Can't Hide from Love

[Bella Swan]

“Thank you Mr. Newton. I’ll to pick it up the next day I work.”

A seventeen year old girl smiled slightly at the older man behind the wooden counter before moving away from him. Bella Swan walked past the shelves filled with various sporting goods: footballs, hunting gear, fishing lines. She pushed her brown colored hair from her shoulder before heading out into the biting cold of Forks. Charlie’s birthday was coming up, and she had had her eye on a new fishing rod for him. Having saved up some of the money she earned working at the Newton’s, along with her employee discount, she was finally able to purchase it. Mr. Newton said that he would place the order that night, and hopefully it would be in the next time she had to come in for work. She opened the door to her old truck before starting it. It groaned before turning on, allowing her to get in the cab and take off.

Her father wouldn’t be home for another hour or so, and she still had homework to do. School in Forks didn’t feel much different to her than the one in Phoenix. But in Phoenix, she had known people that she had gone to elementary school with. Here she was the new kid. It had only been two months since she had moved from Phoenix, and she had found herself getting used to her new life with Charlie.

Once she arrived home she flipped on the front hall lights. Being at home alone wasn’t that bad if the lights were on. It was odd, but for the past few months she had felt as if someone had been watching her. She had just ignored the feeling: she was new after all. She wandered into the kitchen where her schoolbooks were laid out on the table. Not bothering to look at them, she set about making dinner. A jar of sauce was in the cabinets, along with spaghetti. That would be good enough until she had time to go food shopping the next day.

[Edward Cullen]

He’d come to Forks to visit Carlisle and Esme. He wanted to see how they were doing. He’d been away from them for years and decided it was time to return and catch up. They’d drifted apart when he rebelled refusing to live on animal’s blood. It could never fully satisfy him. He wanted to stay with them, to be strong enough to give up human blood. But he couldn’t, not once he’d tasted it. Upon his arrival in Forks he found Carlisle’s family had grown. The only one he knew being Rosalie, who Carlisle had changed for his benefit. Attempting to gain Edward back as a son Carlisle had brought him on a ‘hunting trip.’ This trip brought them near the Swan’s house. Immediately her scent had caught him. It was her mind that had stopped him. He couldn’t hear her and it intrigued him. Edward asked Carlisle if he could stay with them in Forks for a while, promising to hunt in the next state over he was allowed to stay. Edward knew Carlisle was proud that Edward hadn’t killed the girl. He felt there was hope. He pretended not to know Carlisle’s feelings on the subject and it wasn’t brought up.

It had been two months. Two entire months, since the girl, Isabella (Bella) Swan had come to Forks. She smelled sweeter he thought any human possibly could. Yet for some reason she was still alive, which meant he was stronger than he‘d originally thought. She enthralled him, she was the first person he’d ever encountered who’s mind was completely closed to him, he wondered if that had anything to do with his obsession over her. She was the one person that he didn’t have to pretend he knew what she was thinking, because she was the one person he didn’t. Which also kept him guessing. That was why he’d been watching her. Following her every move, both through the eyes of those around her and physically when he could.

She was just getting home as he scaled the house entering through her unlocked bedroom window. She felt safe being on the second floor and never locked it. She hadn’t learned that he’d been quietly entering her house for weeks now through her window. Her scent was strong in her room, strong enough to make his throat close with thirst. He wondered if it would be any easier for him if he’d returned to the life his family had, if he’d never went back to human blood. Or if the human blood made it easier to resist killing her. He took a moment to get desensitize himself to her scent before moving silently to the kitchen where she was. She was home alone, and he couldn’t keep hiding. He no longer wanted to. He needed to talk to her.

Edward wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do, or say. This was a new situation for him. Never had he tried so hard not to kill a human. Even though he drank human blood he still had rules. Since he could hear people’s thoughts he only drank from ‘villains’ people who had done something to deserve death. Bella didn’t deserve it, but in this he was selfish. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her, and he did not want her dead. That left on alternative. She had to become a vampire. He’d be damning her eternally, but he couldn’t see any other option. He had to have her. She was preparing dinner. Something he hadn’t done in nearly a hundred years. He leaned against the doorway watching her prep the food.

[Bella Swan]

Bella glanced down at the sauce that was warming on the stove. She had emptied the jar into a pot almost moments before, and now watched as it began to warm up. She was used to cooking. Her mother wasn’t the best cook, much like her father. If Bella wanted to actually eat, she would have to do the cooking. She didn’t mind it at all. Actually, she found it entertaining to try out new recipes. It gave her something to do with the free time that she now had. She had made a few friends in Forks, yet she didn’t go out much. She would rather stay home. Pausing, she felt someone watching her. At first she brushed it off, but then she turned around. Had she been holding the jar like she had moments before, she would have dropped it.

For a moment, she only stared at Edward. She should have been overcome with fright over the fact that someone was in her house. But instead, for a moment, she took in his beauty. She had never seen anyone like that before. But soon fear pushed away her interest. She fumbled for the drawer at her side before withdrawing a knife. It was one that she usually used to chop vegetables, but it would be used to threaten right now. She couldn’t actually imagine using it on a person, so she would just wave it around and pretend like she would.

“What are you doing here?”

Her eyes darted to the phone. She wouldn’t be able to get over there in time. Bella inwardly kicked herself. She was a policeman’s daughter. She should have known how to secure the house. Edward shouldn’t have been allowed in. “Get out, now.” She tightened her grip on the handle.

[Edward Cullen]

Edward knew the exact second the felt his eyes. She became jittery, and her heartbeat sped up slightly. Not panicked, but worried. He could smell the sauce she was making, it was metallic, spicy and putrid. He couldn’t understand how that was appetizing. Then again, he knew that humans would feel the same about blood. His lip twitched in amusement at the thought. A moment later she realized he was there. He didn’t move as she turned to him. He wanted to be seen, it was why he was there. The shock on her face when she took in what she was looking at was delightful and at the same time it made him angry at himself. She was terrified, but also mesmerized. It was the terrified look in her eyes that made him angry. For reasons he couldn’t begin to fathom he hated her looking at him like that, seeing him for the monster that he was.

When she pointed a knife at him and her eyes went to the phone he chuckled. She was such an amusing creature. “Watching you of course.” he told her in his smooth voice. He studied her features. The way her heart sped up upon seeing him, the blood surging through her veins. It was nearly enough to cause him to lose his precious control. But still something held him back. Maybe curiosity. Possibly something else. When she told him to get out he smiled slightly moving forward and snatching the knife from her hand and setting it aside. All within a fraction of a second. “What if I won’t?” he asked her meeting her eyes with curiosity. He did not like not being able to hear her mind. Not knowing how she would react to him.

[Bella Swan]

Bella had expected a typical answer. She thought he would be a burglar or something. But when he said he was watching her, her panic increased. That seemed even scarier. A simple burglar would just take some items and run. She wasn’t expecting the sound of his voice to be so nice. She thought criminals were supposed to be tough, rough looking and sounding people. Edward wasn’t like that at all.

Before she knew what had happened, the knife was out of her hand. Bella stared at it for a moment before looking back at him. That was impossible. There was no way that he could have gotten that out of her hand so fast. On an impulse, she made a run for the hallway. She would unlock the front door and yell for help from the neighbors. She felt tears build up in her eyes. She just had to get help. She knew screaming now might help, but she couldn’t build up enough air for it.

[Edward Cullen]

Edward heard her heart rate pick up at his words and felt torn. The monster, the part that couldn’t give up human blood, the part that wanted her blood more than anything in the world wanted noting more than to end this game, the torture and have what he desired. The other part, the one that found her fascinating felt repulsed that he was toying with her like this, that he was terrifying her. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him, at least the rational part didn’t. He closed his eyes for a moment and stopped breathing. It was something he did out of habit rather than necessity. The only time he needed breath was to talk, little of that was happening and her scent was beginning to drive off his control. He gritted his teeth together to attempt to suppress his urge to kill her.

When she made to run he grabbed her pulling her to him tightly. “No Bella.” he said quietly to her, “Running is a bad idea. It makes it more exciting. You don‘t want that.” he warned her with the little air he had left in his lungs. He’d need to take another breath if he wanted to talk more. Having her so close that wasn’t a good idea. But she was making this harder for him. He was having hard enough of a time not killing her, she didn’t need to add to it. That’s when he noticed the glisten in her eyes. She was in tears. This caused him grief, an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time. Letting go of her he was across the room. “Damnit.” he cursed not liking his conflicting emotions. Why couldn’t he just kill her and get it over with already. He could make it look like a murder, or an animal attack express his apologies to Carlisle and leave.

[Bella Swan]

Bella was oddly comforted by Edward’s voice. For a moment she paused, her heart rate going down slightly as she listened to him. Being so close to him allowed her to finally smell his scent. It made her stop and think. There was something strangely wrong with Edward, but she couldn’t figure out what. She jumped once he was across the room. Again, he had moved too fast. It didn’t make sense. She was frozen, although she wanted to run for the door. She found that she couldn’t move.

Finally, she spoke. “What do you want?” She pushed her hands to her sides to stop them from shaking. “My father is a cop. He will be home any minute.” Charlie wasn’t going to be home for another hour, and she knew it. But threatening might keep her safe. For some reason Edward had let go of her, and she didn’t know why. He had been so threatening moments ago but stopped. Bella carefully waited for an answer. While waiting, she finally began inching toward the hallway.

[Edward Cullen]

Her heart rate decreased, between that and his distance the monster inside backed down allowing him to regain his control. Oh how proud Carlisle would be if he could see him now. He almost laughed at that. Edward still hadn’t decided whether he was going to kill the girl, change her or leave. Carlisle would only be proud if he left. Possibly it he changed her, then again he’d only changed people who were already dying. Bella, was not. He closed his eyes taking a slow breath. Her scent was still in the air, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as when she’d been next to him. But he couldn’t let her leave. For more than the obvious reason of her having seen him. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her. He might be strong enough to keep from killing her, but the thought of leaving. That was something neither side of him wanted, making it impossible to do.

When she asked what he wanted Edward laughed, “So many things.” He answered before rolling her eyes at her lie. He knew her fathers schedule he’d been watching the house for long enough that it was impossible not to know it. He also knew she was lying, she was a bad liar, more than that her body gave her away, as every human’s did. “Liar.” he whispered with a chuckle. He watched as she inched towards the hallway. She was going to try and get away again. He groaned. “Would you stop that?” as he moved to her side again, taking his chances.

[Bella Swan]

Bella froze at Edward’s answer. What did that mean? It was vague, something that she hadn’t wanted. She wanted answers. She couldn’t figure out why Edward wanted anything to do with her. She wasn’t special, or good looking. It didn’t make sense for him to target her. She didn’t have time to ask him about what he wanted with her. Instead, he had called her out on her lie. He shouldn’t have known that her father was working until later. Maybe he could just tell from her body language. She wasn’t a good liar at all. She paused at her moving to the door. That wasn’t going to work.

Anger began to show. “What do you expect me to do? Wait here until you do whatever you want to me?” She wasn’t going to just let him hurt her, or whatever else Edward had planned. Bella felt her fists grow at her sides. Again she was starting to panic. It made her head swim, and for a moment she had to force herself to take a deep breath.

[Edward Cullen]

Edward watched as Bella stopped moving towards the door. He wasn’t sure what was going through her mind, which was driving him slowly insane. As well as making him angry. He had quite the temper when provoked. Luckily he didn’t give many the chance to provoke him, since he could see when someone was planning on baiting him. It was cruel actually. That the only person who had ability to keep their thoughts private didn’t have a clue about what he could do. The thought was almost enough to make him smile. He was stalling. He hadn’t decided what he was going to do yet. Should he just kill her and get it over with? Or possibly change her? That might work, if he was strong enough to stop himself. He wasn’t sure if he was. Would he regret his decision later? He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He wondered if Alice, Carlisle’s newest ‘daughter’ would know the outcome already. Carlisle had mentioned that she could see the future, but hadn’t gone into much detail about it.

“I don’t know.” he was getting used to her scent, his throat still burned with thirst but he was able to think clearly. But he was still not sure what he wanted to do. What he could do. “Even if you wanted to, unless I let you. You don’t have a choice.” he said honestly. He wasn’t sure how much he was going to say, but it seemed he didn’t know much of anything at the moment. “You are different, and I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not.” he said stepping closer and allowing himself to breath again. Her scent hit him again like a ton of bricks causing him to close his eyes and swallow hard. Why did she have to be different? Why was it the one who’s blood sang to him was also the only person he’d found that intrigued him like she did? Was this always how it was? Did that mark your soul mate? Carlisle hadn’t mentioned Esme’s blood being this intoxicating, but his control was unlike any others. Edward clenched his fists to keep from hitting anything. He couldn’t leave evidence of his visit.

[Bella Swan]

This still didn’t make any sense to Bella. Edward hadn’t told her of his intentions, yet he had also not hurt her in any way. His appearance bothered her too; he was too beautiful to be a criminal. The whole situation bothered her. She frowned at his answer. It wasn’t enough for her. Her thoughts were moved from that when he began to move closer to her. Part of her didn’t mind. It was easier for her to take him all in if he was closer. But the other part, maybe the more sensible one, knew how dangerous this was getting. “Don’t get any closer,” she said, taking a step back.

Her eyes flickered over this his hands, now in fists. Again, Bella forced herself to take a deep breath. She couldn’t panic more than she was now. That wouldn’t be good at all. She reached out a hand to steady herself on the wall.

“Stay back.”

She didn’t look at him to see if he had listened or not. Instead, she focused on the wall as she tried to regulate her breathing. She was never going to see Charlie again, or Renee, or even Phil if he killed her. She quickly took in a ragged breath.

[Edward Cullen]

She took a step away from him, telling him to stay away. Instead he took a step forward, closing the distance she’d gained. “What if I don’t?” he said goading her, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking and he desperately wanted to know. How far was she willing to go to keep herself safe? Was she afraid? Yes. That he could answer, he could hear her heart rate, and her breathing was elevated. What did she think he was going to do to her? What thoughts were going through her mind? His curiosity was the only think keeping her alive, and he was amazed at this knowledge. He hadn’t know there was anything other than his own conscious that could keep someone safe from him. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

Fear registered on her face again before she moved to steady herself. It took him a couple of seconds to realize she’s taken notice of his clenched fists. Her scent wasn’t as intoxicating, he was getting used to it now which allowed him to take a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment to get his thoughts in order. It was a very human thing for him to be doing, vampires tended not to have human characteristics. They could stand utterly still for amazing lengths of time and breath was only needed to speak. His actions registered in his mind as wrong and it took a rather large amount of control not to become angry again. She was doing this to him. “Are you afraid?” He asked though he was fairly certain of her answer. He absolutely hated not being able to hear her thoughts. It was driving him mad.

[Bella Swan]

Bella narrowed her eyes as Edward came closer to her. She wouldn’t allow herself to die like this, cowering in a corner. Who cared if she felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath, or that her heart was beating much faster than it should have? She wouldn’t let Charlie find out that she had died without defending herself. “I’ll scream,” she said, in response to his question. “The neighbors will come running.” She pushed herself off the wall, glancing at the nearby kitchen table. The only thing there she could use was a stray spoon. That wasn’t going to help at all.

She backed into the front hallway. The door was so close. She could make it! Having seen that he had closed his eyes, most likely to think, she dove toward the door. Instead of gracefully grasping the door knob and running out, she nearly tripped over her father’s extra pair of work boots. She grabbed onto the handle afterward and pulled on it. All she had to do was scream.

[Edward Cullen]

Edward chuckled when she told him she’d scream and began moving away from him towards the door again. She just wasn’t going to give up. Stubborn little one. She could scream, but she hadn’t yet. He doubted she really would, which just added to his curiosity about her. And if she screamed he’d be gone before anyone could get near the house. Either the neighbors would believe her or they wouldn’t, he’d be gone not a trace left behind. It wouldn’t make much of a difference to him, just that it would give them more time. More time for her to live her life and more time for him to make his decision. Part of him wanted to talk to Carlisle, to find out what was wrong with him. But he knew what Carlisle would tell him.

In the few moments that his eyes had been closed she managed to get to the door. But she was clumsy and tripped before she could fully open the door. Rolling his eyes he pushed the door shut. [b]“Bella, have I hurt you?”[b] he asked her. He didn’t know why but it was aggravating that he hadn’t done anything to harm her and yet she acted like he had. It was a normal response for humans to have towards vampires, he knew that. But with her for some reason it bothered him.

[Bella Swan]

Bella resisted the childish urge to kick the door. But, had she done that, she probably only would have bruised her toes. She placed her back against the door to look at Edward. She was getting frustrated now. “What do you expect me to do?” she asked, trying to keep a tone that was bordering on hysterical from her voice. “Do you expect me to just stand there and let you do whatever you want?” She wanted to scream, but found that she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wasn’t sure why.

“I’m not going to stand here and wait for you to hurt me. Charlie…” She cut her sentence short. She didn’t want Charlie to know that she didn’t fight for her life. “You never told me what you wanted. If it is money, just take it and leave.” She wouldn’t even try to stop him. Of course, she would call her father as soon as Edward left. Bella straightened up, trying to appear a bit more imposing. But it was hard when he was much taller than her, and held a more intimidating look.