*Le Gasp* This is a thing.
*For reference: I started this story in 2014, so that's still where the timeline is falling. If I did my math correctly, Bella is currently 18 and it's been 10 years since the accident. Bella was 8 when her 28 year old mother passed away. Also, for sake of clarity, Renee is actually Bella's aunt who was married to Charlie, James' brother.
Edward's POV
I glanced over at Bella, finding her riveting eyes staring out the passenger side window of my car. Her eyes had remained else where since she had made her declaration. The Volvo was crowded with the gentle echo of her heartbeat in my ears and the blissful silence of only my thoughts swirling in my head. Despite my quiet happiness at the fact that my head was, if only for a few moments, my own. But there was a quivering depression which shattered my personal peace. I hadn't heard a single vowel of Bella's thoughts since she had entered our home. To her knowledge or not, Bella had this ability to keep what she wanted to herself. Normally, in my presence, things would slip. Little pieces of a word here, a passing thought there, but she had remained completely silent during the, so far, twenty minute drive. I kept glancing her way, just waiting on some kind of direction to fall from between her lips. She still hadn't told me where exactly we were going.
Another few minutes of silence past, and I realized that I would simply have to wait it out, much to my chagrin. I turned back to the blurry road, watching the trees flash by without a second thought. These were roads I had driven plenty of times before. I could drive them with my eyes closed. I suddenly felt a little more heated than usual. My eyes strayed to Bella's for a short second. Her eyes were trained on the side of my face, and there was an almost calculating air about her stare. There was no real, palpable emotion present there, but her eyes kept flashing with something. Whatever that something was, I wasn't sure, but I kept the silence going, returning my eyes to the road so as to not frighten her.
She, however, frightened me as my leg jumped lightly as a new heat filled my body all the way down to the bone. I didn't move my eyes, but I knew that Bella's small, ivory hand was resting on my thigh. Inhaling the luscious strawberry scent permeating the hand, I lowered one hand to cover hers, almost keeping it in place. She seemed to freeze beneath the weight of my hand, and I stiffened as her hand stilled beneath mine. We flew around a sharp curve, and I traced the mountains off in the distance. Their snow-capped peaks towered over the tiny town with all the grace and beauty that nature had to offer. But that pretty picture was nothing to the girl in my car, her fragile and scarred hand resting under mine without a single twitch. I couldn't look her in the eye, even as her gaze still warmed my icy skin.
"Take the next right."
I resisted the urge to flinch at the sudden break of the silence. Her voice, though soft and unyielding, was just enough to send a quick shock through my already electrified system. I calmed and followed her instructions, turning down a road I had actually never traveled before. It was long and it wound through the thick forests, and they only seemed to get more dense the longer I drove. Slithering through the valley like a serpent, weaving and winding to an unknown destination, I began to wonder why we were going so far away from civilization. I had thought our mansion was at a good distance, but this was very much out of the way. The twenty minutes slowly drew to forty, and with the speed we were traveling at, we were going a good distance away from, well, anything. I kept my thoughts to myself, storing them away for later. I would ask when the opportunity presented itself.
"Slow on this next curve. There will a gravel road on the left. It's kind of hidden."
I nodded my head slightly. Again, I obeyed, almost without consciously thinking about it. Bella had been right. The bumpy road jumped out at the last moment. The turn off was practically buried beneath the foliage. Obviously, it had not been used in quite some time. The heat against my cheek melted away after a minute or so, and I noticed that her eyes had returned to the world ahead.
"Stop the car."
Her voice was only a whisper, but it was the sweetest sound. I slowly came to a stop and cut the engine. She removed her hand from mine and stepped out of the car. I followed, confused but quiet, and fell in step beside her as we began walking the narrowing path. One hundred paces in, and the path disappeared completely, and the foliage kept up and over the rocks. Soon, there were not at all, but I kept up with Bella. I could tell she knew exactly where we were headed. The trees hung over the path with their wide girths, and the cloudy sky was blocked by their overhanging branches. Leaves crunched beneath our feet, and Bella's strides remained confident up until the moment where a single white arch appeared around a shallow curve in the trees. Her step faltered and slowed, but she never paused. Her heartbeat sped minutely, and it was racing by the time we stepped beneath the rusting metal arch. We stepped out into a large, circular area. The grass was tall, and the blades swayed with the gentle breeze. In the center of the area, was a single stone.
A gravestone.
Bella's hand suddenly gripped mine, and there was a desperate edge to the hold. I squeezed back, rubbing my thumb over the back of her palm. Her returning hold strengthened, and I looked down to see her hand was as pale as mine, the skin tensed over the bone. I let her hold on as tight as she needed to. She pulled me to the stone, and I skimmed the deep carvings.
Here lies Elizabeth Marie Swan
Loving Wife, Devoted Mother
Heavenly Angel
Dearly Missed
January 1976 - December 2004
Ten years Bella has suffered without her mother. Ten long years, I'm sure. I sniffed, and my eyes flashed to Bella as the scent of salt assaulted my senses. Her porcelain face glowed with a soft light and silent tears streaked her cheeks. She stepped away and dropped my hand. She touched the stone as she slowly went down onto her knees, never taking her eyes away from the slab. Her delicate fingers ran over the words, barely skimming the surface of the weathered rock. I held, simply watching her. With baited breath, I watched her inhale with ease before parting her lips.
"My mother was...flawless. She had dark hair like mine and the same pale skin, but her eyes were the deepest shade of green I had ever seen. They were a mix of jade and emerald. I distinctly remember growing up and looking in the mirror every morning with the hope that maybe, just maybe, my eyes would suddenly look like hers. They never did. I was cursed with his eyes, unfortunately." Her shoulders drooped minutely, but I waited and listened. "She was a stay at home mom. That's what James wanted. Bare in mind, though, that this was before shit hit the fan and he became violent. Though you may find it hard to believe, for the first eight years of my life, James was the best father anyone could ask for. Her cared so deeply and protected me and my mom fiercely. He told her to stay home with me because he didn't want me growing up without at least one of them around." She sniffled and hung her head. Her back was tense, and the silent tears continued to roll.
"So, she did as she was told. She never complained. In fact, she loved it. Every night, when she tucked me in, she would tell me how much she loved me and that she couldn't wait for tomorrow because it was another day she got to spend with me, just us. There was nothing special about our days, though. In retrospect, I'm surprised she never found them monotonous. It was the exact same thing every day. The same routine. She would wake up early in the morning and make breakfast for James before he went to work, and then, around eight, they would come to my room and lay down with me, waking me for the day. Mom would kiss my cheek as James ran his hand through my hair. Then, when I was up, James would kiss us goodbye and head to work. Mom would fix me breakfast, and then we would go over my schooling for the day as I was home schooled at the time. Four hours later, when all of the school supplies was put away, she would take me outside and we would play on the swing set in the backyard. After that, we would go back inside and work on whatever her latest hobby was, usually a craft of some kind. Then we would just laze around until she began dinner. I would help as much as I could, given my young age, but I mostly just sat on the counter and watched her dance over the tiled floor. She was a dancer growing up, and the kitchen was her stage."
"I remember watching her and thinking how beautiful she was. As she fluttered around, James would come home, greet us with loving arms and a gentle smile, eyes filled with all the love he could ever offer my mom. He had worked to give her everything, and there was never a moment where she wasn't grateful for him and for me. We would have dinner, and I would go to bed with my mother's voice lulling me to sleep as she read me a bedtime story. Morning would come, and we would repeat."
She hunched into herself, wrapping her arms around her torso as if she were holding herself together. "Around my eighth birthday, however, I had gotten antsy. Through my mother's happiness and time, I was the one who found the monotony in our days. I was young and brainless, oblivious to how important that cycle was to my mom. I had practically gotten on my hands and knees, begging my mother that I really wanted to start taking dance classes. She had influenced my want. I saw the pictures of her ballet days around the house, and I saw the graceful habits in the way she held herself and with every step she took. I thought that if I could in any way emulate what she had, I would be more like her, better." She laughed humorlessly, more tears leaking out. "After a bit of hassling, she agreed to take me to the nearby studio in downtown Port Angeles. I had been so excited, and the car ride just seemed to stretch on. It was late afternoon, and we were on the highway. She went around a curve, and an eighteen wheeler came right at the front of the car. I was in the backseat of the car behind the passenger seat. Whether she thought about it or not, she ended up swerving and the driver's side met the head of the truck. Of course, we later found out that the other driver had been drinking earlier that day and was driving under the influence."
She tightened her hold on herself, and she gasped lightly. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I made it out alive. When I woke up, it was to the sounds of blaring sirens that seemed to be coming from every direction possible. I was still in the car, what was left of the crumbled metal. The card had rolled beneath the impact of the truck, and I was looking up at the underbelly of this massive eighteen wheeler. Through the sounds of sirens and creaking metal, I distinctly remember one specific scream before everything grew silent. Around me, the metal world slowly opened back up and I was carefully removed from the metal by the policemen that had arrived on the scene followed by the ambulance. They placed me on a gurney, and I looked around, almost blindly, looking for my mom. I didn't find her among the metal like I thought I would. I found her body..." She choked. "Half her body...wrapped in James' arms, and I watched his face as he screamed out, but I never heard it. And I haven't heard anything sense."
She sniffed and slowly rose to her feet with her shoulders still dipped forward and her arms still keeping her fragile form together. "I ended up blacking out and falling into a coma for ten months. When I came to, the doctor's told me that my mother had been buried and that James had left in his grief. When I was finally discharged from the hospital, I found myself on a plane and shipped off to Arizona where my aunt and her second husband took me in. I stayed with them for ten years, standing in the way of my aunt's time with her husband because he traveled for work and she always had to stay with me. It was when I had finally had enough of hurting her, that a note had come by mail, requesting that I be returned to Forks. James had said he wanted me back. That was just this summer. Renee had been all to happy to let me go, and I didn't know how to say no. So, I packed up and shipped out. Sickeningly, I had been so excited to come back. My dad wanted me back. That's what I thought, at least. The first week or so was alright. James was distant and silent, never getting too close, but then the beatings started."
"I should have gone for help. I had told myself to get out after that first time, but then he told me that hated me and that he wished she and I could trade places. I never said anything to him, but I had agreed. I mean, why should I get to live when she didn't, especially when I was so specifically hated by the one person I had left of that little, monotonous world I had grown to hate in a short eight years? He wanted her, and I wanted him to have her. I didn't want to stay, but I was so struck with the guilt of what I had done that I couldn't do anything about the abuse. I just took it, all the while thinking that if I had just stayed home that day, she would still be here with him, with us. We could have been a family forever. James wouldn't have lost himself in his sadness. I wouldn't have been hit."
She sighed, her breath leveling as her tears dried along her cheeks. "In some ways, even now, I still agree that I should be the one here and not her. Selfishly, though, I'm happy to be alive, even through the pain that James has caused me. He wasn't the only one that loved her, after all. He wasn't the only one that suffered, is suffering. But you know-" she turned her head to look at me over her shoulder "-the one thing that I really miss?" She paused, but I stayed silent, not knowing if she was really looking for a response. "Her voice. It's the one thing I miss more than anything. She used to sing to me all the time. Her voice was stunning. No matter the song, her voice would give me chills. I always loved to hear it. But that's my penance, I suppose, my punishment. By not hearing, I'll never hear a voice as beautiful. I guess since God had granted me the opportunity too hear an angel sing, he had taken that sense away in return for my actions which led to her death. Not that I can blame him. I killed her." Her closing words were a whisper in the breeze as her fallen eyes stared at her feet.
For a few seconds, I could do nothing but stare at the broken girl before me. She has been broken for so long, so ceremoniously, and I couldn't even fathom where to start to fix her. Loving her, I suppose, would help, and love her I could give. But was it the right kind of love? Despite my shock and sadness and the shimmer of my vision as my eyes swam with venomous tears I could never shed, I gave Bella the only thing I could of.
Me.
In two strides, I was at her back with my wrapped tightly around her chest with our fingers twining together. She gasped at the sudden movement, but she did not make to move away. I bent my head down beside hers and placed my forehead on her shoulder as the glaze over my eyes remained behind my eyelids. My breathing deepened exponentially, and we were soon crying together as she broke down once again. Her chest heaved with every gasp and her body seemed to mold with mine, and I was so sure that we were going to melt into one being. With my chest to her back and my arms around her, we fell into sadness and guilt together. Her sadness for her mother, herself, maybe even James. Her guilt was all for her mother and what she had gone through. My sadness was for Bella and what she had suffered. My guilt was for the fact that I hadn't been there for her sooner, saved her sooner. I closed my eyes and her head lulled back against my chest just below my shoulder. Her warm breath brushed over my right cheek as she tilted her face towards mine. I felt her hair brush my own, and I knew we were covered by the curtain it created. Sheltered together, crying together, I prayed with all my might that, somehow, Bella could begin to heal in some way. It would take time, but I would do everything in my power to heal the beautiful, broken girl in my arms.
It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days before either one of us began calming. My eyes burned and her chest heaved, and it was just us beneath the cloudy afternoon sky. With time, the scent of salt water blew away with the wind and her heartbeat began to calm. In tune with one another, the glaze of my eyes slowly gave way. I did not release her, however. I couldn't, not yet. Lucky for me, she didn't seem to mind. We floated in the bubble around us, sheltered together. She never moved, and I never lifted my head.
"Thank you, Edward," she whispered, soft as air.
Slowly, I raised my head to meet her now open eyes, her hair still hanging around us. "You didn't kill her Bella," I breathed just as quietly, surprised when her eyes never left mine.
"Not personally," she replied, "but my actions-"
"Were just that - actions. Bella, you were doing something to be closer to your mother. The one that took her from you was the man behind the wheel of the eighteen wheeler," I said, pleading with my eyes to make her believe me, at least a little.
"If I hadn't wanted to be like my mom...if I had stuck to being just Bella, we never would have been on the highway in the first place," she tried to argue, her voice still soft but forceful.
I sighed. "Bella, do you think your mom would be happy with this? Your guilt?" I wondered.
Her eyes stared into mine and there was something gleaming just beneath the service of those cinnamon colored eyes. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes briefly before shaking her head as if in defeat. "No, she wouldn't be. I know that. I've known that, but it doesn't help. For ten years, people have told me it was my fault, even when I lived with Renee, it would come up. She would say the wrong thing, or something would slip, and the guilt just piled on as I got older. Then, James made it worse. Worst of all, I believed it, all of it. I knew my mom would never want me to hate myself, but I do." She looked down at our hands against her stomach. "I had tried, in the beginning, to accept what had happened. In my head, despite the overwhelming sadness, I knew, somewhere inside, that it wasn't my fault. But everyone else said it was, so that's what I came to believe." Her eyes met mine again. "In my head, I'm just as bad as that driver."
I freed one of my hands, but kept a good grip on her to keep her close. I grazed my fingertips over her jaw before cradling her cheek in my hand. "If it takes every second of every hour of the rest of my life, I will make you believe that you were not the cause. I know you, Bella. You were a child, and you love your mother very, very much. It's in your eyes and the way you talk. I think you owe it to her to heal yourself, for both of you."
She turned in my arms and pressed her lips to mine, soft as butterfly wings. I sighed against her lips, feeling my love rile up within me. I tightened my hold a little and rubbed my thumb over her pale cheekbone. Her skin was smooth as silk beneath my fingertips, and I knew that, no matter what happened between us, she would be the greatest love I would ever know, and I will never let a day go by where she doesn't hear me tell her how much I love her, how beautiful she is, and how nothing that happened was her fault.
Even if it took forever, I would make it happen.
I growled in my throat, glaring fiercely out the window of the cafeteria. Outside, rain pounded relentlessly on the clear glass and bouts of thunder roared across the skies as lightning flashed. Not for the first time, the idea of suddenly dropping the vegetarian diet, if only for a minute or two, didn't seem like such a bad thing. Unfortunately, Alice had managed to stop it every time, knowing I wasn't completely serious, but it sure was becoming tantalizing. Since the incident at the party and now, it's been just over 48 hours. But the Forks Rumor Mill had been working overtime to spread anything and everything about the event, us, and Bella.
Most importantly, Bella.
Rumors about us were irrelevant and expected. Thoughts on Bella, however, had every single one of us on edge. The school was buzzing about this and that regarding the situation - all of it false. Some of it, however, was laced with hatred and vile. I knew damn well that Bella hadn't been touched by that bastard father of hers, but many in this hellhole filled with delinquents thought differently.
Damn, Mike. You should've kept your mouth shut. Tyler. I tuned him out. Mike got into trouble often, usually for his mouth and usually with women.
That was such an asshole move. He's gonna pay for his words. I bet the Cullen's would love the chance to finally rip him to shreds. Eric. Normally, I would forget about him, too, but name in his thoughts made my back straighten out. Thunder rumbled overhead. I stared out the window as the other seats at the table were filled. Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie sat around, looking at me curiously. I glanced at Alice, one eyebrow raised.
I haven't seen anything Edward. Alice stated in her thoughts, shaking her head imperceptibly. My eyes narrowed at her, but I still wasn't focusing on her. Instead, I filtered through the numerous voices filling my head to find one in particular.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Dammit, Bella, don't do anything rash. Emmett. I growled again, getting ready to rise from my seat and go find him, but I paused as Alice's eyes became unfocused. I stared at her, taking in the vision behind her eyes.
A group of students was gathered around a locker. 359. Bella's locker. It stood open as she switched out her textbooks, clearly not paying attention to her surroundings. Suddenly, she gasped as she tumbled to the ground, dropping everything in her hands. The objects spread across the floor. Bella sighed before looking up to see Mike looking down at her. She rolled her eyes and reached out to gather her things before attempting to stand up.
"Finally walking on your own, Bella?" Mike teased, but there was a dangerous edge in his voice.
The girl on the floor, up on her knees, inhaled quickly as she watched Mike's mouth form those words, his face dark.
"I can walk just fine on my own, Mike, thanks for asking," Bella said, rising to her feet. She slammed her locker and turned away from the blonde boy.
"You sure about that? Sure your dad didn't beat the ability out of you?" Mike sneered.
Bella's shoulders tensed as she paused mid-step. She looked over her shoulder at Mike, and her normally gentle eyes blazed with fire. "Don't you fucking dare try to patronize me, Newton," Bella growled, but there was a sadness in her eyes beneath the blaze, but there was no way the lost puppy would notice.
Mike laughed mockingly. "Well, we know what your dad's been fucking..."
The vision faded and Alice gasped, her eyes widening, but I was already up and moving. I didn't know what Bella would do. I found my way back into Emmett's hand as I moved as fast as I could to appear human. Emmett had just rounded the corner towards Bella's locker, and he watched her rear back her arm and lay a solid punch to Mike's nose. The boy groaned as his head snapped back, but his shock was short lived. He released a human snarl before going at Bella. In his mind, Emmett seemed to speed up, running towards the commotion.
Deciding I didn't give much of a damn about rules, I practically materialized beside Emmett. Bella was shoved up against the lockers as Mike kneed her in the stomach. I snarled when I heard her gasp, and Emmett did the same. We pursued the chaos, and the onlookers cleared a path. We were a yard or so away when Bella finally managed to dodge Mike's knee before dipping and barreling into his chest. The crowd quickly parted, and the two rammed against the far wall. Mike's back cracked against the concrete, and Bella threw blind punches, hitting anything she could with her head down to avoid any of Mike's advances. Emmett and I moved forward. I grabbed Bella around the waist as Emmett picked Mike up by the collar of his shirt. His feet dangled off the floor, and his eyes widened as Emmett's hard face came into his sight.
I stepped back with a struggling Bella, but the fire was lost instantly as she seemed to realize who I was. Her chest heaved with quick gasps, and blood dripped from her nose and mouth, but she didn't seem to care. Her eyes were trained on Mike with a gaze hard as stone.
"If you ever touch my little sister again or say anything like that to her again, I will end you," Emmett snarled quietly. I could tell her was just itching to fight Mike, to really teach him a lesson, but a sudden calm over the air kept him from doing anything that would risk revealing everything. With his strength, one solid punch and Mike was dead. I wouldn't object, but we had others to worry about.
"Let him go, Emmett," Jasper said as he placed a hand on Emmett's shoulder. Our bulk of a brother growled deep in his chest, slowly lowering the blonde one to the ground.
"Go!" Emmett snarled, not caring if it was too animalistic to be human. Mike practically pissed himself and ran down the hall, tripping over himself all the way. Emmett turned around, glaring at the crowd. "Problem?" he growled, and the onlookers immediately dispersed.
I looked down at Bella as my brothers stepped closer, surprisingly unaffected by her spilled blood. Her chest continued to heave, but Jasper's calming air quickly took over, and she closed her eyes, melting against me beneath his power. I glanced at him, offering a thanks with my eyes. He nodded, his hand still on Emmett's shoulder. Her eyes opened, and she lowered them to the ground. She pushed away from her and began picking up the stuff she had dropped. My brow furrowed, and the three of us bent down to help her. She stopped when she noticed us, her eyes snapping up to take us all in.
"Bella?" Jasper questioned as she continued to stare.
She looked into his eyes, and we watched as all the light faded, and she collapsed against the lockers. I shot forward, catching her head so she didn't hurt herself. Her eyes stayed open, unblinking as she looked us over, and they began to shine with tears she seemed to be determine not to let fall.
"Please..." she whispered to us, pleading almost, "please tell you don't believe what he said. Please tell me you know that never happened."
I squeezed my eyes a moment before dropping to my knees and pulling her over and against my chest. She fell against me, weightless, and I ran my fingers through her hair soothingly.
"Of course we don't believe him, Bella," Jasper said.
"Mike's just mad because you don't rely him, and that makes him an asshole," Emmett stated, scooting closer to take one of her hands in his. "Don't listen to what he or anyone says. The rumors mean nothing, and I will gladly slaughter anyone who says anything bad about you. We're going to protect you, Bella," he glanced from me to Jasper and back to Bella, "all of us."
Bella sucked in a breath as the tears finally began to flow. Without warning, she pushed off of me and towards Emmett. He caught her against his chest, rubbing her back as she cried. From his arms, she reached out for Jasper's hand and looked at me over her shoulder.
"Thank you all so much," she whispered. "You don't know what that means to me, what you all mean to me." I flashed her a smile, winking. Jasper squeezed her hand, and Emmett placed a quick kiss on her hair. We rose to our feet, Bella rising with Emmett. He past her over to me as he and Jasper picked up her stuff.
I looked down at her face as she watched them, reaching up to wipe some of the blood away from her face with the sleeve of my sweater. She got my wrist in her hand, eyes flashing to mine. I stilled my arm, but I kept my face calm and smooth, letting her know I wasn't going to hurt her. She seemed to sniff once before glancing down at her face in confusion. She removed her free hand from her waist and lifted it to her face, pulling it away when her red blood touch her fingertips. She looked at it in horror, and I saw a flash of something in her eyes that haunted me. Her eyes filled with disgust and fear.
"I'm bleeding," she whispered, almost in shock, still holding my wrist.
I bent down slightly to make sure she could still read me as I said, "I was trying to wipe it away. I didn't mean to scare you."
Her eyes widened as she looked at me, and I lifted a brow at the surprise that took over her chocolate orbs. "You were going to help me?" she wondered disbelievingly.
I nodded my head. "Of course I was going to help you. I told you I would help you, no matter what, remember?"
She nodded quietly, and her grip loosened around my wrist, but she didn't remove her hand from my arm as I wiped away the tantalizing liquid. In the back of my hand, I briefly wondered how dangerous this was. We are vampires after all, but none of us seemed phased. Even Jasper was calm as could be. His thoughts were more focused on whether or not she was truly okay or not. Emmett's line of thinking was pretty much the same, but he was still swirling the idea of killing Mike Newton. If he tried, I'd be helping. I'm sure Jasper wouldn't oppose either.
I gently removed all traces of blood as Emmett and Jasper placed everything in Bella's backpack before zipping it up and sitting it in front of her locker.
"We're gonna go back to Alice and Rosalie," Jasper murmured to me. I nodded, keeping my eyes on Bella's as I got rid of every trace of blood. They disappeared silently. Bella didn't seem to notice.
"What's hurting?" I asked quietly, remembering, through the rush of fury, how Mike had kneed her up against the lockers.
She blinked, and she exhaled, wincing as if she had just remembered she was sore at all. Her brow furrowed as I pulled away, and she rested her bloody hand against her stomach. I looked down. I figured as much. I held in my growl. Mike Newton was going to pay. I rested my hand over hers, sighing. She looked at me in question.
"Do you wanna go home? We need to make sure everything's okay, and I really don't think we need to do that here," I said, wondering as our eyes met.
She bobbed her head. "Please. I don't want to stay here anymore."
I leaned down and picked up her backpack before slinging it over my shoulder. I pulled her into the crook of my arm and led her out of the building. Luckily, the rain had let up during the action, but Bella and I still jogged to my car. I opened her door for her, shielding her from the sky's tears as she slid across the seat. I placed her bag at her feet before carefully closing the door and going to the other side to get behind the wheel. The engine purred to life, and I turned the heat on full blast, watching as Bella quickly put her shaking hands against the vent, the fingers of right hand still stained with blood.
I ignored the scent with ease, beyond happy that I hadn't thought anything about her blood. It was tantalizing, the best I've ever smelled, but I didn't want it. It was Bella's blood. If I took it, she wouldn't exist any longer, and the thought alone almost had me crumbling at the wheel of the car. I pushed the thought away, focusing on the beat of her heart to bring back my sanity. The drive home was quick and silent. I pulled into the garage and parked before quickly helping Bella out. We walked into the quiet house, and I could hear Carlisle and Esme upstairs in Carlisle's office. I helped Bella up the stairs, and as we came upon the third floor landing, we came face to face with my parents as they stepped out of the office. The looked over Bella with concern.
Does she need to go to the hospital? Carlisle asked, and I shook my head.
Esme's golden eyes took her in, and I could practically feel a mother's love rolling off her in waves. Whether she knew Bella a lot of not was irrelevant as she already considered her to be another daughter, an addition to the family. Her eyes flickered to mine as I led Bella towards my room. She had her eyes on bloody hand on her stomach, seemingly oblivious to my parents' presences.
I'll go downstairs and fix her some soup. Something simple in case she gets hungry. I nodded my thanks and she disappeared down the steps.
I'll be in my office. Don't hesitate to call for me if you need me. I waved a hand at Carlisle dismissively and listen to him chuckle as he walked back into his office. I closed the door and Bella moved away from me to go lay on the couch.
I traced her form a moment before going into the bathroom and wetting two rags. One was drenched in lukewarm water and the other was as cold as I could get it. It would be the substitute until I could get some ice. I walked back into the room to see her laying with her eyes closed. Despite the slight red stain on her face, she looked absolutely flawless. She was truly an angel in human form, right here on earth. I was beyond blessed to have her. I got on my knees beside her, and picked up her hand to clean the blood away. I felt her eyes on me and I looked up to see her smiling. It was soft and subtle, but it practically lit up her whole face. After going to her mother's grave yesterday, I was happy to see such a look, but I was furious about the circumstances with which it had come about. I wouldn't let Bella know that, though. I still had to be careful. She didn't know about what I was, and one wrong move could scare her off before I even got to explain myself. Even so, the time was too vulnerable. I wanted to heal her some more before anything happened as far as the immortal world was concerned.
I returned her smile, happy to notice the blood had come off her hand easily. I gently wiped her face again to get rid of the stains entirely. As I did so, leaning closer to her face to inspect my work, her smile fell and her eyes sparked. I looked down at her as I moved the rag away, and I had to hide a smirk as she traced my lips. I watched her chest expand as she inhaled deeply and parted her lips, a quiet demand rolling out into the suddenly still air.
"Kiss me."
I leaned down to her, taking in her natural scent of strawberries and honey. I was centimeters from her lips and her eyes fell closed. I paused a second as her warmth breath escaped from her parted lips and rolled over my skin, tempting me. I tasted her on my tongue.
"With pleasure."
I touched my lips to her and the spark was instantaneous. This was similar to our first kiss, filled with love and adoration, and it was very different from our kiss at the grave, which was almost desperate in its appeal. The underlying current that moved between our lips, however, had me swallowing back a moan, but Bella didn't seemed to agree. A soft mewl escaped her throat as my tongue darted out to her lips, sampling. She sighed, and I took the chance, throwing caution to the wind to meet my tongue with hers. She fought back, and the moan rumbled out before I could stop it. That seemed to only spur her on as her fingers twisted into my wild hair, pulling at the roots. I placed my hands against her cheeks, knowing that if I reached for her like I wanted to, I might press against her stomach. If she had bruises, I wasn't going to aggravate them. Her cheeks, already warm against my skin, warmed even more as I heard the blood rushing to fill her cheeks. From passion or embarrassment, I wasn't sure, and I didn't really care.
I was kissing her the way I wanted to, and she was more than happy to oblige in returning the same fervor. Soon, depraved of oxygen, she pulled away, and her breasts pressed against my chest with every breath she took. I hadn't realized I had moved to lean over her so much, but since I wasn't touching her abdomen, I didn't really mind. I did mind, however, when she winced and quickly pressed a hand to her stomach.
I moved away, immediately lifting her shirt until it was pressed against the underside of her breasts. There, running along the numerous scars that covered her skin, were three decent sized bruises. I held back a snarl. Bella came first, before my anger. I took the still icy rag and laid it flat against her skin, applying a little pressure. She inhaled sharply, glancing down at my hand on her skin. Her eyes widened, first at the bruises and then at my face.
"How can you look at me and not notice the scars?" she wondered quietly, trying to calm her breathing so as to not disturb her bruised skin.
I glanced at her. "It's not that I don't notice," I replied. "I just don't care."
I watched her eyes tighten and narrow with a hint of betrayal. "You don't care?" she asked lowly, and her words rumbled with a humane snarl.
"No, I care about where and how you got them. But I don't care that you have them. You could be blue with three eyes, polka dots, and webbed feet for all I care. I'd still love you."
Her eyes opened back up before brightening, and I could only stare at the beauty before me as her teeth sparkled with the most gorgeous smile. She lifted a hand to my cheek. "I love you, too, Edward. Thank you for seeing me, the girl beneath the scars, because I really don't know what I would do with myself if you didn't."
I twisted my head a little to place a kiss to her palm. "It's a pleasure, Bella," I said against her skin, looking at her through my lashes. "You're easy to love."
...Thoughts? I know this story has been on a very, very, very long hiatus - if you can call it that - but beyond university, working on an outside novel, and life in general, I am going to try and update something at least once a week, but I am making no promises. Well, a promise to try, at least.
Would love some reviews, if you're willing. Otherwise, I just hope you enjoyed it!
~VSA.
