Chapter 4

They spent most of the evening moving things down to the basement. A few times people stopped them to offer them some beers but Edward just shook his head and walked on. The neighbors always seemed surprised, like he had never turned down a beer in his life and she would catch them staring as we moved past them.

Bella had brought home a few of the sandwiches from the shop and Opa suggested we eat them up on the roof. He showed us a door at the back of the supply closet between her apt and his. He came up and sat down with us while we ate.

The view was amazing you could see all the way to the beach. As they ate, they got around to talking. Edward told her about his passion for music. He was shooting toward fame at a teen. A prodigy they called him but his parents both died in a plane crash when he was 17 and he spiraled down from there. Too much fame and no parental guidance and he started down a road that got deeper and deeper into booze and drugs. At first, it was a beer or two. Next, it changed to harder booze and Marijuana. After awhile those didn't help chase his demons and he had hit every heavy drug there was.

Everyone seemed to want something from him but no one seemed to have cared enough to be his friend. He still sent in a few songs now and then for someone else to sing and blew his money on booze and drugs. As he has spiraled farther into depression and self-medication, his songs got moodier and moodier and didn't make much sense anymore.

The old man had given him an apartment and encouraged him the best he could but Edward had just kept on the downward spiral. He had moved from playing in stadiums to county fairs. Then from fairs he could only get work in little dive bars, Now after showing up blitzed a few times even those offers had dried up.

Bella finally got back to her room after assuring Edward once more that she was not through with him, he still owed her eternal servitude, and so she had to forgive him or pay the price in back pain.

She encouraged him to write a song about how he was feeling. She even joked maybe it could be a song about his road to eternal damnation but that he saw the light and got on the straight and narrow path to salvation.

He said that sounded too much like a country song and he didn't "do" country plus he would have to add some things about dogs and momma's if he did.

The next morning Bella got up with an idea for the days sandwich in her head. She got to work and on the board went Fungi Man sandwich- Roast beef and Portobello mushrooms with Mozzarella cheese. She headed next door to get the ingredients' and was back and prepping in no time. Some of the customers said they had been there the day before and were looking forward to today's special. A few tried to get her to tell them what she was preparing the next day. She didn't have the heart to tell them that she didn't know yet.

With lunch over, Bella went to take Max his sandwich. When she got out back, he stumbled up obviously favoring his right leg. Noticing his right arm wasn't doing much either she made the connection it was probably from a stroke. She smiled and put the hand out that wasn't holding the sandwich and he paused for a moment then took her hand. As he did, the gold light was back. The light burned through them for a minute then Max gave an almost satisfied noise deep in his throat and reached over and took the sandwich with his right arm. Bella noticed as Max walked off that he was no longer favoring his right leg. He turned and said he wouldn't tell anyone about her. They would attack her every time she went outside.

Bella went back inside to help in the store. Alice seemed to bring a smile to everyone's face that came in and she took to calling her the little perky little Pixie behind her back. She found out their bosses name was Emmet when he called to check up on things and she answered the phone. He insisted there was no girl in France he was just enjoying the countryside. Alice was just forever trying to set him up with someone so the girlfriend thing was just her dreaming.

On the way home, Bella stopped to pick up a shower curtain. She found the cutest one, with butterfly's flitting about. She even found hooks for it with butterflies. She noticed a sheet set and bed spread that she would have loved to have but she was fine sleeping on one of the couches she had found. A bed was not a necessity.

Bella would have to save up to get a bed but she felt she had plenty of time to get things of that nature. Necessities were what she needed to concentrate on and that didn't include a bed.

As she walked home, she tried not to notice the stares. It did seem like it was not as bad as usual, so maybe she was gaining control of her new powers. Either that or last night and today had drained them for a little while. Nice not to be a beacon saying, "Freaky people are my friends".

When Bella walked in the door, she noticed something was different. Walking to the back of the room, she noticed what it was. A big bed was there complete with a butterfly quilt.

She turned around the room and tried to figure out if it was the right apartment. Yep, the few things she had brought with her including a butterfly picture she had drawn in like first grade were there. She noticed the colors of the butterflies in the picture matched the quilt. Bella sat down starting to cry when she heard a soft knock on the door.