Step Into My World

Bella's POV:

As we began to strip down to our bathing suits, I blushed realizing that this was the first time I had been this close to a guy in this way. I had never been the type that went swimming a lot, due to being so self-conscious. Now that I thought about it, we had already been on the boat for two full days and had yet to take a swim in the pool. Good thing we would be at sea all day tomorrow, I'd been wanting to go down the slide. I picked up my clothes and folded them neatly, then slowly began to make my way into the water, feeling the sand scrunching in between my toes. My body shook a little as gentle waves wrapped around my legs. I took a deep breath and dove under. When I came up for air, I was surprised to look up and see a crystal clear night. The sun was just beginning to set, and so I waited for the hiss that my parents had always told me you could hear when you were this close to the water. I took another breath and went down again. Feeling something cold and sleek rub against me, I came up to the surface and there looking straight at me was a gray face with a pointy nose and eyes so dark. I let my hand out, the same way as you would a dog, to let him know that I meant know harm. I gently rubbed my hand down his smooth back, never once breaking my stare. His eyes fascinated me; so deep, gentle, knowing.

"I bet you know a lot of secrets?" I asked. The dolphin nodded his head and then turned it in the direction of the sun.

"If I did not know any better, I would think you understood me?" He disappeared under the water. But a moment later, I could feel him moving between my legs and then felt like I was being raised out of the water a bit. I moved my hand down to his dorsal fin and we took off flying. A feeling of pure joy and excitement rushed through me. I felt free. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could be me again. Free of the hurt, the pain, the anger.

The dolphin stopped and I looked around to see how far out in the lagoon he had taken me. I could see my friends in the distance; swimming, laughing, and having fun. But I only counted four heads. Scared that someone was missing, I began looking all around to try to find the fifth person. Suddenly, I felt arms wrap around my waist. I immediately let out a high scream and began to kick.

"Bella," Edward's voice came out of the night sky, "It's just me."

He loosened his grip and I turned around to see his deep green eyes. "You scared me!" I hissed.

"Sorry, one of the dolphins just took me for a swim and landed me here," Edward put his hand out over his head and a dolphin jumped up and tapped his hand, "If I didn't know any better, I would think she was setting us up."

I laughed quietly, "I was actually thinking the same thing a little bit ago. I was talking to one of them and I swear he understood me."

"Well, they say that dolphins have very human qualities. Very smart," Edward said, then dove down under the water. A few minutes later, he was holding tight onto two dolphins, one appeared to be the same one I had been talking to. Again, his head just bobbed in front of me, his eyes looking so lost, hurt?

"I wonder what you are thinking?" I asked the dolphin.

"I am actually wondering the same thing?" Edward said.

"What do you mean?"

"From where I stand, you seem to have a very deep connection with Flipper here?"

I splashed the water toward his face, "I am not obsessed with the dolphin."

"Well, then why do you keep talking to him?"

"It's his eyes, they fascinate me," I began to rub the dolphin's head, "They seem to hold so much information, like he is hiding the secrets of the world below." I laughed slightly at how many times I had wondered what it would be like to live in the ocean. A world that had no pain; a world that was carefree.

"What are you laughing about?"

"All the times I have watched Little Mermaid or Splash. I remember asking my mom if I could ever become a mermaid. Those two movies seemed to be perfect. Both of them finding love in the least likely places."

"Where do you expect to find love?"

"Well, people usually find it in their own backyard or at least somewhere close to there. Not by stepping out of their world and into someone else's. But in those movies, the heroine took risks, not knowing what would lie ahead of them, and they never looked back."

"Have you had any luck finding love in your backyard?"

I turned to look at him; his eyes were deep, just like the dolphins, "No, I think I will need to one day go looking in other backyards."

And with that, I took a deep breath and dove under the waves. The thoughts of the movies were bringing on the many memories of how this was what I wanted; a dream of living in the ocean, being carefree. I put my legs together and began to swim, imagining I had a tail instead of legs. Just like the mermaids in those movies. I eventually came up for air and was surprised to find Edward was still there looking at me.

"I think you just stepped into my world," Edward said, trying to catch his breath. I shivered as the wind blew across the water. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer, our faces just inches from each other.

"Your world is different from mine," I breathed back, "I can leave."

"But you won't," he said confidently.

"How come you seem so sure of yourself?"

"Just like Ariel, you dream of something bigger and better than life under the sea," he whispered into my ear.

"Now, Dr. Masen, how would you know what dreams Ariel wanted?" I asked with a sly smile.

"Little Mermaid was one of Erica's favorite movies," he said with a hint of sadness, "She had the same dreams of every girl. That one day someone would come and sweep her off her feet."

"Yeah, but it is only a movie," I said with a huff, "There is no such thing as Prince Charming."

"Alright, all. Time's up," a male's voice boomed out, echoing across the water.

"I guess it's time to head back in," I said and began to swim my final swim with the dolphins and experience what their life must be like.

"Wow," I heard Rose say as I began to make my way up to the beach, "That was incredible. So liberating."

"Yeah, did you see that dolphin catch the ring with his nose?" Emmett asked.

"Emmett," Jasper started, "Only you would actually spend the time trying to teach dolphins tricks like a dog."

"Well, she did say that they like playing games just like dogs," Emmett huffed, pulling on his shirt.

"Bella, did you enjoy yourself?" Alice came up to me, linking her elbow with mine, a smile on her face that I had never seen before.

"Yes, Alice, I did and by that smile, I think you did as well."

"Come on, all. We need to get back to the boat. It is already close to eleven and I, for one, do not want to look for another way home," Edward said, leading the way along the dimly lit boardwalk.

"So, what are the plans for the rest of the night?" Jasper asked, I couldn't help noticing how he was holding Alice close around the waist, very different than before.

"The movie started at 10:30, so we already missed that," Rose said with a bit of sadness. Pretty Woman was her favorite movie.

"We can go down to Club 70 and check it out," Emmett said, "I like to dance and I could use a drink."

"Sounds good to me," I said, thinking about how we had yet to do that either. So many things to do, so little time.

Once inside the safety of our room, I turned to Alice, hands on my hips, "Alice, spill it."

That got Rosalie's attention; she stopped in the doorway of the bathroom and turned to look at the two us, "Spill what?"

"Alice is hiding something. Like maybe she did something out there in the water, under the moonlight?" I said, taking note of the way Alice had turned red.

"Jasper and I kissed," she said quietly, looking down.

"You what?" Rose screamed and ran over to the bed.

"It was nothing," she started, "but it was everything, you know?"

"No, Alice, we don't know," I said, sitting down next to her, "We want details!"

"It just felt right. We were talking and it just happened. But before it could go any farther, a dolphin came in between us."

Rose threw her arms around her pixie friend, "Oh, I am so happy for you! You deserve this. You deserve some happiness. But right now, we also deserve to go dancing, enjoy some drinks, and have fun."

"Race you to the bathroom!" Alice jumped up and had the bathroom door closed before Rose and I could even blink.

"She's fast," I said, laughing.

"In more ways than one," Rose said then reached over to give me a hug, both of us laughing at how quickly Alice moved, not only with getting dressed but also with Jasper.

We quickly finished getting ready. I had already known that Alice had packed the perfect clubbing outfit, but I was not prepared for the white Go-Go boots that I found hiding in the closet. "Um, Alice, how did you know that we would wear these?" I asked, pulling them out.

"I can just see things, you know," she said with a smile, "You each have a pair. They will go perfectly with our dresses."

I shrugged my shoulders before quickly zipping up the boots. After grabbing the room key, I looked at myself in the mirror one last time. I couldn't get over how different I appeared. The conversation with Edward from earlier, about me having to step out of my backyard into someone else's, finally hitting home. I had already stepped out of my world landed into another.

"Hey Bella, you coming?" Rose asked.

I cleared my head and quickly made my way out the door to join my friends in this new world.

Edward's POV:

The whole time I was getting ready to go down to the club, my mind kept going back to the conversation that Bella and I had while swimming with the dolphins. Both of our worlds were so different, but for some reason, she seemed to fit into mine perfectly. Just like I knew that I would be accepted into her world. She said that she had yet to find love in her backyard, but I wondered if she was finding it here in this different world. What was it that Bella had said at the end of the swim? 'There is no such thing as Prince Charming.' A small smile crept onto my lips. No, there may not be a Prince Charming, but who was to say that there couldn't be a Prince Edward? Somehow I knew that I could sweep her off her feet and make her old hurtful world disappear.

"Yo, bro, come on. The girls are waiting," Emmett said.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I reached down to finish buttoning my shirt, leaving just the last couple undone. I stepped outside and could not fathom the beauty that was standing before me; Bella was wearing a retro dress with bright blue spirals all over the place. One could very easily get dizzy looking at the circles. My eyes cast down to her white Go-Go boots that came up to hug her calves. I walked over and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You look beautiful," I whispered.

"I decided it was time to step out of my world," she whispered back.

"Boy, you girls really know how to dress the part," Jasper said, taking hold of Alice's hand.

"It's my business," Alice said, "I always come prepared for every possible circumstance."

"Well, I say that you did good for this place," he said as we made our way into Club 70. The music was blaring, the lights were flickering. I listened closely to what was playing and noticed that it was nothing but seventies music.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen," a DJ's voice came out through the speakers, "Did you all enjoy your visit to Mexico?" The crowd went wild with whistles and clapping, "Well, grab yourself a drink, find yourself a partner and get out onto the floor and start shaking your groove thing!"

We spent the next two hours doing everything from the electric slide to the hustle; all of us laughing and having a great time.

"Get your hands off of me," a female's voice came up high over the music.

"Uh oh, Rose," Bella said and began to get up.

"How do you know it's Rose?" I asked.

"I just do," Bella said matter of factly.

I followed her, keeping my hands on her waist and letting her guide me through the crowd. I kept my eyes out for Jasper and Emmett along the way and finally spotted them at the bar getting another round of drinks. They caught my eye and I nodded in the direction of where Rose was.

"I said get your goddamn hands off of me!" Rose said more loudly, as a man kept trying to touch her and get her to dance with him.

My friends and I all arrived at about the same time to hear the guys remark, "Oh, come on, baby. You wouldn't be dressing like that if you didn't want some."

"Fuck you," her voice was laced with venom. She turned to walk away; Bella quickly caught up with her. At that moment, the guy grabbed both Bella and Rose by the wrists.

"Well, lookie here. Two for the price of one," he said as though he had just won the lottery, "How about we continue this back in my room?"

"How about not?" Emmett said, walking up behind the guy, "These ladies are with me."

"Says who? I don't see you dancing with them." He turned back to give the girls his attention. I looked at Emmett who just nodded.

I quickly went behind Rose and Bella and grabbed them by the waist just as Emmett hit the guy right in the face. Jasper already had Alice and was beginning to walk out of the club. I followed him out, not once letting my grip go from the girls. I looked back and saw that Emmett had already given the guy a bloody nose.

Once outside in the open air, I placed them both on the ground. Bella went right over to Rose, I noticed Alice was already there, all three of them holding each other. Bella pushed Rose's hair out of her face and wiped the tears away.

"Rose, it's OK," Bella said softly, "He's not going to touch you again."

"Is she OK?" Emmett said, coming up behind me.

"Yeah, she's fine. I think she is just shaken up," I told him.

He walked over to Rose and she just fell into his arms. He began to rub her back and hair, kissing her gently on the head. Bella came up to me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you," Bella said.

I just nodded, "Is she hurt or anything?"

"No, she'll be fine. She's tough. Rose has been through the most, out of the three of us. If you would have given her another thirty seconds, she would have decked the guy herself," Bella let out a loud sigh, "She doesn't put up with any crap, especially from a guy."

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"Like I said, their stories are not mine to tell." And with that, Bella went back to her friend and gave her another reassuring hug.

"Well, this night sure turned into something, huh?" Jasper said, "So what now?"

"It's two in the morning, maybe we should call it a night," Bella said. We all nodded in agreement and began walking back in the direction of our rooms.

"What is everyone's plans for tomorrow?" I asked, "We will be at sea until Wednesday."

"The Captain's Gala is tomorrow night," Alice started, "I know that the girls and I will be up in the spa later in the afternoon. I made appointments for two."

"I actually would like to spend the day just lounging around the pool," Bella said.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

We all went into our separate rooms, glad for the chance to lay down. The day had been long, emotional and actually full of action. My mind began to drift off to sleep, thinking of how Prince Edward had come in and rescued two beautiful damsels in distress.