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TWO CENTURIES LOVE
Chapter 3: My girl, love.
EPOV
I had managed to control my loneliness for my sake and my family's sake. But in a day like this it was turning to be almost impossible. On this day, many, many decades ago I promised the love of my life that I would marry her, and that I would ask her father for her hand in marriage. I had presented her a small ring, very humble. I had bought it with my savings, it was a gold ring with a small emerald. She always commented how much she loved the color of my eyes, and in a very cheesy move, I had decided to promise her that.
We decided that the ring was going to be on her golden chain for the time being. I remembered it like it had been yesterday. My human life was not very clear, but my memories of her were as vivid as they had been the first time I dreamt of her when I was human. She was the most beautiful woman I had laid eyes on.
She was always with her mother in the park, sporting a half-amused half-horrified smile on her face as her mother whispered things on her ear. She would furiously blush at her mother's comments. She would chide her in a whisper, but if you paid close attention, you could see the amusement on her face. Her mother would always shrug and hide her smile. She was divine, unique, and so wonderfully her.
I noticed that we would always coincide in the park. I started going more and more with my own mother, until I gathered enough bravery to ask her out. She had immediately said yes, and we walked around the park that same day, with our mothers chatting away happily behind us.
That day I was bewitched by her. I knew that day, that I wanted so much more from her. I wanted to hear her laugh again or challenge me again. She was a sight for sore eyes, and a blow of fresh wind. After I came home that night, I didn't pester my father about joining the army. Instead, I retired to my bedroom and thought about her for the rest of the evening, even through dinner.
My mom obviously noticed, but she was kind enough to not mention anything to my father until there was something more to tell. Next time I saw her was at a movie theater, with her friend. We made small conversation but as her friend wasn't our chaperone, we couldn't do anything more, or even go inside together.
I learned through our many dates, that she wanted to be a teacher. She loved to read and had the authority and the love to teach anything she wanted.
In two short months, I fell completely and irrevocably in love with her. So much so, that I was completely sure she was the only woman I would ever love in my life. For her, I gave up the dream of going to war. Because once I met her, I couldn't fathom leaving her and our family for a war that I wasn't sure I was going to survive. My plans were already set in motion. My father wanted me to become a lawyer like him, and for her I was willing to figure out which branch of the career I was most inclined towards.
Nothing like I want now. When you've lived a century, you tend to accumulate degrees. Medicine, law, psychology, history, engineering, and many more. A little bit of everything. Even Esme and Carlisle had different degrees. Esme preferring to do things like interior design and Carlisle anything that would update him in the latest discoveries of medicine.
When I understood what I was, and that I couldn't tell anyone, I was heartbroken, I couldn't see her anymore? I couldn't speak to her? Let her know that I still loved her with all my heart, and would do so for the rest of my life, however long it was? But Carlisle wouldn't let me tell her anything, nor look for her. She was alive, she had a life to live. Carlisle had a policy of not turning people who had another chance. I resented him for a long time for that. Sometimes, in days like this, my resentment would resurface, and I couldn't go back to the house until my feelings were back on track. I knew he was doing it out of respect, but that didn't mean I agreed with him.
He had apologized profusely during the decades for what he had done. But there was no point in apologizing. His apologies didn't make me travel back in time, didn't bring her back. Wherever she was. I had looked for her, but I only found out she had left Chicago and that her parents had died in a car accident. But there were no records of her marrying anyone, or dying, or anything. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth. As if she had never existed.
But the tug in my heart was proof that she had existed, as was the photo I was holding in my hands. She had slid it on my pocket one day. She was smiling brightly to the camera, her hair arranged in a cascade of ringlets that I knew she only wore on special occasions, preferring her wavy nature most. In the picture you could barely see her chain, but you would notice it if you knew it was there, and I knew so much about her.
I passed my thumb on the photo, chuckling at the memory that assaulted me.
I had arrived home after our encounter at the movie theater, she had subtly put her hand on my arm, quickly enough to look as if she was catching her balance and not flirting with me. She liked to break the rules of courtship. She often complained how absurd they were. And as the whipped bastard I was, I agreed with her. I would have agreed with her if she had told me the sky was red and not blue. That far gone I was.
So, I arrived home, and changed from my suit to my pajamas, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not alert my parents of my arrival. When I shook my jacket, I noticed something flying out of the pocket and landing on the floor. I crouched and took it. I managed to laugh quietly and not burst out laughing. How had she managed to leave her picture without not even me noticing? I didn't care. I laid in my bed hours staring at her smiling face. She looked like a well-behaved lady. But she was very mischievous. She loved to instigate our kisses. She was the one to initiate our first kiss, not waiting for me to make the move. I had loved that, but at the same time I've gotten the hint. Make a move when you want to, I'm not too keen on following the rules.
I sat alone in front of a small river that ran through our property. I sat there drowning in my love for her, drowning in my feelings for her. I missed her like crazy in days like this. She had been the best thing that had ever happened to me. The best thing that will ever happen to me. No woman compared to her. It was not like I ever allowed any woman to get close enough to allow a comparison with her.
Often, I would daydream about what she would say to certain things. How she would react to this small forsaken place, about the rain, about the people of school, even about my family. Particularly Alice and her penchant for following her own reality.
She would have liked the Cullen's. And they would have loved her in return.
My heart sank at the thought. I saw the picture once more in my hands. I didn't carry it on my wallet for fear of ruining it. The thought of never seeing her face again was bad enough that I kept the picture in a safe in my room. My family knew not to touch anything in that safe, regardless of the fact that they knew the combination. With people like Alice, Jasper, and I in one home, it was hard to keep anything secret.
I sighed noticing my phone ringing in my pocket.
It was Alice. If I didn't get up now, I wouldn't make it to school. It's not like I would miss anything. But I knew it was my responsibility towards this family to keep appearances.
…
…
"Cheer up, Edward. I have a good feeling about today." Alice spoke on her mind. She touched my arm to comfort me, but I didn't want comfort today. I wanted to be alone with her photo and the memories of the short time we had together.
During the day I saw in the student body's minds that a new student had arrived, but she hadn't made contact with anyone and had decided to sit in the back tables of every class she had had.
The ones that had paid enough attention to her, thought about her, and wondered why she wouldn't make the effort to speak to anyone. They noticed how she actively avoided everyone. It was not like she was shy; she just wasn't interested.
What caught my attention the most was the image of the girl. She looked exactly like her. It was uncanny. Of course, there were a few differences. My girl had brown eyes, brown hair. This girl seemed to have some sort of green-grayish eyes, and her brown hair had some very imperceptible red streaks. But other than that, she was just like her. I tried to pay attention to my classes. But it was impossible. I jumped form mind to mind trying to find her, but to no avail. How hard was it to find a person through someone's mind?
I had been so entranced to find her towards anyone, that I forgot to try and find a new voice. A voice I hadn't heard before in this school.
It was during the hour of lunch that I noticed something out of the ordinary. I caught sight of the girl with long wavy brown hair. I shook my head, thinking I had definitely lost it. But my heart was almost beating again at the possibility of her in this god forsaken place. What were the odds? Slim to none, actually.
I tried to get a reading out of her but came up empty. I could have followed her, but I didn't want to frighten the girl. I still wasn't sure if it was her. My girl, my love.
After lunch was over, I caught her again, this time catching sight of her face. It was different seeing her myself, than seeing her through a student's mind.
But it was her. Even if I just caught a glimpse of her face, I had perfect vision, and it was definitely her by the lockers and running to her classroom.
I sat through my next two classes in shock, not paying attention at all. If the teachers decided to ask me a question, I would completely humiliate myself, because I had no idea what they were saying. I hadn't even opened my notebooks. All I could think about was going to her, finding her. I wanted to kiss her again, to touch her face.
My girl, my love.
When the last bell rang, I went directly to the school's office and dazzled Mrs. Cope to tell me the address of Isabella Swan, she gave up her information with the sternest warning that I would get her in serious trouble if I said where I got the information.
It was her. Same name, different address. But it was her. She was here. And unless this was some really bad joke from the universe, and she turned out to be just a descendant from her, with the same name and same characteristics, it was her. She was here. And I was going to get her back.
My girl, my love.
…
…
Alice was waiting for me outside the office, she could see me going to the new girl's place and wanted to know what I was planning. What interest did I have on her? Why would I stalk her? What would her parents say?
Her last question got me thinking.
What story had she concocted? Did she have anyone acting as her parents, or guardian?
The answer to those questions didn't matter to me. It was her. Of that I was 90% sure.
"I'll tell you everything later, Alice. But I have to go now."
But instead of going directly to her place, I went to the woods first. I caught a deer and considered myself satisfied. I hadn't had time to put her picture back on the safe this morning, so I took it out from my wallet, and stared at it.
Would it be possible to have her here with me, in person? To not have to see her through my memories, or see her only in a black and white picture?
…
…
I parked outside the house that Mrs. Cope had told me. I took a deep breath (not that I needed it) and climbed out of my car.
I walked towards the door.
I braced myself for disappointment.
I rang the bell.
She opened it.
I knew it had been her.
My girl, my love.