Disclaimer: Stephenie's

Chapter 11: Beliefs

Recap: "Your power and my power. It's almost like we were meant to be," he finished happily, kissing me softly again.

I pulled away, smirking. My head was spinning. All I could see was Edward. His topaz eyes glistened with happiness, and then, suddenly, dimmed and became sad. He looked away from me, turning his head to look at the trees behind us.

"Edward?" I whispered, worried. I brought my hand up to his face, turning his head to look at me. He gazed down at me with pained eyes, his hand grasping tighter to mine. "What-" I started to ask, but he cut me off.

"I really am sorry," he told me in a strangled whisper. His agonized golden eyes held mine. I didn't know what to say, how to make him smile again. "I don't deserve-" I cut him off, crashing my lips to his again. He kissed me back for a moment before pulling away with a regretful moan. "Bella, I do not deserve you," he insisted.

"Why?" I whispered.

"I stole your mortality, Bella," he said crossly. "Your soul is lost because of me." His head dropped to his hands, and he inched away from me, my hand slipping from his. I sat for a moment, considering what he had told me.

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" I finally asked him dubiously. Edward's head snapped up.

"Yes. I do," he said firmly.

"And the rest of your family agrees?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…no, but-" he started defensively.

"So, you're the only one?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. Just me." Edward watched me cautiously, wondering where I was going with this.

"And you are also the only member of your family that is single, correct?" I interrogated.

"Correct," Edward confirmed slowly, his eyes transfixed on mine.

"In other words, you are the only one that hasn't found your soul mate?" questioned deliberately.

"Bella, that's a figure of speech," Edward sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, it came from something, didn't it?" I pointed out.

"Yes, but-" Edward began to argue.

"No, Edward," I insisted firmly. "You have to have a soul to have a soul mate. You have to have a soul to be in love," I finished softly. Edward stared down at me, wide-eyed, as if having an important epiphany. And then a grin spread across his lovely face, and he took my hand, kissing it lightly.

"Then I suppose I must have a soul," he whispered affectionately. I blushed at his implied declaration, unable to look away from his eyes.

"Me, too," I murmured, unable to come up with a more profound response. Edward chuckled, looking at the sky and releasing me from his hypnotic stare. I followed his gaze, looking toward the clouds. "It's going to rain," I predicted disappointedly.

"So?" Edward grinned impishly, pulling me closer to him and laying back on the grass, bringing me down to rest my head against his chest. I closed my eyes, sighing contentedly, and felt him do the same.

Edward's fingers ran through my hair, effectively relaxing me. His hand traveled to my neck, stroking it lightly and making me shiver. I felt him chuckle beneath me before continuing down the side of my throat, to my collarbone. His hand was barely touching the skin of my arm as it traveled past my wrist, opening my hand to brush his fingers lightly against my palm. His index finger burned a trail up the inside of my arm, stopping at me elbow and doubling back to my wrist. I concentrated on exhaling as his light fingers trailed up to my neck.

A drop of rain fell directly onto his nose, just then. A few more drops of calm rain fell upon us before it started pouring. My hair was drenched within seconds, and I sat up, laughing. I turned to Edward, and my breath caught at the sight of him. His skin shone with the diamond drops that covered his skin, and his hair glistened brightly, falling into his eyes. The topaz pools were full of happiness, excitement. A crooked smile dominated the left side of his face as he stared down at my dazed expression.

"Bella?" he murmured, concerned after I hadn't moved or spoken in a while. I just sat and looked at him. That was all I wanted to do. "Bella?" he repeated, a worried expression spreading across his features. He waved a hand in front of my face and I jumped, snapping out of my reverie.

"What?" I asked, irritated that he had interrupted my ogling.

"Are you going to be alright?" Edward inquired, chuckling.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I told him confidently.

"I think we should probably get going. My family probably doesn't know I'm here…well, maybe except for Alice," he allowed, rolling his eyes. I smiled sadly, not wanting this day to end. "We'll do this again, okay?" Edward said softly, reading my expression perfectly.

"Soon?" I asked firmly, attempting to stare him down.

"Soon," he grinned, taking my hand and pulling me up as he stood. Edward smiled sweetly down at me before taking off, running as fast as he could. I kept up with little effort, my footsteps falling into sync with his. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance down at me a few times, eyeing me nervously and longingly, before returning his gaze to the path we ran on.

"What?" I finally asked, catching him in the act.

"Nothing," he claimed, shaking his head quickly and turning away. But as soon as my eyes strayed off of his, his would wander back to my face.

Edward's gaze was much more distracting than it should have been, and I found myself coming close to falling numerous times, catching myself at the last second.

"Okay!" I finally yelled after almost tumbling over a tiny twig. I slowed and halted, still holding Edward's hand. "What are you staring at?" It was a stupid question to ask, as I already knew the answer, but I wanted an explanation.

"You," he answered simply, pulling on my arm to bring me close to him, spinning me around and pinning me against a large tree. He stared into my eyes for a millisecond before bending down and pressing his lips firmly to my own, more confident than any of his others.

I thanked that tiny twig I almost fell over for making me stop.

BEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBE

It was really hard to get any writing done with our family in town, but I couldn't disappoint all those reviews! And if I get MANY MANY MANY more, I may just be able to squeeze in some time to type up another one!