What if Edward couldn't stay away when he left Bella in New Moon?
All characters belong to the wonderfully talented Stephenie Meyer, I'm just borrowing them for a tiny bit :)
Author's Note: Sorry everyone for the lack of updating. I've been really sick and insanely busy with work. I've also had a hard time with where this story is going to go, definitely a massive writers block. This chapter probably won't be long because I'm really exhausted. Rest assured though that I'll try my hardest to get another chapter up.
Chapter Eight
BPOV
Edward was extremely cautious, more so than usual. He had gathered me in his arms and scanned the meadow before breaking into a race in the forest. My head was buried in his shoulder but I dared to glance up at his face. I saw his eyes wide with the exhilaration of running, his eyes however were darting back and forth through the trees, no doubt watching for signs of Victoria.
With no time at all we reached my truck, Edward strapped me in despite my complaints of being fully capable of doing it myself. We drove as quickly as my poor truck would allow down the familiar route to the Cullen house. Edward was tense, his jaw tight and his eyes narrowed. Even has he was driving, he had his arm wrapped around me and continued to scan the surrounding areas we passed.
"Edward, I know you're keeping an eye out for Victoria but could you please focus on the actual road?" I asked. He looked at me and his face softened.
"I'm sorry Bella, but the thought of her being that close is making me anxious…" He replied. I squeezed his hand and we sat in silence for the remaining few minutes of the drive. It wasn't long until the large house came into view. I could already make out a small figure practically bouncing on the tips of her toes. I could feel my face break into a large grin.
"Alice!" I exclaimed. Edward smiled.
"She's missed you…"
"I've missed her too….I've missed everyone…" I said softly. He stopped the car infront of the house and lifted my hand to his lips, gently placing a soft kiss on my palm. The moment was interrupted when I felt myself being yanked out from the car; I quickly found myself locked into a hard embrace.
"BELLA!!" I high pitched voice squealed in my ear. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! OH MY GOSH!! We have so much to catch up on, I mean, I could see most of what you were doing anyway but still, there's so much we need to do!"
"Alice! I need to breath if you want any of those things to happen" I said.
"What? Oh…right. Sorry Bella." Alice stepped back and smiled excitedly. I felt Edward's arm sling over my shoulder but only for a brief second as I felt myself being pulled away again into another crushing hug.
"You haven't even tripped yet! Are you sure this is our Bella?" I hugged back as tightly as my human arms could.
"Hey Emmett!" I said excitedly. I loved Emmett…the big brother I never had. He let go of me but kept his arm around my shoulder.
"Sure is good to see you!" He said. "This place hasn't been the same since…." but he trailed off. Edward shot him a look. "Hey, let's go inside and see the others…"
The four us began to walk up the stairs to the porch and in the split second I looked down to see my footing, Esme and Carlisle were waiting to greet me. Esme looked beautiful and Carlisle was handsome as ever with a small smile on his face. Esme was clutching his hand and I'm sure with the amount of happiness radiating from it, had he not been a vampire, it would have ripped right off.
"Bella dear, we are so happy to see you…welcome…" Esme said softly as she stepped forward. She gently and carefully embraced me and I immediately felt at home.
"Thanks Esme…it's nice to see you too. Hello Carlisle…how are you?" I turned to face the Cullen patriarch. I reached out to shake his hand and was surprised when he too embraced me. I'm sure everyone else could hear but he whispered softly to me.
"Thank you Bella. Thank you for forgiving Edward and bringing him home…" I didn't know what to say so I simply smiled at him as he pulled away. "Come, let's go into the living room and let Bella settle in" he said, leading everyone inside.
I sat on the couch snuggled up next to Edward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper enter the room. He smiled and sat down across from me. "Hello Bella" Jasper greeted me kindly. I didn't take offence to his distance, I knew he had a difficult time being around me, especially now since it had been awhile. I felt so calm and happy. I looked at Jasper questionably. "I'm not doing anything Bella."
That was comforting. All the feelings and emotions were genuine and real. I could not help but notice, and not surprisingly, that Rosalie was not present. Emmett saw me glance around the room.
"Rosalie had to be somewhere…" he said and not at all in a way to convince me.
"Oh, that's alright…" I said fully knowing it was a lie and that she didn't like me. Normally that would have bothered me but I was so euphoric just being here with the Cullens, it didn't put a damper on at all.
"Edward dear, you look preoccupied" Esme asked concerned. Edward's eyes flickered to look out the large wall of windows and then back to his family.
"You know were I was…when I was away…looking for Victoria. Apparently, she has returned." Edward filled the family in on Charlie's incident. Emmett let loose a growling laugh.
"Let her try and get to Bella! I'm so glad you're back…things are always more exciting when you're around!" Emmett said with a wide grin.
"Emmett, this is hardly the time for this!" Edward said standing up.
"Ugh, here he goes again…" Alice said under her breath. "Edward, we won't let anything happen to Bella. We'll get some traces of her scent, track her location and deal with her. It will be fine."
"Alice is right." Carlisle chimed in. "However, we will need to extend a level of precaution. Obviously Victoria hasn't made herself known yet because she was presumably waiting for something. My guess would be your return Edward. Now that you are back and here with Bella, I believe that is what she wanted. I can guess that she will attempt some sort of reaction to try to snatch Bella from under your nose, part of the game for her I imagine." Carlisle's brow furrowed, he was in thought working out plans I assumed.
"Don't worry Bella, I won't let anything happen to you" Edward said, settling himself next to me again.
"So…what do we do?" I asked.
"For now, we wait" Carlisle answered. Edward wrapped his arms around me and we all sat in silence watching the clouds outside as the rain began to drip down the windows.
