Title: Sylvester & Tweety Bird
Fandom: Twilight Series
Characters: Edward, Bella. Pairing: Edward/Bella.
Summary: Edward and Bella move in together; pets and all.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2 146
Spoilers: AU Human.
Author's Note: Thanks as always to my beta, shagmedraco.
Distribution: Link only please.
Written: January 2013.
Sylvester & Tweety Bird (1/1)
"That's the last of it," Emmett said, grunting as he lifted a large box of Bella's kitchen tools onto the counter. He glanced towards the still open door, making sure the entry was empty before he leaned closer. "You sure about this, Bell? It's not too late, we can still take this back and -"
"Em, please, I'm sure," the young brunette stared up at her brother, his concerned expression not lessening in the face of her determination. "We have been through this."
"I know, and you said, but I mean, you are so young-"
"You're starting to sound like dad," Bella complained.
Emmett ignored her, "-and you guys haven't known each other for very long and-"
He broke off suddenly and turned to the doorway when the voices of Edward and Jasper could be heard, laughing, as they made their way into the apartment.
Edward smiled as he spied Bella standing in what was now their kitchen, though he had never truly considered it to be his even though he had owned it for several years. Being a bachelor of barely thirty-two, his kitchen had been severely neglected since he moved in right after grad school – neglected, that was, until he'd met Bella, who loved to cook and enjoyed sharing the products.
"Everything all right?" he asked, coming closer to kiss Bella on her temple.
She nodded, eying Emmett. Though Edward could clearly see the siblings had had words, he let it go. Bella would tell him if she wanted to.
"Pizza," Jasper reminded them, placing the large box onto the table in the dining area, opening the lid to reveal the steaming and cheesy food.
Edward patted Bella discretely on her bum as she joined his best friend and her brother at the table, while he turned to one of the cupboards.
"Sylvester," he called, shaking the box of food as he approached the feline's food bowl. When the cat didn't show as he usually did the moment he realised he was getting fed, Edward went looking, shaking the box periodically.
"Sylvester, get down!" Edward cried, as soon as he spied his familiar.
The black and white feline sat on top of the large birdcage Edward himself had carried into the apartment earlier that day. He'd believed Bella's beloved yellow bird would've been safe in the living room when he had closed the double doors – and yet, there Sylvester sat, his paw trying to reach the bird as it sat on a low ledge, chirping, seemingly uncaring of the fact that there was a cat trying to eat him.
"Sylvester," Edward said reproachfully, grabbing the cat under his white belly, ignoring the hissing as he lifted him away. "We want Bella to like living here, remember; you can't eat her bird."
He exited the room, making sure to close the door tightly. "She would be quite upset with you, and as an extension, with me, and we can't have that, can we? No, we can't. You will just have to be satisfied with your regular old food." He shook the box again, and the sound finally seemed to register with the struggling cat; immediately, he went limp, his focus on the brightly coloured box.
Edward sat him down in the kitchen in front of his already filled bowl. After replenishing the water and washing his hands, Edward joined the others at the table.
"Everything ok?" Bella asked as he grabbed a slice of the pizza.
"Sylvester was trying to eat Tweety," Edward revealed, taking a big bite of his food.
Bella gasped, standing. Edward placed a hand on her shoulder, sitting her back down gently as he sat down beside her.
"I have to go, oh, he must be terrified." Bella made to rise again.
"He's fine; Sylvester couldn't get close and Tweety seemed to not even notice his presence. I closed the door, he's fine," Edward reassured her.
Emmett eyed them across the table; it seemed Edward still had a long way to go to win over Bella's over protective brother. And, according to Bella, Emmett was nothing to their Police Chief father, whom Edward fortunately had yet to meet. He feared Chief Swan would not appreciate a man of his age living together with his daughter, who was barely out of college. Especially as it had only been five months since they first met at the steps of a museum.
Bella still looked uncertain, but once she'd made sure Sylvester was still in the kitchen, eating his food with as much happiness as he could muster given what he'd been hoping to eat, she remained at the table.
Not until their guests left an hour later, did Bella venture to check on her precious bird; a gift from her father when she moved away for college.
She found the door to the living room open, and Sylvester once more perched atop Tweety's cage. She grabbed him and took the determined feline back to his master.
"Edward," Bella called when she found him back in the kitchen where he had started unpacking her pots and pans; cupboard space was easy to find, as Edward had few cooking items.
"Edward," Bella repeated.
"Yes, my love." Edward turned around and, seeing Sylvester in her arms, he frowned. "Was he in the living room again?"
"Yes. I thought you said you'd closed the door." Bella sounded accusing, but allowed Edward to kiss her quickly when he took the cat from her.
Sylvester poked his tongue out at him.
"I did," he glanced down and met the innocent eyes of his pet. "How did you get into the living room with the door closed?"
Sylvester meowed, and struggled to get out of Edward's arms.
"Ahh, no you don't, big guy."
"So what do we do? Tweety Bird won't be safe if Sylvester can get to him so easily."
"I don't know," Edward frowned in thought. "Child locks?"
"Didn't think we'd need to child proof the apartment for quite some time," Bella said. They shared a look of mutual understanding, as Bella considered his suggestion. "How would it work on a regular door though, a child lock? I have only seen them on cabinet doors and the like."
"What else are we to do if he can open doors? Which, you have to believe me, I did not realise he could do or I would've figured out how to prevent it before you moved in. I never keep the doors closed except bed and bathroom and he's never tried any of those."
"Come then, let's see him in action," Bella said, turning. "If we know how he does it, we may also know how to stop him."
"We knew going in they wouldn't get along," Edward reminded her as he followed, feeling rather guilty as he cuddled with his pet; the pet that wanted to eat hers.
And he'd believed, foolishly it seemed, that once she'd agreed to move in with him, all would be well. He had waited for her for so long, that when she finally arrived in his life, he'd not seen any reason to wait.
Though harder to persuade, much due to the influence of her brother and father, once Bella had made the choice to be with him – their near eleven years age difference be damned – it had not taken her long to agree to live with him.
Bella closed the door to the living room, and after sharing a look, Edward released the beast from his arms. Together, they stepped back to watch Sylvester in action. To their surprise, he did nothing.
The feline simply sat in front of the door, looking up at the handle as he waited.
Bella and Edward shared a confused look before turning back to Sylvester.
As if on cue, the door slowly opened, seemingly by itself. It did not open much; simply enough for the latch to become free and allowing Sylvester to prod open the door the rest of the way with his paw.
Edward reached down to grab him before he was able to sneak in and Bella shut the door again. After a few minutes, the same thing happened; it seemed, the door could not remain properly shut.
"Well, Mr. Masen, it seems as though you do not, in fact, have a brilliantly cleaver cat who can perform tricks."
"It also means we can fix the door and protect Tweety easier," Edward reminded her.
Bella nodded, scratching behind Sylvester's ears. "So what do we do with this little rascal tonight then?"
"I suppose we have to shut him into our bedroom," there was no mistaking the smirk on his face when he said 'our', "unless we put Tweety in there for the night. I should be able to fix it tomorrow."
He eyed the door, frowning. "Somehow."
"I could call Emmett," Bella suggested. "He'd know what to do."
"No, I can do it." Edward did not want to start their life together with Emmett showing him up in his own home. He may not be as handy as Bella's brother with a toolbox, but he was intelligent and there were manuals he could read. He'd be fine.
"So, cat in the bedroom?" Bella asked.
"Yeah, I'll put his litter box in the en-suite, just make sure to leave that door open, since he can't open it himself," he finished with a smile, watching her go. "And don't forget to close the window in the bathroom," he called after her, suddenly remembering he'd opened it earlier in the day to aid in the airing of their laundry. As part of a moving in present to the both, Edward and Bella had chosen a wide variety of new sheets, as a symbolic gesture of their now completely shared bed.
The day before, Bella had run them through the wash, but with the dryer on the fritz, they'd had to resort to hanging the clean sheets all over the apartment. Not ideal for move-in day, they'd quickly realised, when Jasper walked backwards into a row of sheets, pulling the line down and walking all over the clean fabric with his work boots.
"Do you want to do anything for dinner later?" Edward asked when Bella joined him in the kitchen – he had a feeling the space would quickly become one of his favourite rooms, second only to their bedroom.
"We just ate," Bella reminded him.
"I mean later. I was thinking Chinese."
"Take out twice in one day, that's healthy," Bella replied with a smile.
"Yeah, but, love, it's moving day; you've gotta have pizza on moving day, it's like a requirement." Edward smiled down at her, enveloping her in a hug.
Bella smiled into his chest. "I was thinking of making a cake to celebrate our first night together."
Edward pressed her up against the counter. With a hand under her chin, he lifted her face to meet his; kissing her deeply.
"Not our first night together though," he smirked, "but I know what you mean. A cake sounds good. Will it be red velvet?" his tone was almost childlike at the prospect of cake.
"Of course." Bella played with the hair at the back of his neck as he kissed her again.
"It's my favourite," he whispered against her lips.
"Imagine that; what a delightful coincidence."
Edward smiled against her lips. "You are too good for me, Miss Swan."
They kissed again, but broke apart at the sound of something breaking in the bedroom.
"Sylvester," Edward sighed, leaving Bella in the kitchen to go and deal with the cat that had, up until he'd met Tweety, been nothing but cuddly and sweet with him.
"I'll just get started on the cake," Bella called after him, turning to the box Edward had almost unpacked already.
She was almost finished when he returned, putting the last of her baking bowls away in a low cupboard. He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms as he watched her move about the kitchen with a content smile on his face. Bella returned his smile, kissing him quickly before moving to the fridge to get the items she needed for the cake.
She was measuring flour and dumping it into her favourite blue bowl when he slid up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his chin against her shoulder. She leaned into him, their cheeks brushing as he worked one hand in under her shirt, the fingers lightly grazing the skin above her navel.
"I'm thinking," he said gently as he watched her measure out sugar, "that we should not get a dog."
The words were unexpected and Bella paused in her pouring, as she laughed in surprise. "I'm thinking, you are right," she said once she'd calmed; but the laughter remained on her smiling lips as she twisted her head around to kiss him.
The End.