Nightshift 33: Main Hallway, 1-West

[contentincloset]

[from here]He knew he was out early now; the main hallways like this one usually had at least one or two other people scurrying about even when he was rushing through. Not yet though, but that was just as well. He took the usual right and kept along the wall just in case his senses just weren't picking up on some kind of threat. Being quick did not

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[his_singer]

[ from here. ]

A few more hallways to go. Grasping onto her pipe once again - careful to have her grasp loose this time - Bella lifted her flashlight and peered around the hallway. There appeared to be a few people wandering around - that was good, at least. Meant she wasn’t completely alone, like last time.

Sighing, she continued on. She only hoped Edward wouldn’t be too angry with her.

[her_lion]

[from here].]

"Bella?" Edward slunk into the ring of light in front of her slowly, face concerned. He knew he'd asked her to wait for him to arrive at her room - and on the other hand, he knew she hardly did what he requested when it concerned her safety.

Then again, he was quite paranoid.

In this case though, it was warranted. Two nights ago - blood outside her room, with the smell of a vampire. One that he knew wasn't Angel, which would have been slightly less discerning. And last night, with what had happened to him.

He stepped closer, lifting a hand to softly land on her shoulder. "You're rather impatient, aren't you?" His tone was disapproving, but he wasn't going to go on a all-out rampage. Yet.

[his_singer]

Uh oh, met half way. Bella looked up to Edward with a sheepish grin, a shrug rolling off of her shoulders as she felt his hand fall upon her clothed skin. “I … didn’t want to wait. I wanted to meet you half way.” There was no way she could tell him the real reason - that she was afraid he wasn’t coming, that she had to see for herself if he was in or not. At least being met half way was better than waiting for him to enter her room.

Smile having fallen from her face as she spoke, her eyes looked towards the ground for a moment as her grip on her pipe once again tightened into a near death grip.

After a few seconds of silence, Bella’s eyes lifted and she gazed at Edward with a slightly curious expression. “So, any plans for tonight? I still refuse to go to the chapel, so don’t even bother suggesting it.”

[her_lion]

Sighing, he understood instantly; the only reason he swayed his tongue. "I'm sorry. You were worried, weren't you?" He couldn't fault her for that - if the opposite had occured, the situation would remain the same. Leaning in to her, he pressed his lips against her forehead, before moving away, his own pipe gribbed in white knuckles.

Though her tone was final, he could not help but ask. "Are you positive? You shouldn't have to carry that wound. I don't care if you pass it to me, if that's what worries you. My skin heals much easier than yours." As if to bring attention to said injury, his hand dropped from her shoulder to dance lightly across the bandages, treading through the dried blood that has soaked through.

[his_singer]

She said nothing at the mention of being worried - was it really that obvious? Eyes cast down to the ground once more, Bella only looked up when she felt Edward’s lips against her forehead. Sighing, she simply looked up at him through her lashes, her cheeks painted a slight red. “Am I really that easy for you to read now?”

The sudden touch to her injured arm had Bella clamping her eyes shut as a twinge of pain shot down her fingers - despite the fact it was heavily bandaged, her arm had had a chunk of flesh ripped off, and it hurt like a bitch. Careful not to move, she opened her eyes and shook her head, placing the pipe between her feet for a moment so she could reach out to him with her uninjured free arm. “I’m fine. What worries me is seeing you hurt period. I was so used to you being bullet proof and … stab proof. I don’t think I could deal with another not supposed to exist injury added to your accumulating list

[her_lion]

Instantly, he was a step away from her, dancing away from her grip, his free arm solidly by his side. The light around his face vanished as he lowered his eyes to the floor. "You're being ridiculous," he sighed, ignoring her first question. "The lightest touch hurts you. You're very much not fine."

And she had still had panic attacks even when he was bullet proof. His being almost-human wasn't changing any aspect of her, if only to make her worry even more. Something he didn't deserve.

His eyes shot up to her face, the red irises turning hard. "Please, love. Let me do this for you." He kept his own guilt silent, knowing she'd foolishly try to wipe it away. If he had been there, she wouldn't be injured - not like this.

[his_singer]

Dammit. Instantly falling back to her side once Edward had moved, Bella reached for her pipe, holding it once again in her death grip as her eyes also looked towards the ground. “You know what I’m going to say, Edward. I’m not going to see you hurt again. I … I’ve been through worse. We both know that - please, this will heal, and will go away, and we can forget that it ever happened.”

She knew Edward well enough to know he was feeling guilty - she had gotten hurt again, without him being there. Every time she got hurt without him there, he became guilty. Being stuck in Landel’s didn’t change that aspect of his personality one bit, she noticed.

Taking a step back from her fiancé, Bella took in a deep breath and released it into a sigh, his intense gaze only causing her heart to beat faster in her chest. “If it bothers you that much then I’ll just go back to my room for the night and … I don’t know. I absolutely refuse for you to carry another one of my stupid burdens.”

[her_lion]

Give up. She's won - again.

Edward shook his head, holding his free hand up in a defeated gesture. "Nevermind," he shook himself, the worry wiped completely from his features. "I'm not going to force you to retreat to your room."

You're not giving her enough credit. Again. His Bella was much stronger than he often seemed to remember - it came with the overbearing paranoia.

"Where haven't we gone?" he asked, moving to a new string of conversation, almost completely good-natured now. "The basement, I suppose - though I'm not completely sure how to get there. Or... this security problem that's recently been brought up." His red eyes turned playful, scrunching slightly because of his one-sided grin. "Or, we can both retreat to your room. It's your choice."

[his_singer]

Bella frowned as she watched Edward admit defeat - as he should have, of course. It was … slightly off-putting how he didn’t think she could handle things. She’d have to handle three days of excruciating pain to be with him forever; she could take something this small.

The thought of where they hadn’t gone had the teen thinking, and she took a step closer to her fiancé as she thought. “What about going outside? We haven’t been outside together in what feel like ages.” Giving a shrug, she couldn’t help but blush at his statement about both of them going back to her room. While the other night they had spent together had been perfect … she had a roommate now - one she did not know the whereabouts of. “I don’t think we can go back to my room. I have another roommate. I’ve seen her. I really don’t think it would be fair to kick her out if she were still here.”

[her_lion]

"Outside?" he parroted, surprised. It wasn't exactly where he thought she'd want to go, but he was definitely open to options. Dangerous options, but... who was he kidding? No where was safe. It was something he'd have to get used to.

Accostomed to.

Not that that would ever happen; not with his overprotective nature.

Nodding once, he moved dangerously close to her, knotting his fingers with hers on her uninjured arm. "Alright. Slowly but surely, though. I can't imagine what's outside during the night."

[his_singer]

Smiling when Edward moved close, Bella allowed all the tension so slowly ease out of her body in a soft sigh. Grasping onto his hand, she clicked off her flashlight and placed it in her pocket, using her injured arm to grasp onto the pipe as she clutched onto his cool hand. “Sounds like a plan.”

… Now all they had to do was figure out how to get outside. She was sure Edward knew some way or another, but as of right now, she had absolutely no clue. Maybe he could smell the way out? If all else failed they could just wander around aimlessly - but lord knew that never ended well, especially for her.

At his question of what could possibly be outside, Bella grinned looking up at him through her lashes as a playful light lit her eyes. “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my?”

[her_lion]

As the flashlight clicked off, the darkness was quick to close in. His fingers grew tighter, whispering for her to stay close.

Even as he took his first steps forward, the vampire was mentally drawing out the map in his mind - he'd only seen it once, before it had been taken off of the bulletin board.

"With our luck, they're probably all the half-rotting spawn of Silent Hill," he answered, taking a mental left at the end of this hallway. "You've heard of that, haven't you? The first game was released in January of 1991, so it's not too much of a classic."

He had an eternity to waste - he blamed Emmett for most of his more useless knowledge.

"Over here," he continued, pulling her along the curve. "Straight up; there should be a door that leads outside."

[over here.]