A/N: I was going to update Things Fall Apart before I updated this one again, but this chapter was nagging me to be written, so that update will come later tonight or tomorrow. Most likely tonight, but who knows.
Tomorrow is the first official day that I start packing. What fun. The thought of moving at the end of May is stressful, especially since I don't have an apartment or job lined up. I might be starting to wig out a little bit, so instead I am focusing on writing so I don't rip all of my hair out.
I just want to thank all of you for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting this story. I have no idea what I am doing with this story, I am just wigging it. I am just happy that there are people out there that like this story than just me. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Happy reading!
I just wanted to clear something up from last chapter. When Bella told Edward why they couldn't date, I didn't really make it clear what I meant. What she said referred to when she leaves the agency, she could claim to be dating someone when she is actually taking a client with her and making her own business out of it. I am going to go back and clear it up in that one. I am sorry if this confused anybody, I didn't mean to. My brain was going faster than my fingers when I was writing it.
Song for this chapter: Latch- Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
4. Latch
Bella POV:
I laid there after he had fallen asleep, his question and words still rolling around in my head. They had broken the trance that I had been under, making me realize that all this could ever be was just this. Work.
Why couldn't I have met him before this? Or after? Had I done something so terrible in my life that I was now having to be punished? I had met a man that had caught my attention for the first time in years, and I couldn't do anything about it. I wanted something more with him, even after the short time that we had been together I knew this.
The dark hours were the worst, they always were when you couldn't sleep. I never struggled with insomnia normally, but there were times that I had bouts of it, like now. I wanted to succumb to sleep, but it wouldn't take me no matter how much I wanted it to. I just wanted to not think for a while, to be comatose. I needed it. Things on this trip weren't going according to plan. We weren't doing the things that we were doing to keep up appearances, we were doing them because we wanted to. Out of all the jobs I had done, this was going to be the hardest one to walk away from. My emotions were involved, and there was no stopping it, now or ever.
My emotions had come into play the moment that I had seen him. Knowing that, I shouldn't have taken the job, but I couldn't resist the thought of being around him. His presence was like a drug.
The sun was just starting to come up when my eyes closed, taking me into sleep.
I awoke a few hours later, Edward no longer next to me. I looked at the clock, seeing that it was only ten. My body felt jet lagged as I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying futilely to wake myself further. As I stood, my body felt heavy as I made my way to the conjoining bathroom.
When I looked in the mirror, I realized just how much like death I looked. The dark circles under my eyes more prominent than usual and my hair looking like a bird's nest. I changed quickly for the day, before making my way down the stairs, finding everyone in the kitchen.
"Good morning," Esme smiled brightly, "Would you like some coffee?"
"Yes, please." I sat down at the table next to Edward, leaving some space between us.
I eagerly took the cup from Esme's hand, beginning to drink as quickly as the temperature would allow. Edward looked at me out of the corner of his eye, evaluating what I was thinking, but my face gave away nothing. I didn't know how I felt about last night's events yet, I needed to figure it out on my own before we talked. I didn't know if I was scared, or exhilarated.
Rosalie and Emmett were sitting at the counter on the bar stools, reading a newspaper, talking quietly amongst each other. Carlisle was nowhere to be seen.
"How did you sleep?" Esme sat across from me, a warm smile lighting her features.
"I slept fine," I took another sip of my coffee, wanting the caffeine in my system as soon as possible. The last thing that I wanted was it to obvious that I hadn't slept at all the night before.
"I'm surprised Edward let you sleep at all." Emmett's comment made me choke on my next sip, causing me to cough uncontrollably to get the intruding liquid out of my lungs.
"Emmett!" Edward shot him a look, rubbing my back to help clear my lungs.
"Excuse my son, he can be quite rude at times." Esme patted my hand, giving her son a dirty look. "I taught you how to act around people, so act the way that I taught you. You may be grown and married, but I am still your mother."
I bit my lip to hide the smile at her threat. The look of complete horror on his face was the icing on the cake. He immediately went back to talking to his wife.
"Is he always like that?" I quietly asked Edward, thinking about he had asked me the same about Alice just a few days prior.
"Yes," he laughed uncomfortably, "He stopped maturing at the age of thirteen."
"Somehow I believe that." I looked down at my now empty cup, feeling the affects of the coffee already.
"Would you like to go for a swim?" he asked, eyes glowing with an emotion that I couldn't discern.
"Sounds perfect." I smiled, my own eyes most likely glowing with the same unnamed emotion.
After heading upstairs, I stood in the bathroom looking at the skimpy royal blue bikini that I had grabbed. Obviously I had not been paying attention when I was grabbing and throwing things into my suitcase. I heard Edward tell me that he was going ahead down to the pool, my ears barely registering his voice. My mind was too focused on how I was going to walk out in front of not only him, but his family.
"Screw it." I said suddenly, grabbing the scraps of fabric and changing quickly. Not looking at myself in the mirror while I grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around myself, grabbing my sunglasses as I went through the bedroom door.
I made myself walk down the stairs despite the fact that my consciousness yelling at to go back and change back into my clothes.
The sun hit my skin as soon as I walked outside, the heat making itself known. Edward was sitting, facing the door, his feet in the pool. I walked over to one of the deck chairs, standing there, talking myself off of the ledge as I took my towel from around, placing it on the back of the seat. My sunglasses hiding my eyes as I walked over to him, sitting beside him and putting my feet into the water like he had his.
I swallowed before speaking, "Nice day."
"It is." he cleared his throat, trying not to look at me. I was sure that he had gotten a great view of my suit as I walked over and was just as uncomfortable as I was, at least I hoped that he was.
"Where is everybody?" I asked, noticing that we were alone.
"Rose and Emmett went off to do God knows what and my parents went into town. To be honest I think that she thought that we needed some alone time after the Emmett incident earlier," his laugh was uneasy.
"Oh," why was it suddenly so awkward between us?
The awkwardness ensued as we sat there looking at the water. Then I heard the buzzing, sending a pang of fear through me.
Ever since I was little, I had had an irrational fear of bees and wasps, basically anything that could sting me. My childhood home hadn't had good insulation, so they were able to get into our home, surprising me whenever I turned a corner. That's when the fear developed.
I had gotten better over the years, no longer running and screaming to get away from them. Instead, I did it quietly and no longer jumped out of moving vehicles. Yes, I had jumped out of a moving car. I did say that it was irrational, right?
My eyes went to Edward's arm where the insect had apparently landed. My panic set in and before I knew that I had made the decision, Edward's body broke the water, splashing me. I sat there shocked at what I had just done.
"What was that for?" he spit water out of his mouth, rubbing his eyes to clear them of water.
"You had bee one you." my voice was weak as I spoke.
"Yeah," he swam over to where I sat on the side, "sure I did, and so do you."
"Edward," I warned, backing away, but his hand wrapped around my arm. "Don't."
He ignored my protests tugging on my arm lightly. My body tumbled into the water, the sunglasses I'd been wearing went to the bottom of the pool. I pushed my hair out of my face; I had to admit, the water felt amazing on my heated skin.
"Payback is a bitch," he laughed, looking at me, overly amused with himself.
"You really had a bee on you," I complained, laughing despite myself. My hands rubbed my face, wiping away the excess water that was dripping down my face.
"Why didn't you just swat it away." he grabbed my sides, tickling them.
"I have an irrational fear." I squirmed trying to get away from his invasive hands.
His hands stilled, pulling my toward him instead. His face was serious as he looked down at me, all humor gone.
"Really?" he was so close that I could feel his breath on me.
I nodded, "Yeah."
His eyes looked from my eyes to my lips, his tongue coming out to wet his own. My own zeroed in on his mouth, my heart thumping against my chest, trying to bust out. I found myself wondering if they were as soft as they looked.
I hadn't realized that we had gotten so close until Emmett's voice broke through our haze, making us jump apart like we had been electrocuted, ending up several feet away from each other.
"Mom and dad brought back lunch if you're hungry." he seemed unfazed at our response.
"Thanks." we both called in unison.
I scrambled out of the pool, leaving Edward in the dust.
&7&
Edward POV:
I watched Bella exit the pool like she was on fire while I sat there dumbfounded over what had just transpired between us. We'd just kissed, meaning the walls that we were trying to keep up, had failed and didn't I think that they were going to go back up. I doubted that either of us had the strength for that.
We both ate lunch in silence, my family carrying on a relaxed conversation, showing no signs that they noticed how tense things had gotten between. I eyed Rose, but her eyes weren't on me, making me sigh in relief. After last night, she had helicoptered over us, giving us room. In this moment especially, I reveled in that fact.
"Hey, Edward," Rose approached me after lunch. I went to sit on the deck, giving Bella room.
"Yes?"
She next to me, "Is everything okay between you and Bella? You were really tense."
"Everything's fine." I kept my answer simple. Things weren't okay. For a girl who had never broken the rules in her life, I didn't think that she knew how to handle this. I didn't know how to handle this. Everything about this situation went from simple to complicated very quickly.
"I just wanted to make sure, especially after what I did last night," she looked out on the ocean, "I never wanted to drive a wedge between you two. After what the bitch from hell did to you, I just want to make sure that that doesn't happen to you again."
"I appreciate that, I do." I placed my arms on my bent knees, "But you don't have to be so intense."
"I know. It's not even really my job to be your big sister."
She was still crushed over what had happened between her and Jasper. They had been do close. After he pulled away, she grew attached to me, and stayed there ever sine.
"You know he was a dick to you, right?" I looked at her to see a tear roll down her cheek, "You didn't deserve that."
"You meant to be cursed out in front of everyone?" she let out a bitter laugh, "He can rot in hell for all I care."
"Has he tried to contact you?"
"No, I don't care if does try. I don't know if I can forgive him for that." she wiped her cheek, shaking her head. "We should do something fun tonight."
"Like what?" Rose's version of fun and everyone else's version of fun was totally different.
"They opened a new club since we were last, we can go check it out?"
"That doesn't sound half bad. We could all use time to relax." I eyed the sliding door that led into the living room, seeing Bella staring back at me, her expression unreadable.
"She's different." Rose commented, "I really like her."
"Wow, Rosalie Hale admitting she likes someone, did you have an aneurysm?" she hit me in the arm.
"Ha ha, very fun," her eyes were alight with amusement, "Don't make me rip your balls off, I don't think your girl would like that very much."
"I don't think that I would like that very much." the old Rose was coming back. The one that I hadn't seen in three years.
"I'm going to go tell Emmett about our plans for tonight," she stood, looking at me, "Don't push this one away. You two are perfect for each other."
Her words hit home. She was right, we were perfect for each other. We had more things in common than I could count. I just didn't dare tell her this. I didn't want to scare her anymore than she was. One way or another, I would make her mine.
&7&
Bella POV:
"We're really going to a club?" I asked Edward warily when he told me what we would be doing that night.
"Yes." he seemed amused by my answer.
"I'm sorry," I blurted out, "I'm sorry I'm making things awkward."
"I get it, Bella."
My eyes snapped to his face, "Thank you."
I really was thankful. Under normal circumstances, the person would complain about my lack of 'interest', but not Edward.
"I've never been to a club." I admitted, feeling my face heat.
"But your twenty-one." he was shocked at my admission.
"I'm twenty-one and I had never had a drink."
"Really?" his brows knitted together.
"Really. I'm not normal, Edward. Nothing about my life had been particularly normal."
"I don't doubt it."
"Who's idea was it to do this tonight anyway?" I inquired, it didn't seem like something that he would be up for.
"Rose. She likes you by the way."
I gaped at him, "What? But last night." I muttered.
"Rose and her brother had a falling out, and ever since then she's made it her job to be the overprotective sister of me."
"I didn't know," when he said this it made her actions last night make more sense. "Were they close?"
"Very," he nodded his head absently, "When he dropped her, it hit her hard."
"I can imagine." I suddenly felt for the woman that had made me feel inadequate. It all made sense now.
"Do you have something to wear tonight?" he asked, transitioning the subject.
"Yeah, I have something that I can wear." I smiled, remembering the panic that I had had the night before.
I looked in the mirror after I changed for the night, feeling self conscious for the second time that day. What I was wearing didn't really show much skin, but I still found myself anxious. I was just wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a silk blue shirt that mom had gotten me a few years back, that showed just a small amount of skin between the bottom of my shirt and the top of my jeans.
A soft knock sounded and I rushed to answer it, finding Rose on the other side.
"You look good, Bella." she smiled, "I just wanted to apologize to you myself about last night."
"You don't have to." I assured, but she raised her hand to stop my protest.
"I figured that Edward would have filled you in."
"He didn't give me any details." I assured, not wanting her to think that he told me anything personal.
"He's sweet like that," she sighed heavily, "It's just Tanya did a number on him, and I know that he can take care of himself, but I just have a hard time not butting in."
"You're a good friend like that."
"Thank you," it was her turn to blush and feel uncomfortable. "Edward's a good one, and he deserves someone just as good as him."
I felt a pang of guilt at her words. I wasn't good.
"I think that you're what he's been looking for."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"I am," she looked sincere, "Don't sell yourself short." she gave me a smile, "We should get down there. The guys are waiting."
"Yeah, we should go."
I grabbed my purse and followed her out the door and down the stairs. Edward was waiting for me in the exact same place he had the night before; only trading in his suit for a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.
"You ready?" Emmett's arm went around his wife, looking lovingly at her.
"Yeah," she replied, "we're ready."
"What is this?" I asked Edward over the music. He had handed me something that was clear and had a lemon sitting in it.
"A gin and tonic." his response was simple as he took a sip from his own glass.
"Gin?" I asked warily. "You're giving someone who has never had a drink before gin?"
"I told they to go very light on it, just trust me."
I warily looked at the cup, the clear liquid making me nervous. I brought the glass to my nose the smell of juniper and lemon invading it. I took a small sip, the citrus tones hitting my tongue first, followed by the juniper. I liked it more than I thought that I would.
"I like it." my shock voice escaped.
He looked pleased, taking his own glass back to his mouth.
"I thought that you would."
"Don't get cocky." I teased.
Two glasses later, Edward was able to drag me out onto the dance floor, my insecurities had flown out the window.
I placed my arms around his neck, the alcohol clouding my brain, making it hazy. His hands ended up on my lower back, his hot hands under the bottom of my shirt. Usually I hated to dance, but at the moment I didn't care. I was in his arms, and that was the only thing that was making it through the haze.
His green eyes bored into my brown ones. They were searing as they held mine. My breath was coming faster, as well as his. My heart was once again hammering in my chest as my eyes went to his mouth. I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted his lips on mine.
He looked shocked when my hand clamped down on the back of his neck, and even more shocked when I brought him down to me.
His lips were just as soft as they looked. He got over his shocked and his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Our lips moved fluidly together, which only made me kiss him harder. When I pulled on his hair, a moan came from deep within him, snapping me back to reality harshly. What was I doing?
I tore my lips from his, making my way through the crowd. I needed to get out of here.
A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this. Things Fall Apart will be my next update, I just don't know when that will be. Just bare with me over the next month, and I assure you that everything will go back to normal. Leave me some reviews. I love getting them and they brighten my day, as corny as that sounds. I would really like to know what you all think of this chapter. Just a disclaimer. I don't drink. I used a gin and tonic because that's what my mom drinks. It would be kind of illegal if I did drink, considering I have a little over a year before my twenty-first.
