Author's Note: Writing a chapter is like cooking a meal - it takes hours to prepare but just minutes to consume. Read slowly and savor. Hope you like it.

The Two

PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from "Edward Scissorhands" nor am I using them for material gain.

Chapter 14

Edward remembered the bread he had offered and returned to the counter top to slice a couple of pieces off a loaf. He brought them back to the table and sat down again. Nora ate them gratefully noting the freshness of the bread. It was French bread with a crisp crust yet the inside was tender. Did he make this himself as well? She didn't think so - it was definitely bakery bread, or at least the kind you could get in a grocery store bakery. She put the thoughts out of her mind for the moment as she finished eating and carried her dish to the sink. The kitchen was apparently where servants prepared meals once for the inhabitants of the once grand and beautiful mansion. That must have been many, many years ago because it had fallen into disrepair and dinginess. A small portion of the counter seemed used on a regular basis and the table where they had sat but that was about it.
"How can he live in this place?!" Nora wondered to herself. It was so dark, so sad.
"Can I wash these for you?" she asked as she glanced around for some dish soap.
Edward stood, "I don't mind doing it later. It...it gives me something to do. I have a lot of time."
Not wanting her to feel sorry for him, he quickly changed the subject, "Did you get to see the storm from upstairs?"
"Well, not really. It came from the other side of the house so I didn't see it coming like I wanted to. Mainly I just got wet." she smiled.
"Do you want to go back upstairs?"
"Ok," she answered.
Again Edward led the way holding the candle as Nora followed. They went through the hallway they had come through earlier and then across the entry area to the stairs. Nora spoke as they climbed the stairs, "Maybe we can see the storm in the distance."
"Yes, I've seen them before from up here," Edward said, "but only when they're far off."
"You're lucky to have such a beautiful view," she said but the words seemed foolish considering Edward's life was anything but lucky.
"Sometimes I come up in the day too. I can see almost to the ocean." He was slowly beginning to feel more comfortable with her and found that with that comfort it was easier to talk. And since she really listened to what he had to say - as no one had since Peg - he found he wanted to talk even more.
They walked to the window and looked out together. The sky had lightened a bit since the storm had moved on and, with the light of the waning moon, they could make out the forms of clouds in the distance and a mist that hung over the hills in the distance. Far off were tiny flashes of lightning. Nora leaned out the window to better feel the breeze which had softened. She closed her eyes and Edward looked at her. An unusual feeling of joy and longing welled up inside him. He gazed out into the distance as Nora turned back toward him.
"Do you want to sit down?" he asked.
"Ok."
Nora brought one of the chairs even closer to the window and Edward moved his so that it was very close to hers. They sat quietly for a while. Now and then one of them shifted slightly in their chair in order to better feel the closeness of the other.
After awhile Edward spoke, "Do you still work at the library?"
"Yes," Nora was surprised at the question. He must have remembered seeing her there.
"Do you think you could bring me some books?"
"Sure, that's a good idea. What do you like to read?"
"Well, I like stories about animals."
"Ok, I can bring some of those. Is there anything else you like, maybe something on gardening? But you could probably write one yourself on that," Nora mused.
"My father used to read poetry to me," Edward said, remembering.
"I can bring you some poetry books too."
"Thank you," Edward said turning toward her in the dark.
"No problem," Nora answered, taken back a little by his seriousness.
She wondered what kind of poetry he would like and decided she would just browse the shelves for something.
The soft breeze brushed against them as they sat silently for a while. The mockingbird broke the silence as it began reciting it's repertoire of songs.
"Do you know what kind of bird that is?" Nora asked.
"Tell me."
"It's a mockingbird."
"How do you know them all Nora?"
"From books."
"There's a lot in books, isn't there?"
"Yes, all kinds of things. I always thought that no matter what problem someone might have, somewhere, in some book there is the answer for it."
"Do you think that's true?" he asked.
"I think so but I guess I haven't found the right books...." her voice trailed off and a sadness washed over her. Edward seemed to sense her grief or maybe he had noticed a change in the tone of her voice. He turned toward her and looked into her eyes. There was just enough light for him to see them clearly. Deep within them there was a sadness and Edward was the only one to ever have seen it there. His brow creased a bit at what he had seen and if he had hands he would have touched her in empathy. Instead his scissors scraped softly against each other as he thought about what she had said.
"Nora, are you sad?" he swallowed.
"A little," she sighed.
Edward felt a surge of indignation at the thought of her being sad. It just wasn't right, he felt, that someone like her should be sad.
"Why...why are you sad?" he pressed, wanting to stop it somehow. He felt a strange feeling of power welling up within him as if he could instantly stop her pain if only he knew where to direct this sudden strength.
Nora hesitated.
"I guess it's because of my boyfriend... ex-boyfriend, I mean," she said looking down.
How could he have forgotten about that, he thought, as the feeling of power drained away? He sat back in his chair and looked out into the night. Some of the lights of town were visible now since the clouds had passed and their familiarity comforted him but his heart ached anew and for the first time, even with her there, he felt lonely.
Ex-boyfriends had been a problem for him before in his short experience with others and he didn't want to revisit the memories of Jim which her words brought to his mind. He remembered what she had said on an earlier night, about breaking up with her boyfriend and coming to the mansion because she thought it might be a place to be alone and think about it. She hadn't wanted to talk about it then and he had been satisfied with that but now he wanted to know more. He wanted to know and at the same time he was afraid to know. He didn't want her to be sad and, it was true, he didn't want her thinking about anyone else while she was sitting next to him. Anxiety was beginning to grow in him. He couldn't remember feeling this way before. He took a slow deep breath as he tried to put into words what he most wanted to know.

Perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned him again, Nora thought, but thoughts of Bryan often seemed to come to her when she least wanted them to. If only she could talk to Edward about it. She felt he could help her somehow. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything but she knew she couldn't. Her chest began to ache. It would be sweet, she thought, to have someone hold her now. She felt Edward's warmth in the darkness and unconsciously moved a bit closer to him.
Feeling her move against him, the words just poured out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Do you still love him?" he asked, his voice cracking.
Nora nearly jumped as his words broke the silence.
"No...no not anymore," she answered, but she didn't feel that was the truth. "I mean I guess I'll always love him in a way but....." She glanced at Edward. He must understand this, she thought to herself as she remembered Kim. "I mean, haven't you ever had that happen?" she asked, hoping her words would bring memories of Kim to his mind. "Where you break up with someone but it doesn't mean you can just forget everything. You still love them somehow. You can't just pretend it never happened even though it's over."
Edward sat quietly as relief rushed through him. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Again he felt that same feeling of strength rising within him and this time it was mixed with a sympathy and tenderness which he could barely contain.
"Yes...I understand," he said gently.
Nora thought she would cry when she heard the compassion in his voice.
More words slipped out of his mouth, "Nora?"
Her own name had never sounded as beautiful to her as it did when he spoke it.
"Yes?"
"Do you like me?" It was as if his mouth was working apart from his brain and he couldn't stop it.
"Yeah, Edward, I do," she whispered.
She was finding it difficult to be so close to Edward and not touch him. Suddenly she slipped her arm under his and held it closely against her. She felt the muscle of his biceps beneath the leather of his clothes and wondered how his father had created him so completely human.
Edward's breath caught in his chest at her touch and he closed his eyes. After a moment he touched her knee gently with a scissor, as best he could, in response - it was awkward being that she held the same arm against her.
Neither of them spoke but each savored the touch of the other nearly forgetting the conversation that had gone on before. It had been so long since anyone had been that close to Edward that it almost brought tears to his eyes.
Finally Nora could no longer contain herself and she leaned forward, at the same time turning and looking into his eyes. With her other hand she reached up and touched his hair. Edward turned toward her. He felt frightened for a moment but he didn't know why. He wanted to feel her touch but yet it was so strange.
Nora entwined her fingers deeply into his hair, finding his scalp and pressing her fingers until she felt the shape of his head. Then she placed one hand on either side of his head and smoothed his hair a bit.
They continued to look at each other as she ran her hands down the sides of his head, her thumbs lightly tracing around and over the scars on his face. She leaned closer to him and her hands continued down until her fingers touched and entwined behind his neck. He had one scissor hand at either side of her now and her chair scraped on the floor as he pushed it around so their chairs as well as their bodies faced each other but still he didn't touch her. His hands rested somewhere at the side of her chair, his heart pounding in his chest.
Nora, having lost track of time and space, savored the feel of his thick, black hair and leaning even farther forward, she pressed the side of her face against his, feeling his scars against her own skin. Her lips touched his hair. She lowered her head until her forehead rested on his shoulder. Drawing him closer, she put her arms around him protectively.
"I can't hold her," Edward thought to himself as he remembered Kim. But it didn't seem to matter as he felt her arms around him. He turned his head and her soft hair fell against his face. Overwhelmed by the smell and the feel of her hair against his skin, it almost didn't matter that he didn't have hands. It was unlike anything that he had felt before and even his memories of Kim couldn't compare to it. He was beginning to feel lightheaded and all he could think of was a place his father had once told him about. A place of beauty and peace that his father had some difficulty in describing to him. He'd called it Heaven and for a moment Edward thought he must have been transported there somehow. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell.
"No," he thought, the best that he could at the moment, this wasn't Heaven because his father had said that was where you went when you died and Edward knew he was very much alive. In fact he couldn't recall ever having felt quite as alive as he did now. "But this is like heaven," he thought.
Nora lifted her head from his shoulder and loosed her arms from around him. Looking into his eyes she let her hands slide to his shoulders and her fingers rested there. She smiled and laughed a small awkward laugh. She looked down, embarrassed, and her hands slid down to his wrists.
Edward stared at her. He didn't quite know what to do or if he should say something. He swallowed and sat back in his chair, hoping that he could catch his breath.
Nora stood up and pushing her chair back, walked over to the window. She looked out into the night hardly seeing the lights below. She felt her eyes fill with tears. What had she done! She knew that if she continued looking out he wouldn't be able to see her tears and she hoped the breeze would keep them from overflowing as it had once before.
Edward watching her from his chair knew something was wrong and his heart went out to her.
"Nora? Are you alright?"
"Yes, sure," she answered.
He wanted to comfort her but since he didn't quite know what was wrong he began to worry. He hoped he hadn't done something to ruin things between them. He didn't want her to leave. He'd only just begun to get to know her. He didn't want to be left alone again.
Edward knew he had to do something so he stood up and walked over to her.
"Are...are you sure?" he touched a scissor gently to her back.
"Yes. Yes, I'm sure," she answered, and she closed her eyes at his touch.
She turned to face him but found it hard to look him in the eyes.
"I think I'll just sit down again for a while and look at the view." She walked back to her chair and repositioned it to face the window. She made sure there was some space between the two chairs this time. She decided to act as if nothing had happened. She wasn't sure if Edward understood the kinds of feelings she was having.
He sat next to her but his scissors made more noise than they had earlier as they sat in the dark and he could still feel the thumping of his heart in his chest.
Nora stared out at the night but she didn't really see anything. Her thoughts were completely consumed by the memory of his hair in her fingers and the coolness of his face against hers. She glanced over at him and saw him staring intently into the night as well..
After a time Edward's heart quieted but he didn't say anything or move. He was remembering her arms around him and her hair against his face. He wanted to freeze the memory somewhere in his mind, make it a part of him somehow. He never wanted it to slip away. And he didn't want her to leave. Like the birds in his yard, he was afraid if he moved he would frighten her away.
After a while Nora thought it would be best if she left.
"Edward, I'm going to go now."
He turned toward her.
"Will you come again?" his eyes searched her face.
Relief washed over her at his words.
"Yes."
"When?" He didn't think he could live if it wasn't very soon.
"Tomorrow, if you want."
"Yes, Nora, please come back tomorrow." He had a hard time getting the words out.
"Goodnight, Edward," she said as she rose. Turning to leave, she touched two fingers to his leathered shoulder then walked away and down the stairs.
"Goodnight, Nora," he called softly after her.

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't be updating till Sept. I just couldn't help myself. Please review. Say something -anything - don't just sit there like Edward. :) Any suggestions for what should happen next? And thanks.