Soleil

16. ULTIMATUM

Bella's bliss could not be diminished, even as she was forced to ride with Mike Cullen to school this beautiful Wednesday morning. Oddly for the first time it occurred to her that his style seemed something she could imagine Edward sporting if he had a choice. Mike was wearing a light gray knit V-neck shirt with long sleeves. No jacket. But he had one for her. She refused to accept it despite this morning being a tad chilly. Oh well. Little problems like this were of little importance to her anymore. She was on her way out.

After Mike parked next to his sister's flashy red convertible, Bella's joy morphed into a bundle of nerves. She was fidgeting in her seat, anxiously anticipating the moment to come. Like a good little Bella Swan, she submitted to her speaking lines and followed her body's instinct to guide her to English class. It was in there Edward would be waiting. She practically sprinted away from Mike once he released her with the words, "I'll see you at lunch."

She hurried into the class, eager and triumphant.

Edward was there sitting in his desk, just as the book said he would be. She sat down next to him, hardly being able to contain the news.

"Bella," Edward greeted her, sounding unsure of himself. She bit her lip, fighting a grin. She was the one keeping him in suspense for once. It was lovely. Oh, what a high. Such a fabulous morning it was. "How was Port Angeles?" He asked, his words delicate. His face was unreadable. She obviously had him hooked.

"It was…" She added a deliberate pause, building up the suspense. "Great," she finished with an obnoxious grin.

Edward's face fell. He began to stare at the floor. Bella's head tilted to the side, not expecting that reaction. She had predicted he would probe her for the details immediately. Possibly not even let her speak first. But this? She allowed him a few more seconds to meet her expectations, but his gaze stayed downcast. Did he believe when she said great, she was referring to the 'date'?

His response seemed like a silent acceptance to her. It was unbecoming for obnoxiously arrogant Edward whose sole focus was to escape at any cost. Her attention was diverted for a second as Mr. Mason asked them to hand in their papers. She was going to correct Edward's misinterpretation when he began to retrieve his paper and participate like he was taking this fake class seriously.

"Edward-"

Time blurred out until Bella was in Trig, expecting an inquisition about her 'date' with Mike from Jessica.

Her once grand morning had soured rather quickly. What was Edward thinking? He wasted their time. They should have taken off to the janitor's closet to discuss everything once class was starting. She would have told him so if he had given her anything to go off of. But he remained mute and unengaged. Like she bought into the story and gave up on him? Was her love (not yet confessed) so cheap to him that he could be that dense?

Bella held little patience with her conversation with Jessica in Trig. She suffered through that and a quick minute in Spanish before she was rolling up to lunch with Jessica.

"You're not sitting with us today, are you?" Jessica guessed.

"Bingo," Bella replied, speeding past Mike who had been waiting for her outside of Spanish class. Something tethered her to be only a certain distance from Mike in this moment. An exact reminder she should have forced Edward to leave class with her this morning.

"Edward Newton!" She shouted upon entering the cafeteria. She looked for him frantically. He wasn't outright noted in this scene. But there couldn't be just a cafeteria filled with her and Mike. Other students crowded the open seating. She scanned the room for that table. Edward was where she expected him to be, his golden eyes locked on her.

"You spoiled this morning!" She scolded him across the room as she was forced to step up to the lunch counter with Mike. "You ungrateful jerk. You left me alone to go to Port Angeles when I was scared out of my mind. I made it through, and you shut down after hearing the night was great? Don't you want to know why?"

Edward stood up and looped around the table of their classmates. His approach was slow, hesitant. He could move but she could not. Another unfair advantage he had for not being the lead in the story. She wasn't done with her tirade yet though.

"Everything we had discussed I was to test failed," she choked out, recalling her grief and devastation at one point in the night. "Even the last resort of kissing him on the cheek. He had no reaction whatsoever. I had no new lines or actions that conflicted the flow of what my body was determined to do. We are shackled to the words in this story, Edward." Bella watched Edward run a hand through his already unruly copper hair. He had halted his approach about a few feet away from her while Mike blabbered on in the background. "But there was something else. Something I explored that I think is our ticket out of here." Edward's posture stiffened and Bella could tell he was all ears. "That is what was great, you idiot." She laughed with an uneasy edge.

Everything had built up to this moment. She had to sell it right. Because what she was selling was hope or perhaps a dream.

"Before we were supposed to go into the restaurant for dinner, I freaked out. I was pushed over the edge and chose to run away. I was desperate to avoid the truth that nothing would ever change. I don't know if it was panic, fear or an adrenaline rush but I blasted past where I should have been held in the storyline. Not like what I am enduring now where I cannot even head over to you. And Edward…it was like I hit a wall when I came across this one street intersection. I was maybe only two blocks away from where I should have been? We have never considered the existence of the world outside of where we are supposed to be. And I found an exit. I broke through it once and know we can find it again. I speculate that at any of the points where we reach the end of a landscape as its needed, we literally escape this world. Nothing complicated." Well, that wasn't true. She was making it sound simpler than it would likely be. There was no way that could be the only exit she would ever be offered, right? Her stomach dropped, never considering that alternative before.

"What did you find?" he asked her breathlessly. Reeled back into the moment, Bella regained her composure to continue.

"Okay, I'll admit that I don't know to where it will lead us since I only got a hand through and then was forced to make a decision to go through or pull my hand out." She left out that she was afraid if she had peeked, she may not have been able to come back for Edward. All she could spare was her hand while Edward was not with her. "But it's an exit! We go through and we won't be bound here and forced the course of this damned psychotic plot."

"…" Edward's face held a pensive look. Mike had stopped talking. The whole cafeteria seemed to be shushed as well. Why wasn't Edward praising her? She had found their way out. More like stumbled upon it. But still. And sure, it took a leap of faith. Maybe she had to talk through the possible outcomes of this heavy choice with him?

"Yes, one could consider what if it wipes us from existence? Or resets us to being unaware? But on the other hand, what if we are led somewhere else where we are free? Isn't that worth the risk? The chance?" She asked desperately.

What Bella did not admit was that she could accept the first two options as well because if she had to continue on with this story without Edward or being aware of what she could have with him, she did not want it. These outcomes had flashed in her mind as Mike drove her back from Port Angeles. She had vaguely considered what if Edward did not find them to be an acceptable risk? In this moment, she was more unsure of what was going on in his mind. Just yesterday she had thought without a shadow of a doubt he would take the leap of faith with her. But now…regarding the words he wasn't saying and his stunned expression, she could be wrong.

Perhaps that unknown factor would lead him to rather gamble to play out the story to see where it ended because he didn't trust what was on the other side. Maybe they could be wrong about his scenes? Maybe he would still be around in the story somehow? All the insecurities of what little he felt for her resurfaced. Despite that, it did not matter. For her though, it was not a risk worth taking to stay. She wanted to leave with him. They now had an out. She had opted from taking it when she had her chance. If he wanted to stay behind…well, she could not force him. She steeled her emotions versus succumbing to them. She would not be sticking around with him. That was for damned sure. She was going to be direct now. All or nothing. An ultimatum for their relationship going forward.

"Will you go with me?"

A part of her figured she was expecting too much. And that was dangerous. The disappointment resulting from her high hopes could crush her. Hurt her more.

As Edward opened his mouth, she cut in. "It's a one-word conversation, Edward." She scrutinized his gold eyes that shifted around the cafeteria. She imagined him weighing the consequences of yes or no. She was forcing the one-worded response because she did not want to hear why he was saying no.

She stared at him expectantly. The entire cafeteria was silent as Edward made his choice.

OoOoOoOoO

Note: Yup! This is short. But let me tell you that the EPov will make up for it! It is going to be long, seriously. So, I might be breaking it up into two updates… I am only a quarter of the way through writing it so far. :O

Bella went a bit off the deep end the last part of this chapter. Her thoughts were irrational and erratic. Poor dear.