Thanks to Leon Mcfrenchington for beta-ing again and to all of you reviewers for putting up with my slowness!
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Bella POV
"What have I done?" I moaned, pushing away from Edward's body slightly.
"Nothing," he replied softly, catching my wrist in his grasp and stopping me from moving back any further.
"I… I should go after him," I shook my head, in a daze. Edward let my wrists go, but his expression was wounded. I immediately regretted it and reached up tentatively to stroke his face. I felt a tremor rock through me as I caressed his smooth cheek. He closed his eyes, seeming to quiver at my touch.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I don't want to hurt you, but I should go after him," I said, hesitating and starting to draw my hand away. He picked up what I was about to do and his hand came up and caught my hand, holding it to his smooth cheek.
"Don't," he murmured, "Leave him- he'll be fine. I haven't seen you for sixty years. I couldn't bear for you to leave now." He had me there. I felt exactly the same way, I knew that I didn't want to leave him either. He still held my hand to his face and I looked out of the door towards the forest, before looking back at Edward. I still couldn't believe that he was actually here and that he wanted me. I gave in with a little groan and lifted my other hand to stroke the other side of his face. He opened his eyes and looked into mine, then smiled.
"I love you," he said.
"As I love you," I replied, standing on my toes to reach up and plant my lips on his once again. I couldn't believe that he wanted me, after all this time. With just one kiss, Jacob was instantly forgotten.
The morning came and I was still in Edward's arms; Jacob had been left to his own accord.
"Good morning," Edward greeted me, although neither of us had slept, so the greeting had been almost meaningless.
"Morning," I replied, pretending to yawn and stretch.
He laughed, the sound so care-free and happy that I had to giggle as well.
"So…" he said, "School?"
I looked around, "But what about Jake?"
"He'll probably come back when he's ready to," Edward shrugged.
"Probably?" my eyes narrowed.
"Relax, Bella. There's no point in looking for him; he must have gone quite far because I can't hear him."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" I gaped at him.
"Yes. Jacob can look after himself, you know that," Edward reminded me and I sighed. He was right and I knew it. He kissed me again, and then ran home to change for school, leaving me to do the same.
I changed at the speed of light and grabbed the phone, dialing Jacob's number.
It rang and rang and rang, but he didn't pick up. I tried again. And again. And again. But he clearly hadn't forgiven me yet. I sighed and put the phone back, hoping that he would call when he'd forgiven me for mingling with my family.
I drove into the lot and parked in my now-usual space. Edward was at my door in seconds, opening it for me.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"Just because I have `super-speed' doesn't mean I use it, Edward," I sighed untruthfully.
"You called Jacob, didn't you?" Edward's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"No," I lied.
"Bella, you're no better at lying then you were sixty years ago," Edward said, "Listen, if you're that worried, we can go and find him, but we'll do it together, okay?"
"No," I shook my head, "If you were with me, it would make him a lot worse."
"Bella, I don't want to hurt you again," Edward whispered, cupping my face in his hands.
"I know. I'm not going after him; not today," I told him.
"Okay. What do you have first?"
"Biology," I mumbled.
"How ironic," Edward snickered, and kissed me once more before we headed our separate ways to lessons ("I'll change that at lunchtime," he had promised me).
As it had for the previous few days, Biology passed uneventfully, as did Spanish, and the first significant lesson of the day was Home Ec.
It started out just as boring as the last two lessons, as we copied the different uses of eggs out of our textbooks in silence. Well, almost silence. Cassie and Joanna talked in hushed whispers about their own trivial dramas and the teacher picked up on this.
"Cassandra, will you move to the seat next to Annabelle please?" Mrs Watton snapped at her, in a tone that couldn't be argued with. I pulled my books out of the way so that Cassie could sit there. She frowned as she sat, obviously annoyed to be sat next to the new girl who had already been branded a freak by most of the girls, and forgotten by most of the boys as soon as the Cullens, and Rosalie, had joined the school.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the open window, just at the same moment as I inhaled. Her scent hit me like nothing ever had before. The burn in my throat flared and I wanted her more than I could possibly imagine that I wanted anything. I wanted desperately to take her and the whole class right there and then, and I couldn't think of anything that would stop me. Her scent would've been worth it, but Edward was here somewhere in this school, and I didn't want to let him down.
In that one moment, I remembered everything Edward had ever said to me about how much I had appealed to him, his "La Tua Contante." Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that I would one day come face to face with my own singer. And never had I thought that I would want anything so badly. This was almost as bad as the desperate achy need I felt when Edward wasn't there, and, like Edward had, I felt that this Cassandra had been summoned from hell to torture me.
It was only wanting to better Edward that I didn't pounce right there, but there was a seed of doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be able to withstand the temptation, despite the fact that, unlike him, I had never tasted human blood. I didn't think that I would be able to resist because she could never hold the other appeal that I had for Edward; he had a reason not to kill me, but I had to keep reminding myself of this girl's family and how they would miss her, even though that seemed insignificant to the raging monster within me desperate for the girl's blood.
The lesson continued to drag by and I continued to glare.
Edward POV
It hurt to have to leave Bella to go our separate ways to lessons, but now that I had found her, I was pretty sure that I could stay with her, and the thought cheered me. I was the happiest I had been in years.
The teacher placed the girl with the chocolaty brown eyes next to me. Cassandra. The lesson was boring, and so I barely paid attention, my mind side-tracked by Bella. I watched her through thoughts of people in her class and she looked bored too. But then something pulled me out of my reverie. Cassandra was idly doodling her full name on the inside of her folder, ignoring me.
"Your middle name's Isabella?" I asked quietly.
She jumped and looked up at me, "I thought you didn't talk much?" she narrowed her lovely eyes, reminding me of Bella when she had been human.
"That was yesterday," I smiled.
"Well… yes, my middle name's Isabella," she nodded. Though she looked confused, she continued, "My grandfather had an older sister called Isabella, but she died before he met her."
"Oh, that's sad. I'm sorry," I said. For some bizarre reason, I wanted to continue this conversation. I could've sworn that there was something there, but I thought that it must be my endless curiosity, wanting to unwrap the mysteries held in her silent head.
"Don't be," she snorted, "I never met my grandfather either. Not many people did."
"Why? What happened?" I was intrigued, but I had no idea why.
"Well… it's pretty confusing," she hesitated.
"I'm sure I can keep up," I flashed her my dazzling smile and she blinked before explaining.
"My great-grandma already had a daughter, Isabella, with a different man. She found out that she was pregnant just days before Isabella went missing. She was never found. Just a few months later, my great-grandmother gave birth to my grandfather. He married a woman called Cheryl when they were both twenty and they had my father, Harry, when they were twenty-three. My grandfather disappeared mysteriously two years later, just like his sister before him. It was very strange.
"And then, eighteen years later, my Dad met and married my Mom, Cassandra. She died giving birth to me, seventeen years ago. That's why I'm called Cassandra Isabella Dwyer."
Dwyer… Now where had I heard that name before?
"What was your grandfather's name?" I asked, still unbelievably wanting to know more.
She laughed, "His name was Edward," she told me, "Like you."
"Edward Dwyer?" I laughed too, but when I said it out loud I realised what I had been missing, "Dwyer? That's your surname?"
"Yes," Cassie looked at me like I had lost it.
I didn't speak again. Dwyer. That had been Renee's new surname when she married Phil. The people in Cassie's story had a daughter called Isabella, who disappeared. Was it possible that Cassie was related to Bella? I looked at her again. She was staring at me, her eyes full of questions. Those chocolaty brown eyes… the silent mind… yes. Yes, Cassie could easily be related to Bella.
Bella POV
The lesson dragged by excruciatingly slowly and I stood and made my way out as soon as the bell rang; the need to be gone was such that it irritated me to use human pace.
Edward met me outside the canteen.
"Edward, I have to leave…" I said, as he took my hand.
"What? Why?" he asked, eyeing me cautiously, "Are you okay? Did somebody guess?" Now Alice and Jasper were with us.
"No! No," I shook my head ferociously, "No… That girl…"
"What girl?" Edward was confused.
"Cassandra. She…"
"Oh her. I know about that. Why does that mean that you have to leave?" Now he was even more confused.
"What?" So was I, "Of course I have to leave, Edward. I could kill her…"
"Who's Cassandra?" Alice piped up, "And why do you have to leave?"
"She's in my English class," Edward didn't even look at her.
"And my Home Ec." I added.
"What about her?" Alice was also dragged into the confusion.
"She's related to Bella," Edward said turning to look at Alice at the same time as I also turned to Alice and said:
"La Tua Contante."
We turned, stared at each other and both shrieked, "What?"
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Well done to the anonymous reviewers Dist and Zabrena for guessing that Cassie was Bella's singer. Thanks for all of the reviews from everybody though.
Quote:
"But…" I was lost for words, "Edward, what can I do?"
"What I did," Edward suggested gently, but firmly, "Ignore it."
I laughed sarcastically, "I can't do that. Edward, we don't all have super self-control."
"You can, Bella," he said, squeezing my hand, "I believe in you."
"Your belief isn't going to save Cassie's life, Edward," I sighed.
As you may be able to tell, I haven't actually written much of the next chapter, so the next update may also not be for a week or so. I am very sorry.
Please review!
Steph
