A/N: For those who are getting frustrated at the slow burn, sorry, but that's how this pair are. She's going to fight and he's going to fight back. If it was as simple as meeting one another and falling in love this story would've ended at chapter one.
There's a ways to go and I have already promised a HEA...stay or flounce...the end result will be the same. She's going to fight him all the way and he's going to push her to breaking point.
"Due to recent budget cuts the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off," Bella chuckled as she threw the switch on the power to the top floor, plunging Edward and his new laptop into darkness.
"What the fuck," Edward hissed as the lights went out and all his 'scratchings' as Bella called them were lost as the laptop powered down.
Bella, laughing her ass off as quietly as she could scaled the outside of the house and ducked back inside her own bedroom. Moving to her door and settling a look of disbelief on her face as best she could she met a pissed off Edward on the landing. "What happened?" she asked innocently.
"I've no clue," Edward said, staring at her intently. "Are you afraid of the dark, little girl?" he growled heartily.
Swallowing hard Bella began to shake her head. "No," she whispered, stepping closer to him. "Are you, Eddie-kins?" she giggled.
"Don't fucking call me that," he hissed and slammed the door behind him as he went back into his own room.
Damn! Bella thought, that didn't work at all. She closed her own bedroom door with a thump and cursed her bad luck. He should've just been stepping out of the shower and come out on to the landing half naked.
'Give it up' every other Cullen thought from their own suites.
Five days after officially becoming Edward Cullen the documentation to prove it arrived.
It should have been Bella who soothed Edward as he stared down at his new birth certificate, driver's license and social security documents bearing the name of Edward Anthony Cullen for the first time. But it wasn't because Bella was still hiding from him. So it was Esme who stood with him and helped him come to terms with what he was looking at.
"He's done a good job," Edward said vaguely, staring down at the birth certificate that all but wiped out his history.
Smiling kindly Esme agreed. "He has to be good at it, sweetheart. Living as we do wouldn't be possible otherwise." Edward shrugged and Esme's heart clenched for his pain. Having these wonderful people to care for was magical but watching each of them go through this was hard for Esme. Putting a hand to his shoulder and squeezing lightly she whispered conspiratorially, "These papers say you're Edward Cullen but you'll always be Eddie Masen Junior in your heart. And as we move about you'll have the opportunity to be him again someday. It's a great feeling, being truly yourself again after years of being a Cullen. Look forward to that and see this for what it is, darling. A necessary change so that you can continue living."
She was so kind and sweet and wise. She knew just what to say and Edward was grateful that it was Esme that Bella had learned her compassion from. "Thank you," Edward told Esme who simply smiled, squeezed his shoulder a little and then left the room.
Six days after becoming a Cullen the mailman delivered a credit card, ATM card and a bank statement all in the name of Edward Cullen. The sting of that was less than the day before and on the seventh day when the change of title deed for Edward's business arrived it was old hat. He merely shoved the new documents into his satchel and went about his day as normal. His old life was gone but Esme had been right. He'd be Eddie Masen Junior again one day and until then he would try to enjoy being Edward Cullen.
Edward changed so much in the following few days he hardly recognised himself anymore. And as he'd suspected all along the more he changed the pissier Bella got with him.
And her attempts to get his attention were brilliant. Childish but brilliant.
The more he ignored her the more often she went out of her way to taunt him or to corner him. But he wasn't buying the bullshit she was selling. By the eighth day in the Cullen house he was all in. He wanted her. Badly. Wholly. All or nothing kind of want.
Of course, him being the former Eddie Masen Junior he had no idea what that entailed, but he liked the idea of it. He'd never had a girlfriend, never kissed anyone or touched anyone for anything other than comfort. But he made up for lost time in some ways and bided his time in others.
Taking every opportunity he could he touched her. The prickle of electricity he felt each time he did made him happy. It proved that what he was feeling for her and about her was real. And he knew, without needing to ask, that she felt it too because she never once avoided the contact. She let him touch her and he saw in her eyes her reaction to it. Shouldering her out of his way was his favourite form of contact. Stepping by her wasn't nearly close enough so he always made sure their shoulders met. It made her scent bloom and her trying to hide her satisfaction at the contact with a scowl was amusing. A close second was flicking her hair. It was a brotherly thing to do and the other boys did it often, but when they did it she squealed and retaliated by slapping them. When Edward did it she sucked in a huge gulp of air and growled. It was the sexiest, kittenish growl he'd ever heard and he'd gotten off with it ringing in his ears more times than he could count on one hand. His third most favourite was turning the tables on her. She'd taken to trying to corner him. He saw it as isolating him from the herd to pick him off in secret, but in reality she was as desperate for his attention as he was for hers. He wasn't going to give it to her, not the kind of attention she wanted, but he loved it when she tried to take it from him. So after a few days of side stepping her attempts he tried it for himself.
Living on the same floor had its disadvantages but if he timed his exit from his room well enough he could step out of his door and 'accidentally' bump into her on the landing. She always stepped backwards and he always followed, stepping up to her and placing both of his hands above her head on either side of the hall wall.
She always closed her eyes, always dragged in his scent and always, always returned her eyes to his angrily. She never backed down. She never spoke either and that made the encounters impossibly hotter. It was as though there was some unspoken rule about how they should meet. Usually he'd step away immediately. As soon as he'd gauged her response he'd step aside, his relief that the attraction was still there palpable. Her scent drove him insane and his erection was instant so he had to step away to avoid embarrassment or the tipping of his hand too soon.
The fifth time he managed to manufacture the meeting he got bold. He'd never been a sexual being before, and never aggressive with either thought or action, but Bella drove him to it. His need for contact with her was so consuming he went out of his way to gain it. When she stepped out onto the landing he was there, waiting. When she backed up he was there, advancing on her. When she met his eyes he was there, ready to pounce. Without waiting for her usual rituals of retreat he lowered his face to her throat, just below her ear, where he'd had the extraordinary pleasure of rubbing his thumb that night at the beach. He didn't touch her, but he didn't need to. Close enough was close enough for what he wanted in return. Pushing out her chest towards him she was all but begging him to touch her and he knew it. It was what he hoped he'd get, her reaction to his closeness produced a heady scent from her and a deep, ragged breath was drawn in between her lips. Dragging in her scent through his own nostrils he sighed contentedly and then simply stepped away and waited for her to gather herself and move on down the hall.
He followed at a leisurely pace and went about his morning as though it had never happened. Yes, those were his favourite things.
But there were others.
Going on the theory that Bella hated that he didn't seem to need her he began to take real control of his life. He used his new credit card to buy a few books and took the bold step of purchasing an iPod and dock then set about downloading as much music as he could reasonably expect to listen to over the course of a year. He researched eBook readers and bought the best one he could find and set about downloading hundreds of texts onto it.
He didn't particularly like the clothing Alice had picked out for him but he wore it anyway because it made Bella incredibly irritated. He added to his new collection though, a few more casual pieces and some of his usual shirts and pants that he'd worn his whole life and within a week he had a full closet and a bathroom full of toiletries that any modern man would be happy with. Bella always scowled at him when he came out of his room freshly showered and wearing his new style of clothes and he hoped it was because the smell of his soap bothered her, just as the scent of hers bothered him. He hoped she was eyeing his clothing with distain because she liked the way he looked in it and didn't want to admit it, just as he liked the way she looked in her skinny jeans and tight fitted jersey's. But he thought that just maybe she missed the way he used to look, just a little.
He didn't know what Bella spent her days doing because she never seemed to leave when the others did of a morning, but Edward himself had kept busy. He liked his room and he didn't change a thing that had been done for him, but he did fill it with some new personal items. He bought two paintings by a local artist, one a dappled light mosaic of the lake in the national park and the other a landscape showing Strawberry Bay and the steep incline of the trees that led to it. He hung it over his bed and spent many hours admiring it after it was delivered, picturing himself and Bella swimming there.
Lying on his bed daydreaming about the beach wasn't conducive to forward motion, however, so Edward used his time as wisely as he could. Having invested in the commercial venture in Port Angeles the old Eddie had simply let it tick over. He'd never really had a hands-on approach to it because he'd bought it from an owner who had already done the hard yards. He hadn't created it from scratch himself. But he needed to learn all he could about it, and how to run it himself because the new Edward Cullen knew without being told that his money was going to have to work harder now because he was going to live for a very, very long time.
Because he couldn't actually go to work Edward set up a link to the business via his new laptop and set about making changes as best he could remotely. He'd never even known the names of the people who worked there for his benefit. He'd simply paid their wages and signed paperwork that needed signing. But now he spent hours wading through page after page online learning all he could about that business and making plans to make it better. He planned to tackle the business first and once he'd gotten a grip on his thirst he'd be able to go there and run it himself.
The purchase of a laptop and cell phone were one of his first steps towards a more modern life and Bella hated both those items with a passion that rivalled nothing else.
Having supernatural hearing was brilliant if someone was actually making an audible sound, but when Edward was texting, or emailing, there was nothing for Bella to hear and it drove her crackers. Most of the time he was sending blanks and making it look as though he had someone hanging on his every word, but sometimes he really was texting with his new brothers and sisters. The emails were almost always related to his business, but Bella didn't need to know that. If she was in a communal space when he was on his laptop he made sure to 'suppress his laughter' at an incoming email. The effect was always the same. Bella would scowl, huff heavily and more often than not leave the room.
He and Jasper had formed an alliance of sorts and when Edward needed to hunt, and Jaz was available, they went together. Jasper wanted to believe Edward's request for them to leave the house ten minutes apart was to spare his embarrassment at needing a 'spotter' in case he fainted, and he was sure that was a big part of it, but he knew that wasn't the only reason Edward had made the request. The Cullen siblings were well aware that a game was being played – and quite badly too by all accounts – between the newest Cullen and the loneliest Cullen. Neither Bella nor Edward had said anything to their siblings about their feelings or how they saw the other, but all of the Cullen's knew just by being near them that they were fighting a common enemy, but coming at that enemy from the wrong direction.
Edward had no idea how to make Bella feel and Bella was doing everything she could to make sure it never happened. It was stupid and it was futile and everyone around them knew it. Vampires didn't fall in and out of love like humans did. They found mates and they stayed with those mates for eternity. Edward might be a newborn but the feelings he was having were as old as the species itself. Bella might believe she could ignore them, or fight them and she was just young enough, and naive enough, to believe that was possible. But it wasn't. When a vampire found its mate the only thing that would separate them was death. Bella had spent the last fourteen years believing she didn't want a mate so hadn't looked for one. It was still her mindset that as long as she didn't accept a mate she wouldn't have one. That wasn't how it worked and everyone except Bella knew it. A mate was a mate whether you'd searched for them or not. Hers had found her and she was powerless to ignore that.
Edward might not have any clue what a mate was but he'd found his. Bella knew and didn't want one, but the point was moot.
Destiny and Fate didn't play a hand in it either. They were busy squaring off over a Twister mat the day Edward's need to love had awoken and their services just weren't needed. Karma was on vacation, not needed for this escapade.
Edward wanted Bella. It was as plain as the nose on his face, when it could be seen under all that hair. Bella wanted Edward and that too was as plain as the nose on her face, when it wasn't high in the air because she believed she was taking the higher ground.
What to do about it became the family's one thought. If they got involved and forced either one to show their hand the other might flee. If they did nothing either one might waste any opportunity presented through sheer bloody mindedness.
So, after yet another hour long gossip session in the forest after leaving the house for the day the Cullen siblings – this time accompanied by their parents who wanted 'in' on any plans – decided that a more indirect approach was best. Leaving Carlisle to make the arrangements Jasper doubled back that morning and went to stand watch while is new brother hunted.
Ignorant to Jasper's awareness of the 'game' Edward continued to seek out his brother when he needed to hunt. The advice given to him that first time had been good and it worked more often than not. The few times he'd been unable to control his thirst, or he'd not quite disabled his prey and had spilled its blood, he'd fainted and Jasper had sat with him until he'd come around. There was no longer any embarrassment on Edward's behalf and Jasper took it all in stride. So it was true that Edward was grateful for Jasper's assistance, but he wanted Bella to believe that he was hunting on his own.
He hoped she missed going with him as much as he missed her being near.
Bella, for her part, hated that he hunted alone. None of the others did. They still went in pairs or as a larger group and while they always invited Bella along she hated it even more than she had before Eddie had come into her life. She wanted to watch Edward hunt. She wanted to see the bliss on his face once his thirst was quenched. She wanted to watch his long, slender throat pulsate as the blood coursed down it. She wanted to hear him moan and she wanted to hear him groan at the sensations he was experiencing. She wanted to watch his Adams apple bob up and down as he swallowed his excess venom when prey was near. She wanted to ogle his beautiful hands as they manipulated his quarry beneath his leonine body. His hair would fly in all directions as he pounced and would settle about his face as he fed and Bella missed watching that. Her own hunt became a mundane chore and she became bored with it. She simply didn't want to feed anymore. If she couldn't watch Edward do it she didn't want to bother for herself.
She found herself wondering if he'd changed his technique. She could live with all the other changes but not knowing how he was hunting was driving her insane with need.
All the games they played were merely childish taunting compared to what would happen next. Edward, for all his newborn status, was eager to become independent and his first foray into the modern world of cars really set the cat amongst the pigeons for the pair.
Rosalie loved cars. She loved old ones, new ones, muscle cars, classics and bikes too. So when it came time for Edward to think about buying a car it was to his new sister Rose he went for advice.
"What are you needing it for?" she asked as he leaned on the bench in the garage while she tinkered with her own vehicle.
"To drive," he laughed.
"Obviously," she laughed in return. "But do you want to take it into the forest and bash it around or do you want a simple run about town jobbie that just gets you from point A to point B?" she asked, sliding out from under the car and raising her eyebrows at him. "Or," she chuckled, "do you want something big enough to put a body in the trunk, or something comfortable enough to drive that body from coast to coast without needing to stop for gas more than twice?"
"I want something that's fast, modern and that makes me look hot," he laughed as he threw a rag at her to wipe her hands on. "Any ideas?"
"Definitely," she grinned. "Mercedes AMG, the snub nosed one, SL6000. She's not exactly beautiful but what she lacks in looks she more than makes up for in speed. She's light and tricked out she's got everything you should need."
"Will I get one locally or is there someone you can recommend I go to?" Edward asked, fascinated by her passion.
Moving to the bench Rose picked up a white business card and flicked it across the garage to Edward. He caught it with ease despite the speed with which it was thrown. "Ask for Jerry, and tell him Rose will strangle him with his own intestines if he dicks you around on the price," she smiled evilly. "We're friends," she winked and Edward shuddered.
"Um, thanks," he told her and headed back inside to call Jerry.
That had been almost a week prior and when the giant flatbed truck finally roared up the driveway Edward shuddered in anticipation while Bella shivered in apprehension.
Believing Edward would need her to calm him with a human in such close proximity she flew out of her room and ran headlong into a grinning Edward on the landing. He looked eager and not a little bit feral. Shoving her hands hard into his abs she began shouting, "You can't go down there!"
Still grinning Edward pushed back until Bella's ass hit her own bedroom door jamb. "I can, and I will," he growled into her face.
"But..." she began but Edward cut her off by ducking his head and in his boldest move to date, he swiped his tongue up the column of her neck from her shoulder to just below her ear.
"I'm not going to hurt anyone, Isabella. That's my car being delivered and I want to be the one to sign for her," he moaned into her ear and then took off down the landing and down the stairs.
Bella stood right where she was and panted. Touching her fingertips to where his tongue had just been she closed her eyes and drank in his scent. He'd never touched her that way before; his eyes had never burned as they had just then. And all because of a fucking car she thought nastily.
But it wasn't because of the car and as Edward ran down the stairs he had to adjust his trousers to hide his reaction to touching her as he had. He hadn't planned it. The combination of her worry for him – that she'd denied him for weeks – and his excitement at having his very first new car overtook his sense of logic. Her reaction to his touch had startled him even though he'd come to expect it.
Shaking herself out of her fog Bella too tore off down the landing and taking the stairs two at a time she barrelled out the front door and down the porch steps onto the gravel drive thinking she was about to witness a massacre.
Instead she witnessed a miracle.
Edward was standing right beside the delivery driver, signing his new name onto the papers on a clipboard. It was obvious to her vision that he was holding his breath, but there he was, calm as a cucumber right next to a human.
"I'll just back her off the truck and she's all yours," the driver said while Edward nodded frantically.
Bella knew he couldn't speak or his thirst would ignite at the succulent smell of sweaty male but she was in awe of him and stood, open mouthed, while the car was dropped off the back of the truck.
Edward twisting the keys round and round his fingers was the most erotic thing Bella had seen in a week. She'd seen him roughhousing with her brothers in the yard and that had been amusing. She'd seen him angry with her and with himself and that had been mildly arousing. She'd seen him talking with the others confidently and that had ratcheted up her need for him. She'd seen him deep in thought and that had sent her libido sky rocketing but nothing, nothing she'd seen of him so far since meeting him could match what she saw as that car came off the truck.
His stance, his joy, his anticipation all heightened his scent. His smile as that car hit the gravel turned her insides to jelly. His whoop of triumph as he sat in it for the first time was like hearing a child squeal in delight over a Christmas present.
And he'd not shown the slightest interest in her at all. He'd accosted her on the landing but the instant his feet hit the gravel he'd ignored her. His attention was wholly for the vehicle. His eyes didn't waiver from it for an hour. She stood there, on the porch, for an hour and he never looked her way once.
He was lost to her. He didn't need her and he never would now that he'd confronted a human and had conquered yet another vampire trait for himself.
He hunted alone. He ran alone. He conducted his personal business alone. He laughed and chatted with his new siblings and excluded her from all of it. He texted people she didn't know and he laughed at emails from people he didn't want to share with her. He treated her just like he treated Alice or Rose. As a sister. And it nearly killed her inside.
The only thing he did with her and not the others was accost her on the landing outside their rooms. And that was probably because he didn't share the floor with the others, only her. She was just a convenient target for his newfound sense of humour and he obviously got a kick out of tormenting her.
What he'd done just now on the landing wasn't about contact and it certainly wasn't about him seeing her as more than a sister. It was about teasing her some more. It was about rubbing in her face how far he'd come. It was about his determination to control his thirst with the human and it was about making sure she got the message, loud and clear, that he was in control of his own life. It was about making sure she got the memo entitled 'I don't need you or anyone else'.
"Message received," she whispered across the drive to where Edward sat in the Mercedes grinning like an idiot with his new toy. "I get it," she sighed as she went back indoors.
As soon as Bella went back inside Edward hung his head. He dragged in some clean air and after half a second congratulating himself for not eating the delivery guy he began to shake. The smile collapsed from his face. Proud of himself for being able to resist the call of human blood was one thing, but in doing so he'd hurt Bella. And he'd heard her whispered words. He'd gone too far.
Teasing her and goading her for proof of his theory was one thing, actually hurting her with his games was another. And he wasn't at all proud of himself.
He'd seen her there, hell; he'd smelled her come outside with him. He knew where she was because he always knew where she was. Hers was the first scent he searched for in any room or situation and hers was the first face he looked for when coming into a communal area of the house. He felt a pull towards her. She captivated him, even when she was scowling. He knew her every expression, her every sound and her every nuance. He knew her. And he knew that he'd hurt her by ignoring her need to help him with this.
The joy on his face that he'd made sure Bella saw wasn't for the car. It was just a car. It was for her. She'd responded to him on the landing. She'd forgotten to be angry or insulting and she'd responded to his touch. His joy was for that. Solely for that.
He hadn't changed so much that a car – a stupid car with its stupid snub nose and its stupid user's manual that was bigger than the space shuttles – could eclipse how he felt about Bella. The car was nice but it was just a car. If he turned it on it would take him wherever he wanted, but he didn't want to be anywhere where Bella wasn't.
He'd bought it because he could. He'd bought it because he thought that's what everyone expected him to do. Buy a car, conquer his thirst, do something with his time. He'd bought it because he thought it would annoy Bella to see him being independent and making choices for himself.
But it hadn't annoyed Bella, it had hurt her. And he was done hurting her.
Up in her room Bella was thinking the same thing. She was just coming at it from another angle. She was done being hurt by Edward, however inadvertently. It never crossed her mind that the things he was doing he was doing on purpose. She didn't want to think he had that in him. So she went with the theory that he was clueless about the way she reacted to him and about how the things he did and said affected her. She wanted to believe that he was just testing his new boundaries. She needed to believe that he was just finding his confidence and she was his easiest and closest target to practise on. She had to believe that because the alternative, that he was toying with her, would be her total undoing.
Luckily for Edward she went with clueless and not underhanded, arrogant, self righteous asshole.
Unluckily for Edward that she chose the path of least resistance and was deciding to be what she thought he needed her to be. His sister.
Unluckily for Bella, Edward had decided that he no longer wanted her to see him as she thought she should. As a brother. He had to show her that there was more to him than what she saw, more to him than just sad little Eddie Masen with the restricted upbringing and the nerdy interests.
Edward left his new toy in the driveway right where it had been delivered to him and without ever having even turned the engine over he simply got out of it and went into the house to find Bella.
Bella, hiding in her room as always, heard his footsteps approaching and couldn't work out why he'd leave his new toy standing in the drive to come indoors when he was so obviously enamoured with it.
He didn't bother knocking on her door he simply opened it and stormed in. He strode right to where she was sitting at her desk, feet up on the surface, magazine in hand.
"I need to show you something," he told her dramatically.
"I don't think I need a tour of your newest toy," she spat.
Sighing at her belligerence Edward tried again. "I'd like to show you something that isn't my car," he told her more softly. "Please, take a drive with me so I can show you who I want to be."
Putting her magazine on the desktop and bringing her feet back to the floor she looked up at Edward through her lashes. He seemed sincere enough. His face was serene and his body language was calm. His plea had tweaked her interest. He didn't seem as though this was another of his torments. "What is it?" she asked, puzzled but interested.
Edward held his hand out in front of himself and cocked his head toward it. Bella eyed it carefully but made no move. She'd fallen for his kindness before. "I'd like to show you something that means a lot to me. Do you trust me, Bella?" he asked calmly.
She'd asked him that once herself and he'd said that he did, and then they'd shared a pivotal moment right after, at that damned beach. Did she trust him? Could she trust him?
Slipping her hand into his she smiled a little. "I do trust you, Edward," she whispered.
The sting of contact made them both fairly swoon, but such was their complicated situation neither of them wanted the other to know, so they both stifled their groans and simply closed their fingers around each others. "A change of scenery is required, I think," Edward told her as he led her to his new car in the drive. The similarity of his statement to the one she'd made when they'd gone to the beach was not lost on either of them.
"Can you go out?" Bella asked as she slid into the soft, supple leather of the Mercedes.
"I can do anything I set my mind to," Edward grinned as the engine roared beneath him, "you told me that. We're not going anywhere near humans, so don't freak out, Smella," he chuckled as they took off down the dirt road.
"Don't call me that," Bella chuckled along.
"I won't call you that if you promise to stop calling me Eddie-kins," he grinned.
"Fine," Bella huffed cheekily. "I suppose I can do that. Where are we going?"
"You'll see," was all he said as he turned the magnificent vehicle out onto the highway and headed for Port Angeles.
Bella stared out the window and watched the scenery float by. He drove well, he was careful and steady. Not like Emmett and definitely not like Rose. They both drove as though everything was a race. Growing up with a cop made Bella, even as a vampire, drive carefully. She'd seen the videos and the ads about road deaths and even though she'd never come off second best in an accident any human she hit would. And just like everything else she'd seen Edward do he concentrated on the road and there was no unnecessary chatting.
She liked that. She liked to drive just like she liked to run. She had a car but rarely used it because there was nowhere she wanted to go, but she found herself enjoying the quiet drive with Edward.
When they reached Port Angeles Edward steered them into the centre of the commercial district. Bella began to worry. They couldn't leave the confines of the car because his thirst would ignite but whilst he was still driving he looked serene, almost pleased with himself.
"You can stop frowning," Edward chuckled, "I held my breath when the driver came. I don't think I can manage that again yet. We won't be getting out of the car; I just want to show you something." Pulling the car into a space in front of a row of shops Edward cut the engine and turned slightly to face her in her seat. "Do you remember me telling Jasper that I owned a business?" Bella nodded and began chewing her bottom lip adorably. Blinking hard and trying to ignore how it made him feel Edward continued on with his speech. "That," he pointed to the music store they were parked in front of, "is mine."
Raising her eyebrows Bella turned to look at the store. 'Heartstrings' was one of her favourite shops. She'd discovered it two years ago while she'd been walking this strip mall looking for something else and she'd fallen in love with it immediately. "You own Heartstrings?" she mumbled.
"I do," Edward grinned. "I bought it with the money my dad left me. I've never really had much to do with it until now. I just paid the wages and signed for shipments. But I've been doing some research and I think I can turn it into something better."
High up in his bedroom Edward had been busy making plans for his future. He'd told Jasper that night that he owned a commercial property and that was essentially true, but he'd never told anyone what sort of property it was.
Eddie Masen had loved books. Truly loved them. The smell, the knowledge they held hidden in their pages and especially the pleasure they gave. Eddie Masen had also loved music. All types of music. Old 60's rock and newer pop music too, and everything in between. He played the piano well and had always wanted one of his own. What Eddie hadn't liked was the modern way music was delivered to the masses. That is what had driven the old Eddie to buying Heartstrings.
Smiling widely the new Edward Cullen began to explain to Bella something important about himself just as she'd shared her story with him. "When dad passed away he left me a good chunk of money. I didn't want to invest it in something static, I was going to invest it in an internet start up company but I just didn't know enough about the industry to make a smart decision." Staring wistfully out the windshield towards his shop Edward began to smile. "And then I saw this place listed and I knew it could be great."
Buoyed by his good mood Bella began to smile too. She had liked this store before. With its quirky book section and its old stuffy armchairs, but what she'd love even more was the vinyl music section. There was something about hearing music from a record, even if it had been transferred to digital, if it was done from the vinyl record it still held its inherent originality. "I've been in there," Bella mumbled.
"You have?" Edward asked surprised. "But you hate old books and old music."
Still smiling Bella began to shake her head. "No, I really don't," she admitted. "But I can't keep a record collection because it's too hard to move all the time and I don't hate old books. I hate old boring books about airplanes and out of date medical research," she giggled.
"Touché," Edward laughed along. "Well I like all those things even if you don't, so I bought the place."
"I'd have remembered seeing you here," Bella whispered nervously. And she knew that it wasn't a lie, she would have remembered him if she'd ever seen him in his store. Even as a human Bella knew she'd have remembered Eddie as he'd been.
"I've only been inside it twice. Once when I inspected it before the sale and again to sign the papers once the sale went through," Edward told her.
"Why didn't you come here? Why did you keep working at the library if you loved this place so much?"
"I had to keep working at the library because I needed the income to keep this place going. I needed time to dedicate to this, to make this into something great, but until it made real money I couldn't give up the other job or spend the time on it that it deserved," he shrugged.
He's so unaware of how fucked up that is Bella thought to herself as she watched a pair of teenage hipsters go into the little shop. "That's such bullshit," she mumbled. "You were afraid to try," she said matter of factly. "You were afraid to break out of your routine and do something you thought you could love because you didn't want to give up the stability of the library."
Well, wasn't that just the fucking pot calling the kettle black Edward thought as he stared at Bella.
She's so afraid to break out of her emotionless, lonely existence and love me because she doesn't want to give up the stability of her life. Wanting so badly to call her on her own bullshit Edward took a deep breath and reached for her hand across the console, and instead he spoke very softly and very calmly. "There are one or two things I think I could love, Isabella. But I can't achieve that on my own." Hoping she understood what he'd said Edward continued on, unwilling to discuss his growing affection for her. "I can't be near humans yet, but you can. I need help to make this place great. I need help from someone who is a friend. I need you."
Blinking rapidly Bella turned a little more so she could look into his eyes as he spoke. His voice was calm and his hand was steady in hers but without seeing his eyes she had no way to tell if he was sincere in his wish. He wasn't hiding from her. His hair was tucked behind his ear and his red ringed eyes were clear and bright. He wasn't nervous, he wasn't scared, and he wasn't Eddie any longer.
Edward Cullen thinks he could love her and he needed her help to make his beautiful little store great. The lure of the store was powerful but the lure of Edward was greater still.
Her fear was so great that she faltered at the hurdle put before her. She saw her future in front of her and turned left instead of jumping the rail and running towards it. She was afraid. "I'll help," she said simply, "Because I'm your sister." Watching his face fall was hard, but it was for the best. They were too different. She was modern and he was old fashioned, despite his new clothes. She was a loner and he was craving companionship for the very first time. She didn't want to be bound to someone.
Slipping his hand from hers Edward took a deep breath and turned to face her fully across the console. He ran his hand through his hair just once, let the breath out and without meeting her eyes began to speak quietly. "If I wanted a sisters help I'd ask Alice or Rose. Esme is the designer and she'd be an obvious choice if I wanted a family member to help me build this place into what I think it can be," he said firmly. Lifting his eyes to hers he could see how nervous she was, even if the slight tremble in her lip hadn't already given her away. "I want us to do this together, build this place together. Not because you're my sister, or even my friend, but because I want you to want to do this with me. Simply for the joy of it. To see it done. To see it be a success with me. I want to do this with you because I think you're as lost as I am. I think you need something in your life too and I want to be a part of that for you, like I want you to be a part of this for me. I don't want to be your brother, Bella. I don't want to be your friend. I want to be yours."
Bella stared at Edward a long, long time. She broke his gaze only once and then it was a fleeting look towards the lovely little bookstore and then she returned to meet his stare. "I'll do this with you because I am your sister, or not at all," she whispered as her fearful heart split in two.
She. Would. Not. Give. Up. Her. Freedom.
A/N: Fear is a strange, strange thing.
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