Chapter 27:

The fabled morning after dawned and Hermione woke up to a big plate of fried bacon, pancakes topped with syrup and berries, a glass of orange juice and a steaming cup of tea by her bedside, laid loving on the side table along with a long-stemmed red rose that miraculously had no thorns on it.

"I heard your breathing change, so I put together a small breakfast for you."

Hermione eyed the laden plate sleepily. "Small wasn't the word I was gonna use…" she whispered in her sleep-roughened voice and stretched her arms over head as she kicked at her blanket, inadvertently getting it to fall till her waist.

Edward's eyes dropped with the falling blanket and then moved up her exposed body. His gaze skimmed over her scars and he clenched his fists. He'd counted them all when she had twisted and turned in his arms all through the night. Then he'd kissed all twenty seven of them, waking her up in the process. Then he'd proceeded to make sweet, slow love to her and held her close until she'd fallen asleep in his arms again, before thinking of the twenty seven scars that matted her body.

Only then did he think of the twenty seven times she'd been hurt so bad that she bore the marks to show for the pain she'd undergone.

Only then did he let himself rationalize the scary thought that there were not one, not two but twenty seven times that someone had come close enough to hurt her.

That there were at least twenty seven fucking times that he'd almost lost her, even before having her at all…

He had thought about those twenty seven times all through the night and was sure he'd gotten his emotions under control but one look at them in the light of the morning and he was ready to kill those twenty seven people right then.

Hermione stilled as the blanket fell off her shoulders and Edward's eyes fell on her very naked body. Then she saw Edward's eyes fixating on her scarred torso and froze for a whole new reason. He doesn't like it… she realized and moved to hide her body from his penetrative gaze.

Last night, they were both too consumed with their passion to think of anything more than the feel of their skins rubbing against each other or the way their bodies slid and fit the other's. But now, in the light of the morning, things were much clearer. The passion-filled haze that had cottoned their eyes the previous night was no more in sight and Hermione was sure Edward hated what he was seeing right then. She quickly pulled up her blanket and wrapped herself in it, hiding her scars from Edward's angry eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly, without looking at the only other occupant of the room. "You must really hate seeing the scars. I'll keep them glamor-charmed from now on and cover the ones I can't charm, with make-up." Hermione laughed self-consciously as she sat up and pulled her breakfast plate with a marked lack of gusto. "You must be so used to perfection…."

Edward was in front of her, pulling the food-laden plate away and placing it back on the side-table before he turned to look at Hermione again.

"What are you on about? What just happened?" he asked in confusion. One moment she was stretching around enticingly and the next she was covering herself with her furry yellow blanket!

"I saw you Edward…" Hermione said, eyes downcast.

"What?" he continued to look at Hermione in confusion.

"I saw you when you were seeing my scars. They disgust you. You don't like seeing them and I.. I understand. I'll have them covered next time onwards…"

"Hermione…" Edward flinched in shock. "Look at me," he said, tugging at her chin to get her to look at him. "You're scars don't disgust me.. I don't like seeing them on you, yes, but that's because they remind me of everything you went through before we met and show me that I wasn't around to protect you when you needed me the most. But I don't want you to cover them, not ever, if I have any say in the matter. They speak of your bravery, the number of times you've faced mortal peril and won. They show your devotion to a friend who had it all wrong going for him, and your care for those you jumped in front of to save from a torturous death."

"These, my darling," he curled his fingers around the blanket she was clutching hard at, and pushed it aside, dropping it back on the bed. He fingered the thick, black gash running between her breasts with his frosty fingers and then looked up from the large scar back into her eyes, "are your medals of honor. For every time you've faced and stood up against injustice. For every life you've saved. For every sacrifice you've made… Darling, I'll never be able to tell you exactly how proud I am of you, to know that such a strong woman is my mate."

"You, my darling mate, make my century long wait, worthwhile. I've waited too long for you to show up. I have missed being by your side when you needed me the most. But not anymore. From now on, till the end of eternity, for each and every day of forever, I will be by your side, loving you, caring for you, protecting you." He topped that promise with a toe-curling kiss.

"But I wonder if I should take offence to know that you think so little of me," he asked looking in her eyes that had clouded over with tears, as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

Hermione blushed in embarrassment. "It's not that Edward…" He cocked a brow but waited patiently for her to explain. "You're perfect. You must be used to perfection. And then there's me…"

"You are my perfection, Hermione, scars and all, everything about you that makes you, you, is perfect for me. And I don't want to hear a word about hiding anything of yours from me, not now, not ever. I don't want you to erect any barriers between us."

"You, my Hermione, are tailor-made to fit me. Especially crafted for me – to compliment me, to challenge me, to keep me on my toes, to bring me out of the disdainful rut my life had gotten stuck into, to show me there's more to living than mere existence, to bring happiness to my heart and peace to my soul. You were sent here, so far away from your home, because someone, somewhere knew I needed you more than anyone else did."

"You are the one I want, Hermione – the complete scarred-body, ink stained, bushy-haired, over-caring, bookworm-ish package. I've felt a pull towards you from the second we met at my special place in the meadow, when you were in the middle of a war and I was fancying myself in love with another and it's only gotten stronger with time. When you're away from me, my existence feels pointless. When you're with me, I honestly want for nothing more…"

"Do you believe me?" he asked huskily, looking at Hermione as silent tears escaped her eyes. She sniffled but nodded and he bent his head to kiss her tears away. Pulling back he looked at her. Her eyes shedding her emotions, her nose pink yet a loving smile playing on her lips, he knew he'd never seen nor will he ever see a sight prettier than that. He pecked her nose, then straightened and said, "Marry me.."

Hermione chuckled and sniffled again, pulling a few tissues from the box beside her food tray as she shook her head fondly at Edward.

"We just got together last night," she teased.

"And can you really tell me you want to spend time away from me after our night together?" he asked her with a teasing smile, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively and eyes shining as if he already knew her answer.

Hermione lifted an eyebrow at his cockiness, "Well, how do I know it wasn't a one-time wonder. I'm gonna need some convincing if I am to do this forever thing with you."

Edward smirked wickedly at her and pushed lightly at her shoulder, laying her back on the bed. "Oh, I'll convince you as much and for as long as you want, my darling. You only ever have to ask," he said and slid his body over hers, taking his time to convince her, showing her exactly how perfectly they fit together.

Before he could start though, Hermione held her hand against his chest, asking him to stop without actual words and then she dropped her mental shields. 'No barriers, right?' she thought in her mind and Edward did a double take when he heard Hermione's voice straight in his head.

He awarded her with his biggest smile ever and Hermione could swear she lost her heart all over again somewhere along the way as he bent down on her and pleasured every single inch of her body, feeling her shivers and hearing her scrambled thoughts in his mind and her moans out loud. It was the most erotic thing he had ever had to endure.

Endure, yes, because with all of her flooding all his senses, he was more acutely aware of his needs than he had ever been in his life.

It was hours later that Hermione finally got around to heat charming her breakfast, after which they hit the showers together and began the process of getting very dirty all over again….