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A/N: Oh my, I feel like a terrible person. It’s been forever since I’ve updated this story! It’s not that I forgot about it, I’ve just been extremely busy with school and work and all that jazz. But thankfully, I managed to get a few days to myself when I realized: hey, I haven’t updated my story in a long time. So, here I am with an update. I hope this satisfies you all. In all honesty, I’m not sure I like it, but I hope you guys will. Without further ado, here it is!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, save for the plot.
“No,” He replied, “I’m not.”
I sent Edward a look of incredulity and shook my head. “Nope. Not going to do it.”
“Bella,”
“No!” I cried, stomping my foot and folding my arms over my chest. I tried to appear as stern and angry as possible, but whenever Edward was standing there with that pleading expression on his face, it was a harder feat than I thought it would be. “I’m not going to do it.”
A heavy sigh escaped his too perfect lips and his shoulders sagged in defeat. “Fine. If you don’t want to do it,” He said, his golden eyes boring into mine, weakening my resolve. “Then you don’t have to.”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned on the heel of his foot and started toward the brightly lit house.
I stood there in the grass, contemplating my next move. I could stand there in the middle of the yard, a hundred yards away from the Cullen household and wait by the Volvo as the sky slowly darkened. The moisture that hung heavy in the air was already starting to make me sweat and we had only been out of the car for less than two minutes. Or I could comply to Edward’s request and go with him back to the house, where I would not only find out what my surprise was, but where there was air conditioning.
I pushed a hand through my thick hair and took off after him. “Edward! Wait!”
He stopped so abruptly, I nearly ran into him. The toe of my flip-flop caught on the ground and I stumbled forward. But, as expected, his arms were prepared to catch me. The breath was forced out of my lungs as his hard arms caught me.
He looked down at me and raised a brow. “Well?”
I licked my lips and nodded my head, my chest heaving slightly. I had forgotten how terrible of a runner I was. “All right,” I panted, steadying myself and standing up to my full height. Tilting my head upward, I met his eyes and continued nodding, several strands of dark hair falling into my face. “I’ll do it.”
He brushed the locks of hair behind my ear and smiled brightly. “I knew you would come around.” He said, a strange note of confidence in his voice as he brought his lips to my forehead and placed a soft kiss to my bare skin.
I hated that I had such a weak resolve. I hated the fact that I couldn’t stay mad at Edward for as long as I would’ve liked. But most of all, I hated surprises. Everyone knew that. My mother had tried countless times to surprise me as a child, but each and every single one of her attempts always turned out for the worst. Not that I’m blaming her for things turning out so badly, but something always seemed to go wrong and, what was worse, was that it was usually my fault. Whether it was because I was insanely klutzy or because I had always hated surprises and my mood affected people was yet to be decided.
But as Edward walked behind me, his cold hands lingering on the base of my neck, his glacial breath skittering across the surface of my skin, making the hairs on my neck stand on end, I couldn’t help but start to appreciate them. Maybe they weren’t as bad as I thought they were.
I stood stoically still as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of black material. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I asked, “Isn’t this a bit clichéd?”
He chuckled as he placed the fabric over my eyes and began to tie a knot in the back. “Cliché it may be, but you’ll thank me in the end.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” I rolled my eyes, not bothering to hide my annoyance at the fact that I didn’t know what was going on. Edward pulled tightly on the blindfold, securing the knot to make sure that it wouldn’t fall off before it was supposed to. Damn him.
He grabbed my hand, threading his wintry fingers through mine and started to lead me forward through the grass.
“I don’t see why it was so imperative to blindfold me if all we’re doing is going into the house.” I said, making sure to keep my voice even.
Despite the fact I couldn’t see worth a damn, I knew he was smiling. “Many of us choose not to see things that we don’t want to, but please, Bella, just go along with it. You already promised that you would.”
I bit my lip. I had promised that I would go along with what he had planned, had promised to stay in a positive mind set, and had agreed to go along with everything he asked me to. Yet naught but two seconds after we stepped out of the car and he asked that I turn around so he could put the blindfold on me had I put up a stubborn front.
“I’m sorry.” I muttered, hanging my head in disappointment at myself.
He squeezed my hand and whispered, “It’s all right.”
I wanted to object, to say that I shouldn’t be breaking my promises, when I realized that he didn’t care. He was just happy that I was going along with it now. I squeezed his hand back and let him lead me toward the house.
Somehow, I had managed to get to the house and up the front porch steps without stumbling. A wave of accomplishment washed over me, but quickly faded, as I knew it was only because Edward was right there beside me, making sure that I didn’t trip over any tree roots and the like. A small smile pulled at the corners of my lips as I heard the front door open and felt his cold hands on my shoulder.
“Do I get to take the blindfold off now?” I asked, trying to mask the hopefulness in my voice, but failing miserably.
“Soon enough,” He laughed, leading me inside. “I promise.”
The cold gust of wind that danced across my skin was incredibly refreshing. It felt like I had just jumped into a glacier-cold lake on a hot summer’s day. I shivered despite myself and Edward’s hand released mine. “What are you do -?”
“Relax,” Edward’s soothing voice breathed into my ear, his icy breath chilling my earlobe. He rested his hands on my shoulders and guided me further into the house, although exactly where he was taking me, I had no clue.
I listened to him, though, slowly letting the built up tension in my shoulders and neck ease. A small sigh escaped my lips as I felt his hands moved up to the knot on the back of my head. The excitement in my stomach began to boil and I had a hard time keeping my squeal deep inside.
“You’re shaking,” he observed, chuckling slightly. “Is it because you’re anxious or cold?”
After a few seconds of contemplation, I said, “Both.”
Edward laughed again, the musical sound dancing around my head and making me dizzy. “And you say that you hate surprises.”
“I do,” I argued. “But…”
“But what?” He asked curiously as he worked entirely too slowly on the knot. I reached back to assist him, but he pushed my hand away, reprimanding me. “Stop that.”
“Well then work faster.” I complained, folding my arms over my chest.
“Don’t be so impatient.” He shot back, laughing as he pulled one last time on the black fabric. The blindfold slipped away down my face, coming to rest on the bridge of my nose. Just as I was about to open my eyes, Edward placed his cold hands over them. “Not so fast.”
I heaved a sigh of annoyance. “But Edward!”
“I’m kidding.” He said, a teasing note in his voice as he dropped his hands, taking the blindfold with it. “You can open your eyes now, Bella.”
I hesitated. What if there was something there I didn’t want to see? Then again, why would Edward do something like that to me? Why would he go through all this trouble, if it was only going to make me mad or upset? And, most of all, why would I even think such a thing about him? Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
My eyes widened slightly and my brow furrowed. Sitting on the table, there was a small box and an off-white envelope with my name scrawled across the front in elegant script. I knew right away that it was Edward’s handwriting and stared at the dark surface of the dining room table for a few seconds.
“Go ahead.” Edward urged, smiling as he gave me a small nudge. “Open them.”
I took another breath, holding it in for a few seconds, before releasing it. He kept an icy hand on my shoulder while I reached forward, debating on whether or not I should open the box or the envelope first. The box looked appealing, but then again, so did the envelope. Besides, it was rude to open the gift before the card.
I heaved a small sigh and turned toward Edward, my confusion getting the better of me. “Which one should I open first?”
“Whichever you wish to open first,” He replied, a smirk dancing across his lips at my indecisiveness.
I contemplating asking him to choose for me, but decided against that. He would probably just roll his gorgeous eyes at me and laugh. So, I reached out and grabbed the nearest one to me, which happened to be the box. I stuck my finger under the shiny blue wrapping paper and froze. Memories of the last time I opened a gift in the Cullen house assaulted my mind and my hands shook.
“Don’t worry,” Edward said soothingly, his hands wrapping around mine. “I made sure that they were all gone before bringing you here.”
A piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Is that why we circled around town for so long?”
“Yes. I asked them ahead of time to leave, but since Rose doesn’t exactly like leaving at the last minute, it took her longer than necessary to get ready to leave the house.” He answered, the annoyance seeping through his voice. I squeezed his hand and he sighed. “Honestly, it shouldn’t take someone that long to get ready to catch a movie.” He rolled his eyes and I laughed.
Still, as I held the wrapped gift in my hand, I scanned the living and dining room, my eyes searching for any other beings. When I was satisfied that no one else was in the house with us, I stuck my finger under the wrapping and gave a small, cautious tug. The paper came away from the box and I continued to unwrap the gift until I held a brown box in my hands. There were no marks on the box, so therefore, I still had no clue as to what it was. I looked up and locked eyes with Edward.
“What is it?”
“Open it and you’ll find out.”
I bit back an unattractive grunt and pulled at one of the leaves on top of the box. It came free and I opened all the other flaps. My brow furrowed in confusion whenever I saw the contents inside the box. Setting it down on the table, I grabbed the first object and held it close to my face.
“A croissant?” I asked, struggling to hold back my laughter as I stared at the crescent shaped roll in my hand. Oddly enough, it was still warm. My eyes darted over to the kitchen, searching for some sort of clue, but the kitchen was as spotless as it had been the first time I had come to the Cullens’ home. My eyes flickered back to Edward’s face. “What’s this for?” I asked slowly, tempted to sink my teeth into the soft bread and see if it was as tasty as it looked.
“See for yourself.” He said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans.
I sent him a look before I reached into the box and felt around. There was only one more object in the box. It was thin, almost like paper, but with a glossy feel to it. I knitted my brow together in confusion as I struggled to get my fingernails underneath the edges of it. Whenever I finally managed, I pulled my arm out of the box too quickly and scraped my arm against the side roughly.
“Crap,” I said, inspecting my arm for damage. There wasn’t any, but it stung badly. As I looked down at the object in my hand, I knew that it was a photograph. Confusion swept over me again and I flipped it over, as I had been staring at the back. My eyes widened and I glanced at Edward. He was smiling and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, as though he couldn’t wait for me to get to the envelope.
My eyes lingered on the photograph, a small smile quirking at the corners of my lips as I stared at it. It had been taken nearly three years ago, during summer vacation. Me and my mother had our arms thrown around each other’s shoulders and we were smiling widely. I looked utterly ridiculous, what with my hair thrown back into a messy ponytail and my cheeks tinged a bright pink from sitting outside in the bright sunlight at one of Phil’s games. As always, my mother looked beautiful.
“How did you get this?” I questioned, gesturing to the picture of myself and my mother in my hand.
“I asked Charlie for a picture of you and your mother.” He answered.
“Oh.” was all I could muster. It seemed like a reasonable answer, but why would Charlie had this picture? Unless, my mother had sent it to him, and I knew that she did send him the occasional candid picture whenever she mailed my school pictures to him.
I stared at the picture a little it longer, remembering all the happy days my mother and I had experienced that summer. My heart twinged and I missed her a lot more than I ever recalled missing her since I had come to Forks.
Seeming to sense my distress, Edward urged me to open the other gift. He slipped the envelope into my hand and I tore it open eagerly. He rarely got excited about anything, so if he was excited for me to open the envelope, there must be something good inside of it. I pulled the papers out of the envelope and tossed it back onto the dining room table.
My eyes widened.
My throat went dry.
My heart hammered in my chest.
The pieces were suddenly becoming a lot clearer than I ever expected them to become.
I dropped the papers in my hand on the floor and looked up at Edward, who was all but twitching with excitement.
“Paris?!”
His face fell. “Do you not like Paris?” He questioned, barely making the anxiety in his voice.
Without answering, I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. His arms wrapped around me and he twirled me around in a circle, kissing my neck. Once he set me back down on the ground, I pulled away slightly to look at his face.
“I can’t believe we’re going to Paris!” I exclaimed, all but squealing. “This is the best surprise ever!”
I hugged him again and my chest shook as he chuckled. “Who said the surprise was over yet?”
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