Song - Yo Hello Hooray - USS

. . . . . . . . . .

"Baby?"

"Hmm?" She asked absentmindedly. She was sitting on one of her stools, cutting up stuff and throwing it into the large crock-pot in front of her. I sat next to her and waited until she looked up at me. She smiled brightly. "What's up?"

I sighed, and ran my hand through my hair nervously. Her eyebrows furrowed and she put down her knife and placed her hand on my thigh, looking at me worriedly.

Just fucking say it.

I pulled in a deep breath. "Bella… will you come to LA with me when I leave for filming?"

Her eyes widened, and she watched me quietly for a long minute while chewing on her bottom lip.

"Can we bring Zeus?"

I nodded quickly, smiling, but she fucking beamed at me.

"Okay," she said quietly. I stared at her for a long minute, trying to convince myself that I wasn't dreaming.

"Really?"

She nodded, still smiling.

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her firmly.

"Thank you," I breathed, feeling like a million pounds had been lifted off of my shoulders. Her arms slid around my neck as she leaned into me.

"Thank you for asking me," she said back quietly. I kissed her again.

"I would have asked sooner, but I was afraid you might say no," I admitted, and she pulled away, sitting up straight. She cringed slightly from the fast movement, but she was getting better, healing more each day. She'd had a stationary bike brought over from the gym, and having that outlet for her stress had really improved her mood over the past couple weeks.

"Why did you think that?" She asked, looking a little hurt, but mostly worried.

"Because your life is here. Even though you're not working anymore…. Your brother, Rose, Alice, Jasper, your building and investments… I didn't know if you'd be willing to leave all that."

"But I wouldn't have you," she said quietly, her eyes watering. I leaned in and kissed her again.

"I would have come back and visited, even if I only had a one day break I'd still fly down to see you, even if it was only for a few hours," I told her honestly, hoping it would cheer her up. It wasn't that I thought she didn't love me enough, because I knew Bella loved me, but I thought it might be too hard for her to be away from Emmett. "I'd much rather have you all the time though. The two weeks on tour was hell, I don't want to do that for four months, but I would if it was the only way to keep you."

"I love you so much," she said, combing her fingers through my hair. "I was miserable when you were gone, I don't want to do that again."

"And you don't have to," I said with a smile, because she was coming with me!

I laughed happily, and kissed her again, because I was just so fucking happy right now.

"Have you ever been to London before?"

She shook her head. "I went to Canada for a few days, but besides that, I've never been outside of the states before."

My fingers clenched into a fist in anger, because that certainly did not fucking count as a vacation.

Had she ever even been on a vacation before? I struggled to find a way to ask without sounding like an ass.

"What's wrong? You look like you're thinking much too hard," she mused, sliding a delicate finger along my brow. I sighed.

"I was just wondering if… uhm, did you go on many vacations with your father when you were younger?"

She laughed. "Oh yeah, tons."

I sighed in relief. "Where did you go?"

"Fishing."

I waited for her to continue but… she didn't.

"Fishing?"

"Yup, almost every weekend when the weather was nice, and a lot of times even when it wasn't."

"You hate fish."

"I do now, because I went fishing almost every weekend until I was seventeen. My dad loved fishing, so does Emmett. I just liked hanging out with them."

I bit back my sigh, because I did not consider that a vacation either.

"You never went to like… Disneyland or something?"

"Nah, it was too expensive. And then when I did have the money… well, it just wasn't safe. It would have been too hard for the agents to watch us."

I nodded. I was going to take her on an amazing fucking vacation, but the time wasn't right. She needed to concentrate on her rehab and we'd have to leave in two months to go to LA. But after…

I grinned.

I bet she would love Rome…

"What are you smiling about now?" She asked with a laugh, watching me curiously.

"Just plotting world domination."

She rolled her eyes, and got up to wash her hands before she started cutting vegetables again.

"So what's your schedule going to be like in LA?"

"Er…"

"You haven't organized your calendar yet, have you?" She asked knowingly.

"Tyler usually took care of that stuff for me," I admitted sheepishly. He would just plan out all of the interviews around my filming dates, and tell me what time to be ready the next day to be picked up.

Funny how you don't really realize how much work a person does until they're gone. Not that I regret firing him, I was still fucking glad not to be dealing with him anymore, but I really didn't want to try and hire a new manager. Not after him.

"I can… do it for you if you want?" She offered shyly. I raised an eyebrow.

"Baby, are you asking for a job?" I teased. She laughed and rolled her eyes at me.

"No, because I wouldn't let you pay me, but it's easy work, I've done it before, and I wouldn't mind if you wanted the help."

I knew for her it probably would be easy work, the way she'd set up my calendar for me for the premiere tour in January, all I'd had to do was give a paper copy of it to my security escort. There were alarms to wake me up and give me time to get ready, reminders for my plane times that seemed to magically fucking pop up when I'd think about what I was supposed to be doing next, there had even been notes about all of the people and magazines I'd had interviews with. All on my fucking cellphone.

She was probably the most organized person I knew, except when it came to her shelves. That had driven me crazy, there was no system to it at all, but she'd let me organize them properly when I'd officially moved in.

"Okay. If you're offering, I don't think it's something I can refuse," I admitted with a smile. She smiled back. "What do I need to do?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll get in contact with Mac's assistant and take care of it," she said easily. I shook my head with a smile. She put her knife down and looked at me again. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about though… or well, ask you, maybe."

I reached forward and tucked her hair behind her ear, kissing her cheek. "And what is that?"

"It's about my name…" she said hesitantly, and I almost freaked out for a moment but she wasn't thinking along the same lines I had been for... well, months really. "I want to go back to my old name. Alec was going to help me with the paperwork and red tape, transferring all of my assets and different accounts over into a new one, but… if anyone heard my real name if I was, well, with you, I doubt it would take long for stories to start coming up about my past, and… I just don't think I'd be able to deal with that," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. I pulled her onto my lap and held her tightly, but I couldn't argue with her, because she was right.

She had thick skin, but I didn't think she would be able to handle that either. Who would?

"What do you want to do then?"

"Well, something like I've been doing here, I guess. Only on paper I'll really be me, but for appearances, especially if I'm helping you manage your schedule or we start going out in public more, I was thinking we could stick with Bree Tanner? It's what most of my contacts now know me as already. I don't like her, but I think it would be best."

I smiled. "That sounds like a good plan." Even though I liked mine better. It was the perfect way to deal with the issue of her name, giving her mine, but I wasn't going to propose for a reason like that. The timing still didn't feel right; I didn't want to promise her the world just before getting sucked into a hectic four months of work. "You said you wanted to ask me something though?"

"I was just wondering if you'd be okay with that?"

I lifted my eyebrow in disbelief. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"I just don't like asking you to lie for me," she said quietly.

I shook my head, and cupped her face again. "Baby, what name you use, how you dress, what you do for work, none of that matters to me. I'd do anything in the world to keep you safe, without hesitation. I think this plan is the best way to go too," I told her honestly. She smiled brightly, and I leaned in to kiss her. "So, are we done with the heavy?" I asked hopefully, smiling. She grinned.

"Yeah, I think that about covers it."

"Well then, I think we need to celebrate. You're my new manager, you and Zeus are coming to LA with me, and soon you'll have a driver's license with your real name on it!" She giggled, still grinning at me. "This definitely calls for a drink!"

"I'll have enough chili here for the gang, did you want to see if they want to come celebrate with us?"

"Sure," I said, picking up my phone.

"Just one thing," she said, reaching out for my arm and stopping me. "Emmett… might not take the news very pleasantly at first. I'll take care of it, but… I just wanted to warn you."

I nodded, that wasn't too surprising. I knew how protective he was of her.

And from what I knew, the only time they'd really spent apart was when they'd been separated for that one week when she was seventeen, and Victor had burnt her house down within days.

Yeah, he might not be too excited about his sister moving away with me for a few months, but she was safe now, and she'd be safe with me. I'd make damn sure of it.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Emmett, we'll be back in three days," she said softly, but he didn't let her go. There were a lot of people taking pictures of the three of us, but no one came close with Emmett's intimidating form there. He didn't notice though, and just kept hugging her.

"I know… you have your painkillers in case your stomach starts bothering you?"

"Yes Emmett."

"I don't want you doing your exercises while you're gone, okay?"

"Fine."

"And you have your phone and charger?"

"God, Emmett, you know you're talking to me, right? I pack with a fucking checklist, I'm not forgetting anything. I love you, and I'll call you when I land if it makes you feel better."

"You better fucking call me."

"You're being such a fucking girl."

"Well, I feel like one. I love you."

"Love you too Em. Take care of my baby."

He nodded, and looked at me. "You better fucking watch her," he growled. "Shut up B," he said before she could argue with him, and she rolled her eyes while crossing her arms.

"I will," I told him seriously, because I wouldn't let her out of my sight for a fucking second. No way.

"Okay, I'll see you guys on Monday," he said, giving Bella one last kiss on the cheek before we walked through the first checkpoint in the terminal. Bella was shifting nervously next to me, no doubt uncomfortable with all of these people staring at us. I took her hand, and whispered into her ear, making her shiver.

"Smile baby, you're going to be front page tomorrow," I told her teasingly, because if I didn't joke about it I'd probably have an anxiety attack, wondering if this was going to be the point where she finally tapped out and couldn't deal with this anymore. She let out a shaky laugh.

"I kind of wished I dressed better for my debut," she tried to joke, her hand squeezing mine nervously.

"Mmm, no, I like what you're wearing. You look fucking hot," I whispered, kissing her cheek.

And she fucking blushed when she smiled at me, and I felt a thousand pounds lighter. My words were completely true though. She didn't have to deal with all of her disguises anymore, and had shredded most of her pant-suits except for a few of her favourites. I saved the librarian outfits from meeting the same fate, thank god. It was warming up though, and today she was just wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white tank top, but with her black leather jacket, brown leather boots and her hair long and straight. She looked like she just walked off of a fucking magazine shoot.

She froze when the first person approached me, and I wrapped an arm around her firmly to try and keep her calm.

"H-hi!" The brunette said. "Can I have an autograph?"

"Sure," I said, taking her pen and paper. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Angela," she said happily. I looked over at Bella quickly, because every name she'd marked herself with was now burned into my mind, and she just gave me a sad smile before looking away. I signed the girl's paper and said good-bye, and I took Bella's hand again before leading us over to the proper terminal.

"Edward?" She asked quietly, and I looked over, panicking slightly when I saw she was wincing.

"What's wrong, are you okay?"

"Are you? You're kind of cutting off circulation," she said with a gentle smile, and I quickly let go of her hand.

"Sorry," I said, and she shook her head before taking my hand again.

"It's okay, but what's wrong?"

I didn't really know what to say to that.

"Was it her name?"

"Kind of."

"Why did it bother you?"

"Well… I was just worried it would bother you."

She shook her head. "You don't need to worry about stuff like that. Yeah, I think about them when I hear their names, I think of all of them every day, but I've kind of learned to live with it. It doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure?"

She gave me a soft smile and nodded.

My chest felt heavy, seeing her set off the metal detectors and knowing why this time. As soon as she was through I had my arm around her again, just really needing to have her close to me. In this crowded room, when she was too far away I felt like I couldn't breathe, like any one of these fucking people could just turn into a another Victor and try to take her away from me.

As soon as we were seated on the plane, and I got our bags put up top, Bella asked for a scotch for each of us. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"You need a drink. You're too stressed out, and seeing you stressed out makes me stressed out. Don't you dare apologize," she said, and handed me my glass when the steward came back. "Cheers," she said, raising an eyebrow at me, daring me to deny it, and I sighed before knocking back my drink. She followed suite.

"Shit, do they always have such bad scotch on planes?" She asked, making me laugh.

"The champagne is usually better," I told her with a smile. She smiled back, and then hesitantly leaned in, kissing me softly. That fucking got my attention, because she had never kissed me in public before, though she had never stopped me from kissing her or holding her hand since she woke up in the hospital.

"I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you too," I said with a smile, leaning in and kissing her more firmly. She tasted like cherries and scotch, and just fucking delicious. She squeaked in surprise when my hand went over her hip, and then she laughed when she heard me click in her seat-belt.

. . . . . . . . . .

We got out of the terminal in LA, and I kept a protective arm around Bella as we made our way through the fucking mob to get to the silver Mazda RX8 that was parked out front.

Bella looked like she wanted to start throwing punches, but I knew she wouldn't.

Well, I bet she would if there was an obvious threat, but she knew now she wasn't being looked at as personal security, and what that would make her look like in the papers if she had.

"Hey Harry!" She said happily to the guy, who smiled, his eyes darting over to me, our entwined hands, and then back to her again.

"Hey sweetheart, how you feeling? Healing up okay?"

"Much better, thanks," she said with a smile. "Edward, this is Harry, I told you he owns the rental company that I use here in town?"

"Nice to meet you," I said with a smile, holding out my hand. He shook it with a giant fucking grin.

"Very nice to meet you too, big fan," he said excitedly.

"Thanks."

"Well Bree, extra plates are under the cover in the trunk if you need them. Just lock the keys inside when you're done as usual."

"Thanks again Harry," she said sweetly, and he waved as he took off. I loaded our bags into the trunk, and then I drove, because Bella had had a few drinks on the plane.

"You know, Harry is probably going to get some great business after people see you shaking his hand and driving away in one of his cars," she said with a smile.

"Good, he seems like a nice guy."

"He is," she said happily.

. . . . . . . . . .

I knew she was nervous, but I hadn't expected to wake up to the sound of her throwing up. She locked me out of the washroom and wouldn't let me in though, telling me she was fine.

She obviously wasn't, but there wasn't much I could do besides hold her, and for that I'd have to wait until she unlocked the damn door.

I ordered room service but she barely ate, her fork fucking trembling in her hands.

Thank god we had an early appointment, so we could get this done and out of the way. I'd talked to Siobhan about her a few weeks ago, when we couldn't find a therapist in New York that she was comfortable enough to meet with. When I told her that I trusted Sib though, and that I had seen her for years, and that she had helped me deal with my own Victor issues, she had agreed to meet her.

I knew she didn't want to, and that she was doing it for me, but I fucking loved her for it. She still didn't see how badly she needed this.

So, on an empty stomach and looking scared shitless, I took Bella to her office.

What scared me most though was when I parked the car, and Bella just seemed to calm. She stopped shaking, her body relaxing, but her eyes looked completely vacant. It scared the shit of me.

"Baby?"

"Hmm?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Let's go." She got out without waiting for me to open her door for her, and I caught up quickly to her. I took her hand, but I don't even think she felt it. She just kept walking. When we got to the small, private waiting room, she just sat down quietly, looking at the forms the woman at the desk gave her. She didn't fill anything out.

"Do you need any help?"

"No. They don't need to know my last name, or my birthday. Any of this. And I'm not giving it to them," she said quietly yet firmly. I nodded.

Siobhan came out, and gave us both a bright smile. "Edward! It's nice to see you again," she said, and then looked at Bella with the same smile. "And it's very nice to meet you," she told Bella. "If you're ready, shall we head into my office?"

"Sure," Bella said, standing up. I stood up with her.

"No boys allowed. I'll take care of her," Sib told me. I looked at Bella worriedly, I hadn't even thought about leaving her alone with her.

"Is that okay baby?"

"Yes, I'll see you in a bit," she said without looking at me, and walked away with my old therapist.

I didn't see her in a bit. I listen to Sib's receptionist cancel on a car and lunch appointment, and she was with Bella in there for hours. By the time she came out she looked like she was going to faint, and I ran to her side quickly, but she shook her head and gave me a smile when I went to wrap my arms around her.

"I'm fine," she said quietly, and I fucking hugged her anyways, knowing she wasn't, but either way I just needed to touch her. Siobhan cleared her throat, and Bella turned to look at her sheepishly. She tore a sheet from her prescription pad, and handed it to Bella.

She looked at it, and started fucking laughing.

"I like how your mind works. Thanks," she said, and Sib winked.

"I'll talk to you again soon?"

Bella nodded, and we walked back outside together, Bella slipping on some sunglasses. We got in the car, and I asked her if there was anything we needed to pick up. She handed me her prescription pad.

"1 bottle white wine
1-2 pieces of chocolate cake
Luxuirious Bubble bath.

Tonight, Doctor's orders.
-S"

I laughed, handing it back to her. "Easily arranged. So… How did it go?"

She was quiet for a minute. "Would it be okay if we just… didn't talk about it? I'm tired of talking about it, but I did, and I'll see her again when we come back."

"Okay. But… I just want you to know that you can talk to me Bella."

She sighed. "No, I can't."

"What?"

"I love you Edward, and that's why I don't want to talk to you about it. I know my life has been pretty fucked up, I've always known that, and every time I've told you a part of that fucked up side it makes me feel like shit, because I know it hurts you. I just… I don't want to put any more of my shit on you. Which is why I'll talk to Siobhan, because I can see that you need me to talk to someone."

"You need it too Bella. You'll see, maybe not right away, but this is going to help you."

She nodded.

"I don't want you to be afraid to talk to me though," I added, because it was really true. There was some truth in her words too, because some of the stuff she'd told me… well, it haunted me, but I needed her to know she could be any part of her that she needed to be around me.

"I'm not, I just don't want to talk about what he did anymore."

"Okay," I said, and she gave me a small smile. "It there anything I can do though?"

"…Yes, actually."

"What? Name anything."

"I want you to book an appointment to talk to her too."

"What, like, with you?"

"No, by yourself."

"Why?"

She looked at me sadly, pushing back her sunglasses. "Because there is stuff that I've told you that I regret, that you shouldn't have to carry on your shoulders. You flinch whenever you hear one of their names now. And… You have nightmares Edward. I know you do. I just want you to be able to vent to someone, because I can see that you can't talk to me about it."

"I'm sorry." She was right though, I couldn't, because I was too afraid of hurting her. To cause her pain was to cause myself pain.

"It's not something to apologize about Edward, I get it, I really do," she said softly, taking my hand. "Will you talk to her again though?"

"Sure, I'll book an appointment when we get back. Can you try to squeeze it into my schedule?" I said with a teasing wink, making her laugh.

"I'm sure I can fit it in somewhere," she said. "Thank you."

"Anything," I told her, bringing her hand to my lips and kissing it softly. If it gave her the smallest bit of comfort, I'd do it. It was as easy as that.

And it wouldn't hurt, venting, as she had said.

She seemed a hell of a lot better than she had been this morning, but it was obvious to me, as she looked out the window and watched the streets quietly, that she was lost deep in her mind.

I wanted to make her smile. I was going to wait until after our meeting with Marcus tomorrow to give her present to her, but I decided I didn't want to wait that long. Not if it stood a chance of making her happy now.

So, I started driving east. Luckily, I was pretty familiar with the area after living here for five years, so I didn't have to give away our destination by using the GPS.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked after about twenty minutes, probably when she realized we should have been coming up to the hotel by now.

"It's a surprise," I said with a bit of a smile. "Are you up for it? If you're tired I can wait until tomorrow."

"I'm fine. Could we stop and get a bottle of water or something though?"

"Sure," I said happily, pulling off at the next gas station I saw. I ran in and got myself a coffee, and a bottle of water for her. She took a couple of her painkillers and downed about half the bottle.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a bit sore, it's nothing," she assured me with a small smile. The sun came out, so we drove the rest of the way with the top down, and it made me smile when Bella leaned her head back against the headrest with her eyes closed, smiling as the sun warmed her face.

It was hard not to stare, but I was driving, and couldn't afford not to be watching the road.

Seven months. We've been dating for seven months, and she was unconscious for a month of it, but I felt like I'd known her for years. So much had happened in only half a year.

We were getting close, and as I pulled off of the highway, I pulled the sleeping mask I had grabbed in the gas station out of my pocket. I thought it was weird finding them there, I had hoped for some sort of tie just because of sentimentality, but this was all they had. Right next to the energy drinks. Fucking weird.

"Can you put this on?" I asked. At least I'd gotten her the plain black one, not one of the pink ones that had "Princess" Embroidered on them. There was no way in hell she would have put one of those on.

I'd only heard someone call her princess once, Emmett, and she had punched him in the face.

"Why?" She asked curiously, taking it and looking at me questioningly.

"I'm trying to be dramatic and mysterious, and they didn't have any ties," I said with a wink, and her face blushed beautifully. No doubt thinking about that night I had blindfolded her.

Hmm, I never did get to try that again…

"Please? Just humour me."

She let out a soft sigh and put it over her eyes, then pulled her hair through.

"How do I look?"

I probably looked for longer than necessary, but I couldn't help it. In her khaki skirt, and white sleeveless blouse, blindfolded… fuck.

That I wanted her went without saying.

She was doing a lot better, if I was gentle, I bet we could without her hurting herself now…

"Fucking edible."

"What?" she squeaked, her face flaming red.

"You heard me."

She bit onto her bottom lip, trying to restrain a grin.

I pulled up to the gate, and entered the code. It was my first time seeing it in person, but it looked just as great as it did in the pictures. The whole lot was walled in with smooth, white concrete, and Zeus was going to love all the space.

I pulled up the driveway, and parked by the front door.

I got out, and opened Bella's door, giving her a hand out of the low car, and then walking with her away from the house before turning her to face it. I stopped with my hands on her hips, resting my chin on her shoulder. She smiled.

"You ready?"

"I don't know, you didn't specify what sort of surprise this was," she answered with a grin. I chuckled, then pulled up her sleeping mask. She looked up at the house, then around the yard, and then looked at me in confusion.

"Where are we?"

"Home. Well, home away from home."

"What?" She gasped, looking at me in disbelief. I smiled.

"What, did you actually think I'd keep you and Zeus locked up in a hotel for four months?" I asked with a smile.

"You bought a house."

"Mhmm."

"You bought a very large house."

"Yeah, it is a bit big I guess," I said, looking up at it. "But it's all fenced in, and Zeus would love the space to run around. We wouldn't have to worry about people coming up to the door. It's more private. Plus, there were no small houses around here. I liked being close to the beach and the woods."

"We're close to the beach?" She asked excitedly, beaming up at me. I grinned and nodded.

"You like beaches?"

"I love beaches. There was one not far from my home in Washington, but it was always so cold and rainy. I liked watching the tidal pools though," she said with a smile.

"Well, let's take a look inside, then we can go scout out the beach too if you want?"

She nodded excitedly, grabbing my arm with both of her hands, and I laughed again as we walked up the stairs. Slowly. Stairs were still kind of hard for her. She didn't wince, but her grip on me tightened.

"You must have spent a fortune on this," she mused, looking around the polished mahogany floors, cream colored walls, high-ceilings and giant windows.

"Nah," I said easily. This was pocket change.

I was fucking grinning. For the longest time I had felt like I hadn't really been able to give her anything, where she gave so much without batting an eye.

It made me pretty fucking happy being able to do things like this now. She gave me look, letting me know she didn't believe me in the slightest, and I just grinned, pulling her along with me by the hand as we explored.

She gasped when she saw the kitchen, just like I knew she would. It was huge, and fucking gorgeous. She oooed and ahhhed, and excitedly told me about the advantages of the separated compartments in the oven, and bragged about how the flat cooktop built in the counter would be so easy to clean. Like I'd let her fucking clean this house. No way. I was hiring someone to do that.

She was blown away by the size of the master bedroom and it's ensuite on the east side of the main floor. There were four other bedrooms on the top floor. The living room was massive.

Her favourite was the backyard though. Thick green grass, tall trees, and beautifully landscaped gardens.

"This is so beautiful Edward," she said quietly.

"It will look even better once we put some furniture in it," I said with a smile, pulling her towards me. She grinned up at me with her hands on my stomach. "So it's okay? You like it?"

"I love it," she told me back happily. "You need to let me pay rent though."

I laughed loudly at that. "No fucking way baby."

"But-"

"Are you going to let me start paying for rent at home?"

"That's different, my apartment is paid off, and pays for itself."

"This is paid off too," I said, raising an eyebrow at her and daring her to keep trying to argue. She wouldn't fucking win, even if she starting giving me a strip tease right now I wouldn't let her drop so much as a dime.

I never wanted her to have to pay for something again in her life, but she was loaded and bought whatever she wanted whenever she felt like it, so there wasn't much I could do about it.

She frowned, and I shook my head with a smile.

"Get used to it baby," I said with a grin, and kissed her firmly.

We left not long after, but we didn't stay at the beach long because it was crowded, and once a couple people recognized me I almost got pulled into a mass-autograph signing. Bella didn't seem to mind though. She looked so peaceful as we drove back to the hotel. I ordered us some room service, and a very large bottle of wine, and we sat out on the balcony to eat, talking about ideas for furniture and decorating. Our tastes in décor were surprisingly similar though, which shouldn't have really surprised me because I had always liked her apartment more than mine that my mother had decorated.

By the time our plates were cleared, we were finishing off the bottle too.

"So what will you do with the house after you're done filming?" She asked curiously, settling down next to me on the couch. I pulled her legs into my lap and wrapped an arm around her, so she'd be closer.

Much better.

"I'm not sure yet. Sell it maybe. Or maybe we can keep it as a vacation house or something. I guess we can just play it by ear."

Fuck, her legs felt so soft. I traced the design of her constellation with my index finger.

"When do we move in?"

"Hmm. When do you want to? We could come a few days early to start things up, or we can stay in a hotel when we come back and work on it in our spare time. Or we can hire somebody to set it up, order our stuff online. I'm fine with anything really."

"I wouldn't mind coming a bit early. Take some time to enjoy it before you get swamped with work," she said hopefully.

I found it a little odd that not once had she seemed reluctant or disappointed in leaving New York. She only looked relieved and hopeful. Eager even. I think she really wanted to get away from there for a while.

"Okay," I said, and leaned in to kiss her neck. She always smelt so damn good.

I didn't want to stop.

So I didn't.

I left a trail of kisses up her neck, along her jaw, and under her ear, slowly, and her hands gripped lightly onto my biceps.

She shivered as I exhaled beneath her ear.

Her grip on me tightened as I slid my hands down her sides, and underneath her thin blouse as they went up her waist.

Her breathing became a little heavier as I traced the underwire of her bra with my thumb. Fuck, her skin was so damn soft. I wanted feel more of her.

I started slowly unbuttoning the little buttons on her blouse. Her hands were shaking slightly, and I paused before I could get too carried away.

Because I did not want to fucking stop tonight.

"How are you feeling?" I asked worriedly. She had said she was sore early in the afternoon.

"Horny," she said, kissing me again, and I chuckled against her lips as I pushed her shirt off her shoulders and unclasped her bra. She sighed as my hands moved around, cupping her breasts and rubbing my thumbs over her nipples.

I leaned her back against the couch so that she was lying down, hovering over her as my lips moved back down her jaw, her neck, along her collarbone, and over her breasts. I flicked at her nipple with my tongue before wrapping my lips around it, making her moan. My hands moved lower as my mouth teased her, popping the little button on her skirt, slowly undoing the zipper before I tugged on them lightly. Bella lifted her hips for me to slide them off, and I pretty much growled, looking at her laying there in nothing more than a pair of lacy, dark-blue boy shorts. I kissed my way down her stomach, then along the beautiful tattoo on her hip bone before biting onto the edge of the lace and slowly pulling them down. She whimpered as I trailed my tongue back up her calf, and the inside of her thigh, but skipping over where she wanted me most, smiling up at her.

Her moan of frustration turned into one of pleasure as my fingers parted her, and I slowly teased her with my thumb.

She was so fucking wet. I couldn't resist her, leaning in and trailing my tongue around her center, making her fists clench as she whimpered. I could feel her pulse in the one hand I had resting gently on her abdomen, making sure she didn't flinch too hard and hurt herself, and also just trying to keep her in fucking place as I teased her with my tongue, then slid a finger, then two inside of her, curling them as I increased in speed, and it was only about a minute before I felt her muscles clench down on me and she came with a quiet whimper.

I wasn't fucking done yet though, and it had been too long, so I didn't stop. I pushed right through her first orgasm, and then her second, before kissing my way up her body and attacking her mouth with mine. She moaned as she tasted herself on me, wrapping her legs around me and pulling me into her.

I braced myself on my left forearm, guiding myself as I teased her, sliding up and down her center, teasing her clit, until she was fucking begging me for it.

And I gave it to her happily, slowly sliding in, letting out a hiss as she went from tight to fucking crazy tight as she clenched around me. Her fingers dug into my shoulders and her thighs clamped down on my hips as I started moving inside of her, and I brushed her hair away from her damp face, before kissing her passionately, attacking her tongue with mine until she was gasping for breath, and moved down her neck instead. Every inch of her tasted fucking sublime.

"I love you so much," I growled, picking up my speed but still trying to be gentle.

"I love you too," she cried, and I felt her start to tighten again and knew she was close, it seemed like she was holding back though.

"Come for me Bella, I know you can do it again," I growled against her throat. She whimpered, and I slid my hand between us and rubbed my thumb over her swollen clit, and she cried out as she came. I was only seconds behind her, collapsing on top of her. I didn't pull out, because I just wanted to fucking stay inside of her. I wrapped my arms around her, shifting her a bit so that I had her trapped between me and the back of the couch. She kept her leg hiked over my hip, and her head was buried against my chest.

She fell asleep in about ten minutes I think, cuddled up against my chest with a glowing smile. I managed to pick her up and slide into our hotel bed with her without even waking her up.

. . . . . . . . . .

Can you understand Bella's reluctance about talking to Edward about Victor? Edward doesn't like it, but he understands it since he can't talk to her about it either. They're too afraid to hurt each other. Opinions? Thoughts? I want to hear them! What did you think of Edward's present?

Next chapter, the two of them sit down for lunch with Marcus. What do you think they're going to talk about? I love hearing your theories. :)

Take care guys.