As Bella rested during the night, Charlie was planning on entering the room as he climbed the stairs. I was going to pull myself away from Bella, but Charlie changed his mind and walked past her door towards his room. I took my attention away from him as I gazed at Bella's restful face again. It was apparent that she wasn't having more nightmares. As the hours ticked by, her resting was never interrupted through mumbles. I noticed it was 7AM, but the skies didn't match the time of day. It was dark out, so I could only guess today would be riddled with rainfall. It wasn't long after I guessed before the window sounded like it was being struck with tiny rocks. It began to rain much louder as I turned my attention away from the window to Bella once more. She was slowly awakening as she lightly pulled herself away from me. A rumble in the sky indicated there would be a strike of thunder as far as I could tell. A loud striking roar struck a tree in the distance, but the noise was loud enough for Bella's eyes to flash open and sit up as she looked at me with a scared face. I sat up as well and looked at her with a smile.
"Don't worry. There appears to be a thunderstorm today." I said assuring her of the noise.
Bella grumbled, grabbed her pillow, put it over her face, and dropped herself on the bed again. "What's the matter?" I asked confused. Bella removed the pillow from her face and turned her head to look at me. "Remember at school… when I told you I hate cold and wet things?" She asked. I looked at her confused for a moment and then switched my attitude to a light laugh. "I forgot about that. You must really detest this weather." I said laughing lightly again. "It's not funny, Edward." She said annoyed. "So what's a little cold water?" I joked. "It means I just want to stay indoors today." She said still annoyed. "At least now I can tell this day will turn out nicely. We'll be stuck in your place today thanks to the rainfall." I said smiling. "Yeah… all thanks to the RAIN." She said still annoyed.
"There's no telling how long it'll last though." I noted.
"Don't say that." She warned. "All right. So are you going to go get ready?" I said changing the subject. Bella got up from the bed slowly as she trailed to her closet. She found her select items, turned to face me with clothes in one arm and waved before leaving the room. I waited for her to come back while keeping my seat in the same spot on her bed. Charlie finally awakened as he got up slowly and trailed to the bathroom door. He stopped, noticing the light below the door and proceeded to knock. "Bells?" Charlie called. "I'll just be a moment dad!" Bella said loudly. "That's ok. I'll wait." He said while planning to lean on the wall facing the door directly. It was a while before Bella was finally finished and opened the door to exit. Charlie was irritated, but he was apparently good at hiding that fact. "Sorry I took so long." Bella said. "No it's fine. You were actually faster than I expected." He said trying to lighten his mood and Bella's. She laughed as he proceeded to enter the bathroom with a lighter mood as well. She made her way back into her room and I waved at her with a smile.
"So it looks like I'll be outside your front door now?" I asked.
"No, wait." Bella said gesturing towards the window. I looked at her confused as she walked to her closet again searching for something. She pulled out an Umbrella, walked up to me, and placed it in my hand. "What do I need this for?" I asked still confused. "I know you can outrun the rain drops… but this is for added effects." Bella said smiling. I tried to open the Umbrella to see if it worked and Bella put her hand around it. "Don't do that! It's bad luck!" She whispered loudly. "Oh! We don't want that now, do we? You already have enough bad luck." I laughed. Bella sighed and signaled me to go outside the window. I nodded and went around to her front door through the window as planned. Before I knocked I remembered what Bella said about the added effect. I opened the Umbrella and placed it under the rain to cause the effect. I then closed the Umbrella and knocked on the door.
"Coming!" Bella said loudly as she climbed down the stairs.
Charlie didn't seem to notice anything that was going on since he was still in the bathroom with the water on. I assumed he was showering. Bella opened the door and smiled at me. "Come in." She said gesturing me towards the couch in the living room. I smiled back as I walked in halfway before stopping. I turned around and looked at Bella while shaking the Umbrella lightly. "And where does this go?" I asked confused. Bella took the Umbrella from my hand and went upstairs. I didn't follow her, so I just waited at the end of the stairs for her to come back. Bella began rushing downstairs and lost her balance with a careless step. I rushed forward and caught her before she could tumble towards me. "Oops." She said embarrassed. "Stairs… even inanimate objects are working against you." I said with a smile. "I can take it from here." Bella said annoyed while trying to push me from her. "I'm sorry." I said while letting her go. She didn't say anything as she carefully walked downstairs and I followed keeping pace with her. She walked towards the living room still annoyed and gestured me to sit on the couch. I placed my hand on the top of the couch and stopped.
"Bella?" I called.
She stopped herself from going to the kitchen, but didn't turn to look at me. "Can you please look at me?" I pleaded. She slowly turned to look at me with a tense face. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." I said while lifting my hand from the couch and walking up to her. I got close enough to her before stopping to look directly in her eyes. She sighed and I pulled her in for a hug. She didn't return my hug quickly, but she eventually returned the favor. "Forgiven." She whispered. "I have to make some breakfast, so could you wait a while in here?" She asked. "Sure." I said while letting my grip go and turning around to walk to the couch. Bella entered the kitchen and Charlie exited the bathroom. He slowly descended downstairs and I knew he'd see me eventually. I got up from the couch and turned to face his direction hoping to make my presence known as lightly as possible. Charlie made it downstairs and entered the living room looking down at the floor.
"Good morning sir." I greeted calmly.
Charlie shot his attention in my direction with a confused look. "What are you doing in here?" He demanded. "Bella invited me in. She's in the kitchen cooking breakfast." I said still calm. "Oh she did? Fine." He said annoyed. I turned my direction away from him and sat on the couch quietly. Charlie didn't bother speaking to me any longer, so he just made his way to the kitchen. "What's cookin' Bells?" Charlie asked while taking in a deep breath. "The usual." She answered happily. "I'll be in the living room with Edward." Charlie said slightly irritated at the thought.
"Okay… I'll bring your share when it's done." She said with slight worry.
I was guessing she didn't see it as much of a plus to leave Charlie and me alone. Charlie walked out of the kitchen and proceeded to sit down in the couch directly in front of the television. I didn't look at him and he didn't look at me. He just grabbed the remote that was jammed in the couch and turned the television on. I didn't pay any attention to the television, but I did make it seem like I was watching it. I took this moment to reflect on everything that happened yesterday. Some time passed before Bella came walking out of the kitchen with Charlie's plate of food. I was irritated that he still didn't want to use the kitchen, but I didn't show it. Bella handed him the food and looked at me for a moment. She beckoned me to follow her and I got up from the couch. She had her plate of food on the table already and she took her seat in front of it. I didn't bother to sit down this time. I just leaned on the wall near the table and turned my head in Bella's direction. She didn't mind as she smiled at me before eating her food. I didn't bother to say anything while she was eating, so she went through her meal at a normal pace. She got up and put her dishes in the sink. She turned around and put her arms on the edge of the sink looking directly at me.
"So what do we do?" She asked concerned.
"It doesn't look like the weather is going to slow down." I said blankly. "What does that have to do with my question?" She asked confused. "It's code for I don't know." I smiled. She laughed lightly as she walked up to me and grabbed my hands. "I have an idea." She smiled at me. I looked at her confused as she let my hands go. "Wait here. I'm going to bring some papers and a pencil." She said still smiling. "I'll be here." I assured her as she turned to walk away. I followed the noise of her footsteps and she went upstairs. Several minutes passed before I heard the stairs being trailed down. I could hear the papers being shaken as she was walking towards the kitchen. I stopped leaning on the wall and waited for her to enter. Bella entered the kitchen, winked at me, and then placed the papers on the table keeping the pencil in her hand. She moved the table chair and placed two of them together. "Have a seat." She said happily.
"What's the plan?" I asked confused.
"We're going to play a game called Hangman." She said while I sat down next to her. "Hangman? What kind of game is that?" I asked still confused. "I draw this." She said while drawing lines on the paper. "What is that supposed to be?" I asked while looking at the lines she drew confused. "Hopefully, it won't be the death of our man." Bella laughed lightly. She proceeded to draw 5 separate lines below the connecting lines she drew above. "What's that now?" I asked even more confused. "It's a secret word." She smiled. "So why is it called hangman again?" I remained confused. "You see those connecting lines?" She asked. "Yes." I answered. "This is where the man will be hanged if you don't decode my secret word properly." She said poking me in the arm with the eraser. "You're going to draw a hanged man if I don't guess properly? That's a bit extreme, don't you think?" I said worried. "It's just a game. Would you just try it with me?" She pleaded. "Fine. We'll see how this demented game works." I agreed. "Ok. Now comes your part." She said smiling. I looked at her confused again.
"You have to guess a single letter in hopes that it's apart of my secret word." She explained.
I didn't bother arguing anything, so I just went with it. "P." I said blankly. "Nope!" She said while taking her pencil and drawing a circle at the end of the connecting lines. "What's that supposed to be?" I asked. "The man's head." She answered with slight laughter. "You're going to draw him in limb pieces each time I get a wrong letter?" I said worried about her mental health. "That's how it works. Now guess again!" She ordered playfully. "R." I said with a slight smile. Bella took her pencil and filled one of the first separate lines with the letter R. "You got one!" She said while rubbing my arm. "I'm trying to save a man here. I'd better get something." I said seriously. Bella laughed and waited for me to guess again. "B." I said eager to know if this brings him closer to death or not. "Nope!" She said while drawing a line below her version of a human head. "What kind of man is this? He's got no structure of a body." I said confused. "It's easier to not get into detail. Guess again!" She said happily. "O." I guessed. Bella took her pencil and filled the second and last divided lines with the letter O. "You got two!" She said happily. I started to loosen up at this point and just decided to humor her instead of stall any longer. "U." I guessed. "Nope!" She said while drawing a curved line connecting from the long straight line below her version of a human head. "M" I guessed. Bella filled in the next separate line with a M. "E." I guessed. Bella glared at me playfully as she filled in the final line with the letter E. I looked at the word it spelled out and sighed.
"Romeo." I said turning my attention to Bella's face.
"Yup. Was that fun?" She asked still smiling. "It was interesting and I will admit it was somewhat fun. I saved a non-existent life on paper." I joked. Bella laughed as she pushed her papers to the side. "It's your turn to come up with something." She said leaning her head on my arm. "I already did." I put my arms around her shoulders. "So your idea is to hold me like this forever?" She said slightly looking up at me. "I can think of nothing better to do indoors." I admitted with a smile. We stayed like this for a while before the storm calmed. The rain stopped, but the clouds remained in the sky. I was under the impression that it was perfect for us to step out, but I wasn't about to be the one to break away just yet.