Let me just say that I apologize for the extreme delay on this chapter! I just can't find it in me to rush through them and it's been hard finding concentrated blocks of time to work on it. Hopefully updates will come sooner... sorry!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Stephenie Meyer's characters, I just love them a lot!
I wasn't sure what was real anymore; the evening had gone from my normal misery of being alone to a nightmare when Jake ambushed me in the woods and then finally to the dream I was in now, where Edward saved me from Jake's advances and I was cradled in his arms. I really hoped that last part was true; it certainly felt real right now as I peeked up at Edward's face. The muscles in his jaw were tight and his mouth was a hard line. I couldn't read his eyes in the darkness, but I felt the tension also in his arms and brisk pace. If he was this worked up, surely the rest of the night had been true as well. Suddenly I was totally exhausted from all the emotional ups and downs of the past few days. Just trying to figure out what had just happened was confusing.
The night had started normally enough; I'd sneaked out of my room so I didn't have to listen to Lauren and Jessica giggling and talking with their friends in the main room. I'd begun taking these late night walks since Monday of this week because of that. At least, that's what I told myself. Deep down I tried to deny the hope that Edward might be out there again, but I knew that it was as much of a reason as getting away from the gossip. I knew I needed to apologize for my outburst on Tuesday night, but I was too chicken to do it in front of anyone. Selfishly, I didn't want his rejection of me to be totally public so this was my stupid way of hoping we would meet again and I could take care of that particular wrong I had done.
Unfortunately, wandering in the woods and across the lawn only temporarily gave me a break from Jess and Lauren's snickering, and I hadn't run into anyone else tonight, especially not Edward. Until Jacob Black had appeared.
At first I was just mildly surprised to see him when he draped his arm over my shoulders. After all, he had been heavy on my mind all night as I reviewed my wrecked reputation. "Hey Bella," he smirked. "You wanna go finish what we started this weekend?"
"Jake, why can't you freaking leave me alone?" I sighed, trying to slip out from under his arm, hardly noticing that he was leading us into the trees.
"Because I want you, Bella, and I'm not very patient." He spun me to face him by my shoulders and I almost tripped on the underbrush of the woods. He stared into my face from under his shadowed brows. He looked… hungry. I was anxious to break his gaze.
Without really thinking, I fired my main question at him. "Jake, you know what really happened last Saturday—absolutely nothing! So why are you telling everyone the lie Lauren made up was true?"
"Bella, it's not a lie, it's just the future truth—"Jake said and I exploded in disbelief.
"It is a lie and you know it, Jake. Nothing happened on that beach Saturday night." Was he delusional? Could he not remember?
"Of course not, but I figured that you were just playing hard to get." Suddenly my situation really hit me. I was alone in the dark trees with Jacob Black. No one else knew I was out here, and I was fairly sure that Jake knew that as well. Fingers of fear slid down my back as I realized that he could do what he wanted now with no one to stop him.
"Why are you even here, Jake?" I tried to sound brave, but I was afraid my voice was shaking as badly as my knees were.
"Oh, I just so happen to have figured out that you like to take walks outside about this time, so I came looking for you. And guess what… I'm here to get you tonight. All this talking about something I can't have all week long has really started to make me crave it—you." As he spoke, the fingers of fear turned into a cold, grasping hand. A scream started to claw its way up my throat when he stepped forward, reaching out to clutch my waist, his eyes raking me up and down. Frantically I tried to remember any of the self-defense techniques I had learned years ago from Charlie, but just as I was about to strike out at him, another shape launched itself between us.
The shadowy figure slammed into Jake and knocked him to the ground several feet away from me. My heart still pounding a thousand miles an hour, I strained in the darkness to see who had joined us. All I could tell from solid shape between me and Jake was that it was a guy. Jake scrambled to his feet and faced him angrily. Just as the thought flashed into my head that I could possibly be in twice as much danger if it was another guy who would take advantage of me, Jake's voice, spit through his teeth, revealed his identity: "How did you get here, Cullen?"
Edward? I only had a split second to be shocked at who my rescuer was before my heart leapt into my throat when I saw Jake throw a punch toward Edward. But Edward feinted to the side, dodging Jake's swing and following through with a smash right into Jake's nose. There was a nauseating crunch and I prayed it was Jake's face, not Edward's knuckles. I wanted to tell Edward to stop, to not get hurt, but when I saw the blood spurt out of Jake's nose, my stomach turned and I had to work on getting control of myself.
I had once thought that Jake and Edward would be fairly evenly matched if they ever got in a fight, but I could see tonight that I was wrong. Jake tried, he really did, but he was no match for the angel of destruction that was Edward. Through my breathless fear for his safety and the nausea that rose from the smell of blood, I could not help but marvel at the power and wrath he unleashed on Jacob. It was both beautiful and terrifying.
Stupid Jake kept up a stream of insults, mostly about me and why would Edward fight for a whore. This, however, did not help his case at all. Jake didn't stand a chance against this furious Edward. Briefly I let myself wonder if he was so outraged because of my vulnerability, but dismissed that thought immediately. He didn't even care for me; he must have anger issues.
Finally, Jacob was silent, his face bloody and sullen. Edward stood over him and snarled, "You even think about touching Bella again, I will come after you so fast you'll wish all I did was break your face." Then he turned to me. The black fury that blazed from the face of a war god faded when he met my eyes and became so devastatingly tender that my breath caught. I wanted so badly to believe that he wanted me. Edward carefully stepped toward me and whispered, "I'm so sorry." Those little words broke every semblance of control I'd had and I could feel myself waver under all the emotions of the past minutes.
"Edward…" was all I could get out before my knees buckled and then he was there. Edward's arms wrapped around me were the only things holding me together in that moment.
"Everything's fine now, it will all be okay, love," his whisper caressed my ear. Love? I must be going crazy. I would have been embarrassed at how much I was shaking, but the main two thoughts registering in my brain were: my head is resting on Edward Cullen's chest and he may have just called me love. Luckily my face wasn't in view so he couldn't see my blush; hopefully he couldn't feel the heat through his shirt.
Eventually I regained some control over myself and reluctantly realized I would have to break this ever so pleasant contact. My voice unintentionally petulant, I said, "Maybe I should get back to my room now."
I tried to raise my head but his arms tightened, holding me fast against him. "Nope, I'm taking you to Alice and Rosalie's." His voice was firm and a wave of relief washed over me as I considered that option. But I just couldn't bring myself to impose on them.
"But that's not my room," I protested, weakly attempting to wriggle away from him. A gasp escaped my lips as Edward leaned down and scooped me up. Staring into his perfect face so close to me now, those gold eyes burned earnestly into mine. My breath caught and my heartbeat became erratic.
Quietly and authoritatively he said, "I am not taking you back to hell with them. You deserve far better than them." And with that he had carried me back along the path and towards Medsen Hall, cradling me in the protective circle of his arms.
Reflecting back on all of this as the dorm's lights grew closer and brighter, I realized my head had fallen onto his shoulder. It felt so natural to curl into the shelter of his arms and lean against his strong frame; though I knew I shouldn't give my feelings away, I couldn't bring myself to move. Adding to my irrational immobility, my face was buried in Edward's chest, his intoxicating smell filling my lungs. It was like his suit jacket, only more concentrated, banishing all thoughts of Jake and danger from my head and replacing them with Edward.
If I was going to be in Alice and Rose's apartment tonight, I was going to need that jacket for sure. Once Edward left after dropping me off, I couldn't be certain that the panic would overwhelm me. Unfortunately, it was still in my room with Lauren and Jess. Too worn out and content to form a coherent thought, I mumbled, "Need the jacket…" half to myself. Somehow I would have to get that before trying to sleep. For now, I just cuddled closer into Edward's chest, soaking in his scent in real life. I thought I felt his arms pull me a little nearer.
Too soon, he was carrying me past Medsen Hall's main door and carefully maneuvered us both through a side door close to Alice and Rose's room. Without bothering to knock, Edward pushed their door open with his foot and carried me over the threshold. "Alice… Rose…" he hissed in a loud whisper as he brought me over to their couch and sat down, still cradling me on his lap.
Rose's voice floated from her room: "It's too late for you to be here, Edward. Guys have to leave by midnight." But when she appeared in the doorway I saw her eyes widen in confusion at the sight of the two of us. "What hap—" she started, when Alice burst into the main room.
"Edward, you can't be in here—" she began before spotting me wrapped in his arms. Immediately she dashed to my side and fired off a million questions: "What's wrong? What happened to Bella? Did you hurt her? Is she okay? What's going—"
"Shhh, Alice. Relax or you'll stress her out even more," Edward said, glancing down at me with worry written all over his face.
"Calm down, I'm fine," I tried to reassure everyone, but it came out in a mumble against Edward's shirt.
Edward shook his head, hearing the lie in my voice, before turning back to Alice and Rosalie. "Do you have anything with sugar?" he asked, "I don't want her going into a state of shock." Alice's mouth dropped open in alarm and Edward cut off her gasp: "I'll tell you what happened after Bella has had something to eat."
That moved the girls into action, and Rose started looking through their mini fridge while Alice ransacked the shelves next to it. I watched, half interested, and then tilted my head back to look up at Edward. My intention had been to protest all the fuss, but meeting his bewilderingly intense topaz eyes staring into mine threw off my train of thought. "I… um… I'll be okay," I objected uncertainly. "And I don't want you getting into trouble if you're caught in the girls building."
"That is the least of my concerns right now," he said, his voice making my insides tremble. He tucked me closer into his chest with one arm and freed the other to trace my jaw with gentle fingers. I wondered if he felt the same electric current between our skin that I did…
"Alright, lovebirds, we got the food, now what's going on?" Alice's impish smile at interrupting the moment caused blood to flood my cheeks, but her voice betrayed her real concern behind the question.
"We have Pop Tarts, pudding cups, Coke, M&Ms, cookies, popsicles, honey roasted almonds, french toast bagels, Twinkies…" Rose listed off the food she was stacking in a mountain on the end table beside us.
"No wonder Alice always has so much energy," Edward muttered, and then looked down at me. "Pick something. You eat, I'll talk," he bargained.
"Just a Pop Tart," I sighed, grumbling under my breath about overreacting superheroes. Realizing I would look like a big baby eating a snack on his lap, I shifted to move off of him. His hands tightened around me for a split second and I caught a hurt expression flash across his face. "I don't want to get crumbs all over you," I explained and he rolled his eyes but let me sit on my own next to him. I couldn't help but notice the exchange of significant looks between Alice and Rosalie sitting on the other couch, which only made me blush redder.
Once a Pop Tart was unwrapped and I had taken a bite big enough to satisfy him, Edward began. "So I guess this all started earlier tonight after practice. While I was lifting in the weight room, I heard Jacob Black in there running his mouth about Bella. Among other things, he said he was going to meet her in the woods again tonight." I hadn't known about this and I could feel against the side of my body how tense he was remembering it. He was practically growling the words. I risked a glance at his furious expression and he turned from Rose and Alice's rapt attention to meet my gaze. "Sorry if this next part makes me look like a stalker, but maybe I kind of was. I waited for Jake to leave the dorm and trailed him out to the lawn." His eyes were slightly ashamed, but I couldn't imagine anyone I would rather have as a stalker than Edward, especially if he protected me from guys like Jake.
Noticing I hadn't taken another bite yet, he told me, "Keep eating," before turning back to the girls. "So once I'd followed him to the lawn and saw Bella waiting for him, I was sure the rumors were true after all. But when he started leading her into the trees, I kept following…" his face flushed a little at this admission. "I guess I just needed to see it for myself to come to terms with it, no matter how much it hurt." What? "Yet when I got close enough to hear what they were saying, I heard Jake admit it himself that nothing had happened between them. That was when it started to sink in what was really going on. When he started grabbing at her, I—I lost control."
Edward dropped his head, reluctant to admit his weakness. Remembering my own fear in that moment, I shuddered against him. "I'm so glad you did," I whispered, too quietly for anyone else to hear. But he did and his chin lifted again. His arm went around my shoulders and he rubbed soothing circles on my back as he continued.
"Once I had hold of myself—and Jake had felt almost enough pain to punish him for what he'd done—I saw Bella looked pretty shaky, so I brought her back here. I refuse to let Jessica and Lauren within a mile of her," he growled. "That's about it."
Alice and Rose's faces were incredulous, and I didn't blame them. It was quite the drama. I felt a little uncomfortable in the silence that followed Edward's story so I said, "If it's going to be a problem to stay here, that's fine… I'm done with the Pop Tart, so I'm feeling a lot better and I really don't think it's neces—"
"Bella, you're staying here." Rose told me. "We won't let you stay with them anymore either."
"Actually, this is kind of interesting, because we were planning on asking you to consider moving in here with us anyways," Alice said. She saw my skeptical expression and said, "No really, come look." Typical Alice, she bounced up from her seat and dragged me upright, pulling me toward the third, unused bedroom. Rosalie went to turn the light on in the room and Edward followed closely behind, in case I collapsed from shock, I supposed wryly.
When Alice led me through the doorway, my jaw dropped in disbelief. There were dark blue satiny curtains in the window, an antique silver lamp sitting next to the bed frame, which was covered in a midnight blue silky comforter with coordinating pillows, and a blue and gray swirl area rug on the floor. Everything was dusted and clean and there was even a little potted plant sitting on the corner of the desk. It was perfect. I turned to Alice and Rosalie with tears pricking my eyes and asked, "You really, actually want me to room with you?"
"Of course we really, actually do!" Rose teased, hugging me around the waist.
Alice flitted around the room straightening the already perfect curtains and rotating the plant on the desk, saying, "I hope you like it… I wanted to get you this new bed set with that gorgeous comforter and pillows and sheets, but Rose said it would be too much and maybe you would want to keep your own sheets so it wasn't all new, but I bought it anyways when she wasn't looking, but I won't be hurt if you don't want to use it… These colors just looked like you and we both wanted you here so badly I thought that if we had the room all ready for you to move into, you couldn't say no and—"
"Alice!" I threw my arms around her neck laughing. "I would have loved to come live with you with or without new curtains!"
Her answering smile was positively radiant and she, Rose, and I all laughed and hugged, celebrating our new roommates.
A slight cough reminded us that Edward was still there. He leaned comfortably in the doorway and he looked just as happy about the situation as we were. "Alice, this is another once of those instances where I'm grateful for your overeager plotting," he grinned.
"Come on, brother," she swatted him on the arm, "It's not like I'm the only one who inherited the Cullen overreaction gene." He just smiled in response.
"I think it would be great if Bella could stay over starting tonight," Rose suggested. "I know we can't move everything in here right now, since it's almost one and she needs sleep, but what if we just got stuff for tonight and tomorrow morning. We could pick everything else up after classes are done."
"Yes," Edward agreed. "That's exactly what I was hoping for. Would you be okay with that, Bella?" he asked me, his warm eyes pleading with me not to be stubborn just this once. And just this once, I had no intention to.
"Fine with me," I answered them all, and Alice immediately started planning.
"Great! Okay, so you can use our shower stuff and wear our pajamas tonight, and all we'll have to grab now is your toothbrush, book bag, and an outfit for tomorrow. Or maybe I should just take care of that…" she trailed off, no doubt considering my unacceptable wardrobe. "Anything else I'm missing?"
A blush rose to my cheeks when I remembered one last necessity. "Well, I need a jacket," I mumbled and Rosalie looked confused.
"We have lots of jackets here if you need one," she offered, but I shook my head, avoiding Edward's eyes.
"No, this is a certain one. I—I just need it," I explained lamely. "It should be lying over the back of my desk chair. You'll probably know it when you see it," I told Alice and Rose, blushing fiercer than ever.
"Alright, we'll get that too," Alice promised, and I sighed in relief, both that I would be able to fall asleep with Edward's scent and that they didn't question me any further in front of him. Yet if he went with them to get my things, then he would see it and think I was pathetic. My sudden panic was interrupted by Alice's voice once again: "Edward, can you stay here with Bella while Rose and I run over to get her things? You're not supposed to be here now, remember? Besides, I don't really want you losing your temper with Lauren and Jessica, either."
Perfect. Maybe I could convince him to leave right before they got back so he wouldn't see it. "Sure," Edward agreed, and Alice and Rosalie dashed out the door on their mission. I hoped that Jessica and Lauren would be asleep by now so they wouldn't have to deal with those two.
Tiny flutters flew through my stomach when Edward turned back to me as the door closed be hind them; we were alone now. This was as good a chance as I would get to apologize for yelling at him on Tuesday night. Besides, I needed to keep my thoughts in line; standing in front of this gorgeous boy made my mind go down paths it shouldn't. The planes of his chest, the bronze hair falling over his forehead…
I opened my mouth and started to speak at the exact moment he did:
"I'm so sorry for my behavior—"
"I could never apologize enough for—"
We stared at each other, surprised for a second before breaking into nervous laughter. "Ladies, first," Edward said, ever the gentleman. "Though I have no idea what you have to be sorry for."
I swallowed and kept my gaze fixed on his collar. I knew his eyes would just bewilder me into incoherency. "Edward, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for yelling at you last night. No matter what my issues are, I had no right to behave so rudely and dump it out on you. You didn't deserve an outburst like that and I'm really sorry about it."
"Bella." His voice made my name sound like a caress. Slowly I brought my eyes to meet his and was dazzled by the intensity in their golden depths. "That is nothing to be sorry for. You don't know how much I wish I deserved your confidence, how much I want to know you and help make the pain go away. But instead I just hurt you more." I tried to protest, but he kept going. "I understand if you can't forgive me for a while, if ever, but I need to apologize for being so stupid and doubting your word. I've been horrible to you for the past few days and I wish I could take back every rude thing I said or did. Just know that it will never happen again. You are the only one I trust now when it comes to you."
"You've always been forgiven," I whispered. My throat was tight with emotion, and I tried to lighten the mood. "I'm not sure Jake will grant you the same pardon, though."
"I wasn't planning on asking him for it," Edward grinned. I felt so weightless now that things were solved between us.
Alice and Rosalie chose that moment to burst back in the door, carrying all my loot from their raid. "Got it all!" Alice crowed triumphantly.
"All of it," Rose repeated, with a dangerous looking grin on her face. "Even the jacket."
Oh crap. I'd forgotten to try and make Edward leave before they got back and now my face blazed bright red as Alice held out his suit jacket for all to see. I made an ill-timed lunge for it before he could see it clearly and she snatched it out of my reach. I almost lost my balance, but ended up standing awkwardly in between Edward and his jacket. "Is that… my suit jacket?" Edward asked. Wishing the floor would open up and swallow me, I nodded.
I could feel everyone's eyes on me and I tried to fake a normal sounding voice. "Do you want it back, because it's fine, I don't really need it…"
"No, no," Edward interrupted quickly. "It's all yours. I didn't realize you still had it. If you don't mind me asking, though, why do you need it?"
This was so humiliating. "It, um, helps me get to sleep." The "awww's" coming from Alice and Rosalie did not help my blushing situation, but I looked up at Edward anyway. I almost had to blink; his face was so lit up.
"Keep it as long as you want," he murmured and I couldn't break the stare.
Alice was the one who cleared her throat and snapped us out of it. "It's been a big night, and I think it's time that you sneaked back out and Bella got some sleep… especially now that we've got the security blanket."
"Shut up, Alice," I growled, grabbing the jacket out of her hands. I turned to Edward, my face still pink, and said, "Well, thanks again for rescuing me. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"I don't even want to think about that," he said earnestly. "Sleep well, Bella." He reached out one hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb. His touch left a burning trail on my skin and my eyes closed in pleasure. Before I knew it, he had slipped out the door and was gone.
"Well, that was… interesting," Rose commented meaningfully. Alice giggled. I was almost afraid to face them.
Rosalie's POV
Lying in bed after letting Bella go to sleep finally, I thought about the evening. Bella and Edward. They were so adorable together. First Edward saved her from nasty Jacob Black. Actually beat him up for her. And then he carries her all the way back here and takes care of her, hovering like a mother hen. Remembering him worrying about Bella going into shock like a freaking certified nurse still made me smile.
But there was more to it than that. I could see the connection between them; the sparks were practically visible. The way he looked at her like she was the only thing that existed to him made me melt a little bit inside. He touched her like she was a soap bubble or a precious gem. I had never seen Edward so captivated by anyone before.
Then there was Bella. Anyone could see by how she nestled in his arms her trust in him. Her adoring eyes watching his every move and the way her blood rushed into her face every time she found him staring at her. They were a pair, that was for sure.
I was so glad that Edward had brought her to our room. Ever since we had become friends with Bella, Alice and I had been planning to ask her to room with us. Once the situation with Jess, Lauren, and Jake had come up, we'd started working faster to get her room done. Now it was all taken care of, thanks to Edward. I was excited to have Bella live with us. We had only known her for a couple of weeks and already we were great friends.
Besides, living with us was going to be way better than living with Lauren and Jessica. I didn't know how she'd handled it for so long! I would have ripped their heads off by now.
When Alice and I had left Bella and Edward together to get Bella's stuff, we'd guessed at what they would talk about, hoping that they would get all this figured out. I was just happy that Edward finally knew the truth. Knowing him, he would be eaten alive with guilt over the whole thing. But when we got back, they were smiling like everything was good. It was going to be so much fun watching them flirt now.
Speaking of fun, both Alice and I knew we were in for some real fun when we found the jacket Bella was talking about. Discovering that it was Edward's suit jacket, we couldn't resist embarrassing her in front of him. It was the cutest thing in the world to find out that she couldn't sleep without it. Edward's face was priceless; he was in so far, and I thought Bella would be permanently red.
Yes, there would be good times ahead, I knew this already. Things would be so awesome now that Edward had someone and I was glad that it was someone as amazing as Bella. He had been on his own for a long time now and she fit him perfectly.
Just wait until Jasper and Emmett found out about this. I chuckled quietly to myself; Bella and Edward had better get ready for some major teasing, because with Emmett, they were definitely in for it.
Okay, I feel like things are tied up pretty well... let's get a little plot moving now. Review! I love and appreciate them so much!!