beauty and the edward by bella&edward (simple ebook reader txt) 📕

of that guy. I was following you.."He admitted in defeat.

She blinked her eyes at him, did she hear him right?

"Forget about him. Why were you following me Edward?" She asked.

He sighed and looked a bit angry, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I just had a feeling that you might be in trouble."

"I don't get why you would do that for me, you made it clear this morning that I meant nothing to you."

He laughed dryly.

"You don't get it, but I do care about you Bella and so much." He said with some emotion in his voice.

She smiled slightly, it felt so good to know that he cared about her, that someone like him who was so perfect could care about someone so ordinary like her.

"Then let me understand Edward. Thank you, that's all I needed to hear." She said.

A small smile appeared on his handsome face.

"You can't, no one can. I'm much worse than what you think I am."

She looked down at her hands, why was he so difficult?

"No you're not Edward, you're just not."

"If Bella says I'm not that bad, then I'm not."He said jokingly.

She rolled her eyes and laughed a little.

"What I say goes."

"Of course."

He pulled up into the parking space for his car and then turned the engine off. He turned to look at her, he had sadness in his eyes.

"I wasn't always like this, but something happened and I was never the same again. You asked why I'm so cold earlier and it's because of that. I've seen shrinks, I've tried everything to feel normal again, to forgive myself for what I did, but nothing worked. I am who I am Bella and I wish I could change, but it's just not possible. It's as if a curse was placed on me and nothing can break it. I'm doomed to be a beast for all of eternity." He said in a rare moment of vulnerability.

She stared at him, she was not expecting him to be so open with her. She didn't want him to think that of himself because there was redemption for all human beings. She wondered what made him this way and it hurt her heart to know that he was in so much torment from his past.

"I'm so sorry Edward. I shouldn't have said all of that earlier. Curses can be broken, nothing is ever permanent. I don't know what you did, but if you haven't forgiven yourself for what you did then you're always going to feel this way. You need to let it go eventually and if you need to talk I'm here."

He looked deeply into her warm and inviting brown eyes, eyes that seemed to be trying to save him, to draw him in. She reached out for his hand, he let her touch him for a few seconds, but quickly pulled away. She pulled her hand back meekly and looked at him again.

"Maybe one day I will Bella and I'll remember that. You should go in, it's been a long night." He said.

She looked at him sadly, he was pushing her away again, but he had opened up to her and it was a start. She gave him a small, sad smile.

"Love always breaks the spells and curses in fairytales." She said as she opened the car door and got out of the car.

She walked up the stairs to the town house and opened the door with her spare key. She walked inside and shut the door. Edward's eyes never left her till she walked inside. Maybe she was right, love could break spells and curses, but he was no prince charming. He didn't think that Prince Charming would ever consider using the woman he loved for his own personal gain. Where was the place for monsters and beasts in fairytales? They were just villains and nothing more.

"Can you hear my call? Are you coming to get my now?

I've been waiting for you to come rescue me

I need you to hold all of the sadness I can not live with inside of me"

The words from the song Bella put on dragged out, he smirked at the irony of it. He had saved her tonight, but she didn't know that she had thrown a life saver out to him tonight. She wanted to understand him, to help him. Nobody had done that before.


Chapter 8

Bella sat on the stairs and waited for Edward to walk in. He had been out for about 10 minutes and she was starting to wonder if he had went somewhere. She looked up and saw the brass doorknob turn, the door opened and Edward walked inside. His golden hair shined brightly in the light and he looked like a male model or a greek god, but even better if that was possible. Their eyes locked
as soon as he saw her sitting on the steps. She gave him a small smile, it was an awkward type of smile, one you smiled when you didn't know what to do. He didn't say anything as he walked over to where she was. He sat down next to her and stretched out his long legs. She felt intoxicated by his scent of Armani cologne.

"Do you want to tell me why you decided to go to a party like that by yourself?" He asked.

She looked down at her fingers. "I wanted to forget about you." She thought. She looked back up at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I just wanted to have fun for once. My friend was there, but then she ditched me." She explained.

He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't you have fun living with me?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes and laughed.
"It was a joke." He said.
"It wasn't a very good one. I know what I did was stupid."
"Yeah it was, you seem like you're not sure of who you want to be."He said.

She looked at him curiously, it was like he was looking right through her and in that moment she felt so vulnerable and she didn't like how open she felt. It was a risky move, if you shared too much with someone it would connect you and that could be a really big problem in itself.

"You're right about that, but I'm ready to find out who I really am." She said.

"That's a good thing. I think I lost myself - a lot has happened with me over the years." He said in a low voice.

She looked into his green eyes, she could see that there was so much pain in them and she wondered if maybe that was to blame for his coldness and tough exterior. She was also starting to realize that behind the money and power was a man who was wounded beyond repair, she didn't know the reason for it, but it seemed as if he had been affected by something life altering. She reached out for his hand, which was freezing cold, and gently squeezed it as she looked into his eyes. He looked at her and then quickly looked away from her pensive gaze, it was far too intimate for his liking. He did not want her to see through his facade of coldness. Edward didn't want anyone to know how damaged he was although it was too late now because he had been letting his guard down around her a lot lately.

"What's lost can always be found, don't give up." She said, offering words of encouragement.

He smiled weakly at her and looked down at their hands, her hand looked so fragile as if he could break it by just gently squeezing it. He wasn't use to someone trying to show true affection to him, he slowly pulled his hand away and stood up. He watched as the hopeful expression on her face fell and she nibbled at her lower lip. He had to save this girl from himself, he was the most dangerous predator to her and he had to stop making such rash and stupid decisions when it came her.

"Yeah well I'm going to bed. See you around." He said, quickly putting on the mask of ice he was so accustomed to wearing around people.

Bella didn't say anything to him, she simply nodded her head and moved to the side so that he could get past her. He walked up the stairs without a single glance at her. She stared out into space, getting lost in her thoughts. "Why does he always do this to me?" She thought miserably to herself. This time she didn't feel like crying, she was starting to feel numb as if she had reached her limit. Who did he think he was anyways?

It was Monday morning and Bella decided it was best to catch up on some studying before classes started. She would have to talk to Angela later about how Edward had saved her and how she would never go to another party with her again if she planned on just ditching her. She was flipping through the pages of her text book when she heard someone pull up a chair and sit next to her, she turned her head to the side to see who it was. She saw that it was Professor Avery, she froze because he truly frightened her. He was wearing a buttoned down white shirt and his hair was slicked back, his features were those of a very good looking man, but if you looked into his blue eyes it was almost sinister.

"I hear that you're living with Cullen." He said casually.

"I really don't think that's any of your business." She said firmly.

"He's a really bad person, he's a life ruiner." He said bitterly.

Bella arched an eyebrow at her professor.

"It's funny, he says the same thing about you."

"I'm sure he does. You should know exactly what he did. He took the love of my life away from me just because he could, not because he loved her. He used her like she was just some asset to his company.." He said in an almost growl.

Bella blinked her eyes, she felt angry that Avery would say such horrid things about Edward. She wondered if this woman had anything to do with changing Edward and making him cold, she needed to know more.

"He's not a bad person, I don't know what he did, but he's not some beast. What do you mean by him taking away the love of your life? He dated some girl you loved?" She asked curiously.

Avery leaned back against the chair and tapped his fingers onto the table and then glared at Bella. His eyes were far away and it looked like he was thinking about a million sad thoughts.

"He didn't just date her, he married her and ruined her life and mine. That's the man you're living with. He's nothing but a monster and one day I plan on taking what he loves away from him. Are you with him?" He asked and leaned in closer to Bella.