Title: Wait for You
By: Liz
Rating: M
Disclaimers: The characters are not mine, any and all music is not mine, only the plot and my words belong to me.
Notes: For everyone who reviewed "Extracurricular Activities" and wanted a follow up. A million and a half thanks to goo82 for being so awesome and being there every step of the way to bounce ideas off of and to offer up some fantastic ones of her own. This would be impossible if not for her (or it at least wouldn't be very good ;).
Bella pulled her truck up to the curb in front of her house and turned off the engine. Edward leapt from the truck and was at Bella's door before she had finished unfastening her seatbelt. "So, I was thinking," he said, reaching up a hand to help her from the car. "This being the small town of Forks and all, what do you say to me making you breakfast here? You know, away from prying eyes that might let my parents know that I'm not actually camping with the guys this weekend."
Bella's skin tingled where it was touching Edward's and she found she was having difficulty forming a coherent thought. She closed her eyes a moment to focus and took a breath. "I think that sounds great," she told him, opening her eyes. "If you don't mind."
Edward smiled. "Not at all." He pulled her closer to him and leaned down to press his lips gently to hers. Bella could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest and she sighed softly against Edward's lips. He pulled back slowly, smiling crookedly down at her. "I wanted to do that the whole drive over here," he admitted. "I thought we'd never get here." Bella blushed and Edward's smile grew. "I love when you do that," he told her softly, cupping her cheek with his hand.
"Do what?" she asked, unable to focus on much beyond the feeling of Edward's skin on hers.
"Blush like that. It makes you look even more beautiful." Bella swore she could feel her skin flush even darker and Edward chuckled lightly. "Come on, let's get inside and get some food. It's been too long since either one of us ate." He took her hand in his again and the two walked hand in hand up the driveway to the house.
Bella unlocked the front door and the couple walked into the house together. Bella was nervous a moment, wondering how her modest house must look in comparison to the mansion everyone at school said Edward's family had. After the time they had spent together, she found she couldn't really imagine Edward caring about something like that, but she was still slightly apprehensive.
She turned to him and found he was watching her. "Is it okay?" he asked her. "Me being here, I mean."
She smiled up at him and to her horror found herself blurting out the truth. "I was just wondering how my house compares to the enormous one everyone at school says you have." She closed her eyes as she finished speaking, her face flushing scarlet once more.
"Bella." Bella opened her eyes and saw that Edward was looking at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I know my house isn't all that big or fancy or…" Bella trailed off, unable to look at him.
"Bella, do you really think I would care about something like that?" Bella shook her head but still couldn't meet his gaze. "Bella, please look at me." Bella raised her head and looked up at Edward timidly. "I know we don't know each other all that well, but please know that that kind of thing doesn't matter to me. Hell, it never would have even crossed my mind if you hadn't brought it up." He brought a hand up to her cheek and ran it slowly down the side of her face. "Besides," he said, "I'm too busy looking at you to care anything about my surroundings. So please don't worry about something silly like that with me. Okay?"
Bella sighed and leaned into Edward's touch. "Okay," she breathed.
Edward smiled and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Okay. Now you had better point me in the direction of your kitchen. Otherwise, I'm going to start kissing you for real and I don't know that I'll be able to stop before we both die from starvation."
Bella couldn't help giggling at his words and led him into the kitchen.
After a quick look through the cabinets and refrigerator, they agreed on pancakes and Edward began mixing up the batter while Bella set the table. Conversation flowed easily as breakfast was prepared and they sat down at the kitchen table together. Bella told Edward more about life in Phoenix and Renee. To her amazement, he seemed honestly interested in what she had to say, asking questions and listening intently. They talked about Dartmouth and other possibilities for college. Edward admitted to being less than skilled in science and gladly accepted Bella's offer to help him out in Biology.
After her second helping of pancakes, Bella insisted she could not eat another bite. Edward gathered up the plates, utensils and glasses and carried them to the sink. He turned on the water and Bella stood quickly.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Edward gave her a strange look. "The dishes."
"Edward, you made breakfast. The least I can do is wash the dishes."
"All right," he said, picking up a dishtowel. "You wash and I'll dry." Bella relented and the two began cleaning up the remnants of breakfast. They worked in comfortable silence and a short time later the dishes were clean and dry.
Bella put the last dish up in the cabinet then closed it and turned back to Edward who was now looking at her a bit nervously. "I'm really sorry to do this to you," he said and Bella felt her heart sink. He was having second thoughts. He wanted to leave. She had known it was too good to be true. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to call Alice. I'm going to need her to bring me some clothes for our sleepover." He looked at her almost shyly. "That is, if it's okay with you if I stay here until tomorrow."
Bella nearly laughed out loud, dizzy with relief that her fears had been in vain. "Of course. You said Alice liked me," she reminded him.
"She does."
"Then what's the problem?"
Edward ran a hand through his hair. "Alice can be quite, um, exuberant. I'm a little afraid for my eardrums when I tell her where I am, quite frankly. Emmett calls her Hurricane Alice, which is pretty accurate – she's definitely a force of nature." He gave Bella a small smile. "I'm used to her, obviously, I just don't want you to be overwhelmed." Bella gave him a look that said he was being melodramatic and he held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just trying to warn you," he told her. "Remember this when she tries to take you on one of her infamous shopping sprees."
Bella rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "Call your sister," she told him. "I'm going to go shower while you're doing that."
Edward watched Bella walk up the stairs, feeling a familiar stirring in his groin at the sight of her backside and the thought of her showering, naked and dripping wet… He groaned as these thoughts began to make his pants feel a little too tight and he tried to shove the images from his mind. His traitorous mind moved on to scenes from the previous night in the closet and he sucked in a sharp breath, quickly digging his cell phone from his bag and hitting speed dial 3 for Alice. His sister's screams should be more than enough to cure what was quickly becoming a growing problem for him.
Edward waited impatiently for Alice to answer, realizing that she may very well not be awake yet. Finally, on the fourth ring, there was the sound of the phone connecting and Alice's sleepy voice came over the line. "You realize I'm going to have to kill you for calling me before 10am on a Saturday," she informed her brother.
"Alice, I need a favor, okay? And whatever you do, don't let mom and dad know I'm on the phone."
His tone of voice seemed to wake Alice and she was suddenly alert. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Jazz or Emmett? Are you all right?"
"Alice, I'm fine," he reassured her. "Just try to stay calm. I'm, uh, I'm actually not with Emmett and Jasper right now," he admitted.
"What do you mean, you're not actually with them? You three were supposed to go camping, weren't you?"
"We were and they did."
"They did. So where are you?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"This is the part where I don't want you to freak out or scream or anything, okay? Please, Alice."
"Where are you?" she asked curiously. "You're not in jail or anything, are you?"
"No, Alice," he sighed. "I'm not in jail. I'm actually, well, I'm standing in Bella Swan's kitchen right now while she is taking a shower." Edward immediately pulled the phone away from his ear and held it at arm's length but the shrieks and squeals coming across the phone line were still crystal clear.
After several moments, Alice seemed to calm down and Edward put the phone back to his ear. "Alice," he began cautiously.
"Edward, oh my God, this is fantastic!" Alice cried and Edward could almost picture her bouncing up and down in the middle of her bed. "What happened? Did you finally tell her how you feel? Are you guys dating now?"
"Alice." Edward held up his hand even though he knew Alice couldn't see him. "If you calm down a minute, I will tell you what happened. And after I do that, I need you to please do me a favor. I need you to bring me some clean clothes and not tell mom and dad where I am, okay?"
Alice agreed readily. "Now tell me the whole story," she demanded.
Edward sighed, steeling himself for more shrieks and questions from the overly excited pixie.
Bella stepped into the shower and sighed happily as the warm water cascaded down over her. As much as she had enjoyed spending the night with Edward, the fact remained that she had slept on the floor and it felt good to get clean again.
As she massaged the shampoo through her hair, she allowed her thoughts to drift to Edward and the events of the night before. It was beyond incredible, as far as she was concerned. Edward Cullen had kissed her, her, boring, shy Bella Swan. And what was even more amazing was that he was still kissing her, still talking to her after they had been freed from the closet. He had wanted to hang out with her and he was sitting in her kitchen this very moment. She almost wanted to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream.
Instead, she hugged herself as she thought of Edward. Edward smiling, laughing, kissing her, holding her. Edward gently caressing her, moving inside of her. She felt the heat start to build low in her belly and took a deep breath as she began to rinse the shampoo from her hair. She knew she should probably change the direction of her thoughts before she needed to make this a very cold shower. It seemed that her brain, however, had no desire to think of anything but Edward and with a resigned sigh, Bella reached over and turned off the hot water. Oh well. At least this way, she was sure not to use all of the hot water before Edward had a chance to shower. Edward. In her shower. Bella groaned and turned the cold water on full blast.
Downstairs, Alice arrived at about the same time Edward heard the shower turn off upstairs. She almost knocked Edward off his feet with a hug when he opened the front door and Edward groaned to himself. "Alice, please," he said. "I really don't want you scaring Bella."
Alice grinned and followed Edward into the kitchen. "Can you blame me for being excited? I mean, you have liked this girl for so long and I was starting to think you'd never do anything about it. Good thing the universe had other ideas."
Edward rolled his eyes. "Alice."
"No, come on, Edward," Alice said. "What are the odds of something like this happening? It's fate that you two finally got together and it's so awesome. I can't wait to see everyone's face on Monday. We're talking serious jealousy from both genders."
Edward frowned. "Bella doesn't particularly like being the center of attention, Alice," he warned.
Alice shrugged. "I know. But there's not much any of us can do about it once the news gets around."
Edward smiled to himself. "Well, it's most likely already on its way around town. Bella and I ran into Jessica Stanley in the school parking lot this morning when we were leaving. I kind of told her in no uncertain terms that Bella and I were together."
Alice grinned. "I wish I could have seen her face."
"It was pretty funny," Edward agreed. "But maybe if people hear it over the weekend, it won't be so bad on Monday."
Alice gave him a doubtful look. "Well, you know we'll all do whatever we can to help," she told him, referring to Jasper, Rose, Emmett, and herself. "But I'm afraid it's going to be pretty big news, at least for a few days."
"I know," Edward admitted. "I just don't want to cause Bella any problems. People in this town love to talk and I don't want her to have to deal with all of the gossip."
Alice smiled. She knew there was nothing that could really be done to stop the gossip but she couldn't help finding her brother's protective attitude toward Bella kind of adorable.
"Anyway," Edward said, attempting to change the subject. "Did you bring me my clothes? I kind of need to get showered and…" Edward trailed off, his gaze drifting to the entrance to the kitchen at the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. A moment later, Bella appeared in the doorway. Alice smiled to herself at the way Edward and Bella's eyes immediately sought the other, their gazes quickly becoming locked in a trance-like state.
After giving them several moments to gaze at each other, Alice cleared her throat. Bella jumped slightly and Edward frowned at Alice. "Bella, I believe you know my darling sister."
Bella smiled shyly. "Hi, Alice."
In response, Alice gracefully bounded over to Bella and pulled her into a hug. "Hello, Bella!" she said warmly.
Bella looked over at Edward, unsure how she should react to this unexpected display of affection. Edward rolled his eyes at Alice and gently disentangled Bella from the smaller girl's arms, pulling her to stand next to him. His arm slid protectively around her waist and Bella instinctively leaned into the warmth of his body.
Alice smiled as she watched the two of them together. They seemed so comfortable and content as they stood together, Bella's hand covering Edward's as it rested on her hip while Edward looked down at Bella, the look on his face equal parts joy and awe.
"I'm so happy for you guys," Alice said. "I mean, it took you long enough but here you are and it's so great." She turned her gaze squarely on Bella. "If you only knew how long this boy has been mooning over you."
Bella blushed and Edward felt the color rising in his cheeks as well. "Well, look at that, Alice," he said, pretending to check a nonexistent watch on his wrist. "It only took you ten seconds to be embarrassing. I think that may be a new record."
Alice only smiled sweetly at him. "What are sisters for?"
Edward turned the hand that rested on Bella's hip so that he could lace his fingers through hers, gently tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. Alice stared at the two of them thoughtfully. Between the way they were behaving and the atmosphere in the kitchen, she was willing to bet her brother had not been entirely truthful in his account of what had happened between the two the previous evening.
She caught Edward's eye and grinned as he motioned toward the door with his eyes. His gaze turned pleading and she nodded slightly. Time to disappear.
"Okay, well I had better go. I'm meeting Rose in a little bit to go shopping. You're welcome to come, Bella," Alice said hopefully.
Bella shot Edward a panicked look, remembering his earlier words, and he couldn't help smiling. "Alice, we were trapped in a closet overnight, Bella's exhausted. The last thing she needs is you dragging her all over creation on one of your marathon shopping trips."
Alice stuck her tongue out at her brother and turned to Bella. "Maybe some other time, then. I have this feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of you."
Bella blushed again. "Bye, Alice," Edward said pointedly.
"Okay, I can take a hint," Alice said. "But if you want your clothes, you're going to have to come out to the car and get them yourself." She grabbed Edward's arm and dragged him to the front door. "Bye, Bella!" she called back. "I'll see you later."
"Bye, Alice."
Alice didn't let go of Edward's arm until they were standing at the Volvo. "Okay, you so did not tell me the whole story," she said to him.
"What do you mean?" Edward asked innocently.
Alice crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Don't pull that with me, buddy. I invented that innocent look. I mean that you did not tell me the whole story about what happened between you and Bella in that closet last night. You couldn't keep your eyes or hands off of each other back there. You did not just talk and kiss while you were in there. You had sex, didn't you?"
"Alice, shh! Keep your voice down!" Edward pleaded, glancing around to see if anyone had heard Alice's words. When he was satisfied that no one was within earshot, he turned back to her.
"Alice, yes, something more may have happened between Bella and me last night," he admitted quietly. "But it wasn't just sex. I mean, I don't even know how to describe it." His voice took on a dreamy quality and Alice could tell by the look on his face that he was a million miles away. "I always thought she was smart and pretty and all before I really knew her, but those words don't even begin to cover it. She's amazing, brilliant, she's everything I could ever dream of and more than I deserve."
Alice couldn't help smiling at Edward's words. She, like their mother, had had her own concerns about Edward's lack of a love life. She knew he was perfectly okay on his own, but she couldn't help feeling guilty or a bit sad sometimes when she would hang out with Jasper, Emmett, Rose, and Edward and the couples would pair off leaving Edward as the odd man out. She was so ecstatically happy with Jasper and she just wanted Edward to experience love like that for himself. She had known for awhile now how he felt about Bella but she had started to think that she might have to take matters into her own hands to get him to admit his feelings to the girl.
"I'm really happy for you, Edward," Alice said sincerely. "And I'm not going to keep you away from her any longer." She reached into the backseat of the Volvo and pulled out a medium sized duffle bag. "Now go, have fun. I'll handle everything with mom and dad and I'll call you tomorrow after I talk to Jazz, okay?"
"Okay," Edward said, beaming. "Thanks, Alice. You're the best." He gave her a hug before turning and all but running back to the house.
Alice smiled and waited until he was back in the house before climbing back into the Volvo. Time to go get some breakfast and pick up Rose. She couldn't wait to share the news with her best friend that it looked like their group of five had finally expanded to six.
