Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does. I only own the parts of this story not taken from her works.
Author's Note: Thanks to pruningshears for the idea about First Beach!
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Close Call
Esme watched the sleeping girl from the chair in the corner of her room. Her husband and son were busy doing all of the research they could get their hands on to see if this had happened before so they would know what to expect. From the second Edward got home from school to the moment he left again he was holed up in Carlisle's office looking for answers. It had been two days and they hadn't had much luck. Until tonight, that is. Apparently they had caught onto something earlier this evening that had them both intrigued.
That's why she had volunteered to keep an eye on Bella tonight. She kept her cell phone in her hand, sending text message updates to her medical scholars throughout the evening. Not that there was much to tell. Bella was a restless sleeper, to be sure, but Edward said he had noticed that when he first entered her room, before anything had even happened. Esme would argue that's what caused this whole mess in the first place, though Edward would never place even a hint of blame on her. Other than that, though, none of them expected her to be able to observe much else unless she woke up.
That's one reason why they made sure someone was there with her. They thought her symptoms would be more noticeable at night and if she woke up… it was best to have someone there. They had already decided they would explain everything if it came to that, but they (especially Edward) hoped that it wouldn't come to that.
As much as she wished Edward would have come himself, she understood why he wouldn't. He was worried about hurting her again. The thought made Esme happy for her son, that he had finally met someone he cared about this much. She had been worried about him for decades, worried that Carlisle had made him too young or that, because he wasn't interested in dating at the time, perfectly reasonable given the war and the pandemic flu outbreak that killed his parents, he would never be interested in meeting someone.
She could already see a change in him; that was encouraging. Edward had told her how Carlisle was before she changed him and she saw for herself how Emmett had changed Rosalie. Rose was usually unfairly characterized as being vain and petty, but Esme remembered how much worse it had been before she found Emmett. She was an angel now compared to how she acted those first few years. It was the only time she had ever thought that it might not be so bad for one of them to leave the house for awhile.
She had longed for that for Edward for so long. She wanted nothing more than for him to find someone who made him happy, happy like his father made her. Esme took every chance she could get of sneaking Alice away to try and learn more about this girl. Her daughter was frustrated that her gift did not seem to work on Bella anymore, but it seemed to give Alice comfort to relate everything she had seen before, everything she had learned about this delicate human girl who was destined to make her son finally fall in love.
As she stared at the girl sleeping, tossing again, she fought back an urge to go wake her up and talk about Edward, exaggerating all of his outstanding qualities just as falsely as every good mother ought. She was sure that she would have success. After all, Bella seemed more than willing to broach the subject… she had been mumbling his name over and over all night.
That was the other reason they wanted someone there with her. Edward was worried that, with how vivid her dreams seemed to be, she might be piecing things together while she sleeps. He wanted someone to listen to what she was saying in her sleep as a way to figure out what she knew or what she thought she knew.
Esme took great delight in relaying to her son every time the girls subconsciously spoke his name. She also could not help adding her own observations. She figured this would be perfectly reasonable, since he would have heard them in her head anyway if he had been there. She also couldn't help herself because she was really beginning to grow attached to this young girl that she had never been introduced to.
She just said your name, Edward dear
Alice was right, she really is very pretty-not sure what Rose was thinking
She just mentioned Alice again. Tell her, it would make her feel better
Never mind I told her myself
I think her shoulder is still bothering her, she winced the last time she rolled onto it
What color are her eyes-they're close I can't see
I think she would look lovely in blue, I'll have to remember that
She said Edward again, and she thinks you are too concerned with her health
Of course, her husband soon asked that she resist the urge to keep sharing her thoughts for fear that Bella would hear her furiously pounding the keys on her phone. Had the request come from Edward, she probably would have ignored it, but she did not want to upset the doctor. He was right. The poor girl needed her sleep and she did not want to risk her waking.
She tried to imagine what she would say if that happened. Esme was the only Cullen that Bella had never seen before and she wondered if she would make the connection. She guessed she would. Edward said that she recognized Carlisle right away that day in the hospital because of their similarities. Still, she thought of how traumatic that would be for Bella and decided to put her phone away and sit quietly and patiently the rest of the night unless something new happened.
She didn't have to wait long for something new to happen. Bella, in the middle of one of her many restless fits that night, screamed and suddenly sat straight up in bed.
She opened her eyes.
She was looking directly at the old rocking chair in the corner when she gasped.
It was empty, but rocking, silently, of its own accord.
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Alice knew that they had a problem. She hadn't realized it in time to prevent them from keeping Bella from school that day so now they were going to have to think fast of a way to get her to ditch the rest of her classes and they were having trouble coming up with anything short of kidnapping her. While Edward was busy keeping an eye on Bella through her classmates he rarely paid attention to his siblings' minds. His absence from their discussion proved that he was blocking them out again. There was no way he wouldn't have been there otherwise.
"Do you think he can just talk her into leaving?" Jasper asked.
"I really wouldn't know." Alice was still bitter about her newfound blind spot.
"I'm asking for your opinion, Alice, not a definite answer," Jasper gently reminded her. "You know her better than Emmett and me. Do you think she's the type who could be talked into coming with us? We could make up something about going to a movie or going hiking or to Seattle or something and try to get her to go along."
Alice closed her eyes and thought about that for a second. "It's hard to say. He might be able to convince her if he can keep his cool, but he's so high strung right now I doubt he could hide his frustration if she says no, even just initially. It would tip her off immediately and she would start asking questions, getting suspicious."
"Then we'll answer them," Emmett said, frustrated.
"Edward doesn't want us to," said Alice reluctantly.
"So? He's the only one who thinks that this can be kept from her forever. We all know that's not true and I think we should do it sooner, not later." They had been having the same argument for days now.
"Look, Emmett, you know I agree with you, but it's not our decision to make, its Edward's, end of conversation. Let's get back to figuring out if we can get her out of school."
"I still think we should grab her."
"Emmett! We're not kidnapping Bella!"
Jasper had been quiet during the argument, thinking. He spoke now in their silence. "Maybe we shouldn't try to take her out of school."
"What?"
"Are you serious?" His wife and brother were staring at him with looks that changed from confused to skeptical.
"Okay, just hear me out. There are some good reasons to consider leaving her here. First, we still don't know if we even need to be concerned. It might not affect her." Neither spoke, but their eyes suggested they did not agree with his reasoning.
"Second, even if it does affect her, everything we think we've observed has indicated that the signs she is, she may, be showing are very weak, so weak she hasn't noticed them… if they're there. If anything, she'd probably be sensitive to the smell, but nothing more."
Before the other two could object, Jasper went on. "And, if she is more… attuned… isn't that something we should know? I mean up until now we have seen possible evidence of symptoms, but nothing other than shoulder pain has been really concrete. This would be concrete. We would definitely know after today."
Alice was tired of people wanting to believe that Bella was going to be okay. If she were going to be okay, Alice thought, there wouldn't be a problem with her vision. But Carlisle, Edward and even Jasper all thought that the hole in her vision could just be caused by the uncertainty of the situation. The result hasn't been decided, they say, so there is nothing to foretell yet. Alice did not agree but there was little point in arguing. She preferred not to test Bella like this, worried about the possible consequences.
"I understand what you're saying, but wouldn't it be better to not take the risk? We can't make up an excuse to be there in case something happens. What if she goes after someone?"
All three shuddered at the thought.
"Maybe we should call Carlisle and see what he thinks," Emmett suggested.
As Emmet moved to reach for his phone, the bell for class rang. Alice silently called out for her brother, hoping that Edward would hear her and come to where they were standing behind the gym building. He appeared very quickly behind them, having already heard the specifics of the argument in their thoughts as he approached.
"Absolutely not."
"I thought you would agree," Alice said. "It's too risky, but I can't see how we're going to get her to leave."
Jasper was trying to restate his argument but Edward cut him off.
"We don't need conclusive evidence, Jasper. Bella is not a science project, she is a person and we are not going to test her like this just to see what happens."
"Then how are you going to get her out of here? She won't go easily," he said bitterly. It had been nearly 40 years, but Jasper still got annoyed sometimes when Edward cut him off like that before he had a chance to articulate his argument.
"Leave that to me." He then turned to walk back towards the cafeteria building, not waiting for the others. A plan was starting to form in his head. He would need to talk to her as soon as possible and what would be more natural than two friends having lunch together. That would give him 40 minutes to convince her to duck out early.
Hopefully it would work. He didn't want to think of what could happen if he wasn't able to persuade her.
Today, in Bella's 6th period Biology class, they would be blood typing.
As he entered the cafeteria it wasn't difficult to spot her. She was leaving the lunch line heading towards the table she usually sat at with her friends. He moved towards her as fast as he humanly could in the crowded room.
"Hello Bella." He smiled at her.
Bella was stunned, he had never spoken to her before in the cafeteria. She tried to form a coherent sentence.
"Hi." Close enough.
"I was thinking you could sit with me today. I would like to talk to you about what's going on in Biology, I could use some help, if that's alright." Edward could hear the mind of Bella's friend Jessica, standing right next to them, explode with curiosity and envy.
"Sure. Where to?" If he could have heard Bella's thoughts, he would have known that she was instantly suspicious. Edward Cullen needed about as much help in Biology as she did. She wondered what else he wanted to talk about.
He led her to an empty table that was right next to the one he usually sat at with his siblings. Bella looked over at them as she passed and was surprised that three of the four looked back up at her. Alice, and Emmett both met her gaze and smiled, slightly, back at her. Jasper was staring at her with a look that she did not understand and Rosalie had her back turned to Bella and did not see her.
His brothers and sisters had never paid attention to her before, they never paid attention to anyone, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the change. She had thought that his sister Alice was following her around two days ago, but yesterday she hadn't seen her once. This was a strange family.
Edward pulled out a chair for her before putting himself in one directly across from her on the other side of the table. He looked in his hands trying to figure out how to start.
"What did you need to talk to me about, Edward, because we both know you don't need any help in Biology." Her perceptiveness was one of her most fascinating qualities. But, it was also one of her more troubling, especially now. Still he couldn't help but smile.
"Sorry about that, but I thought you would appreciate your friends not getting suspicious." He said it coolly, trying to keep the mood from becoming too intense. Jasper just warned him that she was suspicious. This was going to be difficult. He flashed a smile.
"I do, thank you," she replied, to his surprise, just as coolly.
She smiled back, though her effort was hardly as convincing. Acting was not as natural to her as it was to him. It worked, though, and threw him off. There was something fascinating about her face when she tried to be angry like that and he could tell she was frustrated. He paused just long enough to give her an opportunity to take control of the situation.
"I hope you didn't bring me over here to ask about my health again because, unfortunately, I have no news to report. I am no better or worse than yesterday." She looked at him as she said it and immediately regretted it. As soon as their eyes met, she lost control of her attempt to be convincing and knew that he wasn't buying it. His eyes were tormented, she couldn't understand it.
He looked down. "Bella, if it really annoys you that much that when I ask how you're feeling, I will try to stop. Although, I was going to ask about your shoulder again since I noticed you weren't carrying anything with that arm today."
She instantly felt horrible. He was trying to be her friend and she kept shooting sarcastic comments at him trying to deflect his attention to her health. It was really just that she wanted to spend their precious little time speaking together talking about something other than her. She was their constant topic of conversation but was dying to know more about her inquisitor.
"I'm sorry, Edward. It's just that I always get uncomfortable when I'm in the spotlight and, sometimes, when you're questioning me like that its how I feel. In the spotlight. I feel like we only talk about me." She didn't dare tell him what she would have rather talked about and she was well aware that she didn't answer his question.
"I'm sorry that you haven't been enjoying our discussions. I have been enjoying learning about you so much that I hadn't noticed we rarely got to other topics." With an earnest gaze into her eyes, he rendered Bella speechless. He took the opportunity to add, "And you still haven't answered my question."
She just looked at him, trying to quell her mind as it screamed out in response to what he just said. Edward Cullen was enjoying learning about her. He wasn't just making polite, awkward conversation. He actually was enjoying it. Her heart was racing. It took several moments before she could answer him with some self control.
"It's fine."
"Then why aren't you using that arm?"
"Edward, why can't we talk about something else?" She was pleading, but knew it was pointless.
"You still didn't answer my question."
"If I do, can we talk about something else?"
"That seems reasonable." She could tell he was a little unwilling and disappointed at the thought, but she was determined to change the subject.
"Fine, I lied. My shoulder still hurts, it hurts worse, actually. I figure I must have pulled or strained something in gym the other day so I thought that taking it easy might help." He was instantly anxious, and there was also that other look again, the one which always gave Bella the impression he knew something she didn't.
At the table next to them, Jasper could feel Bella's suspicion rising again. He silently warned his brother to keep it light, or she would never give in. It was good that he did, because at the moment, Edward had forgotten why he asked her to have lunch with him in the first place.
"You know, they have doctors for that kind of thing. Diagnosing, treating… I know one. He might be able to help with that." His smile was slightly crooked, she hadn't noticed before now.
She couldn't help but laugh. "If it gets much worse, I may take you up on it, but for right now I prefer to try and ride it out." Before he could object, she decided to hold him up to his end of the deal. "But enough about me."
"What would you like to talk about?"
"You." She said it a little too quickly and earnestly. She hoped he didn't hear how desperate she was to talk about him but the look on his face suggested otherwise. He did not want to talk about himself.
Hesitantly, he asked, "what would you like to know?"
"I think you know what I want to know," he still owed her an explanation about the incident with the van, "but since I get the feeling you won't tell me, you can start by talking about why you suddenly decided to be my friend again. It was kinda sudden."
"I'm sorry about that, Bella. I cannot think back on my behavior to you without shame. I was horribly rude. But…" he hesitated, looking for the right words, "I just decided that I didn't want to stay away from you anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's still better, for you, if we're not friends, but I'm giving in to my selfish side by no longer keeping my distance."
"What on earth does that mean?" His cryptic answers only fed her desire to keep him talking.
"It means, that, if you were smart, you wouldn't want to be my friend."
She sighed. This obviously wasn't going anywhere but she didn't want to give him an opportunity to change the subject to her again.
"So where did you infinite knowledge of Biology come from, is it just because your dad is a doctor?" If she couldn't get him to talk about himself, maybe she could get him to talk about his family.
His smile carried an expression she did not entirely understand, like she was missing some kind of inside joke. "You could say that. I have been interested in the subject for years and Carlisle has always encouraged my studies."
"How long have you been with the Cullen's'?"
"For a very long time."
She was getting frustrated and he took the opportunity to turn the conversation around.
"You have been sidetracking me, I asked you over here for a reason."
"I'm tired of talking about my shoulder, Edward."
He smiled. "I know. It's not that, I promise." She leaned towards, him very curious. "My brothers and sisters are thinking of ducking out early today to go to Port Angeles to see a movie and we were wondering if you would like to come along."
She was floored. Edward Cullen was asking her to skip class and go see a movie with him. Instantly she wanted to say yes but something else was bothering her. She had never skipped class in Phoenix, and felt it would be an even harder feat to pull off in a school 10 percent its size in a town where her father was the police chief.
"Skip class? Why can't you go see a later show?"
"Bella, it's healthy to skip class every now and then, just to get away. Would it help if I promised you won't get caught?" She was hesitating, but when he flashed his perfect smile at her he sealed the deal.
"How can you promise?"
"You may have noticed that I miss a lot of class but have never been in trouble for it. It's all in having confidence in your excuse, which I'll take care of."
"What are you going to say?"
"Well…" He knew that explanations worked better if they stuck to as much truth as possible. He only worried about bringing up the topic without raising her suspicions. Confidence, he reminded himself. "I heard that they're blood typing in biology today, so we can tell Mrs. Cope that you need to leave because the sight of blood makes you physically sick."
He looked up to see how she was doing. Her face was twisted up slightly. "Is that a problem?"
"That's not even a lie, actually. Although it's not the sight it's the smell."
For reasons she could not understand, he was shocked by her statement. "Humans can't smell blood, Bella."
"Well I can and it makes me pass out every time. "
Edward could hear his siblings stiffen at the table next to him. They were all thinking the exact same thing, which Edward formed into his next question.
"Is this…" he paused. "Have you always been able to smell blood or is this a… recent development?"
She didn't catch his anxiety, apparently still caught up in the thought of being in class while they would be pricking fingers. She wasn't even looking at him.
"As long as I can remember. So maybe you're right, it would be a good idea to skip today." She looked up.
He looked relieved, amused and pleased with himself all at the same time. In the few minutes they had left at lunch, they settled the details of their plan. Bella's pulse was racing at the thought of skipping to spend time with Edward and his strange family. She had seen enough of Edward's smooth talking to be convinced that they would succeed in leaving without suspicion from the faculty. The students would be another question entirely, especially Mike who would definitely notice her absence as well as Edward's, but she decided to try and not let that worry her.
She was spending time with Edward Cullen. For the moment, that was all she could care about. Besides, she could make it up to Mike tomorrow.
The forecast promised some rare rays of sunshine and they were all planning on going to First Beach the next day.