Chapter 10: Merman

After the drive back to the Cullen's house, Alice and Rosalie were in their swimsuits, getting ready to go to the Community pool. Somehow I never imagnined seeing any of the Cullens swimming.

I figured maybe I was insane, but I never thought creatures unable to be exposed in sunlight would be going swimming.

"How can you guys go swimming? What about the sun?" I asked.

"No, silly, we wait until it's dark to go in the water," Alice explained. I shrugged.

"That makes sense," I shrugged.

"Bella, do you want to join us?" Jasper said, looking stunning in his swimsuit. He had chiseled abs and biceps that were bulging out of his arms.

"I'd love to, only I don't have a swimsuit," I said.

Edward stepped up and said, "I can take you home so you can get your swimsuit."

"No, I meant I don't have one period," I admitted.

Alice gasped. "There is something wrong if a vampire has a bathing suit and a human doesn't. We definitely need to go shopping!"

"In the meantime," Rosalie interrupted her sister, "you can borrow one of mine." I followed Rosalie upstairs and picked out a white halter swimsuit with a black palm tree design. When I came down the stairs with a towel under my arm, Edward's jaw dropped.

"You look--" he began.

Esme cleared her throat.

"--Very beautiful," Edward finished.

I smiled and Alice came up to me, discussing the size of the bathing suit I was wearing, and she told me that she had the same style only hers was black and the palm tree design was in white. I was simply tuning her out and I was gazing at Edward's topaz eyes.

"Are you listening to me?" Alice asked me, snapping her long, pale fingers in my face. I snapped out of it and Edward shifted his gaze, too.

"Yes, Alice," I replied thoughtlessly.

"I understand you're hopelessly in love. So I guess you have no use for me," Alice whined, pretending she was crying. Her expression was heartbreaking.

"Alice…" I cooed. "You know I love you!"

She was chanelling Edward when she puckered her lower lip and gave me the innocent puppy expression. "Do I?"

"Yes, of course I love you! If I hated you, you wouldn't be planning my wedding!" I convinced her that she was significant and this satisfied her. Meanwhile, Edward was eavesdropping and he was fighting back a smile by biting his lip.

I glowered at him while we got ready. I knew it was getting darker and darker outside. I rode in Edward's Volvo while Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie piled into Emmett's Jeep.

Emmett was the first one to leap out of the car and he cannonballed into the deep end, causing humongous ripping waves. Jasper was next in the water, disappearing underneath the darkness. Alice and Rosalie were next, each delicately diving into the water, leaving nothing but a few ripples as they disappeared.

Neither one surfaced until a few minutes later.

I was enjoying the show when Edward grabbed my hand and we walked together towards the edge of the pool.

"You ready?" he asked me.

"It's so dark," I pointed out.

He laughed. "Trust me, you'll go blind if we turn the pool light on."

"I feel blind right now," I muttered.

"Don't worry," he assured me. "I'll stay with you."

And I trusted him to hold my hand the whole time, because he was the type of person who would give me the shirt off his back and die himself rather than see me suffer.

I smiled.

And then, as I clung onto his hand, we both jumped in feet first. He immediately pulled me up to the surface. I couldn't see much underwater, but what I could see was incredible. Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, circling each other as they swam. They were almost dancing, so graceful in the water.

I longed to be as graceful as them.

Edward watched, still holding my hand.

I took a deep breath the next time I surfaced, when I went back down, Edward was so close to my face it scared me. I could hear my pulse through my ears. He smiled.

Then he kissed me and underwater it was like slow motion. But I couldn't stop. The urge to breathe basically disappeared. I was kissing him so passionately, and he was so hungry for more. I wanted more, too.

So much more.

He was so perfect in everything. He kissed like a god. He swam like a merman. I was so wrapped up in him I barely noticed when one of my lungs almost exploded. Suddenly Edward broke away and lifted me to the surface without a sweat.

I gasped for air, then submerged under water again and kissed him like before. Only this time my legs wrapped around his body, my arms around his neck, pulling myself even closer to him. I wanted to be a part of him. And while I was weightless underwater, I felt invincible.

I was so out of breath by now, but I didn't stop kissing him. I was afraid if I stopped kissing him, I would lose him. My pulse was racing, I felt like my heart was in my throat. Edward and I surfaced at the same time, still kissing, but he was holding me up by my legs, which were still locked around him, and he was carrying me as if I was light as a feather.

"I love you so much," I whispered as soon as he stopped kissing.

"I love you too," he said, "and kissing you never gets old."

Then he smiled his crooked smile and I went to kiss him, and for once I found something he wasn't perfect at. We bumped heads when we went in for our kiss, and laughed it off. We kissed one more time before we realized we had an audience; the other Cullens.

Only Emmett laughed, and I was happy that I wasn't a perfect vampire yet, because I probably wouldn't make Emmett laugh as much if I was.

Ok you guys, it's me again! Thank you so much for continuing to read. I love reading you guys' reviews because they make me want to write so much more. I just read a really great story called "Thirteen Reasons Why…" by Runaway xo and it is just amazing. It's on my favorite Stories list if you want to read it. Keep reading for more, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!