A/N Chapters are dialogue heavy so really not necessary to read both but totally up to you.

Words with Strangers Chapter 25

After all the sex and two showers, we decided it would be best if we didn't do much more physically for the rest of the night. We had a whole week coming up and God knew I'd need my strength to live through that. Plus, it really wasn't just about sex for me anymore; it never really had been once we'd started to get to know one another. Bella was too special to have a fling with. She was better than that and she was absolutely meant for me.

So we ate cold pizza and cuddled on the couch watching some TV movie that was ridiculous and stupid, but it made us laugh which was what it was all about really.

Bella was giggling as she turned to me. "Would your life end if you were unable to see me for the weekend?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "First of all, it was the girl that said that, not the guy. Second of all, depends on what weekend. Next weekend when we're heading to the cabin? Hell yes I'd die."

She snickered. "Well I guess you better not get in trouble when you go home."

I tickled her side. "I never get in trouble. It's always Emmett. And though Mom is scary, I'd totally be willing to face her wrath to get to you."

"Ooooooh, you'd sneak away anyway? You're such a rebel."

I smirked. "What do you know about being a rebel, Police Chief's daughter?"

Bella glared at me. "A lot, actually. I had to do plenty of sneaking because I was the Police Chief's daughter."

"Oh yeah? Did you sneak any guys into the house?"

Her eyes widened and she actually looked around like her father was lurking waiting to catch her in the act. It was the cutest thing ever and I roared with laughter. She smacked my arm. "No, I did not sneak guys in. No guy was that daring."

Good. I liked that. I nibbled on her neck and she melted against me. "I would be that daring, Bella. You could sneak me in anytime."

She moaned and ran her fingers through my hair. "Well, we've just established that you're a rebel, so it's nice that you'd go against the norm."

"Anything for you," I told her and she tugged my lips up to hers. I kissed her back and tightened my arms around her. I could seriously kiss her for days if our bodies would allow for it. Of course, my dick had other ideas and Bella moaned and shifted against me as she felt evidence of my arousal against her leg.

"Jesus, you two, you had all day and you're still going at it?" A voice caused us to break apart although I hadn't released my hold on her. I glanced over and saw Alice scowling at us, though she didn't actually look pissed off thankfully.

Bella giggled. "What would you be doing if you were me?"

Alice's scowl turned into a grin. "Good point. I would say carry on but I really need to eat something, so if you want to carry on, go back in your bedroom."

I smiled at her. "No, that's okay, we're taking a break."

"It doesn't look like you're overly successful," she pointed out as she walked past us and started rummaging through the refrigerator. "Pizza! Can I have some?"

"Of course," Bella and I both responded at the same time.

Alice shook her head at us. "That was weird, but thank you both."

Bella laughed. "You'll never guess who delivered it to us."

Alice put a plate in the microwave. "I don't know. Emmett? Have you turned him into a millionaire delivery guy?"

I laughed at the image of my brother in a pizza boy get up. "Not quite," Bella responded. "It was Mike." I bit back a growl.

"Mike Newton?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief as she got her plate out of the microwave. She came around the bar and sat in the recliner, staring at us. "Does he work at Antonio's now?"

Bella shook her head. "No, one of the freshmen does or something and he was there when my call came in so he brought it to me. He tried to pay for it and everything."

Alice laughed. "Oh that's rich! What did you do?" she asked, her eyes on me.

"I loudly demanded to know if our food was here and I may have put on a hat to disguise myself and kissed her neck in front of him," I told her.

Alice was laughing harder now. "That's great! I bet he just about died. He finally thought he was going to get some alone time with Bella only to have Edward fucking Cullen there marking his territory like a dog. Fabulous!"

Bella sighed. "He didn't see that it was Edward, not that that matters. Hopefully he got the hint."

Alice shook her head. "You better hope so!"

"He better hope so," I muttered. "What's his deal anyway? How long has he had a crush on you?"

Bella shrugged. "I don't know."

Alice snorted. "Try since day one. Even though his best friend was dating her, he'd always find reasons to talk to her. He walked in on her changing more than once and it was always an accident." She laughed. "Right, like any of us believed that." I couldn't stop the spurt of anger at the idea of him seeing my girl naked.

Bella shifted in my arms. "Remember me asking you about getting rid of a stalker?" I vaguely remembered that so I nodded. "That was referring to him. He really upped his game lately, asking me out and telling me not to say no, to give him a chance." She made a face. I wanted to make one too, or better yet, make Mike make one when I hit him and told him to stay away from my girl.

"Well, we both know I have a hard time getting rid of stalkers," I told her, trying to keep my tone light. Bella poked me and I laughed. "For real, though, if he's a problem I'll happily do something. Maybe we could send Emmett after him." That wouldn't be too satisfying for me though, but if it got the message across, I was all for it.

Bella stroked my cheek. "Don't even worry about him, Edward. I think you sent him a pretty clear message today and if you didn't, well, I'll make it clear next time instead of running away from him."

I frowned. "You'd think running away from him would be enough of a hint."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Alice asked. "He's just one of those doesn't take no for an answer type of guys."

I really didn't like the sound of that. "Baby, that kind of guy can be dangerous. Maybe I should get you…"

Bella cut me off with a kiss. "He's harmless, Edward. He's persistent but not dangerous."

"It's true," Alice piped up. "He couldn't hurt a fly and he would never try anything out of fear of Rose anyway."

Thank God for Rose and her ability to instill fear in all men. What on earth was my brother thinking? Of course he'd like the challenge she presented.

Bella rested her head on my shoulder and turned to Alice. "So did you talk to Jasper?"

She screwed up her face. "Sort of. He texted me to say that he was doing some family thing but he was hoping we could talk tonight." She glanced at the clock. "I should hear from him in about an hour."

"Do you know what you're going to say?" Bella asked.

"Not really. I just need to hear what he has to say and go from there." Alice shrugged. "It's not like we can be anything more than friends anyway. He's in high school and he's in Texas. Two big strikes right there."

I hugged Bella to me. "I don't know. I think the distance thing can be worked with and age is nothing but a number, right?"

Alice laughed. "The distance thing can work for you because you're a millionaire who can afford to come see Bella whenever you have the urge. And seventeen is a shitty number."

"Seventeen is actually my favorite number," I supplied. "Maybe it's a good sign."

Alice shook her head. "Go figure, I do get something right, but it's completely the wrong thing."

"Why is seventeen your favorite number?" Bella asked. "I don't think you've ever said."

I chuckled. "I have, but never in context. Seventeen is when I filled out, grew up and got more confident in myself. It's the year I became the Edward that the public sees."

Bella smiled and lifted her head from my shoulder to give me a soft kiss. "I like that Edward, but I would have liked the geeky Edward too."

I kissed her again. "I'm glad to hear that. I would have been scared to death of you if you'd approached me with all your sexy innuendo back then."

Bella laughed. "I can just picture you running away screaming, or rejecting my request to play with you."

"I would never reject any of your requests to play with me," I told her, tickling her sides.

Alice groaned. "You two are killing me."

Bella sat up and straightened her t-shirt. "Sorry, Alice."

"Yeah, sorry," I echoed, though it wasn't true.

She laughed. "It's okay. I'm honestly glad to see Bella so happy. I don't think I've ever seen her like this before."

"Ever?" I asked, smiling over at her.

"Nah. She never had that glow with Tyler. They got along and all but giddy happiness? Not that I recall."

Bella smiled. "I told you it's never been like this for me before."

Yeah, she had. It made me very happy. "Me either, baby." She was the first girl I'd truly loved and she'd be the last and only.

"Okay, you two are going to make me nauseous and my stomach is already fluttering with nerves over this Jasper thing." She stood and carried her plate into the kitchen. "I think I'm going to go to my room and give you two more time to…" she broke off as the front door opened with a bang and Rose came barreling into the room.

"Don't you dare follow me, Cullen!" she shouted. "You're not invited in." Her face was red with anger and she was breathing heavily. Holy crap, what did my brother do now?

"I'm not a vampire, so I hardly think that's going to stop me," he replied as he stormed in after her. He stopped in the living room and glared at her. "What is your problem anyway? I did what I had to do to keep you from getting arrested!"

Arrested? What the hell had those two been up to?

"Maybe I wanted to get arrested!" she shouted. Well, now, how did that make any sense? Bella glanced at me and I shrugged. Like I had any clue?

"Why would you want to get arrested?" he demanded. "I've been arrested and I can tell you that it's not much fun."

"Well you keep on getting arrested so you must get some jollies out of it!" she yelled again. "I could have ended that bitch with one punch."

Emmett groaned. "She was a cop, Rosie. I doubt you could have taken her with one punch and even if you could, you'd get in a shitload of trouble for assaulting an officer. Even I have never done that one." Assaulting a police officer? Holy shit.

"Stop calling me Rosie! She deserved to get punched after the way she was ogling you like I wasn't there and hadn't been half naked when she walked up! Did she think I just rode around topless all the damn time? She was hitting on you right in front of me and you just let her!" She narrowed her eyes and walked over to him, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. "If you're harboring some stupid thoughts of a threesome and handcuffs, you better get that idea out of your thick skull right now!"

How'd she know about Emmett's wishes for a threesome? Then again, he'd probably told her because he was a dumbass like that.

"Excuse me!" Alice shouted, causing both Rose and Emmett to turn and look at her. "Not that we're not enjoying the show, but could you please fill in the blanks so we know what in the hell is going on? It's like we're walking into the middle of a movie and missed all the good parts. Do tell!"

I wanted to applaud Alice but I also thought maybe I should protect her from the two pairs of heated glares that were now directed her way. "Seriously, you two, perhaps you could stop yelling and tell us what happened so we can tell you who's right and who's wrong." Bella and Alice laughed at my comment but Rose and Emmett not so much.

"Bros before…" he broke off when Rose's hand whacked him upside the head. "Beautiful women, bro," he finished, altering his initial comment no doubt as he rubbed at the back of his head.

"Depends on what you did," I told him. After all, we were outnumbered and I didn't want Rose pissed at me.

"What I did was bring your whining ass up here to fix things with your girl. You owe me, remember?" Emmett demanded. Damn it, he was right. I was going to have to side with him and piss Rose and possibly Bella off.

"Alright, yes you did and I can't thank you enough." He looked slightly mollified by that. "Why don't you explain to us what happened?"

"Okay." He dropped down on the couch next to us and Rose sat on the arm of Alice's recliner, just out of his reach. "We drove all over the place and I let Rosie have a turn." He broke off and smiled in admiration. "She definitely knows how to handle a stick." I didn't know if he was referring to his dick or the car but I assumed the latter. Maybe. Maybe not. Who knew with these two?

"Damn right I do," she inserted, glaring at him. "I drive it better than you do."

"Please, Rosie, let's not be silly." He leaned over and patted her knee while she smacked at his hand. "Everything was going fine and dandy for quite awhile. We talked and had lunch and dinner between treks around Washington. Seriously, dude, we've been all over this state I think."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Just the northwestern part, exaggerator."

"Whatever. We get to this park and we decided to chill there, got out, walked and talked a bit before heading back to the car because the park closes after dark or something lame. Anyway, we get to the car and I make my move."

"Ha!" she shouted. "I made the move."

"So you admit you want me," he replied, smiling smugly.

Rose opened her mouth and shut it. He had her. "I was bored," she replied. "All that driving made me horny. You just happened to be right there."

Bella started laughing and Rose glared at her. I tightened my arms around her protectively. "Shut it."

"Anyway, Rose attacks me and I'm receptive to the idea, so we're making out in my car. Shirts come off and I'm going for the gold when there's a knock on my window. I roll it down and there's this policewoman standing there. She tells us that we have to leave the park. I wasn't about to argue with the law so I told her we'd go."

"Ha!" Rose shouted. "She was running her eyes up and down his bare chest and he was grinning at her and talking about how easy it was to get carried away and surely she'd understand because she was a sexy woman herself. It was disgusting and it pissed me right off!"

"Rosie, I was trying to appease the officer so she didn't arrest you for public indecency!"

"Me? You were just as shirtless as I was."

"But I'm allowed to be shirtless, I'm a dude. Your perfect tits were right there and I knew she'd have a complex about them. You know how women get when they're jealous," he turned to me to appeal his case and I shook my head. Hell no, I may owe him but I wasn't getting dragged into that one.

"Traitor," he told me.

"Don't think your flattery is going to get you a view of them anytime soon," Rose replied with a sniff, crossing her arms over said breasts while my brother pouted.

"Anyway, everything was going swimmingly and she was totally going to let us leave without a problem when Thorny here decides to let loose with a tirade over her checking me out."

"She was practically molesting you, Emmett!" Rose stood up and began pacing around the room. "She didn't once meet your eyes, she kept touching your fucking bicep, commenting on your tattoos and how hot your car was…it was beyond inappropriate!"

"And telling her that if she didn't stop touching me you'd shove her baton up her ass wasn't inappropriate? You threatened a police officer Rose," he replied calmly.

"Damn right I did. She was touching what was mine." Her eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she said.

Suddenly Emmett didn't look so irritated. He lit right up. "So, I'm yours, am I?" Rose shook her head and he touched her leg again. "Don't worry, baby, I am yours. You don't have to worry about models or actresses or hot police chicks."

She smacked his hand away again. "I'm not worried about anything! And I'm not worried about some damn policewoman either. I could have taken her."

"Of course you could, Rosie," he cooed. She kicked at him and he sat back. "Anyway, after Rose went off on her, I was forced to turn on the old Cullen charm, which of course worked perfectly, which pissed Rosie right off."

"She gave you her number and told you to give her a call when you'd ditched me and you took it," she hissed. Holy shit. This was not good.

"And I threw her number out of the car the instant we hit the road, didn't I?"

"So? I would rather have gone to jail than endured her bitchy remarks about getting rid of me. She just wanted to ride in your car."

Emmett laughed. "She just wanted to ride me in my car, Rosie, and that's why you're so pissed off."

Rose sniffed. "I don't care what you do, or who you do," she replied.

"Yes you do," he told her, grinning madly. "You're possessive of me and it's sexy as hell. Let's go back and break the car in all the way." Please, God, don't let them have sex in that car right before I have to endure an eighteen hour ride in it.

"I'm not breaking in anything with you!" she shouted again. "You had your shot and you blew it. Why don't you ask the cop to help you with it?"

Emmett narrowed his eyes. "Maybe I will. I can just go back and get her number off the side of the road and…"

"Like hell you will," she said and the next thing we knew they were kissing again. Jeez, they were a strange pair.

"They're crazy," Bella murmured as we watched them go at it, practically eating one another's faces off. Emmett's hands were on Rose's ass and hers were curled into his shirt, holding him to her.

"Yeah they are, baby," I replied. It worked for them though. There was just some kind of angry energy that they gave off. I had a feeling they were going to have some epic fights in the future.

"Well, if anybody's still interested, I'm on Rose's side," Alice supplied. Rose pulled away from Emmett and released his shirt.

"Of course you are," she said with a triumphant smile.

"Yeah, she's only on your side because she hates me," Emmett replied. "I think Sesame Street did a special on stranger danger and pedophiles, maybe you should watch that for some tips so you're not caught."

Alice glared at him while Rose smacked him again. "The only stranger in danger from me is you." It was comical to see tiny Alice threatening my huge brother and I had to laugh. They both glared at me and I broke off.

"So, whose side are you on, Edward? You've heard the whole story now. You know that I kept Rosie from going to jail and that she wants me."

"Uhhh, I'm pleading the fifth," I replied.

Bella giggled as I ducked my head into her neck. "You wuss. Fine, I'll handle it. Rose, if you went to jail for hitting a cop it could fuck up your future and I bet your parents would take your car away." I looked up to see her reaction and a look of horror flitted across Rose's face. "Exactly. So, while Emmett probably could have handled it without hitting on the cop, it was better that he did something to keep you from getting arrested."

"I didn't hit on her! I just let her hit on me. There's totally a difference," he interjected with a pout.

"Whatever you say, Emmett. Now, if you'll excuse us, Edward and I had a long day and we're going to go to bed." We were? Hell yeah we were. She stood and pulled me to my feet. I grinned at my pouting brother.

"Goodnight. I'll see you at eight."

"It is pretty late, Rosie. We should get to bed," he commented hopefully.

Rose laughed at him. "Do you honestly think you're sleeping with me tonight? Whether you did it to save me or not, I'm not sleeping with you right after you hit on some girl in front of me." Bella tugged me away from the fascinating standoff between the two of them.

"Come on, Edward. We don't have any sleeping arrangement to argue over." No, we most certainly did not. She closed the door and kissed me. "Let's go to bed."

"Yeah, you need some sleep I'm sure and…"

She grinned and tugged on my hand. "I didn't say let's go to sleep."

Well, then. I was officially much more excited about bedtime.

Xoxoxoxoxox

The alarm clock woke us after only a few hours of sleep. Bella mumbled and smacked at the clock until it shut up. I got out of bed while she buried her head in the pillow. I took a solo shower, which was sad but necessary to wake myself up and not to get distracted for hours on end as I would inevitably be confronted with a wet, naked Bella again.

I got dressed in the bathroom and came out to find Bella sitting on her bed. Her eyes were sleepy and her hair was tousled and she was incredibly beautiful. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with her. Instead I opened my arms and she hurried into them, squeezing me tightly. I closed my eyes and buried my face in that soft hair, inhaling her scent. I was going to miss her so much that it hurt.

"It's only a few days, baby." I wasn't sure if I was talking to her or myself. I was holding on to the fact that I'd be back with her soon. But what about after? She had to come to Europe with me for the summer, she just had to.

"I know," she murmured against my chest. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Bella. I'll call you every couple of hours and text and email and annoy the hell out of you until I have you in my arms again."

She laughed and looked up at me. "You could never annoy me."

I smiled. "Good to hear." She released me and ran into the bathroom. I walked over to my bag and made sure I had all my clothes and things. Bella came out and held a bottle of lotion out for me and I laughed. "Thank you." I pulled her in for a long kiss and tasted her minty toothpaste on her lips.

She laughed. "I figured it would tide you over until you came back to me."

I kissed her again. "Everything else pales in comparison to being with you."

She smiled at that. "Well, I figure you can smell me and maybe you can hear me so…" she broke off and blushed.

Hell yes. "Are you saying you'd like some more phone sex, baby? You can't wait until I get here on Friday?" She bit her lip and nodded. "I love that," I told her honestly. I did. I loved her, too. She was made for me.

"I do, too," she replied softly.

That reminded me. I got my phone out and handed it to her. "Could you put your number in here?"

Bella took my phone and looked at me sadly. "Did you delete me after the other day?"

Fuck. Of course she thought that. "No, baby." Confession time. "I got a special phone that's just for you to use, when I wasn't sure about who you were and what we might be. I didn't want you to have my number if things didn't work out so…" God that sounded bad. Bella was laughing at me now though, thankfully.

"So where's the special phone? Did you destroy it?"

"No. I mean, I thought about it but Emmett took it away."

She nodded. "Okay, well, are you sure you want me to have your number now? I kind of like the idea of a phone that's just mine."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her. "I'll keep the Bella phone but I want you to have my main number, too." She chuckled as she input her number into my phone. I took it from her and hit dial so that she'd get it on her phone. It buzzed on the table. "There, now you can reach me anytime."

She smiled. "I like that."

"Me too, baby." I could hear my brother calling my name in the living room and I sighed. "Emmett's here."

Bella bit her lip and looked sad for an instant before her face cleared. "Okay. I'm not going to get upset. You'll be back in four days."

"Yes, I will." I brushed her hair away from her face. "I'll always come back to you, Bella."

She smiled and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss me. "I'm not going to say goodbye to you out there in front of anyone."

"Good, because it's not goodbye. It's see you soon." Bella laughed and I noticed for the first time that she was wearing one of my t-shirts. "Did you steal that?"

She smiled. "It smells like you. I wanted something…" I broke her off with a kiss because I more than got it. I had her lotion, after all, and if she hadn't offered me some I might have stolen it myself.

"I love that you wanted something that smells like me, baby. I'll give you anything you like. Want some more shirts?" She giggled and shook her head no. "Alright. Just checking."

She pressed her body against mine and I held her tightly. "I'll see you soon, Bella." Her lips met mine again and I kissed her until I heard the knocking on her door. "I have to go."

"I know," she whispered. I kissed her again. Her eyes were watery but she wasn't crying, thank God. If she was I doubt I could leave.

"Bella, you're…I…you're my girl," I told her, because it was true. She smiled and nodded. "I just want you to always remember that, even when I'm not here, I'm still with you in here." I pointed at her heart and yeah it was cheesy shit but it was the truth. She'd always be in my heart and I was damn well going to let her know that even if I sounded kinda stupid.

"Yes, you are." She was agreeing that I was in her heart. Mine felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

I held her hand to my heart and smiled. "And you're right here. You're my one, Bella."

Her brow wrinkled a little but she kissed me. "I don't know what that means."

"I'll tell you next week," I replied, kissing her hard as my brother began beating on the door. "Just remember it, okay?"

"I will," she replied.

"See you soon," I told her, watching her as I opened the knob.

Emmett smacked me on the shoulder. "About time, bro. Sorry to take him away, Bella, but I'll have him back you on Friday."

She grinned. "I'll hold you to that, Emmett. Don't make me hunt you down. I'll bring Rose."

He laughed. "Is that a threat or a promise? No worries, Eddie here wouldn't let me keep him away if I tried, not that I would."

"Good. Bye, Emmett." Her eyes were on me again. "Bye, Edward." I was back and kissing her before she even finished saying my name. My brother groaned but I ignored him. Her hands were in my hair and she was holding onto me for dear life. This sucked. I didn't want to leave her.

"Maybe I could…" I started to suggest when my brother grabbed my arm from behind and hauled me away as Bella giggled.

"You have to go to your meeting or I'll get blamed and I've got enough shit with Mom pissed at me. Suck it up, Edward. You'll see her soon."

"I know, but…"

Bella came over and kissed me quickly. "Go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back."

That made no sense. If I stayed, I'd never have to be back. She laughed and pushed me as my brother dragged me away. "Hurry back to me Edward."

"I will." I'd always return to her. I struggled against my brother who finally let me go. I opened my arms and she filled them again, hugging me and kissing me once more.

"Come back and you'll get lots more of that."

"Count on it," I told her. I had to go. I released her and studied her beautiful face, memorizing her one more time before I left.

"I got him," Emmett told her, holding my arm. He raised his voice. "See you soon, Rosie. We'll pick up where we left off." No response came from Rose's room. Bella's eyes were on mine and she smiled and mouthed something.

"What?" I asked and she shook her head. Emmett dragged me out so it would remain a mystery. Bella waved at me from the door and I waved back before turning and hurrying down the stairs. If I didn't leave now, I'd never go. I could survive a few days away from her, right?

A/N Awww, he's headed home, but not for long! Hope you enjoyed the reunion with Emmett and Rose. If that cop hadn't come along, could Rose have held out?

One WWF request today, bazingasucker is looking for some Words friends.

There have been some requests for a picture of the "car". Link is on my profile, but remember, they don't make it anymore!

Next week, since they're separated, WWF will go back to Friday posting and WWS will stay on Wednesday. Thanks all!