Bella POV
"Hey, Bella!" Emmett's booming voice answered after not even one full ring. Just hearing his voice, I could picture his smiling face and I felt the corners of my own mouth tugging up, replacing my previous nervousness.
"Hey, Emmett. I need a favor."
"Sure kid, what's going on? And not that I'm complaining, but why are you calling me and not Edward?"
"Well, I was thinking, um, you might be able to help me?" My nervousness returned and it came out more like a question that a statement. I took a deep breath in preparation of speeding through my plan. I had to get it out there before I changed my mind and I knew he'd help me. "So, you know how Edward tried to trick me the other day with the whole, um, hair washing thing? I wanted to try and even the score and maybe surprise him with something and I need your help."
Edward POV
I'd been getting flashes in my head all day from Emmett. It was annoying. He was trying to hide something from me. Usually he didn't censor his basically straightforward thoughts. He really was willing to say whatever was on his mind. Except now. The thought he was trying to hide was a picture of something, a symbol of some kind. I kept seeing pieces of calligraphy-like letters and something else... a race track, maybe? That made no sense. I wondered why he would try to hide something random like that from me. All day long, I'd get a flash of it in my mind and then he'd mentally jump and start thinking things about Rosalie that I definitely didn't want to know. It was getting annoying. I wouldn't care except he was so clearly trying to hide it from me.
"Wonder what he's feeling so guilty about? It's such a weird mix of guilt and fear. Must have done something really stupid this time." Jasper's thoughts about Emmett floated into my mind and increased my suspicions. Just as I was about to confront Emmett about whatever he was so clearly trying to hide, I heard Bella's truck pull up the drive to our house.
I ran outside, opened her car door and unbuckled her before the engine had finished choking to a stop. "Hello, beautiful" I said as I lifted her from the cab and steadied her on the ground in front of me. She looked up at me with a soft smile. I leaned in to her gently as she steadied her back against the truck door and kissed her temple, inhaling her tempting scent. I continued my kisses down to her jaw and back up to the top of her head. "Hey, you" she breathed clearly a little 'dazzled' as she called it, and I couldn't help but kiss her luscious lips once before releasing her.
"Edward, I have a surprise for you," she slightly flushed and looking at me shyly through her eyelashes. "But we have to go up to your room first, I don't want anyone watching." Now that sounded interesting. I briefly wondered if whatever she had planned was going to test my already precariously balanced self-control. I was ready to give her anything she wanted, but she stuck to my previously enforced boundaries, and really, I respected and wanted her all the more for it. I had no idea what she planned to do, alone, with me. I internally cursed my inability to read her thoughts for the millionth time as my imagination ran wild with all the things I would like to do with her. Alone. I shook those less than gentlemanly thoughts out of my head. "Whatever you wish, my love. What did you have in mind?"
She smiled up at me and pulled on our linked hands toward the house. "You'll see" she hinted. I willingly followed her into the house and up to my bedroom. Once we passed into my room, she walked us over to the middle of the floor and released my hand.
"Stay" she commanded with a serious look, backing away from me to my stereo system. She turned around briefly to push a button and a classical waltz song sang out through the room. She carefully made her way back to me speaking hesitantly with her eyes trained on the floor at our feet. "I know that you love to dance. And, well, I want to be able to dance with you at our wedding." She cleared her throat nervously. "Will you teach me?" She raised her wide, hopeful eyes up toward my face, keeping her head lowered in embarrassment, causing her to look at me through her eyelashes. Did she have any idea what that look did to me? Did she have any idea how much I would love to fulfill any request? How happy her asking had this made me?
"I would be honored," I replied formally. I took her into my arms guiding her hands and body into a dance position. My hand on her waist, hers on my shoulder our other hands raised and entwined. "First, step back with your right foot," I said as I led her to do so by guiding with my own body. "Now to the side and together, like this," I continued slowly guiding her movements with the hand on her back and the gentle guidance of my own body. After a few minutes without any stumbling she looked up from her feet and beamed at me, a new confidence shining through in her eyes. I committed that moment to my memory. Her shining eyes and accomplished smile, the soft music and her ever-present heavenly aroma. It was an absolutely perfect moment.
I lifted one of my arms and used my hand on her lower back to guide her into a gentle spin. She trilled a happy laugh as she spun slowly, her delicate arm raised above her head holding onto my hand. The moment seemed to move in slow motion as I watched her spin under and toward the wall until her back was facing me. I took the opportunity to glance down her delicate form and saw that the movement and her uplifted arm had raised the bottom hem of her shirt and I could see the skin of her lower back. I froze in place at what I saw there as she twirled back around to face me, laughing with merriment.
In a flash I moved my hands to her waist and turned her back toward me once again. I lifted the hem of her shirt slightly to reveal the symbol that had been floating in Emmett's mind all day. I could see it clearly enough now. It was the Uroboros, a snake biting it's own tale, the sideways eight, the symbol for eternity. Overlaying it in fancy swirly script were the letters E and B. Our initials. My entire body tensed as fury engulfed me. "Emmett!" I roared directing my anger at the obviously guilty party as Bella cringed back from the volume. Emmett burst through the open door into my room. "Did you. Get. Bella tattooed?" I ground out through my teeth. Before I could pounce on him for disfiguring my perfect Bella, the room lit up with the flash of a camera. The subject of my protection put her hand on my arm. She was laughing in obvious hilarity.
"Edward. Calm down," she chuckled. "It's not real. See?" She lifted her shirt to show me the symbol again.
I just stared at her, until her words sank in and with them came release. I gathered her into my arms, relieved and threw Emmett one last glare as he backed out of my room laughing and pocketing the digital camera. His thoughts were focused on how he was going to use that picture to embarrass me. His parting thoughts surprised me. "It was all her idea man. You have one devious little elf on your hands. I can't wait until she's one of us!"
I pulled back to look into her eyes. "This was your idea?"
That mischievous smirk I was coming to know very well appeared on her face. "Guess you're not the only one who can pull off a surprise, huh?" I stared at her, astonished as she continued. "I guess that's Bella: two and Edward: zero."
AN: Thanks for the reviews and for adding my story to your alerts. I was seriously surprised when I had responses just a few hours after posting the first chapter. This is my first fan fiction, so I'd love to hear what you guys think. I have another chapter written for this where Edward evens up the score a little – let me know if you like them and I'll keep them coming.
I'm pretty much out of ideas after that so feel free to give me suggestions. What should Edward or Bella do to surprise the other?
Disclaimer- still not my creation. Doesn't belong to me.