A/N: Not Stephenie Meyer.
I was slightly relieved as soon as our hands made contact. Whatever had Bella so upset when she called me, she looked better as soon as I touched her. To know I had that kind of effect on her made me happier than anyone could ever know.
We made it to the trail where I was taking her in about ten minutes. She let out an adorable huff.
"Please don't make my day any worse by making me hike." She moaned.
"It's only about half a mile, it will be worth it. I promise." I chuckled a little at her reaction.
"Okay." She sighed before we started trudging our way through the thick forest. I made sure to keep a good hold on her hand so she wouldn't fall.
We made in to our meadow in about ten minutes. I never let Bella fall once. She let out an audible gasp as she took in the scenery in front of her. I had the same reaction the first time I stumbled upon it.
"Edward, It's beautiful." She said in an airy voice as she continued to glance around.
"I was going to take you here, you know, on a date, but you sounded like you needed some cheering up." I told her. She looked down, all of the color fading from her face as she let just a few tears fall before letting go of my hand and sitting on a tree trunk that provided a nice bench.
I wanted to touch her again, she began wrapping her arms around her body. It was like she was protecting herself.
"I don't want to hate her, Edward." She whispered as some more tears escaped her beautiful eyes.
I sat down next to her on the tree trunk, trying my hardest not to be too close, though all I wanted to do was hold her again like I had this morning.
"Hate who?" I asked while gently placing my hand on the small of her back as she sniffled.
"My mom." She choked out, and I didn't know what to say. I couldn't even imagine what would have brought that on. As far as I knew, she and her mother had a pretty close relationship.
"Why would you say that?" I asked her carefully.
"Emmett and I got into an argument this morning on the way back from your house," she sobbed and I wiped her tears away before she continued. "During the argument I said that he shouldn't be in my business about you, and I said that Charlie abandoned me." She took another sigh before crying even harder. I couldn't help myself any longer. I hated seeing her in pain, I would have taken it away from her if there were any way to. I put my arm around her and let her finish. "Emmett told me that I needed to talk with Charlie, and when I did, Charlie said that he never knew about me, either. Did you know that my whole life my mom just told me that my Father didn't want me? That the whole time I've been here, I thought I was living with someone who saw me as nothing but a burden, and didn't even want me to exist? Do you have any idea how that feels?" She choked out before letting herself collapse against my chest.
"I'm so sorry, Bella." I tried to calm her by rubbing small circles on her back. After a few minutes she calmed down, and sat back up.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" She trailed off while gesturing her finger to herself, and then me.
"It's okay." I assured her with a smile. "I would really rather that you didn't cry like that without anyone to make you feel better." I admitted while I took her hand in mine again.
She simply smiled and stared back out into the meadow taking a huge breath inward. It must have felt good after all that sobbing. I wanted to protect from everything, I felt helpless.
"Why were you and Emmett arguing about me?" I decided to change the subject to something a little lighter than the fact that her mother had never told Charlie about her.
A small smile played across her lips and my heart was suddenly as light as a feather. "I don't know if I should say." She looked down batting her long eyelashes that were still wet.
"Awww. Come on? Please?" I begged her jokingly. I knew she would tell me anyway.
"He said that you like me, and that if I don't like you the same way, then I should stay away from you." She finally gave in. I could have guessed Emmett would say something like that to her. After all, he did find us very comfortable together on the couch this morning, but he should have known me better than to assume anything more than it was.
"Do you like me the same way?" I decided to ask. It was something I needed to know.
She hesitated for a moment before answering and suddenly my feather-light heart was made of lead. I thought for a moment that maybe I had been reading her wrong, that I was her shoulder to cry on, and nothing more. And if that were the case I would have accepted it. "Of course I like you like that. I'm actually kind of surprised that you like me." She smiled again. I wish she saw herself the same way I saw her. "I trust you a lot, for no reason other than instinct, but it's hard for me to be close to someone right now. I don't really know how." She looked down.
I squeezed her hand lightly. "I think you're doing fine." I smiled at her, and she returned it. A small blush crept up on her cheeks, and I was glad to have the color back.
"It's getting easier for me all the time." She scooted closer to me giving a little wink. "I might just need you to be a little patient." She told me, but it was more like she was asking me. Her eyes were almost pleading.
"Take all the time in the world." I assured her. I was just relieved that she would even consider trying after all she'd been through.
She smiled and took a deep breath. "I should head back home to Charlie, he's probably wondering why I ran out on him as soon as I found out he wasn't actually the bad guy." She let go of my hand momentarily to stand up and brush off her pants.
I rose, too. I grabbed her hand again and led her back to the Volvo. I opened the door for her before climbing into the driver's seat. We sat in silence for the duration of the ten minute drive. It wasn't awkward silence, just peaceful.
We pulled up to her house and I got out of the car to walk her to the door. Charlie came outside before we could even make it to the door.
"Bella! Thank God you're okay." He huffed. "My friend said that he saw you at that convenient store down the road, and then you were gone!" He shouted, both angry and relieved.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just needed to use a phone." She reasoned with him, and he calmed down. Charlie looked at me looking more like a father than I'd ever seen him with Emmett.
"And where do you fit into all of this?" He asked me skeptically.
"He was the one I called. I'm sorry about how I reacted. I needed a place to clear my head, and Edward has a car." Bella explained before I had a chance to. I wasn't nervous about it. Charlie and I got along great.
"And you picked her up?" Charlie asked me.
"As fast as I could, Charlie, you know I wouldn't leave her there alone." I stated the obvious. If my own father hadn't drilled it in my head enough to be a gentleman, Charlie also commonly had talk with Emmett and me about respect, and courtesy. The best part is that he would always say "If I had a daughter then I would want a man to treat her respectfully…" and all that. Little did he know that he did have a daughter, and I was that man. At least, I hoped I was.
"Thank you, Edward." He told me seriously.
"No problem. Are you going to ground Bella, or can I take her out next weekend?" I decided to throw in there. I knew Charlie wouldn't have a problem with it. It was really more my way of asking Bella.
Bella blushed a deep crimson, and Charlie just chuckled. "Bella isn't grounded, and yes you can." He slapped me on the back.
"Thanks, Charlie." I nodded and then turned to Bella who was still pink. "Would you like to go out with me next weekend?" I asked her directly this time.
"I don't think I will have any other plans." She said sarcastically, but I could tell she was aggravated I asked in front of Charlie. I don't think she understood the kind of relationship I had with the old man.
"Well thank you again, Edward, but I need to talk to Bella for a minute. Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow when Emmett's around." He hinted.
"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded at Charlie. "Bye, Bella." I looked at her beautiful face and smiled.
I was going to take her on a date and had no idea where to go. It had to be perfect, but she'd already seen the meadow. I had a lot of planning ahead of me. I sighed.
"This is going to be a long week," I muttered to myself.
A/N: Okay. Internet is still good. Eliza, it feels much better lol. You crack me up! Review, yeah? Oh and one last thing. I suck at writing those little summaries so people read my story…if any of you would like, would you write me a 160 character summary and PM it to me. No one is opening the story, and I think it's because my summary is lame. Lol. Thanks a lot! Happy reading.