A/N: This is the… seventh chapter :3 sorry this is taking so long. Believe me, if I had it my way this would be up fasterer. So I apologize for the delays and hopefully from here on out it'll get faster!
As well, I've got up to chapter 16 written during my little hiatus. The only thing is that it's written by hand so I'll need time now to type it up:S they're also probably going to get shorter after chapter eight.
Disclaimer: Don't Own Twilight or Monty Python, or anything else you may have heard of before reading this chapter
Chapter Seven: Slumber
I tried not to scream out loud as Edward drove me towards his house. We pulled up into the driveway where Alice dragged me up the staircase and into her room. She immediately began rummaging through my bags throwing clothes all over her own room. I stared wide eyed when she finally passed me a pair of satin pajamas that she had bought me. Reluctantly I put them on.
"Alice, why am I wearing pajamas now?" Her head whipped up to me.
"Isn't that what humans wear in the nighttime?" she asked innocently. I sighed and nodded.
"Yes, but usually just before we go to bed…" Alice kept looking at me with a blank expression, her eyebrow slowly furrowing. "It's only 8:30 Alice. Humans don't usually go to bed until at least ten."
"Oh," she said, slowly smiling. Then she shrugged her shoulders and dragged me down the stairs, fluffing my waving hair out behind me as we went.
In the living room almost everyone was gathered around. I was guessing that Emmett and Rosalie were out hunting. But then again… maybe I wasn't supposed to be guessing that sort of thing. Carlisle and Esme sat on one couch with Jasper next to them. Then, in the blink of an eye, Alice was sitting, holding Jasper's hand and I was left standing there awkwardly in my pj's.
Edward was sitting alone on a loveseat across the room and when I walked in he smiled brilliantly and motioned for me to sit next to him. I walked across the room, very self-consciously. I sat next to Edward and he gently took my hand in his. When I looked up into his face He was smiling widely, and I could only blush in return.
My head turned then to look at the four vampires sitting across from us. Esme and Carlisle seemed to be admiring them, kind smiles spread across their faces. Jasper seemed like he was ignoring me and Alice was beaming at everyone in turn. I nervously smiled, not sure who to look at before my eyes fell to my toes.
"Oh Bella," Esme began. "It's so good to have you with us for the night. And now that you know too!" She seemed delighted by the fact that I knew they were immortal and drank blood. Carlisle smiled nervously at me before he began.
"Yes, Bella, how do you feel, now that you know just what we are?" he asked me, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It was like I was giving some very important lecture to m students. I hesitated over my answer and Edward squeezed my hand lightly.
"It doesn't really matter to me," I began, explaining things just the way I thought of them. "You guys are still pretty much human to me. You do things like you normally would in life, just with a few exceptions."
"You don't find us terrifying, monsters?" Jasper asked me, he seemed amazed by what I was saying.
I shook my head. "No, you haven't done anything to make me scared. I don't see a reason why you're automatically monsters for being what you are. You're different than any one's I've ever heard of…" They all laughed lightly at that and I blushed slightly.
"Bella," Edward began. I turned to look at him and met his stunning topaz eyes. My heart skipped a beat. "You do realize that being around us, around me… it's going to be dangerous. I mean, if we reached out to take your hand we could accidentally hurt you. If I …" he trailed off quietly so that only I could hear. "Well, you know." He grinned then and I found the corners of my lips twitching upwards as well. "I could hurt you. If we're not careful, we could lose control. We might kill you."
I shook my head and stared down at the button on his shirt. "I feel safer around all of you than I ever could anywhere else. I know that you wouldn't intentionally hurt me, so I just nee to be careful. If anything happens, it's my fault. I won't have any regrets though." Edward frowned at that. "You can't keep me away," I whispered. He smiled sadly at me and bent down to kiss my forehead. My heart was sent into an uncontrollable display of flip flops and Edward chuckled into my hair. Great, now even he could hear what was going on inside of me.
By now nearly everyone had left the room. I caught Carlisle and Esme going through the door to the kitchen and Jasper was kissing Alice's cheek before he stood up and left, giving me a quiet wave in passing.
"Why did they leave?" I asked in a quiet, curious tone. Edward moved us over to the couch with Alice, who flicked on the large television.
"Jasper finds it harder to be around you than the rest of us," Alice began cheerfully. "Although he readily accepts being a vegetarian, breaking his habit of human blood isn't very easy." I nodded and settled into the couch, Edward draped a blanket over me and I hugged into a pillow. Esme came out with a bowl of popcorn for me and I saw the opening credits for the horror picture Alice had picked out.
We went through a marathon of horror pictures until we were into the wee hours of the morning. Edward and Alice had been holding back laughter during most of the movies while I had been quivering in fear. And once, to my delight, we had a break for a comedy in a classic Monty Python. Somewhere between five and six my eyes had begun to droop.
I thought about the nights events while I wrestled with my eyelids. Emmett and Rosalie had come home at one point, gone to their room and never returned. Carlisle and Jasper had stayed in Carlisle's study while Esme went out for a bit. I had lain down over the couch and Edward somehow managed to nestle in behind me, on of his arms draped over my waist and tracing circles on my hand. Occasionally he would softly kiss my neck or the back of my head. Alice had moved to the loveseat and at some point went searching for Jasper, leaving me with a Greek god cuddling into me.
I noticed vaguely that the grey light of sun through clouds was forcing its way through the blinds. Just before my eyes had closed for good I felt Edward pick me up and head up the stairs, into a room considerably darker. This pleased me as I needed to sleep, badly.
"Don't leave me," I managed to whisper as the horror of him dropping me off and leaving again set in.
"Never," he murmured next to my ear, lying next to me on what I guessed was the couch in his room. "I could never leave you, I never will. Nothing can ever tear me apart from you." A smile crept its way onto my lips before everything went dark.
I stretched out as far as I could on the dark couch and let out a heavy sigh. It was only when I felt something next to me that I turned to see Edward lying next to me, his arm wrapped tightly around me waist. I blushed and he smiled sheepishly.
"Good morning," he whispered to me. I smiled.
"You stayed, like I asked."
"Like I promised," he whispered and pulled a lock of hair away from my eyes. I stared into his eyes; my eyelids were heavy with sleep.
"What time is it?" I muttered. Edward grinned down at me.
"Five," he said simply. I groaned.
"That's way too early to be awake," I decided, snuggling further into him. He chuckled softly and placed his chin on top of my head.
"It's five in the evening." My eyes shot open and I pushed back from him, almost falling off the couch. Luckily Edward caught me before I could cause any real damage. In one swift motion he had scooped me into his arms and stood up, casually heading towards his door. Despite my protests to being able to walk myself he continued.
We arrived in the kitchen to find everyone sitting around a table or the counter, chatting amongst themselves or playing a small game. Edward placed me in a chair at the table, next to Emmett and Alice, and then went to the island to talk to Carlisle and Jasper.
I looked around at the amazing appliances and the style of the room. When I grow up, this is what I want my kitchen to be like… I thought to myself. My head locked onto Esme, busying herself in front of the oven, and then I heard the sizzling of bacon and smelt the wonderful aromas of a breakfast.
"I didn't know you could cook," I said quietly to myself. Every single head in the room turned towards me slowly, before bursting into full out laughter or suppressed giggles.
Esme turned around to me and smiled warmly. "It's a mother's instinct dear. After all, you need to eat, and isn't this what a human eats after waking up?" I smiled at her and blushed.
"Yeah, but... that's usually in the morning," There were a few chuckles but Esme shrugged her shoulders and went back to work. It wasn't long before a plateful of delicious food was placed directly in front of me. Everyone stared at me, expecting me to eat. When I pushed a forkful of the (delicious) food into my mouth they seemed satisfied and went back to their conversations.
I managed to catch small bits of quiet, quick talks. Alice was telling everyone about an upcoming thunderstorm, she seemed very excited. I couldn't imagine why, thunderstorms kind of freaked me out.
When I went to clean up my dirty dishes Esme grabbed them from my hands, seeming utterly appalled that I would even think of cleaning dishes in her house. I stood frozen in shock as she scrubbed the dishes away. Alice giggled and jumped up grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs. I smiled to myself when I saw from the corner of my eye, Edward moving to grab me and then frowning sadly when he couldn't touch me.
Alice threw my clothes at me, a black pair of Capri's and a pink tank top with some sort of design on it. She quickly put some makeup on me and let me keep my hair down. Alice kept behind me but hurried me down the stairs. Just when I'd gotten to the last step I tripped up in myself. Hooray.
I felt myself going head first, and my feet tried to regain their balance, but I braced myself for impact anyway.
I got a different impact than expected though. When I opened my eyes I met Edwards, I was wrapped tightly in his arms. I saw the crooked smile briefly before he buried his head in my shoulder, smelling my hair.
"You really must take better care of yourself, Bella," Edward said softly in my ear. His cool breath on my neck made me shiver, but not from the cold. It was a different sort of shiver, one that made my head turn, and I like it. I grinned back at him. He took my hand and led me outside.
We climbed into the backseat of Carlisle's car, he and Esme sitting up front. They drove, quickly, to my house and pulled into the driveway easily. They all walked me up to my door, I was curious now. I'd been so distracted by Edward in the car that I hadn't even thought of why Carlisle and Esme were coming.
I opened the door for them and led them inside. Charlie was already on his way tot the porch to meet us. He staggered for a moment when he saw Esme, but kept on coming.
"Hello, Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen," he spoke formally, shaking each one of their hands. They greeted him as well, smiling warmly. I looked to Edward, hoping he could read the confusion on my face. He did, and only shrugged at me. I knew he knew. And, I knew he knew I knew. But, I knew he wouldn't let me know, whatever it was going on.
"It was wonderful having Bella with us for the night," Esme began cheerfully. I could see Charlie getting dazed buy her voice and face. "She really is a lovely girl." I felt my cheeks blush and Edward chuckled softly next to me. I elbowed him in the side and he acted, more for my benefit than anything, like it hurt.
"We were wondering," Carlisle began then, snapping Charlie from his trance, "If you would allow us to borrow Bella tomorrow night for a baseball game of ours." My stomach dropped two feet to the floor. My face visibly paled and I felt slightly sick.
A sport. How were they doing this to me? I hated sports with a passion. I needed to take two more years of gym before I was free to do whatever I please besides getting sweaty and potentially murdering someone. I was terrible at sports. I was a danger to myself and others when I played. I couldn't do it, no, I wouldn't do it.
Just when I'd mustered the courage to politely tell them no, thank you, Edward took my hand and squeezed it gently. In the time it took me to look over at him and become completely lost in his gaze Charlie had said:
"No, that'd be fine, as long as it's okay with Bella. Hanging out with me on a Tuesday night isn't much fun." They all turned to look at me then, waiting for an answer. I swallowed a large lump in my throat.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," I managed weakly. The Cullens all smiled, Carlisle shook Charlie's hand once more before gliding out the door. Esme scooped me into a hug before trailing after a husband. I turned to look at Edward again for the last time that night. He simply gave me a wink, raised a hand in a wave to Charlie and left.
I was a little upset at not having the Cullens' company on a Monday night. There was nothing else for me to do besides prepare a supper for Charlie and myself, even though I was still a little full on 'breakfast.'
I went into the backyard to work on a barbeque to pair with the salad I'd just thrown together. I lay down in a lawn chair with one of my favourite books as the meat sizzled away next to me. I'd finished the book by the time the meat was cooked and piled onto a plate.
Supper with Charlie went quietly. For the first time in I didn't know how long I watched the TV while he took a shower. When he came back downstairs though I flicked it back onto a sports new network and kissed him goodnight, going upstairs and jumping into the shower myself.
I walked back into my room, fully dressed in my pajamas. I had a towel around my head and I was rubbing at my wet hair. My room was pitch black. I walked first to the window and pulled the dark curtains over. I then felt my way to my bedside table and flicked on my light, nearly jumping out of my skin.
When light flooded my dark room I saw Edward lying on my bed, looking very peacefully asleep. I knew he didn't sleep though. I jumped and nearly screamed, as I caught my breath again I saw the corners of his lips twitching.
I reached out and pinched his nose shut. It took a while before I realized that this made no difference and I let out a sigh of defeat. His lips formed a beautiful crooked smile and his eyes flashed open as I sat on the edge of my bed.
He leaned up on his elbows next to me. "Hello Bella," he said casually. I turned and glared at him.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack," I said seriously. He looked a little upset but merely laughed when I crawled over him and pulled down the covers, climbing in and turning off the lights.
A short while after I felt his arms wrap around me from underneath the sheets. I smiled secretively to myself and bit my lip to keep from squealing. My hand found his and I held it tightly.
"Is this alright?" he whispered in my ear. "Do you want me to leave? I know this is a bit forward of me." I shook my head slightly.
"This is just fine," It was too hard to be mad at him now. "I don't want you to leave, you have to stay now." I was sure that had I been looking at him he'd be smiling at me very warmly.
I felt his cold lips press against the back of my head and his arms held onto me even tighter. I felt warm, despite his general coolness and I fell asleep with a smile, listening to the beautiful melody he gently hummed.
A/N: If this was Final Fantasy there'd be some sort of awesome: "Congratulations-you-won-the-battle" music, as we have all just made it through the seventh chapter!
I'm going to work vigorously on the next few chapters and I'm sorry I update so slowly (cry) Its not my fault, really! Every time I try and commit to regularly update things the internet's like HAH! YOU SUCK EMMA! And then I cry a little
So yes. I SHALL update!
Review!