Soleil

16.5 EDWARD'S POV

11. IL SAIT LIRE LE FRANCAIS

Still engrossed in the words he was reading, Edward strolled into the nurse's office. He was following instinct because he could not tear his eyes away from this book.

It was about Bella. Reading this was more important than what trivial matters Bella was griping about with Mike. Couldn't she read the room? If he was ignoring her, there was a pertinent reason. He had just begun reading their introduction in the book. Back in Biology. Months ago. And this was important. Tiny details weren't adding up in this story and it was only the first chapter.

"Jesus, Edward. Are we not allies? I know you can be a dick, but this is a bit much and uncalled for," she barked.

Okay, now that he had heard. Edward lifted his head from the book, casting a nasty glare towards Bella. He shook his head, reminding himself to be kind. It's not like she knew of the miracle in his hands now.

Thus, he decided to give her what she had so kindly requested of him, his undivided attention. "A dick? Me?" He questioned, mocking her with an arrogant display.

"Yes," she seethed, hissing through her teeth. He clenched his cheeks to swallow his laughter. "Since day one. I wasn't blind. I could tell you didn't want to talk to me after you introduced yourself." Ironically, he was about to revisit that scene in the book. What uncanny timing for her to bring it up. She wasn't wrong though.

He snapped the book shut, realizing she would not be giving him any peace to read it further anytime soon. "You could?" He asked, feigning interest. He offered an aggressive eyebrow raise in challenge.

"Duh. You lacked sincerity in your words. But that doesn't mean I didn't want it to be true." Edward noted the regret in her brown eyes. He could tell she had not meant to share her last thought with him.

She had foiled his plans to read more so he was dishing out payback as he remarked, "Well, isn't that something. So, you liked me despite that?"

As soon as she opened her mouth, Bella turned on her heel and exited the infirmary. Edward chuckled to himself, unsure if she had changed her mind last second or was forced to leave. He quickly reopened the book to where he left off from. Then he followed after Bella, knowing it wasn't his time to leave this scene yet. Despite being focused on the book, Edward did catch a quick glimpse of Bella's head cradled in her hands. He tsked at her fragility.

He could not help himself as he commented, "You look better." A smile twitching on his lips as he had just defaulted to his intended line so he could keep reading.

He knew he inspired her ire when she replied snidely, "Just keep your hand in your pocket." A line for a line. Bella had her moments when he found himself enjoying her company.

"Honestly, who would pass out from a pin prick of blood," he asked, clearly making fun of her. It was a little over the top. He glanced up at Bella. "Are you going back to class?" He needed to know how much more time he had to spend reading.

"Unsure how this plays out. My guess is no." Edward nodded, reconcentrating on his speed reading. He never realized this before, but he could read fast. Obscenely fast. In French and English.

"I guess we are going to the beach this weekend?" He had skipped over those lines in this conversation. Edward stared at Mike, making his disdain known. The more he read, the further his distrust for Mike escalated.

"Sure, what other choice do I have? Leave the book. We have real things to discuss then if we don't get another chance before then."

Edward withheld the light sarcastic comment that just flashed in his mind. He reminded himself again that Bella did not understand the book's significance. He was not ready to discuss that yet as he was still wrapping his mind around everything.

"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten," he mentioned to her because he had nothing nice to say.

"I'll be there."

"I'll see you in the gym then?" Edward was operating mechanically as he forced himself to read and process the text faster. He drew out his steps, taking the time he was afforded. Aside from that goal, he could admit he was not keen on leaving her alone with Mike. Mike was suspicious to Edward. Especially as chapter three was coming to a head.

"See you."

Bella had just been saved by 'Mike' in the story when Edward's existence was wiped out.

12. PROTECTOR

It was a sunny Saturday morning. But the weather did not instill Edward with a sunny disposition. No, he was rather perturbed on what he had read in the book Soleil thus far. To his chagrin, Bella's theory had been dead on. She was the female protagonist of the love story they were all acting out, Soleil. Worst of all, her character was the foolish, self-sacrificing type. Spoiler alert, she survived the perilous event with the 'hunter' teased in the Preface- confirmed by the Epilogue. Edward did not breathe until he found Bella's words on the pages at the end of the book, sounding very much alive rather than narrating on from the afterlife. Thanks to enduring the first three stages of grief in a span of 10 seconds when he had to consider her impending death on paper, Edward was determined to read the book all the way through. Start to finish. No skipping ahead.

It was a pity that when he blanked out on Thursday that he was not privy to keep the book with him. It was a desperate hope that the book would be back in the janitor's closet come Monday at school. Until then…he had to figure out where this story was going and how to reveal the truth to Bella. A theory was just a theory until it became the bleak reality one had to contest with. Edward ignored the chatter of his 'friends' around him. The chatter deafened to pure silence when he spotted Bella approaching him. The tension of all his worries slid away as he gazed upon her. She was a beacon of hope. If anyone could save them in this story, it was the protagonist, and she was his ally. But of course, he was not bound to let her know more about the story just yet.

"You came," he remarked, putting in effort to sound blasé. "And I said it would be sunny, didn't I?" He just could not help himself at this point. Somehow, they both experienced this connection to who they were 'supposed' to be. The lines they could now opt to say were no longer necessary to spew. When he chose to default to them, she could always infer. And that fascinated him. Especially when it pissed her off. Edward's delight was difficult to mask at this point as Bella narrowed her eyes at him in disapproval.

"I told you I was coming." Edward noticed the tightness to her smile. His eyebrows drew together in concern. He enjoyed their games, but there was a larger issue at hand. Mike Cullen. Something was off about him, as Soleil was slowly spelling out chapter by chapter.

"No…plus one?" he asked. Edward failed to sound detached, but it did not matter. Both him and Bella were aware of Mike as the main lead in this love story for her. Edward glanced around the parking lot to search for Mike.

"Nope!"

Edward forced himself to relax this time, he preferred it coming naturally though.

"I think we have to go to the beach." Edward looked over his shoulder assessing how to split things up for the ride. If they had chosen to meet up at the school parking lot, they could have detoured on a path to the janitor's closet again. "Did you want to ride up front with me?" Bella was the least annoying person in the crowd to deal with, so she was the preferential option depending how much time they would actually spend on this 'road trip'.

"You're assuming I am choosing your suburban over Eric's minivan?"

Edward quirked his right eyebrow in question, caught off guard by her response. She knew he knew that she liked him. And despite that…well, Edward didn't mind the banter. It brought a sense of ease between them which would be needed to survive this world in the least.

"Yeah, yeah I call shot gun," she admitted, waving him off. Edward resisted from snatching that hand and fueling the fire of his teasing. He knew better to cross that line though.

To Edward's relief, Bella ended up wedged between him and Jessica for the ride over to La Push. After he started his car, Edward immediately changed the rock music station to the classics on the FM radio. Even if he only was awarded a few seconds of the melody, it was still better than nothing.

"So you like-" Bella began before she was cut off.

Edward adjusted to his new surroundings. He was walking on the beach, a slight tenseness to his muscles. There was the feeling of reluctance inflating inside him. "Holy Crow!" he heard Bella shout and could confirm he wasn't alone. The feeling deflated but remained present. She must have been behind him. "I hate these skips. We need the time."

Bella was now walking along his side and focused on Eric and Ben in the distance gathering broken branches of driftwood.

"They are going to make a driftwood fire," he informed her since she looked perplexed.

"I don't care, Edward." Apparently, she had not cared about what they were doing. "Aren't you just as frustrated that we lost time?" Bella was being dramatic as she threw her hands up in the air, punctuating her point.

"I am," he admitted, smothering his annoyance by her inanity. "But instead of complaining we can figure out what our next move is." Bella let her emotions get the best of her rather than think with a clear and level head. Once again, Edward had to be the leader between them. Or they were never escaping.

"Well, where was this problem solver back at the nurse's office?"

Edward heard her irritation and could not help himself but to reply, "I was solving one of our biggest problems then."

"Oh really?" He ignored her eye roll. "Do tell."

To tell or not to tell? He planned on waiting until he was further along in the book… yet he let slip out, "Where the plot is going."

"Impossible." Her incredulity was understandable and a tad cute as Edward observed her eyes bulge.

"It would have been without that book."

"The book in French?" She was skeptical and he did not fault her for that. He had yet to explain something to her that he could not even explain to himself.

"I lied then because I was caught off guard. I can read French." He was not ready to dive into this more, so he glossed over it by bringing up the larger matter at hand. "It's this story, Bella. This world. Soleil tells us what is going on. In…" He hesitated because he was afraid what reaction of hers this new piece of knowledge would provoke. Afterall, diaries were something special to teenage girls. "Your point of view."

"Like my diary?" Bella asked aghast. He had called it.

"You could liken it to that. It's in first person. And you tell your love story with Mike."

Bella's face had turned a violent shade of red. Edward understood she was embarrassed yet expected her to ask for more clarity on the plot and this world they were in despite this.

He was proven wrong.

"Why in the world is it called Sun?" Bella moaned. Edward let his own shock briefly overcome him, expecting at least one of the handful of more important questions to be asked by her about the story that he would struggle to answer yet. Her question was absurd and superficial. How was he supposed to know this? He wasn't even a quarter of the way through the book.

"I am only three chapters in, Bella, so I can't say." A page of text burst into this mind, stirring up his agitation. "But I am up to the point of the accident." The car accident was a memory that Edward avoided. He was forced to confront it when reading the book. He had been a spectator while Bella was almost crushed to death. The brief despair he had experienced in that moment before realizing she survived superseded any form of despondence he felt about the life he was living. A sudden numbness onset and he found the strength to continue, "when Mike saves you. Something is off about him. I sensed it before, but I now know my impression of him has never been wrong. Have you figured out yet how he is different or saved you?"

"Where's the damn book, Edward? Let's just spoil it for us." He had spoiled the book. The most important part. She did not die. Those thoughts had not inspired the numbness to recede in Edward. Instead, it was her demand about him having the book on his person. His gratitude of her being alive was swiftly replaced by his exasperation at her ineptness. It was fascinating how her expressive nature stimulated other sides of his personality he would have yet to discover so soon from breaking free.

"So now you're wishing I brought it with me?" His question was twisted with double meaning. In part, he was expressing his exasperated stated, yet he also knew there was a pompous nature to his question – to tease her. Why did he like to do that? What did he gain by it?

"Did you or did you not bring it?"

He considered his response, rejecting his initial reaction. He was going down the path of being an ass as he extended his hand to the beachfront before asking, "Does it look like I would have brought a book with me today?"

"So, no choice there?" Her reaction was lacking. She refused to comment on his arrogant display on the matter.

"None at all," he admitted, conceding to be civil. If she didn't react, there was no fun in it.

Edward watched the color drain from Bella's face. "Will we ever get it back? What if it disappeared into a void with a time skip?"

Edward began to question what he just observed and heard from Bella. How had her demeanor change so fast? She was fine one second, and paranoid the next. This would not do. A Bella unhinged would not prove useful on this 'beach trip'. He needed to pacify her. Reassure her. Only from a place of her being useful, nothing more. Or so he told himself.

"Don't worry about that yet. I will check the janitor's closet at school. I am hoping it is an object that resets to its original location once the time skip occurs. We have time to figure this out." Edward had made sure his voice was calm, soothing as he offered her reassurance. He tried to sell it with a smile too. Had it worked? He was unsure. Bella was not offering him anything to go off of to make an assessment.

They continued walking to the others and then were steered to take a hike to the tidal pools. Bella had remained on edge of being unstable that Edward's only chance to help calm her down was to go into more details about the book. Luckily, it was a trade. She offered him the results of her testing limits of what she could and not do with her time spent with Mike after they discovered the book. Their ally relationship was proving its merit.

When they returned to First Beach from their hike, others had joined their original group. Upon spotting them, Edward's lips curled back and he wrinkled his nose. They were Quiluetes from the Reservation. Edward's eyes didn't leave that group until he heard, "Edward." It was Bella. She was panicking. He needed to protect her. Edward rushed to her side, forgetting about the Quiluetes as Bella became his focus. Not denying the strong need to protect her in this moment. From what though?

Edward leaned over to Bella as she walked. "What is it?"

He followed her as Bella continued forward until she spun her body around and she sat next to Angela. Her movements were robotic yet her face told him a different story. It was obvious.

"You can't control where you are supposed to go now," he commented before squatting next to her. He studied Bella further, his mind piecing together the best way to handle this situation. She was frightened. Unlike her, Edward had not been forced into bodily actions against his will once Bella freed him. He decided the best course of action was to be gentle and comfort her.

"Hey, it's okay." She was still wringing her hands in her lap. Words didn't seem to be enough, so he placed his hands over her own. The instant his hand made contact with her skin, a jolt shot through his body. Waking him from his naivety. If she was restricted in her actions, the most likely conclusion was that Mike was around. Bella had mentioned her body only seemed to be restricted to force her into a scene or event. He needed to protect her…for what he could. "I will see if he is here." He released her hands and began on the move to hunt for Mike. Before he could step away, there was a resistance preventing him from moving away. Not in the same way Bella had suffered. Instead, it was her. Bella was the one yanking on his shirt.

"Please don't leave me," she pleaded in a pitiful voice that quivered. Edward withheld his sigh. It would serve better for him to perhaps prevent or delay Mike's arrival, but if she preferred he stayed…he would oblige.

"Okay," he agreed and returned to sitting on the sand next to Bella. They waited in silence for Mike to join them. When enough time had passed and Mike had still had not yet come into the picture, food seemed to be the next best option. Others were eating, Edward was starving, and Bella's stomach growled giving Edward hope that she would grant him permission for him to leave for food.

"Food? I'll still be in your line of sight." He figured adding in the last part would help put her at ease for his temporary departure.

Edward returned with an armful of sandwiches and sodas. A meager meal but one that he found himself salivating over nevertheless. Food was great. Anything edible was fantastic. He consumed whatever was offered to him as if he would never have the opportunity to eat it again. After handing out the meal to the girls, he sat back down next to Bella and enjoyed his own. He ate in silence, letting Bella have alone time with her thoughts. He assumed if she wanted to talk about it, she would pipe up. Plus, being with his own thoughts was enjoyable as well. For this one meal, he let himself feel like a normal 17-year-old boy eating food on a beach like he lived in a normal world.

Well, mostly. There was one teen Quiluete boy sitting across from them that threw too many quick glances at Bella for Edward's liking. The boy's stare was intense and perhaps…longing? This did not sit well with Edward. Something was off about him. It was a similar feeling he had about Mike as well.

As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes. Something within Edward pulled in him, warning him it was time to make his exit. He wanted to stay. He wanted to be her protector from Mike. But the logical side of him understood that if they did not follow the story flow, Monday would never come if they indefinitely delayed the scene that needed to take place. Reluctantly, he stood up and it didn't go without notice that Bella was panicking.

"Sorry," he apologized, unable to look at her as he said it. "Looks like I can't stick around any longer. I have to go to the one shop in the village." He looked at her and frowned, disappointed he could not do more for her but placate her with words. "It will be okay, Bella. I will be back. Also…be weary of that one boy staring at you. Something seems off about him. If Mike comes, just remember I'll be back. Okay?"

Edward leaned over and offered her a quick pat on the head. She seemed to relax under his touch. It pleased him he could give her some small comfort, even if it was only temporary. She nodded at him before he turned around and walked away. He willed himself to not look back because he was afraid he would stay if he did.

And he would be back for her.

That was his last thought before he disappeared.

Note: I will complete his POV either with the next update or the next two. These ones are taking longer to write than I expected :S ~pixelephant