Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight

Authors Note:

Prologue

Have you ever experienced a life altering event, well I have and her name is Bella. Our journey to this point has been a long one and fraught with pitfalls but none bigger than the one looming before me now. Why you ask? Well because it's dangerous and I'm gambling with our very existence. Just kidding, I'm a writer so I tend to be a bit melodramatic. But I do have all the craziness that makes up the life a celebrity...okay maybe not celebrity exactly, but I am a successful, if reclusive author. All my plans and machinations were ready and the craziness was about to explode in our faces. Some of it just as planned and most of it was adlibbed by those of us not in control, which would have really freaked me out if I had known what was going to happen.

It all got started with a phone call, a carefully planned and executed phone call. So the characters have been cast, the sets are ready...cue the atmosphere and let the shenanigans begin.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight

Authors Note:

Chapter 1 Author, Author

EPOV

I should never have answered the phone...Rosalie my agent was sending me a new personal assistant. I didn't want or need an assistant. My last assistant Vincent lasted exactly three days which was a bit of a record for me but in all honesty he had been stranded at my home during a horrific and freak snow storm for those three days and that was over a year ago. He had actually functioned as my assistant for roughly three hours... right up until he spilled his coffee on my keyboard, the same keyboard that I had used since High School.

He spent the rest of his stay with us baking cookies with Alice...by the time he left she had convinced him that he had a future as a pastry chef. Rose was not amused...Rose was my agent and my brother`s girlfriend. I actually think getting me an assistant was her desperate attempt to either keep me on deadline or once again to try and find me a mate as she so quaintly put it. She was sure that I was lonely because I lived in a thirty room Victorian mansion in the middle of the Hoh Olympic Rainforest just outside of Forks Washington; with only my quirky housekeeper and college friend Alice, my brother Emmett who was Rose`s boyfriend and our mutual friend and Alice`s "mate", Jasper.

I write murder mysteries for a living...period murder mysteries to be exact. I'd been on the New York Times Best Sellers List a few times and I had a significantly loyal fan base that kept my publisher happy and me comfortably flush, not that I needed the money being a trust fund baby.

My family came from old money...Dad was a successful doctor and from Britain originally, Mom was descended from the original settlers of Salem Massachusetts; they had recently retired to sunny Florida. However the bunch of us kids had all grown up together in Forks Washington and had agreed that after we finished college we would pool our resources and come back here to live together until we got established. So we bought this old fixer upper in the middle of the Hoh Olympic Forest. That was six years ago and though we were all successful in our chosen careers we'd never considered changing our living arrangements. The place was huge, it was within easy commuting distance for those that need to travel to work and besides we`d only be visiting each other all the time anyway. The house itself was comfortable and familiar like an old sweater we could be ourselves here, and we could all relied on each other... it was home and we were a family.

I was sitting in my study trying to figure out how to get rid of this assistant that Rose was bringing to dinner without being rude when Alice knocked and danced through the door, she flopped down on the couch against the only wall that was not covered by bookcases. Alice you could say was a little eccentric but she always had been. When we had been kids my dad had been the Head of Emergency Medicine at the local hospital. Alice Brandon and Bella Swan had been his two most frequent patients. Every year they vied for the most visits, Bella because she was an uncoordinated klutz and Alice because her legal guardian James Forest abused her. It took three years but between my father Carlisle and Charlie Swan the town's Chief of Police and Bella's dad they were finally were able to arrest him and at trial he was sentenced to twenty years for the years of torture and abuse Alice had suffered at his hands.

Rather than have Alice go into foster care my parents petitioned the courts to become her legal guardians and she came to live with us and for all intents and purposes was Emmett's and my little sister. Alice had an independent streak and even though my parents would have paid for school, she worked hard and got a full ride scholarship for college and she had worked her ass off as a cook in a local Bistro to fund her other interests. She had no formal training as a cook but she had a ton of talent...yet in school she studied fashion design her true passion. She used what she earned as a cook to finance her design projects. She now ran a very successful internet boutique, showcasing her original designs along with other struggling designers that showed promise. She considered herself the chatelaine of our home and took care of running it like a well oiled machine including the, cooking and cleaning. I have no idea where she got the energy. She seemed to have a limitless supply.

She had once told me that she could see all of our futures in her head and that`s what pushed her to work so hard to make those futures a reality. In other words she was a busy body who was always trying to get you to make the decisions she thought were most likely to lead you into this perfect future she had imagined.

Jasper had quietly followed her into my sanctuary and sat down beside her on the couch, they were an intense couple, but not in a showy way. When we were in High School Jasper Whitlock had just suddenly appeared one day. No one could figure out where he had come from and we never knew where he lived in Forks. He just showed up at school one day. I remember that first day he came a sat at our lunch table without being invited, he had called us all by name and kissed Alice`s hand and told her that he could feel her emotions from across the room and that he felt the same way...whatever that was supposed to mean. They spent the rest of lunch just looking at each other and not saying a word. After that day he was with us all the time while at school and most of the time he was with us when we weren't in school.

I asked my Dad one day about who his family was and he said to just let it go and just be Jasper's friend that he and Esme my Mom would make sure he was okay and as far as I know they did. Jasper finally came clean about his Mom after she had died. They had moved to Forks from Texas to get as far away from her abusive boyfriend Laurent as she could. Laurent was actually her pimp but not Jasper's father. He had knocked Jasper around fair bit whenever he'd tried to step in and protect his Mom. The last time Jasper had been in a coma for two weeks and that was it, she'd finally had had enough and called the police. He was arrested for attempted murder but before it came to trial he was killed by his cell mate for a pack of smokes. She moved to Forks but she had no marketable skills but one when she got to Forks. So she did what she had been doing since she was fourteen and she eventually became the Madame of the only brothel in Forks. She had loved Jasper dearly but had never wanted any of his friends to know who she was, so she had swore him to secrecy making him a bit of an outcast in High School until we befriended him. Jasper had been fiercely loyal to his Mom and was determined to make her proud so he had worked alongside Alice in the Bistro and received his degree in architectural landscaping but just before she passed away.

As I was lost in my thoughts of the past looking at two of my best friends sitting in front of me my brother Emmett came through the front door slamming it closed and headed for the stairs until he saw my study door was open. He did an about face and came in then flopped down into a club chair throwing his briefcase onto the credenza under the bay window by the couch. Emmett had been the jock in school and was All American in University. He'd even been drafted by the Seattle Seahawks it was his dream come true that is until he blew out his knee his first season with them. Good thing he'd taken his bar exam just in case football didn't work out.

Then there was Rosalie Hale who rounded out our core group she was my agent and another friend that had gone to High School with us. She was just another kid at Forks High when her family moved up from Southern California. Her Dad had lost a fortune in the stock market and killed himself. Rosalie and her Mom had moved here to live with her parents. Rose was a bitch most of the time but we cut her some slack after all she had gone from being a debutant princess to just another single parent kid in a matter of days. Emmett fell in love with her despite her acidic personality and he never gave up trying to win her over... then in our senior year he finally won her heart...or she just gave up...no, just kidding she loved him just as much.

I was the fifth wheel in this group. I was socially inept and desperately lonely according to my friends. I didn't have a girlfriend and though I had dated I never stayed with anyone long enough to make it to second base let alone third base. My longest relationship had lasted a whole ten days. We had been stranded here after a rainstorm had washed out the bridge to the highway. I had just never found anyone that did it for me that made me want to lose control and open myself up. Whenever I dated someone it was not me who initiated contact it was always the girl. According to Jasper and Emmett I was a babe magnet but ultimately that was all I was good for, drawing them in and then dumping them usually after the first date or two. I had quite the undeserved reputation for being a lady's man. And if I had actually fucked as many of them as the gossips said I did I'm sure I'd have syphilis by now.

As you can see we're quite the collection of characters and now Rosalie was going to try and pair me up yet again. I could feel it in my bones she is a meddling matchmaker at heart. Her last disaster was my current stalker Tanya Denali an unstable author of trashy Victorian romance novels. Rose thought because we both wrote about the Victorian era we'd make, as she put it a cute couple. But there has only ever been one girl that I was even remotely interested in and that was Bella Swan. However I never had got up the nerve to speak to her in High School, then we all went away to school and it was too late.

Bella had gone back east to college but I hadn't seen her since graduation night at Mike Newton's party. That was when she had kissed me...that kiss...hmmm...I never understood it. She looked me right in the eye, she knew it was me and she wasn't drunk. I remember what she said to me after, "Edward, I always wanted my first kiss to be with you." Then I remember she blushed and rushed out of the house I never got to say a word. And when I went to looking for her the next day she was gone, her Dad said she had already left to drive back east.

I hoped that I would see her every holiday when I came home but she was never here. I stopped checking with Chief Swan after the first year apparently she was working through every holiday and took summer classes to complete her degree early.

The one summer she did come home, she spent at LaPush Beach with her boyfriend Jacob Black...at least I guessed he was her boyfriend he certainly went out of his way to make everyone believe it. When I saw them together at the diner once I wouldn't have said they were a couple, but more like friends. Black had seen me that night and he had hustled Bella pretty quickly into that dinosaur of truck of hers and left. I didn't even get a chance to say Hi. I remember seeing her sad face looking out the back window at me, her hand splayed on the glass. I may have imagined it but I thought she mouthed 'I love you' before she pulled out of sight. Since that day I haven't been able to think of anyone else romantically. In fact, my books I have a recurring character one Marie Anthony that aids my private investigator Robert Masen much like Doctor Watson aided Sherlock Holmes. Marie is Bella and I am Robert simple but effective and I get to live out some of my fantasies by spending time with her even if it's just in my mind.

Finally Alice spoke up "Okay Edward, you've been in a funk for days...what's up? And was that Rose on the phone, is she still coming for dinner?"

"Apparently she's coming for the weekend and bringing an assistant with her."

Jasper sat up and looked at me puzzled. "Rose has an assistant again? Didn't she eat the last one and swear she would never have another?"

"No!" I chuckled remembering Angela stumbling around behind Rose. "Yeah she did practical eat that poor girl. But remember Angela finally stood up to her and called her a monster that could suck the life out of any human being. This assistant is for me. Apparently I get distracted to easily...it makes my publisher nervous that I'm always cutting it close with my deadlines...so this person is suppose to help me with research and editing. They possess a degree in English Literature and worked for one of the top publishing companies in the country. "

"So why does this person want to work for you, that's a bit of overkill isn't it?"

"They had returned to Forks to care for a sick relative but now that the relative is okay they've waxed nostalgic and plan to make Forks their permanent residence now."

"Just because their nostalgic"

"Apparently they're tired of the rat race."

Jasper and Emmett both chuckled, Jasper smirked, "Oh this ought to be good! Are you sure Rose is not trying to set you up man."

"I never even asked if they're male or female and for the record I don't care, because they aren't staying."

Emmett of course took exception to Jasper's question. "She wouldn't do that Jazz. She knows that my bro is still carrying a torch for Bella Swan. Which by the way I don't see why you dear brother don't just call Bella especially after all the trouble I went to, to find her again. Are you going to live on the fringe forever? She's not with Black; I proved that...hell she's not with anyone, Eddie." Normally I would have jumped down Emmett's throat for calling me Eddie but my mind was on Bella and that kiss.

Just then there was the deep rumble of thunder and a crack of lightening. "Sounds like we're going to be in for it...I guess we better make sure that Rose and this person have a place to clean up and stay, the river was already almost level with the bridge when I was out earlier, this storm will put it under water."

Alice waved her hand when I went to get up. "It's already done. I figured as much would happen." She chuckled.

"Okay pixie but what's the evil laugh about?"

"Oh Edward, I just think you're in for a surprise this weekend."

I hate surprises...I'm never surprised I'm usually just annoyed. I heard Rose pull up outside so I got up with everyone else and we made our way to the front door. Rose opened it just as a gust of wind grabbed it and flung it back against the wall. The rain came in along with Rose who looked like a drowned rat and the...female assistant hiding behind a very familiar curtain of long mahogany hair. I stood transfixed as the curtain of hair was flung back from the face that I had dreamed of every night since that kiss at Mike Newton's.

I heard nothing going on around me. I saw nothing but those chocolate brown eyes and her luscious mouth which now showed only happiness. There was no shock at seeing me, no disgruntled look of anger for being set up, just a sweet smile for me. Suddenly I noticed everyone was gone, the door had been closed and Bella had a towel in her hand, but was still smiling when she shyly whispered. "Ah hello Edward, it's been a long time." She smirked a bit and looked around. I was star struck Bella Swan in my home finally.

I walked towards her and we literally fell into each other's arms, it was Mike Newton's all over again...no it was better. When we both came up breathless, she reached out to touch my face. "It's only ever been you Edward...I've only ever wanted you. You are the first thing I think about in the morning and your face is the last thing I see at night. I don't know what happened to us that we never got together but I believe that we are meant to be...Edward...what are you thinking, please talk to me." Then she winked, I had to fake a shudder so I didn't laugh.

I placed my hands on either side of her face. I looked deep into her eyes...I could get lost in her eyes. "Bella I love you, ever since that first day in Biology just after you had moved to Forks and we both worked so hard to ignore each other...I have loved only you. But why now?" We stopped and looked at each other she raised an eyebrow and I nodded for her to continue.

"It was all miscommunication and shyness. Rose finally helped me put the pieces together."

"Rose?"

"Yeah she contacted me after Emmett's PI found me. I should be pissed that you knew where I was for the last year and you did nothing. But now I understand why and I guess I would be grateful for that, if anything that you believed about me then had been true...And I promise if I ever see Jake again I'll rip his throat out for you. I want to make a pact with you Edward Cullen that we talk everything out from now on, no secrets and no unanswered questions we'll be completely honest with each other. "I stood there looking at the only woman I had ever loved like she was a mirage. She leaned into me and kissed me again. "I'm real Edward and I'm not going away unless you want me to, I can't stay away from you any longer." She giggled and smiled up at me.

I tried my best to look confused, "Should I expect Black on my doorstep any time soon?"

"To be honest...probably, he doesn't take no for an answer and he really doesn't like you. He's never been able to accept how I feel about you. Even though you're the only person I talk about except my Mom and Dad. He thinks you've put a spell on me...dazzled me or something. But Edward he can be scary and he's become very possessive. Part of my coming out here with Rose was to get away from him. He's been stalking me lately." Then she gave me a conspiratorial wink.

"Well at least we have that in common."

"You have a stalker too! Oh, would that be Tanya Denali?" She grimaced then smiled at me.

"Yeah, did Rose...?"

"Rose did...but she didn't have to, Tanya's last five TV and magazine interviews regarding her new book have been exclusives into your relationship. Except that your relationship sounds like one of her cheesy novels. Rose told me that it was her fault, that she introduced her to you." I knew my erstwhile family were lurking in the dark recesses of the entry hall watching our little drama unfold.

Bella and I had migrated back to my study a warm fire was now burning in the hearth thanks to Alice of course. So we pulled the couch up in front of it to enjoy the warmth. Bella sat with her legs curled up under her and a throw across her legs as she leaned against my shoulder and chest. I had one arm around her shoulders and held one of her hands with the other. We fit together like we were made for each other and like we had been doing this all our lives. We touched and kissed and watched the fire burn low, until Alice yelled from the hallway. "You two had better be decent because dinner is ready and we're eating in the dining room. Bella sweetie heads up, in coming clothes!"

Bella caught in mid air a soft sided boutique bag and pulled out a sapphire blue cashmere sheath, matching under garments...and blue bunny slippers. We both chuckled. Bella looked at me with raised eyebrow and then at the bag. "Edward I don't mind undressing in front of you, but I'm starving and if I strip here, one of two things will happen. We will never leave this room and die of starvation or Alice will pull our naked butts out into the hallway. But I can wait if you can...to get naked...later that is." Then she blushed, a beautiful rose colour fanned across her cheeks and down her neck.

"Bella...I think...I mean, um maybe we better talk a little first for while...um let's eat and see where that leads... but yeah naked later sound goods to me." We both suppressed a giggle, and I turned to look at my desk while she changed.

"Edward, are you always this tongue tied, because I thought as an author you'd be a little more articulate?" I turned round to face her because I knew that the pack was still within hearing.

"No, I mean...I'm only like this with you and that was always part of the problem...but you seemed to have gotten over being shy and tongue tied yourself."

"Had to, being an editor in a top publishing firm is very stressful, especially when everyone is after your job and you're a woman. That's part of why I quit when Charlie got sick, but mainly it was because I found out that you still lived in Forks."

"Bella I hate to think that you gave up your career for me."

"I'm not giving it up for you; I'm giving it up for me. Are you telling me that we don't have a future together?"

"Hardly...you're the only woman I've thought about since I first met you. Every woman since that has tried to get my attention has been measured against you and every one of them was found wanting." She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile, I reached out and took hold of it and brought it to my lips to kiss.

Then Alice screeched at the top of her lungs just outside the door. "Dinner is ready!"

We both laughed and I turned my back so Bella could undress as I watched her in the reflection of the window. She came up behind me when she was done and wrapped her arms around me, "So what do you think, worth the wait?"

I turned in her arms. "Most definitely Miss Swan, but you're right about one thing I think we both need to eat, that is if we both want the same thing later." I gave her my lopsided grin.

"Oh yeah Cullen that's the smile that has haunted every dream of mine since we first met, let's go eat. Tell me do you still call Alice the evil pixie?"

"Yep...but how did you know?"

"I used to eavesdrop on you guys in school as much as could."

"BELLA! EDWARD! Dinner! Get your asses in here!"

We made our way to the dining room which was covered with takeout containers, Chinese, Indian, Tia, Italian and Big Al's Burgers and Fries. All comfort foods, it looked like pig out central and included a two four of Canadian Beer that Emmett had sitting in the chair next to him. Jasper had his bottle of Jack Daniels, Rose had her bottle Cristal. Alice, Bella and I had water we were the designated responsible adults for the evening. After dinner we were apparently going to play strip Trivial Pursuit. The rain was pounding against the dining room windows, the thunder was loud enough to interrupt conversation and the lightening was bright enough to make the room look like it was bathed in daylight.

Emmett was laughing at something Rose had said when he was caught off guard by the next crack and roll...he shrieked like a little girl, then the lights went out. Jasper grabbed a fireplace match, struck it then leaned forward to light the candles on the table. Alice pulled out flash lights from under the sideboard and passed them around along with a box of matches and a candle in a holder for each of us.

In order to redeem himself from the very girly scream Emmett turned to Alice holding up the flashlight and candle. "Well Pixie, are we now predicting weather?"

"No Emmett, I just read the newspaper for things other than the crime page and the comics." Then she stuck her tongue out at him.

Rose laughed. "Well so much for games tonight how about scary stories, after all we have a murder mystery writer and a literary editor in our midst. How about it Edward what kind of fix would Marie Anthony and Robert Masen find themselves in under such circumstances? This could be great brainstorming for you to get over that writers block regarding Marie and Robert getting it on."

"Rose, its Victorian England they do not get it on. Marie is the paid companion of Robert's mother that would be improper."

"That Edward is bullshit, they have the hots for each other and Elizabeth Masen has done everything she can to get them to let go of all that control, she wants her son happy and she loves Bella like a daughter."

Emmett looked puzzled. "Ah honey wouldn't that make it incest?"

Jasper laughed. "They're not related you idiot!"

"Yeah but Marie has lived with them since she and Edward were children. She's the orphan of a childhood friend of Elizabeth's. Marie and Edward grew up together. Wouldn't that be like boinking your sister?" It never ceased to amaze me how much my friends knew about my books each of them could quote passage and verse from some of them and the great debate about Marie and Robert's relationship has never stopped.

Rose sighed deeply and then smacked the back of Emmett's head. "How anyone can be as brilliant as you are in the courtroom and then sound like a moron in private. Honestly, do you leave your brain in the office safe?" We all burst out laughing including Emmett.

Alice giggled and hiccoughed. "Yeah! But Edward what would be happening if Marie and Robert found themselves trapped in an old Victorian mansion with four friends in the woods, cut off from civilization because of a washed out bridge and with the storm of century ragging outside."

Emmett chuckled. "Come on man you got to give us something, after all its Friday night which is traditionally Fright Night." Bella was holding my hand under the table and rubbing my palm with her thumb. "Hey how about we each contribute a thought, Edward you can start the story and then pass it onto one of us to continue."

I hated adlibbing while using my characters; they were like members of the family. I always took my time to outline all my stories and carefully construct them based on meticulous research, this was so ridiculous. "No. Look this is insane, and it's late. Bella and I have only just begun to get to know each. Can't we just spend some time together as friends without making it into a game?"

Emmett turned his head to look at me with his mouth open. "You mean just talk?" Then he chuckled. "Hey yeah, we could do that now that we don't have to worry about Eddie here falling into a deep depression while reliving old memories or talking about the future he doesn't have, cause damn now he's got one with Bella!" Emmett's voice had gotten a little loud as he looked up at the chandelier hanging over the table. I just placed a hand over my face and sighed.

Rose shrugged her shoulders, and whispered close to Emmett ear, "That's a little over the top lover."

To cover it up I nodded and said. "Thanks Emmett for making my life sound so pathetic in just one sentence."

"You're welcome man...but you know I'm right. Bella honey this guy has been in an emotional purgatory since the day he met you."

Suddenly there was an earth shattering crash against the front porch. We all got up and made our way to the front hall...the front door was standing wide open, a tree limb could be seen leaning across the steps but there was no reason for the door to be open unless it hadn't been closed all the way earlier. I looked at the guys we all knew that that door did not just open on its own.

Emmett shrugged and looking at Rose said, "I guess you didn't close it all the way earlier."

Rose gave Emmett the stink eye and crossed her arms, never one to mince words she said. "Ah babe that door usually sticks when closed and there is no way that tree limb hit the door first then rebound backwards to land on the stairs."

"Rose, baby may be the door wasn't closed all the way."

Jasper was shaking his head and looking a little too serious for my liking. "No way Em I closed that door myself."

Just then the lightening lit up the yard and standing on the front lawn looking like drowned rats were two figures one female and one male. The woman let loose an ear piercing scream. Bella looked at me and started to laugh, then I started to chuckle and we all started to laugh. "I have no idea who the girl is but that guy is Jacob Black my stalker."

I looked closely and saw the girl standing next to Black. I rolled my eyes and turned to Bella as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Well it looks like we'll have company the drowned rat next to him is my stalker and a client of Rose's, Tanya Denali. Maybe we can get them to hook up and leave us alone."

"Maybe if they just see us together...they'll forget about their obsessions." I stepped into her and gave her a hug then kept my arm wrapped around her waist as I whispered. "Don't bank on it love."

Then I leaned back and for the sake of the audience said. "Bella, we haven't even seen each other together, we just met again a few hours ago. Mind you that meeting was stellar...but still...oh fuck it. I love you and I always will and nothing's going to change that, even if you reject me."

"Reject you? Not happening Cullen, we've both spent too much time alone." Then she whispered "Hey ease up on the melodrama cowboy."

Alice appeared with towels and waved to the two figures to come in. I looked down at her as she passed us and she snarled at me. "Well they're not going anywhere tonight. I bet the bridge is out by now so we can't very well leave them outside."

I huffed and turned to the two that were coming towards us, "Why not?"

Alice and Bella both smacked me on the arm. As the two lawn creeps climbed the steps Alice stepped forward and offered them the towels. Tanya looked up at me and smiled then quickly frowned when she saw my arm around Bella, Black was already frowning at me. Great just what I didn't need, "Tanya, what are you doing here?"

"Rose said she was coming here for the weekend and I thought I'd join you after all it's been a while since we've been together."She looked down the length on the porch in both directions for no apparent reason. "Did you hear that?"

I ignored her question. "Tanya you've been here once with me and half a dozen times with Rose when I wasn't here. We dated twice the second time was here for dinner with everyone so I could tell you without a scene that I didn't want to see you anymore. Oh and I forgot the time that Jasper found you sleeping in my bed like you were Goldilocks. I wasn't even in the state that day."

"Where were you anyway sweetheart, I thought you'd be home working on your book that day, I was so disappointed. I didn't believe Rose when she told me you were away." She then gave me one of her signature pouts with her silicone lips.

"Not that it's any of your business Tanya but I was in Boston on...um business...my book tour, I was gone for several months." Oops almost gave it up there.

"Oh I know you didn't mean to break up with me. Rose told me you had writers block and just needed some time alone. So I let myself into the house while you were away so I could feel close to you. Would you believe it no one would tell me exactly where you were. Don't look at me like that Edward, after all you keep a key above the front door lintel for emergencies and I missed you darling."

I turned to glower at Rose. She had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot and looked like she was royally pissed, but at who? "You little lying bitch, that does it get yourself another agent! I can't take your shit any longer! You looked in my day planner while I was on the phone you succubus. I never told you I was coming here this weekend. And I never said a damn thing about Edward!" Rose turned and looked at me like she was pleading me to understand. "Fuck Edward, she came into my office while I was yelling at your publisher on the phone about your deadline. Tanya I'm going to get a restraining order against you for Edward, me and everyone else I know."

Tanya the dumb blonde just stood there smiling until she saw where my arm was. She walked up to Bella. "And who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing with my Edward?"

Bella was smiling when she looked up at me. "Not that it's any of your business but I'm pretty sure I'm the IT girl. The one that owns his heart and the only one who will be keeping his bed warm from now on."

There was a growl from behind Tanya, then Black flew up the steps grabbing Bella's arm and pulling her out of my arms. I took a step toward them, but Bella spun and slapped Black across the face stunning him into letting her go. She stepped back and into my arms once again. "Yeah Jake I'm getting a restraining order against you as well. What the hell is the matter with you? No means No, you idiot! I'm not interested in you as anything more than a friend and I'm seriously reconsidering even that! Edward has been the only man that I've ever wanted to be with and you know that you idiot."

The look in Black's face was a cross between humour and rage, he shot a look towards Emmett when he cleared his throat then he changed his look to just rage. "Bella you don't even know him."

"Jake I know him as well if not better than you?"

"How the hell could you know him that well?"

She turned, looked up at me and smiled. "I feel like I've known him forever. I've followed his career. Charlie has kept me up to date on all of these guys and the Cullen compound. And Rose filled in the blanks. It wasn't until Rose tracked me down that I knew Edward loved me in return. After all Jake true love can't be denied. But Jake even if I didn't love Edward, I'd still only think of you as a friend." I was hard pressed not to laugh out loud, I settle for whispering in her ear as I bent to kiss her cheek "drama queen."

Then I realized she had said Rose found her, I did a double take at her and then at Rose. "Emmett you said you had one of your best people on it when I asked you find Bella."

Emmett smiled put his arm around Rose, "Yeah I did. Rosie does a little wok for me on the side on special occasions. She's got a great cover as a talent agent and since she travels around a lot with schmucks like you it helps keep the costs down. Besides she's still a registered PI from when she worked for that guy in Seattle during college, she likes the extra cash and she only does missing persons cases." He smiled at Rose and she kissed his cheek. What could I say; after all she had found my soul mate. Black looked at me and winked behind Tanya's back...what the hell was he doing is he stupid?

Black burst out, livid now. "This is bullshit!" He reached out for Bella again, this time I grabbed his arm before he could touch her. He pulled it back like he'd been touched by fire. But he still bellowed, "Bella you're coming with me now. I'll take you home to Charlie."

"Jake I'm not twelve, besides Charlie knows where I am."

"But...but, Charlie always wanted us to be together."

"Wanting and getting are two different things Jake. When he realized how deep my feelings were for Edward he said he understood...he said that distance and time could never erase a love as deep as mine." I was ready to roll my eyes over that one instead I settled for burying my face in her hair.

"What! He would never say that, he and my Dad made a deal when we were little. Besides that doesn't sound like Charlie it sounds more like a line from one of her books." And he shot a thumb towards Tanya.

I'd had enough, and wrapped my arms around Bella kissing her forehead. Tanya gasped when she saw the gesture. "Look Black, deals made between fishing buddies over their infant children are not binding in this day and age."

"Well you ought to know being the Victorian authority that you are."

"What? That doesn't even make sense...do you ever listen to yourself?"

"Yeh well fuck you Cullen...you're the..."

Alice stepped forward. "Guys can we take this inside. Obviously no one is going anywhere. The bridge must be underwater by now."

Black looked at me and sneered. "No it's gone completely. We waded across it just before it gave way."

We had all moved into the house. Alice was fussing and made to move everyone into my study, she wisely took one look at me and thought better of it. She angled everyone into the games room or the morning parlour as it would have been called when the house was built. It was one of my favourite rooms after my study and probably soon my bedroom. I held Bella's hand and made for an oversized chair, she looked up at me and smiled pushing me down into it so she could sit on my lap. That action that earned another growl from Black, yeah well he can kiss my ass...and what's up with that growling anyway! The only problem with the seating arrangement was that Bella kept wiggling and I was getting and epic hard on, and damn it she knew it, the little minx. She smiled at me as she continued to grind into my groin. I grabbed her hips to still her movements but the position of my hands caused no end of black looks for our unwanted guests. Which in turn made me smile, Bella finally stopped her gyrations on my dick and leaned back against my chest, I was in heaven.

Everyone had forgotten the open door at this point including yours truly I had more important things to deal with right now. Like Tanya trying to tell Bella what I liked to do in bed...my mouth was obviously hanging open. Tanya just kept yakking and Bella was doing a beautiful slow boil. Just as I was about to say something, Bella stepped right in the middle of Tanya. "So Tanya do you find his Prince Albert uncomfortable when you're fucking? Personally I like the captive bead as opposed to the barbell?" My what? Where the hell...okay my girl as calling Tanya out.

Tanya looked a little panicked but caught herself. "His...oh no it doesn't bother me one way or the other. I think it looks really good with the barbell."

"Really? Well Edward now you know that if you ever get a Prince Albert it won't bother Tanya one way or the other."

Tanya made a bitch face at Bella "What are you talking about, he has...well, he had one when we were together."

"Nope he doesn't Tanya cause if he did that little lap dance I gave him earlier would have been really uncomfortable once I got him hard. And besides sweetie I would have felt it if he did, especially the barbell. Edward, love would you drop your pants to confirm if I'm right."

Jasper and Emmett were laughing so hard they were gasping. Jasper finally found some air to speak. "Oh god no Bella, from the look on his face he's already at attention and I don't want him to poke your eye out. I can confirm as can Emmett that Edward does not have any kind of Prince Albert...he is Albertless. I've seen him in the shower at the Y after racquetball and there are no penis piercings or any other kind of piercings on that guy's body." He dissolved back into fits of laughter, Tanya looked like she was either ready to cry or take a bite out of someone.

Bella leaned over towards Tanya. "Tanya just a word of advice dear, you're making yourself look pathetic with all those interviews where you've been gushing about Edward being your Fiancée. If you want to improve your book sales you need to focus. You're an attractive woman who could increase her demographic beyond the chocolate eating bored forty year old virgins if you played up your own sexuality and did a little more research about the period your writing about. Then maybe you'd find a real man and Rose could book you into something other than Motel 6 in some fishing village in Maine."

Tanya screamed and lunged at Bella. I stood up just before she made contact and moved Bella to my side. "Enough! Tanya you need to get it through your head that I am not and have never been in a relationship with you. And before you say anything else to make yourself look foolish I was honest with you on those two dates that we had...I told you that I was in love with someone else. Hell the first date is why I broke up with on the second date because I realized that I spent most of that first one talking about Bella." I turned to Bella. "And you Miss Swan if may I ask, when did you get such a mouth on you?"

I chuckled at her look of supreme confidence. "When I went to college, I realized that I'd left my heart in Forks with you only because I was afraid to talk to you. So I took some self esteem and assertiveness classes."

Emmett guffawed. "So how's that been working for you Bells?"

"Well Emmett I think I can hold my own...even against you."

Rose was laughing and looking at me. "Yeah I'd watch out if I were you honey. When she first saw me trailing her into the Starbucks back in Boston she just about ripped me a new one. She flat out told me that I had been queen bitch of the universe back in High School and maybe if I'd been a little friendlier she wouldn't have lost her chance with Edward. That was when I found out she's just as hopelessly in love with Edward as he is with her."

Black was just sitting there seething like he was ready to explode. And explode he did...in fact it was impressive; it was not what I was expecting and it pissed me off. "What kind of shit is this Bella have you lost your mind? You don't know this guy! I can tell you that since he's been in Forks he had exactly one date and that was with Tanya...Bella the guy wants you as his beard." He stood up and gestured at all my friends. "For Christ sakes he lives in a commune!" We all just looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

Jasper was vacillating between being ticked or amused so he settled for cocky. "Hey chief what on earth have you been smoking?" Jasper stood up as he made the comment and then Black was up on his feet.

Alice stepped in this time."Guys let's settle down here." She turned to Black. "Jacob would you and Tanya like something to eat?" We all looked at her like she'd just lost her mind. Black and Tanya both nodded, Alice asked the ladies to come with her to the kitchen and they all got up and left.

Once they were out of ear shot Emmett got up and smacked the back of Black's head. "What is wrong with you man? This was supposed to stop Tanya from trying any psycho shit on Bella and Edward, not the other way around! She must think you're an ally now. And where the fuck did you come up with the beard and commune shit?"

Jake was rubbing the back of his head but he had a shit eating grin on his face. "I don't know it just seemed the way to go, besides aren't you giving her more credit than she deserves she doesn't come across as the sharpest pencil in the box. Man Edward, all she could talk about coming out here was you...it was nauseating...no offense man but I had to put up with that from Bella for years. And by the way which one of you in this brain trust that set up that bitch to meet with me at the beach? I had some major damage control to do with my pack. They know I've been over Bella since Junior High."

"Ah..." Emmett started laughing. "That would be your partner and girlfriend Leah. She said it was payback for worming out of the hospital's charity BBQ."

" That was low man."

"Yeah well I'd like to see you give up first row infield tickets to see the Mariners play the Yankees."

"Man we're season ticket holders. Remember that next time. We could have saved you a world of pain." Jacob groaned.

Emmett nudged him and smiled. "Man I mean it, next time you want to see a game let me know. Hell, we owe you big time after all you and Leah were the ones that found the bugs in the house. But there is one thing that's always bothered me about that, would you care to explain to me what you were doing in Edward's bedroom in the first place?" He was still chuckling.

"Installing the new security system you wanted moron, what with James getting out you said you wanted the best in every room."

"Ssssh...Keep it down, Alice can't know about this."

I looked up and Alice was standing in the doorway. "You guys really take the cake. Do you really think you can do anything in this house that I'm not aware of? Honestly, the bunch of you, are morons. Besides what makes you think James is going to come after me anyway?"

Jasper walked over to Alice and wrapped his arms around her "We don't know darling. We are just being cautious because of what he said the last day of his trial."

"Oh...you mean the, 'you're dead bitch' speech?" Jasper pulled back and looked at her. "Yeah I remember that speech was kind of hard to forget Jazz."

"But this is not about me right now. The crazy that is Tanya is still trying to work her mojo on Bella." She came up to me and rested her head against my shoulder. "Edward, it's a good thing that this really isn't your first meeting with Bella since High School or she'd be running for the hills right now. Tanya honestly thought that you'd never get in touch with Bella after Emmett's PI's found her."

Jake sat up straight. "Hey, Leah and I are not Emmett's PI's we were under an independent contract and are affiliated only through a retainer for our services."

"Yeah, a very generous retainer and your biggest client also just happens to be Emmett Cullen's law firm, am I right?"

"Yeah but...oh shit, just forget it. Besides I'm doing this as much for Charlie as I am for you guys. He's tired of Bella wallowing about her missed opportunity and he's tired of seeing Edward drag around town like a zombie."

Jasper was sitting back relaxed now. "How come he didn't know where she lived, what happened there anyway?"

Jake grimaced. "Leah's Mom happened that's what. Bella had always harboured this illusion about her Mom and Dad getting back together so when Phil died in that plane crash she just assumed it would happen. Remember when he spent that month in Florida helping Renee get things ironed out...well Bells read more into it than was actually there. Charlie and Renee were just good friends and besides he was already engaged to Sue on the QT and Renee knew all about it but she was the only one.

Charlie didn't want to overshadow what Renee's was going through and Sue wanted to wait to tell Leah, Seth and Bella together. But when they were finally all going to be together for the big reveal Bella arrived early and caught Sue with her Dad at her Dad's place in a compromising position that was two Christmas's ago. She turned around went right back to New York, she wouldn't listen to anyone not even Renee. So she isolated herself from everyone and I guess had some kind of identity crisis, she pulled up stakes and moved to Boston. Even her employer thought she still lived in New York, but she worked from home most of the time and didn't need to be in the office much. Believe me man, when you want to disappear on the East coast there are plenty of places to go. Then Edward got his head out of his ass and had Emmett hire me and Leah, when we found Bella we let him know and he got Rose to make first contact."

I had to laugh since it was actually Charlie that had stirred the pot enough to get me looking for Bella. He cornered me one day in Newton's and asked me point blank if I still loved his daughter. Charlie had not been my biggest fan when I came to his door the day after the graduation party looking for Bella. He knew she had left upset about something and figured out that it must've been me that had upset her. But he never gave me the chance to explain then what had happened he'd just slammed the door in my face. At that time he had still been pulling for Jacob and Bella to get together, even though Jacob had started seeing Leah that spring.

I remember the day that had all changed. I was in Newton's and saw him standing there looking at the new fishing reels that Mike's Dad had just gotten in. When I walked past him we had exchanged the usual manly grunt that was a substitute for any actual greeting. Then when I returned to the checkout there he was, still holding the reel and looking right at me when he asked out loud in front of Mike Newton and his Dad. "Do you still love my daughter?" Before I could answer he continued. "So why aren't you doing everything you can to find her...you're rich and can afford it, can't you?" Everyone in town and the Rez knew that Bella had cut ties with Charlie over his relationship with Sue Clearwater. "Look son I love my daughter but she is as pig headed as they come...probably gets that from me and well she wallows just like you son...that's a real bad combination. Do us both a favour and find her! I want my daughter back and then maybe my fiancée will marry me. And you my friend need a woman to stop all the gossips from speculating that you're gay."

Old man Newton's mouth looked like a wide mouth Bass that day. I grabbed the reel from Charlie, paid for it and I thanked him as I was going out the door. "I'll find her Chief and we'll both dance at your wedding."

That was the day of my disastrous last date with Tanya. It was also when she started to plan how to bug our house and cyber stalk me. Bella and I have yet to dance at Charlie's wedding Sue is holding out for a summer wedding. Plus Charlie had been seriously ill for the last eight weeks and has only just bounced back and returned to work. Okay let's pause and here's the back story of what happened to Charlie...and I kid you not? It turns out Deputy Mark's wife was trying to poison him, yeah I know psychotic seems to be the big thing in this town. Well except for Tanya she moved here from Alaska. Enough said about that, and Charlie is fine now. Mrs. Marks is in a state run treatment facility and Deputy Marks has filed for divorce. So why did she try to poison him? Well she wanted Deputy Marks to become the Chief of police how she thought poisoning the Chief would achieve this when it is an appointed position is dumb yes, the fact she was off her nut was sensational, but it's over. And Charlie really is fine. Deputy Mark's is ecstatic he can finally marry the 911 dispatcher that he's been having an affair with for the last ten years and finally be a father to their two children...hell of a gal sticking by him in a small town after being labelled a slut for having two children out of wedlock and not blowing the whistle on the father.

Okay back to my story are you wondering did I actually contact Bella after Jake and Leah found her...yes I did. Rose did in fact talk to her first, before I went out east and met with her. Bella quit her job but not to care for Charlie, she quit so she could move back here to be with me and so we could get better acquainted. Fortunately for me my last book had been a real success and I had very long book tour across country, so Bella travelled with me. I'd like to say that we made up for lost time but that was impossible, but we'd made a good start on our future...all except for the fully naked, hot and sweaty physical commitment. I think we liked to torture each other holding back and if you asked me now why I be damned if I could give you a reason...waiting for the right moment sounds lame but it's all I got.

I proposed to her here in Forks the day her Dad was pronounced fit to return to work. There was a BBQ in his backyard that day with just Renee, Jake, Leah, Seth, Bella, me, Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice...oh and of course Charlie and Sue. I hadn't really planned it out...well I had but in involved candlelight and a nice restaurant, then a moonlight stroll or drive depending on the weather. Instead we drove down to our old High School. I parked where I always had in my senior year. Suddenly I was out the door and around to Bella's side opening the door and getting down on my knees on the damp asphalt. I pulled out my Grandma Elizabeth's ring and I remember she blushed and smiled shyly as she wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, "Yes!" in my ear. I don't even remember if I actually asked her, but it seemed to be understood so I roared my joy to the heavens. I was so loud that the birds in the nearby trees took flight. I grabbed her around the waist after getting to my feet, pulled her out of the car and twirled her around like a child. She was laughing and smiling while her long hair flew out around us in a shining curtain of browns and russets.

It was the happiest day of my life...until the janitor came out to see what the ruckus was about. He saw Bella and me, waved us over to him, I felt like a teenage again and we had been caught loitering on school property and that it would all descend into hell as we approached him. He gave us a fatherly smile and said, "Mr. Cullen, Miss. Swan nice to see you two finally come to your senses, I always thought that you two would make a great couple." He chuckled and raised his eyebrows while leaning on a broom. "I imagine even after all these years there will still be a lot of broken hearts when people find out that Bella and Edward are finally off the market." He held out a key to me still chuckling. "Chief Swan said to expect you guys and to give you the key to the Biology room." Then he leaned over conspiratorially to me, "Have you got protection? If not, I just stocked the men's room with condoms." He chuckled and ambled away pushing is broom down the sidewalk.

I shook my head. I knew that the old Bella would have been fifty different shades of red but when I looked at her, her smile that would have lit up the sky. She plucked the key from my hand, reached into the backseat of my car and pulled out a bag. "Give me ten minutes then come and get me." She giggled and ran off gracefully toward the building that housed the Biology room. Biology how ironic...hmmm that was our first class together, I was flooded with memories of our first encounter. If we had been the people then, that we are today, we would have ripped each other's clothes off that first day and I would have taken her right then and there...well figuratively anyway.

Instead both of us were painfully shy back then and we did the best that we could to ignore the other one, while still checking each other out. Maybe if I had been able to read her mind it wouldn't have taken us almost seven years to finally get together. I remembered the way she looked that day, she had on dark skinny jeans, sky blue sneakers, and an Emerald green bowler's shirt over a Radiohead tee. Her hair had been draped around her shoulders like a curtain, and her eyes had been down cast. She had pale peach cheeks and luscious rose tinged lips. But when she looked up and stared at me with her deep chocolate brown eyes I was sucked me into their depths and was lost, she had owned my heart from that moment on. A breeze tickle my skin as I realized that I had been standing there musing for almost ten minutes. I straightened up and took one last look around the deserted parking lot before I made my way to the Biology room.

When I entered it was just as I remembered it, Mr. Banner was obviously still teaching from the drawings on the front chalkboard. And there amidst the minutia of the Biology room and the strange smells sat my Bella at our old desk and dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing that first day. I stood there drinking it all in, she was gorgeous. I walked over to the desk and took the chair beside her. She turned towards me as she had that day and smiled shyly. I introduce myself just as I had back then "Hi, I'm Edward Cullen." She smiled shyly just as she had that day and said "I'm Bella Swan". But today instead of ignoring her I reached out and touched her cheek then stood up to stand between her legs. I pulled her to me then I picked her up and sat her on the desk. I leaned in and thoroughly kissed the most delicious woman I had ever met. She dropped her head and played with the buttons on my shirt I knew she wanted to say something so I waited. "Edward before we go any further. When I told you at that graduation party that I wanted my first kiss to be from you, well I also wanted you to be the first I ever made love to, so I'm still a..." Despite both of us having dated we had never found anyone that could measure up to our fantasy's of each other so we were never...intimate with anyone.

She was so cute when she was tongue tied. I pulled her chin up to look at me, "Bella, why do you think there has been so much gossip about me in the magazines and in town. Why do you think we were hounded so much on my book tour, there has never been anyone for me either? So while we might be in our twenties now, I guess will still be the fumbling first timers here where it all started." We went slowly and it was heaven as we divested each other of our clothing. Just touching, tasting and exploring each other's bodies. Finally I slid into her slowly, when I reached her barrier I hesitated for a second, she smiled at me and nodded. Then I thrust into her deeply, she shuddered and I held still until she had adjusted to the discomfort. Surprisingly she was the one who pulled me in closer to start a slow and languorous pace but as our passion and our need for release overwhelmed us both we stepped it up to a punishing rhythm and we exploded into and around each other. We had both been virgins and our first experience was amazing, spontaneous and incredibly passionate. Which was not what I had been expecting after talking to Jasper and Emmett and reading everything I could get my hands on...hey I'm nothing if not thorough. When I went to withdraw she shook her head, "No Edward please I've waited too long for this to be over."

I hardened almost immediately with those words and we started again. We made passionate love on our old desk and our chairs. I lost all concept of time until my phone rang. It was a text from Alice. "Dinner in 15, get your asses dressed and back here or Charlie is calling the cops." It was twilight outside. We had been here all afternoon. Just outside the door Mr. Jansen the janitor had left us a bucket filled with water and bleach and two clothes plus a note. 'I assume that you forgot the protection, so please clean up after yourselves. Just leave the bucket in the closet down the hall the same one that Rosalie and Emmett use to use.' We laughed, grabbed the bucket and went back in the room. I looked at Bella, the protection aspect was starting to bother me, not that I would hate to be a father but how would Bella feel about it. She looked at me re-reading the note. "Edward I have the morning after pill with me if you're worried?"

I looked her square in the eye and knew what I was about to say was the gospel truth. "I'm not worried I wouldn't mind having a little girl running around that looked just like you." She smiled and said, "How about a little boy that looked just like his daddy?" I knew then that we would be okay whatever happened. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when she didn't miss her period and she confessed she felt likewise. But there was still time for children. She couldn't take the pill and she refused to have me wear a condom so she said she'd use a diaphragm, it's not a hundred percent effective but we weren't concerned if we had a surprise.

I remember when we got back to the house Charlie had given me the evil eye until he invited me out to his shed. I went cheerfully with a beer in hand while Bella looked like she had just swallowed acid. Charlie was trying to be subtle, we hadn't shared our engagement news yet, we didn't want to detract from Sue and Charlie's pending nuptials. He stood there just looking at me as he took a swig of his beer and said. "Well?"

I played dumb and said. "Well what?"

Charlie was not taking time to play the game. "Listening Edward you've been wining and dining my daughter across this country for the last several months but haven't even once taken her to your bed as my ex wife tells it. Is there something wrong with you? No don't answer that, Alice already told me you were very old fashion and a...well let's just say men of your age usually aren't still carrying...their V card."

It was hilarious watching him stumble over his own tongue but I saved the poor guy from any further humiliation. "Nope Charlie nothing wrong with either of us, we both punched that card today." He slapped his hands over his ears.

"Okay, okay, god did you have to say it like that?"

"How would you like me to say it? Would it have been better to just say that as of today you daughter and I are no longer virgins?"

"Christ I said okay, enough is enough now maybe Renee will get off my back, if I can tell her you two have done the deed."

I laughed and slapped him on the back. "Charlie you can tell Renee anything you want but in your wildest imaginings you will never know how wonderful it was for both of us."

"LALALALALAL...OKAY FINE!"

"Oh and by the way thanks for the key to the Biology room."

"What key?" He looked genuinely perplexed.

A shadow fell across the doorway, Alice interrupted. "Um actually that was me...Renee called me and asked me to arrange something for you two, that you wouldn't be able to resist. She couldn't take waiting any longer, but really none of the rest of us could ether. "She giggled, turned on her heel and ran.

So now back to the present, I have a problem and her name is Tanya Denali...she had a problem as well, evidently she wasn't taking her meds. Tanya was a semi successful trashy romance novelist who had delusions of grandeur for her career and herself. She imagined that I had...how did she put it...oh yeah, I chuckled to myself when I thought about what she had told people. According to her 'I harboured a grand passion for her.' However nothing could be further from the truth. The woman was a spider. She clung to you and spun her evil plans around you waiting until you were firmly entrenched in her net then she'd suck you dry slowly like some malevolent vampire. According to her sisters I was the third guy that she had stalked...but claimed that I was the one. The first one she had driven out of the country. The second one she had almost killed running him and his wife off the road in a fit of jealousy. That poor bastard didn't even know that she had concocted an entire imaginary relationship. It had been his wife that recognized what was happening and she had been a good friend of Tanya's up until that point. Tanya's sister Kate is a psychiatrist and says her pathology is escalating and could have dire consequences for her next victim...thanks so much sister dearest. Yet Kate refused to come after Tanya stating that she and her sister Irina had divorced themselves from her. How do you do that to your own family? In short they had washed their hands of her and wanted nothing to do with her latest escapades. Well the bitch was going to get a shot of reality and not at my or Bella's expense.

Jake was looking at Emmett and Emmett was looking at me. Jazz chirped in laughing. "You'll have to get use to that man he checks out every now and then when he's reliving a moment. He hears you and he can respond to you if you expected him to otherwise he just chooses to ignore yoy when he doesn't need to be involved."

I looked at them all. "What? Nobody asked me a question I would have heard that." They all started laughing at me. Fine but it was true I could follow a conversation and still be in my own moment. That was great talent to have at book signings, I could lose track of the time and yet still respond to the same inane comments over and over again. The hand just kept writing and the mouth kept responding...and appropriately I might add.

Jake looked at me with a bit of a puzzled expression. "You know Cullen I don't get what Bella sees in you but I know she loves you and for some reason I believe that you really love her, so I'm willing to cut you some slack. But if you hurt her, Charlie will be the least of your worries. Oh and guys, what was with the open door when we got here. That's pretty stupid just leaving it open like that, you do shit like that and the new security system won't engage."

Jasper looked at him. "Wait man, you had to see that tree limb hit the door and it pop open?"

"No. I saw that tree limb come down, but the door was already open. If that limb had hit the door with enough force to pop it open the security system would have gone bananas, which it didn't. And before you say anything about the power it has its own backup generator."

Jazz was getting antsy, Emmett looked at Jake. "What are you saying that someone's in the house?"

"No, just that one of you idiots left the door open."

Jazz shook his head. "No one left it open Jake. I closed that door tight after Rose and Bella arrived and you know that door sticks when you try to open it without lifting up on the handle. Somebody is in this house other than the eight of us."

We all made for the door at the same time and headed for the kitchen. I was pissed that we may have an intruder in the house. "Fuck! This cannot be happening. You think its James don't you Jazz."

"Yeah! He's not the kind of guy to make idle threats Edward. Charlie said the psych report on him never got better even with the regular visits to the shrink. I wish they had mandated him as a dangerous offender. He'd still be in. But there is no way that he could have passed regular psych evaluations. What is the matter with the parole board they would have seen the reports."

Emmett shook his head." No Jazz the shrink visits were voluntary and not a condition of his parole, he'd still be getting out. James knows how the game is played. He was a model prisoner and even helped his fellow inmates earn their High School Equivalency. Besides this is the new approach to rehabilitation as long as he sees his parole officer and shows remorse by voluntarily attending therapy he's a free man. He did all that because he wanted us to know he's still the same person the master game player. It heightens the fear factor for his victim." We stopped just short of the kitchen Alice was standing in the doorway looking terrified.

She opened her mouth and tried to speak, nothing came out then she tried again. "You think he's here don't you...in this house." Her face crumpled and tears welled up in her eyes. "Guys this place is huge, there are hidden places in here we don't even know about."

Jasper went to Alice. "Take it easy darling, we have that covered Jake got all the original plans for the place and for any renovations that had been done prior to when he installed the security system. They're in the safe in Edward's study. Besides there isn't anyone but the eight of us in this house sweet cheeks, don't you worry none okay."

"Then who opened the door Jazz?"