Edward stiffly started to make his bed on the floor, piling pillows and blankets on the mattress, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Neither of us said anything for around half an hour after that, and I was just starting to fall asleep when his steady breathing ceased for a second.
"Isabella…" I heard him whisper. "Are you awake?"
I almost pretended to be asleep, but curiosity got the better of me and I turned on to my side, warily facing him. "What?" I asked suspiciously, looking down at him.
"I've been thinking: you're too good at playing Jasper and Emmett. They're wrapped around your little finger; we can't have that. I need some ammo against you to use when I want you to shut up. So I want to play a game. 20 questions. Here. Now."
I snorted softly at his attempt to be tough. "Sure. We can play 20 questions. Right here. Right now," I copied him, although I didn't even bother trying to imitate his velvety voice. "Wait…you know that 20 questions means I get to ask you questions too, right?"
"Yes Isabella, I am aware of that fact," Edward sighed, annoyed at me for some strange reason.
"Because then I'll probably have a lot of ammo against you, too, which means I can get you to shut up whenever I want…"
"I understand that, but I am relying on my superior question-asking skills to aid me in asking you questions which will reveal far more about you, than yours will about me."
I struggled to decipher that in my head. "I don't think that made sense, really. Why do you always talk like that? Like you're fifty years old or something…"
He smirked at me. "Is that your first question?" he asked, making me huff.
"Fine! That's the first question!" I pushed myself up so I was sitting up on the bed, waiting to hear his answer.
"Well then, I speak like I'm fifty, as you so eloquently put it, because, perhaps, I was forced to grow up faster than I should have," he answered stiffly.
"But Emmett doesn't, and he's older than you," I pointed out. "Neither does Jasper."
"A lot of things happened to me that didn't happen to them!" he snapped back, and I could see he was uncomfortable so I wordlessly motioned with my head that it was his turn.
He frowned, thinking. I silently braced myself, waiting for the question that was sure to be something personal, which he could use against me later. That was the whole reason he started this game, after all.
"Okay, I got one." he smiled devilishly. "What is the one thing you don't want Emmett to know, ever?"
"Hey no fair!" I complained. "You're just going to tell Emmett!" But I knew from his firm expression that I would have to answer. "Fine," I sighed. "I never want him to know that I'm the one who ruined his chance with a girl he really loved." I said, feeling guilty. Edward cocked his head to one side.
"Well you must have had a reason…" he trailed off, waiting for me to finish the sentence.
"Yes, I did. She was a bitch. She thought he was rich so she tagged on to him. When I found out I broke them up…and then realized too late that he'd fallen in love with her," I finished bitterly. Edward said nothing, waiting for my next question.
I thought for a second. First I considered giving him a nice easy question…but then again, that wasn't my style. I decided to go straight for the kill.
"Why did you kidnap me?"
Edward paused for a second, playing with his hands and wondering how to answer. Finally he looked up. "For the money," he answered shortly.
I smiled weakly at him. "You didn't think of all the things I could ask you did you? You can embarrass me, but I can find out your whole plan…"
Edward shook his head. "No. You're so naïve, Isabella. We were planning on telling you everything tomorrow anyway."
"Oh." That was a big waste of question then. "And it's Bella, not Isabella."
"Sure, Isabella."
"I mean it, you retard. Call me Isabella one more time and I will wring your neck!"
"Alright then…Bella." We stared at each other for a few moments, until I mentally shook myself and looked away.
"My turn," Edward said, changing the subject again. "What are you most afraid of in the entire world?" Okay, this game is not fair.
"Just ask Emmett," I grumbled. Edward gave me a pointed look.
"The whole point of this game is that I can find out things to torture you with without having to ask Emmett and be indebted to him for the next few hundred years or so."
"Well you can't torture me!" I grinned triumphantly. "There's only two things in the world I'm really scared of: thunderstorms and having my foot amputated. You can't make either happen easily."
Edward burst out laughing. "Y-you're scared of th-thunderstorms a-and having your f-foot amputated?"
I folded my arms and glared at him. "Yes. And I'm only scared of having my foot amputated after I saw a documentary on it. Blame the Discovery Channel!"
Edward gave me a calculating look through his snorts but he didn't comment. "Your turn," he said evenly.
"Okay…um, what are you most afraid of?" I asked, making up my mind to laugh at whatever it was. That would show him!
Edward got off my bed and lay back down on his mattress, rolling over to face away from me. "Good night, Isabella," he said crisply.
"You can't do that!" I was furious and I jumped off my bed onto him on the mattress.
He rolled onto his back, with me sitting on his torso. "Yes Isabella I can." Oh, so we were back to Isabella now were we? "Now can you get off of me and return to your bed?"
"No!" I yelled, feeling extraordinarily like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. I beat his stomach with my fists in a rage. "You said we could play and you can't just quit!"
I could see him getting mad. "Yes. I. Can," he growled, grabbing my wrists and flipping us over so I was on my back and he was on top of me. I whimpered softly as my bruised ribs made contact with the mattress. He pulled back immediately, an apologetic look on his face replacing the anger from a few seconds before.
"I apologize," he said awkwardly, gently pulling me up and gathering me in his arms. I shivered at the instant electricity that flooded through me. "I forgot about your ribs." He deposited me smoothly on my bed with a flourish. "There. Now go to sleep. It's midnight."
"Not until you answer the question!" I grabbed a pillow, placing it behind my back and propping myself up. "I'm staying awake. I'll keep talking until you get sick of it," I warned. Edward stood at the foot of my bed, looking down at me for a second before nodding.
"Fine," he agreed simply, before staring to climb into the bed with me.
"What are you doing?" I hissed in a whisper as the bed sagged slightly with the extra weight.
"You won't sleep. I need you to sleep; I need to sleep too. I am going to sit right here and make sure you don't sit up. I have full faith that you will eventually fall asleep if you're lying down." Saying this, he nudged me into a lying-down position, although I noticed he was careful to avoid my bruises. I tried to get up again, but was firmly pushed back down.
"Sleep," he insisted. I was about to attempt to sit up, but the pillow was so soft and warm…and quite frankly, I was tired and in my opinion sleeping with a sex god, even if he is a retard, is the best way to sleep.
"There's a good girl…" I heard him murmur as I drifted off, and I made a mental note to talk to him about the patronizing tone he used. As sleep took over, I could have sworn I felt him gently brushing and playing with my hair.