Soul Fliers

Chapter Ten: Peony

'So it is certain that peonies, their favourite flower, are saluted by the people.' – Octave Mirbeau

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After she began turning off her phone whenever we got the chance to be alone, life was bliss. The children at school were beginning to ignore Bella just as steadily as they'd been ignoring us for the two years we'd been there… all except for one, but of course I was completely trusting of Bella.

Besides, who would want to date Mike Newton? Besides Jessica Stanley, of course. I've always known that girl was a little slower than the rest, though.

Even though she was a part of the 'strange Cullens', and it was painfully obvious that Bella and I were what they would refer to as 'an item', that didn't stop Mike from trying. It was completely irritating how many times he approached Bella, completely ignoring me at her side, and asking her out.

I was never more in love with her than when she turned him down, telling him in no uncertain terms would she ever leave me for him. I also felt mollified at the compliment she was paying me at the same time. She was so perfect for me, it was unbelievable.

Despite the annoyances at school, though, like I said; life with Bella was bliss. I was the happiest I'd been since… well, ever. She was so amazing, and always surprised me with little things, like running to be after an hour spent in different classrooms and leaping into my arms, whispering that she'd missed me. Or plopping down into my lap for lunch instead of in the seat I'd saved for her. We were becoming closer, and as we did it was also becoming harder for me to control my instinct to make her completely mine.

But I did control it… somehow.

Of course, just because she had promised to turn her phone off when we were alone, didn't mean that she had her phone off the rest of the time, as well. She still sent messages to Jacob whenever he sent one to her, and my family was beginning to notice as well. I was trying my hardest not to be jealous, though; Bella had soothed my worries that she didn't feel the same way… and continued to ensure that I knew how she felt with our little make out sessions we had before she fell asleep in my embrace every night.

Yes… life was good.

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"You know, I've just realized something," Bella said thoughtfully as I ran my fingers through her hair, getting out the slight tangles.

"What did you realize, pretty bird?" I asked, kissing her temple.

She turned towards me, looking at me with playful eyes. "You've never taken me out on a date."

Instantly, I was a stuttering mess. "Oh, I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't even think about that. You know, we don't eat so of course I wouldn't think about taking you out to a restaurant or something, and well… I wasn't aware that you would even like something like that, you know? You've never brought it up before so I assumed that you were alright with just hanging out here-"

"Woah, Edward; slow down," she cut me off, laughing slightly. "I'm not upset. I was just stating a fact; you haven't taken me out on a date yet… and of course it's something I'd be interested in. I may be immortal, but that doesn't mean I don't have normal teenage feelings."

I let out the breath I wasn't aware I was holding in, relieved. "Don't scare me like that – I thought you were really upset that I hadn't taken you out yet." I smiled at her. "So… you want to go out on a date, then?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do; we don't have to do anything special, but it would still be nice."

"I agree. I'd get to show others that you're mine, not just the citizens of Forks." I chuckled along with her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. "How does Port Angeles sound, the classic dinner and a movie?"

"Sounds perfect," she said, leaning forward and returning my kiss with a kiss on my nose. I smirked at her.

"I think you missed."

Her eyes lit up with humour, but her face took on a playful serious mask. "Oh, dear; I believe you're right. Can't go missing the target all the time, now can I?"

"No, you can't," I told her, delighted she was playing along.

"I'll just have to fix my mistake," she winked, leaning forward and catching my top lip in between hers. I groaned into the kiss; how did she always manage to make me feel as if I was in Heaven? She must have been in angel with the way she felt and tasted. I pulled her body closer to mine, revelling in the heat. My hands had a mind of their own as they slipped under her shirt slightly, rubbing up and down her spine. I didn't go any farther than her ribs, but even that small amount of skin was enough to drive me wild. I groaned again as she moaned at my touch, bringing her arms up to bury her fingers in my hair, pulling on it slightly. With her strength it was enough to cause me a little pain, but it was still amazing. I was careful not to apply to much pressure as I crushed her into my chest, needing to feel more contact with her.

I was surprised as she pulled back suddenly, her hands disappearing. As I opened my eyes, I was met with an amazing sight; Bella was pulling her top over her head, revealing more creamy, smooth skin to my eyes… and as she took it completely off, she became the first girl I had seen in a bra – willingly, anyway. Being a mind reader, I often saw these things, no matter how much I tried to block them out.

I only needed two words to describe what Bella was wearing; blue, and lacy. Of course, it was just as bright as all of the other clothes she was always wearing – a beautiful, light blue that set of her skin tone perfectly. It had suddenly become my favourite colour on her and I hoped I could convince her to wear t more often.

I hadn't realized I was just sitting there staring at her until she began to wave her hand back and forth in front of my eyes. "Hello… anyone in there?" She asked teasingly in a sing song voice. As I blinked like a fool and swallowed, she giggled. "Oh, good; I thought you went into shock.

"You're so beautiful, pretty bird," I breathed, continuing my motion on her back as I stared unashamed at her chest.

She giggled again, this time harder, causing her… um, assets to bounce lightly up and down, making me have to swallow again. "I'd appreciate that compliment being said more if you were looking at my face, but thank you."

I smiled slightly, not moving my eyes. "I'm sorry, let me rephrase: all of you is beautiful, pretty bird."

I could tell she was smiling from her voice as she spoke again. "Well, are you going to do anything or are you just going to stare at me?"

Without my brain even registering it, my hands were moving up and caressing her curves as they made their way to her breasts, and within seconds they were cupping her over her bra. She moaned slightly, leaning forward and capturing my mouth again, causing me to close my eyes as I felt her react to my touch, even though it was through the cloth.

It continued this way for around a half hour, before our kissing began slowing down as Bella became tired; usually, she would have been in bed an hour before, and so I wasn't surprised. I was a little saddened as she moved out of my reach, getting ready to go to sleep. I had enjoyed my first time 'feeling up' a girl.

Man, I should stop hanging out with Emmett… he wasn't a good influence on me.

She fell asleep with a huge smile on her face, and as she slept I remembered the perfect view she had awarded me with.

Did I mention how perfect she was for me?

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The next day at school I found it harder to concentrate on anything but Bella. The devil was an even bigger pain as he couldn't forget going over what had happened the night before as I tried in vain to remember the quadratic formula so that I could complete the simple math sheet that had been placed in front of me. Every time I moved to put my pencil to the paper, though, visions of blue and lace trimming ran through my head, preventing me from getting anything done.

As the bell rang signalling my escape to lunch, I nearly snarled as I saw her in the hallway. I walked up to her, probably a little faster than I should have, and leaned in close to her ear as I wrapped my arms around her waist, preventing her from walking anywhere. "Why did you have to take your shirt off last night? Now it's all I can think about?" I growled into her ear, not really annoyed at her; more irritated about my apparent regression into a hormonal teenage boy. Was I really any better than Newton, now?

She laughed outright, turning her head and standing on her tiptoes so that she could whisper in my ear. "That was the plan; couldn't have you thinking of anything else when I was around, now could I? Besides, it's not like we both didn't enjoy it – I had to practically force you to stop touching me so that I could go to sleep."

I growled, frustrated, knowing she was telling the truth. "I may have enjoyed it, but I'm pretty sure my teacher was surprised when he saw that I didn't get anything done at all in my last class. Besides, I didn't need the image of you topless in my head so that I couldn't stop thinking about you; you were already running through my mind every second of every day."

"That sounds like a corny pick-up line," she snickered.

I faked being surprised. "You mean you haven't heard it? Well, then, I'm going to have to change that." As the hallway cleared, I led her to the wall and trapped her there, staring into her perfect eyes. "Aren't you tired? 'Cause you've been running through my mind all day," I whispered to her, laying little kisses all over her face.

She snorted. "Wow, and I thought you were smooth with the ladies, Cullen; that's a pathetic way of picking up girls."

"You love me and you know it," I told her, attacking her lips with my own. Five minutes into it, though, her stomach let out an adorable little rumbling sound, and I backed up. "Looks like it's time to feed the pretty bird," I smirked, pulling her along with me. She smiled at me sweetly, before moving out of my hold and running lightly into the cafeteria, causing me to laugh and chase after her at human pace. Man, I loved this girl.

As I was waiting in the lunch line with her, watching as she picked out her usual food, she stopped suddenly and smirked up at me, and I just knew that there was going to be trouble coming. "Oh, and by the way – today I'm wearing yellow."

And, since her top was orange and certainly not yellow, I couldn't help but let out a small moan as my visions of perfect blue turned into sunny yellow, and I knew that one way or another I was going to have to see to it that I could envision the right shade of yellow.

"That sounds lovely," I said into her ear once I could breathe properly. "Now stop being a tease and let's go join our family so you can eat."

Of course, as expected, she giggled again. She was too perfect.

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Another update, just as promised. And now there is finally a reason for this story to be labelled as 'T'. Hopefully no one was uncomfortable reading that… the gods know that there are worse things on this site, though.

Oh, on my profile, there is a link to my polyvore account under the 'Contact' section. There, you can find the outfits that I imagine Bella wearing in the different chapters of this story. I'll try to ensure that each outfit described makes its way out onto the open through polyvore.

One other thing; since many people thought that Bella shouldn't have gotten away so easily with the whole texting thing... did she make up for it by showing him how she looks topless? :)

Review, and remember me.