Stephenie Meyer owns all of the rights.
"I was thinking, while I was running..." He paused.
"About not hitting the tress, I hope."
"Silly Bella," he chuckled. "Running is second nature to me, it's not something I have to think about."
"Show-off," I muttered again.
–Twilight.
It was nice to have alone time with Edward; I had longed and waited for alone time for so long. I had missed having the alone time that we used to share, many years ago. But somehow, the alone time that we had now was so much... sweeter than before. I guess that was because I wasn't so fragile, I could do other things with Edward now. Things that I had only dreamed about in my sleep.
You know, you get used to not sleeping and not dreaming after a while. Your dreams take form in other ways – they become you mantras and your hopes. They become the force that keeps pushing you on in your life when you feel like giving up. Even though I didn't have the ability to sleep anymore, I still dreamed. I doubted that I would ever let go of the ability to dream; It had kept me sane for many, many years now. I was very thankful for that, too. It's hard when you spend most of your time alone unless you have something else to occupy your thoughts. For me, that distraction that I need so much was dreaming. It was so human, but I loved it.
Since I had rediscovered Edward and his family, however, I needn't dream as much. My mantras – just make it through today and you'll find someone who cares for you; Edward didn't love you, but that doesn't mean that you should give up; Edward didn't love you, you're too fragile, Bella. You've got to prove him wrong. Be strong, carry on. – had disappeared almost as quickly as Edward had disappeared all of those years ago. I didn't need a mantra anymore to keep me going; Edward was enough for now, enough for forever.
Forever wasn't half as long as you would have thought. Forever was all relative. When you were spending time with the person that you loved, it didn't matter. You didn't need to worry about how much longer you were damned to existence. Having someone that loved you was reason enough. I could finally appreciate what Esme saw in Carlisle, Rose saw in Emmett, Alice saw in Jasper. I knew that they saw forever as being such a shorter sentence to them because they had someone there for them.
Edward had brought about my happiness.
"Wow, there's a whole lot of love in this house," I heard Jasper's voice call out.
I had been lying in Edward's arms on the bed upstairs. I never even heard the other cars pull up to the house; I guessed that I was really out of it at the moment. It had been hours since we had made love on this bed, hours since we had showered together, hours since we had arrived at our new home. It took me by complete surprise to hear the rest of the family walking into the house – I hadn't realized it had been that long.
Although we had only been granted a days head start, it seemed like they were here too early. Edward and I were still talking quietly, still falling in love more. I wasn't going to get upset about it, though. I knew that Edward loved me and I was happy that his family was finally here. It made me feel good to know that we were all back together... although I still was wishing that we had more alone time. I was sure that we could arrange for it to happen.
I lifted my head off of Edward's chest and sat up on our bed. I stretched my arms out in front of me for a second, smiling as Edward chuckled at me. He sat up, too, and smoothed down the back of my hair, which was currently sticking up a bit from the position I had been in. I didn't care, though.
"Jasper is wondering if we had sex," Edward whispered to me, pressing his lips against my throat. I felt his hands pull at my sides, pulling me closer to him.
"Oh?" I murmured, pressing my own lips against his stone arm. After I kissed his arm, I moved my lips away and pressed my cheek against his shoulder, letting him hold me close. My arms wrapped around him gently. I loved my Edward.
"It's none of his business."
"Mhm," I murmured, keeping Edward happy. I didn't care if his family knew – hello, they all had their special talents. I'm sure that they were also smart enough to know what Edward and I had done together. I also knew that most of them had enough tact in their head to not ask us such a personal question – at least, not out loud. Whatever they thought in their own heads was Edward's problem, not mine.
"Come on, they're wondering where we're hiding," he said with a sigh. Before I could respond, Edward swept me up in his arms and was carrying me down the stairs. He ignored my protests and silenced them by placing his lips against mine. I didn't mind that. Really, I didn't. Who would?
Edward set me down on my feet quickly, just as Esme and Alice came into the foyer, where the stairs were. I was holding Edward's hand and smiling sheepishly with my cheek pressed against his arm once more.
"There you two are," Esme said, delighted. I could tell that she was happy to see us here, happy to see how happy we seemed. I was glad; I knew that Esme was constantly worried about Edward's happiness, along with my own. Esme was such a great mum to the Cullen's. I knew that although she wasn't much older than most of the 'children', she cared about them as if they were her own kids. And for the most part, I could tell that the 'kids' enjoyed having a mother figure, along with a father figure.
"Bella, we've just got to take you shopping!" Alice exclaimed with the widest grin I'd seen on her in ages. To me, she still reminded me of a small pixie. She was beautiful as always, but I was quite wary about wanting to go shopping with her. I still didn't like the idea of money being spent on me, no matter how much money Carlisle and everyone else had accumulated over the years! It still wasn't fair in my eyes. It made me feel weird, too.
"We?" I asked, warily.
"Yes! Me 'n Esme 'n Rose," Alice said with a nod. She seemed set on how this was going to happen.
"Yes, Bella. We're going to take you shopping – you'll need new clothes." Esme was the voice of reason. Perhaps if she were there, she could help... rein Alice and Rose in a bit? I wasn't sure if Esme was a big shopper or not; somehow, I couldn't see her saying 'Oh, this would look fabulous on you, Bella! Try it on – Oh! And this, too!'. That was more of an Alice or Rose thing, in my mind. Then again, what did I know?
Alice looked intently into Edward's face. I'm sure that she was asking him something that she didn't want me to hear, and sure enough, Edward grinned and nodded his head. It really frustrated me sometimes that Edward would have secret conversations right in front of me – it made me nervous as to what was going to be happening in the near future. Unlike Alice, I didn't possess the skill of seeing the future, although I thought that it might be handy. Especially in situations like this.
"Fine," Edward concluded his conversation with Alice out loud. She clapped her hands together and wore an expression that showed she was happy. I gulped. This could be bad.
"But you've got to have Bella back here in five hours, no more than that," he warned his sister and mother.
"Protective, aren't we?" Alice joked and Edward growled in response. I saw Esme give him 'the look' – you know, the one that disapproving mothers use in numerous situations – and it was his turn to wear a sheepish smile.
"Have fun, Bella," Edward told me before he bent down and kissed me on the lips. "I'll see you in a bit," he whispered as our lips pulled apart and he gave me a gentle enough shove towards his mother and Alice. Esme and Alice each took one of my hands and led me out to where Rose was waiting in her car.
I slid in the backseat with Esme and Alice took shotgun. I must admit that Rose had a very, very nice car. It was a brand new BMW – the version that I was pretty sure was only available overseas right now. It's engine hardly made a noise as she sped up, quickly surpassing the speed limits on our way to a mall. The leather interior smelled nice – you could tell that it was a new car, not only by the condition that it was in but by the smell of it.
"Here's fine," Alice agreed with Rose as Rose silently parked the car. Aside from a few soft spoken words to Alice, I hadn't heard Rose say a thing since I got in the car with her. I hoped that she didn't mind doing this with us; I could totally see Esme shaming her daughter into doing something like this for me. I prayed that wasn't the case.
The mall wasn't crowded. Occasionally we would pass a group of high-strung teenage girls and I would remember the thirst in my body. Edward and I would have to take a hunting trip, and soon. It felt like I was going to be struggling with my thirst all night; I shouldn't have been so foolish. I had been very foolish to let myself get so thirsty, but the options in the woods behind the house in Shoreline had been few and far between. I vowed to go hunting soon, and drink enough so that I wouldn't be so tempted again.
Rose seemed to know what I was feeling, and she gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Bella. We didn't even think about that when we made plans to take you shopping tonight. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, thanks," I said softly. Esme gave me a curious glance - she hadn't seemed to notice my leering. "I'm just a bit thirsty."
"Oh, Bella! I'm sorry!"
"No, no. It's fine, Esme. It's fine. Let's just get this done with." I still wasn't too keen on the whole shopping trip idea, but since I was here, I should make the best of it.
First we stopped in a low end store, much to my delight. Everything was really cheap and I was happy, figuring that I could just get everything here and not spend too much money while I was at it. Alice, however, burst my bubble by just saying that we were getting some clothes for when I went 'camping'. Oh, how I hated her and her fashion sense sometimes.
We made rounds to some of the haute couture stores that graced the mall; I wasn't really a fan of the high fashion, but Alice talked me into a couple of outfits that weren't too extravagant or over the top. Alice and Rose both got some outfits as well, which made me feel better to know that they were the ones doing the most damage to the bank account.
It was interesting to watch Alice at work in the higher end stores; the sales attendants would call her "Miss" and offer to help in every way imaginable. All she had to do was flash her credit card and it was as if any request that we could make would be granted to us. I had never seen a credit card like the one that Alice had before, so I guessed that it was for the rich people only. But, what did I know about credit cards, after all?
We also hit some decently priced stores – stores that reminded me of Debs or Delia's from when I was a girl – and I found most of my clothing choices there. Esme helped me pick out cute outfits that she thought Edward would like. Alice and Rose helped, too, but Esme was the most sympathetic and would just have to give the girls her 'look' and they would leave me alone for the most part.
I think that we probably spent more in every store than the stores normally made in a week. That was just a guess, though.
As you know, any trip to the mall is not complete without a trip to Victoria's Secret or Fredericks of Hollywood or the like. We found a boutique that was individually owned similar to Fredericks, and Alice quickly pulled me in. I knew that I would most likely be blushing my face off right about now if that was a possibility. She had the sales lady measure me quickly. Alice then proceeded to buy bras in almost every style – most of them were pushups, I must admit – and some lacy underwear too.
I felt so embarrassed! Alice, of course, wouldn't listen to anyone. She wouldn't listen to my protests or even Esme. All Alice would say is, "You'll thank me later, Bella." I didn't doubt it, but still! I was not prepared to be buying lingerie, thank you very much. Alice also made sure to buy me a silky nightgown, though I had no clue when I'd wear it.
"Just trust me," Alice scolded me as I stood fuming next to her. She had once again handed over her credit card and charged a lot of money. I didn't know how much – the thought of looking at the monitor made me feel sick – just that it was a lot.
"Fine," I mumbled, clearly not happy with what Alice had just done. I took the bags from the counter grudgingly and we walked out of the store. At least Alice was happy.
We left the shopping mall with lots of bags in our hands. To be honest, the bags completely filled the large trunk in Rose's BMW. It reminded me of a BMX 650i, but I couldn't be sure. I didn't see a name printed anywhere on the back of the car. Esme and I once again climbed in the back seat and Alice sat next to Rose happily.
We were home in no time, but I noted that we had been gone for about three and a half – closer to four – hours. It was withing Edward's time "restraint", though I wasn't quite sure why he needed me home. All I could guess at was that he wanted my company, but not enough that he would endure shopping with Alice for it.
I didn't blame him.
We arrived home to find the boys sitting on the couch, talking. I was wary of what they were talking about, but they all seemed happy to see the girls coming home. Carlisle excused himself and took Esme's hand as they walked up the stairs together. They were such a cute couple; it made me very happy to see them together. Rose and Emmett also excused themselves, though I watched them walk out to the garage where Rose had parked her beemer.
"I'm happy that you're so happy, Bella," Jasper commented.
"Huh?" I asked, slightly confused as I sunk into the couch next to Edward. His arm was around my shoulder the second that I sat down.
"I could just feel the... love... when I walked into the house. It made me feel very good," he informed me with a smirk. I knew that he knew – he had to have known. Alice probably knew, too, but she wasn't discussing it with me. That was good. I liked it better that way.
"I've always wanted to walk into the house like that and know that was what Edward was feeling," he continued. Alice was waiting patiently for him to finish talking. I think that she wanted to have a private – or as private as it could get in a household of good hearing vampires – with Jasper.
"Anyway, I wanted to thank you for making my brother so happy," he concluded as he got up. He leaned towards me rather quickly and gave me a peck on the head before leaving with Alice. I smiled after him, happy that he didn't have to avoid me anymore. I remembered how that always used to bum me out when he would avoid me. I understood why, though, and I didn't let it bother me.
"So, what'd you girls get?" Edward inquired, his fingers tracing my face.
"Oh, you know. Stuff."
"That's helpful," he said as he rolled his eyes at my answer.
"Just clothing, Edward. Anyway, do you think that we'll be able to go hunting tomorrow or something. Maybe stay overnight somewhere? I'm so thirsty, Edward, it's not funny."
"Yeah, that'd be fine. I could go for a hunt, too."
"Great!" I exclaimed. I was happy that he was going to be going hunting with me. This would be our first 'big' hunting trip together. The first one where we got to go away, anyway. I knew that it would be exciting.
"There's a good spot about two hours North of here," he informed me. "That's what we were talking about when you girls got home."
I nodded in understanding and he bent down to kiss me again. I hadn't been planning on taking any of that lingerie with me, but on second thought... maybe I would.