First Blood | Ed. Cullen & B. Swan

Chapter 3

Simon laid flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. A hand rested behind his head, his other hand resting on the thigh thrown across his body. He kept his breathing steady and slow; he didn't want to wake the body curled up into his side. At some point throughout the night, Bella had moved her way over to him. She was currently asleep, her head resting against his shoulder with her leg tossed over his waist.

Her scent was so much stronger with her close proximity, but Simon couldn't bring himself to move away from her. He could feel the burn in the back of his throat as his fangs pricked his lip, but he found himself pulling her closer. He moved his arm out from behind his head, wrapping it around her waist instead. He buried his face into her hair, slowly inhaling her scent as she melted against his body.

The burn slowly dissipated as he breathed in her tantalizing aroma. His fangs retracted, but he knew that his eyes still remained black. His eyes fluttered closed, and he felt his consciousness slowly slip away.

***

"Simon."

He let out a quiet groan, ignoring the person as he kept his arm draped over his eyes, blocking out the light spilling into the room.

"Simon," He heard again. He felt a warm hand caress his face, and he found himself leaning into their palm. "C'mon, Si," He heard them huff out. He felt the weight on top of him shift, and then he felt someone's faint breath brush against his ear as hair tickled his cheek. "I know you're a vampire, and it sounds ridiculous, but I need you to wake up now."

His eyes snapped open at those words, but he instantly relaxed when his gaze met her soft brown eyes staring back at him.

"C'mon, I need you to get up," She muttered softly as she stared down at him, "The others tried to wake you up when I was making breakfast, but you weren't responding. You made them worried. And me."

He lightly rubbed his eyes as he listened to her. "Sorry," He murmured back. "I didn't mean to withdraw like that. I just got really comfortable. I haven't done that for a while."

He opened his eyes again, moving his hand back behind his head as he gazed up at her. He knew she was straddling his waist, and he could feel her hands resting on his chest, but he knew she wasn't fully aware of it.

"Withdraw?" Bella asked as her voice dropped quieter, her brows knitted with confusion. "What does that mean? Is that a vamp thing?"

He shrugged his shoulders, trying to figure out how to word his explanation.

"Um, kind of. It's the closest that most of us can get to sleep," He said as he reached up, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her hair around his finger. "It's a bit like spacing out, but it usually lasts longer. You sink out of a conscious state, and everything becomes silent. The only thing about it is that you can only do it if you're focused solely on one thing. Normally, I listen to music. But last night, I did it by accident. I didn't mean to worry you guys. I'm sorry."

"I..." She trailed off, watching as he played with her hair. "I didn't know you could do things like that. That sounds kind of awesome, actually. What made you do it last night?"

Simon hesitated as he stared up at her, knowing that he would be blushing if blood still ran through his body.

"I'll tell you later, alright? I promise. But your friends are currently voting on who to send in from the kitchen to check on us. I'm pretty sure Jess just asked Angie if she thought we were making out in here, so you might want to go put that theory down before she makes a big deal about it."

He grinned up at her as he watched her face blaze pink, laughter instantly rippling from his chest as she scrambled off of him. He stood up, offering his hand to help her up as he tried to contain his snickers. He pulled her up with little effort, lightly pushing her toward the kitchen.

"Go check on them," He said while starting to pick up the pillows and blankets off of the living room floor, "I'm going to pick this all up first. Then I might try choking down a cup of coffee to make this whole 'human' thing more believable." She sent him a small grin of her own before she headed into the kitchen.

Human, Simon realized, was how Bella seemed to effortlessly make him feel.

Desired. Trusted. Maybe even loved.

***

Simon couldn't stay focused.

He was at his day job, which he had gotten to pass the time that Bella spent in school. The extra cash was always a plus. He had gotten a job at the diner, but he hadn't thought about the days when the school day was canceled.

So there he was, stuck behind the counter in between customers, wearing an apron as Bella and their friends sat in a booth near the corner of the diner. His section was empty, so he had no tables to wait on.

He found his gaze constantly drifting back to their booth before he had to force himself to continue working.

"Quit sulking. It makes you look like a kicked puppy," Someone spoke up, causing his attention to switch to a girl with white-blonde hair sitting at the counter on a bar stool.

He rolled his eyes as he realized who she was, turning away to ignore her completely.

"Hey!" Lauren snapped, "I'm talking to you!"

"Yeah, and I don't really give a crap." He muttered as he began to reorganize the cups sitting on the back counter.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I didn't even do anything to you, what's your problem?" She snarled as she glared up at him.

"There is no problem, Lauren. I'm doing my job. I don't need your advice. I'm allowed to sulk when I miss hanging out with my friends. If you have a problem with that, then I'm going to advise you to mind your own business and leave me alone." He calmly replied before heading to the back of the diner.

He ran his hand through his hair, leaning back against the wall as he let out a sigh of frustration. Glancing at his watch, he perked up after realizing his shift ended a few minutes ago. He clocked out and hung up his apron before heading back to the main area. He moved over to their booth, and took a seat in the spot they had saved for him.

He easily joined into their conversation, rolling his eyes as Mike and Ben bickered back and forth about stupid topics.

He loved their friends, but as he and Bella shared a look, he knew that she agreed with him; they were surrounded by idiots.