Chapter Fifteen
Upon entering the cabin, I was surprised to find that all the furniture had been pushed aside, creating a large open area in the center of the room. Instantly, I looked up at Edward questioningly. What did he have in mind?
"You'll see," he chuckled as if reading my mind. I rolled my eyes and continued in, allowing him to close the door. It was beginning to snow harder and in the short time we had the door open, a white trail had accumulated on the floor.
"It's really coming down," I remarked as I glanced out the window to see a sea of white.
"Yes," he agreed. He then took my hand and gently pulled me towards our bedroom. I obligingly followed him.
"Alright, you stay in here, I'll be right back to get you," he said as he motioned for me to sit on the bed.
"Edward," I whined.
"I'll be right back," he chuckled as he turned to leave, "And no peeking."
"Fine," I muttered as he left the room. I could hear him open the door and go outside. I then heard him approach the truck and open it. What could he possibly be doing? Nervous as to what he was up to, I began to impatiently shake my leg.
A minute later, he had reentered the house and was almost silently shuffling around the living room. He then came back to the bedroom, a sly grin crossing his face.
"Can I see it now?" I asked as he neared me.
"Yes," he said as he held out his hand and led me back to the living room.
Upon entering the room, I first noticed the multitude of candles that were surrounding the room. He had turned out the lights, and it was solely lit by candles. But, as I took a step further, my eyes fell on a huge canvas painting, the picture of Edward and I that almost mirrored the one of Esme and Carlisle stood blown up on the stiff board. If I were still human, I would have been crying. The large, stiff board held a dear image. Edward and I were looking directly into each other's eyes, his arms secured tightly around my waist, mine around his neck. It was as if the rest of the world ceased to exist in that moment, and it had. It had been as if we were the only two people in the room.
"So, do you like it?" he asked bringing me from my daze. I turned to face him and with all the passion I could muster I threw my arms around him and kissed him. He chuckled lightly as our lips met again and again.
"I'll take that as a yes," he laughed as I rested my head against his chest, listening to his breathing.
"More than a yes, I absolutely love it," I told him as I looked up.
"I thought you would. That's not, however, the end of my surprise."
"No?" I questioned him, looking around, but not noticing anything else.
"No," he replied as he stepped back and walked behind the pushed aside couch. Bending down, he picked up a small boom box and sat it on the coffee table that had been rearranged against the back wall. Smiling, he turned it on and hit play. He then returned to my side as the familiar tune filled the room. It was my wedding song, the gift he had given me that day. The very song we had danced to when the image was captured.
"May I have this dance?" he asked offering his hand.
"Why yes, yes you may," I responded as I took his hand. He gently pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. My arms wrapped around his neck, and our foreheads touched as we gazed into each others eyes as we gently swayed across the floor.
"Do you recall this song?" he asked as we danced.
"Of course silly," I giggled, thinking how in the world he could fathom that I would forget this tune.
"Just checking," was his reply as he gently kissed below my ear. Once again, it was just the two of us, in our own little world. Only this time, we really were alone.
APOV
I sat giddily awaiting for Jasper to get dressed. How long could it possibly take him? We were in Milan, fashion capital of the world and there was so much to see. He was wasting valuable time.
"Calm down Alice," he chuckled as he entered the room, dressed in his black button up and jeans. I had matched our outfits as always. I had put on a black strapless dress that stopped perfectly at mid thigh. Rosalie would kill to have this dress.
"Oh Jazzy, we have sooo much to see," I exclaimed as I grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the door.
"And we have plenty of time to do it," he reminded me, as he sent me a few waves of calm. Living with Jasper so long, I could easily deflect these waves. But, I often welcomed them. It was hard being so hyped up all the time. This time, however, I ignored his false calm and pulled at him anyway.
"Jazzy, lets go," I told him. Chuckling at my exuberance, he nodded his head and out the door we went. Luckily for the two of us, it was to be a very cloudy two weeks in Milan. Today was very promising with the possibility, well, or should I say the fact that it was going to rain.
Walking out of the classical looking hotel, we walked down the street hand in hand. We were extremely close to the fashion district. Being here almost a week now, I had already explored most of the shops, and had spent a mountain of cash, but it was still exciting to see what the next boutique had to offer. Some of the styles were just wacky and a bit weird, but I also found new and fresh ideas among them.
"Where to today?" Jasper asked as we came to a stop in front of a coffee shop.
"I was thinking that boutique that was closed yesterday, the one with the pretty white dress in the window," I informed him. He nodded his head and led me through the growing crowd.
In a matter of minutes, we stood outside the high fashion shop. The short white gown still stood in the window display. This would be perfect for Bella. Pulling Jasper into the store, I began grabbing different items. The sales lady looked at me like I was half insane and then quickly approached.
"Hello Miss, do you need assistance?" she asked in a thick accent.
"No thanks, I can handle it. But where should I put the items I want to purchase?" I asked her as I picked up a blouse that Rosalie would look stunning in.
"Just bring them to the counter and we will hold them there until you're ready," she replied. Nodding my head, I went to the counter and handed the pile of items to the girl. I then continued through the store, piling clothes on top of Jasper as I went.
"I'm going to go put these down," he told me, now almost unable to see under the stack of clothing.
"OK," I chirped as I looked through a rack of clothes. They were all marked down and clearly last season. I passed it by and went to the display window where the dress stood for every passerby to see.
"Excuse me," I got the attention of the lady.
"Uh yes?" she replied as she came to my side.
"That dress, it's for sale right?" I questioned her.
"Yes."
"I want it," I told her.
"Very well," she replied as she got into the window and stripped the dummy of the gown.
"You have good taste," she said as she walked past me, taking the gown to the counter.
"Are you finished yet?" Jasper asked.
"Yes, I just need to pay," I told him. Nodding, he accompanied me to the counter as the women bagged and calculated the cost of my items. Not needing to hear the cost, I handed my metallic credit card to her and watched as she ran it through. She was clearly impressed by my credit line, but who wouldn't be?
"Thank you, come again," she smiled handing me my numerous bags. Jasper took the majority as we pretended to struggle with them. Deciding that another shop was simply out of question, we went back to the hotel to rid ourselves of my new purchases.
Figuring that Jasper had been through enough shopping today, I decided to go on a tour of a nearby art gallery.
"Want to go to that art gallery you mentioned the other day?" I asked him as I took off the black dress and put on a purple dress I had purchased earlier.
"Sure, if that's what you want," he replied. He was always gentlemanly. Even though he hated shopping, he accompanied me. I smiled, knowing that I had truly gotten lucky in finding him.
"Great! I can't wait to check it out!" I replied enthusiastically. Hopefully, I could purchase Esme a few pieces to incorporate at the cabin. Chuckling, he changed into the outfit I had directed him and we left the hotel to go to the art gallery.
The art gallery, I found, while interesting, would not fit with the cabin. As we strolled down the halls, looking at the varying pieces, I came across an interesting one that might just work.
"Excuse me," I told the art director as I pointed to the piece.
"Is there any way I could purchase this?" I asked.
"Well everything has a price my dear lady," he answered. As he took down the piece, the room began to swirl, the present became a blur as the future played before my eyes.
"Alice, sweetheart," Jasper said as he held me tight.
"Is she ok?" the director asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a bit faint," I replied. We had to get home, and we had to get there as soon as possible.
"Is everything ok?" Jasper whispered in my ear, inaudible to the man. I grabbed his hand, letting him know that things were not ok. We had a way of communicating without words. He could sense my fear even before I grabbed his hand to let him know.
"We'll just be going. Sorry about the trouble," Jasper said as he picked me up and carried me out of the gallery. I started sobbing as we made our way down the street.
"It will be ok," he told me.
"I don't know," I muttered as he sent me wave after wave of comfort.
"Trust me, we'll leave first thing," he told me as we walked into the hotel and onto the elevator.
"I just hope we're in time," I told him.
"Me too," he replied. I knew I had to alert them. I just didn't know if it would make a difference. As we made it to the hotel room, I rushed to the phone and made my call. Unfortunately, I got no answer. There was only one other thing to do, call Emmett and Rosalie.
EmPOV
"Haha Rose, you should have seen his face," I laughed as we walked through the mall. She had just shamelessly flirted with this nerdy guy to get him to give her a Guitar Hero controller for free. The poor guy didn't know what hit him, and before he realized, he had rang up, and paid for the controller out of his own pocket. Rosalie walked triumphantly out of the store, waving the controller at me.
"It was nothing," she laughed as she blew on her nails. She looked absolutely sexy at that moment, and my mind started wondering. Her long legs looked like perfection coming out of her short red dress. Her bust was as glorious as ever. I was ready to go back to the hotel.
"Ready to go?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around her and started kissing on her neck.
"Absolutely," she sighed seductively. It took every restraint I had not to pick her up and run with her at vampire speed out of the place. As fast as humanly possible, and without attracting a crowd, we got out of the mall. Our hotel was only a mile away. Walking as quickly as possible under the conditions, we made it there in fifteen minutes.
Once in our room, I turned to her.
"Behave Emmett," she said poking a finger into my chest. I grinned at her wickedly before pouncing. We sailed across the room and landed silently on the bed. I instantly started to attack her neck with kisses. She was however, not having it. She roughly pushed me off her and positioned herself above me.
"Nuh-uh," she whispered before biting playfully at my ear. I could only groan in response. In a matter of seconds, we had each other stripped bare. I was kissing her neck roughly when the phone rang.
I had made up my mind to ignore it when Rosalie pushed me off her and grabbed it, handing it to me.
"Hello," I answered almost angrily.
"Emmett!" Alice shrieked. I instantly grew stiff as I heard her voice. She wouldn't have called if it wasn't necessary.
"Emmett! You and Rose have to get home!" she cried. I could sense she was near hysterics.
"Ok, we'll get on the next plane. What's up?" I asked as I threw my legs to the side of the bed and searched the floor for my clothing. In our excitement, I found, we had shredded our clothes.
"It's Bella and Edward, we have to get home," she replied.
"Ok, ok, we'll leave on the next plane," I told her as I hung up the phone. Rosalie tossed me some clothes and I quickly threw them on. We packed up our things at the speed of light, called the airport, procuring our tickets, and left the hotel.
Once on the plane, we sat impatiently waiting for it to land. Would nothing ever go right? Danger just seemed to follow poor Bella. But I would never let anything happen to her if I could help it, or Edward for that matter. They were my brother and sister.
BPOV
It had been almost a week since Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper had been gone. There were times when I found myself a bit bored, but Edward was always there to keep me from going insane. Between spending a wonderful night at the cabin, and many great nights here in our room, I found myself easily distracted by him.
It was on this wonderfully, blustery day that I found myself once again in my old truck beside Edward headed to our cabin. The pond, he had informed me, had frozen over and we could go skating. I had to laugh at him. I might have been more graceful now, but I still saw skating as out of my league.
"Don't worry love, you will do fine," he told me as he grabbed my hand. The old red truck, which once roared horribly, now purred almost like a kitten up the driveway to our cabin. Rosalie could really work magic.
"Sure," I laughed. He got out of the truck and came to my door to open it for me. I hopped out and stood as he grabbed the skates from the back of the truck. Grabbing my hand, he led me through the forest in the direction of the frozen pond. A now thick layer of snow coated the ground, covering anything and everything on the floor of the forest.
"Have confidence," he said as the pond came into view.
"That's easy for you to say," I sighed.
"Just trust me, you'll do fine," he said as he pointed to an old log that lay on the forest floor. I nodded and followed him to it. He dusted off the snow and then we both took a seat. Pulling off my snow boots, I took the skates from him and proceeded to put them on.
"Just don't let go until I say so," I warned him as he helped me to my feet.
"I will never let you go if you don't want me to," he said as he led me to the pond. Carefully, and on the thin blades, we walked to the pond. He carefully lowered himself on it and then helped me.
"See," he said as he slowly glided across it, pulling me with him.
"Whoa, slow down," I told him, still unsure.
"Bella, just relax," he laughed as he pushed himself further, still holding me by the hand.
"Edward," I gasped as he pulled me along. He abruptly turned around and holding his arms open, he brought me to his chest.
"Just close your eyes, give me your hands, and you will do fine," he said as he took both my hands in his.
"You promise not to let go?" I asked.
"Promise," he replied.
"Fine," I muttered as I closed my eyes.
"Just follow my lead," he told me. I nodded and I felt him tug forward. I slowly lifted my feet and allowed him to direct me across the pond. Before I realized it, it felt as if I were sailing.
"Open your eyes," he said. He was standing before me skating backwards, as I held onto his hands.
"This is wonderful," I told him, still skating.
"I knew you could do it," he smirked.
"Yeah, yeah," I laughed. Releasing one of my hands, he turned on his heel and was now skating beside me.
"Show off," I giggled.
"What? That was nothing," he said as he came to a stop. I followed his example and did the same, amazed that I had remained afoot.
"Show me what you can do," I told him. A wicked grin crossed his face as he took off at a lightening fast speed across the pond.
"You really want to see what I can do?" he asked from across the pond.
"Yeah, show me," I told him. In a blink of an eye he was circling the pond faster than humanly possible. I noticed as he gained momentum he rested himself on one foot, gliding perfectly. He then launched himself into a jump and excellently landed it. He was now skating backwards across the pond. His moves could put any Olympic skater to shame.
"Skate much?" I asked him as he twirled about.
"Some," he answered nonchalantly. I then noticed he shifted his direction so he was skating towards me, an evil glint present in his eye. I gulped not knowing what he had planned. Before I could make up my mind of rather to run or not, I found myself in his arms, being held above his head as he skated effortlessly across the pond.
"Edward," I gasped as I closed my eyes.
"Bella, open your eyes," he commanded. Begrudgingly, I did as I was told. As I looked around the swirling scenery, it felt as if I were flying. I found myself giggling at this new sensation, this new adrenaline.
All too soon it came to an end, and I found myself standing before Edward in the middle of the pond.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," Edward said as he smoothed my hair out of my eyes.
"Thanks for sharing it with me," I smiled up at him, letting him know how happy I was to have experienced it with him.
"Anytime."
"So how did you acquire such great moves?" I questioned.
"I did live in Alaska for a few years before," he pointed out.
"Oh, right," I laughed.
"So you really had a nice time?" he questioned.
"Of course," I told him. This made him smile brightly as he lowered his face to mine, gently kissing my lips.
"I love you," I told him.
"I love you too," he replied. It was in that moment he completely stiffened, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I didn't need to look up to see his expression to know something was wrong.
"Edward?" I questioned.
"Just stay behind me," he told me, positioning him self in front of me, keeping his arms tightly around me. A foul odor then found my nose. What was going on?
(A/N: First, I'd like to apologize for taking so long. But I have the next chapter almost completed and will be getting it to my beta soon. Also, I realize this is a terrible cliff hanger, try to somewhat contain your anger..lol. I'd also like to thank everyone that has reviewed, you guys are great. They really inspire me and keep me going. I love to hear the ideas you all have and what you think will happen next. So with that, what could possibly be happening? What type of trouble awaits Bella and Edward? How will they handle it with the majority of the family being away? Review and let me know what you think. Also, what did you think of the varying POV's? Was it confusing? In addition, thanks to my beta xedwardxloverx.)