Hello, my lovelies. Two updates in three days. You guys are so lucky.
Edward POV
"Like a heroin addict, right?" Ah, so she was recalling our past conversations. I was surprised that she remembered, but chuckled anyway.
"Exactly." The silence settled around us, and I tentatively struck the first note of her lullaby. She faced me, and turned the full power of her big brown eyes on me, no trace of tears now. I can't quite describe the emotion there. The closest thing to it would be a perfect combination of passion, yearning, and incredulity. An odd mixture, no doubt, but there it was, etched onto the face of my reason for living, my lover, my soul mate, my everything. I could scarcely begin to hope that she thought of me the same way.
"I'm sorry for earlier," she murmured, biting her lip. I recognized the habit as one that she only did when she was nervous or didn't know what to expect. I wanted so badly for this to be easy for her, I would gladly have taken the burden from her, but I knew that I couldn't. "I overreacted, and I shouldn't have yelled at you, especially after last night." She paused, reminiscing, no doubt, then continued. "It was all kind of surreal at first, you know? I couldn't understand why you would come back." She laughed before adding, "I thought that I had finally cracked, and it was all just one big hallucination." I had to smile at this. Of course, my Bella would be the one to blame her own insanity rather than accept my sudden reappearance. She had said all she was going to, apparently, and it was my turn now.
"I apologize as well," I started. "I shouldn't have come back, especially without warning, and breaking into your bedroom probably wasn't the smartest idea either." The list went all, one stupid decision after the other, leading us to right where we were. "Neither one of us was ready for any kind of," I struggled for the right word, "reunion, and I didn't help the situation at all."
"I was the one that sent you away," she reminded me.
"So I guess that makes us even."
"Yeah, I guess so." Her brows furrowed, and I could tell she was searching for a solution to our predicament. I sighed, knowing that she would never find what she was looking for. After all the hours I had thought about it, I knew firsthand that it just wouldn't work. I plucked a few chords of an unfamiliar melody, letting go and letting my fingers play by themselves. My eyes were closed, but I could feel Bella by my side, and that was enough. I held one last note, before pulling away from the piano and pulling her closer to me with one arm. She leaned her head onto my shoulder, and I could have stayed there forever. Eternity didn't sound so bad, as long as Bella was in it. I realized what I was thinking about, and stiffened. I had no intention of letting Alice's vision come true, and I would do anything to prevent it.
Bella POV
The tears were threatening to spill over any second, and I was no closer to finding a resolution. Sure, all of my thoughts had become a train crash when Edward started playing, and again when he put his arm around me, but even before that I had come up with a big fat nothing. I blinked furiously, and decided that if I couldn't think of anything by myself it was time to include Edward. I knew how frustrated it made him, not knowing what I was thinking, and even when he asked I always edited. But not now. I took a deep breath and began.
"It's time to face the facts." If only it were as easy as it sounds. He glanced down at me, and smiled softly, no doubt glad to be getting somewhere, finally.
"Let's." Edward paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Suppose we have a vampire, who has no reason for existing without the company of a certain girl, a human girl." He looked at me pointedly, and I knew it was my turn.
"And suppose that said girl is utterly and irreversibly in love with said vampire." I raised my eyebrows, prompting him to continue where I left off.
"This vampire refuses to endanger the love of his life, and therefore," but I interrupted him. "Although the pair have previously decided that she is in fact a danger magnet and gets herself in as much or more trouble when he isn't there." I smiled gently at him before explaining. "Since you left, my visits to the hospitals have increased fairly drastically. I basically have my own parking spot at the ER," I joked, but he didn't seem to think it was funny.
"Isabella, what am I going to do with you," he scolded, and I couldn't help but murmuring, "I can think of a few things." He looked at me in amusement, so I continued with our scenario before I got completely sidetracked.
"Also, said vampire refuses to," I struggled with the wording, "deepen their physical relationship because he falsely assumes he would lose control and injure her."
"I thought we were sticking to the facts," he reminded me, but I ignored him. He rolled his eyes before going on. "So the vampire left for her safety," he emphasized, and it was my turn to roll my eyes. "However, he couldn't stay away, now he's returned, and the two of them are stuck." He summarized the ending, but I didn't mind. The sooner we finished this, the sooner we could move on to other things.
"Do you notice a pattern in all this?" He looked at me in confusion, so I answered my own question. "You, Edward, are screwing up our entire relationship because you want to keep me out of harm's way." He looked at the floor at my accusation, but didn't deny it. "If you could get past your issues with my safety, there would be nothing stopping us." I let the words hang in the air. He didn't say anything for a while, and I wondered if I had gone too far. I jumped in surprise when he abruptly stood, picked me up bridal style, and wordlessly carried me up the stairs. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from his for long enough to see where we were. He kicked open a door somewhere, but before I could look around my view was blocked by a tangled mess of bronze hair so I had to assume we were in his bedroom. His lips had glued themselves to my neck, moving in tantalizingly slow circles across my skin. A moan escaped my lips as his gradually worked their way up to my face.
"Edward," I gasped breathlessly, "what do you think you're doing?"
"Giving you what you want," he replied in my ear, while his cool breath made me shiver. I smiled against my will, knowing that he had no idea what his words did to me. He was still holding me in his arms and I struggled against his iron grasp to set my feet on the floor. He allowed me to do this, and started stepping forward, forcing me to move back. All too soon, I felt something obstructing my path, something about waist high, soft, but immovable. Edward leaned me back until I was lying on top of his bed, but he never removed his arms from around my waist. Our lips were locked in a frenzied passion, but he never went beyond anything we had already done. Everything was different, yet still the same. Not that I was complaining. I couldn't form coherent thoughts, really, much less verbalize them. I made one last attempt at stopping him, who knows why, but my inner virgin just wouldn't let herself go that easy.
"We need to finish," I could hardly finish this sentence, "our scenario." He lifted his face just far enough to look me in the eyes, searching for something there. I closed them, wanting him to make his own decision, without knowing what I was thinking. I had always been easy to read, and for someone who knew me as well as Edward, I might as well have been a walking billboard.
"I knew it." His husky voice washed over me in waves, and I opened my eyes in confusion. "You can't go through with this, any more than I can. Face it, Bella, we aren't that couple, the one that breaks down all their boundaries without a second thought. I want this just as much as you do, but it isn't us." I pretended to pout, although I knew he was telling the truth, then realized the implication of his words.
"But we are a couple," I smiled smugly, turning his own words on him.
"Only if you have no objections," he said hurriedly. "Although you didn't have any a few seconds ago…" his voice trailed off seductively and he smirked while I hit him playfully on the chest. I knew that it wouldn't hurt, he probably didn't even feel it, but it made me feel better. When he was done teasing me, I wiggled out from under him so that we could both lie on the bed. He snaked his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him, much in the same position as earlier on the piano bench. Without doubt, the bed was more comfortable.
Edward POV
I held her loosely enough to make her comfortable, but tight enough that I knew she was mine. My Bella. I know that she didn't mean to fall asleep, but soon enough her breathing evened out and her heartbeat was steady. I knew it would be a while before the talking started, but I was content with just being next to her for now. I was pleasantly surprised by how well I could control my lust for her blood. The ache in my throat was not nearly as strong as it should have been and the scent of her blood wasn't appetizing, although I was still drawn to it. Instead of wanting to kill her, now I just wanted to never leave her side. That much I could live with.
Edward. Alice called to me through her thoughts. I silently decided to thank her for her considerateness, not waking Bella. You're welcome. Rose and I are going back to the boys, so don't worry about us. Be careful with her, she's still fragile. And when the time comes, I know you'll make the right decision. Remember, you're not the only one who can give her what she wants. My forehead creased in confusion, until she thought back to her vision. She wouldn't dare… Oh yes I would, and so would anyone else. But she wants it to be you that turns her, she just doesn't know how to tell you. Keep an open mind, okay big brother? I nodded my head a fraction of a inch in each direction, anything to get Alice out of my head. As she and her partner in crime turned away from the house, Alice already thinking about her return to Jasper, Rosalie thought something that surprised me even more than my control had.
Finally, our family is back to normal.
Another glance at the soft side of Rosalie. I hope it's not too much.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this story is nearing its end. I really wanted to finish before Breaking Dawn came out, so it will probably only be a few more chapters. Now. Go. Review.