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Chapter 11

The Cottage

The school was buzzing the next day. There seemed to be only two topics of discussion, volleyball and Lauren's birthday.

"Congrats Bella!" Mark found me as soon as I walked through the main doors of the school, smiling ear to ear.

"What?" I hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

"You made the team. I saw the posting on the bulletin board this morning. You and Rose both."

"Oh, that's good." I actually wasn't surprised. "What about yourself?"

"Of course! They couldn't let this talent go." Mark flexed his biceps and smiled at me. "So, are we still on for tonight?"

I laughed. "Are you sure that we have to go to HER party?"

"You might as well get used to her; after all, you're teammates." Mark was being sarcastic.

"Oh goody," I responded. I could be sarcastic too.

"Sorry about the butt kicking we had to give you yesterday. No hard feelings?" He was trying to tease me.

"I seemed to be able to handle YOU just fine," I retorted.

The way I said 'you' obviously got Mark thinking about something.

"Man, Edward is impressive, hey? I mean, you should see him in practice. He's natural. We are going to have a shot at districts with him on the team this year."

"Mmm…" I tried to let my interest slide.

"You're not sulking about the way he practically ate you up last night?"

Nice choice of words, Mark.

"No, I'm not denying that he was very good."

"And his sister, man, she's just like him! You're team will have a shot at a title too! I wonder where they learned to play like that."

"Boston."

"What? How do you know?"

"They lived in Boston the last five years."

We were then interrupted.

"Bella! Bella! We made it! We're on the team!" Rose was giddy.

"Yeah, Mark already told me. It's great." Why did I feel indifferent?

"Congrats Rose."

"Thanks Mark! Congrats to you too!"

"Well, I better get to class," Mark hesitated and waved. "Later!"

"See ya," I said as I turned to Rosalie. "You seem excited. Like it's a surprise… You played really well yesterday."

"I am! I like the road trips with the boys, playing out of town and stuff. It's fun." I forgot how we would be traveling with the boys to most of our league games. They were a lot of fun to travel with last year, I will admit it.

"So are you coming right over after school?"

"Yep, I'll just get Peter to drop me off at home afterwards."

"Promise me that if things get boring tonight we will bail together? We'll chill out at your house for a while or something," I asked with a bit of a pleading tone.

"Your version of boring or mine?"

"My version."

"Fine, but you have to TRY to enjoy yourself. Kay?"

"Done."

When we got to English I saw Miss Carlyle standing at the front of class as we took our seats. She smiled broadly at us. Acceptance on her team also meant acceptance in her class. I didn't mind, especially if there was a chance that it could help my grades her subject. English was the class where I needed the help the most.

Once the first bell rang, the day seemed to fly by. All of my classes seemed to blur into one. Even with Edward around I was distracted by the enthusiasm of my classmates at the impending party and excitement of the new volleyball teams. When the final bell rang in Algebra I realized that the weekend was upon me and I perked up a bit myself.

It wasn't long before the bus was stopped outside my place and we were stepping on the familiar loose gravel of the driveway. I placed one foot on the loose pebble when the smell hit me.

"Whoah! What is that smell? Where is it coming from?"

Rosalie, Alice and Emmet looked at me like I was insane.

"What smell?" Alice asked first.

"You guys don't smell it? It smells like a wet, sweaty dog!"

"Nope, all I smell these days is you... and that perfume you wear." Emmet still was on the perfume thing.

"Seriously? You can't smell anything?"

"Nope, nothing."

I was annoyed. I knew I smelled something. It was very distinct, and not exactly pleasant.

Once we were inside the house, the smell seemed to fade and soon I forgot about it. Alice knew that Rosalie and I would be going out later, so she monopolized the majority of Rose's time until we needed to get ready to go out.

"Rose, tonight would be a lot better if it wasn't on account of Lauren's birthday! Ugh!"

"Bella, you promised me you would try to have fun!"

"I know, I know… What should I wear to this thing anyway?"

"How about your black blouse? It looks great on you!"

"Nah. Too formal." I knew that I needed something that would dress me up a bit, but also something that I could wear every day. I didn't want
Lauren to think I was dressing up for her. I was going to try and make it look like I was there by coincidence, and that her birthday was irrelevant.

"Kay, well how about that pink shirt you bought this summer?"

"Yeah, I guess." It was a nice shirt, it looked like a regular T-shirt, but it was more form fitting and had a lace type edging.

"Don't put it on yet. I HAVE to do something about your hair first."

"What's wrong with my hair?" I was offended.

"Other than the fact that it looks like you just stuck your finger in a light socket?"

"Hay!" Rose never cared about the way my hair looked before, what was the deal? My hair was naturally curly, and with the humidity around here frizz came naturally too.

"Don't worry, I came prepared."

I was wondering what she had in the extra bag she toted with her on the bus today. To my disbelief it held a very large assortment of beauty products, of only about half I could mention.

After Rose tamed my hair she moved on to my makeup. This was weird; she deliberated over the right colors and changed her mind several times. She seemed to like fussing over my looks, and other than the fact that I haven't seen this side of her before, I was unmoved. That was until I saw the end result.

"Put on that shirt before you look in the mirror. I want you to see the full effect."

I obeyed. Then I drew up the courage to have a peek at her efforts.

I was shocked. My hair was perfect, not a strand out of place. The curls were large and soft and seemed to land perfectly on my shoulders. My makeup looked natural; I had more color, and was somehow more vibrant. Rose focused on subtle shades of pink which seemed to complement my shirt perfectly. To my surprise I loved it.

"Wow Rose, you're amazing! I didn't know you could do this!"

"Mom's been letting me practice; she even brought me a bunch of the stuff she uses at work. Do you like it?"

"It's great! But I guess I could have worn the black blouse, I look way more formal than I was expecting." I realized then that it was going to be obvious that I was dressing up. I let out a resigned sigh.

"Peter should be here soon, it's almost 7:30…" I then looked at Rosalie. "Awh, you spent all your time on me! I'll go downstairs to see if I can stall him."

"Don't worry Bella, I've got my regime down pat. I'll be ready in five minutes. See you downstairs."

"Ok. I'll stay out of your way." I wasn't going to be much help to her anyway.

I went downstairs and sought out my sister. Her jaw dropped when I walked into the room.

"Wow! You look incredible!" She seemed stunned.

"Isn't Rose a genius?" I spun around so she could have the full view of Rosalie's masterpiece. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Um, well now that you mention it, Theresa is coming over. Apparently Edward is going to drop her off on the way to the party tonight."

"WHAT? I didn't realize you were that good of friends." I hated the idea. Alice alone with a vampire! If anything happened to her…

"Yeah, dad suggested it actually. He wants me to be welcoming to our new neighbors. Besides, Theresa is pretty cool, we hang out at school."

That took me aback. Dad knew what was happening to me; in fact, he should be one of my trainers. If he was the trainer of a slayer than surely he knew about the Cullen's and what their real identities were, after all, I figured it out. Why would dad WANT Alice to hang around them more than she had to? Why would dad want Theresa in our home? What was I missing?

Just then I heard the honk of a vehicle outside. I went to the kitchen window to inspect who it was. I recognized the Sunbird instantly.

"Rose! Peter's here! Are you ready?"

"Coming!" She shouted from upstairs.

I then went back into the living room and found my sister.

"Well, have fun tonight Allie. Don't give Theresa too much grief."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"You have fun too. Don't be a sour puss to your friends."

"I am never a sour puss!"

She rolled her eyes again.

We then heard another honk from outside. The sound of the horn was flatter and had a lighter pitch.

"Oooh! I bet that's Theresa." Alice got up and hustled to the door. I turned around and was surprised to see that Rosalie was at the door too, with her arm outstretched and my coat in it.

"Let go Bella! Our ride has arrived!" Rose smiled; she was looking forward to tonight.

We met Theresa at the door while we were putting on our coats.

"Hi," she spoke softly, she seemed shy.

"Hello! Nice to see you again!" Rose greeted her warmly.

"Thanks." Theresa looked at me, and then quickly glanced away. "Hello Bella."

Her tone was a little more firm when she spoke to me. Could she be mad at me too?

"Hi." Was all I could say in response.

Alice then whisked Theresa away before more words were said. Rose and I went through the front door and shut it behind us.

Once we walked outside I saw that Peter was not in his car. There was a Black Mercedes parked beside his vehicle, and he was talking to the person in the driver's seat.

"Whoa! Full car! You only have a five seat'er Pete! Where are Bella and I supposed to go?" Rose spoke over her shoulder as she walked over to the Sunbird. She instantly started chatting to Angela, Mark and Clayton.

"Mark's car died. We have to ride together…" I heard Clayton's voice through the rolled down window.

Then Peter walked over to me.

"Uh, yeah Bella. Change of plans," Peter stumbled through his words. "See, I didn't know how this was going to work, but now that Edward is here and, well, my car is full with Rosalie…"

"I'm going with Edward?" Oh. My. God. The cavalier that Mark owned was going to pay for this.

"Well, I asked Edward. He said it was up to you. It saves me a trip back here to drop you off. It makes the most sense… you know."

I looked up and saw Rose. She was grinning. Obviously she wasn't going to save me on this one. I was mad. I couldn't make a stink about this because I promised her I would make an effort to have fun. Besides, it would be immature to pout over something so trivial.

"Yeah, sure. You're right, makes the most sense. Not a problem." I tried to nod my head to convince myself. "See you there."

"Great! Thanks Bella." A smile of relief formed on Peter's face. "Tell Edward that I will lead."

As I started walking towards the Mercedes, the driver side door opened. Edward got out and circled his vehicle, opening the passenger side door for me. When I looked up at his face, I saw the same beautiful heartbroken eyes I saw earlier in the week. My heart flooded with a thousand different emotions just looking at him.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as he held out his hand and helped me into his car. His touch was electrifying.

He didn't respond with words, but for the first time in a while I saw a smile touch his eyes as he walked around the front of his car and slid into his seat beside me.

"Peter said that he was going to lead the way. We can just follow him."

He nodded as he put the car in gear.

"Have you been to the Cottage before?"

He shook his head no, but still didn't speak.

We sat in silence for several long minutes.

"Look Edward…"

"I am sorry for breaking your rules Bella." He cut me off.

"What rules?"

"You said that I was never to approach you again. You told me to leave you alone. I am telling you now, I can not do that. It's impossible for me."

"Edward, those weren't rules, they were just…," I paused. I couldn't explain what I was feeling. "I just think that I need to keep my distance from you. That's all. For the sake of both of us."

"Why?" His voice was soft, but demanded an answer.

"Because of who you are, Edward. Because of what I am. Because one, or both of us might get hurt." I was surprised at how easy the truth was coming out.

He sat there silent. Statuesque. Thinking. After another minute or so, he finally spoke.

"If you know what I am, then you realize that I cannot stay away from you. It's not possible. You would have to kill me."

I flinched. I felt a stabbing sensation in my heart at the mere thought.

"I would never do that to you Edward. Never."

"Then why are you forcing me away?" He paused as he processed his own answer. "Bella, I will never, ever hurt you. Please tell me you know that."

This time it was me who was silent.

"Bella. Please?" His words were barely a whisper.

"Please what?"

"Trust me." He seemed to sigh as he spoke. "Listen to your heart. Does it really want me to go?"

Again, I only listened.

"I will fight for you, you know. I am not going to give up easily."

His words filled my head and my heart. I did not want him to stop talking. I could listen to his sweet voice for hours.

He opened his door. I didn't realize we were already there. We were parked on the street about a block away from the Cottage. Again he rounded the car, opened my door and helped me as I stepped out. When both of my feet were on the ground he pulled slightly on my hand drawing my body against his. I dared myself to make my eyes look into his, where they instantly locked themselves. I felt one of his hands entwine his fingers with mine while he raised the other to my face and gently stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers.

Rose got her wish. I was having a good time.

"Shall we go inside, Miss Swan?" He smiled as he spoke.

I snapped out of the trance he put me under. I pulled my hand from his grasp and took a step backwards.

He didn't seem offended with my sudden revolt. He just gave me a wry smile and took my actions as a challenge.

"Are you alright Bella? You seem flustered." Now, his smile was booming.

"Let's go." I rolled my eyes at him as I turned and walked up the sidewalk.

He was by my side after only three steps.

We were about fifty feet from the cottage doors when a small gust of wind came up and brought with it a very distinctive smell. The woodsy odor was a combination of smoke, cedar and animal fur. Edward unexpectedly placed his hand around my waist and drew me right to his side. The rest of his body became ridged.

"I want you to stay close to me tonight. Very close." He turned towards me so I could look at him. "Promise me."

"What's wrong?"

"I am not sure that anything is wrong yet. Promise me, Bella."

"I promise."

He seemed satisfied with my answer, so we went inside. His stony hand did not leave my waist.

The Cottage was packed. It was a great, square, log building originally built as the town hall. Booths now lined the walls, but a large open space was in the center, which was currently over half filled by several dancers. Along the back wall was a fire place which was filled with glowing embers of a log that was burning down. Several circles of leather couches and chairs surrounded the outside of the dance floor, all with a coffee table in the center. It was in one of these nooks that I spotted Rose waving at us.

"We saved you two a seat," she said, pointing to the brown leather love seat across the coffee table from herself. I noticed that Mark and Angela were dancing, while Peter sat in a chair to himself. Clayton joined Rose on a large rusty colored couch.

We sat down just as the waiter came to our table. He left us a pile of Menu's and took our orders for drinks. I was a little surprised when Edward ordered an iced tea, just like I did.

The leather love seat was very cozy; it was the kind that you can just sink into and fall asleep. Despite that comfort, soon my body was finding it difficult to sit close to Edward. It felt like I wanted to climb right on him, I had to touch and hold him. I tried to distance myself by leaning on the armrest, but he managed to reposition himself so that he was leaning towards me. I then tried to curl my knees up to the side of my body and placed my legs between us as a barrier. I think he sensed what I was doing because I saw an evil smile form on his face. Instead of moving over he shifted closer still and placed his hand over my knees, rubbing a soothing circular pattern across them.

Slowly, I started to feel a presence. Edward was opening his mind to me.

"You promised to stay close. Quit squirming."

"I didn't think you meant this close." I accused.

"Does this bother you?"

"Yes."

"Ok. But is that because you like it?" He looked at me and smiled.

"That's not a fair question."

"Yes, it is. But if you want unfair, I can play unfair."

"How's that?"

"Do you really want to find out?"

"Sure, amuse me." I should never let curiosity get the best of me.

"Answer the following questions yes or no."

"What if I refuse?"

"I wasn't asking you, Bella." He was commanding me. I had to do as he asked. He was right. He could play unfair, he baited me, and I swallowed; hook, line and sinker.

"Promise me you will answer from your heart." He looked at me as I heard his words echoed in my mind. It looked like he was trying to implore me, even though he was the one with all the control.

"Ok Edward, I promise. It's not like you are giving me a choice."

"You aren't giving me a choice either. But I need to know how you really feel."

"What are your questions?"

"You said that it bothers you when I touch you. Would you prefer me to stop?"

Grr.

"Answer." He looked into my eyes as the sound of his voice filled my head.

"No. I don't want you to stop." I was blushing.

"I see. You like it when I am this close to you?"

Uh oh. I looked away, I was about to embarrass myself further.

"Not exactly."

"Explain."

"I would prefer you closer, it's comforting."

I felt his surprise, and elation at my answer.

"Alright Miss Swan, one last question, and the most important one."

"I can't be embarrassed any further. Go ahead."

"Do you really want me out of your life?"

My response was instantaneous. I didn't have to think about it.

"No."

I could feel the light squeeze of his hand on my knee. Happiness overwhelmed his thoughts.

"It doesn't change anything about us though," I reminded him.

"Yes it does, you will see."

We were then interrupted from an outside voice.

"Miss, can I take your order?"

"Um, I actually haven't decided yet. Sorry."

"Not a problem. I will give you'all another few minutes." The waiter then gave me a gentle smile and left with his notepad.

That's when I noticed Rosalie. She was bouncing off of her seat. She kept looking at Edward's hand placement and then up to my face.

"Want to share a pizza?" I was asking everyone at the table.

"Sure!" Clayton responded. I think he was waiting for someone to pitch the idea first.

"Cool. But you have to pick the toppings. Kay?" I wanted to get back to my conversation with the boy beside me.

"Yeah, no problem. Anyone else want in?"

"Sure," Edward spoke. I gave him a quizzical look.

"Add me too. I can't decide off of the menu," Rose groaned in defeat.

"I think Angela and Mark would be down too. You might as well just order enough for all of us," Peter suggested.

"All ready then, let's see what they have…" Clayton then gave the menu his undivided attention.

A smell started to fill my senses, the same woodsy odor that I smelled before we entered the hall. Edward stopped rubbing circles on my knee and spun his head around to face the front doors. I turned my head to see what he was looking at.

There was a group of eight people, some with Quesnel High School jackets. I assumed these were Lauren's cousins and friends that she had mentioned were coming. The first three people of the group looked fairly ordinary, they had dark hair, brown eyes and pale looking skin. I saw Lauren come up to the group and embrace these three individually. Then the tallest of the three held out his hand and looked like he was introducing Lauren to the rest of his group.

I followed the tall boy's hand as he pointed to the remaining five members of his party. I was stunned at the exquisiteness of each of them. There were three males and two females, all of which could win any beauty contest in the world as long as the Cullen's didn't enter. One boy and one girl had dirty blonde hair, light blue-grey eyes and milky skin. The two were about the same in height and stature. The remaining three had brown hair with hazel eyes and toned physiques. Even the girl looked like someone who could easily handle herself in a fight.

I started to sense darkness, evil. I shuttered at the sensation.

"What are you feeling?" Edward's voice filled my head.

"I just got the chills, like something bad is going to happen."

"I need you to stay close to me."

"I thought that was what I was doing?"

"Not good enough." He slid his body to the middle of the couch, and then pulled me across him. My legs were laying the length of the loveseat, with Edward underneath them; I was practically sitting on his lap. I felt his right arm wrap around me as he placed his hand between my shoulder blades and gently rubbed my back. His left hand pulled out a cell phone and started to press numbers on the keypad.

"Who are you texting?" My voice was audible to the group.

"Michelle and Jasper, they were planning on stopping by tonight as well." Edward then looked up and smiled.

"When do they plan to get here?" I asked, hesitant.

"Soon." He then looked at me as he snapped his cell phone shut. "I like this song. Come dance with me."

Ugh.

"No thank…" His voice filled my thoughts before I could finish.

"I am not asking…"

I hated that he could do that to me.

"I mean… yah, sure," I retracted as I looked over at Rosalie. She was giddy.

Edward spun my legs off of him only to firmly latch his hand around my waist and lead me to the slow sway of the dance floor. A measured romantic rhythm filled the room. Once we were at an appropriate spot he doubled the lock he had on me by placing is other hand around my back and pulling my body right up to his chest. I rested my arms on his hard, stony shoulders. I started to feel his body lead me in a gentle rocking motion across the dance floor.

"Will you always be able to control me like that?" I asked, slightly irritated but content in his arms.

"Like what?"

"Make me do stuff that I don't want to do just because you say so."

"No, once you are a mature slayer you can resist my commands when you want to."

"Thank god," I said with a little more relief in my voice than I was intending. Then another thought occurred to me. "Until then, can you force me to do anything you want?"

"No. I cannot force you into harms way or make you do anything morally adverse."

"What?"

"I can't put you in danger or make you kill anyone or anything that you don't want to."

"Why is it that only you can control me like this?"

He smiled at me.

"Tell me!" I tried to be demanding.

"No."

"Why not."

"You will have to accept me first."

"You aren't making sense!"

"Am I allowed back in your life? Completely? Or are you still going to be stubborn and insist on keeping your distance?"

"Keep my distance? Look at us! I couldn't move an inch from you if I wanted to!" I was trying to speak in a whisper, but I was getting frustrated.

"Which one is it Bella?"

"Edward we can't be together!"

"Why not?" His voice was firm, and full of authority.

"I don't know why Edward. I'm sorry! I'm scared, very scared." I looked up into his eyes; they were suddenly soft and gentle. "I've never heard of anything about vampires being kind or good. Everything that anyone's ever told me says that I should run away."

"But you aren't running."

"No, but I will try to stay away." I felt tears fill my eyes. "I don't trust what my heart is trying to say about you, I don't trust myself. How can I trust you if I can't trust myself first?"

I looked into his gemstone eyes. They finally looked like they understood, he was reconciled.

"Bella, I won't hurt you." He raised his hand and placed his open palm on my cheek, rubbing gently with his thumb.

I was about to break down, and I couldn't stare at him anymore.

"Excuse me." I tried to shake off his hands, but they were reluctant to let me go.

"Edward, please?" I begged him as I felt the first tear run down my cheek. He immediately let go of my grasp.

I sprinted to the washroom as the salty water started to flow freely down my face. I was grateful that the washroom was mostly empty. I grabbed a piece of tissue from one of the stalls and approached a mirror. I then took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm myself. I wanted to wash my face to help remove the sting of the tears, but Rose would be upset if I removed all her hard work. I started the task of dabbing at the tears hoping to salvage my makeup.

"Are you alright?" The voice was a stranger. The tone was kind, but I sensed a darker presence.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell. It was completely overpowering now, earthy and raw. It was not entirely unpleasant, but not a scent you would put in your air freshener either. My necklace was burning me.

I turned my head and saw the two girls from the group that came in, both of them staring at me with wide, eager eyes.

For the first time in my life, I could truly sense fear in my heart.