Disclaimer: i dont own twilight...
Chapter Four- Bella's POV (age thirteen)
I stepped out of the cruiser, inhaling deeply through my nose. I was back again. Back in Forks. Back with my dad, my second family. Back with Edward.
That was my new favourite word: Back. That's all I ever wanted to be. Phoenix was hot, sunny, and much more welcoming than Forks, but I couldn't be back there.
Because to me, back meant seeing everything I loved again. It meant being with the best people in the world, knowing that they wanted me to be back as much as I did.
Back was what I counted down for every day. Back was what I dreamed about. Back was spending time with Edward.
Yeah, back was a good word.
"Ouch, my back is killing me." Charlie announced.
I tried not to laugh.
"An hour and a half in a police cruiser will do that to you." I explained, grabbing my bag and heading towards the house.
He groaned and followed me, tilting his torso to the left until he heard a satisfying crack.
God, I hated it when he did that.
Kicking off my shoes and peeling my soaked jacket from me, I headed upstairs to unpack. I pushed my bedroom door open and dumped my bag onto the bed.
I saw the flint of silver on my desk and walked over to investigate. It was the same metal picture frame that held the photo of me and Edward in Olympia, but as I looked at it now I noticed some major differences.
I had grown a lot since that picture was taken. I was now at least a foot and a half taller. My hair was longer, now reaching to the middle of my back, and it was a darker shade. My face wasn't quite so round and my cheekbones were more prominent. My clothes were older, more mature. The baby pink t-shirts with Tinkerbell were no longer a necessity in my wardrobe. I had changed a lot in one year.
The nine-year-old Edward grinning crookedly at the camera was still the Edward I remembered from my last visit. His face was childish, his hair messy and unkempt. A few more freckles were scattered across his cheeks, but nothing anyone else would have noticed. He had on jeans that were too big for him and a black shirt that had some band on it. As far as I could tell, it was the same attire that other boys wore in my grade.
Had Edward changed? Had he not?
Would he care that I had?
-- The Cullen House, the Next Morning --
The door swung open before I had even raised my fist and Edward embraced me fiercely, as was customary. After a few long moments, he released me.
"Bella!" he laughed, "You shrank!"
"Did not," I pouted, "You grew at least a foot!"
We both stepped back and surveyed each other.
The fourteen-year-old boy in front of me was different from the photograph. He was towering over me, a minimum of seven inches higher. He was dressed in jeans and a dark blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, like Robert Patterson in his latest movie. His hair had grown out more, but still as messy as ever. His jaw was harder and more pronounced. His eyes were the same mesmerizing green as his father's, and they were lingering a few inches beneath my chin.
Colour flooded my cheeks and I folded my arms over my chest, attempting to make the sudden movement look casual.
"I missed you," announced, bringing his attention back to my eyes. He pulled me into another hug, but this one was gentler.
"I missed you, too." He leaned down to whisper it in my ear.
"Bella!" boomed Emmet from the doorway. His voice was considerably lower, and he had grown even taller than Edward.
"Group hug!" he called, joining us in our embrace.
"Hey, Emmet." I greeted him after he pulled away.
He frowned, looking me up and down.
"Bells, I think you shrank." He chuckled.
"I know!" Edward agreed, laughing as I scowled at them.
"Whatever. I'm going to hang out with Esme. I don't know how she lives in a house full of giants." I growled, stalking into the kitchen.
Edward followed me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. It was casual, something he had done since we were eight, but it seemed somehow different now. I couldn't ignore the way his side was pressed to mine, how soft his skin was…
"Bella! It's so good to see you!" she cried, wrapping her arms around me.
She was much easier to deal with. She was hardly an inch taller than me.
"Hi, Esme. I've missed you," I said as she kissed me on the cheek, "I'm glad there's someone around here who isn't a freak of abnormally tall proportions." I added as Emmet strolled in after us.
We all laughed at the baffled expression on Esme face.
"Never mind," I mouthed to her and she nodded.
She turned and continued to bustle around her kitchen. Edward and I sat on some bar stools while Emmet pulled himself onto the counter.
"Has Edward been practicing?" I asked the room in general.
"We've been trying. Carlisle got him a keyboard last winter but I doubt that he's even touched it since." She sighed.
"Edward, you really should work harder. Every girl likes a man who can play piano." I scolded, playing along with Edward's story. I was glad to hear that he finally got a keyboard to practice with.
He snorted.
"Yeah, but they like jocks better." Emmet laughed, flexing his muscles.
Edward and I rolled our eyes and Emmet laughed harder.
I tried to ignore the fact the Edward's arm was still draped absently over my shoulder.
-- Later That Night, Bella's Room --
"That was a lot harder last time…" Edward noted as he fell through my window sill.
"You were half the size last time." I reminded him while he straightened up.
He shrugged and walked over to the picture frame on my desk.
"Nice. Is that Tinkerbell?" he laughed, tossing me the picture.
"It was what all the fashionable third graders were wearing at the time. And who might that be? Metallica?" I defended.
"Pssh, no, it was Black Sabbath! I can't believe an almost-high school student can't tell the difference between two band logos."
"I can't believe a one just climbed up the side of my house!" I laughed, setting the picture back down and flopping on my bed.
"Ouch!" I groaned, realizing I hadn't moved my suitcase from the bed.
He came over, rolled me to the side, yanked the suitcase off the bed, and plopped down where it used to be.
"That thing weighs a ton!" he groaned after dropping the suitcase onto the floor.
"I like to read…" I said in a small voice.
He snorted and leaned back against the wall. I stretched out my legs so my feet rested on his lap, hoping he wouldn't think anything of it. We stayed like that for a few minutes, neither really saying anything.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked suddenly, breaking through the calm silence.
"Nothing…" but you
"Oh, really?"
"Yes," how cute you look in that shirt, "What about you?"
He didn't answer at first, so I lifted my head to see him staring intently at me.
"Do you have a stereo?" he asked, pushing my feet off his lap and standing up.
"Um… yeah," I said, getting to my feet, a little dazed, to go dig it out of the closet.
Bending over, I began to rummage through the stuff in the bottom of my closet. I spotted it and tried to pull it out from under a particularly heavy box, but it wouldn't budge.
"Hey, Edward, can you help with this?" I called over my shoulder.
He didn't answer.
"Edward?" I asked again, straightening up and turning to face him.
He blinked a few times before answering.
"Uh, yeah." He walked over and pulled it out with ease.
"What did you want it for?"
He searched his pockets until he produced a thin CD case.
"I wanted to play something for you," he put he disk in and pressed play.
We both sat back down on the bed, leaning against each other and listening as the music started.
It was just a few simple notes at first, some easy chords making a nice little tune, but it soon grew into a complex piece. There were notes flying everywhere and forming to make a beautiful sound. It was soothing and adventurous and I listened as the different pitches merged. It slowed, playing the same chords it had started with in the beginning, and it came to a close.
"Was… that you playing?"
He nodded slowly and leaned over to pick case. He handed it to me, watching my face.
"It was number four,"
I looked down at the paper that had been shoved into the plastic case and found the one labeled four. Beside it in Edward's neat script was the words Bella's Lullaby.
He was still watching me, searching my face for a reaction. He didn't have time to look because I had thrown myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and resting my head on his shoulder.
"Edward…" was all I could manage.
He hugged me back, chuckling as I fought to find the right words.
"It was… perfect." I concluded.
I knew it was so much more than perfect, but the English language on offered so many descriptions and none of them could amount to the lullaby. My lullaby.
I pulled back to stare into his eyes; depthless and wonderful.
We rested back against the wall again, just listening to the other's heartbeat. I didn't know how long we stayed there, but Edward had to go eventually. As I watched him descending into the darkness of the night, my fingers closed around the tiny plastic necklace. His words echoed in my head.
I like you, Bella.
But, oh no, this was so much more.
I loved Edward Cullen.
A/N: Shortest chapter yet, but the most meaningful by far… in my opinion, at least. I'm going to have fun with the second chapter after this. The next two chapters will both be at the same age they are now. Well, the next one will. I think that the second next one will be at age sixteen, but I don't know for sure…
Did anyone understand what I just said there? I think I did, but you can ever be too sure.
Oh, and last chapter, I didn't remind you to review in my A/N and I got four times the watchers as I did reviews. So here is my reminder. REVIEW! Please…
PS for anyone who was wondering, Alice/Jasper/Rose will be here eventually, they just aren't needed yet...