Hello! Thank you for your infinite patience... I hope this chapter is to your liking... I think some health competition for Edward is good...

Thank you for the love to this story...

Do you have any other Edward/Bella or wolf/Bella story that has no drama and would like to recommend? I'm oopen ears (or eyes).. Same goes for Harry Potter... I just finished reading the books for the first time (I know, I know, it took me a long time) And would love to read something... Bring them on...

Stay safe and enjoy!

TWO CENTURIES LOVE.

Chapter 8: The birthday party.

"Can I ask you a question?" I took advantage of the fact that we were alone today in my apartment. It had been a crazy couple of weeks. And Jasper was giving me the creeps in a serious way with all the staring. So, I made up the fact that I wanted to be alone with him for a change.

He nodded in my lap. I loved this position. He was always so in control of everything around him, that seeing him relinquish it and just be himself, lying on my lap or on the bed, just us, was a sight on itself. I wondered if it could get too loud for him, with all the hearing thoughts thing.

"Why does Jasper keep staring at me wherever I go?"

Edward laughed and I relaxed a little. If he was laughing, then it wasn't anything serious.

"He's curious about you. I don't think he's conscious that he stares at you so much."

"That makes me feel like a zoo animal." I slapped his arm softly as I frowned.

"What I mean, is" He stopped to sit up. "He's curious because your feelings and emotions are very tranquil. You're not a rollercoaster like some people might be. I had been a nightmare from time to time. Alice is hyperactive. Not to mention Emmett and Rose…So, you're a change for him. You feel everything very deeply and pure, that he's drawn to that. If it bothers you I can speak to him."

I shook my head. Knowing what was making him starey was better. I was really starting to worry about having started a weird drama between his siblings.

"No, it's ok. It's not knowing what was making me nervous, more than anything." I admitted.

It was inevitable, since I woke up in this new life, not knowing made me nervous, it scared me. So, I bombarded Garrett with everything I could think about being a vampire. He took it like a champ. Everywhere I went, every new vampire that I met was bombarded with questions, until I learned that I couldn't control everything, and started to relax and trust more in people that showed me they were worthy of that trust.

Edward smiled and resumed his former position, with his head on my lap, and I continued to run my fingers through his hair.

In the past couple of weeks, we have talked a lot about each other's life. We knew each other, but at the same time we didn't. We had changed, evolved, and matured in the past decades. So, even if we knew deep down that we loved each other, we needed to reconnect, to see if we were still in love with the other.

I had to say that I was completely gone, head over heels in love with him. He was contradictory at times, overprotective, sometimes paranoid, but he was also very sweet, romantic and he treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world. He rocked my world every time he touched me, he loved me reverently every time. He held me with such gentleness that I could cry.

I have always heard from couples around me that there were two types of intimacy. One, where you would have sex with your partner, and you would do all sorts of kinky things. But the other kind would be the one where you would lie in bed or in a sofa with that person, completely covered in clothes, in silence, and enjoy immensely that moment. That's what I enjoyed about my newfound or re-found relationship with Edward. The fact that we had both types of intimacy.

It was fun getting to know each other again. It was a little strange as well hearing him talk without all the pompous words from the beginning of the twentieth century. I enjoyed it very much. When I asked him about why he learned so many languages he just shrugged and said "I've had a lot of free times over the decades." But I could see it still hunt him the time we spent thinking the other was dead. At least I had had some sort of closure in the fact that he was dead, and I had visited his grave and his parents' many times before moving out of Chicago. But he never had that closure. He couldn't find me anywhere, neither through human records nor with his vampire connections. I still didn't know how many vampires he knew, or how many vampire friends we had in common.

I told him about my time with Garret, and then about my time travelling the world. I told him I avoided Europe during the second world war. Deciding to try my luck in South America. It had been horrible all the things you would hear unedited about the horrors that the humans were carrying out. Then, the war ended, and it hadn't been that much better. There had been so much craziness during the second part of the twentieth century that I stayed in the American continent, travelling up and down, city trough city. I knew the hidden wonders that this continent held. I had stayed hidden in the forests of Brazil and Venezuela, enjoying the richness of its animals, and its waterfalls.

But when you don't have someone to share your adventures with, those adventures tended to be bittersweet. I had wanted someone with whom I could share a deep connection, a love that lasted decades and centuries and that could survive the end of the world. I wanted a love that could consume me. For long I had thought I would never find something like that, because the one I had felt that with, had died.

Garrett never tried anything romantic with me, nor I with him, despite how handsome and sweet he was. He became my best friend, the one I would tell everything, even the most embarrassing things about me. He was the one friend who knew me like no one, sometimes, better than I knew myself. I felt comfortable with him. I had no restrains when it came to our friendship. I might not be a prude, but I wasn't a monk. I had seen him naked, despite the fact that I never touched him, and he never touched me. It was just one of those mistakes that happen when you get overly enthusiastic in a hunt. He had seen me naked as well, for the same reasons. I was a very messy newborn. I couldn't hunt without getting my clothes soaked up in either blood, or mud. Edward laughed hard when I told him that, not bothered by the naked part.

"I know what you mean. I've seen Emmett naked more times that I'd like to admit. And I'm not referring as his never censored mind." I laughed imagining Emmett stripping naked just to annoy Edward. He would do it.

He told me about his years with Carlisle, then Esme, then Rose, Emmett, and then Alice and Jasper. He told me, a bit ashamed of himself, about his rebellious years. He had separated himself from his family (I believe it was pre-Alice and Jasper), and had decided to be judge, jury and executioner all by himself. Delivering the world from evil souls like rapists, pedophiles and the such. He had spent his years travelling cities, getting to play human. He never regretted his decision to go back to Carlisle and Esme, who received him back with open arms and loved him just as strongly as the first day. He was a very passionate man, as he had been when he was human. That hadn't changed, but he seemed tortured sometimes.

Aside from telling me about his multiple language proficiency, he told me about his piano. He had played for me a few times before. But he was being modest about it. Esme had told me that he could put to shame even the best pianist in the world. If Edward could blush, he would be the color of a tomato. It was sweet how Esme was proudly announcing how good her children were at their different abilities. It was sweet that she had been given a second chance at being a mother after her first baby had passed away. She was such a wonderful woman.

…

…

…

The weekend came uneventfully, Edward had left with some of his family to hunt. I was invited but declined the invitation. I still had some adjustments to do and being with that many vampires at once kind of made me antsy. I didn't admit it to Edward, but Alice was actually the one that made me the most antsy. She kind of existed in the future and she danced around people unbothered about telling things about the future. Things like, avoid dressing this way, or carry an umbrella with you. I might have been fishing for details, but she kind of sucked the surprise out of life. She was a very nice person, and she had very good intentions. I guessed it would just take time to get use to her. Edward had said it took him months to get used to her. And it took him months to learn not to answer out loud to people's thoughts.

My phone rang in my bedroom, and I rushed to it. I had an incoming face time from Demetri. He had been a surprise. A good surprise.

"Hello, Bella." He greeted with his thick Italian accent.

"Hey you." I answered back, smiling happily at him through my screen. It had been a few weeks since I last spoke with him. In fact, I spoke to him the morning of my first day at school.

"Are you coming to my birthday?" One thing I liked about him, was that he went straight to the point.

I had received his invitation in the mail a few days ago. A very fancy invitation. I had rolled my eyes but laughed out loud when I got it.

"Do you really celebrate your birthday?" I teased him.

He shrugged. "I'm bored. Humor me."

I smiled amusedly. "Do you even have to ask me?" We had a different relationship than the one I had with Garrett. Demetri was another person who knew me like the palm of his hand. No tricks, plain and simple as that. But there had been a something about us that had never surfaced with Garrett. Even if I never loved Demetri romantically, I had liked him as a potential romantic partner. I had barely stayed in Italy with him. We never pursued anything romantically, because my heart was on quarantine. I was very depressed when I met him, and between him and Garrett I learned that I had (still have) a new family I could confide in. I knew that Demetri fell in love with me, and it made me feel guilty at first that I couldn't get over the death of Edward and give my heart to such an amazing man.

Demetri never pressured me, never asked for anything. He never even tried to kiss me, or to say that he could mend my heart. He knew it wasn't that simple. And from then on, despite his feelings, we fell into a comfortable routine. He was one of the few people that I could call home.

I was barely a five-year-old converted vampire, I had Edward very fresh in my heart and it scared the hell out of me how quickly Demetri got under my skin. He was charming, funny, carefree, and loyal.

I remember telling Garrett about him, and Garrett's answer surprised me. "You're not ready to be in love with anyone else. You're still mourning a love that was."

The reason I couldn't refuse Demetri's birthday party, was because he had been there when I was at my lowest. When I thought I couldn't continue, when the memories of Edward had been too much to handle, when all I had wanted was for the pain to be over, he was there. He supported me, he let me mourn, cry, yell, kick. He went against his better instincts to protect me from myself and his masters. I never joined his masters, and I think they had been so surprised, and scared about me, for me, that they never forced me to stay. I dread to admit, that I might have been a time bomb they didn't want to risk exploding in their midst.

I owed Demetri my life. If vampires could get tattoos, I would have tattooed his name on my wrist. That much I cared for him, that much I admired him. That much I loved him.

"I don't know. You just arrived there." He commented trying to appear uninterested. He failed.

"Of course, I'll go to your crazy birthday." I smiled. "I actually miss you. How are the old ones?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you get away by calling them that."

I shrugged, but I suspected they had too much on their hands to really worry about what I called them. I wasn't planning on stealing their power, or killing them, so I suspected they couldn't care less if I liked them or not. And in reality, I didn't dislike them, but I wasn't very fond of them either.

"I'll pick you up at the airport." He went silent for a few seconds, as if pondering his next words. "Will you be coming alone?"

I thought about it. Edward didn't know about Demetri. I had told him I never fell in love with anyone else, but I deliberately ignored that part of my past. I would have to come clean with him either way, whether Demetri had called or not.

"I don't know. I have to talk to him first."

He raised an eyebrow, curios now. "Him?"

"Long story. I'll tell you all about it when we meet again."

He nodded and said goodbye.

…

…

…

Once in Italy

"You've had the propensity to find trouble anywhere you went." I knew what he was referring to.

I laughed out loud, long and hard. "How was I supposed to know that I had to avoid Italy at all?!" I complained still laughing about it.

I didn't miss Edward's confused smile.

"Every vampire in the world, knows that if they want to stay clear of our view, they have to avoid the country." But it was an exaggeration, they only had to avoid the closest cities to Volterra.

I snorted and rolled my eyes, not losing my smile. "I didn't get the memo." Demetri snorted as well and shook his head.

"You are so absurd." I smiled and nodded. I knew that. "I have some more guests to greet, I'll see you two later." He kissed my cheek and darted away.

I turned to face Edward and found him staring at me with a strange expression on his face. Was he worried about me and Demetri? I mean, whatever happened, happened so long ago.

"He's not wrong you know." He stated.

"What?"

"Every vampire in the world knows about the Volturi and prefer to stay clear of Italy altogether." His smile was mischievous.

I slapped his arm and he laughed.

He composed his expression quickly, turning serious and grabbing my face in his hands. "I'm not worried."

I looked at him confused, grabbing his wrists and tracing patterns on his hand. "Worried about what?"

"You and Demetri." There was something in his eyes, and in the way he said it that made me doubt the veracity of his words.

I knew he had doubts when he agreed to come, and that he had wanted to clear them, to see for himself what I was explaining to him. I didn't blame him. I would have done the same thing. In fact, I would have probably been more passionate, more insecure, and less collected than he was. More jealous that he had shared a part of his soul with another woman. That he had felt tempted to be with her in a way that he and I were once.

In fact, it surprised me that he was so collected, so peaceful in the face of a virtual ex. I didn't know how to categorize Demetri in my head. I hadn't had a relationship with him, therefore he wasn't an ex, but there had been certain feelings involved when we had that connection in 1922-23.

…

…

…

This was not the party I had imagined. For starters, there were so many vampires in here. And I had thought that the Cullens made me nervous.

"Why are there so many people here, if everyone prefers to stay away?" I asked Demetri.

I knew some of the vampires that had come, and I made the effort to greet them. It was great seeing them again. Even if I was surprised that they came. I think the vampire world is a small world after all.

I danced around the guests while Edward interacted with some of his friends and acquaintances. I didn't want to admit it, but it was fun being in here, with all these people. I didn't feel nervous or antsy with them. Well, at least not with my friends. The ones I could call home. The others did make me nervous.

I was currently talking with Demetri, who had his arm around my shoulders, with Felix and Heidi, who had recently discovered they were made for the other.

"Because curiosity killed the cat." I raised an eyebrow to his enigmatic answer. He smiled. "Many of them already know the Volturi and know they are in no danger." He scanned the room and I knew he was scanning their minds. Demetri was a great tracker. "And there are some that want to join the guard after this party. It ensures them protection, a job, a roof over their heads." I nodded, it made sense.

I scanned the room and met Edward's stare from afar. I smiled at him and winked. He winked back, but I had the feeling that there was something bothering him. I had seen him with Demetri earlier. It made me wonder what Demetri had told him.