Le Temps De L'innocence (Twilight) {Edward Cullen}

Contre-jour

"Can I ask just one more?" I pleaded as Edward accelerated much too quickly down the quiet street. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to the road.

He sighed.

"One," he agreed. His lips pressed together into a cautious line.

"Well... you said you knew I hadn't gone into the bookstore, and that I had gone south. I was just wondering how you knew that."

He looked away, deliberating.

"I thought we were past all the evasiveness," I grumbled.

He almost smiled.

"Fine, then. I followed your scent." He looked at the road, giving me time to compose my face. I couldn't think of an acceptable response to that, but I filed it carefully away for future study. I tried to refocus. I wasn't ready to let him be finished, now that he was finally explaining things.

"And then you didn't answer one of my first questions..." I stalled.

He looked at me with disapproval. "Which one?"

"How does it work - the mind-reading thing? Can you read anybody's mind, anywhere? How do you do it? Can the rest of your family... ?" I felt silly, asking for clarification on make-believe.

Rosalie wore blush the last Thursday, I could probably paint it onto her if I used the lightest shade of peach for which I would have to mix the slightest bit of orange into pink then add a whole lot of while so it's blend well enough into her skin.

"That's more than one," he pointed out. I simply intertwined my fingers and gazed at him, waiting.

"No, it's just me. And I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I have to be fairly close. The more familiar someone's... 'voice' is, the farther away I can hear them. But still, no more than a few miles." He paused thoughtfully. "It's a little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once. It's just a hum - a buzzing of voices in the background. Until I focus on one voice, and then what they're thinking is clear. "

"Most of the time I tune it all out - it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal," he frowned as he said the word, "when I'm not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words."

I smiled, "Is it working?"

I would have to gradually start with a deep yellow to paint the sunset of the birdhouse and how I might do the birdhouse and Rosalie's portrait at the same time so I could use the peach and how they would blend really well and-

"Yes." He emphasized. "Alice does that when she has a surprise for me."

Alice's makeup looked a little more complicated, there was a subtle type of gray that masked her blush and she wore a lot of neutral brown colors but it seemed all the more fun, maybe I could mix the color I planned on using for their skin color then go on to adding the tiniest bit of brown, make a nice nude, khaki color.

"Please stop." He shook his head in displeasure. "It's you turn."

I started thinking about the color taupe when he sighed.

"I want to know your new theories, aren't we past the evasiveness by now?"

I bit my lip. He looked down at me, his honey eyes unexpectedly gentle.

"I won't laugh," he promised.

"I'm more afraid that you'll be angry with me."

"Is it that bad?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

He waited. I was looking down at my hands, so I couldn't see his expression.