Chapter 12: Strange but true


~One can go to war alone, but you can't build peace alone - Jacques Chirac~


I blinked, trying to think straight but I found it to be a very difficult task. Hundreds of questions ran through my mind, urging me to ask them to Edward and get them answered but I was paralyzed with shock and most importantly, jealousy.

The jealous feeling was burning hot as it coursed through my veins. I felt like my whole body was set on fire.

I prized my hand from his hair, which I had been holding when we were dancing, and took a huge step away from him. As soon as I was a safe distance away from him, I found out that I could finally breathe.

Edward opened his mouth and closed it, as if he regretted what he said.

Rosalie and I were engaged.

My mind kept focusing on the word 'were'. It was obvious that they had been engaged in the past. What happened? Did Edward die in the war before he could marry her? Were they childhood sweethearts? Did Rosalie commit suicide after she found out that Edward was killed in the battle?

The song ended and Heidi let out a giggle, breaking the tension between Edward and me.

"That was awesome," she commented with a wide grin. "Another dance?"

"Please no. I think we had enough." I said, throwing one last look at a frozen Edward and staggered to my bed.

"Yeah," Sasha nodded dizzily. "Manicure, anyone?"

Randall, Alec, Edward and Emmett moved to their original place. Sasha rummaged through her Jimmy Choos green bag and pulled out her manicure kit.

We took turns in shaping and applying nail polish on each other's finger nails. When Rosalie sat next to me and watched Jane apply midnight blue nail polish on my nails, I couldn't help but feel bitter towards her.

She was a very lucky girl, I realized.

Even though I was shocked by Edward's true identity and was afraid of the huge differences between us, I was still in pain. My huge crush on him was painful and I wished just for a second that he felt the same way about me.

Edward tried to meet my eyes but somehow I managed to avoid his burning gaze.

My friends must have sensed that I was down in spirit.

"Okay, sleep time. I hope everyone already stashed your stomach before coming here." Sasha joked with a flip of her golden hair.

The boys borrowed my friends' sleeping bags and they slept on the floor. There was enough space on my bed for all five of us to squeeze in.

Rosalie giggled. "This is fun."

"It always is." Jane said with a wide smile.

I switched on the night lamp and turned on my side, which faced the boys.

"You should join us again, Rosalie." I said, finally meeting Edward's gaze. "It is more fun in numbers."

"Definitely." Rosalie agreed and I could hear the smile in her voice.

Edward mouthed something to me but I closed my eyes, shutting my view of his painful perfection.

I pretended to myself that it was my way of saying 'good night' to him.


The first rays of sunlight and my thirsty throat woke me up. I rolled around and sat up. Sasha, who was sleeping next to me, had her thin slender arm wrapped around my waist.

I nudged her and she shifted away. Rosalie was next to her with her silky golden hair covering her face completely. Heidi and Jane were on the bed next to her. I didn't how we managed to sleep squeezed like this.

I got down and almost stamped Alec. He was also sleeping along with the rest of the boys in their sleeping bags. Edward faced away from me so I wasn't sure if he was awake or not.

I padded out of the room quietly and down the stairs. The kitchen was still dark so I switched on the light and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. I took a sip and let it cool my burning throat.

"Bella,"

No, no, no. Please let me be imagining that familiar voice.

"I'm thirsty too. Can I have some water?" he continued in a low voice.

I opened the fridge and was about to take another bottle when I felt his cool grasp on my wrist.

"I'm fine with this." Edward said. He took my bottle and drank from it.

His bobbing Adam's apple momentarily distracted me. I watched mesmerized as he swallowed the water and took another sip.

"I mouth-sipped it." I informed him with a smug, satisfied smile.

"You think I didn't know that?" Edward asked, tilting his head to the side and looked puzzled.

"Then why did you..." I trailed off in confusion.

"I drank from it intentionally," he said, cornering me against the cupboard. "You never let me finish what I started last night."

"What?" I avoided his gaze and stared at the kitchen counter instead.

"About Rosalie...and me." He shrugged his wide shoulders.

"I don't want to know." I pushed him away and left some space between us.

"I want you to know." He insisted, running his hands through his messy auburn hair.

The doorbell rang suddenly and both of us jumped.

"Hold that thought." I said to him. "Do you think it will be my parents?"

They were not supposed to come early. When they said that they would be back by morning, I thought they would come around 10.

"What am I going to do?" I cried in alert. "My parents will kill me if they come to know that boys crashed the party."

He placed his hands on my shoulders. "Relax. We'll check who it is."

His touch most certainly did not relax me but I felt a little relieved at Edward's confident voice.

He lingered back and watched as I peeked through the door hole but I could see no one. Then a familiar caramel colored hair came into view. With a gasp I opened the door and came face to face with Esme.

"Mrs Cullen?" I stuttered in surprise.

Edward walked forward and glanced at Esme. "Mom?"

"Yes, yes," Esme fanned her hair and smiled warmly at us. "I came by to pick you all up. I hope they didn't disturb you, Bella."

I shook my head in daze and smiled at her. I went up the stairs and into my room. Everyone was waking up, stirring in confusion at the sudden noise of the door bell.

I took turns in pointing my index finger at Randall, Emmett and Rosalie. "Your mom is here."

"Mom?" Rosalie asked, her blue eyes widened.

She quickly got off the bed and tried to finger-comb her tangled hair. Randall and Emmett rolled up from the sleeping bags and rubbed their eyes. Sasha shot me a look and fell back on the bed. Heidi and Jane didn't even bother waking up.

They followed me down the stairs and I led them to the front door where Edward and Esme were talking.

Esme grinned at them, her golden eyes swirling. "Had fun?"

"Yep," Randall threw me a sleepy smirk. Edward slapped Randall's head.

"Let's leave." Esme laughed. "It was nice seeing you again, Bella. Oh and tell your mom that she could take back her cell phone charger she lent me yesterday. Or do you want me to send it through Edward?"

"No, it's fine. Mom will pick it up on her way." I assured her. They shuffled out of the house and I waved at them.

Edward's look was of a tortured and pained one as he waved back.

I closed the door and was in the kitchen for another bottle of water when the doorbell rang again. I opened the door and jumped back in surprise.

"Good morning, Bella," mom grinned at me. "Caught you by surprise, huh?"

I rolled my eyes while my heart roared in my chest.

Esme had come so quick and unexpected and had whisked away her kids. I wondered if she knew that my parents were nearing home and she had come to pick up the others because she didn't want her adopted kids and myself to get into trouble.

Maybe it was just my luck that she saved me from trouble. But the connection was too weird to shake off.

What the hell was going on in this town?


I looked up from where I was buried in my soft pillow. I had gone on an another round of sleeping as soon as my friends left since it was only Sunday.

"Bella!" My mom called again, sounding irritated.

I didn't know how long she had been standing there, screaming my name repeatedly.

"What?" I yelled, my voice muffled due to the pillow.

"Dress and come down here. I want you to do something for me."

I had a very good idea of what it might be.

I took a quick bath and opened my closet. After contemplating for few minutes, I threw on a wide strapped sleeveless raspberry - pink top and dark blue skinny jeans. I grabbed my favorite Marc Jacobs leopard print shoes and black trench coat on the way.

"What's your big favor?" I asked. I braided the front part of my hair and pulled it back with a pin.

"Mrs Cullen has my cell phone charger. I lent it when I found that she had broken hers and the store did not have any. She offered to bring it back but I assured her that it's not a problem. Can you bring it back?" Mom smiled at me, her expression eager.

"I already knew that." I said bluntly. She watched as I smeared shimmery pink Hard Candy lip-gloss on my lips.

"So...will you?"

"Do I have a choice?" I glanced at her through my compact mirror.

"There's always a choice." Mom winked at me. "Choice one: bring me the charger. Choice two: no shopping this month."

"God mom, you're so funny." My voice dripped with sarcasm.

I let myself out of the house and shivered when my skin met the chilly morning air. It was not exactly morning, almost noontime. I skipped past Heidi's house and stopped in front of the Cullens house.

Or the Masens house, you could call it.

I tried to picture Edward -almost a century ago- standing in the same place as mine, in front of his house, dressed in a full-sleeved button down shirt, suspenders and formal pants.

However, I was disturbed when a stunning blonde girl joined his side. Rosalie was dressed in the exact floor length white gown she had worn during my nightmare at the very beginning.

"Bella?"

My vision cleared and I saw Rosalie before me, but she was wearing blue tank top instead of the gown and tight fitting jeans. A crème colored cardigan was thrown over her shoulder.

"Sorry," I said softly. "I tend to get out of this world a lot."

"Clearly. Do you want to come in?" She giggled and nodded.

"My mom wanted me to pick the charger from your mom." I explained, shifting on their porch.

"Oh," her eyes grew confused. "I will call her. Come in, please."

Esme grinned when she came down the stairs. She handed me the charger and told me to thank mom on her behalf.

"Sure, Mrs Cullen." I nodded and folded the charger in my hand. "Well...I'll leave now."

"Wait, please." Suddenly Edward ran down the stairs, his face flushed.

I turned to look at Esme and Rosalie but they had disappeared.

"Can you come up for a minute? I would like to talk." Edward suggested, shaking his freshly showered wet hair.

A few drops of water from his hair splashed on my face. "Hey!"

"My apologies Miss," he grinned without a trace of apology. "Come up, come up, come up..."

I giggled in spite of myself and followed him up the spiral wooden staircase. I let out a surprised yelp when he grabbed my hand and opened the door to what I assumed was his room.

I loved his room instantly. It was classic and all the wooden furniture in his room displayed his great sense of taste. It even had small fireplace in the corner with half burnt wooden logs placed in it.

Edward pulled me to his King-size canopy bed and made me sit next to him. The bed felt soft under my touch and I could imagine him sleeping there while the fire burnt warmly, casting shadows across his peaceful face.

I glanced at him with questioning eyes.

"You know what I want to talk about." Edward teased at my blank face.

I sighed. "Unfortunately yes. Tell me quick."

Edward hesitantly took my hand in his. "Mr Hale was my father's close friend. Our families naturally met all the time during social events and Rosalie and I bonded as friends. When I reached seventeen, all I could think about was the World war, which was going on at that time. My parents highly disapproved and they made sure they showed their disdain in all the things they did for me."

He paused for a second then continued with a sigh. "They thought that if I married Rosalie, I would take my mind off the war. But I could not even bear the thought of marrying someone, especially Rosalie."

"She's that horrible?" I whispered in shock.

"Must I make you remember the way Rosalie behaved to you earlier?" Edward teased. "She's only sweet when she wants to get something. I suggest you to be careful with her. Anyway, I informed my parents that I had no wish to be joined with Rosalie in a matrimonial ceremony. Rosalie tried to convince me and I later found out that she had harbored feelings for me. But all the bickering and convincing ended with me rushing to the battle."

"So there was no relationship between you and Rosalie?" I bit my glossy lips, not wishing to be boorish and inquisitive.

This was a shocker. All those jealous and anger feelings of mine were such a waste!

"No. My initial wish to go to the war was because of the eternal glory the soldiers gained. But soon another reason came." He chuckled at himself.

"You ran away to the war to escape Rosalie?" I started laughing too when Edward shrugged sheepishly.

"I'm glad you listened." He stretched his hands above his head tiredly.

"I'm glad you told me." I smiled at him then frowned.

"What?"

"How did Rosalie die? I mean, she was placed in the same cemetery as you and her grave was just opposite yours….." I stopped.

His face clouded. "She won't tell but I assume she died of old age."

"No," I shook my head. "The cemetery was locked as soon as the soldiers were buried in 1918. They never opened it again. How do you think Rosalie's grave is there?"

"I don't know…..I don't want to know." He shuddered.

"I almost forgot!" I suddenly cried in surprise.

From the front pocket of my trench coat, I took out the locket I had found in the clearing that day.

"Is this yours?" I asked as I handed it to him.

"I..." His eyebrows furrowed as he examined the locket.

He expertly clicked a small button I hadn't been able to spot and it opened. There was a picture of a man, woman and a small baby.

"Oh God, Bella, this is mine. I lost it when I was sixteen...I was never able to find it. See... here are my initials engraved in it." Edward smiled at me with glistening, grateful eyes. "You are an angel, Bella."

I blushed and glanced down at the locket where the initials were engraved in a slanting font.

E.A.M


Hey guys,

I'm relieved that everyone now knows that there was nothing between Edward and Rosalie. Link of the outfit Bella wore to Edward's house is in my profile. Don't forget to check it out.

I read a review which spoke about the famous brand names being mentioned in this story and that Forks is not a wealthy town, well that is abso-bloody-lutely right. But there are branded shops in Seattle, so let's just say that Bella and her friends buy from there. As for the money, their parents are just rich. Don't worry, I'll find an explanation somehow :D

-BEJL