Okay – I wasn't expecting anyone to even read my stuff, but when I got all those reviews I was SO happy!! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed my story, I'm glad you liked it and it's because of those reviews that I decided to write another chapter, I didn't think it was going to be anything more than a oneshot.
I turned on the water immediately and undressed while I waited for it to get warm. When I stepped into the stream of water I gasped aloud, not expecting it to be so incredibly hot. Not two seconds after, I heard Edward's voice, anxious, on the other side of the door, "Bella? Are you alright?"
I managed to cool the water while I reassured him, "Yeah, it's fine, the water was just hotter than I expected. I'll be out in a minute." I listened for the sound of him moving away from the door, but of course, I heard nothing. I began to lather my hair with freesia scented shampoo. It was silly, but this was the only way that I could smell what Edward claimed to smell every time he was near me. After I stepped out of the shower I took the time to blow dry my hair thoroughly. I had learned that sleeping next to Edward's icy skin with a wet head nearly guaranteed a cold in the morning. Of course I didn't tell him that; I simply told him that I didn't like my pillow to be damp from my wet hair at night. I was pleased that he seemed to accept my excuse without question.
As I slowly opened the bathroom door I saw that Edward had turned on the gas fireplace on the far side of the massive room and the covers were pulled down on the bed. By the light of the fireplace I could see that he wasn't in the room with me. I frowned at this, but surely he had only stepped out for a moment and would be back quickly. I stood next to the colossal bed, preparing myself for the jump I would have to make to get on top of it. Of all the beds, Edward had naturally picked the highest one for me to sleep in. He had lifted me up onto the bed every night since we had come here and now I knew I would make a fool of myself trying to scale the side of it without his help. I grabbed at the blankets and tried to lift myself, but it was no use. The top of the bed was above my waste and I would need an extra few inches to be able to climb on top of it.
As I stood next the bed, contemplating whether I should wait for Edward or just go get a suitcase from the closet to stand on, I felt something cold brush against my foot and then an icy hand grabbed my ankle. Of course I screamed before I realized what it was, and I heard a gentle laugh in response. "Shhh Bella, it's only me," came from underneath the bed as he released my ankle.
"Edward? What are you doing under there?" I kneeled down and lifted the blankets to see him lying on his side, smiling at me.
"While you were asleep last night, you said something about hiding under the bed." I tried to think of what I had dreamt last night. I vaguely remembered something about a festival, or a carnival, and a monster chasing me, maybe it was a clown? That was probably it; I was chased by a clown and hid under the bed to hide from it. But that still didn't explain why the love of my life was now lying under the bed.
"And…" I answered him with a raised eyebrow.
"And I wanted to see what it was like," he stated matter-of-factly.
"See what what was like?" At this point I had gotten down on the floor and slid myself underneath the bed next to him. "Good lord, now I see why the bed is like 20 feet too high, why is there so much space under here? I can almost sit up without hitting my head!" Edward chuckled and pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me and resting his head on the front of my shoulder. After a few moments I began to get cold and uncomfortable on the hard floor. I looked down at Edward but he seemed utterly content to be lying underneath the bed. "So remind me again why we're sleeping underneath the bed instead of on top of it?"
"I just wanted to see what it was like," he said softly as he released his hold on me and slid me with one hand to the edge of the bed. "In your dream you seemed to think it was some sort of protection, but I can't really see what it would protect you against."
He had already stood up from the other side of the bed and was immediately standing next to me, waiting to help me up.
"Well it doesn't really do anything against real danger," I tried to explain as he lifted me off the floor and smoothed out my hair. I put my hands on his shoulders as he gently held my waste and lifted me up to sit me on the edge of the bed. "It's more of an imaginary thing." I let go of his shoulders and crawled up to the head of the bed and curled under the massive blankets. By the time I had covered myself and turned on my side he was already lying still beside me, his arm outstretched to hold me as I snuggled closer to him.
"So you hide under the bed to protect yourself from imaginary things?" He sounded so serious, I looked up to examine his face in the light of the fire.
"Why are you so curious about this?"
He shifted next to me and looked away from my intent gaze. "Well…I just wanted to know…." He was starring at my pillow and refusing to look at my eyes. I wiggled my hand free of the blankets and pulled at his chin so he would look at me again. I gave a small smile and ran my thumb across his chin to encourage him to continue. He hesitantly looked down at me and then took a breath, "I just wanted to know what was so special about the bottom of a bed that you thought it could protect you against anything better than I could." The words came out in a rush and he immediately removed his eyes from my confused look. It took me a minute to actually understand what he had said, and another minute to process it.
"So…you think I hide under the bed…because I'm scared of something that you can't protect me from?" He gave a slight nod, still refusing to look at me. "And you're…jealous…that I think the bed can save me…from something that you can't?" I almost didn't get the entire sentence out, I was about to be overcome with laughter. His only reply was another quick nod. Finally I couldn't help myself; I burst out with hysterical laughter. Edward looked at me like I had lost my mind.
"What is so funny about that?"
"Ahahaha!!! *gasp* Edward *gasp* you think I hide under the bed?? *gasp*"
"Well that's what you said last night in your dream!"
"Well, yeah I used to hide under the bed, when I was like, five! I can't believe you're jealous of a bed!" Edward just stared at me for a moment, and then a small smile crept onto his face.
"So you don't need anything else to protect you then, besides me of course?"
"No Edward," I managed to stop laughing and closed the hated space between our bodies as I snuggled deeply into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and began to stroke my hair. "You're all the protection I'd ever need or want." I felt him smile as he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "But I think you might need some extra protection yourself," I said with a smile.
"Ha! What would I need protection from?" He asked in an arrogant, sexy tone.
"Well someone is going to have to kill Emmett after I tell him that, not only did I find you hiding under the bed, but that you also admitted to being jealous of that same bed. You know he'll never let you forget about this." I grinned widely as I felt him tighten his grip on me and let out a low, menacing, and unbelievably sexy growl.
"Now Bella, what must I do to keep you quiet? I would pay infinitely to keep that information between you and I."
"Hmm, I don't know if I'd accept payment, it might be too much fun watching you suffer under Emmett's incessant teasing." I knew he was just playing along with me, he and I both knew that I would never give Emmett ammunition to tease anyone. If I ever did, he would most likely find some way to turn the joke around on me, and I couldn't risk giving him extra things to tease me about.
"Bella, I never realized you were so calculating and manipulative," I could feel him pulling his hands back and removing his arms from my waste. "Perhaps I'll just have to exploit your one weakness?"
"One weakness?" I scoffed at him, "Which one exactly?" Before I had finished speaking he rolled me over on my back and was tickling my sides with his inhuman speed. I was laughing so hard I couldn't speak, so I just closed my eyes and squirmed and thrashed under him until he finally slowed to let me catch my breath.
When I opened my eyes he was kneeling over me and I gasped at his close proximity. He slowly layed on top of me, careful not to let me feel any of his weight, and rested his head down over my heart. It had slowed its hysteric beating, but had quickly picked up speed when I opened my eyes and saw him over me. Now it was beating faster than ever as the newness of our position swept over me. "Calm down Bella," he whispered, "what ever would I do if you had a heart attack right here in front of me?" I closed my eyes and tried unsuccessfully to relax. "It sounds like your heart is trying to jump out of your chest…why are you so excited?"
"Like you don't know," I scolded him as a furious blush flooded my face.
"Hmm, perhaps it's best if I remove myself from you then…"
"No I'm alright!" I very nearly shouted at him as he started to roll off of me.
"Relax love, you should be sleeping now anyway. I've been shamelessly distracting you."
"I don't care if you distract me." I pleaded as he shifted onto his side and pulled me into his embrace.
"Shh Bella, try to sleep, and tomorrow, I'll have a surprise for you."
"Oh sure, tell me to sleep and then tell me you've got a surprise. Now I'll definitely go to sleep," I said sarcastically. He chuckled quietly and began to hum my lullaby. I tucked my head under and pressed my lips to his throat as I rested my face against his neck. "Edward, you know you can't always get me to shut up just by humming to me," I said softly. He stopped humming and bent his head to look at me.
"Bella!" He whispered harshly, "I would never want you to shut up!" He sounded like I had insulted him by even suggesting such a thing.
"Well, why do you always want me to go to sleep then?" I waited curiously for his answer. I had often wondered why he was always insisting that I fall asleep.
He gave me a small smile and gently kissed the top of my head. "Because my love, the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner you'll wake up again. I suppose I'm just overly eager to be with you when you're conscious."
I took a moment to think over his reply, "Oh, well that's okay then," was all I could think to say. He pulled me even closer to him and breathed deeply into my hair. I snuggled as far into his neck as I could and prepared for sleep to drift over me. "Edward?" I whispered.
"Hmm?" I felt the vibration of his simple reply through his throat.
"Aren't you going to sing?"
He chuckled lightly, "Of course my sweet, I'll always sing you to sleep." And then I heard the soft humming of my lullaby as I felt the sensation through his throat. It didn't take long for sleep to come…
