#Belward – Chapter 12
The next morning, Edward woke up to the incessant chiming of his cell phone. Groaning, he looked at the clock on the side table and cursed when it read 6:17 a.m. Grabbing his phone, he saw that there were three texts from Jasper.
6:14 a.m.: Warning. Incoming.
6:15 a.m.: Attack is imminent. She got the slip on me when I was in the shower. Sorry, Edward.
6:16 a.m.: As soon as I get dressed, I'll come by to rescue you.
Edward groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. He must have fallen back asleep because the next thing he knew, he felt the bed bouncing. Throwing the pillow off his face, he looked up to find Alice jumping on the bed.
Rolling off the bed, Edward stood blinking at his sister. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"A magician never reveals her secrets, Bub," Alice said in a voice that was way too awake for the hour of the day. Looking at Edward, she shook her head. "I thought I threw those pants away. Did you steal them back out of the trash pile when I wasn't looking?"
Edward closed his eyes and sighed. "It's way too early for this."
Grumbling under his breath, Edward walked into the living area of the suite and turned on the Keurig. Every morning he praised the coffee gods for making such a simple machine. All he had to do was flip a switch, drop the little cup in the holder and close the lid. Then Tada! Coffee time. It really was the little things in life that brought him the most joy.
Turning back to his sister, Edward said in his gruff morning voice, "I know why you're here. I need to shower and have my coffee before I have this conversation with you. Don't steal my coffee."
When Edward came out of the shower, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Alice had called room service. Alice was already halfway through her egg white omelet, and she motioned to the steaming pot of coffee on the table. "Got you more fuel."
Edward sat down across from her and took his first sip of coffee. "Go on. I know it's killing you to hold it in. So let's hear it."
Alice turned her body to face Edward squarely, and leaned forward with her forearms on the table. In an eerily calm voice, she said, "Edward, I had a wonderful dinner last night. Imagine my surprise when Embry shows up halfway through appetizers to tell us that he didn't have to stay with you because you were on A DATE. I almost choked on my crab cake!"
The mental image of Alice coughing up bits of crab cake was pretty entertaining, but Edward managed to stifle his laughter. Why provoke the beast unnecessarily?
"As surprising as it was that you were on a date, it was even more shocking to find out who you were on a date with!" Alice said getting more and more animated as she went on. Her hands were starting to punctuate her sentences, and she was getting a little excited. "You know how much I love Bella! You were there and saw how much we bonded. I get that she wouldn't run and tell me that she was going on a date with my brother because that might be awkward for her. I understand that. But YOU! You are my own brother, and you didn't say a single thing to me. We're not just siblings. We're best friends, and you didn't tell me. I had to hear about it from Embry. What the hell, Bub?"
Edward listened to his sister and continued to drink his coffee. Occasionally he took bites of his frittata, but he kept listening. He understood where Alice was coming from, and he did feel bad that he had hurt her feelings.
"Why aren't you saying anything?!" Alice said standing up.
"I was letting you finish," Edward said calmly. Alice had been like this since they were kids. She'd work herself into a frenzy, and then she'd slowly wind back down, often with Edward's help. Emmett would just rile her up more because he thought it was funny. Edward would get worried about her getting that excited.
When Alice took a deep breath and sat back down, Edward said, "Alice, I never meant to hurt your feelings or make you feel left out. I just wanted to keep this to myself for a little bit. I didn't know what I was doing, and there's still a big part of me that doesn't know what I'm doing. I'm just going by instinct and taking it a day at a time. I like Bella, and I don't want to mess this up. But I have to do this my way. If she's going to like me for me, I have to do this on my own."
Sighing, Alice brought her knees up to her chest and leaned back in the chair. "So you're telling me to butt out."
"Yes," Edward said with finality. "I'm not saying that I don't value your advice. I just don't need it this time. I want her to like me even if I'm clumsy, geeky, and slightly socially inept. I want her to like the real me, Alice. Not the Edward Cullen that people see on television. If she can like me even after she sees me flub up…"
"Oh Bub," Alice said softly. There it was. Underneath it all, her brother was still the shy, insecure boy that got teased in middle school because he had strange hair, glasses, braces, acne, and arms and legs that were too long. "Bella's one of the good ones. I trust her."
Before Edward could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Standing up, Edward checked the peephole and chuckled to himself. Opening the door, Jasper walked in with his eyes trained on his wife.
"Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do."
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Meanwhile across town…
What is that noise? Bella thought. Rolling over, she looked at the clock. It was barely 6:30 a.m. Who could possibly be knocking on her door this early?
Standing up, she trudged to the front door and looked at the security screen. There she saw Rosalie looking like a cover model. Opening the door, Bella leaned against the wall and gestured for Rosalie to come in. Closing the door behind Rosalie, Bella said, "I swear to god you're not human. There's no way you can look that good this early in the morning. It's just not normal."
Rosalie turned and looked at Bella. She had crazy bed hair and pillow wrinkles on her cheeks. She was wearing an oversized Tinkerbell sleep shirt and fuzzy blue socks. Taking out her phone quickly, Rosalie took a picture and sent it to Edward.
"Come on," Rosalie said. "Get dressed. We're going out."
"What?" Bella asked. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked a couple of times to clear her head. "Where are we going? Did we have plans today that I forgot about?"
"No," Rosalie said. "But I'm here to collect you. We're meeting up with Angela, Vanessa, and Alice for an early lunch at Red Rooster at 11."
Bella looked at the clock on her microwave. Yup, it was still 6:35 a.m. "Rosalie, that's four and a half hours from now. It doesn't take that long for me to shower, get dressed, and get to Harlem."
"It does when we're meeting Alice at the spa in 45 minutes. Come on, I built in time to stop at Starbucks, so you can get some caffeine," Rosalie said with a shooing motion of her hands.
By this point, Bella knew it was pointless to argue. She shuffled back to her bedroom to shower and get ready. Half an hour later, they were out the door and waiting in line at the Starbucks on the corner of Bella's block. While they waited for their turn to order, at least three people came up to Rosalie to ask her to take a selfie with them.
When they ordered, the barista asked Rosalie to sign her receipt, and one guy even asked Rosalie to kiss his coffee cup. Bella couldn't believe how much people loved celebrities, and she had to wonder what it would be like when she went out with Edward. Right now, no one cared that she was standing next to Rosalie. But when it was Edward, would they still leave her alone?
When they got their coffee, Bella looked at Rosalie's venti white chocolate mocha and shook her head. "I can't believe that's your drink."
Rosalie took a nice long sip and hummed in approval. "I work out for the sole purpose of being able to eat and drink whatever I want."
"Me too," Bella said as they walked out of the coffee shop and to the spa. It was several blocks away, but it was a nice morning and they had the time for a walk. "I spend so much time sitting to write that I have to exercise at least once a day. If I had to live off of lettuce because I sit all day, I would be so grouchy."
"I know, right?" Rosalie said. "When I first started in this business, my first agency told me that if I couldn't fit into a size 2 or smaller, they would put me on a diet and send me to a clinic to get back into shape. If I failed to maintain a certain size, I could be held liable for a breach of contract. I told them to go fuck themselves and found a new agency that believed in my talent and not my looks."
"They can do that?" Bella asked. She knew that it was difficult being in the movie industry, but she'd never really known anyone that lived it on a daily basis. Just then her phone chimed with a text from Edward.
"You look cute first thing in the morning. Wish I could've been there to see it myself."
Bella's eyes snapped up to Rosalie's. "Rosalie, did you take a picture of me this morning and send it to Edward? Why would you do that?"
Rosalie shrugged. "I thought he might want to know what his girlfriend looked like in the morning. I like teasing him. It's so easy."
Bella choked on her coffee. "How did you know? Are you upset that I didn't tell you?"
"Embry is married to Maria, who happens to be Jasper's sister. The four of them had dinner last night, and Embry being the gossipy little bitch that he is let the cat out of the bag. As soon as Alice got home from dinner, she called me," Rosalie said. Turning to her friend, winked and said, "Of course I'm not mad, Bella. I know you guys just met, and this is new to both of you. I didn't expect you to come right out the gate telling us that you were dating our brother. That actually might've been a little awkward."
Quickly, Bella put two and two together. "Is that what today is all about? Getting all the dirt on me and Edward? Does Alice think that taking me to the spa is how to butter me up and loosen my lips? If it is, then she's got another thing coming."
"Why?" Rosalie asked. "Aren't spa days the universal chick bribery?"
"Not this chick," Bella said shaking her head. "I hate spas."
With that, Rosalie just laughed. "Girl, I think I love you. Let's be each other's side salad for when the man meat piss us off."
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Edward used to think that he was a smart man, but he was really starting to question that belief. He didn't know what possessed him to ask Embry to drop him off at Bella's house for dinner. Embry had been going off nonstop since they left the studio about Edward breaking his dry spell, and it was driving Edward insane. Picking up his phone, he called Jasper.
Before Jasper could even say hello, Edward said, "I want a new bodyguard."
"No," Jasper said without even asking why.
"Why not? I'm the client, and I pay for the services rendered by your guards. I am not satisfied with the service I am receiving, and I would like to request that a new guard be assigned to me," Edward said as calmly as he could. Embry was still talking in his other ear, completely ignoring the fact that Edward was on the phone.
"Because you and I both know that there's nothing wrong with the service that Embry is providing. He's the best at what he does, and there's no one who knows you, your habits, and your crazy ass fan girls like Embry. You can't fire him just because he can be a little obnoxious," Jasper said. Embry might be his brother in law, but even Jasper didn't want to be chained to the guy all day every day.
"He's more than a little obnoxious, Jasper, " Edward said. Looking out the window, he was glad that they were getting close to where Bella said she lived.
"Yeah, well, truth be told, you're a little more than temperamental, Edward," Jasper said. "Not a lot of my guards want to work with a moody Hollywood actor."
"Fine!" Edward said like a petulant child. He hung up the phone without saying goodbye, and turned to find Embry laughing.
"Told you that you couldn't fire me," Embry said as he pulled up in front of Bella's building. "Now, what time would you like to be picked up, dear?"
"Fuck you. I'll get my own cab back to the hotel," Edward said.
"You have a meeting at 11 a.m., so just meet me downstairs," Embry said. As Edward started to get out of the car, Embry leaned over and said, "And remember, a gentleman ensures that his lady's pleasure comes first!"
Edward just glared at Embry and slammed the door in his laughing face. When he got into the building, he checked in with a nice doorman named Henry, who escorted him to the elevator and keyed in a special code to allow him up to the penthouse. As Edward rode the elevator up to the top floor, he could tell that Jasper's company had designed the security. It made him feel better knowing that Bella was safe in all of the cities she went to alone.
When he got to the door, Edward pushed the doorbell and noticed the small black dome above the door. She even had cameras outside her condo. When he heard the chime of the door alarm going off, he watched as the door swung open. The sight before him took his breath away.
He was a lucky bastard. He would never understand how a girl like that would be interested in a guy like him. The only time he'd ever seen Bella dress up was at the MTV Movie Awards. He was glad that she didn't feel like she had to impress him. He wanted her to be herself with him, and there she was in her black yoga pants and off the shoulder sweater. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she barely had any make-up on.
Edward walked into Bella's apartment and watched as she closed the door and rearmed the system.
When Bella turned around, she couldn't identify the look on Edward's face. She just knew that no one had ever looked at her with that kind of intensity before. Feeling herself blush, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're beautiful," Edward said softly. Stepping closer to her, he put his hand up to her face and gently ran his thumb over her cheek bone. "I can't believe I'm here with you. I must've done something right."
"If you did, then so did I, "Bella said quietly. "I don't have people over to my place all the time. But I like that you're here. I feel right with you here."
Edward smiled and started to lean closer to Bella. She only had socks on her feet, so she stood nearly a foot shorter than him. Edward slowly slid the hand that had been touching her cheek to the back of her neck. "Bella, can I…"
"Please, Edward. Please," Bella said softly. Lifting her hands, she put them on his chest and slowly slid them up and around his neck as Edward leaned closer to her. She loved the way his hand felt so big and strong behind her neck, and she wished she could inhale the scent of him forever.
Edward watched as Bella's eyelids fluttered closed, and when his lips finally met hers it just felt like everything clicked into place. This kiss wasn't one filled with lust and hormones. Instead, Edward felt like a blanket of security surrounded him. Three was an immense sense of finality that struck him, and he finally felt grounded. It was like he'd been running towards something for the past 12 years, and he'd finally found his landing place. It was right here with Bella.
When Edward's lips met hers, Bella felt as if a million butterflies took off in her stomach. Her heart tripped a couple of times, and she just felt like one of the heroines she wrote about in her books. She had finally experienced that dreamlike flutter that she always wrote about, and she knew with absolute certainty that she'd found her own personal happily ever after.
Pulling away slowly, Edward looked into Bella's eyes, and saw that they were bright and slightly dazed. "Wow."
Bella let out a breath and smiled. "Yeah, wow."
Edward kept his arms around Bella's waist and leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. "Bella, I have a confession to make."
Bella's arms were still around Edward's neck, and she slid her fingers into the soft hair at the base of Edward's skull. She let her fingers run through it and said, "Okay. Let's hear it."
"I've been engaging in some heavy reading these past few weeks, and I'm almost halfway through all of the books you've written," Edward said. He was feeling quite proud of himself for making it through 20 books in just three weeks, but he did admit that it was only because Bella was such a good writer that he could stand to read so much so quickly.
"Really?" Bella asked. Laughing lightly, she said, "Wow. I'm impressed and flattered. That's a lot of reading."
"I know. My Nook is filled with your books," Edward said. "So, I want to ask you. In your books, and in some of the RomComs I've been in, the characters fall in love at first sight. The common line is 'when you know, you know.' What do you think, Bella Swan? Can a person really just know?"