The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Forty Eight

When I woke up I found myself still curled in Edward's arms, but it wasn't him or my alarm that woke me. Dad was calling. With a heavy groan I rolled from Edward's arms and acquired my phone. "I'm alive." I mumbled upon answering, earning a chuckle from both my dad and Edward.

"Quick, what's the square root of pi?" Dad asked with a playful tone.

"3.14159 and so on." I groaned, throwing my hand over my face, then froze and stiffened. "Wait... no..."

"Close enough kiddo. Back to bed." I could basically hear the smile in his voice. The call ended and I dropped my phone like it was dead weight. A second later I felt Edward slide the phone from where it had fallen and place it back on my nightstand.

"Thank you." I mumbled, curling in tighter.

"Of course." He whispered, placing a kiss on my crown and sending chills through me. When I shivered from the chill, I felt him shift under me then heard the click of a button. The heated blanket started to warm up around me and melt me back into sleep. Once again it was dreamless and all encompassing.

When I woke up again, it was 6am and time to get ready for school. With a groan I stretched and rolled my body until I faced Edward, who was smiling down at me lovingly. "Good morning sunshine."

"No." I grumbled, burying my face down in the blankets. Edward laughed and ran his fingers through my hair. "I'm going back to bed."

"You have to go to school today, Ara." His liquid voice swirled around my room like it hadn't in so long.

"Says. Who." I grumbled, digging further into my bed.

"Don't make me drag you out of bed." He playfully poked my ribs.

My head shot up and I squinted at him, my brow furrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Are you willing to test the theory?" Edward flashed a dazzling smile, clearly amused with the banter. He watched the gears turn in my head before I pushed myself up to get out of my bed. "Good choice."

Edward lounged on my window seat while I sat on my floor applying my makeup. Leaning close to the floor length mirror, I carefully winged my liner over the precisely blended nude smokey eye. "My dad is going to be on days now." I said after finishing both eyes, pausing to let the liner dry before moving on to mascara.

"So I heard." He paused before continuing, "does this mean you want to talk about what happened last night?"

I popped my mascara open and took to applying it instead of answering. While doing so, I made the mistake of being caught in his gaze. I was trapped there for a few long moments before I ripped my eyes back to my pile of cosmetics. My makeup was done now, the only thing keeping me there was my own reluctance to begin the day.

"Ara, we really should talk about what happened." Edward said, finally breaking the silence.

I furrowed my brow, getting up from the floor and walking over to my closet to find the shoes I wanted. "Which part?"

"You pick." He said simply, still lounging on my window seat.

"I don't think I like that power." I scrunched up my nose. "How about we figure out who's driving?" I felt so clever for my deflection that I couldn't help but grin as I dug through the pile of shoes.

"I'll drive." Like a balloon, my cleverness was deflating.

"Who's car?" I pulled my combat boots out of the lump, the laces tangling with each other in the process.

"Yours. I don't have mine and I don't have time to get it now." He watched me struggle for a moment before getting up and gently pulling the boots from my hands.

I stared in defeat as he expertly untangled the shoe laces. Edward then gingerly grabbed my ankle and slid my shoe into place. "Okay but you can't drive too fast." I spoke while he repeated his actions on the other foot.

"Arabella." I didn't realize until that moment that I had begun crying until Edward reached up and brushed a tear from my damp cheeks.

"Breakfast first!" I exclaimed, jumping up and wiping my eyes, running from the room while Edward still sat on the floor. Thanking the gods above that my makeup was waterproof.

Once I was in the kitchen I zoomed around, trying to quell the sudden and mysterious tears that had rudely appeared. I wasn't sure why they were about or why they choked me still, but my determined motions of loading Eggos into the toaster and starting the coffee maker kept my mind busy enough not to dwell. While I fought with the seal on the new bottle of creamer Edward stepped through the door. I was about ready to stab the thick foil barrier when Edward's hands found my cheeks and drew my attention up. "I won't hurt you again." His voice was determined, matching the intensity of his eyes, and I was shattered. The creamer bottle slipped from my hands, the only thing truly supporting me as Edward caught the creamer was the counter. I was pushing so much of my weight against it, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a long bruise along my back from the effort. Tears I had held back finally broke forth.

Edward wrapped his arms around me, humming softly as he rocked back and forth. I wasn't sure how long we were like that before Edward pulled back. He brushed my cheeks with his thumbs, smiling as he did so. "What?" I asked with a pitiful voice.

"Alice would be so impressed that you kept your makeup intact through that." He laughed, and I joined him in that laughter while pushing playfully on his tear stained chest.

"Go warm up the car so we aren't late." I said as I sniffled and wiped the last remaining tears from my eyes.

"Yes ma'am." He leaned down and pecked a kiss to my cheek before disappearing out the door. I took a moment to catch my breath after all that crying, then set to work grabbing my coffee. Edward had somehow managed to open the creamer and placed the screw top lid back on, leaving me feeling touched by his thoughtfulness, though the action was so small.

Once I had my Eggos wrapped up in a paper towel and my coffee in it's to go cup I shrugged on my jacket and bounded out the door, locking it along the way.

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sorry the chapter is so short, I had to cut it in half to have something worth posting. Last night my car got broken into so i havent been in the headspace to edit. Next chapter will be an exact continuation of this one where it left off lol. again sorry. (btw the picture is Gaia)