Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They are the property of various parties who I have lost track of in the course of the movie releases and book releases. I do own the concept, but it could have been done before.

I'm sorry if I sound like a complete idiot tonight/this morning. It's one a.m. Anyhow, I was on a role...and, so...I updated. This is a two part chapter! Review and I'll give you part 2! I'm going to shut up now because if I talk any more, I'm going to ramble at you!

Day Nine: In which I push Edward Cullen back to Tanya what's-her-name…sort of…

I guess it isn't entirely bad being over-nursed. Every meal of the day, I had in bed, except when Edward carried me – yes, he carried me – out to the living room so that I could watch TV. It's a waste of my weekend, but, he was so sweet about it…

It turns out, I had a low grade fever, which, according to Edward means that I was sick. He explained that after a certain age it gets harder and harder to run a high fever, so, he wasn't taking any chances.

He seemed to forget about everything when he was taking care of me. I even asked him about work to find that he had taken the weekend off. He didn't do anything but be attentive to me. It was interesting.

The only downside to pretending to be ill was that Edward forced me to go to bed early. As in midnight early while I was watching my Nick at Night shows.

And I don't get to walk, I get carried. I'm not going to lie. It felt good to be in his arms. He's stronger than I thought and he doesn't comment that I'm heavy…ever…

He gently places me in bed and tucks me in without a word. "Do I have to go to bed now?" I groan, playfully.

He looks at me sternly. "You'll get better more quickly if you rest," he tells me. "You can lecture me later," he says more gently. "I'm not taking any chances with you, Miss Swan. After all, if you get very sick, who will help me get married in the next twenty-one days?"

I can't help but smile at him. He's an idiot. "Good night, Dr. Cullen," I say to him, pulling my blankets up to my neck.

"Good night, ma belle," he says. That confuses me. I didn't know he spoke French…or any language other than English. But, he closes the door before I can say anything about it.

I'm surprisingly exhausted and don't really pay attention to when I fall asleep, but I do know when I wake up. I wake up screaming. I'm breathing deeply, sobbing, but I can't even remember why. This hasn't happened to me since I was a teenager. I try to do what they told me to when I used to have night terrors: to remember that they are irrational.

But, I can't.

I'm still sobbing, telling myself that I have nothing to be afraid of, wrapping the blankets securely around me, and sitting stark straight in bed, waiting to calm down. Usually I could roll over and go straight back to sleep, but not today. I look at my alarm clock. It's three a.m.

"Bella!" Edward rushes through my door with a face that tells me he will beat to death the first thing he sees that looks threatening. He looks around the room and, I suppose, is satisfied that I had a nightmare. He softens immediately and comes over to my bed and sits on my left side. He takes me into his arms and rocks me. I curl into his chest and cling to him. I can't help it. I need the comfort he can give. I can't seem to make myself calm down right now. I feel him tense as I do this, but he does attempt to relax. "Can you talk about it?" He asks the question softly, comfortingly.

I shake. "I…I don't even know what happened," I sob.

He raises my chin. "Shh," Edward's sweet voice says, softly. He kisses the tears that are falling from my eyes. "You don't need to cry," he says gently. "I'm right here. I'll protect you."

My tears stop from the shock of his lips against my cheek. "How can you protect me from something neither of us can see?" I ask him, trying to avoid any further contact.

He smiles at me, a crooked smile that melts my heart. "There's only one cure for nightmares," he says, still smiling at me. "I'll hold you all night to keep them away. I'll sing you to sleep if that's what it takes. I won't let anything hurt you," he says. He holds me tightly and lays back. "Close your eyes and go to sleep," he says.

Oh, that's got to be easily said. He has a grown woman clinging onto him like a toddler. "I'm sorry," I say, my eyelids already getting heavier. I knew I would fall asleep easily if I just laid back down.

"Stop apologizing for everything, Bella." His voice is soothing. I listen to his heartbeat as I'm sprawled across him. It's like a lullaby in itself. Comforting, soothing.

"I'm sorry," I mumble, already half-asleep.

When he starts humming to me, I fall asleep almost immediately. He's beautiful. My life right now is beautiful…

At least I can pretend it's my life…

I wake up three hours later at six freakin' thirty in the morning. I'd have much preferred to sleep a little longer, but I'm not tired. I notice that I'm alone, meaning Edward has either already woken up or he has decided that he needs to move away from me to get some real sleep.

I wonder if I should consider investing in a futon. I don't think I'm getting rid of him any time soon.

Not only that, but I'm growing kind of fond of him…and his cooking.

I can't really wake him up…but my books are all in my living room on my bookshelf and if I can't at least get to those, there is absolutely nothing to do in here until Edward wakes up which could be three hours from now.

Ok, I have to be able to creep into my own living room, grab the first book I feel and come back to my bedroom. No big deal. The worst thing that could happen is I trip over the chord of a lamp, create a loud 'boom', my neighbors call the cops again, I have to explain in my pajamas to Sergeant someone why I created a loud crash, get another warning, and then I will have to drive myself to the hospital with my broken hip.

Sweet Jesus, I believe I'm accident prone.

I crawl out of bed. I'm being ridiculous. I can just walk into my own living room. Nothing bad will happen to me. I will have to forget about the above, but nothing bad will happen to me.

I walk on tip-toe to my door to find it open a crack and bright light streaming through that crack. Edward's awake? Oh, good! I can have some form of company.

Except, he's on the phone.

Seriously? At six a.m.? I sigh and decide to fill my curiosity by listening to who he's talking to.

"Why did you call, exactly, Tanya?" Ok. My world makes sense. She called him, not the other way around.

But, this is good, right? She's obviously not calling him at six a.m. on a Sunday to tell him she's breaking up with him. She's got to be calling because she misses him…

I hope…

I listen intently. Long pause, long pause… "Is that all that you wanted to say?"

Uh-oh.

Edward sighs. "Yeah…I miss you, too." More pauses. This isn't going to be a very long conversation with his attitude. It looks like something out of a music video. Edward's perfectly smooth chest glistening in the dim light…yep. It's definitely a cliché break up scene. Cue the mood music and everything would be perfect.

My therapist instincts want to run in there and save him from making the worst mistake of his life.

The sensible me says this is a private conversation that I'm not supposed to have any part of.

My instincts almost win.

"Tanya, I really don't think that's a good idea…" Oh, why couldn't she have called my home phone! "No…just…" This conversation was turning into an inner monologue. "Could you stop talking about yourself to listen to what I have to say?" He says, a little harsher than I think necessary. Of course, I can't hear what's being said on the other line.

Edward sighs, listening again to Tanya. I wait. "Tanya, I really think this is it. I think it's over." The pause is much shorter this time. "I'll come by Monday to get my things and give you my key. If you wouldn't mind, there are a few things I would be very grateful if you would keep until after I get my own place," he says.

He shakes his head at her. "Yes, that is the end of this discussion," he says, quietly.

There is a long pause that can be cut with a knife. I want to run in there and stop this…but I can't. I'm not even supposed to be here. I am a horrible, horrible therapist…

"I…I love you, too," he says, though it sounds strained, as if only said by force of habit and sheer willpower. I cringe. This can't be happening.

I have twenty-one days. He expects me to start from scratch in twenty-one days! He's got to be crazy. I will kill him for this! I will slap him and beat him into shape until he comes to his senses!

He has to go back to Tanya!

I refuse to leave my room until his cell phone is on the table next to him. I then wait a few seconds, watching him burying his head in his hands. I want to help him, but I don't know how any more. I'm on the verge of buying myself self-help books to help him!

I walk out slowly, hoping that he won't think I've been listening. He hears my footsteps, though. He smiles, refusing to let me see him downtrodden…what a sick, masochistic man.

"Hey," he says, smiling. I smile back. "I…I got a call from a friend of mine and I thought it would be better not to wake you up," he says. It's not a lie. On the contrary, it's a clever half-truth.

I move to sit on the couch as far away from him as possible. After an awkward silence in which I sense that he's not going to give me any more details about the conversation he had with his 'friend', I decide to push a little. "You seem kind of upset," I observe. "You want to talk about it?" He tenses a little at that. "Ok," I say. "I guess not."

I wait for him to crack. Most people do. After long silences, they are willing to tell you whatever you want to know.

He's different. He's not talking.

I sigh. "Ok…well, since neither of us are in a talking mood, my bagel place opens at seven and I expect us to be there when the door opens, so go get yourself cleaned up."

Edward looks at me as if he's not moving from that couch. "You're asking for a miracle," he says.

I roll my eyes. "I'm female. If I'm out of her faster than you, you're buying."

He's up and ready to accept that challenge. "I'll be paying for it, anyways."

I laugh. "You expect to be beaten?"

He shakes his head. "No," he says, smirking deviously. "But, I do know that I'm faster than you."

New rule of relationships: Never challenge a woman to anything.

Not only am I there first, I order for him and pay before he even has his wallet out of his pocket. "Beat that," I say as we sit down.

He rolls his eyes. "I let you win," he says. "Simple as that."

I smile at him, smugly. "I suppose next you'll be telling me that these bagels are terrible?"

He smirks. "They are."

I smack his arm. "You're a terrible person. You know how to ruin my day."

He laughs. "It is the goal of my existence." As I chew over my bagel in silence, I try to force him into making conversation. Unfortunately, that seems as if it isn't going to happen.

"So," I say, pulling apart my bagel. "Don't you think what you did to Tanya was a little harsh?"

He pauses for a second and looks at me seriously. "You heard?" He doesn't seem surprised, as if he decidedly planned it so I would be listening.

"I think the neighborhood heard," I say. I pick my bagel into smaller pieces. "So, do you want to say anything about it, or should I just tell you what I think?"

Edward opens his mouth. He sighs, possibly deciding better of what he was going to say. "Why don't you just tell me? You will in the end."

I think I should be offended. "I think that you're in love with her," I say, sipping my iced tea. "And I think you're stupid to let her go."

Edward looks at me, quite soberly and says one word: "Really?"

"Yes!" I say, shaking my head at him, laughing. "If you love someone, you can't just let them walk away! You have to go after them! You can't break up with them because she thinks you're rushing things. Who's to say she isn't right? I mean, you were only dating her for two weeks, Edward! She wasn't ready to commit yet," I say, gently. I'm hoping my passionate lecture might get me a few days in my apartment alone…with my paperbacks.

God, I sound pathetic…

Edward looks at me, as if he is considering something…as if I'm about to regret the decision he's going to make in the next five seconds. He takes my hand. "Bella, you're absolutely right."

My face must lighten instantly. "I'm so glad you feel that way!" I'm smiling like an idiot. He has no idea how happy I am that I'm actually making headway. I might actually be able to help him repair his relationship with Tanya! It's like a cartoon where the sparkles appear on the page and the character gets stary-eyed and…

Oh, who am I kidding? I probably actually look like that!

"If you love someone, you shouldn't let them go. Obstacles mean nothing if you really love someone. Is that what you're saying?" He sounds more and more like he's catching my drift!

I stand up, excited, ripping my hand out of his. "Exactly! And you need to start right now!"

Edward smiles at me. Then he laughs. "Ok," he says. "But, I don't know where to start."

"Oh, that's simple!" I roll my eyes. "You go out there and you make that woman happy!" So I can read and watch TV and not have to pretend I'm sick when I'm daydreaming about you.

"Ok, then, let's start at the beginning, then," he says. I'm confused when he grabs my hand again.

I raise an eyebrow. I'm pretty sure half my face is paralyzed. I feel my eye twitch and I'm talking out of one side of my mouth. "What are you doing?"

"Isabella Marie Swan," he says calmly. "Will you marry me?"

Damn…

And that was just the first part of my day.

DUN, DUN, DUH! ^-^

Hope you liked it. No, the story is not ending anytime soon, if anyone was concerned!