Chapter Nine: Nightmare and Date

Lightning struck, illuminating the whole room. I stood up and walked to the window, which was open as always, despite the storm. I looked out and saw Edward lying on his stomach out on the middle of the slick board.

"Edward!" I cried, running to the window. I looked down and saw the ocean, churning and ripping hundreds of feet below. I screamed as stood up straight so that I wasn't leaning over the windowsill. "Edward, get down!" I cried again. Not Edward, not him, I thought over and over in my head. I watched, and as if in slow motion, his foot slipped on the wet board. He fell and somersaulted downward, falling and falling and falling. I screamed and screamed, trying to dig deeper into myself, finding nothing but emptiness.


Then I was lying in bed, breathing hard and covered in cold sweat. "Bella honey, wake up," Edward's frantic voice said in my ear. I opened my eyes fully and saw him shaking me. I looked at the clock and saw that it was just after one A.M.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked, confused and groggy.

"I heard you screaming in your sleep through the open window. You gave me a real scare, Bella. You were really loud and kept screaming my name. I was really worried," he said, sitting next to me on the edge of the bed.

"Sorry, it was just a bad nightmare." I was really embarrassed. I don't usually have nightmares and never as bad as that one was. I hated that he had to see me like that.

"What was it about? It must have been really bad," Edward said sympathetically. I paused, but I eventually decided to tell him.

"Well, it was raining and you were trying to cross on the board and it was wet so you slipped," I said and my voice began to shake. I don't understand why this is such a big deal for me. Edward laid down on top of the covers and pulled me to him, his arms comforting. I buried my face in his white T-shirt and composed myself, reminding the reasonable part of me that he was here and it was stupid to overreact.

"Are you feeling better?" he whispered in my ear.

"Yes, I'm much better. Thank you so much for coming. You really didn't have to do that." I was blushing so much my face probably looked like a phoenix catching on fire and burning to its ashes. He probably will think I'm too needy and- but Edward interrupted my thoughts.

"I wanted to. I missed you," he whispered really softly before kissing the top of my head. I sank inside myself again, except this time I was full and not filled with emptiness.

"But you just saw me," I said as I closed my eyes and leaned against him.

"I know, but I still missed you." I buried my face deeper into his chest and enjoyed his warmth and smell. I started drifting to sleep slowly, completely at peace now. I felt Edward start to extract himself and panicked, pulling him back down.

"Don't go, stay," I mumbled. He sighed and I thought I heard him mumble, "I'm such a pushover," but I'm not sure. He pulled back the covers and climbed in, pulling my back against his chest. I was in heaven. I was also very tired. My eyes closed and I sank into unconsciousness slowly.

Until I was woken up by the beeping of my alarm clock, that is. I reached over to flip off the alarm, but before I could get to it the alarm stopped. I tried to sit up, but there was an arm around my waist. I glanced up and saw Edward waking up slowly. He looked even better than normal when he was half asleep. His hair was all messed up and his eyes were squinting in a way that made his forehead crinkle adorably.

"Good morning love," he grumbled with a morning voice. I smiled and kissed him quickly.

"Good morning. You should get home before our parents freak. Thank you for coming last night and you didn't have to stay," I said, blushing as he stood up. He smirked and pulled me into an Emmett-inspired hug.

"I wanted to," he whispered before he kissed me again. I forgot about my morning breath and the fact that my parents are downstairs. Edward pulled back and walked toward the window, climbing over the windowsill. I smiled and grabbed my white sundress. I set my alarm on a Sunday because Edward and I had an official date. We were going to head down to a cute little café that's hopping on Sunday mornings, filled to the brim with people reading the paper and sipping coffee. My parents were the kind who would bring books on religion and philosophy so they wouldn't feel so bad about skipping church.

"Don't you look…spunky this morning," Charlie said as I came down stairs into the kitchen where he'd just woken up as well. I smiled and sat down, loving how light I felt in the dress.

"Bella, you OK?" Mom asked, looking at me like I was high. I wasn't that sad before, right?

"I'm great Mom, why?" I asked innocently. "By the way, I've got a date with Edward today in…five minutes." I looked up and smiled widely. Mom smiled back but I could tell Charlie didn't want me to go. I think he tries not to like him really hard, but I'm sure he'll cave eventually.

"Is that why you're like this?" Mom asked.

"Like what?" I said with wide smile. I stood up and kissed them both. "See you tonight." I skipped, literally skipped, outside the front door where I saw Edward leaning against the light pole in between our houses. He bowed and took my arm when he straightened up.

"I thought we could walk, if you don't mind," he said with a knockout smile. I nodded and we started walking along in the beautiful midmorning sunlight. "You look beautiful in white as well as blue."

"You should thank your cousin. Even though they held me against my will, the clothes are great and they all fit me," I said and smiled at my luck at getting new clothes without having to shop.

"I wasn't talking about how beautiful the clothes are, love, only how beautiful as you look in them. The clothes are just that, clothes, until you wear them," Edward said, smiling down at me.

"You are such a sap," I whined with a fake sigh. I started to pull away a bit, but Edward just pulled me back by the tops of my arms. I saw the light filter through one of the only green trees in Phoenix and the light made everything seem happy.

"You think that's sappy? You are my sun, my life, my love. You are the only reason I wake up in the morning," he said dramatically, getting down on one knee. "I need you to survive. I couldn't go a single day without seeing your smile. Not seeing you would be my personal hell. You are the only thing holding me to this earth. You are so beautiful that Helen of Sparta would be intimidated by you." He stared into my eyes with mock seriousness.

"OK, I guess you weren't that sappy before," I replied seriously. Edward stood up and took my arm, but we couldn't make it two steps before falling apart. The people passing by stared and kept walking. We pulled ourselves together and started walking again, though we couldn't wipe the smiles of our faces.

"Here we are," Edward said as he led me into a cute coffee shop. It was one of those with comfy couches and arm chairs with tall stools and table sprinkled through out a huge, open area. Coffee wasn't my thing, so I ordered a berry smoothie before picking an old eighties couch in the far corner. The couch was a purplish color and really lumpy. Edward came back and sit at the end, with me leaning against him, taking up the whole couch.

"Thanks for last night, again," I said. I was still a little worried about that. I didn't even want to think about what I'd said in my sleep either. Edward took my head in his hands and bent down so that he was staring directly into my eyes. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when we were interrupted by a college kid carrying our drinks. Edward took them and passed mine to me. I noticed he had a coffee and I hoped he doesn't get coffee breath. He took a sip and returned to the whole face-in-hands-while-staring-in-my-eyes thing.

"I don't mind. I actually loved waking up with you, so forget it. Tonight, you can sleep in my room if you want," he said, releasing my face and picking up his coffee. I kept staring at him. He looked up, confused, until it hit him. "Of course, that is only if you want to. That was not what I meant at all," he said quickly, trying to cover up his blunder.

"I understand its fine. I loved waking up with you too. I don't usually have nightmares, just for the record."

"I know. It must have been one heck of a dream though. I'm amazed your parents didn't wake up with how loud you were," Edward said. The two of us sipped our drinks in silence for a while.

"I'm sorry for asking you to stay last night. I wasn't awake-" I was interrupted by Edward's hand on my mouth.

"Stop apologizing. I'm glad I could help and you don't need to apologize for anything." I nodded and Edward's serious expression disappeared, his hand came off my mouth. I took a sip of my light-tasting berry smoothie, my mouth still tingling from where his hand had been. I smiled, at peace on this ugly eighties couch in what I thought would be a place I would hate. But, I decided, the view from my window makes everything OK.


AN: I've noticed something: I get a lot of story alerts and the like in the middle of the day when most people should be at shcool.... Thanks, Emma