Regina Spektor - Consequence of Sounds

Bella POV

"You don't have to do this."

"I kind of do."

He sighed as he picked up our coffee cups and placed them in the sink.

"Yeah, I suppose you do. But if anything happens, anything at all, call me and I'll come get you immediately."

"Edward, I will be fine. They're just women."

"Esme, yes. Alice is something far more sinister wrapped in a convincing disguise."

"Alice is fine, relax." He was still very sceptical about the tenuous friendship that had sprung up between his sister and I. She still made me a little nervous, and I think she knew that. In the few phone calls we'd shared, she'd made a real effort to show me that her inherent meanness also moulded into a razor sharp wit and that if she had a real reason to like you, she was a pretty damn cool girl.

Edward didn't buy it, citing that I was far too nice to get along well with his sister. What he didn't understand was that bitchy girls, the ones like Alice who were unabashedly mean when they had to be, made for the best friends, because at the root of their behaviour was deep, deep loyalty. But, he was a guy, and didn't understand that sort of thing at all, so he had been working himself into a near frenzy in the days coming up to the shopping trip.

Alice I knew I could handle. Esme on the other hand, I was internally tearing my hair out about, although Edward had no idea. I knew that if I showed any real fear about the lunch that he would have cancelled it immediately, and that would help no one, so I sucked it up. I had, however, been freaking out privately. I'd met the woman once, pretending to be on the arm of another man, only to scamper off like a cockroach seconds after meeting her son. Esme now knew that I'd been with her son at that point, and there was no way that that could prove a solid foundation for our relationship. I'd stolen her son from his wife, embarrassed their whole family, and now because of me, they were all suffering. I knew she was a lovely woman, but even the nicest of people had their limits.

When I'd finally confessed my fear to Alice, she promptly told me to shut up. She went on to explain that if there was one person in the world who wouldn't hold this against me, it was Esme. So long as she could see how blissfully happy I made her son, she would let it go. I wasn't entirely convinced, but I had no choice, so I braced myself for whatever was coming. If Edward and I were going to be together for the long run, something I absolutely hoped for, I would have to face his mother at some point regardless. I wandered from the kitchen back to the bedroom, leaving my fretting boyfriend alone with his irrational panic.

I checked myself in the mirror once more, having heeded Alice's warning about turning up looking like a washed up rocker's skanky girlfriend. My hair was neat, blowdried straight and my makeup was light, designed to make me look naturally pretty, which was stretching the truth slightly. Although my outfit was more preppy than my usual fare, I had thrown on my chunky black ankle boots as a small homage to my usual style.

"Bella, you look lovely," Edward soothed as he entered the room, knowing what I was doing without having to ask. "Although," he mused, "I still don't understand why you won't just let me come with you."

"This is something I have to do on my own," I explained for what felt like the millionth time. "I don't want it to look like I'm too frightened of them to venture out the door without you."

"So, long story short, it's your pride?" he questioned flatly.

"Basically, yes."

He rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bed and watched me preen as I tried to make completely sure that Alice wouldn't tell me off the moment she saw me. I was soon distracted when I saw him sitting on the bed, being his usual gorgeous, mind-alteringly attractive self. I tried to focus on the task at hand, perfecting my hair, but I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting to him at every possible opportunity. Unfortunately for me, as it happened again, I found myself busted, his eyes meeting mine through the reflection and a smug smile on his face.

"Stop objectifying me," he chided and I turned around, pausing for a moment before I launched myself across the room and onto the bed, pinning him down with my body. Although I knew he could have easily thrown me off, I also knew that he never would, so we both pretended that it was my strength keeping him down and not his willingness to let me have my fun.

"I'll do whatever I want," I murmured darkly.

"Please do," he offered, his voice dripping with sex. With a cruel smile I lowered my face at an excruciatingly slow pace until my lips were less than an inch away from his. He instinctively lifted his head to try and join our mouths, and I pulled away minutely every time he tried.

"Uh uh," I rebuked him, my voice barely a breath. I wrapped my fingers around his wrists, pulling his arms up to pin them on either side of his head. This brought my face within an inch of his again and he tried once more to kiss me. I let his lips touch mine for less than a second, just enough to let him think he was getting his way and then pulled back. My smile returned and I shook my head slowly, delighting a teensy bit at the frustrated groan that escaped him as I persisted with my torture.

"You're evil," he whined, and I laughed a little before placing my mouth at his ear. I licked the skin just under it and then kissed his earlobe, sucking it into my mouth for a moment and then letting it go.

"You deserve it," I quietly accused and his neck strained closer so that he could hear me. "I was trying to get ready and you came in here looking like that," my voice turned more sinister as my speech progressed, "and distracted me. Now my hair is a mess and my thoughts are all filthy. You ruined all the good work I'd done, Edward," I drew out his name, "and as a result, you have to be punished." I went back to his earlobe and took it into my mouth again, before biting down with a little more force than I normally would. His heavy exhale made me think that I was still falling in the vicinity of pleasure rather than pain. His hands twitched up, but he did not break my hold on him. I squeezed on his wrists gently to remind him not to.

"And how are you going to do that?" he breathed, his voice taking on the husky and yet still velvet tone that made my mind go completely blank. I kissed a torturously slow pattern along his throat and then up from his Adam's Apple, aligning our faces once more.

"Well," I said contemplatively as I lightly brushed my lips past his, not pausing long enough for it to be counted as a kiss. I then released my hold on his wrists, sliding my fingers gently down his arms, across his chest and placing them on his stomach, feeling the muscles there tense and release.

"Well?" he prodded a little desperately.

"Honestly," I confessed quietly, still keeping the dirty tone, "I'm rather enjoying watching you suffer like this." To punctuate my words, I pressed my fingers into the skin of his stomach, just hard enough to illicit another muscle tense from him before I slid them down past his hips to his thighs. I felt him shudder and smiled once more at his obvious reactions, the least of which being the erection I could feel even through his jeans.

"You," he murmured, and then gasped lowly as my fingers started their ascent and brushed inches away from where I knew he wanted attention the most, "are awful."

"And you," I replied as I nipped at the skin of his jaw line, "are loving it."

"Fuck yes I am," he ground out, his hips lifting slightly under me, seeking friction. I moved my face so that my mouth was hovering just a millimetre away from his, and when he lifted his head, I licked the crest of his lips. He dropped his head back down, and I crashed my lips to his with an almost overwhelming intensity, the product of the tension I had created with my stunt. His hands moved straight to my ass as he pulled me forcefully against him and I moaned into his mouth. My fingers were locked into his hair, deepening the kiss and holding him to me as tightly as possible.

Just as his fingers started to slide over the flushed skin of my stomach, we heard the most devastating noise I could ever have imagined. Three brisk knocks at the front door indicated that what we had started would have to come to an immediate halt. I pulled back from Edward's face, which looked just as irritated as I'm sure mine did.

"Fuck them," he growled, "you can go shopping another day."

I dropped my head to his chest and tried to use his lovely smell to calm myself.

"No," I sighed, "I can't. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck," I cursed before lifting my head, kissing him quickly and climbing off him. He groaned loudly and sat up, watching as I frantically tried to fix my hair. He ran his fingers through his hair and stayed seated for a few seconds. In any other situation I would have laughed because I knew he was trying to will away his erection, but I was just as horny as he was, and so felt nothing but pity for him. A conspicuous moment later he stood up and crossed the room, spinning me around and kissing me firmly.

"We will be continuing that later," he stated, and I nodded quickly before reaching into his hair and pulling him down for another hard kiss. I reluctantly let him go and he left the room to go and answer the door. I checked myself over once more, taking two deep breaths before I went to join the people I could now hear speaking in the hall. It reminded me a little of the day when I'd met Tanya and Irina, only that it was infinitely more frightening. My legs moved unwillingly, my chicken-shit side fighting firmly against my decision to do this. I paused, took a deep breath and then walked out to greet them.

When I laid eyes on the three of them in the hall, chatting animatedly, I blinked reflexively and took a second to take in the view. They really were the most unnaturally attractive group of people I'd ever seen, and the similarities that bound them together just made it more bizarre. While Alice had her father's blue eyes and completely unique black hair, her mother could still clearly be seen, not only in the lines of her face, but how she carried herself. There was an effortless grace that they all three possessed, and it was insanely intimidating. Edward's inherited traits from his mother were more easily identified, in his eyes and hair, but Esme's influence on Alice was just as clear. I took another breath and smiled as charmingly as I could, fighting the urge to start fidgeting nervously as I watched them all interact.

As if Edward could sense my entry into the room, he turned around a moment later, and Alice and Esme's gaze followed his at once. With a slight tilt of his head, he beckoned me over and I went to stand by his side, taking as much courage as I could from the hand that wrapped around mine once I was beside him. Alice smiled and waved casually at me, which I returned, and then all the focus was on Edward's mother.

"Esme, you remember Bella?" Edward asked politely, as if there was some confusion as to who I was.

"Of course I do, how are you Bella?"

She had a charming smile on her face and her voice dripped sincerity and warmth, which immediately made me even more tense. How could she possibly be so lovely to me after everything I'd done to her family? It made no sense.

"I'm great, thanks," I managed to choke out awkwardly. "How are you?"

"Lovely, and very excited to take you out shopping today. Alice is always so adamant about choosing everything herself, and it goes against my motherly instincts to let her." We all laughed gently when Alice grimaced at that. She opened the front door and propped it open with a magnificent pair of shoes.

"Come on, let's get this show on the road," she said firmly, fully imposing the 'mom voice' that Edward complained about, and I smiled in recognition. I looked up at Edward to see him rolling his eyes and then turn to face me.

"Have fun, and call me if Alice does anything," he murmured.

"Which I won't," Alice interjected.

"Sure," Edward replied sarcastically.

"Get over yourself, brother," she shot back and then flipped him the bird.

"Mom," Edward whined, "did you see that?"

"No, I did not," Esme said, although she clearly did. "Both of you get over yourselves, and let's get going." Although her voice was firm, she was fighting back a smile, obviously amused by her children's behaviour. Edward gave me a quick kiss and squeezed my hands gently before letting me go.

"Seriously, just call me," he said quickly before Alice grabbed my hand and forced me out the door, stopping only to stomp on her brother's foot as she reached for me. Having been an only child, I found the whole display completely hilarious, and Edward scowled at the shocked laugh that burst from me as I witnessed them together. Esme, who was a couple of steps ahead, turned back and rolled her eyes at the pair, ushering us down the hall and out of the building with a very maternal edge to her actions.

We climbed into a black town car, and my thoughts momentarily drifted to Liam. I would have loved for him to have been here, not only because he would be an ally, but because he would have absolutely loved using me as a Barbie for the day. I had considered inviting him, but thought better of it, mainly because it would have been odd for him to go from my boyfriend to my unbelievably gay best friend in one shift, and I thought things would have been awkward enough between Esme and I without the added tension.

As the three of us sat in the surprisingly roomy car, awaiting our arrival, the air seemed to get heavy with the unspoken weirdness between us, to the point where it was almost suffocating. I found myself tensing up and picking at my fingernails as the nerves got progressively worse. Eventually, as the atmosphere was becoming completely unbearable, Esme sighed.

"Alright, let's just get this out of the way now," she said decisively. "Bella, I know that you and my son met under… less than ideal circumstances. It's unfortunate, and not really how I envisioned my son's romantic life to play out, but it seems to me that he really cares very deeply for you. So, I think it would be best if we could all overlook this awkwardness and try to get to know each other. I have a feeling that we could have a lovely friendship, Bella, and I'd like to explore that possibility free from the tension that seems to have descended upon this car trip. Do you think we could try that?"

She turned to face me, and it took me a moment to wipe the slightly awed expression off my face before I nodded emphatically. I wanted nothing more than for us to overlook the awkwardness between us and try to be friends.

Shortly after, the car pulled up outside a high end department store, the kind I steered clear of usually because it made me depressed to see such magnificent clothes that were so far beyond my reach. It was hard enough seeing them in the magazines I bought, let alone in the flesh, or fabric, as it were. From what I had deduced from Alice, money was not going to be a matter for my concern on this trip, and although normally it would make me intensely uncomfortable, I'd figured I'd just accept her and Esme's gifts graciously rather than risk offending them.

Alice gave a sigh of deep contentment and climbed out of the car, walking briskly into the store with an eagerness that made it seem to me like she was returning home from a long trip abroad. I walked in slowly, feeling a little like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I was just waiting for someone to tell me that they didn't serve people like me here and send me on my way. Accordingly, I stayed close to Esme, using her like somewhat of a talisman against the snobby staff of the store. There was no doubt that she belonged here, if anything, she was too lovely for this pretentious place.

They guided me right to the belly of the beast, Alice snatching things of the racks as we went before tossing me, with slightly surprising force, into a change room.

"Keep trying things on, and showing my mom. The ones that make her shortlist will be deliberated on by the three of us until we find the perfect one." With that, she walked off, beckoning an overly eager shop assistant to her side as if she were a golf caddy. I shot a slightly frantic look at Esme, who smiled sweetly and took a seat in front of my change room. With a resigned sigh, I dragged my feet into the room and shucked my clothes, preparing myself for what was to come.

When you grow up on chick flicks, you come to believe that there would be nothing in the world more fun than trying on a series of beautiful outfits, one after the other, like the montages in the movies you love. What you don't realise is that those montages are edited to seem much, much more entertaining and uplifting than they really are. The steady flow of magnificent dresses that came through my change room were agonising to put on, and Alice and Esme took what felt like an eternity evaluating each one, using a series of criteria that I wasn't entirely sure of. After about 15 dresses, I felt like crying.

"Alright," Alice said, seeming to have picked up my mood from the less-than-subtle scowl on my face as I emerged in dress number 16. "That one is just awful, but I have a really good feeling about number 13."

"Number 17," I corrected a little petulantly. Esme laughed lightly at my bad attitude.

"I know this can be… taxing, Bella, but when we find the right one it will all be worth it."

Alice shoved me back into the change room and I looked at the dress that was hanging on the back of the door, a huge smile spreading across my face. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen, and I could tell just from looking at it that it was going to be perfect. I pulled it on with an unprecedented eagerness and walked out of the change room, sending up a quick prayer that they'd love it as much as I did.

When they saw me, I knew at once that they agreed. A big smile crossed Esme's face and she clapped gently with her excitement, while still maintaining her usual decorum. Alice smirked, looking thoroughly impressed with herself.

"Lucky number 13," she muttered as she circled me, taking the dress in from all angles.

"17," I corrected, and she shushed me.

"Lucky 13 sounds better," she dismissed, and her eyes unfocused as she thought to herself about something. I looked at her quizzically, and after a moment, her eyes met mine and her smile widened.

"What size are your feet?" she asked.

"Why?" I asked, a little taken aback by her zoning out in front of me.

"Because I really like knowing that about people," she deadpanned. "Shoes, Bella. You need shoes."

"Oh." I blushed, feeling a little stupid for being confused by her question. "I'm a 7."

"Ok, I'll be back shortly. Don't bitch out and call Edward."

It was like the woman could predict my movements. I had fully intended on sneaking into the change room and texting him, not only because I was sure he was anxious for an update, but because I was a little worried about awkward alone time with Esme.

Rather than hiding like the wuss I so badly wanted to be, I forced myself to and sit beside my boyfriend's mother on a long chaise. She smiled gently and patted my knee before a more business like expression came over her face.

"Bella, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions about you and my son's relationship. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to, I'd just like to know."

Although a significant part of me wanted to run away, I nodded warily, hoping she could sense my discomfort and would take it easy.

"Where did you meet him?" she asked, and I relaxed slightly at the easy question.

"I was out for my birthday in one of Jasper's bars, and he was there," I replied casually.

"If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

Shit. Edward always promised me he never felt any weirdness about my age, but I couldn't help it. I always felt like people would look down on us when they found out.

"I'm nineteen." I looked closely at Esme's face, trying to find a reaction, but she gave nothing away, holding a polite smile. Perhaps she already knew, and was testing to see if I'd try to lie to her.

"Did you know that he was… unavailable, when you met?"

Wow, the questions weren't getting easier.

"No, I didn't. As bad as this sounds, by the time I did find out, I wanted him too much to care." I blushed as I belatedly realised how bad that sounded. "I know that's no excuse for what I did, but…" I trailed off awkwardly. Esme's smile widened and she patted me on the leg.

"Don't be embarrassed, Bella. I'd always hoped that my son would find the kind of love that I have with his father, that Alice has. I'd hoped that he had with Rosalie, although I knew deep in my heart that he didn't. They just seemed…" she hesitated.

"Perfect for each other?" I supplied, trying not to sound bitter.

"Honestly, yes. But, on closer inspection, their relationship was near hollow, and I feel badly that he lived like that for so long. When I found out about you, I was… displeased, to put it mildly, but from the changes I can see in my son, and from the time I've spent with you today, I'm glad he finally found you. I regret the circumstances of course, but you make Edward happy, and I like you very much."

"Thankyou," I said quietly, unsure of how to respond to her honesty.

"I must warn you though," she continued, "the event we'll be attending together may not be the most pleasant night for any of us, yourself and Edward in particular." Her voice darkened slightly, which surprised me. "Rosalie has painted herself as quite the victim in this situation, mainly because her indiscretions have not been publicised. She has many friends in this circle, some of whom are nothing more than glorified school girls, and they may very well be nasty if given the opportunity."

I was abruptly terrified.

"What do I do?" I asked, trying not to sound as frightened as I was. This sounded absolutely awful, and I was sorely tempted to back out of the whole thing now.

"Bella," she soothed, sensing my discomfort at once, "there will be one of us with you at all times, so you will have nothing to fear. These women are like hyenas, and as long as you are not left alone and vulnerable, they know their place and they will not do anything." She laughed gently at her analogy, and I laughed in response, although the sound was weak and clearly reflecting my fear.

Before I had the chance to work myself into a fullscale panic attack, Alice returned with several pairs of stunning shoes and half an hour later, we left the store. Alice and Esme seemed satisfied with what they had selected for me, and after dropping the bags off at the car, we went for a quick lunch. Alice made it her mission to get Esme and I to bond, and I realised quickly that it would be much easier than I had anticipated. As much as the woman seemed almost otherworldly, we had a lot more in common than I realised. She had been a photography major in college, and had promised to come down and see some of my work.

She had a thin vein of Alice's bitchy streak as well, which came out at the most hilarious and random of times, and I found that I really liked her very much. When the town car pulled up outside Edward's building, signifying the end of our time together, I found myself sad to be leaving them. It felt nice to be part of a family unit like this, and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed that dynamic. I loved my friends of course, but there was something about their interactions that made me smile. I was just grateful to bear witness to it, and even more strangely, I found myself looking forward to seeing them again soon, and maybe one day being a part of their little unit

AN: Awwww... the rollercoaster always goes up before it plummets. And plummet it will, lady loves.