Come Take a Walk with Me

Chapter Twenty-Five—Inquiring Minds

I clasped her hand and slipped on a pair of sunglasses. I could see Bella roll her eyes from the corner of mine, but smiled as she looked down to her feet. She arranged her backpack on her shoulder, but handed to me when I asked for it silently with a quirk of my brow. She was being very accommodating. It seemed very unlike her.

"What are you up to?" I murmured, walking past several students, who stood with their mouths agape.

"I can be reasonable, you know."

"I never said you were incapable of reason." I squeezed her hand. "However, it is hard to believe that you changed your views on certain things."

She tipped her chin up, tossing her hair behind a shoulder. "Well, I started to think about the time that you were raised." Her voice was low enough for only me to hear, but still drew questioning glances from those around us. I pulled her tightly against my side so that it least appeared that she was whispering to me. "It makes perfect sense for you to want to do these types of things for me. I just need to learn to appreciate it and not give you a hard time on something you've been taught."

"Does that mean I can buy you a car?" The glare she sent me gave me an answer. I sighed. "It was worth a try." Ignoring the questions that seemed to be bombarding me from every direction and student, I led Bella toward the office.

"Is it bad?" she hissed, finally acknowledging that everyone was watching us.

"Not really, most are envious."

She snorted and shook her head. "Mike doesn't look happy." I grinned and kissed her cheek, feeling a little smug at that thought and the way the boy bristled.

"We are only confirming his worst fears," I murmured. She rolled her eyes, laughing under her breath as we passed Mike. "Or second worst fear."

"Oh God," Bella whispered. "I do not want to know what the first is."

"No, you would not."

After gathering some paperwork from a slightly addled Mrs. Cope, we made our way toward our first class.

"Did you really have to do that to her?"

"If we are going to keep you safe, I need to be in every class with you," I stated firmly. "Besides, I hardly did a thing to her."

"Edward, the woman was quite literally about to faint from your voice and the not so innocent look in your eyes."

I cocked an eyebrow in question. "It amazes me that you recognize my ability to render women helpless, but you seem completely unfazed."

She grinned. "I never said I wasn't fazed," she said, stopping short of the door. We moved aside to let the other students pass as we waited for the last possible moment to enter. "I just know how to recover faster."

The fact that I affected her, as she did for me, made me smile. "That is good to know," I said. It felt good to be able to talk to her in this manner. It was so different from all the seriousness, the desperation, and spiraling, out of control emotions that had filled our days in the past.

It gave me some hope that when I asked her to join me after school, that she would follow and listen.

~oOo~

The morning passed quickly at times, all because Bella and I had been conversing through a series of letters throughout each class. The only moments that seemed to linger was when we could not pass notes with one another due to seating arrangements.

She had managed to control her gifts through most of the day. There was only a small surge in her core body temperature when Lauren had attempted to trip her on the way toward her seat with her foot. Bella had barely caught herself against her desk, largely due to fact that I had a hand on her arm. The incident embarrassed her but she reined in her power. The vindictive thoughts in Lauren's mind were vile and hurtful and I was glad for the fact that Bella could not read them. My natural inclination to protect her from such incidents resurfaced, but a gentle squeeze of Bella's hand in mine brought me to my senses.

By the time, we made it to the cafeteria, news of our relationship that included a moderate sum of PDA, had reached the entire school. Normally, I would not be affectionate since it was not something that was practiced in front of others when I was human. However, since we had to appear to be together, we often gave in to our desires to touch and glance at one another as if no one else was in the room.

Despite Lauren's attempt at hurting Bella earlier, we walked toward the table that Bella would normally sit at, along with her friends. Angela paused long enough from biting into a green apple to smile at us both. The rest of the table was not as accommodating.

The boys that I had once thought my competition all hissed or grumbled under their breaths. Jessica shared a look with Lauren but when she faced Bella, she cocked an eyebrow in question.

"So, it's true. You have your memory back?" she asked, glancing at me for a second.

Bella nodded. "Most of it," she replied. "But the day of the accident in here is still a blur."

"Oh God," Jessica groaned. "I totally lost my Kohl eyeliner in that chaos. That was a crazy day."

"Sure was," Angela added. "Everybody was running because of the sprinklers and screaming. The school still can't figure out why they had come on."

Jessica shook her head in disgust. "Yeah. Anyway, Bella," she smiled as she continued. "So you two are like a couple, couple?"

I smiled and turned to look at Bella, who blushed as everyone at the table watched her carefully. Lifting her hand in my own, I answered for her. "Yes, we are."

"Like wow," Jessica stated, gaping as I kissed Bella's palm. "Does that mean you're going to prom together?" I kept my grimace from surfacing, but Bella did not manage to keep it from her features.

"I'll be visiting my mom after all that day," she answered quickly. "The tickets are non-refundable."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Come on, Bella. This is the prom and you have a boyfriend." Her thoughts angered me enough for my eyes to narrow as I looked at her.

"Take it easy, Edward," Jasper said, outside of the school, on patrol. "You're gonna burn a hole through her."

Jessica actually believed that it would likely be the only prom Bella would attend with a boyfriend, had even expressed in her thoughts that our relationship would likely not last long enough for us to attend anyway. Jealously and envy were truly evil in some people.

I was not sure how Bella would handle this new development and I was thankful that she was unable to hear the thoughts around us. Jessica was not the only one to think this way.

Bella must have sensed the tension within me, gathering that something someone was thinking was the reason. I met her gaze and shook my head, silently telling her not to even think about using her gifts.

"Edward is coming with me to see my mother." How easy the lie slipped from her lips. I kept the shock from my features again, but managed a little smile.

That little statement caused a mild chain reaction through the entire table. Jessica choked on her next words; Lauren sprayed some lemonade clear across the table, hitting a shocked Mike and Eric. Angela smiled to herself, watching us through a veil of her dark hair. She was happy for us. At least one of them was.

"Wow," was all Jessica could say after that. Angela brought up the science project due in three weeks, turning the conversation elsewhere.

"What are you two doing yours on?" she asked me. She was the only one that directed a question toward me all day.

"The effect different types of music have on plants," I answered easily. Bella laughed under her breath, shaking her head. Though she had not been involved in the project because of all that she had been through in the last couple of weeks, Alice had started it for us. Just in case.

The three of us discussed it, shortly joined by Ben, who seemed interested in not only the subject but Angela as well. Bella noticed quickly and nudged them to talk to each other more.

"Time to go," Jasper indicated. "The sunshine is about to come overhead. Take the south exit. I'll wait for you before I go for a run around the perimeter."

I sighed, pulling out my cell phone to check the time, the signal for Bella for when I would have to leave. She looked at me, squeezing my hand. "Time to go?" she asked.

I nodded and brushed my lips over hers softly. "Unfortunately, walk me to the car?" She nodded and grabbed her bag as I rose to my feet to take our barely touched food. That, of course, caused everyone at the table to watch us, and she blushed under their questioning glances.

"Let's go," she murmured, unable to meet anyone's gaze. After dumping our trays, I took her backpack and hand. We walked past other students, who continued to hurl thoughts in our direction. With every step, I felt Bella's temperature rise.

Damn.

"Fight it, Bella," I hissed, quickening our pace.

The moment we exited the cafeteria, away from prying eyes, Bella breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh," she sighed. "That was hard. I didn't want to hear what they were thinking but my shield kept trying to lash out at everyone."

"A power with a mind of its own, it seems," I whispered as I led us toward the car. I wanted Bella to join me, since I hated the fact that we would be apart for a few hours. However, I could not do it since she seemed determined to finish the day among her friends. She might have known them for only a while, but they were still a part of her life.

"You seem nervous," she asked, lifted our intertwined hands to her mouth. My breath caught at the warmth of her lips on my skin.

"I am."

"I'll be fine."

"And I will be close by."

"You better not watch me in Gym."

I laughed as she rolled her eyes, knowing that it was unlikely that I would be to resist such a temptation. "Speaking of Gym," I said, giving her no promises. "Here is a doctor's note," I murmured, removing it from my pocket.

She opened it, curious by the look in my eyes. Her nose and brow scrunched adorably as she fisted the note in her hand, "Yes, no gym," she hummed, pumping her hand in the air.

It was good to see her so carefree. The first in days, weeks even, and I was sure it had to do with the news we received from Sam earlier that morning. Jacob had seemed to gone deep in the Canadian forests, nursing a broken heart. Had it not been from the thoughts I read directly from the Alpha, I would not have believed it.

I knew that we had not seen the last of Jacob, but for the moment, I would enjoy Bella while she like that.

For it would not last long.

~oOo~

I remained outside the school, across the parking lot in a tree, overlooking the gymnasium. The half dozen protectors that circled the building, watching for any threat, occupied my mind long enough to abide Bella's wishes.

After a thorough kiss in the parking lot, I had reluctantly let her return to class. I had watched her through the rest of the day, using fellow students' thoughts to keep an eye on her. She spoke animatedly with her Spanish teacher, inquiring about places she had traveled, including Rio. She was laying the groundwork for our plan to run away together.

They would speculate for weeks after our disappearance before Charlie and Carlisle would announce our deaths in a boating accident.

"Almost time," Rosalie said, approaching from behind me. I quietly landed, cocking an eyebrow in question. "Don't look so surprised."

"You have expressed your distaste for my decision," I said, looking to the sky for the sun's position. I would have to remain in shadows to follow Charlie and Bella home.

"I know," she murmured, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I won't say I'm sorry, but I am happy to see you happy."

I laughed. "You cannot have my car."

She pouted. "I wasn't asking for it. I have to commend you for saving her." Her eyes shuttered close, as I immediately tuned her dark thoughts, remembering that day that no one came to her rescue until it was too late. "I don't envy having doubts."

"Doubts?"

"On if it's only her love for you that drove her to make this choice." I stilled as I watched her walk away.

It was only a second later that Jasper clasped my shoulder. "Don't listen to her," he whispered. "When Bella told her she made her decision, the only emotion I picked up was her love for you."

"Yeah, bro," Emmett said from behind me. "She had to have the last word. You know how she is."

I rolled my eyes, nodding. "I know." She had however, planted the seed that would always be there now. I would have to ignore it or I would do something I might regret.

~oOo~

By the time Charlie and Bella pulled up in the driveway, I was waiting on their porch. I opened the door for her, earning a soft smile.

"Where are you two heading?" Charlie asked, slowly looking around and over his shoulder.

"To see the family," I replied easily, thankful that the clouds had blanketed most of Forks only minutes earlier.

"She'll be safe, right?"

"Dad!" Bella hissed, shaking her head. I nodded in reply. "Happy now?" She turned toward me again. "Will someone stay to watch him?"

"Bella!" Charlie huffed. I would have laughed at how much they were alike, as they glared at each other.

"Sam and four others will stay."

"I don't think that's necessary," Charlie grumbled.

Bella sighed, turning toward her father as he allowed us inside their home. "Dad, I'm sorry that you feel that way. But at this point, I wouldn't put it past Jacob to use you to get to us."

Charlie sighed, nodding and sitting in his usual chair in the living room. "Fine. Will you back for dinner?"

I answered for Bella, "My family, namely Carlisle and Esme, would like to make her dinner." I chuckled and shrugged at Bella's curious look. "They have not had to cook for someone in a long time, Bella."

"I'll see about bringing you back something," she told her father, kissing him on the cheek.

"All right, kid," Charlie said gruffly, and turned to look at me. "I'll see you two soon since I'm sure you'll be spending the night to watch her again." He knew me too well, it seemed. Bella blushed and practically ran out the door, leaving a laughing Charlie behind.

Once we were outside, Bella realized that my car was nowhere in sight. She turned to look at me and pursed her lips, waiting for an explanation.

I smirked, unable to resist showing off to her. Just a little piece of who and what I was. Leading the way toward the back of the house, I walked to the forest's edge in their backyard.

"Edward?" she said softly, unsure of what was happening.

Holding out my hand, I said, "Come take a walk with me." There was no hesitation as she laid her hand in mine.

AN: Betaed by kyla713. See you soon.