A/N – Okay, back in my previous updates I tended to have an A/N every chapter mostly to thank people for reviewing and to answer review questions. However, until I start uploading new chapters again, instead of editing these ones (which will already be done by the time you read this) I will only start again with the A/N from the brand new chapters (That will be chapter 36 for those of you who are new to my story). Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this and please don't forget to leave a review when you have a moment.
Thanks for reading
Eleazar and Carmen weren't particularly surprised when they found out about me and Edward. They'd entered the room about five minutes after Rosalie's exit to find me and Alice still laughing hysterically.
I was glad Edward's arms were still wrapped around my waist for they were the only thing keeping me upright as I choked on laughter. "You have very beautiful grounds." Eleazar had said as he entered the room before looking at me and Alice in puzzlement. "Have I missed something?" This only caused me and Alice to laugh even harder.
It was Carmen who noticed it first. "Oh my goodness!" She cried in her Spanish accent. "Eleazar, look! They're together!" She gestured over to me and Edward, whose arms were still solidly around my waist.
As if we'd had some invisible cue Alice and I instantly stopped laughing, intently watching Eleazar for his reaction. His face broke out into a brilliant smile. "Yes I see." He murmurs, before glancing at me. "This doesn't surprise me at all Bella. It was destined to happen."
I look at him in surprise. "You don't think it's too soon?" I murmur, wanting to raise this point before anyone else could.
"It's never too soon for love." Carlisle answers before Eleazar can. I glance over at him to see him smiling at Esme with a look of reverence. His love for her shone. She squeezed his hand and smiled back at him in the same way.
"Especially if they are your mate." Eleazar says, smiling knowingly.
I gasp in surprise as Edward smiles at him. "You don't miss much, do you?" I can hear the amusement in his voice.
"Indeed not." Eleazar agrees.
"Where is everyone?" Carmen asks softly. "The Denali sisters and…Emmett and Rosalie are missing."
I bite my lip as I catch Alice's eyes to stop myself from laughing. "Kate and Irina have gone to find Tanya. She was a bit… upset by Edward and Bella." Carlisle says neutrally.
"And Rosalie and Emmett?" Carmen asks.
Alice giggles as Carlisle answers. "She was also upset by them. Emmett's with her." He explains.
"Relationships can be tricky." Eleazar says calmly.
"Bella I must apologise for my behaviour towards you. It wasn't fair to blame you or Edward for something that is beyond your control." A voice says suddenly and I turn to see Tanya stood in the doorway, her sisters just behind her. Her hopefully expression falls as she notices Edward holding me but she doesn't say anything.
"It's okay." I murmur, trying not to laugh. Tanya's reaction had been tame compared to Rosalie's.
"Is something funny?" Kate asks sharply as the Denali sisters fully enter the room.
"No." I say sincerely.
Kate nods brusquely. "Glad to hear it." Then she turns to Carlisle. "Your house is very beautiful."
He smiles at her. "Thank you Kate." He tells her. "You are all welcome to stay as long as you like. We have plenty of spare guest bedrooms."
Kate glances at her sisters who nod their assent although Tanya keeps her gaze fixed on the floor. "Yes, that'll be much appreciated, thank you Carlisle."
"We'd like to stay too." Eleazar adds and Esme beams at him.
"Of course you can!" She gushes. "Come with me. I'll find you a room." Eleazar and Carmen follow a smiling Esme out of the room. I can hear them climbing up the stairs.
"Yes, even though we don't need sleep," Carlisle grins, his pearly white teeth showing. "I'm sure everyone wants some privacy for a bit. Alice, find Kate a room, Jasper, find Irina a room. Rosalie, Emmett!" He yells suddenly. Twenty seconds later a still scowling Rosalie appears in the room, followed by a grinning Emmett. "Ah, there you are." Carlisle smiles. "Rosalie will you find Tanya a room please?" Rosalie nods brusquely at him and then all three sisters follow their guides out the room.
Esme blurs in the room just as Rosalie leaves it. "I'm sorry Bella." She says, her voice worried. "But I had to give what was going to be your bedroom to Eleazar and Carmen so we can accommodate Kate, Irina and Tanya. I hope you don't mind sharing with Edward for a while." Her pale heart shaped face was anxious.
"Oh I don't mind." I say quickly, wanting to soothe Esme. Seeing such a sweet motherly face so flustered felt wrong.
Emmett snorts loudly and I jump, having forgotten he was still in the room. "Oh I bet she doesn't mind!" He winks.
Edward stiffens from behind me but I was one step ahead. I fix a huge smile on my face as I turn to Emmett. "Let's not forget what you and Rosalie were doing just before we all arrived, shall we not?" Emmett's smile instantly disappears. "I think sharing a room with Edward is tame compared to that."
Edward chuckles from behind me and I can't resist smirking at a shocked Emmett. "Well that was quick Bella, I'll give you that." He says grudgingly.
"You've been here for fifty-six hours now." Edward murmurs suddenly in my ear.
I disengage myself from him and turn to stare at him incredulously. "Seriously?"
He nods, smiling crookedly. "Don't forget the nineteen hours it took to find me when I… went away and the nineteen-hour journey back."
"It doesn't feel that long." I smile.
"Edward as if you've counted." Emmett laughs.
"Yes, I'm counting every second I've known Bella." Edward says seriously, not the least bit embarrassed at Emmett's comment.
I smile at him, locked in his golden gaze. Emmett clears his throat loudly and I turn to glare at him. "Can we please tune down the romantic looks towards each other? It's making me gag."
Edward growls and I poke him warningly before glaring at Emmett. Then I grin widely. "Emmett, if we're talking about what makes people gag let's discuss the fact that you and Rosalie were having sex with your parents in the house and I sure as hell can bet you weren't quiet." I point out.
Carlisle and Esme laugh loudly before clapping their hands over their mouth as Emmett glares at them. Edward is still chuckling by the time Emmett sighs in defeat. "Damn you are good Bella. I think you win this one."
"Yup." I smirk, before turning to Edward. "Shall we go?"
/
Edward's room seemed even better with him in it and the lilac and honey smell was even stronger. I smiled as Edward shut the door.
"Have you been in here?" Edward asks suddenly, frowning.
"Yes." I say sheepishly. "With Alice. This is where we decided to come and find you."
Edward looks appeased as he gracefully crosses his room to his music player. I remember, too late, about the loudness of the music. "No Edward don't…" I start before the music is blasting through the room.
"OUCH!" Edward yells before scrambling for the mute button. He hits it and I sigh in relief at the silence. He looks at me in puzzlement.
"Alice." I say by way of explanation.
He shakes his head in exasperation before turning the music dial down and cautiously hitting the play button. This time soft classical music gently sounds out of the speaker and now my ear drums aren't bursting I find I recognise it. "Clair De Lune?" I ask in surprise.
Edward looks as surprise as I feel. "You know Debussy?" He asks carefully.
"Yes. I listened to Debussy a lot… when I was human." I admit.
Edward sighs and sits down on the wide black-leather sofa. I guess it was a habit for him, vampires didn't need to rest. I was perfectly comfortable standing up. "It must have been hard transitioning from human to vampire. You're still so young and, even though you make it look easy, it must have been difficult for you." He says softly.
"No it wasn't actually." I admit quietly. "I knew I was going to be a vampire beforehand so it wasn't that difficult at first."
Edward frowns at me. "You knew you were going to be a vampire before you were turned?"
I started to fidget. We were getting into dangerous territory. I didn't want to talk about my creator, not to Edward. "Yes. I was aware of what was going to happen so I had plenty of time to prepare myself to be a vampire. I think that is why I have good self-control." I say in an effort to distract Edward.
It works for a brief moment. "That could be part of it." He murmurs. "I believe it's something more though, something else." He frowns. "Why did you know you were going to be a vampire? Not many of us get that opportunity." He says quietly.
I sigh and fidget even harder. "Come over here Bella." Edward says quietly and I reluctantly walk over to him. In one smooth move he has taken my hands and pulled me down next to him. "Tell me Bella." He says earnestly, staring into my eyes. "You can tell me anything. Trust me."
"I do." I whisper, before sighing again. I wasn't going to be able to avoid the subject any longer. "My creator told me what he was planning to do. He asked for my permission. I gave him it." I said bluntly.
"He?" Edward asks instantly.
"Yes, he." I say sharply.
"So, he told you… what? That he could give you immortal life just out of the blue and you just accepted it?" He asks, his tone disapproving.
"It wasn't like that!" I cry, wrenching my hands out of his. "I knew my creator long before he turned me! I'd known him for about a year and after six months he told me about being a vampire. Two months later he offered to make me one!"
"He told you he was a vampire while you were still human?" Edward asks quietly.
"Yes. So?" I challenge.
"So he broke the one main rule of the Volutri." Edward says quietly. "That put both of you in extreme danger, you for knowing about vampires and him for telling you about them. Why then would he take such a risk and tell you about himself?"
"I wouldn't know anything about the Volutri." I say evasively. "He never mentioned them."
"You still haven't answered my question Bella." Edward says, his voice dangerous. "Why would your creator take that risk and tell you about being a vampire?"
I knew that Edward had already figured out the answer and I couldn't look at him as I answered. "Because he… he told me he loved me." I say, my voice cracking. "He said he didn't want to keep any secrets from me anymore, hence why he told me about himself."
"And he offered to change you because he loved you as well I'm guessing?" Edward says, his voice careful.
"Yes." I say. I could tell Edward knew the answer to that question too.
There is silence for so long I can't help but look up at Edward. He is staring at me intently and I instantly become trapped in his golden eyed gaze. "And you Bella, did you love him back?" He asks softly.
I shiver at his intense gaze but he doesn't look away. "I thought that I was beginning to." I say quietly. "But I wasn't. It was far too easy to leave him when I turned. And, later on I realised I was just a pawn to him."
"But you let him change you because you loved him?" Edward presses.
"Damn it Edward! What do you want me to say?" I demand.
"The truth." He says softly.
"Not exactly." I whisper. "I didn't want to be alone anymore. I'd never had male attention like that and I honestly believed that he cared for me. And I did care for him back. That's why I let him change me, because I cared about him, not because I loved him." I say truthfully.
Edward relaxes slightly. "Just one last question Bella." He says quietly.
"What?" I ask warily.
"Did he ever kiss you, or you him?" He asks softly.
I break into a relieved smile. "No. Never. That's one of the things that made me realise he didn't really love me."
Edward looks as relieved as I feel. "I'm very glad to hear that Bella." He says softly before instantly pulling me close to him and pressing his lips to mine.
My head is spinning by the time he's finished and he rests his forehead against mine, breathing heavily. "You have a very floral smell. Like freesia." He says suddenly. "It's mouth-watering."
I grin at him. "Yeah Edward, that's truly romantic. Kiss a girl then tell her she smells mouth-watering." I joke.
He frowns. "It's no laughing matter Bella. I'm simply explaining why I'm still struggling to be too close to you for long." He leans back slightly. "I'm trying, but it's difficult."
"I understand." I say softly.
He sighs. "Tell me about your human life. Did you have any siblings?" I understand he's asking me this to distract himself from my scent.
"No I was an only child. My parents split up a few years after I was born." I tell him quietly.
"Your parents?" He questions.
"Charlie and Renee." I say with a strange pang in my chest. "My mother… she was so erratic and hare-brained but I loved her dearly and my dad… I don't know what he's like now. I used to spend two weeks every summer with him but stopped when I was fourteen… I regret that decision now." I say quietly.
Edward squeezes my hand. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." I lie. "What about your family?"
A flicker of pain crosses Edward's face. "Esme and Carlisle are my parents now." He says quietly.
"But before that?" I ask softly.
Edward sighs and then proceeds to tell me the story of his transformation and his parents. His story took a surprisingly long time so it was two hours later when Edward stopped talking.
I smile at him. "I can't believe you're more than one hundred years old."
He laughs, long and loud. "I love how that's the first thing that comes into your head."
"Well what was the first thing that came into your head when I told you my story?" I ask defensively.
"How beautiful you look in that dress." He says instantly and I look down in surprise. I'd forgotten that I was still dressed in the dress Alice had picked out for me. "Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?" Edward continues, his voice like velvet.
I smile shyly at him. "You might have mentioned it once or twice." I tease.
Edward smiles crookedly at me and I still can't stop myself from reacting to it. He stands up suddenly and walks over to his complicated music player and presses a few buttons. Clair De Lune sounds out of it again. Edward takes my hand suddenly, completely surprising me. I look at him questioningly.
"Let's dance." He smiles.
"I can't dance." I panic.
"Bella, you're a vampire. Of course you can dance." He smiles again. "Especially dressed like that."
Before I can comment he pulls me to my feet and whirls me around so fast the room blurs but I keep my balance perfectly.
Guess I could dance after all.