A/N:

Hi! I'm back with a brand-new chappy! I finished it Saturday already, but I wasn't happy with it so I decided against posting it until I had rewritten certain parts. I'm okay with it now.

The chapter is unbeta'ed, all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, I'm just playing with the things she created. Evan and Hope are mine, though ;)

Now let's get to reading!

Previously on Stay:

For the next two hours we discussed the notes he made about my book and we talked about everything that had happened while we were separated; which was, obviously, not very exciting.

"Bella, what is this?" he smirked and chuckled, his eyes warm and almost liquid.

"What?" I asked and inched closer to the screen he was pointing at.

There it was; it clearly stood there. Fuck.

Chapter 5

BPOV

I have no idea how it came there.

I seriously can't remember. Was I on the phone with him right then or something? Sounds logical, let's go with that one.

A smirk appeared on his face and his beautiful and fluid green eyes had happy wrinkles on the sides.

He looked confident and emphasized it by supporting his head with his fist.

"Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing, you asshole! We were probably just on the phone and I typed your name instead of Evan's. No biggie," I pulled the arm that was supporting his head out from underneath his head. He had not anticipated that; win for me.

"Aww Bellie, you're all red! Perfect imitation of a tomato! You should apply for next year's play for the part of tomato," he poked me in the side. The name he used had been his and Emmett's nickname for me since we were little. I could only take it from Emmett since I shared his genes, but Edward didn't have the right to call me that at all.

"Don't look so smug! You make a bigger deal out of this then it actually is! And for fuck's sake, stop calling me Bellie!"

The smirk didn't evaporate and I got drunk in his eyes. His eyes were like beautiful black stones swimming in a green ocean of love and enjoyment. We stared into each other's eyes for an immeasurable amount of time.

I call bullshit, it was just a few seconds but it seemed like so much longer.

I gave him a soft kick to the shin which he hadn't seen coming so he stumbled from the chair. That gave me an opportunity to grab my laptop and change Edward's name into Evan's.

They just both start with E's, that's probably it.

It didn't miss my notice that my mistake was made in a heavy make-out session between the main characters.

Just ignore it and move on, Bella. It's not like you wrote a lemon and let Hope scream Edward's name instead of Evan's. Now, THAT would have been embarrassing. This is nothing.

I shook my head to get rid of those disturbing thoughts.

I looked to my side to find Edward still clutching the shin I kicked a minute ago.

"Ah come on, Edward. It wasn't more than a little touch. Grow up," I commented and began to read further.

"Aw Bella, you flatter me with your apologies. Oh wait, I haven't heard one," the sarcasm dripping from his words.

I closed my laptop with finality and sighed.

"I'm bored, let's do something else," I stood from my chair and threw myself face-first on my bed.

Edward followed and threw his body on top of mine, which landed us in a very awkward position. His face was in the crook of my neck and his arms were around my midsection.

"Uh, Edward. What are you doing?" I said into my pillow.

"What does it look like? Or rather feel like in your case," he chuckled.

"It feels like your enormous body is trying to crunch my little cutie booty,"

"I can feel the love, cutie booty Swan. But now, this is what humans call display of affection,"

"Lying on top of each other so that the bottom one can barely breathe? So much fun," sarcasm was my second language next to English which was often, if not mostly, used.

"You know you love me," I could hear the smile in his voice and he kissed my cheek before crawling off of me.

My cheek felt like it could burst into flames in any second, which was weird since he had done that before and then I hadn't felt a thing apart from appreciation.

"So what would you like to do?" He was now lying on the floor, his left arm lying across his face.

I grabbed a pillow and hit him with it in the stomach. According to him I might have strength, but honestly, I don't.

He groaned.

"You weakling! That pillow barely even touched you!" Edward grabbed a throw pillow from my windowsill, stood up and crossed the room until he collapsed on top of me. He was straddling me and tickling my sides, something I could not endure at all.

"Edward! Stop!" I was laughing and hitting him at the same time.

He threw the pillow to the side, grabbed my wrists and held them above my head.

"Sorry, I just couldn't handle your, and I quote, 'little cutie booty'," he grinned mischievously.

"Hey Bells, I was wondering –" My door opened and my dear brother barged in.

He looked astonished and for a moment I couldn't think of why he'd look that way and then I remembered Edward and I's position.

I pushed Edward away from me and was met with a look of rejection which I didn't understand.

I turned to Emmett. He was wearing a black hoodie which read Swan in capital letters on the back. I knew because our entire family had one of those hoodies and I often stole this particular one from Emmett.

"Are you going to finish your sentence or what?" My legs were crossed and I was trying to look bored although I felt my cheeks heating up quickly.

"Am I interrupting anything?" he grinned devilishly and his dimples appeared.

So not fair that everyone in our family has those cute dimples and I only have one!

"I have this certain feeling that you didn't come to barge in, without knocking may I add, and ask if you were interrupting anything," I was purposefully ignoring Edward now, who was seated behind me.

From my periphery I could see him as red as the tomato he wanted me to play in the school play and he was trying to hide it by reading the problem pages from one of my magazines.

"Not so spry little sis," he mocked and pointed his index finger at me. I raised both my hands in a sign of surrender.

"I'll leave you two alone now to continue with whatever not so innocent act you were about to perform," and with that he left and I was just a fraction too late with throwing my pillow which hit the door instead of Emmett's head.

My aim is improving; normally I wouldn't even have come close to hitting that door.

I heard him snickering through the door so I made the effort and yelled some profanities at him.

"Isabella Marie! Language!" my mom scolded me from the washroom she was apparently occupying.

Does this mean she saw? O God, please not.

"Sorry mom!" I yelled back.

I turned back to Edward and decided at that very moment that I'd just ignore whatever current just occurred between us.

"Would you like to go to the meadow with me?" I asked in my perfectly behaved voice.

"Of course, ma'am," he replied and held out his hand for me to take as he stood from the bed.

"Wanna stop at my house to grab my guitar?" I nodded in reply and we left after grabbing keys and my jacket.

~Stay~

Say something I'm giving up on you
I' ll be the one if you want me to
Anywhere I would have followed you
Say something I'm giving up on you

Edward was playing the guitar to the original piano notes and singing the first part with his beautiful and warm but a little hoarse male voice.

He nodded at me to join in. We sang together, transforming the eerie silence of the meadow into a by flowers covered musical performance.

And I, I'm feeling so small
It was over my head
I want nothing at all
And I, will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl

Say something I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere I would have followed you
Say something I'm giving up on you

And I will swallow my pride
You' re the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye

Say something I'm giving up on you
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
And anywhere I would have followed you
Oooooh
Say something I'm giving up on you

Say something I'm giving up on you
Say something…
***

The birds had stopped singing, Edward had stopped playing and both our voices had stopped breathing words.

We had sung this particular song only a few times before, but every time we did it I felt so loved but empty at the same time.

As usual we stuck our heads together – in the literal sense – and connected through our foreheads.

The guitar lay all but forgotten on the flowerbeds. The song had this as a natural reaction to us.

Suddenly a loud noise shocked us out of our reverie.

"Phone," I mumbled.

I grabbed it and was met with a text from my mom that dinner was about to get served.

"Mom said we're about to have dinner, so I have to go. Are you coming too or are you gonna stay for a while?" I stood and collected the few items I had brought such as my jacket, keys and a blanket. The red and black blanked I held underneath my arm, ready to go.

I dragged a hand through my long dark brown locks, getting them out of my face.

"I'm gonna stay for a while, be careful on your way down," he looked down at his guitar and began strumming softly.

"Okay, I will. Text me when you get home, okay?" I bent down and kissed his cheek softly as he'd done with me earlier.

I walked away but turned around when I was met with thick forest at the edge of the meadow and I saw Edward looking up into the sky, both hands in his hair, fingers knotted through his bronze locks.

I had felt this feeling before; the feeling that everything between us was changing. Did I want it to change? I had no idea.

I walked downhill, stumbling over a few fallen branches along the way but saved myself from any severe injuries.

I could see the road come into view and noticed with a shock that my cheeks were wet. I looked up into the sky, but my thoughts were confirmed when I only saw a light gray cloud bag, nothing that carried any rain; I was crying.

I hastily wiped them away, but found that only more tears were dropping down. I walked through the few streets the town of Forks had on my way home, but decided against actually going home.

I took a right and came face-to-face with thick forest again. I entered it and walked a couple of feet before throwing the blanket down with force and sitting on it.

I had no idea what I was crying about. All I knew is that right now I couldn't stop and that I didn't even want to so I sobbed for what felt like a few hours.

I had turned my phone off and rested my head against a tree, closing my eyes.

When I reopened them again it was dark. Either the weather had turned for the worse or I had actually fallen asleep and it was now late at night. My face felt unmovable by the dried tears that had reached practically everywhere but my forehead. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket – which had stopped my blood regulation through my ass apparently because it was numb.

I turned it on and several messages appeared. Emmett had called me about twenty times in a time span of 4 hours, just like my mom, dad and Edward. Rosalie's name and the Cullen household's phone number appeared a few times on the lit screen as well.

I choose against notifying anyone of my return back to this world, grabbed my blanket once again and walked out of the forest with a confident stride.

A lot I had expected, people running around and searching for me by screaming my name, maybe even my face and name on a milk carton – alright that's a slight exaggeration.

But what I didn't expect was to see a cop car parked in front of my house with about 30 people around it holding a map. Neither had I expected my mom in tears and Edward and Emmett biting their nails while sitting in chairs next to said map.

It was raining slightly now and the headlights illuminated beautifully against the off-white house I was living in.

"Charlie! Renée! There she is!" A man named Waylon Forbs called out and pointed at me. I knew he was from the police force and had been a family friend for years now.

Four people came running for me, and I took a step back because of the impact it was bound to cause. It didn't because they all stopped a few feet in front of me and hugged me one by one, except for my parents who hugged me at the same time.

"Where were you, Bella? We have been looking everywhere for you!" My mom closed me in her arms and cried hysterically. My dad was soothingly stroking both my mom's and mine's back.

Soon two large arms wrapped around us all and Emmett joined in on the hug.

"Come on, Bellie. Why did you do that to us?" His voice thick with emotion, which happened very rarely.

"Sorry, I had just fallen asleep," I apologized quietly.

They let me go and all wiped their eyes on cue as if someone had said: "Wipe!"

Edward walked closer and gave me a bone crushing hug, his head atop of mine.

"I blamed myself for letting you go alone. If you hadn't come back, God Bella, I don't know what I would've done," I felt a drop of water, or a tear, fall on my head. He kissed me once on the forehead and I reveled in the feeling.

"I'm sorry guys but luckily it was a false alarm," dad yelled at the search party that had gathered around the cruiser.

People came to me saying that they were happy to have me back as if I'd been gone for two months to Asia or something.

My mom had put the soaked blanket around me with no idea that this would only make me feel colder, and kept rubbing my arm.

"Let's get you inside, sweetie," my mom said.

My parents, Emmett, Edward, Waylon and Carlisle came into the house. Carlisle was both Edward's father and my doctor so he checked me for any injuries. Apart from my low body temperature due to the rain and the soaked blanket, I was fine and he told me to just go put some dry clothes on after a hot shower.

I did and my parents served coffee to our guests. When I came back in my room Edward was on my bed reading the book I'd been currently reading.

"Have you warmed up a little?" I nodded and crawled under the covers after Edward had moved over a little.

"So if I'm right this is about a guy who is a vampire of 109 years but doesn't consume any human blood, but only from animals and to top that all off he sparkles in the sunlight? Please," he huffed.

"Hey, don't hate on Snow at Dawn. If you came out from underneath your rock you would have known that this is a perfectly fine love story adored by loads of females and several males too," I stole the battered copy from him and put it on the floor next to my bed. It had been read so many times that the cover couldn't be saved anymore. My mom said I should get a new copy, but this one held memories of reading it while sitting on the windowsill with a blanket and hot chocolate in my hands. Even though I had spilled some of said hot chocolate over the book; it made it even more important for me. I couldn't live without that copy and its memories.

I moved my hands together in a way to generate heat and Edward caught on. He took off his shoes and crawled into my bed with me. He grabbed my icy hands in his warm ones and breathed them warm.

I melted a little.

I looked at him with an expression that reflected in his eyes too

I believed I saw what I felt in his eyes too, but it could've been my mind betraying me. He abandoned my hands and cupped my face. The heat of his skin, the current passing through us and my still cool skin formed a contrast that felt like fire and ice; both powerful and at the same time so innocent.

His face slowly came closer, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. To a certain extend he did; his lips touched my forehead with care and left a smoldering kiss there. He then moved me so that my head was tucked underneath his chin and my face was buried in his chest. I grabbed hold of his shirt and relaxed.

Would I have minded if he kissed me? Would I have pushed him away? Would I have welcomed it?

One thing I did welcome, and that was the sleep that took me. I felt so safe and sound in Edward's arms. His scent calmed me in a way nothing else could. I couldn't help but think back to his face when he saw me again after I had left him in the meadow to go on my unintended adventure. Was it just friendship or might it have been more?

I sighed contently and fell into a deep and restful slumber.

A/N:

I think I gave a subtle hint as to what book I was referring to. I hope you noticed ;p

The thing about the battered copy is actually true. I have Twilight 3 times, but read the movie cover version in English about 8 times or so and a lot of shit has happened to it, but I can't find it in me to replace it. Also, it has been on three continents so that's just irreplaceable.

***The song Bellward sang was Say Something by A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera. The song doesn't belong to me; I only used the lyrics because I think this song fits the theme perfectly.

I hope you liked it, please reviewww! I'd love you very much if you did :D Not that I don't otherwise, but you know what I mean.

~Nathalie