Chapter 21A Interruptions

BPOV

The last syllable hadn't even left my lips before he claimed them for himself.

He was facing me as I'd spoken so it was easy for him to side his hands around my waist and pull me towards him on the bed. His lips were cool and smooth, like glass, as they swept across my own. My hands flew up into his hair, grasping for it at his neck, holding his mouth to mine as tightly as I could.

He groaned into my mouth and it set my skin on fire.

His hands went from my waist up my back and into my hair and he wrapped his hands in the long coils of what were the ribbons from the bow Rose had created in it, but were now a tangled mess. He twisted it through his fingers and used them to anchor himself to me, pulling my mouth onto his with some force.

A groan escaped my own throat and he swallowed it into his mouth as his tongue settled along my bottom lip, pressing lightly for permission to enter. I gave it gladly; desperate to take his tongue into my own mouth and taste his sweet flavor.

This kiss was not gentle, soft and warm like the one we'd had last night at the dance. This was full of raw emotion, a desperate need to feel, taste and touch each other.

I wanted to feel more of his skin on mine, I needed him to get as close to me as he possibly could, I needed to know we were here, together, and we'd never let each other go. I couldn't have that if I sat on the edge of the bed as I was. I released his lips and he squeaked out in protest at the sudden loss. I grinned up at him silently asking him to trust me, his patience would be rewarded. I scooted back into the centre of the bed and sat Indian style, my back against the headboard. I reached for the front of his shirt, tugging him gently, asking him to come with me, to join me there.

He got onto his knees and crawled to across the bed to where I was. I was digging the nails from my left hand into the bedclothes, frustrated at the distance between us now. My right hand kept pulling him to me using his shirt. I heard the first button pop then the second and laughed softly.

His eyes were pitch black, half closed as the last button flew across the room and landed with a ping against the glass doors of his stereo cabinet. He let out a low rumbling groan that I could feel in his chest with my knuckles as he stalked across the bed towards me. He was leonine, on his hands and knees, and for a quarter of a second he looked the vampire I knew him to be. Predatory, menacing and very, very dangerous. Christ he was hot.

He must have caught the change in me because he stopped advancing on me and sat upright, putting his hands squarely out in front of me, palms facing me. His eyes switched back from black to topaz again as his breathing settled into a more steady rhythm.

"Isabella, it's ok love. I won't hurt you. Don't be frightened." His voice was shaking and he again showed me his upturned palms, a gesture of supplication I assumed, designed to show me he was safe, that he wouldn't come any closer without my permission.

I laughed a little and staring deep into his eyes I said, "Edward, I'm not scared of you. I was watching you stalk me across the bed and it was very, um, sexy, is all."

"Hmm." Was all he managed before he closed the distance in the blink of an eye and once again claimed my mouth with his.

He put both the palms of his hands against the headboard, one on either side of my face, and leaned into me fully. His kiss was hungry, devouring and I reveled in it. He tugged at my bottom lip with his teeth and my hands went back to his hair to hold him to me.

He was still braced on his knees, hovering over me, but this was what I was trying to avoid, this distance between us was unacceptable. I unfolded my legs and wrapped them around his waist and pulled him to me. His weight was now on me fully and I gasped into his mouth. He went to pull back, probably thinking he'd hurt me or was too heavy, but I simply wound my hands tighter into his hair and pulled my legs down more firmly on the back of his thighs. He seemed to understand and went back to devouring my mouth.

His hands were now underneath me, trapped between our weight. His long fingers were kneading the soft flesh of my lower back.

I could feel his arousal against my hip and I shifted slightly to the side to increase the friction for him. I waited for his sigh or groan but it never came.

Instead he leapt off me and a tight, painful expression came over his face. He was breathing heavily, panting even, but he was now running his hand through his hair and tugging his shirt back on in frustration.

"Oh for gods' sake." He spat.

What had I done? Had I gone too far? Did he not want me like this?

The tears sprang to my eyes without warning and I stifled the sob that was building in my chest.

EPOV

I could sympathize with the family, they had no way of knowing what was happening if we didn't speak, but really, was it too much to ask that they just give us ten minutes peace? Everyone had been fine while we talked; they could follow the conversation and could gauge how things were going. When we stopped speaking just now and began, well, when we stopped talking, the family panicked.

Alice had seen what Bella's decision was but was expecting us to join them once the decision was made. When that didn't happen and we didn't appear she got frustrated and started assuming the worst.

Carlisle was ready to go to the hospital for his shift but was loathe to leave in case I needed him.

Emmett wanted to know if he now had another sister or should he burst into the room and plead for Bella's forgiveness and try and help me talk her round?

Jasper was so stunned at the mixed emotions emanating from my room that he felt ill and wanted to leave, go hunting or something, but Alice wouldn't let him go in case I needed him to calm Bella again.

Esme was busying herself cooking breakfast for Bella but was chanting, 'He loves her, she'll see that, everything will be alright' over and over again in her head as she flipped the eleventh egg. Eleven eggs? Bella wasn't a professional wrestler, she'd not eat eleven eggs, even I knew that and I hadn't eaten an egg in over a hundred years.

I could live with; ignore even, all these thoughts as I wrapped myself around Bella on my bed. I could block out their desperation to know what was happening. I could even deal with Rosalie's crassness as she ran through all the flaws she saw in me falling in love with a human in her head.

What I couldn't ignore was Alice.

She was counting down from one hundred in her head having announced that when she got down to one she was coming into the room, ready or not.

The polite thing to do would've been to stop what I was doing, inform Bella of my annoying sisters intentions and then make us presentable before allowing Alice to come into the room.

But then Bella had ground her hips into my erection at the exact moment that Alice had gotten to the number twenty. I had exactly twenty seconds to extricate myself from the beauty in my arms, convince my painful erection to make itself scarce and to retrieve my shirt before Alice stepped through that door.

I was making good progress with part one of the plan and had pulled on my shirt and folded it across my chest because of its missing buttons. I was preparing to tackle the problem in my pants when I looked over to Bella and saw the tears swimming in her eyes. Oh fuck. I'd upset her.

I dove onto the bed and took her in my arms. "Oh Isabella, baby. Don't cry. I'm sorry. It's not you. It's bloody Alice. I forget you can't hear like I can. Please honey, stop crying, please. Shhh. It's okay." I was stroking her hair and cooing softly, lying soft kisses onto her head hoping she would quieten down before Alice burst in the door and yelled at me for making her cry. This was so hard. I had to behave like a human but had to deal with bloody vampires!

"I'm sorry Edward." She said through her tears.

"No, no Isabella. You've nothing to be sorry for. I swear it. Nothing at all. It was, um, lovely, what we were doing just now. I loved it. I didn't want to stop either. You have to believe me. But in about two seconds Alice is going to burst through that door and I knew you wouldn't want to be seen, well, wouldn't want to be seen like that. That's all, I swear."

"Alice is going to come in? Oh god. Edward, she'll think we've…"

Too late.

Alice slammed the door open on its hinges so hard the door jamb cracked and two screws flew out of it and hit her in the head. She swatted at them like they were flies and I cracked up.

Bella starting howling with laughter beside me and we fell in a heap of heaving guffaws on the bed as Alice put her hands on her hips and wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah, laugh it up. It didn't hurt. Edward, why is she crying? What have you done to her?

"You're interrupting us Alice. If Bella tells you she is fine will you go away again please?" I looked to Bella but she was laughing so hard she couldn't see through the tears and I doubted she even heard me anyway.

I nudged her and she looked up at me and then to Alice.

"Really Alice, I'm not upset. Misunderstanding." And she started laughing again.

"Is everything alright Edward? You two stopped talking and I thought, well, I thought maybe it wasn't going so well? But you look cozy enough now?"

Normally I would answer her with a brief nod or movement, but now that Bella knew and understood a little I didn't want to exclude her so I spoke my reply. "We're fine. Nothing to worry about. Tell Carlisle he can go to work, we won't need him. Jasper is desperate to hunt, you should go."

Alice's eyes widened when I mentioned hunting and she wondered if it was okay for me to be speaking about it out loud with Bella in earshot. "You'll frighten her Edward. We'll work out a code or something."

I was getting frustrated having one conversation out loud and the other inside Alice's head. We were going to have to get used to speaking aloud when Bella was around, it might be strange for a while but we'd adjust. We'd have to.

I was about to mention this to Alice when Bella surprised me by answering for us both. "I'm not frightened Alice. Edward has explained everything to me." she turned her face to mine, smiled and turned back to face Alice before she continued, "If Jasper needs to hunt you should go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

Alice's face only registered shock but she nodded her head and turned to leave anyway. "Sure, sure. I'll call you tomorrow."

BPOV

I felt badly that Alice seemed put out that we'd dismissed her like that, but not for long. The instant that the door shut, albeit crookedly with the missing hinge and screws, Edward had kissed me again. I was still tucked into his hug and I didn't have to shift too far for him to reach my mouth.

I couldn't get enough of the feel of him. I probably could've, would've, stayed there in his bed and in his arms for the rest of the day had he not pulled away from me and said we needed to make a move as he had promised Charlie he would take me home this morning.

He ushered me into his bathroom with another clean set of his clothes, complete with a Harvard jersey and the promise of breakfast when I was ready. My stomach gave a growl when he mentioned food and he grinned and shut the door.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a while seeing if there was any noticeable change in my reflection now that I had admitted I was in love with him. I couldn't see any. I wondered if Charlie would?

I brushed my teeth, washed my face and did my best to brush the tangles out of my hair. There were one or two of the diamante pins stuck in there still and I put them in my pocket to give back to Alice.

I slipped on the sweats and jersey and buried my nose in the collar. It smelled just like my robe did and it made my belly jump at the thought of it being something I could surround myself with everyday now.

With a last glance at myself in the mirror I went back into Edward's room.

He was standing up against the windows looking out over the yard and to the forest beyond it. He had changed into jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt and had his hands in his pockets. I walked to his side and slipped my hand into his pocket and into his palm. He smiled down at me and leant over and buried his nose in my hair near my ear.

"Welcome back beautiful. I know those sweats don't fit you but they do look adorable. Alice has some clothes that will fit for you to wear home. Are you ready to face them?" He was smiling broadly and I was so pleased to see the sparkle back in his eyes.

"This is going to feel a bit strange. What should I say to them? Obviously they know I know, but I mean, I know things now." I took my hand out of his and then out of his pocket and sat on the edge of the bed again. He'd made it. Sheesh, anal much? "Alice has probably seen what we were doing earlier now, like in her visions, and it's going to be weird now between us. And Esme, oh god, Esme is like your mom, I mean she'll have heard us and oh Edward." I hid my face in his pillow and cringed.

He came and sat beside me and put his hand on my hair, stroked it a few times and then pulled me up out of the pillow so he could see me. "I know it's going to feel awkward for a little while, love. I've had a long time to get used to having so privacy and it's all new for you. But give them a chance, please. They've spent the last few hours completely blind, they are anxious to see you, to know for themselves that you are okay. Esme has been cooking for an hour, she wants to see you eat something before I take you home."

EPOV

She was so cute when she was embarrassed. The way she'd hid her face in my pillow was gorgeous. It had taken every ounce of self-control I possessed to stop myself from kissing her again, then we'd never get out of this room and I'd be in trouble with Charlie.

So I'd just reassured her that the lack of privacy was something we'd have to get used to. She seemed resigned to that and I vowed to find ways for us to be alone more often than coming here.

I also had another motive for getting her to go downstairs with me. Alice was keeping up a solid barrage of whining in her head and Emmett wasn't too far off being just as annoying. Jasper really was desperate to hunt, it had been a very trying night for him and the single deer he'd brought down during the night wasn't nearly enough to sate his thirst, not with Bella in the house for the past few hours anyway.

I held her hand and we went down into the living room. Alice rushed up immediately and took Bella into a tight hug. Alice shot me a smile over Bella's shoulders that could've been seen from space it was so wide.

"Thank you for giving me Bella, Edward." She pushed out towards me mentally. I replied with a wide smile of my own and a slight nod of my head.

When Alice let Bella go she looked her over from head to foot and sighed. "I'll have you out of those old sweats in a second Bella. I'll be right back." And she shot off up the stairs.

Bella watched her go with wide eyes. Alice hadn't bothered to curb her vampiric speed and I shrugged at Bella by way of explanation. She smiled back at me and simply said; "show off" with a little laugh.

"Bella, I'm so pleased you're still with us this morning. Welcome to the family ma'am." Said Jasper with a sweep of his hand across his thighs, dipping an imaginary Texan hat.

"Thanks Jasper." She blushed the most gorgeous shade of pink as his smile lit up his face, but he made no move to come any closer. He needn't have bothered with the apology in his mind about it, I understood and so did Bella.

I held out a hand and motioned towards the kitchen. What smelled like dirt fried in mud with some gravel rolled in sandpit screenings was piled onto plates on the countertop. Esme had an apron around her waist and her hair tied back with a wide pink ribbon. She looked every bit the 'All American Mom' she was trying to portray, and I loved her for it.

When she turned towards us she had flour spread up the right side of her face and a wooden spoon stuck to the hem of her skirt. I didn't want to laugh but had real trouble keeping it in.

She rushed over to Bella and again the poor girl was pulled into a tight hug.

"Good morning, dear. I thought you might be hungry. Carlisle said you might be, what with the shock and no sleep and the worry. Sit, sit. Help yourself."

"Thank you Esme. I think you've made enough for a whole army though. And thank you for letting me stay over." She blushed again. She grabbed a stool and a plate and started piling it with pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and has browns.

Esme watched her and smiled widely. This was what Esme had waited so patiently for all these years, the chance to mother Bella, as she would've if she were still human.

"Of course, dear. You are always welcome." Esme said warmly.

"I am so happy for you Edward, dear. I'm so proud of you. She is so lovely, thank you for bringing her to me, to us."

I put my hand over my heart and smiled at her. It was our own special signal. It was my way to tell her that she was welcome, that I loved her, and she responded with the same hand held over her heart in reply.

I sat next to Bella on a stool and watched her eat. She was self conscious of my stare but she ate nonetheless. I made a mental note to feed her more often. I was sure she didn't eat enough at lunch and I would start by buying more for her at school on Monday. School on Monday, hmmm, that might be an interesting day!

I was busy running over scenarios where Mike Newton committed Hari-kari when he saw Bella and I were a proper couple when Emmett burst in through the back door and swept Bella clean off her seat. He was swinging her around like the blades on a helicopter, laughing and telling her over and over how much he was looking forward to her being his little sister. I was laughing along with Esme and Alice, who had come down with some clothes for Bella and was standing at the end of the bench now too, when I noticed how green Bella was turning in the face.

"Umm, Em, you might want to let her go now. She's going to be sick otherwise."

He stopped the spinning and planted her back on her feet.

"Oops, sorry. Human, I forgot." His smile was so wide I thought his cheeks might split open.

I watched her sway from side to side a few times and then the colour return to her cheeks. She was smiling but I could tell she felt dizzy.

"Thanks for the welcome there, Emmett." She said. She was laughing with us now and I felt warmth rush up from my stomach to my face.

I'd always imagined it would be something like this. Bella here, in our house, with us all laughing together. It seemed such a futile thing to wish for a few short months ago, but here it was, it was real and she was mine.

Rosalie came through the glass doors then and took a position opposite Bella at the counter. She was smiling but her thoughts were blocked from me, she was reciting the Emancipation Proclamation in Yiddish to keep me out.

I was just trying to work out what she was hiding from me when she said, "Oh great, a happy Edward, I'm not sure we are ready for that."

The house filled with laughter and everyone joined in, even my lovely Isabella.