a/n: This is officially the first time Edward has a say in things. I have to forewarn you, Edward likes to swear like a sailor. I've tried to talk to him about toning this down a little bit. He assured me he would keep it on the milder side. If this is mild, I wonder what crude would be. Ahhh, crude Edward…Sorry, snapping out of it.

The usual note, I do not own these characters, the plot however is mine.

Last time on Regent's Park:

Without warning Edward closed the distance between us and pulled me into him. Before I could comprehend what he was doing, he leaned down and his lips smashed into mine. One of his strong arms wrapped around my back to pull my shaking body into his, while the other snaked its way into my hair to pull me impossibly closer. His tongue begged for entry but I didn't want to give in. My body simply shut down and did not respond, until I heard Edward give a low moan and my resolve crumbled. I felt his tongue graze mine before it came back out and as I caught my breath he took his nose and rubbed it painstakingly slow along my jaw line. My head instinctively fell backwards and he began trailing kisses in the sensitive spots along my exposed neck. Edward cupped my face with both of his hands and brought his forehead to mine before closing his eyes,

"I do not think I can stay away from you any more Bella."

Chapter 6

Duff

EPOV:

The first time I saw her she walked in on my time. She barged in on me at the piano and called me an asshole while I was playing some personal shit that I do not play for anyone. Then she had the audacity to scream at me. I probably fucking deserved it, but you do not just walk into a man's space and start yelling obscenities at him. I tried to follow after, to do what I am not exactly sure, but it did not matter because her skinny little legs were freakishly fast.

Of course, I had no idea what her name was until Jasper dragged me to Peter's pub to pick up Alice. When I saw her sitting there in an absolutely inebriated state my first reaction was repulsion. I could tell it was her even through the first time was in a dark room because of that voice. It was sickly sweet. Then Jasper had the fucking nerve to ask me to drag her sorry ass back to the flat so he could shag my sister, which is ten degrees of fucked up to ask a brother.

That was the first time I looked into those delicious brown eyes, all dilated and crap from the alcohol in her system. I carried her down the street and mixed in with the usual cigarette smell that came off of my sorry body, a strawberry fragrance mixed itself in. I smelt her hair and wished for the first time they made fucking strawberry scented cigarettes. Now that would be heaven.

Of course Bella could not just let me drop her off in her room and leave that intoxicating aroma. No, she had to hide her keys inside her bra. I almost lost it when I caught a glimpse of her hardened nipples as they spilt out of her flimsy bra. If she wasn't so inebriated she would have noticed that I had a raging hard on and maybe even a small piece of drool escaping from my lips. Then she had the audacity to ask me to get it out for her when her attempts were thwarted. Normally I would never pass up an opportunity to possibly feel up a willing girl, but when Bella asked me I grew nervous that I would lose the last of my control and take her then and there in the filthy hallway. It felt like I was trying not to set off any fucking fuses on a bomb when I evaded any contact with her skin. I had to look in the damn thing to see the little key tucked into the folds of the bra, and those perky little nipples kept taunting me yelling, "touch me Edward, suck on me". For one second I lost concentration and grazed her skin. Of course she let out this breathy gasp that made my hard on start pulsing, and I knew that shit was not going to calm itself down. With one fucking groan, she had me in the palm of her hands.

I knew Alice would be blood mad if I did not make sure her roommate made it to her bed safely. Of course Bella took it upon herself to try and put on some night clothes when I ran to grab her some water and aspirin from the bathroom. When I can back and saw her in that blue lace bra and thong – I started to hyperventilate. That girl was going to kill me. She finally settled into her bed and I made sure to cover her body up quickly with a blanket for my sanity, but she kept complaining of not being able to fall asleep. Against my better judgment I lay in bed next to her and started humming whatever came into my head. It placated her and I left she was snoring like a freight train.

I went back to my room and jerked off, because let's face it, my balls were getting bluer by the minute and that shit is painful. Every time I thought about her and those perfect chocolate eyes and that amazing strawberry scent, and those damn lace panties, my body reacted like I was a hormonal teenager. I lay in my bed for hours, but I could not get her out of my mind, imagining her yelling my name in pleasure with her sweet little American accent.

To make matters even worse, mum wanted me to come and visit with her. Father was at work again late, and I know she must be lonely if she was calling me over. Even I will admit I am not the most enjoyable person to spend time with. I expected to walk in and see her all lonely and needing company while father was out saving the world, instead she kept going on about how Alice visited and brought her lovely roommate. Of course I knew whom she was talking about even before she mentioned how beautiful her damn gorgeous chocolate eyes are.

"Bella is really quite sweet. Edward, if I give you a few books from the library, could you drop them off for her?" Esme did not even wait for me to answer before she ran back into the library and fucking skipped back carrying some of her favorite first edition Jane Austin novels and one of Emily Bronte's. My face must have dropped to the floor. Esme never, ever let those books out of her site, moreover out of this house, "Do make sure they get to her. If I am lucky, this will force her to come back and visit when she drops them back off!" And then I saw the fucking glint in my mum's eye. I knew she was meddling with something. If she really wanted Bella to borrow these books, she would have given them to her when she was here, but instead she calls me over out of the blue to visit her and asks for me to drop them off like a messenger.

"Mum, what is the real reason you would like me to take those over to Bella?"

Esme shifted nervously for a moment before putting on her smiling façade, "I do not know what you mean Edward. I just want to be hospitable to Alice's roommate and make her feel at home here in London." Lying through her teeth, that woman would make a horrid politician. I could already visualize her in the study she shares with father picking out wedding china for our wedding. When she slipped up and accidently called Bella her daughter, she tried to put it off as a joke she had with the girls, but my mum is so easy to read, she wanted her to be a real part of the family. If she did not marry her off to me, she would definitely try marrying her off to Emmett. I shuddered at that thought.

When Bella walked into band practice with Alice, I was shocked. When she turned to my sister and said in a very quiet theatre, "Alice, he's the asshole piano player," I stood there stunned. She hadn't mentioned anything when I carried her drunken ass home. Even though I knew she was pissed off at me when she flashed the bird, I grinned. I fucking grinned. She captured a little bit of my decrepit heart that day. It felt refreshing to have a woman not fawn over me to get in my pants.

Then Bella had to go and sing that tough ass chick anthem for karaoke. Even though the song is awful, she made it sound like it should be sung at a fucking stadium to crowds of thousands. That girl can belt it out. I had to take a shot to stop myself from running up and taking her there on the stupid stage dinky stage they bring out for karaoke at the ISH bar, but Bella deserved better than that. My mum taught me to be a gentleman after all. Instead I tried to distract myself by ordering another drink, when this American girl with a rather obvious rack wedged herself next to me. I tried to brush her off, but she kept pushing herself against me saying how she had this amazing voice, insinuating she should come and sing with our band. That was a fucking joke; there was no way she would ever step on stage with me – our band's standards were way too high for that crap. But I couldn't help but fantasize what it would be like singing next to Bella, holding her body close to mine and sweating together under the stage lights. I jumped out of my fantasy when I noticed the American chic's hand start to creep across my chest and toward my crotch. I wanted to give Jasper a fucking kiss for interrupting that shit. She started to sing that crap theme song from Titanic, and I took that as my cue to follow Jasper and get the fuck out of there. Hell, her harpy voice scared me so much I left half my drink on the bar, and I never do that shit. No one should waste a drop of good brew.

I acted like some lame stalker when I saw Bella down at the front desk at ISH talking with Gianna. She mentioned something about needing directions, and that shit worried me. Only a few days in London and she was traveling all the way out to Shepherd's Bush at night. Granted, that was not the most decrepit part of the city, but after a few drinks who knew where she would end up.

It wasn't like Bella was my responsibility to look after, but bloody hell; I had to follow her and make sure she was all right. I grabbed the TimeOut from the table that Gianna tossed it onto and opened it to the dog-eared page. Circled was a premier showing at an O'Neill's Pub. The address was listed below and I made my way toward the Tube Station. I was in luck when I saw Bella get on the train, and I was able to jump onto one of the other cars before the doors closed. When we got off at the station, the crowd pulled me back and I could not keep up with her. I finally made my way over to the pub, and of course the 'theatre' was fucking small and I couldn't hide in there and just check to make sure she was alright. During the whole awful production I debated whether or not I would talk to her afterwards, and when they took their last bows I took the chance to follow her downstairs. There is no way I could just let her leave. I wondered what the hell I was going to say,

"So I just happened to go to the world's smallest theatre production and look! There you were! Funny meeting you here." That was fucking lame. But for being a tiny little thing, she sure sprinted out of there like the place was on fire. I caught up to her downstairs in the pub thanks to all the drunk patrons filtering in for the night and clogging the place up.

When I had her with me I just could not let the night end and dragged her to see Alec play. She looked so good next to me in the pub while he sang some of the songs I wrote for him. I showed off a little for her, but she was the real shocker that night. I joked with Alec after my song that she had a voice on her, and he embarrassed her into getting on stage. Then she surprised me and took that shit and threw it back in our faces. I knew from the way she blushed that Bella is not a get-up-in-front-of-the-crowd kind of girl, but she not only went up there and sang, but she played too. I study with some of the best musicians in the fucking world, but the way she was so carefree playing that violin made me reconsider my no fucking Bella in public stance. I wanted her right then and there, stroking those violin strings with her small little fingers, and opening her beautiful mouth right over that microphone. I was fucking jealous of that microphone, and my dick was definitely jealous of that violin.

Of course fucking Tanya had to walk in and ruin everything. She gave me a panic attack and I tried to drag Bella out of that place, but before I even realized what was happening, Bella ran right back in there. There was no way I wanted Tanya to go corrupting my Bella, but I could not bring myself to walk back in there and drag her out. So I took my sorry ass and walked down the street, sitting in a storefront window frame and staring at the cracks in the sidewalk while my panic attack subsided.

Bloody hell, did I just call her my Bella?

I do not know when I became possessive of her, but damn, when she came back out and I walked her back to her flat, everything simmered in me. Fucking Tanya had to go and ruin a perfectly beautiful night with my Bella. Well, beautiful accept all of my stalker tendencies at the beginning. Even I could admit that shit was over the top. She wanted to know about Tanya, and her gorgeous little face crunched up in frustration when I refused to tell her anything about her. I could feel the anger rolling off of her, and then the streetlight caught the skin on the side of her neck.

All I could imagine was how tasty that skin would be, and I could not stop myself. I pulled her body into mine and felt those sassy little lips touch mine. My brain could not give those lips justice, they were even sweeter and softer then I imagined. I knew she was shocked at first, but eventually she gave me the access to her mouth that I so desperately wanted. Before I could let her go, I had to taste that neck and smell her. I dragged my nose across her jaw and was rewarded with the most stunning floral scent imaginable. Hell, there is no way I am ever going to be a dainty man, but this bouquet was one I wanted to indulge in every fucking day.

"I do not think I can stay away from you any more Bella," the words came from my mouth before I could even stop them, but I knew they were true. I knew I was a fucking lunatic who was obsessed over a girl I just met, not to mention been insulted by during the course of a few short days. But there was something about her very existence that drew me in.

I pulled back to look into those eyes of hers and read her face. Her head was still in my hands, but her eyes were closed, almost scrunched together. I wanted to take my fingers and smooth away those lines that crinkled between her brows. Before I could make another move, Bella stepped back and opened her eyes. They narrowed in on me, the glare alone making me step back. There are a lot of things that I thought could happen in that moment, but she took the one I never anticipated.

Bella took her arm back and punched me in the stomach.

And then she wound up and punched me again in the face.

I doubled over in pain. What the fuck? The girl that could not be more than a hundred and twenty pounds dripping wet just brought me to the ground. I cringed looking up with my good eye to see Bella step back and shake out her hand and move back up the steps toward the door. Damn, she knew to keep her thumb inside her fist; it made me a little proud she knew how to throw a good punch.

At least I knew she could bring me to my knees, even if it hurt like a motherfucker.

BPOV:

The rain started as I came above ground from the Westminster Tube station. I reached in my canvas bag to pull out my umbrella, but cursed when I realized it was still in my flat at MTH.

"You think its funny Big Man?" I lifted my face and glared at the sky in frustration. First day interning at Parliament and I will walk in like a drowned rat. I even felt a slight twinge of regret that my hair was flattened after Alice woke me from a sound sleep at 5:30am to make me look 'work appropriate'. The extra hour of sleep would have helped ease my bad temper on this dreary day.

Alice tried to pry some information about my whereabouts the evening before. I remained vague, mentioning I went to the theatre. I left out most of the details, especially how her brother stalked me and tried to suffocate me with a kiss the night before. I rubbed my right hand thinking about the memory and reminded myself to take an aspirin before I left the flat.

Alice had looked at the light bruise on my hand, obviously looking for a way to ask about the marks. I shrugged it off, "Got mad and took my frustrations out on an idiot."

"Seriously?" Alice sounded shocked and disbelieving.

"Mmhmm," I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders, walking out of the room toward the bathroom without giving more of an explanation. For some reason, I could not bring myself to tell Alice that I pretty much assaulted her brother the night before.

Just thinking about last night made me get flustered. Edward seemed to find a way under my skin and make himself right at home. My morning commute was punctuated by at least three guys groping me while waiting for the train, on the train, and exiting the train. And I thought the English were supposed to be all prim and proper.

My mood brightened slightly when I saw the famous tower that held Big Ben. The gothic style exterior of Parliament jetted out into the sky and I immediately felt silly for even thinking a bad thought when I had so many things to look forward to today. However, my self-imposed positive attitude went down the crapper when I saw a group of people protesting across the lawn from the Parliament building holding signs and shouting to everyone who was walking on the sidewalk toward the entrance. They chanted, but their words mumbled together with the traffic streaming between us. I could barely make out the word 'jobs' spewed across many of the signs.

I was a little nervous from the crowd and that probably was their intention. At Washington State students would stage campus protests, but that usually consisted of about twenty students in front of the student union handing out literature on the cause of the week. But this crowd looked angry, and I had images of them jumping the small patricians and sacking me to the ground like an unprotected quarterback.

I picked up the pace and went to the Cromwell Green entrance as stated in the internship packet Eleazar gave to me. Immediately upon entering the Parliament building I felt a bit of relief from being away from the crowd outside. I checked into a reception area, and was directed to a small lounge to wait while they prepared my security badge and to call down someone to direct me to the right office for my internship.

I sat in the plush chair of the waiting room, and my mind suddenly began to roam back to the night before. Those emerald eyes looking down at me filled with an emotion no man has ever given me. Whatever it was, it scared me to death. Edward is either on uppers or downers, but whatever it was definitely did a poor job of keeping his mood balanced right in the middle.

I was pulled out of my memory by a young lady with flowing crimson hair walking down the hall toward me. She was tall, lean, and obviously gorgeous even with the stuffy suit jacket and pencil skirt. She glided toward me in her three inch heels like she was floating on a rolling carpet, an act I could never pull off even in my wildest daydreams. She gave a half smile, which I suppose was meant to be welcoming, but intimidated me instead. Her eyes roamed over my body, probably assessing me in my drenched outfit and now frizzy wet hair.

"You must be Isabella." It was not a question. I nodded my head and extended her my hand. Instead of taking it, she turned on her three inch deathtrap heals and I took that as my indication to follow her. I had to practically run to keep up with her long gate, and she spoke to me without turning around, "You will be working with MP James Damon. He is a member of the Tory Party, and an astute man. His office is this way." I was pulled down several corridors and prayed that I would find my way back out without too much trouble. It took us several minutes before we arrived outside of a mahogany door with "Damon" written on a placard placed on the door. My guide led me in and walked through a small room and knocked on another door.

"Excuse me sir, I have Ms. Isabella Swan here."

"Bring her in Victoria," the crimson haired lady held the door open for me and I walked into a small office. The shelves looked meticulous holding old volumes of legal text and small busts of individuals I did not recognize. The light in the room was dim, with no window and only the ting of a beam coming from a small desk lamp. In the middle sat a small desk with a computer, the seemingly only piece of modernity in the room.

"Have a seat Isabella," a man who looked to be roughly in his thirties with blond hair slicked back away from his face motioned to a leather chair opposite to him. I sat down and noticed that Victoria did not come in the room with me, and the door was now shut leaving us alone in the darkened cave.

"I prefer to be called Bella," I gave a small smile, trying to be friendly to the man who would ultimately decide my grade for this internship.

"Bella," he rolled the word around in his mouth, "Such a pretty name. Hmm—well I suppose we should get to the matter at hand. I have been given a bit of your information by our internship coordinator. It mentions here that you are an English major."

"Yes, sir."

"Please Bella, call me James. I try not to be too formal when I not on the Commons floor conducting official business. It gives the public a more personal image of me – more relatable. Let us get in the practice of doing the same. It also appears you have no experience in politics."

I immediately blushed and prayed he could not see it with the dim lights. That is precisely why I did not understand why they would want me there in the first place. This was all out of my realm of expertise, "No, I am not very political at all."

"Do not be embarrassed Bella, you see I specifically asked for someone outside of the political arena to bring some fresh life into my office. The fact you are an English major is simply an added benefit," James sat back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap, "Right now we are working on improving our communications back with the area I represent. With the difficult economic climate, it has become increasingly important to keep everyone in the loop and open for ideas in progress. It is our challenge to make sure they see these benefits."

Since I knew so little about politics, trying to decipher what James was saying became difficult. Seeing my confused expression he continued on, "For the first couple of days, Victoria will help you become acquainted with the office and some of the finer workings of the House of Commons. Soon enough we will utilize your strength to start drafting some press releases and statements. Do not worry Bella, we will help you with everything."

Victoria came back into the office and took me for a brief tour of the Parliament building and showed me some of the areas I would need to know about. My favorite spot without a doubt was the House of Commons Library. We walked into the main reception area and then through a single door to the two story Reference Room. Certainly the books on the shelves were not those of a traditional library, but just the feel of the room made me feel so at ease. A small ornate staircase wove behind the shelves to a ledge that wrapped around the entire room. The Oriel room next to it was designed in the same manner. But the loveliest rooms in the library were rooms A, B and C. Large windows filled the length of the two story rooms and overlooked the River Thames. These rooms held small wooden desks adorned with green reading lights. Plush green leather chairs nestled themselves up against handsome fireplaces. Of course the thought crossed my mind that operating a fireplace in a library probably was not the smartest idea, but I assumed that they were probably not necessary anymore and only remained as decoration. A very tiny television sat on a shelf above the fireplace. When I looked at it inquisitively Victoria spoke,

"There are small televisions throughout the building that are turned on when the House of Commons is in session." A list of the speakers of the House of Commons was carved into the highest walls of the rooms, the oldest I could find was '1377 Hungerford.T.' Just the thought of all the history made me a little giddy. I hoped I would have the opportunity to come back to this room and explore it in length sometime. However, this time would be cut short because Victoria looked like she was bored out of her mind and ready to run me over with one of those big red double-decker buses London is famous for.

The entire tour I wanted to ask Victoria why she had a stick up her ass. Then I thought that the term might not translate well from American slang to English slang. Hmmm—nope, I bet it translated perfectly. Instead, I did not ask her because I had no idea what her job roll was and if she would be a part of determining my internship evaluation.

We finished up and arrived back at the office where Victoria pointed out my desk and told me, "Do not overdo it on the personal items, we do not want the office to be filled with duff." I made a mental note to ask Alice what the hell "duff" meant. After a few more unpleasant stares, she told me I could go and, "You might do well if you pay some mind to your hair." I gave her the middle finger mentally while smiling threw gritted teeth. I gathered that working with her was going to be worse then jumping off a cliff.

I was dismissed for the day and on my way back to the flat made plans to change into some sweats and do a load of laundry since everything I brought with me was now in the dirty pile. Alice was growing on me, but I was so glad when I opened the door and found myself in an empty room. Plopping myself onto my bed after changing out of my dress clothes I decided to pull out my laptop and write emails to Renee and Charlie. I pretty much copied and pasted my message from one to the other, but I included details about Alice, my first day at my internship, my first impressions of London, but made sure not to mention all of the crap Edward put me through. Although Charlie would probably be wearing a shit-eating grin if he knew that I punched just like he taught me too.

The phone in my room rang just as I pressed 'send' and I jumped back in shock. Alice was the only one who received phone calls to our room, so I was not sure if I should answer it or not. I took the chance figuring I could take a message if I had too, and was pleasantly surprised when I heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Is Bella there?"

"This is Bella."

"Hi Bella, it's Mike," He paused into the phone for a moment, and hesitantly asked, "Hey, I was wondering if you haven't eaten if you wanted to check out a little restaurant down the road with me?"

"That sounds great Mike, should I go find Jessica and Angela or did you already do that?"

"Well--" Mike hesitated again, and I could almost imagine him cocking his head a little and giving his crooked grin, "I thought it could just be you and me – to, you know, know each other better?" Damn, that boy's English grammar needed some work, but he was nice enough to hang out with.

"Sure thing. Under one condition."

Mike sounded a little nervous, "What's that Bella?"

"I don't have to change out of my sweats," I heard him chuck on the other end of the line, "All the rest of my clothes are filthy right now and I have to do the laundry."

"That would be perfect Bells. I'll meet you outside of MTH is ten minutes?"

"Sure thing." Even though I knew that Alice would disapprove of my going out in public in sweats, I did not have any other options. But I did decide to comb through my hair and at least make that look presentable.

As promised, Mike was waiting outside of MTH for me with that cock-eyed grin on his face. We walked for a bit before I realized that he had slid his hand into mine. In many ways this walk was much more peaceful then the one I shared with Edward the night before. Everything was much less awkward and more relaxed. We chatted about the classes we shared with each other and our plans for the weekend. For the first time since I stepped off the plane I felt relaxed.

Mike led me to a little Indian restaurant down the street and opened the door for me like a gentleman. We were seated and both asked for some water from the waitress.

"I am starting to get addicted to curry," Mike admitted will skimming over the menu.

"I know, the chef at ISH right? He makes at least one meal of curry every day." We continued our easy conversation while the waitress took our order and came back almost immediately with our main course.

"So, how is life over at MTH? Where is your roommate from?" Mike asked while scooping some of the delicious curry into his mouth.

"Her name is Alice, and she is actually from the United Kingdom. You may have see a brief glimpse of her after karaoke at ISH. She is really cool, if you can get past that whole overly bubbly personality." I smirked thinking that wherever Alice was she was probably bouncing up and down at this very moment.

"So I joined the ISH rugby league." Mike said with a sly grin.

"Aren't you worried you are going to loose some teeth, I heard that is a pretty rough game." I looked up from my bowl. Damn, this curry was amazing; I wanted to take a bowl to go.

Mike shrugged and batted a hand at me, "Nah, I'm built to weather a little rough housing. We are going to have a tournament this fall at Regent's Park. They said it would happen during their annual 'Scrum in the Park'. It should be fun. Hopefully you can come and cheer my team on."

"Watching a bunch of guys beat themselves into the ground in an organized fight. Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mike chuckled and we continued on with our conversation. I told him about Victoria and her snide stick-up-the-butt attitude, and Mike dubbed her the "British Bitch" or BB for short. Then I told her how I thought she wanted to shoot me down after giving me the tour and we played around with her nickname until we finally settled with – BB Gun.

Mike and I paid for our dinner and headed back to MTH. I invited him in because he had not been inside MTH yet and I showed him my flat. The look on his face was priceless when he saw Alice's piles of designer clothes and shoes spewed throughout the room. Of course I blushed when pointed out my little blue lace panty set that was on the floor and commented on how she had some rather exotic taste. I let Alice take the fall for that one because I was not ready for Mike to be picturing me in lacy thongs quite yet.

Thankfully Mike became distracted by some pictures I had on the shelf over my bed, some of the only personal items I brought with me from Washington. I sat on my bed and he followed suit and we continued with our comfortable conversation. We talked about my father and life as the Police Chief's daughter. He talked about his family's store, I learned they owned Newton's Outfitters.

"You are kidding right? I worked at the one located in Forks when I was in high school!" we laughed at how close we probably were without ever meeting each other.

"Sure as shit, my dad is actually from Forks, but once he started to expand it into a franchise we moved to Seattle. I used to drive over to Forks all the time to drop paperwork off for my dad. I am sure I would have remembered seeing you if you worked there when I stopped by. You are kind of hard to forget."

I blushed at the thought of ever standing out to anyone, "Stop being a flirt Mike, I kind of blend into my surroundings. Lets call it a teenage survival mechanism that I never grew out of—blending."

Our conversation was interrupted as we heard two very Scottish accents outside of the door, as Alice threw it back and skipped in not noticing Mike and I on my bed. She called back to the door, "Just come in and put the books on her desk. I will let her know they are from Mum."

"Alice, I really wanted to be here when I dropped them off. I um—have some specific instructions from Mum to give to her pertaining the books." A very persistent and familiar velvety voice filled the room from the doorway, but I still could not see him from the hallway.

"Just bring them in Edward. So, you did not answer my original question. How did you mess up your pretty little face—"Alice cut herself off when she turned and finally saw Mike and I tucked away on my bed. She looked a little shocked but quickly composed her face.

Edward walked in briskly and set the books down but stopped in his tracks when he also saw Mike and I on my bed. His left eye was still swollen and it looked like I had split is lip pretty good too. By the looks on his and Alice's faces you would have thought they walked in on us having sex instead of fully clothed and looking at photographs, "Umm—hello Bella," Edward said timidly.

"So Edward, you have some instructions on the books you needed to share with me?" I eyed him skeptically.

"What? Oh, yeah," Edward sputtered a little before recovering, "Esme asked that when you were finished with them that she would like you to come over and have tea again."

I raised my eyebrow, "That's all?" Edward just shrugged, suddenly unabashed by being caught lying to his sister about having explicit instructions that he had to relay to me.

"Well in that case, why don't you tell your sister how you received that bruised face of yours. And it looks like a split lip to boot," Alice looked at him expectantly, and I notice Mike was slightly intrigued now as well. I am sure he recognized Edward as the guy Lauren was hitting on at the ISH bar.

Edward just shrugged again, "It really was nothing, just a little misunderstanding."

"You don't like answering questions do you Edward?" I stood up from the bed. I turned to Alice who was watching everything from the sideline, "Alice, meet the idiot I took my frustrations out on." If it was possible, her eyes grew even larger then before and she gasped.

"I think I better get along then," Edward looked uncomfortable around the room, and I noticed his eyes widen as he glanced at my twitching fist, "Cheers Alice. Umm, goodnight Bella and –"

"—Mike" he tilted his blond haired head and gave a stiff wave from the bed. Edward turned hunching his shoulders and barreled out, closing the door behind him.

"Well, that was awkward," I broke the silence in the room.

"You know what Bella, I think I will head on out too. It's getting late and we have class tomorrow." Mike smiled at me and Alice as he headed toward the door."

"I really enjoyed dinner Mike, lets do it again." I said trying to leave things on a positive note.

"I'd like that. Hey Bells," Mike turned around before he stepped out into the hallway, "you could never just blend in." He smirked at me and I smiled back closing the door behind him.

I turned back into the room expecting to be jumped on by a tiny little black haired pixie. The look in her eyes did not disappoint. She wanted to pounce for information that much was certain. Her little body started to bounce in anticipation.

"Did you hit Edward?"

"Yes, I did. And for good reason." I was nervous to tell Alice what kind of deviant behavior her brother was participating in. I mean, sure I was her roommate, but this is her brother, "Alice, I'm not sure if I am comfortable telling you about this."

Alice looked at me slightly distraught and with a bit of panic, "Well why not, you're my friend? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, its not your fault. I just don't feel comfortable talking about your brother with you. You are siblings, and we've only known each other for about a week. Sibling loyalty kind of trumps brand new roommate loyalty."

"Now wait one bloody minute!" Alice's voice was stern and that little pixie was all up in my face, "You promised that you were my sister. Sister trumps brother any day of the week, especially when your brother is a punk like Edward. Now tell me what he did."

"Alice—" I let her name hang in the air for a moment before I pulled her over to my bed to sit down, "I honestly do not know what is wrong with your brother. The condensed version is that he followed me to the theatre last night, brought me to a pub, sang to me, made me sing to him. Then freaked out when a girl named Ta—damn, what's her name came in."

Alice looked down at her hands, "Tanya."

"Yeah, that's it. Tanya came in and then he hightailed it out of there. I left and he walked me home and then had the audacity to kiss me. Alice, what is wrong with him?"

"It's not my story to tell." A little glint danced in her eyes, "Wait, did you just say he kissed you?"

"Yes, and then I hit him," I smirked, "Well, he's not going to tell me about it either, so that's the end of that then," I stood up from my bed and started to grab my pajamas to change into.

Alice grabbed the clothes from me and took my hands in hers, "I know Edward can act aloof, but he is not always a prick. Some really awful things happened to him, and to be honest I do not think he has told anyone everything yet. If only you could know how much that kiss means," she squeezed my hand even tighter and stared even deeper into my eyes, "He is worth a bit of confusion. I have a good feeling about you two. "

There was a deeper meaning in Alice's voice. Truthfully, for all the quips she gave to her brother, I knew she loved him dearly. But her premonition did nothing to make me feel more at ease. Every relationship I had up to this point in my life I kept the other person at a distance. It was safer that way to not allow anyone to hurt me. Jacob was not the first person I allowed in my life that betrayed my trust, but it reminded me how important that distance truly is to my sanity. I was already letting Alice in, I did not know who else I would want to allow that far into my life.

"Alice, I am only here for a few short months and then I go back to Seattle. I really just want to enjoy my time here."

Alice looked down at her hands and for the first time her demeanor showed her small stature, "Is that why you brought Mike here—because you can continue that relationship after you leave?"

"Oh Alice," I walked up to her and brought her into a hug, "Mike is just being a good buddy. But even the distance of an ocean could never come between sisters. Right?"

"That is good to hear. I thought I was going to have to beat up that little twat for taking my sis away." Alice looked up and smiled, "Besides, I still have time to convince you to stay here forever."

"Alice—" I scolded.

Dancing across the room to her messy side, "Oh Bella, if I don't try, you know my Mum will. She has become quite attached to you. She wants to even out the estrogen to testosterone ration in the Cullen family."

Thinking of Esme, I went over to the books that Edward brought over. I picked up the first one and almost dropped it on the ground. My hands were shaking as I saw it was a first edition copy of Wuthering Heights. My own worn paperback copy was in a storage box at Charlie's back in Washington and I probably bought if for a few dollars at the campus bookstore. I was no rare book expert, but I could only imagine the copy I held in my hands was worth somewhere in the five digits. Okay, I googled it and the thing is in the six digits. After Alice calmed me down from hyperventilating, she said we could lock them in the room safe, but that Esme would insist I read them before I came back to return them. I honestly do not think there is any family in the world that can compare to the Cullens—I am certain they are one of a kind. Who just meets a girl and trusts her with several rare books that are worth ore then Charlie and Renee's homes combined?

I carefully handled the book and brought it over to my bed, switching on my little reading light. The book itself seamed to even more real to me being in England. Catherine and Heathcliff's turbulent story engulfed me, and after two hours of sitting quietly and several tissues later, Alice finally announced that she was done with sketching new spring designs and was heading to bed. I put the book in the room safe and returned to my bed turning off my little light.

Before I drifted off to sleep, I remembered something from earlier in the day, "Hey Alice, I was just wondering. What does 'duff' mean? I heard it from someone today and I'm not familiar with that term."

She mumbled and pulled the comforter away from her face, "Hmm, duff, it usually means something that is useless, junk, sometimes trash." Somehow I did not think that Victoria was just referring to tchotchkes on a desk then.

I drifted off to dreams of shooting a BB gun, while dancing through the English countryside. All the while a certain young man with emerald eyes followed never far behind.

Playlist for the chapter:

Time is Running Out – Muse

Overboard – Ingrid Michaelson

Sleep On Needles – Sondre Lerche