I do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

BPOV

Chapter 30

Look After You

I sat at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Edward to change. I had my gym bag in my car, so I just changed downstairs, while he had gone upstairs to scrounge around for something to wear that was gym appropriate. I heard the bedroom door shut and him padding down the hallway. When he appeared at the top of the stairs he looked like he could have passed for an under armor model, he adjusted the arm strap on his MP3 player and smiled at me.

"Ready?" He asked, his mood from earlier in the day seemingly improved.

"Sure." I tightened the laces on my Nikes and stood up. "Aren't you going to be cold?" I asked, gesturing at the black basketball shorts he was wearing.

"I'll put the heat on in the car." He grabbed his jacket and we headed back to school to use the gym.

There weren't a lot of people at the gym tonight, which was good I guess, that way we would be able to have our choice for equipment to use. He looked around, carefully inspecting the machines around him, deliberating over what he wanted to do.

"What do you want to do first?" I asked cheerfully.

"What were you planning on doing tonight?" He said, answering my question with a question.

"I was planning on doing some running I guess." I said, my voice inflecting so it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"On that?" He asked gesturing toward a treadmill.

"Yes, on that." I replied.

He nodded his head, as if he were affirming to himself that he could do the same.

"Is there something else you'd rather do?" I asked.

"No, no. Running is fine." He said quickly, "I can do that."

"We should stretch first." I informed him as I removed my sweatshirt.

"Why?"

I sometimes forgot that he had no experience with such things, even though he had medical training and his father was a doctor. "You should always stretch before doing anything physical because it reduces the risk for soreness and muscle injury. It warms the body up and prepares it." I explained patiently, sounding a bit too much like a text book.

He nodded at me and said "I should have guessed that," sounding embarrassed.

We stretched for a few minutes, Edward spending most of the time watching me and then casually mimicking me. It was so strange to me, me having to teach Edward something, rather than the other way around.

We each climbed onto a treadmill and I looked at him and said quietly, "I'm not trying to offend you, but do you know how to use one of these?"

"No offense taken love, but yes, I do." He responded with a smile.

"Okay, just checking." I said lightly. I turned on my treadmill and started walking to warm up. I clicked on my Mp3 player and started entering my own world. I had never thought the day would come when I would actually enjoy exercising. It was true, I loathed team sports, but individual sports, I could handle. I looked forward to my gym trips. I would usually run or use the elliptical and then I would lift weights every few days. Granted, I couldn't lift much and my balance and form lacked something, but I was getting better at it. I had even tried a few yoga/Pilates classes and liked those too. I could feel my endurance and strength growing the longer I followed my routine, and I liked the progress. I figured that as I entered my adult life I wanted to be proactive in staying healthy, especially if someday I hoped to be someone's mother, now that the possibility was there.

I looked over at Edward and smiled to myself. He was walking, as I was, but his pace was set at a higher speed than mine, his eyes were focused straight ahead and he looked like he was concentrating. As much as he had mellowed out these last few months, as much as he seemed more comfortable with himself and being around me, he would always be a very serious minded, pensive being. I watched as he moved, he was slender and muscular, I stared at the back of him and it occurred to me that I had never seen any part of Edward from the waist down. Every so often I would catch him shirtless, but he was always very modest about his body. He always had on jackets and button down shirts and long sleeves. I had certainly never seen him in gym shorts, he looked so casual and informal, it was nice. His calves were sculpted and well muscled and at this point, I was paler than him now. He could easily pass as an athlete, even though that was more Emmett's image than Edward's. I let my thoughts wander for just a minute more and then decided to get down to business.

I readjusted the speed on the machine and broke into a slow jog, I saw the back Edward's head cock slightly as he heard the beeping of my machine and then he too, started jogging slowly. We had both been jogging at the same pace for a few minutes and then Edward adjusted his machine to go faster, I did the same. The music blasted in my ears and I kept my footfalls to the beat of it, the song got faster and I readjusted. Edward adjusted his machine. I cast a sideward glance his way and he returned the look with a smirk, this workout was about to turn into a game now. My thoughts immediately went back to New Year's Eve and our drinking competition, another challenge was now in the works.

I adjusted the speed on my treadmill to go up three points, keeping pace with it easily. I didn't look over at him, I just listened this time, within seconds I heard beep, beep, beep, followed by a fourth beep and a whirring sound. I looked over, Edward had upped the ante and put his treadmill on an incline, he locked eyes with me and grinned widely. I angrily stared at him and slammed the buttons on my treadmill, rising higher than him. He narrowed his eyes at me and increased his speed and incline. This childish competition continued on for several minutes until we had reached a point where our bodies would not be able to keep up with the machine. I was no longer jogging, but running at 7.2 miles an hour on an incline of 2.5, Edward's was about the same, now we just had to see who would last longer. My lungs were working fine, but my legs were starting to hurt, I was still very impressed with myself, however. Edward was starting to breathe faster, but didn't look tired yet. Sweat was starting to penetrate through the back of his shirt, and I knew my face was beet red.

He glanced over at me and I at him, "You alright?" I asked between deep breaths.

"Me? I'm fine? You?" He panted, unable to form an entire sentence.

"I'm good." I exhaled.

He nodded and faced straight ahead. He was getting tired, I knew it, a few more minutes and he'd be done, he was concentrating too hard and starting to look uncomfortable. I was getting pretty exhausted myself, but I knew my legs would give out before my lungs did and with Edward it would be the opposite. Then I saw him reach for the buttons on his machine, he was going to start to slow down and I couldn't help but smile, when suddenly, I lost my footing and the treadmill threw me off.

"Bella!" Edward exclaimed, hitting the emergency stop on his machine and hopping off the side of it. I hit the floor with a thud and a grunt, landing hard on my butt. Edward rushed over to me and helped me up.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his emerald eyes wide with concern.

"I'm fine. You win." I replied miserably.

The concern in his eyes turned to hilarity as I watched the corners of his mouth form into a wide grin. He burst into a loud guffaw, he laughed so hard in fact, that he started coughing, causing even more attention to be drawn to us. He held his stomach and leaned up against his treadmill. I frowned at him and crossed my arms over my chest. He was still laughing at me and then it became so infectious that I started laughing too.

He kissed me on the cheek and said, still chuckling, "No but seriously, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, you jerk." I giggled, I placed my hand on the place on my backside where I had fallen, "ugh, that's going to leave a mark tomorrow."

"Maybe we should go now." He said warmly.

"No way, we still have to work on our abs." I grinned.

By the time we got home it was seven o'clock already. My legs were wobbling and aching even though I had stretched them out. I had overdone it, and I knew this and all I wanted to do was clean myself up and sit down. I still had a pile of work to do for class and was not looking forward to tackling it tonight. I mumbled something indiscernible to Edward about showering and disappeared upstairs. I figured he was probably waiting to shower as well, so I spend it along. I walked into the bedroom running a towel through my hair and found him sprawled out on his back on the bed with a change of clothes clutched in his hand.

"What's the matter?" I asked watching his chest rise and fall as he breathed deeply.

"Everything hurts." He quietly replied.

"It's a good hurt though, isn't it?" I asked with a smirk

He turned his head and looked at me helplessly, "Is there really such a thing?"

"Sure." I said hopping on the bed next to him, still sore but revived from the steam and hot water. "You'll feel better once you've showered. I promise."

With a groan, he pulled himself off the bed and headed toward the bathroom, peeling his shirt off and dropping it on the floor on the way.

I went back downstairs and clicked on the television. I looked over at my backpack and a stack of books longingly to my left. I really needed to get some work done, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Even Edward looked drained, like he wouldn't be able to focus on anything if he tried. This day felt like it was never going to end, I thought back on what happened earlier in the afternoon.

I felt like I was living with an immortal again. Blood that had healing properties? I wondered if this meant his entire body could heal itself, like if he broke his arm or something would it mend quicker in him than it would in say, me? I shook my head at the thought. Clearly, his entire body couldn't heal itself; otherwise he wouldn't have required sutures. It seemed like whenever Edward's blood physically touched something, only then would the healing happen. I bit my lip in concentration, it seemed like his blood had become some kind of salve, if that was possible. Who was I kidding? Anything was possible with Edward, he wasn't a person or a being, he was a phenomenon.

I rolled up my pant leg and stared at the abrasion that no longer existed on my shin. I ran my fingers over it, it was smooth, there wasn't a trace of a scar or a wound. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. Edward had seemed so frantic and worried this afternoon and I thought closely about that. It was also very concerning about what Chef Scott had pointed out earlier in the day about Edward's appearance. I was starting to get a very bad feeling about our return to Alaska, especially after Alice's warning. All of these occurrences had to be connected, but how? I wondered if I should mention any of this to Eleazar or the girls, but how could I get to them without Edward knowing. I had to speak to Alice, I had to know how involved we needed to be getting.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the shower turning off. I knew Edward still couldn't hear my thoughts, but being as perceptive as he was, he would know something was wrong the moment he saw me. I had to think of something else so as not to get him upset, after all, he had finally just started to relax.

I flipped through the channels and stopped on Discovery, Dirty Jobs was on, I figured that would keep my mind occupied. I went into the kitchen and threw a single sized bag of popcorn in the microwave, knowing that eating would also keep me occupied as my stomach let out a low growl.

By the time my snack was ready, Edward had made his way downstairs and taken a seat on the couch. I still got a hoot out of seeing him in his lounge pants and t-shirt; it was so un-Edwardlike. I smiled to myself as I curled up next to him on the couch. He put his arm around me absentmindedly, totally engrossed in watching Mike Rowe cleaning out a septic tank on TV.

"That is wretched," He commentated. Then he caught a whiff of the popcorn. "What are you eating?" He asked, turning his head.

"Popcorn." I said through a mouthful. "Can I offer you some?"

"No thank you. But I am going to get a drink." He stood up and strode to the kitchen and poured a glass of juice.

"How are you feeling now that you're all showered and changed?" I called to him.

He reappeared in the doorway, "Better, but still sore. No more competitions for awhile if that's alright with you," he smirked. "At least not until I'm in better shape."

"So you'll come with me to the gym again?" I asked brightly.

"I will."

"I know it's nothing like running through the woods and over treetops at superhuman speed like you're used to, but it does the trick."

He snorted a quick laugh and finished his juice and came back to sit with me, this time lying on his side and placing his head in my lap. His hands curled under my thigh and he sighed as I stroked his damp hair.

"Do you miss it?" I asked.

"Miss what love?" He asked closing his eyes.

"Any of it? You know, the running, the strength, not having to worry about getting enough sleep or making dinner or showering? Never being tired?"

"I never said that I wasn't tired all those years." He said wearily.

"Well, you know what I mean."

"I think I do, yes." He replied.

"So, do you miss it?"

"Not really. Maybe some things, but I feel like I've gained much more than I've lost."

"That's a very safe answer." I said while my fingers mindlessly combed through his hair.

I saw the corner of his face pull up into a smile. "Are you not buying it?"

"What do you miss most?"

"What do I miss most…" he repeated in a faraway voice, he sighed, "I suppose I miss having heightened senses. It was very convenient, being able to see in the dark when others couldn't, or being able to smell you across a building rather than just across a room, I enjoyed that too."

"What else?" I whispered.

"I miss knowing that no one could touch me. That I was protected, that I was stronger than anything I came across, and I could win any fight, and that I could protect you." He said softly, with a touch of sadness in his voice.

"You were not put on this Earth to be my shepherd."

"Yes I was," he whispered, squeezing the back of my legs a little.

"What don't you miss?"

"Having to restrain myself all of the time and not being able to sleep of course."

"Of course." I chuckled, "you do seem to have adapted to the whole concept of sleeping very easily. You sleep all of the time."

"I've got ninety some odd years to catch up on." He was silent for a moment, and then unexpectedly, he asked me, "What do you miss most?"

"This has nothing to do with me." I said quickly.

"I believe it does."

I tried to think of a way to come across to him so that he understood that I didn't care what he was, all that mattered to me was who he was. "These things are inconsequential to me. It never mattered to me what you were, just as long as you were mine." I said smoothly.

"Right, it doesn't matter, but let's put our relationship on a very superficial level for just a moment, what do you miss most about me being a vampire, verses me now? I'm curious."

I sighed loudly, and nervously twirled his hair; snagging it for a moment and making him flinch. "I miss…climbing trees with you." I remembered how on a clear night or a day when it wasn't raining Edward would have me climb on his back and then he would scale the top of a pine tree and we would sit on the branches together and look out over the horizon, sometimes for hours.

"I miss that too," he agreed.

"I miss, you coming to my room at night and watching me sleep."

"I still do that. I don't sleep as much as you think I do." He said reaching up and rubbing my arm.

I had no idea he still did that. I thought once Edward was asleep he was out cold; I practically had to drag him out of bed in the morning so we could get to school on time.

"Why do you think it's so difficult for you to get me up in the morning?" He asked, as if reading my mind, "I don't get to sleep until between twelve and one most nights."

"But we usually go to bed at ten." I said confused, and then I realized what he was saying, that he spent those two hours up and watching over me. "Incredible." I said quietly.

We sat silently for awhile, I saw Edward close his eyes again and nuzzle the back of his head against my stomach. I slipped my hand under his shirt, running my knuckles lazily along his side and back. I couldn't help myself, I loved the feel of his skin, and I reveled in the fact that he was actually allowing me to get this close to him now. For the longest time I felt like Edward was some kind of feral animal that I could only get so close to. He stiffened slightly at the touch of my hands on his skin, but then I felt him relax and breathe deeply.

"Does this bother you?" I asked pulling my hand back. It had never occurred to me that I might be making him uncomfortable.

"It feels exquisite actually. I'm sorry, I'm just not quite used to this yet. Please don't stop," he urged, I eagerly resumed what I had been doing. His heavy head was still firmly nestled in my lap when he slid one of his arms down to the floor and up the leg of my sweatpants. My legs still ached from the run and I knew what little muscle I had was tight and tense. He gently rubbed my calf, which on an average day would send my heart into an explosive flutter, but tonight, I was so tired that it was putting me into a trance and making my eyelids heavy. The feel of his skin under my hands was nirvana, and I knew I didn't have much longer before I fell asleep with him in my arms. I felt the movement of his hand on my leg slowing and I knew that he too, was feeling the same.

I didn't really wake up per se; I just felt small movements around me and then strong arms underneath me, picking me up. I felt my head drop against his chest and his breath on me and heard a light switch snap off. I was in bed then, the pillow smelt like my shampoo and I felt the comforter pull over me like a heavy wave. The last thing I felt before I truly fell asleep was a warm body against mine and his lips on my neck.