Hey! Welcome to all of you TQ newbies and hello again to those of you who're returning.
I can't believe how many of you have added this fic to your alerts of fav's; I thought there might be
a couple at most but the numbers are steadily climbing already, so thank you thank you thank you!

Huge hugs to Pops as always and to T and JJ for keeping me laughing even though work is
mental and Christmas presents I ordered ages ago still. haven't. arrived.

Enjoy, everyone, I'll see you on the other side!

Thunderous Quiet

Chapter Three

~ Edward Cullen ~

"Holy shit!" Smack! I snickered at Em's wounded face and Rose's eye roll, moving my eyes back to The Peninsula Hotel as we pulled up. The place was a fuckin' castle, I shit you not.

"Well boys and girls...Beverly Hills. We've really hit the jackpot now." Rose comments with a huge grin on her face. I look round at their faces, my friends, a little overwhelmed. We're just a small time band playing in dives and crappy little bars with hardly any lighting and cheap beer. It's kinda hard to accept that we're all here, in Cali-fuckin'-fornia, outside The Peninsula Hotel, Beverly Hills.

Some guy in a suit opens the door so we all climb out. I look around at everything -the waterfall, the flashy black cars parked just out of the way, the dude in a really uncomfortable looking suit helping Bells out of the back...damn, fuckin' get a grip, Cullen. I turn away from them when she smiles and thanks him, not liking the surge of jealousy that tears through me. "Ah, you're here. Great." Riley strolls out of the doors with a huge smile and his hands rubbing together in front of him. "I'll let you settle in before we go over your itinerary. I trust you had a comfortable flight." We all know it wasn't meant to be a question so we just look at him blankly until he turns and leads us inside.

"Good afternoon and welcome to The Peninsula Hotel." The woman behind the desk in the lobby waves and smiles as we pass her, giving Jazz a little more attention than she probably should when Ali's right beside him. Girl can be vicious when someone's after her man, let me tell ya. More than once I've had to cool arguments down between fan-girls and my pixie sister.

"Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice, you have shared suites, as requested. Emmett and Rosalie, yours is the Grand Villa. Alice and Jasper, yours is The Royal Patio Suite." We all troop around their rooms, dropping them off as we go. Then Riley tells me and Bells he'll show us to our rooms so the two of us follow him out again. It's incredibly awkward in the elevator 'cause I'm refusing to look at her face and she's probably pissed I'm ignoring her.

It's for the best. That's what I keep telling myself anyways. Have been since I decided to avoid her.

A little voice reminds me that even if I haven't been speaking to her my 'casual' touches and wandering eyes are probably sending off all kinds of mixed signals.

"Ok, Edward, this is your suite. The Peninsula Suite. You have a kitchenette, too." Riley hands me the key and I have a look around, smirking when I see the size of the bed; it's freaking huge! Then I scowl 'cause I know the person I most want to be in that bed with me is a no-go. "Everything ok?"

"Um...yeah. Yeah, s'all good." Riley snaps me out of my mournful thoughts and I force a small smile.

He nods, "good. I'll show you to your room now, Isabella."

"Great. Thanks Riley, you're a real peach." Bells loops her arm through Riley's and shoots me the mother of all bitch brows before they leave me standing in the middle of the room with my fists clenched tight and a hard on caused purely by being around her and her glare.

"Fuckin' peachy." I mutter, running my hand through my hair -a habit Dad passed on to both Em and me- and stomping towards the bathroom. "Might as well check out the shower while Riley's off being a fuckin' escort." It annoys me to no end that even though I'm trying to be angry at Bells it just ain't happening.

~ TQ ~

"Where the fuck is she, man?" When no-one says anything I look up, realizing that Em's eyes are trained on me. I narrow mine and sit up a big straighter.

"Why're you lookin' at me? I'm not her fuckin' keeper."

Em's eyes widen and he holds his free hand up - the other one's holding Rose's hand with his arm wrapped around her. Oh yeah, just another reason for me get pissed. My brother has every-damn-right to sit like that with his girlfriend. It should definitely not bug the shit out of me that even though Bells is sitting between me and Jazz on the sofa I can't hold her the same way.

Goddammit, I don't even know why I'd want to do that!

My mind is spinning with all the shit that keeps getting thrown at me and I'd rather be back in my room with the piano. Life's too fuckin' complicated. I briefly contemplated moving away to a remote corner of the universe with my piano and a shit tonne of beer.

"Sorry I'm late, guys! I just had to check on the Denali's and make sure everything was a-go." Finally, after almost forty minutes of waiting for her, Alice glides into the room with a bright smile and plonks herself onto Jazz's lap.

"You mean you kept us waiting to talk to Eddie's play-things?"

I stand up and glare at Em, "I'm not fuckin' in the mood for your shit, Emmett. Watch your mouth." It's not clear to me exactly why I object to Em saying that about the Denali sisters when he's said it tonnes of times before and we've laughed it off, but there's a sneaking suspicion in my gut that it's 'cause of the curiosity in Bells' eyes when I meet them for a split second.

"Who're the Denali's? Anyone I should know?" She asks with an unreadable array of emotions in her voice.

God-fuckin'-dammit, Em. "Kate is Dawn's publicist, Irina and Tanya are my assistants, Bells." At that she nods, 'cause she already knew that Ali's our stylist. She already worked with Riley when the label took us on just before Christmas, so it wasn't a big leap for her to join us. Riley's also very insistent that when shit hits the fan and we shoot to fame or whatever-the-fuck we'll need her to sort out publicity and shit, 'cause apparently she's good at that too. Yeah, who knew my twenty year old sister was such a fuckin' multi-tasker.

"Got'it."

"Ah, you're back. Good." Riley buggered off to 'make a few calls' when Ali didn't show for like, twenty minutes, so when he walks in a coupl'a minutes after her we all turn our attention to him. Mostly 'cause he knows what we'll be doing for the next however long so we wanna know when we can fuck off out of here and do shit. "Ok, so I've organized for the studio to be made available to you with unlimited access -during open hours, of course- from April fourth. You'll have two engineers with you at almost all times to keep on top of things," he glances over at Em, "and all the instruments you requested are arriving the day before."

Em nods and grins, "cool."

Riley waits a few seconds before realizing he's done and sighs quietly. "Ok. There are a few functions we'd like you to attend as well as your studio responsibilities." He drones on about the launch party for some British boy band I've never heard of for a while, then he tells us about an interview we've got with a magazine in three weeks time. Apparently we got really lucky with it 'cause he's friends with the editor or whatever but I can't say I'm hugely thrilled to have to talk to someone I don't know about shit they don't need to know. But I do know that publicity is key to the band doing well, so whatever. I'll roll with it. Haven't got much choice really, now do I?

Our uppity manager does get a few cheers of appreciation when he tells us that we've got free reign in the hotel, unlimited use of the facilities as long as we fulfill our quota of hours each day in the studio and keep up with their schedule. Considering we've already got five tracks pretty much ready to record we shouldn't have too much trouble with that, so I'm lookin' forward to hitting the gym and the pool. The girls dance around and squeal a bit, I try to ignore the way Bells' smile lights her whole face up and fail epically, and then Riley shuts them up for long enough to say that we basically have three days to fuck around before the hard work starts, give us passes to most of the hot-spots within a fifty mile range and leave.

The squealing from the girls can probably be heard by dogs back in Washington.

~ TQ ~

As promised we spend the next three days fucking around in the hotel. I spend Tuesday morning sleeping followed by the gym with Em and Jazz. When Em texts Rose to ask where the girls are -a fact of which I am infinitely curious after seeing them leave earlier with towels- she replies that they've spent the morning by the pool and now they're at the spa.

That kinda frustrates and pleases me in equal measures 'cause it means I won't see her, but then I realize that I actually want to which is even more annoying.

I find myself trapped in a vicious circle.

On Wednesday I avoid her again and spend the day in my room under the guise of wanting to work on a piece I've been working on. Em takes Rose out somewhere or other and Ali and Jazz stay in, so there's nothin' to stop me. It seems Bells has figured out I'm avoiding her 'cause even though Ali tells me she was planning on coming to see me, she never does. I don't know whether to be relieved or pissed, so I settle for indifferent. Well, I try anyway.

On Thursday -the day before we hit the studio- the choice is taken away from me. Em and Jazz bang down my door at nine and drag me to Em and Rose's room where the others are already waiting. It's decided that we're gonna 'hit up this shit' before we don't have much time. In Em speak that basically means we're gonna go out and get shit-faced, which is definitely ok with me. My endless time alone the day before gave me plenty time to think and, um, enjoy myself. Needless to say I ended up fucked off when every time my hand touched my dick a pair of brown eyes and wavy hair filled my brain. Just can't escape her. Anyways, the girls went out to hit up the stores for something to wear while me, Em and Jazz spent a coupl'a hours in the gym.

When Rose, Ali and Bells got back from their spree it was just after six and me and the guys were in Jazz's room with some beers. Someone made the decision that we'd order room service to kill some time before we went out and I was reminded of McDonald's in Salt Lake City when Bells ordered a bigger meal than me. I wasn't really hungry so I didn't have a big meal, but hers was still more Em's portion than Rose's.

"Hey, Edward? Can I talk to you for a sec?" It's after eight now and the girls are, or were, getting ready in Em and Rose's bedroom while we hung out in the lounge with some beers and the tv. I take a mouthful of my beer, set it down and motion Ali over. She smiles, skips to my side in her white fluffy robe and slips her hand into mine to lead me into the tiny kitchenette.

As soon as we get there I know it's gonna be bad.

She cocks the bitch brow, puts her hands on her hips and glares up at me until I crack like she knew I would.

"What, Ali? What did I do and why're you lookin' at me like that? It's creepy, quite frankly."

With a shake of her head she sighs softly, "you remember when you called me to say you had to do auditions for another girl? How excited you were?" My mind sails away remembering the first time I saw Bells' face, felt that tug to be close to her. "And after you hired her, d'you remember that, too?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"So how come you're ignoring Bells? If it's 'cause of the shake thing then you're actually more pathetic than I thought." That would have hurt more if I hadn't been completely distracted by the memory of Bells squirming all over my lap, making things very hard to deal with. My silence seemed to prove to her that she'd hit the nail on the head -which she had, partly- and she stomped her little foot.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, what the hell is wrong with you? She was only joking around, ya know, like we all do all the time? God, you can be such a-"

"Woad, woah! Before you insult me again..." she rolled her eyes and waved a hand as if to say 'go on'. I decided to take a half-truth and twist it a teensy bit. "It's just weird havin' someone else around. I got used to it being the four, five, of us and it freaked me out having someone else around all the time. I'll get used to it and it'll be good." Please, please, pleeeease buy it.

"You knew it'd be different." Her tone was blank. Dammit.

"I-" apparently I was being given a break today 'cause right then I was saved by the bell. Almost literally.

"Ali! I really need your help with somethin' real quick, pleeeease!" Bells yelled from the bedroom. Me and Ali glanced over at the cracked-open door before she huffed and jabbed my chest with one of her poky little fingernails. Just so you know, fake nails fuckin' hurt when they stab you.

"This isn't over, Edward Anthony. I mean it." With that she spun on her heel and stormed off into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. I wandered back into the lounge, sat on the sofa and guzzled my beer before getting a fresh one.

Jazz and Em eyed me curiously. "What's that all about, bro?" Em asked, his blue eyes wide and almost child-like. They reminded me of Dad and the promise we made to call him and Mom to let them know we'd settled in. That was two days ago. Shit.

"Fuck, we need to call Mom, Em." For such a fuckin' giant the guy can move quick and he was sitting beside me with the phone on speaker between us lightening quick. Jazz smirked and sat back to enjoy the show as we listened to the dial tone.

"Carlisle, our sons finally remembered that we exist. Isn't that nice?" Way to lay on the guilt trip, Mom. I sighed.

"Hi Momma. I bet you look really pretty today." Em said with a dimpled grin.

"Don't you try that with me, Emmett Dale Cullen." Me and Jazz smirked and Em's crestfallen expression. "And the dimples won't work either, for future reference of course." At that we all cracked up laughing, even Mom."Hello, Jasper. How are you, sweetie? Thank you for your text this morning." Jazz shrunk back a little at the glares me and Em shot him. Fucker texted her and didn't remind us? Fuckin' tool.

"Hi, Mrs C. I'm good thanks, and you're welcome."

"Good. I'm glad one of my boys cares about me." There was a muffled voice on the other end and then Dad came on the line.

"Hi, boys. How's LA treating you all?"

We told them all about our last coupl'a days and our plans to go out tonight before they left us to have dinner. Me and Em called the florist back home and ordered a month's worth of Mom's favorite flowers before the door opened and the girls stepped out.

I almost choked on my own tongue.

And that was before the rush of blood to my groin threatened to have me pass out.

~ TQ ~

Hands roaming. Hair tickling bare skin. Plump, blood red lips parted slightly. Hips swaying to the heavy beat.

My eyes were glued to the sinful brunette on the dance floor.

A statuesque blonde and a dark haired pixie flanked her and they had the attention of every damn male in the club.

Including the gay ones.

"Fuckin' hell. Here we go again." Jazz slipped out of the booth and shouldered his way down to the dance floor from the VIP area up on the balcony. Me and Em watched as he tapped some jack on the shoulder and warned him off. Moments later Ali planted one on him and he headed back up to us.

It'd been the same thing for the past two hours almost. The girls wanted to dance on their own for a bit so they extracted promises that we'd keep an eye but wouldn't interfere. That's what we were doin' up here. Drinking and making sure no fuckers got close enough to touch our girls.

My drunken self liked the thought that all three of us had a girl down there. Even if one of us didn't. I didn't. Not unless Ali and Rose -my baby sister and my almost sister- counted anyways.

"You wann'anotha one?" Em grins, jerking his finger towards the balcony. He means the bar so I nod, holding up my Heineken. He heads over to the bar and it's just me and Jazz in the heaving club.

"You're not so subtle, bro." Jazz comments blankly a coupl'a minutes later. I manage to pull my gaze to him for a full second -go me!- before it returns to Bells.

"Whadda' you mean?"

"Don't take a genius to figure out you want her, Eddie boy. You look like you're gonna kill somethin' when some guy looks at her but you avoid her like the fuckin' plague. What's with that, anyhow? And whadda'you actually want from her?"

My lips twitch when Bells turns to Rose over her shoulder with a wide smile; she's clearly well on her way to bein' smashed. A minute later I realize that Jazz asked a question and I think about it.

I've known her for just over two weeks. She's quirky and fun and she curses just as much as me. She's fuckin' wicked to be around. She eats more than me and Em. She's hot as hell. But she's my band-mate and off limits. The pang in my chest is reason enough to know this shit's gonna get difficult, especially when we're all jammed in a studio for hours and days on end.

It was bad enough with me, Em, Jazz and Rose back home when we were trying to get our demo's out to the labels. I love them but bein' stuck in a little room together non-stop was harder than we thought and ended in more than one fight. This time it'd be more intense 'cause there'd be one more of us, obviously, and we actually had a schedule and a timeline to keep to. Reality slammed into me like a wrecking ball, and I was forced to think about what I actually did want, from her and myself.

Huh. Whadda'you know? I can be a thoughtful drunk as well as a fucked-up one.

"C'mon bro's! The girls wann'us to go down!" Without any warning Em grabs me and Jazz and drags us down the stairs to the dance floor. He manages to point over at the girls who're waving from downstairs with wide smiles. Fucker.

"D'you get us our drinks?" Jazz narrows his eyes at Em, who just shrugs with a relaxed grin.

"Nope. Get 'em yourselves." Then we've reached Rose, Ali and Bells. Em grabs Rose and they start 'dancing' before Jazz whispers somethin' to Ali that makes her giggle. They head off through the crowd. Guess who that leaves me with.

For whatever reason I can feel her gaze hot on my face even though mine is fixed on some man's back over her shoulder.

I feel a gentle touch on my chest and my eyes shoot down to her hand resting there then to her face. She looks somewhere between pissed, hurt and amused.

"Are you actually ever gonna look at me, Edley?" Bells yells over the thumping music.

Edley. That's a new one.

I gulp, "I'm lookin' at you now."

She cocks the bitch-brow. "You bein' funny, tough guy? 'Cause I dunno if we can carry on workin' together if you're gonna ignore me all the time. That shit gets old."

My heart is thumping so hard under her hand she must be able to feel it. It moves with my shaky inhale, the alcohol Em's been pouring down my throat havin' crept up on me. I'm suddenly feeling it. My mind turns over the idea that it could be Bells that's intoxicatin', not the beer, and then suddenly she's slamming into me and squeaking like a frightened mouse.

My arms go round her straight away and without thought I hug her to my chest, glaring at the douchefucker who knocked her.

His eyes widen. Even more than they are already. "S-sorry, maaaan." He slurs.

"Get the fuck away from her." In the back of my mind I realize my voice sounds like it came from someone else. Dark, growly and more pissed off than I've ever been.

Then I'm distracted from the drunk fucker when Bells whimpers and clutches my beater tight in her fist. "Shit. Did he hurt you? Bells. Fuckin' tell me if he hurt you." I growl angrily, pulling her face up by her chin so her eyes meet mine.

I expect anger, maybe. Fear. Or a little pain, if he hurt her. Why else would she whimper like that?

Then I see it.

And my eyes narrow slightly, focusing only on the way hers are black with want. Her lips part as she gasps shakily.

She didn't whimper 'cause he hurt her. She whimpered 'cause she's fuckin' turned on.

"Why do you hate me?" It takes a minute to understand her words. 'Cause the music's loud and I that's not what I thought she'd say. Or maybe it's not what I hoped she'd say, I dunno.

"I don't."

She frowns, "why do you avoid me all the time then? I thought-" I make a split second decision and rationalize as I pull her towards where I think the bathroom corridor is that I'm drunk and it's her fault for lookin' so damn tempting. My eyes flicker down to her fitted black dress.

It's short. Like, really-fuckin'-short. Ends way above her knees. There's a thin belt with shiny bits on it and the top's kinda split in two parts with sparkly shit on one half. The hand I have on the bottom of her back can feel the silky texture of it and I have to stop myself -for now- thinking about how soft her skin is in my other hand wrapped around her wrist.

We finally get to a dark corridor and I duck into an alcove, pulling her in before me so she has her back to the wall and is facing me.

"You're driving me crazy." She admits with a rosy tint to her cheeks – I don't think it's just the cocktails 'causing it. If I wasn't so fuckin' turned on I'd smirk at the thought that we were out on the label's money and Bells is drinkin' underage.

"I'm drivin' you crazy?" I ask roughly, my whole body vibrating with the need to touch her already. My palms rest flat on the wall either side of her head. My feet are planted toe-to-toe with hers. I glance down and groan lowly at the heels. Oh God, the fuckin' shoes. Shiny red. They make her calves flex when she walks and I had serious trouble watching her in those since she came out of the bedroom.

"Mmhm."

Shoving away the knowledge that it's a really-fuckin'-stupid thing to do I push my hips forward and thrust my dick into her abdomen. The friction almost makes me fall apart right there and I have to lean my forehead forward to rest on her bare shoulder. Her skin is soft there too, smells like strawberries.

Bells lets out a long moan into the side of my neck and I shiver all over.

Then she moves her hands from her sides to mine. Grips my beater hard and tugs. Shifts so she can rub her pussy on my thigh which I quickly move to between her legs. Holy mother of...I can feel how wet she is through the material of my jeans.

"So fuckin' hot. I want..." she trails off, moving one hand under my shirt. My stomach muscles tighten under her lithe fingers so she presses them harder against my suddenly hot skin, sliding them higher. Bells' hand stops when she gets to my chest so my torso is completely exposed. My whole body seems to hum with electricity, the air around us almost crackling.

The height difference means her face is right in front of my pecs and I pull my head back just in time to see her lean forward and swirl her tongue around my nipple.

"Shit!" The sensation shoots straight to my dick and my hands fly to her hips, pulling her against me harder so it rubs her abdomen. She moans and tilts her head back to the wall, eyes squeezed shut. "Does that feel good, Bells?" She nods, whining a little when I pause even though it just about kills me.

"Don't be such a damn tease, Edward."

With a small smirk I lean my head down and murmur against her ear, "it's not teasin' if you're gonna follow through, right?"

My dick throbs when she moans and both her hands leave my beater and my chest to fist my hair tightly. The groan that leaves my mouth then is embarrassingly loud but she doesn't seem to mind so neither do I. "Say it like you mean it." My brow tightens. I do mean it. Way too much to be normal, Bells.

Taking a deep breath, I jerk my dick into her once before pulling back just slightly. "I. Fucking. Want you." She exhales breathily. "Is this," thrust, "enough proof for ya?"

I'm no virgin but not once has a woman ever made me feel this damn crazy with need, drunk or otherwise. My mind is frenzied and perfectly clear at the same time. My body wild with energy yet restrained, too.

"Yes. God, Edward..."

"Bells..." I rest my forehead on her shoulder and grind our bodies together, seeking the pleasure we both desperately need. My head tips slightly. Lips find soft, sweet smelling skin. I inhale deeply, the light sheen of sweat on both our bodies mixing with her strawberry scented whatever only making me harder. Pushing me closer and closer to diving off that cliff that we're both sprinting towards.

"Fuckin' kiss me will ya?" Her voice comes out in a husky plea over the muffled beats of the music and my chest seizes. Before she has time to take another breath my lips cover hers and share the deep inhale I'd just taken with her.

I suck on her bottom lip -like I've been wanting to do for fuckin' weeks now- and then the top. Heavy breaths are exchanged. Tongues battle in a frenzy. Her hands yank my hair, mine clench on her hips and my eyes close tightly. Her mouth muffles my agonized moan of ecstasy.

"Need more...I need you. All of you." Her whispered words against my lips bring me an extra boost of rational thought; I pull back enough to meet her eyes. She means it. She wants this. Me. My breath catches, my heart thumps. I'm really fuckin' drunk, clearly.

The last two and a half weeks have been leading up to this.

Stolen glances. Lingering touches. The one-sided silent treatment. The sly smirks as she flirted with other men right in front of me. My too-easy-to-predict reactions to her taunting. And tonight...

That sinful fuckin' dress. The fuck-me heels. Her coy smiles and 'innocent' eyes. Me not-so-subtle come-on. Even that jackass pushing her into me on the dance floor.

All I can think about is that I'm too far gone now. She's too far gone. It's all been too much.

"C'mon. Let's get outta here." With an unexpected surge of nerves I release her, step back, and hold out a shaky hand.

The only way to describe her answering smile as she slips her small hand into mine and twines our fingers together is stunning. Me...I've never felt so relieved.

We both hurry through the throng of people who're drunk, beyond wasted. I spot a flash of spiky black hair and curly blond; Ali and Jazz. Finally, finally, we reach the exit and burst out into the oddly warm air. I'm reminded that we're in California, not Seattle, but Bells' hand squeezing mine as a cab pulls up distracts me.

We slip into the backseat -still holding onto each other- and although the rush and heady need is still there, it's tempered by the knowledge that we'll be putting an end to it very soon.

"E-Edward?" I glance down at her, reaching up to run my knuckles against her oh-so-soft rosy cheek.

My words come out as a murmured, "yeah, Bells?"

She blinks heavily before meeting my gaze again; she looks hopeful, still a little tipsy but most of all, worried. It makes my heart beat even faster if that's possible. "Tell me you want me? Like you mean it."

My lips turn up into a grin, my hand opening to cradle her face tenderly. Too tenderly, considering what we were doing just a few minutes ago. "I want you more than anyone I've ever known, Bells, I mean it." She nods, apparently convinced, before lunging at me. We spend the rest of the journey to the hotel making out, hours spreading into the early morning of the next day getting much more acquainted with each other than Felix and Riley probably intended in my hotel room.

They'd have a fuckin' break down if they found out.

Boo-fucking-hoo.

As we all know, Stephenie Meyer is the reason we're all here. I can take no credit for any of my favorite characters.

Next update will be tomorrow or the next day most likely; please let me know what you think and drop me a line if you have any questions :)