisle, and Rosalie may not have been her best friend, but they'd both helped Alice to defend the daughter and sister they already loved. There hadn't been a moment's hesitation and I knew they would have fought to the death, had it come to that, to protect my mate.
Part of me was ruefully disappointed that our plans had changed yet again, although there was nothing disappointing about hearing Bella say yes to my proposal of marriage. We'd known we'd be married by the year's end, we'd discussed it, but it was an entirely new feeling to have that symbol of our commitment glinting on the ring finger of her left hand. She was mine...my wife, my mate, my life.
I picked up her left hand and kissed the ring before turning it over and pressing another kiss into her palm. "I love you so much," I murmured against her soft skin, almost too quietly for her to hear.
"I love you too," she said softly. "Nothing will ever change that."
"Nothing, and no one," I vowed. I hadn't told Bella about any of the various ways I'd pondered torturing Jacob Black to a slow death, there was no reason to put a shadow over her happiness now.
She shook her head and a tiny grin twisted her lips. "Silly vampire. No one will ever come between us either. It will always be us. Edward and Bella."
I groaned and began peppering soft kisses down over her jaw. "Say that again."
"Edward and Bella. Cullen. Edward and Bella Cullen."
Her words shot a thrill through me, a reaffirmation of something I'd known to be true, but couldn't get enough of hearing. "Again?" I begged, moving to lick the hollow of her throat.
She gasped. "Bella Cullen. Married…oh…to Edward Cullen. Your wife. Yours."
I growled softly as arousal began pushing my more tender feelings to the side. I hadn't intended on making love to her, although I wanted to, as I was sure she was exhausted both mentally and physically from all that had occurred that day. I couldn't help myself, though, anymore than I could keep from touching her, kissing her, reassuring myself that she was safe, she was in my arms, that we were whole again. "Bella…"
"I'm okay," she replied immediately, somehow knowing exactly what I was thinking, as though she were the mind-reader. "I want you too. Please…"
Words weren't needed after that, they never were when she opened herself to me, body and soul. I ripped my clothes away in an instant, and then removed hers more carefully, moving slowly around her injured wrist. The moment she lay nude beneath me, the heat of her body scorching the ice of mine, instinct began to tug at me again and I had to keep from going too quickly. But I wanted to take her hard and fast, a frantic reminder to prove to myself that everything was all right.
Evidently I moved too slowly, because she moaned beneath me, reaching around to dig her fingernails against my unyielding skin, mutely begging me to push inside her. I hesitated only a moment more between her thighs before I flexed my hips forward in one sweet thrust, seating myself completely inside her.
The heat, oh the heat…always that was the first thing that hit me like a wrecking ball. Bella's warm trusting body, wrapped around every inch of me, her arms and legs gripping me tighter…this was heaven. I could hear both the wordless hum and pulse of pleasure in her mind, and the soft pants and little pleas that fell from her lips.
As always, it was simultaneously too much and yet never enough. I could never get enough of her.
I plunged into her as deeply and quickly as I could, setting my movements according to her mind's reaction. I didn't need to open my eyes to know when her head fell back in ecstasy, but I did. I didn't have to listen for her heartbeat and breathing to accelerate to know her climax was close, but my body was so attuned to hers that it matched hers breath-for-breath. And when she did come, in an exquisite release where her body sang in harmony with mine, I fell apart inside of her.
Bella's breaths were almost sobs, but I felt in her mind the joy and utter contentment we made together, and I knew that we were safe in our little world. Even her final release was like an aphrodisiac, and I could have immediately taken her again.
I didn't, however, instead gently easing myself from her body and crooning to her until she fell asleep, her mind slowly fading closed to me as she drifted into unconsciousness. I wanted her to rest, to get as much sleep as possible before morning came.
Because downstairs, I could hear the busy thoughts of six vampires preparing for a wedding.