A/N - I am so close to passing out right now, but since it's Friday, I couldn't let y'all down! Love for you xoxox

Chapter Eight: Catch

I don't know how she did it.

Somehow, Alice had picked the lock on my room, and was currently bent over me, nudging me in the ass with her plastic spoon.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead, we're going running!" she chirped.

I had half a mind to heave her and her stupid spoon - a combined total of two pounds - right out the window. Instead, I rolled over and groaned, reaching for the green light of my alarm clock. She unplugged it.

"The only time you need to know," she informed me "is that it's time to move."

I got up, but only with the intent of kicking her scrawny butt. I may be one of the world's least confrontational people by daylight, but the sun definitely hadn't risen, and I was not what anyone could remotely term a morning person.

"Alice." I growled as she chucked a shirt and a pair of shorts at me, too dark to distinguish color. "Give me one good reason why I should A) be up at this ungodly hour, B) actually do excersize, and C) not kill you."

" A) because the early bird gets the worm, B) because Edward happens to be running this morning, and C) because, frankly, you can't," she replied breezily. "Now let's go."

Some idiot part of my brain followed her instructions, or, maybe it was just my body leading, because, let's face it, I really liked reason B.

It was absolutely freezing outside, a mercy and a surprise, considering that the summer sun had most of us changing our shirts twice a day. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, wishing it weren't quite so cold, but I warmed up quickly when I saw Edward emerge from the boys' dorm, tugging a t-shirt on over his head, further messing up his bed head.

Alice smirked as he yawned, stretched, and sauntered over to where we stood. She subtly flitted away to compare cross country notes with Jasper, leaving me flustered and barely conscious.

"Good morning," Edward mumbled with a sleepy smile. He was part of that 5% of the male population that was possibly sexier first thing in the morning, drowsy and ruffled. I wanted to hop right back into bed, but not mine.

"Hi," I yawned.

"Excited to run?" he grinned in a way that made me think he knew it wasn't my idea to be here.

I stopped the not really that was perched on the tip of my tongue and sniffed, "Yep." Take that, Mr. Know-It-All.

"Really," his grin widened, almost cat-like now. "Do you run cross country for your school?"

"I prefer running by myself," I told him. "It's more of a personal experience that way." Plus, no one is yelling at you to keep going. And a few times a month is as good a training schedule as you'll ever need.

"Nice," he said. "I know what you mean - it's sort of spiritual, isn't it? Especially first thing in the morning, when no one else is around...just you, your mind, your body, and the ground. Still, for me, you can't beat being a part of the team - you'd love it if you tried it."

I was about to say I'd think about it, but the group took off running, and I remembered why I didn't like running with other people. They were just so much faster, and it was embarrassing.

"You okay?" he asked, when I lagged behind, already feeling the burn in my calves.

"Fine," I puffed. "Just a little tight."

I sped up to keep up with him, not that I minded the view from behind in the least. He was ridiculously fast, but he slowed to keep pace with me. I tried to keep my expression from revealing that his light jog was my full-out sprint.

"So, tell me about yourself," he said, his limbs moving sinuously, arms and legs working in tandem to propel his perfect body across the surface of the earth.

"I...am an...only...child," I wheezed.

Edward glanced over in concern. "Are you sure this isn't too fast? We can slow down if you need to."

"No, no," I protested, though my lungs, my muscles were screaming about what an idiot I was. "You...go...first," I suggested. Listening was much easier for me than talking at the moment.

"Well...that's a really broad question," he admitted after reflection. "Sorry about that. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is piano. I've been playing since I was little, and it was the one thing that I could just turn to, whether I was happy, or upset, and it was always there."

"That's...so," I huffed "coo-!" I tripped over an uneven part of sidewalk then, and it took every ounce of what limited balancing power I had to stay upright.

He caught my elbow as I stumbled, holding me aloft when I should have gone down hard on the concrete.

"Thanks," I gasped sincerely.

"You should walk," he said firmly. "Don't hurt yourself."

I nodded, ashamed, and set off at a sluggish pace, surprised to find him still beside me, jogging in place.

"Don't slow down because of me," I insisted, completely mortified. My inner Alice grimaced and stabbed me with her spoon for sabotaging what was going so well.

"You sure?"

I nodded. He took off again, leaving me in the dust to admire his sculpted butt.

I expected Alice to be disappointed that I hadn't made more of an effort to keep up with Edward, but when I finally trudged back to the quad, she was busy chattering away to Jasper, unconsciously flipping her perky pony the whole time.

Jasper glanced up at my disheveled appearance as I approached, just as Emmett ambled over. The sun, I noted, had come up, and with it came the 'normal,' non-physical activity inclined students. They were all freshly showered, tidy, and heading to breakfast. And I was a mess. Joy.

"Bella, what're you doing?" Emmett whined. "Edward doesn't have his spoon! GET HIS SORRY ASS!"

Edward glanced over, and searched his pockets. "Shit," he muttered.

It was perfectly understandable, of course. Who wants to run with a plastic spoon? If it hadn't been for Alice's foresight, I wouldn't have brought mine. Besides, I really, really didn't want to Blammo him. Not yet.

I was annoyed. He was really falling down on the job with this whole spoon-carrying thing, making it easier for Emmett to chastise me for letting him go.

"Just Blammo me, Bella," Edward sighed. Seeing my ambivalence written across my face, he smiled. "It's okay, really. My one reason for staying in the game didn't work out, so...just do it."

Ouch.

"No."

"Bella, you have to," Jasper said seriously. "If you refuse to Blammo your target, you both get out."

I bit my lip, as Emmett chimed in, "You've got to be on the list of Worst Blammo Stalkers Ever."

"Do it," Edward urged in a low tone. "I don't want you to be out because of me."

I looked at them all, considering them, but remaining adamant in my decision.

"No." I looped my arm through Alice's and headed to breakfast - sweat, bed head, and all.