Sweet Dreams (Twilight)

Nocturnal

I couldn't sleep at all. 

It was three o'clock in the morning and I was laying in Edward's bed, tossing and turning around in the soft sheets. It wasn't really his bed, of course, but rather added to the room for me on nights like this when I stayed over at the Cullen house while he was off hunting this weekend. I hadn't wanted to sleep in the bed, but the sofa against the wall wasn't as comfortable and I thought the bed might help, even though I hated the idea. It was too nice of him, too much luxury for someone like me. 

But even the king size bed wasn't getting me rest, not without him in it. I missed his cold arms cradling me and my lullaby hummed under his breath. Even when my heart skipped several beats, I could at least drift off feeling secure. I didn't feel so secure knowing he was hunting down bears and mountain lions with Emmett, while he had me kidnapped to stay over at his family's house, worried and angry that I would run off to Jacob in La Push. 

Alice had loved playing the part of hostage host, insisting on a sleepover event. We watched Romeo and Juliet on the large flat screen, Esme had insisted on cooking an Italian meal herself, Alice painted my nails too blue a color, and I stayed up until midnight with the rest of the family. It was almost fun, if I wasn't being held against my will to see Jacob. 

I went up to bed slightly annoyed after all the activity, uncomfortably aware that the others weren't going to sleep, as they never did.

It was hard to fall asleep when I knew there was a whole group of vampires staying up in the living room. 

I wanted to be with them, but Edward was stubborn on that issue of me joining his family as a vampire. This was my choice. 

But right now my only choice was to either try to sleep or see what the Cullen's were up to in the middle of the night. I was curious what they did, or rather, what they did in the middle of the night, hoping it wasn't something I wasn't supposed to see. I may be a virgin, but none of them certainly were. 

I quietly made my way down the two flights of stairs, barely breathing and taking careful steps. It was pointless to careful on the stairs, even for someone as accident-prone as me, because there was no worry over creaking sounds, unlike home at Charlie's. I felt a pang, thinking of Edward's natural grace; he hardly made a sound when he stayed over at night. 

I walked as quietly as I could into the hall leading into the main room on the first floor of the immaculate house. Alice would probably see me coming (and everyone else would hear me), but I didn't want to make too much of a scene, as they might think something was wrong. Regardless, clumsy people like me avoided a lot of attention. 

I paused, framed in the doorway to the spacious room. 

They were all there: Carlisle was seated in a large, comfortable chair, looking down into a thick volume of a book placed in his hands. Esme was with Rosalie on the couch, drawing something on a pad of paper while Rose flipped through a fashion beauty magazine. Alice and Jasper were together, seated on the other end of the couch, watching the late night recap of the news on the  TV.

It almost looked normal from an outsider's view; a family together and engrossed in their own pastimes, but I knew better. It was 3 AM, and all of them were beyond beautiful, with an unearthly model quality as they sat - still as statues - wearing the day's clothes. The book and magazine pages shuffled with quick movement when turned by pale hands, too fast for a human to read.

Esme saw me first and looked up, breaking the picture-perfect scene illusion with her rich, honey colored eyes as she matched them with mine. 

"Can't sleep?" she guessed, smiling.