Author's Note: People asked for more Bella and Edward, and here it is. Sorry that their romance has been lacking a little bit lately. I didn't mean for them to go on the back burner, but now they're back, front and center. For all you Bellward fans, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, including Babette 12, music begins with em, I'llAlwaysBeInEdwardsColdArms, booklover42, LaBellaed'Italie, Pluto-nfl (sorry about the double reply), Andrea-af91, -WingedGirlFlyLady-, the wonderful Mickster, Jessica, Little-Miss-Giggle-Fit, Liz526, Zoey Redbird, Swimmer07, yellhuzzah, quickreader93, Purpleytk, edwardlover0511, kwfreeman, Zoella De Vil, Lorri-cullen, Luvntwilight, and LPsDarkAngel. Sorry to anyone I might have missed!
This chapter is dedicated to Rochelle Allison, whose kindness could bring even Jasper out of his shell :-)
Emmett
Blondie just needed some time to cool off and she'd get over this. That's what I told myself that night, and that's what I told myself the next morning. Chicks sometimes just need time to cool down. And chicks like to be chased. I know the rules of the game, and I've seen her type before. She thinks just because I don't want to nail her the first chance I get, that I'm not into her. Really, it couldn't be farther from the truth. Every time I rush into things with a girl, it never works out. And I like Blondie, so I figure I'll try something different this time.
There's also kind of another problem, but I can't tell her about it. I can't tell anyone else, either- I'd never live it down.
I slowly blinked my eyes open to the light bursting into the small shelter and looked beside me at the small, curled up figure that had taken up residence in the lean-to some time last night after I had gone to bed. Alice was still sleeping, a peaceful look on her face that I hadn't seen since our yacht had gone down to the bottom of the deep blue sea to join ranks with the Titanic. I had no idea how late she had stayed up, so I carefully crawled out, trying to disturb her as little as possible.
Jasper was already awake, but this looked like a recent development. His gray eyes were tired and had bags under them, there was a stressed, worried look on his face that seemed to be a constant, and his blonde hair- usually rumpled and in a constant state of disarray- was even more of a mess than usual. I gave him a weak wave and he yawned, nodding his head at me. I stood and stretched, not looking away from him. He looked down uncomfortably, feeling the pressure of my gaze. I walked over to him, crossing my arms over my chest like a bouncer at a club.
"If you ever upset my baby sister like that again, the story when they find us is going to be that you drowned."
He looked up in shock, his mouth slightly agape, eyes wide and traveling over my face. I couldn't take it- a grin broke through.
"Naw, I'm just kidding you, Jasper." I said with a hearty laugh. "Alice gets upset over a broken nail. I wouldn't take it personally."
Suddenly, I lost all hints of humor and I lowered my voice. "But you better watch yourself. You may be Edward's best friend, but remember Alice is our sister."
I gave him a very stern look and walked toward the jungle. Nature was calling, and Jasper looked like he was about to have a stroke or something, and I didn't feel like sticking around to explain that I was the cause.
Bella
I was abruptly awakened by Rosalie's arm hitting me in the face. I rolled over with a groan to see that sleeping beauty was still, well, asleep. But man that girl could pack a punch, even unconscious. She was a force to be reckoned with, and I was just glad she was in a better mood the day before. I had Emmett to thank for that, I was sure.
I crawled out of the lean-to, my bones creaking and popping, and looked up at Jasper, who was looking into another of the small shelter's with a worried frown. He leaned into it and I couldn't see what he was doing, so I walked over.
"What's the matter?" I asked, trying to see past him. When I did, I instantly realized what was wrong. Edward was even paler than usual, as if all blood had drained from his face. He was a sickly white, and covered with a sheen of sweat. His eyelids looked glossy red and his lips were pale. His dark, bronze-colored hair was matted to his head, and his eyes were closed, a deep frown line settled between his eyebrows.
"He's burning up." replied Jasper, looking over his shoulder at me. He hung his head, his shoulders and hands tensing. "He needs medicine."
There was an air of hopelessness about him that made me want to sit down in the sand and cry, but I resolved to be strong. Or, at least act strong. Having a fit of hysterics would not help anything.
At that moment, Alice woke up and came out with a huge yawn and a smile toward me and Jasper that disappeared when she saw our faces. She hurried over and pushed past Jasper, throwing her tiny body into the shelter beside her twin brother. She touched his forehead and cheeks with an abysmally sad expression and then hugged him tightly.
"Why is he like this?" she asked, eyes darting from me to Jasper and back to me again. "He was doing better yesterday! He was okay!"
A sob left her lips and she drew in a shuddering breath, refusing to cry and let her sorrow spill in hot, wet drops on her ailing brother. "We- we have to do something! W-what can we do?"
I looked at Jasper and he looked back at me, softly shaking his head. Rosalie must have been woken up by all the noise we were making, because she came out and quickly assessed the situation. She pushed the blonde strands of hair out of her face and then put her hand on her out-thrust hip, grinding her teeth together as she concentrated.
"He's not getting any fresh air in there. Let's move him out and into some shade where he can catch a bit of breeze every once in a while."
We all stood frozen for a moment and then seemed to move as a unit. Jasper ducked into the shelter and wedged himself under Edward so that Edward was sitting up. His eyes fluttered open and for a moment I saw a flash of disconcerted, hazy green, but then his eyes closed again and his head lolled to the side. Jasper's arms were under Edward's, and I took hold of his legs, half pulling, half lifting him out of the lean-to.
"Alice, go make him a bed in the shade out of some clean clothes." said Rosalie, and Alice scurried away. I felt grateful that Rose was able to take charge even in stressful, dire situations. She was a leader at heart, and we needed leadership badly. Her blue eyes roamed the small camp and she frowned.
"Where's Emmett?" she demanded, looking at me and Jasper. Jasper nodded toward the woods and Rosalie threw up her hands in exasperation. "Great, he's out there having a picnic while his brother's dying." she growled. My heart skipped a beat and I could feel the blood draining from my face.
"Dying?" I asked, my voice a hoarse whisper. Rose's eyes widened as if she had just realized what she had said, and her mouth snapped shut. She took a few steps forward and put her hand on my shoulder, trying to be comforting. I was unfeeling though, and it did no good. I felt like a ghost, or out of body, as if I was merely watching these events and not actually living them.
"No, no. He's not dying." she amended quickly. "He's just hurt. But he'll be fine. Just fine." she assured me, and I looked over to see Jasper staring blindly ahead, his stormy gray eyes unfocused. They seemed to be depthless, and they looked as if they belonged to someone much older than eighteen. Oddly, it gave me a sense of comfort to see that I was not the only person shaken to the core. Alice and Jasper both had even deeper connections to Edward than I did. For that matter, so did Emmett, who had not yet reappeared.
"I'm going to go get some fresh water." I said to no one in particular, and I walked away. I looked ahead, yet I saw nothing. It was a miracle I didn't break my ankle, but I probably wouldn't have felt the pain anyway. I picked up the water container and headed toward the spring.
How could this be happening? How could he suddenly be so much worse? Yesterday he had seemed fine! He had said it didn't hurt so bad, that he was okay. Had that all been an act? Had he been playing down his own pain so as not to worry us?How could a person be so selfless? How could I have been so blind? Had I really misinterpreted him so badly? I was normally good at reading a person, at getting a sense of who they are. Or at least, I thought I was… Maybe I wasn't though. Maybe I'd been a jerk all along, telling myself I knew a person, when really I was only taking them at face value. Like Edward…
Edward, who I pushed away because I secretly like him but thought a person like him could never like me back. I'd made him out to be this horrible, shallow, judgmental jerk because I wanted to not care about being rejected by him. I had never liked a person so much, and I'd also never simultaneously found a person so infuriating, and the combination was oddly… provocative.
And now he was sick, and in pain, and it was kind of all my fault. If I had just gone with him instead of being stubborn and making fun of him! If I hadn't been such a freaking hypocrite, he wouldn't be so pale and feverish and dizzy from infection. God damnit! Why did things have to be like this?I reached the spring and scooped a fresh bucket of cool, clear water. I wiped the tears I hadn't realized had been falling away with the back of my hand and quickly composed myself before heading back. I refused to let these feelings show. Alice was going to be enough of a wreck as it was, and I wasn't going to add to her or anyone else's agony.
When I got back, Edward was lying almost peacefully on a downy bed of our clothes, the wind blowing at bits of his damp hair as Alice pushed it out of his sallow face with her gentle fingers. I could see his eyes pulsing behind his eyelids as if he was having a nightmare, and I hurried over to set the water beside him.
"How is he doing?" I quietly asked Alice. Her lips tightened and pursed and she gave a miniscule shake of her head. Wordlessly, an epic had been communicated: He wasn't good. In one of Alice's tiny hands was clutched a scarf, and she now dunked the article into the water. She brought it up to his burning forehead to cool his skin a little, and ran it over his cheeks and neck. Even ill, I was astounded by the beauty I saw in him. His features had such a clean, easy elegance about them. The hollows under his cheekbones leant an aristocratic air to his whole face, and his nose was long and straight, but his lips had a playful quirk and his mouth was just a tiny bit crooked. I loved the crooked smiles he gave most of all. I think even if he had been ugly, I would have been captivated by Edward. But he wasn't. He was as close to perfect as I had ever seen.
Alice started unbuttoning Edward's shirt and my breathing suddenly felt very shallow, yet I couldn't take my eyes away. She pulled the sticking shirt away from his chest and abdomen and sides. She dipped the scarf in the cool water and started wiping at the top of his chest along his graceful collar bone, and my breath hitched in my throat and my lungs burned as if I wasn't getting enough oxygen.
"Alice, can I have your help?" called Rosalie, who was banking the fire nearer to the beach. Alice nodded and started to stand, then handed the wet, folded scarf to me.
"Here," she said, putting it in my hand. "Can you take over for a bit?"
I nodded and she left, and suddenly I was alone with Edward, and I felt guilty because I was busy checking him out and admiring the flawless, sleek but strong lines of his figure, and I should have been concentrating on ways to help him.
I looked at the makeshift sponge in my hand and then down at his bare chest and gulped hard, afraid to touch him, afraid that this would somehow be violating him. But he was burning up, and if this gave him any sort of comfort at all, I had no right to deny him for embarrassment's sake.
Tentatively I reached out and brought the dripping cloth to his face, running it over his forehead and down the side of his pale face. The water beaded and slid into his bronze hair. I dragged the cloth down his neck, and when I got to the top of his chest my hand began to shake. His bare skin was feverishly hot and exposed, and still I could hardly bring myself to touch him, though Lord knew I wanted to.
I closed my eyes tightly and let my hand move down, so that the wet cloth slid smoothly over the granite-like surface of his chest. I opened my eyes and took a breath, but I could feel the heat in my cheeks.
"You're… blushing." said a weak voice, and I looked in shock to see that Edward's eyes were as bright and green as ever, and they were looking right at me. I pulled my hand away, and his hand lightly grasped my wrist, but his grip was faint. "Please… don't stop." he said, giving a weak, almost pitiful smile. "That feels nice."
I dipped my hand into the water and wetted the cloth, then stroked his chest and abdomen, letting it trail along his side, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. His eyes closed in contentment and he let go of my wrist.
I couldn't tell if he was asleep or not, but I settled beside him, one hand resting on his forearm as the other wiped cool water over his burning skin to keep him a little cooler. What I would have given for just some Tylenol…
I was snapped out of my reverie by a heavy set of footsteps and looked up in surprise at Emmett who had at some time returned from his foray into the woods. He looked down at Edward with worry and kneeled down, pulling aside the cloth of his jeans where I had cut them open. The edges of the wound were a raw, red color and looked puffy with infection. I winced away from the sight, and closed my eyes tightly as Emmett poured the rest of the cold water over the gaping wound to clean it out. Edward's face contorted into an expression of pain that was almost unbearable to even witness. I couldn't imagine the agony he was going through.
And that was how most of the day passed by. We all gathered what was necessary and never left Edward alone. I was reluctant to leave his side for even an instant, but then, so was everyone else. Alice had dissolved into tears a few times, and I was ever grateful to Jasper who seemed to be the only one who could make her feel better. In fact, he somehow managed to make everyone feel better. He had an extremely calming presence, and he was easy to be around. But with Alice, his kindness went a step farther.
I had watched in silence as the sun set and Alice began to cry. Fat, salty drops had silently rolled down her cheeks as she stared into the flames stoically, only the tremble of her lower lip giving her away. And Jasper- painfully shy, always quiet, reserved Jasper- had come up behind her and wrapped his long, strong arms around her tiny body and had just held her. I don't know if they said anything to each other, but gradually her tears diminished and she turned in his grasp and hugged him back.
I envied the comfort that they leant each other. Subconsciously I reached out and squeezed Edward's hand, wishing he would wake up and get better so I could apologize to him and make it up to him for all the mean things I had said. His consciousness drifted in and out, and he had eaten very little that day. He was even weaker than he had been that morning. The sun set and the sky turned black and we moved him back to the camp and into one of the shelters so he could rest. Emmett was about to crawl in after him, but I stopped him with a touch on his arm. He turned and looked at me in surprise.
"Yeah?" he asked. I swallowed, steeling my resolve.
"Would it be okay if I sat with him?" I asked quietly, glad the others weren't watching me. Emmett's eyebrows furrowed into a frown and then he shrugged.
"Suit yourself." he agreed, and let me pass him into the lean-to.
I leaned over and crept into the four-foot tall shelter that was wide enough that I could sit about six inches away from him. He was laid across the end that sloped, so I had enough room to sit up comfortably, and I did just that, gazing shamelessly at his face and dark eyelashes and at the tiny curls around his neck and temples.
I gave in to the urge I had been fighting all day and ran my fingers through his bronze hair, whisking it away from his face. "Edward," I said, my voice betraying me and coming out as a tiny sob. "Edward, I'm so sorry."
My eyes filled with hot tears that were at the brink of overflowing, and I stubbornly blinked them back. "Edward, please get better…" I told him, softly stroking his hair. Even matted it was like touching thick strands of silk, and my fingers rejoiced for the touch even if my heart mourned for his condition.
"Edward… I didn't mean all those horrible things I said to you," I told him, lip trembling. I clenched my jaw to stop the shaking, and it helped a little. "I just want you to get better. And when you do, I'm going to be nice to you, and I'm going to show you the real me."All the while, his eyes remained tightly closed, and the tears in my eyes finally spilled over. One landed on his cheek and slid down and made it look as if he was crying too. I laid down beside him on my side so I could look at him, and then tentatively reached out and put my arm around him, getting a little bit closer. Like Edward's, my eyes fell closed, and I gradually drifted into a fitful slumber.
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