For Your Eyes Only

Chapter Twenty - When He Went Home

One week later

"Can you get up there alright?"

Carlisle was helping Edward up the stairs to their new house together, and it was all looking a little dangerous. Edward was a bit rusty on the crutches, regularly needing help to use them properly, and I had a horrible mental image of them both falling to the bottom in a painful heap.

"We're nearly there now, Bella," Carlisle replied, a little breathlessly. "Careful."

They eventually made it to the top after a few more agonising moments and I exhaled a breath of relief. I jogged up behind them, placing a hand on Edward's shoulder.

The week had been a slow one, but strangely enjoyable at the same time. Edward was clearly frustrated at being stuck in the hospital room all the time, but he seemed content enough talking to me. Whenever we were alone, we spent some more time kissing and that was certainly an experience. Despite this, I still felt on edge every time, fearing that a certain somebody would walk in at any moment.

Speaking of which, we hadn't told Carlisle about our relationship just yet, mostly because I was wary about hurting his feelings. I suspected that he had an inkling about us, though, because he actually kept willingly giving Edward and myself time alone. Not that I was complaining about that, but I just didn't know how to tell him, how he would react...

"Home sweet home."

Carlisle's voice brought me out of my thoughts and I saw him placing down Edward's suitcases, standing there in front of us somewhat proudly. Edward was looking around in awe, once again playing the acting card. He obviously had to pretend that this was his first time here, and he certainly looked impressed. Maybe that was a new career path for him.

"This is... wow, it's like a mansion of some kind," he gushed. "Are you really sure now? I-"

"Edward, we've been through this before," Carlisle interrupted. "I am one hundred percent absolutely positively positive."

He grinned. "Do you mind if I have a look around?"

"Feel free," he smiled. "Your room is up the stairs and to the left... do you need some help up there?"

"I think I'll hobble around the lower floor first. I won't be long."

He met my eyes and gave me a strangely suggestive look, before disappearing slowly through a door.

It might have just been me, but everything seemed to become very awkward after that moment. The silence around us seemed to last for too long and I nervously studied my shoes.

"Do you want a coffee, Bella?"

Carlisle surprised me by suddenly sounding pretty upbeat and I nodded towards him. "Uh, thanks. I guess you know me well."

"I certainly do. Come through with me, if you like. I don't believe you've seen the kitchen yet."

"Oh, okay," I replied, following him through into the room. It was magnificent, as expected, with marble worktops and shiny cupboard doors, along with a beautifully tiled floor. There were bowls of fruit everywhere and all sorts of cooking equipment. I was waiting for the place to start sparkling or something.

"This is lovely," I said while he filled the kettle.

"Thank you. I spend most of my time in here, so I've tried to make it look decent."

"Are you a keen cooker, then?"

He nodded and leant against the counter to face me. "It's one of my many hobbies."

"Edward's lucky, then," I grinned. "He'll be getting good food everyday."

Carlisle smiled. "You can come over and sample my pièce de résistance with him sometime, if you like."

"Oooh, sounds fantastic."

There was a small pause and I could feel him looking in my direction. "Bella, please be honest with me here." He met my eyes and I suddenly felt very nervous. "Are you and Edward together now? As a couple?"

I was the one to pause this time, thinking of what would be safe to say. "What makes you think that?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I think it would be pretty clear to anyone who sees you both together, even somebody with an IQ lower than 50, if that's even possible."

My eyes travelled to the floor out of guilt. "I'm sorry, Carlisle, we tried to keep it a secret... I... I didn't want to hurt you or anything. We-"

"Bella, don't apologise. I'm happy for the pair of you, I really am." His words seemed genuine and meaningful, but the guilt still gnawed away at my insides. He gave me a small smile and I couldn't really see if he truly meant it. "It really is fine."

I couldn't help looking at him sceptically, not really believing his words. If I was in his position, I wouldn't be able to accept seeing something like this happening. I'd be green with jealousy and feel sick.

Then again, Carlisle was a different person, always putting others first and being inhumanely compassionate.

"Bella, please don't feel bad about this," he insisted. "Something like this has happened to me before and I learned to recover and get over it. It was in high school, so I naturally thought it was the end of the world, but I was actually happy sometime afterwards and, well, it's obviously happened again, but I know I'll get over it this time. It looks like I'm just not particularly lucky in love yet." He paused, smiling genuinely at me. "Besides, DI Adams was quite friendly..."

He had a strange glint in his eyes and I raised an eyebrow at him. Was he suggesting something there?

"Here's your coffee, anyway," he said, changing the subject at lightning speed. "Edward's probably finished by now." He placed a hand gently on my shoulder. "Please don't feel guilty anymore, though. Be happy with Edward, make the most of it. You've been really great in this situation, and I really respect you for that."

We met each other's eyes again and smiled. "Thanks, Carlisle."

"No, thank you, Bella."

After sharing another look, we walked back into the lounge and saw Edward just making his way back through after exploring the house. He looked a little awe-struck and I smirked to myself.

"I can't believe this place! My mind's well and truly boggled by just this floor... imagine going upstairs!"

"Bella was pretty much the same when she first visited," Carlisle chuckled. "Slightly less hysterical, though."

I laughed. "Did you want anything to drink, anyway? Just thought I'd check."

"I'm alright at the moment, thanks," he replied. "Actually, would you mind if I visited my room? I don't mean to sound pushy, I'm very grateful as you know, I'd just like to settle in a bit."

Carlisle nodded, full of understanding as always. "Of course. Bella can help you upstairs and I'll carry the suitcases and boxes after you both."

"Sounds like a plan," I smiled.

We eventually made it up the stairs without too much trouble and I untangled myself from underneath Edward's arms as he fumbled around with his crutches once more. "It would have been easier with a wheelchair," he muttered under his breath to me.

"It's that room, there," Carlisle told us, pointing to a door on the left. I walked over and opened it, and we all filed in, looking around in excitement.

It was another open room, with large windows on two of the cream walls which let daylight filter through and lighten up the place. There was a bed towards the back wall, made neatly with pale blue covers and fluffed pillows. Along with this, there was a bedside table ready with a lamp, a large wardrobe, a desk, a bookshelf, a dark blue rug and an empty CD case.

"I got you that because I heard about your interest in music," Carlisle suddenly said, aware of the silence.

"It's amazing," Edward sighed. "So much bigger than my other room." He turned to face his uncle. "Thank you so much."

"It really is no problem. Anyway, I'll let you unpack and settle in, as you said. See you both later."

He disappeared swiftly, and Edward and myself just stood there for a while, staring in amazement. Through the windows was lots of greenery, mainly because the house was surrounded by trees of all kinds. I could hear birds in the trees and it felt like we were right in the middle of some nature reserve.

"I'll help you unpack some of your things if you like," I said after a while, breaking the calm silence.

"Okay," he smiled.

He started sorting through his clothes, while I focused on his other belongings, which consisted mostly of CDs, books and various strange novelty items.

While I stacked the CD case, I couldn't help noticing that we had a very similar musical taste, despite his large collection of classical piano music. It was a bit eerie but interesting to look through, and I tried to place the CDs in some kind of order for him. I then moved onto his books.

"Do you want these ordered in any particular way?"

He turned around to face me. "No, no, any way will do, thanks."

I proceeded to fill up the bookcase, something which didn't take too much effort, mainly because he had so many books. Because of this, my arms started to ache half way through and I paused, taking another look out the window.

"I read a lot," he told me suddenly, and I was surprised that he was standing so close behind me. He rested his chin on my shoulder and, in turn, I leaned my head on his. "It was something I did to escape."

"I know the feeling," I murmured.

About half an hour later, the room seemed a bit more personal, with items scattered across the desks and posters decorating the walls. It looked wonderful and I felt the urge to spend a lot more time in here, and not just because it would be with Edward.

"I need a rest," he muttered, blowing out a breath and easing himself down onto the bed. "Care to join me?"

I smirked, quickly lying beside him. We both sat there quietly for a little while, enjoying the feeling of the fresh breeze on our heated faces. "Does it feel like home, now?" I asked curiously. His eyes moved over towards mine.

"Not quite yet, but in a few days I'm sure it will."

I smiled. "You were right in the hospital, saying we'd be lying down together like this more often." My eyes closed in a wince as soon as I'd said that, knowing it sounded wrong. I peeked through my left eye just to check Edward's reaction and he was laughing, to my relief.

"I guess I was," he replied breathily. He then leaned over to brush some hair out of my eyes and followed this by placing another gentle kiss on my lips.

"I never thought I'd end up in this situation a few months ago," he said reflectively. "My luck has most definitely turned around."

"Same here."

I listened to the sound of his breathing, thinking to myself that just a week or so ago I still wasn't sure whether he'd be alive or not at the end of our experience.

We didn't speak for a while after that. Instead, we just spent a lovely time relaxing together in his room, just lying there and losing ourself in our thoughts. That didn't last too long though, because Edward suddenly shot upright, shaking his head in what looked like disbelief.

"I can't believe I forgot!"

Edward reached for my hand and gently pulled me up and down the stairs - I had to steady him a few times - and I frowned in confusion the whole way.

"Edward, what are you doing?"

"You'll see," he smiled.

We headed down towards the storage room and it soon clicked in my head. Of course. He slowly opened the door and the piano was there waiting for us, looking as grand and romantic as ever.

It was a little dusty and while Edward took a seat, I quickly searched around for something to clean it over with. He was clearly curious about what I was doing and, once I explained to him, he just laughed.

"It doesn't really matter to me," he said, trailing his fingers gently over the keys to produce a soft and haunting sound.

"But it's all disgusting," I replied. "Just let me sweep over the keys and then I can relax. Think of all the dust mites," I added with a shudder.

He chuckled and let me do so. I had to lean over him to reach the keys on the right hand side and he took this opportunity to kiss my neck, nearly making me collapse onto him during the process. A few high pitched squeals escaped my lips and I eventually gave up, feeling flushed and hot in the face.

After calming down, I looked over at him and suddenly realised how important this moment was for him. He loved playing this instrument; it was his passion and he'd been forced to stop this for a time which he couldn't control. It must have been incredibly frustrating.

Acting on instinct, I placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned to glance at me.

"I can't wait to hear you play," I said quietly, making a small and strangely shy smile creep onto his face.

He quickly flexed his arms in front of him and cracked a few of his fingers.

"Ew," I grimaced. "I thought you hated people doing that..."

"I hated you cracking your shoulders, not your fingers," he countered cleverly and I nudged him playfully.

After one more stretch, he placed his fingers onto the keys readily. "This is something I thought up for you, Bella. I could hear it in my head during our time together and now I want you to hear it out loud."

He began playing and the room filled with such a wonderful and soft melody that I had to automatically close my eyes to savour it. He was so talented and played in such a way that I became lost, completely forgetting at one point where we were or any of the troubles that were previously bothering me. In fact, I imagined us back in the meadow from my dream, lying underneath the sizzling sun in complete peace.

"Bella?"

I opened my eyes in surprise; he was finished. "Gosh, that was beautiful, Edward."

He smiled. "That's why I called the piece Bella. Is that cheesy?"

I couldn't help blushing and didn't answer his question. "Either that or you couldn't think of anything else. Can you please play something else?"

And he did so, again producing such lovely sounds that it was impossible to not be moved.

"I could certainly get used to hearing this."

He leaned over and tenderly kissed my lips. On doing so, I was filled with the brilliant thought that this could be happening several times more in my future, and I was overwhelmed by an incredible high.

He brought me such happiness and, in that moment, I was almost completely sure that I loved him.