Parallax

Chapter 9

Everyone looked to be waiting on what's going to happen next but Bella and Edward were just staring at each other until finally Carlisle was the one who broke the tension.

"Why don't we give you two some space" he gestured for the others and slowly, they exited the room. Before Carlisle left with Esme, he turned towards Bella and gave her a reassuring nod.

"Will you all be nearby?" she asked the patriarch of the family.

"We'll still be in hearing range, don't worry" Bella looked relieved knowing that they wouldn't be really leaving them alone. She didn't really mind if the others didn't go but she was also glad that it was just her and him that will be in the room even if she knew the others are still somewhere around and will still be able to hear their conversation.

Edward tilted his head to the side and turned and there was a confused expression on his face while facing his father but Carlisle merely smiled at him apologetically before exiting and Bella knew that Carlisle was blocking his thoughts from the mind reader.

When it was just the two of them, Bella finally stood up and started clearing the pieces in the chess table, not sure on how to begin.

She wasn't quite sure how to start the conversation. She didn't want to scare Edward away by telling him onset that she wasn't his Bella but she couldn't as well launch herself at him and declare how much she misses him and love him and didn't want him to go away anymore.

Bella couldn't pretend to be in love with him because it wasn't her and it would defeat the purpose and even cause even more complications if later on, she was still going to end up telling him and the others about who she really was.

She could sense Edward observing her every move until she finally closed the chess board and set it aside. She then turned to face Edward while leaning against the table behind her.

Bella finally let herself study the vampire in front of her. He looked the same as the brother that she knew but even as a vampire that never changed, there was something in him that she had never seen from the Edward of her reality.

It seems that this Edward is being weighed down by his desire to "protect" Bella from being damned by his existence. She wondered what the Edward of her reality would say about his counterpart because the Edward that she knew, there was nothing holding him back, nothing that was keeping him from embracing the happiness of having a mate.

Bella suddenly felt that it was unfair that her mortality, or this Bella's mortality was an issue at all when she didn't have to go through all of that with her own mate because she was human too when they met. But then again, Jasper was brought up differently and they both came from different eras with different beliefs. Still, Edward's love for Bella should have been enough for him to fight for their love and not against it.

"There's one question that I've been wanting to ask." Bella finally started and it was something that she, personally wanted to know. Ever since she found out about Edward leaving her counterpart, she was only able to assume his reasoning based on what others had told her about him but he was here now and he'll be able to explain himself to her.

Edward placed his hands in his pockets and sighed. He looked like he wanted to reach out and go to her but was keeping himself from doing so.

Bella couldn't imagine how he could allow himself to be deprived of his mate. Why go through all the trouble of punishing himself?

"Go ahead" he urged.

It was almost a minute before she could respond.

"Why? "