Burning Candles

Summary: (Set during Twilight) Curious because of Edward's strange behavior towards her, Bella decides on her second day in Forks to confront him and decides to pay him a visit… to his house. She never expected him to attack her though.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything…except for Devon Sanders.

Chapter 7: Edward's Interlude

"You're wrong," she stated simply.

I narrowed my eyes playfully and pulled her closer to me. I looked at our intertwined fingers and then back up to her face. I smiled crookedly and pressed a kiss to her temple. The thoughts were roaring in my head, but I knew that I had to pay close attention only to Bella, which was pretty easy. "I'm never wrong Bella, you shouldn't be so confident." I answered against her cool skin that was the same temperature as my own.

"You shouldn't be so confident." She countered playfully as I pulled her even closer to me, wrapping my arm protectively around her small waist. She continued to rant, "I'm not the one who said that they could run the fastest out of all of us."

"Yes, but it is true." I protested.

She rolled my eyes good-naturedly at me. "Mhm, you're just so full of yourself, aren't you?" Bella asked and I looked up towards the sky innocently. So I was full of myself, but she knew that I was just teasing. It had been something that she had asked me during our 'Truth' game. "I knew it," she muttered underneath my breath—knowing that I could hear her. I did and I smiled secretly at the sky.

"School starts tomorrow," I said absently, deciding to change the subject. "Are you excited?"

"No," Bella moaned and pressed her head against my shoulder as my arm instantly tightened around her small waist. "I don't want to go to school, school is so boring." She groaned against my shoulder and buried her head deeper into my shoulder.

"But it's good for you Bella!" I protested again. She threw me a glare and I laughed bitterly at her look. She had always had a way with her sarcasm. She lifted her head lightly off of my shoulder and stared up at me.

"Thanks Dad, I always knew that school was good for me." Bella commented dryly and I sighed loudly—the feelings of her sarcasm sinking into my mind.

'Edward,' Alice's voice rang through my mind. I smiled slightly and looked over at Bella who was still leaning against my and groaning about how much she didn't want to go to school. I looked towards the sky, trying to hear what Alice wanted. 'Bring Bella back to the house, we're going to go shopping, don't tell her anything though, otherwise she will refuse to go and run away. Okay? Come as soon as possible!'

'Got it.' I sent to Alice. I pulled away from Bella and proceeded to pull her to her feet. She groaned as I smiled and pulled her back towards the house. Over the last past week, we had become even closer than we had been before and I was glad for that. I had always felt connected with Bella in a way that was way more then just friends, but I never knew how she felt because I couldn't tap into her mind. Mostly, that annoyed me to no extent, and I was pretty sure that she just wanted to be friends with me, but that night at the lake changed my mind. We had admitted our feelings to each other and I was so glad that she had felt the same way that I had felt about her. Ever since then, we had spent every moment together and neither of us wanted to be apart from the other. Too bad that for a little bit of this day, Bella would be forced to be away from me.

"Tell me what you're thinking about." I said as the house came into view.

She shrugged. "Nothing really, I'm just thinking about the things that have been happening this week. Do you think that going to school is going to change…anything?" Bella asked and I knew what she had meant by 'anything'. I shook my head quickly and pulled her close to me, kissing her once on the lips. She smiled against my lips and I pulled away from her once more, slowly this time.

"Nothing's going to change Bella," I stated firmly and pulled her into the house. Nothing was going to change with me. I had always loved her and hid it from her, but it was always there. If Bella decided to leave one day, I'd respect her wishes and I would give her the space that she wanted. There were so many guys that would want her, and if she wanted to leave, I wouldn't stop her. I shook my thoughts away and looked back at Bella as I pulled open the door for her.

Bella glanced over at me and frowned. "You can never tell some things change too quickly."

"You think too much." I decided.

"I do not! I just think things through thoroughly." She argued playfully as we entered the family room where Tanya, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme were sitting. I smiled at them and pressed a kiss to Bella's cheek before walking out of the room. I was sure that I could find something to do while they went shopping. I heard Bella open her mouth to say something—in protest so that she wouldn't have to go—but Alice ignored her and went on explaining what they were going to do.

'Edward, come outside, we're going hunting and you're welcome to come with us.' Carlisle's voice entered my mind and I nodded, knowing that they couldn't see me. I walked out the door and towards the group that had gathered outside. Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, Irina, Kate, Eleazar, and Carmen stood in front of me.

Carlisle stepped forward and smiled. "Let's go." He announced.

I swung absently on the hammock outside of Tanya's house as I listened to Alice and Rosalie's thoughts. They were pretty much not helping at all, I was wondering what they were doing to Bella, but all they were thinking about was if they could get Bella to get her nails done. It was pretty much impossible to get Bella to get her nails done. She probably would zip out of the mall as soon as possible. She would be home in a couple of minutes if Alice and Rosalie even suggested the idea of it. I was too concentrated on something else that I didn't even realize the new sound in my head until it was speaking. It was then that I heard a different set of thoughts and they were thinking of Bella. I sat up straight in the hammock and normally, a person would fall off the hammock, but being a vampire sometimes paid off on normal things.

'She's very pretty; I wonder where she comes from. I've never heard of a new family moving to Denali. She said her name was Bella Swan…Bella Swan, where do I know that name from? I don't think that I know that name, but it seems somewhat familiar.' He paused in his ranting. 'I wonder if she has a boyfriend, I wonder where she's going to school…I wonder if I am going to see her again.'

I cringed at his thoughts, of course Bella was beautiful and of course she was amazing and everything. And yes, Bella did have a boyfriend and that boyfriend was me. I growled at the boys' thoughts as I saw Bella appear in his mind. I growled at the thought of him touching her, but he was replaying the little moment where he had touched her shoulder to get her attention over and over again in his mind. She was mine. I knew that she probably didn't do anything, but the feeling of somebody else touching her made me want to break something. I pursed my lips in thought and told myself to calm down; I would just act like nothing happened at all. I sat there, playing with a piece of nothingness when I heard the car driving towards the house. I pulled myself off of the hammock and bolted towards the porch. I leaned causally against the railing and smiled as I saw Bella get out of the car and sprint towards me.

I smiled at her and caught her easily in my arms. "How was shopping?" I whispered into her ear after she was in the safety of my arms. She muttered something that too fast, that I couldn't even hear her, and then she smiled and pressed her face into my chest.

"Never ever make me do that again." She muttered into my shirt.

"Oh please!" Alice called from the background as Bella snuggled into my embrace. I wrapped my arms around her protectively. "It definitely wasn't as bad as she makes it seem Edward," she said walking over to us. I smiled at her and she rolled her eyes indicating that Bella was just being dramatic as always. She mouthed something to me to say that she needed to talk to me and I nodded. "She's just a little melodramatic if you catch my drift." Alice concluded and I looked over at Rosalie who was bounding out of the car also.

After Alice's comment, Bella pulled her head from me and turned around towards Alice who was smirking showing that she was contently pleased with herself and it was then that Bella knew she was teasing. "You're so mean!" She stressed playfully and turned around to walk into the house. She disappeared into the house and closed the door tightly behind her.

"Something you need?" I asked cautiously as I finally heard Bella and Esme talking. "Show me your vision Alice." I said and she looked up at me, her lips twisted in thought.

"I don't know if it's true." Alice stressed.

Rosalie was by our side in a second. "What is it, what did you see? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because," she responded, "I wanted to ask Edward what he thought of it first Rosalie." Alice said and Rosalie nodded before touching my arm lightly and looking at me concerned. I nodded my head towards her and she laced her arm through my own. Alice looked at me and I nodded again, to show her that I was ready for the vision.

It started out that there was just Jacob Black standing in front of Charlie and Renée, talking to them. His lips were moving, but no sounds were heard. Cries tumbled from Renée's lips and Charlie looked at her sadly. Jacob turned around before four other figures entered the room. He looked around and then finally, a fifth figure—alone—walked into the room. It was Bella, she was saying things, pleading with Jacob, but he wouldn't take any of it. I could see that the four other figures were the rest of Jacob's pack. They were all leering close to Charlie and Renée, just in case Bella had planned something and was going to take the bait that they had set up. Bella moved quickly, but she wasn't fast enough. One second she was begging with Jacob, the next she was lunging for her parents. Soon, the whole pack and changed and they attacked Bella. Slowly, they tore her limb from limb before she was finally gone. They changed back slowly, picked up the shredded pieces and burned her slowly. There was a pause before more cries from Renée started as Charlie tried to console her. He was crying as well…

"No." I stated as my eyes burned. "No! That can't happen."

"I never said it would happen Edward," Alice said calmly as Rosalie tapped her fingers soothingly along my arm. "It was just a vision, sometimes my visions are wrong." She concluded and I glared at her.

"What did you see?" Rosalie asked softly.

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but I threw her another fierce look and she knew that she wasn't going to say anything. "It is too horrible to even talk about Rosalie. I am positive that this is not going to happen, even the mutts won't go to that far of length just to screw us over." I said angrily and Alice shook her head, disbelieving me. "They won't Alice," I was pleading with her, and saying it more to myself, "They just won't."

"I can't say Edward." Alice replied curtly.

I clenched my teeth and looked towards her then at Rosalie who was still looking worriedly at me. She kept her fingers clenched around my forearm, just in case I decided to do something. A snarl escaped my lips. "I will not let that happen, that vision will never come true." I heard the conversation come to a cease and I ushered Rosalie and Alice into the house. We entered and Bella was walking over. Alice said a few things to her before pushing her up the stairs while Rosalie and I walked into the family room where everybody was seated already.

"Tell us about the vision." Carlisle stated clearly.

I grimaced. It wasn't something that I really wanted to repeat. I didn't like the idea of me being away from Bella if that was going to be her fate. I looked up the stairs and then back to everybody else in the room. "It was horrible," I said shortly. "Bella was being killed by the mutts. They didn't show her any mercy and I don't understand why we weren't there with her."

"There's more too it, isn't there?" Emmett asked solemnly and I nodded weakly. "It's alright; we won't let this happen to Bella."

"Of course not," Tanya agreed as Esme nodded also.

Carlisle looked at me and I frowned non-discreetly. Carlisle nodded and sighed simply. "We will keep a close eye on Bella and make sure that she hears nothing of this. I know that Alice will try to encourage you to tell her—but it will just give Bella ideas to leave without telling us. She can't handle the werewolves without all of our help."

"She won't be going there at all!" I protested and Esme rested a hand gently on my arm, making sure that I wasn't going to do anything.

'Calm down Edward, we're all going to make sure that nothing happens to Bella. We're going to make sure that nothing happens to Bella. It'll be alright.' Esme sent over to me and I settled back down next to her. She smiled slightly—it was a small, sad smile—before we all decided that it was time to move before Bella came down and thought that something was wrong. We would have no idea how to answer to her question if she asked. I walked out towards the backyard, trying to control my feelings and my thoughts. It was later, that Bella and Alice came to find me—it seemed that there was going to be a thunder and lightning storm and we were 'required' to go and play baseball.

Bella pressed a hand to my cheek and frowned slight. We were just about to leave for the field. "Is there something wrong Edward?" She questioned and I stood there frozen. There was nothing wrong, nothing that I could tell her. I pulled her close to me and kissed her on the nose before capturing her lips.

"Nothing's wrong," I mumbled against her lips.

Once we got to the field, I was separated from Bella once again. She sat at the rocks with Rosalie—who I was thankful for, Rosalie could be there if something did happen—and Esme on the other side of her. We were on even teams and I was grateful for the little distraction that I had while playing the game. My mind was taken off of Bella until the rainstorm stopped and we were forced to stop playing. I wandered back to Bella and lifted her off of the rock and into my arms. She laughed and questioned what I was doing, but she looked so beautiful, that I couldn't let the moment pass. I was afraid that there was only a certain amount of time left.

'Bella's here! I wonder if she remembers who I am.' It was that annoying guy once more. I suppressed a growl as I looked around my room. I was separated from Bella in the first period class, one of the classes that I didn't have with her. Alice looked over at me and rested her hand against mine, her thoughts flooding me. I only listened to the boy—Devon—thought. 'She looks beautiful in the skirt and sweater. I wonder why she wasn't wearing something like this last time I saw her…wait she said that she was going to go Denali PEAK, why isn't she there? I wonder if I talk to her, she'll remember who I am. Oh well! It's worth a try.'

"Is something wrong?" Alice mimicked Bella's question that she asked last night. I looked up at her and shook my head. I glared at the clock as I listened to the rest of Devon's thoughts. He was disappointed when Bella told him that I was her boyfriend. I cheered mentally, glad that I had one problem checked off of my 'to-do' list.

"What do you have next?" I asked Alice after class.

Alice sighed and looked down at her nails before replying. "I've got English next period; I'll see you at History, then?" I nodded and she bounced down the hallways. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at my sister before walking to biology, which I had with Bella. I sat down in the joint table and bit on the inside of my lip, I was anxious to see Bella. Bella entered the room and smiled slightly at me.

"How was your first class?" I asked and very gently I took her hand in mine.

"Horrible, this guy kept talking to me throughout the whole class." Bella retorted and I nodded, before flipping over her hand and tracing soft circles on her palm. I drew a couple of different shapes as she looked on. "What are you doing?" She questioned me fiercely and I just laughed. That was Bella for me.

"I'm bored, this interests me." I replied and started to draw imaginary figures out on her palm. I lowered my voice before speaking to Bella again although I knew that no humans could understand what we were saying since we were talking so fast. "I heard what that guy was thinking Bella, he's just like Mike."

"That's exactly what I thought!" She shouted, a little too loud for her own good. She shrank back into my seat and turned to me. I smiled at her as I drew a rectangle on her palm, before deciding to write something on her palm. "He reminds me so much of Mike."

"He thinks like Mike also." I stated simply.

Bella looked at me trying to meet my gaze, but I was starring intently on the letters that I was writing on her palm. It wasn't like she could keep track of the letters though. "And what is that supposed to mean?" She questioned me and I looked up briefly at her before looking back down.

"Nothing really, it shouldn't concern you. Your ego might grow if I tell you what he's thinking." I smirked before she pulled her hand away and hit me on my upper arm playfully.

"My ego? You're the one who has a big ego!" She teased and I rolled my eyes good-naturedly before grabbing her hand again and sort-of intertwining our fingers. The teacher walked into the room before I could say anything more. The whole class went by faster then I would have thought. I spent the whole class drawing letters onto Bella's palm. I wrote quickly, just to make sure that she wouldn't catch on to what I was doing. A couple of times, I could see that out of the corner of my eye, Bella was trying to keep track. I wrote faster then and then she would sigh and give up. Soon, the bell was ringing and we both stood up quickly, our hands still intertwined.

I was separated from Bella once more, but this time she had class with Alice. Before long, it was lunch and I was sitting down next to Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett like it was back in Forks. Alice came bouncing into the cafeteria, pulling Bella along with her. Rosalie smiled slightly and waved them over to the table. Bella sat down in the chair next to me and I pulled her over to me, wrapping an around her waist. I pressed a kiss to her temple and she smiled before she let her eyes wander around the cafeteria to see who was watching. I could feel her breath hitch in her throat as her eyes met Devon's. I glared at Devon as his thoughts traveled through my mind.

'Bella deserves somebody so much better then that Edward!' Devon thought bitterly to himself. 'She's too perfect for him. I don't get why she wouldn't like me! Erg, I wish she would just see!'

"What's he thinking?" Bella breathed the question and I shook my head.

"It's not important." I replied simply.

Bella moved up the stairs when we arrived home and I entered the kitchen with Alice on my trail. "It's gotten worse, there's more to vision and I'm sensing that there is going to be some worse things happening. Now, there is more chance that something is going to happen Edward." Alice confided in me and I looked up towards the ceiling, trying to collect my thoughts.

"We can't tell her still, it's too dangerous. Actually, I don't think we should tell anybody." I concluded and Alice shook her head. I knew that she would want to tell Bella and the rest of the family, but it was too difficult for me to do that. If the vision had gotten worse that meant there was more chance that it was going to happen.

"How can you not tell her Edward? She deserves to know! You don't understand how much she deserves to know, what if something really bad happened to Charlie or Renée. And also, how can we not tell Carlisle or Esme? That is just being irresponsible." Alice questioned fiercely.

"We aren't going to tell her or the rest of the family Alice," I decided firmly. "It'll only result in a bad thing."

"You don't know that! Bella could be totally sensible and you're the one that's jumping to conclusions. You are being too difficult Edward, you're just being selfish! Bella could lose her parents and you are just afraid of losing her…! You know, if we tell Bella, then we can save them if they are really in trouble!" Alice said, her voice shaking with anger, but her face showed no emotion. "Also, why wouldn't we tell Carlisle or Esme? They could help!"

I shook my head sharply. "No Alice, it's too dangerous."

"We have to tell her Edward," Alice stressed. She had given up on telling Carlisle and Esme, but she was still on the idea of telling Bella. "It's her parents."

"We'll do this by ourselves, I don't want her to get into any kind of danger, and it would definitely be dangerous to tell her what happened." I shot back and Alice shook her head at me. "Alice, you can't breath a word of this to anybody especially Bella."

"Edward, you're being ridiculous. Bella deserves to know and you're just being selfish. If she finds out from somebody else, do you know how that will end? She could get in more danger that way. We'll just have to trust that nothing will happen to them while we make up a plan of what to do." Alice snapped quickly. I heard a small gasp and I turned around. I could see Bella peeking out from before the stairs and she walked out into the light when she caught me eye.

"Edward, Alice." She greeted her voice solid. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

End of Chapter 7: Edward's Interlude

Authors Notes: So it's only six pages this time and I got it up on Friday! Aren't you guys proud of me? I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, although I was not too fond of it myself. Thanks so much for the reviews!

6/10/07: Okay, I'm so sorry that I updated again, but I put up the wrong chapter and this is the edited one and thank you so much to RedTail'sGirl for editing it and that's all I really wanted to say. I wanted to do a little foreshadowing though. So here is a little update.

Fact:

1. The vision will come true in some ways.

2. Edward and the rest of the Cullen family will not know of Bella's depart until after she is in Forks. (You will understand that later).

3. Jacob and Bella will become something.

That's it for now!

Questions, questions:

1. Did you like Edward's Interlude?

2. Any mistakes?

3. Any comments that you would like me to know?

4. Suggestions for the story?

5. Any questions you have for this story or for me?

That's it for now! Thanks for reading!

Please review!