Chapter 7
Edward
I walked back into the house with my bags, climbed the stairs quietly to the third floor, and slipped inside my room. I dropped my bag with the telescope in it near the door, walking carefully to the desk and turning on the desk lamp. I changed in the dim light of the desk lamp and looked around my dark room. I sighed. I turned off the desk lamp and climbed into bed, staring up at the ceiling.
I felt the urgency to tell Bella my secret begin to grow from a dull purr to a near deafening roar. It was going to come out, sooner rather than later, especially now since we were getting closer and if she found out, she would hate me. I could not let that happen. My thoughts swept to her face, the way her cheeks reddened when she was embarrassed, and the way her lips curled into that beautiful smile.
I did not like surprises, especially ones like this. Where had they gotten the baby? What made them decide to adopt her and why hadn't anyone tell any of us? I thought about Emmilie's chubby little pink cheeks and I smirked. She was rather cute, how could anyone think otherwise?
I guess it was something that I and everyone else would have to adjust. Having a baby in the house would definitely be work, but as long as I did not have to do it, it would not be too bad. As if right on cue, I heard her cry. I sighed. It was a distant cry, nothing that I could not block out, but it left me feeling rather irritated. I rolled over in the large bed, threw a pillow over my head, and pressed down on my ears. Shut up! I growled loudly under my pillow.
I grabbed for my nightstand, holding the pillow over my head with one hand, blindly reaching, searching for my ipod. My fingers wrapped around the headphones and I yanked quickly pulling it onto the bed, shoving the ear buds into my ears. I turned the volume up, rolled over onto my back, and closed my eyes, listening to the music, drowning out my current problem, the small chubby cheeked child crying only 8 feet below me.
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The week was nearly gone without much of anything interesting happening. The past couple of days the baby took precedence over everything in our lives. I could not take it anymore. It was Thursday and I still had not seen Bella in almost 3 days. I wanted to see her, to forget that damn crying baby, at least for one day.
I ran down the stairs, nearly knocking Esme and the baby over who was slowly climbing the first set of stairs, and bolted out the door to my car. I saw Emmett in the garage under the hood of his jeep. He looked up at me and gave me a quizzical look. I waved him over to my car and look of shock crossed over his face. I grabbed the keys on the peg and opened the car door, Emmett still standing near his jeep.
"Come on Em, are you going to come with me or not?" I said closing my door. I was ready for this. He grabbed the door handle hesitantly, yanked it open, and jumped in the passenger seat.
"Edward, what is up for you, Bro? You have been acting funny all week," he said grabbing my shoulder and shaking it roughly. I put the key in the ignition and his grip tightened and I looked up at him.
"Hey Em, you mind loosening up a bit?" I said shrugging off his hand.
"Are you sure you are ready for this?" he said looking at me concerned. I started the car as if to answer his question. The engine roared loudly. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I was going to see Bella.
I did not even bother to figure out what I was going to say, but I was going to see her. I pulled out my cell phone and called Alice. She had left earlier in the day, probably trying to escape the screaming demon from hell.
"Hey Edward, are you still at home?" She said answering on the second ring.
"Umm, you could say something like that. I am trying to get the hell out of this house. What are you up to?" I said hoping she was with Bella.
"I am just shopping, but even this is losing its fascination. Forks only has so much good taste," she said and scoffed. I laughed at her; she was overly dramatic.
"Well then hey, let's go to Port Angeles. I have to get out of here for a couple hours. Em is with me. Maybe you should bring Bella, you know, to bring a girl along so you will have someone to shop with," I said trying to be casual about it.
"Oh Edward, you are a genius!" she squealed and I pulled the phone from my ear. "I am in town already but meet me at Bella's house in 20 minutes," she said hanging up the phone. Great, that was all I wanted to hear.
I reached up onto my visor and pushed the button and the garage door behind me opened loudly, screeching as it reached the top and came to a halt. I put the car into reverse and slowly backed out of the garage, Emmett staring at me the whole time. I pulled down the driveway back to the road and drove as quickly as I could to Bella's house.
We pulled up to the house, Alice's car already in the driveway next to Bella's old truck. I parked near the curb and Alice came running out of the house, a stunned look on her face. I laughed at her expression, got out, laid my arms on the roof of the car, and looked at her gawking at my car.
"Edward….what is this? You NEVER drive this car?" she said walking closer. Bella's head had then appeared in the doorway, apparently just as shocked.
"It's just time to drive it, I guess. So I will drive to Port Angeles. Let's go." I said waving towards the car. Alice ran back up the porch steps and pulled Bella inside and they both ran out, Bella running along behind Alice. Emmett got out of the car and pulled the seat forward to let them inside, and they slid across the leather seats.
I jumped in the car, pulled off onto the street, and headed out towards Port Angeles. Emmett reached over and turned the radio on, loud rock music roared from the speakers. I smiled at my success of the car. It really was a piece of art. We all sang along loudly with the music, head banging and laughing. I looked in my rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of Bella, her long brown hair framed her pretty face, her perfect lips curled into a big grin, and her big brown eyes sparkled.
We made it to Port Angeles in great time and we parked in front of the mall. I got out, pulled the seat forward, and held out my hand to Bella. She looked at it for a moment and hesitantly reached for it, and I pulled her out. Knowing her, she would have fallen on her face. Alice got out on Emmett's side and we all headed into the mall.
Alice of course wanted to go into the clothing stores so Emmett and I headed off towards some video games store to find some "cool new RPG" game. Whatever that was. I turned around and watched Bella and Alice as they walked off into some girlie store, with a look of panic on Bella's face. I loved the fact she was not like Alice.
Emmett and I walked around the mall for a while, stopping in some sporting goods store, a small video game store, of course a candy store where Emmett got a huge bag of gummy worms. He was bigger than your normal man was, but he was such a child, he was a man-child. That thought made me laugh. I left him in the store and found a bookstore a couple doors down. I looked around and found some books on the Civil War and World War I and II that looked interesting, so I decided to buy them. As I was at the counter paying for my books, Alice and Bella walked in the store, Alice with four bags in both hands, and just two in Bella's hands.
"So, Edward, I am famished. I think we need to get some food," Alice said leaning up against the counter. As if Emmett had heard the word food, he charged into the store and stood in front of me, shoving gummy worms into his mouth. I could not help but laugh at him. He was always hungry. We walked out of the mall, Alice and Bella put all of their bags into the trunk, and we all got in.
I drove to a small Mexican restaurant that I knew of that had good food and pulled into the spot and Alice squealed. I knew she liked this place too; she was the one that introduced me to it. Alice pushed against my seat, forcing me to jump from the car and pull the seat forward so she could get out and she pulled Bella behind her. Bella caught her foot on the seat belt and nearly fell to the ground, but I grabbed her arm in time and pulled her up quickly. She looked up at me and blushing a subtle pink shade. She was lucky I had good reflexes; otherwise, she would be getting hurt constantly. What did she do when I was not around? I could not even imagine how much she was getting hurt.
I opened the door for the girls, Emmett trailed behind me, and we waited at the podium. I stepped in front of the girls, leaned against the podium, and waited for the hostess to seat us. A brown-haired woman approached us and stared at me reverently, mouth gaping open and I smiled my best smile.
"Table for four," I said and the girl blushed and grabbed four menus.
"Right this way," she said to me turning and walking to the back of the room to a booth. The girls lead the way to the booth and they both scooted in together on one side, Bella on the outside, and then Emmett and I scooted in with me sitting across from Bella.
The hostess handed us our menus, staring at me the whole time. Gees, did she have to be so obvious? She winked at me and walked off; I turned to my menu and saw Bella staring at me over my menu. I pulled my menu up to block her glaring eyes. I looked over the menu, not feeling very hungry suddenly. I chose something quickly off the menu and placed it down on the table in front of me. I folded my hands and darted my eyes around the room, trying not to make eye contact with Bella.
The waitress came to the table to take our orders and she stared at both Emmett and I, flirting furiously as if it was going out of style. Emmett of course was eating it up, flirting right back with her, encouraging it.
"So Selena is it? What a pretty name that is" Emmett said to the waitress. She looked down and blushed. God he could be so disgusting sometimes. I rolled my eyes. Selena took our orders, walking away, still red in the cheek.
I looked at Bella but she was not paying any attention to me, instead she was looking over at a nearby table, watching two guys as they ate. They saw her looking at them and they smiled, and she returned that smile then looked back at me and glared. I think my mouth might have dropped open. Wow, she sure was ballsy.
I turned to Emmett who was talking to Alice about some video game he had, but she was absentmindedly stirring her water around and around. I nodded along to what Emmett was saying, acting as if I was paying attention but I was not. Alice seemed to snap out of her trance and immediately started going on and on to Bella about clothes.
After a couple minutes of Alice rambling on, on about some pair of jeans, the food finally arrived, and Selena sat the food down on the table and smiled at Emmett, who winked at her and walked off.
"Emmett, you are disgusting, you know that?" Alice said looking at him, repulsed. She picked up her fork and began to eat. We all ate in silence; this was not going exactly as I had planned. I decided that it would be a good idea if we went to the movies.
"So what do you guys think about going to catch a movie?" I said hopefully. I looked around the table and Alice's face lit up.
"I have wanted to see this vampire movie that is out, I love scary movies and gore," she said. That was oddly surprising.
The waitress came back with the bill and I promptly paid with a credit card. At least my mother was good for something, but it is not as if I ever used it anyways. She paid it so I never even cared. We all got up and walked toward the front, the hostess winking at me again as she said goodbye, and I could have sworn I had seen Bella's face and she looked infuriated. That made me smirk, she was jealous.
I opened the car door for Alice and Bella who both got in, the expression I had seen early had vanished. I got in, started the car, and headed out for the movie theater. Emmett was texting on his phone being unusually quiet.
"So guys, Rose is going to meet us at the movies. I asked her to come, I hope that's ok," he said turning to look at the girls in the back seat.
"Oh good! I love Rose!" Alice said cheerfully. Emmett turned to look at me and I tried to force a smile.
I pulled into the parking lot and saw Rosalie standing up against her car, a black Mercedes SUV. I hated when she tried to show off. I pulled in next to her, Emmett jumping from the car before I had even stopped and threw his arms around her, kissing her passionately on the lips. I wanted that, I wanted the passion, the heat, the love. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and I saw someone standing next to Emmett. I got out of the car and saw it was Jasper. I narrowed my eyes at him who gave me a look of agitation. We did not like each other, and we both knew it, but I was not about to start something, not around Bella, and not tonight. I pulled the seat up for the girls to get out and Alice nearly knocked me out of the way trying to get out running to Jasper.
She ran to Jasper, embraced him tightly, and looked up into his eyes. I rolled my eyes as he held her in his arms. This was going to be so damn awkward now. Everyone was coupled up. I put my hand out for Bella and helped her out this time, I held her hand a little bit longer than I had the last time and releasing it slowly. Her hands were so soft and small.
We all walked up to the ticket window, got our tickets, and walked inside to the concession stand. I looked at everyone but no one really seemed interested in food. They were all talking to each other so I stood in line. You cannot come to a movie and not get popcorn and M&M's.
"Does anyone want anything," I said but no one answered me. I shrugged, turned around, and waited in line when I heard a tiny voice next to me.
"I'd like a soda and some peanut butter M&M's" Bella said smiling. Her smile made me want to do anything to keep it on her face. I nodded and she waited with me in line until it was my turn to order.
I ordered and grabbed our stuff and handed Bella her soda and M&M's and she smiled graciously, and we walked over to the group. Emmett was snuggling in Rose's hair who was giggling and Alice had her arm interlocked in Jasper's arm. We all walked toward the theater, I held the door open for the girls, and they all walked in. The theater was bare and Alice chose seats in the middle of the theater. Alice led the pack holding on to Jasper's hand leading him down the row, then Bella, myself, Rosalie and Emmett. I didn't exactly like where I was sitting but I decided I would deal with it. I turned to my left, looked at Bella, and smiled, who smiled right back at me.
I set my soda in my holder to the right and rested my arms on the armrests just centimeters from Bella's arm. The lights in the theater dimmed and the movie began playing the previews, when suddenly I felt something touch my hand. I looked down and noticed it was Rosalie's hand. I pulled my hand away and rested it in my lap. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her turn her head to look at me but I refused turn and look at her. She moved her hand and Emmett pulled her closer towards him, for which I was grateful.
I could not wait until summer; Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett would be graduating and off to college. They were all seniors and they would all be leaving, and that thought made me extremely happy. I had Bella and Alice, and they were the most important people to me. I would get next year alone with Bella, no distractions.
I leaned back into my chair and tried to focus on the previews. Finally, the movie began and I could hear Rosalie giggling, I rolled my eyes. God, could she be anymore annoying? I shifted in my seat feeling rather uncomfortable and breathed slowly in and out trying to calm myself. She really made my blood boil.
I knew Emmett loved her, and that is why I tried so hard to tolerate her, but I could not figure out what he saw in her. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and focused back on the movie. Why was I letting her get to me? I was here with Bella, the exact thing I wanted to do all day, why was I not happy?
I turned and looked at Bella, who had this look of utter horror on her face as she watched the monsters on the screen. Her face suddenly twisted her lips into the most disgusted look anyone could manage and I laughed loudly. She turned to look at me, she glared at me, and I laughed again at her feeble attempt to deter me from finding humor in her facial expressions. She slapped my arm with as much force as she could muster, which was rather weak and she turned back to watched the movie. The movie was rather boring, I had expected more but how could I have when Alice is the one that chose the movie. I watched as the vampires found their prey and attacked, fake blood squirting in every direction. What horrible effects, that totally did not even look real, I scoffed at the screen. Bella screamed and grabbed my arm and buried her head into my shoulder.
I looked down at her twisting my shirtsleeve in her small hands, twitching as she peaked around her hands to watch the fake gore. She was so freaking cute. As if she had suddenly realized what she was doing she looked up at me and I stared back into her dark eyes and smiled. She released my shirt and sat back in her chair. I looked past her and noticed that Alice was not watching the movie; she was in a full-fledged make out session with Jasper, who seemed to be enjoying himself. Bella looked at me, and turned to follow my gaze and immediately turned her head back to the screen with wide eyes.
A couple more times during the movie, she buried her head into my shirt, perhaps a little more intentional than before. She was being more relaxed and touching me more. I did not know if I should make a move, like put my arm around her or if that would be too cheesy. The movie was getting closer to the end of the movie and I was losing time. I started to panic a bit, I tried to convince myself just to do it, make a move, but the opportunity had passed. I sighed in defeat; I lost my chance.
Suddenly she did it again and I saw the chance, as she clutched to my shirt tightly, I lifted the armrest and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me, as close as the armrest would allow. I was nervous; would she try to pull away? She stiffened for a second and then she relaxed in my arms. I did not dare look down as I might lose my composure.
For the rest of the movie, which was only a good ten minutes, she sat in my arms, nestled up against my side, it was heaven. The credits began to roll across the screen and I noticed that Alice and Jasper had just begun situating themselves back into their seats. Who were they kidding? Did they really think that no one saw that? I saw out of the corner of my eye Rosalie was staring at me, so I turned my head and realized she wasn't staring at me; she was staring at Bella who wasn't paying any attention. Her eyes darted to mine, and she glared at me. I turned my head, looked down at the top of Bella's head, and leaned my cheek down on top of it.
The lights began to come on and I pulled my cheek from her head and slowly pulled us to a standing position. She looked up at me with the biggest grin I had ever seen her wear. That is what I liked to see, the smile. Emmett lead the way with Rosalie in hand from the near empty theater and out into the lobby, the bright lights nearly blinding me.
Apparently, the two hours in the dark had advanced Alice and Jasper's relationship, Jasper leaned down and kissed Alice sweetly. They were public about it now. She was happy, and it was good to see her happy, even if it was with Jasper. It wasn't even that I did not like him, he wasn't a bad guy, and I knew it. We were in a stupid situation that neither of us wanted to be in. I hoped he would understand that as well. We walked out to the cars and Emmett opened the passenger door of Rosalie's SUV and walked around to the driver door. I looked at him confused.
"Hey, I am just going to go over to Rose's for awhile, ok Bro?" He said smiling. I nodded and Alice ran up to me tugging on my shirt.
"Yeah, Edward I am going to go with them so I can hang out with Jasper. Would you mind taking Bella home for me?" She said, her eyes pleading. "Bella is that ok if Edward drives you home?" She said turning to look at Bella who just nodded nervously. I sighed.
"Alright Alice, but please be careful," I said as she wrapped her arms around my waist and squealed. She jumped up and kissed my cheek and I rolled my eyes.
"Thank you so much Edward," She said running to the SUV and getting in.
I opened the passenger door for Bella, closed the door behind her, and got in. I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should say anything. I turned and looked at her; she was looking down at her lap, fidgeting with her hands. I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot back towards Forks. We drove for a while in silence, this wasn't the way I had this all pictured in my head, but then again nothing in my life ever was.
"So umm Bella, did you want to do something else or…did you want me to just drop you off at home?" I said hoping she would say something else. She turned and looked at me and then she gazed out her window without answering me. I looked forward a little nervous. Had I done something wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have put my arms around her. Damn it, I had scared her away. I sighed in defeat. I continued driving without so much as looking at her when she suddenly spoke.
"I would like to look at the stars again tonight," she said surprising me. I turned to look at her and she was smiling.
"Oh, well that'll be a couple hours still but I bet we can manage that. You want to go to your house?" I asked because I really did not want to go back to mine, even though that is where the telescope was, and the best view.
"Oh, umm my Dad might be home. I do not think he would like it if I were in the house alone with a boy. Why don't we go to your house?" Damn it. I nodded and kept driving, but this time back to my house.
Darkness was about an hour away when I pulled up to the house, the house was dark. I pulled my car into the garage and noticed that Esme's car was gone. They must have gone out. We were alone, and that made me equally nervous and excited. I jumped from the car, ran to the other side, pulled the door open for her, and helped her out. We walked up the steps to the quiet, dark house.
"Are your aunt and uncle home?" she said looking up at me. I shook my head slowly.
"No, I don't know where they are," I said honestly, opening the door and letting Bella walk in front of me. I hoped they didn't come back anytime soon either.
I walked into the living room that was scattered with toys from Emmilie. I stepped around her toys and walked into the kitchen pulling the fridge open, searching for something to settle my now rumbling stomach. I looked at the clock on the microwave; it was nearly seven. Bella came into the kitchen, stood near the island, and watched me as I scratched my head. I heard her laugh and she was suddenly by my side, pushing me out of the way.
"How about you let me do the cooking, Mr. Cullen," she said winking at me. I back away from the fridge, sat at the island, and watched her work.
"So what is for dinner Ms. Swan," I said smirking. She looked up from the chicken she had just taken out of the fridge and grinned.
"It's a secret." she said smugly and continued to clean the chicken and cut it into chunks. I sat in the chair with my head in my hand and watched her work through the kitchen with fluid movements, moving from stove to cutting board. She poured some pasta into a pot of boiling water and began chopping some broccoli into pieces.
After nearly thirty minutes, she began plating the food and placed it in front of me. It was Chicken Alfredo. It smelled so good and I leaned down, taking in a deep breath of the deliciousness that was sitting in front of me. She came and sat next to me and she watched intently as I took the first bite, waiting for my reaction. The food was amazing. I turned at her, smiled, and nodded. She smiled smugly and began eating the food herself.
"This is really good, Bella. I should tell Esme and Carlisle we should hire you on as chef." I said and piled more food into my mouth. I hadn't eaten this well in I don't know how long. My mom used to cook for us like this when we were younger. She laughed at my joke and we eagerly ate our food. After I finished eating, I picked my plate up, carried it to the sink, washed it off, and put it in the dishwasher.
"Are you done with that," I asked her, pointing to the plate. She nodded and I grabbed her plate put it in the dishwasher next to mine. I looked outside and it was twilight; it would be dark soon. I motioned for her to follow me and I took us up the two flights of stairs and down the hall into my room. She entered my room, hesitating and stood near the door. I looked around for my bag that held the telescope and found it lying behind the door where I had dropped it a couple of days ago. I picked it up and pulled the telescope out, assembling it as quickly as I could manage. The sun was down and it was dark now.
"We can see the stars really well out on the balcony," I said opening the French doors. I carried the telescope out onto the balcony and placed it in front of a chair that I never used. I sat down in it and adjusted the settings on the telescope. I got up and patted it. Bella slowly came over and sat down in it. I leaned over her and pulled the telescope closer toward us and she looked through it. I stood behind her with my hands on the back of the chair looking up at the stars for a moment and then back down at her.
"What is this one here," she said getting up from the chair so I could look. I sat down and looked through the telescope. I focused it slowly trying to get a better look. I was familiar with this one.
"That would be Hydra. It is said that Apollo the sun god sent his pet raven down to earth to get the god some fresh water. Unfortunately, the bird was not trustworthy and when he came down to earth with his master's cup, he saw a fig tree was about to bear fruit so he decided to wait a couple days until the fruit was ripe. Once the fruit had ripened, he ate until it was all gone. He filled the cup with fresh water but then he soon realized that his master would be upset for him taking so long, so when he saw a water serpent laying near by he decided to take it back up to the heavens and tell his master that he was attacked and that is what caused the delay. The raven told Apollo his story and immediately he knew it was a lie so he grabbed the bird, cup and bird in tow, and threw him out heaven. We see them together in the sky as Crater, the Cup, and Corvus, the Raven, perched on the serpent's back. And that is the story of the hydra," I said sitting back in the chair as Bella leaned against the side of the chair, arm resting on the back. Her hand slipped and she lost her balance, falling across my lap.
"Hi," I said looking down in to her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. I could see her cheeks redden, even in the moonlight. I leaned down slowly, breathing in her flowery scent, edging closer to her face. I saw her close her eyes, and I closed mine hovering just inches over her pouty lips. I cupped her face in my hands and bent down lower.
"EDWARD!" I heard Alice run out the balcony and I lifted my head. She stopped at the door, staring back at us. I gave her an irritated look and she took a step back and tuned her lips into an "o". Bella sat up, pulled herself out of my lap, and stood up quickly.
"We were just looking at the stars, and I fell," Bella said looking down at the wood panel floor, grinding her toe into the wood nervously.
"Oh…yeah," Alice said. "I am sorry to interrupt; I thought Edward had taken you home. I am sorry, Edward," she said looking at me and flying out my bedroom door. I sighed. Damn it, Alice.
"It's getting late," Bella said turning to me. I nodded. I rose from the chair slowly, pulled my keys from my pocket, and lead he way down the stairs. I saw Esme sitting in the living room, bouncing Emmilie on her knee. I heard Emmilie giggle and I quickened my pace out the front door and down the steps to the garage.
I opened the door for Bella and she climbed in. We drove the whole way back to Bella's house in silence. I parked the car along the curb in front of her house. She sat there for a moment with her hands in her lap, and then she turned and looked at me and she smiled. I wanted to kiss her and now was my chance. I leaned forward across the center console, but before I knew what was happening, Bella was out the door and sprinting across the yard and up the stairs of the house. I slammed my hands down on the steering wheel and tried to calm myself.
I pulled away from the curb, pissed off at Alice for interrupting me and pissed off at myself. I drove home in silence trying to calm my anger. By the time I pulled into the garage, I realized it wasn't Alice's fault, it just was. I climbed the stairs into the house and walked into the living room where Esme was still sitting with Emmilie. She watched me as I sat next to her and I stared at the sleeping baby.
I sat on the couch and talked with Esme for a while as she rocked the baby back and forth until it was time to put the baby to sleep. Esme rose from the couch, ready to put Emmilie to bed.
"Get to bed soon, honey," She said walking towards the stairs.
"Could you turn the lights off, Esme? I think I am going to sit here for a little bit longer." I said and she nodded and turned the lights off. I sat in the dark and watched her climb the stairs, cradling the sleeping baby in her arms. Maybe everything would be all right here, and maybe I could finally be happy. I climbed the stairs up to my room ready for this day to be finished. I dressed for bed, got under the covers, and pulled on my ear buds, grateful for music to calm my nerves. I closed my eyes and welcomed the sleep that overcame me within minutes.
