Thank you so much IamTheAlleyCat for beta'ing and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading.
I know I have readers from all over the world - *waves to Guatemala* - and I was wondering if any of you are on lockdown or self isolating at the moment. If you are, drop me a PM/Review as I have something I'd like to offer you.
Chapter Seventeen
Edward
I was alone in the house. The rest of my family had gone into the forest for a hunting trip which I did not need, having gone only a couple days before. I was enjoying the quiet. My time in Volterra had been spent mostly in solitude, and I still clung to that in times of stress. I was stressed now, waiting for Bella to return.
The fact she was away visiting her family pleased me; the fact there would be werewolves there did not. I knew she was safe with them, as she had been for years. They had saved her life, even, when Victoria came for her. Yet, I was anxious.
I was also tense because of our last conversation. She had said my name in the hospital, and, as I had learned from a stray thought from Emmett, at the scene. That had to mean something.
She had said we could talk about it, but that she needed a little longer to think. I wondered what direction those thoughts had taken. I had hopes and dreams, but I tried not to let them overtake me, to little avail. Try as I might, my heart hoped to be whole again.
Suddenly, the quiet was broken by the ringing of my cell phone. I felt a thrill of hope that turned to disappointment when I saw the caller ID. "Hello, Alice."
"Edward! What have you done?" she asked shrilly.
"Nothing," I said quickly. "What's happened?"
"Your future is black!" she said, her voice panicked. "I can't see anything."
I felt a thrill of fear. What could be happening? I had made no decision that could cancel out my future.
"I don't know why, Alice," I said. "I have decided nothing, I swear."
"We're coming now," she said. "Do nothing until we get there! Don't move!"
"I don't think—" I started but she cut across me.
"Edward! There is nothing there! You have no future!"
I could hear the rushing of air on the phone, and I knew she was racing to me even now. They would all be. If it was one of them, I would be panicked, too.
At that moment, I heard the rumble of an engine slowing, and then the sound of a car leaving the highway and moving onto the dirt track that led to the house.
"There's someone here," I said quietly.
"What? Who?"
"I don't know. I should go."
I heard the strain in her voice as she said, "We're coming, Edward."
I dropped the phone back onto the bed and closed my eyes, focusing my gift and reaching out to try to find whoever was coming. The mental voice when it came was soft, gentle even, and one layered.
Wow, they really do like to live out of the way of the humans. They must be in the middle of the forest.
I didn't recognize them, but I wasn't immediately fearful, despite the fact Alice couldn't see me. The voice and the fact they came in a car comforted me. The only threat to me was another vampire, and this mind was not a vampire's.
Though I heard the surface thoughts usually, if I tried, I could delve deeper into the other thoughts a vampire mind had, such as the burn of thirst being cataloged while thoughts were elsewhere.
I moved to the window and watched as an older model Ford came along the driveway. It came to a stop in front of the house and the door opened.
As I caught sight of the young man climbing out of the car, I realized the threat I was facing—the threat I hadn't considered as the distance was so great: it was a werewolf.
Boy, this place stinks. Burns. It's quiet though. Maybe they're not home.
I sensed no danger from the man's thoughts, though he was a werewolf and that meant danger to me. If the wolf attacked, I would run—it would not be as fast as me. I couldn't attack it in return as this wolf had to be a part of the pack Bella loved.
I considered for a moment before walking to the door and opening it slowly. The scent of wet dog assaulted me at once. I heard the wolf's thoughts switch from musing on whether anyone was home to shock.
The sight of me, his natural enemy, was enough to make the heat of the change ripple over him. He had excellent control, though. He beat back the feeling and raised his hands in front of him.
"I'm not here to fight," he said calmly.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"I just want to talk. I'm Seth, Bella's brother. She told you about me, right?"
She hadn't, but she had told Carlisle and, therefore, I knew about him, just as I knew her facial expression as she had spoken of him and the fondness in her tone.
"I know who you are," I said.
"Cool." His eyes raked the windows of the house. "Where's the rest of your coven?"
"My family are hunting," I said.
"Yeah, family, sorry," he said, seeming genuinely apologetic. "I kinda wanted to talk to them, too."
"They will be here soon"
"Okay. I guess we'll wait then."
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the clearing. He was trying to portray the picture of calm while, internally, he was worried about facing six vampires. He wasn't scared of us, he believed Bella when she said we were humane, but he was worried about the roasting he was going to get from his Alpha when he found out what he had done. As he had only made the decision to come to speak to us when he was halfway to Astoria, driving Bella home, the pack were unaware of it. They were not going to be happy with him.
I felt a thrill of anticipation at the thought of Bella being home again. Perhaps she had made sense of her thoughts now, and we could talk about how she had said my name and if it meant anything.
New mental voices added to my mind, then, as my family came into my range of hearing. They weren't speaking aloud, but they were thinking on a single track—why was my future black, and what were they going to find when they got here?
"It's okay," I shouted to them, making Seth stiffen. I saw in his thoughts that he couldn't hear their approach yet. "He's not here to hurt us."
My voice made them jolt and then push themselves faster, despite my reassuring words.
Emmett and Jasper were first out of the tree line, and they were the ones that skidded to a halt in hunting crouches at my sides, noses wrinkled against the stench.
"Werewolf," Emmett growled.
"Hey, now!" Seth said, his tone strained. "I'm just here to talk."
"It's true," I said quickly, going on as the others appeared beside me, "He's Bella's brother. Calm down, and we can all talk."
Carlisle stepped forward and said, "Seth? It is Seth, isn't it?"
Seth nodded. "Yeah."
"What do you need to talk about?" he asked.
"Bella."
"Is she okay?" Carlisle asked, concerned.
"Yeah, she's fine," Seth said quickly. "She doesn't know I'm here, either."
"Why are you here?" Rosalie asked, her disdain at having to address the creature obvious.
He scrubbed a hand through his inky black hair uncomfortably. Man, this is going to sound so dumb. Why am I even here?
"You're here for Bella," I reminded him.
His eyes widened, and then he laughed shortly. "Mindreader. I forgot about that."
I heard the surprise in some of the thoughts surrounding me that he knew of my gift. They didn't expect Bella to give away our secrets to them. Jasper especially felt uneasy that they knew what he thought of as tactical secrets. I understood, though. Bella could never have imagined she'd see us again after the masterful farewell I had given her, and perhaps them knowing would have served a purpose to her. I felt no threat from this wolf, or any of his pack fellows, by them knowing my gift.
"Yeah, you're right, I'm here for Bella," Seth's hands fisted, and he drew a deep, calming breath. "I guess I just want to say, please, please, don't hurt her again, okay?"
"I would never…" I started.
"You did before, though," he said. "All of you did. I don't know what the situation is with you all now, she won't talk to me about it, but I know she's happy you're back."
The vision of a man with russet skin and cropped black hair flashed through his mind. It was Jacob Black, though not the child I had known. He was standing on a beach raging against the people surrounding him. "She's in love with him, I know it!"
The image and voice were quickly gone, and Seth's thoughts became angry at himself. I understood he had better control at hiding his thoughts from his pack brothers usually, and he was annoyed he'd slipped in front of me.
"We are very happy she's back, too," Esme said quietly.
"Yeah, I get that," Seth said. "But you left her once and that… She wasn't the same for a long time."
Esme looked away from his searching gaze, feeling the stab of guilt for what she thought of as her great mistake—allowing me to leave Bella behind and going with me.
Seth nodded to himself. "Bella's happy, but everyone is losing it because they're scared. Charlie, Jake, my mom, her mom, the rest of my pack, they're all worried she's going to be hurt again. They watched it happen last time. She's not the same as she was back then, I know, she's stronger now, but deep down, she's still Bella."
"I won't leave her again, Seth," I said fervently. "I don't know how to make you understand, but it would destroy me to do it. I love Bella with everything I am."
"You loved her last time, but you still left," he pointed out.
"For her own good," I said. "I thought she would be better off without me. I know now that I was wrong, and I will not make the same mistake again. I will be in Bella's life until she sends me away. Even then, I will remain at the ready to come to her side should she ever want or need me."
He frowned. She's like his imprint. He thought of his friends, pack mates, that had imprinted and what it meant for them, and I seized on the example.
"Yes! She is like my imprint, only more. It's stronger for a vampire. Do you see now?"
He didn't see how anything could be stronger than an imprint, he thought it was arrogance to pretend there was, but he grudgingly accepted what I was saying.
"Yeah, I get that. I think that'll help me explain to the others what you're saying." He grimaced. "They're going to be pissed at me for coming here."
"They should see the bravery in what you've done for your sister," Carlisle said.
Seth laughed. "They'll see it more as stupidity, but, yeah, thanks anyway."
"It was brave Seth," I said.
He shrugged. "It's Bella. She's worth it."
"Yes," Carlisle said solemnly. "She is."
Seth looked at me. "Take care of her, okay?"
"I will," I vowed.
"Okay, then. I better get out of here." He waved a hand in an easy farewell and climbed into the car. The engine came to life, and he backed up and turned. I watched as he maneuvered onto the dirt track that led to the highway and drove away.
I stayed there for a moment, listening to the engine growing quieter and then turned to my family. "See, nothing to worry about."
"Then why did your future disappear?" Alice asked angrily.
I shrugged. "No idea."
Perhaps foolishly, I was more concerned with what I had seen in Seth's thoughts of Jacob Black's rage as he announced Bella was still in love with me.
I hoped more than anything he was right.
The call I had been hoping for came that afternoon. Bella asked me to meet her on the Warrenton beach again that evening.
Her choice of location, the place she had told me there could be no us last time, made me nervous. Had she chosen it for the symmetry of the moment, or was she going to break my heart there again?
The rest of my family were obsessively discussing the fact my future had disappeared when Seth had come, but I let their words rush over me, much to Alice's frustration. It didn't seem important now that I was finally going to know the future for my love.
When the time came for me to leave, I slipped away before they could wish me luck, possibly jinxing me—anything seemed possible under the circumstances. The drive to the beach didn't take long, but I still arrived after Bella.
I climbed out and took a breath of the salty air. The fear and anxiety tried to swallow me, but I forced it away. Unless she'd somehow had a huge change of heart since I last saw her, there was still a future for us, even if only as friends. She would be in my life. It was just that there was a possibility of more for us now that made me yearn for it. I had made peace with friendship before, and I would again.
This was not the end. It was, perhaps, the beginning.
I walked to the beach and made my way north to the rocks that formed an obstacle to what I thought of as our beach. I listened hard, hearing a heartbeat at the end of the path that I recognized as Bella's. It was a sound I would recognize in a room of a hundred others. I made my way swiftly across the rocks to the small cove where she waited.
She was standing with her back to me, facing the ocean. Her hair was moving in the light breeze, drawing her heavenly scent to me. It burned my throat, but there was no temptation. Love overpowered the monster inside once again.
She didn't turn at first. She breathed my name in a sigh, and I saw her cheek rise in a smile. I walked slowly towards her and then, as I reached her side, she turned. "Hello."
"Hello, Bella."
She reached for my hand. Her warm fingers curled around mine, and my eyes fell closed with the blissful feeling. She smiled and tugged me backward,toward the dunes where we had sat before. She sat down, still holding onto me, and I sank down beside her.
She looked at our entwined fingers and said, "Edward, I—" at the same moment I said her name.
We both laughed.
"Go on," I encouraged.
She took a breath and said, "I know now what it meant when I said your name. I knew before, but I was afraid of it. I still am, in a way."
"I don't want you to be scared," I said.
"I think it's natural to be scared of something like this," she said. "It's human, and that's what I am."
Human, soft, delicate, and capable of crushing my stone heart into a million pieces.
"I'm scared, too," I admitted.
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry."
"Of all things, I never want you to apologize to me, Bella," I said. "You have nothing to apologize for. I am the one that should prostrate myself at your feet. I have committed terrible—"
She pressed a finger to my lips, making me fall silent. "No more, Edward. That is over now."
I swallowed and stayed silent.
She drew a breath again and said quietly, "When I was down after the shooting, I thought I was dying. I had only a second before I passed out, but all I could think of was you." She said it as if admitting something shameful, a sin.
Her sin made my heart fly, though I tried to tether it.
"What does that mean?" I asked carefully.
"It means what I think I already knew and should have faced," she said. "It means I love you. I have loved you since I met you, and I loved you when I lost you. That has never gone away, no matter how hard I wished it would at the time."
I wanted to kiss her, to throw myself into her arms and cling to her as if I would never let her go. Caution froze me, though.
She loved me, which was far more than I deserved, but that didn't necessarily mean we could be together. I could have scarred her heart too much last time for us to be together again.
"I love you too," I said, putting all the feeling I could into the weighty words.
"I know," she said with a small smile.
"What does this mean for us though?"
"That depends on you," she said. "It is your choice. It can mean nothing changes; we can stay friends, or we can try to be together again."
There was no decision to make. I wanted to be with her always. I had since the night I stood in her bedroom and heard her speak my name while she slept.
"I want to be together," I said without hesitation. "Always."
"So do I," she said. "But there are things we have to talk about if we are going to be together. I don't want us to make the same mistakes we made last time. You need to get to know me again. I'm not the same girl I was in Forks. I have loved other people since and lived years that have changed me."
She had loved the werewolf. I knew it already, but to hear her say it made my heart ache. I was a selfish man. I didn't want to share her heart.
My feelings must have shown on my face as she frowned. "I won't apologize for Jacob. I never thought I would see you again, and I was doing what you wanted—I was moving on as much as I could."
"I know," I said. "It was what I wanted. I just never thought it would hurt so much to hear."
"I get that."
I sucked in a breath and shook my head. "I want to get to know you all over again, too. I want to know every detail of your new life, who you are now. I want to be there for it all." The idea was heavenly to me.
"We'll have to be equal," she went on. "Last time I was a young girl with her first love. It was all-consuming and wonderful, but it wasn't right. We weren't equals, Edward. I wasn't myself. The party that ruined it all wasn't what I wanted. I made it clear I didn't want to celebrate, especially not with a party, but you and Alice pressganged me into it. You can't do things like that again."
"I just wanted you to be happy," I said, a hint of defensiveness in my voice.
"But it wasn't gifts or parties or celebrations that made me happy, and you should have known that."
"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "I shouldn't have pushed. I will never do it again."
"No, you shouldn't. And you won't have a chance to again. That's what I'm saying. I'm not that girl anymore. We were never equal before. You were the century-old vampire, and I was the human girl. We weren't on the same playing field. We still aren't."
Was she asking what I thought she was? I would be a liar if I hadn't considered how she would be as a vampire in the time we'd been apart. If I had let her have what she wanted all those years ago, she would never have been in danger from any of us. I would never have been forced to leave. I didn't want to doom her soul, though.
"Do you want to be a vampire still?" I asked, unsure whether I would grant the wish or not. I had thought of it when she'd been shot, but that had been to keep her with me. I still wanted that, but was her soul too high a price?
"No," she said simply.
I gaped at her. "You don't?" It was all she had seemed to want before. She had begged for the change.
"No," she said again. "There is so much in my life that I couldn't have if I was a vampire, so much I couldn't do. I couldn't be a cop. I couldn't see my family and friends. I couldn't travel the world in the sun. There are so many things I couldn't do that I want to do. To be a vampire would be to give everything up but you and the rest of your family. As a human, I can have it all. That's not the issue, though. The issue is the look on your face when you asked—like you were already preparing yourself to say no. It was never your life and your choice to make. It was my soul, my business, my choice."
"It was my choice, too," I argued. "I was the one that would have had to damn you."
"No!" she said defiantly. "In that ballet studio, I was already changing, and you chose to stop it. You sucked the venom out. That wasn't your decision to make."
My teeth gritted. "I was saving you."
"You were, and I am grateful now, but what I am saying is with that, the party, every other time you chose for me, whether it be just taking me out for a meal somewhere expensive, knowing I wouldn't want you to waste your money, or my life as a human, it was wrong. You can't do that anymore."
"Okay," I said. "I won't do that again. I'm sorry I did before."
She smiled. "You really wouldn't have a chance now. But I understand what you mean. I think we're both going to have to adjust to being together again. I've been single a while, and that's made me kinda selfish. I need to make space in my life for someone else."
"But you're willing to?" I asked.
"Of course," she said, as if she had no idea why I would need to ask after the reaming out she'd just given me. "I love you, Edward. I'm not saying I'm not afraid of being hurt again, but I love you enough to risk it."
"I will never hurt you," I promised. "I don't expect you to believe that after everything I did before. I can only show you by being here for you as long as you want me."
"I will always want you," she said.
"Then I will always be here," I replied.
She beamed. "Good."
"I would very much like to kiss you now," I said.
She leaned closer, so close I could feel her warm breath on my face. "I would very much like that, too."
I moved just a little closer, and our lips met. I felt the jolt of an electric current move from her to me and, at the same moment, the physical sensation of my broken heart mending.
She was mine once again. I was whole.
We sat side by side on the beach until the sun was completely gone, and the waves were illuminated by the full moon.
It was blissful to me, to feel her cradled under my arm, her lips occasionally coming to meet mine. I hadn't been so content with my life since the day of her eighteenth birthday, before it had all gone wrong.
I wished the moment would never end, but, of course, it had to. Bella shivered and huddled into her jacket. My automatic reaction was to want to pull away from her and save her from the chill of my cold skin, but I didn't. It wasn't my job to monitor her human needs. In truth, that had never been my responsibility, but I hadn't realized that before.
I waited until she sighed out a breath and said, "I should get home," before I moved my arm from around her reluctantly.
She sighed again as she got to her feet and held out a hand to me as if I needed assistance rising. It was an endearing gesture. It was as if she had forgotten my true nature and saw me as human, too. How I wished I could be for her. I would sacrifice eternity in a moment if it meant I could grow old with her.
I let her pull my hand, taking a little of my weight, as I stood and brushed the sand from my clothes. I didn't release her until we reached the rocks that separated the cove we had claimed from the more accessible beach.
She smiled at me and climbed up onto them. I stepped up easily at her side and walked with her as she took confident steps across them. When we reached the other end, she jumped down and smiled up at me, as if pleased by something, though I didn't know what. I stepped down beside her and took her hand again as we walked toward the car park.
When we came to the cars, she released my hand and brought hers up to rest on my chest. I lowered my face to hers, and she kissed me again.
"I don't want to let you go," I murmured against her mouth.
She pulled back and an impish smile curled her lips. "You have to. I need to get warm, and if the guys see my car here with yours when they patrol, they'll have questions."
"What would you tell them?" I asked.
"That I was watching the sunset with the love of my life," she said easily, making my heart soar.
"Truly?"
"Perhaps something a little more toned down," she amended. "The guys aren't all that poetic. But, yeah, unless you have any objections, I'm not hiding our relationship."
"No objections at all," I said fervently. I wanted to sing from the rooftops that we were together again. "What about our history? Will you tell them that, too?"
She shrugged. "Not all of it, of course, but the fact we were together before, for sure. It will be easier than dealing with worry about how I am head over heels in love so fast."
I grinned. "Head over heels?"
"Yep. Head over heels."
I bowed my head and kissed her again. I felt I could spend the next year kissing Bella, learning her all over again, and I would barely scratch the surface of what I needed.
"Okay," she said, pulling away from me. "I really do need to get home now."
"When can I see you again?" I asked.
"Hmmm…" She seemed to consider for a moment. "That depends on how fast you run. Your car can't stay camped in front of my house all night as my neighbors would have a field day, but you're welcome to come back once you've dropped it off at home."
"I will fly back to you," I promised.
"Good."
She gave me one more chaste kiss and let herself into her car. I stepped back as she brought the engine to life and pulled out of her parking spot. She waved before turning and making for the road. As her taillights turned the corner and out of sight, I sighed deeply and made my way to my own car. I climbed in and sat for a moment before starting the engine.
"She loves me," I whispered, feeling my lips curve into a wide, elated smile.
xXx
When I reached Bella's house, I made for the back door that led into her kitchen so as not to give any neighbors that might be watching an eyeful. Bella opened the door at my quiet tap, dressed in cotton shorts and a tank top, and she beamed at me. "That seemed to take forever," she said.
"I know," I breathed. "Alice was waiting for me."
"Did she bombard you with questions?"
"She did. I answered none of them. I think my smile must have told her what needed to be said, though."
She traced my bottom lip's curve and nodded. "I'm sure it did. Come on in."
I stepped inside the kitchen and allowed her to close the door behind me. As soon as I heard it click closed, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair, inhaling the scent that seemed to sustain me now as much as it burned.
For a long moment, we stayed like that, and then she pulled back and, taking my hand, led me into the lounge and to the couch. I sat and she curled up beside me. I could feel, from the warmth of the air, that she had turned her heating on. It hadn't occurred to me before now how much easier things would be now she lived in her own home, with no Charlie in the opposite room ready to check on her at any moment or at any sound too loud.
I shrugged off the jacket I had worn for appearance's sakes and tossed it onto the chair. She traced a hand over my chest, the heat of her hand seeping through the thin material and making me shiver.
She looked up at me, and her eyes were confused. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. "It feels good."
"Yeah?" She ran her hand over me again, from the arch of my throat to the center of my stomach. I held in a moan.
She seemed to sense the refused sound anyway, and her cheeks flushed with happiness. "This is new."
"No, not new," I argued. "Just not hidden anymore."
"Why is it not hidden now?" she asked.
"You always had an effect on me, Bella. An effect I couldn't imagine before I met you, despite all my years of mindreading and seeing the many beauties the world offered. No one made me feel the way you do."
"Then why didn't I know? I always thought it was just me."
"I told you it wasn't. That first day alone together, I said I was a man."
"Yes, and then you spent the following months making me crazy with chaste kisses."
Was it possible that she didn't see the effect she had on me? "Bella, do you remember when we were together again for the first time, in Carlisle's office."
"Yes," she said quickly. "You looked like you were starving."
"But I wasn't thirsty."
"Yes," she said again. "You said that, too. What was it if not thirst then?"
"Lust," I said quietly. "Seeing you in person, smelling your scent, that uniform, it was all too much for me. My body reacted before I could control it."
"Lust?" she said disbelievingly.
"Bella, you are the single most beautiful woman I have ever known. You are the only person that has made me feel even the slightest physical temptation in all the years I have been alive. I adore you, and I…covet you."
She looked stunned. "Really?"
I allowed my body to show what my words did not seem able to convince her of. I traced a hand from her hip, across her stomach, to the center of her chest where her heart pounded. I hesitated a moment before cupping her breast in my hand for a moment. Her breath caught ,and she stared into my eyes, hers dark with desire and wide with shock.
"Edward…" she whispered.
"I love you," I murmured, kissing her. Her lips parted, and I inhaled in her breath as she exhaled shakily. It was a heady feeling, sharing her life-giving air.
"What does this mean now?" she asked quietly.
I pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "It means I want you as I always have. It means, I believe now, that I can give you this."
"What changed your mind?" she asked.
"The fact I wasted our time together before." I sat back, giving us both room to breathe. "When I was without you, I would immerse myself in memories of our time together. I would replay conversations in my head as if they were on a film reel—the benefit and negative of an infallible memory. I would remember every kiss and every touch, and I would relish them, but I would always wish for one more. I wished I had taken you in every way a man could when I had the chance, as it would have been the most exquisite memory there could have been. We could have shared that moment together. Equals."
Bella cast her eyes downward. "I wish you had."
"Does that mean we cannot?" I made sure to keep my tone neutral, to keep the disappointment I felt to myself.
"No," she said quickly. "Nothing would make me happier than to share that with you, to have that, but we're not equals that way now." She drew a breath. "I have had lovers, Edward. I am not a virgin."
I knew that already, at least I suspected it as she had been in a relationship with the werewolf, but it still felt like a hammer blow to my chest to hear her say it.
"I won't apologize," she went on in the face of my silence.
"I wouldn't ask you to," I said. "Never in life. This situation is one of my own making. I wish it could have been me, but it can be now if that is what you wish."
"It is what I wish," she whispered. "It's what I have always wished."
I brought my hand back to her breast and cupped it again. She arched into my touch, a sigh of contentment escaping her, and I bent to her neck. With the first touch of my cool tongue against her throat, she gasped and then moaned.
"Take me to bed, Edward. Please, take me to bed."
Needing no more instruction than that, I lifted her bridal style into my arms and carried her up the stairs and through the open door that I knew from the concentrated scent led to her bedroom. Her bedding was clean and white, and I could think of nothing more fitting for this first of times than lying with Bella on white and worshipping her.
So… Things are finally falling into place. They're together again.
I know some of you might be pissed by the fade-to-black, but I'm not stupid enough to violate the terms of service and have my story pulled. There is a lemon that follows, though, which will be posted on my Archive of Our Own account. If you want to read a poorly written love scene, that's where you'll find it. I'm serious about the poorly written part though.
Until next time…
Simaril xxx
