"Bella! Bella! Wake up! It's just a dream, wake up!" Edward shook me, desperately attempting to be gentle and forceful at the same time as he tried to wake me. I started to bolt upright, but he held me down. "Relax Bella, just relax, it was only a dream. You're okay, you're safe." I looked around me wildly, expecting to see nothing but white. It took me a few minutes to realize where I was. Someone had moved me from the couch to the bed in my room and I was warm under the blankets. I took a moment to focus on reality; the room was dark except for a soft glow from the fireplace. I turned to Edward's anxious face, hovering above mine. He had one hand on my shoulder and another cradling the side of my face.

"Edward?"

"It's alright Bella, you just had a bad dream, everything's fine." He bent down slightly to place a gentle kiss on my forehead. "You were dreaming about ice this time." Edward always liked to discuss my dreams after I woke up. He said that talking about my dreams would help me to not be so scared of them, but I imagine that was only part of the reason. Edward couldn't read my mind, but when I spoke out loud in my dreams, it was like he could listen to my thoughts for brief, broken periods. I always thought that this was the real reason he wanted to discuss my dreams; he had heard bits and pieces of the dreams, and afterward, he wanted to know all the details that I could remember. "Did you fall through the ice?" Edward prompted me again, "Is that why you were so frightened?"

"I'm not sure if I fell," I whispered hesitantly, "I think something pulled me under."

"Pulled you under?"

"Yes, the ice cracked and then I was in the water. I tried to swim to the surface, but then…" I didn't want to finish, I had just remembered exactly what, or rather who, had kept me under the surface and I didn't want to say it out loud.

"But then…what?" Edward was waiting for my summary of the dream as patiently as he could, but I could tell that he was losing his ability.

"Well, then something grabbed me and pulled me down to the bottom, and then I woke up." I gave my quick explanation and hoped furiously that he wouldn't ask what had pulled me down. But instead he asked a different question that was just as bad.

"Where was I?"

"What?" I panicked as I realized that I might have said his name out loud during the dream.

"You said my name. Once at the beginning, like you were curious, but then at the end you were screaming for me." Edward bowed his head and avoided my eyes and whispered, "Or screaming at me."

"Edward," I ran my hand through his hair and he gently rested his chin on my shoulder. "It was just a stupid dream. I only dreamt about ice because I fell asleep to some arctic survivor show. It didn't mean anything." I hoped that my explanation would placate him, but of course, I was wrong. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Bella, what exactly did I do in the dream?" Now it was my turn to take an equally deep breath.

"You were…just…under the water with me. That's all…I saw you under the ice…and then you were in the water with me." I waited silently for his reply; I couldn't tell if he would let this go or make it more than it really was. I should have known the answer though.

"So I was what pulled you under the ice." Edward rolled off me and landed on his back, then suddenly, he was sitting up; his legs crossed in front of him and his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes remained shut. "And I can assume that I was the 'something' that pulled you away from the surface to drown you." His voice was barely a whisper; I had to strain to hear him. I sat up next to him and pulled gently on his arm.

"Edward," he didn't move a single muscle, he was like a block of stone sitting next to me. I pulled harder, trying to remove his hand from his face so I could see his eyes. "Edward. Stop it." I pulled with most of my strength, but he refused to budge.

I couldn't stand it when he did this; when he wouldn't let me see his face; his eyes. It made me feel ignored and unwanted; irrational feelings, but they were there anyway. The worst feeling was helplessness. I knew that I was essentially helpless against most things in this world, but I had Edward. He was my protector, and he would save me, no matter what. It was his constant protection that quelled my helplessness, but when he refused to acknowledge me like this, I felt like my protector was abandoning me, and I was once again helpless against the world. I knew there was nothing that I could do physically to make him look at me, so I gave up and let go of his arm. He would come back to me when he was ready; when he had finished whatever internal argument he was fighting. I would just have to wait. I pulled my knees into my chest, put my arms around them, and rested my head on top. I was prepared to wait, but there was just one thing I felt I needed to say. It came out as no more than a whisper, but I knew he heard me. "I'm sorry Edward. I'm sorry I have dreams like that." It was all I could think to say. I sat there, waiting for him to unfreeze, and I jumped when he spoke.

"It's not your fault Bella," he took a deep breath and removed his hand. He rested his head on the headboard but his eyes were still shut, "It's not your fault." Neither of us said anything more. We simply sat there together, not moving, not speaking. It wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it should be; sitting in silence with Edward. It felt almost…natural; as if we did it all the time. After a few minutes I closed my eyes as well. Some time later I shivered; I had been warm under the blankets, but the air in the room was cold. Edward felt me shiver and I stayed still while he gently gathered me up in his arms and pulled us both under the blankets. I was hesitant to move closer to him; afraid that he was still brooding. My fears dissipated as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close along the length of his body. He bent his head and spoke softly in my ear.

"I'm sorry Bella. It was incredibly rude of me to refuse you like that…I don't expect your clemency." I said nothing, but snuggled my face into his neck and placed a soft kiss at the base of his throat. I heard him sigh as he moved his free hand up my back and let it tangle in my hair. "Am I to assume that was a sign of my undeserved forgiveness?"

"You may assume exactly that." I placed another kiss on his throat and moved back so I could see his face. "Better now?" I asked tentatively to test his mood. He bent his head and kissed my nose.

"Much better, thanks to you." He gave me a crooked smile and I knew that he was fine again. I ducked my head and nestled into his chest.

"So, how was dinner?" He laughed at my casual tone.

"Dinner was fine, but I was lonely."

"I thought Carlisle was with you?"

"He was, but you weren't. I could be in a crowd of thousands and feel utterly alone without you there next to me." He ran his hand absently up and down my back and I sighed at his pleasant touch.

"Hmm, you're back now though." I put my hands on his chest and breathed in the scent of him as he buried his face in my hair and did the same.

"I'm sorry I was gone so long." I wondered just how long he had been away.

"What time is it?" I couldn't see the clock and darkness in this place often meant a snow storm, not nightfall.

"It's 7:15." I stared up at him with a puzzled look. "What, is something wrong?"

"It's only 7:15? I thought I had slept longer than that." I yawned and stretched, I certainly felt like I had slept longer than 45 minutes.

"Good grief Bella, is 13 hours not enough for you? How long were you planning to sleep exactly?" Did he say 13 hours? That couldn't be right. I wondered briefly if I was still dreaming.

"What do you mean 13 hours? You said it was only 7:15."

"It is 7:15…P.M. Bella you've been asleep all day. You haven't gotten sick have you?" Edward placed a cool hand on my forehead and frowned at the thought of me being ill. "You don't feel sick, and you don't smell any different. How are you feeling? Do you have any other symptoms? How long have you been feeling ill? Perhaps Carlisle should take a look at you, you may need antibiotics…" Edward was in full over protective, certified doctor mode. It only took me a moment to remember the pills that I had taken this morning.

"Edward I'm not sick," I put my hand over his mouth to get his attention, "I took a couple of those motion sickness pills really early this morning to help me fall asleep and I guess they lasted a little longer than I had expected." Edward sighed and I removed my hand, but he grasped it and pulled it back to his lips. He placed a soft kiss on each of my fingers before releasing my hand.

"So you're not sick then?" The concern was evident in his eyes.

"No, it was just the pills. I guess I wasted the whole day, huh?" I curled in closer to Edward and rested my face against his chest. He pulled me into him even tighter and nuzzled his face into my hair, breathing deeply in and out.

"You certainly did. I tried to wake you several times, but you were sleeping so soundly, I thought perhaps you had been unable to sleep after I left and were making up for the lost time. Why did you take those pills? You know anything to do with falling asleep or staying awake usually has a particularly strong effect on you." I couldn't argue with that, Edward was right. Caffeine could make me into an entirely different person, energized, ambitious, and certifiably insane. And apparently, drowsy motion sickness pills could make me, well, deceased for the day.

"Well actually I couldn't sleep after you left," I felt Edward instantly tense at my words. I realized too late that he would feel guilty because he had left me. I put a hand on his chest and looked up at him, "Edward, don't do that. I'm not mad at you for leaving, and you shouldn't feel bad about it. I know you have to go and it doesn't even bother me." Only the last part was a lie. "I just woke up and when you weren't there I sort of panicked for a second, but then Esme came in and I fell off the bed and after that I was pretty much wide awake so –"

"YOU FELL OFF THE BED!?!" Edward pushed me away from him so he could inspect me for injuries. I laughed as his hands moved over my arms and legs, checking for fractures and broken bones.

"Edward I'm fine, I landed on my back and it hardly even hurt. And Esme was there to pick me up in like two seco – ouch!" Edward froze with his hand over the bruise on my leg from the remote that Emmett had thrown at me.

"So you only hurt your back, huh?" He lowered his hand and barely brushed my skin along the length of the bruise.

"No…well yes…but that's not from the fall…that's from Emmett – "

"EMMETT!?!" Edward was suddenly enraged. I was afraid that he would jump off the bed and attack Emmett if I didn't explain quickly. My words came out in a jumbled mess.

"But wait, it wasn't his fault! We were on the couch and there was nothing on TV and he threw the remote at me so I could change the channel but I didn't catch it, so it hit my leg, but it didn't even really hurt!"

"Oh yes I can see that it doesn't hurt at all," Edward mocked my pitiful explanation, but he seemed to be more calm. He took a few deep breaths, sighed, and pulled me to him again, "Were there any other injuries today that I should know about?" I thought through this morning's events quickly and smiled as I remembered one more injury.

"Well, I bit my tongue while I was eating breakfast, but other than that…" Edward chuckled softly and kissed my forehead.

"How can so many things happen to you in such a short time? Only my little danger magnet could have such bad luck." He placed another soft kiss on my nose, and then another on each side of my face, and finally he put his lips to mine. Normally I wouldn't like being called a danger magnet, it was insulting. But somehow my little danger magnet wasn't bad at all; it was protective, and it was possessive, and I liked it. I smiled into the kiss and frowned when Edward pulled away. Edward saw my frown and smiled lightly, "I'm sorry love, but it is quite difficult to focus when I have Alice screaming at me in my head to get you out of the house." Not a full second after he finished speaking, Alice burst into the room and flicked on the light.

"Bella! You need to get in the shower," when I didn't move from Edward's embrace, not even to glance in her direction, she added, "right now Bella!" and yanked on my arm to pull me out of the bed.

"Ugh, fine Alice! You don't have to detach my arm." I grumbled all the way into the bathroom and heard Edward growl as Alice shoved me in and closed the door. I quickly finished in the shower and when I stepped out I saw Alice's clothes waiting for me in a neat stack on the counter; the cape hanging on a hook on the door. I took my time blow drying my hair and then traded my towel for the funeral garb. I opened the bathroom door to find Alice blocking my way. "Alice, I'm already dressed and I promise not to change clothes. Now let me go find Edward."

"He's waiting for you outside and you're not ready yet." Alice pushed me back into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Ugh. What now?" I mumbled as she sat me down in front of the long vanity mirror. Alice ignored my comments while she got busy on my hair. I was surprised when, after less than five minutes, Alice backed up and said I was finished. She had simply pinned up the front of my hair and let the rest hang down my back and shoulders in soft, bouncing curls.

"Now you're ready! Oh you're going to have such a good time Bella! When I first saw it I thought it would be boring, but it's just perfect for you and Edward!" She was dancing and jumping around in front of me like a puppy; I couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, okay! You don't want to keep Edward waiting; you'll get there right on time." And before I could ask what we would be on time for, Alice pushed me out of the bathroom and tied the cloak around my shoulders.

"Alice this thing is so heavy; can't I just wear my coat?" Alice gasped and froze in the hallway.

"Isabella Swan!" I just stared at her, waiting for the rest of the words that suddenly came out in a rush, "After I have spent all this time trying to make this the most perfect evening and you want to ruin it all by wearing that hideous puffy coat. I swear Bella; will you forever be challenged in fashion?" I knew that this argument could get very long, very quickly, so I threw up my hands in defeat.

"Alright Alice, you win. Relax, I'll wear it." Alice gave me a dazzling smile and kissed me on the cheek before she pushed me out the front door and into the frozen winter air.