This may come as a shock, believe me, I was floored when I found out that I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 21

Edward had a hard time waking Tyler up to get him home after the movies were all over. He also was reluctant to leave Bella's house because she had spent the last two hours with her head on his shoulder, crying softly. He now knew that what he was feeling for her had nothing to do with pent up hormones or lack of female attention but had everything to do with Bella herself. She was, for him, the epitome of feminine grace. She was beautiful, kind and giving. Forgiving and generous to the point of selflessness. Her intelligence and physical presence called to him. He knew she didn't see it and he was determined to make her see herself through his eyes. With a little self contentment she would be glorious and he would be the luckiest man in the world if he could call her his.

He wanted to belong to her.

He had a lot of work ahead of him. After years of being tramped down it would take forever for her to rise to the surface. He didn't know if he should continue on his current course of trying to befriend her and earn her regard that way or if he should try something more radical. Make a grand gesture and sweep her off her feet. The more he thought the more confused he was. Although he was fairly certain that if he were to sweep her off her feet it would only be because she was kicking him in the ass.

He really wanted to talk to her about what he had overheard her say in the kitchen. He wished he could have the same courage she had when she wrote him that letter. He was sure that he had left college with a set of balls but for the life of him he couldn't find them. Maybe friendship was all he was worth, maybe all he deserved.

He rolled over in his bed and sat up. He looked around his little apartment, searching for something to help him relieve the tension he was feeling. He picked up one of his pillows and started beating the shit out of it. It was his second favourite tension reliever. He refused to use his first. He didn't deserve the pleasure and Bella deserved more respect than just being his spank bank fodder.

Bella had trouble falling asleep after the boys left. She kicked herself over and over for leaning on Edward for comfort. It was one of the more asinine things she had ever done. God, what must he think of her now? Some weak little girl who can't handle a sad movie? A crybaby over fiction? Then she wondered why she cared, even a little bit, about how he saw her. What did it matter what he thought? She was loathed to admit that there was something unresolved in her heart about Edward. She needed him to acknowledge her, to see her as a living, feeling person not just as a little girl who once had a crush on him. She needed him to see her strong and powerful, not to make him remorseful but aware that what he did, did not break her.

But a small part of her remembered the feeling of his chest against her cheek as he held her. The soapy smell that clung to his skin, simple and generic, but memorable just the same. Or perhaps it was just him.

Either way, she did finally fall asleep with the scent of him on her mind. Her dreams were disjointed and bizarre. They were full of swirling colours and flickers of images from the movies she had watched interspersed with people she knew in real life.

She heard music and ran along a dark corridor to find the source. She came to a closed door and flung it open. At first it was a broom closet filled with spider webs and cleaning supplies but as she looked around the small space it grew into a ballroom, a massive space lined with gilt-edged mirrors. All her classmates were dancing in pairs, the girls in long multi-coloured dresses, the boys in suits that shimmered in rainbow tones. She looked down to see what she was wearing.

The dress that clung to her body was black and short and very tight. Tiny jewelled spaghetti straps held the dress to her body, the neckline draped in small folds creating a stunning set of boobs that Bella was sure weren't hers. She was tempted to grab hold of them just to see if they were. She looked further down and saw that the hem was finished in a fringe with beads at the ends. They tinkled together slightly when she moved. Her feet were encased in the highest pair of heels Bella had ever seen. The toe came to a point that was almost like an ice pick, sharp and deadly looking. In between the dancing couples Bella was able to see a glance of herself in one of the mirrors. Hot was the only word that came to mind. Really fucking hot.

With a confidence that only seemed to come in dreams, Bella walked to the centre of the room. The dancers swirled around her but gave her space to move. She started to move her body with the music, swaying her hips and raising her arms over her head.

She sensed the man behind her before he touched her. When she put a little extra hitch in her hips he grabbed them roughly and yanked her back against his hard body. His hands were searing hot on her hips as he moved with her. She looked down and saw the edge of his sleeves, the fabric changed colours almost too quickly for Bella to see. She looked behind her shoulder but his face was obscured by a hood. She couldn't see his face. One of his hands slid from her hips to splay possessively over her lower stomach, just above her pubic bone. When she looked down at that hand, never stopping the sensuous dance, she noticed that her dress was changing colour at a much slower rate than the cloak the man wore. The colours were rich and sultry, bold colours that Bella would never wear in real life.

The man, and she could feel very well that it was a man dancing behind her, slid the hand that was still holding her hip up over her ribs across her breast, where the hand paused for a moment, to come to rest over her heart. The hand then reached inside her chest until it held her heart. Bella stopped breathing but continued dancing waiting for the hand to rip her heart out. But the hand did not take her heart out of her chest but rather changed the rhythm of the beats.

Bella awoke with a start, her heart beating hard in her chest. She was flushed and overheated, but she remembered every second of the dream.

AN: Ummmm?