Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

All original characters, plots, and the storyline contained within this derivative work are the property of Lazykate. This story may not be reproduced or reposted without permission from the author. This story is rated M for Mature and is not intended for anyone under the age of eighteen.

Chapter Nine

BPOV

I could feel myself starting to drift back towards consciousness, but with the sensation came an overwhelming sense of disorientation and a thick pounding in my head. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and woozy didn't even begin to describe how my stomach felt. It was like the worst hangover I'd ever had in my life.

What the fuck had happened?

I groaned softly and forced my eyes open, slowly in case there was any sunlight to pierce my eyeballs, but they were met only with darkness. My disorientation increased. What the...

There was a shifting of weight next to me, and I suddenly realized I wasn't alone in the bed. Holy fuck what did I do?

"Bella? Are you awake?"

The moment I heard his voice, some of my disorientation melted away. Edward, I was with Edward. But where was I? Why couldn't I remember how I'd gotten here? "Yeah, I'm awake." My response came out as a croak, and I was shocked at how raspy my voice was. "I'm just...confused."

The bed shifted again, and then there was a click just before a soft glow lit the room, silhouetting Edward's figure. I cringed away from the sudden illumination, squinting as the thumping in my head steadily increased.

"Here, you need to drink some more water. How are you feeling?"

I accepted the bottle of water from him gratefully. "Not very good."

"Drink," he urged, and I tipped the bottle up to my lips. Oh God, it was the best-tasting water I'd ever had in my life, I hadn't even realized how thirsty I was. I sucked it down greedily, not stopping until I'd drained the entire bottle.

"Can I have more, please?" Well, at least my voice was a little less raspy now.

"Let's wait a few minutes and make sure that stays down first. It doesn't do you any good if it all comes right back up again."

I sighed and slumped back against the pillows, then looked around curiously. "Where are we?"

"My apartment. What do you remember?"

The fuzz in my head was slowly starting to clear, and I blinked furiously as I tried to recall how I'd ended up here. I remembered him picking me up...the 5k...and then things got very confusing. "What happened?"

Edward plucked the empty water bottle from my hand and set it on the bedside table before settling back down beside me. "You got overheated, and were one degree away from full-on heatstroke. I took you to the first aid tent and they got you cooled down. My father treated you, actually."

Dread was starting to squeeze my chest as a few memories began trickling back.

"When they decided you were stable enough, I brought you back here, I figured it would be safer for you to spend the night with your own personal doctor on call."

"Uh huh," I said faintly, before looking down. I was wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt and what felt like sleep shorts underneath the blanket. "How..."

"I didn't undress you," Edward reassured me quickly. "You were wrapped in a blanket when they released you from the first aid tent, and I'd already called Emmett to get to Rosalie. They met us here, and Rosalie helped you get changed and into bed. You really don't remember any of it?"

"I don't...I don't think so. My head hurts too much to try to remember."

"You're still pretty dehydrated. Between the heat and that heavy sweatshirt you were wearing, your body temperature was up to one hundred and four degrees. Heatstroke is nothing to mess around with, Bella, I'm thankful you're okay." His words were a gentle admonishment, but his eyes were still concerned.

"Thank you for taking care of me."

"It was my pleasure. Not every patient is special enough to rate a spot in the treating physician's bed."

I cracked a small smile at his words, and his expression relaxed immediately. "Are you hungry at all? It's almost two o'clock in the morning."

"No...just very thirsty."

"I'll go get you some more water. You just rest, go back to sleep if you want to." Edward climbed out of the bed, grabbing the empty bottle, and I noticed for the first time that he was wearing just a t-shirt and boxers himself. "Are you sure you don't want some crackers or anything like that?"

"No, thank you."

"All right, but first thing in the morning I'm making you a proper breakfast, young lady." He grinned at me, and I smiled again before he turned and walked out the door, presumably toward the kitchen.

The moment his shadow disappeared down the hall, I shoved up the sleeve of the long-sleeved t-shirt and examined my wrist. The bedside lamp Edward had turned on cast only a gentle glow, but I could still see the faint red of the rope burn there. Fuck fuck fuck! A memory flickered from the back of my mind...a kind calm voice, a female nurse pulling my sweatshirt and tank top off, an exam. This was not good.

The kind voice I'd heard, the one that had reassured me in the fuzzy blackness that had threatened to pull me under...it had been Edward's father. Well hello there, Dr. Cullen, how do you like my rope burns? Did you see the hickey too? And did you tell your son about them?

I heard footsteps padding back down the hallway, and I yanked the sleeve back down over my wrist, then tugged it down to my knuckles for good measure. Edward reappeared in the doorway gripping two more bottles of water and a box of Saltines.

"Here you go, and I brought the crackers too, just in case."

"Thank you," I murmured, accepting the bottle of water from him. I drained half of it as he sat carefully back down on his side of the bed.

"Is this okay?"

"Is what okay?"

"Me, ah, being here with you. I can go sleep on the couch if it would make you more comfortable."

Realization dawned across my mind. "Oh...no! No, I'm the one inconveniencing you, I'm not going to throw you out of your own bed."

"It's hardly an inconvenience," he contradicted. "Like I said, not many patients get this kind of treatment."

"Not many?" I queried, arching an eyebrow at him as I took another drink of water.

"Nope, you have to be a member of the VIP Patients Club to get in here. With gold card status." He winked playfully, and I rolled my eyes.

"Jesus, Edward...I am so embarrassed right now. I can't believe I let myself get that hot."

"Don't worry, Bella, you weren't the only one. My dad said the first aid tent was busy even before the race got started."

"Um," I muttered, picking at the bedspread with my free hand. "Did he say anything else...about me?"

Edward frowned. "No, why?"

"So I'm...okay?"

"Oh! Yes...he wouldn't have let me take you if you were in really bad shape. You just need to take it easy for the next couple of days, drink plenty of fluids, and give your body a chance to recuperate. Doctors' orders...from both of us."

I said a little prayer of thanks for what was either Dr. Cullen's sense of discretion, or extremely poor eyesight. "I guess I can handle that."

"You don't have a choice, I'm not letting you out of my sight until you're eating and drinking normally again. In the meantime, you should probably try to go back to sleep."

I polished off the last of my bottle of water again, and then looked at him closely. He looked as tired as I felt. "Have you gotten any sleep?"

"I've been dozing, off and on. I couldn't really fall asleep until I knew for certain that you were going to be okay."

"I'm okay," I said immediately. "Why don't we both try to pass out...you especially. You've got to be exhausted."

Edward didn't answer immediately, and instead reached out to smooth back a few locks of hair that had pulled free from my ponytail. "I was so worried about you," he finally said, in a much quieter voice. "I couldn't have slept even if I wanted to."

I swallowed hard as his finger brushed my cheek, suddenly acutely aware that we were both half-dressed, and in his bed. The moment may have not been the most romantic, but it was definitely intimate, more so than any others we'd shared. And he must have been just tired enough to drop his mask of professional concern, because his green eyes lingered on me for a little longer than they ever had before.

"I just lay here and listened to you breathe...I wanted to make sure you kept breathing. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been okay."

"I'm...I'm sorry I put you through that. I was stupid."

He shook his head slowly. "Don't blame yourself for heatstroke, Bella."

"I'm not blaming myself for the heatstroke...just the factors that led up to it. I should have told you I wasn't feeling up to it."

"Why didn't you?"

I took a long deep breath, feeling my heartbeat accelerate as he ran his fingers back over those errant strands of hair again, tucking them behind my ear. "I wanted to spend the day with you."

He grinned faintly. "We could have made an appearance and then bailed, you know."

"I don't think your mom would have appreciated that."

"She would have gotten over it." Now his fingers were curled, and gently stroking along my cheekbone. "I wanted to spend the day with you too, I didn't care what we did."

"I'm sorry..." I started again, only to be cut off by his finger against my lips. Immediately I felt as though every single drop of blood in me rushed straight there, dancing and bubbling under his touch.

"No more apologizing."

"But I feel bad."

"What's the best way to get you to hush up with the apologies?" He was leaning in closer to me now, and every nerve in my body crackled and stood on end, like static electricity, like magic.

"I'm sure you can figure it out," I breathed, and he smiled again.

"Uh huh."

That was the last thing he got out before his lips met mine, hot and firm, but gentle and soft all at the same time. They caught and clung, oh-so-slowly moving, urging, tempting, and pulling, until the tip of his tongue teased its way along the curve of my lower lip, and then he broke away only slightly, just long enough to whisper my name: "Oh Bella..."

It was like flipping a switch somewhere; my exhausted body suddenly sizzled to life, a heady rush of desire screaming its way through my veins. Without any conscious thought, I pressed closer to him, balancing myself on one elbow so I could cup his face in my hands, mutely begging him to move closer...closer...

His hand slipped down quickly from my hair, running along my side and then snaking its way around my waist until his arm was wrapped around me, using that leverage to pull my upper body against his. In an instant, my arms were wrapped around his neck and he was moving over me, gently pushing me back down into the mattress. I moaned into his mouth as I felt the weight of his body on mine, a contact that made arousal flare hotter throughout my body.

He deepened our kiss then, and my tongue met his as he parted my eager lips. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this incredibly turned on by a kiss, by the heavy hard press of a man's body against mine, by the fingers that were sliding down to cup my hips. The rasp of his stubble against my chin and cheeks, the absolute confidence and assurance he exuded, as though he knew my body better than I knew it myself...it was overwhelming, but I wanted more.

Edward sucked my lower lip between his and then nipped at it gently, moaning in approval as I scratched my fingernails down the lean muscles of his back, stopping at his waist. I gave a slight tug, hoping that he'd take the initiative and settle between my thighs so I could feel the full length of his body against me. One tug, then another, but instead of moving over me, he pulled back slightly, breaking our kiss.

"Bella...oh God..."

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

"I shouldn't be doing this...you went through so much today, you don't have to..."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them again, his expression was calmer. "Believe me when I tell you how very much I want to keep going. But I can't. Not until your body is back to normal…I don't think you realize yet what a profound shock heatstroke can be to your system. I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Edward…"

"Shhh," he interrupted smoothly. "For my conscience, if nothing else?"

I pouted at him. "Are you playing doctor right now?"

"I'm not playing, I mean it. I'm not saying no, I'm saying not now. Okay?"

His face was completely resolute, and I realized that nothing was going to sway him. "Can I kiss you in the morning?"

"Absolutely. Now drink some more water and try to get some sleep."

"Will you stay in here, with me?"

The doctor mask slipped away as that sexy cocky grin twisted his lips up. "As long as you're not kicking me out, I'm not going anywhere."

xoxoxoxo

Waking up for the second time was nowhere near as confusing and painful as it had been in the middle of the night. I drifted up from fuzzy dreams to a vague memory of the night before, and realization of where I was now.

I lay quietly, my body slowly following my mind into wakefulness, and becoming aware of a warm solid form pressed up behind me, a heavy arm tossed over my waist. Edward.

I knew by his even, measured breathing that he was still asleep, and I hoped to keep him that way for as long as possible. If what I remembered was right, he hadn't really slept at all until after I'd awoken for the first time. It was Sunday morning, neither of us had anywhere we needed to be other than right here.

Thankfully, all of the water Edward had pushed me to drink hours earlier had eased my dehydration symptoms considerably; my headache was only a faint pang now, although the cotton-mouth feeling was still there. I opened my eyes long enough to locate another bottle that I knew Edward had placed on my nightstand, and I caught a glimpse of the clock radio behind it. 9:30am. Huh.

I propped myself up just enough to drink the entire bottle of water, gently put it back on the nightstand, and then slowly snuggled back against Edward's body again. He sighed slightly, his arm tightening around my waist, and then quiet little snores began escaping him. It was utterly adorable.

Gently resting my hand on the arm that secured me against him, I thought back over the events of the previous day with a far clearer head than before. Trying to do the 5k had been my first wrong move, I'd known even the night before that my body was exhausted and not up for that kind of exertion, walking or not. Trying to hide the evidence of the rope burns with a stiflingly-heavy sweatshirt had been my second. I had no one but myself to blame for everything that had happened.

Maybe Dr. Cullen hadn't noticed the burns and the hickey. Or if he did, maybe he thought they were from something else. Hell, maybe he thought that his son and I had been up to some kinky hijinks. You never knew.

May bees don't fly in September. I remembered Charlie telling me that on more than one occasion. He'd hated the word maybe, he'd liked things to be settled upon, in black and white. I wished I'd inherited more of his decisiveness.

Because right now, indecisive had gotten me into more trouble than I could have prevented if I'd been honest right off the bat. Back in the parking lot of the golf dome, when Edward had told me his thoughts about Rosalie, I should have taken that moment to drop the bombshell. He might have been floored, but at least he could have processed it before either of us had feelings getting in the way. Too late for that now.

The gleam in Edward's eyes when he'd brushed my hair back the night before…his words to me… I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been okay. His kisses that made me tingle and ache even as I thought about them now. I'd come perilously close to breaking the no-sex-until-he-knows rule, because I wanted him.

I wanted him physically, that was no surprise to me at all. From our instant chemistry on our blind date to the kisses we'd had the night before...I was an adult woman, not some quaking virgin who was going to deny something we both obviously wanted.

But I wanted more than that too. I'd had enough meaningless sex to fill up a lifetime, but I wanted something real with Edward. The bond that Alice and Jasper shared, the immediate connection Rosalie and Emmett had recognized in each other. I wanted Edward, and I wanted him to want me too. Not the Bella he thought he knew, but the real one. Me with all my faults, baggage, and issues, the woman that my friends knew and loved anyway. All of me.

Edward stirred slightly just then, and I slowly turned in his arms until I was laying on my back, looking at the mind-bogglingly sexy sight of Dr. Edward Cullen waking up beside me. He blinked sleepily and a lazy smile just barely crept over his lips. "What a nice thing to wake up to."

"Good morning to you too."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, much better."

He hummed approvingly, shut his eyes again, and burrowed his face back into the pillow. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten. I take it you're not a morning person?"

He yawned into the pillow and I heard his jaw pop. "Not at all, it takes a little bit for me to get going. And coffee."

"I can go…" I started, pushing the covers back and preparing to sit up, but his arm tightened around my waist.

"Nuh-uh. You in my bed is better than coffee."

I willingly snuggled back up against him, and was rewarded with a soft kiss on my shoulder. "I had such nice dreams," he mumbled. "Dreams about kissing you, making love to you."

My heart tripped over a few beats, and I wondered if I'd heard that quite right. "What?"

Mischievous green eyes emerged from the pillow he'd gone face-down into as he rolled to face me. "They were very good dreams."

"It sounds like it." Felt like it too, if the firmness pressing against my thigh was what I was 99.9% sure it was. "Are you sure you're completely awake?"

"No…but if I'm dreaming again, I'll take it."

Me having to lay down the cockblock just felt so damn wrong, I wanted to cry at the injustice of it all. "Edward…"

"I know we haven't known each other long, and you can just tell me if you're not ready, but God I want you, Bella. You're so beautiful…so goddamn sexy…"

"I…"

"I've wanted you from the first night we met. It's driving me crazy…and I know we haven't been together that long, but if you want me too…"

"Of course I want you," I said desperately. This whole situation was karma kicking me in the ass, irony bitch-slapping me, and topped off with a heaping dose of raging sexual frustration. Laying there, listening to this gorgeous man tell me exactly how much he wanted me…this was a textbook example of life isn't fair.

The arm he still had fixed around my waist slid back then, just enough for his hot hand to slip up under my long-sleeved t-shirt and start to rub the skin of my stomach. Desire that I hadn't felt in years was running thick and quick through my veins now, heating and electrifying me just a few inches south of where Edward's fingers were caressing me.

"If you want me to stop, just say the word," he breathed, and then he was kissing me.

Some distant, squawking, rational part of my brain knew that he had to still be half-asleep, or that his inhibitions had been significantly lowered by the fact that I'd spent the night in his bed. For Edward to go from zero to ninety, after stopping me the night before, had to be a sign that he was following his body more than his brain this morning. But I liked that.

I liked the feeling of his free hand curling into my hair to tilt my head back, exposing my neck for him to kiss. I liked the rigid length of his erection that he was pushing unashamedly against me now. I liked the uneven rasp of his breath as he moved his body to cover mine the way he'd refused to just a few hours ago. And I loved the images that were spilling into my brain, as visually explicit as anything I'd imagined since meeting him: the muscles of his back flexing as he thrust into me. His lips half-parted in a gasping moan. Teeth biting tender flesh just enough to cause an erotic sting. And how gorgeous his face would be when he came hard inside of me.

It was his fumbling at the bedside table drawer that snapped me out of it faster than a bucket of ice water. "Edward…oh God…stop, we've got to stop…"

He blinked at me hazily, but he froze immediately. "Bella?"

"We can't…I mean, I want to, so bad, but we can't."

Realization began to dawn across his face, followed swiftly by disappointment. "It's okay, I understand."

"No, it's just…" I was grasping now, looking for anything to dig me out of the mess I'd thrown us so quickly into. "I can't. But let me…" My hands were moving without any rational thought on my part, gripping him through his boxers, trying to pop the one flimsy button that held the fly shut.

He groaned as my hands molded around his thick length. "What…what are you doing?"

"Let me give you a blowjob," I offered desperately. Something that would give him release, and no small amount of enjoyment and satisfaction for me too. But something safe.

"Wait, what?" Both his hands were on my shoulders now.

"Please, let me just give you a blowjob since I can't…we can't…" I could hear myself babbling, but even I could tell that I wasn't making any sense, and Edward obviously thought the same thing.

"Bella, baby, stop. Just stop. It's okay, take it easy…come on…" And with that he was crushing me to his chest, and I was crying. Maybe all the humiliation and stress of the previous day had been bottled up and hiding somewhere deep inside, I didn't know. But I did know that now I was just bawling into his neck and it was pathetic.

"I'm…sorry…"

"You need to stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault." His tone was light, but his words were firm. "We got a little carried away, a little too much, too fast. I told you to let me know if you wanted to stop, did you think I would be mad?"

"I don't…know!" I hiccuped.

"Bella…shhhh, I'm not mad. How could I be? You haven't bashed me over the head with a lamp or run screaming yet, so that gives a guy hope. I'll wait as long as you want me to. I didn't mean to push you into more than you're comfortable with."

His words only made me cry harder. I didn't deserve this, I didn't deserve this much kindness and complete misunderstanding from a guy who was better than I deserved on a good day. He thought he'd pushed me past my comfort zone, when I was really freaking out because I hadn't told him yet that I'd had exponentially more sex partners than him, in positions he'd never tried, and it was all available for $29.99 a throw.

He kissed the top of my head, his arms wrapped around me in a warm reassuring hug, all sexual innuendo gone now. I cried until my eyes burned and the headache from the night before returned. And even when I was done crying, he kept me tight in his arms, surrounding me with everything good and pure that I wanted in a relationship. Kindness. Trust. And maybe even a little love.

I felt gentle fingers brush across my forehead before he pressed a kiss there. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." My voice was dull. "I don't know where that came from."

"Remember what I told you last night? You had a tremendous shock to your system yesterday, Bella, you've got to expect that you'll be a little out of it for a few more hours."

I shook my head and tried fruitlessly to pull away. "I feel so dumb."

"I'm getting tired of you dogging on my girl all the time, you know." It took a moment for what he'd said to register in my tired brain, but when it did, I looked up at him. He grinned when our eyes met. "Yeah, we're moving a lot faster than I'd ever thought I could, but I like to think of you as my girl. Is that okay?"

I coughed dryly, guilt battling with a sudden soaring in my chest at his words. Edward immediately twisted and reached down to the floor on his side of the bed, coming up with yet another bottle of water. "Drink more, please."

He watched as I took long slow sips, and several quiet minutes slipped by before he spoke again. "My parents are expecting me at eleven-thirty…they always host a brunch for the winners of the 5k and a few other guests the day afterward. Will you come with me?"

Nervousness twisted in my gut at the thought of facing Carlisle and Esme Cullen again so soon after my dramatic departure the day before. "I'm…I'm going to take a raincheck this time, Edward. I think it might be a good idea for me to go home and get some more sleep…try and get myself back in operating order."

"Okay," he said immediately. "I understand. Can I call you later, then?"

"Actually…" I took a deep breath, if I didn't do this now, I never would. "Are you free tonight, for dinner? I'd like to talk to you when I've calmed down a little."

"Yeah, sure…unless you're going to hit me with an 'I really like you, but...' speech." His grin told me he was joking, but there was a flash of nervousness in his eyes.

"No, nothing like that," I reassured him quickly. "I just have some things I want to tell you, some stuff I think you need to know."

"Okay," he replied slowly. "When should I come pick you up?"

"Why don't I meet you there?" I wanted to have my own getaway car in case Edward decided I was a disgusting whore and that he never wanted to see me again. "It's just this dumpy little dive bar, but they have great pizza…Alice, Rose and I love it."

He wasn't happy about me driving separately, I could tell, but he didn't argue with me. I gave him directions to the bar, and then came a moment of awkwardness when we both shuffled out of the bed, him looking for pants, me looking for my shoes.

I made coffee for both of us while he took a quick shower, emerging considerably more alert and spiffy from the bathroom despite his tousled wet hair. I handed him a travel mug and he took a long drink before sighing happily and planting a kiss on the top of my head. This was much safer ground, the world we'd slipped into while in the bed had dissolved away.

He dropped me off at my apartment before heading over to his parents, and we shared a sweet goodbye kiss. I could tell he was feeling more at ease, and I kissed him once again before opening the car door.

"Tonight at seven?"

"I'll see you there…and their pizza had better be good!"

He drove off and I dragged myself upstairs, fatigue suddenly hitting me more forcefully than I'd expected. It was as though my body was going into a self-induced shut down and reset after the physical and emotional turmoil I'd heaped on it, and I decided that just crawling into bed until it was time to get up and ready to meet Edward would be in my best interest.

Rosalie's bedroom door was shut so I made a beeline for my own room, slowly shucking off clothes as I went. I climbed into the quiet safety of my own bed, and fell asleep so quickly it was more like blacking out.

A muffled but shrill ringing awoke me with a start some time later, and I immediately realized it was my cell phone, inside my purse where I'd left it early the previous morning. I stumbled over to the dresser and snatched it out; it was a 415 number, but not one that I recognized. I didn't normally answer phone numbers I didn't know, but I was still half-asleep and automatically hit the green answer button before thinking about it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Bella? This is Dr. Carlisle Cullen…Edward's father."

.

xoxoxoxo

A/N:

So guess what? I have good news! This chapter was originally going to be much much longer, until I realized I'd pretty much tried to cram two chapters into one. I'm leaving you with another evil cliffie, but the next chapter is already half-written! Huzzah!

And is it too early to start making Christmas lists? Because if not, the first thing on MY list is an Edward in my bed who wakes up ready to go like that! But since my husband would probably get a little grumpy over it, I'll settle for an EPOV first thing in the next chap (which, hey, I've already written!) to see what was going on in that gorgeous head of his.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter at lazykatevamp!

And to everyone here in the States...HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm one of many who do have to report for work tomorrow...but on the bright side, I'm taking advantage of the lack of supervisors to write smut all day! Yay!

Talk to you soon!