Chapter 32
Edwards POV
I hadn't planned on actually making my presence known when I'd set out to creep around Bellas house earlier that evening. And yes, I say creep because that had been my intention when I'd first gotten the idea of visiting Bella. We hadn't spoken of our little rendezvous at all during the week that had passed since, but I had noticed Bella observing me with an inquisitive look during lunch hour. There was no way that she wasn't thinking about the night we'd spent together.
As I mentioned earlier on I hadn't come here with the intention of ever letting her know I'd been here in the first place, but something about her discussion with her mother over the phone had provoked me. It wasn't as if I minded hearing Bella mentioning Dans name. Or yes, I did mind, of course. This was a girl I probably was developing feelings for, of course I didn't want her obsessing over another guy. That was quite obvious, I suppose. But it wasn't the fact that she'd mentioned Dan that had made me come climbing up her window. Even I wasn't stupid enough to think that my mere presence could eradicate the memory of Dan Almighty. It was the face she made when she told her mother not to mention his name. It was a face of pain that I'd never before seen on Bella and it broke my heart to watch her from where I was sitting in my tree. Yet again, creep. I know. But I just couldn't let her be all alone with all those feelings of hurt and pain, hell, I could hear her heart racing through the walls of this house. I'm sure most people would consider me a tragic person for wanting to comfort the one I cannot have in her time of mourning the one she couldn't have, but that seemed to be my thing these days so why stop now? I was officially known as the rebound boy these days so why not live up to the name?
As soon as she'd ended her call with her mother I picked up my phone and sent her the text. I don't know why I did that really, it's not like I didn't know she was home and it's not like she would have expected me to expect anything but her being at home at 10 pm on a school night. I just figured me checking if she was home before showing up at her window out of the blue was some kind of cover story at least. I'd been pleased to find that she hadn't looked too horrified when she'd discovered me throwing pebbles at her window. I figured me climbing the tree outside of her window had been a bit over the top, but hell, I was trying to impress the girl I liked.
"So…", Bella interrupted my thoughts hesitantly. "Would you mind filling me in on what this is about?" she continued, looking at me quizzically. Yes, what the hell was I actually doing here? Be brave, Edward, be brave. "What's wrong about one friend dropping by to visit another friend, I wonder?" I said, trying to sound confident yet humorous. "In the middle of the night though?" Bella said, examining me. "I've never known you to be a goody-goody about your bed times before, Swan?" Damnit, Edward, keep your cool. I wished I'd practiced my act to become more convincing before throwing those darn pebbles at her window. "Mhm", she answered my question, making me even more insecure about what my next move should be. Hell, did this girl even want me around? Was I making a fool of myself?
Suddenly she sat down on the edge of her bed, still eyeing me. "I hope you realize our "let's be friends with benefits"-talk last weekend didn't mean that you could come climbing up my window when ever you're in the mood for some action." Her face was one of stone when she spoke, looking at me with those piercing, brown eyes. And I broke down. "I'm sorry, that's not at all what this is. I just wanted to see you. I promise", I heard myself saying, a lot less confident now. Way to go, Edward "wearing my heart on my sleeve" Cullen. But I could see her responding to my honesty, slowly breaking down the walls that she always kept so high around her. "This is not a booty call. I just wanted to get away from home and I thought of you", I continued, now giving away my last piece of information. "Alright then", she said at last. It was in times like these that I could really see the Charlie in her. I'd observed her and Charlie sitting in silence at the dinner table countless times, always amazed by how much time they could spend saying nothing at all and still with no awkwardness what so ever. Unfortunately to me her silence wasn't comforting at all, quite the opposite. "I'll leave if you want to…", I started.
"Oh, stop being such a girl and get over here", Bella sighed and threw herself back on the bed. She crawled under the covers and gestured at me to climb in next to her. I gawked at her incredulously, not knowing what to do with myself. Was this really happening? Was I supposed to just take my clothes of and climb into bed with her? "Would you mind turning of the light before you go to bed?" she added while making herself comfortable in bed. "Mhm", I heard myself answering with a shrill voice and then walking over to turn off the light. Even with the lights turned off I felt myself getting self concious about taking off my clothes in front of Bella. Awkwardly I took off my pants and socks and folded them neatly. I hesitated at taking of my shirt but then decided that that probably was a bit to forward. Quietly, although my thoughts roaring in the back of my head, I went over to Bellas bed and climbed into bed as fast as I could. I made sure I wasn't lying to close to her, although that wasn't an easy task considering the bed was small. I was going to say I was so nervous I could hardly breathe, but that would have been a lie seeing as I never breathe anyways. At least I was calmed a bit by hearing her heart pounding wildly next to me, assuring me of the fact that I was not the only one to be scared senseless in this bed. After we'd been lying in bed for almost 10 minutes without anyone uttering a word she suddenly spoke. "Tell me something I don't know."