Gift for sleepyvalentina!
Falling Down & Other Accidents
Recipient: sleepyval
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Contains scenes of a graphic sexual nature.
Summary: Bella and Edward meet while on vacation in Aspen by accident--literally. Drawn to each other from the start, it only intensifies as she recovers under his care. What happens when their vacation ends? Will they ever see each other again after they walk away?
~//~
I had spent nearly my entire life in Phoenix but, to be honest, I hated the heat. I hated the sand and lack of color and the barrenness of the desert. Why my mother left the Pacific Northwest and moved us to that God-forsaken place after my father died in the line of duty, I could never understand. Compared to the Sonoran Desert, the lush land of Washington-with its verdant, ancient forests-seemed enchanted, like some kind of fairytale place. When I was little, I used to imagine losing my way in the
Olympic National Rainforest that bordered Forks, the town of my birth, and being rescued by a plaid flannel wearing prince charming.
Despite having put away childish things years ago, when I discovered that my promotion required a move to the Emerald City, I was beyond ecstatic. I had never been to Seattle, but had always wanted to go. I had often contemplated vacationing in the city, but there were so many places I wanted to see and do that I could never figure out where to start, let alone fit it all in. So the fact that I was being paid to move there and would have virtually unlimited time to explore was a dream come true. My mother wasn’t pleased that I had so eagerly jumped at the chance to move to the city she abhorred-she even went so far as to accuse me of abandoning her-but I ignored her, refusing to let her rain on my parade.
Not letting Renee’s inexplicable aversion to the rain and unwarranted dislike for the Puget Sound deter me, I made the move, prepared to fully embrace my new home. I was given plenty of time to settle in to my new apartment and familiarize myself with the city-I wasn’t officially due to assume my new position as the head of P.R. for the Pacific Rim division of the Masen-Cullen Corporation until after the first of the year. I left Skyharbor International the first week of December, and was moved in and fully unpacked by the end of the following week. With the days being short and me not being used to the cold, it was hardly the time to go exploring like I wanted, so I was completely at a loss for what to do.
To fill my time, I set about stocking my closet with a more Seattle appropriate wardrobe and did a bit of Christmas shopping for the few people I had to buy gifts for. Despite the ridiculous number of purchases I made, shopping only filled so many hours. Hell, even wrapping and shipping the gifts I had bought hadn’t wasted nearly as much time as I’d hoped. As the days passed and I ran out of occupations to fill my time, my glee began to give way to an overwhelming and unbearable loneliness, and my mother’s disapproval began to infiltrate my psyche. The fact that it was the holiday season-and my own personal dark period-did nothing to help cure my melancholy.
I was 27 years old, and all alone in a strange city during what most people-myself not included-considered to be the most magical time of the year. Aside from the sales clerks at the various shops I had been to, I hadn’t spoken with a soul except for Renee, briefly, and only once or twice. I avoided talking to my mother like the plague. Renee was entirely too in tune with my moods-I never had been able to hide from her. I refused to have her say ‘I told you so’ and then try to convince me to move back to Phoenix. I was tired of Renee living my life for me. Seattle was my chance to finally strike out on my own and become who I wanted to be, not who she wanted me to be. I’d be damned if I was going to run back home with my tail between my legs.
It was that pigheadedness that helped me find myself just outside the door to the reception area of my new office, flat on my back, staring up at a familiar face but unable to recall who he was or how I knew him. My head had slammed into the floor with a sickening crack and the wind was knocked out of me. Wheezing while black dots floated through my vision, I tried to catch my breath. I was dazed enough from my fall that I didn’t immediately recognize the face that had been haunting my dreams and living in my memories for the past eight years.
I had been taken out by the combination of a slightly wet tile floor, a forcefully thrown-open door flying unexpectedly towards my face, and my own natural grace. As the train wreck was happening, it occurred to me that this was a hell of a way to introduce myself as the new head of public relations, but when I finally realized who he was, all I could think was how appropriate it was for me to run into him like this. I attempted to sit up but, the second my throbbing head lifted, vertigo struck. I dropped back to the floor with a painful thud to my already tender skull.
“Oh, fuck… I am so sorry! Are you okay…?” His question trailed off weakly. Had I hurt myself more than I thought? I delicately sniffed the air and, while I didn’t smell any blood, I did detect the slightest hint of a vaguely familiar scent that made my stomach clench up… though in dread or anticipation or dread, I couldn’t say.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine; I just need a minute. This isn’t my first meeting with the floor. I seem to end up here quite frequently, actually.”
“I know,” the man whispered, so softly I thought I imagined it. His voice-full of tenderness and longing, or so I thought I detected-resonated with me, but I just couldn’t place it. A nanosecond later, a door opened somewhere down the hall, sending a gentle breeze full of the strangers scent wafting over me. I froze, gripped in the clutches of the memories that had been tormenting me for the last eight years.
~\*/~
Eight Years Earlier
My roommate forced me to go snowboarding with her and a few of her friends in Aspen over winter break my freshman year of college. I gave her a million different reasons why I couldn’t go, but none of my excuses worked. With my mother off gallivanting who the fuck knew where with her new husband, I wasn’t exactly going to be missed at home, so with nothing better to do and nowhere else to go, I finally agreed.
My friends were eager to hit the slopes as soon we arrived. We dropped our bags in our rooms and then I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to the slopes. I told them that strapping slippery things to my feet and then dumping me off at the highest end of an incline that was covered in wet, slippery stuff probably wasn’t the best idea, but no one listened to me. I was lucky that they consented to starting me off on the bunny slope--which could hardly be called a slope, it was so flat. In retrospect, I’m not sure that the bunny slope taught me anything. All it did was instill a false sense of confidence in my newly acquired-but virtually non-existent-snowboarding ‘skills’.
It was that confidence-and knowing I was holding my friends back-that caused me to readily agree when it was suggested that I move up to one of the more advanced slopes, even though, deep down, I knew it was a bad idea.
Everything was fine as we rode the chairlift up; we stood at the top of the slope getting ready to head down and my confidence was soaring... but then we started down the hill. At that point, everything that could go wrong, did. I hadn’t realized the speeds I would reach or how quickly I would reach them on a hill with a measurable grade. Forgetting everything I had been taught on the bunny slope, I soon became a danger not only to myself, but others as well. I did okay for about the first twenty feet, then panicked over how fast I was going.
I couldn’t remember how to slow down or stop, and then I forgot to keep my balance in the center of my board. My weight shifted to the front of my board, the edge of it catching in the snow, and I went down. Hard. I spun out of control, tumbling… ass… over… tea-kettle.
All.
The.
Way.
Down.
They say that your life passes before your eyes when you have a near death experience, but it didn’t happen like that for me. The only thing going through my mind while I bounced down the slope…was song lyrics. Specifically, She’ll Be Coming Down the Mountain. I didn’t know what that said about me, but I didn’t imagine it was anything good.
About halfway down…thank fuck…the board finally broke loose and went flying away from me. I continued to freewheel merrily along, somehow managing to not take anyone out with me, at least not until I neared the bottom of my decent. I crashed into some hapless chap, sending us both-now one big, tangled ball of limbs-directly into a snow bank. We slammed into it like a wrecking ball, sending up a wall of snow that showered down on everyone within a fifteen foot radius.
The good part was that, between the poor guy I mowed down and the snowdrift that we were embedded in, I no longer resembled a runaway bobsled being driven by one of the crash test dummies. The bad news was that I had taken someone else down with me.
I must have lost consciousness at some point, because things got hazy and whole chunks of time went missing. When we had been fished out of the snow, our limbs were all sorted out and untangled by some good Samaritans standing nearby-none of whom happened to be one of my recently conspicuously missing ‘friends’-it was determined that the poor guy to whom I gave the snowjob was fine.
By the grace of God, I too seemed to be miraculously unharmed…well, aside from an almost certain concussion. Considering the spill I took, it hardly registered; I was lucky to be alive honestly. Not wanting take any chances, just in case, the medics wrapped a brace around my neck and then strapped me to one of those plastic, Baywatch-looking stretchers before loading me into an ambulance. I had no one to accompany me, as my friends were still M.I.A., so it was just one overweight medic and me riding in the back of the silent vehicle.
And that was how we met--even if I wasn’t quite aware of it just yet. It certainly wasn’t an easily forgettable introduction.
~//~
At the hospital, I was poked and prodded, wheeled from here to there and back again. A battery of tests confirmed what I had already guessed: I had a severely sprained ankle, a mildly sprained wrist, several bruised and one broken rib, various contusions, and a fairly serious concussion. Luckily not serious enough to require an overnight stay in the hospital.
“You’re a rather lucky young woman, Ms. Swan,” the doctor concluded after going over my list of injuries. Just when I thought he was finished, Doogie Howser, M.D., looked at me and said, “You’re going to be pretty sore for a few days--” For this he needed a medical degree? “--but it could have been worse.”
He scheduled me for a follow-up appointment at the end of the week, wrote me a prescription for a mild pain killer, and gave me a list of symptoms that, if experienced, warranted an immediate return to the hospital. Several hours after I was admitted I was finally released, but not before Doogie made me promise to have someone stay with me for at least twenty four hours, just as a precaution. Humoring him, I agreed, but in reality I had no intention of being babysat. Plus, I didn’t have anyone who could keep an eye on me; it was apparent that I couldn’t depend on my so-called-friends.
As I was wheeled into the waiting area, my eyes immediately fell upon the most incredible looking man I had ever seen. He was beautiful-if a man can even be beautiful-but it wasn’t just his obvious physical superiority over every man that I had ever seen that drew my eye to him. It was the worry that was clouding his eyes, the concern wrinkling his brow, the nervous, tense way he kept worrying at the beanie in his hands--and something else, but I wasn’t sure what. I couldn’t help thinking that whoever he was there with was a lucky woman. Why I automatically assumed that he was there for a woman, I can’t say, but little did I know how right I would be.
Less than a second after I completed my perusal of him, he looked up from his lap, our eyes locking, and something happened inside of me… I don’t know. As stupid as it sounds, it felt like our souls touched…as if when our eyes met I had finally found my match, my mate. All my life I had walked around feeling like something was missing, only I didn’t know what, but that feeling went away the second his green eyes looked into my brown ones. It was completely irrational, but I couldn’t deny what I felt. Who the fuck would’ve thought I’d end up slamming into the very thing I was looking for, when I didn’t even know I was looking for it?
He promptly hopped out of the chair of he was sitting in, and made his way over to me, letting out a sigh of relief. “How is she? Is she gonna be okay?” He questioned the orderly in a rush.
Did he know me? Did I know him? I must have hit my head harder than I thought, to have forgotten someone as stunning as him. No, even then, I could never forget that face… that hair. Copper and brown and mahogany and even a strand or two of blond all blended together in disarray on his head.
“She’s fine, sir…” He started, before I cut him off.
“She is perfectly fine. Who, may I ask, are you?”
“Oh, God! I am so sorry. I’m the guy you ran into… actually. You were in and out of consciousness after you hit me… and I was worried. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He looked slightly embarrassed over his confession, and he tried to hide it behind the rush of words that were suddenly pouring out of his mouth. “I’m not a stalker or anything, I swear.
“It’s just… my dad’s a doctor and I know how serious concussions can be. I thought that it might be useful, if you were still unconscious when you were admitted, to tell the doctor what I saw. I am so sorry for making you uncomfortable.
“I… I shouldn’t have come. S-s-sorry.” He turned to walk away, his beanie folded in half and clutched tightly in his hands in front of him. Just as suddenly as he started to turn away and leave, he spun around and blurted out, “What happened to your friends? I mean, I’ve been here since just after you were admitted and there doesn’t seem to be anyone with you.
“I’m certain I saw you with a group of people earlier on the slopes, but now you seem to be all alone. I just thought… well, since we’re staying at the same hotel... I thought that you could… maybe… can I see you back to your room? Shit! I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I…”
He seemed almost as nervous as I was, and it astounded me that someone so dazzlingly, heartbreakingly beautiful, could be self-conscious about talking to me. Without knowing what I was doing or where the courage came from, I reached forward and placed my hand on his, silencing him. “Um, sure… I could use a ride… if you don’t mind, I mean…”
It was the truth; I really could use a ride. When I my clothing had been returned after the doctor finished speaking to me, I had pulled my cell phone out of the interior pocket of my ski coat with the intention of calling a cab, only to discover that it had broken during my little tumble down the hillside. It was then that I had realized that I didn’t have enough cash on me to make a phone call, let alone pay for a cab. The bronze haired god’s offer was actually quite appreciated and needed since I couldn’t very well walk back to the lodge.
Out of nowhere, I was completely overwhelmed his kindness. To waste his time in a hospital, worrying over the stranger who had crashed into him was huge in my book considering my friends had abandoned me for… I don’t exactly know why, but they obviously had better things to do than worry about me. Just thinking about it made me feel alone and completely worthless.
And then, because I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough for one day…and also because my emotions were all screwed up thanks to my concussion…I burst into tears in the middle of E.R. waiting room. As I sobbed my little heart out, I prayed fervently, to whoever would listen, for the floor to swallow me up or a freak tornado to swoop down and drop me off in Oz. Of course, neither thing happened, but…
I was quickly wheeled out of the hospital and, rather than make me wait there in front of the doors while he brought his car around, he pushed me out to the parking lot. I was still sobbing uncontrollably when we came to a halt next to a silver car directly across from the doors we had just exited. He opened the door, shielding me from prying eyes, and then stepped in front of me and dropped to his knees. Reaching up, he brought one hand to my face, cupping my cheek, and used his thumbs to brush away my tears.
“Hey, now! Why all the tears, beautiful? Shhhhhh!!! You can tell me. What’s wrong?”
“I am just so beyond embarrassed,” I sobbed, my words barely comprehensible. I was crying so hard at that point that I was starting to hyperventilate, gaspy hiccoughs punctuating my words as I tried to suck in enough oxygen.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the window and I was appalled. I was a hot mess-all red-faced from both my crying and my initial embarrassment, with snot and tears streaming down my face-and my humiliation increased. “I’m mortified, really. I mean, I went tumbling down a mountain, slamming into to you...yet, here you are, taking care of a complete stranger. Meanwhile, the people who claim to be my friends acted like they didn’t know me, and couldn’t be bothered to see if I was okay.
“I can’t even imagine what you must think of me when my own friends don’t give a fuck about me. And now look at me! I am a fucking wreck! I don’t want your sympathy…but I will take your sympathy car ride because I have no money and my phone is broken…and oh, God! I think…I think I’m gonna…”
And then I got sick. Luckily, he figured it out and managed to get out of the way before I puked on him. Worst. Day. Ever.
I don’t remember much after nearly yakking on him. I recall feeling incredibly weak and shaky, the sensation of floating and motion, and then nothing.
~//~
I awoke sometime later, disoriented, and most definitely not in my room. The bed in my room was nowhere near as nice as the luxurious one I was laying in.
Still lying on my back, I stretched, raising my arms above me. My head throbbed painfully, beating in time with the blood that was pulsing in my veins. My whole body ached like it’d had a run in with a bus and my mouth felt like sandpaper, but I could remember nothing of my night. I could only imagine what kind of debauchery I had gotten up to, judging by the condition my condition was in. At least I had my clothes on, I thought wryly, pleased that no matter what had happened the night before, I wasn’t that kind of girl. Lauren and Jessica had cornered the market on one night stands and I was more than happy to leave them to it.
I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around, trying to get my bearings. He was real! I thought, shocked to find myself face to face with the archangel from my dreams, dozing, less than three feet from me in a chair next to the bed. His head rested on his hand and his mouth hung open… he was adorable. I suddenly realized that if he was there…that meant…oh, fuck! The snowboarding accident, the hospital, the breakdown next to his car, the… ugh! It was all true. It had actually happened. I had to get out of there, stat.
I quietly peeled the covers back, slid my feet over the edge of the soft-as-a-feather bed and stood up, forgetting about my ankle. Pain shot through my body and my injured joint gave out, sending me sprawling to the floor. I closed my eyes and braced for the impact… but it never came. Two arms snaked out with inhuman speed and wrapped around my middle, preventing my battered body from undergoing any more abuse due to my inherent clumsiness.
“You certainly know how to make an entrance,” he breathed against my neck, his voice raspy…and ridiculously sexy…from sleep.
Every inch of me that was in contact with him buzzed with electricity. His breath lapping at the sensitive skin near my ear sent an involuntary shiver through my body and caused my nipples to pebble. I blushed furiously, but I wasn’t sure if it was from his comment or due to the embarrassing betrayal of my body. I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting control of my suddenly raging hormones, but he undermined me when he shifted me the tiniest bit in his arms and his rock hard chest rubbed against my nipples. To my chagrin, I felt my cheeks flame even more and I was sure that I must have resembled a tomato.
Could I possibly quit embarrassing myself in front of this unbelievably attractive man? Outlook not so good.
He shifted away from me slightly so that he could see my face, and asked, “You okay, beautiful?”
His gaze felt heavy and languid on my face, and I peered down at him through half closed lids. I don’t know what he saw in my eyes, but whatever it was, it was enough to wipe the fuckhot smirk off of his pretty face. It was replaced with a look of pure lust that was so smoldering, I was certain that it could melt the panties right off a girl…it was definitely having an effect on mine. We were both frozen, caught up in each other. Our breathing grew more ragged with each second that our eyes remained locked.
Brinnnnng! Brinnnnng! trilled a nearby phone, breaking the spell. He stood up, setting me on fire when he slid one arm down below my ass, lifting me effortlessly with him. He sat me back on the bed I had just left and then answered the still ringing phone.
“Yeah? ... Nope. … Nah, you guys go ahead without me, I think I’m going to stay behind. I’ll catch up with you later. … Have fun, Alice. … Mmhmm, I love you too.” I gasped hearing him tell the woman that he loved her. I felt his eyes snap back to me, the room bathed in silence for a moment before he spoke again, his carefully chosen words presumably for my benefit. “Tell Jasper he better take care of you. I don’t want him bringing my little sister back to me injured. … Ha, ha, ha! Bye, Al.”
I was staring intently at the floor when he put the phone back in its receiver. “My sister,” he said needlessly.
“I heard… uh, not that I was t-trying to eavesdrop or anything,” I said in a rush…I didn’t want to appear rude. “Um, how… h-how did I get here instead of my room?”
He ran his hand through his hair and I smiled lightly at the obvious nervous tic, wondering what in the world he had to be nervous about. A deep breath left him in one big gust, his lips making a flapping sound as they vibrated from the expelled air.
“You, uh, conked out on me before I could get you in the car and I didn’t know where your room was… or your key, for that matter. I didn’t feel right going through your pockets to find your key, and I definitely didn’t feel right leaving you on your own with a concussion, so… Ibroughtyoutomyroom.” He said the last part quickly, the words blending together so that they were almost unrecognizable. “I hope that’s okay? I promise you that I was a complete gentleman, and stayed in the chair the whole night.
“I would have gone over to the couch, but I couldn’t see you very well from over there, and my dad said that I needed to wake you every couple of hours to check your pupil dilation as a precaution.” He looked sheepish as he confessed to calling his father about me, but it was soon replaced by a smug look that seemed much more at home on his face.
His mouth twisted up into a sexy, crooked smile that I imagined worked on all the girls, and I found myself unable to resist returning it with a little half-smile of my own…mine nowhere near as sexy, of course.
“I have to say, Beauty, you are extremely uncooperative when you don’t want to wake up… and did you know you talk in your sleep?”
I could feel my face automatically heat up as I contemplated what I could possibly have said. “Fuck! I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?” I queried hopefully.
He looked at the floor when he answered me. “No, no, nothing too embarrassing, at least.”
“Oh, well… I suppose I can live with only partially embarrassing myself, especially after humiliating myself so fully yesterday.” I didn’t know where the sudden surge of confidence came from that had me bantering so easily with him, but I liked it.
Not that it mattered. He was far, far out of my league. Although, maybe that was it-I knew I didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell with him, so I wasn’t nervous or worried that I would make an ass of myself…not that I could have done much to make more of an ass of myself after the day before.
“I wouldn’t say you embarrassed yourself fully, Beauty. It could have been worse. You could have, I don’t know…admitted to a love of early nineties boy bands and then sung a medley of their hits while expertly performing dance moves from the videos. You know…just…off the top of my head.”
I snorted, covering my mouth as the sound came out of me and then, in between rather unladylike guffaws, wheezed, “You came up with that a little bit too quickly. Experience? You a closet N’Syncer?
“Come on, you can tell me. I won’t say word, Scout’s honor,” I promised, holding up my first two fingers next to my head in the Scout’s salute.
He looked appalled, pointing to himself with both thumbs disbelievingly as he asked, “Me? Hah!! No, definitely not me…but my best friend Jasper revealed that interesting tidbit one night, piss drunk after a party we had thrown at our apartment.
“It was too bad that the party was mostly over and the only people that saw it were my sister, Alice, and our brother, Emmett…” he paused, looking at me conspiratorially and then continued, “…but, we may or may not have gotten it on video.”
I laughed loudly, and his eyes seemed to twinkle at the sound.
“His confession nearly destroyed our lifelong friendship, actually. I mean, I have an image to maintain. I can’t have people thinking I’m a closet tween just because he is. What would the girls think?”
He recounted the tale to me in detail, complete with half-assed dance moves that had me laughing so hard tears were pouring down my face. My ribs ached a bit, but nothing too bad until a particularly robust guffaw left my lips. I winced, clutching my side, and more tears gathered in my eyes--only not from laughter this time. My nameless hero was quickly at my side, his hand placed softly on top of mine, sending the same tingling sensation that I felt prior to the phone ringing through me, making me forget all about the pain. Unlike last time, however, his eyes were glued to our hands on top of my ribs, concern etched across his brow.
“Shit, Beauty…I’m sorry. I should have remembered. I shouldn’t have been trying to make you laugh. You hurt some ribs during your little fall.”
“S’okay. No need to apologize. It’s my fault for trying to toboggan down the slope without a toboggan.” I tilted my head, contemplating him as I asked, “Why do you do that?”
He looked up, his eyes going from worried to hooded and intense. It was a look that had only been hinted at earlier, during our pre-phone-call staring contest, and it was just as unnerving as it had been the first time.
“Do what?” His voice was soft, the timbre lower.
“Call me Beauty.”
His eyes shifted from mine and then shifted back after a brief detour at my lips. He tongue came out, pressing against the cupid’s bow of his top lip, and he swallowed audibly before replying. “Well, first of all…you are, beautiful that is. Second, I don’t know your name.”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what was happening between us and if he felt it too, before deciding-no last names. I didn’t need the complication and, if I was wrong and imagining the electricity sizzling between us, then I could just pretend that it never happened, safe in the knowledge that he didn’t know who I really was. “Bella. Isabella, actually…but, Bella.”
He smiled softly, sweetly, sincerely, no hint of seduction evident. “See, just like I said-Beauty.”
I looked at him, confused for a moment, before it dawned on me. Naturally, I blushed…'cause I got no game. I dropped my eyes to my lap to hide my flushed cheeks and the small, pleased smile that tugged at the corners of my lips.
“Beauty,” I mumbled under my breath, hopefully low enough that he couldn’t hear. The small smile grew wider as I rolled the word…beauty…around in my head.
Silence, only a little bit awkward, filled the room for a long moment while I was doing a happy dance in my head. Finally rejoining the present, I couldn’t handle it. Peering out from under my lashes I cut my eyes to him. “Now you know my name, but I still don’t know yours.”
He appeared deep in thought. His hands were crossed over his chest and he was biting his lip as he stared down at the ground. It was silent for two beats and then, as if he only just heard me, he released his lip and a gust of air, saying simply, “Edward. My name’s Edward.”
“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Edward.” I extended my hand towards him and he left me hanging just long enough that I felt foolish. Something sparked in his eyes, he took my hand in his and something arced between us, drawing both sets of our eyes down to our joined hands so that I was certain that he, too, felt it this time.
“Likewise, Bella,” he replied carefully, giving my hand a small pump. We held on a bit longer than necessary until finally, reluctantly, I released his hand.
“Thanks for taking care of me and, you know, the ride and everything.” I waved my hand around my head, gesturing vaguely to indicate him letting me stay in his room and his keeping an eye on me. “You didn’t have to, especially not after I crashed into you… which I am extremely sorry for, by the way…if I haven’t apologized already…but even if I have, I still mean it. I should, um, probably get going and let you get back to your regularly scheduled vacation.”
I clambered to my feet…well, foot, and looked for my shoes, only to remember that I had been wearing those awful ski boots. I groaned internally and said fuck it, I didn’t need them. Using the furniture and walls, I began the taxing task of making my way to the door of his room, trying like hell not to look back.
Just before I gave in and stole a glance at him, he called out my name. “Bella, wait!”
Thrilled, I stopped and turned to face him, raising my eyebrows in question.
“I picked up some crutches for you at the hospital for you to get around with. I should probably give them to you.”
Denied! My shoulders slumped from his rather obvious rejection.
“Fuck! That’s not what I…I mean…Food!” He blurted out, apropos of nothing.
I kept my eyes aimed at the ground to hide the tears that had sprung up, but my forehead wrinkled quizzically. Was he unbalanced?
“Uh, what I mean is…you need to eat. And anyway, you can’t leave yet. My father said that you should be monitored for at least twenty four hours and it’s only been, like, twelve or something.” He flashed me that crooked grin again, and I found myself tentatively returning it, unable to put up a fight.
“Okay,” I heard myself agree without thinking. “I need a human moment first though…and clean clothes, so I’m going to need to go back to my room.”
“I move a bit more ably than you do, so why don’t we do this…I’ll run to your room and grab whatever you want or need, while you look over the room service menu. We can order when I get back, and then you can do whatever it is that you need to do while we wait for the food to be delivered. That sound okay?”
“Okay, if you’re sure that I’m not a bother. You really aren’t obligated to do this, ya know. I mean, I ran into you, and besides that you’re on vacation! I’d hate to put a damper on your fun or interrupt your plans. You’ve already done so much as it is, and I’m sure that I’ll be fine. I don’t know how I will can ever repay you for your kindness.”
“Bella! Bella, stop. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be…believe me, I am an incredibly selfish man. Besides, I only did as much as anyone would have done in my position.”
“Bullshit!” My eyes got big and I clamped a hand over my mouth to prevent anymore rude outbursts. I braced myself for him to tell me to go fuck myself or that he changed his mind, only to be startled by his actual reaction-he started laughing. And not a courtesy laugh or a small chuckle-it was a full on belly laugh, his body rumbling from his guffaws while I just stared at him in amazement.
“Tourettes?” I blurted out, the one word explanation coming out as a question.
“And when did you develop this disorder?”
“Just.”
He smiled at me, and I decided to just take him at his word, letting the discussion drop. I pulled my room key out of the hidden, zippered pocket just inside the waistband of the ski pants I was still wearing.
“Room 520,” is all I said as I handed it to him.
“What do you want me to grab?”
“Everything is still packed, so…if you just want to bring my suitcase and my overnight bag, that would probably be easiest?” I was checking to see if that was okay with him, I didn’t want him to think I was trying to move into his room but, unable to moderate the inflection of my voice, it once again came out sounding like a question.
He smiled at me, tossed me the room service menu and said, “Be right back.”
~//~
Hours later, fed, bathed, and dressed in a comfy velour track suit, I found myself still in Edward’s room. Despite the tension that crept up at odd moments, being around him felt comfortable. I had never felt so completely at ease and free to be myself around someone. He was playful and smart and always ready with a witty retort in response to my snark. We complimented each other. My initial feeling that we were made for each other deepened the longer I was around him.
We were sprawled across his comfy king sized bed on our second consecutive game of Slap-Jack, laughing and joking around, when the game got out of hand. I found myself flat on my back, Edward hovering over me with his hands bracketing my body, both us and the bed covered with playing cards.
Time came to a standstill, neither of us moving a muscle, afraid that the slightest tic would cause it to resume. I didn’t want it to ever start again if it meant that he would quit looking at me the way he was. No one had ever looked at me with so much intensity that it almost felt as if his gaze was caressing me. I would have happily lived in that moment forever, but it was spoiled again by a ringing telephone.
Edward jerked away from me like he had been burned. Running a hand through his hair, he snatched the phone up and pressed it to his ear, a stormy expression on his face. “Yeah. … No, I’m gonna stay in tonight, order room service and hit the rack early. You and Jasper go have fun. You can tell me all about it later. … Yeah. … I’m fine, Alice.” He paused and looked directly at me before he resumed speaking.
“I am not going to regret anything about this vacation. I’ve been skiing before and I can go again later. I have never been more content than I am right now. In fact, I am starting to think that this could end up being the best vacation I’ve ever taken.”
I looked away and busied myself by picking up the cards scattered across the bed and the few on the floor while he finished up his conversation. It was the second time he had cancelled on plans with his sister, and I was starting to feel a little bit guilty about taking him away from his family.
“Love you to, kid. … Mmhmm. … G’night.”
I was still awkwardly fidgeting with the cards when he hung up the phone and came to stand directly beside me. He was so close to me that I could feel the heat of his body, but I refused to look up or acknowledge him. Suddenly his hand came down over mine, stilling and thrilling me all at once. My face burned so deeply that I could feel the heat of it all the way at the tips of my ears, and I knew I must resemble a Roma tomato.
“Bella?” His voice was soft, seductive, sweet, but still I refused to look up. I was too afraid of what I would see on his face, in his eyes-rejection, annoyance, goodbye.
Instead of waiting to be pushed out the door, I decided to walk…er, hobble out by my own choice.
“Well, I should probably be going now. It’s getting late and I got a big day of…sittin’ around doing nothing planned for tomorrow...” I let my words trail off, realizing how ridiculous I must sound, as I twisted my body away from his and began to frantically pat the bed in search of the missing box that the cards came in.
“Bella,” he said sharply enough that my hand froze mid-pat and my eyes snapped to his, whereupon I noted his expression was in complete juxtaposition to his tone. “Stay. Please.”
Urgency burned in his eyes and I once again found myself compelled by his witchcraft to agree. I nodded.
~//~
We were both so incredibly stubborn-he too much the gentleman to make a lady sleep on the couch, me refusing to rudely kick him out of his own bed-that neither one of us would have given in. Instead, we came to a mutually agreeable compromise and decided that we could be adult about it and just share the monstrosity of a bed. We were both so aware of the other that I don’t think either of us got a wink of sleep most of that night.
His muscles remained tense and his breathing uneven and forced throughout the night. Every shift he made had me holding my breath, longing to feel him pressed against me and hoping that it would be the shift that finally brought him into contact with me. Of course, it never did and, to my disappointment, he was a perfect gentleman the entire night.
Eventually, I did sleep, but it was fitful and, when I awoke the next morning, I felt more exhausted than I would have believed possible. It was as if I had never slept, and proof that the tension between us remained even while we slumbered Secretly, I delighted in the knowledge, but outwardly I was grumpy and hostile. Even flawless, god-like Edward was showing a bit of wear around the edges from the lack of R.E.M.
We took turns showering and then ordered room service. After the plates were cleared away, we once again sprawled across the bed-Edward watching television while I read a book. Stealing glances, sharing sheepish smiles whenever we caught one another-it felt intimate. In a way, it somehow seemed more intimate than if we’d actually been intimate. I was again struck by how comfortable and so very right it felt. For perhaps the first time in my life, I felt totally at peace and content. That’s not saying that there wasn’t tension, because there was. Physically I was strung wire tight, but the rest of me felt perfectly at ease and…complete.
As I became engrossed in my book, the soft sounds of the television faded into the background-comforting, familiar-lulling me to sleep. At some point, Edward too succumbed, and when I briefly breached the surface of sleep several hours later, we were tangled together. It was as if, once we got out of our own way, no longer bungling things up with our insecurities or chivalrous ways, our bodies gave in to the chemistry between us and let nature take its course. Making the most of the opportunity, every inch of our bodies that could touch, were.
I reveled for a moment in our closeness and then I was sucked back under the inky waves of sleep.
~//~
Chapter 2
Recipient: sleepyval
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Contains scenes of a graphic sexual nature.
Summary: Bella and Edward meet while on vacation in Aspen by accident--literally. Drawn to each other from the start, it only intensifies as she recovers under his care. What happens when their vacation ends? Will they ever see each other again after they walk away?
~//~
I had spent nearly my entire life in Phoenix but, to be honest, I hated the heat. I hated the sand and lack of color and the barrenness of the desert. Why my mother left the Pacific Northwest and moved us to that God-forsaken place after my father died in the line of duty, I could never understand. Compared to the Sonoran Desert, the lush land of Washington-with its verdant, ancient forests-seemed enchanted, like some kind of fairytale place. When I was little, I used to imagine losing my way in the
Olympic National Rainforest that bordered Forks, the town of my birth, and being rescued by a plaid flannel wearing prince charming.
Despite having put away childish things years ago, when I discovered that my promotion required a move to the Emerald City, I was beyond ecstatic. I had never been to Seattle, but had always wanted to go. I had often contemplated vacationing in the city, but there were so many places I wanted to see and do that I could never figure out where to start, let alone fit it all in. So the fact that I was being paid to move there and would have virtually unlimited time to explore was a dream come true. My mother wasn’t pleased that I had so eagerly jumped at the chance to move to the city she abhorred-she even went so far as to accuse me of abandoning her-but I ignored her, refusing to let her rain on my parade.
Not letting Renee’s inexplicable aversion to the rain and unwarranted dislike for the Puget Sound deter me, I made the move, prepared to fully embrace my new home. I was given plenty of time to settle in to my new apartment and familiarize myself with the city-I wasn’t officially due to assume my new position as the head of P.R. for the Pacific Rim division of the Masen-Cullen Corporation until after the first of the year. I left Skyharbor International the first week of December, and was moved in and fully unpacked by the end of the following week. With the days being short and me not being used to the cold, it was hardly the time to go exploring like I wanted, so I was completely at a loss for what to do.
To fill my time, I set about stocking my closet with a more Seattle appropriate wardrobe and did a bit of Christmas shopping for the few people I had to buy gifts for. Despite the ridiculous number of purchases I made, shopping only filled so many hours. Hell, even wrapping and shipping the gifts I had bought hadn’t wasted nearly as much time as I’d hoped. As the days passed and I ran out of occupations to fill my time, my glee began to give way to an overwhelming and unbearable loneliness, and my mother’s disapproval began to infiltrate my psyche. The fact that it was the holiday season-and my own personal dark period-did nothing to help cure my melancholy.
I was 27 years old, and all alone in a strange city during what most people-myself not included-considered to be the most magical time of the year. Aside from the sales clerks at the various shops I had been to, I hadn’t spoken with a soul except for Renee, briefly, and only once or twice. I avoided talking to my mother like the plague. Renee was entirely too in tune with my moods-I never had been able to hide from her. I refused to have her say ‘I told you so’ and then try to convince me to move back to Phoenix. I was tired of Renee living my life for me. Seattle was my chance to finally strike out on my own and become who I wanted to be, not who she wanted me to be. I’d be damned if I was going to run back home with my tail between my legs.
It was that pigheadedness that helped me find myself just outside the door to the reception area of my new office, flat on my back, staring up at a familiar face but unable to recall who he was or how I knew him. My head had slammed into the floor with a sickening crack and the wind was knocked out of me. Wheezing while black dots floated through my vision, I tried to catch my breath. I was dazed enough from my fall that I didn’t immediately recognize the face that had been haunting my dreams and living in my memories for the past eight years.
I had been taken out by the combination of a slightly wet tile floor, a forcefully thrown-open door flying unexpectedly towards my face, and my own natural grace. As the train wreck was happening, it occurred to me that this was a hell of a way to introduce myself as the new head of public relations, but when I finally realized who he was, all I could think was how appropriate it was for me to run into him like this. I attempted to sit up but, the second my throbbing head lifted, vertigo struck. I dropped back to the floor with a painful thud to my already tender skull.
“Oh, fuck… I am so sorry! Are you okay…?” His question trailed off weakly. Had I hurt myself more than I thought? I delicately sniffed the air and, while I didn’t smell any blood, I did detect the slightest hint of a vaguely familiar scent that made my stomach clench up… though in dread or anticipation or dread, I couldn’t say.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine; I just need a minute. This isn’t my first meeting with the floor. I seem to end up here quite frequently, actually.”
“I know,” the man whispered, so softly I thought I imagined it. His voice-full of tenderness and longing, or so I thought I detected-resonated with me, but I just couldn’t place it. A nanosecond later, a door opened somewhere down the hall, sending a gentle breeze full of the strangers scent wafting over me. I froze, gripped in the clutches of the memories that had been tormenting me for the last eight years.
~\*/~
Eight Years Earlier
My roommate forced me to go snowboarding with her and a few of her friends in Aspen over winter break my freshman year of college. I gave her a million different reasons why I couldn’t go, but none of my excuses worked. With my mother off gallivanting who the fuck knew where with her new husband, I wasn’t exactly going to be missed at home, so with nothing better to do and nowhere else to go, I finally agreed.
My friends were eager to hit the slopes as soon we arrived. We dropped our bags in our rooms and then I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to the slopes. I told them that strapping slippery things to my feet and then dumping me off at the highest end of an incline that was covered in wet, slippery stuff probably wasn’t the best idea, but no one listened to me. I was lucky that they consented to starting me off on the bunny slope--which could hardly be called a slope, it was so flat. In retrospect, I’m not sure that the bunny slope taught me anything. All it did was instill a false sense of confidence in my newly acquired-but virtually non-existent-snowboarding ‘skills’.
It was that confidence-and knowing I was holding my friends back-that caused me to readily agree when it was suggested that I move up to one of the more advanced slopes, even though, deep down, I knew it was a bad idea.
Everything was fine as we rode the chairlift up; we stood at the top of the slope getting ready to head down and my confidence was soaring... but then we started down the hill. At that point, everything that could go wrong, did. I hadn’t realized the speeds I would reach or how quickly I would reach them on a hill with a measurable grade. Forgetting everything I had been taught on the bunny slope, I soon became a danger not only to myself, but others as well. I did okay for about the first twenty feet, then panicked over how fast I was going.
I couldn’t remember how to slow down or stop, and then I forgot to keep my balance in the center of my board. My weight shifted to the front of my board, the edge of it catching in the snow, and I went down. Hard. I spun out of control, tumbling… ass… over… tea-kettle.
All.
The.
Way.
Down.
They say that your life passes before your eyes when you have a near death experience, but it didn’t happen like that for me. The only thing going through my mind while I bounced down the slope…was song lyrics. Specifically, She’ll Be Coming Down the Mountain. I didn’t know what that said about me, but I didn’t imagine it was anything good.
About halfway down…thank fuck…the board finally broke loose and went flying away from me. I continued to freewheel merrily along, somehow managing to not take anyone out with me, at least not until I neared the bottom of my decent. I crashed into some hapless chap, sending us both-now one big, tangled ball of limbs-directly into a snow bank. We slammed into it like a wrecking ball, sending up a wall of snow that showered down on everyone within a fifteen foot radius.
The good part was that, between the poor guy I mowed down and the snowdrift that we were embedded in, I no longer resembled a runaway bobsled being driven by one of the crash test dummies. The bad news was that I had taken someone else down with me.
I must have lost consciousness at some point, because things got hazy and whole chunks of time went missing. When we had been fished out of the snow, our limbs were all sorted out and untangled by some good Samaritans standing nearby-none of whom happened to be one of my recently conspicuously missing ‘friends’-it was determined that the poor guy to whom I gave the snowjob was fine.
By the grace of God, I too seemed to be miraculously unharmed…well, aside from an almost certain concussion. Considering the spill I took, it hardly registered; I was lucky to be alive honestly. Not wanting take any chances, just in case, the medics wrapped a brace around my neck and then strapped me to one of those plastic, Baywatch-looking stretchers before loading me into an ambulance. I had no one to accompany me, as my friends were still M.I.A., so it was just one overweight medic and me riding in the back of the silent vehicle.
And that was how we met--even if I wasn’t quite aware of it just yet. It certainly wasn’t an easily forgettable introduction.
~//~
At the hospital, I was poked and prodded, wheeled from here to there and back again. A battery of tests confirmed what I had already guessed: I had a severely sprained ankle, a mildly sprained wrist, several bruised and one broken rib, various contusions, and a fairly serious concussion. Luckily not serious enough to require an overnight stay in the hospital.
“You’re a rather lucky young woman, Ms. Swan,” the doctor concluded after going over my list of injuries. Just when I thought he was finished, Doogie Howser, M.D., looked at me and said, “You’re going to be pretty sore for a few days--” For this he needed a medical degree? “--but it could have been worse.”
He scheduled me for a follow-up appointment at the end of the week, wrote me a prescription for a mild pain killer, and gave me a list of symptoms that, if experienced, warranted an immediate return to the hospital. Several hours after I was admitted I was finally released, but not before Doogie made me promise to have someone stay with me for at least twenty four hours, just as a precaution. Humoring him, I agreed, but in reality I had no intention of being babysat. Plus, I didn’t have anyone who could keep an eye on me; it was apparent that I couldn’t depend on my so-called-friends.
As I was wheeled into the waiting area, my eyes immediately fell upon the most incredible looking man I had ever seen. He was beautiful-if a man can even be beautiful-but it wasn’t just his obvious physical superiority over every man that I had ever seen that drew my eye to him. It was the worry that was clouding his eyes, the concern wrinkling his brow, the nervous, tense way he kept worrying at the beanie in his hands--and something else, but I wasn’t sure what. I couldn’t help thinking that whoever he was there with was a lucky woman. Why I automatically assumed that he was there for a woman, I can’t say, but little did I know how right I would be.
Less than a second after I completed my perusal of him, he looked up from his lap, our eyes locking, and something happened inside of me… I don’t know. As stupid as it sounds, it felt like our souls touched…as if when our eyes met I had finally found my match, my mate. All my life I had walked around feeling like something was missing, only I didn’t know what, but that feeling went away the second his green eyes looked into my brown ones. It was completely irrational, but I couldn’t deny what I felt. Who the fuck would’ve thought I’d end up slamming into the very thing I was looking for, when I didn’t even know I was looking for it?
He promptly hopped out of the chair of he was sitting in, and made his way over to me, letting out a sigh of relief. “How is she? Is she gonna be okay?” He questioned the orderly in a rush.
Did he know me? Did I know him? I must have hit my head harder than I thought, to have forgotten someone as stunning as him. No, even then, I could never forget that face… that hair. Copper and brown and mahogany and even a strand or two of blond all blended together in disarray on his head.
“She’s fine, sir…” He started, before I cut him off.
“She is perfectly fine. Who, may I ask, are you?”
“Oh, God! I am so sorry. I’m the guy you ran into… actually. You were in and out of consciousness after you hit me… and I was worried. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He looked slightly embarrassed over his confession, and he tried to hide it behind the rush of words that were suddenly pouring out of his mouth. “I’m not a stalker or anything, I swear.
“It’s just… my dad’s a doctor and I know how serious concussions can be. I thought that it might be useful, if you were still unconscious when you were admitted, to tell the doctor what I saw. I am so sorry for making you uncomfortable.
“I… I shouldn’t have come. S-s-sorry.” He turned to walk away, his beanie folded in half and clutched tightly in his hands in front of him. Just as suddenly as he started to turn away and leave, he spun around and blurted out, “What happened to your friends? I mean, I’ve been here since just after you were admitted and there doesn’t seem to be anyone with you.
“I’m certain I saw you with a group of people earlier on the slopes, but now you seem to be all alone. I just thought… well, since we’re staying at the same hotel... I thought that you could… maybe… can I see you back to your room? Shit! I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I…”
He seemed almost as nervous as I was, and it astounded me that someone so dazzlingly, heartbreakingly beautiful, could be self-conscious about talking to me. Without knowing what I was doing or where the courage came from, I reached forward and placed my hand on his, silencing him. “Um, sure… I could use a ride… if you don’t mind, I mean…”
It was the truth; I really could use a ride. When I my clothing had been returned after the doctor finished speaking to me, I had pulled my cell phone out of the interior pocket of my ski coat with the intention of calling a cab, only to discover that it had broken during my little tumble down the hillside. It was then that I had realized that I didn’t have enough cash on me to make a phone call, let alone pay for a cab. The bronze haired god’s offer was actually quite appreciated and needed since I couldn’t very well walk back to the lodge.
Out of nowhere, I was completely overwhelmed his kindness. To waste his time in a hospital, worrying over the stranger who had crashed into him was huge in my book considering my friends had abandoned me for… I don’t exactly know why, but they obviously had better things to do than worry about me. Just thinking about it made me feel alone and completely worthless.
And then, because I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough for one day…and also because my emotions were all screwed up thanks to my concussion…I burst into tears in the middle of E.R. waiting room. As I sobbed my little heart out, I prayed fervently, to whoever would listen, for the floor to swallow me up or a freak tornado to swoop down and drop me off in Oz. Of course, neither thing happened, but…
I was quickly wheeled out of the hospital and, rather than make me wait there in front of the doors while he brought his car around, he pushed me out to the parking lot. I was still sobbing uncontrollably when we came to a halt next to a silver car directly across from the doors we had just exited. He opened the door, shielding me from prying eyes, and then stepped in front of me and dropped to his knees. Reaching up, he brought one hand to my face, cupping my cheek, and used his thumbs to brush away my tears.
“Hey, now! Why all the tears, beautiful? Shhhhhh!!! You can tell me. What’s wrong?”
“I am just so beyond embarrassed,” I sobbed, my words barely comprehensible. I was crying so hard at that point that I was starting to hyperventilate, gaspy hiccoughs punctuating my words as I tried to suck in enough oxygen.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the window and I was appalled. I was a hot mess-all red-faced from both my crying and my initial embarrassment, with snot and tears streaming down my face-and my humiliation increased. “I’m mortified, really. I mean, I went tumbling down a mountain, slamming into to you...yet, here you are, taking care of a complete stranger. Meanwhile, the people who claim to be my friends acted like they didn’t know me, and couldn’t be bothered to see if I was okay.
“I can’t even imagine what you must think of me when my own friends don’t give a fuck about me. And now look at me! I am a fucking wreck! I don’t want your sympathy…but I will take your sympathy car ride because I have no money and my phone is broken…and oh, God! I think…I think I’m gonna…”
And then I got sick. Luckily, he figured it out and managed to get out of the way before I puked on him. Worst. Day. Ever.
I don’t remember much after nearly yakking on him. I recall feeling incredibly weak and shaky, the sensation of floating and motion, and then nothing.
~//~
I awoke sometime later, disoriented, and most definitely not in my room. The bed in my room was nowhere near as nice as the luxurious one I was laying in.
Still lying on my back, I stretched, raising my arms above me. My head throbbed painfully, beating in time with the blood that was pulsing in my veins. My whole body ached like it’d had a run in with a bus and my mouth felt like sandpaper, but I could remember nothing of my night. I could only imagine what kind of debauchery I had gotten up to, judging by the condition my condition was in. At least I had my clothes on, I thought wryly, pleased that no matter what had happened the night before, I wasn’t that kind of girl. Lauren and Jessica had cornered the market on one night stands and I was more than happy to leave them to it.
I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around, trying to get my bearings. He was real! I thought, shocked to find myself face to face with the archangel from my dreams, dozing, less than three feet from me in a chair next to the bed. His head rested on his hand and his mouth hung open… he was adorable. I suddenly realized that if he was there…that meant…oh, fuck! The snowboarding accident, the hospital, the breakdown next to his car, the… ugh! It was all true. It had actually happened. I had to get out of there, stat.
I quietly peeled the covers back, slid my feet over the edge of the soft-as-a-feather bed and stood up, forgetting about my ankle. Pain shot through my body and my injured joint gave out, sending me sprawling to the floor. I closed my eyes and braced for the impact… but it never came. Two arms snaked out with inhuman speed and wrapped around my middle, preventing my battered body from undergoing any more abuse due to my inherent clumsiness.
“You certainly know how to make an entrance,” he breathed against my neck, his voice raspy…and ridiculously sexy…from sleep.
Every inch of me that was in contact with him buzzed with electricity. His breath lapping at the sensitive skin near my ear sent an involuntary shiver through my body and caused my nipples to pebble. I blushed furiously, but I wasn’t sure if it was from his comment or due to the embarrassing betrayal of my body. I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting control of my suddenly raging hormones, but he undermined me when he shifted me the tiniest bit in his arms and his rock hard chest rubbed against my nipples. To my chagrin, I felt my cheeks flame even more and I was sure that I must have resembled a tomato.
Could I possibly quit embarrassing myself in front of this unbelievably attractive man? Outlook not so good.
He shifted away from me slightly so that he could see my face, and asked, “You okay, beautiful?”
His gaze felt heavy and languid on my face, and I peered down at him through half closed lids. I don’t know what he saw in my eyes, but whatever it was, it was enough to wipe the fuckhot smirk off of his pretty face. It was replaced with a look of pure lust that was so smoldering, I was certain that it could melt the panties right off a girl…it was definitely having an effect on mine. We were both frozen, caught up in each other. Our breathing grew more ragged with each second that our eyes remained locked.
Brinnnnng! Brinnnnng! trilled a nearby phone, breaking the spell. He stood up, setting me on fire when he slid one arm down below my ass, lifting me effortlessly with him. He sat me back on the bed I had just left and then answered the still ringing phone.
“Yeah? ... Nope. … Nah, you guys go ahead without me, I think I’m going to stay behind. I’ll catch up with you later. … Have fun, Alice. … Mmhmm, I love you too.” I gasped hearing him tell the woman that he loved her. I felt his eyes snap back to me, the room bathed in silence for a moment before he spoke again, his carefully chosen words presumably for my benefit. “Tell Jasper he better take care of you. I don’t want him bringing my little sister back to me injured. … Ha, ha, ha! Bye, Al.”
I was staring intently at the floor when he put the phone back in its receiver. “My sister,” he said needlessly.
“I heard… uh, not that I was t-trying to eavesdrop or anything,” I said in a rush…I didn’t want to appear rude. “Um, how… h-how did I get here instead of my room?”
He ran his hand through his hair and I smiled lightly at the obvious nervous tic, wondering what in the world he had to be nervous about. A deep breath left him in one big gust, his lips making a flapping sound as they vibrated from the expelled air.
“You, uh, conked out on me before I could get you in the car and I didn’t know where your room was… or your key, for that matter. I didn’t feel right going through your pockets to find your key, and I definitely didn’t feel right leaving you on your own with a concussion, so… Ibroughtyoutomyroom.” He said the last part quickly, the words blending together so that they were almost unrecognizable. “I hope that’s okay? I promise you that I was a complete gentleman, and stayed in the chair the whole night.
“I would have gone over to the couch, but I couldn’t see you very well from over there, and my dad said that I needed to wake you every couple of hours to check your pupil dilation as a precaution.” He looked sheepish as he confessed to calling his father about me, but it was soon replaced by a smug look that seemed much more at home on his face.
His mouth twisted up into a sexy, crooked smile that I imagined worked on all the girls, and I found myself unable to resist returning it with a little half-smile of my own…mine nowhere near as sexy, of course.
“I have to say, Beauty, you are extremely uncooperative when you don’t want to wake up… and did you know you talk in your sleep?”
I could feel my face automatically heat up as I contemplated what I could possibly have said. “Fuck! I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?” I queried hopefully.
He looked at the floor when he answered me. “No, no, nothing too embarrassing, at least.”
“Oh, well… I suppose I can live with only partially embarrassing myself, especially after humiliating myself so fully yesterday.” I didn’t know where the sudden surge of confidence came from that had me bantering so easily with him, but I liked it.
Not that it mattered. He was far, far out of my league. Although, maybe that was it-I knew I didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell with him, so I wasn’t nervous or worried that I would make an ass of myself…not that I could have done much to make more of an ass of myself after the day before.
“I wouldn’t say you embarrassed yourself fully, Beauty. It could have been worse. You could have, I don’t know…admitted to a love of early nineties boy bands and then sung a medley of their hits while expertly performing dance moves from the videos. You know…just…off the top of my head.”
I snorted, covering my mouth as the sound came out of me and then, in between rather unladylike guffaws, wheezed, “You came up with that a little bit too quickly. Experience? You a closet N’Syncer?
“Come on, you can tell me. I won’t say word, Scout’s honor,” I promised, holding up my first two fingers next to my head in the Scout’s salute.
He looked appalled, pointing to himself with both thumbs disbelievingly as he asked, “Me? Hah!! No, definitely not me…but my best friend Jasper revealed that interesting tidbit one night, piss drunk after a party we had thrown at our apartment.
“It was too bad that the party was mostly over and the only people that saw it were my sister, Alice, and our brother, Emmett…” he paused, looking at me conspiratorially and then continued, “…but, we may or may not have gotten it on video.”
I laughed loudly, and his eyes seemed to twinkle at the sound.
“His confession nearly destroyed our lifelong friendship, actually. I mean, I have an image to maintain. I can’t have people thinking I’m a closet tween just because he is. What would the girls think?”
He recounted the tale to me in detail, complete with half-assed dance moves that had me laughing so hard tears were pouring down my face. My ribs ached a bit, but nothing too bad until a particularly robust guffaw left my lips. I winced, clutching my side, and more tears gathered in my eyes--only not from laughter this time. My nameless hero was quickly at my side, his hand placed softly on top of mine, sending the same tingling sensation that I felt prior to the phone ringing through me, making me forget all about the pain. Unlike last time, however, his eyes were glued to our hands on top of my ribs, concern etched across his brow.
“Shit, Beauty…I’m sorry. I should have remembered. I shouldn’t have been trying to make you laugh. You hurt some ribs during your little fall.”
“S’okay. No need to apologize. It’s my fault for trying to toboggan down the slope without a toboggan.” I tilted my head, contemplating him as I asked, “Why do you do that?”
He looked up, his eyes going from worried to hooded and intense. It was a look that had only been hinted at earlier, during our pre-phone-call staring contest, and it was just as unnerving as it had been the first time.
“Do what?” His voice was soft, the timbre lower.
“Call me Beauty.”
His eyes shifted from mine and then shifted back after a brief detour at my lips. He tongue came out, pressing against the cupid’s bow of his top lip, and he swallowed audibly before replying. “Well, first of all…you are, beautiful that is. Second, I don’t know your name.”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what was happening between us and if he felt it too, before deciding-no last names. I didn’t need the complication and, if I was wrong and imagining the electricity sizzling between us, then I could just pretend that it never happened, safe in the knowledge that he didn’t know who I really was. “Bella. Isabella, actually…but, Bella.”
He smiled softly, sweetly, sincerely, no hint of seduction evident. “See, just like I said-Beauty.”
I looked at him, confused for a moment, before it dawned on me. Naturally, I blushed…'cause I got no game. I dropped my eyes to my lap to hide my flushed cheeks and the small, pleased smile that tugged at the corners of my lips.
“Beauty,” I mumbled under my breath, hopefully low enough that he couldn’t hear. The small smile grew wider as I rolled the word…beauty…around in my head.
Silence, only a little bit awkward, filled the room for a long moment while I was doing a happy dance in my head. Finally rejoining the present, I couldn’t handle it. Peering out from under my lashes I cut my eyes to him. “Now you know my name, but I still don’t know yours.”
He appeared deep in thought. His hands were crossed over his chest and he was biting his lip as he stared down at the ground. It was silent for two beats and then, as if he only just heard me, he released his lip and a gust of air, saying simply, “Edward. My name’s Edward.”
“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Edward.” I extended my hand towards him and he left me hanging just long enough that I felt foolish. Something sparked in his eyes, he took my hand in his and something arced between us, drawing both sets of our eyes down to our joined hands so that I was certain that he, too, felt it this time.
“Likewise, Bella,” he replied carefully, giving my hand a small pump. We held on a bit longer than necessary until finally, reluctantly, I released his hand.
“Thanks for taking care of me and, you know, the ride and everything.” I waved my hand around my head, gesturing vaguely to indicate him letting me stay in his room and his keeping an eye on me. “You didn’t have to, especially not after I crashed into you… which I am extremely sorry for, by the way…if I haven’t apologized already…but even if I have, I still mean it. I should, um, probably get going and let you get back to your regularly scheduled vacation.”
I clambered to my feet…well, foot, and looked for my shoes, only to remember that I had been wearing those awful ski boots. I groaned internally and said fuck it, I didn’t need them. Using the furniture and walls, I began the taxing task of making my way to the door of his room, trying like hell not to look back.
Just before I gave in and stole a glance at him, he called out my name. “Bella, wait!”
Thrilled, I stopped and turned to face him, raising my eyebrows in question.
“I picked up some crutches for you at the hospital for you to get around with. I should probably give them to you.”
Denied! My shoulders slumped from his rather obvious rejection.
“Fuck! That’s not what I…I mean…Food!” He blurted out, apropos of nothing.
I kept my eyes aimed at the ground to hide the tears that had sprung up, but my forehead wrinkled quizzically. Was he unbalanced?
“Uh, what I mean is…you need to eat. And anyway, you can’t leave yet. My father said that you should be monitored for at least twenty four hours and it’s only been, like, twelve or something.” He flashed me that crooked grin again, and I found myself tentatively returning it, unable to put up a fight.
“Okay,” I heard myself agree without thinking. “I need a human moment first though…and clean clothes, so I’m going to need to go back to my room.”
“I move a bit more ably than you do, so why don’t we do this…I’ll run to your room and grab whatever you want or need, while you look over the room service menu. We can order when I get back, and then you can do whatever it is that you need to do while we wait for the food to be delivered. That sound okay?”
“Okay, if you’re sure that I’m not a bother. You really aren’t obligated to do this, ya know. I mean, I ran into you, and besides that you’re on vacation! I’d hate to put a damper on your fun or interrupt your plans. You’ve already done so much as it is, and I’m sure that I’ll be fine. I don’t know how I will can ever repay you for your kindness.”
“Bella! Bella, stop. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be…believe me, I am an incredibly selfish man. Besides, I only did as much as anyone would have done in my position.”
“Bullshit!” My eyes got big and I clamped a hand over my mouth to prevent anymore rude outbursts. I braced myself for him to tell me to go fuck myself or that he changed his mind, only to be startled by his actual reaction-he started laughing. And not a courtesy laugh or a small chuckle-it was a full on belly laugh, his body rumbling from his guffaws while I just stared at him in amazement.
“Tourettes?” I blurted out, the one word explanation coming out as a question.
“And when did you develop this disorder?”
“Just.”
He smiled at me, and I decided to just take him at his word, letting the discussion drop. I pulled my room key out of the hidden, zippered pocket just inside the waistband of the ski pants I was still wearing.
“Room 520,” is all I said as I handed it to him.
“What do you want me to grab?”
“Everything is still packed, so…if you just want to bring my suitcase and my overnight bag, that would probably be easiest?” I was checking to see if that was okay with him, I didn’t want him to think I was trying to move into his room but, unable to moderate the inflection of my voice, it once again came out sounding like a question.
He smiled at me, tossed me the room service menu and said, “Be right back.”
~//~
Hours later, fed, bathed, and dressed in a comfy velour track suit, I found myself still in Edward’s room. Despite the tension that crept up at odd moments, being around him felt comfortable. I had never felt so completely at ease and free to be myself around someone. He was playful and smart and always ready with a witty retort in response to my snark. We complimented each other. My initial feeling that we were made for each other deepened the longer I was around him.
We were sprawled across his comfy king sized bed on our second consecutive game of Slap-Jack, laughing and joking around, when the game got out of hand. I found myself flat on my back, Edward hovering over me with his hands bracketing my body, both us and the bed covered with playing cards.
Time came to a standstill, neither of us moving a muscle, afraid that the slightest tic would cause it to resume. I didn’t want it to ever start again if it meant that he would quit looking at me the way he was. No one had ever looked at me with so much intensity that it almost felt as if his gaze was caressing me. I would have happily lived in that moment forever, but it was spoiled again by a ringing telephone.
Edward jerked away from me like he had been burned. Running a hand through his hair, he snatched the phone up and pressed it to his ear, a stormy expression on his face. “Yeah. … No, I’m gonna stay in tonight, order room service and hit the rack early. You and Jasper go have fun. You can tell me all about it later. … Yeah. … I’m fine, Alice.” He paused and looked directly at me before he resumed speaking.
“I am not going to regret anything about this vacation. I’ve been skiing before and I can go again later. I have never been more content than I am right now. In fact, I am starting to think that this could end up being the best vacation I’ve ever taken.”
I looked away and busied myself by picking up the cards scattered across the bed and the few on the floor while he finished up his conversation. It was the second time he had cancelled on plans with his sister, and I was starting to feel a little bit guilty about taking him away from his family.
“Love you to, kid. … Mmhmm. … G’night.”
I was still awkwardly fidgeting with the cards when he hung up the phone and came to stand directly beside me. He was so close to me that I could feel the heat of his body, but I refused to look up or acknowledge him. Suddenly his hand came down over mine, stilling and thrilling me all at once. My face burned so deeply that I could feel the heat of it all the way at the tips of my ears, and I knew I must resemble a Roma tomato.
“Bella?” His voice was soft, seductive, sweet, but still I refused to look up. I was too afraid of what I would see on his face, in his eyes-rejection, annoyance, goodbye.
Instead of waiting to be pushed out the door, I decided to walk…er, hobble out by my own choice.
“Well, I should probably be going now. It’s getting late and I got a big day of…sittin’ around doing nothing planned for tomorrow...” I let my words trail off, realizing how ridiculous I must sound, as I twisted my body away from his and began to frantically pat the bed in search of the missing box that the cards came in.
“Bella,” he said sharply enough that my hand froze mid-pat and my eyes snapped to his, whereupon I noted his expression was in complete juxtaposition to his tone. “Stay. Please.”
Urgency burned in his eyes and I once again found myself compelled by his witchcraft to agree. I nodded.
~//~
We were both so incredibly stubborn-he too much the gentleman to make a lady sleep on the couch, me refusing to rudely kick him out of his own bed-that neither one of us would have given in. Instead, we came to a mutually agreeable compromise and decided that we could be adult about it and just share the monstrosity of a bed. We were both so aware of the other that I don’t think either of us got a wink of sleep most of that night.
His muscles remained tense and his breathing uneven and forced throughout the night. Every shift he made had me holding my breath, longing to feel him pressed against me and hoping that it would be the shift that finally brought him into contact with me. Of course, it never did and, to my disappointment, he was a perfect gentleman the entire night.
Eventually, I did sleep, but it was fitful and, when I awoke the next morning, I felt more exhausted than I would have believed possible. It was as if I had never slept, and proof that the tension between us remained even while we slumbered Secretly, I delighted in the knowledge, but outwardly I was grumpy and hostile. Even flawless, god-like Edward was showing a bit of wear around the edges from the lack of R.E.M.
We took turns showering and then ordered room service. After the plates were cleared away, we once again sprawled across the bed-Edward watching television while I read a book. Stealing glances, sharing sheepish smiles whenever we caught one another-it felt intimate. In a way, it somehow seemed more intimate than if we’d actually been intimate. I was again struck by how comfortable and so very right it felt. For perhaps the first time in my life, I felt totally at peace and content. That’s not saying that there wasn’t tension, because there was. Physically I was strung wire tight, but the rest of me felt perfectly at ease and…complete.
As I became engrossed in my book, the soft sounds of the television faded into the background-comforting, familiar-lulling me to sleep. At some point, Edward too succumbed, and when I briefly breached the surface of sleep several hours later, we were tangled together. It was as if, once we got out of our own way, no longer bungling things up with our insecurities or chivalrous ways, our bodies gave in to the chemistry between us and let nature take its course. Making the most of the opportunity, every inch of our bodies that could touch, were.
I reveled for a moment in our closeness and then I was sucked back under the inky waves of sleep.
~//~
Chapter 2