Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight!! -sigh- I hate life sometimes…
"Good night, Edward." He hummed my lullaby and I soon fell asleep in his arms, feeling safer than I'd ever felt with anyone else.
BPOV
The next morning, I woke up in bed alone. I shot up in bed and looked around the room, but calmed down when Edward's laugh came from the bathroom doorway. He pulled his shirt on and smiled at me "Good morning, Bella."
I rolled my eyes "That is definitely an oxymoron if I ever heard one." Edward laughed again and I smiled at him.
"I want to go somewhere today."Edward sat down on the bed in front of me. I frowned, Edward wasn't usually one to push things, to want me to do something I'm not ready for and I was not ready to see more people. Wait, maybe he was going somewhere without me. My frown only intensified at that thought as I stared at the bed sheets, wandering what he was talking about.
"Where are you going?" I finally asked, not looking up at him.
Confusion colored Edward's voice when he responded "What do you mean, where am I going? I was thinking that maybe, if you were up to it, we could give our meadow a visit. We haven't been there in weeks and it's supposed to get sunny around noon. What do you say?" Edward smiled crookedly.
I smiled back "We haven't been in a while have we? I'd love to go! You know how much I like being there." I looked out his window-wall to see the clouds already thinning out.
Edward face erupted into a grin "Get dressed and I'll get us some breakfast, then we can go." I smiled at his excitement and he left the room.
I dressed and Edward and I ate breakfast with everyone one else at the kitchen table. I smiled as I watched them all interact, laughing and talking all at once, just like one huge family. "Are you ready to go? The sun will be coming out soon." Edward whispered in my ear. I smiled and nodded and he excused us before leading me out of the kitchen and then the front door. He opened the passenger door of his Volvo and I climbed into his car, he walked around the front of the car and soon we were on the main road, heading to the meadow we'd found years ago.
I looked in the rear view mirror and saw my guitar case in the back seat. I smiled; it had become a tradition last year, to bring my guitar to the meadow every time we went. I laid my head against the glass window and watched the trees flash past, thinking about all the times we spent at the meadow. Everyone else, everyone being our families and the Hales, knew that we had a meadow that we went to but they didn't know what it was like or where it was at. Edward parked the car at the end of the dirt road and we both got out. Edward opened the back door and reached in to grab my guitar from the back seat.
"Shall we?" Edward smiled and we walked into the jade forest together.
EPOV
I laughed when Bella saw the light of the meadow and ran ahead of me and into the wide open space. I caught up quickly and watched her twirl around in the midst of the flowers, enjoying the freedom. Suddenly, she tripped and fell backward, disappearing in the grass completely. I didn't freak out because this had happened before and I chuckled lightly, she popped up into a sitting position quickly and glared at me playfully. "What is so funny?" She raised an eyebrow at me as I pressed my lips together in an attempt to hide my smile. She rolled her eyes and smiled before flopping back onto the grass and staring up at the blue-gray sky. I walked towards her, setting her case a couple feet away, and sat down next to her on the grass. She pulled me down onto the ground next to her and I looked at her quizzically. "You were too far away." She explained with a smile and I grinned crookedly.
"I know, I'm hard to resist." I teased and she rolled her eyes.
"You wish." She stuck her tongue out at me and now I rolled my eyes. "We both know I'm more irresistible." She joked, but I took it seriously.
"Well, I can't argue with that." I picked her up and twirled her around. She yelped in surprise but then we were both laughing and I fell over, her landing on top of me, after a few twirls. I sighed contentedly and pulled her close, she smiled in response and laid her head on my shoulder, still laying on top of me, and closed her eyes. We laid there for a long time, she just laid there with her eyes closed and I played with strands of her long chocolate brown hair. After a while, I wrapped my arms around her waist, her arms were already around my torso, and I closed my eyes as well. I breathed in a deep breath and Bella's freesia smell filled my nostrils, instantly making my whole body relax deeper into the grass.
I think we both fell asleep for a few minutes because the next time I opened my eyes the clouds were starting to move towards the sun, but it didn't look like rain. Bella lifted her head off my shoulder and rubbed her eyes "Did we just really fall asleep in our meadow?" She asked groggily and I chuckled.
"Yeah, I think we did…" Bella got off me and we both sat up and stretched. I yawned, which caused Bella to yawn as well and for a few minutes we kept yawning back and forth and laughing in between yawns. (I kept yawning when I wrote that and it's only five right now!) "How long have we been here?" I thought out loud and I pulled my cell phone out to check the time. "We're okay; it's only been a few hours." I answered my own question, putting my phone away and Bella nodded. We sat in silence just watching each other for nearly three minutes "What do you want to do?" Usually we talked a lot, but we'd been talking a lot and not having as much fun lately. Bella turned were she was sitting and spotted her guitar case. She pulled it towards her and opened it, pulling her beloved instrument into her lap.
"Can you sing for me?" She asked quietly and she smiled, her deep eyes a warm chocolate brown. I hesitated, sometimes Bella would play guitar and I would sing but we didn't do that often and I never liked missing out on a chance to hear her angel's voice. "Please." Apparently my pause was pretty noticeable and then I sighed.
"What do you want to hear?" I asked and Bella grinned.
"What was that song we heard on the radio the other day… I think it was by Gavin something…" She looked down as she tried to recall the song and her eyebrows pulled together in frustration.
"The other day?" She nodded. "Gavin… Hmm, maybe Gavin Rossdale?" If I was thinking of the right song.
Bella snapped her fingers and pointed at me. "That's him!" She exclaimed. "I can't remember the song name but part of the chorus was: I, never thought that I, had anymore to give." Bella sang part of the chorus and I realized what she was talking about.
"Love Remains The Same?" I asked. (song on profile, go check it out!! )
"Yeah, that's it." She started playing the guitar part and I nodded, I knew this song, it had been on the radio a couple times lately.
"Do I have to sing it?"
"Please, for me." She asked softly and her lip slipped into a small pout.
I smiled, crookedly "Okay, for you." Her eyes softened and she started the guitar part again.
"A thousand times I've seen you standing
Gravity like lunar landing
You make me wanna run till I find you
I shut the world away from here
I drift to you, you're all I hear
As everything we know fades to black
Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
Bella smiled and played without really paying attention to what she was doing. I smiled back and started the chorus my eyes locked on hers, I'd heard Bella sing this song before and it felt like I didn't bring it justice but it was what Bella wanted so I sang as good as was possible.
I never thought that I
Had anymore to give
You're pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But, love remains the same
I find a place where we escape
Take you with me for the space
The city buzz sounds just like a fridge
I walk the streets through seven bars
I have to find just where you are
The faces seem to blur
They're all the same
Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
I never thought that I
Had anymore to give
You're pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But love remains the same
A couple times Bella would sing with me but never for more than a line or two and it sounded better when she did. Our voices sounded amazing together and apart just didn't seem quite always right to me, her voice was still amazing but mine just sounded so much better when she sang with me…
So much more to say
So much to be done
Don't you trick me out
We shall overcome
It's all left still to play
We could have had the sun
Could have been inside
Instead we're over here
Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
Too much time too long defending
You and I are done pretending
I never thought that I
Had anymore to give
You're pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
Everything will change
I, oh I,
I wish this could last forever
I, oh I,
as if we could last forever
Love remains the same
Love remains the same"
We were both silent for a long moment, just watching each other before Bella spoke "You have a fantastic voice. You know that, right?" She put her guitar away and placed the case a few feet away as she sat down cross-legged in front of me.
I scoffed "Not anywhere near as remarkable as yours." I murmured and she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, you'll notice someday." I sighed and took one of her hands into mine and played with her fingers.
BPOV
I watched Edward as he played with my fingers. I did love him, I loved him so much. His hands on mine sent shivers up my spine as I watched his warm green eyes flicker between my hand and my eyes. "Edward…" I paused, I needed to tell him. I didn't want to ruin this serenity and this moment but he needed to know, it was important.
He looked at me expectantly "Yes?"
I took a deep breath and then let it all out in a big gust. I opened my mouth and after a second, closed it. Come on, Bella! Spit it out, you need to say it before it's too late!! I thought to myself. "Edward, My attacker was Riley. Riley Johnson."I finally got out and then I pulled myself closer to Edward and he wrapped his arms around me loosely, still shocked at what I just said, and I tried to ward off the flood of
horrible memories. I cringed into his chest at images of Riley's face and cried out softly as I relived the pain and heard my screams as he raped me. Edward recovered from his shock and hugged me tightly, whispering soothing words as he gently rubbed my back and wiped the tears off my face. We sat like that, with Edward comforting me for a few minutes. I pulled away when I regained my control and took in his expression. There was only concern, no rage or anger like I thought would be there, then it dawned on me. "You don't remember him do you?" Edward shook his head slowly; I nodded "Remember, in ninth grade and our first semester of high school? That blonde-haired guy, Riley, who asked me out practically every day." No recognition showed in Edward's eyes so I continued. "He asked me out to the winter dance in high school and I was so fed up with him that I yelled, in the middle of the cafeteria, that I didn't like him and that I would never go out with him. Remember how he had said he would get me no matter what and then three days after that, his family moved to Seattle." Edward must have remembered because he was glaring at the tree behind me when I finished. He looked so mad and the fury on his face and in his eyes looked so strong, I was surprised the tree didn't burst into flames. "I'm guessing you remember him?" I asked hesitantly and he nodded stiffly.
Suddenly Edward was on his feet and he pulled me up too. He grabbed my guitar and started walking to the edge of the forest, pulling me along with him. Even in his anger, he was still gentle and careful not to hurt me. I followed silently, letting Edward lead me through the trees and towards his Volvo. After a while I asked "So, where are we going? Do you already have a plan?" I stopped dead when I thought of something, causing Edward to almost fall over because he was still pulling me.
"What is it?" He asked worriedly, his anger fading and concern taking its place.
"You'll be careful, right? If you get hurt… just be careful, okay?" He smiled and stepped closer to me.
He pressed his lips to my forehead and then leaned down and gently kissed my lips, he pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. "I promise to be careful. I don't intend to let anything happen to me and definitely not you. Now, we should go." We started walking again and after a couple minutes, it looked like Edward was seething again, he must have been thinking of Riley.
"Where are we going?" I broke the silence as we broke through the trees.
"We are going home. I need to call a family meeting."
A/N: OH, MY GOSH!! You finally know who did it –drumroll please- Riley!! Victoria's right hand man is the culprit! Now, feel free to start cussing at him and burning him at the stake! XD Now, I'm not one to demand a lot of reviews but I am expecting a lot for this chapter, seeing as it is my longest and that I finally revealed the criminal! So lots of reviews new chapter!! :D Oh, and those of you who are also reading my story Chat Rooms, I need you guys to go look at the notice on the top of my profile, it's important!! Review!