Chapter 13

A Message From An Old Friend

"So why would a weekend away be such a bad idea?" She asked confused.

"Bella…" I groaned, shaking my head. How could she not see it? Was she actually planning on letting me say it out loud? "What would your brothers think?"

"Who cares what they think?" She snorted.

"I do?"

"Why?" Bella looked outright confused and then started giggling. Giggling?! "Wait, don't tell me you're looking for their blessings, 'cause you know you don't need them."

"Look, I'm already walking on very thin ice with Damon. Stefan has been sending me looks during History already…"

"Stefan will live, and Damon…" She huffed and shut her locker. Pushing her hand in mine and twining our fingers we walked through the school hallway toward the cafeteria. "Damon takes time really. You know he and Bonnie used to wish each other dead? Now they're best friends."

"And how long did that take?" I asked hopeful.

"A couple of years…and being stuck together in the eternal prison for months," Bella added the second part way too quickly.

"Huh." I found myself smiling.

Whenever Bella mentioned anything about her or her family's past, it sounded very bizarre. Like the time they found out about doppelgangers, when Damon and Bonnie's boyfriend Enzo were under the control of the siren, or Bella's encounter with the biggest werewolf pack in New Orleans.

"And you think my relationship with your brother will improve with time?"

"Well, they ought to start liking you eventually." Bella laughed. "And I, for one, have a lot of plans for our future."

"You do?" I asked, a warm feeling spreading across my chest.

"Yes, starting with a weekend away." Bella winked and flew into her classroom, stranding me at the door. I leaned in on the doorframe, smirking to myself. That woman was going to be the death of me.

I shook my head and went along to my class. This conversation wasn't over though, and right when the bell rang, I was on my feet again. Standing right back where I left her I could see Bella still packing her belongings back into her purse. Her wavy hair was in a high ponytail today, allowing me to fully see her face.

Bella smiled her most breathtaking smile when she noticed me at the door. It was a smile I was lucky to get most often. She made her way to me, swinging her bag on her shoulder as she walked. I noticed one of her many suitors looking in my direction with disdain and chuckled to myself after reading his thoughts.

"Something funny?" Bella asked. I still had no clue how she could tell my emotions so easily.

"Are you in my head again?"

"You crinkle your eyes just a tad whenever you try not to smile."

"I'd have to work on being more discreet in the future."

"Even if it's me?" She pretend gasped, placing her hand over her heart.

"I don't think I could ever fool you, Miss Salvatore. You seem to see right through me and enter my mind whenever you please as well."

"A woman needs to have this sort of gift when being courted by a gentleman who can read the thoughts of everyone around her," Bella whispered, and I couldn't help it. I laughed and placed a small kiss on her cheek.

"Your age defines your speech this afternoon, I see."

"Your age doesn't." She parried.

"When one courts a woman, I would think he had to impress her with his knowledge about times she was most used to."

"Pardon me, Mr. Cullen, did you just call me old?" Bella chuckled and opened her mouth in pretend offense once more.

"What can I say, Miss Salvatore, I've always admired older women."

"Idiot." She broke the game, leaning on my arm and chuckling. "Before you can change the subject again. I want to continue what I was going to say before this class. After this morning, your entire family knows we're serious. So what if my brothers do too? At least they're not my parental figures."

"Well, it's a little different." I protested, getting back to our original topic. "I'm not actually related to anyone, and both Carlisle and Esme know that you're my mate and there cannot be anyone else for me."

"And you've told me before that this relationship, the soulmate thing, is always mutual. So why wouldn't my brothers understand that?"

"Because you've had a relationship before and it's not a concept they've lived with for decades."

"That's beside the point, hon." Bella insisted. I loved her stubbornness, I loved everything about her, but she made me crazy at times. "We live in the new age, I've had to interact with my brothers' multiple girlfriends a lot. They'll have to deal. After all, what we have is forever, right?"

"For me, it has to be," I whispered, stopping to kiss her wrist.

"Two-sided, remember?" Bella chuckled. "I agree the concept takes some time to get used to, but I can't imagine being with anyone else. You've said it before, not directly, but I know that you feel it for me. So, I want to reassure you as well…"

Bella stopped in the middle of the hallway. Most humans were already in their classes, but there were still some that were fiddling with their locks and chatting next to doorways. I couldn't care less about them in that moment though because I thought I knew where Bella was going with this. My breath was caught and I couldn't take my eyes off the woman in front of me. Bella looked at our intertwined hands and then into my eyes.

"I love you, Edward Cullen."

"I love you, Bella Salvatore." I felt the biggest smile spread across my face. "You can't even imagine how much."

"I think I have some idea." She chuckled, pulling me closer. An intimate and yet quick kiss was all I could allow in a still-occupied hallway, but the heat and passion of her words stung me.

Bella was the most loving, strong-willed, and honest person I've ever met. She was the center point of my universe and I couldn't even dare to hope she could fall in love with me so fast. To be honest, after everything she has been through I would be alright if it took her a year to feel this close of an attachment to another person. The utmost luck I had...Well, I still couldn't believe it.

After the last bell rang, I met Bella at her final class. She already had her bag in her hands, readily handing it over to me and taking my hand in hers. She sighed happily and we walked outside.

Her car was parked further than usual, seeing how we got to school about a minute before the bell rang. I hated delay, but if every morning were as amazing as this one, I wouldn't care. Even if they called Esme to complain about me.

"After 1000 years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows to diminish with time." The man sounded poetic, his distinct British accent cutting through the parking lot, making sure it was heard. "Yet, you, my dear Arabella, still look just as daring and breathtaking as you did in the 1800s."

"Nik!" Bella laughed, turning her head to me and smiling brightly before letting go and running to the poet man. He was just a tad shorter than me, with dark blonde hair and dark blue-green eyes. His skin looked rather faded, almost translucent in the cloudy weather. And I couldn't help but feel my mood drop.

I felt a pinch in my heart as I saw Bella hugging him, and felt jealous for the first time in my life. What a horrible feeling it was. Yet, I composed myself and came toward Nik and Bella. He was smiling as he was hugging my girlfriend, and I felt another pinch.

"Edward, this is Klaus, remember I told you about him?" Bella spoke to me after stepping away from the poet. Klaus…The original hybrid. The one who saved Bella's life after her infamous encounter with a werewolf pack, her would-be brother-in-law. What was he doing here?

"Edward Cullen." I offered my hand.

"Niklaus Mikaelson." The man shook it carefully, his facial expressions changed after Bella's hug. He looked like he was studying me. "So. You're the boyfriend?"

"I am." I looked him straight in the eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking about, but of course, his mind was just as blank as Bella's.

"Not to be rude." Bella cleared her throat. "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm traveling through. You think China is nice this time of year?" Klaus responded, but he was still staring at me with the same intense look on his face.

"It's rather cloudy."

"Okay, boys." Bella cut off. "The testosterone fight is rather last decade fun activity."

"Why Bella, but we are both rather old enough to still enjoy it, aren't we?" Klaus smirked. "But as you wish. I heard from my sister that the Salvatores moved to Forks, and decided to visit you."

"Well, you should stay for dinner then at least. We could catch up." Bella offered with a grateful smile.

"Fine idea. Edward, you'll join us, yes?"

"Of course." There was no way I was going to miss this meeting, and it wasn't the jealousy in me talking. I was truly terrified that Klaus might have a different motive, that he would unintentionally or intentionally hurt my Bella. Call it an instinct or just life knowledge, but I was certain of it.

The dinner was set out to be in the Salvatore house, Stefan and Damon declined the offer to catch up with Klaus. Too much bad blood between them from the past. Both literally and figuratively.

I arrived earlier than was supposed to. Thinking of Bella being with Klaus alone in the house made my venom freeze in my veins.

"Edward doesn't eat I presume," Klaus spoke as a matter of fact, leaving just two glasses on the dinner table.

"You've met ones like me before?"

"After you live as long as I did, it's unavoidable. Although, the shapeshifters Ara told me about are an entirely new thing."

"As far as we know, their ability is limited to just one tribe." I shrugged.

"I know of a similar one in Tanzania, although they shift into lions rather than wolves."

Carlisle would love to hear about it. The Quileutes would too, probably. It's a shame they treat us like enemies.

Bella served dinner, and the conversations mostly stayed on regular chit-chat and catching up. Similar conversations I've heard in my head in the school cafeteria. Bella asked the Original about his daughter, his siblings, and New Orleans. Klaus was interested in Caroline's life and how it turned out. For a species that claims they cannot procreate, vampires of Bella's kind had way too many children. Of course, I've only met Caroline and Klaus so far, but who was to say there weren't more?

I've also learned of the artistic talents of the Original, the fact that he sneaked one of his drawings into the Ermitage was beyond me. I recalled seeing the anonymous piece when I visited last.

Some say that an artist pours their feelings into their work, and if that is to be true, I was now privileged to know the Original's true self. Not the mask of a soulless killer and bastard that everyone knows, but the truly lonely person who got betrayed time and time again.

"The dinner was lovely, sis," Klaus spoke, throwing his napkin on the plate. His referral to Bella made my heart and head ease up a little bit. "I'm afraid I did come bearing some bad news though."

"I knew it." Bella groaned. "You never visit otherwise."

"I hope to change that, I swear."

"Yeah, I've heard that about 50 times. Okay, spill."

"Kol is alive. Has been for some time."

I could see the color drain from Bella's face. My own heart felt like it was sinking.

"What?!" She exclaimed in a whisper. I wished I had the same ability to decipher her emotions as she did mine. I placed my hand on her knee and felt her squeeze it a moment later.

"I didn't tell you before because…he found someone." Klaus continued, looking a little uncomfortable and avoiding her eyes.

Bella looked down at the table. "Did he ask you not to tell me?" She spoke calmly.

"Yes."

"What did he…Did he think I had anything to do with the way he died?"

"I…Rebekah and I assured him you didn't, but you know how his trust issues work. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine." Bella shrugged, she took a few minutes to think and then looked up at the Original. "I'm happy he's okay, truly. And I'm happy he found someone because I did too. Will you tell him that?"

"Of course." Klaus nodded. "Anyway, I better start my journey, I'm already late."

"I'll walk you out." Bella's smile never reached her eyes. She stood up after squeezing my hand once more.

"Nice meeting you, Edward." Klaus offered me his hand for a shake. Feeling rather guilty for thinking him evil, I offered a small smile and shook his hand.

"You as well, Klaus. Take care."

I watched as Bella walked outside of the house, her stride as graceful as they came. My phone vibrated in my pocket then, making me lose my focus on Bella. I quickly took it out and read the text from Tanya.

I switched my attention to outside to catch the last goodbyes.

"...and after seeing your new beloved, well I could only say one thing to you dear. We can cling to the past or embrace the inevitability of change and allow a brighter future to unfold before us." Klaus was certainly a poet, if not on paper, then definitely in heart. "I love my brother, it's inevitable, I suppose, but I knew from day one that he wasn't a match for you. And believe me when I tell you, I thought you could do so much better than Kol. I hope this new one treats you better than he did, making you his priority. And even though you and my brother are no longer together, you're still a part of this family. You will always be, don't you hesitate to ask for anything."

"Nik…" Bella sniffed. "Thank you for coming out here to tell me. It means the world to me. I doubt that you'll need it, but if I could help you in any way, just give me a call."

"I'll hold you to it, Arabella." The man chuckled, I heard the car door open and then close, the engine started and in a few seconds, the noise from the tires let me know that our guest had departed.

Bella came inside in another minute and fell on her chair next to me. Her head rested on my shoulder and she rubbed her eyes intensely.

"Are you alright?"

"My dead lover is alive and thinks I was an accomplice in his murder. I'm fantastic, really." Bella's giggle was a little concerning. I adjusted my arm, so I could pull her closer to me. "You know, I truly grieved him. I didn't sleep for weeks and cried every time someone mentioned his name. It felt like there was this burning hole in my chest and no matter how much I drank, blood or booze, no matter, nothing helped. It took years for me to be able to hold myself together, to say his name out loud in front of others…To know he's alive and he didn't tell me himself, it feels like…like…"

"A betrayal?" I asked my words barely a whisper.

"Maybe." Bella huffed, biting on her lip. She sat straighter and looked into my eyes. "Now that I think of it, living with that grief became so much easier after I met you. Is that a part of the bond that we share?"

"I'm not sure, love."

I placed a small kiss on her head, hoping that her misery would soon be nothing but a memory. I hated seeing Bella upset, especially when there was nothing I could do to erase the bad memory from her head. But even then, I doubted Bella would want me to.

"I got some good news when you were saying goodbye to Klaus." I decided to mention, maybe it would cheer her up a little.

"Oh yeah?"

My phone vibrated on the table and after quickly glancing at it and rolling my eyes at the message, I turned back to Bella.

"Why is Ali excited about some road trip?" Bella asked confused. "Are you leaving?"

"Well, you and I are. Alice invited herself, I should think." I chuckled. "Carmen asked Laurent about Victoria, we have her address."

"I guess we're going on that weekend getaway after all." Bella cocked her eyebrows. "Are you going to admit defeat?"

"I think I should start getting used to the idea that you will forever be a victor." I chuckled, pulling Bella closer to me and bearing my face in her hair.

Road trip! Is Alice going to third wheel?