Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns these characters and the awesomeness that is Twilight! I'm just subjecting them to my fun little schemes.
Chapter 7
Bella stopped in front of the room the farthest from the front door. There was a sliver of light under the door but unlike the night before, there was no music. He was talking to someone but it sounded muffled and Bella couldn't quite make out what was being said. Wondering if someone else was with him, she pressed her ear to the door and soon realized he was talking to someone on the phone.
"Mom, I know how you feel about Keira but you can't tell me that I didn't deserve what she did. It's not like I'm telling you we're dating again, I just want to let you know that I'm coming back this weekend to see Liam and we're all going out. If she shows up at the house, I don't want you to have heart failure," Bella wanted to scream when she couldn't hear what was said on the other end, after a long pause, Edward began talking again. "I know I messed up, mom. I get it, alright? I'm trying to make things better...yeah, I know...How can you even ask me that? I'll never be over her. No girl will ever take her place, no one ever could...I know, I'm sorry, too...Alright, well I'll see you in a couple days...Bye."
So, there is someone else. Keira. "I'll never be over her..." Bella heard the booming sound of the base as Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" seeped under the door. She waited until it was on the second chorus before opening the door and dropping her bag inside. He looked up at her and her heart melted all over again. Tonight, he had on a pair of gray sweatpants that had 'Cullen' down the side in white letters, obviously he'd been on a team of some sort. Covering his profound abs was a black muscle shirt and Bella wanted nothing more than to take it off of him. "No girl will ever take her place..." The memory slammed into her like a freight train.
"Are you okay, Bells?" he asked, walking towards her.
"Um, yeah, fine."
"Okay, you just look kind of...distraught."
"Nope. Couldn't be better."
He stared at her for a few more long moments before shrugging his shoulders and going back to stretching. Bella knew she needed to just leave well enough alone but couldn't. "Who is she?"
Edward's head snapped in her direction. "Who's who?"
"The girl you and Jasper were talking about at dinner tonight."
"Oh, um, her name's Keira. She's a friend...well... was a friend of Kate's but then she and I...it got complicated..."
"Are you going back to her?"
"Bella..."
"I just want to know where we stand. Are we still..." What? Soon to be fuck buddies? Cheating on my husband?
"She's just a friend. An old partner, actually..."
"Like me."
"I guess so. Yeah."
"Oh." All you can say is 'oh'? Really? "What do you want to work on tonight? All Around Me? Airplanes?"
"Let's go with the first."
"Alright," Bella said, pulling the cd from her bag and popping it in. The dance started with her in the middle of the floor and him off to the side. "My arms are searching for you, my hands are out stretched towards you..." she began to sway and twist to the music and soon, "I feel you on my fingertips..." he was right behind her, holding his open palm out so she could run her fingers from the tips of his, up to the top of his arm. He grabbed her gently, spinning her towards him right before the chorus kicked in and she was lifted into the air and brought down so that she was inches from his face.
While her heartbeat went a million miles a minute, she decided to wrap her legs around his waist instead of letting him self her down in front of him. To her surprise, he was rock hard against her. So hard, she could feel him through both of the pants they were wearing. "Edward..." she whispered as he kissed her gently, completely forgetting about the music, or the open door, or the entire world.
Deepening the kiss, he lowered her down onto the rolled up mats that were tucked away in the corner of the room. She detached herself long enough to let him get comfortable on top of her and then hitched her leg back up around him when he began kissing along her collar bone. As she reached for the waistband of his pants, she was surprised to come in contact with his hard...er...sexual organ... He must be huge!
Bella was even more surprised when he tensed and pulled away from her. She slid over, making room for him to half lay, half kneel against the mats. "Bella...I don't..."
"Edward, what's wrong with me? I mean, I get that I'm dumb. I get that I'm not very pretty. I get that I'm not..."
"Hey, stop it. Bella, what are you talking about? You're smart and gorgeous and..."
"Not good enough for you. Obviously."
"We've already been through this. I don't want you to do something you'll regret..."
"I want this."
"You hardly know me. You know nothing about me!"
"Neither do the girls you bring home all the time. You heard Emmett tonight at dinner. What? After you leave here with me you go find random girls and never call them back? Is that it?"
"Bella, those girls didn't mean anything!" he said, obviously getting frustrated.
"I do?"
"Yes, I mean well, you do but no...I...
"I'm not her. I'm not Keira!" Bella blurted out before she could stop herself. She prayed that he thought the girl in question's name had slipped during dinner. Thankfully for her, he seemed to be too lost in thought to realize. "I thought so. Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow."
"No. Bella, Keira and I used to date and she was a partner but I never really slept with my partners, I still don't..."
"Yeah. Right. God, you probably get off on this. Meet a new girl, dance with her, fuck her, leave her. Repeat. It's like getting paid for sex! You...you...prostitute!" You idiot. A prostitute? Where the hell did that come from?
Edward stood up, an amused look on his face and Bella followed, "Did you just call me a prostitute?"
"Yes," Bella said, stubbornly.
"Okay...wow...I don't know what to say to that other than I don't fuck my partners because it always becomes too personal. Keira was...Keira was a mistake. I ended up cheating on her. She found out about it. She left me. She's been talking to me off and on all day. It doesn't mean there's anything going on between us."
"So, this," Bella gestured between the two of them, "this is nothing? If this is nothing then why are you so fucking hesitant...about, well, fucking?" Bella, just shut up. Jake's right. Could you be more dumb?
"Of course this isn't nothing! It's everything...I mean...it's important. I haven't been with any of my partners since Keira. She was my first partner. I was stupid. I never should have even started anything with her. She ended up horribly hurt and there was nothing I could do to fix it so she left me. It was a really bad break up and..."
"So now you want her back since she's willing to take you?"
"No. I never said we were getting back together! She did some things after we broke up that I won't forgive her for. I just think she did it when she was upset and I can kind of understand...it's complicated...can we please just drop it? I was just coming out of a really bad time and I was a mess and I fucked up, okay?"
"So that's all there is? You were stupid, she got revenge, now you have the opportunity to be with your soulmate..."
"She's many things but she is not my soul mate!"
Bella took a deep breath before saying, "I heard you talking to your mom. Don't lie to me. You'll never get over her," Bella said, imitating him.
Shaking his head, he walked away from her and said, "You have no fucking clue what you're talking about."
"Then enlighten me, Mr. Cullen. What is it about her? Does she know your big dark secret that no one could possibly handle but her? Is that it? What's wrong, Cullen, your past coming back to bite you in the ass?"
"She hardly knows me! I danced with her for two fucking weeks. We fucked a few times. She wanted more. I didn't. She freaked and slept with my brother to get back at me. There, now you know. She fucked me. She fucked Liam because I fucked another girl. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've decided I really can't deal with this shit tonight."
Grabbing his bag, Edward walked through the door and slammed it shut. What the hell just happened here? I'm supposed to be jumping his bones right now.
"Edward, wait!" Bella called, wrenching the door back open and sprinting out into the hallway. "Hey! Edward, please!"
Finally, the please must have gotten to him. "What?" he asked, turning around in defeat.
"Talk to me. I'm sorry I brought her up. It's not my business anyway. I remember, this is totally just sex with us, nothing more romantic. We're friends though, right? We can still talk!"
"I already told you I don't want to talk about it!"
"Is that why you're so detached from people? Keira hurt you by sleeping with your brother?"
"You are so fucking naïve, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he turned and walked out the front door and into the streets. As the cold air hit her, she felt the sting from his words on her skin. You're so dumb, Bella. No one would ever put up with how fucking stupid you are. Jake's words came back to haunt her. Edward was no different from her husband.
I could do it. I could leave tonight and no one would even notice. Not until I didn't show up for work tomorrow. Alice has Jasper. Rosalie has Emmett. What do I have? A big aching whole in my chest? Edward's words hurt her more than the large bruise on her ribs. That was what always amazed her. It wasn't about the physical abuse Jake inflicted on her, it was the emotional that hurt worse. Other people saw her physically but she was left to deal with her bruised soul all on her own. Refusing to cry, Bella went back to get her things and noticed he left his cell phone on the stand by the door. Fucking perfect...
Halfway to his hotel, Bella began to wonder what had happened in his life to make him this way. She couldn't imagine it was his parents—he'd never said anything bad about them and his mom seemed nice enough. From what she could remember from snippets of conversations, he had a sister and a brother. Bella's thoughts shifted to Liam and what he must be like. Did he know Edward had been with Keira? Did she work them against one another? Of course what she did was horrible but not that horrible.
This is something big. Something serious. Internally, everything inside of her was saying to run. It might have just been that she was used to hearing hurtful things from Jake, it could have been that she was falling in love with Edward, but either way, what Edward said hurt worse than anything Jake could have done. She wasn't naïve. If he would just open up to her, tell her what happened, perhaps she could try to help him. He was damaged. That much was without a doubt true. Don't try to help him, Bella. He doesn't want it. In three months, he's leaving and so are you.
In no time, she was pulling into that familiar hotel parking lot, wondering what she should do with the phone. After the longest inner debate she'd had in awhile, she finally marched in, past the snobby old valet and went to the front desk. There was a girl in front of her with poker-straight black hair, a tight dress, and a very fucking expensive pair of shoes and purse. "How can I help you, miss?" The front desk man asked while Bella tried to decide if the bag was a genuine Louis Vuitton. She'd literally never seen one before and doubted anyone in Forks owned one.
"I was wondering if you could tell me which room Mr. Edward Cullen is staying in?" The girl had a pretty, English voice and Bella wanted to punch her. She knew instinctively that this was Keira.
The man looked over his glasses at the girl, before shrugging and typing something into the computer. To Bella's total surprise, the man gave her the room number without even asking her name to check with Edward. She was even more shocked when he said, "Um...I'm sorry, I don't know your name..."
"Keira," the girl said sweetly.
"Keira, dear, I don't think that he's in. At least, I know his car hasn't been checked in with the valet. Perhaps you'd like to wait in the lounge down the hall?"
He didn't make it back yet? Is he at the bar? This is just great. His ex is here, I still have the damn phone, he's not in... She watched for a few seconds as Keira made her way towards the bar. "Can I help you, miss?" the old man asked her.
Bella ignored him and pulled his Iphone from her pocket, heading towards the British girl. "Hey! Wait!"
At first, Keira didn't hear her and kept walking but finally Bella caught up and tapped her on the shoulder. Spinning around, surprised, Bella couldn't believe the fear she saw in Keira's eyes before it changed to a look of confusion. "Yes?"
"I um..this is Edward's phone. He left it...somewhere. When you see him, give it to him."
"Um...okay...who should I tell him you are?"
"It's...um...It's not important," Bella said, handing it to her and walking away.
Though Bella could really, really use a good five hours of dancing to get this out of her system, she went home to her empty apartment. It was close to ten thirty and she had to be at the studio in the morning. After parking her rattling little car, Bella climbed the stairs and walked inside. As soon as the door closed, there was a knock. In order for someone to be there that quickly, they would have had to have been directly behind her. There was no peephole in the door so she asked as loud as she could with a shaking voice who was there. "It's me."
Sucking in a breath, Bella opened the door slowly to see Edward standing in front of her. Hair in disarray, a flustered look on his face, and wrinkled clothes—he still looked sexy. "You left your phone at the studio," she blurted out instead of inviting him in.
"What? Oh...I didn't know..." he said becoming more confused.
"I took it to your hotel. It's waiting for you..." Tell him about Keira, he should know she's waiting for him.
"Did you really not notice me standing on the corner of your porch? Or my car parked out front?" He asked it in annoyance and his words from before crushed her again.
"No. I didn't. I have a lot on my mind..."
"What if I was a kidnapper? Or a murderer? Or a rapist?"
"Are you?" Bella asked, knowing she really didn't know him that well.
"No," he replied, obviously offended.
"Then I don't see the huge deal here," she shrugged.
"There are people out there who aren't good, Bella."
Not wanting to have the 'always hold someone's hand when you cross the street' lecture, Bella shook her head and said, "You need to go. Keira's waiting."
"What?"
"I stopped by the hotel because you left your phone. She was asking for you at the front desk. I gave it to her. She's really pretty."
"Bella..."
"Why didn't you tell me things with you two were...starting...again..."
"They're not. Not really. I didn't even know she was coming."
"You were going home to see her this weekend."
"No, I am going home to see my brother. What does it matter anyway?
"Why were you on my front porch?" Bella asked, ignoring his question.
"I felt bad. I never should have called you naïve. I just...it's really complicated."
"But the woman waiting for you at the hotel knows?"
"Yes."
"Edward, please just go. I don't have the patience for riddles tonight and I highly doubt Keira does either."
"Bella, Keira and I are not getting back together. I don't want a relationship."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Edward," Bella said with finality before shutting the door in his face.
The next morning, she walked in solo and saw Rose and Alice chatting away by the bars. Heading over, she could tell Alice was worked up about something. "What's wrong, Al?"
"Jasper!"
"Sweetie, what? What happened?"
"Some girl showed up last night and asked to speak to him. He told me he'd be a few minutes and left. When he came back he wouldn't tell me what happened but he was obviously upset about something."
"This is bad...why?"
Rose huffed, "Obviously, this girl is from back home and she flew in to see him and she also came to talk to Emmett and then him and Jasper had like an hour long man and rich bitch talk and they didn't actually come back for almost an hour."
"Oh goody, here she comes now!" Alice said, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Her name's Keira, she's with Edward. Really, it's nothing to worry about."
Bella watched the three guys and Keira walk in and put down their bags...even she had one. Why the hell does she have a bag?
"Ah, Miss Woods!" Danny said, jovially, coming out of his office with a huge smile. No. No. No. No. Please, for the love of goodness, don't let her be a dancer here...
"Go warm up. Edward, I'd like you and her to work with Bella and Tyler. Maybe you could show them a few things." Anger grew in Bella's stomach and she began to curse Danny, Edward, and Keira. Alright, Bella, you can wake up from this damn nightmare now..."
It wasn't an nightmare...if it was it was definitely a slow and painful one. Two hours later, Bella was sitting on the floor against the wall while Edward lifted the toothpick-thin English girl like he was born to do it. There dancing had nothing to do with them as a couple. He was just amazing on his own—it was infectious—a slow, flesh eating infection but infectious none the less.
When Bella and Tyler started discussing anything but dance, Edward and Keira finally stopped and went to get a drink. Edward approached her shortly after, "Do you want to try?"
"I don't know..." the moves they were practicing were ridiculously difficult and Bella could see herself ending up in the hospital.
"Hey, trust me. I won't let anything happen to you," he said, holding his hand out to her.
Bella noted the looks they were getting from Keira as Edward led her to the middle. He stepped behind her with both hands on her waist and whispered, "The next song is Airplanes. Remember, trust me."
Nodding her head, Bella took a deep breath. True to his word, the familiar notes poured from the speakers and in the next instant, she was up in the air. While he held his palm against the small of her back so she could make a perfect arch, she had just enough time to take a deep breath before he pushed her up, letting her go completely for a second before catching her on his shoulders. He rolled her toward the front of his body before righting her again.
After pulling him towards her, he pushed her back and grabbed the inside of her leg, just above her knee. She hitched her leg up and felt him pull her into his chest before he dipped her down in front of him so his face was just above her breasts. Bella stayed that way, unable to move, and realized when he took over she literally had no control of her body—and he knew it. While she had watched him and Keira, it terrified her to think of how badly she could get hurt if something went wrong but when she could feel his hands controlling her, she just let him do his thing.
Bella tried to remember the moves he'd done with his old partner, and while they were complicated, they were different. Danny had made it sound like Keira was there to teach her, now, she realized Edward wanted to do the teaching on his own. Bella's heart soared when she thought a little more and discovered that the moves with Keira weren't what him and Bella had just managed to pull off. This was theirs.
After a few seconds, she was able to catch her breath and blood was starting to rush to her head. She positioned herself so that she could look up to tell him to put her down when she noticed just how tense his body was. He was frozen with her still wrapped around him. When she went to move, his arms tightened. The thought of a wild animal protecting its child ran through her mind...it was the only way to describe his face. She swung her head in the direction he was glaring and her heart literally stopped beating. Her husband stood in the doorway, arms crossed, and wearing a smirk.
Next update should be tomorrow! Until then, LP xoxoxoxo
