That break was what…two days? That's like my record. You guys all just make me want to write more and more so this chapter came faster. I want to thank all my reviewers and everybody who just read's my story because you guys totally make my day……..Antoinette.
Chapter 15 of THAT Girl
This evening after dinner and everybody had long since retired to their rooms, I lie awake remembering the afternoon after Edward caught me in that glorious field of flowers after I tripped and he caught me.
Do you realize this is the exact same situation you were in when we first met?" He asked with his dazzling crooked smile.
"You mean me making a fool of myself and you somehow finding me in perfect timing?" I asked in return once my heart started beating at a more normal pace.
He laughed. It was such a musical sound that I could listen to that melodic sound always and never grow tired of it. "No, I mean you amongst the sunflowers. Remember? At school, on your first day there, you were in the garden—"
"Oh! Yes I remember exactly what happened! I tripped and was falling and you miraculously showed up and caught me." And then we both started laughing because of the pureness of that moment. Repeated, but nonetheless, pure.
And then I stopped and remembered something. "Edward, how did you find me out here?"
He stopped laughing out loud but the laughter still held in his eyes. And there was something else in his eyes too. Something much softer and it made my insides turn to liquid.
"Well I went to your house earlier this afternoon looking for you. I missed seeing your lovely face so much—" I blushed at that "—and I decided that I was going to see you today no matter what. But when I arrived at your house your when the maid was hanging up laundry outside, she told me that you weren't there. You cannot imagine my disappointment at that and then she told me where you were usually found on sunny days. The forest. She showed me where to go and which paths you went down most often. So I intended to go down each pathway until I found you on one."
"You'd do all that just to see my face?" I asked, utterly shocked at the great lengths he had gone to.
"I'd do that and so much more Bella." More blushing on my part. "Fortunately, however, on the very first trail that I chose I found a string and I guessed that it may have been your means of direction back out of the woods. When I came here I saw the field and the deer first. Then I saw you. You surpass both of those in beauty alone." My face was red as a tomato.
"So you've been here since before the deer left, watching me?"
"Yes," he admitted a bit sheepishly. "It didn't seem right to interrupt you when you were at such peace. I wouldn't wish somebody to interrupt me if I had found as majestic a moment as that one."
"Thank you, Edward. You are one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I've ever met."
"No more so than you are, Bella."
I fell asleep to the replaying of that scene in my mind. Over and over again.
.………:Three Days Later:……….
Today is Edward's birthday. Yesterday they had a celebratory dinner and a lavish party in honor of his seventeenth birthday. There were so many people there and Edward himself looked like a prince. However, he wanted his birth to be observed the day before this year because he said he would like to be with me on his day.
Angela's wedding in slightly over a week but it's perfectly in order and on schedule so I've got nothing but free time. I've pushed thoughts of wedding planning out of my head and any worries I have.
I made a wonderful picnic lunch for Edward and I to enjoy. He told me that we were going to be outside today because the weather was so lovely, but he's yet to tell me where we are going.
We were to meet by the entrance to the forest from my house at half past noon. I got there early, unable to contain my eagerness to see him again. I waited only five minutes, listening to the early afternoon sounds, when a branch snapped and Edward stepped out of the trees towards me.
My face lit up the moment I saw him and I said, "Hi Edward," like an ogling, girlish, idiot.
"Good afternoon, my most beautiful Bella." He said I was his! Fireworks went off inside of me and try as I might, I couldn't keep myself from grinning foolishly. I wonder if he even noticed he said that I was his Bella…
"Shall we?" he asked, holding out an arm.
"We shall," I replied and then we both chuckled a bit. "May I inquire as to where we are going?"
"Certainly," he said smiling down towards me. His green eyes even more vibrant and lit up than most days. "We are going to a very special place in the forest. I want to show you my unique spot."
"How do you know where it is, there's no trail?"
"Nobody but me knows where this place is. I've never taken anybody there so there isn't a distinct route. I've just got it committed to memory," he said. "But it's not a very short walk. It's about 2 miles."
"That's fine. I like walking most of the time, even if I fall a lot."
"I'll catch you every time," he said, looking into my eyes and making me blush brightly.
And he did catch me every single time I fell, which was more than a dozen times.
When the forest started thinning and it got brighter in the distance Edward said, "We are nearly there. Just beyond these last few trees."
He stepped ahead of me when we were near enough to wherever he was taking me and then he bulled back a few branches aside so that I could step through.
Wherever we were, it was very bright. It took my eyes a moment to readjust from the dark forest and when they did I gasped loudly.
I was in a dreamland. Before me was a meadow, perfectly circular and beautiful. There were wildflowers everywhere and the sun was shining directly down on us.
I stepped closer to the center of the meadow and then looked back at Edward. He was staring warily at me, as if he was scared of what my reaction might be.
"This is beautiful Edward! How did you find this place?" I exclaimed.
He let out a breath as if he had been holding it in this whole time. "I'm glad that you like it Bella. I was hoping that maybe this could be a special location for the both of us because it means a lot to me. I found it one day as a young child when I was upset and I had stormed off into the forest for some reason, I cannot remember what. But I do remember feeling a sense of belonging when I found this meadow and I…well…I feel that same feeling when I am with you Bella. It's perfectly fine if you don't feel the same Bella. I just wanted you to know that I do."
"I actually understand perfectly how you feel. I feel different around you Edward. Almost as if I could do anything because you make me believe that I can."
His declaration made me blush and mine did the same to him. Every unsure thought I had about Edward's feelings towards me was silenced because I knew for sure that this was meant to be. The school burning down was a miracle it seems, because without it I would have never met Edward at all.
We ate our picnic lunch in the soft and swaying grass and then Edward pushed up his sleeves, revealing his smooth arms and lay back onto the ground, humming an unfamiliar tune.
I sat there next to him, memorizing his beauty. His face was serene and peaceful. His green eyes were hidden beneath pale eyelids. His perfect lips were moving as his song continued on.
I ran my hands through his bronze hair, messing it up more so than its usual style. Somehow I found myself tracing his face with my finger. I traced where his forehead met his hair from one ear to the other.
Edward stopped humming. His eyes opened suddenly then next second and he captured me with his emerald gaze. He just bored into my eyes for an immeasurable moment and then closed his eyes again, going back to his song, willing me to continue.
So I traced the outline of his eyes, his nose, where his cheekbones were and his chin. I carefully avoided his lips however. I grabbed his hand and traced the faint veins trailing along the inside of his arm going up until his shirt sleeve got in my way. Then I traced them back down and traced the lines in his hand.
I went back to his face then, unable to keep from glancing back and forth at it all the time that I was tracing his arm. I smoothed his eyebrows and traced his entire face once more. Completely committing it to my memory so that I could keep him with me always.
I traced the outline of his lips ever so softly one time and I heard him gasp once, surprised by my action, before going back to normal, his humming changed into a different melody.
I traced his lips once more, loving how soft they were underneath my skin. And then before I could stop myself, before I even realized what I was doing, I leaned down and touched my lips to his tenderly.
His eyes shot wide open.
OMG! That Bella has a mind of her own. LOL. Next chapter you get to see some of Edward's POV. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!
Read…review…the works (: