Chapter 12: Love

love [luhv] - a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

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The Lion and the Lamb had their first experience of separation on Wednesday morning.

Alice woke up, and immediately ran up the stairs to her brother's and her new sister's bedroom, knocking excessively until a grumpy Edward opened the door, growling slightly at the interruption of their sleep. Bella was behind him in the room, yawning adorably, and scrunching up her face with exhaustion; it seemed that these two may have stayed up a little later than necessary.

"Sorry, Edward, but I'm stealing your mate for awhile; I want to dress her for school today!" She said quickly, and since Edward was still slow from sleep, managed to jump in the room, grab Bella and drag her out almost before it registered. Edward growled for real this time, trying to get back his mate, but by then Alice already had her locked up in her room.

Edward had never been truly angry at any of his siblings, and especially not Alice – she was his favourite sibling, the one he got along with most, the one he found the most in common with. But at this moment, he was ready to rip her apart; he didn't appreciate having his mate stolen from him like that. If he had known what she had in mind, he would have protected Bella better.

Now, he was about ready to knock down her door to ensure that his little lamb was safe; he was already beginning to get anxious with not being able to see her. There hadn't been a moment when she'd been out of his sight since he had first caught a glimpse of her; even when they went to the bathroom, he had just turned around and promised not to look at her, not willing to leave the room. She hadn't minded.

"Mom will be really upset if you break my door, Edward!" Alice shouted. "Bella will be back in your arms within half an hour, tops! Why don't you go get dressed, and prepare her breakfast for her while you're waiting?" Edward hissed at her voice, but realized she was right; their mother would be very angry with him if he damaged her house. But he didn't understand how Alice could think that half an hour without Bella wouldn't be that bad; it had only been three minutes, so far, and he was already aching.

Bella was feeling the same ache, and started to sniffle slightly. She didn't want to seem weak in front of Alice, but it was as if there was a vice clenching around her heart, getting tighter and tighter the longer she was away from Edward. Alice didn't seem to notice, until Bella let out a slight whimper.

Edward had walked to his room and got dressed as fast as he could, though the vice was on his heart, as well. The separation seemed to be harder on them than it was on other couples, being that they were opposites. His mind was going over ways that his mate could get hurt in his sister's room: she could trip and fall down, she could get burned with a curling or straightening iron, for one minute Alice could forget how fragile she was and hurt her... he found himself glaring towards the wall at the last one; if Alice hurt her in anyway, sister or not, she would pay for it. Damn the consequences.

"I'm sorry, Bella; but, you two need to get used to being separated. You can't be with each other every second of the day, it's just not natural." She whispered, trying to sooth the much younger girl. She could remember how much it had hurt to be away from Jasper those first few weeks, but she had never outright cried. She brushed it aside, figuring it was just because of the obvious emotional differences between lambs and foxes. "Now, I only have twenty-five minutes left, and I'm going to get started to see if I can lower that time." Alice smiled, while Bella grimaced. She was too afraid to hurt Alice's feelings to try to find her way back to Edward.

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By the time Bella came down, Edward was waiting impatiently downstairs for her with her breakfast – he had already eaten his – and was incessantly tapping his knuckles on the table. He would find some kind of revenge against his sister for this torture.

As soon as Bella's feet touched the floor at the bottom of the stairs, she was running quietly towards the kitchen, knowing he would be in there. Edward had been so unfocused, only thinking of her absence, that he didn't notice the pull of her in the room until the relief ran through him as she threw herself onto his lap. His arms automatically curled around her, pulling her into him tightly. It was hard for him to describe the rushing sensation of her touch after being without it for so long. The amazing feeling from her presence was almost worth the separation, though he would rather live without it if it meant that he could keep her by his side from there on out.

Bella was mewling being in his arms again; the grip on her heart had melted away as soon as she was in his embrace again. She knew that Alice was trying to help them in her own way, but she didn't want that again. She never wanted to leave his side, and would gladly put up with anything as long as his hand was holding hers.

"I missed you," she whimpered into his chest. His heart warmed at her confession, making him smile though he was still obviously distressed about the situation.

"I missed you, too," He breathed into her ear, immediately replacing the air with her scent; if it were possible, being without her had somehow made her smell even better than before. The intoxicating mix of strawberries, lavender, and freesia had impossibly become even more potent, not that he minded. "I love you so much, Bella." He whispered, pained with the reminder of how he felt when she wasn't in his arms.

It was the first time he had told her how he felt, though they both knew the other's feelings for them. Love is an automatic thing with mating. Even though she already knew, having him say it to her caused her heart beat to speed up, and of course she blushed, as well.

"I love you, Edward," she whispered back to him, though the sound was slightly muffled as she still had her face buried in his chest. He smiled brightly, choosing to put aside the thoughts of revenge against his sister for hurting both his mate and himself. He, also, didn't miss that it was the first time she had spoken the words out loud, though he had been able to feel her love for him in everything she did.

"Good." He smirked, pulling her away from him a little bit so that she was facing the dining room table, but still sitting in his lap. "Now, eat," he commanded. "We've got to head to school soon."

She obeyed him, reaching for the spoon and eating the yogurt he had dished out for her earlier. He had figured that she would like strawberry the best, and it seemed he was right. Her eyes were lit up as she was eating, and she ate it quicker than she normally ate.

While she was eating, he took the chance to take a look at what his sister had put his mate in. There was a slight dusting of makeup around her eyes, her ringlet curled had been straightened in parts so that it was slightly wavy, and she was wearing a midnight blue top that hugged her curves just right. It made him smile to see her like that, but it also made him a little angry. Sure, Bella was beautiful – she always was – but this wasn't her. His Bella didn`t need makeup or fancy clothing; his Bella was fine just the way she is. Looks like the talk with his sister would be coming sooner than he thought. At least, he noticed as her swinging legs brushed against his, Alice had put her in some flat shoes – boots, actually; so her feet would be very warm all day. He wouldn't have to worry about her getting cold; he didn't want her to get sick.

"Okay, I'm finished." She announced as she placed the spoon back in the empty bowl. Edward was glad to realize that this was the first meal he had ever seen her finish; maybe he would have to get her to eat yogurt more often. He enjoyed the way she turned to him, like a child asking for approval. He smiled back at her, and lifted her into his arms better, standing up. "Edward! Put me down!" She giggled, trying to squirm out of his hold.

"No. You've been out of my arms for far too long this morning, already." He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent. "I'm going to hold you for as long as I can."

"So, until we reach the car?" She smiled, teasing him. She started laughing again as he scowled at the reminder that he couldn't have her in his lap while he was driving.

"Yes, until we reach the car." He sighed, disappointed. Carrying her was going to become one of his new favourite hobbies.

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They didn't speak again until they were in the car, with Edward practically shaking with the effort it took for him not to completely let go of the steering wheel and wrap her up into his embrace, where she belonged. He never thought he would ever be angry with his car, but at that moment he was mentally cursing the idea of having so much space between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat. Couldn't the gear shift fit near the steering wheel?

Bella cleared her throat gently, before speaking timidly. "Edward?"

He glanced away from the road for a second, and almost regretted it when his need to hold her ran through him even more at the sight of her, he quickly returned his eyes to the road, and cleared his throat, as well. "Yes?"

"Why did... Alice come and get me this morning?" She hadn't quite understood why the older girl had felt the need to wake them up and separate them for half-an-hour of torture – at least, it was torture to Bella.

Edward smiled, biting back a laugh. "Alice always wants to improve everybody's fashion sense; to her, shopping and being fashionable are the best things in the world, second only to Jasper. Family is a close third, but even we can't hold a candle to spending money and making everybody look better." He didn't hold the laugh back this time, thinking of all the crazy antics his sister had gotten into in the past. "Clothes and style are like a way of life for her; plus, she likes being in control of what people are wearing. She has dressed up each one of us probably a thousand times, and now that you're here, she has a new person to play with."

Bella shuddered, thinking about the idea of being Alice's life-sized Barbie doll. "I really like your sister, I do; she is very sweet. But, I really don't like shopping, and really don't care about what I'm wearing all the much." She curled into a ball on the seat. "She kind of scares me." She whispered, embarrassed at her confession.

"She scares all of us at some point or another, love. She can be quite frightening when trying to get what she wants." He looked at her, watching as the pink colour of her blush spread over her pale skin like a painter's brush. Her teeth were worrying her bottom lip, and he reached over with one hand to release it, not wanting her to bite to hard and cause herself to bleed. Plus, the action was causing some... ungentle man-like reactions in his body. We need to go to school, he reminded himself, trying to shake his mind free of all the sinful thoughts. It wouldn't help him with his attempt to take their relationship slowly. His body may feel the need to mate with her relentlessly, but her body was tiny and fragile, and couldn't handle that.

"I can believe that," She snorted adorably. "Just from the thirty minutes I spent with her earlier I could tell that she doesn't appreciate it when somebody prevents her from receiving her every want and need. I only really stayed with her because I was afraid of hurting her feelings, and I was also afraid of her hurting me."

She had meant it as a joke, but Edward tensed up, releasing a sound that was somewhere between a growl and hiss. "I would never let anybody hurt you," he promised, angered that she even thought he would let anyone get away with that.

Realizing how what she had said could have been taken, she smiled at him and reached her arm over to pat his arm, trying to get him to relax. "I know you wouldn't let anybody hurt me, Edward. I trust you with my life." She told him, her own body relaxing as his muscles lost the tension.

Having reached the school, he parked the Volvo and quickly made his way over to her door. He lifted her out of her seat, listening to her laugh ring like the finest bells as his hands found a ticklish spot near her rib cage. He shifted his hold, and her giggles turned to breathless pants. He kissed her nose before placing her on the ground, holding her hand and leading her towards their first class.

He didn't have to say anything; his actions had told her how much he appreciated her trust.

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Jessica Stanley was furious.

She had witnessed the entire exchange in the parking lot, and watching Edward so happy with Bella had caused a hint of doubt. What if they were truly mates?

As soon as the thought had drifted through her mind, she had cast it away like the trash it was. Of course Edward wanted her; he was just a really good actor. He needed to pretend like Bella was his entire world in order for Jessica to become truly jealous and claim him as her mate. And when Jessica approached him, they would just walk away in each other's arms with little Bella Swan crying over the injustice.

But, of course, Jessica would go back and completely finish the job; she would hide her tracks so well that not even Chief Swan would be able to know just who it was that had killed his only child.

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There, another chapter. My inspiration that I gained by watching Eclipse has been waning, but I think I'll start rereading the series just so I can get it back. It felt good to be able to put out three chapters within a week; it's like a new record for me!

Hope you enjoy this quote:

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... - Louis Hector Berlioz

Don't forget to leave me a word or two to tell me what you thing about the chapter!