Bella gets her room, and some alone time with Edward.
Oh! And I've recently discovered that the South wall of the Cullen house is covered in glass… not the North. But I left as is, anyway.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, I am not Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 4 What Comes With the Family
As I walked through the front door, I was immediately greeted by the small girl with cropped black hair, Alice.
"Bella!" she squealed. "Sense you will be staying with us for a while, I set up the guest room for you. It's a little smaller than the rest of the rooms, I hope you don't mind."
I hadn't really thought much about staying, but sense the situation was alas brought to my attention, I realized I had already made the choice.
"A room?" I responded to Alice. Why did we need rooms if we never slept? "Oh, no. That's fine, thank you."
"Great! I hope you like the color blue. I decided to go with blue because I think it works best with your skin tone. Don't you agree?"
"Alice, why do we need room's if we never sleep?"
"Well, for privacy, silly. Wouldn't you like to have some alone time every once in a while?" She gave me a strange look, as if what she was saying was completely obvious. I had to smile at my stupidity; of course for privacy.
Alice and I reached the third floor in a matter of seconds, given our vampire speed. We came to a halt at a second door just along the hall. Slowly, Alice opened the door, to reveal a nice sized room: the walls were white, the floor was wooden, and there was a large bed set in the right center of the room, the comforter blue, with a circular shaggy rug set at the base of the bed, also the exact same shade of blue. There was a desk in the far right corner that held a single lamp and an empty bookshelf that covered the entire left wall. I noticed the north wall was completely made of glass, looking over the property behind the house. I realized the entire north wall of the house must be one giant wall of glass.
"It is lovely, Alice. Thank you." I turned and capture Alice in a tight hug, which she returned graciously.
Sighing happily she said, "You're very welcomed. Now, if you need anything, I'm just one floor down, or, do you see that door over there?" She pointed to the single other door down the hall. "That is Edward's room. Feel free to go ahead and knock on his door if you don't want to make the journey down one flight of stairs." She gave me a wide smile, and a wink. Somehow I felt I was missing some kind of inside joke.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" She strode quickly into my new room and headed towards the single closet. "I put some clothes in here for you. You seem to wear the same size as Rosalie, which is pretty fortunate for you, that way
you at least have a couple day's change of clothes. I'm going shopping for you as soon as possible, given the fact that you can't be around humans yet," she giggled, the sound reminded me of wind-chimes.
"You associate with humans?" How confusing. How was she able to be around humans while resisting their blood?
"Oh yes. And we all attend school too; all of us besides Esme and Carlisle of course. Don't worry; we'll explain all of that later," she must have noticed my confused expression, "but for now, I'll just give you some time to yourself. Don't forget to holler if you need anything." Alice gave me one more giant encouraging smile, and then she left me to myself.
So many things had happened in such little time. In a matter of hours I was finally given answers to questions I've been waiting so long to be answered, yet somehow those answers raised new ones. I met people who are just like me, and as much as it pained me to think it, I had a new family.
Again I felt the frustration build inside of me again. My mind was so mixed up with the recent discoveries. It didn't seem real.
I quickly strode over to my bed and lied down. It was so comfortable; the mattress formed my stone body completely. I closed my eyes and relaxed myself. If only sleep could overtake me, but I knew it never would. I would never be able to sleep again, for as long as I lived.
Without really noticing, I was concentrating on the sounds around the house. I could hear everything, every movement, every breath, every turn of a page. I knew exactly where everyone was. Alice and Jasper are in there room, Alice is talking animatedly about the shopping trip she is planning for tomorrow. Rosalie and Emmett are in their room. Emmett seems interested in what I am like, but Rosalie does not. Her distaste for me makes me uneasy, so I quickly shy away from their conversation. Esme is in the kitchen, from the sound of it, it seems she is reading a book. Carlisle is one story below me, pacing. I wonder what he is thinking about. Then, though I knew I was already attuned to the sound of him, I saved his actions for last. Edward is in his room just down the hall from my own. He seems to be relaxing, his breath is steady and he is listening to some form of jazz. Though the music is playing very quietly, almost set as background music, by concentrating on the sound from his room, the jazz music seemed almost loud enough to bust my eardrums, if it were at all possible. I slowly relaxed my concentration, and set the tones of Edward's music in my head until it was just a comfortable purr in my ears.
Then suddenly he moved. Edward shifted his weight on whatever it was he was lying on. I realized I was listening intently because I heard him swallow suddenly. He is on his feet now and is leaving his room. I could hear the knob on his bedroom door turn and the locks click in place. I could hear his quiet quick steps growing closer and closer and…
My eyes quickly snapped open, for there was a sudden low knocking on my door. It's him! I said to myself. I felt the tension begin to build in my stomach.
"Bella?" Edward's voice was low and like velvet behind my bedroom door. His voice only added to the uneasiness of my stomach.
I quickly rose from the bed and walked over to the door, opening it slowly. I could tell my face lit up as soon as I saw his face, but I couldn't help it. "Hello, Edward."
"Are you busy?" I could see a smile playing at the edge of his perfect lips.
"No, not really." The smile never left my face.
"What were you doing, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Uhm… nothing. Just trying to sleep," I answered honestly.
He laughed at my statement. "Any luck?"
"Not really. Would you like to come in?"
Without giving me an answer, Edward slowly strode past me into my room. I watched as he looked around skeptically, and then he sat at the edge of my bed, padding the space next to him with his eyes on me.
"So, what were you doing a moment ago?" I said as I sat next to him. I had to keep talking. The close contact was making me feel uneasy. There's something about Edward that makes me want to reach over and touch him. Some kind of electrical current runs through my body whenever I'm too close to him. I wonder if he feels it too.
"Nothing. Just trying to sleep," he said teasingly.
Edward and I sat together in my room for the rest of the night, our legs crossed on my bed facing each other. We kept our topics light, he mainly talked to me about school; how the minds of the teenagers at Forks High are completely unoriginal and boring. He told me that he mainly blocks out other people's thoughts so they become just a low buzzing in the back of his brain. I wondered how difficult that must be.
When Edward asked me what my school was like, I mentioned how I was probably just as much of an outcast as I am right now. I had my fair share of friends, but they were no one too popular. I even explained the pain I feel whenever I think about my friends, my family, the things I left behind, and how I never had the chance to say goodbye to any of them.
"All of my books, my belongings. It was hard to leave it all behind," I said.
"At least now you can buy new books and place them in that empty bookshelf." Edward tilted his head towards the wall that held the massive bookshelf.
"Yeah, I suppose I can," I giggled.
"Did you have a boyfriend?" he asked suddenly. His question caught me off guard.
Edward was watching my eyes curiously, dazzling me, awaiting my answer.
"No," I blurted out as I stared back into those topaz eyes. "I've never had a boyfriend. I've never liked anyone enough." I looked down at my hands, fiddling with dark blue comforter. I felt uncomfortable letting Edward know just how inexperienced I am with boys.
Then he moved onto other questions, what my hobbies were, what books, sports, and music I liked. My answers weren't very interesting. I remembered my favorite book was Weathering Heights, I never played sports, I was clumsy all my life until up to 15 years ago, and one of my favorite songs was Clair De Lune by Debussy.
"You like classical music?" It seems my last answer interest him.
"Just my favorites."
"It's one of my favorite, too."
We were quite for a minute. I knew the question I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of the answer.
"Did you ever have a girlfriend, Edward?" My eyes were still locked on the comforter, avoiding his eyes. I didn't want to know what they looked like.
"No," he answered quietly. "I've never wanted anyone before."
I looked up at him under my lashes, and received one of his beautiful crooked smiles.
The next couple of weeks past in a blur. Carlisle promised time to speak to me about more of his history, but unfortunately, he has been needed at the hospital more often than usual. After the first night Edward and I spoke in my room, he made more appearances throughout the days. Sometimes he passed by my room more than once seeking my company. It was wonderful to know I was able to connect with one of the Cullens in more than one way.
After the first few days, Edward began giving me a different kind of attention, one that would make me stutter nervously. Sometimes he told me I was beautiful, and carefully caressed my cheek with the back of his hand or his finger tips. And, I noticed that every time Edward paid me a visit, there was always a moment when we would both be caught starring at each other, the longing visible, not only in my eyes, but his as well. Though we would brush off the sudden moment of affection, the long gazes he gave me never helped the butterflies in my stomach.
I was lying on my bed alone, listening to a record Edward let me borrow, he even bought me a record player, and I began thinking about the previous weeks.
Being caught in a moment with Edward; our eyes locked on one another's. Did that mean something? I was becoming aware of the fact that the feelings I get in my stomach was not only because of our friendship. I felt for Edward in a way I've never felt for anyone before. Every time I saw him, my body was hyper aware of his every move, and I kept rerunning what he said to me the first night we spent together. 'No, I've never wanted
anyone before.' But what did that mean? The 'before' part? Does that mean, before now? Or does that mean he's never wanted anyone before, in general?
A low knock on my door brought me out of the ongoing debate in my brain.
The first kiss is on its way, kiddies!
Don't forget to review, please!
-PuppetStrings19