Cinema Soir

Animeguera

Length: One-shot
Setting: After Twilight before New Moon
Inspiration: My last day as a projectionist at the theater.
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Humor
Paring: Edward/Bella
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Twilight or the characters Edward or Bella. They belong to Stephanie Meyer.

"Edward, where are we going?" He smiled beautifully, not turning his head.

"You'll see." I sunk into the seat, glancing down at my hands. I didn't dare look up, I couldn't bare to glance at the speedometer. Knowing full well that he was going slow for him, but still at a deadly speed.

"What are you thinking?" The constant question that never seems to fade away. Like always, I answered automatically.

"We finally spend some time together without my cast and you won't tell me where we're going?" I said simply I tried to make my voice sound sullen, and pitiful, but Edward only laughed. The only way he could laugh at me.

"It's a surprise." I repressed a sigh. I hated surprises.

His hand didn't creep to hold mine, it just suddenly appeared. The cold front of skin derived a shiver, unconsciously. His hand left for a mere second, only to hold mine again. I heard the soft gust of air from the heater start. The warm air reached me, but it was ridiculous. It was the middle of summer, although the sun hardly shone in Forks, the heat was still evident.

His Volvo came to a stop. Once the vehicle had ceased to be in motion, I grasped my surroundings. We were in a parking lot by the look of all the parked cars. Obviously. I'm not sure "where" we were but we stopped in front of a wide building.

The bright neon lights read, "Southgate." The entire front of the building was made of glass windows. People were walking inside by twos.

"Edward," I began but he rudely interrupted.

"I'm taking you to dinner," He stated, "and a movie. Movie first." His exquisite voice rolled out of his mouth. In a split second, he was opening my door and offering his hand to me. I took his ice cold hand as he gently pulled me up. He took a deep breath, smelling my hair.

I didn't freeze immediately at his close proximity, but I couldn't quite coherently form a question either. Quickly, as well, he pulled me away and led me to the front entrance of what I assumed was a movie theater. In Phoenix, the theaters were usually inside a mall and were not quite as quaint as this one.

The front doors were glass as well. A few color advertisements were taped on the door. Next to those were the movie titles and times. We were inside as I began to read them. A small counter with a pudgy older man greeted us. I only smiled; Edward returned the proper verbal gesture. Edward pulled out some cash and I flushed. Embarrassed and angered. Although my face held my emotions clearly, he merely gestured to the movie titles. I glanced up.

"Bella, it's your choice tonight?" he flashed a smile and my heart skipped a beat.

"Um..." I hesitated. I scrambled to read the titles and process the information quickly. One in particular stood to me. "Can we watch that one?" I said sheepishly and pointed. He smiled and set down the money.

"Vampires, eh?" The pudgy man said and smiled as he handed over our tickets. I smiled as Edward kept leading me, his arm tightly but gently around my waist. His head didn't budge from looking ahead, but his eyes glanced at me.

"Vampires?" He asked smiling. I nodded, happily and we stopped in front of the concession stand. I clutched my purse and tried to inconspicuously smuggle money from my barely used wallet. Edward was quicker than I was, and more perceptive. "Oh, no. You will save your money." I scowled as his unseemingly strong hand held my purse tight.

"You bought the tickets." I protested, in a futile attempt to pull his hand off my purse.

"I will take care of all the expenses tonight." Figures. I simply let go and stared up the uninterested girl behind the counter, blatantly chewing gum. She looked up, to view Edward's gorgeous face, and lost the gum she had been chewing. It lay on the counter. Imprints of her teeth still visible. Edward smiled and I swore I could hear the girl's breathing cease.

"A small popcorn, please." He said smoothly, captivating the girl's and my attention. "A coke?" He said hesitantly and I nodded, unsure. He nodded to the girl who remained frozen. The silence filled around us. She gasped and scurried to acquire our order.

"You really shouldn't do that to unsuspecting young girls." I said in a whisper so low, I could barely hear myself, but he heard me. I looked up to see his smirk. "It's unnerving." Poor girl. The chewing gum was still on the counter, now forgotten. She placed our order on the glass counter. The smell of buttered popcorn filled my nostrils. The large coke dripped with condensation.

He handed over some cash before I could protest again. He grabbed the tub of warm popcorn and handed it to me. He kept the coke in his hand. "What if I didn't want any?" I said, warningly. Without a word, he tossed a few popped kernels into his mouth. He crunched the kernels rapidly, and swallowed in another instant. I had to admit, it was alluring.

"More for me." He teased. Taking my waist again, we followed the crowd through the ticket stand. A frail old woman tore our tickets. Glancing up, we walked straight to enter the movie of my choice. "Midnight Desire." I stepped forward and stumbled. The popcorn shock in my unstable hands and flew to the floor. Along with the sounds of crunching popcorn on the floor, I heard Edward's unwelcome but desirable laugh. He had a tight grasp on my elbow, sustaining my balance. "Having trouble?" His teasing voice said again.

"I blame the carpet." I muttered before walking into the dark theater. He still chuckled as we walked into the darkness. I hadn't expected that and I stopped suddenly. Rather than running into me, like a unresponsive human would, Edward glided next to me.

"You aren't afraid of the dark, are you?" He breathed into my ear. If I was frozen before, now I was as stone cold as a statue. His lips grazed my ear, I shuddered. I was still unaccustomed to his proximity. He laughed softly, his breath tickling my ear. The beginning trailers were ending. The start of the movie rolled onto the screen. The dark ominous view of the moon filled the screen, as the title appeared.

"No." I said hesitantly. He laughed again but led me to a pair of empty seats near the back of the theater. He sat into the seat as gracefully as only he could. I fell into my my seat with ease. I adjusted the half filled popcorn bucket into my lap. I stared up to the screen, unconsciously. I could feel Edward staring at me. I turned my head to look into his eyes. He smiled, I returned a goofy smile. He turned his away from me, to the screen. A loud scream jolted my attention from his perfect sculpted face.

On the screen, a woman was screaming as her life was drained from her by a human blood sucking vampire. Quite a distinction. Edward wasn't fazed by the outburst of violence from the movie. It was my choice after all. I wanted to see how he'd react. He frustrated me by not reacting at all. He simply stared ahead, still like he always was.

I sighed. He heard that and leaned towards me. "Was this truly your best choice?" He spoke lightly. I nodded. "Quite ridiculous." He said, and set his arm on the armrest. I chuckled a bit. But it wasn't ridiculous. It was quite true. I wasn't sure if he had meant his comment to be funny or sarcastic. It didn't matter either way. I was enjoying my time. My hand intertwined with his. As the story began to unfold on the screen. I rested my head on his cold hard shoulder, despite that, it was comfortable.

Frankly, the story was quite boring. The vampire at the beginning of the story was the protagonist, he stole a woman from a convent. They fell in love despite that she loved a human. The human ultimately killed the vampire and kissed the girl in the ending scene. It was disillusioning. I didn't like it as much I thought I would.

The ending credits rolled on the screen. I didn't want to get up. The empty bucket of popcorn lay at my feet. The coke cup was empty. Edward didn't get up, neither did I. His hand was no longer icy cold, my warm hand keeping it a stable temperature.

"Are you sad?" He said so gently, I couldn't answer. There were no tears, just sadness. "This was a bad idea." He said quickly.

"What are you thinking?" My question took him by surprise. He closed the distance between us and took in a deep breath.

"How ridiculous the idea of a human killing me is." He said. I couldn't help but laugh. The image of anyone trying to run a wooden stake through Edward's heart and him easily dodging him crept into my mind. Glad, he couldn't read the image, I looked away. He caught my jaw in his not so cold hand. "No one can take you away from me. Human or not." He said and closed his eyes. I followed his movements and allowed his purple lips, icy, to touch my lips. Wavering, he pushed a little farther. It made me dizzy. He pulled away too quickly for me to fully enjoy it. I was being selfish and foolish, but isn't that what this is?

"Now, what would you like to dine?" He said, his breath rapturing my interests. Barely coherently, I formed one word.

"You." He laughed at my response. Silly and incoherent as it was.

Well, I read Twilight in about a week. And sad to say, I've become partially obsessed with it. It may only have to do with the fact that I'm distracting myself from my impending move to a university and my last day working at a theater. Hence, the scene of the story. sigh Well, to satiate my obsession I decided to write a small fanfic about Edward's and Bella's summer. I hope someone enjoys it as much I enjoyed writing it. Any opinions, criticisms and thoughts are welcome. -Guera-