Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Day Ten Stranded

Edward

I woke with a start, Bella's voice serving as my alarm. The weather had warmed greatly compared to the night of the front, and now it was rather enjoyable—not too hot, not too cold. The only thing I didn't enjoy was that Bella's clothes had dried.

This was my favorite time of the day, my most enjoyable moments of being on the island—waking up and watching Bella sleep. It was always so funny to watch and listen to her. The best time to watch her was early in the morning, when she was about to wake up, because if she were too deeply asleep, no words would escape her lips. The first time I had discovered that she talked in her sleep was the morning after our first kiss, the best morning I had ever had, as far as I was concerned. She had said my name repeatedly, and it woke me up. I thought she had been trying to get my attention, but when I looked at her, her eyes were closed and rolling behind their lids.

"Edward," she said. She sighed happily, and then moaned my name again. That definitely got my full attention and made me wide awake.

What is she dreaming? I wondered. Then her face turned sour, and she said, "Damn crab…cock blocking crab."

I gasped in astonishment at her mention of the word "cock". Bella always seemed so proper and I never heard her curse. Now I really wanted to know what she was dreaming. She turned over in my arms and quieted.

When I asked her what she had been dreaming about, after she woke up, she merely blushed and asked what made me think she was dreaming anything special. I just shrugged and said she seemed fitful in her sleep. She chuckled and blushed more.

Three days had passed since our first kiss. We were starting to get along perfectly, and she was finally opening up to me. I learned that her full name was Isabella Marie Swan, and that she had been born in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up mostly in Jacksonville, Florida, where she had gone to college and started working for a magazine company. She had almost no confidence in herself, yet she had accomplished any and every thing she had set her mind to. Her favorite food was pork roast with rice, and it reminded me of her—simple and a classic, not to mention tasty.

I stole kisses from her every chance I got, and when provoked, she could be quite the flirt herself. The eighth day of being stranded wasn't as bad as I thought it would be; if someone had told me before I got on the plane that I was going to get stuck on a deserted island and actually enjoy myself, I would have deemed him or her crazy. But it was the same day as my sister's wedding, and Bella could tell something was wrong.

She traced the furrow of my brow gently, asking me why I seemed so upset.

"Today was supposed to be my sister's wedding," I said sadly, trying to reign in my feelings, for I did not want Bella to misconstrue them.

"Oh," was all she said. She tried to get up, probably thinking I wanted privacy, but I grabbed her leg and pulled her back down.

"What do you think they are doing right now, Bella? Your family?" I asked her. She sighed and looked at the sand, tracing hearts into it.

"I don't know, Edward. I try not to think about it because I know that they are sad, but I will be with them soon, so when the day comes that we are together again, I will try to make it up to them. I guess I just think there's no point worrying about it; worrying doesn't change anything. I just want to focus on getting back to them," she said. I agreed with her—worrying did not help at all.

"I just feel like I ruined my sister's wedding day with my supposed death," I said. "And I was supposed to call my mom when I got off the plane. She must have been so worried."

"Edward, when your sister sees that you are alive, the last thing she will be thinking about is her wedding. I'm sure of that. And your mom will forgive you," Bella said. I smiled at her and pulled her to me, kissing her cheek and making her giggle. I loved that I could make her this carefree.

The idea of my family's suffering still bothered me, though, and I wondered if perhaps anyone had sent a helicopter to search for survivors. I doubted they even knew where the plane had crashed, since it sunk so quickly, but there was still a little chance that hope wasn't lost, right?

And what would happen when we were found? I would go back to Chicago and Bella would return to Jacksonville? I shuddered at the thought. No, I would make sure we could be together somehow. I knew it was absurd, but after being with her 24/7 for ten days, I knew I could never be without her again. Sure, my life wasn't bad; I had money, I had my family, and I was a well-sought after bachelor. But being here on the island had changed me. Bella had changed me. Something just told me that if I returned to the money, my family, and the popularity without her, I would be twice as miserable as I had been before I met her.

An old friend I'd had in college dated a girl for two years until she broke it off with him. He had been depressed, and, thinking nothing of it, I told him that he had lived happily without her for twenty years, and he could just go back to the way his life was before her. I thought it was no big deal, and I couldn't understand why he was still so depressed over her. But I understood now. Once a man had a taste of happiness, the kind of happy that money couldn't buy, he wouldn't want to let go of the reason for his joy…wouldn't be happy ever again without it, no matter what he had to make up for it. That was how it was with Bella. I wondered how it would be to take Bella on a real date, to a restaurant…to have her sleep next to me in a bed, to wake up next to her and not have to scrounge for our own food every morning. To make love to her. My head spun at the last thought. I'd never made love to a woman, and I'd certainly never woken up next to any. Could a man make love to someone even if he didn't love her? How did a man know when he was in love anyway? Did he just realize it at a specific time? Did a light bulb go off in his head? I knew I wanted to fall in love with Bella. Did that mean I was already in love with her?

Ugh. This is so confusing, I thought, and I don't think it's possible to make love if you're not in love…

What I had done with those few girls in my life could definitely not be classified as making love, and I suddenly wished I had never had any casual sex. I was drunk three of the four times anyway, and couldn't remember most of what I had done. But in all reality, I didn't know one twenty-four year old man who was still a virgin. I looked over at Bella's sleeping form, wondering if she had ever… Jealously stretched through me, and I recognized the feeling as the same one I had felt when we had been floating in the ocean, the same feeling I had when I looked to see whether she had a wedding ring on. Maybe my body knew that I had feelings for her before my mind did, since I hadn't realized why I seemed so angry at the thought of her being taken.

All these thoughts occupied my mind while I waited for Bella to talk in her sleep as she had done the mornings before. She had rolled to her back sometime during the night, so I only had one arm over her waist, and she had flung her right leg carelessly over mine. It was such an awkward position, but she seemed comfortable.

"Edward," she hummed. Ah, there it was. A smile was starting to form on her sleeping face, and I leaned closer, waiting for more. "You're so pretty." Pretty? I scoffed. She thought I was pretty? I'd heard Emmett use that term enough to describe me. He always called me 'Pretty Boy'. Couldn't she have said handsome or hot, at least?

"Bella, I'm not a girl. I'm not pretty," I whispered, laughing silently. She smiled wider, and I wondered if I was in her dream with her.

"Prettiest boy ever," she continued. My eyebrows shot up. She thought I was the prettiest boy ever? Well, I guessed I could deal with that, so long as I was the prettiest to her. My ego gained about four pounds just listening to her, and I worried for my masculinity.

"Well, Bella," I whispered, feeling a bit stupid for talking to a sleeping girl, "if I am the prettiest boy ever, then that makes you the most beautiful girl ever." I leaned into her face, kissing her softly on her full lips. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," I breathed against her mouth.

Her eyes opened steadily, gazing at me with their deep chocolate pools. "Good morning," she said, yawning and stretching her arms. She leaned up to kiss me, biting my lip as she pulled away.

"Mmm," I said, "it is a good morning." She giggled and slapped my chest playfully. "You're so much different now. It's like you took some happy pills or something…what happened?" I asked. "Is it me?" I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

"No. I just think your face is funny."

"Oh, really? I thought I was the prettiest boy ever," I said. She gasped and looked at me, wide eyed. Shit. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wished I hadn't said anything. I didn't want her to know that she talked in her sleep, and if she did know, I didn't want her to know that I frequently watched her do it.

Her expression turned to one of suspicion. "How did you know about that?"

I sighed; there was no way to hide it now. "Uh, you said that."

Her eyebrows shot up in confusion. "When did I say that?"

I looked at her in shame, shame for invading her privacy and getting caught. I just hoped she didn't get too mad at me. "In your sleep," I confessed. To my utter surprise, Bella laughed.

She got up and headed for the beach. "I figured this would eventually happen. I've always talked in my sleep."

"You wouldn't mind telling me what you were dreaming about, by any chance?" I asked.

She turned around and looked at me as if I were crazy. "Nope. No chance, sorry." Then she turned back and walked farther away. I watched her hips naturally sway as they moved. She knew she was teasing me. I'd opened a really big can of worms when I kissed her. It was like her confidence went from minuscule to gigantic. A feeling of pride swept over me as I thought about how I had been the reason for that. I wondered what else I could bring out of her.

I followed her small footprints in the sand, and we each grabbed a banana for breakfast.

"Ugh," Bella complained as we sat down on her boulder, "I'm so sick of having sand in my pants. It's like I can't get away from it. I mean, I live on a beach in Florida, and I've never seen this much sand!" I chuckled.

"You live on a beach?" I asked curiously. Bella nodded and started to explain what her apartment looked like. From how she described it, it seemed small and lonely, but still cozy. She only lived there to be closer to work, and she rarely even went to the beach.

Her talk of home got me thinking about my own house. It was large and just a few streets away from my parents' house. It was two stories, complete with four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, and a huge but scarce kitchen. My parents had helped me pay for it, and at first I absolutely loved it, but after a while I felt like it was pointless. It was huge—and empty. I didn't even sleep in my bedroom upstairs anymore because I found that if I slept on the couch downstairs, I could pretend there wasn't another story, and the house felt a bit smaller with just the downstairs, and I didn't feel so lonely.

I thought of the piano that was gathering dust in the middle of my living room. I hadn't played it in so long. I used to write music, a song here and there, but I never went further than that with my musical talent. My mother loved listening to me play. Suddenly, as if I were present in my home and on my piano bench, a tune came to my mind, a tune so beautiful and powerful that I could feel my fingers itching to touch the keys and bring it to life. I wished I was home and that Bella was with me so I could try to play it for her. Maybe when we got off the island, I could bring her to my house. The image of her running around my kitchen, wearing an apron and sweating from the heat of cooking was unbelievably hot.

And then I could ravish her on the marble counter…

Slow, Edward, slow. Take things slow! I reminded myself mentally.

"Hey! Earth to Edward!" Bella called, snapping her fingers close to my face. I looked up at her, and the song appeared in my mind once more as my eyes met hers. She was my inspiration, my beautiful muse. She smiled and said, "You looked a little lost for a second!"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about my piano." And things I'd like to do to you right next to it.

"You have a piano?" she asked. I nodded and proceeded to tell her about my own house and old family memories. We talked for what seemed like forever, and the rest of the day passed quickly. Before I knew it, the sun was going down again, and we were eating dinner.

I'd had no luck on catching another fish, but I wasn't really complaining after how Bella had reacted. I didn't want to hurt her feelings again. I started another fire and opened another bottle of wine by breaking the top on the rock. We shared it, and before long, I noticed Bella was extremely tipsy.

She started flirting with me, blushing profoundly, and I knew she was going to have a bad headache in the morning.

"Baby, you think I'm pretty?" Bella asked, trailing her finger in the valley of my chest, over my heart, and making me shiver. I cocked an eyebrow. Baby?

"Bella, you're drunk," I laughed out, taking the bottle from her. She made a sound between a moan and a groan, and I tried to ignore my arousal.

"You didn't answer my question," she said in a singsong voice. I kissed her softly, tasting the alcohol on both our breaths. Hers was worse than mine, and I was surprised I hadn't realized how much she had been drinking.

"I think you're beautiful. And you don't even have to try," I told her. She smiled, her unfocused eyes lingering on me. She abruptly got up and swayed to the edge of the beach.

"Dance with me, Edward!" she cheered. I gaped at her, my jaw hanging in awe.

"Bella, I thought you hated dancing." I remembered her telling me how much she despised being on spotlight, especially because she was "uncoordinated". I'd noticed it was true, too, after seeing her trip so many times in the last ten days. She didn't answer me, though, and waved her hand for me to follow her to the shoreline. I got up and went to her.

She grabbed one of my hands and wrapped it around her waist, taking my other hand in her own. She winced in pain from her hurt toes colliding with mine. I couldn't have that.

I picked her up and set her feet on my own so that I wouldn't step on them, and so that she wouldn't feel any pain. I started dancing with her, which wasn't easy as Bella was more like deadweight that an actual partner. Bella giggled.

"What?" I asked. She giggled more.

"There's no music," she whispered as I twirled her carefully. A thought occurred to me.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make some," I said. She simply stared at me.

I started to hum the tune that had come to me earlier. It was soft and sweet, calming and different. It reminded me of the girl in my arms.

She looked at me with wonder in her doe eyes. "What is that? It's beautiful," she said, swaying slightly and giggling as I dipped her.

I didn't answer her, because I wasn't really sure what it was. It didn't have a name, but it reminded me of a lullaby, and I knew that since Bella had inspired it, the song needed a special name. A special song for a special girl.

I hummed to her for a little while longer, and she snuggled her head into my chest and fell asleep standing up. I carried her back to the shaded trees and laid her down on her stomach so that she wouldn't suffocate on her own vomit if she started throwing up.

I watched her sleep for a long time, thinking about how in the hell we would mesh our lives together when this was over. I was determined to make it work, but what about Bella? Things were so up in the air. I hoped she was willing to give our relationship a real try once we returned. My family was in for a big surprise when I got home.

I smiled as I thought of how Emmett's face would look when he realized I had a…girlfriend? I guessed that's what I would call her, but it seemed like such a petty way to describe Bella. Maybe soul mate was more appropriate.

Look at you, thinking about soul mates, an inner voice said, You surely weren't thinking about anyone that way two weeks ago, or the last twenty-four years before that. I chuckled. Only Bella could turn me soft and caring in ten days. Only Bella could make me fall in love.

"Edward," she murmured. Her face looked stressed, and I was sure she must have been feeling the after effects of the wine by now. I spooned beside her sleeping body and rubbed her back.

"Shhh, silly girl. You shouldn't have drank so much," I said. She still seemed tense, so I started to hum Bella's lullaby again, hoping it would calm her. "You will be the death of me, I swear." She smiled lightly, and my heart felt like it could burst with emotion.


All pictures are taken from either Google or Deviantart.

The Twilight Cast at Zephyr Field

A few cast members played baseball in New Orleans to raise money for Haiti. I went and took pictures, and have a video, too!

Daniel Cudmore warming up! He is so sexy and he's six foot eight!

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Jasper

I cradled Alice in my arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her tiny frame shook violently, and I could feel the horror and sadness coming in waves not only from Alice, but also from everyone in the hotel room.

We had been walking into the lobby after lunch in one of the most fabulous restaurants in Paris when we saw the television headline. It was in French, of course, but the pictures said it all. I thought nothing of it at first, but when I heard Esme gasp, a feeling of dread coursed right through me, as if I knew something bad had happened without knowing what exactly it was. My feeling was right.

Esme walked straight up to the television, her hand outstretched, fingers reaching toward the button. I hadn’t noticed we had followed her until we were right next to her. The TV was high on the wall, too high for Esme to reach the buttons. Pictures of a model plane crashing into water flashed on the screen, and I knew what my fiancée’s mother was searching for--the flight number. I looked for it myself as Carlisle turned up the volume for his wife, though the newscaster spoke only in French. Alice spoke the language fluently now, but I had only learned how to say a few things, just the basics. I didn’t pay the man on the television any attention, however, as I kept looking for the flight number. I didn’t know what plane Edward had gotten on, and certainly not the flight number, but I knew Alice did.

“Flight 1107,” Esme whispered, “Voyage Airlines.” I looked down at her; her hands were still raised, shaking slightly, a tear escaping her right eye. She stared at the screen for a few moments before looking at Carlisle. He was staring at the screen, too, but met his wife’s gaze. His face was pale white, and he looked as if he were made out of stone. I heard Emmett’s breath catch behind me, and I felt like the world had crashed down on me as realization hit. Edward. All I could think of was the crooked smile and the messy bronze hair that I had seen what seemed like so few times. The crooked smile and messy bronze hair that I would never see again.

Finally, I turned to Alice, who was staring at the TV screen. Her pink little lips parted, and the most agonizing, heart-wrenching sound escaped her chest. She collapsed, but I caught her before she could reach the floor, and she gripped my collar roughly, yanking me to her. I picked her up, nestling her head into my shoulder, and looked at my new family. Rosalie was comforting Emmett, rubbing his back as he gaped at the screen of the television. Carlisle was holding Esme, his hands gripping her elbows as she shook her head over and over again.

I turned away from them and carried Alice to our hotel room. She started sobbing and chanting Edward’s name over and over again, throwing in what sounded like “my brother,” but she was so hysterical, I couldn’t tell. I set her on the bed and held her close, running my hands through her hair.

I heard Carlisle’s cell phone ringing on the table in the suite’s kitchen. He must have left it there accidentally when we left for the restaurant. I wondered who could be calling, wondered who else back in the states knew that it was Edward’s plane that had gone down. I noticed how everything seemed to play out in slow motion, as if my mind was shielding itself from thinking about Edward‘s death, instead focusing on things that surrounded it.

Edward’s death. My brain didn’t want to comprehend it, even as I held my broken wife.

That was how we had all come to the hotel room. Carlisle and Esme had followed us, then Emmett and Rose shortly after. Rose turned the television on in the bedroom, but the only person who was watching it was Esme. Silent tears trailed her face, but other than that, there was no sign of stress on her face.

Carlisle’s phone kept ringing; obviously, someone wanted to get a hold of him. He picked it up from the table and stared at it for a second, probably debating whether he wanted to talk to anyone. Finally, on the third ring he flipped the phone open, took a deep breath, and said, “Hello?” His voice was lifeless, not the calm or happy tone I had grown used to.

He looked at Esme on the floor as he listened to the other person on the line. Emmett walked over to him, seeming hopeful. Carlisle turned to him and mouthed “air-port”. Then everyone looked at Carlisle and paid attention, hanging onto his every word. He didn’t say much to the man on the phone, but when his face scrunched up and he sank to his knees, we all knew there was no hope. He hung up saying, “Thank you, officer. No, that won’t be necessary. Goodbye,” then he looked up first at Emmett, then at Esme, shaking his head. His gaze dropped to his knees, and his voice broke as he said, “No known survivors.”

Alice howled. Emmett sat down, buried his face between his knees and gripped his hair. Rosalie sat next to Emmett. Esme looked back at the television and whispered, “My baby. My Edward.” This was supposed to be such a happy time; Alice and I were finally getting married.

Apparently, we weren’t going to get married after all. There was no way Alice would want to have the wedding right after her brother’s death, especially when his absence at the ceremony would just be another awful reminder. It was no use thinking about that know; Alice needed me, and whether she decided to have it or not to have it, I would stand by her decision, and help her get through this horrid time.

***

Eventually, everyone returned to his or her own hotel room. I had never seen Carlisle so frustrated; people were calling him every minute--friends of the family, coworkers, even people Edward had gone to college with. At first, he only answered the calls that were from family members, but then he just couldn’t take talking about it anymore. None of us could stand having a conversation about what had happened. No one spoke of a funeral or anything, but Carlisle said there was to be a ceremony held for all the passengers that had been on the plane a week from today, so instead of getting married that day, we would be mourning. Throwing a private funeral would be up to Esme and Carlisle.

So, I sat on the bed in which we were supposed to consummate our marriage, holding Alice, whose sobs had momentarily stopped. I kissed her forehead and caressed her hair gently.

“I think we should have the wedding in October. That should give us roughly two months to get everything back in order and to…to heal,” she whispered after a few minutes of silence. October seemed rather soon to have the wedding. Alice had wanted to have an August wedding, since the weather was nice, and I wanted her to have it the exact way she wanted.

“October, Honey? That seems a little soon. I thought you wanted an August wedding. We can always wait until next year. There’s no rush,” I told her. She shook her head and looked up at me.

“No, Jazz. I’m so ready to be married, and I would like to start having children next year. If we get married next year, I’ll have to replan everything, and I don’t want to be the woman who has kids right after marriage. I want there to be a year gap in between so that we have time to enjoy our married life,” she said, speaking so fast that I had to pay extra attention. I nodded at her logic, even though I thought she may be making the wrong decision, but Alice never seemed to regret anything she did, and it was her choice, after all.

“Okay, Sweetheart, we can do whatever you want,” I said. She sighed.

“Edward never got to experience this. He’ll never get to fall in love, get married, and bring my little nieces and nephews into the world. It really makes you think…It makes you want to cherish what you have and never take anything for granted,” Alice whispered, a fat tear rolling down her cheek. “I love you, Jasper.” She pulled me to her and kissed me softly, putting so much love into it. I felt her pain, and when she pulled back, she looked so tired and sad, I wished that I could go back in time and make Edward get on the same plane as Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie. I traced the small dark bags under her eyes with the tip of my finger, and looked at the clock. It was in military time, but I translated it to be two in the morning. Deciding that there was nothing more to do, and knowing that Alice wouldn’t eat anything, I put her in the humongous bed and willed her to sleep.

But I knew she wouldn’t. None of the Cullens would.

***

The ceremony for the people on the plane was held in Washington, D.C., and the families of the dead were asked to bring a photo of the person who had died. Esme brought a picture of Edward from a party they had thrown when he had made it into med school, and it was put above his engraved name next to all the others. There were so many people at the ceremony, about two hundred and fifty. It was the biggest funeral I had ever seen, and quite a few people got up to say something about their passed beloveds. The pilot’s picture was at the very top of the names, and people from the airport got up and apologized for what had happened. Esme was a complete mess, and I noticed that she had lost weight. Carlisle was thinner, also, and he had taken more time off from the hospital, but he looked so tired all the time. We had been staying at Emmett and Rose’s place in New Jersey, but it was so crowded that we decided to go to Chicago with Esme and Carlisle after the funeral.

Afterwards, when the “reception” began, families began to converse, and Esme started talking with a woman named Renee and her husband Charlie. The couple had also lost a child, a daughter named Isabella who was almost Edward’s age.

“Oh, she’s so beautiful,” Esme said as Renee showed her a picture of “Bella”.

“Yes,” Renee said, tears running down her face, “She was so sweet, too. I remember the first time she realized her father’s career was hazardous. She would stay up late just to see that he came home okay. She was so selfless, and she would have made such a good mother. I don’t think she was ever a child.” She wiped her face and smiled softly. “She never really found her place in the world, though. And now she’ll never have the chance.” Her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered something in her ear.

“My Edward didn’t really fit in, either. He was always a bit of a loner, and I thought for a while that there may be something wrong with him, but I know it was just that he hadn’t quite found anything to live for,” Esme’s voice also shook with her own tears.

“I wonder if your son and our daughter talked at all while on that plane. It’s strange to think about it, isn’t it? That your son could have been the last person to see my daughter…I wonder if they even met. I wonder if they may have even tried to help each other,” Renee said.

Esme smiled and said, “They would have made such a cute couple!” The two women giggled at this like teenagers.

Esme, Carlisle, Charlie, and Renee all talked for a while longer before exchanging phone numbers, and we left to go home.

It was a sad day, and I knew things were not going to be normal for a while. Just looking at Alice sitting down at the counter, looking a tad bit frumpy and drinking a beer--she hated beer--I could tell our life had hit a major bump in the road. But as long as we had each other and our family, we would get through this.

We would be okay.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Day Four Stranded

Edward

I rubbed my fists against my biceps hard and fast, trying to create friction. I was freezing and soaking wet, the rain coming down so hard that it felt like falling bullets. But I had to find her.

I knew she wasn’t intoxicated enough to jump in the ocean and drown herself, but it was extremely foggy, and with the rain coming down in sheets, I couldn’t even see the shore, much less the water. The wind kept blowing in cold air, and I shivered for the millionth time.

I clasped my hands around my mouth, calling her name again.

“Bella!” I yelled. I didn’t even know how long I’d been searching for her, but I knew it had been over an hour. I started to get worried when the rain and wind had picked up. Thinking she was just mad at me, I figured she would come back after shaking off a bit of steam. But after waiting a long ass time for her to come back, I started looking myself. The thunder echoed around the small island, the lightning illuminating the blackish gray sky.

I wrapped my arms around my torso, feeling my muscles ache with the dropping temperature. I had walked around the whole island twice now, and my stomach dropped to my pelvis at the possibility of her going into the water. I felt like such an asshole now after rejecting her kiss. I had been all for it; Bella’s and my relationship had gotten so much better over the last few days being stuck here. I ceased most of my perverted jokes, instead throwing flirtatious winks and smirks here and there. We were together all the time, and I’d learned so much about her. She had the cutest mannerisms, from biting her lip raw to blushing the color of fire. When she did both together, I had to physically fight myself from kissing her. She was selfless, and she never wanted me to do anything for her. I ignored that demand, partly because I just wanted to help her and partly because I wanted her to see my good side. I was starting to think winning her affection was impossible, though. I wasn’t sure if it was that she wanted me but didn’t know for sure, or if she just didn’t like me at all. Based on past experiences, I knew any other chick would have gladly responded to my advances, whereas Bella blushed and changed the subject, looking away from me. But I was quickly learning that Bella was nothing like other women.

So, when I went to kiss her and she didn‘t try to stop me, I was completely surprised. I wanted to kiss her so badly, and I felt sparks go off in my head when I saw that she wanted it, too. But then I had smelled the slight scent of alcohol on her breath, and I freaked.

An overwhelming sense to stop what I was doing came over me. I wanted her to be completely sober if and when we kissed. I wanted to be completely sober, too, not half-drunk after drinking half a bottle of wine. I could hold my liquor well, but I could feel a slight buzz, and I didn’t want that. I wanted to remember this. I wanted she and I to both remember that particular moment in perfect detail. I wanted her to be completely willing; I did not want the alcohol to be the reason she kissed me. And I sure as hell didn’t want her to regret this later on. It needed to be perfect, so I pulled away.

It was hard to explain this feeling. I guessed it was because I had never given two shits about the four women I had been with. I cared about Bella. There was something about her. Her realness, her innocence, the way she seemed so fragile, making me feel protective. Everything drew me in, and it was strange and comforting all at the same time.


She seemed hurt when I pulled away from her, and before I could do anything, she was gone. I did not follow her because I thought she had realized what she was doing, and regretted it once I pulled away, as if she had come to her senses. My presence definitely wouldn’t help her if she were ashamed of herself for letting the alcohol lead her. Or she could have just been hurt, feeling rejected.

If the latter theory were correct, which I couldn’t decide which would be worse, then I really was a total douche bag. What if she actually felt something for me? I had pulled away from her; what if that had been my only chance? I groaned in frustration.

Where is she? I was not going in the ocean. That would just guarantee both our deaths. And if she were dead, then I would simply follow. I couldn’t live stranded here alone. I wasn’t going to live if Bella did not. Worry rushed over me again at these morbid thoughts.

No, she’s not dead. She can’t be dead. I repeated the words in my head, willing them to be true. Since I had already searched around the island twice, I decided to look in the small forest, hoping she had gone in there. I swore to God that if I could just find her, I would never make a nasty joke again as long as I lived.

I entered the sopping leaves, freezing from head to foot. If I didn’t find Bella soon, she could face hypothermia! I still couldn’t see where I was going because the forest was shallow at first, causing rain to come through just as much as it did in the open. I ran into a few trees, tripping here and there, before I was protected slightly by the high trees and their giant leaves.

“Bella!” I called again every few minutes. Before long, I was deep into the forest, almost halfway, and my feet were killing me. They felt raw from stepping on the twigs and the wet mud made the bottom of my feet slippery and sensitive. I wiped the water out of my face, hearing the thunder clap again.

I had almost given up when I heard a loud “Ow!” over the deafening rain. Thank goodness!

“Bella?” I yelled. I could just make out her slight silhouette ten feet away from me. She was on the ground, trying to push herself up. I rushed over and helped her, suddenly realizing with a jolt that she was nearly naked. Why did she take her clothes off? I wondered. I assessed her quickly, making sure she was all in one piece. I tried to avoid the sight of her delicious curves and the way her small waist held onto the straps of her panties. It didn’t work; my eyes kept wondering to the same places.

I grew slightly angry after I was sure that she was okay. Did she have any idea how worried I was? “Bella, I have been looking for you for an hour! I was so worried!” She said nothing, merely sitting up, not looking at me. She didn’t seem to be in danger of hypothermia, and I realized that was why she had taken her clothes off. I knew she must have been freezing, though, so I picked her up and brought her back to our spot, ignoring the way her bare skin felt on my fingers. Her skin wasn’t cold, but her fingers felt like ice, and I could feel her cold breath on my chest.

We arrived under our little canopy, and I set her down carefully. She was shivering hard, the goose bumps on her arms resembling a breakout of hives. I asked if she was okay and she shrugged. She still hadn’t said a word to me, and I was growing worried.

I put my dry shirt over her and pulled her to me. We could give each other body warmth, but I worried that she wouldn’t want me to even touch her after what had happened. Surprisingly, she clutched me back, causing me to flinch at the cold, wet fabric of her bra. But I would put up with it if it helped her. I could feel her starting to warm up, and her breathing was evening out, signaling sleep. Glad that I had actually done something right after fucking up earlier, I did the only thing I could at the moment--apologize. She looked at me with sad eyes, and I felt even more horrible until she smiled lightly and returned her head to my chest, falling asleep. I grasped her cold hair and scalp. How did women sleep with wet hair anyway? Bella’s hair was so long and thick, soaking up so much. It had to make her twice as cold.

The wind and rain didn’t hit us as hard here under the trees, but the parts of me that weren’t touching Bella felt numb. I couldn’t feel my back and my pants were soaked through; my ass was like a small glacier connected to my body. I didn’t fall asleep for another hour.

When I woke up the rain had stopped, but it was still dark. The sun was starting to rise, and the wind had slowed down, too. I was still cold and wet, but it was bearable, certainly not as bad as the night before. I looked down at Bella, seeing that we had not changed positions during the night. If anything, we had moved closer to each other. She had unraveled from the tight ball she had contorted herself into last night, and I could feel her toes on my calves. Her arms were still wrapped around my waist, her face in my right shoulder. She was so close that I couldn’t see her face, and her hair was all over; I kept having to spit strands out of my mouth. I ran my fingers over the silky skin of her shoulder blades. Her bra had been white when we first arrived on the island, but now it was turning into a darker, murky color from all the dirt and water she had been in the last week.

I wished that I had a razor, or at least a scissor, to cut of the small beard I was growing. I remembered my teenage years when I had so desperately wanted to look more masculine, looking in the mirror every night and willing my face to grow hair. Now I just wished it would stop. After shaving nearly every day for years, this scruffiness was driving me fucking insane.

I looked down, getting a better view of Bella’s body. She had insisted time and time again that it wasn’t possible for her to tan, but I could plainly see that her skin had gotten darker. I traced a beauty mark on her shoulder softly, hoping that she would wake up soon. I guessed that it was around four in the morning, so there was little chance she would join me soon; I closed my eyes and fell asleep again.

I awoke about two hours later, the sound of birds chirping was my alarm clock. Bella was still asleep, but her eyelids fluttered as moved my head to look at her face. With a sigh, her eyes opened, giving me a perfect view of her round brown eyes. She stared at me with wonder before her eyebrows came together in confusion. Then she looked down at herself.

“Why am I almost naked?” she asked, surprisingly calm. I chuckled.

“Er, you fell asleep that way,” I said. Her eyes widened before understanding dawned on her.

“Oh,” she said. I guessed she was remembering what had taken place yesterday. She bit her lip, and I internally groaned, pulling her bottom lip from her teeth before I went more insane.

“If you keep doing that, your lips are going to fall off,” I said. She rolled her eyes and got up, retreating from my embrace. I got up, too.

“I should find my clothes,” she muttered. I beg to differ, I thought. She stretched; I stared. She turned her head and smirked at me, as if she knew what she was doing to me. Then she skipped off.

Did Bella just tease me? No, there was no way. Bella never did anything like that. Then again, I’d only known her a week. Well, that was just one thing I could add to the list--Bella could be kinky if she wanted…or she could just be punishing me for my rejection yesterday. Either way, she was being sexy, and I wasn’t going to complain. I followed, not even attempting to ignore the way her hips swayed.

Bella found her shirt and pants, but they were still soaking wet, and she decided not to put them back on, as it was still chilly. The sun warmed up the air a bit, but I was fearing what would happen when it went down again.

We walked back to the shoreline, and Bella sat back on her rock. The air was dry enough for me to make a fire again, so I started looking for wood. Unfortunately, the wood was damp, but it would still burn. I got it started and put our clothes next to the fire, hanging them on an erected stick so they could dry. Hours passed, and I was starving, looking at Bella eat the fruit she had picked earlier. I was growing sick of the food. A nice, juicy steak would be perfect at the moment. When she peeled the banana and proceeded to enter it into her mouth, I couldn’t take it anymore, and walked towards the water, grabbing a long stick along the way. Bella laughed when she saw what I was planning to do. I glared at her, and that just made her giggle more.

“Do you have a better plan? Or do you just want to eat that shit for the rest of the time we’re here?” I gestured at her offensive banana. She merely laughed again, the movement making her breasts jiggle. I turned around quickly, but the sight was forever burned in my brain. I tried looking for swimming fish, and I figured that it would be easy since the water was so clear, but I had no luck. Bella laughed more at my frustration, and I couldn’t help but replay the scene in my head, fighting the urge to look at her again.

I trotted into deeper water until I was up to my thighs. I looked around carefully, observant of everything that moved in the water. I saw a swish of something and crazily leapt toward it. I looked down at what I caught in my hands; it was definitely no fish, just a bunch of purplish seaweed. I groaned and threw it down when I heard Bella snort from a little ways behind me. I looked back and saw that she was a few feet away in the shallower part.

“Oh, you think you can do any better? Why don’t you try to catch us dinner, huh?” I asked playfully. She looked at me like I was crazy.

“And get pinched again?” she said, gesturing at her hurt toes. “I don’t think so, Mr. Sexter.”

“You’re just chicken,” I egged her on.

“And you just want me to do it for you,” she said. I laughed.

“I wouldn’t mind fixing your toes again,” I told her smugly. If she tried to kiss me again, I definitely wouldn’t refuse. She made a hmpf sound and started walking back. I walked into deeper water, looking for the swish of a tail or bubbles breaking the surface.

I saw a few fish eventually, none of which looked appetizing, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance. For nearly an hour I made a fool of myself jumping and swatting, trying to catch just one. When I was about to give up, I saw a medium-sized founder scurrying away from me. I yelped in excitement and tried hitting it with the stick, knowing there was no chance I was quick enough to stab it. I kept trying to hit the fish until Bella rushed over to me yelling.

“Don’t do that! You’re going to hurt it!” she screamed, finally reaching me and taking the pole from my hands. We looked at the flounder that was nearly dead from my beating. I grabbed the battered fish and looked at her incredulously. We were going to eat it anyway! Why did it matter how I killed the damn fish? She looked at me with horror. I realized she thought I was never going to catch one, otherwise she would have stopped me.

“That’s cruelty to animals, Edward! I can’t believe you did that!” she said breathlessly.

“Bella, it’s a fish. A fish that would die regardless, no matter how I killed it. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of eating mushy fucking fruit!” I said, holding the fish out to her. She looked at it sadly, and I could see tears in her eyes. I felt like such an asshole taking in the sight of her pity, and I even started to feel bad for the fish.

I sighed sadly. “Do you want me to let it go?” I whispered to her. I felt like such a pussy, giving in because this girl seemed to control my feelings, but I knew that I would do anything she told me now. This girl--the only girl in the world as far as I was concerned--had me wrapped around her finger in less than a week. She just had to say the word, and I would do as she said.

Bella sighed, too, and said, “No, it’s going to die anyway after hitting it so many times. May as well fry it.” And with that, she walked away from me back to her rock. I followed her, bewildered at the fact that she could be so compassionate one second and indifferent the next. I passed a crab along the way and decided to pick it up, too.

“Hey, I think I found the culprit from yesterday,” I said, smiling. She turned around and saw the crab in my hands. “You think it’s the same one?” I could see a smile forming on her face. “Do you mind if we eat this one?”

I almost expected her to object after what she’d just done with the fish, but she surprised me again by saying, “No, I think he deserves the death penalty after he tried to pull my toe off.” I smiled and shook my head at her absurdness. I had told her to hold onto it yesterday while I fixed her toes in the hopes that we could fry it later, but I guessed she let it go when she ran from me.


Bella

I sat back down on my rock, watching the sea as Edward rebuilt the fire to cook the fish and boil the crab. He had found an empty coconut shell that we had split in half, and he put fresh water from a large puddle made by the rain in the makeshift bowl. He built a figure made of sticks to hold the coconut pot over the fire, and put the crab in it to boil. He was very handy, but obviously not good at catching fish.

In the morning after remembering what had happened between us the day before, I decided not to make it awkward for us by ignoring him. Instead, I pretended as if nothing happened, and it was working until he mentioned fixing my toes up again. I fought the urge to stick him the finger, and walked off. That was another thing that was bothering me. I found myself winding down; I guessed it was because I had never been away from work this long, and my playful side was starting to come out after being hidden for so long. I had certainly never wanted to stick the finger at anyone. I was so used to being the perfect employee who worked even when off the clock. I was experiencing a big change, and I hated change. Change was different, it wasn’t a guarantee, and it wasn’t always safe. It was either that I really did need a vacation, like Angela said, or it was that Edward was rubbing off on me. I hoped it was the former. I didn’t want a man to be the one who changed me. I’d gone through that already, and even though Eric and I hadn’t been very intimate and what you would call ‘in love,’ it hurt all the same, especially when I had to alter my life again after our breakup. I would die a virgin, and I was okay with that. Well, I had been before I met Edward. I couldn’t figure out what my problem was at first, but I had an epiphany. Edward’s jokes irritated me because I wanted him. And I had never wanted anyone that way before, so it was all so confusing to me. And I got mad when he joked with me because it was like he was throwing it in my face that I couldn’t have him. Maybe my logic was wrong, but it was all I had. Every time he moved, I couldn’t help but stare at the way his muscles tensed. I loved admiring his abdominals when he wasn’t looking. His legs, too, were so muscular, even through the jeans he wore.

Yep, something was definitely happening to me. Before coming here, I had never allowed myself to think those thoughts, but now it was becoming my favorite hobby.

I looked over at Edward ‘cooking,’ for lack of a better word. He had hung the fish with moss over the fire, and the crab was boiling in the coconut shell. He was poking the fire with another stick. He caught me looking at him, and he smiled. I smiled back. The incident with the fish had blown over, and I forgave him. I felt a little ridiculous because he had been right; it was a fish, and we were going to eat it. I had respect for all forms of life, but it had been wrong of me to chastise him the way I did. We didn’t exactly have the utensils or the time for me to be picky and overly caring. I knew I would have to start overlooking some things. That included sleeping half naked next to Edward.

I was so uncomfortable in just my underclothes, but I tried to hide it. Edward was being good about it, though. He didn’t ogle or make fun of me for that, and he was making an attempt to dry my clothes.

He surprised me when he offered to put the fish back when I threw a fit. I didn’t think he would put my feelings before his own, but he did.

I constantly had to stop myself from hoping.

Hours later, when the sun was starting to go down once again, signaling our seventh day here, Edward called for me to go eat. I had been wandering around the island a little more, trying to find things that may have washed up after the storm. I looked up at Edward sitting on my rock, gesturing at what he had set out for us. I walked closer to get a better look and saw that he had gone all out.

He used large leaves as plates that held slices of cooked fish. Somehow, he had cut them into bite size pieces. The crab sat in the middle of us, red and dead. A little fire was right next to the crab; it served as a candle, burning on a few twigs and red leaves. There were avocados on each side of our plates, already peeled and ready to eat. I saw that we each had two large coconuts with the juice in them. My mouth watered and I looked up at Edward in awe. He had done all of this for me?

“Did you really do all of this for me?” I whispered. It was so sweet, and so much better than what we had done the last few days. He had put so much work into this, and I had done nothing to help. I felt really bad for fussing him, and promised myself I would let him decide everything from here on out.

Edward simply smiled at me and turned my coconut cup around. I saw that he had carved the name ‘BEllA’ into it with a rock, and saw that his own said ‘ED.’ I giggled and he said, “You know, so we don’t mix up the cups and drink after each other.”

I looked at him again, and he looked so beautiful with the fire highlighting all the strong angles of his face. It was such a romantic moment, and I couldn’t help but feel giddy inside.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to catch your cooties,” I said, sitting down across from him. We ate in a comfortable silence, but I kept catching him looking at me. He was looking at my face, so it was okay. We split the crab in half; I had one claw, he had the other. He didn’t know how to peal, and I had grown up peeling seafood and eating it, so I had to show him.

When we were finished, I tried to get up and clean everything, but Edward grabbed my hand quickly and asked me to walk with him. I looked into his smoldering green eyes and nodded. We walked along the shoreline, and the moon and stars were making their presence as the sun went fully down. It was beautiful, and the sea was a little rough, but definitely nothing like it had been the night before. It was a perfect night, and I was next to the perfect man. It felt like something from a dream, something every girl wished for. We walked at the edge of the water, our feet making prints in the wet sand.

I was starting to get a little chilly, and Edward noticed when I shivered. He grabbed my hand and put an arm around my shoulders. A few minutes later we stopped walking, and I followed his gaze, looking at the stars. We stayed like that for a moment, just admiring the night sky.

“Beautiful,” Edward whispered so low, I thought I’d misheard him. I turned to him and saw that he was looking at me, not the sky. I blinked, thinking if I reopened my eyes, I would wake from this perfect dream. But when I opened them, he was still there. This was real.

Edward turned me so that I was fully facing him, and he took my hands in his own.

“Bella,” he said softly, “I want you to know that…even though being stranded on a deserted island isn’t generally seen as a good thing…” he paused and leaned toward me, “I’m glad to be here with you. I don’t regret this. Please tell me that you’re not miserable here. That I’ve succeeded in making you as happy as you can be in this situation.”

I debated what to say, but then thought that I should just say what came from my heart. I always thought too much, and it was time to change that. Edward deserved to know the truth, not an edited version.

“Edward, I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I was suffering here. To tell you the truth, this is the most fun I’ve had in years! I was…broken before this, and I never allowed myself to heal properly. I’m becoming a better person, and it’s not because of the situation or everything I’ve been through the last week. It’s because of you. You are so different from anyone I’ve met. If you weren’t here, and I were here alone, I would probably just hang myself from one of those trees. Honestly, I don’t want to go back…not if it means losing you in my life. I--I don’t know what this is, but I know it’s something good, and I haven’t had anything good in my twenty-two years of living. You are like my sun in the middle of a storm. I must sound crazy, but it’s true--you’re changing me…” I trailed off, hoping he didn’t think I was a lunatic. I looked at my feet.

Edward took my face in his hands and tilted it so that my eyes met his. There was fire in them, and he looked more gorgeous than ever before.

“I--,” he started, but stopped. He swallowed and tried again. “Bella, I--” but he cut himself off, mashing his lips to mine roughly. I was shocked for a second, but quickly responded by gripping his soft hair, hope be damned. There was nothing soft about our kisses. It was erotic and romantic, and I felt myself grow hot with need. I gripped him harder, and he responded by trailing his hands down from my jaw to my collarbone, lightly over my breasts and to my hips. His tongue traced my lips, begging for entrance, and I gave it to him. He tasted like honey, and I never wanted to stop, but we were both running out of breath, and he pulled away from my lips, kissed me once more chastely, and put his forehead against mine.

He lifted one hand and traced my left cheekbone with two fingers gently. “Bella…” he said. “Beautiful…”




All pictures are taken from either Google or Deviantart.

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Bella

I groaned for the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes. I’d woken up to the bright sun on my face once again, but I had large doubts that was the reason I woke up. The loud chainsaw of a man lying next to me seemed to be the culprit. Edward was snoring so loud that I couldn’t even hear my thoughts. The only thing worse than listening to his racket was that his hands had somehow drifted to my hips over the night and latched on as if they were magnets. I tried hitting him away multiple times to no avail. Each time I tried pushing him away, he only gripped me tighter. We were still a few inches apart, only his hands touching me, but it was still aggravating me. When had he decided it was okay to sleep next to me anyway? I distinctly remembered falling asleep far away from him.

But whatever.

It actually feels kind of nice. He has very nice, large hands. And those fingers--Gah! I tried pulling away again, trying desperately to clear my thoughts. Edward grunted and pulled me back. I looked back at his angelic face, and I noticed that his mouth was hanging wide open.

“I swear, if you drool on me, things are going to get very ugly,” I growled at his sleeping form. Then the strange guilt surged through me like it had the day before.

I knew I was being a bit unfair to him, and I did not really mean to be a bitch. And it wasn’t just Edward. Ever since my heart had been broken in high school, men had become just that--men. I didn’t date, protecting my heart. I had guy friends, of course, but nothing ever became more than that. My relationships stayed at a level where no feelings could be made. I tended to avoid good looking men so that I wouldn’t become fond or hopeful, and I dedicated my life to my job. I was the definition of workaholic, and I had no intentions of changing, no matter how miserable I was.

And then this happened. I was stuck indefinitely with the most handsome man I’d ever come across. He’d saved my life. He brought me food when I was too weak to get my own. He’d taken care of me. I felt so horrible all over again. Feeling his erection when we were in the water had made me react for the worse, reminding me of how men were. They used women to get what they wanted, and only cared about themselves. I had met very few to prove my theory wrong. My first thought at feeling his attraction to me was that I had to treat him like I would treat any other. Because he was just like the rest.

Now I couldn’t believe I had reacted that way. He had proven that he wasn’t selfish or mean or any of the other characteristics I had deemed him to be. It was wrong of me to stereotype him. Just because he was good looking didn’t mean he was an asshole.

I sighed and attempted to turn in Edward’s hands. His grip had loosened by a fraction, his fingertips grazing the skin of my hip gently, and I was able to slightly lean towards him. He still did not wake, but his snores calmed down to heavy breathing. I stared into his beautiful, peaceful face. His skin was peeling, and he already had a light tan forming. His nose was a little red, but his cheeks were flaming, as I was sure mine were, too. His lips were full and pink, also peeling, but still seemed perfect. My hand unconsciously drifted to his face, my fingers softly tracing his bronze eyebrow and following around to the small shadows under his eyes. He smelled like salt and water, but I could still detect the light scent of honey about him. His hair was still a little wet, and I brushed a strand off his forehead, admiring him in secret. He could not know I was attracted to him. I would be damned if I was rejected by the only person within thousands of miles of me.

Suddenly a large smile appeared and stretched his features, showing his pearly white teeth. I gasped and before I moved my hand away, he spoke.

“Do you wake up most men like this?” he asked, opening his emerald eyes slowly, revealing he was indeed awake. My face lit on fire, and I looked away in embarrassment. He was having none of that, as he grabbed my face and pulled me back to him, making me meet his gaze. “Don’t do that. Shut yourself away from me--it doesn’t solve anything.”

“I’m sorry. I think I’m just a little…delirious,” I told him, “It’s been a weird couple of days.”

“Shit, you’re telling me!” he said, and he laughed playfully. I eyed him in disbelief. He sighed at my cocked eyebrows.

“Bella,” he started, “I know this is a bad situation, and I’m not exactly happy that we’re here, but I don’t think we should be completely miserable. I mean, look, we’re alive! That should be something to be thankful for!” I looked away from him. He was completely right.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said, “I just find it hard to be optimistic.” Edward smiled, but then I guessed that brought pain to his face because it soon turned to a grimace. I could make out almost every little piece of skin that was coming off.

“You’re peeling.” I giggled. I hesitantly reached my hand back to his face, and he flinched slightly, but made no move to stop me. With my nails, I pulled off a few of the white strips. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” I whispered, hoping my breath wasn’t too bad.

Edward chuckled. “No. Actually, I can barely feel my face. What about you?”

“Same. I bet that I resemble a tomato right about now,” I said. He smirked crookedly, making my heart skip a beat.

“I would say you look more like a rose,” he said.

“And I would say that you’re delirious, too.” Edward chuckled and stretched, wincing.

“Ugh, I have sand in my pants,” he said, digging in his jeans to wipe a few bits of the white sand out. His white undershirt, the only thing he left on to cover his torso, rid up his body, and I got a great view of his lower abdominals, and fought the urge to gasp. I merely stared in awe, wondering what they would feel like under my fingertips and if they were as hard as they looked. Edward looked up after a few seconds and I shifted uncomfortably under his stare, realizing that when I moved, I could feel sand in my pants as well. I groaned. This was going to be really aggravating if I had to put up with this every night.

“What’s wrong? You got sand in your pants, too?” Edward started howling in laughter at the little dance I did to get the damn sand out.

“Shut up,” I said, and then laughed with him.

“You know, you could always take them off, then you wouldn’t have to worry about-” I cut him off with my glare, and started to walk off in search of breakfast.

“It was just a suggestion!” he called after me. I rolled my eyes and continued.

Edward had gotten avocados for us last night, but I was curious to see what else this island had to offer. I knew there had to be fish, but, of course, if I tried to catch one, I would probably just hurt myself and starve. So it had to be fruit. The small jungle-like forest took up over half the island, so there had to be more than just avocados, right?

As much as I hated being here, I had to admit the island was the most beautiful place I’d ever been to. The water was clear blue, and then there was the pale white sand, and then came the green. And, boy, was it green! I had never seen a place so natural and beautiful. I could hear birds hooting and saw a few bugs as I entered the greenery. It was really shallow at first, just a few palm trees here and there, but I could see it thicken farther away. I wasn’t afraid I would get lost since the island was so small. Plus, Edward would find me if I actually did. And if he didn’t, then oh well. Just when I was starting to actually like him, he opens that big mouth of his and pisses me off again. If only I had some tape, we would get along so much better.

After a few minutes of wandering, I could hear Edward’s footsteps behind me. I turned around to see him about ten feet away, frowning.

“Why are you following me?”

“Who said I was following you? I was simply admiring the plants. And this place is so small, how do you expect me not to run into you?” I rolled my eyes at him and continued on.

“Don’t trip,” he said, “I noticed you seemed accident prone on the plane.”

“Will you shut up so I can find us some food?” I blushed in embarrassment yet again; I was hoping he wouldn’t realize my greatest downfall--my clumsiness.

“Hmm, I don’t know. That neck of yours looks pretty tasty. We could fry it,” he said jovially. For some reason, what he said really scared me. If he were to fight me, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I knew he was just joking, but what if eventually there were nothing left to eat but me? Would he kill me in a desperate attempt for food? I didn’t know; people did crazy things when they were put in distressing situations like this.

“Bella? Bella! Hey, you know I was just kidding, right? I wouldn’t do that to you,” he said, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me out of my horrible imaginings. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked sincere in his apology, his godly face turning sad at the possibility that he had hurt me. Dear Lord, he was even more gorgeous with his eyes intense and his mouth in a tight line full of concern.

“No, don’t be sorry. I--it’s just…” I sighed, “I need food. I can’t operate right now.” Edward laughed at my foolish stuttering. I wondered if he knew he was the reason I couldn’t think straight, and that food had nothing to do with it.

“Well, why didn’t you just say so? You passed the path to the fruit trees fifteen minutes ago, Isabella,” he said, pointing back to where we came.

“You knew there was food and you didn’t tell me? What, were you just going to let me walk around for hours starving until you finally told me where to find it? And don‘t call me Isabella!” I said in disbelief. This man was going to drive me crazy. He just grinned innocently.

“Hey, I’m a doctor, not a guide,” he said, turning around. Wait, did he just say doctor?

“Did you just say…doctor?” I asked. I ran to catch up to him.

“Yes, Bella, I’m a doctor. I followed in my father’s footsteps. I save lives on a regular basis. You know, the usual,” he said, looking back at me with a smile.

My mind literally did a flip. Edward was a doctor? Edward saved lives? Edward, the man who had been making sexual innuendos and perverted jokes since we reached land? Edward, who was incredibly gorgeous and sexy and confident, was smart? And not just smart, but a doctor?

“You have got to be lying to me.”

“Is it really so hard to believe? I swear to you that it is my occupation,” he said. I simply gaped at him with my mouth wide open in shock. I quickly closed it before he could spew something perverted.

“Wow. I’m surprised,” I said. He led me down a path that he must have taken the night before.

“You’re wounding my ego,” he said.

“Good.” I turned to him and smirked, letting him see that I was joking. He shook his head in amusement, and we continued walking in silence until we finally reached food. We climbed a few trees together to reach the elevated fruits, and I laughed when he fell after grabbing a couple of coconuts and losing his footing. He landed on his back, his arms circling the giant brown orbs.

“Wow, Edward, your breasts are bigger than mine!” I cackled through my giggles. He looked down at the coconuts and wiggled them, making me laugh harder.

We ate a small lunch and ate the rest for dinner, planning to find more the next day. Edward flirted with me a bit, but I noticed he was starting to back off; I guessed he knew his jokes made me a little uncomfortable. He was sweet, too. He wouldn’t let me get on any trees that looked particularly unstable, and he even sat down and attempted to start a fire. I was skeptical that he would be successful, and I went into the water to wash the sweat off of myself. We had about an hour of sunlight left, and I was terrified of going in the water in the dark.

After I washed the dirt and sweat off, I returned to find that Edward had actually gotten a little fire started. It certainly wasn’t enough to make a signal to anyone flying over us, but it would definitely be enough to cook fish if we ever caught any.

“How did you do that?” I asked in amazement. He looked up at me when he heard me and straightened up. As he did, I noticed he had removed his undershirt. And he was sweaty, his muscles highlighted by the steamy liquid dripping down his chest and stomach. I froze and counted the abs on the perfect body before me. Six. Six tanned and beautiful abdominals coupled with a perfect face and legs. And to top it off, he had a light shade of stubble lining his jaw now, making him look even more delicious. His hair was in a disarray of bronze, making me want to run my fingers through the wild strands.

Edward snickered and moved towards me. “Boy scouts,” he said, “I learned a lot of stuff. Won every badge, too.”

I tried to picture a young boyish Edward with a blue uniform and hat, full of badges and high socks. I bet he swooned girls even then. I wondered what he looked like in his doctor gear, and I shivered.

“I’m sure you did. So, do you think you can get that fire bigger by any chance? So that someone can see us?” I asked, desperate to talk about something so I could focus on his face instead of his body. It didn’t really help, though, because his face was just as gorgeous as the rest of him.

“I don’t know. I’m sure if I add a little wood, it could escalate, but it’s getting kind of humid out here, so the wood won’t burn as good. I think we should wait until it’s drier so that it will burn better,” he said. I nodded. Edward looked around at the sky, a few clouds starting to form far away. The wind blew across us, causing a chill to run up my spine.

“I think a cold front may be coming in soon,” he said. Then his face turned to fear, “Dear God, I hope it’s not an early hurricane.”

“I don’t think so,” I assured him, “It’s probably just a little front. We’ll have to watch out for the rain, though.” Edward nodded and started to arrange his makeshift pillow, adding his undershirt to his other shirt to make for a better pillow. He sat next to the fire, and I joined him, drying my body with the heat. It was pleasant and peaceful.

“I wonder what my sister is doing,” Edward spoke. I looked at him in alarm. The possibility of our families finding out about the crash hit me hard, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about it. Charlie and Renee would have no knowledge that I was alive. I frowned. They could have been giving me a funeral at this very moment.

“Do you think that they think you’re dead?” I asked him. He sighed and put his elbows on his knees.

“Yeah. It’s probably all over the news by now. And my sister’s wedding is in four days,” he paused. “I wonder if she’ll still have it. I bet she’s heart broken right now, thinking it’s all her fault I got on the plane.” He looked down at the logs that were burning. His green eyes were full of sadness and defeat.

“Hey, remember how you keep saying to be optimistic?” I said. He nodded without looking at me. “We’re going to get out of here, Edward. We will not die here.” Edward chuckled, and I was glad to have cheered him up, even if it was only by a little.

“I’m glad to see that you finally believe me,” he said, looking at me once more. I rolled my eyes playfully and yawned. The fire was already starting to go out, and the sun had set, putting us in darkness again.

“I’ve never seen this many stars,” Edward said quietly. I followed his gaze and saw what he meant. There were millions of them, and the moon was high in the sky. It was so beautiful, and I thought I saw a shooting star. The town lights back home were too bright to be able to see so far out, but now that there was nothing clouding our view, we could see every little burning white dot in the sky.

Edward laid back and not even five minutes later I could hear him snoring lightly. I laid back also, giving in to my exhaustion. It took me a few minutes to fall into a slumber, and while waiting for my mind to give in, I admired Edward’s features outlined by the glow of the fire. I still secretly wondered if he was telling the truth about being a doctor, but he had been honest when he said he could make a fire, so I was starting to believe him. It was hard to comprehend that one person could be so perfect, though, and I had to meet him by being stranded with him on a deserted island. What did that say about me? Fate was trying to tell me something. I just didn’t know how this would end. We would live, yes, I believed that. But at what costs?

***

The next two days passed in the same order. We hunted for food in the early morning hours when the sun was not yet beating down on us, we ate a small breakfast near the shore, then we went looking for fish. Edward had come so close to catching a few, but they had gotten away from his pruned fingers before he could get a good hold on them. I suggested he stab them with a branch, but he said that would just be harder. Then we ate lunch under the small canopy of leaves we had found. There was a nice tropical breeze, and more clouds became present as the two days passed. Edward had managed to make a fire the second night, too, but the third night he’d had no luck, as the air was just too humid. We were expecting rain soon, and then once it passed, we could try to become rescued.

Edward still made little perverted jokes and remarks here and there, but they weren’t as bad. I was really beginning to realize that he was just trying to cheer me up. And it was starting to work. I wasn’t as depressed as I thought I would be. Actually, I was kind of starting to enjoy myself. I still wanted to go home, of course, but if I thought of this as an indefinite vacation, it wasn’t bad.

And Angela had been right; I needed a vacation.

Things from the plane that floated had started to wash ashore the third morning. They were mostly empty boxes, but we found a few other things still inside some of them. I felt absolutely horrible when a man’s shoe washed up, drenched and filthy. We figured it was one of the unlucky passengers, and I didn’t want to look at it, knowing we had survived and they didn’t. Edward took it out of my sight when he realized how bad it made me feel, and I hadn’t seen it since that morning.

I was lying out one of the large, smooth rocks at the shoreline, thinking about my mother and father, when Edward called my name. I looked over at him, feeling the usual desire rip through my body at the sight of him. I would never get used to the way his tanned and athletic body looked when he moved. I could see every muscle and bone from his waistline and up, and as much as I hated that he brought out this side of me, I could not complain. He never put his shirt back on from the two nights before, claiming it was easier and more comfortable. I was extremely jealous, too, that he tanned so easily, and I was still pale and red.

He was carrying some sort of plant with an extremely large and thick leaf. I looked at it with wonder. When he came closer he handed it to me to feel.

“Bella, that’s an Aloe Vera plant. You know…that stuff you buy at the store for burns? I nodded, recognizing the name. He continued, “Well, this is where that comes from. Watch, if I cut it…” he took the leaf back from me and ripped it in half. Juice started oozing out of the sides. He held it up to my face and silently asked permission. I nodded and he rubbed some of the gel on his hand and started running it on my nose and cheeks.

“This should ease the pain. Plus, it doesn’t burn like that shit you girls use on your faces to get a good complexion,” he said. I smiled and enjoyed the feel of his hands on my face. His hands were now rough and blistered, but they felt nice on my skin anyways. Edward and I both smelled like salt water now, but I could smell the hint of coconut on his breath. It was sweet and intoxicating, and I leaned in to him, not really conscious of what I was doing. He rubbed my back affectionately and said, “The clouds are coming in fast now. I think that front’s going to come in tonight.” I pulled back and looked at the offending sky. I hated the rain. And I was completely dreading it more since we had no real shelter. “We’ll be okay. I don’t think the wind should be too bad.”

I looked out to sea, something I did every five minutes to check if anything was coming our way. I saw something floating not too far away and alerted Edward.

“What do you think it is this time?” I asked.

“Not another empty box, I hope. I’m getting sick of fetching those things,” he said.

“It looks bigger than the others,” I whispered, my voice full of curiosity of what might be floating towards us. Edward snorted and looked at me with mischievous eyes, and I realized what I said.

“Edward!” I pushed him away from me, and he snickered like a two year old. I was honestly getting over it, though. Each day that passed, I found I was getting more charmed by Edward. I tried to hide my smile as I hopped down from the boulder and walked towards the floating box. Edward stopped me, saying not to bother, and that he would get it. Ten minutes later, Edward came back with the large box.

“It’s heavy!” he yelled, and put it down on the sand. The box said that there were breakable things in it, so we tried to be careful as we pulled it open. The smell of alcohol filled my nose when Edward wrenched the top off, and I realized what it was.

Edward whooped and pulled the wine bottles out one by one. Two of the bottles had shattered, making the whole box reek, but there were about ten others still unbroken. Five were red wine, and the other five were white wine. They looked expensive.

“I bet these were in the pilot’s section,” Edward said. “What do you say, Bella? How about we celebrate our survival?” He handed me one of the bottles, and opened the one in his hand, taking a swig. “Mmmm,” he moaned at the taste. I stared at the bottle in my hands and debated. I’d never really drank before, unless I was at a wedding or a party, neither of which I’d gone to often. It had never been much, either. What if I got drunk and did something really stupid? Like pounced Edward?

He looked at me, sensing the doubt in my head, and winked. Edward would take care of me. He wouldn’t let me jump in the ocean. And I would just have a little bit, not enough to become intoxicated. I smiled at him and handed the bottle to him to open. He expertly did so, holding up his bottle to my bottle for a cheers.

I giggled and mirrored his action. “To being alive,” Edward said seriously with a slight smile. I repeated his words and we both took a sip. The wine was very good. I had never had anything as tasty and strong before. I took another sip.

Edward and I walked back to our sleeping area and started drinking more, and before I knew it, his bottle was almost halfway gone.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could hold liquor so well,” I said to him. He smirked at me and took another sip. He didn’t seem drunk, but his eyes were starting to grow a bit unfocused.

“I’m bored,” he said, “I guess I should put this down before I do something I’ll regret.” He sighed and put down the bottle. I had only taken a few sips, but I was already feeling the effects of the alcohol. I was buzzing, and the feeling was so strange, yet wonderful at the same time. My vision was starting to grow blurry, and I put my bottle down, too.

“I have to pee,” I said, getting up. Edward chuckled.

“What’s wrong, Bella, the alcohol’s getting to you? Can’t hang?” he said. I rolled my eyes and walked into the wood. It was extremely unsanitary, as I had no toilet paper, but this was just how we had been getting by. I refused to go in the ocean, where Edward could see me.

I came out and found Edward in the same spot I left him, but now he was lying in the sand, watching the clouds darken the sky. I went up to him and told him I was going to wash off before the rain came. He nodded and turned back to gaze upwards.

I went into the ocean, close to the first sandbar, happily watching my feet through the clear water. The current was getting rougher, and I could see the moon already even though it was only around six. The air was getting cooler, too, and I hoped we wouldn’t become cold as the night grew. I rinsed myself off and started wadding back to the beach. When I was almost there, I felt a quick, sharp pain in my big toe.

“Ahhh!” I started wiggling my foot around, realizing a crab had gripped onto my foot and was not letting go. I saw my blood rushing up the water and nearly fainted. Every time I tried lifting my foot to get the damn sea creature off, he just pinched harder, and I screamed over and over.

Edward eventually heard me, and he came rushing to my aide.

“What is it?” he yelled with concern.

“My foot! A crab! My foot!” Edward bent down in the water and grabbed the crab, wrenching it from my foot, and as it came off, the crab’s pinchers made a gash in my foot, causing me more pain. He emerged with the damn thing in his hand, holding it so that its pinchers were facing away from him. He saw the blood, and handed me the crab.

“Why are you giving me this?” I asked in disbelief. I just wanted to throw the crab, but before I got an answer from him, he swept me up bridal style and started carrying me back.

“You’ll see,” he said, and I sneaked a peek at his chest as he carried me. I was in so much pain, but the distraction was nice.

Edward set me down where he had been lying, and told me to keep the crab. I huffed but did as he said. He started prodding at my toes, and I winced.

“I have to make sure this doesn’t get infected,” he said. He carefully started pulling bits of sand out of the gash with his skilled fingers. I watched him as he worked, growing aroused at the way his hands felt on my skin. He was so gentle and careful, his touch sending sparks through my foot to the rest of my body. Suddenly, he grabbed the hem of my shirt and started ripping.

“What the hell are you doing?” I shrieked, looking down at his ministrations. He ripped a small strip of my shirt and wrapped it around my toes, tying it in place. It became bloody instantly, but the pain started to fade by a fraction.

I looked up at him and noticed my foot was still in his hand, his fingers caressing the pain away. He looked up at me and smiled crookedly. I blushed and tried to look away with no luck. It was like my eyes were magnets to his presence. He had a drop of water dripping down his neck, and I slowly brought my hand up to wipe it off softly.

Edward leaned into my touch, our faces a foot away. I saw desire in his eyes, and noticed my own reflected back at me. He hovered even closer to me, five… then four inches away. My lips parted instinctively, my heart beat speeding.

“Bella,” Edward whispered. His eyes darkened and closed slightly.

My mind was whirling. No. Yes. No. Yes! Edward sighed and pulled away, looking defeated.

Rejection washed through me, hard and hurtful.

I immediately walked away, ignoring the pain in my toes. I walked all the way to the opposite end of the island and plopped down in the sand. Droplets of rain started to land on me, wet and cold. The breeze picked up more, and my wet clothes did not help the matter. I walked into the wood when it started pouring, trying to get warm and dry. There was no canopy on this side, so I got even more wet, my clothes soaked and clinging to me. I was a bit surprised Edward had not come looking for me, but I pushed the thought away from my mind.

I had been hurt once in my life, and I had made a vow to never let it happen again. Edward’s small rejection brought back memories of how badly I had felt when I caught Eric, and I silently cursed the man I was stranded with.

Over the last few days, my crush had grown, and I thought it had been merely attraction. After all, how could I possibly grow feelings for someone so immature?

But he wasn’t like other men I had met. He was kind and smart, funny and adventurous. I realized that two people could learn a lot from each other after just four days. And we’d been together twenty-four seven all four days. We always fell asleep a few feet away from each other, but always woke up in the same position--Edward holding me. It was like our bodies knew each other, even though our minds did not.

I roamed the wood, getting myself lost, for I could see nothing through the rain and leaves. My clothes were soaked through and through, and I knew if I stayed in them, I would face hypothermia. So I took them off, leaving only my bra and underwear on, and carried them with me.

I eventually fell and the pain in my toes came back full force as I tumbled to the wet earth and sand.

“Ow!” I yelped.

“Bella?” I heard a voice call. Edward had come looking for me after all. I saw his shadow approaching me swiftly, taking in my crumpled form.

“Bella, I have been looking for you for an hour! I was so worried!” he said, relief coloring his voice. He picked me up again and carried me back to the canopy where we had been sleeping the last three nights. I could see his breath, it was so cold, but his skin seemed warm at the touch. I didn’t look at his perfection this time--I just tried to gain warmth.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he set me down. Water was still getting through the canopy of leaves, but not too much. It was fully dark now, and I was freezing. Edward noticed my shivering, half-naked body and sighed. I shrugged and blushed.

Edward stood up and grabbed his discarded shirt, pulling it over my head. It was miraculously still dry, and I gripped onto it for warmth. It didn’t really help.

“Come here,” Edward said to me. He laid down next to me and opened his arms. Any other time I would have refused to go to him, especially after our awkward almost-kiss, but I was freezing, and he had an amazing amount of body warmth. So I quickly embraced him, and he wrapped his arms around me. Our chests touched, and I felt myself slowly warming up. I mashed my face against his warm shoulder.

“Hey,” Edward whispered. I looked up at his concerned face. “I’m sorry.”



All pictures are taken from either Google or Deviantart.

Chapter Four

Previously:


“Do you see that? That speck?” she whispered. I squinted my eyes a little and tried to see what she was looking at. And sure enough, it was a--

“Is that what I think it is?” she said.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said in amazement. I turned around slowly and looked her dead straight in the eyes. She looked back at me.

“Land.”


Chapter Four

Bella

We had been drifting at sea for roughly twenty-four hours. Only four of those said twenty-four hours I had been conscious, and I was just about ready to give up all hope when I saw a tiny speck, large enough to be seen and small enough to not be mistaken for a mirage.

I had to admit that Edward was starting to piss me off, but at the same time I couldn’t help but think his immaturity was cute. I knew he probably wasn’t really like that, though. I figured he just knew how upset I had been and was trying to cheer me up. He was so hard to look at, beautiful even when sun burned and smelling of salt water. I was scared to look at him too long, afraid that I wouldn’t be able to look away. He wore the red face well, as if nothing could ever maim his beauty. I knew I more than likely resembled a tomato, and my lips hurt like hell. This was fast becoming a problem because I had a habit of lip biting, and in my anxiety I wanted to bite so, so bad, but I knew if I did it would be torturous, and my lips would start bleeding. Problem after problem.

But when I saw that little dot past Edward’s beautiful head, all aggravation with him disappeared from my mind.

“What if it’s not land? What if it’s a ship or something?” I said quickly, regaining my voice after being hoarse for so long.

“Well, whatever it is, it’s going to benefit us, so I say we move toward it,” he said, looking at me with wide eyes. I was sure my face mirrored his own alert one.

“Well?” I said impatiently.

“Well what?” he said, confused.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s swim to it!” I nearly shouted, moving to paddle our raft toward the thing far away from us. I hoped I wasn’t making a complete fool of myself, since I didn’t have the faintest idea on how to swim. Edward seemed to have the body of an athlete, and every time his legs hit mine under the water, I could feel the strong muscles of his calves. I had tried very hard not to let that distract me.

Edward followed my actions without another word, kicking much harder than I was. We started to move faster, and within fifteen minutes of hard paddling and breathing, I could just make out the outline of the extremely small island we were coming upon. It seemed so small, but we were still so far away that I couldn’t be sure.

“It’s an island,” Edward voiced my thoughts. His voice sounded relieved, but not completely. “I was hoping it was a ship because that would guarantee people to help us.”

“I don’t care what it is, so long as we don’t die in this water!” I said to him, urging him to paddle more. I was growing tired but I couldn’t stop, not with hope of being saved.

Oh shit. Being saved. I never even thanked Edward for saving me. Bella, you jackass. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. I would have to thank him, but right now wasn’t the time. I would have to wait for a better moment, when we were not completely focused on swimming. Plus, I was sure my breath resembled a dragon’s, and I didn’t want to talk so close to him.

Five minutes of more swimming and trying to keep up with Edward passed, and soon I was out of breath. Edward noticed, and he stopped.

“We can take a little break. You’ll need more strength to fight the current once we near shore anyway, so you’ll need to brace yourself,” Edward said. I nodded and laid my head against the cool side of the raft. Edward surprised me by laying his hand against my left cheek, the one that wasn’t against the raft. His hand was rough and pruned, but it was cool and pleasant against my burned skin. I sighed slowly, and felt a bad headache coming on.

“I feel like shit.”

Edward chuckled. “You’re probably nauseated from lack of food. You’re dehydrated and weak. We’ll need to get something in your stomach before you collapse,” he said. His words made me imagine the time my high school teacher taught me how to change salt water to fresh water. But it wasn’t possible here. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a bowl of my mother’s horrible spaghetti right about now. I swear to never ever take her food for granted again if I manage to get out of this situation.


Edward


Bella was looking pretty horrible. Working in a hospital, I was used to dehydration, and I knew that if I didn’t feed her soon, she would vomit and then pass out, two possibilities I couldn’t deal with right now.

Her skin was still so soft under my hand. It was burning, yes, from the sun, but that didn’t seem to make a difference to the texture. I knew by this time tomorrow, I would be peeling like a dozen bananas thrown to a horde of chimpanzees. It was something Emmett and I had inherited from our father--every time we went out in the sun for a while and get burned, by the next day we looked like we had skin diseases, we peeled so much. I shuddered at the thought of how I would look to Bella tomorrow.

Suddenly Bella screamed loudly, and I flinched in shock. She looked down at the water and jumped into my arms, latching herself to my body.

“A shark! A shark! I felt it under my feet!” she cried. I laughed at the absurdity.

“Bella, calm down.”

“Oh my God, we’re going to die! It’s going to chomp off our legs and eat our insides, and let our heads float around!” She gripped me tighter, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, pushing her breasts against my chest. I gasped.

I tried to gain composure and talk to her, hoping she didn’t notice the bulge in my pants through the water. “We’re not going to die. We’re not far out enough to even be near sharks now that the water is shallower,” I lied; actually, I had no idea if sharks even roamed these waters. “You probably just felt a fish.”

“That was no fish, Edward, I swear!”

I rolled my eyes at her terrified face but then considered something important.

“You’re not on your period, are you, Bella?” I asked, suddenly worried. I took her arms in my hands and began to examine them for cuts. “Were you cut during the crash?” I found it hard to believe that she would have been cut when the plane went down. I would have noticed, right?

I felt incredibly stupid and selfish. I didn’t even check her for wounds after I saved us! Some doctor I was! All I could remember was falling asleep because I was so exhausted. God, how selfish could I be? If she had an opened wound, a shark would no doubt smell it and try to attack.

“No, I am not on my period, and why do you look so panicked?” Bella said. I looked back up into her angered face. Shit, she had me figured out. “Did you lie to me when you said there’s no sharks right here?” she demanded. I didn’t answer, hoping that she wouldn’t get too mad at me. Bella scoffed and let go of me quickly, as if I had burned her. I gripped her hips so that she couldn’t unwrap her legs, but she still managed to move and jerk away from me; as she jerked, her body moved down my own instead of away. Bella gasped when she felt my wet tent.

Fuck!

Bella moved away from me again, her face now showing disgust. I didn’t stop her, and she started swimming again. Apparently she was fighting her dehydration, because she didn’t seem to be tired or struggling.

“The water’s cold,” I mumbled lamely, even though I figured she wouldn’t go for that. She didn’t.

“Yeah, whatever, Edward. I’m not stupid; I know a…a boner when I see one,” she said, blushing. I caught up to her and chuckled despite my embarrassment.

“Well, technically, you didn’t see one, you just felt one.”

“Oh, just shut up and help me get to the damn island.”

I snickered and caught up to her. Once we neared the first sandbar, the current got rough, and we both had to hold onto the raft, kicking hard until we passed it. It was easier then, but I was starting to feel just as exhausted as Bella looked. The sun was starting to go down; I figured we had about one more hour until we would be in the dark.

When our feet touched the bottom of the sandbar, Bella moaned in happiness. It made me feel better too, after not being able to stand for so long, just floating. The island was, well, beautiful. It was very small, only about half a mile long, which is why I guessed no one lived on it. The water was so clear and blue, especially now that we were in the shallow, I could see through the water all the way to the bottom.

It looked like the place of honeymoons. The sand was paper white and there were a few trees here and there. I couldn’t tell what kind of trees they were, but some looked like pine. It seemed like something out of a movie. I had only ever seen pine trees at pool sides back in California when I visited an old friend from high school. It was incredibly strange to see a real live one where they grow naturally.

We went over one more sandbar before finally reaching the edge of the beach. Walking up the warm sand, I felt like a blind man seeing for the first time. Bella stumbled from being weak and probably from not walking for so long. My legs felt like jelly, too, so I gently grabbed her arms to make sure she wouldn’t fall. She resisted my touch, however, and moved away from me, falling to the ground a few feet away. I threw the raft to the ground and hesitated at the sight of Bella on the ground. She didn’t want my help, and was obviously still disgusted with me for earlier. She needed food, though, and I’d be damned if she didn’t at least let me help her with that. I fought my exhaustion and started to look around for some sort of fruit. The island seemed mostly flat, but it was a little hilly. I started walking toward the tiny forest, for lack of a better word, when I heard Bella mutter something unintelligible. I looked back at her sprawled body just in time to see her reach for her soaked jacket. I watched her in amazement as she removed it and threw it down, exposing her thin arms and tee shirt. She took her shoes and socks off slowly, never even glancing at me. I realized her clothes must have been making her feel heavier with all the watered weight, and was probably making her more weak.

I looked down at my own clothing. I only had a long sleeved shirt and undershirt on, but I figured I could lose both. I stripped quietly, feeling much better and lighter. My shoes had been lost when I kicked so hard from the plane, so all I had was my jeans and socks. I looked back at Bella; she was already back to the ground, hair in the sand and everything. She looked a bit like a fallen angel, and I shuddered, thinking about what would have happened had I only saved myself. I walked on, determined to find some sort of food. I noticed coconut trees and banana trees, but they were so high up the tree that I didn’t even consider trying to get them.

Eventually, I found an avocado plant, and I picked a few of the fruit, itching to taste them. My energy was fast leaving me, as was the sunlight. I returned to Bella, hoping this would satisfy us for a little while, long enough to sleep through the night. I would try to build a fire tomorrow, hoping someone would see it. There was no way I could find the strength to try tonight.

Bella was in the same spot I had left her in, only now her eyes were open and aware. I sat next to her.

“Look what I found. They look pretty ripe, so try to eat some,” I said softly. I felt bad for being so immature earlier. I also hated admitting that it hurt my feelings when she pulled away from me in disgust. It wasn’t my fault she was beautiful. It wasn’t my fault my body reacted to her. She was the one who jumped on me, after all! But it still hurt that she obviously didn’t feel the same.

She took the green fruit from me without even meeting my gaze. We peeled them as best as we could, and ate them quickly. She seemed a little better after putting something into her stomach, and I felt relieved. She looked at me with tired, drooping eyes. Her lips moved as if she were trying to say something, but kept changing her mind.

Finally, she spoke. “Edward?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, her expression full of gratitude and sincerity. I heard the double meaning in her words, and I smiled down at her red face.

“Anytime,” I said. She smiled shyly and looked down at her peelings, then looked at the sky as the sun set quickly, leaving us in darkness.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. I stared at her face for a few seconds before looking in the same direction. It was gorgeous, especially with nothing in the way of watching it, no lights or buildings, no skyscrapers to hide it from view. I realized that I had never actually watched a sun set, and was thankful for sharing this with her, even though I wasn’t thankful for much else. At least I was glad I was alive, and Bella was alive, and I didn’t have to go through this alone.

How ironic, that I never spent more than a few hours with a girl, yet here I was with a goddess that I would be with, likely for a long time. It was like fucking fate or some shit, that I was put here with a beautiful creature. Sure, she wasn’t very happy with me right now, but I knew once she got to know me, the real me, not the hit-and-run-asshole I had been for years, she would probably like me, or at least be able to stand me. I wasn’t that bad.

“Yeah, it is,” I whispered after a few moments. Bella’s eyes were drooping more, so I grabbed her discarded jacket and wrapped it up into a ball for her to use as a pillow. She thanked me again, quickly falling asleep. I felt bad that she had to sleep in the sand, but I knew we were both too tired to try to build anything and there was no light to do it with anyway. I walked over to my own tossed clothing, doing the same with them, falling asleep as soon as my head hit my makeshift pillow.



I woke up to the sound of Bella’s voice. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I looked up to her exquisite face just inches above my own.

“Edward. Please, I need you. I want to feel you claim my body as yours over and over again. Please say you’ll have me,” she whispered breathlessly. My eyes widened, all sleep forgotten, and I looked down.

She was already naked for me, her wet undergarments joining the rest of her clothes at the edge of the beach. My pants, the only article that I had kept on when we reached land, were still on.

But not for long.

I attacked her plump lips, enjoying the softness that was her mouth. Her wavy hair was loose and soft as it fell against my shoulders and cheeks.

“Bellaaaa” I moaned.

I jerked up quickly, sending sand flying everywhere. A dream? Really, a fucking dream? I get so close to being one with that sweet chick, just for it to not be real!

I groaned. Couldn’t I have at least woken up after the good part? I looked around, still tired, my neck hurting from being in the same position for so long, and realized it was still nighttime, possibly around three in the morning. The moon was shining brightly, almost eerily, and I could make out Bella’s curvy form a few feet away from me. Cursing, I got up and moved toward her, lying down next to her, about a foot away. I looked at her face as she slept, feeling a strange calm feeling come over me. She was so beautiful, it was almost hard to look at her. In sleep, she seemed twice as beautiful as she was awake, something I thought wasn’t possible. She looked so peaceful, it was hard to be mad in the moment. Her pouty lips were begging to be kissed, but I didn’t want to wake her up with my lips on hers. That would be a hard one to explain.

After a few minutes of watching her, I fell asleep again under the moonlight next to the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. The last thing I remembered was fighting the smile on my face as I drifted off.





All pictures are taken from either Google or Deviantart.