BPOV
I spent most of that evening trying to distract myself from thinking about Edward's mesmerising golden eyes, silently berating myself for being more than a little obsessed with him. Now that I had actually talked to him, I found that along with being the most handsome vampire I had ever seen, he was also interesting to talk to.
In a pointless effort to rid myself from thoughts of Edward, I immersed myself in a new medical journal that Sulpicia had recently sent, hoping that the medical terms would keep my overactive thoughts at bay. Eventually I gave up, and after a call to Heidi, describing the great shopping trip I had gone on and teasing her about being jealous, I went to bed.
Even in my dreams Edward featured, his golden eyes bright, and his gorgeous smile directed at me.
Eventually I woke up, and prepared myself for another day of high school. I found myself eagerly anticipating the day, then berating myself, because, if I was being honest, the reason I was looking forward to it was Edward Cullen.
I stepped outside, and found, much to my disgust, that there was snow and ice everywhere. Making sure no one was around, I wrapped myself in a shield and lifted myself into the air, hovering a couple a inches above the ground. Moving my shield with my mind, I was soon standing next to my truck door, having successfully managed to avoid slipping on the ice.
I drove to school slower than usual, worried about my truck's capabilities on ice, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it handled the conditions. With my slow driving though, I was a little later than usual and my usual parking place was already taken, so I found a place four cars down from Edward's Volvo to park in.
I got out and waved to the Cullens before a metallic glint caught my eye and I slid around on the ice, holding onto the tray of my truck as I made my way to the back of it and surveyed my tires. I realised that Charlie must have put snow chains on it this morning. I stood there, silently overwhelmed as I thought about how thoughtful and caring Charlie had been.
I was interrupted from my thoughts as I heard two things simultaneously. The first was a loud screeching, the second was the voice of Edward Cullen yelling "NO!" I looked up in shock. My eyes, used to watching vampires move at fast paces, took in what happened next as I stood still in shock. Tyler's van was coming towards me at an alarming pace, and I knew I isn't have time to move. I instinctively threw my shield around me, and braced myself looking over at Edward's horrified expression.
I was shocked when I he threw himself towards me and knocked me to the ground, my shielded head hitting the asphalt as his hands shot out protectively in front of me, stopping the van. Simultaneously, my shield pushed itself out of its own accord, shrouding Edward, and pushing the van slightly away from us.
As the van settled I instantly withdrew my shield from Edward, astonished that I had instinctively felt the need to keep Edward, an extremely strong vampire, safe. I was horrified that I had nearly given myself away in front of Edward and relieved that he would probably think he had pushed the van away.
I was startled when I saw Edward's worried face turn towards me, and I suddenly noticed that I was cradled protectively in his arms, my body humming in contentment. "Bella, are you okay?" he asked anxiously as his eyes ran over my body, searching for injuries.
I smiled weakly at him, still shocked by what had just happened. "I'm fine Edward," I assured him. Then I inwardly grimaced as I realised that I was going to have to play the innocent little human, who had never seen anyone super strong or superfast before, if I wanted the Cullens to believe I was a regular human. Aro had stressed the other day that the Cullen's needed to remain oblivious for as long as possible, especially about my gift and connections to the Volturi. It wasn't safe for me to be around them if another vampire, or coven, found out that I knew about vampires and decided to enforce the Volturi Laws by trying to kill me and punish the Cullens for associating with me. Of course I was confident that I could protect them if I was near, but I wouldn't be able to do that without revealing that I was the Volturi Princess.
I inwardly sighed, putting on a shocked expression I looked up at Edward. "How did you get over to me so fast?" I demanded.
His eyes tightened slightly, but he kept his face calm. "What are you talking about Bella? I was standing right beside you and I pulled you out of the way," he lied convincingly.
I was impressed with his ability to lie, but I was angry that he had thought he could get away with implying that I was unobservant. "No, you were standing over by your car." I stated firmly.
His voice hardened, "You don't know what you're talking about Bella. You hit your head."
I glared at him, "I'm fine," I said frostily.
His expression turned desperate, "Please Bella." He said softly.
"Why?" I demanded.
"Just trust me." He said.
I huffed, "Fine, but you owe me an explanation." I warned.
I knew that he was worried that he had just exposed his family, but for some reason I wanted him to be able to tell me the truth, and I wanted him to feel that he could trust me to keep their secret.
Edward was stopped from retaliating by the EMT's arrival. We sat back and waited as they moved the van away from us. I sat there, still comfortably wrapped in Edward's arms, and tried not to be impatient. Both Edward and I could have easily moved the van. I even contemplated subtly helping, but dismissed the idea- there was no way I was going to chance revealing my gift for a second time.
When the paramedics finally reached us Edward released me from his arms, and I felt a sense of loss as the traitor informed them that I had hit my head, but assured them that he was fine. I glared at him as they put me on a stretcher, and, much to my embarrassment, strapped a neck brace on me.
As I sat in the ambulance I notice a dent in the tan car beside my truck, which was obviously from Edward's shoulder. I knew I couldn't allow any of the other humans to get suspicious about the Cullens, so I subtly sent a shield over to the dent and quietly rearranged it, thankful that everyone was preoccupied getting Tyler out of the van. It would have looked very strange to anyone watching the dent to see it miraculously change shape out of thin air.
To top it off Charlie soon arrived, his panicked face desperate as he looked for me. When he finally found me his face relaxed slightly, obviously noticing that I wasn't seriously injured. After multiple assurances that I was fine, the ambulance finally took me to the Forks Hospital.
Edward came along to, but he got to sit in the front, and when we reached the hospital he simply glided in by himself, promising the paramedics that he would have his father check him out. I snorted softly at that. Obviously Dr Cullen didn't need to worry about Edward's health.
After a range of x-rays and examinations, I was finally left at peace- having dumped the stupid neck brace the first moment I was alone. Unfortunately, my peace didn't last long as Tyler was wheeled in next to me, looking horrible and covered in bandages. When he saw me he looked apologetic, "Bella, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed.
"I'm fine Tyler, you didn't hit me," I assured him.
"Thank God. For a moment there I thought you were going to die." I chuckled at that, it would take much more than a van to kill me. "How'd you get out of the way so fast?" he asked.
"Edward was standing next to me," I lied smoothly, humans seemed to buy my lies better than vampires, "He pulled me out of the way." I finished.
"Oh, I didn't see him there." Tyler said, I paused, hoping he'd buy it, "I guess it all happened so fast. Jeez, I should apologise to him too," he groaned, "I nearly killed both of you."
I gave him a small smile, "We're both fine Tyler, stop worrying."
Unluckily, Tyler felt the need to keep apologising, so I lay back and pretended to sleep. He kept mumbling his apologies, but at least he dropped his voice.
As I lay there I analysed what had happened this morning. I was completely puzzled by Edward's actions; he shouldn't have tried to save me at all. First of all, he barely knew me, and shouldn't have any reason to save me. Secondly, he had just revealed that he wasn't human, which would have had terrible consequences if I hadn't been the human in question. Thirdly, at the speed that Tyler's van was moving, he had had little time to react. It seemed that he had saved me instinctively, which was strange because he shouldn't have any reason to react like that.
I just couldn't understand why he had saved me. I was slightly angry that he had nearly revealed his existence to an entire school, which would have had disastrous consequences for both the vampire world, and the humans who saw something. However, I was more than a little grateful too. If he hadn't saved me I would have had a very hard time explaining why there was a dent in the shape of a human in Tyler's van and why I wasn't dead. Or even worse, if I had pushed out my shield and sent Tyler's van flying away from me I wouldn't have even had a chance to lie before I was chucked into an examination room. So all in all, it was very lucky that Edward had been there.
I was interrupted from my puzzling thoughts by a familiar velvet voice. "Is she sleeping?" he asked. I opened my eyes to see Edward standing near the foot of my bed.
Tyler stopped his pathetic rambling, "Oh hey Edward. I'm so sorry man. I could have killed you."
I smirked a little at that and Edward chuckled softly. "No blood no foul." He replied. I snorted softly. Edward turned to me curiously, and I quickly composed my face. "How are you?" he enquired.
"I'm fine." I informed him confidently, I knew my shield had protected me. "But they won't let me go until a doctor sees me." I grumbled.
He grinned crookedly at me and I felt my heart stutter. Inwardly I chastised myself for reacting like that. I had never met anyone that had that kind of effect on me. "Don't worry, I'm come to spring you." He assured me.
As if on cue, a handsome blonde vampire entered the room. I smiled at Carlisle. "Hi doc," I greeted him, "I knew you missed having me over, so I thought I'd come visit," I joked.
He smiled back, though there was some slight uneasiness in his eyes- no doubt he had been informed about Edward's superhuman exhibition, "Bella, you know you're welcome at our house anytime, you don't have to go to such extreme lengths to see me," he retaliated.
We both chuckled as he looked over my chart, and completed the forms. "Edward said you hit your head. How is it feeling?" he asked, his fingers gently probing my skull for any signs of bruising.
"It's fine, it wasn't that hard." I assured him, "I barely felt it," which was true, thanks to my shield I hadn't felt it.
"Well, in that case you're good to go home, I think your father's out in the waiting room." He informed me.
I mentally winced at the idea of Charlie trying to take care of me for the day. "Can't I go back to school?" I asked desperately.
"I think you should take today off." Carlisle said firmly.
"Does he get to go back to school?" I asked rebelliously, indicating Edward.
Edward smiled smugly at me, "Someone has to share the good news that we survived."
"Actually, I think most of the school's in the waiting room." Carlisle corrected. I groaned. Seeing this, Carlisle offered, "Would you like to stay a bit longer?"
"No, no," I said quickly, hopping hastily off the bed. I stumbled a bit as I landed and Edward was suddenly next to me, catching me in his comforting arms. I looked up surprised, and found that he seems as shocked by his actions as I was. I hesitantly looked over at Tyler, and sighed with relief as I noticed that he had rolled over on his side and was facing away from us, luckily missing Edward's exhibition of speed.
I reluctantly stood myself up properly, and Edward let his arms drop to his sides. Carlisle looked on curiously, his golden eyes missing nothing. "Well I'm sure I'll see you soon Bella," Carlisle said, "Hopefully outside of the hospital next time." He grinned before moving over to Tyler.
I turned immediately to Edward. "You owe me an explanation." I reminded him, whispering softly so that Tyler wouldn't overhear. I knew he was unlikely to tell me the truth, but I was curious as to whether he would try to lie to me, or just try to brush it off.
He immediately turned, and led me out of the room and down a hallway until we were alone. Then he faced me, his expression cold and hard. "I saved your life, I don't owe you anything," he said harshly, in an obvious attempt to scare me and stop me from asking questions.
Unfortunately for him, I was completely unafraid of him, and I glared right back. "Look," I hissed at him, for some reason it bothered me that he didn't trust me with his secret, although rationally I knew he didn't know me well enough, and shouldn't tell me, "If you're worried about me telling anyone, you can relax, I have no intentions of saying anything." I growled.
His eyes widened slightly and a surprised look flashed across his face before his cold facade was back up again, "Then why does it matter?" he demanded.
"I just want to know- for me. I want to know why I'm lying for you." I explained. Technically, I already knew, but I wanted him to tell me himself.
Can't you just thank me and get over it?" he demanded.
"Thank you," I said gratefully, if he hadn't saved me my gift probably would have been revealed.
His eyes searched mine silently for a few moments before he sighed. "You not going to let this go are you?" he asked. I shook my head, determination in my eyes. "Well then, I hope you enjoy disappointment." He warned before turning and walking quickly away.
"Why did you even bother?" I asked angrily at his back.
He paused, "I don't know," he whispered softly, then continued to walk away.
I sighed in momentary defeat as I turned and headed back to the waiting room. As Carlisle had predicted, most of the junior grade was crammed in there. I quickly grabbed Charlie and dragged him out of there, trying to avoid as many questions as possible. I knew the other Cullens wouldn't be there, it wasn't really safe for vampires to come into a hospital, where there were so many open wounds, unless they had impeccable control. In fact I was impressed that Edward had easily been able to ignore the scent of blood from Tyler's open wounds.
Thankfully, when we got home, Charlie had to go to the police station, so I buried myself in my magazines and books, trying to forget my puzzled thoughts. Eventually Charlie came home and we had a quiet dinner before I went up to bed.
That night I slept with a shield wrapped around me, fully aware that by Volturi Law, I was supposed to be killed by the Cullens. Of course, as the Volturi Princess, I was technically exempt, but they didn't know that.
I could only hope that the Cullen's would decide that they wouldn't kill me. I didn't think they would because they obviously didn't like killing humans, and I got along well with them. Of course, if they did decide to kill me my gift would quickly be revealed, and I would be forced to tell them everything, and employ my rank as Volturi Princess to keep them quiet, which would probably mean a visit from Volterra for my guards.
I didn't get much sleep that night, anticipation keeping me awake, and when I woke up the next morning, after only a few hours sleep, to find that I had had no vampire visitors in the night I was relieved. I hurriedly got ready for school.