Ch 14: Hangover

BPOV

I felt unusually soft and warm. I was wrapped in something smooth and fluffy. But those were the only thoughts I had before I became aware of the intense pain throughout my body. The nausea was the quickest feeling, stretching from my stomach all the way to the back of my lips, and behind it I could taste the lingering flavor of tequila and fruit juice. The sting was the same as it was from the drink but it felt like it had been imprinted into my throat, long after I had finished. Then there was the excruciating headache. This wasn´t just any headache, it felt like someone had placed ten-ton blocks onto my temples and was crushing in my skull.

I felt the sensation of needing to vomit, but it didn't come. I groaned out loud.

"Not so much fun now, is it?"

Edward´s velvety voice rushed to my ears, but contrary to what normally happened, the sound jarred my pounding head. Since when had Edward´s voice been this deep? It sounded more bass than usual, shaking my eardrums.

Tentatively, I opened my eyes. He was sitting in a chair some 5 feet away with his elbows on his knees, starring at me like I was fascinating being so sick. I could barely look at him straight. The room had one wall that was an all-glass window, and the light was shining through. Instantly I pulled the blankets over my head. A hangover on one of the only sunny days in Forks… Just my luck. The brightness of it reaching my eyes felt like someone had taken a knife to my head.

"Sorry," Edward said, "I´ll close the blinds."

"Stop talking so loud," I said, but blushed when I realized he wasn´t actually talking loudly.

I heard him chuckle and then the sounds of the blinds being closed. Somehow able to feel the darkness surround me, I pulled my head back out of the sheets. There was just enough light to see Edward, but barely. It wasn´t like I was in a state to see straight.

Edward´s voice became a whisper, "Is that better?"

I nodded my head and instantly regretted it. It felt like my insides were being shaken. I gripped my head with my hands and groaned again. I was shocked by the coldness of Edward´s hands on my temple. "Don´t worry, it will pass. This happens to most people their first time."

´First and last for me,´ I thought to myself. Indeed, I didn´t think I would be drinking again anytime soon, if not ever.

"Am I at your house?" I asked.

"Yes."

"How did I get here?"

He was silent for a while. I saw his forehead wrinkle as he gentle massaged my head with his cold fingers. For a moment, I completely forgot what I wanted to know. The coldness of his hands was an instant relief and a leaned into his touch.

"Alice had a vision of you, so I came and got you."

I searched through my memory of the night before to see if I remembered seeing him there, but I drew a blank. The whole evening was such a blur. I only knew that Jake had been there with me, I had played a few games of beer-pong… And then nothing else, or at least no other memories other than smiling faces and the fuzzy numbness in my head, images that seemed to come more from a dream rather than reality.

Still, why would Edward have been there? "Why did you do that? You don´t go to parties, and you certainly don´t drink."

"Bella, I came to get you out of there," He said, as though it were so obvious.

I sighed as his fingers rubbed the back of my ears. "Why? I was just at a party. What´s the worst that could happen?"

The delightful motion stopped and the comfort was gone. Edward´s face twisted into an anger that I was unprepared to see. "The worst? How about getting drugged, Bella?"

I cringed at his voice, having picked up again. "Drugged?" I mused, my voice sounding very much drugged itself.

"That´s right. How could you have been so stupid, Bella? You never let go of your drink, not even for a second. A second is all it takes for someone to slip you a pill."

"Would you please keep your voice down?" I shouted, my own voice hurting me.

"Sorry," he whispered again, and returned to massaging my head.

I shut my eyes and tried to remember still, but came up with nothing. Even trying to remember hurt right now. "How could I have been drugged?"

"Don´t be so naïve, Bella. You wouldn´t even have been able to taste it. Actually, I´ll bet you don´t remember much of the night, right? That would be the pill´s purpose. Making you not remember."

A new sick feeling curdled in my stomach. I had taken enough sex education class at this point to know the implications of a date rape drug. I couldn´t feel much other than my head and my stomach at the moment, but I squirmed a little, wondering if I was damaged elsewhere, fearing that the date rape drug had fulfilled its purpose.

But I could feel no change in my body. It certainly didn´t feel like I had been raped, but it wasn´t like I knew what it felt like from experience. I looked up at him in fear, asking him for an answer he probably didn´t know and no doubt I didn´t want to hear, "Did they… Am I… okay?"

The anger gone from his face, he sighed and smiled a little, "Yeah, you´re fine. I got there just in time. Nothing happened."

I breathed a sigh of relief and let him continue to play with my hair and scalp. I only wished his fingers could reach into my head and settle whatever it was that was making my head pound.

"You saved me again… Thank you," I whispered.

"You´re welcome," he said simply, ever polite.

"You didn´t have to, you know?"

I was a better judge of that than anyone else. How many girls were still protected by their exes? I always imagined that ex-boyfriends didn´t much care what happened to their ex-girlfriends. Either way I was incredibly lucky that Edward was the exception. Of course I never would have pegged him as the type to not care, but it surprised me nonetheless that he would actually go out of his way for me.

"Of course I did," He said in the sweetest of sounds. God, his voice was just as soothing as his hands. I hoped he didn´t notice how dazzled I was even in a hangover.

Actually I felt more like a cat being coerced into sleep. If Edward wasn´t beside me I would be very tempted to just sleep the day away, but I had something even bigger to worry about, "Charlie… Does he know?"

"No… Though sometimes I really think you deserve to be grounded by him, but I won´t interfere. Just be careful in the future or I won´t be so generous."

"Oh, come on. You can´t be a snitch. You´re supposed to be my friend."

He rolled his eyes and laughed, "Yes, and as your friend I will be making sure you don´t hurt yourself."

"Edward, you can´t control me. It was my decision to go and if I get hurt it´s my own fault."

His fingers slowed. "I know… I just worry about you. You´re always so reckless."

It kind of hurt to hear him say that. He had said it many times before, but at least then I knew that it when we something more than we were now he didn´t mind that I was a burden to him. What did he think of me now? On top of that, why did he assume that I couldn´t take care of myself? He had left me with a heart in countless pieces, but I had survived, didn't I? Barely… but I had still survived. In spite of what he thought, I wasn't in danger of being hit by a car every moment he wasn´t around.

"You sound like I need to be taken care of." I grumbled.

The look on his face was soft, but something about it made my heart ache. For a moment he didn´t seem to be looking at me, his eyes glazed and staring off into his own mind. Why did he have to look so… sad? The urge to reach out to him assailed me, to somehow pull away whatever thoughts were plaguing his mind, to at least make him know that he was not alone… But what could a mere human like me do to help a vampire?

"Don´t we all?" He replied quietly.

I didn´t think I could respond to that. If I could, I would say that he didn´t need anyone to take care of him, but somehow the thought of it hurt me. I wanted him to need me in any small way. As his friend, I had to have some worth in his life. I didn´t know exactly what was the value of this friendship, but I knew I needed his like mad. But I was the weak human. Of course I would be needing him. I was emotionally weak and hopelessly in love with him, the flawless, selfless, intelligent god of a man. Like he said, vampires had ways of distracting themselves. If I was a vampire, I wondered if I would be able to distract myself… to fall out of love with him too.

Instead I said the next thing that came to my mind, "Unless you´re a vampire…"

He didn´t respond. His fingers had migrated to the back of my neck. I sighed again at the joy of his touch.

"Do you want some food?" He asked.

The nausea returned to the forefront of my mind, but I was starving. So I didn´t know how to answer him. He chuckled, seeming to know anyway, "Soup is weak enough for you, I think. I´ll go get some. You just rest."

My mouth began to water. I just hoped that it didn´t make me feel worse. I was disheartened when Edward´s fingers left my head and I groaned again.

"Don´t worry," He said, "I´ll be back in 5 minutes."

He disappeared from the room and everything around me suddenly became darker. I heard the stereo start up and some unknown classic music began to play. I smiled. Even in his absence, Edward was always with me in music. I imagined it was him playing the piano, I imagined his flawless fingers dancing over the keys, playing the piano like he was playing on my heart.

I looked around the darkened room. It was the same as I remembered from the first time. Wall to wall music and videos on one side, a wide screen TV by the door, bookshelves filled with books against the glass wall and many books haphazardly strewn on the floor, many pictures and a few souvenirs from his many travels, a few boxes in the corner… The only sign of an average teenager´s room was the baseball gear near the door.

There was so much about him I still probably didn´t know. He had spent a good few decades just learning, in high school and college. While it was a depressing thought that he would never be able to use his knowledge professionally, I had to marvel at how many years of knowledge he must have stored away. How was he able to convince anyone that he belonged in high school with a mind like his? I felt utterly pathetic next to him. I felt like an ignorant child. I bet the world was such a wonderful place when you could live forever. Edward had always told me otherwise, but I wanted to see it all… with him. I wanted to learn about everything, everything that he knew. I, foolish girl, wanted to have it all. What I wanted most of all was something I could never have.

Edward returned to the room with the most delicious smelling soup I could imagine. Nausea all but forgotten, my stomach was anxious for nourishment. To my surprise, he carried with him a tray for the bed and some saltine crackers. But the smile on his face was the most delicious of all. Against my better judgment, I could imagine us as a married couple after a wedding, him serving me breakfast in bed, us spending the day just being with each other.

Too bad a hangover wasn´t in any way romantic. I would have to remember that if I ever did get married.

"Here you are," Edward said, "Chicken Soup with Rice. One of your favorites, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah," I said simply, smelling the soup with particular interest.

I began as soon as it was in front of me, smiling him a thank you. He went back to the same seat. Nibbling on some saltines, I asked, "Are you going to stay here all day?"

"Hey, it´s my room," He joked.

I just rolled my eyes.

He shrugged, "Why not? Someone has to make sure you´re okay."

I was struck by guilt again, that he would have to waste his time on someone like me, someone who wasn´t even his girlfriend anymore. "You don´t have to do that, Edward. I can get Alice to drive me home after this."

"The others are out at the moment. Besides, I don´t know if you really want to face Charlie with a hangover."

I nearly choked, "What am I going to tell him? He´s gonna kill me for not coming home."

"Already taken care of. Alice called and apologized for making you spend the night, and asked if it was okay to bring you home this evening."

Ah, of course. There was no way Charlie could say no to Alice.

"So what am I going to do?"

"I don´t think you are going to want to do much else than sleep."

"Are you sure you don´t mind?"

He seemed surprised at my answer, "Of course I don´t. Why would I?"

I sighed and drank some more soup. "I just hope I´m not taking advantage of your hospitality."

He was silent for a moment, "We are friends… aren´t we?"

My heart skipped a beat. In truth, he would never be just a friend to me, but I could never let him know that. "Yes… Of course." I hoped I sounded more convincing than I thought I did.

My reward was his delicate smile, "Then you can stay here as long as you like, whenever you like. No one here will think badly of it. We want you here. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "Thank you."

"Good, now eat up and then get some sleep. The others just came back so I´m going to see what they´ve been up to."

I wanted very much to talk with them too, but I highly doubt I could handle more than one voice at a time, and as Edward said, all I wanted to do was eat a little and then sleep this hangover away.

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EPOV

When she was finished with her soup, I took the tray and told her again to go to sleep. She didn´t need to be told twice. I could tell that the headache she had was making her exhausted no matter how much sleep she had gotten the night before. When her breathing evened out I finally felt at ease. There was something so calming about Bella when she slept, as though I was sleeping too. After a lingering glance, I stepped out of my room.

Now I was onto more pressing matters.

Earlier this morning, the family set off to scout the area for signs of Victoria or the Volteri. After what had happened last night, I desperately wanted to go back to the house of the party once Bella was safe on my couch so that I could find out for myself who was responsible, but I was too frightened to leave her side. I was too scared by the thought that she had come so close to being raped, that I had failed her again. Happily, the family insisted they would investigate, wondering if I did that just maybe this could be linked to our enemies.

However, my hopes for information were instantly dashed.

As soon as I encountered them, Carlisle gave me a solemn look. "Sorry, son. We couldn´t find anything."

I grimaced. "Nothing? Not even a scent?"

"We have no way of telling the scent of a rapist, Edward. And there was no scent of a vampire either. All were human."

I was overcome by outrage again and barely kept myself from kicking a nearby chair. I just had to make that bastard pay for even thinking of harming my Bella. There was no way I could let this go unpunished. But how was I supposed to distinguish a human male from any other?

Damn it all to hell…

"Save your anger for Victoria and the Volturi, Edward," Esme said, "They are a far bigger threat to her."

I tried to take her words in stride, but all I could think about was finding this human monster and shredding him, no matter how much of a monster it made me. If I ever got my hands on him, it would be a slow and painful death.

"Any sign of them?" I asked, trying to focus on what was still a threat.

"No," Carlisle said, "They might still be on their way."

"Or they might know that we are protecting her and are looking for a way to get around us undetected." I pointed out.

"That´s impossible. They know we would be able to detect them from miles away, and Forks is such a small town that we would know immediately."

Emmett spoke up, "It is possible that Victoria is with them, if neither of them are choosing to attack now."

"We can´t make that assumption," said Carlisle, "For all we know the Volturi have split up into smaller groups as well."

I rubbed my face in frustration, not even having to think over the odds in my head. "We´re outnumbered. What are we to do with Bella when they get here?"

"That all depends on the situation. Frankly, I think if they come anywhere close, you will probably have to take her and run away from awhile."

I cringed. Now that I was no longer her boyfriend, that would clearly be considered kidnapping, and I highly doubted she would go willingly. On top of that, how would her new boyfriend react to this plan? Surely he would try and stop me, or come after me himself.

"There´s no way. Bella wouldn´t want to go away with me," I ignored the thoughts of Alice telling me that she would love it, "And Jake wouldn´t allow it either."

"What? Is he her keeper? Why do we care what he thinks?" Emmett asked.

"Because, Emmett, he is her boyfriend now, and he happens to hate me. I highly doubt that someone as jealous as he is will be happy with Bella´s vampire ex-boyfriend taking her out of the state for an undetermined period of time."

Rosalie sneered, "We can handle the dog easily."

On a normal occasion, I would have rejoiced at the thoughts going through her head right now. The thought of ripping into the werewolf was nearly as pleasurable as going after her attacker, especially since he lacked the ability to keep an eye on Bella, getting her into this mess in the first place. The only thing that kept me from agreeing with her was Bella´s love. I loved her far too much to deny her the person she loved. If she wanted him, then I wouldn´t dream of killing him. I was considering breaking his jaw for last night, but I would certainly not damage him beyond repair.

"No. For Bella´s sake I don´t want any of you to touch him." I said, wishing I didn´t have to.

"Well can we at least break his legs?" Emmett asked, half joking , half serious.

Ah yes, that thought too was pleasurable… "I´m lucky I didn´t get us in trouble by breaking his collar bone. We´ll be up against Victoria and the Volturi. The last thing we need is to have another run-in with the werewolves."

Esme put a hand on my shoulder, "So what do you propose we do?"

I sighed. "We´ll call on the Denali clan, see if they can come down to help us. Even if only a few of them can help, it´s something. We´ll keep on the lookout. One of us must always be by Bella, just in case they come to close. And when she´s with Jacob…"

My family watched me, waiting for me to finish my answer, but blood seemed to boil in my empty veins as I considered an unthinkable option. But nothing was unthinkable anymore. I couldn´t hold anything back. As long as Bella´s safety was at stake, I couldn´t leave any stone unturned.

I clenched my jaw and finished, hissing through my anger, "I will have to tell Jacob about the vampires."

To be continued…

Bah… I didn´t like this chapter. I never like Bella´s POV. And too much talking for my taste. I like their thoughts a lot more. Oh well! Tell me if at least you enjoyed it or hated it. I´ll get the next one up as soon as possible. Please keep the reviews coming. They remind me to work. It´s hard to remember amidst all the school work I have on the table.

Ciao! xoxoxo