The Newest Moon

Esme

Chapter 16: Esme

Bella POV:

Contain yourself, Bella. You must stop this nonsense, right now, once and for all. The truth is, once I saw all this food, all of my favourite foods combined, I felt such sadness and love crash over me. It was as if I felt Esme's love for me, through this little act of kindness. The Cullens did not eat normal food, so for Esme to go out of her way and buy all these snacks, just for my appetite, was so heartwarming.

I breathed in and I breathed out to contain myself. I grabbed a banana and sat down next to Edward again. If he had seen the small tear forming in the corner of my eye, he was an absolute gentleman about it and did not mention it.

'So, how is she?' I tried to shift the topic to Esme. I had missed her so much these past couple of months, as she became a second mother to me in the time I was dating Edward.

'She has missed you tremendously.' Edward looked intensely at me, his golden eyes fixated on mine as he softly spoke his next words, carefully looking at how I would react to them;

'Just as all of us.'

I felt my heartbeat quicken as he continued to look into my eyes. Damn it, I could not look away. I felt a blush rising on my cheekbones. My breathing became a bit irregular, as I tried to form one single coherent thought in my head. I closed my eyes, I needed to think straight and his look did not help me in the slightest.

'I've missed her too,' I said to him, eyes still closed.

'Would you like to see her tomorrow when we continue working on this project?' he nervously asked me. I opened my eyes again, surprised by this sudden turn of events. Edward looked questioningly at me, patiently waiting for my response. My own reply surprised me even.

'I would love to,' I quickly said as I flashed him a big, bright smile. I would truly love to see Esme again.

Edward was taken aback by my quick and enthusiastic response. He had to take a moment to process this, but he could collect himself very easily. He smiled warmly at me.

'She will be very thrilled,' he assured me.

'Just as much as I, I suppose,' I grinned. 'It's wonderful I can thank her in person for all that delicious food, you know?'

He looked amused, as if there was a little private joke somewhere I could not quite comprehend.

'There is absolutely no need for that. I'm sure she was happy to help.'

'But still, it feels excellent to see her again. And aren't you normally the one who is appreciative of good manners?' I jokingly asked him before I started to absolutely hate myself. I bit my tongue. Hard. What was I doing? Here I was, cracking a joke, all because I would see Esme again tomorrow.

Retreat. Retreat.

'I should get going, I still need to cook for Charlie. Same time tomorrow?' I quickly jumped up, grabbed my stuff and headed out. Edward closely followed me to the door, to see if I managed to reach my car safely. In my car, I finally let go of a breath I did not know I was holding.