A/N: I'm doing my best to keep this rolling…I kind of want to get this story wrapped up so you're all where I am. Thanks to my awesome betas! I couldn't do it without you... Blynn practically flags me until I write and Adrena finds ALL my many mistakes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. I do however own White Carpet and Wall Sconces.

Bella's Point of View

Neither Edward nor I said anything for a moment, as Emmett stood there, shamelessly, looking from me, to Edward, to the television and back again. "Clearly the movie lost your interest," he continued, and I could hear the laughter fighting to erupt. This was not how it was supposed to happen. Emmett was the last person I'd want to walk in on me. We were never going to hear the end of this.

Edward clenched his jaw, his green eyes flashing angrily. "Out, Emmett," he growled, pulling the blanket off the couch and tossing it in my direction. I gathered it to my chest, knowing that my face was as red as a tomato.

"Oh relax, it's nothing I haven't seen before." He was still standing in the doorway, massive arms crossed across his muscular chest, smirk playing on his full lips.

"Get the fuck out," Edward growled again, climbing quickly to his feet and shoving his much larger brother out the doorway to the kitchen.

"You shouldn't play in public, bro, that's all I'm sayin'."

"You shouldn't fucking gawk at my naked girlfriend." I reached for my shirt and pulled it quickly over my head, smoothing it down and grabbing my jeans and panties from under the couch. I laid the blanket back over the back of the couch, and wandered into the kitchen nervously.

"You didn't need to get dressed, Bells. I've seen it all already." Emmett winked and pulled a couple of beers from the fridge. "You want one? Or something stronger? You need to chill out, seriously."

"Fuck Emmett! How would you feel if I walked in on Rosalie, naked?" Edward sounded irritated, but less angry than I'd expected.

Emmett laughed his deep, belly laugh. "If Rose was naked in the living room, I'd parade her around for the world to see." He popped the top on his beer and took a long swig. "Look on the bright side. It could have been Alice that caught you. There would have been screaming, and eyes being covered, and running around, and more screaming." He placed his bottle down on the counter and ran around, heels kicking his bum, hands covering his eyes shaking his head and squealing about clawing his eyes out.

I started to giggle uncontrollably. The sight of a six foot two, mountain of a man, running around a kitchen, squealing like a girl, seemed to ease my embarrassment slightly, and even Edward cracked a half smile before uttering his favourite words.

"Fuck off."

Emmett flashed him a mischievous grin and hopped up on the counter. "You know Eduardo; I'm not sure how I'd feel if Rosalie said no." He chuckled quietly and took another swig of his beer. "No, no not yet," he mimicked. I flushed an even deeper shade of red, and high tailed it out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

I was never going to live this down. I was beyond embarrassed. Good Bella had been right for once. I silently cursed Bad Bella. She was a bully. Was it even possible to be bullied by yourself? I was going crazy; there was no doubt in my mind. Pulling the covers back on Edward's bed, I crawled in and hid my face in the pillow. I heard Edward's raised voice, and Emmett's booming laughter. Of course he'd find this endlessly amusing. This was going to be mentioned at my funeral.

"Shit," I groaned into the pillow, cramming my face further into the squishy fabric, hoping to make the burning in my cheeks subside.

"Bella?" Edward's smooth voice was right behind me and I felt the mattress dip under his weight. I sighed. "Bella, are you crying?" He said the last word with a taste of disgust in his voice. "I mean, it was only Emmett. He's right. It could have been Alice. Not that I won't take any chance I have to beat the crap out of him. I don't really stand a chance if I'm being honest, but…" His voice trailed off. I pulled my head out of the pillow and looked at him blurrily. My eyes were unfocused from being pressed into the darkness.

"I'm not crying," I said, mimicking his tone. "And you could take him out at the knees with a pool cue."

"That's a chick move," he scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Tit for tat my dear Bella. That's how Emmett and I work. So now I have to see Rosalie naked on the floor."

I growled in my throat. I liked Rosalie, but I did not like the idea of my Edward taking her in, in all of her perfection. "I like the pool cue idea better," I muttered.

"Ho, ho," he laughed, reaching out to ruffle my hair. "Miss Bella has a jealous side," he chuckled, placing a tiny kiss on the end of my nose.

"How are you not upset about this?" I was confused. Edward tended to be jealous and possessive, and now, all of a sudden, he seemed to not care about the fact that his brother had seen me naked.

"What can we do about it, Bell? He's seen it, he's seen it all before, and we were in the living room."

"We are going to hear about this for the next six months," I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Probably," he agreed.

"I can't believe you're not making a bigger deal out of this!"

"I can't believe you're making such a big deal out of it," he countered. His face was twisted in irritation. I rolled my eyes dramatically.

"I want to go home," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest and looking very childish indeed. I didn't care.

"Bella, for fuck sake, get over yourself," he snapped, raising his hand. I flinched. He ran his fingers though his thick hair. He gave me a strange look, and then his face fell, his eyes went from hard and angry to soft and sad in a blink. He was silent for a long moment, and then said, "Did you think I was going to hit you?"

I couldn't help but remember Valentine's night when he broke the champagne flutes. The flash in his eyes was similar, though this time the emotion was less pained, but more raw. I wasn't sure why I flinched when he raised his hand. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared of Edward on some level. He'd always been a bit unpredictable, but lately there was something that I couldn't put my finger on that was making him appear more intimidating, even though he was acting as sensitive and loving as ever.

"No," I whispered. I was positive Edward would never hit me, and certainly not for something as small as acting childish.

"You flinched," he whispered, pain evident in his voice. I cursed myself for causing the anguish.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, hugging my knees to my chest.

"Bella," he whispered, reaching out to touch the end of my dark curls. "Bella, I'm so sorry," he rasped, scrunching my hair in his long fingers. "I'm sorry for everything." He crawled up beside me and wrapped his arms around my body, still curled in the fetal position. "I'm sorry for ruining Valentine's Day, and I'm sorry about not telling you everything sooner, and I'm sorry about ignoring you the last couple of weeks. I just wanted to do it right. I wanted to be the guy you deserve. And I'm sorry about my neurotic sister. I'll need to talk to her again. And I'm sorry about my tactless brother. You can hit him around the knees with a pool cue if you want." I allowed myself a small, watery chuckle. I could feel the tears flowing from my eyes now and I wiped them hastily on my sleeve. "I'm sorry for leaving. I'm sorry for not chasing after you. I'm sorry about my mother." He paused, hugging me even tighter and settling his chin on top of my head. "Mostly I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for making you cry."

I took a shaky breath and leaned my head against his chest, breathing in all that was Edward. He kissed the top of my head lovingly. His arms were almost too tight around me, but I wished they were tighter. I felt safe with him. I turned in his arms and wrapped my arms around his broad, strong shoulders, holding on as tightly as I could. His arms tightened even more around my waist as I settled my face into the crook of his neck.

Edward's Point of View

Feeling her cling to me, watching her shoulders shake, listening to her sobs, was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I thought I'd known pain before, I had known pain before. I'd watched my girlfriend, the first girl I loved, die. Little by little I'd watched the fire burn out.

But this. This was different. Seeing Bella in this much anguish was tearing my heart out. And I knew it wasn't all over my stupid, oaf of a brother. It fucking killed me that she was afraid of me. That flinch made my stomach sink to my toes as I watched the shred of terror flash across her face. I did that to her. I scared her that much. It made me sick to think that she reacted like that. It made me wonder if it was me, or if something had happened to Bella in her past to cause her to react like that.

I held her tightly and let her cry. I wasn't sure what else to do. I let her cry, and I chastised myself for not being better for her. She was embarrassed that Emmett had caught us, and I'd done nothing more than throw a blanket at her and have a few tense words with my older brother. I was a fucking moron. I should be the one protecting her from the evils of the world, not exposing her to them, not laughing about them. I should have been paying her the utmost attention, not ignoring her advances.

"Bella," I said after a while, holding her tighter and nuzzling my face into her silky hair. "Are you going to be okay? Do you still want to go home?" I gently stroked her back, up and down, trying to soothe her. Her sobs had stopped but she was still shaky. She pulled back to look me in the eye, and then her eyes dropped to the floor and her cheeks flushed pink. I smiled softly and ran my thumb over the patches of colour. "Why are you blushing?" I asked, leaning forward and kissing both cheeks. Mentally I shook myself. Everything I did for, or with Bella, seemed so different, so foreign, and yet so natural. The Edward Cullen from before Bella Swan would never comment on blushing, or hold a girl when she cried. I couldn't even remember holding Charlotte when she cried.

I remembered Charlotte crying once, and being the awkward teenager that I was at the time, I let her sit on the edge of my bed, tears streaming down her face, while I awkwardly patted her hand and told her that everything would be alright. Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say, because I remember her crying harder.

"Why are you blushing?" I asked again. I watched as she twisted her lip between her teeth. She was embarrassed.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Her voice was tiny, and she spoke more to my comforter than to me. She was obviously afraid of crossing boundaries.

"I think I'd like that," I told her, folding my hands behind her back.

"You do?" She sounded uncertain. I lay back and pulled her on top of me, nose to nose.

"I do," I agreed, leaning up to kiss her sweetly. "Now," I said, pushing her shoulders up so I could look her square in the eye. "Get naked."

She giggled her happy, carefree little Bella giggle and rolled to the side.

******************************************

I wasn't sure how long I watched her, lying there, finally looking peaceful. Her face was free of lines for the first time, I realized, since I'd returned from Chicago. Her long lashes lay softly on her cheek bones and fluttered sweetly as she dreamed. I propped myself up on my elbow to get a better look, and grinned to myself as I watched the fingers of her right hand open and close, even in her slumber. I reached up and gently pulled her hand so it was next to her stomach, hoping to get the blood flow back so she wouldn't wake up with pins and needles. I heard her sigh very quietly and wiggle her head deeper into the pillow, her shoulder pressing harder into my chest.

I reveled in the soft, smoothness of her skin, the way it flushed in pleasure, the way it glowed in the moonlight. She was beautiful. Completely and utterly beautiful. To the point where it almost hurt for me to look directly at her, but I couldn't draw my eyes away. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, ever since day one. Lately I'd been thinking about the early days of our relationship. I thought about the pull I felt towards her that first night. I remembered the exact look on her face when she turned on the light and realized I was in the bathroom. I remembered the slight tremor in her voice when she told me that smoking was bad for me, and the way she blushed afterwards. I remembered the surprise that clouded her features when I mentioned Jessica. I laughed to myself as I remembered the flash of anger when I told her I was going to take advantage of her. I couldn't remember a time, other than Bella, when I'd been called a fucking pig before I slept with the girl.

I remembered the way she trembled when I first kissed her neck. I remembered the strange magnetic force that I felt when I touched her, a pull, almost an electrical current that made me never want to let go. I could still replay the kiss in the library like it had happened five minutes ago, and I would never get used to how well her tiny hand fit in my larger one. I would never tire of watching her, listening to her, feeling her. It was a scary realization that I wanted her that much, loved her that much. It was scarier still that I didn't yet feel worthy of that love. Neither of loving, nor of being loved and I knew it was true; Bella did love me too. But was I deserving of her love? Did it matter?

Bella's quiet mumbling broke me from my reverie and I let my eyes travel to her lips, moving ever so slightly as she spoke quietly in her sleep. I wasn't sure what she was saying. It didn't matter. My eyes drifted downwards, over her shoulder and then further still as I let my fingers trace the lines of her back. She shivered under my touch and I pulled the covers higher over both of us, before laying my head down next to hers and allowing her steady breathing to lull me to sleep.

*********************************************

"I would appreciate it if undergarments were not left in the public living areas!"

Light from the hallway spilled into the darkened room and I felt Bella's body shift beside me to sit up, yanking the covers to her chin. I cringed at the pitchy voice that was waking me from my dreams. Alice.

"Huh?" Bella's response was groggy. "What time is it?" she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes with the hand not holding the blankets.

"Half past six and I believe this is yours." I opened my eyes slowly, trying to rid them of sleep and took in my sisters petite form, standing in the doorway, one hip cocked out to one side, her hand perched on top in her usual stance. The other hand was out in front of her, a pink, lacey bra dangling from one tiny, perfectly manicured finger. Her eyebrows were arched nearly off her face in a look of disdain, but Icould see the laughter hiding out behind her eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched. She was amused, but Bella wouldn't see it like that.

"Fuck," Bella groaned; her lip white between her teeth. She was going to bite it off soon if she wasn't careful. "I'm sorry Alice." I could see her eyes searching, trying to figure out how to retrieve the article of clothing from my sister, without having to leave the bed in all her naked glory. I figured the least I could do was get the bra for her, and lock my sister out of the bedroom.

I threw the covers off, exposing myself completely to the cool air of the bedroom and crossed the floor in only a couple of steps. I watched my sister's eyes widen and her mouth part to screech some sort of obscenity at me. I plucked the bra from her fingers, laid my other finger across her mouth and leaned very close to her.

"Save it for the presses," I warned, before closing the door and clicking the lock. I turned to face Bella, whose mouth was hanging open in astonishment, and tossed the bra in her direction. "I thought you'd forgotten it," I said with a grin and a shrug of my bare shoulders. "I think Alice might have a little crush on me. Did you see her staring?" I winked.

"Ew! Edward that's disgusting! You're my brother!" Alice's squeals were loud and I could almost see the look on her face as she heard that. Bella started to laugh.

"Well seriously, who wouldn't?"