The Forbidden Fruit
By realixweatherfairy
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the rest of the series! I don't own the song that Bella sings later in the chapter either; its Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me!
Chapter 4: The Cullens
The bright rays that escaped the clouds were what woke Bella the next morning; she lay with one arm over her eyes, hoping that sleep would return to her, before the memories of the day before washed over her, like an ice cold bath.
"Ah!" she gasped as she sat up; a movement that made her head spin. A silent chuckle coming from the right alerted her attention that Edward was still in the room as he said, "Your hair looks like a haystack … but I like it." Looking at him dubiously, Bella smiled and got out of the bed and gave him a hug as she replied, "Good morning, Edward."
"Morning," he said as he returned the hug. Letting go of him, she walked toward the door while whispering, "Charlie!"
"He left for work an hour ago – after reattaching your battery cables I might add," Edward replied, "I'm a little disappointed, if you really wanted to go somewhere, is that all it would take to stop you?" Bella's face fell into a thoughtful look; she wanted to return to his side so badly, but she knew that she had to get ready for a new day.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this confused in the morning," Edward stated as he held his arms open for her; an invitation that was nearly irresistible.
"I'll be needing another human minute," Bella admitted, rubbing the back of her left hand against her eyes.
"I'll wait for you," and with that Bella headed to the bathroom, as she brushed her teeth, she almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror; the person looking back at her most certainly did not look like her. The eyes were too bright and her cheeks had more of red tint to them. She couldn't believe that one person could make her feel like this. As she walked back into her room, it was almost like a miracle that he was still there, arms still waiting for her.
Once he realized that she was back, Edward smiled and pulled her against him while saying, "Welcome back." He held her in silence for a while until she noticed that he had changed clothes while she was sleeping.
"You left?" she inquired.
"I could hardly leave in the clothes I wore yesterday, now could I?" he replied chuckling. She smiled, and said, "I guess you couldn't."
"Don't worry; I didn't miss anything," Edward stated, "The talking came before I left." Bella groaned, and asked, "And what did you hear?" making his golden eyes go soft as he replied, "You said you loved me."
Bella smiled as she stated, "You knew that already."
"Just the same; it was nice to hear," he said making her smile and look him in the eye and say, "I love you."
"You are my life now," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head. After a bit, Edward threw Bella over his shoulder and carried her downstairs for breakfast. As she ate, Bella asked, "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Um," Edward started, he seemed to frame his answer carefully, "What would you say to meeting my family?" Bella gulped.
"Are you afraid?" he asked casually.
"Only a little bit."
"Don't worry," Edward replied as he smirked, "I'll protect you." Glaring at him, Bella said, "That's not funny. It's not them; it's that I'm afraid that they won't like me. Do they know that I know about them, and what I am?"
"Oh, yes, they know everything. They'd taken bets yesterday on whether or not I was going to bring back with me," Edward replied, "Though why anyone would bet against Alice is a mystery to me. That and we don't have secrets in the family; it's not really feasible with my mind reading, and Alice seeing the future."
"And don't forget Jasper making you feel all warm and fuzzy about spilling your guts," Bella added with a smile, making Edward smile back at her as he said, "You were paying attention."
"I've been know to once in awhile." Edward looked down at the bowl of cereal that she was eating, and asked, "Is that any good? It doesn't look very appetizing from here." Glaring at him again, Bella muttered, "Well, it's not an irritable grizzly," making him glare at her again before he continued, "And you should introduce me to Charlie, too."
"He knows you," Bella retorted, making him shake his head and say, "I mean as your boyfriend." Shaking her head, Bella sighed. She really didn't want to get on this topic with Charlie. Sure, the man wasn't her real father, but he was one of the closest things she had ever had to one in over 700 years, and this topic made her uncomfortable; she didn't like anything to do with boys and Charlie in the same sentence.
"Are you going to tell Charlie that I'm your boyfriend or not?" Edward asked raising an eyebrow.
"I guess I should," Bella said, internally cringing.
"Well, he'll need an explanation for why I'm going to be around here so much. I don't think getting a restraining order against me is a very good idea," Edward continued, never noticing that Bella's eyes were on him. Looking back at her, Edward asked, "Are you done?" to which Bella answered with a nod and she headed upstairs to get dressed for the day.
Bella had a hard time deciding what to wear. She was sure that there weren't any etiquette books detailing fashion when your vampire charge and sweetheart takes you home to meet his vampire family; though it was a relief that she could think the word to herself; she shied away from it intentionally. She ended up in a pair of dark blue jeans, and a kimono style top that had snowflakes painted on it that Edward had once complimented and her favorite black high heeled boots. Knowing that there wasn't much she could do with her hair, Bella pulled it back in a half way up and half way down style, braiding the sides as she pulled them back into a ponytail.
"Alright," Bella called downstairs, "I'm decent." Edward had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs; a little closer than she thought he was, and ended up bumping into him and would have fallen to the floor, but Edward steadied her before she could and held at a careful distance away before pulling her against him and whispered in her ear, "Wrong again. You are utterly indecent. No one should look so tempting; it's not fair." Bella shook her head as she placed her illusion spell over herself, her features returning to their human state. Taking Edward's hand in her own, Bella said, "Let's go."
Though Bella had been to his house before, Edward's home still made her breath still (Everything is exactly as it says in the book; I'm not going to even try to describe it); his house was extremely beautiful. Edward watched Bella's reaction to his home and said, "Do you like it?"
"It has a certain charm that I didn't notice before," she replied with a small smile as he was at her door opening it for her and said, "Ready?"
"Not even a little bit, but let's go," Bella answered. Edward chuckled as he took her hand and said, "Don't worry; you look lovely," as he lead her onto the porch and opened the door for her. Once inside, Bella immediately noticed Dr. Cullen and a female that she assumed was Esme, the only one in the family that she had not seen in real life before, only Edward's mind. Though she had met Dr. Carlisle Cullen when she was in the hospital after Tyler had almost hit her, Bella was still surprised by his youth. He must have been at least in his early twenties when he was bitten.
"Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella," Edward said as he broke the silence. Carlisle smile at her as he carefully came toward her, and said, "You're very welcome, Bella," and held out his hand. Bella stepped forward and shook his hand and replied, "Thank you, Dr. Cullen; it is a pleasure to see you again."
"Please, you can call me Carlisle." Bella smiled at him and said, "Thank you." Her sudden confidence surprised even her, and she could sense Edward's relief in his aura. Esme stepped forward next with a smile on her face as she took Bella's hand in her own and said, "It is wonderful to finally meet you, Bella. Edward has told us so much about you." If Edward could have blushed, Bella was certain that he would have as she replied, "Yes, it is wonderful to meet you too," and it was the truth.
"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, but no one answered as they didn't have to, because they appeared at the top of stairs.
"Hey, Edward!" Alice called happily as she streaked down the stairs, Jasper following at a more slow pace, and stopped abruptly in front of Bella, Carlisle and Esme shot warning looks at her, but she ignored them as she said, "Hi Bella!" and kissed Bella's cheek, startling her, but it made her happy that Alice seemed to approve of her so entirely, even though she already knew that Alice absolutely adored her through their mental connection.
"You do smell nice; I never noticed that before," Alice continued, making Bella blush. Bella then looked at Jasper and said, "Hello Jasper."
"Hello, Bella, it is nice to finally meet you," he replied, making Bella smile, much to everyone else's surprise. Suddenly Carlisle's expression distracted Bella from any train of thought; he was gazing at Edward as if he had something to say, but then she realized that Carlisle was talking to Edward as Edward nodded once. She was broken from her train of thought when Alice said, "Edward told us that you use an illusion spell to look like you did when you were human, Bella, is that true?"
"Yes, it is true," Bella replied, taking off her illusion spell, revealing her true self. All of their eyes widened, except Edward's.
"Wow, you look really pretty," Alice gasped, making Bella laugh as she looked meaningfully at the grand piano that stood inconspicuously by one of the walls; only Esme noticed her preoccupation and asked, "Do you play?"
"Only a little; I haven't practiced in a while," Bella replied, "Is it yours?"
"No," Esme answered with a laugh, "Didn't Edward tell you that he was musical?"
"He didn't need to," Bella said, "I knew pretty much everything about him before I met him." All of their eyes, except for Edward's of course, looked at her skeptically, as she continued, "Angel thing," as she rolled her eyes, "I mean he can do everything right?"
"I hope you haven't been showing off, Edward, it's rude," Esme scolded.
"Just a little," he replied as he laughed. As Bella watched, the look on Esme's face softened at the sound and her eyes became brighter.
"He's been too modest actually," Bella corrected, "I can play if you want, though I haven't practiced in over 50 years," as she made her way over to the piano and took a seat on the bench and drifted her fingers over the keys. Edward moved to sit next to her, and said, "I didn't know that you could play piano."
"There's a lot of things that you don't know about me, Edward," Bella replied as she started playing a lullaby, "This is just one of them: I can not only play piano, but the violin as well." She then began playing a song that sounded familiar to Edward and Bella started to sing; the sound sounded like bells were chiming.
For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I'll be forever thankful baby
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through, through it all
Edward recognized the song as Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me. He had always liked this song.
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
"They like you, you know," Edward said and she nodded.
You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand, I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me, and I stood tall
I had your love, I had it all
I'm grateful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by you
"Esme especially," he continued, not caring that she wasn't answering.
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
"Rosalie and Emmett?" her voice rang in his head, surprising him until he remembered that she could talk to people with her mind.
You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining your love into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you
"Rosalie, I guess, is just jealous, though Emmett doesn't have a problem with you, Bella," Edward replied out loud.
"Jealous of me?" her voice rang with skepticism through his head again as she continued singing.
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
"I don't know why, Bella, I guess it's just she thinks you are more beautiful than her I guess." Edward replied shrugging his shoulders as the song continued.
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
"What did Carlisle tell you?" her voice said in his mind and he said, "Noticed that did you?" and she nodded before he continued, "Alice just sees some visitors coming soon. They know that we're here, and they're curious." Bella nodded, already knowing what he meant by "visitors".
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
And the song ended and she turned to face him and he said, "Pretty good for someone who has supposedly not practiced for fifty years," making her smile at him. Edward took her hand led her through the house, when they came to Carlisle's office, he knocked and when Carlisle said come in, Edward said, "Come on, I want to show you something."
When they entered the office, the first thing Bella noticed was the painting that held three figures: all three were vampires, but unlike the Cullens, their eyes were ruby, two had dark hair and the other had white. Her eyes widened; though she knew that Carlisle had studied in Italy, she had no idea that the friends of his that he had found there the same coven that had taken her in when she was orphaned.
Noticing that Bella's attention was on a certain painting, Edward came up behind her and asked, "What has taken your attention so splendidly?"
"Remember the vampire coven that took me in after my clan was destroyed?" she asked looking at him with surprised eyes. His own eyes widened as he said, "Yes, why?" Unable to say anything more, Bella simply motioned her head towards the painting of the Volturi as what she was trying to tell him dawned on him.
"The coven that took you in was the Volturi?" Edward asked, disbelief written in his features. By now Carlisle, though she had thought that he had left, was standing behind her and asked, "What was that, Edward?"
"About 6 years after I was reborn as an Angel," Bella explained, "my clan, the Silver Angels, was completely destroyed. At that same time, the Volturi were passing through the area and found me; though Marcus is usually uncaring, he was able to convince Aro and Caius that they should take me with them. I'll never know exactly why he did it; I guess he saw something in me that he respected, but for five hundred years after that, Marcus sort of became my adoptive father with Aro and Caius as my uncles. They took care of me until one of the other clans of Angels came looking for me. I've visited them off and on in the last two thousand years, but I haven't been able to see them as much as I would like to."
"That blows my mind," Edward said, "Who would have thought that the Volturi would actually do something like that?"
"They're not as monstrous as you make them out to be, Edward," Bella scolded as Carlisle left the room, and Edward pulled her out of the office and led her to his room (everything is exactly the same as in the book). Edward took a seat on the black sofa by the window in his room and picked up a remote and turned his stereo on and a soft jazz number began playing; it sounded as if the band was right in the room with them. Turning around to look at him, Bella noticed that he was staring at her with a peculiar look on his face and said, "What?"
"I thought that I would feel … relieved that you knew everything; that I didn't need to keep secrets from you," he replied, "but I didn't expect to feel anything more than that; I like it. It makes me happy," and he smile slightly, making her smile in return. Suddenly Bella heard a thought in his head that she didn't like, and narrowed her eyes at him as she said, "You're waiting for me to run away from you while screaming, aren't you?" Edward's eyes went wide before a faint smile appeared on his lips and he nodded.
Glaring at him, Bella retorted, "Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy, but you're not as scary as you think you are; in fact, I don't find you one bit scary." Edward raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of disbelief, before he flashed a wicked smile that Bella didn't like and said, "You really shouldn't have said that," and crouched down, like a lion getting ready to pounce on its prey.
Raising an eyebrow and looking bored, Bella replied, "What are you going to do? Try to scare me? Go ahead; I dare you." Then Edward pounced, but landed on the floor as Bella had moved away from where she had been standing so quickly that he was sure that she was a vampire, but even then, she had moved faster than a vampire could, and was now leaning against to door with a cocky grin on her face, and was trying not to laugh. Edward growled and pounced again, but this time he was held in the air by some invisible force; this time Bella couldn't hold off her laughter at his bewildered expression. Walking up to him while smirking, Bella said, "See, you couldn't scare me if you tried," and gave him a kiss on the cheek before letting him down.
As she was about step away from him, Edward place his hands around Bella's forearms, holding her in place as he leaned forward and kissed her full on the mouth, making Bella's eyes widen before she closed them and gently kissed him back. As he pulled away, Edward asked, "How did you do that?"
"What? Hold in you in the air? Don't you remember what I said about telepathy? I can move things with my mind," Bella replied.
"What kinds of things?" Edward asked noticing that Alice and Jasper were standing in the slightly opened doorway with smirks on their faces. Suddenly the door opened all the way, startling both Alice and Jasper as Bella replied, "All kinds of things."
"Can we come in?" Alice asked as Edward nodded. Alice seemed to find nothing wrong with the way that Edward was now holding Bella, though Bella's cheeks were redder than they normally were. Her movements were so graceful as she walked in, Jasper slowly following, as she said, "It sounded as if you were having Bella for lunch, and we came to see if you would share," making Bella chuckle as Edward replied, "Sorry, I don't think that I have enough to spare," holding Bella tightly against his chest with his chin against her neck.
"Actually, Alice stays there's going be a real storm tonight," Jasper said smiling despite himself, "And Emmett wants to play ball. You game?" Bella could tell by his aura that Edward was excited; his eyes lit up, but there was also hesitation.
"Of course, you should bring Bella," Alice added. Suddenly Bella whipped her head around to look at Edward and said, "I'll go, but I'm not sitting on the sidelines. I'll play too," making Edward raise an eyebrow at her, so she elbowed him, making him gasp. The action made Alice and Jasper laugh as they left the room, closing the door behind them.
"So, baseball, huh?" Bella grinned.
"Do you even like baseball, Bella?" Edward asked, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
"It's the American pastime," Bella replied smirking.
It was just starting to rain when Bella pulled onto her street; at that time she had no doubt that he would be staying with her, but as she parked her car against the curb, Bella heard Edward whisper something intelligible in an aggravated voice. Sitting in Bella's driveway was an old black Ford, and Billy, Charlie's charge, and his son, Jacob Black standing on the porch, hiding from the rain. Bella had met Jacob once, on trip that she had taken to the beach on the La Push Reservation a few months ago, and had hit it off with him pretty well, though some of the thoughts that ran through his head sometimes were anything but friendly.
"This is crossing the line," Edward growled in a low, but furious voice. Ignoring Edward, Bella concentrated on Billy's thoughts before answering, "He's just here to see Charlie. They're best friends, and Billy is Charlie's charge, Edward. And apparently it doesn't look like he likes you very much."
"How could you tell?"
"By the glare he's giving you," Bella replied in a curt voice, "I'll get them inside, so you can go home."
"Don't forget: you have to prepare Charlie to meet your new boyfriend," Edward reminded her, making her throw him a dark look as she scowled and said, her voice laced with sarcasm, "Yeah, thanks for reminding me," making him smile as he laid a kiss on the edge of her jaw, making her blush as she got out of the car and walked up to the porch and said, Hi, Billy, Jacob, it's been a while. Charlie's gone for the day, I hope you haven't been waiting for too long."
"Not too long," Billy replied, "I just wanted to bring this up," indicating the brown paper sack that rested on his lap.
Bella smiled at him and said, "Thanks, why don't you come in and dry off for a bit?" opening the door and holding it open so that Billy, who was restricted to a wheelchair, could come in with Jacob pushing him. "Here, let me take that."
"You'll want to put that in the fridge," Billy said, "It's Harry Clearwater's homemade fish fry -- Charlie's favorite. It keeps it drier."
"Thank you," Bella replied as she did as he told her. Billy scrutinized her as he sent Jacob out to car to look for something.
"Bella, I've noticed that you're spending a lot of time with one of the Cullens," Billy started.
"Yes, what of it?"
"Bells, I know that it might not be any of my business, but I don't think that is such a good idea," he finished.
"You're right it isn't," Bella said, "but Edward Cullen is my charge, Billy, do you remember what that means?" Billy's eyes widened with understanding and he said, "I see," and fell silent as Jacob came back in and said, "Sorry, Dad, I couldn't find it; you must have left it at home." Billy nodded as he and Jacob left, leaving Bella to her thoughts. After a few minutes, when she knew they were gone, Bella headed up to her room to change out of her clothes. The first clothes that she tried on didn't do anything, but after a bit she got aggravated and just put on a pair of blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and a dark blue hooded jacket that zipped.
It wasn't long until Bella heard Charlie's car pull up in the garage and not much longer after that that Charlie walked into the living room.
"Hey, Kiddo!"
"Hey, Charlie," Bella replied with a small smile, "Where's the fish?"
"I put it out in the freezer."
"Alright, I'll just go grab a few pieces before they freeze," Bella said, "Billy stopped by and dropped off some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry." Charlie's eyes lit up as she spoke and he said excitedly, "He did? That's my favorite," making Bella smile again as they sat down and ate dinner.
"So what did you do with yourself today?"
"Um, well, this afternoon, I just hung around the house," Bella said, "Only the recent part," she added in her thoughts before continuing, "This morning I was over at the Cullens'."
Charlie's eyes widened as he demanded, "And why were you over there?"
"I sort of have a date with Edward Cullen tonight and he wanted to introduce me to his parents," she replied, knowing when he was getting ready to rant and rave. But this time he surprised her by just sitting there with a dumbstruck look on his face as he said, "I thought you said that none of the boys in town were your type?"
"Its kind at an early stage, Charlie," Bella griped. The doorbell rang and both of them replace their illusion spells as Charlie answered the door to reveal Edward, drenched but still looking as much like a god as ever. After a little humor at Bella's expense, they were ready to go. Bella groaned when she saw that monster jeep that was parked behind her car and went and got in with Edward following, chuckling as he went.
"This is a very big jeep that you have, it's Emmett's isn't?" Bella inquired.
"Yes, I didn't think you would want to run the whole way," Edward replied, smirking the whole time. Bella was suddenly very nervous as he started the jeep. It wasn't long until Edward pulled off the road and down a mountain path. When he turned cut the engine, Edward turned to Bella and said, "Sorry, Bella, we're on foot from here." Bella rolled her eyes and undid the off-roading harness that had kept her in her seat for the whole ride, and opened the door, releasing her illusion spell as she went, and before Edward could say another word, Bella took of running. He was surprised to see that she ran faster than any other vampire he had ever seen and stayed in front of him until they arrived in the clearing where his family was waiting for them.
"Are you ready for some ball?" Emmett asked with a smirk. Reading his thoughts, Bella knew that he thought that she was a pushover while Rosalie just ignored her.
"Bring it on," Bella replied, her eyes gleaming, taking the bat from Emmett and throwing the baseball in the air and hitting it with a force that everyone could have thought that it would have knocked a tree over. Emmett eyed her warily; he would need this girl on his team. Edward watched Emmett closely, and said, "I don't think so, Emmett, I'm afraid Bella is on my team," making Emmett pout. Bella looked at him suspiciously, and said, "Um, okay, instead, how about we avoid a fight and I'll just watch this time."
They all nodded as if this was something they should have thought of. As they went to their places, Bella noticed how graceful they were; Edward, in particular, was like a cheetah, fast and powerful in his own right; it took her breath away.
"Shall we head down?" Esme asked in her quiet, musical voice and Bella nodded in agreement.
"You don't play with them," Bella asked as they walked towards the side of the field.
"No, I prefer to referee; I like keeping them honest," Esme explained.
"Ah, I see, so they like to cheat then?"
"Oh, yes, of course, you should hear the arguments they get into," Esme replied, "Actually, I hope you don't; you would think that they were raised by a pack of wolves."
"You remind me of my mother," Bella laughed, but at the mention her mother, her eyes quickly lost their usual sparkle. She, of course, meant her real mother; the one who had died to protect her.
"Yes, well, I do think of them as my children," Esme said, noticing the change in Bella's mood, "Edward was the first of my new sons, even if he's older than me in one way, and it's always been that way. That's why I'm happy he's found you, dear. He's been the odd man out for too long; you probably don't know how it's hurt me to see him alone."
"You don't mind, then," Bella said, hesitantly, "That I'm all wrong for him."
"No," Esme replied, quietly, "You are want he wants; I know that it will work out somehow." Bella could tell that Esme was beginning to get worried about her and though she wasn't sure, she could feel Edward's eyes on her, as if Esme had given Edward some sort of warning, because she could also sense worry in his aura as well as Esme's.
"Are you alright, dear?" Esme asked worriedly.
"I'm sorry, Esme, it always makes me sad when I think about my family," Bella explained sadly. Esme didn't say anything, obviously already knowing what Bella had been referring to. Instead of commenting, Esme turned away from her and said, "All right; Batter up."
And the game began. The score changed constantly and they razed each like street ballplayers as each team took turns in the lead, and occasion ally Esme would call them to order. Thunder rumbled on over the town, but we stayed dry, just as Bella had thought they would.
Carlisle was up to bat with Edward catching when both Alice and Bella gasped at the same. Alice and Bella looked at each other and instantly Bella was at Edward's side. Edward tried to read Alice's thoughts, but it wasn't coming in very clearly enough for him to understand it.
"Alice, Bella, what's wrong?" Carlisle asked.
"I couldn't see, I couldn't tell," Alice gasped.
"What is wrong, Alice?" Carlisle asked with a voice that was calm, but had an air of authority to it.
"They were traveling much quicker than I had originally thought," she replied, "I can see that I had the prospective wrong before."
"What's changed?" Jasper asked.
"They heard us playing and it changed their path," Alice replied never taking her eyes off Bella's face, and Bella kept eye contact with Alice.
"How soon?" Carlisle asked, turning toward Edward, who replied, "Less than five minutes, they want to play," while scowling. Carlisle didn't say anything except, "Can you make it?"
Edward shook his head and said, "The last thing we need is for them to catch the scent and start hunting."
"Just let them try and mess with me," Bella growled at him, her eyes flashing blue with anger, making him take a step back with wide eyes.
Emmett turned to Alice and asked, "How many?"
"Three."
"Three! Let' em come!" Emmett scoffed, the steel bands of muscle in his arms flexing. Carlisle deliberated until he decided that they should just continue the game. However this time, no hit harder than a bunt, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper hovered in the infield and Edward called it so that he could stay closer to Bella; now and then, she could feel Rosalie's eye her. They were expressionless, but something about the way the Rosalie held her mouth made Bella think that she was angry; as if it was Bella's fault that this was happening.
Edward paid no attention to the game now; his eyes and mind running through the forest as he sat on the ground in front of Bella and he muttered, "I'm sorry, Bella, it was stupid and irresponsible to expose you like this. I'm so sorry." Bella's eyes widened as she hugged him from behind, much to his surprise, and said, "Edward, I'm stronger than you give me credit for. Don't worry about me; it's you I'm supposed to be worried about." Before he could reply, a sound from the forest made him stand up and angle himself between Bella and whatever was coming as the others looked in the same direction.