Edward

When I had entered my room I had been prepared for Bella to not be on the bed. Alice's thoughts had grumbled as much as soon as I entered hearing range. As we toweled off and changed in the entranceway, to avoid drenching Esme's antique hardwood, I could hear her apologies emanating from the living room. Bella had indeed had a bath – a long one, and then come down to listen to some 'origin stories', but her tiredness had overcome her, and soon she had disappeared upstairs to my room, where she then had avoided the bed and taken up on the couch. So as I had entered into my room I had looked at the couch, and found Bella to be absent. She was instead laying wrapped up in the blanket as if she were in a cocoon, her face looking out towards the wall of windows. With my vision I could see all the small movements of the night creatures, but I wondered what it was that had captured her attention enough that she was to fall asleep by a cold window. Had it been the moon? The natural light source peering through the clouds at odd intervals would certainly have cast some intriguing shadows, but enough to risk injury of her shoulder and damage to her cast?

I had walked over to her quietly, seeing her frowning and twitching with reaction to whatever dream she was having. Her breathing was uneven – and it sounded more like she was in the midst of a nightmare than anything else. Was she sleeping by the window because she felt vulnerable then? She rolled her head slightly and a lock of hair fell, catching her eyelashes in what looked like an uncomfortable manner. I reached forward gently, brushing the hair from her eye. Her heart immediately leapt, her eyes flew open, and she screamed as she frantically flailed her way out of the blanket. I saw her cast come dangerously close to flinging into the window, and I hurriedly pulled her close, while remembering my flashlight on my phone. She probably couldn't see a thing. I quickly dropped the phone onto the corner of the blanket as I steadied her, trying to be careful of her shoulder.

What was that?

What happened?

Is Bella alright Edward?

Jesus, give the girl a heart attack why don't you?

I thought you weren't trying to kill her.

"Everything's fine. I startled her." I reassured them, as well as myself. Her scream truly had been bone-chilling.

Scared her to death more like.

Edward that sounded like a murder escaping scream. Startled doesn't quite cover it.

"Pardon?" Bella's voice interrupted the cacophony of quick thoughts inside my head.

"I'm sorry – I was just letting my family know that your screams didn't indicate my murdering preferences."

That cued a wave of mental relief, as well as a torrent of calm filtering through from Jasper. Bella seemed to find my comment more amusing than I had intended.

"At least, not tonight."

"Morbid." Sometimes her jokes hit a little too close to the mark. I wondered if she realised just how close she was to death on a regular basis. I apologized loudly, with signing to emphasize my feeling towards having scared her so badly.

"No it wasn't you, really, well it was but – it was poor timing I think. I was having a very creepy dream." She shivered and I saw the hairs on her arms raise in response to whatever images she was seeing. Oh to be inside her mind at these moments. She frowned, staring at my discarded phone. It was screen side down, so that the light illuminated the room. "Is your phone okay?"

"It's fine. Are your arms okay? Your shoulder?" she had flailed and tensed so much I was worried about additional injury. She had – after all – only just returned from a hospital visit. I had not intended on putting her back there.

"Yeah they're fine." She said, as she began testing the statement. After a few good stretches she relaxed again. I breathed a little easier too.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Why exactly did you ignore both the bed and the couch? Are you trying to end up back in hospital?" She winced at the harshness of my tone, and I immediately regretted my choice of words. Perhaps a half-asleep Bella was not an ideal bantering partner.

"The bed is unnecessary and stupid. You don't sleep, and this is your room. I was going to sleep on the couch – but I was distracted."

I waited for her to continue. She had not turned on any of the electronic devices in the room, and I had previously studied the landscape on my approach to her. What was so enticing that it required she sleep in front of the window?

"There was a firefly display happening, and I thought it would be peaceful to fall asleep to."

That shocked me. I looked immediately – stupidly, in retrospect – out into the forest. There were indeed the familiar yellow-green bioluminescent emissions of the local firefly species dotting the night landscape. I had looked out of this window, onto this scene, almost every night for four years, and had never stopped to look at something as simple, and as unpredictable, as a firefly flash. If I focused I could see the ones close to the house, without their abdomens lit, but I chose instead to look out into the night, further away, as she might be seeing them.

"I can honestly say I don't think I've ever noticed that before. I recall the flashes, but I've never taken the time to watch them. I certainly never thought of them as a display worth watching." I looked back at her, wondering quickly if she'd caught the words I'd said, and was rewarded with her cheeks darkening with blood. Something about my admiration of her ability to find beauty was embarrassing to her. I gently touched the warmth, extra hot along her cheekbone. It almost seared my skin – much like our kisses. A raw heat that made my hairs stand up on end. She rested her hands down on the floor beside her and I heard the soft clunk of the cast as it hit the floor.

"Would you mind coming to the bed now? You're making me nervous on the floor."

Mind the coffee table. She bumped that earlier. Alice chimed.

Bella grumbled under her breath about the transition, and yet obliged. I took the blanket and pillow, while I – barely – trusted her to escort herself. I stood firmly between the bed and the coffee table, so that she would avoid it, while she slumped, quite unceremoniously for Bella, onto the bed. She was clearly still exhausted. She tapped the phone she had left on the bedside table, to reveal the time, and then rolled over, carefully.

"I was about to ask what you're doing back so late, but I guess it's too early to be late." Her eyes were blinking slowly as she talked, as if she were fighting sleep. I kept my response short and simple, trying to keep my voice low, and relaxing, while staying within a range she should be able to hear.

"We were hunting. We wanted to give you girls some alone time."

"Well it worked. I had the best bath I've ever had, and enjoyed some bonding time. Happy?" She scolded meekly. A thought trickled slowly across her face. "Shouldn't you be wetter?"

I smiled as I responded. She was pulling at straws to talk to me. "I was soaked. Alice laid out some clothes for us, and we toweled off downstairs. My hair still may be damp."

She reached up to touch it, and slowly ran her fingers through it. The warmth of her wrist brushing my forehead was calming and exhilarating. She settled back down quickly, as the need for sleep edged at her.

"Is it harder hunting in the rain?" She yawned. I pulled myself away sitting across from her.

"Sometimes. The rain can confuse smells, but our hearing more than makes up for it."

"Lucky you." She managed through another yawn. Her mouth opened again as if she were about to fire another question.

"Go to sleep Bella. I'll be here in the morning." I quickly interjected, watching her eyes stay closed for a little longer every time she blinked.

"What exactly do you do here at nights?" she mumbled so quietly that I barely caught it. Usually I scoured the globe for new music. Tonight I would be watching, reading, perhaps talking to my family. Bella had pulled me out of an isolation I hadn't realised I was entertaining.

"I'll have to rediscover that. After all – I haven't really spent a night here in a while."

Her eyes closed for the last time as she smiled. I waited for a long time, immobile, making sure she was sound asleep. When her lips parted ever so lightly to let out half a breath, and her eyes began moving behind her lids, I relaxed myself, focusing on my family instead. Emmett and Rosalie were engaged in a game of chess, but Rosalie's mind was actually worried about Bella. Whether or not she should have shared her story, whether Bella had claimed she was tired to avoid it, or if she was actually tired. How should she know after all? Her thoughts were cursory, and usually about her own image rather than Bella, but she had been a very gracious and civil host tonight… for Rosalie. It was her I would visit with first.

I knocked gently on the door and heard a muttered 'yup'. I stepped carefully inside, and saw Emmett was facing me. His face cracked into a smile.

"Finished murdering Bella? I've heard bleach is a good clean up tool," he quipped as I flipped him a finger. Rosalie turned towards me, her eyebrow raised in expectation.

"What do you want?" I swear I was nice to her.

"To thank you." I said. I walked over to her, and awkwardly wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She was sitting, so I had to bend slightly. She stiffened in surprise, and then placed her hand on my arms.

Look, I may not agree with the risks she poses, or your relationship with her, or how much she could fuck up your life if she leaves, or dies, or whatever… but she's not bad.

I stayed in the hug, squeezing her a little tighter.

"I know. And I know that you're doing what you do because you're caring." She was caring, primarily about herself, and Emmett, but we had a special sibling relationship, and we looked out for each other. She knew I was in her darkest and snidest thoughts, and that I still painted her in an amicable light. She knew how twisted I could get, and yet here she was, against her better judgement, 'being nice to the pet human', as she had posed it to me before.

Emmett was looking shocked, but not prying. I rarely hugged, but in this case – with the girl's night preceding our arrival – he'd made an educated guess. I pulled away, and began to leave.

"Oh and Emmett?"

"Yup?"

"Rematch for the squirrels."

"You're on bro." he laughed with a smile.