Happy President's Day weekend to all of my fellow Americans! I actually think it's a pretty lame holiday, but hey - I'll take a day off, no questions asked. I won't keep you long here, A/N at the end!


I don't own Twilight or its characters. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is rated M and not intended for readers under 18. Enjoy!


WANDERLUST

CHAPTER 9

Once we're through the front gates and into the actual prison, it's really not so hellish looking. I mean, I know it would have seemed drastically different when the jail was actually operating, but if I'm being honest, it seems light years better than Kilmainham. Of course, the curator wastes no time in letting us know all about how many people were mistreated, malnourished and overworked. Apparently, if the typhoid didn't get you, starvation would.

We tour some of the various rooms where mannequins dressed in period clothing are placed to forever reenact some of the hardships endured by the prisoners and I listen intently to the curator's voice as he talks about how many people they would try to cram into one of the tiny cells and how they eventually just started shipping people off to Australia. I realize that I'm not being the most interesting person for the camera right now, but Edward is filming Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett as much as he's filming me. Every now and then, when I look back at him, I'll catch him glancing at me, his eyebrows creased just enough for the worry lines in his forehead to be faintly visible. I know he's watching me for signs of distress, but there hasn't been anything all that frightening up to this point.

We go into a room made up to look like a transportation ship and Mary mentions that a lot of people get a sort of nauseated, headachy feeling when they come into this room. Something about the energy of the spirits here that does it. I'm just in front of the camera enough that I'm in the shot, but I've got my arm stretched back and my fingers grasp onto Edward's tightly – I'm sure it's not making his job easy to hold onto the heavy camera with one hand, but he hasn't complained and he hasn't let go.

The curator finishes talking about the prisoners getting sent to Australia and we leave the room with no one saying anything about wanting to throw up or their head hurting. So far so good. By the time we're nearing the end of the tour, I'm feeling a little more confident and I've even let go of Edward to get a closer look at some of the exhibits they've got set up. We're led to the last bit of the tour, cell thirteen, which is apparently one of the most active rooms. I find it a little ridiculous and overly convenient that it happens to be the thirteenth cell that they claim to be so active and as we gather in a circle in the room, I'm beginning to think that I got myself worked up all over nothing.

"The sanitation in the cells was horrific. There might have been fifteen, twenty, even more people held in this cell at one time," the curator looks around ominously. "There were even some instances of a prisoner dying and their body being left there for days, the live prisoners forced to avoid it for fear of catching more disease." Okay, gross. If I didn't feel nauseous in the transportation room, I might now.

"Many people feel unsafe in this cell, as though a menacing presence were nearby. It helps to close the door sometimes, so we think it's probably the guards that they sense. The guards were not the most upstanding people themselves. Probably worse than the prisoners in some cases."

Hmm. Maybe the spirits aren't active tonight. Just as well, I think as I look around the tiny room at the small, barred window on the far wall of the cell.

Rose asks Mary some questions about how she started working as a medium, her 'scariest' experiences in the jail and whether or not she's seen any manifestations when I happen to look up at Alice. She's listening to Mary with rapt attention when she turns her head quickly back toward Jasper.

"What?" She mouths to him, trying not to interrupt.

"Hmm?" he looks down at her.

"Why'd you tap me?"

"I didn't."

I know he didn't. I was looking at them the whole time and he never touched her. And that's when I feel it on my own arm, just a whisper of a touch, only slightly more substantial than a breeze. If Edward didn't have both hands on the camera, I'd think it were him. But as it stands, it isn't. And even worse, there's no one else next to me. No one visible, at least. I can't say it feels menacing or threatening, because it doesn't. It was gentle, even. It doesn't matter though – I'm instantly terrified. I can practically feel the blood run from my face and I do the only thing that feels natural at that point – I reach desperately for Edward, scramble into the safety of his embrace, and burst into tears.

"Bella, what happened?" Rose asks as Edward squeezes me against his chest.

"Something touched me!" I whisper-sob, reasoning that ghosts probably don't like yelling and I certainly don't want to make them angry.

"I think something touched me, too," Alice pipes up, although she sounds more intrigued than scared.

"It's not uncommon in this room," Mary says, "and neither is Bella's reaction. There's an overwhelming sense of sadness that many people feel here."

Well, I wouldn't say I'm feeling sad, exactly, but that is less embarrassing than crying like a little girl, so I guess I'll go with that.

"Blackbird," Edward leans his mouth down close to my ear and brushes my hair back. "I think we're going to go, okay? I think you've had enough."

"O-okay," I hiccough, barely releasing my grip on him as he hands the camera to Jasper.

"Here, man. I'm taking her back to the RV."

"What? We're almost done! We need to finish this!"

"Finish it then. It's not rocket science." Edward says a little harshly before he turns and ushers me out the door, followed by the curator.

"I'll show you the way. Mary, can you finish the tour for the rest of these folks?"

"No problem, no problem at all," Mary says and looks at me sympathetically. "I understand, dear. It's a heavy experience."

I sniffle and try to smile at her then follow Edward's quick stride toward the entrance of the jail. Edward thanks the curator for the escort and for showing us around before we step out into the pouring rain. It hadn't even been particularly cloudy when we went in, but the rain rolls in fast here. Edward keeps me glued to his side until we're in the warm RV when he finally releases me.

"Are you alright?" he asks softly, his fingers pushing my damp hair back behind my ears and then tracing along my jaw.

"I…I guess so," I say, not really sure. "I'm a little embarrassed."

"It's okay to be scared, Blackbird."

I nod, but don't look at him. He's right, but it doesn't make it any better.

"Do you want to play FIFA? I've got it with me, you know."

I shake my head and pull off my jeans, unzip my bag and pull out my pajama pants.

"Do you want some tea or some hot coca?"

I shake my head and exchange the t-shirt I have on for one of Edward's undershirts that I stole for wearing at night. I packed it before I knew how things between us would transpire on the plane and I was thinking that sleeping in his clothes was the next best thing to sleeping next to him at night. Now that we're on these separate twin bunks, crammed into an RV with two other couples, it's looking like I might have been right. The v-neck of the white t-shirt comes down much further on me and comes to a point just between my breasts. The hem hits me just under my butt and is long enough that if our friends weren't about to be sleeping in here too, I would usually not bother with any pajama pants.

"I just want to lie down and go to sleep," I tell him, feeling my headache from earlier in the day creeping back up on me.

I step into the tiny bathroom to take off my makeup and brush my teeth and when I come out, Edward is laying on the bunk above mine, reading. He's wearing blue scrub pants that I know used to belong to his dad (I noticed they had "C. Cullen" written on the inside waistband when I was doing Edward's laundry last week) and hasn't bothered with a shirt. He has on his thick black-rimmed reading glasses and has the book balanced against his chest with one hand keeping it steady and the other hand tucked under his head.

I crawl into my bunk and under the covers, pulling them all the way up in the back to make sure my neck is covered and scooting around until I've got them tight around me. It's something I used to do when I was little when I was afraid of the dark or maybe what was in the dark.

As strange as it sounds for someone who is so freaked out by them, I was never really sure whether I believed in ghosts or not. I mean, on the one hand, there are probably ways I could explain away what happened tonight. There could have been a breeze, although I've never felt a breeze like that. Like specific contact, on only one part of your arm. On the other hand, I didn't know if I could deny that they existed. My family was Catholic and even though I can't remember the last time me or my parents when to church, I still bought into the stories about and angels and demons and saints who did work from beyond the grave. And they exist, why can't regular old ghosts exist? You can't pick and choose what kinds of spirits you believe in, can you? I guess I just wasn't ruling anything out.

I tried to go to sleep for quite some time and eventually nodded off. It wasn't restful sleep and I was jolted awake by a nervous dream, the details of which I forgot the second I woke up. Tonight's activities put me on edge and now I was stuck in this stupid campervan, directly across the street from the haunted hell where I had quite possibly encountered a ghost, an experience which was just about at the very bottom of things on my 'things-I'd-like-to-do' list.

I consider my options. I can lay here, by myself, and try to go to sleep like I'm not still kind of freaked out. Or, I can admit to being scared shitless and ask Edward to come down here and lay with me. I suppose I don't really have to admit to it anymore since everyone knows. I did burst into tears back there, in front of everyone. Not one of my finest moments. But still, if the rest of them come in here and find us crammed on my little bunk together and it's clear we weren't fooling around, I'll never hear the end of it.

"Edward?" I call softly.

His bunk creaks a bit above me as it shifts with his weight.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?" I can hear a light clicking sound and figure he must be texting someone on his phone.

"Playing FIFA," he replies, the soft clicking continuing. "You okay down there?"

I should have known. He hasn't played all day. I don't think Edward's life would be complete without his daily dose of FIFA.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just not sleeping very well."

"Do you want me to come down there?"

"You don't have to. It won't be very comfortable."

"I wasn't asking if I had to, Blackbird. I was asking if you wanted me to."

I'm quiet for a minute to at least give the impression that I'm considering it and haven't been desperate for him to come down here for awhile already, but I don't get a chance to answer. The clicking stops and there's a thud against his bunk mattress. His long legs swing over the side and he hops down and hovers over my bed before taking off his glasses and laying them on his bunk. I think he looks so sexy in his glasses, but he only wears them when he's reading or playing a video game.

"Scoot over," he says, and I turn to face away from him, toward the wall. He slips in under the covers behind me and exhales into my hair as he settles with one arm under the pillow our heads rest on and the other slung around my lower ribs. Edward begins to hum quietly and I think I recognize the melody. I listen for awhile longer, trying to place the song, and lace my fingers together with his as my eyelids get heavier. The song is lovely, soft and slow and there's a second where I think I know what it is, but the notes leave my thoughts too quickly and I finally succumb to sleep.

#WL#

"Bella. Hey, Bella!"

My eyes open to find Alice standing over me, already dressed and ready to go.

"Get up and come out to breakfast with me and Rose." She motions to the closed door of the little bathroom across from me.

I'm still coming out of the haze of sleep and I look around, wondering where Edward is since he's clearly not in bed with me.

"Where's Edward?" I ask and Alice points to the bunk above me.

"He was practically falling off the bed and you were totally asleep. Jasper woke him up and convinced him to get into his own bed. All the guys are still sleeping."

I roll off the bed and stretch and see that she's right – Edward is sprawled out, face down on his bunk with his long legs hanging off the end and his blankets kicked off, as usual. Emmett is curled up in a ball and completely covered by the comforter covering the double pull-out bed he and Rose shared and I can hear Jasper snoring from his dark little corner in the bed over the cab.

I grab my bra and put it on underneath my night shirt then cast the shirt aside for a tissue-thin white Henley t-shirt that I have tied at the waist. I pull on my black jeans and sweep my hair into a low pony-tail on the side, knot it, and shove a couple of pins that I dig out of my make-up bag in to hold it in place.

Rose steps out of the little restroom and squeezes past Alice and I to pack her things back into her bag so I take advantage of the mirror over the sink to apply some mascara and a little blush. I don't have time for much more if we want to get out of here before the guys wake up, but it's enough to look presentable.

The damp winter air raises goose bumps on my skin (or maybe it's the prison looming across the street) as we step out of the camper and make our way down from where we are parked on Kilmantin Hill to find somewhere to have breakfast. The hoodie I brought isn't really as warm as I'd like, but the town's not terribly big so I don't think we'll be walking outside too long.

"Bella, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about last night. If I'd known that was what Jasper was planning, I would have suggested something else." Alice looks at me with genuine regret in her eyes.

"Alice, you loved it, don't worry about it."

"No, no. I feel bad and I know Jasper does, too. I was just so excited, you know? I know that stuff freaks you out and I feel like you were put in a position where you had to agree."

"Well, it's done with now. I'll be okay." I say. "Besides, I'm a big girl. I could have said I wasn't going. Tell Jasper it's okay. He didn't know."

We walk along in silence until we come upon a tiny coffee shop and are lured in by the signs promising a full breakfast menu and the smell of some good, strong coffee. A sign directs us to seat ourselves and we choose a table next to the window, looking out at the stone buildings lining the street, some in drab brown and others in bright yellow.

"So, are you going to make Edward cram into that little bed with you every night?" Rose teases, her blue eyes alight. In some ways, it's almost better to get teased than have people feel bad for me.

"Oh, that? That wasn't because I was scared. In fact, I faked that whole thing just to get some alone time with Edward. We were having wild sex just before you came in and he was just getting his strength back to climb back up to his bunk." I know this is going to lead to questions about my sex life, but I don't mind. I'd rather talk about that than my rather childish fear of ghosts.

A waitress comes over to greet us and take our orders and we halt the conversation until she's back behind the counter and out of earshot again.

"Oh, really?" Rose raises an eyebrow at me. "So, how many times did you do it on my bed? I feel like I have a right to know."

"Four," I say, looking her dead in the eye. She continues to stare me down until I break. "Alright. Zero."

All three of us burst out laughing and the waitress smiles at us as she drops off our coffees and then takes our orders. I go with oatmeal and a side of fruit, electing to save my experience with traditional Irish breakfast until the boys are with us. I'll admit I'm a little leery of the puddings but I know the boys will eat what I don't and it won't go to waste.

While we wait for our breakfasts and make-up our coffee the way we like it, Alice pipes up.

"So, Bella. I've got to ask. How did this whole thing start? The whole with Edward, I mean?"

I've just put a particularly large strawberry in my mouth when she asks, and I need a second to chew before I can talk, but she takes it as reluctance to answer.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us," she says quickly, waving her hand in front of her.

I shake my head back and forth and gulp down my bit of strawberry. "No, it's okay. You guys can ask. Do you remember that time we all went for drinks at that bar over by Bryant Park after work and I was saying how I hadn't dated in over a year?"

Alice and Rose look at each other. "Um, I don't know. I feel like we've had that kind of conversation a few times," Rose says.

"No, remember – all the guys were with us and you said that the reason guys didn't talk to me is because I was intimidating. It was maybe about a month or so after Edward came on board."

They both look at me blankly and I sigh loudly, feigning exasperation.

"Right after we came back from the shoot down in Texas."

"Oh! Yeah!" Realization dawns on both of their faces and they wait for me to continue.

"Well, Edward said he 'liked me the way I was' and that he'd 'hit that'," I use my fingers like quotation marks, "and I thought he was just being nice but when we were in the cab on the way downtown, he said he wasn't kidding."

Rose and Alice's eyes widen a little and they nod for me to continue.

"I asked him if he was drunk, and he said he wasn't. I think we were both a bit buzzed, but it's not like we weren't thinking straight. I don't know – I was just kind of lonely, and I think he was, too. So I took him upstairs, poured us each a shot of tequila, and we went to my room."

"Wasn't it awkward?" Alice asks. She's barely touched her breakfast.

"Maybe a little, but not really. To be honest, there wasn't a lot of time for it to be awkward. I was wearing a dress and he just kind of knelt down and…went for it. Once he'd been up close and personal down there, there wasn't much left to be awkward about." Rose and Alice gasp.

"Are you kidding me?" Rose practically shrieks, and then quickly lowers her voice to a stage whisper. "It took me six months to get Emmett to go down on me and you get it right out of the gate?"

"What? Six months?" I blink at her, dumbfounded. I have heard things about Rose and Emmett's sex life that make me blush just to think about, and I am far from shy when it comes to stuff like this. Needless to say, this is a surprising piece of information from Rose.

Alice is gaping at Rose as though she's just heard something horrifying, which, in a way, I suppose she has.

"This isn't about me!" Rose exclaims, holding her hands up and she brings the conversation back around. "So, it must have been good, or else you wouldn't have kept it up, right?"

"It was better than good. Edward is a talented man," I say with what I'm sure is a ridiculously smug grin on my face.

"How often did you guys see each other?" Alice interjects.

"Well, I saw him every day. We always hang out after work and on breaks and stuff. But we only had sex maybe a couple of times a week."

"That's kind of a lot for two people who aren't together," Alice says dryly.

"I guess so," I shrug. "It's not like I really have any experience with that aside from Edward."

We quietly eat our breakfast for a few minutes, watching some people walk past the window. I can tell they're all locals – they don't look around at all and they're walking a little more quickly and with a purpose. The bowl of oatmeal the waitress brought me is huge and I set down my spoon when it's barely half gone.

"What made you think I was in love with him?" I ask Alice. "I mean, I know the accidental phone call tipped you off that we were sleeping together, but just because people are sleeping together doesn't mean they're in love."

"You're right, it doesn't," she says, "but I've suspected you had feelings for him for quite some time. Do you remember when he took that job in Los Angeles, back in college?"

I nod.

"You cried that whole afternoon after he left."

"I did not." I did, actually. I just didn't think anyone had noticed.

"You did so. The walls were thin; I could hear you sniffling in there."

"He was my friend, and he was moving far away," I huff.

"You cried for, like, maybe two seconds when I got on the plane to New York," she says, but she smiling so I know there's no hard feelings. "And that's only because I started crying. You're not a crier, Bella, don't bullshit me."

"I just…I had this feeling like I was never going to see him again. And, really, I'd just got him, you know? I'd only had him for a few months and then he was leaving."

"This is why we knew, Bella," Rose says, smiling gently at me. "Because you've always talked about him possessively. From the second he joined the show, things were different. Sure, he's far more talented than James was. But you're better with him there, Bella. You light up for him and everyone can see it."

"Thank you for pushing me, you guys. I never meant to be stubborn or one of those ditzy girls who doesn't see what's right in front of them. But, honestly, it was hard to believe things could have been this perfect. It's not like me to be so…romantic. And sappy."

"Yeah, well, that's what love'll do to ya," Rose smirks at me. "What do you say we go see what the boys are doing?"

She doesn't have to ask me twice.

#WL#

The boys have Rose and Emmett's bed all folded up and are crowded around Jasper's laptop while he controls a character that is running around on the rooftops of an ancient city. I recognize this one right away – Assassin's Creed. I've watched Edward play it for hours.

"You have to jump off the edge over here, man," Edward says to Jasper, pointing to the side of the roof he's talking about. "Yeah, right there. There's a straw cart under there and you have to hide in there for a second. The guy you want will walk by."

None of them have even bothered to get dressed and they're all still wearing their pajamas, one coffee cup for each of them on the table. It's still early and they've got a bit of time before they need to start getting ready.

Rose lets the RV door close just as Jasper's character jumps out of the haystack and slays the guy on his hit list. All three of them turn to look at us. Edward is wearing his glasses and grins at me with that perfectly imperfect crooked smile. Note to self: ask Edward to wear the glasses in bed. That'll have to wait though. Curse my period and curse sharing an RV with four other people.

My phone rings in my purse and it actually startles me a little. I can't image who would be calling me other than the people right here in this van, and it's the middle of the night in the U.S, no matter which time zone. A pang of worry shoots through me as I rummage through my purse to locate my phone. If it's my mom or dad, why are they calling me so late?

My worry subsides, but just a bit, when I see it's my step-sister, Leah. Leah's mom married my dad when I was a senior in college. In a lot of ways, it was a big surprise because I can't say I was even aware that he was dating until he left me a voicemail message that he and Sue were getting married in a month and they wanted me and Leah to be co-maids of honor. Leah had a harder time with it than I did – her own dad had died a few years earlier and she'd been pretty close to him. She was always very respectful of my dad though and she and I got along well. Leah was a straight shooter and didn't bullshit anyone, and I appreciated that. She was also incredibly intelligent – she was a marine biologist and her research was focused on the activities of the three pods of Orca whales that regularly made their way up the Washington State coast.

I pick up the phone and push the accept button just before it goes to voicemail.

"Leah?" I ask, hoping nothing is wrong.

"Bella! Hey!" Her voice is cheery, at least for her, and my worry dissipates. "I hope I'm not waking you up. Mom said you were in Europe so I thought it might be safe to call."

"Yeah, I was up. I went to bed early last night, so I've been up for a while." I go back and lounge on my bunk. Edward comes back and begins rummaging through his suitcase before he calls up to the rest of the group.

"Hey, you guys, don't look back here for a second."

"Why is there a man telling you not to look at him?" Leah asks.

"He's changing," I say, as I watch Edward push his scrub pants off his hips, peel off his boxers and slip into new ones. Hey – part of the perks of girlfriend status is the right to ogle. "We're all packed in an RV together."

"Oh – fun," Leah says sarcastically. "So, I'm in New York. I was just calling to see when you'd be back, if we could hang out for a bit before I go home?"

"What? You're in the city?"

"Yeah. I was asked to do a lecture series at Columbia on my project. It was kind of last minute, the first person they had fell through. Anyway, I'll pimp my research as much as possible. Gotta raise awareness, you know. "

"Wow! Leah, that's great! How long will you be around?"

"A week. When are you coming back?"

I'm instantly disappointed. I've only seen Leah once in the last two years.

"Not for another week and a half."

"Well, shit. That sucks."

I laugh, but it's half-hearted. "No kidding. Where are you staying?"

"Meh – just this place in Harlem. It's supposed to be kind of a boutique hotel but…yeah. I didn't think that really existed in Harlem. The school booked it for me."

"Why don't you stay at my place?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine. I don't want to put you out."

"It's no trouble at all. I'll just have my super meet you and let you up. I have a spare key in the bowl on the entry way table so you can just use that."

"Are you sure, Bella? You really don't have to."

"Of course, I'm sure. You'd have to ride the train up there for your lectures, but at least you'd be more comfortable."

"Well, you do have the best bed in the world."

"You're right, I do!" I laugh. Every one of my friends and family knows of the famous most-comfortable bed ever.

"Okay, you sold me."

"Good. I'll call the super today and give him your phone number. We're filming on and off today, but call me if you need me."

"Thanks, Bella. It's too bad we can't see each other."

"I know. I'll have to plan a trip out to Forks sometime soon."

I say my goodbyes to Leah and crawl up onto the upper bunk to sit next to Edward.

"You're planning trips to Forks, huh?" he asks.

I shrug. "I don't know. Leah's in New York this week but she's leaving before we get back. I haven't been back in a long time and it might be nice to go see my dad."

"I was thinking of diverting my plane ticket back to Seattle when we come back from New Zealand. Maybe you could do the same and we can just go together?"

I smile at him and lean in for a kiss. I haven't kissed him yet this morning and it's like there's a magnet pulling me toward him.

"I think that sounds good," I tell him breathily after we pull apart. "You ready to meet my dad?"

"Oh, I've met you're dad," he laughs. "He gave me a speeding ticket on my sixteenth birthday -forty-five minutes after I got my license."

"Ha! Well, it clearly did you no good, Mr. Lead Foot," I tease him. When he actually got to drive, Edward had a tendency to speed. Maybe it was all that pent-up energy from living in the city and not having regular access to a car. I lean forward and kiss him again and he lies back against the bed. "You better not remind him of that. Generally, fathers don't like their daughters to date delinquents."

He smirks at me and reaches out and attacks my ribs with his fingers, tickling me up and down. I shriek with laughter and fall forward onto him, trapping his hand underneath my boobs, and kissing him until my chin is rubbed raw against his stubble.

"Hey!" Emmett's voice booms from the front of the van. "I gladly said I wouldn't look while he was changing, not while you two fooled around. No sexy time allowed!"

"Relax," I tell him, hopping off the bunk. "I'm not an exhibitionist or anything. But you should get your earplugs ready because rumor has it we're staying in a hotel in Cork. It's probably small, too. And old, with thin walls. Our rooms are probably right next to each other."

"Ew. Bella, that's sick. You're like my sister, okay. I do not need to think of you like that. Ever."

"Whatever, man. Just helping you prepare."

He makes a disgusted face and turns back to the gigantic bowl of cereal he's poured himself while I was on the phone.

In the past three days, bringing me and Edward's relationship out of the closet has been nothing but good. He's told me he loves me, and I'm not sure there's anything much better to hear than that. I can touch him whenever I want, hold his hand whenever I want, kiss him whenever I want. And now, I've found the added bonus of extra ammo to tease Emmett with. And believe me, with Emmett, you need all you can get. So far, being Edward's girlfriend is pretty damn awesome.


Things are going to speed up a bit. We're nearly ten chapters in and they've only been in Ireland for a few days. They've got other places to visit and I don't want this story to have a billion chapters!

I'm sorry I've been taking longer to post than usual. Life has just been kind of crazy. And now I have a terrible, terrible cold and I can't breathe when I'm sitting in my usual writing place so I'm not sure how much more will get done this weekend. Thank you for sticking with the story though, and for those of you who are reading Icebreaker, it's coming slower than I expected, but it will still come.

Review if you've got a minute, I love to hear what you think!

LA