Author's Note
A Fan Of A Fan: I absolutely loved getting your review. It's fans like you that keep me writing. And once you get a fanfic name, just message me with anything! That goes for everyone else too! Believe me, I get so bored in all my classes, I need something to keep me occupied! Oh, and also when the guys aren't on the bus, then I am really bored, like now.
Also, you commented on how everyone seemed to know each other. This is attributed to two factors: their "extra" senses and parental association. Alice and Edward can predict Bella's reactions or read the mind of those who hang around with her, such as Renee and Laura. Laura has gotten her mind poked a lot at throughout this fic. STOP THINKING DIRTY THOUGHTS LAUR! And, like any parents, Carlisle and Renee had a good long phone conversation before Edward proposed the plans, and they introduced themselves to each other. Renee, who was utterly bewitched by Carlisle's charm, thought him a very sweet man, and easily acceded to the plans as soon as she heard all of them. Renee does know all the plans.
Alice had a vision about all this; that Edward would find Bella and immediately be attracted to her, so she investigated. It was not Renee, but Alice, who delivered the note for Edward on the rose (though the entire thing was his idea). She then searched Bella's room to study what Bella liked, her clothing, and everything there was to know about her. The ransack of her room later was only for show. Alice was probably just doing that so as not to freak Bella out by her extreme knowledge during the shopping trip and packing. Alice's early research also caused the switch of emails, which I will get to later.
Yes, this is Bella's sophomore year, not her freshman, another frequently asked question. It would have been too much of a time lapse between this story and Twilight to put it in freshman year.
Hope I cleared everything up!
Oh, and I'm slightly disappointed in all of you. Only one person got close to guessing where Edward is taking her! Kudos Xx.poisenedtwilight.xX!
AND THANK YOU LAUR FOR BETA-ING!!!
rosylee
Chapter Nine
Edward…
He looked absolutely stunning. He wore a brown sweater that contoured to every muscle, making me even more dazed, if possible. His untidy hair whipped around, like he had just been in the blowing wind, in a photo shoot for a magazine or billboard. How did I possibly deserve this?
"You look absolutely stunning Bella."
I let out a slight laugh, "I was just about to say the same for you."
"Well, shall we?" He said, extending an hand, which I gingerly took. Alice handed him my suitcase for his other hand. Oh no, I had forgotten to check what she had packed. Well, there was nothing I could do about it now but wait and hope.
He led me to his Porsche, parked right in front of my house. But then my two best friends kicked in on the way there. Fate and Gravity. I tripped coming off our porch steps and plummeted face first toward the cement walkway. Right before impact, I was caught by two incredibly strong arms, which the lifted me up as if I was a feather.
"I told you he would never let you fall again," chuckled Alice from the screen porch.
I could get used to this.
Edward refused to put me down, but even though I protested, I would have rather jumped off a cliff (irony) than leave the place where I now was held.
He carried me all the way to the car, where he then opened the door and placed me inside. I could hear the "click" of the car trunk as he placed my suitcase away, and then he was immediately right beside me.
"So this is cozy, isn't it?" he teased, trying to lighten the air. But I knew of all he would have to do to put me at ease. Just flash his eyes. They mesmerized me, made everything alright. As if he knew what I wanted, he started up the engine, but not before looking straight at me with his once again tawny eyes.
"Are you ready for today?"
"More than ever."
He then sped off, in direction of the highway, and I became plastered to my seat. My face was contorted in an expression of fear and disapproval. Edward saw my appearance and laughed whole heartedly. Then I blushed. He tensed then cooled from this reaction. He then lifted his head back and took a deep breath through his nose. What had Alice sprayed me with?
"So, do I get to know where we're going yet?"
"No, actually Alice forgot to do something for me." He pulled over, and I now noticed we were already on the outer part of Phoenix. He then reached in a bag and took out something, indiscernible to me, and then looked directly into my eyes, and I could… barely… think… a…. complete… thought.
"Would you please turn around, I have one more thing in this surprise."
More than one.
I turned, all will power lost, and he placed his cool hands around my shoulders. I shivered as he gave me a hug, not able to think of what to expect next. "Now close your eyes," his velvety voice whispered in my ear. Oh no, did I make a mistake by coming? What is he going to do to me? That question was then answered. He took the thing from his bag and tied it around my eyes. I still was anxious, what does this mean? I shivered again, and not from the coldness of his skin.
"Edward! What are you doing? This is scaring me! Please tell me what you're doing! Does my mom know where we're going? EDWARD!!" I was starting to shake and I could feel my face turning beat red.
"Bella, you're getting worked up over nothing!" He removed my blindfold. I opened my eyes to see two smoldering honey eyes staring into mine. "I just wanted to prolong the surprise to where we're going." He looked slightly sad, that I had tried to ruin his surprise.
"Okay, I'll put it back on, but if anything starts to worry me, I'm taking it off, kay?" I tried to smolder him the way he did me. It didn't work, but he drew back and didn't protest. I then tied what I now found to be a bandana around my eyes.
Since I was numb to my sense of sight, I couldn't watch what he was doing or where we were going, I could only listen. He turned on the radio, softly, to an older station, with classic romance tunes like the one we had dance to last night. Edward knew every word. He had just finished a song when the questioning began.
"So, what did you think I was doing before?"
"I don't know, I had a feeling you were kidnapping me, carrying me away."
He shuddered. That I could hear. "What would cause you to think that?"
Oh no. I couldn't tell him. So I wouldn't. I told him a different truth. "You're the first guy who's really ever been attracted to me, and it's all new."
"Well, you haven't got to worry about that. You're the first person I've ever been attracted to." Then, under his breath added something I couldn't understand. Or I didn't want to. If he wouldn't say it to me, then it probably wasn't for me to hear.
We sat in silence for a little while, only the music of the radio stifling the silence. The old music continued to play, since he had not changed the station and I could not, but it was more comforting than any other music would be.
I listened to the lyrics of the song playing; it was a more familiar one, for it had been used in a lot of movie lately:
I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That my heart embraces
All day through—
The sound of the radio died; Edward had decided to break the silence.
"I'm sorry I upset you. We're almost there, though."
"I really wish you would tell me where we're going."
"I can't do that, it would ruin the surprise. But we're almost there."
"How long is almost?"
"About twenty minutes. But while we're waiting, can we do something other than ignore each other?"
I said with an exaggerated pout, "I wasn't ignoring you. You just decided to stop talking." We both chuckled.
"Can I ask you questions?" I asked, curious.
"Okay. Just don't be positive I'll answer all of them."
"Umm, okay, what's your favorite color?"
"You're going to have to be more creative than that, but okay…,"he paused. "Light red."
"Light red?"
"Yes, it's the color of the sunset right near the horizon, of leaves when before they turn brown, and…," he paused again, and took a large soft breath, "it's the color your cheeks turn when you blush."
This only sent that familiar warmth to my cheeks, and he chuckled softly. "I'm very partial to that color, you know. If everything were my way, I would have you blush ceaselessly."
I knew now my face was not light red, it was more the color of a fire truck. His laughter became even deeper, and I felt something cool brush against my cheek. His fingers? But the touch worked, my cheeks cooled, but then again, my heart rate did not. I sped up as if I had been running sprints. Why did I have such a reaction to each and every one of his touches? This would be embarrassing.
He interrupted my internal chatter, "We're here."
In a matter of seconds I was being raised out of the car and then carried over to what felt like a bench. My blindfold was lifted and I saw where we were.
We were in a park, and instantly I knew we were very far from Phoenix. There were brown leaves on the ground and light red ones on the trees. I could tell why Alice had insisted on such a wintry wardrobe.
"Edward, it's beautiful."
I looked around, it was an ordinary park, with ordinary people, but it was the ideal picture of fall, one I had longed for. Not rainy like Forks or sunny like Phoenix, but it was if I had been placed in Renee's old childhood picture. But it was also dark, since it was past dusk. But wait, Renee grew up in Connecticut.
"Where are we?" Had he taken me that far away? No, that was impractical. We had to me so much closer than that.
He chuckled, "We're in Colorado."
COLORADO!!! That drive would take a normal person hours. And we had done it in… I scanned my surroundings for a clock. It was a little after 7. About an hour. Wow.
"So, what are we doing, or going to be doing, here?"
"Hold on, just follow me." He extended his hand, and started to lead me further into the park. His hands were cold, as usual, but now they were more soothing than chilling.
We walked through pathways, falling leaves, and the many people in the park. Finally, we went beyond the crowded areas, and less and less people passed our way. Edward started getting excited then, and I could tell we were getting close. His quicken his pace, and I had to run to keep up with him.
Then, as usual, two things haunted me.
Fate and Gravity.
I fell, but not in the normal face first fashion. My feet tangled with themselves, and I twisted and ended falling in a pile of leaves alongside the path. I landed and leaves flew everywhere. Edward had let me drop, but it didn't matter to me, I was laughing. This was the best fall I had ever had. (b/n: pun intended!)
When I looked up, saw Edward, and he was laughing as well.
"Emmett said I should let you fall into a pile of leaves, but I disagreed. Now I see he was right."
"Can you believe that I've never done this?"
"Your face after you fell gave that away. And can you believe I've never seen anyone fall more beautifully?"
"I can't believe that. Look at your sisters; they're hundred times prettier than me."
"There are two reasons they can't attest to you there. They aren't anywhere near as stunning to me as you are. Plus, they don't fall."
"Ever?" Lucky.
"Never have I seen Rose or Alice fall. Well, Alice was pushed once, but that doesn't count."
"Oh well they're very lucky. I fall too much."
"I can see that. You can't go one day without falling."
"Actually, once I did."
His eyes perked up at those words, disbelieving. Then his eyebrow rose. Oh, why did he have to be so perfect? Then he smiled, a crooked, playful smile, and my heart melted. "Really?"
"I was sick, I wasn't allowed out of my bed."
No amount of fairytale endings could have bribed me from the event that I now witnessed now. Edward Cullen, the most glorious creature I had ever seen, threw his head back and laughed a laugh so melodic it was music to my ears. I laughed, only because he was too perfect to be true.
"Isabella Marie Swan, you are the most amazing individual I have ever met."
Wait, how did he know my middle name? It doesn't matter, but it is curious.
Edward helped me up and before I realized it, I was in his arms once again. Literally. He had lifted me up into the air and started walking along the path again.
"I can walk myself thank you."
"I do believe we have proven that wrong." Edward chuckled again, obviously remembering the sight of me in the leaf pile.
"But I really can! I can try can't I?"
"No. You are not getting down from my arms, whether you like it or not."
I stopped protesting and realized what I was doing, that I was actually trying to get out of the arms that protected me most. The arms I now wished to stay in.
We finally arrived at what I realized was our final destination. A frozen over pond, glistening with the little light that was left. The moonlight danced on the trees, and it was a full moon. Edward let me down, but not entirely, for I was still in his arms.
"I thought to have a little fun like I used to when I was a kid." I then realized that he had had a bag slung across his shoulders. He took it down and opened it up. Oh no, what I saw inside scared me more than any slimy creature on Earth
Ice skates.
"Do you skate?" he asked me. No, I didn't skate, I slid on ice.
"Not well." He had already gotten his skates on, and he was working on lacing mine.
"Don't worry; it's all in the leading." He had finished with my skates, and now held out his arms toward me.
I took them gingerly, and he slid backwards onto the ice. He pulled me with him, and surprisingly, I didn't fall. I giggled. This was fun, not falling.
Edward pulled me out farther into the center of the pond. He twirled and then he spun me. Had I been doing this myself, I would have slipped, fallen, and landed with a "thud!" on my butt.
I was full-fledged laughing now, and Edward joined in. With that, he skated me around the pond. His hands had moved to stable me around my waist, and now we were gliding, and there was no one else in the world but us. Nothing else matter then. I could die tomorrow content. I loved this.
At that thought, I fell. How much I detested Newton and gravity at that moment. But this fall was different. Not only did Edward let me fall, he fell with me. We landed, rather softly, on the cold ice, and once again, we were laughing. I looked into his eyes, and they were laughing as well. Then they changed. Changed to a look of lust and want. He leaned in, and then looked back into my eyes. I could tell he could see I wanted this too.
He kissed me. This was unlike either of our other kisses. But that was good. This kiss was more lustful, still very guarded, but Edward leaned into me and kissed me with full fervor. His hands held the back of my neck, supporting it, and his body, though not touching mine, was very close and angled toward me. His lips were cold, but I expected nothing else. They were pressed hard against mine, but still, closed. At that moment I lost control, my hands twined in his glorious messy hair, and I leaned close so that every line of our bodies pressed against each other. It was at that moment that he pulled back.
Before another second passed, he was gone, away on the path.
"Edward?" I was frantic, he had left. Was I horrible at kissing? Had I pushed him too far? How could I have pushed him too far, we were simply kissing, not even close to Lynne and Greg, or Laura and Josh for that matter.
"Give me a minute. I'll be right back."
A few moments later he was back by my side, lying down on the ice with me, and looking straight into my eyes.
"What happened? Why did you leave?"
"I just lose control of myself sometimes. And I don't want to push farther than I know I can handle."
"Oh."
"I had something else in mind for tonight, do you want to go?"
Leave? Already? Then I looked at the sky, it was darker than before, it must be really late.
"Umm… okay."
He helped me up and started leading me to the edge of the pond. Once we got there, I stopped.
"Edward, just give me a minute."
I looked back on the pond, and its beauty, taking a mental picture. This was a moment I would want to remember forever. A place that would be engraved in my mind until I died.
"Okay, I'm ready now."
Never would I truly be ready, but I was as close as ever possible.
"May I?" Edward made a gesture to lift me.
"Why must you carry me every two minutes, I am perfectly capable of walking—"
"Right into a tree, yes you are." Edward laughed at his joke and then lifted me over his shoulders.
"Edward Cullen, if you don't put me down right this instant!!!" I screamed.
He lowered me until my face was even with his, a good eight inches off the ground still, "You'll what? Hurt me? Try."
I gave him a playful punch in the arm. Ouch, that hurt.
That crooked smile crept onto his face once again. Was the word perfect even adequate for him any more?
He then lifted me back over his shoulders and ran. He was fast. Not scary fast, just fast. Then he sped up. I gulped; we were covering more area than should be humanly possible. Still, he didn't breathe heavily or slow, even with the weight of me to carry.
He stopped right outside his car; the trip that had taken us about 10 minutes took him 30 seconds. He hadn't even broken a sweat.
"How do you do that? Be so perfect and great I mean?"
He chuckled, "Let's just say it comes naturally to me."
I laughed softly.
"So, what else are we doing…"
A/n: I know it's cruel to leave you like that but I think you'd rather get this chapter now than wait a couple days for a longer one! Enjoy! Review! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE getting reviews, as you know.
b/n: so cute!!!!!!