Chapter 10: Mermaids and Mayhem

a/n: I wanted to let you guys know I'm thinking this story will go another 7 chapters at the most. There's some angst up ahead obviously, but it's not going to be dwelling on the angst for a long stretch. I can't do angst for long stretches. I'm going more for bittersweet...with the sweet emphasized. lol

a/n: This is the first part of a very long chapter. I decided to divide it up because it was getting too long. I hope to finish the second half of the chapter by Monday.

a/n: I have a couple links of Laie Point on my profile page under "She's Royal" links. Beautiful place, peoples. If you ever end up on Oahu(don't let people tell you to skip Oahu either, it's a beautiful island!), you have to head to Laie Point. And then get a shaved ice afterwards at the bottom of the hill at Angel's...lol

a/n: Thanks for the reviews!

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Last Chapter:

And then I saw her.

She looked so small, standing on a tiny sand mound. Her hands were at her sides; she was so still, she could have been mistaken for a statue. Her translucent skin helped to light up her face with the glow of the Moon high above us. Alice was staring in our direction, but not really. Her face looked blank. With the exception of tears trickling down her face, her expression showed no emotion.

Edward suddenly froze himself. He straightened up his posture and came face to face with me. It struck me in that moment, as I was able to see both their faces at the same time, how similar they appeared. Maybe not in terms of coloring or even features; but both of them wore an identical expression that made them look like twins. Stoic and almost too still--those were expressions that should be exclusive to weary, old men who had lived long and hard.

Edward's eyebrows furrowed for a second, before his head jerked to the side as if someone had hit him.

"Edward?" He was starting to scare me. "You okay?"

I jumped down off him and rearranged my clothing to look halfway decent. Alice didn't pay me any mind though.

With his back still facing Alice, Edward shouted out, "We'll be in in a minute, Ali." His voice was rough, cold. Alice sat down where she was, wrapping her arms around her bent legs and resting her head on top of her knees.

I took Edward's hand, suddenly concerned less about my fragile heart and more about Edward's change in demeanor. He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"What's wrong, Edward? How did you know Alice was here?" He had yet to turn around to see her. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a twin thing."

Edward picked me up and walked us both back to shore. Before he let me go completely; he pulled me into his arms, and kissed me once more. This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine--like he was afraid we only had so much time left to us.

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BPOV

"I better take you home." That's all he said when I changed back at Alice's hotel room.

Take me home. He wasn't staying the night.

The ride home was quiet. He kept rubbing my leg reassuringly, but whatever silent exchange that happened between him and Alice changed his demeanor entirely. He was sullen now, almost angry. Distracted. All declarations that were making my face cringe(but my heart silently do mini-flips) had been effectively shut down.

I tried not to dwell on it and just enjoy the last days we had together. Carpe Diem and all that crap.

"Can we stop off at one place before you take me home, Edward? I heard it's the prettiest view on the island. I wanted to visit it before you go home."

Why did I feel suddenly like I was imposing on him? I was confused; I knew something was changing between us. And yet, I felt like I still had some claim on him. This was still Neverland and he was still my playmate.

"Sure." He said nothing more. As we were getting close to my condo, I veered him towards the intended destination.

A local resident told me about Laie Point and it's lookout. We drove silently to the end of road.

Edward let out a breath. "Wow."

It was breathtaking; we were engulfed by natural beauty on every side, even in the moonlit darkness. Before us was the ocean beating against the cliff. A huge rock formation stuck out of the sea just beyond the cliffs. To the side was a coastline that stretched on for miles, dotted with swaying palm trees. And behind us? A lush, green covered mountain range that extended as far as we could see. A water fall from the down pour earlier could be seen in the distance from one of the ridges.

"Meh, it's totally overrated." Edward chuckled, but the laugh didn't reach his eyes.

I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't sure what was up for discussion and what wasn't.

I got out of the car to take in the scenery on foot.I skipped down to the point's edge, watching the waves crash below me, before plopping myself down on the ground and staring up into the sky. There weren't a lot of lights on this secluded part of the island, so the sky was completely saturated with stars. I'd never seen the sky look like that before.

I waited for his footsteps to come up behind me. But they never came.

He sat on top of the Hummer when I trudged back his way. Edward had his arms wrapped around his bent legs, like he was hugging himself tightly. His head was resting on his knees. My heart dropped as I stared at him. He was too beautiful. And too still.

"Thanks for bringing me." I was trying to figure out if I should get back into the car, or hang out on the hood with him. He patted the spot right beside him.

He dropped to his side, facing me as I laid down on my back.

"Beautiful, " I whispered as I nudged my chin upwards towards the sky.

Edward simply nodded, staring only at me. "Yes."

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" He smiled sadly, still nodding.

I asked him what was wrong. He wouldn't tell me.

Not now, he said. The few minutes of silence that followed was deafening.

"You can take me home, Edward, if you are ready." I was about to slide down the car, when his hand grabbed me.

"Do you mind if we just stay here for a little longer? I have to get back to Alice. But...this. This is nice."

I smiled and stared back into the sky, trying to remember how that childhood rhyme goes about wishing on a star...

"Bella?" I looked back at him.

"Can I see your work? All that stuff you were doing with the legends and stuff the other day?"

I winced. "Why? You need another sleeping aid? My mere presence isn't enough to put you into a sluggish stupor tonight? You're building up an immunity to me, I see." I gave him a wink to let him know I was joking. Mostly.

He hissed in protest as I jumped off the hood and got my laptop and notebooks out that I had lugged along in the back of his car. I opened up the file he wanted and plopped the computer on this lap.

"Have at it, but let me warn you that operating machinery after reading it is strictly discouraged." He shook his head as he crossed his feet. He was sitting more upright now against the windshield as I laid down on my side next to him.

"You need glasses. You don't see yourself clearly. At all." His hand reached down and began to massage my scalp while his other hand navigated my research. I wanted to maintain some composure, but I couldn't help myself. I leaned in more closely, eventually laying my head against the side of his tummy.

"Rest, Bella. You're tired." His voice sounded like a lullaby as I closed my eyes and listened to the waves crashing against the cliffs below.

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EPOV

She was asleep within minutes. She looked so small as she curled into my body. Fragile.

I needed to get back to Alice. But I couldn't make myself right away. I wanted this time with Bella right now. I needed it.

I scrolled down all her papers and notes and essays until something caught my eye: a file on mermaids.

Bingo. I laughed softly thinking how I told her she reminded me of a mermaid when I first met her.

It was her largest file, with documents upon documents of research.

And personal notes.

There was a sketch of hers in one of the notebooks I found of a mermaid holding a comb and mirror. She wasn't a professional artist by any means, but I couldn't help but notice the figure had a strong resemblance to her.

She identified with the mermaid archetype too it seemed.

"An important part of mermaid symbolism is that the mermaid is unattainable and solitary. She might attract men, but was always just out of their reach."

I thought back earlier to how her romantic history, or lack of, was so similar to mine. We both were always on the outskirts looking in, as others seemed to meet and fall in love so easily. Always observers, never participants. Until now.

"The mermaid however, is also a seductress. To seduce she must become attainable. To become attainable physically is also to become attainable emotionally, and so she risks rejection."

I looked down at her for a second, rubbing her cheek with my thumb. She stirred slightly. She had been so scared to make herself fully attainable to me, always reminding me that we would have to leave all of this soon enough. But tonight she was crumbling, until...well.

The full moon was casting a soft spotlight on her face right now. Her hair was cascading down the hood of the car, and her lips were parted slightly. She looked straight out of a fairy tale.

Equal parts of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid.

Damn myself and my penchant for Disney heroines.

I went back to the sketchpad that housed her mermaid rendering. I flipped through it until I found a blank page. And then I began to sketch.

I had done six portraits of Bella sleeping by the time the sky's darkness was fading into a pale orange glow. I had to get home.

I helped her into the car, drove her back to the condo, and carried her into bed.

"Stay, Edward. Stay." Bella's voice was just above a whisper.

Her eyes were closed, but her hands were gripping my shirt tightly as I put the comforter over her.

"Sleep, Bella. I won't be far. I'll call you tonight."

I kissed each closed eye lid and then left quickly. If I didn't leave now, I wouldn't. Ever.

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APOV

"So...how is this going down, Edward?" Edward just shook his head and raised his shoulders, unsure about how it was going down - even what was going down.

We were driving to Nalani's home. I didn't have the whole story, just the bare details. But long story short, Nalani had a different "way" about her. A "way" that was similar to Edward and I. "Ways" that made us instinctively hide those tendencies from even our closest family members. "Ways" that all these years we had concluded were just a "twin language."

But what I hadn't known all these years, was just how intrusive Edward's "ways" were to him. My ways were isolated, sporadic, limited to small moments over long periods of time. They fit a normal pattern and could easily be explained as a dream, or a blackout.

Edward confessed more than he ever had to me about his ways on our drive over.

His ways ate at him every day. Every hour. Every moment really, when he was around people. I knew he picked up on the smallest details of people's behavior, that it could be very distracting and annoying. I had no clue, however, how piercing another's presence could be on him. All these years, I thought my little brother was just sensitive, naturally withdrawn, introverted. A natural insomniac.

In reality, Edward was actively trying to shield himself from the constant onslaught he experienced all the time. He likened it to having every person within several feet of him throwing baseballs his way constantly, bouncing their intentions and motivations and ideas and feelings off him constantly. His mind picked up on every subtle nuance of a person, and the thoughts were constant and intrusive. Shielding himself 24/7 had been wearing on him for years now, affecting his health and well being even.

He never let on just how overwhelmed and overburdened he had been. Edward knew it would have killed me to watch on helplessly. So he shielded me too. Until now.

If he didn't explain what he was going through then, I couldn't fully appreciate what he was going through now. Bella was what he was going through. She was the first person he'd ever been around whose every gesture, motivation, and action didn't set off alarms inside him.

"It's like her mind doesn't work the same way others do. Like her mind and actions are on an AM frequency, and I'm only getting FM."

He grinned at me, suddenly amused. He basically was calling her a freak of nature, and then smiled. Which made me smile too.

He'd always called himself a freak growing up.

She touched him without hesitation. She talked to him without being tongue-tied. She made him feel normal.

Edward had never felt normal. For all his shielding, I had always known how uncomfortable he had been in his beautiful skin.

He slept with her. During the afternoon, and then at night even. Not euphemism slept...slept, slept. Ten times more impressive than sex honestly.

Edward was a straight up insomniac. Edward had always recoiled at the touch of others, and it was hard enough for him to give me a hug. Bella was getting him to take naps in the middle of the day. While spooning. In her freaking bed.

I had to blink quickly to stop the tears from welling up.

"And she thinks she's making me fall asleep because she's boring. That's the kicker."

He laughed.

I blinked even more quickly. Edward laughed more in the past couple days than...ever.

He had been making plans.

"Seattle to Eugene? Four hours drive in the Volvo, tops. That's nothing."

And he loved her. He said he loved her so much, it hurt him.

"I already told her, the only way I was getting on my flight was if I could hide her in my carry-on."

That his chest felt so full of that love, he felt like any minute he was going to burst like an overblown balloon from the slightest touch.

And then I came onto the beach and did just that.

I hated myself for doing it. I couldn't stop the tears now, no matter how hard I blinked.

"Shhh, Alice, it's okay." He patted my back. "It's going to be okay. We'll figure out what it all means. And maybe Nalani's grandma can help us."

I nodded, but I didn't think it would be okay.

My visions(yes, I was owning what they were now- visions, not dreams) were like watching real life usually. In real time. I had a wide lens on my visions, where I could take in details throughout. Concrete, literal details that I could identify in real life at some point later on in time.

This vision was so different and unfamiliar. Highly cryptic. Nonliteral. No sound. Shaky, fuzzy images shot out jaggedly.

The first image that splashed across my mind was one of Bella. She was in some enclosed space. It reminded me of a museum, everything looked well preserved but so sanitary and devoid of life. It was so dim in that room she was in. That became clear with the next image. A hole or door appeared, with light coming through. Edward stood there. It went dark for a moment, as if the film projector had run out of a film. But then the images began to come on and quickly speed up in succession, until the snapshots were going at turbo speed. I couldn't process them fast enough, but I didn't need to. They all seemed to be conveying the same thing. Pure joy - images of Edward and Bella together blissfully.

Until the end.

The images came to a screeching halt. Literally. It was the first time I heard sound of any kind in the vision. It was hard to pinpoint what I was hearing, but it was heavy and screeching and low and violent, all at the same time. The images were more shaky and fuzzy and shadowy at that point. But dread and chaos hung over the imagery as I tried to understand what I was seeing. But, just like that, it all sharpened. To Edward trying to hold onto Bella in vain, as she slipped out of reach. She fell away almost in slow motion, her face frantic and desperate as she tried to reach back for him.

I had to will my lids open to get away from that last snapshot. It was too horrific, too haunting. I glanced over at Edward. He knew what I was looking at in my mind. That was something he would have to claim eventually as well. Just as my visions were most sensitive to Edward, Edward's gift for picking up signals of all sorts was most sensitive to me. I couldn't keep anything from him, I always knew that on some level. And it was only confirmed tonight, when I didn't even have to explain what I saw. He had seen it already, inside me.

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EPOV

"Hmmm..." Nalani's grandma, Rowena, was staring at us intensely, her hands grazing over our faces and shoulders, like she was rubbing us down with suntan lotion. Alice and I were side by side on a loveseat as she appraised us. At one point when Rowena started rubbing down Alice's face, she let out a nervous cackle that was highly inappropriate. I knee'd her to shut her up. She knee'd me back twice.

Rowena cracked up. "You two are true twins, did you know that?"

I sighed in my mind. This isn't starting out promising, I thought.

She raised her eyebrow at me.

Oops. Maybe it was.

"You act like two blades on a pair of scissors," she continued."You two work in perfect tandem with your gifts." By merely touching us, she figured out what are gifts were. Alice was a visionary.

Me? She said I was a little harder to cateogorize. Rowena read minds through touch. I didn't read minds exactly. She said I was more like like a sponge, that seemed to absorb all that was around me. The closer I was to someone in terms of proxmity, be it physically or spiritually or emotionally, the more I absorbed.

"Or maybe it's more like velcro, where everything sticks to you. People come into your personal space and all of their motivations and intentions end up sticking to you. You catch everything that they are doing and intending, even if you don't want to." A moment of recognition passed through me. She understood.

"It's hard. Your gift. I know. It can weigh on you like no other talent, because it's always present."

I always felt like I was being weighted down when I was around others. Rowena nodded in recognition to my thoughts, as she patted my cheek like only a grandmother could.

She gave Nalani a quick glance. "And this girl you met. She lifts the weight off of you instead of adding to the burden?" Nalani must have told her all about Bella. I nodded.

"So does my husband. It's nice, isn't it? To find a refuge from what you shoulder?"

More than nice.

"So, Alice can you show me what you saw last night?" Alice nodded. Rowena concentrated. Her face started out smooth with her eyes closed. But as Alice's recollection progressed, her eyes began moving quickly below her lids. She took a quick intake of breath toward the end before Alice opened her eyes with a jerk.

Rowena opened her eyes slowly, and kept a very straight face. Straight poker face, that is.

She asked Alice if all her visions came to her in this way. Alice told her no. That her visions of me were always concrete visions that felt like real life. That this vision was jagged, confusing, hard to view. Rowena thought over what she told her.

"The clarity of a vision is due to how set the future is for what you are looking at," Rowena explained. " But the future is so easily shifted into another direction. The smallest change of plans, the smallest change in movement, can offset the future considerably. I bet all of your visions of Edward had always been simply about Edward, and didn't involve another person?"

Alice said yes.

"The addition of the girl makes the vision much more complicated and more prone to shifting in terms of perspective. Because the girl's involvement affects the outcome, not just Edward's."

Rowena stared at me now.

"This vision Alice showed me is blurry and choppy because the future is not set yet. Decisions haven't yet been made to seal that future."

"What's that future, exactly." I had to ask. I had to know if she had any better clue than us whether this dream was literal or not. If Bella slipping out from under me was about her being in danger.

Rowena stared at Nalani for a moment. "I can't answer that question with complete knowledge, given what's at stake."

What's at stake. Not good.

"But like I mentioned earlier. The slightest change in one's routine can shift one's life path significantly. This girl in the vision-"

"Bella," I pointed out.

"Bella, then. Bella in this vision seems to live a very quiet, controlled life. But then you come into the picture, Edward. You break open a wall, and let the sunshine in. That's a good thing..."

But?

"But..."

Of course.

"If I was reading this objectively, this dream. That change in her life put her on a new path. A path where she finds great joy. But also could put her in a path where she finds potential danger. Real danger, that would come upon the joy in such a quick and violent manner, there would be no time to anticipate it."

I sunk down in the loveseat. I could feel my whole body deflating as her words came out.

"I would never hurt her in anyway," I started in.

Rowena cut me off.

"Not you, Edward. You are the one trying to hold onto her at the end. You are her protector and the source of her joy in the vision. But it's like what I said before. The smallest change in one's plans can have permanent consequences. I know a woman who started out her driveway, but forgot her purse. She went back into the house, retrieved it, and got back in the car. Two minutes later, she was dead after being broadsided by a drunk driver who ran a red light. Just the smallest change in plans, forgetting a purse, can alter your life path. Bella's life, according to the vision, isn't going to undergo a small change of plans with you. It's going to alter her path on many levels. Greatly."

"Paths she wouldn't be on if I wasn't in the picture. If I wasn't in the picture, she could go back to her old path." I added, slowly getting her meaning. I wouldn't hurt her. Directly. But my presence could change her plans. Her path.

Rowena shook her head forcefully. "Too late, Edward. You are already in the picture. The genie is out of the bottle."

A sudden rush of anger flashed through. What did she mean too late? It wasn't too late at all to try to undo possible paths she hadn't even gone down yet. Hell, she just told me last night that she was enjoying this for what it was and was willing to leave what we had in Hawaii. Paths hadn't even been made yet, let alone chosen.

I looked back at Rowena. "You said yourself that the future is easily shifting and changing. That the vision was fuzzy and unclear because the future isn't set yet. Choices haven't been made yet. There's time to change things. Undo things."

Rowena stopped for a minute, acknowledging my point. "Yes, Edward, but not in how you seem to think. You can't erase what has already happened between you. And something very signficant has happened, yes?"

"Only on my part," I lied. "She keeps telling me that are time together will need to end when we fly home to our real lives."

I felt desperate all of the sudden, like so much was riding on my choices right now. I had always felt burdened by the secret knowledge I had of others. But that was nothing compared to knowing what could lay before my Bella in the near future. All because I distracted her or changed her direction. A world without Bella was something I couldn't even process. There was no other way.

Rowena thought for a moment. "Things can only be undone if Bella's heart hasn't chosen you yet. Maybe you could bring her--"

I cut her off. "She can't come here." My mind was racing ahead of my heart right now. When it finally caught up, I would be in for a lot of heartache. But right now, my right brain was taking over and I was glad for that.

Bella couldn't come here. She couldn't hear all these bizarre things going on in my life. She just met me.

I knew she was falling for me. But like her mermaid paper had mentioned - she had yet to make herself completely attainable to me. Both emotionally and physically.

We were inching towards both last night, but Alice interrupted. Her interruption seemed like such a curse last night. Now it seemed like a blessing. She stopped us from staking claims on eachother that would have been irreversible. Undoable.

There was still time. There was still hope.

The genie could still be put back into the bottle. If it was the last thing I did, it would be stuffed back in and closed tightly.

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APOV

Edward was resolute. His mind was working a million miles a minute. I could see it. I knew it would go into autopilot the minute Rowena said "it was too late." That kicked him into overdrive, and his plans were quickly forming to try to undo whatever damage he felt he had exposed Bella to. He wasn't going to listen to Rowena any further.

"Alice, we better get going. Thank you so much Rowena. And you too, Nalani. I'm indebted to you both, more than you will ever know. " It was his good-bye to them, and their offers to help. THEIR way.

He looked at me expectatntly.

"Edward, why don't you go ahead and meet the rest of our family back at the hotel. Nalani offered to drive me back later. She promised to take me by a cute little boutique down the street that caught my eye."

When in doubt, pull the "Alice shopoholic" card for a no-questions-asked response from Edward. The very thought of shopping makes Edward's mind fog over. Nalani glanced my way, and I gave her a knowing head nod.

We sent Edward off on his way, and then it was time to get down to business.

"Here's the thing, guys. Edward's running on his infamous Dr. Spock logic right now. He's going to cook up some plan that is intellecturally fool proof but emotionally backwards regarding how to handle this situation. I need to be ready to offer him an alternative once he calms down. Would meeting Bella help us figure out what options these two have?"

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BPOV

Edward didn't stay to sleep with me. And he said he'd call me tonight. In other words, we weren't hanging out together today.

But I wasn't going to mope. I planned on hanging out at the beach. I was even wearing my teeniest bikini for the jaunt, instead of my soccer mom one piece. And screw the Cholo's maternity t-shirt. I was going all out today. I had a cute halter top and miniskirt on. Angela even did my hair.

Nope. I refused to mope. At least outwardly while Angela was watching my every move at the moment. I'd wait to be all dramatic once I hit the beach and could blame the tears on the salt water bothering my eyes.

Good plan...

My phone rang. I checked the ID. Not Edward. But Edward's area code...

"Hello?"

"Bella! It's Alice. I'm passing through your way today with some friends,and was wondering if you wanted to meet up with us later. 2:00 PM sound good?"

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