Chapter 17 up! Yay! Ok first of all, I feel I have to issue a fluff warning. Fluff up ahead. Proceed with caution, chocolate and tissues. Oh and, because I know someone's going to pick me up on this, the word 'exercise' is not a typo, its me trying to be clever and playing with words!

Disclaimer:- Basic plot-Disney. Words and waffle-me! And I don't own Edward Scissorhands or Forrest Gump either.


The voyeur turned interactor felt beads of sweat start to form on his scarred forehead as he pushed out press-up after press-up on the harsh wooden floorboards. Eyes grimacing and teeth bared, his breath came rapid and ragged as he tried to exercise the demons within him. Again and again, his arm muscles tensed and relaxed, carrying the full weight of his body as their burden. Again and again, now faster and faster. He wanted to see how fast he could go; how fast he could sweat out his frustration. He gritted his teeth and sped up some more. Heat reigned in the core of each arm and started to turn into white-hot pain. Pain that was now shooting up his arms and into his shoulders as he pressed up and down, up and down, faster and faster and faster still. His body became a glistening blur; his jogging bottoms soaked in his determination to rid himself of the despair he had felt as long as he cared to remember.

He had to do this. If he had any chance of being happy, he had to clear his thoughts, his mind, and his memories and make room for new ones. If this meant pushing himself to the limits of endurance, then so be it. He was now reaching the point where he thought he couldn't stand the pain anymore, but he wasn't ready to stop yet. The moment of release was still a few press-ups away, and he had to keep doing it. He had to keep replacing his mental pain with physical; he had to until it ran out through his pores and onto the floor beneath him. He braced himself and went for one final burst of absolute anguish. Then, with an almost inhuman scream, he collapsed face down onto the floor. For a while, he just lay there breathing so hard he thought his chest would burst, and then, with the last ounce of strength left in his soul, he curled himself into a ball and let the tears flow.

Bella, in an ill-fitting t-shirt and her old jeans, and on a mission to crack open Bastian's shell, walked down one of the many corridors that presented themselves to her. Her chocolate-brown hair hung in natural waves down her back. She'd towel-dried it; something she was not used to but had had no choice to do, having given up searching for a hair-dryer. She was vaguely aware that she did not look her best, but at the same time she recognised that her appearance was the least of her worries. Once again, Bastian had managed to make himself vanish. The noises she'd heard that had confirmed his presence while she had been in the bath had long since ceased and the house was now as silent as it had ever been. For one heart-stopping moment, she had thought she'd heard a scream, unearthly and raw, but figured it must have been the house playing with her mind again.

Now, at the end of the corridor, there were two doors. Both looked unfamiliar, despite the tour earlier. She concluded that this part of the house had been on the latter part of the tour; the part where Bastian has suddenly turned cold. She had tried to figure out exactly what she had said or done to make him change so suddenly, but like the hairdryer, it remained an enigma for now at least.

She was about to just open one the doors at random and walk in, but something stopped her and she turned to the other door instead. No sound came from within the room when she knocked and so she took a deep breath and entered.

He wasn't in there, but something was. Something lingered intertwined with the mustiness of the air. The room itself was unremarkable; a fireplace, a shelf with dusty ornaments, faded wallpaper…There were a set of weights scattered on the floor. They would normally have been out of place, being devoid of beauty and antiquity like the furnishings in the room, yet they belonged, as Bastian belonged. She could sense his presence everywhere in the room. It hung like an invisible curtain as if he had only just left, but unfortunately on this occasion his presence was not sufficient. She forced herself to leave and once again stood in the long and bleak corridor.

Wow she heard herself think. This place could really depress a person if they weren't careful. How does he not go mad…or maybe he does…She was suddenly aware she wore his t-shirt. He was on her skin. She couldn't decide whether to be repulsed or comforted, but she did know that this particular corridor was having too great an effect on her and so she ran to a less suffocating place. Once she got to the entrance hall, she was surprised she no longer had to look for him, because he had found her.

He'd just come out of the kitchen and was standing in front of her drinking milk straight from the carton. Straight away, Bella knew there was something different about him but she couldn't place it. Whatever it was, it froze her on the stairs like a marble statue. It made the hairs on her body stand on end. It made her throat dry. It made her heart increase its rhythmic beating in her chest and for the briefest second she couldn't breathe because it, whatever it was, stuck in her throat. She let it out with a deep sigh and closed her eyes, relishing it but willing it to leave her.

When she opened her eyes again, Bastian was staring at her, milk carton stopped halfway to his mouth, concern etched onto his brow.

"Are you ok?"

Bella blushed, thinking of how strange she must have just looked, or was it something else that made the blood rush to her cheeks?

"I'm fine. I just felt…funny for a moment. It's gone now."

She managed a weak smile which he met with a broad grin that was reflected in his eyes.

"You found the t-shirt then? Sorry, it's all I could find at short notice."

"Its fine, Thank-you."

Bella's head was still woozy from whatever had hit her. What was that? It had left her unsure of herself, not completely in control, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant; more unsettling.

"I've got something to show you. Something I forgot yesterday. I think you'll like it."

Bella frowned in surprise. Why was he suddenly so sure of himself?

He noticed her expression and laughed.

"You don't have to, you know. It's just an idea I had."

For one second, the uncertainty he was trying to conceal flashed in his eyes again and this made Bella feel secure enough to accept the change that seemed to have occurred in him.

As dignified as she felt she could manage in an unflattering clothes and with messy hair, she flashed him a brilliant smile.

"Sure. Why not?"

Now it was Bastian's turn to blush, but he hid it by lowering his head. When he had composed himself, he walked towards her and then past her and up the stairs.

"This way."

She followed him to the corridor with the two doors she had stood in just minutes previously. The oppressive feeling seemed to have dissipated, much to Bella's relief. She watched as he reached for the doorknob she had rejected in her eager search for him just moments before. She couldn't help the words from falling out of her lips.

"What's the other room for?"

He paused, his hand over the doorknob, and then he spoke.

"Nothing much really. I...er...exercise in there occasionally. This…." he diverted her attention successfully…."is what I really want to show you. But first…you have to close your eyes…"

Bella looked at him as if to say 'are you kidding me?'

"It's a surprise. It's a nice one…cross my heart."

He looked so solemn that she giggled and then did as he requested. She trusted in the darkness beneath her eyelids but then the tranquillity was shattered as he took her hand to lead her into the room. She gasped as his touch unexpectedly sent tingles rippling up her arm. His hands felt slightly rough but gentle, and she let him lead her into the room. A few steps and he closed the door behind them.

"Ready?"

Bella nodded.

"Ok, open your eyes."

Bella opened them slowly, not sure of what she was going to see, but once they were open fully, she gasped in delight.

In front of her was a home cinema. A huge screen took up one wall, and the other wall was jam-packed with shelves and shelves of movies, leaving just enough room in the middle for a VCR that was wired up to a projection machine. In the middle of the room were two very comfortable looking sofas with a coffee table in front of each and in perfect viewing positions for the screen. There was also a mini fridge in the room as well as a small but well-equipped bar. To a movie-lover like Bella, it was beyond wonderful.

"What do you think?"

"It's amazing! I've always wanted one of these…in my wildest most unrealistic dreams of course."

"Well now you have one."

"Oh wow…there must be over five hundred movies there."

"Six hundred and thirty two actually. I counted once. I was extremely bored."

As Bella moved to the shelves and started flicking through the movies, Bastian explained.

"My father had this installed at the request of my mum. She was a huge movie buff and when my father wasn't working, we'd often come in here, you know, as a family and watch the latest movies she brought home from the city. I used to come in here all the time but I must have seen all of them by now, some more often than others…

He was interrupted by a squeal from Bella who had reached the 'E' section of the carefully arranged and alphabetised shelves.

"You have Edward Scissorhands!"

"Apparently so."

Bella laughed.

"It's my favourite! I haven't seen it for ages though. The last time I put it on I…er…fell asleep." Was that only a few days ago? she thought. It seems so much longer.

"I'll do you a deal. We can watch it now only if we can watch one of my favourites later."

Bella laughed again and realised suddenly how, well, normal this all seemed. Watching a movie with a guy, granted that most guys didn't have their own cinema. Suddenly a burst of thoughts exploded into her head.

Oh my god is this like a date? Is he gonna think it's a date? Do I want it to be like a date? No of course not I don't know him. Does it matter? Yes it does. We're just friends, if that. It'll be fun. Oh my god I hope he doesn't try anything. What will I do if he does? But he wouldn't would he. But do I want him to? No of course not I don't know him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a clicking then a whirring as the projector came to life.

"Ok all ready. Do you want something to drink? There are cans and things in the fridge. Help yourself."

Bella cursed herself for reading too much into the situation and got herself a few cans of drinks from the fridge as well as some tortilla chips and dip that were also in there. With a contented sigh, she flopped into one of the sofas and was pleased to find that it was as comfortable as it looked. She opened a can of Dr. Pepper, the bag of tortilla chips and the salsa and Bastian flopped down beside her. The lights went off and they prepared themselves for an hour and a half of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.

The movie went by faster than Bella remembered it did. They sat in silence most of the time as both hated it when people spoke during movies. They shared the chips and dip, and Bella needn't have worried as Bastian was a perfect gentleman. After Edward Scissorhands had finished, they had rather an animated discussion as to whether Kim was right to leave Edward alone or not. They never came to a conclusion. Instead, they watched Forrest Gump, Bastian's choice, and Bella found herself remembering just how much she liked it too. As the film eventually drew to its conclusion, Bella suddenly realised just how tired she was and fought a losing battle with her eyelids. She became dimly aware of the film ending and Bastian saying something then leaving the room, but after that she drifted off into dream-filled bliss.

Bastian re-entered the room carrying two mugs of steaming hot chocolate to find Bella asleep on the sofa. He gently placed the mugs down on the table and looked at her for a moment. She looked even more beautiful asleep than awake. Her lips were slightly pursed to allow for her breathing and her hair curled around her face and neck. He wondered what exactly she had done to it to get it looking so perfect; it looked like waves of rippled brown silk around her angelic face. It was at that precise moment that he realised he was in love with her. However, his love came at a price. He realised that she would probably never feel the same way about him, but somehow he didn't mind. As long as she let him be around her, he would be happy.

He was tempted to just leave her asleep on the sofa as she looked so peaceful, but common sense told him that if he did, she would ache in the morning. Very gently, as if she was a priceless treasure, he picked her up and carried her out of the room. He had never carried a woman in his arms before and spent most of the relatively long walk to her bedroom trying his best to suppress the fear of dropping her. There was one moment when he almost did because she, wrapped up in the world of slumber, suddenly murmured and held him tightly. It startled him so much he had to stop for a moment because his heart was beating too fast for him to continue. Eventually, however, he made it to her room and very carefully placed her on the bed. Then, without thinking and without even caring for thinking at all, he leant down and lightly brushed her forehead with his lips.

"Goodnight Bella." he whispered.


And there you have it. Sorry for the lack of review responses this time. I write loads and then forgot to save it, and i'm too tired to write them all out again lol Anyway, you know I love you all, right:)