A/N: I dunno WTF happened while I was writing this. Edward was meant to have some kind of epiphany, and then this happened. Maybe it was Joe Cocker, maybe it was the red wine, maybe because I had a religious experience. It pretty much wrote itself while I was visiting Mars.
It's cheesy and corny and complete fluff and puke. Hell, I have NFI what the hell I was trying to get across…
Chapter 46
She Believes in Me.
Edward's POV
I sat in the front seat of Bella's car attacking my hair, my fingers rigid—my whole fucking body tense, as she drove us back to her house. Bella wasn't finding any amusement in it this time; in fact, she kept glancing at me looking fucking weary.
"Edward…" she said softly with a sigh before grabbing my hand, preventing me from a second offensive on my hair, "relax. What do you think he's going to do to you?"
"Beat the shit out of me," I muttered, scoffing to myself.
She threw me a wry smirk. "Don't be a dag, and it's not as if he's not expecting you." She kept her grip on my hand, forcing it back to my side.
It was Bella's idea to call him and let him know she was bringing me to the house so I could talk to him, but knowing that would make me look like I was hiding behind her, I called him myself.
It was the most painful fucking minute of my life.
Since I'd called with Bella's phone, he answered with one word, "Isabella." He already sounded pissed, and it was so freaking weird hearing him use her full name that for one dumbass moment I paused, thinking I had the wrong number.
"Uh ... hello, Mr. Swan, it-it's Edward Cullen," I stammered, while my voice hitched like a pansy ass.
"What can I do for you, Edward Cullen?" Yeah, not only was he pissed, but he was fucking condescending.
My back immediately tensed, but knowing I had no right to take offense I swallowed past it—along with my fucking pride. "I was wondering if you would agree to meet with me so I can apologize for last night, and … and try and explain myself."
"Do you really think there's reason enough to excuse your behavior?"
He was going to make me suffer.
I cleared my throat as my eyes met with Bella's; she flashed me a warm, encouraging grin. Sighing beneath my breath I continued, trying to make the tone of my voice sound as fucking humble as possible. "Probably not, but I'd still like to try."
He exhaled roughly into the phone. "I will be back around 3pm—don't be late." Then without another word he hung up.
Suffer? The fucker was going to eat me alive.
It took around five minutes to drive from my house to Bella's. The last time I'd travelled the distance was when Bella went home sick and Alice picked me up. Still, it had seemed longer at the time, but then maybe I just really was this much of a pussy.
I followed Bella into the house feeling like a basket case. It was only the second time I'd been inside, and this time it wasn't just Jacob who glared down at me; it was all fucking three of them.
"Cullen," Jacob said to me flatly.
"Jake," I replied with more courtesy than I normally would have given the asshole.
"Hello, Edward," Bella's Uncle addressed me, his eyes narrowing the longer he gazed at me.
"Chief Swan," I greeted him, before I turned to Bella's father.
He was glaring at me, his eyes sharp and fucking boring straight into me. They were exactly the same color as Bella's only they couldn't possibly have been more different. "Follow me, boy!" he snapped before leading me through the house and outside again via the rear door.
Before I followed him, I quickly glanced to Bella; she only smiled warmly, not looking in the slightest bit concerned that he might rip my fucking head off.
He stopped roughly ten feet from the house and turned to me. "Firstly, I have no intention of explaining myself to a smart-mouthed, eighteen year old kid, you got that?" he barked out, the warning in his tone clear.
I nodded, conceding. "I don't expect you to, Sir."
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" He folded his arms across his chest, his brow arching with what looked like cynicism—this time exactly like Bella.
It was hard to keep myself calm, but I had to remind myself that I'd had the same shitty attitude when Bella had come to see me earlier.
Bowing my head, I took a measured breath. "I-I just wanted to say how sorry I was for last night. I got it all wrong," I began, before I explained it all; from the moment I'd met Bella, to finding out about Kel's accident, to going to Australia with her, seeing the photographs of her and then to finally running into her mother.
As I explained Bella being physically attacked, his eyes narrowed, while his expression creased momentarily before he roughly cleared his throat. It had clearly upset him, and it only validated the fact that this man had been in the dark about Bella's life for most of it.
I still think it was pretty fucking convenient.
"I—I mean she doesn't like to talk about her past, her mother—or even you, and I guess I just assumed…" I shrugged and let it go, looking down at the grass beneath my feet.
"I'm well aware of what you assumed," he countered, sounding completely unconvinced by what I'd just said until he continued, his tone softer, "but I'm also aware of how good Isabella is at hiding things."
I only nodded and half shrugged.
There was silence for a moment before he broke it, still managing to sound skeptical. "Do you think just because you claim to love my daughter that it gives you a free pass to act the way you did last night?"
"No," I conceded.
"All right, I'll take you at your word, but I'm warning you now," his eyes darkened and he suddenly became more intimidating—if that was even fucking possible, "if you ever drive my daughter anywhere—even if it's five meters down the driveway—while you have been drinking, I will tear you apart. Do you understand?"
I only nodded.
He wasn't finished. "And if you ever lose your temper and lay a finger on her—"
"I'd never lay a hand on her—ever!" I burst without even realizing it, my tone defiant and feeling every muscle in my body tense, pissed off and fucking indignant that he'd even suggest it.
My father would climb out of his grave and kill me himself, first.
He only eyed me darkly, like he wanted to knock me on my ass, before the smallest smile inched on his lips. "Okay, from this moment on I expect you to prove yourself." His expression again hardened. "You will not get any allowances from me—is that clear?"
"Crystal," I said quietly, releasing my breath.
And without another word, he walked past me and back into the house.
Fuck me...
A minute later Bella came through the backdoor, walked up to me and threw her arms around my neck.
Feeling a little over-fucking-whelmed, I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. "Jesus…" I whispered.
"I'm proud of you," she said gently before pressing her lips to my neck and then pulling my head down to merge them with mine.
"Bel-la…?" I managed to get out against her lips. She pulled back. "Can we get out of here? I can feel your father's death stare on me," I admitted, feeling a little more than creeped out by the fact that he was still probably eyeing me off with his daughter pressing her body against mine the way she was.
Bella laughed, softly, breathily. "That might be a bit hard. We're all going to Port Angeles for dinner—you included. Uncle Billy is calling your mother as we speak."
"Oh crap," I muttered, releasing one of my hands from around her to press the heel of it into my forehead. "Do I need to go home and change, or something?"
"Um, Edward, you came here dressed like you were going to church. I think you'll be okay," she teased me, again pressing her lips to the base of my throat this time.
I only groaned beneath my breath. I was still on high alert from almost getting her bra off earlier, and this was despite the fucked up berating I just got from her father.
With a reluctant sigh, she released herself from me and stepped down from her toes before grabbing my hand. "Come on, we'll go for a walk and calm you down."
Her dark eyes immediately softened, and I quickly realized she meant it literally.
An hour later we were sitting in the back of a police cruiser—with fucking Jacob between us—on the way to Tendy's Garden for Chinese food.
At the restaurant Bella's father watched me like a hawk, all without speaking a word to me. I didn't dare touch her, let alone grope her under the table. Though, Bella often squeezed my hand, or put her hand on my shoulder; in fact, she barely severed contact between us, all oblivious to the fact that the vein in her father's forehead looked like it was about to rupture.
It wasn't until he left for the men's room that I leaned over to her and spoke into her ear, "Baby, you're going to have to stop touching me. You're going to give your father an aneurysm, and you're making me as horny as all hell."
A small smirk instantly lit up across her face, before her eyes scanned across the table then back to me. Leaning in closer to me, she whispered, "I can't do anything about my father, but I can take care of you later."
Fuck me.
Who the hell was this girl? She was still constantly freaking surprising me.
Toward the end of the night, The General told me I could call him Charlie, and then proceeded to ask me about my GPA and what colleges I was thinking about.
I bullshitted and told him what my GPA was before I'd met Bella, and that I was thinking about University of Seattle. In truth I hadn't even thought about it; though, the wiseass side of me had thought about answering him by saying, "Whatever college Bella is going to."
That was closer to the truth—as fucking needy as that made me.
Charlie then turned to Bella and asked her.
She only glanced up at him with a blank expression, looking suddenly flustered. "I-I I'm not sure what a GPA is."
I tried not to laugh but it soon came rushing out of my nose after I'd tried to smother it by stuffing a garlic shrimp in my mouth.
Bella's cheeks were suddenly on fire, and I was two seconds from grabbing her hand when Jacob piped up, "She'd be seriously close to a 4.0, Uncle Charlie—she gets A's in everything."
"I got a C in gym," she admitted, mumbling, and elbowing me under the table.
I grabbed her hand, resting it on my knee, when Charlie suddenly cleared his throat sharply, making Bella practically jump through the ceiling, severing our hands.
Dinner was wrapped up not long after.
Again, fucking Jacob wrangled himself between Bella and I, and Chief Swan drove me directly home, completely fucking ruining whatever Bella had planned on taking care of with me.
I was seriously going to have to whack off in the shower later.
Jumping out of the car, I turned to Bella's father, offering him an awkward smile. "Thanks, Mr. Swan, for dinner."
"Edward," he replied stiffly, nodding his head once and giving me a touch-my-daughter-and-you'll-die glare.
I turned to Bella and smiled warmly, but then feeling suddenly rebellious—and horny, I winked.
She only broke into that all knowing smirk and shook her head lightly to herself.
After an abrupt sounding, "Good bye, Edward," from the Chief, the car backed down the driveway and disappeared.
I walked through the front door and made my way toward the stairs when my mother intercepted me. "How'd it go, Edward—I'm guessing okay since you were invited to dinner?"
I half shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, it was okay."
"Would you come in the den? Carlisle and I would like a word with you." She raised her eyebrows, letting me know that although she'd given me the courtesy of asking, it was an instruction.
I immediately groaned. "What now?"
"Just come on," she replied with a trace of impatience in her voice.
I followed her into Carlisle's study and sat down on the sofa. Carlisle was behind his desk, like he usually was, and when I entered he peered at me over the top of his glasses. "Good evening, Edward," he said in his perpetually calm manner, as if every interaction in life was a fucking consultation.
"Carlisle," I acknowledged with an edgy sigh.
My mother turned to me and began, "We have a proposition for you, Edward."
"What...?" I asked her suspiciously.
"If you agree to work with Carlisle for the rest of the summer, I'll agree to you buying another car in October."
"Agree...?" I quirked an eyebrow at her. "In three weeks I'm eighteen. Dad's money will be legally mine."
She folded her arms and sniffed. "Well, no, not technically. You see, your father gave me power of attorney until I felt that you, Alice and Em were mature enough to manage the money yourselves."
"Well that's fucking great. So you're going to hold me to ransom now?" I burst.
"Watch your language, young man!" she ordered me, her eyes narrowing. "No, we're not holding you to ransom. It's an incentive to prove that you can be responsible. If so, at the end of the summer I will turn your inheritance over to you."
"Yeah—that's extortion!"
"Oh, Edward, stop acting like a child!" she snapped.
Huffing, I stood abruptly up from the couch. "Fine, then."
"Not so fast," she put up her hands, before indicating for me to sit back down. "There's more." Her tone had suddenly turned ... tactful, making me feel more uneasy.
I remained standing.
"Sit down, Edward. Please," Carlisle spoke up quietly. "This isn't a punishment."
I ignored him.
"We also think…" she paused suddenly not sounding so confident anymore. Her eyes flickered to Carlisle before again back to me. "Well, we think you should limit your time with Bella until school goes back."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I demanded, immediately fucking pissed off.
"Edward, you're out of control—as usual you have absolutely no control over your emotions to the continued detriment of everyone around you." My mother insisted, before huffing out her breath and turning her back to me.
"This is absolute bullshit—keep the fucking money, I don't want it." I raged, taking a step to leave the room when Carlisle was suddenly before me.
"Edward, calm down. Let's talk about this rationally, please." He guided me back to the sofa.
"How am I being irrational?" I challenged him.
"Sit down and we'll discuss our concerns with you," Carlisle said calmly, trying to fucking placate me.
Begrudgingly, I did as he asked.
My mother turned back to me, her expression suddenly hard. "This is non-negotiable, Edward. If you refuse to listen, you're going back into counseling."
I was immediately off the sofa again, in one movement. "THE HELL I AM!"
"Edward." Carlisle placed his hands on my upper arms, turning to my mother. "Esme, sweetheart, please..."
This time he led me to the chair opposite his desk. I threw myself down in it, rigid and fucking pissed off.
Carlisle returned to his seat and faced me. "Edward, no one is attacking you here. We're concerned about you and Bella and nothing more."
"What exactly are you concerned about?" I demanded, continuing when he opened his mouth to reply. "The shit with her father was a misunderstanding—I apologized."
Carlisle sighed, looking momentarily down at the pen in his hands before meeting my gaze again. "It isn't only that, Edward. Do you remember the afternoon we made you watch the birth video, and at the end I told your mother that I was more worried about you and Bella than I was about Emmett and Alice?"
"Yeah," I muttered.
"I wasn't suggesting that you and Bella would be irresponsible and get pregnant, but the fact remains that since you've met Bella, you have become compulsive, belligerent—your grades have suffered—not to mention almost killing yourself. Which Alice informed us was directly related to Bella."
Fucking little rat! I fumed to myself.
Carlisle gave me a minute, before continuing, "We're not saying that Bella is bad for you, Edward. Quite the opposite; she is very good for you, but it's very evident that you are struggling to process the enormity of this relationship the two of you have found yourselves in."
I snorted. "Well thank you very much, Sigmund Freud, but I understand exactly what's going on with me and Bella. I realize we started off with unusual circumstances, but we're still working it out. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, who in this house has a perfect relationship?"
Mom came to stand beside me. "That isn't the point, sweetheart." She was calmer this time. "There is a destructive element that is attached with Bella that we're concerned about. I see it in your face, this overprotectiveness you have for her is torturing you."
I huffed out my breath sarcastically. "Yeah, yeah, and she's making me compulsive."
"Edward," Carlisle sighed deeply, "you're a person who has incredibly strong emotions, and what you're feeling for Bella has made it all increase to the point that you've become extremely high strung. You have to learn to control it or you will find yourself making the same very destructive decisions that will eventually push her away."
I took in his words before exhaling deeply, dropping my head in my hands, feeling fucking defeated and tired all of a sudden. "What the hell do you want from me?"
I felt my mother's arm encircle over my shoulders. "Sweetheart, you have always gone above and beyond for the people you love. First it was me when your father died, then it was Alice when she was sick, and now it's Bella. The only trouble is, it takes a lot out of you, and it worries me so much. You appear so old at times."
"So you think stopping me from seeing her will suddenly change all that?" I turned to her, my tone hard and accusatory.
We were finally getting to some kind of ordinary—as fucking poetic as that was.
"No, I wouldn't ever stop you from seeing her," she insisted, her tone sincere. "I just want you to take a step back and learn to deal with it all better."
I scoffed, almost laughing bitterly. "Do you want me to do some kind of relationships 101 course, or send me to a shrink who tells me I have a fucking personality disorder again? Alice was dying. Fuck me!"
"Edward, no one thinks you have a personality disorder; though, at the time you were completely out of control. Even you can attest to that," Carlisle reasoned, the tone of his voice remaining completely fucking neutral.
I scoffed again, shaking my head to myself. "My father had died a few years earlier and my sister was at death's door. Excuse me for not being fucking Zen enough about it." I pulled myself out of the chair and immediately moved to leave the room.
"Edward, you were the only one that reacted that way. We were worried about you almost as much as we were about Alice," my mother confessed, looking like it pained her to say it.
I felt myself stiffen, before huffing out my breath impatiently, and turning back to her. "This is such bullshit, Mom!" I burst. "No one's fucking perfect—this is who I am. Why is it that Alice can accept me—Bella can accept me, but you can't?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Eventually, she only shook her head in reply, her shoulders slumping. And that pretty much said fucking everything.
"I am not ... Dad!" It fucking strangled from me, and with that said, I completely lost it. "JUST LET ME FIGURE IT OUT, AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" I stormed out of the office, up the stairs to my room where I slammed my door so hard it shook the entire house.
"Fuck ... this shit!" I fumed, running both my hands through my hair rigidly, pacing around my room in an effort to get a fucking grip on myself. My chest was beginning to go tight, my whole fucking body stiff, and I knew if I didn't somehow release it I would fucking explode.
There was a knock on the door before it opened a fraction and fucking Alice peeked her head into the room. "Edward…?" Her expression was stricken.
"GET OUT!" I roared, making her flinch, but the little rat held her ground. "ALICE, I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU TAKE ONE STEP INSIDE THIS ROOM I WILL—I WILL ... I..."
I couldn't fucking breathe. I felt like my lungs were suddenly in a vice and being squeezed tighter and tighter.
I couldn't take a single fucking breath.
The room was suddenly spinning, and my heart was fucking pounding against my rib cage in panic. I only clenched at my chest, as I continued to struggle to drag air into my lungs, feeling myself all but collapse against my bed, sliding to the floor.
Alice was beside me, dragging me closer to her, shaking my shoulders, but it was as if someone had pressed the mute button. All I could hear was a piercing ringing in my ears while my heart hammered through every fucking inch of my body.
And I was being flooded, completely overrun by events of the past, as they rushed through my mind with blinding fucking light. Of Mom, broken and crumbling; of my father's cold hard body as it lay in a coffin; of Alice, emaciated and clinging to life; of Emmett staring down at me with a fear in his expression that was completely foreign to him. And Bella; Bella's eyes haunted and fucking desolate, tearing straight into my soul.
"Edward!" Alice's voice broke through to me as she shook me again, harder, looking beyond fucking terrified.
Carlisle was before me, trying to put something over my face; I only shoved him away from me. Then it was my mother, and she fucking slapped me. So hard I felt it stinging behind my fucking eye. The same way the little rat had once slapped me; the same way I witnessed Bella's mother slap her. Then someone tried to shove water down my throat, making me start choking and fucking convulsing more.
"Get out!" I tried to yell, but all I could manage was a pitiful, strained fucking sound. Instead, I shook my head, back and forth before dropping it into my hands and completely releasing myself to whatever the hell was consuming me, realizing I had suddenly hit rock-fucking-bottom. It had ripped a hole straight through my chest and was shredding me.
My phone rang. It jolted me—snapping me out of this fucking cataclysm for a moment. Alice dived into my breast pocket to retrieve it, saying one word to me before she answered it, "Bella."
She put the phone to her ear, shaking her head as she spoke. I could hear her speaking to her, sounding so fucking anxious that she was practically yelling, but I couldn't make out her words—apart from Bella's name, spoken over and over again.
I closed my eyes; I could hear Bella's voice through the phone. She was speaking my name, and it was as if the sound of it was synced to my heart, to my heaving fucking lungs.
"Speak to him, Bella," Alice said, before thrusting the phone clumsily to my cheek.
I took it from her; my hands fucking trembling beyond my control. "Edward! Are-are you okay—talk to me!" Bella's voice cried through the phone, on the verge of tears, in that weird ass accent of hers that I could still barely understand most days, but who owned my fucking soul.
Tears started running down my face, fucking choking me. I felt drained of all energy and I was fucking exhausted.
"Bella..." was all I could manage, in a strangled, gasping fucking voice that I didn't recognize. I tried to speak again, but I was fucking stuttering, as if my brain was no longer connected to my mouth.
Bella was crying, her voice suddenly incoherent and rambling. I only caught the end of what she'd said. "Just hang on, honey. I'm coming—I love you!"
I think I made some twisted sound that was meant to be a laugh, before I dropped the phone as I tried to fight past the burning fucking feeling in my chest that felt like it was suffocating me and dragging me further down.
So fuck it, I just surrendered to it.
It seemed like only a minute had passed when Bella suddenly threw herself against me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. I felt her hands in my hair, her lips press repeatedly to my face as I struggled to take a full breath and fight this bullshit off. I could only cling to her, gripping her t-shirt in my fists and almost ripping it from her back as my whole fucking body shook uncontrollably.
I heard the tone of her voice, high and anguished, keep repeating my name, as she shook me, her hands clamped around my face. All I could do was close my eyes, inhaling her in more and more with each tormented fucking breath I took.
"I'm sorry, Edward—I'm so sorry," I heard her voice break through this fucking stranglehold over me like an iron fist.
I snapped my head up, my equilibrium beginning to anchor back.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you sorry?" I uttered, sounding just as fucking drunk as I felt.
She laughed, pressing her face against mine as her lips connected with my skin again, engulfing me with her breath. She was making me slightly off balance, but this was what I knew—feeling every day that I was in way out of my depth.
And I could breathe again. At least, I could take a breath without feeling like my lungs were going to fucking explode.
Bella had curled herself completely around me, and was whispering things to me. At first I couldn't properly comprehend what she was saying, until I realized she was trying to make me laugh.
"I wuv you, Eddy Weddy, honey bear, love of my life." Her breath was wavering and shaky, breaking slightly, before again she pressed her lips to mine, longer this time, deeper.
I laughed; it burst from me somewhere between fighting to catch my breath, and trying to stop my whole fucking body from shuddering. I dropped my face back to her bare skin that curved at the base of her neck.
"You're ... such a sap..." I mumbled, as my eyes close heavily.
I was fucking dead.
She laughed with me, her voice gentle, while her breath was so warm against my face it was like fucking sunshine.
"I was supposed to drive you home," she murmured against my ear. "I was supposed to be taking care of you, remember?"
I was beyond fucked up, and I was sure I didn't have enough oxygen in-take to power an erection. Instead, breaking into a small smile, I took a huge fucking exhausted breath in and let it go.
She spoke to Alice, and I only registered it because her tone completely changed. "What happened to him—what caused it?"
"This has been eight years in the making, Bella," the little rat answered softly.
It suddenly occurred to me that I was still sitting on the floor at the side of my bed, with Bella sitting straddled in my lap. She was rising and falling above me slower now, and it was the only indication that I was suddenly breathing normally. But her body was hot against mine, too hot. I was fucking sweltering; sweat was pouring from every square inch of my body.
And my ass was numb.
"He'd kept it all in—all these years. Are you sure you're not his twin instead of me, Bella?" Alice joked, though her tone was only semi-serious—and I thought I was about to cringe to fucking death.
"Get the fuck out of my room, you little rat," I snapped, still sounding fucking shaky, while my tone was more affectionate than I had intended.
Or maybe it was subconscious.
Bella chuckled, her little body rebounding through me as she sat flush on top of me. Then to make it infinitely worse, Alice kissed me impulsively on my cheek, nudging me.
Groaning against the warmth of Bella's neck, I shifted, indicating that I wanted to get up. Bella climbed off me carefully before taking my hand and helping me to my feet. It was probably a good thing she did; I was so fucking gone I was swaying.
Grabbing her shoulders to brace myself, I dropped my head against hers. "Just … give me a minute." My voice was barely audible and I was still fucking shaking.
She was staring at me, scrutinizing me closely, before she eventually nodded. "Okay, honey."
And despite myself, I broke into an immediate grin. "Did you just call me honey?" I teased her, despite my voice sounding fucking hoarse and broken.
She smiled back at me, all warm and tender, without a shred of that cynical suspicion that I was so used to. "You're hearing things."
I sort of half laughed, but I was about to drop, and I could see it in her eyes.
"I'm okay," I attempted to reassure her, only it was the fucking joke of the century, and she didn't buy it, regardless. I couldn't get much past this girl, after all.
On shaky fucking legs, I made my way into my bathroom, where I stripped my damp clothes off and replaced them with a clean t-shirt and track pants. When I walked back into my room, I climbed on my bed and all but collapsed, rolling onto my back. It was then that I noticed Mom, Emmett and Carlisle standing in the doorway.
"You okay there, Edna?" Emmett asked me.
I only quirked what I was sure was a fucked up exhausted grin at him, and gave him the thumbs up sign.
And then Carlisle was sitting beside me taking my fucking pulse.
"Jesus, I'm not dying," I complained, but begrudgingly let him finish.
Carlisle flashed me a small smile before releasing my wrist. "Not tonight."
Next it was mom, looking guilty and fucking wretched as she wiped my hair back from my forehead. "Get some sleep, sweetheart. I-I had no idea you were carrying around so much, but I'm so glad you released it."
I brought both my hands to my forehead, pushing the heels into my eyes. "Mom..." I began but abandoned it. What the fuck could I say, anyway?
She kissed my brow quickly. "I underestimated you, sweetheart, and I'm so very sorry."
More guilt…
"It's okay, Mom," I mumbled with a sigh.
She pressed her lips against my forehead one more time. "Get some sleep. Bella's here." She left the room with Alice behind her, continuing to smile at me over her shoulder until she closed the door behind her.
I removed my hands from my eyes to properly look at Bella for the first time since she'd been here. She'd been crying, and her eyes were completely fucking drowning with panic. She broke into a smile, but this time I could see how much it was being overshadowed.
"Come here." I held out my arm to her.
She sat beside me and grabbed my hand before bending down to kiss my lips. "Don't you dare think about doing that face," she reproached me teasingly, before her lips found my brow. "You're not worrying about me tonight."
"Shut up and let me sleep," I replied, grinning at her, but I was so fucking shattered that it was depleting me just to speak. With my last reserves of energy I pulled her down with me.
She curled herself against me, running her fingers up and down my chest, before her breath left her in a heavy sounding sigh. "What happened, Edward?"
Inhaling, I released it into a light groan. "I dunno, baby."
Squeezing her, I closed my eyes—mainly because just keeping them open fucking exhausted me more.
"Did I put too much on you in Australia?" she breached softly, sounding fucking guilt ridden again, and it was beginning to frustrate me.
"No, now shut up. You talk too much."
"You are my knight in shining armor, Edward. And you're right—I've never had anyone be that for me, apart from you." She sounded close to tears, and I was about to open my eyes and reply, but she started kissing me again; my lips, my face; my neck—all over the damn place.
Fuck me, she was going to kill me.
I only made this exhausted fucking primitive sound, wishing like hell I had some kind of energy to be able to respond, but my body was craving nothing but sleep.
And I was fading fast.
A/N: Poor Edward...