Word Prompt: Dizzy
The drive to Edward's apartment was incredibly quiet. His iPod played, but I wasn't even focused on the music. I didn't dare peak over at him for fear of what I may see. He didn't seem mad or angry, but he also didn't seem happy or proud.
My initial reaction was to defend Edward, even though I still logically knew Edward wanted to defend and protect me, I knew someone needed to defend and protect him. He had stood in the line of fire when my mom went off, and even though I wasn't there, my dad was blunt about how bad she had really gotten. She cooled down, of course, but still, he took that for me. And, today I stood up for him.
He hadn't reached for my hand, and I hadn't offered mine. In fact, I was fidgeting more than normal as I tried to stay calm. I almost felt dizzy from all the adrenalin pounding through me, but time seemed to pass rapidly before Edward turned into a parking garage to park his car.
When he got out, I moved to get out as well, but he shot over to help me. Although I didn't smile, his gesture did make me happy because, at the very least, I knew he wasn't seething mad.
"There's an elevator we'll take," he informed me with a quiet tone as he reached for my crutches. The space he picked was close to the elevator and he stuck a key in before selecting his floor. I had figured that was for security reasons, but when the door opened and we walked straight into an apartment, or well, condo would probably be a better word, my mouth dropped.
I looked from side to side, unsure what to really say or do. The floors were so shiny I felt guilty putting my crutches on it.
"This is my place," he announced formally as I looked over at him in sheer disbelief. Obviously, Edward had an inheritance I had just learned about, and his car wasn't cheap, but a condo? Why stay on campus when he had this?
"Your place," I repeated in disbelief. The condo was furnished and decorated, though it was also very minimalistic too. He seemed to follow a pattern with whites, blacks, and blues, with more art on the walls than pictures. He had one of him and his family in the hallway, but the ASP class photos also hung near them in a collage pattern. I spotted a few that looked like they were taken when Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie were younger, but I didn't have time to inspect them closer as I followed him as we passed through the hallway.
"My aunt helped me with all the decorating and stuff, I just told her the colors I liked," he explained as we walked to the living room. The TV was huge and the sofa was an oversized sectional that looked incredibly comfortable. We had passed a very sleek stainless steel kitchen on the way, but I was still in shock as I took in my surrounding.
"When did you buy this?" I asked finally unsure what else to really respond with.
"Last year, I knew I wanted a place in the city and there were a few buildings I was considering. This one came open and I decided to take it, but I'll remain in the house on campus until I finished school. It'll actually work better now since it's so close to the hospital, but I figured I need a place when I went between coasts," Edward explained.
"I thought you were done with secrets," I muttered under my breath.
"I said I was a multi-millionaire, this kind of goes with that," he replied and came over to where I was standing. He looked at me thoughtfully and cracked a small smile. "Do you wanna see the bedroom?"
"Sure," I replied and followed behind him, my nerves switching from scared to anxious. When he opened up two French doors to reveal a rather large master bedroom all I could think about was trying to fit two people into my tiny dorm bed, when we could be sleeping in the king sized bed that sat in the center of the room.
"Come sit down," he instructed and then helped lift me up onto the bed since my cast was weighing me down. "Give me one second."
Edward disappeared inside a closet, or, what looked like a closet, for almost a minute as I looked around. I scooted up on the bed so that my legs were resting in front of me because the weight of my cast was starting to hurt. The bed was extremely comfortable to sit on, so I could only imagine lying down on it. When he came back out he held a black velvet box in his hands. I didn't want to assume anything as he came to sit next to me, but I definitely held my breath in a bit. It wasn't a ring box at least, because if it were that small, I'd probably start hyperventilating.
"I was waiting to give you this before formal, but I don't really want to wait anymore. So, I hope you like it, if not, I can order you a different one," Edward stuttered nervously and opened the box. Nestled inside was a white gold necklace with a charm of the ASP Greek letter's. Each letter was accented in diamonds, and it took me a second to realized I was staring at a lavalier…Edward's lavalier to me. I looked up at him and then back down at the necklace before moving my hands to take it. "It came last week."
"Thank you," I whispered with emotions lacing my voice. I knew what this symbol meant to him, and I knew what I was silently agreeing to by taking it. If I hadn't made my intentions clear in front of his parents, I most certainly was as he pulled the necklace out and placed it around my neck. "I really love it."
"Good," he replied before moving in to kiss me. While we had had moments were we let ourselves go, this time was different. It was more, so much more, but it was also indescribable. Tears formed in my eyes even though I never pulled away from Edward, and I really didn't want to get emotional. The sermon we sat through was meaningful, and then dealing with his parents, and now wearing his lavalier, well, it just wasn't how I pictured Sunday going. "I love you so much," he whispered as he pulled away.
"I was worried you were be angry," I admitted as we both moved to lie down across the bed.
"I could never be angry at you," he replied. "Not for that, Bella, I've never had someone defend me like that and to see my dad's face, well I think we were both shocked. I knew you could run off my mom, which alone is its own accomplishment, but to see you with my dad. I've been so worried about sheltering you, when in reality I never needed to. You are the strongest woman I have ever met."
"Well, I'm glad you're not mad, because if you were I wasn't sure how to handle that. I'm not sorry," I stated with a little more sass than I meant to.
"I was never mad," Edward replied in a huskier voice before leaning over to kiss me again. It took everything I had not to moan into his mouth, though I did curse my cock blocking cast.
I smiled at him as he moved back and brought my hand to my neck to feel the ASP letters. "What does all this mean for us?"
"Hmmm." He sighed at my side. "Well, assuming you can put up with my dysfunctional family, and I can live with the fact that your father could probably shoot me and get away with it, I'd say it means whatever we want it to. I hope this is the last bit of drama we have to deal with for a while and when we get back to campus we'll still just be Edward and Bella. I don't want to rush you, or me, or us, so I figure we'll just talk as things go. Once I start medical school and my residency, well, I'll be like a dead man walking for a while and you still have school, so I guess we'll just make it work as times goes on."
"I like the sound of that," I admitted though I diverted my eyes away for a second. "What about sex?"
"Uh," Edward stuttered for a second obviously not prepared for my question. "Well, first you need to lose the cast and make sure you won't get hurt, and then, I don't know, when it happens, it happens? I have no question that you're my future Bella, if that's what you're asking, but I also don't want to really plan it either."
"But, it's an option? I mean, when my ankle is healed?" I questioned with way too much excitement behind my voice.
Edward laughed for a second, "Yes, Bella, it's an option."
"Good," I replied and then started laughing myself. For a few minutes we just laid there and relaxed. I loved the feeling of his bed and I definitely didn't want to get up.
"Can you see yourself here?" Edward asked out of nowhere. I looked over him with a confused look as he clarified, "When I bought it, I wasn't really taking into account another person. Starting in the summer, this is where I'll be full time, and one day I'd like to think that you'd like to move in."
"I think it's perfect for us," I replied slowly.
"But?" he questioned.
"I don't think it's a good place to raise kids. There isn't a yard," I answered as a smile formed on his face.
"I figured I'd buy a house out near my aunt and uncles, they all have yards, just a longer commute to the city," he informed me and I nodded.
"Then, I think it's pretty perfect, but can we take the bed with us back to my dorm room? I don't even want to move," I muttered and sighed against the bed.
"That is so random Bella," Edward teased before letting out a chuckle. "But, no, the bed stays, you'll just have to visit more."
"I would have visited months ago if I knew it was here," I taunted.
"True, but very, very few people know this place is mine. I use it for ASP things every so often, but everyone thinks it's my uncles," he told me, and I just shook my head at him.
"Master of deceit I see," I joked.
"Protective, yes, but deceitful, I try not to be. I've seen what money has done just with my parents, I figure, people won't flock if I don't flaunt it," he explained very seriously, though I hadn't really been serious with my comment.
"I know, I was teasing. I promise to keep your secrets," I replied before moving up to kiss him. We had only just started before his cell phone went off and I lied back down on the bed with a huff.
Edward chuckled, but answered the phone. Apparently Emmett wanted to make sure we were still coming and explained lunch was almost ready. I groaned as I left Edward's bed, but we made it to the car pretty fast and hit the road.
The drive to his aunt and uncle's house was really beautiful once we left the major city. It almost reminded me of home and I made a mental reference to actually explore the area more once I could drive again. Every few minutes I'd reach up and touch my necklace just to remind myself that it was there before I pulled my phone out and started to text my mom.
She had been around a sorority long enough to know most of the traditions and had asked me about lavalier's shortly after they left. I texted her out a simply greeting and told her we were heading to his aunt and uncles house for lunch, and then told her that I had gotten my lavalier. It didn't even take her a minute to write back, 'I knew I liked that boy, thinking about a visit soon?-Mom'
"What has you so smiley?" Edward asked a second later as I looked up from my phone.
"My mom wanted to know when I was thinking about visiting," I told him, and he nodded thoughtfully.
"What about the weekend after formal? We don't have anything scheduled, do you?"
"You want to drive to Forks?" I questioned just to ensure I was clear.
"Sure," he supplied like it was nothing, and we both agreed to drive down Friday morning since neither one of us had classes and come back up Sunday morning. I was pretty sure the Tri-Delta calendar was clear that weekend, but even if it wasn't, I could get away for a few days.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful until we pulled through the gate of Carlisle and Esme's house. As I looked around, I realized most of the houses were more like castles and mansions. Edward had mentioned wanted to buy out here, but the cost of these houses had to be enormous. I was starting to think that when Edward said multi-millionaire, he wasn't meaning two or three.
I'm so sorry this is late. I tried really hard to push it out faster, but Thursday's are insane at my house, and I literally left the house at 9 this morning and got home around 10 with a 2 hour break in between to cook for my second event. I may update again on Sunday, I'll be gone all day again tomorrow for Troops's Appreciation Baseball Game nearly 2 hours away.