The Story Of Sarelle: The Immortal Years »

Chapter 12

1st October 2047

The weeks passed by, each seamlessly running into the next, and with the racing of time Edward and I found ourselves caught in a spiral of visits that became as regular as the passing days.

We kept our moments together as something only we knew. It was a decision born not of dirt or guilt, but instead a simple fact that whatever we were, whatever we had, would never be left alone if the others ever found out. I was glad for the privacy because I, myself, couldn't define what was going on between us, so I didn't want others injecting their opinions.

Our relationship wasn't the only one to develop. I had noticed the way Aslo and Tanya looked at each other. And I had unwillingly heard the way they were together on one unfortunate night when I hadn't escaped in time. I was glad Aslo had finally found someone to share himself with but I couldn't lie and say I didn't miss my old friend. It was just another thing that was changing in my life, like the leaves changed for autumn and the tides changed from day to day. Now it was time for the relationships in my life to weather and alter to suit the way things were now.

I smiled at this notion as I lay looking up at the stars by the cliff.

"I was not weird," Edward protested as I giggled.

"Fine, perhaps weird was the wrong way of putting it. You were frustratingly aloof. All that business about consequences." Edward grunted before snorting and producing laughter of his own. It wasn't a regular topic but our old relationship was a comfortable one.

"I frustrated you? I was completely out of my depth. You were the most stubborn girl I'd ever met."

"Or so you thought," I said as I turned to him and grinned.

His eyes softened and I watched enamoured as his hand tentatively reached out and his finger lightly traced the swell of my cheek under my eyes.

"You still have that fire," he murmured as he studied my eyes. I smiled quietly as I thought of the gold I used to have in my eyes. It was still gold now, but it wasn't how it used to be. My new eyes were meant to be golden, it was only through jumping that they had achieved the hazel and gold blend. To me it was an ugly mimic.

His hands left my face and we returned to watching the clouds pass over the sky, hiding the pinpricks of white light for a moment before revealing them once again.

"We rarely did this," I whispered as a breath of wind skated over my skin.

"There were other things to do."

"I watched so many sunsets when I was human. I don't think I ever really appreciated how beautiful the night could be." I sighed.

"You never just sat and watched stars when you were human? Not in all your seventeen years?" Edward seemed shocked maybe even disappointed by the news.

"I did it at least once. I think. With Dylan." I smiled at the memory of that night. It was a happy night, as good as they got.

"Dylan? Bella's stepbrother?" I chuckled lightly at the curiosity peaking Edward's voice.

"Yes, that Dylan. I was seventeen, I think. We climbed onto the roof and took photographs of the moon and the stars, and it was lovely. He was lovely."

"Did you care for him? As more than a friend?"

"I think maybe I did, in some way. At least I could see, if I was normal, that he could have been someone more than a friend to me." Somehow it didn't feel strange to tell Edward this, to confess I had cared for others in my life beyond him. We were friends after all, and friends shared those kinds of things.

It was quiet and soon I heard Edward shift as he sat up. I looked to see his eyes burning out to the horizon, a question seemingly poised on his lips.