THE THIRTEENTH TIME

When I get out of the shower, my teeth are chattering. I don't think it's wise to walk out in a towel, so I poke my head out to ask for some assistance.

Edward is a statue in repose on my bed.

"Can you grab my flannel pjs?"

I blink twice and he's in front of me, holding them out. A muscle in his jaw ticks as he realizes I'm in a towel, my long hair like seaweed dripping onto the floor at our feet: a siren.

He just stares at me, jaw clenched.

I clear my throat awkwardly and slam the door in his face. A little too hard. It rattles.

"Rude," he calls through the door. "I wasn't going to do anything."

I chuckle and hastily throw the pjs on, rush through brushing my hair.

When I emerge, he's pacing. I stand awkwardly by my bed. "Erm." Pick at my cuticles. "I'm going to…" Gesture with my chin to the bed. "Do you wanna stay?"

He stops pacing. "I do." A pause. "But I don't think it's wise for me to get into bed with you right now."

I nod. "Sure, sure. Hey, what was Alice calling about?"

He looks at me and raises an eyebrow suggestively.

"I mean, obviously." I roll my eyes. "I mean, what did she see exactly? You…" I touch my lower lip where he nipped me. "…seemed okay."

He sighs. "Seems we would've lost a lot of time and I potentially could have changed you."

"Oh." I blink. The room spins as if on an axis.

"I should go hunt and you need to get some sleep."

I nod and start getting into bed. "Like you would've changed me in the throws of passion?" I ask with more than a hint of sarcasm.

He snorts. "It's natural for mates to be marked by each other the first time. Instinctual."

I turn to look at him seriously as I pull the covers up over my goosepimpled skin, still chilled from my shower. "Huh."

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"Would I be overstepping if I told you I love you?"

I try really fucking hard to stay cool and calm and composed, but a beaming smile threatens to break through. "I suppose that would be acceptable at this juncture."

He fights a smile and responds in a professional tone, "I do appreciate your attention to this matter." He leans toward me, his cool breath fanning across my face as he pecks my lips once, twice. "I love you," he confesses, his voice velvet and husky. He leans closer still, pulls my lower lip into his mouth. My hands move to his shoulders and around to his back and suddenly, I'm pulling him on top of me. Obviously, he's much stronger but he's moving like I actually have power over him, and I realize suddenly that I probably do. Have a lot of power over him.

He lays fully on top of me, using his forearms to prop himself up, and kisses me breathless, until my chattering teeth clank together and ruin the moment. He pulls back.

I pout.

"Sorry, love."

"Electric b-blankets are a t-thing," I manage to say.

He smiles crookedly at me. "I'll stop by Target today." Tucks me in. I laugh, picturing Edward shopping at Target for an electric blanket. Comparing models.

"Are you coming back after?" I ask as he slowly walks toward the door. My tongue feels thick.

"I don't want to be presumptuous."

"I'm giving you permission this one time to be presumptuous." I put one finger up to further illustrate my point.

"Just one time?"

"For now."

"Then, I'll be here when you wake." He smiles. "Do I have permission to be presumptuous and get into bed with you?"

Something curls low in my abdomen. I nod.

His answering smile lights up the dark room. The door clicks shut behind him and I tumble into sleep.

But the trouble is, I can barely sleep. I'm tossing and turning; I feel almost like hyped up on too much caffeine, but I haven't had any in twenty four hours.

The sun is peeking through my closed blinds, and I've probably gotten less than forty five minutes of sleep, but I get up anyway. I grab a protein bar and drink a glass of water.

A run to clear my head sounds good. I text Edward to tell him the change in plans. He'll be busy hunting for a while, so I won't get a response for at least an hour or two.

Campus is deserted since it's still technically spring break, so I walk the few blocks to the track as my warm up and que up Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury. As I stretch, I set up my running app and plan to start off slow. My muscles are tingling as I start off and seem to be more than ready to go, so I move a little faster.

The run feels easier than normal and I get lost in Bradbury's suspenseful diction. When my app alerts me to my completed two and a half miles, I slow down to a stroll. The sun is hot on my back even though the air is chilled; it spreads through my veins and soon my whole body feels mellow and warm.

I check the time and stop in the middle of the track. I've shaved two minutes off my mile time. I'm still not exactly fast, but two minutes is… shocking.

I feel sort of like a cartoon character as I stand there, scratching my head. I haven't even run in a few days. Could it be the rest days? That seems highly unlikely. The protein bar I had for breakfast? Also unlikely.

I amble back to the street and to my apartment, completely perplexed. I open the door to my building and Chelsea pokes her head out, a messy bun on top of her head.

"I've been waiting for you all morning!" She squeals.

"Hey, Chelsea." I take my headphones off.

"Don't hey me! Did I see that hottie from the bar leave your apartment this morning?" She's thrown the door open, her lacy slip on display.

"Ohhhhh," I make the word much longer than it needs to be. "Yeah, that's, erm, my b-" Boyfriend gets stuck in my throat. "My…" Mate? "Edward…" I decide on.

"Your Edward?" Her eyebrows shoot up. I blush. "Please tell me you're hitting that." Her eyes widen when they fall on my neck, the mottled purple bruise there. She nearly shrieks.

I chuckle awkwardly and hedge toward my door.

My apartment door opens then and it's Edward. Saving me from this awkward, hellish conversation too late. Probably waited to see what I'd refer to him as. I shoot daggers at him with my eyes. "Hey, Bella." He gives me a secret smile.

Chelsea's mouth drops and I think she actually drools a little.

"Hi, you must be Bella's neighbor. I'm Edward." He politely acknowledges Chelsea as I shove in between him and the door. His arm wraps around my waist and holds me there against him. Cool fingers trail the exposed skin between my track jacket and pants; I suppress a shiver.

"Hi," Chelsea's been hit with the Dazzler. She's lost to the world.

I call over my shoulder, "See you later!" And manage to yank Edward inside to shut the door. I don't miss the way Chelsea leans over in an attempt to watch as I close the door.

Edward's hand traces the hem of my jacket. He presses me against the door firmly but gently and kisses my neck. "She thinks we are sleeping together."

"I wish," I whisper. Didn't mean to say that out loud.

He chuckles against my skin. "We can talk about it."

I push against his chest so I can look at him fully. "I'm sorry, who are you and what have you done with Edward?" His golden eyes dance over my face.

"I'm open to talking about it." He repeats slowly for added effect.

I raise one eyebrow dramatically. He kisses me again. I love when he's playful and not doom and gloom, but…

"Something weird happened." I whisper as he trails his lips to my jaw.

He stops to look at me. "What?" His pupils are blown wide. I can't stop myself from linking my forefingers into his belt loops. I pull him toward me and kiss his chin once. I try to ignore the pulsing need in my core.

"I shaved two minutes off my mile."

He takes a step away from me; my hands fall to my side.

"Over the course of…" he begins.

"Uh… one run?"

"That's…" His eyebrows knit together.

"Weird?" I offer.

"Indeed." Two Target bags rustle as he plops down on my bed. "And you feel fine otherwise?"

I take a moment to mentally catalogue the weird physical sensations I've been experiencing since… It clicks. "Last night."

"What about last night?"

"Or I guess this morning. I was feeling very much like a druggie. Y'know, jittery, light too bright, everything-but-you-was-blurry, couldn't sleep."

We are quiet for thirty five seconds. I know because I count. Then I decide to distract myself while he thinks. "You got me a blanket?"

"Yes," he forces a little smile as he meets my eye.

I walk over to the bags and peek inside. There's a box with an electric blanket advertised on it; the other bag holds Sour Patch Kids and Reese's.

I move to stand in front of his knees and smile at him. He's really fucking beautiful. No wonder Chelsea was dazzled. Can't blame her. "Thank you."

He tucks a hair that has escaped my ponytail behind my ear. "My pleasure. The sun is out, so I figured we might stay in, if you want." He sounds distracted though, still clearly preoccupied with considering the possibility that I… What? Microdosed on his venom? Had a weird human reaction to being intimate with my mate?

Another twenty seconds pass.

"So what do you think is wrong with me?" I ask, biting my lip and bouncing a little on the balls of my feet.

He pulls my lip out from between my teeth with the pad of his thumb. "Nothing is wrong with you."

I glare at him because "Semantics." I roll my eyes.

"Fine. I don't know." A pause. "Do you want to ask Carlisle?"

It's promising that he asks my permission before he runs to Carlisle. "Not yet," I confess. "Let's just... watch and wait." Maybe do some experimenting? It wasn't exactly a bad feeling…

I sound like an addict. Not gonna say any of that out loud. He seems to arrived at Slightly Concerned and I don't want to move him into Fully Worried. I'll know if he starts pinching the bridge of his nose. We aren't there yet, so we're cool.

He tugs on the zipper beneath my chin playfully. "Yes, ma'am." I think about him unzipping the whole thing.

I step back and slowly unzip my track jacket. I have a sports bra on underneath, so there's no explicit impropriety, but watching his facial expression as I take it off is still fun.