Happy Good Friday!!! I hope everyones having a nice Easter holiday. I've actually done another so far :)
Anyway, thank you for all the adds/hits/reviews! So on with the story!
Chapter Ten: Finding The Balance
(BPOV)
"Edward, you have two meetings today. One is at eleven this morning and the other is at three this afternoon." Alice said over breakfast.
He hesitated. "Oh well, maybe you could-"
"Don't even think about it! You've already rescheduled twice, you cant again!" Alice took in his sad expression. "I know you want to spend time with her and its nice and fun but you have a job to do. You have a business to run." She explained softly
I looked at Edward in shock. He rescheduled his meetings because of me? Even though this made me high with happiness I was also full with guilt. I was keeping Edward from his work. It had crossed my mind that he had a job to do but I had never thought of how much. It must be a lot if he owned the company surely!
Edward still looked reluctant to listen to Alice so Carlisle added. "Find the balance."
I could see he was still not fully convinced. I needed to do something. Nothing pleased me more than spending the day with Edward but he had commitments.
"Erm," I spoke up. Everyone turned to look at me curiously, as I raked my mind for something convincing, "I think Alice and I were going shopping today right?" I looked over at her meaningfully and she caught on immediately.
"Oh yeah! We really do need to restock your wardrobe - especially with the cold weather coming in." She said innocently.
Edward looked suspiciously at us. "So your telling me that you freely offered to go shopping with Alice, even though you hate it?"
"Well…" What do you reply to that? "Yeah." I said stupidly.
He raised an eyebrow - totally unconvinced.
"So there's no need to not go to your meetings now seems as Bella will be out all day." Alice smiled triumphantly.
All day? Oh great, though I'll be with Alice which should be fun and this was for Edward. All day sounded suicidal but I was a distraction and he needed to do his job.
"Well what about security?" He asked trying to rake his mind for excuses.
"Obviously Jasper and Emmett are coming with us." She replied.
Jasper and Emmett's heads popped up, their expressions shocked and irritated - probably for having to go on another shopping trip with Alice.
Edward looked really worried. "Hmmm, okay but neither of you leave Bella's side for a second." He said very seriously pouting at them. The ferocity in his green eyes was almost frightening.
"Come on Bella," Alice shouted as she walked out the front door, Jasper and Emmett moping behind her.
"Are you sure your okay with going? You can stay here if you want." Edward asked me for the hundredth time in the past half an hour.
"I'll be fine, really." Which was true, "This will be good for me."
We stood facing each other in the reception room. The sunlight from the glass roof flooded down and made his hair sparkle. He held both of my hands in his and I knew immediately when he let go I would miss the warmth and smoothness of his skin.
"Yeah, I suppose your right." He mumbled while looking at his feet.
"Are you going to be okay?" I teased.
He looked up and smiled. "I think so."
"Come on Bells!" Emmett yelled.
"I better go then." Before I lost my nerve I moved forward and wrapped my arms tightly around his muscular torso. I pressed my cheek to his chest and took a deep breathe. If I we going to be away from him all day I needed to try and keep much with me as possible. He automatically wrapped his arms around my back and squashed me even closer.
"If you want to come back at any time you tell Alice and she'll' bring you home." I nodded into his chest. "And I'll have my phone in my pocket all day so just ring me at any time and we can talk, okay?"
I chuckled slightly at his protectiveness. "I'll be fine." I stepped back from him and walked towards the door. "See you later." I called out confidently as I closed the door behind me.
"What about this? Isn't it cute!" Alice said showing me the hundredth camisole in the past half an hour.
We'd been shopping for about two hours now and I found out Alice really was all set on getting me a whole new wardrobe. To help keep me unnoticed I had tied my hair up and put on a cap and sunglasses. It wasn't much, but it helped. Being out in public again was a complete adrenaline rush. Even though I told Edward I would be fine I couldn't be more afraid but it felt good to be out as if I wasn't letting him ruin and break me.
"Come on Titch! That top looks exactly the same as the other ninety-five you've shown her!" Emmett whined next to me. To make sure I never got separated from any of them Emmett had insisted I linked arms with him. I thought it as silly at first but when I got outside I was very grateful for the contact.
Alice's expression was shocked and aggravated. "What? This looks nothing like the others! To start off with its a totally different material AND the stitching is done differently. Guys just don't understand!"
"No, humans don't understand you." Emmett's booming laugh filled the store as I giggled silently next to him.
Alice looked disapprovingly at me. "Bella, how can you be taking his side? Number one rule with Emmett - never egg him on!" She sighed. "Least Jazz understands what I mean, right?" She went over and held his hand.
"Errr..sure I do sweetheart." He replied and kissed her on the head. He made a 'WTF!" face at us when she wasn't looking.
Suddenly Alice jumped back into her rhythm and skipped over to the dresses. "We should get you some dresses because you only have about eight at the moment and if you live in our house your going to need a lot more. No one in my family is going to wear the same thing twice - especially to something important."
I was about to protest when my phone started ringing - Edward had brought it me, saying I needed it for safety reasons. I got it out if my pocket and looked at the caller ID. A smile instantly came to my lips.
"I've got it!" Emmett shouted as he snapped it out go my hand.
"EMMETT!" I shouted as I tried to reach for the phone from him. He moved away from me and Jasper instantly came closer to me and put an arm around my shoulder - even though we were the only people in the store.
"Hello Bella's phone, Sir Emmett speaking. How may I help you?" He thickened his english accent and made it sound upper class posh.
Alice rolled her eyes. Jasper chuckled. I sighed aggravated.
"Unfortunately Sir, Miss Bella can not come to the phone right now as she's too busy murdering me with her eyes." He teased, I growled at him. "Oooo, scary!" He whispered to me.
Jasper patted my shoulder. "He's this annoying to everyone really. Try and take it as a compliment."
I'm sure thick confusion filled my expression at this time. "How can I possibly take this as a compliment?"
"It means he likes you." He replied.
"Well if he's going to act like this maybe I'll be better off if he hated me." I grumbled. Emmett was still gabbling away on my phone.
"Believe me, annoying Emmett is much better than angry or hateful Emmett." Jasper whispered.
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say Em can be very scary when he wants to be." Alice explained quietly so Emmett didn't hear us.
I looked at his tall, bulky, muscular frame and believed that. The sight of Emmett alone was scary.
"Well Eddie says hi, he just rang to have a little chat with me. He finds it difficult to go so long without experiencing some of my awesomeness." Emmett boisterously came back into the conversation.
"Right, because it's not as if Edward thinks your one of the most annoying people to walk this Earth or anything." Jasper said.
"Well, yeah. But he loves me really. It's all to throw you off the tracks that I'm his favourite." He winked and turned to Alice. "I told him we'd be back in about two hours."
"What! That's not long enough!" Alice screeched and then started talking so fast that no one could understand her. When she was finished she took a deep breathe and looked at our mindless expressions. "Oh, never mind."
We shopped for a couple more hours and joked around. I learnt that Alice was actually a fashion designer though she did help Edward with his schedule on occasion. I was feeling so close and attached to everyone, even Emmett! But I had to remember that I was going to be staying with them forever. This living arrangement wasn't permanent no matter how much I wished it to be. What was I going to of when it was all over?
We got back well into the afternoon and Emmett and Jasper went off to check security. Alice skipped upstairs with me to put my clothes away. Apparently I wouldn't be able to do it right.
"It's all set out in a certain order." She explained as she hung some clothes up.
"Thanks for today Alice, even though it was shopping I really enjoyed myself." I said as we walked down the stair case a while later.
"Me too. I already see you as a sister Bella and I know you'll stay that way for the rest of our lives." She said brightly.
"But how do you know that?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Oh lets just say I have a way with the future." She winked and skipped away.
I giggled though it was cut short as I saw Edward come around one of the many corners. A sense of relief washed over me as my stomach tightened in anticipation and excitement.
"Bella." His voice, so velvety and mouthwatering also sounded relived. "Your back." His long strides brought him to me quickly and he wrapped me up in a warm hug.
He leaned back and looked into my eyes. His green orbs shone relief, excitement and nervousness. My heart pumped hard in my chest as I felt the pulse in my ears. He leaned towards me and captured my lips with his. He was soft and gentle as he braided his fingers into my hair as I kissed him back. My arms locked behind his neck and one of his hands slid down my back and pressed me tighter against his muscular chest. I crushed myself closer, moulding myself to the shape of him. I felt him smile against my lips as we pulled away for air.
The crooked smile was still there when I opened my eyes and it was probably good that he was holding me this close to his chest otherwise I'm sure my knees would have buckled.
"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that." He whispered as he placed his forehead against mine.
I closed my eyes blissfully. "I think I do."
He chuckled and I felt the vibrations through his chest. "I missed you."
So they've finally kissed! I know it wasn't really big and romantic and emotional, but I prefer things to be simple and easy and that's how I like to see Bella and Edward's relationship in this story :)
I hope it wasn't too disappointing for you, reviews would be nice. Thanks for reading!
