Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I do, however, own a HUGE Christmas tree. Oh man do I ever love Christmas. (And Hanukah and Kwanza…)
A/N: SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! It was the last week before winter break and I had a bunch of finals and midterms! Forgive me?
AND…Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! And let me say it again. THANK YOU!!! Can I give you all a huge hug and one of those delicious Cullen men? I wish I could…
That last chapter was one intense chapter, if I do say so myself. From the reviews, everyone loved it! Which makes me beyond happy. So, I am doing a nifty little happy dance on my couch right now.
I want to let everyone who is worrying about my story being over know that I have ZERO intentions of ending this story any time soon. I have so many ideas running through my head right now. So, you will be hearing a lot more from me. Plus, ending after only 13 chapters would be just cruel and unusual punishment and that is frowned upon by the USA's constitution. (8th amendment) There is a nugget for your education. Who says Fan Fiction doesn't teach you anything?
AND, (I know this is a ridiculously long Author's Note but hang in there!) I am writing another FanFiction that I posted the fist bit for. It is All Human and another Twilight fic. If you like this story then I swear that you will like the other one just as much!!! Go check it out and tell me what you think!
Now, Indulge Your Curiosity, Loves, with CHAPTER FOURTEEN!
"The world is a vampire...
Tell me I'm the only one.
Tell me there's no other one."
--"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins
Chapter Fourteen
BPOV
I woke up to the sound of a soft humming in my ear. Ah, my lullaby. I haven't heard it in forever. I dreamt about it all the time but I could never perfectly recall it.
It soothed me.
I didn't open my eyes in fear that this comfort that I felt would suddenly evaporate and I would lose my few moments of bliss.
And it was true; I was comfortable.
Ridiculously comfortable.
I hadn't felt this good, waking up, in years. In fact it has been since the last time Edward had spent with me before he left…
…the previous night's events crashed down on me like a tsunami on a defenseless village. Oh, dear.
I shifted myself to the side slightly only to find that my body had collided with something other than the soft pillows I usually clung to during the night. However, there was something very familiar about the hardness of the thing I was clinging desperately to.
I took a deep breath and immediately took another one, greedily filling my lungs with the delicious scent of…
…Edward!
I gasped and my eyes shot open, only to be met by a pair of bright gold ones. So that was what I was clinging to.
I smiled up at Edward, relishing the feel of his strong arms around me. I had longed for him to hold me like this for so long. I had also longed for many other things from him, but I wasn't going to rush into this newly rediscovered relationship (or whatever we were going to call it) and mess things up. No, this time I was going to go at his pace and not push him to do what he didn't want to do. I could not afford to lose him again. I was positive that I would not survive that again.
Edward let out a low chuckle, one of his hands reaching up to brush some stray hairs away from my face.
"Good morning, love." He smiled brilliantly at me. I hadn't seen him this happy in so long. The look of happiness and love in his wondrous eyes was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Why? Because I knew that I was the reason that he was feeling that way.
So cry I did.
"Good morning, Edward." I got out, beaming up at him.
His expression was one of confusion as he wiped away my tears.
"Do you want me to leave? Is my presence upsetting you? Why are you crying Isabella?" He asked quickly, massaging my cheeks.
"No, no!" I definitely did NOT want him leaving me. Not now. Not ever. Not even for a second. I had found my driving-force again.
"I do not want you to leave. These are just silly tears of happiness. I am just so ridiculously happy that you are actually here." I cried happily.
"Is it okay if I tell you that I am also 'ridiculously happy' that I am here?" Edward asked, his eyes blazing into my own as he tightened his grip around my body, pulling me even closer into his cold, welcoming chest.
"I think that would be perfectly acceptable Mr. Cullen." I joked in my most formal voice.
I was rewarded, generously, with Edward's heart-stopping laugh. It was pure gold.
"Well Miss Swan. I am yours for all of today and however long you wish to keep me for that matter. What ever will you do with me?" He tickled my sides lightly sending me into a fit of giggles.
I felt so damn light. It had been forever since I had laughed so freely and opened up my protective barriers to let another in. Playful Edward was bringing out the best of me as usual.
"Hmmm…" I pondered my options while Edward patiently awaited my answer, carelessly running his hands from shoulder to hip. It was a blissful torture.
"I think I just want to lay here for a while." I finally decided.
I was terrifically content where I currently was and I had no plans of leaving his arms in the near future.
"That sounds fantastic, love. I could lay here for the rest of my existence if you wanted to." He replied, nuzzling his nose into my neck. His cool breath tickled the sensitive skin there and sent me into another fit of giggles.
"What is so funny, Bella?" Edward asked as he buried his face in my hair. He knew perfectly well what he was doing to me.
I decided to mess with me a little.
"Oh, I was just thinking of when Mike Newton did this same thing to me." I made my voice sound light and flippant. It must have worked because Edward immediately stiffened and pulled away.
"Newton did what?" He all but growled.
I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing at his jealously. He was just too damn cute for his own good.
"Oh, well, Mike and I had this… thing for a while during senior year…" I was lying out of my teeth but I wanted to play with Edward for a few moments. The opportunity rarely presented itself.
"A thing?" Edward hissed menacingly. "And what did this thing entail?"
"Nothing much. Just a little of this and that. He was my rebound, of sorts." I lied again. I was getting a lot better at this stuff. But I was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"I have half a mind to fly back to Forks and castrate Newton on the spot." Edward growled.
I couldn't hold it anymore: I laughed.
"I am just kidding Edward! Did you really believe that I would let Newton touch me? Of all the stupid things that you choose to believe…" I shook my head.
"So he never touched you?" Edward asked, his voice still slightly strained.
"Nope." I replied, popping the "p."
"Good." Edward stated before he smirked.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, Edward's cool, hard lips were on my own. They moved together with mine in the perfect sync that only we could create. His were unyielding but I was just as eager. When I snaked my hands around his neck and twined my fingers into his hair, he growled slightly into my mouth. The rumble in his chest sent chills through my body causing my entire being to call out for him to do it again.
Edward pulled back, only far enough so that he could growl one word at me.
"Mine."
That was all he uttered before he kissed me again with just as much fervor. I literally turned to jelly at that one statement and threw myself even farther into the kiss.
Yes, I was his. There is no questioning it.
This particular kiss was so much better than any other that we had had before. I remembered the careful boundaries that Edward had constructed around our physical life.
We were definitely breaking a few of those boundaries with this kiss.
No, scratch that. We are breaking ALL of the boundaries with this kiss.
Like I cared.
When we pulled apart, my cheeks were flushed and we were both panting loudly.
"That is an excellent way to wake up." I told him after I was confident that my voice would work.
"I will have to remember that for future reference." Edward told me, as he rolled onto his back and pulled me onto his chest.
We laid like that for what must have been an hour, comfortably enjoying the peace that the other's presence brought to us. I would occasionally slide my hands across Edward's chest and connecting to his Mark.
This was bliss.
Feeling the flow of strength coursing through his strong body was quickly becoming my favorite thing to do. I wanted nothing more than to always stay connected to him in this intimate way. Whenever I connected to his Mark, I felt a thrill go through me as though, just like that, the chemicals react. It was a thrilling and wondrous feeling.
But this comfort couldn't last forever. I had stuff I needed to do.
"Edward?" I asked.
"Yes, love?" He mumbled happily.
"We need to get up. I have some things I need to take care of." I told him.
Edward grumbled about it for a few minutes before I convinced him that I, too, did not want to get up but I seriously needed to take care of these things.
When we both rolled out of my bed, I looked down to see that I was still in the rumpled clothes that I was wearing last night.
"I need to change clothes and such. Stay put." I commanded Edward, pointing a threatening finger at him, before I grabbed some jeans and a sweat shirt and walked into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later I had on fresh clothes, my teeth and hair were brushed, and I felt more energized that ever before.
I stepped out into my room to find Edward lying across my bed, looking through one of my iPods.
"Enjoying yourself?" I asked as I crawled across the bed and snuggled into his side.
"Immensely." Edward answered, giving me a small peck on the forehead.
"I need to go back down to the conservatory this morning." I told Edward as he continued to flip through the songs playing random ones that he either didn't know (which were a very select few) or ones that he enjoyed and hadn't listened to in a while.
It took about ten more minutes and few convincing kisses but I was finally able to motivate him and I to get out of the bed and go to his room
"Come on." I said as I dragged him down the hall towards his room. "I will hook up the sound system and you can listen to music for a while until I finish my work. Okay?"
"Bella!" Edward whined in an adorable little voice. I stopped and turned to face him, prepared to give him a long list of reasons of why he should stay in his room but I didn't get the chance to.
When I turned, Edward had the most adorable little pout on his face that made me want to give him anything he wanted.
His bottom lip was jutting out slightly and his eyes were wide and portraying picture-perfect innocence. It was too much.
"What…?" I mumbled, still in a daze.
"I promise I won't get in the way. Who knows, I might even be helpful! Please, Bella! I cannot let you out of my sight after I just got you back." Edward's pout became more prominent as he tried to convince me that his way was the best.
He did have a point however. I wasn't sure that I could let him out of my sight either.
"Alright." I conceded.
"Thank you." Edward said simply before pulling me into a hug and kissing my hair.
"A few ground rules though. Okay? There will be no distracting or dazzling me. No trying to do everything that I have to do; it is my job so while you can help that is all you will be doing: helping. And one last thing, try not to make it obvious to everyone else here that we made up. Let's just pretend that we are…I don't know… friends?" I listed a few things that I knew might be a problem. "You got that?"
"Yes." Edward nodded. "But would it really be such a bad thing if they found out? I mean, would they fire you and then you could go away with me?"
I laughed at his ignorance.
"No Edward. They would kill you and your family and punish me severely for 'siding with the enemies' or whatever reason they pull out of their sleeves." I rolled my eyes and started walking towards Edward's room again.
"Oh. Well, then, we won't let that happen now will we?" He said; his voice was distant as though he was thinking about something.
"What is on your mind?" I asked curiously as we started walking towards his room again.
"Nothing you need to worry about love." Edward said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tighter against his body as we walked.
Once we got to his room, I went to work on setting up Edward's sound system—he had said that he might find a use for it later—while he took a shower and changed into some fresh clothes. The shirt he was wearing last night was ridiculously rumpled from the death grip I had had it in. even in sleep I was sending the message that I did not want him to go anywhere.
When I heard the water for the shower turn on, I turned my mind away from the images of Edward in the shower that it was conjuring up to more important matters that were knocking on my door at the moment. Like the Voltouri per say.
I audibly sighed as I realized the likely hood of them accepting the fact that Edward and I were back together with open arms.
Very, very unlikely.
I believe that Aro would fess up to being gay and Felix would be the clown for my next birthday before the Voltouri accepted that.
I guess I would have to sneak around and be extremely careful about any display of affection with Edward. Not only in public, but in private too. Damn vampires and their uncanny ability to use their super hearing at the most inopportune times.
There was no telling who all witnessed the Broadway play-like show that Edward and I put on last night with all of the crying, yelling, and haywire emotions. I would have to pay close attention to everyone today so that I could asses the damage that we had caused. Edward was going to have to put his mind reading skills to good use today.
On top of that, I wasn't sure how I should act with the Cullens in public. Should I continue to ignore them or should I act civilly towards them?
Ugh!
I was really starting to look forward to my training session this afternoon so that I could blow off all these pent up emotions and frustrations at any and all things Demitri threw at me today.
I had just finished hooking up the USB cord into the port when I heard the bathroom door open and a warm wave of air that smelled like Edward assaulted my senses.
It was excellent to have him back.
"I missed you, Bella." Edward whispered into my ear as he came up behind me, his wet hair stuck to my cheek as he ran his nose along my jaw.
I knew it was pathetic, but I missed him too.
"You were only gone for a few minutes! I think that was the fastest shower I have ever had the honor of timing!" I glanced over at the clock and found that only three minutes had passed since Edward had kissed me before hopping in the shower.
"I used my super powers." He boasted going so far as to puff his chest out in a show of his manliness. "Are you impressed milady?"
I snorted in a very unlady-like manner as I pulled away from him. "I am very impressed my big, daring, superhero. I missed you too."
Edward smirked as I walked over to the desk in the corner and pulled out a laptop so that I could load the iTunes library.
I hit shuffle and the sounds of the Beatle's Eleanor Rigby came over the speakers.
"What is on your agenda for today?" Edward asked as he tapped his foot along to the beat of the addictive song.
"Well, I am not entirely sure yet. I have to go talk to Gianna and find out. My assignments change from day to day." I told him before I took a deep breath and continued.
"Listen, I need you to do me a favor of sorts. Okay?"
"Sure." Edward agreed happy to do anything for me.
"I need you to… normally I would say 'keep your ears peeled' but since you will be using your uncanny ability to read people's minds, I am not sure what sort of sentiments to use to address that…" I was blabbering about nothing and I knew it. By the amused look on Edward's face, he knew it too.
"So you want me to 'keep my mind peeled' to other people's thoughts today because…?" Edward was holding back a laugh as he spoke. I could tell from the tone of his voice… and the fact that the corner of his lips were twitching upwards.
"For people who may have had a front row seat to our show last night. I don't really need questions right now. So, if you hear anything about that, please tell me so that I can take care of it." I asked him.
"Of course. That makes sense." Edward agreed.
"One more thing." I added before we left the room. "I am not sure how exactly people will be expecting me to act towards you so if I act funny for while, don't take it personally, I just want to ensure that this goes smoothly. And I have a feeling after the out bursts from both Aro and I during the meeting last night that everyone will be watching me carefully probably hoping for another breakdown or what-not."
Edward chuckled.
"That was pretty entertaining." He told me. "I don't think anyone has ever spoken to him like that. I am surprised, actually, that he didn't order someone to kill you on the spot."
"He is too afraid of me to even try that. Plus, I think he doesn't want to risk my power addition to his guard." I smirked as we walked out of the room and locked the door behind us.
We got quite a few strange looks as Edward and I silently made our way towards the garden door that led to the conservatory. I carefully distanced myself from Edward as to not draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves.
We were able to escape into the gardens relatively unnoticed by most passer-byres. Once we had passed over the threshold to the outside, and the door had firmly shut behind us, I reached for Edward's hand at the same time he reached for mine.
I smiled up at him as I realized that he had been thinking the same thing that I had: that we hadn't touched in so many years that we need to make up for it now.
We continued our walk in silence. It was oddly comforting considering I had so many things to say to him, to ask him! But now was not the time. Of course I would get my questions in due time, but right now I just wanted to bask in the companionable silence that fell around us as we trekked through the peaceful garden.
It was strange the things that I noticed when I was with Edward. He—not even kidding—took my world from black and white and made it Technicolor. It was surreal! I was having he Wizard of Oz flashbacks.
For instance, I had never noticed exactly how many colors of flowers adorned the sidewalks around the castle. I had never noticed how each of the little cherub angles in the fountains all seemed to be peeing instead of doing anything that the normal fountains usually did. It was crude but I imagined that Felix had a hand in this. He was, after all, the person who was always asking me to pee my name in the snow—or his name.
The epitome of maturity.
I could feel Edward's eyes on me so I looked back to him. Sure enough, his topaz eyes were bright and looking directly at me.
"What?" I asked self consciously.
"I love the expressions you get on your face when you are concentrating. Like just now your face went from awe-struck, to contemplative, to humorous, to disgusted in a matter of 90 seconds. Care to share the thoughts that are gracing your mind with me?" Edward asked as he lifted our entwined hands above my head so that he could twirl me in a circle.
I giggled as I spun in small, carefree circles around the garden.
"I was just thinking about how different everything seems to be now that you are with me. I thought about how, in your presence, the flowers have more color and notice more details of the world around me. You have no idea how much you truly affect me." I told him, blushing slightly at my intense confession.
Edward abruptly stopped spinning me.
I was worried that I had said something wrong too soon but before I could ask, I found my entire self crushed to Edward's marble chest as he hugged me tightly to him.
"Uhh…?" I sort of sputtered out into his shoulder where my face currently mashed into from the intensity of the embrace that Edward had locked me in.
"Oh, erm, sorry Bella." Edward said as he loosened his grip on me and gave me a quick one over to make sure I was not crushed from his exuberance.
"What was that Edward?" I smirked.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"You know what, mister! Don't give me that." I tried to make my voice stern and it must have worked because Edward's expression to one of a reprimanded child. It was utterly adorable.
"I just got a little happy, Bella. No big deal." Edward tried to convince me.
No big deal my ass, I thought as I raised one of my eyebrows in question.
The sheepish expression slipped from his face only to be replaced by a huge grin. It was positively blinding it was so brilliant. My heart did a familiar little flip-flop at the marvelous sight before me.
"I am happy, Bella. Completely and incandescently happy. More so than I have ever been before and it is all because of you! I would like nothing more than to hold on to you and never let you go. That was the reason for that magnitude of an embrace: I was trying to convey my happiness to you through something besides words and I guess I was slightly too exuberant." Edward apologized.
I let out a happy laugh and launched myself back into his waiting arms and hugged him as hard as I could. "I think you got your point across, Edward. I, too, am happy." I smiled as I breathed in his heady scent.
"And your happiness feeds my own for I can never be truly happy unless you are too my love." Edward spoke in a loving tone before he my feet back down on the ground and we continued our walk towards the conservatory, not letting go of each other or allowing for any unnecessary distance between our bodies.
Edward, being the gentleman that he is, opened the door to the conservatory for me and let me in first. I eagerly skipped in wanting to see Jet. He was, after all, one of the main factors in Edward and I getting back together. If he hadn't of been there, I would not have ventured out to the conservatory last night to feed him and I would not have seen Edward there.
Give that dog a Klondike Bar.
I quickly went down to the orchestral pit only to find it empty.
"Jet?" I called, searching for the little puppy. He did have black fur so maybe he was just blending in with the shadows.
"I don't think he is here." Edward said from the other side of the pit.
"Why not?" I asked, confused. We had left him in here last night. He was in the pit with us and he had tried to follow me when I had left…
I looked down to see that the gate next to me was wide open and forgotten.
"Damn it. Felix is going to kill me." I cried as I looked around quickly, double checking that Jet wasn't hiding in plain sight or something easily over looked like that.
"Trust me, I would know if he was here, and he isn't." Edward assured me. I looked back to see him standing a little ways away with an apologetic expression on his face.
"Sorry, Bella, this is probably my fault for not making sure he was safely locked up before I left but I was otherwise occupied by other things that, at the time, consumed all parts of my thoughts." Edward apologized profusely.
"Shh, shh." I put a hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him.
"I don't care. He served his purpose and now he is gone." I told Edward and pulled at his hand. We still had to go to pick up my daily task list and it was already around one in the afternoon.
"What do you mean 'he served his purpose?'" Edward asked me as we made our way back to the castle.
"As simple as that: he served his purpose. There is no underlying meaning there or what-not. Just what it sounds like." I told him as we passed one of the peeing cherub fountains. The facial expression on the little stone cherub seemed to be one of constipation and the water must have been turned off because nothing was coming out. Huh. That is sort of funny.
"And what was his purpose?" I heard Edward ask. Were we still talking about Jet? I had gotten too lost in my new and improved view on the world to fully listen to Edward's questioning.
"Umm… to bring us together." I answered as I opened the door to the castle.
I immediately dropped Edward's hand and all conversation ceased as we made our way—once again at a distance from each other—towards the front desk to see Gianna.
"I hate these arrangements." Edward mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.
I nodded in agreement and we fell silent again.
"Hello Bella!" Gianna called from her desk as Edward and I strolled in to the room.
"Good afternoon." I smiled. "Do you have my agenda for today?"
"Yes ma'am. Here you go." Gianna handed me a sheet of paper that had three tasks on it.
ONE: Physical training session at one forty five with Demitri in the gym.
TWO: Run into town for tampons.
Wait what? Why would they tell me to go get tampons?
*Above task is due to the fact that your menstrual cycle will be appearing shortly.
That must have been awkward for Aro to write.
THREE: Come see Aro after above tasks are completed.
The last task didn't bode well with me. I was slightly worried as to what Aro would want to talk to me about. Considering that I was still pissed at him for not respecting my wishes on the issue of my mortality or anything else.
"Thank you Gianna." I said as I reread the tasks chuckling to myself.
Edward came up behind me in order to see what I was laughing at. I tilted the paper towards him so that he could read it.
Within seconds Edward was laughing too.
"They keep you on a tight leash don't they?" He asked.
"You have no idea." I mumbled.
I looked up so that I could ask Gianna for the keys to my Ferrari so that Edward and I could go get…tampons but when I looked up, I found Gianna's eyes roaming in a greedily appreciative manner over Edward's body.
I knew that she couldn't help it—Edward was gorgeous—but he was mine. I was overcome with anger and an intense jealously, causing my world to go green. Before I knew what was happening, my anger exploded, sending Gianna crashing to the wall behind her.
Oh, shit.
This was not an ideal situation but I couldn't help myself.
I stalked around the desk and grabbed my keys out of the key drawer before stomping off; Edward followed behind at a safe distance incase my shield decided to make another appearance.
I stalked my way all the way to my car in the garage and got in, barley waiting for Edward to get in before I sped off. My jealously was dissipating… slowly.
"Bella?" Edward asked, his voice filled with humor. "Was that jealously I saw back there?"
A/N: Once again, I apologize profusely for not updating before now. But as I have told many of you who have taken time to ask me if I fell off the face of the earth, I was just slammed with an overly hectic week that resulted in me spending all of my free time studying and trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep here and there. But, never fear! I am now out for break for a few weeks and will be able to dedicate more time to this story!
Anyways…. this chapter was just a little Bella and Edward fluff to curb the major happenings of the last chapter or two but the eventfulness will pick up after another chapter or two of reacquainting.
AND……. It is QUOTE HUNT time! (I know this is secretly your favorite part! Admit it.)
You are looking for a quote from Aly & A.J.
:)
Have fun and good luck!
Much love,
Chey