Keith was standing in the elevator watching us walk in. Edward tensed and gripped me tighter.
I heard him chuckle as the doors slid shut, nearly closing on my foot because Edward hadn't walked fully in. I pulled my foot away from the metal doors and Edward backed us to a corner opposite Keith. I buried my head in his shirt and inhaled deeply, attempting to calm myself. His thick scent hit me like it always does and I found myself trying to hold in that breath, as if to preserve that moment, or that feeling when I first smell him.
"Your not scared of me are you Bella?" Keith said coyly, I felt my heart sink when he said my name. Edward had only mentioned it off-hand, hadn't he? Or was my memory that bad.
When he spoke he stepped forward and ruffled my hair playfully, like he was my boyfriend, not Edward. I jerked my head away, a second too late, and heard Edward give him a deep, guttural growl. A lot like the one I'd heard him give James that day in the field. Keith seemed surprised and he withdrew his hand slowly. He stared first at Edward then at me.
"No." I said firmly and looked into his eyes. Here, they seemed to be a dark, brooding green that only reminded me of the trees in Forks. They made me shudder, I tried unsuccessfully to repress it, and when he felt it, Edward put his arms in a more defensive position, as if he was trying to block me from Keith. He didn't seem to notice the change and kept staring at me. I forced myself to glare at him, and I did. I glared with all the might and anger I had. I stared at him so menacingly that I was almost expecting him to break eye contact. Almost.
Instead I ended up glaring at him until a group of people crowded up back into the elevator. How slow did this thing go? I decided that since my menacing glare had probably been about as frightening as a teddy bear I would just ignore him. I looked at Edward – who was looking at Keith – and saw confusion in his wonderful eyes. I reached a hand up and touched his freezing cheek, his eyes came to rest on mine and the beautiful topaz I loved so much was fading to a darker brown. I looked around and saw how many people were crammed in the elevator.
There were four other people, a mother, grandmother, and two children. I wished that the elevator would go faster.
What seemed like an eternity later the doors slid open with a faint hiss and he stepped out quickly and walked even faster to the car. He put me down and got in the car swiftly. I sighed; I wanted that moment back again. The moment where for a while it felt like nothing could hurt us. Like nothing could change us. I opened the door handle and found him sitting there breathing heavily and when I sat down in the seat he stopped breathing altogether.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
Apparently he had held enough of a breath to answer, "Not your fault. But I don't know if I should drive you home." He said this quickly.
"Okay, then I'll take my car." I whispered and gazed out the window to the cars parked around us, there weren't many.
He took another harsh breath to talk. "No, he's out there and you shouldn't drive yourself." With this he had made his decision and started the car.
"I don't get a say in this?" I complained, not that I wanted to leave but it made me angry when he decided for me. Besides, if he wasn't breathing then that meant that he was hungry, and being this close wasn't a good idea.
"No." he said grimly and I knew better then to comment.
We drove slowly, well slow for Edward.
"What's with the driving?" I asked curiously.
"Cops, there everywhere here." He explained shaking his head sadly as if that was a bad thing. But I guess for him it was.
I watched as his eyes faded darker as he was forced to take another breath.
"If your really hungry, there's an angry raccoon that lives in the park near here." I said half-joking. "I know it's nothing like mountain lion, but beggars can't be choosers, right?"
He smiled and I felt a little of my tension melt away.
"Seriously." I said and raised my eyebrows. He turned towards me and gave me a quizzical look.
"Well, it's what," I checked the clock, "three in the morning; no one's going to be there." I reasoned and he shook his head quickly.
"But if you do, then you can back home with me." I reasoned and he pulled over.
I turned to look out the window; no need to tempt fate. I covered my neck with my hair as best I could and tried to take smaller breaths. My heart was thudding loudly in my chest; I wanted more then anything to touch him, to touch the strong line that formed his jaw. To remember just how cold he felt against my fingertips. But I couldn't do that to him, it would only put him in more pain from trying to restrain himself.
"No." he said and sighed.
"You don't want to come back with me?" the very thought made my heart sink.
"Of course I do. Bella, come on. I need you, too." That shocked me even more, though I don't know why. "I'm just a little angry now." He said and I swiveled around quickly. He blinked hard and turned away, still not breathing.
"You're not thirsty? But I thought….your eyes…" I mumbled incoherently. He smiled and shook his head.
"No, my eyes are getting dark because I'm angry," he gave me his famous crooked smile. "How do I explain this? When a person's happier don't their eyes seem….lighter?" he asked me and I nodded, enjoying watching him stumble over words. "Well, mine just got 'darker' because I was angry."
It did make sense, but I felt the need to correct him. "Furious."
"All the same, I'm sorry. I'm better now, your angry raccoon cheered me up." He said and smiled, his eyes smoldering even in the pitch black of the car.
"Really?" I said trying to ignore his eyes. I shifted in my seat and felt like the car was filled with electricity. I could almost hear the crackling in the air. But then again, it was three in the morning and I hadn't slept much, who knew what I was imagining.
"Yes, if only you knew how bad raccoons taste, its horrible blood." He said and made a face.
"That bad, huh?" I felt a smile grow on my face.
"Blech." He faked a shiver and stuck out his tongue. I burst into laughter at this, and he joined in, glad for the lapse from the previous anxiety. We were laughing until I was gasping for air; it had been just what we had needed to release our tension.
"Raccoon's," I said smiling, "the spam of the vampire world."
"Spam? Really the commercials say that stuff is pretty good." He smiled as he said it and I found my grin grow a little wider.
Still though, I noticed that he was breathing sparingly. He was staring at me with an adoring yet somehow unreadable look that he gets sometimes. I felt my stomach flip-flop and wished I had been able to at least comb my hair before he gave me that look, right now I felt anything but beautiful. Breaking eye contact with him was not an option, so, being the artful girl I am, instead of doing something romantic, like leaning across and touching him, I went for blushing and stammering insanely at him.
"So…uh…so, you're not breathing, right? Aren't you thirsty then?" Smooth Bella, smooth.
He seemed amused by my response and I realized that I was blushing so hard I had probably invented a new shade of red. I looked at the bright numbers of the clock, attempting to compose myself.
"No, like I said, I was angry, I still am." Then he mumbled, "He shouldn't touch you."
"Don't worry; I won't let him touch me again. I wasn't too happy about it either."
He shook his head in frustration and held his forehead in one of his slender palms. "How do I explain this?" he paused then spat out. "He stinks. When he touched you," his eyes grew darker at the memory, "He left his stench in you hair, on you." He said and looked away.
"Oh. He really stinks?" I asked as I rolled down the window.
"Horribly. Well, at least to me. What are you doing?" he asked as I started to position myself so I was slightly off the seat.
"I'm going to make this better, and maybe get his scent off me." I said and started to lean out the window.
He pulled me in gently, "Stench." He corrected. "But I don't want you hanging out the window like a dog." He seemed utterly confused by my actions.
"Well, think about it, the wind will clear out my hair, and help you calm down. That isn't bad is it?" I said a popped my head back out the window.
I could sense his confusion, "Bella, come back in the car." I pretended I didn't hear him and made a motion for him to go. I only prayed that he would go under thirty, we were in a residential area but Edward never cared about those things. I made a motion for him to go with the hand I had free again. I felt the car start forward smoothly and I closed my eyes. The cool air hit me and I remembered just how dry it was and it smelt so familiar to me. I was glad that this would also keep me awake; I wanted more time with Edward.
I pulled back in a few minutes later and asked him happily, "Is this better?"
He inhaled deeply and nodded, and then he took another small breath as he rolled up the window and I sat back down. His hand reached across the seat and took mine. It was a simple gesture, and by now I should have been used to, if not ready, at the very least, for the electricity that ran up my spine when he touched me. My heart jumped a little and I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye. We took the drive in silence, neither of us wanting to ruin this perfect moment.
Once we had reached my house and had made it inside he turned to me quickly. "Please wash your hair."
"It didn't come out?" He shook his perfect head and I glared at him and started to go to my bathroom. However, I turned a little fast and stumbled, of course Edward was there in less than a second to steady me.
"Walk slowly, Bella. Let's not tempt fate." He smiled and withdrew his hand from my arm - I hadn't even realized it was there.
I walked to the bathroom and quickly, but thoroughly washed my hair in the sink. I toweled off my hair and walked out again. When I saw Edward motioned for me to sit on the seat of the couch next to me. His beautiful face was solemn and I noted how the living room seemed to almost glow with his presence.
I sat down and leaned into him. "I need to tell you something about Keith." And from that moment on I knew I wasn't going to have a good day.
AN: I know I've been slow, I'm so sorry. It's just been finals week. Ah! I have been studying like crazy. Also, this is a short chapter. Hopefully now that it's summer I'll have more time to work on it. Well, I can see I'm going to spend my summer fantasizing about Edward….Anyone else?
R&R!