CHAPTER NINE

The next morning, Bella extracted herself from Edward's arms, threw on one of his worn baseball caps, pulling her long, wavy hair through the back. He pulled on a similar cap to ward off the sun, its tattered fabric fraying at the edges. After rushing ahead of her to hold open the door, they ran into the harsh sunshine, heading straight for the cover of the trees.

Five miles away, they found Alice, her small feet dangling above the river, toes dipping in and out of the water as she swung her legs lazily back and forth like a spoiled child. Red seeped from her skin into the water and spread like tangled seaweed across the riverbed. Vaguely, Bella wondered who she had killed and hoped that it was not brutal, though the splattered blood on Alice's legs told a different story. Swallowing, Bella forced herself to look into Alice's scarlet eyes. She could smell the dried blood despite the wind blowing in the opposite direction, and her nose wrinkled.

Edward leaned against an oak, crossing his arms over his dark t-shirt. Despite his supposed casual demeanor, she could see how stiff he was. Bella left his side to walk slowly forward to the edge of the river, watching Alice's dreamy smile the entire way.

She heard his low, protective warning growl and paid it no heed.

"Hi, Bella," Alice's voice chimed.

"Alice," Edward warned, voice cold and harsh.

"Hey," Bella replied, aiming for detached.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" She clapped her tiny hands together.

Bella questioned, "What's the plan?" She pretended to pick dirt from under her nails.

"James loves to picnic on the mountainside," her eyes were unfocused. "He can find me there."

Bella shifted slightly so Edward was in her peripheral. She watched him nod as he confirmed Alice's vision.

"Go on," Bella encouraged.

"The moon will be full in a few days," she looked up at the sky, thin lips slightly curled. "His severed head will look lovely on the mantel."

"What the fuck," Edward muttered, shaking his head.

Bella swallowed back a rush of venom.

"Dearest pet," Alice grinned widely, laughing. "Victoria will make our lily wilt before long. The tracker is the easiest part of our game."

"Cool, cool, cool," Bella replied, locking her muscles to prevent herself from backing up slowly.

"You realize her plan, yes?" Edward inquired seriously. When Bella didn't reply, he continued, "She intends to use us to wipe out the Southern armies, which actually is something that is quite needed, but I digress -"

Alice's giggles sliced through the air manically, uncontrollably.

He continued, albeit a bit louder in an attempt to drown her out, "She hopes to install herself as the ruler of the area…" He spat out, staring at Alice as if plucking out more information. "I can't get anything past that, unfortunately, as she is reciting the Star Spangled Banner in Swahili." He finished, gritting his teeth.

Frustrated and a bit nervous, Bella kicked a pebble too hard - it flew across the river and cracked against a tree, leaving a divot in the trunk. All three vampires looked on as a piece of bark fell to the ground with a crack.

On one hand, Bella knew Alice was dangerous - but was she more dangerous than María and Victoria?

"You know the answer to that one, pet," Alice soothed.

Bella stepped back abruptly. Alice tilted her head, still chuckling like a madwoman. "Oh, don't be like that. You were going to ask me that question. And you know, sweet lily, that one is better than two." She held up one finger as if in explanation.

Edward scoffed.

"We don't have to stay there." Bella questioned, confirming.

"No," Alice supplied.

"We can leave." The after was implied.

"Yes, pet." Alice flicked a speck of dried blood off her babydoll dress.

Bella nodded, resolved.

It didn't fully register to her that when she said we, she meant Edward and me.

The '66 Mustang purred as it pulled on the road that night. Edward thumbed through a binder of CDs as he drove with his knees, the wind whipping through his bronze hair as he drove with the windows down.

Bella surreptitiously clicked on her seatbelt.

He peered at her from the corner of his eyes, the lights of the highway flashing, turning his face white and blue every few seconds. "I won't crash." He quipped.

"You're doing way too many things right now for this to be safe." Bella responded, her hair whipping around her face as she combed through it with her fingers, pulling it into a high ponytail.

"Even if we did crash, we're nearly indestructible."

"What if the engine blows?"

"We're fast enough. Actually, if you think about it, it'd take more time for you to unbuckle and get out." He cocked an eyebrow and resumed thumbing through the pages and pages of CDs in the binder.

Bella unbuckled her seatbelt with a huff and grabbed the binder from under him.

Edward smirked. "Find Charles Mingus or Lead Belly."

Beginning the search, she asked, "How'd you get all of these?"

"The store."

Bella looked at him curiously.

"Did you think I stole them?"

She nodded.

"I have a credit card." He smiled at her.

"That you… stole?"

He chuckled. "In my name."

"You… have a last name?"

He turned to face her, eyes leaving the road entirely and flashed her a crooked grin. "Yes."

"What?" She blinked once, twice. From the impossibility of it all. And maybe also to dispel the thoughts plaguing her about the way his lips curled.

Bella did not realize it was possible for a vampire to have a credit card, or a credit line. Or keep a last name.

She also now knew what those lips felt like on her own, on her neck. Wondered what they felt like on other places. She shook her head forcefully. "Wait. Do you own this car?" She straightened in her seat, voice going higher.

"Yes."

Before he could explain, she cut him off. "And you choose to live in a murder shack?"

Edward laughed. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Did it not impress you?" She rolled her eyes at his jest and pushed his face away so he was looking at the road again. "I like my privacy. The murder shack vibe keeps people away."

Bella pulled out The Saga of Lead Belly, hummed her assent, and pushed it into the CD rom player. "How do you have this organized?" She nodded to the binder.

He chewed the inside of his cheek in a surprisingly human gesture. "Um, by year and then by personal preference." He sped past other cars; they blurred by.

"You're the dorkiest vampire I've ever met." She sighed and stretched her legs out as Edward scoffed. "And how do you pay for the car and CDs but not for a liveable abode? Like, I don't know, something to impress a girl?" She shrugged.

"Carlisle. He keeps track of my bank account, sends me updated IDs." He stared hard at the road ahead, one hand gripping the wheel tightly. His eyes looked far away.

So Carlisle was a touchy subject. It was twice now that he didn't seem keen on talking about his past with his sire. They were quiet as "The River in the Pines" played softly through the speakers. She continued looking through his collection, noting that he had a wide range of artists.

"Plus, I used to have no desire to impress girls. Well, girl, really." He admitted softly a minute later.

Butterflies erupted in her stomach. She tamped them down.

"What are your musical preferences?" He asked, glancing over at her again and rolling up his window.

Bella bit her lip. "Well, I know Lead Belly since Kurt Cobain did a cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," so I like blues. And obviously rock and grunge, being an 80s baby and all." She paused to think. "Bluegrass."

His eyebrows rose. "How'd you start listening to bluegrass?"

She was hesitant to say his name, a lump forming in the back of her throat. She swallowed hard.

"Ahh… Jasper?" He whispered.

"Yeah," she confessed.

"You can talk about him. I -"

"Don't apologize again."

He nodded, a wavy lock of his bronze hair fell onto his forehead.

Bella cleared her throat unnecessarily, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Jasper likes country and bluegrass. But bluegrass is objectively better."

A slight tilt of the chin, hands a bit tighter on the wheel. A long pause, the lights of the freeway sliding into darkness as they crossed into the bum fuck of nowhere- the plains of the Midwest. Edward swallowed audibly. "I realize he means something to you. I'm… trying."

Bella nodded, her eyes trailing over the hard angles of Edward's face, memorizing the set of them. "What does it feel like?"

"It feels like a lot."

"Unedit." She requested. It was something he requested of her frequently lately, being unable to hear her thoughts.

Edward sighed, squinting his eyes. He rubbed a hand down his face. "Like… there's a vice on my chest when you talk about your relationship with him," he confessed slowly. Then more words came tumbling out. "Like… someone is shoving a hot poker through my gut when I think about how you've touched him where you have yet to touch me. Like being this close and not touching you will kill me."

The album came to an end and they were plunged into silence.

"I'm s-" he started.

"No, I asked for your thoughts unedited." She whispered back. I needed to hear that, stood on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't ready to admit that. To admit anything.

Uncurling her fingers from the binder, she flipped to the back where the newest music would be, noting artists that didn't quite surprise her: R.E.M., Nirvana, Tupac, Metallica. She hungrily filed this information away, like it was something precious. The rustle of plastic pages and their shared breaths blended in with the noise of the road sweeping by, the rumble of the engine at high speeds. Her fingers paused suddenly, hovering over one of the last CDs in the binder. "Celebrity?" She asked, incredulous.

He glanced over at her for the first time in a few minutes. "Okay, I see I need to explain here." He sighed. "The bubblegum pop, electronica and supposed hip hop influences are not why I purchased that." He pointed to the CD as if it offended him.

Bella guffawed at the stern look on his face, her laugh like the fall of twilight, the promise of freedom for him.

He grinned. "There are a few songs on the album - "Gone," for instance - that are particularly well constructed -" Bella looked at him mockingly and he stuttered a bit. "Their har-harmonizations are pleasing." He finished lamely.

"But it's *NSYNC."

Edward reached over and pinched her knee. "But it's *NSYNC." He looked at her conspiratorially. "Don't tell anyone."

"Oh, I was planning on penning a blog post entitled "Really Old Vampire Loves Boy Bands." I could include a photo of you in one of their bad tees. I'm assuming you are a J.C. fan? I'm sure they have one with just him. Or do you prefer the one with the pineapple hair?" Her hands mimicked the pineapple braids on top of her head.

"Ha, ha." He rolled his eyes goodnaturedly, a slight challenge in his eyes. "But, yes, J.C. has the richest voice. It's a shame they put Timberlake out as the main vocalist."

Bella laughed again, a rich and welcome sound, as she switched the CDs out.

"Make sure you put Lead Belly back in the correct place," he cautioned.

"Or what?" She taunted.

He turned the full force of his eyes on her, smoldering across the console. "Or… I'll get you." What was supposed to be a childish taunt came out darkly; the thread in her chest tugged once. His husky voice and empty threat awoke a feeling low in her abdomen.

"Sure." She cleared her throat. "Edward?" He gravitated toward her as she popped the CD in. She leaned in close, stretching over the console like a cat to whisper in his ear, "We are listening to this whole thing."

Edward sighed dramatically, frustratedly as the opening lines of the album surrounded them and they reluctantly pulled apart. As they drove together, giggling, back toward the mountains and toward James.

Bella settled back into the leather seat, and she noted with smug satisfaction the smile playing on his lips, the way his pupils dilated at her proximity. If her heart could beat, it would sound staccato like the rapid bass line.

"This is truly a terrible song." Edward murmured.

"This is your album!" Bella shrieked.

"Hush," Alice's voice mumbled from the back of the car. "I cannot sleep with your incessant flirting."

Bella and Edward shared a sheepish look as they continued on in the darkness.

A/N: Shout out to the anonymous commenter who seems to know where I'm going with this.

I promise more action next time.