A/N

*sighs* I really hate that I'm only updating once a month, thats not cool with me either. Believe me. Sorry about the cliffie last time and that I kept you guys hanging, totally wasn't my intention, blame Twitter and Facebook for the update fail lol!

A big gracias to the beta THEsnapcrakklepop who got this back to me in record time. Seriously, you guys need to thank her for making sense of my... non-sense... yeah.

Anyway... enjoy!

Oh shit!

I pushed Edward off of me and scrambled to get up and off my bed, which was hard considering Edward was still mostly on top of me and he was pretty heavy. I managed extract myself from under Edward (because I had to, not because I wanted to) and found both mine and Edward's shirts on the floor. I threw his over to him and pulled my wife beater on as I rushed to shut my door in case Charlie came upstairs.

What the fuck was he doing home anyway?

I turned around to find Edward fully clothed and halfway out my window. Damn, he was fast. I rushed (quietly) over to him and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back so I could plant a firm kiss on his mouth.

"I'm sorry; he said he wouldn't be back till midnight. I don-", I tried to apologize as he cut me off.

"Don't worry about it, babe. I guess I should be used to this shit by now." He chuckled softly and kissed me again before slipping out the window and onto the tree limb just outside. "Call me later," he whispered as he began shimmying down the tree.

I watched to make sure he got safely to the ground before closing the window. He made it unscathed and gave me a little wave before sprinting down the street.

Not scared, my ass.

I flopped down on my bed, lying on my back and throwing my arm over my eyes. I swear we had the worst luck. Like, seriously, what the hell? Was there a female equivalent for blue balls? Because if there was I was definitely feeling it and it was not cool. At all. Really I thought about Edward a lot anyway, but now I was going to be thinking about his mouth… and his hands… and his dick. Good lord, his dick had been so hard and… just… big. Of course I had no frame of reference but he had to be above average.

Edward had made me feel things I'd never felt before, things I'd only read about or seen in movies and TV shows. I had no idea it would actually feel so damn good; I had felt like I was on fire, spiraling out of control and just completely engulfed by him. I was apprehensive at first, doubting his intentions like a fool before I remembered that it was Edward and not some random guy who didn't care about me. No, Edward was special to me and as much as he wanted that physical contact from me, I wanted to give to him and I wanted it from him in return. I should have known Edward's experience would be a factor but I hadn't had time to think about it until I was laying there beneath him with my shirt off, completely exposed to him. Up until that point, besides my mother, I was the only one who had ever seen my breasts. I was self-conscious because I knew Edward had been with other girls, how many I had no idea as I was too scared to ask. But the way he had looked at me, his usually emerald eyes darkened to a hunter green and hooded with desire, was more than enough to put me at ease.

I loved Edward's body. With his shirt off he was more beautiful than ever, his masculinity emphasized by the sparse hair on his chest making a trail down into the waistband of his boxers, evidence that he was now more man than boy. And I couldn't be sure but I was fairly certain that I might have drooled a little bit.

I wasn't entirely sure where or even if we would have stopped if Charlie had not come home so I was at least semi-thankful that he did; I was not ready to have sex. I knew Edward was though, so we were going to have to talk about it at some point. I wasn't going to be a prude- messing around was fine with me- but we both needed to know where to draw the line when in situations like the one we were just in, mostly because I really didn't want to regret my first time. I wasn't stupid enough to think it would be perfect, nothing in life ever is, but I wanted to be sure it was the right time and not just on a hormone-induced whim.

Needing a distraction and not wanting to take care of myself while Charlie was awake, I got up and pulled a loose sweatshirt out of the closet, putting it on over my wife beater.

When I turned around I spotted Edward's cap under my bed. He must have forgotten it in his haste. I grinned devilishly as I plucked it off the floor and held it in my hands, laughing to myself as I stowed it away in my dresser; he wasn't getting that back without a fight. I hated that he wore the damned thing all the time, always covering up his hair, hair that I loved to not only ogle but to play with as well. If he didn't love it so much I would just burn it to prevent its future use but I wasn't that mean. He was just going to have to earn it back.

I fixed my hair, since it looked like a bird was making a nest up there, and I figured I'd go downstairs to see why Charlie was home so early.

I found him in the living room.

"Hey, kid," he said with a smile as he plopped his feet up on the coffee table, a beer in one hand, and the remote in the other. He was in an unusually good mood. Was he drunk?

"I thought you were going out," I said casually.

He cracked open his beer and took a huge gulp followed by a loud belch before he responded. "I was but I thought I'd come home and spend some time with you, now that you're talking to me again." He gave me a warm smile as he patted the seat beside him on the couch. "Wanna watch the tube with your old man?"

I fought a grimace. I lost.

"Ah, come on, Bells! I'll let you pick what we watch," he said as he handed the remote out to me.

His offer wasn't in the least bit appealing because really, who wants to be home on a Friday night watching TV with their cop father who just interrupted a very erotic encounter with their sexually frustrated and incredibly persuasive and irresistible boyfriend? Definitely not me.

But I did need to make nice with Charlie. He was going to find out about Edward eventually, one way or another, and I needed to cushion that blow as much as possible in order to prevent the catastrophe that could very well ensue. With that in mind and 'taking one for the team', I rounded the couch and took the remote from Charlie, turning the channel to TNT where I knew they were showing American Beauty all weekend, one of my all time favorite movies.

We watched most of the movie in silence; the only sounds coming from Charlie's direction when he cracked open another beer. It wasn't really an awkward silence, at least not for me as I was zoned out on the movie, but for Charlie it might have been; the content of the movie probably made him a little uncomfortable what with part of the story line revolving around a middle-aged man's sexual obsession with his daughter's best friend. We made it through half the movie before he broke the silence.

"So how has school been?" he asked suddenly, completely disengaging me from my lock on the flat screen.

"Huh?" I responded as I looked over at him. He was still watching the screen but one of his thumbs was going to town on the top of his beer can. He looked kind of nervous.

"How is school? Do you like your classes and shi… and stuff?"

I sniggered at him for catching himself before he cursed. If he only knew how used to it I was, thanks to Edward who cursed more in one sentence than I did in a month. It was worse when he was upset or excited and I swear one time, when he was on a rant, every other word had been some sort of expletive. He was even starting to rub off on me (no pun intended - seriously).

"It's good. I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I thought I was going to hate it but everyone is really nice and friendly, very welcoming," I said with a nod for emphasis.

Charlie grinned ear to ear and I knew he was happy that I was happy here in his hometown. He was so proud of this small little podunk town, one of the reasons he never chased my mom down when she took off with me all those years ago. And I was glad I could give him that happiness at least.

"I'm really glad to hear that, Bella. I was afraid you'd spend one day here and want to hightail it back to Arizona."

"It's not that bad. I'm actually having a lot of fun. Mostly thanks to Alice who has the energy of a toddler on a sugar rush," I giggled.

Charlie chortled too. "You should have her over for dinner some time; I'd like to get to know the kids you hang around with."

Ok, what the hell is going on?

I didn't know whether to be weirded out or touched. And I couldn't help but feel a little bit suspicious.

"Um, yeah," I said as I turned my attention back to the TV. "That would be nice. I'll tell her about it." I needing to process whatever it was that had just happened. "I'm gonna turn in though, I'm beat," I said as I extracted myself from the afghan I had wrapped around me and stood up to stretch.

A wave of sadness danced across his features for a second before it was replaced by another smile and a nod. I bid Charlie goodnight and headed up to my room.

So much shit had gone on in such a short amount of time I felt like I was having a brain overload. The encounter with Edward alone was enough occupy my thoughts for the night but then Charlie had to go and be all fatherly and shit.

I guess I could understand Charlie deciding to step up after our little breakthrough early when he had given me my phone back, but there were still a lot of things we had to work on. Nothing could be fixed in one day with one conversation, and I knew if we had any hopes of repairing our broken relationship we were going to have to endure nights like tonight until it became natural. And part of me wanted to turn my back, to stop any progress before it started, had I not just been watching a movie that depicted the very same type of problem me and Charlie were having? I didn't want to end up like Jane and lose my dad before we had the chance to make amends; Charlie was a cop after all, and it was very plausible that he could be killed in the line of duty at any given moment that he was on the job. But more than anything, I was starting to realize that I didn't want to be angry at him anymore and I didn't want him to be a stranger. I didn't want to lose my dad… he was the only one I had. And I was tired of being mad at him, tired of holding a grudge that really, in all honesty, had no real basis; it was just me being mad for the sake of being mad.

I suddenly felt lighter, as if a weight was being lifted off of my shoulders. I kind of felt like I was growing up, maturing before my very own eyes and it felt really fucking good. The potential to rid my life of all that anger and all those bad feelings was so enticing I craved it. I wanted it – to be happy, like truly happy, and I knew making up with my dad was going to be a huge part of that; righting one of the biggest wrongs in my life, that had to be liberating, right?

It wasn't going to be easy, this new path we were on, but if Charlie was willing to go down that road then I should be just as willing. What did I have to lose? Nothing. What did I have to gain? A father; a friend. I wasn't stupid enough to think it was going to be an easy fix but for the first time, I felt hope.

But there was one thing that I could see getting in the way of everything; there was still that big, fat issue of me dating Edward Cullen. Yeah, I wasn't going to be bringing that up for a while, a good while.

EPOV

So… fuck my life?

Yeah, definitely, fuck my life.

I couldn't catch a break. Ok, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get laid but I could have at least, maybe, gotten a hand job. I would totally have been fine with a hand job. I mean I was going to have to give myself one later anyway but at least it would have been better getting one from Bella.

To make matters worse, I left my fucking hat in her room. I fucking loved my hat. But I could tell Bella didn't like it. Her eyes would bug out slightly when I would take it off for a second to smooth out my hair or scratch my head. She would get this swoony look on her face that was fucking cute and sexy at the same time and then she's kind of pout when I put it back on.

Sometimes I did it just to fuck with her. I never felt bad about it though since she did the same shit to me when she wore her hair up, exposing the smooth curve of her neck, a spot that was quickly becoming a favorite of mine. She'd show up to school with her hair up and she'd smirk when I eye fucked her. On those days I would rub the back of her neck as I walked her to and from her classes because that was all I could really do with teachers and the administration watching. Come lunch time though when I finally had the chance to really express my gratitude she'd pull the tie out of her hair and let it fall around her shoulders. I'd pouted like a three year old in return and she'd giggle at me but leave it down.

I was beginning to think my girl was just a big, fat tease. I was going to have to do something about that. And I knew just how to go about it.

I didn't want to go home but Jasper was out with Alice so I was pretty screwed. When I pulled up to my house the light in the front room was on and I assumed my parents were still watching TV as they waited up for me and Emmett. His Jeep was missing which meant he was still with Rose, and they were probably fucking. Lucky bastard.

I knew the front door would be unlocked so I walked right into the house, glancing over to the front room as I made my way up the stairs.

I wish I hadn't. And unfortunately, I will never forget the scene I witnessed.

I walked in on my parents making out on the couch like they were a couple of teenagers. My dad was on top of my mom, her legs spread wide to accommodate him between her thighs, his face buried in her neck. He had his hand up her shirt and hers was down the front of his pants.

"Oh, God! My eyes!" I screamed as covered my eyes and bolted up the stairs, trying to get as far away from that scene as fast as I could, tripping on a few steps along the way.

I fully intended on avoiding them for the rest of my life.

It was around midnight and I was sitting in bed with my laptop, being a pansy and making Bella a mix CD with some of my favorite songs. I wanted to introduce her to a few bands I was pretty sure she had never heard of and I also wanted her to see what kind of music I was into. After all, I had looked through her playlist countless times already so I knew what her tastes were and I just wanted to be fair. I was debating whether or not to include a few love songs that were cheesy as fuck but also really fucking awesome. I didn't want to come across as too big a pussy, giving Bella a fucking slow jams CD and I didn't want to give her the wrong idea; I didn't want her to think I was expressing love through those songs.

Not that I couldn't see myself loving Bella but it was way too fucking soon to even think about throwing that word around. I heard that shit all day at school from kids who had no fucking clue what it was like to love someone. Not that I knew any better but when and if I said it I wanted to fucking mean it and I wasn't going to take that shit lightly. I wasn't one of those guys who just says it to a girl to get laid, that shit just wasn't right and regardless, I would never do that to Bella.

I had just clicked the Burn Disc button when I heard a knock on my door. Immediately, I assumed it was one of my parents.

"I'm asleep!" I yelled at the door.

The voice that responded was not one I was expecting. "You're a fucking liar, is what you are!" Emmett called from the other side. I couldn't help but smile.

"Can I come in or are you jackin' it?" He asked.

I had actually just finished "jackin' it" before I started making Bella's CD; it was the main reason I had my laptop out.

I shouted permission to enter and he walked into my room, closing the door behind him. He grabbed my desk chair and rolled it to the side of my bed, propping his ginormous feet up on my cover.

"So what's up?" I asked as I tried to ignore his bare feet on my blanket.

"Nothin'," he said he leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head. "Just got back from taking Rosie out to dinner. She wanted Mexican again."

"I feel sorry for your bathroom." I deadpanned, trying not to chuckle at my own joke and failing a little.

He just rolled his eyes. "You been sitting here surfing porn all night or what?"

"Not all night." I smiled. "I actually went to see Bella earlier."

He sat up, his interest piqued. "Oh? How'd that go?"

I explained to him about the chief loosening the leash on Bella and then about how we messed around before almost getting caught.

"Damn," he said when I told him about the chief coming home early. "You almost got shot, dude."

"Yeah, I fucking know. I almost shat myself." Not that I would never admit that to anyone else, especially Bella.

"So, were you gonna smash or what?" he asked.

"I doubt it," I sighed. Emmett and I had always been really close so it was easy to talk to him about Bella. It was nice to have someone to talk about it considering the fact that I had absolutely zero experience with relationships and I sometimes need guidance. And I kind of needed a little help…

"Don't tell anyone I told you this," I continued, knowing if I asked him to he would keep this conversation to himself. "Bella's a virgin."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Annnd?"

"And I've never been with someone who has never been with anyone. I'm not sure what the best approach is. I know we're gonna need to take thing slow but I don't know what's ok and what's not."

"Ok, what do I have to do with this?"

"You've been in this situation before, right? I mean, was Rose… you know… when you guys got together?" I didn't want to just straight up ask him about Rosalie's sexual history, it was a little disrespectful.

Thankfully Emmett knew what I was trying to say. He gave a proud nod. "I am the one and only," he said with a smirk.

"Ok and I know she wasn't your first so how did you… approach the situation?" Fuck this was kind of hard to talk about.

He sighed deeply, his body language suggesting that he was annoyed by my question. I was about to tell him to just fucking forget it but he saw me about to speak and raised his hand to stop me.

"I dunno what to tell you, Edward; every girl is different. Some like to take things slow and some like to get down and dirty a.s.a.p. - it depends." He leaned back and rubbed his face with his hands. "With Rosie it was easy; we both wanted the same thing and we didn't need to explain it to each other. We just got it."

"I should be so lucky," I interjected, a little more bitterly than I knew I was even capable of.

"Man, just talk to her about it. Ask her what her limits are and then respect them. The more comfortable you make her, the more she trusts you to stay within the lines she's drawn, the quicker it will be. She has to trust you completely.

For guys it's different; we don't mind fucking the first girl that will fuck us as long as she isn't ugly, right?"

I didn't want to admit it, but it was true. I nodded.

"But for girls it's not like that. They want it to be special and magical and all that bullshit so as her boyfriend it's your responsibility to make sure that it's everything she wants it to be. The first time is something she won't ever want to regret so make it worth it. And I know that's all really lame but if you really care about her you'll fucking do it and you won't give a shit."

I sat there quietly as I tried to process and retain everything my brother had just told me. It did seem really lame and like total cheesy coated bullshit but I could do it. I could do it for Bella. I didn't want her to regret being with me and I grimaced at the thought that someone day she would think back on her time with me and wish it had never happened. My goal had always been to make her smile but I wanted more than that. I wanted to always make her happy because a smile didn't mean happiness, you could hide a lot behind a smile, you could fucking fake a smile. I didn't want her to have to fake anything with me.

"Thanks, Em," I said as I looked him in the eyes. "I get it." And I did; I was fucking resolved to be better. For Bella and for myself.

Emmett waved me off. "It's whatever, little brother. But I have one last piece of advice for you. And I didn't know this until Rosie explained it to me and then everything made so much more sense.

Apparently girls are really insecure about themselves so just make sure that she knows she's special to you. You know, affection goes a long way; girls love that shit."

"Yeah thanks a lot, Captain Obvious," I said as I rolled my eyes. He swore I was that inept.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, man, I'm just trying to help," he chuckled.

Emmett left soon after that and, rather exhausted, I started getting ready for bed even though it was still early. I took Jake outside before I put him in his kennel for the night, hoping I wouldn't run into my parents as I made my way back up to my room but I ran into my mother in the foyer.

She smiled at me.

"I don't wanna hear it," I said as I covered my ears and tried to walk past her. I wasn't going to give her a chance to speak and say something disgusting about my father's libido.

"Stop being such a baby," she chided as she pulled me back to her by the back of my shirt. "I want to talk to you."

Oh fuck. What now?

I turned around as I rolled my eyes. "What?"

"What's been going on with you lately?" she asked earnestly, all humor gone from her face. She was in serious-mom-mode.

"Nothing." I retorted quickly, denial being a force of habit at this point.

She quirked an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked. "I've been good lately… Haven't I?" Great, now she had me doubting myself. Were all moms mindfuckers? Or was it just women in general?

"Yes, you've been the model son these past couple of weeks - and I'm not complaining - I just want to know what's behind it," she said as she leaned against the banister.

I returned the eyebrow quirk. "Why does something have to be behind it? Maybe I'm just growing up?" I offered lamely.

She gave me that look. That do-you-really-expect-me-to-believe-your-bullshit-look before she let a little smirk slip out. I got that shit from her I guess. "Who's the girl, Edward?"

I blanched. "Uh…" Shit, what the fuck was I supposed to say? "What?" How the fuck…

A huge shit eating grin spread across her face. "That's what I thought."

I continued to gape at her, dumbfounded. "How did you know?"

I didn't think it was possible but her smile continued to grow. She was practically beaming now. "I didn't. But I do now."

Oh I felt used. "Not cool, mom," I said as I shook my head, half-amazed and half-ashamed.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you're so easy," she cooed as she pushed my hair back from my eyes. "So easy to read, just like your father. Now, what's her name?"

I couldn't tell her. Part of me wanted to but I didn't know what the consequences of that were so, erring on the side of caution, I shook my head at her. "I can't tell you."

She looked at me for a long moment, assessing me with her eyes, waiting for me to give it away. But I couldn't. Hopefully I wouldn't get in trouble for keeping it from her, the last fucking thing I needed was to be grounded again.

Her expression softened after a bit and she just walked away after a moment with this really fucking sad look on her face.

And then I just felt fucking guilty.

"Fuck!" I mumbled as I trudged my ass back up the stairs with Jake on my heels.

See what I meant about not being able to catch a break?

Once I was settled in bed I pulled out my phone, noting that I had a text from Bella that was sent almost two hours ago.

Fuck.

I always forgot to check my phone; usually I'd come home and throw it on my bed or dresser and fucking forget about it since it was always on vibrate. Before I got with Bella it hadn't been a big deal, no one really cared if it took me hours to get back to them, no one had been that important, but Bella was always getting onto me about missing her calls and texts. By now I was sure she expected it but it still made me feel like shit, I didn't want her to think I was ignoring her. I was grateful that it was always just one missed call or one text; I'd been with girls who just fucking loved to blow up my phone with call after call, voicemail after voicemail. I fucking hated that shit but thankfully Bella understood my bad habit and knew I'd check my shit eventually and get back to her as soon as I did. I made a mental note to start paying more attention to my phone; it would help with the whole reassurance thing.

Hey. Her short text read.

Hey. My bad. How'd it go? I replied.

She responded right away, It was…. weird. He said he came home to spend time with me. We watched American Beauty

I smiled, knowing that was one of her favorites. She'd made me promise to watch it with her when we had the opportunity and in return I told her she had to watch The Matrix with me since she'd never seen it.

Thats… good… right? He didnt suspect anything did he? I asked, still more than a little worried about it.

I wasn't expecting it when my phone started to ring, Bella's name showing up on the screen.

"Hey, baby," I answered.

"Hey," she whispered. I knew she had to be quiet so I found myself speaking in hushed tones as well.

"So what happened?"

I heard her sigh into the phone and I tried to imagine what she looked like at that moment. Was she lying in bed or was she sitting up? Was her hair up or down? Was she still wearing what she had on earlier? I felt myself stirring at the memory.

"He just walked in acting all nice, talking to me like everything was ok." She paused and I felt that she wasn't done talking, just thinking so I stayed quiet, letting her gather her thoughts. She scoffed suddenly. "He even asked me to invite Alice over for dinner."

"That is kinda weird. At least he's making an effort," I offered. I knew Bella's relationship with the chief was strained and I didn't want to be another complication; if things got better between them then maybe one day he would be ok with me being in her life. But that was a big ass maybe.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I kinda feel like as long as he's trying I should too, you know? Just to give this a chance."

"That's probably a good thing. As much as he and I don't get along, I don't want you to think I don't want you two to figure things out; he's still your dad, baby."

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna try. If nothing else it might help ease the blow when I tell him I'm dating the infamous Edward Cullen," she teased.

I laughed. "Infamous, huh? Oh hey, I left my hat in your room," I remembered, suddenly.

"Oh I know. I'm keeping it."

The hell she was. "The hell you are. I expect it back the next time I see you, which is gonna be tomorrow since I'm taking your ass out." I had been wanting to take her out for a while and with her being on lockdown it was impossible, but now that she was moderately free I planned on taking full advantage.

"Really? Where are we going?"

I couldn't help the huge smile that spread across my face at the sound of her excitement.

"It's a secret."

"You're so full of shit, Edward," she accused, causing both of us to giggle as we both knew it was true.

I had noticed that she'd started cursing more lately. I found it kind of cute that she was picking up my bad habit but it was also sexy as fuck to hear her swear when she normally didn't. It was dirty in the best way possible.

"I am taking you out though," I replied as soon as my giggle fit subsided. "If you give me my hat back that is," I bargained.

She hmmed. "I'll think about it."

I uh huhed.

We shared moment of comfortable silence before I decided to ruin it. "So what are you wearing?" I asked for the second time that night.

I heard her distant laughter as if she had moved the phone away from her mouth before she whispered into the phone, all low and seductive, "Goodnight, Edward." She hung up without giving me a chance to respond.

I fell asleep with a smile that night.

A/N

Hopefully, now that I'm kind of getting into the thick of things, the updates won't not be so far apart. And I don't really want to put a number on it but I'm thinking maybe 10 more chapters... if that. But don't fret, I have something in the works... a few somethings actually. How about a poll to see which story you'd like to read next? Ok, this is what I have in the hat: pizzaward & hoella, stripella & shyward, militaryschoolward and obliviousella ... oh and maybe something with bumward. Let me know! It's up to you guys!