Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia who beta this story.
Chapter Twelve
Accidents will happen, or not!
"Wow, Eddy, is actually home … and Bella isn't even here!" Emmett said to his brother early Monday morning.
"I couldn't go to school in the same thing I wore yesterday," Edward explained, but he was planning on running back to Bella's as soon as he was done changing.
"Why not? It's not like anyone saw you," Emmett shrugged.
"Because Edward would rather not be beheaded at the moment," Alice said. She would never allow her family to wear the same thing for that long. "So, Edward, are you going to bring Bella to our table today at lunch or are you going to hog her again?"
"I vote for our table," Emmett cheered. Imagine the look on everyone's faces when that happens, I bet there's still enough shock left in the mortals to react.
Edward rolled his eyes. "I'll let her decide that."
Alice's eyes glazed over and then she smiled. "Goody."
Edward sighed. He loved that Bella liked spending time with his family, but he did want to spend more time alone with her. It looked like, however, that Bella was going to decide to sit with his family. Hm … maybe I should tell her about Emmett's thoughts.
What the hell? Alice said and then shot Edward an icy glare, what did you do to muddle things up?
Edward just chuckled at that. "I've got to get back, see you later."
He was still chuckling slightly when he got back to Bella's house and into her room. Luckily she hadn't woken up yet. He loved the look on her face when she first realized he was there; shock and then beyond pleased. He wondered if that would go away soon, seeing as he was planning on always being there in the morning.
He looked at the clock and realized that he still had a half hour before Bella was going to wake up. He sat in the rocking chair thinking about things. Bella had not slept well last night, despite the fact that she knew she couldn't do anything about the werewolf situation. She was still worried about it. She had tossed and turned all night, muttering things about not fighting and other peacemaking slogans, though Edward was rather pleased that she didn't say Jacob's name. His was the only name she said besides an occasional "Mom" or "Renee". He still wished that she wouldn't waste her energy worrying, he was sure that everything was going to work out with the wolves. However, he knew better than to expect her to not worry, it's just what she did.
Bella's slight shift in position caused his mind to focus on her. He noticed that the furrow between her eyebrows had vanished and he hoped that meant that she was having a better dream now. When he went back to his thoughts, he decided that he didn't want to carry on with thinking about the werewolves. There were plenty of other things to worry about and they weren't a pressing subject at the moment.
No, right now what he wanted to concentrate on was controlling himself enough so that he could be close to Bella … so he could hold her at night while she slept … so he could kiss her. Edward sighed. He wanted that so much, just to be able to reach out and grab her but he couldn't let himself think of it.
Over the last two days he has been allowing himself to have more contact with her, and as he had predicted, it was almost easy to do that after holding her on Friday night. However, he was surprised how much the small, simple, touches made him long for more. He was terrified by the idea that if he allowed himself to move too quickly that he would do something in a split second that would destroy everything.
So, he decided that he was going to have to test his control, push himself to the limits, but at the same time guarantee that she would be safe. He thought about what had happened in the book when they had first meet, taking things from both of the perspectives he now had, he had devised a plan. He knew that in that reality it had taken him around forty-four days to realize that he had feelings for her and that was before he even touched her (minus the touch in biology class and the van incident). Then it was another eleven days before he was able to actually kiss her.
Taking that into account, there had been about thirty-six days that he had sat next to Bella, not talking to her but clearly being affected by her scent. He had to think of a way to shorten that time. He knew that his book self hadn't hunted more than he normally would have nor did he do anything out of the ordinary to be able to sit there next to her, and he thought that was a good starting point.
That was why he hadn't hunted the last few days, letting his throat burn and the venom form in his mouth. He was pleased to see that so far that none of his restraint was tested, but his eyes were still a golden color and he knew that it was going to be next week that was going to test him. He understood the dangers in this plan of his. He was dealing with a Bella that he was around for twenty hours a day at least, where as in the book he only had to deal with her scent for an hour. Knowing this, he asked Alice to keep an eye out for him, and though she hadn't seen anything yet, he knew that she was monitoring the situation closely.
The other thing he was planning on doing for the time being was just to see how close he could get to her. He knew that he wasn't going to progress that far until he tested himself while he was thirsty, but it didn't mean that he couldn't do anything.
Edward was quite sure that he had it a lot easier than his book self did at the moment. He had learned so much from his experience reading the book and he was able to apply it to strengthen the first stage of his and Bella's relationship. However, he was a little afraid of the future. He wasn't sure if some of the ways that he had gained control was feasible in this reality, for he wasn't going to leave her and he was never going to think that she had died. Nor was he ever going to have to suck venom out of her, therefore knowing exactly how mouthwatering she was. He realized how powerful those events had to have been for him, how much that must have physically changed him.
Could he possibly have the control he'd need if that didn't happen? He couldn't be sure of that answer and that frightened him. It would be a long time before he had to worry about that but it would be smart if he tried to think of some kind of solutions now.
Bella's alarm went off and his full attention was on her again. He found it intriguing that it took her four beeps before she started to stir and another three before she attempted to hit the buzzer. She fiddled with the machine for another few beeps before it stopped. He loved that she was so confused when she first woke up, how she seemed to yawn and grumble … and then she would suddenly lighten up when she looked at him. As much as he loves the Bella that just wakes up, he loves the smiling, unrestricted Bella that he sees in the instant that she sees him. It makes his unmovable heart feel as if it could beat. It was the best feeling in the world … at least it was so far.
"Edward," she beamed at him and he realized that he has been smiling for the last thirty seconds without noticing it. "I think I could get used waking up with you here."
"I think I could get used to being here," Edward chuckled.
O
Bella had an extremely good morning before she went to school. It was true that she had nightmares filled with werewolves and shouting elders, all of who hated her. However, as soon as she saw Edward it was better, she was sure that it was going to work out. She would trust in what Jacob and Edward said about everything working out and now she was going to focus her time on Edward.
The day steady dropped as she got to her classes. Truthfully, this was the hardest part of the day, the four or so hours that she didn't get to see Edward. Of course it was spent in class and that made it bearable, at least this was something that she would have to do no matter what. It would have been better if she could have had all her classes with him, but you can't have everything in life.
It was during trig that she wondered what she could do about the human friends she was supposed to have made. Jessica was chatting at her, trying to get details on her relationship with Edward, getting more frustrated that Bella wasn't giving her anything. She figured that this was about as deep as she wanted her friendship to go with Jessica, after hearing Jessica's thoughts from the book, she didn't like the reason the other girl had for pursuing their relationship. Likewise, she thought that it wouldn't be the best idea to be friends with Mike. It would only upset Edward if she got close to him, and she had a feeling that what Mike was looking for wasn't something that she could give him. It was best for him if she just let him go.
However, she liked the idea of getting to know Angela better. That friendship seemed genuine, and Angela was the kind of person (a real person that wouldn't turn out to be a monster) that she could get along with. The trouble was, now that she was spending all her time with Edward, it was impossible to talk to the shy girl. To add to that she couldn't stand to be away from Edward and the only time she could talk to Angela was when he was there. Argh, she was going to have to do something about that.
While they were in the line to get food, Bella voiced her thoughts on this to Edward. He seemed to think that it was a good idea, but he wasn't sure how to make it work either. He suggested that talking to Alice would be a good way to start, his voice seemed sort of reluctant and she questioned him about it.
"Well, I promised Alice I would ask if you wanted to sit with our family today," Edward said. "I was going to try to sway you to make it so you would chose me, but I suppose it's better this way."
Bella shook her head, didn't he know saying things like that was only going to make her curious about how he was going to sway her.
Edward chuckled, "Emmett thought it would draw more stares from everyone if you sat at our table."
Ah, so he did know it would make me … oh crap, he was right; everyone was going to look at us more than ever. "Argh, you didn't have to tell me that," she groaned.
"Your eyes seemed to suggest differently," Edward said. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Bella said as she looked at the table with the Cullens and then to the table that she had been sitting alone at with him, trying to make up her mind about where she was going to go. She sighed, this was going to happen at some point; she knew it must, but she didn't expect it to be so soon.
"You don't have …" Edward started to say.
"No … I can't let this stop me," Bella said. She hated attention and she would rather avoid it, but she didn't want to let her fear stop her. It didn't seem right to not be able to be friends with someone because of what everyone else thinks.
"Still, it wouldn't be so bad sitting with just me …" Edward said pouting slightly and she chuckled.
"I'm sure your siblings will let us have time to talk," Bella said. "It's not like being across the room made it any less easy for them to listen to what we have to say."
"Yeah, but now you can hear all the comments that they said about us that you couldn't before," Edward said. "If you want that."
Bella eyes widened and she flushed, "Edward stop …"
Edward chuckled. "Okay, we'll sit with my family … this should be fun."
"Yeah, Bella is here," Emmett cheered as soon as Bella was in range of hearing him. She could hear him just fine, but she knew that the people that were sitting closest to the Cullens' and Hales' table couldn't. "Now the fun can really start."
"Am I like a new toy to him?" Bella questioned Edward, a smile threatening to pull up her lips as Emmett looked at her in shock.
Jasper chuckled at this immediately, which caused the rest of those at the table to laugh.
"Well, you are something that has changed the dynamics of our family and Emmett always loves facing the unknown," Edward answered seriously, though he knew that she was just joking with her question. "But after myself, and Alice … and Esme … and Carlisle … and Jasper, he cares about you the most."
"Hey," Emmett scowled at Edward, you know that's not true … I'm much higher up on the list than sixth!
Edward just smirked at him as Bella sat down next to Alice and Edward sat down next to her. More laughing erupted from the table as Emmett continued to pout.
"I'm sorry, Em, I shouldn't have said that," Bella said guiltily.
"It's okay, little sister, it just means you're comfortable being part of the family now," Emmett smiled at her.
"Little sister?" Bella blushed; she definitely didn't expect him to call her that.
Emmett laughed, he liked that he had caught her off guard and even more so because she blushed. "Do you have a problem with me calling you that?"
"No…" Bella said, still blushing. Emmett really was like the brother that she always imagined having. "I don't have a problem with that," she hesitated before she added, "big brother."
Emmett smile lit up his whole face like she had never seen before. It probably had something to do with the fact that this time there wasn't a hint of teasing or laughter at her expense, he was just smiling.
The rest of lunch Bella tried to settle her nerves, and it was made a lot easier with Jasper easing the tension. She also was glad that Alice had the foresight to make sure she wasn't looking at the rest of the cafeteria because there really were a lot of looks from the rest of the students directed their way that she didn't notice (forcefully reminding herself not to look behind her).
Towards the end of the meal, Bella asked Alice about the Angela situation.
"Well, that is a little difficult," Alice frowned, she tried to search the future but she didn't really see anything that would help them.
"Ah, just talk to the child," Emmett said. "I'm sure that unlike most of your peers she doesn't really care that you've gravitated towards our table. Plus, as long as you're friendly towards Jessica I'm sure you can sit at that table on sunny days when we can't come to school."
"I didn't think of that," Bella frowned. Whenever it was sunny she would be alone at school. She supposed it wouldn't be too bad being alone for the few days it was sunny here, but it would be nicer if she could sit with someone. She also thought it would be very awkward to sit with that group of people after barely talking to any of them since last Monday.
"If you're this worried about that maybe you could make Edward go with you to sit with the others," Rosalie suggested smirking at the way Edward now looked disturbed by the idea.
"If I must," Edward sighed when he saw that Bella looked thoughtful, but it was going to be pure torture sitting with all those girls, having to hear all their thoughts. He didn't know if it would be worse if they thought about him or if they thought badly of Bella (for he was sure both were likely to happen). "But only as a last resort, please."
"I'll keep that in mind," Bella smiled at his martyred expression. "I suppose that Emmett had a point though … if I just talk to her … it should be enough."
"We'll here's your chance," Emmett said as the bell rang. "Go get her, tiger kitten!"
At this everyone snorted, trying to hold back their laughter as Bella glared at Emmett, who was smirking at her.
"I would prefer it if you didn't call her that," Edward said stiffly though he was obviously amused.
"You're right, that's your pet name for her," Emmett said, laughing harder than before.
"Shut up!" Bella huffed, getting up from the table, her face bright red and walking stiffly towards the door. Her embarrassment only grew when she heard Edward confirm Emmett's statement. She turned her head slightly to scowl at them, but before she could look back she ran into someone. Oddly enough it was Angela; if it was Alice that had made those comments she would have been sure this was a setup. As it was, she thought she would make the best of the situation.
"I'm sorry, Angela," Bella said.
"It's okay, Bella," Angela said. "I'm kind of surprised you remember me."
Bella frowned at that statement and Angela blushed slightly, raising her hand in apology.
"I didn't … I just meant that we only meet the one time on your first day … I didn't …" Angela said, stumbling over her words as she hesitated to show she wasn't saying anything against Bella.
"You were the first person that was honestly nice to me," Bella shrugged and then smiled.
Angela smiled back. "You seem a little agitated."
"Emmett was teasing me," Bella sighed.
"Really?" Angela said, obviously shocked.
"I bet you didn't think he the teasing sort," Bella said, though it was hard to picture him as anything other than a loveable overgrown child, she knew that to others Emmett was intimidating.
Angela smiled sheepishly at her and nodded her head. Angela seemed to be deliberating about something as they walked to class. She bit her lip before saying, "I think it's nice that you and Edward are spending time together, I've never seen him that happy before."
Bella beamed, her face lightening up. "I don't think I've been this happy before either."
They reached the classroom doors then and Angela said, "Well, see you later, Bella."
"See you," Bella said, feeling that this was a good first step in building a friendship with Angela. Seconds later Edward walked into class, and all other thoughts left her as she watched him make his way to sit next to her.
"I would say that this class would be more boring than usual, seeing as we both know what is going to happen, but I like the idea that we will have more time to talk," Edward said.
Bella smiled at him, it was odd to think of what should have happened if it weren't for the books. She would have been caught up in the mystery that is Edward Cullen. Instead she was sitting here comfortable talking to him. "So what will we discuss today?"
O
Edward was very pleased how the day went. He was able to talk to Bella during most of the Biology class before Mr. Banner called the class to attention and went over the lab. He wished that everyday could have been a lab so he was able to talk to Bella more freely, but unfortunately, they were going to do more lectures.
After school Bella again decided it would be better if she went home so she could make dinner for Charlie herself, and of course Edward went with her. After Bella had prepared the dinner, they did their homework. Edward helped her in trig and she found that it was hard to actually concentrate on the math but she didn't tell him that. He disappeared into his tree before Charlie arrived and they ate dinner. Afterward Bella asked Charlie if she could go out, or more precisely, asked if she could go to the Cullens'. Charlie looked uncomfortable with this, but didn't object, although he made sure that she would be back by ten. So that was where they had spent the rest of their evening. Once again Edward spent the night at Bella's (he was pleased when she spoke his name and there were no mention of the werewolves this night).
However, as he looked out the window at the snow falling, he knew it was going to stop soon only to become black ice. He felt anxious, he knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to Bella, but knowing that danger should be coming her way today made him tense. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to take Bella's safety for granted today. He wasn't letting her out of his sight.
Bella didn't put up any fight when he voiced this to her. She had his guarantee that Alice was going to try to prevent the accident, but even with that she expected Edward to be on edge and she wanted him to relax as much as he could.
As she walked out to the truck, Bella's eyes were on the tires, touched again by the care that Charlie had shown her. Another reason why she was glad Edward was going to protect her. She drove carefully towards school, well aware that even with the chains on her tires, the road was dangerous. The moment she stepped out of the truck Edward was there, his eyes were wary and he seemed to be letting all of his senses take over so he would be able to react to anything.
"Come on," Edward said in a tense voice, clearly thinking that getting out of the parking lot would be good. He had to restrain himself from dragging her, as every sound of a brake being applied would cause him to twitch. Edward let out a sigh of relief as they made their way to the building, confident that they have avoided that danger. "Well, that was fun."
Bella just rolled her eyes. "You're still listening to everything that's going on out there, aren't you?" she asked when she noticed that Edward was looking tense.
"Yes," Edward said. "Tyler has just parked his car. He's rather upset that Alice had cut him off, he's cursing her out actually. How ungrateful can he be?"
"He has no idea what would have happened," Bella reminded him.
"I know," Edward said. "I wonder if he'll become a worse driver now."
"I didn't think of that," Bella said looking pensive.
"Whatever, we can't do anything about it now," Edward shrugged indifferently. "So, what's your plan for the rest of the day?" he asked now truly looking relieved, in fact he was looking almost giddy.
"I don't know, but staying out of the hospital sounds like a good plan," Bella said.
Edward grimaced, not really liking that joke on this day of all days. "Bella!"
"Sorry," Bella sighed and Edward shrugged. Soon enough the bell rang and it was time to get to class.
O
"What are you doing here?" Edward asked when he opened Bella's front door and Alice was standing there beaming. He then looked at the yellow car that was parked in front of the house, "and why did you have to drive that car?"
"Come on, Edward, you know that I haven't had a chance to drive my Porsche since Emmett got it for me," Alice pouted.
Edward shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Deciding to let the car issue go, he asked again, "Why are you here, Alice?"
"I thought it was about time that we introduce ourselves to Charlie," Alice said as she walked into the house and then smiled at Bella who was sitting at the table that had both her and Edward's homework on it. "Aren't you two adorable studying together?"
"Alice, we weren't planning on doing that yet," Edward said to his annoying sister, at least she was annoying when she did things like this. "And what makes you think that you're needed here for that?"
"Please," Alice rolled her eyes. "If you want to make a good impression on Charlie it will only help that I'll be here … he's going to love me, remember?"
"True," Edward allowed with a chuckle.
"Actually, I think this is a good idea," Bella said. "It would be a non threatening way to introduce you to Charlie and he might actually like you this time around."
Edward frowned at that. "I'm not your friend, Bella."
"You don't want to be my friend," Bella pouted, biting her lip.
"You know what I mean," Edward rolled his eyes at her overacting.
"I know you're not just my friend, Edward," Bella sighed this time. "And I think even Charlie realizes that, but there's nothing wrong with making it easier on him."
"All right, all right," Edward grumbled glaring at Alice, who was snickering; this had worked out just as she had seen before coming here.
"Don't worry, Edward, everything is going to work out perfectly," Alice said to him.
"I said all right already," Edward rolled his eyes. "I'm just surprised that Emmett didn't come, too."
"He wanted to," Alice chuckled, "but I was afraid that he might scare poor Charlie to death."
"Does this mean you're planning to stay for dinner?" Bella questioned. "If so, I'm going to have to make more food … I know you won't eat it but it has to look like you are."
"Hm … yes, we'll be staying of dinner," Alice said after a second.
"Okay," Bella said, going to get more fish from the cooler, thinking it was a good thing she was planning on cooking that or she might not of had enough meat for dinner.
When Charlie came through the door, his head was craned back towards the beautiful car that was at the front of his house. "Hey, Bella … ow," he said when he turned to see Bella and the two Cullens in the living room 'watching' TV.
"Hey, Dad," Bella said.
"Hey," Charlie said, still looking at Edward and Alice. "So, is that your car out front?"
"Yeah," Alice answered, see there was a reason to bring that car, Edward, it got Charlie in a somewhat good mood. Edward rolled his eyes but if this worked he didn't care that much that her car stood out.
"Well, it's very nice," Charlie smiled, clearly that was an understatement for him, but he was a man of few words. He then looked over to Edward, his gaze calculating.
"Edward Cullen, it's a pleasure to meet you chief Swan," Edward said once he had Charlie's attention, holding out a hand to him.
"You can call me Charlie," Charlie said, still looking at Edward calculating, though every once in a while he would look at Bella. She does like him, Edward clearly heard Charlie think before his mind became sulky. Edward had trouble keeping the grin off his face, he wanted Charlie to like him, but he was elated that it was so obvious that Bella liked him.
"And I'm Alice," Alice said, she too shaking Charlie's hand. Charlie was definitely not immune to Alice's charm for it seemed that this simple introduction already had Charlie smiling. And this is why you love me, Edward, Alice thought as she worked to charm Charlie the rest of the night, even getting him and Edward talking about something, softening Charlie's heart to his daughter's boyfriend. It seemed with one nights work Alice had the relationship between Charlie and Edward on terms that were never present in the book, not even at the beginning before Bella had gotten hurt.
"Okay, I owe you big time," Edward said after saying 'goodnight' to Bella and her father and getting into Alice's Porsche. "I don't think that could have gone any better."
"Of course not," Alice beamed. "It was my plan after all."
A/N: Okay, so this chapter wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be before I wrote it, but I thought it turned out okay. The next chapter I'm planning on having Edward and Bella's first official date. After that I'm going to spend at least one chapter with the werewolves (probably from Jacob's point of view) though it might end up as two depending on how much time I have to write the chapter. After that I'm planning on having an amusing chapter that might not progress the story very much but should be fun (and is one of the chapters I thought of after I committed to writing this story). And finally, the one after I'm planning on going back to the reading. I'm letting you all know this because a few people want me to get to Bella reading the other books, but there are several things that have to happen before I want to do that.
Oh, and I got a message for someone here it is:
Hi
I would like to notify you that your story has been nominated for the Bring Me to Life Awards :)
reading breaking dawn- the missing chess piece award
reading eclipse- the red ribbon award
reading new moon- bloody rose award
reading twilight- shiny apple award
Get your readers to vote for you! and remember that you can't vote for your own.
to look at the other nominations and the rules go to the official site:
.
Good Luck
xoxo
-GreenEyes555
So that was the message, if you want to vote for me cool if not, that fine too. I only wrote these stories because I wanted to know what the Cullen's would have been thinking, but it is nice to know that my hard work paid off.