The Painter

Chapter 25

"Normal is just an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly." ~Morticia Addams

~O~

Bella sat on the edge of her seat in class. Her eyes darting toward the window, watching the rain fall.

Alice looked at Bella and smiled, passing her a note with a slight of hand. One second it wasn't there, the next it was and then gone again as it never happened. Bella gasped, causing attention to herself for a fleeting moment but Alice just giggled, shaking her head.

Can you come to our house after school?

Alice had such beautiful handwriting. It was like her grandmother used to write and something not often seen anymore.

Bella nodded that she could go to her house and they both faced forward again, taking notes in her notebook.

It had been several weeks since her and Edward's date at the greenhouse. It was such a beautiful moment together, but since then there hadn't been much time to get together.

It also didn't help that Charlie had been working a lot and felt better when Bella was home alone where he could drive by and check on her.

After her date with Edward, Charlie was exceedingly worried that the two would get too close, too soon. His mind kept going back to his own experiences of when he and Renee had been teenage lovers and young parents. Even though she was technically an adult, having a boy over would surely be something that would make history repeat itself in his eyes.

Edward was frustrated with Chief Swan's rules, especially since Bella was already eighteen and she should have some semblance of a life. He often also wondered if Bella's childhood and sensory issues made them over protective and react guardedly.

They did seem to have kid gloves when it came to her.

Was she too immature to have a relationship? Even if she and Edward went extremely slow, was she ready to be committed to him for eternity when she could barely go to school, let alone other dates? Edward wondered.

He was concerned.

There was also the aspect of his parentage.

How would she react to him being otherworldly? It wasn't as if it was something he had any control over. It was just the way he was and if she did want a future with him, a vampire would be something she would need to decide to become.

In the two weeks of their limited contact, Edward had continued to watch her in the night.

Bella would dream about him. Sometimes it was a lust filled dream but other times she would shudder and cry and he longed to comfort her.

On one particularly hard night of her tearful sleep, Edward crawled in the bed with her and she clung to him. Her tears dried on his shirt as she took deep breaths of his unique vampire aroma while he whispered the words he longed to say as she was awake. It made him feel needed yet broke his heart. He couldn't be sure if she noticed he was really there, if she did she didn't show it.

Bella knew their date went well, but Edward had been quite distracted and knowing that her mom was often distracted, she waited patiently for him to come back around. She knew people were often self-involved, herself included and she couldn't blame him for needing to spend the time at home with his family when he wasn't really allowed to see her other than at school.

After two weeks of not painting, Bella's hands were shaking and itching to paint. She kept seeing herself as the treant, mostly, but she was also dreaming of herself in the ocean waves and once in the rocky cliffs off of La Push.

She wondered what that meant.

But as she looked out the window, clutching Alice's note like a lifeline, she saw the smoky, dark rain clouds as they drifted over the evergreen trees. Her eyes watched the glassy globes of rain before they raced down the window with her teacher's voice a small humming in the background.

Alice watched silently as Bella's eyes closed and then opened. She could see that Bella would come to the Cullen house after school, but there wasn't anything to see much after.

It was as if the blank space of their intertwined lives had yet to be decided.

But Alice had seen many different times that Bella would become a vampire someday so she was extremely confused why there was nothing there.

Seeing Edward so strained for his mate was not easy for Alice's mate to deal with. Jasper had opted to leave the main house for a while, trying to get away from the intense feelings.

That was why she finally relented, and wrote the note to Bella.

There had been something weighing on his mind for several weeks and it was only by Alice's insistence that Bella should know their true nature that he agreed to tell her.

He had been hoping she would have guessed, having been around the Quileute werewolves or having felt the coldness of his skin, but she hadn't.

If she had, it would have made things easier for Edward.

But Bella was someone who didn't seem to pay much attention to the world outside her bubble. Everyone could see that. She ignored other boys that showed her their interest. Even her father's friend's son, Jake showed her attention, but she quickly doused any flames he may have tried to light.

The only ones that seemed to breach that bubble was Charlie, Alice, Esme, and Edward.

It made Edward especially happy, yet worried at the same time.

Was he enough for her?

He couldn't know.

Having been alone for so long, he had finally thought that Bella was one he could have a future with. His vampire nature wasn't something that he had every thought much about. It was something he was born into and the fact of telling someone- someone whom he cared so deeply about- was daunting.

But Alice could only see so far and until Bella knew the truth, his future was a blur.

They, as a family, collectively decided Bella should know their truth before real feelings between the two were irrevocably intertwined.

The bell rang and Alice giggled, grabbing Bella's hand in hers. "We're going to have so much fun, Bella. I am so glad you said yes to coming over!"

Bella only smiled as she went along with her friend.

"Will Edward be there?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Didn't you know? I'm merely the cover. He's wanted to see you for weeks but I knew when the time was right."

"How's that?" Bella asked, confused. She knew Alice had a way of speaking in tongues. Her body gave nothing away and even when they saw Edward walking stiffly down the hall, she still remained silent.

Edward shook his head with a small smile as his greenish golden eyes glinting in the florescent lights. But he didn't wait for them, he walked even faster away, and Bella couldn't help but drop her shoulders at his inattention.

"Edward has errands our dad gave him and then he'll be home. That gives us lots of time to get you home and make up an overnight bag."

"I can't miss school."

"Senior ditch day. No one goes. They don't even expect you to go. Charlie knows, of course Esme called him."

"Huh," Bella sighed, not knowing if Alice was being truthful or not.

Alice opened the doors and Bella followed, the rain pelting her head before she could raise her hood.

"Run!" Alice laughed, twirling in the rain. "So much more fun to run and dance in the rain!"

Bella watched the girl as she danced in the rain, carefree and happy. Her eyes were alit as she lifted her hands to the sky.

"It's my favorite thing," she yelled to Bella as she jogged awkwardly to catch up. "When I was stuck in Mississippi, I could only see the rain from the barred windows, and that was if I was lucky. Sometimes I would try to sneak a look at the water falling from the sky."

"I love that, too." Bella added. And she did. The musky smell of dirt, asphalt, evergreen, and rain assaulted her senses all at once and she couldn't help but take it all in deep within her lungs.

Alice's soft voice broke her from her sensual affection for the clean, fresh air. "I would look up and try to see the one raindrop fall from the cloud all the way down. I never really could, you know, not till now."

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes were distant in memory, her voice soft yet chilling. "It's so freeing, don't you think? It cleanses the soul. It nurtures the seeds in the ground, washes away ashes, and it even calms the flames. I love it."

"I don't think I understand what you're talking about."

"Oh, you will, soon enough." She said all too calmly. "The rain is the best thing for people like us, Bella. You will learn to love the rain and thunderstorms."

"People like us?"

Bella frowned as Alice's vacant eyes darkened with the sky. "I never said I didn't love the rain, Alice. I lived in Arizona. Rain is practically celebrated there since it happens so infrequently."

"Of course it is!" Alice giggled, eyes brightening as if she was suddenly out of her trance. "I can be a little dramatic at times, I think. Anyway, let's go see your man! I am sure he's pacing the floor waiting."

Bella couldn't help but trip over her feet at Alice's words.

Her man.

.

A/N: I lied, managed to do two chapters today. Thank you for reading and your kind reviews.