Many thanks to katmom for beta'ing, and horsesoldier for her generous donation to the fundraiser that provided the beta service.
An earlier version of this story was written for F4LLS, now revised and extended. Revisions were made post-beta, mistakes my own.
"Let's go somewhere."
The summer was drawing to a close. Edward had insisted on driving them to a town 2 hours away so that there was less chance of them being spotted together. The afternoon was bittersweet—it was the first time they had held hands in public. Neither had brought up what would happen when the summer ended. She was going to university while he was starting work at the estate.
When it started drizzling, he pulled her into an old-fashioned photo booth on a deserted street.
"Here, I'll sit on the stool. You sit on my lap." Once they were in position, he took his raincoat, turned it back to front and slipped her arms through the sleeves. The coat engulfed her small frame and covered the front of her body completely.
"Here are some coins. Now, read the instructions and operate the camera."
"Edward, I don't understand. Why am I operating the camera? I'm hopeless at these things."
He leaned into her ear and whispered, "Because I'll be busy."
She tried her best to read the instructions when he was kissing her neck.
It was near impossible to slot in the coins when his thumbs were circling her nipples over and over.
She had barely managed to push the button when his hand slipped under her skirt, and then under again.
She blinked unseeingly ahead of her as the bulb flashed, and flashed.
In all, they took three sets of photos.
In most of the frames, she was looking straight at the camera, eyes glazed, lips parted.
In some, they were kissing desperately.
In others, he was gazing at her, so much longing, as if she was far away and not right there on his lap.
In the very last, his face was buried in her neck, and her eyes were tightly shut. That was the moment Edward Cullen made her shatter into a thousand pieces.
He would later do the same to her heart.