Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I've been busy with college.

I hope none of you feel like this story is going nowhere. I promise that it has a direction, but it's taking me a little longer to get there. Please be patient.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Flight

BPOV

"I'll race both of you," Alice said as we began to head back toward the Cullen mansion.

We were treading through gleaming pines, and springy ferns full of melting snow from the glowing sun. The boys kicked us girls out of the house to go hunting again before we board our plane for New Hampshire. Edward felt like I should take that extra precaution, and his sisters were eager to tag along with me.

Rosalie sighed walking next to Alice, "You probably already know who's going to win."

I snickered at that and Alice frowned.

"That's not the point, Rose. It's for fun," Alice stuck her tongue out.

I smiled, "I'm game."

Alice wrapped her arm around my shoulders, "See? Bella's game."

Rosalie nodded, "Fine."

"Ready, set, go!" Alice exclaimed sprinting off way before giving us a warning.

Her giggles rang through the trees as Rosalie and I took off a few seconds later.

"Cheater!" Rosalie shouted after her.

I increased my speed and shot forward toward Alice leaving Rosalie a few paces behind. Alice leaped across the lake in a single bound, and I prepared myself for that same leap. With all my strength, I jumped and landed a foot ahead of Alice. Looking over my shoulder at her, I smirked and ran until I reached the front of the house first.

"I win!" I exclaimed walking backwards to taunt both Alice and Rosalie.

"Oof!" I huffed when I bumped into something.

Edward had his arms around my waist and his lips against my ear from behind. Somehow, I managed to land right into his arms.

"What exactly did you win?" Edward whispered.

"A racing match against Alice and Rosalie," I replied grinning from my small victory.

"Cheater," Rosalie said to Alice.

"Slow-poke," Alice grinned back as they passed by me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper pause by each 18-wheeler truck that was loading the Cullen cars into it. His motion was so light and swift that any human could have missed it even if they were paying attention. Curious, I turned in Edward's arm to face him but my eyes were still on Jasper.

"What's he doing? It looks very secretive," I stated.

"Oh, he's just placing GPS trackers under each of the trucks. That way we can track exactly where they are in case any of the truckers get any ideas," Edward explained.

Just then, a black limo pulled into the driveway. I couldn't believe his family trusted me enough to have me board a plane full of innocent people. Alice informed me that everything looked fine, but I wasn't convinced that I could control myself for several hours at a time. Emmett joked that the worst case scenario was that I would kill every human on the plane, and Edward would have to crash it to destroy evidence. It wasn't a very funny joke to say the least.

On the upside, I was well fed and that should hold me off, right? No, of course not because my thirst is never-ending, but I will have to trust in myself that I can do it.

"Everybody ready?" Esme asked waving Jasper and Emmett toward the limo.

They gave the okay for the 18-wheelers to take off toward the interstate highway, and my nerves began to rattle as I prepared to climb into the back of the limo. Once everyone was in, Carlisle told the driver to head to the airport.

"So, what are you kids studying this year?" Esme asked.

"Oh, my gosh! There's this really amazing studio art program at Dartmouth," Alice exclaimed.

Esme nodded, "How nice. What are you doing Edward?"

"I'm thinking about finishing my doctorate in bioengineering," Edward replied.

I did a double take at that answer, "You're a doctor?"

"I haven't practiced in decades," Edward answered as if it took the title away.

Carlisle pointed a finger at him, "That doesn't mean you're not great."

I could tell from the expressions on Carlisle and Esme's face that they were very proud to have a son like Edward regardless of what he did in the past.

"What about you, Emmett? Have you thought about anything?" Esme asked with a rather scolding tone. I'm guessing he's the slacker in the family.

Emmett looked away from Rosalie's face and asked, "Excuse me, what? I wasn't paying attention."

"Mom wants to know what you are doing at college this year," Alice answered.

"I'm majoring in sexology," Emmett replied proudly.

"You can't be serious. Have you ever given any thought in broadening your horizons?" Jasper asked jeeringly.

Emmett cocked his head at Jasper, "I'm sorry. Did Alice make you sleep on the couch last night?"

Alice placed a hand on Jasper's chest to calm him, "All he's saying is that you should get out of your comfort zone and do something different."

"Does anybody want to know what I want to do?" Rosalie raised her voice to get our attention.

"Let me guess. Grace the cover Sports Illustrated?" Alice asked snidely.

Edward chuckled softly next to me, and I saw the disapproving look on Esme's face. She meant her discussion topic to be a cordial one.

"Yes, Rosalie. I would like to know what you're going to do," Esme spoke up in trying to salvage this conversation.

Rosalie ripped her glare from Alice's face and replied, "I'm going to major in mechanical engineering."

Edward began chuckling again, but harder this time. His whole body was shaking with it.

"What is your problem? Have you gone completely insane?" Rosalie huffed.

"I didn't know you had the brains for that," Edward replied in full laughter.

Emmett pointed a finger at Edward, "You better watch your back."

The expression on Emmett's face was truly terrifying, but Edward didn't back down.

"Okay, Children. That's quite enough. You don't want to make a bad impression on Bella, now do you?" Carlisle asked.

I watched them all settle out of their sibling quarrel. They really did fight and irritate the hell out of each other like real siblings.

"So, Bella," Esme called for my attention.

"Hmm?"

"What would you like to do at Dartmouth?" Esme questioned.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were focused on me and I felt like a huge spotlight was burning a hole through my shirt.

I smiled nervously, "I don't know if I got in yet."

"Oh, that reminds me," Carlisle said shifting in his briefcase for a manila envelope.

His pale hand reached out and handed it to Edward who handed the envelope to me. It was a pretty big envelope. I noticed the address right away and it was from Dartmouth University. My wide eyes shot up to look at Edward.

"Open it," He ordered.

I stuck my finger under the tab and slid it open. Alice was tapping her foot on the floor rather impatiently as I pulled out the letter.

'Dear, Ms. Isabella Swan, Dartmouth University is proud to-'

"You got in!" Alice exclaimed almost jumping out of her seat.

"Thanks, Alice," I murmured.

"I'm sorry. Edward wouldn't let me tell you. I've been dying to tell you," Alice said.

I held up the paper to Edward, "How did this happen?"

He lowered my hand and replied, "Carlisle happens to know the dean of admissions at Dartmouth. They talked and the dean looked over the records I sent over. He thought they were quite impressive, actually. And voila, you are an Ivy League girl."

"Thank you," I said to Carlisle. "Does the dean know he admitted six vampire students?" I asked curiously.

Carlisle laughed, "Yes, he is a very old friend of mine."

Edward had his arm around my shoulders as we waited for the boarding call. I don't know if he had it there to prevent me from doing anything rash, or because he just wanted it to be there. His expression held nothing I could read.

"Flight A117 en route to New Hampshire is now boarding first-class passengers at gate H-25," A man's voice bellowed through the airport's PA system.

"That's us!" Alice chirped gliding across the floor with her lithe movements.

I felt the nervous tension settle into my shoulders and automatically stiffened as I stood up next to Edward.

"You'll be fine. Stop worrying," Edward rubbed my back and kissed my forehead.

There was already a small line of people standing ahead of us, and I leaned my head against Edward's sweater. His scent kept my nose preoccupied until we reached the front of the line and the steward leaned forward to take the tickets from Edward's hand. The scent of his blood burned my nostrils, but I swallowed the thirst back down hoping to suppress the instinctive hunger. Luckily, Edward steered me into the terminal behind Alice and Jasper.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Edward said softly.

I scoffed, "For you, maybe."

Another steward was waiting at the door to seat us. I wasn't taking any chances this time, so, I sucked in a breath and held it.

The steward glanced at Edward's ticket stabs and smiled, "Right this way."

We were led up the aisle closest to the TV screen and the man said, "Our staff will be here to assist you shortly if you should require anything."

He turned to leave and I let out a heavy breath.

"You were holding your breath all this time, and here I thought you were doing so great," Edward teased.

"Bite me," I retorted.

He was grinning now, "Already have, Love."

The pleasant scent of the airplane's lemon cleaning products quickly disappeared as more people began to file into their seats. A heavy fog of rusty sweetness seeped into my nostrils and burned my throat. Hunting this morning has absolutely done nothing! I was still unbelievably hungry with the delicious scent permeating in the air.

A young business man was seated across the aisle from me. His spicy cologne mixed in with his sweet blood made him smell like cinnamon to me. The collar of his suit jacket rested softly against his neck, calling my attention to the smoothness of his skin. I could practically see the pulsing vein under his skin filled with the liquid of my life. I wanted to-

"Could you please buckle your seatbelt, Miss?" A stewardess leaned in toward me.

The flowery scent of her blood hit me like a volcanic eruption. She was way too close. I flinched back and growled at her. She quickly leaned away from me and frowned.

"Are you okay, Miss?" She asked careful not to come any closer to me.

Edward leaned over and gripped my seatbelt, "She's not feeling like herself today."

He connected the seatbelt which pleased the stewardess enough to leave us alone. Then, he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Behave yourself, please," He sounded pleading.

"Edward, I can't-I can't do this," I lowered my voice.

He held my face in between his hands, "Everything will be fine, Bella. Don't think about it."

"How can I not when they're all I smell?" I hissed at him.

"Let me give you something else to think about," He said and crushed his lips to mine.

They brushed against mine with a fervor I didn't know existed, but I responded. I always respond to his kisses. He didn't waste any time in slipping his tongue into my mouth and stroking the underside. His fingers lingered at the back of my neck as he tilted his head toward me for better access. I forgot where we were, but I was aware of his family watching us. His teeth grazed my bottom lip and I sucked in a breath. My hands trailed to his dress shirt pausing at the buttons.

Someone cleared their throat quite loudly, and Edward paused against my lips. I pulled away from him with a timid smile. His eyes looked glazed over from the intensity of our kiss. I giggled at him and ran my hand through his hair to fix the loose strands. He caught my hand as it came down and pulled me against his chest. The honey scent radiating off his body was enough to make me forget everything else.

To be continued…

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For3ver Immortal