Charlie was being rather difficult as Bella was trying to convince him to let her see her boyfriend again. She'd been housebound for roughly a week since her father had found out about Edward's 'illness'. It took a phone call from Carlisle, a blatantly lying Bella promising not to kiss her boyfriend during the visit, and the promise of extorting fish-fry from Billy until Charlie agreed to let her go.
"I'm just not too thrilled about this Bella. What was it he had? Mouth ulcers and tuberculosis? It's not on." Charlie frowned as he followed her about the house as she gathered up her coat and gloves.
"Dad I'll be fine, Edward's not sick anymore, honestly." Bella said earnestly. She bent down on her bedroom floor in order to look for the second glove under her bed and triumphantly found it. "Seriously, I swear these things have a life of their own." Or get hidden so that someone can hold hands with me, she added to herself. Charlie was stroking his mustache.
"Tuberculosis does not go away after a week." He added, trailing off when he realised he wasn't being listened to.
"Look, thanks dad but I'm sure it's all fine. Edward's not that bright… it probably wasn't even tuberculosis." Bella said mindlessly and then remembered the boy in question was hiding outside and had probably been able to pick up that statement. "I mean, he is bright but just not sometimes. Yes." Her pleasure at digging herself out of that hole faded as she realised she'd actually dug a bit deeper. Her father was hovering at the front door, blocking her exit. "Dad?" Bella prodded. He flushed red and hopped out of her way.
"If he coughs, even once!" Charlie yelled as she skipped down the steps. "I have my gun ready, just tell him that."
Bella fell over. She got up again and turned to roll her eyes at her father.
"Yeah dad, will do." And with that she climbed in her car.
Edward stayed well out of sight underneath the dashboard, next to the pedals, until they were on the motorway. In one deft movement he flung her into the passenger seat and then took over the wheel.
"Goddamnit Edward!" Bella yelled. "I was still wearing my seat belt!" Her boyfriend glanced at the belt that had snapped under his thumb and abruptly swerved to the side of the road as they reached the beginning of the back road leading to Edward's house.
He was silent for a moment as the truck's engine ticked tiredly.
"Guess I'm not bright enough to undo a seat belt." He pouted. Bella hastily stifled her rage and threw the seat belt onto the floor of the truck.
"Must you always take things so hard?" She sighed as she flipped herself over onto his lap. "I don't think you're stupid." Bella smiled as she stared at her boyfriend's face. What she saw there troubled her; he wasn't meeting her gaze as she tried to lock eyes with him. A sick feeling began to bubble up in her stomach. "…What's wrong?" She asked tentatively.
Edward turned his head to stare out of the window.
"We have a bit of a problem." He said quietly. Bella held her breath as she waited for him to elaborate. Finally: "When Alice gave me ideas for that series… she may have been a bit too accurate."
Images of herself being ripped to shreds by vampire spawn flashed in Bella's mind.
"Not with everything!" Edward added hastily as he saw the look on Bella's face. "But, well, there are vampires coming into the district. We're a bit concerned that they're going to kill some people."
Bella took her hands away from Edward's face and stared at them in her lap as she sat on his. It was all so unfair. Why couldn't she just have simple happiness? Why did everything have to be embroiled with danger and evil? Edward snaked his arms around her waist and stared at her with a cocked head until she looked at him again. Even she was surprised that her eyes were brimming with tears.
"So what? So now, now some thing is going to hunt me down and stuff?" Bella's voice warbled. "I don't want to know, I mean, why did you write those books if they're like my destiny? I don't want to have a vampire spawn rip me to pieces! I can't think of anything worse! Do you know how goddamned freaky an idea like that is?" Suddenly Bella wanted to get out of her boyfriend's arms. "I don't want to get killed by something like that! I don't want to!" She pushed open the truck door and got out. "I mean, holy crap, it can talk when it's born, that's just, oh my god." Bella fell over onto her hands and knees and kept crying hysterically. "Your life basically ends when you're a mother, I mean, god, really."
Edward silently slipped out of the car and stood looking down at her as she shifted her position until her arms were wrapped around her legs that were bent against her chest. He crouched down beside her and made a move as if to put his arms around her but then changed his mind. Then, as another sob escaped her lips, he hugged her. They stayed for a while like that; Bella crying and him holding her as tightly as human skin would allow, until Bella's sobs quietened and her cheeks stretched tight from the dried salty tears.
"Hey, no one's saying you have to have kids." He murmured in her ear. "No one's saying you have to sleep with me. No one's saying if we do we're not going to use protection."
"But, but, you said contacts dissolve in your eyes. You, you don't know that latex wo-won't do the same." Bella cried out before dissolving into a fresh bout of tears. Edward tightened his hug a little.
"Well then you don't have to. You don't have to stay with me either. We can, I mean, I can let you, well, not that I want to, but if this doesn't work for you then- I mean." Edward gave up trying to get his point across and changed his crouch into him sitting on the ground behind Bella. They had ended up leaning against the front wheel of her truck. She still couldn't stop crying.
"Why is this so hard? Why do you have to be a vampire?" She demanded, and then regretted it. She looked up to see if her comment had angered Edward but his expression hadn't even changed. She lent back against him weakly and let out a wet-sounding sigh. "I love you, I really do, but even though I want to be together forever, well, I'm not looking forward to the changing process… all that pain. I don't like pain. I'm not a masochistic little idiot like that girl in the book. I want you but none of it sounds particularly appealing. I like eating food. I like stuff." Bella trailed off weakly. "But that doesn't mean I plan on letting you go."
"We can still be together without you being a vampire." Edward muttered. He didn't sound like his heart was in the statement.
"Not if that means I'll be considered a pedophile when I'm fifty and we still haven't had sex." Bella spat. She smoothed out the frown marks in her face before looking at Edward again.
"I can… I can get some latex." Edward suddenly perked up. Bella blinked at him.
"What?" She asked slowly. Her boyfriend sat up straight and looked as though an epiphany had hit him.
"I can get some latex!" Edward took one look at her face and realise he was being vague. "I can do some experiments and see if it dissolves!"
Bella's face reflected how little she wanted to be aware of this. Embarrassment warred with excitement as she tried to figure out what reaction was appropriate for a small town mildly-religious seventeen year-old girl.
"And you! We didn't even consider the pill!" Edward shouted enthusiastically. Bella almost fainted with embarrassment as a car driving past slowed slightly before heading off, as though the occupants had heard Edward delighted exclamation.
"Oh- okay." Bella agreed weakly. She was suddenly consumed with the image of knowing eyes staring at her as she exited the nurse's office at school. They would know and they would judge her!
"But, only if you- I mean, this doesn't mean we have to use what we find out." Edward added quickly. He had misinterpreted Bella's reaction. "And I will talk to Carlisle."
"Oh god no!" Bella burst out. "No! No!"
Edward gaped at her. He hadn't thought she would be so against them professing their love. She elaborated.
"Don't you dare tell Carlisle! I can't think of anything worse than your family knowing!"
"But what if Alice-" Edward started. Bella silenced him with a look.
"There's no secrecy in your family." She muttered flatly as she turned in a contemplative circle by the side of her truck. Finally she slapped her hand on the side of it and looked at Edward again. "We'll just act like we don't know what she's talking about. 'Kay?"
Edward smiled and held open the driver's side door for her before getting in the passenger side himself.
And with that, they drove on to his house with Bella at the wheel.