Disclaimer: ... A rather lovely beta of mine, thefuturemrs.edwardcullen, calls me Stephenie Meyer...does that count?
Thank you. 32 reviews for the last chapter? That's sort of a low, but that's okay. Sorry for not updating. Things came up.
Reshmi Solaris: Thanks for reviewing! No early plot revealers though.
Dazzle.me.darling: Why haven't you? Haha. Jk. Odd similes and metaphors are my forte. Lol. Thanks.
Melodycullen: Sadly, my parents who pay my college bills...that's who cares. Thanks as always. Love the specification. Good grief, I wish that word were shorter. Glad you like the car. Thrushflight told me it was the same one vjgm picked, but I honestly looked for it for a while. I didn't know she had it or I would've picked the firebird. I had it down between the two. Anyway, LY!
Transfiguration: Your review reminds me of something said in LOTR...so small a thing, such a little thing. Haha. (sigh) And here I thought it at least was safe from Twilight references. I was wrong...
Tailwriter: lol. You read them all? No pressure or anything... and I seriously doubt that your fifth dimension, tiny clock, butter knife story was better. At least it was grammatically correct I'll bet my shillings! If I lived in England...and had shillings...and they hadn't converted to the Euro (original name, people! Gosh) Bella's ignoring your clocks...sorry. Maybe if they were of the cuckoo variety, then...
Clumsy318: Drat. I'll put the link in my profile some time, but if you type in 2010 z28 camaro on google, then you could see it. Until I hyperlink it that is. Thnx.
Bronzehairedfreak1901: You want to know something funny that your penname reminded me of? I never thought of bronze as red like the movie people made Rpattz's hair. I thought of it as like a dark gold. So, Edward in my head has dark gold hair. But you know how some people's internal clocks are off. I think my internal color schematic system is... Anyway, thanks. And yes, I didn't talk about your plot ranting for a reason. ;)
Monkey: I hope this one was worth waiting for, seeing as you've been waiting forEVER. But probably not. I wonder if there is a wait: worth ratio. Does its worth increase the longer you wait, or decrease? Ah, who cares. Math is over and I don't want to think about it. No internet access? What a coincidence. In fact, I wrote this entire chapter from a mcdonalds wifi hotspot. Mmmmmmm good. Fates are coming back, I promise.
DistinguishedAnguish: YAY THANKS! 800 and 801th reviewer. If you were corporeal, I'd give you a coupon for a free fry or something. Yeah, I'd say I sympathise with you about the senior year. But I took easy classes and free periods...and gained ten pounds from eating a mcflurry every day. Haha. I hope I get 1000, but probably not. Thanks! My favorite types of endings are smile/cry. Just a head's up.
Dandylion0042: Drat. That makes two plot things that don't add up. Thanks for telling me. Did you, perchance, read the rest of it? Just curious.
Truetwilighter13: So, I love you. LOVE you. LOVE LOVE LOVE... Sorry, I'mprobably freaking you out. But...erm, you left me like a review for every chapter postpublished... Thanks!! Did I mention I love you? And of course I'm writing more, silly. This story is about 9/10 of the way done, I'd say. But almost there. Hmmm...deathly rocks? That's a new one. Although the cliff part could use some work. Maybe it could be a plane instead. Sorry bout the tears. You are quite sex-oriented arent you? Haha. Jk. I just never had a frank review like that. Hopefully, you'll like this chapter (wink wink). Are you sure I've told you i love you? Have I tolddddd you lateeetlllyyy...oh, darn, there she goes again breaking into song. CYA! And thanks...again.
Allana A.: Aw, thanks. I sort of took every theory I have about BD, and instead of spacing them out over multiple stories, rolled them all into one big kahuna. Heck no Im writing more! 1: 30 in the morning...I know it well. Me and it are the best of friends actually. Its my middle name even. Lily 1:30am Turtle. It's a nightmare to fill out doctor's forms, I'll tell you that. Thanks.
Albnal33: Aw, thanks. I didn't get many praising reviews for this chapter, so yours really did boost my esteem. Hmmm...you always were the perceptive reviewer. Haha. quirkily is a super cool word. Wow...I just said super cool. Nope, that's not dorky at all. But, ly, thanks!
Krystina the Alien: (big, long, overdramatic sigh) edwarddidntbecomeasupervampirethefirsttimebecausehedidn'tdrinkenoughofit. Itskindoflikeamedicine. Ifyoudontgettheproperdosageitdoesntaffectyou. Haha. Sorry, I've just repeated that for a while. And the reason he didn't get it the last time was because he was weakened. He needed her blood just to stay alive. All right, how to put this... spark plugs! That'll do just fine. Okay, if, say, you had a bronze colored car that's battery was DYING, and you gave it a clumsy ENERGY BOOST, it would simply go back to NORMAL. But if the car was in tip top condition, and you gave it an energy boost, it would be turbo charged. Get it? Haha. lol. That was definitely one of the more unusual analogies I've had. Thanks for the review. Spazztastic is the coolest adjective under the sun. Thanks.
Ellen Dean: haha. "I would absolutely hide my brother's arm if I could." Nope, doesn't sound creepy at all. Thanks for the review and the laughs. :D
Truetwilighter13: Are you SURE I told you that I loved you??
Emberwillow14: The fates are coming back, sad to say. Just can't keep their slimy paws out of other people's business. Maybe you could defeat them by reading unrhymed freeverse... just a suggestion. Thanks for the awesome review!
Audra Laudargue: Is that a promise? Tempting... but I'm not giving away anything about the plot.
Dafuturemrssurie: Aw, thanks. Me too. Typos rule! Seriously. Bow to them. I said bow, woman! Ahem... sometimes I take things too far, but if I didn't you wouldn't have this story...so... THANKS!
Nobodyparticular: lol. Im running out of things to say back. I wish there were a bagillioin synonyms for thanks. I gratitude you? Nope, that doesnt work. I appreciate you? I'm forever in your debt? Nah... Oh, the woe of the limitations of the English language. Haha, but THANK YOU!
Twilighter4ever: Glad you laughed. Will do, and thanks.
Hibiscusqt: lol. You should listen to Toby Keith songs. He has an entire one about "what happens down in mexico, stays in mexico." It's hillarious. I wrote the bar scene listening to it. Or at least, I think it's Toby Keith. YES I LIKE COUNTRY MUSIC! WHOO HOO!! I'm marrying Keith Urban, in addition to Edward Cullen of course. We'll all move to a polygamist society in the middle of nowhere, Utah! Lol. Thanks.
Thrushflightedward'sstalker: Darn. If I would've known that I would've picked the firebird instead. I had it down between the camaro and the firebird, but then I watched transformers, and bumblebee was a camaro, so... yeah. YAY POINTS!
Ol2bob: Fluff is great! In build-a-bears, in Winnie the Pooh, on miniature poodles... but ESPECIALLY with E and B. Anywho, thrilled you enjoyed it. LY HERO! Thanks.
MarikaEmmie: Aw...I'll send my cat named Tibbins to visit you. Haha, thanks.
Minimeyer: oooo, looked that one up. NICE! Mine's either a ferrari 330, an original mustang, or a lambhorgini Gallardo, like the one Bella passed up at the airport... stupid bella.
MeyaRose: yeah... ill have to put it in my profile or something. (sigh) dumb ffnet laws. But, thank you ever so much!
Savannahx: OMG IT"S LIKE A NEVERENDING CIRCLE OF OBSESSION! Will it ever stop I ask you? DO WE EVEN WANT IT TO?? Erm, I missed my meeting this week. Can't you tell? I'm about to start having to go to pullinghairoutinbreakingdawnanticipation anyonomous. Either that, or get a wig. All right., I explained this in the chapter but you might've missed it. The fates control the future. Hence, they control Alice's gift. I saw you starting to come after me by the way. The old sit on a park bench and pretend to read the newspaper regime. I saw through it in a new york minute and flew away on my secretspy jet pack. :D
Silly Ella: How in the world can you boycott walmart? They have giant bouncy balls for crying out loud! And really good bread! And things that ARENT sugarfree! You're nuts. Absolutely nuts. Wallyworld, here I come! (thank you)
Angelfromhell: The vial doesn't like you either! So there! Haha. It's about 80 where I am, so...you should just move! Lol. Or find a hot vampire bf. Tom Sturrige. I really, really, really wanted him to play Edward, but Rpattz is a close second. (shrugs) ly!
Jalice14: Yep, there's a lemon in this chapter. But it's still rated t, so I can't do much, and I've never really written anything like that, so... Aw! Dont go into deep depression! Then there'll be breaking dawn! Although after I read that, as in, two hours after I buy the book...as in 2 o clock in the morning on August 3rd, IM going to go into deep dark depression. THANK YOU!!
Kerssica: Crap. I'm getting to your pm I promise. The world decided to attack me all at once. My internet crashed, my cousin ran away, and... you know the rest. OOC?? NO!! I tried to unmorsecode your morse code, and ended up with Leproiehdde. Or something like that. Was it in dutch?? WE HAVE TO MAKE PLANS!! Guest list, invitations, maids of honor, best men! Everything! Unless they make it illegal for brains to get married. But then we can just go to California. Everything's legal in California. LY! Thanks for everything.
Euphoriafalls: Did you warn them that he's a player? He cheated on Chastity with a girl named Patsie. She was crushed and skipped town. So, now he's going to have like a llama harem. Naughy phillip. THANKS!
Allyq1990: YAY! Thanks.
Carden88: It was either that or a firebird. But the vintage factor was why i picked them.
Roughdraft525: Edward... anything he does, says, eats, spits, or casually leans against is hot. Lol.
Chapter 34
Driving along the streetlamp-less highway, the only illumination visible was pouring out from the headlights into twin puddles in front of the car. I couldn't think of anything to say.
I knew very well where we were going. Well, actually, I didn't know exactly where we were going, but I did know what we would do when we got there. That fact alone was daunting.
Worry, doubt, fear of rejection – these things swirled around my mind in a self-conscious whirlpool, absolutely preventing any other thoughts from occupying the space. I was excited, though. That was good, right? I didn't know. Come to think of it, I didn't know much about the situation I was getting into at all.
Anxiously, I twirled my wedding band around my finger, spinning it over and over again. Or I was doing so, that is, until Edward caught my fidgeting hand in his, giving it a light peck with his lips.
"We don't have to..." he murmured quietly. "If you're not...ready."
I snorted. "I've been ready for a while."
"Nervous then?" he asked, voice slightly colored by notes of pain and worry.
I blushed. No matter what I said, with or without his talent, he'd know my real answer. Thus, I decided to tell the truth. "A little."
"It's understandable," he said. "There is a slightly veritable risk of death on your part." He spoke the words so unperturbed, in such a matter-of-fact manner.
"Not...," I stammered, "not about that." My face was on fire.
Silky fabric made a loud ruffling sound when I pulled my knees up to my chin and buried my forehead against it, a significantly uncomfortable action in a wedding gown actually.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
I'm terrified that you will take one look at my naked body and run for the hills. "Just forget it."
I studied him for a moment, noting his drawn mouth, his porcelain skin, his flawless perfection. And here I was, sitting in the passenger's seat of my stupid new Camaro in a wedding gown that simply didn't look correct without the makeup and fancy updo. In short, a complete mess.
"You can tell me."
Edward was starting to irk me with the way he sounded uncannily like a shrink right about now.
"I know that."
"But you won't?" he questioned.
"We have a winner," I said sarcastically. Feeling insecure tended to bring out my inner cynic.
Silence reigned for a few more awkward minutes, until Edward gave a sigh. I saw his knuckles grow whiter as he gripped the steering wheel. He really had changed a bit lately.
I decided then, that it was his patience finally running out. One can only go so long being repressed before they finally burst. Suddenly, I had a strange desire to actually see him lose control. It sprang up from nowhere, and I quickly pushed it back down. That though, like throwing a sheet over a couch in the middle of the room, didn't make the odd urge vanish.
"Why?" he suddenly spat.
Because I'm afraid you'll agree wholeheartedly. "Because it's embarrassing." I blushed just thinking about it.
"Is it me, then?" he asked, not willing to simply let it go. "Are you afraid I won't be...good enough?"
My ears were playing tricks on me surely, for he could not have just said that. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all but figured that his ego could be irreparably damaged. "No," I corrected fiercely. Try the other way around.
He lifted both hands from the steering wheel and ran them through his hair. Groaning, I buried my face back into the silken fabric.
"Care to tell me what's wrong this time?" he asked.
"I'm ruining it," I told him.
"What?"
Color flooded my face once more. "Our wedding night."
Edward's tense expression softened, muscles relaxed. "You couldn't do that even if you tried."
"I could eat lots of garlic," I said thoughtfully.
"Not even then."
"I could speak only in Pig Latin."
He appeared to wade through this particular concept, one finger absently stroking his face. "I don't think you'll be doing much talking."
Did he really just say that? I turned my eyes toward the window and tried to let the surrounding darkness calm my nerves.
"By the way, Edward," I called after a while, reminded of an earlier question. "Where did you hide Emmett's arm?"
"In his glove compartment," he calmly responded. "I thought about donating it to an amputee clinic, but..."
I shook my head and asked another question that had been weighing on my mind. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see." His ambiguous reply floated to my ears.
"It's on this continent, right?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Yes," he sighed, "I made sure to keep to the borders of this country...just for you."
"Good," I breathed.
"We're almost there actually."
Edward slowed the car and flipped on a turn signal with one graceful flick. The tempo of my breathing increased, and suddenly, I wished he had decided to fly me somewhere on the opposite side of the globe in a rather fierce way.
No, my head ferociously reprimanded. I was a woman. Edward was a man. People had been doing this for thousands of years. There was nothing to be nervous about, or at least, that's what I told myself.
Ironically, as the acceleration decreased, my heartbeat increased to a mad thumping I could feel against my ribcage.
I watched the glowing silver speedometer ticking down the miles per hour. 25...15...10...5...stop. And with it, so too did my breathing.
Nobody moved for a moment as Edward and I sat silently in the car. The only noise was that of the engine powering down, a keening whine gradually fading into nothingness.
Man, woman, thousands of years. Man, woman, thousands of years.
And then, in a flash, Edward was out of the vehicle and my door was open. Just as quickly, I was in his granite arms, bridal style.
Man, woman, thousands of years. Man, woman, thousands of years.
I burrowed my nose into his shoulder, both trying to hide my flush and muffle my loud breathing. I longed to hear him say something; hear anything other than the methodical plodding of his shoes on concrete, taking me to who-knew-where.
For us both, this ocean we were about to dive into was uncharted waters, and neither one of us knew quite what to say.
Man, woman, thousands of years... Who was I kidding? Knowledge I had on matters such as these equated to that of a bowling ball. In fact, the bowling ball probably knew more.
With no steady chant to stay the panic, my breathing picked up. My chest heaved against Edward's.
Suddenly, the calming metronome of his footsteps was replaced by the creak of an opening door. Then, he carried me across the threshold, but he didn't stop there. I felt myself being carried upward. Steps...upstairs...to, most likely, a bed. I gulped.
Golden light seeped under my eyelids. I opened them and looked around me for the first time. I was in a room the size of the first floor of normal houses. Set everywhere, in stands, on mahogany end tables, in tarnished bronze candelabras, were white candles. Something sparkling above me caught my eye, and I glanced up. Gasping, I noted a domed roof with a golden chandelier as the centerpiece. It was unlit, but the candlelight caught the crystals and sent rainbows dancing around the gently sloping walls. A part of me wanted to get up and dance with them, and I momentarily forgot about Edward.
The two greatest things about the room though were the view and the bed. Just like in Edward's room, a window stretched along the far wall. Out it loomed a full harvest moon and a drop that made my stomach do flip-flops. We were clearly at a high elevation. I could see the dark silhouettes of trees sweeping down the mountainside, and at the bottom of the valley, I saw a lake glittering in the moonlight.
The bed was no less grand as it looked like something out of a fairy tale. A white downy comforter embroidered with thin crimson and beige flowers covered its wide expanse. Pillows of every size and shape were stacked in an appealing pattern of red, gold, and black. The mahogany wood was etched with flowers on the headboard that unraveled along the sides in intertwined and curling vines. Four swirling posts stood at the corners, and drawn back on them with black satin ribbons, were curtains of golden mesh.
Edward tenderly set me down, and I realized as my feet touched the cold hardwood floor, that I had left my shoes in the floorboard of my Camaro.
Then, I remembered my reason for being here, and, in a reflex that had nothing to do with clumsiness, I stumbled. Edward caught me; hooking an arm around my waist and pulling me flush to him.
"Do you like it?" His words tickled my ear, and I shivered.
"Yes," I said shakily. "It's beautiful."
He parted my hair and placed one kiss at the base of my neck, and then another that was lower than the next. Then another and another until his cold lips reached the zipper of my dress. Deft fingers slowly pulled the tiny piece of metal downward. When I felt the gown starting to slip off my body, out of instinct, I grabbed it and held it to me.
Edward was in front of me before I could breathe again.
His hands tucked my hair behind my ears. He kissed my forehead, my eyelids, and finally my lips. It dawned on me then that he was waiting for me to let go. I shivered.
"You're still nervous," he whispered.
"Not about what you think." I didn't know where I'd found the wind to speak, but the words came all the same.
I reached up and laid my palm on his chest, where the lapel of his jacket overlapped his dress shirt. Quickly, as if he had read my mind, he shrugged off the jacket, and my eyes followed it to the floor.
"What then?" he asked, as his lips laid siege to my neck.
"I'm afraid...afraid...that," I stammered, "that you won't...won't like me."
His kisses abruptly stopped, and I wished I hadn't said anything. When he looked back at me, I averted my gaze. Soft as a rose petal, his fingers turned my chin back to him. His butterscotch orbs were brimming with concern.
"That's not possible, Bella." His voice had a rough quality to it that made me weak in the knees.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, closed my eyes, and let go of the dress. The fabric pooled around my feet, and I was left clothed in nothing but scant strips of midnight blue lace. I checked Edward's expression.
His eyes were dark and dizzy with passion as they scanned my form.
"Oh, Bella..." he whispered, and my airflow ceased.
Fingers skimmed my bare sides and I threw my head back, sighing. His restraint didn't last long.
Roughly, he pulled me to him and started kissing my chin. One hand cupped my breast. I moaned and leaned into it. His kisses fluttered down my body like butterfly wings, dipping in between my breasts. He dropped to his knees and softly kissed patterns into my stomach. My hands were gripping his shoulders just to keep steady. A moan escaped my lips and I gasped at how loud it was. My husband gave a dark, husky chuckle.
When he stood back up, I noticed that his shoes and shirt were missing. He was beautiful, glowing in the golden light.
The rest passed in a flurry. The bed gave easily under the weight of our bodies. We were naked. I couldn't tell where one of us began and the other ended. He asked me "Are you sure?" I nodded, and then, I was shouting his name.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Light was blinding me. I turned my waking eyes from it and snuggled into something hard, cold, and...laughing.
Excellent memories came flooding back. We had spent three days here in this mansion overlooking the valley, making up on a long overdue honeymoon. We left the room, the bed specifically, only when my stomach and personal hygiene demanded it of me.
I smiled and lazily stretched. The sheet slipped and slid off me, exposing my pale skin from the waist up. I left it there. I'd grown accustomed to being unclothed in Edward's presence over the past few days.
I turned into him, rested my cheek on his shoulder, and glanced up to his loving eyes. His hand languidly traced the curve of my spine.
The sound of a phone ringing sharply cut through our tranquillity. Edward reached down beside the bed and looked at his cell phone.
"Alice," I said. "That's the fourth time she's called. You should probably answer it."
He smiled at me and sighed. "You're probably right." He flipped open the phone and put it to his ear.
"Alice, what's so important?" he asked, irritation evident.
I watched though as his face paled, and his eyes shot me a terrified glance. He hung up without so much as a goodbye, and let the sleek, silver device fall to the hardwood with a clatter.
I cocked my head to the side. "What's wrong?"
His mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out.
"Edward?" I asked again.
"I'm so sorry."
What did he have to be sorry about? "For what?"
"Bella...I..." he stuttered, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to hear anymore. "Bella, Charlie... Charlie's been murdered."
A/N: I have a purpose in killing Charlie, not like with Leah when I just needed someone to die. Charlie's death is going to make Bella realize something...change her so to speak. I couldn't put much in the first part. This fic is T rated after all. So, I modeled it off of those types of scenes I read in YA books. It mostly lets your mind do the work for you. I imagine Stephenie won't do much more than that.