Dear astounding readers,
I appreciate that I haven't posted in what must seem like ages, and I apologise profusely.
To make up for it, I give you this (9 page, and longest ever) chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or Pride & Prejudice.
Enjoy,
BPOV
"Edward!" I hissed at him as I took in the room. Alice and Jasper were talking in a corner of the room in low voices. Emmett stood talking to a tall, blonde women who looked like she'd just popped in on her way to the catwalk show she was about to put on, which I assumed was Rosalie. Then there were two other people in the room – a handsome blonde man, and an equally stunning woman with Edward's bronze hair. "You didn't tell me your parents would be here."
The women waved at us and made a motion for us to come over.
"I didn't know they'd be here," Edward whispered to me.
"I'm not ready to meet your parents!"
He cocked his head to the side with a confused look on her face. "Why not?"
"What if they don't like me?"
"Nonsense." He reached down to link our hands and pulled us across the room them. "They'll love you."
They both smiled widely at us. I resisted the urge to pull my dress down. He squeezed my hand reassuringly.
"Hi, Mom, Dad. This is Bella."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," I said nervously. They were even better looking close up.
"We've heard so much about you, dear!" his mother said immediately. Her eyes scanned my appearance. "You look beautiful."
Predictably, I blushed. "Thank you, Mrs Cullen."
The man laughed. "None of that. I'm Carlisle, and this is my wonderful wife, Esme."
Esme stepped next to me and hooked her arm through mine. "Come on Bella, dear. We must introduce you to Rose. She seems a bit hard to start with, but she really is a lovely girl."
Rosalie looked up as we approached. Her expression immediately turned indifferent as she noticed me at Esme's side. She was beautiful – the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in real life. She was taller much taller than me, with a willowy figure that made me immediately feel like a frumpy twelve year old girl again. Her blonde hair was piled up on top of her head, showing off her bone structure and her perfectly made-up eyes – that were trained on me. She slowly and obviously looked me up and down.
"Rose, dear. This is Edward's Bella." The flutter of warmth I felt at being called 'Edward's Bella' was immediately dowsed by the cold look in Rosalie's eyes.
"It's nice to meet you, Rose," I said politely.
Her eyes narrowed. "It's Rosalie."
Oh. So that's how it's going to go. "Well, then, it's nice to meet you Rosalie."
She merely nodded, turning her body slightly towards Esme, making it obvious that we were done with our conversation.
Emmett appeared at Rosalie's shoulder and bought an arm around her waist as he dipped his head to whisper to her. I picked out the words 'Bella', 'nice' and 'important to Edward'.
"I don't seem what Edward has to do with my opinion on her," she retorted with no bother to lower her voice.
Emmett shot me a hurried glance and murmured something else.
"Rosalie," I interrupted. "I know from experience that the bitch act gets old quick and I plan to stick around for a while. So the sooner you drop it, the sooner we can all get along, and the easier it will be for everyone."
Everyone in the room was staring at me incredulously. Apparently, that was not expected.
Am I going to get slapped?
Rosalie, however, just shrugged. "Whatever."
I smiled widely at her, gaining a grudging smile back. I was in.
"Time for dinner, everyone!" Alice chirped. The tension of the room was broken, and we all shuffled to our respective seats. I ended up between Alice and Edward, sitting opposite Carlisle. A waitress had appeared in our midst, and took everyone's orders before hurrying away to place them for us.
EPOV
"Bella seems nice," Carlisle told me in an approving tone. "Not like your other girlfriends."
I pulled my eyes away from the sway of Bella's hips. "She's not actually my, er, girlfriend."
"Really? You certainly seem to care about each other a lot."
Of course I cared about Bella. She was beautiful and sweet and loving and funny and witty.
"I know from experience that the bitch act gets old quick and I plan to stick around for a while. So the sooner you drop it, the sooner we can all get along, and the easier it will be for everyone."
My head snapped round. Bella and Rosalie were standing face to face, staring at each other with narrowed eyes.
Did she just tell Rosalie off? No-one tells off Rose.
And then Rosalie did something I didn't expect – She shrugged and turned away. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and tried to catch her eye, but she was looking at Alice.
I hurried over to the table and pulled out Bella's seat for her, before slipping in to the one next to her.
"No one tells off Rosalie," I said to her in an undertone. She grinned sheepishly, and looked down at her menu.
There was a low hum of conversation at the table as we waited for our meals to come. I took the opportunity to look at Bella as she took a sip from her glass, as she nodded at something Alice said, as she twirled her fork absentmindedly between her fingers...
God, she was beautiful.
"So, have you always lived over this way?" Carlisle asked her as the waitress place his starter in front of him.
"I'm from Washington originally. This tiny little town called Forks that no one's ever heard of. But I lived in England for a while, too."
Carlisle quirked an eyebrow. "What takes a girl like you to England?"
"Well, um." She shot me a look out the corner of her eye. "My parents got divorced when I was four, and I moved to England with my Mom."
She had the attention of everyone at the table now. Emmett leaned around Rose to talk to her. "Did you live in London, Bellybutton? Have tea and crumpets with the queen?"
"Emmett. Not everyone in England knows the queen, y'know." She rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth curled up. "I only lived in London a little while, at the start, then we moved up to the midlands."
"So what bought you back?"
She squirmed slightly in her seat which I knew meant she was uncomfortable. I reached over and gave her hand, which was lying on her lap, and gave it a quick squeeze.
She gave me a brief smile, before taking a breath and saying, "My Dad got sick, with um, cancer - when I – when I was fifteen. I moved up just before my sixteenth birthday to, to help him and stuff."
I was shocked. And from the silence that had fallen suddenly over the table, I wasn't the only one.
"That must have been tough," Carlisle said.
Bella gave a half-nod, half-shrug, before adding quietly, "He passed away a few months after I turned eighteen."
My heart emptied and then filled with sadness for her. "Bella," I whispered, reaching for her hand again. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know..."
"It's ok. Really." She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, they were free from the deep, watery look they'd previously held. She turned her attention back to Carlisle, without letting go of my hand and continued while I rubbed circles on the back of her hand with my thumb. "My Mom had remarried by that time. He was a professional ball player," she informed him with a scoff in her voice. "They travelled around a lot. I was an adult legally by that time, so I moved in with, um Jake, my boyfriend at the time."
She avoided my gaze as she finished. I ignored the ball of unjust jealousy that rolled in my stomach. She was saved from further comments and questions by the arrival of the main course.
"Sorry," she whispered to me as everyone was distracted. "I'm putting a downer on your party."
"Bella! Don't you ever, ever, apologise to me for that. I'm just sorry that you had to talk about your – your Dad. I'm so sorry."
"Shh. You didn't kill him, right?"
She was so brave, so strong. I leant forward on impulsive and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It may have been my imagination, but as I lent back in to my seat to accept my meal, I could have sworn Carlisle winked at me.
BPOV
The skin on my forehead tingled pleasantly where his lips pressed against it. I tried to hide my smile – unsuccessfully – and took my mushroom ravioli from the waitress with a huge goofy grin covering my face.
The rest of the meal past quickly, with no one asking me more about my past, which I was thankful for, because I didn't think that Edward's celebration meal was really the place to talk about it. I would have to talk about it, I knew, especially if I wanted something more with Edward, but that would come in good time.
If I wanted more with Edward.
The smart thing to do was run. Run before I could get too attached. Edward Cullen had a history of one night stands and floozy flings. I should tell him, at the end of my one month trial, that I didn't want to continue, and leave.
But my heart ached at the mere thought. I knew I couldn't walk away. And so I would stick it out and try not to get my heart broken.
I felt fingertips brush against my temple as a piece of hair was pushed back from my face. "Are you ready to go home?" Edward asked quietly. I looked around. While I had been lost in my internal battle, everyone had begun to gather their stuff and say their goodbyes.
"Are we not doing anything else?"
"We called off the club crawl. Another time, I think. Jasper has work in the morning."
"So we're just going home?"
He nodded. "If you want to. We could go somewhere else, if you prefer."
"No. Home sounds good."
He smiled. "I agree."
Carlisle and Esme left first, with Esme pulling me in to a hug and declaring that 'us girls would do lunch' before leaving. Rose and Emmett left next, and Alice and Jasper walked out with us.
"Thanks for organising this, Ali. I had fun," Edward said as we waited for the valet to bring the cars around.
"I had fun too," I added.
"Aw, shucks guys," she said, wriggling in to Jasper's arms. He drew her towards his chest and kissed her spiky black hair. I felt a pang of jealousy in my chest. They looked so happy.
The drive was quiet as we wound through the twilit streets towards the house. The moon seemed strangely bright tonight – bright and full, hanging low in the sky, eerily beautiful. Edward opened my door for me when we arrived home, and let us both in to the hallway, where we stood awkwardly.
"It's getting pretty late," Edward said after a few moments. "I'll be in the music room if you need me?"
"Sure. I guess I'll be getting to bed. Like you said, it's late."
"Goodnight, Bella."
"Sweet dreams." I trudged in the direction of my room and got ready for bed. I was too worked up to sleep so I pulled out the book that I was reading and turned to the page I had left at.
``I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.''
My mind wandered of its own accord, painting a picture of a Mr Darcy, who had a striking likeness to a certain Edward Cullen.
Why hadn't he kissed me?
The question had been haunting me all night. Why had Edward kissed me?
"He likes you, that's for sure," Esme had told me earlier as Carlisle spoke to Edward.
"I'm not so sure, Esme," I confided.
"Oh, honey, he adores you. I can tell. He's happier than I've ever seen him. He definitely likes you. A lot."
"Thank you Esme. I like him, too."
"He's a good man, Bella. I think you'll be good for him."
I grabbed my book and marched to the music room before I could change my mind.
Music was drifting from inside, creeping through the gap in the door. I cold see Edward inside, hunched over the piano and bathed in an eerie silver light. His beauty made my heart ache. The notes flooded effortlessly from his fingers, and wrapped around me like a blanket. It was slow, unbearably sweet and haunting beautiful.
"Focus, focus on my face,
Close your eyes, and find me in the darkness."
I couldn't contain the gasp that left my chest. The raw emotion in his voice stole the breath from my lungs.
The music stopped.
"Bella?"
I stepped in to the room guiltily. "Yeah, it's me."
He frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to, um, get a new book." I held up my copy of Pride & Prejudice as proof. "I've finished this one."
"Oh. Come in, then. I was just..."
"It was beautiful, Edward. Please don't stop on my behalf." I dropped the book on a nearby table and wandered closer to the piano. "Can I hear the rest of it?"
"Um, it's still a bit loose at the minute. I've got some work to do on it..."
"I don't mind. Please?"
He nodded once and returned his hands to the keys. The first few notes were hesitant, but grew with certainty as he continued.
"Focus, focus on my face,
Close your eyes, and find me in the darkness,
We can use the stars as anchors,
As we stroll across the sky.
Can you teach me to fly,
Like you taught my heart to soar?"
The music built up, rising in swirls and waves around me and pulling me under its spell.
"I'll sing all night if it will keep the bad dreams away,
All you have to do is ask me to stay.
I'll hold your hand as the night blushes red with dawn,
We'll lie together as the day is born,
And leaves us in its wake."
His voice grew softer as the music faded away again.
"Sleep, sleep,
Close your eyes my dear
I promise when you wake
I will be here,
Sleep, sleep.
Sleep, my dear."
He repeated the last lines again, the music growing slower and softer as his voice effortlessly weaved through the melody. The last note hung in the air.
"You're crying," he breathed, capturing a tear underneath his fingertip. "Please don't cry."
"It's so beautiful."
His hand cupped my cheek. "Not as beautiful as you."
EPOV
My hands cupped her face. I need to kiss her, to touch her, to taste her, to consume her. Bella was special, different, perfect. I had to give her a choice.
"May I kiss you Bella?"
"Yes," she breathed, her breath dancing across my lips. "Please."
Her hand traced up my chest before coming to a rest at the back of my neck. Her fingers twined in my hair, pulling lightly at my hair and scratching my scalp. She pulled my head forward, urging me on, and it was all the encouragement I needed.
Our lips crashed together. My lips tingled, making the blood in my veins hum like electricity. I pulled her closer. My heart beat faster, pounding against my chest. I pulled her closer still. Our lips opened, and my tongue darted out to taste her. I could never have her close enough. She tasted of honey, and cherry and the most wonderful taste than I could only describe as...Bella.
"Bella," I whispered against her lips. "Bella...I can't – I can't..."
Her lips attacked my jaw line as her hand drifted down to grasp mine. She backed me out of the room.
"What is it, Bella? What do you want?"
Her lips drifted to my ear. "You. I need you."
My lips were feverish on hers as I attacked her lips with more force. We were backed up against the wall now, my hands on either side of her head as she pushed her body against mine.
"Stop playing with me," I growled as rubbed against my cock.
She gasped. "The bedroom, Edward."
Without another word, I scooped her up in my arms. She didn't complain, her lips busy nipping at any available skin while her hands pulled at the buttons of my shirt. I reached the bedroom in record speed and laid her in the middle of the bed.
"You are so beautiful," I murmured, because it was true.
Her eyes were blazing in to mine.
"I need you, Bella," I told her as I hovered over the top of her.
"Please," she whimpered, as I peeled off her top. Her milky breasts fit perfectly in to my hands. When I flicked my thumbs over her nipples, she gasped, her back arching off the bed as she silently begged for more. She wiggled out of her shorts impatiently before attacking my shirt again.
Her eyes took in my body hungrily, and her hands eagerly followed as they traced my muscles and down to the button of my trousers, which she unhooked quickly. I kicked them off.
I kissed her again, softer this time, taking me time to explore the cavern of her mouth. She moaned into my mouth, and it was my undoing. I hooked my fingers over the edge of her panties.
"This is different," she whispered. "Different."
"Different," I agreed quietly.
Our gazes met, and I found, hidden in their depths, the answers to the questions that my heart and soul had been searching for. She nodded. I slipped off her panties.
"Bella, you are so wet for me." I traced a finger around the edge of her lower lips and she moaned again. It was like music to my ears. Better than I remembered. And I was the one causing it. I wanted to make her make that noise over and over again.
"It's hardly fair that you're wearing these," she told me, as she slipped her hand inside my boxers and squeezed my cock. I hardened impossibly more against her hand.
"Bella. If you tease me any more I might explode." I pulled off the boxers quickly.
Our bodies were so close to each other, our foreheads almost touching as I hovered over her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," she whispered. Slowly, I pushed in to her, letting her adjust to my size. She wrapped around me like a glove – so soft, so wet, so tight.
"Bella, you feel so good, oh – so good."
"Please, Edward," she moaned, pushing her hips against me. We moved slowly, moving against each other, meeting each thrust. I kissed her languidly and swallowed her moans, as she in turn swallowed mine.
She moaned loudly as she became close. I felt her muscles tighten around me, drawing me to the edge of the cliff with her. And when she called my name as she came, her head thrown back and eyes clenched tightly in pleasure, it was my undoing, and we fell over the edge together.