This is set directly after Eclipse and I take some inspiration from "Growing Up Cullen" – that delight of parodies. Sense and Sensability is, of course, by Jane Austen. I did not invent her, either.
I'm trying something a little different – I usually write the Wolf Pack – so please let me know what you think!
It was another endless summer day and Bella was bored - well, not bored, exactly. Bella was restless. All she had wanted for more than a year was to be with Edward and now she was marrying him. She had wanted her complicated feelings for Jacob to disappear and Jacob had obliged her by disappearing. She was no longer being hunted by Victoria or being terrorized by an army of newborn vampires. Everything was perfect. Well, almost everything. Bella was still human – and a virgin.
Charlie was working the late shift tonight, which had meant quality time with him over breakfast. Edward was, of course, not invited. Charlie wouldn't have believed that Edward could spend the night in Bella's room with absolutely no 'funny business' and to be perfectly honest, Bella couldn't quite believe it either.
Stretched out on the couch in the summer heat, she imagined the conversation she and Charlie would have if Edward casually strolled down the stairs with her that morning.
"It's not what you think!" she'd say, with a sheepish look on her face.
"I think he spent the night up there," Charlie would reply with a stern look.
"He did but—"
"The only butt I want to see is his, moving out that door. And I don't want to see the front of him around here any more, neither." The shotgun having mysteriously appeared in Charlie's hands, he would then wave it menacingly.
She would storm out; Edward would apologize, magnanimously, and then tell her to apologize. It just wasn't worth it. It wasn't too long before she'd be a married woman and could do whatever she wanted, assuming that the person she wanted to do whatever with would finally agree… to whatever. Why stir up trouble?
Bella had been reading Sense and Sensibility before she drifted off into her daydream and her finger still held her place on page 29. "Too much entailing and not enough Edward," she whined, letting the book fall to the floor. There was no Edward here, either, although he was picking her up later for them to 'have dinner' at his house. Despite the disaster of their first italiano effort, Alice had recently taken to planning and, to Bella's chagrin, executing elegant dinner parties. Ever the gracious hostess, Alice made sure the food was edible and ever the reluctant guest, Bella would have to eat it while everyone made polite conversation and admired the centerpieces and name cards.
To be fair, Emmett did join her in consuming Alice's delights from time to time, out of nostalgia or maybe just a misplaced machismo, but Bella had a feeling that the nasty looks from Rosalie weren't the only punishment the big vampire received for his gastronomic adventures.
Edward always gallantly averted his eyes as she chewed, glancing in her direction only to make sure her plate was full of a healthy variety of foods – plenty of vegetables, which, as he says, suit a lady's delicate palate – and not too much of sweet things or red meat. Those were for Emmett.
Bella closed her eyes and smiled to herself as she remembered Edward's cultured manners. He was like a gentleman from another time; he was a gentleman from another time, always treating her like a lady, instead of the gawky, clumsy girl she saw in the mirror. She imagined Edward's cold hands lightly touching hers and felt a familiar tingle begin in her stomach and as she imagined Edward's hands moving up her arms, the tingle moved lower. She drew a single finger over the crotch of her jeans and felt the tingle grow stronger.
Opening her eyes, she looked around the room. Charlie was at work and the couch didn't face any windows. These days, she didn't even have to worry about Jake stopping by at the wrong time. Nobody stopped by except Edward, and she wouldn't mind if he interrupted her.
Lying back down, Bella began slowly drawing circles around one breast with one hand while keeping the other on the crotch of her jeans. Her nipples grew hard under her the thin material of her t-shirt and she each time her fingers brushed against the hard nub, it sent a shiver of pleasure down her center. But like all her solo explorations, Bella grew increasingly more frustrated as she grew more aroused. The tingle grew stronger but she didn't know how to make it stop – to make herself come. Her hips bucking slightly off the couch, she unzipped her jeans and tried sliding a tentative finger underneath her damp underwear but it just felt odd, not sexy at all.
Bella sighed in frustration and rolled off the couch onto the floor, landing on her stomach and knocking her elbow against the leg of the coffee table. From this new vantage point, she could see the dust bunnies under the couch.
"When was the last time I vacuumed in here?" she asked nobody in particular.
Zipping up her jeans, Bella stood up and went to tackle a problem she knew how to solve – dirt. And when Edward arrived, exactly on time at 5 o'clock, he found Bella re-arranging Charlie's videos into alphabetical order on a spotless floor. While Edward did insist on following proper etiquette for certain things, like the proper topics of discussion at a dinner party or asking the father of the girl you want to marry for his permission, on others, he could be more flexible. Like, sneaking up behind Bella to plant a kiss on her head while she was engaged in a domestic task instead of properly knocking at the door and waiting to be let in.
Edward liked to joke that Bella brought out his impulsive side, which Esme thought was darling. (It made her love Bella even more.) Emmett would usually then ask a question along the lines of "you mean you didn't starch your briefs this morning?" or "Is that a fancy word for pussy-side?" But pussy was the furthest thing from Edward's mind as he crept towards Bella. Her scent wafted towards him. The freesia was a bit earthier today; perhaps she hadn't bathed.
"Ah, well, no time for bathing now if we want to be on time for Alice's party," Edward thought to himself as he leaned in to kiss Bella on the top of her head. Bella dropped the pile of videos and gave a long sigh of contentment.
"I was waiting for you," she said.
"I'm here," he replied.
"Is that my outfit?" Bella pointed to a garment bag Edward was holding aloft.
"Alice sends it with her compliments. She says you look ravishing in it." He held it out to her. "Go change and meet me down here in 15 minutes. I'll finish with this." He gestured to the pile of videos on the floor.
Bella gave Edward a quick peck on the cheek and ran up stairs to her room, only tripping once. She hung the garment bag on the hook her closet door and unzipped it – inside was some sort of Indian outfit. She pulled out the long, full skirt. It was a rich peacock blue and covered in elaborate beadwork. There were leggings that went with it but Bella decided to forgo them for the jeans she had on. Nobody would see under her skirt anyways. The top was the same color and covered in the same beadwork. Instead of a back, it had a series of criss-crossing laces, loosely tied.
"That means no bra," Bella sighed to herself. "Good thing I don't need one." She pulled off her shirt and slid the top over her head. The last piece in the bag was a sheer bit of fabric that Bella imagined would be used as a scarf or shawl. She wrapped it around herself, glanced in the mirror to make sure her hair wasn't too messy, shoved a t-shirt into her purse, and ran downstairs to meet Edward.
He was standing at the foot of the stairs, now dressed in an Indian outfit of his own.
"Does this mean we're having curry tonight?" Bella sighed.
"Alice wanted something exotic," Edward grinned. "And she had fun shopping for spices at the Indian grocery in Seattle."
"As long as somebody is having fun." Bella rolled her eyes in annoyance. A cold look flashed over Edward's face as he drew up next to her. He leaned down and quietly spoke into her ear. "She will be your sister, Bella, and she only has this time to make food for you. Please be more gracious."
The car ride to the Cullen house was quiet.
"You can turn on the radio if you want," said Bella.
Edward looked at her while he flicked the radio on – opera. "Thank you," he said. "I wouldn't want to miss the aria."
"Are you still mad?"
"I wasn't mad to begin with just," he searched for the right words, "disappointed in your attitude."
Bella gave him a small smile. "I promise to be on my best behavior tonight if—"
"If?"
"If you promise to do something for me later."
"Bella," Edward warned. "I thought we had discussed this."
"Not that but maybe… like that night when I slept here—"
"I'll think about it."
And the aria played on.