Wide awake

Chapter Twenty Five. Heavenly Hazelnut Perfection

B.P.OV

Relief. Overwhelming, all encompassing relief was what I was feeling as I squeezed Edward’s neck so tightly that I thought I might just choke him to death right there in that gazebo. I could feel him smiling into my neck, and the feeling of it was just complete euphoria. He came back to me. And not only did he come back, but he did it with an intensity that nearly brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t know what snapped in him, or what brought the whole thing about, but his flame wasn’t gone. And it wasn’t even dim like it used to be. It was burning so brightly that I could feel it in his touch.

And for once, I was the one that had to pull away. And when I did, he was still smiling, and his eyes were shining with a silent refusal to let go of my waist that made me chuckle at him. But I had to go before Alice came, so I planted one last small kiss on his swollen lips and unwrapped his arms from around me.

“I’ll be up when I lose Alice.” I promised, knowing that she would be with Jasper all night. I had already spoken to Jasper before they started the fireworks and asked him to keep her busy for the night so I couldn’t get caught absent from the house. His easy agreement just solidified his spot as my second favorite guy.

Edward nodded at me, and reluctantly turned away with one last glace at me to return to his house. After he was gone, I weaved my way through the crowd to find Esme and make a good alibi. She was easy as I relayed my story to her while she stood next to Dr. Cullen at the river bank. All I had to do was tell her I was tired and I was going to bed. She never checked on me at nights, so I knew I had nothing to worry about once my bedroom door was closed. I did take notice of the fact that she and Dr. Cullen had spent most of the night together. And before Edward had pulled me away, I also took notice of the fact that they paired up together for the New Year’s kiss. I was almost frustrated that I couldn’t have seen their kiss to calculate how romantic it was.

I spotted Jasper across the meadow and gave him a pointed glance. He understood what was going on, and sent me a minute nod that wouldn’t alert Alice, who was hanging on his back. I spared one last moment to glace around the meadow to confirm Emmett’s whereabouts. He was sitting next to a very bored Rosalie, still shooting off fireworks, and looking far too amused by them than entirely appropriate for any eighteen year old man to be. So I made my way across the yards, sneaking through the shroud of darkness, and around the front to the Cullen mansion with ease.

Edward had told me that morning to just walk in, so I did. The house was bright and empty, and I flew up those stairs to Edward’s room where I knew he’d be waiting for me. Once I reached his door, I didn’t even knock on it; I just grabbed the knob and flung it open.

He was sitting in the middle of his bed, still wearing his leather jacket, and smiling crookedly at me again. And the sight of it must have made my whole face light up. I had missed that smile so much, that I couldn’t even contain myself as I shut the door and darted to the bed. I jumped on it carelessly, flying over to Edward and throwing my arms around his neck once again. The force of my enthusiasm knocked him onto his back, and I was afraid that I had crossed some line. But he chuckled at me and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face into my hair and breathing in deeply.

I kissed his neck with reckless abandon, just happy that I could. And happy that he was really holding me, and really smelling me, and really happy to have me there.

And he was. He rolled us over onto our sides and slid us up to the pillows. And instead of putting my head on his chest, he rested his forehead on mine and let out a deep sigh. A sigh of relief. I didn’t know what he was relieved about, but I welcomed whatever it was. He held me impossibly tighter against him with both arms around my waist. I was afraid the arm I was lying on would go numb, but he didn’t seem to care. I smiled widely at his death grip on me and squeezed his neck tighter.