I stared up at the ceiling unseeingly, playing absently with a strand of my hair, my other arm under my head on the pillow. Beside me lay a plastic bucket; complimentary from Alice, and my jacket sprawled its full length on my left.

The unmistakable sound of a car pulling up the Cullen’s drive didn’t completely wake me from my stupor, and I still laid there, dazed, as I heard a quiet nock on the door. There was silence and then a musical voice called from the other side of the thick wood.

“Bella?” his voice was strained, as if he hadn’t just returned from his hunting trip, and still thirsted. This confused me, along with the worry tingling in his tone, though I knew the reason for everyone’s unease.

I didn’t move, except my finger twisting my hair around and around, and tracing patterns in the ceiling with my eyes. “Mmm-hmm,” I sighed.

The door creaked open and a moment later he was laid beside me, one arm bent to cup his chin, his eyes boring into my emotionless face. His other hand stroked down my arm.

“Are you alright, love?”

My eyes followed the elongated pattern of a dragon in the wood, and then I dropped my head sideways to look at him. His eyes glinted a flowing butterscotch color, a smile playing at his flawless lips. “Yeah,” I sighed. My head flopped back around so I could watch the ceiling again. “I guess…” I sighed again, picking out a flower in the wood.

It was silent for a moment, then his cool hand cupped my chin, drawing my face around so I had to look into his eyes.

His thumb stroked softly along my cheek. “Alice told me everything,” he warned. The warmth in his eyes swirled, making me dizzy.

I blinked and kept my eyes closed, fighting a wave of nausea. I could feel him analyzing my face but I couldn’t open my eyes or… I couldn’t ever think about it without wanting to…

His fingers tightened ever-so-slightly around my chin. “Bella?” he shook my head gently, to wake me from my stupor. My head swam. “Bella, are you alright?” his voice separated and distorted in my head disconcertingly; the room spun around me, I couldn’t tell up from down.