A/N: Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. You make this so much fun. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and a happy and healthy 2013 full of Rob and love!


As it turns out, Bella is wrong. Instead of me waking her up in the middle of the night; she wakes me up in the most blissful way imaginable—her warm mouth wrapped around my stiff cock. She alternates between teasing licks up my shaft, gentle nibbles around my sensitive head, and completely engulfing me, all while softly rolling my balls around in her hands. When I can take no more, I pull her up my body.

With a firm grip on her hips, I push her body onto mine until I'm enveloped in her slick heat. As with everything else concerning Bella, I'm surprised to find myself incredibly turned on when she bats my hands away and takes control. Her tempo matches our sleepy state of mind—with her arms loosely framing my head and her body pressed firmly against mine, she rides me with long, slow strokes, and it's the most delicious torture ever.

When the urge to speed up becomes too much, she pushes herself off my chest, swivelling her hips as she moves faster. It's not long before she's slamming down on me, moaning through her orgasm. It's impossible to hold back my own climax when she clenches around my cock and within seconds, I follow right behind her.

She collapses on my chest, snuggling her face into my neck, and I wrap my arms loosely around her body. We're asleep within minutes; my cock still buried deeply inside her.

oOoOoOo

The next time my eyes open, it's light outside, and my bed is empty. Neither is the least bit appealing to me, but a quick glance at the clock shows it's just after ten, and my growling stomach forces me out of bed.

After a quick stop in the bathroom to take a leak, I head out of my bedroom in search of Bella. I'm pretty fucking excited when I find her curled up on my couch, wearing one of my shirts, flipping through last year's All Black playbook, and sipping a cup of coffee. I don't know what this woman is doing to me—at the mere sight of her looking so at home in my flat, my chest heats up and my dick starts twitching.

I must do a horrible job of sneaking up behind her because she doesn't even jump when I slip my arms over her shoulder and grab her tits.

"Mmm…you have no idea how much I love the sight of this," I murmur into her ear.

She tilts her head to get a better look at me. "What? Me wearing your clothes or me reading your playbook?"

"Both. All of it. Any of it. As long as you're here, I don't care."

"I think I might have to agree with that." She gives me a sly grin and says, "Sleep well?"

I laugh and bury my face in her shoulder. I reply even though her shoulder muffles my response. "Best. Night. Ever."

Her answering giggle makes my stomach churn.

"That didn't exactly answer my question, you know?"

Lifting my head, I look into her gorgeous face. "Yep, still doesn't change my answer. How long have you been up, anyway?"

"Not long…an hour, maybe. I hope you don't mind; I rummaged around your kitchen and found the coffee. Want some?"

"Course I don't mind, but I think I'll pass. I'm not really a coffee guy unless it has a tonne of sugar or, even better, some chocolate."

"Duly noted."

"I'm gonna grab a shower. Want to join me?" I nuzzle into her neck again as her fingers scratch lazily at the back of my neck.

"I'd love to, but I've already had one and judging by the sound of the growling stomach behind me, I'd say we need food before anything else." Bella squirms out of my grip and turns around, kneeling on the couch while wrapping her arms around my neck. "Why don't you go shower, I'll call Rose, and then we can drop by my place so I can change before brunch?"

My hands slip down her body and under her shirt, gripping her arse that's, unfortunately, covered with my boxers. Bella's body pressed against mine brings my semi to life, but when my stomach rumbles again, I give Bella a thorough kiss before backing away to go take my shower—the faster we get through this brunch, the faster I'll have Bella back in my bed.

When I step out of the shower, Bella's leaning against my bathroom door looking sexy as fuck in the shorts she wore last night and still sporting my shirt.

Her face is lit up in a smile as her eyes peruse my body, and I can't help but shoot her a cocky look. "Ready for another round after all?"

Blushing, she looks down when she replies, "Nice try, pretty boy. Get movin' so we can go eat, please."

Laughing, I shake my head and say, "Bossy...I like it! Now, were you planning on watching me get ready, or what?"

"Maybe," she grins. "We just established you're pretty easy to look at."

Laughing, I turn to the mirror to tame my hair, and I'm immediately reminded of the note I left Bella last night. As usual, she didn't disappoint.

My smile is fucking huge as my eyes roam the mirror to see that she not only checked both of my boxes, but that Bella covered the rest of the mirror with 'yes' boxes of her own—and every single one of them is checked.

When I turn back to Bella, her smile is shy and she shrugs her shoulders a bit. "I wanted to make sure I got my point across, but writing 'a thousand times, yes' seemed a little corny."

Bella screams in delight when I scoop her up and barrel over to the bed to toss her on top. "I hope you told Rose we'd be at least an hour," I growl, once again stalking my giggling prey up my bed.

Bella shakes her head but wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my head down to her, "Nope, we have to leave in five minutes if we still want to stop by my apartment."

She might be telling me no, but her argument is severely lacking considering her tongue is running up my neck. Fortunately for my dick, I choose to follow the path her body is leading me down.

oOoOoOo

Apparently 'quick' is a relative term because we leave for brunch fifteen minutes late. I push the speed limit in an effort to make up some time but keep my hand resting on the inside of her thigh when I'm not shifting gears.

"So, you know Emmett is going to hound us for details, right?"

Laughter fills my car, and when I glance at Bella, she's looking down at her lap. "He's pretty relentless, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah, and he's so used to knowing every detail of my life, it wouldn't occur to him this could be awkward for us. I can get him to back off, though. The last thing I want to do is embarrass you or let you think this is just about bragging rights for me."

"No, that's okay. I really don't mind. I have girlfriends I talk with about this kind of stuff. I don't need you to keep it a secret to prove anything to me. You've not only told me several times how much you want this to work, but you've backed it up with your patience and consideration for my feelings. I hope you know I feel the same way." Bella starts fiddling with my fingers when she continues. "It's scary and overwhelming how right this feels, you know? I realised the day you helped me move I was being so stupid to miss out on what I knew in my heart we could be just because I didn't want to get hurt again. I'm sorry for that, by the way. I wanted to tell you that day, but everyone was around, and then I barely saw you all week. It was the longest five days of my life!"

My heart speeds up at Bella's confession, so I simply squeeze her leg and thank her.

I know she's as dedicated to our relationship as I am, but I didn't realise how relieved I would feel to actually hear her say these words out loud. Bella's hesitance in starting our relationship is water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. Besides, for all I know, we're better off having started out as friends instead of just jumping into bed together right away.

I don't want to dwell on the few weeks we lost, though, so I bring the conversation back to Emmett. "Well, I'm still not giving him a play-by-play. He may be my best mate, but I like knowing some things are just for us."

Bella squeezes my hand as we pull into the car park and offers my favourite smile. "I couldn't agree more. Now, let's go refuel so we can go do more stuff that Emmett will want to know about," she says with a wink.

Hell. Yes.

I scramble out of my car as quickly as possible so I can open her door, and we amble our way over to Emmett and Rose. We quickly decide to avoid the crowd and choose to sit inside the restaurant rather than the café that offers a view of the beach in Mission Bay.

After a short wait, we're seated at a four-top square table, and I itch to sit directly next to Bella so I can wrap my arm around her. I tamp down my eagerness by reminding myself that soon we'll be back at her place…naked.

Emmett and I quickly decide on the Mecca big breakfast—a feast that includes bacon and eggs, sausage, mushrooms, and hash potatoes with Turkish bread. I'm so hungry I'd have no problem devouring two orders, but I don't want to risk putting myself into a food coma, so I simply tack on a side of fries.

It's quite possibly the first time I've ordered more food than Emmett, and he shoots me a look of approval knowing exactly how I burned all of my calories.

The girls decide to split the mixed berry hotcakes and the honey-baked French toast. I slip my hand under the table and squeeze Bella's knee, happy she's found such a good friend. Aside from the fact that she and Rose will be forced to spend a lot of time together simply because Emmett's my best mate, I really admire and respect Rose.

Bella's hand finds mine, and she twines our fingers together while she chats with Rose about whatever it is women talk about.

Emmett leans closer to me and lowers his normally loud voice. "Okay, Rose convinced me not to ask for details, but can you at least tell me how many times?"

"Come on, Em. You know it's more than that," I say. Knowing Bella doesn't care if I share doesn't stop me from at least trying to be a gentleman.

Instantly contrite, he moves to punch me in the arm before remembering we're not on the field. "Of course I know that. I helped you win her over for three weeks; I know better than anybody! It's not like I'm asking what positions you guys were in, though."

A quick glance at Bella's flushed cheeks and bright smile tells me she's probably dishing these same details to Rose, so I give Emmett a break. I can't resist teasing Emmett, and maybe I want to brag a little, so I whisper back, "Fine. How many times what?"

"Dude, don't be a dick."

"I'm serious. Do you want to know how many times tab 'A' went into slot 'B,' or how many times she got off—because the latter is definitely more."

Emmett sits up straight in his seat with his shit-eating grin firmly in place, and before I can remind him to keep it down says, "Nice, bro," while offering me his fist.

I quickly bat it down with my hand, but we've garnered the girls' attention and the looks on their faces tell me we're busted. I shrug and smile at Bella while she shakes her head at me.

Our food arrives and we eat in silence for a few minutes until Emmett revives our conversation by asking Bella exactly how she met Alice.

Bella's eyes immediately drop to her plate, and she starts squirming in her seat. "Oh, um, just through an online book group. We started chatting here and there on Facebook, and before I knew it we were talking almost every night. She became one of my closest friends just like that." Bella snaps her fingers before finishing her story. "When my ex and I split up, Alice, along with some other girls I met the same way, were a huge support for me and we became even closer. As scary as it sounded, it was actually a no brainer when she told me about the Pilates job. Most of the friends I had back home were friends with Jake first, so when we broke up, I kinda lost them, too. I was ready to get away from all that and this seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"Your ex sounds like a douche. So do his friends." That would be Emmett. "At least you don't have to worry about that with us. If Edward's dumb enough to let you go, we're keeping you, Bellaboo."

"Thanks, Em. It's comforting to know that twelve hours into our relationship, you're already betting against us," Bella replies while side-eyeing Emmett.

"I'm not exactly going out on a limb when I say I'm nowhere close to being that stupid, so it's a moot point," I add. Bella and I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to her ex, so I figure I'm doing her a favour when I change the subject. "What kind of online book club?"

A loud snort causes my eyes to pop over to Rose, who's just about to devour a forkful of French toast topped with grilled banana and covered in syrup. Their brekkie looks fucking awesome, and I make a note to bring just Bella sometime and talk her into sharing with me like that.

Bella's eyes are on her plate when I look back to her, and she looks incredibly uncomfortable. She glances at me, her contorted face showing her distress over the subject. Before I can figure out what her deal is, Emmett pipes up.

"Wait a minute...are you talking about that Girl Next Door shit that Alice reads?"

I feel like I'm watching a tennis match when my head whips back to look at Bella, whose blanched face is void of all colour. What the fuck is this about?

"How do you know about that?" Bella asks, looking terrified.

Emmett's face lights up. "It is! Oh, Bellaboo, I didn't know you had it in you! Good for you, mate!" he says, turning to me and offering his fist.

Ignoring his fist, I ask, "Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here?"

"Your girl reads porn! There's some hot shit in there, too. Jasper told me about some of the new stuff he and Alice are doing; I've been trying to figure out a way to get Rosie in on this." Emmett looks at me and mouths, "HOT," one more time to drive his point home.

Rose is full on laughing by now, and the colour in Bella's cheeks has not only returned but is flaming bright red. I'm momentarily distracted by the way her blush travels all the way down her chest and disappears beneath her shirt, but Bella's outrage brings me back to the conversation.

"Oh my god, Emmett! It is not just porn! Most of what I read is all about the love between Liam and Charlotte and the obstacles they overcome to be together." Bella snaps her mouth closed and covers it with her hand.

Well, this is unexpected.

"Okay, seriously. Can someone please slow down and clue me in?" I ask, grabbing Bella's hand.

"Allow me. Our sweet and innocent Coachette here reads Girl Next Door fan-fiction, stories written using the characters from the movies, but way more interesting because it's full of porn. Jasper told me about it one night, and I Googled that shit when I got home to find out more. There's some dirty, dirty stuff in there, Eddieboy. Congrats, man! You got yourself a freak!"

Rose whacks Emmett in the arm as Bella hisses, "I am not a freak!"

Emmett shrugs unapologetically and stuffs another bite of sausage in his mouth. Meanwhile, I'm starting to recall some of the hype that went along with a published book originating from fan-fiction. I'd caught Esme watching a piece on 60 Minutes about the new kinky wave sweeping the world and teased Carlisle about it. If that's the kind of stuff Bella likes…

One look at Bella, though, reminds me where my priorities lie, so I tighten my grip on her hand and look at Emmett.

"Em."

"Aw, don't be upset, Bella. I'm just joking with you. I'm gonna start reading it out loud to Rosie at night; from the way Jasper talks, Alice is in the mood twenty-four seven."

Rose narrows her eyes at Emmett. "So, now we don't have sex enough?"

"Course we do, baby, I can't help it that you're so sexy I always want more." Emmett winks and turns back to Bella. "Sorry, Bellaboo. You know I love you; I'm just happy for Eddie."

I'm relieved when Bella finally uncovers her face and laughs. "It's fine, Emmett. I knew it would come out eventually—I'd just hoped for a better setting than our first date."

"Actually, I'm pretty good with it coming out today. Now I know exactly what we're doing when we get home," I inform her.

Bella pops the last bite of her hotcakes in her mouth and rolls her eyes. "Shocking," she grins at me.

oOoOoOo

I pull Bella's hand to my knee while I drive back to her flat. "I'm glad you and Rose get on so well. It's nice you have someone other than Alice to hang out with."

"I know, right? We were talking with Esme last night about the four of us having a girls' night out every so often."

"That sounds like fun—you couldn't have found better women to become friends with here. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah?"

I glance at Bella and see her chewing on her bottom lip.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"No, you're right. You should be; I'm just not used to this. Jake was pretty possessive—he never really let me have my own friends. I'm sorry; I'm know you don't want to hear about my ex all the time."

"I won't lie, Bella. Everything I've heard about him so far makes me want to bash the guy's head in, but that doesn't mean you can't talk about your relationship. My past is going to come up, too, especially while we're still getting to know one another, and there are probably some things you won't want to hear about either. All I can do is promise they're in my past. I'll do my best not to let it mess up what we have together."

Bella squeezes my hand and when I look at her, she's smiling again. "You just keep getting better and better, don't you?"

"Not really; I have to stack up all my brownie points now, so when I royally fuck something up, I can remind you of all the times you've told me how awesome I am."

"Right. I'm not buying that for a second," she replies. "Now, I need you to be quiet so I can call Alice before Emmett blabs his big fat mouth to every stranger on the street and it gets back to her."

Like the brownie-point winning boyfriend I am, I keep my mouth shut while Bella calls Alice, but that doesn't mean I don't eavesdrop on their conversation.

It's not really eavesdropping when it's happening in my car, after all.

"Hey, Allie."

"Umm…yep. I made it home fine."

"You could say that."

"Something definitely happened."

"Geez, Alice. I'm not giving you details. You're as bad as Emmett. I went home with him, okay? That's all you're getting for now."

"No, I'm still with him; we're on our way back to my apartment, actually."

Bella laughs at whatever Alice says next and replies, "I don't think I'll be online tonight. Maybe tomorrow night after Edward goes home."

She glances at me, and I shake my head.

"Or not," she laughs into the phone. "Why don't we have lunch Monday and catch up?"

I nudge Bella and ask for her phone.

"Thanks, Allie. Edward wants to talk to you now, okay?"

"Love you, too"

"Hey, Alice," I say into the phone.

"I knew it! I knew she'd give in eventually. You two are so perfect for each other. I'm so happy for both of you, Edward. I'm telling you now, though. She's completely amazing and one of my favourite people on this planet. If you hurt her, I hurt you," Alice warns me.

I can't help but laugh at the idea of Alice trying to hurt me. She's tiny.

"Don't you laugh at me!" she snaps. "There's a reason Jasper's scared of me, you know!"

"Come on, Al. Have you ever seen me like this? You know I'd never hurt her."

"Of course I know, Edward. I wouldn't have encouraged her to give you a chance if I had any doubt. It's part of the best friend code, though. I'm sure Emmett will give Bella the same speech."

"I don't know about that; I'm pretty sure he's already given it to me."

"Good. He can probably do more damage to you than I can, anyway. Most of the punishments I have for Jas don't apply to you."

"For fuck's sake, Alice. I do not need to hear any more about your sex life. Finding out you and Bella read porn together was enough for one day."

"She told you that?" Alice shrieks.

"Not exactly. Emmett figured it out. Apparently, Coach told Emmett some of the benefits of your little hobby, and now he wants Rose to read it, too."

"Ugh! Well I guess I can't be too mad considering everything Bella knows about me."

"Yeah, again… too much information. Is Jasper around?"

"Sure, hold on a sec. Oh, and Edward? I'm serious…take care of my girl's heart. This is a big deal for her."

"Don't worry, Alice. It's my number one priority."

Alice muffles the phone, but I still hear her yell, "JASPER! Edward's on the phone for you, and you owe me twenty bucks!"

It only takes a moment before Jasper picks up the phone.

"'Sup, mate?"

"Hey, Coach. I just wanted to make sure it won't cause a problem with you if on Monday I not-so-subtly let the guys know Bella's off the market."

"So she finally gave in, aye?"

"Seriously? Was I that obvious?"

"It wasn't exactly hard to figure out, mate. You two tried so hard to be subtle that you made it even more obvious. I'm happy for you, though. She seems like a great girl, and you know me, as long as both of you keep doing what you're doing for the team, I couldn't give a fuck who you shag."

"Thanks. I don't want to hide our relationship, but the last thing I want to do is put Bella's career here in jeopardy."

"Good man, but don't worry about that from me. Bella's proven herself time and again with most of the team, and I'm guessing you couldn't give two shits about the players that might give you a hard time."

"Exactly. All right, I'll see you Monday."

"Have a good weekend, Edward. You better be well-rested when I see you."

"Sure thing, Coach."

I hang up and hand Bella's phone back to her. "Jasper is happy for us. He said we don't have to worry about keeping us a secret, and you've already proven yourself to everyone."

"Well, that's good because I'm starting to think it'd be impossible to hide this. I can hardly wait to get you back to my apartment—we have a lot of surfaces to christen."

My dick perks up at her statement and starts to stir in my shorts.

"Speaking of…I want to hear more about this porn you and Alice read."

"Oh, geez. It's kind of embarrassing, but basically amateur authors tell their own stories using the characters from the Girl Next Door series. There's a review system so you can interact with the authors and give feedback. Over time, you get to know some of the authors. I actually think it's pretty cool, but most people just don't get it."

"I think it sounds kind of cool, too."

"Of course you would, Mr. Perfect," Bella teases me.

"I guess I don't understand why it would be dorky, as you say."

"It's hard to explain. I've gotten to the point where I don't really feel that way anymore. The women I've become friends with are so diverse—some are stay-at-home moms, some are military wives…teachers, students, lots of accountants. Plus, it's a great way to meet people all over the world."

"That's what I think is cool—meeting people all over the world. Do you or Alice write these stories?"

Bella laughs. "Oh, no…neither of us writes! I met Alice in a Facebook group dedicated to one of our favourite authors, and we eventually branched off into a smaller group with some other girls. We started sharing details about our personal lives in between talking about Girl Next Door and before I knew it, they knew more about me than most people in my real life!"

My dick must realise we're close to Bella's flat because he takes over my words and tries to steer the conversation back to sex. "Sounds to me like you girls are just as bad as Emmett and me! I might be upset that Alice knows more about what you like in bed than I do!"

"I wouldn't go that far. I believe I've been pretty vocal about how…pleased I am with everything we've done."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Bella laughs. "You fishing for compliments?"

I pull into a spot in Bella's car park but turn to look at her before turning off the engine. "Not really. I mean, I'm glad to hear you're happy, but I just want to make sure it's not too rough. We haven't really done the gentle loving thing I thought girls like at first."

I think my cheeks match Bella's pink ones, but I'd feel like an even bigger arse if I didn't check in with her on this. "Um…no, we're good. I mean, there's a time and a place for everything, but if you ever decide to read fanfic, you'll know I wasn't lying last night when I told you I didn't need slow and romantic." Her eyes snap up and meet mine, and the next words out of her mouth cause my dick to stand at attention. "In all honesty, it's a huge fucking turn-on when you're in charge."

Aaaand this conversation is officially over.

I'm out of the car and opening her door in record time, pulling Bella behind me as she laughs all the way to her flat.

oOoOoOo

Bella's fingers grip her sheets as she moans into the pillow, and that's when I realise this is going to be over too soon. I slide one hand up her slightly sweaty back, and she arches into my touch. I move past her messy ponytail until I reach her clenched hand. I loosen her fingers and move her hand to the bars on her headboard. I return my hand to her waist and lean down to nip at her neck and grunt out, "Hold onto the headboard and touch yourself for me."

Bella shivers as my words wash through her, but keeps a firm hold on the bar while her right hand slips beneath her to find her clit. I fist her hair in my hand as I sit up and pull Bella's arse flush against my hips.

"Fuck," she utters, as I tighten my grip on her hair and pull her head off of the pillow. I'm instantly worried I've gone too far and loosen my grip but thank every deity known to man when she moans and begs me not to let go.

My thrusts are fast and hard, and it's not long before I feel the prickling start in the pit of my belly. It's rolling through my body so quickly, I know she's not going to get off in time. She's close to the edge, but I'm about to barrel over that shit at two hundred kilometres per hour.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..." I mumble out as my body shudders and I feel the rush of my orgasm surge through my body. "Get there, baby. Please. Fucking hell. I can't last any longer."

I explode inside Bella as I hold my hips flush against her raised ass, releasing in two long loads. Before I have time to relax, Bella is pleading, "No! Don't stop! So close!"

I quickly replace her hand with mine and whisper filthy words in her ear while pounding into her G-spot. Within seconds, she's squeezing my dick as she rides out her orgasm, and I find myself in a familiar spot as of the past twenty-four hours—collapsed on top of my naked girlfriend.

I can't help but laugh. "You're gonna fucking kill me."

Bella's muffled reply only makes me smile more. "What a way to go, though."

"So true. What time is it, anyway? I'm starving."

Bella's head pops up from her pillow to look at the clock. "Almost eleven. Want me to fix us some lunch?"

"Sure, or I can try if you want. I just need to call Carlisle to let him know I can't make it today."

"I didn't know you had lunch plans with him! You can't cancel. Go, I'll be fine!"

"No, it's really not a big deal. I have lunch with him and Esme every Sunday; missing one won't hurt anyone."

Bella's already out of bed and putting clothes on. "Oh no! I'm not getting in the way of that. Go have lunch with them; I'll still be here when you get back."

I wince as Bella pulls on more clothes. We've spent the majority of our time since we got back from brunch yesterday in various stages of undress, and I'm not looking forward to that ending.

I grab her wrist and pull her back down on her bed before she can get too far away from me. Framing her neck with my hands, I kiss her lightly and rest my head against hers. "How about you come with me? Esme'll kick my arse when she finds out we're together and I didn't bring you today."

Bella's thoughtful for a moment before her chocolate eyes meet mine. "Are you sure? I mean, I realise I know Esme from work, but this is like introducing the girlfriend to your family type thing. Plus, shouldn't we be able to spend a couple hours apart?"

She tries to add levity to her voice, but I can tell she's really concerned. I back away, not wanting to get carried away touching her, but keep a loose grip on her fingers.

"We've already agreed it's a little fast, but I'm okay with that. I know how I feel about you, and it's not something I can compare to anything else, so I don't really know what's right or wrong here. I would never ask you to do something I thought you'd be uncomfortable doing, but I can promise you once Esme finishes squealing like a little girl on Christmas morning, she's going to treat you exactly like she does at work."

"You're right. I guess I'm just nervous. I know how much she loves you, and even though she's hinted she'd like for us to be together, I want her approval. Carlisle, too, of course. I just don't know him as well."

"Well, Carlisle already approves—he told me after we helped you move how special you are—so you don't have anything to worry about there. As for not letting you out of my sight this weekend, well, I got nothing. I want you to have your own life here and experience things without me…I just want you to start doing those things on Monday."

Bella throws herself on my chest and wraps her arms around my neck. "After you tackle me on the field in front of everyone, right?"

My smile could not be wider when I cover her mouth with mine, kissing her soundly.

oOoOoOo

I squeeze Bella's hand before knocking once and then opening the door to my brother's house. I hear Esme call from the kitchen, "In here! Lunch is almost ready. If your brother would leave me alone for two seconds, it'd be on the table already."

Carlisle's laugh becomes louder as we close in on the kitchen, and I'm met with a familiar sight—Carlisle poking at Esme's sides, trying his best to make her squirm so he can pinch food from the dish she's trying to finish.

Laughing, Esme chastises, "You're going to regret messing with me while I cook when you're walking around the hospital with a missing finger one day."

Carlisle leans in to give her a quick kiss on her cheek. "I'll take my chances."

When he turns to greet me properly, he only looks moderately surprised to see Bella standing next to me, hand clutched tightly in mine. She lifts her other hand and gives a small wave while I stand there, the happiest motherfucker on the fucking planet, showing my girl off to my big brother.

"Well, howdy, Bella. This is a nice surprise," Carlisle says, walking toward us.

At his words, Esme drops her big spoon and spins around, her face lit up in shock. She barely takes a moment to look at our obviously-more-than-friends body language before she pushes Carlisle out of the way and runs over to hug Bella.

"You're here!" she squeals.

Carlisle takes his turn with Bella when Esme turns her attention to me. She's so happy, she looks close to tears, but instead she pinches my cheeks and points a finger at me. "You, sir, are in trouble for not telling me sooner."

Laughing, I figure I might as well get myself into more trouble. "You should be happy I'm here at all, Es! I was ready to call in sick and stay in bed, but Bella convinced me we should come."

"Good for you, Bella. He needs someone to keep him in line, and I'm so happy it's you, sweetheart."

With that, she turns back to preparing the food, and Carlisle offers me a hug of his own. He holds me a bit longer than normal and whispers so only I can hear, "Congrats, bro. Take care of your girl, and enjoy your perfectly browned toast."

I give him an extra squeeze before letting go. It feels like all the pieces in my life are finally falling into place, and I can't imagine anything that would bring me down from this high.


A/N: Famous last words…

Thank you to my wonderful team—amber, born, chaya, whiti, and yummy—they're the best of the best. Also, my sweet Mr. Shock read this chapter for me to keep Edward manly enough. I was nervous he was getting too mooshy in his young love!

So, it's not looking good for an update next week, but I'll try. I have lots of good reasons for not having time to write, but I hope you'll just accept my apologies and know I really try my best to stick to a weekly update.

Rec: KiyaRaven… she's fabulous. Seriously, all of her words are brilliant so you should read everything she's written, but The Diva Diaries is in my top ten. Bella and Edward's love is tragically beautiful. Vacillating between past and present, Kiya keeps you dying of anticipation, ensuring you always want to click 'next' for the next leg of their journey. (Once you read that, I promise you'll want to read The Screamers and Grasping Darkness, too!) For a quick read, check out her one shot, Phoenix, as well. It's incredibly moving and beautiful.

Thanks for the love!