Chapter Eleven
OME! Thanks so much for all of the reviews! I got twice as many as usual which made my day, and I've actually made it over 100 reviews which is awesome :)
As for the singer phenomenon which team cullen asked about in a review, I actually hadn't thought about that and did contemplate adding it to the story when she mentioned it. However, I decided to be nice and take away one obstacle for Edward and Bella. They'll have enough to come soon enough ;)
I have no idea what I expected to happen – whether it would be a bright light which would pulse from the mirror and then fade, leaving nothing in its place, or for it to simply disintegrate into nothing – but it wasn't this. Tiny, almost microscopic shards of glass soared into different directions in the room and I narrowly avoided getting cut as I ducked and covered my face with my hands in a feeble attempt to protect it.
When I uncovered them it was just in time, for Edward was stepping out of what was left of the mirror, a look of pure shock but also exultation on his perfect face, the frame of the mirror almost looking like support from the way Edward was gripping it with his usually sure hands as he finally stepped out. As soon as all contact was lost with the mirror, the frame began to melt and in a few seconds all that was left was a large stain of gold on the carpet.
At that moment I simply didn't care about the things that I would eventually have to explain to Charlie – the glass that was now causing the floor of my room to become hazardous, and the absolutely huge stain – because the look in Edward's golden eyes swept that all away and all I could think about was him.
For a few seconds, we stared at each other with complete disbelief, neither of us breathing or saying a word, and then he was running towards me in a standstill of time and I was in his arms, locked in his unbreakable embrace.
"Is this real?" he asked, nuzzling his face into my hair affectionately. I laughed both at his question and the fact that I felt like asking the same thing. Relief was also a big factor.
Hmm, perhaps Rosalie was right after all.
Right about Edward reciprocating my feelings that is, as well as the trigger of breaking the curse.
"I'm so glad that it worked." I smiled. Suddenly I felt him pull back, an incomprehensible frown present on his face. I tried not to let my hurt show as I tilted my head up to look at him. I suddenly noted how much taller than me he was to try and distract myself from the pain of rejection.
"Bella, be truthful with me. Did you just say that you loved me because you knew that it would free me?" he asked, his own eyes betraying how wounded he was. To discover that he had as many insecurities as I did helped my own to disappear for a minute so that I could effectively make sure that there would be no more misunderstandings between us.
It took me a minute to realise that he did indeed share the same feelings as me, and that if I just made myself clear then everything would be fine.
He took my minute of silence as an affirmation of what he'd just assumed, and he avoided my gaze, his eyes swept the floor, trying to not let me see how much this hurt him.
"That's okay, it doesn't even…"
"Edward." I cut him off before he could assume anything more and interpret the continuation of my silence as the blasphemy that I classified it as. "I meant what I said. I love you, I still do."
"Don't worry Bella, I get it. You love me as a best friend. That's all; you don't have to explain it to me."
"You idiot," I said softly. "I love you more than a best friend. I love you in the way that means I want to be with you until my death, forever. I love you in the way that means I want to kiss you so much right now, and I want more than anything else for you to be mine."
"Really." His eyes lit up as if I'd just told him that he'd just won the lottery. "You better not be just saying that."
"As if I'd do that! Love is not a thing to be taken lightly." I laughed, almost sighing with pleasure as his hands cupped my face and he stepped impossibly close to me, our chests almost touching.
"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that."
"You don't know how happy it makes me to finally be saying that."
"Touché." He laughed, his lips just centimetres from mine, so close that I could feel his cool breath caress my face. It took all of my carefully built self-control not to complete the distance.
"Just kiss me already," I told him.
He didn't need to be told twice, and suddenly his mouth was on mine. I didn't have anything to compare it to as this was my first kiss but the feeling of his cool lips moving in sync with mine was definitely something I wanted to repeat. There was an undeniable spark, and I could now see why people compared kissing to fireworks, something I could never understand when I was younger. The best thing about it was that it wasn't rushed and feverish. It was incredibly sweet, and it didn't feel like an attempt to control lust, but acted as a portrayal of love, which was exactly what I wanted it to be.
He was the first to pull back. I didn't understand why he wanted to pull back from something so wonderful, so quickly but the look of unquestionable adoration and bliss on his face stopped my insecurities in their tracks. However, it didn't escape my notice that he seemed to be trying to hold something back within him, and I had no idea what that was.
Despite all of that, I still couldn't help but ask. "Are my kissing skills bad?"
"Of course not, it was very enjoyable." He grinned. "Then again, I have nothing to compare it to…" He trailed off.
"Wait! Hold up, that was your first kiss too?" I asked, shock written plainly over all of my features. He seemed so experienced, so knowledgeable. Maybe that was why he'd pulled back so early, because like me, he apparently had no idea what he was doing. Then again, I thought we were doing pretty well…
He seemed a little embarrassed as he answered. "You don't get around much when you're stuck in a mirror. Then again, I wouldn't have anyway until I met you."
Hmm, I'd just assumed that he'd edited out any past relationships that he'd been involved in to avoid awkwardness between us when he'd told me of his pre-immortal life. I couldn't quite contain the rush of pleasure that ran through me and the blush that coloured my cheeks when I realised what he'd just implied.
Then I remembered what Rosalie had told me.
"Immortals only love one person their whole existence," I recounted with perfect clarity – how could I forget something like that anyway?
"How do you know that?" he asked, seeming a little stunned.
"Rosalie told me."
"Rosalie?" He said her name like a question, sounding appropriately confused.
"She and I sorted out our… differences and we're on good terms now. She was the person who partly helped me figure this all out."
"Rosalie," he repeated, still dazed.
"Yeah, it was hard for me to process at first too," I admitted.
"It's true you know," he said quietly after a few seconds of silence, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I will love you forever, and I mean that quite literally."
I couldn't help but smile widely at that.
"But how is this going to work." He frowned. "I'll live forever, you won't."
"It doesn't matter right now. Right now, all I can think about is that you're free and I'm in your arms."
"It's still a big problem, one that will keep coming up," he hesitated, unable to quite let his fears go.
"How did you become immortal anyway?" I wondered. "You can just do the same thing to me."
His face turned whiter than bone.
"No."
"Why?" I asked stubbornly.
"You don't understand Bella. There are many things you don't know yet. Look, I'll explain this all later, but not right now. You're right; we should focus on the present for now. I'm free and we're together. That's all that matters right now." He took a deep breath.
"Yes," I said easily, wanting to go back to the tension-free atmosphere that we were a part of before I entered into this blatantly touchy subject. However, I planned not to let go of this topic; I would bring it up later.
"I still can't believe that I'm free." He sighed happily. "I thought you'd never find it out."
"Wait, you knew the whole time? Why didn't you just give me a clue?"
"The people, who trapped me taunted me cruelly with the answer to the cure and put a spell on me so that I couldn't reveal what it was. I was so hopeful in the beginning when you came. I could feel the connection between us and I hoped that that would mean that you felt it too."
"I did," I admitted. "I was just too scared of rejection to tell you."
"We both had the same problems then." He laughed. "When you said that I was disappearing, I knew that I had no hope. I had run out of time for me to make you love me like I loved you. You called me your best friend; that was all. I couldn't make you feel something for me that you didn't."
"I was trying to protect my own feelings, that was why I didn't let on the extent of what I felt."
"Okay, before anything gets as much out of hand as it has these past few weeks, let's make a pact that we will always be clear with each other as much as possible or necessary."
"How about we just be clear, full stop," I suggested, wanting no misunderstandings to hinder us ever again.
"Deal." He laughed and instead of giving me a handshake, he gave me a quick kiss.
Definitely preferable.
Could you please be as awesome (or more awesome) as you were in the last chapter and give me some reviews. If you do, a chapter will be uploaded in less than three days ;)