Double Updates! Wooo. Thank you for all the alerts and favorites since the last chapter. I always smile when I see them! Remember, this story is going to be as fluffy as I can possibly make it so if that's not for you and you want some major drama and more normal and not always-in-the-honeymoon-phase EXB you're in the wrong place.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I just play around with the characters and songs.


Chapter Twelve: Elevator buttons and morning air, stranger silence makes me want to take the stairs. If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares...but right now, my time is theirs.

"You're doing fantastic, Bella!" Leah reassured from her place behind her camera. "How are you feeling?"

I shivered, "A little c-cold, actually." I was understating how cold I actually was. Standing outside, in New York, in the winter in a dress wasn't exactly an ideal situation for any girl to want to find herself in for long periods of time.

But this was for my album so I would keep pushing through it.

"Let's take five, warm her up!" The words had barely been finished before her crew descended upon me. Almost immediately, I had a very warm robe draped around me and gloves shoved on my hands and then a warm beverage shoved into my newly gloved hands.

And I just stood there like a deer in the headlights.

It was day two of my photo shoot and I still wasn't used to people dropping whatever they were doing to rush over and assist me.

"Thank you," I managed to squeak out as hair and makeup stepped in to touch me up.

"You really are doing great, Bella." Leah told me as I joined her at her portable desk set up. She had several monitors set up to her laptop which was currently cycling through the pictures we had just taken.

"Look at that," I smiled, brightly.

It was me, only I looked like a princess. The foresety backdrop and the snow tumbling down around me and the dress of course! Since the theme for 'Enchanted'-the obvious choice of course- was a more fairytale theme the last two days have been filled with traveling all over New York to find places that looked well...enchanted, magical.

I really loved how it was turning out so far, and these were just the unedited pictures! I'd probably die when I saw the finished product.

"I have an eye for beauty, although it helps a lot when you get to work with a beauty." she added winking.

"You're amazing, I could kiss you right now." But I'm pretty sure Kara-the sweet middle aged woman who was hair and makeup-would smack me for messing up my lipstick.

"I'm glad you like it!"

"Love it," I sang.

I loved all of this, every single moment. Day by Day we got so much closer to that December 16th date. I could say closer to my dream but my dream has come true. I was signed, I was an actual recording artist and that's all I've ever wanted.

Now I get what I wanted and then some.

I did my little happy dance, a dance that I usually do three or four times a day lately.

"Ready to get back to work?"

"Yup, I'm all toasty again."

"We'll do a couple more outfits and then we'll call it for today-I don't need to be the reason you catch a cold or worse."

"Sounds good!"

And with that, it was time to change into yet another dress. At least this one was very long and very poofy so it offered me a bit extra warmth.

Still freezing my ass off or not, I did it all with a smile.

Worth it.

Sadly, the weather wasn't holding up to well for us and by three thirty Leah decided to call it quits for today. I didn't even have it in me to protest and just thanked her profusely before heading into the trailer to put on my street clothes.

I didn't get to keep the dresses this time, insert sad face here. I did however have several dozen pictures, both because of Leah and because of Leah's assistant using my phone behind the scenes.

I resisted the urge to post them all online but I did send quite a few to Edward so he could see all the gorgeous dresses I was lucky enough to try on.

It is day one of our three-week separation.

And so far, I was doing good. I did miss him, how could I not? but it wasn't 'drop everything and fly to Italy to see him right this moment' sort of miss him.

Although ask me again after I have to spend my first night without my cuddle buddy. I'm sure my answer would change right around three or four am.

The plus side was that I was busy. I had one last day of my album photo shoot with Leah and then I got to meet the director of my first music video! And of course, I get to start filming it sometime this week.

Now that, I was nervous about. 50 percent of music videos were about acting. What if I wasn't that great of actor? What if it was so obvious in the video? What if I didn't like the actor that was going to be my love? What if I forgot what to do or if I tripped and ripped down the entire set?

The last 'what if' was a bit extreme but you never know with me.

I wanted everything to go perfectly and I doubted that was ever possible when filming something, be it a movie or a short 5-minute music video.

A video that would be on the internet for the rest of eternity...

I feel sick.

Maybe I could be one of those artists who just appeared in the background, staring happily at the happy couple. That could work.

Or I could suck it up and at least give it a try. So what if my first video isn't spectacular. Artists always improved more and more as time went on. I could catch the hang of it and if not I had an incredibly sexy actor boyfriend who would happily dish out his secrets.

What is the secret to acting?-B

I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you-E

I'm worried about my video :c-B

You'll do fine, pretty girl-E

Ha, as if FINE would be okay.

Bella, relax, we just talked about this...

See what happens when I'm this nervous? I'm all over the damn place. One moment I'm calm and rational the next...sigh.

I'm awkward and weird though. I don't know how to act. This is why I chose singing!-B

You're really that worried?-E

Yes, so worried. So worried that I'm okay with not even appearing in the video at all.-B

Enchanted is a love song, you act in love. Just do what I've been doing lately. Pretend it's me that you'll be having the lovey dovey moments with-E

I knew I could count on him.

He was right. If my mind settled for more than five seconds at a time I probably could've come up with something similar.

Whatever actor I got, as long as I pretended it was Edward, I could be in love.

You're a genius. I knew there was a reason I started dating you-B

Ha-E

You know I love you :D-B

As I love you. Now don't worry that pretty little mind of yours. You'll rock it.-E

Thank you!-B

Anytime ;) I gotta get back to set. Stay safe, I love you-E

Go rock the next scene! Love you too-B

I wish I could give him a big kiss.

3 weeks.

3 weeks and then we'll have a bunch of makeup make out sessions. And definitely a lot of hot 'I missed you' sex. We'd have a while together after three weeks too. He didn't have to jet off to film another movie so he'd return to New York and we'd be able to do whatever, not just sex-Although...

Bad Bella!

I so am. Probably cause I like when he spanks me...

Whore.

Another downside of being Edwardless was that I had a lot of time to entertain myself within my head. The logical choice would've been to spend time with my other friends but since most of my friends are just as famous as my boyfriend, they all took off to places of their own. Angela was still here but I didn't like bothering her on her days off. She had a family to spend time with and I wasn't about to take that away from her.

When I got home that afternoon, I busied myself in the kitchen. I tried out some new recipes that I had found on Tumblr and in between that I was trying to work on a new song, I had the beat for it constantly playing in my head but no words as of yet.

No rush.

Who knows if I'd even be able to record a new album? Don't studios determine that based on how well the first album sells?

Still, I suppose it never hurt to be prepared. Besides, even if things did flop, I wouldn't just stop doing what I loved. All of this means something to me, it allows me to get out my pain and anger and definitely express the heart-pounding chest aching happiness that swells up inside of me.

Once you become a songwriter, you stay a songwriter-whether you like it or not.

The recipes that I wanted to recreate required several ingredients that I didn't have laying around the house so I decided to get redressed and head to the store.

Edward had left the keys to at least a dozen cars, all of which sat on the second level of the parking garage. They were all way too fancy for a quick trip to the grocery store and would most likely catch the attention of any reporters who had taken the time to familiarize themselves with Edward Cullen's collection of cars.

So I decided to walk.

Speaking of reporters, since Edward's departure the crowds of them have lessened. I literally only saw one since this morning and I wasn't sure if they had been because of me, Edward's still sort of mysterious girlfriend, or because of Leah freaking Clearwater.

So walking wasn't a big deal and I intended to savor moments like this. Sure it was cold and dark but it was still beautiful. I have always loved the snow. I remember waking up at five and six and seeing that it had snowed overnight and just rushing outside in my pajamas.

My dad had to wrangle me in to put on a real snowsuit before he released me into the wild again.

It's always around the holidays when I miss my family the most.

Life back in Forks wasn't as miserable as I made it sound. When I wasn't being the normal glaring teenager because her parents wouldn't let her see who she wanted, I did have fun.

Every Sunday was a family dinner at the lodge and if we got home early enough we'd watch a movie together before bed. But Holidays, Holidays were always the best. Thanksgiving my mom and her sister would cook a big feast while my dad and uncle took all the kids to first beach to work up an appetite.

Christmas we'd cut down our own tree and decorate it with homemade ornaments. Since we were one, yeah that young, our mom made us paint our own so you can see our creativity grow by the year. It was beautiful. On Christmas eve, we would all camp out under the tree and Seth and I would wake up surrounded with gifts.

But since I've left home...all of that has changed.

Thanksgivings were either spent working or in front of a TV with a TV dinner. Not exactly magical or fun in any way shape or form. Christmas was pretty much the same only I had a sad plant acting as a Christmas tree.

Two days from now would be another thanksgiving that I would be without family.

But I was going to change the rest of the details. Get my practice on for next year when all the people that I love would hopefully surround me.

It was a nice thought.

I wonder if Angela had plans for Thanksgiving. I could always use taste tester to try out these new recipes ideas. I would ask Caleb but he went where Edward went so he was out of the question.

Ooh, the doorman-Mitchel-he was really nice. I'm sure he'd be up for a couple samples. Maybe eve-

"Bella?"

Oh no.

"Bella!"

Turn on the poker face, Bella.

"James? Hi." I turned reluctantly to face my ex. "What are you doing here?"

"I just started!" he was indeed wearing the grocery's store apron. This was definitely a product of my luck. New York was huge, there were tons of shops to work at and which one does my ex end up working at? The one in walking distance of my new apartment. Lovely. "Needed some extra cash while I wait for the callbacks."

Did I ever mention that James wanted to be an actor? It was one of the big reasons why he decided to move to New York. He thought he'd be able to waltz into one of the theaters and immediately have a part on broadway.

We worked well together when we moved out here. We both had jobs but we supported each other's careers. I'd help him read scripts and he'd listen to me play and critique my work.

Sometimes I think that the lack of success in his field is what drove him away time and time again. I may not have been having much success either but I was performing and getting callbacks from bars to perform for an evening. He got nothing.

Now, I made something of myself so was it really that surprising that he was drawn back to me? Nope. James is the very definition of a leech. When he's there, he attaches himself to you and takes all that he can before moving on to the next person.

Around year two of being out here, he decided to sleep with a female producer in hopes that he could get something out of it. It broke my heart because he was willing to throw away love in order to get what he wanted.

Any sane girl would've been through with him but he was all I had. I gave everything up to be with him, to be out here, and I felt like there was no turning back…and so I forgave him and we moved forward and he continually kept hurting me because I allowed it.

"Uh...how's that going?"

"Great, great. I auditioned for four big plays last week. I feel pretty confident about two of them. They'll probably have to fight over me. Good for me though, I can get a little more out of my contract."

"Uh huh." James was also incredibly cocky. He thought he was the best of the best and when he was rejected he often raged and cussed up a storm and told whomever he had auditioned for that they made a huge mistake.

"So you and Edward Cullen," he snorted as if enjoying a joke. "That's…really unexpected. Although, I heard he left town…" He cocked his eyebrow at me as if waiting for me to tell him that I had been dumped on the street like yesterday's trash.

Even if I had been, being with Edward has changed my perspective on a lot of things in regards to relationships. I wouldn't allow myself to be in a relationship as toxic as the one James and I once shared.

"Filming," I confirmed turning back toward the spices.

"It must be hard. You have to deal with him being gone all the time. Is that really what you want?" he tried to duck into my view.

I glared at the spices, trying to bite my tongue.

"Don't you worry about all the girls? I mean, he's Hollywood's golden boy or whatever." James continued. "He can have any girl he wants and he settles for…"

For someone like me?

That mousey girl in me cringed at his unspoken words but I didn't let them get to me. So what if I wasn't someone amazing to James?

"Okay, James, seriously." I couldn't bite my tongue. I couldn't. I've always been so lax when it came to James. I just let him talk and never say a word but I wasn't that mousey eighteen-year-old girl anymore, though she did still have a small part in me. "I dated you and you wanted to be an actor."

"But I wouldn't le-" he tried to argue.

"Yes you would have." I huffed. "You couldn't even stay when you had nothing. All those times when you were turned down from play after play, you let that drive you away from me so what would've happened if you got something? And you somehow became this big hot shot who could get all the tail he wanted?"

"The difference is I love you."

"No you don't. You think you love me. No you don't even think you love me. You love that I've become successful and you love that you think you can get a free ride from me."

We were having a glare off.

"You mean like the free ride you're getting?"

Do not slap him, Bella. Do not slap his stupidly smug face.

I wasn't one to lose my temper often but James drove out the worst in me nowadays.

"I met him after my career. There was no free ride. I tried and I failed but I got back up and kept trying. He didn't snap his fingers and suddenly I had everything."

"I met you before your career."

"And?" I questioned. "You know what, I'm done here."

"I basically gave you your start, Bella." He said, trying to block my path. "I brought you out here. You never would have met anyone without me."

"Thank you," I said through clenched teeth. "But that's all you're getting from me. And If I ever see you again and you attempt this shit again, you won't like the consequences. I'm a big deal now, didn't you know? You want to see me get what I want? Want to see me be you? I have friends in high places, James. I'm friends with a big director, with a record label executive, and so many others. Don't test me."

I ducked under his arm, leaving him standing there shocked.

The nerve of him!

I was seething.

He felt like he deserved my help because he convinced me to leave my home? Sure, I probably wouldn't have left without his convincing but did that mean I was his limelight slave?

After all that he had done, the bad outweighed the good by huge margins. He's lucky he got a thank you out of me and not a swift kick below the belt.

Asshole.

"Did you find everything okay, Ma'am?"

"Yes." I took a breath to calm down. "However, a certain employee didn't exercise proper etiquette tonight." He's lucky that I wasn't making a huge deal out of it. So there, this is me helping him out…by not getting him fired. "You should help them out with that."

"O-of course, ma'am. I apologize for something like that happening."

"It's okay." I sighed. "Just didn't want someone else to be harsher than I am."

That was nice, right?

I paid for my goods and quickly left the store. I couldn't help but smirk as I heard the cashier quickly call James up front.

Dick.

The walk home was quick and cold as well as tiring. I had bought far too much and really should have considered borrowing one of Edward's cars so that I didn't have to haul the two huge paper bags home myself but at least it was a good workout.

"Ms. Swan!" Mitchel rushed to my aid as he saw me struggling just outside the door. "Let me help you with those."

"Thank you," I breathed. "Didn't intend to get that much but I'm practicing for Thanksgiving next year."

"Thanksgiving is only a few days away."

"Yeah, I know. It's just I don't really have plans this year so I need to keep my cooking skills sharp." I explained as we piled into the elevator. "Expect a dozen or so samples coming your way very soon. I need a critique."

"I can't turn down a home cooked meal." He chuckled. "I promise to be an excellent critic."

"I have no doubt," I winked. "Thank you so much for helping me."

"No problem, Ms. Swan. I await my delicious samples!"

"I'll have them down in around an hour. Is Paula coming in today?" I asked referring to the woman who took over the front desk at night.

"Yes in about an hour an a half."

"I'll make enough for everyone," I promised.

It felt nice to have someone to cook for. You know, Chef used to be my backup career if the whole singing deal didn't work out for me. Thanks to all the lovely ladies on my dad's side, I was cooking from the time I was six years old. I learned all the family tricks and tips to make successful dishes.

I even used to host Bella's cooking show Saturday Mornings. It was just my nine-year-old self sneaking downstairs early and attempting to make pancakes for the family.

First few attempts were terrible, and one of those resulted in me burning the life out of the pancakes so they set off the alarm, but after a while I got it. That didn't stop my mom from sneaking down and watching me from the shadows-she thought I didn't know but I did. I can't blame her though. I was little and there are many things that could go wrong during cooking.

Like when I tried to teach Seth how to cook, I turned my back for one second and suddenly flames covered the pan. We were both screaming as we tried to put it out when our Dad found us and quickly took care of it.

Security beefed up after that incident. But hey, I needed all the help I could get with Seth because of his pyrotechnics. It happened three more times…

True to my word, I went back downstairs around an hour later with a box filled with my test recipes. Paula and Mitchel were very good sports and entertained my chef Bella hour.

It was also nice to have dinner with people and be able to talk about day to day life. I felt normal. Even if said people were the security of my apartment building, I've grown rather fond of these two.

After dinner, I let the two of them have the leftovers and went back upstairs to get ready for bed.

Here goes night one of solo sleeping.

I was a bit pouty.

And by a bit I mean a lot.

You know how it feels to experience the best night's sleep with someone and suddenly just want it always? Yeah that's the current mindset that I had.

"Damn you, Edward." I mumbled, flopping over to my other side. After at least another half hour of tossing and turning, I grabbed my laptop and opened it up.

Well, if I'm not sleeping I might as well do something productive with my time.

Ha, productive wasn't exactly the word someone would use when describing social media sites but meh.

I found at least a dozen photos of me from my little shopping trip tonight. I hadn't even realized that someone had been following me but from the sneaky angles they had on me, it was very obvious that I did have a ninja reporter tailing me.

Lovely.

I didn't let it bother me. What could I do about it anyway? It'll only get worse the longer that I'm in this world. Might as well get used to it now.

Though Tumblr provided a nice distraction, it wasn't enough to make me tired enough to fall asleep on my own so I turned to Skype and was delighted to see that Edward was online.

Bellibutton- You spoiled me over the last few weeks ;(

EAMCullen- I don't regret it one bit.

Bellibutton- But now it's hard to sleep without you. How am I supposed to make it three more weeks?

EAMCullen- Aw, my poor baby.

Bellibutton-No mocking!

EAMCullen-I'm not, love. I'm finding it difficult as well. I finished filming about an hour ago and haven't been able to sleep.

Bellibutton-We are quite the pair, aren't we?

EAMCullen-Mhm.

EAMCullen is typing a message

EAMCullen- I have an idea.

Before I could respond he was calling me on Skype. I happily accepted and smiled when I saw his beautiful face.

"Hi, pretty girl."

"Hey, I miss you already."

"I miss you too, so much. What have you done to me Ms. Swan?" I grinned and poked my tongue out at him.

"How did filming go today?" I wondered, placing my laptop on his side of the bed and turning on my side to face him.

"It was very long but not too terrible."

"I bet you kicked ass today."

"I tried my best."

"Wish I was there to see all the sex scenes." I snickered.

"What a weird girlfriend you are."

"I warned you." I said, trying not to break out into a giggle fit.

And that's how our first night alone worked. We stayed in Skype talking and laughing until we fell asleep with Skype Still running. He may not have been here physically but it felt like he was inside.

Have I mentioned how much I adore him lately?

I'm completely smitten and you know what, I don't mind it in the least.

When I woke up in the morning, Edward was sadly gone but wrote me a lovely and absolutely adorable message on Skype. He mentioned that if I was still up when he got back to his hotel, we could have a Skype sleepover again.

Perhaps these next few weeks apart wouldn't be as bad as I had originally worried.

My day was pretty awesome as well. How could I be down when I got to be a princess in gorgeous designer dresses for most of the day. Thankfully, almost all of my shoots were inside so I was able to enjoy the dresses and get in the zone a lot more than I was while freezing my ass off outside.

I was in an actual Castle for this shoot. It was a bit of a drive to get here but it was completely worth it. The view was great and the castle just oozed elegance and held that fairytale charm that is dreamed about.

The inside was empty but Leah worked her magic and transformed the two biggest rooms into two different areas for me to explore and pose in.

It was an amazing shoot. I had a blast being silly and pretty on camera, I wasn't as awkward as I thought I would be when I started all this. I looked like I belonged here, I couldn't help but think as I looked at all the photos that Leah took of me.

It was a great feeling.

The shoot lasted until well into the late evening so instead of making the long drive back home, we stayed in a hotel for the evening. I told Leah that I wouldn't mind doubling up with someone so that she wouldn't have to dish out more money but she told me not to worry about it and set me up in a king suite.

Would I ever get used to such a lavish lifestyle?

Edward and I once again spent the evening on Skype but it seemed that we were both too tired to do much talking tonight and so we just sleepily mumbled here and there before falling asleep.

All in All, my day was amazing and I couldn't wait to see what the coming days held for me.


I have chapter 13 and 14 done and I'm about halfway done with 15 so expect more frequent, if not daily, updates!

Review :D