Notice:
I do not own any of the Twilight characters. This is just a fun fictional story I put together. As of January 11th 2013, this story is currently undergoing consistent revisions, so please bare with me. I have so far taken care of chapters 1 through 4 and am working on the chapters after that.
As I monitored Charlie's thoughts and held Isabella near me, I knew he slumbered when his mind became incoherent with reality. I removed my focus from Charlie and admired Isabella's peaceful resting expression. In a moment she began to mumble words almost perfectly "No... Edward…" She said with a slight grim expression. Held back by my inability to read her mind, I eagerly awaited her next words. "Edward… not again. I can't… go through this again… please." Her eyes tightened and her facial expression worsened. "Edward…" Isabella reached over my chest. I guided my hand to hers and she gripped me as much as she was able.
"Please… stay with me… please." She began breathing heavier, her heart rate increasing in what I gathered to be panic of losing... me.
Remorsefully keeping my attention only to Isabella… I suddenly caught the sound of footsteps much too late as they were already at the front of her room door. It wasn't possible that Charlie was behind the door because his mind was unaware of being in that position. The door opened and Charlie stood, facing our direction. I was certainly sure saw me next to Isabella, but his eyes were not open. Unable to indentify the reasons behind this, I observed his standing curiously. Isabella kept a firm grip on my hand, visually apparent with the discoloration of her knuckles. Tension obvious in her hold. I didn't want to hurt her by pulling my hand away, but Charlie was standing in front of us. I was aware that he may wake up at any moment, despite that, I had given up and awaited his surprise. He took a step forward, tripped, and caught himself with a waking eye. He glanced up towards me and Isabella instantly released her hold on my hand. For a fraction of a second, Charlie saw me before I disappared into Isabella's closet. "Wha-?" He grumbled. He rubbed his eyes and searched the area without movement. Finding no one after attempting to refresh his vision, he just shut the door and dragged himself back to his room muttering.
"Was that boy there just now? No way… I'm tired." Charlie said in a fatigued voice.
I moved back to Isabella's side and she was still under the spell of her nightmare, vebalizing almost every step. "Edward… where are you?" Her voice struck my heart when I realized I left her life this. I sat next to her and questioned if I should awaken her. It was still dark out with an outline of blue on the horizon, so awakening her seemed to be a conflicted decision. She quickly rolled to her right side, gripping the sheets of the bed. I tried to ease her by grabbing her arm gently. Isabella's body shook and she instinctively sat up with wide eyes, covering her mouth. "Bella?" I asked concerned by her sudden awakening. She removed her hand from her mouth and looked at me with an emotionless face. We both remained sitting upright on her bed, looking at each other in silence.
"Edward?" She said in disbelief.
Tears started to fill her eyes as she began to cry. Before having the opportunity to initiate an embrance, her arms were around me. It seemed she was searching my entire upper body to ensure I was really there. "Edward!" Isabella said in distressed voice. "I would not dare leave you again. It was just a nightmare." I said as I pressed away from her so I was able to see her face. Charlie didn't seem alarmed by her abrupt voice, as he did not awake. She slowly began to compose herself. "…How did you know about my nightmare?" Isabella whispered as I held her by her shoulders. She didn't make eye contact with me, just stared at the space between us. "You mumble in your sleep, remember?" I reminded her. "Oh… right." She said in bitter agreement.
"I'm sorry for being the culprit of your nightmare, Bella." I gazed into her eyes with sincerity, feeling truly apologetic.
Isabella gripped both of my arms with hers. "No. It was just a nightmare… right?" She said with caution, unable to differ reality from her nightmare. I was astonished at her doubt in me because of the nightmare, but I wasn't surprised by it. "Just a nightmare. I will never leave you again. You are everything to me." I admitted with sorrow in my voice. "Can you let me go, please?" She said while looking directly in my eyes, pleading. I hadn't realized how stiff my grip was. "Of course." I agreed. I let her go and she embraced me once more. This embrace felt different as it did not seem to be of our natural embraces. It was as if she reunited with me for the first time. It gave off a wave of abandonment that was unmistakable. "I'm sorry Edward… it felt so real. Please let me hold you like this." She said with her face behind my head.
"I understand, Bella." I caressed her hair and waited with her for as long as she needed.
We stayed in this position in silence for several minutes. I gently pulled her to face me directly and kissed her forehead. She knew of my intentions of calming her with a kiss to the lips. "No Edward… wait." She said hesitant. "If there's something I did wrong just now." I said confused. "No you didn't do anything wrong… I'm just not ready for this yet." She corrected me. I knew she hinted at her always wanting to freshen up before we became this close. "I can wait." I smiled. We broke our hug and she stood up from the bed. "Charlie's still asleep. In case you're wondering." I told her. "Ok… I'll try to be silent." She whispered. She proceeded to walk towards the door. She opened the door, froze, and turned back to look at me with worried eyes. "I'm not going anywhere." I assured her with a smile. She returned my smile and disappeared from the room. I got up and gazed outside Isabella's window and seen it was shady blue outside.
"Maybe it was best that she awakened herself. I should have freed her from the nightmare sooner." I said to myself, regretting my decision to allow it to press on.
I assumed it was perfect timing for her to be awake, but my enthusiasm halted when I remembered her reasons for waking up. I could hear the water running in the other room. I ignored that and tapped into Charlie's thoughts once again. I've never pried into someones mind this long without an agenda. It was beyond awkward to pay attention to his incoherent thought patterns. After some time, paying attention to Charlie was irritating and I blocked out everything familiar. Out of instincts I caught the thought patterns of someone very familiar outside of Isabella's window. "Alice." I said, greeting with slight irritation. "Nothing gets passed you." She said. "Nor you." I joked. I didn't need to open the window because Alice already made her way in. "So, is she ok?" She asked with concern. "I'm not surprised you knew about what happened." I said with annoyance.
"Is she?" Alice said, ignoring my comment.
"She seems to be fine now. It was just a nightmare." I said, reassuring Alice... and myself. "All I was able to see was Bella struggling while asleep. My vision cut off after that. I'm going to check on her anyway." She said with a smile. "Is there something about my word that has lead you to believe otherwise?" I asked, irritated at the thought. "No. But I want to be there for her too." Alice crossed her arms. Returning footsteps broke the silence between Alice and me as Bella entered the room. "Alice?" She looked surprised. "Hey Bella. I came by to check on you. Are you ok?" Alice skipped to Isabella's side and began inspecting her. "It was just a nightmare… I'm ok now." She said confused as she followed Alice's actions with her eyes. "Well, that's great. I had to be sure of my vision." She smiled. "Are you done yet, Alice?" I asked blankly. "I'm done!" Alice lightly pushed Bella in her arm. "Could you be a bit more quiet?" I said pointing in the direction Charlie was slumbering.
"Oops." She didn't break her smile.
Isabella tapped Alice's shoulders and she turned around to look at her. "Hmm?" Alice said with concern as Isabella embraced her. "Thanks for your concern, Alice. I appreciate it." She said with sincerity. "No problem. You're like my sister now. I have to look after you too!" Alice roared while keeping her voice proper to the current state of things and returned Isabella's hug. "If you don't mind, Bella and I have things to do." I said with a sigh. "Oh right… relationship stuff." Alice joked. She walked towards the window, turned around, waved to Isabella, and then disappeared. "Her cheery attitude never fails to bring my spirits up." Isabella said with a smile. "She does almost the exact opposite in my case." I said rubbing my forehead in frustration. "I'm sorry if I was a bother before." She said as sincere as she was able. I only had a short few words I could say to help us move on.
"It never happened."
"Right." Isabella smiled. She approached and pulled my shirt lightly. "So… what do we have planned today?" She asked with curious eyes. "I'll be outside your front door, knocking." I said with a half smile. "What? Why?" Her eyes widened, still under the partial spell of her nightmare. "Charlie's awake. I want my arrival to look natural." I said. "Oh right… I'll be sure to answer it." She noted with a smile. A knock pushed lightly against Isabella's door. "Hey Bells? Are you awake in there?" Charlie asked half-awake. "I'm already knocking, Bella." I whispered and went out the window. "Yes I am. I'll make breakfast as soon as I can!" She said brightly. I started to knock at Charlie's front door and could make out what was being said very clearly. "Someone's at the door? Right no-?" Charlie said in the middle of a yawn while walking downstairs.
"I'll get it, dad!" Isabella said abnormally excited.
Her eagerness must have been influenced by the nightmare? Charlie's footsteps were heavier and sluggish, so I knew he made it down already. Isabella's footsteps were quickly reaching the end of the stairs and jogging to the front door. "Hey Edward!" She pretended to greet me as if we weren't together last night. "Who is it, Bells?" Charlie asked only half concerned. He was already watching television and was more fixated on that and yawning at the time. "It's Edward. Can he come in, dad?" She asked Charlie with a hint of begging in her voice. "This kid just doesn't give up.' Charlie mumbled. "If it's too much trouble, I can leave sir." I admitted, responding to his thoughts. Charlie's mind was shooing me away, but his words were carefully chosen to benefit Isabella. "No, you can come in. Bells seems to believe you're sincere about making amends." He said with stress in his voice. "Thanks dad! I knew you'd come around!" She said with a smile. If only she could read his mind. "Thank you sir. I'll try to be of little annoyance." I assured him.
"You being here is annoying, kid." Charlie's thoughts stressed.
She grabbed my hand and guided me towards the kitchen. "Have you ever seen me make eggs and bacon before?" She laughed lightly. "No. But is the process long?" I asked generally concerned. Isabella laughed and pointed at the kitchen chair. I proceeded to sit down and track her movements. She was rummaging through the fridge and pulled out a tray filled with something vaguely familiar. She looked at my confused expression. "Has it really been this long since you've seen eggs?" She asked concerned and surprised. "Those ARE eggs?" I said completely perplexed. I cannot remember the last time I have seen eggs. Isabella laughed again, placed the tray on the table, and provided me with one egg. "Do you at least remember how to extract the liquid and ditch the shell?" She asked. Before I could answer, I already cracked the egg's shell on the top by checking to see how solid it was.
"It's supposed to do that, right?" I said confused and a bit worried.
"There's a certain way to break into them without mixing the shells with… the liquid. I'll take it from here, Edward." She smiled at me and I handed her the egg. "You're not going to make me eat the final product, are you?" I asked worried. "No way! Why would I feed you dirt?" She joked. "Thanks." I smiled. Time escaped me as I observed Isabella cook the food. She was preparing a plate for Charlie and herself, still smiling at me. "It's done, dad. I'm bringing your plate now." She said as she lifted Charlie's plate. I noticed a slight mishap. Isabella forgot to take a proper step forward and almost tripped before I caught her, stopping the plate from falling to the ground. "Thanks. I forgot how bad I am with balance." She laughed. "It smells great, Bells." Charlie noted while being very attentive to the television. I let go of her and she handed off the plate to Charlie within seconds. I waited for her to come back into the kitchen. Isabella walked in and was staring at her plate before I interrupted her.
"What's the point in having a kitchen if your dad doesn't even use it?" I said gesturing toward his direction with irritation.
Isabella looked at me for a moment, procession what was said, and laughed. "He always gets like this when television is involved. It's hard to pull him to a place without it." She whispered and laughed. She proceeded to grab her plate and sit down on the table. Before she bit into her food, she looked at me. "Yes?" I answered her gaze. Isabella pointed at the chair across the table. I sat down and she began to eat her… food. "Want some?" She joked. "Unless you drink some deer blood." I returned the joke. She squinted at me and smiled. Isabella finally finished her food and placed her plate in the sink. "Dad. I'm heading out with Edward." She said while washing the dishes. Charlie ceased his resistance for the time being. "That's fine Bells. Just be careful, ok?" Charlie's mind pinned that to me as well. He was still unable to trust me and I didn't expect to earn it back so easily. I got up from the chair, but kept my view out of Charlie's sight. "Whenever you're ready, Bella." I said calmly. "Right now's good." She exclaimed. Isabella grabbed my hand and guided me towards the front door. "Remember Bells, careful." Charlie noted while looking at me. Isabella turned to Charlie, a look of stress apparent.
"Dad." Was all she said before we left the house.