A/N: As promised, here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Ch. 11: Vampire
EPOV
I was going to kill her. I had expressly told her to not get involved. "Alice," I growled.
She smiled sweetly. "Oh, calm down Edward."
"You could have killed her!" I roared. I was so furious, I could hardly maintain my human pretense.
"But I didn't. Besides, I knew you would save her," she continued tapping her head knowingly.
"You couldn't possibly know that! If you had come just seconds earlier, I wouldn't have been able to save her."
"But I wasn't, and you did! Edward you should be thanking me, I-"
"I'm not discussing this with you. I have to take care of Bella - if she'll even talk to me!"
I turned as she said, "Oh, you know she will."
The whole conversations had taken only a few seconds, but a crowd had begun to gather, inspecting the result of the crash. "We're fine," I told them. "Everything's alright," even though I knew it wasn't. A few looked unsure, but they all turned away.
I walked back to Bella, still sitting where I left her, as fast as I could without arousing suspicion. "Bella I'm going to take you to my father, okay?"
She nodded and whispered, "Okay," before I walked swiftly around the car to the driver's side, which had received minimal damage.
I lasted only one minute in the uncomfortable silence before I asked her, "Bella, please, what are you thinking?"
"You… weren't there… and then… you were," she whispered. "I saw you," she continued, her voice growing stronger, "You were walking out of the mart. You smiled at me, and I smiled back, but I don't think you saw me. You were looking away; I hadn't even seen you turn your head. I looked to where you were looking and I saw a car, out of control, coming right at me. There was no way you could have gotten to me in time, but you did. You… stopped it from crushing me, but… you're not harmed at all. I- I… I'm so confused." she finished in a broken whisper.
I sighed. How was I going to explain this to her? "Bella do you remember what I told you?"
"Yes," she murmured.
"About me never hurting you?" I clarified.
"Yes," she repeated.
"Do you believe me still?" I asked cautiously.
"Of course! Edward, what's going on?" she questioned exasperatedly.
"Bella, I'm not like you," I was going to continue, but she scoffed. I felt my brow crease. "What?"
"Well, no offense Edward, but that's kind of obvious. You're perfect," she finished shyly, a blush rising in her cheeks.
I laughed a short, hard laugh before saying, "Not really. Just think about all the conversations we've had."
"Okay," she said warily. I could almost see the wheels in her head begin turning.
BPOV
"Okay," I said, as I began to think. I started from the beginning, or the only beginning I could remember. That first night, he'd taken me for a short drive. He'd wanted to drive so we weren't overheard, but he hadn't told me why. The next day he'd taken me to our old school. On the way, though, we'd had a conversation about vampires. He'd said I believed someone was a vampire, but he wouldn't tell me who.
I glanced over at Edward, still thinking. I speculated over how cold his skin was, even through his shirt, how hard his body was when I'd leaned against him. I considered how quickly he'd reached me at the gas station, and how his body had been able to not only stop the car from crushing us, but also make a large dent, which I was staring at now.
I looked back at Edward. I knew. One thing that he couldn't bring himself to tell me; one thing that we couldn't be overheard talking about. I could see in his eyes that he knew I'd figured it out. His eyes were pained. "Bella?" he whispered.
I didn't know how to answer or what I should say.
"You figured it out," he surmised, his voice anguished. "Look, Bella, I completely understand if you never want to see me again. But please believe me when I say I would never hurt you. I swear."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Was today my day to be completely confused?
"What do you think I am?" he asked warily. I hesitated, so he repeated his question. "Bella? What do you think I am?"
"You might be offended," I hedged.
He emitted another short, harsh laugh. "I doubt that," he said.
"Well it doesn't really make sense. Not much fits," I replied still stalling.
"Just tell me, Bella."
I took a deep breath and looked at my hand sitting in my lap. "Vampire," I whispered it, but I knew he heard me. Turning to look at him, I inquired, "Am I right?"
He caught my eyes before answering. "Yes," he affirmed.
"Okay," I said.
When I didn't continue, he said, "Okay? That's it? That's all your going to say? You just found out your fiancé is a vampire, and all you have to say is okay? Ask me something Bella: What do I eat?"
I hadn't thought about that, but there was something I did know: "You won't hurt me," I told him confidently.
"That's not the point! I told you that I won't hurt you, but there are risks for a human living in a family of vampires. I've put your life at risk so many times because of what I am."
"Edward, how long had I known about you? Before I hit my head, I mean. Had we been dating already? Were we engaged? Or had we just met?"
"We'd just met," he replied warily. "Why?"
"Well if we've been going out for a year and a half and I've known about you for that same amount of time, I would think you would know by now that I'm okay with it," I tried to explain.
"Or that you have absolutely no sense of self-preservation," he contradicted.
"Or that I love you," I blurted out. "I did love you, right?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to make it sound normal.
"Yes," he breathed, "you loved me." I hadn't really needed him to tell me that; I'd already fallen in love with him again. "Maybe one day you'll love me again," he whispered, as if he didn't want me to hear.
"I-" I took a deep breath. "I think I already do. Is that crazy?" I asked him.
His lips pulled up into a wide crooked smile. "Probably, but I don't mind."
I blushed and looked down mumbling, "Good," under my breath.
"Bella, I love you too. You know that right? I love you more than you could possibly know." My blush grew, causing him to chuckle.
I felt the car come to a stop and went to open the door, but I couldn't - it was sealed shut from the impact. "Let me help you with that," Edward said. He reached over me and broke the door open, the glass from the window scattering further. "Shoot," he muttered. "Stay right there," he told me before getting out of the car and walking around to my side. "I don't want you to cut yourself," he said reaching out to pick me up. We were halfway to the door when Rosalie rushed out.
"Alice told me to look at your-" she stopped, her eyes widening in horror as they landed on Edward's car. "Edward!" she gasped.
"It wasn't my fault!" he growled at her. "Talk to Alice."
"I can't fix that! You'll just have to buy another one," she commented, as if she was talking about shoes or maybe a shirt.
"I'll just use Bella's. Is that okay?" he asked me.
"Yeah sure, but I don't think you'd like it. It probably has an internal speed limit of like 60."
"Actually, it was 55, but your truck is broken down anyway. I had a present for you. Before you see it, though, remember that you did agree to receive it graciously - no complaining. Alright?"
"How do I know I actually agreed? You could just be saying that," I told him playfully.
His face fell, but I could tell he wasn't really hurt; he was just playing back. "Don't you trust me?"
"Yes," I replied. "With my life. So can I see my car?" I asked, trying to make the previous statement not sound do melodramatic.
"As soon as Carlisle checks you out."
"Okay," I agreed as Carlisle walked out of the house.
Carlisle checked me over. After just a few minutes of poking and prodding, he said I was fine. At that moment a sleek black car came around the side of the house, Edward in the driver's seat.
He got out of the car and cam over to me. "Don't say anything," he told me. "This is a great car- a Mercedes S600 Gaurd- and I know you can't possibly appreciate it fully, so just say thank you."
"Thanks you," I stated.
"Your welcome." He smiled. "Now I really must get you home."
A/N: There you go. Chapter 11 up in less than two days. *happy dance*
I want to know what you think: what was your favorite line, part, chapter, etc. so far? least favorite? what do you think I can do to improve this story or my writing style? Thanks so much!!
-awfullynormal -----
