Interminable E. Cullen

Chapter 9

Oh the feelings

The tingles that peregrinate up my arm 

Caressing down my spine

An intake of breath to have stolen

My love, how I wish for nothing more than to fall back into your awaiting arms

For our hearts to beat together and love forever surround us like an impenetrable cloud

***

"How do you do it?" Edward asked. 

Sitting in the meadow he watched as Ophelia painted. Unlike her usual state of chaos when doing other tasks, her brush strokes were much softer and controlled as she danced color across the canvas. 

"Being blind is not at all about not being able to see. All around the world every day there are people with perfect eyesight that aren't seeing  anything." He hummed for her to continue, gently brushing the hair about to fall in her face over her shoulder, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. For a split second the curve of Ophelia's neck made his mouth want to foam with venom, longing for the taste of the blood he tried hard to ignore. In the end he succumbed to other feelings - thoughts that entered his mind when she sighed softly beneath his cold touch and her heart thumped happily at his proximity - as if her body did not care at all that it was so close to a monster that could harm her. 

"Seeing is more feeling than you think. You don't have to look directly at someone to understand when their tone is condescending just as you don't have to look to know when someone is gazing at you from across the room. You hear it, you feel it. I believe I'm luckier than most, not having to see the harshness of the things around me, instead I have to dig deeper in order to understand while everyone else scratches the surface, not bothering to look beyond their own selfishness." 

As she spoke, Ophelia could feel Edward's intense stare on her. Finishing her painting of the meadow he praised it once more before they both laid back. Feeling the warmth of the sun now beginning to peak its way through the clouds above she sighed in content before noticing Edward's silence. 

Rolling over she placed a hand on his chest before leaning her chin on top of that. Her other hand coming up to smooth over his right brow that had been pulled tightly from busy thoughts. "So serious," Ophelia's voice a quiet murmur. "What're you thinking?" 

"I should be asking you that. With your sister it's pure silence, with you it's a headache trying to concentrate enough to get the simplest of pictures," he retorted back jokingly. 

"You're too used to being able to read thoughts. Perhaps it was a lesson for you to rely on more than your gifts." Edward didn't say anything, instead he studied her face. Tracing over her features he became more and more aware each passing day the beauty Ophelia held. Her body radiating her inner beauty like a sunrise through lace curtains. 

Reaching up, his hand traced delicately across her cheek, in return her head leaned into his palm. Eyes pulling from hers down to her lips and back he leaned closer. 

"Tell me to stop." His voice was now a whisper. 

"Don't stop."

Their lips collided like fire and ice. Ophelia's warmth encompassing Edward's cold. The feeling was strange but she never was never one to shy away from the cold before. She felt him tense up in an attempt to control whatever internal battle he may be having, and she wanted more than anything to help relieve his pain. 

The kiss didn't last nearly as long as they thought it did, pulling away it felt like an invisible tie was linked around the two, tugging harshly as if to yank them back together. Edward released a shaky breath despite not being the one to need it. 

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Ophelia was the first to break the silence. 

He let out a soft chuckle and moved his hand up and down her arm soothingly. "I can assure you that uncomfortable is the last of my feelings right now." 

"Tell me about your family."

"There's Carlisle, my father. He is the most compassionate man I know, with a control of his thirst I don't think anybody else would ever be able to match. Esme who would probably take every child willing to come under her wing," Edward laughed. "I have always thought she was born to be a mother, then after the bad things had happened in her life she was granted a second chance, now able to be a mother to us forever."

He continued talking, going on and on about each family member's synopsis, Ophelia hanging onto his every word happily. It felt as though she was growing fond of all of them just by the stories. 

"Have you ever been in love?" 

The question stumped him. Unsure of how to answer he replied 'yes' only to cringe at his forwardness. "Have you?" 

"Love is so complex. Frightening in a way. You can love something and then be in love. Just as I love my sister, I would be willing to take anything harmful coming her way onto myself." Edward didn't like the thought of that. "But to be in love is to give every vulnerable piece of yourself to someone, in hopes that they not only reciprocate but that they handle it with kindness. Handle you with kindness and openness. To not judge too harshly whilst also being fair with their actions." Ophelia hesitated. "Its easy to love something, especially when its something as simple as your sibling or a painting. You already have a trust in that, you already know that it isn't going to hurt you. Trust that it's never going to leave." 

Her last sentence was said lowly, a small whisper to fade into the air and be blow away. She looked away from Edward and began picking nearby flowers and braiding them together out of nerves. 

He watched as Ophelia closed off, curling inside of her own heart and thoughts in hopes of nothing penetrating the shell she set to protect it. "I wouldn't leave," Edward pulled her face back up to look at him only for her to once again tug it away. 

"My mother loved my dad once. I don't know when it happened; whether she just grew tired of him specifically or if she was just as selfish as I've made her out to be in my head, but she left. Left him in the house I know he will probably never leave, left him with nothing but his aching heart and the memory of what he believed they once had. It broke him in more ways than he will ever admit, and that is terrifying to me. Your mind can forgive someone but your heart doesn't forget. And deep down I know his is still cracked at the edges from what she did. I never want to feel that way." 

Ophelia sniffled, hating the way that the vampire seated beside her wormed his way into her heart, making it so easy to fall for him. She promised herself as a child to never to fall in love and yet here she was, falling blindly into the dark.

Tears threatened to pool from her eyes and she tried hard to fight them back. But when Edward's cold hands pulled her close and he kissed her forehead gently, a few made an escape. 

"I promise Ophelia."  

After the two had finally calmed down enough and shared a few laughs, Edward pulled the girl up to her feet. 

"Lets go meet my family. 

Y'all not to sound cocky or self centered because I am usually really harsh with my opinion on my writing but I kinda loved this chapter like ughhh my heartttt 

<3