Twilight belongs to S. Meyer. I just have fun with her characters.

Witfit Prompt: Escape

Highline

Chapter 8

The sun was setting rapidly and we were losing heat by the minute. Jacob and I worked on securing all of our toiletries in bear lockers, while Emmett, Rose and Edward unrolled our sleeping mats and bags.

The sleeping arrangement we'd worked out was that Rose and I would share a tent, Edward and Jacob would share, and Emmett would sleep alone. The canvas tents had to be small enough to fit in our packs, and Emmett insisted that he needed the most space.

After another quick meal and a group trip to the outhouses we were all ready to head to the warmth of our sleeping bags.

"Good day, huh?" I said to Rose as I stripped out of my clothes and into my thermal long underwear. I laid out my pants and shirt on top of my bag at the foot of my bed to thoroughly dry for the next day.

"It was. But it's not quite over. FYI, I'm making my escape from this tent in about a half an hour."

"What?! Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Shh – keep it down. Emmett's tent." She said with a giggle.

"You hussy!" I teased.

"I'm not just gonna climb into his sleeping bag or anything Bella, Jesus. I don't give it up that easy, and you know that."

"So why didn't you just go over there in the first place then?"

"I don't know. He told me that their dad gave them a huge lecture on professionalism and whatever before the trip. He doesn't want to piss Edward off."

"Well, whatever. You're not hurting anything. I won't say a word."

"Another thing, B – " she paused, "I don't want whatever it is that's going on with me and Emmett to get in the way of our trip. I came here with you – for you. Tell me if it's bothering you, please."

"Don't be silly." I said, meaning it. I appreciated her thinking of me – her thoughtfulness was one of many qualities that made Rose such a good friend. "If spending time with him makes you happy, I'm happy. As long as you come home with me at the end of all this, it's fine with me."

xoxoxo

"Bella?! Are you ok?" Edward's voice called out to me, his flashlight shining right in my face.

I sprang up from in sleeping bag in confusion. The last thing I remembered was flashing red and blue lights all around me and the feeling of falling.

"I uh – yeah. I must have been dreaming." I was humiliated. "I talk in my sleep and I have these nightmares sometimes…" In that moment I was grateful for the darkness – I had to be blushing fifteen shades of red. I felt like pulling my sleeping bag over my head and never coming out.

"You were yelling – I thought something was wrong. Wait - where is Rose?" He asked, his expression growing stern.

"Oh, uh - Right…" I stuttered. There was no hiding it now. "She must have fallen asleep in Emmett's tent."

"Oh for crying out –"

"Don't worry about it," I cut him off before he could jump to any further conclusions, "They were just talking. Rose likes your brother, but it's not like that."

He let out a deep sigh, dropping the flashlight to his lap. "We're a business, Bella. Having our guides sleeping with our clients doesn't exactly look good – whatever their intentions are. If this gets back to my dad -" he groaned, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, Rose was interested in him before we even knew you were our guides, if that's any consolation. What are you doing up anyway?" I asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"I couldn't sleep in there – Jacob snores. Loudly." His grin was back. "I heard you, and I thought I'd better check on things."

"Oh. Well, thanks. But that sucks. You could stay in here if you want – we could switch?" I offered. I was so tired that I probably could've slept through anything.

"No, no. You're all set up. Don't move." I could see that he had circles under his eyes. Even though he was the most experienced of our group, he needed rest just as much as any of us did.

"You could just stay in here, you know. I don't bite." I offered, going out on a limb. "Rose is gone for the night – it won't matter anyway."

He let out another deep sigh.

"Thank you," he finally answered after a long and awkward pause, "I'll grab my things."

A few minutes passed and he was back with an armful of bedding. I was on the verge of sleep, my eyes heavy, when he startled me with his voice.

"Bella?" He asked in a deep whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me something? Not a word about this to Jacob."

A/N This is what happens when I've got an extra set of hands around to keep my kids entertained for the day – all caught up! Sunday is a reflection day for the WitFit challenge – I'll be updating again on Monday. I'm hoping to tweet some pictures to go along with this story tomorrow – follow me on twitter to see them! (eksmith07). Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!