Chapter Twenty Eight
Edward
Things had gone much better than I expected and showed Rosalie's prophecy of doom and disaster to have been totally wrong. Bella had enjoyed herself, no one had given themselves away and apart from being slightly suspicious that we didn't eat anything, a problem it wasn't impossible to overcome, it had been a success. Alice had stopped worrying that my love for a human would bring the family problems, she liked Bella almost as much as I did, Emmett too. What they didn't know because I kept it to myself was that Bella was a test for me. I'd witnessed what happened when Emmett came across a singer not once but twice and I'd heard all about the unbeatable urge to feed that a singer set up in a vampire but they were wrong. Bella's blood called to me as much as her physical charms. I wanted to feed on her yes but I was superior to Emmett, to all the other vampires brought low by a singer. I had deliberately put myself in the way of temptation and I had overcome it, or at least up to now.
When I was with her my mouth watered almost constantly just as my body ached for her physically. It was early days but I couldn't work out if the need for her blood was outweighed by my love for the girl. I would never hurt her, it wasn't in my nature but I did want to know. I needed to be sure Bella was my mate. The others had told me you just knew when you found the one, it was a visceral feeling but that was them, not me. I was far superior to the likes of Emmett and any others I had heard of.
My love would be an intellectual feeling that would grow and blossom into the kind of love they described and Bella was just such a girl to bring that feeling out in me. She was shy and quiet, intellectual, a reader, and lover of music, even if her tastes didn't exactly match my own. For now I wanted to be with her, I loved her as a human would do and the rest would follow if it was meant to be.
Of course when Rosalie got back she gave Emmett the third degree then started on Esme and Carlisle. It was the same old story every time, DANGER. I was putting the family at risk, what if Bella found out we were vampires? Her father is a cop, what's he going to do? I sighed and walked out, let her rant at the others, I was composing some music for Bella, knowing it would please her. That was one of the things I had soon understood about her, she didn't like show or ostentation, small things pleased her most. Probably why she liked Emmett, he had the smallest brain among us! Of course being able to read the mind of one's girlfriend, even with extreme difficulty, made things far easier. Like knowing she fancied me before asking her out, knowing what she wanted or how she was feeling as soon as she did.
Rosalie
I could not believe that Carlisle and Esme were going along with Edward, it was both foolhardy and extremely dangerous for all of us. If Bella Swan found out what we really were and the Volturi found out that would be it, we would all be dead. Alice had warned them about the Swan girl even if she didn't know her name. We should have left straight away but no, Esme had to have her way, she wanted to stay in Forks. It was bad enough we had the mutts watching our every move without inviting a human into our sanctuary but of course Edward and Esme always got their way, they knew exactly how to get around Carlisle.
"It's crazy, just plain stupid. Edward needs to stay away from the Swan girl or we need to move out of Forks. If we stay something dreadful will happen."
Alice giggled,
"And I thought I was the one who could see into the future. Rose don't you think I'd see if anything terrible was going to happen?"
I turned to her and answered archly,
"Really? And there was me thinking you weren't infallible."
"Rose, I think that was uncalled for."
I frowned at Esme,
"Well she's not, she warned us that at the outset. We can't rely on Alice to warn us of danger. She saw Bella Swan coming sure, but she might not see the Volturi."
"Rose, that's enough. Edward may have found his mate at last, we have to help him all we can. He's been alone far too long."
"And I suppose that's my fault is it Carlisle? I know you changed me to be his mate and I disappointed you when I found Emmett but that wasn't my fault. I never wanted to be a vampire, it wasn't my choice but now I am I don't want to die again and if the Volturi find out Edward is seeing a human we'll all end up dead."
"Rose, We were careful, Edward can read her thoughts, he'd know if she were suspicious. Besides Aro is a friend, I'm sure he would give us warning if there were rumors about Bella in Italy."
Edward
Listening from upstairs didn't stop Rosalie becoming annoying, in fact she was really beginning to irk me but of course I'd never show her that, she'd feel it was a victory. As for reading Bella's thoughts, while it was true I could hear some of her thoughts they were nowhere near as clear as every other human. It was as if I were hearing them from a great distance and some I lost altogether.
There were great gaps which I filled in for myself using clues from the things I did hear and the way she acted. It was good to have the rest of the family behind me, even Emmett just shrugged when Rosalie started bitching, he liked Bella. I decided to ignore Rosalie and her paranoia and enjoy Bella's feelings for me while I made sense of my feelings for her.
Rosalie
As I had expected no one took any notice of my concerns in fact Edward appeared to flaunt Bella in front of me. He and Bella became inseparable, wherever Bella was Edward would be too. He spent every evening with her studying so Chief Swan couldn't complain and every weekend Bella ended up here at the house sometime or another. It got to the point I couldn't get free of her. I took to spending the weekends in Seattle or Portland with either Emmett or Alice although both were only too happy to see Bella.
At school it was slightly easier, after all we were in different years so we only met in the cafeteria during lunch. She knew I disapproved and I was pleased to see that my look discomforted her which was a small victory but then he invited her to join us at the table we had occupied alone and undisturbed since we arrived at school. This was a step too far for me, I was beyond furious but I knew I couldn't make a scene at school. I could however make her life a misery and intended to do just that.
Firstly I sabotaged her locker, discharging the battery in of her cell phone and remote locking for her car. I removed homework from files and put it in another, "lost" textbooks and made sure her watch was wrong. Little things but they added up, at first she was confused and concerned then she became suspicious and angry but she couldn't pin anything on me, vampire speed made sure of that. I also sabotaged her car, easy for me with my knowledge of mechanics. A leaking fuel line, oil light rigged to keep coming on, a puncture in her spare and then glass under the front wheel of her car in the parking lot. Edward suspected I was responsible but he couldn't do anything about it in front of Bella and behind her back I just denied everything and accused him of setting me up to look bad with the family, challenging him to prove it, put up or shut up.
When that finally became boring I turned my attention to her home life sending Chief Swan a letter implying his daughter was smoking weed and drinking alcohol. He probably didn't believe it but he had to speak to her none the less which she hated. Bella Swan hated confrontation which worked to my advantage. I also stole things from the house, her favorite sweater, a pump, her student card, then replaced them so she couldn't be sure if she'd really found them missing in the first place. Then, really getting into the swing of things I ruined dinners by turning the oven temperature up or down, left the refrigerator door ajar and turned off the freezer plug in the garage after she took something out. Of course they all suspected me but I didn't give a damn, I just wanted Edward to leave her alone, keep us safe.
