Edward Cullen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
174awhile) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
randomshit2012-10-03 02:49 am
174awhile) wrote in randomshit2012-10-03 02:49 am
of popsicles and soul damnation | closed to hatestherain
It wasn't going to be as easy as climbing through a second-story bedroom window. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Bella now lived on the third floor of the University of Alaska Southeast's residence hall.
Height was far from the issue.
It was that Bella now had something she didn't have when she'd lived at Charlie's house back in Forks: a roommate.
He'd spent most of the first day of classes tuning out as much as possible; the introductions, the syllabuses, and the gung-ho professors who'd wanted to dive right into the semester's material - all of it became background noise. He'd heard it many times over. It varied little from the high school routine (and he had attended college a few times, though never for more than a year or two. He couldn't get away with more than that). He did make the obligatory effort to listen for any signs that anyone suspected he was anything but an ordinary freshman. The ones who did take any notice of him quickly got swept up in their new-found student life and didn't give him a second thought.
So far, so good. But none of that helped his predicament, what he'd spent most of the day worrying about instead of paying attention.
The roommate was going to notice him eventually, because he had every intention of continuing his nightly routine of watching over Bella while she slept. He would be discrete about it, of course. No one would ever see him enter or leave the residence hall at unsavory hours of the night or day. But as long as he didn't know the roommate, how often they would be in the dorm or what their sleeping patterns were... He would have to take precautions, the first of which were to only enter the dorm after the roommate had fallen asleep. He'd told Bella not to wait up for him, should the roommate be a night owl. He promised he would be there as soon as he was able - if that was an acceptable arrangement to her. She could choose to sleep without him by her side, if she wished. And he had made that option perfectly clear. College was a time for new beginnings. Maybe that would be one of them. Although he hoped not. He didn't want to miss out on the sleep talk.
So. In the meantime, while he waited for her signal - if she gave one, and if she chose not to, he would wait all night in case she changed her mind - he camped out in a small cluster of nearby trees, trying to keep tabs on the roommate's thoughts. The sooner he became acquainted with their mind, the easier it would be to pick out, which would surely come in handy in the following months that comprised the semester. Bella's first semester of college. He couldn't help smiling at the thought.
Height was far from the issue.
It was that Bella now had something she didn't have when she'd lived at Charlie's house back in Forks: a roommate.
He'd spent most of the first day of classes tuning out as much as possible; the introductions, the syllabuses, and the gung-ho professors who'd wanted to dive right into the semester's material - all of it became background noise. He'd heard it many times over. It varied little from the high school routine (and he had attended college a few times, though never for more than a year or two. He couldn't get away with more than that). He did make the obligatory effort to listen for any signs that anyone suspected he was anything but an ordinary freshman. The ones who did take any notice of him quickly got swept up in their new-found student life and didn't give him a second thought.
So far, so good. But none of that helped his predicament, what he'd spent most of the day worrying about instead of paying attention.
The roommate was going to notice him eventually, because he had every intention of continuing his nightly routine of watching over Bella while she slept. He would be discrete about it, of course. No one would ever see him enter or leave the residence hall at unsavory hours of the night or day. But as long as he didn't know the roommate, how often they would be in the dorm or what their sleeping patterns were... He would have to take precautions, the first of which were to only enter the dorm after the roommate had fallen asleep. He'd told Bella not to wait up for him, should the roommate be a night owl. He promised he would be there as soon as he was able - if that was an acceptable arrangement to her. She could choose to sleep without him by her side, if she wished. And he had made that option perfectly clear. College was a time for new beginnings. Maybe that would be one of them. Although he hoped not. He didn't want to miss out on the sleep talk.
So. In the meantime, while he waited for her signal - if she gave one, and if she chose not to, he would wait all night in case she changed her mind - he camped out in a small cluster of nearby trees, trying to keep tabs on the roommate's thoughts. The sooner he became acquainted with their mind, the easier it would be to pick out, which would surely come in handy in the following months that comprised the semester. Bella's first semester of college. He couldn't help smiling at the thought.
this is the world's greatest title
She was always keenly aware of the passage of time, of each second that ticked away and dragged her along on a one-way course to a fate she didn't want. That represented another set of cells dividing, another step toward aging, another step further away from him. It was always there in the back of her mind, casting a constant shadow on this compromise. There were more important things at stake than rites of passage. Far more important.
But maybe, even after the first day, she'd gotten a little bit more out of college than she might have expected. After the advanced placement program in Phoenix, the high school curriculum had become old hat in a good number of subjects, and as far as English was concerned, she'd covered at least ninety-five percent of the required reading years ago. One lecture of Survey of British Literature I later, however, she found herself full of more enthusiasm about a class than she'd probably ever had. The way the professor had talked about some of her classic favorites....--
Maybe, in some ways, Edward had been right. This could be a human experience worth suffering through.
Not that she was exactly willing to admit that. He'd managed to convince eighteen months out of her, but she would relent no more.
When the digital clock on her bedside table read 11:30, Bella finally got what she immediately wanted: a steady pattern of light snores from across the room, indicating that her roommate had fallen asleep, and not a moment too soon. Even mere hours without Edward completely dragged and made her increasingly anxious (and, in part, also made her increasingly aware of her own mortality). Her shoulders relaxed as she exhaled her relief.
At least this would be one less obstacle they'd have to face this semester.
She wasted no time in treading over to the window and gingerly opening it before craning her neck outside, surveying her immediate surroundings for any sign of Edward.
thought you might like it
"Sorry," he whispered so quietly, so softly, there was no chance the roommate would be stirred by it, removing his hand from her mouth. "Some of your neighbors show no signs of turning in any time soon. And there's a particularly restless girl on the first floor who keeps checking for wildlife. Poor thing's terrified of bears."
He takes her hand then and leads her straight to the bed, waiting for her to get in it.