A New Beginning ~ Chapter 6 / 6
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Bella didn’t notice when they passed through the first town, or the second. Rosalie took a phone call from Alice - something about cloud cover in the fourth town, so they could stop for gas. She didn’t pay much attention to that, either.
Now that her initial anger with Edward was somewhat lessened, she found that she enjoyed kissing him every bit as much as she ever had. He was, of course, the perfect gentleman about it. She’d curled up in his lap and buried her hands in his hair to keep them from straying to less acceptable areas. He’d wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and clasped his fingers together.
She let her entire consciousness just revel in the closeness. There was no need to be careful anymore. She could taste him completely, get as carried away as she liked, and he never pushed her away. She didn’t even have to pause to breathe.
But part of her brain DID register Rosalie’s phone call. Part of her noticed as the car slowed in the fourth town for gas. And then Rose opened her door and got out to fill the tank, and Bella’s eyes popped open. Edward was still lost in the kiss. She had about an eighth of a second, after the scent of nearby humans forced its way into her consciousness.
Without thought - possibly because part of her brain had already considered it - she coiled in his lap, pulling her feet up to plant them on his leg, and she sprang sideways, blowing the door entirely off the car. She somersaulted awkwardly, for a vampire, and was about to leap to the top of the car and over, towards the tiny storefront that housed someone. It was the realization that it was a PERSON in there that she was headed for that made her hesitate, just for a split second. And then she was surrounded. Emmett, Rose, Carlisle AND Jasper were on either side of her before Edward had even made it out of the car. Emmett was the only one grinning.
Bella straightened up from the defensive crouch she’d fallen into automatically, and took a deep breath to steady herself. The fire burned down her throat again, worse than before. She closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“Clearly distraction wasn’t the best idea,” Rose said, smirking, once everyone was sure she wasn’t going to bolt. “A whole MONTH with the Aston Martin!”
“Seriously?” Emmett asked, laughing.
“Actually, Bella, you did remarkably well. You could have been in there before we could get to you, if you’d wanted to be. None of us are as quick as you are right now.”
Esme glared at Carlisle like he was crazy to have told her that, but Bella just shook her head. “I didn’t want to. Once I realized -”
“Incoming,” Edward whispered. Bella glanced back at the shop, took another painful breath, and waved at the old man who’d come to stand at the door. She concentrated on his eyes. He’d lived a hard life, but he was a good man, she could tell. His soul shone. She forced a smile and got back into the car.
Edward scooted over to make room, and Emmett followed her in. Carlisle quickly fitted the door back into place, and they heard twisting metal as he forced the sheeted steel paneling to hold the door.
“The rest of this trip’s going to be hell, isn’t it?” Bella asked, her hand clenched around her neck.
“Nah, you’re doing great. Just another twenty six hours,” Emmett said, grinning. “We could arm wrestle!”
“Right, because it’s a good idea to put another hole in the car.” Bella rolled her eyes at him and climbed back into Edward’s lap as Rosalie got in and shut the door. She glanced at them in the rearview mirror, and huffed in annoyance. But it was short-lived.
“A whole month. Will you cry?” she asked Edward. He stared at the back of her head, immobile with tension, and held onto Bella tighter. Emmett laughed, and placed one large hand over both Bella’s ankles. When Edward turned his glare on his brother, Emmett was still grinning, unfazed.
“It’s been a long time since ankles were off-limits, bro.”
Edward tightened his arms around Bella still further, and she snuggled against him. He could feel her nose against his neck, the movement of air as she took another cautious breath. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She sounded as miserable as he felt, though the reasons were clearly different. He unlocked his fingers and put a hand to her head, cradling her against him and squeezing again. So much had changed. There was a time when nothing at all could have caught her attention while he was kissing her. It was the same for him as it had always been - better, even. But it was clearly different for her. He should have realized it would be. It was his own arrogance that had caused this problem, and nothing else.
“It’s alright. Carlisle’s right. You did great. I’m the one who screwed up.” She kissed his neck, just under his jaw, and he let his eyes fall closed. Hours passed and no one moved but Emmett, who leaned over the front seat to start a whispered conversation with Rosalie about all the places they could take Edward’s favorite car. He clenched his teeth, but Bella pressed another kiss to his neck and he let it go.
He puzzled over her thought process. Had she spent the whole time she was kissing him plotting in the back of her mind to use it as a way to distract HIM? It hardly made sense, since she’d managed to stop herself from attacking the human. Surely if she was putting that much thought into it, she wouldn’t have done it at all. And yet he couldn’t deny that if that HAD been her strategy, it was a good one. She was silent and still for so long…Emmett and Rose were now trying to decide how long it would be before they all had to start high school again. And underneath the civil conversation, both of them were considering which room to ‘christen’ first when they arrived at the new house. Edward finally got sick of the fantasies and kicked Emmett hard to remind him he was still here. Both his siblings laughed quietly. Bella didn’t react at all. He’d noticed she hadn’t been breathing for hours, pretty much since the gas stop before last.
“What are you thinking,” he whispered finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I wish Jake was here,” she mumbled sadly. He felt himself freeze, heard the shock in Rose and Emmett’s thoughts as they both went silent. For just an instant, Bella didn’t seem to notice, then she took a breath, clutching her throat again, and pulled away to look into his eyes. “His scent would overpower the humans’. If he were here I wouldn’t be able to smell them at all,” she explained.
When he didn’t respond, she swallowed - he knew she’d been doing that almost constantly since she’d ruined the car door, but this seemed to be for a different reason - and carefully kissed him. The kiss was just off-center, aiming for the bite mark on his lower lip. He didn’t respond to that either. She stared into his eyes for another long minute, then put her lips to his ear. “He STINKS, Edward,” she whispered in exasperation.
Bella felt Edward’s lip pull up against her cheek and decided she was forgiven. She kissed his earlobe and pulled away again to see the lop-sided smile she loved so well. Rose and Emmett had picked up their conversation as if nothing had happened.
Edward couldn’t help but smile at Bella’s insistence, though part of him still feared that he’d lost part of her heart to Jacob forever. When she kissed him again, he kissed her back, though. If he’d lost the chance to have her whole heart, through his own stupidity, he at least knew better than to risk any more of it.
Eventually Rosalie and Emmett’s conversation about the new house flowed out to include Edward and Bella. Edward was the only one who’d shown any interest in it before they’d left, so he described the floor plan. It was a century-old three-story stone structure on the edge of Moraine State Park.
Bella snuggled against him again and just listened, making sure to ask a question now and then, though mostly she was trying not to breathe. Keeping her nose close to Edward’s neck when she had to take a breath DID seem to help a little. Though, it did other things to her as well. She wasn’t sure if he felt similarly, however. She’d always been of the opinion that he didn’t feel quite the level of physical attraction for her as she did for him. Since their reunion, his kisses had changed, though. She could feel the passion in them now in ways she could not when she was human.
Rosalie had stopped getting out when it was time to get gas. Instead Carlisle, who was now driving Emmett’s Jeep while Esme drove Carlisle’s car, came over and pumped the gas. Not that it mattered. Bella had done enough damage when she ruined the door to prevent the car from ever being air-tight again.
“This was supposed to be your car, you know,” Edward whispered, when they’d exhausted all the details on the house. He smiled when Bella took another breath against his skin.
“Mine?”
“You didn’t think I was really going to let you keep driving that truck, do you?”
“So you found me an armored limo?”
Emmett and Rose both chuckled along with Edward. “It’s a Mercedes. And it WAS on loan - a prototype. I’ll have to buy it now.”
“Sorry,” Bella said again, tucking herself in tighter against his chest.
“Don’t be. At least it saw some use. When I left, I didn’t think it ever would. I tried to talk Carlisle into giving it to you anyway, but he didn’t think you’d take it.”
“He was right.” Bella answered, and Edward was surprised when she chuckled a little. “If I couldn’t have you, I didn’t want anything at all.”
“Well now you can have me AND the car.” He tried to grin down at her, but she wasn’t moving her head away from his neck. He tensed, realizing they’d hit a cross-wind as they passed over a bridge. There was a bit more new air in the car. He tightened his grip on her and was glad when she put her arms around his neck in response.
“Thanks.” He knew she didn’t mean the car. Eventually, she settled more comfortably again.
Bella spent the remainder of the car ride just being thankful for this chance to start over again. They’d had a rough start - what with him wanting to kill her at first, and then the stifling restraint he’d had to show, the disapproval of most of his family, and then his leaving. Not to mention the whole situation with James. But it was behind them now. She wouldn’t remember most of that anyway, in time. What little anger she still harbored was being squeezed out slowly over the course of many hours while he held her, rubbing comforting circles on her back when the wind was coming from the front, and grasping her tightly when it swirled around and into the car from the side. Her throat burned as much as ever. She swallowed convulsively, but she breathed in his scent and reminded herself who she was, and who she wanted to be. As long as she kept her head about her, it wasn’t as difficult as she’d feared. Sometimes it helped to stare into his eyes, and let herself get lost in gazing at his soul. She was still hesitant to look at the others - as far as she could tell, Carlisle and Edward hadn’t told anyone else what her gift was, and she didn’t want to abuse it before people even knew she could. But Edward didn’t seem to mind.
He stared back at her, wanting desperately to ask her what she saw when she looked at him that way. Besides the jealousy. But he restrained himself. As long as that tiny, mysterious smile was on her lips when she looked in his eyes, he figured it couldn’t be that bad. He could hardly wait to arrive in Pennsylvania and begin their first lifetime together. He wanted to take her to dancing lessons, and a couple of proms. He wanted to watch her go to college for anything that interested her…and then he wanted to marry her. But all that could come later. It was enough, for now, that he had this chance to start over - to do things the way he should have the first time. To protect her and love her the way he’d wanted to from the beginning.
When the car finally stopped, at the end of a six mile dirt driveway, Edward climbed out of the car without letting Bella go, and stood to look at the house they’d call home for the next dozen years or so. He grinned at her, and she took an experimental breath, smiling when she smelled nothing more appetizing than brown bears. “Will you miss your mountain lions?” she asked quietly. He laughed.
“I won’t miss a thing, as long as you’re here with me.” Behind them, Rosalie rolled her eyes, but everyone else smiled, as he carried her, laughing, across the threshold bride-and-groom style to embrace their new beginning.
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Bella didn’t notice when they passed through the first town, or the second. Rosalie took a phone call from Alice - something about cloud cover in the fourth town, so they could stop for gas. She didn’t pay much attention to that, either.
Now that her initial anger with Edward was somewhat lessened, she found that she enjoyed kissing him every bit as much as she ever had. He was, of course, the perfect gentleman about it. She’d curled up in his lap and buried her hands in his hair to keep them from straying to less acceptable areas. He’d wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and clasped his fingers together.
She let her entire consciousness just revel in the closeness. There was no need to be careful anymore. She could taste him completely, get as carried away as she liked, and he never pushed her away. She didn’t even have to pause to breathe.
But part of her brain DID register Rosalie’s phone call. Part of her noticed as the car slowed in the fourth town for gas. And then Rose opened her door and got out to fill the tank, and Bella’s eyes popped open. Edward was still lost in the kiss. She had about an eighth of a second, after the scent of nearby humans forced its way into her consciousness.
Without thought - possibly because part of her brain had already considered it - she coiled in his lap, pulling her feet up to plant them on his leg, and she sprang sideways, blowing the door entirely off the car. She somersaulted awkwardly, for a vampire, and was about to leap to the top of the car and over, towards the tiny storefront that housed someone. It was the realization that it was a PERSON in there that she was headed for that made her hesitate, just for a split second. And then she was surrounded. Emmett, Rose, Carlisle AND Jasper were on either side of her before Edward had even made it out of the car. Emmett was the only one grinning.
Bella straightened up from the defensive crouch she’d fallen into automatically, and took a deep breath to steady herself. The fire burned down her throat again, worse than before. She closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“Clearly distraction wasn’t the best idea,” Rose said, smirking, once everyone was sure she wasn’t going to bolt. “A whole MONTH with the Aston Martin!”
“Seriously?” Emmett asked, laughing.
“Actually, Bella, you did remarkably well. You could have been in there before we could get to you, if you’d wanted to be. None of us are as quick as you are right now.”
Esme glared at Carlisle like he was crazy to have told her that, but Bella just shook her head. “I didn’t want to. Once I realized -”
“Incoming,” Edward whispered. Bella glanced back at the shop, took another painful breath, and waved at the old man who’d come to stand at the door. She concentrated on his eyes. He’d lived a hard life, but he was a good man, she could tell. His soul shone. She forced a smile and got back into the car.
Edward scooted over to make room, and Emmett followed her in. Carlisle quickly fitted the door back into place, and they heard twisting metal as he forced the sheeted steel paneling to hold the door.
“The rest of this trip’s going to be hell, isn’t it?” Bella asked, her hand clenched around her neck.
“Nah, you’re doing great. Just another twenty six hours,” Emmett said, grinning. “We could arm wrestle!”
“Right, because it’s a good idea to put another hole in the car.” Bella rolled her eyes at him and climbed back into Edward’s lap as Rosalie got in and shut the door. She glanced at them in the rearview mirror, and huffed in annoyance. But it was short-lived.
“A whole month. Will you cry?” she asked Edward. He stared at the back of her head, immobile with tension, and held onto Bella tighter. Emmett laughed, and placed one large hand over both Bella’s ankles. When Edward turned his glare on his brother, Emmett was still grinning, unfazed.
“It’s been a long time since ankles were off-limits, bro.”
Edward tightened his arms around Bella still further, and she snuggled against him. He could feel her nose against his neck, the movement of air as she took another cautious breath. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She sounded as miserable as he felt, though the reasons were clearly different. He unlocked his fingers and put a hand to her head, cradling her against him and squeezing again. So much had changed. There was a time when nothing at all could have caught her attention while he was kissing her. It was the same for him as it had always been - better, even. But it was clearly different for her. He should have realized it would be. It was his own arrogance that had caused this problem, and nothing else.
“It’s alright. Carlisle’s right. You did great. I’m the one who screwed up.” She kissed his neck, just under his jaw, and he let his eyes fall closed. Hours passed and no one moved but Emmett, who leaned over the front seat to start a whispered conversation with Rosalie about all the places they could take Edward’s favorite car. He clenched his teeth, but Bella pressed another kiss to his neck and he let it go.
He puzzled over her thought process. Had she spent the whole time she was kissing him plotting in the back of her mind to use it as a way to distract HIM? It hardly made sense, since she’d managed to stop herself from attacking the human. Surely if she was putting that much thought into it, she wouldn’t have done it at all. And yet he couldn’t deny that if that HAD been her strategy, it was a good one. She was silent and still for so long…Emmett and Rose were now trying to decide how long it would be before they all had to start high school again. And underneath the civil conversation, both of them were considering which room to ‘christen’ first when they arrived at the new house. Edward finally got sick of the fantasies and kicked Emmett hard to remind him he was still here. Both his siblings laughed quietly. Bella didn’t react at all. He’d noticed she hadn’t been breathing for hours, pretty much since the gas stop before last.
“What are you thinking,” he whispered finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I wish Jake was here,” she mumbled sadly. He felt himself freeze, heard the shock in Rose and Emmett’s thoughts as they both went silent. For just an instant, Bella didn’t seem to notice, then she took a breath, clutching her throat again, and pulled away to look into his eyes. “His scent would overpower the humans’. If he were here I wouldn’t be able to smell them at all,” she explained.
When he didn’t respond, she swallowed - he knew she’d been doing that almost constantly since she’d ruined the car door, but this seemed to be for a different reason - and carefully kissed him. The kiss was just off-center, aiming for the bite mark on his lower lip. He didn’t respond to that either. She stared into his eyes for another long minute, then put her lips to his ear. “He STINKS, Edward,” she whispered in exasperation.
Bella felt Edward’s lip pull up against her cheek and decided she was forgiven. She kissed his earlobe and pulled away again to see the lop-sided smile she loved so well. Rose and Emmett had picked up their conversation as if nothing had happened.
Edward couldn’t help but smile at Bella’s insistence, though part of him still feared that he’d lost part of her heart to Jacob forever. When she kissed him again, he kissed her back, though. If he’d lost the chance to have her whole heart, through his own stupidity, he at least knew better than to risk any more of it.
Eventually Rosalie and Emmett’s conversation about the new house flowed out to include Edward and Bella. Edward was the only one who’d shown any interest in it before they’d left, so he described the floor plan. It was a century-old three-story stone structure on the edge of Moraine State Park.
Bella snuggled against him again and just listened, making sure to ask a question now and then, though mostly she was trying not to breathe. Keeping her nose close to Edward’s neck when she had to take a breath DID seem to help a little. Though, it did other things to her as well. She wasn’t sure if he felt similarly, however. She’d always been of the opinion that he didn’t feel quite the level of physical attraction for her as she did for him. Since their reunion, his kisses had changed, though. She could feel the passion in them now in ways she could not when she was human.
Rosalie had stopped getting out when it was time to get gas. Instead Carlisle, who was now driving Emmett’s Jeep while Esme drove Carlisle’s car, came over and pumped the gas. Not that it mattered. Bella had done enough damage when she ruined the door to prevent the car from ever being air-tight again.
“This was supposed to be your car, you know,” Edward whispered, when they’d exhausted all the details on the house. He smiled when Bella took another breath against his skin.
“Mine?”
“You didn’t think I was really going to let you keep driving that truck, do you?”
“So you found me an armored limo?”
Emmett and Rose both chuckled along with Edward. “It’s a Mercedes. And it WAS on loan - a prototype. I’ll have to buy it now.”
“Sorry,” Bella said again, tucking herself in tighter against his chest.
“Don’t be. At least it saw some use. When I left, I didn’t think it ever would. I tried to talk Carlisle into giving it to you anyway, but he didn’t think you’d take it.”
“He was right.” Bella answered, and Edward was surprised when she chuckled a little. “If I couldn’t have you, I didn’t want anything at all.”
“Well now you can have me AND the car.” He tried to grin down at her, but she wasn’t moving her head away from his neck. He tensed, realizing they’d hit a cross-wind as they passed over a bridge. There was a bit more new air in the car. He tightened his grip on her and was glad when she put her arms around his neck in response.
“Thanks.” He knew she didn’t mean the car. Eventually, she settled more comfortably again.
Bella spent the remainder of the car ride just being thankful for this chance to start over again. They’d had a rough start - what with him wanting to kill her at first, and then the stifling restraint he’d had to show, the disapproval of most of his family, and then his leaving. Not to mention the whole situation with James. But it was behind them now. She wouldn’t remember most of that anyway, in time. What little anger she still harbored was being squeezed out slowly over the course of many hours while he held her, rubbing comforting circles on her back when the wind was coming from the front, and grasping her tightly when it swirled around and into the car from the side. Her throat burned as much as ever. She swallowed convulsively, but she breathed in his scent and reminded herself who she was, and who she wanted to be. As long as she kept her head about her, it wasn’t as difficult as she’d feared. Sometimes it helped to stare into his eyes, and let herself get lost in gazing at his soul. She was still hesitant to look at the others - as far as she could tell, Carlisle and Edward hadn’t told anyone else what her gift was, and she didn’t want to abuse it before people even knew she could. But Edward didn’t seem to mind.
He stared back at her, wanting desperately to ask her what she saw when she looked at him that way. Besides the jealousy. But he restrained himself. As long as that tiny, mysterious smile was on her lips when she looked in his eyes, he figured it couldn’t be that bad. He could hardly wait to arrive in Pennsylvania and begin their first lifetime together. He wanted to take her to dancing lessons, and a couple of proms. He wanted to watch her go to college for anything that interested her…and then he wanted to marry her. But all that could come later. It was enough, for now, that he had this chance to start over - to do things the way he should have the first time. To protect her and love her the way he’d wanted to from the beginning.
When the car finally stopped, at the end of a six mile dirt driveway, Edward climbed out of the car without letting Bella go, and stood to look at the house they’d call home for the next dozen years or so. He grinned at her, and she took an experimental breath, smiling when she smelled nothing more appetizing than brown bears. “Will you miss your mountain lions?” she asked quietly. He laughed.
“I won’t miss a thing, as long as you’re here with me.” Behind them, Rosalie rolled her eyes, but everyone else smiled, as he carried her, laughing, across the threshold bride-and-groom style to embrace their new beginning.