BPOV
A kiss like that isn't going too fast is it? I mean, I still loved him, and I'd told him that already, so a kiss didn't seem like such a big step, but when I'd actually plucked up the courage to do it, it wasn't the kiss I'd wanted, I'd gotten scared and decided that a ridiculously soft kiss would be better, and then I pulled away before I'd even started! I was angry with myself when I'd pulled away, but he offered to help me take my stuff back to my room. I'd decided that if Edward and I were going to try things again, then it would be better for me to be at Angela's at least then if I needed to have some space I wouldn't have to deal with his best friends, I knew Angela knew when to leave me alone. I'd assumed Edward would go and sort out his blood stained clothes before helping, but he seemed to have forgotten, so I pulled him back into the building and up the stairs. He knocked on the door, as he'd left his keys in there earlier and Jasper opened the door ever so slightly, sticking his head out.
"What?"
"Jazz I need to come in..." Edward replied, pointing at his bloody nose.
Jasper's head disappeared behind the door and five seconds later came back out again, rolling his eyes. I held Edward's hand tightly, wondering what was going on. "Right, come in then" He opened the door wide and gestured for us to come in, Alice was standing in the middle of the room looking sheepish.
"Hey Alice" I said awkwardly.
"Hi"
"Everything... ok?"
"Yeah of course, you just... caught us... at a bad time" She hooked her thumbs into her jeans pockets and hung her head in embarrassment, I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Right you, grab some clothes and get in the bathroom, I'll sort you out" I said as I pushed Edward in the direction of his closet.
"Oh really?!" Jasper joked, which was unlike him, so myself, Edward and Alice all turned to look at him and he shrugged, "Can I not get away with stuff like that?"
"It's just not the same as when Em does it... I'd give up if I were you!" Alice said walking over to him to wrap her arms around him protectively. Edward grabbed some clothes from his closet and walked into the bathroom, then stopped to turn and look at me expectantly.
"I'm coming Edward" I said walking towards him.
"That's what she said" Jasper joked again, all of us turning to look at him again. "Ok, I'm sorry, I'll stop now, it seemed funny in my head".
I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me, Edward sat on the toilet seat, and I had a sudden flashback to our little encounter in the toilet cubicle, but shook it off as I searched through the cabinets.
"I really doubt you'll find anything useful in there, love" Edward said, leaning forward slightly, trying to see what was in the cabinets.
"Urgh, no I don't think I will..." I exclaimed, pulling out a magazine and held in between my thumb and index finger as far away from me as possible, but towards Edward who leaned back.
"That is so not mine!" He whined, trying to push it back towards me, "I'm an ass man myself", he laughed slightly and winced as it obviously hurt his nose.
"This is disgusting! You should tell Emmett to sort this out... it's a bathroom for God's sake!"
"I will I will, now will you put it away?"
I scoffed in disgust and put it back in the cabinet, shutting the door on it.
"And, infuriatingly, you were right, there was nothing useful in there. Guy's bathrooms are rubbish"
He laughed again and I watched him wince again. I started running the hot tap and got some tissue, wetting it with the hot water before edging towards him slightly, I knelt down in front of him, and he opened his legs so I could sit between them as he continued to sit on the toilet. I noticed his breathing change as I got closer and then looked up to see his staring down my top.
"Now... if I were a boob man..." He whispered, and I hit him playfully on the arm, laughing.
I began to dab lightly at his nose and winced every time I knew I'd caused him pain, however he tried to hide it as much as possible. His eyes were closed tightly, and he would let out a little hiss every time my pressure was too hard. Once I had cleared up the blood on his face his injury wasn't even noticeable, just a little swelling. He still had his eyes shut, so I leant up and pecked him very lightly on the nose. His eyes opened quickly and he smiled.
"All done" I whispered.
"Thank you, you're a great nurse"
"Well you're a wonderful patient, I would hardly have even known I was hurting you"
"I'll try harder next time" He laughed, and I used his knees to push myself up from my kneeling position so that I was standing in front of him.
"I like the hair by the way, now it's much more 'tramp chic'!" I joked as he stood up, running a hand through it.
"Thanks" His eyes scanned me up and down for a few seconds, I was wearing my skinny jeans, gladiator sandals, and a tight green t-shirt, my hair still blonde, and poker straight running down my back. "I'm glad you... er... approve", he said after looking at me, realising I had noticed him.
"You too" I giggled, turning on the spot for him. "Finished looking?"
"Um... not quite" He smiled cheekily and put his hands on my waist, pulling me flush against him. My heartbeat sped up and I could feel my breathing becoming laboured, pushing my breasts up and into him with every breath. I looked up at him tentatively as he looked down at me, a playful smile on his face. One of his hands ran its way up my body and gathered itself in my hair. "I've still not decided about this Bella"
I turned my head slightly to look at the hair he was holding in his hand. "No?"
He shook his head regretfully. "I think we might have to wait a while before I make up my mind"
"How so?"
"Well Bella... you see... One of the reasons I loved your old hair was because when we... I have to see how it holds up when it's put... under pressure... so to speak" I looked up at him incredulously and he grinned at me. I put my hands on his chest and pushed myself away, but still in his hold, so not far away, we were still touching.
"Oh really? Well, if you're not careful, there will be no pressure for it to hold up against!" His eyes widened in shock, and so I pulled myself back to him, tracing his jaw line with my fingers.
"Sorry Bella, it wa-"
"Oh shut up Edward, we both know it's going to happen, I'm currently trying to convince myself not to jump you right now"
"Oh Bella... don't strain yourself!" He joked pulling me even closer against him, and I laughed in response, pushing him away again.
"Right, champ. Get dressed and then you can be a big strong man and carry all my bags!"
"Oh God how many do you have?"
"Well, I have 2 weeks worth of Alice's shopping trips in these!" I laughed, "They're tightly packed!"
I opened the bathroom door slowly, hoping I wasn't walking in on anything I wouldn't want to see, but as I peeped my head around the door I saw them both sitting there, just playing on the PS3. Moment must have passed. I shrugged and went to sit on Edward's bed, waiting for him to change into some clothes without blood all over them.
I heard the shower running and guessed that in his rush this morning he'd skipped it, he came out of the bathroom half an hour later as I was mindlessly flipping through a magazine that Alice had bought at the airport.
"Seriously Alice, I love you but what have you done to Bella?" Edward asked, laughing while running a hand through his hair. I let the magazine drop to my lap as I was sat on his bed and looked up at him incredulously.
"What are you talking about?" Alice and I both said together, I looked at her and we both laughed slightly before turning back to Edward.
He walked over to me and picked up the magazine, waving the cover in front of my face. "Vogue Bella? Really? I seem to remember you as more of a Cosmo girl?" He smirked as I blushed furiously remembering that I suggested he thank Cosmo for all my bedroom antics, our eyes locked and I blushed even more, biting my lip, his head lowered to mine a little more, but he seemed to lose confidence and pulled away looking back at Alice.
"She picked it up, I didn't ask her to read it!"
"I got bored of waiting for you Edward, what was I supposed to do? Sit here thinking about how insanely gorgeous you are?!" I joked sarcastically.
"Well that's a start!" He smirked again, before offering me his hand, I took it gingerly and he pulled me up onto my feet, but I stumbled over my feet and ended up falling into his chest.
"I have a serious problem with this falling business!" I mumbled, pushing myself off him as he chuckled, I hadn't realised his hands had instinctively found their way to my hips as I fell, but as I moved away I glanced down, he must have noticed too, and pulled his hands away quickly and breathed an almost silent, "sorry" to me.
"Right... erm... let's get these bags moved yeah?" He said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at Jasper rather than at me, but as my back was to Jasper I couldn't tell if they were communicating silently. I nodded before turning around and walking towards a pile of suitcases. "No shit! They are not all yours!" He exclaimed as I turned around again to look at him.
"Um... no?" I replied as a question.
"You didn't have all of those at the airport!"
"Well we didn't want to scare you! New Bella seems to love a bit of shopping!" Alice chirped, jumping up and down excitedly on the sofa next to Jasper who looked at Edward apologetically, "I took them to hide them from you."
"Thanks a lot" He mumbled and walked past me, picking up a few cases, there were only two left so I lifted the handles and started wheeling them out of the room.
"I did say you didn't have to help me Edward"
"You would be able to do all of this on your own would you?" He asked, hobbling out of the room with 4 cases. I just huffed and headed down the hallway to the stairs.
I got outside and waited for him to make his way, when he got to me he looked knackered, he was bright red and out of breath. "Just tell me I'll appreciate all of the stuff in these cases?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me exasperatedly.
I thought for a few seconds, I couldn't think of anything that I'd bought that I didn't think looked good... Shit. Alice made me buy all of that lingerie, I hadn't worn any of it since I'd bought it. It had reminded me of the fact that nobody would appreciate so I'd hidden it all in one of the suitcases.
"There's some stuff in there that you will love" I teased slightly.
I turned to walk towards my building and he jogged to catch up with me, dropping the bags he was carrying and spinning me around by my arm.
"Woah, wait up. What was that?" He smirked, his hand lingering on my arm where he'd turned me.
I hung my head and looked around at the bags on the floor, biting my lip as I glanced back up at him. I shrugged and released myself from his grip before turning around again. I heard him picking up my cases again, and heard his footsteps behind me. "I mean it Bella, what was that?"
"I've got some lovely new clothes Edward, you'll like them" I grinned, knowing he couldn't see my face as he was walking behind me.
"That's not what you meant... you didn't say it like that..." I heard him sigh deeply, but carried on walking, "Dammit Bella, I don't think I can do this!" I turned, shocked, to see him standing still about 20 yards behind me. "Everything you... All I can think about is having sex with you Bella!"
My eyes widened as I looked around to see if anyone had heard him, there were a few people who turned their heads. "SHHH!" I sounded to him loudly, putting a finger to my lips.
"No Bella. I know you want to go slow... I just... I need you to know that I can't stop thinking about it ok? Everything you say... even when you're joking, you have no idea what you're doing to me!"
"Edward, let's just get these bags upstairs ok?" I said, my head motioning to the nearby doors to my building, "Then we'll talk" He nodded and followed me quickly into the building and up the stairs. I opened the door while he was still struggling with my cases, I pushed the door open and held it open with one of my bags as I walked into the room. Angela wasn't there, I guessed she was still at home, or with Ben, if she was still with him. Edward came in behind me, looking around before wheeling my cases over to the side of my bed before falling onto it lazily.
I shut the door after pulling my bag away from it and walked over to my other bags, putting it with them, sitting next to Edward on the bed, he was lying across the bed horizontally, his legs draped over the edge, and his t-shirt was pulled up slightly revealing a sliver of skin between the top of his jeans and his shirt. He hands were rubbing his face, but I noticed he was avoiding his nose. He groaned and his hands came away from his face, slamming down on the bed either side of him, pushing himself up into a seated position next to me. I'd been staring so I looked down at my hands, he didn't say anything so I glanced up at him to see him staring at me intensely, I guessed he'd been looking at me when I wasn't looking at him.
"I'm sorry Bella. I just... I have to do this" He leaned forward suddenly, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me towards him, my eyes widened in anticipation, I saw his eyes screw shut as our lips met, but neither of us moved our lips, they were just pressed against each other, his brow was furrowed, like he was waiting for me to fight him off, and after about 3 seconds of no resistance his lips began to move slowly but forcefully on top of mine. I sighed deeply into the kiss and joined him, our lips brushing against each others, while he held my head against his firmly. When he sensed we both needed to breathe he pulled away, releasing his grip on me. We rested our foreheads against each others and looked each other deep in the eyes.
"Sorry Bells... That was..."
"Please don't apologise for that" I said, and he smiled weakly.
"I'll go slow now, I promise, no more attacks" He laughed quietly and I giggled. I leaned to the side to get a clear shot, and pecked him lightly on the lips, before pulling away completely, standing up and picking up one of my cases. Heaving it up onto the bed next to him and opening it up.
"I fucking hate unpacking" I groaned, staring into my case that Alice had immaculately packed for me.
"Do you want a hand?" Edward asked, peering into my case, "It would be a chance to see your... 'lovely new clothes'!"
I laughed and nodded, "That would be a great help actually. I think Alice had some kind of system..."
"Oh you mean you didn't pack these?" He teased, "I would never have guessed!"
Edward stood up and grabbed one of the other cases, putting down on the bed next to my one, he opened it gingerly.
"Anything you don't want me to see?" He winced and I frowned at him.
"What the hell do you think I've been doing in New York? Yes there's a huge picture of you and a dildo in there!" I laughed and he seemed to relax a bit, shrugging.
"You wouldn't want me to see that?" He joked, I rolled my eyes at him.
"Just open the case you perve!" I swatted his arm with a top I'd got from my case and he held his arm in mock pain.
Edward admired my clothes as he put them onto hangers and into my closet, he seemed to be enjoying himself. When he got to one of my "going out" dresses, as Alice had called it, he held it to him, as if he were sizing it up against himself.
"What do you think? Do I have the legs to pull this off?" He said it in all seriousness, not a hint of a smile. It was a green body con dress with layered fabric and thick straps, I hadn't worn it in New York, but it was definitely one of my favourites.
I stared at him incredulously and instinctively started to laugh, his serious face suddenly flashed with a grin, before turning serious again.
"Don't laugh at me Bella! It's a serious problem, I'm very insecure about my legs!"
I stopped laughing and took the dress from him, putting it up in the closet. I went back to him and put one hand on his shoulder.
"Stick to jeans babe, you look hot in them"
"Oh you're no fun Bella, you don't want to see me in your clothes? You've worn my clothes!"
"I wear your clothes in the morning's coz they're easy to put on!" I laughed, "And you like it"
"Yeah I do, you in my clothes is hot! But you wouldn't think I was hot in your clothes, no?"
"I don't think so champ..." I laughed again and he picked up some more stuff from another case and put it into the closet. "Now, there's only two more, which one do you want?"
"I'll take this one" He shrugged and bent down to pick up the larger of the two, I picked up the other one and opened it, shoes. I took them out pair by pair, laying them carefully at the bottom of my closet as Edward asked me how I managed to walk in them.
When he'd got to the bottom of his case he let out a confused noise, and I heard a rustling behind me so I turned around to see him holding out a bag.
"What this bag?"
"Oh shit, don't worry about that, just... give it to me!" I shrieked, bounding over to him and trying to take it from him, but he held me away with one arm, the one with the bag up in the air and away from me.
"Oh no Bella! You told me there was nothing you didn't want me to see!" He chuckled.
"Seriously Edward, don't look in that bag!"
"Why not? Give me one reason" I struggled against his arm but he held me firmly away.
"Urgh" I groaned, and he raised an eyebrow at me.
"It's the picture and the dildo isn't it?" He chuckled, "Seriously Bells, it can't be that bad"
"It's not bad!" I argued, deciding to stop struggling with him and just stood, his arm still out in front of him in case of any sudden attacks from me. "It's just... it's not... you'll... like it", he raised his eyebrow at me again curiously.
"What you were talking about earlier?" I nodded, "Can I look?" He sounded hopeful, but I knew he wouldn't push it if I said no.
"Alice made me get them, just in case. The labels are still on... you can look... if you... want to?"
He slowly brought the bag down and pushed the opening apart ever so slightly, peering inside like he was scared. I sat down on the bed, with my head in my hands. He came and sat down next to me, handing me the bag, I cocked my head to the side.
"Not looking?"
"No" He shook his head, "When you want me to see, then I shall see. Can't say I'm not curious though!"
I peered into the bag and dove my hand in while he smirked at me, knowing I should try and keep a little mystique I decided to pull out a pair of black mesh boy shorts with pink ribbon detail, I hooked my finger onto either side and held them out to him playfully.
"So...?"
"Can I kiss you again?" He laughed as he leaned towards me, but I ducked under his advance and stood up throwing the underwear back into the bag.
"No, you should go back now I think" I said, smiling, but saw his face turn down.
"Oh... erm... yeah of course" He murmured and stood up, he put one hand in the crook of my elbow, pulling himself towards me slightly and kissing my forehead, turning away from me sluggishly.
"Edward, wait!" I said, half running to him as he stood by the open door, "I didn't mean I wanted you to go, I just meant well... we're all going out tonight aren't we? You should let me get ready..."
With that his face lightened a little, and he chuckled, pulling me into a tight hug as I snuggled my head against his chest.
"Ok babe, I'll let you do whatever you need to do. We'll be round about 8 to come and get you ok?"
I nodded as we pulled away from each other, both smiling warmly. He stepped past the threshold of my room and was stood in the hallway while I leaned against the door frame.
"I have something to ask you later as well" he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, while I folded my arms across my chest and cocked my head to the side.
"Really?" he nodded, "What is it?"
"Oh no Bella, I said later, you're not getting round me that easily!" He laughed and turned walking down the hallway towards the stairs.
"I love you" I whispered after him, and he turned around instantly, grinning insanely.
"I love you too, see you later" He laughed and turned again, leaving the building.
***
EPOV
So, I'd done it, I'd kissed her, and she didn't hit me off. Good step I thought, and she seemed almost as reluctant as me to pull away from it. We started unpacking her cases which gave me the perfect opportunity to find out what "New Bella" would look like, and to be honest I liked what I saw! There were lots of really cute dresses, skirts, tops and pants. There was a few all in one type things which Bella informed me were jumpsuits, and 'very fashionable', I'd just nodded and put it in her closet with the other designer clothes that must have cost a fortune. When she opened her case with all of her shoes in my dick nearly exploded. There were some shoes in there which epitomised the phrase "fuck me boots", and I could just imagine her long legs in them, strutting with her new found confidence in heels. I tried to shake it off and concentrate on my last case, and when I got to the bottom I found a black and pink bag, which was weird, because nothing else was in its bag.
Bella and I had a little play fight about the bag, but when she gave up fighting, telling me to look in it if I wanted I changed my mind. I had a sneaking suspicion it was underwear, and if it was then I definitely wanted to see it when I could really appreciate it, which meant, on her, and near a bed.
When she told me that I should leave after I asked her if I could kiss her again, I really thought she might have changed her mind about starting over. I wasn't going to push her at all to make a decision about us, so I got up to leave hastily, but she followed me, giving me a quick explanation. I told her that I had something to say to her later this evening when we met up with the others, and although she tried to get it out of me, I was going to make her wait just a few hours.
***
When I got back to my building, I was determined not to interrupt Alice and Jasper again so I leaned my head against the door for a few seconds, my hand hovering by the keyhole with my keys. I didn't hear anything, so I put the key in and opened the door, nope. They weren't there, so I went in grabbed some clothes from my closet, I threw them over to my bed just as Emmett and Jasper walked in.
"Hey dude" Emmett said as he took his jacket off.
"Hi guys" I replied, walking over to a mirror to assess the damage to my nose. It was swollen and a little red, but nothing too noticeable, which was good, I'd been so worried I'd broken it and that I would end up with two black eyes.
"How'd things go?" Jazz asked sincerely as he sat down, flicking the T.V and PS3 on, grabbing a controller. I walked over and sat next to him, taking the second controller from him.
"What we playing?"
"Some new game Alice got for me for Christmas... I dunno!"
I chuckled, "Excellent. Well stuff went good today I think..."
"Progress?" Emmett mumbled angrily behind me. I turned around fully to look at him.
"I think so"
"Hmm... she's quick"
With that I threw the controller down onto the floor and squared up to Emmett who stood nearly a foot taller than me. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"Nothing, you two are free to do whatever the fuck you want!" He shouted and shoved me back slightly, getting past me.
"Hey, don't you talk to me like that, do you have some kind of issue with this all? I've said I'm sorry, and we're working on it. I know it's not over, so what else do you want me to do?!"
He strode up to me again, his face inches from mine, "I want you not to have done it in the first place jackass"
"Well there's nothing I can do about that" I hissed through clenched teeth, "Why do you care so much anyway, you have Rosalie to distract you from thinking about my relationships"
He stood up straight and swallowed hard, "Fuck off Edward", he murmured and turned away from me.
"Shit... you like Bella don't you?" I whispered, and both Emmett and Jaspers heads whipped round to look at me, Emmett's eyes wide with panic, "That's what this is all about, you're protecting her because you like her!"
"Edward..." Jasper tried to intervene.
"No Jazz wait, nobody's ever going to be good enough for her are they? Especially me... because I'm not you"
"Don't be ridiculous" Jasper said again as Emmett and I maintained eye contact. "Tell him it's ridiculous Emmett"
"Edward... I don't... She's... Rosal-"
"Yeah, Rose will love this little development won't she?" I shook my head, laughing, although I was filled with anger at my brother, "Her boyfriend has the hots for her best friend"
"I don't Edward... She's like... I don't have the ho-" He shook his head, and tore his eyes away from mine, staring at the floor, "She's like my little sister"
"You into incest then are you?"
"Of course not! I care about her Edward, and you were a complete dickhead to her, I looked after her, I care about her a lot. I don't want you to hurt her, I've seen her hurt, it was horrible"
I stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, although it was probably only a minute, when there was a knock at the door. Jasper stood tentatively, and walked slowly to the door, when he opened it, Alice bounded in, followed by Rosalie. Emmett's eyes pleaded with me to not say anything to Rosalie and I nodded my head minutely with an expressionless face, hoping he would trust me.
"Hey baby" Rosalie cooed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to kiss him quickly, his eyes were still panicked, and he stared at me once more after Rose let him go.
"How'd things go with Bella?" Rosalie said, crossing her arms across her chest, "She still coming out tonight, or did you ruin it?"
"God Rose, what do you think he would do to the girl?!" Emmett defended me, and I shook my head in confusion. Rosalie's head whipped round to look at him questioningly before snapping back round to me again, I nodded.
"Yes she's still coming. I said we'd go get her about 8ish"
"Good!" Alice chirped in jumping into me and gripping me in a tight hug, "I've missed going out with everyone"
"I'm sorry" I whispered into her hair and put her down on the ground, she smiled a bright smile at me and I smiled weakly back.
"We don't need apologies Edward... We need alcohol!" Alice bounced up and down excitedly, and Jasper came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle. "Right what time is it?" She said, pulling her phone out of her purse.
"Half past" Emmett said, his voice void of emotion. Rosalie tilted her head at him, obviously concerned, then looked at me suspiciously, so I just shrugged.
"Argh we have aaaaages!" Alice whined, throwing her head back onto Jasper's shoulder while he laughed.
"Right I just need to change. Give me a minute" I said, gathering my clothes from my bed and heading for the bathroom, just as I was about to shut the door I felt a pressure from the other side, stopping me from shutting it. And Emmett's head poked round.
"Can I talk to you?"
I nodded and opened the door to let him in. He shut it behind him and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry dude. I admit... I got a little... attached to Bella while you were, away. But I swear I don't like her like that Edward, over Christmas I thought I did but-"
"Excuse me what?" I said, my eyes widening in anger.
"Nothing happened I swear, I just... I was beginning to think that maybe there was something. But seeing you two together again, even when you were just standing in that alley. I knew it was just brotherly. I love her like a brother"
I braced myself against the sink with both hands behind me, breathing heavily. "I don't want to know anymore ok?" I pinched the bridge of my nose and then hissed loudly, forgetting my accident earlier, spinning round to check my nose in the mirror again. "Ugh... Just... Forget it ok?"
"You won't say anything to Rose?"
"There's nothing to tell is there?"
"No, of course not"
"Well then I'm not going to say anything" I tried to smile, but with the situation and the throbbing pain from my nose it came out as more of a grimace.
"I promise I'll back off about you and Bella. Just..."
"I'll look after her Em. I love her."
He nodded once before turning around and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. I changed quickly before stepping out into my room again to see a scattering of everyone sitting in various places. Alice closest to the door.
"Can we go get Bella now please?" She whined again, and I chuckled.
"Yup let's go" Emmett said, giving me a pat on the back before passing me and everyone started filing out of the door. I shut the door behind all of us, watching as everyone walked down the hallway. I half ran to catch up with Jasper who was walking alone at the back of the group. When he sensed my presence he looked up and smiled.
"You ok?"
"Think so." I shrugged in response, today had been a complete rollercoaster and to be honest I was feeling kind of awkward about tonight. I didn't know what to expect, or how I was supposed to behave with Bella. When we'd been on our own, or talking on the phone, we still teased each other constantly, like we were still a couple, but with a big group I wasn't sure if that would still be ok for her. I took a deep breath as I saw Alice practically sprint into Bella's building, I stopped outside and Jasper stopped with me.
"What's up?"
"I can't go up there. I'm gonna wait down here."
"Well I don't think it needs all of us to go and get her does it? I'll wait with you" He half laughed and I smiled appreciatively, as we both leaned against the brickwork. I shoved my hands in my pockets and started to whistle.
After five minutes of companionable silence the door burst open and Emmett came crashing out, laughing, pulling Rosalie by the hand, who gave me the stink eye as our eyes met. Next was Alice and then... Bella.
I let out a huge breath I didn't realise I'd been holding and her head turned in my direction. She was wearing the green dress I'd held up against myself earlier, it hung close to her body, showing every inch of her curves and sitting mid thigh. I stared at her face for a long time, she was smiling. She had dyed her hair back to its normal dark brown colour, and left it to curl naturally. She looked stunning.
"Hey Champ" She whispered as she walked up to me, linking her arm with mine and starting to walk. We were quite a bit behind everyone else who had started to walk without me realising. I beamed at her.
"Hey yourself" I chuckled. "You dyed it", my head motioning towards her hair.
"Erm, yeah." She looked at me sheepishly and I frowned in confusion, "I know you told me not to. But I knew what your decision would be so..."
"I love it, you look like you again" I chuckled, shaking my head. Then I realised she was a little taller, more level with my eyes, so I let my eyes wander down her body, down her lean, bare, long, sexy legs, to some pretty amazing looking shoes. I heard her giggling and I glanced up at her in amazement.
"How are you walking in them?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head in astonishment.
"Well I'm pretty sure you'll be carrying me home at the end of the night actually!" She laughed and I smirked at her, she stopped and turned her ankle, giving me a better view. They were like boots but not, they have a vintage lace and silk upper that went up just past her ankle, and the most ridiculous heel I had ever seen in my life, I bow down to women. "They're Vivienne Westwood, you like?"
"I do indeed. I tell you what... if you manage to get through tonight without breaking your ankle, I'll even love them!" I laughed, grabbing her hand and starting to walk again. We were now seriously lagging behind, but I was with my Bella, and I couldn't be happier.
"So..." Bella started as we were nearly at the bar. I guessed the other guys had already gone in, I started to pull out my fake I.D, and Bella let go of my hand to do the same, and once she had it, put her hand back in mine. "What was it you wanted to ask me?" She looked up at me through her eyelashes and I bit back a groan, and instead chuckles a little.
"So impatient!" I mock scolded, "I'll ask you later!"
"It had better be worth the build up Cullen!" She laughed. We showed the doorman our I.D's and they let us through. I let Bella walk in front of me slightly, still holding her hand as she led us to the table where everyone was sitting waiting for us.
"Did you get lost?!" Emmett joked as we sat down, I rolled my eyes.
"We got you some drinks in" Jasper said and motioned towards two untouched drinks on the table, I nodded appreciatively and tilted the neck of my bottle of beer to him before I took a swig.
***
After a few more rounds, the others all got up to dance, I turned my head to Bella who looked like the drinks had gotten to her already.
"You wanna dance?"
"Um... I don't think I should risk it in these shoes!" She laughed and I smiled at her as she grabbed my hand, bringing it to her chest. I breathed deeply. "Shall we get another drink?"
"You sure?" I winced, not wanting her to get completely smashed tonight. "You've not had enough?"
"I'm a big girl Edward remember?" She said seductively, leaning into me, and biting her lip. I breathed deeply again, inhaling her intoxicating scent.
"Ok yeah... erm... drinks" I caught the attention of a waitress easily and she brought us 2 more drinks each to save us going to the bar again.
Bella took her drink and giggled, taking the straw into her mouth and looking up at me as I gulped down some more beer.
"You're going to have to stop doing that you know" I warned, putting my beer back on the table but picking at the label absent mindedly.
"What?" She said innocently, looking up at me again.
"You're making it awfully hard for me to take this slow you know?"
"Just how hard am I making it?" She whispered, and I could just barely hear her over the music. She leaned over to me more and ran her hand up my leg, but I caught her hand quickly before she cupped me.
"Bella..." I cocked my eyebrow at her and she giggled again, resting her head on my chest. "You're really drunk you know that?" I laughed slightly at our situation, in the past there was no chance I would have stopped her, but now I seemed to be protecting her virtue, even though I knew there was absolutely no virtue to protect.
She pulled her head up and looked me in the eyes, smiling before inching her face closer to mine slowly, my eyes darted quickly from her eyes to her mouth and back again. I caught her wrist again as she tried to pull my head towards her. My other hand rested on her shoulder, attempting to push her away lightly. I shook my head and laughed at her frustrated pout that followed.
"You're no fun"
"You would never forgive me if I took advantage" I laughed as she flailed her arms around.
"I want you to take advantage Edward... it's been..." She rolled her eyes before leaning into my ear and whispering, "It's been months... I kinda need you"
"No you don't" I chuckled again, "You can wait a little longer until you're not drunk and I'm not having to prise you off me, as difficult as that is." She looked at me with an annoyed and frustrated look on her face, I leaned into her ear and whispered to her, "You have no idea how much I want you. I'd have you right here if I could. Right in front of all these people" I heard her whimper softly in my ear and I smiled, "I'd make you scream my name, and all these people would know you're mine. You wouldn't be able to think straight once I'm finished with you"
"Please" She whispered, and her voice begging me made my dick twitch.
"No Bella. We have to spend some quality time together..." I laughed slightly and her eyes widened in annoyance so one of my hands lifted and ghosted her cheek, "We need to let it build up inside us until we... explode" I whispered, I knew I was winding her up, but I couldn't help it. She was drunk and wouldn't remember this is in the morning anyway. She shut her eyes and whimpered again.
"I think I'm about to explode now" She whispered back to me, her head hung back ever so slightly and her eyes screwed shut. I leaned towards her and caught her lips in mine quickly, pulling away before it could deepen. Her eyes shot open.
"Hey Guys!" Alice said as she and the others walked back over to us. "We're gonna make a move back, you coming?"
"Um... yeah, we're pretty much done here" I smirked at Bella who looked angry at me. I held my hand out to her as I stood up and helped her out of the booth.
We left the club and started on the walk home. Rosalie and Alice decided to walk with me for some reason, and Bella was with Emmett and Jasper ahead of us.
"What's the problem?" I said, rolling my eyes at their obvious attempt to ask me something.
"Stay with Bella tonight" Rosalie looked at me pleadingly.
"What?" I said, panicked, "I can't do that we're not sle-"
"No Edward, not like that. Angela isn't back yet is she? Just, stay with her, in her room." She winked at me slightly and I frowned.
"Why?"
"Oh my God" Rosalie exclaimed and threw her arms in the air.
"Oh... you need both rooms don't you?" I said slyly, smirking.
"Now you get it!" Alice said. "You can make yourself scarce for one night can't you Edward?" She fluttered her eyelashes at me and held onto my arm, I shook her off and rolled my eyes at her.
"I'll have to ask Bel-"
"We've already asked her, she said yes... she was very... enthusiastic" Rosalie said suspiciously, and I smirked again.
"Excellent. Well, we'll see you tomorrow then!" Alice said, bouncing up and kissing my cheek before skipping off to Jasper taking his hand. I laughed slightly, shaking my head, and that's when I saw Bella's ankle roll, and heard her swear loudly.
I ran forward to get her, but by the time I got there she was already on the floor holding her ankle. I knelt down beside her and took her ankle in my hands, looking up at her.
"What did I say huh?" I smirked and she shook her head at me, laughing through her obvious pain.
"It's not broken Edward, just twisted" She held her arms out to me in a gesture to help her up, so I took her hands while standing up myself, pulling her up, but I heard her yelp in pain again, so I picked her up bridal style. "Edward! Put me down!"
"You can't walk Bella! And I kinda did agree to carry you home anyway!" I laughed as she protested.
When we got back to my building, Alice and Jasper left us, and Emmett and Rosalie went the other direction to the girls building, so I carried Bella the short distance to hers, she helped me push the door open, laughing at the time it took me to walk up the stairs.
When we got to her door she fiddled around in her purse until she found her keys, she opened the door and pushed it, letting me carry her inside. Angela still hadn't come back so I guessed it was ok for me to stay, not that I had a choice now anyway with my room being otherwise occupied.
"Put me down Edward" Bella whispered to me, so I walked over to her bed and lay her on it gently, nearly collapsing on top of her. She wasn't heavy at all, but holding her for a long period of time had taken it out of me somewhat. "I hear your staying?"
I ran my hand through my hair and then scratched at the stubble on my face, "If you don't mind, I mean... I'll sleep on the floor or whatever"
"There's a spare bed over there remember? Three person room, only two occupants! Although... I wouldn't mind you sleeping here with me... But I know you wouldn't be able to d-"
"Are you serious?" I asked, my eyes widening and my heart pounding at the thought of being that close to Bella again.
"Well, yeah, it's not like you're going to do anything is it? You've been like a monk all evening!"
"Bella you said th-"
"Oh shh! I know why, and I appreciate it. But you can stay here with me tonight, I'd like you to"
I went and sat on the edge of her bed, she smiled at me and ran her hand along my jaw line before tracing her fingers very lightly over my nose, I tensed in anticipation of pain.
"How is it?"
"Better, thank you"
"So Edward... I've been waiting all evening. When are you going to ask me this question?"
I laughed and took her hand that was cupping my face in both of mine, looking into her eyes.
"Well it seems a bit stupid now, we're moving a bit faster than I anticipated, it's going to be all the wrong way round"
"Just ask me Edward" She sounded exasperated, I scratched my head and looked at her again.
"Would you... Bella, would you like to go on a date with me? On Friday night? I thought I could take you for dinner and a movie... if you'd like?"
Bella laughed at me, and my eyes widened in shock, that was not the most normal reaction to have.
"You know the first time you asked me out you didn't actually ask. You just told me to go out with you. This is definitely progress!"
"So you want to?" I said, still confused.
"Of course I do, silly!" She ran her hand through my hair one more time, "Let's go to bed, I'm going to have a God awful hangover in the morning!"
***
The next morning I was woken by the light streaming through the windows into my eyes, I groaned and stretched, but then I remembered I wasn't alone, and it wasn't a dream. I looked down in front of me and saw Bella sleeping soundly. All I wanted to do was scoop her up in my arms and kiss her, but she wouldn't be as willing as she was last night. When I'd gotten into the bed with her, she'd turned to face me and literally grabbed me through my pants, which I'd kept on to be polite and gentlemanly. Of course under her touch my body had it's own reactions, so when I told her to stop she protested, saying she was pretty certain I wanted it. And God yes I wanted it, she would have no idea how difficult it was for me to prise her off me. I physically turned her around again and held her close to me so there was no room for her to move, and we stayed like that for the rest of the night.
I took in a deep breath before unwinding my arm from her and turning to get out of bed, with my movements she stirred, and turned to face me. She covered her face with her hand.
"Oh shit..."
"No Bella" I said, shaking my head quickly in panic, thinking she thought I'd done something, "Nothing happened"
"Are you joking? I threw myself at you... how embarrassing! You had to literally pull me off you! I'm so sorry!" She still had her hand in front of her eyes, not daring to look at me, I chuckled softly, and her hand came away from her eyes immediately.
"Bella... I'm not going to say it wasn't... difficult... But, well, you don't have to apologise, ok?"
"No it's not ok Edward! I said I wanted to take things slowly, and then the first time we're alone with no way of anyone interrupting I try to jump you!"
From my position still sitting on the side of the bed I turned a little more and leant down to her slowly, her eyes darted down to my lips as I leaned in even further, kissing her chastely before sitting up again.
"Stop worrying. I dealt with it"
"But you shouldn't have had to!"
"God Bella! What do I have to do to get you to shut up?!" I laughed as her eyes widened.
"Well... you could... kiss me like you did yesterday, when you got all angry with me?" I smirked a little.
"I wasn't angry with you Bella"
"Well will you do it anyway?" She pleaded, getting up onto her knees, tangling herself in the sheets before crawling towards me. I turned myself completely towards her, my arms hands resting on the bed, either side of her.
"No... I shouldn't kiss you before our date, I'm going to do this properly now. I won't stay here again either... until we... you're ready" I stood up and watched her fall unflatteringly onto the bed.
"Ugh... you're so... nice! What's the matter with you?" She groaned as I laughed.
"Is it such a crime to be nice Bella?"
She moaned loudly again, covering her head with a pillow, which I quickly took from her throwing it back to its position at the head of the bed.
"Right before I go, I need to know if you can walk, show me your ankle"
"No" She grumbled like a child.
"Bella..."
"Go away... you're mean!"
"Now you know that's not true Bella!" I laughed, "Now show me your ankle"
She huffed before untangling herself from the sheets and slumping onto the bed again, her foot in the air gingerly.
"Wow, it's pretty bruised" I said, holding her ankle gently in my hands, "Can you walk?" I turned my head to her and raised an eyebrow at her, she still looked angry at me. I let go of her ankle and she shifted to the side of the bed, pushing up roughly and then yelping in pain falling back down to the bed.
"I'm thinking no" She murmured.
"You must have sprained it pretty bad"
She nodded but didn't look at me, so I went and sat down on the bed next to her, taking her chin in my hand and pulling her head to face me, her eyes were glued to the floor.
"Bella" I whispered, and she glanced up at me quickly, "What's wrong?"
"I'm embarrassed" She whispered back to me, trying to turn her head away from me again, I chuckled softly, "Don't laugh at me Edward!"
"Oh Bella, I'm sorry, but really, don't be embarrassed. I mean it, I love you remember, I'm just going to do things properly this time, and that means everything so just let me try ok?" I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and she closed her eyes at the touch, she nodded and I kissed her on the nose quickly. I stood up and grabbed my things, "You better rest up that ankle love, I'm not carrying you on Friday!"