stay right here, rocketeer
chapter six

If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If a tree falls in a forest because a dead grizzly bear thrown by a burly vampire collided against tree with unbelievable force, but no one is around to hear it, then does it make a sound?

As I pondered this psychological question, hand stroking chin, Emmett drained his third grizzly bear and tossed it at another unsuspecting tree. A flock of startled birds flew into the air and I ducked to avoid their haphazard wings.

"You've been awfully quiet today," Emmett said, repositioning the fallen tree so he could sit on it.

I shrugged. "I've been thinking."

"Little Miss Fairy got your mind?"

"Pretty much."

"Don't act so lovesick. You only drank two mountain lions today."

"I just can't get Bella's smell out of my nose. It's like a disgusting, persistent aftertaste. It's ruining my appetite."

"Yeah, because you hang out that stinkbug too much. Soon you will start to smell. And at that point, we'll have no other choice but to kick you and your stench out of the house."

I smiled sardonically. "Ah, the benefits of family."

Snapping a branch out of the way, I sat down beside Emmett. Last night, the two of us took off to go hunting and we planned to be gone for the entire weekend. However, this was only Friday and I already knew I was not going to be able to stick with that aforementioned plan. I keep thinking about Bella, but I swear I'm not in love with her, I swear, I swear, I swear.

"So you really think she's a fairy? With wings and magic and everything?" Emmett asked.

"Maybe. She did mention something about water though, and she was able to melt the ice in the parking lot so Tyler's van would miss her. I'm going on a limb and saying she's a mermaid. Mermaids can have magic too, right? Especially water-related powers."

"A mermaid? Really? Well, if we're making this into a wild guessing competition, then I'm going with elf."

"Bella is not tiny, though. She's short, but she's taller than Alice at least."

"Well one, Alice is an inch shy of a dwarf so she hardly makes a good standard for comparison. And two, maybe everything about fairies in the stories aren't true. I mean, we're vampires but we don't have fangs, we aren't scared of garlic, and we don't combust in the sunlight."

"No, we sparkle instead."

The sun was bright and completely unobstructed by any clouds. Our pale skin reflected the rays like two brilliant stars. "Is this even attractive?"

"Apparently."

I certainly hope Bella finds this attractive and not pansy-like. Just saying.

Then Emmett's mind drifted to the legendary Danann Stone necklace, supposedly around Bella's neck as we speak. If I could be human again… "So let's say Bella would somehow be willing to give her necklace to us and we used it to become human again. Would you want to be?"

"Absolutely," I answered. "To be liberated from this eternal damnation of sparkling is every vampire's dream, wouldn't you say?"

"Our family would all be dead by now."

"But you and Rosalie can start your own family. And…"

"…and you and Bella?" he finished my sentence with a smile. "Dude, you're totally in love with her."

I rolled my eyes. "Love doesn't happen that fast, Emmett. Well, maybe to you, but not to average people. You usually have to get to know the person before you even consider using the word love."

"Because you're so average, Edward."

"I just think that she has the right to know what we are and I have the right to know what she is before we decide anything else."

A puma was walking about half a mile east from where we were sitting. Emmett looked at me. You want it?

I should still be thirsty, yet there was no need to satisfy it. Venom didn't fill my mouth. My instincts didn't take over. I was completely and utterly numb. "No, I'm good."

He gave me one last questioning look before getting up from the tree trunk. "So, you excited for the dance next Saturday?"

"Sure."

"How long has it been since you were in the romantic field, my friend? Do you even know how to dance?"

I could hear a challenge in his voice. "Yeah, I know how to dance. And I can dance better than you any day."

He glared at me. "You got nerve, bro. You, me, next Saturday, dance-off."

I popped my collar. "Bring it."

/

After I talked nonstop about Bella, being a "party pooper" and ultimately bringing down Emmett's "hunting mojo" by my lack of enthusiasm, he reluctantly agreed that we would return to Forks earlier than planned.

Saturday night, we returned home and then I headed off to Port Angeles. No, not because Alice told me that Bella was also there with Jessica and Angela, but because it was only three and a half months before Esme's birthday so I should really get her a gift... Really.

Finding Bella was not hard. After two days of not seeing her, her scent's impact on me grew so that the second I pulled into a parking spot, I knew she had been here and I knew which direction she went. Although I wanted to accidentally bump into her and be like "Oh, look at that, what a coincidence?" I knew that was borderline creepy so I remained in my car. I found Jessica's thoughts quite easily and followed the three girls around by listening to Jessica's thoughts and Bella's smell.

I would just be a precaution. If all goes well, she doesn't have to know I'm here. It would probably be better if she didn't know how desperate I was to see her again. I just want to make sure she's safe. Yeah. That's it.

The thing is though, waiting around for the girls as they tried on cheap retail dresses was devastatingly dull. Soon I listening to the radio, analyzing the chord progressions in "Cheers (Drink to That)" out of sheer boredom. So it should be no surprise that when I checked up on Bella again a few minutes later, I found that she had gone separate ways from Jessica and Angela. See, that's what I get for slacking off on a job I shouldn't even be doing in the first place.

I lost Bella, but no big deal, I thought, I'll just go find her again. But either I was caught in my reverie for a freakishly long time, or Bella could really speed walk because she went far. Her scent grew faint a little past the corner where a bookstore was and then disappeared altogether. I checked to see if maybe she was inside the bookstore—since that's where Jessica thought she was at—but there was only the smell of new books, the bookseller's floral perfume, and no trace of Bella.

Now I was starting to panic. Where could Bella possibly have gone where her strong smell would disappear altogether? Then my imagination came up with lots of worst-case-scenarios where Bella was abducted by pedophiles, or aliens, or alien pedophiles, and pretty soon I was frantically driving along the strip mall of Port Angeles. I drove with the window down so I could stop every few blocks and sniff the air. She was literally gone.

I switched tactics and searched the minds of all the shoppers instead, hoping any of them will recall seeing a really beautiful girl walk by. After that proved ineffective, the panic really set in. Where could she be where I cannot see her and no one else can see her?

The sky had darkened into twilight by then. I had circled the place three times when I paused at the outskirts of the shopping block. The streets after this section were unlit and vacant. Bella wouldn't be stupid enough to walk down there, would she?

Since nothing else worked, I headed in that direction. That's when I picked up the thoughts of those men. The gang of drunkards was walking by a tiny family owned bookstore when they noticed a short, brunette talking to the bookkeeper inside.

Bella.

I quickly accelerated, driving in that direction. After a few turns, sure enough, Bella's scent came back to attack my senses. Now, how did her smell skip that giant stretch of land? How could her trace possibly be disconnected?

A truck was pulling out from the warehouse so I came to a stop to allow it to back out. I had located Bella so there was no longer that urgency.

Bella thanked the bookkeeper and exited the store, the tiny bell attached to the door ringing. She spotted the group of drunken bros chilling across the street, then walked up the sidewalk.

"Hey!"

That's when things went awry and that previous anxiety crept back. The gang stood up and began following her. When I took a good listen to their thoughts, I nearly pressed down on the gas pedal and drove right through the truck, which was still taking its damn sweet time backing out of the damn warehouse.

Run, Bella! I wanted to scream. I watched the scene unfold through the men's eyes. Why was she just standing there, watching them approach? Does she lack any sense of, oh I don't know, self-preservation?

This one will be easy, one guy thought. He took a few steps toward her.

"Stay back!" Bella finally called out. She backed up while the gang pressed forward and soon she was backed against a wall.

I honked at the truck, getting wildly impatient.

Bella's eyes showed fear as she scanned from man to man. She looked troubled, like she couldn't make a decision. Which doesn't make any sense, since under the circumstances, there didn't seem to be that many options to choose from. All she had to do was get the hell out of there in any way, shape, or form, but she was just standing with feet firmly planted on the ground, and I could not understand why.

When a big enough gap was created, I sped around the truck to go save Bella. What would she do without me?

Just another corner and I'll reach her. The men were closing in on her. I hoped against hope that I would make it before a single one of those filthy men laid a finger on her.

Bella looked upwards, then back at the men. Now she had nowhere to go; she was completely and utterly surrounded. I turned my headlights to full beam.

The next three things happened simultaneously: three men lunged forward to grab Bella, I rounded the corner with a loud screech from my tires, and Bella jumped up to amazingly land on the roof of the building.

The drunken men were confused as to how Bella got up there when the building was a good twenty feet high. Then they were even more shocked as I approached them and blinded them with my headlights. I parked the car in the middle of the road and jumped out, watching Bella stand on the roof like it was the most casual thing in the world.

So, what would Bella do without me? Jump onto the nearest roof, apparently.

"Edward?" she called, squinting against my car's headlights.

"Hey man, you almost ran us over," one guy said.

I glared at all of them, growling and baring my teeth. Their innate fear kicked in and all of them at least had the sensibility to scram.

When I turned back around, Bella was suddenly on the ground again, standing two feet in front of me.

"Wh—? How did you get back down so fast?"

She said nothing, her freckles the darkest I've ever seen them before. She wasn't wearing a scarf today and this was only the second time I laid eyes on her pendant. It was just as Carlisle described and just as I remembered: gold chain, gold plate, red gem attached. The stone was softly glowing in the dark night.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

I was still trying to calculate the physics of Bella jumping onto the roof and then jumping back down. "I came to save you, but I guess you didn't need to be saved. You had an escape plan all along."

"You were going to save me?" A small grin played at her lips. "But how did you find me?"

"Not easily."

Once again, we were faced with two concurring dilemmas. I wanted to know how she got onto that building, she wanted to know how I found her, and neither of us willing to confess, neither of us willing to compromise.

Being so close to her was also clogging my train of thought. Every part of my body was stinging already and it felt there was a wildfire in my brain.

"Get in the car," I said. "Jessica and Angela are worried."

She opened her mouth, probably to question how I knew, but didn't bother. She obediently climbed into the passenger seat, I got in the driver's seat and I drove us to the restaurant her friends were waiting at. I actually didn't know if they were in fact worried or if they were even aware of Bella's absence, but hopefully so, otherwise they would be crappy friends indeed.

Bella and I sat in silence until a shaky breath alerted me that she was crying, or at least she looked like she was about to. Her eyes stared emptily and unblinkingly at the dashboard; her arms were crossed around her body. She was shivering.

"Are you okay?" I turned up the heat in the car.

"Y-yeah."

"It's alright now, Bella. You're safe."

"I know."

"Those men…those men won't hurt you…" I suddenly remembered the horrid thoughts of those fools and felt a raging desire to turn around the car and actually run them over, several times. My anger must have been delayed, for the sight of Bella on top of the building was overwhelmingly mindblowing, to say the least.

"What did they want with me?" she whispered.

The thoughts and mental images flashed before my mind. "Horrible things. They were thinking horrible things, so—"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she interrupted me. "Thinking? You knew what they were thinking?"

Right then, I parked in front of the Italian restaurant just as Jessica and Angela walked out. They both sighed in relief when they saw Bella, then their eyes widened when they saw me.

Did Bella ditch us to meet up with Edward? How scandalous, I love it! Jessica thought. "Hey Bella. Hi Edward."

"Hey guys, sorry I kept you waiting," Bella explained. "I got lost but then found this really good bookstore. I talked with the old man working there for a long time, but then I got lost on the way back again. I ran into Edward, luckily, and now here I am."

"We're just glad nothing bad happened to you," Angela said. (Does this count as irony?)

"Sorry we already ate," Jessica apologized. "We were hungry and we were planning on driving around to look for you."

"Oh." Bella looked between her friends and me. "Um, I'm still hungry. I think I'll go eat dinner. You two go on home, it's getting late. Edward can drive me home. Right, Edward?" She gave me a look. She had things to talk to me about. Our conversation wasn't over yet.

"Right." I nodded.

Angela smiled and Jessica went ballistic over this. The girls waved goodbye and Bella walked into the warmth of the restaurant. I quickly followed.

The waitress's eyes widened as she took in the two of us. Shit, she's pretty…shit, he's pretty too! "Table for two?" she asked as she drowned in self-pity.

We nodded and the waitress led us a small table in the middle of the restaurant.

I was about to request a more private table when Bella stole the words right out of my mouth. "Can we sit over there?" She pointed to a row of booths in the corner of restaurant.

"Sure." We moved to the isolated booth, the waitress handed us our menus, and left us alone.

Bella sat down on the cushioned seat and I sat down across from her. She had a look of determination, like she needed to get to the bottom of this right here, right now. "Why—"

"Order first." I put on the act of raising my menu to shield myself from her inquisitive eyes.

She reluctantly copied my actions and scanned the menu at a ferocious speed. Two seconds later, she held up her hand and waved the passing waitress over. Before the waitress could even open her mouth to greet us or suggest the daily special, Bella blurted out, "Hi, I'll have a glass of Coke and the mushroom ravioli, thanks."

Well that was rude. The waitress jotted down the order and turned to me. "So as I was about to say, my name is Tiffany and I'll be your waitress for tonight. May I interest you in our seafood linguini?"

The waitress made a point to talk only at me. Bella scowled and rolled her eyes impatiently. I laughed at the two. "No, I'll just have a glass of Coke too, please."

"Is that all I can get for you two tonight?"

"Yes, thank you." Bella's overly sweet voice was dripping in sarcasm and can-you-please-leave-now?

With a flip of a hair, the waitress left to place our orders. Once she was out of earshot, I shook my head at Bella. "That wasn't very polite."

"I. Am. Hungry." Then she dropped her head to play with the cloth napkin on her lap before whispering, "And besides, she was looking at you like she was going to jump you."

I laughed. "Seriously?"

"Did you not see the chick?"

"I guess I was too caught up in your humorous actions."

Her eyes softened and she smiled. Then something clicked and she remembered why we were here in the first place. "You have a lot of explaining to do, mister."

"As do you."

The waitress returned with our drinks. This time, I did pay attention to her; she was in her twenties, had bleached blonde hair, and seemed to hover over me. "Are you suuure you don't want anything to eeeat?" she purred at me. Bella growled under her breath. I was highly amused by the fact that Bella was jealous over this.

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

Yes you are. The waitress walked away, exaggeratedly swaying her hips from side to side.

Bella took a long sip of her soda then put both hands on the table in all seriousness. "How did you find me?"

I looked her straight in the eye and decided to tell her the whole truth, or at least as much of it as I could. "I followed you."

She choked on her Coca-Cola.

I clamped my mouth shut, afraid I already said too much. "Does that creep you out?"

"Just a little, although I do find your concern quite touching." Bella Swan found my stalking touching. Good lord.

"Okay, my turn," I said. "How did you get on top of that building?"

Now, she looked me straight in the eyes and answered, "I jumped."

"Twenty feet in the air?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Can't you?"

This conversation was steadily going down a steep hill into restricted territory. I felt like with every question and every response, I was slowly getting peeled away until only the naked truth remained. I sat up straight and rested both hands on the table, like her.

"Yes, I can. But that's different," I answered.

"Surely it's fathomable that I could have strength somewhat equal to yours."

"But I'm a—"

"You're a what?"

"I'm…not exactly human, as I'm sure you already know."

"And I'm not exactly human, either, as I'm sure you already know."

The waitress came again to deliver Bella's ravioli. Bella gave her a nod and picked up her fork.

"You never eat or drink," Bella said as she stabbed a piece and popped it into her mouth.

"You like to wear scarves to cover that necklace," I said.

"Your eyes change color from black to yellow."

"Your freckles change color from light tan to black."

She glared at me and I glared back. Two could play at this game.

"Your skin is whiter than white and you're inhumanly attractive," she continued.

"Your skin glows and you're inhumanly attractive."

"You drive like a maniac."

"You can fly." Only after I spoke those words did I see the truth behind them. That's how she got to the top of the building and that's how she got down so quickly and gracefully. That's why I lost her scent halfway through Port Angeles. She was flying. But, I didn't see her wings, so how did that work?

"You can see the future," she stated.

"That's not true," I interjected.

She looked puzzled for a minute. "You can…read minds?"

"That, I can," I nodded.

"How does that work?" she asked, absolutely fascinated.

I shrugged. "I don't know the mechanics of it, I just have a sixth sense, I guess. I can't turn it off, just like you can't turn your normal ears off."

"Can your whole family read minds?"

"No, just me. Alice is the one who can see the future, and Jasper can control emotions. So far, none of our powers have any effect on you. I can hear every single person's thoughts in this restaurant. Except for you."

"Why is that?" Her hand went up to touch the gem on her necklace.

"I've been trying to figure that out ever since I met you."

So much remained unspoken, yet we were both afraid to speak it. She finished her ravioli, drowned her Coke, and moved on to my glass.I motioned to the waitress to bring the check.

"You do realize that this is the second time I've attempted to rescue you only to see that you didn't need my services," I noted.

"It's the thought that counts." She burst out laughing at her own pun. I laughed too, not because her lame joke was funny but because she was laughing so obnoxiously at her own lame joke.

The waitress brought over the check and Bella and I reached for it at the same time. Our fingers touched and I hissed at the electrifying pain that scorched my entire body. I pulled back, my hand in such great pain I could have sworn it had fallen off.

"Edward?" Bella stared at me confused and concerned. "What's wrong?"

I clenched my fists, willing the pain to subside. "It's…difficult as it is to be this close to you, Bella," I explained with troubled breaths. "But even the slightest touch…"

Her freckles darkened and she frowned. "I hurt you?"

"It's bearable," I lied.

"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?" She searched through her purse and finally pulled out a small package and placed it on the table in front of me. A band-aid. I chuckled at the sight of it. "I would offer to kiss it better, but then that would only make it worse," she shrugged.

She then pulled out a wallet and laid a twenty dollar bill on the check.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? I'm paying." I reached for the check but she placed her hand over it.

"I ate everything, so of course I should pay," she reasoned. "But go ahead, try to take it from me."

She put her arm in front of it so that it was impossible to get the check without making contact with her. I sat back in defeat and she smiled. I regret telling her what her touch does to me. She was totally going to use this to her advantage.

post script: in a way, this story is simply the feminism version of twilight. bella is strong and can fend for herself, while edward repeatedly fails at being her hero. (oh jeez, now i'm doing literary analysis on my own writing.) anyway, i hope you liked the chapter, thanks for reading.