Night 51: West Wing, North Hall 1-B

[sanguinario]

[From here.]Still empty. Maybe he was just moving faster than usual? Though it seemed the patients poured out in droves at around the same time. Edward imagined the unlocking mechanism worked on all the doors simultaneously, especially since it always occurred immediately after that final intercom announcement

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[vitale]

Bella heard Edward move swiftly towards her in the darkness, pausing for a moment, wondering if she had said the wrong thing and Oh god is he mad at me-

However, her thoughts were instantly silenced when she felt his arms wrap around her, and she felt her entire body grow hot, her cheeks growing pink. Within seconds her body was reacting to his; her arms wrapped around his torso, fingers gripping tightly onto the fabric of his shirt over his shoulder blades. Her own face was buried in his shoulder, clutching onto him for dear life.

"I missed you too," Bella mumbled into him, her grip on his shirt tightening. "I'm sorry. I should have gone and looked for you. Or at least left you a note on the bulletin ..." she knew it was wrong of her to not say something to him, especially considering how much he worried about her. But still, she also knew he needed his space - and though she didn't want to admit it, so did she.

However, over 12 hours was far too long to be away from him for her tastes, considering she had been without him for half a year and it left a hole in her heart so large it very nearly killed her.

After clinging to Edward for a few moments, Bella pulled slightly away so she could at least speak to him without her words being muffled. "Did you have a good day, despite our whole lack of contact? Please tell me you didn't just sit in the corner of every room you were in and glared at everyone who passed you."

[sanguinario]

"It doesn't matter now," he said, surprising himself in the truth; he wasn't concerned about it any more. Perhaps Venom had opened his eyes just the tiniest bit, as many third-person perspectives on his situation weren't given to him often. She seemed stronger now, with the wounds not so deep, and he couldn't bear to give her anymore grief over it. Best to let the matter settle; after all, that little trip home had reminded him that he was not her father, and despite his liking for the man Edward did not want to become as overbearing as he was.

Probably a little late for that, but.

Well, so much for her opinion of him as well. "I did other things. I spoke with Venom, for one." Actually, that was about... it. The rest of time may have been spent pacing around his room and tearing at his hair in indecision, but that could remain his secret. "I planned for tonight. It took some... curbing on my front to agree." Lifting a hand from her waist, he pushed a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear. "But it's out of my hands now. I'm going to keep you safe this way."

[vitale]

"Well then, I'll make a note of it for future reference. To myself," he may say he didn't care, but Bella honestly felt bad. Especially considering the last time he had seen her he had been seeing her bleeding ...

Either way.

At the mention of Venom, she looked up at Edward, blinking in surprise. "And?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "What is there to plan? What's going on?" a pause, and Bella gave the vampire a rather surprised (a little too surprised - clearly theatrics) expression. "You? Compromising something? I am surprised, Mr. Cullen. Just how persuasive is Venom if he can make you see things in a different perspective?"

As her hair was pushed behind her ear, Bella couldn't help but lean slightly into his hand, reaching up with one of her own to place against his cheek. "I know. I trust you. And who knows, maybe I'll even be able to keep you safe too." and with that said - as if a little extra incentive, maybe - the teenager stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss to Edward's lips, smiling up at him after. "Everything will be okay. If not then I promise tomorrow night I will do nothing but sit in my room all night and stare at the ceiling. ... Well, maybe not that but I'm sure I'll think of something so you get the point."

[sanguinario]

As much as some part of that was good - and he smiled to himself after the kiss - "Don't say if. Nothing is going to happen." Which might have been reassuring if his voice wasn't strained while he said it; in truth, he couldn't fathom anything going wrong tonight or compromise from him would be the last thing anyone ever saw. "And you should know it had everything to do with you. Since I can't protect you alone nearly as well as I'd like to, he... offered his help, in a matter of speaking."

He stopped short, unsure now of what Venom might have told Bella they were doing tonight. Their correspondence, between the three of them, was somewhat crooked as it were, and he wasn't sure if they all knew what they needed to know about it.

"I hope he told you about it, or I wouldn't have agreed. We're... going monster hunting." He stopped his explanation for a moment, stepping back from her but slipping his hand into one of her own. "Maybe we should go back to my room. He's probably waiting there already, and I can explain what we've been doing together."

[vitale]

"You keep me safe enough, Edward," Bella said with a frown. "I really don't need bodyguards that aren't you around me. You're fine as is."

However, when what they were doing came up, the teenager shook his head. "He didn't tell me anything. We ... didn't really talk that much about tonight," or at all. "I told him you ... don't like me doing dangerous things with you," her gaze turned away then, and she kept her face calm. "And i told him how you tend to overreact when we're not together, and he told me how the night we were separated went."

Which she had apologized profusely for, but she didn't tell Edward that.

"Still," she told Edward, lacing her fingers with his own as she began to move, "I'm just glad to be helping you."

( ... )