Disclaimer:
Edward: (Has returned with Robert Pattinson) Well, here he is. All fed and ready to go. I've explained the rules of only eating animals, and we tested him around humans. I think he's ready.
Me: Wow! Thanks Edward. Hey, does he have any special powers?
Edward: Not that I've seen.
Rob: Mostly my power is I'm just really, really ridiculously good looking.
Me: (Nervous laughter)
Rob: And I can play the guitar.
Me: (and all my readers; swoon.)
Edward: (Rolls eyes) Oh please. You know Capella, since all those death threats have been lifted, perhaps I should take Robert here, and give him just a little bit more training.
Me: (Ignoring Edward) You know, you look really familiar, like someone else I know, only I can't put my finger on it.
Rob: (Gives off a dazzling smile)
Me: (Is dazzled)
Edward: (Annoyed) Seriously, maybe I should just take him back. I don't think we picked the right one.
Rob: (Growls at Edward, then goes back to dazzling)
Me: (Trying to fight off Dazzled Stupor to talk to Edward) Are you jealous Edward? Cause you had your chance.
Edward: (Kicking the dirt, with hands in his pockets, looks sheepish like a little boy) No.
Rob: Oh, he's so jealous, cause I'm so ridiculously good looking.
Me: (Nervously laughs again) Honestly, do you have a twin? Cause you look like someone… (Gets distracted again by Rob's dazzling good looks)… Edward, isn't he ridiculously good looking?
Edward: Uhg. Forget this. (Scoops Capella up in his arms and begins a quick sprint that not even the new born can catch.)
Me: (Breathless) Edward… What are you…
Edward: I'm taking you to dinner.
Me: What about Rob?
Edward: I hate that guy.
Me: You were so jealous.
Edward: Whatever, you win… okay? Are you happy?
Me: (Thinks in mind, "I win!") Yes.
Edward: (Smirks)
Rob: Uuuuhhhhh…. What happened? (Sees mirror) Oh, I am so ridiculously good looking. (Mirror changes and shows your face, cause it's a magic mirror) Oh, hello. Need a vampire body guard? Cause I'm suddenly available. Did I mention that I'm ridiculously good looking?
You: (Totally swooning right now.)
Chapter 21: Your Hand on my Heart
"Tell me why we're doing this again? For the most annoying boy on the face of the earth, might I add?" Jasper spat at me a little irritated.
I poked my nose around the room, sniffing.
"Because," I began to answer, "somewhere in the universe, he isn't the most annoying boy in the world, and I feel like I should do something nice for him."
"It's not like he even remembers anything, so what's the point?"
"It's mostly for my sanity. Just humor me, please."
"Fine," Jasper shrugged, caving. "Why do you need my help again?"
I opened the closet door. I wasn't sure of the smell, but I thought I was getting closer.
"Because…" I was trying to be patient, "you know this stuff better than I do."
"Stuff? You mean baseball?"
"Yeah, that."
Jasper chuckled. "Not even close Edward." I turned around and Jasper already had the folder under his arm.
"It's not a familiar smell to me." I defended.
"Well get a whiff of this." He opened the folder and waved the cards under my nose.
I crinkled my nose. "Not my favorite."
"You just don't understand."
"You could explain it to me."
"There's no hope for the hopeless." Jasper sat cross legged on the floor and began leafing through the cards, going at a human pace.
"Jazz, what are you doing? We don't have a lot of time till he gets home."
"I'm taking time to appreciate. Like I said, hopeless."
I sat impatiently on a work desk, and looked around the room while Jasper continued on his part of our little mission. Every once in a while he'd exclaim some sort of excitement over one of the cards. I'd never understand the thrill of baseball cards, but to each his own, and I knew he was no longer irritated with the job.
"This is amazing!" He cheered. "Only about ten of them are really quality, but do you have any idea what he could make off those cards?"
"I might." I smirked.
He didn't take his eyes off his task, but continued talking to me. "So, how did Bella take it when you explained everything? Did she believe you?"
"Of course she believed me."
"Yeah well, that girl would believe you if you swore to her the planets actually revolved around the earth, and the moon really was made of cheese."
I laughed and he continued.
"I'm still not sure I do, believe you, I mean."
"I know." I responded tapping my head. He didn't look up, but he knew what I meant.
"What'd she think about her and Mike Newton?"
I scowled. Even though I was doing this little project for him, I was done thinking that he deserved Bella. Back in my world, she was mine, and I wasn't sharing.
"She denied it till her face turned blue, and I didn't press it. I didn't want to dwell on it too much anyway. But that wasn't what bugged her the most." I paused for a moment staring up at the ceiling. "She's mad at me."
"Mad at you? For what?" He actually took a pause to look at me this time, his face bewildered. The thought of Bella mad at me was usually more unbelievable to my family then the story I'd just shared with them.
"She says she can't shake the feeling I cheated on her."
His eyes grew wide. "You? Is she kidding? With who? Jessica? You told her how you went into shock, and dumped her as soon as you came to right?"
"Not with Jessica."
"Then who?"
I raised an eye brow, and it only took a moment for him to comprehend.
"With herself? What?! That's ridiculous."
"I know."
"It was her."
"I know."
"But, that's stupid. You went there for Bella. You kissed Bella. She's Bella!"
"I know."
Jasper shook his head, perplexed, and went back to his task.
I thought back to my conversation with Bella, when I'd shared with her about my twenty four hour experience. She was wide eyed the whole time, complaining at the part where she got kidnapped, that she would never escape attracting danger, and would probably end up starting another vampire war when she changed. She took my hand when I explained how it felt to cry, what it was like having the wet drops fall down my cheek. She laughed when I told her about the pop tarts and the hall monitor, and she'd wished we really had a Melvin Springs at our school. She cringed when I told her about Riley and the Rouges and the warehouse incident.
But when I'd shared our moment in the hospital with her, when I explained what it was like kissing and holding her as a human, she had a bit of trouble digesting it.
She wasn't entirely angry with me, more like she couldn't decide if she should be.
"I don't know Edward," she'd said. "It just seems like it wasn't me."
"But it was you!" I pleaded, desperate for her not to think in that direction.
"But I don't remember it."
"Bella, it was you. You can't possibly think that I would ever… that I could…" I couldn't even get the word out. "Bella, I went back there for you. I wanted to be human for you."
"But the vampire told you before that I wouldn't remember it. Edward, you didn't go back for me. You went back for you."
She let that sink in, and while she wasn't trying to be hurtful, it stung a little, but only because I realized she was right. I wanted to experience being human with Bella. I wanted to know what it would be like to hold her tight without the danger of breaking her.
"But I'm not mad about that," she continued.
"Bella, I don't know how to explain it to you better. It really was you. And I want to share this with you. Please don't be mad."
"I just need some time to process it... Alone."
That was last thing I wanted to do. I tried to stay, even continued pleading a little longer, but I'd never seen Bella with that expression on her face before, and I'd been constantly thinking of a way to make her happy enough to forget about it.
"This is a great collection." Jasper stated interrupting my thoughts. "You should know though, it's going to cost quite a bit to get him the kind of cards you're thinking of."
"Just tell me what I need."
Jasper put the folder back on a book shelf in Mike's room, then quickly grabbed a pen and paper out of the desk and wrote down ten names. "Any of these," he said. "I know a guy in Tacoma that could probably get us a few of them."
I looked towards the window. "Thanks Jazz. They'll be home in two minutes. Let's go."
We quickly jumped out Mike's bedroom window, got in my Volvo, and drove to Tacoma.
The next day at school, I left the envelope in his locker, with an anonymous note that had read, "Thank you, more than you'll ever know, thank you." and next to the note, each carefully laminated, were five baseball cards Jasper had assured me that were of top notch quality, and anyone who knew anything about baseball would have a heart attack over them. He didn't have a heart attack, but Alice did see him fainting. I didn't need to stick around to see it, (it was funny enough in her mind.)
At lunch Mike was now showing off his new "treasure." I smiled to myself as I watched him, and listened to his joyful reverie both in his mouth, and in his mind.
Bella sat with me and Alice, as usual, but she didn't say anything. She'd had her window closed the night before, and today I was going mad at the vibrant screaming in her silence. It rang through my mind like a fog horn at my ears, and I couldn't stop the sickness I felt in my chest as I worried more and more what she was thinking. My imagination was running wild with theories, none of them good.
I pleaded with her now and then to talk to me, but she always shook her head no, and I couldn't fight her. I'd never seen her like this, and I wasn't yet sure how to respond. The more I demanded, the more agitated she looked. The more I left her alone, the more I felt a chasm between us.
I dropped her off at home, and again, she didn't speak the whole way. Charlie was home, and she got out of the car, offering a quick good bye, and then disappeared into the house.
I remained in the drive way for a minute, partly feeling the same shock I'd felt when I'd first seen her kiss Mike, and then found out I was Jessica Stanley's boyfriend, and I was partly debating whether or not to just break down her door, Charlie or no Charlie, and demand she tell me what she was thinking.
I drove home.
When I went in the house, Alice and Jasper were on the couch. Without looking at me Alice called out, "I don't know what she'll say to you, she hasn't decided yet. Carlisle's waiting for you in the office. I told him you wanted to talk to him."
I opened my mouth to snap at her, but thought the better of it and went upstairs, Jasper's thought's sympathizing with me as I left.
"Sorry Edward. Don't worry, she'll get over it. You know that girl can never stay mad at you forever."
His thought's then proceeded to imagine Emmett singing "Twinkle Twinkle," something he'd been doing often since I'd told my family the story. It had been his favorite part, and even though he still was undecided as to whether he believed me or not, he liked to imagine it. It made him laugh.
He and Carlisle were the only one's who were doubtful. It hurt a little that Carlisle didn't believe me, but he was a bit more scientifically minded than the rest of us. Jasper was, well, he was just more practical. If he didn't know any better, he probably wouldn't believe in vampires at all.
Rosalie was the only one who hadn't heard the story yet. She'd called to say she was going on an extended hunting trip. Emmett offered to join her, but she'd claimed she'd needed some alone time. Em took advantage of Rosalie's "alone time" and helped Esme redecorate where I had abandoned her. It was something he secretly enjoyed, but didn't want Rose to know, thinking she might think less of him, or call him some stupid girly name. She probably would have given him the nickname, but she'd never think less of her Emmett.
Sure enough, Carlisle was waiting for me upstairs.
"Dad." I said as I walked in. He smiled at me. I'd been using the term more often the last day since I'd gotten back, (although my family claimed that the time I'd left for hunting to the moment I'd seen Esme through the window hadn't been more than half a day.) After what he'd done for me as a human, he'd felt more like my father than ever.
"Hello son. What's on your mind?"
I sat down on his desk next to where he was sitting and shrugged. "Bella won't talk to me."
He looked just as confused Jasper when I'd told him the same thing. I explained to him how she'd reacted to the story, and how she'd been shutting me out since. I felt like crying. I wanted to cry. I would have if I could have. The tears were one of the things I missed most about being human. The other was being with Bella, but since that was what had gotten me in trouble, I tried not to think about it.
"I can't stand it! I can't handle her not talking to me, not knowing what's going on in her mind. How can I help her if she won't talk to me?"
Carlisle eyed me speculatively for a moment, and then put a hand on my shoulder and a smile on his face. "Son," he said, a hint of humor in his voice.
I stared back at him confused, irritated, and desperate.
"Edward… I know it's been a while since there's really been a woman in your life, a hundred years give or take," he smirked, "but this is a lesson every man has to learn. This is a girl thing."
"What?"
"Women just do this sometimes. Even vampire women. They're fine one minute, and then one little thing sets them off, and the next moment they need to "process," A.K.A, they get lost in their own thoughts, come off as angry at the world, and completely shut you out."
"Amen to that." Jasper's thoughts chimed in my ears.
"So not even true at all." Alice thought in a bitter, angry tone.
"It not like that Carlisle, she thinks I cheated on her."
"No Edward, it's exactly like that. Bella knows how much you love her. She knows you would never cheat. She'll get past this, and before you know it, the mood swing will pass, and she'll be all doey eyed over you again."
I wanted to believe him, but it sounded impossible.
"Please don't take this offensively. I know you have a tendency to want to fix everything, but when a woman gets into one of these moods, the best thing to do is just back off, and let them… 'process.' Trust me, everything's going to be fine."
I tried to refresh and encourage myself with my father's words as I ran to Bella's that night, but I stopped at the store and picked up some flowers just in case. Before I got to her house, I had a sudden panic attack that she'd shut the window on me again. I didn't think I could go another night away from her.
I breathed in relief when I saw that it was open. I didn't waist my time scaling the wall, careful not to mess up the flowers in the process.
She was waiting for me, sitting on the bed. I knew she knew I was there, but she couldn't quite bring herself to look at me right away. Her face still looked a bit solemn, but more resolved.
Finally, she looked up, and motioned with her hand for me to join her on the bed. She eyed the floral arrangement as I took each careful step closer to her. I sat down, and without saying anything, (too afraid my words would break the atmosphere like glass) I handed her the flowers. She took them in her hands, smelled them while closing her eyes, and then looked back up at me… and smiled.
I let out a huge breath of air in relief. Her smile was enough to keep me floating up above water. Whatever she was thinking, she didn't hate me, and that was enough to start with, but I still couldn't say anything. I wasn't sure what her boundaries were just yet.
She got up, smelled the flowers once again, and set them on her desk. "I'll get some water for those in a minute," she said, then sat back down next to me.
She stared at me with a deep, unfathomable expression for a long time, not saying a word, and as crazy as it had made me before, I was now at breaking point.
"Bella, I can't take this anymore! You have to talk to me! Please, tell me what you're thinking! I'm sorry I made you feel like I betrayed you, but I didn't, I didn't, I…"
"Oh, I don't think that anymore," she interrupted me.
I was officially dumbfounded. My brain was turning into mush, and I was forgetting how to form coherent sentences. Isn't that why she hadn't been talking to me since yesterday afternoon? Isn't that what I'd been stressing out about non-stop that entire time? "Wha.. Wai… Bel…"
"Oh no, I was over that by the time I woke up this morning."
"I don…unde…"
"You were right, I was being silly. It was me. I know you love me."
"Then, what?" Suddenly, I was beyond frustration, and it took all my self-control to keep my wild and crazy tone down so as not to wake up Charlie. "Bella! If you don't explain to me what's going on in that radio silent head of yours, I swear I am going to explode into pieces right here, and you're going to have to put me back together."
She chuckled. "Calm down Edward. I'll explain."
She grabbed one of my hands with both of hers, held it for a minute, stroking my skin with her fingers, and then lifted up that hand and placed it on her neck. She held it there and closed her eyes.
"Bella?" I asked.
"Shhh. Just wait a minute."
So I tried to muster up some patience, and studied her face very carefully as she held my hand against her warm, beautiful skin. I could feel her pulse beating in her neck, and it burned the tips of my fingers, but I didn't dare move them.
Finally she opened her eyes, but didn't remove hers or my hand. She took a deep breath and said, "you can't imagine how that feels."
"It can't feel that great, I'm ice cold." I bit back without thinking.
She scowled at me. "That Edward, that right there, that's why I've been upset. I thought about your story, and there was something about it that was bothering me, and I couldn't put my finger on it. I was trying to figure it out all day, and it didn't hit me until today. I opened the freezer to get some ice, and I couldn't shut it. I was just standing there, letting the cold air brush against my face. I was imagining it was you, and finally Charlie came in and yelled at me for letting all the cold out, and it hit me. That's what I was upset about."
"I know. I wish there was a way to change it…"
"That right there! I'm not upset that your skin is cold, Edward. I'm upset because you keep thinking that I'm so repulsed by you, when you're so far off the mark, I'm beginning to question that you're as smart as you make yourself out to be." She smirked at me again, but I just stared at her, wide eyed and confused. This wasn't where I'd expected the conversation to go at all.
She continued. "You keep wishing you were something different for me, but don't you know, I love you just the way you are? I mean, did I not make that clear enough for you yesterday?"
She moved my hand and placed it over her heart. Her voice was soft and loving as she spoke. "That, right there. Do you feel my heart racing?" She looked up in my eyes, pleading with them for me to understand. "It does that whenever you touch me, or has your vampire hearing already figured that out?"
She lifted herself up on her knees and moved closer to me, till her forehead was resting against mine. She kept my hand over her heart, and I was drowning in the emotions that were swelling inside me. How could she have known these were the exact words I'd needed to hear? It didn't change my opinion. I would have given anything, anything at all to be human for Bella, but it did make my heart swell to have my hand on her skin, and hear her say she craved the icy touch.
She finally released her hand and wrapped her arms around my neck, drawing her body closer to mine. "I belong to you Edward, and I want you just the way you are. Cold, and smooth, and beautiful." She kissed me softly on the lips, and it was a strange phenomenon. For once, Bella was ministering healing to my insecurities, instead of the other way around.
I put my ice cold hands on her face and held them there, right where they belonged.
She laughed then, and I smiled in response. "What?"
"It's just… I'm sorry I dated Mike."
I hissed in the darkness. "Well, thanks for ruining the moment."
She laughed again, and the musical notes it hit broke through my frustration. "It's just, I would never…" She laughed again, pulling away from me a bit.
I pulled her back, and smiled big, bringing our faces closer again. "Well, I did date Jessica, so I guess we're even."
She scowled this time. "Thanks for ruining the moment."
I laughed and wrapped my arms a little tighter around her waist.
She caved and dropped the scowl. "You know what my favorite part was?" She asked. I shook my head. "The way you explained the tears. I almost started crying."
"I didn't tell that part to my family. I only wanted to share it with you. It felt very… sacred."
"I'm glad." She kissed my nose and then put her cheek to mine. "How did pop tarts taste?"
"Disgusting," I said with nonchalance.
She laughed again. "Perhaps you just need to give them a second chance."
"Too late for that love. I did like coke though." I kissed her neck. I could sense our conversation coming to an end.
She moved her head and nuzzled it into my neck. "I wish I could remember."
"Me too."
"Edward?"
"Yeah?"
But she didn't finish her question. Instead she brought her face back to mine, and officially ended the conversation.
I had had twenty four hours of being human. Twenty four hours of trying to win Bella's heart all over again. Twenty four hours of being the kind of man she deserved. Twenty four hours where I got to experience a world where we could be together without pain, without fear, and without bars.
But here, in this moment, where I felt Bella's love for me stronger than any moment before, I would have traded that entire twenty four hours just to experience it over, and over and over again. There was no moment more significant than when she placed my hand over her heart, and my heart heard, this is right, this belongs.
I broke our kiss, and I put my hand over her heart again. I turned my eyes to my hand and listened intently to the sound of her heartbeat. She smiled at me, and placed her hand over mine.
And I was more sure right then, more than I'd ever been in my entire existence, that Bella was right, we belonged together. Whatever world we got ensnared in, we belonged together.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Epilogue
My head felt funny, like something was pounding it inside. I opened my eyes as the blurry images around me quickly began to focus. Looking around I noticed I was in a room I didn't recognize.
"What?" I mumbled, and my voice sounded strange to me. It sounded tired.
I was on a bed that wasn't mine, in a room that wasn't mine, speaking in a voice that wasn't mine.
I pushed the covers off me and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I stood up and got a head rush. I stumbled and caught myself on the bed post.
That never happened to me. Something was seriously off.
And then, I remembered.
No! It couldn't be happening. Was it? Was it really real?
I held up my hands and looked at my skin. Color? Where was the white?
I touched my arm. It was warm.
Oh… My… Gosh…
She was right! It was really happening!
I began jumping up and down. I even let out a shriek, something else that never happened to me.
I ran to a mirror and began to study my face. It was just as I'd remembered it. As surprised as I was, I couldn't stop the excessively large smile that spread across my face. Could anything be more wonderful?
I was… human.
I shrieked again as I thought the word. I found a CD player stashed on a dresser and pressed play. I didn't care what was in it, I just needed to dance.
There was no particular choreographed move, I just jumped around the strange and unfamiliar room. I jumped on the floor, I jumped on the bed, I grabbed a hair brush and began to sing along to the words. I'd never felt so alive, and that was exactly what I was.
Alive!
I froze as a loud knock pounded on my door, and a strange, yet somehow familiar voice screamed from the other end.
"Rosalie Stanley, what on earth is going on in there?"
Stanley?
NO!!!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO The End XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
(A/N: Well, there you have it, the very end of Twenty Four Hours. Since there have been so many reviews, I'm just going to PM you to thank you personally rather than write them all out here. I'm sorry if you don't have an account, but know that I appreciate every review, and am so thankful for every one. I have been so honored with the response this story has gotten.
I would like to comment though, on a couple people who don't have accounts for me to PM you, and I think you SHOULD just make one, because I always want to reply to your reviews, and I can't. These are just a couple people who have been with my story from the beginning and have reviewed every chapter.
dazzledbyEdward63- You always left me the sweetest reviews, and I felt like I got to know you a little bit through this story. Thank you so much. And you really need to just make an account so I can PM you next time. : ) P.S: Thank you for telling your friends about my story. I thought that was super cool.
Vampirate1963- Your reviews made me laugh. It was fun to watch you and Hailey and your friend and cousin have conversations with each other on my reviews. It reminded me of when I was in high school, my two best friends and I would read fan fictions together and talk about them. Thank you again. You were always very sweet.
Cullencrazy- You as well were always very sweet, and have been reviewing my story since the beginning. I appreciate that more than you know. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed the end.
issabell*Edward93- You left me a couple funny reviews as well, which always brighten my day considerably. I love that you four all had a little camaraderie while reading this, and I'm glad you got on the wagon. : ) Thanks again!
MyDarkAngel710- I will never forget that sweet (and by sweet I mean purely awesome) disclaimer you wrote for me. That was so great, and I laughed so hard. Thanks again for all your reviews.
Okay, just to let you guys know my future fan fiction plans, so you're not waiting around forever wondering what's going on with me, I'll give you an update.
I will not be writing a sequel to Twenty Four Hours. This story is done, and I have no desire to come back to it, but thank you to everyone who said they wanted one. That's very sweet.
I will be taking a break from fan fiction. I'm not joking at all when I say I've spent so much time at the computer in the last two months, my eyes are dilating more than is normal. It's a little scary, and I think they need a break, plus I need to take some time and do something real, like go to the beach or something.
I do have ideas for a couple of different Twilight stories, so I might muse over those and develop them a little bit, and when I come back, pick one to work on. Which would you prefer: A Bella and Edward story, (all human, takes place hundreds of years ago, think Tristan and Isolde) or a Jasper and Alice story, (a different version of how they met, set during the Vampire Wars)?
Well, that's it. Thank you again SO MUCH for everyone who reviewed. I'm truly blessed by the response 24 Hours has gotten, and I really hope you're all happy with the ending. Have a wonderful Christmas Month!
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