LOVE AND DEATH, edward cullen

forty five

━━ love and death. (2024)
edward cullen x fem!oc
chapter forty five

There were no words to how I felt being in my mothers house located in Jacksonville Florida. I was standing on her balcony staring off towards the beach with the sun blooming over my head. I unintentionally made myself look like a coming of age movie where the daughter is going through her character development after a high school argument with her best friend while standing here. I more so was trying to grasp the concept that I was actually here, for the first time in over five years.

When Edward and I first landed in Florida I had to exile myself in the bathroom to have a panic attack over not being near my father. It was the furthest I've ever been away from him and although Edward was by my side to protect me, I felt a little less than safe not having Charlie nearby to protect me from whatever could possibly linger in the dark shadows.

My mother and Phil were waiting by the entrance of the airport with balloons, flowers, and a giant sign that says "welcome home Pen! (and Edward)." He thought it was adorable and I was feeling a whole other side of embarrassment but this was how my mother showed love; always being a little bit extra so you couldn't forget the moment.

My mother might've even been more excited to see Edward than me — she engulfed him in a strong hug that caught him entirely off guard while Phil and I stood there like NPC's waiting to be interacted with.

Finally at the house things were more calm. Phil went to grab us all some takeout dinner — Edward managed to convince my mom that he already ate a big lunch and wasn't hungry. My mother was always the type to make sure you ate in her house no matter what so trying to survive until Sunday was going to be a different kind of task for him.

"Don't you miss this baby? You can just feel the vitamin D soaking up in your pores."

I took a seat next to my mother inside the gazebo they had set up on their back porch. Comfy lawn chairs with blue cushions, decorative tables covered in blooming plants, and a large tray of iced tea on a round table separating us from one another.

"I never minded the cold," I easily shrugged my shoulders and reached for my iced drink. "You get used to it after a while."

"Must be in your blood being your fathers child because it's not in mine," she laughed softly.

Her eyes twinkled from the reflection of the sun. She seemed genuinely happy that I was here, with her, just the two of us — minus Phil — and Edward who was currently inside the house reading a book.

When I texted Beau about me coming to visit mom for the weekend, he encouraged me to not take everything she said seriously, or to feel pressured to entertain her. She was going to be happy enough just by my visit and there was no need to sugar coat things just to please her.

"Do you have any ideas where you want to go to college yet?" Out of the corner of my eye she sat up and swung her legs over the chair to face me. "You know — colleges here in Florida have great reviews and amazing professors. I heard UNF was a good place — "

I cleared my throat followed by a low hum while I settled my glass down on the tray again. "I've actually been looking at — University of Alaska."

"Yes, your father told me about that the other day." Her voice held a small tune of sadness but she quickly perked up. "All in good nature, of course. I'm sure he'll be fighting the loss a little harder than me." She laughed again.

I knew she was trying to make light of my choice to travel far to be with Edward, and her jokes were trying to match my stand-offish nature, but it brought me sadness knowing this is how she actually felt deep down. She wanted to rebuild a relationship with me and I'm sitting here trying to open up the best I can, but it was still just as difficult as it was five years ago.