Chapter twenty-nine

We stayed in Edward's room and talked quietly for another hour, just enjoying each other's company. It was half past five when Edward sighed and looked at me.

„You should go home. Charlie's getting impatient." I lifted my eyebrow, wondering how he knew that. He chuckled and explained, „Alice can see him deciding between calling you or coming here to get you."

Right then my phone rang and a quick look at the ID told that my dad had apparently made his decision. I laughed, answering the phone.

„I'm on my way, Dad," I said instead of greeting. He grumbled something and hung up.

Edward had told me that they'd already informed Charlie that everything went well and everyone was okay. That was probably the only reason he'd waited that long to call me.

„Are you coming with me?" I asked Edward after I climbed out of the bed.

„Not now," he said with an apologetic smile. „You and Charlie should have some time together. I'll come later tonight, if you don't mind."

I rolled my eyes. Like I'd ever say no to that.

Charlie looked relieved when he saw me stepping out of the fireplace in our living room. He had been waiting for me on the couch, not even watching his favourite sport channel on tv. He hugged me tightly, leading me to the kitchen where a large pepperoni pizza was waiting for me on the table.

I wasn't really hungry, it hadn't been that long since I had the sandwiches, but I still sat down at the table with Charlie, taking one slice from the box.

„So," Charlie started, chewing on his pizza, „it's over, huh?"

„Looks like it," I said with a nod.

„What will happen now? The Cullens don't have to protect you anymore," he said, avoiding my eyes.

„Well, I suppose I will continue doing what I did before," I said, shrugging. „I still have a lot to learn and practice with Toby."

„But you don't have to spend all the time with them now, right?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

„Um." I hesitated, not sure what he was getting at. „I don't know. Not all the time, I suppose." Then I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. „Why?"

He shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. „It's just… I was thinking last night and you know… I'd like to spend more time with you. I know we have dinners together but maybe we could do something else too."

„Okay," I said, putting my slice back in the box. I looked right into his eyes, curious now. „What do you have in mind? Because I'm limited to this house and the Cullen place, so we can't really go anywhere."

His face fell a little. „Oh, I forgot about that." He looked thoughtful for a minute and then his face lit up again. „What about me watching your lesson with Toby sometimes? Would it be okay?"

I grinned. „Sure, that would be great, Dad."

Charlie was quiet for a moment, looking thoughtful, chewing his pizza slowly. „I'm glad they were able to protect you," he said quietly after taking a long swig of his beer. „Don't even want to think what would have happened if they hadn't lived in Forks. And I really thought you were safe here." He sighed, staring at the table in front of him.

I shuddered, trying not to think about what Charlie had said. I reached out and put my hand on his forearm. „Don't think about it, Dad. It's over now, we're safe."

He nodded and then looked right into my eyes. „Just keep them around."

I smiled, happy that he'd apparently approved of my relationship with the vampire family. Suddenly he frowned, narrowing his eyes and pointing his finger at me. „Don't you think I don't know he spends the nights in your room."

„What?" I nearly squealed in surprise, dropping the slice of pizza in the box.

„I'm not stupid, you know," he went on, looking stern but I could see his mustache twitching slightly. „I don't want to know what you two do in there but I trust you. Both of you. So don't disappoint me."

I just nodded mutely, still staring at him like an idiot. Charlie chuckled shortly, took the rest of his beer and shuffled into the living room.

„Charlie knows you come here," was the first thing I said to Edward when he appeared in my room later that night.

„I know," he said with a chuckle, laying next to me on my bed. „He'd been suspicious since we told him we're vampires and that we would be guarding your house."

„I can't believe he's okay with it. Did you hear what he said?"

„No, we just got back from a meeting with Billy Black and Sam Uley."

I frowned, confused, forgetting about Charlie in an instant. „What did they want?"

Edward sighed, running his hand through his unruly hair, making it even messier. „Victoria was in their territory. They called first to warn us about breaking the treaty and Carlisle arranged the meeting to explain the situation in person. Sam was in his wolf form so they needed me as the translator."

„What did you tell them?" I couldn't imagine what they'd told the Quileutes without telling them about my presence in Forks.

„That we'd warned her and James about not hunting in this area but they didn't listen. So we killed them," he said with a shrug.

„Did they believe it?"

„Yes, they had no reason not to." He was completely at ease, holding my hand and playing with my fingers.

I breathed a sigh of relief and rested my head against his shoulder. „Are there still the three of them? The wolves I mean."

„Yes, though they suspect that another one will go through the transformation soon."

„They told you that?"

He chuckled. „Not really. But when they're in their wolf form, their mind is connected with the other wolves so I could hear not only Sam's thoughts but Paul's and Jared's too, even though they were not in the meeting. It was interesting, each of them could hear what the other two were thinking so I was a little confused in the beginning and it was harder to concentrate." His voice trailed off, apparently still thinking about the mysterious minds of the wolf pack.

I sighed, thinking of Jacob and how the whole „gang" thing freaked him out. I felt Edward's lips in my hair and smiled, lifting my head slightly, hoping that he would kiss me on my lips. He didn't do it often and I relished the rare times he did.

I was lucky this time.

He lowered his head and his lips touched mine lightly but all too soon he pulled away. I scowled at him and he chuckled and kissed me again; this time the kiss took longer and I closed my eyes, sighing happily against his lips. He hesitated for a second and than carefully nibbled at my lower lip, taking it between his lips, gently tugging at it. His free hand – the other one was still holding mine - was gently running up and down my arm, creating a fiery path on my skin despite his cold fingers.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest and I tried with all I had to suppress a moan that threatened to escape my throat. I wasn't sure how he would react to that and I didn't want him to stop. Ever. I think I would happily die kissing him.

He pulled away slightly only to place a small kiss on the tip of my nose and another one on my temple. I kept my eyes closed, trying to calm my breathing that sounded more like panting now which was slightly embarrassing.

When I opened my eyes, I was met with his gaze so intense that it nearly made my heart stop. Then his lips pulled up into a smile and he pulled me into his chest, his hand letting go of mine and putting it around my shoulders instead.

„So," I said, getting back to the mystery of Charlie's uncharacteristic behaviour earlier this evening, „why do you think Charlie's okay with you spending the nights in my room? I'd thought he would freak out, lock me in a basement and guard it with a loaded gun."

Edward chuckled, playing with my fingers with his free hand. „Like that would stop me from getting to you," he said with a gentle smile and it automatically made me smile back. Then his expression turned thoughtful, his eyes staring ahead of him. „He's very protective of you but he knows he can't do anything against the danger you're in. But we can, so he has no choice but to trust us to do his job."

„Yes, but what does it have to do with you being in my room at night? You could stay outside and it would be enough."

„Do you want me to stay outside?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

„No!" I said quickly. „Of course not. I'm just trying to see it from Charlie's point of view."

„What exactly did he say?"

„Well, that he knows you spend nights here and that he doesn't want to know what we do." I blushed and Edward laughed. „And that he trusts us not to dissapoint him." The last part was still a bit of a mystery to me so I frowned. „I'm not sure what he meant by that."

Edward was quiet for a minute, still looking thoughtful. „I think the fact that I'm not a typical teenager is a big part of his acceptance." I thought about that but he continued before I could come up with anything. „And I think that he can see that I - " He stopped and glanced at me quickly before he went on. „That I care about you and would never hurt you."

I stared at him but he was looking at his hand in mine in his lap. I knew what he'd wanted to say. I knew he loved me and I sometimes wondered why he'd never told me those three words. But at the same time I was kind of glad he didn't. I wasn't sure what I would say to that, and even though I always had strong feelings for him, I still wasn't sure what they were. Or maybe I was but for some reason I still hadn't been ready to admit it even to myself.

I knew I wanted to be with him and I knew I wanted him to be happy. I wanted to see his beautiful smile and the light in his eyes that went with it. And I knew that when he wasn't with me, I felt anxious and incomplete. And when he came back to me my heart always skipped a beat and the amazing warmth spread across my chest.

Was it love?

Now that I allowed myself to think about it I knew it had to be love. It was different from the love I felt for my parents and friends. Stronger. I realised with a shock that I couldn't imagine my life without him. That thought hit me like a freight train and I felt a knot forming in my stomach as I tried to imagine it.

Edward must have heard the hitch in my breathing or the way my heart sped up because he looked up at me curiously. „What is it?"

I just shook my head and leaned back against the headboard, closing my eyes. I heard his frustrated sigh and smiled. Yet again I was grateful that he couldn't read my mind.

„I would give anything for at least one peek into your mind right now," he said, still sounding frustrated.

I opened my eyes, grinning at him. „It's only fair, you know. I can't read your mind either."

„But you're used to it. I'm not," he argued, frowning playfully.

„In that case I think it's time you got used to it too," I said, beaming at him.

He shot me a mocking glare but then chuckled and rolled his eyes. I lowered myself into the pillows with a huge yawn and snuggled closer to him, laying my head on his chest, ready to get some sleep. Even though I'd slept until afternoon, I was still tired as the lack of sleep and the stress from previous days had caught up with me.

Edward kissed the top of my head, murmuring, „Good night, Bella."

„Night," I mumbled back, slowly drifting to sleep. I was aware of his humming my song and right before I fell asleep, I thought of things I wanted to do. Except for getting ready for my return to Britain, I needed to figure out what to do with my relationship with Edward but the most important thing was: I needed to find a way to tell him I loved him.

THE END OF BOOK ONE

A/N: So, this is the end of book one. I can't believe it's been nearly 20 months since I started posting this, it feels like yesterday. Anyway, I'll start posting the sequel as soon as the first chapter is ready, so if you don't want to miss it, I recommend to add me into Author alerts.

Also, I'm planning on editing this story because I keep finding grammatical or continuity errors everytime I check the older chapters for something. So if you know about an error or something was bothering you, please let me know and I make sure to fix it or at least explain why I can't fix it :)

Thank you all for reading.

Janie