Draw Me In

–|*|–

Seven – The Seeker

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*~ And so I thought I'd let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow ~*

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I don't glance up.

But I can feel his gaze on me.

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As soon as I step into the room, I feel surrounded on all sides by heat. He's behind me, burning my back, and the room itself is so kept and close that it feels like he is, too.

Swallowing around a tennis sized lump in my throat, my feet tumble in their haste to get to one of the sofas, where Alice is sitting.

"Hey," she says when I plonk down beside her. She pokes me in the side. "You disappeared."

I squirm away from her intrusive hand, glancing up briefly and giving her a weak smile. "Not for long."

"Alright?" I hear Emmett greet, but don't see the man-hug he might or might not give, our new guest because I'm too busy looking at my hands. "Pizza?"

The singer (I seem to have a problem referring to him as his given name – even in my head – I think I'll probably mull it over later) lets out a chuckle, sounding so melodic and musical in a way I imagine only someone with a really pretty voice can sound. "All the meats, extra cheese."

"Ace!" Emmett yelps, yes, yelps, then abruptly clears his throat, making a purposeful effort to deepen his tone. "Sound, man."

"No problem," Mr. Masen replies. I think he's smiling. Not that I would actually know considering my hands really are the most fascinating thing in the world right now. "I bought extra, considering we have guests."

Alice nudges me, not really all that discreetly, and my cheeks flush.

Bloody Nora! Why am I going red over that? Why?

"Well then, let me introduce you to the gang," Emmett says jovially. I am not feeling so jovial. "This is Rosalie, just Rosalie, mind you." There's a pause, a brief hello (which is kind of redundant really, considering they just met in the corridor), and just enough time for Rose to do something sarcy before he moves on. "That little bit over there is Tinker." Alice's voice twinkles with her smiling hi, but I can't really concentrate on that or hear his response because I am obviously coming next in this horrible turn of events.

Why Emmett? I think. Why.

"And that one's Bambi," Emmett finishes proudly.

For a minute, I really regret the existence of manners and having them instilled in me.

Because now I have to look up.

Here it comes, I think dreadfully, my heart pounding and my palms sweating. Eye contact.

I lift my head slowly, but I treat my gaze like a plaster; as soon as it's there, I rip it away. "Hi," I mumble, looking just to the right of him. He's closer than I thought, having moved from the door to stand behind the sofa, and I have to hide the spasmodic jerk that accompanies my fleeting eyes.

"Hello," he replies softly.

Emmett takes over after that, dishing out boxes of domino's that do actually smell really bloody good. I take what's offered to me gratefully, so relieved just to have a reason to look down again.

–|*|–

I had never before in my entire life found it difficult to eat pizza, but tonight proves to be the exception, which shouldn't really be surprising if you think about how bizarre this evening has been in general. And not something I want to repeat, much like uneaten pizza.

He rounds the sofa just as I'm about to take a second bite out of my first slice, and I immediately freeze.

It's not like he sits there staring at me like a creeper the entire time I'm trying to eat. It's just that his presence alone is enough to unnerve me. Because even though he's chatting to Jasper, he's sitting opposite me, and even though his gaze remains fixedly on who he's talking to, sometimes I can feel it stray to me.

Why am I here? I think, over and over until my head grows sore.

Then I think: I want the Monopoly box back.

–|*|–

After forcing a couple of slices down, I find that I just really don't have the energy to eat anymore, so I duck down and deposit the box of my feet, and then curl up on the couch.

A gentle nudge to my side. "Are you okay?" Alice asks quietly.

I smile at her, but it's thin and tired. "I'm fine."

She looks at me, drawing her lip into her mouth. "You wanna go?"

I squint at her. "You wanna stay."

She smiles ruefully at me, peering down at her mobile and tapping the screen so it lights up. "It's late. We can go now, if you want to."

I repeat through a yawn – "But you wanna stay." And then I peer over at Rosalie who's talking to Emmett, both of them looking too animated and cheery for this time of night – er, morning. "And I think Rose or "just Rosalie" wants to, as well."

"But you're tired."

I let my head drop onto her shoulder, glad the exhaustion is outweighing my nerves, for once. "I'll call a taxi." My eyes fall closed as I mumble it.

And then, well, I guess I fall asleep.

–|*|–

Soft voices.

"She's spark out."

Hushed goodbyes.

"We should be heading off now, anyway."

Close.

"Here."

Too close.

"Let me take her."

In my sleepy state, I vaguely register being lifted from the very comfortable couch. In the next moment I'm kept by something warm and solid . . . yet sort of gentle at the same time. I squirm a bit, trying to get comfy.

"Shh . . . I've got you."

My nose touches something hot and my body eases, like all the creases are being ironed out.

I think it might be a good thing someone has me.

–|*|–

The next thing I know, Rose is jerking me awake.

"Bella," she says softly. "We're home."

I blink at her in the dark, my mind hazy and my body all jumbled up. "I was asleep?" I ask, voice hoarse.

"Just for a bit." She nods. "Edward carried you to the car."

That wakes me up.

"What?" I croak. "Why didn't you just wake me up?"

Shrugging, she says, "You were knackered." And then hops out of the car like everything's just fine and dandy.

I sit there for a minute in shock.

Then follow Rose in a daze up the stairs to our apartment.

–|*|–

As soon as we're inside, I immediately head for my room and collapse onto my bed, not even bothering to remove my shoes. My mind and body feel mutually spent, and there's nothing I want more than to spend a few hours in blissful ignorance of everything.

But there's something sharp and small and pointy in my pocket. And before you can say anything, no – it's not Alice.

Digging my hand under my stomach, I pull the offensive item out of my hoodie pocket and squint at it in the streetlights shining through the window.

I blink a lot of times trying to read it, and then blink some more after I've read it.

There's a number – eleven of them, actually – but it's the words underneath them that has that strange heat crawling up the back of my neck again.

It says –

I see you.

–|*|–

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A/N: Ooohhh...

ace = very good, awesome

sound = good, excellent

sarcy= sarcastic

bloody nora = bloody hell, an expression of surprise

spark out = asleep, completely unconscious

knackered = extremely tired

Thank you for reading, and to those who leave kind, constructive reviews. Unfortunately, I received a rather unpleasant review last chapter, and of course they left themselves as an anon so I couldn't reply. I wasn't upset by it, because it is frankly the most ridiculous thing I have ever read, but I thought I should have my say nonetheless:

- Edward will not be "sticking his dick" in everyone as you so elegantly put it. I'm not sure where you got that idea from.

- He is not an "untouchable god", nor have I ever claimed he is one.

- I am not a "whore", which you'd realise if you were smart enough to understand you don't actually know me.

- Lastly, I want you to know that your review wasn't totally wasted. It actually made me laugh, to be honest.

- Oh, and it's "whore" not "who're". If you're going to flame me, at least learn how to spell properly first.

But THANK YOU to everyone else. :) And a special shout out to the FicSisters who rec'd this story on their blog recently! Cheers guys!

See you soon!