Disclaimer – Original characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, plot lines and characterisations all belong to Aurora18, copyright November 2015.

Chapter 5

BPOV

"Did you kidnap me?"

I don't bother to turn my head towards him to answer his question; I simply put down my beautifully crisp glass of Sancerre and take a moment to pause.

"Ok, ok, so you obviously haven't kidnapped me otherwise I'd probably be tied up in a basement somewhere but I went to sleep outside and now I'm inside."

"Well observed." I pretend to be engrossed in the latest edit I've been sent but I am extremely curious to see how this young man will react to being in the situation we now find ourselves in.

"So what I mean is how or why did I end up here?"

"You're awfully chatty for someone who has been practically unconscious for two days."

"And you nev-, wait, what?!"

"You probably don't remember, you weren't really conscious throughout much of it, but you were really quite sick."

"So you didn't think to take me to a hospital and dump me there?" I turned around now and stared him dead in the eye, irritated by his questioning.

"Can't you just be grateful?"

"I-I am, I just, I don't know why you brought me here."

"Does it really matter? You're warm, aren't you?"

"Yes, but what I mean-"

"Are you hungry at all? Is your stomach still aching from lack of food such that you're weak from malnutrition?"

"No, I mean, I'm not hungry."

"Then isn't that enough?" I had to look away then, I couldn't handle him coming closer to the conclusion that I needed to care for him on more than just a clinical level, more than any normal care to be shared between two civilised human beings.

"I know who you are."

"Good, it would probably be awkward if you thought I was a complete stranger."

"You're the one who used to leave me all of those things. Don't think I didn't notice. The food, the sweaters, the gloves and sweatpants."

"Do you have a question to ask me, or are you just listing comfort items?"

"No, but yes. Of course I have questions, I can't even think of the first thing I want to ask you because there are so many. What am I doing here?"

"At the moment you're taking my attention away from the final edit of the January issue of The Magazine."

"How can you be so calm? I'm a stranger in your apartment."

"Yes, thank you. I did notice."

"So that's all you have you say, that you noticed."

"You seem to be acting as if I am keeping you here, I'm not. You are free to leave at any time."

I close the screen of my laptop, take my glass out to the kitchen and feel the slight ache in my legs from my run this morning.

Working from home for the past couple of days has certainly had its draw backs, people feel more at liberty to send me less than perfect work over email because they know that I won't be there immediately to call them out about it. They think it goes unnoticed, it doesn't of course. Nothing does at The Magazine.

One of the unexpected advantages however has been cooking my own meals from scratch, a pleasure I had shoved to the back of my memory. It was a pointless thing to long for given how little time I usually spent at home. These days I've spent looking after this man, feeding him and nursing him back to health have reminded me of some of the things I have been missing out on, cooking being at the top of the list thus far.

I'm browning a half shoulder of lamb when I hear him clearing his throat in the doorway. I close my eyes in resignation, mentally preparing myself for the next line of questioning.

He looks like he wants to say something but has no idea how, the look of confusion is certainly endearing. I smile to myself out of his line of sight as I listen to the meat sizzle and release its beautiful aromas.

"I don't know what's happening, or what's happened, what this is, who you are, what you're doing or why you're doing it but you should know that you don't have to be afraid of me."

"I'm not."

"What I mean is that I won't hurt you or anything, I'm not violent."

"Don't make promises you can't keep young man."

The silence was heavy after that, I'd revealed more than I'd intended and he was probably left with more questions than he'd started with. Perfect.

As soon as I'd placed the lamb in the oven and started to work on filling up the dishwasher he began to speak again.

"So I don't know if you know, but I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

"Ok."

"I saw you one time with another woman, tall, blond, a little bit v-"

"Vicious, vacant, vain?"

"I was going to see vapid."

"Well that works just as well as any other word."

"That's funny, you don't seem like the kind of person to make jokes."

"I'm not."

"Ok, so anyway, I saw you with her this one time and she called you Isabella. I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say that that's your name."

"Yes."

"Ok, I'm glad I remembered that right, would have been crazy awkward to just come out with that and you'd be all like 'whoa dude, who is that'."

"Indeed."

"So Bella, I figured that since we've spent a lot of time together under less than normal circumstances. I should properly introduce myself."

"If that's what you want then please, proceed."

"Hey gorgeous, it's nice to meet you. My name's Edward." He held his hand out for me to shake, stood at his full height and brought himself closer to me. I was stuck rooted to the spot, unable to move. This scenario being so unfamiliar to me, it had been so long since I'd made a male acquaintance that was not work related.

I stepped forward placing my hand in his and gave him the mandatory response. It was then that those years of pain, longing and loneliness seemed to hit me full force square in the chest. The feeling of his strong, slim hand wrapped around mine made me want to close my eyes, capture the feeling of intimacy and never let it go.

Six years, it had been six long years since I'd been that close to someone.

I think that this is the most dialogue we've had so far! Did you like it? I want to do a few chapters like this where we get to know them in their interactions together a little more.

Tell me what you thought, I always want to know.

Happy Sunday!

-Aurora