Sorry everyone! I've been very neglecting of this story for the last week. I hope this makes up for it. This chapter has a lot of sweet Bella and Edward moments.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10 –

"It isn't worth it," Alice said simply. "We can handle this. As a family, we can get passed this. We can't let her use you Edward. I won't stand for it." Edward sat with the entire family in Carlisle's office.

"I agree. There is no way we can let this happen, Edward," Carlisle began.

"It's not up for discussion anymore. I've already agreed to it." Edward cut his uncle off.

"Edward, this doesn't make sense at all," Alice began. "You might not want to hurt us, but we're tough. This will blow over—let her print what she wants. We'll deal with it. Unless there is more you aren't telling us?"

"No, there is nothing else. Just trust me, we'll let things play out like this for a while and go from there. Just give me time to figure this out. If I need to rethink stuff later, I will. For now, this is best."

Everyone looked sceptical.

"At least until after Christmas—if it hasn't sorted itself out by then. I don't want anything to mess with the wedding. My mistakes from previous years are not going to ruin that day for you two."

Rosalie was not about to let Edward use her wedding as an excuse. "We can handle them, Edward!"

He cut Rosalie off as well. "If we need to do something about it, we will wait the two and half months until after your wedding. That's all that is going to be said on this, okay?"

Everyone just nodded; they knew Edward's had made up his mind. They didn't agree, but they were willing to support his decision.

The group dispersed because the guys had to get to practice, but before he headed to the locker room Rosalie stopped Edward, she looked almost worried—or shy—which was not the Rosalie he'd know since childhood.

"Thank you." She said quietly to him. "I know it's selfish of me, but thanks for thinking about the wedding. As much as I don't want you to do this, it means..."

"I know how much it means to you Rose. Your wedding should be perfect. I made it clear to Tanya that she and I would not be a spectacle at your wedding—that it was about you and Emmett. She knows that if anything involving her ruins the day for the two of you, then whatever this is, is done."

Rosalie nodded and gave him a hug. "You are too nice, Edward, you deserve better than this."

"Well, I got great looks and mad skills on the ice—I needed some kind of obstacle in life." He purposely ruined the moment, and she punched him in the stomach.

"Get your cocky ass to practice." She pushed him lightly down the hall.

That evening, the Avalanche won their first game of the season. Bella was in awe of the intensity in the arena during the close game that went to overtime. The crowd was extremely pleased to see the home team win, but Bella still couldn't help but notice that Edward wasn't himself. He was moved to the second line after the first period, and things didn't get much better.

In fact, for the month of October, that was the story. The Avalanche were doing fairly well, but their star forward was not. After every game, there were articles in the paper about how Edward was not living up to his potential—or what his salary was. There was lots of speculation about him playing injured, but he and Carlisle continued to inform the press that if he were injured, he'd be resting to be in the best shape for later in the season. Most people just believed that he was in a rut and was eventually going to get out of it; everyone hoped for that.

In late October, Bella's second article was printed in the magazine. The first one, from late September, had been extremely popular with readers, and one of the most popular topics on the magazine's online discussion board. The second article, which focussed heavily on the wedding planning and the Sweden trip, immediately got a great response.

The month was also the beginning to whatever Tanya had planned. She attended several home games, and on one occasion, she and Edward were photographed leaving the arena together. They both got into different vehicles, but the picture was picked up in the local press.

October came to a close. It was Halloween, and the team as well as their families were involved in a charity event organized by Esme. Each member of the team and coaching staff partnered with a local disadvantaged child. They would spend the day together at a local department store where they would be shopping for Halloween costumes as well as getting proper winter clothing for the children. In the evening, they'd be going out trick-or-treating with the children. Esme had started the event two years previously, and it had been a huge success—so it was now an annual thing.

"It's a great event. We love doing what we can for these kids, and hopefully today is an extremely memorable experience for them, as well as an opportunity for them to get the clothing and winter gear that they'll need. It's a reminder to all of us that not everyone is as lucky as we are, and these kids are great. Everyone seems to have a blast." Edward finished a quick interview before he was matched up with a little girl who was six. Bella watched from the side with the little girl, Cara, who held her hand; she was helping Esme get everyone organized, and Edward was the last to get a match.

After the interview, he came over to the two of them. He knelt down so that he was eye level with the girl. "Hi, I'm Edward." He said sweetly and grinned at her.

"Cara," She replied quietly.

Bella could feel the girls grip tighten on her hand.

"Hi Cara," Edward replied. He tried several times to let her get comfortable with him, but she firmly held Bella's hand. Bella felt bad for him, but she understood that the little girl was probably terrified. The other pairs had dispersed to go and begin their shopping. "So Cara, how about Bella comes with us to get your costume? I'm not very good with picking out girls' costumes—I bet Bella is better at it."

"Can you?" Cara looked up to Bella.

"Of course, just let me tell Esme where I'm going." She broke from the girls hand and walked over to Esme who was speaking with Amy Mercer. "Esme, I'm going to go with Edward and Cara for a bit—she seems a little scared of him." The three ladies looked over and the girl had moved a few steps away from Edward.

"Aw, poor girl, of course you can Bella—we won't need you."

"Thanks," She replied, and then hurried over to Cara. Immediately, Cara put her hand in Bella's. The three walked over to the costume section. "Hey, Cara, I bet if you hold Edward's hand too we can swing you," Bella offered.

The girl looked up at Edward cautiously before reaching her hand up. The idea of swinging was apparently greater than the fear of him. The two swung her as they walked, and soon enough, Cara was laughing and holding both of their hands without worry.

Edward looked to Bella above Cara's head and mouthed 'Thank you' to her. Bella just smiled back. She turned her attention to Cara. "So, Cara, what kind of costume do you want? Something scary? Or something Pretty?"

The girl bit her lip. "Uh, pretty I think—maybe a princess. Is that okay?" She looked to Edward cautiously again.

"Of course it is! You can be whatever you want to be," he replied. "Let's see what they've got over here."

The three walked over. Bella stayed a bit to the back letting the two of them look for costumes. She couldn't help but notice how careful Cara was around men, which made her sad because it likely meant that some asshole had treated her badly. She also couldn't help but admire that Edward was great with her. He knew exactly when to be fun, when to reassure her, and when to back off a bit. Bella tried not to think about how great of a dad he'd be someday, but it was impossible. She just kept reminding herself that it would not be with her.

They had it narrowed down to two different costumes. One was a pink princess from a recent Barbie movie, and the other was a fairy costume. "Which one do you like Bella?" Cara asked her as she held one out and Edward held the other.

"Yeah, we cannot decide," Edward added.

"Well, the princess one is very nice. Pink is a pretty colour." Bella watched Cara's reaction.

"Yeah, but I really like purple. It's my favourite colour." Cara said looking at the purple fairy costume and Bella knew the decision had been made.

"Yeah, that's true, and wings are extremely cool," Bella replied. "I think you should be the fairy."

Cara smiled and nodded.

"Now, we need a costume for you Edward." Cara looked up to him.

"Yeah? What do you think I should be?" He asked as he knelt down to eye level with her.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe a clown?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, a clown? Let's see what they have for clown costumes," Edward replied, not betraying any emotion.

Bella couldn't help but smile.

It was officially decided that Edward would be a clown. They found a costume that had what looked like a hula hoop built into it to make him look like a fat clown, and they chose that one. It was bright yellow with red polka dots. They went over to the wigs and masks and grabbed white face paint for Edward, and Bella found a set of face paint that was all pinks and purples and had sparkles for Cara's costume.

Cara was looking at accessories. "See anything you want?" Edward asked as she looked up at the selection.

"Uh, the crowns are pretty—if I was the princess I'd get a crown." She looked back over to the wall of costumes, obviously wondering if she had made the right decision.

"Well what if we get one anyway?"

She looked up, questioning him.

"You can be a fairy princess," Edward quickly added.

Her face brightened, and a huge smile came across it. "You could also get a wand, because fairies need magic wands don't they?"

She nodded in agreement.

They picked out a wand with streamers and a princess tiara with jewels. They put everything into one of the kid's carts that was labelled for them, and they headed to the clothing department to get her winter clothing.

Cara picked out a pink and black winter coat that came with black snow pants. After that, she found a purple and pink striped hat and mitten set. Finally, for boots they picked a pair of pink and silver boots that flashed a light every step she took.

They headed back to the rest of the team, where they paid for all the merchandise. Esme's team organized everything per child before the group went to a local fast food restaurant complete with maze and ball pit for dinner.

The children all ate extremely fast and went into the ball pit.

"I can see why you all love doing this," Bella said as they waved to Cara who was climbing in the maze.

"Yeah, it's probably my favourite charity event that Esme organizes." He paused. "Actually, it's a toss-up—in February, we always visit the children's hospital. Most of the other events are fancy dinners that we don't even see where our efforts are going to. This one is special." Cara appeared at the bottom of the slide and ran over to them.

"Edward, come in the ball pit!" She grabbed his hand, and he winked at Bella, then followed.

She watched as an entire group of kids ganged up on him and threw the balls at him. Bella Just laughed.

Emmett appeared beside her. "So, I'm told that Edward is going to be a clown tonight?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes, Cara picked it out." Bella eyed him suspiciously.

"This is epic! I cannot wait." He grinned.

"Don't you dare make fun of him when that girl is around though Emmett," Esme cautioned as she walked over. "She picked it out—so don't you dare make her feel bad."

"I won't, I won't. I'll just take lots of pictures and mock him later."

"What are you dressing up as?" Bella asked. "Anything we can make fun of?"

"Uh, Superman! You can't make fun of Superman." He replied cockily.

"Enjoy the tights," Bella replied.

He jokingly ruffled up her hair.

Esme laughed. "Yeah, and go join your cousin in that ball pit." Emmett grinned and ran towards it.

Rosalie appeared and laughed. "You know, we'll never get them out of there, and I don't mean the kids."

Bella and Esme laughed.

After the dinner and play maze, everyone travelled to a nearby hotel in which they rented the conference room, and got ready for trick-or-treating. Bella put tons of colourful and sparkly eye makeup on Cara, and she let Cara use some lip gloss, which went over extremely well with the six year old. To top it off, Alice appeared and gave her a spray of sparkly hairspray. Cara's smile didn't leave her face the entire time.

Edward looked hilarious. Bella could just imagine the mockery he'd get, but he never showed any sign of being upset. When Emmett entered the room there was a loud snort as he covered his mouth and forced himself not to laugh. His face went beet red before he hurried out of the room and burst out laughing in the hallway. Cara heard none of it, so it was okay.

Jasper appeared a few minutes later and almost didn't realize he was looking at Edward. After he realized, he blinked several time and a grin spread across his face, but he managed to stay a bit more subtle than Emmett. He was dressed as the modern look of Batman.

The rest of the evening went extremely well; Bella stayed with Edward and Cara, but gave them some space as well. She loved how happy Edward was—so carefree—he had no worries that day. She wished that every day were the same.

Every morning, she could feel how miserable he was when it was time to leave her apartment. In there it was safe, and nothing or no one could touch either of them. There was no Tanya, no badly played hockey games, no threat of being exposed—just the two of them doing whatever they wanted.

Edward was saying goodbye to Cara at the end of the night; he'd already changed from the clown costume and scrubbed his face to get the white makeup off. He gave Cara a big hug then shook her mother's hand. Apparently, Bella found out, Cara's mother was a single mom since her father had skipped out on them. Edward also gave her mother his phone number and email in case they needed anything. It was extremely sweet.

It was only eight-thirty when everything was wrapped up. Edward and Bella were driving home together in his Volvo when he pulled into the wrong lane. "Want to go somewhere?"

"Uh...sure...where?" Bella replied, but he wouldn't tell her.

They pulled up at the parking lot of the Pepsi Center. She eyed him suspiciously. "Why are we here?"

"Trust me," He replied and held out his hand. She gave hers to him without question and nodded.

Before they went inside Edward grabbed a bag from the department store they had been at earlier from the back seat. "What's that?"

"I haven't answered any of your other questions—do you expect me to answer that one?"

"Fair enough."

They headed inside and down passed all the rows of seats down to the ice level. The lights were on, but they were dim. It was nothing like the extremely bright ones from during the games. They walked across the ice to the players' bench. She held onto him tightly knowing that ice was not going to help her clumsiness. "Please tell me you didn't bring me here to have sex on the players bench," Bella said, but immediately regretted it worried that she might have offended him, but she could tell she hadn't when she saw his grin.

"That's another fantasy, but no. This has absolutely nothing to do with sex." He helped her up into the little rectangular bench area and opened the bag. "I remember you saying a while back that you've never skated." He pulled out a pair of women's recreational skates.

"Edward, do you not remember that I have a hard time staying upright on flat foot? Trying to stay upright on blades is a train wreck waiting to happen."

"Do you not remember who I am? I will be an amazing teacher. You won't fall, and I promise I'll keep you upright when you do." He knelt in front of her and took of her shoes. She continued to verbally protest, but allowed him to put the skates on.

"How did you figure out my shoe size?"

"I checked your shoes at home. I've wanted to get you on the ice for a while now, but I never had the opportunity, and when I saw the skates at the store today, I decided to buy you a pair." He had finished tying the skates. "Ok, sit tight. I'm going to run and get my skates." He headed down the hall toward where the locker room was. Bella sat and looked around. It was extremely different to be down here in the center of the arena; it was an incredible feeling, but she couldn't imagine doing it when it was packed.

She looked down at the skates in front of her. They were a little uncomfortable, but that was probably normal. They were stiff and new, so she figured they were supposed to feel like that. She moved her feet a little to see if they would feel any better a different way; they didn't.

"Too tight?" Edward asked as he returned with his skates over his shoulder.

"I don't know, maybe," Bella replied. "Should they be a little uncomfortable?"

"A little bit, but I might have put them too tight. Hockey skates are supposed to be extremely tight, but yours won't need to be so bad." He got back down in front of her and loosened them a bit. "Better?"

"Yeah, that's much better," she replied. Edward quickly got his skates on. He stepped out onto the ice and faced the door to help Bella onto it.

As soon as one foot hit the ice, it slid to the side and Edward's arm wrapped around her instantly. He steadied her as she got used to the feeling of standing on skates, then stepped back a bit still keeping his hands on her hips. "I'll keep you up. You just need to trust me." He took his hands off her and let her balance herself for a few seconds. He took her hands and pulled her a bit forward. She seemed a bit more relaxed, but still very stiff.

He got behind her. "Ok, I'm going to skate behind you and push you. Just concentrate on staying upright, and feel what it's like to glide," he whispered into her ears.

She nodded. With his hands firmly on her sides, he began to skate and push her forward. She kept her skates parallel and let him push her. They went across the ice, then turned and went back toward the bench.

"Ok, this time I'm going to give you a push and let you glide by yourself. Grab onto the boards when you reach them." She turned to look up at him but swung herself too much and slipped.

He caught her under her arms before she landed with bottom on the ice. "Sorry, you alright?" he asked her as he pulled her upright.

"Yeah, but I doubt I'll make it to the boards." She replied.

"Try," he urged.

She eyed him.

"For me?"

She wrinkled her nose, but nodded. He put his hands on her back and lightly pushed her forward. She glided without incident and grabbed onto the boards. She smiled, then turned to Edward and found him right behind her.

"How was that?" he whispered in her ear.

"Not hard."

"Good, now you can try to push yourself—learn how to skate without me."

Bella looked sceptical, but he grabbed her hands and began to skate backwards.

"Just turn one foot out and push it against the ice to push yourself forward."

She tried it and pushed herself right into Edward. He caught her and laughed. "A little harder than I expected, but that was good. You just keep doing that and let yourself glide a bit. Then you alternate feet, and you're skating. Try it without me."

He skated a few glides backwards and held his arms out for her. She pushed off with one foot and glided a bit, then tried to switch feet and she stumbled. She managed to steady herself before Edward got up to her. "Good catch." He said then skated back again. "Try again?" She nodded.

This time she was able to switch feet easier she got close to Edward but slipped when she focussed more on him than the ice and began to fall. Edward reached to catch her but was too late. She grabbed for him, and instead of him steadying her, her feet shot towards him and knocked into his skates; he began to fall right away.

Bella landed on her bottom and continued to fall backwards. She hit her head hard against the ice. Edward came down on top of her, and their foreheads crashed against each other. "Fuck, sorry, Bella." Instantly, he was beside her; she didn't move.

"Ow...Oh my god that hurts." Bella got up on her elbows. "I told you I'm hopeless. Fuck, my head hurts so much."

"Yeah. The ice will do that. I'm so sorry Bella—I said I'd catch you. I should have caught you."

"No it's okay. I'm fine. Let's try again," Bella replied. Edward got up quickly and helped Bella up. She tried again. She held hands with Edward, but she set the pace. He skated backwards at her pace.

After about another fifteen minutes of attempts; Bella was getting tired, and she figured Edward was tired of continually catching her. She stopped near the front of the bench. "Are we done?" He asked knowingly.

"I hurt a lot."

"I'll massage you when we get back to your apartment." He backed her up to the boards.

"That sounds nice." Bella smiled.

He had his hands on the boards on either side of her. "You are a pretty good teacher Cullen."

"And you are a quick learner," he said as he moved closer and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up to sit on the edge of the boards. She spread her legs and pulled him closer to rest between them.

"Bella," he whispered as he moved his lips to her neck. She moaned as he did. One of his hands moved to her back to pull her even closer, and the other one cupped her breast from the side. She moaned again. "Fuck." He pulled back. "We can't do this here Bella."

"Sure we can," she replied with a smile.

"No, it's freezing cold. And you're wearing pants."

She looked at him for a second at his last comment then burst out laughing. "I'm wearing pants? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's too fucking cold in here for me to strip you of your pants. If you were wearing a skirt it would be a different story."

"Locker room?" she asked, remembering their previous experience in that room. She kissed him on the side of his lips.

"Locked," he replied bringing his lips back to her neck.

"Where were your skates then?"

"In an equipment room waiting to be sharpened," he replied continuing with her neck. He pulled back when she didn't reply.

She shook her head at him then pulled him back closer into a hug. She put her lips right next to his ear. "Then you better drive like a maniac back to my apartment."

"I'm a Cullen, Bella, I can do fast." He picked her up and skated her to the door to the bench and sat her down. He had her skates off quickly and expertly took his off. He ran and dropped them off back wherever he found them. She put the skates back into the box and then put the box into the bag. When Edward came back, he wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed the bag and then hurried out together.

Edward kept true to his word and drove extremely fast back to the apartment. Bella had her hand on the armrest the entire time holding on for dear life. They parked and headed up the elevator immediately, and Edward kicked the door closed behind them the second Bella got the door open to her apartment.

He had his arms around her and kissed her neck again. He pushed her back until they reached the island in her kitchen. Bella felt like she was on fire everywhere he touched her, but she couldn't get enough of it. She reached her hands under his shirt to get more skin-to-skin contact. Edward went to lift her up onto the counter, but she protested. "I just cleaned it." She wrapped her legs around him using him for support instead of the counter.

"Where?"

"Jacuzzi?"

"Not going to make it there," he replied. He groaned as she wrapped her legs tighter rubbing their cores against each other.

"Couch," she offered.

He didn't even reply, just carried her over and the two dropped onto it. He ran his hand from her knees to the waistband of her jeans. He unbuttoned them and slid the tight jeans over her ass, but her underwear stayed up. He hooked the thing under his fingers and pulled it down after the jeans.

Bella pulled Edward's shirt over his head, then ran her fingers through his messy hair and pulled him down for a kiss. His hands reached under her shirt and undid her front clasp bra. Then he cupped one of her breasts, and she pushed her chest forward trying to get even more contact. He teased her nipples, and Bella let her head drop and let him tease her under the shirt.

Edward stood up and undid his jeans. The denim and his boxers were off instantly. Bella took that opportunity to discard her bra and t-shirt. Edward got down on his knees in front of the skinny couch. One hand went to tease her erect nipples, while the other skimmed across her skin–skipping over where she really wanted him to touch. He ran one finger up and down her legs. He positioned one leg to rest over the front of the couch while the other was bent and rested against the backrest of the couch.

Finally, he ran his finger down to her core, and she thrust her hips up so that he'd finally make contact. He happily obliged; he brought his thumb and finger to her clit and lightly teased it. She moaned and lifted her hips more. He touched her a bit harder and rolled the nub between the two digits. He smiled at the little noises Bella made as he did.

He moved his hand down farther, and Bella moaned in protest. Quickly, he inserted two of his fingers inside her. She was so tight, and he couldn't wait to get inside her. That could wait though; he wanted her begging him.

As he pumped his fingers in and out of her, Bella reached down and began to rub her clit herself. He watched happily—she always got embarrassed when she realized she was doing that, but he loved that she was so far gone that she did it without thinking.

She was extremely close; he could tell by how quickly she was pleasuring herself, so he quickened his movements to keep up.

Bella came quickly, and he felt it on his fingers. She opened her eyes and smiled up to him. "Your turn?"

"I'm not down with you yet." He climbed up onto the couch and Bella dropped her head back and prepared for him to enter her—but he didn't.

His hands were on her thighs, and he brought his tongue to her. She moaned, and he began to flick her nub with his tongue. She involuntarily lifted her hips, but he held her down. He nipped at her with his teeth once before licking down to enter her with his tongue. Bella was beginning to moan louder, and he knew she was ready to come again.

"Edward, Inside me," she pleaded as she ran her hand through his hair again. He looked up to her and smiled.

He kissed and licked his way up her body before finally settling at eye level. He kissed her lips once before entering her. She could taste herself in his mouth and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and then she let them run down his back before grabbing his ass.

He groaned as she squeezed his cheeks. "Did I ever tell you I adore you ass." Bella asked him.

He answered by thrusting harder into her, and she moaned, getting closer to another orgasm. She could tell he wouldn't be too long either. She lifted her legs up from the couch and wrapped them around his waist again, and he took advantage of the change of the angle.

Bella came quickly. She dug her fingers into his back—probably breaking the skin, but she couldn't tell. He followed her a few thrusts later and groaned into her neck as he did. "Bella," he whispered into her neck with a light kiss.

He moved himself to her side so that he didn't crush her. She turned and faced him, her hands in between them resting on his chest. "Bed?" she asked.

"In a little while," he replied and grabbed her couch throw and pulled it over the two of them.

A little while turned into the entire night. Bella woke with her head on Edward's shoulder. His arms wrapped around her. She squeezed herself out and grabbed his shirt to put on. She went to the bathroom, and when she came back, Edward was in his boxers.

It was a beautiful looking day outside, and Bella walked to the window. She felt Edward come up behind her. He spun her around, rested her back against the windows, and kissed her. He took each of her hands in one of his and laced fingers with her. He brought her hands up at the level of her head against the glass. "Good morning," he finally greeted her.

"It is now," she replied.

The phone rang. "Your mom?" Edward asked.

"Probably," she groaned in reply.

"She really enjoys interrupting at the most inconvenient times doesn't she?" he joked and gave her one more kiss. "I'll be in the bathroom." He went to the hallway and Bella went to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good morning Bella." It was Alice.

"Hey Alice, what's up?" Bella asked surprised to get such an early call from Alice. She usually called later in the morning just in case Bella slept in. She aimlessly walked back over towards the couch.

"Not much," she replied simply.

"Uh, ok...so why the call at nine thirty in the morning?" Bella asked confused.

"Uh, just thought I call and talk."

Bella was extremely confused.

"By the way, that's a nice shirt you're wearing. One of Edward's favourites."

Bella's eyes widened as Edward returned to the living room. Bella nearly dropped the phone as she spun toward the window.

"Can I talk to my cousin please?"

Sorry for the cliffhanger! I will make sure to get the next one up fast.