A Heart of Ice

For You, A Thousand Times

EPOV:

I woke up at around five. Bella was curled up in my arms, her back to my chest. I sat up gently, running a hand through my hair and yawning, careful not to wake her. When I looked down at her, she had adjusted her position by scooting closer to me, closing the little distance I'd inadvertently put between us. She had turned over so that she was now facing me.

Her hair was long and tangled around her shoulders, the circles were still under her eyes, but they were fading quickly. Her long, gently curving lashes were dark against the pale ivory of her skin and a small smile touched her lips. She looked peaceful. And beautiful.

I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and she sighed softly at my touch. I suddenly wanted to hold her, just for a minute, before I had to go home to get ready for school. Carefully, I slid my arm under her torso, and pulled her onto my lap. I made sure she stayed covered by the blanket as I leaned back and let the pillows against her headboard prop me up. I tucked her head under my chin and wrapped my arms tightly around her. She was tiny and delicate, like a flower or a snowflake. She was a princess, but not the ice cold, heartless girl everyone imagined her to be. Not an ice princess, just a princess. My little porcelain princess.

"Edward," she murmured in her sleep and I smiled down at her softly.

I thought of her story; crazy, abusive boyfriend, the death of a little boy who was practically her baby brother. She blamed herself for his horrible demise. She was always so hard on herself, constantly shutting everyone out. She was an amazing person, my little porcelain princess, so strong, surviving everything this stupid horror of a world threw at her. How could anyone even think about hurting her? Before her life became this miserable haze, this deep dangerous ocean that had forced her to develop her hard shell, I could only ever imagine her as being the perfect, enchanting, benevolent fairy that she is when she isn't hiding behind her walls.

I was filled with rage as the thought of that bastard hurting my Bella wormed its way into my thoughts. My vision turned red and my pulse started to pound as adrenaline flew through my veins. My hands curled into fists against Bella's shoulder as I tried to contain my fury. Suddenly, I hated him with a passion. Never mind that I'd never met him, that maybe he might have changed after all these months. At that moment, I dearly wished that I had been there, when it happened, just so I could rip him to shreds the moment he took a step towards her.

My breathing was speeding as my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to kill him. Jacob. I wanted to make sure Bella never hurted again. I was imagining him spitting up blood and bone splinters, lying broken on the ground, stabbed and bloodied…Wait, no. I needed to calm down. Bella was in my arms, safe, and she needed me. I held her tightly, burying my face in her hair, using her scent to call myself down. Gradually, my heart calmed, thanks to the soft, warm, fragrant girl pressed against me. Once I was calm, I gently put Bella back onto her bed, tucking the covers around her the way she liked, before rolling off the bed. I took a piece of paper and a pen from off of her desk and wrote her a note. I put it on her pillow, where she would invariably find it when she woke up and pressed my lips to her cheek, inhaling and lingering there, before I whispered in her ear. I stood and stepped back, watching her as she slept, hating to leave, but knowing I would see her later on this morning. So I slipped out the window, into my car and drove home, only to sneak into my bedroom window.

BPOV:

I awoke to the usual blare of my alarm clock. I was groggy at first and my eyelids felt glued shut. Something felt wrong, and after a moment, I realized I was missing the heat of another person beside me. Edward? I sat up and he was gone, a note in his place. I picked it up, smiling at Edward's script: