Interminable E. Cullen

Chapter 41

"It wasn't a question." 

"Well you can't make me." 

Ophelia huffed, leaning back in her chair. "Mr. Stevens I want you to come. You can dance with me. My fiance loves old music," she giggled at her inside joke. 

The old man rolled his eyes despite the smile that grew on his face. "What? Dance around with my walker?" 

"You can roll me around the dance floor," Ophelia laughed once again. One of the many times she had visited him, when able to get away from Alice and the wedding planning of course, she could tell their walks around the old folks home was strenuous on his fragile bones and presented him with a walker that had a built in seat and wheels. 

At four o'clock Edward arrived to pick her up. It had become a ritual that 3 times out of the week, Ophelia would visit the old man she gave her first ever attempt at a blanket to. She never missed a day. The activities that the two could do together were limited, as she was blind and he was old, but it never hindered Ophelia from making the best out of their time together. 

Edward leaned against the door frame, watching the two that sat at a table across the room. Sunlight was streaming through the window next to them, and it gave Ophelia the halo everyone who knew her agreed she deserved.

 Her head bent backwards in laughter at something the old man said, and if the wall hadn't been holding Edward up he feared he could crumble at the sound. Just being in his sweet girl's presence left him shattered at times, completely unprepared for whatever crazy yet beautiful thing she would present him with next. 

Whether it be running out into the rain to give a stranger some warmth or stumbling around the kitchen to wish her father goodbye before work, she always carried an ethereal essence that made Edward want to bow down before her as he knew that no matter how many lifetimes he spent with her gentle soul, he could never be worthy of the love she so generously gave him every day. 

He watched as she immediately stopped talking, a bright blush spreading across her face along with a small smile. "My fiance's here," she mumbled giddily. Mr. Stevens tilted his head in confusion, thinking about how strange it was that the girl in front of him always knew before turning to see Edward making his way over. 

"Nice to see you again Mr. Stevens. I hope Ophelia didn't wear you out too much," Edward joked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She snorted, her left hand coming up to hold his. The sunlight once again played its tricks, as if gravitating towards her like a spotlight.

 It gleamed off his birth mother's ring that Ophelia insisted they change nothing about despite it's outdated appearance. She had declared it perfect the second he placed it on her small finger and begged Edward not to change anything about it. Even though she couldn't see it, she could feel the love it filled her with and she was honored to have something that had been so special and close to Edward's human life. 

"She was just telling me about the kind of music there'd be at the wedding. Said how excited you were to get to do the jitterbug again," Mr. Stevens said and Ophelia bit her lip to stop herself from snickering whilst Edward's eyes widened. "What else did ya say, something about the charleston? That you might be a little rusty is all." 

She could practically feel Edward's gaze burning holes into the side of her face and she tried desperately to keep her innocent facade. Poor Mr. Stevens didn't know that it had been an inside joke. 

"Really? A little rusty?" Edward groaned once they got in his car. Ophelia lost it, holding her stomach as it clenched from laughing so hard.

By the time they got back to the Cullen's her face was a bright red, and when they got inside Emmett met them at the door, already bent over in his own laughter. 

"The c-charleston!" He bellowed. "The jitterbug! Nice one Opie!" 

"It's not that funny," Edward complained. 

"Maybe not to you. You've still got that old man humor," Emmett responded and lifted Ophelia's hand for a very sloppy high five. 

***

Ophelia shuddered at Edward's cold touch.

She stood in his bathroom, hair still dripping at the ends from her shower as Edward held her face. Touching the skin under her eye he sighed deeply. "You haven't been sleeping enough." 

She pulled away, letting him lead her back to the bed where they laid down together. 

"It's hard," she said quietly. "I can still hear it sometimes and I just feel so bad." A single hot tear ran down her cheek. 

She was referring to Bree's screams. The newborn's screams of anguish had been so loud that it had echoed across the clearing when Jane relentlessly attacked her with her power. The sickening cracks that sounded as they ripped her stone body apart made Ophelia's stomach lurch as she knew what that meant. Even the few months later it still resonated in her mind and haunted her in her sleep. 

"Did Fred respond?" Ophelia changed the subject. 

"Yes. He apologizes but he didn't want to attend the wedding while still being new to the diet. He doesn't want to hurt you." Edward's hand stroked her face as her body deflated with a sigh. "But he did say that he will visit as soon as you're turned. He's very excited to meet the persistent human that cares so much about him." 

Leaning forward he kissed her forehead. 

"He deserved to know what happened to his friend. And he's all alone out there." 

"Fred likes being alone. When I read his mind I could see how much he valued his newfound freedom, especially the nomadic parts," Edward responded in a soft voice, as if talking to a child. 

Ophelia nuzzled her face into his neck, pressing a kiss to the exposed skin before cuddling close. "I'll save him a seat just in case."