Hi! Thank you so much, guys, for giving so much love to this story and me. You all make my day!
Special thanks to Frannie (Fran S. Flower) for being so awesome and graciously working her magic on this chapter.
The credit for keeping me writing goes to Angela (AngelaAbbot) whose suggestions keep my writer's block at bay.
Chapter 30
'The time has come;
She can no longer flee,
Her soul keeps on nudging her
To the edge of uncertainty.
So now is when
She decides to fly with her fears, or fall with her dreams
And when she looks back,
She will have chosen the one thing,
That will set her free.'
-V. Victoria
She was the shade in the thrall of light.
Focused and quiet, she sat, coloring her chaos to life.
"Freedom is what I adore about painting. This leeway to create a world of my own …"
A gloomy smile played at her lips, and he had no difficulty reading the unsaid from the said.
"You know."
"I do, yes."
He exhaled sharply, the eerie fatality clinging to her admission, leaving him winded.
"You won't have to do this alone, Bella. I'll be there for you." Quicker than a dart, the words escaped him, the urge to comfort, dominant.
But as his wit caught up with him, so did his self-doubts, making him flounder.
"That is, if you want me to." A treacherous tremor betrayed the careful nonchalance. Her growing silence worsened his insecurities, making him brace for rejection.
Yet, it never came.
Instead, her trembling hand gripped his, uncaring for the paint dripping from the brush she still held.
He froze, waiting for her to withdraw, to succumb herself to the cruel maw of her fear of touch.
But above the racket of her heartbeats and his stillness, all Edward heard was the quiet murmur of their hope.
"Will you teach me how to Scumble?"
* Scumbling – It is the rough and uneven application of a layer of thin paint over a layer of another color, producing a lively and unpredictable texture and color variety. It's one of the basic styles of brushstrokes.
So, we've reached an important juncture where Bella has willingly initiated contact with Edward. Her asking him to teach her scumbling while holding his hand shows she is moving beyond only tentatively trusting him. Please let me know what you think.
The next chapter has a rather graphic glimpse into Bella's life with Renee and Phil. It'll be posted this Friday.
Until next time!
Love,
Ansha