My rec for the week is Big Daddy by SuddenlySandi. - This is a satire of Edward as a religious man taking Bella as a third wife. She is not the innocent he believes her to be and she is determined to bring the real man into the open. - To my Lissa safe readers, this may seem like it isn't going to be a safe fic, but trust. ;) This is a great Bella and so funny.


AN: Time to hear from Bella. Let's see what she's been thinking…

As always tons of love and appreciation to our pre-readers Mana, Jan, and SaraBeth and more thanks than I can say for our lovely Beta Kitchmill. Between her and Fyre they make my words make sense and much prettier.

And thank you to all of you who read, who review, who pimp us. We are so humbled and grateful.


BPOV

We're in Minneapolis now. Only one more stop after this before our break for Christmas. I'm not sure if I'm going to even bother going home this time. I may go back to LA and just hang out at my apartment. I still have time to figure it out.

I know something's been bothering Alice and I'm determined to find out what it is. So when we have some free time, I tell her and Rose to meet me in my room.

She's been acting weird ever since Cincinnati, and that was two weeks ago. It's time to drag it out of her. I order us room service with all the girl time requirements. It doesn't take long for both the girls and the food to arrive.

As soon as we're settled in, I look to her. "Okay, Alice," I start. "I know something is going on with you. Spill it, lady!"

Rose is sitting in a chair near my bed while I'm standing by the door. Alice looks almost ready to bolt, but instead drops on the bed and lets out a huge sigh.

"Oh, Bella. It was so humiliating," Alice whines.

"What was?" I ask soothingly.

She looks at us both. "You know I like Jasper?" We nod, because of course that's obvious. "And he seems to like me?" Again we nod because again it's obvious.

"We've been spending time together and I felt like we were growing closer. I've been honest with him about my feelings on marriage and he's still spent time with me, so I thought maybe that meant he accepted that and we could work around it."

"Work around it?" I ask, and my mind starts to register where she's going with this.

"Well yeah … Work around my aversion to marriage and his aversion to sex without marriage," Alice answers, and I have a feeling I'm not going to be thrilled with what she has to say.

"Oh, Alice, what did you do?" Rose asks. I guess she's thinking along the same lines as me.

"Look, you two may be fine sitting around just talking with the occasional kiss, but I'm a sexual woman and I can't be around a man that I'm as attracted to as Jasper without wanting more from him," she says defensively.

"I understand that, but we also have to respect that these boys are different than most," Rose tells her gently. "So what happened?"

"Well, we came back to my room to watch a movie and I went to the bathroom, put on my sexiest, see-through lingerie and came back out," Alice chokes out.

I stand there with my eyes wide open. "What happened then?" Jasper will be so upset with himself if he broke his vow.

Alice closes her eyes. "He ran. He looked at me, his eyes got really huge, he stuttered a lot and then ran out of there like I asked him to sacrifice a goat," she screeches and covers her face in embarrassment.

Both Rose and I go to her and cuddle up beside her.

"Oh, honey. You know he wasn't disgusted by what he saw. But he takes his vow seriously, and I'm sure you freaked him the fuck out," I say, trying to console her.

"Plus," Rose adds in. "It was probably the first time the poor boy had ever seen real live, up-close tits and pussy. Might've scared him to death."

At that, all three of us burst into laughter.

After laughing for several minutes, I sit up and Alice puts her head in my lap.

"Alice, if you really like him then you need to talk to him, but you have to respect his morals and the choice he's made. I know it'll be difficult, but he might just be worth it," I say while stroking her hair.

"I know. He's tried to talk to me a few times, but I've been so humiliated that I couldn't face him. You're right though. I need to talk to him. I care about him, but maybe a relationship just isn't in the cards for us. Maybe friends is all we can be." My heart sinks a little at her words. I know Jasper will be a great guy for her, but as always, I'll support her no matter what.

"Well, no matter what you decide, you know we have your back," I tell her.

We spend the rest of the day watching movies and just having a fun girls' day, something we haven't had the chance to do in a while.

I didn't realize how much I'd missed my girls.

~~~~~POP RELIGION~~~~~

That night, while Alice goes to talk with Jasper and Rose is off with Emmett, I decide to see if Edward wants to hang out. We've been growing closer and closer, and even had a few near kisses.

I remember how embarrassed and shy he'd been about telling me that he'd groped me in my sleep.

He could barely get out the word boob and I don't think I have ever seen him as red. I think he might've even been sweating.

The thing I didn't tell him though … was that I was awake.

Well, at least for a little of it. I woke up to the feeling of his thumb caressing my nipple after hearing myself moan aloud. I was trying to debate how to wake him up without mortifying him when he woke up himself.

I was embarrassed, so I pretended to still be asleep.

I felt his warm hand long after he'd left. I even had to use my own fingers and images of him to get relief before I was finally able to get back to sleep.

I didn't confess to him though.

What?

I'm not nearly as good a person as he is. Some things a girl has to keep to herself. Plus, he deserved it after his, once again, ignorant assumptions.

~~~~~POP RELIGION~~~~~

I text him and he tells me he's in his room, so I head up there. I decide to take the stairs to hopefully avoid running into anyone.

I've had several run-ins with fans in hotels in the past, and for the most part they're always nice, but I have experienced a few crazies that scared me and I certainly don't want to be stuck in an elevator with anyone like that.

Unfortunately, I don't count on Mike being in the stairwell. As I get closer to him I can see he's been doing something because his pupils are huge and his eyes are glassy. Suddenly, I'm nervous being in here alone with him.

"Well, well, well. If it's isn't our star. The sexy Issa Swan," Mike slurs.

I don't bother correcting him about my name and just try to go around him.

He grabs my arm before I can. "Where are you headed, Issa? Going to see your regular fuck buddy, Cullen? You know, I thought maybe you were just a prude when you kept rejecting me, but now that I always see you with Cullen I know you just don't think I'm worthy."

My nerves increase as his grip on my arm tightens. "What are you talking about, Mike? Edward is just a friend. You know he doesn't have sex, and even if he did I don't go around just sleeping with men. Now please let me go," I say forcefully.

"Hmmm … nah, I don't think I will. You see, I knew you before Cullen, and if anyone is going to fuck you, it should be me," he says while pushing me back against the wall.

"Mike, no one is fucking me! Now let go!" I yell at him as I try to snatch my arm back.

"Please. I've seen the way you move on stage, whore. And I've seen the way you're all up Cullen's ass. I know neither of you is as innocent as you claim," he spits at me. The stench of his breath almost makes me gag.

"Now it's time you at least give me something. If you can spread those legs for him, you can do something for me." He pushes me even harder into the wall, causing my head to hit the cinderblock behind me.

"Listen, Mike, I don't know what you're on right now, but even you aren't normally this big of an asshole. Now let me go. We can talk about this again when you come down off of whatever it is … Please!"

He actually loosens his grip a little, though not quite enough for me to get away, and looks at me with what might be considered tenderness. "Oh, Issa, I've been crazy about you since I met you. You're so beautiful and sexy. I've tried to be patient, but you just keep putting me off. No woman has even denied me like you have." His grip starts to tighten again and his other hand fists my hair.

I can't hold back the tears at this point. I don't know how to get away from him. Whatever he's taken has made him completely irrational. He leans in and I know things are about to get worse.

He curls his fist and yanks backwards … hard. Then his lips are at my throat, slobbering all over it.

I can't take it.

I snatch my arm from his grip in his distraction then push firmly at his cheek, trying to remove his lips from my body. I'm sure at one point my nails scrape his face.

I try to move my legs so I can knee him in the balls, but my position is too awkward. He's so high he can't even feel the scratches my nails have made. His lips are moving up toward my mouth, and I know I'll vomit if his lips touch mine.

I'm pushing him away with all my strength and getting ready to gouge his eyes if I have to.

All of a sudden he's snatched away from me. It happens so fast I'm still pushing on him, which causes me to stumble and land on my hands and knees. Thankfully, he'd let go of his hold on my hair as he was yanked away.

It takes me a few seconds to catch up to what happened, but when I look up I see Edward punching Mike. I shake myself to my senses, get to my feet and run over to pull Edward off of him.

"Edward, please, that's enough. Please stop!" I pull him away from Mike, who is lying unconscious on the ground.

Edward turns to me and takes my face in his hands. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"I am now," I answer, "but can we please get out of here?"

He takes my hand. "Sure, come on, pretty girl. Let's go."

I stop him. "What about him?" I motion to Mike.

"What about him?" Edward asks, showing no emotion.

"We can't just leave him here. Believe me, I want to. But he was really high on something and if we leave him here in this state he could die or something," I say.

Edward pulls me to him and kisses my forehead. "Oh, Bella. You're just too good sometimes." He smiles at me. "Come on, I know what we can do."

He pulls me out of the stairwell and down the hall. When we stop in front of his door, he opens it with his key card. "Please go in here and wait for me. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

I want to protest and say I'll go with him wherever he's going, but the look in his eyes tells me it won't do any good. He pulls the door shut behind him.

I kind of zone out after he's gone, a little shocked at what just took place.

~~~~~POP RELIGION~~~~~

I'm not sure how much time has passed when I hear the door open and Edward come back in.

I can't stop myself from launching into his arms. I know those arms are the safest place I can be.

"What did you do with Mike?" I ask.

I'm still cuddled into his chest as he answers. "I went and got Eric and Tyler and had 'em go pick him up and take him to their room. I told 'em to watch him tonight. I may have threatened 'em a little to make sure they keep their eyes on him." He laughs like there's nothing funny.

He pulls me away from him and stares into my eyes. "Listen, do you wanna press charges?"

I take a breath as I think. "No. I don't want that kind of publicity. I'll call my manager, Emily, tomorrow and see if she can work on getting him off the tour. In the meantime, I'll avoid him as much as possible."

Edward growls out, "He better be avoidin' you. If I catch him tryin' to mess with you again I'm gonna do a lot worse than what I did tonight." Then he smiles. "All I really needa do is tell Em. But then I wouldn't get the pleasure of kickin' his butt myself." We both laugh at that because we know how true it is.

"Seriously though," he says as he pushes the hair away from my face, "if he comes near you again in any way other than professional, promise you'll let me know."

"I promise. He's always been a little over the top obnoxious, but this is by far the worst he's ever been. I know it has to be because of whatever he took tonight."

He starts to argue.

I grab his hand. "I'm not saying that gives him an excuse. I'm just saying I don't think this is normal behavior for him. Yes, he's an ass and a perv, but I don't think he'd normally resort to getting physical … At least I hope not."

He still looks like he wants to argue or say something else, so I head him off.

"Look, the reason I was coming to your room is because I want to spend some time with you. I missed you today. Can we forget about all the bad stuff that happened at least until after I talk with Emily?" I ask while looking up at him through my lashes, hoping it will convince him.

He looks at me for a second and then breaks out into a grin. "All right, pretty girl. No need to turn on the charm. You should know by now your wish is my command."

I break out into a huge smile too and give him another big hug. "Thanks, Edward."

I keep hugging him for longer than is probably appropriate, but he's so warm and smells so good. When I finally pull away, he seems just as reluctant as me to let go.

We decide to get comfortable on his bed and watch another movie. Sometimes we play cards, sometimes we play video games, every once in a while we go out and explore and sometimes we just talk.

It almost feels like we've known each other for years instead of months. I can barely believe we didn't get along at the beginning. Now he's one of my very best friends.

As we go to sit down, I hiss as I feel the sting in my knees. Edward instantly checks to see what's wrong.

"I think I must've scraped up my knees when I fell in the stairwell. No big deal. I was a super klutz growing up so I'm pretty used to cuts and scrapes," I tell him.

He kneels in front of me. "I'm'ma take a look, okay?" I nod that it's fine.

He slowly inches my yoga pants up and when he gets to the knee, the material sticks to my scrapes a little and I wince.

"Sorry, pretty girl." He carefully continues inching my pant leg up, and when he gets to the scrape he furrows his brow.

"It doesn't look too bad, but it's not gonna to be the most comfortable thing to dance on for a bit," he says. And then he goes into his bathroom and comes out with a wet washcloth.

He gently cleans the scrape and then checks the other knee and does the same, though it isn't nearly as bad. Afterward, he offers me some of his basketball shorts so I can keep the dirty pants off my knees.

I take him up on the offer and go to his bathroom to change.

Of course his shorts are huge on me so I have to cinch them as much as possible and roll them up a few times, but I still enjoy the fact that I'm wearing his clothes.

When I come out, he's already on his bed in his pajama pants and a T-shirt with bare feet.

Even his feet are attractive.

I'm so fucked.

I snuggle into his side, which has become our norm anytime we're watching TV. I fit so perfectly there. Like it was molded just for my fit.

I'm not sure why I didn't give Alice and Rose more details about Edward and I today, but for some reason I want to keep what we have just between us. Even if we're only friends right now, it still feels special and I like that.

He wraps one arm around me and uses the other to flip the remote. We settle on an old episode of Friends.

"How ya feelin'?" he asks.

"I feel perfect right now," I tell him honestly.

"Listen, Bella, I know you don't wanna talk about it and I'll honor that, but first I want to say I was so scared. When you didn't show up right away I got worried. I thought maybe some fan caught up with ya. I came to see if I could help ya out." He takes a breath.

"I know you always take the stairs so that's where I headed and when I heard you yell and then saw him with his hands on ya … I saw red." I can feel him trembling.

We both sit up and turn to face each other. "I could have killed him for hurtin' you. But almost more than I wanted to kill him, I wanted to take ya into my arms and keep ya safe. I wanted to take ya and run because I can't stand the thought of anythin' bad happenin' to ya."

He's staring into my eyes, looking so sincere.

I have no choice.

I lean forward and kiss him. At first I just press my lips softly to his. Before I know it, he's kissing me back. Our lips are moving in an ancient dance that is so instinctual and ingrained.

Human beings are made to kiss and Edward Cullen was made to kiss me.

He takes my bottom lip in between his and sucks before moving to the top lip. We both open to each other, and his tongue moves into my mouth. There's no battling for dominance because we both equally want this. Our tongues move together, tasting and stroking.

Edward's hands are cupping my face while mine are locked onto the front of his shirt, pulling him to me, as if I can actually bring him inside.

We pull apart to breathe, just staring at each other, forehead to forehead. Slowly, both of us break into wide grins. I'm exhilarated to have finally accomplished what we've been building to for weeks now. It's been there, hovering between us, and we finally submitted to it.

Best decision ever!

TV forgotten, we kiss for a while longer before Edward walks me back to my room. We both know tonight changes a lot. We also know how easy it will be to take things further, but we want more than that.

Even though it's extremely difficult to do, we say goodbye with a few more sweet kisses and the promise to talk more tomorrow.

~~~~~POP RELIGION~~~~~

The next morning I wake up happy and content … for the first time since the day we cleared the air what now feels like a lifetime ago. I stretch and can't seem to wipe the smile off my face, not that I want to.

My phone on the table next to me vibrates. Of course it's Edward. No one else is awake this early.

How are the knees pretty girl? ~ E

I almost feel like a twelve year old girl with how much I want to squeal and dance around because a cute boy texted me. I roll my eyes at myself.

Not too bad thanks to my hero and his special TLC ;). ~ B

Lol. Well if you need any more kisses to help make it even better, let me know. ~ E

It feels great that we can still be so comfortable with each other after what we shared last night.

Oh I definitely will. I'm pretty sure I'll be needing kisses at some point today. ~ B

Well just let me know and me and my lips will be there. ~ E

I do have to go for now though. I gotta get my lazy brothers up so we can go through our sound check. I know the star has to have plenty of time to run through her check later. ~ E

The star sounds like a witch. I bet she's hard to work with. ~ B

Well she can be, but luckily I know how to tame her. ~ E

Oh you do, do you? And how is that? ~ B

She likes my kisses. ~ E

Smart woman. ~ B

Talk to you later? ~ E

Of course. Have a good day until I see you later. ~ B

You too pretty girl. ~ E

And almost immediately I get another text.

And don't forget to call Emily and stay away from Mike as much as possible. ~ E

I smile and shake my head. I knew he'd have something to say.

~~~~~POP RELIGION~~~~~

I do place a call to Emily, and she says she'll do her best to get through to someone at the label and convince them that Mike needs to go. She's not very hopeful though.

Apparently, she did a little digging after our last attempt to get Mike removed and found out that he's Caius' nephew. I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with him unless I want to go through a battle with the label.

I've learned fighting with them doesn't do me any good.

Sure I could file charges, but I have a feeling the label would make my life even more of a living hell than they already do. I only need to get through the end of this tour and things will change.

At least now, I have Edward.

I may not live as clean of a life as him, but I have him and I'm too selfish to let go. And in the long run, I know he's going to make everything in my life—every bad decision—worth it, because it brought him to me.


So they finally kissed. Did you guys like it? How hard… pun totally intended… do you think it will be for Edward to keep that vow now? And naughty Bella… she was awake! Who can blame her though? Lol. Did any of you ever have anything embarrassing happen while dreaming?