Raven's Twilight

Ch.23

Raven pushed his hand away and looked at him with a confused expression. "Are you breaking up with me?" she asked.

Edward reaches for her hand but she snatched runaway. "Raven - "

"No. Answer the damn question,  Cullen. Are you breaking up with me?"

"I'm no good to you, Raven. I couldn't keep you from getting hit by a car, so how am I going to protect your from those like me?" he said. "What good am I if I can't protect you from the things I know I can protect you from? You gotta go...so I can't hurt you anymore. You don't need me around anymore."

Raven closed her eyes and sighed. "Edward, I do. I need you. You've never hurt me. If you would have done anything, you would have put your family at risk of exposure," she opened her eyes and let his gaze. "You can't always protect me and risk exposing you and your family, it's not right. And I won't let you."

"I'm supposed to protect you."

"You're supposed to protect yourself and your family, not put them at risk for me. It's not fair to them," he tried to say something but she took his hand and lifted it to her lips. "You won't always be able to protect me,  Cullen and that's okay. You can't blame yourself for what happens to me."

"I can't not blame myself."

She cups his face in her hands and presses her forehead against his. "Well,  you better try because there is no way on God's green Earth that I'm letting you dump me because of something you had no control over."

"I'm sorry. I'm just..."

"Scared for me? I know but I'll be fine.  I'm not like most girls, I can and will protect myself," she said with a smile. "Besides, you forget that I heal pretty quickly." she said and lifted her shirt. Her ribs were no longer bruised or discolored.

Edward reach out and grazed her skin. "Wow." he said.

"I know. Cool, right?"

Shaking his head, he looked up at her. "You were wrong, you know?"

Raven tilted her head to the side in confusion. "About what exactly?"

"The conversation you had with your mother. You couldn't be further from the truth," he said and watched her cheeks heat up. "I want you, Raven, in more ways than one. I crave, and desire, your touch and your body in ways I never thought I could or would crave another."

Raven shook her head. "Edward,  you don't have to do this. You don't have to try and make me feel better about any of that."

"I'm not, Raven, believe me. If there was a way for me to show you how much you affect me just by being near me I would," he hesitantly placed a hand on her thigh. "I may be a vampire but I'm still a man. I still have..."

Raven smiled. "Urges?"

Edward looked down then lifted his head to meet her gaze. "Never doubt the strength of my desire for you, Raven," he placed his hand on the side of her neck. "I will never stop wanting you."

Raven smiled at him. "The feeling is mutual, babe."

Edward chuckled. "Babe?"

Raven shrugged. "What? It's what young teens are saying these days."

He laughed. "You say that as if you're not one of those young teens today."

"I may be physically but mentally I'm much older. Older than you," she said softly. "I'm just stuck in a young persons body."

Edward let out a real laugh. "Well, you look pretty good for a woman getting closer to two hundred."

Raven smiled. "Thank you, but you know what they say, old man."

He chuckled. "What's that?"

She leaned closer to him. "Black don't crack."

Edward burst out in laughter despite his attempt to hold it in. "Wow. In all the years I've been here, I've never heard that."

Raven raised a brow. "You must not have had many black friends, boyfriend of mine."

Edward took a breath and calmed himself. "I never really had any friends during my time as a vampire. You were the first true friend I've had since before I was turned."

Raven smiled and kissed his lips then rests her forehead against his. "I'm honored you opened up to me and let me in."

Edward took her face in his hands and caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. "I'm honored you were brave enough to not allow my families reputation of keeping to ourselves stop you from getting to know us," he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. "I will forever be grateful of the day you decided you weren't going to just ignore us the way everyone else did."

Raven chuckled. "What can I say? I'm stubborn and hard headed."

Edward chuckled and opened his eyes. "Yes, you are," he drew back and met her gaze. "But those are two reasons why I've fallen in love with you."

"Awwww.  Being a vampire has given you the power of nerve twitching romance and the ability to make a girl go weak in the knees." she said,  throwing her arms around d his neck.

Edward dropped his hands do to her waist and chuckled. "I've had a lot of time on my hands to catch up on poetry."

"Hell yeah, you have. If my father knew how old you really were he'd suffer fifteen heart attacks in one." Raven said with wide eyes.

"Well, it's a good thing he doesn't know."

She shrugged. "Not that I'd really care if he knew. I wouldn't break up with you," she said. "I wouldn't care if you were older than the oldest vampire and looked about Carlisle age, not that he looks old or anything. I'd still love you and want to spend forever with you."

He smiled and kissed her lips. "Forever, huh?"

She nods. "Yeah.  However long my forever with you will be. As long as I get to spend every other day with you, I'll be happy."

Edward narrowed his eyes. "Every other day? Not everyday?"

"Uh, no. Look, Eddie-sweet-cakes, I love you but we all need our space," she said,  leaning back against her pillow. "I need time to miss you and if we saw each other every single day, we'd drive each other crazy."

He chuckled. "I wouldn't mind seeing you every day."

"Yeah, but I would. I can't miss you if I see you twenty-four seven," she chuckled. "I'm sorry, babe, but you didn't fall in love with one of those girls who fall dependent on a man and who can't function right without seeing them. I love my me time."

Edward Edward his hands as if to surrender. "Alright, fine. I won't come over tonight." he stood to his feet.

"Wait, hold on a minute. You can still come over tonight. Tomorrow night is the night I have to myself." she said, grabbing his wrist.

He chuckled. "Good. I was going to sneak up to your room tonight anyway."

She smiled then patted the space beside her. "Join me."

He shook his head. "I ca-"

"Please? There's enough room. I just got the sudden urge for you to hold me. Please?"

After a moment, he agrees and moves to climb into the bed with her. He wraps his arm around her and she wraps her around his middle and tests her head against his chest.

"If my parents come just pretend you're asleep. I don't want you going anywhere tonight." she said.

Edward kissed her hair. "I'm not going anywhere."