Author's note: I finished my novel! Now I have to finish outlining my NaNoWriMo project, but I hope to update this story no less than once a month. Thank you for all of the reviews-they are literally what inspires me to keep writing.

Chapter Seven: Aftermath

Edward and his little girlfriend met us at the doors of the UW hospital, as promised. I'd kept my head against the cool passenger side window of Ben's car during the drive over, closing my eyes in an attempt to suppress... everything.

"She's been mumbling," Angela said as Edward moved to open my door and pull me out. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine." I opened my eyes to find the source of the voice I didn't recognize. "Go park. We'll be inside."

The little dark-haired girl closed the passenger door as Edward held me in his arms once more.

"Hi," she said brightly when she caught me peeking down at her. "I'm Alice."

"Hi, Alice," I mumbled against Edward's shoulder. Mmmm. His cold shoulder felt so good against my cheek. "Cold shoulder," I giggled at the double entendre.

"I'm Edward's sister," Alice added with her own little giggle.

"His sister?" I gulped. The ER doors automatically opened for us as Edward stepped inside.

"That's right," said Alice. "I'm so happy to finally meet you."

"Not now, Alice," Edward muttered. He looked up sharply as another figure joined us in the lobby. "Carlisle!"

"Edward, bring her this way."

"I'll stay here to update her friends," said Alice.

It was at that point where my mind grew too foggy to process properly. I remembered Carlisle instructing Edward to leave the room while he examined me and had a nurse insert an IV. There were flashes of Alice, her spiky hair bouncing around her head as she said something to Angela, who was there too.

When the fog finally began to clear, the first thing I saw was Edward. He sat several feet away from my hospital bed, his head in his hands. I wondered for a moment if he was asleep.

"Edward?"

His head shot up at the sound of my voice. He had that pained look on his face again.

"Are you okay?" My voice sounded so raspy. I coughed to clear my throat.

He stood up, walking slowly until he reached the end of my bed.

"Are you still angry with me?" He didn't look angry, but you could never be too sure with Edward.

His pained expression was immediately replaced with a frown. "I was never angry at you, not really. Do you remember what happened?"

"That jerk laced my drink with a date-rape drug," I muttered. I wasn't sure where the guilt had come from-I hadn't done anything to encourage Evan, we'd just been having a friendly conversation, I thought.

"Don't worry," Edward said. "He won't get the chance to do that again. I made sure of it."

"What did you do?" I asked, violent images flashing through my mind. My heart sped up and Edward's face turned to the monitors I was hooked up to. He continued to examine them for a moment while I watched him. How? How was it possible for someone to be so incredibly good-looking? And why was he here with me?

"Don't worry," said Edward. "The police broke up the party. They had a special tip that there were some people using controlled substances. I don't think your friend will be attending university here anymore."

"Please stop calling him that," I said with a shudder.

Edward turned to look at me, seemingly satisfied with what he saw on my monitors. "I'm sorry." His tone of voice led me to believe that he was apologizing for more than the nickname.

"Why were you at the party, anyway?" I asked. "That doesn't really seem like your scene."

"It doesn't seem like yours, either," he countered.

"It's not. But Jessica is having a hard time, what with her breakup. I was trying to be a supportive friend. I didn't know any of that was going to happen."

"Neither did I," said Edward, sounding bitter. "You really need to be more careful, Bella."

"I've survived okay the past nineteen years. But you didn't answer my question. Why were you there? Why did you help me? I thought you hated me."

Edward's eyes were burning with something deep and scary and exciting and...something I didn't understand.

"I don't hate you, Bella," he said softly.

Though my heart was soaring at the way he had said it, I tried to push down on the hope. "Not even a little? Because sometimes you seem very unhappy to see me."

"Sometimes I'm very unhappy with myself, and you happen to be there to see it. But it's not your fault. You have no idea how incredibly sorry I am that you've been led to believe you might have anything to do with it. To answer your question, no, not even a little."

"Good," I said. "Now what about the other thing?"

"Why was I at the party?"

I nodded.

"That's...complicated," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think I can keep up," I said, hoping I was right. I still felt a little funny, but I was almost positive I was lucid.

"I knew you would be at the party because I overheard your roommates talking about it. I guess I wanted to see you."

"That's not very complicated," I said, trying to act like I wasn't having trouble breathing.

The corners of Edward's mouth pulled up in a small smile. "I guess it isn't."

"How did you know what was in the cup?" I wasn't letting him get out of satisfying my curiosity. He owed me that. Or maybe we were even, what with saving my life and virtue, etc. etc.

"Would you believe me if I told you I saw him put it in?"

"Then why did you smell the cup? And who knows a drug just by its smell?"

"My father is a doctor," he said shrugging.

"That's a thin excuse," I said. "So you have superhuman strength and smell."

He was watching me carefully. His eyes were a golden color, lighter than I'd ever seen them. "You're finalizing theories now?"

"Not quite yet," I said, biting my lip thoughtfully. "But soon."

"Bella?" Angela stuck her head around the curtain and, when she saw that I was awake, walked to my side, taking the hand without the IV. "We were so worried. Dr. Cullen had them do a blood test and everything."

Edward closed his eyes tightly and turned away at Angela's words. "I'll give you a minute," he choked as he flicked the curtain back and disappeared.

"Dang, Bella," Angela breathed as soon as Edward was gone. "That Edward guy is intense. You should have seen how worried he was about you. He was practically pulling his hair out. I thought he was going to punch Dr. Cullen when he told Edward to calm down and take a seat in the waiting area. Edward seems to really like you, though."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"What was that you said in the car earlier? About him promising not to take you to the ER? Have you guys been seeing each other?"

"Not like that. We were doing that group project. I had a little accident the other day and he overreacted a bit and tried to get me to go to the ER. I honestly expected him to be done with me, now that we've completed our project."

"Oh, Bella," Angela sighed. She didn't make a comment about how accident prone I was, which I appreciated. "You should give him a chance, if that's what he wants-he seems really sweet, if not a little intimidating. He even helped Ben get Jessica in here so they could check her out as well."

"Is Jess okay?" I asked. I wasn't sure how much I'd missed, or if there was some detail I couldn't remember because of the drug.

"She's fine," said Angela. "Dr. Cullen did a blood test and she's clean, just really drunk. I'm so sorry, Bella. I didn't know how bad it was and I couldn't figure out how to make her stop."

"Well the headache in the morning should be a decent deterrent in the future," I said. "Stupid Mike."

"Right?" Angela laughed humorlessly. "I'll go see if I can find a nurse or Dr. Cullen to update you. Or Edward's little sister-she was around here a few minutes ago."

Edward's sister. So that part of the evening hadn't been a dream.

"Hey, Bella!"

Speak of the devil-or angel. Pixie might be more appropriate.

"Hi...Alice, right?" I was questioning every detail, not wanting to embarrass myself by assuming some of the things I thought I saw were reality.

"Yes," she said. "How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?"

"I don't think so," I said, having to think about it for a minute. "I just feel really tired. I kind of just want to go to bed."

"I'm sure this hospital bed isn't very comfortable, huh?"

I nodded. She was so friendly and caring, talking with me like she'd known me for years.

"Your friend Angela found Carlisle. He'll be able to get you out of here and you can head home."

"Alice," Edward whispered harshly as he pulled back the privacy curtain. "What are you doing?"

"Bella and I are just becoming acquainted, Edward. No need to get snappish."

"Can't you just go...find Carlisle or something?"

Alice glared at Edward and I laughed outright. In truth, I knew part of my giddiness was relief that Edward might not be taken after all. But it was such an absurd scene to see both siblings glowering at one another, one exceptionally small, the other towering over her. I didn't think they were true siblings but made a mental note to ask Edward. That was, if he was still talking to me.

"Don't leave on my account," I said, wonderfully amused at the sight of someone finally being a match for the whirlwind that was Edward. For a moment I imagined that I heard Edward growling through his clenched teeth, which only made me laugh louder.

"Would someone like to explain what I missed?" Carlisle asked. Angela stood behind him, watching me carefully.

"I think Alice and Edward were about to fight," I said gleefully.

Carlisle looked from his daughter to his son and back again. Then he turned to me, a small smile playing on his lips. "How would you like to go home, Bella?"

I smiled. "Can I?"

"Well, your blood pressure is back to normal and you don't seem to be having hallucinations anymore-"

My smile vanished. Crap. "What did I say?"

Carlisle put a cool hand on my shoulder and smiled at me comfortingly. His bedside manner was flawless, I thought, but was still no match for this level of humiliation. "No need to be embarrassed. It was mostly nonsensical."

"Mostly?" I looked to Edward, who immediately turned away to hide his wide grin. The others kept the same neutral expressions. This couldn't be good. "You didn't call my dad, did you?"

Carlisle frowned, looking through my paperwork. "He's your emergency contact? I believe a nurse made the call."

I groaned. What could be worse than my dad knowing I had finally socialized? That said socialization had ended with me in the hospital. If Edward hadn't been there...it would have been a lot worse than a hospital visit.

Carlisle continued writing something on my chart, then looked up at me with his comforting smile once more. "I'll have a nurse come in and take out that IV. Your friend is ready to go home too. Do you have a ride back to your dorm? I don't want you walking around until you've had a good night's rest."

"My boyfriend will drive us," said Angela.

Twenty minutes later I was walking slowly back to the hospital parking lot. Edward had offered to carry me, but I reminded him that I had two functioning legs. To be honest, I had briefly considered it, but only because I wondered what it would feel like to have his arms around me when I could fully appreciate the sensation.

Alice and Edward escorted us to Ben's car. I slid into the back with Jessica, who fell right back to sleep on my lap.

"Can I check in on you tomorrow?" Edward asked hopefully as he leaned down, one hand poised and ready to close the car door.

"I have work tomorrow morning. I'm off at 4." I wasn't sure if that was more information than he was asking for. Maybe he wasn't talking about coming to see me. "Or you have my number."

Edward nodded, but I couldn't read his face to tell if that pleased him or not. "Sleep well, Bella," he said as he closed the door.

#

I was required to dress up for Halloween at work. I'd have rather been in the hospital again. Angela and Jess (who had already apologized a million times for the events of the previous night) insisted on showing me several options they both had. Finally, they both agreed that Angela's short-sleeved blue tea-length dress coupled with an apron from Jessica's French maid costume would work for a recognizable Belle from the animated Beauty and the Beast.

"It's even punny, because you're going to work in a library. Well, and the name similarity," Jessica giggled.

I wasn't amused but didn't see that I had much of a choice. I'd debated not wearing a costume and letting the chips fall where they may, but considered that I'd probably get more people looking at me if I were the only one not dressed up. I hated Halloween.

Despite being a Saturday, the library was quite busy, as people were beginning to study for midterm exams. I wished that I had more downtime to work on my own homework, as I was not ahead anymore. The whole debacle at the party the previous night had really thrown me off. But I was able to get the majority of my math homework done, as I usually had enough time to solve a problem or two between helping people locate books and reshelving.

When four o'clock rolled around and Yasmine arrived to relieve me from my shift, I breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing I planned to do was go home, take this stupid costume off, and take a long, hot shower. I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the elevators, but stopped suddenly when I noticed who was leaning casually against the wall next to the elevators, arms crossed over his chest and eyes dancing. Edward was smiling at me as if he found something incredibly amusing.

"What?" I asked when he didn't move or say anything.

"Was the costume your idea?" he asked, chuckling.

"No," I said. "I had to. Because of work."

"Ah," he said. "That makes sense. Was this something your roommates threw together?"

He was very observant. Or maybe I was just painfully easy to read.

"Yes. Why?"

"It just doesn't seem like quite your brand of humor."

He was making fun of me. How charming. "Whatever, Edward," I said, leaning around him to press the elevator button. I was avoiding stairs whenever possible for the foreseeable future.

"That color blue looks lovely with your skin," he said, suddenly frowning. Had he not meant to give me the compliment? Or was there something upsetting about my skin?

"Thank you?" I said, unsure what to think. My mind raced to recall any time he had complimented me in the past. He'd called me smart and pretty, and now he liked my skin. Or he liked blue. The boy was driving me crazy having to guess what he was thinking.

"I was thinking," Edward began slowly, almost as if he'd read my mind. The elevator doors opened and he followed me inside. "Maybe you'd like to grab that coffee. Or go to dinner with me?"

"Yes," I said, not meaning to sound as eager as I did. Edward just chuckled.

"I assume you'd like to head to your dorm to change. Can I pick you up at seven o'clock? Would that be alright?"

"Seven is perfect," I said, trying to calculate how much homework I could get done in three hours.

"Good," he said, smiling widely. The elevator doors opened with a ding and he indicated I should exit first. "I'll see you then, Bella."

#

Jessica and Angela were sitting in our dorm's common room, their homework splayed out on the floor in a glorious map of chaos when I walked through the door.

"Bella! Good, you can help us figure out where to start. Come look at the homework list I made and tell me if I'm missing anything," said Jessica by way of a greeting. I took the list from her, glancing at it briefly.

"Are you doing notecards?" I asked.

" I knew we forgot something," said Angela. "Want to quiz me for my Geology test?"

"I can't," I said, biting my bottom lip. "I-I have a date with Edward Cullen."

Both girls stopped what they were doing to look at me.

"He didn't waste much time, did he?" Angela laughed.

"What do you mean?" Edward had had more than a dozen chances to ask me out, but had turned me down and avoided me for no apparent reason, turning a full one-eighty to save my life not once, but twice. I should probably have been more annoyed that he kept going back and forth, yanking me with him in the process, but I was honestly just eager to spend more time with him and to get to know him better.

"I mean...well," Angela hesitated as if she wasn't sure she should say anything. "After all the stuff you said in the hospital."

My backpack fell from the shoulder with a deafening thud, only just missing crushing my already bruised foot with the weight of my math textbook. "What stuff?"

"Yeah, what stuff?" Jess asked. She had been pretty annoyed in general that she had no memory of the previous night.

"Angela," I said seriously. "I need you to tell me everything I said. No matter how embarrassing."

Angela fidgeted from her place on the floor. "Well…"

"I have a date with this guy in three hours. I need to know what kind of damage control I need to plan for."

"You told him he looked really nice in grey. You also told him you were glad he wasn't dating his sister."

"Oh-oh no…" I held my face in my hands, feeling it burn uncomfortably. "What else?"

"Uh."

"Angela."

"You asked him if he likes you."

Apparently, under the influence Bella was braver than Bella in control of all of her faculties. "What did he say?"

"That he'd really prefer to have that conversation when you could remember his answer," Angela said, smiling knowingly. "But, I mean, it is pretty obvious. When you started talking about your mom and dad's divorce, he pushed everyone out to give you privacy. He was concerned you would be embarrassed."

"That's sweet, I guess," said Jessica.

"It was," said Angela. She was a romantic if any of us were.

"That's it. I'm going to have to text him and cancel," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"Don't you dare," Jessica said, moving forward to grab my hand. "I'm single now, Bella. I have to live vicariously through you."

"Fine," I sighed. "But I'm never going to another party again so long as I live."

"Totally fair," Jess said, holding her hands up in defeat.

I excused myself, saying I needed to change and finish homework as quickly as possible. I was glad that I didn't have weekend classes, but was usually able to take that time to catch up or, in some cases, get ahead. The lack of frequent socialization helped with that, despite Jessica and Angela's best efforts, but I secretly wouldn't have minded if Edward monopolized my weekends. Not that I thought he would.

I showered quickly but spent more time than I would have liked trying to decide upon a decent outfit. Edward had said that my skin looked lovely in blue, so it felt like I would be trying too hard to find something else in blue. I didn't want to appear too obvious, so I opted for another sweater, but one I felt complimented my figure. It was brown and a little itchier than I would have liked, but it would have to do. I made a mental note to visit the dorm's laundry mat the following day.

Finally, I sat down to begin my latest Lit. paper. I'd started it a few days ago, but I needed to make some major headway before it was due the following week. I was just finalizing my conclusion when a knock on my door brought me back to the present. I glanced down at the clock on my computer. 7:05.

"Crap!" I muttered, turning around as my door opened to reveal Edward, smiling wryly at me.

"Have you finished that already?" he asked with a chuckle. "That's not due for over a week."

I shrugged, turning back to save my work. "I like to be ahead. Why? Have you started your paper yet?"

It was his turn to shrug. "Not yet. But it's all up here," he said, tapping the side of his head. He looked away, his gaze moving about the room as he took it in admiringly. "This seems very you."

"Does it?" I asked, not entirely sure what that meant.

He took another few steps inside my room, moving toward the books on my shelves above my computer. "May I?" he asked before turning to look at the titles.

"Knock yourself out," I said, moving out of his way and folding my arms for something to do.

"You're a fan of the classics," he murmured. "But I'd surmised that already. Which ones are your favorites?"

"I have too many," I said, not sure where to begin.

"Indulge me," he smiled, looking straight into my eyes. I temporarily forgot how to breathe...and think. I had to shake my head to remember what he had asked.

"Jane Austen, the Bronte's, L.M. Montgomery, but I like more contemporaries, like Robin McKinley…" I trailed off, suddenly unable to remember some of the hundreds of favorites I had.

"Do you prefer female authors, then?"

"Oh, uh, no," I said, looking up at my books for inspiration. "The Chronicles of Narnia, Fahrenheit 451, David Eddings, Orson Scott Card..."

"That's quite a wide range. There are a few here I haven't read yet," Edward said, reaching to brush his finger down the spine of Tooth and Claw.

"You're welcome to borrow it if you'd like," I offered.

Edward smiled at that. "Maybe later. Come on. You must be hungry."

I followed Edward to the front door, praying silently that Angela and Jessica would play it cool as I waved goodbye. At least they waited until Edward wasn't looking to mouth their good luck and pantomime that Edward was, apparently, smoking hot. Their stating of the obvious did nothing to calm my nerves, as the realization that I was about to spend unobligated time with Edward Cullen fully sank in.