Everything was packed, the boxes and furniture was already on their way and would be waiting for us in Virginia. All that was left was to get in our cars and drive there. The best part – or the worst if you had asked Edward – was that Rosalie had worked on the engine of my truck until she was certain it would make the cross country trip, even if we would end up getting there much later than everyone else because no amount of Rosalie's magical tinkering could make that behemoth travel faster than 60mph.
"I'm gonna miss you so much!" Jess wailed theatrically as she threw her arms around my neck in a hug that was more like being strangled by a python than being embraced by my tiny human friend.
"Jess, you'll be moving to New York in the fall, that's, like, so close to Roanoke." I soothed, my body still pressed tightly against Jess'
"It's really not." Jess mumbled morosely into my shoulder.
Which, okay, fine, I guess it was pretty far by human standards. But when I could run as fast as I could, the trip to New York suddenly seemed like nothing at all. "I'll visit." I vowed, "As if Alice would say no to the chance to visit the fashion capital of the country." I teased.
"You're right." Jess sniffed. "And we can text, and email." she continued.
"Exactly." I nodded as I pulled away and Edward cleared his throat not so subtly from were he was waiting near my truck. We were on our way out of Forks, but had to make a few stops on my farewell tour to say goodbye to Angela and Jess. It's just my goodbye with Jess was taking a bit longer than we thought it would. I sighed sadly, "I'll see you soon, okay?"
Jess nodded and sniffled sadly and I pulled myself out of her arms and quickly got back into my truck before I was pulled into another watery hug. Jess waved goodbye as Edward pulled the truck back out onto the street and I waved in return.
You are now leaving Forks, WA. Thanks for visiting! Drive Safe!
We drove past the worn down, moss covered sign without hesitation. And I couldn't help but wonder: how many decades would it be before we would be returning?
XxXx
It took us just under a week for us to make the cross country drive from Washington to Virginia. Edward drove through the night while I slept, and Edward tried to make sure that we made minimal stops for food, gas, and toilet breaks. Turns out, Edward was not the greatest road trip partner. He complained. A lot. Especially about how we could have made the trip in less than three days if it weren't for my incessant need to see ridiculous roadside attractions. I knew that his complaining was half-hearted, and that he was secretly enamoured with my absurd infatuation with the outlandish tourist attractions that were sprinkled along America's highways, each one was a unique gem of Americana that I delighted in exploring and taking pictures of with a reluctant Edward by my side – he enjoyed it too, even if he pretended otherwise.
Little did Edward know, I had everything planned. Everything. I knew exactly which things I wanted to see, and which things Edward could be talked into stopping for, and which ones we would pass by in the night while I slept and Edward tried to make up for lost time by driving through until dawn. I had this down to a science.
And I was very excited for our next stop because I just knew Edward was gonna get a kick out of it.
"Why are we stopping in Indianapolis?" Edward asked warily as he parked where I had directed him to.
"There's a museum I wanna go to. Besides, it's time for lunch anyway." I replied chipperly.
"It's not another doll museum, is it?" his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"No, it's not. That place wasn't that bad anyway." I rolled my eyes as I grabbed bag and camera as I jumped out of the truck.
"It was that bad, Bella. I swear, that place was haunted. I hated porcelain dolls when I was human and I still hate them now." he grumbled as he followed me down the street, I was glad for the mostly over-cast day as it made sticking to the shadows a lot easier.
"Ghosts aren't real, don't be silly." I chirped as I took Edward's hand in my own as I urged him down towards our destination.
"Said the werewolf, to the vampire." Edward muttered under his breath.
"You believe in ghosts?" I asked, surprised.
"You don't?" Edward quipped.
I laughed under my breath as I tugged Edward around the final corner. "Ta-da!" I cheered as I turned on my heel and held out my arms on either side like a game show host presenting the grand-prize, but in this case the grand-prize was…
"The Indiana Medical History Museum?" Edward read out the sign on the building across the street, confusion and just a tiny hint of curiosity tinting his voice.
"Yup!" I bounced on the balls of my feet as we waited to cross the road, once it was clear I continued to tug Edward along at my side. "They have brains in jars." I whispered conspiratorially.
"Okay, that does sound kinda cool." Edward admitted grudgingly.
My smile widened into a pleased grin as we entered the building, paid the admission fee and happily waited for the next tour to begin.
I was right, Edward did enjoy the museum. As soon as we had entered the building, Edward's excitement grew until he was almost vibrating with nervous energy as we waited for the tour to start. I was a little more subdued at first mainly due to the fact I was a little bit overwhelmed by all the strange new smells – the metallic smell of old, dried blood, and the putrid stench of death and decay and meat that had been left to fester mingled with the sharp nose burning scent of chemicals and formaldehyde made me feel nauseous at first but after a moment or two I was able to push all of the new sensory information away and focus on the tour and Edward's childlike glee.
And it was adorable.
Edward's hand never left mine as we trailed after the tour guide, Edward walked with an excited lightness to his step that I hadn't seen before as he made sure to stay at the front of the small tour group. It took me an embarrassingly long time to cotton on to why exactly Edward was so damn excited by this place. Because, as it turns out, this place used to be part of a hospital, or more specifically a teaching hospital, a teaching hospital where Carlisle used to work and teach, and where Edward got his first medical degree in the 40's, after he had returned from his quote-unquote 'rebellious phase'. Apparently after coming home and giving up being a vigilante-slash-serial-killer Carlisle thought that helping Edward further his education in the form of a medical degree would help them bond and repair their shaky relationship.
"I helped Carlisle preserve that brain!" Edward whispered excitedly in my ear as he pointed at a pickled brain in a jar that was labelled with a printed out sign marking the patient's age at their time of death, along side the year the sample was uh … preserved.
It was pretty gross, but also, pretty damn cool. "Why did he die?" I whispered discreetly so the humans around us wouldn't hear our very strange and very not-normal conversation.
"He had meningitis." Edward answered as he pulled me slightly closer to the specimen, "You can still see the inflammation, there… see?" Edward murmured in my ear, his cool breath tickled my skin and caused goose bumps to erupt over my skin.
"No, where?" I breathed. I suddenly felt light headed, like all the blood in my body had been diverted to the blazing blush on my cheeks and somewhere much further… south. And this was not supposed to be sexy or in any way erotic and what the hell was wrong with me!? There was a brain sitting pickled in a fucking jar right there! But all I could think about was Edward's lips as they ghosted across the shell of my ear and the way his chest pressed against my back and how his hand held my waist in a firm but gentle grip as he moved me so our eyes could follow the same line of sight and – my god all this was very very unnecessary, Edward just had to be doing it on purpose.
"There," Edward murmured as he raised his free hand around me to point at the brain, "You can see the layer thickness covering the cerebellum." he explained as his finger traced the air, following the curve of the preserved brain as he spoke.
I squinted, "Kinda." I admitted with a shrug. I turned my head slightly when I noticed movement off to the side, "Come on, we don't wanna get left behind. Do you want a picture with your brain?" I asked as I pulled away from Edward's embrace.
"It's not my brain." Edward rolled his eyes, "But yes, yes I do." he grinned cheekily as he stood in front of the shelf holding the specimen and I quickly took a couple of pictures. We hastily caught up with the rest of the tour group as Edward excitedly mumbled, "I can't wait to show Carlisle that they still have the very first brain I autopsied."
Which was strange and morbid, but also very cute. And if that didn't describe Edward Cullen down to a T then I don't know what else did.