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

cinquante-trois

It had always been very easy for her to hide, to slip away or disappear, to go unnoticed. It was instinctive, natural for her to let herself slip out of sight, to be passed over.

Distractions around her made it easy. Bella did not.

She hadn't wanted for her to move from her side the moment that they left the island and now, back at the Cullen house with arguments surrounding them constantly, she was finding it harder and harder to run off as she so desperately wanted to.

Roman just needed a moment alone. She just needed the chance to feel the tree bark under her palms, to smell the fresh earthy scent and the early morning dew. Two days back in Forks and she was finding it harder and harder to keep secrets -- more so with the way that Alice continued to glare at her and Edward would plead to know what she was thinking.

She couldn't quite explain why he couldn't see other than this being her one chance at having a moment alone.

They wouldn't even let her call Seth to let him know that she was back. It was meant to be a secret, or rather, they didn't want to let the pack know about the situation unless they had to.

It was baffling to her that they still didn't want to trust Seth after everything, but she understood the hesitance with the hive mind that they shared when shifted. He wouldn't' be able to keep it a secret even if he wanted to.

Groaning, she stretches her legs out in front of her, wincing at the sharp pain in her back and readjusted herself to accommodate Bella clinging to her side.

Rosalie eyed her carefully. "I still believe we ought to let Carlisle run a few tests, Roman, just to be safe."

The room goes still, more than it was before, and she finds herself seeking out Edward. He was against the window with his arms crossed, refusing to look at either of them. She sighs.

"Would it make you happy if I had him check?" she offers. His nod is minuscule. "You can do a test but I doubt it'll tell you anything. I'm fine."

Carlisle worked quickly, getting what he needed from her and it was like they were no longer walking on glass around her.

It was a subtle change, a sense that they were now certain that she wasn't pregnant, that the test would come back negative as she was saying.

She knew he wasn't going to get anything from the tests, not when she knew that she was good at hiding things and he hadn't really gotten anything from Bella either.

Or, well, she hoped they wouldn't find anything because she wasn't really sure how the hiding thing work. Roman just knew that there were moments when Alice couldn't see her future, as if she no longer existed, moments when she didn't think it weird until she had actually met Roman and that there were times when Edward couldn't hear what she was thinking.

She didn't get to choose when or how it worked, but she hoped it worked for this or she would be in quite a bit of trouble for keeping secrets from them all.

It was a blessing that most of her clothes before Alice had gotten to her were baggy shirts and jeans, and since she was so familiar with the weather of Forks, Roman didn't mind the shorts even with the slight chill that circled her each time she stood from the couch and Bella's cocoon of blankets.

"Roman, would you like something to eat?" Esme asks gently as she passes over a tray to Bella. She ignores their hopeful expressions as Bella starts to nibble on her sandwich. She was having trouble things down.

She nods, despite knowing how she really isn't hungry, but at least she was able to eat where Bella wasn't. "I would love something. Do you want help?"