Chapter Five

After my conversation with Alice, I was feeling a little better. Apparently it was a little after lunchtime when Alice had showed up at my place, so we spent the rest of the day watching chick flicks and eating the rest of Charlies vanilla ice cream. It was fun, and I hadn't even realized that I missed it until we were giggling on the floor, and Alice offered to do my hair. It felt nice. Not because we were watching chick flicks and pigging out, but that because I was hanging out with my best friend, doing things that we use to do. Nothing in the world will make you feel better like hanging out with your best friend.

A couple hours into our girl time, we heard movement coming from downstairs. When I had looked over at my nightstand clock, I had noticed that Alice and I had been watching movies and doing each others hair for over five hours. Charlie was home from work. "Hey, Bells?" Charlie hollered from downstairs. He must have seen my shoes, and noticed that I was home. When Alice and I walked down the stairs, Charlies head was stuck in the fridge.

"Yeah?" I asked, covering my mouth with the palm of my hand, trying to stifle my laughter with Alice, as we watched Charlies rear end bounce up and down while he rooted around.

"Do you know where the beer is? I can't find it," He mumbled, sounding a little muffled. I laughed, and Alice cleared her throat, causing Charlie to jump, and turn around sharply. "Oh, hi Alice!" Charlie smiled brightly, teeth and everything while his face turned a little pink. Like father, like daughter.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking Charlie?" Alice scolded, causing his face to darken. I wasn't sure what it was, but ever since I had brought Alice home from school with me when I was thirteen, my father had been completely smitten with her.

Charlie grimaced. "Yeah, you're right. I'll just get some... uh water?" I coughed loudly, trying to hide my laughter, while he snapped his eyes up to me and glared.

"Good choice!" Alice beamed. "Well, I have to be going-"

"You aren't going to stay for supper?" Charlie asked, sounding sullen.

"No, I have a date with Jasper!" She sang, while my father pouted. She walked over to the couch, where her jacket lay unattended, and slipped it on. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella?"

I laughed, walking over to the cupboard, pulling out a box of pasta for supper, while Alice slipped on a pair of her golden flats. "Yeah, tomorrow. C'ya Alice."

"Bye Bella, bye Charlie!" The door shut behind her. The whole house seemed eerie, even though my father was standing behind me. It was completely quiet, that I could hear the rain pounding on the roof from the first floor. Charlie poured himself a glass of water from the tap, grimacing when he took a sip. He hadn't left the tap on very long, so I imagined it was lukewarm water. But nevertheless, Charlie took the glass with him into the living room, and seconds later I heard the weather guy coming from the TV.

That night I spent my time sitting on the chair across from the coach my father was occupying. He raised his eyebrow at me as I took a seat in the living room, but didn't say anything. I shrugged my shoulders, and shifted around the chair to get comfortable. We never talked, or barely even looked at each other, and occasionally he'd start yelling at the TV. I tried my best to understand whatever sport he was watching, but to no avail. The awkwardness, and tension in the room seemed to distract me from thinking about Edward for the time being. Surprisingly Charlie didn't go back in the kitchen for beer. He seemed upset that he was drinking water, but overall content. I ate supper in the kitchen at the table by myself, while Charlie ate his in the living room in front of the TV.

At ten, he shut the TV off, and walked up the stairs to get ready for bed. I followed suit, getting myself ready for bed. The rest of the week fell into the same boring, routine manner. I went to school, and thought of Edward, because at school there weren't any awkward distractions that there were at home with Charlie. I came home, and caught myself up on homework that I had missed through out those past two weeks. When Charlie came home, I made a simple supper. I ate at the table, while he ate in front of the big screen. He didn't touch the beers in the fridge, just because Alice had said so. He always turned the TV off at ten, and I followed him up the stairs.

Alice had asked me to come shopping with her in Port Angeles that following Wednesday, but I declined. I wasn't ready to see Edward yet and I knew that if I went with her, I'd more then likely see him. So instead I asked if she wanted to come over, which she graciously squealed and hopped in my truck. We hung out in front of the TV most of the evening, talking about Rose and Emmett. And Jasper. I stayed away from the Edward topic, and Alice seemed okay with that. She stayed for supper, and ate at the table with me while Charlie ate in the living room like any other night. Charlie asked if we wanted to watch a movie with him, which was odd but I figured he was doing it for Alice. So we accepted his offer, and turned on The Notebook. Which had Charlie grumbling, and his arms crossed the whole time it was on. Alice left shortly after that, and Charlie and I went to bed.

It was hard not to think of Edward when I was alone in my bedroom. And the more I thought about my conversation with him, the more I got mad. I mean, I had skipped school and drove an hour just to see if Edward was alright. I was worried about him, and obviously I had a good reason to be, with the state I found him in. He could have froze to death if I hadn't found him. But apparently that meant nothing to him, which made me question my whole relationship with Edward. And then he goes and says I've never had a guy friendship before, which is complete baloney. I was friends with Mike, Eric and Tyler. Sort of. And he had no right going off on me like that. He was the one who always insinuated the touching. He never hesitated once to swipe my bangs out of my face, or wrap his arms around me just for the hell of it. So if he didn't want me to get the wrong idea, maybe he should have just laid off. I was perfectly fine with the no touching thing. Mind you, I liked it. I just would have been fine with the idea of just friends with Edward. Of course I would want more, but he didn't need to know that. And if I never thought that Edward might feel the same way about me, I would have never said those things.

So, this was his whole fault. I never once took pity on him, or tried to help him in any way since we got in that fight. I had done everything he had asked me, and he repays me by being a complete dick, and ending our friendship. It wasn't just his friendship, it was ours. It took two people to make it and two people to end it, not him, not one. So after Alice had left that evening, I had decided that I was going to give Edward some time, and then I was going to drive down to Port Angeles and give him a piece of my mind. I was going to tell him everything he did wrong. And everything that he said was wrong. And if I didn't know him, then he didn't know me. I was going to take his no-more-then friends policy and shove it up his ass because I didn't need him, and he was in the wrong in the first place. I was going to tell him that if he didn't want to be more then friends, then he shouldn't have led me on. I had decided that I was going to give him a week. The last time we hung out was Sunday, so the following Sunday I was going to go down there and give him a piece of my mind.

Only I never got the chance too, because when I woke up Friday morning, the whole ground was covered in fluffy white stuff. I looked out my bedroom window, and I had to squint to see through the heavy falling snow. I knew my old swing set, and some trees were back there, but I couldn't see them through all the white. When I walked downstairs that morning, I noticed a piece of paper taped to the fridge. School's out for the day. The roads are bad, don't go anywhere. Which caused me to run to the living room and pull back the curtains. I was momentarily blinded, as my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the snow. When I got my eyesight back, I couldn't tell where the lawn met the road. There were no tire tracks indicating where the road was.

Which had me worrying about Edward as I poured myself a large mugful of hot chocolate. I was pondering in my head if I should just go down there, and see if he was alright. But what good would that do? I could let him warm up in my truck, but what would happen when I had to go home and obviously I couldn't take Edward with me. The more I thought of different scenarios in my head, the more I thought about Edward living on the streets. Maybe this wasn't even his first winter being homeless. I didn't have a clue how long he had been living on the streets, and God knows Edward didn't tell me. And even if today was too cold for him, he could hide out in the library or any other store with heat. He would be fine. I was sure of it.

But that didn't ease my mind in the slightest. I ended up curled on the coach, with the old blanket wrapped around me as I spent the majority of the day sitting in front of the TV watching the weather. Apparently three inches had already fallen, and they were calling for four more inches by tomorrow morning. A situation like this made me wish Edward wasn't homeless, but then I wouldn't have met him. I went to turn the heat up, but I noticed that Charlie turned it on full blast before he left for work, so he didn't forget about it. That meant that the house was freezing because of the temperature outside. I walked myself back to the couch in the living room, and curled up watching the news.

Apparently I fell asleep, because I woke up to the shrilling sound of the phone ringing from the kitchen. I jumped up swiftly, knocking the blanket to the floor as I ran to catch the phone in time. "Hello?" I said groggily.

"Bella?"

"Dad?" I said, clearing my throat.

"Thank goodness." He mumbled in a worried tone. I tensed, he sounded panicky.

"What? You're scaring me." I said anxiously, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"No, no. Just a couple kids from your school got into a car accident, and I was just making sure you stayed home." He sighed, and I heard him mumbling something to somebody with him on the other end of the line.

"Are they alright?" I asked, worried. The first people who popped in my mind were Alice and Rose, but if they had gotten in an accident, he would have just told me.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. Have you left the house?" I looked into the living room, trying to find a clock to tell me what the time was.

"No, actually, I was sleeping. I just woke up - what time is it?" I yawned.

"Almost seven." Wow.

I whistled. "Oh, I guess I won't be sleeping tonight." I mumbled mostly to myself, rubbing my forehead and playing with a strand of my hair.

I heard rustling on the other end of the phone. "What was that Bells?"

"Oh, just talking to myself. I said I won't be sleeping tonight. I slept for almost seven hours."

"Wow-"

"Wait, why aren't you home?" I cut him off.

"Oh, that's why I called. The roads are very bad, and I just thought it'd be safer if I stayed at the station tonight."

"Oh, um. Are you sure?" I gulped. I didn't like the sound of being home alone. It's not that I was scared or anything, I was just looking for a distraction- oh shit, Edward!

"Yeah, it'd be better. Are you fine with that?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, not really paying attention as I ran to the kitchen window. I pushed the blinds back frantically. It was dark outside, but the brightness of the snow lightened up the sky. The snow was still falling thick and heavy, and there were no traces of tire marks on the road. I couldn't even see the road. Shit, shit, shit. I chanted mentally to myself.

"Make sure you lock the doors before you go to bed, and stay inside. I don't want you getting into an accident; it's crazy out there."

"Okay, Dad." I pushed the hair out of my face as I bounced lightly on my feet, waiting for him to hang up. My eyes anxiously watched the snow fall from the sky.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay, bye!" I said in a rushed tone, and slammed the phone on the receiver. I ran to the closet beside the door, and frantically slipped my boots on and my jacket. I grabbed my keys from the bowl beside the door, not bothering to turn the lights out in the house. The wind was strong and powerful, hitting me hard as I walked to my truck. I almost slipped when I finally got to my truck but caught myself just in time. The snow was seeping through my boots, making my bare feet cold, but I ignored it. I heaved my door open, jumping into the freezing cab. It was cold and uncomfortable as my bare legs came in contact with the cold interior. I probably should have put on pants, or a thicker sweater. Maybe some gloves or a hat. Instead I was wearing my cloth pajama shorts, that barely covered my ass. But I didn't, and I wasn't going back now. My truck groaned to life, and I clutched the freezing stick shift. I slowly backed out of the driveway, I couldn't tell where the road was, but I drove anyway. My windshield wipers were loud and obnoxious, but I didn't care, I didn't even bother turning on the radio, as I drove extremely slow and cautious, on what I hoped was the road.

Eventually two hours later I was past the Port Angeles town limits. The highway had been completely bare; no car in sight. I had to pull over a couple times to calm myself down. I was freezing, and my heart was pounding so incredibly fast from the adrenaline. My fingers were aching from the frigid temperature, but I couldn't bring myself to stop clutching the steering wheel like my life depended on it. My lips were in a hard line, as hair kept falling into my face but I didn't move. The roads were so bad, that I couldn't see where they ended or started, but I trumped through it and kept driving. I had to get to Edward. I couldn't get the picture of him curled around himself trying to stay warm, the last time I was in Port Angeles ,out of my head. And that was just from the rain. This was a full out snow storm. And if anything happened to him, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

Port Angeles was dark, not many stores had their lights on. The streets were bare. No car, no person. It was slightly eerie, but at least I didn't have to worry about a car accident with another car. Eventually I saw the bridge in the distance. I pulled my truck over on the road, because I couldn't make it down the dirt path. And even if I did, I probably wouldn't be able to get back up. I left my truck running with the heat on, full blast. I heaved myself out of the car, immediately pulling my hood tightly over my head and wrapping my arms around myself. I walked cautiously down the long dirt road, as my boots filled with snow. My toes were numb, but I kept walking.

Eventually, I made it under the bridge. I climbed the ladder slowly, my fingers and legs numb, and my teeth clacking together. I peeked my head up over the ledge, squinting in the darkness. But Edward wasn't there. I did a quick scan, and then another, but he wasn't there. I looked down around the ground and the beach, but he wasn't anywhere. Shit. Maybe it was the fact that I was freezing and I couldn't find Edward, or that I was terrified to drive, or that I wasn't sure if Edward was alright or not, but I started crying. I climbed down the makeshift ladder, and wrapped my numb fingers around my body, as I bawled loudly walking up the dirt path back to my truck.

My truck was warm, as I drove around the town of Port Angeles, but I had no idea where he would be. I checked the library but that was closed. I rubbed my bare legs as I slowly drove around looking for him. I stopped at the board walk, and parked my truck on the middle of the street. I didn't care, nobody was around. I rubbed my legs with my numb hands as I walked swiftly up the street. Finally. Finally. I found him. He was laying on his side, with his hood up, his arms wrapped around his legs, and he had his legs hugged against his chest. Both his bags were beside him, in the darkness of the alley. "Shit." I sobbed. I couldn't help the tears that fell, freezing my face in the frigid temperature. If he hadn't been wearing that filthy red sweater, I wouldn't have noticed that he was even there.

"Edward!" I called out as I ran to him. He was visibly shaking, his teeth chattering. He wasn't dead, which only caused me to cry louder. I was happy, and scared, and worried. "Edward." I whispered, "can you hear me?" I knelt down beside him, the snow numbing my knees and legs. I cupped his freezing face with my numb hands, trying to let him know that I was here. "We're going to get you out of here, okay?" He shook his head slightly, while his teeth chattered so loud, I thought they were going to break.

I pulled his bag and his guitar off the ground, giving an extra heave because they were slightly frozen. I cried as I grabbed his shoulders and helped him up. He wobbled, and his legs gave out on him, but I caught his heavy frame. He wrapped his hands around my shoulders as I dragged him to my truck. I helped him into the passenger side door, in which he just slumped over the seat, holding his arms around his body. I threw both of his bags in the bed of my truck, figuring they were already frozen to the ground, what could it hurt? I ran to the other side and jumped into the cab. I rubbed the sides of Edward's arms and shoulders, trying to give what little body heat I had. His teeth were till chattering, and it was scaring me with how loud they were.

"Are you hurt Edward?" He shook his head. I started driving, as Edward laid his head on my lap. His frozen nose sent a chill throughout my body. I slipped his hood down, and took his hat off, throwing them to the floor of my truck. I rubbed his face, and his hair with my cold fingers. It seemed to soothe him.

The drive back to Forks was a lot like the drive to Port Angeles. Except I had a frozen boy attached to my leg. I didn't mind, and I was incredibly happy that I had found him, but it was a little distracting. Edward shook the whole time it took to get back to Forks. I carefully pulled into the drive way. I didn't miss that my tire tracks from before we already snowed over. I hopped out of my truck, and opened the passenger side door for Edward. I helped him out and into my house. I proceeded to carry him upstairs into the bathroom.

"You need to take off your clothes, Edward."

I shut the door behind me and stood him directly in front of it. He was still shivering, and his clothes were only making it worse. I leaned down, turning the spray on in the bathtub, and leaving the drain in the bottom. When I turned around Edward was still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, freezing. He was watching me as I approached him. I swallowed thickly as I placed my hands on the top of his jeans. I unbuttoned the button and unzipped them; they fell to the ground, making a splat sound but I ignored it. I could see the goosebumps visibly covering Edward's legs. I helped him pull off his sweater, and then the t-shirt underneath, so he was standing before me in stained gray boxer briefs. I tried not to ogle him for very long, given the state he was in.

His stomach wasn't too thin, but it wasn't chiseled, either. It was a pretty normal, flat stomach with a peek of brownish hair running down his belly bottom and disappearing underneath his boxers. I held Edward's hand, and proceeded to walk him to the bathtub. I helped him in, and he sat down on the porcelain bottom very slowly. He brought his legs up to his chest, just sitting there as the hot water rained on him and the bottom of the tub started to fill up. He was still shaking, and it was scaring me. I didn't know what else to do.

I stripped myself of my jacket and kicked my soaking boots off. I stuck a toe in the water, the scolding temperature burning my freezing foot momentarily, before I climbed in behind Edward. I used his shoulders to help me keep balance, as I placed a foot on each side of Edward's back. I leaned against the edge of the tub, trying to find a comfortable position, then gripped Edward's stiff shoulders and brought him back to lay on my chest.

I rubbed his body, his arms, shoulders, chest and stomach as he relaxed his head on my shoulder and his body visibly started to calm down. I ran my fingers through his hair, and hugged his body hard against mine. It seemed to be working for the most part. His shivering stopped, and so did the teeth chattering. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was sleeping on my chest.

I grabbed the shampoo that Charlie used, squirting a quarter size of gel into my hand. I swished it though Edward's hair, making it soapy. He sighed in contentment as I massaged his scalp, which made me smirk. "Are you warmer, Edward?" He nodded.

I took a cup from the side of the tub, and used the water that was filling up around us to wash the soapy water out of his hair. He tilted his head back, so none got in his eyes. I wasn't sure how long we laid there, as he relaxed all of his body weight against me, sitting between my parted legs and I played with his thick hair, but eventually the water turned cold, causing Edward to shiver. I moved slightly, and Edward seemed to understand what I was doing, because he leaned forward enough that I could get out from behind him.

Once out of the tub, I reached down and turned the spray off, and Edward continued to sit in the tub. He was back to hugging his knees against his chest. My shirt and shorts were clinging to me as I walked out of the bathroom and into my room to grab a pair of old sweats for Edward. I stopped at the linen closet and grabbed two towels for us, then made my way back into the bathroom. Edward hadn't moved.

I put the sweats and towels on the counter, and went over to help Edward out of the tub. As he stood up, I tried my hardest to keep eye contact with him. Edward blushed when he noticed that his boxers were clinging and not really leaving anything to the imagination. I left him standing beside the tub, as I went to fetch a towel. I wrapped it around his shoulders, and patted him down slightly before giving him the towel to hold. I couldn't do the next part. "I'm going to go get changed, here are some sweatpants you can put on." I whispered, handing him the gray tattered sweats. "Take your underwear off, and I'll put your clothes in the wash for you." He nodded, and blushed.

I left him in the bathroom, grabbing my own towel and proceeded to get dressed as fast as I could. I grabbed a pair of sweats, a lot like the ones I had loaned Edward, and a small white tank top. Not anything remotely sexy, so it would definitely do for now. Edward emerged from the bathroom a couple minutes later, holding his soaking pile of clothes in his hands. I smiled timidly at him, taking his clothes. "That's my room," I said pointing to the door beside the bathroom. "You can go in there, get comfortable and shit. If you want more blankets just tell me."

"Don't leave me." He muttered in a small, pleading voice. My heart clenched.

I shook my head, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "I'm not, I'm just going downstairs to put these in the washer, but then I'll be back up, okay?" He nodded and disappeared behind my bedroom doors. I ran down the stairs, put Edward's clothes and my clothes into the washer, added a little bit of soap, and ran back up the stairs. I grabbed another blanket from the linen closet, and tip toed into my bedroom.

Edward was laying on his stomach, faced down into one of my pillows. I smiled, walking over to him and climbing onto the bed. I wasn't sure where to sit, so I rested my back against the headboard, and watched Edward's back rise and fall with every breath. I knew I shouldn't have been remotely tired, seeing as how I slept seven hours today, but I yawned anyway. I laid my feet out in front of me, and leaned my head back.

I jumped when Edward stirred, he moved his body up further on the mattress, hugging my thighs to him tightly. He laid his head on my leg, his cold nose sending goosebumps over my body. I automatically put my fingers into his hair, weaving them through his, now clean, locks. I smiled in contentment leaning my back against the headboard again, waiting for sleep to come.

"Bella," Edward mumbled groggily, peeking up from my lap.

"Mmm?"

"You really shouldn't have saved me." I sighed and massaged his scalp, playing with his hair softly until his breathing became small snores. Eventually my eyelids started to droop, and I fell into a fast, peaceful slumber.

A/N: END FUCKING CHAPTER!

OH MY GOD! That was seriously a bitch to write. It was like I hadn't ever been in a damn snow storm before. Christ, I live in motherfucking Canada! No idea why that was SO hard to write. I was waiting forever to do this chapter, and it just wouldn't come out! I was sort of disappointed in myself, and I don't even like it that much.

I guess this is where my story........ changes? Edward's little comment "You really shouldn't have saved me" doesn't mean, "OH BELLA I WANT TO DIE" , it more or less means. "I don't want to be a burden." Which is Edward's turning point, if you missed that.

And my other stories - I'd advise you NOT to check out, I hate them. And I'd delete them if so many people hadn't added them to their favorites.

ALSO I have a TWITTER! So follow me! I want more followers. Link is on my profile page. And pictures from the last chapter are there too.

And a SPECIALOHMYGAWD thanks to Ashley. God I love her. Fixing up my chapter, and making it actually readable. Also, again with the thanks to everyday who had reviewed and all that crap. Just WOW. A lot of people have added this under story alerts, it's crazy.

Anyway. REVIEW because God knows I need the motivation.