Hello everyone! I am back from my hiatus as I previously stated in the update for Clandestine!
This chapter is a little bit of filly to develop Bella and Edward's relationship and hopefully set up the next few chapters! I have written an outline for my other stories, so when I update next I'll let you know an estimate of how many chapters there are left! This one has yet to be written, though.
I have to admit I feel terrible for not getting this out sooner! I had most of this written for AGES. But I faced two weeks from hell in universityl. Three tests. Three research papers. YEAH. I actually JUST finished a paper, and then opened this up, and decided I only wanted a couple more sentences!
Sorry if it is kind of short, it was five paged in word!
Sept means Seven in French, but is pronounces set!
Sept:
Edward and I drove for half a day. We had stayed close to the coast, and I was shocked at how few people there were on the road. When the sun grew high we stopped and took cover. In those few moments Edward would hold me close and tell me about his family, how they came to be together. He always assured me that we would all be together soon again.
When dusk came we drove until we reached the edge of the city. Edward pulled over to the side of the road.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly. I shrugged.
"I feel fine," I replied. He smiled at me, happiness evident in his eyes.
"I think we found your power," he said simply. "You should be going mad right now, the scent of humans is all over this area, and yet you're fine. You either have unnatural control for being so young, or you're just resistant to the smell." I was grinning with him now.
"So that means we can go undercover in the city while everyone else hides out?" I asked. He nodded and started up the car again, pulling on to the highway. "Where are we going to stay?" I asked, looking at the horizon that was rising up to meet us.
"Carlisle and I had an apartment in this city before the others joined our families. It's small, but it's all we need, really. We kept it as a place for any of us to go, if we had to get away from the house or each other." I nodded and watched as we drove into town, houses passed us quickly, trees were sparse. People watched the car roll down the lane, as if they knew that we hadn't always been here.
Edward pulled into an apartment building's lot and we quickly grabbed our trunk before walking inside. We took the stairs instead of the elevator to the top floor and Edward unlocked the door for me. We brought the trunk through the doorway and then Edward wrapped his arm around my waist.
"Would you like me to show you around?" He said softly in my ear. I nodded and tried to smile at him. We moved forward through the apartment into the living room. There were large studio windows and exposed brick walls. Edward pulled the sheets off the furniture to reveal dark fabrics and wood, layers of dust floated through the air.
I opened the window. It was the only thing I could think of to do, and I felt miserable for it.
"The kitchen is through there," Edward said, pointing through a doorway as we passed down the hall. "There's an extra room that was meant to be another bedroom but we put my piano there." The room was bright and white. A black baby grand piano sat in one corner, and the rest of the room was entirely empty save for a bookshelf. I could see myself spending time here painting.
"The master bedroom is down here," Edward said softly, taking my hand and leading me down the hall. The bathroom was to the right when we reached the end, and in front of us were double French doors. Edward swung them open to reveal more studio windows and exposed brick. There were white sheets covering what looked like a couch, a coffee table and a bed. I walked towards the dusty window seat and sat down, holding onto my knees while Edward pulled off the sheets again.
The sky was darkening with clouds that seemed to fit my mood best. I watched the people on the streets hurry into different buildings and saw the beginnings of rain tap against the window. Then there was a flash of lightning.
Today was a good day to move into town.
"What are you thinking about," Edward asked quietly from where he was standing next to the bed. I hadn't notice that he'd dressed it.
"I'm thinking about my brother and sister and what they're going through right now and how much I wish I was with them," I said quietly, turning to look back out the window.
"They're going to be alright," Edward said quietly. "I promise. They've got four strong vampires looking after them. Nothing's going to happen, especially without us knowing." I looked back at him, standing in his unbuttoned waistcoat, his hair swirling in disarray, the nervous emotion on his face as he stared at the ground.
"And I'm going to protect you," he said determinedly, looking straight into my eyes. If I could put into words the emotion running across his face at that moment I'm not sure I'd be able to continue. It was indescribable, the amount of adoration and determination flaring in his eyes. Rain ran like rivers down the window and made the whole room shiver.
I found myself on my feet and walking to his side in seconds, eye contact never wavering. I reached up to hold his face in my hands and his arms wrapped around my waist instinctively. My eyes scanned his for any sign of fear or anxiety and found none. For the first time since we had left my lips curled into a smile.
I stood on the tips of my toes as Edward crouched down to kiss me, and I kissed him deeply in return. There were no words passed between us, just sighs and moans as I slipped his waistcoat from his shoulders and he reached behind me to unbutton my dress.
Absolute bliss. I could almost be sleeping, but I was too warm.
Edward's arm was wrapped around my stomach, his chest pressed firmly against my back and his face in the crook of my neck. I propped my head up onto one arm and stared out the window as the rain subsided and the clouds revealed an orange sky. A white sheet covered our waists and my chest.
"I love you," I found myself saying softly, staring at the dark clouds disappearing into the twilight. Edward's breathing paused for a quick moment; his arm tensed around my waist and for that brief instant I thought it was the wrong thing to say, but decided it I needed to have said it anyway.
He rolled me onto my back and leaned over me. The expression of pure joy on his face was enough to bring a smile back to my lips. "I love you," he agreed, kissing me with all the passion we had just felt again.
Edward and I spent weeks in the apartment. On the weekend he would take me outside of the city to hunt and then we would return to the silence of the apartment, waiting for our family to call.
The phone was set up in the living room, along with the radio he'd dug out of the closet one night. Alice and Emmett called me every night and assured me they were having a great time, they were feeling better with their hunts, and for me not to worry. It didn't stop me from worrying anyway.
Edward would talk with Carlisle about the vampire who was searching for us, and after the third week in the apartment it wasn't looking too good.
"He's from the Volturi," Carlisle told Edward solemnly. The receiver was sitting on the coffee table while we both looked at it. "His power is to see the powers of other vampires, and apparently he finds Bella and Alice suitable for the Volturi guard. We don't think he's told any of the Masters yet, so as long as we can lose his interest there shouldn't be too big of a problem."
"Why wouldn't he have told Aro, Caius or Marcus yet?" Edward asked. I was utterly confused.
"Jasper and I are thinking that he might want to take the glory of discovering such talents, and if the rest of the Volturi are involved then more of them might come after the girls- and actually take them."
"I don't even have a great talent," I said softly. "What does he want with me?"
"Perhaps we haven't fully discovered your talent yet," Carlisle explained.
Our days were spent in a haze of pure happiness. Whenever we weren't tossing through the sheets, or on the tables, or on the couches, Edward would play his piano in the studio room while I painted across from him.
I'd made a large canvas out of an old bed sheet and wood and propped it in front of the piano. Edward was my model, sitting for his portrait unknowingly while he played.
We hardly dressed anymore. Edward would pull on his underpants and a white dress shirt that he'd never button; I would pull on the silky white robe and undergarments. When I painted I left it open to grant more freedom of movement, and shortly after we'd be down to our skin again.
I'd never felt so at home as I did with him.
When the city was sitting under blue skies we walked around the apartment freely, our skin sparkly lightly when we stepped past a window. The apartment building was higher than any others nearby, so we felt no fear of discovery.
Five weeks passed and things started to change. I could feel something tangible around me, something that I found I could control when I concentrated. It was like a barrier that moulded to fit me, but one that I could move to fit around other things as well.
Edward found me one afternoon gazing out a window at a woman standing on the sidewalk talking to another woman. I called him over to sit next to me and concentrated on making that barrier reach down to one of the women.
"Can you read her mind?" I asked, pointing to her. He nodded and looked at her. There was a moment before his brow furrowed in confusion. I pulled back on my barrier, bringing it back to sit around me and his face relaxed.
"She's thinking about what she's going to make for supper... but, I couldn't hear her straight away," he murmured. I kept my head resting on my arms on the windowsill.
"I think that was me," I told him softly. "I think my power is sort of like a barrier." He grinned handsomely and leaned in to kiss my lips.
"That's probably why I can't read your mind," he said. "Do you think it works the other way?" I smiled and tried to concentrate on bringing the barrier in upon itself, making it almost nonexistent inside of me. Since it naturally formed around me I found it harder to pull in than it was to stretch. But, for the short amount of time that I forced it in on itself I knew that Edward saw the burst of emotion for him that I had before it snapped back into place. I sighed.
"I think I need to practice that a bit more," I said quietly. Edward looked at me with awe before crashing his lips with mine.
"That was amazing," he sighed against my lips, pressing hard against them. "You have no idea how happy I was to see into your mind like that." He pushed me farther into the window seat, and neither one of us fixed the robe falling off my shoulders.
"We're pretty sure the vampire has left," Carlisle explained gently. "We've felt no presences, just like you, and we think that if he was determined to have Bella and Alice there would have been a greater power after them by now. It should be safe for you to come home." I was grinning so widely my cheeks hurt.
A month after the discovery of my new power and I could finally see my brother and sister again. I had been told that their progress with the hunts were improving, their thirst was waning just a little bit, and that they hardly felt a pang for human blood as they had after first attacking.
Edward and I moved around the apartment, placing sheets over the furniture again and picking up our things. We put away the radio and telephone before packing up the trunk and locking it tight.
I stood in the studio, looking at the piano and trying to ignore the presence of the large painting behind me, hidden under a sheet. Since we'd been here I'd finished my portrait of Edward but never let him see it. I'd also done several other canvas paintings that we'd hung around the place.
"Do I get to see that before we leave?" Edward asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing himself close, his lips next to my ear.
"I suppose," I replied. "We won't see it again until the next time we're back here."
"Mmm," Edward sighed. "I hope that's soon. I've enjoyed my time here." I giggled and swatted his hands away.
"Okay, please, hold the applause," I said with a roll of my eyes, holding on to the sheet. Edward grinned crookedly at me and folded his arms across his chest. I pulled off the sheet with a 'ta-da!' and looked proudly at my masterpiece.
Edward, sitting behind the piano, with his open shirt and tousled hair, a look of calmness across his features as light poured in the window looked at me from the canvas. I smiled to myself as I took it in again and when I looked at Edward he was awestruck. He stared at the canvas with such an intensity I could have blushed.
Then, he turned his eyes to me and they were complete adoration. He crossed the room in a flash and pulled me into his arms, kissing me deeply and holding me as tightly as he could. His hands snaked under my sweater to touch my back, and even through my dress it was exhilarating.
"I'm going to miss having so much privacy," he murmured against my neck before pulling away and smiling at me. I had to admit, I would miss it too.
But I could not wait to see my family again.
REVIEW if you still like me, let me know what you want to happen next!
P.S. new things in my profile including my Twitter and Dailybooth!
