l.o.t.m Thoughts: Alright, time for Bella's reaction. I must say, that although she has this fierce stubborn quality to her, I am amazed by how quickly one person can get her to lower those defenses...

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own this. The only thing I own is the vast playground I call my mind.

Shades of the Sunset…

By: love.of.the.moonlight

10: Resistance (Bella)

Chilling numbness flowed through every inch of my skin as Edward led me to my room. I didn't feel like I was in my own body. My being was suspended with my conscience somewhere unidentified to myself. If I would ever regain control of it again…depended on my thirst for existence.

"Bella, I know that you aren't feeling like yourself right now…" Edward began, lengthening his steps before we reached my room. He came to a halt just feet before the door. "But I need to hear your voice. One word, so I can know that you're alive in there."

Did he really need me to clarify that for him? Lately, I been daydreaming that eventually we wouldn't need to converse because he could interpret me so well… But this was ridiculous. The way he treated me back there - like some standard mentally-unstable-girl case - made his feelings for me clear. He had none. My daydream was exactly what the "dream" part meant - an asinine fantasy that belongs in the minds of stupid and bored people.

I shook my head in defiance, directing my stare to the keypad. He was not going to worm his way into me, establishing a façade as a friend. Here was the rational thinking that had backed down earlier to his charismatic attentive acts and chivalrous aura. Now, it was alive, aggressive with a fury that escalated with every tear I shed.

He entered the code into the digital lock without a word, and then allowed me in first. I flung myself onto the bed, face down into the pillow. If he didn't leave within the next minute-

"Bella, I'm not asking you to speak for…academic reasons." His melodious voice drifted to my ears amiably. "The way I am with the rest of the world…and you - they are two polar opposites for me."

I lifted my head off of the pillow to rest my cheek against it. How did I know he wasn't deceitful? I counted the number of truths I knew. There were so many that I had clipped to my heart…but what if they were lies, disposed to infect the rest of me like a poison?

"These reasons could be purely selfish," he admitted, kneeling down by the side of my bed to meet my eye level. There was no where for me to hide now, but my newfound intrepid nature stared vacantly back. "But I only want to hear one word from you. No, a name."

I couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at that. He wanted me to pronounce a single name. Would I cave in and do it? How would he react if I didn't? Then again, it depended on the name…

"Mine."

My lips parted, releasing a frigid gasp of bewilderment. The demand, with its simplistic deliverance thrilled me in a way that instinct took all power. I could say his name right now.

In a whisper.

In a scream.

In a way that hovered in-between.

There was no rejecting it - I couldn't trick myself into believing that anything about Edward Cullen was a lie. His approach to me…was so natural, so intimate that I had no resistance against him. He wasn't the only one with egotistical desires. I longed to gaze into his alluring topaz irises, indulge my fingertips with the touch of his flawless ice sculpture of a body… All of that and more were attainable to me at the moment. The possibilities almost made me swoon.

"Edw-" I started, probably intoxicated by my own emotions.

Something hidden - possibly reason - told me that I wouldn't be able to finish speaking. "Dr. Cullen! We have an emergency on floor three!" A nurse announced breathlessly as she intruded through the door. "Hurry! This is exceptionally important!"

I closed my eyes, hearing Edward ascend to his feet. "I heard it. Not all of it, but I'll hear it later, right?" His words seemed as if they were delivered in a personal murmur. Seconds later, the slam of the door ensued.

He was true with me all along. Always straightforward, enduring, protective…the kind of vision that people assumed belonged in fiction. Yet, he was present in my life, and by sheer coincidence, it seemed. I wouldn't refuse him any longer - attempting would exhaust my soul. In some peculiar phenomenon, insanity thrust me into the arms of love.

Before You Go...: Interesting tidbit #3: I initially wanted Bella to give away who died, but then I would have to describe all of the wacky emotions that come with reminiscence. So, I figured that it would be more logical to feel the powerless agony Edward has knowing that they have to simply make it through a brief visit. Much more impactful, in my opinion.

-Sweet dreams, love.of.the.moonlight