Edward.
Of course, I had over-reacted and jumped to conclusions. I never expected anything less from myself when Bella was involved. Still, I couldn't help but feel an immense amount of relief as I learned the true meaning of the wretched word that had been scribbled across the paper. She was oblivious to our true nature, but I knew I wasn't completely in the clear. She wasn't an imbecile, and she was extremely perceptive. I could tell that she had ideas about what we are, but a vampire wasn't something that crossed her mind.
Gathering my books, I jumped out of my seat just seconds before the sharp bell pierced the room. I was out of the door before anybody else had rose. Normally, I wasn't so careless. I was slow with my movements, charading that I was human. But I had just previously endured three excruciating hours of pointless knowledge that I knew better than that teachers. Usually, it wasn't so bad, it was tolerable. But today, I had a reason to be so anxious. Instead of regularly joining my family's table at lunch, I was going to single Bella out, and I was going to accompany her. If she would have me, that is.
"You're being incredibly foolish, Edward," Rosalie protested, meeting me by the door as I rushed down the busy hallway. I snickered, rolling my eyes as I continued my quick stride. You're also being incredibly selfish. This isn't all about you.
"Nor is it about you, either. You seem to be the only one with a problem," I muttered angrily, turning down an abandoned hallway. I ignored the lustful whispers of freshmen girls as I passed. This wasn't the first time that Rosalie had tried to persuade my feelings. She constantly explained the dangers of having a close relationship with a human, with implications from both our side, and Bella's. She explained that she was only concerned about the welfare of our family, but I didn't believe one word. She was jealous. Bella had become the topic of interest in the house, and she couldn't stand not having the spotlight.
She's just a dumb, fragile human. She's not worth it.
I froze, and turned back on my heel. I didn't care about my surroundings as I released a loud growl, taking a menacing step toward her. She didn't flinch, but she took a wary step backwards, her sharp glare never faltering. I shook my head. I'm sure the disgust on my face was obviously evident.
"You truly are pathetic, Rosalie," I spat, before turning around and entering the loud cafeteria. I was grateful when I didn't hear her footsteps behind me. I scanned the overcrowded room quickly, hoping for a glimpse or whiff of my brown-haired beauty. I frowned when I saw no sign of her, but decided to wait. I quietly took a seat at the same table that she had occupied yesterday. My eyes focused intently on the door.
My non-existent heart leapt in excitement when she trudged through the doors. I immediately brightened at the sight of her, but paused, frowning as I examined the scowl that was plastered across her face. That's when I noticed the animated, exuberant blonde boy who was attached to her arm. His mouth was moving quickly, forming fast words that could almost put a vampire to shame. His left hand was clamped onto her forearm, pulling her into the large room after him. A whirlwind of emotions hit me all at once as I watched her plop into a seat at his table. Anger, annoyance, and .. jealousy. This was a vague emotion for me, since I hadn't experienced it in over ninety years. But I was sure of it. I wanted so badly for her to ditch the chatterbox, and join me instead.
As if reading my mind, her head snapped in my direction. Her twinkling brown eyes locked onto mine, and I was a goner. My lips pulled up into a soft smile, as I extended my hand. I wiggled my index finger, motioning for her to come forward. I watched as she gulped, before muttering a quick goodbye to the rest of the table. I had the satisfaction of watching the blonde boy's, I think I recall his name being Mike, face fall.
"Hello," I greeted warmly as she slid into the chair across the table from me. I tried to hide my chuckle as the accelerating of her heartbeat rung loudly in my ear. She took a shaky breath.
"Hi," she muttered, her eyes falling to the wooden table. I frowned, but continued.
"How were your classes?" I asked politely. I was becoming quickly frustrated that her focus of the moment was the table, and not me. She was nervous, I could tell that much. I wanted to fix that. I didn't want to send her into cardiac arrest every time I spoke to her. She took another breath, before shrugging.
"They were fine. Nothing exciting or anything."
I could only smile at the top of her head. The gossiping had already begun, and we'd only been sitting here for a few minutes. I turned my head to glare at the girl behind me. Her hair was a bright shade of blond, almost white. I suppose to the human eye, it would be considered healthy, but the extensive damage of her fried locks were evident to me. Her tan was over the top, pushing her skin tone into a soft orange. Out of all the girls in the school, he shows interest in her. Ew. I wanted to laugh at her ridiculous, jealous and pathetic thoughts, but decided against it. She noticed me glaring, and batted her eyelashes, popping a grape into her mouth slowly, miserably failing as being seductive. I coughed loudly, drowning my sudden urge to laugh, and turned back to Bella. She was staring at me curiously.
"Why aren't you eating?" I asked suddenly, finally aware that she only carried books with her. She shrugged again, and I sighed.
"You should eat."
"I'm not hungry. I'll eat a bowl of cereal when I get home," she mumbled, her voice rising. I could hear the frustration that coated it, and mentally scolded myself for being so pushy and obsessive. She smiled suddenly, her eyes squinting playfully.
"Why aren't you eating?" she asked innocently, pursing her lips as she leaned forward. I froze. This girl seriously confused me. If she didn't know, why was she joking around with me as if she did? I gulped, and leaned forward.
"Not hungry," I whispered, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm so sure," she muttered to herself, leaning back with her arms crossed against her chest. I shifted in my seat, gazing at her with a newfound nervousness. I was torn. Did she know or not? I leaned forward, even closer to her, and I could almost hear the complaints of Rosalie from across the room. I ignored them, watching Bella's eyes widen as I moved closer.
"What do you know, Bella?"
Her eyebrows raised in confusion. She stared at my face for a moment, before shaking her head and snorting.
"Absolutely nothing," she breathed in frustration. "And it sucks," she added quickly. I continued to gaze, looking for any trace of a lie. She didn't seem to mind as she held my gaze, only breaking it to blink momentarily when her eyelids would protest. I watched as she opened her mouth to speak. She took the breath, but with another look at me, she closed it sharply.
Ugh, this would become a regular thing. I could tell.
"What is it?" I asked curiously. She sighed, finally breaking our staring contest to glance at the ceiling. She squinted as her eyes came in contact with the fluorescent lights that aligned the roof, but didn't move her eyes. She opened her mouth again, but closed it seconds after. I groaned.
"Bella, come on, just tell me."
"I just .. I wanted to ask .. where you were?" Her voice squeaked, heightening to a higher volume as she stuttered. "For the past thirteen years?" She lowered her eyes to mine again, but it was my turn for avoidance. I was silent for a minute, trying to formulate a logical answer in my head. Her question had been cautious, and I didn't want to say something that would possibly upset her.
"I've been traveling. Mostly in England, but we settled down in Forks a few years ago," I explained casually, eyeing her reaction. She stiffened, before nodding. She tried to send me a smile, but failed. Her face softened, and she glanced up at me.
"Did you ever try looking for me?"
The question threw me completely off guard. She wasn't asking in an accusing tone. I knew she was merely curious. But I wanted to find a way to express to her that it had been my deepest desire to find her since the day that I had left her there. I couldn't explain to her just how desperate I was to just know where she was. To just know that she was safe and living a healthy, happy life.
I cleared my throat. "Yes."
Her face lit up, and she grinned at me for a second. I held back a gasp as the blood rushed to her cheeks, coloring her creamy, pale skin with a soft crimson shade.
"I had no idea that you were in Michigan. When I arrived back at Lasseter Hills, I was expecting you to be there. When you weren't, I checked the computers and files for the address of the family you had been sent to. But you weren't included in the files. It was as if you weren't even there," I responded, my voice hard but pleading. I didn't want her to believe that I had forgotten her. She nodded, before grimacing. I reached an arm across the table, and took her hand in mine. I waited for a negative reaction, for her to push my hand away or something. But she simply surprised me when she squeezed her warm hand against my iced.
"They took me straight to the police station. I was sent to live with my Uncle Tommy, who was my godfather," she muttered, her eyes falling back onto the table. I could tell that I was approaching dangerous territory, but I couldn't excuse myself from moving forward.
"Was? What happened, Bella?" I asked cautiously, leaning closer to her. Her heartbeat surged forward again, and I winced.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want-"
"It was them, Edward!" she wailed suddenly, snapping her head up. Her eyes were wide, reddening around the rims as moisture leaked through. I watched in pain as the lone tear made a trail down her soft cheek, before dropping onto the table.
"It was who? What's wrong, Bella?"
"The bad guys. Whatever they are, whatever you are!" she exclaimed miserably, pointing a finger at me. My jaw dropped in horror and realization. Of course, she didn't know what we are. But she knew that we were all of the same relation. I opened my mouth to speak, but remembered her words. The bad guys. It had been a term that she frequently used to describe the Volturi.
"They killed him, Edward," she sobbed quietly, dropping her wet face to her hands that were being propped against the tables by her elbows. I swallowed, trying to contain my anger. Though I had my doubts, I believed Bella. The logic of the situation was quite clear now. They had discovered who Bella was. They had remembered her, and they had somehow found her. But this left me confused. If they found her, why hadn't they killed her?
"Did they hurt you at all?" I harshly demanded. She shook her head, before she chuckled bitterly, wiping furiously at the tears that poured from her puffing eyelids. I cursed at the familiar throbbing of my chest. I didn't stop myself as I moved into the seat next to hers. She didn't move, or even react to my sudden seat change. I took a breath, before reaching over to grasp her hand in mine. She looked up at me, her brown eyes screaming at me.
"I'm scared," she whispered. I felt myself breaking apart.
"Don't be," I replied, my voice shaky and uncertain. I was tense, my teeth were gritted together as I seethed in anger. I felt disgust seeping through my body at the remembrance of evening spending a year with those cruel bastards. They were ruining Bella. My Bella. They were hurting her. I took another breath, but my entire body shook at the anger. I closed my eyes, hoping the gesture would go unnoticed, but like I said, Bella was always so perceptive.
"Edward?" she asked weakly. I remained silent.
Suddenly, small, warm hands were at my neck. My eyes snapped open immediately when her scent grew closer to me. I gurgled down the venom, trying to ignore the pleading over the monster inside of me. It was screaming for Bella's blood as she locked her arms around my neck. But surprisingly, I tuned it out. The feeling of being in Bella's arms was amazing. It was the best feeling in the world.
But what I found even more amazing, was Bella herself. Even though I was the monster, and she was in pain, she was comforting me. It should be the other way around, but I was far too out of control to even convince myself that I was calm. Yet, when her hand moved to the back of my head and began to stroke my hair, I felt everything fall into place. I felt safe with her, and I could tell that she felt safe with me as well.
I didn't hesitate to pull her into my embrace. As we sat, she moved to nestle her face in the crook of my neck. Her delicious scent was screaming to me, but I couldn't even think about that right now. All I could think of was how complete I felt. I leaned down, bringing my lips to Bella's ear. She squirmed at the feeling of my breath against her skin, but didn't move.
"You're safe now. They will never hurt you again." I spoke with confidence. I had never been so sure of my words before, but I knew that I was. I sighed in relaxation, feeling Bella's lips smile against my shirt. I couldn't help but smile myself.
I was still insanely both curious and furious about the Volturi situation, but the interrogation could wait. I could tell that I had opened up fresh wounds, but it was something that I needed to know. I knew that Bella was scared for Charlie more than herself. She wasn't aware of the death sentence I had placed upon her when she boarded that plane. Of course, she would've died anyway. But the Volturi do not take risks. They knew what Bella saw, and that alone should've been enough for them to kill her. But it was sickening to me how they were torturing her, destroying her family before they actual destroyed her. They really were cruel bastards. And I certainly wasn't going to let this continue any further.
I leaned down, and pressed a gentle kiss against Bella's soft hair. I inhaled the sweet scent of the strawberry shampoo, and smiled. Though my throat was burning, scratching raw against my tongue as I fought her tantalizing scent, I continued to nuzzle my nose in her hair. She giggled through her dulling tears, making me laugh heartily. It was hard to believe that just a day ago, we hadn't been on speaking terms. I was surprised it was this easy for me to open her up, but for that, I was extremely happy.
And as the gasps, gossip and rumors began to fly around the room about us, I didn't listen. Their whispers and thoughts were loud to me, but I couldn't hear them. I was focused solely on the soft breathing of the angel that I held, and her steady heartbeat. They were the most musical sounds in the world to me. The murmur of shock was going around the cafeteria, and the eyes of non-believers were intent upon us, but I didn't care.
Right now, Bella and I needed each other. And we had each other.
And that was all that mattered.
I might've pushed it a little too quickly, but I don't care. I don't think you guys would want to read pointless chapters of them avoiding each other. I'm pretty sure you all know how that goes by now, haha. Moving on, if you've PMed me lately, and you haven't gotten a response, I apologize! With Christmas & New Years approaching quickly, I'm finding absolutely no time to do anything. Which is probably why I'm straining myself to stay awake at 3:30 AM to write this & post it for you guys. But after January 6, my birthday, I shall be done with all of the excitement, thus meaning faster chapters! Haha anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter! I appreciate all of your reviews & input! :D
