Hi Sexy Ladies!
I know, I know...an update within a month! =O I figured I owed it to you wonderful readers...plus it sort of wrote itself...
PLUS I'm going away to see Paramore so the next chapter will be a little while away... =S
Butter cream filled love to my Beta's Snshyne and Kay.
Snshyne, you make my words flow so these readers can actually make sense of it all! You are the tongue to my mouth...without you, my words wouldn't be clear and I wouldn't have half as much fun without a tongue ;)
Kay, I'll sing Fall Out Boy with you anyday! But I must kill you slowly for getting 'Sugar, We're Going Down' stuck in my head ALL day!
This is a silly chapter. Hope I make you all giggle snort loudly =D
SM owns all things Twilight. I own tickets to see Hayley Williams! =D
Chapter 25
Shops and Shocks
BPOV
"I can't move," I groaned as I rubbed my very satisfied belly.
"I can't believe you ate that third slice of pie!" Edward teased me.
"It was very good apple pie that would have gone to waste."
"Emmett is here. Nothing went to waste. Did you not see the empty refrigerator?"
We both chuckled and I hugged myself closer to Edward on the couch.
We had all moved into the family room after dessert, but everyone had slowly made their way home, in Charlie and Sue's case, or up to their rooms.
Alice bounded over to me, tugging my arm off Edward's stomach, attempting to drag me off the couch.
"Come on, Bella. Bed time. We have an early start tomorrow."
I clung onto Edward as I whined, "It's only eleven. How early do we need to be up?"
"One: we need to drive to Port Angeles, and Two: stores open at 5am."
"I have to be up at five!"
"No Bella, we have to be there before five, you my dear will be awake at two-thirty."
I groaned and buried myself against Edward, not wanting to leave the couch.
"Edward," Alice pleaded with him.
"Ok, ok, I'll take her to bed."
I let out a small yelp when he picked me up off the couch bridal style and proceeded to carry me towards the stairs.
"You're not seriously going to carry me up three flights of stairs are you?"
"I might have been able to, but the three extra slices of pie are really weighing you down." He made a face that pretended he was straining to hold me up.
I swatted at his chest as he put me down at the bottom of the first set of steps.
"So I have to be up in three and a half hours, might as well not sleep then," I complained as I locked the door behind me.
"Well, what do you suggest we do to stay up?" Edward asked seductively as he stalked towards me.
"I need a shower. I think I have pie crumbs down my top."
Edward cheekily pulled the front of my shirt forward to peer down my top. I laughed at him and pushed him back.
"Perv."
"Did I tell you I'm a professional crumb cleaner?"
"Oh really, Mr. Cullen?"
"I can do a free inspection," his hands wandered to the hem of my sweater dress, "and if there are crumbs, I can clean very thoroughly." He began to slide the dress up and over my head.
My knees were going weak.
We began slowly walking backwards into the bathroom.
By the time we made it there, Edward was clad only in his boxer-briefs and me in my bra and panties.
He kissed across the swell of my breasts, licking down and between them.
"Miss, I believe there are some crumbs down here, but I'm afraid this will have to go," he swiftly removed my bra and brought his tongue to swirl around my nipple.
I moaned at the sensation and tangled my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.
"I think we need some water to make sure you are thoroughly cleaned."
He stepped out of his boxer-briefs and helped slide my panties down my legs.
We stepped under the spray of the water and immediately lost ourselves in each other's mouths.
His tongue slid effortlessly against mine as I ground myself against his thigh desperate for the friction.
"Turn around Miss, I need to begin cleaning," he whispered huskily into my ear.
I turned until my back was flush against his front, his obvious erection pressing into the small of my back.
Using his bare hands, he lathered up with a bar of soap and began to wash me.
His soapy hands slid sensually over my shoulders, my arms, over my stomach, and back up to my chest where he caressed me as he washed meticulously.
His lips peppered my shoulder and neck, where his tongue would flick out occasionally to lap at the cascading water.
"Did I get all the crumbs yet?" His breath was cool against my ear under the steam of the shower.
"I think the water washed some crumbs down my legs," I smiled slyly at him.
He didn't need another invitation.
Edward slid down my body to kneel before me, bringing my foot up to rest on his shoulder.
He lathered up his hands again and began to wash the bottom of my foot, around my toes, pressing into the arch of my foot causing my back to arch against the wall.
He circled my ankles then kneaded my calves in long strokes, continuing to my thigh where his fingers lingered so close to where I wanted them.
When he placed my leg back onto the floor, I lifted my hips up towards his face as he picked up the other to rest on his opposite shoulder.
He mimicked his perusing from the other leg, but when he got to the apex of my thighs he slithered back up to capture my lips.
I was in a frenzy of need, attacking his lips and plunging my tongue into his mouth.
"Edward, please," I whined against his lips.
I could feel his lips stretch up into a smile, but he complied, sliding two fingers smoothly into my already slick and wanting sex.
"Yeeeeees," I moaned into his shoulder as he pumped in and out, using his thumb to bring me to the edge.
He pulled out just as I was about to tip over the brink, causing me to groan in frustration.
"Turn around again."
I wasn't sure why he wanted me to, but the sooner I did it, the sooner he could help me with my release.
When I was flush against him once again, he wrapped his arms around my middle, hands splayed against my stomach.
I felt the fingers of his right hand roam back down and into me, continuing where they left off, as his left came up to squeeze my breast.
The dual sensations made me go limp and my head lolled back onto his shoulder, allowing him access to the column of my neck.
I was overcome when his fingers rolled my nipple the same time his teeth nipped at my neck and his thumb pressed against my clit making me skyrocket over the edge screaming in pure ecstasy.
His fingers slowed to a pace that matched my deep breaths, helping me down from my orgasmic bliss.
I turned to find his lips, needing the support of his arms around my waist to keep me upright.
I could feel him harder than ever against me and wasted no time in repaying the favor.
I sunk to my knees, still unsteady on my feet, and grasped him firmly, pumping twice before engulfing him.
It didn't take him long.
I cupped his ass firmly as I licked and sucked fervently until the scrape of my teeth made him come down my throat.
I had only just made it back up to his thankful lips when the shower began to run cold.
"Damn small town plumbing," Edward grumbled as he turned the taps and stepped out.
He toweled himself off as I wrapped one securely around my body, following his gloriously naked and unashamed body into the room.
He went to set some soft music on the stereo and pulled a pair of boxer-briefs from a drawer. I was definitely disappointed that he slipped those on.
He stalked towards the bed where I was sitting in the middle, covered only by the towel, my wet hair dripping down my back.
"Did you need help drying off too?" he smirked at me, crawling up towards the center where I sat.
His fingers slipped into the top of the towel, peeling open the material as if he were peeling apart some curtains to see a fantastic view.
"You did say your service was thorough," I told him breathlessly.
"Well, are you ready for the final inspection?"
I gave a nervous nod.
Edward kissed me on the lips, trailing kisses down my neck, between my breasts, across my stomach, and down to somewhere his lips had never been.
I could feel the blush on my cheeks and my eyes were wide when I realized he was really going to go there.
He glanced back up quickly, meeting my eyes through the damp strands of hair that fell across his forehead.
I gave a short nod to let him know it was ok, biting my lower lip to stop the guttural groan threatening to wake up the entire house, when his tongue flicked across my clit.
My fingers found purchase in his damp hair holding him close to me, not wanting to let him stop what he was doing with his mouth.
His tongue circled around my opening, licking back up and sucking my clit as he slipped two talented fingers into me again.
My eyes rolled back into my head and my back arched off the bed, thrusting my hips closer to his mouth.
"Edward...shit…yes," I moaned my appreciation.
I was panting furiously, unable to get enough air into my lungs, but I stopped breathing altogether when he curled his fingers within me causing, me to explode all over his hand and tongue.
He lapped up everything I gave, planting a final kiss on my lower lips.
I could feel his whole being beaming as he hovered over me, but I didn't have the energy to open my eyes.
"Stop smiling," I told him, eyes still closed.
"Why? Did you not enjoy that as much as me?" I could hear the smug smile in his voice.
I tried to give him a nonchalant shrug, but he chuckled at me and lay next to me, pulling me into his arms.
"That orgasm was so mind blowing you can't even lift your eyelids," he continued to chuckle.
I finally opened my weary eyes to see into his lust filled, but victorious green eyes.
"It was ok…"
He laughed again. He was so light and happy.
"Just ok?" He breathed into my ear giving the lobe a quick nip.
"It was fucking amazing, ok!"
He laughed at my proclamation, most likely amused by my cussing, and kissed me on the forehead, tucking me into his side.
My eyes drooped again, my entire body exhausted but sated, and his voice sounded far away.
"Don't bother sleeping, you have to be up in an hour."
I could feel him stroking my hair down across my back in a gentle, soothing motion.
"Just a nap…" I yawned and fell into the blackness of bliss.
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"Bella," Alice cooed from behind the door.
She tapped on the wood lightly.
"Belllla?" she sang a little louder.
My body was heavy and comfortable and I burrowed further into Edwards neck.
The door knob rattled as she tried to enter the room.
"Edward what the hell? When do you lock your lock?" She was sounding more and more frustrated.
"I didn't lock it." Edward mumbled from beside me.
"I did."
"Good thinking."
He tightened his arms around me as we finished our sleepy conversation.
The knocks on the door became heavier.
"Bella! You need to get up now. Edward, if you don't let her up right now, I'll tell her all about tomorrow night!" Alice's voice was now loud and threatening.
I was confused as to what she was talking about but Edward obviously knew what she meant. He shot up from bed causing me to almost tumble to the floor.
"What?" I was shocked awake.
Edward pulled out some clothes from my bag, dragging me out of bed to get dressed myself.
"What's happening tomorrow night?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?"
"That's not fair," I pouted in my sleepy state.
"Just buy a nice dress…and something warm."
"Ok?"
I went to the bathroom to attempt to tame my hair and splashed some cold water on my face, trying to wake myself up.
Oh god. My hair was a mess!
I suppose thrashing about as your boyfriend went down on you didn't help.
I pulled it back into a ponytail, too tired to care how I looked.
Edward was huddled back under the comfort of the sheets when I returned to the room.
"This isn't fair. You should come too."
"I came last night thanks to your talented mouth."
Even in his half asleep state he was still a smug ass.
"Ha ha. But what could we need to buy at five in the morning?"
I clambered back onto the comfort of the bed and onto Edward, he brought his arms around me, holding me tight. I wanted to fall back to sleep lying in this position.
"Bella, you ready?" Alice's voice rang annoyingly through the door.
"Go. Otherwise she'll break down our door."
He nudged me off him, kissing me to try and make my pout disappear. I reluctantly unlocked the door and went towards my day of hell.
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Thank god I could sleep for another hour on the drive to Port Angeles. Esme, Rose, and Alice all seemed well rested and excited for the trip, but I passed out as soon as my head hit the back of the head rest.
"Bella. Bella wake up. We're here," Alice shook me.
"I'll just stay here," I grumbled as her tiny hands unclipped my belt and tugged me out of the car.
"I told you to go to sleep last night. What did you do when you got back to your room?"
I grinned sheepishly at her.
"Don't worry. I don't want to know. I'm just thankful we're on an entirely different floor."
There wasn't a chance for me to be tired once the first set of doors opened to the stores. There was a barrage of people pushing and shoving me from side to side as Alice pulled me forward.
I had to be on high alert if I didn't want to be trampled to death.
Alice shopped like a small tornado. She was a whir of black as she jetted from one rack to another, over loading her small frame with anything she could get her hands on.
"OK, fitting rooms Bella, GO!"
"But I didn't get anything to try on?"
"I've got it all here. Just find a room!" We shuffled into the small stalls trying on item after item after item.
I bought nothing. Alice bought it all.
One store down, and I was exhausted. I didn't want to try on any more clothes, I didn't want to be whacked in the face by another hanger, and I didn't want another trashy bimbo stomping on my toes with her hooker heels.
Rose could see my frustration, which was a manifestation of a lack of sleep and a low tolerance for insane shoppers, and pressed a small handful of dresses at me.
"Rose, I don't want to try anything else on," I complained.
Her voice was hushed.
"Just take these and go hide in a fitting room. I'll text you when Alice is ready to leave this one."
She gave me a wink and I darted swiftly towards the promise of an escape.
I got bored in the stall after fifteen minutes of listening to the other women ask "Do I look fat in this?" to their friends and didn't want to risk falling asleep inside, so I tried on what Rose got me.
I was surprised. They were all my size and all quite nice.
There was a yellow dress, but it hugged me a little too tightly and the color was almost transparent. I didn't know what kind of underwear wouldn't show under it and concluded that no underwear was probably the solution.
So that one was a no.
The next one was full length and black, with long sleeves. But the neckline plunged down to my navel and the split on the side came up to my hips!
I know Edward told me to get something warm, but the long sleeves did nothing when the entire front of the dress was practically non-existent.
The last dress was a beautiful deep blue. The fabric was silky soft with random ribbons of ruffles crossing all over it.
It had a modest plunge front and was probably a little short for the colder weather, but I could easily pair it with some stylish tights and my boots.
When I tried it on I knew it was the dress.
It wasn't too tight, I could still eat a modest amount and still breathe, and the belt around the middle helped to emphasize my waist.
I twirled a little in front of the mirror falling more in love with the dress. My phone buzzed.
Alice is checking out – Rose
I changed back into my jeans and tee and made my way out to meet the girls.
"Where have you been? I found sooooooo many nice things for you," Alice interrogated me.
"Oh, I was already in the fitting room with some dresses." I held up the blue one as evidence.
Alice huffed a bit but was distracted by a stand of earrings on the counter that were apparently on sale.
After that, the four of us went to get a coffee to re-energize for the next round of shopping.
"So where's Edward taking me tomorrow?" I tried to slip it into the conversation.
Alice tapped her nose.
"Oh, come on! What happened to hoe's over bro's?"
"Because this bro's plan will benefit this hoe." She pointed at me and giggled.
Esme was chuckling as well. Obviously everyone else was in the know.
"Esme, didn't you want to go buy some more of that hand lotion from the naturalist's store?" Alice prompted.
"Oh, yes. Thanks for reminding me dear. We should go there before we leave."
"Well, we were going to head over to the lingerie store. So why don't you go buy the lotion and then meet us there."
Alice was sounding quite rude. It was as if she was trying to get rid of Esme.
"Oh, ok then." Esme seemed a little taken aback.
I quickly offered my company, "I want to see what cream this is. I'll come with you."
We both made our way to stand as Alice looked exasperated by me.
"Well, we'll all just go then," she snapped.
I didn't like how she spoke to Esme and broke off to walk with her rather than Alice and Rose.
Esme linked her arm around mine and whispered into my ear.
"I think she wants to do some girl talk."
"Well you're a girl?"
"Yes, but I'm also the mom of two of the boys you will be talking about."
Then it dawned on me why Alice was being rude.
"Well, in that case, I'm not letting you out of my sight."
She laughed at the horror on my face.
I did not want to be interrogated by the pixie about what Edward and I did behind closed doors.
I managed to ensure that Esme was with us most of the day, but when she saw a friend and dashed off to say 'hello' I was left shield-less.
Alice quickly pulled me into a nearby game store, hiding from Esme, I was assuming.
"Oh, thank god we lost her. Her mom-ness was cockblocking our girl talk."
The game store, filled predictably with a gaggle of men and nerdy teenage boys all looked towards Alice.
"What? Never heard the word 'cock' before?" she taunted them.
"Alice!" Rose and I hissed at her.
She shrugged off her behavior.
"Can we talk about this somewhere more private?" I pleaded with her in a whisper.
"They're all guys here. Plus they're too engrossed by all this stupid cartoon, game crap."
A few more eyes joined in on the glares of the others and I was afraid we were going to be kicked out soon.
I figured the quicker she got what she wanted out of me, the quicker she would leave me alone.
"What do you want to know?" I asked impatiently, but cautiously.
"Why is Edward doing this big date night for you tomorrow night?"
"So it's big?"
"Don't try and change the subject or pry more info from me, missy. Spill."
"I honestly don't know why or what he's doing."
"Well, you must be giving him some mind blowing sex with all the effort he's done too," Rose added.
'All this effort'? What did he have organized!
I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks immediately.
My voice was small and mumbly.
"Well we haven't actually done…it."
There was a minuscule pause before both Alice and Rose shouted at the same time.
"YOU'VE NEVER HAD SEX!"
Every set of ears in the store, and some people out front, heard that statement.
Every set of eyes shot towards us and I just wanted to melt into a puddle right there to be carried off by the soles of a million shoes.
"Shhh…Keep your freaking voices down," I hissed at them.
Rose and Alice looked around, finally realizing the scene they were causing.
"Oh, she's not a virgin, freak," Rose snarled at a guy who was lurking near our conversation.
Their voices returned to a more subtle volume.
"You and Edward have not had sex yet?" Alice's eyes were wide with disbelief.
"No." It sounded like a question.
"Huh, I thought the two of you were always going at it like rabbits behind those doors," Rose mused.
"Well, why not?" Alice really didn't care for privacy.
So why not, Bella?
"Well…there hasn't been a right time…" their glowers emphasized that it wasn't a good enough excuse, "I mean he's always working, and we're busy with school and it's not very romantic if one of you is going to collapse from exhaustion before its even over."
"But you do other stuff, right?" Alice pushed.
I gave her a rhetorical 'What do you think?' look and she nodded in acceptance.
"And do you want to? Do it, I mean."
"Alice, I know what you mean," I sneered at her, "and yeah I'm pretty sure we've loaded all the other bases."
"Are you waiting to be in love first?" Rose scoffed at me.
I didn't think that was such a far fetched requirement before sex. Some people really followed that belief.
"You guys are in love?" Alice beamed at me.
"What? No. Why? Did he say something to you?"
"Did he say something to you?" she countered.
"No." I could feel my expression fall and there was a small twinge of my heart with that realization.
Rose came back into the conversation.
"This is stupid. Edward's obviously in love with you. The guy hasn't had sex since the day he saw you for the first time here. If he doesn't love you, then you must be feeding him some sort of voodoo love potion in your baking because that man could never keep it in his pants."
I smiled at the observation.
"The question, Bella, is do you love him?" Rose finished.
I'd never asked myself that. I had no answer.
"I don't know?" I admitted with a frown.
"Does he make you smile?" Alice asked.
"Yes."
"Does he make you laugh?"
"Yes."
"Is he someone that can make everything better?"
"Yes."
"Does he give you fucktastic orgasms?" Rose added.
I laughed so hard at her bluntness that my eyes were tearing up.
But I nodded shyly in response.
"Then, it's love!" The two of them proclaimed proudly pulling me into a group hug.
The tears from laughing were beginning to mix in with the tears of my joy at having it stated aloud that Edward and I were indeed in love.
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We eventually made it to the lingerie store, still missing Esme.
"We need some sexy fucking lingerie STAT! This girl is going to get laid tomorrow night," Rose announced to the patrons and staff of the store as we entered.
We got a few hollers from the other women in there, nervous laughs from the few men, and help from a very eager shop assistant.
Rose laughed at my continually red face and pulled me towards a rack of lingerie.
Rose jokingly dangled a pair of red, lacy, crotchless panties in front of my face when Esme appeared from behind the rack.
Our laughter cut off as the awkwardness set in.
"Oh..they're…nice?" Esme gestured to the panties.
"We're kidding, Esme," Rose answered while hanging it back on the rack.
The relief on Esme's face was obvious. "Oh, right."
"We lost you there for a moment," I stated, unsure of whether she was offended that we ditched her.
"That's ok. I knew you were coming here and I wanted to get a few things too." She clutched her bag of lingerie a little closer to herself as her eyes found the floor.
Alice bounced over to us, her arms filled with corsets and silky camisoles.
"Esme! Glad we found you. What did you buy?"
Alice, being Alice, missed the fact that Esme didn't really want to share and proceeded to dig out her purchases from the bag to display to the rest of us.
But as soon as the silk, white corset with matching cap made it out of the bag, Alice dropped it right back in with a small gasp.
Apparently Mrs. Cullen liked to play nurse with the good doctor.
Esme went beet red and the three of us didn't know whether to laugh, cringe, or high five her.
So we did what you would do in any awkward situation…we all excused ourselves and made a dash for opposite ends of the store.
I refused to let the girl's talk me into buying anything see through, red, or edible.
I managed to pick out a modest, black lacy set that was still sexy but comfortable.
Alice and Rose tried on a few cute costume pieces and modeled them around the fitting room, but I wasn't ready for any role playing.
Even though it was awkward to start with, and Esme had cleared out of the store quicker than a bullet, the lingerie store was one of my favorite stores of the day.
We laughed at all the outrageous items they had in there but stopped when we saw the lady in front of us paying for a leopard, skin suit we had all cringed at earlier.
No matter how outrageous some things were, there were people just as crazy out there that would pay good money for it.
By four in the afternoon, Alice admitted defeat and allowed us to return to the car to journey back home.
Shopping bags overfilled the trunk and were piled high on in the middle seat in the back of the car.
It was an intense day and very enjoyable, but there was one person that I really wanted to get home to see.
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I dropped my bags onto the floor of the foyer and followed the sounds of video games into the family room.
"Take that motherfucker," Emmett cursed at Jasper.
"Eat shit," Jasper replied.
They were both up, out of their seats, pressing buttons maniacally on the controls as their CG selves boxed it out on the TV screen.
"K-O bia-tch" Emmett hollered down at Jazz.
"Language!" Esme's voice rang down the hall into the room.
"Sorry ma!" Em shouted back.
"Jesus Christ! INSIDE voice Em, inside!" Edward complained from his seat on the couch.
I scurried around the couch and quickly sat across Edward's lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and burying my face in the crook of it.
He wove his arms around my body pressing me closer to him.
"Hi beautiful," he twisted his head to give me a kiss, "how was your day?"
"Exhausting," I grumbled into his neck.
Our bodies shook as he chuckled.
"So you didn't have fun shopping?"
"It was fun…some parts of it," I cringed at the memory of the scene in the game store, "but I missed you."
"I missed you too." He kissed my forehead. "I had to hang out with these fuckers all day instead."
"Hey! We had a good day," Emmett pointed a menacing finger at Edward.
Alice and Rose came in to greet their boys as well.
"What did you two do to my girl? She's completely worn out," Edward accused Rose and Alice.
I remained hidden in the crook of his neck, letting my eyes close and inhaled his musky scent.
"You're the one that kept her up when she was supposed to be sleeping," Alice argued back.
"And you know…all that lingerie she tried on, it was a lot, and she would sure grow tired from that," Rose teased him.
But he took the bait.
"You bought lingerie?" he asked excitedly, "can I see?"
"You can see if you tell me where we're going tomorrow night," I tried to bargain.
"Ooooh, that's a no."
"Well, that's a no to a fashion show for you tonight, too."
He pouted at me when I sat up to look at him. His puppy dog eyes were too cute and I kissed him on his nose making him smile again.
"Jazzy, get this…Mrs. Cullen likes to play nurse with the doctor," Alice told him.
"No way," he laughed along with Rose and me.
But Edward and Emmett were mortified.
"Ewww…. Do not tell us things like that," Emmett winced.
"Beautiful, that image just scarred me for life. Now you have to give me a peek at your shopping just to make it up to me."
I laughed at him shaking my head.
"I wasn't the one that told you. Alice opened her big mouth. Go look at her panties," I shrugged.
The rest of the gang 'eww'd' at me, except Jazz who proclaimed that he would look at her panties any day.
These guys really were as close as family and did see each other as siblings.
There was no chance to fool around with Edward that night.
I almost fell asleep at the table during dinner and was startled awake when Emmett threw a dinner roll at my head.
It wasn't very nice, but it alerted me to the fact that I needed to sleep…pronto.
A quick shower, alone, and I collapsed into bed not even waiting for Edward to finish his shower and return to the bed.
I could feel him shuffling my limbs about, probably because I spread them across the empty bed, until his body was nestled beside mine.
I rolled until I was half on top of him as his arm slid under my neck.
His freshly showered scent lingered in my nostrils as sleep caught up with me and dragged me under.
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I turned and stretched out my tired body on the bed, my hands searching through the sheets for the warm body I loved.
My hands found nothing but cold sheets and a fluffy pillow.
I lifted my head to look around the room, listening to see if I could hear the shower or any other clue to let me know where Edward was.
But there was nothing.
I flopped back onto the bed, turning my head to search for the time on the nightstand.
11:43 blinked back at me.
Shit!
It was almost noon and I was still in bed!
The Cullen's must have thought I was a pig!
I rolled out of bed, showered quickly and dashed downstairs to a relatively peaceful house.
I peered into the empty family room before making my way towards the murmur of voices in the kitchen.
"Morning sleepyhead," Alice chimed at me.
"Afternoon, more like it," Rose added.
"Sorry I slept so late."
"Don't worry dear. We're just having a slow Saturday." Esme was mixing a bowl of cookie dough as Rose and Alice watched, perched on the bar stools.
"Where are the boys?" It was far too quiet.
"They went for a hike…" Esme smiled gently at me.
"A hike?"
"Mmmhmm…" Esme hummed.
Their eyes all found interest in the dough rolling around in the bowl.
"Will they be long?"
"No, they left early this morning and I'm sure Emmett is dying for some lunch now."
Esme had only just got the words out of her mouth when there was a rumble of noise from the back yard.
Carlisle, Jazz and Em were all laughing as they stepped up the back porch, whereas Edward held a scowl as he followed behind.
They were all covered in sweat and dirt and a few leaves.
"I'm hungry ma. When's lunch?" Em boomed.
"It's already on the table. But go wash up first!"
Emmett grumbled as he jogged off to the bathroom.
Edward came to stand in front of me, but didn't dare to touch me with his grimy, sweaty body.
His scowl was immediately replaced with a wide smile when he saw me.
"Hi," he leaned towards me and pecked me on my lips. "Have you been up for long?"
"No…I actually just got up," I smiled innocently.
"I didn't want to wake you this morning. You looked too peaceful."
"That's ok, I didn't even realize you left the bed."
He chuckled at me.
"I'm going to grab a quick shower then come back down to eat, ok? Mom just start without me," he called behind me.
"Damn right we're not waiting for your pansy ass," Em came barreling past us, shouldering Edward into the fridge as he made a dash for the food.
It was lucky Esme filled up a plate for Edward, Emmett really didn't have an understanding of the word 'share'.
"So what was with the hike this morning?" I asked Edward.
"Male bonding," he smirked.
"Does it have something to do with tonight?"
"Does everything have to be about you?" He chuckled, tapping my nose with his finger and grinning.
I let the conversation go because I knew he was going to play coy and not give me the answers I wanted.
"Are you doing anything for the afternoon? Or can we spend it just chilling together?" I asked hopefully.
"We can definitely just chill."
"Yeah about that…" Alice interrupted, "we need to get her ready for tonight."
"Alice its only 1:30 in the afternoon. We don't leave until after six."
"Beauty takes time, Bella."
"Why is it that I'm staying at your family's house and yet I've barely seen you for the past two days?"
He laughed quietly at my hushed complaints, but didn't fight Alice.
"Just go. We have all night together and I promise I'll spend the whole day tomorrow completely yours."
"I'll hold you to that promise."
We only managed a chaste kiss before I had to wave goodbye and enter Alice's room of horror.
Ok, so it wasn't horrible.
She had set up Esme's master ensuite to look like a salon.
We did manicures and pedicures and each had a mud mask.
Alice was painting my toes with a clear gloss, but I was very ticklish and kept jerking my foot away when her fingers accidentally brushed the base of my foot.
"Bella!" she chastised me.
"Sorry. I'm ticklish," I apologized.
"So do you think tonight's the night?" She asked me.
I shot her a glare as I nodded towards Esme. I didn't want to talk about sex in front of my boyfriend's mom. No matter how close we were.
"I meant is tonight the night he tells you he loves you?" she tried to cover.
"Edward hasn't told you he loves you?" Esme's voice sounded shocked.
Rose, Alice, and I darted our eyes towards her.
"No. Why? Has he said something to you?" I asked shocked.
"Dear, my son has been in love with you since that first day on the sidewalk in Phoenix."
My lips stretched up into a grin so big, it was threatening to rip my cheeks apart.
"I don't know why he hasn't said it to you yet, but I'm sure that you can feel it every day." Esme's smile was so sweet and gentle.
I didn't like the focus being completely on me, so I tried to divert it to Alice.
"How long was it before you and Jazz told each other you loved the other?"
She answered easily without missing a beat. "Two days."
"Two days!" I half yelled at her in astonishment.
She shrugged and answered with a wistful smile, "When you know, you just know."
She gave me a wink and went on to ask Rose.
"What about you and Em?"
"I can't be sure exactly..he told me he loved different parts of me a lot..things his mother shouldn't hear," she shot an apologetic glance to Esme, who waved her off, "but I think it was real maybe a month after we were dating?"
She thought about it for a moment then continued.
"We were out in the park and he had just finished a game with some guys from work. He was sweaty and out of breath and I just said it. I told him I loved him and he just beamed at me telling me he loved me too."
This was turning into an old eighties movie moment.
We were all silently gushing, but Esme broke us off with her laughter.
"My boys are so clueless," she shook her head in disappointment still smiling.
"What about you and Dr. Cullen?" Rose pressed.
Her face was wistful again as she remembered back to her first declaration of love with Carlisle.
"It was our fourth date. He took me down onto the water in his father's sailboat and sailed us to the middle of the bay. We drank champagne and watched the lights of the city flicker across the water. He turned me in his arms and looked me in the eyes and said, 'Esme Evenson, I love you with my entire heart and soul'."
There was a collective sigh from us girls.
Carlisle always doted on his wife and treated her like a queen. She was without doubt, one of the luckiest women alive.
We sat silently for a moment, lost in the marshmallow soft moment of reminiscing, when my stomach started to feel a little strange.
As if a million butterflies were trying to fight their way out, crashing carelessly into the walls of my stomach.
"Oh god!"
I doubled over, gripping my stomach, trying to breathe deep enough to allow some oxygen into my lungs.
"Whats wrong?" The girls all rushed to my aid, fussing over me.
"I don't feel so good," I groaned.
Esme's melodic laugh echoed around the room.
"That's just nerves, dear. Don't focus on any of our experiences. Just focus on the beautiful man downstairs that has already shown that he loves you. Him verbalizing it will just reinforce what you already know in your heart."
"Plus I can tell you now that the asshole down there is stressing way more than you," Rose quipped.
I laughed and relaxed a bit more, knowing that Rose was right. Edward was very picky about detail and I'm sure he would have changed his shirt at least three times.
I let Rose and Alice pull my hair and prod at my face with makeup knowing that if I struggled it would be worse, and slipped into the dress I had bought yesterday.
When the girls guided me down the stairs to meet Edward, it felt as if it was prom night or my wedding day, with all of them escorting me down.
I almost expected to see Edward with a corsage in his hand and for Esme to snap pictures of us.
But when I made it down to the final set of steps, the girls let me walk it alone, down towards an illegally handsome Edward.
I could tell he was nervous.
His hair around his forehead had gone damp from his sweat and he kept wiping his palms on his gray pants.
He wore a deep burgundy dress shirt under a matching gray suit jacket accompanied by a nervous smile.
Gone was his cocky grin, and smug stance. In place was a dashing man who was struggling to breathe steadily.
"I didn't know we were going to a boardroom meeting?" I tried to joke with him to help him loosen up.
"Ha ha. You look astonishing."
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him for a kiss.
"So do I get to know where we're going now?"
"Nope. Did you have something warm to add to this?" he gestured at my outfit.
I went to the closet by the door and pulled out the heavy, gray knit coat and Edward helped me slip it on.
His fingers helped to untuck my loose curls from under my coat, kissing under my ear as he helped me tie the front closed.
"You're never allowed to take those boots off," he whispered roughly to me.
I laughed at his dirty mind pushing him off me so we could go on to dinner.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
Edward took us to a very high class Japanese restaurant where a private chef tossed and flipped our food about in front of us as he cooked.
I was glad he didn't take us to some posh place with big plates and little food.
He knew I had a hearty appetite and that I probably wouldn't be able to work out what fork to use.
Japanese was much more entertaining and fulfilling.
"Dessert, miss?" The small Japanese waitress asked.
"Ooooh, yes please."
I went to reach for the menu when Edward pushed it back into the waitress's arms.
"We won't be staying for dessert, could we please just have the bill?"
The Japanese girl scampered off to fetch the bill.
"Edward? You know how much I like dessert," I stated unhappily.
"Yes I do," he kissed my pouting lips, "but we need to move on to the next portion of our night."
He gave me a wink and checked his watch again.
He had been checking it incessantly for the past hour.
As much as I hated leaving without getting my desserts, yes I usually eat more than one, there was a glint in Edward's eye that told me I needed to trust him and follow along.
We got back into his car and it appeared as if we were driving back to the Cullen house.
I was becoming more and more disappointed with every mile we drove.
All the secretive planning and the 'hiking' had me lifting my expectations bar higher and higher for this date over the past day.
But now it was ending, without dessert, and we were going home?
I was confused and only became more confused when he turned down a different road driving deep into the forest.
There were no houses along this road, and it was far too dark for me to make out any road signs.
I glanced at Edward. His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, eyes focused on the path ahead.
So we weren't going home!
Now I was truly intrigued, especially since Edward was sweating more and more as we drove farther from civilization.
My voice was soft and purposely shaky when I turned to face him.
"Is…is this the part where y- you….kill me?"
I gave him my best impression of a terrified face.
"What?" he asked aghast, "No…I'm not…I didn't mean…" he was so convinced that he had scared me and was trying to explain himself.
But I cracked up with laughter giving him a light shove on the shoulder.
"Jesus Bella," he let out an irritated breath, "you scared the shit out of me. You looked like you were ready to jump from the car."
I snorted in between my laughs causing him to chuckle along with me.
"You look so uptight sitting all the way over there. I just want you to know that you already have me and that everything doesn't have to be grand and magnificent to win me over."
His shoulders relaxed and he lifted my hand up to his lips.
He slowed the car until we stopped turning to tighten the belt on my coat.
"We're here."
Here?
Yes, we were here… in the middle of nowhere… in a dark forest.
I wasn't even aware that he had slipped out of the car until my door was opened and a cold gust of air hit my body.
"And where is here?" I got out reluctantly, but dived for the warmth of Edwards arms.
"Well we're almost there…we need to walk in a little bit."
"Into there?" I pointed into the darkness of the trees.
"I have a flashlight and I won't let you fall. Don't you trust me?"
"Oh, I trust you, I don't trust what lurks in a dark forest in the dead of the night."
He chuckled, pulling me along into said forest anyhow.
It wasn't as bad as I anticipated. There was actually a path of sorts. The ground was still covered in leaves but it was clear of bigger logs and branches or hazardous rocks.
We only moved through the darkness for about ten minutes, me keeping my eyes on the ground the entire way to make sure I didn't trip over something, face planting into the dirt.
So it wasn't until we stopped moving that I finally raised my head up to take in the absolutely breathtaking sight before me as we stood at the edge of a clearing.
-Yes i ended it here... next chapter has to come from EPOV ;)
So don't hate on Alice. She was just being pushy wanting to get Bella alone to talk sex.
And yes, Rose and Bella are getting along. They do spend a lot of time together.
Outfits-
http:/www(dot)polyvore(dot)com/cgi/set?id=24033838
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