Chapter 7: Trip

EDWARD WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY NOT SAYING ANYTHING.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I could bear the silence no longer.

He just smiled that crooked smile that melts me and kept driving. I was starting to become anxious because I had no idea where he was taking me. I thought I would burst if he didn't say something soon and right at that moment he looked at me with scorching topaz eyes and opened his wonderful mouth.

"I thought I would take you to one of my favorite places. It isn't anything flashy like Las Vegas or Hollywood but I think you will like it. It was the first place I went after I left you last year. It was while I was there that I decided to try tracking."

I didn't know what to say so I just smiled at him. Then I had a million questions flood my mind at once. The thing to do was sort through them and chose the ones I had to have answers to.

"Can I ask you a couple questions?" I asked meekly because I didn't want to ruin the moment.

He looked at me and nodded then looked back out the window. I knew he was wondering what I would want to know and that he hoped I wasn't going to ask anything that would ruin what he had planned to do.

"Where about is the place you are taking me?" I decided to start with that one because it was the easiest.

"Don't worry it is in the continental United States," he smiled at me.

"I guess that is a start but could you be a little less vague about where?"

Umm, let's see," he said in a mocking tone, "it is west of the Mississippi."

I sighed he was toying with me. At least he cut it down by half though. I was trying to think of places he could be taking me.

"Are we going to fly?"

"No, I can drive there in a matter of hours."

Ok that didn't help. He can drive almost anywhere in a matter of hours the way he drove. Where the heck was he taking me? My brain was going into overload. He was definitely playing games now and he knew it. I smiled at him trying to hide how exasperated I really was with him.

"Is it east or west of the Rockies?"

"It is west. Bella don't worry about where we are going." He said as he looked at me then he thought better of finishing and changed tactics. "If I give you a state will you be happy?"

"Yes, give me a state and the questions about where we are going can stop."



"Ok. We are going to Utah."

"Utah?!" I said in total shock. What is in Utah?

"Yes, Utah. There are some beautiful places to go in Utah."

I sat and thought about what Edward had said. All I knew of Utah was Salt Lake. I had been to that airport many times in my travel between Phoenix and Forks. I had also seen the Mormon temple from the plane. It looked like a castle placed in the middle of a city. It was in the middle of this that I noticed we were in Pocatello.

Edward got off of the highway and turned to me. "Time for the human to eat," he said with a laugh.

I just smiled and moved closer to him. I hadn't realized what time it was or that I was even starting to get hungry until he mentioned it. We pulled into the Sizzler parking lot and went inside. It was three in the afternoon and cloudy so Edward didn't bother with a hoodie. We noticed that the restaurant was practically empty when we got inside.

We ordered the salad bar and then went to sit down. It was easy to find a place that was secluded with the restaurant as empty as it was. The waitress came and got our drinks and I went to get something to eat. As soon as I had finished we were back on the road.

Edward told me to try and get some sleep because tonight was going to be a long night. I really didn't want to sleep though and Edward could tell so he did the one thing he knew would make me sleep. He rubbed circles in my arm, being as he couldn't easily rub them in my back, and hummed my lullaby. I was asleep fast after that. There was no use fighting it.

When I woke up I was in a bed. I looked around and knew I was not in a hotel but a house. I got up and went to the bathroom so that I could see what I looked like. I combed through my hair and splashed my face with some water. I then brushed my teeth.

When I came out of the bathroom Edward was in the doorway to the room. "Would you like to see the rest of the house?"

I nodded and took his hand as he led me downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a huge room that was beautifully decorated with old world style furnishings. The piano was the first thing you saw, and the couch looked like you could just sink in and never want to get up. When you walked in a little farther you could see the dining room and it was furnished much the same as the living room. The kitchen was amazing. It looked like the hearth to a fireplace over the stove. It was so Edward.

He then took me to the basement where there was a bedroom bathroom and another living room. This one was a little more casual, but still had the same luxury that the room upstairs did. There was a bar down here and it seemed that this would be the room that everyone would gather in to play games.

He told me that he had put Carlisle and Esme's room down here and then he showed me. It was a cream colored room with a large dark wood Victorian looking bed. The bed linens were a rose pink and gold stripe and looked expensive. I could swear they were silk. There was also a desk 

in the corner so that Carlisle could do his work. The bathroom was very well decorated as well. It had the same gold color as the bedroom. There was a big tub and pedestal sinks. It was simple but wonderfully lavish at the same time.

We went back upstairs and he showed me the others rooms. Alice's room was a midnight blue and had a big four post bed in it that had a wrought iron canopy. The bed linens were black and white and very designer looking. Rosalie's was pale green with a bed much like Alice's but there was carving on the posts and the canopy had metal cut outs. Her bedding was red and white. The comforter had small roses on it. Jasper's room was cream and soothing just like Jasper. His bed had short posts and was arched up at the headboard and down at the footboard. His bedding was a pale blue and brown. It just screamed comfort. Emmett's room was the last one and it was very earthy. His bed was much like Jasper's but with blunt straight lines instead of the soothing curves that jasper's had. His bedding was brown tan and green.

Edward then led me back into the main bedroom which I guessed to be his. It was a pale gold color much like his room at home. The bed was a four post with iron work on the head and foot boards. It looked amazing. The bedding was gold and chocolate brown. The main part of the comforter had a detailed pattern on it. After Edward was done showing me the house he took me down and made me something to eat.

"This house is amazing. Who does it belong to?"

"I bought it for you. It was going to be a wedding present but I thought you might like staying here better than a hotel. It is a good thing that Esme had me buy you something else while we were in London last week."

I just smiled. I couldn't say anything. The fact that this was going to be a gift made me feel like my gift for him was not enough.

He sat a plate down in front of me and I started to eat. I asked what time it was. It was just after ten and we had somewhere to go. I finished and went to get my shoes.

We were in the car again but it was a short drive. I saw that we were at the foot of a huge mountain. I gave him a look like he was crazy if he thought I was going to be able to hike that in the dark. He just pulled me onto his back and took off up the mountain.

When we got to the top he set me down. I looked around. The view from here was breathtaking.

"I can't believe this was where you decided to go after Victoria. It is so calm and beautiful I don't understand."

"This isn't where I decided. It was in here."

He pulled me through a door that I hadn't noticed in the dark. We walked through a tunnel and then there was another door. He opened it and we went in. This room was bigger. He turned a light on for a moment just so that he could show me what the room looked like.

We were in a cave. It was the most amazing sight I had seen. Right in the middle was a huge rock coming off of the ceiling. There was a rail that went around it. He turned the light off then and you could see millions of little flashes go off all over the giant rock.



"Edward where are we?"

"We are in the caves of Mount Timpanogos. This chamber is my favorite. That is said to be the heart of the cave. It is my favorite because just like mine it is made of stone and doesn't move. It was while I was in this room that I thought a lot about you and how I could protect you without you knowing. You see you had my heart and so I needed to protect you and keep you alive or I would die too. That is why I decided to try my hand at tracking. I went after Victoria because she was the most immediate threat to your safety. You know the rest of the story."

We sat there in silence for a while. I needed to process what he had just told me. It was more proof that he never was going to be completely gone from me like he had said when he left last fall. I noticed Edward watching me trying to figure out what I was thinking and getting frustrated when he couldn't. He didn't say anything though.

"Edward, you really didn't mean what you said when you left did you? I can tell now. The fact that you kept trying to watch over and protect me has finally broken through and I know that you never could have left. Not completely."

He pulled me into his arms and held me close. We just sat in silence nothing more needed to be said. It was perfect and he was right. This was the best place in the world he could have taken me at this moment. It helped me to calm down and think rationally.

I knew we had a lot to do in the next few weeks and that we needed to come up with a plan. I was ready to do that now. I was ready to do whatever was asked of me to save Edward's family, my family.

Edward scooped me up and headed out of the caves. I hadn't realized how long we had been there. It was sunrise when we exited the cave. Edward went down as fast as he could so that we could get out of here before people showed up. It was going to be a very sunny day.

We got back to the house and in the light I could see that there were a lot of trees around the front of the house. It kind of reminded me of his house back home except that there were other houses besides his on this street. We drove down the winding driveway and parked in the garage. He took me out of the car and carried me into the house.

I smiled at him and said, "Welcome home," before he could say it to me.

"This is just practice for when I really get to carry you in and tell you welcome home Mrs. Cullen," he informed me.

I kissed him then and he let me. Things had been a lot less strict since the fight with Victoria. I had to pull away from it so that I could breath. That was one reason I couldn't wait to be like Edward and his family, I would no longer have to pull away so that I didn't suffocate to death.

Edward carried me upstairs so that I could shower and change into new clothes. He told me that my things were in the closet which was accessible from the bathroom. I thanked him and went to take a shower. I put on a pair of shorts and a blue tank top. It was warm enough here that I could get away with wearing this kind of thing. I pulled my hair up and came out. Edward had also changed and was now over on the other side of the room going though his music library. It 

wasn't as big as his one back in Forks but it was still large. He put in a cd and turned it down low so that it was back ground noise and came and pulled me into a hug.

When he let me go he looked at my clothes again and smiled. I knew that smile all too well. It was the same one he had when he took me to prom after the whole James thing and he said that he needed to thank Alice. I playfully hit him upside the head and turned and walked to look out the window. The view was wonderful. There were a lot of trees and birds flying through them.

Edward came and put his arms around me and whispered in my ear, "Are you happy here love?"

I turned to face him and gave him a huge kiss. Then I answered him. "I love it here but I don't know that we can come here right after I am changed. There are a lot of people here. What if I crave human blood? Everyone here would be in danger."

"Don't worry love I will help you. We will come here as soon as you are ready, not a moment before."

I turned and looked out the window again. I was thinking what life here would be like. There must be enough wild life to be able to live here or Edward wouldn't have bought a house here but it was sunny here. Why would he go somewhere that we couldn't be out around people?

"What do you want to do today?" he asked pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I think we should get some work done. We need to think about what we are going to do about Carlisle. Do you have any ideas?"

He smiled at me which was a sigh that he defiantly had at least one idea. "Well, we could always change you before the wedding. Then whoever has him would have no reason to keep him anymore. There would be no threat to them because you would be one of us. My other idea was to storm the Voluri and take him back by force. That would definitely start a war though."

"Changing me would start a war with the wolves," I reminded him.

"It won't if we negotiate with them and let them know what is going on. I think given the circumstances they would let me change you."

I didn't know what to think. Jake had said that it wouldn't matter. There were to be no exceptions to the treaty. What would this do? I didn't want to think about it but I knew that Edward was right and that we had to try and talk with them. Try to get them to see our side.

"Ok," I said quietly, "we can try and talk to the wolves. I am still unsure that this plan will work though. If they agree to it how soon would you change me? I need to be ready and I need to get Charlie ready."

"I think we would change you a few weeks from now so that we can get you somewhat under control before the wedding. We would still need to go through with it so that everyone can say their goodbyes to us. You would stay with Charlie but either Alice or I would always be with you. Then after the wedding we would go somewhere until you felt safe."



I just shook my head what else could I do? He had thought about everything. At least one of us was able to think about how it would affect everyone. I was in no state to think about it. I didn't want to think about how it would hurt my family. I was going to be away from them for a long time after this.

The rest of the week was uneventful. Edward had taken me to the cave a couple of other times and we would picnic there. To me it was the most romantic spot, it was our spot.

On Sunday morning there was a knock on the door. Edward went to get it. It was Esme. She asked how we were doing and what we had been up to. We told her all about our week. She told us what the others had been up to and that they were going to meet up with us in a couple of days. Edward smiled and I knew what he was thinking.

I showed Esme where her room was so that she could put her things away. I left her and went upstairs to see what Edward was doing. When I got up stairs, though, I heard an unfamiliar song coming from the piano. I went over and saw Edward sitting and playing. He stopped when he saw me. I asked what he was playing and he told me it was a song he had started working on when we got here.

"Play it for me," I begged.

"It isn't finished and I was hoping it would be before you heard it."

"Please."

"Ok but remember it is just a work in progress."

I sat down in one of the oversized chairs that was in the room and he started to play. It was such a mesmerizing tune that I didn't even notice Esme come up and sit in the chair next to me. When he stopped I smiled at him. Esme stood up and went to the window.

"Edward that was lovely. I haven't heard you play anything that beautiful since you wrote the lullaby for Bella. What is the inspiration for this one?"

Edward grinned and looked down. It was the first time that he ever seemed embarrassed. "It is another song inspired by Bella. It is a song about her and this house. It was just a house to me until she came here and now I know it will be a home. Every room is full of her now. In fact this house is so full of her that I am constantly hearing music in my head and needed to write so that I could think."

Esme smiled at me then. "Bella you are such a joy in our family. You have made Edward happy for the first time and we will never be able to thank you enough."

I went red. How do you answer back to a remark like that? I just thanked her for everything and for taking care of Edward so that we were able to find each other. It sounded really mushy and I couldn't believe that it came out of my mouth. I ran up the stairs then and into my room. I flung myself on the bed and thought about what I had just said. I was in shock.

Edward came up and checked on me a little later. I was back to normal by then but too embarrassed to go back downstairs. I had turned on a cd and was in our room dancing when he 

walked in. He was shocked because I had told him I hated to dance and I did. This was more jumping up and down and not really dancing to me. He turned the music off and told me I needed to come down and eat.

After dinner was all sat and watched tv together. After about an hour we decided that maybe a game would be better and we all went down to the basement and picked out a game to play. We decided on Yahtzee because Edward wouldn't be able to cheat. It was a game of chance. Edward still won though. I went to bed after the game and Edward came with me leaving Esme to herself.

All the way up the stairs I told Edward that he should go and spend time with her. He had the rest of eternity to be with me but she needed someone right now. He assured me that once I was asleep he would go spend some time with her. I agreed and let him take me upstairs. I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. Edward sang me to sleep like he always does.

When I woke up in the morning I could smell breakfast cooking downstairs so I went in the bathroom and washed my face. I went downstairs as quietly as I could. When I was half way down I could hear them talking and thought that maybe I should go back upstairs and wait a little while. Then Edward came around the corner and told me to come and eat.

It was overcast today so we decided to take Esme to the caves and go on the actual tour. It took us most of the morning to hike up to the caves being as they had to go at my speed. When we got to the top we waited for the next tour and after the tour we had to hike back down. When we got to the car we asked Esme what she thought of it. She was very emotional as she told us how wonderful she thought it was.

When we got home Esme started to make dinner. Edward and I asked if we could help and reluctantly she let us. After dinner we played games again. It was kind of nice to do normal things again. It felt like I was with my family.

The next morning I woke up to Alice jumping on my bed. After I woke up and washed my face she asked how I liked my trip. I told her how much I was loving it. She pulled me down the stairs then and I saw that it wasn't just her and Jasper that were there. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on the couch watching tv. I was told to eat because we had things to do today. I ate and went upstairs to shower and get dressed. To my surprise Alice wasn't there when I got out. She was letting me dress myself for once.

When I came back down everyone was at the table and waiting for me.