A/N: *Peeks out from behind fingers* Hi! Yes, I'm alive. I'm horrible, I know. I'm extremely sorry for vanishing without any updates for a long time. But I have been pretty sick lately. Anyway … happy reading.

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Chapter-26: Trouble In Sight

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BPOV

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"This is a new."

I smiled at the words he whispered against my neck. Sitting there, on his lap, with his arms wrapped around me felt like the earthly rendition of heaven. "What do you mean?" I asked, lazily running my fingers through his hair.

He took a deep breath as if he was trying to breathe me in and then raised his head to smile at me. "This … us," he responded, squeezing my sides a little. "I've never been this close to a woman without wanting to rip her throat in two. This is surprisingly pleasant."

A smile overtook me yet again as I pulled his head up to brush my lips with his. As I felt his fingers dance on the skin just underneath the hem of my shirt, a memory of the first time I was in this house came to me. I pulled my face away from his and said, "Play for me."

"What?" he asked with his eyes still closed as he reached for my lips again.

I moved my head away and repeated my request. "Esme told me that you play the piano. So play for me, please?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but I grabbed his face in my hands and leaned in so close that my lips brushed against his skin when I spoke. "Please, Edward. I want to hear you play. Just for me, please?"

A sigh came out in response before he stood up, still holding me to his chest. "Fine, I'll do it," he said. "But you'll have to be there next to me. I don't want to let you go yet."

I smiled at the way his eyes looked into mine. "I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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Jealousy. I never thought I would feel such intense jealousy like this … let alone for an inanimate object. But watching Edward's fingers stroke the black and white keys, seeing his head bent over them and the way his lips quirked upward as beautiful melody seeped out of the instrument made me insanely jealous … of a piano.

I let out a sigh, wondering how his fingers would feel like if it was me he was stroking like that. I knew what his touch felt like of course, but this was something different … something more. The way he played the piano made it look like he was making love to it.

The sudden absence of sound in the room alerted me to the fact that he had stopped playing. I moved my head to the side to look at him and asked, "Why did you stop?"

"Because that's the second time I heard you sigh in less than two minutes," he said, arching his eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I replied, stretching the last word just a little bit in exasperation. When he kept looking at me with questioning eyes, I grimaced. "It's just a silly human girl thing."

He chuckled. "My human is anything but a silly girl. So out with it, human. What is it?"

I bit my lip and then mumbled in a low voice, "I'm jealous of your piano."

He frowned at that. "You know how frustrating it is for me to be able to hear everyone's thoughts but yours? And now you go and speak in such low voices that if I didn't have the perfect hearing, I'd have doubted that you said that you're jealous of this piano."

I saw the corners of his lips twitch as he spoke and bumped my shoulder with his. "Don't laugh at me," I said, possibly sounding a little more petulant than I was hoping for. "I'm already embarrassed enough as it is."

"Embarrassed?" he repeated before moving his hands from the piano and reaching for my face. He cupped my face between his hands and brushed his nose against mine and then asked, "Bella, do you have any idea how much I want you? How much I've come to crave you? You're embarrassed that you want me to touch you? Baby, that in itself is like a victory for me."

His words made my swallow. I looked at him from beneath my eyelashes and asked, "Really?"

He nodded. "You're the most precious thing in my world, Bella. I may not be alive in true sense of the word, but you are my life," he said before kissing my lips. As soon as our lips touched, a hunger, a craving for him, for his touch ignited inside me. Forgetting everything but him, I moved to straddle him on the piano bench, settling on his lap as I responded to his kiss.

His hands grabbed my hips, and for a fraction of a second, I worried that he would push me away. But then he groaned as he slipped a hand into my hair and pushed them away to expose my neck to him. His lips left a trail of cold fire down my throat to my shoulder.

My back arched on its own accord, as if begging for his touch.

It wasn't until his fingers reached for the hem of my shirt that I became aware of our position. "May I?" he asked in a breathless voice.

I wanted to say yes, I truly did, but the inexperienced teenager in me hesitated. A moment's hesitation on my part made him stop. He looked into my eyes as he said, "Baby, I just need to see you. I promise we won't do anything you're not comfortable with. I just need …" He trailed off, leaving the words hanging between us.

"You," I finished the thought for him.

When he looked up to peer at my face, I took a deep breath and reached for the top button of his shirt with my shaky fingers. "I just need you, Edward," I repeated, pushing the button through its hoop.

One moment. For one long moment, he simply stared at me—gauging my reaction, I think. And then the moment passed, and I found myself lying on my back on the top of his piano with my shirt missing.

A surprised giggle left my lips before his lips covered mine. He kissed me hard, pulling my lip into his mouth and sucking on it. He was careful to not to let his teeth touch my lips, but he didn't make it seem like he was trying to hold himself back either.

He was hovering over me to claim my lips, all the while letting his hands roam over my body. The first time his hands brushed the sides of my breasts, I let out a gasp. A devilish smirk appeared on his face then. With his eyes trained on mine, he did it again … deliberately.

I shivered at the sensations his touch created in me. And then, he moved his lips lower to place butterfly kisses on the top of my breasts as his hands cupped them. I could feel the cold of his touch through the cotton that separated my skin from his. A helpless whimper escaped me … a silent cry for more when I felt him kiss my chest … right over my beating heart.

"Is this for me, baby?" he asked quietly. "This frantic heartbeat? Tell me that this heart beats for me, Bella. Tell me that this belongs to me."

Closing my eyes against the onslaught of feelings, I nodded frantically. "Yes, it's yours, Edward," I responded in between pants. "I'm yours."

"My mate. My human. My Bella. Mine," he kept saying, punctuating his words with kisses.

He started to move his hand down my stomach when the shrill ring of a phone broke through our lust induced haze.

"Fuck!" he cursed out loud as he dropped his head on my shoulder. "I hate my family," he mumbled against my neck.

I laughed at his words. Letting my fingers comb through his hair, I said, "You really don't though."

"I should," he countered before getting off of me. He kissed the corner of my mouth and helped me sit down on the piano bench before reaching into his pocket to retrieve the ringing phone.

He looked at the caller id before taking the call. "You've got the worst timing, little sister," he said in greeting.

I couldn't hear what the caller, who must've been Alice, was saying on the other end, but I could see the shift in Edward. His lips turn downward as he listened to whatever his sister was saying. His eyes held an anger as his back stiffened.

"What is it?" I asked softly.

He started to shake his head as if to say that it was nothing when I gave him a pointed look—reminding him about the honesty he had promised me not more than a handful of days ago.

With a sigh, he said, "Alice, wait. Bella's here. I'll put you on speakerphone. I think she needs to know this too."

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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AlicePOV

"Alice?" Isabella's voice came through the phone.

I tried to smile apologetically before realizing she wouldn't be able to see me. So I settled for sounding apologetic. "Hey, I'm sorry. I know we were all going to stay out of your hairs for a while but …"

She made a frustrated sound at my rambling. "Alice?" I could almost picture her gritting her teeth to tone down her exasperation. "Will you please tell me what's going on? Edward's kind of scaring me right now."

"What? Why?" Yes, I might have gotten a little worried about them.

"Well, a few minutes ago, he just seemed happy and now, he's holding onto me so tightly as if he's afraid that I might go running for the hills." I could tell from her tone of voice that her words were aimed as much at my brother as me.

I could hear Edward murmur in the background, "Not funny, Bella." A vision of him cradling her to his chest as she spoke into the phone came into my mind, and I realized that no matter how badass my brother tried to behave like, he was still scared out of his mind that she would leave him.

Instead of answering him, Isabella addressed me directly. "Alice, just tell me what's wrong, please?"

"Maybe this was …"

Edward's words were cut off as she let out a growl and then whispered in admonishment. "Shut up. We're in this together, remember? Partners."

I couldn't help but smile at the sound of their voices then. After a moment, I decided to tell her about it before Edward could try to interfere again. "Isabella, you know about my … umm …"

"Your gift?" she asked plainly as if it wasn't something weird at all. "Yeah, Edward's told me about it."

"Well, I just had a vision," I started. "In that vision, I saw someone standing in a room. I'm not sure who it was. The person's face was covered by a dark cloud, but I recognized the place from some of my other visions."

She sounded confused as she asked me, "Okay, so someone was in a room. It's not a big deal. Why are you both freaking out about it?"

I hesitated for a moment before responding to her. "Isabella, it was your room. Someone was standing in your room, and I think … I think he was trying to make your scent."

Edward's angry hiss made me recoil as soon as the last bit left my mouth. "What the fuck, Alice? Why didn't you tell me that before? It's a he? And what the fuck do you mean that the bastard was trying to make Bella's scent?"

"It looked like a he," I snapped back. "Look, Edward, I told you that the figure was hidden behind a black cloud. So I can only hazard a guess that it's a guy, okay? And it looked like he was inhaling deeply as if trying to take in Isabella's scent so he'll be able to recognize her when his path crosses hers."

"That's never gonna happen."

Before I could get around to asking my brother to stop acting like a Neanderthal, Isabella did that for me. "Edward, calm down," she said.

"No one is getting their hands on you," he almost growled in anger.

When she spoke, her voice was still soft and yet strong at the same time. "Hey, look at me. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You hear me?"

I decided to leave them to what little privacy they had before we all returned back home and with a whispered goodbye to them, I hung up.

Feeling a hand wind around my waist, I turned my head to the side to see Jasper standing behind me in silent support. He kissed my lips before asking, "He's going to start moping, isn't he?"

I shrugged. "Maybe not. I think Isabella is more than capable of keeping him in check."

He laughed at that. "Finally the one to bring down the big bad vampire is none other than a human girl, huh?"

"She's one extraordinary human girl if she's made our brother fall in love."

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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EPOV

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to rip whoever the son of a bitch was who had been lurking around my girl's room.

But more than anything else, I wanted to just grab Bella and run away with her so that no one could find us.

Of course she was not having any of that.

"Don't," she whispered in my ear, holding me tightly in her embrace as if I was the one whose life was in danger. Although, in a way, I supposed that was correct because she had become vital to my life.

Tightening my hold on her just a little bit more, I asked, "What?"

"Don't shut me out, Edward." Her voice was a mixture of a heartfelt plea and a command, and it confused the hell out of me.

Maybe I was losing my poker face or maybe she had gotten really good at reading me because she grasped the hair in the back of my head and held my face close to hers. Our lips were merely a breath away as she said, "I know you try to shut everyone out, but Edward, I'm not gonna stay out. When I say that I want you, I want all of you … including your thoughts. So talk to me, please?"

Her words made me swallow hard because that's exactly what I was doing … what I always did. As I looked into her eyes, however, I felt like it was time for a change. I needed to let her in because she was my mate … one half of what made me whole.

Taking a deep breath, I said, "I hate this. I hate that some asshole got into your room … the place you're supposed to feel the safest in. I hate that I don't know who he is. I … I don't know what I'll do if something happens to you."

She grabbed my face in both hands then, making me meet her eyes before pressing her lips to mine. "You listen to me, Edward Masen, nothing's gonna happen to me. Nothing's going to separate us. You hear me?" She waited until I nodded before continuing. "And no matter what, an empty house doesn't make me feel the safest. You do that. You are my safe place. And as long as we're together, we'll be okay."

If I wasn't already in love with her, this moment would surely have made me fall because this fragile human made me feel stronger than I had ever felt.

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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Edward, son, can we talk?

I sighed when Carlisle's thoughts entered my mind. They're back, I realized. With one last look at the girl sleeping in my bed, I stood up to go and face my family.

"Hello, little brother, how was your day?" Emmett asked with a dopey grin as soon as he spotted me walking down the stairs.

I frowned at his relaxed attitude and turned to look at Alice. She smiled a little in return. I didn't know who you'll like to share this with so I didn't tell them. Well, not all of them. Jasper and Carlisle was there with me when I had the vision so …

I gave her a surreptitious nod of acknowledgement before turning my head to look at my creator. "Carlisle," I called out. "Can I see you in your study for a minute?"

"Certainly," he replied, standing up and making his way out of the room.

Ignoring the questioning thoughts of the rest of my family, I followed him. Explanations can wait.

"Alice told me about the vision," he started without any preamble.

"I know," I said. "She already told me."

He nodded. "I would understand if you want to keep this to yourself, but I consider Isabella a part of our family now. So her safety is something we all should care about."

I felt my eyebrows pull together. "Why? You don't even know her."

He smiled at me, the same condescending smile he always gave me when I was being a jerk. "Son, she's your mate. That should be enough reason for her to be a part of this family, but there's more to it than that."

"Which is …?"

"You love her," he said simply as if he was just commenting on the weather not my goddamn life. "I can see it in your eyes … we all can. She has changed you for the better, Edward. And the least we can do in return is to keep her safe."

After a long moment of silence, I finally nodded. "Thank you. I'd like to have all the help I can get to keep her safe. She fell asleep a little while ago. It's been a long day for her. So maybe we can all try to figure out what's going on when she wakes up?"

A smile came over his face as he reached out to pat me on the shoulder. "Okay. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For not lying when I said that you love her."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I know you're not a genius, Carlisle. But it doesn't take a genius to know that she's become everything to me."

I could still hear the sound of his laughter as I strode out of the room followed by one last thought.

It's invigorating to see you so smitten, son.

I would've tried to contradict him, but what was the point? I was smitten … even I knew that.

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A/N: So … what do you think?

Share your thoughts with me and leave a review.

Thank you for reading.

Song rec for this chapter: Everything by Lifehouse.

See you next week.

Take care.

Ann