This chapter is mainly here because I wanted Edward and Bella to have a few weeks of a normal relationship before the plotline swoops in and makes a big mess
These characters and ideas all belong to Stephanie Meyer
E-POV
School was a harsh reality after the heavenly weekend with my perfect girlfriend. For the first time, I found no joy in learning. These were no longer merely college courses but now insurmountable barriers that kept me from Bella's side. After what felt like days, it was finally time for me to meet my love after her morning classes and take her to lunch.
Although she was no longer my personal angel in my meadow, my Bella was no less glorious. She stumbled out of her class looking absolutely gorgeous, warmly layered in sweatshirts and a trench coat. I gently took the books from her arms, longing to alleviate any burdens from her, no matter how light.
"Hello, Bella."
Her small, shy smile was going to drive me insane. She hadn't said a word to me yet, and I was already slipping into madness.
"Hi, Edward."
That was it. I lost it. My lips were on hers.
I raised my free hand to hold her face to mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her body against mine the best she could. I could hear her heart start to race as it always did when we kissed. I sighed against her closed mouth and she obediently opened hers. Ever so slowly, my icy tongue traced the shape of her perfect lips. Bella made the sweetest little sounds of pleasure. Trying to pull herself closer, she got up onto her tippy toes. That move through off the balance of my sweet girl and the kiss was broken as she began to fall. Her arms tightened, and my arm flashed around her waist. I couldn't help but smile at her flustered expression and the beautiful blush that painted her face. I kissed her hair.
"Ready for lunch?"
There were many confused and upset thoughts around campus as Bella and I walked across the quad hand-in-hand. I didn't understand how anyone could be surprised over this development—didn't these people watch me follow Bella around like a lovesick puppy? Regardless, the thoughts and conversations about our relationship were far from pleasant. An embarrassingly large following of people had documented all of the careful distance I was forced to keep between Bella and myself. To these nut jobs, it was proof that they had a chance with me—despite the fact that I had not made an acquaintance with any of them. The girls hoped that it was because I did not have feelings for Bella, but was too kind to reject "the lonely little girl'. The boys hoped it was because I was gay.
No. There's no way, he cannot be with her.
That's just his friend, right? There's no way they're a thing.
No! The rumors about Edward Cullen are true! I'll never love again!
No! He's taken! Oh. It's just her? He wouldn't date her, I'll still have my chance.
The odious thoughts surrounding Bella were not just from my heartbroken admirers, from her admirers as well. A lot of men interpreted Bella's gentle kindness as flirting because they themselves would never show even the barest courtesy to a woman they found unattractive. In their idiotic minds, her new relationship was a direct attack against them.
She's with Cullen? Fucking bitch, she was nice to me all week during class last week.
What the fuck, why was this bitch leading me on if she was fucking Cullen?
I thought she was into me, she always laughs at my jokes. What a slut.
I silently dared these loathsome creatures to speak their thoughts out loud, so I could have the pleasure of breaking their faces. But they were cowards, so I would never get the chance. I resented each and every one of these petty thoughts. I decided that these self-proclaimed experts on our love life could use a little taunting, so when Bella and I were halfway across the Quad, I pulled her up into another passionate kiss.
"What was that for?" she giggled. She tucked a strand of her thick hair behind her ear and discreetly glanced around at our audience. Her face was firetruck red. Adorable.
"You're too damn cute for your own good, Swan. You had it coming."
While I was walking to Bella's final class of the day, I discovered another figure waiting outside the door. I quickly recognized the figure as Jacob, the werewolf at the party who was kissing Bella's friend Angela and who told them both the legend of the Cold Ones.
A quick scan of his thoughts revealed that he was waiting for me. Once he realized I was close, he quickly reviewed his plan in his head: he was going to pretend to be an ex-boyfriend of Bella's and threaten me to back off.
This should be interesting.
I played my part as an aloof stranger and stood next to the bench he sat on. Jacob ran through his script one more time in his head before he stood up to face me. He adjusted himself to be as intimidating as he could: squared the hips, widened the stance, crossed his arms. It would have worked on Bella's other admirers, but it took a lot more to intimidate a vampire. The werewolves had no idea that we could tell what they were from their scent. They thought they had the upper hand. I faked a cough to cover up a laugh.
"Edward Cullen."
I acted like he pulled me from a train of thought, "Hmm?"
"You've been spending time with Isabella Swan." He had to work to add some menace into his voice. I could tell from his thoughts he did not like to come off this way but could not think of another way to save Bella.
Save Bella? Why would he want to save Bella?
"I have."
"Listen, buddy, I don't know what you think you have with her, but Isabella belongs to me."
"Odd. She never mentioned she knew a chauvinist pig."
Jacob internally recoiled at my words, and I regretting saying them. He seemed like a decent guy trying to do good deeds, but he was overstepping his bounds. Bella was an intelligent woman capable of making her own choices, and currently, her choice was me. As her boyfriend, I had every right to defend her and her choices.
"You're wasting your time."
"I'm at art major." I lied. "My time is worthless."
"The second I snap my fingers, she'll be crawling back to me."
I nodded, "Bella does enjoy a good snap."
He was growing irritated, "She will never be yours."
This game lost its appeal. "You can drop the theatrics now. I know what you are, just as you know what I am."
Jacob was miffed that I played along for so long and that I just screwed up his dialog. He skipped over some more of his vague threats and got straight to the point. "Leave. Bella. Alone."
"I deeply apologize but I am unable to do that."
"Bullshit."
"Look, I am not going to hurt her, I am not going to break the treaty. We're just…" I searched for the right phrase. 'Eternal soulmates with a reckless, undying devotion to one another' felt like a little much to say out loud, and would most likely set him off. "having a little fun." I finished. I hoped the pretense of a more casual relationship would keep him calm.
"Fine. Then have fun with someone else—anyone else. Choose any other girl in this entire city, and I will let you be. Just not Bella."
Memories flashed through his thoughts: Jacob's induction into his wolf pack, his terrifying first shift, and the many unstable shifts afterward, his broken heart the day he told Bella he could no longer be her friend to keep her safely away. I suddenly understood. These threats were not merely to keep Bella safe, they were also a product of his own guilt. If Bella were introduced into the supernatural world now, all the miserable years he spent marring their friendship would have been for nothing. And he could not allow that.
He dropped his defensive stance, and looked at me, pleadingly, "Please. Don't bring her into this world."
He loved her. It was purely a deep, platonic love—Philia to the ancient Greeks—for which I was grateful. If this boy felt the Eros I felt for Bella I would not be able to stand it. I wouldn't kill him, no. Perhaps I would gently maim him…
No matter how he loved her, I would always love her more. I would give Bella everything and anything she wanted. And miraculously she wanted me. And if one day my sweet girl wanted to be what I was, I would give her that as well.
"I'm sorry," I told him. And I was. I could respect that he was doing what he thought was best for Bella, but I did could not heed his wishes. He didn't say anything before he stalked off, but a string of profanities directed at me in his thoughts made it clear he was not happy. I sighed. This would not be the last of Jacob.
Soon after his departure, I was greeted by Bella and Jasper. I couldn't help but smile as the two of them discussed their lecture. It seemed my family was smitten by her as quickly as I was. Jasper was thoroughly intrigued by her interpretation and was excited to discover the workings of her strange little mind.
Me too, Jasper. Me too.
He bid us farewell to go to his next class, and Bella and I made our way to her truck. She didn't argue when I plucked the keys from her pocket and sat in the driver's seat. She snuggled up beside me on the bench and did her reading for English on the long drive home. With her warm, little body tucked so nicely into mine, I didn't even mind the grueling pace of her old machine.
After an enchanting afternoon of homework, cuddles, and watching her prepare dinner, I expected this to carry through until the evening. That was until I saw Bella's naked panic when she saw the headlights of her father's car through the window. She jumped from my lap and pawed at the arm I had around her waist that had just prevented her from falling.
"Edward! You have to leave!" I didn't understand the fear in her voice. Anytime she talked about her father, it was about how indifferent and casual their relationship was. Surely, he would be okay if she had a friend over. I wanted to calm her down and assure her it was no big deal, but all of those reassurances would essentially stem from nothing. I didn't know her father—although I hoped that would change—and I didn't know if there was something that made these fears very real. I bit my tongue and instead asked her if she would like me to stay in her room. She nodded. I kissed her and flew upstairs. I closed her bedroom door at the same time her father opened the front door.
I spent the afternoon free from Bella's thoughts as expected, so it took me a moment or two to realize that I could also not hear the thoughts of her father. How odd. Was this whole lineage protected from my gift? Were their others in the world protected from me that I had not yet encountered? This discovery made me… uneasy. It was troubling that my family could be in danger of being discovered, and I would be none the wiser.
Downstairs, Charlie ate his dinner from the living room, and Bella sat alone at the kitchen table. I wished that she would introduce me to her father, so I could join her. Keep her company, keep her smiling. It was all I wanted.
The house remained silent—thoughts included—for a long while.
"Did you like dinner, Dad?" Bella asked. Charlie was in the kitchen again, scraping something.
"It was fine."
"Well, I found Grandma Swan's meatball recipe, and you said you missed her cooking and…"
Her father huffed in disbelief. "I said that?"
Her voice was quiet. "..Well, not directly. You hinted at it, I guess"
"You can just serve frozen meatballs Bells, you know I would never know the difference. No need to waste your time and my money."
"You're right. Sorry, Dad."
There was a large crash downstairs that sounded suspiciously like an avalanche of miscellaneous items falling from their haphazard confinement. I smiled at the memory of Bella in her beautiful white dress carelessly shoving things in the front closet for my arrival.
Bella's voice was soft, "I'm sorry, Dad." I was glad I wasn't able to see through Charlie's mind into the sorrowful eyes of my sweet girl, for it would surely break my heart. I did not understand how it didn't break his; he remained indifferent.
"It's fine, kiddo. I know Renee kept a tight ship, but I don't care."
I bit back a growl at the name of Bella's mother—if that woman could even be referred to as such. The tiny glimpses into her childhood Bella offered during our lunch dates over the last few weeks were more than enough evidence for me to despise this woman. The weekends she spent alone playing "grown-up" in an empty apartment as a child, the little closet "forts" Renee made for her small child to keep her out of sight when she had a man over, the under-the-table waitressing job Bella had at age fourteen. I was never able to glean what she really felt about it from our dates; she would always laugh them off as a silly story. I hoped since we were no longer just friends, now that we were more, she would feel safer to talk to me about it.
It pained me to discover that even here, away from her mother, she still had the role of caretaker. Although it seemed to be self-imposed rather than forced, it still hurt my heart.
"I know Dad, I'm sorry," the conversation continued below me. "School just got a little crazy."
"Whatever, Bella. I'll be in the living room."
I wondered how soon would be considered "too soon" to ask her to live with me. I could buy her a beautiful apartment above a coffee shop in downtown Seattle, close to campus. I would take care of her and the home, while she finally took time for herself. As long as Bella allowed me to stay by her side, I would do everything in my power so she would never have to lift a finger. Anything she did not wish to do, I would take care of.
I would have to talk to Alice… While I was daydreaming about how beautiful Bella would look reading on a sunlit balcony overlooking the city, I missed her stumbling up the steps. She suddenly crashed into her bedroom.
I swept her up into my arms immediately. "My darling," I purred, placing gentle kisses along her jaw.
"Sorry about the wait, Edward. I had to clean up the kitchen, then organize that closet, balance the checkbook…"
"You have nothing to apologize for," I told her and nipped at her earlobe with my lips, "Not ever."
She giggled sweetly and twisted herself in my arms so she could do the same to me. I brought her over to her tiny twin bed and curled her into my chest.
As much as I loved our own private bubble, I discovered that I also loved being with Bella in public. I loved carrying her books and holding her umbrella. I loved putting my arm around her waist or shoulders to proudly display that she was mine. I loved giving her a soft peck on the cheek or forehead or lips to—always briefly—say goodbye. I just loved Bella and anything that involved her, no matter how small. I took her out as often as she would allow. I learned quickly that Bella did not like extravagant gifts or dates, but not quickly enough.
For our first official date, I went to one of Alice's favorite shops and picked out a dress for Bella: delicate, navy blue, soft lines that would accentuate her lovely curves. I left the dress and a matching necklace on her bed, along with a note telling her when I would pick her up. When I arrived to pick Bella up in my Spider, she was not wearing the dress. In its place was a plain, cotton dress and a scowl on her face.
Being the irritating psychic that she was, Alice texted me to tell me she already canceled my reservation for our private dining room at the three Michelin Star restaurant and got us a table at something a bit more moderate. Even with the severe monetary cutbacks on our date, Bella still was not pleased. From what I could not understand. The menu at the cheaper option didn't even have the prices listed on it; she didn't even know what I was paying! She refused to order, so I had taken the liberty of ordering their two most popular pasta dishes. The pasta sat and chilled on the table, and I was forced to box it up and hand it to the first homeless person we saw on the walk back to the car.
With that date marked in the books as an utter failure, I went ahead and gave away the box-seat tickets to concerts, returned the sailboat I purchased for her, and canceled all of the other reservations I made at restaurants just to be safe. I started paying attention to the dates the girls were daydreaming about in class and I eavesdropped on the conversations of girls discussing the weekends they had with their boyfriends so I would not mess up for Bella again.
It seemed as if the bar had lowered significantly when it came to courting in the twenty-first century. Most of the girls were ecstatic when their boyfriends did something as minor as paying for their meal or bringing them tampons and chocolate during their time of the month. Jasper and Emmett laughed at me for three days straight when they found the box of tampons I now kept in my car for Bella. However, if I could be seen as a hero to Bella for even that brief moment, they could laugh at me for three years and it would have been worth it.
The girls also enjoyed it when they were brought to various events—concerts, art shows, dinner—and they especially enjoyed when the events took place in an atmosphere they could classify as 'cute'. With that discovery and the knowledge she disliked anything extravagant, I brought Bella to a dark, cozy concert venue where we could snuggle up on a dingy couch and she could sip spiked hot chocolate. We went to a modern art exhibit and giggled quietly at our silly interpretations of the pieces. I took her greenhouse and built her a bouquet of flowers that would smell as lovely to her as she smelled to me.
However, her favorite dates tended to be the ones where we hid upstairs in her tiny bedroom, trading secrets, and kisses into the wee hours of the morning.
Sorry art majors... I couldn't help myself with this joke. Please know that I too was an art major, and currently have a job in my field so it is not a waste of time!