AN: Hey guys, sorry for the disappearance. I went to Comic Con then on the Twilight cruise. But I'm back now and here's the chapter (finally). A special thanks to my beta, phoenixhunter47 for busting this out. A huge thank you to LyricalKris and Forever_liz, both of whom I couldn't have written this chapter without.

~oOo~

Hey Paris, Nicole Has Arrived

EPOV

I hastily began buttoning up my shirt as I watched James rise from the couch and make his way toward us. I tried to keep my body in front of Bella, but the damn woman was fucking standing on her tip-toes trying to look over my shoulder.

"What is up, slut?" James greeted as he gripped his hand in mine and pulled me into one of those half-bro hugs. I returned his greeting, because yes, I had actually missed my cousin. And then the ass opened his mouth again.

"And what do we have here? Did Eddie bring an afternoon snack?"

I was about to respond when I heard Bella behind me.

"He sure did. I'm pint sized and fit right in his pocket." I felt Bella move up next to me and slide her hand in my back pocket, squeezing my ass. "And only he can eat me." She suddenly froze and then spun so fast, burying her face in my chest. "Oh God, did I just say that?"

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and couldn't help the chuckle that slipped from my lips as I placed a soft kiss into her hair. It was just like her to blurt out things without thinking about it. I noticed James watching us closely and I fought the urge to push away from Bella. No one really knew about us yet - except for my parents, well sort of, and that meant Alice by association - and I wasn't sure if I wanted James to be our 'coming out', so to speak.

I saw him open his mouth and I silenced him with my eyes. I'd deal with his questions later. I felt an uncomfortable feeling settle in my stomach at that thought but I pushed it aside as Bella slid her hands up my back. I smoothed the hair off of her forehead and placed a kiss there. Both of us ignoring James in that moment.

"Wait a minute, I know you. Pants girl!" James suddenly exclaimed. Bella's head popped up, her face still red, and we both stared at my cousin in confusion. "The whole 'Edward's pants'...you answered the phone...Dude, come on. I am not the only one who remembers this."

"Oh, yeah!" Bella responded, turning to face him. Her brown eyes were laughing as they met mine. "That night in the hotel," she said and I instantly remembered. She had answered my phone that night when James called. I remembered wrestling with her on the bed to get it back. Hmmm...wrestling...Bella beneath me...

Focus!

James crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his heels. I could just see the wheels turning in his head as he processed the fact that I was with the same girl for more than a week, hell, a month even. Before he could open his mouth, I jumped in.

"James meet Bella. Bella, James."

James took in the way my arm slid from Bella's shoulder down to around her waist, pulling her closer to me as I introduced the two of them. Bella stuck her hand out and instead of shaking it, James slowly brought her hand to his lips.

"Mon Cheri," he crooned. I rolled my eyes as Bella snorted back a laugh. I felt relief in knowing that she would never fall for his shit. "So you're the reason why he's been avoiding my calls. Not that I blame him of course."

"James," I groaned.

"What, dude? If I had this waiting for me, fuck, I would have never left the hotel room."

Bella turned to me with a 'is he for real' look in her eyes. At least she was amused by his behavior...for now.

"So James, what are you doing here?" I asked politely, when in reality what I really wanted to say was, Great timing fucker, now get the hell out.

James walked back toward the couch and fell into the cushions. "I'm here for your birthday, of course."

And here we go...

"Your birthday?" And there it was.

"You didn't know? Fuckers birthday is a week before this wedding shindig. Convinced the parents to let me come out early and here I am, ready to party." He looked over his shoulder out the window. "Of course, there didn't look like that many places to party. Man, what do you guys do for fun out here?"

"Well," Bella sauntered over to James, placing her hands on her hips. Her hip jutted out to the right as she looked directly at him. "Us poor townsfolk have to make our own fun. There's line dancin' down at city hall, and when the sun goes down, since we don't have a movie theater, we show old black and whites on the side of Old Man Miller's barn. And if you're feelin' really darin', instead of watchin, the movie, you can go cow tippin' with some of the boys."

I didn't know what was more amusing: Bella's honky-tonk accent or the look on James' face. I think he actually believed her. His jaw picked itself off the floor and formed a sly smile.

"You're fucking with me, aren't you?" He asked, shaking a finger at her. James leaned forward on his knees. "I like this one, Edward. She's got sass. I bet she's a feisty one in bed."

"And then you had to ruin the moment," Bella snapped her fingers, "just like that." She turned and walked back to me. "As for you, we will discuss why you failed to mention your birthday later."

"Oohhh, Eddie boy's in trouble. Someone might get a spanking!" James commented from the couch.

Bella paused, then shook her head. "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure you have some catching up to do." She patted my chest and began walking toward the door.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, spinning her back to me. "Where do you think you're going?" I wrapped my arms around her waist and moved until I was behind her. I pushed aside her hair and whispered in her ear, "Besides, how were you going to get home? I drove you here." I nipped at her earlobe and felt her melt into me.

"Hmmm...That is quite the predicament." She turned to face me, keeping her voice low. "But seriously, I can get a way home. I don't want to impose on your, um, bonding time."

I rolled my eyes. "Bella, I want -"

I was interrupted by the front door opening.

"Edward! Are you here?"

Bella smiled up at me. "Look, Alice. Perfect timing."

My sister skidded around the corner like a five year old, panting worse than a dog in heat.

"James! James is here!" she sputtered.

I heard the couch rustle and saw the shock pass over Alice's face as James walked up.

"Cuz," he acknowledged.

"You were saying, Alice?"

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at James. "How did you even get in here?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Your mother let me in before she ran out," James responded, shrugging. "Geez, it's like I'm a criminal or something." He turned to me, nudging me with his elbow. I chuckled before turning and seeing Alice's face.

She let out a huff, rolling her eyes before settling them on Bella. It was like a light switched on and she just realized Bella was standing there. I went to move in between them - anything to try and distract Alice - because I'd seen that look in my sisters eyes before and it wasn't good. But damn, she was like magic or something, because next thing I knew, Alice had her hand around Bella's arm and was pulling her toward the stairs. Hey now, I would be the only one taking Bella upstairs.

I took a step to follow them when Alice spun around.

"You stay down here. I have to talk with my friend here about some new developments in her life." She said that last part to Bella, who looked at me with wide eyes. She was trapped and she knew it, and I was too much of a pussy to help her. Alice may be small, but I've learned not to cross her - well, I was relearning not to cross her.

So, I stood there, watching as Alice pulled Bella away from me. I had almost forgotten about James...almost.

"Now that is a fine piece of ass."

"Shut it, James," I growled, plopping down on the couch.

James laughed, sitting down next to me. "Dude, lighten up, fucker. You're so serious now. I think this coming week will be good for you. I mean, we have your birthday, a bachelor party, and a wedding. Shit's gonna get kicked up a notch!" I rolled my eyes, leaning my head back. "So, seriously, what do you guys do for fun around here?"

~oOo~

Three hours later, Bella and Alice still hadn't emerged from upstairs and somewhere along the line, we inherited an Emmett. And beer.

""No fucking way! My light saber is fucking huge!" Emmett shouted, waving his beer around. I ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the beer drops flying from his can.

"Ha!" James shouted. "My fucking light saber could whip yours in the ass!"

"Now that's a sight," I chuckled into my beer before collapsing into giggles. I was fucking drunk.

"Yeah, well, you're just fucking jealous because yours is puny. And purple."

James spit out his beer as he burst into laughter, clanking his can against my fucktard of a brother's.

I jumped up, spilling my beer down the front of my shirt, and pointed at Emmett. "Hey, fuck you!" I rounded on the still laughing James and pointed at him as well. "And fuck you, too!" I threw my arms out to help balance the world as I tried to stand up straighter. Fucking gravity.

Slowly, I put one foot up on the coffee table. Good, still standing. Keeping my arms out, I brought my other foot up until I was towering over the room. I rocked forward a bit, but didn't fall. I turned to face my minions.

Clearing my throat loudly, I declared, "It's not about the size, my boys, but whether or not you know how to wield them. And who the fuck cares if it's purple? Bitch got power!"

"Your purple bitch has power, but only if you know how to wield it?"

I spun toward the new voice and caught sight of Bella with her arms crossed over her chest before the room tilted and I landed on the couch. Emmett and James' laughter filled the room as I tried to disentangle myself from the mass of throw pillows.

"Bella!" I exclaimed a little too happily, staggering to my feet. She took a step back and braced herself as I made my way over to her, throwing my arms around her shoulders.

"Oh wow," I heard her say as she tried to support both our weight. Funny, it seemed like I had no control over my own body functions.

I pulled back enough so that I could see her bemused expression as I tried to formulate a thought into a sentence. "Baby," was all that came out.

Her eyes widened at my choice of words but before she could comment, I heard my brother drop his beer.

"Well, fuck me."

I turned to him, using Bella as a balance. "No," I said in a serious tone. James snorted into his beer.

"Dude, I wasn't offering. You're my bro, that's just...disturbing." Emmett answered just as serious.

"Whoa, wait up!" James stood up, wobbled in place - or maybe that was just me- and then continued. "It's only disturbing because he's your bro?" He tipped his can toward Emmett. "That's fucked up."

I cocked my eyebrow at Emmett. "Dude, that is. Completely."

"Fuck that! Did you not notice I have children? With a chick? I'll have you know that Rosie and I -"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alice and Bella shouted. We all turned to them and I jumped a little at how close Bella was, then I realized I was still attached to her. And where the fuck did Alice come from?

"TMI!" Alice shouted, waving her hands in front of her. She was suddenly holding a towel, like magic, and she made her way over to where Emmett dropped his beer. She was muttering under her breath as she picked up the now empty can and began wiping up the mess.

"Emmett, why are you even here? Isn't mom babysitting your kids so you can have a date night?"

I felt a tug on my arm and turned to see Bella leaning into me.

"Come on, drunky. Let's get you upstairs."

"Really?" I asked, a smile spreading across my face. She just laughed and dragged me toward the stairs. I heard people cat-calling and whistling behind me, but I was going upstairs with my Bella, so I could fucking care less.

"You sure I can't join ya, double the pleasure and all?" James shouted out, followed by a round of laughter.

I turned around to give my cousin the finger and almost fell down the stairs. Thank God for railings. And for Bella. Her grip on my arm tightened, holding me in place. Without a word, I let her lead me upstairs and into my room. The moment the door shut behind me, I had her pressed up against the wall, my hands roaming all over her body.

"Edward," she mumbled, a little in protest, in between my attacks on her mouth. I heard her, the voice registered in my brain, but my brain was not currently connected to my body at that point, and I moved my lips down her neck. I felt my body reacting as Bella's hands slid up my arms and then down my chest, before giving a little push.

That little push sent me spiraling backward, landing on my ass. I looked up to see Bella still leaning against the wall, an amused expression on her face as she stared down at me. I moved to my knees and proceeded to crawl toward her. I was thinking I looked pretty sexy, until Bella started laughing. Her laughter ceased when my hands began gliding up her legs. She stopped them as they reached the hem of her skirt, crouching down until she was level with me. Without speaking, she slid her arms around my chest and began pulling me up.

Ok, I could go with this.

I helped as much as I could until I was standing again. I leaned in, wanting her lips again, but was met with the side of her cheek. I pulled back, confused.

"Uh-uh, not tonight, Eddie. We gotta get you to bed."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Don't act all surprised. You can barely stand up, let alone keep it up."

Oh fuck no. She did not just insult me like that. I pushed away, staggering a minute before looking back at her.

"Keep it up? Are you fucking kidding me?" My hands went to my pants as I hastily began undoing the button. "I'll show you how long I can keep it up. Let's do this." Bella crossed her arms over her chest and stood there while I argued with my button before finally getting it undone and pushing my jeans down my legs. In my haste to show her how ready I was, I tripped over the leg of my jeans as I was stepping out of them and landed face first on my floor.

"Ow," I mumbled into the carpet.

I felt Bella's hands on my shoulders, gently pulling me back up. "Come on, baby."

I let her lead me to the bed, leaning on her the whole way. I was suddenly so tired. Bed sounded good. I missed bed. And I missed my car.

"I miss my car."

Bella patted me on the back. "I'm sure you do. You'll have it back soon."

"Not soon enough," I grumbled. "And what's with Man-boy? He's such a prick. Threatening to kick my ass if I hurt you. Like, why would I do that? And then, he goes and gives me a hammer and expects me to start my car with that. What good does that do me?"

Bella was chuckling as she helped me sit on the bed. "Character building," she answered with a smile.

I narrowed my eyes. "Not funny."

"I'm sorry," she replied, trying to hold back her smile. I crawled up to my pillow, curling my arms around the softness. I could hear her moving around, and felt the blanket being pulled over me.

I lifted my head just enough to see her. "And don't call me Eddie."

She smiled. "Ok." I watched her fold up my pants and place them on the sofa.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Stay with me."

She looked at me for a second then nodded. I lazily pointed to my dresser, hoping she'd get what I was trying to say. She did. As Bella went into my bathroom to change, I closed my eyes, losing the battle to sleep. I couldn't tell you how much later it was when I felt the bed dip down behind me and Bella's arm slide around my waist. I entwined my fingers with hers, humming in content as her body molded around mine. This was happiness.

"Edward?" she whispered.

"Hmmm," I mumbled, half asleep.

"Do you miss Chicago?"

"Mhmm," I nodded. "It was home."

~oOo~

I wasn't sick the next day, but that didn't mean I felt up to my daily run. Bella was gone when I woke up, just my folded up sweats were left on the bed. I figured she probably was at work. After my shower, I headed downstairs to get coffee. James was passed out on the couch, empty cans of Rainer strewn around the room. Man, there had to be enough to make at least three empty six packs. I caught sight of the clock on the wall. 3:15pm. Damn. I haven't slept that late since…well, since Chicago. I glanced back at James. Fucker just had to bring that life with him.

I not so quietly made my way into the kitchen. If I was up, he could be up. I paused in the doorway when I saw Carlisle sitting at the dining room table.

"You're up," he said, placing down his book.

"You're home," I replied, then mentally kicked myself for how stupid that sounded.

He smiled weakly. "Yes, I have been for awhile. I see your cousin arrived." His eyes looked toward the living room.

"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'll clean that up."

Carlisle just nodded. He motioned to the plate in front of him. "There's some left over spaghetti if you'd like."

It was more than an offering of food, and I wasn't sure how I should proceed. I could see Carlisle sitting stone still as I thought of what to do. Fuck it. I walked to the fridge and pulled out the bowl of pasta. I scooped a bunch onto a plate and popped it in the microwave, staring at it as it spun around and around. Once the ding let me know the food was ready, I grabbed a soda and sat across from Carlisle. Neither of us spoke as I wound the noodles around my fork. I stabbed a sausage and shoved the whole thing in my mouth.

"I saw Bella leave this morning."

I almost choked on the sausage - fucking happy that James wasn't up to comment on that. I took a drink of my soda before speaking.

"Um, yeah. She was here last night." Obviously. I was just full of profoundness today. Carlisle just nodded, not saying anything. He fiddled with the edge of his book, staring off in the corner. "We're kinda together now," I said, poking the spaghetti with my fork.

He sighed. "I figured."

My fork dropped to my plate with a clang. "Look, I don't need your approval or anything. I just thought maybe you should know, so if you -"

"Edward," Carlisle raised his hand to silence me. And just like when I was a child, it worked. "I know you don't need my approval, you're an adult and so is Bella. You both are free to make your own decisions." He cleared his throat. "Besides, so far this seems to be a good thing...for the both of you."

I didn't expect that. "Oh, well, um, thanks?"

He just nodded and then sat up straighter. "Listen, Edward, the CMHC is holding a conference in Seattle next month. I've spoken with Dr. Laurent and we both believe that this would be very beneficial for you. If you agree, I would like it very much if you would come with me."

This time when I dropped my fork, it wasn't out of anger but surprise. CMHC stood for the Cardiometabolic Health Congress, one of the most prestigious medical groups in the world. I saw a group of them speak when I was at Northwestern thanks to my grandfather. Their conferences were always extremely hard to gain access to. I wasn't surprised that Carlisle was invited, but that he wanted to bring me.

"Dr. Laurent doesn't want to go?" I asked, nonchalantly.

Carlisle smiled. "Oh no, he does. But he agrees with me. We both - I - would like you to go."

I looked down at my food, picked my fork back up, and began pushing the pasta around. I remained silent for a few minutes, processing everything. Did I want to go to this conference? Well, that was a yes. Did I want to try to fix my relationship with Carlisle? I spun the fork between my fingers, trying to answer the question in my head.

"You don't have to; I just thought I'd ask" I heard a rustling and looked up. Carlisle was scooting his chair back, preparing to leave.

"I want to go," I said suddenly, almost sounding harsh. Carlisle froze, eyes looking at me with surprise. "I mean, I would like to go."

"Ok then, I'll notify Dr. Laurent and we'll begin making arrangements." I nodded as Carlisle placed his plate in the sink, rinsing it off.

"Um, thanks."

Carlise paused at the door. "You're welcome, son."

I was sitting at the table, finishing my spaghetti, when James walked in. I watched as he shuffled over to the fridge, grabbed the carton of milk then flipped through the cabinets until he pulled down a bottle of chocolate syrup. I shook my head, knowing what he was going to do. He sat down in the seat Carlisle had vacated and gave me a nod. My only answer was the cock of my eyebrow. James opened the syrup bottle, leaned back, and squeezed it into his waiting mouth. I shook my head, laughing as he brought up the carton and poured that into his mouth as well. He shook his head from side to side and then swallowed with a loud gulp.

"What?" he asked when he noticed me looking. "Don't act like that ain't the best fucking thing ever in the morning. I'm pretty sure the only reason there's chocolate syrup in this house is because of you."

I couldn't argue with him there. I fucking loved chocolate milk. While James was in the shower, I took a moment to call Bella.

"Forks Bookstore," her voice rang out and I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Bella. It's Edward."

"Edward? Um, hey."

"You ran out before I could say goodbye."

"Oh yeah, well, I had to be at work and you were kinda out of it."

I could only imagine what she meant by that. I knew what I was like when I was drunk.

"I was wondering, when you're off, of course -"

"Look, Edward, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

I stared at the phone listening to the dial tone. Bella hung up on me. What the hell? I shoved my phone in my pocket as James came back in. I'd worry about it later.

"Let's go, fucker. I want to meet this Jasper guy."

Today would be interesting.

~oOo~

"Bella? You there?" This was the third message I'd left since talking to her this morning. I couldn't tell whether she was avoiding me or actually busy...and yes it was driving me fucking nuts. I'm pretty sure both Jasper and James wanted to throw my phone out the window. James actually threatened to throw it in the barbecue pit. I almost pushed him in the pool. I was running through everything that happened last night - well, everything I could remember. Maybe it was just my asshole tendencies finally shining through that were causing her to pull away...if she was even pulling away.

I left James at Jasper's. Yes, Alice would probably kill me, but I would make it up to her. So that's how I found myself standing on Bella's porch, holding her New Kids on the Block tote bag from when she had delivered my clothes the day of the bridal shower. I felt like a complete fucking tool.

The front door opened and Bella stood there, illuminated by the light from her living room. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she was wearing that damned Hufflepuff shirt. All she needed was her glasses and it would be like when I first saw her. She didn't say anything, just stared. I held up the bag in front of me in a peace offering.

"In the mood for some Randy action?"

Bella crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows and I realized what I had said. Reaching into the bag, I quickly pulled out a box.

"No! I mean, um, Scream." I shook the DVD box set in emphasis. "You know, Randy…he's your favorite character. Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about."

A small smile crept up on her lips. "I just wanted to see how long you would go on for."

I let out a breath, running my hands through my hair. "I could go all night at this rate." Then I ran my hand over my face. "Fuck, even that sounded dirty, didn't it?" She didn't say anything, just leaned against the door frame. "Are you going to let me in? You did promise me a Scream date night."

"I claim insanity that night," she responded, but stepped aside so I could come in. I put the DVD set back in the bag and walked in, stopping as I passed her so I could place a chaste kiss on her lips. That action earned a real smile from her and she followed me as I walked into the kitchen. I began emptying the contents of the bag onto her table.

"So, I didn't know if you'd eaten yet or not, so I brought you some left over barbecue from Jasper's. There's chicken, corn, potatoes – James ate all the skirt steak. I also have Dr. Pepper and popcorn, oh and Sweet Tarts – without the blue ones, of course."

Bella reached out and lightly touched the plastic Ziploc that held the candy. "Where's all the blue ones?"

I reached back into the bag and pulled out another Ziploc. "I separated them before I got here."

She looked up at me and I couldn't read the expression on her face. I was beginning to get worried that maybe I was freaking her out, hell, I was freaking out that she was possibly freaking out. I'm a girl. I was busy mentally kicking myself - for the second time that day- that I didn't notice Bella had moved until her hand was sliding over my cheek, curling around the back of my neck. She pulled me to her, lips molding against mine and I dropped the bags of candy on the floor as I wrapped my arms around her waist. We took our time as we explored each others mouths, our tongues moving languidly together. The kiss wasn't rushed, but we were both panting as we broke apart.

"So, uh, I'm, you know, sorry," I whispered stupidly against her forehead.

She pulled her head back, keeping her arms around me. "Sorry for what?"

"I was drunk and I'm kind of an ass when I'm drunk."

"Baby," she kissed me sweetly. "You're always kind of an ass." She smiled and walked to the cabinet to grab a plate. "And you didn't do anything. Well, besides trying your hand at stripping." I must have looked as confused as I felt because she continued. "I had to go open the shop, that's why I left."

I handed her the foil covered chicken. "When I called you earlier..."

Her hand grazed mine as she unwrapped the foil and began piling chicken on her plate. I did love that the girl could fucking eat like nobody's business - hell, she could probably take on Emmett. She licked the sauce off her fingers, because yes she used her fingers to grab the chicken, and fuck, if it wasn't the sexiest thing I'd seen. I could think of another place I'd like her to lick sauce off of. I must have made some sort of sound because she looked up at me, a sly smile on her face. She went and grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet and began filling them with Dr. Pepper.

"I didn't hang up on you because I didn't want to talk to you. The owner was there with her bitch skank of a granddaughter."

"Bitch skank of a granddaughter?" I picked up the glasses and followed her into the living room, grabbing the candy on the way out.

"Yeah, long story. Don't really wanna talk about it. I would much rather watch some 'Randy action'," she teased as she sat down in her normal position on the floor, legs spreading out under the coffee table. I laughed as I set up the movie, then took my position on the couch. I reached up and flipped off the lamp, shrouding the room in darkness.

Apparently Bella knew the words to every horror movie, because she began quoting right along with them as soon as she was done with her food. I absentmindedly began fiddling with her hair as she leaned back against the couch.

"It's the millennium, motives are incidental," Bella quoted right along with Randy. I chuckled to myself at how cute she was.

Somewhere in the middle of the second Scream, Bella was lying with me on the couch, a full teenage make-out session going on. My hand was under her shirt, as I enjoyed the moans that were coming from her every time my thumb brushed over her nipple. My shirt was long gone, lost somewhere while Jerry O'Connell sang atop lunch tables to Neve Campbell. Bella raked her fingernails down my back causing my hips to jerk against her. Her leg wrapped around my waist, positioning herself so that I rubbed right up against her center. My mouth attached itself to her neck as my hips picked up pace. Bella reached down between us, quickly undoing my jeans and pushing them down. Her thin yoga pants hid nothing and my cock, only held back by my boxers, felt every part of her.

I will not come in my pants. I will not come in my pants.

I could feel myself getting closer and I gripped her leg and pulled it higher up my waist. Bella threw her head back and my teeth grazed up the side of her neck, nipping at her bottom lip until she opened her mouth to me. Bella did some sort of swivel move with her hips and - fuck - so fucking close.

Thump, thump, thump!

"Don't answer that," I breathed into her ear, moving my hips at a near frantic speed.

"But...I have to," she said between kisses. "It could be important."

I gripped her ass. "More important than this?" I asked, thrusting against her sharply.

"I -oh god..." she moaned.

Thump, thump, thump!

"Fucker! I know you're in there! I can see your Dad's shiny ass car!"

I stopped moving, collapsing on top of Bella. "You've got to fucking be kidding me."

Bella pushed me off just enough for her to reach a sitting position. "How the hell does he know where I live?" She scooted out from under me, standing up and smoothing down her shirt. "I better go get that."

I watched her walk out of the room, shoving my now painfully hard dick back into my jeans. "I'm going to fucking kill him," I muttered as I looked around for my shirt.

"Well, well, well, looks like I just have perfect timing today. Can't seem to get it done, can you?" James asked, coming around the corner and clapping his hand on my shoulder.

"No thanks to you." I shrugged his hand off. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He plopped down on the couch, spreading his arms out across the back, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "Alice came home while Jasper and I were playing pool. Guess she thought I was taking a shot at her husband instead of the cue ball and suddenly I was here. That sister of yours is one tough bitch."

"Don't call my sister a bitch."

"Why? You used to."

Bella chose that moment to come back into the room. She raised her eyebrow at me, but other than that said nothing. She kicked James' legs off of the table, walked past him over to me, and turned back to face my cousin.

"So Alice kicks you out and you come here?"

"I knew he would be here," he gestured to me. "It seemed a safe place to be dropped off. I like it. Nice quaint little house. Homey almost."

"Glad you like it," Bella answered, sarcastically.

"Oh shit!" James suddenly exclaimed, leaning forward. "Y'all watching Scream? Fucking love these movies. Hey E, remember when that old theater was showing them special for Halloween?" I closed my eyes, praying he would just shut up. James was now speaking mostly to Bella, who, of course, was listening with rapt attention. "Dude, we got those masks that the killer wears, dressed up all in black, fuck, we even got rubber knives to scare people. Oh, and it worked." James was just cracking himself up now. "We were so fucking drunk. And E, oh man, he sneaks up behind this couple, and the girl's all afraid leaning on her boyfriend - which is ridiculous because who the fuck hasn't seen Scream? But E just stands up behind them, and I'm thinking he's gonna like fake stab them with the 're re re' noise that's used in killer movies. But no, he full on whips out his dick and -"

"JAMES!" I shouted.

"What?"

Staring down at Bella, I could tell from her expression that she couldn't decide between whether she wanted to laugh or be horrified. "I'm sorry," I apologized, mostly for the annoyance that was James.

"Dude, don't apologize for genius." James cut in, his face serious.

"And you graduated from law school, right?" Bella asked James.

He nodded. "Yup, Chicago University, baby."

Bella just shook her head before turning toward me. "And what exactly did you do with your dick?"

"Something I'm not proud of," I answered as my cell phone rang. I dug it out of my jean pocket, noticing the caller ID. "It's the hospital, excuse me."

As much as I didn't want to leave Bella with James, I walked out into the hallway to answer the phone. It was Heidi, calling to see if I would be able to work the swing shift the next two nights. I agreed and took a deep breath before walking back into the living room. Bella was now sitting on the couch next to James and they were both cracking up.

"What's so funny?" I asked, a little afraid to know. Bella glanced up, looking a little ashamed, but not enough to stop laughing.

"Oh, I was just telling B what a little pussy you were when you first came to Chicago." I rolled my eyes, thanking God that Bella already knew I was pretty much the Urkle of high school. He turned back to my girl. "You should have seen him the first night I took him to a club. Oh, the dancing! All the boy knew how to do was get jiggy with it." James started moving his arms around to an invisible beat and Bella doubled over in laughter. I was holding on to my annoyance until a very unladylike snort came from Bella, and then I joined in on the laughter as well.

I could tell James was about to launch into another story when the doorbell rang. Bella met my eyes and I shrugged. Since I was the closest, I answered it, surprised to see Jasper.

"Hey Edward, sorry about Alice. James was at the house when I went into the bathroom, and when I came out, he was gone. I figured he would find you. I'll take him to your parents. Hey, Bella."

Bella greeted Jasper with a hug and Jasper began his apology again. Bella just shushed him and waved him inside.

"Yo Don Juan, your chauffeur is here," Bella announced, walking back into the living room.

James jumped up when he saw Jasper. "Sweet, where we going? Y'all have a bar here, right?" He stopped in front of me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Just remember, part A goes into part B. And," he turned to Bella. "If cuddling's the best part, he didn't do it right."

I slapped his hand away. "Get out, fucker." James laughed and followed Jasper outside. Once they were both gone, I shut the door and locked it, turning off the porch light. When I went back into the living room, Bella was switching the DVD's, the menu for Scream 3 was now up. She smiled when she saw me.

"Well, now that that's over with," she sat down on the couch, "we can finally finish these movies."

I smirked at her. "Oh we're gonna finish all right, but not those fucking movies."

She squealed as I pounced on her, flattening her against the couch. Wanting to continue where we left off, I had her naked in seconds and wasted no time exploring her body with my mouth. Nipping my way down her stomach, I finally settled between her thighs, my fingers spreading her wide while I licked a slow trail up her slit. As my tongue swirled around her clit, I could have died happy, finally getting to taste her the way I wanted. Bella came almost instantly, still aroused from our earlier grinding session. I kissed the inside of her thighs, waiting as her breathing evened out. I crawled up her body, shedding my clothes along the way. Her eyes were closed, mouth slightly parted as she came down from her high. The high that I had given her.

"You're so fucking beautiful," I whispered, our mouths a breath apart. Her eyes opened and I slid into her. My mouth swallowed both of our moans as I slowly began moving in and out of her. It was different this time, more intense almost. This time I knew she was mine. No words were spoken, our eyes never shut and I was pretty sure that part of me should have been freaking out...at least a little. I moved my hips faster, deeper. The movie played on without us, casting different colors across our skin as the pressure intensified. I could feel it building, feel the heat coming off of us in currants that I knew were there but couldn't see. Someone screamed on the TV and that was our cue. Bella screamed my name as she tightened around me, triggering my release. I gripped the arm of the couch as I emptied myself into her.

I kissed her softly as both our bodies began to relax. Standing slowly, I reached a hand down to her, helping her to her feet. I turned off the TV as we walked by it and then led her to her room. Once inside, we climbed into the bed, Bella instantly curling up next to me. I rubbed her arm soothingly as we just laid there for awhile.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Because it didn't seem that important," I answered. In all honestly, it hadn't even crossed my mind that my birthday was next week. Time was flying by so quickly that it was all I could do to keep up.

"We still need to plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties."

"Yeah, we should get on that," I chuckled. Bella laughed.

"Tomorrow. We should plan on discussing this tomorrow."

I kissed the top of her head. "Sounds good. I just have to be at work at 3:30. I'm working swing the next few nights."

Bella twisted her head up to look at me. "Oh that sucks. I'm sorry."

"Eh, we've all got to do it. Besides, if I work nights, I don't have to be around James during his peak hours."

I felt her smile into my chest. "Are you happy he's here?" she asked after a few minutes.

I sighed. How to explain my feelings about James. "I am, in a way. James is a good guy and he has always been there for me, well, at least these last few years anyway." Bella grew quiet, a stillness settling over her. "Hey, what's wrong, love?"

She rolled over, propping herself up on her forearms atop my chest. "You said last night that you missed Chicago...because it was home." I could tell she was playing with her fingers by the way they danced on my chest. "I guess I was just wondering then, if you missed it so much, why are you still here?"

This time it was my turn to go quiet as I thought about how to answer. "I do miss Chicago. It's a wonderful city, with so much to do. So vibrant and full of life." I squeezed her shoulder. "I would love to show it to you someday."

"I'd like that," she whispered and I smiled.

"As for why I'm still here...I guess there's a lot of reasons. I mean, it started out with me having no money and now...I'm just kind of taking it day by day. I'm getting to know Alice and Emmett again, and Jasper. I didn't realize how much I had missed his friendship. Rose is just an unfortunate side effect." Bella laughed. "And I like my work at the hospital." I took a deep breath, wondering if I should say this next thing. "And then of course, there's this whole thing with trying to figure you out."

"Me?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Yes, you. I mean, if I would have known earlier that all your bitterness and loathing toward me was just a cover for how much you wanted me, it would have made these last few months a bit easier," I joked.

"Hey!" Bella exclaimed, playfully swatting me with her hand. "I don't know what you're talking about. It was you who was so obviously attracted to me, what with all your creepy stalker tendencies and all."

"My creepy stalker tendencies, huh?" I grabbed her arm, pulling her body on top of me. My hands slid down to her sides, slowly pinching the skin at her waist. She began squirming in earnest trying to get away from my tickle attack. She managed to slide underneath my arms but I rolled over, pinning her underneath me.

The tickling turned into massaging and the massaging turned into kissing until I was, once again, sheathed inside of her. Our bodies rocked together, bringing each other to the brink and then pulling back. Teasing. Testing. We played this tug of war until we were both frantic with need and all the playfulness was gone. As I came inside of her for the second time that night, I realized what was different.

I was in love with Bella Swan.

~oOo~

AN: There you have it. James is back and Edward's realized a few things. What do you think? Thank you so much everyone for all your reviews and love! I hope you enjoyed this one