Chapter 5

Epov

Life went on in the Cullen mansion.
I, my brothers and sisters went to school; trying to look like we were learning something new. Carlisle went to work at the hospital and Esme stayed at home, making new decoration projects.
Bella didn't say a word after our meeting in the family room. For the first two week she mostly stayed inside the safe walls of Alice's bedroom. Occasionally she came out but only for an hour or so. Usually she would sit with Alice when she made her homework or with Esme.

She really looked interested in their work. Almost every evening she sat at the kitchen table with Alice. Especially when it was English homework. Papers about all the classic story's, from Jane Austen to William Shakespeare. There was a new fire burning in her eyes when she listened to the stories Alice told her. It was fascinating her. It was a joy to see.

She also liked to sketch. With Esme, she learned a lot about colors schemes, shadows and making things come to life on paper. And she was pretty good at drawing. Her pictures were beautiful, mostly drawings of nature. She would sit hours in the garden, drawing all the different flowers and trees that were present in the backyard.

The men stayed as far from her as possible. And she did her absolute best to stay away from us. When she caught a glimpse of you, she hurried back to her room. But even so, I sometimes couldn't help myself. I would sneak into the room and watch her from a distance. I just couldn't control this urge. She was such a beauty and a lovely girl. I couldn't forget the words Carlisle had said to me the other day.

"Maybe you are the key."

I couldn't be the key. I had never met this girl, I didn't knew her. Bella was a complete strange to me.
Yet, I couldn't get her out of my head. Her face, her hair, her smile. There was a constant picture of her in my head. I never experienced this before. I thought about this for days. What could this be? This feeling inside of me. I really wanted to speak with someone about it. But I was to chicken to try. Was this what I had searched for? Was this love? No, it couldn't be. I only met Bella. She never spoke a word to me. This couldn't be love.
Yet, I had the impression that my brothers and sisters had another opinion. Over the weeks, they gave me the weirdest comments.

"Oh, Edward. Isn't she lovely? You two would make the perfect couple." Alice said one day.

"When are you going to have the balls to talk to her? She will not eat you. Come on, you need some action. Go for it, bro!"

Emmett really should learn the word 'subtlety'.
"Are you really that blind?" Rosalie said, clearly mocking me.

Jasper regularly gave me a weird look. But then he had see me suffer enough and one day he just gave me my answer.
"You are so confused, Edward. Don't make it so hard. Just listen to your heart. You already know the answer to your question."

With his powers he could sense all our emotions, our feelings. It wasn't easy for him sometimes. But he gave me a reply. He showed me the path. I trusted him, trusted his gift.

So after a few weeks, I admitted to myself that I had fallen in love with Bella. Not more hiding from my feelings. Instead, I embraced them.
But I didn't know if she felt the same way about me. Probably not. She was afraid of me. When she noticed that I was in the room, she quickly disappeared.

I wished that I could talk to her, making her feel comfortable. I wanted to show her that she didn't had to be afraid and that she could trust me. But I had to be patient. Bella was starting to get comfortable. Maybe, she will learn to trust me, in time.
…

It was the beginning of December. The green trees of our city were now covered with a white snow blanket. All the kids of Forks were delighted that father winter had arrived. As for me, the snow didn't gave me the same joy like every other year.

At home, nothings had changed. Bella lived now almost 3 month with us but she still didn't talk. But on the other hand she became more comfortable with the family and didn't always run away when she saw one of the guys. She helped Esme with cleaning the house, making sketches and picking colors for the new room that Esme was creating.

Carlisle had tried to make a conversation with Bella several times. But without success. He thought that she's been through some sort of trauma and because of that, she wouldn't speak. Every now and then she would go up to Alice's her room and cry. Memories that are coming back. That was Carlisle's explanation. I just wished that I could do something for her. Sometimes I just wanted to go to her and take her in my arms. But I knew that would be a terrible mistake.

I was going to my room. School had been yet again a boring experience.
And Mr. Banner had gave us a ridicules homework about the human cells. I sometimes couldn't hold back my laughter.
This man was really enthusiastic about his work. He truly wanted to teach important things to the students. But more than half of the students didn't listen and he couldn't learn me anything new. I had two degrees in medicine. So I don't expect anything new coming from him.

I was walking to my room when I noticed that my door stood open. I never left my door open. I listened carefully and I could hear pages being turned. Someone was reading my books. I walked to the door and glanced around the corner. I couldn't believe it.

There, standing next to my bookshelf, stood my angel. She was looking through the different titles and authors. She was very concentrated and I noticed that she was smiling. Her whole face was glowing. She really liked books.

Bella hadn't noticed that I was watching her so I let her be. After a few minutes, she had found a book that she liked so she took it from my shelf. She flipped through the pages, fascinated by the writing texts. I loved watching her, seeing her smile like that. It made me love her even more.
Suddenly she looked up from the book. She slowly turned her head and she froze the minute she saw me. She quickly walked to the bookshelf to return the book.

"No, please. You can keep it."
Still, she placed the book back on his rightful place. She kept her head low, not wanting to look at me.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.
Did she just spoke to me? I stared at her, not believing what just happened.

"Excuse me?"
She looked up. Her cheeks were a bit more red than usual. So, Bella could not only cry but also blush. That was interesting.

"I'm sorry for entering your room, Edward."

She said it quickly and then made her way out of my room. I was left behind, speechless. For the every first time, she spoke directly to me. I felt amazing. I couldn't believe it. She spoke to me! After two month, she finally spoke again. Not to Esme or Alice but to me! Her voice, it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard in my life. And her saying my name. It was just divine.

Maybe Carlisle was right. Maybe I was the solution to her recovery. I surely hope so.
I wasn't there yet but it was a good start.

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