AN: I'm sorry this chapter has taken such a long time.

Thank you so much for all the fab reviews.

Love to Eternally Edward's Girl and Chocaholic123 for their help.

SM owns Twilight.


~o~o~0~ Adagio ~0~o~o~


Chapter 49

Bella sat in the cold music room, her hands resting on the piano stool, her eyes focused on the garden outside the window. Greens, browns, and petals of every shade were hidden under a blanket of ice white, waiting for the thaw when they would be able to bloom.

Neither Irina nor her father had mentioned her evening spent with Esme, and Bella was desperate for it to remain that way. It had been such a monumental time in her life; she'd do anything to protect it. The memories were as precious as diamonds and vivid as stained glass. She wanted to wrap them in layers of herself, folding her love and happiness around them like cotton wool. She wouldn't have them ruined. She wouldn't have them taken away from her.

Perhaps she should have been wondering how everything could seem so unchanged: the weather, the room she sat in, the looming performance. Change begs people to question how the world can keep on turning when theirs has stopped, stalled, or spun into another dimension.

Bella didn't see it that way. She prayed that no one would see how much she'd changed. That they would mistake the blush in her cheeks as an effect of the brisk winter breeze, confuse the stars in her eyes for nothing more than a reflection of the sun and would accept the smile on her face as an everyday occurrence. She didn't want anyone, especially the viper situated in the entrance hall, to know she had given her heart to the man who was about to walk through the door. A man whose words and touch lit every inch of her alight and who she wanted to gravitate toward like her own personal sun.

Bella had a sense of déjà vu when she heard Edward's deep voice swirling against Irina's piercing tone before the door to the room swung open. It was the same as the first time she'd met Edward, yet Bella couldn't be more different to the girl who'd waiting patiently for her new teacher.

"As this is one of your last sessions, Isabella, make sure it counts."

"Of course." Isabella didn't turn around; she was finding it difficult to control her happiness, hearing the tenor of his voice. It would be as clear as day if she turned around and saw him.

Irina's clipped tone matched that staccato of her heels across the parquet floor as she left. At the same time the door crashed behind her, Bella felt the back of Edward's fingers brush against her neck and the press of his lips to the opposite side. "I missed you."

She twisted around, capturing his jaw and pulling his lips to hers. Piano lessons and the threat of discovery fell from her mind like burnt orange leaves in fall.

"Bella, I think we ought to play some music." Edward mumbled against the skin of her throat, pausing over the beat of her pulse that throbbed against his lips.

She groaned with annoyance but conceded that he was right. They would get through the performance then she would explain to her father that she was leaving—with Edward. If he wanted to have any sort of relationship with his daughter, he would let her go, and Edward too. It seemed simple, but the threat of Irina was no small concern. It would only take a spark of a match to light her ire, but Bella had her own fire building, so it was a challenge she was beginning to relish.


As Bella climbed the stairs, a soft smile gracing her lips, still tingling from Edward's goodbye kiss; a pair of patent black stilettos appeared on the step above her. Unwillingly raising her head to meet Irina, she almost blanched when she saw the malevolent expression on her face.

Irina's eyes glinted like the edge of a razor-sharp knife, her blood-red lips twisted into a cruel smile. There was no doubt that the words that would come out of her mouth would aim to cut deep so Bella steeled herself for the inevitable slash.

"I see you've become quite taken with your teacher."

"Of course, he has an incredible talent." She met Irina face on with the challenge, reluctant to show any weakness. Irina searched out people's Achilles heels and snapped them like a dry twig.

"Yes, he is very talented." The level of smug satisfaction in her expression dialled up a notch. "In all his endeavors."

Bella forced her face to stay neutral. Though she already held all the cards in this game, Irina's insinuation grated like nails down a blackboard, turning her stomach. "I'm sure you're right."

"Oh, I know I am, Bella. The things that man can do …" she trailed off, staring down at her manicured nails as if searching for a chip. "Anyway, I'm glad you are getting on so well."

The last few words had a bite of ice in them that froze the blood in Bella's veins.


Irina had been called many things, but she couldn't be accused of being stupid. She wasn't oblivious to the pathetic puppy dog love her stepdaughter was harbouring for her teacher. It was so thick in the air when she'd come to show Edward in, she could almost taste the sickly sweetness of it on her tongue. Edward wouldn't … couldn't find her attractive, she told herself as she poured a glass of white wine, her teeth gritting when she considered the possibility.

No, he wouldn't be that reckless.


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AN: Thanks for reading oxoxox