More or Less

More or Less

“Edward!  Edward what is it!?” I asked impatiently as we stood at my doorstep.  He had been staring at my door, with no expression, for the past five minutes.

If I knew better I would have thought Edward was afraid to tell Charlie about getting engaged.  But I did now better.  There was something going inside my house that I didn’t know about, but he did, which was starting to get really irritating.

“EDWARD!”

He looked down at me, his trance finally broken.  “There’s a girl inside.  A young one your dad found wandering around disoriented, lost, and confused.  She keeps crying and saying…”  He paused his eyes were unreadable.

“…saying what?”

“War.”  His voice broke.

War???  What war?  We just had a horrible battle against Victoria and her army of newborn vampires.  There is no other war, there shouldn’t be another war, but why then did I feel so worried.

“Edward, what war?”

He shook his head in confusion.  He didn’t know the answer, which terrified me.

“Can’t you just read the girls thoughts?” I asked afraid that I already knew the answer.  He looked at me his eyes showed disappointment and rage, probably for himself as usual.

I lifted my right hand, while my other hand continued to hold his, to cup his check.  He closed his eyes and said, “I can hear her heartbeat, breathing, crying, and her one worded side conversation.  But I can’t hear her thoughts.”

Jealously and worry rushed through me along with…happiness.

Happiness, because maybe there wasn’t something wrong with my head if there was somebody else that was immune to Edward’s gift.  Then again, this girl might be wrong in the head as I was.  Since she was just wandering around and the only thing she was saying was war.

Edward seemed to sense my tension as he held both my hands, tightly, in his while he bent down and kissed my forehead.  “It’s okay,” he murmured against my skin as he opened the door.

I wanted to believe in what he said.  That everything was truly okay, but I knew in my gut that it wasn’t.  I also knew that it was going to be far from okay when Charlie found out that I was engaged to Edward only eighteen, even though I was turning nineteen soon.  Ugh, how I dreaded and despised that thought.

We walked into the kitchen and sure enough there was a girl, probably barely sixteen, sitting in a kitchen chair with her face in her hands balling.  Charlie was kneeling beside her trying to comfort her.

He saw us as soon as we walked into the kitchen.  I tried to hide my left hand behind my back, while it was still encased in Edwards.  But by the look of extreme rage on Charlie’s face I knew it was too late.

He probably would have exploded with anger to if the girl hadn’t been there.  But since she was there still crying he seemed to try to dismiss the thought, till afterwards.

“Hi Cha…dad,” I said weakly as his face was still tense.

“Bella.  Edward.”  He said Edward’s name like it was poison.

It was then that the girl looked up.   I was taken back as I saw how sweet and innocent she looked.  And even though tears were still rolling down her cheeks and her light mascara was everywhere she still looked…well gorgeous.

Not Rosalie gorgeous, of course nobody could ever compare to that.  But still the same the girl looked amazing.

She looked at me for about five seconds and her gaze shifted to Edward’s.  Two seconds after looking at him her eyes grew wide and it looked like she was about to scream.  And I couldn’t help but wonder, did she know what Edward really was?  It was a silly question.

And it was until I felt Edward’s hand tighten around mine and his face became expressionless.  Either he thought the same thing I did or he was able to read the girl’s thoughts right then.

Charlie looked from Edward to the girl to me to the girl again and back to Edward.  Confusion had replaced the anger he had.

“Ummm…Alley are you okay?” Charlie asked the girl while his eyes were still locked on Edward.

I heard a low distinct growl coming from Edward.  Something definitely was not right.

“I…I just need…some fresh air,” the girl, Alley said her eyes still wide and on Edward.

“Okay, then.  Why don’t I show you the back…”

Alley was up on her feet her eyes still just as wide and on Edward.  “No that’s okay.  I can find it, fine.”