I do not own these characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Chapter4: Not so lonely Christmas.

"Edward is here!" were the first words that shot through my mind when I woke up the next morning. Or at least, I hoped he would still be here. What if he left? Fuck, calm down, Bella, he promised he would stay and he seemed pretty sincere.

As silent as possible I tiptoed to the living room, not caring about the fact that I was still in my tank top and sleep shorts or that I hadn't combed my hair yet. Oh lord, I bet it looked like a bird's nest.

I sighed relieved when I saw that he was still sleeping, looking so perfectly peaceful. I suddenly felt the urge to touch him but I stopped myself as I wouldn't want to be caught red handed. I could already picture myself with a head as read as a tomato trying to give him an explanation that wouldn't make me look like a fool. I bet I would stand there in front of him like 'Oh, you euhm, had something, yeah, on your forehead and euhm, yeah...' Followed by a complete awkward silence where I would walk away and wanted to slam my head into a wall. No, not gonna happen.

I decided to let him sleep a little longer while I freshened up in the bathroom and I caught myself doing a little more effort than usual.

When I returned, he was still asleep. I contemplated waking him up but I knew that if I woke him he would probably feel like leaving and I didn't want to see that happen already. To be honest, I didn't want to see that happen at all. The longer he stayed, the longer I had company.

Maybe I could ask him to stay another night? Would that be weird? I hoped he would feel sorry for me if he heard I'd be spending Christmas Eve alone. He probably wouldn't have an appointment for tonight, right? I had to stop my mind from rambling so I made a mental note to ask him about this later and with that thought I instantly felt a lot happier again. The idea that I might not have to be alone tonight really brightened up my mood.

Suddenly I remembered that I had planned to collect Alice and Jasper their presents this morning. Would it be rude if I just left? I really didn't want to wake him as I contemplated that he might use his sleep. I guess it wouldn't harm to leave him alone for an hour. I quickly retrieved a piece of paper and a pen from my drawer and wrote him a note.

'I just needed to pick up some presents. I'll be back soon. Btw. Feel free the use the bathroom to freshen up.

Bella.'

I re-read my scribbles and questioned if I should add that he wasn't allowed to leave before I got back but decided not to. I really hoped he would stay automatically. I put the little paper next to him, put on my coat and with one last look I closed the door behind me.

Throughout the entire process of retrieving my key out of my purse and unlocking the door I found myself repeating the same phrase in my mind over and over again. 'Please don't be gone, please don't be gone, please don't be gone...'

When I entered I immediately noticed the empty couch. Okay, no need to panic already, Bella, he might as well just got up. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that his backpack was still in the same place where I left it this morning.

"Edward?" I called out as I placed my purse and shopping bags on the counter.

"Bathroom," he yelled. Like I already guessed.

I took the morning paper out of my purse and started to leaf through it. The entire front page was dedicated to the freezing cold. Apparently this was going to be one of the hardest winters of the last century.

"Good morning." I looked up from my newspaper to return his greetings but I forgot how to talk when I took in his appearance. Holy shit, there was a Hugo Boss model in my living room. Holy fucking shit. He had shaved his beard and oh my god, he immediately looked five years younger. Luckily his eye wasn't that black after all and combined with that cut in his lip, he could easily pull off a bad guy image. I wasn't complaining. At all.

Apparently, I must have been staring at him because he started to laugh and of course I could feel my cheeks were already flushed. When will I ever stop embarrassing myself?

"Can I?" he said while pointing at the chair next to the counter.

"Of course," I said while rolling my eyes. Did he really just ask me if he could sit down? God, this man was perfect boyfriend material. Oh no, Bella, don't start thinking stuff like that. Just don't. You'll end up getting hurt.

"I've bought you something," I said after regaining my composure.

"What?" he asked confused.

I pulled a dark green woollen sweater out of the shopping bag and threw it at him. When I saw it in the store I couldn't stop thinking about how good it would look on him, especially with his green eyes.

"Bella...," he said disapproving, "I really can't accept it."

Why didn't it surprise me that he was going to be difficult about this? Luckily, I had it covered. "Well, you'll have to, because I can't do anything with it. And besides, you should see it as a Christmas gift."

"I don't have anything to give you in return," he said sadly.

"Your company is more than enough for me," I replied, "By the way, I was wondering, do you have somewhere to be tonight?"

"Euhm, no," he said confused again. Sometimes I really wondered what was going on in that pretty little head of his.

"Well, your Christmas present for me can be your company tonight, what do you think?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes...

"Bella, I bet you have better people to spend Christmas Eve with then me."

"Actually, I don't. Charlie has to work and Alice and Jasper are spending their evening with his parents, so it's just me tonight."

"Really?"

"No, I'm planning the biggest party ever here. Don't you see I'm so busy preparing everything?" I replied sarcastically.

"Can I help?" he said, trying to hold his laughter. Yeah yeah Edward, pretend like you didn't hear the sarcasm. But I liked it. I liked that we could have this playfulness between us.

"Only if you plan on staying tonight," I said a bit more serious again.

"I'm really not keeping you away from anything else?"

"Nowp," I said, plopping the 'p'

"Well, I guess I'll have to stay then. It's really scandalous that a beautiful girl like you should spend Christmas Eve on her own." Did he just call me beautiful while smiling that dazzling smile? Swoooooooon. He really must be trying to kill me. I almost missed the fact that he actually agreed to stay tonight. This Christmas wouldn't be lonely after all. I couldn't remember the last time I felt this happy.

Suddenly I noticed he still had the new sweater in his hands.

"Aren't you gonna try it on?" I said while motioning the piece of clothing.

With one swift motion he pulled the sweater over his head and god, I couldn't have been more right. That dark green looked so good on him.

"Perfect," I approved.

"I like it, I really do. Thank you so much." Alice would have killed me if I just gave her a sweater for Christmas but Edward looked like he just got everything he ever wanted. And in a certain way, it made me feel sad. He deserved so much more.

"So, do we have to prepare anything for our amazing party tonight?" Edward finally said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Euhm, not really. I've already gone to the supermarket yesterday and I guess there is enough for the both of us. I was going to keep it small, making some pasta, but if you like something else I could go on another shopping trip."

"Bella, I'm used to eating leftovers, so anything is fine by me." And bam, I was feeling bad for him again. It made me even feel worse because he didn't seem to care about it.

"Euhm, what do we do now?" Oh right, we did have some time left before we had to start cooking. What do you do when your homeless friend comes over? Play house? I giggled at my thoughts, though I knew I should laugh with it.

"What?" he asked.

"Inside joke," I smirked. He shot me a weird look which caused me to laugh even harder.

"Can I make a request?" he asked.

"Sure."

"I haven't seen a movie in ages and I don't know, maybe... but only if you want too..." Was he feeling ashamed of it? He was requesting it like he was asking me for a million dollars or something. Anyway, I was happy that we at least would have something to do.

"Perfect plan," I said, "but we'll have to go to the video library then because I don't have a lot of DVDs."

"Oh, but that's not necessary, any movie is fine." Well, most of the movies I owned were classics like Romeo and Juliet, Pride and prejudice and The Wizard of Oz. Yes, my movie collection pretty much resembled my book collection.

"You can take a look at the ones I have but I doubt that you'll be interested in one of those," I warned him.

"Well, you're preference of books pretty much matches mine so you might be surprised."

"Pick whatever you like and I'll take us something to drink." I pointed to the cabinet where he could find my modest movie collection while I made my way to the kitchen.

A minute later he walked into the kitchen looking so enthusiastic and with four DVDs in his hands. "You have the most amazing collection of movies. Exactly the ones I thought you would have, to be honest."

I smiled at him. "I guess you found something you like then."

"Most definitely," he beamed, "I picked out four and now you'll have to make the final choice."

"I've already seen all of them numerous times so it doesn't matter. Put in whatever you want to see, it is fine by me," I said while reaching for the glasses.

"Okay." He looked so happy that it made my heart melt.

When I entered the living room, carrying our drinks, I saw the title screen of Australia.

"It didn't fit in your collection, but I've always wanted to see this one. I hope you're okay with it."

"It was a present from Alice. We saw that one together in the cinema last year," I explained, "It's a really good one."

"Excellent." He made himself comfortable on the couch and started the movie. I seated myself next to him with a comfortable space between us. I really wanted to snuggle into him but that might have been weird, so I decided to stick with about ten centimetres.

The first minutes I wasn't even paying attention to the film. He was far more interesting to watch and I found myself constantly looking in his direction.

"What?" he asked when he noticed that I was staring again.

"Nothing," I said with a little smile and diverted my eyes back to the screen, "You're really interesting when you're watching a move."

"Well excuse me!" he laughed "and now shush, I'm trying to concentrate." Could he be any cuter?

"Yeah, focus on Nicole Kidman," I laughed.

"Naaah, she's not my type." "Oh, more a fan of Hugh Jackman, aren't you?" I said. "Definitely," he snickered and then winked at me. "I do like his hat, though."

"I bet you do." He nodded impassioned and then quickly looked back at the screen.

"Can we watch it again?" he asked enthusiastic when the credits rolled over the screen. I couldn't hold my laughter. I was so close to asking his age again 'cause he really looked like a five year old now.

"Wouldn't you rather watch another one?" I said after watching the clock. We still had time for one more before we had to start preparing dinner.

"Oooh yes." He said, already getting up to pick another movie. Okay, he was officially five again.

We ended up watching Wizards of Oz and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that he was silently singing along with 'Somewhere over the rainbow'.

"Do you believe there is a place where all dreams come true?" he asked seriously.

"Euhm, I guess not. I think you should work to make your dreams become reality." Did that make sense? It must have because he nodded and then looked back at the screen. I wondered where that question came from but decided to drop it and focus on the movie again.

"I was going to make a special pasta, but I don't feel like it anymore," I announced as the film had ended, "Is a simple lasagne okay for you?"

"More than okay," he said with the biggest smile on his face, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Could you make the tomato sauce?" I asked.

"Yes, chef!"

I showed him where he could find the ingredients and we both started working in a comfortable silence next to each other. Every now and then I caught him staring and after a while I made me feel too aware of myself.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, "You're really interesting when you're cooking." Did he just steal my lines from before? The smug bastard! I hit him playfully in the chest while finishing my layers.

"Cooking relaxes me," I added.

"I can tell," he said with a genuine smile.

"Edward, could you get the lasagne out of the oven? I could do it myself but I don't want to end up in the hospital again with burn marks." Yes, my oven hates me.

"Oh, you're one of those girls that need a guy to do the dangerous work?" What? NO! I narrowed my eyes at him and made my way to the oven. I can do this. Oh please, Bella, don't burn your fingers this time.

"Just kidding, I've got it. I'm not really looking forward to spending Christmas Eve in the hospital," he laughed and took my place in front of the oven.

"I hope you burn your own fingers," I joked while I made my way to the table.

"Yeah, I hope so too 'cause then you'll have to take care of me again."

"Well well, you're one of those guys who want to be all tough and manly but in the end loves to be taken care of."

"Yeah, I am," he nodded fervently, "but I won't need any comforting tonight, 'cause look, I got it out without burning myself." He held up the pot of lasagne like a trophy before setting it on the table.

"I'm so proud of you," I said in a playfully flat tone while I took my seat facing him.

"Oh you so are, admit it, Bella, admit it!"

"You are so weird, you know that?" I laughed while I cut him a piece of pasta.

"Yes I do," he said proudly while slapping his chest. I rolled my eyes at him. "You better eat that before it gets cold."

"Yes ma'am."

"This seriously is the best lasagne I've ever tasted," Edward said after swallowing the last bit. I bet if I would allow him he would lick out the pot.

"You probably say that every time you've eaten it."

"No, I don't. This was really good, Bella." Okay, he meant it. Well, at least I'm good at something then.

"You do realize you're praising yourself a bit now too, co-chef?"

"Yes, I do, I do," he said. His eyes were so bright and playful and I was suddenly wondering if I didn't start to like him a little too much. Damn him and his... perfect body and perfect eyes and perfect everything.

"Can we watch another movie after we've done the dishes?" he said while starting to clear the table.

"Oh no, we're NOT gonna do the dishes on Christmas Eve. No way. I'll do it tomorrow. Just leave it in the sink now."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Too bad, I would have liked to see you covered in soap bubbles," he smirked. GAME ON, MISTER. I quickly made my way to the counter, filled the sink and poured an overdose of detergent in the water. It didn't take long for the foam to appear. Before I was able to take a handful of soap bubbles he clamped my hands behind my back.

"I do remember me mentioning you covered in bubbles, not me, so unless you're planning on throwing those at yourself, I'll have to stop you." I vainly tried to free myself from his grip.

"Edward, let gooooo." I tried to sound severe but I couldn't hold my laughter.

He managed to take both of my hands in one of his and with his free hand he took a handful of bubbles. I started to struggle harder in order to avoid being attacked and eventually managed to escape out of his grip.

"You're not getting away with this so easily, lady," he said and started to chase me all around the apartment with the bubbles in his hand. I quickly locked myself in my little office room next to my bedroom.

"You'll have to come out of there someday," he laughed, "and I'm not leaving this spot before you do." I heard him taking the chair and positioning it in front of the door. Fuck me.

"Well, you'll have to use the bathroom someday too," I yelled back at him.

"So do you," he replied. Dammit. Why did I have to have such a small bladder? I knew I would have to come out eventually but I wasn't going to surrender that easily. I looked through the keyhole to see if there was any way that I would make it out of this room without being attacked. Maybe if I was quick enough I could sprint back to the kitchen and get myself a load of foam before he was able to get up from his chair.

I silently counted down to one, threw the door open and rushed outside. But I wasn't fast enough. He managed to clamp his arm around my waist and before I knew it my head was covered in bubbles. I quickly scrapped them off me and threw what was left on his head. Ha, there you go! He let go of me and we were both laughing as we were trying to wipe the foam of our faces.

"Oh FUCK," I shouted out when I walked back toward the kitchen and saw foam coming from around my kitchen island. I hurried back only to find my floor covered in bubbles. I must have been a little too enthusiastic when I poured the detergent in the water. I could hear Edward's boisterous laugh behind me.

"It's not funny, Edward."

"It is a little funny," he snickered and I couldn't hold my laughter at the sight of his face.

I pulled out a bucket and ceiling-mop and pushed it in his hands. "If you think it's funny, you can start mopping the floor," I said with a huge grin on my face. GOTCHA!

Eventually I helped him to clean up the mess and an hour later my kitchen was as good as new.

"That was fun," Edward said, "Can we do it again?"

"Absolutely not," I replied, "I thought you wanted to watch another movie?"

"Oh, right. Is it okay if I put in Moulin Rouge?"

"Perfect choice," I said and let myself fall back on the couch next to him. I decided that I could make the gap between us a little smaller now.

I noticed that he became quieter as the movie went on. It was like he wasn't even paying attention anymore. Suddenly he grabbed the remote controller and pressed pause.

He turned his body towards me and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Remember when I told you I ran away from home?" he said quietly, all the playfulness from before totally gone. Oh god, was he going to tell me more about himself? I didn't know if I was ready for this. It seemed pretty serious and I most definitely preferred the light-hearted atmosphere from before. But then again, I really wanted to know what happened to him so I nodded in order for him to continue.

"I lied," he said sadly, "I didn't run away, my parents kicked me out."

Don't you just love their playfulness?

For everyone who hasn't seen Australia yet: DO IT NOW. It's one of the most amazing movies ever!

And yes, Edward's background story is coming up next :)

Anyway, thank you for your support :D It really means a lot to me that you're willing to read this

I don't know when I'll be able to update again, as I have my first exam Tuesday. (Wish me luck please :o)

Please review so I know what you think of it ;)

X Ellen

For everyone who hasn't seen Australia yet: DO IT NOW. It's one of the most amazing movies ever!