Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight.

Isabella Swan was slightly afraid of opening the door. She had waited and procrastinated, but she knew that it had to be done. Charlie would laugh in his moustache if she were to ask him for help, and that was unacceptable. And so she turned the knob, a laundry basket her only defense against the furious cat. But when the door was fully opened and her eyes had scanned the room, she realized she had nothing to fear, because there, on a mound of dirty clothes, like a fallen king, stood the majestic cat…asleep. Her heart warmed as she saw that he was unconsciously rubbing his head on her shirt. In the most innocent of states, he liked her scent. She was moved.

She realized that she could not wake him, because if she did, he would be even more furious and aggressive, that was for sure. She tiptoed to the kitchen, took out the milk bottle and filled a bowl. She then proceeded to think of a makeshift cat litter. Retrieving gravel from the driveway, she filled the laundry basket with it, and got back to the small room in the house in which her new companion lay. She knew enough about cats to know that they liked the scent of bleach, and so she poured a small amount on the gravel, thinking that it would tempt him away from the clothes when he would need to express mother nature's will. Now those preparations lay on the floor of the room, like offerings.

Now, she had only to wait until he was up.

It was over an hour later that the cat stirred; meanwhile, Bella had made herself comfortable by bringing a duvet and a book to help pass time. At first, she had tried to get back to her chores, but dealing with laundry was impossible if she didn't want to wake the cat up, and otherwise, she felt lonely—as she often did—when she was too far.

When Edward roused from sleep, he was amazed, and astonished, and all that can describe a vampire sleeping after a hundred years of insomnia. He was more relaxed as than ever. He stretched in that lazy way, his muscles rippling, as only cats can do.

He became aware of a pressing need in his bladder. He also became aware of the human that was sitting by the closed door.

Jumping out of the basket, he realized several things at once: one, that the girl's scent was lingering in the air in such a way that she must have been there for some time, two, that it didn't bother him in the least, and three, that there were two new objects in the room, and especially one that did bother him. The girl had looked up from her book when he had jumped, and was now apprehensively looking at him. Edward directed himself towards the cat litter; however, he stood by it without getting in. Instead, he tried to tell the human with his eye to get out, because if you hadn't peed in a hundred years, you wouldn't want anyone to witness that either.

Come to think of it, even if he had peed in that lapse of time, he wouldn't want anyone looking at him either.

The human wouldn't budge. She was staring into his eyes, slight surprise marking her features. Edward's need was however pressing, and he knew he needed to proceed. He jumped into the litter, and resumed his staring match.

But the human seemed to understand nothing! She was still openly staring.

"Well," she said, "go ahead."

In a very human way, Edward's head lolled to the side; his eyes fled hers. Bella gave a startled laugh—she could swear he look embarrassed!

She stayed a moment longer, hesitating, but then she got up, grumbling "Alright, alright", and going out. Edward's relief was intense. He proceeded quickly. When he was finished, he jumped back to his post on the mound. Isabella re-entered the room, and saw that in her absence, he had made use of the litter.

"You're a strange cat, you know that?" she mumbled, more to herself than to Edward.

A/N: So, about those references in last chapter. The first one was of Kafka's Metamorphosis, which I greatly recommend for anyone starving for food for thought. It's exceptional.

Also, the "kindness of strangers" is Blanche Dubois' line in A Streetcar Named Desire. ;)

Next chapter will be here shortly, it's longer than the others though…