Lips of an Angel

Chapter 17-Decisions

Carlisle stared at me in silence for a moment, and I worried that I had gone too far. We were running for our lives, according to Jacob, and I was worrying about a human we had no reason to protect and care about so specifically. But then Carlisle shot Alice a pointed look, and a silent conversation was exchanged between the two. Alice was shaking her head angrily, and Carlisle raised his hands in surrender before turning back to me, his face incredibly sympathetic.

"There are only two options, Bella," Carlisle said softly. "You know that."

I did know that. I knew that I could either stay here - with or without my family - and protect Edward as I had been, or I could leave London with my family, and pay no further attention to the human that had been invading my life in the most intimate of ways. And I had no idea what to do. Until Rosalie returned, and made herself known.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking of risking your life for that human?" she asked, flicking her hair as she regarded me with a cold look.

Rosalie was right. Edward was just one human, and wasn't worth endangering my life for, no matter how attached to him I'd become. It was like a beloved pet. You'd save it from running in front of the car, but not if doing so would kill you in the process. I couldn't save Edward from this. He'd never agree to come with us, and I wouldn't want to surround him by vampires yet again, but I couldn't stay and protect him - we'd both die that way.

If Alice had been truthful with me, my decision could have been different. But she hadn't. She'd left me in the dark, in a time when I really needed to know the truth. If she'd told me the truth, perhaps all the drama would have been prevented, and perhaps things would have turned out differently. But perhaps she was right, and perhaps things would have only been worse. Though it was difficult to imagine a future that was much worse than the events that unfolded in time.

"No," I said to Rosalie. "I'm not."

And in a matter of minutes, Jacob ran off to escape Paul and the rest of the pack, before they realised he was gone, and Esme, with Alice's assistance, had clothes and other emergency items packed in two bags. I hardly moved as everyone else bustled around, too caught up in the sorrow I felt at leaving behind Edward. I genuinely didn't understand it, but Alice clearly did, for she looked incredibly guilty.

My phone vibrated in the back pocket of my stiff demon jeans, and sung out to the world, announcing that somebody was trying to contact me. I slipped it out and looked at the called ID. Time seemed to stand still as I read off Edward's name, my thumb hovering over the red 'decline' button as it rang out, until, right at the last moment, I pressed the green and held it to my ear. I wanted to hear his voice one more time.

"Bella?" Edward's velvet-like voice asked over the phone. Judging by the roar of traffic I could hear in the background, he was either in his car or walking beside a road. My heart ached at the sound of his voice saying nothing but my name, and I remembered the conversation we'd had earlier that day. I almost wished we hadn't had it.

"Edward?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I can't make Thursday's appointment," he said, sounding regretful.

Come on, Bella, I thought, angry with myself for being a coward in delaying saying the truth: that we were leaving London, and weren't returning. I expected that we'd journey to Alaska to find the Denali coven, and I'd have to endure weeks of dealing with Tanya's snobbish attitude - perhaps even months. So I had to tell him. It was only fair.

"I'm unable to attend also," I said, sighing. I paused for a few seconds, trying to gather my quickly-scattering thoughts. So much for a perfect vampire mind. During my hesitation, there was silence on the other end of the phone, until those seconds stretched into minutes.