A/N: This fanfiction is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Feel free to share it, but attribute the work to me, and don't attempt to use it for commercial purposes.
Thanks to dellaterra for betaing.
Edward's POV
The sun is rising in the Seattle sky, framed by the large office window, and it's beautiful. Not as beautiful as earlier this morning though, when I stood watching it from our hotel window with Emmett's arms wrapped around me. It's the same morning, and the same city, but Emmett just made it so much better.
"Good Morning, Mr. Cullen," A quiet voice says behind me.
"Morning, Rebecca," I say as I turn around, smiling. I'm exhausted from staying up late with Emmett talking about our relationship, then "making up" over and over again, but it was definitely worth it.
"You look happy," she says, then hands me a cup of coffee. Cream, no sugar, just the way I like it. "Tired though. You look like you could use this. Is everything all right?"
"Everything is fine, thanks," I say, although I catch myself looking at the clock to see how much longer it will be until I can see Emmett again. Until we can fly back to Portland together, and I can bring him home again – this time to see Alice.
She smiles, then points to the rolled-up papers next to me. "Are those the latest plans?"
"Yes. Would you like to take a look?" I ask. She nods and I lay out the drawings.
Leaning over the table, I explain the latest changes, summarizing what I'll be going over today in the meeting. She seems genuinely interested, but every few minutes I catch her looking at me with a sad expression. I know that she's not completely oblivious to everything that is going on with Felix. She doesn't say anything about it, but I can tell that it's troubling her.
"And these," I continue, pointing out the top-floor offices, "are going to have the most amazing view." I try not to think about the fact that Felix will likely have one of those offices, but it's difficult to focus on anything about this project without thinking about him. It has ruined any joy that I used to get out of my job.
"Good morning, Edward."
The room goes from relaxed to tense in an instant.
"Rebecca, why don't you go down to the mailroom to see if I have anything?" Felix asks in a rude, commanding tone.
"Were you expecting−"
"Just go, Rebecca," Felix's voice is sharp now, instantly annoyed.
Rebecca nods, then with a quick, sympathetic glance at me, leaves the room.
I look up at the clock, and am disappointed to see that there are still another twenty minutes before people will start arriving for the meeting. Ignoring Felix, I continue setting up for the day.
When I hear the door shut, I can't help but freeze. All I can think is: Trapped.
"Edward," he says, and I hear him walk up close behind me. "You seem to be very stressed. I can't help but get the feeling that, well, that you're afraid of me."
I take a few breaths, completely unsure of what to say. Something about Felix is unsettling. He wants me; he's made that perfectly clear. Most people would consider him to be very attractive, but there is something about him that makes me want to run in the opposite direction. Does that make me scared? I don't know. Either way, I would never admit it to him if I was.
"I'm not."
"Good, then turn around."
Slowly, I do, then immediately wish I hadn't. I have to look up to meet his eyes, which are looking back down at me with such intensity that it makes me shiver. As intense as his gaze is, his body language makes it seem that he's perfectly at ease. It's more than a little disconcerting.
His lips pull up into a smirk. "I'm glad it's not me you're scared of."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Edward," he says as he slowly shakes his head. "You're scared of something. Look." He motions down to my hand, which is now gripping the side of the table. He reaches over to pry my fingers off, then takes my hand in his, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles as if to relax them. I yank my hand away.
"And what exactly is it that you think I'm scared of?"
He tilts his head and gives me a small smile. "Well, I'm not really sure. But I do know this: I'm the kind of person who knows what he wants – and you aren't."
I stare back at him, completely unsure of what to say. He takes a step closer, then leans in, his hands now gripping the edge of the table, forcing me to lean back so that we don't touch. His face right in front of mine, only inches away.
Everything in me says to push him away. To tell him to fuck off.
"Since you're so confused, Edward, maybe you should stop being so difficult and let me show you what you want. I'm sure you would enjoy every second."
All at once I feel so many things. Anger and frustration roll through me in waves until I am overcome with complete disgust. Felix is wrong – so wrong. I know exactly what I want. I want Emmett. I've wanted him from the very first moment, the second that he crashed into me at the airport. At first I didn't think I could have him, then I wouldn't let myself really have him. But I've always wanted him.
I stare at him, our faces so close, and his smile grows, as if he's already won. Then he reaches for me.
The thought of him touching me is the last straw. I push his hand away quickly, then I place my hands on his chest – and shove.
He stumbles back, looking completely shocked. For just a moment, in his confusion, I feel strong. And angry. So fucking angry. I walk up to him, then push him again. This time he doesn't stumble, just catches my wrist, which feels childish in his large hand. He grips it hard, then twists, so that my arm is behind my back and his lips are at my ear.
"That was a mistake, Edward, attacking me like that. You must not like your job very much."
I can't move. Pain shoots down my arm, and I bite my tongue to keep from crying out. It seems like forever that I'm stuck there, unmoving.
I'm just about to twist around, even if it means a broken arm, when I hear someone yell.
"Christ, Felix. Let him go!"
I look up and find Aro standing in the doorway. He looks more annoyed than angry, and he's shaking his head.
Felix doesn't move. His breath is hot in my ear, and it makes me feel nauseated.
"I said let him go, Felix," Aro repeats.
Slowly, Felix releases me. My arm aches, and I cradle it in front of me. Aro walks toward us, shaking his head.
"It looks as if you and Felix have had a bit of a misunderstanding, Edward."
I scoff. "That's an understatement."
Aro looks back and forth between us, then sighs. "Edward, whatever this was about, I'm sure that we can put it behind us. Don't you agree?"
He doesn't wait for me to answer; instead he looks at Felix and glares.
"Felix, I'd like to have a word with you. Alone. Meet me in my office."
It takes a minute, but eventually, and without even a glance in my direction, Felix walks toward the door.
Aro stares at me, completely calm, as if none of this just happened. "Well then. Until next week, Edward? You've really been doing a fabulous job."
Then he turns on his heel and leaves.
I'm not sure how long I stand there, completely stunned by what just happened. It's not until I hear a quiet voice next to me that I snap out of it.
"Are you all right?" I don't know when she entered the room, but there Rebecca is. She looks up at me with wide eyes. I glance down, unsure of what to say.
I want to ask her how long she's been here, what she's seen. But seeing her damp eyes and her trembling lip, I already know: She's seen it all.
"Thank you," I say instead of answering her, because the truth is I'm not all right. Not at all. "Thank you for finding Aro."
She nods slowly, then motions for me to sit down. But that's the last thing I want to do. I can't spend another second here in this room. I shake my head and gather my things, throwing them in my bag, crushing the drawings as I roll them up and place them in their tube.
I don't care that in a few minutes I'm supposed to be leading a meeting. I don't care that people are going to show up and wonder where I am. I don't care that Mr. Banner will call and fire me without listening to a word I say to defend myself. I just don't care.
With one last thank you to Rebecca, I leave.
I take the elevator down to the lobby, and then jump into the first cab I see, telling the driver to take me to the office of McCarty's Sporting Goods.
As we pull out into traffic my decision has already been made. I know what I want.
And I don't look back.
.~.~.~.
Emmett's face is bright red when I tell him what happened. His fists clench and his eyes go wide and I see more anger in his expression than I did the night we had that run-in with Felix.
Gently, I take his face in my hands and look him in the eye. Quietly, I whisper that everything is just fine and being angry isn't going to do any good. Then with a smile, I tell him that it's all a blessing in disguise, and that if the job is still on offer, I'll take it.
When Emmett blinks, my heart stops for just a second. I hold my breath and wonder if he had really meant it, if he really does want me to design the next McCarty Sporting Goods building.
Emmett's smile makes me breathe again and brings my heartbeat back to normal, although I'm not sure my heart will ever beat completely normally when I'm around him.
Instead of answering, he wraps his arms around me and squeezes. He squeezes and buries his face into my neck and gives me one of the best Emmett bear hugs he's ever given me, which is saying quite a lot.
When he mumbles into my neck, I don't even ask him to repeat himself. I already know that his answer is yes. His lips travel up my neck to my jaw and then my lips, then he mumbles some more about how perfect everything is turning out to be.
I laugh and nod, totally agreeing with him. Then I joke that all we need to do now is get through him meeting Alice, then maybe buy a few lotto tickets. Emmett stops squeezing me that very instant. His arms go limp and he looks at me with his eyes wide, only this time he looks terrified instead of angry.
"Don't worry, Emmett. She'll love you."
He doesn't look like he believes me. I really don't understand why.
"She'll love you because I love you," I say, and the L-word seems to make him melt a little.
"Tonight?' he asks, looking at the clock and counting the minutes.
I nod, then squeeze his hand a little. For once, I'm not worried about anything at all.
We decide just to leave early, taking a cab to the airport and then making our way to the gate. Emmett holds my hand the entire way, almost dragging me through the metal detector until the security agent tells him he just can't do that.
We get a drink at the bar by the gate, a bar not too different from the one in Portland where we had our very first date. Only this time I sit next to Emmett in the booth, and he squeezes my hand some more, even though it means he has to drink left-handed. He quizzes me about Alice, confirming things that he already knew, and asking a hundred more questions. By the time we're landing in Portland I can barely feel my fingers. I really don't care, I just want to be there for Emmett, no matter how silly all his worry is.
When I turn my phone back on I see a message from Alice telling me that she and Bella are working on a project, and won't be home until late.
"What are you smiling about?" Emmett is momentarily grinning, and I smile even harder knowing that my own smile is what put that grin on his face.
"Alice is going to be late," I say as I pull my bag down from the overhead bin. When I wiggle my eyebrows, Emmett's grin disappears and he gives me a very serious look.
"Edward, I'm meeting Alice tonight. Don't give me that look!"
"What look?" I glance over my shoulder as we walk down the aisle toward the exit.
"That one," he whispers in a very serious voice. "How can you think of fooling around on a night like tonight?"
I laugh, and I can almost feel him glaring at the back of my head.
Emmett drives back to my house. I take advantage of having my hands free, and touch his arm, his thigh, then go in for what I really want. Then I squeeze.
"Edward!" It's difficult not to laugh. Emmett is so serious, and for once, serious is the emotion furthest from what I'm feeling. When I respond by innocent undoing a few of my shirts buttons, Emmett looks over at me and glares. I try not to smile.
Sudden moments of panic do creep in, but every time I feel like maybe I should be nervous, I remember the talk that Alice and I had, and anything resembling worry just melts away. Emmett would have to be a terrible, awful person for Alice not to love him. He would have to be a total and complete ass for her to hate someone that I love so damn much. Emmett isn't even close to terrible or awful, and the sort of blind confidence have that everything is going to be all right is something I don't remember feeling since before my parents died.
I feel great, but when we pull up in the driveway, Emmett kind of looks like he's going to puke.
"Come on," I say as I pull him out of the passengers seat and up the driveway. I open the door one-handed, just so he has the other one to squeeze. In the living room, I pull off my tie, then undo a few more of my shirt buttons.
"Edward, can you please stop trying to take your clothes off?"
When I reach for his shirt buttons instead, he rolls his eyes. Then I kiss his lips and he starts to relax just a little. My tongue explores his mouth and my free hand slowly rubs his back and can feel the moment that he gives in. Suddenly, he pulls away.
"Are you sure that Alice won't be back until much later?"
"Not for at least a few more hours," I say seriously, having already mentally calculated how long I used to spend on projects taught by the very same teacher she has now.
"Well," he says slowly, a smile creeping onto his face. "As long as you're sure."
Before I know what is happening, Emmett pushes me back onto the sofa. It bangs into the wall behind it with a noise that makes me think we're actually going to break the house.
It could be that I'm pulling Emmett down, or maybe it's that he's pushing into me, but either way, our bodies are pressed so close together that he can barely pull up my shirt. Still half on top of me, he shrugs off his suit jacket, then goes for my shirt again. One of his hands is in my hair and the other is back up my shirt when I hear two very loud gasps.
I sit up so quickly that I practically push Emmett on to the floor. He sort of slides off the sofa looking completely shocked, before standing up quickly and trying to rearrange his clothes.
I'm almost too scared to look over, but when I do I see exactly what I expect: Alice and Bella staring at us, mouths hanging open.
Bella finds words before any of us do. "Oh. My. God."
"Alice!" I finally yell.
"Edward!" Alice yells right back.
Emmett just groans, then covers his face with his hands like he can make it all go away.
"Why are you home so early?"
"Why are you making out on the couch?"
We stare at each other for a moment, then we both start to speak at the same time. Then we both shut up again. After a moment, Alice shakes her head and laughs. All the laughter that I had been holding back earlier seems to find it's way to the surface and I laugh right along with her. Emmett is just as bright red as he was earlier in the afternoon, and Bella is staring at him with daggers in her eyes. I'm sure that Alice already told her I'm dating someone, and she doesn't seem to like it.
She's still staring at him when Alice walks across the room to us. She narrows her eyes when Alice throws her arms around Emmett. But she smiles just a little when he gives Alice a big bear hug, and Alice squeezes him back just as hard.
Maybe it shouldn't be this easy, especially when everything else about getting to this point has seemed so hard. But instead of questioning it, I stand up and wrap my arms around the two people in the world I love the most.