Come Take a Walk with Me

Chapter Ten – Sanctuary

AN: It's been a while since I've updated this, mostly because I've been so busy with all my other fics. However, lately it's been wanting my attention. Since it's been a while, here's a brief summary.

The story starts out from the cafeteria scene in the movie (you know the apple catching scene) where Edward tells Bella that he wouldn't tell Bella the truth, she chose, in my story, to walk away. Edward spent a night processing what happened and is unable to stay away from her. At one point he reads her computer journal entries, watches her sleep, kisses her once. Watched her change tops since he'd been hiding in the closet, so he saw her breasts. Naughty Edward liked it. Bella had attempted a few more times to get him to talk to her, to tell her the truth. He still wouldn't.

So Edward was forced to try to spend more time with her. He orchestrated to have Mr. Banner have a science fair and students be paired off. The problem was that all the boys wanted Bella as a partner (winners each get a laptop). Edward wanted to make sure that he'd be the one to ask first so he made sure Mike and the others never had a chance. But Mike was determined. So Jasper forced Mike to be so horny that Mike had to take care of business in the boy's bathroom. Everyone heard about it. Later, Mike tried to hand Bella an apple and she freaked, backing away. She slipped on something, hit her head on the corner of a steal countertop.

Before anyone would suspect something because of the Cullen's odd behavior (Jasper trying to get to Bella, Emmett, Alice and Rosalie holding him back), someone (Rosalie) turned the sprinklers on, causing all the kids to run screaming from the cafeteria. Except for Angela, Edward and Bella since she's hurt. Edward takes Bella to the hospital where she was operated on immediately. She suffered a major head injury, bad enough that they had to drill holes in her skull.

The Quileute's freaked out because she's there in Carlisle's hospital, Charlie told them to fuck off, nicely though. Charlie likes Edward, since he'd saved his Bella twice. While Edward watched over Bella in her hospital room, Edward discovers that Bella's shield has changed or more like its visible when he tried to read her thoughts.

A red wall now protects her thoughts, and if Edward pushes too much he is forced out, enough that it creates a physical effect as well. Once it threw Edward across the room. Also when he's in her mind, he hears and detects nothing. In her mind, they can talk to each other.

When she wakes up, Bella has no memory of her life in Forks. Mike tried to make another first impression, only to get in trouble with Charlie and Bella when they figure out he's lying.

When Bella finally sees Edward she knows his face, but doesn't know him. Bella does remember the times that Edward was in her mind. We last left Bella and Edward in her hospital room, Edward was in her mind unknowingly, within the red wall. She was able to talk to him telepathically. Something like that.

Enjoy.

Edward

I gasped as I became aware – or more like unaware – of my surroundings. Whenever I'd forced myself to stop breathing, it was wholly uncomfortable to function without the sense of smell. Instinct had always clawed at me every time I had to do it. However, to find all the voices, the murmurs of the minds that surrounded me, gone, left me breathless.

I watched Bella's smile widen further. You like it in here. I nodded, both in thought and in reality. It almost felt as if I was in two places at once.

"I can't hear the voices," I murmured, swaying and having to grab hold of the bed railing. The tenor of her mind had me basking, almost intoxicated with the thoughts. To see myself through her eyes was unforgettable and everything my family waxed poetic of their own mates. "I can hear yours, though." There was something in her thoughts, besides her attraction to me.

You don't have to talk out loud. As long as you're inside the red wall, I can hear your thoughts as well.

Instantly, I launched myself several feet from the bed, the rush of voices intruding once again. I hissed and closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to witness the disappointment in her features. "That's not a good idea," I said, pausing to catch my breath.

"You're hiding something from me," she said; the hurt was so clear in her voice.

"I've just confessed to reading minds," I said as I walked toward the bed again. "You'd think that would be enough for one day."

She scowled and glared for a moment, before her lips twitched to a smile. "I confessed the ability to establish links between minds." She was looking for a way to continue having me answer more of her questions. How was it that humans said it, "tit for tat?"

"This has worked with others?" I asked, suddenly curious.

She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "My buddy," she said with distaste, "Mike was within the wall but he had no clue. I couldn't read him as clearly as I read you."

"What did you see?" I took her hand, needing to be as close as possible.

"Only that you thought I wasn't ready to know the truth?"

"You're right," I replied. "You're not ready to know yet."

She nodded. "Will you tell me?"

"Eventually."

She yawned. "You know I think my father likes you."

I grinned. "Yes, I believe you're right."

Her brown eyes met mine, and then peered down to our intertwined hands. "Biology," she whispered after a minute of silence.

I bent my head down, enough to catch her gaze again. "That's the one class we shared, at first."

"At first?" she asked.

"I had most of my classes switched around."

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "We don't share a class anymore?"

I smiled. "We share all but two classes together." Confusion had her brows furrowing, a little crease forming between her eyebrows. My finger caressed the area lightly, causing her to gasp softly, her eyes closing. "Do you feel it?"

She nodded and her head lolled to one side, before looking up at me through dark lashes. "I don't understand it."

"The same thing happened the first time we touched," I replied. "I don't understand either, only that I don't want to stop." Her fingers clasped in my hand, stretched and twisted enough to intertwine with my own.

"I don't either."

"Good to know," I said softly. When she yawned, I tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "You need to rest."

She nodded solemnly, as if she didn't want to sleep. "I don't really want to," she whispered.

"Perhaps you'll have a good dream," I said, continuing to stroke her hair. "I know that I'd dream of you."

She smiled shyly, blushing. "Will you come here again, to see me?"

I would be close for the rest of the evening, but she didn't need to know that. "Of course."

Her eyes drooped. "Yes, I think I will dream of you tonight." I smiled at her confession, and there was a chance she hadn't meant to voice it. "Good night, Edward."

"Good night, Bella," I said in return. I watched as sleep took over, her lashes fluttering over the skin under her dark eyes. She fought it, her sleep, for several minutes.

"You've been in my room," she said just as her eyes closed. Apparently, Bella could not only link people's minds with hers, but there was something else. I hadn't been specifically thinking about the times I'd watched her sleep while I'd been inside the red wall that protected her mind.

Could she read everything?

Maybe it was taking longer for her to process the information that she'd seen. It would explain how she knew we had Biology together, unless that had been a memory of her own that surfaced. Once again, I tried to penetrate her thoughts, only to find the wall had thickened. Though I had tried to call out for her, she never answered.

Her head injury may have caused the red wall that kept me from her thoughts before to weaken. However, once she'd become aware of her ability, the wall regained its original strength. For a moment, I allowed myself to think of what this ability would translate to if she'd become a vampire. No matter how I loathed the idea of taking her life, I knew she'd be formidable.

I remained with her until her parents returned. Though I wanted to stay there beside her, holding her hand, I knew I couldn't remain there. Renee tried to get me to stay, regaling about some of Bella's previous accidents. Bella's inability to walk in a straight line on a flat surface, without falling, had apparently begun in her childhood.

As she proceeded to tell me about Bella's attempt at ballet, I involuntary shuddered at the thought of all the times she could've died. Some of her little accidents, as Renee called them, could've been much worse. She would've never found me. I might have walked this earth alone for all eternity.

I vowed then, always to catch her when she'd fall.

"I really must be going," I said as I stood. Bella's fingers, stiff from holding onto my cold-lifeless hand tightened around me. Did she hear me? "I'm afraid I've missed dinner."

"Oh," Renee said and shook her head. "Well, we shouldn't keep you then. Will we be seeing you again?"

"Yes," I replied. "Tomorrow, after school."

Charlie sighed. "They said she'd be here for a while." He scratched his head. "Renee has to return to work soon."

Renee nodded, frowning. "She's going to be okay, right?" She laid a hand on Charlie's shoulder. He nodded and grasped her hand.

"At most, I can stay a few more days," she said to us. "I had hoped she'd be able to return home by then. I don't think that's going to happen, though."

"I'm afraid not," I said softly, to soothe her and Charlie's nerves. "She's recovering from a serious injury. Tomorrow, they'll attempt to get her out of bed, see if her injury has affected her ability to move around." Charlie's eyes widened in fear. "She's been responding to stimuli so I don't anticipate a problem."

"I see you've learned a lot from your father," Renee pointed out. I nodded and smiled. Charlie was hoping that I'd consider becoming a doctor myself. Though I have put myself through medical school to a certain level many times before, this time I'd follow Bella's chosen curriculum.

What a fool I am. For me to be already planning my future, when where her heart lies is still so uncertain. First, I have to see if she wants me.

"I better be off before he comes looking for me," I said and turned my attention back to Bella, her hand still tucked in my own. Slowly, so not to startle her, I brought her hand to my lips. I tried to inhale discreetly, and it seemed that I had, since neither of her parents heard what I'd done. I pressed my cold, unyielding lips against her soft, warm skin.

She sighed. Behind me, both Charlie and Renee realized that Bella had to be aware of my presence. "See you tomorrow," I whispered. My fingers flexed, but so did hers. Renee laughed as she stepped beside me.

"Seems like she doesn't want to let you go," she said, smiling.

I returned her smile with one of my own. "It would seem so," I replied. If only she were sure while she was conscious.

Renee had to ply Bella's fingers from my hand; internally, she wondered why my skin was so cold. They all did. With my goodbyes and a promise to return tomorrow, I turned toward the exit. Before I reached the door, Charlie called out for me.

"Son," he said. "If you can work it out, with school and your parents, would you like to sit with Bella when Renee and I return to work soon?"

"I'm sure something can be arranged," I said. I left soon after. Well, as least they believed it to be true. Once I was sure that Charlie was no longer watching, I doubled-back and used another entrance.

It'd been the first night in quite a while that I couldn't be in the same room with Bella. It left me restless and irritable. The following morning, I returned home, changed and started the routine all over again. Except this time, I was asked to attend school instead of the hospital.

"Out of the question," I hissed at Carlisle. "I don't care what those animals ask of us, I will not be separated from her."

"I understand how you must feel," he said warily. "However, we can not risk the treaty at this point. They are merely asking that you stay away from her until she can return home."

"They would not violate the treaty unless there is a reason," I said. "I have given them none."

"You're always there now," he replied. "They see that as a threat."

"She's still alive!"

"Thanks to you," Carlisle said as he walked out from behind his desk in our home. "They're nervous, much more than ever before. One of them has already been through the transformation and two more have fallen with a fever."

"How do you know this?" I asked, jumping to my feet. The information led me to believe that I could never leave Bella unprotected. Not if those hounds were sniffing around.

"It was the Alpha's way of instilling fear, I'm afraid."

"You have to tell them that I can not comply," I said firmly. "Bella's parents have asked that I stay with her once they return to work."

Carlisle sighed and nodded. "I was afraid of that. Despite the fact that Bella is recovering remarkably fast, it'll be at least a week before I'd be able to discharge her."

"They have to work," I said with a shrug. Bella wouldn't want her parents to forget their responsibilities because of her. "That's settled then, I should be off."

"Edward," he said. "This is far from settled. Go to school, make the appearance, make arrangements for your and Bella's school work and then you can go to the hospital." I glared, and again, I remembered that a simple night of not being with Bella had left me miserable. "That was not a request." I nodded and left before I said something that I would never forgive myself for.

My siblings had all left for school and Jasper had chosen to take a solitary hunting trip. He was still unable to come to grips at how close it had been for him. I was still unable to fathom that if he had relapsed in the cafeteria that day, I would have killed him if he had hurt her.

She was mine. If I could not drink her blood, no one would.

Once arrangements were made with the school, Bella's parents, and Esme, I managed to make it to lunch period. I found the others sitting in our usual place, away from everyone else. I made my way through the lunch line, placing an apple on my tray and nothing else.

I wasn't up for theatrics, it seemed. Jessica and Lauren watched as I walked toward my siblings. They both wondered about the events that led to me to save Bella again, wondering why I cared. Vile thoughts that I promised myself to save Bella from once she returned to school. I wanted to roll my eyes but refrained.

Angela Weber, however, was another story. She had seen me move across the cafeteria in seconds and even started to wonder about the accident with the van. Stilling, I turned toward her and smiled. Lauren and Jessica gasped while Angela looked wary.

Keeping my smile from showing too many teeth, I walked toward their table. "Angela," I said. "Do you have a moment?"

Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat before racing. Slowly, her eyes became unfocused and she nodded. If only Bella would fall under my spell as easily. I gestured to an almost empty table behind me. Once I had, of course, Ben Cheney and Lawrence McCall scattered.

She joined me at the table after a few moments of indecision, twice looking at my family. She feared that they would join us. Alice assured me that they wouldn't with a simple shake of her head. "Hello, Edward," Angela whispered, clearing her throat. "Was there something you needed?"

I smiled, again causing her eyes to glaze over. "I wanted to thank you for all that you tried to do for Bella that day," I said softly, patting her hand gently. The friction of wiping my hands over my jeans over my thigh several times had warmed them; it was best not to alarm her with my cold skin. "You were the only friend that stayed behind."

"You did, too," she said warily. Before her thoughts had a chance to dwell on how fast I appeared by them, I countered.

I shook my head and frowned. "It was utter chaos for a couple of minutes," I whispered gravely. Oh, he sounds so sad. I internally smiled. "I feared what would've happened if I had not found you two among all the screaming and running people."

"It had happened pretty fast," she said, her brows furrowing. This time, as she remembered, her thoughts were seeing all the running people, the water that fell on them, all distractions. Things that would make time seem to speed up.

"I'm going to go see her again today," I said. "I know she would appreciate seeing a few friendly faces."

She frowned. "I heard that she forgot us."

I nodded. "She has, but she's willing to try and remember. Right now, she needs people that are nice and would not cause her anymore stress."

Like Mike, idiot, Angela thought. "I'll see if I can see her before dinner," she replied. "I promise not to upset her." I smiled then, because no matter Angela's suspicions, she wouldn't do anything to hurt Bella.

"Thank you," I said. "I'll let you finish your lunch." I looked at my meager meal and sighed. "I'm not very hungry myself."

Oh, he's so upset about Bella getting hurt that he can't even eat. He cares so much about her.

We said our goodbyes, and I grabbed my apple to throw off further suspicions and took a bite. I walked past my family out to the hallway. I found Bella's locker easily, and took all her books and papers to my car. I spent the rest of the day gathering assignments and arranged to have Bell as my science project partner with Mr. Banner.

I left early, to find someone leaning against my car. "Jasper," I said. "You don't have to apologize. I had not seen in your mind, since I was preoccupied."

"Do not doubt that I would have killed her," he said firmly. I nodded. As I don't doubt you would have kill me if I had. Again, I nodded.

"Does Alice know?" he asked.

"No."

"She doesn't have to," he replied. "From now on, I will do what I can to protect Bella as you would."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"I know the wolves are involved," he said, gesturing toward a cropping of trees. "We're being watched."

"Answer silently from now on," I hissed, looking amongst the trees. "How many?"

Two humans and one wolf.

I sniffed the air that surrounded us. "One is older, a friend of Charlie's."

You should know that Alice still sees Charlotte and Peter arriving soon and some unexpected visitors are hunting and coming in this direction.

"Bella will have to be watched at all times," I said, immediately tensing at the thought that she was alone.

Relax, Esme and Carlisle are with her. You don't have to worry about Peter and Charlotte.

"Her blood is very appealing," I said firmly. "You cannot be sure of that."

He nodded, deciding it was best not to argue. I'll check the area surrounding the hospital and see what I can find of our unexpected visitors. I nodded.

"Be careful," I said, hearing Alice's voice from within the school. "Alice said she'd meet you by the gym."

Jasper rolled his eyes and smiled. "Of course, she knows my plans." He clasped my shoulder and looked me in the eye. I'm worried about you, your emotions are bordering on obsession.

I sighed. "I'll take that under advisement," I growled. I threw Bella's school supplies into the passenger seat of my car and left seconds later.

Obsession and love, how fine was the line between them?

AN: Thanks to kyla713 for your help with this chapter. Next, we have Edward and Bella getting to know each other, and Bella's return home. Stay tuned.