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.