Soleil

16.5 EDWARD'S POV continued

13. THE CORRECT MALE LEAD

As soon as he was gone, he was also back. His location was different though. Edward found himself strolling down the beach, Jessica in tow.

"There you are, Bella," Edward remarked, his voice composed despite the relief coursing through him as he approached Bella. His pace towards her quickened upon recognizing the same boy he had warmed Bella of just a short moment ago. His eyes must have been playing a trick on him because he could have sworn Bella appeared to have shed a tear with his approach.

Edward stopped a few feet away from them, forgetting Jessica all together. He fixated on the boy. When his eyes refocused on Bella, he took in her appearance. Her brown eyes were wide, flickering with fear and her mouth went slack.

"What happened?" He demanded. "Why do you look like you just had the life sucked out of you?" He stopped himself from tabulating a list of reasons and grabbed Bella to move her within his protection. Not without delivering a nasty glare to the kid who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"It's worse than we ever thought, Edward. About Mike." Her light whisper response would have given him a small measure of reassurance, if she hadn't delivered bad news. Unsure if he was supposed to prod her to unveil more, Edward decided to wait. Not for a second forgetting that his hand hovered over her shoulder in defensive manner. Something about this beach and this boy was setting him on edge. Eliciting the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.

Warmth enveloped his hand, Bella was guiding it down the front of her body. As his forearm grazed her boob, Edward sputtered, "What are you-"

"Just wait for it," she tersely interrupted him. Once his hand slid against her waist, he curiously observed her small, delicate fingers approach the palm of his hand.

She was tracing patterns into his hand. On the 'A', he understood it was a letter of the alphabet. He reimagined the first pattern and identified the letter 'V' as she finished her 'M'.

The rest of the letters were 'P' 'I' 'R' 'E'.

He strung them together in his head.

Vampire.

Edward withheld his surprise and concern. Or so he thought until he asked, "You can't be serious?" Because why would Bella lie about this? It had to be the answer to the question about what was off with Mike Cullen.

Instinctively he replaced his hand on her shoulder, offering a squeeze of comfort.

She just nodded at him in response, her lower lip pushed out. Edward looked her in the eye. Benefit of the doubt, that's what he would offer her until he could get his hands on Soleil again. To confirm this theory.

"We need it to be Monday, now," he murmured. Edward turned his head to look back at where he knew the others were. He confirmed what he already felt within him, it was time to leave this scene. "They're packing up. We should leave and speed things up. I am assuming we have nothing more to gain here?"

Edward noted the look Bella sent to Jacob. She appeared unsure of herself. Or perhaps how they were leaving Jacob? This bothered him, immensely. It at least helped that the kid looked like a fool with a wide grin on his tan face and his eyes vacant of life.

"We don't. Let's go." Edward's mouth tugged into a smug smile at her response.

"It was nice to see you again," the brat replied.

Edward let his irritation get the better of him as he responded, "It won't happen again." His smile now taking on a lethal edge.

A sharp jab knocked into Edward's ribs, thanks to Bella's elbow. "Be nice. He helped."

Edward stifled his scoff. He did "tsk" under his breath when the kid said, "That would be cool."

"And thanks." Edward heard the sincerity in Bella's voice which perplexed him. He was confident she would explain soon what he missed out on and how she discovered vampires were real.

Edward waited for her to start talking. However, the silence continued to stretch as they walked across the sand and further away from the ocean. In one particularly rocky part of their path, Bella began to stumble over some stones like she wasn't equipped with two eyes that could see. When she was on her fifth slipup and the likelihood of not catching herself in time was highly probable, Edward caught her by the elbow. "Can you watch where you are going?" He demanded in a scathing tone. He clenched his jaw in rebuke when he realized how is words came out harsher than he had intended. He shook his head, trying to dissipate this protective need within him.

"Did my warning mean nothing to you before I left?" He asked, his words much softer now. Perhaps peeled back they would reveal a layer of vulnerability to them as well.

"I could not fight the story flow."

Edward clicked his teeth before sighing. Her response was logical, but he still didn't like it. "I know. I am not angry at you. Just…" He stopped, unsure how he would finish what he was saying. How could he explain to her what he was feeling when he didn't even fully understand it himself?

"Everything?" She guessed and he was relieved that she offered him an out. He couldn't help himself as he smiled. Because of her. He withdrew his hand from the crook of her elbow and placed his hand in hers. Just for her safety though, of course. He would lead her on the right path and keep her from bumbling along their way back to the others.

Remembering he needed to answer her, he replied, "Something like that."

Those were his last words to her on the beach. Once they settled into his suburban with their peers, Bella started with "Thanks for your support today, Edward. You always-" before they vanished.

Monday was here. Of course, only a second ago it was Saturday and he was in La Push…but if he got hung up on those kind of details at this point he would never escape. He was heading to picnic benches on the south side of the cafeteria, like his normal morning school routine would dictate.

"Edward!" Edward pressed his lips together, tucking in his smile. It was time to get serious. Whatever foreign feeling was starting to pop up when he was near Bella needed to get lost. As Bella approached him, he noticed she appeared to be hiding some reaction as well. But hers…well, he could have sworn if she didn't hold back she might be giggling right now. But for what reason? Focus, he reproached himself.

"Janitor's closet?" He asked, heading towards the front doors of the school.

"I hope your hunch is right." He didn't say it aloud but was thinking the same thing.

OoOoOoO

Edward's brain was working into overdrive, attempting to process the overwhelming and disturbing plot of Soleil. Luckily, his memory seemed to be a steel trap and he was in no need to take notes.

He was in the third to last chapter and the scene playing out deflated his long harbored and now unnecessary worry. Absentmindedly, he mentioned out loud to himself, "I was wondering how the Preface ties in."

"Hey, you never mentioned a preface during the hike." Bella's high-pitched voice reeled him back to his current whereabouts. He was no longer with Bella and the hunter James in the ballet studio. His reality returned to a janitor's closet; he looked up to find Bella standing over him with a sour expression.

"I didn't want to scare you," he admitted. It was true. He omitted sharing it for a pertinent reason.

"So, you knew it was a horror story from the beginning?" Bella accused him. It was endearing, but also annoying.

"Bella, please give me more credit than that," he responded, not able to remove the condescending hint to his words. "I flipped to the last page to make sure you were still alive."

Edward was torn between her reaction stirring up his sympathy or sense of humor. "What do you mean alive?" she asked.

"Well, you had the brilliant idea to sacrifice your life in place of Mike's. You declared it was a noble thing," Edward rebuffed.

"I did not!"

He could tell she was mortified yet he still could not help himself from saying, "you did. And need I remind you again, it's a love story. I promise you that." He was certain this assurance should placate her from suffering further irrational responses.

"Well, why do I almost die? How do I survive?"

Edward choked back a laugh at her eagerness. He could answer the first question with two different responses. The second question would take finishing this current chapter and perhaps the next. "Let me finish the book and I can tell you."

"Read fast," she demanded.

Edward's eyebrows raised, showcasing his amusement before pointing out, "Haven't I been doing that this whole time?" He was crushing this easy-to-read book at a record pace.

No response from her inclined he could return to finishing the book. He schooled his expression to neutral state as he had for the previous chapters of the book. It was best for him to not give away anything before he finished the book in its entirety. Once he could make sense of the plot or better yet, the point of his and Bella's existence, he would break things down for Bella.

When he finished a few short minutes later, he spotted Bella falling a sleeping against the wall. He bit down his need to smile before clapping the pages together to shut the book. As he hoped, it was loud enough to wake Bella who came too with a dazed look.

"Okay, recap time," Edward announced, a tad overzealous. Bella shook her head and when she stilled again, she was focused intently on Edward. Prepared for the big reveal.

Edward stood up and paced around, allowing for a dramatic build up. To tease Bella of course.

"It is a love story but…" He stopped in front of her, frowning.

"But what, Edward?" It was reality check time for Bella.

"There are some dangerous elements to your love with Mike. Two main events in that category. The first is coming up tomorrow where you confirm he is a vampire."

"Oh god, does he try to eat me?" Mike had contemplated that in the beginning of the story, but Edward knew revealing that to Bella wouldn't help promote their exit out of the story, especially if that exit in any way, shape or form relied on Mike Cullen.

"It's a love story," he reminded her before chuckling. Bella stood up, wordlessly conveying she did not share in his humor.

All jokes aside, Edward reluctantly admitted, "Actually, he saves you from a dangerous situation." Irritation spiked in his chest recalling her constant mistakes in the book during her little excursion to Port Angeles. "You should try to avoid dangerous situations like the one tomorrow by using common sense," he lectured.

"Like I would be given that choice. What happens?" she demanded.

"Some men try to take advantage of you when you're alone, but Mike comes to the rescue."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Edward did not mask his incredulity at her reaction. Was she being serious?

"It is bad though," Edward sneered. "Think of your safety." There he was, doing it again. Acting like a know-it-all ass. He cursed under his breath before sighing. "But in comparison towards the end of the book you're correct, it isn't."

"And what happens there?"

"A different vampire hunts you down, tricks you into taking him on alone- I mean you are just asking for trouble with your reckless decisions in this story, Bella. He terrorizes you and then bites you. Mike will save you by sucking out the venom and then he and his family kill the hunter, James." Edward resisted from casting a bewildered glance in her direction. He reprimanded himself for his callousness when he noticed Bella's unsteady stance. Could he not give her a break?

"All the Cullens are vampires then, aren't they?" He nodded, pleased she made that obvious deduction for herself. "Well… And why isn't this a horror story again?"

"Yes," I sighed. "Thank you, Edward."

"I love you," he answered.

For her, it was indeed not a horror story. For him, it was a different case.

In the entirety of the book, only one standout typo occurred. Instead of Bella thanking Mike in the ballet studio after he sucked the vampire's venom from her blood…she called his name, Edward. The absurd name misplacement shocked him to the core, sparking his mind to mesh other inconsistencies in the story together. Now they were all beginning to add up, thanks to one typo. The Cullen siblings had amber eyes aside from Mike. Like Edward. Edward's chalky skin matched all the Cullen's skin tone, aside from Mike. Mike had a darker shade of pale skin. The last damning piece of evidence from the text at least, Bella had asked, "Which one is the boy with reddish brown hair?" Referring to Mike, who is a pale blond you could spot from a mile away. Yet Edward was human. He didn't sparkle in the sun or crave blood. The words in Soleil were twisted and mostly matched the plot that had been unfolding since Bella's arrival in Forks.

It drew Edward to have his own theory; one he would never reveal to Bella.

Mike was not the correct male lead in Soleil, he was.

Increasing his understanding of why Mike had yet to break free from his role in this world as the main character versus Edward, a 'side character', doing just that. Also, this explained why Bella had strong feelings for him – not Mike. But like when he first put this answer together when reading towards the end of the book, he tucked it back into the recesses of his mind to dwell on at a more convenient time. Which was not the present moment.

Edward swallowed his trepidation of the truth before offering Bella a quick smile of assurance everything was fine. He forced himself to remember she was still waiting on his response. He was supposed to inform her again why it was not a horror story. No, instead just some fucked up love story he wanted no part of.

"Because you love him, you survive it and get your happy ending by having a vampire as a boyfriend," he supplied her. A false sincerity to it. Bella snorted, probably seeing through his bullshit but he wasn't going to concede any other answer to her. Or at least anything close to the truth.

She surprised him though when she replied, "I don't care for any of that. What can we do? I don't want that ending."

Edward avoided eye contact with her, unsure himself of what ending awaited them. "I don't want to disappear either." It was the truth, but he also didn't offer up that he may not be swallowed into a black hole of nothing when the novel ended if he was in fact the real main lead. Maybe he would get a free pass?

"What do you mean disappear?"

"As you start getting closer to Mike, our scenes together are very limited. You'll hardly see me anymore after your trip to Port Angeles tomorrow night." Again, not a lie. According to the text, his screen time would start dissipating.

Bella dropped to the floor. Perhaps in shock.

"I don't want that. If I could rewrite this story, it would have been you as Mike."

Edward's heart dropped in his chest, but his face masked his inner shock and mild elation. He retuned her stare. He defaulted to what came naturally to him at this point. He teased her.

"Still would have been a horror story."

"Maybe if it was you instead, I would not have that outlook." Edward began to panic, wondering if Bella was on to him. Already suspecting the truth. He was not being cold enough to deter her, and he refused to be a rude jackass again to her, if he could help it. Instead, he opted for Plan B.

"He watches you when you sleep."

"What? Tell me the whole story now! Chapter four to the end. I need to know it all. Now, Edward!"

He was grateful for her appropriate reaction and taking the bait for the pivot in conversation. It disturbed him too, even more so knowing he was the original character doing the stalking. He shuddered before beginning at chapter one for her.

NOTE: Wow, it's been too long. This took way too long to write. Sorry about that. There are two ePOV chapters left – hopefully to be finished by next update – and the final chapter for this story! :O I am betting I can wrap this up before it marks the 1-year mark since I began posting by the end of March Well, Happy New Year Friends! may 2022 bring you peace, love and happiness. ~Pixelephant