A/N: I would just like to let all of my readers know that this story GENTLE TOUCHES is the very same as author ANIMAL8. As I adopted it from her earlier on this year, most of the chapters that ANIMAL8 had already created are being posted the same as I do not want to ruin the amazing work she has worked so hard on. I will be setting up a link to ANIMAL8 page so it will be accessible to new and old readers. I do hope that I can do this story as much justice as ANIMAL8 and I do hope that you enjoy the old and new chapters of GENTLE TOUCHES.
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing Twilight
Gentle Touches
Chapter 9 – Inspiration (EPOV)
I waited until I was down the stairs before I started talking, hoping not to disturb the rest the girl was in need of. "Okay, Alice, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, scowling slightly in her direction, where she stood holding the bags she had obviously brought back from the mall, "And why couldn't this wait until later?"
She rolled her eyes at me, sighing dramatically. "I wanted to ask you what I should do with the clothes," she said, raising one eyebrow at me in questioned, her lips pursed.
My brow furrowed as I tried to work out why she was asking me when usually she would just do her own thing. I came up with nothing, so I asked her. "Why are you asking me?"
"You're right," she chirped brightly, "I already know what I'm going to do with them; I just thought it would be polite to ask you." I closed my eyes, my finger pinching at the bridge of my nose. She continued as if she hadn't noticed. "So, I'm going to be moving all of your clothes into your new room and putting all of the girl's clothes into your old closet."
"What?" My eyes snapped open and I gaped at her. She stared at me. I was slightly annoyed at her for controlling this decision, but even I had to admit it was the most reasonable arrangement. "Fine," I sighed.
"I knew you would agree," Alice said smugly.
I glared at her. "It wasn't as if you gave me much of a choice," I grumbled back. My look softened, though, as I remembered that this was for the girl, my angel. I frowned as I realised that Alice might have left a sore impression on the girl during their last encounter and that made me unsure how she would respond if Alice went into her room.
Alice looked at me like she knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry, I'll wait until later when she's properly asleep," she assured me with a smile.
"Thank you," I answered genuinely.
"You're welcome," she replied, grinning broadly. Her eyes blanked out as she slipped into a vision, my mind being caught by the familiar sight of the angel. She was lying on the bed with me by her side, staring into my eyes as I stroked her hair. I noticed the dazed look in her eye and realised that I must be humming to her again.
The vision ended, leaving Alice with a confused yet curious look in her eyes as she looked at me. I shook my head, silently telling her that I didn't know what her vision was about, and she narrowed her eyes at me with a disapproving scowl on her face. She knew I was lying but she didn't press for more, probably knowing that I wouldn't answer her anyway.
She squealed suddenly, distracted from her previous game of glaring at me. "Jasper's going to be home soon," she yelled, excited. I rolled my eyes at her, but my lips twitched into a smile at her behaviour.
"Shut up, pixie," Emmett teased, leaning around the arm of the chair to watch Alice, who merely stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled lightly and turned back to the television.
The door opened then and Alice blurred past me as she leapt at her mate. "Jasper," she squealed, her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He smiled at her indulgently as he bent to peck her on the lips.
"I'm glad to see you too, darlin'," he said in his southern accent, supporting her with his arms around her body. "Hello, Edward," he looked up at me with a calming smile and I nodded back, returning the sentiment. How is the girl? He thought.
I shrugged, not really having an exact answer for him. "She seems to be alright," I said, reflecting on my observations of her, "She's still scared, I think. But sometimes she's alright now with me touching her, and I think she can communicate if she wants."
He looked surprised by that. "How do you mean?" He frowned questioningly.
"I was holding her hand and she basically acted out by pulling her hand and shaking her head that she wanted me to let go of her," I informed him, remembering the incident. I smiled again at the thought of having some message from the girl.
"Interesting," Jasper murmured, "She is intelligent then, like we thought." He raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded, Alice backing me up in affirmation.
We stayed in silence and I listened to their thoughts curiously. I wonder what else she is capable of. When she is up to it, we should definitely see if we can test her to find out, Jasper was thinking logically as always, but I frowned at him. She wasn't a test subject; she was a poor girl who needed our help.
This is going to be so exciting! I just know she's going to get better and then I can have a new sister who'll let me dress her up! Alice's thoughts were typical and I quickly skipped them, though I did wonder if the girl would be as willing as she seemed to think.
Emmett only had attention for the game he was currently playing so I ignored him as well. Carlisle, though, having caught our conversation, was thinking about ways to encourage her to communicate more and coming up with theories on how to do it.
"I wouldn't bother, Carlisle," Alice said, surprising both him and me. I turned to her in question. "She'll talk in her own time," she answered the unspoken question, finally letting go of Jasper and standing next to him.
Carlisle appeared at the top of the stairs and stared at my sister inquisitively. "Have you seen something, Alice?" He queried.
She shook her head, denying. "I haven't seen much," she hedged. I glared at her, having a feeling she was keeping something from me. "I haven't," she said more forcefully. Jasper sent a wave of calm, trying to diffuse my aggravation and sending me a sharp glance.
"Okay, Alice," Carlisle placated, smiling appealingly at her, "You don't need to get worked up."
"I'm not," she huffed, crossing her arms. Jasper responded by rubbing his hand soothingly on her shoulder and whispering comfortingly to her. She smiled up at him gratefully and then turned to me. "You can go back to her now," she said with a knowing smile.
Part of me, a small part, wanted to wipe the smirk off her face, but it was quickly drowned out by the much larger part that was more interested in getting back to the girl than getting revenge on my sister. I nodded shortly to everyone and raced up the stairs, barely remembering to slow down before entering the room.
I let out a sigh when I saw her, still laying where I had left her with her eyes closed and her breathing peaceful. I would have thought she was asleep if it wasn't for the fact that she still growled at me when I opened the door. "Hey," I said soothingly as I slowly walked closer.
Her eyes opened and she growled louder, curling herself defensively. I paused and observed her momentarily, as she lay there looking scared, and a flash of guilt crept up on me. I knew I shouldn't have pushed her boundary by holding her wrist, but she had been responding so encouragingly and I had selfishly wanted to try. Her expression showed her uncertainty and she was obviously wary of me. I frowned sorrowfully as my eyes flashed around my room, searching for something, anything, which might be useful.
They finally landed on my high tech stereo system and an idea formed. I wandered over to my shelf of CDs and picked one from its place: a compilation of Debussy's greatest pieces. I was running off of the hope that if she liked Claire De Lune and it soothed her then maybe the same might hold true for other songs of the like.
The first notes of Claire De Lune came through the speakers as I turned back to where the girl lay on the bed. She was watching me calmly and when I approached she showed no response other than her eyes following me as I went.
She only tensed slightly as I stretched out beside her, but remained quiet. "It's okay," I whispered. I lay there just listening to the notes of the piano filling the room with sound and my eyes travelled over the girl's slim body. With the blanket covering her I couldn't see the weight loss or the way her ribs protruded from her skin or the bruises that coated her, but I knew they were there. The blankets didn't change that.
Carlisle hadn't been able to look at her since she was brought into this room so we had no idea how she was healing or if she was at all. I hoped sincerely that she was and wondered if she felt any pain from her afflictions.
I focused on her face again and she blinked back at me. I stroked back a lock of hair from her face and she flinched almost imperceptibly. "You're alright, Angel," I repeated softly, my fingers running through her smooth hair. Her mouth opened slightly and the soft exhalation of her breath increased her scent in the air around us. I barely noticed it, only enough to admire her fragrance while the burn was nonexistent.
"I really like this type of music," I stated casually. "Any kind of classical music, or music from the fifties I like. Much better than the sixties or seventies," I scrunched my nose in disgust, "The eighties were bearable."
The familiar spark of interest ignited in her warm brown eyes as she focused intently on me. I smiled lightly as I moved my hand tentatively down, across her cheek, to brush the back of my hand along the length of her neck. She stiffened at first, but quickly relaxed as I began humming to the melody from the speakers.
I felt delighted. Finally, I had started to gain this girl's trust. Obviously, I knew I still had a long way to go yet; she hadn't spoken a word so far and while she trusted me to an extent, she clearly still didn't trust me fully. But it was good enough for now.
My fingers rested on her pulse point, feeling the blood pulsing under the thin membrane of pale, nearly translucent, skin. It looked almost like porcelain, I mused, so fragile and breakable and at the same time so beautiful.
She growled under her breath as I traced the carotid artery, the vibrations reverberated in my fingertips. "Shh," I hushed her gently. She didn't make any more noise and I returned my hand to her cheek, lightly caressing her soft face.
Her arm lay between us on the bed, but I made sure to stay away from it, not wanting to stress her further by having a repeat of last time. My mind was whirring with the contact and as I stared into her eyes, suddenly other notes were playing, these ones inside my head. The melody flowed, in some places not sounding quite right as my mind constantly made adjustments and improvements.
The song played over in my head, becoming more and more complex as I added to it. My fingers twitched and ached, the irresistible urge to play increasing. I blinked and focused back on her, her soft eyes watching me curiously.
I smiled, unable to escape the rejuvenating feeling of my inspiration. Somehow, I knew it was because of the beautiful angel lying in front of me, that she was the root to the sudden appearance of the new song.
I realised, abruptly, that it was getting late now; the sun had already set outside, casting the horizon into deep shades of pink and orange. The girl's eyes were heavy lidded as she struggled to keep them open. I traced one finger over the faint shadow beneath her eye and she flinched, with a slight whimper.
"It's okay," I murmured reassuringly. I started humming again as a new song came over the stereo. "Go to sleep," I told her as I swept her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
Moving slowly, I slipped off of the bed and walked to the sound system, intending to turn it off, when I heard a noise of protest from behind me. Startled, I turned to see the girl staring at me, eyes wide in surprise as if she couldn't believe what she had done. I stared back, wondering what was wrong. It took me a minute to figure it out and then I smiled. Instead of turning it off completely, I lowered the volume, hoping not to disturb her if she wanted to sleep.
Nodding to myself, I moved back to her. "I'll leave it on, Angel," I said softly, lightly touching her jaw with two of my fingers. Her mouth lifted at the corner in a small semblance of a smile.
"Sleep well," I whispered. I left her room quietly, heading downstairs to my piano.
A/N: I make no promises as to when I post new chapters…but I will do my best to make them as closed together as possible. Please remember to review as more reviews will get a faster posting of the next chapter.