Fly ~ Edward Cullen

Chapter Twenty-one: Stolen Chance

When Beth woke up on the Saturday that Bella went down to La Push, she had plans laid out for her day. Seeing as Bella took the truck and Charlie was off to work, she was stuck at home by herself with little to do except sleep. And she did, for a little while- before getting up to do some laundry and tidy the house.

As Beth shut the lid of the washing machine for her first load, she sighed. Her mind had been drifting back to Edward since the time he dropped her off  on Wednesday. Unfortunately, he'd been absent because of a few days of sun and hadn't made an appearance.

She thought about their next encounter with dread, not knowing whether or not he told his family that she knew their secret. Beth quietly hoped that he had not yet, she preferred to live a bit longer than 120 years (give or take). 

Climbing back up the stairs from the basement, Beth was startled to hear a knock coming from the front door. Barefoot, she crossed over with quick steps before exposing the man of the hour himself- hair perfectly quaffed and styled. He looked grim, no trace of a smile or any sort of friendliness present.

She tinged pink, realizing that she was still dressed in her Hello Kitty pajamas, "E-edward, hi..."

"Can we talk." He said instead. The question, as it should have been, more sounded like a non-negotiable command. Raising a half-defiant brow, she stepped aside to let him through the door anyways.

Edward stood very still once he was inside, leaving Beth to close the front door after checking to make sure that none of her nosy neighbors noticed him casually walk up her driveway when Charlie was very clearly absent. The Volvo was nowhere in sight, so he must have walked from his home.

He was awkward in her living room, as perfectly awkward as a graceful vampire could appear.

She cleared her throat after a second, seating herself in a one seater across the room.

"So," she began, prompting him to speak up.

"How is it that you know?"

Her breath caught in her throat, but she knew she'd have to reign in her emotions to lie to him.

"Um," Beth crossed her legs, "I told you- someone said something and I kind of just guessed. Put the pieces together....now here we are."

Edward watched her for a solid minute, silent as his eyes studied hers to find any traces of deception. When he looked away, it was obvious that he'd found none and Liz had to withhold a relieved sigh.

"My family and I are not," he paused. "My kind is different from what you'd find in books or myths. We drink blood, obviously, to stay 'alive'. We're incredibly fast, a blur to the human eye and we have super strength."

"What makes you different?"

"To the myths? Or others of my kind?"

"Both," Elizabeth urged. Even though she already knew this story and almost everything about him, she desperately wanted to hear it from him in person. She still couldn't believe that she was actually here, being able to do all these things. Truly, it was almost something out of a dream.

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When Edward was finished with his explanation, he seemed to relax a bit more into the sofa. Only slightly though, Beth guessed he was holding his breath.

"What now?" she inquired quietly.

Edward let out a short chuckle, "I'm taking you to meet my family tomorrow. Alice has been dying to meet you for some time now."

"Oh!" this was news, "Okay, cool."

Before he could say anything else, his head snapped in the direction of the front door where presumably he heard the truck coming back up the road.

Edward shot her a glance, " Bella is coming."

Beth stood, running her hands down the side of her clothes. The sun had just about set by now, barely any light streaming through the windows as a cold breeze parted the curtains.

"Okay, well thank you for coming and giving me a bit more insight, I guess." Was that a normal thing to say?

Faster than she could process it, he too was up on his feet.

"No problem." Bella was pulling up into the driveway now.

"See you tomorrow." Beth reminded him and after sending her a nod, he was gone as quickly as he came- curtains ruffling in the wind.

She breathed a sigh of relief, resting her hands on her hips. With a start, she remembered that her laundry was still in the washing machine downstairs.

The keys turned in the door as Bella stepped inside the empty foyer. With a sigh, she shut it behind her while she took off her parka.

The story Jacob told her was circulating through her thoughts and bringing up theories that she definitely did not want to entertain.

He almost made it seem like they were im-

"Hey." Beth greeted her sister softly, her arms filled with a basket of clean clothes.

Her twin merely waved before walking up the stairs rather distractedly. Beth frowned, adjusting the basket in her hand before trudging up the stairs to fold clothes.

"What's up with her?"