Thank you all so much for the reviews. It honestly means the world to me that there are people out there interested in what I am writing and I hope I don't disappoint.
Here is a taste of the Edward you have all been waiting for.
Summer before Senior Year:
It's one of those rare days in Washington.
The kind where the sun is in a crystal-clear sky, the heat is blistering, the water is warm and still.
La Push beach is alive with summer: Seniors basking in their last months of freedom, Juniors figuring out just what it will feel like to be on top.
It's our summer before Senior year and the tides have been slowly changing. Summer is drawing to a close and we're supposed to be laying out on the beach, drifting casually in the waves, shopping and eating ice cream.
So why, out of all things, am I standing at the top of the La Push cliffs, staring down into the one section of the Pacific Ocean within a ten-mile radius that was not calm as the sky?
There's a general muttering of distress from the growing line behind me as I stand there, unmoving. It seems a lot further down from up here than when you're swimming in the water.
I start to move back, to let someone else go, because I'm not completely sure I can go through with this, when a pair of warm hands catch me around the hips, stopping me from turning. His lips are warm by my ear, his breath minty and laced with whatever the dark liquid in the crinkled water bottles had been.
"Don't be frightened," he's saying, but I can hardly concentrate on his words when he's pressed to me like this. I want to turn around and stare into his emerald eyes.
"Do you want to jump?" he asks quietly, and I can still hear the murmurings behind us.
I stare down in to the dark water again, swallowing heavily.
"How about if I go first," he compromises, skimming his lips over the shell of my ear and I bite my lip. "I'll wait for you just down there," he brushes his arm across my waist to point towards the water churning at the bottom. He wraps his arm around my waist now, bending into me. "I'll make sure you make it out safe," he whispers.
I turn in his arms and there's a few groans further in the line, but all I can see is Edward staring down at me, smiling his all-American grin, showing off his straight, white teeth. His beauty is blinding and there's a part of me that feels like I'm soaring when I look at him.
I take a breath and answer with a small nod. His grin widens and he turns me a few inches from the edge of the cliff. Before he moves to jump, his warm hand tangles into the hair at the back of my head, guiding my face to his. He kisses me quickly, swiftly, but it reaches me to my toes.
There's a boo from behind us and he chuckles, his breath blowing across my face, and then he's gone.
I watch as he jumps head first, sliding his arms out before him in a dive. I manage to look over the cliff just as he cuts through the water. It didn't take long for him to reach the ocean, but the amount of time he is under scares me.
Again, the moment he is gone, I'm back in my shell.
There's a huff from directly behind me and I hear a guy mutter, "Jump, or don't, but fucking pick something," but Edward's looking up at me, his bronzed hair darkened by the water, his green eyes glowing from the reflection of the sun and everyone behind me disappears.
He raises his hands in invitation. "Feet first, Bella!" he calls up to me. It's a warning and I plan to heed it, but someone from behind me has a different plan.
"Oh, fuck this, man," is the last thing I hear before a warm, hard body brushes against me a little rougher than necessary. I lose my footing, slipping over the edge of the cliff.
I can pinpoint the moment the Edward goes from amused to horrified as I begin to free-fall, but it's not the fall or break of water that scares me. It's the blatant glare of red, raw anger that emanates off of him as he helps me surface, his hands reaching for me, checking me for signs of injury.
Physically, I am fine, but mentally I am a mess.
I try to stop him as he pulls us from the water, his jade eyes blazing with anger. I'm sure the boy who pushed me had no idea what he was doing—no idea who he was dealing with. Most of the boys on the cliff were from Forks Alternative; we didn't know the students from that side of the town, so they didn't know of Edward's reputation, specifically when it came to me.
My fingers grip tightly to his arm, but he pulls out of my grasp, ignoring my calling for him. Tears are falling from my eyes freely, pouring over my cheeks and I can see the slight hesitation in his own eyes before they slant back to cold fury.
"Go back with Alice, Bella," he orders and I can see Alice walking fast towards us, her small legs taking her quickly over the sand, her tanned face taut with anxiety.
There's no reasoning with him and I can already see some of his friends, who had chosen to stick to the beaches, jogging over to the bottom of the cliffs. They'll back him if he needs them to, but honestly, he won't.
He's never lost in a fight and I'm sure he won't lose today.
The next afternoon, we are back on the beach, but none of the boys from Forks Alternative are here today. He won't talk about it, or tell me who was involved. It's like it never even happened. Only the faint mark of bruising skin, dark around the corner of his jawline, and his scabbing knuckles are evidence of a fight.
Alice told me it was bad. She knows because her boyfriend, Jasper, watched. I want details, but I don't know if I can stomach them.
I reach out to touch the wounded skin gently, lost in thought, and he doesn't even flinch.
He's used to the bruises, and I'm beginning to get used to them, too.
He takes my hand from his jaw and presses his lips to my palm. It's his silent plea for me to forget, and I silently promise I will, though I know I won't.
His crooked smile is enough to melt away the rest of the day.