Chapter 10: Unconditional
un·con·di·tion·al [uhn-kuhn-dish-uh-nl] – not limited by conditions; absolute.
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"How does it feel to be back in the land of reality, brother?" Jasper asked as Edward and Bella joined them for lunch.
The morning had passed quickly, yet slowly at the same time. Whenever he glanced at Bella, Edward found time to be slowing down; but, as the teachers did demand the students' complete attention, he had to pay as much attention as he could to the lesson – which irritated him, fore he had already been through high school many times before, and knew it all, already. For Bella, however – who was only going through high school at the first time – time was slow all the time, except in English class, where she was happiest during school hours. She never let go of her grip on Edward's hand, but she paid rapt attention to all she could learn about Shakespeare and Bronte and Faulkner.
The following classes before lunch were another story. She was not as interested in those – and she hated math with a passion only surpassed by her feelings for Edward – so time seemed to be lagging. She tried to get through it as well as she could by pulling Edward's hand into her lap and using both of her hands to play with his fingers, much like a small child would do. He smiled at her indulgingly, letting her continue her innocent nature. The teacher noticed, but didn't do anything but smile. It was hard for anybody not to be kind to Bella; everybody could see her fragile demeanour.
"Well, it's certainly not as boring as it used to be," Edward answered easily. He glanced over towards Bella, watching her carefully arrange her food so that none of it was touching. He smiled, before returning his gaze to his brother. "Though, I still have to say that it gets rather irritating, hearing the same thing over and over and over..." he trailed off. His siblings smiled knowingly.
"I know what you mean, Eddie," Emmett boomed, ignoring the glare Edward sent him for the despised nickname. "The teacher's just don't understand that we don't want to hear something we've already heard a million times before. Plus, they don't like thinking that some of their students might be smarter than them." He laughed.
"Emmett, you can't possibly think that you could be smarter than anyone? You must have been talking about us." Alice smirked; she loved annoying her brothers.
"Well, Pixie," Alice's smile turned into a grimace, "At least I'm tall." He boasted, straightening up to prove that he was, indeed, much taller than his sister.
Rosalie interrupted whatever Alice was about to say. "You know, Emmett, we can't exactly make fun of Alice's size anymore; not when she is no longer the smallest in the family." She motioned with her fork towards Bella, who was again playing with Edward's fingers, having finished the fruits and vegetables she had grabbed from the salad bar. "You'll have to find some other reason to pick on her, now."
Emmett sulked, realizing that his mate was correct; everybody was tall compared to Bella. He had been teasing Alice about her height for years now; it would be difficult for him to come up with more original jokes; and, though you could say that he could just switch his teasing from Alice to Bella, the idea just didn't sit right with him. Looking at his brother's tiny and incredibly breakable mate, he found that he didn't really want to tease her as he did Alice; she just seemed like she might snap at any moment.
Besides, he didn't think that Edward would let him get away with that.
With his thinking over, Emmett looked regretfully over towards his small sister, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Alice; looks like I won't be teasing you anymore."
Everybody – including Bella, though hers was a mere whisper of a sound – laughed when Alice immediately grinned and squealed.
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The afternoon passed slightly faster than the morning, and Edward had never been happier to slip into the driver's seat of his Volvo before in his life. Bella laughed at his relieved sigh, but stopped when he playfully glared at her. She tried to glare back, but all that resulted in was Edward laughing at her attempt. She pouted while he tried to calm down his laughs until only the occasional chuckle escaped. He turned on the engine, growing uncomfortable with the distance between him and his mate, and wanting to get home as soon as possible so he could hold her that much sooner.
Noticing the tension rising in her mate, Bella quickly tugged up the sleeve on his shirt and rested her hand lightly on his forearm. Instant relief surged through him, causing him to smile genuinely and stare lovingly at his mate, before returning his gaze to the dull road before him. Her touch made him feel as if every nerve ending in his body was lit on fire, though the relief pulsing through him gave him a rather cool sensation. It was confusing, yet amazingly pleasant, at the same time.
The drive home was spent in a comfortable silence, Bella switching from keeping her hand on his forearm to drawing careful shapes across his skin; each slight movement of her fingers caused desire to swarm through Edward's mind, until his hormones were practically yelling at him to make his mate his in every way. However, Edward fought against it quite easily, knowing that he would need to build up some more self control until he could even comprehend taking his fragile mate in the rather rough way he imagined.
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Jacob Black had heard about the strange story of the Lion and the Lamb first hand from Bella's father, Charlie, who talked to Billy about it. The two had been in an argument before hand, but Charlie's need to express his thoughts and feelings with his best friend won out over the irritation and anger. It started with a slightly panicked phone call, and ended with Billy, him, and Jacob feasting on pizza in front of the television, which was – of course – turned onto the sports channel.
"I'm happy for her, Billy, really I am. It's just, he's is so different than her, I can't help but worry. What if he hurts her on accident? What if he goes farther than she wants him too and she can't do anything to stop it? She's so innocent, Billy; and young. He's been around for how many years? How long has he been waiting for a mate? If he's been waiting as long as I have, there is no doubt in my mind that he just wants to take what is finally his, and I know Bells wouldn't want it to happen that way." Charlie mumbled out in his typical fashion, not moving his glance from the television, though his hands were gesturing wildly, displaying his confusion and worry.
Jacob wisely chose to stay quiet during the conversation, leaving the adults to figure it out.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Charlie. I know when I first met Sarah, I could never even think about hurting her. I still can't. It's still difficult to be away from her, but we both have our own lives. If they are true mates, which – by the way you're describing the looks in their eyes – they are, then he would do anything to keep Bella safe, even if it means harming his own family. And, I've met lions before, Charlie; lions are very protective of their families, but even more so of their mates." He leaned over and patted his friend's shoulder. "She'll be fine, Charlie." He repeated.
Charlie nodded, signalling that he didn't want to continue the conversation any longer. He reached forward and grabbed another slice of pizza off the coffee table, finishing it in record time.
Jacob Black tried to forget the conversation, but lucky for him, wolves have great memories.
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Phil Dwyer had never seen his mate so worked up. Renee couldn't decide between letting her daughter handle everything on her known, or packing and rushing directly to Forks to help explain to her all of the strange, new feelings she was no doubt experiencing as a newly-mated person.
Phil sighed, allowing his mate to continue thinking on it. He would stop her if she tried to run after he daughter. Bella was old enough now to be able to handle things on her own.
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All day at school, Jessica Stanley had watched in exasperation as 'her' Edward paraded around pretending that Bella Swan was his mate. The thought was almost laughable. There was no way that tiny, insignificant little girl could possibly be Edward the Lion's mate. It was just preposterous.
She hadn't exactly decided on a plan of action yet, but she knew it would involve something illegal. Bella Swan could not continue living for much longer if she thought that Edward Cullen was her mate.
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Lauren Mallory was much the same as he friend, Jessica. She couldn't believe that the new girl had the audacity to steal someone who rightfully belonged to her. Though, she could see in Jessica's eyes that she was deluded, as well – thinking that Edward would belong to anyone but Lauren was silly, and damaging to their health.
In the world of Lauren Mallory, everything went her way. She wanted Edward, and she always got what she wanted.
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The time at home was spent just talking. They had answered many questions already, and now Bella was going back and explaining more about her childhood for Carlisle and Esme's benefit; though, Edward also took pleasure from the exercise, as well.
"Monkeys weren't always my favourite animal; when I was younger, I wanted to be a giraffe, because I was always smaller than everybody else. I saw a program about giraffes on the TV one day, and I thought to myself I wonder what it would feel like to be so tall. Giraffes were pretty, tall, and smart; it seemed like the perfect package to me at the time. Nobody would be able to tease me for my height any longer; I would finally fit in, maybe make some friends. Back in Phoenix, there were around seven giraffes I could have hung out with; there wasn't a single lamb. Apparently, lambs are hard to find; it takes quite a delicate person to be a lamb." Bella frowned, before speaking again. "I never really felt like I fit in, back in Phoenix; it's hard to fit in when you're just so different from everybody else. All the other kids liked wrestling, and sports, and arguments; I don't like any of those things. They were so rough; it was hard for me to imagine what it would be like for me to be around them. So, I never tried. My mother turned into my best friend as I was growing up, no longer having the attributes of a mother. Having her, and Phil, I didn't need anybody else." She finished, turning to Edward to whisper in his ear, "Until now."
He smiled at her, glad that she was being so verbose. He loved that she was putting in an effort to get along with his family, especially since she had just explained how hard it was for her to fit in.
She suddenly laughed, having thought of something else. "My mother used to joke that I had Anthropophobia, because I never wanted to leave the house, to afraid of what might happen that day. The truth is I was just afraid that someone would be to rough around me, and I would end up getting hurt. Many people had the habit of starting fights in the school hallways, and running into people when they weren't watching. I began walking the long way to all my classes, which sometimes caused me to be late. I was afraid of being harmed by people, but I've never been afraid of people." While she had begun talking while laughing, she ended her little information spiel with a resigned sigh.
"I think I rather like the idea of you being afraid of being harmed; though, you don't need to be afraid any longer. Nobody will ever hurt you as long as I am alive, and I plan to live for a very long time." Edward said into her ear, his breath tickling her neck. He enjoyed the reaction he got, watching amazed as she shivered at his proximity. Of course, he also enjoyed taking care of her, and though he knew that her shiver was just a reaction to his presence, he reached behind him and wrapped her up in a warm blanket, feeling he cuddle into it and watching her smile and blush. She was adorable.
Esme and Carlisle smiled at each other, watching the newest Cullen couple behave around each other, and stood up. "We'll leave you two alone, now; I better start working on dinner or else Emmett will be pretty upset with me." Esme said, rolling her eyes when speaking of her son. Edward nodded noncommittally in his parents' direction, not taking his eyes off of the perfection he held in his embrace. Bella blushed, but kept her eyes on his, as well.
Chocolate and emerald.
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There you have it, another chapter up. Hope you enjoy it!
On the Monday before Eclipse came out, I was browsing through television channels and eventually stopped to watch Ellen. She was interviewing Robert Pattinson, and asked him if he had ever danced before in his life. I learned something that day: Robert had been a ballet dancer until he was ten years old, the very year that he realized that he was, in fact, a boy.
Interesting, isn't it?
I watched Eclipse yesterday and I LOVED it. I find that it is the best movie they've made so far. With the way things are going – each movie being better than the last – I have high hopes for Breaking Dawn!
Review, please!