A/N Happy Monday! I hope you all had a terrific weekend! I'm excited, I hit 60 reviews over the weekend! Thank you to everyone who has taken a second to review. You have no idea how much they mean to me and keep me motivated! Anyway, here is another chapter. Please enjoy and keep reviewing! 3 3 3
Chapter 28 – Monday
Edward awoke to the sound of his cell phone alarm clock at five the next morning. He quickly shut off the alarm and listened for any sign of Charlie; nothing. Last night was truthfully the most restful night's sleep he had ever had and it was all because of Bella.
He relaxed back into the bed smiled as he held her closer to his chest, inhaling her unique scent. It was a heady scent that was strictly Bella. He couldn't put it into exact words, even if he tried, and try he did, on several occasions. It was flowery, but not, fruity but not. There were so many wonderful smells that all blended together to create her intoxicating scent.
Bella had slept right through his alarm going off, so he started to place kisses on her throat and ear, trying to wake her up gently. When she hummed, completely content but still asleep, he sucked her ear lobe into his mouth and held it between his teeth.
Finally, Bella opened her eyes and smiled up at him. "Good morning beautiful. How did you sleep last night?" he whispered so as not to bring any unwanted attention to her room. The last thing he needed was for Charlie to come barging in there.
"Mmm… I slept so good babe. I always sleep good when I'm wrapped in your arms." She turned her head toward him and he brought his lips to hers in a brief kiss.
"I better get out of here before your dad wakes up. I love you Bella; more than anything." He kissed her again and then headed to the window. Just before he left, he turned back to her.
"I love you too Edward. Thank you for last night," she smiled.
"Anytime Bella. Anything." He smiled back at her before adding; "I'll be back at 7:30 to pick you up for school, okay? Get some more sleep and I'll see you in a few hours." With that, he let himself out of her window and sauntered over to his car.
By the time he got home, Esme and Carlisle were awake. He knew they would be, but he didn't expect them to be sitting in the living room waiting to talk to him.
"Well son, I would ask where you've been, but by the look on your face it's pretty clear," Esme chided. "Does Charlie know you spent the night again?"
Feeling properly rebuked, Edward hung his head and answered. "I couldn't sleep last night. Believe me, I tried. Finally, knowing I was going to be dead on my feet today if I didn't get some sleep, I went to Bella's. Charlie was already asleep when I got there and we didn't want to wake him up, so we didn't. I left this morning before he got up so I didn't cause any problems." Edward sank down onto the couch and rested his elbows on his knees, waiting for the reprimand to come.
It was Carlisle who finally spoke. "Edward, you are an adult and you're capable of making your own decisions. Your mother and I will respect those decisions. The one thing I ask though is that you do not hurt Bella. Charlie Swan is my best friend and it broke him when Bella's mom took her away seventeen years ago. I just don't think he could handle it if he were to lose her again." He smiled at Edward reassuringly and that made Edward's heart jump in his chest.
Carlisle was a good man and Edward had always respected him but this was something more. He didn't have to keep Edward's secret, but that's just what he had offered to do and in doing so, he solidified the father-son bond that had been missing for so long.
Not knowing what to do or say, Edward simply said thank you and then went up to his room to get ready for the day.
…..
After Edward left to go get ready for school, Bella went back to sleep. She still had two hours before she had to get up and get ready herself. She didn't really want to go back to school, afraid of what Lauren would do, but she knew she didn't really have a choice.
At seven when her alarm went off, she crawled out of bed and went downstairs for some breakfast. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him while he was reading the newspaper. When she walked into the room, he set the paper down and smiled at her.
"Good morning honey. How did you sleep last night? I didn't hear any screaming so that's good, right?" He chuckled uneasily and Bella knew he was trying to make light of the night she had the bad dream. It also reassured her that he hadn't heard her little rendezvous last night with Edward.
She turned away from him so he didn't see the guilty look on her face while she answered him. "It was good. I actually slept better than I have in quite some time," she told him as she went about getting a bowl of cereal. When she thought she had her facial expressions under control, she turned around and joined him at the table.
"Edward is going to be here at 7:30 to take me to school, so you're off the hook today. Esme also said she's going to call the school to see if he can transfer into some of my classes. She's a little worried about me not having the proper support in case anything goes wrong today." She smiled sadly at the look on her father's face.
She knew he was remembering back to last week when she had nearly taken her own life because of something Lauren Mallory said. Trying to reassure him, she quickly said, "It's okay dad. Edward will be right there by my side today and I've also got Angela Webber. We really connected when I got home from the hospital. Nothing is going to happen today."
Charlie sighed deeply before responding. "I know Bella, I just worry. That's what dad's are for, right?" He smiled at her before standing up and kissing her on top of her head. "I'm going to go grab a shower and get ready for work. If you need anything today, call my cell. I'll make sure to keep it on."
"Thanks Daddy. I love you," Bella replied before returning her attention to her cereal. When she finished eating a few minutes later, she headed upstairs to get dressed.
She decided to wear her dark blue skinny jeans with a forest green sweater that was somewhat form fitting. She knew Edward didn't care about what she wore, but she still wanted to look nice for him.
After she was dressed, she went into the bathroom and brushed through her hair. Deciding it was too messy today to leave down, she pulled it up into a messy bun and then brushed her teeth. Finally ready, she bounded down the stairs and sat in the living room, anxious to see Edward.
About five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. She jumped up from the couch and ran to answer it. She heard Charlie snickering behind her at her exuberance, but she didn't care. Edward was here and as soon as the door was out of the way, she threw herself into his arms.
Edward quickly wrapped his arms around her while he laughed. "Gee, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you missed me." He squeezed her tightly and kissed the top of her head.
Bella pulled back and looked up into Edward's gorgeous eyes. "Edward, every second I'm away from you I miss you. I love you so much." She smiled and then stood on her tiptoes, tilting her head up toward his. Seeing clearly what she wanted, he met her halfway and pressed his lips to hers causing her to melt into his embrace.
After a few minutes, a very conspicuous throat clearing interrupted them. They both turned to look at Charlie who was grinning at them. "Hate to interrupt," he said, "but don't you both have school to get to? I don't want to have to arrest you for truancy."
Bella returned his smile and grabbed Edward's hand. "Yeah, Dad. We're leaving now." She pulled Edward by the hand out to his car where he opened her door for her. She climbed in and he went around to get in the driver's seat. As soon as they were both buckled in, he put the car in reverse and they were off.
…..
Edward reached for Bella's hand across the center console and entwined their fingers. He was just pulling into the parking lot of Forks High and knew that Bella was nervous. Hell, he didn't blame her one bit.
It was Lauren Mallory who caused her to try to kill herself last week. Edward never liked the blonde bimbo despite her attempts to throw herself at him, but now he absolutely despised her. Her actions could have taken away his only reason for living and that was unforgivable in Edward's eyes.
His resolve to protect Bella had never been stronger. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure that no one hurt her ever again.
Knowing that Esme was supposed to call Mrs. Cope first thing this morning, Edward thought it best to head to the office first. Holding Bella's hand tightly, he led the way. When they entered the cozy space, Mrs. Cope looked up from her desk and smiled at the two of them.
She reminded Edward a lot of his biological grandmother. She had shoulder length curly hair that had once been red but was now a mixture of white, silver, and copper. Her cheeks were chubby as was the rest of her, and she wore round spectacles at the tip of her nose. She looked like a combination of a little cherub and Mrs. Claus.
"Ah, Mr. Cullen. I've been expecting you to drop by. Your mother called me first thing this morning to speak about rearranging your schedule slightly." As she was talking, she was rifling through the mess on her desk. "Aha! Here it is." She handed Edward a piece of paper and smiled. "Here's your new schedule. You're teachers have already been informed of the changes."
She then turned her gaze to Bella and addressed her smiling. "Miss Swan, I'm so glad to see you well. Miss Mallory has been reprimanded for her involvement in the events last week. If you have any additional problems with her, I trust that you'll come to me immediately." Bella didn't seem to know what to say, so she just nodded while smiling hesitantly. Edward squeezed their joined hands reassuringly and gave her his crooked grin. Just as he suspected it would, it brought a twinkle to her eyes and a genuine smile to her face.
After thanking Mrs. Cope for everything, Bella and Edward left the office and sat down on a nearby bench so Edward could look at his new schedule. Bella looked at it with him and determined that they now had four of six classes together. The only ones they didn't share were physical education and foreign language; physical education for obvious reasons and language was pretty obvious too. Bella was in French IV while Edward had chosen Italian as his language choice. Once they had his schedule figured out, they walked to first hour hand in hand.
…..
Bella was so excited. Esme had followed through with her promise and somehow managed to arrange for Mrs. Cope to change Edward's schedule so that they were in four classes together. She was on cloud nine knowing he would be there to watch over her and be there for her if she needed him.
She floated through the first half of the day, smiling euphorically the whole time. She honestly didn't think the day could get any better. Even third hour, one of her classes without Edward, went smoothly. No one asked too many questions about last week or why she was absent the rest of it. They looked at her differently, yes, but not in the 'OMG, she's totally crazy and killed her own mom' kind of way; it was more an 'I'm so glad she's okay' kind of way.
Angela sat next to her in third period and they talked up until the bell rang. When the teacher began his review on the previous week's lessons, they starting passing a piece of paper back and forth. Angela had asked how her weekend was and told her she looked like she was literally glowing.
That made Bella turn an unattractive shade of red as she wrote her two-word response.
Edward Cullen
Damn Girl! Are you serious? He's so effing H-O-T!
Totally Ang. I'm seriously in love with him and he loves me too!
Oh Bella! I'm so happy for you! ***HUGS***
And…see the ring on my right hand? It's a promise ring. Edward gave it to me yesterday, promising he'd never leave me! It's also a promise that he's going to propose one day!
WHAT! You've got to be kidding! It's gorgeous Bella! What kind of stones are they?
Edward said they're mystic topaz. It's the ring his father gave his mother as a promise ring. It was part of his inheritance.
Girl, that is so romantic! I want to hear all the details about when he gave it to you!
Um… not likely Ang. I don't kiss and tell. **WINK**
OH NO! You can't write something like that and then not give me deets! No DAMN way!
OK! OK! But Later. Mr. Lefevre keeps looking at us!
Later then! Don't think I'll forget!
They stopped passing notes and tried to pay attention for the rest of the period, but it wasn't working. Bella's mind kept wandering back to the meadow and she would feel herself blushing profusely as she remembered what transpired. It felt like time stood still for the last fifteen minutes, but the bell finally rang and Bella hurried out to meet Edward. They had one more class before lunch.
…..
Edward was sitting in third period going nuts because Bella wasn't with him. He knew it was only fifty-five minutes, but it felt like days. He was antsy and couldn't focus on anything the teacher was saying. Nothing was getting through to him until he heard a nasally voice say Bella's name. It was Lauren Mallory talking to Jessica Stanley about how Bella was back in school after being absent most of last week.
Edward was absolutely livid at the things they were saying. Lauren was telling Jessica that Bella was unstable and that she had gone home and tried to kill herself over the guilt of killing her mother. They were laughing about the whole thing saying how easy it had been to get under her skin. Edward saw red. He couldn't believe how petty these girls were. They were completely juvenile. Did they actually expect guys to like them when they were being catty bitches?
At one point, the class broke into groups to work on a project and Edward was beyond pissed when he found out he was to be paired with the queen B herself, Lauren.
When their names were read he cursed under his breath. Of all the kids in the class why did he have to end up with her? Reluctantly, he gathered his things and walked over to the table she was sitting at and plopped down as far from her as the table would allow.
The moment he sat down, Lauren put on a smile as fake as Pam Anderson's boobs, and batted her eyelashes at him. He was going to seriously be sick. It got even worse when she reached her hand out and stroked his arm. He quickly jerked it away and opened his textbook to the appropriate page, trying to will her to get on task so they could be finished that much faster. The faster they finished the faster he could get the hell away from her.
"Hey handsome," Lauren practically purred looking at Edward. "How have you been? And when did your schedule change to put you in this class?"
"Don't call me that," he snapped. "My name is Edward and it's none of your business how I've been." Edward knew he sounded like a douche but he couldn't help himself. He just couldn't get over that fact that this stupid girl in front of him almost took his Bella away from him and had just spent half the class talking about her.
"Aw, don't be like that! I just asked how you were," she whined. "Why don't we ever hang out? We should catch a movie sometime." Lauren traced her fingers along Edward's arm again, apparently not getting the hint the first time.
"Let me ask you a question, Lauren." Edward was trying to speak as coolly as possible, but he couldn't keep the bite out of his voice.
Completely oblivious, Lauren leaned in to purr in Edward's ear, "Baby, you can ask me Any. Thing. You. Want." Sheesh she was such a skank.
"What's your goddamn problem with my girlfriend?" Edward barked. "She never did a single fucking thing to you. Why do you hate her so much?"
Lauren looked absolutely shocked and was speechless for a minute. 'Wait… What? Since when do you have a girlfriend? I didn't know you were going out with anyone."
Edward was beyond pissed at this point. "You stupid bitch. Bella Swan is my girlfriend. You know, the girl you were just talking to Jessica Stanley about? The one you thought was so fucking funny to have run out of here last week? Well I've got news for you Lauren. Bella Swan is the kindest, gentlest, most loving woman I've ever known and you couldn't hold a candle to her if you tried."
He intentionally put as much venom in his voice as possible as he continued. "And one more thing… if you ever, and I mean ever talk about Bella again, or even talk to her, you're going to have to answer to me." With that, he slammed his book shut and stormed back to his desk not caring that they weren't done with the project. He'd gladly take an F if that meant he could get away from the skank.
