A/N: Thank you to those of you who have read and continue to follow the story. You flatter and honor me. I apologize for the delay in posting. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Puzzle Pieces – Chapter 4

Bella ran into Rosalie and Emmett's house and headed straight for the kitchen. There she found her friend with all the windows and doors open, fanning the oven with the latest issue of Car and Driver Magazine. Emmett had turned the smoke detector off, so it was quiet now, with the small exception of Jasper and Edward's snickers. Emmett was being smart and holding his laughter in to avoid the wrath of his wife.

Placing her purse on the table, Bella dug out her claw clip and pulled her hair up on top of her head. Walking up to her friend, she placed a hand on Rose's shoulder and said, "Rose, I thought I told you to get out of the kitchen. What the hell happened?"

Normally, Rose looked perfectly put together, even when she was in the shop under the chassis of a car. But right now, her hair was coming out of its pony tail and her clothes were covered in every ingredient in her kitchen. Dropping her arms in defeat, she said, "I'm sorry, Bella. I know you've been working obscene hours for the last month trying to get Chicago open, so I wanted to give you a night off. I thought if I cooked, you could just come and be a guest for once. I can take a part an engine and put it back together in a matter of hours. I thought I could just read the instructions and follow the recipe."

Bella let out a small laugh and reached forward to pull her friend into a tight hug. "Thank you, Rose. Just the fact that you thought of me means the world. But you didn't have to trash your gorgeous kitchen for me. I love to feed people. It's how I show that I care."

Stepping back to survey the damage, Bella took a deep breath. She shrugged out of the thin cardigan she was wearing and threw it over the chair holding her purse. Turning around, Bella faced Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Rose. "I heart all of you, but I need to help this kitchen. It's sad and crying. Get the hell out and give me some space to get in my zone. The next person that butts in is going to get stabbed."

With that, Bella dug out her iPhone from her bag and set it in the dock that Rose had set-up on the counter.

"I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed. I'm friends with the voices inside of my head. You're trying to save me. Stop holding your breath. And you think I'm crazy, yeah you think I'm crazy…"

As Rhianna's voice came out of the speakers loudly, the others made their way out of the kitchen and onto the back patio to finish setting up the furniture.

Edward grabbed the box that his sister was opening and pulled out the umbrella. "So this is the Bella that you and Ali are trying to hook me up with?"

"I see that glimmer in your eyes, Edward. You're curious about her, and that means something. Every other girl we've introduced to you has always been met with boredom and disinterest."

"I'm not denying that I'm curious. I'm just wondering what about her you think is so perfect for me." Edward grabbed the poles and started assembling the umbrella.

"Well, you can slow your roll right there, Brother. I'm not going to tell you, and neither is Ali. If you want to know, then you have to figure it out on your own. Bella knows what's going on and why we want the two of you to get to know each other, but whether you both decide to go forward is up to you."

"What kind of half-ass matchmaking is this?"

"The best kind! We've planted the seeds on each of your heads, and we're just going to sit back and watch them grow into a big, beautiful love fern!"

Edward stopped what he was doing and looked at his sister. "A Matthew McConaughey movie reference? I thought you were better than that, Rose."

"I knew you were soft enough to get the reference." Rose winked at her brother and started to walk away.

"I am not soft!" Edward looked around and spotted the garden hose next to him. Picking it up, he pointed it at Rose's back and squeezed the nozzle.

Rose screamed when the stream of cold water hit her back. Turning around, Rose glared at her brother. "Edward, you asshole!"

"What? You looked like you needed a bath." Edward shrugged his shoulders and kept the nozzle pointed at his sister. "In fact, most of the food is on your front. Let me help you with that, Sis."

From their safe spot behind the grill, Emmett and Jasper watched the siblings start their battle.

Jasper reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "$50 on Edward. He's filled out some. Rose might underestimate him."

Emmett reached for his wallet and placed a $50 bill on top of Jasper's. "I am a smart, smart man who knows how feisty his wife is when provoked. I will take that bet, and I will enjoy taking your money, Whitlock."

Rose ran to Edward as he shot her with water in the stomach and chest. Aiming low, she crouched at the last minute and tackled him to the ground, ramming her shoulder into his gut. Edward went down with a loud, "OOOFFF!"

"I married the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, dumb ass."

Wrapping his arms and one leg around his sister while planting the other on the ground, and threw his hip to flip them over. "Yeah, well, there's one thing you didn't know about me. I took Judo while I was in New York to stay fit. Throwing your Barbie doll ass around is going to be a piece of cake."

Before Edward could pin her arms to the ground, Rose snuck and hand down to her side and grabbed her brother's balls. Squeezing, she said, "The guys you wrestled with in the Big Apple played by the rules. You should know better, Edward. I don't play by the rules. I play to win."

Feeling the pressure his Rose was putting on his balls, Edward released his hold and went lax. "Let go! I need the boys, and it's wrong that the first bit of action they've seen in years has been from my sister!"

Rose released her hold and rolled away. Laughing, she dusted her hands off on the legs of her jeans. "I'm not your mentor for all things deviant for no reason, Edward. Remember that. Now clean up my yard! I'm going to take a shower."

Jasper shook his head at his friend. "You owe me $50, you pussy!"

Looking over his shoulder, Edward saw his friends close their bet. "I didn't tell you to bet on me."

"Really, dude, don't you know that the house always wins?" Emmett said as he happily pocketed Jasper's money.

An hour later, the patio was cleaned and put together, and Rose had showered and refreshed herself. As Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Rose sat on the patio with their first drinks of the evening, the side gate few open with Alice bounding through it.

"Hello, hello! I'm sorry it took me sooooo long. I'm so excited! I can't believe this event fell into my lap. It's going to be amazing. I have waited my whole career for an event like this. There are so many possibilities, and it's just going to be fun, fun fun! Where's Swan Face? I need her, and I need Rose. I saw her car in the front. I know she's here. She's not hiding is she? What is she doing? SWAN FACE! BELLA! WHERE ARE YOU? GET YOUR FINE ASS OUT HERE! NOW!"

The patio door slid open and Bella poked her head out. She narrowed her eyes at her friend, and cocked her head to the side. "Who the fuck gave you Skittles?"

"What are you talking about? It doesn't matter if-

"Rose, check the purse," Bella said from her spot at the door.

Rose grabbed Alice's purse and found the open bag of King Size Skittles in the side pocket. Shaking the bag, Rose stood up and tossed them into the trash.

"Ali, I can see you twitching from here! Somebody get her a glass of wine. She needs to calm down. I'm finishing one thing, and I'll be out with the food."

Bella's head disappeared into the kitchen, and Alice sat down next to Jasper. A few minutes later, Edward stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"So you can let it be known. I don't hold back. I hold my own. I can't be mapped. I can't be cloned. I can't C-flat. It ain't my tone. I can't fall back. I came too far. Hold myself up and love my scars…"

Edward stood in the doorway and watched as Bella worked in her zone. She had her back to him and her head was bobbing lightly to Linkin Park's "Lost in the Echo". He watched as she picked up a knife and let it fly through the green leafy things on the cutting board, decimating them into thin strips. When she finished topping the salad with the green things, she turned around.

As she took a step forward, she caught sight of Edward and one foot got stuck behind the other. Edward rushed forward and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I thought I'd risk a stabbing to see if you needed help carrying anything out." Edward lifted her to help her get her footing.

Bella steadied herself and leaned away from Edward, noticing that she felt a little warmer than she had five minutes ago. She wasn't sure if it was embarrassment from almost falling face first into the floor, or whether it was something else entirely. Pushing the thought from her mind, Bella smiled. "Thanks. You'll learn really fast that I'm the clumsiest person ever born."

"You seemed pretty good with the knife there."

"Ha! Most of the time, my knife is an extension of my hand. But I have caught myself on more than one occasion." Bella turned and picked up two platters from the counter to hand to Edward. "Thank you for risking death and dismemberment to help."

"I'm a ballsy kind of a guy," Edward smirked and grabbed the platters.

Bella followed him with two more platters out to the patio, and Alice looked up to see the pair coming from the kitchen.

"Lookie what we have here! Assward, were you sampling some sweetness in the kitchen?" Alice bounced a little, and her voice was still at a slightly higher pitch than normal.

"Yeah, Ali. Your brother is so fucking hot that I jumped his ass in the kitchen," Bella deadpanned. She turned around and went back to the kitchen to get the rest of the food.

Edward just rolled his eyes and followed Bella back into the kitchen. Grabbing the next two platters, Edward asked, "Does it bother you that she does that? I don't want it to make you uncomfortable."

Bella looked Edward in the eyes and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I lived with Ali for six years, and I've been with the group of them for almost a decade. There's nothing they can do that would make me uncomfortable. After you've seen Emmett's naked ass sprawled on the couch in your living room, you become slightly desensitized to everything."

Edward chuckled and followed Bella out of the kitchen. "It's a good thing I've had enough beer to give me the munchies. Otherwise that image would've squashed my appetite."

After they placed the rest of the food on the table, Bella and Edward sat down. Bella rolled her eyes to herself. She knew her friends had purposely left the seat next to Edward open for her. Those meddling meddlers.

Taking in the spread, Jasper picked up his glass and lifted it in the middle of the table. "I'd like to make a toast. To great friends. May this be the first of many gatherings filled with awesome food and happy laughter."

The friends lifted their glasses for the toast and dug into their meal. After a few moments of nothing but silverware moving around, Alice looked up at her friends. "Now can I share? I'm calm now, and I waited for Swan Face to get out of her zone."

"Go ahead, Darlin'" Jasper said while he filled her glass with more wine.

"I had a consult this morning with Howard Schultz, as in the founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz! His daughter, Addison, is getting married, and they want me to be their wedding planner!" By the end of her announcement, Alice's voice was up at least an octave, and her body was vibrating with joy. After a round of congratulations from her friends, Alice continued with her story. "We talked all about what kind of wedding she wants, and Addison wants a modern fairy tale. Money is not an object, especially since her fiancé is some big, up and coming tech guy, so he's rolling in it too."

"They want to get married in the spring, and they are trusting me to pull out all the stops to make sure they have the best wedding this city has ever seen! What sold them on choosing MAC Events is that I have a close relationship with the best caterer and luxury car shop in the city.

"The Schultz family would like IMS to create custom menus for the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception, and they want to buyout XXClusive and The Y Room for the bachelorette and bachelor parties. Since money is no object, they'd also like RC Customs to enhance the fleet of cars and limos that they bought to transport the wedding party and select guests to and from all of the engagements."

All three ladies looked at each other with smirks on their faces. Bella lifted her glass and said, "Congratulations, Alice and congratulations to Rose and I too. This wedding is going to be a bitch, but no one can do it better than us!"

"Amen, Swany!" Rose tapped her glass against her friends. "When this bitch is done, we are going to pamper ourselves. I say two weeks on the white sandy beaches of Hawaii will be in order."

While the women celebrated, Jasper leaned over and whispered to Edward, "Word of advice – just go with it. When the women have their minds set on something, it's set in stone."

"Why would I have a problem with it? It doesn't affect me," Edward said as he put more food on his plate.

Jasper turned his body towards his friend and smirked. "$50 says it will. Em, you in?"

"Fuck yeah. I'm gonna be a rich bitch after I finish taking everyone's money!"

The girls turned toward the men with bitch brows raised. "What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing," they all said simultaneously.

"Bella, this food is delicious. I haven't eaten this well since I was in your restaurant several days ago," Edward said.

"Thank you, but I know for a fact that your mom is a better cook," Bella said with a smile. It was her greatest joy to know that she could bring people happiness through her food. It was how she expressed her care for others, and one of the ways she could truly express herself.

"Edward wouldn't remember. He hasn't been to family dinner in years," Rose said. "Are you going to be there tomorrow?"

"I'm scheduled for a 12-hour shift starting at 7 a.m. tomorrow. If I get out in time, I'll stop by. We've been really busy lately, so I'm not sure I'll get out in time." Edward genuinely felt bad that he'd be missing yet another family dinner, but he had to be there for his patients. He couldn't leave them if they needed him.

The group continued their conversations and the meal flowed nicely with laughter. When everyone had eaten their fill, Rose, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper went to the kitchen to clean up.

"Swan Face, you did all the work, so you sit out here and enjoy the sunset. Assward, keep her company. Don't be a jerk," Alice said carrying the last few dishes into the house.

"You know, there is a benefit to their matchmaking scheme. I have a get dish duty for free card. That's awesome," Edward leaned back and turned toward Bella.

"Well, I'm glad I could be of service," Bella said. "What do I get out of this whole thing? So far, you've gotten a meal without clean up duty."

"What would you like?" Edward said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Unlimited sexual favors."

Edward choked on his beer and coughed. "Whaaa?"

Bella laughed and reached forward to pound on Edward's back. "Relax, Rico Suave. I'm just kidding. How about we just take our time to get to know each other without the watchful eyes of your family? I can feel them watching us from the windows. When is your next day off?"

Edward regained his composure and took a deep breath. He couldn't say that he was put off by the thought of fulfilling sexual favors for Bella. He was more shocked that she'd said that rather than offended by the idea. In fact, the more he thought about the idea, the more interested he became. Knowing that they were nowhere near that point, he put the thought aside. "I'm free on Tuesday."

"Okay. Let's meet at Green Lake Park at 5 p.m. I'll be there walking my dogs."

"It's a date. I look forward to meeting the infamous Tinky Winky and Po."

A/N:

Bella's Playlist:

"Monster" by Eminem feat. Rhianna

"Lost in the Echo" by Linkin Park

Matthew McConaughey movie reference (Love Fern) = "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"