Hey again, guys (ahem, girls)!
Okay, that tone was seriously wrong. I'll admit I'm depressed. I just lost every last one of my songs in my freakin' thumbdrive :((((
Ugh, I need an aspirin. Something pain-killing, anyway.
So, storytime! Again. Whoop-de-doo-de-do. Oh, the joy.
Bella's PoV
Someone touched my arm, and I jerked away from the contact, startled.
Red eyes stared back at me. It was Jane.
"We're arriving," she announced. A look of concern passed across her eyes, creasing the space between her eyebrows, but just as quickly it disappeared into her cool mask of composure, and I didn't comment on it.
In Volterra, we rarely showed concern for anyone other than the Ancients, and our mates.
I had said that the Volturi was like a family, but in truth only Aro and Luke felt like family to me. Everyone else was, on average, just a coven member.
I heard the whirr of the engines change subtly as we descended. My fingers clenched subconsciously.
I couldn't wait to get back, be in Luke's arms once more, get rid of the annoyingly conflicted feelings of anxiety I was currently battling for the man I had once loved.
Throughout the plane ride I hadn't been able to take my eyes, or my thoughts, of him. Him, Edward. What difference did it make even if I forced myself not to utter his name out loud? I couldn't get rid of my thoughts, neither could I silence them.
I worried, panicked, felt strange leaps of ecstacy and chewed my lip incessently in turns. All for him, the man I had sworn never to love again.
It was like my feelings for him hadn't vanished at all, like no time had passed since he left me, like I still foolishly- blindly- loved him with all my heart.
As the saying goes, Love is blind. I felt like tearing my hair out.
When we finally touched-down safely, thanks to the skilled piloting of Jasper, I insisted on holding him, partly out of duty, partly due to my own human emotions.
We took the same cars again, but this time I sat with the Cullens, so that I could hold Edward.
You're a fool, screamed the part of my mind that still retained some sense. You're a stupid fool ruled by your emotions! You love Luke, not Edward, remember?
Yes, I do, I tried to say back, but I was interrupted.
Then act like you do! The reason you saved Edward was to prove to him that you were alive, and that you could manage well enough without his help. That by being alive and ith a mate you could rub it further into his face!
I knew all of it was right, of course. That I had wanted to show off, to flaunt the fact that I wasn't some helpless little human girl. But I failed miserably. Now I was pining for him? I wanted to whack myself.
My head was starting to pound already. I kneaded it with one hand, the other resting on Edward's face as he lay sprawled on the backseat. Fantastic. Now my mind won't cooperate with me.
I was conscious of all their eyes on me, Volturi and Cullen alike.
He probably has a mate too, I told myself sternly. One who is of his kind, one who is invulnerable, who doesn't need his constant saving...
The way home was short, smooth, but to me it felt like it lasted forever.
Finally, finally, we reached the edge of the cliff, peering down over Volterra and the castle of the Volturi. The road would lead on to the gates of Volterra, but I had no interest to wait like a common mortal. I got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. Emmett pulled Edward out, his expression concerned, as though he worried for my sanity.
Relief coursed through me. At last, the solace I craved was close at hand. I could see Luke standing there, lost amidst the crowd of Volturi members, and yet somehow standing out. He seemed to glow. Everything else dulled in comparison, and faded into the background.
He's waiting, I thought. Waiting for me.
Luke, I wanted to yell.
I wanted to run to him, to stop thinking of Edward.
You're using Luke as a distraction, taunted that voice again. I chose to ignore it.
Then I ran.
I ran down the steep slope of the hill. I ran past the cars waiting impatiently, past the bleary guards, past the crowds gathered for Saint Marcus's Day, past the fountain, and crashed right into the waiting arms of my love.
"Luke," I whispered at last.
"Welcome home, my love." He murmured back, and I could hear his tone, so full of amusement, and I could picture his mouth curled up and his eyes dancing with mirth, and then I knew one thing for certain.
I was truly home.
I felt warm in his arms, safe, the way I always had. Edward, for the first time in hours, was out of my mind.
I missed you, he thought. I smiled ever so slightly. In the end, it was still Luke who knew me best.
As did I, I sent mentally. I felt the curve of his lips upon my hair as he smiled. His arms tightened their hold around me, but I didn't mind. Niether did I mind what he did next.
Pausing only for a second of thought, he tilted my face up, and kissed me.
Edward's PoV
I regained consciousness for a while, my eyes opening blearily.
Had it all been a dream? Another hallucination? Another skilled Victoria-esque trick?
"Bella?" I asked. My mouth formed the words with difficulty. It felt dry and gritty, like I'd just swallowed dust.
"No, not Bella," came a voice. "It's me." I fought the disappointment welling up in me. I face loomed above mine, blurry and out-of-focus.
"Emmett?" I slurred.
"Yup." He answered me cheerfully. "Welcome back to the world of the living undead, bro."
"Where's Bella?" I asked, even though I knew she wasn't here. I couldn't help myself.
"Well..." I heard the hesitation in his tone, and yanked my eyes wider. I pulled myself up, draining my strength in the process.
"Where? Where? Where is she?" I asked eagerly. My arms trembled under my weight.
"Well?" I demanded, not bothering to turn around to face my brother as I scanned our surroundings.
Italy, some distant part of my brain whispered. Volterra, in Italy.
Then I saw her. Running. Where to?
Bella, Bella, Bella...
My eyes trailed her hungrily, with a strange sense of relief. So Bella was really alive. It wasn't a dream. I hadn't been going crazy. Bella had come for me, despite all that had happened between us, despite all that Victoria had said to undermine my confidence.
My heart swelled with exhileration. Bella, Bella, Bella...
Any other time I would have questioned why she was still alive- hadn't she died- flinch- long ago? At least, that was my plan for her...- but right now I was too busy savoring my joy.
I sagged into Emmett's arms, exhausted, then hoisted myself up again. I wanted to catch another glimpse of Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella... Bella, the love of my life, the reason for my existence.
"Edward..." My brother warned me seriously. Since when has Emmett ever been serious?
I watched her race across the courtyard, the wide open square, her grey hood thrown back and her dark hair streaming out. I wanted to run my fingers through it, like I once had.
Since when did Bella wear anything with a hood?
She was looking at something. Someone.
With an intensity that should have worried me, if my brain had been functioning properly. But it wasn't. Bella, Bella, Bella...
There was a crowd of similarly dressed people standing in front of her. They looked expectantly behind her, as though looking to see something mroe important. Was there ever anything more important than Bella?
Then one of them, a dark-haired boy- no, man- stepped out and held his arms out in an embrace. That Bella- my Bella- crashed into.
Bella, Bella... Bella?
My heart plummetted down to the soles of my feet, and I heard something break, like the thin shattering of fine glass.
No, no. I could be anyone, I tried desperately to console myself. That vampire might just be a friend, an ally, some she just knows well.
His lips were moving, mouthing words I could neither understand nor hear, but there was no mistaking the expression of tenderness in his face.
"No," I whispered, without even realizing it. "No!" I yelled in fury and indignation and helplessness. Had I really come this far only to fail? To lose Bella to someone else?
Bella! My Bella...
Maybe you have, came the faintest whisper in my head. It was a mockery, a tribute to how filled I was with self-loathing.
I couldn't do anything but watch with a growing horror and dread. Then the man tilted her face up to his. My spirits sank.
And then he touched his lips to hers, gently at first, then deepening it.
Down at the bottom of my feet, I heard a distant shattering sound. It took me a while to realize it then, but when I did, I knew immediately what it was.
It was the breaking of my heart. Bella... The sound of my shattering heart drowned out the echo of her name.
The surrouding people just stood there, wry smiles of disapproval and exasperation touching their faces, but they didn't do anything.
Why aren't you doing anything? I wanted to scream at them, infuriated and anguished as I was.
But I couldn't move, couldn't speak. Because the minute I thought that, my mind started to shut down. It was almost a relief not to have their kiss imprinted in my mind. But almost doean't count for anything.
Bella...
The lights dimmed around me, and as the dark tendrils of unconsciousness started to coil around me, I felt a dull ache in my chest. Then I gladly gave myself up to it, spiralling, sinking gratefully in endless sleep, her name the last conscious thought I had.
Fantastic! Done it within the hour! And now I'm gonna call my cousin to terrorize her to pass me all the songs in her iPod by transferring it into my freakin' thumbdrive. Stupis technology. I'm gonna terrorize my Dad too, later. To buy me a new one.
So sorry for the unbearably short chapter! My bestie's gonna kick my butt again... Damn.
Anyways... So Bella's falling in love again! Whoo!
That's why she wanted to ger back to Luke ASAP, to avoid think- and looking- at our favourite, absolutely dreamy, dahling, Edward Cullen. Haha.
And because all that concern for Edward's state of mind is worrying her, it wakes up old memories. Poor Bella, having to feel so conflicted. Ah, well.
Whee! But Bella thinks Edward despises her human-ness, and even if he doesn't, he probably already has a mate- who wouldn't think that?- so he's untouchable. Whoopsy-daisy.
And Edward thinks Bella's only helping him 'cause she's expected too, and she really does already have a mate, so poor Edward too! Yay!
I think I might be just a wee bit sadistic.
So! Review? Pretty pleeeaase? But of course you will.
With lots of hugs and kisses and genius ideas (sort of),
Judith