A/N: Thank you, Cmread! You're my most frequent reviewer!

Enjoy, all!

I'll Always Find Peace In The Meadow

Previously...

"Let me help, Bella," I say quietly. I watch her crestfallen face as her eyes squeeze shut.

"No, Edward. I don't need any help." I hold my hands up and stand to my full height, stepping back. Bella heaves another sigh, cans in hand as she turns to face me. Well, not face me. She keeps her eyes downcast. "You should leave," she says.

Chapter Twenty-seven: 'Why do you hide?' (Edward POV)

Friday 2 June 2017

"What? No, Bella. I don't want to go." Why would she say that?

Her head shoots up, her face showing her surprise. "Why? Why would you want to stay?"

"Because... I was looking forward to pizza, and then a movie. I'd love to still do that... if you want to," I add at the end, unsure of what she wants. She may want me to go.

"No, I mean yes. I'd still like to do that. Just..." She sighs. "Just let me clean all this up first."

"Do you want some help?"

"No!" she shouts. Renee twitches on the sofa, causing Bella to look over her shoulder worriedly before nudging me to walk ahead of her. We enter the kitchen and the smell of the freshly made pizza is like a godsend after having my airways polluted with the stench of Renee's vomit mixed with the potent aroma of alcohol.

Bella drops all the cans onto the breakfast table before turning to me. "Are you sure you want to stay? I wouldn't take offense if you wanted to leave." She then looks down at her hands and starts picking at a nail. "I wouldn't even blame you for not wanting to speak to me ever again."

I step closer to her, my hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "Bella," I say softly, and then wait for her to look at me. She does. Finally. "I am not going to leave, and I am certainly not thinking about leaving your life completely. Why would I? Because your mom has had a little too much to drink? It doesn't bother me." At her raised brow and disbelieving expression, I finish with a firm, "Honestly!"

Still, she doesn't look convinced. In fact, she looks close to tears. I pull her toward me and wrap my arms around her shoulders. I feel her relax against my chest. "You're sure?" she murmurs quietly. I chuckle against her hair.

"Yes. I'm one hundred percent sure," I reply, and then, in a totally unplanned, natural move, I press a kiss to the top of her head. She seems to melt even further into me, which is shocking, because as soon as I kissed her head I regretted it, but only because I thought she'd think it was weird. After a few more seconds of standing in her kitchen, she starts to pull away.

"Okay. If you're sure, then I'll just clean up... that," she pulls a face as she gestures in the general direction of Renee and her mess, "and then we'll watch a film."

I offer to help another time, but she practically bites my head off and tells me to enjoy the pizza. I obey, sitting down at the table to eat a couple slices, though there isn't much enjoying done on my part. It tastes nice enough, but I'm put off by Bella's current situation and how bad I feel for her. I watch her as she gets some cleaning products from a cupboard and leaves the room, returning ten minutes later with gloves on holding a bin bag and wearing a grimace. It's another fifteen minutes and two more trips in and out of the kitchen for Bella before she plops herself down to sit at kitchen table, which is now free of any cans.

"Done?" I ask. She nods tiredly. I get my phone out of my pocket to glance at the time. It's just gone six p.m. and Bella looks ready to fall asleep. "You okay?" I ask. She blinks slowly as she nods. "Hungry?" I ask, pushing the pizza box toward her. She looks at it with a grimace. She even looks a little green.

"I am, but I don't think I can eat right now, not after cleaning all..." she trails off. "Yeah, I'm alright. We'll just take the box up with us," she announces as she stands.

"Up?" I question. She turns to me.

"Yeah. It's better if we go up to my room to watch the movie. I've left my mom asleep on the couch so I don't want to use either TV down here and chance waking her up. Best to let her sleep it off. We can use my laptop. Is that okay?" I nod, though by the sounds of it, it wouldn't matter either way. Looks like we don't have a choice.

I want to ask her if this happens often, Renee drinking so much that Bella is left to look after her like she were the adult, but I also don't want to keep her mind on it.

Bella grabs a couple cans of coke and the pizza box while I pick up our snacks, before she leads us upstairs. Once her door is shut and light on, she unceremoniously drops the pizza box onto her bed. After placing the cans on one of her nightstands, she drags off her hoodie. The bottom of the AC/DC t-shirt she has on underneath slides up, revealing a sliver of skin and I quickly glance away, not wanting a repeat of earlier. "Uuh, do you mind if I sit?" I ask.

"No, of course not. Make yourself comfortable." I nod and go to sit on the end of the bed while she heads for her wardrobe.

"Could you grab my laptop from my desk? I'm just going to get changed out of these clothes. I feel... icky," she tells me. I feel my eyes go wide as I stare at her. She stops in the process of pulling something out of her wardrobe when she sees my expression. She rolls her eyes. "In the bathroom, Edward. I'm getting changed in the bathroom. Not in here," she giggles. My mouth drops open and I blush. Of course. I shake my head at myself as I get up to grab her laptop. She quickly types in her password before leaving the room.

While she's changing in the bathroom, I get comfy on her bed, sitting the pillows up against the headboard so it'll be comfier to lean against its iron frame. Her bed isn't as big as mine - no where near as big - but it'll fit the both of us on... just about.

I look up from Bella's laptop screen as she enters the room. I have to keep my eyes from widening again when I see what she's changed into: a black thick-strapped tank top and a pair of green sweat shorts. It's the shortest thing I've ever seen her in, the most skin she's ever had on show around me. I can't be shocked though, can I? This is her home after all. She has a right to be comfortable. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, and the necklace chains I've caught glimpses of, the ones she seems to always be wearing, are much more revealed now. The shorter one is a locket, in the shape of a heart. And the other, the longer chain, travels down her neck, past her collarbone, and further still until whatever hangs on the end of it disappears into her... chest... area, underneath her top. She smiles at me as climbs onto the bed beside me, and that's when I get a closer look at her face and notice something new.

"Have you always had freckles?" I ask unthinkingly. Bella blushes and covers her face with a gasp. "What's wrong?" She groans and turns away from me. "Bella?"

"Shit," she curses quietly. "Shit!" she repeats, louder this time.

"Bella?" I pull on her arm but she tugs free of my grip and turns her back to me fully.

"I can't believe I forgot. I washed my face and completely forgot about the makeup. Shit," she mumbles. It seems like she's talking more to herself than she is to me.

"Bella? Do you hide them?" I ask her, kind of understanding her mumbled words. I sigh when she keeps her back to me. "For God's sake, Bella. Will you look at me?" My tone is bordering on harsh, though I never intended for it to come out that way. She turns to me slowly, her eyes downcast, a blush colouring her cheeks. Her blush is even darker than I thought, I realise, now that I can see it without any barriers. I can also, for the first time, see the lovely dusting of freckles she has across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. "You're still not looking at me," I dip down to say. She glances at me hesitantly. "What's wrong? Why do you hide your freckles?"

"Because they're ugly!" she exclaims in exasperation, lifting her hands and slapping them down to the bed.

"Don't be ridiculous. They're not ugly. What gave you that idea? They're lovely." She blushes at my words, but this time she doesn't look down. Instead, she rolls her eyes and pulls herself round to sit beside me once more.

"Yeah, right! You have to say that 'cause you're my friend," she scoffs. I chuckle quietly, nudging her shoulder with mine.

"Not true. If anything, being your friend means that I should tell you the truth. Which I am when I say that you're beautiful, Bella. And your freckles are included in that. There is not one part of you that's ugly."

She turns her head to look at me. Our noses are almost touching, and we're so close that I can feel her breath on my face. Her - finally - expressive eyes are searching mine, but for what, I have no clue. "Really?" she whispers.

"Yes, Bella," I reply with a nod, putting as much conviction as I can behind my words. Her lips pull up into the gentlest of smiles, drawing my attention to them. I can feel my heart rate increasing, and know that I should pull away. But I can't. My eyes jump between her lips and her eyes, not knowing which to settle on. When I see her having the same battle, and I can feel the beginnings of my problem from before resurfacing, I finally regain enough will power to turn away. I clear my throat, leaning away from her slightly before I turn to the laptop that's on my lap. I can sense her still looking at me, but I try to busy myself with opening up her already installed Netflix app.

"So," I begin, putting as much enthusiasm as I can into my voice, "what shall we watch?"

~I*A*F*P*I*T*M~

"Was that seriously based on a true story?" I ask, still not quite believing that a person actually went through all of that in real life.

Bella couldn't believe it either, so she's currently Googling it... all while wiping her tears away with a tissue. She sniffles as she nods. "Yeah. It says here that it is! It says... as shocking as the movie is, Susannah in Brain on Fire is a real person, and the true story is just as terrifying as what's depicted..." She goes silent as she reads the article in her head. "Oh!" she suddenly exclaims. "And it's a book!" she perks up at that news.

"Another one for the collection, then?" I ask teasingly, looking pointedly at the overly stacked bookshelves that are on the wall above a wooden storage chest in the corner of her room. She just nods, like it's no big deal she wants another book. "Can I...?" I gesture to the shelves. She nods, still distracted with reading more on 'Brain On Fire', the movie we just watched.

I read the spines of Bella's books, noticing how some look more worn than others, their spines badly creased. I have to chuckle when I see that it's the romance books that have had the most use. She owns mostly paperback books, with a few hardcovers that look to be only Jane Austen books on the bottom shelf. Even though she seems to be a fan of the lovey-dovey writing of authors like Nicholas Sparks - she has many books by him stacked on here - she also has some Stephen King and even a few thrillers.

I'm shocked to see Casino, the book that's about and has the same title as the gangster movie that starrs Robert De Niro. I pick it up and show it to her with a raised brow. I wait a few seconds, but she's so engrossed in what she's reading, her bottom lip trapped beneath her teeth revealing her concentration, that I have to clear my throat to get her attention.

"Yes?" she says once she sees the book I'm holding.

"You're into books about gangsters, Bella?" I ask incredulously. A far away look replaces her comcentration before she focuses back on me and she shrugs.

"Yeah. My dad loved the movie to that, and it was the only book he'd read. That was his copy actually. A couple years ago I found it in a box of his stuff and decided to read it. It's actually pretty good. Gives much more detail than the movie."

I stare at her for several seconds, not really trusting my ears. "You've watched the movie?" I try to make the question sound casual, but some of my skepticism reaches my voice. I've not even watched the movie yet. My parents won't let me; apparently I'm still too young.

She nods, and pushes the laptop away so she can stand. Once she reaches my side, she takes the book from my hands. I don't know if she realises it, but she begins stroking the cover adoringly. "It's a great movie. It's violent... but what else can you expect from a Mafia based film." She glances at me. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I don't know... you're just such a huge fan of all that romantic stuff, I didn't think something like this would be your kind of thing," I answer truthfully.

She laughs loudly. "Oh, Edward. My tastes are very versatile. I'll read anything I can get my hands on. And, you know, all that romantic stuff isn't so bad." I do nothing to hide my skepticism now. I scoff at her words. "Really!" She places Casino back on the shelf and instantly reaches for a book on the top shelf, not having to even search for it, like she knew exactly where it was. "Here. Read this." It's not a request, more of a demand.

I am already protesting before the demand has completely left her mouth, stepping back and shaking my head, hands held up. "No, Bella. I really don't want to." She tilts her head and raises a brow, her mouth pulled into a stern line. I sigh and look down at the book she's holding out between us. I glance back up at her face and then down to the book again. Hesitating only a second more, I take the book from her hand. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I sigh once more as I turn it over to read the back.

Now it's my turn to give her a stern look. "It sounds depressing."

She crosses her arms. "It's incredible! It teaches you so much about life and living in the moment, about appreciating the little things and not taking advantage of anything. It's about love and life and death. It's... oh my God, it's just so incredible! Please read it?" When she clasps her hands under her chin and looks at me from beneath her eyelashes, my last bit of restraint evaporates.

"Fine," I grumble. "But don't expect me to like it."

"Yay!" she cheers as she jumps up and down and claps her hands, disturbingly reminding me a lot of my sister. "Thank you!" she exclaims as she throws herself into me, her arms wrapping tight around my neck. I have to react fast before we are both on the floor, stepping out to balance myself as I catch her with my arms, very nearly dropping the book. She pulls back moments later. The smile on her face is beaming, and I know for a fact that it'll be worth the torture of reading this mushy crap just to see that smile. "And don't worry, you'll like it," she quips confidently, patting my shoulder.

"Mm hmm. We'll see."

A/N: I hope you like how this went. I was torn between a more dramatic reaction from Edward toward the Renee thing and a more calm route, but in the end went with this! If you're disappointed by the more calm approach I've gone with, then don't you worry; there is plenty of drama to come!

I hope you liked their time in her room, too. I love writing the more calm, what some may class as "filler" scenes (though I think they're important), where these two are getting to know each other. I love it as much as I find the drama scenes exciting to write!

Once again, thanks for reading and I'll see you next week! Don't forget to review! :)