Chapter 10: Days of Wine and Roses

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its related characters or story elements. I have simply twisted them to my own uses.

BPOV

I didn't get a chance to talk to Rosalie over the next few days. She and Emmett rarely came up for air, and Edward and I weren't exactly out and about much either. We sort of alternated apartments as well, each couple giving the other space (and sparing all of us from having to listen to each other's respective sexual orations). Every once in a while we would meet up all together in one place, but then we would either order in or go out as a group. The weekend flew by.

As the week began, Edward brought his laptop and research materials to my apartment so we could do some work, but we inevitably found ourselves otherwise occupied. I started to worry that we would burn out and get bored of each other if we kept up our current pace, so on Wednesday I put my foot down.

"Work," I groaned as I dragged myself out of Edward's arms that morning. "Must…work…"

Okay, so it wasn't so much putting my foot down as surrendering to the need to meet my deadline and get paid. Edward mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head. I was just wrapping up when he appeared a few hours later, showered and shirtless.

Hummina hummina.

"Good morning, er…afternoon," he smiled, taking the mug of coffee I held out for him. "Thanks." He sat down at Rose's desk and opened his laptop while I pulled together something to eat. "Did you get your work done?"

"Pretty much. I still have a few little details to finish, but I needed to step away from it for a while. My eyes were crossing." I was only half joking. "Did you enjoy your rest, lazybones?" I teased.

"Not especially." He grinned at me. "The bed was too empty and cold." He turned his attention back to his laptop. "Hey, I have an E-mail from Jasper," he said. "He and Alice are in Biloxi with her family, but they'll be here in a couple of days."

"Really? They're coming here?"

"Didn't I tell you? Yeah, they're coming out here for a while, they'll be staying with my parents."

I was surprised.

"With your parents? Is that safe? I mean, I don't know, what if they get spotted or something?" I had no idea what the protocol was for hosting a major Hollywood celebrity and paparazzi magnet. Come to think of it, I had no idea how to act around such a person either. I was suddenly nervous.

"Nah, it'll be fine," Edward assured me. "Jasper's fans think he's from Texas. He was born there, but he spent a good chunk of his life here in Phoenix. He had his publicist play up the Texas thing, though, so he could put on that 'aw shucks, darlin' persona he's so famous for." Edward chuckled. "With the fame thing hitting so hard and fast, though, it's worked out in his favor, because he can usually lay low here."

"So then, I guess with them in town, and at your parents, I won't get to see much of you for a while." I was suddenly depressed at the idea of spending more time away from Edward, but I assumed he'd want to spend time with his family and friends.

"Uh…er, yeah, I guess," he sounded surprised, as though he hadn't considered it. I turned to him. He looked crestfallen.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well, I guess I hoped you'd want to come meet them with me," he said quietly.

Oh.

"Meet…you mean, meet Jasper and Alice? Or meet your parents?"

"Both."

I wasn't sure I was ready to meet the parents yet. Wasn't it too soon? This was going so fast. And then on top of that, I have to meet Edward's lifelong friend, who just so happens to be the most famous man on the planet.

No pressure or anything.

"Bella." He was watching my face, and I wondered what exactly he was seeing there. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?"

"Oh, no reason. You've just asked me to meet one of People magazine's Sexiest Men Alive AND your parents at the same time. But why would I be nervous?" I attempted a smile to make it seem like a joke, but he saw through it.

"Bella, Jasper is just a guy I know, okay? He's a good guy that's had a lot of crazy shit happen to him in a very short period of time. And Alice…well, Alice is a force all her own; tornadoes don't have as much energy and enthusiasm. You'll love her."

"And your parents? Truth be told, they make me more nervous than Jasper does."

He held out his arms, and I climbed into his lap.

"My parents, my mother especially, will love you. She's worried about me a lot lately, and it makes her blissfully happy that I'm seeing someone."

"So they already know about me?" I was surprised now.

"Of course. My mother was the one who did the calligraphy on your scroll." He smiled sheepishly. "I told her about you the night of our dinner date. I…er…had some trouble getting home that night and my parents had to pick me up."

I remembered his message about getting home several hours after our date ended.

"What kind of trouble?"

He actually blushed.

"I, uh, got pulled over for speeding, and then I got arrested because of the wine I'd had at dinner. Well, technically I wasn't 'arrested'; the cop took me down to the station for a blood alcohol test and I wasn't legally drunk so they let me go, but yeah, I got sidetracked to jail for a few hours that night."

I covered my mouth with my hands, partly in surprise, and partly to stifle a laugh.

"Oh geez, and here I thought the way I sort of abandoned you was the worst part of that night."

I flinched as the words came out, remembering how I'd abruptly dismissed him. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

"For what, exactly?" he asked. "For abandoning me or for my night in jail?"

"Both, I guess," I answered. "I mean, I suppose you wouldn't have been speeding—or even driving—at that moment if I hadn't…so in a way that's my fault too. But I'm mostly sorry for disappearing on you like that."

"And you're not going to explain why you did that, are you?"

Haven't we discussed this already? I was suddenly annoyed.

"I told you, I can't. I have to talk to Rosalie, and I haven't been able to do that lately, in case you haven't noticed." I stood up and made to walk away from him, but he caught my hand.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said. "I won't push anymore."

"Thank you." I leaned down and kissed his head.

"You still haven't given me an answer, you know," he looked up at me. I was confused.

"About what?"

He laughed.

"About Jasper and my parents, remember?"

"Oh, right." I hesitated.

"Would it help if I told you that Emmett's inviting Rosalie as well?"

"He is?" That definitely sounded better. At least I'd have a better chance of holding my own with both Edward and Rosalie there to deflect attention. Edward nodded.

"If he hasn't already," he answered. "So?"

I hesitated for another moment, then nodded in return.

"Yes, okay. I'll go with you. Just let me know when."

Edward's face lit up. If I'd realized it would make him so happy, I would have accepted sooner.

"Thank you Bella," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close so his head was pressed to my chest. "It'll be fine, don't worry. I'll be there, Rose will be there, and everyone will love you."

God, I sure hope so.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Jasper and Alice were due in on Friday, so Edward, Emmett, and their parents planned to do dinner together Saturday night. By mutual agreement we all went back to our own apartments that morning so we'd have time to get ready. As I was leaving Edward's apartment I bumped into Emmett coming from Rose. He was whistling.

"Hello there, Tits!" he called. I blushed.

"Em, you'd better not let Rose hear you call me that. She's quite proud of the fact that hers are bigger than mine!"

"No worries, Beautiful Bella, I told Rose ALLLLL about our little encounter in the kitchen." He winked at me. "She's quite jealous now, you know. I'll bet she murders you on sight when you get home."

I laughed.

"Rose won't murder me anytime soon, Emmett. She's too eager to tell me every last detail about your anatomy, skills, and favorite positions for that."

His answering laugh was thunderous.

"You're probably right!" He slapped me on the back. I'm sure he meant it to be gentle, but I was momentarily breathless. "Well, better get home then, so you can find out exactly what you're missing!"

I winked at him. "See you later, Em."

He grinned. "You too, Tits."

On the drive back to my apartment, I tried to think of ways to convince Rose to let me tell Edward about our history and the agreement. In every scenario, she shut me down. If I couldn't convince her in my own imagination, how was I going to do it in reality? As I let myself in, I heard her calling me from her bedroom.

"Is that you Bella?"

"Yeah, it's me." I put my keys and bag on the counter and went to her room. Rose was sprawled across the bed, hair mussed, a couple of supermarket tabloids scattered around her.

"Rosalie, what are you reading?"

"Oh my GOD, you are not going to believe what Emmett told me. Guess who Emmett works for? You'll never guess."

"Jasper Whitlock," I smirked as I sat down beside her.

"BELLA! You know? I told Emmett not to tell you, I wanted to tell you myself!"

"Nobody told me. I found out by accident." I reached to the bed and shuffled through her magazines. Sure enough, there was a copy of the same issue I'd seen Emmett in. I held it out to her.

"Page 37."

"Well, DUH, I know that now. How long have you known?"

"I found it the day I met Edward in Wildflower Cafe. I'd just seen the picture and was going to call you, but he interrupted me. It came up in the conversation, and he confirmed it. I promised him I wouldn't say anything; it seemed like kind of a big secret. I assumed Emmett would tell you eventually."

She pouted. "I can't believe you didn't tell ME!"

"Come on, I'm sure Emmett would have been upset if I had. It would have taken the wind right out of his rather large sails." I chuckled.

She smiled. "True. And that's not all he has that's large…" She waggled her eyebrows at me.

"Ugh, no no NO. I do NOT want to hear about my boyfriend's brother's penis!"

"Well I sure as hell want to hear about Edward's, so spill it!" She tossed a pillow at me. "You owe me that much for keeping secrets from me and for flashing MY boyfriend!"

I ignored her.

"So if you just found out about Jasper, what did Emmett tell you about dinner tonight?"

"I thought we were just having dinner with his parents. Then yesterday morning he tells me no, his friend Jasper's in town for a bit and he wants me to meet him. I'm like, sure, okay, whatever, right? Then he tells
me, 'Rosie baby'—"

"Rosie?"

"Yeah, he's still calling me by that stupid nickname. I don't know, it's growing on me I guess. It works for Emmett, anyway." She shook her head in disbelief. "So yeah, he says 'Rosie baby, I should warn you about Jasper' and I'm like, what, is he a perv or something? And then Em's like, 'he's Jasper Whitlock, you know, the actor dude?' And I'm thinking, Oh FUCK!"

"I know, I felt kind of the same way when Edward said he wanted me to meet him. Like, what the fuck am I gonna say to this guy?"

"Say to him? Bella, do you have any idea how much of a crush I have on Jasper Whitlock?"

My jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

"OhmiGod, Bells, I love Jasper. He's got the most adorable accent and this sort of fuck-you-hard grin…" She drifted off. I was in shock.

"How did this never come up before?"

"I don't know! I thought you knew. But seriously, how am I going to do this? How am I going to deal with my boyfriend introducing me to my fantasy man?"

"Oh God, no, Rose, please tell me Jasper's not…"

"Yep." She cringed. "Jasper Whitlock is the man who kept my imagination warm on lonely nights. Before
Emmett, of course."

And I thought I had trouble.

"Well, if it helps any, Edward says the accent's mostly put on." I shrugged my shoulders. "Sorry babe, I don't know what to tell you. I was kinda counting on you to be my buffer tonight from Edward's mom and Jasper and all, but it sounds like you're gonna need all the help you can get."

She flopped face first into her pillow and groaned loudly.

I sat and debated for a moment about bringing up my situation with Edward. Rosalie was already knee deep in her little drama, perhaps it would be better to put off more serious things.

Then again, it would certainly be a distraction.

"Rose…" I hesitated. She was still buried in her pillow. "Rose, I kinda need to talk to you."

She lifted her head.

"What's up?" My face must have alerted her to something, because she sat up. "You're okay, right? Everything's okay with you and Edward?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just…Rose, I need to tell him."

She cocked her head at me and frowned.

"Tell him what, exactly?"

"You know what."

She rubbed her face in exasperation.

"I can't believe this. Bella…why? Why is it so essential to tell him anything?"

I dropped my head. "I…I've had nightmares. The usual ones. And Edward's really understanding and he
wants to help, but I can't even tell him what they're about."

"Nightmares." She spat the word out. "You want to ruin everything because of nightmares."

I flinched at the anger in her voice.

"I just want him know me. He listens, Rose. I'm talking in my sleep, and he's listening. If I don't tell him the
truth, he's going to figure it out eventually anyway. He's already asking questions I can't answer. But I want to give him answers. I want to give him everything he deserves. He loves me."

Her jaw dropped about 6 inches. "He said that?"

"Yeah."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I couldn't say anything. How can I? The man barely knows me. He thinks he loves me, and I really, really like him. I want to love him. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid to believe in anything good when there's so much of myself I'm keeping from him."

She frowned at me again. "Bella, the things that have happened to us are not who we are. They are just bad things that happened in the past. They don't make up our personalities, or whatever. You're not keeping yourself from him. You're just omitting details. That's all."

"Well those are pretty fucking big details, babe, don't you think?" I stood up and began pacing the room.
"I've been dealing with this for too long. I can't do it anymore. I can't keep this locked inside me forever just to satisfy our bank accounts. Edward's a good man. He won't tell anyone if I ask him not to. I'll make him swear not to tell Emmett even, so you can go on pretending your life is peachy keen fun and games. But I'm tired of running away and hiding in corners. It's not like I'm asking to take out a full-page ad in the paper. I'm asking you to let me tell the man I love about myself. I know this is a risk. I get that. I wouldn't ask at all if I had any doubts about Edward."

She stared at me in surprise for a moment. "The man you love."

"Fuck it—yeah, the man I love." I threw up my hands in frustration. "I care about him. I want him in my life. I can't imagine being away from him. We have this weird electric connection that I can't even begin to explain. So yeah. As irrational and unexpected and inconvenient as it may be, I do. I love him."

I sat down beside her.

"Don't you see, Rose? Eventually we're gonna want to tell someone. Sure, in a few months we'll have the money and you'll have your divorce and we can really start living. But that won't free us. We'll be bound forever to this ridiculous agreement. How are we really going to be able to live? I don't want to end up alone with only the money to keep me company. I want happiness and love. I want you to find happiness and love. And all the money in the world isn't going to make up for losing men like Edward, or Emmett, or anyone else who might someday come along."

I shook my head and stared out the window.

"If we continue to live by the agreement, we'll never be free of them. Royce and James will be with us forever. I'm sorry, but I'd rather be broke and happy and in love with Edward than rich and alone and living by Royce King's rules. When we made the agreement, I had nothing else to look forward to and sleepless nights and a body that cried out for revenge. I wanted them to pay, and there was no other way. But I've come to feel differently, for myself. Yeah, the money will help. But I'm ready to move on. I've kept to the agreement because I know it means much more to you than it does to me. But I'm asking you to let me out. Let me have this one breach. I need it."

I was afraid to look at her, so I looked down at my hands while I waited for her answer.

"Go away," she said quietly.

"Rose—" My heart dropped.

"Go away now, Bella. Leave me alone."

"Rose, please don't do this. Don't be angry. Please!" I begged.

"If you really want this, you'll leave me alone so I can think." She gestured to the door. "Go."

Reluctantly I got up and walked to the door. I looked back, but she was laying down again, facing away from me.

"Close the door" was the last thing she said. I pulled it shut behind me.

What had I done?

Rosalie POV

I wanted the bastard to pay for what he'd done. I wanted every penny I'd been promised. None of it would ever make up for the damage he had caused me and Bella, but it would mean independence.

Bella had always taken it harder than I had. Maybe that was because I got a pound of flesh already, and she was still waiting for hers. Maybe it was because she was missing pieces from that night, her memory still a blank after all this time. She hadn't missed that much, mostly the aftermath, but I knew it bothered her.

Or maybe it was just because it was Bella's nature to take everything to heart. I was less about sentiment, more about material gratification.

I am a weapon of massive consumption. But it's not my fault, it's how I'm programmed to function.

I smiled. That Lily Allen song was written about me. It doesn't matter 'cause I'm packing plastic, and that's what makes my life so fucking fantastic.

Oh, if only Bella could see things from my perspective. Once I'd cleaned Royce's bank accounts of every penny he had, we could buy ourselves a whole new future. She didn't get it; she wasn't raised as I was. She was taught to work hard and scrape by. I was taught that being beautiful and rich gave you the keys to the world, and until that night, I'd believed in that ridiculous myth with my whole heart.

I was going to take it all back. He'd fucked with my life—and Bella's—and he was going to pay for it. The sackless piece of shit. And if James hadn't disappeared, I'd have found a way to fuck him over as well. Prick.

Nine months. We'd made it more than nine months. Nearly ten. A few more months and I would have fulfilled my share of our devil's bargain. I could get my divorce and my money and move on with my life.

But now Edward comes along, and Bella wants out.

To be honest, she'd made a good argument. I knew she meant every word, because Bella rarely stood up to me. When she did, it was because she felt strongly about whatever the issue was. The rest of the time she went with the flow. She had a subtle way of handling me that she thought was very sly, but I knew she was doing it. I let her. It was the dynamic of our friendship. I was the powerhouse and the flake, the bimbo with steel beneath her boobs. Bella, on the other hand, had all the steel on the outside. Barbed wire, even. You had to approach her carefully. But when you got past her defenses, she was much softer and much more vulnerable.

Edward had gotten through. At last. I thought he'd never stop fucking up. I was still pretty pissed about him ditching her at Denali, the judgmental prick. Bella had tried to explain his history with his ex and some bullshit about feeling inadequate sexually, but I wasn't sure I bought it. I knew Emmett had passed along my messages—I'd threatened to withhold a certain special sexual talent of mine if he didn't—and I had to wonder if Edward would have come through in the end without that push.

But regardless, he had come through. I'd known from that first night in the club that Edward was a good man, and that he would be good for Bella. He'd been clearly attracted to her, but he'd also looked after her in a respectful sort of way that I could see even while drunk. The morning at the diner, her reaction to meeting him confirmed my belief that they were meant for each other.

Of course, I was thinking they'd be fabulous fuckbuddies. I hadn't really counted on the whole love thing. I should have known better, I suppose. Bella wasn't like me. She had to have an emotional and a mental connection to the people she slept with. I was happy just getting the peen and having a boytoy to play with.

Mmmmmm, and my current boytoy was quite the distraction. Emmett could do things with his tongue that made even a seasoned veteran like myself wanna sit up and beg for more. And his dick…I swear, that boy had ruined me. While he was away, I actually missed him. Usually I just went in search of another horse to ride until my stallion was back in the stable. But when I was out with Bella these past few weeks, I found myself uninterested. I was happier Skype-fucking Emmett and showing him my rather extensive toy collection—and of course demonstrating all their various uses and abilities.

But love? Fuck no. Not me. Not Rosalie Hale King, the ice queen. I'm a coldhearted bitch and proud of it.

Not that I didn't want that for myself, someday. I wanted the whole happily ever after thing. I wanted kids—tons of them—and all the fluffy trimmings. I mightc be a bitch, but I have a bit of Disney princess in me as well.

And if anyone ever finds out, I'll be ruined.

Bella was almost all Disney princess underneath. She wanted to find her Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset in her pumpkin carriage or whatever. The asshole she'd been married to, Jacob, had been her ideal once upon a time—so to speak—but, like my own lawfully wedded prick, he hadn't lived up to the fairy tale. She'd been looking for the real thing ever since.

And now she may have actually found it in Edward. Only her past—our past—was keeping her from admitting and accepting how he felt about her, and how she felt about him. Sure, she'd let it slip out in her little tirade, but I knew there was no way she'd bare that part of herself to anyone else, Edward especially, as long as she still doubted his love—or rather, doubted she was worthy of his love. She had such low self-esteem, she always had, even when she was working for Royce and making a real success of herself, she'd never quite believed in it all. She assumed her success was simply the reward for hard work. She never thought of herself as anything special, or interesting, or beautiful.

She was truly beautiful. Inside and out. And I'd seen all of her, body, mind, and heart, so I knew from experience just how worthy she was of love. The real question in my mind was whether Edward deserved her.

More than any other consideration, it was that lingering doubt that bothered me most about letting Bella share our secret. Was Edward all he seemed to be? Could he be trusted? She'd known him such a short time, and I barely knew him at all.

I would have to know for sure that Edward was someone I could trust before I could let Bella talk to him. I hated that she had to ask me for permission. And I really hated the fact that she was right about the agreement. Sticking to it like we had, like we would have to now and forever, gave Royce power over us in a whole other way. It would mean he won in the end, and my victory over his wallet would be hollow at best.

That decided it for me. I would watch Edward tonight, try to get to know him, and pay attention to how he treated Bella. I would see for myself where he and Emmett had come from and meet their parents. I would get through my—gulp—awkward introduction to Jasper Whitlock. And when all was said and done, if I thought Edward could be trusted, I would give Bella my blessing.

Now I only had to decide what I wanted to do about Emmett.

Should I try to seduce him at his parents' house? Or perhaps a little road head on the ride over? Maybe both…

Definitely both.

This is my first time writing Rosalie POV. She's fun to write!

Reviews are welcome, adored, appreciated, and desired... Just sayin. ;)

Story Notes:

The Days of Wine and Roses is a movie about an alcoholic who falls in love with a young woman and gets her addicted to alcohol as well. Sounds cheery, doesn't it? It was directed by Blake Edwards and stars Jack Lemmon.

The Lily Allen song referenced by Rosalie is titled "The Fear."