Author's Note:
I'm sorry for taking so long. I've been on vacation. Florida is beautiful - shout out to any readers that are from there!
Enjoy.
X
Bella's POV: The First Time She Met Him
"I can't decide if it's a choice,
Getting swept away."
I would do anything for Jake. The evidence of that lied in the fact that I moved out to live with him at the short age of 18, leaving my father all alone. It lied in the fact that I gave up my college education so that I could be with him while he tended to his father.
I didn't like to say that Jake gave me orders - I liked to look at them as... favors. When Jake asked me to give up everything for him, I did it without a second thought. Jake was my whole life. Why wouldn't I do something for him, when I was completely sure he would do the same for me?
But when Jake asked me to not speak to the man he had called "Cullen," without any other reason than "he's not like us." a small part of me... wanted to defy him. I wanted to know about Cullen. Why the mystery around him? Why had everyone else in our friend group - which consistent of pretty much only Jake's best friends who had become my friends simply because I was his girlfriend - had wrinkled their nose when they knew about the newcomer?
I wanted to know. I shouldn't, but I did. And I knew that if I didn't find out on my own, I would never know.
"Bella? Bella?"
I snapped out of my reverie with a, "huh?"
Jake looked at me with a suspicious look on his face, and said, "You haven't touched your food."
I looked down at my plate of steak, and realized he was right. I had been so caught up in thinking about our neighbor and who he was, that I had lost my appetite. I smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind." I knew it was a lame excuse but I didn't know what else to say. I couldn't let Jake know what I was thinking. What I was planning. I never did anything Jake thought was wrong for me, and I knew that he would try to convince me to not go through with my plans - and that I would let him convince me. I couldn't. I just had to know.
I tried not to think about why I had to know, the ultimate truth in my head. I was... just curious. That's all.
"A lot on your mind? Like what? Anything I could help you with?" He said. I felt a pang of guilt. Jake would do anything for me, and here I was planning to get to know some other guy simply because other people didn't like him. Maybe I should take a hint. Maybe they're just looking out for me. Maybe he's a mass murderer, a crazy guy!
"No," I reassured. "I'll be fine. It's just some silly things."
"Alright, if you're sure. Hey, I'm done. I'm going to take a shower and go on to bed."
"Okay."
I watched him stand up and take his plate to the sink, and head into the hallway where the bathroom was. When I heard the door shut, I heard a car door open across the street. I tensed, knowing that my curiosity was stronger than my fear.
I ran across to the window and there he was. He seemed to be only just getting something from his car, and not really going anywhere. When he pulled back, I saw he was getting a guitar.
A musician, I thought.
I guess I wasn't being very stealthy, because when I shifted, his head snapped up, and his eyes met mine. Green, I saw. The prettiest eyes I've ever seen. I couldn't look away.
He didn't seem to want to look away either; in fact, he took a step forward.
"Hey Bella?" I heard a shout.
With a gasp, I yanked myself from the window and pulled back the curtain, and leaned against the wall.
"Yeah?" I made myself shout back.
"You know where my towel is?"
"In the bottom drawer." I responded, trying to disguise the shakiness of my voice.
"Thank you!" I heard before he shut the bathroom door.
I didn't even try glancing at the window.
I knew he was gone.
x
If I couldn't stop thinking about Cullen before, I definitely couldn't stop thinking about him now.
It was ridiculous. I wondered who he was, and what he had done that was so wrong that he had to leave - and I wanted to know.
I knew I loved Jake, though. I needed to be with Jake. He was my constant, my one - he was the safest choice for me. I knew what I was getting when I was with Jake. This man? I knew nothing. There was no competition.
You're being ridiculous, I thought to myself as I browsed the aisles in the grocery store. Focus, I thought again. Don't accidentally get tuna instead of corn. Jake hates tuna.
The grocery store in Forks was one of the smallest grocery stores that I had ever seen in my life - I liked to go during the week because on the weekends? Crammed. When I went during the week, it left me alone with my thoughts.
I feel a tap on my shoulder, and for some reason even looking at the can of corn in my hand, I know exactly who it is. I feel it. I know. I turn myself around, and was so shocked to see mystery guy's face that I dropped the can on his foot.
"Shit!" I cried, and we both leaned down to grab the can, and ended up hitting each other's head on the way back up, all while my heart was doing somersaults inside of my chest.
I knew I was blushing - my face was too hot for me to not be. I must look ridiculous to him right now. I must look like the stupidest girl.
I looked up, and there he was - grimacing, but smirking.
In that moment, Jake seemed far away in my mind. A part of me yelled to bring him back, to think about what I was doing. To stop it.
His smirk becomes more pronounced, and it's like there has never been anything more beautiful.
I don't have a choice. I never did.
"I'm Edward," he says, extending his hand. I take it, and when our hands meet, so do our eyes.
"Bella." I whisper.
He steps closer to me, using our joined hands to pull me to him, and there's a fire inside of me that I have never felt before. It licks at my insides, burning everything that I used to be, what I used to know - who I needed to be. It burns any doubt away.
"Come with me." He says, using his thumb to caress my cheek. He leans in closer, and his lips are so close - I can feel him whisper, "come with me," again, and he pulls away to pull me towards the entrance.
The grocery cart stays there forgotten.
X
Treacherous - Taylor Swift.
Thank you for reading.