Hi guys!! Wow... this feels good after such a long break. I apologize, a lot has happend, but I won't bore you with details. Let me just say THANKYOU to everyone supporting this story. It's invaluable.

I'm sad to announce that Live720 is no longer a part of my beta team. She is a great beta and I'll miss her a lot. Tiffanyanne3 is still with us, and I'm searching for a second pair of eyes with PTB. Thanks by the way.

Ahh Im anxious to get this show started, to hell with a/n's.

I dont own Twilight... In case you where wondering...


Bellarina. Chapter 8

Edward:

Ever since the audition, Bella refused to talk about it anymore. When I did bring up the subject, she just flipped me off like she did that day. But as her mouth said "It's no big deal," her eyes screamed "I want this more than anything!"

Things had slowed down quite a bit since there were no more impending performances that Bella needed to rehearse for. The only impending event was the Halloween party that the Academy hosted every year. Bella had already bought her costume. She hadn't let me see it, but I suspected it was a nurse costume since I was commanded to go as a doctor.

It was a Friday, and as usual I got out of classes early. I got home and once again, Bella was not there. I was checking the kitchen to see if she had left me any notes when I heard the front door slam shut.

"Bella?" I called out as I opened the kitchen door to head into the living room. I didn't even walk two steps before Bella's body slammed into my own, knocking me off my feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck and peppered my face with kisses.

"Not that I'm complaining, but to what do I owe the pleasure of this greeting?" I asked her.

"I made it," she said, smiling widely.

"Made wha- the audition?! You got the lead role?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, not precisely the lead role," she said sheepishly. "I got the Odile part, who is basically the bad guy's slutty daughter who just wants inside Siegfried's pants, but it's still one of the principal characters. And I'm the lead's substitute. But that's still good, right?" she said, smiling shyly.

"Of course it is—it's great. So who got the lead role?" I asked absentmindedly.

Her face fell, and she answered quietly. "Tanya."

God, I'm such an ass…

"Let's go out and celebrate," I said, trying to distract her. "Do you want to go out? We could grab something to eat at the Italian place."

"No!" she answered, a little louder than necessary. "I mean, I'm not hungry. I had a late brunch with the girls earlier today. But we can still go out if you like."

"Sure…" I answered flatly. Truth is I was a little upset that she had eaten without me, knowing I would be waiting for her; she hadn't even called to let me know. But knowing her, she must've been too shy to say no. Maybe the girls wanted to celebrate with her as well, so I would keep my mouth shut, and wouldn't start an argument that would make her feel bad about spending time with her friends.

We decided to do something relaxing, so we spent the afternoon in Central Park, lying in the soft grass and looking at the clouds, trying to find figures in them.

We got home at six, just in time to get ready for the party. Bella made a beeline to the shower, and after a couple of minutes I followed behind, since I needed to shave.

Steam had already filled the room, fogging the mirror and the shower door, but I could still make out her slim figure under the warm water. I took a deep breath and I was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of strawberries, vanilla, flowers and Bella.

I forgot that I needed to shave. I forgot that we needed to get ready. I think I even forgot my own fucking name. The only thing I knew in that moment was that I needed to be closer to her. I needed to touch her. I needed tolove her.

My clothes seemed to have disintegrated from my body and materialized again on the floor, since I couldn't even remember taking them off in my haste. I slid open the shower door as quietly as I could, but she still heard me.

"Hey babe, want to join me?" she asked casually.

She had her eyes closed, shielding them from the shampoo that covered her hair, or else she would have seen the lust on my face and the fucking hard-on between my legs.

I pressed myself against her back, and whispered huskily in her ear, "Always." She let out a deep sigh and leaned back against me.

I finished rinsing her hair, lacing my fingers in it, massaging her scalp and then following its long length down her neck and shoulders. My hands found their way to her breasts and I caressed them softly, teasing her hardening nipples.

"You're supposed to be rinsing my hair," she teased.

"You had suds there…"

"Suuure," she said giggling. That carefree and sincerely happy sound, made my heart flutter, adding love to my lust. I no longer wanted a quickie in the shower. I needed to make love to my girl, convey with my actions how truly hers I was.

I turned her to face me, needing to see her beautiful eyes. I cupped her face and caressed her cheek with my thumb. Like magnets, we started drawing closer until our foreheads rested together. Our lips met softly and adoringly. I brought up my other hand to her face, cradling it in both of mine.

She pulled my bottom lip in between hers and bit down just enough to make me moan. My dick twitched, nudging her in the stomach. I grabbed her ass roughly, rubbing her against me, and it was her turn to moan.

Our kiss turned frenzied, our tongues dancing together deliciously and tasting each other. I sucked and nipped her bottom lip while my hands roamed her body. She reached between us, grabbed my hard cock and started stroking me.

Her pace was perfect, just fast enough and gripping hard enough. I dipped my hand between her ass cheeks until I could feel the edge of her entrance. I teased her, feeling the thick wetness of her arousal leaking out.

"Come on, babe," she panted. "I need you inside me."

"No need to tell me twice." I pushed her against the wall and hitched one of her legs over my hip. I guess I caught her off guard because when I tried to lift her other leg, she started to slip. I tried to catch her, but I lost my balance and fell backwards, bringing her down with me.

"Ow... son of a bitch," I muttered, rubbing my head where it hit the wall.

Bella was wide-eyed and had a strange expression on her face. All of a sudden she erupted in a wholehearted, booming laugh. I would have laughed too at my stupidity, but I was too distracted feeling how she was very conveniently straddling my lap now.

My dick rested between her moist lips, soaking in her warmth and wetness. I knew she was ready for me, so without any notice I pushed inside her and her laughter abruptly ended.

This was actually more comfortable, since I could focus my energy on her and not on my legs giving out from the pleasure. I grabbed her legs and wrapped them around me. She brought her arms up to my neck, making me feel enveloped in a Bella-cocoon, and I held her really close to me with my arms tight around her waist.

I searched her lips and covered them with mine, kissing her with everything in me. My hands caressed her body, worshiping from the roundness of her ass, up her back, to her beautiful breasts, until I cupped her face with both hands.

It felt surreal to be connected this intimately with her. This was not a hot fuck –and God knows we had fucked like that. This was us loving each other ieaeee in the most pure and basic way.

I thrust up and she pushed down, never breaking the kiss, until we eventually had to breathe. We rested our foreheads together, and stared deep into each other's eyes.

"I love you," I panted. "I love you… so much, baby girl… so fucking much." There was so much emotion behind my words that I could almost physically feel my heart swelling, and even more because I could see the same emotion in Bella's eyes.

She didn't respond to my words; instead she took control. She shifted her legs, placing the soles of her feet on the floor and leaned back, bracing herself on my thighs. She slid up and then slammed back down hard, making me hiss at the intense pleasure.

"Shit… so… fucking… good…" I groaned between thrusts. She was tight as hell thanks to all those plies and shit, and even more so in this position.

I placed my hands on her hips, pulling her down to me harder. She hadn't said a single word, but her loud moans and whimpers were music for my ears, letting me –and my ego- know that she was enjoying herselfa lot.

With three more thrusts she came undone, screaming and trembling violently in my arms, and with her fucking intense orgasm, squeezing my dick for all it's worth, it didn't take me long to follow behind. We stayed on the floor wrapped up in each other for a couple of minutes.

"Now I know why it's supposed to be quick shower sex and not slow shower love-making," she said.

I chuckled at her strange statement. "And why is that, my sweet Bellarina?"

"Because the water is so effing cold now!"


Bella:

After an incredibly cold shower, I finally went to get ready. Edward was in the living room waiting for me as I got dressed.

I took out my sexy nurse outfit and set it on the bed. I put on the stockings, held up by the white garter belt, and then I slipped the dress on.

It felt wrong.

I went to see myself in the closet mirror and almost panicked at what I saw. The dress didn't fit me anymore. It was too big! I pulled the dress to the sides and gasped as I saw almost half an inch of extra fabric at each side of the dress.

I hadn't been losing any weight. My clothes fit the same. Maybe they gave me the wrong size at the store… or maybe I was bloated; after all I did have my period a couple of days after that. Yeah, that was probably it… right?

I couldn't dwell anymore on why the dress didn't fit me. Instead I had to think about how I would make it fit. I rummaged through my closet until I found a wide red belt that would hide the bagginess of the costume. I could match it up with a pair of red heels to add a hint of sex appeal.Perfect, and no one the wiser.

The party, which was held at the Academy's auditorium, was in full swing when we arrived, fashionably late. The place looked amazing. All the seating had been removed and replaced by lounge furniture and fluorescent lights. On the west side of the venue, was a large table with fancy drinks -non alcoholic I'm sure- and appetizers.

It was hard to recognize any familiar faces because of the fabulous costumes everyone wore. I spotted the gang, as we had called our little group lately, chatting in a corner.

Alice looked beautiful in her Tinkerbell outfit. It suited her perfectly. I was surprised to see that Jasper had given in and dressed up as Peter Pan. He looked quite handsome, but I guess he was too much of a macho man to wear tights, because instead he had green pants. Still the costume looked great.

Stefan and Vlad came as vampires. They looked really good too, with the long black coats and Edwardian shirts they wore. Although I secretly their costumes were an excuse to wear makeup. I suppressed a giggle at that thought.

Zafrina looked amazing in her Amazon costume. She had a golden top made of little metal links and a short skirt in the same material. She had gold sandals with ribbons tied up all the way to her knee. She even had a sword and a shield tucked to the side.

Santiago was pretty much the male version of Zafrina's costume, with a vest and a larger skirt in the same material as hers, although I couldn't really tell what he was. A gladiator? A warrior? An Amanzon?

We approached them and they all greeted us excitedly. Edward and I complimented their costumes as they did ours.

"Sexy, little minx nurse! I guess you and Doctor Eddie-ble here take very seriously the 'playing doctor' thing," Stefan said as blunt as always.

"Oh my God. Could you be more crass?" I responded, red as the fake blood painted in his lips.

"I'm going to get some drinks, baby girl. You want anything?" Edward whispered in my ear.

"Just water, please, with ice," I responded. He gave me a quick peck before turning toward the drinktable.

Zafrina, Alice, and I were suddenly alone as Vlad and Stefan were immersed in their own little love bubble, and the other guys followed Edward to find drinks.

"Hey Bella, what's with the belt?" Alice asked. "I don't remember it being a part of the costume."

"Oh, that's right! And you had bought white heels for this. I remember perfectly because I loved those shoes!" Zafrina added, unknowingly fueling Alice's suspicions.

"Umm…" I stammered. "I must've been bloated or something when I tried it on at the store, because when I put it on today, it was all baggy and loose. I put the belt on to make it look better and the shoes are to match the belt. That's all."

"Bloated…"Alice said incredulously. "Really, Bella?"

"Yes, Alice, bloated. As in 'I had my period right after that' bloated," I answered, annoyed.

"Okaaaay! Clearly girl talk," I heard Santiago say, suddenly behind me. I blushed deep red once again.

"It's okay, guys; the subject was over anyway," I answered. Both Jasper and Santiago looked relieved as they wrapped their arms around their respective girlfriends. I noticed then, that nobody wrapped their arms around me.

"Umm… Edward got caught up with a strawberry blonde fox by the drink table…" Jasper said nervously, noticing my uneasiness.

I whipped my head around so fast I almost got dizzy and spotted him with none other than Tanya. I stalked towards them, and I'm sure everyone could see the smoke coming out of my ears. The music was really loud, but I could clearly hear Tanya saying the words "real woman" to Edward, who was stiff as a board.

I snaked my arms around his waist from behind and he jumped a little, not expecting me, but I could see on his face that he was relieved.

"Hey, babe," I said too-sweetly and then turned my gaze to glare at Tanya. "I leave you alone for two minutes and the skanks descend"

Edward was clearly stunned to hear me talk so rudely to someone because he was staring wide-eyed at me. Tanya scoffed but retaliated immediately.

"Don't sweat it, Dorothy. I, unlike you, don't do sloppy seconds," she said before stalking off. It took me a minute to understand that by 'sloppy seconds' she was referring to me being her substitute in the Gala.

I don't know why her comment stung me so much, but I felt my eyes filling with tears.

Maybe because I worked my ass off for that part… maybe because I did my goddamn best… maybe because even though I only got the 'Odile' and her substitute part, it was still great, and she was diminishing it all as if it were nothing.

"Come on, Bella. Don't listen to her. You know better than that," Edward said, handing me my water and pulling me out of my self-pity party. I took the drink out of his hands and took a long swig. My stomach rumbled a little bit, irritated at the lack of food in it.

A slow, romantic song started playing and everyone started pairing up on the dance floor. Alice and Jasper were twirling elegantly in a style totally unsuitable to the present time and music. Santiago was dipping Zafrina dramatically while he kissed her. Even Stefan and Vlad were dancing, swaying to the music, holding hands that hung limply at their sides, with their foreheads together.

"Shall we, Nurse Bellarina?

"Well, of course, Doctor Eddie-ble," I said, making him chuckle as he led me to the dance floor.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me close by the waist. We started swaying to the music, feeling the beautiful words in it.

I'll be your dream

I'll be your wish

I'll be your fantasy.

I'll be your hope

I'll be your love

Be everything that you need.

I love you more with every breath

Truly madly deeply do…

The music was so beautiful. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek on Edward's shoulder. The swaying movement soothed me, lulled me. I started to feel like I was flying, weightless, ethereal...

Far, far away, I could hear a sweet, velvet voice calling my name. Bella… Bella…


Edward:

Bella rested her cheek on my shoulder and I leaned mine against her head. I kept swaying us to the music. I loved this song; it kind of suited us.

I want to stand with you on a mountain.

I want to bathe with you in the sea.

I want to lay like this forever.

Until the sky falls down on me...

I started to feel Bella leaning a bit too much on me, making it difficult to dance. I called her name and tried to pull away, but she stumbled forward, her head lolling limply to the side. I realized immediately something was wrong… very wrong.

I quickly lifted an unconscious Bella into my arms and made it to the nearest sofa. The girls sitting on it, stood up immediately for me to put Bella down.

As soon as I did, I checked her pulse and breathing. Both seemed normal, although her pulse was a little low for my liking.

"Bella? Bella..." I called her name, patting her face softly.

"Edward, what happened?" "Is Bella okay?" Alice and Zafrina asked almost at once, concern evident in their voices. They were at my side in two seconds along with the guys.

"I don't know— just give her space!" I said, probably too harshly, but hovering over her wouldn't help either.

"Edward, she's been losing weight too fast," Alice said. I turned to look at her like she was crazy. What the fuck was she talking about? I lived with Bella; if she had been losing weight I would have noticed.

"Her dress was-" she tried to elaborate, but in that moment, Bella started to stir.

"Edward?" Bella called weakly.

"Hey baby girl, welcome back," I answered, trying to make the smile on my face look less forced.

"How are you feeling?" Zafrina asked sweetly.

"Dizzy... lightheaded, but I think that's a bit obvious," Bella responded, chuckling lightly as if there could possibly be anything remotely humorous about her fainting.

"You know what?" I said as I picked Bella up in my arms. "I'm taking you to the hospital; no buts, Isabella."


Bella had been silent for the entire two hours we had been in the exam room, waiting for her blood work results.

The truth is I hadn't been very chatty myself. I felt angry, mostly at myself for not noticing anything wrong, for not taking enough good care of her… mostly. But a little bit at Bella too, for not taking care of herself like she promised me she would.

Finally the doctor came in and informed us that she had a mild anemia, and her fainting was due to her low glucose level. Her electrolytes were also low, confirming what I said to her on the day of her audition. He sent her home with just an iron supplement and a pamphlet about nutrition.

I knew I was acting like a total douche, but I was feeling so fucking angry, disappointed, frustrated… I knew that if I opened my goddamned mouth I would lash out at her.

We got to the building and Bella got out of the car without even waiting for me to open her door. The silence in the elevator was so thick you could almost slice it with a knife. Finally, we stepped into our apartment.

I paced around the living room, pinching my nose and pulling at my hair as I thought about everything that happened tonight. Seeing Bella -my Bella- limp and lifeless, was the single most fucking terrifying moment in my entire life. I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs and crying like a little boy.

"Err… so… I'm still alive," Bella said, breaking the silence, but I wasn't ready to talk just yet.

"No harm done," she insisted.

"Bella," I whispered. "Do you have any idea how close I thought I was to losing you? How scared I was to see you stiff and immobile, pale white?"

"Edward, it wasn't a big deal. My sugar was low, and I fainted; it can happen to anyone," she said, somewhat nonchalantly.

"No Isabella, it didn't happen to anyone, it happened to youYou fainted… and I… I didn't take good enough care of you… I should've-"

"Enough!" she cut me off. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine, okay?"

"Bella," I said condescendingly while I rolled my eyes, annoyed. "You're obviously not exactly the best judge of what is or isn't fine."

"Well I know I don't have to worry about my health, and neither do you. I. Am. Fine, Edward," she said with finality.

I ground my teeth together. My hands balled up in fists at my sides. She was curled up on the couch, on the other side of the room and I hated the space between us, but I was still freaking out and I didn't want to upset her further or say something I would regret. I wanted to cool off before I touched her.

After a couple of minutes, I heard her sigh and cross the room to where I was standing. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head in my chest. At first I didn't move, still feeling the anger and frustration in me. But then I heard her murmur, "I'm sorry I made you anxious." I realized then what a fucking, idiotic prick I was being.

Here I was, moping and pacing about losing my Bella, when she was right here, comforting me, like the selfless, caring and loving person that she was. It should be me taking care of her; after all she was the one who fainted, she was the one who had blood sucked out of her… she was the one who was sick.

I took a deep breath, inhaling her scent, and I wound my arms around her tiny waist, reveling in the softness of her body and the warmth of her hands on my skin.

"Anxious is a bit of an understatement, baby girl," I said, sighing. "I'm sorry I acted like such a dick. It's just that… even the thought of losing you…"

"I know. I would've reacted the same way, but you have to trust me on this. I'll be fine."

I trusted her with my life I really did. But I couldn't bear to think of this happening again.

"Please, Bella," I whispered into her hair.

"Please what, babe?"

"Please, for me. Please make a conscious effort to keep yourself healthy. I'll help you in every way I can, but you have to do your part as well."

"I'll work on it," she responded.

I tightened my arms around her before I spoke. "Do you really have any idea how important you are to me? Any concept at all of how much I love you?" I said, my voice nearly cracking with the amount of emotion in it.

She pressed her lips to my neck. "I know how much I love you," she answered playfully.

"You compare one small tree to the entire forest."

"Impossible."

But I'm sure it wasn't. Bella was my everything; my air, my sun, my heart. Almost like a drug to me. I couldn't live without her, and I would do anything for her. I would just about drag her out of the darkest pits of hell, if she needed me to.