In Which I Suffer Through New Moon: Chapter 24 -- Vote · 3:25pm Apr 17th, 2018
Edward reluctantly runs Bella to his house. When they arrive, they have a discussion on their relationship.
“You can leave me,” I explained. “The Volturi, Victoria… they’re nothing compared to that.”
CM + 1
During the discussion, it comes up that Edward didn’t actually get rid of the things of his when he left Bella; they’re stashed under her floorboards. I wonder how easy it is to hide things under the floorboards in a modern home. Bella also offhandedly mentions her voices and, with some prompting, describes them to Edward. He doesn’t have nearly as much a reaction for Bella’s reckless behavior as he should, but Bella has an epiphany: Edward really does love her. I genuinely don’t know how it took her this long to figure it out.
He really did want me the way I wanted him — forever. It was only fear for my soul, for the human things he didn’t want to take them from me, that made him so desperate to leave me mortal. Compared to the fear that he didn’t want me, this hurdle — my soul — seemed almost insignificant.
CM + 1. Oh, and Edward says that he basically curled up into a ball after he left her. She’s an idiotic human. He’s a mopey vampire. Together, they fight crime are codependent!
Edward calls the Cullens together and Bella explains the situation. Edward and Rosalie say no. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Esme, and Carlisle all say yes. Rosalie brings up an interesting point:
”I don’t mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister. It’s just that… this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone to vote no for me.”
What, exactly, is the point of Rosalie? That’s a good argument, especially when compared to Edward’s vaguer “soul” arguments. She and him should’ve been folded into just Edward. They’d make a more interesting character.
Edward freaks out, screaming, “No!”, and storms out of the room. However, before Carlisle can bite Bella, Edward comes back into the room with another option: even if Bella is turned, it doesn’t have to be now. He proposes waiting until Bella graduates from high school and isn’t living with Charlie anymore. It’d mean a bit less heartbreak. Bella thinks about it and decides that that’s reasonable and she’ll think about it.
Edward takes Bella back home, before Charlie wakes up and notices she’s gone, and they have a discussion about turning her.
”If you could have anything in the world, anything at all, what would it be?”
I could feel the skepticism in my eyes. “You.”
He shook his head impatiently. “Something you don’t already have.”
I wasn’t sure where he was trying to lead me, so I thought carefully before I answered. I came up with something that was both true, and also probably impossible.
“I would want… Carlisle not to have to do it. I would want you to change me.”
I watched his reaction warily, expecting more of the fury I’d seen at his house. I was surprised that his expression didn’t change. It was still calculating, thoughtful.
“What would you be willing to change for that?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I gawked at his composed face and blurted out the answer before I could think about it.
“Anything.”
He smiled faintly, and then pursed his lips. “Five years?”
My face twisted into an expression somewhere between chagrin and horror.
CM + 2
After some haggling, they get it down to one year, but Edward has an added condition.
“Condition?” My voice went flat. “What condition?”
He eyes were cautious — he spoke slowly. “Marry me first.”
I stared at him, waiting… “Okay. What’s the punch line (sic)?”
He sighed. “You’re wounding my ego, Bella. I just proposed to you, and you think it’s a joke.”
Of course she does. That’s the worst proposal ever.
Bella’s averse to early marriage, of all things, and doesn’t want to rush into it. But she wants to be a vampire, so she reluctantly agrees to the condition and decides to wait a year and a half or so. Edward soon has to leave, as he hears Charlie getting up. Charlie checks on Bella, makes sure she’s okay, and promptly lays out how much stress she’s put him through.
“I just about went crazy these last three days. I come home from Harry’s funeral, and you’re gone. Jacob could only tell me that you’d run off with Alice Cullen, and that he thought you were in trouble. You didn’t leave me a number, and you didn’t call. I didn’t know where you were or when — or if — you were coming back. Do you have any idea how… how…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. He sucked in a sharp breath and moved on. “Can you give me one reason why I shouldn’t ship you off to Jacksonville this second?”
My eyes narrowed. So it was going to be threats, was it? Two could play at that game. I sat up, pulling the quilt around me. “Because I won’t go.”
Damn. Brats would call out Bella for being self-centered. She explains herself as best she can, and Charlie more-or-less caves on that line of thought (there goes your Father of the Year award, Charlie). However, he still wants Bella to stay away from Edward:
“He shook his head, the vein in his forehead pulsing. “I want you to stay away from him, Bella. I don’t trust him. He’s rotten for you. I won’t let him mess you up like that again.”
“Fine,” I said curtly.
Charlie rocked back onto his heels. “Oh.” He scrambled for a second, exhaling loudly in surprise. “I thought you were going to be difficult.”
“I am.” I stared straight into his eyes. “I meant, ‘Fine, I’ll move out.’”
Bella continues failing to look at this from Charlie’s perspective, and the only reason he leaves is because it’s early in the morning and not the right time to talk about it. The moment he’s gone, Edward’s back in Bella’s room. Bella jokes that if Charlie throws her out, there’s no need for a graduation deadline. When Edward broods about how eager Bella is for eternal damnation, she claims he doesn’t truly believe that, bringing up his “Carlisle was right” statement in Volterra. At the very least, he can be hopeful.
“So let’s both just be hopeful, all right?” I suggested. “Not that it matters. If you say, I don’t need heaven.”
CM + 1
Clinginess Meter: 76 x 4
One chapter to go, thank goodness. I have not liked this book.
Words cannot describe my contempt for Bella right now.
Poor Charlie. He's really in a no-win situation here. If he puts his foot down, his daughter runs away from home. If he lets it go, she's only going to get worse. And that's before the vampirism.
So, back in 2010, I participated in NaNoWriMo. The novel I wrote was a parody of Twilight and the vampire romance 'genre', despite never having read a one of them. It was fucking awful.
That said, the main character also wants to become a vampire -- something I legitimately never would have expected from this story -- and, after getting her wish, immediately turns on her would-be lover and tries to take over the world or something.
I'm just sad because I know actual Twilight will never be that awesome. :')
Didn’t Bella want to marry Wrong Twilight Sparkle about the instant they were a thing?