stay right here, rocketeer
chapter nine

I drove to Bella's house a bit too anxious for my own good. One, I was still afraid of going near her house after the previous, less-than-pleasant experience. Two, the whole scheme felt wrong. I was supposed to pick Bella up, bring her over to my house, formally introduce her to everyone, and then let Alice and Rosalie dress her up. It seemed like a superficial way to let Carlisle inspect this maybe fairy, maybe elf and let Alice and Rosalie strip her down to check for any abnormalities.

But as degrading as it was, I was also dying to find out the curious mystery of Bella. A small part of me also thought that if Bella was agreeing to this, then she must not be trying to hide. Which means she has nothing to hide.

And that in itself is more contradictory and confusing than anything.

I parked in front of the Swan residence, making absolute certain that all four tires were on the communal tar road and not the sidewalk of the property. Forget chivalry and ringing the doorbell with a rose bouquet, I stood beside my car, stiff as a plank, and dialed Bella's number. It's not my fault her house is vampire-proof. This was the first high school dance I've attended in half a century, and I'd rather have my senses attached, thank you.

She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" The curtains to her bedroom opened and I saw her face peek out. She smiled radiantly when she saw me and I returned it. I snapped my phone shut, even though I hadn't spoken, and waited patiently for Bella to emerge from the front door.

After talking to her father, she opened the door and half-ran to me. She looked ready to knock me down with a hug and I was slightly disappointed she didn't.

"So I really don't have to bring anything?" she asked, her one eyebrow raised.

"Alice and Rosalie have everything you will possibly need and more," I replied.

Bella shrugged and walked to the passenger side of my Volvo. She was wearing a silver blazer, a white t-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, her Danann Stone necklace, and a pair of high-tops instead of her usual boots. She has never looked more normal. All our theories were slowly being proven wrong one by one. How embarrassing would it be if Bella actually was just a human?

"That was a smart move to wait outside," she said and I began to drive. "Charlie would have torn you apart."

Yeah, well it's not like I had much of a choice.

"I think you'll be pleased to know that Carlisle is just the opposite," I said. "He can't wait to meet you. And Esme, well, she can't wait for you to join the family."

Bella's smile disappeared.

Too soon?

"Your family sounds lovely," she said.

I chuckled. "Just wait until you meet them."

We pulled into the hidden forest trail and parked in front of the house. Bella, as expected, was blown away by the grandeur of the place. I'm sure whatever vampires she's run into definitely did not have a million dollar house like we did. I quickly walked to her side of the car and opened the door for her.

"This house is beautiful," she exclaimed. "And I love that magnolia tree you have there."

"Oh, Esme loved magnolias when we lived in the south so we tried to plant one here but it didn't…work…" Only when I turned around to look at the dried up, shriveled tree that had frozen in the Washington cold, I saw a healthy, growing magnolia tree with beautiful purple flowers instead. "That was not there a second ago," I noted.

"Huh, imagine that." Bella grinned and started heading to the door.

I had a new theory. She was a garden gnome.

It was odd not having Alice waiting for us; Alice can't see any future events involving Bella. But she did come bounding after she heard my car. Right after I opened the front door to let Bella enter, the entire family was gathered around, anxious like lab scientists to figure out this new species.

"Bella, this is my family," I introduced. "That's Emmett, Rosalie, you already know Alice, Jasper, my mother Esme, and my father Carlisle. Family, this is Bella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, dear," Esme said as polite as she could. I could tell everyone was having a hard time breathing properly with Bella in such close proximity. As for Carlisle, his eyes kept darting down to stare at the pendant around Bella's neck. That's the one, he thought, that's it exactly.

"Come on, Bella, it's time for us girls to get all dolled up for the dance," Alice said, her cheer a little drained from the smell. "You boys go play or something."

I watched Bella follow Alice and Rosalie upstairs to Rosalie's grand bathroom. It was awkward, Rosalie leading the way in a quick pace to be as far from Bella as possible. Alice smiled at Bella, thrilled that she was here but not quite able to tolerate the smell or the burning sensation.

"Dude," Emmett groaned after the bathroom door shut upstairs, "how do you stand this?"

In an instant, Emmett was outside breathing in the fresh air.

Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, and I joined him. "It's not too bad after you get used to it," I said like it was no big deal.

"I'll admit, I've never smelled a blood like that in all my years," Carlisle said. "What a peculiar scent indeed."

We stood outside for a while, Esme marveling at her newly revived magnolia tree. "She must be a forest nymph," Esme said.

"Yeah, the mermaid theory is not looking so good," I admitted.

"Witch," Jasper and Carlisle said together.

Emmett shook his head. "Just wait and see. She's totally an elf."

Jasper, Emmett, and I took a minute to get dressed and waited at the foot of the stairs. Helping Bella with her hair was extremely difficult since Alice and Rosalie couldn't physically touch Bella's hair without being in unbearable pain. After two hours of patient, deft hands, and a long hair curler, Bella was finally finished.

"They're coming," I announced to my brothers, having read Alice and Rosalie's minds. Esme stood ready with a camera.

The first down the stairs was Rosalie, dressed in a floor-length, scarlet silk dress. Her hair was kept down to "make it more casual" and Emmett wrapped his arms around her before she even made it to the last step. "Jerk," she muttered with a smile.

Then Alice descended the stairs in skips, something no one else with normal-leveled coordination could manage. She chose to wear one of her originals, a short, strapless, sea-foam green dress with an intricate, layered bottom and a giant black bow in the back. She skipped to Jasper, who was wearing a green tie that matched her dress color ridiculously well.

Finally, Bella walked down the stairs. Alice had chosen well: a deep indigo halter dress that hugged every curve Bella had, usually hidden in her layers of jackets. The dress stopped just above her knee and swished around her legs with every step. Her Danann stone necklace, a bright ruby red, contrasted with the dress but somehow, it worked. The ridiculously long time spent on Bella's hair was well worth it. Every last strand was curled to Alice-standard perfection and then pinned up in a decorative bun (how they managed that, I have no idea. Perhaps chopsticks or tongs were involved.) When her eyes met mine, the freckles by her eyes turned dark to match her dress. Are we sure she's not a vampire? Because she is kind of gorgeous.

Her back, Alice thought.

When we lined up to take a photo, I stood behind Bella and saw her perfectly bare back.

No wings. There goes the fairy theory.

I risked a glance at Bella's legs. They were smooth, skinny, and fit into a pair of golden heels to match her necklace. Nothing strange. No fins either.

We posed for a few more pictures, then Esme had us pair up for cheesy couple pictures. When Bella and I went up, I made a showing of resting my hand on the small of her back.

Show off, Rosalie rolled her eyes.

After the photo shoot, as everyone headed in the direction of the garage, I noticed Carlisle hang back in a sort of daze. All his old research from Scotland kept looping through his mind. That stone, he thought about Bella's pendant, That stone…

"Carlisle," I said, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Yes?"

"Look, I'll do my best to figure out what Bella is tonight. From the looks of it, Emmett just might win the bet." We shared a chuckle but it sounded polite and forced. Alice was screaming at me to hurry up from the garage.

"She sure looks like a Tuatha dé Danann. I would know a Danann Stone the second I saw one…" And the fantasy of holding the stone up to the moon and transforming into the coveted human once again took over Carlisle's mind. A few weeks ago, I would have been daydreaming along with him, imagining how great it would be to live again. But somewhere between the intense talk at lunch and Bella finally starting to trust me, something changed.

"But what difference does it make?" I said. "If Bella is an elf or a witch or a nymph, so what? What good will the knowledge do?"

Carlisle seemed taken aback by this. Well, we could take the necklace and use it…

I didn't know how important the necklace was to Bella; that was yet another subject she refuses to elaborate on. Yet if she wears it every day and became murderous when I mentioned it the first day, it must have some value to her, even if only sentimental.

EDWARD! Alice screamed.

I began walking towards the garage, but turned back to face Carlisle one last time. "We're not forcing Bella to do anything, Carlisle. No matter what."

It occurred to me right then, seeing the flabbergasted expression on Carlisle. Perhaps this is what made Bella so weary of vampires. There are many vampires in this world that desire to be human more than anything. And some would do anything to get it. The fact that even Carlisle—saint-like, compassionate Carlisle—could be swept up in the dream enough to regard Bella as a tool and not a soul proved just how cruel vampires really are by nature.

I opened the garage door and let it slam behind me. Jasper was the only one to pick up my slightly peeved mood. He only gave me a questioning glance and calmed me.

"There you are, Edward," Alice said. "Now we can finally leave."

They started piling into Jasper's car but all made a face when Bella moved to follow. They quickly smiled to hide it, of course, but Bella saw the grimaces. Her freckles turned dark again and she bit her bottom lip. She was offended. Great going, guys.

"We'll take this one," I said, leading her to Carlisle's car.

"Why are we driving separately?" she asked, insecurity written all over her face. "Do they…"

"They love you," I reassured, "they're just not adjusted to your…smell, yet."

"I smell?"

"No, no, not like that! It's nothing personal or hygienic," I quickly corrected, cursing my fat mouth. "Okay, so you know how every human's blood smells slightly different? There's like a hierarchy of pleasurable smells to a vampire. At the top are humans, and even the worst smelling human blood ranks higher than, say, mountain lion blood. Then bears, then elk, then birds. And then, at the bottom, there's you."

Bella made a disgusted face. "So my blood stinks to you?"

"I wish. No, your blood does way more than stink. Just inhaling it makes my nose and throat sting until my whole body becomes pained and numbed. The burning feeling then travels to my brain and if I'm around you long enough, I stop functioning properly."

"Oh. I had no idea just my smell could do that. Uh, sorry?"

I laughed. "Don't apologize, the more I'm with you, the better it gets. Everyone else is just not used to your presence yet. Please don't be offended."

"Well then," she sat down in the passenger seat of the car, "I don't want to make them uncomfortable."

The drive to the dance was relaxed. Not only was Bella physically more revealed, it seemed shedding her idiosyncratic jacket, boots, and scarf ensemble also shed part of the wall she had built up long before she ever set foot in Forks. I was doing it. I was finally doing it. I was getting Bella to open up to me.

"So, Emmett thinks I'm an elf?" she asked, laughing with her head thrown back.

I smiled. "In his defense, you are pretty short."

"I'm 5 feet and a half!" As if that justified anything.

"I'm 6 feet," I countered. "And a half."

"Right, whatever. What do the rest of your family think I am, I'm very curious."

"Most of them stick to the theory that you're a witch, straight out of a Harry Potter book."

"Damn, you figured me out," she said sarcastically. "I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Pssh. Hufflepuffs for the win."

"No one likes Hufflepuffs. They serve no purpose except for being the fourth house. Their existence is completely meaningless."

I laughed, enjoying this new charismatic, sardonic Bella.

"What do you think I am?" she asked, after we had settled our differences over the houses of Hogwarts.

I sighed. "Promise not to laugh?"

"Eh, I'll try."

I gave her the best imitation of her one eyebrow raise thing before continuing. "For a while, I was convinced you were a mermaid."

Evidently, she didn't try hard enough for she cracked up at my confession. "A mermaid? Are you serious?"

"Think about it!" I cried. "You told me you didn't like water because it reminded you of your failure. I thought you were a mermaid who sucked at swimming or something so that's why you escaped to land to live with your father. And when you moved the van, you melted the ice, which is another water element. When you went to La Push, you avoided the water and talked to Jacob instead."

"It's winter! Of course I wouldn't swim."

I frowned. "Hey, it was a logical argument at the time."

By then, we had arrived at the school. The dance was being held in the gymnasium. Some cheap decorations, colorful lighting, and a DJ were enough to carry the mood. I got out and opened Bella's door for her. After all the touching earlier, Bella assumed it okay to grab my hand as she stepped out of the car. It hurt like hell. But I didn't let go.

"The others are already inside," I announced. Alice and Rosalie were making quite a scene, actually.

"Till the World Ends" began to blast through the speakers. People were throwing their hands up, all over the place, going whoa-oh-oh.

"I love this song!" Bella exclaimed, then dragged me inside. The left side of my body was already searing in pain just from holding her hand. It took too much effort to not think about the ache and focus on moving my legs to keep up with Bella. We made our way to the middle of the mob of high school dancers and Bella proceeded to press her body against mine as the crowd pushed closer. The beats of the song, the lights, and the pain all became an unfeeling blur.

"Edward?"

I heard Rosalie's footsteps approach where I sat on the picnic bench outside the gym.

"Hi Rose," I said, rubbing my head.

"Why are you out here alone?"

"I needed to cool down. Bella is killing me in there. When I said I could handle her touch, I think she took that as an okay for complete physical contact. She thinks I'm much stronger than I actually am."

Rosalie moved to sit beside me, but quickly leaped back like I repelled her. "Ach, were you making out with her? You stink of Bella."

I groaned. The scent wouldn't go away and as long as it stuck around, so did the pain.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked, actually concerned for once. I guess I looked worse than normal. "Take it easy, Edward."

She left me alone then. I'm going to get Bella. I did my best to do some deep breathing and clear my mind.

"Pian pian imigh sé teacht chun solais."

Suddenly, the ache diminished into a small pain in the back of my mind. I turned around to find Bella standing with a sly smile on her face.

"Did you just cast a spell on me?" I asked, bewildered that she cared enough to do that.

"Something like that," she nodded. "It won't take the pain away completely, but it should dilute it some. Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you? I had to find out through Rosalie."

"I enjoy being with you," I said. "The pain, not so much."

She slowly walked towards me. Because of her heels, her head came up to just above my shoulder. Cautiously, she reached up and placed her palm on my cheek. There was a slight singe and I winced, but the spell made it bearable.

"Everything I do only hurts you," she whispered. "Am I really worth it?"

I answered in a heartbeat. "Definitely."

A slow song came on back in the gym. I took Bella's hand and led her back inside. If we kept the contact to a minimum, it was going to be fine. As we swayed to the beat while Alice and Jasper twirled around us, I noticed Bella's ears for the first time. In retrospect, Bella had worn her hair down every single day, covering her ears. Now her hair was in a loose bun, still covering the top of her ears, but one strand of hair was coming undone and revealed her right ear…

I had discovered an abnormality at last.

I brought my hand up and tucked the loose strand behind her ear, brushing the excess hair out of the way in the process. Bella froze when she realized what was happening, but didn't move to stop me.

"And you said you weren't an elf," I said.

The tips of her ears elongated to a point a good two or three times longer than the average human ear. It looked like the ears that Christmas elves are portrayed to have. And at the very tip were three more freckles, just like the ones on the corner of her eyes.

"I'm not an elf," she stated.

"Then what are you?"

Her eyes twinkled in the flashing lights. "I'm not a mermaid either. Or a witch."

"What else is there?"

But she only smiled and continued to sway with me, keeping a respected two feet apart.

"So?" Esme asked expectantly after I arrived home from dropping Bella off. Everyone crowded around me waiting for the mystery of the century to be revealed. Too bad they were going to be disappointed.

"Emmett is wrong. I'm wrong. Jasper, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme are wrong too. That's all she told me," I announced.

Alice perked up. "Does that mean I'm right?"

I thought about Bella, standing in all her glamour in the poorly decorated school gym, looking at me like there was nowhere else she'd rather be. Her wingless back, her human appearance, her triangular ears…was she really a fairy?

"She didn't say," I answered. "Actually, I didn't ask."

"Honestly, I don't care what she is," Esme said with a smile. "Isn't it so fascinating that she's magical?"

In a sense, the dance was a success. More truths were revealed and Bella and I have never been closer. Yet we still didn't know what Bella was, what her history was, and how vampires were involved. She was an unsolved case and I needed to get to the bottom of it.

My family dispersed throughout the house after I shared my disappointedly lacking amount of information. I caught Carlisle's eyes as he turned to head to his office. We were still bitter from the previous argument. The stone. It's so close, he thought wistfully. I shook my head sternly.

I was about to go upstairs to my room when Alice stopped me.

"You love her," she stated.

"What?"

"I may not be able to see if you and Bella have a future together, but I have my hunches. You two could be together forever. Don't mess this up, Edward."

And with that, she turned on her heel, and skipped off.

"Thanks?"

I sat in my room busily scribbling revisions to my newest composition. Esme's birthday was coming up and Alice dropped a little hint that Esme is going to love my new song for her. I had composed most of the piece earlier today on the piano when Esme and Carlisle were out hunting, so now I just had to put it to paper and fix a few glitches.

There was a tapping sound from behind me but when I turned around, there was nothing. Just an open evening sky through the windows. I turned back to the composition, penciling in the final cadence.

I heard the noise again, coming from behind me. I spun around quicker than I could blink and there, hovering right outside my window, was Bella.

…what.

She wasn't hanging off a ledge, as there was no ledge to hang off of. She wasn't standing in a nearby tree, as there were no nearby trees to stand on. No, she was floating in midair right outside my window. Upon seeing me, she tried to descend and hide, but then she figured it was no use—I already saw her. Slowly raising back up so we were staring eye to eye, with only a thin glass window between us, she gave a feeble smile and wave. Hey, she appeared to say, this is me.

Not quite believing my own eyes, I made me way to the window in one stride and opened it. "How…what…you…?" I glanced all around, looking for some explanation, any explanation.

Her Danann Stone glistened in the moonlight.

"I can fly," she said with a shrug.

"No wings?"

"No wings."

Shit, she really was a fairy. Alice was right all along. Figures.

"But you're not tiny," I pointed out, showing the typical size of a fairy with my hands.

"No, I'm not."

She was waiting for me to say it. She was knocking down the final walls. She was going to tell me what she was. The wind blew her hair and her ears came into view.

I took a breath. "Tuatha dé Danann?"

She nodded. The bricks were falling fast, the walls crumbling right before my eyes.

"I know what you are, then."

"Say it."

"Fairy."

She smiled. Walls still remained and some secrets still need to revealed, but right now, she has never been more exposed, more vulnerable, more beautiful. This is who I am, she was saying with her eyes, I trust you. I'm yours.

I reached out and pulled her in through the window, wrapping my arms around her tight.