Becoming a Vegetarian

Chapter 21: Learning to Fight

Previously: (This scene comes up in this chapter, so just a refresher of what happened all the way back in chapter 10)

"Bella, that was completely dangerous and reckless—" he starts to rant, but stops and narrows his eyes when I snort disbelievingly.

"Dangerous? Edward, we're vampires. We can't die. We would fall, and sure, we'll get a little dirty, but we wouldn't break any bones or anything."

He opens his mouth to protest, but then sighs. "I know, but I just…I worry about you. I can't help it," he says sincerely, unconsciously angling his body towards mine almost protectively.

"Aww," I melt. "That's sweet, Edward. But you shouldn't worry. Nothing's going to happen to me."

He bites his lip. "But if I saw you fall fifty feet to the ground? Seeing that would petrify me. Even though I know you're indestructible, just the thought of you getting hurt…" he shudders.

It's bad, I know, to smile to so hugely when he is so distressed, but the fact that he cares so much warms my heart. And I get what he means. If Edward were to fall right now, the fact that he would be fine and stand up without a scratch wouldn't cross my mind. All I would be able to think about would be the image of his broken body landing onto the hard ground.

Saturday, July 20th 7:00 P.M (A Month Later)

I should have known that this would happen sooner or later. Edward and I are both so stubborn, so of course we are going to butt heads every once in a while. We've had arguments in the past and we've disagreed on many points, but always, minutes later with soft words and apologetic glances, our arguments ended and we were back to living in harmony. But not this time. This is more than a simple argument about what movie we should watch or whether or not I should throw out that sweatshirt my old neighbor gave me. No, this is Edward's and I's first full-blown fight, complete with raised voices and slamming doors.

It all began with me walking into the living room where Rose, Alice, and Esme were all talking on the couches. I sat next to Esme and everybody gave me a greeting smile before going back to talking.

"What are you guys talking about?" I ventured moments later.

"Oh, just about life in the 1950s," Alice said amiably.

"But you wouldn't know anything about that, now would you, Bella?" Rose teased, reaching over to pinch my cheeks.

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her grasp. "Whatever. Where are the guys anyway?" I questioned.

"Edward's out back," Esme answered, knowing who I was, admittedly, really asking for. "He's playing with his brothers."

I nodded. "I'll go join them then." I knew that I didn't have much to add to their conversation about what was happening half a century ago, so I left them to it and headed out to the backyard. What was happening there startled me so much that I almost jumped. Emmett was in the mist of punching Edward in the face.

"Edward!" I gasped. He turned to look at me, surprised. Emmett took this moment of distraction to land the punch on the side of Edward's face. I rushed to Edward, immensely concerned. "Are you okay?" I asked seriously, cradling his face in my hand.