A/N: The characters and situation in this story do not belong to me, they are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I'm just tweaking with the details because it kept me up at night. Thanks for the reviews.

There was light peeking through the thick brocade curtains when I woke up. A set of cold fingers played absent-mindedly in my hair. I was still safe. There was no cause for alarm. Edward was still holding me. I didn't want to move but I was sure that my breathing had changed betraying my conscious state. The fingers switched to a stroking motion and I knew that my assertion was correct.

"Good afternoon." He whispered. I gave up my silent position on his chest and stretched. I actually felt much better. After sitting up and doing a thorough damage assessment I turned to him.

"What day is it?" My mind was still a bit groggy from an extended sleep.

"You slept through our wedding day." He smiled.

"I what? Oh goodness! I'm so sorry!" I scrambled up loosing my balance just a bit only to be caught by a set of cool supportive arms.

"It's not your fault." He sighed into my hair.

"It's not yours either." I turned and gave him a gentle kiss. He broke from me before there was any heat behind it.

"Are you alright?" He held my face gently with his fingers.

"I feel…"

"Don't say it, not fine."

"I feel better?" I asked with a small smile. I wasn't a stranger to being in life threatening situations. It would take more than Felix, I mentally winced at his name, to keep me from Edward.

"I'll take better." He was completely on his feet while I sat back down on the edge of the bed. "You should eat, it's been days and you hardly ate anything before I left." He was already calling for a meal. I couldn't understand what he ordered but it sounded beautiful. I couldn't help but smile at him as a small ray of sunlight glinted off of his skin through the curtains. He was magnificent.

I went into the bathroom to find a mirror. There was a bruise on my left temple that was starting to yellow and a small streak of yellow under my left eye. My stomach seemed to be just fine as did my legs. I had definitely had worse. I opened a small closet off of the bathroom and was confronted with a few plastic garment bags with Italian script across the outside. What had Alice bought?

With a deep breath I pulled down the zipper on the first. I relaxed a bit as it seemed to be an innocuous looking black cap sleeved dress with a delicate floral print. It was a classic piece that buttoned up the front, it could totally be worse. There were some undergarments on the shelf, not quite what I would have purchased for myself but the sizes were right.

I took a shower to wash the past couple of days off of me. The water was nice and hot, I scrubbed my skin probably a little more than was strictly necessary, and I washed my hair twice, shuddering. I felt okay, I really did. I probably wouldn't have another minute alone as a human after this but in this case that suited me just fine.

I dressed and then went looking for shoes. What I had been spared in the clothing department I lost on shoes, everything had a three-inch heel and looked like some sort of medieval torture device. I gave up and came out barefoot. Would it have killed Alice to pick up some sneakers or in the very least a pair of flats?

Edward's eyes were trained on me as soon as I opened the door. His expression changed very quickly. I had missed something. An old panic lurked in the back of my mind as I thought I recognized that pained expression.

"Bella?" He was walking toward me when I realized where my hand was and that I had stopped breathing. I forced some air into my lungs and dropped my hand from my chest.

"You're not going anywhere." It was a command, my eyes locked on his.

"Why would you?" His voice trailed off as he made his way toward me.

"The look on your face. It was exactly the same as…" deep breath, "after my birthday." I forced my hand to stay away from my chest as anxiety threatened to crush it. His arms were back around me before I could take another breath. My chest felt like it had twenty pounds sitting on top of it.

"I'm not going anywhere." He confirmed and pulled me onto his lap in an armchair near the door. My breathing and heart rate normalized as I nestled into his shoulder. Breathing in his honey-lilac scent. Just the smell of him was enough to calm my nerves. He compared me to heroin but he was a drug to me too. I was hopelessly addicted to Edward Cullen. I supposed that this was a good thing, as we still had to make it through a wedding.