A/N: Ok Everyone welcome back to chapter two!! We loved the response because it was exactly what we were going for orginality. And eve wants to do this thing with present tense which is a pain on my part but i'll live. Tell us what you think of this go around.
Chapter Two: Collapse
"I hate to break it to my new best friends, but I don't trust this building." Emmett interrupts. "I suggest we get out of here now, and since the emergency exits are all blocked up, there's probably a very safe basement underground we can get to. Before we all die." He looks pointedly at Alice, who does not look like she wants to move.
"You know, that's probably a good idea." Edward agrees. I have to restrain the laugh that wants to escape because Edward does nothing to hide the amazement on his face at Emmett's suggestion. "I don't like the look of that wall." Edward continues, frowning at the wall closest to where the ceiling had caved in. I agree immediately. We need to get out before the whole place collapses.
"We should go this way." Emmett starts to walk towards a stairwell. How does he know where to go? But Rosalie quickly catches up to him, taking his good hand. She works here; she'll lead him to a safe place.
Our faces are all the same mask of worry and fear as we get up and follow the two lovebirds. I can feel Edward behind me, and it's reassuring knowing he's there. Hot Doc has a soft spot for me.
I hear heavier footsteps behind me and when I hold the stairwell door open, Jasper is practically carrying Alice, who's looking very stone-faced—a little paler than the rest of us.
No one is talking, and it's eerily quiet in the stairwell, with only the soft echoes of slow footsteps to listen to. But suddenly there's a loud groaning from above us, and a loud crash echoes down the stairs.
No one stops or even pauses. Everyone starts to run faster, to get to safety. And after only two flights of stairs, we hit the bottom. The door opens to a dark hallway—the electricity must been out—that Emmett doesn't hesitate to enter. We all follow blindly after him.
"Turn left," Edward says confidently. He's so close I can feel him, his breath on the back of my neck. "There's a room we can go to—" He's abruptly cut off by another booming crash. This one louder than before, a lot louder. It ricochets around us, shuddering through my chest, making my body vibrate. I heard a small whimper behind me—Alice.
The vibration throws me off and my steps get out of rhythm, making me fall. I'm only down for fewer two seconds before I feel arms around my waist and I'm picked up and heaved over someone's shoulder. It's not until I feel silken hair brush my side and I looked right, that I found out who it was—Edward. Suddenly thoughts of objecting to this humiliation fly out my head. What's a little time off the floor if it's in Edward's arms?
"Left," Edward orders and Emmett obeys without comment.
"It's just ahead, further into the centre of the hospital."
"What makes this room so special?" Jasper asks from behind us. "And if it's further in towards the centre, doesn't that decrease our chances of getting out if the building comes crashing down?"
"It has supplies, sleeping bags, and it's enforced, like a bomb shelter." Edward tells him. I'm not really worried, or paying that much attention to the conversation, as I'm completely distracted by the wonderful view marring my new position has offered me.
"You have a bomb shelter in the hospital?" Emmett sneers.
Edward just ignores him. "It's down this next corridor, on your right. Hopefully there should be lights on…" Sure enough, a dull light shines through a small window about 30 feet down the next corridor. Emmett opens the door, it isn't locked, and we all stumble in after him. Edward puts me down delicately, and I take a while to assess his expression—Did he like carrying me as much as I liked being carried by him?
Before I can say thank you, or anything really, Jasper, who hasn't properly let go of Alice yet, catches my attention. He has started rummaging around the room, searching behind boxes and crates, up and down the shelves that line the walls. Quiet frantically, and he's making quite a bit of noise.
"What are you looking for, Jazz?" Rosalie asks, impatient.
"A phone—there's a small chance a landline survived…" He pulls out an old cord phone from a box. He plugs it into the wall, and I can feel myself getting excited at the thought of contact, of help. But Jasper's face falls almost immediately.
"No dial tone." He grunts, slamming the phone back down.
"That's ok," Alice reassures him, her voice perfectly casual. "Bella's Dad knows we're here, and even if they think we're dead, they'll search for our bodies."
"You're very cavalier about our demise, Alice. Is there something you know that we don't?" Edward says sarcastically.
"I'm just trying to be positive." She frowns, her lips pursed. The contradiction between her words and tone is amusing. I put a hand over my mouth to hide the smile and keep the laugher in.
"Hey, how much food is there?" Emmett interrupts with an eager attitude. "I'm starved."
"Food?" Rosalie rolls her eyes. "You're thinking about food at the moment?"
Emmett's eyes wanders over her body, from face, to feet and back up again, not quite reaching her face. "Not anymore, sweetheart." He smiles dryly at her.
"Ugh, not here, please." Edward protests. "Emmett's actually right again, though. We should sort out and ration the supplies. There's not a whole lot of stuff, and there's six of us. We need to be careful about it all."
And so begins the supply rationing. There are seven sleeping bags and four boxes of the sort of food that trampers pack—high energy in small servings. It takes us a few hours, even longer because Emmett and Rosalie start making out when they find a carton of condoms in one of the boxes—but we get it done.
And by the end of it all we're exhausted. The food, if no one sneaks anything—Edward whispers to me that we'll have to watch Emmett (I giggle with him, enjoying our close camaraderie)—will be enough to last us four days, which we hope would be more than enough. I voice my fears about that, but Edward quickly reassures me that I have nothing to worry about, and if worst comes to worst, there is sure to be sugar-bags and IV's in another room down here.
"It's the basement of a hospital—supply centre to the entire ER, and a few other departments. We're going to be fine, Bella." He puts his hand on my arm, and my heart flutters at the touch. Be cool, Bella, I tell myself. Lose the love-struck teenager attitude.
But I'm having thoughts I've never had before. I can't keep my eyes off him, the whole time unable to look away from his beauty. And it is that, I discover. He's not just good looking, or handsome. Those words are too inadequate to describe the way he looks to me. I'm tired, though, and I can't truly make sense of it. Before long, we're all in our sleeping bags and heading for a good night's sleep. Bedtime for the survivors.
"Goodnight guys," Alice calls to everyone as she crawls into Jasper's arms. We sure as hell need one, after the day we've had.
"'Night," Everyone echoes. Emmett and Rosalie kiss before lying down, Emmett's arms securely wrapped around her. How sweet.
I will myself not to take one more glance at Edward, before I shut my eyes. But I can't—just one more look, to last me until morning. Even as I do it, a part of me —perhaps reason —is shaking its head at me, disapproving of my already well established dependence on the man.
But what can I say? That man's face brings more than just a thrill down my body. The sense of reassurance is so much stronger, when I look in those amazing, sparkling eyes. Perhaps it's the doctor in him, oozing support wherever he goes.
Or is it just me? Am I fooling myself into thinking I have a shot, that someone like him would want someone like me? Masochist or not, I look anyway.
I smile, rather embarrassingly, as I get caught. He's looking at me too, those eyes blazing. I whisper goodnight to him, lamely, and turn over so he doesn't see my face flush.
It's difficult to get comfortable on the hard floor, and my thoughts won't leave me be. They're troubled, wondering if it's possible for us to survive this, and filled with the Hot Doc, of course. I hug the extra pillow, placing my head on it gingerly and close my eyes and try to relax. After what seems like hours, I open them again and look around in the darkness.
Emmett is snoring loudly, while Jasper is making no noise at all. I can't hear anything from behind me. Alice and Rosalie are sleeping peacefully, securely wrapped up in their respective man's protective arms. I wonder if Rosalie and Emmett really only just got together today, and decide that they can't have—if Emmett's a body builder, or whatever, he's probably been here multiple times.
I also wonder if it's safe to turn over and steal a look at Edward. Again, part of me shakes its head disappointedly, and again I ignore it, swiveling my body on the hard ground.
He's flat on his back with his hands resting on his chest. What an odd way to sleep, I think. It reminds me of someone in a tomb, dead. I banish the thought before it develops.
Then, in a twitchy movement, he turns towards me and suddenly opens his eyes, which widen suddenly.
"You're awake?" He asks quietly, scooting towards me.
"Can't sleep," I grimace. How much longer can I ignore my body's reactions to his proximity? Not much longer, I'm sure.
"Me either," He sighs, running a hand through his hair.
"I can't sleep when I know I might die anytime. It's so scary," I admit in a whisper, looking down at my dirty hands.
"I completely understand." He agrees. "I've never been in a situation like this before. I'm always on the other end, trying to heal those near death. Now that I'm the one trapped and helpless, it's a lot scarier than I would have thought." His voice is low and gruff, overwhelmed by the thoughts that I, too, share. Only they're not so prominent as his obviously are. I should expect this; of course he's not thinking of me in the same way. But I feel chagrinned nonetheless.
"I've always been one to get hurt easily." I say, frowning. "I can't count the number of times I've been in the emergency room. One time I fell down stairs and out a window, I was in the hospital for weeks. But now as I stare around this dark room, it's scarier than ever before. Because all those other times, I knew I would be ok, but now I could die any minute."
It's true. Embarrassingly so, I stare at the ground, hoping Edward won't notice.
Either he does notice, or he's just very perceptive, but Edward pulls me into his arms gently, pressing my head to his chest. "Shh, it's ok." He whispers, his breath fanning my neck. "We're in this together."
Can he feel my heart beat through his chest? It's sure pounding hard enough.
My eyes prick, and tears start falling, staining his t-shirt. Am I hormonal or what? They continue for several minutes, before I begin to calm down to a song he has begun humming. I pull away to get a look at his face and he's staring down at me with small frown. I reach up and smoothed his brow, getting rid of the unhappy look.
"Tell me about yourself," he says suddenly.
"What do you mean?" I scoff. "Like, sum me up in three words? I'm not that dense Edward." I laugh, my attempt at a joke.
"You know what I mean." He insists. "Is there anyone special out there looking for you? What do you do for a living?
"My Dad's chief of police, he's looking for us. I'm not sure if my Mom knows I'm even here, and I have one friend, who's probably accosting my father, trying to get us out sooner. He can be persistent. I have a job at a local publishing company and hope to become a writer, and I live in a ratty apartment by myself. Not very exciting."
"You're not boring," He says, wiping the tears from my cheek. "In fact, I find you very interesting." He's grinning now. Surely not mocking me?
"Only because I broke a finger on a car door and managed to have bad enough luck to have a ceiling collapse on me." I sigh and roll my eyes, avoiding his gaze. His eyes are too beautiful—too much beauty. It makes me want to spill the beans and tell him how much those eyes make my heart thump faster, how his touch makes my skin tremble.
"You're beautiful; the bad luck just makes me want to protect you."
"Ha!" He shouldn't say things like that! Talk about cruel. "Tell me about yourself." I command, changing the subject.
"Well, I'm a doctor obviously." He shrugs. "I used work as an performer, playing the piano for bars and restaurants. Before Dad said it was time to get serious about a career. I still play, but not nearly as much, and the hospital takes up much of my time. I've never found a girl I've wanted, though I've been given ample opportunity. I've concluded that it is because they throw themselves at me, that they deter me. I draw myself away, don't even try, because they aren't what I'm looking for."
"I'll probably die a virgin," I sigh. Boy, am I revealing a lot.
"Me too," he laughs.
"You're a virgin still?" I ask. "Liar."
"Yes, my father taught me to save myself for the woman of my dreams." He says proudly.
"Most boys don't listen," I snigger.
"I don't know how I manage to listen when I'm around you." He murmurs.
"What do you mean?" I ask, thinking about the feelings I have towards him, after 12 hours.
"I feel like I've known you forever. I can't explain it…" he takes a deep breath. "I've never felt this way before. I feel like a teenager. I do know that I really like you, Bella." He touches my face gently with his fingertips. I stare up into his eyes as I think about what to say, how to word my confession.
"I don't understand what I've been feeling either," I whisper. "I've never really had a first love. I figured I didn't have what some people would call a soul mate. I figured something in my genes was wrong and I wasn't meant to love. But just after one day, I have these feelings for you that I can't even describe. These feelings are so strong I don't understand them." I stop, gauging his reaction. I see his smile, and I continue. "But I know I like you, too." I say, smiling as his fingers trace my lips.
"Bella? Can I kiss you?" He asks, his voice a low whisper.
"Yes," I whisper back, shaking. His hands hold my face delicately and he leans in slowly, teasing me. I close my eyes as his lips meet mine.
I feel like I'm flying. His lips are warm, smooth, and I can't think, only feel. I slip my arms around his neck and pull myself closer. I kissed him back, and I smiled as the heat from his lips intoxicates me. I wonder absently if this is what people feel when they take drugs—the high, the epitome of all good feelings, rolled into one ball that's smashing around in your brain like fireworks.
I don't want to stop, but all good things come to an end. We pull away, gasping. I lean against his chest and he squeezes me tightly. We don't say anything, but just lie there on the hard ground, his fingers running through my hair, my hands still clutched around his arms. Soon, I feel my eyes droop as I fall into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. Here, in the small room, next to four other strangers, leaning against probably one of the most beautiful people I have ever, and will ever meet.
A/n: Thoughts?