The Outlier

THIRTY-TWO

"You." 

My heartbeat came to an abrupt halt. Sure, Edward and I kissed before but I never guessed this was the possible outcome. 

"Pardon?" I sputtered, hoping to receive some clarification. 

"You heard me, Kai." 

"But, Edward, Twilight," I managed to say, "I promised I wouldn't interfere but you two are meant to be. I shouldn't come between that bond." 

"She's your... erm, fuck," I trailed off, realising how soppy the word 'soulmate' sounded in casual conversation. "She's your... soulmate." 

Edward's features contorted into a grimace at the idea. 

"Is she now?" he challenged. 

"Yeah," I sighed, still disgusted at my use of the word 'soulmate'. 

Edward pressed his forehead against mine, building a fiery intensity between us. 

"What if I felt a stronger pull towards you?" he asked. He moved his finger to trace my bottom lip. He peppered the side of my face with soft kisses, avoiding my lips. 

"I don't belong here, Edward," I sighed. "I'm the outlier." 

"I don't care. Be with me."

Eventually, I gave up. I stood up on my tippy toes and places a long kiss on his lips, my hands slowly finding their way into his hair. Edward wrapped his arms around my waist, almost instinctively, and pulled me in closer. 

He made his way down, his lips slowly departing from mine and trailing down to my jaw and neck, pecking and biting anywhere he could reach. He pulled down the neckline of my frayed cotton t-shirt, kissing furiously on my collarbone. 

"Edward," I murmured. 

"Edward!" I scolded once I realised this would leave a hickey. 

He pulled away with great difficulty, admiring what he left on my body. Rain began speckling my face, hitting my face gently as the clouds began darkening. 

"I should get you home," he sighed. 

Edward's running wasn't any more pleasant than it was the first time, and the addition of the rain wasn't helping at all. The small sprinkle of rain led to a shower of pouring water, running down my and Edward's bodies. 

By the time we reached my house, I was a cold, wet, shivering mess. I ran upstairs, my teeth chattering, stopping myself from slipping multiple times on the stairs. 

I turned on the water on the hottest shower setting it could give, which was to say, not very hot. The just barely steaming water did a great job of soothing my nerves. I stepped out of a shower, putting on my clothes with a towel over my head. 

I stepped out of the bathroom to see Edward's frame awkwardly standing with his arms at his sides, his clothes still just as wet as mine once were. 

"Take off your clothes but keep your knickers on." 

"What?" his eyes were visibly wide. 

"Oh, don't be such a twit, I'm tossing them in the dryer," I explained. "It can't possibly be comfortable to be wearing wet clothing." 

I turned around, hoping to give him some privacy while he stripped rummaging my drawers for something for him to wear. I pulled out a large Nirvana t-shirt and frayed black sweatpants that belonged to my father. I nicked them ages ago when he wasn't watching and kept them ever since. 

I tossed Edward the clothes, not turning around in worries of making him uncomfortable. Edward was a fast changer, it took him a minute at most to change out of his wet clothes and get into the ones I gave him.