Do You Believe In Fate?
Disclaimer: None of these characters etc. belong to me. They all belong to the wonderful and amazing Stephanie Meyer. I don't think I could ever be that creative. Lol. Stephanie rules!
Author's Note: Hey everyone! This chapter is going to be lots of fun. Bella reunites with her 'Aunt and Uncle' and she and Edward finally realize they were friends. Hope you like it!
Reunion
Edward! I turned to face Edward, who was several steps away from me, staring at me confusedly. My heart was heavy and aching in my chest. He was it. He was everything. There was never anyone before him, and there would never be another after him. I was hopelessly in love with him. This was that missing piece that I'd puzzled over ever since I'd met him. This was why he looked so familiar, why this house was like a second home to me. I think in my heart I'd waited for this moment, this moment right here, to realize I was in love with him. He'd been hinting that he was in love with me for a few weeks, but I needed this to know it. I had to know that we were meant for each other. And how better to know that, than to know that he'd been my best friend, my other half when I was only a child?
I felt so much… too much. I felt pain for losing him, a blinding joy at finding him, and a love for him that seemed to drown out everything else. But I also felt furious. My mother had lied to me. She'd let me forget the most important person in my life. She had downright deceived me. There was no excuse.
But I shoved that away for now. Right now there was just me, and just Edward. "Edward?" I asked; my voice small. I took a step forward, still struggling to believe that it was really him. "Edward." I said again.
"Yes… Bella what's wrong?" he asked, sounding anxious. I shook my head. I laughed weakly, and then grinned up at him. I ran forward, and leapt up to wrap my arms around his neck, and my legs around his waist. Edward stumbled a few steps, but managed to catch both me and his balance.
"Edward!" I exclaimed, and began covering his face with adoring kisses. Edward laughed, and allowed himself to be adored.
"Bella, not that I mind all this, but can I ask what brought it on?" he chuckled against my mouth.
"Just shut up for a minute." I murmured. Then I kissed him hard and long. I pressed my mouth firmly to his, and fisted my hands in his hair. I nipped lightly at his lips, and when they parted on a small gasp, I swept my tongue in to taste him fully. I felt the change in Edward immediately. I felt all his muscles tighten beneath me, and his arms tightened around me like iron vices. He returned my kiss with fiery passion that burned me alive.
All I could think was yes. This was what I wanted, what I needed. Him, and only him. "Edward." I murmured against his mouth. The emotion that welled up inside me made me soothe him, gentle the kiss, and then pull away to simply stare at him. "I've waited all my life for you. It's been a long wait." I said, tears filling up my eyes. Edward's were still hot, but now they were sharp and alert as well.
"Bella, what are you saying?" he asked. I smiled.
"I'm saying that I am desperately and hopelessly in love with you. And that all my life I've had you in my mind; ever since I left." I said. Edward kissed me long and hard.
"God Bella, I've been waiting for the right moment to tell you this. I love you. More than I ever thought possible." He said. I smiled, and waited for the rest of what I said to catch up to him.
Sure enough, he frowned. "What do you mean, ever since you left?" he asked. I smiled, and slid down from my position of being wrapped around his torso. Edward's breath hitched, and he glared at me. "You couldn't have just jumped down?" he asked. I laughed, and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry." I said. I took his hand and led him over to the picture. "Do you know when that picture was taken?" I asked. Edward looked at it.
"I don't know. I look about four years old. Why?" he asked.
"Do you know who the girl is?" I asked. He looked at it harder. Then his eyes widened.
"No. That's… that's not possible." He whispered, looking back at me. I smiled.
"That's what I thought, too. But think Edward. Think hard. Try to remember. Try to remember me." I murmured. Edward looked back at the picture, and I could practically watch the memories that slowly reformed in his mind. Then his head bowed, and I saw a single glimmering tear.
"You left me." He said; his voice a broken whisper. I turned him around, and took his face in my hands. Tears filled my eyes when I saw the pain in his.
"I didn't want to. I swear I didn't. I wept for days, weeks, months. Then my mother, she…" I thought hard. "She did everything she could to distract me. We never spoke of you. And soon she convinced me you were an imaginary friend from my childhood. And then you were nothing more than a dream. It nearly shattered me when I left you. I think my mother was trying to protect me from the pain of losing you. But it hurt me more when I forgot you." I said. Edward nodded.
"I think my mother must have done the same." He said. Then the pain was back. "I tried to follow you." He said. My heart tightened painfully.
"I know. I watched you fall. And I am so sorry. I wanted you so badly I could hardly stand it. You were my best friend, Edward; my only friend. You were my other half, the missing piece of me. And when I grew up, I had this image of a guardian angel in my mind. It was you. You were always there, in the back of my mind. Like dream, I would think of you, and it would comfort me. I think that's why all of my other relationships failed so miserably. I was looking for you, but I never found you, and it made me feel dissatisfied, and frustrated, without knowing why." I said. Edward's eyes became clear, and warm.
"It was the same for me. I looked for you in the women I saw, but I never found you. I wanted desperately to find you, to find that familiarity, that comfort and pure trust that we'd had as kids. But I never found it." He said. I kissed him softly.
"No, not never. You have me now. And I swear to you, you will never lose me again." I promised. Edward cradled my face in his hands.
"Swear it to me." He murmured. "I couldn't take losing you, not now that I've found you again." He said.
"I swear it." I murmured. He kissed me again, and I could feel all the love that he had for me, in that single meeting of lips.
We pulled away, and then linked our hands. We turned back to the kitchen, and saw that everyone was watching. I blushed furiously. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked.
"Since the beginning." Alice sniffled. She swiped at her cheeks, and I saw that Rose was doing the same thing.
"I think that is the sweetest, most romantic thing I have ever seen." Rose said. Both she and Alice rushed forward and hugged me.
"I knew it was meant to be." I heard Alice whisper. I smiled.
"Thanks. But I hope you know that now I shall have to kill you for eavesdropping." I said. Alice and Rose laughed. I looked at Edward, and raised a brow. He grinned, and nodded. And then we pounced simultaneously. Edward tackled Alice, and began tickling her mercilessly, as I did the same to Rose.
Through the squeals of laughter, they begged for mercy, and when that failed they demanded help from Jasper and Emmet. They just laughed. "Sorry darling, but you deserve it." Jasper said. Emmet laughed his booming laugh, and everything was perfect. I had everything I could ever want – a man who I'd loved since I was four, and friends who I knew without a doubt I could count on. It was completely, and utterly perfect. Once we'd finally allowed Alice and Rose to get to their feet, and catch their breath, we all just stood together for a moment. We were all thinking the same thing. How could have we gotten so lucky?
Then there was the sound of the front door opening. "Edward? Emmet? Jasper? We're home!" I heard a familiar voice call. Aunt Lizzie! God I'd missed her. Well, now that I remembered who she was, I realized I missed her. She'd been like a second mother to me. She walked around the corner with her husband, Edward Sr., and then froze when she saw me. She looked just the same as she had the last time I saw her, on that horrible day. Her hair was dark blonde, and fairly short, and kind of wavy, her eyes were a green a few shades lighter than Edwards, and she had a tall, slim build. Edward Sr. stood beside her, the same stunned expression on his face. He looked pretty much exactly like Edward, spare for the eyes, which were grey, and the hair, which was streaked with silver. god
Edward's mom raised a hand to her lips. "Oh my." She whispered. "Bella?" she asked weakly. I nodded.
"Hi Aunt Lizzie." I said. Tears slipped slowly down her cheeks.
"Yes, you used to call me that." She whispered. She laughed, and held her arms out. I ran forward and returned her hug enthusiastically. "Oh Bella!" she whispered. "We've missed you." She said. Once she released me Edward Sr. scooped me up in a big hug.
"Hey there, kiddo." He said. I laughed, and kissed his cheek.
"Hey yourself." I said. He gave me the same crooked grin I loved best about Edward.
"Oh Bella, you remember us?" Liz asked. I smiled.
"Not until about five minutes ago. I saw the picture." I said, gesturing towards it. Liz nodded.
"Yes, of course." She murmured. Then she looked at Edward. "Wait a minute, this is the girl you were bringing home for us to meet?" she asked disbelievingly. Edward nodded. She looked at me. "You mean that you're the one?" she asked. I smiled.
"Yes. I've been in love with your son for a very long time." I said. Liz made a whimpering noise, and then pulled me hugged me tightly again.
"I'm so glad he found you." She whispered.
"I'm glad I found him. It hurt so much when I lost him." I replied. I pulled away. "Which I believe means that we are owed an explanation." I said. Liz nodded, and sighed.
"Yes, yes you are." She said, looking tired. "Well, let's sit down, and I'll explain." She said.
Edward and I settled on the floor, his parents sat on the couch, Jasper sat on the big overstuffed chair with Alice in his lap, and Emmet and Rose took the loveseat. Liz sighed again. "Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning." She said. "Bella, your mother and I met when we I first moved here. We clicked instantly; we were both newlyweds, and we were both expectant mothers. We went to all the classes together, watched those horrifying labor videos together, and complained about our husbands." She said, sending an adoring look to her husband, who smiled back at her. "We became best friends, and like teenagers, promised each other we'd stay that way. And things were even better, because you and Edward were practically attached at the hip." She said, smiling at us. Then she sighed. "But that changed.
"Your mother and father started to fight. Well, that's not exactly true. Your mother would fight, and Charlie would try to fix whatever she deemed wrong. But for some reason, Renee just wasn't happy here. She got stir crazy, I guess. She didn't want to be stuck in Forks for the rest of her life. The one thing she was truly worried about was separating the two of you. You two were… gosh, it's hard to explain. You were never apart; when one of you got hurt, the other would cry out, when one of you was sad, so was the other. I would say it was like you were twins, but that's not right. We always thought that you two would wind up together." She said, her eyes going misty. Then she shook her head. "I'm getting ahead of myself.
"Anyways, you and Renee came over for one last goodbye. She already had the car packed, so that I couldn't talk her out of it. We talked about it, and we knew that this would just kill the two of you. So we decided to slowly let you forget; step by step, we helped you forget that pain. We were only trying to protect you. But I know it didn't help much. Edward was so sad, for so long. Then he slowly began to forget, to heal I hoped. Then " She said, pleadingly. Edward and I looked at each other.
"It didn't help." I said, quietly. "I always felt that loss." Edward nodded in agreement, and kissed me softly. His mom looked about ready to burst from satisfaction.
"I know it didn't help much. Edward was so sad, for so long. Then he slowly began to forget, to heal I hoped. Then he met those two, and he seemed happier. I was so glad. But tell me, how did you meet?" she asked. I smiled.
"I moved to Oregon, to go to school. That's where I met Rose and Alice." I said, nodding at my two best friends.
"Oh my goodness! I've been so distracted with all of this, I forget to ask you. Jasper, Emmet, introduce them." She said sharply. Jasper and Emmet grinned sheepishly.
"Yes mom." They said in unison. Liz just smiled.
"This is the love of my life, Alice." Jasper said, kissing her forehead lightly. Alice beamed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Masen." Alice said. Liz smiled.
"Please, call me Liz." She said. Alice smiled back.
"This foxy woman over here is Rosalie." Emmet said, grinning. Rose rolled her eyes, but her smile ruined it.
"It's lovely to meet you." Rose said.
"Likewise, dear. Alright, now that proper introductions have been made, continue with the story." She said.
It turned out that the six of us told the story. We weaved together the three couples, and by the time we were finished, Liz couldn't have looked happier. "Oh, I just couldn't be more pleased with the way that this turned out. Tell me, how is Renee taking all this?" she asked. Edward and I exchanged nervous glances.
"Uh… I haven't… exactly… told her yet." I said. Liz raised a brow.
"Oh? And why not?" she asked.
"Well… like you said, mom got stir crazy here. She got married so young, and well, she doesn't want the same to happen to me, so she gets really protective when I mention guys." I said, nervously. Liz shook her head.
"That's just like Renee, too. And what about your dad?" she asked. I winced.
"Well, I'm going over there at some point this week. I'll probably tell him then. I just hope he won't tell my mom. Until I'm ready to of course." I added hurriedly. Liz thought for a moment.
"Alright, I'll keep your secret for now. But you have to tell her." She said, scolding me. I nodded eagerly.
"Of course. Soon." I added. Liz nodded, seeming satisfied.
"Alright. Well, we've better get going." She said. We all looked at each other, confused.
"Where?" we asked.
"To pick out a Christmas tree of course!" she laughed. We all cheered, and headed for the front door to bundle up. I couldn't wait to do something… as a family.
Ending Note: Hey peoples! I hope you liked this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. Though I won't deny, I did cry at one point. I couldn't help it, so don't judge! Lol. Anyways, there will probably be several more chapters about Christmas, so stay tuned. Thanks again to everyone who faved and reviewed, but of course I'm always greedy for more. Lol. Peace!!! ~~~~~~~~:D~~~~~~~~
