Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

Chapter 9

AN: I doubt it needed such a gap in chapters such as this, but really, that last one was so long, and it felt nice to have a change, especially because we're going back to Bella's POV, for awhile.

Bella took her human moment and used the shower and brushing her teeth before getting dressed for the day as a means to reorient herself and to look closely at the feelings developing deep inside of her. She knew it deep down, but she was fighting it in a way that she normally probably wouldn't if it had been Jacob on the receiving end, or even a normal boy at school. The fact that it was Edward and not even that he was a vampire, was what was tripping her up the most. Even if he wasn't insanely rich, or a vampire, she'd feel inadequate with him.

Whatever he was before he'd changed, kept with him in this lifetime and she knew that she could never compare to what he'd have back then, if he had remained human or if he was of this time and had his pick of girls. He had his pick of girls, why would he even bother to look at her twice? Even after everything he said, she wondered if it was because she knew his secret and he was just ensuring he would be the first to know if she ever broke it? No, she trusted him, she'd told him as much only last night. So she could no longer think that way about him, whatever his reasons for spending time with her, wasn't because he was monitoring her likelihood of betraying his family.

Bella took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. Three things she was sure about, 1, that Edward was a vampire, 2, that he wanted to eat her like no other vampire wanted to, or would, and she had no idea how strong of a hold that had on him, in the end, neither did he, until he lost to it, and she knew he wouldn't, somehow, she just knew it. The third thing scared her the most, more than the previous two, 3, she was irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen. It was something that would never go away, or lessen, in fact she knew it would only strengthen with the more time spent with him.

She steeled herself to go face him again, she couldn't wait to see him, but with the new knowledge that she'd acknowledged, she wondered if her actions would be any different. She slid out, fully dressed for the day and he was still sitting in the rocking chair where she had last left him, unmoving, and it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. He turned his head when she walked in and both smiled simultaneously, only causing their grins to widen at the idea of being on the same wavelength.

Edward rose and greeted her halfway into her room. "I think its... Breakfast time."

Bella knew it was the perfect moment to get back at him for leaving her in the middle of the night when he said he'd stay and then for teasing her in the morning about her hair and lack of creativity in dreaming his presence during the night. Her eyes widened on her command and she slid her hands up to her throat, taking a step back with a gasp and Edward stiffened and looked utterly disgusted by the action, and Bella instantly felt bad, but she felt it best to try and diffuse the situation, and not try to apologize. Her face broke into a grin and she sang towards him. "Just kidding! And you said I couldn't act."

"That wasn't funny." He grouched, stalking forward and resting a hand on her throat, now bare of her own. "I thought for a moment you were very terrified of me, and it was completely out of place from the rest of your actions up till now."

Bella's face fell and she looked up at him, seeking for his forgiveness, it had been funnier in her head, but then again he was very serious at the oddest moments. "It was funny, and you know it."

"Funny's not a term I would associate with that expression, ever, it scared me more than anything else." His hand was still on her throat and he slid it so it was in her hair, they both tensed for a moment, this was new ground, even if he had touched her hair before, to drench his hand in it, was a very large step forward. "Shall I rephrase?" He asked instead of acknowledging the situation at hand. "Breakfast time for the human."

Her lips quirked up. "You know, I'm very capable of taking care of myself, these basic human needs are something I've been taking care of for a very long time now. You don't need to create hours of the day in which I need to be fed, etc." Her eyes were teasing him and he responded to it with a playful tug on a strand his hand was near.

"But I'd like to take care of you. Besides, if I don't watch it, then my siblings will whittle you away to nothing because they're so excited to have a new member and don't realize that you need substance other than the kind they like, and sleep and other human functions."

Bella hesitated on that statement, besides Alice and in effect, Dr. Cullen, she hadn't met any of his other family members, really, besides the moment of fear that shot through her during her encounter with Emmett, and it didn't really call forth their liking of her in return because of her actions.

Edward unfortunately took it a different way. "Don't worry, you don't have to interact with them, I'll keep them at bay, it can be just you and I, if you like." Bella opened her mouth to counter that, but she was taken back by how upset he seemed to keep her from his family. He talked over her before she could protest, that it wasn't why she was worried- "Come on, your father's already left for the day."

He pulled her down the steps and started talking about something else, and Bella was positioned into a chair as Edward started opening up pantries. Bella's eyes twinkled mischievously as she waited for him to realize he had no idea what to make her. Then she stood up and walked over next to him, keeping a breath's distance between them as she looked up into his face. "So? What's for breakfast?" She asked slyly.

"Uh... to be honest, I have no idea what humans eat in the morning." He looked crestfallen and Bella rested a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry, as I said, I have this down pat." She winked at him and then turned to retrieve a bowl and a box of cereal.

She set the rocking liquid-solid concoction on the table and grabbed a spoon and started in on the food. Edward sat across from her in her father's chair and watched, fascinated, as she put it in her mouth. He looked a little disgusted too, as he looked at the food itself, and Bella froze, with the spoon still in her mouth.

"What?" She asked around it and he looked away, realizing that she felt a little self-conscious with him watching the way he was. She took it out of her mouth set it on the table. "Seriously? This grosses you out? You see all the students eating everyday, and you can't stand the sight of food?"

"It's not like the way I eat, will gross you out?" Edward returned dryly.

"I wouldn't know, I've never seen you take down an animal, but then again, I have seen worse." Bella countered.

"All right, all right." He laughed. "You've won the point, I concede." Bella went back to finishing her meal and he cleared it away when she was done. He put it in the dishwasher and turned back to her. "Ready to go to school?" He asked, holding out a hand to help her stand. She took it and he pulled her up, their fronts almost touching each other.

"I guess." He laughed at her down-turn face, he didn't really want to go either, but she had to make an appearance. Otherwise people would start to wonder, and she didn't want him to be cast in a bad light, when really he's done nothing wrong. Bella reluctantly turned away from him to go to the front to get her coat, keys and shoes, when he halted her with a hand on her elbow.

"Wait, let me go get the Volvo."

"The truck's fine- won't your siblings be driving the Volvo anyways?" She laughed at the look on Edward's face, it twisted in dislike. "Oh come on, I'll drive." She took his hand and led him towards the front. She slipped her feet into the rain boots near the door and grabbed the keys off of the side table and reached to pull her coat down from the hook and came in contact with air. She laughed embarrassed, she had forgotten that her car was still in Jessica's car, and it would be sitting waiting for her, with Jessica at school today. "Actually- maybe you better just meet me there?"

Edward snorted and pulled her towards him with both hands on her shoulders. "As if I would leave you for that long." Bella sighed and turned to go outside in the cold, but he disappeared and reappeared a breath later, without her even knowing he was gone. The only indication was the coat held in his hands. "I figured you would need this." He helped her into it and snagged the keys from her. "I'll drive."

Bella winced. "It can't go over 55." She warned, without her car- it'd just be very annoying.

"Not to worry, I can bare with it, with the drive to school." He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her outside into the rain, closing and locking the door behind him. There wasn't much of a downfall so, she didn't try to duck away from it like she normally would. Edward opened up her door and went to the driver's side and on the way she heard a groan of metal and she tried to look but he was opening the door to the driver's seat.

"What was that?" She asked, slightly amused, slightly concerned.

"Oh, I just fixed the dent." Edward smirked at her and she laughed in response.

"Thanks." Bella couldn't believe how thoughtful he was being, and doing things that didn't really matter, like the dent in her car, it was just a visual thing. Edward drove them to the school, keeping the car just under 55mph, though she knew it was frustrating him. Probably not as much as the silence sitting next to him, she bet. He was out of the car and at her door before she could finish taking the seatbelt off and opened it for her. "You know, people will wonder how you did that."

"Nobody's in the parking lot."

"Really?" She looked around, and sure enough, the only people in the lot were walking away from it and not paying attention to them. "Are we late?" She jumped down from the truck and turned towards the classroom she was supposed to be in.

"No..." Edward caught her and spun her around back towards him. "We're actually probably a few moments early." He held her still. "I have a question... would you mind if I switch my schedule to fit yours?"

She looked up at him, with her head tilted as she thought about what he put forth, and then she smiled. "No, that's fine. I'm betting you already had your schedule called it to fit mine?"

"Well, no, I wanted to see how you felt first, Alice wanted to get Carlisle to do it last night, regardless of your decision, thinking it wouldn't matter. I put her off, but now that you said it's ok, I'm sure she's dialing Carlisle as we speak to handle this matter. It should be in effect on Monday."

"Oh." Bella took a moment to digest that. "Ok."

"If you will permit me to walk you to your classes today?"

Bella's smile split across her face. "Of course!" She spun to go towards class and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to walk her in. "Is this ok?" She asked, surprised.

"If I'm going to hell, might as well go all the way." He teased her, and she glared at him for that comment. "Watch out for Jessica, by the way, she wants to know all about our time together last night." At her shocked look he shook his head. "No, just the restaurant, she doesn't know about later, does she?"

Bella wouldn't share that part anyways, Jessica had called last night and was surprised to catch Bella on the other end of the phone when she called the house. Jessica was to hand back her jacket this morning, and so Bella removed Edward's. Jessica no doubt thought that Bella and Edward didn't have a good night and was probably going to gloat once the info was out. Well, she'd have to disappoint her instead, and get back at her for trying to warn her dad that she was alone with a boy.

"Hey, what's this?" He said, holding it up for her to take back.

"I'm picking up mine, hold onto that one for me?" She turned and went to find Jessica. "I'll see you after my first class!" She called out to him as she walked away. Edward watched until she disappeared from sight and then followed her progress through the minds of those around her. He was a little worried about not keeping her in sight, every time he did so, it seemed that she befell some sort of harm. He smirked as he watched Bella diffuse Jessica easily, much to her frustration and got caught up in providing a session with her during class. He was still proud of Bella, and knew she'd prove to continue doing so in the future.

Bella felt strange, it was the first time in many hours that she was aware that she was away from Edward's presence. Though, she doubted he'd completely left her, it wasn't in his nature to do so without a good reason, knowing him, he was probably watching through the minds of everyone that passed her.

Edward walked her to all of her classes and sat near her in the ones that they had together. When Jessica and her talked, she carefully sculpted her words to fit both of their inquires and not say too much on the subject of her feelings, she'd rather tell Edward to his face and see his reactions by her eyes, even if he might be able to keep her from seeing all of them, she was sure she could manage to get some type of reaction from him.

So when Jessica asked her whether or not she liked Edward, she found it difficult to circumvent actually committing to it one way or the other.

And then when Edward waited for her by the classroom door, he wrapped an arm around her waist and looked down at her. "So? Do you like me?"

"You know I do, or I wouldn't be standing her now, would I?" She knew he'd admitted to as much to her only yesterday.

He chuckled and tugged her closer to his side, and she was happy and impressed with the lack of space between them, he had be getting better about her scent. She'd try to use this to her advantage if she could. Bella sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, she'd told Jessica they weren't anything, yet, and it was true, so far, they just had a kind of touchy-friendship, in so many different ways and that they both felt something for each other, and Bella knew she loved Edward, she just didn't know if Edward knew that was the emotion he felt in return, if he even felt that way about her.

They headed to lunch and the two of them took a table on their own, again. Bella chewed on her fingernail as she looked at Edward. She didn't know what to say to him, or how to broach it. "You know, there's a full plate of food in front of you, if you want something to chew on."

Bella laughed and looked down at her plate full of mismatched food, Edward had picked it out for her, and again he didn't know what to buy. "Can you eat? I mean, what does it do to you?"

It wasn't what she wanted to talk about, and he chuckled snagging a piece of pizza from her tray. "Watch this." He took a bite and then plopped it back onto his tray, he swallowed it with a little bit of a struggle. "We prefer not to eat your food, it just has to come back out the way it went in." He grimaced as he thought about it, no doubt having to had to pretend for someone, on some occasion.

"So why'd you demonstrate?" Bella teased, snagging the pizza and taking a bite from where he'd just done so. He visibly tensed and moved forward as if to stop her, but didn't as it was too late. She knew it was probably pushing his boundaries a little too much, but really, she didn't have long to live, so might as well get him to accept a few things, it was good for him to branch out a bit.

"I just wanted to put any disbelief behind." Edward leaned back and smiled at her.

They talked for awhile and eventually, by the nearing of the end of lunch, she felt confident to bring it up, but he looked over at his family, sitting together at another table and Alice was looking at him, communicating silently with him. "What's the matter?" She asked softly.

"I won't be going with you to class. I'll walk you, but... maybe it's best if you skip. Better for the health." He slid off his seat and held out his hand for her.

"Well... normally I wouldn't like to skip classes for just about anything. But if you say I should, well, why not? Got a doctor's note for me somewhere in there?" She teased.

"It'd just be for the one class, so I think I could scrounge something up."

"You better just sign us out for the rest of the day, I have no intention of going to gym if I don't have to."

"People will begin to wonder, Miss Isabella Swan." He teased her back. "It'll get back to your father, somehow, eventually and we'll have to tell him that we're seeing each other."

"Are we?" Bella questioned, sitting up straighter, and leaning towards him. "When was this decided?"

"When you allowed me in last night." He was only joking, and they both knew it, but it was starting to hit too close to true ground and perhaps he had angled it that way on purpose. To make her admit to more. She could play that game as well.

"What makes us this couple that you've dreamt us up?" She slipped her hand into his and rose, he followed suit and lead her out of the cafeteria as others did the same, but they took a detour away from it. "Why are we skipping anyways?" She asked, not letting go until they arrived at the Volvo. Sitting right next to the shiny silver car, was an equally shiny red car that looked even nicer than the Volvo. "Who-"

"Rosalie's." He cut her off, knowing exactly what she was wondering. He held open the door and waited until she was properly seated before closing the door and getting into the driver's side. "They're blood typing in biology."

"Oh." Bella sat and contemplated it for a moment. "Well good, because I have an adversary to blood."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked, a smile flitting around his lips.

"I have a reaction, I smell it, I get dizzy, and sometimes I faint, other times I'm sick." Bella shivered.

"It's not your blood that sends you that way?" Edward slanted her an amused look. "If you so much as smell it on someone else?" He waited for her positive response that he was right before he broke out into laughter.

He pulled to a stop in a parking lot near the trail head of several trails leading into the woods. This area should be safe, and it held his favorite location. Besides, he had several witnesses watching her leave with him out of the cafeteria and into the parking lot, even if they thought he was just joyriding or something worse with her, at least they'd think they were together, so she'd be safe with him in this occasion, just because of that.

He skirted around to her side and opened the door for her. "Very gentlemanly." She teased him and he wasn't sure if it was in approval or not.

"I have something I want to show you." He took her hands and placed one on his shoulder before tossing her gently onto his back. Her hands spread across his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. "Hang on tight."

She buried her face into his neck as he took off at full speed. She could still feel the wind whipping by and her hair flying behind her. They stopped just as she was braving a peak at their surroundings, she knew he was impossibly fast, but she was not prepared for how fast he was. He came to a sudden halt, or at least it felt that way to her, but if he had, she probably would have banged into him a lot harder than she did. "Sorry." He mumbled, helping her get down. "I didn't realize how much I needed to adjust that stop." She felt a little woozy just from the speed alone, even if she hadn't been watching the surroundings.

"It's fine, it didn't hurt." Bella brushed off his concern. "I have to sit down for a second."

He chuckled and helped her do so. "It's ok, we're here."

Edward sat down next to her and she finally got a look at their surroundings. "Oh wow, it's beautiful." She breathed. He brushed a strand back from her cheek.

"It's my favorite place here, I can be free of all the thoughts of the people of the city, and it's so beautiful and peaceful here anyways."

"And you brought me?" She asked, concern that she was now invading his space.

"Oh, you only perfectly accessorize it." He smiled at her gently. "In fact, I would be so bold as to state that this place was made to extenuate your beauty." Bella blushed and looked away, mumbling something about flattery. "I think you're very beautiful." His hand skimmed her jaw.

"Thank you, but I think you're a little confused, I'm very plain."

"Then explain to me, please, how every guy in the school seemed to ask you to prom? How am I so lucky as to gain a moment of your time?"

"I can't believe you even need to ask." Bella leaned into his hand. "It's I who can't figure out how I got picked to be part of your life when you've had your pick of girls for decades, human and not." Bella placed her hand over top of his.

"No other girl interested me until you, and none will after you."

"You sound like I am going somewhere soon."

"I hope not." Edward used his other hand to tap her nose. "Definitely not planning on letting anything happen to you to tear you from my life. I've finally accepted I can't get you to leave me on your own."

"Well good, because nothing you do or say will scare me away."

"We'll have to see about that. I've wanted to do something for awhile now, and have been too afraid to even contemplate it."

"You have full permission."

"Just hold, very still." There, in the middle of a field of purple spring flowers and trees surrounding the clearing, Edward leaned forward with their hands still joined on her cheek, kissed her. Besides that one other contact, the only part that touched were their lips.

Bella let him control the kiss at first, then she tentatively returned it before she lost control and threw herself at him, taking control of the kiss and pressing her lips against his and digging her other hand into his hair.

He removed his hand away from her's and took a hold of her shoulders, forcing her away from him, she grasped at him for a few seconds before she was separated from him and she got a hold of herself. Bella stared at him in disbelief. "I'm so sorry!"

Edward kept a distance between them, more so than it had been all day and she sighed, she wasn't going to attack him again. "What was that?"

She could have responded 'A kiss', but she didn't. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. It won't happen again!"

"No, it won't, it's probably best we don't try that again." At her look, he clarified. "For awhile."

Bella rolled her eyes. "It was your fault anyways."

"Oh?" He came closer, his eyebrow lifted. "Have a lot of experience in this field, to lay it at my feet? How do I know that you don't attack all guys this way?"

She'd accomplished part of her goal with this and she tilted her head, moving just a hairsbreadth closer to him. "How do I know that you don't have all the girl's throwing themselves at you?"

"I've already told you, no other girl has interested me, none. I am however conversely unaware of your history." Bella snuggled up to his side and he wrapped his arms around her. "You are very interested in courting danger."

"I'm interested in courting you." She looked up at him and he chuckled, laying back and taking her with him so her head rested on his chest and he held her against him. "I haven't dated anyone or was even remotely interested, and I mean anyone."

Edward had his crooked grin back in firm place as she glanced up at him, and she bit her lip as she smiled in return, she loved that expression on his face, it was almost a pleased look in his purely happy face. She snuggled in deeper and if he was human would have had a perfect opportunity to listen to his heart beating. Instead his chest was cool beneath her ear and face. It was comforting, as well as his smell.

"Don't look so pleased." She muttered, perfectly content to be exactly where she was, with who she was with. She'd just shared her first kiss with the most amazing guy, granted it didn't turn out exactly like she thought it would, but it was nice, nonetheless.

"I can't be happy that I just shared a kiss with the most amazing girl? Or that my girlfriend and I are in the same boat when it comes to dating, that at least in this, we're equals?"

Bella sighed. "We're on the same page again, I almost can't believe you can't hear my thoughts when you say things like that, when it's so closely related to what I was thinking."

He held her close and they watched the sun shift through the sky behind the thick cloud coverage and the breeze shift the early flowers. After awhile, Bella adjusted so her elbows were on the ground near his side and she was looking down at him, ready to ask for one thing that she was hoping to get an answer to. "Can I see you in the sunlight?"

He tensed beneath her, and took a long moment to respond. "Have you ever seen any of us in the sunlight?" Bella shook her head negatively in response. "It's not a very pretty sight, it's the embodiment of all the lives we've taken, what we are."

"Ok." Bella answered innocently. "I still want to see."

Edward sighed and pulled her against his chest as he stood up and helped her onto his back. He zoomed through the woods for awhile longer and slowed to a stop near the mountains, they had to have gone pretty far to get there, it wasn't so close to Forks, whatsoever, but then again, she didn't know how far the clearing was either, nothing seemed the normal distance with Edward.

He let her down and together they climbed a small pathway towards the sunny side of the mountain. He left her in the shadow and took off his shirt, handing it to her. Before he exited the sunless spot for the rays beating down he took her face in both hands. "Are you ready to see the monster?"

"I'm not frightened." She told him and held the shirt in her hands.

"Ok." He took a few steps backwards and the sun surrounded him. She had to shield her eyes at first because he just radiated with it. Then she realized that it was a reflection in every direction.

She sucked in a deep breath on a gasp. "Diamonds." She said breathlessly. "You're beautiful."

He laughed dryly at her comment. "Not beautiful." He shook his head. "A murderer."

She shook her head, there was no way to convince him, but to her, he was very beautiful, breathtaking as she'd just demonstrated.

There were so many things she wanted to ask him, wanted to tell him, and she didn't know how to do so. So instead, she didn't. She walked forward and wrapped her arms around his bare torso. He pulled her to him and held her, leaning down to breath her in. He just proved he could handle her scent, and wouldn't harm her.

It was then that she realized she didn't have to ruin anything by asking him, instead she could just ask Jacob for the information she seeked. Not that she would ever really have to use it herself, but if it came down to it, it might be nice to have. Although on that wavelength, there was one thing she needed to tell him first, but she'd save it for later tonight, or in the morning...

EAN: So, I think there are a couple of scenes that I might have bypassed/skimmed over, and since most of us have read the BOOKS, seen the movie, or have read many many different stories with the same scenes, I have decided that, that wasn't so important to THIS story. I still wanted to include it, and include a little bit of my version, but really, it can be overdone, so I tried not to. If there is a lag in between chapters, I apologize, I'm trying to work on MANY things at once, including very important homework, so I might not post very often on the same story as I try to get things up, and out.