New chapter up quickly as promised!

Edward had been lounging on his sofa reading one of Dan Brown's latest novels when he heard a piercing scream. He sat up immediately and glanced around him with a frown. Had he just been imagining things? But no! There it was again!

He launched himself abruptly to his feet, running towards the balcony where he was certain the sounds had been coming from. He had barely stepped outside when the sight of what he saw made the blood drain from his face.

"Bella?" Edward yelled. There was no mistaking the slender figure clinging to the other side of the air conditioning unit quite literally for dear life. What the hell was she doing…? His gaze caught the tip of a furry tail, just barely out of view from where he stood and his eyes narrowed. That damned cat! "Bella, hold on! I'm coming!" he shouted, not knowing if she could hear him over the roar of the air conditioning and the loud traffic down below. But he didn't stick around to find out. He needed to get to her as fast as he could.

He flung his door open and ran down the hall to where the girls' apartment was. He banged on the door when he realised that there was probably no body home but Bella. Left with no choice, Edward turned around and placed a well-aimed kick backwards about six inches to the side of the handle and lock. It took two tries before the jamb split open and Edward was able to push his way into the house. He headed straight for the open balcony doors and peered over the edge.

"Bella! Hold on, sweetheart! Take my hand!" Edward leant over, stretching his long arm out for her to take. "It's okay, take my hand and I'll pull you up!" he coaxed her.

Someone was calling her name but she couldn't see them. She recognised their voice though, it was Edward. He was behind her, on her own balcony. How had he gotten there? But she was too afraid of her current situation to think any further of it.

Edward was telling her to take his hand. What? Where…? She peered to her right and could see his outstretched hand waiting there, ready to pull her up.

"I-I can't… I can't reach." Bella knew that if she let go of one hand from the unit that she would fall to the ground, her hands were getting slippery, she couldn't get a better grip on the unit… She was going to fall.

"I'm going to fall… I'm going to die… Oh God. Oh God." She couldn't breathe.

"Don't look down!" Edward ordered desperately as he leaned forward, straining to reach Bella. But he couldn't lean much further without threatening his own grasp. And he had to keep that because otherwise he would never be able to pull her up and over the edge. "Bella, take my hand! Trust me. I won't let you fall… just take my hand, Bella!" he promised.

Trust me. He was saying. Bella squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers were slipping, she was going to plunge to the ground anyway.

She took a deep breath and just as her fingers were about to slip from the unit she reached out to grab Edward's hand. He wrapped his fingers tightly around her wrist and she almost breathed a sigh of relief. He had her but she was still falling. Her head and shoulder bashed against the side of the wall and she saw stars briefly. But then, Edward was pulling her up. She didn't know how but he was.

Grab onto the railing. He was telling her. "What?" She blinked, trying to see straight and then realisation came back to her and she reached out with her other hand to grab a hold of the metal railing, with their combined strength, it helped Edward to bring her up and over the railing again where she collapsed against him in a heap.

"Are you okay?" Edward's voice was worried as his grey eyes frantically ran over her. His hands rubbed her arms, trying to warm her up and get some of the blood flowing back through her. Jesus, she was trembling like a leaf!

He didn't know whether to kiss her from sheer relief or scold her for her crazy action that almost got her killed. So he did alternated between the two. "You crazy girl! What were you thinking climbing onto the ledge like that?" he scolded her.

Bella's head spun, but it soon cleared up as she realized she was once again on solid ground and that Edward was clutching her. She glanced up as he reminded her of why she'd gone out on the ledge in the first place… "George…" she murmured, but she couldn't see him anymore. Where had he gone?

"Is your head okay? Did you hurt it? Let me see it."

She felt her head and could feel a small bump forming under her scalp, but she was okay… It was just a bump. Edward's fingers moved her hair to check for blood or anything… Bella didn't know what he was looking for but she felt safe in his arms and on solid ground. She tried to level her breathing while he held her. Her eyes closed and a sob burst from her chest.

She'd nearly died! And she'd come so close to accepting it. What a coward she was. If Edward had come any later, or if he hadn't been home at all she would have accepted her fate, would have let her fingers slip from the unit and fall to the ground. The concrete at the bottom of their building would have snuffed the life from her.

Another sob wracked at her.

"Crazy girl." Edward murmured, thoughtlessly pressing his lips to the back of Bella's head as he held her in his arms.

He turned reluctantly away in search for that damned cat. Edward wasn't crazy about Bella's cat.

It was all well and good that those blasted animals had nine lives and all, but when would George ever realize that Bella only had one and sure as hell couldn't be risking it for his! But after a careful survey of the ledge, Edward realized that George must have hopped back over and disappeared inside the house.

Or else fallen to his death… not that that would be completely horrible. But it would probably send Bella into a fresh fit of tears.

"It's okay. I see him." He said finally. And true enough, George's head was poking out the side of the balcony door, his black tail flicking high in the air and his head innocently cocked to the side.

Fucking cat.

"Can you stand up?" Edward asked gently as he helped her to her feet. "Come on. You should come inside. Let's lock this door."

He guided Bella to a seat on the couch where George immediately claimed ownership of her lap, seeking an apology for luring her out like that. Bella's fingers stroked at his ears with forgiveness.

A moment or two later, and Edward was handing her a cup of water to drink from.

Edward scowled down fiercely at George. Little spawn of Satan. "Shoo!" he said sternly as he gave the glass of water to Bella.

But the cat only blinked slowly up at him with those unnerving steel blue eyes of his. He had once heard Alice happily remarking on how much she loved George because his eyes reminded her of Jasper, but Edward wasn't quite sure how that was possible. He knew his best friend and he bore no resemblance whatsoever to the mini devil in disguise perched on Bella's lap.

He sank into a seat beside her and wordlessly pressed a small bag of ice into her hand for her head.

"Thanks for the water," she murmured as she took a sip. Edward then preceded to tell her about the door he'd kicked down and Bella turned her head to look wide eyed at the bit of kicked in piece of wood that was now lying in the entrance way.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and sat up straight.

"Shit," Bella swore as she looked up at the time. "I need to get ready for work." She moaned.

Work!? And how exactly is Edward going to take that?