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Post by Bella Swan on Jan 25, 2009 16:56:35 GMT -5
It was a cold, icy morning that Bella woke up to and she struggled fearfully to make it out of bed. Alas, school called and the question of what mood Edward Cullen would be in roused her better then any alarm clock. She cringed as the cold air struck her toasty warm body and threw on the first clothes that came to hand. A frumpy green jumper and battered jeans - not particularly flattering, but she doubted she would be taking her coat off today, even in class.
Once dressed she tumbled into the bathroom to have, what she would later call, ‘a human moment.’ She twisted her wrist to look at her watch and discovered she was early. Too early, and so she fixed herself a breakfast that wasn’t just a granola bar and day dreamed her stupid day dreams.
She couldn’t believe the changes she had noticed in Edward over the last week - from those soulless eyes in that first biology class, his disappearance and then the return of him with some fresh manners, so it appeared. She had noticed his every move at school and could not deny the strange, stupid pull he had on her. She began to wonder if he was like that to every girl - so alluring - and if she too would end up as bitter as Jessica when he ultimately rejected her. Probably not, she considered, because she had absolutely no reason to believe that Edward was remotely interested in her - he’d even warned her off being friends. Weird, but the thought of being friends with him scared her almost as much as the thought of never seeing him again.
She turned her wrist once more, to idly look at the time, and started. She was going to be late! Well, not on a usual morning, but the roads looked fairly treacherous, she wouldn’t be rushing. She bolted outside, only stepping tentatively as she reached the icy path to her truck. This was not good weather for Bellas. Five steps to the truck. One step, two step, on the third step, in the middle of the path’s no man’s land, where there was nothing to grab on to, both of her feet slid from under her. With a grimace and a mighty blush, Bella scrambled to her feet and brushed off her clothes. She also vainly hoped that it would be her fall out of the way, but she had a feeling that she wasn’t done making a fool out of herself yet.
As she finally got to the truck, something caught her eye. The tyres. She ran her hand over the thick studs that had been fixed to them. She smiled. Charlie wasn’t one for big displays of affection, but he always found a way to show his love. This time it was making sure his daughter got to school and back in one piece. Sweet.
She stepped into the truck and started the engine, grinning as it roared into action. It was only a short drive to school and, luckily, the main roads had been properly gritted. Thus she got to school in good time. She slowed as she approached the ice rink that was the car park and stopped.
As she tentatively jumped out of the truck, holding on to the door to keep her feet, her eyes immediately sought out Edward Cullen. He was stood on the other side of the lot - was he looking at her? She could see his siblings in their couples approaching the school, though he didn’t seem to be moving off with them. Odd. She laughed at her own depth of observation and shuddered a little in the cold. She vaguely wondered whether the boy was making her lose her mind. She turned her back to the icy lot, placing her backpack on the hood of her truck and looked at the touching gesture her father had made once more. A surge of emotion clogged up her throat as she thought about the surprise she had felt that morning.
Her brown eyes swept to the side once more, unable to keep her eyes away from the Cullen boy. However, her gratuitous ogling was swiftly brought to an end by the alarming sounds of skidding, burning rubber and grinding metal. She didn’t even have time to gasp. She was going to die.
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Post by Edward Cullen on Jan 29, 2009 12:23:07 GMT -5
Edward hadn't been back long but he was already planning to leave again. Now he just had to figure out the timing. Another day? Maybe a week at most. He also had to figure out how to tell the rest of his family. He had spoken with Carlisle while they were out hunting the night before. His father understood and encouraged him to do what he needed to keep the girl safe. But Edward knew Esme would have more trouble with it. Having him leave again would be hard on her. At least with Alice, she had already seen it. There was nothing about his future he needed to tell her. But actually going through with it was hard. It hurt to have to leave his family again, and he felt the shame of not being strong enough to deal with the urge on his own. At least Alice had been able to reassure him that she didn't see him killing anyone today. He knew he could make it through one day, no matter how tempted he was.
Edward felt a little too full on blood at the moment. He hadn't remembered hunting this frequently since he was a newborn. It felt almost painful but he knew as soon as he smelled Bella, no amount of blood would have been enough to make him not hunger for her. Edward was quiet the entire ride to school. He was thinking about how it would be when he left. As he looked at his siblings paired off and so happy together, he felt the bitterness of being the only lone family member among three sets of perfectly matched family members. He would have no one when he left. Carlisle had offered to move the family, but he didn't want to put them through that. It was just easier for him to suffer alone for a couple years, until this girl moved on. He started thinking about how much happier his family might eventually be with him gone. No more 3rd wheel...or 7th as the case was.
As they got to the parking lot, Edward stayed by the car, leaning against it in a gesture of appearing human. Bella hadn't arrived yet, but he felt the urge to stay until she did, even after his other siblings had headed off. He could hear the noisey truck in the distance and knew she wouldnt be too much longer. Edward watched her as she slowly drove into the parking lot, carefully concentrating on the icey road. Edward and his family had barely noticed the conditions. They didnt need any extra caution despite the less than ideal road conditions.
His eyes remained on her even after she got out of the car. She held such interest for him, even beyond the smell. There was the fact that she was the first person he had ever met who he couldn't read the mind of. It was frustrating. She had parked on the other side of the parking lot, so her smell hadn't quite gotten to the unbearable point yet. He hoped having a small dose of it now would make biology more bearable when he'd have to sit right next to her. Edward watched as she looked down at tires on her truck and her face contorted in an expression that looked like she was emotional. It only increased his curiousity about her, knowing he couldnt know the thoughts that had provoked that response in her. He briefly wondered for a moment if he should go over to say hi to her. As he watched her careful movements he thought perhaps he could at least offer her a hand inside, make sure she didn't slip on the ice.
Idiot! Edward cursed his foolishness. Of course he couldn't offer her a hand. She would notice the chill of his skin even in the icey atmosphere. If only he had worn gloves, then he could go over and help her. Edward's thoughts were then disrupted as he heard a panic in his sister's thoughts. Edward looked up to see Tyler's van hit a patch of ice, the boy losing control of the vehicle as it headed straight towards Bella. It would crush her completely, there was no time for her, in her human slowness to escape this fate.
Not caring about the lot full of students, human witnesses to his vampiric speed, he didnt think before he acted. In reality he was moving too fast for any human to actually see his movement. He bolted across the lot, putting himself between the out of control van and Bella, his tempting drug. Edward put his hand around her waist, too concerned with timing to focus on being gentle and moved her out of the way, both of them crashing to the ground and Edward protectively put his arm up in front of her to keep the van from coming in contact with her.
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Post by Bella Swan on Feb 4, 2009 19:41:25 GMT -5
With the knowledge that she was about to die complete, Bella’s eyes slammed shut, not wanting to see the van in extreme close up before it crushed her to death. Thus, the first thing she knew of Edward’s intervention was when she felt a rough grip around her waist, pulling her in a motion that was faster than any she had taken before. She inhaled in a sharp gasp, her ears filled with the screeching of tires and with the sound of her heart, which had hitched up to a frantic pace. Her brown eyes shot open, now wide with shock as her shoulder and head made contact with the icy ground. The air shot out of her lungs and she was barely aware of the van sliding around to take another pop at her, she was far too busy taking in Edward’s presence.
What was he doing here? He was all the way across the lot and he was here! She didn’t have time to process the hows and the whys. All she knew was that he was that they were sprawled on the cold, icy ground, his arms suspended over her in the van’s path. She didn’t understand how he was here, trying to save her life, but she couldn’t have asked for a better image before she died. If it didn’t mean that she was taking him with her…
It took her what seemed like an age to register the sudden silence, broken only by the babble of students around. She realised, slowly, that the last noise she had heard was the crumple of metal and as she glanced to the side – a movement that pained her injured head – she realised that it had been Edward that had stopped the deadly motion of the van. She looked up, again, at his face, taking in its every facet in their close proximity. Suddenly her lungs stopped trying to force too much oxygen into her lungs, her every fibre was filled with questions. Questions she was determined to get answered. Before she could say anything, however, a loud scream broke the eerie calm and the babble of students began to mill around the crash site.
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Post by Edward Cullen on Mar 18, 2009 11:54:10 GMT -5
The first sound that Edward heard after grabbing Bella was the sound of her head hitting the ice. He hadn’t been as gentle as he should have been with the fragile human. He cringed at the realization that while he may have saved her from being crushed to death by the van, he may have just cracked her skull open and killed her before the van even reached her. Edward didn’t have time to take note of how serious her injury was, whether he had done any permanent damage, as the van skidded towards them. He put his arm out, stopping the van as he dented in the side of the metal vehicle and then lifting it away from Bella, pushing it out and dropping it with a force that shattered all the windows.
Edward knew his actions had just risked exposing his entire family not only to Bella if she had seen too much, but the countless other student witnesses who were flocking over to their location between the two vehicles. But Edward’s mind was far more concerned with Bella’s well being than his own exposure. Was she injured? How badly? Was she even conscious? He prayed that she wasn’t bleeding, not sure if despite saving her now, if he’d be able to save her from himself should he get a smell of her fresh blood. It was why he was planning on leaving again. He knew the temptation was too great, that he probably wouldn’t be able to control himself.
Edward looked down and saw that her eyes were open, staring at him in shock. She was alive, conscious even. It was a start. His eyes quickly roamed her body looking for blood, but saw none, but he knew that didn’t mean there weren’t internal injuries that she would need looking after. He needed to get her to a hospital. He also needed to see his father. Edward kept his arm around her, afraid of letting her go, and enjoying the warmth her body brought, even through their two layers of jackets that were between them. He risked a breath, knowing he needed to fill his lungs to speak. There was no blood, but her scent was still alluring to him as ever.
“Bella? Are you alright?” He asked her gently. “I think you hit your head pretty hard”
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Post by Bella Swan on May 22, 2009 17:48:31 GMT -5
Bella felt like she was trying to think through soup, the really thick kind made with potatoes, as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. The puzzle of the van, the dent, which she could still see matching the size of Edward’s hands, and Edward’s presence, it all puzzled her. Even if she hadn’t just watched him catch hold of the moving van in one hand and lift it up to save her legs, just his presence here, at her side, when she had seen him clearly across the parking lot only seconds ago, provided a big enough mystery to distract her completely from the bump she had suffered to the head.
“I’m fine,” she responded after a few seconds when she tried to gather her thoughts on the situations. Her voice sounded strange though, a little strangled, a little wary, as if the turning cogs in her head were setting a delay on her speech too. Her brown eyebrows knitted together a little as she spoke those two words and she lifted one hand to her head as Edward mentioned that she had hit it.
“Ow,” she said, this time sounding surprised that she hurt at all, despite the fact that she had just been a victim of Tyler’s van on no less than three occasions within a few seconds. She began to shift herself, trying to sit up properly and only then did she realised that she was still being pinned to Edward’s side by one of his arms. She frowned a little and looked directly up into the vampire’s face, still looking a little vague, but with questioning eyes.
“How… How did you…” she trailed off into silence, trying to block out the shouts and screams coming from across the lot so that she could gather her thoughts properly and understand exactly what had just happened. “How did you get here so fast?”
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Post by Edward Cullen on Nov 19, 2009 0:43:01 GMT -5
Edward was worried about so many things during that moment of silence between them before she said she was fine. He had used his speed out in a crowded parking lot in front of Bella and other students. He had been too rough when he got to her, timing not allowing him to be any more gentle and he knew she had hit her head hard against the icey pavement. These humans were so fragile, the smallest thing could break them, and Edward wasn't sure he could watch Bella break. Even seeing it in Alice's vision was too much.
He was reassured that she was fine enough to talk and look at him but still worried that she wasn't. He had heard the crack. "Be careful, try not to move too much" He told her then hearing her Ow, which sounded more surprised than actually in pain. He smirked a little and had to keep himself from laughing, knowing it was far too inappropriate given the situation. "That's what I thought"
Edward could see the look in her eyes as she stared at him. Not many humans felt comfortable enough around them to make direct eye contact but she seemed like she was trying to look even deeper. His face got more serious as she asked him how he got there so face. He couldnt have her suspecting what he and his family really were. He had to cover his tracks. "I was standing right next to you, Bella"
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Post by Bella Swan on Jan 20, 2010 8:24:24 GMT -5
He was reassured that she was fine enough to talk and look at him but still worried that she wasn't. He had heard the crack. "Be careful, try not to move too much" He told her then hearing her Ow, which sounded more surprised than actually in pain. He smirked a little and had to keep himself from laughing, knowing it was far too inappropriate given the situation. "That's what I thought"
"No, really I'm okay," Bella tried to reassure her saviour, though now that she had time to register everything there was more than a little pain emanating from her head. That didn't matter though, what mattered was finding out exactly what happened. She knew that she hadn't lost consciousness, she'd had harder bumps on the head, so how on earth had Edward gotten to her so fast? And what about that dent in the van; there was surely no way he could deny that he had caused that?
Surprisingly, given the unnatural conclusions she was driven to make about Edward, she did not feel any fear, only curiosity. She had thought him to be something of an enigma even when he had looked at her with those black eyes on her first day; the whole school did. She blinked as she looked up at him, taking him in while thinking.
"No you weren't," she told him, stating fact, though doctoring it with a slight laugh as if he had made a joke. She knew that she wasn't confused by her fall - the initial pain had now all but gone. "You were standing over the other side of the lot, I saw you..." She blushed a little, hoping that he wouldn't think that she was just staring at him (even though she was).
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