Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight OR the characters. Stephenie Meyer does. Don't hurt me!


Chapter 7: Awake

Edward's POV

Once Rosalie was asleep, I slowly untangled our bodies, and left the room. She'd dozed off after asking me about the one thing I wished she wouldn't – Bella.

Angela's basement was small, but thankfully they thought to put a TV and a couch down here. I don't know how they'd react to having a stranger wander around their house in boredom, but it probably wouldn't be good. I stretched out on the couch, and settled on a rerun of Friends when it became obvious there'd be nothing better on at this time. I was just beginning to zone out when I heard footsteps on the stairs. I sat up quickly, and waited for whoever it was to come around the corner.

Bella.

She looked uncomfortable as she peeked around the wall, but relaxed when she saw it was me. A strong sense of deja-vu came over me, but I shook it off. Whatever that was, it could wait 'til later.

"Hey," she whispered. "I heard the TV, and I was still up, anyway... Do you care if I hang out?"

"No, it's fine." I assured her. "Friends is on. Well, it's pretty much the only thing that's on." She smiled, and sat down as far as she could from me. I guess she wasn't that relaxed.

We watched in silence, and I heard her snort quietly at the funny parts. I tried not to, but I found it ridiculously cute. She fidgeted with her hands most of the time, and I caught her looking at me from the corner of her eye more than once. I guess that meant I was looking at her, too.

What was wrong with me? There was an incredibly hot chick in the next room, ready and willing. Yet, here I was, undeniably entertained by the nervous girl next to me. Why did I feel anxious? Why did I wish she'd sit on my lap, not the other side of the couch? Why do I...

"Edward?" Her voice broke through my thoughts, and I controlled my surprise as best I could.

"What's up?"

"About earlier," she started. "I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have."

"You didn't," I insisted, shaking my head. "It just surprised me, that's all. The articles about my dad don't usually mention me, I'm surprised you were able to recognize me."

"Yeah..." She trailed off, and continued fidgeting. She bit her bottom lip and stared at the TV with a little too much concentration. I studied her face for a moment; she was hiding something.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." I kept my voice soothing, but she became more restless than ever.

"It's nothing, Edward. Seriously. I'm, uh, a little amazed I recognized you, myself." She was a horrible liar. Horrible.

"Uh huh," I rolled my eyes at her, but let it go. If she wanted to tell me, she would.

I resumed my channel surfing when Friends ended, but before I could get very far, she slid over to me and stole the remote right out of my hands.

"Don't you know what's on, right now?" She went up a few channels, and settled back into the couch with a content sigh. I groaned.

"South Park? Really?" I hated South Park. With a passion. My friends back home seemed to think it was hilarious, but I found it more annoying than anything.

"What? You don't like it?" She pouted at me, but made a show of keeping the remote as far away from me as possible.

"How could anyone like this show?" I asked her incredulously. "It's horrible."

"Well," she started, taunting me with the remote in her far hand. "You better learn to love it. We have a whole hour of South Park to enjoy!"

"An hour?! I don't think so!"

I launched myself over her body, with my outstretched arms aimed at the remote. She shrieked, and rolled into a tight ball around the device. I debated my options for a moment while she giggled underneath me, and settled on the most viable one. I would have to tickle it away from her. I started with her feet, but she didn't so much as budge.

"My feet aren't ticklish," she laughed. "But nice try!"

"Oh, I'm not done yet." I had more success with her stomach, which she hadn't thought to cover up. She flipped underneath me, and tried to fend off my attack with her free hand.

"Stop!" she cried, a little breathless from laughing. "I'll give it to you, I promise!" Her cheeks were flushed, and our faces were inches apart.

"Promise?" I arched my eyebrow, and my fingers trailed lightly over her exposed stomach. She squirmed below me, but the look in her eyes was different from before.

"What if I don't?" she breathed. A grin spread across her face but she didn't try to move, and when my fingers brushed her stomach again, she bit her bottom lip nervously.

"Hmm." I cocked my head, and pretended to think about it. "Are you sure you want to take that chance?" I tickled her again, and she arched her back against my touch. Her head fell back against the cushion and her hands wrapped around my wrists in a feeble attempt to throw me off.

"Okay, okay! I declare you master of the remote!" Her back was still arched, and she blushed when she noticed our position.

"Master? I like the sound of that." A million thoughts were running through my head, but one stood out the most – I liked this. It felt comfortable, and it felt right. I knew I was shamelessly flirting, and I didn't care.

"You would like that," she huffed. She started squirming again, and when she realized I wouldn't move, she took matters into her own hands. She started tickling my neck – my most ticklish spot – and I fell backwards off the couch. She came tumbling after me, and moved her attention to my stomach. We rolled around for a while, making way too much noise, and collapsed beside each other when we were out of breath.

"You're evil," I smirked, and shoved her gently. "But you look good doing it."

She blushed, her cheeks turning a deep crimson color. "Yeah, okay..." She shoved me back, but it was a lot harder than mine, and I winced involuntarily.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" She looked so upset, I just had to play it up a bit.

"That really hurt, Bella. I thought we were having fun." I gave her a dirty look and she cringed, but was instantly apologetic.

"We were! I didn't mean to hurt you, really. I'm so sorry, Edward!" She frowned at me, and her eyes started to water. Oh crap.

"Got you!" I burst out laughing, and I heard her gasp.

"I can't believe you! I felt so bad about pushing you, and you were just fucking around! Ugh!" She moved to get up, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the ground.

"Don't leave..." I really didn't want her to leave. This was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

Our eyes met, and neither of us could look away. I never noticed how deep her brown eyes were before, but I lost myself in them as our heads slowly inclined towards each other, inch by inch. I could feel her breath on my face, and her eyes closed when our lips finally met.

"What the fuck is going on here?" My eyes flew open, and I whipped around to face Rosalie – with her arms crossed – in the doorway to our room.

"Rose, what are you doing awake?" I reluctantly pulled away from Bella, and got to my feet.

"What am I doing awake? I bet the whole damn house is awake right now, Edward." She shot Bella a dirty look, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm s-sorry," Bella stuttered, and began playing with her hands again. "I guess we were pretty loud."

"That's an understatement," Rosalie hissed under her breath. Bella was looking more uncomfortable by the second, and I felt horrible for her. Rose usually had this effect on people.

"Rose, go back to bed, okay? I'll be there in a minute." She made a face, but walked back into the room, slamming the door on her way. I turned around to face Bella, but she was already walking up the stairs.

"Bella?" I called after her, but she barely paused to answer me.

"Forget it," she mumbled. "I shouldn't have come down in the first place." And with that, she was gone.

...

So here I was, standing in the middle of Angela's basement feeling like an idiot. The last thing I wanted was for Bella to find out what Rose and I had going on between us, but now, how could she not figure it out? I was too caught up in my own thoughts to worry about dealing with Rose right now, but – lucky me – I'd have to deal with her all day, tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that...

The worst part of all? I'm leaving tomorrow, and I have no idea when or if I'll ever see Bella again. Tonight was the first time I'd felt free, felt alive, in a really long time. Who knows if I'll ever feel that way again?

Great. Just fucking great.


Helloooo... Yes, they finally kissed... but barely! Stupid Rosalie interrupting *grumbles*

Review, review, review! They make me smile, you guys are way too nice! I'll be busy the next couple of days, but I'm going to try and get the next couple of chapters done so I can post them together. I know they're pretty short, I should probably work on that, huh? :P