Author's note:
Hello, all! Sorry, this chapter took so long to get up-I was storyboarding ideas! I know this chapter is on the shorter side but I saw it as more of a filler chapter and hopefully, the next one will be longer as I plan to have both Edward's pov of this chapter and maybe even a Bella pov of events to come. As always, I hope you all enjoy and well wishes to you all! Thanks for reading!
Previously on Once Upon a Dream
'I hope somehow you can learn to forgive me, Bella.' She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair, gently playing with the silky strands and whispered lowly so only he would hear, "Ok...I'll give us a chance."
(Morticia Pov)
Edward jerked back in surprise, his eyes full of disbelief.
"you.." He trailed off as he rose to his feet slowly and took her face in his hands.
Staring intensely into her eyes he whispered pleadingly, "Please tell me that I heard you correctly."
Morticia smiled slightly and brought her hand up to cup his jaw, gently. "I said I'll give you your chance. Geez, maybe you need to clean out your years after a decade or two, grandpa."
He growled low in his throat before his arms came up to cage her in an embrace and pinning her back to his chest.
"Are you calling me old, Morticia?" His breath fanned the side of her face as she laughed.
Craning her head slightly to look at him, "And what are you gonna do if I did? You're not very terrifying, ya know? You're like a brooding vampire puppy- without the fangs."
He gave her an offended look, "You did not just compare me to a dog..."
Morticia shrugged, "A puppy, they're cuter."
"I am not cute, I am a terrifying vampire," Edward said slowly.
Morticia patted his face lightly, "Sure you are honey, and I'm a fairy princess in a bright pink tutu."
Edward growled again and flashed them to the other side of the room.
"Can a puppy do that?" He asked as he pressed her against the wall causing her to gasp.
"Honey, try as much as you like- but I don't scare easy. You'll have to try much harder than super speed or growling." She said in a sickly sweet tone causing him to pout at her.
"Hey, Mr. pouty, don't be sad. The cute puppy look works for you. Imagine how much your sexy factor would increase if you were actually dangerous...you'd have more than Jessica or Lauren after you." She said running her fingertip over his pout.
He playfully nipped at her finger, making her gasp again. "There's only one woman that I want...even if she loves attacking my ego." He buried his face into her shoulder as she chuckled.
"You didn't really think that would change all because you suddenly decided to give me a romantic declaration, did you?"
He breathed out a laugh and pulled back to cup her face again. Their eyes locked and it was as if a missing piece was finally put to the rest of the puzzle.
She knew that this thing between her and Edward was going to either be something royally epic or a tragedy worthy of a Shakespeare play, but something told her this wasn't going to be a mistake.
He could've chosen to play out his happy romance with Bella while she was comatose but he chose to stay by her side instead. What made this man want to be with her when she basically handed him his one true love on a silver platter?
"Stop." Edward's voice broke her out of her mental spiral.
"What?" She asked him, hoping to sound nonchalant.
He gave her a knowing look, "You're overthinking everything. So stop overthinking this..us"
Morticia gave him an incredulous look, "This coming from the guy who literally goes through life as if it were a chess match, thinking four steps ahead? Besides, I thought you couldn't read my mind?"
"I may not be able to read your mind, but I can ready your expressions quite well now. I know it's all very ironic, but can you blame me for being too happy to care about the consequences right now? I've waited decades to finally find somebody to share this life with."
She gave him a sheepish look, "I know, it's just... I can't help like I'm stealing you from Bella."
Edward sighed," I tried to give Bella a chance, truly I did. But you can ask Jasper- there just wasn't a connection. Nothing compared to what I'm feeling right now."
She blushed, "But still there's now the worry that the story may not continue as it was written, Edward. I would rather not have millions of Twilight fans hating my guts because I fucked up the plot of their favorite vampire romance because I seduced the male lead!"
He chuckled and pulled her into an embrace, "How could they blame me? You're a very distracting woman, Morticia. Any man would have to be blind not to notice you."
Her blush deepened at the compliment. One thing was sure about Morticia, she could dish out all the compliments but receiving them was an Olympic hurdle for her.
"You're just saying that because my blood smells like the best cocktail ever in case you want to go on a bender." She muttered into his marble chest.
She could feel him inhale deeply, "Can we not discuss the idea of me ever smelling or seeing your blood outside its natural host please, I'd like to preserve this night as a happy memory."
"Yes, happy for you but nerve-wracking for me." She groaned quietly.
"I think we can both agree that it turned out for the best though, right?" He asked as his fingers ran through her hair, soothing her until she was nearly into slumber.
She pulled back slightly to look up at him, "Yeah. I think it did. Maybe tonight can be a happy memory for me too," She spoke before yawning halfway through. Even though she had just woken from a seven-day coma, she was somehow tired?
'What the hell? What kind of logic is that?'
He gave her that smile she loved so much and then picked her up in a bridal carry.
"What are you doing?!" She cried out as he made his way across the floor.
"You are tired, love, and as much as I adore the idea of you sleeping in my room- the couch is much too narrow, you'll never be comfortable." He explained as they came to the familiar door to her guest room.
Edward set her on her feet and put his hands awkwardly in his pockets. "Um, if you'd like some privacy I understand, I can-"
Morticia cut him off by dragging him into the room and shutting the door behind them.
"Look, I get what I said about the whole no watching me sleep thing, but that was before we decided to try this whole relationship thing. I know if I tell you to leave you will, but you will be stationed right outside my door the entire night, listening to me sleep." She said as she went to the dresser and grabbed some night clothes that Alice most definitely placed here for such occasions.
His silence gave her all the answer she needed. Turning back to him she said, "So why don't we both just skip the awkwardness and just sleep here. I know you aren't going to cop a feel tonight and I'm not ready to go that fast anyway. Even though we both know you saw what I look like topless thanks to Alice, there's no way in hell you are getting a show seconds after the relationship has been established- those come later if you behave."
Not waiting for a response she smiled at his bewildered expression, then quickly rushed to get ready for bed, coming back into the room to find Edward lounging on her bed covers waiting for her.
"I'm going to try and not think about how creepy it is that you don't sleep." She said as she pulled back the covers to get into bed.
He chuckled as she settled herself and turned to face her, "It does take some getting used to but after a while, you just get used to it."
"Still, isn't it gonna get boring just laying there while I sleep? Wouldn't you rather be doing something else? I swear I am not that entertaining while I'm sleeping."
Edward moved to brush his fingers along her face, "I assure you, there's nothing I'd love more than watching you sleep peacefully as opposed to watching you as I have these past few days."
She looked away, shamefully, as he continued, "Especially since I can consider you my girlfriend now."
Morticia shuddered at the pet-name. "Ugh, girlfriend." At Edward's crestfallen look she elaborated, "I just hate that term. It's so...immature and overused."
Edward's face seemed to brighten as he brought his face closer to hers, "Well then, I suppose I'll have to come up with something more original...Cara mia." He practically purred the endearment and she was shocked to say that she almost melted right then.
Many guys had tried to use that as a cheesy pick-up line when she was in college, but none of them had the effect that Edward's voice did. She now understood the notion of a 'panty-dropper'
Morticia shrieked with laughter as Edward began placing kisses gently along her injured arm up to her shoulder.
Her laughter was cut off as he placed his lips over hers. Their lips meeting in a choreographed dance as if they'd been doing it for years.
When he pulled back, Morticia stared up at him with loving eyes. Never before had she been so happy and full of hope for what the future may hold. The thought scared her even more. She knew the world could be cruel, especially when everything seemed to be going well. But looking into his eyes, seeing them so full of raw emotion, she knew she'd never face any of those challenges alone- because she was never leaving him.
Was it crazy to feel this intense attachment to somebody this early? Hell yes. Did it infuriate her inner independent woman? Fuck yeah! Did it make her inner hopeless romantic cry happy tears? You bet your sweet ass it did.
Who cares if this is "crazy." Love itself is crazy, and she was in a vampire romance novel for fuck's sake! She deserved some happiness amongst all the supernatural shit she's exposed to!
Cuddling up to Edward's side, she fell asleep with a smile on her face and had no dreams to interrupt her happy mood.
The next morning Morticia woke up to ice-cold kisses on her face. Blinking her eyes open, her vision focused to show Edward's beaming smile above her.
"Good morning, Cara Mia." He said teasingly, causing Morticia to groan and hit him with the nearest pillow.
"Shut up! Even you can't be that cliche!" She said as she pelted him with Alice's carefully picked out throw pillows.
Laughing as he dodged her attempts, he quickly gathered her in his arms. "No, I rather think not. However, I did come up with a better one while you were asleep. Would you like to hear it?"
Rolling her eyes and sighing she replied, "oh, I guess so. You couldn't have created one worse than I've already heard."
"Well I'm not sure how original it is but... I think you are the epitome of Sleeping Beauty. In fact, I'd say the fairy tale pales in comparison to you."
Morticia's face burned scarlet as she tried to come up with a response. Coming up empty, she decided to say "Shut up," before chucking the last pillow at his head and running into the bathroom. She knew that was a lame response but what else could she do when a vampire was telling her she was more beautiful than a fairytale princess?
'Come on Morticia, Don't let him get to you like that! You could flirt circles around his ass any day of the week!'
She took a few moments to gather herself in the bathroom before finishing her human needs and walking back into the room. Edward had just put his phone in his pocket as she exited the bathroom.
"That was Carlisle, he said he'd be here any moment to check how your wound is healing. The others will be returning as well."
Morticia nodded, "And I can guess that Alice already spilled the beans about us right?" He raised his eyebrow as if to say 'you thought she wouldn't?' and she groaned, "Great, just great."
It only took Carlisle about five minutes to get to the house. He met them as they were heading into the kitchen.
"Ah, so here's where my patient disappeared to," Carlisle said teasingly as Edward made Morticia a cup of coffee.
Morticia rolled her eyes, "Hey, I didn't have one of those stupid hospital bracelets on so I assumed I was free to go!"
He chuckled as he motioned for her to take a seat at the table.
"You can do as you please, just let me see how your stitches are holding up."
As they settled at the table, the rest of the Cullens sauntered into the kitchen- Jasper looking very pleased with himself and Emmett looking very sullen.
"What the hell happened here?" She asked as she gestured between the two of them.
Rosalie sighed, "Jasper won a bet that he and Emmett made."
Morticia raised a brow at them, "ok, I'll bite. What was the bet about?"
Edward chuckled as he placed her cup in front of her, "I think it was about us, my love."
She froze as she picked up the cup to take a drink of her coffee. This was the first time he'd addressed her like that in front of his family.
"See, I told you, Emmett. Morticia wasn't going to kill our dear brother." Jasper said knowingly as Emmett muttered something about 'stupid empaths'
Morticia shook her head, "So you guys made a bet to what? See if I'd kill your resident telepath?"
Emmett just pouted, crossing his arms. "No, I said that there's no way you were going to end up dating after the fight. You are way too stubborn and so is my brother. But the ONE time you decide to be different I lose $300 to cowboy here." He jerked his thumb at a smirking Jasper.
"You didn't feel all the sexual tension from them, brother...It was inevitable, all they needed was a little push to get the ball rolling." Jasper said mischievously.
Morticia looked at him shocked, "Jasper are you saying that you?-"
"Oh lord no-no manipulation from me, darlin'," he said with a wave of his hand. "My wife, however... she is her own woman."
Morticia stared at the empath with astonishment at Alice, "wait, so Alice... did you?"
Alice gave her an impish smile, "Well when I saw you waking up I may have prompted Edward to head back home when I also saw how worried you'd be about him."
Morticia swung her gaze from Alice back to Jasper, before finally settling her gaze on her now vampire lover.
"So that entire conversation we had last night was staged?! What the hell, Edward?!" The vampire in question had a slight smile on his face.
"Not staged love, just...directed in a specific direction." He gave her a tender look as he took her hand and kissed it just as sweetly. "you can't blame me for wanting some payback for the stunt you pulled with the wolves, can you?"
She didn't know what to say to that, had she just been played by the Cullens? Actually she was more upset at the fact that she didn't see it before! Alice had Carlisle's keys at the ready for fuck's sake, knowing she'd go to Edward.
"What...huh? Was that conversation even real last night?" She was stunned into disbelief and Edward was quick to backtrack.
"No, no love. Last night was every bit genuine how I feel, Alice only saw you coming to see me. Anything that we decided to talk about, she never saw it."
Alice chimed in, "Yeah, Morticia. I only saw you going to Edward and finally talking but the conversation topic was all a blur. I guess neither of you guys decided on what you truly wanted to say until you saw each other. Besides, I was surrounded by wolves all night so my visions were very quiet."
Morticia actually chuckled despite her emotional whiplash, "I bet that was a nice change for the psychic in the family, having some peace and quiet from those sudden visions."
Alice beamed at her from Jasper's side, "It gave me time to focus on other things, especially your homecoming dress," Her smile turned into a smirk.
Morticia's expression deadpanned as Esme decided to break up the charming reunion.
"Alright, that's enough teasing. I think Carlisle would like to check her wounds and you all need to find something else to occupy your time- not what you're thinking Emmett Cullen." She added that last thought as Emmett's face broke out into a huge grin and he was likely to say something wildly inappropriate.
"Wait!" Morticia cried before they all disbanded, "Are you sure we should do this here? In the house? What about Jasper, I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable with the blood smell. You know how he is, he feels not only his bloodlust but yours."
The vampires looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean, Morticia?" Carlisle asked as he turned to his 'youngest' son.
'How many decades has Japer been with them and not one of them brought this up? Unbelievable.'
Morticia sighed before she began to explain. "look you all assume that Jasper is so hard to control his bloodlust because he's the last one to switch to your diet, right? Well. that's not really the only reason he has it so rough."
No one said anything for a moment and then Jasper spoke up as he grabbed Alice's hand in a white knuckle grip.
"Morticia, what are you sayin'?" He asked her. She smiled at him gently, "You helped me through my emotional turmoil, so let me return the favor Cowboy."
Turning to the others she continued, "Basically it's like this- whenever you guys get a sudden urge to snack, not only do you feel it- Jasper does too. That means that not only does he have to regulate everyone else's cravings, he probably barely has time to control his own. The bottom line is, Jasper's on a cravings overload because he's surrounded by your guy's bloodlust every single day. You aren't weak Jasper, quite the opposite. Your gift is harder to control than anyone else's so quit being so hard on yourself. You're Major Jasper Whitlock for heaven's sake, you've taken down countless newborns but a tiny drop of blood causes you to lose your cool. I don't buy it, dude. Your control is way better than you get credit for and if anyone has a problem with it- ask Peter and Charlotte, they'll tell you what a badass Jasper can be." She purposely said the last few statements to the southern vampire as he seemingly blushed under her praise.
"How- how have I never connected those dots before?" Jasper asked disbelievingly, turning to Alice who looked just as shocked as he was at the news.
Morticia chuckled, "I have no idea, cowboy, I'm just trying to keep you from making me a not so happy meal just because somebody thinks I smell delicious." Her stare was set on Edward now.
Jasper chuckled, "I think if I can survive you nearly bleeding to death on the reservation while many of my family were present, then I think some bloody bandages will be just fine."
She cringed at the mental image that displayed but shrugged it off, she couldn't live in the past forever.
Turning to Carlisle she nodded at him, "Well if no one has a problem with it I guess we can go ahead Doc."
"I know it's been a week so let's not expect too much, but here's hoping," Carlisle said softly as he began unwrapping her bandage.
His brow began to furrow with each pass he took around her arm.
"uh, Doc. I'm not sure if I really like that face you're making right now." She said, worried as she glanced down at her unblemished arm.
'wait, unblemished arm?! What the hell? It looks like nothing happened!' She panicked.
Morticia stared at her arm in disbelief, "Carlisle, I'm not crazy right? You saw what this looked like when I was unconscious..." Running her hand down the pale skin she continued, "Damn, no wonder I wasn't feeling any pain. And here I thought you just gave me some really powerful painkillers"
Carlisle shared a similar look of disbelief, "I had noticed you were healing slightly quicker than normal, but I attributed it to the superb antibiotics and round the clock care, but this... It's as if the accident never happened at all and your skin has rejected all the stitches with no infection present! They just fell off with the gauze...it's incredible."
The other Cullens stared in shock as well. There was no way a human could heal so quickly that fast.
Morticia immediately stiffened as she stared at the doctor in front of her, hearing the awe mixed with curiosity in his voice, "I want to make this very clear, Dr. Fang. You may be dreamy and you may have saved my life, but no way in hell are you turning me into a science experiment!"
Carlisle chuckled, despite his shock and gave her a smile, "I wouldn't ask that of you Morticia, although I am curious what prompted such fast regeneration of your epithelial cells. The cut was so deep it nearly cut into the muscle underneath. That coupled with the infection early on should've put you into at least three weeks of recovery, maybe more. I wasn't even sure if the stitches would be able to come out yet."
Jasper spoke up from the side of the room," Remember when we first met her Carlisle, and I said that her blood smelt different to other humans...maybe that is connected to this."
Morticia frowned at the thought, 'Why don't I smell human? What else is there to smell like?'
Carlisle sighed, "I'm not sure. I agree that your blood does have a rather perplexing smell to it. It does smell similar to humans but not entirely. I had thought it was because you were from a different timeline but now I'm not so sure with the advanced healing. It's almost similar to the wolves."
"There's no way in hell that I'm a wolf, Carlisle! Maybe it was just a fluke. Maybe my weird blood smell is just because I'm not supposed to be in the story but Edward isn't phased because I'm his singer. Maybe the advanced healing thing was just because Carlisle is a really, really good doctor?" Her voice sounded hopeful but inside she knew that her explanations here crap.
Edward gave her. concerned look as he grabbed her hand again, "Human or not, this changes nothing." Turning to Carlisle he added, "This isn't something we need to worry about now, is it?"
Carlisle thought for a moment before nodding his head, "I see no need to worry about it now. We already planned to keep watch over your health and at the same time I can check for any abnormalities."
Morticia sighed gratefully and leaned her head into Edward's shoulder. The less she had to worry about the better. Edward's calming embrace did little to ease er inner worries though.
'What the hell was she if the wasn't human? I feel human, I act human! Suddenly I've got advanced healing and weird blood, so what?! If that's my superpower, I got robbed! Somebody phone Professor X, I want a fucking refund.' She mused to herself as the others started talking at vampire speed amongst themselves.
"Well, I guess this means that I can officially clear you to go back to school," Carlisle said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You'll still need to wear the gauze, for appearances."
Morticia nodded in understanding and Emmett burst out laughing. They all turned to look at him with confused looks.
"Sorry, I was just imagining Morticia going back to class and meeting Bella for the first time." He wheezed slightly, "If it's anything like Edward's encounter I want popcorn- even though I won't eat it."
Rosalie slapped him gently on the back of the head, making him cry out.
'Oh, shit.' She thought to herself as Emmett's words finally sunk in. 'I haven't met Bella yet, at least not face to face...and I'm dating her would-be husband!'
"Especially since you guys are official, I have to agree with Emmett- Morticia going back to Forks high will definitely be something we don't want to miss," Jasper said with a smirk to Alice who giggled.
'Sweet Jesus, help me with this crazy family.' She thought as st groaned into Edward's shoulder.
He laughed then whispered softly to her, "I have to admit, I am excited to hear all the jealous thoughts of your potential suitors as well when they find out that I snatched you out of their grasp."
Morticia just shook her head, It was bad enough that she had to worry about meeting the girl whose future husband she stole, now she had to worry about the relationship bomb that was about to drop at Forks high the next day.Her brain began to fill with all the possible scenarios of how this could go horribly wrong as she burrowed deeper into Edward's embrace as the sounds around her faded into the background.
'I really hope I don't end up in a catfight...especially not with Bella Swan of all people.'