Author's Note: Congratulations to Little Miss Trouble, who correctly identified the movie references in the last chapter. The hangover scene was inspired by The Holiday, and the fruit scene was inspired by Walk the Line. They're both in my top ten favorite movies of all time, and I'm pretty impressed that someone else on FanFiction has such good taste in movies. *wink* Go rent them if you haven't seen them.
This chapter, as I promised, is dedicated to Little Miss Trouble, and there's a reference to her name. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't claim anything that belongs to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer!
Chapter Ten: "She's Lost It" Bella's POV
The morning after our consummation, I woke up in a stark contrast to the morning before. I felt alive, healthy, rejuvenated, and glorious. Maybe it was because we had purposely avoided alcohol, so I wasn't vomiting everywhere.
Actually, it was more than that. Edward was asleep next to me. I literally couldn't fight the smile that spread across my face as I gazed at this man who had me in his strong arms. He was so beautiful. His bronze hair was falling in his eyes, and a little film of stubble was sprouting on his face. I wondered how it would feel against my skin. Would it be soft and fuzzy, or rough and prickly?
I lightly traced my fingertip along his chin and jaw line. Rough and prickly. The good kind.
My fingers traced over his smooth lips. God, that mouth was amazing. After my second orgasm, he ducked under the covers and gave me a third orgasm--with his mouth alone. He also had a wonderful dirty mouth--expletives were shouted during his climaxes, and kinky names for our anatomies were fired off when I was driving him wild. His words alone could probably make me come!
I kissed his mouth softly, and then rolled out of bed to order breakfast. I decided on waffles and more fruit salad. That had been a fun breakfast in bed.
After the food came, I climbed back into bed and woke him up so the waffles wouldn't get soggy. My lips pressed to his as I rolled on top of him. His green eyes immediately flew open--bright emeralds glittering in the morning sun.
"What a wake-up call," he grinned when I finished our kiss.
I giggled. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes, I think I burned off half my calories last night." He sat up to get out of bed. "I'll order. What would you like?"
I clicked my tongue in disapproval as my hands pushed his torso back down. "No, sir. If you can be my doctor, then I can serve you," I said, gesturing toward the tray.
He grinned eagerly, eyebrows raised.
Hmm, how to do this? I walked naked to the tray and rolled it over. His eyes never looked at the food, only me. I put the tray right by the bed and straddled his lap that was covered by a sheet. Hmm, it feels like morning sex is definitely a possibility.
Edward's grin widened as I speared a syrupy bite of waffle and put it to his mouth. "You're so beautiful," he told me before eating the bite of waffle.
I giggled as he closed his eyes and purred at the taste of the food. "Is it good?" I asked him, kissing his stubbly jaw.
"It's delicious," he said. "How did you know I like waffles?"
"You have a sweet tooth," I replied, giving him another bite.
"I do," he admitted with a smile. "Maybe that's why I like you so much."
I groaned at his bad joke. "Shut up and eat your waffle, sweetie."
"You should try my mom's waffles," he said. "They're like heaven."
I put a cherry to his mouth like I had at the nightclub. Remembering the gesture, he plucked the fruit off the stem with his teeth.
"What's the agenda for the day?" I asked him as I continued to feed him.
"Well, first I'm going to finish this delicious breakfast," he said, his fingers stroking the sides of my breasts as he took another bite of fruit. God, he was driving me crazy. "And then I'm going to feed you breakfast. And then I was thinking about how sweaty and dirty we both are, and how that hot tub could be perfect for cleaning us up." He winked at me.
I laughed. "Sounds perfect."
After he ate his fill, he kept his word and let me relax in bed while he fed me. And then we did try out the hot tub, which of course led to amazing morning sex. I was really surprised that Edward was so responsible about using protection, but I made a mental note to get a prescription for birth control ASAP. Better safe than sorry, just like my mom always told me.
Finally, the front desk called us to remind Edward that he needed to be out of the room by noon, otherwise he would have to pay for one more night. Edward just shrugged it off, obviously unconcerned with the bill.
"Do you need help paying for the room?" I asked him, toweling out my hair.
He almost looked offended. "No, Bella, definitely not. I'm the guy, so I pay." He ducked to kiss my lips once.
"Yeah," I said after we parted, a pleasant shiver running through me at his nickname for me. "But room service is expensive, and I realize that college life isn't cheap."
He waved a hand dismissively as he started to pack up his things. "Bella, please. Not to sound arrogant or prideful, but my family is very well-endowed."
"What do your parents do?" I asked him. I honestly couldn't remember.
"My father was a surgeon before he retired, and my mother is an interior designer." He didn't add an ounce of gloating to his explanation. He said it as nonchalantly as if he were talking about the weather.
"But if he retired, shouldn't he be…saving?" My voice trailed off; I didn't want to offend him. My parents weren't far from retiring, but they knew they would have to live modestly once they did.
He shook his head. "Uh, no. My father was one of the designers of a new kind of pacemaker. The patent sold for quite a lot." He shrugged. "Mom and Dad are gracious enough to pay for our educations and expenses. Don't worry about the bill, baby. Just know that you won't ever have to pay for a thing when you're with me."
"Wait," I said, and an article I had read in a doctor's office came to mind. "Was it the Meyer-Cullen pacemaker?"
He raised his eyebrows. "I'm impressed. How did you know that?"
I shook my head, simply in shock. "I just read it about it somewhere." The article hadn't mentioned any names, but apparently the pacemaker was very elaborate and modern. Cutting-edge technology, the article had said.
He smiled at me and crouched down so he was at my level as I sat on the bed. "I like a girl who reads," he simply stated. "I've always gone for the intelligent type."
I snorted. "Well, I'm definitely not in the honors college--"
"Neither am I--"
"But," I continued, "I'm glad I impress you."
"You impress me in so many ways," he said, running his fingers through my wet hair. "You're beautiful, you're smart, you're eloquent, you're thoughtful, and you're stylish." He started counting on his fingers. "You cater to my sweet tooth. You can actually drive an old truck with a manual clutch, which is not typical for girls nowadays. And you kind of have this adorable little literature geek thing going for you. It turns me on, in a weird way."
I laughed. "You have some silly ideas of what is impressive about me."
"Plus you're really, really sexy," he added. "Like breakfast this morning. Oh my god. That was the best breakfast I have ever had, period."
"I'm glad you liked it," I smiled at him, stroking his unshaven jaw with my fingers. "I'm just glad you let me take care of you like that. I like it…in a weird way."
He rolled his eyes adorably as I stole his phrase. "Silly Bella. I might let you do it some other time…"
"Soon," I agreed. "But maybe we can go to a cheaper hotel."
"Bella," he said passionately, standing up and pulling me with him so he could take me in his arms. When I was cradled against his chest, he kissed me softly. "You are so worth it."
It felt almost criminal to go back to my dorm and do my homework after such a fantastic weekend. Angela greeted me with raised eyebrows, but obviously she had heard where I was from Alice.
Who, by the way, was my new roommate!
To no one's surprise, Rosalie was pledged into Phi Mu and promptly moved into the sorority house. It was quite the scandal because most freshmen couldn't move in, but of course the fact that Rose's mother was an adviser helped her out.
Alice--or her father, I couldn't tell from her babble--had managed to convince the university that she needed to be in my dorm because I would be her live mannequin for her design classes. I had no idea what that would entail, but she assured me that it was just a gimmick to get the room she wanted.
I was quite flattered that Alice wanted to live with me. Besides Edward, Alice was my favorite of the crowd I hung out with. She was just so peppy and alive and upbeat all the time. It was infectious.
She rearranged our closet and drawers so we could share clothes as I worked on my homework on my bed. "Did you and my brother have fun on your little getaway?" she asked.
I blushed crimson. "Yes, we did. We went to a concert in the park and went out to eat and watched movies. You know how it is." Yeah. I think a movie was playing on cable for like a minute before the TV was promptly forgotten when we hit the bed…
She pursed her lips to fight the smile, but she graciously nodded and said, "Sounds like fun. Edward is crazy about you, you know. We could be sisters-in-law one day!"
Well, that made my ears perk up. "Um, Alice, no offense, but I've known your brother for nine days or something like that."
She laughed. "Don't try to bet against me, Isabella. You won't win."
Luckily, we were interrupted then. Jessica knocked on the wall of our part of the suite before entering. "Hey, Isabella," she said. "Where were you all weekend? Angela and I were worried."
"I was with a friend," I replied, suddenly extremely fascinated by my literature book.
"Edward?" she verified.
"Yes," I said, as nonchalant as Edward had been about his parents' wealth. "How are you, Jessica?"
"I'm fine. I made it into Tri-Delta." I stared at her blankly before she said, "You know, the sorority."
"Oh, right," I said casually. Obviously I wasn't impressed. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," she grinned. "I don't know how I'm going to balance it with these crazy classes, though!"
Alice was so much nicer than Rosalie. She immediately started her storm of babbling to Jessica, offering study tips and organization tips and I don't know what all. Angela eventually joined. It gave me a good chance to get back to my homework and just forget about Jessica's nosy prying.
Shakespeare down, English literature to go. I pulled out my school-provided planner and flipped to the calendar to check when my next text was.
Two words caught my eye on the last week in September: fall break.
A four-day weekend. The weekend Jacob had brought up. I bit my lip as I debated what I should do that weekend.
On cue, my phone rang. Thank God it wasn't Jacob's ringtone that played. It was just…my mom.
"Hi, Mom," I said, shutting my planner and leaning back on the bed.
"Hey, sweetie. How are you?"
"I'm good. Just studying."
"How was your weekend?" she asked, and I could detect an edge of concern in her voice.
"It was great," I said honestly…and vaguely.
"What did you do?"
Ugh, here was the time to lie. Needless to say, she would not approve of my weekend activities. "I've been studying. Most of my friends were rushing for sororities, so I wasn't with them." I was just with a guy who is definitely more than a friend…
"That's nice. Sweetie, I want you to have fun, but please be careful. I was watching the news yesterday and the college alcohol and drug consumption statistics are shooting up."
I rolled my eyes and tried to lace my voice with gratitude and assurance. "Thanks, Mom, but you don't have to worry about that. I'm being responsible." I mean, hello! I'm a huge advocate for safe sex.
"I know, honey. I'm just being a mom. Of course I can trust you. You've never been Little Miss Trouble, unlike that Leah Clearwater…anyway, do you like Phoenix?"
"Yeah, it's great. I'm so glad you told me to apply here." My mom was originally from Phoenix. She missed it like crazy, but she was madly in love with my father and would follow him anywhere.
"That's great. Okay, so the real reason I called is that Jake and I did something kind of crazy."
Oh, shit, I thought. "Really? What is that?"
"Well, we ordered you a plane ticket for the fall break! We want you to come home and see us! We miss you like crazy."
Shit, shit, shit. Fucking shit. "Um, Mom, that's really great, but I may have tests that week."
"Well, then you can study at home. And Jacob has a big surprise for you, but don't tell him I told you."
I tried to suppress my sigh. "Okay, Mom."
"Aren't you happy, baby?"
"Yeah," I lied. "I really am. I'm just hoping that my demanding professors won't interfere with that weekend."
"I understand, honey. Hopefully things will work out. You fly out Thursday night and you'll return Sunday afternoon."
"Okay," I said. "Email me the flight itinerary."
"I will. I love you, baby."
"Love you, too."
I hung up and hit the wall with my pillow before yelling out "Fuck!"
Angela and Jessica immediately stopped talking. "Isabella, are you okay?" Angela asked in concern.
"I'm fabulous," I replied, my voice strained. I noticed that Alice had disappeared. Probably a good thing--I didn't want Jacob to be brought up in front of her.
"You don't look fabulous," Jessica the dumb bitch said.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. "I just have to go home for fall break. My mom organized this thing."
"I see," Angela said slowly. "You don't want to go home?"
I shook my head. "Definitely not. My fucking boyfriend is there. Ugh."
I saw Jessica hide an absolutely evil grin. "Is that a problem?" she said slyly.
"No," I said quickly. The last thing I needed was for the bitch to tell Edward that I had a boyfriend. "I'm breaking up with him fall break."
"Maybe this is a good thing, then," Angela the optimist said.
"I don't know," I sighed just as my phone beeped. A text from Edward. Immediately, sun rays shined through the dark clouds.
Hello, my Bella. Is it alright if we do lunch in my dorm tomorrow, as soon as you get out of class? I want to see your beautiful face ASAP.
I giggled, making Jessica and Angela exchange a glance that said, "Yup, she's lost it."
Review, please. I would really love to know what you think.
And I promise, a more exciting chapter involving Carlisle is coming next. Just as soon as my AP English exam is taken care of.