Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or plotlines of the Twilight Saga and the following is a form of fiction based on the brilliance of Stephanie Meyer's work.
Author: ToryD
Beta: Splendorous Night Unfurled
Title: A Forbidden Forever
Chapter Ten
"Where's Bella?" Alice asked as she glanced up from the cookbook she was reading to her mother who had just entered through the back door.
"Edward is talking with her," Esme answered as she smiled warmly at her husband, who rose from the soft leather sofa to cross the room to kiss his wife. "Is something burning?"
"My apple pie!" Alice shrieked as she rushed towards the oven that had small puffs of smoke escaping from within.
"Alice is baking?" Esme asked with a skeptical look upon her beautiful face.
"I wouldn't exactly call it baking," Carlisle answered quietly as he tried not to grimace at the acrid odor coming from Edward's kitchen.
"Oh it's ruined!" Alice whined as she pulled the smoking blackened pie from the oven. "I did everything that the book said! This is so unfair!"
Esme walked over to the oven to switch it off and saw that Alice had inadvertently placed the temperature to broil. "I think you had the temperature up too high Alice," Esme observed as she glanced back at her daughter over her shoulder.
"Doesn't it bake faster if you increased the temperature?" Alice asked quizzically as she looked down at the chard mess in her pale white hands.
"I don't think it works that way," Esme said as she shared an amused look with her husband. "Let's open some windows," she suggested as she wondered how long it would take for the odor of Alice's creation to evaporate.
"Now what am I going to serve Bella?" Alice asked as she dropped the pie into the sink.
"I brought some premade dinners from the grocery store," Esme said as she watched a flash of guilt cross Alice's pixie face.
"Um," Alice said as she looked sheepishly towards the Italian marble floor. "I kind of burnt those too."
Carlisle bit his lip to keep from laughing at the astonished look on his wife's face.
"All of them?" Esme asked as she recalled that she had purchased no less than ten packages.
"You were with Bella quite a while," Carlisle reminded softly as if to explain the demise of the meals.
"I was only trying to help," Alice provided in a small miserable voice.
Esme smiled at the dejected look on her youngest's face. "I know you were honey," Esme said as she put a comforting arm around Alice's slumping shoulders. "Tell you what. Why don't you go get Jasper and then order something from a restaurant to bring back here."
Surprise lit up Alice's eyes as she tried to grasp the concept of take out. "You mean they will let you take the food out of the restaurant?"
Carlisle rolled his eyes at the lack of knowledge his daughter had of human life today if it involved something other than shopping. "Yes, they do," he added as he withdrew his cell phone to contact his secretary to get the number of a popular restaurant that the hospital staff ordered from frequently. "Hi Margie. Could you please do me a favor and give me the number of Maggiano's?" he asked with a velvet tone that would melt any woman's heart from age sixteen to sixty. Carlisle paused as he listened to his efficient secretary offer to call in the order for him. "Oh, thank you. There are about six of us so if you could just order a variety of dishes. I'll have my daughter Alice pick it up in about half an hour." Carlisle smiled into the phone. "Thank you Margie, I don't know what I'd do without you." He praised before he ended the call. "All set. Alice, Maggiano's is on the corner of Spruce and Main, you don't mind do you?"
"No of course not," Alice sighed as she was still somewhat disappointed that she hadn't been able to produce even one edible dish. "I'll call Jasper from the car," she said as she grabbed up her Marc Jacob's bag and headed for the door.
"Why did you order so much food?" Esme asked her husband as a frown marred her pale brow, knowing that even for Bella's benefit that her vampire family couldn't choke down more than a bite or two of human food.
"It's more for show than anything," Carlisle answered with a sigh. "Anyway, we can make an excuse to leave once we start 'eating'. Besides, I really want to get home to have a talk with Rosalie," he said with a never before heard terseness to his tone.
"Carlisle?" Esme called to him softly as she was instantly concerned.
"Rosalie has made some very unwarranted comments about Edward and Bella, and I think that we need to get to the bottom of this before it gets any worse," Carlisle answered, his face still tense.
Esme frowned as the mention of Rosalie's behavior. She had always suspected that Rosalie had secretly longed for Edward but since Edward didn't' return Rosalie's feeling she had assumed that Rosalie had let it go and had finally given her heart to Emmett. Not wanting to alarm her husband, Esme decided for the moment to keep quiet about her suspicion.
"Let's not talk about Rosalie just yet," Carlisle suggested as he took Esme's hand and led her over to the sofa. "How is Bella?" He asked with a marked concern.
Esme paused before she answered, wondering just how much she should impart of Bella's sad story. "She's had a very…difficult life," Esme replied with a wistful sigh. "She is going to need a lot of patience and understanding from Edward."
Carlisle nodded his agreement as his lips tightened slightly at the thought of the hard road he knew his son was going to have to travel in order to help Bella. "I have all the confidence in the world in Edward," he announced with a look of pure determination within his warm brown eyes.
Esme smiled up at the handsome husband, who had his conviction so clearly defined upon his perfect face. "So do I," she agreed with a mother's pride, knowing that if anyone was up to the task of helping Bella find a healing path, it would be her son.
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Bella walked uneasily at Edward's side as a strange and uncomfortable mood seemed to settled around them both.
Edward tried to push away his continuing frustration that for some unknown reason he couldn't read her thoughts, for if ever he needed his gift it was now. Not knowing what he needed to do or say to make Bella feel more at ease was causing him an almost physical pain as he continued to struggle for something to say to break the awkward silence.
Bella mistook Edward's frustration that he was unable to completely screen from her, as a confirmation of his rightful disappointment in her. Knowing that she had done nothing but alienate him since the disaster of last night, she wouldn't be surprised if he wanted nothing more to do with her.
As the uncomfortable silence stretched on, Edward silently cursed himself that he passed up watching the reality show that Alice had always tried to persuade him to watch, 'The Pick-up Artist' or some such nonsensical title. 'A complete waste of my intelligence,' he had scoffed at Alice at the time, but now that he was confronted with the beautiful Bella, he was at a complete loss of what to say to her. The tips the bizarre hat wearing host was always spouting off to his pupils now didn't seem to be as pointless as he had once deemed them.
Bella drew in a deep breath as she glanced at Edward beneath her dark lashes, frowning slightly at the scowl that was gracing his still incredibly gorgeous face; she decided that her apology was long overdue. "Edward," she called to him softly as she stopped walking to turn towards him.
Edward felt a strange ripple of excitement shoot through his body at the sound of his name upon her soft lips. He froze and gazed down at her with a look of total adoration in his compelling eyes that he didn't try to mask.
Bella stared silently in awe at the transformation on Edward's flawless face, momentarily forgetting what she was about to say. After a short moment, Bella shook her head slightly as if to clear her thoughts, finally remembering that she had been about to apologize to him. "I wanted to say how sorry I am about last night," she said as she looked down at her feet, unable to look at his beautiful eyes any longer. "And this morning as well," she added in a slightly rushed, nervous tone.
Edward frowned at Bella's down bent head, wishing that he could simply reach out and take her hand in his without frightening her. "There's no need to apologize Bella," he replied softly, his voice a soothing silk to her ears.
Looking up hesitantly, Bella smiled sadly at the look of complete understanding in Edward's honey brown eyes. "I guess I owe you some sort of explanation to why I acted like I did," she said as she looked up towards the grey skies above as if trying to garner some strength from a higher power from above.
Edward watch in fascination as a wide range of emotions danced quickly across Bella's exquisite face. From weariness to fear, pain, and then settling on such a look of absolute sadness that it threatened to split his stone cold heart in two. Unable to remain still any longer, Edward silently took the three steps between them to bring him within touching distance. Tentatively, he reached out and tenderly traced the curve of her delicate cheek, marveling at its smooth softness and warm beauty.
Bella closed her eyes as she leaned into Edward's gentle caress, welcoming his cool touch as if she had been waiting her entire life for just this one moment.
Edward felt a lump form in his throat at the sight of the beautiful woman who stood so trustingly before him. A fragile trust that he promised himself would never be taken for granted. "I don't need you to explain anything to me Bella," he said in a velvety tone that blanketed Bella within its warmth. "All that I want is for you to feel safe."
Bella smiled softly at the unmistakable protectiveness in his voice, amazed that she could be so lucky to have Edward staring so intently at her as if she were one of the most important things in his world. "Being here with you now makes me feel safe," Bella whispered as she shyly looked up into his inviting gaze.
Edward felt his chest fill with an unexplainable pride, pride that he could make the woman who had stolen his heart feel safe in a world that had been so cruel to her. "I promise that I will always keep you safe," he vowed as he took the single step that still separated them and gently enfolded her slender frame in his arms.
Bella leaned her head on Edward's strong shoulder as she felt an overwhelming sense of home settle about her, as if she had finally found the place she belonged.
Edward rested his chin lovingly atop her chestnut brown hair, inhaling deeply as if trying to engrave this precious moment into his memory for all time.
Bella's arms gently encircled Edwards lean waist as she wondered if he too were feeling the same strange sense of belonging that she was.
Edward simply held her tenderly for several long minutes, neither one of them speaking for fear of breaking the new bond that was blossoming between them.
A few spatters of rain began to fall from the darkening grey skies above, thus breaking the enchanting spell that had held both Edward and Bella immobilized. "I'd better get you inside," Edward advised with a noticeable trace of regret in his tone as he leaned back to look down at Bella's beautiful face.
Bella felt satisfying warmth spread through her as she sensed that Edward too didn't want to have to return to the real world in much the same way as she. Smiling, she nodded her agreement as she loosened her arms from around his waist.
Edward returned her smile as he took her one of her soft hands in his and led her gently towards the house. "I think I'd better warn you," he said with an amused smile dancing across his perfect lips. "Alice has taken it upon herself to be a cook today and let's just say that I don't know what we are going to have to dine on this evening."
A quizzical look entered into Bella's eyes as she looked over at Edward's half amused and half fearful face. "Don't you like your sister's cooking?"
"Since this is the first time that Alice has ever attempted cooking, I guess the correct answer would be 'I don't know yet'," Edward answered with a mischievous glint in his honey brown eyes. "But from what I've seen so far today, I don't think that Alice should set her heart on becoming a chef."
"So she hasn't been having an easy time of it then?" Bella asked with sympathy lacing her words
"After the twelve failed attempts she's made at making a meal for you I'd say my poor oven was the thing that hasn't had an easy time of it," Edward imparted with a wiry twist to his lips.
"She tried cooking twelve dishes today, all for me?" Bella asked softly as a wealth of emotion began to spread through her at the thought of Alice going to so much trouble on her behalf.
Edward, instantly picking up on Bella's tone, quickly looked down into her eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. "Hey, what's this?" he asked gently as he tenderly took her face between his cold hands.
"I can't remember when someone ever tried to cook for me before," Bella answered quietly as a single tear escaped to trail slowly down her cheek.
Edward gently wiped away her tear with his thumb, his love for her growing at the true beauty that she held within. Smiling, he leaned down and softly kissed her trembling lips.
Bella drew in a shocked breath at Edward's unexpected kiss, her tears instantly replaced with a look of newly awakening love within her warm brown eyes.
Edward watched entranced once again by the play of emotions racing across Bella's sweet face. His chest filling with joy at the look of answering love in her eyes. "I guess we'd better see what Alice has in store," he advised as he traced her bottom lip with the tip of his fore finger.
Unable to speak past the emotional lump in her throat, Bella nodded her head slightly before reaching for his hand with a new sense of confidence before turning towards the house. A sensation of hope taking up residence within her as she walked hand in hand with the one man who she knew would never let her down.
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A/N Yay! 97 reviews and counting. Next chapter, more Bella and Edward getting to know each other, not so sad though, I think they need some happy fun time together. Thanks again for reading!