Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Bella's 'poem' is a real song, it doesn't belong to me either.
BPOV
When I woke the next morning, I still felt that small pain in the back of my head, so I took another 2 Tylenol. I could tell it would be a nice day, but it was still cloudy and foggy this morning. I quickly got dressed, slightly fretting over my appearance. I shook off the thought, Edward would be here soon and Charlie was probably waiting to meet him.
I made it downstairs, and saw Charlie sitting in the kitchen. He was probably going fishing with Billy again.
"Morning, Dad."
"Morning. Edward's still picking you up this morning?"
"Yeah, he should be here soon."
"Make sure you eat something." I definitely did not feel like eating anything.
I sighed, "Yeah, I'll grab something."
I didn't want to worry Charlie anymore than I had the last few days so, I forced some cereal down, when I heard the doorbell rang. I got up and scrambled to the door before Charlie could.
I opened the door to find Edward standing there smiling. He looked at he up and down and chuckled.
"What?" I felt a little self conscious.
"We match," he laughed.
I looked at his clothes, a beige sweater with a white shirt underneath and jeans. We did indeed, match. I chuckled.
"By the way, Charlie still thinks we are going to Seattle," I whispered, knowing he could hear me.
He nodded and walked in. Charlie had made his way into the living room.
"Um...dad. This is Edward, my boyfriend." The word was quiet and muffled as it came out.
"Hmm. Boyfriend?" Charlie eyed Edward.
"Hello, Chief Swan. My name is Edward Cullen, it's nice to officially meet you."
"Alright, well we should be going," I said, trying to rush them just a bit.
"Well, take a jacket, just in case," he said. I knew he was trying to talk to Edward alone.
"It's supposed to be nice out today," I reminded him.
"That's why I said just in case," Charlie said, sounding a little smug.
I took a deep breath, still feeling that slight pain in my lungs. "Alright then."
I went up the stairs a little too quickly. I grabbed a jacket, and was about to start going down when I heard Charlie start. I stopped to both catch my breath and eavesdrop.
"Look, Edward, I'm so happy Bella isn't spending so much time alone. And she told me that you're aware of her health," he said the word bitterly. "But, I know how she is. She'll put on a brave face, and sugar coat everything. It kills me to say this, but she isn't going to get any better. She'll do her best to keep up with you, even if she can't and she won't complain, not once. But this is it for her, and if you can't handle that...she just… she needs people she can rely on. Understood?" This kind of shocked me. Charlie was usually a quiet, less is more type. I didn't really know what to say to that.
"Of course. Chief Swan, I care a lot for her. And I am well aware of her extenuating habits. I'll take good care of her," Edward said.
"Call me Charlie."
I had caught my breath from my first trip up the stairs, so I decided now was a good time to stop this conversation.
"Here, I have a jacket. Now, let's go," Edward nodded.
"Bye, Dad."
"Bye, Charlie," Edward echoed.
"Remember you promised to let me drive," I reminded Edward. As I got in my car I noticed that he had a pensive look on his face.
As the engine roared to life, I turned to him. "Hey I'm sorry about that. I was kind of shocked he said all that. It's endearing, but also a little embarrassing."
"Well, you know what they say about eavesdroppers," he said trying to be playful, but his tone fell short.
"What's wrong?" I asked, his pensive look still remaining.
He shook his head. "Nothing, and either way it's my day to ask questions."
I rolled my eyes. "You're as bad of a liar as I am. But all right, just one question?"
He shot me a look.
"Where am I going?" I said, trying to make him laugh.
It worked. He smiled, "Take one-oh-one north."
After a few more directions and a lot of questions, "Now drive until the pavement ends."
"And what's at the end of the pavement?"
He smiled, "A trail."
"We're hiking?" My lungs felt weak. My voice sounded small.
"Is that a problem?" He sounded like he expected as much.
"No," I tried to sound confident.
"Don't worry, it's only five miles, and we're in no hurry."
Five miles. I don't think I'd ever even walked five miles before. I was feeling more than slightly panicked when the pavement ended. I took a deep breath as I got out of the car, I felt the slight ache in my lungs.
"What are you thinking?" he sounded slightly concerned.
"Honestly?" my voice was shaking.
He nodded.
"Um...I don't think I've ever walked, let alone hiked, five miles," I said feeling even more embarrassed.
"Well, one flight of stairs was enough to leave you breathless, so I wasn't going to make you walk the five miles." He smirked. "I'll show you how I travel through the woods."
"Do you turn into a bat?" I said playfully.
"Like I haven't heard that one before!" He laughed boisterously, like a real laugh. I'd never heard him laugh like that. It made me smile.
"Come on, little coward, climb on." I looked at him to see if he was joking, he wasn't.
"I'm a little bit heavier than your average backpack," He scoffed.
He slung me on my back with very little effort. I clamped my legs around him, and held on to his neck, if he was a human it would have choked him. It was like holding onto a boulder.
He surprised me by taking my palm and putting it to his face.
"Easier all the time," he said, I'd ask him about it later. And then he was running.
I was too terrified to close my eyes, not that I had the chance.
"Exhilarating isn't it?" he looked over at me. "Bella."
"Give me a second."
"You're as pale as a ghost, no you're as pale as me!" He laughed
"I've always been pale," I reminded him.
It took me a minute to recover.
I started walking toward the meadow, it was beautiful. It didn't seem real, like something out of a painting. It took me a minute to realize Edward wasn't right behind me. I remember he said he was going to show me what he meant about the sun. He hesitated for a moment, before entering the meadow.
Edward in the sun was shocking. It wasn't something I could get used to. The white skin glittering like millions of crystals, creating a million little rainbows. It looked like his lips were trembling.
"I don't scare you?"
"No more than usual."
He smiled, his teeth shining in the sun.
We both sat in the meadow, there was a few inches of distance between us. I inched closer. I reached out to touch his hand.
"Do you mind?" He shook his head. I started tracing circles around his hand, making my way up to the inside of his elbow. After getting a little too close to Edward, him giving me a speech about he was dangerous and I shouldn't ever forget that, because I was his brand of heroin, we were back in the same sitting position as before. I was tracing patterns on his arm again. In a very human gesture, he put his face against the side of my head and put his arm around me.
"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."
"What a stupid lamb," I said.
"What a sick, masochistic lion," he smiled. The silence lasted a few minutes before I broke it.
"You hated me the first time you met me," I stated.
"When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle had built for us. I wanted to kill you..." He continued explaining where he had been when he left.
"I decided that I wasn't going to let some human keep me from where I wanted to be. So that next time you saw I wanted you to forget about our first interaction. What I didn't plan on was you being so fascinating to me, not even taking into account that I couldn't read your mind. Everything you said was so unpredictable," he paused. "Then you rolled up your sleeve, just for a minute, but I saw all the needle scars on your arm." He shook his head.
"I know, you have to be looking pretty close to even see them."
"For a human sure, I doubt anyone even can notice them, but I have inhuman advantages, remember?"
I chuckled half-heartedly, I started to remember the pain in the back of my head. After a moment, Edward laid his head on my collarbone, he was listening to my heartbeat.
"There are other hungers. Hungers I don't even understand-that are foreign to me," he said tracing my lips.
"I can understand that better than you think," I blushed.
"Is it always like this?" He asked.
"Not for me, it's never like this."
He held my hand between his. My hands had been cold all week, but his were still slightly colder.
"I don't know how to be close to you. I don't know if I can."
"This is enough for me."
I leaned very slowly into him, then put my head against his chest.
"You're better at this than you give yourself credit for," I complemented.
"Like I said, I have human instincts, they're buried deep inside me, but they're there."
I smiled. It was easy to forget everything with Edward, even the annoying pain in the back of my head.
The sun was starting to set. The meadow looked even more beautiful then. Everything felt right, even if I knew that this wouldn't end well. I sighed.
"You have to go home," Edward stated.
"I thought you couldn't read my mind," I laughed.
"It's getting clearer everyday."
I shook my head.
"Come on," he said. Once again slinging me onto his back. I closed my eyes this time.
"That was a little better," I was still slightly disoriented. It took me a minute to get my bearings. When I opened my eyes, Edward was standing close to my face.
"I want to try something." And he took my face in between his hands.
My breath hitched. He hesitated-not in the normal way, but in a human way.
And then his cold, marble lips pressed against mine. What neither of us was prepared for was my response. Blood boiled under my skin. My fingers knotted in his hair. My lips parted to breath in his heady scent. I immediately felt him go unresponsive. His hand gently pushed my face back. I opened my eyes to see his guarded expression.
"Oops," I breathed.
"That's an understatement."
"Should I…?" I tried to give him some room. His hands refused to let me move an inch.
"No, it's tolerable." Then he smiled a surprisingly impish grin. He laughed aloud. "I'm stronger than I thought."
"I wish I could say the same."
"You are only human after all."
"Thanks so much." I said, my voice acerbic.
He stuck his hand out to me, an unexpected gesture. Far from his usual no-contact contact. I was all the more besotted with him now, to be separated would cause me physical pain. He seemed more lighthearted now, more human. He was as untroubled as I was.
"Maybe you should let me drive."
"Are you crazy?" I protested.
"I can drive better than you on your best day. I have better reflexes. And besides, friends don't let friends drive drunk."
"Drunk?" I said, slightly confused.
He nodded. "You're intoxicated by my very presence." He was grinning that same playful smirk
"I can't argue with that," I paused about to get into the truck. "Are you not affected at all-by my presence?" I said irked.
His expression became soft, warm. "Regardless, I still have better reflexes," he said playfully. Once we were driving, he turned the radio to an oldies station.
"You like fifties music?"
He smiled. "Music in the fifties was good. Much better than the sixties or seventies, ugh. The eighties were bearable."
"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?"
"I wonder if this will upset you," he said.
"Try me."
"I was born in 1901, Carlisle found me dying of the Spanish Influenza and changed me in 1918," He continued to tell me about his family, giving me vague details about his and his family's change. I maintained a calm expression on my face as he told the Cullen's story.
We were pulling up to my house, when my stomach was rumbling.
"Sorry, I'm not used to being around people who actually need to eat." I smiled, maybe this was the reason for the incessant pain in my head? I hoped that was true, but I deep down I knew something wasn't right.
"I'm not used to actually having an appetite," I chuckled. "I should go."
Charlie's car was already in the driveway. It took me a minute to actually get out of my car, Edward got out at the same time. I turned and asked, "Will I see you later?"
He nodded. He got in his car and waited for me to get in the house. Charlie greeted me once I walked in.
"How was Seattle?" I almost forgot that he thought we went to Seattle. "You didn't buy anything?"
"It was fun, and no, we spent most of our time driving around, we stopped at a bookstore." I shrugged like it was no big deal.
"So no plans tonight?" he muttered.
"No, I'm kind of tired. I'm just going to eat and go to bed, I think."
I heated up a piece of lasagna from the night before. I ate pretty quickly and went upstairs. The single flight of stairs winding me even more than before. I still felt the pain in my head too, so I took another 2 Tylenol and decided to distract myself by writing.
Wildest Dreams
He said, "Let's get out of this town
Drive out of the city, away from the crowds"
I thought heaven can't help me now
Nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take me down
He's so tall and handsome as hell
He's so bad but he does it so well
I can see the end as it begins
My one condition is
Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams
Wildest dreams,
I said, "No one has to know what we do"
His hands are in my hair
And his voice is a familiar sound
Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now
He's so tall and handsome as hell
He's so bad but he does it so well
And when we've had our very last kiss
My last request is
Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams
You'll see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burnin' it down
Someday when I leave you
I bet these memories
Follow you around
You'll see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burnin' it down
Someday when you leave me
I bet these memories
Follow you around
Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just pretend
Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your
Wildest dreams,
In your wildest dreams.
"Am I ever going to get to see what you're writing?" I jumped up. When I turned around I saw Edward, sitting on my bed.
"How long have you been there?" I demanded. "Did you see what I was writing?"
"Not long. And no, I wish. So, will I ever get to see it?"
I deliberated for a moment.
"I'll let you know." I added chuckling, "Maybe when I'm gone"
Edward did not think that was funny.
"Alright, I will think about it. It's not very good."
"I'll be the judge of that," Edward said, smirking. "I'm certain you judge yourself too harshly."
"Maybe." My headache wasn't going anywhere, so I decided sleep would be my best bet. "Hey, I think I'm going to call it a night. You're, of course, welcome to stay."
"Is everything okay?" Edward looked concerned.
"Yeah, my head's been bothering me. Don't worry about it."
"How long has it been bothering you?" he demanded.
I shrugged, I didn't want to tell him it had been a few days already. He shot me a pointed look.
"Seriously, I'm fine. If it still hurts tomorrow, I'll see Carlisle," I bargained.
He sighed then sat up against the headboard. I laid down next to him. It was different with him here, his company was soothing. He started humming some kind of lullaby. I dozed off fairly quickly.
I woke in the middle of the night gasping for air, a burning in my lungs, and with the most unimaginable pain in my head.