Elusive Reality - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

London, England - 2004

Edward Cullen was too good to be true. We had spent a lot of time together and we had only met a few days ago. Edward showed me around campus on Sunday and took me to brunch. It was so nice. He was so much fun to be around and he always had me laughing.

Monday was the first day of classes and I was taking a pretty heavy course load. I was exhausted by the end of the day and it was dark on campus by the time I started to try to find my way home. I wasn’t that great with directions to begin with, but it seemed like every road in London just went in a big circle. I tried for over an hour to find my way before I finally gave up and called Edward. He laughed at me for quite some time before telling me to stay put.

Edward snuck up behind me on campus and nearly gave me a heart attack. I smacked him playfully. “That is not funny! You scared me!” I said seriously. He pulled me down the steps and led me across campus.

It was a beautiful night. Stars sprinkled the night sky and the nearly full moon lit our way. Edward and I were walking close together and out of nowhere he grabbed my hand and held it. It made me gasp involuntarily. I had a hard time believing this perfect beautiful man could be interested in me.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“It’s more than okay.” The words came out of my mouth before I even thought about them and I wanted to kick myself for saying something so cheesy. Edward smiled down at me and I realized we had stopped walking. His hand left mine and it cradled my face. I stopped breathing. His lips were dangerously close to my own.

“You’re freezing, Bella.”

I nodded my head. It was a little chilly and I had been outside for a while by that point. His breath against my lips was the most intoxicating thing. I suddenly felt drunk. He did things to me that I had never felt before. I felt sensations in my stomach that had never been there before. If he didn’t kiss me, I would surely pass out at any moment from lack of oxygen.

And then he kissed me. I breathed in his breath. His lips were warm, soft and inviting. The kiss was just supposed to be a small peck, I could tell. Neither one of us pulled away. I had been dying to kiss him, and now that I finally was, I didn’t want it to stop.

When Edward finally pulled away, it felt like he took all the oxygen in the atmosphere with him and I stood there dumbfounded.

“Was that okay?” he whispered.

I finally gained my composure. “It was wonderful,” I smiled.

He gave me the most beautiful grin as he grabbed my hand again and continued to lead the way. I couldn’t help but look up at him and his green eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Maybe that is why I hadn’t found my way around campus yet, even though he had shown me. I was always too busy looking at him.

“I’d like to take you to dinner. Have you eaten?”

I shook my head and did and internal happy dance at the opportunity to spend more time with him.

Edward took us to a small little family owned restaurant. It was quiet and cute. Edward and I sat side by side in a little booth in the corner. We drank wine and tasted each other’s food.

“Tell me about your life before you came here. I bet your boyfriend was devastated to find out you were leaving.”

I nearly choked. I hadn’t thought about Jake in a long time. I apologized for nearly spitting my food out.

“Damn, so you do have a boyfriend? That would make my prior behavior entirely inappropriate.”

I laughed lightheartedly. “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend anymore. And your behavior earlier was welcomed.”

Edward raised a brow at me and I grinned. “Please, continue,” he encouraged.

“Well, I lived in Phoenix with my parents. My dad, Charlie, is a police officer. He wasn’t really happy that I was coming here. In fact, he threatened to disown me. We sort of had a rather large falling out before I left.”

“Why, what’s the big deal? It’s a great opportunity, most dads would be happy for their daughter.”

I looked away. “Well, Charlie seemed convinced that I wouldn’t come back and he didn’t like the idea of his little girl in a big city like this all by herself.”

“Oh, I see. Do you ever think about not going back?”

“I don’t know. I just got here. But it feels more like home here than Phoenix ever did. I’ve just always wanted to live in London since I was little. I can’t explain it.”

“What about your mom?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “She didn’t really care, as long as she didn’t have to pay for it. I think it affected my dad more because he feels like he’s losing both of us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, well...” I hesitated. I’d never really talked to anyone about this before. “I’m pretty sure my mom is fooling around on my dad. I think he knows too, we just never talk about it. He doesn’t want to be alone.”

“I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, I mean, Renee, my mom, would be happier if she just left. I’m sick of watching her pretend that we are what she wants. But, Charlie, he’s still so in love with her. He still thinks she’s the most amazing thing in the world and he will be as ignorant as he has to be to keep her around.”

“That’s sad,” Edward said.

“It is. It’s really sad. I worry what will happen between them now that I’m gone.”

Edward didn’t say anything for a minute, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“So, what about your boyfriend?” he finally asked.

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore.”

“Well, what about your ex-boyfriend?” he laughed.

“His name is Jacob. We grew up together and were always best friends and as time went on we grew up, we just naturally became boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Oh, so when or how did he become your ex?”

“When I found out I was coming London. I loved Jake, I still do, but it just didn’t always feel right. I always wondered what else was out there. He was always way more into me. He just always seemed like a brother to me. I don’t know. It’s tough, I guess. He knows me better than anyone, but at the same time I don’t feel like he knows me at all. I just thought it would be best for us to take a break while I was gone. I didn’t think it was fair to him to wait around on me, although I knew he would. I wanted to find myself here and discover who I was and what I wanted out of life. I just wanted to live and be independent for a change instead of always having him there to rely on.”

“You can’t even find your way around campus, you might allow yourself to lean on someone every now and then,” he teased.

I laughed and nudged him in the side. “Shut up.”

Edward continued, “So, was he really upset when you broke up with him?”

“That would be an understatement. He didn’t want to at all. He swore up and down he would wait for me, that there was nobody else. He still calls...” I trailed off. I didn’t want to talk about Jake. It made me sad. I did care about him, but I needed to be my own person now.

“I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “No, this is what I want. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“I kind of feel bad for the guy. I imagine anybody that had the opportunity to love you, would never want to stop.”

I had my glass nearly raised to my lips when I froze at his words. I looked over at him, expecting to see a sheepish grin, but he was absolutely serious. I didn’t know how to respond, and wanted to lighten the mood, so I said, “Are you hitting on me?”

Edward laughed loudly. “Only since the day I laid eyes on you. It’s not every day I let some random girl spend the night at my flat.”

“Your friends made it sound like a common occurrence,” I teased.

Edward pretended to be shocked and we both laughed. We were quiet for a moment as I sipped my wine.

I felt Edward’s hand graze mine at our sides. “You’re different, Bella.”

All the air left my lungs and I wanted to throw myself at him, but I contained myself, smiled genuinely and returned to my glass of wine.

I’m fairly certain it’s safe to say that Edward and I had a bit too much to drink that night. After dinner Edward and I returned to my flat and we started to watch a movie but I quickly fell asleep. It had been a long day for me and I didn’t realize how exhausted I was, and the wine didn’t help.

I woke up some time later to Edward’s hand ghosting across my cheek and whispers fell from his lips. “Bella, wake up sweet girl...”

I heard him, but I didn’t open my eyes. Hearing him speak to me like that was something I wanted to hear more of. His voice just intoxicated me.

“Bella...” he continued. “Why don’t you get up and get ready for bed and I’ll tuck you in before I leave.”

Damn it. He was leaving. I wanted to sit straight up and beg him not to leave, but instead I groggily sat up and crawled of my bed/couch and went to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed.

I purposely changed into a little pair of shorts and a small spaghetti strap tank top. I padded bare foot across the floor and crawled into my bed. Edward was staring at me, open mouthed.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re beautiful.”

I smiled. “Are you going to kiss me goodnight, or just stare at me?”

Edward laughed and leaned in to kiss me. His soft lips covered mine and I couldn’t help but smile against his lips. He smelled delicious and I was tempted to try to deepen our kiss and convince him to stay, but I knew I shouldn’t. I hadn’t been with anyone other than Jake, and I didn’t want Edward to just be some quick fling, but damn he was good kisser.

He finally pulled away and I pouted. He gave me that crooked sexy grin and kissed my cheek. “Goodnight, Bella. I’ll see you soon.”

“I hope so.”

“If your directional challenges are any indication of when I’ll see you again, I’ll probably see you in the morning.”

I laughed and lunged a pillow at him. He caught it and threw it back at me before heading to the door, turning off the light, and seeing himself out.

I laid in bed that night, the moonlight shining in from outside, and couldn’t help but replay all of Edward and I’s “firsts” that happened that night. I hadn’t intended on coming to London and being swept off my feet by the sexiest man alive, but I sure as hell was enjoying every minute of it. I smiled to myself, pulled my covers up over me, smelled his scent on them, and closed my eyes. Coming to London was definitely proving to be a good thing.

**CHAPTER 4 - CLICK HERE**