Surprises

A cold breeze nips at my exposed fingertips, Autumn is definitely on the way.

People pass me by in a blur, tugging their coats close to themselves as the breeze picks up, seeming to blow the summer away. 

"Hey, watch it!" A man snaps as I stumble over his outstretched leg.

"Sorry, sorry!" I call over my shoulder as I brush past him, trying to gather my footing again. 

I dive through the crowd, in search for Bella. Passing people who're collected in groups, talking and laughing as the sky fades from a peachy pink to a deep scarlet, crystallizing into a brilliant indigo, small stars twinkling in the sky, the moon shining overhead.

Anxiety crawls up the back of my throat and takes over my mind, my searching becoming wild and frantic.

 I hadn't heard from Bella all week, and saying I was nervous and anxious about her the entire time she was silent would be an understatement. 

Was she visiting her mother?

If she was, what was going on? Was she okay? Was her mother dying, or was the chemotherapy working? Was remission in the near future?

How was Phil? Was Jane doing alright?

Most of all, how was Bella holding up? 

Or, if she wasn't visiting her mother like she said she was, what was she doing?

Was she okay?

Why was she ignoring me?

All my fears and worries disappeared as soon as my eyes found her. She was leaning up against a railing, tucked away from the crowd that seemed torn between staying and leaving. 

Her dark coat reaches her knees, billowing softly in the wind. Her hair was down, a baggy hat covering the crown of her head. Her eyes were scanning the shore line, occasionally flickering towards the crowd.

Looking for me.

An unnamed emotion swelled inside of me, threatening to burst me from the inside out, when I realized Bella was looking for me.

For me.

"Bella!" I shout, a few people around me turning to stare, scowls etched onto their faces.

Honestly, find something better to be upset about, please and thank you.

Her head turns, her eyes searching the crowd until they settle on me, standing there grinning like an idiot.

A smile tugs at the corners of her pink lips as she waves me over eagerly, her hair swirling around her face as the wind picks up, the tail ends of her coat snapping in the breeze.

"Hey," She says as I walk over, brushing my shoulder against hers.

"Hi," I murmur, tucking a wild strand of her hair under her hat. "How have you been?"

She turns to meet my gaze, the dark circles are back, with a sad smile.

"My mom, despite the treatment, isn't doing very well. The cancer is on it's way out, at least that's what the doctors think," She pauses, tears welling up in her eyes.

Without thinking, I reach out and wipe them away with my hand, yearning for some way to comfort her. But I don't understand, if the cancer is on it's way out, why is she crying?

"But," Bella takes a deep breath, leaning her head into my hand "I don't think she can make it, mentally I mean. She's depressed, Phil and I can hardly ever visit her because we're scrambling right now, Jane isn't allowed inside because... Because..."

"You don't want her seeing that." I finish, wiping away her new tears.

"Yeah," She sighs, her eyes closing as tears slip down her cheeks, my cold fingers gently brushing them away. "But, the doctors are remaining optimistic, so I'll try."

"Where's your mother's hospital? If you don't mind me asking." While her mother may not know me as Bella's friend, I guess I could explain, somewhat.

Better than being alone, right?

"She's in Phoenix, a private hospital. I didn't want press to bug her and ruin everything." Bella whispers. "I just want what's best for my family."

I pull her into a hug, tucking her head under my chin.

"There's nothing wrong with that," I tell her softly. "You have every right too."

I gently rub her back for a few minutes before she breaks the silence between us.

"I'm sorry I haven't returned your emails," She murmurs "I was just so preoccupied with my Mom, I had to watch Jane, Phil is nowhere to be found so I'm looking for him too--"

"Shhh, it's okay. I figured it was something along those lines." I tell her soothingly. 

"Can we talk about something else?" She sniffs, pulling away to wipe more tears away from her face.

I nod. "I've always wondered how you became an actress," I offer.

She snorts.

"No, I'm serious!" I protest as she bursts into giggles. 

"I know," She laughs "It's just an odd question, you can literally look up my latest interview on YouTube and find out."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. But you really want to know?" She glances at me, we're both leaning against the railing now, looking out at the calm waves, her eyebrow raised.

"I do,"

"It was five years ago," Bella starts, "I was nineteen. Back then I was bouncing back and forth from Phoenix and Forks, checking in on mom, Phil, and Jane, as well as my father. I was boarding a plane to head to Phoenix, my Dad was still 'asleep'.

When I got to my seat, I thought I would be alone. I had my parent's medical bills out, for both of them, as well as my mother and father's mortgage notices, bills, and all kinds of things that had to be paid that I didn't have money for. Everything was going out, pretty much nothing was coming in."

"What about Phil? Didn't he have a job?" I wonder aloud.

Bella sighs, frustrated, it seems. "He got fired, Renee became his only priority and so he lost his job. I was the only source of income, but when your only job is working at a library with tight funds, something's gotta go."

"Oh." Is all I say.

"Anyway," Bella continues "I was wondering how I was supposed to get all this paid for. My mind was going in circles. It seemed inevitable that I take on multiple jobs and forget about college. I did, but as I did the math, some things would still go unpaid for. Big things."

She takes a breath, exhaling a small white cloud into the air. She rubs her hands together, shivering slightly. I walk around her and wrap my arms around her waist, tugging her back to my chest in an effort to keep her warm.

Her breathing hitches, her heart stammering unevenly.

Just like mine.

"Go on," I prod "I want to hear more."

More accurately, I just wanted to hear her speak.

"So, as I was saying, I was stressing out. That's when someone cleared their throat. I looked over, and guess who I saw?"

Bella tilts her head up to look me in the eye, the subtle twinkle I saw in those pictures present.

"Who?" I ask.

"Aro."

"Are you serious?" I gasp, searching inside her eyes for any reason to believe she was kidding.

Apparently, she wasn't.

Aro is one of the biggest people in show business. He found many of the actors and actresses today, he's also a big time director, though sometimes he acts in old fashioned romantic movies you find people watching when they have nothing better to do with their lives.

"Yes, he was the man who sat next to me on that flight. I tried to ignore him, I didn't know who he was at the time, I was too worried about everything else to notice. But, he seemed to pick up on the fact that something was wrong, because he talked to me.

Excuse me Miss, he said as I was leafing through my papers, trying to find the one about my Mom's cancer. But is everything alright?

I gave him a sour look," I widen my eyes "Oh calm down, I didn't know who he was. Before shaking my hair out to properly ignore him.

He wasn't having that, and he kept pestering me all throughout the flight.

Halfway through, I couldn't take it anymore. I told him everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything. When I finished, he just gaped at me like I grew a second head.

All this is put solely on your shoulders? He questioned. I nodded, and he just shook his head. He passed me his business card, told me he'd call me, and by then he was off the plane and heading down the terminal.

Six months later he called me. We were drowning in debt, Phil was stressing out, Jane was a hot mess, and I was about to burst into tears I was so done. They needed someone to play the leading lady in Descendant of the Gods."

"Ah, your first movie."

"Mm-hmm. Since then I'd apparently taken Hollywood, and what seems to be most of the world, by storm. I don't really see it that way though. I'm not very cool, or pretty for that matter. I'm ordinary, when you think about it."

"Bella, you're amazing. Don't let anyone tell you anything else."

She scoffs, but doesn't say anything else.

This has my eyebrow furrowing in confusion, but mostly anger. Did no one praise her when she was young? Tell her that she was beautiful, that they loved her, that she was unique and special, which made her wonderful?

From the way she brought herself up, it seems not. She seems to have grown up quickly.

We sit there in a pleasant silence, my arms still twined around her waist, my chin resting on the soft fabric of her hat, her head leaned back, tucked under my chin, her small hands resting atop of my own.

If I didn't know us and was just a passerby, I'd take us for a couple. 

The thought of Bella and I together in a relationship like that has my heart beating a mile a minute, the thundering crashes ringing in my ears. My thoughts spiral out of control, in places they shouldn't be. 

Bella holding my hand as we walk onto some set together.

Bella and I laughing together, someplace sunny, my family and friends gazing fondly at us some distance away.

Then there's the copper headed child again, but this time, I knew where the dark eyes came from.

They were Bella's.

"Edward?" Bella says worriedly "Is everything alright?"

Her strawberry smell envelops me, and I'm left befuddled for a second.

"Edward?" She was really worried now. She was squirming, trying to twist herself around. I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I tell her, using my other hand to trace soothing patterns on her hand. "I'm fine, it's okay. You worry too much."

I could almost see the corners of her lips turn down in annoyance, even though I was looking forward, at the dark, murky water.

In an odd way, it reminded me of Bella's eyes. Normal brown eyes were flat, more of an amber color, dull, somehow. But Bella's were a deep brown, like melted chocolate, swimming with her emotions, her thoughts, her worries, her troubles.

They were probably the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.

"I do not," She protests "It's a force of habit. When you got really quiet and your heart started beating faster, it made me nervous."

I tried to ignore the blood rushing to my ears as they got warmer, probably turning a bright red from embarrassment of getting caught. If she knew what I was thinking, she'd probably laugh and then cheerfully beat me to death.

"Again, I'm fine." I tell her, trying to hide my embarrassment. "It's going to take a lot more than that to drag me away from you."

And that's when Bella's skin gets alarmingly warm, I look down to see her cheeks flaming red, her lips curved up into an embarrassed smile.

"On your right, I think he'd be at your... Four o'clock?" Bella blurts out after a second. "Turn and see," She says before I can question.

I follow her instructions and lock gazes with a man who's carrying a large camera, a notebook tucked snugly in his pocket, and a tape recorder clutched in his hand.

Watching us, trying to remain unnoticed.

"He's been there ever since you arrived," Bella murmurs, twining her fingers with my own.

"Ah, sorry about that." I mumble "I can't help it, really."

Bella giggles "On my left I have a woman, she's been following me all week but remains somewhat skittish, I've even caught some photos with her on my phone without her noticing."

"Observant, are we?"

"My Mom says I am," Bella shrugs. "I do tend to notice things most people look over, like how you're ears are a bright scarlet, but only on the tips."

My hand reaches up to tentatively brush against the tip of my ear, and sure enough they were shockingly warm.

"Told you," She murmurs, a smile in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah," I dismiss it, trying to sound bored.

I apparently need to work on my acting, it doesn't fool Bella.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed," She says, worried all over again. She scrambles out of my snare around her waist to twirl around and give me a hug. "I'm sorry," She whispers into my chest, wrapping her warm arms around my coat. Her ear rested against my heart, listening to it's fast paced beats.

"It's alright," I shrug "Emmett embarrasses me all the time, you get used to it quickly. Develop a thick skin."

This was true, but somehow it got under my skin when Bella pointed it out.

The child reappears in front of my vision again, laughing at me.

"Daddy," She coos "You and Mommy are so silly!"

Then I blink, and she's gone, instead I see Bella, her dark eyes staring into my green ones, worry swirling around in their dark depths.

"Edward," She whispers "Are you sure you're okay?"

I pause before saying anything, making sure the words will be true. "I'm fine."

In reality, I was conflicted, confused, and I didn't know what to do.

I wanted to be friends with Bella, to go on more outings like this, laughing, sharing memories together, embarrassing one another, playfully teasing each other...

And then there's the child. Her brothers and sisters surrounding her, Bella standing next to them, her stomach round as a basketball with a baby tucked into her arms, on her left side I stand, my hands resting on her shoulders as she gazes up at me, smiling warmly. My eyes are trained on her as well, a wedding band on my finger, and one on hers.

 Signifying my role as Bella's protector, lover, husband, father to her children, still remaining her friend...

I want it, both futures, I want them badly. The longing for a family, to have a companion who'll love me for me, not for my money, or some other absurd reason. But to also have someone amidst all this chaos of show business to help guide me, keep my feet planted on the ground. Someone to  laugh with, to tell my darkest secrets too - that is if I had any, to call at three A.M. because I wanted to talk...

Bella's gasp jerks me out of my confusing thoughts I'm getting nowhere with.

"What?" I hiss, on alert. "Are you alright?"

She says nothing, I look down in alarm to see Bella's eyes flooding with tears.

"Bella? Bella! Bella!" I call her name frantically, beginning to shake her shoulders "Bella! Bella, what's wrong?"

She lets out a whimper, her hands clutching her jacket as they shake violently, her lower lip puckers out, trembling.

I heave a sigh, instead trying to find the problem on my own. Bella's eyes are trained to someone or something on her right, so I look that way, trying to see if I can decipher why she's reacting this way.

It doesn't take long.

There, standing by the pier, is a dark haired man with short cropped hair, holding a blonde woman in his arms, twirling her around in the air.

They laugh before she leans down to cup his face for a kiss, and as their lips meet, Bella lets out a small sob.

I don't have to be a rocket scientist to piece together who they were.

Jacob and Kate.