Chapter 22
Bella:
The following morning, Edward and I leave Maggie to pack up our hotel room while we go to gather Edward's belongings. The hotel he was staying in is small and away from central Berlin. The exact type of place you wouldn't look if you were trying to find a missing, rogue vampire.
Edward leads me inside and up the narrow stairwell to his top floor room. Inside, there is a double bed, which hasn't been touched, and a small TV in the corner of a table. It doesn't look like anyone has been staying here.
"Do you need any help packing things up?" I offer.
Edward just shakes his head. I sit on the bed and watch as he fills a rucksack up with a couple of shirts, a pair of jeans, a couple of books, a diary, and an old Nokia phone.
"Is that everything?" I ask, trying to keep the shock out of my voice.
Edward sets down his rucksack and sits next to me on the bed. He picks up my hand, lacing our fingers together.
"Bella, when I left, I took all that I could before anyone would notice me leaving. I…I felt bad using my family's money. Over the years, all I've bought is a couple of shirts and I've rented the cheapest hotels I could find. Well, until I met you, that is," Edward says, kissing the back of my hand.
"You're scared they're not going to forgive you," I guess.
Edward closes his eyes for a moment. "I know what they'll say. They'll say they forgive me, but, just like Maggie can detect lies, so can I. I'll be able to hear what they truly think of me. That's what scares me more," Edward admits.
I move to straddle his lap, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look at me. I kiss him softly, wanting to remove all of his pain.
"You need to forgive yourself. For whatever happened. Until you can forgive what you did, you'll never be able to properly return to your family," I tell him.
His arms wrap around my waist, holding me against him. His head rests on my shoulder and for a while, I just sit there, comforting him.
"You don't even know what I did. When you hear, you might run," Edward says.
"Never," I reply firmly. "I could never run from you. You could never do anything that I can't forgive."
I kiss him more forcefully, then, and we fall back onto the bed. I grab and pull on his shirt while he pulls at my own clothes. Soon, we're naked and kissing and loving each other. I slowly slide down on his hard length, whimpering as he stretches me. I move slowly on top of him, both of us clinging to one another. I can't tell who's being comforted more.
Edward's hands bring me ever closer to him, our bodies entwined. Wet kisses are placed all over my chest and face as I hold him close. No words are spoken as Edward's hands on my hips urge me to move. When it begins to become too much, we roll over onto our sides. I lean up to kiss along Edward's chin before landing on his lips.
We both reach our release at the same moment, holding onto each other as we ride out our pleasure.
Afterwards, we stay pressed up against each other, holding on tightly.
"Ok," Edward finally breathes out. "I'm ready to talk."
A/N: Who's ready for some answers?
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