I woke up suddenly, desperately needing to use the bathroom. Edward's arm was draped over my waist and I gently extracted myself, trying not to awaken him. He groaned quietly and rolled over but he didn't wake up. I tiptoed though the dark room and opened the door and gently closed it behind me. I looked right and left, trying to guess where the bathroom could be. I certainly didn't want to accidentally open the door to Edward's parents' bedroom. Luckily, the bathroom door was cracked a bit so I didn't have to embarrass myself.
When I turned on the light in the bathroom and looked down, I realized that I was no longer dressed in jeans and a tank top; I had on a pair unfamiliar cotton shorts and one of Edward's t-shirts. As I sat on the toilet, I thought back to the previous night and I couldn't for the life of me remember changing my clothes. The last thing I could recall was Dr. Cullen cleaning the wound on my knee. I washed my hands, one biological need aside and then another popped up- I was starving. Completely famished. Which made sense since the last meal I'd had was Saturday morning and it was now…I had no clue what time it was. My cell phone was smashed on a sidewalk in New York and I never wore a watch. I crept down to the kitchen, hoping to find some cereal and milk.
"Hi, Dr. Cullen." I murmured, a bit surprised as I turned the corner and spotted him. He was sitting at the small kitchen table with a steaming mug and a laptop in front of him, the early morning darkness a backdrop behind his still form. I couldn't help but think of how similar he looked to Edward.
"Good morning, Izzy. Are you feeling okay? In any pain?" He inquired, looking up from the computer and squinting down at my knee.
"Oh no, I'm fine. I'm just really hungry. Is it okay if I eat something?" I asked. Dr. Cullen was kind, but I was still a bit intimidated by him.
"Help yourself. There are eggs and bacon in the fridge, there are bagels in the bread box and there is cereal in the far right cabinet." He told me. I found a bright red ceramic bowl and poured some Life cereal and milk in before joining him at the table.
"Even though I'm retired, after thirty five years my body automatically wakes up at five every morning." He mused as he sipped his coffee. "For the first couple of weeks I lay in the bed and tossed and turned, but Esme told me to just get up so she could fucking go back to sleep."
I giggled. He looked at me, his eyes thoughtful and perceptive.
"Edward and Emmett are as different as night and day, but the one thing that they share is a bad temper. They get that from their mother." He said with a smirk. "The first years of our marriage, Esme and I argued over everything. I was a resident operating on little sleep and she's always been fiery and passionate. We had the cops called on us a couple times."
"Really?" I couldn't imagine distinguished Dr. Cullen and his refined wife screaming and yelling at each other.
"Oh, yeah. And I wasn't used to that. I thought our marriage was in jeopardy and not wanting to face that, I just stopped coming home. I stayed at the hospital. That worked for about a week before she barged into the on call room and accused me of having an affair."
"Oh no." I groaned.
"Over the years we've learned that communication is necessary for any relationship to work. We still argue and sometimes her temper gets the best of her and sometimes my reticence causes misunderstandings but we get each other and we don't jump to the worst possible conclusion anymore."
I nodded as I spooned cereal into my mouth. We sat in comfortable silence, Dr. Cullen sipping his coffee and reading e-mails while I poured a second bowl of cereal.
"You connect." He said suddenly.
"Huh?" I uttered, not sure if he was talking to me or simply talking out loud about something he was reading on his screen.
"You and Edward." He replied.
"Ummm…" I was uncertain about where he was going with the conversation.
"I can't lie, I was…concerned….when I discovered that you went from dating Emmett to dating his brother. I thought…well it doesn't matter what I thought. In your interactions I can see that you connect. Powerfully. You care for each other. A lot."
"I do care for him, very much. Emmett…" I started, but Dr. Cullen held up a hand to stop me.
"Emmett is not emotionally ready to have the type of relationship that you and Edward have. Maybe that's my fault because I doted on him a bit too much and that made him too self-centered. But either way- I get it. Getting to know you and knowing Edward, this relationship…"
"Carlisle! Carlisle! Turn on the news…channel 4 right now!" Esme called from upstairs, interrupting Dr. Cullen. He picked up a remote control that I hadn't noticed on the table and turned on the small flat screen affixed on the wall.
"…caused over an hour delay on the westbound George Washington Bridge just after nine o'clock last night. There were at least four vehicles involved in the crash. What at first appeared to be a run of the mill traffic accident is now turning into possibly the scene of a crime." The pretty brunette anchor was saying.
"Take a look at this footage the Port Authority just released this morning. At first glance it seems that the front tire on this Lincoln simply blew but if we slow the video down…" The footage was grainy but the barrel of the gun could clearly be seen pointing from the window of the car next to the Lincoln. And if anyone couldn't see, the graphics department had circled the gun in yellow and had also drawn an arrow pointing out the trajectory of the bullet.
"And the footage gets even more bizarre. Watch as a young woman flees the spinning car and runs down the center of the lanes of traffic and then hops into the car where the bullet originated." I watched myself on video running, falling and then getting into the car with Demetri.
"Port Authority police are searching for answers. The license plate number on the Ford Taurus is New York XTV-3319. If anyone has any information about this car or this incident, please contact the Port Authority police at 201-555-3500."
"In other news, in Brooklyn last night there were…" Carlisle flicked the television off once the next story began. Now I understood why Demetri was in such a hurry to get rid of the car.
"That footage was…" Carlisle was clearly speechless.
"Yeah."
"You are an extraordinarily brave young woman." He said as he got up to pour another cup of coffee. He patted my shoulder affectionately as he walked by me toward the coffee pot.
Esme walked into the kitchen looking fresh in a long turquoise dressing gown.
"Izzy, you're awake! Oh honey, did you see the news? It's one thing to hear about it but it's completely different to actually see it. You must have been so scared!" she exclaimed.
"I was. I thought…" I looked down, unable to finish the morbid thought.
"It's okay, honey. That man rescued you and you're here with us, safe and sound." She said, leaning down and wrapping her arms around me. "I'm going to make us a real breakfast."
Esme had started frying bacon and mixing pancake batter when Edward came around the corner all bleary eyes and messy hair with his phone in his hand.
"Rose and Alice are on the phone." He said, handing me the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oh my God, Izzy. Are you okay? We saw the news…" Rose said.
"I recognized your top. I remember when you bought it in April at Bloomingdales…" Alice piped in.
"…and we called your phone and it went straight to voicemail. So we called Edward. What the hell happened?" Rose finished.
I got up and excused myself from the kitchen. I walked into the living room and sat on the sofa.
"They tried to kidnap me." I finally said.
"Who? Aro?" Rose asked.
"His men. Two guys that he hired."
"Did they hurt Edward? How did they get to you?" Alice asked.
"I was…alone." I admitted.
"Why were you alone?" Rose inquired.
"Ugh…it's a long story but we had a fight and I just wanted to go home. I was getting out of the taxi in front of my apartment when they grabbed me." I gave them the rest of the details of the story and how I ended up in New Jersey at the Cullen's.
"Izzy, this thing is getting scarier and scarier. What are you going to do?" Rose wanted to know.
"I don't know. I feel so trapped. I feel like I can't live my life anymore at all. I can't go shopping with you guys. I can't go to work. I can't go grab a slice of pizza or run to Starbucks. And there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. I just…" The tears finally broke free and I sobbed earnestly.
"Don't cry, honey. Things aren't perfect right now but we can help." Alice said.
"She's right. If you want pizza or a Frappuccino, we can get it for you." Rose promised soothingly.
"And anything you can buy in the store, we can get online. Actually there is a better selection online." Alice assured me.
"And I know you don't miss taking the filthy subway to work every day. So consider that a blessing in disguise." Rose added.
I laughed through my tears. "You guys are the best friends in the world."
"We love you. Call us if you need us." Alice said before we ended the call. I was wiping my tears away when I felt Edward sit down next to me.
"You okay?" he asked. I nodded and buried my face into his chest. He held me close and we sat like that until Esme let us know that the pancakes were ready. We sat down for breakfast, chatting about ordinary things like music and politics. Esme told us that Dr. Cullen was appearing on the Dr. Oz show the following week. I offered to help with the dishes after we'd eaten and everyone laughed at me.
"Sweetie, you have one arm in a sling and the other hand is covered in scratches. You were obviously raised to be a polite, helpful young woman but I'll handle the dishes alone." Esme said kindly. I chuckled along with them, not feeling like the butt of the joke but instead feeling like I belonged.
"Can we talk?" Edward asked as I started toward the stairs, intent on taking a shower. I nodded.
"Let's go outside." He suggested.
"It's kind of cool…"
"How about I light the fire pit and grab some blankets?" Edward offered.
"Okay. I'll get the blankets. Where are they?" I asked. He gave me instructions and five minutes later we were in the backyard sitting side by side in slatted wooden patio chairs, warming in the glow of the fire. I wrapped myself in a fuzzy blue afghan.
"Izzy…I just want you to know how sorry I am about the things that I said yesterday. When I think of what I accused you of and the way I said it…" Edward sighed heavily.
"Edward, do you think that you thought I was meeting Emmett because of how our relationship started? Because I was cheating on Emmett with you?"
"No, definitely not. I'm just…when Emmett comes up I feel like a kid again. He was always bigger and stronger and faster. It's my own insecurity; it has nothing to do with you." He admitted.
"Edward, can I tell you something?"
"Anything…"
"I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. You are an amazing person- you're smart, loving, funny…"
"Izzy…"
"No, let me finish. I don't talk about how I feel enough. You're smart, loving, funny… you care deeply for the people around you. You give a hundred percent to anything that you commit to. You make me feel alive. Even in the short time we've been together, when I think back on my relationship with Emmett, it feels like a dysfunctional high school romance. I realized that when I saw him at the restaurant. It was laughable that he was even trying to get me back because for me there is no going back. I know what it feels like to be loved, to be cherished, to have real intimacy."
"Come here, princess." He said, motioning toward his lap. I happily joined him in his chair.
"Izzy, I love you, too. I need you. When I realized that they had you and it was my fault because I drove you away, I fell apart. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that I would have the chance to see you again and I was willing to do whatever it took. Thank God for Demetri." He breathed.
"I'll never do that again. It was stupid for me to run off when I knew that they wanted to kidnap me."
"Neither of us was thinking. Baby… did they hurt you or touch you?" Edward asked tentatively, looking into my eyes.
"No, they just put me in the car. They didn't touch me."
"Good." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I should go to the mall and buy you a new cell…"
"Shhh." I whispered, placing a finger to his lips. I leaned in and kissed him, pouring every bit of my being into the kiss. We sat by the fire, talking and kissing for the remainder of the chilly morning.