Edward
"Would you relax Edward, you're driving me crazy!" Jasper sat in his chair, his brows furrowed in agitation.
My legs were bouncing up and down as I sat on the edge of my bed, my eyes shifting anxiously from the clock on my bed to the watch on my wrist.
"I need a cigarette." This shit was stressing me out. Bella was only gone for 4 days to visit the NYU campus and I was going insane. I had to be calmer by the time I go to pick her up at the airport. I can't let her see me like this, she'd never go.
I walked out onto my balcony and lit a cigarette. Jasper joined me after a couple of minutes.
"Man you're in trouble."
I took a drag. "I know man, I'm fucked."
"How long until she comes back?"
"Her plane lands in an hour. I'll leave in a half hour."
"Do you need me to drive…you look a little…eh?" His finger circled his temple, indicating that he thought I was going crazy.
I can't imagine that I looked that great. I hadn't slept a night since she left. I think I called her more than her parents did. It just made me nervous, having her so far away and by herself.
My fears had been confirmed last night when she called. I knew something was wrong right away, even though she was trying hard to keep her voice calm.
"Now Edward don't freak out okay?"
"I'm not making any promises."
My finger tapped frantically on my desk.
She seemed hesitant to tell me.
"Bella just fucking tell me."
"Okay. Well I was on the subway with this group of other visiting students. They were going to try and sneak into a bar and as hard as it is to believe, I didn't want to go."
I didn't like where this was going.
"So," she continued. "They got off at one stop and I stayed on to go back to the dorms." She paused. "And this…weird guy got on."
My fist clenched. Definitely did not like where this was going.
"Go on…" I said through my teeth.
"Well I got off at my stop and he got off on the same one. I thought I was just being paranoid, but he kept following me. So I made sure to stick to the lighted streets as much as I could, but there was no other way to go except down this street with only one light. So I got a little nervous and started walking faster and the guy was still following me so I just started running and he started running."
"And…?"
"Well you have to promise not to tell my parents but he grabbed my arm just as I reached the door and pulled me into the alley next to the door."
"Damnit Bella! Why weren't you more careful? I'm coming to get you right now!" My fist slammed down on the table.
"Edward, relax nothing happened! He told me to give him my purse, so I started to hand it over when this guy whipped around the corner and told the guy that the police were on their way. The weird guy took off as soon as he heard the word cop."
"I don't care if nothing happened! Do you even realize what could have…" My voice trailed off. I didn't want to think about that.
"Edward I know. But it didn't. Thanks to my savior."
That was so Bella. Trying to brush off something as serious as that. I was extra paranoid for the rest of her trip and I'd be paranoid until I saw her walking through the terminal in one piece.
"Edward!" Jasper's voice was calling me back to the here and now. "Edward?" His hand was waving in front of my face.
My eyes finally connected with his.
"Alice just called, she's been tracking Bella's plane. It landed ten minutes ago."
I grabbed my jacket and keys and flew out the door. I couldn't make the car go fast enough for my nerves. I had kept my promise and not told her parents, but that couldn't undo me knowing about it. Now it would be even harder to let her go in six months. I might have to hire a bodyguard to follow her around just to keep my piece of mind.
The car came to a screech in the non-parking zone.
"Sir you can't park there!" A security guard stared at me.
"Tow me!" I screamed as I ran through the doors.
My mind was racing. Bella, Bella, Bella, long beautiful brown hair, sweet brown eyes, Bella, Bella, Bella.
I stopped as I approached the security checkpoint and stood anxiously, popping up on my toes every few minutes to peek over the large crowd that had gathered.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Excuse me sir, do you know the time? My boyfriend was supposed to pick me up and he's a little late."
I spun around at the sound of her voice and scooped her up into my arms, swinging us around in circles. My nose dug down into her hair, inhaling her perfect scent that I've been missing these past days.
"God I missed you."
"Missed you too." She pulled back to kiss me. Her foot slowly rose up as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
I put my arm around her waist as we walked out of the airport.
"You won't believe how excited I was, I parked my car right….here." I looked to the spot that my car previously occupied.
"Where is my fucking car?!" I threw my arms up.
"You said to tow it. So we towed it." The same security guard from before came up behind us. He handed me a slip with the towing information.
I turned back to Bella. She was doubled over laughing.
"I'll call Alice."
Her phone was at her ear an instant later.
"Alice…yeah we need a ride….Genius over here parked in a no parking zone and got his car towed."
She hung up, still laughing.
Jasper and Alice pulled up twenty minutes later. Alice jumped out and threw her arms around Bella. Back off Alice, that's my girl and this is my time.
Bella and I scooted into the backseat. She ended up basically on my lap. I couldn't stand not touching her, not being close to her. I'd been going through withdrawal. I needed her skin on mine, needed her breath on my face, needed her eyes looking at mine.
She squeezed my hand as we pulled into her driveway.
"There you go kids. Be safe, use protection." Jasper smirked as he unlocked the doors.
I shot him a look, Bella just smiled as we got out of the car. I carried her bag to the door, which was answered promptly by her mother. I bent down to give her a hug and a peck on the cheek.
"I'll be right over," I whispered into her ear.
Her mother said a quick hello to me before pulling Bella inside.
I waited in Bella's room for nearly an hour. I can only imagine how her mother was probably talking her ear off. My fingers were flipping casually through our yearbook when she walked in. It was nearly 10 o'clock.
"Man I'm tired," she said as she crawled onto my lap and started kissing my neck.
I smiled.
"I thought you were tired." My lips bent down to touch her shoulder.
"I am tired….of you not being naked." She smirked and pulled my shirt off.
We lay back on the bed, curled up under her blanket.
"Did you have a good time?"
"Edward it was amazing. It was everything I could ever want for myself and more. It really felt like home. The only thing that would have made it better was if you were there with me. And maybe if I didn't almost get mugged. Actually that was kind of cool."
"Bella don't be ridiculous. Are you sure you're okay? It didn't freak you out even a little bit." I think that scared me. She wasn't even shaken by the fact that she got pulled into an alley by a man fully intent on robbing her and maybe more.
My hand caressed her face.
"Honey I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly. "Thank Goodness Garrett was there."
"I really need to thank this guy. He saved my life." I kissed her softly.
"Oh you really need to meet him Edward. He's so great. We're going to be in the same dorm next year. He took me to get some coffee after my little incident. He told me all about campus and the city. It'll be nice to have a friend when I go there."
I lifted my eyebrow.
"Edward. Don't be jealous. He's just a friend. I'm not going to know anyone there, he was nice to me."
My mood calmed.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little freaked out by your "little incident" as you called it. You are way too precious to me and I'm just mad that I couldn't be the one to save you."
"Don't be silly. You've saved me more than once. You save me everyday."
She brought her forehead up to meet mine.
"I'm not going to lie to you Bells, I was going crazy when you were away. I think Jasper thought I was going insane. I checked the clock at least every two minutes today."
She laughed. "That's nothing. I kept my phone in my front pocket twenty-four seven just in case you happened to call."
"I'm sorry I didn't call more. I just didn't want to bother you. This was your trip."
"Well thank you for loving me so much."
I snuggled closer to her.
"Man Bella, how are we going to do this?"
"I know." She turned serious. "It's going to be unbearable at first. But you know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Or makes the heart go fucking nuts."
"Or that too." She looked up at me. "Edward we're going to make this work. We're both going to go do what we wanted to do in the world. And when we're done, we'll make our way back to each other and start our life together. There's nothing wrong with wanting things for yourself. And I want you to have all the things you want, just like you want that for me. We just have to trust that our love is strong enough to wait."
"I know it is Bella. I just don't want to miss this."
"Miss what?"
"The way your nose crinkles up when you get irritated, or how you raise your eyebrow when you're being sarcastic. I don't want to miss the way you stretch your arms above your head every morning before you open your eyes and the way your bottom lip sticks out when you're being a whiny ass." I laughed. "Or when you stand in front of the mirror after you take a shower. You lean in real close, turn your head to the side, smile and skip out of the room."
I looked back down at her. There were tears in her eyes.
"Oh no. No don't cry. That wasn't supposed to make you sad." I laughed and started wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I'm not sad Edward. I'm just…so in love with you it hurts. In a good way." The corner of her mouth perked up into an almost smile. "I guess I'll have to be more careful with what I do if you're going to be watching me like a hawk every minute."
"I'm just making memories. Don't change a thing. You're perfect."
We fell asleep, forehead to forehead, dreaming the dreams we had for each other and for us.
I woke up before she did, so I just laid there watching her sleep. Her chest rose up and down slowly with each breath she took, her face was completely at ease. I bent down and kissed her lips.
She slept for another twenty minutes before she did her morning arm stretch. She stopped mid-stretch and peered out one eye.
"Caught ya," I said laughing.
"I don't even realize that I do it." She smiled and settled back into bed. "Good morning."
"Good morning. Your mother left for work about ten minutes ago. Stay here. I'll be back with a surprise." It was my turn to make her breakfast.
We stayed in bed for the rest of the day, eating the wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham that I made. She talked my ear off about how wonderful New York was and I sat there, half excited for her and half scared for what this all meant for us. I knew deep down in my heart that we were going to make it through this, but my stupid head is evil and turned against me, planting terrible and devastating scenarios in my head. None of them involved a happy ending.
