Falling To The Sun | B. Swan + E. Cullen

sept

The car is silent, still, as they sit idly outside the faded white home. They hadn't moved from their seats, hadn't moved from their frozen positions with the heat running high and a tension thrumming between them.

She could see Charlie moving around in the kitchen window, large hand wrapped around the neck of a beer bottle, and she knew that he saw them, that he was waiting for them to make their way inside instead of sitting silently, but Roman couldn't move, couldn't push her way from the drivers seat or even turn her face to Bella as she stared at her lap.

But something needed to be said, someone needed to push the topic of what had just happened in the woods, and she wasn't sure how to start. Bella was the one that understood what was going on back there, she was the one if the answers, and as much as she loved the girl, she couldn't simply let it all go when her passion was walking among the trees. How was she expected to do her job when there were dark secrets and mysteries that were hidden in the forest?

It wouldn't be safe, and knowing might not make it safer, but it was the best bet that she had.

She bit her lip, swallowing thickly.

"Bells."

"I know. I can't think of a way that I can tell you. I promised I wouldn't say anything."

"That doesn't explain anything, Bella, you have to give me more than that."

She finally turns to her, heart skipping a beat, cracking at the broken expression on her face. Bella's eyes were so distant, big brown eyes tearing and her hands clenched. A curtain of hair fell by her face, thin, and she reached out despite herself, brushing it behind her ear.

"I can't explain, Roman, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, but I can't."

"You have to give me something, Bells," she whispers, dropping her hand to her lap. Bella's fast to react, hand gripping her own tight yet somehow gentle. "Who did you promise?"

Her shoulders shake with a small sob and she moves closer, heart aching. "Him. I promised him, them -- all of them."

It wasn't often that they mentioned the Cullen's, or that Bella mentioned them, at least. Bella never wanted any reminder of them. Never wanted to hear their names. It never stopped her from thinking of Edward and his family though. Roman couldn't help it, even if each thought stung, she never wanted to forget him for a moment. And how could she not think of Edward when she saw Bella? It wasn't right for them to be apart, and even though she wanted to greedily keep Bella all to herself, she knew that it wasn't her place to intervene in what was destined.

She thought of them all the time, whether or not she wished to, but Roman wasn't going to let Edward keep them apart if he wasn't around. He wasn't here for Bella when she was.

Roman wasn't going to let Bella pull away from her.

"Am I in danger? In the woods?" she asks, and Bella flinches, squeezing her hand tightly.

"I don't know."

"Who was that man?"

"He-- when I left last year it was because someone was trying to hurt me. He was with the man but he wasn't with him..."

"Someone was trying to hurt you?" she asks, bewildered.

"It's fine now. He's gone, but his girlfriend and friend aren't."

She tries to work with what little information she was given, struggling to piece everything together, but it didn't make much sense.

"Did you tell Chief Swan?"