chapter five,     what if you can't be saved?

"HOW'S NOELLE?" Alice asked as soon as she saw Eros making his way upstairs.

"They'll hold her for a few days, probably a week. Carlisle said she seems to have a slight concussion and the burning needs supervision," he explained, his words monotonic as he walked up to a free armchair next to a couch where Jasper and Alice were sitting and in front of him sat Edward on another armchair. Emmett and Rosalie were squeezed on a smaller couch, her legs over his lap.

Eros asked, "Mind telling me why you pushed Noelle away?"

Edward seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"How come Bella leaves without a scratch and Noelle has a concussion and seven stitches on the side of her head?" Eros calmly explained the situation. He didn't see how exactly the crash happened. His siblings were waiting for him to finish speaking with the office clerc when he heard a loud crash outside and ran out to see what was going on.

"What did you want me to do? Leave her between two cars?" Edward narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, because that's exactly what happened..." Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Rose..." Emmett tried to calm her down, but Rosalie felt as if a fire that was never going to be put out.

Pushing her legs off his lap, she crossed them and looked at her family, giving them a mocking look. "Are we all going to just ignore what has happened? That there was no fucking reason for you to play a hero?" She squinted her eyes at Edward.

"We know you are not fond of humans, Rosalie. You don't need to put your anger out here," Edward mumbled, not even looking at her.

Rosalie scoffed, pushing her hair to drop on her right shoulder. "How about we tell what really happened?"

"Rose," Emmett's voice deepened as he placed his hand on her lap for her to push it away. "There's is no need to fight."

"Oh... I'm not the one who's going to fight," she pushed her lips upwards as if she was a sly cat who had a little secret to share. She turned to Eros: "When the van was about to crash into Bella's truck, we all clearly saw how the new girl was ready to push Bella and herself away from the cars. But then..." her voice became a bit high-pitched as if a Barbie doll came back to life, about to give them a life sentence, "but then Edward heroically rushed to their aid, holding Bella in his arms and gently pushing on the ground as he pushed the new girl aside. He didn't contain his strength as he stopped the van. The new girl got a taste of it too." She smirked and leaned back on the couch, putting her hands on her lap as if she had already closed the case.

Before Eros could even react, Edward extended his hand as if to stop him, trying to defend his case: "They were in danger. I couldn't let them get crashed by the van."

The oldest vampire among the ones that were present was still, unmoving the way they usually were. Not a single breath escaped his lungs, he was just observing the situation. Looking around the room, he slightly tilted his head: "So, how was it actually? Was there a threat needing intervention?"

It was silent for a few seconds. Jasper decided to state what he had seen. "I did see Noelle grasping Bella to push her away."

"They were in danger. I didn't know if Noelle would've succeeded. What if she hadn't?" Edward was quick to defend himself, but the damage was done.

Eros appeared behind the armchair in which Edward was seeing. All the vampires seemed surprised by this simple action. The older the vampire was – the stronger and faster it was. He could move from one space to another without even creating an effect of moving – he just appeared behind Edward as if he teleported.

Pushing his elbows on the back of the armchair, Eros looked at the back of Edward's head. "You mean she was in danger. I don't need the ability to read minds since you are shit at hiding your emotions. What happened, Edward?" Eros furrowed his eyebrows in a fake manner of sadness, almost imitating his expression. "So keen to protect humans. So good at keeping up with the diet... But then Bella comes into your life, and you can't get her out of your head... And the value of humans just fades away as if it was never there – only Bella."

"She would've still hurt herself with her allergy," Edward muttered angrily. All the family now knew of the rare allergy Noelle had.

Eros shifted to the other side, facing the right side of Edward's back: "She could've had burns from saving someone's life and maybe a few bruises. But now, she has seven stitches on the left side of her face and those burns are not from saving someone."

Edward rose from his seat, walking to face Eros. The older one simply crossed his hands over his chest, looking a bit down to meet the younger one's eyes. Edward was more than displeased. He was displeased with his reckless actions because he couldn't control himself because of Bella.

"I know I put this family in danger," he admitted.

"You've put an innocent person in danger," Eros wasn't finished with this.

"Why do you care? What has changed now? Is it because of Noelle?" Edward didn't understand why Eros was so mad about this situation. He already felt so horrible that Noelle was injured because he couldn't contain his strength properly and was focused terribly on Bella.

"She doesn't deserve to be hurt! You didn't feel the pain that was coming out of her. Her whole body felt burnt, damaged—it felt like there wasn't a single spot on her body that wasn't affected. And the way she cried and shrugged it off as it was an inconvenience for me—for me! Years of not being able to touch someone while we have an eternity to deal with our demons. With our cravings, with our pasts... She doesn't deserve to get hurt." Eros seemed as if this topic had struck something inside of him. His siblings haven't seen him this worked up in a long time. Surely, not over a human.

Eros contained himself before he completely lashed out at Edward. "Make sure that your relationship with Bella doesn't put others in danger. You should be lucky Noelle thinks you saved her life."

"Well, what if they will talk about what happened? How Edward crushed that van with his bare hand?" Rosalie pointed out a bigger problem on their hand. "We will have to move... Again."

"No," Edward turned to her. "I am planning to leave. I was planning to leave before it all happened."

"Well if you leave how will we know what people are thinking?" Emmett asked.

"Edward," Carlisle's voice appeared as he and Esme joined them in the living room. "If you will be gone, the girls will speak up. Either we are all leaving or none of us are."

"Bella won't say anything." Edward was quick to defend her.

"We can't give a chance for a human to tell this to anyone," Rosalie spat out these words with anger. "We're supposed to be careful. I suggest we leave no evidence for other clans to find out about what happened or what might happen. Carlisle, you know I can handle myself. I wouldn't leave any evidence behind," Rosalie stated, basically meaning that she was up to kill Bella with no remorse. Rosalie wanted to protect her family no matter what.

"What about Noelle? Are you suggesting that you would murder two girls and leave no evidence? It's a small town," Edward disagreed with her.

Eros scoffed, "Noelle didn't even properly see you. She doesn't know it was you who stopped the van."

"Bella might tell her," Rosalie pointed out.

"Rosalie, I closed my eyes just once in Rochester just because the man hurt you horribly. Both girls are innocent." Carlisle didn't want to hear any more talk about murdering innocent girls. He saw how disapproved of his words Rosalie was. "I know you only wish us good. If they talk or not, the upcoming danger to us will be way smaller than murdering someone. We will lose who we are if we do so," Carlisle's words were wise and true. "All lives are valuable," he finished, saying it as a reminder to them all.

"So, we're staying," Esme concluded. "If the danger falls on our family, we will move out."

The room grew silent, only Eros took a few steps back from them. "Is she going to be alright?" The question was dedicated to Carlisle.

"Yes, she will be."

Eros got the reassurance needed and headed out of their house. But Edward looked at Carlisle suspiciously, his mind telling him a different story:

"She's dying, isn't she?"

꒷꒦

           "NOELLE?" She heard her mother's voice outside the door of her room. Doctor Cullen released her after two days because of her wish to go home – her parents were doctors; they could take care of her at home.

           "Entrez," Noelle replied, pushing herself a bit up, and placing a few pillows behind her so she could sit up. Her mother entered with a cup of tea in her hand, placing it on the night table. Her father entered the room, sitting down on Noelle's table.

           "Comment te sens-tu?" Sophie asked, leaning beside the door, and looking at her daughter.

          "Je vais bien. Je peignais toute la journée," she nudged her head to the left corner of her room. There was a canvas in the beginning phase of painting. She decided to paint the view out of her window, the forest.

           Her parents were working today, both coming back home at any moment. But since Noelle had to take care of her wounds herself with her parents' instructions, she didn't mind being alone.

           "It's beautiful," her mother admitted. "I'm glad to see you painting again."

            Noelle looked at her father, sorrow filling her heart: "I won't be homeschooled."

           Eric almost cursed out loud – his daughter could read him better than he thought. He crossed his hands over his chest, straightening his back – he was intimidating because of his height, but not to her. "We've talked about this."

            "No," their daughter immediately disagreed, "we've talked about averting the crisis in case I got touched by someone. This was an accident. There was a car heading towards us."

           "You still got hurt," Eric said.

           "I'm just starting to make friends. Now the whole school will know about my condition and if I'll still be able to talk to someone... If they will talk with me... Dad," she looked at him with teary eyes, "I might actually have friends."

           "What about the boy?" Her father asked.

           "Doctor Cullen's boy?" Sophie looked at Eric.

           "Dad," Noelle winced in embarrassment. "He was the one who saved me."

           "He's a boy," shrugged Eric. "Boys your age are full of hormones and you don't know what he might do. He might forget about your allergy, and you might get hurt again."

           Noelle wanted to disappear from her room. This was more than embarrassing. "Pappa!" Her voice was stern. "I just met him! If you think I forgot that I will never find love – I didn't."

           That seemed to shut them both up.

           Their daughter continued: "I know I will not have someone in my life emotionally. I don't need to be reminded of this whenever I talk with a boy. No one looks at me romantically once they find out about my allergy. I only want a friend. Someone to talk to." Her voice was stern, but there was sadness hiding behind it. She has cried so many nights, knowing that there are so many things she can't do, and she won't ever be able to. She was broken beyond. She knew that death was the only thing she deserved.

           "You know, I'm just always worrying about you. It's my job," Eric's expression softened as he put his hands on the table, looking at the floor.

           "Maybe you will find love, Noelle," her mother softly said. "Love is not always about passion; it can also be gentle. It can be nourishing. There are many people in this world and I'm sure you will find someone who will love you unconditionally just the way you are."

           Noelle looked away, looking through the window. There was nothing she could see through it – it was already dark, and the forest was already starting to awaken. She just wanted to hide the fact that she was about to cry. As much as she wanted to believe her mother's words, she knew it wasn't the truth. She wasn't planning to live that long with such pain inside. She didn't deserve to be loved.

            "We'll go and make some grilled cheese, okay?" Sophie asked. "Drink your tea." Her mother offered her a smile before she left, her father following shortly after.

            Noelle exhaled in relief – it was hard to be in front of her parents, knowing how much pain she had caused them with her existence. As she took the mug in her hands, slowly, careful because of her waist, her phone rang. She took it from the night table, flipped it open and saw that it was an unknown number.

           She picked up: "Oui?"

           "Noelle?" A familiar voice greeted her. "It's me Bella. Bella Swan. I was wondering how you are feeling – my father told me you got discharged this morning."

           "Oh, hi, Bella!" Noelle smiled to herself, feeling her heart flutter with happiness that she got a call from her. She wasn't sure if she was going to call after what had happened. "I'm better. I asked to be discharged earlier because staying in hospital is—quite depressing."

            "I totally get it... Hey, I just wanted to ask you – are you going to come back to school?"

            "I assume everyone knows about my allergy by now."

           "Yeah..." Bella sounded apologetic. "Some senior spread talks about your allergy because his mom works as a nurse... But no one believed about it until the principal gathered us in the gym to inform us about it."

           "Oh..." Noelle sighed, closing her eyes as she placed the mug back on the night table. She rubbed the right side of her face, not wanting to bother her wound. "Well, I was planning to get back to school. I just hope..."

           "That people won't be weird about it?"

           "Yeah. But I know they will be."

           "I don't think you are weird or anything... It's not like you chose to have this allergy. People don't understand because they have never heard about it. It was the first time I've heard about it as well and I admit... I spent a lot of time googling about it... What I am trying to say is, I'd like you to come back."

           It felt like a dream of hearing someone say something like that to her. That someone was waiting for her to come back. "I—I really appreciate your words, Bella. You have no idea how much they mean to me."

           "I mean... I need my literature partner for the project," Bella joked.

           "Ah, right. People seem to only need me for the school projects... I think I'll show up in a few days. I can't be stuffed in the house for too long." Noelle promised. "Hey... Who was the person who saved us?"

           "It was Edward Cullen," Bella silently said.

           "But it seemed to me—that the van was stopped before crashing into your truck, right?"

           Bella stayed silent for a moment, keeping up the suspense: "He stopped the van with his bare hand."

           "What?" Noelle mumbled, dumbfounded – how can someone stop a van with his bare hand?

           "He claimed it was adrenaline rush."

           "Adrenaline rush can make people do unbelievable things, but... Stopping a van? Such things only happen in movies."

           "He blamed it on the fact that I have a concussion. I didn't even get hit on the head. I don't even have a scratch – I know what I saw." The girl on the other line seemed determined.

           Noelle oddly believed her. If she had an allergy that made her skin burn from a simple touch, there could be a possibility that a guy stopped a van with his hand. But the adrenaline rush didn't make people that strong. "No... I believe you. It's just... It seems like he is..."

           "Hiding something? Yeah, he is."

           "By the tone of your voice, I feel you won't let this slide."

           "He did something impossible, and he thinks I will just shrug it off. No... I think I'm way too addicted to googling. I'll find something out."

           "I'll look into it as well. I'll let you know."

           "Oh, before I forgot..." Bella's voice suddenly became a bit silent. "Eros asked for your number. I gave it to him. I hope you don't mind?"

           Noelle's cheeks seemed to be on fire as she grasped her blanket with her free hand, gently squeezing it. "No, I don't mind."

            "He seems to have a soft spot for you."

author speaks—

i am really excited to show in the future a different type of Eros. As we can see him now, he pretty much looks like a teenager - he is easy outgoing, but as we know there is a dark side to him and we can see it for a bit in the scene with Edward.

Also Bella's and Noelle's friendship >>

whenever i remember that eros is played by evan peters i do a backflip teehee

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