Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.
Ch6
I stood concealed in shadow as I watched her enter the building. She was home safe and sound with no idea how close to danger she had been on her quiet walk home. I took a deep breath to taste the evening air, catching a faint trace of Bella as the wind carried her scent to me. I could still taste him, the insect who had thought he could violate her body and discard her when he was done. A growl rumbled in my chest, the monster stirring as the rage began to increase. I had to get out of here. I had to feed again. I would come back when she was asleep.
Returning to the car, I sped out of town and made my way to the forest. There, I fed with reckless and voracious hunger; dropping the bodies to the ground before lunging for one, then another, and yet another. I had to satisfy my bloodlust before I could trust myself to be anywhere near Bella tonight. No doubt Alice will have seen what had happened, and I would have to give an account of the evening's activities to Carlisle. At last, the anger at what might have been began to subside, and I stood with animal carcasses strewn around me. Sighing, I investigated the area until I found a suitable area and began to dig a hole to conceal the remnants of my meal. I could leave some of the bodies exposed for other forest predators, but to leave them all would look unnatural. By the time I had finished cleaning up after myself I was filthy. I snorted in disgust. I was going to have to go home and change. Looking up at the night sky I ran some swift calculations. There was still plenty of time before dawn to see her.
The house was empty when I returned, which was fine by me. There was a note stuck to the newel post on the stairs.
Football at the usual place – see you there?
I found a pen and scrawled a quick reply for them to find when they got home, even though I knew Alice would tell them as soon as she saw what I had decided to do. In any case, it made for two even teams without me. I knew I was distancing myself from them, but the attraction Bella held for me could not, and would not be denied. As long as it was in my power to keep her safe, I would watch over her.
* * * * *
The window slid open and her scent billowed over me making me pause to savour it. There were subtle differences that I could detect this time; her scent was overlayed with tones of bourbon, and its woody musk added a deeper layer to her usual sweetness, another level of complexity. I smiled at my choice of words. The situation was becoming more complex by the day.
It looked like she hadn't been sleeping well; the sheets and quilt had been kicked off. The clothes she slept in were soft cotton, and my eyes were drawn to the sliver of midriff exposed where her sleep pants rode low on her hips, and then the swell of her breast. I took a step closer, hypnotised by the sight of her chest rising and falling with each breath. She looked so warm, so vital. I drank in the sight and scent of her, swallowing down the venom as it surged in my mouth. Her heartbeat filled the room, soothing me. I took another step closer. I could almost reach out and touch her now.
And then she lifted her head from the pillow and stared at me.
Her heartbeat echoed in the room, its steady drumming did not falter. She gave me a heavy-lidded smile before nestling her head back onto her pillow. A long sigh and then she sank deeper into sleep. She had smiled as if she recognised me but it was impossible to tell. I stood motionless, unsure of what had just happened. I watched her until the sky began to show the first blush of dawn, and then returned home.
* * * * *
I let myself into the house, nodding at Jasper who looked up from watching the sports channel with a casual wave.
"Carlisle?" I asked.
Upstairs, Edward, came his response.
Alice was sitting beside Jasper flicking through a copy of Vogue. I don't know why she bothered, given she could anticipate the trends anytime she chose. She maintained she drew a certain amount of pleasure from reading the articles. As far as I was concerned they were always the same breathless descriptions of what amounted to be little more than scraps of fabric which became less and less with every passing year.
"Thanks for returning my call," Alice murmured as she turned another page.
I patted my pocket and took out my cell phone. Sure enough there were two missed calls from her. "Sorry, I was distracted."
"So I saw," she replied with a knowing smile. "Don't underestimate her, Edward."
I hesitated. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
Her smile broadened. "Not yet."
Jasper snorted, his gaze not moving from the television. Sighing at Alice's provocative comment, I made my way up to Carlisle's room. He was sitting at his desk with an open book before him but his gaze trained on the door waiting for my arrival. His warm smile of welcome dimmed as he took in the expression on my face.
"Edward," he said standing up, "What happened, are you-."
"I need to talk to you," I said without preamble as I stepped into his room and took a seat, resting my elbows on the desk. "Has Alice told you anything?"
Carlisle hesitated and sank back down into his chair. "Very little, only that you wanted to see me when you got home."
I offered silent thanks for Alice's discretion.
"What happened?" he asked, his golden gaze was steady and filled with compassion.
"It was bad, Carlisle."
His face would have paled if that were possible. Edward, you didn't-
"No, it's not that."
He took a deep breath. Of course not, I'm sorry I entertained the notion. I should have known from your eyes. He looked at my still-golden eyes with relief and something else - was it pride?
Almost happened, Carlisle amended. " I can see that you stayed in control."
"I don't know how," I confessed. "I didn't fall off the wagon, Carlisle, but it wasn't easy." The sewer of Lonnie's mind was still fresh in my head, and I growled before I could stop myself. I had killed many such as him before; appointing myself judge, jury and executioner as a way to justify my thirst.
Carlisle got up and walked around to desk to put a hand on my shoulder and the growl rumbled away into silence. I took a deep breath and then nodded once to let him know I was okay. You stayed true, Son. Our eyes met, and I nodded once in gratitude.
"I'm not looking for compliments, Carlisle."
"I know, but I can't help my thoughts now, can I?" he smiled as he took his seat again. I'm impressed, Edward, you've shown so much control. "I think you'd better tell me everything."
And so we talked. When I told him about Lonnie, Carlisle looked concerned.
"How much does he know?"
"Nothing that anyone will believe," I shrugged, and thought about the situation some more. "From what I saw in his mind-," I broke off and had to suck in a deep breath as the anger surged again, "he has more to lose in this situation than we do." I raised my eyes to Carlisle's steady gaze. "Carlisle, he's killed before. So many. Those other women – someone might have felt about them the way I feel about Bella. Might suffer what I would've suffered if she'd been harmed. It's not right-," I stopped and looked down at my clenched hands. The idea of Bella gone from the world; I could not, would not consider it.
The warmth of Carlisle's smile was a surprise. She's very good for you. I'm impressed.
"And if you had taken his life you might have spared another, but at what cost?" Carlisle reasoned. "You did the right thing, Edward."
I grunted and shook my head. Leaving that piece of scum alive in the alley had gone against every instinct I had.
"Emmett can watch him," Carlisle suggested. We both considered this and exchanged a small smile. "I know," Carlisle went on, "he'll love it." We gazed at each other for a long moment. "So what now?" he asked.
"I don't know," I replied. The discussion had left me feeling incredibly weary and longing for sleep, although that was a retreat that was lost to me forever. I wanted to see Bella again, to reassure myself that she was safe. "Maybe I should leave, move somewhere else."
"There must be another way," Carlisle remonstrated.
"I don't see how," I sighed.
"Stranger things have happened," he replied. "We're living proof of that." You're stronger than you think, Son. Don't deny yourself happiness. "At least stay for your family, if not for Bella."
I flinched from his words. I had left the family once and was not proud of the intervening years before I found my way back home. Carlisle and Esme had welcomed me back with open arms, no questions asked. Could I become a nomad again? I could deliver myself from temptation and then Bella would be safe, but I also knew that removing one threat from her life would not remove all of them. She would be alone, defenceless.
"I'll stay," I said at last and watched Carlisle smile.
* * * * *
Over the next two weeks, life fell into a kind of routine. I attended my college classes, I wrote and submitted papers, I spent time on campus with Alice and Jasper, and worked to fit into the background as much as possible. And I watched Bella. The compulsion to feed had been replaced by the compulsion to keep her safe, two obsessions in an uneasy alliance.
I watched her arrive on campus every morning. I shadowed her as she walked to class. I studied her in the lecture hall we shared once a week. At the end of every day I followed her home, and then sat in her bedroom as she slept, listening to her mumbled words, snatching at the scant offerings from her unconscious mind. And all the while I told myself it was because I wanted to keep her safe, but it was a lie. I wasn't trying to keep her safe. I was trying to keep her in any way I could. She never saw me, but every day I basked in the warmth of her smile. I was so tired of being cold.
Bella was having another restless night. As I sat down in what I had come to think of as my chair I could see her eyelids flickering in REM sleep. She frowned once before rolling over onto her other side. One of her pillows had been pushed off the bed, and she clutched at the sheet. Her lips trembled. This was the part of the evening that I always looked forward to.
"Wait," she mumbled. "Wait."
I leaned forward, fascinated.
"Who-," she mumbled and shifted again, kicking against the constriction of the sheets against her feet. She was having a restless dream tonight. She had kicked one of her pillows off the bed, and I could see it was the one she usually held to her chest. I stood up and moved to pick it up. It was at that moment she opened her eyes and looked straight at me with a soft gasp.
By the time she had fumbled for her bedside light I had gone.
* * * * *
The next morning saw me sitting in my car drumming my fingers on the steering wheel with impatience as I waited for Bella truck to pull into the car park.
"Stop worrying, Edward," Alice said with a sigh, "it's going to be fine."
"So remind me again why we're just sitting here?" Jasper drawled from the back seat.
"Edward wants to see Bella," Alice replied, "you know, the girl he's been spending every night with."
"It's not like that," I griped.
"How else would you describe it?" Alice said giving me an arch look.
"I-," I broke off, distracted as I heard the distinct rumble of Bella's truck. She looked tiny sitting behind the steering wheel of the faded rusty behemoth, and I saw her flinch as the engine backfired as it rumbled to a stop. Something was going to have to be done about that, I'd talk to Rosalie and see if she would cooperate.
"That's going to take some sweet talking," Alice observed and then cocked her head before nodding once, "but she'll come round."
"I love the way you do that," Jasper said, fascinated. Alice twisted in her seat to give him an impish grin before she then popped the lock on her door and climbed out. Jasper and I followed suit.
Bella made her way across the car park, settling the strap of her bulky satchel on her shoulder after some initial struggle. The seasons were changing and although the sky was clear the air was crisp and cool. Today she was wearing a padded overcoat and a pair of mittens that seemed to hamper her movements somewhat. I could hear her cursing under her breath as she lost her patience and yanked them off to stuff them into her coat pocket.
Waving off Jasper and Alice, I followed at what I hoped was a discrete distance and watched as Bella entered one of the cafes on campus and ordered two coffees and a breakfast muffin. She found a table and had just made herself comfortable when Angela arrived, pink cheeked and out of breath. I slipped into the cafe and located a seat on the far wall, partially hidden by a group of students sitting at another table. There was a dirty cup on the table, and I pulled it closer to my elbow and took out one of my textbooks to have open on the table. Anyone glancing across would see a student at study.
"I can't believe I over-slept like that," Angela said as she dropped into her seat and accepted the coffee from Bella with a smile of thanks. "You're a lifesaver."
"No charge," Bella said as she struggled out of her heavy coat and slung it over the back of one of the chairs at the table before sipping at her drink, "you've done the same for me after all, and anyway," she went on with a slight smile, "what with all those late nights you've been having you must've needed the sleep."
"Bella," Angela tried to protest, but the colour in her cheeks increased and she was unable to hold back a smile.
"Mm-hmm," Bella tipped her cup towards Angela to indicate the blush, "It's just as I thought."
"You don't have to think that," Angela said, sipping primly at her coffee, "we just talk."
"I know, Ange," Bella said, reaching over to rub her hand, "you haven't had any sleepovers yet, I think it's good that you're both taking it slow." Bella sat back in her chair and cradled her cup in both hands. "I like seeing you happy."
Angela's expression became dreamy. Even I didn't have to be a mind reader to know who she was thinking about. "Oh, Bella," she said, "Ben's just so nice." Bella giggled into her cup and I smiled. Angela's thoughts of Ben were suitably glowing, and I was pleased to see he had conducted himself well. My good opinion of him still stood.
"And," Angela gave Bella a pointed look, "so are some of his friends." Eric really likes her.
Any humour I had found in their conversation promptly vanished.
"Is there any way I can get out of this conversation gracefully?" Bella asked, picking at her muffin and popping a piece of it into her mouth.
"Probably not," Angela replied, "but I'm prepared to be lenient seeing as you bought the coffee this morning."
Bella nodded, her mouth was full. I watched her face carefully, watching the different expressions flicker across it while she obviously tried to formulate a response. I felt the familiar surge of frustration and fascination that I was denied access; years of longing for silence had found my prayers answered in a most annoying fashion. Now I found myself longing for her internal voice most of all.
"I'm sure Eric is a nice guy," Bella said at last, "but I just don't think I'm interested."
"Well I happen to know that he is," Angela replied. She regarded Bella with a fond expression and shook her head. "I still can't believe you walked home alone the other night."
"I know," Bella gave her a guilty smile, "and I'm a cop's daughter too."
"You should have taken a cab," Angela remonstrated, "or let Eric walk you home."
"Like I said, I'm just not interested," Bella kept her gaze on her muffin as she ate. The two girls sat in a companionable silence for a moment.
"Is it the other guy?" Angela ventured at last.
"Huh?" Bella gave her a blank look.
"That guy you were talking to at the bar."
Bella laughed and sipped at her coffee. "I talked to a lot of people there, Ang, I think you might need to be a bit more specific."
"Okay then," Angela nodded, "he was tall, messy copper hair," she put her head to one side as she thought and I could see myself in her mind's eye, "cute, actually more like striking, and he didn't take his eyes off you the whole time he was there."
"Really?" Bella thought for a moment. "He didn't make a move so maybe he wasn't that interested."
If only she knew.
"Bella," Angela was saying, "I saw the way he was looking at you."
"Yeah, right," Bella tried to shrug it off but Angela was persistent.
"No really, a blind man could have seen it. I've seen him around campus, maybe you'll bump into him sometime."
"Maybe," Bella agreed. She said nothing more but reached behind her to pull her ponytail over her shoulder, and sat there twirling her hair around her fingers; something she always did when she was feeling thoughtful. I watched as Angela turned the conversation to their plans for the weekend ahead. Bella listened at first and then her attention seemed to wander. After a while her gaze turned inward and I saw the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.
* * * * *
The days passed slowly. I became attuned to Bella's every movement; the way she bit her lip when she was thinking, how she wound her fingers through her hair when she was distracted; her easy smiles and blushes; and interwoven through it all, her scent. No matter how much I had tried to acclimate myself, it was still as provocative as ever.
I was sitting in my usual spot in the lecture hall as the other students began to arrive and take their seats when I detected an early trace of Bella's scent. Seconds later she appeared in the doorway. The weather had been steadily getting colder as the winter took a firmer hold, and so she was rugged up against the chill. She struggled up the stairs and found an empty seat. She usually sat on the right. She dropped her bag and stood with her back to the front of the room as she began to shrug off her heavy overcoat. Her scarf got snarled on the collar and I smiled as she bit her lip in concentration as she disentangled herself. The coat was slipping down her shoulders as her gaze wandered around the room and found mine. We stared at each other for a frozen moment before she blushed sand looked down. That delightful rush of colour in her face pulled me further into her orbit every time I saw it. The coat was eventually removed and stuffed onto the empty seat beside her. Bella dug out her notebook and dropped down into the seat with a sigh of relief.
I smiled to myself as I watched other students arrive and have to contort and fumble their way out of their outer layers. Of course, winter was no bother to me, but I had to go through the charade all the same. The coat beside me looked like it was from an army surplus store, but was a customised cashmere pea coat, courtesy of Alice, who revelled in adapting styles to suit our unique physiology. As the latest batch of students settled, I turned my gaze back to Bella only to discover with mild shock that she was already watching me. She held my gaze long enough to make sure that I had noticed her gaze, before offering me a brief smile and then turning around to face the front of the lecture hall. Such a small moment, and yet it heralded a subtle change between us.
After that, Bella's eyes began to seek me out more and more as the days went by. I wondered at this. Of course humans noticed us; we were too attractive to be invisible but their primitive instinct for self-preservation made most people shy away, but not my Bella. I checked myself at that. I couldn't call her mine, I had no claim on her, she was free to choose, and yet I knew that I was completely and irreversibly hers.
"Dude, just talk to her," Emmett finally snapped in exasperation when I returned home one evening and slumped into one of the armchairs in the living room.
"I have to agree," Rosalie chimed in as both of us looked at her in surprise. "Come on," she said defensively, "you watch her at college and then you come home every night reeking of her, I don't see it making you any happier."
Emmett took a deep sniff. "Hmmm, she does have quite a flavour, doesn't she?"
A snarl broke through my lips before his words even had a chance to register, making Emmett laugh and spread his hands in a placatory gesture.
"Easy, I'm just sayin'," he said. "You've gotta admit that my girl's got a point," he went on, earning a smile of satisfaction from Rosalie. "Why don't you just man up and say something? What's the worst that can happen?"
I hesitated. The worst that could happen was that I could talk to her, win her smiles and trust, all the while running the risk that one day I would lose all control and sink my teeth into her soft and vulnerable throat. The mere thought of it made my thirst flare.
Emmett tasted the air again and gave me a nod of approval as if from one connoisseur to another. I didn't like Emmett's reaction at all, and I had noticed over the last few days that Jasper seemed well disposed towards Bella as well. They had both noticed her appeal although fortunately her scent seemed to have the only a fraction of the appeal that it held for me. Still, it bothered me that her blood was sweet to them. Jasper's control was good, but he didn't need temptation placed in his path. I wondered if Alice would be able to keep an eye on that side of things; yet another threat to monitor where Bella was concerned.
I'm on it, Edward. Alice's mental reply came hard on the heels of my decision, making me smile.
Emmett saw this and raised an eyebrow. "Try to go easy on yourself, Edward. Sometimes they just smell too good. I'm impressed that you lasted this long."
"You're not helping things, Emmett." It wasn't Bella's fault she smelled so good.
"Sorry," he had the grace to look shamefaced. I really am sorry, Edward. You've got the strength to resist in a way that I never could. I know when it happened to me …, he reminisced, taking me back with him half a century, to a farm at dusk where a woman was outside watering her garden. The air was thick with the aromas of herbs as the water stirred up the fragrant leaves, and there was little noise save for the sound of the water hitting the ground and the steady crone of insects. Emmett was hunting in the forest that bordered the property, and it would have been an unremarkable evening like any other, except a sudden night breeze that fanned the woman's scent into the forest and across Emmett's path.
I groaned quietly. As if my own first for Bella wasn't enough.
I know. I didn't even last half a second. There wasn't even time to think of resisting.
His memory became too explicit for me to stand; the warmth, the unbelievable pleasure of the taste, the satisfaction. I got up and looked around wildly, I had to get out of there.
"Want me to come?" Emmett said as he gave me a sympathetic look.
"Sure," I muttered, "just don't get in my way."
"Let's go."
As soon as we cleared the house we broke into a run. I was a few lengths ahead of Emmett in seconds, the gap between us widening as I picked up the pace.
Veer left, Emmett instructed, and I began to slow my stride. He'd caught the scent of a small herd of deer about half a mile away. I stopped and waited for Emmett to catch up. I couldn't even pretend to muster any enthusiasm for an aroma that was even under the best of circumstances, less than mouth-watering. Compared to Bella's scent, the smell was sour and unappetising.
I sighed. "Come on," I said, though I knew that forcing the blood down my throat would do little to quench my thirst. We both shifted into a hunting crouch and let the scent lead us forward.
* * * * *
It was colder when we returned home. The night had seen a light dusting of snow that had melted and refrozen, coating everything with a thin sheet of ice. Alice sat inside the house waiting for me on the top step of the step of the third floor, near my bedroom.
Feel better?
I shook my head and sank down to sit on the step beside her with a sigh.
"I don't know what I'm doing to do," I confessed in a whisper.
Neither do I, Alice replied, leaning over to rest her head on my shoulder. I looked at her in surprise. Alice looked up at me, and for a brief moment she gave me access to her visions; I sat and watched as the images flickered, some too hazy to make out, others appearing with crystal clarity. I saw myself standing in the sunlight of an open meadow. I knew that place, and had just enough time to make out an indistinct figure sitting beside me before Alice's vision changed again. The images disintegrated as countless tiny choices rearranged the future again. Incredibly, just before the visions collapsed in on themselves I caught a glimpse of myself laughing.
That one's my favourite, Alice confessed. Your future is shifting around so much I can't keep up with it. She stopped and flickered through a vast collection of other recent visions for me, all blurry and vague.
"Something's going on," she said aloud, "you seem to be at a crossroads at the moment."
I had to laugh at that. "Thank you, Gypsy Alice, should I cross your palm with silver to find out more?"
She nudged me with her shoulder as a smile played on her lips.
"Will today be alright?" I felt apprehensive.
"I don't see you killing anyone today."
"What about Bella?" the sense of dread wasn't abating.
"She's fine too," Alice assured me. "Now go get dressed, we've got lectures to get to."
* * * * *
The drive to college was quiet. I was preoccupied with thoughts of Bella, and Emmett's subsequent guilt over sharing his lapse with me wasn't helping. Alice's gaze was turned inward, no doubt checking all the future possibilities she had access to. I was beginning to feel like a liability on the family now. If my self-control wavered for an instant the whole family would be compromised and they would have to move again. Perhaps they would be happier without me around, but could I leave the family again? More importantly, could I bring myself to leave Bella?
I gave myself a mental shake. In human years I was an old man, and yet here I was in the flush of first love, behaving like the young man the world believed me to be. My physical body had been in stasis for years, and now it was making its needs known to me. Suddenly the axis of my life had shifted, and Bella was at the middle of it. I suppose it was simple really, after eighty years without much distraction any change was going to be fascinating. Underpinning everything was the matter of her scent. It was the most bittersweet torture to make myself endure it every day, and yet I did it gladly. Was the danger it could put my family in really worth it?
"Relax, Edward," Jasper advised in a placid tone, sending waves of calm to me as he tried to sooth my jagged nerves. "You'll be fine. If I can manage it after my lifestyle, you can do it no problem."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I replied, wishing I could trust myself as much as he did.
Bella hadn't arrived, but I could hear the sound of her truck approaching. I leaned against the side of the car to wait. Alice and Jasper stayed with me, and I was thankful for their silent support, although neither of them could empathise with my fixation. Alice had never tasted human blood, and Jasper had never found one that captivated his thirst in the way that Bella had.
I watched as Bella drove into view. Her expression was intent as she handled the curves, and I soon realised why. The roads were slick with ice and everyone was driving with more care than usual. I was pleased to see that she was taking the added risk seriously. She parked not too far from me, but she hadn't seen me standing against the car staring at her. A part of me wondered what she would do when she did, another blushing smile would be my first guess. Then again she might surprise me. She was after all, perhaps the only person that could.
After carefully getting out she made her way to the back of the truck to set off across the car park. Her footing slipped on the ice and she let out an undignified yelp before clutching at the truck for balance. She stepped and slithered around the back of the truck in a drunken stagger that made me smile. I didn't look at Alice to see what she was thinking of my reaction, I was having too much fun watching Bella. Maybe I could go talk to her, offer her a hand until she was off the slick pavement. No, I shouldn't. I hesitated, not knowing what to do, and ignored Alice's sigh of disappointment. I hadn't worn gloves; my hands would be even colder than usual-
Bella looked up and our eyes met, just as the world intruded.
Alice gasped; a tiny sound that sound of distress that snapped me to attention. She grasped my wrist as I scanned her thoughts, wondering what she had seen, wondering if it was something I was going to do. It turns out what she was seeing had nothing to do with me at all. Tyler had chosen to take the turn into the car park at reckless speed. He hadn't taken the icy conditions into account and it was a choice that should send him skidding across a patch of ice.
Alice's vision was only a second before the reality. I looked up to see his van rounding the corner as I was still watching the conclusion that had caused Alice to grab at me. This vision had nothing and everything to do with me, because Tyler's van was going to skid across the car park and crush the woman who was the focal point of my world. Bella was standing in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.
Not her.
Alice's vision began to shift, but there was no time to check the outcome for good or bad. I launched myself across the car park, between the skidding van and Bella who stood clutching at her truck, apparently too shocked to move. She didn't see me, I was moving too fast for human eyes to track, and caught her by the waist to yank her out of the way.
I held her cradled to my chest as I fell to the ground, all the while conscious of her fragile body. I heard her head crack against the ice and groaned aloud. I didn't have time to check her condition because the van was still grating and squealing as it compacted into the side of Bella's truck where she had been standing. The metal contorted above us as the van shifted, almost as if the danger was actively seeking her out.
I'd already done too much but even knowing it was a mistake couldn't stop me. I dropped Bella, hearing the breath get knocked out of her as I threw my hands out and braced myself, catching the van before it could hit her. The force of the impact threw me back into the truck and I felt the frame buckle beneath my shoulders as I lifted it slightly off the ground to stop the skid. The van shuddered to a stop against my unyielding arms. I looked down and almost swore. Would the catastrophes never end? Bella's legs were directly underneath the tires, or at least they would be if I were to set the van down. I gave the van a slight shove so that it rocked away from me and scooped Bella up into my arms as I dragged away from danger for the third time that morning.
Her body was a limp weight in my arms. Was she conscious? How badly was she hurt? Had I done more harm than good in my rescue attempt? I let the van drop, not caring as it crashed to the pavement and two of the windows shattered from the sudden impact.
I was in the middle of a crisis. How much ad she seen? Had anyone else seen me stop the van? Seen me lift it off her? Those were the questions that should have been uppermost in my mind, and yet all I could do was gently move her hair away from her a face with a hand that trembled for the first time in decades. I couldn't worry about exposure, didn't care about the consequences. All I could feel was the heat of her soft body pressed again mine.
The first instinctive fear at Alice's vision was the greatest. As the screaming of witnesses erupted into a circus around us, I leaned over her to examine her face, hoping she wasn't bleeding anywhere.
Her eyes were open, staring up at me in shock.
Our gaze was locked for a moment before she groaned and struggled to push herself up into a sitting position with a groan. It was with monumental effort that I remembered to let her go and shift aside to give her room to move. I wanted to clutch her to me and run my hands over her to make sure she was safe.
Mine.
"Bella," Tyler was slumped over the steering wheel, blood pouring profusely from a cut on his temple. The smell of it wasn't even a distraction, not with Bella in front of me. "I'm so sorry, the ice, I-,"
"I'm okay," she called out to reassure him.
"You cracked your head when you fell," I said, "so you should probably get that seen to." I probed gently at her head and felt a large lump already beginning to form. She winced as my fingertips ghosted over it.
People were beginning to flock towards the scene of the accident, an excited babble of voices as cell phones were produced and the emergency services called.
Edward, Alice called, Jasper and I have to get out of here, the blood-
I looked over and nodded once before turning my attention back to the woman in my arms; her eyes looked a little dilated indicating that she had concussion. I had two medical degrees but could not betray our carefully cultivated lives to treat her. For the time being she lay cradled in my arms, and I held her as if I was trying to hold a bubble. She was so fragile, so warm. Moving on instinct alone my head dipped closer to hers, my nostrils flaring slightly as her scent swam around me in a heady cloud. Her heart was pounding strongly, elevated from shock and stress. Delicious. Venom flooded my mouth and my head dipped a fraction closer.
So close.
"You saved me," Bella said, wincing as she flexed her wrists. Her voice called my attention back to the present and I jerked my head back. I could smell traces of her blood now; she must have scraped her hands on the ground when I pulled her down. I flicked a glance at the mangled van behind us, and mercifully my fear at what might have been dulled my thirst.
"From a college senior," I replied, trying to play the situation down for all it was worth, "didn't exactly take Superman."
"The van," Bella was looking confused but determined to figure things out, "you stopped the van-,"
"Bella," I breathed as I held her gaze, watching her subside as my scent washed over her, "you need to get checked at the hospital, and you're going to need some rest, okay?"
"O-okay," she said, dazed.
I nodded, satisfied.
"But after that, you and I are going to have a little talk," she said, looking determined.
I blinked.
A/N: Hope you're enjoying it, let me know what you think …