Only by Moonlight

Chapter 15

With sincerest apologies for the four-month wait between chapters—the A/N at the end will offer explanations if you’re interested. 

And with great thanks to the admirable and always amazing ladylibre (on FanFiction.net) who inspired and encouraged me when I was ready to give up on this story…. 

Chapter 15 

            I was awakened suddenly out of a sound sleep by a bright blur of movement beside my bed. Crying out in fear, I sat up in bed, wrenching my bruised ribs and putting weight on my injured wrist. Gasping in pain, I cradled my now-throbbing wrist against my chest and narrowed my eyes at the brightness that had yanked me into wakefulness. After the events of the late afternoon, Emmett had brought out the big guns in the pain meds department, and I had slept solidly until…I glanced at my alarm clock…5:14 AM.

            “Edward, would you quit pacing? You scared the living daylights out of me!” I flopped back into my pillows with an annoyed groan. However, my usually-friendly ghost didn’t reply; in fact, he didn’t even glance at me as he continued blurring back and forth along the side of my bed like a frightening sentinel or a crazed illumination.

            And illuminated he definitely was.

            “Do you get brighter when you’re upset?” I asked, noticing the luminescence of his form against the darkness of my room.

            My seemingly random (and definitely nosy) question caused Edward to slow his frenetic movements, and at last he met my eyes. But he glanced at me so briefly that I couldn’t quite discern the cacophony of emotions revealed in his expression. Taking a deep (yet totally unnecessary) breath, Edward resumed his pacing, albeit at a slower gait, and I watched him in silence for a long moment before reaching out my good arm to catch his sleeve with my fingertips.

            Immediately he halted, and I was glad that he had obeyed my tug on his shirt sleeve. Slowly he sat down beside me, but he kept his eyes averted. Adjusting my pillows behind me so that I could sit up in bed more comfortably, I was glad that I was now able to move without more than a faint twinge of pain…as long as I was cautious.

            “Hey,” I greeted him, quirking an eyebrow at him questioningly.

            Wordlessly he fiddled with his cuff buttons, his gaze focused on them as if his life depended upon their being perfectly done up.

            “Come on, Edward—talk to me.”

            But my abject begging was getting me nowhere with this extremely morose Edward. At his continued silent treatment, my anger from yesterday’s mirror incident began trickling back into my mind.

            “If anyone has the right to be angry and uncommunicative, it would be me, wouldn’t it? Do we want to start with what happened yesterday when James was here?” My terse tone finally evoked a response from Edward.

          He visibly cringed when I mentioned James.

            “Why in the world did you send that mirror crashing down? Did you plan to do it, or was it a ‘spur of the moment’ decision?” My voice was acidic.

            Silence.

            All his attention remained focused on those darn cuff buttons as if they were the most fascinating objects he had ever seen.