One Day

One day maybe we will dance again
Under fiery skies
One day maybe you will love again
Love that never dies…

I watched over Bella as she slept soundly for a few hours. She awoke feeling invigorated and thrilled, if not surprised to find me still by her side.

"You're really here? And you're staying?"

"Until you send me away." I smirked, thinking of the number of times she had done just that the previous night, yet I remained here with her. "Bella, I will never walk away from you when you need me. For as long as you want me to be with you, I'm yours. I know you have no reason to believe in that… or me. But it's the truth. Will you ever trust in me again? Or have I destroyed that?"

"Honestly? Two days ago, I felt like there was no chance in hell I'd ever put myself through loving you again. Not when I know I'll only lose you all over. Today… I dunno… it's like we were never apart. I feel good with you, Edward. Safe. And yet, inside I know that there's a huge possibility that this is temporary and I'll get burned again. Right now, I don't care. I just want you with me."

I grinned at her shyly. My Bella. Always. "Hungry?"

"Stop trying to feed me!" she giggled as she swatted at my leg. "Did you sleep?"

"No." No lying to her this time. "Feel up to going out for a little while?"

"Do you?" Her look turned concerned. "You didn't sleep."

"I don't need to. Let's go for a walk!" I spewed the truth and got her off topic all at once as she told me about all the places she was going to show me. She was definitely up for a walk.

We alternated strolling and dashing, depending on the proximity of the landmarks she was looking out for. She showed me Riley's university, the park they would get ice cream in and how he would always bring stale bread to feed the pigeons. I finally convinced her to have some dinner when we passed by the diner he would take her to weekly. She went all out and had a cheeseburger.

I, of course, had nothing to eat. But I didn't have to make excuses at this point. I had already told her that truth and she was completely at ease with me refraining from food altogether while she dug in.

"Mmm, there's this great bakery down the street. They make the most awesome chocolate croissants."

"We'll go get you some," I grinned, utterly thrilled just to be in her presence. I would go anywhere, do anything she wanted.

"Are you still feeling okay? 'Cause there's a music shop a few blocks over, but if you're tired, we can go tomorrow."

Grinning as I paid the bill for her burger, I took her hand. "Lead the way!"

As much as I was enjoying the city tour, I loved seeing her history and the way her face lit up or clouded over as she related various stories associated with her memorable places. Currently, she was in a happy place, pleased to show me "a real music shop!" Personally, I preferred the shops that had a wide selection of different instruments, whereas this was focused on guitars and drums, but I got caught up in her love for it during the hour we spent trying out whatever we wanted to. If you could think of a make, model or colour of a guitar, it was here. When we finally left, she froze in place outside the front window. I stopped to pin-point her focus; a Gibson Deluxe Songwriter. Nice looking guitar.

"Wait! I have to show you…" she dug in her bag and came out with a small album containing photos. Flipping through, she shoved the album at me with the page opened to Riley playing this same guitar. "We were meant to be here Edward. Riley is telling me we need this time here."

Riley was telling me something entirely different. I took her hand and pulled her back inside, coming out a half hour later with Bella's guitar. She gawked at the price and instantly told me to forget it, but I could not put a price on Bella's happiness. This made her happy.

As I watched her strumming her gift in our hotel room, I was struck by how much she'd matured since we met. She didn't appear to be the emo rebel I'd first met. She had a softer edge to her now – happiness? And at the same time, she was stronger; much more capable of handling her grief. I dreaded handing her more to deal with. Should I let her have whatever time we could, still living the lie? Would she be happier in the end?

"Whatcha thinking about Iceman?" she asked softly as I lost myself in thought.

"You," I replied with a loving smile. "I missed you terribly, but I didn't even realize how much until I saw you again. It's amplified even more watching you this way."

She chewed on her lip as she gazed at me. Putting the guitar to the side, she laid her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arm around my waist. "I didn't even consider the possibility that it was difficult for you too. I'm sorry. My ranting was unfair to you."

"It was warranted."

"It really was!" Bella giggled as she snuggled in even closer. "Don't ever do that to us again. Promise?"

"I promise to never make the decision for us again. If you decide you don't want me, I'll leave you to your life, but Bella… if you could find it in your heart to love me as you did… I promise to love you forever."

She placed a soft kiss on my cheek, spreading a fire straight through my body. It was better than I'd remembered as well. As the heat flooded me, a shiver ran through Bella.

"Okay, enough of this. Temperature shock…we'll need to acclimatize ourselves again," I grinned at her as I pulled her off of me and stood. "Come on, I'll tuck you into your nice warm bed."

I placed my lips against her forehead as I wrapped the blankets around her.

"Is that all I get?" she grumbled as I stood to leave.

"For now, that's all I trust myself with." I gave her a warm smile. "I'll be on the couch. Do you want me to leave the door open?"

"I want you here. I won't sleep – I'll be watching you all night if you're on the couch."

I chuckled to myself. Roll reversal. It was normally me watching her all night. "I'll stay until you fall asleep, how about that?"

"The bed is huge, Edward. I'll behave. Promise." Her eyes pleaded with me to stay with her. Her thoughts showed she needed to keep this feeling real. She still felt as though it was a dream or something temporary.

"Bella… I need you to feel safe. I'll sit here with you, like before. But lying with you? Too risky. So, lullaby or bedtime story?" I asked for the second time.

She giggled and rolled onto her side as I took my seat on the chair beside her. "Story this time. It will keep you here longer."

"Story it is," I grinned, running through an opening in my mind. "Once upon a time…"

"Oh please…" She rolled her eyes.

"Shh! Do you want my story or not?"

"I do!"

"Then shush and let me tell it my own way. Comfy? This could be a while. I'm ad-libbing."

"Ready when you are Iceman."

"Okay then. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in…Chicago."

She smiled and curled into a ball, her eyes never leaving mine.

"The boy lived with his parents in a grand house with a beautiful garden. His father worked for the Embassy and was well-known and well-liked. He and the boy's mother would throw lavish parties that everyone adored attending. His mother, a homemaker, was also a talented musician. She'd entertain their guests by playing piano or cello. After she taught her son to play piano, they would perform together for the guests.

Now, the 3 didn't spend all their time on planning and throwing parties. They shared an interest in the arts, attending stage productions, operas and the likes as well as frequenting museums and art galleries."

"Fancy family," Bella grinned, thinking of how different the family in my story was from her own family.

"It wasn't all about culture. They truly enjoyed each other's company. They would take nightly strolls along the pier, no matter the weather. And sometimes they'd take a boat out onto the lake for a day cruise, packing a lunch and fishing gear. They'd talk and laugh as they spent the days in the sun, cooling off with a swim before laying out in the sun to dry off.

But these were days of leisure. On working days, they were like any other family; working, attending school. The boy's mother would volunteer at the hospital in her free time, sometimes leaving father and son to their own means in the evenings. On days like these, the father shared his love of literature with the boy – reading aloud from classics and poetry books. Sometimes they would create their own stories and relate them to the mother when she came home."

"Awww!" Bella smiled at the picture of the happy family I'd portrayed.

"Yes, they were quite a happy bunch. Perfect family with perfect lives… kinda like you see my family wouldn't you say?" I winked at her as I chuckled.

"Shut up!" she giggled. She always thought the Cullens were perfect.

"Had enough?"

"Not even close! You're a good story-teller. I'm interested, go on…"

"Well, as I said, the boy's mother put time in at the hospital. Volunteers were much appreciated in those days and treated with respect and kindness. She befriended a young doctor on staff; a single man who would often come visit their home and always remembered the boy on holidays. He had the kindest soul any of them had ever known, but he was lonely. He worked selflessly, day and night, tending to his patients; never turning one away. People thought it strange for him to reject more glamorous positions within the hospital, as he was frequently offered given his skill, but nurturing was his true speciality.

When the boy's father fell ill suddenly, the young physician made him his top priority. More than a sense of duty, he'd come to love this family who had accepted him into their lives happily. They adored and respected him, as well."

"Does she end up marrying him? The boy gets a good step-dad instead of an ass like I got?"

"Are you taking over the story?" I teased.

She drew her fingers across her lips, sealing them. I smiled and continued.

"He would break from his rounds to sit by the deathly ill man's side, then rush to the boy's home with daily reports. The family could not visit the man as he was quarantined. It was on one of these visits that the doctor noticed the boy's mother displaying symptoms of the illness as well. If both parents were ill, he suspected the boy to be as well…"

Bella gasped. "Edward! Oh this is a crappy story! It's getting too sad!"

"Well perfect lives aren't always so perfect Bella. Shall I finish my story or have you heard enough?" If she was reacting to a story this way, how would she handle it when she found out it wasn't fiction at all – I was sharing my own life story.

"Go on…sorry…"

"He took mother and son back to the hospital with him immediately. The mother was definitely ill and her condition worsened at a drastic rate. He had hope that he'd gotten to the boy early enough to save him from the same fate as his parents but all hope was gone when the boy spiked a severe fever on the very day his father lost his battle." I paused my story, watching a tear roll down Bella's cheek. I reached to brush it away.

"Finish Edward…go on. I want to know what happens to the rest of them."

"Well, the doctor faced ridicule when he sat hour by hour at mother and son's bedsides. They thought him foolish to be wasting his time this way when there were others who were also so very ill. He did all he could for them, but was at the mother's side when she uttered her final words: 'Save him. Save my son as I know only you can.'

Beside himself, overcome with grief and confusion, he left the boy for the first time and went home. There was much he needed to consider. It was not a simple decision. He made the necessary preparations in case he would comply with his dear friend's last request. He felt she had known all along that he was different and that because of his difference, he was truly the only one who could steal death from her only child. He believed she was giving her permission to do whatever was necessary. He believed she trusted him with the most precious part of her life and he could not let her down. Returning to the hospital, he felt certain he had made the right choice.

In the dead of night, alone in the quarantined room with the boy, he pronounced him dead…"

"Oh!" Bella cried out, her hand flying to her mouth as the tears flowed.

"Shh… it was the only way he knew to get the boy out of the hospital; to do what he had to do. The staff knew of his close relationship with this family, so now having lost the boy as well, they respected his wishes to remove his body himself. Rather than the morgue, the destination was the doctor's home. There were so many deaths, no one would miss this one body." I paused again. "You okay?" I asked softly.

"Did he save him? At home?"

"At home, he unwrapped the boy with great care, tenderly wiping the sweat from his feverish body. During his visit home earlier, he'd prepared everything necessary for the days to come but before beginning the process, he prayed to God. Praying for this to end the boy's suffering and praying that he wouldn't suffer from the cure…praying that this is was he was meant to do. He prayed for an alternative; another way to let the boy live on, as his mother wished. When he was ready, convinced there was no other way… he saved him."

"And then they lived happily ever after?"

I smiled sadly. "That's one way to put it."

She was staring at me intently, her mind working it out. "There's more isn't there," she stated. "That's not the end of it."

"There's more," I replied carefully with a nod. "But that's enough for tonight."

"I want to know how it turns out for him…Edward, this story is so sad. Your mind comes up with such dark things."

"You shouldn't be surprised! You've read my journals." I attempted to make light of it; she had so much on her mind, she couldn't think clearly. I needed her to really think this through and come up with her own deductions. I couldn't tell her, straight out, but I couldn't prevent her from figuring out my truth. For now it was merely a story.

Her hand moved up to cup my cheek. "The boy in your story makes me think of you. That makes it sadder for me."

"What makes you think of me?" I prodded gently. Perhaps her thought process was clearer than I thought.

"Hmm, let's see… from Chicago…" she began with a coy grin. "Cultured, loves music and art and his family. He lost both parents. None of this is remotely like your own life right?" she teased me lightly. She was used to me wanting her to not dig into my secrets. "And the illness… that especially reminds me of you. The doctor is like Carlisle."

"What if it's just a story?"

"Then it's a really sad story."

"And if it's my story?" I asked, barely above a whisper.

She looked at me tenderly, taking a deep breath. "I want to hear the rest, either way."

I leaned in with a smile and kissed her lips ever so softly. "And I will tell the rest. Later. Get some sleep Bella. You need your rest."

She closed her eyes, but didn't release the hold she had on me. "Edward, I want to ask you something."

"I can't sleep with you Bella. For now, this is the best we can do."

Her eyes snapped open. "Where did that come from?"

"That isn't what you were thinking about?"

"Uh, yeah, but…" She shook her head with a chuckle. "Okay then, another question. You asked if I could trust you again – I'm asking you, should I? I had blind faith in you from the day we met…"

"I know," I whispered. "That's part of what made me fall in love with you."

"See, the thing is, I am starting to trust you again. I want to trust you. But…"

"But, what? Bella, please say what's on your mind."

"I don't want to be stupid."

"You're not stupid. You're so very bright and intuitive. You don't need me to tell you what you can and cannot believe in. You've been doing that on your own since the beginning."

"And I got burned." A slow, single tear ran from her eye.

"That was my fault, not yours. That was a result of mistakes I made, not you."

"I trusted you back then, that you wouldn't hurt me. But you did, by leaving. I was wrong to trust you."

I nodded lightly. If she was having doubts in any way, I wouldn't be able to let her discover my secret life. "I can promise you that I will be whatever I can for you, for as long as you want, but I can't tell you to trust me Bella. That's something you have to decide for yourself."

She bit down on her lip. "What if I swear to not pressure you into a physical relationship? What if I promised to be what you need me to be this time? I think I put too much pressure on you. I think you tried too hard to be something you're not and I only want you to be yourself."

I held both of her hands in mine, my lips against her soft fingers. "I love you," I whispered, incapable of saying more around the lump in my throat.

"I've always loved you Iceman. And I think I should trust you. My head tells me to trust you."

"What does your heart tell you?" I knew her mind, it was her heart that was a mystery.

"My heart always has. Hopelessly." Her smile broadened, even as new tears flowed and I held her, making promise after promise that I swore to myself I would never break.

My life was about to change, once again. And once more, it would be based on another's decision. But I did trust this human. I trusted she would make the right decisions based on herself, and therefore the right decisions for me. Could we find a way to meld our two worlds into one without the need for secrecy and deception? I'd put my faith in my little human to decide that for us as well.

Oh, you're too afraid to touch
Too afraid you'll like it too much
The roads, the times, breaking up your mind
Can't you hear this beauty in life?...

(The Verve)

A/N ~ Yes, Edward is finally 100% behind letting this relationship develop. No more running for this boy! Yippee! :) Keep reading. XX ~ SR