Short, sweet, squirelly, speedy, and an unsatisfying cliffy. Sorry folks, and I'll do my best to speedily write the next chapter.
My comment about squirrels didn't seem to amuse him. I began to sign a sorry, and instead switched to ask a question.
What do you eat? Other than deer.
He stayed serious as he answered in sign and speech.
"Deer, lions, bears, wolves. I've probably tried most mammals on the North American continent. Unfortunately, with brothers like mine, that diet does include squirrels." His last words were punctured with a smile. "Emmett has probably tried most living mammals on the planet. He'd made it a mission to try 'one of everything' as he puts it, so I'm sure you'd be able to ask him what the strangest furry feast he's had is, and get some entertainment from the answer."
"Hmmm. I can't even imagine that. Don't you get fur in your mouth?" I wrinkled my nose as he laughed again.
"I hadn't really thought about it before. I could make the analogy of tough skin on a fruit, perhaps like a peach or kiwi, you just kind of get used to it." He looked bemusedly at me. "I am also starting to wonder if your brain isn't thinking like the rest of the population, and that's why I can't pick it up."
I think differently than normal? I confirmed. He nodded in a 'sort of' fashion. "It's my leading theory. You could just be on the AM frequency and I'm only detecting FM."
"Ouch. Different and outdated." I scowled at myself, "Lucky me." He shrugged reassuringly in response.
"I can't describe it sufficiently. All I know is that I can't read you, and that is one of the many factors that makes you the most interesting thing in my life."
I blushed, and turned away, pretending to need a glass of water. I was the most interesting thing in his life?
"Well, I'm sure all the near death experiences do keep you on your toes." I managed to squeak out after trying to calm the smile from my face.
"Definitely. I've never met someone more prone to danger. You're a universal distress signal waiting to happen… But that isn't the most interesting thing about you by far. You're an enigma to me in many ways, and everything I learn about you opens up a world of new questions. It's intriguing."
I sat back down at the kitchen table, making myself busy organizing my school books. I moved my wallet from the pile I had unceremoniously dumped, and suddenly remembered the leather chair I had upstairs.
"Oh – how much do I owe you?" I asked, looking back at him. His forehead creased with confusion as he signed 'What?'. I grabbed my wallet, and peeked inside. I had $80. It wasn't remotely enough, but I could make a deposit. "For the desk chair upstairs…" I reminded him. Edward's eyes widened in understanding. Eidetic memory fail number three.
"Nothing Bella." He said, and signed, spelling out my name. I'd correct him on that in a second. Right now I was fighting for my chance to pay for the ridiculously nice chair I had inherited.
"Edward. It was someone's chair, and now I own it. I'm paying somebody for that chair." I pulled out the $80, glaring meaningfully at him. He did not back down. I tried a different tactic. "Please? It would stop my worrying about it. Clear my conscience. You did so much for me that night already. Please?"
Edward's firm façade faltered as I begged.
"How about we figure out something else as payment?" he said. I'm sure that either my brain was extremely dirty, or that hadn't exactly come out as he'd intended. I had mere seconds to respond before I was sure he would realise how that phrase could be misconstrued.
"Oh really, Mr. Cullen?" I seductively slid the shoulder of my sweater down over my t-shirt, trying my best to keep my smile from breaking into laughter. His face widened in alarm.
"That isn't what I meant either Isabella." He scolded, and now it was my turn to recoil in alarm.
"Not the full name please. Bella." I signed the word 'bell' to him with a 'b' to start, just as I had shown Angela. "I only get full-named when I'm in trouble with my mother."
"Bella." Edward repeated, signing my name as he spoke it. I drank some of the water I had collected earlier.
"Well, what is it exactly you do want as payment? And don't ask for driving rights. That's an immediate no go."
"Wouldn't dream of it." He held up his hands reassuringly. "But while we're on the subject…" he looked down and I instinctively thought he might be speaking in tones I might not be able to hear. I relaxed when I remembered that Edward did not unintentionally evade my understanding, like my other friends did. He was simply collecting his thoughts. His hands pressed together and he laid them on the table.
"I was wondering if I might be able to ask two things of you, in payment for the chair." He didn't continue and that was very open ended.
"It definitely depends on what those two things are." I hedged. "For example… grizzly bear baiting is a little outside of my skill set."
He smiled again, and continued. "First of all, I was wondering if on Saturday you might want to change our Seattle plans, and instead spend the day with me, doing something? We can still take the Volvo if you'd prefer to drive the car over your truck."
"What something did you have in mind?" I wasn't agreeing to anything outrageous or dangerous, if I could avoid it. Not that – in hindsight – Edward would have signed me up for anything dangerous.
"Well, it'll be sunny – so I have to do my best to stay out of the public eye. I was wondering if you'd like to visit a meadow I frequent when the weather is pleasant?" He looked nervous somehow, as if he were worried I might say no.
"Of course. That sounds better than what I had planned anyway." I reached out to stroke his hand gingerly. He let me, watching my fingers as I touched his icy marble skin. "And what was the second thing?"
He opened his hand slowly, letting me stroke his palm. He seemed utterly distracted by it, and I traced his fingers, and the delicate looking lines on his palm that were anything but breakable.
"I was wondering if you might tell me what happened to you that made you so afraid of moving vehicles?"
Ah. I sat quietly for a second. I suppose if we were going to continue this relationship we seemed to be developing, then I ought to tell him anyway. I probably should have explained this by now to someone, Angela at least. Edward seemed like he wasn't going to pity me. So far any obstacles I had thrown his way he treated me the same. As if it all came in the package and I wasn't broken. He didn't seem to care, and his patience – no doubt honed by a hundred years of chilling as a vampire – was endless. His pity was not something I felt like I would receive today. I felt like the only emotions I could pull form him were ones of understanding rather than sympathy. I had obviously been quiet for longer than he deemed was proper, and he back tracked.
"You don't have to tell me anything. I was just curious." He looked desperate, and as I opened my mouth to reassure him, he interjected "You could come and meet my family instead if that's a more appealing option."
It was my turn to raise my hands in a reassuring gesture. "Hold up. First of all, sure. I should have probably told you before this point really. If I wasn't so stubborn it could have been widely known and you wouldn't even be wondering right now. Second of all, I'd love to meet your family, and that should definitely still be on the table as payment. Although we probably shouldn't tell them I came to meet them because they donated a chair. The boyfriend thing seems much more plausible." I winked at him, to assure him I was fine, and at ease. He guardedly relaxed, obviously still worried he'd stepped over a boundary.
"Well of course. Wouldn't want to hurt their feelings. Besides, they'd probably get into the habit of donating things to people to lure them to our vampire lair." Edward joked. "Slaughtering innocent townsfolk seems like an expensive endeavour suddenly."
I grinned this time. I found it bizarrely relaxing to joke about his supernatural status. I imagined a line of people coming to thank the generous doctor and his family for their new belongings and meeting the Addams family version of the siblings I'd seen at school. Unlikely was an understatement.
I picked up the glass of water again, and took a sip. Where to begin?