Odds and Ends

These are just little ficlets and drabbles which don't merit posting individually, but which I'd like to share anyway.

I make no proprietary claim to Twilight or any of its characters. Just playing around.

The Treehouse

The trees flew by us as we ran, side by side, only one of us with the slightest clue where we were going. I'd ceased questioning him long ago – he was intent on showing me something, and I had no reason to resist now. I was a vampire, after all. Very little could do damage to me now.

He stopped abruptly and I ran ahead a few feet before I realized. Backpedaling, I looked to him questioningly.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?" I asked.

"No," he replied diffidently, "But I do need you to close your eyes now, else it will ruin the surprise."

I sighed and closed by eyes obediently. "Very well."

He slung me onto his back like he used to do when I was human, and the unfamiliar movement disoriented me. Once I'd secured my arms and legs around him, he took off running again, faster now – a mark of his impatience.

After a few brief seconds, he stopped again. "Now you can open your eyes."

I did open my eyes, and the sight that greeted them made me gasp in awe.

We stood before a very, very large, gnarled old tree with massive roots and branches that towered up out of sight – but that wasn't what shocked me. Winding up around the worn trunk was a wooden spiral staircase, which led up to the door of what was quite literally a tree house – as in, a house built in a tree. Complete with windows, doors, shutters, and a shingled roof – it was massive, at least three stories high, and I wouldn't be surprised if it had been fitted out with running water and electricity to boot.

Edward set me down, and I could now see his wide, boyish grin. "Do you like it?" he asked.

I swallowed. "Where on earth did this come from?"

"Well, Alice got the idea one day to build a treehouse…of course, Emmett and Jasper ended up doing most of the work. Alice thought it more important to keep order. And I was appointed the architect and engineer of the project."

I swallowed. "You designed this? …Never mind, of course you did. You would come up with something like this."

He laughed at my astonishment. "I pulled most of it out of Alice's head, honestly – she showed me exactly what she wanted. I just had to…work out the kinks."

"Work out the kinks, he says. Sure, no problem…just a little trigonometry here and there. When did you make this?"

"The sixties," he replied. "Alice was going through her hippie stage…wanted some place to sit around and sing cumbaya and all that. Thank heavens she's redecorated since – if it was still all lava lamps and bean bags, I think I'd have to set fire to the place."

"Can we go inside?" I asked eagerly, curious to see its inner workings. He smiled and led me up the stairs.

At the top, there was something like a porch outside the door, complete with a swing and a potted plant. Personally, I thought that was a bit superfluous – a plant for a house with a tree growing inside it.

"Go on in," Edward urged, nudging me toward the door. I opened it warily, half expecting woodland creatures to jump out at me. But as I stepped into the "living room" – interrupted only by the tree trunk – I realized it was as impeccable as any of the Cullens' houses. Clean, too. Edward must have tidied up before bringing me here.

"Good God," I muttered, taking it all in. There were couches, a TV – that would explain the satellite dish on the roof – an upright piano, packed bookshelves…

"Did you guys live here, or what?"

Edward grinned. "Alice did, for awhile, so of course, Jasper went with her. And the rest of us spent a lot of time up here."

"What's upstairs?" I asked, wandering to the staircase that wound upward around the trunk.

"On the second floor, a library. On the third, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom."

"A library? Why would you put a library in a treehouse?"

Edward grinned and shrugged. "Why not? Don't you want to see it?"

I rolled my eyes, starting up the stairs. "You know I do."

It was quite a library, too. Carpeted flooring, and a comfy circle of chairs and sofas for reading around the trunk. The room was literally lined, floor to ceiling, with shelves and books, except for one large window facing east. I loved it.

Edward watched me flit around the room with a smile. "You're pleased, I take it."

I grinned back over my shoulder. "Very."

I was intently browsing the titles, so it shocked me when his arms encircled me from behind. The feel of his lips at my ear made me shiver.

"Bet I could make you even more pleased," he said suggestively, running his hands up and down my sides.

"Oh, really?" I managed.

"Mmmhmm." He whirled me around and pressed me back against the shelf, hoisting me up to wrap my legs around his waist. My hips rocked eagerly against his.

"What do you think Alice would say if we literally screwed her treehouse to the ground?"

I was trying to answer that question when a loud shriek floated up from down below.

"DON'T YOU DARE, EDWARD CULLEN!"