𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙄𝙓𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉
ミ★ ( bewitched, act two ) ★彡

Dating Edward Cullen was nothing short of bliss. He somehow managed to break down her walls and implant himself deeply into her heart, so much so that it hurts to think of life without him. There wasn't a day that she didn't feel special to him, or doubt that he loved her. There wasn't a day where he didn't make her laugh or smile—and she knew that she was irrevocably in love with him. She would hold the memories with him dearly and stepping into that Biology class that day was something she would treasure because she met him. They didn't mind that they were different species, because to them, they were just Edward and Lilith. That's the way she liked it.

Lilith turned down the radio in Edward's car, who was driving them to school, ignoring the news broadcast about the missing hikers as she turned to him excitedly, "You probably don't care, but, it's Bella's birthday today!"

"Hey, I do care." He slightly whined and Lilith gave him a small look of disbelief, "Okay, maybe I don't care that much—but, I care about it because you care about it." He began to backtrack, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"That's what I thought also." The girl snorted, "Hopefully she likes the gift though since she doesn't like birthdays—too bad for her she has a best friend who loves birthdays. Do you think she'll like it? It took me so long to find something remotely adequate enough and I had to ask Alice to help me out, and then that overwhelmed me so hopefully the gift doesn't overwhelm her as well."

"I'm sure you got her something great." Edward verbalised as he placed a hand on her stocking covered thigh to slightly calm her down, sensing the long anxious rant that was building up because she was anxious about Bella not liking the gift.

"I really think I did, but, I don't want to speak too soon in case she thinks it's too much." She said reaching into her bag and pulling out the gift, "I was going to speak with her dad and try to coordinate my gift with theirs, but, after a long and extreme conversation with Alice, I got a completely different idea instead." Ever since prom, Lilith had been on cloud nine and she couldn't thank anyone other than Edward, and even Bella had a part in how she was feeling also which is why she wanted to get her a great gift for her eighteenth birthday.

"She'll love it." Edward told her as they parked the car, "Trust me." He said looking into her eyes, knowing that Alice had already seen how much Bella would love the gift anyway because it came from Lilith, even if she simply got her some lousy card that didn't have any writing in it.

"And I love you." She said to him cheekily, feeling calmer already before getting out of the car and going to greet her friends, leaving Edward in the car chuckling to himself at her antics.

It wasn't long before Bella's distinctive orange truck pulled into the parking lot and she got out to say hello to everyone.

"Hey, today's the big day, Bella." Jessica wiggled her eyebrows, then backtracking when she saw her unimpressed face, "Uh, R and J essay due today."

Bella moved a piece of hair behind her ear, "Oh, yeah."

"Wherefore art thou, Bella?" Mike mocked in a fake English accent making everyone laugh.

"Let me take a picture of you guys." Bella suddenly said and the group raised their eyebrows, "My mom... wants me to put together, like, a big scrapbook full of memories." The girl didn't want to admit it, but, it wasn't just her mom that wanted to do this, Bella wanted it for herself the second she realised she had found lifelong friends.

"Oh, fun!" Lilith said as everyone scrambled to pose for a photo, Edward pulling her closer to his side while everyone put their arms around each other.

"I take them, I'm not in them, so..." Angela said as she tried to step out of the photo frame. Eric shook his head in refusal and pulled his girlfriend closer towards him and forced her back into the photo.

"You'll photoshop this is my nose looks big, right?" Jessica asked, her smile already large and getting her hair into place to make sure it was perfect.

"Don't worry, I'm in the picture. No one will be looking at you guys." Eric reassured her smoothly.

"Your nose won't look as big compared to Eric's ego, Jess, you'll be fine." Lilith joked as Bella held up the camera and then smiled with everyone else.

Bella looked at the picture, "It's good." She complimented. The group of friends then parted and Bella was left with the couple in front of her, Lilith reaching into her bag and enthusiastically pulling out the wrapped present for the brunette who gave her an unamused look, "I thought I mentioned no presents."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." She explained to her friend, "And like I said to Edward, you've gotten stuck with a best friend who loves birthdays, so, you better get used to the gift giving."

Bella only let out a muffled laugh and rolled her eyes, but was feeling grateful regardless for her friend as she opened the present, her eyes widening in shock as she looked at her, "You didn't." She gasped as she inspected the Tales of Beedle the Bard book by J.K. Rowling.

"I did." She said excitedly, "But, I can't take all the credit, Alice helped me find it for you."

"I love it." Bella said, pulling her friend into a tight hug.

"Does Jacob have anything special planned for today?" Lilith asked as she went back to Edward's side, leaning in to him as he placed an arm around her shoulder.

"I think so, we're supposed to be hanging out tonight." She nodded, "I guess I'll find out later though."

"Don't forget to text me all the details!" She winked.

The bell then rang and Lilith waved to her, letting her know that she would be going to class but she would speak to her later on in the day, the brunette girl admiring as the couple walked away hand in hand and looking at each other, clearly very deep in love.

The couple sat at the back of the English classroom as they were watching a movie for their upcoming assignment, their desks pushed together. Lilith observed the teacher mouthing the words as they went along with everyone else in the class, "Is Eric... crying?" Lilith whispered to Edward once she heard his sniffling.

Edward squinted his eyes and moved his head to get a better look, "Yep, definitely crying." He whispered back causing her to giggle a little, "I'm not sure why though. There are worse tragedies, I mean, look at Romeo. He killed his true love out of sheer stupidity."

"Yeah. That ending made me so mad." Lilith agreed. She had just wished they had spoken to each other properly about their plans so they weren't trying to guess what was going on to the point that they killed themselves because of it.

"But, I do envy him one thing." Edward started.

    Lilith looked up at him saying, "If you say because of Juliet, I'll burn you in the middle of this class." She joked.

Edward scoffed at her laughing, "Not the girl, the, uh... the suicide." He told her and Lilith made a face at him, "It's nearly impossible for, uh some... people. For humans, a little poison; a dagger to the heart. There's so many different options."

"Why are you saying this?" Lilith questioned, her heart hurting a little at the thought of Edward killing himself.

"Because I had to consider it once." He responded, "When we were in Phoenix, and James had bitten you, I didn't know if I'd get to you in time. I had to come up with some sort of... plan."

"What was the plan?" She asked him again. She didn't want Edward to die because of her, and she knew that he was well aware of it too, she would want him to carry on with his eternal life and continue to find wonder in the small things of the world—because his life was more than just her.

"I'd go to Italy and provoke the Volturi." He answered.

"The what?" The word sounded somewhat familiar to her, most likely she had stumbled upon it when researching on vampires.

"The Volturi." Edward repeated, about to explain deeper about them when the teacher interrupted.

"Now, who would like to repeat the last few lines of iambic pentameter just to show that they were paying attention?" The teacher asked, his eyes staying on Edward, "Mr. Cullen." He called on.

Edward took in a deep breath when the class turned to look at him, "O here... will I set up my everlasting rest, and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh. Eyes look your last. Arms take your last embrace. And lips, O you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death." He quoted.

Mr. Berty looked lightly embarrassed and shell shocked that he wasn't able to catch him off guard and embarrass the teenager as he said, "Eyes on the screen, people."

"That was just showing off." She commented and he scoffed at her again, "But, what are the Volturi?"

"It's like how the witches have the High Priest. The Volturi are a very old, very powerful family. I guess they're the closest thing to royalty my world has." Edward explained, "Carlisle lived with them for a few decades, he described them as very refined. He said they had no respect for human life, of course, but, respect for the arts and the sciences, at least. They also hold witches in high regards as witches are what made vampires into what they are."

"Right, I forgot about that part of history." She grumbled. It was a coven of dark witches that had created the vampire species and it established a large divide within the supernatural communities, things were different now, but, that didn't stop the pain that was caused during those times from what she had read.

"They also had respect for the law. Above all, the law." He finished explaining, "Vampires don't have many laws, we have only one that's regularly enforced."

"What is it?" Lilith asked.

"That we keep the existence of our kind a secret. We don't make spectacles of ourselves and we don't kill conspicuously." Edward answered her, "Unless, of course... you want to die."

"Did you break a law by telling me?" Lilith questioned, her eyes widening in terror, "Oh, my God. I made you break a law. I'm going to get you killed and it's all my fault. Oh, my God." She realised, sitting back in her seat feeling sick to her stomach as she continued to panic.

Edward chuckled at her and kissed her knuckles to try and calm her down, "I didn't break a law, witches are apart of the supernatural world. They helped create our species, telling you is the same as telling another vampire about my existence."

Lilith let out a shaky breath, "Okay, that's good." She said nervously, "I can't even think about someone hurting you, it makes my stomach churn."

"The only thing that can hurt me is you." Edward admitted to her, "And I don't have anything else to be afraid of."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Lilith whispered, shaking her head, "Me being the reason you're hurt makes it worse, if I'm being honest. I don't want to hurt you, I want to protect you."

Edward saw the flashes of the previous months before when she was bitten and saw the image of Victoria in her mind, "If you're worried about when Victoria and if she tries to come for me, Alice will see when she decides and we'll be ready." He added, "But, you don't need to protect me from her. You protect me from everything else. You're my only reason to stay alive—if that's what I am. But, it's my job to protect you."

Lilith looked at him, noticing the certain unfamiliar look in his eye that she hadn't seen before, it had seemed like he was keeping something from her. The blonde only scoffed lightly, "We're supposed to protect each other."

"And we do." He reminded her.

Lilith only let out a sigh at his stubbornness as the bell rang and everyone grabbed their things to go to their next class, she gave him a kiss before walking in the other direction, something just not sitting right in her stomach as she went on about her day.

The blonde witch closed her book and let out a huff of air feeling the relief to have finally finished her homework for the week and reached over to pet Dakota who had been patiently sitting by her side the entire time. After school, the girl had decided to walk home from school to clear her mind. She couldn't shake the feeling off of her that something wasn't right and something bad was going to happen and she needed to try and figure it out in case it was going to evolve into a premonition.

The walk only intensified the feeling as she got closer towards her home which was never a good sign, but, she still couldn't figure out why; it didn't make her any less cautious when entering her home in case there was a predator waiting for her there—which was a thought that crossed her mind that actually made sense.

But, after she did a lap around her home to find no one there and no danger at all, it left her all the more confused. What was going on? She was so confused that she turned to her homework to try and distract her from the feeling that was choking her up inside but she tried to not let it affect her too much because she didn't want to make the feeling worse by focusing on it. Dakota let out a small meow and turned her attention to the window which made Lilith look towards it, seeing Edward's car pull up into the driveway.

The girl instantly smiled, as if all her troubles washed away at the sight of Edward and raced down the steps to open the front door for him and launch herself into his arms, "Hey, I'm sorry for skipping out on you today, I wasn't feeling well." She said into his shoulder.

He pulled away, "You feeling better now?" He asked.

Lilith nodded with a smile at his question, "Yeah, much better now." Because of you, she thought.

Edward kissed her head and pulled away before opening the passenger door and grabbed the container that was on the seat and handed it to her, "Esme made these for you." He told her and she opened the container to see blueberry muffins.

"Tell her she's amazing." She kissed his cheek before walking inside, looking back at him to see he was still standing by his car looking slightly out of it, "Are you coming?" Edward snapped out of his daze before following after her from her placing the muffins on the kitchen bench and as she walked back towards her room and sat on her bed, "Are you okay?" She questioned him as she crossed her legs, noticing his dissociative behaviour in the last few minutes.

"Yeah, I've just had a lot on my mind recently." He answered her.

"Like what?" She pressed for further information. Edward had been there for her through so much and he always made her feel better, she wanted to do the same for him to show him some gratitude and hope that it compared to the things he does for her.

"It's nothing." He dismisses.

Lilith could tell it wasn't 'nothing', she could tell whenever something was bothering him. He had his tells; his eyebrows would crease, or he'd zone out deep into thought, or he would play with his hands. For whatever reason, he was doing all three, "Is something bothering you?" She questioned again, wanting him to open up to her, "We can talk about it if there is and maybe we can find a way around whatever it is bothering you—"

"I said it's nothing!" He snapped suddenly, making the blonde girl flinch slightly at his tone. He had never snapped at her like that before, not even when they first met. "Don't you get it? I don't want to talk about it and you keep pushing me. You never know when to stop. You did it when we first met, and you're doing it now, and I can't take it anymore!"

Lilith tried not to let the hurt show at his words, she had no idea he felt this way. Granted she could never read his mind like he could hers, but he never showed any sign of discomfort towards her so called 'pushiness', "What's brought this on? I don't understand."

Edward scoffed and threw his hands up in the air, "There you go again, always pushing for some sort of answer. Have you have thought that maybe people don't want to tell you anything and everything you ask for just because you ask for it?"

The blonde witch couldn't help but gape at him, it was like she was speaking with a completely different person to who she was in love with and she had no idea what the hell was going on, "I feel asking for what brought this on is fairly justifiable considering it's something I can work on to fix if you don't like it." She began to defend herself, getting off of her spot from her bed and walking towards Edward, "If I'm being too pushy asking for an answer to a reasonable question, then fine, I won't push anymore. But, don't complain about me doing something that you don't like when you don't speak to me about it like a grown up."

He scowled, "Please, you don't know anything about being a grown up. You're still young."

"Then you should know plenty about being a grown up considering you're over a hundred years old but you're acting like a five-year-old for no reason!" Lilith couldn't help but argue. He had no right to throw her age in her face like that. If anything, he's the one who should know better and she shouldn't have to be the one to pull him up on his behaviour.

"I wouldn't have to act like a five year old if I didn't constantly have one hanging on my arm every two seconds and never leave me alone!" He snapped at her again.

He saw her like that? He wanted to be alone? Fine then. She couldn't even remember why they were even fighting in the first place, but, she sure as hell knew why they were ending it. Lilith narrowed her eyes at him and she pointed at the door, "Get out." Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath in to control her emotions before she accidentally set Edward on fire over a spat and when she opened them, he was no longer there.

And she couldn't tell if him leaving was something she truly wanted or not.

Lilith's phone then beeped in her pocket and she hoped it was a message from him apologising and saying that he thought it would be good for him to get some air before either of them said anything else harmful, but, her hopes were too high as it was just Bella telling Lilith about her date with Jacob. The girl frowned, "At least one of us is having a good day." She grumbled as she responded to her saying she was glad she had a good day, "Happy birthday, Bella."