A/N- Thank you so much for your reviews and favorites. Your response blew me away :) I'm glad you're enjoying my work.
As always, I thank Dazzled Eyes22 and Payton79 for their support, without which I wouldn't have the courage to post.
Here we go...
CHAPTER 4 - BOOKS AND BLANKETS
The realization was enough to make me keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day. The strangest part was that Edward left me alone for a few hours. Obviously, I had no idea where he went, but he left after waving me a cheerful goodbye. I had looked on with utter shock, as he made his way out without an ounce of anxiety.
I had to admit, it threw me completely for a loop.
Was he really so confident in his security measures?
Or was someone else going to come in and take his place to keep a watch over me?
Another thing that shocked the hell out of me was him handing me a pair of sweatpants and a soft T-shirt to change into. I rubbed at the material of the pants. The clothes were obviously new, but the size was fairly close to my own.
Did it mean he was planning on keeping me here for a while?
He bought me new clothes that matched my size. Was he… taking care of me?
I snorted, shaking my head. That sounded all wrong in this situation.
The questions were endless, but the answers were out of my reach.
Regardless, I tugged and tugged at my furry handcuffs, without any success. I looked around the room for any sharp object that could help me unlock it, but in the back of my mind, a nagging voice whispered that Edward Cullen seemed much too proficient at this to make that kind of a mistake. I tried my best to ignore that notion, but as hours passed by without me having any luck, it was extremely hard not to fall into a pit of despair.
I didn't understand this guy's game at all.
The Aro angle was firmly wedged in my brain, and I still saw it as the most possible scenario. What else could it be anyway? I was a journalist, not the heiress to a freakin' multi-million dollar business that he would be able to reap a ransom hefty enough to justify all his efforts. He certainly had done his homework with regards to my life, first building a friendship with Emmett, when all he had to do was barge into me at the grocery shop to get a chance to ask me out. Why involve my brother into this when Em knowing his identity could only create more trouble for him?
Another sickening possibility revealed itself to me.
He was so blasé when he said Em wouldn't be able to get to him. Did that mean they had kidnapped him, too? Or worse.
I banned it from my mind immediately.
No. Em had to be okay. I muttered the words over and over until I was fairly sure I could believe them. Breaking down over a supposition was not going to help matters at all.
I spent several hours analyzing every minute of Saturday evening for any hint about what exactly Edward wanted from me. My mind was on high alert and far too preoccupied to even think of falling asleep, but when I was startled and completely taken aback by the sound of the door, I realized that I had been lost in a stupor.
Edward walked in and plopped down on the bed beside me. I couldn't help but notice that he looked wiped out as he lay down and threw an arm over his eyes. I struggled to find the right words to say to him.
Where were you?
What did you do?
What's going to happen to me?
The obvious questions swirled in my thoughts, but I knew there was no point in asking. He'd made it pretty clear that he didn't know much, and even if he did, he had no intention of telling me.
I was saved from the trouble of making the first move when he dropped his arm and looked at me. "Hey."
"H-hey," I stuttered.
"Hungry?"
I bit my lip before nodding.
He jumped up and stretched his arms. "Me too." Without another word, he left the room. When he returned, he had two plates in his hands.
He handed me one, and the absurdity of the entire situation hit me once again. My kidnapper was serving me food. Good food, too.
And having dinner with me.
In bed.
I sighed and shook my head, shifting my focus onto my food. Edward's cheerful persona returned while we ate.
"I got you something," he announced.
I frowned. "What?"
He handed me a paperbag. I peeked into it warily, but my fears were unfounded. Inside the bag was a collection of comic books. I pulled out the stack and undid the elastic that held it together.
My eyebrows lifted in utter surprise. "Archie's?"
He shrugged, grabbing another bite of his sandwich. "I figured you'd be bored out of your mind while I had somewhere else to be, so I got you supplies to keep you entertained."
I looked down at the books and back at him. "How long am I going to be here? And where do you have to go?" I demanded.
"Aww, Princess, did you miss me?" he grinned, but I simply continued to look at him with a blank face. He sighed. "I don't know… as long as you're required to, I suppose. As to where I go, well, let's just say that I make sure to maintain my alibi."
I grimaced as I regretted asking him anything in the first place. His reply only raised ten more unanswered questions, which would remain that way in the foreseeable future.
We finished the rest of our meal in silence. After a quick trip to the bathroom, that never seemed to get any less embarrassing no matter how many times we did it, he changed out of his jeans and shirt into a pair of basketball shorts and lay down on the bed. I resisted the urge to peek at his bare chest.
He sighed, getting comfortable and turned onto his side to face me. "It's late. We should sleep."
"Sleep? You're going to sleep? Here?" My voice shot up a couple of octaves.
"Yeah. That's what people do at night, you know."
"Well, since I have no way of knowing what time it is, courtesy of you, forgive my surprise," I growled, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, Princess, I'd make you bite that sass of yours right back, but I'm too tired to do anything about it right now. We can banter tomorrow, okay?"
With that, he rolled onto his back, took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stretched an arm out and turned off the light. I could do nothing but watch as in a few minutes, his breathing slowed. His chest moved rhythmically, and the rest of his body went still as he fell asleep. I watched, mesmerized at the way his face evened out in slumber, losing its smug expression and dissolving into a peaceful one.
It was a moment before I realized that I was just sitting there while he was asleep, missing out on an opportunity to get the hell out of here. I winced as I mentally berated myself over my stupidity, and focused all my attention onto my bound hand. I balled my fingers into a fist, and attempted futilely to pull my hand out of the socket, but I could only manage to squeeze out less than half of it. Still, I didn't give up on that tactic until my eyes stung with tears as the ring dug into the heel of my palm.
I gasped when the noxious sensation became too much for me to bear, and rubbed away my tears with a frustrated dash of my free hand. I stopped struggling for a moment, and looked down at my reddened, inflamed skin. I brought my face down to inspect the swollen tissue and sniffled in pain.
I was so engrossed in the task that I shrieked and flinched when another hand appeared in my line of vision. A soft finger gently caressed around the sore area.
Edward leaned in and took my hand, bringing his face closer to it, and blew against it. I shivered, but kept my head low, because he was so close that if I looked up, my face would have no choice but to be pressed up against his neck.
"You're not going anywhere until I let you, Princess," he murmured in his silken voice. He pulled back to look into my eyes, but still close enough that the proximity overwhelmed my senses. "Why won't you listen to me? You'll end up hurting yourself in an effort to get out of here, and that effort will still be pointless." He let go of my hand, and ordered me to go to sleep.
I pointed to my bound hand and showed him the awkward position it was held in. He pursed his lips thoughtfully and leaned over me, while I held my breath. I should have looked where he pulled out the key from, but the weight of his body almost draped over mine was far too distracting. He backed away after a moment. I looked down and realized that he had not freed me, but had tied my hand to a rail much further down, so that I could lie down easily.
I scooted down the bed and placed my head on the pillow carefully. My arm was bent at the elbow, but at least it wasn't uncomfortable anymore.
Edward had now stretched out on his side of the bed, and for all intents and purposes, was dead to the world. Or, maybe, not really. After all, all it took to wake him last time was a small gasp. That did not bode well for my future escape plans — if I could manage to form any.
I closed my eyes and tried to clear the thoughts cluttered in my head. Ever since I'd been a little girl, whenever I had trouble sleeping, I would imagine a large white board. I don't know where that idea originated from, but I believed if I could just focus on the white expanse of nothingness, I would be able to rest my mind enough to fall into slumber.
Alas, that tactic did not work for me tonight, and I knew exactly why. Since that day, I hadn't been able to sleep a wink without a blanket or a sheet covering my body. Numerous therapy sessions had brought me back into society as a functional human being, but my demons would probably plague me forever. I had managed to tackle several of those over the years, but for some reason, the need for a… security blanket, I guess one could call it, hadn't waned. It wasn't something I needed to worry about anyway, since it was a problem that could be easily managed. Whenever there was the remotest possibility of me sleeping somewhere besides my home, I'd carry a shawl with me without fail.
Obviously, I did not take into consideration what I would do the day I was kidnapped.
I tossed and turned for several minutes, afraid to close my eyes. If I didn't have something covering me, I knew the images that would greet me the moment my mind would give in to sleep, and I'd wake up, panting and gasping desperately to get some oxygen into my lungs. After that, I would never be able to fall back asleep that night.
If Edward planned to keep me here a while, he had better invest in a blanket.
Once again, he managed to startle me when he clamped his arm down on my waist suddenly. At least I managed to hold in a scream this time.
"What's wrong?" he groaned blearily. "Go to sleep, Bella."
"I can't," I whispered.
He turned his face up with a sigh. In the dim light of the table lamp, I saw him lift an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"I-uh, I need a blanket."
"A blanket?
"A sheet, bed cover, anything. I can't sleep without it," I insisted.
He reached back to switch the light on, and I squinted against the glare. When my eyes had adjusted, I looked at him and saw the speculation in his eyes.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
I scowled. "Yes." Did he think I would joke about something like this? Didn't he realize how hard it was for me to even ask this of him, to show him my weaker side?
He doesn't know you, Bella. I reasoned with myself.
Meanwhile, Edward must have found whatever he was looking for in my eyes, because his features lost the incredulity. Without another word, he got up and left the room.
After anxiously chewing on my nail for several minutes, I was about to call for him, when he returned with a thin bed sheet in hand.
"Sorry, that's the best I can do. There's no IKEA nearby, or I'd grab you a plush blankie," he teased, but his smile was soft. It was probably irrational, but for a second there, I felt like he was trying to make me smile, or distract me from whatever was bothering me.
I was being silly. Why would he do that? It's not like he cared about me.
He held his hand out closer, and I took the sheet from him gratefully. As he returned to the bed, I covered myself with the cloth and closed my eyes in relief at the feeling.
"Sleep, Princess," he whispered into the still air, and it was the last thing I registered before succumbing to slumber.
That was the first night I slept with… well, slept beside Edward Cullen.
A/N: So... Yeah. Tell me what you think! Also, I have exams starting day after tomorrow, so I'd really appreciate any positive vibes you can send my way.
Thanks for reading :)