It seemed like a miracle that he was still there, arms still waiting for me. They uncurled from his torso and reached out, and my heart thumped unsteadily.
"Welcome back," he murmured, his arms taking me in.
They rocked me for a while in silence, until I noticed that his clothes were changed, his hair smooth.
"You left?" I accused, devastated, touching the collar of his fresh shirt and imagining all the things he could've been doing all night instead of watching me sleep.
"I could hardly leave in the clothes I came in—what would the neighbors think?"
I pouted. "I don't have any neighbors," I said.
"I didn't—"
"Plus, Fredward, you can, like, fly. Even if I had neighbors... "
"Bella," he said softly. "That's not the point. You were very deeply asleep; I didn't miss anything." His eyes gleamed. "I'd already heard everything I needed to hear."
I groaned. I couldn't believe he had been listening to me talk again. "What did you hear?"
His gold eyes grew very soft. "You said you loved me still."
"You knew that already," I reminded him.
"It was still nice to hear."
I hid my face against his shoulder, hoping he would never find it.
"I love you still," I whispered.
"You are my life now," he answered elegantly.
There was nothing more to say for the moment. He rocked us back and forth in the rocking chair as the room grew lighter.
"And now?" I asked playfully, once we had been silent for almost two minutes.
"You are still my life," he assured me, almost without words.
Another few minutes passed.
"Breakfast time," he said eventually, casually—to prove, I'm sure, that he remembered all my human frailties.
So I clutched my throat with both hands and stared at him with wide eyes. Shock crossed his face.
"Kidding!" I snickered. "And you said I couldn't act. Well, I just proved I can act."
He frowned in disgust. "That wasn't funny."

315

Chapter 15

←

→

main contents contact