A/N: all Edward and Bella stuff, next chapter will be way more intense, I already know what I am going to do and everything. I'm so excited it's sorta sad. Lol. Hope you enjoy. Also I changed the date of Bella's b-day to fit the story, sorry.
Disclaimer: not mine.
Chapter four
Edward still had me pinned to the wall and we were watching Tristan and Aurora looking at each other with pure love, then the door closed behind them and our attention snapped back to each other.
"Well, well, well." He said to me, "I still have that surprise to show you."
I was excited to see what Edward had got me and more than a little worried he might be a tad mad at the stunt I had just pulled. But I did have a good reason; he couldn't keep shutting me down like that when we even got near the topic of me changing into the perfect companion for him. I felt slightly better about this now that I had someone to fight the same battle with me, Aurora was a godsend. She was so many things I wasn't: she was graceful, upfront with her emotions, and feisty, also resourceful, I thought back to the towels smiling. She had a sense of strength that accompanied her and a grace and elegance I couldn't compete with. Not to mention she was more beautiful than Rosalie, but she didn't seem to care about her appearance much. No, I thought, Aurora was above that. She was the other side of my battle, and I was now hers. We were partners in our fight to be vampires.
I heard a quiet giggle coming from the guest room. That snapped me out of my thoughts, what could they be doing in there? He drank human blood! I didn't understand how they could be that close at all. I'd ask Edward.
"Edward?" I asked. We were now making our way to the loveseat in the living room. It then occurred to me that the house was empty except for Tristan and Aurora and us.
"Yes?"
"Where did everyone go?" I asked looking around me.
"Tristan and I asked them to leave, we knew there was going to be some sort of resistance from you two," he rolled his eyes. "But the truth of the matter is that we wanted you two to ourselves, and was just finishing up… talking when you came out to get your things. Alice didn't buy the story for a second, of course, but she didn't say anything, from the looks Jasper was giving her I think she was planning to go off into the forest anyway. Carlisle and Esme are talking in one of the separated buildings about us," he smiled at me. "And Emmett is trying to convince Rosalie she is much prettier than Aurora, though his thoughts are wondering back to Aurora's face every time Rose starts talking, and that's all I'm going to say about that." He ended looking a bit shocked at the thoughts he must have been receiving.
I felt a bit sorry for Rosalie at this news. Edward saw my face.
"As a very physical being, Emmett appreciates beauty, but his heart loves Rosalie, it always has and always will." He stated matter-of-factly.
An image of Aurora came into my thoughts as well. "She is beautiful," I sighed, saddened and a tad bit jealous.
I was sitting across from Edward on the love seat letting my right leg hang off the side of it as I very well couldn't cross my legs with the stupid cast. At my last comment I looked down at the frilly dress I had been forced into earlier that night. My bouncing curls fell into my face.
Edward released one of my hands he had been holding and raised my chin with a single cold finger, he took on his knowing look, "No one could ever look more beautiful than you do now." He whispered, and I knew that was truly what he believed. I felt the blush coming and tried to force it back but, of course, couldn't. "Now you're even more beautiful." He smiled, and once again honesty filled his voice, taking away any doubts I had had. He placed his hand back in mine and leaned forward to kiss my forehead, then my nose, and he tilted his head to the right and leaned low to kiss the hollow at the base of my neck, I was blushing furiously now and my heart was racing. He started humming my lullaby then and leaned in again to rest his smooth cool cheek against my burning one.
"Are you ready for your surprise now?" he whispered.
All I could do was weakly nod and breathe in his intoxicating scent. He pulled away from me and stood up in one of his lithe movements and I watched him for a few seconds before I reached up to take his hand. He picked me up and cradled me in his arms as we ran up the stairs stopping outside his door. He stood behind me and used one of his long-fingered white hands to cover my eyes. He reached for the doorknob with the other. Through my eyelids and his hand I caught flickering light. I felt his arm wrap around my waist and he lifted me in his room and set me down, I heard the door close behind us.
"Open your eyes Bella." I could hear the smile and excitement in his voice.
I did and what I saw was amazing. Most of the floor was covered with little white candles and many were on new surfaces.
His couch had been removed and his CD collection was now on the same wall as the door we had just come through. Directly if front of us in front of the window, were two black suede chairs that were angled toward a small low, dark wood table. On the beautiful table was a funky lime green vase which contained a brown stalk of at least 6 white and dark pink orchid blossoms with light purple freckles on the petals, they were absolutely breathtaking. There was also a large wardrobe farther down the wall on my right that was made in that same beautiful dark wood I had never seen before. The wardrobe was a modern and simple square shape but still did not lose its grandeur and elegance.
The candles were flickering and the dim light made this entire scene beautiful. Though these things were all incredibly marvelous, nothing could distract me from what was on my left. Up against the farthest wall from me was a huge king sized bed, with the simple modern headboard and footboard made up of the same exotic wood. The comforter cover was made up of large black and white squares of suede checkered over the entire thing. And the two pillows set on top of the comforter looked to me like black satin. This was too much. It was so beautiful. Some how there was a black gauze-like material coming from the ceiling that was pulled out away from the wall, halfway out the bed, the folds of the gauze material cascading to the floor. I looked at the mostly candle covered floor and gasped. It was checkered, just like the comforter in black and white marble! I also noticed the placing of the candles had some reason to it. There were three hallways completely lacking candles throughout the floor. The one on my left lead to the beautiful bed, the center to the wardrobe and the third went to my right, to a door where there had once been complete blank wall. The walls were darker to, as much as I could see I guessed they were a dark gray. In-between the candles marking the hallway were rose petals, all from blood red roses.
I felt a tear slide down my cheek silently. This was so beautiful. He had done all this for me. I was completely humbled and I reflected on my life and thought how lucky I was to have Edward now. I would chew him out tomorrow for spending this much money on me, he had obviously spent a lot.
I turned around and looked up at him and he was looking at me, neither of us needing to say anything as he understood me so well he knew I was so grateful and stunned by his actions, his show of love for me...
As if on queue he said, his face serious as he looked into my eyes. "I love you Isabella, I have been miserable in the best possible way since I met you because when I am with you and happy beyond all my wildest dreams. You have given me life, saved me, and allowed me to love you. That is the greatest gift this world can give a person to give to someone else and you chose me. I will never be able to show you my true gratitude. This… this room is for both of us, as a tribute to you and I being together. You are in every thought I have so why not bring you into the house?" he smiled then his face turned nervous. "Bella,… you will be 18 in a month… will you move in with me?" My heart leapt, OH MY GOD! Had he really asked me that, to move into the house I already called home?
"Bella?" he asked. Oh yeah, I should breathe.
"YES!" wow, I thought, that came out kinda loud.
"Really?" he asked, being the opposite of me and whispering, his eyes wide with hope.
"Duh(!)... I mean… of course." How could I say no?
He smile was huge and he picked me up and we were holding each other as he twirled me around. So many thoughts were catching up with me now, I knew what was coming was going to be the happiest time of my life, but hard to get there. Charlie and Renee weren't going to like this, but this was a dream come true, I wasn't going to give it up. I just hoped that they wanted to see me as happy as I want them to be, and that they could see Edward made me very happy.
He set me down and I could feel the cold marble on my foot. He placed both his hands on the sides of my face and kissed me, almost roughly.
"Now are you ready for the next part of the surprise?" he asked, his voice was excited again and I didn't think he would ever stop smiling. I looked into his glorious face; his beautiful gold eyes were wide and happy.
"Yes," I answered, wondering how there could be more. He placed his cool arm around my waist and we glided down the center hallway of the candles to the dark wood wardrobe. What was that wood? He placed me in front of it and stood behind me, placing his hands on my hips. Then he leaned forward to rest his chin on my bare shoulder.
"Open it," he whispered in my ear.
I reached forward to grab both of the silver rings on the doors. Inside it was a beautiful white satin nightgown, which looked more like a dress than something I would wear to sleep. Right beside it was a beautiful white sheer robe with satin lining.
I turned around to face him. "I can't wear that to sleep!" I said.
"Why?" he asked surprised.
"It's so pretty." I explained, glancing at it.
He laughed loudly. "Yes… I still don't understand though." He was still smiling.
"Well… I'll get it wrinkled and dirty." I admitted. He laughed again.
"That's a very silly reason, you know?" then he smiled wider, his teeth flashed. "Why don't you go get changed in there?" he nodded his head towards the door I was sure wasn't there before.
I had thought back to when the last time I had been in his room. It was probably 2 weeks ago, that's when he must have done all this, but he couldn't just add a room, I wondered what was behind that door.
I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow, but before I could ask a question he was handing me the robe and dress/pajamas.
"Okay," I said suspiciously taking the two hangers from him and walked in-between the candles slowly dew to my cast. I felt the red petals getting crushed between my toes. When I reached the door he just smiled at me encouragingly. I took the handle of the beautiful dark wood door and pushed it open. There were a few bigger candles placed here and there but there was not enough light to see by and I unwisely had just shut the door I felt the wall to my left and found a light switch. Wall lights came on above a beautiful aged Victorian mirror and I looked at my reflection briefly before really taking in the room. The checkered marble continued on in this large room but I wasn't concentrating on the floor. I was looking under the beautiful antique mirror at the white marble counter with 2 large clear bowls on top of it. Each of these bowls had a beautiful antique faucet in front of it. I took a step toward them with my mouth open. This couldn't be. Yes they were… they were sinks. And this was a huge bathroom. My head snapped to my right and at the end of the counter, on the floor there was a beautiful black old-fashioned bathtub with great silver footed legs. After that there was a shower up against one wall, it was raised off the ground a little on a foundation of smooth round pebbles that looked expertly laid into cement. The side of the shower that was up against a wall was white slate tile, and the other 3 shower walls were clear glass. Completely see through.
After that I saw the toilet on the opposite wall, the one I had had my back to, and then I noticed something else. On that wall were three huge black-and-white pictures of Edward and me, doing random things. One was a far off picture of us walking up a hill into a sunset, away from Alice who I had remembered taking pictures in the huge clearing one day. We were holding hands and the wind was blowing and my hair flew wildly. I was wearing my cast but it was still a really great picture. The next was a close up of Edward and me; we had been trying to act serious like Alice asked us too. But he had made eye contact with me and we had both started laughing. We both had our mouths open, smiles wide, and faces about a foot apart and were staring into each others eyes. The last one was probably going to be my favorite. I didn't even know Alice had taken this one. It was a shot of me sitting on Edward's lap as he sat on the grass. I was in a ball with my legs drawn up to my chest and leaning against his chest with my eyes closed. He had his arms around me and was resting his chin on my head, also with his eyes closed. We looked so calm and peaceful. I was overcome with emotion again, and I felt a tear drop down my cheek. He loved me so much and that made me feel so…fulfilled. I backed up a couple of steps and bumped into the counter. I turned around to investigate more. I recognized one electric toothbrush by the left hand sink. It was Edwards. But the right hand toothbrush looked new. I realized with a smile that this one must be mine. I picked it up off its charger and looked it over. I set it down by the raised bowl of a sink I only saw in modern design books, that's when I noticed the small bowl of pebbles which contained water and one full bloom water lily floating across the water. It was very beautiful, I thought of the breathtaking orchids. Where did Edward get these flowers in Forks, W.A.? They were more beautiful than any other flowers I had ever seen, even in pictures.
I then investigated more, opening up all the drawers one by one finding all the toiletries I would ever need and then some. All floss and toothpaste was in drawer #1, all hair brushes and combs were in drawer #2, all the make-up and hair products Alice had used on me were in drawer #3, and a blow dryer, curling irons etc. were in drawer #4. Under the cupboard of my sink there was a box full of black hair ties, bobby pins, clips and anything else imaginable. I gave Alice full credit for all the goodies I was finding now, I'm sure she must have helped design my room and bathroom as well, though there was definitely Edward in every piece. The walls were a dark shade of gray in here too.
That's when I heard a soft knock on the door, "Are you ok in there?" said his beautiful voice worried. I wonder how long I've been in here.
"Yeah," I answered quickly, I had completely forgotten what I had come in here to do. I slipped out of the dress nearly killing myself as my cast got caught in the yanking. I almost met the brand new floor intimately. Luckily I grabbed the towel rack in time. I then pulled the dress that was supposed to be pajamas on.
It fit well, giving me curves I didn't have and it was so soft and smooth. I looked back in the mirror and blushed; there was a lot of showing skin. The dress was respectable; I could expect nothing less of Edward. But the straps were only an inch and a half thick and I was a little nervous. I didn't usually show this much skin when I slept by Edward. He had his shirt off most nights because he knew I found his skin calming and comforting. I hoped this much skin wouldn't bother him.
Oh, what did it matter? The worst he could do was biting me and that's what I want. But not like this. I wanted him to change me because that's what we decided and what he truly wanted. But I definitely couldn't stay in here all night.
I took a deep breath as I reached toward the doorknob. I released it as I slowly turned the knob. When I opened the door the angel was sitting at the edge of the bed facing the bathroom door. He was resting his arm on his knee, waiting.
When he saw me his mouth dropped and I instantly started blushing looking at the floor. I had noticed he was wearing black satin pajama pants but no shirt, just like I predicted. He was so gorgeous it was almost painful for me.
"You look…amazing." He finally breathed.
"So do you." I said looking up into those eyes that compelled me to speak.
He shrugged, allowing that, and that made me smile. The candles flickered, "come sit down over here." He patted the comforter next to him and in a blink I felt myself being transported to that spot. He was now sitting facing me. He took both my hands in his and looked at our intertwined fingers. I watched his Godly face and his eyes found mine. "How do you like it?" he looked around us and then looked intently back at me.
"It's amazing…thank you." I breathed. Then a question occurred to me. "Why all the black and white?" I looked around the room and then at his and my clothes.
He was staring at our hands when he answered. "It represents you and me. I am a creature of the night, you of day. You have brought me light, I have brought you darkness."
I looked at him anxiously. "I have never loved the dark as much as I do now." I whispered, blowing out the nearest candle.
"And in the bathroom," he continued. "There are combinations of old and modern. Me and you."
"About the bathroom, what did that used to be? I had never noticed it before." I implied I wanted an explanation.
"It was just some old storage space off of Carlisle's office.
"It's huge." I stated.
"Did you find your closet?" he asked.
"My what?" I gasped.
"Alice insisted you have a huge closet to put all the clothes she's bought you." he rolled his eyes.
"Oh no… she didn't." I moaned. I didn't like the Cullen's spending so much money on me.
"I'm afraid so." He smiled his lovely crooked grin. "Pure torture isn't it… people giving you things?" his voice was mocking. I just sighed.
Then Edward winced and his hands were yanked out of mine and he was rubbing his temples. "Jesus Christ…" he gasped, eyes shut tight.
"What?" I asked worried.
"Aurora… and Tristan… he's angry… but not at her…" he struggled for a few more seconds. "At himself for-" he shut his mouth. His eyes snapped up to mine, cautious. He had been about to spill something! But what WAS it?
"What is it?" I asked intensely.
"Nothing." He answered curtly.
"you were about to say something." I accused
"Aurora will tell you when she finds out." He sighed. "And until she knows it is not right for you to know."
"Fine." I snapped. I was intrigued by these beings and wanted as much information about them as I could get.
"Are you ready to go to sleep now?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered. It was 2:55 a.m. and I was exhausted.
He picked me up and threw back the covers. He laid me down in the black satin sheets and ran around the room blowing out all the candles in seconds. I felt him slip into the bed beside me and he placed his arm around my waist and laid there in silence until another question occurred to me.
"Edward?" I whispered.
"Yes?" he answered.
"How can Aurora be so close to Tristan?" he stiffened. "I mean since he feeds off humans and everything, right?" I wanted to know this.
"Yes, he does… but he feels terrible about it every time, ever since he met Aurora, that is. He used to enjoy human blood very much, now he is repulsed by the whole idea, don't worry, you have nothing to worry about. He'll never even get hungry around you because that would mean getting hungry around Aurora, which he would never risk." He stated.
I was confused. "If he feels terrible about taking human life, why doesn't he just drink from animals like you?"
He smiled kindly at me. "When I call you, my brand of heroin I am not joking, you people are like the most powerful drug in the world… when we stop taking it we have terrible withdrawals and crave it more for a time, about a year. Tristan can't stop while he's with Aurora." He ended sadly. I felt bad for him as well.
"But you didn't answer my question. How can they be so close?" He pondered this for a moment before answering.
"Because Tristan feeds on humans he isn't thirsty, human blood satiates him completely, so he doesn't thirst for her blood as I can for yours, though it's a constant struggle. He really loves her. Also her blood isn't as tempting to him as yours is to me, though it was pretty tempting."
"Oh…" I was so tired.
"Sleep Bella." I felt his cool bare chest press harder into my back and my lullaby suddenly filled the air.
"Okay." I whispered.
