This chapter has been beta'd by the lovely Mel. She's perfect so I reposted for you. Leave me some love at the end.

7. News

Bella

This morning was a perfect morning. I don't know if I had ever felt so light and carefree. A lot of my mainly was due to Edward's scheme to hold me hostage in our bed for five glorious days.

It was his idea to play hooky and I couldn't say no to him when he begged. If I wasn't addicted to Edward before, I truly had a problem now. I couldn't stand to be without those seductive eyes of his for more than twenty minutes.

I left our heated tangled bed sheets to go downstairs and start a pot of coffee while Edward was in the shower. I thought we'd be more productive this morning if we showered separately.

Then, the doorbell rang. There was no one there when I got to the door—only a brown package with thick, white paper attached to the top of it. I brought it inside and set it on the counter and then grabbed the piece of paper. I read it once, twice, and then a third time. I knew it was too good to be true. I thought we were being careful. Edward was the king of careful. Somehow we'd blown it, and our time was up. Dread crept down my spine, and I suddenly felt depressed. I should have stayed in our warm bed and let Edward lavish me with his affection until I was too tired to continue. Then maybe this letter wouldn't have ruined my morning so effectively.

The footsteps coming down the stairs told me Edward was out of the shower. I could feel his hands slide around my waist and his lips attached to my neck naturally.

"First, you refuse to shower with me and now you're trying to start breakfast without me. Isabella, I'm hurt," he said huskily. His arms drew me in closer.

Playfully, he sucked on the soft spot between my chin and my neck. I almost melted right there but reality had already coming crashing down in to my blissful haze.

"So wonderfully edible," he murmured.

His head was still stuck in our bedroom. I couldn't blame him. This weekend was amazing, and I had wanted to relive it over and over again. Well, until now.

"You should read this," I said, pushing my hand through the mess of knots that I called my hair.

Edward stopped his assault on my neck to read the elegant script written on the square of thick, plain white paper. His arms tensed around me as I felt him pull me closer to his body as if he could protect me from the threat written into the parting line of Aro's congratulatory letter:

I look forward to seeing the new Mrs. Cullen in person.

"How does he know?" I asked, releasing a shaky breath. I suddenly felt like we were being watched. My palms started to sweat and my heart started to thud heavily in my chest.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise." Edward kissed my forehead and took my hand leading me back upstairs. He couldn't promise me that and he knew it. It was only a hope of his that he desperately clung to. "We'll call Alice." If anyone knew about this in our family, it would be her.

Although Edward and Alice's relationship was strained, she let him know they weren't going to check on us for some time, about four years, if everything went according to plan.

"What plan?" Edward stopped pacing a hole in the floor to growl into the phone. "Why wasn't I made aware of it in the first place?"

Alice was on speaker. Her tiny voice shouted back, "Because you're an over protective asshole, that's why! You would have locked Bella away in Forks, canceled your honeymoon and your plans to attend college."

I watched Edward's hands clench to fists at his side. "I'm her husband. It's my job to protect her not yours," he hissed.

"The hell it isn't my job to protect her, she's my sister and best friend," Alice protested.

It broke my heart to hear them argue this way. I went over to Edward and wrapped my arms around him while resting my head against his back. The tension in his body lessened, but not as completely as I had hoped.

"Tell me what you did to throw them off of her," he demanded, speaking a bit more calmly though there was still tension in his voice.

"I revealed some much needed information to Caius. It was a fair trade off, and it should keep Aro and the lot of them busy for a while," she said vaguely.

"And what happens if Caius should break your deal and come searching for Bella with one of his hunting parties?" Edward was trying to control his obvious anger. "We're risking her life right now just by being away from—"

"Shut the hell up, Edward! The point is that she's safe and able to live her life freely. It's exactly what she wants. Instead of yelling pointlessly into the phone, you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? You want me to thank you? You've been nothing other than an insufferable wretch since we've gotten back from Isle Esme. What will I do to you Mary Alice? Tell me so I can stop myself," he begged, looking utterly defeated.

"You can't stop yourself this time," she said her voice breaking. "I have to go now."

Then she hung up.

Edward released a frustrated growl from his throat. He pulled at his hair on the sides of his head. Alice was breaking his heart, and he couldn't find a way to stop what he would eventually do to break hers.

"Am I really that much of a monster?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"No, you're not. You never were," I assured him.

"Coming here was a mistake, Bella."

I knew what he was referring to. Living in Chicago seemed to resurrect some of Edward's demons, even though he was here now without the intension to kill. Alice's doubt in Edward had resurfaced his insecurity, which I didn't see often because he always masked it.

I took his hands from his hair and lead him to sit on the side of our bed. I crawled onto his lap and cradled his face in my hands, looking in to the warm depths of his amber eyes. "I'll help stop whatever it is that you're going to do to Alice by reminding you every day of what a wonderful man you are now."

We both knew that there was no way to stop anything Alice saw, but saying the words still seemed to help.

I kissed him deeply, wanting him to feel how much I loved and believed in him. He held me tightly; I could feel his erection against my stomach. He dipped his tongue into my mouth, tasting me. I hummed my satisfaction against his lips.

"What would I do without you?" he questioned while laying me flat on my back.

He untied my robe and threw off his towel. How had I missed that he was only wearing a towel? I couldn't think for too long because his lips connected with mine, scrambling all thoughts not focused on him.

We grinded against each other and his hands found my breasts, massaging them. I need him. I wrapped my legs around his waist hoping he would get the hint.

He pulled back and sheathed himself inside of me. "Ugggh,"I groaned.

He moved us so that we were sitting up. I bounced in his lap, pushing him deeper inside of me. "Oh, that's it, Bella."

I moved up and down against him. I could feel my thighs burning and sweat running down my back as I raise my body and lowered it on to him. His hands moved to my hips helping me.

"You're so perfect," he breathed against my shoulder. I couldn't hold on any longer. I came around him.

"Fuck," he growled, slamming his hips up to mine and releasing.

He captured my lips kissing me relentlessly. "I love you," he said breathlessly. "I need you so much."

"I love you too," I said laying my head on his shoulder and wrapping my legs around his waist.

We were both sticky and smelled like sex yet we stayed connected for an endless amount of time before Edward decided we should get cleaned up.

"I'm just going to cut it! These knots are impossible," I complained in the shower as I ripped more hair out of a knot. "This is worse than the stupid feathers!"

"You will not cut your hair. I'll take care of it," he told me. His hands moved quickly, unknotting each strand.

"This is mostly your fault. If you had let me dry my hair last night, it wouldn't be a mess right now."

Edward turned my head and kissed me so that my words dissolved around his lips.

"Okay, you win," I said around his lips.

He could get me to do anything he wanted as long as he would kiss me in return. I let Edward finish detangling my hair and then we got ready to go out for breakfast.

"Aren't you worried just a little bit about the package that arrived today?" I asked, slipping on my underwear.

He shook his head causing his damp mess of curls to flop around. "As much as I hate to admit it, Alice had a point earlier," he told me while sitting me on his lap.

"What point was that?"

"I'm an overbearing asshole, when it comes to you and I don't want you to feel like every time there's a threat, you're going to be locked away in the house," he explained.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You only do it to protect me and keep me safe. And the Volturi are truly dangerous. They could kill our family."

"If only you were this conciliatory every time someone's trying to kill you." Edward chuckled causing my breasts to brush against him. He groaned softly in my ear then nuzzled my neck.

"Down boy," I giggled, feeling the length of him against my hip. "I want to make it out of the house."

"Let's stay home," he pled while his hands caressed my thighs and his lips left open mouthed kisses on my shoulder. "You taste—"

"No," I said, leaping from his arms. "I've fallen for that one already. Get dressed." Three more seconds in his arms and I would have been a goner.

As I walked to our closet, I looked over my shoulder to see Edward pouting on the bed, but then his eyes darkened. I froze, entranced by his eyes. And then suddenly he was in front of me with his hands on my hips and lips moving against mine stealing my breath. I whimpered when he stopped.

"I needed to taste you," he said simply. "Get dressed, Bella."

Edward

"Can you eat any slower," I teased Bella as she took another bite out of her cinnamon bun the size of the large plate.

"Want some?" she asked, scooping up some of the butter cream frosting with her finger and offering it to me.

I must have made a face that told her I wasn't interested because she started to laugh. I was more interested in the taste of her mouth after she finished her breakfast. All I could imagine was laying her over the table to have my way with her. I would have stretched her out on the kitchen counter if we were at home.

"Are you listening to me?" she asked feigning exasperation.

"Why did you order that gigantic thing?" I asked her. Today, her eyes seemed to be bigger than her stomach.

"Oh, it seemed really good. I eventually want to try everything on the menu," she explained.

She seemed to love this café the more we went. I watched the cinnamon bun disappear from her plate. Usually, she didn't eat so much, but our activities earlier had probably worked up her appetite.

When she finished, I told her we should take advantage of the overcast day and go to the park. She agreed.

These past five days had me more attached than normal. Going back to class tomorrow and letting her out of my sight would be a sure test of my will power. I never wanted to let her go. This morning was test. That letter was a test. I narrowly failed it until Alice called. She made me think about Bella first before I could drive a wedge between us because of my over protectiveness.

At the park, I led her on the path until I found a bench that was partially concealed by oak trees. I settled her on my lap and held her in my arms while watching her hair float in the breeze. I grasped the tendril that flew up and tucked it behind her ear. She sat on my lap and I couldn't resist kissing her.

"Edward," she chided though laughing and leaned into me.

I gave her another kiss and delighted in the warm softness of her lips. I pushed my tongue between her full lips, hoping to get lost in her as I had his morning. She allowed me to do this for only a moment before the delicate peal of a child's laughter distracted her. The toddler's parents, not too far behind him began to chase him, around a tree. Happy thoughts echoed from them. His father out-smarted the toddler by running in the reverse direction. He grabbed him and threw him up in the air, earning more giggles from the toddler.

I felt Bella's hand tighten around my collar. She didn't notice she was doing it. I wondered what about the family upset her.

"They're a beautiful family," I said, taking her chin and turning her head towards me. I needed to see her eyes they would tell me at least how she was feeling. I saw nothing but impassive eyes.

"Yes, they are," she replied, giving nothing away except the slight wavering in her voice. She wasn't telling me something, and I needed to know.

I knew her too well. Before I could ask she asked to go home. I held her close to me and kissed her forehead. I had convinced myself that she would open up eventually. However, as the day drew on and night fell she didn't speak to me. She found ways to avoid being alone in the same room with me. I listened to her clean the kitchen and then the down stairs bathroom. When I walked into the library, she was dusting my CD collection. She was only on the middle shelf, so it was obvious she had stopped cleaning because I was in the room. Breezing by me, she told me the floors upstairs needed to be mopped and then left to do so.

By nine thirty, my patience with her was running out. It was maddening to watch her pace from room to room in search of something to clean while I tried to focus on composing music. She finally came into our room with a bottle of cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other. I looked up at from my composition binder and watched her go into the bathroom.

Enough was enough. I watched her eyes go wide as I approached her. I took the bottle and rag from her hands and threw them away from us. I took her hands in mine. She knew what I wanted.

"I don't want to do this right now," she said pulling her hands out of mine.

"When do you want to do it then? When you run out of things to clean?" I growled.

She stared at me impassively.

"Dammit, Bella." My hand landed on the counter with a little too much force. She flinched. "Talk to me."

"I can't."

I would tell her, then. "You want a baby."

Again, her eyes remained vastly empty and vacant. She didn't confirm or deny my accusation which told me absolutely nothing. Her cell phone started ringing in her back pocket. She didn't make a move to answer it.

"Answer it," I told her, breaking the silence.

She answered the phone. "Hello."

Billy spoke quickly but I understood what he was saying. "Wait, Billy, slow down," Bella told him. He had told her Charlie was in the hospital.

"Why is he in the hospital?" She listened intently. "Oh, no." Her eyes started to fill up with tears. Charlie had a massive heart attack. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

She hung up the phone and brushed past me to get to the closet where her suitcase was. She tried to jump up and grab the case from the top shelf. She'd never get it that way. I moved her out of the way easily.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked. I could hear the anger rising in her voice. She wasn't really angry at me; she angry with the situation.

"Trying to help you," I said, pulling the bag down.

"Well don't." She pulled it from me and I released it. I watched as she started to pack anything she could get her hands on.

"Your father just had a heart attack. Am I supposed to watch you try to do this on your own?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, you are." She zipped up her bag and grabbed the keys to the car that were on the dresser. "Right now, I think I need some alone time. Don't follow me."

"Where are you going?" I yelled as she pulled her bag down the stairs. She couldn't be serious. She barely knew her way around Chicago and it was getting late. She'd get lost.

"Away from you." Her words stung like a slap against my face. From the top of the stairs, I watched her walk out the door.

That Bella and her dramatics. :D Do not fret there will be more story soon to come.

XoXo, Tiff

P.S. Leave me some love because taking a step away from the fluff has not been easy.