saccharine |edward cullen

19 | boundaries

19 | boundaries

      Lux took him by surprise around lunch time. He expected her to want to sit with him at the lone table they'd been sitting at for days now. When he joined her in the lunch line serving her food Lux spoke, "Hey, I think I'm going to sit with the others today. They've probably got a lot of questions."

He turned to the group abruptly and like a sense of deja vu washed over him when they all snapped their heads away from him. He focused on the single empty seat that had since been vacant since Lux started sitting with him. It's fine, he can pull up a chair but then she was speaking again, "You could join your family, you know, catch up."

"I live with them, what's there to catch up about?" Edward asked quietly. She gave him a shrug of her shoulders and he tried reading her body language now. Her eyes were focused on her tray, "I don't know."

He didn't need her to continue. From just the way she was responding he could tell what she was hinting at. It was simple, she didn't want to have lunch with him. With a reluctant nod of his head he agreed, "Alright, I guess I'll see you before class."

"Actually, I uh, I think I'll walk with Mike," that made him stop on the spot. With Mike? He wanted to ask why but he's not sure if he had the right to. Sure, they've been hanging out often enough that they weren't a secret. And now everyone is positive there's something between them. He can't wrap his mind around why she'd let Mike walk with her to class instead of him. Why, all of a sudden, was she keeping her distance from him? And why, is he agreeing with it? It's not like he can tell her how he feels about it, right?

Once again, he gave a subtle nod ready to leave but before he could, he turned back to her. She flashed him a warm, reassuring smile that he tried to mirror before being the first to leave. The second he was gone, she released the deep breath she'd been holding in. With her tray in hands she turned her attention to her friends before walking over.

"Hey stranger, Cullen let you off your leash?" Mike asked making Lux narrowed her eyes. She responded, "I know that's a dig at Edward but did you just refer to me as his pet?"

"Oh shit," Eric laughed along with everyone else who began mocking Mike as Lux took her seat. His face visibly reddened, "That's not how I meant it. Sorry, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, if you give me your ice cream I'll forgive you," she said with an outstretched hand smirking when he begrudgingly dropped it in her hands. Yay, it was an ice cream sandwich. She gave him a smile, hand going to his hair before ruffling, "Thanks."

Just as she was taking her seat, Jessica spoke up, "Not that I don't absolutely love having you back, uh, is there a reason for it? Like, didn't you just publicly announce you're with Edward."

Lux tried not to wince at her words. It's not that she was embarrassed to be with him. The contrary actually. She's never been secretive about who she's dating and though it might not make sense, she has her own reasons. After what Edward told her last night, she spent a lot of time thinking.

It's obvious she enjoys her time with him but, there needs to be boundaries. If Edward continues to be intense [if that's the right word] she can't help but worry that something might happen that probably shouldn't. He was honest when he told her he'd never been in a relationship before and she has no reason not to belie that. But it also meant, though he tried, he still didn't know what that entailed. He was sweet to her now, too sickeningly sweet that she's not used to it.

She just doesn't want him to feel like he has to devote every second of his time with her whether she's awake or asleep. That's not what a relationship entails even if he's saved her a couple times from mishaps. She knows he'll protect her but he doesn't have to act like her body guard because in her opinion that's not what a relationship is. She's not a damsel in distress and though he's close to a knight in shining armor, she doesn't need him there to catch her every time she falls. At least not yet when they're still early into dating. It must drive him crazy to think something might happen to her so she's implementing some distance as best as she can.

If he could focus less on something hurting her then he'll be able to focus on other aspects of the relationship and learn to relax instead of always being on edge. It's going to be difficult for him and for that she feels bad. But once he knows that she'll be fine with a little independence maybe he'll feel better leaving her alone—especially when he goes hunting; which she's realized hasn't been for weeks as far as she knows.

Edward waited for her response with a baited breath. He's been in Angela's mind since he separated from Lux and with Angela sitting across he had the best view of her. Jessica had asked the question he so desperately wants to know to the point where he ignored Emmett's banter to listen closely.

"Yeah but does that mean I can't hang out with my friends?" She asked playfully and it made Edward want to pull his hair out. She was deflecting, not giving her actual reason and he hated that. It made him wonder about how many times she might've done it to him and he'd be none the wiser like everyone else. If he could only read her mind, he'd know the real reason. She suddenly went serious despite the twinkle in her eyes, "You are all still my friends, right?"

"Obviously baby," Eric said with a nudge against her shoulders, "We were all talking about dinner and studying at the diner later. Wanna come with?"

Lux has noticed that Bella has yet to respond and she wonders if it has anything to do with her presence. Bella was naturally a quiet person but she couldn't imagine what the girl feels. Though she never spoke them aloud, Lux was aware that Bella was at least curious about Edward and that made her feel all the more guilty.

So even if she wanted to spend the afternoon with Edward, she nodded, "Sure. What time?"

"Five," Jessica chimes in with a cheery grin, "And then you can really spike all your secrets before the boys get there."

"Ugh, I'll ditch Yearbook to listen to the gossip too, don't tempt me," Eric said before turning to Mike, "Wouldn't you?"

"Can't ditch practice without my dad finding out so I guess I'll have to miss it all."

Unbeknownst to Lux, Edward had gotten up from his table and strolled out to the parking lot before anyone could really pay mind.

::.

I'm backkkkkkkkkkk, expect a couple chapters.

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment. I want to know what you think :)

I'm still debating the who James thing because I'm still brainstorming the ending and idk if i want to go to based off the story line or else it's just a retelling.