Iridescence | Edward x OC

19

You don't understand, it's not that he can't love. It's that he's afraid.

- Unknown
-

Alice waved goodbye as Aris stepped out of the car, her black, patent leather heels clicking against the pavement.

She stared in awe up at the lodge-like restaurant, the inside glowing brightly and contrasting with its outer, dark wood design. She could hear the flowing of water over rocks from behind the restaurant, though she couldn't see it from where she was standing. However, based on the look of the restaurant, she could only assume that this was on a lake or river of some sort.

'He's really taking me to a place like this, for something that isn't even a date,' she thought to herself curiously, 'he can make excuses all he wants, but there's no way he only did this to "up my standards so I go for someone better than Clay." There's definitely an ulterior motive behind this.'

Aris smelled the familiar scent of mint and spring that she had grown accustomed to, and not even a second later, she heard his velvet-like voice.

"Aris?" Edward asked, causing her to turn around.

All the thoughts that he had previously been having were lost as they made eye contact, the both of them scanning each other up and down and taking in the others' appearance.

Edward watched as the wind ever so slightly ruffled Aris's navy, mid-thigh length, lacy dress. He also watched how the dress's dark color went perfectly with her even darker hair, and also contrasted perfectly with her fair skin, which was now shifting very prominently through all of its shades of reds, purples, and pinks as the orange glow emitted from the setting sun radiated down on her.

Similarly, Aris took in Edward who was dressed in a simple black tux, though it was definitely a sight that would never get old. The dark color of the tux also contrasted perfectly with his pale skin, and his reddish brown hair that complimented his eyes which were the same color as the orange glow from the sun, which was now causing him to sparkle beautifully.

The sparkles on his skin shone like diamonds, though they also danced ever so slightly through the different shades of clear blues and purples, like an opal.

Aris finally snapped out of it after a moment, her mind starting to race with worry.

"Edward, holy fuck, get out of the sun! Someone's gonna see you!" Her voice was frantic as she ran over to him, grabbing his arm and starting to pull him into the shade under a nearby tree.

Edward chuckled, placing his hand on hers which was still clutched around his arm as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Relax, I've rented out the place. It's only us here," he assured her, "well, us besides Emmett. He's our waiter for the night."

Aris sighed heavily, her heart rate slowing down from its previous, crazed speed.

She then quickly removed her hand from his arm, noticing how she had lingered it there a bit longer than she meant to.

Edward watched her hand drop down to her side, wishing how he could tell her that he wanted it there. He wanted her to touch him and not keep her distance. But he wouldn't tell her that, because like he had told himself what felt like a million times these past few weeks, he couldn't allow his feelings for her to grow, as that would just result in unnecessary pain, knowing how they wouldn't work out anyways.

"You look beautiful, Aris." He complimented, loving the way it felt rolling off his tongue. It was a nice change for once, actually being nice to each other.