[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks and hugs to all of you who keep reading and reviewing. It means more to me than you'll ever know. I'm sorry that I'm so much behind with review-replying but let me tell you that I cherish each single one of them.

This chapter is dedicated to DaPhoenix because I like the way she thinks…

**Chapter 8**

Kisses are like tears, the only real ones are the ones you can't hold back

(Author Unknown)

I wasn't good as socializing with other people and so I was awfully nervous when Esme suggested that she wanted to introduce me to some of our neighbors. Pixie had noticed my nervousness when I had spilled my tea all over the hem of my grey silk dress, making it necessary to change into another before I could meet Esme and the visitors in the sunroom.

"Are you afraid about meeting the other ladies?" Pixie whispered into my ear when she closed the buttons of my apple green organza dress.

"No, I'm not." I lied while I tried to ignore the strange tingly feeling deep down in my stomach when her fingertips touched my neck very lightly.

"They will like you," she mumbled, wrapping a silk ribbon around my hair before she stepped back.

I nodded my head and forced my lips into the weak attempt of a smile before I walked out of the room. Somehow I wished I could take her with me. It was her who made me feel secure, her who made me feel beautiful although I thought of myself as nothing but plain.

When I entered the sunroom Esme and the rest of them were already waiting for me and I blushed a bit when I noticed that I was probably late.

"Isabella, my dear, it's good that you are finally here. Let me introduce you to some of our dearest friends. These are Margret and Theodore Weber."

Mr. Weber took my hand to blow a kiss over my knuckles. Both he and his wife were dressed completely in black and I assumed that they must have had a case of death not too long ago. It would probably be impolite to ask them about it. Mrs. Weber made a brief comment on my dress before Esme put her hand on my shoulder to introduce me to a tall young woman with curly brown hair and a snub nose.

"Isabella, this is your husband's cousin, Miss Jessica Newton. Her older brother Michael owns the neighbor plantation, Newton Manor's."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss. Newton," I mumbled when Jessica offered me her glove covered hand.

"The pleasure is on my side, Mrs. King. I was so curious about finally meeting Royce wife. He's such a good catch, well maybe not as good as his cousin but still…I'm dying to hear how you managed to lull him in."

We sat down around a round table and Flower walked in carrying a tray with tea and biscuits on her left hip that she placed in the middle of the table.

"Is there anything else, I can get you, Missus?" she asked Esme in an overly sweetly voice. Maybe she had taken Carlisle's advice to get her temper under control serious and was now trying to be politer.

"No, that's everything. You may go back to your work now, Flower." Esme murmured, wiping her forehead with a tissue. It was going to be a warm day again and I wished I could spend the evening in a shadowy place instead of sitting here with a bunch of strangers whom I would probably never feel close to.

"So," Jessica like she insisted I should call her, started after taking a small sip from her tea.

"Please, tell us Esme. Isn't your son coming back anytime soon? Edward has been away from Twilight now for over a year."

Esme sighed and wiped her mouth on a napkin.

"Maybe he'll be home come for Christmas. His father and I miss him dearly. It's horrible to know your only child so far away from home."

Mrs. Weber sighed deeply and started playing with the onyx brooch on her throat before she nervously spoke up.

"The poor boy needs to move on again, maybe even find a new wife."

Jessica's blue eyes started to sparkle when she said that and her face turned into a priggish grin.

"I know, Margret, but you know how my Edward is like…he's so stubborn and the whole…incident with Angie broke his heart."

"A heart can't be broken," Jessica stated, folding her arms in her lap.

"That's some romantic nonsense for niggers and as far as I remember Angela and your son didn't get married out of romantic reasons."

"Maybe not in the beginning, but they developed a…liking in each other. That's far more than what most people achieve during a lifelong marriage."

"Speaking of niggers," Mr. Weber murmured, stuffing half of a cookie between his lips.

"Can you tell me why you're still keeping the yellow nigger girl around? Didn't you tell my wife that want to get rid of her as soon as possible?"

Esme sighed deeply and added two spoons of sugar into her tea before she took a small sip from it.

"Carlisle has signed her over to Edward to make sure I can't sell the stupid girl behind his back. I've never met such an arrogant slave in my whole life and it gets worth with every single day."

"Flower is a good maid." I whispered hoarsely, feeling somehow the need to stand up for her. Yes, Flower was arrogant but she was also a poor soul. None of the other house slaves seemed to like her one tiny bit and the men inside the house, including my husband and his uncle seemed to lust after her as if she was sort of an animal.

"I still wouldn't buy her. She would only bring agitation into our house. If you asked me they should drown bastards like her right after they were born. This would keep us all the trouble of dealing with light-skinned slaves who think themselves as good as whites. They'll never be white, no matter who their fathers…,"

"Miss Newton, please. We don't wish to talk about such unpleasant topics. Do you care for another cup of tea?" Esme interrupted, obviously having trouble to keep her voice calm.

Jessica nodded her head and sighed deeply.

"Our Michael is still glad that Carlisle agreed to buy this maniac. Texas is more animal than man and I seriously feared for my life whenever I run into him in the garden."

"Texas was your slave?" I stumbled out, almost dropping the cup of tea I was holding down on the table with trembling fingertips.

"I assume that means you've already met him. Just follow my advice and stay away from him. He's the kind of slave that would slice your throat from behind or put crumbled glass into your food…,"

"Miss Newton, I don't think it's appropriate for a young lady to discuss this sort of things." Mr. Weber stated reproachfully.

"My husband is actually right, Miss Newton. Maybe you wouldn't have to worry so much about your slaves harming you, if your brother wouldn't insist on letting them starve."

"Never heard that fat niggers work harder, it only makes them lazier. We are proud how we handle things on Newton Manor's. Not all of us are interested in being called nigger friends behind our backs."

XXXX

I closed my eyes for a moment and enjoyed the cool breeze of the wind on my overheated face. The place Pixie had chosen to rest outside in the warmth of the evening was lovely. A tiny meadow surrounded by huge oak trees. Twilight was such a beautiful plantation and I hadn't even seen half of it.

She poured me a glass of lemonade that I emptied in one big gulp before I turned my attention to the book on my lap. Romeo and Juliet was one of my favorites and although the end made me always cry I still had read it several times all over again.

"What's the book about?" Pixie asked me suddenly, while she continued braiding some daisies into a floral wreath.

"Is that the one about god?"

I raised one eyebrow and cleared my throat before I spoke up again.

"No, that's not the bible, although I probably should be reading it more often. It would help me to become a better person."

She shook her head and dropped the flowers to the ground before she took my hand in hers and planted a kiss on my palm. When her lips touched my skin I instantly stopped breathing.

"You couldn't be any better than you are, Miss. Don't let anyone tell you different."

I felt the tears starting to burn in my eyes and swallowed hard to keep them from falling. In my whole life no one had ever spoken such kind words to me.

"Miss?"

"I'm okay, just a bit…confused. Do you still want to know about the book?"

She nodded her head and crossed her legs underneath her skirt when she sat down in front of me, looking at me with those huge dark brown eyes. I could barely manage to look at them without feeling my insides tingle inside of me. What in heaven's name was this girl doing to me?

"Well, the book is called Romeo and Juliet and it's about…a young man and a lady who are deeply in love with each other but because their families are mortal enemies…,"

"Why are they enemies?" she asked me curiously, wiping away a bit of grass from the hem of my dress. I could feel the touch of her fingers through all the layers of my clothing and heat spread though my entire body. It made my cheeks blush into a bright crimson color.

"I don't know. The book doesn't say anything about the reason for the feud."

"But that's important, isn't it? Master Carlisle and Mr. Weber used to argue a lot too because they had some problem making out the border between Twilight and the Weber's plantation. But that stopped when Miss Angela…,"

"Who is Miss Angela?" I asked her, playing thoughtlessly with the little ribbons around my sleeve. Flower had helped Pixie to adjust them to my dress in an attempt to make it look more fashionable.

"Was, Miss Angela was Mr. Edwards wife. She was a kind lady and the young Mister was so miserable when she died."

"Oh, I see."

"Miss Jessica was determined to snag him herself but he never even looked at her twice. He knows what kind of person she is and now that he's not home, it won't be too easy for her to succeed." There was a bitter hint in her voice that I had never heard before and for a moment I wondered what was causing it.

"You don't seem to like Miss Jessica." I pointed out, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my thumb.

She stared down at the ground and plugged another daisy. Her fingertips crumbled the tiny petals into white dust. I noticed that her lips were trembling a bit but no words left her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after several awkward moments of silence.

"Don't have to be. I understand that you don't like her. She seems like an awful person and I promise you that you will never have to go back to live on her plantation."

She kissed the palm of my hand again before she turned it around and planted soft, feather light kisses on each of my knuckles.

I buried my reddened head in the book and turned to another page before I read out loud, somehow unable to suppress the slight trembling in my voice.

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder
Which, as they kiss, consume"

A low sob filled the air and when I raised my head I noticed that thick tears were falling down Pixie's face.

"Why are you crying now?" I asked her, leaning forward to brush the wetness away from her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her running nose on the back of her hand.

"Because it's so…so beautiful and I feel so bad for them because their families hate each other and…,"

And I am definitely not going to tell her how the whole thing is going to end. It would probably break her heart. She was so fragile and I felt the unbearable urge to protect her.

"Shhh, please stop crying, or you going to make me regret it that I read something to you."

A deep sigh escaped her throat and she quickly shook her head in order to encourage me to continue reading. I didn't do it. Somehow my hands seemed to be unable to move one single inch away from her face. Slowly I stroked down her cheekbones until my trembling fingers touched the curve of her full mouth. It felt incredibly soft under my fingertips and before I could even think twice about what I was doing I pulled her closer, so close that I could feel her fast-paced breathing against my own mouth.

"Miss Isa…," my name died on her lips when I pressed mine against hers as gently as possible. Doing this is wrong, I tried to remind myself and yet when after a moment of hesitation she started to move her mouth with mine, I couldn't help but think how this was perfectly right. Something as heavenly as this couldn't be wrong, couldn't be a sin.

Her lips were softer than velvet and unlike my husband she didn't stuff her tongue down my throat. Instead I was the one who caressed her lower lip with the tip of my tongue, feeling the need to taste the sweetness of her mouth, to explore all of its secrets. I wanted her to me mine, all mine and somewhere deep inside of me I wanted to be all hers as well.