Just hold my hand.
Everything went quite normally after that. The camp progressed on for the next few days without any major problems (meaning that I didn't injure myself or anyone else for that matter). We went rafting, rock climbing and rappelling. It was a lot of fun. At first I couldn't do much but as my ankle got better and it didn't hurt too much, I quickly climbed here and there and was happy to be able to do that without my usual clumsiness. It was as if my clumsiness left me when I began doing adventure sports.
Edward kept his distance, as he had promised. He said he'd give me time to think over everything and he promised that he wouldn't pressurize me into making any kind of decision. I would catch him staring at me many times. Whenever our eyes would meet, he would give me a soft smile or wave and I would blush, smile back and duck my head down or look away. I realized that whenever he was near me I would get this weired feeling. I was always aware of him being around me.
It was then that I started to notice how much we had in common —apart from the music. It was really freaky the amount of things we had in common. For example the staring off into space, clenching your teeth tightly when you want to say something you shouldn't. And the fact that he too would bite the nail on his thumb unconsciously...just like i would.
I would sit and look at him when it was his chance to rock climb or rappel. He was so graceful and quick. It was pretty amazing, the way his muscles would flex when he held on to the rock. He belayed me once too. I could barely concentrate on what I was doing thinking that Edward practically held my life in his hand. If he wanted he could leave the rope and I'd go falling down.
I lost my footing and yelped as I fell. Fortunately Edward caught the rope on time and held on to it as I swung like a pendulum in the air. I gasped and then cursed out silently as my knee hit the rock.
"Are you alright?" Edward yelled down at me from above.
"Yeah! I'm fine. Just hit my knee. Give me a sec!" I yelled up at him.
He didn't say anything but continued to look down at me from the top and held onto the rope.
I closed my eyes and let out a large breath before fixing my hold onto the rock.
"Do you want me to lower you to the ground?"
"No! I'm gonna do this."
We then followed those custom rules about checking if everything was fine before I began climbing up again, slowly but surely.
When I reached the top I could see the concern in Edward's eyes, mixed with a certain pride.
I smiled at him.
"Are you sure you're alright? I could go get the first aid." He said as his eyes shot to my scraped knee.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you."
We stared at each other for a minute longer before I excused myself to go to the rest of the group to get some water.
I sat alongside my friends and tried my best to get involved in the conversation, but my attention strayed over to a certain green-eyed guy who was sitting far off on my right.
"Bella? I need to talk to you. alone." Emily said with a very…peculiar look on her face.
"Sure. Let's walk around." I said.
As soon as we were far away from the 'group,' Emily ambushed me. "Why aren't you saying yes to him? You obviously like him now. That poor guy is just getting depressing every minute. Emmett says he rarely talks to them now. Tell him something, give him an answer. Please! He's my cousin I know but both of you are acting so immature right now, I swear I feel like picking up that carabineer and strangling both of you with it!"
I chuckled slightly at the mental image of Emily trying to strangle Edward. He would probably just stand really straight and she wouldn't be able to reach him.
Apparently that wasn't a very wise thing to do as Emily smacked my arm, " I'm trying to help you here and you're just not listening—"
"No. Wait Emily. I know I like him but I don't know how do I go and tell him that I do. Besides, i've never felt this away about anyone, not even close to it...It's all so new and confusing and...I don't know….i feel like… I can't just go and tell him something like that in a public place. Tomorrow we all are leaving. I'll tell him when we leave."
Emily made me promise her that I would tell him. And if I didn't then she would tell him herself.
I don't know what was making me so nervous. I already knew he liked me. And that kiss…*sigh*
It was extraordinarily out of this world!
I could live my whole life just kissing him and letting him kiss me like that. Okay. Maybe not. I would need food and water and toilet breaks and to have a shower.
Shut up! You're just ruining the moment!
At night we had our last camp fire. We were supposed to leave early in the morning just a bit after sunrise. So there was some roasting marshmallows and then singing songs before we all were supposed to go to bed in order to get up early in the morning.
Edward seemed to be avoiding me. Or maybe it was nothing, and I was imagining things. I decided to drop it and go to bed with everyone else. Once in the tent the three girls and I began talking about everything.
The entire trip Alice and Rosalie had left me alone regarding the Edward thing and I thought they had forgotten. How wrong I was.
They practically pounced on me when Emily shifted the focus on me, with just one simple question.
"So Bella, how was rock climbing today, with Edward?"
"Wait. What? Are both of you going out? "
"When did that happen! Bella you didn't tell me! I'm so disappointed in you."
I sighed. The last one was obviously Alice.
"Bella? Are you even listening to us? What's going on between you and Edward? Are you two a thing now? Yes! I knew it would happen! Wow, that's so great! So is he—"
"Look, Alice, Rose, Emily, will you please mind your own business? I don't want to talk about this now." I stated quietly but firmly.
The silence that followed was deafening. I pretended to ignore it as I turned around and got ready for bed.
After I was safely tucked away under the blankets I heard the other's begin to whisper quietly. I couldn't make out a single word so I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. That night i dreamt of something really random. I was standing on the edge of a liff and staring off at those icy peaks which changed my life. I felt a tap on my shoulder and i turned around to see Edward down on one knee. he looked older but he still looked really gorgeous and he looked nervous. It was then that i realised he was holding a ring out in his hand and i gasped. I shot up in bed and gasped. I looked at my phone to check the time. it was 5 a.m. I ran a hand through my hair and lay back down in bed after having some water.
That morning I woke up pretty late. I went through my morning routine robotically and then stepped outside the tent. My bags were already packed and I saw everyone having breakfast under the giant umbrella. My eyes involuntarily scanned the crowd for him. I finally found him sitting slightly away from everyone under a tree with his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles.
My heart beat faster as I picked up some breakfast and began walking in his direction. I stopped some distance away and decided to turn around, maybe he didn't want to talk to me? I bit my lip contemplating what to do standing there like an idiot.
As if he had heard my internal struggle he turned his head towards me and stared right into my eyes. I took in a deep breath to keep from fainting over there. My hands were shaking so much and I had no idea why this was happening. He smilled at me and patted the spot next to him with a raised eyebrow in my direction.
My feet carried me over to him and I plopped down next to him, copying his pose. "Hey." I said softly.
"Hey" he smiled back at me.
We sat there for sometime just letting the noise of the other students talking and laughing wash over us. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and I knew I wouldn't be able to eat without telling him. So I set my plate down by my side and faced him, taking in a deep breath before opening my mouth to speak.
"Edward…I…umm…I don't…shit…wait…let me frame this properly…" I slapped myself mentally. Why couldn't I just be a normal person and tell him that I like him! I have to stammer over it like a fool.
Edward's eyes were fixed on my now beet red face. "I thought over everything and… I do like you Edward…I think we should give this a chance."
By the time I finished saying it, I had my eyes fixed on the ground between us and my face was extremely red. Why couldn't i be like normal girls and not have issues with people over trust and over speaking out my mind. For a moment there was only complete silence but then I felt his finger under my chin, lifting it up so that I had no option but to look at him. My breath caught when I saw his face.
His smile was so radiant and bright that it made his eyes twinkle and he looked so beautiful, it was unfair. But it made me smile too/
"You don't know how long I've waited for to hear you say that."
I smiled too and then wrapped my arms around him hugging him to me. Edward pulled me in closer to him and kissed the top of my head as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. I hadn't notice that he too had kept his plate aside. But I was just so happy that I couldn't care about anything.
He then shifted us to make it more comfortable as he adjusted me so that my head was lying against his chest and his arms were around me.
I was smiling so hard, I swear my cheeks were going to fall off.
"You should eat something." He said as he stretched over to pick up my plate. He handed it to me and I ate. He seemed to understand that I wasn't' really comfortable with PDA and the fact that there were so many students around us that I didn't want to give them any ideas.
I caught Emily's eye while I was eating and I grinned at her. She was smiling back at me and I saw Rosalie, Alice and Tanya sitting next to her with huge smiles on their faces. Jessica just looked dumbstruck and Lauren looked disappointed for some reason. I shrugged it off and sat where I was. My eyes travelled to see that the rest of the student body barely paid us any attention. I recognised Emmet, Jasper, Angela, Ben, Jacob, and a few other people staring at us as if we had grown four head or something.
I didn't like being stared at so I squirmed uncomfortably. Edward looked down at me and back up at the staring faces. I don't know what he did but no one stared at us anymore. I knew that i shouldn't care about what others think so much but... i really couldn't help it at times. I'd always been extremely insecure.
"This is going to take some getting used to." I muttered.
Edward chuckled and then got up holding out his hand for me. "We have to leave in a few minutes. Lets go get your bags"
I happily obliged and took his hand.
I'm so sorry for the delay guys! I'm not going to waste any more of your time by jotting down my excuses 'cuz it seems i have atleast ten for everything :P so anyway, what did you think about this one? I need your reviews so i can improve my writing and give you guys better stuff to read :D and yeah i do care about what others think :)
Leave some love!
untill next time!
-overdstars :D
