Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight
Chapter 15
I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining it. I cautiously took a step forward. Leaning on my crutches I reached my hand out and touched his face. Just to make sure he was real. I ran my hand against his cheek softly, ignoring the chills. He closed his eyes. My heart lurched. Here he was. I stumbled closer to him and wrapped my arms around his chest, breathing in his scent. It was pure bliss. I was finally, truly happy. My Edward was back.
I was about to speak to him when he put his fingers over my lips and thrust his head in the direction of the car and then back inside. Charlie was probably wondering why he hadn't heard a car pull away. Nodding I closed the door behind me and followed him over to the Volvo. All I wanted was for him to hold me but in my current condition it was almost impossible to share a romantic moment with big sticks of wood getting in the way.
Edward opened the door for me and helped me into the car. I really wished he would say something but he seemed keen on keeping the silence up. We drove in the dark. My first thought was that we were going to his house, but the direction was wrong.
"Where are we going?" I asked in a small voice.
"Somewhere we can talk without interruptions." He said no taking his eyes off the road. This upset me. He didn't even want to look at me. I knew we had to talk but if he was just going to leave again I didn't want to hear it.
I just nodded and the silence engulfed us again. It was when the road ended that I realized where we were going. Our meadow. We got out of the car and he silently and carefully lifted me onto his back and began to run.
The cool night air felt like needles piercing into my face as he ran. I was trying to ignore the pain that was rushing through my leg but the painkillers were wearing off and I didn't think to bring more. Not wanting to hurt Edward anymore than I already had I just bit my lip in an attempt to offset the pain.
It wasn't until Edward suddenly stopped in a jerky manner that I realized I was biting so hard I had drawn blood. Opps. Not a good way to get our discussion started. He lifted me off his back and turned away. I saw his shoulders stopped moving. He was holding his breath. I started sucking on my lip in an attempt to make the blood stop. It took a few minutes but he finally started breathing again. He turned back to me; put me back on his back and we were off again.
It seemed like only a few more minutes before we made it to the clearing. He lifted me off his back and sat me gently down on a broken tree branch. I thought the meadow was beautiful in the daylight, it was nothing compared to its beauty at night. The moonlight was bouncing off everything making it look more alive. The beauty of it all dropped off though when Edward stepped in front of me, commanding my attention. He really was the most beautiful thing here.
He cleared his throat lightly, "are you scared?"
I shook my head. "No Edward, you could never scare me."
He looked me deep in the eyes, "you're lying."
I hung my head in shame, "ok, you scared me once," he nodded encouraging me to continue, "When you told me you almost killed me."
He looked so tormented by the events that happened. I wanted to tell him that it was all fine. But I couldn't bring myself to say the words. I looked deep into his caramel eyes. "Please don't bet yourself up over what happened. It's in the past. Nothing happened."
"It was like your birthday all over again," he was so depressed, I didn't know if I could deal with it, "only this time it wasn't Jasper who went for you. It was me.
"Bella." He looked into my eyes, as if searching for the answer, "I never wanted to hurt you."
He slumped down next to me, almost as if all of the energy had been drained from him, "you needed saving and all I did was put you in more danger."
I was getting a little annoyed with this whole self-obsessed mantra he was doing at the moment, "Edward stop please." I yelled frustrated. I hadn't expected it to come out so loud, and it seemed worse as my voice seemed to bounce off the trees. I grabbed his hands. "Edward, please. I have thought about what happened…"
"Please let me explain" he said cutting me off.
"No. It's your turn to listen to me." I turned and faced him gazing into his eyes, "nothing happened. I'm fine. Stop worrying about what might have happened. It's in the past. I love you."
He took a while to absorb what I was saying. After what seemed like the longest time, but was probably only minutes, he raised his hand and start stroking my cheek. It was pure bliss. He wanted to touch me.
"You still love me?" he asked me disbelievingly, "after everything I did to you."
"Edward," I said sighing, "how could I not love you? You're perfect."
He leaned towards me and lightly kissed my lips. "Bella, I love you so much. I don't deserve you."
I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, "Edward." I murmured, "I don't deserve you."
He laughed lightly this and lifted me up in his arms. He placed me gently down on the ground and laid down next to me. My eyes were closed and I could feel myself drifting to sleep and the harder I tried to stay awake the sleepier I got. Edward was playing with my hair and occasionally placed light kisses on my hair line. I could stay like this forever. Away from everyone and everything.
"Can we just stay like this forever?" I asked after a long moment of just staring at the moon.
"As much as I would like to say yes, I think Alice would have something to say about it."
"And Charlie…" I broke off. Crap I was only going to see Alice for a catch up, "crap. I forgot about Charlie. Again."
Edward stood up and then helped me up. "Let's get you back to my house that way if Charlie calls in the Calvary it actually looks like you have been at the right place."
I was leaning against him as he started brushing grass off my back. That would give away to Charlie that I wasn't in a nice safe house. "Thanks."
Edward kissed me. It was a little harder than the last time but still restrained. Obviously that was something that was going to take awhile to go back to normal. He pulled me up on his back and started running back to the car. I buried my head in his shoulder in a vain attempt to protect from the cold blasts of air.
We made it back to the car, in what seemed like a record time. Edward helped me in the seat and then sped off towards his house. I sighed a sigh of relief when we pulled in the drive and Charlie's cruiser was not there.
Edward helped me out the car and then faced me, "I wouldn't worry about Charlie. Alice called him. It's all sorted."
I breathed a sigh of relief and allowed Edward to lift me up into his arms and carry me into the house. I was surprised to find that the house was deserted. Edward did stop until we reached his room and he placed me down on his couch.
"Esme, Rose, Carlisle and Emmett are out hunting and Jasper and Alice are being scarce so we can have some privacy."
I nodded absently. My mind was elsewhere. I was back at Edward's house with Edward. After he left me I never thought it would happen again. I stifled a yawn and lent back against the backrest and closed my eyes.
"Bella I'm so sorry. You must be so tired." He kissed me gently, "there are some clothes in the closet. Alice thought it necessary."
I nodded and he left the room. I changed as quickly as I could. I decided to forgo the pants and just sleep in the oversized shirt that smelled of Edward.
I was getting comfy on his couch and he reappeared in the room carrying a glass of water and some tablets. "Here are some painkillers. They should help." I nodded again, feeling like a puppet, and took the glass and swallowed the pills.
The combination of the drugs and my exhaustion I was almost asleep, "Stay with me?" I murmured before darkness engulfed me.
A/N: Hope you liked it. Keep up the reviews, as I always say I love them. Update soon, although don't know how many chapters are left…