I quickly jumped to my feet, instantly alert in the sudden darkness. Something told me that my psycho roommate Matt might have something to do with this. I listen for any noise, but could hear nothing over my own breathing and people calling to each other out in the hall. I relaxed a little, realizing that I wouldn't have to be dodging any punches in the very near future.
Bella. Where was Bella? She was always clumsy and the sudden darkness couldn't be making it any easier to walk, or stand for the matter. I yanked open the door and hastily stepped out into the hall. The last thing I wanted to happen would be for her to get hurt. I turned my head both ways, but could see hardly anything. All the windows had been boarded up and it looks as though no one in this hall had thought to bring a flashlight or matches. To my left, there was a tiny glow, so that was the way I headed.
I walked as fast as I could, while trying to dodge all the people milling around in the dark hallway, clinging to the wall or bunched up together in groups of friends, acquaintances, or simply people they had run into in the dark. I soon made it to the commons area, while only having bumped into one large group of shaking girls. Bella was no where to be found and that frightened me. She should not be left alone, especially in the dark. Who knows what objects she could find to trip over or run into.
I turned back towards the hallway and headed down the hall, hoping she might be roaming the hall, or more likely for her, standing with her back against a wall, not moving. She was no where to be seen and I was already at the end of the hallway, near the bathrooms. I stopped and leaned against the wall trying to figure out where she might be. My hand unconsciously started running through my hair, no doubt messing it up even more. I was totally lost in my thoughts of where Bella could be, that I almost didn't hear the shriek that came from the bathroom.
The shriek seemed oddly familiar. I racked my brain trying to place the sound.
Flash Back
I was sitting in my room at our summer home, leafing through the copy of Wuthering Heights Bella had lent me. I had to be very careful while reading it because she had examined the book so many times that the back cover had fallen off and many of the pages were half loose. There were a couple of food stains on some pages and it looked as though it had spent a few hours out in the rain at one time. I would have to buy her a new copy soon.
I was just about to start in again when I heard a shriek followed by a thump. I rushed to my window and looked down to see Bella lying in a heap on the ground. She later claimed she had been trying to climb up to my window like I had many times done with hers.
End Flash Back
That's where I had heard the shriek before. I whipped around and was at the door to the girls bathroom in one quick step. My hand shot out and grasped the handle before my years of manners lessons clicked in. I couldn't just throw open the door to a girls bathroom, especially if I was mistaken and it really wasn't Bella in the bathroom. It had been years since I had seen her, not counting this afternoon and I very easily could be remembering her shriek wrong. On the other hand, if it were some other girl or even if Bella were in there showering, or something of the sort, it would be extremely ungentlemanly of me to just barge in. My internal conflict was short.
"Bella? Is that you?" I called into the bathroom, then leaned a little closer to the door so I wouldn't miss the response.
"Don't come in!" The answer was shrieked, and after I heard a groan of pain and a little shuffling, making me want to burst in the all the quicker, but I held back, not wanting to embarrass Bella. With the intensity of her blushes, if I walk in on her while she was indecent, her face would be permanently painted red. Not that I would mind so much. I loved seeing her blush. I had a small inkling, though, that she wouldn't appreciate it as much as I would.
"Are you okay? Can I come in? What happened?" The questions poured out of my mouth. I was surprised at the speed they exited my mouth. I leaned even closer than the first time, anxious for her answer.
"I'm fine!" Her voice was higher then usual, and it cracked once. "Just don't come in" Her voice was very panicked, and I hoped that it was because of embarrassment and not because she was bleeding to death or anything.
I waited for a second, wondering if I should keep waiting out here or go in and see if she needed help. The gentleman inside won out and I called out to her from outside of the closed door. "Did you fall?"
It was quite for a second before I heard a muted thud and a scream of pain. There was no holding back as I threw the door open this time. "Bella!" I called her name out as I ran in, worried about what happened to her. I crouched by her sprawled form, my eyes roaming around trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Did you slip?" I asked, crouching down next her. "What hurts? Can you get up?" My mind started running through different symptoms and how to treat broken bones. My father had been a doctor and after he passed away, my mother decided that some sort of doctor would be a suitable profession for me. She was even nice enough to let me decide what field of medicine I would pursue. I rolled my eyes, amazed that I had put up with my lack of freedom for so long. All of my medical classes were finally coming in handy, though.
"Yeah. The lights went out right as I was getting out and I tripped because I couldn't see the edge." I glanced over at the shower stall and saw what she was talking about. There was a little barrier to keep the water from going out of the stall. I looked back over to Bella. My eyes were slowly getting more and more adapted to the dark and I could see much better now.
She had a towel wrapped around her. Thank goodness for that. I don't even want to think about what would happen if she didn't. Her face was alright, except for a bruise forming above her left eye. Neither of her arms seemed to be broken, at least they were both bent normally. Her towel barely hit the top of her thighs and it took a little bit of willpower to continue will my assessment of her injuries. Her right leg was quite scratched up and there was a deep looking cut on her right knee. A pool of blood was slowly forming on the floor underneath her leg.
"Can you stand, or do you need some help?" She seemed to think for a second and raised her head to look at my face, before letting if flop back down to the floor and answer her question.
"I think I might need a little help." She blushed a little, and I smiled at how easily embarrassed she was.
"What are you laughing at?" She must have raised her head back up and seen my smirk.
"Technically, I'm not laughing. I was simply smiling." I smiled down at her again. She stared straight into my eyes and raised her eyebrows. She used to do this all the time when her questions weren't specific and I answered evasively. Maybe not as much had changed as I had originally thought. "At your blush." I spoke as if I had meant to finish my sentence all along. She rolled her eyes at me, and pushed herself up on her arms in an attempt to stand up.
I reached out my arms and grabbed under her arms to assist in helping her stand. It took quite a bit of work and I had to clean out and change my thoughts many times when the skimpy towel slipped to was pulled up. Finally, she was upright, with me supporting almost all of her weight. "Can you stand?"
"What does it look like I'm doing, Edward Masen?" I chuckled for real this time. I just couldn't help myself. Every second I spent with her, I realized that she was still the same Bella. The Bella I had fallen in love with and then lost.
"Okay, I'm going to let go now then." I pulled my arms back only to trust them forward again when she started collapsing. I caught her just before she hit the ground. I held her, hovering above the hard, and quite dirty, floor while I debated. Would she be alright if I picked her up and simply carried her? Or would that seem weird to her?
What the hell. I needed to hold her and I sure as hell wasn't going to force to just limp back to her room, or wherever she was headed. I scooped her up bridal style. She shrieked a little, obviously it wasn't what she had expected.
"So where to?" She thought it thought for a bit, biting her bottom lip like she did when she was deep in thought. It looked so kissable, all plump and red.
"My room, I guess. I kind of need to get some new clothes." I glanced down at her and couldn't believe I had forgotten that she was clad in nothing but a tattered old towel. I glanced around the room and scooped up her pile of clothes as well and set it on top of her stomach. "Thanks," she mumbled. I just smiled, happy that she was here, here in the shelter, here in my arms, and here in my life, for the time being.
I walked out the door, not bothering to move the chair and allow it to close. I made it to her room without bumping into anyone or anything for that matter. She dug around in the pocket of her jeans, having trouble finding the right pocket in the dark. Finally, she fished out a key and stuck it in the lock. The door clicked and I pushed it open with my foot.
I instantly turned to the bed on the right, recognizing the suitcase from where it had stood in her closet so many years. "How did you…" she left her question hanging as I carefully set her on the edge of her bed. She grabbed the towel just before I fell. I breathed a sigh of relief and said a silent prayer of thanks. I wasn't sure what would have happened if it had dropped.
"I'll just, uh, step out." My left had was in my pocket and my right hand started running through my hair. Bella's eyes jumped to the top of my head with my hand and she smiled at it. I grinned back at her and made my way to the door, closing it slowly behind me.
I crossed the hallway and leaned against the wall watching the door and listening for when she was ready. Ready for what, I wasn't sure. Maybe she wouldn't even be expecting me to stay here. The odds that she reciprocated my feelings for her were slim to none and I didn't want to push anything. I was happy just to be talking to her again. As much as I wanted more, I wasn't going to loose what I had, not this time.
After some time, I heard a tentative, "Edward?" called out. I stepped up to the door and inched it open, hoping she was fully clothed, and also hoping she wasn't. No matter how many classes I had been forced to sit through, there wasn't much anyone could do about the testosterone in me.
Bella was lying down on her bed, clothed in her pajamas. A twinge of rejection shot through me. She was going to bed. She patted the edge of her mattress, inviting me to sit down. I loped over and sat down. "How did you find me?" Her question had broken a comfortable silence, though I was grateful to hear her voice again. I would never tire of the sound.
"In the bathroom you mean?" She nodded her head, clarifying that I had understood her question right. "Well, I was," I paused, wondering if she would be frightened by my true answer, think me a creep, stalker, or pervert. I decided to chance it. "I was looking for you actually. I know how clumsy you are and I don't think the absence of light would help very much." And I really wanted to see you, I added on silently.
She nodded again, taking all this in. "How did you know I was in the bathroom, though?"
"That was all good luck, actually. I had looked all over and couldn't find you anywhere. I was at the end of the hall, across from the bathrooms when I heard you."
She nodded again, and I got the feeling she was getting really tired. It had been a long day and it was starting to get quite late. "Is your knee okay?"
"Yeah. I have a first aid kit in my luggage, so I just patched it up." I nodded, and stayed sitting a few more seconds, not wanting to leave. When I finally convinced myself that the church wasn't that big and that I was bound to run into her again, I stood up.
"Well, its getting late and you look tired. I guess I'll see you in the morning." She just nodded again. Wow, she's either tired of me or just plain tired. I hoped with all my might that it would be the last one, but there was a doubt, a nagging voice in the back of my head and suggested otherwise.
"Goodnight Edward. Thanks for saving me, again." She paused, before taking on the again at the end. I smiled at her and left the room.
The walk back to my room was short, but that was all the time it took for me to convince myself that she didn't want me anymore and she was merely being polite. For some reason, this made me quite livid and the idea of spending the night with Matt wasn't brightening my outlook on life much.
By the time I got to my room, I was muttering to myself about what an idiot I was for coming on so strongly to Bella like that. I threw open the door and let it slam shut with quite a bang.
"Edward?" A voice called out from the darkness. Shit, I had almost forgotten about my roommate, or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
"What?" I replied back, through clenched teeth. His voice brought back the memory of that afternoon and the nice shiner that was surely on my face by this point.
"Why are you here?" Why am I here? What kind of a question is that? Did he somehow forget that we were rooming together? I let out a deep breath and tried to get a hold of my emotions. It didn't seem to be working to well.
"What?" It was much to late for stupid mind games. I wish he would just shut up and let me get to sleep.
"Why aren't you off with the dumb brown haired chick trying to do everything except not end up with dumb green eyed, brown haired little kids?" Was he serious? Did he think I was got in bed with a girl every night? I bet ne would never guess how completely wrong his thoughts were. He would never believe me if I told him the truth about my sex life. How could he think of Bella that way though? I was quite close to the end of the rope, and hoped that he would just shut the hell up.
"Bella," I practically hissed, "is not someone you should be talking about. Especially since she saved your skin." Did this guy have no sense of gratitude? Or common courtesy?
"Yeah," He said, and I could almost hear his eyes rolling in the darkness. "My hand might have really started to hurt if I hit you too many more times like that first one."
That was it! Who the hell did he think he was? "Don't talk to me about Bella ever again." I absolutely livid now as I made my way closer to him, ready to throw a punch his way if he didn't stop.
"Don't worry. Clumsy damsels in distress really aren't my type. And she seemed plenty distressed when she was falling all over the bathroom when this blackout quit."
My fist shot out and connected with what felt like the soft area of his stomach. I was pleased with myself. It cause me no pain, but I was almost positive it leave him breathless for a bit. Before I could even pull my hand back, he had grabbed it and threw me into his cot. My ankles connect with the metal frame of his bed. "Fuck." There was no way I going to let some stuck up bastard beat me up.
His hand glanced off the side of face and I heard him jump back before I could use his own moves on him. At least he didn't connect with my eye. I didn't need a bigger bruise there than I already had. I jumped out of the bed and made my way towards the spot where I head his labored breathing.
My fist lashed out again, but I hit nothing but his arm. I didn't get into too many fights, my parents wouldn't allow it, and Matt's experience was very obvious. Before I could pull my arm back, he grabbed it again, shoving me against the wall and twisting it behind my back. I cringed mentally, but held in any verbal indication of the pain I was in. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. Next time I threw a punch, I would be sure to retract my hand faster. There was no way in hell he was going to keep doing this to me.
"Edward," His voice mockingly came out after a few moments of my struggling. "Do you want me to kill you? Because I can if you really want."
"Fuck you." I shouted. Definitely not the most intelligent thing to say, but he had insulted my Bella, beat me up more than once, and was an overall jerk. Intelligence didn't matter in the least at the moment.
My comment was rewarded with a slap to the back of my head. I was in no way prepared for the hit and my face slammed into the wall. I felt a small trickle of blood start to make its way over my lip.
"In the future, I'll make sure and let potential rapists alone with your girl." Potential rapists? This only furthered my theory that this guy had serious mental issues. What in the hell was he talking about?
"What the hell are you talking about?" I had had it with his stupid mind games.
"Come on, the big guy? Who was looking for the girl who had just been beaten up and tried to kill herself? Did you figure he was the good guy or that Bella is so much a bigger threat than you that I was pulling a knife on her?" He said it like he was explaining a very simple concept to a very stupid kid. I thought for a moment. Was that guy really a rapist? Something had happened to that blonde girl and he seemed to know her.
"I suppose maybe I did misjudge the situation." I couldn't believe I was saying this, but I was sure that if I didn't, the brawl would last all night and could very easily go well into the morning. "You didn't need to punch me for it." He needed to learn that one day he would meet someone who could play his game and he may not want to be throwing punches every chance he gets when that time comes around. On the other hand, I would pay good money to see this guy beaten senseless.
"Yeah, well, now that you got in your sucker punch, we're even." I rolled my eyes. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. This was going to be a long stay.
"Sorry," I told him, rubbing my arm as he released me. "But you can see how I would misinterpret it." I walked back to my cot, as did Matt. "Are we cool then?" I really didn't want this sort of thing happening every single night.
He scoffed in response and left the room. What the hell? I shook my head, trying to get rid of everything in it so I could just go to bed. This day was way to long for my liking and if today was any indication, I wouldn't be getting an easy day anytime soon.
I changed and crawled into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as I hit the pillow. I noticed when my roommate came back in, but ignored it, hoping he wouldn't throw a punch into my gut.
A while after Matt had crawled into his bed and stopped tossing and turning, there was a knock at the door. Are you shitting me? Who the hell was at our door at, I glanced down at my watch, 5:30 in the am? "Is someone really knocking on our door, at 5:30 in the morning?" Maybe I was just imaging it.
There was no answer from the other side of the room, but I knew he had heard it too and woken up. His breathing had quickened slightly. I sighed. "I know you're awake and it isn't for me." Bella would be sound asleep by now and no one else would pay me a visit at this hour.
"The only people I know here are you and Bella, so even if it is someone I know, you'd want to be answering it anyway." I sighed again, and groggily dragged myself out of bed. If it really was for him…
I pulled open the door to find a pretty blonde with bruises dotting her face on the other side. Not for me. I smirked a little. "Can I help you?" As pissed off as I was that my pathetic excuse for a roommate had made me get the door, I wasn't going to take it out on her.
"Um, yeah. Could you send your roommate out?" She seemed almost hesitant of asking, like she wasn't quite sure if she had the right room or if she really wanted to talk to him.
"Alright." My smirk increased. "Matt, you have a visitor." I tried to sound as false cheery as possible, hoping it would piss him off.
He slowly rolled off of his bed and made his way to the door. I stooped back to my cot, glad for the chance to get back to sleep. Their conversation was loud enough, and the church quiet enough, that I could hear the most of it. When I realized that the girl had simply brought a towel to Matt and that he wasn't even going to take it, I went over the edge. Was it really so hard to get a decent amount of sleep in this place.
"That's it." I stood up out of bed and grabbed my bag. "I can't take this room anymore. I'm out of here."
I pushed past the two of them, not bothering to look at either of them. Finally I was out of my little slice of hell on earth.
A/N: dodges rotten vegetable Well guys, that only took, what, a few forever's to get posted? Sorry about the long wait, but at least it's a little bit of a longer chapter. I've bee talking to Bella (aka CarribbeanLady) and you are all in for a real treat next chapter. The story definitely takes off after this.
Be sure to read the other POV's. You can find them all in the "Morehead City, NC" community.
Review! If you have nothing to say about my writing, the story line, the characters, or Twilight in general, tell me your favorite kind of weather. If that seems like a stupid question to you (like it does to me) tell me your favorite word or phrase or quote. I 'collect' quotes and like finding new ones, plus I think that most people have a word they just love to say. Mine would have to be ludicrous, luminous, luscious, or nefarious.
Sorry about the extra long AN and hopefully the next update will be much quicker!