Hope you're enjoying the story. Thank you to all who are following along!

This is one of my favorite chapters so far, so double happy reading to everyone!


Previously (in Chapter 6):

"Alice had a vision. There are other vampires coming to town."

I gasp and the purr of the accelerator follows.

I feel Edward's cool hand on top of mine.

Instinctively, I flip my palm up and grip tightly onto his fingers.


Here's the seventh chapter:


Chapter 7: Embraces

When we arrive home, much faster than I expected, the whole family is gathered about the dining table. The couples are hunched together and Alice runs directly to Jasper's waiting arms.

Carlisle directs everyone to sit. I feel awkward, not knowing where I belong at the table.

Edward, eyes never leaving my face, pulls back a chair and gestures for me to sit beside him. He leaves his palm open on the table and immediately I take his hand; grateful for the calmness his touch brings to me.

Everyone's eyes are on Alice.

"I've never seen them before," she begins, "there's two, maybe three."

"I don't recognize them either." Edward offers.

Carlisle and the others ask for all the details they can describe verbally. After a few minutes, I feel as though they've done enough of the verbalization. I push Esme's sketch pad on the table towards Alice, who begins to draw the images she has seen.

She holds up and an image of two vampires, walking towards her, their faces and much of their figures cast in shadow.

"I can't really get a proper view of any of them, and I have no idea when they're arriving, what they want, or who they might be associated with…. It might help if…" Alice looks at Edward and me sympathetically.

At first, I don't understand her expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my shield—"

"Don't apologize, Bella, it's not your fault," Alice explains, "do you and Edward mind committing to staying upstairs for the foreseeable future? If you make the decision in your head and stay upstairs for a while, I might be able to see better."

"Why Edward?" I ask.

Alice smiles softly, "his future, really his whole life is so intrinsically tied to yours, Bella, he's blocking me just as much as you."

"Oh," is all I can manage.

"I'll let you both know when I've seen enough," she says.

Edward begins to stand and I follow, never breaking my grip on his hand.

He leads me towards the kitchen rather than the stairs. I reluctantly drop his hand as he pulls out a grocery tote. He begins to pile in the plate of cookies, a box of crackers…

"What are you doing?"

"We have to really believe the decision that we're staying upstairs for a long time for this to work. No one else can decide they're coming upstairs to bring us anything or interact. I wouldn't believably stay calmly in one place if you didn't have everything you needed."

He says this all very seriously, but I can't help the little fluttering in my stomach and smile on my lips.

Two large bags of snacks later, he seems satisfied. I grab a couple pop tarts and soda; and follow behind Edward to the third floor.

We place the food on the desk in my bedroom.

I want to take his hand again; to have his touch calm my racing heart. And when I look up to see his concerned face, I cannot help but take his hand loosely in my own. He slips his fingers between mine.

This touch feels infinitely more intimate up here, away from the family.

The many dreadful thoughts of Volturi loyalists come to drag me to Volterra vanish as Edward's grip tightens on my hand.

Our eyes meet and I can't help wanting to fall into his arms. I want to disappear completely in his embrace, the way Alice's body folds and molds until it disappears into Jasper's, like a warrior guarding it's queen. Or the way Rose and Emmett embrace, their bodies molding into one, interminable shield against the outside world; or even like Carlisle and Esme, whose love and passion pours from their intimate hold, like a bright aurora surrounding and protecting even the most basic of their touch.

"Bella," he says, breaking me from my reverie, "would you like to see my room?"

I nod once, and he leads us down the hall to his room. There's no bed; a black leather couch along one wall with shelves of books and music above and across the room; an expensive looking audio system is playing something quiet and unrecognizable.

The window wall of his room looks out onto the same icy black landscape of mine, his simple wooden desk only slightly marring the view. We sit on the couch, and I immediately curl into the leather, my feet folding under me of their own accord. It's soft and smells distinctly of Edward.

With my free hand, I pull down the blanket folded across the back of the couch and wrap it across my lap.

"Are you cold? Hungry?" he asks.

"No." I'm absolutely exhausted though, and despite the looming danger, with Edward beside me I've never felt as safe in my entire life.

"I like your room, Edward. It's very… hundred-year-old-bachelor-vampire."

He laughs at me, "thank you?"

I laugh in response, the room really does scream "EDWARD" but the end of my laughter turns into a yawn.

"You're tired, I'm sorry," he states, trying to stand up.

I yank back on his hand and he moves back into the cushions. I pull his hand to my lap and hold onto it with both of mine.

"I'd rather sleep here."

"Bella—"

"Edward."

"You'll be more comfortable in your bed."

"I like this couch."

He thinks about this, "alright, let me grab you your pillows and a comforter."

I nod and let him get up for this. When he returns he places the pillows on one end and folds the comforter over the other. I begin to pull the comforter over my legs when I see him pick up a book and move towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To let you sleep? I'll just be in Alice's design room down the hall."

"Stay," I say, surprised at the pleading in my voice.

"Bella—it's not...a good idea."

"Edward, I don't mean to kick you out of your own room. Stay, please."

"Bella, you have to know I'd do anything for you…but this isn't…" there's pain in his voice.

"Isn't what? Edward please, I feel safer when you're here…I…please, don't leave me alone." I can see my words are affecting him.

"Please," I add holding my hand out to him.

When he finally lifts his eyes from the floor, they're softer.

"Okay," he concedes.

Instead of taking my hand, he moves to turn off the lights, and sits across the room on his desk chair.

"I'll be right here." I can tell there's no room for argument by his voice.

His figure is visible to me in the dark room through the moonlight streaming in from across the frozen lake.

I pull up the comforter and settle into the pillows, "thank you, Edward. Has Alice seen anything more yet?"

"Not yet," he concentrates for a moment, "are you okay?"

"Just worried."

"Don't worry too much, Bella. It's just two or three vampires. There's eight of us, they'll be scared off quickly."

"What if it's three skilled Volturi?"

"We'll worry about that if it's true," he says.

I can't help the sinking feeling in my stomach. Knowing my acute magnetism for danger…it's going to be the worst possible scenario.

If they have my father…

Moisture builds in the corner of my eyes and I quickly swipe away the first drops to escape.

Edward approaches me now, and before I can register precisely what he's doing, his lips are on my forehead and his fingers are brushing away the tears.

"Everything will be fine, love. Sleep."

My body melts into his touch and I feel my whole body relax as his breath washes over me. With his smell surrounding me, I drift into sleep.

...

It's very early in the morning, the pale yellow light just barely making an appearance on the horizon.

I realize just how hungry I am…I hadn't eaten any dinner and the last thing I'd put into my body was…whiskey.

I intend to quickly grab the pop tarts I'd left in my room but my feet stumble into vampire rather than floor.

I crash onto Edward who seems to have been lying beside the couch with his eyes closed. His arms move up to steady me above him.

"Sorry," I mumble into his sweatshirt.

He laughs and I can feel the movement throughout my body. Edward begins to lift me off, but instead I push down and hold him just like I'd wanted to all night.

Our bodies mold into each other; a perfect fit like magnetic puzzle pieces. Edward breathes heavily in and lets out a satisfied sigh. I love the way I can feel his body move, like we are one being.

I just feel right. Protected, happy, and … loved.

Soon enough, Edward successfully lifts me off, and I allow him, but only partially. I decide instead to snuggle against him and the couch.

With my head against his shoulder and my back against the leather, I look up at him.

"What were you doing down here?"

"You were…starting to have nightmares I think. I'd heard you mumble things in your sleep before, when passing by your room at night. I…well.. when I touched your hand or brushed the hair out of your forehead, you went right back to a peaceful sleep. I decided to just be nearby so as to help you sleep better."

"You pass by my room a lot?"

"I..um..well, there's not much for me to do when you're not awake. I…like listening to your breathing. I'm sorry…is that weird?"

"So, do you sit outside my room?"

He looks over to the wall that our rooms share.

"You sit here all night listening?"

"Yes," he admits, his eyes still looking away.

"And you don't do anything else?"

"Not really…unless I'm looking up something for you…"

"What are you looking up for me?"

"Foods…other things you might need…when you thought I was ignoring you before school started, I was really just memorizing your breathing and heartbeat and preparing for when I'd give in and talk to you," he looks over at me seriously, "are you thoroughly freaked out?"

"No."

"Really?"

"If I didn't sleep I might spend my nights looking up ways to impress you."

"Bella …you are and always will be my whole world. In fact, from the moment you walked in the door with your father…you shot across my dark world like a blazing sun. I'll never be the same without you. Before I saw by faraway starlight, and now that I've seen with this sun, there's no going back."

I pull his face towards me, "Edward. I'm not scared. I want this, I want you, I'm ready."

"Bella, I have to take this slowly…Yes, I want to honor your father's wishes and give you time to make sure this is what you want—"

I begin to protest, but he cuts me off.

"But also, for me, I have to move slowly with you. You're my whole world, everything I've been waiting for and so much more. If I move too quickly…I might blind myself…I might make mistakes with you or hurt you, Bella."

I begin to understand him a little more… but I know there's no way he could hurt me.

His eyes are steady in sincerity…and our proximity, the urge I have to move my fingers into his hair…and my lips to his…

The door to Edward's room swings open.

Emmett flies into the room, "Ed-oh, hello there Bella."

The grin that takes over his face tells me that we'll be the theme of his innuendos for the week… or more likely an entire decade.

Alice and Carlisle trail into the room, and I quickly pull myself away from Edward and into an upright position on the couch. Edward follows after me and sits on the other end.

"The vampires are not Volturi," Alice states, "probably nomads passing through. I think they're harmless."

Alice takes a seat between Edward and I on the couch.

I'm grateful for the slight reprieve from the desire to wrap myself in Edward.

"I'm not sure about the exact arrival time, but probably the next two weeks. Rose is calling Denali to warn them as well," Alice continues.

"And I don't think this should disrupt our whole lives," Carlisle explains to me, "there's a bad flu going around and doctors are already scarce at the hospital. I think it's safest if we always leave the house in pairs. I'll have Edward, Jasper or Rosalie come in with me for different shifts, under the pretense of shadowing. You all can attend classes in pairs. Since it is the beginning of the semester, you can pretend that the other is considering registration for the class. I think for you, Bella, it might be best to have two others with you."

A security detail. Lovely.

During this explanation from Carlisle, I noticed Edward and Alice silently communicating beside me. Both of them clearly already privy to this information.

Edward's concentrating on Alice, likely watching her visions.

"I've never seen those two before. Are they mates?"

"I don't know…and sometimes they have a third figure with them." Alice must be showing him another vision.

Carlisle looks over at me sympathetically and gestures at Edward and Alice, "those two can be incredibly frustrating. Most of the time they don't use any words."

A loud, obnoxious grumble from my stomach interrupts the conversations.

Edward is out of the room quickly, stating he'll have my breakfast in just a minute.

"So, should Edward and I still go to our lab today?"

"Yes, and Emmett will be joining you. Rose is coming with me to the hospital today because she already has an ID there for the volunteering she does in the pediatrics unit."

Emmett smiles over at me from his perch against Edward's desk.

"Sorry to break up the date," he grins.

"Emmett, please be nice," Carlisle warns.

"I am being nice. I just apologized."

Carlisle just shakes his head, tells us his shift will be over at 5, and makes a swift exit. Being the father figure must make it hard for him to hear all of Emmett's… explicit teasing.

"So, the floor, then? I would have guessed Mr. Gentleman would have at least made it to the—"

A growling of Emmett's name could be heard from a disgruntled Edward downstairs.

"Emmett, save your teasing for later," Alice insisted.

Emmett just shrugged, then turned around to mess around with something on Edward's desk.

"So, Bella, about the car…" Alice begins.

"Alice, I'm so sorry. I just think it's smart to have my own car, you know? Something I'm comfortable driving?"

"I understand, Bella, but we want to help you. I think you might need to talk to Rose, she's the most offended of your distaste for our cars."

"You got that right," Emmett laughs from his place by the desk. "No need to get anymore help from us with a car though. Hope you're comfortable driving this!" He grins and turns Edward's laptop around so we can see the screen.

"What?"

"Looks like Edward just bought a car under Isabella S. Pratt."

There's a dark blue, expensive, shiny car glittering on the screen.

"How did you…"

"Computer science major. I told you it was handy… you may want to reconsider—"

"EMMETT!" Edward comes crashing into his room.

Then, he turns towards me gently, and hands me a plate with an omelet and toast.

"Thank you."

Then he turns towards his brother and his eyes grow dark.

"You had no right to go—"

"I was just helping out my baby sister."

I can see that Edward wants to throw a punch, but he holds himself back.

"Emmett," he warns.

"Eddie."

"Just get out. Now. Alice, you too, please. Before I break something that Esme would kill us both for."

Emmett smirks and sneaks around Edward to the door, "your third wheel will be waiting downstairs."

Edward sighs loudly and shuts the door behind Emmett and Alice.

Edward turns back to me, exasperation written on his face.

"Are you ready to run away screaming from us?" Edward asks, his back leaning against the door, blocking my only exit.

His hands are pulling at his hair.

"I'll tell you after I've eaten this masterpiece of an omelet."


As I stated above, I really liked writing this chapter. Let me know what you all thought!

Thanks for reading!

~MeganElla