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A/N: Beta'd by cupcakeriot. Without her, this would have been impossible.
Augury Chapter Thirteen
It's pitch black outside. The sound of the hammering rain is enough to drown out the soft music coming from the radio and it's becoming increasingly hard to see ahead, as the windshield is getting blurry as soon as the wiper blades are wiping it clean, due to the heavy onslaught of rain. Not wanting to end up with the car wrapped around a tree, I stop it but keep the headlights on. A quick look around tells me that I'm halfway home. And judging by the way the trees are shaking, I'm guessing a bad storm is on its way. Driving all the way home will not be worth the risk - I sigh in frustration and restart the engine to go back the way I came. But as luck would have it, I'm met with nothing but silence. There is no roar of the engine.
"Oh, come on!" I groan. Great. Just great.
Looking around, there is not a single car in sight. My attention is drawn back to the cell phone on the passenger seat when it starts to vibrate again. It has been going off non-stop since I ran out of Cullen's house. Unable to ignore it any longer, I pick it up and let out a gasp when it lights up.
24 missed calls, 16 messages
I'm dead.
I frown at the phone in my hand, pondering on what sort of welcome I'll be getting on my return. It's sure to be a unpleasant one. Left without any other option, I unwillingly dial Em's number.
Waiting for Em to pick up, my distracted mind fails to register the shadow hovering outside the window. A sudden knock causes me to yelp and drop my phone. Swiftly turning to locate the source of the sound, I find a faint outline of a male figure standing outside the passenger side of the car. I cannot make out much but the blurred view is enough to tell me that it's neither my father or my brother.
"W-Who is it?" I stammer, feeling my throat close up in fear.
The person outside says something but it's unintelligible to my ears. The knocking continues as I quickly make sure that the doors are locked and all the windows are up. Maybe it's just someone checking to see if everything is alright. My feeble attempts to calm myself down aren't enough. The thought of finding glaring, red eyes behind the window is enough to paralyze me with fear. So, when something vibrates beneath my feet, I let out a scream.
"Bella?" The person outside shouts and starts to bang on the window forcefully.
Cullen.
In a moment, I rip open my seat-belt and crawl across the front seat to unlock and push open the door.
"Bella? Bella? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" My mind barely registers his anxious voice as his eyes sweep up and down my body in search of any kind of bruise or wound. I don't even realize that I'm crying until a choked sob breaks free from within me.
"Oh, Bella," Edward's eyes fill with sympathy and he gently lifts me, sliding into the passenger seat and resting me on his lap. The sound of the car door being slammed closed makes me flinch and I hide my tear tracked face into Edward's chest. Some tiny part of my mind starts wondering what the hell I am doing but the bigger, more demanding part of my mind tells me to simply shrug it off.
I close my eyes, dig deeper into Edward's lap and let him hold me tightly as my heart rate slowly descends. A few minutes later, Edward's phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out to answer it.
"Hello?" he speaks into the phone. "Yes, yes, I've got her. No, she's alright. The car broke down."
It must be Em or Dad. God, they are probably worried out of their minds!
I push myself up into a sitting position and Edward looks down at me. "No, you don't have to come. We'll be back in a few minutes. Yes, bye," he ends the call and puts his phone back inside his pocket without looking away from me.
When he doesn't say anything after a minute, I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind.
"You're wet," I say, pointing out the obvious. His copper hair and clothes are plastered to his skin and water is dripping down his face.
"So are you," he says, his mouth pulling up in a smile.
I look down to find big wet splotches on my dress and unconsciously crack a smile too.
"C'mon, we have to go now," Edward says, unlocking the door to exit. I push off his lap and step into the rain, waiting for him to follow. Unexpectedly, he takes my hand in his and pulls me along to his car. "You sure you're alright?" Edward asks again, starting the car.
I nod, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. Edward cranks the heater up high and I close my eyes. The inside of his car smells like heaven. I hungrily breathe it in, too far gone to remember who I have sitting beside me. It smells like morning dew. It smells like sunshine. It smells like lemonade. It smells like him.
My aching muscles slowly relax and I finally drift off to sleep. And as soon as I do, the walls of Troy comes crumbling down.
"Bella!" Achilles exclaims.
I smile. Thank you.
He chuckles. "Greek mythology? Really?"
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" I quickly cover my ears with my hands for fear Em's voice might burst my ear drums.
"I wasn't. I―" I try to defend myself but my words fall on deaf ears. Em continues pacing the hallway, his hands balled up by his sides and keeps muttering unintelligible things. "I'm sorry, Em. I―"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE? WE ALL HAVE ENOUGH ON OUR PLATES AS IT IS, BELL, WE DON"T NEED YOU RUNNING OFF AT EVERY CHANCE YOU GET JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN"T HANDLE A LITTLE COMPETITION!"
"I know, Em. And I'm sorry for running off like that. But you had nothing to be worried about. I have my shield. I cannot be harmed," I say with a smile.
Em stops pacing and turns at me with a matching smile.
"OUCH!" I look down at my arm which was quickly turning red now. "Did you just pinch me?" I demand.
Em snorts. "Yeah, truck load of good that shield of yours can do."
"Why you little―" I start but am interrupted by Rose.
"Uh, guys, can we please do this later? We're starting to attract attention."
I look around to find a dozen of freshmen openly staring at us. Oh, right. We're in school.
"What the hell are you looking at? Scram!" Em's voice is enough to disperse the small crowd in seconds. I glare at him, still massaging my arm.
"Guys, the bell will ring any moment. We should be getting to class," Jazz says, coming into view, his arm thrown around a hyperactive short thing.
I roll my eyes. Well, they've certainly seem to hit it off.
"Hey, Bell, take Edward with you. He has AP Biology now too," Jazz tells me and then disappears into thin air before I can even open my mouth to protest.
"Hey." His closeness makes me freeze.
"H-Hello," I stammer, avoiding eye contact.
He sighs, his breath falling on my naked shoulder. "Listen, sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have touched you like that without permission. It was inappropriate."
Oh, no. You can touch me like that any time you want.
My eyes widen suddenly.
What the hell, Bella?
"Yes, that was very wrong. And it will never happen again. So, it's alright. It's getting late. We should be going to class. Let's go." I answer curtly, walking away.
Looks like the walls of Troy are down again, Briseis.
His voice in my mind causes me to still. He laughs as he passes by me and my heart skips a beat.
Ah, shit.
-x-
A/N: Okay, so I obviously suck at keeping promises. This chapter was supposed to go up weeks ago. I'm sorry. It's just that my computer really, really hates me.
I'll just get on with your long overdue replies then.
Guest- Thanks for the advice. I remembered it this time, see?
sujari6- Yes, she does. Keep reading carefully and maybe you'll be able to figure it out.
dinotopian- No, thank you!
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