Midnight

Chapter 17:

Big Yellow Taxi

Previously:

So that's what I did. I got on his back, and he took off.

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced. It's not that it was scary; it was the complete opposite. It was almost like we were flying; my hair was whipping around my face and the night air stung my cheeks. We always missed the trees here in the forest by mere centimeters…

Because of this, it only took seconds to reach the white house that housed Edward and his family. He stopped running and walked the rest of the way to a black car. A Vanquish… Jasper had told me he had a Vanquish. I just didn't believe him. Now I knew better.

He pulled over, I guess you could say, and put one of his hands on the side of the Vanquish, regaining his breath. Why he needed it then, I'd never know…

"Exciting, isn't it?" he breathed.

"Hmmm, yeah…" I replied distantly.

"You want off?" he asked. I then realized I still had him locked in a death grip. I tried getting off, but I couldn't release him for some reason.

"I need help," I admitted. He chuckled and released me easily. I guess there was just no resisting Edward's strength… Or Emmett's… I shuddered, and pushed that thought aside.

It was then that I realized I was dizzy beyond relief. He must've noticed, because he chuckled, put his arm around my waist, and helped me into the house.

When we got inside, I saw Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Alice sitting around the front room, but I was too dizzy to pay attention to what they were doing. Edward helped me over to the black leather couch.

"Put your head between your legs, see if that helps." And I did as I was told. Yeah, it didn't help.

I brought my head back up when I thought the nausea was gone, and, well, it wasn't. If anything, it was worse. I groaned, and Edward put my head back between my knees.

"I guess you'll just have to listen to the meeting," he said, chuckling.

"Mmhmm," I replied, head still between my legs.

Edward put his hand on my back. "So Carlisle, what is it?"

"Sam Uley came by today," I heard Carlisle respond.

Edward tensed up beside me.

"And what did he want?" Esme asked. Her voice was closer than before, so I guessed she had walked up to Carlisle.

"Someone told him about Edward and Bella," he answered. "He asked if she knew."

Edward tensed up even more. "And then?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"And then he told him he had to put the boundary line into action," Alice answered for Carlisle.

My head flew up. "Is La Push in the boundary line?!" I asked desperately.

"Yes," they all said at the same time.

"Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no!" I groaned into Edward's shirt.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The cave!" I wailed.

"Oh."

Everyone else seemed confused.

"I showed Bella today," Edward explained.

"Oh," they all said in unison.

"But, Edward!" I was still sobbing. "If there's no more beach, that means no more cave!"

"I know." He took me in his arms and began rubbing small, lazy circles on my back.

"What are we going to do?" I whined.

He smiled at me, and then turned to Carlisle. I had forgotten all about them…

"Is there anything we can do?" he asked.

"Well…" He seemed hesitant to answer.

"Is it that bad?" I was on the verge of tears again.

"Well, I guess you could say that…"

"Just tell us!" I cried.

"You may have to stay away from Bella for a while… to show them that they can trust us…"

No! I couldn't do that! I, just, I just couldn't stay away from Edward, or Alice, or even Carlisle and Esme! Not for a long period of time! I started sobbing again.

Edward helped me off of the couch. I had stopped crying, but I was quivering so badly. "Come on, Bella. I'll take you home."

I nodded, and then turned to him. "Can we drive home, though?" I asked. He laughed weakly. He was just as disappointed as I, I just knew it.

"Yes, we can take the car." I smiled at him, and he smiled back. We were at the front door then. "Bye everyone," he called over his shoulder before opening the door for me and taking me out to the Vanquish. He began unlocking the door, and I realized he planned on taking that car.

"Uh, uh. No, no Vanquish."

He sighed. "Fine, the Volvo then." He kissed my forehead, and was gone. I knew he was probably just getting the car, but at the moment, I couldn't be alone. So I broke down in sobs. My legs buckled from under me, and I fell down onto the white driveway.

"Bella?" Alice called from the doorway. She saw me, and came rushing over. "What happened? Where's Edward?" She was trying to soothe me. It wasn't working.

My voice was shaky. "H- he w- w- we- went t-to g- g- get t- th- the V- V- Vol- Volvo," I managed to get in between sobs.

"Oh, honey, He'll be right back! Why are you crying?"

"I- I- I d- do- don't kn- know!" I cried. Over my sobbing and Alice's coos, I heard the purr and headlights of the Volvo coming up the driveway.

I heard Edward's door slam. "What's wrong with Bella?" he asked Alice while bending down next to me.

"You left."

He picked me up easily, like I was a little kid instead of a 17- year- old. He held me close and just kept whispering "it's okay," and "I'm here now," in my ear. It calmed me a little, and when it felt like I had run out of tears, he carried me to the passenger side of the Volvo and buckled me in. What was wrong with me? I've been so emotional lately…

Edward got in the car and began to drive away from the house. We were silent. Everything was silent. He didn't even turn on the radio, for which I was glad. To me, the radio was just noise.

I just sat there and stared at him, watching his perfect concentration, his swiftness, the speed… The speed!

"Edward!" I screeched.

"What?" he asked, surprised by my sudden outburst.

"Look at how fast you're going!" The speed- o- meter was at 200 MPH, going on 250.

"What, that?" He pointed to the speed- o- meter. I nodded. He shook his head. "That's not fast, love."

"The hell it isn't! Slow down, Edward!"

He groaned, but the speed- o- meter slowly dropped down to 150. "I hate going slow," he muttered.

Okay, that was not slow.

"Edward!"

He started mumbling unintelligent and incoherent things underneath his breath. But the meter dropped down to 80, and then finally back down to 65; the speed limit.

"Thank you," I said and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. He muttered something else, but I pretended not to hear him. And we fell back into silence again. For the rest of the drive. Occasionally he would try to speed up, but I'd get at him, and he'd slow down.

It didn't take long to get home. Ten minutes, probably, because of his reckless driving.

He pulled up into the driveway, and we sat there for a moment, looking at each other. "Well, I cant seem to pick up your parents' or your grandparents' thoughts, so-"

"So you'll come in with me?!"

He chuckled. "Sure, why not."

That made me happy. Edward was already out of the car, and opening my door for me.

"Thank you," I said when I got out.

"My pleasure, ma'am," he replied before shutting the door.

He took my hand in his and we walked up to the front door together. When we reached the door, I realized I forgot my key.

"I left my key in the house, Edward," I told him.

"Hmm," he mused. "Well, love, if I remember correctly, you have a spare key." He smiled and pulled out one of the loose bricks out of the wall, and took the spare key from the small compartment. Huh?

I took the key from him. "And how did you know where that was?"

He shrugged. "You made me curious."

I rolled my eyes and entered the house, with him right on my tail. As soon as we were both in, he wasted no time to take my hand back in his.

I smiled up at him, and he gave me one of my favorite crooked smiles, right before Rosalie came in.

"Hey, is that you, Bella?" she called from the staircase.

"Yes," I answered automatically, without looking away from Edward (since I couldn't anyways….)

"Do you know where my pi-" she walked in then and saw Edward and I. She dropped her soda and it went everywhere. "Oh, my god! I knew it!" she crowed.

I looked away from Edward then. "Knew what?" he asked her.

"You two," she said, pointing a finger between us. "You two are dating, aren't you?"

"Well, we weren't before tonight…" I answered. She squealed again, and ran over to hug me. Tight.

She began to walk me away from Edward and sat down on the couch with me. "Okay, tell me everything! Remember nothing is too per-" she looked up at Edward. "Could you let us be for a moment?" she asked him sweetly. Edward nodded, and headed over in the direction of the kitchen. "Ok, as I was saying; nothing is too personal… so, is he a good kisser?"

That took me off guard. "Rose!" I scolded.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, is he?"

I knew he was listening, so I decided to give him a run for his money, teach him a lesson. "Nope," I said. I knew that would piss him off.

"Aww, he isn't? That's too bad. But he looks like he has really great lips," she said, and patted my hand.

Yes. He. Does.

I smiled at her, and stood up. "Hey, can you make dinner tonight?" I asked her over my shoulder.

"No! I- oooh! Sure, I can!" she said, and then whispered in my ear. "But tell me how good he is, kay?"

I swatted her away. "Uh, no," I muttered under my breath. She was sick.

I walked into the kitchen and Edward caught me.

He wrapped his hands around my waist and crushed me to his chest, his mouth at my ear. "So I'm not a good kisser then?" he whispered to me, successfully sending chills down my back.

"I knew you were listening," I breathed.

"Mmm, of course I was."

"Wanna go up to my room?" I asked, still breathless.

"Let's go," he replied. I tried to get out of his grip, but he just tightened it around me. "Hey, I didn't tell you that you could go anywhere!"

I giggled as he threw me over his shoulder, caveman- style and began to go up the stairs, to my room.

He opened my door and put me down on the bed, lying down next to me.

"So, I never got an answer before," he told me, looking at me.

"An answer to what?' I asked.

"Do you really think I'm not a good kisser?"

Just to make him mad, I pretended to think about that for a minute. "Nope," I finally answered playfully. "You're not."

He began to lean closer. "Well, how about we fix that," he whispered before pressing his lips against mine.

Again, he pulled away all too soon, and told me I needed to breathe.

After sucking in a much- needed breath, I decided to tell him my opinion on that.

"You know, Edward," I began. "We wouldn't ever need to pull away for breath again if I was a vampire."

He was caught off guard by my sudden mood change. He looked into my eyes.

"So, that's what you dream of, then? Becoming a monster?"

"No," I answered carefully. "I do not dream of becoming a monster."

"Oh, is that right."

"Yes, I do not dream of becoming a monster, because you aren't a monster."

He looked at me skeptically. "Oh? Then what am I, if my being a vampire doesn't make me a monster?"

"You're my Edward," I answered simply.

AWW!!!! Sweet! How sweet was that?

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