It's been so long…too long actually. I have had no inspiration, so this is what I came up with…I hope you enjoy


"Emmett!" Bella squealed, reaching down to check that Edward still had a pulse. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when she felt the steady heartbeat pulsing against his wrist. She wrenched herself back up to a standing position, meeting her brother's neutral expression with a furious one of her own. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" She shrieked, shoving him away from Edward and into the throng of eager watchers, stumbling out of the way to prevent themselves from being crushed by Emmett's weight. She turned her anger on them, waving her hand toward the door. "You may leave now." She watched them trip over themselves to get out the door, cuss words and hushed whispers creating a hum around the room. Bella tapped her foot against the wood floor while she watched them go, shutting and locking the door firmly behind them.

The buzz of voices was gone, leaving behind the heated silence between Bella and her dark-haired sibling. "What. Were. You. Thinking," she said in a short, clipped tone, eyeing her brother up and down, searching for the answer.

"Bells," he said, stuffing his hands into his pocket and looking at her face, catching her hard, brown eyes with a dark, protective gaze.

"Don't 'Bells' me! You are the one that is ruining my life! I'm going to for surely get fired. I was supposed to protect him, and you hit him! I was supposed to not allow him to hurt his shoulder, and he just flew into a wall! I was supposed to keep him happy, and now he's unconscious!" she rambled loudly, ticking the ways she had failed off on her fingers.

Emmett closed the distance between them, wrapping his hands around her fingers and pulling them down to her sides, looking at her with concern. "You were here because of your job?" Bella couldn't tell if the meaning behind the words was relived or appalled. She nodded and decided the first when Emmett exhaled a long, deep breath, becoming suddenly interested in the laces on his sneakers. "Sorry, Bells," he mumbled, looking up and probing her face, hoping for forgiveness.

"You should go," she said coldly, not used to being able to remain angry at her brother. She showed him out the door then sunk to the floor by Edward, taming his unruly locks into a slightly less messy look. "Edward," she murmured, watching his peaceful breath as his chest rose and fell. He definitely was awake now, his mouth twitching into a hopelessly sexy grin. His eyelashes fluttered against his slightly freckled cheeks, but they didn't open. "Edward," she said, trying to contain the giggling building up inside of her at the sight of Edward trying to pretend to sleep. His limbs were twitching in short, jerky movements, his eyes moving beneath his lids.

She busied herself by checking to make sure his jaw wasn't bruising too horribly. It was already turning a slightly purple hue, shadowing his chin in a darker color. "That's going to leave a terrible mark," she commented lightly, bursting out as Edward's eyes flew open and he went to a sitting position.

"What?" His fingers gingerly felt the tender area where he was punched, and Bella watched as he winced slightly from the pressure. "Dang it," he muttered to himself, dragging himself up off the floor with his good arm. His eyes found Bella's, and she was momentarily stunned. The green in them was so pure, so deep, that he almost looked vulnerable, hurt. She shook it off, knowing what this boy was capable of, having seen from the sidelines as he wowed woman after woman.

"You should get some rest," she suggested slowly, testing the waters, waiting for his reaction to her offering advice on his health.

He rolled his eyes dramatically, dragging himself up off the floor and cupping his elbow with his hand. "What I really need is a drink." Bella opened her mouth to protest, but he was already limping away toward the kitchen.

"Edward!" she hollered after him, her feet straining to catch him. She began sprinting, looping around him and positioning herself between the refrigerator and Edward. "No. Alcohol." Her voice was clear and low, demanding his attention.

"What-ever!" he groaned, stomping angrily toward the stairs. She heard a string of replacement cuss words fall off his lips, and she had to bite back a laugh, knowing her giggling would just make the situation at least a hundred times worse. She waited until she heard his footfalls retreat, and she yanked open the freezer, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and chuckling quietly. She rifled through the cold, solid contents, some of which came tumbling out and smacked against the floor. Her fingers were red and cold by the time she'd gotten through the top two shelves of his double-wide fridge and freezer set.

"What pro football player doesn't buy icepacks?" she mused aloud, searching deeper into the shelving. "No peas, nothing frozen except ice cream!" She slammed the freezer door in frustration, running her fingers through her hair. What the heck was she supposed to use against his shoulder? She heard the shower above turn on, and she figured she had about ten minutes to figure something out. She looked around the kitchen, clanking pots and pans together, removing silverware from drawers, until she finally found a small Ziploc bag. She shoved it full of ice from the dispenser in the refrigerator and wrapped a dishtowel around it, assuring herself that it would do.

Then she popped her head into the fridge and grabbed a hunk of raw steak. It was mushy between her fingers, and her stomach churned at the stench of uncooked meat. She gagged as she carried it out of the kitchen, reminding herself that it was going to help Edward, the man whose injury was putting money in her bank account. Hurrying upstairs, she heard the shower stop. The door in the hallway flew open, and Edward appeared among a cloud of steam. It looked like a dramatic movie as the hero emerged from the tendrils of steam after saving the world. Bella stopped and watched as the steam cleared around him, his shadowy silhouette coming into full view.

She nearly dropped the ice in her hands and had to bite on her tongue to keep her jaw closed. He was standing before her, his rusty auburn locks clinging in wet curls against his face and neck, his green eyes vibrant against contrasting paleness of his skin. She allowed momentarily for her eyes to travel lower. Drops of steaming water raced in the hard crevices of the defined muscles of his torso. She greedily looked lower, seeing the hard "V" of muscle that disappeared into the white towel slung precariously low on his hips.

"Bella, were you just checking me out?" Bella ducked behind her hair, blushing viciously. Had he really seen her ogling him. She crossed the threshold and silently held out her contents to him, keeping her eyes trained on the hollow of his throat, the safest place to look that wouldn't cause her to blush or swoon. Oh, who was she kidding? This man had the greatest neck in the world, hard defined bones and muscles flowing seamlessly into strong, broad shoulders. Stop it, Bella, she growled in her mind, turning around to go.

She'd planned to make a dramatic exit, with sweeping arms and everything, just so that he would be able to see how he didn't affect her, so she could lie to herself about the way he affected her. What she hadn't planned was that her middle finger would get caught in Edward's towel. As she finished her spin, she heard the whoosh of fabric as it fell from his waist, pooling around his feet. She didn't hear him move, didn't hear him stir to cover himself. She hadn't even heard a shocked gasp.

"Wanna look?" He asked after a moment of stillness. She could see his crooked grin in her mind as he said those words, shattering the silence. God, yes did she want to look. She wanted to do more than look. Way more than look, but she set her shoulders, locking her joints so that she wouldn't allow herself to turn around. The way he wasn't embarrassed, the way he was so confident reminded her of everything about this man she hated. The way he treated girls, the way he played with them then cast them aside, the way he used his looks and charm to his advantage. The way he pursued a girl until he got her and then threw her away, starting on his next conquest.

"No," she said stiffly, cringing as she heard her own voice crack at the words. She walked away, probably looking like C3PO from Star Wars by the way she was moving. She reached the staircase and sat down, shutting her eyes and forcing the rugged blond out of her thoughts.

x.o.x.o.x

The morning brought on an awkward silence. The bruise had blossomed out against Edward's skin and covered nearly his entire chin. When Bella had tried to touch it, to even look at it, Edward jerked away, ducking his head behind his arm. He'd been weird all morning, not the confident, cocky man he usually was. She plopped a dish of scrambled eggs down in front of him, and he shoved them back at her, his face set in a defiant expression.

"What, are you gonna make me feed you?" He didn't respond, his gaze set on the stove just to the left of Bella's head. Bella groaned, scooping up a mouthful of cheesy eggs and swirling them toward Edward's face. "Here comes the train," she crooned, as if she were talking to a child.

Bella gasped as Edward smacked her arm away, sending the eggs splattering across the breakfast bar and the spoon clanking against the floor. He crossed his arms over his chest, and Bella noticed the subtle wince as he did this. "You're shoulder's still bugging you," she murmured, reaching for the ice pack she'd prepared for him. She laid it gingerly on his shoulder, but as soon as she released it, he brushed it off. She picked it up and set it down again, pretending as if it merely slid down his arm. He shook it off again, and again, and again. "EDWARD!" she shouted exasperatedly, "I am only trying to help!" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Maybe I don't want your help," he growled, his eyes now set on the spoon where it bounced to a rest against the cabinets.

"What is WRONG with you?" She collected the ice pack and the spoon, sweeping a paper towel over the eggs. "I am only doing what's best for you, so that you can get back to the things you love faster." She ran her hands over her face, catching her bottom lip with her teeth.

"Oh, don't do that. That is so not cool."

"What, Edward? What am I doing?" He pointed to his mouth, catching his own lip with his teeth.

"The lip thing." Bella rolled her eyes, gauging his expression. It was unreadable. She gnawed on her lip again.

"Like this?" she said, lightening the mood with a smile. Edward's face remained somber as he nodded. "Are you gonna stop me?" She leaned over the counter, her face just inches from his as she captured her lip, looking up at him through eyelashes. She'd never really flirted before, at least, never really effectively.

Edward pursed his lips, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling as if he were pondering the thought. A lightness flashed through his eyes as his mouth parted in an Aha! expression. His eyes came back to rest on her lip, it captured firmly by her teeth. Her heart fluttered as he reached out and ran his thumb along her lower lip, coaxing her teeth to release it. "Yes," he whispered, a bit breathlessly before taking her lips with his.


So…review? Suggestions for the plot are totally welcome and actually encouraged. Thanks