Chapter 46: Normality
Edward was back.
That was all Bella could think of. She was happier than ever to see him. When she had stepped out of the car and smelled him, she thought it was a hallucination – or a smellcination, if that word existed. She'd waited for so long for him to return that she had lost all hope. And now, by some miracle, he was back.
When Alice had a vision while helping her in the fitting room, Bella let it slide, like always. She didn't want to get her hopes up. But this time, it happened. He was back.
As they talked, Bella could tell he was still afraid that she'd judge him. How could she judge him when she'd been like him not very long ago?
Returning to the house, led to a long night in the living room where Edward talked about everything he'd done. Bella already knew most of it since he had told her in their private time.
They sat in the loveseat; Bella was perched on his lap with her head on his shoulder, listening to his velvety voice. He kept glancing at her every ten seconds and showing her his teeth as he smiled brightly.
Ginger joined them sometime later, snuggling on her lap and purring. That steered the conversation to him.
"He got so big," Edward noted, touching the cat's back.
The cat had gotten used to their cold skin and wasn't even jumping when they touched him. He just sighed contently, turning on his back so Edward could play with him.
"He eats like a pig," Alice said, laughing.
"He's supposed to be big, he's a tomcat," Edward snapped, defensive of his cat. "I've missed him, too."
"You've been stupid to leave for so many years," Rose told him.
"Yeah, I realize that. Stop reminding me."
"I took good care of him," Bella whispered, joining his hands on Ginger's body. "At first, we stayed cuddled for days…after you left."
"Unlike you, he was defeated by hunger and went in search of food," Esme said, giggling.
"Like I was thinking of food," Bella snorted. "But I picked myself up, knowing you'd come back."
Her comment earned doubtful looks and snorts of laughter. She was sure Edward picked through their thoughts and knew what Eleazar had done to make her move. Carlisle had begged his friend, scared of what was going on with Bella. Little did he know, she had had such an episode after making love with Edward for the first time, when she'd sent him away.
Eleazar had helped her, a lot. He had discovered her gift. That explained why she had kept Emmett away from them a couple of times when he was annoying, how she had stopped Alice and Jasper the first time they had met them. And testing the theory on Edward – and it working – made her day. She could tease him with her thoughts, giving him glimpses of what was on her mind.
She focused on the imaginary rubber band Eleazar had told her about, and when Edward's head snapped to her, she knew she got his entire attention. Bella thought of the bed upstairs, them alone, preferably naked. What do you say?
She didn't need his verbal answer. She had the nonverbal one pressing against her thigh.
He took his eyes from hers with difficulty and looked around the room. Everyone was talking, flipping through TV channels, the same old boring things.
He stood up, and Bella wrapped her legs around him. Edward cleared his throat. "We're going…upstairs," he said huskily. Not waiting for an answer, he rushed out of the room.
As he closed the door of Bella's room – their room – behind them, she realized it was clean.
"Thank you, Emmett!" Bella said, happy.
"I helped," Edward whispered in her hair, lowering her on the bed.
"Try not to destroy it! I'm not going in there after you fuck!" Emmett yelled from downstairs. Why must he yell?
"It was his mess, you shouldn't have helped," Bella told Edward.
"Do you really want to talk about that?" He groaned, licking at her neck. "God, I missed you so much, Bella."
Bella captured his lips in a deep kiss as her hands ripped his shirt. He mumbled something about Seth, but didn't elaborate. She let it slide, and kept her journey to his pants.
She knew that the first time they reunited, they'd be hurried; she couldn't wait for the second round. She had been right, the second their clothes were on the floor; Edward was buried deep inside of her, moaning.
Bella clawed at his back as he slammed his hips into her rhythmically; the bed's springs weren't going to make it. But she didn't care. They had a soft carpet on the floor. It had been six years since they had last been together, since she had anyone. It was always only him. And she liked to think that he hadn't stepped wrong on his escapade.
It took them only five minutes to find their releases. When Edward collapsed on top of her, a spring hit her lower back quite hard.
The movement made Edward stir to life, making them laugh. "I didn't know you were into springs."
"Oh, shut up!" He laughed. "We need to do it again. And again. I don't think I'll ever get enough of you."
"Me neither," she murmured, bringing his head to her so she could kiss him again.
As their tongues danced around, Bella turned him on his back, making another spring jump through the mattress. His hands came to her hips and he started moving inside her again. Bella took her lips from his and paid attention to his throat, scratching her teeth over the sensitive skin earning a loud growl from him. Then she licked and sucked at his nipple making him twitch inside her.
"Bella," he moaned.
Ah, how she'd missed his voice calling out her name.
"I can't," he whined. "Please."
"I'm not stopping you," she whispered, biting down on his nipple.
His body seized up and became still. "No, you haven't," he groaned.
Always the gentleman. She took his hand and put it to her folds. He groaned loudly, mumbling to himself. He was so funny when he was restraining himself. He wouldn't have been able to have this control if he was human. And he never had it. She was grateful he couldn't tell if she came or not, because sometimes she hadn't come. But he didn't need to know that.
He flicked her clit, earning a low moan from her. Then, suddenly, he stilled his hips, leaning her back on his legs as he rose a little and started moving his hips. She was done. She couldn't hold it even if she had been warned to be punished afterward. Her head fell back, her hands grasped his knees for leverage as he kept fucking her.
"Uhh…uhh…ooohhh." She wasn't even articulate.
He wasn't any better. Grunting and growling. His eyes fixed on her bare neck. Is he going to do it?
Bella's muscles clenched around him at the mere thought of his teeth in her skin. And he leaned – slowly – then caught the skin over her collarbone between his teeth, sucking. Bella yelled through her release.
He moved faster and faster, to ride out their orgasms. She flopped next to him, spent – as spent as a vampire could get. The second she was lying next to him, the bed gave away and with a loud crash, the mattress was on the floor, between the bed frames.
"What did you break?" Emmett boomed, laughing.
"They need a new bed," Alice chirped.
"What ever happened to privacy?" Edward grumbled. "You used to leave us alone."
"If you had paid attention to me, you'd have heard me shouting in my head that you had to move to the floor."
"Yes, Alice, my bad. Sorry for not paying attention to you when I'm making love with my wife," Edward said sarcastically. Alice just giggled in response. "Yeah, that would be wise, Jasper."
"Hey! Stop that," Bella moaned, punching him in the stomach.
He flashed her a smile. "As you heard, she's still alive. I wouldn't kill her, Emmett." Before Bella could express that she didn't like this at all, he continued. "Your faith in me is astounding, Rose."
"Edward!" Bella groaned, pushing him with her foot.
He rolled off the mattress, ending up face-first on the floor. "But it's funny."
"If you keep it up, you'll never hear a thing from my mind," she threatened him.
He crawled to her quickly, looking panicked. "Sorry. I won't do it again. Promise. I have to hear your beautiful thoughts," he whispered, kissing her face. "Yes, I like to kiss ass, Emmett," he muttered then his eyes widened. "Fuck. Sorry, he said-" Edward started explaining what Emmett had said, but she stopped him, amused.
"It's so funny to see you flustered."
"I'd do anything to be able to hear your thoughts."
"But look on the bright side! You always wanted to know what people thought," she reminded him.
"It's tiring. In the beginning, it felt like I was going crazy." He shook his head, looking away. Lowering his head on her chest, he sighed softly. "There was one time in New York when I was planning my trip to England… so many people…everyone thinking about their own things. About jobs, about traffic jams, forgetting to pick the kids from school, laundry, cheating on wives and afraid to be caught, the economy, being late to meetings…I was bombarded when I was walking on Fifth Avenue or any other street, really."
Bella stroked his hair, imagining how difficult it had been for him to be alone. A thirsty newborn vampire against the world. She hugged him tightly, wishing he had stayed and talked to her about his problems, but she couldn't change the past.
When they finally joined the others downstairs, Bella told Edward to use his clothes that were in the closet. She had never disposed of them. He was shocked she still kept them, but didn't say much besides a soft "Thanks."
Jasper and Alice went to one of their friends to forge some identification documents for Edward so they could enroll him in high school. He was junior year, while the others were senior. Edward insisted to be junior with Bella.
They tried fabricating a plausible story for why the Cullens had adopted him in the middle of the school year.
Emmett said that they found him on the street and felt sorry for the emo boy. That turned into a fight and a broken kitchen chair.
Rose suggested that they found him in a reformatory school because of juvenile records. Edward scowled at her, insisting he didn't look like an ax murderer.
"I never said that," she sniffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You need to have a bad past."
"Why?" He whined. "I could just come from a bad family or something…and Esme saved me from them," he mumbled.
"Oh, but you're no saint!" Emmett goaded him, pointing to the chair Edward had broken on his spine.
"You asked for that," Edward pointed out.
"So if one of the humans annoys you…you'll break a chair on their back, too?"
"Children," Carlisle said loudly, making Edward close his mouth. Don't stoop to his level, Edward. Can't you see he loves to get a rise from you? "We're going to stick to Bella's idea, it's plausible. His parents died in a car crash, they were family friends and we adopted him, not wanting him to go into the system."
Bella beamed, happy that someone paid attention to her idea. She hadn't even had the courage to say it louder than a whisper. It was right before the boys had started fighting.
"That's even worse," Edward hissed. "Why must it be something bad?"
"Edward, kids don't end up in the system or foster care because of how well life treats them," Carlisle said calmly. "They all have bad pasts," he continued, waving to the others. "Some are abandoned at birth, some come from bad families, some don't have money to raise them, some end up alone after some accident, the cases are endless."
Edward sighed. "Fine."
.
.
.
When school started again, Bella didn't want to go back. The days after Edward's return had been amazing. The family had finally had enough and scattered away, but not before Emmett complained loudly that he 'couldn't fuck Rose because Bella was moaning too loudly' and Edward commented back on Emmett's masculinity. All that kept Emmett away from another fight was probably the fear of seeing Edward's naked ass.
Bella had almost forgotten that this was their favorite past time – to irk each other. When they started some argument, it was clear it ended up in a wrestling match. Edward wasn't as strong as he once had been and that seemed to piss him off to Emmett's amusement. The family stayed out of their way when they started arguing. Alice just warned them not to destroy random things around the house.
"You're wearing that?" Edward asked, coming behind Bella and looking in her eyes through the mirror.
"Yeah. Why, is there a problem?" Was there something wrong with her wearing his clothes? Sometimes she had worn them, when she lost faith in him returning. They brought her comfort.
"A problem?" He echoed her in a high pitched voice. "Not at all. It's just…"
"Yeah?" She prompted him, worried.
"You look sexy as hell in my plaid shirt."
Bella turned around, grinning. He leaned down and met her lips in a hungry kiss. Her fingers went to his hair.
"Don't start something you can't finish!" Alice warned them from the other room.
"Meddling pixie," Edward muttered, walking with Bella backwards until she hit the door.
"Try the wall. We don't have good memories with doors and sex."
He chuckled, steering her to the left. Just as their zippers went down, she heard several doors slamming closed. Good. They were going to be alone. Once their pants were down just enough to allow him room to slide inside her, he lifted her up. Bella groaned at the feeling. She was never going to get used to it. It got better and better each time.
When they finally left the house, they shared a laugh that they knew how to get rid of the family. Edward even attempted a joke à la Kevin from Home Alone.
"I made my family disappear!" He chuckled, widening his eyes.
Arriving at school was weird. It seemed like they were all over again in Forks – for the first time together. Bella was sure it was going to be strange for the new addition to their family to appear at school in her car, holding her hand, walking her to class, kissing her.
So they decided to act normal, and to Carlisle's suggestion, Edward had to look upset. Bella didn't think he could look upset, especially when he was around her. But they were both going to try.
Stepping out of the car, he slung the backpack over his shoulder, waiting for her, then trudging to the office to get his schedule.
"Since you're the only one in the family I got close to, can I hold your hand?" He whispered, rolling his eyes at the charade.
"Not yet. Look upset," she reminded him, her hand itching to be in his.
After retrieving his schedule, Bella compared it with hers and realized they had most of the classes together.
Edward rolled his eyes at that. "What do you know? Alice was right."
"That's the bitter spirit I wanted," she joked, punching his arm.
"Ow," he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Oh, come on, I didn't even put enough force. Besides, I'm a girl!"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "It was a joke, Bella."
"Oh, right."
Walking to Government class was like going through a tunnel of people that gawked. They were close to the classroom when Edward stopped abruptly, whipping his head to his right, and growled. Not loud enough for the humans to hear, though.
The boy that he was glaring daggers at, took a step back, frowning and blushing lightly. Ah, Simon. He had been a problem since they had started attending this high school. He had been more insistent than that Mike boy back in Forks. Bella could only imagine what he was thinking.
She clutched a hand in Edward's shirt and dragged him to the class. He didn't take his eyes off Simon.
Once inside the classroom, she took him to her seat in the back. Bella pushed him on the chair when he didn't move then took her seat next to him.
"What the hell, Edward?" she hissed.
"What the hell, to you, too," he muttered. "That fucker thinks he has a chance with you! He was imaging you naked! Why is that?"
"I'm sure he had a deformed image," she answered.
"I'm sorry, but I can't listen to Carlisle. I just can't, Bella," he whispered in a pained voice.
If her heart could beat, it would have picked up pace. In her case, she just breathed quicker – not that she needed to anyway. "What?" she asked rather faintly.
"I can't be good, okay?" He went on.
"Take me with you this time," she whispered, twining their hands. She couldn't lose him again. This was for good if he left.
"Sorry?" He asked, frowning.
"You said you can't do it. I understand you. I promised not to judge. Just…if you want to leave, take me with you. I can't survive without you." She squeezed his hands tightly.
Edward blinked, taken aback. Then he let his head back and barked a loud laugh, attracting everyone's attention upon them. When he recovered from his laughing fit, he saw her hurt face.
"I'm not planning on leaving, love."
"Then what were you talking about?" Bella whispered.
"I can't be that hurt guy. What about…we knew each other from before? Carlisle and my parents were supposed to know each other, after all. Please Bella, let me be with you. Let me show them you are mine."
It was her turn to laugh. "That's what's eating at you?"
He nodded, looking at their joined hands. "I feel naked without the wedding band."
She kissed the corner of his mouth. "We can be together. I don't care."
"Oh, but I do." He nodded, seriously, smashing his lips on her while his eyes narrowed somewhere behind her.
Simon was in this class. She should have remembered.
When they separated, Edward was sporting a huge grin, beaming like he had just won the biggest prize. Boys. Bella rolled her eyes, doing her best not to look at Simon. She didn't want to see his hurt face.
Edward kept kissing her until the teacher came inside the room. As the teacher started calling out the register names, she slapped Edward across the head, trying to make it look like it didn't happen when the sound echoed in the room.
"What was that for?" he hissed, rubbing the back of his head.
"You know the answer," she muttered.
"I'm not that sorry," he mumbled before raising his head when the teacher called his name. "You're not Cullen?"
"Swan," the teacher asked. She raised her hand.
"Oh, no! I don't want to hear that name on you," Edward grumbled.
"I couldn't use Masen. I knew you could come back."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Still. You're mine."
"You weren't kidding, were you?" She groaned.
Edward glanced at her surprised, frowning.
"You promised to be that controlling, manipulative husband… I can see you kept your word."
"I like to keep my promises."
Bella didn't have a chance to answer him because the class was called to order.
