A/N: Jeez, how I enjoyed hearing from you guys after this chapter! It makes me so happy that so many of you are enjoying this story and already consider it your summer read. I promise to do my best with it, and I really hope you'll all keep letting me hear from you!

Once again guys, since many of you keep asking, I fully believe in HEAs. I guess I'm making many of you nervous. Sorry!

I'm revising the chapter estimate I gave a couple of chapters ago. I'm thinking more like 25 chapters now, though as I've said, that can be give or take.

There's still plenty we don't know about Bella's – as well as Edward & Bree's – past, and I know many of you are anxious to get there. We will soon enough.

Oh, and for those who haven't noticed, update days have changed to Tuesdays and Fridays. Those days just work better for me. I am going to try to continue updating twice weekly, but it's summer vacation for the kiddies, and my already hectic schedule has gotten even more so.

Thanks to Michelle Renker Rhodes for beta-ing and helping me keep this story straight.

All characters belong to S. Meyer.


Chapter 9 – Teasing & Taunting

BPoV

I hid it well though, didn't I? Not necessarily from everyone else because apparently I was an open book, but from you…and even more so, from myself. But how could I have known? I'd never been there. And at first, as the teasing on both sides increased, it was just so easy to call it physical. I never denied my attraction to you, and you…well it was just so good to see you finally laughing that I never stopped to think of how strange that was…that you should be learning to laugh again while she was still so out of reach. And I sure as hell never stopped to wonder how that would complicate things once you won her back – once you didn't need me anymore…

OOOOOOOOOO

Little dude was wailing up a storm. Rose had taken him inside the house for his late morning nap, but little Brady Cullen seemed to have other ideas.

I turned to check on Edward, who was lying on the deck lounger next to me, under a very large and very wide patio umbrella that completely shielded his navy-board-shorts-and-white-tee-shirt wearing body from all light. My own lounger lay out in the open, so that I could fully embrace the sun's glorious rays and bask in its warmth in my borrowed-but-never-gonna-give-it-back red bikini.

I sighed and flipped my shades up. "Doesn't that kid know some of us are trying to chill and catch some rays here?"

Edward chuckled, eyes closed. "While the first part of that question may be valid, I, unlike you apparently, like my skin and therefore choose not to court melanoma."

"What are you, a vampire?" I rested my head back, closing my own eyes while the warmth of the sun tickled my face. "So scared of the sun," I snickered.

"Yeah, we'll see who's snickering in twenty years when your skin's all wrinkled and pruny, and my skin's as soft as a baby's bottom."

"At least I can see my reflection in the mirror. And I'm not afraid of crosses."

"Actually vampires can see their reflections and are not afraid of crosses," he responded dryly. "However, they do sparkle."

I giggled. "They do not."

His lips twitched almost indiscernibly. Edward was teasing me. "Yes, they do."

"No, they don't," I argued.

Edward had finally found time this weekend to just chill with me by the pool. Supposedly, this was because there were too many doctors working the ER this weekend, and since Edward hadn't had time off in a while, Administrator Mike was giving him thirty-six hours off.

But we all knew the real reason was because tonight was Edward's surprise 27th birthday party, and the Chief of Staff, Carlisle, had pulled strings to get Edward time off.

We all had jobs today. Hoverer's job for the past couple of weeks had been all the planning and prep that went into this shindig. Rose and Emmett were catering, of course. As we spoke Emmett was inside the huge Cullen gourmet kitchen doing things that were making my mouth water just by thinking about them. Jasper and Alice had driven into some town called Port Angeles this morning to pick up the decorations Esme had ordered. And my job was to keep my 'boyfriend' entertained for the day - make sure no suspicions arose as to what we all had up our sleeves. Then later this afternoon I was to disappear from here with him for a couple of hours while they set everything up and then get him back here in time to yell surprise!, open a few beers and shake it up 'til sunup.

He sighed. "Look, if you're not going to come under the umbrella with me, will you at least put some sunscreen on? I'm feeling moles pop up on me just from looking at you."

"Sweet as ever." I huffed and sat up straight, feeling a little woozy from the bright sun that had been at my eyes for the better part of an hour. "Oh fine, hand me that sunscreen."

He picked up the sunscreen bottle from the side table next to him and held it out to me without opening his eyes or lifting his head. I huffed again and snatched it.

"I can't get my back. Will you do it for me, please?"

He didn't answer right away. "Just don't lie face down and you should be fine."

"Edward!" I chuckled incredulously, "I can't expose one side to the sun and not the other! I'll tan all unevenly! Will you please do my back for me?"

Again, he didn't answer immediately. Instead he opened his eyes uber-slowly, almost begrudgingly, and then turned them to me with languid hesitation. When they locked on mine they were dark and burning and so kegelicious. Boy I was going to have the strongest pelvic muscles this side of the Pacific once this summer was over.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Give me the sunscreen and lie down on your front."

Doing as I was told, I reached backwards to pull at the string to my bikini top so I wouldn't get any of those tacky tan lines. I heard the spluttering of cream and the sound of Edward's hands rubbing together, and then I inhaled sharply and heard him hiss when his hands touched my back.

But this was a totally new sensation – like when he hugged me by the cliffs without an audience a couple of weeks ago. Edward's hands slowly and carefully circled around my shoulders and then traveled lower, mid-back, and then lower still, to my waist. My nethers started to tingle. I kegeled away, vaguely wondering if his hands could feel the way my thighs clenched at his touch.

His hands stilled, voice low and somewhat strained all at once. "Done. Anything else you need?"

And while what I really could've done with at that moment were his hands on my crotch instead of my back, I simply shook my head.

Yet instead of taking his hands off, they trailed upwards oh so slowly, his fingers ghosting softly over the outline of my spine, further up to my neck and raising a goh-zillion goose bumps as they went. I honestly don't know if it was simply my horny mind playing tricks on me, but then I could've sworn his fingers traced a couple of slow circles at the nape of my neck before I felt him unclasp my necklace.

"Take this off before you forget you have it on and throw yourself in the pool with it."

His voice was rough now. I nodded, confused and so damn grateful I was facing down and away from him because ever since that night by the cliffs, I'd been having some uber-crazy dreams about this man and right now my pelvic muscles were singing.

I fell asleep on my stomach - kegeling - and must've woken about fifteen minutes or so later. When I fastened my top and sat up and looked around, my eyes landed on Edward, laying face up and eyes closed across his lounger with only board shorts on now. Apparently at some point during my nap, the temperature had spiked, and the shirt had come off.

And Holy. Shit.

My eyes must've shot some heat lasers down his happy trail because Edward's eyes popped open. I turned away quickly - a little too quickly.

Despite my obvious faux pas, he didn't say a word. Out of my periphery I could see him staring straight ahead. I shifted my eyes all the way to the corners of their sockets just enough and could just make out the washboard abs and chords of muscle up and down his arms and holy mother-effing shit!

Keep calm Bella!

I forced my body to remain perfectly still. My eyeballs were ordered front and center and I stared straight ahead like him, whistling a happy tune to myself while I looked up and down on repeat – staring at everything except at what I wanted to stare at – badly.

And then I burst out laughing.

"What?" Edward snapped.

"I mean, look at you!" I laughed uncontrollably and waved a wild arm in the general direction of his beautiful six-pack. "Was I really not supposed to notice?"

He glared at me, but his lips twitched again, like earlier, and a slow smile crept over his face. It was one of those smiles that crinkled his eyes and made them sparkle and yeah, made life just generally grand.

"Really? You're going to talk about having to pretend not to notice?" he smirked. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I squealed.

He arched an eyebrow, and then very slowly and deliberately, his green eyes blazed a trail from my shoulders, down to my breasts, my waist, my hips, down my legs and ended on the very tips of my red-manicured toes – courtesy of Alice.

Holy. Fuck. I don't know how I managed not to come right then and there.

"Do you know how…hard it's been for me all morning" - he asked with a crooked grin – "to pretend not to notice those?" He waved his own hand in the direction of my admittedly pretty tatas. "And then when you fell asleep on your stomach, not to notice that?" His hand gestured towards my ass.

I fell into fits over the lounger, chortling so hard I felt tears well up at the corners of my eyes. After a minute, Edward's husky chuckle joined mine. When I opened my eyes back up he was smirking at me so I flew out of my lounger and went to flip his lip, but he grabbed my wrists and wrestled me onto his lounger - emerald eyes sparkling with mischief and I hadn't been so happy in such a long time as I was right that second.

That is, until Rosalie came out with the little dude and ignoring the fact that Edward and I were obviously very busy, planted him right on my lap.

I sat straight up, turning sideways in the chair and staring wide-eyed at the fat thing on me in nothing more than diapers. He stared back with those huge blue eyes of his, drool dripping down his many chins.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I wondered aloud.

Rose smirked – a Cullen thing, obviously. "Watch him for me for an hour or so. He refuses to sleep and I have things to do."

Yeah, I knew what she had to do. Emmett made the sweets and she made the savories, and since it was my supposed "boyfriend's" party I couldn't very well complain, could I?

Rose walked away without waiting for an answer, and Brady and I just sort of stared at each other. I poked his fat stomach, wondering if it would ever look like his uncle's.

"Just don't poop kid," I warned, "and we should be okay for the next fifty-nine minutes."

Edward laughed. "Haven't you ever changed a diaper?"

"Nope." I poked little dude's round tummy again. It felt soft and squishy. Like play-doh. "Have you?"

"Sure." He sat next to me on the long lounger, more subdued than he'd been just a few seconds ago and ran a hand over Brady's bald head. Edward had really nice hands actually, not too soft and not too rough and remembering how they'd felt running up and down my back less than half an hour ago sent a shiver down my spine.

"I've changed Brady here a couple of times," Edward continued, unaware of my wayward thoughts. "And I changed Jasper's diaper once or twice-"

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't be spreading lies like that in public, bro." Jasper laughed as he and Alice entered the backyard. "Especially not in front of the ladies!"

"Oh, Jazz honey. I think it's cute that Edward's seen your peen." Alice stripped off her cover up and dove elegantly into the water.

"Hah!" I laughed and pointed at Jasper. "Edward's seen your peen!"

And even though Alice joined in, both men gave me the patented Cullen smirk!

"See what you started Ed?" Jazz grinned wryly, "No lady, no matter how pretty, should be allowed to laugh at the Cullen Peen. It's our legacy." He dove in, making Alice shriek, and pinned her against the pool's edge. Then they started laughing quietly - you know, like lovers tend to do right before they're about to start going at it hot and heavy?

"I'll teach you to laugh at my peen tonight," he growled lowly, making her giggle.

"Bella laughed too!" Alice said.

"Yeah well, I'm sure my big brother'll be teaching his own lessons tonight about laughing at the Cullen legacy." And then he moved in and kissed her, and I turned away and looked at Edward, but he was kind of just staring at Brady.

So for the next forty-five minutes, Edward and I entertained ourselves by poking little dude's big belly.

OOOOOOOOOO

EPoV

"Edward, who was your first?"

"Isabella, none of your business."

"Come on! Tell me!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Half an hour later:

"Please tell me!"

"Okay, okay! It was my friend Jess."

"The pretty girl with the curly brown hair we ran into in the restaurant last week?"

"Yes."

"Ooh, she's got big boobies. That must've been fun."

I rolled my eyes.

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen."

"I thought you were seventeen when you started dating Bree?"

I could more feel than see Isabella's eyes on me. We were lying side by side under a tree, shaded from the setting sun over by the cliffs.

"She was right before Bree. She was my first girlfriend, actually. Jess, Mike, Jake, Bree, the rest…we were all friends. We all hung out and goofed around together. Well, not always Bree. She was always…quieter, more reserved…"

"So what happened?"

I shrugged, feeling suddenly guilty about something that happened a decade ago. "We dated for about four months, and then Bree…well I'd sort of always liked her, and she and I finally started getting close…"

"Ooh, you broke up with poor Jess for Bree? That's messed up, man."

"I was seventeen, Isabella. I didn't really know how to do these things right. And like I said, I'd always liked Bree."

"Did you still hang out with the rest of the guys?"

It took me a few seconds to answer. "Not as much as I used to. Like I said, Bree was different. She didn't like doing a lot of the things we used to do."

"Like what?"

Man, Isabella was nosy. I sighed and sat up, bending my legs.

"Like…hanging out at the beach, or by the cliffs here, or at Jake's house, or just, to borrow a word from you, chillin.'"

Isabella smiled, but it was the kind of smile you gave a friend when you felt sorry for them.

"That was fine by me," I said quickly. "I mean, we were getting older. It was time to stop with all that shit and get serious anyway." I ripped up some grass from the ground and flung it back down.

She lifted herself on one elbow and gazed at me. "So you changed for her."

"I didn't change for her," I insisted. "It was time to be more mature. I needed to be more mature."

"Correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, I'm no expert," she said quietly, "but I've heard that when you love someone you're supposed to love them for who they are."

"Yes, but by the same coin, when you love someone, it's okay to make a few changes if it makes both parties happy."

"As long as you're not changing who you are fundamentally."

I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"So Jess and Bree? Was that it?"

I stared at her, at first not planning to answer, but the words just poured out. "No," I said with a deep breath. "In Italy, there was this…woman, Gianna."

She raised an eyebrow for me to continue.

I exhaled. "I met her at a café. She approached me and we started talking and…I suppose one thing led to another…."

Isabella nodded slowly. "It's okay you know," she finally said. "You don't have to feel guilty."

"What makes you think I feel guilty?" I snorted.

She shrugged and smiled softly. "Well, for one, because I think I know you well enough by now to know that casual hook-ups aren't your thing. And for another…" - she bit her lip, an action that tended to distract me, but I wanted to know what she was going to say so I tried to ignore the way my cock twitched – "Like I said, I'm not an expert or anything, but…if you and Bree aren't together any longer, I don't think you owed her anything."

I simply stared at her, unsure of what to say because yes, I supposed it was true. I hadn't owed Bree anything while in Italy. But if that was true, if I no longer owed it to her to be faithful, then what, after almost a decade, did I owe her…did she still owe me? There had to be something we still owed each other, didn't there? Because if there wasn't, what was there left for us to rebuild?

I didn't want to think about these things. At least not right now. "What about you? Who was your first?" I asked Isabella, mainly to distract myself.

She lay against the grass again and looked up at the tree above us. "This guy called Ty. I was fifteen, he was seventeen. It lasted a whole six months before he dumped me. There were a couple of guys afterwards, and then Felix, the Human Chimney. Hey, Edward, what's your birth parent's last name?"

I blinked. Startled by her quick admission and even quicker turn of her game back onto me, I lay back against the grass next to her. "Masen."

"So you're Edward Anthony Masen?"

"No. I'm Edward Anthony Cullen."

"Do you ever miss your birth parents?"

I had to think about that one for a second. Isabella had been playing her own version of twenty questions with me for the better part of the hour, and at first I'd indulged her for a variety of reasons: one, because I'd come to learn that answering her questions was easier than trying to avoid doing so, two, because up until a couple of questions ago, they'd been pretty innocuous, and three, because we were 'chilling', as she'd put it, by the cliffs this afternoon after two long weeks without my having a day off. My eyes had been closed as we lay under a tree right up against the cliffs, and the breeze had been lulling me. And as crazy as it was, so had the sound of her voice.

"I don't really remember them, so I can't say I've missed them. Or maybe I have. I don't know," I shrugged. "It's hard to recognize an emotion you've never experienced before."

She was silent for a while. I thought she'd finally gotten bored with her questions.

"Have Jasper or Emmett ever been jealous of you?"

"Jealous of me?" I chuckled and opened my eyes, lifting myself on my elbow and turning to look at her again. She lay next to me with her eyes closed, in that red bikini that had been giving me a perpetual hard-on all day. Thankfully she'd covered it up with her black cover-up - not that my cock could tell much of a difference. I sighed inwardly. "What do you mean?"

She took her time answering while I stared at the way the breeze rustled the mahogany hair framing her face. A long strand landed right over her right eye. I reached out to tuck it behind her ear,

"I mean," - she moved the strand away impatiently and I lowered my hand back down - "when you came to live with Hoverer and Carlisle."

I chuckled at her nickname for my mom. "Jasper wasn't born yet at the time."

"Emmett then," she insisted peculiarly. "Did he ever make you feel…unwelcome, like you were intruding on his family?"

"No," I chuckled, and sat up straight to stare down at her. She opened her eyes and sat up too, leaning back on her palms. The black cover up blew in the breeze, rising above her thighs. I swallowed thickly and kept my eyes on hers. "I honestly don't remember it because I was only three when it happened, but the way Esme tells the story, Emmett and I, being god-brothers already, were always really close. When my birth parents died and I came to live with the Cullens, it took very little adjustment on anyone's part. I mean, other than the grief my parents felt from losing their best friends, at the same time they were relieved that I'd survived, and they already loved me. At that point they just started loving me more and I them, I suppose. I honestly don't remember a time before they were my parents and Emmett and Jasper were my brothers."

Isabella nodded thoughtfully, biting her lip again, staring straight ahead. "I remember being three. Jamie was eleven then. I'd follow him everywhere, even when his friends were over, and he'd actually let me hang with them, even if they complained."

"Tell me about your family," I prompted.

She grinned, but I thought I detected something different in her grin.

"What about my family?"

"What does Jamie do?" I asked, beginning with who was obviously her favorite relative.

Her grin widened. She looked beyond the cliffs, pulling on a few blades of grass absently.

"Jamie's…Jamie's a sports writer," she finally gushed.

"Really?" I grinned back. "I guess that explains the Phoenix Suns paraphernalia?"

She nodded vehemently, her pretty brown eyes glowing in the fading light of day.

"He's very successful - one of the best sports writers out there. He and my dad Charlie have always been huge sports fans."

I chuckled at the obvious pride in her voice. "So who does Jamie write for?"

She shrugged. "I forget the publication. He reminds me a lot, but…well, you know me."

I snorted. "Is he married?"

She shook her head.

"And what do your parents do?"

"My dad's a cop, and my mom just stays at home."

"A cop?" I asked, surprised. "And he's really okay with your favorite mode of transportation?"

"I guess he doesn't really know," she shrugged sheepishly. "None of them do."

"I'd bet they wouldn't be too happy," I told her with a raised brow.

"No, they probably wouldn't," she agreed, quietly blushing and looking thoughtfully towards the cliffs again.

"Promise me something, Isabella?" I found myself asking. And this time I did reach out, and I took her small hand in mine. She gasped lowly, startled by the heat as always, but I simply grinned and let myself enjoy it.

She brought her eyes back to mine, gazing at me intently. "What?"

"When you leave…no more hitchhiking?" I pleaded softly, and intertwined our fingers. And at that moment, the thought of her leaving…of her out there…by herself…it made my chest burn painfully.

Isabella simply stared at me for a couple of minutes. Then she pulled her hand out of mine and swiped her palms together to get rid of the dirt and grass. "Come on, let's get going."

OOOOOOOOOO

Isabella's strange mood of the afternoon did another total one-eighty as we neared my parent's house. I shifted in my seat so I could look at her better, and I had to admit to myself, the day's sun had given her face and shoulders a pretty golden glow, despite the dangerous rays. The word "radiant" was suddenly so prominent in my mind; Isabella looked absolutely radiant. For a split second, a picture of Bree popped into my head. She'd always hated the sun; running from it at every turn and trying to make sure I did too. I couldn't remember her face ever once glowing the way Isabella's did right now.

I shook my head quickly and turned back to the windshield.

"So do you want to watch a movie?" Isabella asked as I drove her truck up into my parent's driveway. "Or go in the pool again? Or watch a movie?" Her glowing face was stretched out in a huge grin that didn't quite match the plans she had for the evening. Her pretty little body seemed to be bouncing in its seat – as a matter of fact, it was.

I cut the engine - leaving the keys in the ignition - and decided to tease her again. Lately I'd been finding it was actually sort of fun to do. "Actually, I was thinking of calling Jake and a couple of the guys. Seeing if they wanted to drive up to Port Angeles and go get a few beers."

She jerked her head back and raised a brow. "Beers? You, Doctor Cullen?"

I smirked and pushed her hand away when she tried to flip my lip. "Yes, Ms. Swan. Even boring old me can appreciate the joys of a nice cool beer on a hot summer day every once in a while," I said, remembering the words she'd used that first day back in the examining room. "Especially when I don't need to wake up sober at the crack of dawn the next day. I mean, it's been a while," I raked my hair, "but I think I can figure it out."

She chuckled. "Alright, push me off to the side and go have your guy's night out without me. See if I care," she teased back. "But you can't take my truck."

"Oh, I am taking the truck."

"Over my dead body," she threatened lowly. And then she reached over and in a flash pulled the keys out of the ignition, threw her door open and jumped out, running off.

I took two seconds to roll my eyes at the sky and then jumped out after her.

"Isabella!"

She ignored me and ran up the driveway, stopping by the fence door to the back yard.

"Isabella!" I smirked and stalked over to her while she just stood there, pretty brown eyes wide and laughing, jiggling the keys by her face tauntingly. "Isabella, I was going to invite you, but now I don't think I will," I taunted her back.

"Then you can just drive your cute little silver Volvo to the bar. I'm sure you'll make quite the impression pulling up in that."

"I don't know what kind of impression the Volvo would make," I hissed through clenched teeth, all the while getting closer, but she made no move to outrun me, "because I'm taking the truck." I came to a stop right in front of her. Her eyes sparkled in the twilight. She'd been holding the keys up like a prize just next to her head but now she wrapped them tightly in her palm.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am," I grinned crookedly.

"Over my dead-"

She shrieked when I picked her up over my shoulder and carried her into the back yard.

"Isabella Swan," I hissed, while she laughed her head off, "You have been acting up all day and I really think you need to cool off for a while in the-"

"SURPRISE!"

I looked up, startled, and was met by a bunch of smiling familiar faces, all staring at me.

"Happy Birthday, Edward!" Bella cried, climbing off of me. "Were you surprised? Were you? Were you?"

I blinked a couple of times, my eyes moving from her to the friends and family beyond. My parents, brothers, Rosalie and the baby, Alice, Jake, and then friends and family I hadn't had much of a chance to reconnect with in the month or so that I'd been back: Sam, Seth, Jess, Ben, Eric, Paul, Becca, Leah, Tanya, Gary, and at the very end, Mike and Bree.

Bree's eyes met mine, and then Isabella threw herself in my arms again, wrapping her own arms around my neck.

"Were you surprised, Edward?" she whispered excitedly against my neck.

I stared at Bree as I held Isabella. She was watching me with that look on her face again.

"Yes, Isabella. Yes, I'm very surprised."


A/N: There's this facebook group where we can discuss all matters related to Quirkella and her Uptightward, as well as FBIward, Clubward, Adward, and any other Edward you want to discuss. Go to my profile for the link. In the meantime, please leave me your wonderful (and maybe not so wonderful?) thoughts…