A/N : SURPRISE! I kept writing! It was a mess for a while. I needed new inspiration. Also, I moved across the ocean, so life has been super crazy! But it seems like there's something still there. I think I felt for a while that this story - especially after COVID - was not even close in stakes to what the world experienced. And it felt silly, outdated, and almost childish in its original endeavor. That being said, there is still something in me that wants to give these kids a chance. Give this story a chance. So...here we are?Thanks for hanging out. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Five

BPOV

Sometime in the night, the sounds of cackling laughter that haunted my dreams transformed into the constant patter of rain on my windows. I came to slowly, my eyes raw and stinging. I grimaced against the meager light that poured into my room through my windows. Big taped X's still marked them, casting strange shadows along my bed.

I flopped back down. Right. The storm.

The sky was still grey and ominous. Winds blew past my windows at alarming speed, causing my walls and panes to rattle. I could hear the whistling. It sounded like a woman wailing mournfully, as I watched plastic bags and other miscellaneous trash flutter by for some time. There was no sound of car tires speeding through the puddles, which on a rainy day is pretty standard. No sirens. No sounds of laughter of kids, or shouting from angry drivers, or the locals. The lack of noise was unnerving.

My head was pounding from the night before. My mouth felt dry and parched, which didn't help with the fact that my brain already felt so foggy. Abner and Yzma were sitting by the door, waiting impatiently to be let out of the confinement of my room. It was then I noticed a black scuff on my wall that hadn't been there before. It looked like a scuff from a shoe. The kind of scuff one makes when angry with themselves or someone else. The kind that happens when you're frustrated in a conversation and need to let some resentment out so you don't explode on the person. I could picture it almost clearly, the kind of shoe and leg attached that would do such a thing.

Oh!

I bolted up in bed. Edward! Edward is here! My crazy hot weed dealer Edward is staying with us because it's the apocalypse outside. He's upstairs in Jaspers room. The events of last night all came rushing back to me. Shit. I wondered if Emmett was awake. I strained my ears to see if I could hear any kind of noise from the common spaces of the apartment.

Silence. Just the occasional muted beep of the smoke alarm that was perpetually running out of battery in the main hallway of our building.

Wait. That means we have power, right? Or wait, those shits are battery powered.

Regardless, I threw myself across the bed to grab my phone.

Well what do you know? My phone was fully charged!

I checked the clock. It read 7:39AM. Of course. Emmett usually got up really early but I knew he was sleeping in for once. Why would he wake up at the crack of dawn to work out , if he couldn't even get to the gym? Would the lack of exercise make him grumpy?

Ugh. I rolled over in bed.

It was too comfortable, I decided, snuggling back down in my soft cotton sheets. I curled up again, basking in the warmth leftover from my own body heat during the night and drifted back off into the darkness.

When I awoke again in a few hours, I felt a little more refreshed. My morning breath was out of control though. I could tell that pretty much as soon as I woke up. I quickly hopped out of bed, groaning as my head rang with even more pain. I looked at my clock again.

10: 13 AM.

Why do I do this to myself? I should know to NEVER to mix booze and weed. One time in high school was bad enough. C'mon Bella. One night with a guy you have a crush on and you're turning into an idiot.

Shut up. I snarled at my inner demon. Up til this storm, I didn't think this would ever be a possibility. I never really even spoke to the guy.

Riiiiiiiight.

I scowled at my reflection in my scratched and smudged mirror as I made my way to the bathroom. The cats scrambled to run out the door when I opened it, their claws clicking on the wooden floor.

After quickly brushing my teeth and drinking some water from the tap, I headed to our tiny kitchen to throw together some kind of breakfast for us. I tried to be as quiet as possible, wincing when a plate clanged against the counter, or when I jostled the handle of the pan with my hip. Emmett's door was still closed, and I hadn't heard a peep from upstairs.

I stared around the apartment while tossing the eggs in the pan and saw that Edward's phone was still on the coffee table. I breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't fled in the night, or that I hadn't dreamt the whole interaction in some weirdly tense dream as a preface to the creepy dream on the beach.

I quickly pulled out the leftover guacamole and started on making toast while brewing coffee. It wasn't avocado toast exactly, but close enough. I found myself wishing I had planned ahead andI snorted to myself. We did not know that Edward would get stranded here, and I was making the best out of the circumstances we had. Thus far, I'd say we were doing a decent job. We had gotten our dealer sufficiently high and relaxed, offered him shelter and warm clothing. Entertainment and hospitality. What more was there?

The bread sizzled happily in the pan, filling the apartment with the smell of butter. I liked my toast crunchy and hoped Edward did too. Emmett wasn't huge on the crunch, so I added just as much butter to his his and let it sit on the pan for half the time.

The rain continued to pour on our skylight, thunder rumbling in the distance. I tried to ignore it and chatted to my furry babies. They were wandering through my legs, pawing at my ankles for their breakfast too. It was our daily routine, and I was so happy I found them when I did.

While I plated our light breakfast, sprinkling salt and lime on the quasi-stale guacamole, I heard the door open on the other side of the apartment.

"Uhhghghhhh..." Emmett groaned. "I feel like shit." He smacked his lips together, gulping loudly.

"Me too. Here, I made breakfast." I said, holding out a plate for him with a cup of coffee.

He grinned cheekily at me.

"I knew living with my little sister was the best idea!" He immediately took a huge bite of his dish. I smiled, biting into my toast as well and walking over to the couch. Emmett flopped down next to me and gestured at the upstairs room with his chin.

"How was the rest of last night?" He asked in almost a whisper.

I sighed.

"It was okay..." I said, toying with my food. Might as well get straight to the point. "He has a girlfriend." I watched Emmett's eyes rise so high they almost reached his hairline. "Damn, you work fast though. When did that start happening?"

I choked on a piece of toast at his assumption and started shaking my hands at him as well as my head. Emmett stared for a moment before whacking my back repeatedly to help me catch my breath.

"You think I asked him out?" I asked, once things were settled. We both flinched at how loud my voice was and glanced upstairs, holding our breaths.

No noise.

We turned back to each other, and I whispered,

"I didn't ask him out, his girlfriend called before anything really happened."

"Ahh." Emmett nodded, starting on his second piece of toast. He ate so fast, I wondered if he even chewed half the time.

I lowered my voice to an even lower whisper.

"She sounds high maintenance, to be honest. He kind of vented to me after."

I felt a kind of catty saying it, but I knew Emmett wouldn't judge. That was the best thing about him. He was always straightforward and honest, even if it made him look bad to others. That never bothered him. He always spoke his truth, so I knew he wouldn't write me off entirely as petty and jealous. Even if I was deep down and we both knew it.

He matched my whisper level, which I appreciated. I watched his eyes dart up to Jasper's door.

"How did you find out? Did you see a photo or something?" He asked, scarfing the rest of his crust down. Crumbs fell down to his lap from his shirt that he brushed away with the back of his hand. I glanced back to check the room as well. So far so good.

"She called him and they got into a pretty big fight. Or at least, that's what it sounded like. You didn't hear any of it? He was shouting at one point." He frowned, shaking his head.

"Nahh, you know I sleep like the dead. Once I'm out, I'm out." He sighed and set his empty plate down on the coffee table. "That sucks little sis, but I say hang in there. Even if you guys end up being good friends, isn't that a plus? He sure as hell sounds like he needs a friend right now."

I crinkled my nose at him, and then winced when my head rang out in pain. I shrugged, annoyed.

Sure. Friends. Would I be happy just being "friends"?

"Ughhhh...remind me not to mix beer and weed again." I groaned, getting up to grab an aspirin from the bathroom.

"I did."Emmett reminded me. "In high school." He threw me thumbs up when I flipped him off. I popped the aspirin into my mouth and chugged the rest of my now lukewarm coffee, watching as Emmett kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

He used his toe to push Edwards phone out of the way. Lazy.

"Now let's see how the world's doing." He turned the TV on.

It wasn't pretty. The National Guard had been deployed in the city. Buildings were submerged under water. There was footage of people on rooftops (it looked like Staten Island), waving for help. It was like a war zone. I felt a nervous tension rising in me as we watch more footage of the subway systems completely flooded, power outages all around the city, and hospitals evacuating hundreds of patients. I wondered if Charlie was seeing this on the news back home too. Maybe he trusted us enough to call if shit hit the fan. Or maybe he was already trying to make his way here. I groaned inwardly. It would be typical of him to just head straight to Sea-Tac without calling. That would end well. I thought sarcastically. Charlie showing up to our place to find my drug dealer staying with us. Oh yeah, hi dad, this is Edward. No he's just a friend. What smell? That's just basil. We're making caprese salad!

I snorted.

Not that Charlie would be able to get in New York anyway, but I wouldn't put it past him to somehow do it. Even if it means he has to kayak here or something.

"We should let my Dad know we're still alive." I said, staring at the news footage and panicking.

"On it." Emmett answered, his phone already in his hand. He stood up to go into his room and softly closed the door.

I wondered selfishly when the subways would be up and running again. I also wondered how Alice was doing, making a mental note to check in on her at some point in the day. Her current boy-toy fuck buddy lived in LES. I didn't care for his whereabouts but I knew she was with him (last I checked), and I was worried. He didn't seem like the responsible type in the slightest. I don't think he even had a fire extinguisher in his enormous loft apartment. He barely had groceries whenever we went over. His fridge was usually stocked with leftover take out and half empty bottles of whatever alcohol he was sticking to that week.

Although this was temporary (I mean, it had to be, right?), it was still terrifying. Everything was on hold for the time being. I tried to be grateful for the fact that we were in a safer zone with a roof over our heads and electricity. It seemed like a lot of the city was without power and water.

The door to Jasper's room opened and a sleepy Edward emerged, slowly making his way down the stairs. His eyes were swollen and bleary, and his hair was completely in disarray. He was in his T-shirt and jeans, to my disappointment. Yes, I wanted to know if he was a boxers or a briefs man, sue me. Can't a girl dream? Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I envisioned myself and him sharing a morning cuddle where I fixed his hair with my hands.

I was obsessed with that stupid hair.

"Morning." He muttered, shuffling into the bathroom.

"There's toast for you on the..." The door closed. " Counter." I finished lamely.

I cringed. God I was so fucking awkward. This was so hard. Why did this feel so impossible? He wasn't a god, or some super hero or even a celebrity. He was just a guy.

Just Edward.

Ugh.

I turned back to face the television, slumping back into the couch. I could hear Emmett's laugh through the door and softened a bit. If he was laughing, that means either Charlie made a joke or that he was talking to his mom.

After Edward was finished cleaning up, he emerged looking a little more awake. His hair was slightly tamer, as if he had attempted to flatten it by wetting his hands and smoothing it down. His eyes landed on the plate on the counter and his expression immediately lit up.

"You guys made breakfast?" He asked, picking up his plate and walking over to sit by us. He stared down hungrily at the toast. I tried my best to plate it nicely. Wiping excess crumbs off and placing the pieces in a manner that looked (at least to me) happy. I was tempted to make a smiley face but that felt a little juvenile.

"Bella did!" Emmett volunteered, emerging from his room. I shot him a look and he shrugged at me.

I quirked my brow at him and nodded towards his phone.

He waved me off with a roll of his eyes. Okay, so Charlie had completely calmed his ass down. That's good.

"Yeah, I mean the avocados were already overly ripe, I figured we'd better eat it." I supplied, watching Edward take his first bite.

Wow.

Woooooow.

If I could watch Edward eat for the rest of my life I would be happy.

He groaned as he chewed, his eyes rolling back in his head. "This is fucking delicious." He said, with his mouth full. It sounded more like "Desesfuuffingefffifishus".

But I got what he meant and beamed. He took a big swallow and smiled crookedly at me, crumbs falling into his beard. I smiled even wider. You're so screwed, Swan.

"I had to use that leftover guacamole that you were gonna take with you. Hope that's okay."

"Okay? It's more than okay. I don't know what I was thinking. Doesn't guacamole go bad really fast? It's probably smart that you used it. So, good call."

I was smiling so big I felt like my cheeks would burst. They felt warm, and I knew I was blushing. I could see Emmett shaking his head at me from over Edwards shoulder while he grabbed a glass of water.

Pull it together, Swan.

After we settled on the couch to watch the news for a while, we decided that we weren't going to be able to leave the house at all for at least another day. Clearly it was still storming, and it would be stupid to even try. Emmett disappeared into his room to catch up on his reading, muttering about how he doesn't have time in his regular life to keep up with The Starks versus The Lannisters. He only emerged to grab snacks and refill his Nalgene. It was a sight to see — my big hulking step-brother with his nose in a fantasy novel, so engrossed he had to fumble with one hand to navigate the sink. Edward and I watched him do this multiple times with amusement.

I wondered if I should bring up the events from the night before. It seemed like Edward was in better spirits today, but I wanted to make sure.

I just didn't know how to start.

Do you blurt it out? How do I do this without sounding like I'm prying?

I spent the rest of the morning sketching by the windows on my bed. I wanted to spend more time with Edward but even I couldn't come up with an excuse to linger in the living room. And to top it off, it felt like we were dancing around a very large elephant in the room. Everything was all friendly and soft smiles, but we both knew that last night had been strange and intense.

At some point, we lost power again. But we turned off all the candles and flashlights, trying to conserve batteries.

Emmett came out of his room in the afternoon to make us lunch. We scrambled together some leftover pasta (the last dregs), and chewed on snacks. We also decided that we would slow down on our intake. It seemed like we were blowing through our groceries a little quicker than we thought. But then again we had bought enough food for two. We had to be smart and ration. At this rate, no one knew when the storm would be fully over.

At some point Edward started to unpack his backpack, and I don't know why I was surprised, but I was. It wasn't just full of cannabis wrapped in plastic or in Tupperware. He stacked those bins neatly on top of his already existing pile by the coffee table. He also pulled out a laptop and a hard drive.

He noticed the expression on my face and gave me a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I have layers. If it's okay I'm gonna get some writing done."

He writes? I bet he's a great writer. Probably something poetic. I thought, feeling my cheeks warm. Maybe he's writing something for his girlfriend.

Christ Bella, get a grip. Watch he's probably just writing Star Trek fanfiction or something lame. Or oh god, what if he's just a blogger? Maybe he blogs about weed. That would actually be kind of interesting. I bet there's so many different strains…

I smacked myself in the face mentally.

"Make yourself comfortable." I said, turning back to my room. I decided earlier in the day that I was going to finish some assignments that were due soon. I had a feeling that they would be pushed back, but I wanted to get them done anyway. Free time was a rarity in this city.

"Actually..." He said, piling up his items in his arms. "Would it be okay if I hung out with you in your room? It's hard to work when there aren't windows...It's pretty dark in here and... I don't know, feels..." He shifted foot from foot.

I pointed at the skylight.

"I mean there's technically a window."

He rolled his eyes at my snark.

"I meant a real window, you know, that's eye level? Jasper's windows only go up to my shins."

I shook my head. "I don't know how he functions."

"Utter lunatic." Edward agreed.

I waved him into my room, excusing the mess. I had tidied up a bit in the morning but couldn't be truly bothered to put everything away.

Abner and Yzma gazed at him lazily as he made himself comfortable on my floor. They had made their usual nest at the foot of my bed, snuggling together with eyes squinting in suspicion. Edward rested his back against my bed and quietly got to work with his long legs out and crossed.

He was the vision of relaxation.

I sighed. It was always easier to paint when I had music on.

"What's up?" He asked from behind. I rolled my eyes with a small smile, feeling a bit silly before turning back to face him in my chair.

"It's hard to paint without music on."

"Oh." He seemed surprised at my response. "What's the last thing you were listening to?"

I laughed, feeling even more embarrassed but at this point not really caring if he would judge me for the love I had for the 90's.

"Sugar Ray." I said, gauging his reaction.

"Sugar Ray." He repeated, blinking at me before his grin matched mine.

"Yup."

We grinned at each other like two idiots.

"Okay, so why can't you listen to music?"

"Oh. It'll drain my battery if we lose power."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Play your music Bella. If we lose power, we lose power." He cocked a brow at me, daring me to argue with him but clearly already not planning on hearing any of it. He knew he was right. And I liked that he wanted me to be comfortable. To be able to focus.

He wanted me to listen to my music and not worry about judgment. That felt like a small but huge thing to me. He chuckled as I pressed play with a flourish of my wrist.

I turned back to my palette and grabbed my gouache set, excited and ready to tackle this piece til it was finished. Once I began to immerse myself in mixing colors and the texture of the paint, I was able to only think of the piece itself. The clicking from Edwards typing added a calming effect to the room too. Occasionally he would hum along to one of the songs ("Inside out" by Eve 6) or chuckle when a particularly egregious selection came on ("Mambo No. 5") but he never asked me to turn it or change the playlist.

To say I was giddy would be an understatement. But I tried my best to focus at the task at hand. At the end of the day, girlfriend or not, I wanted to know Edward as a friend. That was true.

Friends could hang out and work together. Finn and I did it all the time.

So with Edward, it was something that I would have to get used to.

That was, if he wanted to do this again after the stormpassed.

I sighed.

After some time of mutual work - it could've been minutes or hours, I hadn't checked the clock, Edward got up to lean over my desk.

"What's up?" I asked, feigning nonchalance. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. He was standing so close to me, the sleeves of his flannel rolled up to his elbows. I noticed a tattoo peeking out on his bicep and wondered what it could be. I tucked back into my chair, letting him reach over me towards the trackpad on my iBook.

"Jesus, how old is your computer?"

"Hey, don't hate the Mac. In fact, his theme song is about to turn on."

"Theme song?" Edward looked down to meet my mocking glare.

"Return of the Mack." I stated my eyes widening. Obviously? Hello?

"Wow." His eyes went wide, another crooked grin grazing his lips. "Wow."

The song started playing on my computer, the sound tinny and mostly static.

"Oh come on, you gotta at least plug this into speakers if you're gonna let your computer have a theme song that's a total banger."

I laughed. "I'll add that to my list of other essentials to get on top of everything else I have to do to make this place come together."

He leaned back a bit, his right hand coming to rest on the back of my chair as he gazed around my room.

"What's wrong with what you have already?" It sounded like a genuine question, which caught me off guard.

I gazed around my room with him. It was a collection for sure. Every piece of furniture had either been handed down or scooped off the curbs of Brooklyn. The nicest thing in my room were my bedsheets, which I saved up for because I wanted something that felt good against my skin and not starchy cotton. The sheets were really vibrant though, patterned mismatched fabrics all stitched together diagonally like a quilt.

They were the most expensive thing I owned and I loved them. I saved up for three months for them!

I shrugged. "There's nothing wrong…" I responded finally.

"It's lived in." He stated, "not some shit out of a magazine, curated and empty."

He smiled again, his eyes so very sad. I tried not to pry, even though he was dropping hints left and right. Did he want me to? I wrung my fingers together, trying to figure out what would be crossing the line.

Luckily he changed the subject first.

"Whoa, this is really cool. What is it?" He asked, his finger reaching out to poke the wet paint. I smacked his hand away playfully.

"It's an assignment for one of my classes on color theory. We had to scan our finger prints, enlarge the scans into complete abstraction and then make a composition with the organic patterns from our skin."

"Cool, cool..." He murmured, staring down at the large pad sitting on my desk. I was starting to feel self conscious. He seemed to be really lost in the colors, his eyes scanning the entire piece.

I watched him, my breath catching as I realized he was so focused on the painting that I could look at all the tiny details of his face for a moment. It was rare that I got to be this close to him, so I took my chance.

My eyes traveled from his chiseled cheek bones, to the small scar on his upper lip, down to his angular chin. They roamed down to his Adams apple, lingered as he swallowed and then ran the length of his neck, back up his hairline to his bronze locks.

I tried not to feel envious of his hand as he reached up to brush his hair back.

He began to stand, breaking our little private moment of ogling something beautiful.

He yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand while his other hand reached for my ceiling.

"This is really beautiful." He gestured to my desk. "But I bet you could use a break."

I shrugged.

"I could use a break." He hinted again, his green eyes rising to meet mine. When they did, he gave me the most pitiful pout, his lower lip popping out in the most exaggerated fashion.

"Oh come on, that's hardly fair!" I protested. "You can't use those on me!"

He held up his other hand, which was suddenly gripping a small hard drive.

"Come on, Bella. I have the best movies! You know you want to! " He squeaked in a silly cartoon voice.

I burst out laughing.

So that's where we ended up. Side by side, sitting on my bed with our backs to the wall, watching movies on his laptop, surrounded by snacks and my cats as the storm raged on outside.