SM owns Twilight... I own a well used mini-van...
CHAPTER 9
-BPOV-
I closed the door to the spare bedroom behind me, leaned against it and sighed.
The memories that flooded my head were too good to be true, but I wouldn't have traded any of them. The lingering heat from his touch had spread throughout my entire body, leaving me engulfed in warmth.
I stripped quickly out of my clothes, being careful with the accessories Alice had lent me, then, I reached into my overnight bag and got my sleeping attire. I didn't really think about what I had packed but I had brought a form fitting black tank top and yoga pants set that hugged my curves pretty well. The fabric was always comfortable to sleep in and I figured waking up in house full of my friends warranted more than just a ripped up pair of stretched out sweatpants and an old ratty worn out band t-shirt.
I slipped underneath the covers relishing in the feel of the sheets as I stretched my legs feeling the coolness throughout my limbs. The past nights events strolled through my head as I closed my eyes. Sleeping should be easy to acquire since I was pretty tired both emotionally and physically.
I went to grab my mother's arm to pull her out of the flaming car, but she was all ash and dust, a disfigured version of the beautiful woman she once was. I was breathing somewhat erratic as the scene in front of me played out in my nightmare. Just then, she opened her eyes. The white orbs against charred skin startled me and I pulled back, releasing her arm. 'It's OK honey, I'm right here' she spoke through cracked and charred lips. I cried out as she turned her head my way and reached for my arm.
I woke up screaming and whimpering relentlessly, yet again.
I most likely wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.
I clung to the blankets on top of me, willing the sun to come up soon. Of all nights, tonight I wished Edward would have made an appearance in my dreams instead of being assaulted by my guilty subconscious. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I tried desperately to erase the nightmare from my vision.
I peered at the alarm clock; it was now 5:43 am. I had slept only 2 hours and was fully aware that my friends would be sleeping in well past noon today. I was in it for the long run.
I made a mental list of things I could do. I could walk home, and leave a note here for Alice. I could also try harder to sleep, but my mind kept wandering to my mother's face every time I closed my eyes, making sleep impossible to come by. Any scenario seemed impossible.
I twisted and turned in the sheets as thoughts of Edward sleeping somewhere in the house crept up in my mind, waking up a whole other part of my brain.
My emotions were all over the place, distress and anxiety settling in. I was desperately trying to occupy my head while willing the clock to tick faster. Walking home at 6 am would look bad, but walking home at 9 wouldn't go noticed, or at least I'd hoped not.
I decided to get up and go to the kitchen, maybe a glass of water would help settle my nerves.
I opened my bedroom door and yelped at the dark figure standing in the doorway while I grabbed at my chest with both hands and struggled to steady my breathing.
"Bella, are you OK?" I peered into the emerald eyed beauty standing in front of me and without uttering a single word; I got hold of his arm and brought him into the room with me, closing the door behind us.
"Stay with me?" I asked, looking up at him, pleading.
"OK" He nodded seemingly surprised by me request, but followed me anyways.
I chewed on my bottom lip nervously, debating whether or not this was a good idea after everything else that had happened, but I decided that if Edward wanted to be with me, I'd take whatever he was willing to part with.
I lead him to the bed, pulled the covers off of it a bit and got underneath them, scooting over and leaving enough room for him to follow my lead. He did.
We laid on our sides, facing each other, but no words were spoken.
I brought my hand up to his hair and let my fingers move through the soft tendrils as our eyes peered into one another.
I noticed his eyes closing briefly and opening again as his breathing struggled to even out. He was fighting the sleep that was threatening to overtake his body.
He looked peaceful and beautiful, the irony of the situation not lost on me. I was, almost, sleeping with Edward and it was completely innocent.
He put his arm around me and pulled me closer, leaving it around my waist. I could feel his soft breath on my skin as I inhaled his scent.
The rhythmic breathing and subtle feel of his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.
-EPOV-
I headed upstairs, thinking of Bella, but knowing full well I shouldn't go to her. My legs were doing something my mind wasn't quite agreeing with.
I looked around the kitchen and making sure to keep the noise down, I got a garbage bag and picked up some of the trash that had been left lying around. I was keeping myself busy, knowing full well that letting my mind wander over to the hallway leading to the spare bedroom, I wouldn't look back.
I heard a low whimpering sound coming from down the hall, it was her. I knew her enough to know what those sounds meant. She was dreaming, and not a good dream. I had heard those cries many times over the years and had wondered about her nightmares, but never brought myself up to asking about them. I could now, I needed to know what plagued her dreams so much.
After I had done my part putting away empty bottles and cans as well as sweeping the floors and pulling some decorations off of the walls, I couldn't keep away. I was going to go see her, even if it meant sneaking in there, just to make sure she was OK. What if the noises had nothing to do with her habitual nightmares, what if she was crying about something I did?
Making my way down the hall, I heard movement coming from inside the room. My cleaning had woken her. I had to tell her I was sorry, using that as an excuse to see her.
I stood outside her door and debated whether or not I should knock.
The door opened to a startled Bella, peering up at me, grabbing at her chest.
"Bella, are you OK?" I asked, worried I had scared her half to death, but she surprised me by grabbing my arm and pulling me into the room, closing the door behind us.
"Stay with me?" She asked, timidly and I couldn't refuse. She looked like she had been crying, the effect the nightmare had on her was obvious on her face.
"OK" Is all I could say, not wanting to say anything that could make either of us more uncomfortable. I couldn't refuse.
She lead me to the bed and crawled in, gesturing for me to get in it beside her. I did willingly.
This was a first for me. I had never slept in the same bed with a girl. I usually had sex with them and sent them on their way. Bella deserved more from me and I would give it all to her willingly.
We laid on our sides, facing each other as she reached into my hair, caressing it making my skin tingle all the way down to my toes, the feeling almost euphoric, forcing my eyes shut as I relaxed letting sleep creep up on me.
Without even thinking, I reached for her and pulled her closer, holding her in my arms as I fell into deep slumber.
It was the best night's sleep I had in a long time.
I woke up refreshed and alert, feeling warmth radiating off of the small body lying next to me. I had turned onto my back during the night and she had nuzzled herself into me, her arm lying gingerly over my chest.
My upper arm was pinned under her neck as her head laid on my shoulder, my lower arm and hand held onto her torso. She had her leg bent over my thigh, slightly grazing my morning wood. Shit. I could also feel the heat radiating off of her core. Fuck, shit.
I didn't want to wake her, laying here with her felt right. I caressed the soft skin of her shoulder with the hand that wasn't on her hip. Her breathing was even, the nightmares that had plagued her the night before had obviously subsided, I was grateful for that.
I looked closely at her face, noticing the light freckles on her nose and the pink hue of her cheeks. Her lips looked soft and warm, they parted perfectly as she exhaled. She was truly perfect, beautiful.
Her eyes opened slightly and she smiled brightly, looking into my eyes.
I could certainly take waking up like this every day.
"Good morning beautiful." I greeted.
"Morning" Her smile grew as she stretched out her legs, grazing my hardness. Again.
She must have noticed because her cheeks grew a couple of shades deeper and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, chewing on it nervously. Her eyes went from my face down to my crotch before settling back onto my face.
"Sorry" she whispered as she looked into my eyes from under her lashes.
"It's OK, nothing I can do to stop it... not your fault." I replied sheepishly.
"Oh...uhm... yeah... I'm sorry about last night." She furrowed her brow. "I couldn't sleep and... I just..." she trailed off not finishing her sentence.
"For what?... I couldn't sleep either." I didn't know what to say. She had nothing to be sorry about, my inability to fall asleep had woken her up. She wasn't the one that needed to apologize.
We laid there quietly for several more minutes, basking in the warmth of each others' bodies as I drew soft circles on her hip with my thumb, enjoying the feel of her soft skin under my calloused hand.
"It's already past noon." she proclaimed, peeking at the alarm clock.
"I know, fuck, I don't want to get up." I wanted to lay with her, even innocently, anything near her made my existence better. Her presence did something to me, but I couldn't put a name on it. I felt something stir inside me that had never been there before. It was scary and exiting at the same time.
"I don't either." Se agreed with a sigh. "But I have to pee." She continued lowering her voice and biting her bottom lip.
I hugged her close to me before releasing her. She jumped off of the bed and turned, smiling sheepishly as her eyes roamed over my body. Her rose coloured cheeks deepened in colour as she gave me a crooked smile, turned around and left the room without uttering a single word.
I got out of bed, wishing I had brought my pants upstairs with me. I hoped everybody else was still asleep so I could make my way downstairs to retrieve my clothes.
As I had thought, everyone was still in bed, the house was quiet as I made my way to the basement and dressed in last nights' clothes. I then straightened out my makeshift bed and put away the linens.
I heard footsteps coming thought the ceiling so I knew someone, probably and preferably Bella, was roaming around the house.
Making my way upstairs, the faint sound of Emmett's and Jasper's voices filtered through the walls and I was instantly grateful they hadn't caught me leaving Bella's room.
We chattered about the party and they asked about Bella, but I didn't give away anything. I wanted to talk to her first and I certainly didn't want to cheapen what was already going to be a bit awkward. I decided to follow her lead. She had showed me in few words that she could be a bit more comfortable around me and I'd hoped she'd keep that shit up.
Alice made her way over to us, chirping loudly, as she looked around a fairly clean room, noting that I had done an exceptionally good job. If only she knew I only did it to stop myself from being too forward with Bella.
Rose followed suit, groggily making her way over to the coffee pot, filling it with fresh coffee and water then turning it on. She then looked me up and down, made a disgusted face and plopped herself onto Emmett's lap.
"Where's Bella?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"Bathroom, I think she's in the shower... you miss her already?' Alice chuckled as she grabbed an empty cup from the cupboard and stood restlessly by the coffee maker.
"No... I mean... uhm... shit." I shook my head and dropped my gaze to the floor, unable to look at any of them in the face.
"So, what happened last night?" Rose asked, she seemed genuine in her question so I felt no need to tell her to fuck off, even if instinctively, I wanted to do just that.
"None of your business." At my statement they all laughed and stared at me, waiting, probably hoping I'd slip up and tell them everything. But I didn't.
The smell of coffee filled the room and we all sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of the black liquid. Bella hadn't showed up yet and I was worried. Was she waiting for me to leave to come join the rest of her friends?
Just as my worries had threatened to make me divulge anything, Bella walked into the room and smiled when we made eye contact. I couldn't help but smile back.
She had showered and tied her wet hair up in a ponytail. The water had taken the makeup off of her face, leaving her skin glowing and natural. She was definitely fucking beautiful.
The chatter around us quieted as our friends seemed to dart from Bella to me knowingly.
"Finally, jeez Bells, took you long enough... were you waiting for Eddie boy here to join you?" Emmett asked. Fucking perverted motherfucker.
"Shut the fuck up." I retorted angrily as Bella's cheeks deepened in colour.
Emmett apologized as I glared at him angrily. Bella poured herself a cup of coffee and joined us at the table. We all discussed what needed to be done to get the house back to 'normal' before Rose and Jazz's parents got home. Emmett stated he had a hangover to which I was glad I had stopped drinking. Bella didn't speak much. She had gone back to staying in the background and it almost felt like always except this time, I'd found myself looking in her direction, catching her eye and making her blush bashfully every time.
We went ahead and did our assigned tasks and since I had done most of the actual picking up during the night, to which everyone seemed grateful, we were done in record time.
Em and Jazz helped me load Alice's large boxes of decorations into my car as the girls lingered inside the house making sure to discard of any and all evidence of the party.
We then all met in the living room. Glancing around, I noticed how my friends had coupled up one by one, or two by two as it were. Rose nuzzled into Emmett's chest and wrapping her arms around his large frame while he kissed the top of her head and Alice sat in Jasper's lap on the large chair in the corner. The all looked so fucking happy.
Bella and I were left out of this equation but I hoped it wasn't for long, last night's events had certainly put into motion something I'd make sure to continue, if she'd let me.
I motioned to Bella who was sitting on the sofa looking intently at her hands and fiddling nervously with the skin around her fingernails.
"You want a ride to my house to pick up your truck." I asked, nervously, hoping to talk to her alone and maybe kiss her again.
Fuck, I wanted to kiss her again.
She nodded and smiled as she looked up at me, she then stood and headed to towards the hallway to get her things from the spare room.
"Don't hurt her dumb-ass." Rose glared at me as Emmett grinned and cocked an eyebrow.
I looked over at Alice who just grinned from ear to ear but she didn't utter a single word. She was definitely acting strange.
Bella came back within a minute or so with an overnight bag in hand. She waved to everybody on the living room a uttered a simple goodbye as she followed me out to my car.
She climbed into the passenger seat as I held the door open for her. Yeah, I wasn't always an ass hole; she deserved to be treated well.
I got into the drivers' seat and started up the car. Pulling out of the driveway, I had no idea as to what to say but thankfully my house wasn't too far away.
I looked over to her out of the corner of my eye and noticed she was looking up at me licking and biting her bottom lip nervously while busying her hands by fiddling with the hem of her shirt. The way her wet lips shimmered in the daylight made her look sexy as hell. If it would have been up to only me I would have stopped the car right there and kissed those lips with every ounce of passion I had in me.
I parked the car in my usual parking spot in our driveway besides Bella's truck. We sat silently in our seats while the electricity fluttered around us endlessly. It seemed to linger whenever Bella was around so I could only assume she felt it too.
I turned in my seat to face her as she mirrored my actions to face me. Neither of us had said anything since Jazz's house and I was growing painfully afraid of what was to come.
Then, unexpectedly, Bella undid her seat belt and in one swift motion, she leaned over the console and kissed me.
Her soft wet lips crashed into mine. As unexpected as that was, I recovered quickly and kissed her back. She wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me closer to her. She sighed.
I had wanted to do that but my Bella was brave. I felt her tongue trace my bottom lip as I opened my mouth to her and met her tongue with mine. We kissed each other deeply an hungrily as my hands made their way around her back. I held her as close to me as I could damning the car's console that stood between us.
I hummed into her mouth, my arousal clearly growing as my dick tried to make its way desperately out of my pants. Bella fingered my hair roughly and I groaned, the feeling of her nails on my scalp sent Goosebumps all the way to my toes. If it wasn't for the fact that we were in my driveway, in the middle of the day, I would be letting the hormonal motherfucker out to play. But I couldn't, not with Bella and certainly not now.
