In Which I Suffer Through New Moon: Chapter 23 -- The Truth · 3:13pm Apr 15th, 2018
When Bella wakes up early in the morning, she sees Edward in her room and thinks that either she’s dreaming or she’s dead after drowning. No, I don’t get it, either. After too long, she finally concludes that, yes, the events of the past few days actually happened. Edward comments that he’s technically not supposed to be there, as Charlie banned him from the house.
My eyes were mad. I was going to have a few words with my father — perhaps it would be a good time to remind him that I was over the legal age of adulthood. It didn’t matter so much, of course, except in principle. All too soon there would be no reason for the prohibition.
You’re living under his roof, Bella, he makes the rules. You really think that saying, “I’m an adulllllllllllt!” is going to make him give up and rescind the ban? Right. Even if you’re an adult, you’re not very mature.
They talk about what they’re going to tell Charlie about why Bella jaunted over to Italy for three days. Neither of them has an idea and they both hope Alice will come up with something.
And I was comforted. Who cared what I had to deal with later? Every second that he was here — so close, his flawless face glowing in the dim light from the numbers on my alarm clock — was precious and not to be wasted.
“So,” I began, picking the least important — though still vitally interesting — question to start with. I was safely delivered home, and he might decide to leave at any moment. I had to keep him talking. Besides, this temporary heaven wasn’t entirely complete without the sound of his voice. “What have you been doing, up until three days ago?”
CM + 2
Edward says he was out hunting, then apologizes for leaving Bella alone and in danger. However, Bella interrupts him.
“Edward,” I said. His name burned my throat a little on the way out. I could feel the ghost of the hole, waiting to rip itself wide again as soon as he disappeared. I didn’t quite see how I was going to survive it this time.
CM + 1
Bella tells him that, regardless of what happened to her, it wouldn’t be his fault; it’s her own decision. Edward, however, is confused, saying he didn’t go to the Volturi out of guilt. In a sequence that takes far too long, Edward finally tells Bella that he was lying when he said he wanted to let her go; he hoped that, if he claimed to not want her, then it’d be easier for her when he moved on.
“I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly believed that I didn’t want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept — as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you!”
The Clinginess Meter only counts Bella’s quotes and that comes from Edward, or else I’d be adding 1.
Edward also says he’s not leaving Bella again. He only left her in the first place to give her a chance at a normal human life and not one surrounded by vampires. However, after living for a while without her, he realized he couldn’t do it, so he’s not strong enough to leave her again.
They talk for a little about some of the dangerous stuff Bella’s experienced since Edward’s gone. Edward comments that, one day or another, the Volturi will come for her and turn her, even if it’s not until she’s thirty. The possibility of turning thirty horrifies Bella that she makes a decision to go talk to the rest of the Cullens. Rather than spending all this time arguing with Edward, she’ll put her mortality to a vote. This is probably the most proactive she’s been in the book.
Clinginess Meter: 71 x 4
You managed it for centuries, Eddy. Although, to be fair, vampires in multiple stories I’ve seen tend to be fairly obsessive.
This is a fucking "the pants were dead" moment. c.c This was professionally published.
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He's actually around one hundred.
Sometimes I feel the guy's a romantic that can't come up with really good phrases.
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My point still stands.
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True.