Chapter 12

"What made you change your mind?" I asked. Edward was so dead set against seeing her before. It made sense now that I knew… but it didn't offer an explanation as to why he wanted to see her again. It didn't explain why all of the sudden we were now racing down the highway at ungodly speeds.

"She's dying. It won't matter if I tell her." His voice was flat.

"You're going to tell her you're a… vampire?" I had difficulty saying the last word.

He turned to me, shocked. "No! Of course not! I'm just going to tell her that I'm alive… kind of. And happy… well, as happy as I can be, I guess. That way she can die without the pain of losing a child."

"Edward, seeing her now isn't going to heal, or even patch up, the hole you left in her. This might even make things worse. Are you sure you want to do this?" I was concerned about how seeing his mother for the last time might affect him.

"Bella, I don't want to do this." His voice was urgent, dangerous. "But I have to. She needs me. I need her. It's going to be hard, I know, but I need to see her one more time, to make up for all I've left behind…" He choked off.

"Edward, we will make this work. I promise, you will get to see your mother." I smiled at him. "Let's figure out what our cover story is."

"Our what?" Obviously, he hadn't thought this through.

"Well, you can't just waltz in and tell the doctor, 'Yes, I'm her son. You know, the one that's been missing for two years? Yeah, I want to see my dying mom and tell her I'm a vampire.' That would not go over well." I finished. Edward started laughing.

"No, I guess we can't do that. Let's say you came because you're a family friend, and I'm your boyfriend from Forks, here for moral support." He suggested.

"Not bad, not bad," I laughed. "But you need a name."

"How about Edmund Cullen?"

I snorted. "Not unless you want people to think you're gay. Or old."

"What's wrong with the name Edmund? It's perfectly fine!" He protested.

I ignored him. "How about we just use your name? You look different enough. There are probably lots of Edwards out there."

"Fine," he grumbled. "I liked Edmund better…" He mumbled. I looked up from my fingernails, which I had been picking at since I got in the car.

"Turn here!" I shouted, seeing the airport terminal and fearing he hadn't.

Smooth as ever, he pulled in the right lane. "We're fine, Bella. I'm the one driving, remember?" He didn't need to get cocky about it.

We pulled in the first space available and ran to the ticket counter. "Hi, we need two tickets on the first flight to Phoenix, ma'am." Edward said, smiling at the woman, who looked flustered.

She tapped away on her computer, sometimes looking up to see if he was watching. Every time, she blushed. I nudged him. "You know, you shouldn't do that to people," I whispered.

"Do what?" he whispered back.

"Dazzle people. It's not nice."

His face twisted into a smile and he was about to say something when the woman interrupted. "You're in luck- there's a flight to Phoenix taking off in twenty minutes."

"We'll take it." Edward said quickly.

She handed over the tickets. "Then you better hurry." She smiled at Edward, totally ignoring me. "Have a pleasant flight." She purred, leaning over so her cleavage was exposed. I resisted the urge to gag in her face.

"Thank you. Goodbye." I said flatly and pulled Edward away. He looked amused.

"I dazzle people?"

Wow, the boy was blind. "Did you see her? She was all over you! It was disgusting."

"I didn't notice. You aren't jealous, are you?" He looked concerned.

"No… I'm not jealous." I lied, smiling. He didn't buy it.

"You're lying." He stated.

"I thought you couldn't read my mind!" I accused.

He got defensive. "I can't! You're just a bad liar. A really bad liar." His tone softened. "Bella, don't worry. I only have eyes for you."

I felt dizzy, but I tried to cover it up with a bitter laugh. "But why would you want me? I'm so boring, and you're so…. amazing."

He took my hand. "Bella, you are the opposite of boring. Would you like to hear me describe you?"

"No," I whispered. He ignored me.

"Beautiful, tantalizing, tempting, intriguing, confusing, perfect, flawless." He stared at me intensely.

"That's not me, I'm none of those things. You're talking about yourself." I said sadly.

"When will you see yourself clearly? You are easily the most beautiful girl in Forks." God, it was infuriating. He couldn't see me clearly. These are all the things about HIM.

"No, I'm not!" He looked taken aback at my outburst. I had to make the situation lighter. "Besides, there are like, fifteen girls in Forks, so that's not saying much."

I checked my watch, pretending the conversation never happened. Then I gasped. "We're going to miss our flight!"

He looked at the clock. "Not if we run." He smiled mischievously.

"We can't make it there in-" I stopped. He was still smiling. I realized what he meant. "Oh, no," I took a step back. He mirrored me.

"Bella, you'll be perfectly fine. No one will see, we'll go so fast." Before I could respond, he slung me on his back. Then we were off.

I closed my eyes, then forced myself to open them. We were going too fast to see if anyone noticed. We stopped after a few minutes, in front of our gate, where the last passengers were boarding. He helped me get in line.

"Never do that again!" I wobbled on my feet. He kept a firm grip on my elbow as he handed the steward our tickets. We walked on to the plane. He was laughing at me. "I'm dead serious, Edward, someone could have seen."

"But they didn't," he taunted.

"But they could have!"

"Relax, Bella, it's over and done with."

We got to our row. He sat down in the aisle seat, letting me have the window. But I didn't sit down. He quickly became confused. "What's wrong?"

"First class?" I hissed.

He looked mollified. "Bella, money isn't an object. Besides, you will be more comfortable. You can catch up on sleep."

"Fine," I huffed. I slid in. It really was comfortable. Then I realized something. "How did you know I need to catch up on sleep?"

That stopped him. He looked at me sheepishly. "Um… no comment?"

"You're not getting away with even more vagueness, mister. Tell me." I threatened.

"I… sometimes, you know, when nothing's going on at night…" He stuttered, looking for words.

"Spit it out." I snapped my fingers.

"I watch you sleep. It's fascinating." He admitted.

"WHAT?" People turned and stared. I blushed, and they looked away, annoyed. I continued, quieter. "For how long?"

"Ever since the first night."

"How?" How did he get in my room?

"It's not hard to scale a wall. It's easy to hide." He shrugged.

"And how, pray tell, do you find time to do this? Vampires need their sleep too," I mocked him.

He smiled smugly. "Actually, we don't."

I stared, openmouthed. "Okay, hmm…" He looked at me expectantly. "I'm going to sleep now. You might not feel it, but this conversation has been frustrating and exhausting."

"Sleep well, love. When you wake, we'll be there." He said softly. My anger vanished in a second. I leaned my chair back and fell asleep with visions of Edward dancing in my head.

I woke four hours later, but didn't immediately let Edward aware of that fact. I was too aware of his hand, sitting on top of mine.

When I groaned, part of the act, Edward quickly moved his hand, pretending to stretch. I looked out the window, seeing finally the deserts and valleys of Phoenix below us. Despite all the heavy baggage and secrets I brought from Forks, I felt my spirit lift. I was home.

So sorry I haven't written in a while!! I'm on break, so I should have another chapter up this week :)

This is more of a filler chapter, but I was feeling fluffy. They needed to establish their relationship before anything else could happen.

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