Sorry this wasn't up last night. I explained why to my FB group (you should join *shameless plug*) and I blamed FF net but it was all me. Something about docx and story and what not. Anyway here we are. Enjoy.
Bella tossed and turned. She flopped over on her back and turned her head to look at the alarm clock… 2:00am. She groaned and threw her arm over her eyes.
She knew why she couldn't sleep.
Edward.
She sighed.
She deserved his tirade earlier. She had purposefully fucked up their date. He just got too close. He was so deep into her psyche that she didn't think he could be expelled. How the hell did this happen? And why didn't she stop it?
She knew why.
She just didn't know what to do with that knowledge. Would he still want her after he knew the whole truth about her? Would he sacrifice what he wanted most to be with her and not resent her years from now?
She shuddered when she finished that last thought. She had never thought in terms of years when thinking about another person other than her parents. And to think that way about a man she had only known for less than two weeks scared her to death. She wasn't worried about the time frame, cause her parents always told her they had known from the first time they locked eyes.
Her parents. She smiled as she thought of them and all they had gone through to get to the point they were at now. The other spouses, her custody arrangements, which in the end were easily enough solved, moving away from the only home either had ever known to get away from the bad memories… they had never looked back and had made a great family for Bella to grow up in. Which made her situation so bitter sweet.
She looked again at the clock.
2:17am.
Ugh. Time was way too slow in some instances and way too fast in others. She sighed again and then made a decision.
She got out of bed and padded quietly towards his room. The door was shut and she didn't know whether to knock, go in or go back to her own room.
She knocked softly.
"Come in." Was the soft reply.
She took a deep breath.
"Hey. It's me." She said then instantly blushed.
Of course it was her, who else would it be?
He nodded, his face serious. He searched her face for something, anything.
"I… I have never done this before, as I am sure you know. I have told you that enough." She laughed nervously. "I have my reasons and I know I have to share those with you at some point. I am not ready at the moment to do that. I'm sorry but I need to work up the courage to do that. Cause I am pretty sure that is going to be a deal breaker and I don't think I could take you walking away right now. I don't think I could take you walking away at all but I think, no I know, that I am ready to try… this… us… with you. If you still want to, that is."
She watched his face. His expression went from serious to understanding to curious and then to happy during her verbal vomit.
"I want to." He said earnestly.
She let out a breath.
"Okay. Okay. So we are going to do this, date, I mean." She said.
"Yes, we are." He agreed.
"Do you… I mean, can I…." She gestured to the bed.
Understanding dawned on his face.
"Of course you can. You can sleep here anytime you want. What's mine is yours and all that." He said.
"Obviously." She said, getting into bed next to him and immediately laying her head on his chest. His arms came around her, effectively trapping her there as she listened to his heartbeat.
"You know, this is actually my bed." She commented.
"Actually, I bought this bed and brought it with me and placed the other bed in the room you are in." He told her.
She sat up abruptly.
"You mean… I am sleeping in the bed my parents had sex in?" She exclaimed.
"Yes, you are." He said laughing.
"That is wrong on so many levels." She complained.
Edward shrugged and pulled her back to him.
"Edward?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you ever think we are moving too fast? That this… us… is too fast?" She asked.
"Seeing as how I am chasing you, I would say no." He reminded her.
"Edward?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad you are chasing me." She said, stifling a yawn.
"I'm glad too."
"Edward?"
Edward sighed.
"Yes?"
"Do you mind if we just sleep tonight?" She asked.
"We would already be asleep if you would stop talking." He told her, his tone amused.
"We will have to work on your communication skills cause if you tell me to shut up one more time, I am going to hurt you." She threatened.
"Hey, Bella?"
"Yes?"
"Go to sleep." He demanded.
"Hey, Edward?"
He chuckled.
"Yeah?"
"Okay." She said.
He laughed and kissed her gently before cuddling her next to him and falling into a deep and comforted sleep.
***TMAIA***
"We are going to be late, Edward! Stop fucking with your hair and get a move on it!" Bella shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
He appeared at the top of the stairs, grinning sheepishly.
"I have you know, it takes a lot of effort for my hair to look like this." He informed her.
"What… overly moussed and purposefully messy?" She smirked.
"Yeah." He agreed before laughing.
He came down the stairs and grabbed her to him, looking deeply into her eyes before kissing her socks off. Damn, the things that man could do with his lips and his tongue and his…
Damn, she really needed to put on some panties. Wetness dripping down her leg was not comfortable.
She pulled back from him.
"I will meet you in the car. I have to get some… um… something from my room." She said, before sprinting up the stairs.
She had been in emotion overload since waking up in his arms. She hadn't even felt the urge to run. Amazing how things had changed in such a short amount of time. How she had changed. She actually felt like she had a purpose other than her job. Hopefully, she could balance the two.
She knew she needed to talk to him, to really let him in but the fear of his reaction was making her hesitate. She had so many doubts and questions. Could she move here? If not could they make a long distance relationship work? Could he love her no matter what? She needed answers just as much as she was sure he did. She made the decision to talk to him soon.
"Hey, Bella! Get a move on it! We are going to be late. Your hair will never be as good as mine so stop trying." He yelled up the stairs. She hurriedly put her panties on under her skirt and ran down the stairs.
It will all be worked out.
Soon.
***TMAIA***
"Boys are stupid."
Bella looked up and raised her eyebrow at Tanya who had flopped herself down on the couch.
"And the non-sequitor award goes to…"
"I'm sorry, but boys are stupid." Tanya sighed.
"Boys are stupid, why?" Bella asked distractedly. She was trying to finish the budget for next quarter. The suits were up her ass. Good thing she wore panties today, huh?
"Jake totally threw me off his case and put me in the Pit. The Pit Bella." She ranted.
"What did you do?" Bella asked, finally concentrating on Tanya.
"Why do you think I did something?"
Bella leveled a look at her.
"Okay, fine. I might have told him he diagnosed the patient wrong, in front of the patient and then proceed to go over his head to Rose when he argued with me."
"You might have or you did?" Bella asked.
"I did."
"Tanya! You can't do that. No wonder you are running all the attendings off."
"What? How can you say that? I have not."
"Seth Clearwater?"
"Total asshole." Bella's eyes bored into her. "He dumped me the day before our wedding."
"He is an asshole." Bella agreed.
"Carmen Ateara?"
"How was I supposed to know she wanted to be hugged all the time? I don't hug!"
Bella rolled her eyes.
"Peters?"
"Hey, she's still here." Tanya objected.
"She resigned this morning." Bella informed her.
"Well, shit. Now who is supposed to teach me?" Tanya said in a frustrated tone.
"Good question! If you would stop running off the staff you wouldn't have to ask that."
"It's not me. It's not my fault they can't hang." She said.
"That is not helping me. Now I have to hire a new cardio God. I don't have time for that." Bella complained.
"Stop fucking Cullen and you will have more time to find me a cardio God." Tanya suggested.
"I will stop fucking Edward when you stop fucking Jake." Bella countered.
"No fucking way! That man is a fucking God in bed." Tanya said, her tone aghast.
"Okay, can we stop saying fucking?" Bella asked, her brow furrowed.
"Oh, are we going all Catholic good girl? Are you Larping?"
"Am I what?"
"Larping. Live Action Role Playing." Tanya informed her. "Do you have the naughty Catholic school girl outfit?"
"Not a geek, unlike you apparently." Bella said, crinkling her nose up. "But yes, I have the outfit."
"Nice, just when I think you are boring, you rise." Tanya nodded in approval.
"One thing I could never be accused of is being boring. Hello… pink hair, fuck hot motorcycle, any of this ring a bell?"
"Yeah, but that was the old Bella. Now you are settled down Bella, who is a whole lot more boring." Tanya sighed.
Bella frowned.
"I am not… settled down." Bella objected.
Tanya raised an eyebrow.
"You live with him, you eat with him, you work with him, you sleep with him. You are settled down."
"So are you."
"I am not denying it. You are. He is a catch or so I have heard from the desperate, horny nurses. He is not my type… all that hair and niceness." Tanya shuddered.
"Jake is nice."
"Jake is all moody and sullen. I like a little dark and twisty in my men."
"I'm all for the dark and twisty." Bella laughed.
"So?"
"So, what?" Bella hedged.
"What is holding you back?" Tanya asked.
Bella feigned interest in the paperwork on her desk.
Tanya got up and jerked the folder away from her.
"Answer me, bitch." She demanded.
"Okay, cranky!" Bella exclaimed. "There is something I haven't told him about me and I think… no, I know… it will be a deal breaker and that sucks because I really like him and I don't want this to end but it has to end and no good can come of sleeping with your boss… I mean I'm his boss but well you know what I mean and I just don't know how to tell him and I am scared and confused and I just wish someone would tell me to shut up… but my point is… I have a secret and I am scared to tell him but I know I have to." Bella took a deep breath.
Tanya sat down slowly looking a little dazed.
"Okay?" She said slashed asked.
"So? What do you think I should do?" Bella asked anxiously.
"You know I just thought you would tell me he had a triple nipple. I've got nothing." Tanya said, her face apologetic.
"Tanya!"
"What?! I am not a shrink. You need Mental Defects on six. You need advice on how to do a cardio bypass, I'm your girl, otherwise, I am only good for liquor and sarcastic comments. Do you want me to get Alice?"
"No, I don't need kittens and rainbows." Bella said shortly.
Her intercom crackled and her assistant's voice came over.
"Dr. Swan? Um… you have a visitor?" Her voice was uncertain.
"Who is it, Jessica?"
"She says she's your mother."
Oh. Shit.
Next up is Renee and Renee is my favorite Renee ever.