Previously, in Chapter 24...
I dropped the knife next to my carving, next to various carvings that people, old and young alike, had scratched into the surface of the table over the years. The blade landed with the tip pointing directly at the picture I'd etched into the surface...the picture of a pair of gloves resting against the battered surface.
Chapter Twenty-Five: In My Bones
Dying is a wild night
and a new road.
~Emily Dickinson~
The minutes, hours, and days dragged by after Alice's overdose. I fretted over my sister. She hadn't moved again, not one single time since that one fateful little twitching of her finger.
Edward, the August sun, and my perpetual state of worry were now the only constants in my life.
Edward remained diligently by my side; he was my rock, my strength, through the stormy trials of those endless summer days. He ignored the whispers, stares, and scowls of my various family members during the time we spent in the hospital, placing a stoic, unwavering expression on his face. The only relatives of mine unaffected by his presence were Kate and Nana.
Emmett gazed at him warily, undoubtedly remembering the incident involving Rose, which we had yet to explain to him. There were far greater things on our minds than Emmett's disgruntled presence.
Jasper weathered the storm with us as well. He was never far from Alice's side. He, like Edward and I, remained near her at all times. Jasper's wrinkled clothes were the same ones he wore the night we found Alice. A smear of dried blood boldly stood out near the hem of his white t-shirt. His blonde hair was disheveled and slightly greasy. To say he was in dire need of a good, hot shower was an understatement. Hell, we all were. I'd tried talking him into going home to bathe and rest, but he'd refused.
Guilt swam in the murky depths of his blue eyes, and I knew he somehow blamed himself for Alice's condition.
My mother's constant presence was nothing short of awkward and unfortunate. She sat in a small recliner-type chair throughout the days, her legs tucked neatly beneath her as she skimmed through the pages of an old magazine. When she'd grow tired, she'd rest her weary head against the old recliner, her auburn curls fanning out against the stiff, salmon-colored fabric.
How sleep came so easily to my mother was beyond my comprehension. I'd only nodded off for a couple of hours those first two days, and even then it was only out of pure exhaustion.
No matter how long I pondered over my mother, I could never wrap my brain around why she remained at the hospital. I expected her to show up and play the part of the sad mother, but I never expected her to remain dutifully by Alice's side. Especially upon finding out who Alice and I were dating.
Renee Swan was pissed upon finding out about Edward, there was no doubt about that. I was unsure why considering her past relationship with James.
First came Renee's shock, then her burning hatred. She'd glare at me with her lips pressed tightly together in a thin line. I begged her. I begged that woman to tell me what she was thinking, what was on her mind. She remained silent, choosing to sit in that fucking stiff-assed recliner and read, ironically enough, Parents magazine.
My mother's presence was not only unwanted by me, but by Nana as well. Nana visited frequently at short intervals and called constantly. During her visits she would hover over little Alice, adjusting the sheet and thin blanket tucked around her, while peering anxiously at her face. Nana would squeeze and pat her hand, eventually shuffling out as she struggled in vain to hide her teary eyes.
I guess we all felt a little guilty over Alice. I saw it in Nana's watery eyes, felt it humming through the air from her body as she shuffled quietly away. She blamed herself, just as Jasper did, allowing the 'what ifs' to repeat over and over in her brain.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't blame them both a bit for Alice's overdose. Accusation was easier to swallow than the hard knot of my own guilt that stayed constantly embedded in my throat. I was my sister's protector. I had been since the day she was born. It was my job to keep her safe, and I'd failed her.
I'd failed myself.
Detective Uley continued to sniff around from time to time, although he was pretty neutral around me and my family. We weren't strangers to law enforcement. We never had been, and never would be, so his appearance didn't plague us much. We simply answered his questions and then ignored him, as we had in previous years when the FBI or DEA stepped in.
There were two people conveniently missing in the mix of things: Uncle Aro and Royce King.
Once Alice was weaned from the ventilator and began breathing on her own, the frequency of our uncle's visits dwindled until they eventually ceased altogether. Alice had yet to awaken, but I held onto hope, praying for my sister to get better, wake up, and explain the events that took place the night of her overdose.
Aro's disappearing act tugged and itched at my brain, causing me to feel all twisted and jumbled up inside. I remained suspicious of him, believing he possibly hired or bribed Royce to murder my sister. It was all too convenient how Aro left the football game, how Royce's truck was found stashed in the woods near our home, and the hand-shaped bruising on Alice's body.
I remembered Kate's words about how Ben was selling drugs for Aro. I thought about questioning Ben, but in the end I held back; he was untrustworthy. The last thing I needed was for him to tip Aro off that I was onto everything.
It was a Sunday when life took another nose dive, spinning our world into a tornado of chaos. I awoke with my body stiff from the hard, uncomfortable recliner Edward and I shared.
Normally the two of us lay in each others arms, although sometimes I'd climb on Alice's hospital bed and rest next to my sister. That morning, however, I awoke alone, with nothing but the gentle breaths of my sister to comfort me, and the sound of my mother's incessant light snores.
I stretched and yawned before standing from the chair. Glancing through the blinds, I noticed it was near daybreak. The sun was barely over the horizon, coating the dewy morning in a light sherbet-orange glow.
After shuffling to the restroom and brushing my teeth, I peeked my head out into the hallway. My eyes fell upon two very familiar silhouettes standing down the lengthy hospital corridor.
Aro and Billy Black.
Concealing myself Alice's room, I watched the two men as they conversed, solemn expressions on both their faces. Their eyes fell haphazardly on Alice's door at times, but I was confident the two men couldn't see me through the thin crack between door and wall. They spoke at length before they turned and strolled down the corridor leading to the elevators, and eventually disappearing from my view.
I began to step away from the door, but paused as I noticed Edward slip from a room near where Aro and Billy had stood. Edward's face was pinched in distress as he stalked to Alice's room, his eyes dark and determined. I gently pushed the door open, fully revealing myself to him as he caught my wondering gaze.
Edward halted at the door, glancing in to see Renee still huddled and sleeping on the salmon-colored recliner. He gestured for me to follow him, his eyes stormy and clouded with emotion. I cast one last glimpse into my sister's room before slipping past the door and it shut quietly behind me.
"You were right," he whispered, glancing down the long corridor where Aro and Billy once stood. "We have to get Alice out of here."
"Why? What's going on?" I questioned, my heart seizing in my chest.
"I talked Jasper into going home to clean up," he explained. "Then I went to grab a Coke from the vending machine. I started back to Alice's room and heard Aro and Billy talking. I ducked into an empty room and stood near the door to listen.
"They were all in on it, Bella. Aro, Billy, and Royce. That's what they were talking about. Billy was the look-out. He watched your house the night of Alice's overdose. He called Royce after you left for the game, then called Aro when we pulled up. He was there, Bella. Somewhere on your property then entire time. Watching, waiting."
"Oh, my God," I whispered. "I knew it. I felt it in my bones. Buzzing in my head. I just knew they were all in on it together.
"When Alice wakes up, she's going to tell everyone what happened! It'll be enough to have them all locked up."
Edward stared at me for a long moment. His green eyes flickered across my face, carefully studying my features. His jaw was clenched, the muscle beneath the flesh bulging as he bit down, thoughtfully appraising me.
"What if she doesn't wake up, Bella?" he finally asked, his voice soft, yet firm. "What if Alice never wakes up? They'll get away with it. They'll get away with killing everyone. We can't let them get away with it, Bella. Besides, I don't think Aro plans for Alice to wake up."
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
"Aro can't risk Alice waking up," he explained, raking his fingers through his hair. "That's what the two of them were talking about. That Fed has been snooping around. The doctor said Alice should pull through fine. Aro is nervous. Nervous people do crazy things. I think he'll try to kill Alice, somehow, some way. Maybe he'll pay someone off; get a nurse to mix up her meds with something lethal. Maybe he'll..."
"Stop!" I demanded, holding my hand up and shaking my head. "I don't want to know your theories on how he's gonna off my sister! I need to know how to save her! What do you suggest?"
"We beat him at his own game," he coolly replied.
"How?"
"I'm not sure what to do," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "But I know someone who might. I'm calling Carlisle."
~DSDW~
"Alice, you really look like shit," Kate grumbled later that day, removing my sister's pale, flaccid leg from beneath the thin, mint-green blanket. "Being in a coma is no excuse for lack of good personal hygiene."
Kate slowly began painting Alice's toenails an audacious bloody red, the color standing out boldly against her pale skin. Alice remained in her peaceful slumber, her long black lashes resting gently against her cheeks, unaware of our cousin's insults and pampering.
A textbook laid in my lap, as it had all day long. I couldn't for the life of me tell you what subject it was. Kate gathered my school work each day, bringing it to the hospital so I could work on it in the confines of Alice's room.
There was something about that particular day that stole my attention from the pages in front of me. It could have been the doctors constantly shuffling in and out all day long, confounded by my sister's condition. They could find no medical reason for her state of unconsciousness. Maybe it was the strain of my mother's vicious glares weighing on my mind, or the thought of Aro harming my sister. Either way, my homework remained in my lap, untouched.
"I still can't get over the three of you," Makenna mused, curling her legs beneath her in the chair my mother normally rested in. "Dating Cullen boys."
Renee had left the room earlier for a cup of coffee. I'm sure she was simply tired of the awkward glares that came from Kate, Jasper, Edward, and me.
Edward and I remained in our normal spot, curled up in the recliner at Alice's bedside. He traced patterns across my bare arm while Kate and Makenna spoke. Goosebumps erupted across my flesh with each delicate stroke of his finger. I heard his quiet chuckle in my ear, my head resting in the crook of his neck. I was content in his arms, even when my mother was present, even during my cousin's questions of our relationship, and my sister's unresponsive state.
"Ben is furious, FYI," Makenna continued, taking the nail polish from a glaring Kate. She ran the brush along Alice's big toe, coating the nail with the angry color. "He says you're a bunch of traitors. I can't believe your parents didn't flip their shit, Kate."
"Oh, they did," Kate replied, holding her head up high, gazing down her nose at our cousin. "They were pissed, but what are the gonna do? Shoot me? Ha! Aro, maybe, but not them."
"Yeah, Aro is super pissed," Makenna continued, her voice light and careless. "I heard him talking to Daddy at the office. They didn't know I was listening. Everyone assumes I'm clueless, walking around with my head in the clouds. I know what's going on."
"What do you mean?" Kate asked suspiciously, her crystal blue eyes narrowing on Makenna's undisturbed face. "What did you hear them say?"
"They were arguing," she shrugged, finishing the last toenail, and shoving the brush into the bottle before screwing it back on. "Their secretary called in sick and they needed someone to fill in for her. I was filing paperwork for Daddy when Aro came storming in. He slammed the door behind him, but I could still hear every word."
Makenna's voice trailed off. Her cocoa-colored eyes darted up, landing on Alice's resting face. Makenna pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, nervously chewing on her chapped lip as she studied Alice, her best friend.
Makenna was making a decision at that very moment, and we could all tell. The four of us said nothing, choosing to silently wait her out. Finally, she drew in a deep breath, then spoke in a quick, frantic whisper.
"They're all in on it," she admitted, glancing between me, Kate, Jasper, and Edward. "Aro is the ringleader. It was all his idea, but Marcus, Alec, and Felix, they'll do anything he tells them to do.
"They've been working with James Cullen and a man named Liam for years. They were planning on taking down Carlisle soon, taking over his contacts so they can build their own empire.
"Then y'all messed up their plans, started snooping around, messing with the Cullens. They're scared of you, Bella. They're scared of you and Alice, terrified that you have some sort of information on Uncle Charlie's death.
"They don't trust James. They work with him, but they don't trust him. You can't trust anyone in the game. He's got something linking Aro to Charlie's death, but I dunno what it is. They're scared, you know? They're scared James gave y'all the information."
"Why are you telling us this?" I asked, my heart thumping frantically in my chest.
"Because Alice is my best friend," Makenna responded quietly. "She's always been there for me. I love my father, but what he and his brothers are doing is wrong. I'm sorry, Kate, that you had to find out about Uncle Felix this way."
"My father is a dirty dog," Kate sighed. "I love the bastard for the simple fact that he's my daddy, but that doesn't make what he did right. We need that evidence."
"James still isn't talking," Edward murmured, garnering our attention as he continued to slowly stroke my arm, appearing blissfully lost in the action as his eyes followed the trail of his fingers.
James still isn't talking. Did that mean he and Liam remained in Carlisle's basement? That question remained unspoken. I was unsure if Edward felt comfortable enough to discuss James and Liam in front of Makenna. I tucked my question away, saving it for another time.
"It doesn't matter," Jasper spoke up, finally breaking his silence.
Jasper was so quiet I'd almost forgotten he was there. He sat on the opposite side of Alice's hospital bed, lovingly holding one of her limp hands in his own. He stared at her miserably, his deep blue eyes drowning in worry.
Kate opened her mouth, possibly to ask the meaning of his simple statement, but she was interrupted by the shrieking of an alarm. The sound was shattering, the type of shrill that leaves your ears throbbing and your brain bleeding.
"Shit!" Makenna exclaimed, pressing her hands over her ears as the ear-splitting blare rang out. "What the hell is that?"
"It's the fire alarm," Kate yelled, holding her own hands over her ears, her eyes wide with panic.
There was a flutter of activity outside Alice's open door. Staff rushed by, frantically pacing around, and yelling to one another above the deafening noise.
Tossing my books on the nearby windowsill, I jumped up, following Kate and Makenna to the door. The three of us looked out in the hallway, with Edward and Jasper behind us. The group of us began glancing back and forth down the corridor, anxiously trying to see what all the commotion was about.
A tall man wearing khaki pants, a blue button-up shirt, and a white lab coat paused near the doorway. His thick, dark eyebrows were drawn in concern as he grasped a clipboard in his hands and gestured down the corridor.
"Y'all need to get out," he hollered in a firm, yet calm voice. "There's a fire on the second floor. You need to take the stairwell and exit the building as quickly as possible."
"What about my sister?" I asked, reaching out and grabbing Kate's arm for support. "What about the other patients?"
"We'll take care of her," he assured me. "We're well prepared. We have fire drills frequently. Now, do as I say and get out of the building as quickly as possible."
Kate and Makenna nodded, but I remained in place, refusing to leave my sister's side, that is, until Edward placed his hands on the small of my back, gently guiding me from the room.
"We need to leave," he yelled over the shrill of the alarm.
"No! I'm not leaving Alice!" I screamed, reaching out and gripping the handrail in the corridor as Edward began pulling me away.
"Yes, the hell, you are," he growled, wrapping his arms around me, and dragging me down the hall. "I'm not leaving you in a burning building, Bella. I don't give a damn who else is left behind, as long as it's not you."
I fought against him, but he held firm pulling me, kicking and screaming, to the fire exit. I caught a glimpse of Jasper's troubled eyes where he stood torn in Alice's doorway. He gazed first into her room before locking eyes with mine once more. I pleaded with him to watch my sister, a silent plea, and he gave a strong, understanding nod.
A burly security guard, dressed in navy blue, appeared nearby, yelling and demanding Jasper exit the building. Jasper remained unmoved until the guard wrapped his meaty hands around Jasper's arms and hauled him away from the door, shoving him in our direction. Jasper started to protest, raising his voice high above the blast of the alarms. The guard hollered back, his hand hovering over the taser clasped to his belt. Jasper begrudgingly fell behind us, gazing at me with a solemn, apologetic expression playing on his face.
The parking lot and luscious, brilliantly green grassy area in front of Birchwood Medical Center was flooded with murmuring, worried individuals. We joined them, staring at the large gray building in front of us. Smoke trailed from the lower floor of the hospital, near a wing not far from where Alice lay blissfully unaware of the troubles of the outside world.
My mother appeared nearby, frantic and crying. I heard her yelling my name, pulling at the sleeve of my shirt, but I paid her little attention. My skin crawled as a strange, yet familiar feeling languidly washed over me.
"Something's not right," I whispered to Edward, who peered curiously at the building. "This fire...this is no coincidence."
I could feel it, whispering in my ear, scratching at my brain, creeping through my bones. The fire inside the hospital, so very near where my sister lay, was a planned, carefully hatched-out scheme.
~DSDW~
Three days later...
I awoke groggy and disoriented. My eyes fluttered open and I glanced around, momentarily confused by the very different surroundings from what I typically awoke to.
The sheet and comforter on the bed were cozier than the sheets on my bed at home, and an entirely different color. The soft morning light wafted lazily through a window on the wrong side of the room, warming my left leg instead of my right one. The ceiling I stared up at was stark white, bare, without even a hint of cheap, plastic stars with their dim, early-morning glow.
My heart sped up when the bed shifted. I heard a muffled groan from beneath the billowing sheets beside me. It was a very familiar, very sexy groan. It was a sound entirely similar to the ones he made during our throws of passion, and it sent my heart into overdrive. I tentatively reached beside me, pulling the cottony sheets from the top of the long, disheveled mass beside me, peering directly into Edward's squinted, sleepy, mossy-green eyes.
As our eyes met, his brightened. The confusion melted from his face and was replaced with a lazy, lopsided grin. Butterflies flitted around in the pit of my stomach as I felt his fingers creep beneath the sheet. The pads of his slightly roughened hands drifted over the bare flesh of my belly.
"Mornin', Sugar," he whispered, his voice laced with sleep. "A man can get used to this."
"Used to what?" I asked, a knowing smile on my face as his fingers drifted further south.
I simply wanted to hear him say the words, to bask in the warmth of his love. It was the only thing holding me together after Alice's overdose, after the fire at the hospital, and after...the rest.
"I could get used to waking up beside you every day," he replied, sending the butterflies dancing from my stomach to my chest. "Forever."
"That's so sweet," I murmured.
Edward gave me a lazy grin. He then slid his long fingers beneath my panties. I gasped at the sensation of his fingers brushing against my clit. I was already wet, waiting for him.
"There's nothing sweet about what I'm fixin' to do to you. Do you know how sinful you look in the early morning sunlight?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, and chuckling at the moans escaping my lips.
My words were caught in my throat, lodged there by the thrills shooting through my body. My toes curled, gripping the downy sheets between them as my hips involuntarily lifted from the bed.
I reached out and grabbed his hair, raking my fingers through the strands, tugging it roughly. He groaned, his eyes turning black, his jaw clenching as his gentle strokes against my clit become firmer, more forceful.
Suddenly, he pulled his fingers from my body, leaving me panting, wet, and wanton. I gazed up at him in confusion, long enough for him to pull the tangled sheets from between us.
Edward crawled between my legs, his erection prominent through the boxer briefs he wore. He stared down at me hungrily. I wore nothing but his soft, worn t-shirt still smelling of his heavenly fragrance from the day before, and a thin pair of damp panties.
"Pure sin," he drawled, his eyes gleaming as he grasped each side of my panties, pulling them from my legs, and tossing them carelessly over his shoulder.
Edward's fingers trailed beneath the worn fabric of his that shirt I wore. My breaths became quick, sharp, as he found my nipples, rolling them tightly between his fingers. One of his hands abandoned my breast as it trailed down my naked flesh, teasing me where I needed him the most. I bucked against his fingers, gasping when he finally pressed one, then two, deep within me.
"Do you like that, Baby?" he grinned, smirking as he heard my whimpers, loving the way he caused me to squirm.
"Yes!" I gasped.
"Can you hear how wet you are?" he smirked, the smug bastard.
I could. I could hear the sounds of his fingers sliding in and out of my slick body. It was so dirty, so wicked the way he made me feel. I tittered on the edge, so close to falling over, when he finally groaned, stood, and removed his own underwear. He crawled back over me, the predatory grin in full effect as he grasped my inner thighs, spreading my legs wide.
Edward teased me for a bit, pressing his cock against my clit before thrusting roughly inside of me. I bit back a scream, terrified to wake our housemates, who'd probably already heard our late-night escapades.
Edward raised my legs, placing my ankles over his shoulders. Leaning down, with practically all his weight pressed against me, he pounded into me relentlessly, grinning like the devil at each of my strangled moans.
"Touch yourself," he commanded, the smile slipping from his face as his greedy eyes followed the direction my hand went, drifting between my legs.
My body was wound up tight, coiled, and ready to explode as he rode me harder. I lifted my hips up, breathless by the sparks burning through my body. The sensation of my fingers circling frantically between my legs, and Edward thrusting and rotating his hips, became too intense. I began to uncoil, tightening around him, my head thrown back against the sheets as I came harder than I ever had before, over and over.
I was weak, exhausted from the intensity of the orgasm. Edward dropped my legs from his shoulders. He leaned down, the movement of his hips and thighs increasing as he nuzzled my neck, the three-day old scruff on his strong jaw burning my skin in a deliciously painful sort of way.
Edward's sweaty face was still pressed in the crook of my neck, his teeth gently biting my tender skin, when I felt his release. My name spilled from his mouth as his movements turned frantic once again, before slowing into deep dips and dives, constantly stretching me until eventually slowing. He collapsed on top of me, causing me to groan beneath his dead weight. Edward snickered, rolled over to the side, and pulled me so that I was draped halfway over him.
"Let's stay like this for the rest of the day," he suggested coyly, stroking my damp arm. "Naked and sated. Maybe go for round two later."
"Round two?" I giggled. "What happened to rounds one through three last night? They don't count?"
"Of course they do," he responded with a crooked grin. "Every second of my life, no matter what I'm doing, counts for something if I'm spending it with you."
His sweet words choked me up. My throat tightened and tears prickled at the corners of my eyes. The smirk left his lips as he noticed the expression on my face. Edward pressed a delicate kiss to my forehead, pulling me into the bend of his neck as he ran his fingers through my slightly tangled hair. He began humming an unfamiliar, soothing tune.
My eyes wandered around the room as he hummed, taking in the sights around me. It was still hard to believe that Esme and Carlisle invited me to live with them, as we barely knew one another from the brief, secretive encounters I'd had with their nephew.
Just three days prior, right after the fire in the hospital, Edward escorted me back to my house to gather my belongings. We strolled up the driveway hand in hand, but I froze near the front door, my feet planted firmly to the ground. I was unsure if the house was cleaned after Alice's overdose. The thought of seeing the inside of the house in the same state of disarray terrified me. I remembered Alice's long, ebony tendrils, hacked off in uneven strands, trailing up the stairs. The image sent icy shivers down my spine.
"Stay in my car and wait for me," Edward instructed, cupping his hands around my face, tilting my head back, and forcing me to look into his eyes. "I'll go in and pack your stuff. Okay? You don't have to be brave every second of every day, Bella. Even the strongest person has moments of weakness. Let me take care of you, Sugar. It's my job now. I want nothing more than to take care of you for the rest of our lives."
I stared into his eyes for a long moment, lost in his words, the solemnity of his voice. In my heart I knew he would do just that. He would spend every waking moment watching over me, protecting me, as no one had since the day my father left the earth.
I nodded numbly, stumbling back to the car. I slipped inside, watching as he disappeared into the house with a stack of boxes. He returned several minutes later with the first large cardboard box. I helped him load my meager belongings in his car, slightly disheartened that all the things I owned in the word fit into a single vehicle in four wrinkled, fraying boxes.
We returned to Edward's house and I became somewhat bashful. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling that I wasn't used to.
Esme met us in the foyer and helped us carry the boxes upstairs. I halted near Edward's bedroom door as Esme slipped inside. Her head popped out moments later, glancing curiously at me where I stood.
"Well, don't just stand there," she joked, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. "Come on in."
"You...want me to stay in Edward's bedroom?" I asked hesitantly, unsure if it wasn't some sort of secret mother-type test she was pulling on me.
Esme stared at me for the longest time, nothing but humor shining in her eyes.
"Silly girl," she snickered. "I'm old, but I'm not stupid. Can you honestly tell me that you and Edward won't be sneaking into each other's rooms as soon as the lights go out? Can the two of you stay away from each other every night?"
Edward spoke up before I had a chance to even begin processing her words.
"Hell no," he grumbled, grabbing my hand, and pulling me into the room.
"That's what I thought," she laughed. "Put your things in Edward's room and wash up. Supper will be ready in an hour."
Shaking her head with amusement, Esme dumped the box she held on top of Edward's bed and exited the room.
Esme was right of course. We spent that first night doing nothing but kissing, touching, and exploring; learning from one another, and teaching each other what we each so desperately desired. It was a distraction from the previous days, a way to escape the emotions we refused to face by drowning ourselves in one another.
Edward crawled into bed with me that first night, a haphazard smile on his face. He yanked my shirt up, sucking a puckered nipple between his teeth. My fingers traced the hard planes of his back as he licked and toyed, taking turns on each nipple. My nails dug into his feverish flesh. I smiled as he moaned, already hard, thrusting against me.
I begged him to take me. And he did, over and over, burying himself deep within me. I needed the release, I needed to feel something, anything other than the uncertainty of the future; a future without my sister, a future where Edward and I were together, beside one another, on display for the whole world to see.
I hooked my feet behind his slick back, pressing my heels roughly against his rigid muscles, forcing him flush against me. He felt the desperation in my body, saw it in my eyes. His breathing picked up pace, uneven and deep, and before long he drove himself inside me without warning. I cried out. He stared down into my eyes. Then he pounded into me, filling that ache, quenching the ever present thirst I had for him, for his body, for the feeling of his hard muscles against my soft curves.
We found our release, then searched for it again and again, until Esme pounded on the door, informing us that she wasn't deaf. We laughed, and the anxieties of the previous days washed away for a brief period of time. It felt good. It felt so good to smile and giggle, to lose myself in his strong, reassuring arms, against his wet, slick body. For that one brief moment, I was free. I was whole. I was just Bella, and he was just Edward. Things were simple, and we were in love.
Everything came crashing back down that next morning, after our lovemaking session. I took a long shower, thoroughly washing the scent of sex from my body. Rose was sitting on the bed waiting on me when I re-entered Edward's room, a pair of black heels on her lap. A black dress laid by her side.
Rose quietly left the room long enough for me to slip on the dress. She knocked a few minutes later and I murmured for her to come in. She regarded me with a soft, understanding expression on her face.
I sat on the edge of Edward's bed while she pulled up a chair, silently painting my face with makeup from a large, bulging bag. She took her time, combing and curling my hair, making me pretty for my sister.
When she finished, she gestured for me to follow her to the bathroom, but I shook my head in response. I didn't want to see the girl in the mirror, too concerned there would be a glimpse of fear, of falsity staring back at me.
Rose frowned at my refusal, but it quickly melted away as the bedroom door opened. Edward gave me a small smile, his eyes never leaving mine as he entered the room, pulling me into his arms. My lips trembled, but I fought back the tears, terrified to drop the mask that I hoped, that I prayed, would stay intact that day, and for the rest of the days to follow.
"You can do this," he whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You're still the strong, courageous Bella I fell in love with. You can do this."
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. Edward dropped his arms from our embrace, intertwining his fingers through mine. He led me from the room with Rose falling in place behind. We walked down the long, winding stairway. We met Carlisle and Esme at the foot of the stairs, looking like two models in their Sunday best.
The four of us loaded up into Carlisle's car and pulled from his driveway down the long, winding country road. We left Birchwood in our mourning clothes and headed out to Mayhaw to bid my sister one last parting farewell.
Thanks, AliCat0623, for beta'ing for me on a holiday :(
Happy Memorial Day to all my readers who celebrate this great day! *waves flag proudly*
Hoodfabulous Fic Recs:
The Other Way by Honeybeemeadows. This fic...I don't have it in me to adequately describe this fic. It sucked me in, confusing me, then threw a bucket of cold water on me. It drew every type of emotion possible from within. It is easily at the top of my list of favorite fanfictions of all time. Why? Because it made me feel. It made me feel every single emotion, and that's a truly great work of fiction. It stayed with me for days after I read it, crawling around in my brain, mixing my feelings into a big pile of mush. Go check it out. It is, for lack of a better word, fabulous.
In Your Room by LayAtHomeMom. This is easily one of the funniest stories I've ever read on fanfiction! It also includes one of my favorite new characters...Chocolate Thunder! *does the Chocolate Thunder dance* Lay also has a new WIP called Hooked Up and Locked Down and I can already tell it's going to be nothing short of amazing! I'm so happy to have gotten to know Lay through her reviews of my story and then through my reviews of her own.
reviews = lurve