A/N:

I don't know if I replied to all of you who asked me to continue with my updating schedule, but if I did miss any of you, I just wanted to let you know that I am continuing the way I have been doing with this story.

Pretty much all of you said you prefer getting a chapter here and there, and I mostly aim to please!

I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Now let's see what happens to Bella after that weird thing happened during the night. A dream or reality?

Title: The Undecided

Author: MarieCarro

Beta Reader: SarcasticBimbo

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Bella thought she knew what her life looked like. It was normal teenage angst and high school boredom. However, one night proves her very wrong and she realizes everyone has been lying through their teeth. Bella isn't normal. Bella is a Witch. And she has a very important choice to make. B/E, Mature Content, AU/A(H)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Word Count: 3, 291

{Chapter 23}

My head felt like it was being split by a meat cleaver the second I opened my eyes and the early morning sun streaming in through the open sliver in the curtain didn't help much. I wanted to get up and tighten the curtains, but even the smallest movement made my headache worse, so I grabbed my pillow and put it over my head instead, but naturally, that made it hard to breathe.

Edward, disturbed by my restless fidgeting, groaned and rolled over on his side away from me, and only seconds after, his heavy breathing told me he'd gone back to sleep.

For some reason, that really annoyed me and I dug my nails into the fabric of the pillow, almost to the point of tearing holes in it. However, my annoyance only built up until I was absolutely seething with anger.

As I got out from the bed, I wrapped the cover under my arms, and I didn't even care that I took it from a still-sleeping Edward, who immediately tensed up from the change of temperature and curled in on himself.

"What the hell?" he murmured groggily and leered at me through sleepy eyes.

"Oh, look at that," I said with fake cheeriness and heavy sarcasm. "It's awake." I was momentarily shocked at how I had phrased my words because I had never addressed Edward in such a manner. Yet at that very moment, it felt appropriate, and the shock quickly wore off.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. "Are you okay?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm great. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you sure? You're acting weird, Angel." He got out of bed and pulled on his pants with his back to me. It made me feel belittled and ignored and I felt my eyes become aglow.

"You're calling me weird? Do you think I'm a freak?" I asked the questions through a tightly clenched jaw and my hands were tightened into fists. I felt only seconds away from either magically hurting him or simply hitting him. Whichever happened first.

"What? No, I said you're acting weird." He turned around and when he saw my icy-blue eyes and ready-to-fight stance, he gave me a cautious stare and held up his hands in surrender. He obviously realized I wasn't in the mood for his stupidity. "Angel? What's wrong?"

It was as if he poured gasoline on a small flame.

"Oh, so now there must be something wrong?" I yelled. "Then you tell me. What is wrong with me?" It was a challenge, and I itched for him to take it just so that I'd have an excuse to go at him.

He took a step back when I took one forward, but there wasn't much space in the motel room, so he quickly became trapped against the wall. "You're twisting my words. Why are you upset?"

"I'm not upset," I insisted and continued to walk closer. "You're being an asshole!"

"Bella, please, stay back," he warned. "I don't want to use my powers on you, but you're not giving me much choice." He felt cornered, and I could see he was getting angry himself.

Good. It would make everything a lot easier.

"What do you think you can do to me, Edward?" I asked rhetorically and with a clear threat. "I'm more powerful than you. You wouldn't even leave a scratch." We were almost toe to toe with each other at that point.

He gave me an unamused grin. "What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

I glared at him. "I just might."

He looked me dead in the eye, and while there was pain there, there was also acceptance and resignation. "Go ahead."

I didn't like that. I wanted him angry, and to fight back, so I swung my arm back, aiming to hit him across his jaw, but he was faster than me and stopped me by grabbing my fist in his larger hand.

As soon as our skin touched, it was as if he'd provided me with strong pain-killers, and my headache from hell dissipated until all I felt was fatigue. Edward had let go of my hand as soon as I lowered it, and I stumbled back, grabbing my head in my hands and groaned. I lost my balance and fell down on the floor, then pressed myself against the opposite wall of Edward.

My anger had melted away and all I felt was an overwhelming sense of guilt and disgust at myself. "Edward," I whimpered, somewhat terrified of myself. "I'm sorry. I don't know what that was. That wasn't—"

His touch stopped me, and I looked up to meet his eyes.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked, concern coloring his tone but a stern edge remained.

"Tired," I said but then corrected myself. "Actually, more like exhausted. But at least the headache I woke up with is gone."

He nodded to himself, and then he brought me tight against his chest. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry," I repeated and snuggled against his bare chest, comforted by his body warmth.

"No need to apologize. I think I know what happened, but I need you to tell me everything you remember of yesterday evening and if you woke up at all during the night." He leaned away from our embrace and studied my face. "Any little detail can be important."

"What do you mean? Do you think someone did this to me?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I think you were cursed."

"To do what?"

Edward thought about it for a moment. "Your anger was directed at me, but if the intention would have been to kill me, you wouldn't have bothered waking me up." He took in my disquieted expression and cupped my cheek. "I think they wanted to break us apart because, whoever it was, know we're stronger together. Luckily, it wasn't a very strong curse, or maybe it didn't fully work on you because a touch was all it needed to be broken."

Something scratched on my conscious and tried to make itself known; a memory perhaps.

"I—" I started, but I was so uncertain of myself that I stopped before I got a full sentence out.

"What?" Edward encouraged.

"It's probably nothing, but I think I had a dream about someone watching us sleep." I was prepared of Edward waving it away, but when he instead straightened up from his crouch and started to search the room, I felt confused. "You don't think it was a dream?"

"No, I don't." He went down on all fours and looked underneath all the furniture, but he came up empty and sighed. "They were smart enough to not leave any trace."

"Wait, Edward..." I stood up as well and placed myself in front of him. "Are you saying someone came into our room and cursed me in my sleep in order to break us up?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"But how did they even know we were here?"

"We haven't exactly tried to stay hidden," he pointed out to me.

"Okay, then, but why now? We've been traveling alone for four months, and before that, we were alone plenty of times before we left America." My questions were valid and Edward nodded in agreement, but then something occurred to him.

"Maybe they're running out of time," he murmured.

The implication of his words caused chills to run down my spine. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what Charlie deciphered of the prophecy you predicted?"

"Of course I do." A day didn't go by without me thinking of it or what the Goddess had told me afterward, which had pushed me to even do this journey. Edward still didn't know what I was secretly searching for alongside finding the rouges, but maybe it was time I let him know.

"You had the prediction in November, and it's March now. Three months until my birthday, and that means my opponent's birthday is also coming closer. Maybe this birthday is significant. Maybe that is why it was included in the prophecy," Edward theorized.

I hoped with everything in me that he was wrong, even though his words felt right. Three months to figure everything out wasn't nearly enough time, and I instantly knew I had to tell Edward about the library. Apparently, his opponent wasn't the only one running out of time.

"Yeah, maybe," I mumbled now and then inhaled deeply. "Edward, I need to tell you something."

Edward reacted toward my tone and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He knew it was something serious. "Yeah?"

"I haven't been fully honest with you, and I know I asked you to not keep secrets from me, but I've been keeping something from you." The words burned like sour bile in my throat because I hated to admit that I'd basically been lying to him, but it had to be said. It was my own fault that I'd waited this long, and I had to take the consequences of that choice.

"This journey wasn't just to find the rogues. There is another purpose for it; one I've kept to myself." I had to tell him everything for him to understand, and that meant going back to the day everything started. "You know the morning after Samhain? When we discovered my Seer powers."

"Hard to forget something like that, Angel," Edward replied. His arms were crossed across his chest and his shoulders were tense. He was expecting the worst, but he still called me "Angel" and I saw that as a good sign. I hadn't lost his trust in me yet.

"Well, I wasn't entirely honest with Charlie when I said the visions started after the Seer fell from the cliff. I saw more than that; much more. In fact, I saw how he was killed."

Edward drew a sharp breath but didn't interrupt. "It wasn't done with magic. He was physically pushed off a cliff by someone he knew. They had a conversation about some form of knowledge, but I didn't hear the attacker's voice or see their face, so I have no idea who it was."

I was still only wearing the sheet from the bed wrapped under my arms, and as I slowly revealed what I'd been keeping secret for months, I felt even more bare in front of Edward than I'd ever felt before.

"However, I did see something that I believe will give us all the answers we need." I licked my lips which had become very dry. "A library. One only the Seer knows the location of. Ever since we left home, I've secretly searched for that library."

For the longest moment of my life, Edward stared at me silently and contemplated his words. I wanted to ask him to say something, but I didn't want to make matters worse before I knew how mad at me he was.

"Why would you keep something like that a secret? Didn't you think I deserved to know what this journey was really about?"

I flinched even though his tone wasn't the least bit harsh or angry. It was most likely because of my own guilt. Edward was the person I trusted the most in the entire world, and I felt like I'd betrayed him big time despite my initial feeling of staying quiet about the library.

"It had nothing to do with you," was my attempt to explain. "When I first saw that library, I got this intense feeling that the Seer didn't want me to tell anyone, and everything was so new at that point." I reached for Edward's hand in the hope that touching him would make him forgive me, but he pulled his hand away. That hurt more than anything else.

"How could you ask me to not keep secrets from you while you've dragged me along on false pretenses and keeping huge secrets yourself? How does that sound fair to you?"

I shook my head because it wasn't fair and I wasn't going to claim it was. "It's not, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you."

"It's supposed to be you and me, Bella. The two of us against everyone else. How can we be that if you don't trust me?" There was the anger I had waited for, and his eyes were almost on fire with it.

"I do trust you," I insisted even though I already knew the words meant little to him now. "I trust you with my life. The only excuse I have is that I'm still learning and that I go with what my instincts tell me because they haven't failed me so far."

"That's not an excuse," he disagreed and walked past me until he stood by the window and stared out at the still-rising sun. "Why did your instincts tell you to mistrust me with this?"

"I don't know," I exclaimed as my desperation for his forgiveness reached its climax. "Edward, I really don't. Sometimes, I feel as much an observer in all of this as you are. I don't always feel in control of my emotions or my powers and they sometimes feel like they're not mine. I didn't understand why until the Goddess explained it to me!"

Edward froze and then slowly turned to me with wide eyes. "How did the Goddess explain it to you?"

I realized then what I'd unintentionally revealed, and I desperately hoped it wouldn't affect the prophecy in any way. "She appeared in front of me … that day with Renee before we left."

"What?" he breathed out in awe. "You saw her? You, for real, met the Goddess?"

"Yes," I confirmed and nodded to strengthen it even further. "She actually manifested in your form, at first, and I thought it was you until she touched me."

"Why me?"

"She said she always appears in the form of the one a person trusts the most. To incite comfort and familiarity."

The fire in Edward's eyes died down, and I understood I'd said the one thing that would help him forgive me because all Witches, Good and Evil, respected the Goddess and her word more than anything else. I also wanted to believe he heard the truth in my words.

"What did she tell you?"

I swallowed thickly. It was now or never. "That I'm not the real Seer. I'm only a vessel of the power until the true Seer is ready."

"And who is that?"

All I could do was shrug. "I don't know. And the Goddess didn't want to tell me because apparently, it hasn't been decided yet."

He hummed. "That's cryptic."

"Tell me about it."

We looked at each other for another moment, and then he let his guard down completely and I could approach him again. We entwined our hands, and both of us let out a sigh at the touch. It really was him and me against everyone else, and we couldn't let stuff keep coming in between us.

"I really am sorry, Edward," I said earnestly. "It wasn't my intention to hurt you, even though I knew it was a possibility. But I promise I don't have any more secrets now. You know everything, and I never want to keep anything from you again."

A small and breathy laugh left him. "That's comforting to hear."

I smiled when I knew he had forgiven me. He didn't need to say the words because I could feel it in the air around us. I stood up on my toes and kissed his willing lips. "I love you, Edward. No more secrets."

"No more secrets," he echoed and kissed me again.

We remained in our embrace for a moment, but then I felt Edward shift his weight, and I leaned away to see what he was doing. He was looking intensely at something on the floor, and when I followed his look, I saw a glimmer in the very corner by the leg of the dresser.

Edward crouched down and picked up the item. It was a golden earring.

"Is this yours?" he asked, but his tone said he already knew it wasn't.

"No. I don't own any earrings like that." Edward studied the earring closer. "Do you recognize it?"

"No," he replied. "But it could be a clue as to who cursed you."

"You think so?" I asked hopefully.

He nodded. "Yeah, but it could also be from a former guest or even the cleaning lady."

I huffed because I couldn't hold my frustration in. "That's reassuring," I commented sarcastically.

"Just keeping it real, Angel," he said with a grin over his shoulder before pocketing the earring. "Maybe we can find something in that library that can reveal the owner of the earring."

"We just have to find it first," I reminded him, but I was beyond relieved to finally have someone to discuss ideas and theories with because doing that on my own had lead to squat.

"Do you have any leads at all?" he asked, now fully on-board with helping me.

"That's kind of why we're here in Greece," I told him. "Renee and Charlie said the Seer's body was found in the Samaria Gorge on Crete. I thought we could go there because I haven't found anything solid anywhere else."

Edward agreed and we got ourselves ready. Just before we left the room, Edward paused and gave me a wondering look.

"Just out of curiosity, how did you plan on keeping this little expedition from me? You know, in case you wouldn't have had to tell me about this library."

I gave him a smirk. "The same way I've conducted my secret investigation so far."

"And how's that?" he asked playfully. He could easily joke about it now that he knew I wouldn't lie to him.

"I would seduce you, and after you fell asleep, I'd sneak the ring off you." I nodded toward the ring which he thought he always had on his finger, but I'd borrowed it plenty of times in the last four months.

He looked at his hand incredulously. "There's no way you were able to do that without waking me up. I'm a very light sleeper."

I chuckled. "Oh, baby, after sex, someone could demolish this very room with a wrecking ball, and you wouldn't notice."

He blinked and then tightened his lips, displeased. "That's not good. That means we've been vulnerable almost every night."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. I always cast loads of protection spells before I left, so you were perfectly safe."

"I wasn't referring to myself," he mumbled and then narrowed his eyes at me. "No more sex until we've found this library."

The ultimatum didn't sit well with me, but two could play at that game. "Hey, don't look at me when you say that. Find a mirror."

He knew I was messing with him and he threw his arm around my shoulder to pull me tightly against his side so he could kiss the top of my head. "You're as insatiable as I am, Angel, and you know it."

I pretended to sigh in annoyance. "I guess that's why we're so perfect for each other."

He nodded in agreement even though what I'd said was a gross understatement of what we were and had with each other. "I guess."

A/N:

Soooooo … thoughts?

I don't really have anything to say here because I'm starting to worry I'll say too much in the A/N, and that I'll unintentionally spoil the entire reveal, which I don't want to do :-P

Anyway, it's moving forward, and I'm already writing on the next chapter for you!

Until next time,

Stay Awesome!