Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own nothing.

AN: Hello to all my patient readers! Thank you to all who are keeping the faith in my stories, and welcome to the new comers. I hope you enjoy!

Going to keep this one short and sweet, I know you all want to get to the goods ;)


~*~ Love Rollercoaster ~*~

Chapter 11: My Lovely Man

BPOV

On the ride to Edward's we sat in comfortable silence listening to music. I scrolled through his playlist on his Ipod, smirking every now and then at his selection.

"What?" He looked at me, with his head still facing the road.

"Some of the songs on here just shock me that's all." I replied with a quiet giggle.

"Hey I can't help it if I have an appreciation for musical greats." He shrugged.

"Oh I totally agree, musical greats indeed." I tried to keep myself from sniggering. "I just didn't take you for a man who enjoyed Pink." I laughed louder this time, switching to one of my faves by her, "So What".

Right on cue, we both started singing the "Nana nana nana's". Edward was banging his head wildly while I air guitared. We were singing and laughing the whole ride to Edward's. I felt so carefree with him.

We pulled up to this cute little house at the end of a street, and I was confused for a second. I thought maybe he had to stop for something. When we started pulling the driveway, I assumed this was Edward's place. How can someone who goes to school full time, have a house? I knew he lived alone, this much is for sure, I wondered if he was renting it.

"Is this your place Edward?"

"No, but there's nobody home. I thought it would be a great start to our date, if we were to do a B and E." He rolled his eyes. "Yes, this is my place Bella."

"Very funny Mr. Wiseguy, how can you afford a house, when you're a full time student?" I immediately felt ashamed for prying into his life, it was his business afterall.

"Well, when my grandfather Aro passed away, my father was the only heir. Carlisle thought it would be wiser to purchase a small house for me, rather than throw away money for rent somewhere. This way when I decide to live elsewhere, I can sell it for a profit."

I nodded slowly, letting the news of Edward's wealth sink in. It seemed odd now, of all the nights we stayed up chatting online, money never came up. I couldn't deny it though, if I had known earlier, what I know now; I would have probably put the kibosh on this whole thing.

I was raised to appreciate the value of a dollar, not having very much money growing up. For this very reason I seemed to have clashed with those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, for no other reason than the fact we saw life differently. And there were those select few who believed having money made you above everyone else. With Edward, I'd probably feel pretty similar. He was already so close to perfect, having money just throws the whole balance that much more out of whack.

"Bella love, what are you thinking?" I snapped out of my depressing thoughts and looked to my right, I hadn't noticed that Edward was already out of the car and at my side with the door open, waiting for me.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Your house looks beautiful." That was no lie. The house was situated at the very end of a dead end street. Large trees all around the yard gave it a secluded feeling. The house itself, was not huge; but my god was it gorgeous. The house was vintage with out a doubt.

The front of the house had a little veranda on the front, with a little wooden swing situated off to the corner. The color scheme was of grey siding and delicate white wooden trim; every piece looking hand carved. There were many large bright windows. (Picture similar to Edward's house in my profile!)

I let Edward take my hand and pull me out of his car. I vaguely heard him chuckle softly, and I was vaguely aware my mouth was open.

"Are you trying to catch flies with that?" I shut my mouth instantly and blushed, while Edward just laughed louder. With his arm around my waist, He guided me up the driveway to the front steps.

"It's just a house love, it won't hurt you." I just rolled my eyes at his teasing.

Once the front door was open, he lead me to the living room, which was to the left, and down a few small steps. Everything was decorated like one of those magazine's. I walked around the room, taking everything in. There was a fireplace in the corner, pictures adorned the mantle above it. I moved closer to the pictures.

"My mom decorated the place for me, interior decorating is kind of like her hobby." He pointed to the pictures. "Those are from my childhood. I nodded looking at the beautiful black and whites. There was one of a little boy, I assumed was Edward; in baseball gear. His mesmerizing eyes were the same then as they are now. There was a picture of a man and a woman, whom I can only assume were his parents Carlisle and Esme. I had heard so much about them, I began to wonder if I'd ever get to meet them. They were both equally beautiful, so it was hard to say who Edward got his looks from. The last picture was of Edward in a suit, with a beautiful girl on his arm. I suddenly had a feeling of inadequacy, and it would only be a matter of time before Edward realized this as well. My chest tightened at the thought.

"Bella, are you okay?" I felt Edward's ran rub soothing circles up and down my back. He was really too good to be true.

"Edward, I don't…. I don't belong her. I think I should go." I turned away from him, wanting to make a quick dash to the door.

"What? Bella wait, what are you talking about?" I kept moving to the door, trying to fight the tears that were welling up in my eyes; when I felt a hand around my shoulder. Edward spun me around to face him, his eyes were frantic. The corners of his mouth, turned down in a frown.

"Bella, would you at least tell me why you are leaving? What did I do? Please just… I don't want you to go." His eyes looked hurt, making me feel guilty; but he would thank me later, when he'd realized he dodged a bullet.

"I don't feel like I belong here. Look at you, you belong with some drop dead gorgeous model type woman who also comes from a rich family. I'm plain Edward, you deserve something extraordinary. No matter how I dress, or what makeup I put on; you'll always deserve better." I was full out crying now.

I didn't want his pity, but it was the truth. There was no way I was ever going to amount to the beauty on his arm in the photo. This was no Cinderella story, this was Bella story; and it doesn't get a happy ending.

Edward let out a loud sigh, one hand moved to the small of my back, the other to my face. He began to gently wipe the tears away. He kissed my forehead, then my nose, and then my lips. When he finally pulled away, my tears had stopped.

"Bella, Bella, Bella… Do you need glasses? Because you really don't see yourself too clearly. I don't want a model girlfriend, I want a girl who is beautiful without having to wear make up, who can look sexy in just a pair of sweats. I want a girl who can make me laugh, and who enjoys me for who I am, and not the size of my bank account. I also want a girl who can sing the crap out of Stroke It." He was smiling widely now, and I couldn't help it, at the mere mention of Stroke it; I had to laugh. Then all of a sudden his face became serious.

"Bella, before you; my life consisted of going to school, coming home, eating dinner, and going to sleep. When I woke in the morning, I repeated the whole damn routine again. My life was boring, dull, and quite unenjoyable. Now that I've met you, I've got something to look forward to, I have a girlfriend I'm proud to call mine, and on top of that she introduced me to some great friends. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I had people I could call my friend?"

"Yeah, but Ed-"

"Yabbits don't come around 'til Easter my sweet Bella. Besides, if you believe that I'm so deserving of great things, shouldn't I at least deserve something I want?"

"Yes, Edward of course." I nodded, I realized now that I was not going to be leaving; and that made me feel really, really happy. But I'm a sucker for compliments, so I was going to let him continue on his rant. Sue me.

"Good, because I really want you. I've never felt this way about anyone, and it feels so good; that I don't ever want to let it go."

He smiled so tenderly down at me, his hand still caressing my face. I smiled back, and leaned in to kiss him with as much feelings as I could. Because quite simply, literature major or not; I was not as good with my words as Edward. When we finally pulled away for air, I saw some deep emotions in Edward's eyes. I wasn't sure what, and I furrowed my brows, silently asking him what the matter was.

"Bella… I…." He paused for a severely long time, that I began to worry. I looked up into his eyes, to see them darting from my eyes to my lips.

"What is it?"

"I…umm….I left your over night bag in the car, I'll be right back." And before I could say anything he was outside. I just shrugged to myself, wondering if there was a full moon outside.

My body then moved on it own accord, against my wishes. I began slowly looking around the house. The places was really something else, and I wondered if Edward's mom wouldn't mind giving me some tips for my place. There were lots more pictures everywhere, mostly of Edward and his parents. There was one, another black and white of some dog. The frame was a simple wooden one, and the engraving on the bottom, which I assumed was the dog's name; was Jake. Huh, that's funny.

I slowly made my way up the stairs, I was sure Edward must be back inside by now; but I didn't hear him so I kept going. Once I reached the landing of the second floor, I noticed there was only a bedroom, an office and a washroom. There was a small table in the hallway with several pictures on it. All of them, to my dismay; had the same beautiful girl in them. There were a couple with her and Edward, always smiling and laughing. Another one of just her, it looked to be a graduation photo. I began to wonder who this girl could be that is so important to Edward, that he would have this shrine for her. A wife? A lost girlfriend?

"Her name was Irina." I nearly jumped, when I heard Edward's voice right behind me. I spun around to see him leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. He moved closer to me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"She was my cousin, but we were so close in age that we were more like brother and sister. We were practically best friends from diapers to graduation caps." He sighed heavily, and squeezed me a little tighter.

I was so wrapped up in Edward, that I almost missed the fact that he was referring to his cousin in the past tense.

"Umm… Edward you said 'was'. What do you mean by was?" He let out a shuddered breath and I turned to look at him, I hadn't noticed before; Edward's eyes seemed to be brimming with unshed tears. He shook his head and looked to the floor.

"She umm… died, in a fire." He shrugged like it was no big deal, trying to hide deeper feelings. This was not the time to press them though.

"Oh Edward, I'm so sorry! That's just horrible, was it a house fire?" I rubbed his shoulders with the palms of my hands, hoping to relax him a little.

"Uh, no. Hey listen, I don't want to spoil our date. Besides, I cooked a delicious meal; and I would hate it to go to waste." With a pleading look on his face that asked to drop it, he held out his hand and led me back downstairs to the kitchen.


Dinner was a delicious spread of chicken parmigian, salad and fresh bread. Edward insisted everything aside from the bread was homemade. Even the wine we were drinking came from his father's personal collection. The conversation through out the candlelit dinner was easy and comfortable.

Edward talked about his family, and I talked about mine; or rather what was my family.

"Charlie was the chief of police in the town of Forks, my mom was a kindergarden teacher there as well. When I was about seven years old, my mom took me to Phoenix, and left my dad behind. I think the country living had gotten to her."

By now we were done eating, and had moved on to cleaning up, luckily for Edward he had a dishwasher, so in no time, we were back in the beautiful living room; drinking the rest of the wine. He held my hand the entire time while I told him all about my childhood.

"The next few years I was pulled back and forth between my life with my mom in Phoenix, and the life with my dad back in Forks. By the time I was fourteen, my mom had remarried a guy named Phil. He was young though, much younger than my mom. Apparently he was seeing other women behind my mother's back. Anyhow, my dad had never stopped loving my mom; it was kind of heartbreaking to see him just go through the days, just to be one day closer to death."

I was getting closer to the date of the accident, so my breathing picked up. Edward seemed to have noticed and began to rub soothing circles up and down my arm with his free hand.

"Dad had convinced my mom to leave Phil, but he couldn't get her to go back to Forks; she loved it too much in constant heat. So he took a leave of absence for a month to try living down south. He loved my mom that much. I remember being the happiest during that time. My parents were acting like newlyweds, I'd never seen either of them so happy." I smiled at the thought, remembering the many nights we'd spend together as a family eating outside, and laughing until the sun would set.

"When the month was up, my dad transferred to Phoenix and took a lower position in their police department. Unfortunately, while my parents were bring a truck load of stuff from Forks, they umm… they were in an accident and didn't survive."

I hadn't noticed how tightly I was holding my wine glass, until Edward gently pried my fingers from around it.

"I'm so sorry to hear that Bella. I know what it feels like to lose a loved one, I can't imagine losing two in one night." I nodded, and gave him the best smile I could muster. He continued his soothing ministrations on my arm.

"I don't want to pry, so if you don't feel comfortable talking about it; I'll understand completely. But, I was wondering what happened to you afterwards, I mean you were still too young to live on your own; were you not?" I could see that his eyes were full of concern.

"No I wasn't. At the time, my dad's best friend was listed to be my guardian if anything ever happened to him. So Billy took me in, and I moved back to Forks. It was a little cramped living with him and his son in a two bedroom house. I was sixteen at the time so I only had to endure it for another two years before I moved out on my own." I shivered remembering Jacob, deciding it wasn't time to bring him up. Not completely anyways.

"I worked the next two years solid at a sporting good store, owned by that creep Mike's parents. Hence why he seems to think I owe him something. Anyways, as soon as I could afford it, I applied for school and moved out here. And I guess, here I am."

"Wow Bella, your story amazes me so. We had talked to much before, and yet so little about our pasts. You've been through so much, I can clearly see how even in the face of tradgedy, you have grown to be so strong and independent. That story just made me that much more attracted to you." Edward's warm appraise sent the blood rushing quickly to my cheeks, and I looked down at our entwined fingers.

"Bella," I looked up into Edward's eyes, and saw an emotion so deep I couldn't figure out what it was. Could it be pity? Yeah, it was probably pity he felt for me. But then I saw him smile, a smile so sexy, so devilishy, my reddened cheeks only deepened.

I noticed suddenly, that the hand I was hold, was now pulling me into him. I saw his eyes dart between my eyes and my lips, and I couldn't help but do the same. I knew he was going to kiss me, and I simply couldn't wait. I brought my free hand around his neck and snaked my fingers in his messy sexy hair. I brought him quickly to my mouth impatiently, the kiss was so intense I felt all the air rush from my lungs.

EPOV

Listening to Bella recount her childhood stories were sad, and seeing how they affected her still broke my heart. But at the same time, it made me feel this great fondness for her. We had both suffered loss in our lives, we had loved ones takes from us before it was their time. Sure Bella's parents death was an accident, but just like me; neither of us got to say goodbye.

Bella, had struggled so much, but it seemed she was no quitter. She came so far, and for that I fell a little more for this endearing beauty. I knew now for sure that I was in love. I was so happy from the realization that I wanted to scream for the whole world to hear it. I wanted to tell Bella how I felt about her. I was going to tell her.

"Bella," I began, but I choked. I began to panic, wondering if she could ever feel the same. I thought back to Jane. I never loved her, the wall I felt for her was nothing like the way I felt now. Jane used me, and was crazy.

I remember my father trying to determine what sort of illness she had. He tested her for bipolar disorder, and manic depression, schizophrenia, among many others. When he came to the conclusion, I almost laughed..

"I don't know what to tell you Edward, there's no reason why she did what she did to Irina. She has no other symptoms to designate her problem to just one illness. Jane is just plain crazy."

I snapped out of it, and gave Bella the biggest smile I could; hoping to reassure her that my feelings for her were strong, you know with out actually saying it. I wanted to kiss her. My god, did I ever. I've never seen a pair of lips looks so warm and inviting.

As if reading my mind, she grabbed a handful of my hair with her free hand, that nearly made me groan out loud; and she pulled me to her in an instant. The kiss was nothing like before, it was urgent, and greedy. She was sucking on my lower lip, while I sucked her top lip. She tasted so heavenly, part of me felt a twinge of guilt for not slowing down and savoring the flavor that is the lovely Bella.

Just a part, and when her tiny pink tongue darted out and gently licked my lip; that part practically disappeared. I groaned loudly this time, fighting an internal battle between good and evil. Right now evil was winning. Evil was my now very hard and very uncomfortable erection I had in my pants.

With every sense of decency I could muster, I broke our kiss. We were both panting, and I could see Bella's lips were a little swollen. I hoped to god I didn't hurt her.

"What's the matter Edward?"

"Love, I think it's bedtime." With that I took her hand, and we both ran up the stairs; giddy like teenagers.


I was lounging on my bed, in jut a pair of plaid lounge pants. I remembered the effects my bare chest had on Bella, and I wanted to see if it still worked, okay I just wanted a bit of an ego boost; but can you blame me? Bella was getting ready in the adjacent bathroom. I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to come out, when I heard a soft tap on my bedroom door. I looked up and suddenly I felt like a ton of bricks had hit my chest. All the air my lungs expelled.

She was standing there in a long soft yellow nightgown. I couldn't be sure of the material, but I knew it was very touchable. Her face was clear of any makeup. A clean slate. And her luscious hair was piled high on top of her head in a loose bun. I patted the bed beside me, and she ran to me and jumped on the bed. I couldn't help but chuckle at the silliness of her.

"You look absolutely devine love, you should have been dressed this way all evening." She giggled a little and blushed, I decided that I liked getting that reaction from her. I would have to do it as often as I could.

We began to kiss and touch very gently, all the raw animal passion gone now; or so I thought. Suddenly I was on my back, and Bella was straddling my waist. That sexy devil!

"Bella! You are completely absurd!" I laughed, and she just growled at me. Painfully slow, she began to trace little patterns with her fingers from my chest down my abdomen. I knew she could feel my hardness with out a doubt. I needed to stop this before it got carried away. I wasn't ready yet.

"Bella love, why don't you lie down next to me so we can snuggle?" Girls like to snuggle right? I immediately saw the hurt look on her face and she was about to pull away completely when I grabbed her waist; bringing her back against my chest.

"Bella, you must know what you do to me, I'm….I'm just not ready to move to that step yet." I tried to show her my affection, with soft kisses all over her face, I didn't stop until she began to giggle again. She pushed my face gently away.

"I understand Edward, I don't want you thinking I'm some nymphomanic. It's just that I thought maybe we could do other things…" he hand began to move down to my pants, and I gasped.

"Bella, you have no idea how hard I'm trying to be good. But with the way you look right now, and the things you're doing to me; I wouldn't be able to stop at just that." She jutted her lip out in a childish pout and I leaned in to kiss it, but I nipped at it gently instead. In retaliation, she flicked my nipple hard and I cried out.

"So that's how you want to play eh?" In seconds, I had her pinned down and was tickling her sides until tears were running down her beautiful face. We were both laughing now, but it only took a few minutes to calm down.

We were both silent for a while, when Bella snuggled up against me and sighed.

"Goodnight Edward"

"Goodnight love, sweet dreams." It didn't take long until I could hear Bella's even breathing. I watched her a little while longer, then I reached for the blankets and pulled them over us. I tried carefully not to stir Bella, but then I heard her say my name.

"Edward…." It was more of a sigh than a question. So I waited, wondering if this could be more sleep talk.

"Never leave me." I could feel the tightening in my chest, when I realized what she was saying. I wouldn't dream of it my love. I thought.

"I love you." It was a soft whisper, and I didn't even hesitate with my response.

"I love you too Bella."


AN: Hehehe three cheers for Edward's restraint! Okay, okay.... don't worry Bella will be popping his cherry soon enough. I'm not that cruel. But next chapter isn't about them, it's about the group as a whole. Getting to know the other characters.

So what did you think? Wanna let me know? I'd love to hear.... you know that.

On a unrelated note, for anyone who happens to dig the tunes of Pink, I'm going to see her in September! *Dances* I've only been waiting for this chance for like...ever. And for anyone who cares, BBQ with the parents when better than expected. The bachelorette party on the other hand....different story. It'll be a long time before I stand in another wedding I think. Poo!