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! Here's the next chapter of Do You Believe In Fate? This chapter is about some Christmas decorating fun, and Bella and Edward re-evaluating where they stand. But don't worry; it's a good kind of re-evaluation. Lol. I hope you like it!
Perfect Moments
Edward, Emmet, Rosalie, and I all piled into Emmet's Jeep, and then Alice and Jasper went with Edward's parents. We drove through the wintery world, and this time I actually got to enjoy it. Before I'd been too preoccupied worrying; and man did I miss a lot. The small town of Forks was covered in a blanket of white; everything seemed to be varying shades of white and grey under the cloud cover. But despite that, it was beautiful. The tall trees were blanketed in white, with spots of deep green peeking out, houses and yards looked like they were made of fluffy cotton, and the air was quite and still. It was wonderful.
We followed Edward's parents to a tree farm, and then piled out into the icy air. I shivered against the chill, and felt a strong arm wrap around me. I smiled up at Edward, and was rewarded with a soft, warm kiss. "Ready to find the perfect tree?" he asked, smiling. I laughed.
"You know, I don't think I've ever done this." I said. "We only had fake trees in Arizona. The last time I had a real Christmas tree was at…" My voice drifted away as I remembered. Charlie. I felt suddenly sad. Edward noticed, and pulled me closer.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he murmured. I nodded.
"It was with Charlie. He always brought home a Christmas tree. I was so young, but I remember it so clearly." I said, my voice quiet. "Those are some of my happiest memories. We'd all decorate the tree together, and Charlie would lift me up so I could reach the high branches. I remember coming over to see you, Aunt Liz, and Uncle Eddie. And we'd all sit in your living room. My mother and Aunt Liz would laugh, and fuss over you and me. I remember being so happy." I said. I buried my face in Edward's side, trying to shut out the pain of the loss of all those happy times. Edward held me tightly, and let me weep quietly.
"I just don't understand what went wrong. I can't understand why my mother would throw all of that happiness away." I said, looking up at him. He wiped away my tears gently.
"I don't know, love. Perhaps you should ask her." He said. I shook my head.
"No. Not yet anyway. I don't think I could have a calm, rational discussion with her about this for a least a year." I said, smiling. Edward chuckled, and leaned down to nibble at my neck.
"I think I'd like to see you lose your temper. You look rather adorable when you're mad." He said against my skin. I shoved him back.
"What do you mean adorable?" I demanded. Edward grinned.
"That's what I mean." He said, tapping a finger on my nose. I frowned, and then walked forward without him. Adorable – the fiend…
Edward laughed, and walked after me. I refused to look at him. As childish as it was, I'm not ashamed to admit I was pouting. "Bella, you know I was just teasing." He said. I huffed in response. "Okay, so maybe I meant it. But it's just another part of you that I adore." He said. I glanced sideways at him, but then looked away. I wasn't really mad, but it would be fun to see him try and make up. Edward grinned. "I could always tamper with your memory." He said. I looked at him in confusion.
"Tamper with my memory?" I asked.
"Something like that." He muttered. He pushed me up against the Jeep, and pinned me there under his body. My heart started to race, my muscles tensed, and my cheeks flushed.
"What are you doing?" I demanded shakily. Edward just smiled. He leaned down, and kissed the hollow of my throat, and his tongue flicked out to trace my thudding pulse.
"Are you mad at me still?" he asked.
"Yes." I gasped. "You… made fun… of me." I said. He chuckled, and brushed his lips in a line from my ear, along my jaw line to my chin, and then back again. On the second circuit of his little torture line, he paused at the corner of my mouth.
"And now?" he asked. All that came out was a low moan. Edward chuckled, sensing an easy victory. He took my face in both hands, and laid his mouth over mine.
His mouth brushed mine gently at first, sliding those soft lips over mine with tender heat. But then he seemed to forget to be gentle, and his mouth ravished mine. It felt like being eaten alive, bite by ruthless bite. I threw my arms around his, and tried to get as close as humanly possible, if not closer. My toes curled, my mind went blank, and my nerve endings did a little jig. God but he could kiss! How did he manage to do this to me? How could he do so many things to my mind, my body, and my heart all with just one kiss? I didn't know the answer to that; all I knew was that I never wanted him to stop. But unfortunately that particular wish wasn't going to hold for long.
Edward pulled away, and gently brushed my hair away from my face. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you, too." I murmured. I was still having difficulty speaking. Edward smiled, and we went back to tree hunting. Alice insisted that we search every aisle until we were allowed to decide on a tree. She said something about it not being fair to the other trees. We finally decided on a huge, ten foot spruce, that the guys somehow managed to secure to the top of Emmet's Jeep. Then we all piled back into the car, and headed back to the house.
Edward's parents went and got all of the tree decorations out, (they'd already decorated the rest of the house) and laid them out in the living room. Alice, Rosalie, and I opened the boxes like they were the presents instead of decorations. We cooed and fussed over Edward's first ornaments, and then handled the beautiful glittering glass ornaments with care. While we were busy unpacking ornaments, the guys decided that it was their job to hang the lights (though Jasper seemed to have enough sense to just stand at the bottom and direct things). Liz and Edward Sr. sat on the couch and watched us, smiling and laughing.
"Emmet, no! That's not how you do it!" I heard Edward say exasperatedly. We turned around from our spot on the floor, and looked up, and saw that Emmet had lights strung around his big arms, and a very confused look on his face. We all burst out laughing.
"It's not funny." Emmet whined. I snickered.
"Sorry, Em. But you look like a Christmas scarecrow with your arms out like that." I said. Emmet looked at himself, and then laughed.
"Yeah, I guess I kind of do." He said sheepishly.
Rose got up and helped him get himself untangled. Emmet handed the lights over to Edward. "Here, I give up. You deal with it." He said. Jasper laughed, and then started to direct Edward.
EPOV
After rescuing Emmet from the Christmas lights, we started over. We had the tree about half strung, when I got distracted. I happened to look down while on the ladder, and saw my family spread out around the living room. Emmet of course was trying to hang Christmas ornaments from his ears, causing the girls to go into fits of giggles, and my parents sat cuddled up on the couch smiling at us. Bella looked so beautiful. She sat crossed legged on the floor, laughing, her hair bouncing and swaying gently. Her brown eyes were warm, and filled with love. God could my life be any more perfect.
"Edward!" Jasper shouted. I jerked my head up, and realized I'd been leaned way to far out on the step ladder. And it was too late to try and regain my balance. Down I went. I fell on my ass with a sold thump, and everyone paused. I think they were trying to decide whether or not to laugh, but seeing as how the lights I'd been holding had fallen onto my head, to was too much for them.
Only Bella held in her laugh. She just smiled, and shook her head. She crawled over to me, and then sat back on her knees. She gently lifted the lights off of my head. "Edward?" she asked. I looked up at her.
"What?"
"Remind me never to let you three string lights again." She said. I grinned, and kissed her softly.
"No problem." I said. She laughed, and helped me to my feet.
Bella then climbed up onto the step ladder, and helped me and Jasper string the rest of the lights. This was only after forbidding us from doing it alone again. Then we all hung decorations. We all laughed, and my parents told stories about past Christmases with Emmet, Jasper, and me, and Bella looked at me in amazement after hearing all the mischief I'd gotten into with the two of them.
"I never would have pegged your for a trouble maker." She teased. I laughed, and leaned down to nip lightly at her neck.
"There's a lot about me you don't know about." I whispered in her ear. She flushed, and bit her lip. I chuckled. Sometimes I loved making her just a little bit nervous.
At one point Bella was trying to put an ornament on one of the higher branches but couldn't quite seem to reach. Without thinking about it, I gripped her hips and lifted her gently so she could reach. After I set her down, she turned around and smiled at me. She stood up on her toes and kissed me softly. "Thanks." she whispered. I smiled back.
"Anytime." I said.
BPOV
After we had decorated the tree, we had a big dinner that Liz had made. It was wonderful. It felt so relaxed, and comfortable, with everyone sitting around the table, conversation weaving in and out between people. I felt like I had jumped into a movie, or a book, where nothing could ever go wrong, because these kinds of books always had happy endings. I sighed, and leaned against Edward. He smiled down at me. "Sleepy already?" he asked. I laughed.
"Yep. I got up really early this morning." I defended. "I need my beauty sleep." I teased. Edward shook his head.
"No you don't. You're already beautiful." He said. I rolled my eyes, but smiled.
"Yeah, yeah."
After dinner, and saying goodnight to Edward Sr. and Liz, Alice and Rose declared it was time for one of our meetings. Back in Oregon we always had a privet girl meeting after a major event in our lives. I agreed with them wholeheartedly. It was definitely time for a good talk out after our day today. So after I got into my comfy flannel pajamas, I kissed Edward's cheek, and told him I'd be in soon. We were holding it in one of the extra guest bedrooms (how many of them were in this house?!) so that we wouldn't have to kick the guys out of their rooms. We all had brought pillows and blankets, so we could get comfortable.
We all piled onto the bed, and sighed. "What a day, huh?" Rose asked. Alice and I agreed.
"I'm so emotionally, physically, and mentally spent, I don't know what to do with myself." I said. Alice and Rose sat up.
"So what was it like?" Alice asked.
"What was what like?"
"Finding out you'd known Edward from before. What was it like?" she asked. I sighed.
"It was… everything. So many emotions were spinning around in my mind, I could hardly think. I mean, he was the other half of me when we were kids. We did everything together; everything! And then my – well, our moms made us forget each other. That just… sucked!" I said. "I don't really blame Liz, because my mom didn't give her a choice. But my mom had a choice! Why did she choose to do this?" I demanded. Alice and Rose hugged me.
"I don't know sweetie. I'm sure she had her reasons." Alice said. I sighed.
"I guess. But I don't want to think about that right now." I said.
"Well, what were the other parts like then?" Rose asked.
"It was amazing. To know that all this time, that image of someone I had in my mind was Edward… to know that I've been in love with him all this time. It's the most amazing feeling in the world." I said. Alice and Rose smiled.
"I told you so!" they said in unison. I laughed.
"Alright, alright, enough about me. What about you two?" I asked. Alice and Rose looked at each other.
"Oh yeah, we're in love." Rose said. I laughed.
"Maybe we can start a club. 'Women Hopelessly in Love'." I said. Alice nodded.
"So…." She started. I looked at her.
"So…. What?" I asked.
"If you love Edward, have you…?" she let her question drift off. I knew what she was talking about. I blushed.
"You tell first." I said. Rose grinned.
"Hell, I'll go first. Let me just say, WOW!!!" she exclaimed. I couldn't help but laugh with them.
"That good, huh?" Alice teased. Rose sighed, and grinned.
"Oh yeah. Don't even get me started." She said.
"How soon after you guys started dating?" I asked.
"About a month." She said.
"So around the time that we left for Thanksgiving?" I asked. Rose nodded.
"Right after we came back." She said, and grinned again. "We really missed each other." Alice and I rolled our eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, we know. You're the sex goddess." Alice said. I choked on my tongue, and then laughed hysterically. Rose smiled slyly.
"Well, if the shoe fits." She said. We all laughed again.
"What about you, Alice?" I asked. She flushed slightly.
"Two weeks ago." She said, quietly. "It was perfect." She said, sighing. Rose and I read the emotions on her face, and sighed too.
"Wow." We said. She smiled.
"Yeah. Definitely wow." She agreed.
Alice and Rose looked at me expectantly. "Well?" Rose asked. I flushed, and shook my head.
"No, not yet." I mumbled. Alice patted my hand.
"It's okay, honey. You haven't at all, have you?" she asked. I shook my head.
"It's perfectly okay then. When it's your first time, you have to be sure." She said. I blushed.
"Well, that's the thing. I am sure. But I haven't talked to Edward about it yet. I mean, I know that I want him to be my first. I'm just not sure exactly when that should happen, you know?" I asked, stumbling slightly over my words. Alice and Rose nodded.
"Of course. Why don't you talk to Edward about it, tonight?" Alice asked.
"Tonight?" I squeaked. "Why tonight?" I asked.
"The sooner you get it over with, the better you'll feel. Besides, what better time to do it?" Rose asked. I bit my lip uncertainly.
"I guess. But what should I say?" I asked.
"Just find a way to bring it up, and go with your instincts. You trust him, right?" Alice asked.
"Yes." I said without hesitating.
"Then trust that you can talk to him about this." She said. I nodded.
"Okay. I guess I should get going then." I said, glancing nervously at the door. Alice and Rose nodded.
"Okay." They said cheerfully. They both hugged me and wished me luck, and then we all headed to bed.
Edward was already in bed, and he sat up when I opened the door. "Hey, beautiful." He said. I smiled.
"Hey."
"How was the meeting?" he asked. I could see his smile in the dark as my eyes adjusted. I laughed, and slipped in next to him.
"Good. Very… enlightening." I said. Edward chuckled, and pulled me onto his chest.
"I'm glad." He said. He paused a moment. "Bella?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"I think we should talk too." He said. My heart skipped a beat.
"About?"
"Well, after all that happened today, I wanted to talk about… well, about where we stand." He said.
"Oh." I said. I leaned up and kissed him. "I love you. What more do you need to know?" I asked. I was hoping he'd start the conversation I was hoping to have before I had to.
"Well… nothing I guess." He said awkwardly. I sighed. I guess I was going to have to do this myself.
"Edward?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering… have you ever thought about… well, have you ever thought about taking things to the next level?" I asked. There was a pause, and then Edward sighed.
"I'm glad you brought that up, actually. And yes, I have thought about it. I'm a man after all." He teased. I laughed, relieved.
"Well…" I asked.
"I want to." He said. My heart skipped a beat.
"So do I." I whispered. Edward shifted, and gently pushed me onto my back, settling himself on top of me, and then kissed me softly.
"Are you ready?" he asked, brushing his lips from my mouth to my neck. My breath caught in my chest.
"Now?" I breathed. He chuckled against my skin.
"Call me old fashion, but I'd rather not while we're in my parent's house." He said. I laughed breathlessly.
"Right."
"But soon, Bella. I want to make you mine." He said, his voice a husky growl. I shivered, and moaned softly when he kissed me again. When I thought I might simply combust from the heat and electricity that zinged between us, Edward pulled back. "Soon." He said, again. I nodded. Edward rolled us so that I was resting my head on his chest again.
The room was silent for a long time. Then Edward spoke. "Bella?"
"Yes?" I replied. Edward hesitated, and then held me tighter.
"Do you believe in fate?" he whispered. My heart sputtered frantically in my chest.
"Yes." I whispered back. Edward held me for the longest time, and I slowly fell asleep to the sound of his steady heartbeat, and the gentle rise and fall of his chest under my cheek.
Ending Note: Hey everybody! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I've been pretty busy lately. I don't know when I'll have the next one out, but I'll have plenty of time for writing with Christmas Break (yay!). Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! And thanks again to everyone whose read, faved, and reviewed! You all ROCK!! XD Lol. More favs, reviews, and messages always welcomed. Happy Holidays everybody!! Peace!! ~~~~~~~:D~~~~~~~~
