Chapter 5: Love

Jessica signed me out and then we all headed to the car. Edward kept his distance from me, knowing I didn't like him too close. I noticed he was looking at me for quite a long time. When I looked up to meet his glance he turned his head. He acted just as nervous as I was.

"Hey, Bella." He was a little closer now. "You want to walk Mystery?"

I looked at him, he was holding the leash for me to grab. I looked to Jessica for support but she was walking ahead. I looked back at him and reached my hand out. He dropped the leash in my hand avoiding contact.

"Thanks," I replied quietly. I wasn't only thankful for him allowing me to walk the dog but for being so carful around me.

He was too perfect. There has to be some secret behind him. No man is truly this polite and understanding. Still, I couldn't help but feel more comfortable around him the more time I spent with him.

"So you like dogs?" I looked up at him again. He was trying to make a conversation with me, something I did not normally do with any man.

"No not really. Mystery... She makes me feel... Safe." I don't know how exactly, but my mind allowed me to talk freely to him. I still felt nervous but it was nothing like before when we were in the room. As long as he kept his distance, I felt fine.

"Yeah I rescued her about a year ago. Found her in a trash can. She was the only one of her brothers and sisters living so I took her home. I just couldn't believe some idiot would do something like that."

I looked at him. As he walked he kept his head down. He was irritated by the story. This moment in my life, I had never seen this expression from a man ever. He was upset, no he was sad.

When we reached the car I decided to sit in the back seat so I could be near Mystery. What I didn't know was that Edward was also planning on sitting in the back. It was too late for me to move, it would have been awkward to take off my seatbelt and walk to the other side and hop in the front seat. Mystery sat between us which made me more comfortable.

"I still can't believe I haven't met either of you at school." Edward and Jessica were in a conversation and I was quietly thinking to myself.

"Yeah, well I'm usually with Bella and she always wants to get to class ASAP so we tend to hurry."

"I see."

"So Edward, don't you have a car?"

"Yeah but I was having issues with it this morning so my dad dropped me off at work and I walked to his work so I could have a ride home. My siblings are all going out tonight so they were out of the question. I made my dad bring Mystery cause I hate leaving her home alone for that long."

Edward lived in the middle of nowhere. His house looked like a huge cabin that was surrounded by trees. The place was so private.

"Thanks for the ride Jess, Mystery come." I watched Mystery leave with Edward. He didn't take the leash back in his hands, he trusted her to stay by him. Just as she trusted him to keep her safe. "Nice meeting you."

He looked at me, his expression was hard to read. He looked upset almost to be leaving. This I didn't understand, men usually either avoided me or disliked me. To see him upset to be leaving me was odd to me. I softly waved to him, to deep in thought to be able to reply.

"So was it better today?"

I nodded. I kept thinking about how well Mystery had trusted Edward. When she was dying he saved her and now he protects her. I wonder, that just maybe Edward could be my hero too.

I didn't like the fact that I was trying to convince my brain to trust him, but if not him who else? I want to be normal again, I want to be able to go to school without fearing that I'm going to run into some pervert, and I want to be able to love a man.

Every time I watch a movie with a small romance in it, I yearn greatly for that to happen to me. Every time I watch these movies I end up going to bed in tears because I know I could never even come close to finding a man who I could trust and have him actually love me. Right now I was sure of one thing. Right now, I want to be able to trust one man, Edward Cullen.