If you want to,
I can save you,
I can take you, away from here.
So lonely inside,
So busy out there,
And all you wanted was
Somebody to care.

-All You Wanted (Michelle Branch)

NINE:

Edward's shivering ebbs, but slowly. Though it was an epic struggle, Bella eventually gets him into her bed and cocoons him in blankets. Although, at this point, she has seriously doubts about the intelligence of Alice's prodding. Him? And Bella? Alone? With a bed? Bella is a growing girl, and she has hormones. Hormones that make her want to do naughty things. Not to mention she has only known him a few days and at times, and he makes her as nervous as hell. Bella is also sure he still thinks she'll join Jessica's band of skanks.

"Stay, don't wander off," she warns him, getting some clothes out of her drawer before going to the bathroom to get the antiseptic and cotton ball, as well as changing. If he moves a muscle, the wooden bow and arrow are definitely coming out, Bella thinks. That boy drives her batshit crazy sometimes.

When she comes back into her room he is still there, looking over her meagre possessions with his eyes alight with curiosity. "You have no pictures on the walls," he comments, not really expecting an answer. But she gives one.

"I guess I don't feel like I'll be staying here forever."

"That's a shame," he replies light-heartedly, though something was clearly stewing beneath his tone. Instead of letting Bella dwell on it, he decides to whine a little.

"Cut hurts," he murmurs pitifully, looking up at Bella through his eyelashes. "Pet me?"

Bella laughs at the similarities he shares with a little boy.

"How about our ol' pal antiseptic instead?" She grins at the terrified expression that has replaced the faux- pathetic look. She tries to open the bottle in her hand but can't. Bella hates her bottle of antiseptic – it was childproof, so she has to push down and turn the lid to open it. Unfortunately for Bella, the bottle hates her and it never opens, no matter how hard she pushes down. But I'm not a child! She shouts at the bottle, mentally. Want to see the hair on my taco? It's all the evidence you need! But the bottle isn't listening, or decides to ignore her offer, which is totally unreasonable in Bella's opinion.

An evil smile graces Edward's face at the sight of her struggle.

"You do it then," she shoves the liquid bitch into his hands, where Edward lets it lie.

"Well?" she urges.

"Well?" he mimics.

"Open it."

"Would you be willing to burn your forehead off?" He smirks at her silently building anger, evident in her eyes." I didn't think so. This is one thing that will just have to stay unopened."

"Fuck, just do it," she comes close to shaking him by his asshole shoulders, but resists. "Do you seriously want to risk an infection? This coming from the son of a fucking doctor?" She cannot believe the tenacity of this guy.

"Imagine being a fucking doctor," he says in a wistful tone, looking out the window. "A doctor who treats people suffering from fucking…"

"Oh will you shut up and open it!" Bella fumes. If there was any justice in the world, Edward's skin would blister by the heat of her anger.

"Settle down before you hurt yourself," he says. He plays with the bottle in his hands, twirling the cap with his fingers. He throws it between his hands and the glint in his eyes show that he is fully aware of the effect it has on Bella.

"You are such a twit," she says in false calmness.

"I know," a corner of his mouth turns up. "I like annoying you." He relents and untwists the cap, finally. Bella breathes a loud sigh of relief, increasing the amusement of the twit.

She snatches the bottle from his grip before he can close it again, wets the cotton ball with the liquid and rubs it gently onto Edward's forehead. He winces, but doesn't make a sound, until she presses down slightly out of spite. "Shit! Careful!" he yelps, provoking a chuckle out of Bella.

"Bitch," he says, while trying to smirk over his yawn.

"You fucking too," she mock-glares. Bella can see he was falling asleep, a side effect of his pills he told her, so she pulls up the blankets to his neck so he was swathed in them like an ailing child.

"Do you mind if I sleep?" he asks, sleepily. It was obvious there was no choice but to give permission – he was in the bed in the first place because he needs to warm up, he couldn't leave yet, and if he's falling asleep then there's no way she could just say 'lie there and don't sleep'. Though she didn't know what she'd do with herself if he did sleep – was she expected to keep a vigil by his side while he slept? Don't be an ass, she reprimands herself. It's your house. Do what the fuck you want.

"Sure," she replies softly. "Just don't shit yourself if you need comfort. Call me instead."

He makes a face and she laughs, then his eyes close, but before he can fall asleep completely, he whispers, "remember, two hours."

Bella would remember.

Bella is feeling charitable after an hour later of watching him and reading, so she decides to run to the store to get some treats before Edward can wake up. She leaves her cell phone number on her bedside table in case he wakes up, but she has her doubts. He's snoring quite boisterously.

She gets some chocolate and salt-and-vinegar chips - she found out earlier that Edward them loves too. They are her favourite flavour. She loves how flavoursome they are, her favourite foods are those which you can taste right down to your intestines. Weak flavouring is almost painful, it's like you're just being teased, in Bella's opinion. She believes the same thing of touch.

She sees the friendly librarian in the store buying milk, and after greetings are exchanged the librarian says, "I haven't had the opportunity to introduce myself – my name is Angela," telling Bella she has to go, because her son's making a mess further down the aisle. Bella is glad – what the fuck are you supposed to say to a twenty-something librarian who's also a mother? Look at the creativity of the pattern of the cereal box you're holding?

When Bella gets back to her home she sees a car in the driveway. Fuck, she thinks. Renee's home.

Bella finds her mother having a cup of coffee in the kitchen – sitting down calmly at the old table and sipping slowly. Bella freezes up instantly – why the fuck is she home? Bella nearly shits herself at the thought of Renee seeing Edward.

"Hello, Bella," Renee greets her daughter in a neutral voice – Bella can't tell if she had seen Edward or not. She wonders if she should just ask her mother outright about Edward – but then if she hadn't seen him, it would be giving his location away. Bella feels royally screwed.

"Hi Mom," Bella returns. She never calls her mother Renee to her face – just in her head and to other people. Renee feels more like a sister to her than a mother at times, especially when her father was such a domineering man and had taken care of them both completely. Bella supposes than now she should call her mother 'mom' all of the time now since Renee is the one taking care of her – more or less – but she is more of a stranger now than a mother. They don't see much of each other, share their thoughts or have many mother-daughter moments anymore. In short, shit has gotten real.

"I'm pissed," Renee says into nothing, twisting the cup around in her palms. Oh fuck, Bella thinks. Shit is about to hit the fan. She braces herself.

"There's this guy at work – "Oh thank god. Bella's brow smooths in relief, and she tries to morph her expression into one of concern so Renee can't get suspicious. "And he's pestering me to go on a date. I might have to take him up on it just to get him to leave me alone," she looks up at her daughter, who doesn't reply with any comments or well-meaning-but-useless-advice. "How was your day, Bella?" Renee says, trying to restart the conversation.

"Fine Mom," Bella replies. She would've given a more expansive answer because she was surprised at Renee's interest and attempts to speak to her, but she feels really stressed about Edward. Had he woken up? What if he yells for her?

"Went somewhere, I see," Renee nods to Bella's shopping bag.

"Uh, yeah, tampons." She couldn't think of anything else that Renee would show no interest in and not desire herself – Bella wants the treats for Edward to cheer him up, not to feed Renee's unhappiness. And that may sound bitchy, but it's how she feels.

Bella decides to wait a few seconds in case Renee wants to add anything, because if Bella just runs upstairs her mother may follow her out of concern, or suspicion. But Renee stays silent, freeing Bella. Bella's mouth wraps in a little smile to placate any doubts Renee might have and almost jogs back upstairs to the boy lying in her bed.

Bella opens the door quietly and closes it with a timid click, in case Edward is still sleeping. But when she turns to him, he isn't there. Worry sets in as she whispers his name into her empty bedroom. "In here," comes out a muffled voice.

"Where," she says back in her normal speaking voice, not too loud in the event of Renee hearing. Though Bella could hear noise from the television downstairs, so chances are Renee won't.

The door to Bella's closet opens slowly and she her gladness exceeds bounds at the fact that Edward didn't choose to come out when she had come in – she probably would have screamed her fucking face off. It's as easy as Jessica to scare Bella.

"Sorry," he apologises. "I thought your mom might come in here," he grins. "My mom snoops in my stuff all the time when I'm not home. It's pretty obvious." Bella had never thought about it, but Renee seems pretty capable of it. But Bella doesn't have anything to hide except her poetry, which she keeps hidden anyway – she doesn't want that shit in plain view.

"So you keep your porn under lock and key?" she asks, grinning too.

'Of course," he replies. "Don't want to give her a heart attack. That shit can get pretty graphic."

"I agree."

"How would you know," he asks, surprised.

"None of your business," she retorts, slyly. Now isn't the time.

Edward sits on the bed and beckons Bella to do the same with a crook of his finger, and she complies, to his amusement. "I felt like sitting down," she says. "I didn't do it because of your summons."

"Sure, sure." Neither of them are convinced. Bella isn't sure there was a lot she wouldn't do for Edward Cullen.

They talk quietly for a while about various things, after Bella asks Edward how he's feeling, to which he replies that he feels better after the pills and the nap. Edward suggests various ways that Bella could spice up her room. Some were totally ludicrous, such as that Bella could paint patches of random color on the walls with nail polish – "cause don't all girls love nail polish?" - and Bella tells him that she can't wait to see his room, if his ideas are that weird. "Not that I plan to see it," she quickly inserts, in case it sounds like she was inviting herself over. Though she kind of was. She just doesn't want Edward to realize it.

"I'd like you to," he says softly, his gazing settling on Bella's palm, which was resting on her duvet. Bella's mouth stretches into a goofy grin for a second before she quickly rubs it off her face, literally, with her hand, so Edward couldn't catch it. But she was too late, and he saw it, and his eyes light up at the sight of it. Edward rubs his face hard with both of his hands to show how obvious Bella's movement is, and she stills her hands and drops them to her sides, glaring at him.

"You are such a pain in the ass," she informs him.

"Yeah," he agrees amiably.

She punches him, not too hard.

"You are too," he says, patting the injured spot.

"Yeah," she replies, just as peaceably as he had.

They gaze at random objects for a moment before Bella remembers her spoils, which she had put it on the floor next to her feet. Bella reaches over to pick up the bag and places it on the bed, opening it and showing Edward.

"While you are a pain in the ass," he reports, staring at the goods, "you do have nice moments. I'd say it's a two second rebound rate, before you're back doing the next pain in the ass thing. I'll enjoy it while it lasts." He chuckles when she punches him again in the same spot, but she can't hold her mean look when he pouts stupidly at her, and she laughs too.

"This isn't the right way to improve my opinion of you, Cullen," she says.

"What makes you think I want to improve your opinion of me?"

Bella smirks, "A little birdy told me."

"Well, a little birdy told me you aren't getting any of this," he tells her, and takes the packet of potato chips.

She steals it back and opens it, throwing a few at him. "You got salt in my eye!" He roars like a bear caught in a trap, yanking at the eye and attempting to halt it's tears.

Bella tries to smother her laugh but can't, and it's Edward's turn to glare. "Sorry," she says, but he isn't convinced of her sincerity. "Fine, I'm not. Crybaby."

"I'd like to see you have a straight face with salt in your eye," he removes the hand from the eye and shows Bella how red and watery has become. Repentance portrays itself on Bella's face, but only for a split second, until he throws the packet out of her open window – his aim is brilliant, something Bella would have thought if she wasn't pissed, again.

"Fuck! Asshole!" Bella chokes, disbelieving of what he did. Who does shit like that?

Edward's amusement at her anger only increases it.

A glance at Bella's alarm clock tells him he has to depart and he informs Bella of this. His family was probably worrying about him, he hadn't been answering their calls.

"Oh," Bella says, trying not to let her sadness show in her tone. "You'll have to jump out the window – it's not that far. I'm sorry, but I don't think Renee could handle this." Her mother was always open about Bella dating, but Bella was sure that Renee would be convinced that Bella had hid Edward from her – which she had – and would subsequently throw a bitch fit.

"Shit," he replies, and goes to the window to size up the distance. It wasn't that high, but he's sure he'd break his coccyx on the way down. At least he'd look macho while doing it. Edward walks back to Bella and says, "Just before I go," before opening the chocolate and breaking off a piece, then further breaking it that piece in half and handing some to Bella. She grins and eats it, closing her eyes slightly so her senses were concentrated on the chocolate slowly melting in her mouth.

"You look like you're having an orgasm," he tells her, entranced. Bella swallows the chocolate and licks her lips.

"You sound like you know how I look like when I'm having an orgasm," she retorts tartly. She thinks that he says 'I wish' under his breath, but isn't sure if she imagined it. "I enjoy savouring food," she says, trying to make it not sound like she was justifying herself to him - she didn't owe him squat.

"I enjoy watching you enjoy savouring food," he replies, secretly delighting her. Images of her 'savouring' the whipped cream she was licking off his chest pop into her mind…

Edward walking back to the window diverts her, and he turns back to look at Bella one last time before leaping out, calling out a "Yippee ka yay motherfucker!" on the way down.

The screech has it's intended effect and Bella smiles, going over to the window quickly and yelling, "And get my fucking chips!" just in case he'd listen. But of course, he doesn't get the packet lying almost right next to his feet, instead choosing to look back at Bella, bringing his thumbs up to his ears, spreading his fingers and wagging them, effectively making a 'fuck you' gesture.

Bella snorts and flips him the bird.

"Asshole," she murmurs with a smile. Bella decides on the spot that she thinks assholes are definitely her type. But she really needs to go down and get those chips. She turns back around to go lie down and the packet sails in through her window, hitting her on the head and getting some chips in her hair. The smile widens. She turns back to the window but he was already gone.

All of a sudden she panics. When she was yelling to Edward she had completely forgotten about Renee's presence. What if she had heard?

Bella runs down the stairs to see if Renee is freaking out or if she looks like she's preparing her 'lecture' face, but she isn't and doesn't. Her mother is simply sitting down on the couch, with a bowl of soup, uneaten in her lap, watching some sitcom.

"Want something, sweetie?" Renee asks, with half-lidded eyes.

On Renee, that's a sure sign of alcohol consumption.

"No. Just thought I heard something." Bella's stomach churns as she walks back up the stairs, mentally trying to prepare herself from the mini break down Bella is sure she's about to have. A random thought appears in Bella's head – how is Edward getting home? But her subconscious pushes it back, focusing on her anguish at Renee's actions.

"Oh, and Bella?" Renee calls out.

"Yeah?"

"He seems nice." Renee voice sounds dreamy, as if she is about to fall asleep, or is in some kind of trance. The latter seems the most likely to Bella, but she doesn't care about the tone of her voice – Renee had just basically admitted to Bella that she didn't care about Edward's 'visit'.

Bella doesn't reply and instead walks to her room, closing the door slowly and sliding down the wood until she was sitting on the cold, unwelcoming floor. Renee didn't care. Bella had just lost another piece of her mom, who always cared about shit like this.

Bella always did have a morbid curiosity of death.

Yeah, a little shorter, but I felt like uploading.

"While you are a pain in the ass," he reports, staring at the goods, "you do have nice moments. I'd say it's a two second rebound rate, before you're back doing the next pain in the ass thing." – this is a variation of a quote from the movie 'The Notebook'. Just FYI, since it's almost the same.