I don't own Twilight

9. Running away?

EPOV

I stared at Emmett as he made weird hand gestures. Too bad I didn't get the first of them. His eyes were crinkled and his mouth twisted. I felt like laughing but that was too tough. Laughing was also inappropriate. The whole day had been a waste and we were finally settling down. Alice and Jasper were on the couch whisperings sweet things to each other. Rosalie was with Luke at home. Bella was somewhere inside. She had wanted to speak to Emmett.

I turned to look at the city from my place on the balcony. The entire Forks was asleep. Or I thought so. There were very few lights to be seen. The mild breeze was cooling but too moist for my liking. It was going to rain that was sure. I stared at the crescent that was surprisingly visible today. The clouds had parted.

It gave me a sense of calm. A small crescent of light. The moon. As I stared up at it, I was joined by Bella.

"Hey Edward…." She said standing next to me and taking my hand in hers. I smiled at the things such a simple touch did to me. He small hand rubbed mine up and down.

"Hey love…" I said marveling how the word love affected her. Her entire face turned pink. I chuckled.

"Edward, I love you." She said hesitantly as though she expected me to contradict her. I watched her face for any hint. None. The frustration that got me was seriously bothering me.

"Bella what's the matter?"

"Edward….I love you and I don't ever want to go through all that again and so I want to say….Um….Let's run away."

A silence followed. I was shocked. Did Emmett bribe her or something? She was holding her breath.

"I think we need to think about that Bella. Running away…is not a very simple thing to do.."

She snorted. Her eyes a mixture of fury and fear.

"Edward…We can't think like that. I love you. When we are together there is nothing that can happen to us. We'll go somewhere far from here. Let dad cool down. And after ages when we come back he'll probably accept the truth. Please?" she asked her voice shaking.

I shook my head to clear the turbulence. Why did we have to do this again? Yeah…Oh…Right…Charlie..

"Bella…."

"Please Edward…For me. I need this." She said and I was with her.

I nodded.

"I need it too."

And we were ready. Come what may…we'll face it.

I slowly hugged Bella. And she relaxed into my embrace. I kissed her through her hair lightly and then sighed.

….

""Bye Emmett….." She whispered softly and shut their door. I saw tears running down her cheeks. I grimaced when I saw her shut the door with shaking hands.

"Bella….Its okay…." I said as she slipped into her seat. The Volvo somehow seemed smaller today.

"I know. I am just going to miss him."

"So am I."

BPOV

"Um….Excuse me…Could we have a room?" Edward asked the man inside the little rundown hotel. I stared at the empty street outside. We were in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea where we were. It was a really small town, south of Forks. The town was so tiny. The streets were empty and there was no traffic-human or vehicle.

The only traffic was animal….The animals were crossing roads in large numbers and since it was almost dark we'd decided to stop.

"-I don't think so….Ok….Sure…." the manager said to Edward. He handed him the key and we were on our way up.

The lock clicked open and exposed a small bedroom. It was so tiny. Even my room at home was bigger.

"Why don't you take the bed…." Edward said as he steadied the bags. I giggled.

"Edward….you can sleep…really sleep with me on the bed. We are running away aren't we?" I said ruffling his hair. He blushed.

"Well then missy…lets get to….the bed…" he said blushing again.

I laughed openly this time.

"Edward….I love you." I said stepping close to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He grasped my hips and stared into my eyes. Our noses touched and then we were blown into a make out session that was anything but innocent and I was really glad the manager stopped to see if we needed anything.

I was sure my lips were swollen like his. The way he looked at me made me feel very self conscious.

"…Um…okay….I'll go and have a bath…" I said shuffling awkwardly to my things. He nodded.

….

It was ten by the time we were called for dinner. Apparently there were a few more couples who were here and he asked if we would care to join them for dinner. We agreed.

The dining hall was not impressive. It was a simple hall that had a rough cut table with the same chairs. I sat beside Edward and to my right there was a blond guy. His features were chiseled. The only thing that made him look human was his pony tail and his tattoo which read

'Victoria'

Enclosed in a heart. I guessed that Victoria was possibly the red head that sat on his other side. A very pretty woman.

"I'm James." The blond said turning to look at me. I smiled at him.

"Isabella….But you can call me Bella."

His eyes were ice blue. A very nice shade too. I turned to look at Edward but he was deep in conversation with the scientist like fellow.

"So what bring you here Bella?" he asked as he cut his meat with the knife.

"Um….just traveling." I said not wanting to reveal the fact that we had run away. That was not an honorable thing to do and I was definitely not confessing to him. I didn't even know him. So what was the point?

"Oh….I like traveling…Its what I do for a living…." He said chuckling at my astonished expression.

"You travel for….a …a…?"

"Yeah….It's no big deal really…Vicky and I we enjoy traveling. So I took up a job at the paper. I write columns on different places. So its basically my lifestyle now. We tried living properly sometime a few years ago. But it didn't actually suit us. So we made our decision." He said simply.

"Victoria is your….?" I asked him curiously. He made it sound like she was his wife.

"Fiancée. We are supposed to get married but it turns out we want to live like this just a little longer." He said grinning.

"A little?"

"Ten years maybe…." And we both laughed.

"So the guy nest to you…..?" he asked looking over my head at Edward.

"He's my boyfriend." I said softly. James smiled.

"Oh…Nice…Well…Live like this while you can…Its tough once you live together." He said waving a fork towards the couple who sat in the corner. Felix and Jane Volturi. They were the Mr. and Mrs. Bicker. They bickered all the way here and also at the table. It was kinda entertaining. I laughed. He was right though.

"Where are you heading now?" I asked controlling my laughter.

"I don't really know. I do wherever my heart takes me. Maybe Vegas though….I've never been there in all my nomadic life. Can you believe that? Where are you heading then?" he asked. I stared at my plate.

"I don't know…We're just moving on impulse." I said truthfully. He seemed satisfied with my answer.

"How about all of us go to Vegas together? That way we can see a place we've never seen before." He said sounding excited about it.

"What about Victoria? Will she be okay with it?" I asked doubtfully.

"Oh she will. She has been longing for a girlfriend all these years." He said glancing at her. I smiled.

Oh well….

And we made small talk all through dinner. Edward did talk but to the nerdy guy with big glasses. I didn't mind though. I was enjoying talking to James, he was a nice guy.

…

We washed our hands after the meal. The ice cream at the end was really tasty…

"It was really nice to meet you Bella….Ask Edward about Vegas okay?" he said softly. I nodded.

"Of course…." I said and to my surprise my hands reached out and hugged him. Whoa! He hugged me back.

"See you tomorrow" he whispered and I could tell he was holding back laughter.

A throat cleared behind us. And we jumped apart. Edward was standing there with his eyes narrowed. I shivered. I looked back at James who shrugged.

"See you around Bella. You too Edward." He said before walking towards the door. But once he was out of Edward's view he mouthed,

'Call me if you need help.' I nodded.

…

"Bella?" Edward asked his voice hurt. I looked at him in surprise….

"Edward what's the matter?" I asked shocked by his hurt.

"Oh nothing…..I am just ridiculously happy that my girlfriend was cuddling with another man." He said running a frustrated hand through his hair. I stared at him. This was what everything was about?

"Edward….that was nothing….I swear. It was just a friendly hug…." I said raising my hands up. He looked angry if possible.

"Oh yeah? Then if it was so friendly why were you whispering in each others ears?" he asked angrily.

I groaned.

"Edward! He wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come to Vegas with them. He's a columnist and so he's traveling around a lot. And if you had paid attention to anyone other than Mr. Nerdy Nerd….you would have known." I said angry that he would be so mean. I couldn't really see what was so wrong about the whole thing.

His mouth was a picture now.

"Bella! He was my teacher in eighth grade and I was just listening to his life. He has had a hard time and I was just helping him out."

"Oh yeah? Well next time you help someone out you'd better think of me. You can't expect me to sit silently throughout dinner? Are you crazy? And I can't believe you'd be so unjust about it. Anyway James has a fiancée!" I screamed tears running down my cheeks.

Edward didn't seem to get my point.

"Who initiated the hug?" he asked silently. I froze. Huh?

"Who initiated the hug Bella?" he asked calmly.

I thought back to what had happened.

I did.

Oh my god.

I did.

"I thought so…" he said before turning and walking to the couch with his things.

"Edward…come on….we're just friends! I said trying to reason with him.

No answer. Not even a comeback.

I rolled my eyes and tried to keep back the tears that threatened to escape. I stared at his back for sometime before turning and retrieving my things. I showered and changed and by the time I came out he was really asleep. I held back the tears.

I pulled my ipod and my Wuthering Heights out from the back pack and shut the door quietly as I left.

…

A/N: How was it? I had to put that fight there…Too hard to resist. So yeah they have finally run away. :)

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