Chapter 36^ - The Hideout

Song: "Stand in the Rain" by Superchick

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, not me.

Author's Note: Two songs for this chapter, and Edward's song is a song the like "narrator person" would sing to(or for) Edward if this was like a musical or something. I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy reading it! Sorry it took so long!

R+R

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Bella POV:

Strong, hard, cold arms wrapped around my torso and gently lifted me off the bench. I was cradled against a stone body that moved with grace and gentleness to make me comfortable. I turned to see the face of my comforter, and I gasped.

"Edward?"

How could this be? He didn't want me…so why was he here, in the pouring rain, to…do what? He certainly was not here to comfort me. Why would he care if I got wet in the rain? He left me to save me from his world, by his standards then, wasn't he putting me in danger? "Why…why are you here." I managed to ask between sobs. His presence, the fact that his beautiful arms were wrapped around me, only made my pain for tonight that much worse.

"Bella…" He breathed my name…but the pain in his eyes told me what he was truly feeling. "I had no idea. Alice, she set me up. She was trying to get me in the same room with you, to force me to talk to you."

"Why?" I interjected. Courtesy was not something I was prepared to give to him.

"She is tired of me absence, and she believes that by meddling in my life she can fix everyone's hurts." He laughed darkly. "She does not even realize what she has done."

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly. My sobs were starting to ease, intrigued as I was. His voice had me mesmerized, his eyes held me captive. My mind screamed at me not to trust him, but I could not help the fact that my body naturally responded to being held in his arms.

"I have no idea how to keep you safe from her. I could leave, but Alice would remain your friend, and then the dangers of our world would still be present in your life, which would mean I may as well stay, but that defeats the whole point of me leaving in the first place." I furrowed my brow trying to keep up with his logic. "I know if I talk to Carlisle he would agree to relocate, but he would never force Alice to go with, and she would just stay, so that idea is no good."

He heaved a big sigh. "That leaves me with only choice…" He looked down at me, his face full of grim determination. "I have to take you somewhere safe until I can come up with a better solution."

\ "What do you mean?" I asked, sure that I was not going to like the answer.

"I am taking you away from Alice's meddling, and I am going to work something out that keeps you out of all harms way."

"Edward?" I asked, trying to attempt a polite tone.

"Yes, Bella?" He answered with grace.

"That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard." I practically shouted. "As you made plans to whisk me off to "safety," did you ever even think to ask me if I needed saving? Well, I will tell you…the answer is no. For the first time since you left, I was finally starting to find some happiness. I am grown woman, I will decide when I am and am not safe. And right now I am safe!" I threw myself out of his arms even though every fiber in my body protested the action. I then proceeded to stomp my way out of the garden.

I got about three steps into my stomp back to the dorm when he blocked my path. "Where are you going?" He asked, his voice still perfectly composed.

"To my room!" I shouted at him.

"Alice is waiting for you there, I cannot allow that."

"Well, then where do you suggest I go?" I asked sarcastically.

"To my house." He replied as he easily swung me up into his arms and started to run with me, against my will.

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Edward stopped and put me down in front of a beautiful, old, two-story Tudor home. It was like something out of a painting. Ivy hung down over the walls, but I could tell that it wasn't in disuse, but in the style of the home. Flowers grew in the planters underneath the windows, the path to the front door was made of stepping stones and lined with marigolds. The front door had a beautiful wreath of daffodils on it. I could make all of this out from the soft blue lights that lined the path to the front door, and the front porch light that shined merrily next to the front door.

At this point, I was sure I had fallen and hit my head and was in the middle of a strange fairy-tale like dream, where I had just wandered in on the seven dwarves cottage, in human size.

My perfect vision was broken when the wind picked up and yanked the wreath off the door, and it blew towards me. I instinctively ducked, needlessly, because Edward easily caught it with a swift move of his hand.

"Thank you." I managed as I heaved a big breath.

"I should get you inside." He replied.

He led me into the entrance hall. On the right an open staircase lead up to the second story, and on the left the wall was plain white, and pictures of each of his family members adorned the walls, in the order they became a part of his family.

"This is my tribute to my family." He said shyly. "These walls are the foundations of the house, and my family is the foundation of my life. I thought it would be appropriate to adorn the walls with pictures of all of the people I love."

The first thing I noticed was that I appeared to not be present on the walls. Anger flared inside of me, and quickly left as my curiosity got the better of me. I hesitantly walked closer to examine the first two portraits. The man must have been his father, the resemblance was uncanny, and his mother, in the next portrait, was so beautiful. I gazed at her piercing green eyes, and tried to imagine them on Edward. I couldn't; every vision and memory I had of Edward centered around his beautiful golden eyes.

I moved further down the hallway, past the pictures of Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emment, Alice and Jasper, and stopped at the last picture in the hallway. Tears filled my eyes, as I realized that I was here. What had he said? "Adorn the walls with pictures of all of the people I love." So does that means he still loves me? Or had this picture became part of the collection before he decided he didn't want to be with me anymore?

It was the picture we had taken at the senior prom, me in my green dress, and him in his tux. I was smiling hesitantly, and his smile blazed forth in triumphant glory, as if he had everything worth having in the world.

I turned away with tears pouring down my cheeks. That night was the beginning of the end. How could it have started so perfectly, and then ended with this? I couldn't stand this!

I gasped in surprise. While I had been concentrating on one side of the hallway, I hadn't really taken a good look at the other side. The wall underneath the staircase was a painting of Edward and me, in the meadow. It was exactly as I remembered it, from our very first time there.

His arms wrapped around my waist as I stood there frozen with surprise. "It took me ages to paint that. I wanted it took look exactly perfect, just like I remembered it. The hard bit was painting myself. I remembered what I had been wearing, of course, but I had to get a mirror to get my face just right."

I stared at the many different colors of wildflowers and the ferns and the sunlight filtering down through the trees. "What no sparkles?" I asked gesturing at his face.

"I figured if I was ever going to sell, or entertain human friends, that may not be wise." He replied.

I was here on his wall, in his house. One of my most cherished memories was painted onto his wall! He doesn't love you, he left you. The reasonable side of my brain chanted to me. Then why are you here? My heart asked.

I was overwhelmed. I turned to Edward. "So I am here. Is this the safe hideout?" I asked sarcastically.

"For now." He answered. "You will probably want to change, and I will show you where you can sleep tonight."

I noticed that I was dripping all over the floor, as he was too. He lead me up the stairs and into a dark hallway. Edward flipped a switch on the wall and a soft light turned on, on the other side of the hallway. Windows, covered in long purple curtains covered the walls. Four doors lined the other wall.

He showed me into the second door, which turned out to be a bathroom. "Towels are in the closet." He instructed as he started to fill the bath with warm water. "I will bring a robe for you."

He darted out the door and was back in a few seconds with a long white, fluffy robe. "I will find some pajamas for you and leave them on the bed. You can sleep in the first bedroom."

Then he was gone. I wondered if he left me for privacy, or that he had used up all of his patience and could not stand being in the same room as me. Now that I had the time to think, I realized I was cold, wet, and tired. I warily climbed into the bath and decided to try to soak away my problems.

************************************************************************Song: "Desperado" by The Eagles

Edward POV:

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I stood in the hallway outside the bathroom for a long time. Long enough to hear the soft plunk as her wet clothes hit the floor, the splash as she entered the water, and the slow calming of her breathing as she finally stopped crying and started to relax in her bath. I had to move, I had to do something, I had to figure out what was going on. I had to find some way to keep Bella safe.

I got up slowly, careful to make no noise and disturb Bella. I went into the room I offered her for the night. It was what Esme and I had referred to as the "blue room," when we had restored this place. The walls were a bright blue. A huge canopy bed dominated the center of the room, it was done up in pale blue almost see-through curtains. The sheets I knew were white satin, and a powder blue comforter rested onto of them.

Drawn by duty, I walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. Esme had thought to fill the top drawer with all kinds of lingerie. I quickly closed that drawer. In a perfect world, Bella and I would have moved in here married, and I am sure Esme was just trying to be thoughtful of all of Bella's needs.

I opened the next drawer and pulled out a few night gowns. Definitely not Bella's style, but the I could not help the thrill that went through my body at the thought of Bella in a floor length white silk night gown. I gently laid my choice out of the bed, rummaged through the closet until I found soft white slippers, which I placed in front of the bed, and then ran to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass of apple juice and made a package of pop-tarts. I placed these on Bella's bed-side table. As I surveyed the room to see if it needed anything else, I decided to leave the lingerie drawer open half way, so that Bella would be able to find anything else she may need. I walked out the door and gently closed it.

I leaned against it for a second, overwhelmed by having Bella so close, and yet knowing I had to try to keep her so far away. The worst part was knowing that in the end this would probably only hurt her more.

************************************************************************Author's Note: So I made a deal with myself…I have to clean my room before I can write another chapter L…so if anyone lives in the Milwaukee area and wishes to help in the interest of getting the next chapter up sooner, I would greatly appreciate it! J

P.S. If you would like a more detailed idea of what Edward's house looks like, I will be uploading the picture to my facebook/myspace so message me and I will give you the appropriate link to view it.