Chapter 5
Alice grunted impatiently. I knew what she was getting at and it was embarrassing that she actually knew what I had planned on asking Bella. I still did not believe that I deserved her.
"Whatever, Mr. Overachiever." Alice said, her light tone full of disappointment. If Alice had her way, I would be proposing to a half-conscious girl who had just seen death flash before her very eyes. That would be selfish of me. "I still think that you need not waste any time." She paused, her red lips stretching to her eyes, as if she could already hear Bella's reply. "She won't let herself sleep, Edward, it's a moot effort." Alice turned the wheel, her bracelets dangling on her thin arm.
"She's been through so much," I said, keeping my voice low.
Bella was struggling to maintain her alertness, though her head kept slipping downward.
With my palm, I lightly guided her face to my shoulder. She rested it there.
"Have it your way," Alice replied, her voice thick with reassurance that either way, things would soon turn out the way she could see it.
I wanted to pick her brain for Bella's exact response to my question, though I was too tangled up in the refreshing floral scent of Bella's hair and the way that she felt so good in my arms. Like a tidal wave, emotions slammed into me and I realized how much I had missed her.
I was such a fool to have thought that being away from her would have been beneficial to her—to both of us. In some vague way, it was obvious that Bella would forgive me.
I pressed my nose into her hair. She slowly slid her hand up to my neck. She was so warm, so soft. I could love her like this forever. "You're safe," I said into her ear for the thirteenth time tonight.
Ever so subtly, she held onto my neck tighter. She never ceased to surprise me. For I thought by now she would have slapped me in the face, which I would have gladly accepted that gesture. She was not even angry in the slightest.
Perhaps it was due to the fatigue that had blanketed over her.
So easily, my hand caressed down her back as I held her. It was so easy to love her, I noticed. My thirst for her had evaporated. I stared at her in sheer amazement. The hunger had vanished, leaving only my need for her affection and her heart.
That was a miracle on its own.
I cracked a smile, as my broken heart healed at the very touch of Bella's fingertips to my cold chest.
I could sense Bella's love at the way she molded herself to me. There was still a chance, and I would surely take it. But first, she had to sleep for she had been through hell.
I watched the buildings breeze by my window so quickly that it looked like a colorful blur. We were at warp speed now as Alice guided us to the airport. By an amazing saving grace, we had survived a death trap. I still could not comprehend how the Volturi had believed that I would actually torment Bella by transforming her into a creature of the night.
I would soon have to figure out how to escape such a dark and empty promise.
My eyes roamed down at Bella's weak body. She was nearly lifeless in my arms.
"Sleep, Bella," I murmured, almost calling her 'love'. I had dodged that name for that would only confuse her.
"No," she countered, groggily, her voice raspy and slurring.
Alice handed me a bottle of Dasani water and I unscrewed the lid, and held it to Bella's lips. With my free hand I lifted her chin and helped her drink. After she sighed, finished, I screwed the cap back, dropped it at my feet and slid my arms around her waist. She scooted closer to my body, as close as her seatbelt would allow.
Bella nuzzled into my chest and her hazy eyes began to flutter closed. I rubbed her shoulder to soothe her and her arms encompassed me, winding around my torso, as if we had never been torn apart by my oafish decision to have ever lied to her.
I reacted by stroking her cheek ever so tenderly and she seemed to stop trembling. She had been shaking with dread ever since she had been exposed so dangerously close to death. I exhaled, admitting just how being given a second chance at love made me see that Bella and I were perhaps meant to be, and it was never a mistake to love her.
I vowed to never leave her side ever again.
Alice was correct, and she knew it. I caught her stealing another look at us. Her perfect eyebrow lifted in amusement.
I did not answer my sister, though she could see the clear decision to ask for Bella's hand in my clouded gaze.
it was time to tell Bella the truth of how I felt about her, and I said a silent prayer, hoping that she would believe me.
As Bella nestled her cheek to my chest I promised that I would provide for her and be everything that she needed for as long as she would live.
