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And Yet They Shine

Chapter 22: Collide

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"I've been looking for you," she said. She held out her hand. Her heart punched a staccato beat inside of her chest. Her mouth did not smile. Still, she felt compelled to be near him. She took a single step forward.

"I've always been here," he said, but did not move.

Isabella nodded her head. "I know. I just…forgot."

"You shouldn't have remembered."

Isabella bowed her head and her hand hung limp at her side. He didn't want her after all. He hadn't wanted her to remember.

"I don't understand," she said, speaking to the ground. "I thought you wanted this."

Edward was incredulous. He'd wanted her, and barring that, he'd wanted her happiness. It seemed as though neither was an option. The scent of her tears stung his nose, and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

He approached her with caution; she was such a wild thing in his mind that he was afraid that she would start and flee.

"Isabella?" He pressed her chin until she was forced to look at him. He saw the hurt and confusion in her eyes. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not for her.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

His fingers were gentle on her skin as he wiped the tears from her face. She blushed, color rising fast beneath her skin, making her humanity all the more apparent to him. Her hair blew wild in the wind, and when she closed her eyes, tears streaked down her face, leaving wet trails against fair skin in their wake.

He had to have been insane to think that she would give up life, her life, for him. Was he a monster in her eyes? He had to be.

Standing against the sea, with the sun setting against her back, Isabella was a picture of beauty and innocence. She was a picture of everything he'd ever wanted, and the glimpses that he'd had into her mind, her heart, only solidified that idea. He could never want for more than her, and he could never settle for less.

He rested his fingers against her chin.

"Isabella?" Her name was whisper on his lips.

She squeezed her eyes tight and he watched her chin quaver as she fought herself not to cry in front of him. He couldn't stand it one minute more.

His mind was tentative as it reached out toward her. He had to know what she was thinking, and he was so afraid of what he would find.

Isabella basked for a moment in his touch. It was gentle and soothing and she pretended to herself that he cared for her. That he wanted her. As his fingertips ghosted across her face, she pressed forward, pushing her head into his large hand. She remembered that evening under the apple tree, how he'd held her so tenderly, and yet she could feel his need for her in the shaking of his limbs. She remembered the way he'd smiled at her, the pure joy in his eyes and how she'd never seen anyone, man or woman, more beautiful than he was at that moment. She remembered feeling safe with him, and the feeling that he needed her, and that she wanted that, to be needed. By him.

She remembered.

When she heard him gasp, her eyes flew to his. They were green, bright green and the moon's light danced on his skin.

"Isabella, you-"

"I love you," she said, tears falling from her eyes, as she stared into his. "I – I'm sorry."

She moved to look down but he wouldn't let her. His hand held her face in place and he searched her eyes. He stared, the shock on his face a shadow of what was in his mind.

She loved him. He'd seen it in her mind, all of her kind thoughts of him, her desire, but more than that, he saw it there, in her eyes. They were luminous and pitch black in the dark, but he saw it – her love, and her…her pain at the thought that he didn't want her.

"Never," he whispered. "Never again doubt my love for you."

He lowered himself as she rose toward him, her fingers reaching for his collar as his arms wrapped around her slim frame. It was a collision, a tempest, as their mouths met and their emotions, all of their love and longing, all of their anger and hurt, came pouring out into a single kiss.

Isabella opened her mouth to him, as she had already opened her heart. She felt his kiss everywhere – fierce and fervent, in her heart and in her spine, shooting down to her toes, in her breasts as she pressed herself against him and lower still.

He picked her up and she wrapped herself around him, and then he lowered them down onto the sand. He held her so close she thought she couldn't breathe but she didn't care. He loved her. He wanted her. When the realization hit her again, she smiled against his mouth, and giggled and then laughed, throwing her head back. Edward laughed too, and the sound was like music, until they both lay on the sand, laughing and clinging to one another as joy overtook them both.

As their laughter died, their smiles did not. They lay on their sides, the sand a rough pillow against their skin looking into one another's eyes.

"You love me," she said, her mouth stretching further, showing of pretty white teeth.

"You love me," he answered, his fingertip tracing the curve of her cheek.

"Forever," she said, and pressed herself closer. Forever was…something she couldn't conceive of. Not his kind of forever. Not the forever that takes more than a school year or a long line or even eighty years of marriage to someone who made her truly happy. Edward's forever was real.

And she couldn't imagine wanting anything more.

"Come on," he said, rising and pulling her easily up with him. "I need to take you home."

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The three prompts left for this are languid, lithe and red. I saved the fun stuff for last.

Thank you so much for reading.