Falling To The Sun | B. Swan + E. Cullen

quarante-deux

Roman woke the happiest she had been in the longest time. Cloud nine couldn't compare to what she felt, and as the sunlight hit her face, she brought her hands up to twist and turn them in the sun.

They cast rainbows around her, lining against her skin, and if she spent forever lying there, staring up at them in a daze, then Alice was too kind to mention that as she finally came in, poke me out of the bed insistently with a reminder that it was well past noon and that Bella had made peanut butter cookies for breakfast that were now very cold.

She was infinitely kind, too much so as she fluttered around, cooing at every move I made. She prods teasingly at my neck, pointing out love bites that littered the unblemished skin.

Roman's face was terribly hot and there was no doubt about the brightness of it as Edward and Bella returned to save her. Her fiance was lovely enough to usher his sister from his room.

They packed quickly, Edward having more than enough supplies for the three of them, even with the threat of snow, and Roman was infinitely thankful that Alice had thought to grab her thermal boots from Bella's closet.

Everything passed quickly, the day passing in a blur until they were at the field, waiting by the car with their bags placed at her feet, and Seth was looping towards her, jogging the way with a beaming grin.

Roman meets him with a crush, air knocking from her lungs as she launches herself at him. He knows that somethings up the moment he sees her, the question at the tip of his tongue, and she quick to silence him.

Her fingerless gloves feel like an unnecessary screen against the knowledge that she wanted to share with the world.

It could wait. She could tell him the moment they were alone.

"Right, well, we need you to leave a trail around the clearing and then leading directly into it," Edward says, voice tight. "Seth and Jacob will follow close, leaving their scent so that they don't trail away from yours -- not that they're likely to do so."

Bella heads off eagerly, reaching to touch everything she could in the direction that he pointed in.

She doesn't move just yet, staying with Seth and Edward as Jacob follows close behind.

Swallowing, she says, "I had a, uh, different idea, actually."

Edward looks at her sharply in warning. She lifts her hands defensively.

"Nothing at all against what we agreed! And this is a great plan, it is, but I'm just saying that maybe, it could use a few corrections," she says, moving to her bag. "Based on my experience, and Jasper's, apparently, having us here would really be a great advantage, but we obviously can't do that."

"What?" Seth blurts, gaping at her with impossibly wide eyes. "You were going to sit here?"

"Yeah, but that plan has been shot out the window, don't worry," she says quickly, looking up from the clothes she was pulling out. "This is the next best thing. The outfit that I wore yesterday and last night. Both will smell incredibly like me, what with all the sweating I did yesterday and the, uh, well, last night's activities leaving a distinct smell. They should provide enough of a distraction."

"I like that a lot more than you surrounded by danger," Seth says, completely unfazed by her comments.

Edward takes them from her outstretched hand, placing them back into the back of the car immediately. "I'm not going to leave them here. The scent will fade overnight. I'll have Alice bring them when they come in the morning."

She blinks, considering before she nods her agreeance. It was smart to preserve the smell. It was better than having her wander around leaving a false trail, at least -- something she really didn't want to do but didn't have much of a choice of.