A/N: Hi there Lovelies. Thanks for all the love, follows, and favs! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's got a bit of everything: some drama, some citrus, some lighter stuff : )

Obvs. : I don't own twilight or its characters, but I do own this little plot.

BPOV

"Oh thank god! I was afraid I'd never find my way down here," Rose grumbled as she entered the kitchen. "This place is huge! I did find a really cool gallery room near the back garden. They have a fucking Picasso back there! Did you know that?"

"Yeah. Edward's mother was really into collecting art," I said as I flipped the pancakes on the griddle in front of me. "There's fresh coffee in the pot over there." I pointed across the counter toward the coffee bar.

"Thanks! This is awesome," she said pouring herself a cup. "Any sign of Alice or prince dumbass?"

I chuckled at her nickname for Emmett. "Not yet. I have a feeling we won't be seeing too much of him. He thinks we're all nuts." I plated up a stack of pancakes and added a couple of sausage links before handing the plate to Rose.

"Oh thank you! This looks so good. Are they blueberry?" she asked before sinking her fork into the tower of steaming pancakes.

"Yup and there are plenty so don't be shy. There's syrup over there if you want any."

"So are we going to let Jackass Cullen know that you're Becca or do we want to let him stew in his confusion a while longer?" she asked between bites.

"I'm not overly concerned about it," I answered, stacking some pancakes up on a plate for Alice, who was shuffling in looking the worse for wear. I pushed the plate across the counter for her and watched as she fixed herself a cup of coffee and took a healthy sip. Rose and I exchanged a glance; she'd never experienced zombie Alice because she only appeared in the morning apparently.

"So Ali, we were just discussing your less charming brother and if we should enlighten him about the whole Bella/Becca debacle," Rose said brightly.

Ali just grunted as she sipped her steaming mug.

"Don't bother Rose. She'll be useless until she finishes that," I said gesturing toward her coffee.

"Huh. She's in some kind of dormant state…weird," she shrugged, returning to her food.

"I figured you'd already be well into orchestrating some grand revenge scheme against Emmett," I said, joining the others at the counter with my plate of food.

"Yeah, I have some ideas, but nothing I've come up with is really enough just yet. I need a proportional response and I've never honestly wanted to cause anyone pain like I want to cause that man pain," she reflected.

Ali seemed to be coming out of her morning haze; she slowly put her nearly empty mug down on the counter and started to attack her pancakes. Soft moans spilled from her as she chewed. I couldn't help, but watch her out of the corner of my eye. She was highly entertaining in the mornings.

"So, what's all this about a revenge plot against Emmett?" Ali asked suddenly, causing Rose to choke slightly on her sip of coffee. "I want in!"

After finishing my bite of food I answered, "You don't know this about Rose just yet, but you never want to get on her shit list. She'll punish you cruelly."

"God you're totally absurd. I do not have a 'shit list' and I do not 'punish' people. I merely seek to teach people lessons. I'm like Matilda*."

I snorted out a soft laugh. "You don't have magical powers, though you are insanely intelligent like Matilda."

"I have the super power of dispensing justice perfectly. It's a gift," she said smugly.

"Wait, I don't understand. What kind of justice?" Alice asked with her brow furrowed. "What do you do to punish people?"

"I don't punish people. I teach lessons! Like Matilda!" Rose exclaimed, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

I rolled my eyes at her redundant declaration. "Rose is like the goddess of pranks," I explained. "Ask Jasper. He's been on the receiving end more than anyone else. The punishment is usually proportional to the offense, according to Rose.

"I don't think that's always true. Like that time you put glitter into his window air conditioning unit. Everything in his room was covered for months. I still find glitter in his room sometimes. Why did you do that again?" I asked knowing full well what the answer was.

Rose smiled diabolically, "He drank all of my coffee for the millionth time without replacing it. He knows I'm a cranky bitch without my proper caffeine dosage. He really should have known better."

Ali started giggling. "What else have you done to him?"

"Oh, just little things mostly," Rose shrugged with false nonchalance.

"I loved the time you hacked their mixing board to pitch Jaspers voice super high during their show at that artist's coop. He sounded like a chipmunk!" I laughed at the memory. He had been so pissed. The rest of the band had called him Alvin for months.

"Oh that was fun. That's when he forgot my birthday. Good times," Rose mused.

"So you're more like that movie Amelie** than Matilda, really. She was full of well justified mischief," Ali decided.

"I like that. I could totally be Amelie, though Bella looks more the part with her big doe eyes and dark brown hair," Rose chuckled. "I'm more like a cynical, blond Amelie."

"Damn, it smells good in here!" Emmett's voice boomed loudly into the room. "Something good about being in a house full of chicks. One of 'em's bound to be a decent cook."

Emmett made his way further into the kitchen wearing low slung gym shorts and no shirt. I had to admit, he was attractive, a bit muscular for my tastes, but most people would consider him to be hot. And he was clearly well aware of it; his walk across the room was full swag.

"Where's all the food?" he cried as he looked over the counter.

"Crazy bitches always eating up all the food they make," Rose said in her best imitation dude voice. Ali and I cracked up immediately at his dumbfounded expression.

"There's some cereal in the cupboard." Ali said helpfully with a giant, sweet smile.

"Why do you all get pancakes and sausage and I get fucking cereal?" he whined, sounding more like a five year old than the huge adult dude that he was.

"Well, if you had joined us earlier, we would have given you some." Rose said. "You snooze, you lose."

"This is bullshit!" he cried.

Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket and I escaped to the hall to answer it. I could see already that this conversation was headed nowhere good. I was happy to have a reason to extract myself.

I was hoping it was Edward calling, but was only slightly disappointed to find Ange's picture lighting up my screen.

"Hey Sweetie!" she greeted me.

"Hi! How are you feeling, Hot Mama?" I asked.

"Good. Just SO ready to pop."

"Just two weeks left," I tried to comfort her, but I was sure she was sick of hearing it.

"So people keep saying, but I'd be more than happy to do this now. This kid is feakin' huge. He's making me tired and uncomfortable and useless!" she exclaimed.

"Oh sweetie! You are not useless. I know it sucks, but you're in the home stretch now. You got this."

"Thanks, B. I needed to hear that," she sighed.

"So how are things going with the move?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, so well. We're nearly done with the big stuff. I say we, but no one lets me lift a finger. I'm more of a supervisor at this point. Which isn't so bad." She laughed. "Thank you so much for suggesting us to Edward. The house is so adorable and this is going to make such a difference in our lives." I could hear the emotion in her voice.

"Oh Ange, I'm so glad it worked out. He needed someone he could trust. This works out for him too," I explained.

"He's so great, Bella. I'm so happy you guys found each other."

"He is pretty great, isn't he?" I agreed.

"Yeah, he and Ben were getting along so well by the end of dinner. You know how shy Ben can be so I was glad they felt comfortable together," she said. "Oh and the best part of dinner, I totally forgot to tell you!"

"What?" I asked, intrigued at her excitement.

"So Jess Stanley took over my shifts at the Lodge and she was our waitress that night. She kept shoving her new tits in Edward's face all night, I swear that girl is slowly morphing into Lauren 2.0. But anyway, your man was completely oblivious to her efforts or her cleavage. He didn't look up at her once, which infuriated her so she went back to flirting with Mike. No matter how many times those two cheat on each other, they still find themselves back together. Forks drama, who needs tv?"

"Wow, Jess got her tits done?" I asked.

"That's all you got from what I just said?" she exclaimed.

"Well, it is good to hear, but I highly doubt that if that man hasn't noticed her in the last seven years, her new tits would be enough to draw his attention to her," I said, loving how much I trusted my boyfriend. It was amazing that I already felt so secure in what we had together, but it was hard not to believe him when he told me or showed me, every minute we spent together, how much I meant to him.

"I'm glad you found yourself a good one, B. You deserve it after everything you've been through," she said.

"Thanks Angie."

We talked for a while more about everything and nothing. She was super bored, practically on bedrest at this point in her pregnancy. We said our goodbyes and Ange promised to get me word right away of any baby news. Just as I was hanging up the phone, I saw Rose walk by with a smug, mischievous gleam in her eye. She held a smart phone in her hand that was encased in dark brown leather. Seeing me sitting on the sofa she raised the phone up and waved it at me with a huge grin on her face. I was about to ask what the hell she was so excited about when she put a finger to her lips to silence me. She hurried up the stairs with a light spring in her step. I was guessing Emmett would soon regret not keeping better tabs on his phone.

EPOV

"God dammit!" I shouted at the traffic in front of me. We'd been sitting in the same spot for what felt like an eternity. It had probably only been fifteen minutes or so, but it was long enough that I was beginning to worry about missing my flight. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel of my rental car, as if that would help anything. I never thought I'd have to worry about traffic this time of night, but there was some type of roadwork going on. If I missed this flight I'd have to wait until morning to catch another one, and I was already pissed that I'd have to make a stop in New York before heading home to Bella.

Vicki had called me late last night to inform me that the producer and director of my upcoming project were insisting on an in person meeting before they signed a contract. Apparently the last composer had left them in the lurch after a massive dispute involving 'creative differences' and they were currently engaged in a costly breach of contract lawsuit with him. Understandably, they were a bit skittish about working with someone new. I'd reluctantly agreed and changed my flight to take a detour to New York for the day. I breathed out a sigh of relief as the cars in front of me started to move again. Things were moving slowly, but at least they were moving.

By some miracle, I fell into my seat in first class at the last possible moment. They seemed to be holding the flight for me since I'd checked in and was fast-tracked through security. As soon as we were in the air I ordered myself a jack and coke from the overly friendly flight attendant and downed it before leaning back in my seat and attempting to sleep.

My mind was buzzing from the whirlwind of activity in the last couple of days. I'd barely had time to speak to Bella and it was fucking killing me. We'd exchanged texts, but had only had two short, tired conversations in the last two days. I had gleaned enough from these brief talks to know that Emmett had arrived at the house and had made quite an impression on Bella and Rose. She wouldn't say exactly what had happened, falling into a fit of giggles when I asked if he was behaving himself. She said something about Rose teaching him lessons and Matilda, whoever that was, one of the other models probably.

I was too tired to sort out this shit now. In the last two days I'd suffered through long ass meetings with my lawyers, financial advisors and the manager of our charitable trust. I wanted to take a more active role in the trust and wanted to consider expanding the scope of the work we did. I had also needed to finish up some business at the bank in Seattle before I headed back east. All in all, the last couple of days had been dull as fuck and finding out last night that I would not be climbing into bed with a sleepy, naked Bella late tonight, that change in my schedule had nearly sent me over the edge of sanity. Catching my flight at the last minute had meant that there was no time to call or text Bella before I left and that sucked beyond measure.

Somewhere in my deep well of self-pity, I found myself in an uncomfortable sleep. I awoke several hours later with a painful crick in my neck. The brightening cabin was beginning to buzz with the quiet stirring of morning activity. People were starting to wake up and bustle about as the red eye flight neared JFK. I peered down at my phone to see that it was nearly six. We'd be landing in a little under an hour. I wondered, not for the first time, how early was too early to call Bella. Sunday mornings seemed to hold the unspoken rule of not disturbing people before nine at the absolute earliest, but I was desperate to hear her raspy morning voice. It was sexy as fuck and six days without her had me in full out withdrawal.

By seven-fifteen I found myself in a hired car speeding toward Victoria's office. She'd offered to meet me there and let me freshen up before our breakfast meeting. I had booked a flight to Boston late this afternoon and Bella had promised to stay the night at my place. I honestly didn't know how I was going to make it twelve more hours before seeing her.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and my stomach flipped slightly at the thought of hearing my girl's voice. I was gravely disappointed to be met with a far more irritating sound when I answered.

"Dude! Fuckin finally! I've been calling you all night!" Emmett's obnoxious voice boomed out of the phone. "Where the fuck are ya? This place is drowning in crazy bitches and I'm starting to think I'm cursed or somethin'! All sorts of fucked up shit keeps happenin' to me!" My brother was all out whining. I was about to tell him to calm down when one part of his rant sunk into my tired brain.

"What do you mean you've been calling me all night? It's past seven in the morning." I asked, not really surprised at his schedule. "Have you slept at all yet? What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut it, old man! I'll sleep later, when the crazy crew leaves the premises," he chuckled humorlessly. "Your new broad's a piece of work, but her hot model friend is even nuttier. I'm proud of you bro! Even if your girl is crazy, she's fuckin' young and smokin'. What is she like nineteen?

"Isn't it awesome hookin' up with models? 'Cause they're always surrounded by other hot chicks. Always something to look forward to."

Damn, he was disgusting. And confused. He seemed to think Bella was a professional model. I wondered why he hadn't figured out that she was just helping Ali out. I chose to be cautious and keep my mouth shut. Something told me, from the ridiculous crap coming out of his douchey mouth, that he might be on the receiving end of one of Rosalie Hale's great life lessons. And who was I to interfere with brilliance like that?

"Wow, Em. You sound like an asshole. Leave the girls alone. They're all helping Ali out. She'll be pissed if you scare them away," I lectured, but I couldn't hold back my disappointment in him if I tried. "And leave Bella the fuck alone! She's important to me and I won't have you harassing her. I will fuck you up if you do anything to hurt her or make her feel cheap. When I get back there, you and I are going to be having a serious talk about how you treat women."

"God! You are so freakin' holier than thou. Why do you give a shit all of a sudden how I act?" he shouted. The anger in his voice was hardly surprising, but I had a feeling he'd be even more pissed when I confronted him in person, because I was holding a lot back at the moment. "You've been off livin' in the wild for like a decade and now you decide you give a shit about me? Please. It's a bit late to try to pull some older brother crap don't you think?"

"Listen, Emmett. I know I fucked up. I was in a real bad place after Mom died, but I know I let you and Ali down. I should have gotten some help. I should have pulled my shit together, but I've started to now and I'm not going to keep my mouth shut when I see you spiraling out of control like this. Don't you want to be someone you can be proud of, someone our parents would have been proud of?"

"Fuck you Edward!" he screamed into the phone. "There is nothing wrong with my life. You're the one who's been wallowing in fuckin self-pity for the last seven years. At least I'm living my life instead of cowering in the corner like a pussy!"

I heard the call disconnect abruptly just as the driver informed me that we'd arrived at Vicki's office. I wanted to be pissed at Emmett, but there was so much truth in what he said. Bella kept trying to get me to see that my depression had been crippling and that I really needed help after Mom's death. I knew she was right, but it didn't take away the guilt of leaving my siblings without the only adult support they had left. I fucked up and it would take more than hugging it out to fix shit with Emmett. Ali was ready to forgive me, Emmett may never be.

~oo0O0oo~

"Edward! It's so good to see you!" Vicki gushed. She stared me down over the brim of her chunky teal-framed glasses. "You look good. I never thought you'd be working with me again. I can't tell you how pleased I am to have you back." She grasped my arm, pulling me forcefully into her office. "Now tell me, what or should I say who has put that spark in your eye? Hmm?" She gave me a mischievous, knowing grin. She'd always been able to ready me well. Vicki had been a good friend to me over the years, always patient and never demanding of me. She was my friend first and my agent second, which was a rarity in this business.

"Her name's Bella," I confessed. "We've been together about a month. You'll love her, Vick. She's…well she's like no one I've ever met."

"Well, I can't wait to meet the woman then. Any girl who is capable of getting you writing again must be a force to be reckoned with," she laughed airily, but there was truth in her words.

An hour later Vicki and I were ushered into a posh little restaurant uptown. Waiting for us at a table near a wide bank of windows were two older men who had their heads bent over some documents resting on the table. Their heads were close together and they were arguing passionately but quietly about something on the pages in front of them. As we approached the man on the left looked up and smiled, lightly smacking his colleague on the arm to get his attention.

"Aro, Caius, this is Edward Cullen. Edward, Aro Volturi, executive producer and his brother Caius Volturi, director." Vicki was an expert at introductions, immediately alleviating any awkwardness. She guided the conversation gently, but firmly, keeping us on track. The meeting was productive and we all got along well. The brothers were working on their third film together. I'd heard of their work, but being a bit out of the main stream lately, I had only watched their films after I learned of the project with them. They made satirical comedies with a dark edge that had a distinctly European sensibility. I was actually surprised that they'd done so well in the mainstream U.S. market, but their work had been both financially and critically successful.

We sorted out schedules and had a long, engaging discussion about Caius' creative vision. He'd heard my work and was confident that we'd find common ground. All in all, I left the meeting feeling good about the project and optimistic that we could work well together.

I tried to call Bella on the way out of the meeting, to let her know I was catching an earlier flight, but her phone went straight to voicemail. Deciding to surprise her I sent off a quick text letting her know I'd be busy for the next few hours and that I loved her before hopping in a car to the airport.

BPOV

My head was pounding. Why had I let Rose talk me into Tequila shots last night? And a fucking drinking game. What the hell was I thinking? I tried to roll over, but I found myself pinned down by something. I cracked open my eyes and tried to make sense of my surroundings. Instead of Edward's room I was in some other bedroom that I didn't recognize. My hand slid tentatively over the object that was holding me down and I quickly determined it to be an arm. Where the hell was I and who was sleeping in bed next to me? My heart pounded along with my head as I craned my neck to see who was buried in the blankets next to me.

I heaved out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding at the sight of Rose's drool covered face. She was a sloppy drunk and she always got handsy when we crossed the line from tipsy to wasted, which explained why one of her hands was on my boob. I carefully extracted myself from her rather impressive grip and rolled inelegantly off the bed with a thump. Rose grunted and turned over, but didn't wake. I quietly exited the room and tiptoed down the hall toward the stairs. I needed a shower and then at least a few more hours of sleep. I didn't drink like that often and I needed serious recovery time after.

As I neared the bottom of the stairs, I heard shouting coming from one of the closed doors. I couldn't really make out more than a few curses, but I recognized Emmett's angry voice. Besides being a total ass, he was clearly dealing with a tremendous amount of anger. It made me wonder how much of his carefree, ne're-do-well persona was purely self-protective. I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Emmett, despite the stupid shit that just kept coming out of his mouth. I couldn't help but hope there might be a half-decent person hidden under all that anger and idiocy.

I awoke several hours later to the feel of strong, familiar arms wrapping around my naked body. I'd showered earlier after coming up from Rose's room and I hadn't had the energy to dress again before I slipped into Edward's bed and immediately succumbed to sleep. I cracked my eyes and turned my head, the very similar scene early this morning fresh in my mind. This time however, I was met with brilliant green eyes and my favorite sleepy smile.

"You're here." I rasped, not the sexiest of sounds.

"I am," he answered, leaning in for a soft, loving kiss. Mmmm. I'd missed the taste of his lips. "You've been sleeping a long time. I've been trying to be good, but it's really fucking hard when you're all rumpled and naked in my bed."

"It sure is," I teased, pushing my bare ass back against his prominent erection. "But why were you trying to be good? You should have woken me; I always like being woken up by you."

"You looked so tired, Love," he said brushing my hair from my face where it was stuck. Going to sleep with wet hair had some major drawbacks. "It's nearly three in the afternoon. Why are you so wiped out?"

"Four words: Rose, Tequila, and I Never," I answered.

"Okay, I understood the first part, what's 'I never' mean though?" he asked.

"It's a drinking game, which is absolutely no fun to play with someone who knows everything about you. Especially if that someone is Rose and she's trying to get you drunk."

"Why was she trying to get you drunk?" he asked, laying soft kisses on my head.

"I may have been whiny and mopey about you staying an extra day," I confessed. "She has no patience for that shit and she wanted to cheer me up…or shut me up. Same difference. I woke up in her room at the crack of dawn with a splitting headache and her hand gripped tightly around my boob."

"Um, what? Why was she grabbing your boob?" He sounded more amused than upset, which was a relief.

"Oh Rose gets all gropey when she's really drunk," I explained. "She once tried to convince me to let her fondle my tits in the bathroom of a club we were hanging out at. She pouted like a three year old until I got her home and in bed. When we go out one of us always stays fairly sober because she would likely get arrested otherwise."

"Wow, so is Rose a lesbian?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious and not jealous like I had feared.

"No, but I think she's a little bi-curious. I think she tried fooling around with Mags a couple of times," I explained, his eybrows shot up at that, but he remained quiet so I continued. "but she likes dudes, even if she's extremely picky about who she deems worthy."

"Mags…as in Maggie from Jasper's band?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's a lesbian. She used to be single, but she's got some hot girlfriend named Siobhan now. They met a couple of months ago, seems serious." I shrugged. I didn't know Maggie that well. Rose was closer with her, obviously, but we all hung out occasionally.

Edward's face got serious and his eyes looked slightly pained. "Was Emmett horrible to you guys? If I'd have known he was going to show up I would have put off my trip."

"No you wouldn't have; you needed to go out there," I replied. "And yes he was horrible…" I hesitated, unsure of how brutally honest I should be.

Anger flashed in Edward's eyes, "What did he do? Did he do something to you? To Rose? I will kick him the fuck out if he hurt you in any way?"

"Babe, calm down, please. I'll tell you everything, but you need to listen calmly or I will wait until you can."

I raised a brow at him and he nodded. His eyes were still hard, but he looked much more in control.

"Well, when he got here I was in a fitting with Ali," I started. As I explained how our first meeting went I saw a dark shadow cross Edward's beautiful face. How he could be so beautiful and so scary at the same time was beyond me. I think it was only the need to hear the end of my story that kept him in bed with me and not rushing down the stairs to confront his brother. He muttered an occasional curse as I spoke, but said little else.

"So after I explained…rather colorfully, that you and I were together," I edited slightly as I spoke. "He was shocked and then started to ask what happened to your other girlfriend?"

That got his attention, "What other girlfriend?" he said shocked. "Baby, there's no one else there's only you. You believe me, right? I don't know what the hell he's talking—" I cut him off with a kiss which rapidly grew into a fervent, heated kiss, but I slowed it down so I could explain.

"I know there's no one else, babe, don't worry. Nothing I'm going to tell you has any effect on us or our relationship. Just listen, okay? I think you'll like this next part." He looked completely skeptical at my last comment, but he nodded firmly once and gave me his attention.

"So he was going on and on about this geeky girl named Becca you'd met in Washington and—" Edward's loud laugh barked out so unexpectedly that I think he surprised even himself. I giggled at his response and continued, "Yup, some nerdy girl apparently held your heart and he couldn't believe you'd dropped her so quickly."

I went on to tell him the rest of the story about Rose arriving and us all laughing at Emmett's cluelessness and about him calling us all bitches. Edward growled at that revelation. I finally told him about Rose's plans for revenge and her thievery. I wasn't sure how that was all playing out just yet, but I didn't know if I wanted to be an accessory to whatever schemes she was hatching. She and Ali had been whispering conspiratorially a lot the last couple of days and I was pretty sure they had things well in hand.

"Wait…so he still doesn't know that you're the same girl?" Edward asked, chuckling lightly. I was glad the dark look that had shadowed his face earlier had been replaced with an amused grin.

"Nope. Not unless he's figured it out on his own," I answered. "I sort of doubt that though. He's been avoiding us all. I think he thinks we're all on drugs or something because we're all prone to fits of seemingly random laughter when he's around. He can never figure out why we're laughing at him so he just thinks we're nuts."

"Wow, that's awesome enough on its own. I won't get involved with Rose's plans, but I'll try to stay out of her way," he said thoughtfully. "We had quite the throw-down this morning and I don't want to make things worse by getting involved with her schemes." I couldn't help but think of Emmett's angry voice spilling out from behind his door this morning.

"What happened?" I couldn't keep myself from asking.

"He's pissed that I'm here, trying to parent him after all these years," he said sadly. "He's right, he has more than enough reason to be pissed at me, but I can't just watch him go down this path and not say anything. He's turning into such a prick; I can't ignore that." He was quiet for a moment before adding thoughtfully, "Maybe Rose will do him some good. Maybe she really can teach him a lesson as she said."

I giggled at that, despite the seriousness of the conversation. "Well, if anyone can, it'd be Rose."

The whole time we'd been talking his hands had been softly caressing my back, gliding up and down my spine sweetly, almost absent mindedly. A while ago we'd rolled so that we were facing each other and our legs were tangled together. Every touch had been affectionate, but nothing had been overly sexual so far because of the seriousness of our conversation.

Now, gazing at each other in silence, the atmosphere in the room shifted and the air was suddenly buzzing with tension.

"Baby, I missed you so fucking much," Edward said, his voice husky and quiet. "I need to be inside you soon. I need you."

I didn't answer him, instead I pulled on the back of his neck, bringing his lips down roughly to my own. His mouth moved over mine with a desperate hunger that lit a fire through me instantly. He gripped my hip tightly and pulled me hard against his body. His fingers found their way to down to my pussy, slipping against my lower lips, teasing my folds.

"God baby," he groaned. "you're so fucking wet. Always so fucking wet for me."

He worked his fingers over me as he kissed me roughly again. His tongue reclaiming my mouth.

"Now, Edward, stop fucking teasing me. I need you in me now, " I demanded. He responded immediately, pushing into me in one hard thrust, eliciting a deep moan from each of us.

"Fuuuuuuck!" he gritted out. "I missed your pussy so fucking much!"

He pushed me slightly and we rolled so that my back was flat against the bed with his hips cradled by my thighs. After a few hard, slow thrusts we both needed more. He pulled my legs up his body, resting my ankles on his shoulders as he thrust deeply into me.

"God, baby, I fuckin' love it when you grip me tightly like that," he rasped out. He turned his head and kissed my ankle sweetly before increasing the pace of his movements.

"YES!" I cried. "Fuck, babe, harder, please Edward! I need you to fuck me harder!"

His hips snapped forcefully against my own. Each powerful thrust bringing us both closer to the edge.

"God baby…can't hold out much…fuucck!" I could feel Edward start to pulse within me. I knew he was losing his battle holding off his climax.

"Yeesss!" I cried out, my muscles gripping his cock tightly as he moved within me. "I wanna feel you cum inside me!" I gasped.

His face contorted in pleasure and I felt him spill deeply within me. The feel of his taught body clutching me tightly and his cock pulsing inside me sent me shattering around him with a silent scream. Wave after wave of intense heat course through my body and I found myself gasping for air as I came down from my high. I may have forgotten to breathe for a while there.

We lay panting, his chest pressed against my own, his face nestled perfectly in the crook of my neck. I could feel his hot, labored breaths across the surface of my skin and I tightened my hold around his shoulders, needing him as close as possible still. He pulled back suddenly, causing my arms to loosen around him. His eyes were filled with concern and uncertainty, the exact opposite of how I was feeling at the moment

"What's wrong?" I asked, my voice hoarse and dry.

"I'm so sorry, Love," he whispered, confusing me more. His eyes darted back and forth from each of my own, searching for something. "I didn't mean to lose control like that, to be so rough with you. Are you okay?"

A giggle of relief bubbled up in me. Edward was just being his worrywart self. "I'm absolutely, blissfully, mind-blowingly satisfied, thank you very much," his face softened slightly, but I could tell he was still beating himself up for losing control.

I held his face between my hands and waited for his eyes to meet my own. "Stop it. Now," I admonished. "I love that you let yourself go like that. It's sexy as hell when you want me that badly. I want you that badly too. You didn't hurt me. If you ever do anything I don't like, I'll tell you immediately. I trust you completely and you should trust yourself more."

He looked away from me again, which I didn't like at all, but I gave him a moment to process what I'd said. When his eyes mine again his expression had turned loving and vulnerable.

"I just don't ever want you to feel unsafe or like you can't stop something. I can't help but get lost in this…in us. I just…"

"Hey. I get it," I soothed. "But you just have to trust me to tell you if I don't like something. You have to trust me enough to let go with me."

He nodded resignedly and kissed my lips softly.

"Let's shower and then go down for some food," he suggested.

"Sounds good," I said, yawning and stretching my sore muscles.

"You're still tired?" he asked incredulously. "You're not allowed to play drinking games with Rose anymore." He said playfully.

"Fair enough," I conceded. "I didn't want to play last night, but she always gets what she wants."

EPOV

The house was eerily quiet when we descended to the first floor. Bella went toward the kitchen while I checked my sister's studio to see if she was in the house. I found her looking as unkempt as I'd ever seen her, wearing designer sweatpants and a bejeweled tank top. Her hair was a riot of uncontrolled spikes and dark makeup was smudged under her eyes. She looked so unlike my sister as she leaned over her work table that I was struck dumb momentarily. Finally finding my voice, I cleared my throat and she jumped a little at the sound.

"Hey Ali, fun night last night?" I teased.

She looked up at me scowling with tired eyes, "Yeah, I can't party with those two. They drank me under the table." She threw down her pencil with a frustrated huff. "Maggie, Kate and Irina are supposed to be here soon for their fitting and I still have a couple of things that I need to work out before they get here. Ugh! Stupid Rose left an hour ago looking fresh as a freakin' daisy! I mean that is really unfair."

I chuckled at her, probably the wrong reaction in the moment because she threw a wad of sparkly pink fabric at my head. "Sorry, sorry," I said holding my hands up in surrender. "Bella's making some food if you want to join us in the kitchen."

"Maybe. Let me see if I can figure this out real quick and then I'll be over," she said, picking up her pencil again and rubbing her temple with her fingers.

As I headed toward the kitchen the doorbell rang. I figured Ali's models had arrived so I pulled the door open to let them in and was shocked at the face staring back at me.

"Hello Edward," she said in a voice that I was sure she meant to be seductive, but only turned my stomach.

"Tanya," I answered curtly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well I heard through the grapevine that you were back in the area," she said with false innocence. Damn she was laying it on thick. Did I used to buy this shit? "I thought we could catch up, you know for old times' sake." She reached out to touch my arm, but I instinctively flinched away from the contact.

"Babe, do you want some food? I've got pretty much everything ready," Bella called from the kitchen. Something hateful flashed in Tanya's eyes, but I couldn't find it in me to care if she felt some sort of residual jealousy.

"I'll be right there, baby," I answered, not wanting Bella to come looking for me. I just wanted Tanya to leave. I turned to her to tell her just that, but she spoke before I could.

"Who's that? Your girlfriend?" she asked, thinly veiled venom in her voice.

"Yeah. You need to go now. I don't have anything to say to you," I said evenly as I started pushing the door closed. She leaned a bit forward, blocking my attempt to close the door.

"Get out of the way Tanya or I'll force you out of the way. We have nothing to say to each other," I seethed. I mean what the hell was she trying to gain here?

"Oh, I think we have plenty to say to each other," she said, returning to her sultry tone, her attempts at flirting falling short. "I know you miss me Edward. I can see it in your eyes. We have so much history together. We owe it to each other, to our pasts to at least talk things through."

"You've had seven fuckin years to get in touch with me. No thanks Tan. Now get the hell out of my house before I call the cops on you!" She started and blanched at my harsh tone.

"There's no need to get nasty, Edward. You always were such a drama queen," she huffed. Her eyes flitted behind me briefly, hardening further as they returned to my face. "Fine, I'm leaving. Get back to your little girlfriend. What is she, like twelve you pervert? Enjoy your pathetic midlife crisis while it lasts. Maybe you're the one the police would be interested in."

With that she turned and left. Slamming the door shut, I rested my forehead against the cool wooden surface. I felt warm arms snake around my waist and I heaved a deep sigh.

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"Enough," she answered, leaving sweet kisses on my back. "She's an even bigger bitch than I'd imagined."

A fractured burst of laughter bubbled up from me. "Yeah, I think she's gotten worse than I remembered."

"Well she didn't look too happy when she saw me standing behind you. I imagine that's why she got so pissed at the end there," she said, laying her cheek against my back and tightening her hold on my waist.

I turned in her arms and pulled her snug against my chest. "I'm so sorry you had to see her baby. I have no idea how she even found out I was living here. I thought she was still living in New York. Last I heard she was getting married to that guy she worked with."

"Hey, babe," she said, placing her hands of my face and instantly calming my growing anxiety. "You didn't invite her here, you asked her to leave. She clearly didn't respect your wishes. I'm not upset with you. I am however pissed at her for putting you in this position. Someone clearly told her you were here, and I have my suspicions that someone told her you and I were together. She seemed entirely unsurprised by my appearance at the door.

"Kate!" I growled. It only made sense.

"Kate? Ali's friend. What does she have to do with it?" Bella asked.

"She's Tanya's sister," I explained. "I saw her when she came by to help Ali last week. It didn't even occur to me that she'd say anything to Tanya or that Tanya would care one way or another about it. It's been so long since we've spoken."

"Well, she's not allowed to ruin our day," Bella said firmly as she pulled me toward the kitchen. She had laid out a platter of sandwiches and tons of snacks.

"Wow, Love, this is awesome. Thank you." I pulled her to me for a kiss. I'd missed her so fucking much and Tanya showing up had put me on edge. I needed to feel her lips under my own, I needed reassurance that she was still mine.

"Ick! Gross!" my sister exclaimed from the doorway. "Don't you two ever give it a rest? Oooh sandwiches!"

"Shut it Ali. I missed your brother," Bella admonished. "Besides, you and Jazz are just as bad."

Ugh, I did not want to think about that. I chose to ignore Bella's comment and help myself to some food instead.

"Yes! Grub!" Emmett's voice echoed through the kitchen. "Please tell me I'm allowed to have some this time."

"Alright," Bella conceded. "I guess if your mouth is full you won't be able to say anything. So that's got to be an improvement."

Emmett didn't seem offended by the comment, instead he sat at the table and began loading up his plate with food.

It seemed for just a moment like such a normal thing to do. We were all seated at the table, quietly sharing a meal. I couldn't remember the last time I'd shared a meal with both of my siblings at the same time. It had been years since we'd all been together. The peace only lasted for a short time, though.

"What the ever-lovin' fuck is this all about?!" Emmett shouted around a mouth full of food. He was gripping his phone tightly in his large hand and his face was rapidly turning so red it was shifting toward purple.

"What's wrong?" Ali asked.

"Some organization called the 'Sexually Transmitted Infections Alert Center' sent out an alert to…well fuck it looks like everyone on my contacts list, letting them know I have herpes and highly drug resistant gonorrhea…is that even a thing?" He kept scrolling through his phone, looking more and more agitated as he did. I didn't think that sounded like a legitimate organization, but I could have been wrong.

"You have gonorrhea and herpes?" my sister asked sounding slightly alarmed.

"NO I FUCKIN' DON'T! Who the hell sent this and how did they find all these people in my contacts?" Emmett started pulling on his hair and breathing heavily. I looked over at Bella, who was trying to hide her amused expression behind her sandwich, which confused me until it didn't. Rosalie Hale had landed her first attack on my brother. Shit that was cruel; hitting my brother where it hurt most. He must have royally pissed her off.

"HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN. I'M GONNA FIND OUT AND I'M GONNA FUCKIN SUE SOMEBODY!" Emmett bellowed, slamming his hand down on the table and abruptly leaving the room.

So much for a quiet family meal.

A/N:

*Raul Dahl's Matilda. Awesome book. If you haven't read it, you probably should. The movie is cute too.

**Amelie, French movie from 2001, adorable and awesome if you haven't seen it.