The sunrise woke Bella the next morning. Her eyes fluttered open, only to squeeze shut at the bright light. She took a breath and slowly opened her eyes again. The entire room was filled with sparkling refracted light. What looked like millions of rainbow slivers danced across the walls and ceiling. A deep rumble shook the granite chest that she was splayed across. It took her a moment to realize that he was laughing. She lifted her head to look up at him, resting her chin on his sparkling chest.
His bright red eyes were full of mirth and matched his lopsided grin perfectly. He ran a shining hand through his golden hair as he let another laugh fall through his full lips. "Good morning." His deep voice was as amused as the rest of him. Bella shifted, yet again, bringing her arms up to cross beneath her chin. She let out a soft yawn and adopted an easy smile. "What's so funny?"
He reached down to pat at her messy hair. "Do you know that you talk in your sleep?" He tugged playfully at her ear. She swatted his hand away before hiding her face in her arms. His body shook with laughter and she rolled off of him, arms still hiding her mortified expression. Moments later, when his laughter had finally subsided, she let her arms fall to her side as she stared up at the ceiling.
The sound of birds chirping caught her attention and she got out of the bed to look out of the window. She could see them flying between the trees. She scanned the forest floor and caught the movement of other small creatures. A brown bunny hopped out of a bush on the side of the house and made its way into the forest. Bella felt Fred's chest press up against her back as he joined her at the window. His diamond skin scattered rainbows across the glass and Bella turned to face him.
"You stopped using your gift." He nodded, looking out into the woods. He could see farther than her and was watching a few elks graze. "I knew you were safe with me. I figured I'd give it a rest." His knuckles brushed against hers and she quickly gripped both of his hands. "How exactly does it work? What does it feel like when you do it? Can you focus the effects in one area or does it always come out from all sides? Can you control the intensity of the effect? How wide can you-" "Ummm. . ." Bella caught his overwhelmed expression and offered an apologetic one of her own. "That was a lot, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. No one's ever asked about it, except Bree." "Bree?" Bella school her face into a neutral expression and Fred pretended not to notice her micro-expressions. "Yeah. She's. . . my friend?" Bella fought to keep the corners of her mouth down as she watched the confusion and uncertainty dance across his face. "That's nice." She offered politely. "Yeah."
"She's probably still down there." He nodded his head in the general direction of Forks. "You think she's still in town?" Bella asked, slightly concerned. "Well, if Riley is down there waiting for you, then Diego's with him. If Diego's there then Bree definitely is." Bella nodded slowly, understanding what he was getting at.
"What were you and Riley gonna do, once he turned you?" Bella squeezed his hands at the slight growl that seeped into his voice. "I don't know. Try and figure all of this out, I guess. Now that I have you, we could be nomads. If Riley, Diego, and Bree are in the same boat, we might as well do it all together." Bella moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Her hands were still wrapped in Fred's, so he moved with her.
"So, the five of us are a coven?" "Maybe. We can figure it all out when we're down there and can talk to them. But we won't do that until I'm a vampire, so." Fred nodded thoughtfully before looking up to see Bella's wide and expectant eyes. "Now? Right now?"
Fred's eyes got comically big at the thought of biting her. He knew that he had to do it. He wanted to be the one to do it, to turn her. He just couldn't bear the thought of being the one to put her through the hell of transitioning. Bella stood and placed her hands on his shoulders. He gripped her waist and looked her in the eyes to calm down. "Tonight?" She propositioned.
He wrapped his head around it, looking through the window to see the sun ascending to the center of the sky. "Okay. Well, what do we do?" Bella quirked an eye at his question. "It's your last human day. What do you want to do?" She knew exactly what she wanted, but she refused to breach that subject now. She'd come back to it later. "Um. what's there to do in the woods?" She wondered out loud. Fred thought back to his hunt and knew what they'd do. "There's a lake. It's at the bottom of a waterfall and bleeds into a river."
A wide grin spread across her face. She quickly left his side and searched the house for a bathing suit. She found two pairs of swim trunks and tossed the larger pair to Fred before finding a small t-shirt to wear with hers. Fred changed, putting on a t-shirt as well, before walking out to see Bella making a picnic for herself. He put his shoes back on and opened the front door.
He stood on the porch for a few minutes. He caught the distant sound of the water and knew which way to go. He also pushed out a small dome of repulsion about five feet in diameter. Bella walked out of the house, ready to go. He felt as she passed through his dome, a small shiver running up his spine. He watched her for any signs of discomfort. She smiled up at him, unbothered, and tightened the straps of the bookbag she was wearing. "Ready?"
He scooped her up and took off.