AN: Dear Readers,
I have several things to say. First of all, this is the final, edited version of this chapter. Big thanks to my Beta for editing this giant. (Over 12,000 words. It's a person record lol.) Secondly,I fully realise how long it's been since I last updated. This has mostly to do with school swallowing up my life. School and sleep have been my main activities for the last couple of weeks and somehold as welltimes sleep has to be put on . Believe me, when I say that I have not forgotten about this story and work on it whenever I don't fall asleep on the couch and wake up in a pool of my own drool only to realise I'm running late for school, I can't find my shoes, and am out of coffee. This are - and will continue to be- some stressful couple of months, and I hope you will bare with me through them.
As far as your reviews go: Thank you so much for all the kind words, encouragment, and for not murdering me over the course of this month as I have left the last chapter in a (for some people) quite unacceptable place. You guys, rock! Really. And I hope I can keep true to your expectations.
Also check out Starlight841's story "Don't let me Down". It is a companion piece for this story that centers around Emmett and Rosalie and is worth the read!
I'll shut up now. Enjoy!
Love,
Alverdine
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. All rights belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 6: The Turning Tide
-E-
It was early, windy, and cold. The sun just now started to emerge from the murky waters of Puget Sound, colouring the dreary cloud bed over the city in luminous orange and gold. Standing on the damp sand and pebbles of the beach I felt like I had stepped in a vibrant painting. The bright colours of the sky dripped in the water as it swelled and relegated, purling as it hit the shore.
The winds were angry, the waves lathered with white tips, a clear sign of their majestic aggression as they crashed on to shore, the soughing like a bundle of raised whispers not pacifying but outraged; beckoning me to come closer like a chorus of Sirens. I did. I stepped closer to the water, my shoulders hunched against the icy wind, my hoodie not sufficient in repelling the November cold.
I was alone with nature's morning temper making my own insignificant amongst the driftwood and other debris that littered the sand. This beach was neither dry nor golden. It wouldn't make the cover of a travel magazine. It didn't adhere to the beauty ideal of tropical bliss and sunny paradise. Nevertheless, it was so beautiful. It was almost shocking that someone wouldn't be able to see how beautiful it was in its stunning rawness. And despite the fact that it didn't look nor sound welcoming it was.
It voiced what I felt; the frustration, the disappointment, the confusion, and the ignominy all caused by my own ignorance and her intricacy, or perhaps obscurity was a better word. I had gone over it a thousand times in my mind, the things that had happened the previous evening. I tried to catch where exactly it had gone wrong, for it had started so promising. I failed every single time. I just didn't see it. Perhaps that was the whole problem. She numbed my senses, turned me into a fool so easily.
I closed my eyes replaying it in my mind once more, like it could change anything. Everything had been going perfectly! She had been sitting next to me, her strawberry scent tickling my nostrils, my hand begging to touch the soft swell of her cheek, the hollow of her throat. She wasn't pretty. She was beautiful. So breathtakingly beautiful. All I could do was stare. Looking couldn't hurt. I was only going tolook. But then…she had returned my glance, setting me on fire and there had been only so much I could do to resist. My hand had reached out to move a lock of hair behind her ear and plastered itself against her skin, her warmth seeping in every pore, my heart speeding up. She had gazed at me with her chocolate eyes, now so dark, so pure that I could almost taste the sweet bitterness on my tongue. And then her lips…her tempting full lips. I had wanted to see whether they were as soft as I imagined them to be... I still wanted.
She had taken shallow breaths and closed her eyes as I inched closer. She had wanted this. Unmistakably. And then a switch had flipped and she had drawn back, desperately clawing at my hand, her eyes not sultry but scared. I had severely overrated my abilities to get a girl and it was strangely unsettling. She was there, beckoning me, calling me, like a bloody Siren and I was stuck on a treadmill. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't reach her, nor escape her.
I sighed, starting a sluggish trot till I found the cadence that provided for a warm-up and I realised how much I had missed this. Running. Really running. Not on the hamster wheel that was the treadmill, but outside. In the weather –whatever it was; stirring the ground under my feet, fighting the wind that offered resistance, actually getting walls, no peppy music. Just the waves and space, endless space.
My feet struck the cold ground faster. My breathing came out in shorter intervals, my lungs trying to keep up with my demands, the wind almost forcing the air down my throat. I had to slow down or I was going to be winded way before my ten mile goal. But I couldn't stop. I was like a steam locomotive that had gathered speed - was still gathering speed - and I couldn't find the will to pull the breaks. There was not a treadmill button that could force me to run well structured eight minute miles, there wasn't Jasper who had the canny ability to find the perfect rhythm, nothing to keep me focused, nothing but my will and concentration, which were sorely lacking. My thoughts were with Bella and my feet moved accordingly, as if trying to outrun her and miserably failing. I might not have been on the treadmill, my mind still was, my life still was. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't outrun it and I had to stop some time.
When I finally came to a halt I wasn't sure the distance I had just covered. My body trembled from the exertion, my legs feeling powerless, my lungs protesting. I took a few deep breaths; my fingers pressing into my diaphragm to soothe the cramp there I hadn't noticed I had up to this point. My chest still heaved as I tried to force myself to take controlled breaths, my heart badgering my ribcage thud by hollow thud. I looked around, squinting in the wind. The Olympic Mountains across the Sound were a strange purple in the context of the golden sky. It looked disquieting, yet magnificent.
As the pain in my side slowly subsided, I noticed I was near the Golden Gardens, now desolate. It was beautiful here in the summer. Full of people. That was why I usually took the path that led into Carkeek Park. Through the trees, shielded by the canopy. But not today. Not this early. I snuck a peak at my phone. Eight AM. A woman trudged past me, her head full with pink curlers. She stifled a yawn while her pug trudged behind her and sniffed the sand with its flat snout.
Glancing back over the Sound I dug my heel in the sand as a new set of waves crashed onto shore and tried to fight their way inland, clawing at the sand only to be dragged back and leaving a faint shade. Only to try again. Futile attempt after futile attempt. I observed for a while, waiting for it to give up, but the waves kept sweeping back and forth inexorably till the umpteenth flounce managed to make me step back, filling the little indentation in the sand left there by the heel of my running shoe. I frowned, watching the water retreat, but the puddle in the indentation remained. My jaw fixed.
How often could I do this? This going back and forth, till I finally got some footing? How often did I have to inch closer only to be swept back? I had to give up some time. There was only so much I could do to fight my body and the same went for my mind. There came a point, where it could go no longer. The aches became too hard to ignore, each breath didn't seem to quite reach the lungs anymore. Of course one could fight it. One could push that threshold. Push it, but never rid of it entirely.
I stood there until my heart stilled. I could no longer feel every beat against my ribcage, my lungs stopped fighting me as I ordered them to be filled through my nose only and some of the strength returned to my legs. Until the burning sky was wrapped in dark clouds and the wind turned menacing. Until a heavy drop hit me in the nose and I blinked. Time to go back.
I followed the imprints my running shoes left in the sand on my way. Ignoring the pain in my already aggravated side that set in sooner this time, trying to match every footstep with the previous one. As if that could eradicate my tizzy. It couldn't. And so I ran faster, not only away from Bella, but from myself. I realised that I was frustrated with myself at least as much as I was with Bella. The pregnant clouds ruptured at the seams and obese drops hit the sand in dull flops, first two, then six, then a million, till my clothes were completely drenched.
The back door of the house blew out of my hand and swept shut with a bang that made the windows vibrate. I flinched hoping I didn't wake the whole house, only to discover that the house was already awake.
"Goodness, Edward! You're soaked!" My mother exclaimed scurrying to meet me at the door.
"I know," I huffed trying to catch my breath and noticed I was dripping all over the spotless black tiles. "I'll clean that up."
"First clean yourself up," Mom chided pulling me further by my sleeve.
"Edward!" My father greeted, "Not really the weather to go for a run is it?" He took a sip from a sizeable mug, his hair a daunting disarray, flat on one side wild on the other, had he stuck his fingers in the outlet. He was wearing a dark blue robe with the elegant initials E.C. embroidered over his chest. It looked too short. I furrowed my brow.
"Are you wearing Mom's robe?" I asked.
"So what if I am?" He shot back and had my diaphragm not been in cahoots with my stupid mind to kill me, I would have burst in laughter at the haughty tone in which he replied.
"Whatever suits you. I'm going to take a shower," I said instead and kicked out my shoes, my socks leaving wet prints all over the house as I made my way to my room. I was just barely up the stairs when a shrill shriek was followed by a little person ambushing me. Lily slung her arms around my legs and let out a laugh.
"You're icky!"
"Oh I know." I scoffed prying her hands away and continued walking when she grabbed me again and I groaned.
"Not now Lily."
"Let's play hospital. I'll be the doctor," she offered, "and you'll be sick. You have a hole in your head. I'll ask grandpa for band aids!"
The diagnosis was almost shocking. I obviously had a hole in my head and somewhere along the way my brain had fallen out. Nevertheless, I wasn't in the mood to undergo surgery by a surgeon who had jam all over her face and wore strawberry shaped hairclips in her pigtails.
"Go play with grandpa," I told her freeing myself once again.
"But I wanna play with you!" The girl pouted and stomped her little foot on the carpet.
"No." I emphasized.
"Why not?" she whined her eyes those of an abandoned seal pup as she trailed behind me.
"Because." I was fucking freezing for one. In addition I was fucking annoyed and nowhere near the disposition needed to lower myself to a five year old's level.
I strode into my room and closed the door before Lily could enter. The fact that she was loitering just outside and I could see her shadow under the door annoyed me as much as her whining. I pulled the hoodie over my head. It was heavy from the rain and fell on the floor with a wet smack. My t-shirt, once I had pulled loose the fabric that was now annoyingly stuck to my skin, joined it. I took off my pants and socks and wished I could pull out my clammy skin as well.
After having grabbed a fresh set of clothes and picked up the sad dripping heap from the floor I pried open the door and nearly waltzed right over Lily who was glued to the threshold.
"Can we play astronaut then? You can fly the rocket, too, if you want." She shrugged, seemingly unaware that every patch of my skin was covered in goose bumps.
"Lily," I sighed, "Not now. Later, okay? I'm going to jump in the shower first."
"But—"
"No!" I strode past her and locked the bathroom door, thanking the Lord for heated floors and locks as Lily pulled at the door handle. I let the water in the shower run till it was steaming, then stripped off my underwear and threw the clothes in the laundry hamper before stepping in the glass shower cabin.
I hissed at the hot stream when it hit my skin, but soon welcomed the sting and closed my eyes letting it cascade over my head. My shoulders slummed and I braced myself against the wall, the water now running down my neck and back absorbing the cold and wrapping me in a soothing warm mantle. I couldn't relax, however. I just couldn't.
It wasn't just the fact that she had pulled away, that bothered me. It was the fact that I had pulled away as well. In a sulky, petulant manner, much like a five year old not allowed a shiny new toy. I had been a total bastard. She was obviously scared, even though it was beyond me what that could be. And sure…it was all going fast. We didn't know each other that well yet, but she couldn't possibly be missing that spark.
She had wanted it…just before not wanting it. I sighed. Truly, I was lost in translation. And this gave me no right at all to treat her like shit. I had barely uttered a word all throughout dinner and she had been staring at her plate as if it held the answers to all life's questions. We were barely finished when she all but whispered that it was time for her to go and I had concurred with a monosyllabic reply. Oozing charisma there, Edward. Classy. How self-centred could one be?
I left the shower even more aggravated. The bathroom was enveloped in a thick mist of steam, the mirror fogged up as I realised I had forgotten to turn on the damn vent. I reached out and dragged my palm over the surface of the mirror, my slightly distorted image becoming visible, hair matted to my forehead. I grabbed a towel and rubbed my head roughly, resulting in a hairdo that would fit someone who had spent some time in the tub with a toaster. I couldn't care less at the moment.
The hallway seemed desolate and I crept to my room, my bare feet soundless on the wooden floor. I made it to my room without interruptions and draped myself over my chaise suddenly so very tired. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. The idea of sleep was alluring. The idea of sleep made me want to cry, because I couldn't. I seriously considered asking Dad for something to knock me out for the rest of the decade. I truly wouldn't mind, it would save me a lot of headaches.
I was mad at the whole world it seemed. Jasper and Alice for their silent backstabbing. My parents for their consent. Bella for confusing the shit out of me. Lauren for breathing down my neck constantly. The weather for ruining my run. Lily for being…five. And myself, mostly myself for my inability to pull myself together. For not knowing what I wanted, and for the failure to hold on to the things that I did know I wanted. And all that I seemed to do was wallow in self-pity from the moment I got up in the morning, till I went to bed at night.
To add to this notion a monotonous melody filled the room. F/G. F/G. F/G. F/G. F/G. F/G. E/G. E/G. E/G. E/G. E/G. E/G.
"Oh for fuck's sake…" I moaned and grabbed a pillow pulling it over my head. Lily was going to end me. She was going to kill me through Chopsticks and through that piano that did not have my fancy at the present either. Every time I walked past it I was reminded. I was reminded of the fantastic time there playing with Bella and the less than fantastic occurrence after.
I got up swiftly and threw a CD in the stereo system cranking up the volume till it fully swallowed Lily's two-finger torture. The Ride of the Valkyries exploded around me. How typical. Of all the angry German music I had to choose the one piece portraying maidens on hellhounds choosing those who died in a battle. Well I gave up. World vs. Edward Cullen: 1-0.
"Oy!" I jumped up at the sudden shout and looked at my father standing in the doorway still in mom's robe, his hair wild, in his arms a box. "Do you mind?" He glanced at my CD player and I searched for the remote, the volume dying down, once I found it.
"Thank you," Dad said, "It is not even ten AM on a Saturday, Edward, I really don't want to walk around with the feeling I have to invade Poland on my only free Saturday this month. It's tiring."
"I'm sorry," I grumbled.
"Why are you so gutted?" Dad asked.
"I'm fine," I sighed and nodded at the box. "What's that?"
Dad raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving mine as he stared at me, clearly not convinced. Not that I looked convincing. I could almost feel the thunder cloud hanging over my head.
"Really," I emphasised, "I'm fine." The translation of those words was quite a simple one, and over the years my dad had come to speak my language quite fluently. Hence, as he relented, not pushing the matter further, I cast him a grateful look.
"Well…do you at least want coffee with your Wagner?" he asked as the violins took another swell.
"No, I'm fine." I replied.
"This was just dropped off for you," he then said coming in further and placing the brown cardboard box on my desk.
"Is it a bomb?" I asked without much enthusiasm. For really that was all that was missing.
"Would explain why the delivery guy ran off so quickly," Dad drolled.
"Might also have to do with the way you look," I quipped and he smirked.
"You know that you can talk to me, Edward. We always were able to talk." He then said in a serious tone, his blue eyes both worried and reassuring.
"I know." We were. I just couldn't verbalise everything. There was a compatibility pack missing between my mind and my vocal chords.
"Alright well…I'm going back to my breakfast. Try not scaring the neighbours again with that." Dad glanced at my stereo. "They will start to think we have plans of world domination."
"I think Alice has that turf covered."
He let out a laugh and said, "You might be on to something there. Oh, and Edward." I turned my head looking at him in the doorway. "It's Saturday," he said with a grin and then disappeared out of my sight.
Saturday. I didn't have to mull to know what he meant that mom made a traditional English breakfast. It had been on the menu ever since I could remember. Eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, sausages and toast. The thought alone made my stomach grumble and mouth water as I realised I was hungry. Running ten miles on an almost empty stomach had perhaps not been the best of ideas.
First the mystery package though. I got up and walked to the suspiciously unassuming looking box. I picked it up and noted it was heavier than expected. The sticker on top held my name and my parents' address. There were but a few people that knew to find me here. I raised my eyebrows and grabbed the letter opener from one of the drawers setting it in the brown tape that was holding the two flaps of the box together. It slid open effortlessly and I peered inside. On top there was a note.
Aloha!
I must tell you again that I truly do love you and so does Liam! The two weeks in Hawaii were… how to put it. I'll spare you the details of what went down in the hotel room and…also outside it, but let me tell you, you do not want sand in some places. Other than that my libido thanks you for the tickets!
I'm back in LA and back at your disposal. Lauren keeps stalking me with phone calls. Apparently you are being, I quote: "Weird and unresponsive". Are you being weird and unresponsive? You probably are. But, ech, you pay my wages so I suppose knock yourself out. Don't like her anyway.
I'm sending you some clothes (and a pair of woman's panties, you philanderer!) and other stuff you left at the apartment in the UK. And I must tell you again that you should get yourself a permanent address. You cannot keep living out of a suitcase. Especially if you scatter its contents all over the world! Also there is just something dodgy about rented cutlery.
I replied to your mail, issued a few statements about your disappearing act, and booked you a ticket for the fifth (look in the box) and arranged for a room at the W. What else…I think that's about it. Call me when you need anything and I will see you the 5th. (Car is picking you up at LAX).
Aloha! (Did you know that it means hello AND goodbye?)
Maggie
PS. Look in the box! If you're not going to Hawaii, Maggie brings Hawaii to you.
I folded the note and peered in the box, before pulling out a Hula girl dashboard shaker. Despite my mood I couldn't help but chuckle and set the toy on the desk giving it a little jolt with my finger. It bobbled from side to side, the green hula skirt swaying with the movement. So perhaps I didn't hate the whole world. Where Lauren made my world go round, Maggie kept me sane. Next to my family she was one of the few who saw the good, the bad, and the ugly of Edward Cullen. One of the few with whom I didn't have to pretend. One of the few that made me laugh. One of the few I trusted. And one I missed at the moment.
I took out the clothes and found the lace panties she had mentioned. How tidy of me, letting my assistant clean up after me. I wondered whether Heidi wanted them back. Mailing them was perhaps somewhat strange, returning them in person perhaps even more. I was sure her current boyfriend would love either option. Not that he had much reason to hate me. I was not Heidi's long lost love, nor she mine. We had been two people with physical attraction to one another, who had efficiently satisfied each other's carnal needs when unattached and in the neighbourhood. Heidi was gorgeous and smart and most of all she always told me exactly what she wanted. There was no running hot and then cold. No hiding. No drama. Heidi didn't make me itch or want me crawl up the walls. Every man's dream: A Victoria's Secret model that was neither complicated nor needy.f
And yet, even though I had seen her on and off for three years, I didn't love her. Instead I had loved the wonderful simplicity that came with interacting with her. Of course I cared, but in the end not enough to be bothered by anything she did or didn't do. We didn't fight because there was nothing to fight about. And when it was time for our paths to part again, there was no heartbreak. It was fine, just like it was, or rather wasn't.
I had become spoilt over the years. Maybe that was why I was in such a pitifully lost state now. I just didn't know how to go about things they went from a simple 2 + 2 to a game of blind three-dimensional chess. Either my intellect was lacking or it was outrageous to begin with. It seemed Bella had thrown my brain into a meat grinder. I sighed. And the most frustrating thing was that I had no idea what it was about her sang to me in such an overpowering way. It was a physical pull, a physical need, but not like anything else I had ever experienced. Never had anyone set me on fire with one look, one simple hesitant touch.
Without another glance I tossed the flimsy lace in the bin. No sentiments, no nostalgia, the last string effortlessly snipped in two. With this the muddy sediment that I would probably never be able to just snip off Bella washed on the shores of my mind. I liked to think that it was puberty catching up with me finally and bestowing me with a stupid emotional crush, but deep down I couldn't lie to myself. She had burnt me and the scar would never disappear, no matter how things ended, or where and with whom it was I was going to be in fifty years.
The interest in my belongings was lost. I flung the plane ticket on my desk and threaded my fingers through my damp and knotted hair.
"Can we play now?"
My head flicked around at the exasperated question and I found myself staring at Lily's close-to-murderous facial expression. Was she ever going to leave me alone? I was starting to get sick of this babysitter role I had all too willingly taken upon me.
"No."
"But—"
"Lily Anne Cullen, so help me God…" I started through clenched teeth but could not find it in me to finish the sentence, "I really don't want to play right now."
"When then?" she whined.
"Oh don't you mind your grumpy uncle. Auntie Alice will play with you." I couldn't say I was directly unhappy to see Alice in my doorway, her bell like voice reverberating in the room. I hadn't heard that she had come home.
"Yay!" Lily bounced.
"Yay!" Alice squealed as well, "but don't you want to go down the stairs now and say hi to your mommy and daddy?"
She didn't have to be told twice and flitted out of my room and out of my sight like she had been stung by a bee. A few moments later I heard her high-pitched squeal and Emmett's roar as the two were reunited.
"Thank you," I mouthed to Alice who was now quietly standing in the doorway.
"It's fine." She shrugged her tiny shoulders studying her shoes. Just like that I realised I couldn't be mad at her forever.
"How was the wedding?" I asked, hoping that she would take the hint I was not excommunicating her anymore.
"It was good." She smiled. "We had a great time. I caught the bouquet. Jasp—it was good." Several things coursed through me at once. Alice and Jasper walking down the aisle. The fact that she tried so hard to not mention him to me, my best friend, as if he were a pariah and that she was still standing in my doorway as if she was just caught stealing the neighbours' apples. I once again felt like the bad guy. Was there nothing I could do well?
"You can say his name, Shorty," I sighed, "and you can come in."
"Does that mean that you are not mad anymore?" she asked warily, entering the room, but not quite nearing me as if I could pounce at any moment.
"I'm—" I would lie if I said I wasn't, but I wasn't being consumed by it anymore. "I'm trying not to be."
And then she was suddenly plastered against me, her arms squeezing the life out of me, like two boa constrictors around my waist. I let out a sigh, an irritated brotherly one.
"You can let go now," I grumbled. Yet, as she looked up at me with that cheeky little twinkle in her blue eyes I knew she took it just as it was meant to be, with a grain of salt and a smile.
"Have you eaten yet?" she asked disentangling herself from my frame. "The plane food was just blegh. Jasp-" She eyed me and it took some restraint not to flinch at the way his name left her lips. I didn't however and she continued, "Jasper ate his and mine and said it was the best plane tuna he had ever had. The term plane tuna says it all. So… I'm starved and it's Saturday!" So I kept hearing and truth was I could probably eat a horse.
"I haven't eaten yet," I answered and thought about what I was going to say to Jasper who was probably downstairs. My indignation with him ran deeper, whether fair or not, but I couldn't leave him in the dog house entirely while Alice and I were on the mending path.
"He's not here," she said, plucking my thoughts right out of my mind. "He didn't want to…I don't know frankly what he's thinking. He's been a bit odd since last week. I think he might feel it's too weird for you…" she shook her head with a grave sigh, too grave for little, happy Alice. "Anyway. Let's go eat real food." She patted my stomach and skipped out of my room. I stood there for a bit longer. Somehow Jasper and I had to make it work. For our sake and for Alice's and for those around us. He was a constant in my life and he always was going to be. But it was up to us, or me at this point, to indicate how much of a constant.
"Edward!" Alice yelled from the stairs, "Did you grow roots or something? If all the sausages are gone I'm holding you personally responsible! Don't forget that Emmett is in the house!"
Right. Sausages. I sighed and moved my feet.
"Coming!"
Three eggs, four sausages, and the longest half hour later I finished the last of my orange juice. I was surrounded by my siblings and niece, and grabbed Lily's wrist as it hovered over my plate. In her hand she held what I imagined to be a new load of her loathed "shrooms". Frankly, I couldn't see another fried shroom myself. I was just too full.
"I don't want your shrooms," I told her, "Give them to your dad."
"Lily, stop playing with your food," Rosalie interjected, "Put those mushrooms back and stop torturing Edward."
I eyed her warily. Defence usually didn't come from that angle. Rosalie did nothing if not enjoy agonising me. It had been always like that and it was fine. I pulled her hair with pleasure as well. It sort of came with the job description. Jasper pestered my little sister, and I his, even though Rosalie was technically a whole two minutes older.
"What?" She shrugged flinging a luscious blonde curl over her shoulder, "You look pitiable. What am I? A sadist?"
"Well…" I shrugged and Emmett burst out in laughter hitting my back with his flat hand and nearly making me drop my glass.
Rosalie raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow before pointing at her husband with an equally perfect nail and said: "Doghouse."
It was my time to laugh. It was highly entertaining to see a guy with Emmett's demeanour being whipped into shape by a woman not half his size. A little princess, like Rosalie nevertheless. Not that she had ever been a real princess. If you didn't watch out for her claws, it could happen that you ended up with an eye hanging out of its socket. The idea that there was a time when her parents wanted nothing more but for us to ride into the sunset together, was blatantly ridiculous. The woman was like a black widow. I doubted I would have survived the wedding night.
"And what are you laughing about?" she taunted me, "Don't you have anything to be miserable about?"
If it had been anyone other than her, that comment would probably have stung. Seeing that it was Rosalie and we weren't capable of loving brother/sister-in-law interaction it just made me smirk.
"Don't worry. I can multitask," I quipped and realised I had missed her much more than I had thought. And as she pursed her lips to contain her smile I knew she had missed me, too.
"Did I just hear your stone heart beat?" I asked with a wink.
"Oh get yourself a girlfriend already." She rolled her golden eyes.
"Did you hear anything from Bella?" Alice, who till now had been surprisingly quiet, suddenly asked and every pair of eyes in the room, except for Lily's – who was too busy building a house from toast and humming itsy bitsy spider – was directed at me.
"Who's Bella?" Emmett asked biting a sausage in two, "Did you pick up an Italian chick? Cause that's hot!"
Lily stopped her hum and looked up at him with big auburn question marks. Rosalie cleared her throat and flung a piece of toast at his head.
"What? I meant in Italy…" he clarified, picking up the toast Rose had just thrown at him and popping it in his mouth before leaning in to meet his daughter at eyelevel. "It gets hot in Italy, honey, cause it's in Eu-rope."
"Classy, Emmett," Alice giggled.
"Glad to see that my niece is going to grow up with the proper emancipated image of the role of women all over the world," I said.
"Oh she will," Rosalie insisted squinting her fierce eyes at her husband, who just grinned at her in adoration. I wasn't sure whether to gag or to be awed.
"Don't worry." I patted his shoulder, getting up for a coffee refill. "I'm sure Mom will let you stay in your old room."
"We can paint each other's toenails and gossip about Alice and watch the Notebook and then hold each other as we cry," Emmett mused.
"Just like the old days." I grinned returning to my spot.
"So have you?" Alice asked impatiently wobbling in her chair and again everyone was staring at me. it was unsettling. I directed my own glance at the black liquid in my mug and put my full attention at stirring the imaginary sugar in it.
"What?" I asked in a weak attempt to get her off my back.
"Bella. Remember? The girl who didn't want to give you her number?" Alice provided a helping hand and it was Rosalie's turn to laugh like she was possessed.
"Thanks for that reminder." I rolled my eyes at her.
"Weeeeell?" Alice stretched.
"You're like a tick, do you know that?" I grumbled.
"Do share, Eddie, who is this sensible creature that has turned you down. I need to have lunch with her." Rosalie laughed and this time I really did want to hit her square in the head with a spatula. Instead I just left the breakfast bar. My teasing limit was surpassed by a mile.
I returned to my room with my mug and laid down on the chaise, briefly closing my eyes, only to be interrupted by a soft knock. Why was this always the inevitable pattern?
"Go away, Alice," I called. Of course she wouldn't listen. The door squeaked open. How predictable.
"You okay?" I opened my eyes processing the voice, not Alice's voice, addressing me. Perhaps not as predictable.
"I'm fine," I answered through clenched teeth wishing the blonde bane of my existence to a far uninhabited island without her eyeliner.
"You don't look fine," Rosalie said sitting down on my bed and crossing her legs before her.
"Whatever, Rose, just leave me alone. You don't need to pretend like you give a shit about any of this. Frankly, you are the irritating factor at the moment so just… go," I replied with quiet disdain and sipped from my mug, without looking at her.
"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," Rosalie recited as if she was writing "I will never stick gum under my desk again" for the hundredth time on the blackboard.
"That was…heartfelt." I rolled my eyes.
"Take it or leave it, Grumpward."
"Rosalie… just piss off," I all but begged, "I know you can't help it, but really, today I'm not in the mood."
"So she didn't give you her number. Big deal. Like you have trouble getting laid. I don't get why you are in such a tizzy over this."
"She did give me her number," I answered, racking my brain as to why I was explaining this to her in the first place. "And why I'm in a tizzy over this, is not because I have trouble getting laid. It's because I like her and on a good day I think she likes me, too. But it so happens to be that every time I get remotely close, she can't get far enough from me. And I have no idea what's going on. Go ahead laugh and then get the hell out of my room."
She didn't laugh, nor did she say anything. As I glanced at her to see whether she was still breathing I saw a frown creasing her smooth forehead as she thought. I raised an eyebrow.
"By all means, don't hurt yourself."
"I'm sorry about what I said. I just thought—" She shrugged and then dropped her shoulders guiltily. I knew that Rosalie would never consciously cross lines that didn't need crossing. I knew that, despite our ostensibly less than affectionate interplay, she cared for me as I cared for her.
"It's fine…" I sighed.
"Really, I didn't mean it," she insisted playing with the hem of my comforter.
"I know. I'm sorry for being in such a bad mood. I just have no idea what I'm doing wrong. It's like everything I do is wrong."
"What makes you think you are doing anything wrong?" She asked and I furrowed my brow.
"Simple physics. Action and reaction. I lean in to kiss her and she looks at me like I'm about to slice her throat."
"Did it ever cross your mind that it might be her? That in fact, her running hot and cold has nothing to do with you? Not directly? Maybe she's playing hard to get. If it's her intention to get you all hot and bothered… I think it's working.""
I grimaced. That was the one thing that hadn't crossed my mind. Somehow I didn't see Bella as someone who liked to play games. I couldn't imagine her to be as good of an actress to look petrified for fun.
"No. I don't think she is." I rubbed my face.
"Or…" Rosalie continued, "She really has difficulty to let you in. Wouldn't be the first woman having trouble trusting a guy." She added softly studying her hands. I glanced at her, looking strangely timid. I knew all about Rosalie's hardships and her more than fair share of doubt towards the male population. Could it be that Bella had been hurt, too? If that was the case, then it was still me going about everything the wrong way. Coming on way too strong.
"Even if that is the case," she continued, "it doesn't mean you don't have a chance….just don't play games with her."
"Do I ever?" I asked turning my head to look at her with raised eyebrows.
"I've known you long enough to know that you're not a saint, no matter how many ditsy fan girls hang a halo over your head." Rosalie laughed.
"I'm not in high school anymore, Rose."
"No you're not." She got up with a sly smile. "And even in high school you were … tolerable I guess. At least my girlfriends thought so."
I smirked. Would she ever get over the fact that I had never seen her as anything more than Jasper's sister? Not that she had ever wanted me, or had a lack of admirers for that matter, but for some reason it irritated the hell out of her that I didn't have at least a little crush on her.
"Yes, you had some nice friends. Very…friendly."
She glowered at me and I could almost hear her grind her teeth. I was very impressed when she didn't throw anything back at me. Be it a remark or a blunt object. Instead she drew in a deep breath and let it ride out again.
"Talk to her," she said eventually in a smooth voice. "Ask her. She might tell you more than you think. And don't expect everything to just… end with that. Small steps, sometimes backwards. But if you really like her, then fight for her. "
With that, she got up and was almost out the room before I called out her name.
"Rosie!"
"It's really hard to be nice to you when you are being a smug ass," she said before turning around in all her striking glory, arms crossed in front of her chest and eyebrows raised, her golden eyes burning in mine.
"Thank you." I smiled silently enjoying the confusion that spread across her stunning face.
"Oh." Her demeanour faltered for a moment, lips freezing in a little circle, till she regained composure. "Whatever."
I chuckled as she left and let out a deep sigh setting my eyes on no point in particular in the garden, pondering her words.
Talk to her.
Sounded easy enough…
The sun was already setting when I had finally mustered enough guts to get into my car and go see Bella. Talking to her sounded simple enough, but I had no idea how to start, what to say. I had gone over it in my mind countless times, rewriting the script from one ridiculous he-said/she-said libretto to another, only to give up and admit that it was just going to be an improvisation like most things in life. However, with Bella, I couldn't anticipate her reactions. What if I would only make it worse?
I parked the Volvo close to the promenade, deciding to walk the last bit. That way I could clear my head. I was there too fast for my liking, and crossed the street to find myself right in front of her store. Once again I hesitated, my hands remaining deep in the pockets of my coat as I stared at the door knob. The sign on the glass read Open. It did so quite often, but then the moment I tried to actually enter, it would miraculously change to Closed.
The door swung open then as if the prove me wrong, the little bell chiming and a young couple stepped into the cold street. The woman leant into the man's embrace as the cold weather hit them, the paper bag with her purchase clutched against her. She turned her head and looked me right in the eye, her own eyes widening with surprise as she shook her head and let out a laugh.
"I swear you look just like… never mind." She blushed a light crimson before turning around again and strutting down the street with her man. I couldn't help but chuckle and watched them turn the corner, before settling my eyes back on the dreadful door again. The sign still read Open, the door was closed, but apparently it was capable of opening as I had just witnessed. Then again, could have been just a smart trick to make me fall on my face once again. I sighed. I had to either go in or go away. I was starting to resemble a robber on the look out.
So I took that final step and set my hand on the door knob. It turned and the door opened a fraction without any resistance. I pushed it further and the bell protested against the nudge with a melodious din. Once inside I closed the door, shutting out the lacklustre November. Inside it was warm and quiet. I didn't see a soul till a lanky tall man with hair that rivalled Bella's in length came my way and I recognised him as Bella's employee. Daniel? Derek? It had been something with a D.
"Can I help you?" he asked. In fact he could. Perhaps they had "How to get through to Bella Swan for Dummies" stacked away somewhere.
"I'm looking for Bella, actually," I replied. Dave! That was his name.
Before he could reply she appeared from behind a bookshelf, fighting the sleeves of her coat.
"I'm just going to run to –" She stopped mid sentence and dead in her tracks upon seeing me, one arm raised in the air ready to be stuffed in the dark blue sleeve that was now limply hanging down halfway.
"Edward," she breathed, staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Hi." I managed a smile and glanced up at Dave to indicate that I wanted to talk to her in private.
"I'll be in the back," he said and left. Bella turned to stare at his back longingly. She didn't even want to be alone with me in one space. Get on with it, I told myself.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you," I said and her eyes met mine again, confused and nervous. "Do you have time for a little walk?"
"I – yes. Okay." She nodded finishing putting on her coat and taking her time to button it up. I held the door open for her and we both stepped outside, the little chime of the bell being swept away by the wind before it could fully announce our departure.
We strolled towards the water in silence. The promenade was as good as deserted. It was too cold and windy to enjoy a simple stroll just to watch the sunset, no matter how beautiful. The colours were surreal; even brighter than they had been this morning.
"The tide rises, the tide falls, the twilight darkens, the curlew calls," Bella recited swiftly cutting through the silence between us, then briefly smiled at my curious expression and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow," she explained shyly, "I love this time of day on the beach."
"It's beautiful," I agreed, "Cold…but beautiful."
"It is cold, isn't it?" She shivered for emphasis and looked out over the water again as we strolled along the shoreline, just out of the reach of the waves.
The wind toyed with her hair and I swallowed back a sting of jealousy. I wanted to be the one who ran his fingers through her locks. I drew in a deep breath to work myself up to ask her what I came here to ask her.
"About last night…" I started.
"I didn't mean to offend you," Bella said softly before I could finish my thought. I wasn't sure whether the wind diluted her words or she really uttered them quietly, bashfully. I shook my head.
"You didn't offend me. You…" I searched for the right word. "Bella, you so thoroughly confuse me. I just can't figure you out and that makes me feel like an idiot most of the time."
"I-I'm sorry." She shook her head, her foot getting caught behind a loose stone. I automatically reached out to steady her, my hand wrapping around her upper arm till she set a few shaky but coordinated steps with the clunky boots she was wearing.
"Don't apologise. Just…talk to me. Please tell me what's bothering you. You need to give me some sort of guidance here. Or tell me to piss off, because I think it's meticulously clear that I can't stay away from you on my own accord." I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath at the sudden burst that had fled me before I could react. I was an actor for fuck's sake. I could control my bloody emotions.
Bella was quiet, too quiet. I glanced at her, shame, fright, nerviness all displayed on her beautiful face, but the big question remained. What was it that had her cringe away from me like this? It couldn't all be shyness. As the distress clouded her soft brown eyes I was fairly certain it wasn't just an inhibited girl having trouble opening up to a guy. Rosalie was right. There had to be more.
"I just… this can never work, Edward," she replied bashfully stopping her saunter and staring at her podgy boots on the ground.
"It can't?" I echoed raising my eyebrows. "Why not?"
"I'm just… not from your world. I can never be as pretty or as spontaneous. I can barely string a proper sentence together and I'm uncoordinated! How many times now did you have to catch me in the time we know each other?" I would happily catch her a couple more times. What was the problem?
"I own a little bookstore and in the evenings I lie on the couch and watch BBC series … while you jet set the world and star in them." I just stared at her, too dumbfounded to interrupt as she went on listing all the ridiculous things that were wrong with her.
"My life is just…I am …boring, Edward. I'm not… it won't," she shrugged turning away.
"Don't you think I should be the judge of that?" I wondered aloud at last. "Besides, the excitement of my life is severely overrated."
"Two people should at least be on a similar footing…" she shook her head. "And you are way out of my league." She gestured in the air as if my place was with the seagulls that were circling over the water with shrill cries.
"You are being absurd, Bella," I scoffed. Where did she get her ideas?
"See? On top of all, I'm absurd! I am! I'm absurd and I'm uncoordinated!" she splayed her arms, a gust of wind blowing up her shining tresses and flaring them around her face, for dramatic effect. My hand twitched, ready to catch her as if the wind could blow her over at any time.
"I have a cat!" She then interjected. I raised an eyebrow and bit down on my lip as to not laugh.
"I suppose we are doomed then…" Letting out a grave sigh I steered my gaze to my shoes.
"Stop making fun of me, I'm serious," Bella groaned, her bottom lip slightly protruded in a pout.
"Ha!" I let out a humourless laugh and ran a hand through my hair. Serious. Deranged was more like it. "You don't see yourself very clearly, do you? Or me for that matter."
"I do…" She replied.
"I don't think you do." I was dreading a yes-it-is-no-it-isn't discussion, but the fierceness of her next statement shut me up.
"I do," she insisted, "Look at you. You are every girl's dream." I rolled my eyes. She was probably the only one who could make that sound like an insult.
"You are… It's not enough that you are beautiful. You also have to be articulate and well-bred, witty and charming. You have to hold open doors and say thank you and please. And you have to look at the little world at your feet with not an ounce of arrogance or conceit. You have to be artistic while I can't even draw a stick figure for the life of me and you must have an astute mind that I will probably never understand let alone keep up with. Oh and right …you are apparently the next big thing on the big screen. Laugh all you want. I googled you! The mere idea that I can google you! My server nearly crashed." She finished with a huff and looked out over the water. I couldn't have laughed had I wanted to. I was stunned into silence. It sounded awfully a lot like she was resenting me for the fact that she couldn't pin anything on me. I could easily help her out.
"Like I said…you don't see me very clearly," I muttered.
"Oh don't be modest," Bella grumbled kicking a pebble.
"I'm not modest," I all but hissed. I couldn't help myself. This sheer powerlessness to make her see was enraging me. It was more years of pent up frustration than her little comment, but nevertheless it drove me mad. "Just because I have been dealt a certain hand… just because that's what you see, it hardly makes me the embodiment of perfection. Please, believe me.
"You just see the – it's camouflage, Bella. A sparkle that only goes skin-deep and that is fuelled by the whole dehumanising frenzy about me. If that weren't there I doubt you would notice me on the street, or think I was so faultless. It's an illusion that people choose to believe, a character they choose to love. In the end, I cannot live up to either. Ridiculous as it sounds…I just don't exist. Not in the way I'm perceived anyway."
"I doubt someone couldn't notice you, Edward. You look like you belong in a different world, a more beautiful one. You just draw people in. It's frightening how much you—" Bella cut off her thought biting her lip. "Everything about you. Your voice, your face, even your smell…" She blushed. It was all but obscured by the rosiness from the cold but I could see it deepening, "Do you really think it's just a coincidence that you are where you are at now?"
I thought about her words for a while. I doubted I would be where I was if not for my looks. Had this opportunity not been handed to me, I wouldn't have pursued it myself. Had I not seen it as the only way to fill in the concrete void of vacillation about my future, I wouldn't have taken it in the first place.
"I suppose not," I then answered, "but that is not my point. You see something that isn't there, or perhaps you don't see what is there. In the end I'm just a guy, Bella. I am grumpy in the morning. I cut myself shaving more often than I would like to admit. I have a temper and it's not always directed towards the right people. I eat cookies in bed and have to get my ass to the gym the next day, because yes, it takes work to look like this." I glanced her way to see her reaction, but her hair flared in front of her face, successfully hiding her from me. I took a step, hopping on the stone balustrade with ease, the water purling beneath me.
"Then of course, my best friend and I are not speaking and I'm pretty sure today," I continued, "Lily hates my guts. I have no place that I call my home and I am afraid that my so called talent is not talent at all. You said it yesterday. I needn't try. Looking at me is enough. I'm just waiting for someone to realise that there is just nothing special about my appearance, or that my looks will go, and then they will discover I can't act at all and I'll be just another has been. I will have achieved exactly nothing useful and be just the shadow of someone who was famous for a while. I am today's shiny toy that will be under the bed by next week." I turned to face her. She was staring up at me, squinting in the wind, her hand on the railing. It almost looked as if she was ready to catch me would I happen to fall.
"Fuck, Bella, even Gandhi wasn't perfect and he had a few qualities everyone should aspire to some extent. So if my parents' combined DNA that turned out to be my face is scaring you… I beg you to reconsider."
It was silent for a while, only the sloshing of the waves against the concrete and the wind riding them on the background. I stepped down leaning against the iron rail with my back now as the colourful paint of the sky tinted the water of the Sound with oranges and reds for the second time that day.
I never thought that I had to list all my imperfections to get a girl to consider me. Then again it seemed to fit. Everything with Bella was backwards. Quite literally my world was upside down. She let out a musical laugh that had me gauge in confusion.
"And there went your articulacy," she quipped.
"What can I say? I'm not perfect." I smirked and she chuckled scrunching her nose lightly. My stomach jumbled at the image and once again I had to restrain the urge to kiss her senseless.
"And I don't think that," she said demurely, her smile gone. "I don't think that it's just about your looks… or shouldn't be at least. You have a very strange but deep understanding of the human mind, you can make it your own unlike anything I've seen."
"Funny," I deadpanned. That understanding was severely malfunctioning when it came to Bella Swan. "I'm still trying to fit your cat into your predicament about us."
I waited for her to explain. She had just indicated herself she didn't think I was stupid, then why did she think I would buy this crap? Maybe she didn't, I realised. Maybe she hoped I would see it myself and she didn't have to voice it. I had to disappoint her. I could not read her mind, no matter how much I wanted to.
"What are you really afraid of, Bella?" I asked coming to face her, my hands resting on either side of her on the railing. She would not escape me again.
"What is a lamb in a lion's cage afraid of…." She said softly after a short silence and I furrowed my eyebrows at her little euphemism.
"Being eaten?" I took her bait, for lack of anything else to take.
"Let's just say I've been on the menu before," Bella muttered and just like that I had my answer. I sighed. Feeling even more horrible about the way I had left things the previous night. I took a step back, releasing her from the prison of my arms.
"It doesn't matter." She shook her head, turning around and slinging her arms around herself in a tight hug. She looked so vulnerable now, so small and I fought the urge to swallow her in an embrace. She was wrong, too. It did matter. I couldn't bring myself to ask her what exactly happened. I didn't want to push her, even though the not knowing drove me mad.
The thought alone that someone might have touched a hair on her head made my stomach turn. Violence against women had perhaps an even bigger sting in my family than it normally already would. My mother's first husband had made sure of that and even though Carlisle was the kindest soul she could have ever met and she was happy, she was never going to be able to erase those years of pain.
And then there was Rosalie. Royce King had been less than a perfect boyfriend and he liked to emphasise his words with his fists. All those volleyball accidents, the constant falling off stairs and slipping in showers. Just thinking back, it made me grind my teeth. Jasper had nearly killed him when he found out. As I had sped through Seattle to find him before he actually could, I had a very difficult time coming up with reasons why he shouldn't.
Despite having lived this, seen this up close, I still was out of words, as emotions coiled under my skin like the traitorous currents beneath the surface of the luminescent sea.
"Bella…" I set a hand on her shoulder and she lifted it, wanting to shrug me off but stopping herself. She turned to face me. I didn't see sadness in her eyes, nor pain. They were empty.
"I don't want to talk about it, Edward," she sighed, her voice tired somehow, my hand still on her shoulder. I drew her closer and she let me as melancholy seeped in the warm brown of her eyes and she closed them leaning her head against my shoulder.
"That's okay," I assured her resting my chin atop of her head. For now, "I'm so sorry for the way I acted yesterday. There is no excuse," I apologised stroking her hair, "I was a jerk."
"You're not a jerk." She shook her head. "That was my fault. I just… you caught me off guard."
That guard had been up in no time, however. I wanted her to lower that guard. I wanted her to relax, but as I held her rigid frame, I knew that that was a lot to ask.
"That was a jerky reaction, ergo I'm a jerk. You don't have to placate this."
"Stop," she mumbled in my coat. "It was not jerky. It was human. Didn't you just say you weren't perfect?"
I chuckled in her hair. Touché.
I could have stood like that with her forever. It was almost soothing to have her in my arms. The tantalizing strawberry scent in her chocolate tresses was mouth-watering and having her this close, in my embrace, I knew that nothing bad could happen. She couldn't trip and fall, she couldn't get hurt. It was close to surpassing ridiculous in how protective of her I was becoming.
"I should go back," she sighed, pushing me away lightly by setting her hands on my chest. I released her and nodded. Forever had the ugly tendency to end prematurely.
"So we're good about last night?" I asked to make sure.
"Yes." She said burying her hands back in the pockets of her coat. "We are. Did you come by car?"
"Yeah, it's parked at the beginning of the promenade." I nodded South, a million questions and the reluctance to say goodbye already swimming in my head.
"Okay. Well… See you." Bella bit her lip. I wondered when I was going to see her again, but decided to settle for the opening "see you" held opposed to goodbye.
I replied in kind and smiled at her. With a little wave she started to walk away from me and I rocked back on my heels fighting the urge to follow her, silently urging her to look back at me. I didn't know what that would add to the whole situation, but somehow her looking back just once felt imperative. The first indication that the tide was turning.
"Look back at me," I muttered boring my eyes in her back. Yet, she didn't turn back and I shook my head at my own absurdity before turning around and starting the chilly saunter back to the Volvo.
I was almost at my car when I heard someone call my name. I turned around only to see Bella running towards me. She hopped over a puddle, nearly losing her balance in the sluggish old boots and finally came to a halt not three feet before me. Her cheeks were rosy, little clouds of breath escaping her mouth into the cool air as she panted, eyes wide and beautiful.
I smirked at her with a frown as she attempted to catch her breath. She took in a last deep gulp of air and strode up to me, closing the gap between us. Before I could fully register what was happening her hands were on my face and she raised herself on her tiptoes pressing her lips to mine. My heart stilled debating how to proceed, unsure whether thrashing wildly or arresting entirely was the more appropriate response for the situation. And I could only think of one thing. Her lips were soft . Like silk.
And then it was over, as sudden as it had happened. Her lips released mine, her hands slid off my cheeks and she looked me in the eye with eyes the size of my favourite chocolate chip cookies before a scarlet coloured her face.
"I don't want you to stay away, okay?" She said with a firmness in her voice I very much admired at the moment. I could only stare back unsure of my facial expression. My face was numb. I nodded.
"I just need… time. You're a lot to process."
I opened my mouth to respond, to tell her that it was okay. That I wasn't in a rush, but she put her hand over my mouth before I could do so.
"Please, don't say anything or I'll loose my nerve," she told me, "I do like you and you aren't an idiot. If anything… it scares me how much of an idiot you aren't. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with my father in Forks. Can I call you when I'm back in Seattle? Will you still be here?"
I nodded again, her hand still muffling me.
"Okay." Bella drew in a deep breath and let it ride out again. "Okay," she muttered, as if this second affirmation was meant for her alone. She released me, and as I licked my lips I could taste her on my tongue; coffee and dark chocolate.
"Can I say something now?" I asked, my voice sounding strangely foreign in my ears.
"No." She shook her head with a chuckle. "No, you can't. My ten seconds of bravery are running out. I have to go. Happy Thanksgiving." I let out a soft laugh, too dazed still, lost at what else to do at her strange behaviour. Her flushed face was lovely, as were her full sweet lips and how I wanted to taste her again. She started to back away and then turned around. The last thing I caught was her lip being captured between her teeth.
"Happy Thanksgiving," I muttered as she disappeared out of sight. I leant against the car for support. What the hell had just happened? As the numbness in my body slowly subsided, making way for a rush of heat and relief that made every pore of my being tingle, realisation hit and a smile spread over my face.
She had looked back at me.
To be continued...
AN: Phew. You have made it to the end! Now I know that this has taken some time, but please take another little minute to leave me a comment. Thank you. :)