EPOV
I had been dreaming. It was a good dream. Bella had been in it, and she had kissed me again, this time letting me process what was going on before pulling away. She had been so beautiful, but her face had been twisted up in inner turmoil.
"Bella." I said softly, letting her know I had noticed.
"Edward, how can you love me? How can you even stand to be near me? I am a vampire. I'm dangerous. I could hurt you at any moment. You should be running away screaming."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care. I just want to be with you." I had argued, and her face had twisted even more.
"It doesn't matter? How can you even say that? I was a creature made to kill. I'm a monster."
I had been amazed by her last comment. How could she even think that? Bella was an angel on earth. Even if she had fed off humans she would be an angel, but she didn't. She denied her very nature just so she could be good.
"You are NOT a monster." I practically growled. For a while after that she was silent, and I thought I had made her angry, but then I realized I didn't care. If making her angry was what it took to make her realize that she wasn't a monster, than that would be my life-long goal. Anything to convince her she wasn't a monster.
Suddenly, she was calm again. She calmed her expression and walked up, giving me a kiss on the cheek this time. She leaned over to whisper in my ear.
"Oh, my Edward, how much you do not know."
And then I woke up. It was just getting light outside. I looked over at my clock and was surprised to see that it was only five thirty. I usually slept until noon when I could. I was not a morning person.
Yet I knew I wasn't going to fall back asleep. I felt a light flush around my cheeks and I knew exactly what it was from. It was not from the fact that I had just had a dream about Bella kissing me-no, I'd had too many of those the last couple weeks-it was because in my dream, Bella had called me her Edward, and I liked that way too much than a friend should. Yet today didn't seem like the right day to go declaring myself either.
So I hauled myself out of bed, taking a shower and getting dressed in jeans and a casual t-shirt. I had to admit that it was one of my better shirts though. I was getting dressed up for a date that I wasn't even sure would happen. It wasn't even a date. It was just a friend who may or may not be coming over to see me today. I didn't even know what time she would be here, if she would be here at all.
I walked downstairs to eat breakfast feeling slightly deflated. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat my breakfast.
BPOV (sorry, I'll be switching a lot for a while)
I was sitting in a chair in Alice's room. She was doing my hair and talking to me at the same time.
"Alice, I'm going to be working on his car. Do I really need my hair done for that?"
"Of course you do! You never know when you'll need to look perfect."
"What ever, so what time will I be able to go?" I watched her smirk in the mirror.
"Actually, he's already awake. I can tell he's not usually a morning person, but he seems to be doing fine today. You should be able to go over there anytime you want to."
"Will he be glad to see me?"
"Of course he will. You need to calm down. Now, you'll be going over there in twenty minutes. That's when he'll have just finished breakfast. You'll show up, tell him your plan, and Rose will arrive right on schedule. It will go perfectly." For once I was glad for Alice's commanding personality. This was practically a first date. I knew that most people would consider last night a first date, but today would be the first day that all the lies would be gone. It would be a relief to show him the real me.
"There, you're perfect." Alice finally let me up and I ran to the door. I had already decided how I was going to get to his house. I was going to be flying.
I took off and relished in the feeling of air flowing around me, cradling me. I couldn't believe I had gone so long without doing this.
All too soon I saw Edward's house in the distance and had to land. I dropped down onto the forest floor and walked the rest of the way. It seemed Charlie had already gone. His cruiser was no longer in the front of his house. I remembered Edward saying his father was big on fishing. That must be why he was gone.
I steeled myself before knocking on the door. Even with Alice's pep talk I was nervous. I had been looking forward to this all day and I still had a chance that he would turn me away. Realizing that it wouldn't get any easier over time, I raised my hand and knocked.
EPOV
I had just finished my cereal when I heard a knock on the door. I jumped up to answer it, leaving my bowl in the sink as I went. I almost tripped on the way to the door, but got there okay. I flung it open to reveal,
Charlie.
He had his hands full, which explained why he couldn't open the door himself.
"Thanks," he said, walking in, "I was on my way to Billy's when I remembered that I needed to stop by the store. We're running low on groceries. I couldn't get the key out from under the eave."
"No problem." I said, hoping that he wouldn't notice how disappointed I was. Maybe she wasn't coming at all. It was totally possible that she just misspoke. It happened to me all the time. I decided I would just go up to my room for a while and wait there. I turned around and walked up the stairs.
My feet dragged and I felt even more deflated. I couldn't believe I had let myself get all worked up over a little slip of the tongue.
I opened the door to my room,
And yelled in surprise.
Well, at least I tried to. A cold, hard hand was suddenly over my mouth, cutting off any sound I made.
"Shh. You don't want Charlie to come up here, wondering what all the commotion is, do you?"
I took a deep breath before answering.
"How did you get up here?"
"The window." She stated it as if the most obvious thing.
"Did you ever hear of a door?"
"Of course! But where's the fun in that? Besides, I was going to just knock on the door when I heard Charlie's cruiser. I needed somewhere to go, so I came up here."
I felt a smile grow on my face. She hadn't just slipped up, she actually came. I wondered what she wanted to do today; why she was here. I had to remind myself that she was just a friend. She probably just needed help with her homework or something.
But she was still here, in my room. My extremely messy room.
"Charlie's gone now. We should go downstairs." She beat me to the punch.
"Okay. Just one question, what were you planning on doing today?"
"We are going to fix up your truck."
"My truck? We?" Maybe she didn't understand that I knew nothing about cars.
"Of course! Your truck totally needs it. Have you even gotten it over fifty? That's why Rose is coming over and we're going to fix up your truck."
"Rose?" it seemed like the only thing I was capable of doing was talking in questions.
"Yeah. She's the second best mechanic in our family after me. She also really wanted to meet the only human ever capable of capturing Isabella Cullen's heart."
My breath caught at that. Her heart? I had captured her heart? Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue. There was no way that this beautiful creature in front of me would ever think I was more than a friend. In fact, it was a miracle I had even gotten this far.
The doorbell rang. Bella jerked her head up in a movement so quick I didn't even catch it. She looked over at me.
"That's her. I'll go get her. We'll meet you in the kitchen." And then she was out the door and down the hall. It seemed like she had entirely dropped the human façade. I was glad. This Bella was even more beautiful. Absolutely none of her was restrained. She was herself, and she was amazing.
I followed her down and was surprised to see that she and Rosalie were already in the kitchen, though I really shouldn't have been considering the speed she had shown earlier.
"Rose, this is Edward." Was it just me or did her voice change slightly when she said my name. It almost sounded possessive. I liked it.
"Hello Rosalie." I said, and she laughed. It was a high, sweet sound, but not nearly as enchanting as my Bella's.
"Please, call me Rose. If you're going to be hanging around Bella a lot, we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other. We'll practically be family." Bella seemed to look at her like she had said a few things too many, but stopped and rearranged her expression when she caught me looking. I decided to ignore it.
"So, you ready to do this?"
"Um, sort of? I've never worked on a car before." I muttered, looking down. It was embarrassing to admit that I had little experience doing anything remotely masculine. Rose let loose a gasp like I had just committed a personal crime.
"You poor, deprived child. I'll make a car fanatic out of you yet. They really are fascinating." She walked out the door and walked over to my truck. Bella came over to me and we walked out together.
"She wasn't kidding you know. She'll teach you everything there is to know about cars. It will all probably take under a month too. You'll totally be cramming. I wouldn't be surprised if she even gave an end-of-course test."
"Did you have to go through that?" She let loose a peal of laughter that rang like bells and left my head spinning. I had never heard her laugh like that. Anyone who did would automatically know that she was something other than human. It was just too beautiful.
If you listened really closely, you could hear Rose laughing as well while she opened up my car and started poking around.
"Never. I taught her." I turned to look at her to see if she was kidding, and was shocked when I saw she wasn't. But once again, why should I be? She was good at everything else. Why couldn't she be good at that too? I walked over to my truck with her and we got to work right away.
(A/N: I'd like to say that I'll skip this part of the story because I don't want to bore you with all my techy-car talk, but sadly, that is not the reason. While I have asked my dad to teach me about cars, I am currently clueless about cars. His car was totaled so he can't even start to teach me yet. Sorry. So, skip ahead a few hours. –Vampires work fast-)
I stood back and looked at my truck. Besides the fact that it was sparkling clean, you couldn't really tell that we'd done anything at all. Rose and Bella assured me that I would be able to see a difference when I drove it.
We had started early in the morning, so it was only around noon. At first I had been amazed at the skill, speed, and grace with which they moved, but I got past that fairly quickly. I now had a fairly basic understanding of how cars worked, but I could tell that wasn't nearly enough for Rose. She wanted me to know every car ever invented inside and out.
"Hey Edward, want to take this thing out for a test drive?" Bella looked over at me, excitement lighting up her features. Rose whipped her head up and looked at Bella, an almost pleading look on her face. I saw her lips moving at an impossible speed, but couldn't tell what she was saying. Bella seemed to respond, and her face quickly turned from pleading to understanding.
"Have fun guys. I'm going shopping with Alice. It was nice meeting you Edward." She waved at me, and then she was gone in just another super-fast movement. Bella turned to me, saw my questioning look, and promptly changed the subject.
"Come on. Aren't you curious to see how it runs?" I didn't want to drop it, but I also didn't want to pry. And the chance to drive my newly-improved truck was something I couldn't pass up, especially considering that Bella would be with me.
"Sure. Where do you want to go?" She smirked.
"I've got a little place in mind. Just get in and I'll give you directions from there."
"'K" I walked over and opened the door for her before climbing into my seat. I looked over to see her eyebrow raised.
"My mother always raised me with a slightly olden-day outlook on life." I explained. I supposed it was odd for a teenager these days to open doors for ladies. I wondered if it would kind of freak her out, but I looked over to see her positively beaming.
"That's perfect! Oh Esme's going to love you." I was confused for a second before remembering two quite important details. First, Esme was Bella's adopted mother. Second, Bella was a vampire. That meant she was quite possibly immortal. I wondered how old she really was. A friend could ask that, right?
"Um Bella, how old are you?"
"Seventeen." The response was automatic and programmed. I wondered if this topic was at all uncomfortable for her. I had a feeling it was. Women never liked to talk about their ages.
"How long have you been seventeen?" A smile slipped onto her face. It seemed it wasn't as uncomfortable as I originally thought.
"A while." I gave her a look that said I was not amused. She sighed.
"I'll tell you soon. Later today. I promise. Turn right here."
Silence engulfed the car for a while, but it was a good silence. There was no need to fill it with uncomfortable chatter. Then I realized that it actually was silent. I was in my truck and there was no deafeningly loud roar. The truck handled amazingly and made little to no sound. I started grinning and looked over to see Bella looking on, amused.
"I just noticed too. We did an awesome job, not that I'm surprised. You can go faster if you want."
That made me realize how used to driving slowly I had become. I hadn't gone over forty yet.
"Don't worry. I know you want to. I'll warn you if there's any cops coming." She grinned a sly grin and I grinned back. It was contagious.
Then I pushed my foot down on the pedal.
We shot forward. I laughed in pure exhilaration. Bella laughed in pure amusement. We flew down the highway. I don't even know how long we went like that. It felt almost unnatural, to be in such a huge vehicle and to be able to go as fast as if you were in a sports car.
"You'll need to slow down. The turn's coming up and there's a cop just around this curve. (I know highways don't have curves. Just go with it.)
I slowly eased my foot off the gas. Immediately, I was wishing to speed back up. I'm sure it showed on my face, because Bella laughed again. She had laughed more today than all the other days I had known her put together.
Just then I saw the patrol car. I was going at the speed limit again, and there was no need for him to suspect that I had been going any faster than that. This truck looked like it wouldn't be able to speed even if I wanted it to. It was a totally perfect cover.
"And you turn here. Now just keep driving until the pavement ends. There's a trail there."
"We're hiking?" I said. I wasn't scared or anything, I just hadn't expected her to be the type of girl to enjoy hiking. Then again, it seemed like there was absolutely no stereotype that you could fit Bella into.
"Yep. I want to show you something." She hopped out of the car (we were there by now) and walked over to wait for me.
"How far out is it?" I asked. I was relieved that I had worn the proper shoes for hiking.
"It's only a couple miles out."
"And how long will it take to get there?" I asked, trying to cover up the fact that I was panicking. I was not good at hiking. I had hardly ever been, once again coming back to growing up without a dad.
"That depends." She had a wicked glint in her eye, like an idea had just occurred to her.
"And what would it depend on?"
"How do you want to get there? We could hike, and you would maintain some of your manly pride, or I could carry you, and we could run…or fly, but I think I'll save that last one for later."
"Umm, fly?"
"Long story. I'll explain later while I explain about my age. In fact, how about we just save all our questions till later. I'll answer every one I can. Now, pick how you want to get there or I'll pick for you."
So she had caught me. I was stalling. I honestly didn't know what to think of her offer. Was she being serious? There was no way she'd be able to carry me. I was at least a foot taller than her.
"Too slow." She crowed, giggling. She ran over to me and stood right in front of me.
"So what will it be? Do you want me to carry you or give you a piggyback ride?" I had a feeling that this wasn't going to make any more sense no matter how long I waited.
"I don't know?"
"Well since you're so indecisive, I'll just have to carry you. Sadly, I would have trouble scooping you up onto my back." She darted forward and then I was being carried by her. It was extremely awkward considering that she looked so delicate. However, if I could just ignore the fact that I was being carried by a girl that probably didn't even weigh a hundred pounds, it was fantastic.
All those times I had watched her move from one place to another n the blink of an eye, I had never considered what it must be like to travel that fast. Now I watched as every tree whipped past at speeds that would surely cause a crash but didn't. Bella seemed to not even have to think about dodging trees or anything like that. She wasn't breathing hard either. In fact, I wasn't even sure she was breathing.
But that didn't even make sense, unless…did vampires have to breathe? Could they just go through life without breathing? Spend their whole life under water? I didn't have any more time to think about it, because Bella was already slowing down. Soon we were on the very edge of a tree line, looking into an amazing meadow.
It was perfectly round and had a stream running through the middle. There were flowers all around and it practically radiated calm.
I walked out into the field just as the sun came out from behind a cloud. It was only when I turned around to talk to Bella that I realized she wasn't there. She was back, just within the shadows.
"Come out." I called, wanting to share this with her. Then I noticed her nervous expression. I looked around for any kind of danger but found none. Then I looked up. Of course, the sun was out.
"You can't come out in the sun?" I asked, feeling stupid to be stating the obvious. I wondered if after all this we would just have to go back to the truck.
So you can understand my surprise when she burst out laughing.
"I should have known you'd jump to that conclusion. No. I can come out in the sun, just not in public."
"Why?"
"That's what I'm trying to show you. I just don't know how to without scaring you."
"Nothing you do will scare me. Just come out. I'll be fine."
She took a deep breath. I'd never seen her look so nervous except for the time when I told her I knew what she was. It seemed like she was just so used to keeping secrets, it scared her to share them.
Then she stepped out of the shade.
The sun bounced off her skin and reflected around the clearing as if she were made of diamonds rather than, well whatever made up her skin. Her eyes were downcast, as if she was afraid to look at me, afraid of my reaction.
Before I even really processed what I was doing, I started to cross the meadow. I think she saw my feet, but she didn't mention it.
"Bella." I whispered. I didn't think I was capable of talking in anything over a whisper when I was a round her. She was just so amazing. Even the thought of her wanting to be my friend was ridiculous.
"Bella, look up." I couldn't believe she could get nervous over this. She still hadn't looked up. I put my fingers under her chin and lifted her head. I knew she could resist if she wanted to, but I also knew she wouldn't.
Her head came up. I looked her right in the eyes so she would know I was serious.
"Isabella. There is no reason you should be scared about what I would think. You are beautiful and amazing. This changes nothing. In fact, you're even more beautiful now than ever." I watched as her eyes widened. I knew she knew I was serious.
"Bella, I know that I've only know you for a few days, but I feel like I've known you forever. I know it's gone so quick and everything, but I feel like this is just how it should be. I think…I think I love you." Okay, well that had totally slipped out. I didn't know why I had let that slip. All chances of a casual relationship were now gone. I watched now with baited breathe while I waited for a reaction.
BPOV (I know, you hate me. Get over it.)
I walked out into the meadow, but I couldn't bring myself to look up. I knew what his reaction would be. He would run away and never look back. Why had I taken him here? I would have to bring him back even when he would want to be as far away from me as possible.
I stood there, and was unsurprised to hear his heart speed up. I heard him start to move. I knew he would be moving to the edge of the field now, trying to get as far away from me as the meadow would allow. He would run until he would realize he was lost, and then I'd help him. He'd walk with me back to the truck and then he'd leave. I'd let him.
His feet appeared in the corner of my view, and I restrained myself from looking up. He had already realized that he didn't know the way back. He was just wondering how to ask me.
"Bella." He whispered. I knew it was only my imagination trying to comfort me by making his voice sound rough with emotion. He just wants you to take him back. He just wants you to take him back.
I looked down at my bare feet. The skin was sparkling. Everywhere I looked I could see its reflection. Every corner of the meadow screamed that I was a monster. I would never be able to come back here after this. It would hurt too much.
"Bella, look up." He just wants you to take him back. He just wants you to take him back. I knew I should look up. Should put on a brave face and walk him back to the truck, then let him leave and wait till he was out of sight before I broke down. For some reason, I still couldn't move.
He put two fingers under my chin.
Slowly, he pulled my head up. I knew I could stop him if I wanted to, but my head really did need to come up, and I couldn't put it off any longer anyway.
I looked up into his eyes. They were completely fear-free. I searched then, trying to find the fear. There was none. He looked into my eyes with a strange intensity.
"Isabella." He started, and I didn't mind that he had called me that name. When he said it, it sounded beautiful. "There is no reason you should be scared about what I would think. You are beautiful and amazing. This changes nothing. In fact, you're even more beautiful now than ever." I felt my eyes widening. Before I could say anything, he kept going.
"Bella, I know that I've only know you for a few days, but I feel like I've known you forever. I know it's gone so quick and everything, but I feel like this is just how it should be. I think…I think I love you." He seemed to be waiting, weighing my every move. My mind was going a hundred mile an hour.
How could Edward love me? Alice had seen this happening again and again, yet some part of me had still doubted her. I had been sure there was no way he could feel the same way I felt. He couldn't love me. He shouldn't love me. It would be so dangerous. He could get hurt. I could hurt him.
So why wasn't I sad? Why was I so happy that I already felt my feet lifting off the ground? In fact, I was so happy, I had a feeling I would be feet off the ground soon. I looked up, just to see Edward still looking on with a devastated face. He still thought I didn't love him like that. Had I not told him yet? No, I hadn't. I had been too busy thinking. Now he thought I didn't love him, that I just didn't know how to let him down easy. I could tell from his expression. I took his face in my hands and made him look back in my eyes. (He had looked away.)
"Edward Masen. I have only known you for six days." (A/N: Gasp! It's seemed so much longer!) "I have lived for years before that, but it doesn't feel like that. It feels like all that I once thought was life wasn't. My life hadn't started until you came into it. I feel alive when I'm around you. I see you every day. You aggravate me with how calmly you accept things. You surprise me with how perceptive you are. You amaze me with how different you are after spending a lifetime observing humans. You nearly give me an ulcer worrying about all the ways you could get hurt when I'm not there. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I would do anything for you, even go against my family. You are my life now. I love you too."
I watched as his face broke up in pure joy. An adorable crooked grin spread across his face. I felt an equally happy one spread across mine. My feet were now so high off the ground that I was taller than him. He looked down, his shock comical in the moment.
"So that's what you meant by flying." He said, turning back up to look at me. By now I knew nothing would ruin the moment. He was a strange human, able to take all of this in stride. I loved him for it. He was able to accept me for who I was, not who I pretended to be, who everyone at school saw me as.
"Later?" he asked, grinning.
"Or now. You can choose. I don't really care when I tell you anymore."
"How about some now and some later?"
"Whatever you want." I said, lying down in the middle of the meadow. He sat down next to me.
EPOV
We spent the rest of the day in the meadow. I asked her questions, and she answer honestly for the first time since I had met her.
By the time the sun went down, we had established what her favorite color was (green), what her power was (emotion-ruled), what her past was like (changed in 1918 after the Spanish influenza), what her interests were (books, music, cars, and just about everything else besides shopping), why it was so much harder to resist my blood than anyone else's (la tua cantante), and what she did before she met me.
I hadn't even noticed the sun was setting at first. It still seemed so light in our clearing. Eventually I looked out and saw it. For one of the first times in my life, I actually looked at the sunset. Was this what love did to you? I had never cared about sunsets before. Why should that change now? But I guess it made sense. I had never noticed it before, but I was hardly the old me. Bella had changed me so much, it only made sense that I would notice different things than I used to.
"We should go." She whispered, but I heard her loud and clear. Already, my entire being was tuned to her. I would hear her whenever she talked. I was aware of every move she made.
"Yeah. Charlie should be home soon." I was reluctant to get up, but knew I had to. I dragged myself to my feet, and Bella laughed at my obvious disgruntlement.
"Do you want to run back, or do you want to fly?" she asked, getting that mischievous glint in her eye again. I couldn't refuse her when she looked like that. I knew what she wanted. I took a deep breath, steeling myself.
"Fly." Her entire face lit up like a Christmas tree, and I knew I had said the right thing. She must want to show me this so badly now that the secrets were all out.
She darted forward and grabbed my arm, swinging me up onto her back.
"You might want to close your eyes for take-off. It can be a little unsettling at first." I closed my eyes just in time to feel her run forward and jump. I foolishly waited for the landing that I knew wouldn't be coming. We had only been up for a few seconds before she turned to whisper in my ear.
"You can open your eyes now." And I did. It was amazing. The ground already seemed to be miles away. I could see the whole forest. I could see the meadow we were leaving behind. I could see the highway. I could see my truck. We were coming up to it extremely fast. I squinted into the wind as it whipped my hair into my face. I could hardly see anything through the tears that came with the wind.
It felt like I was sticking my head out of an airplane.
And then we were aimed down. The decent was slow at first, but Bella sped way up before long. Soon we were speeding downwards at breakneck speeds. When we were about a hundred feet above my truck, she came out of her, whatever-you-call-it. We circled lower and then we were on the ground again.
My legs didn't have a chance. I had barely touched the ground before they gave out from under me.
Bella laughed, more carefree than she had even been this morning.
"I guess that wasn't such a good idea after all." She chuckled. I was about to agree with her, when I made the mistake of looking at her first.
Her brown hair was windblown, yet still perfect. Her eyes were sparkling, and her cheeks probably hurt from forming such a radiant smile. I might not have loved the flight, but she had. She probably lived for it.
And if she loved it that much, it was just another reason for me to love it too.
"Are you kidding? That was so amazing. I just need to find my land legs again." I laughed, and found that I actually meant what I said. Bella had loved it, and I had loved it too.
She crouched down next to me, searching my eyes to see if I really meant it. I was once again caught by her effortless beauty. My heart sped up and she smirked.
"Are you feeling better?" she said, still smiling.
"Much better." I said. I looked into her eyes, getting lost in their depth.
"I just want to try one thing." I whispered. I leaned forward, looking into her eyes to guess how I would be received.
A/N: So how about that? It's 11 pages long. I'll be able to post longer chapters now because I am ahead. So there you go. Enjoy!