There is a tiny bit more left, but thank you for going on this crazy ride with me.

We like cherry slushies, almost two to one. I like a pina colada, but I'm not sure that counts.

Bella:
 "I need a back-up group," I said. My voice was getting better, but I still had a harsh burr in the back of my throat. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

Please say yes, please tell me I did the right thing-

"What happened?" he asked. His brows were furrowed. "They're letting you stay in?"

"Esme did it. She didn't let me speak at all!"

"No, Bella, you did it." Esme smiled at me, and turned to Edward. "Just before I was about to beat Emmett at a hand of gin-"

"You wish, lady!"

"-I happened to overhear someone mention a YouTube video. So I had to look, and-"

"The video on YouTube has had over three thousand hits in just four hours!" exploded Alice. Jasper tried to shush her, but she was bouncing like a kangaroo on meth. "It's all over Twitter and Facebook, too. You should see the video! Angela ganked the journalism class's digi-cam with the bigger-than-an-elephant-dick-lens, and the quality is phenomenal! We came in fifth, Edward."

I watched his face as he processed that. His eyes narrowed at me, and his mouth moved in several directions.

"So…"

"Yeah," I whispered, losing my nerve and looking away from his eyes. I swallowed, trying to wet my sore throat. "If I had stepped out of the competition, Breaking Dawn would be the fourth band."

"But without you."

I nodded. My face grew hot, and my eyes pricked with tears. Do not cry.

"I didn't speak for you Edward," Esme spoke quietly. "It is still your choice. But when I realized that all the internet attention gave us some leverage, I made the suggestion that she sing with you. Aro vouched for your performance quality. My only condition was that she could drop the American Nomad name."

"So we would be called what? 'Bella Swan and Breaking Dawn'?" he asked her.

"Yes. They were willing to bend the rules the one way, but not the other," his step-mother continued. "The public intent is that they're trying to keep it fair to the other contestants, but honestly, they are desperate to have her name on the bill tomorrow. Aro says they've sold all the reserved seats, and if even a quarter of the people who left comments on line saying that they are coming actually do, they will need to double the blanket seating space."

Edward stared at me, still not saying anything.

"If you don't want to, I can still step out," I told my shoes. "They're waiting for you to decide." Please say yes, please, please, please.

I wanted it. I wanted to sing with him, to be a part of something huge, by his side.

I raised my head, and looked straight into his eyes, and took a breath, trying to find the right thing to say, but he shook his head at me.

"Shh. Not another word," he said. "I don't want to hear a sound out of your mouth until you are on that stage."

I was so relieved I that my knees went wobbly. I stumbled, but he caught me, hands on my shoulders and then in my hair. He kissed me, long and slow and deep, and I moaned into his mouth. He pulled away, lopsided smile twisting his lips, and leaned in, hot breath on my ear, and whispered, "You're allowed to make that noise."

He turned away abruptly, and walked down toward the stage, pausing to speak to Jessica. She looked furious, and marched up the aisle with tight fists. I wondered what he'd said to piss her off, but then Jake Black was hugging me while Sam shook Jasper's hand, and Siobhan and Alice danced some kind of little jig together. The girls from the Denali Coven were celebrating on the other side of the aisle down by the stage; Edward was talking to their keyboard player, and they walked to the judges' table together.

I borrowed Carlisle's phone and called Charlie, and we made plans to eat breakfast at the hotel tomorrow morning, since I would not see much of him during the day. When I went to give the phone back, Edward was talking with his father, discussing the side effects of giving me a steroid shot for my throat.

"All she needs is a good night's sleep and some tea with honey and lemon," Esme said firmly.

"Dr. Cullen?" Mike Newton called out. He jogged down the hill, followed by Jessica Stanley, walking at a more dignified pace, wearing a satisfied smile. She was shaking her right hand; two of her acrylic nails were broken, and one was missing completely, and her knuckles were bruised. Her blond boyfriend tugged Carlisle's elbow. "Dr. Cullen, you should maybe have a look at Victoria. I think her nose is broken!"

"No one drugs my best friend," Jessica said. "They sure as hell don't do it twice."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and turned to Edward. "You didn't!"

"Well," he shrugged. "I couldn't hit her."

"You know, this was supposed to be his day off," Esme fussed, as her husband walked up to the parking lot.

Rose and Alice and I rode with Esme to the hotel in the minivan, and we each took a room in the suite. The boys were behind us in Emmet's jeep, but they turned off at an all-night superstore to get fresh batteries for the mic packs, promising us ice cream. We camped out in my room, waiting for them, sprawled on the bed and watching a movie while we brainstormed ideas for the set tomorrow.

I woke to Alice's squawking, and watched Jasper carry her off in a fireman's hold, smacking her ass the whole way to his room on the other side of the suite. Rose was already gone.

Edward walked into the room with a steaming mug, half a lemon and a plastic bottle of honey shaped like a bear. A small black box was tucked under his arm.

I smiled at him, blinking and sleepy, and thanked him for the tea. He shrugged, and I wondered at his mood.

"I take care of what is mine," he said, stroking a finger lightly down my throat. His voice was teasing, but his eyes were dark.

"Are you mine?" he asked with a whisper.

I could only nod, and he leaned in, but stopped short, brushing his lips over mine. "Then these are mine, too." He kissed me, but pulled away before I could respond.

"Now, where's the memory card to your iPhone?"

I stared at him, and then recognized the box.

"Edward, I can't accept th-"

"Shh. Don't say anything." He scowled at me.

"No, really," I whispered, "it's too much."

"Shh!" His brows were knit, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

I frowned back.

"Please," he said, his jaw tense. He looked away from me. "I need your words."

I pulled the little card out of my pocket and handed it to him.

He took it from my fingers without looking at me and fiddled with the iPhone for a minute. I squeezed the lemon into the tea and wrestled with the foil hymen on the bottle of honey, and then squirted a copious amount into the mug and stirred. The spoon clanked against the ceramic, and the noise was loud in the little hotel bedroom, but then the phone started to buzz with messages and missed call alerts. He set it in my lap, and stood, closing the door as he left.

I scrolled down to the only alert that mattered, and followed the link to the blogsite.

He'd written:

She turned my world
inside out,
And now I must
redefine myself.
The words we spoke
are my undoing,
And so she has
become my life.
The thousand songs
I'd play for her,
Are still too few
to voice my heart.

I swallowed the tears in my throat, and typed: You are the Debussy poet and 88 keys of Pretty Boy, and I love you.

I missed the calm you give me, today. You are sweetness and song, and I love you extraordinarily. -Debussy_88

You make me brave and give me the courage to do daring things.

You are fearless. What daring thing would you do? –Debussy_88

After a minute I typed: I would lay on this bed, in only my skin and this puddle of honey in my bellybutton, waiting for your tongue.

Edward:
 I practically ripped the door off its hinges.

She was so fucking beautiful I had to fight for oxygen, hair a mess of mahogany curls, and dark eyes so deep they defied eternity. Her breasts were gorgeous, ripe and full, nipples tight, and my mouth watered in anticipation of tasting them, but my eyes were drawn lower, to the tiny pool of honey in the center of her waist.

Bella sat up as I locked the door behind me, hands propped on the bed behind her.

I watched a single fat drop of liquid slowly slide down her pale skin, riveted, as it slipped through her dark curls. She gasped as it disappeared into the secret slit of her softest flesh.

The room was in flames, I was so hot, and I ripped my shirt off over my head, annoyed with the second it took away from my vision of the girl, and the honey dripping into her sex.

"That has to be the most erotic thing I've ever seen in my life," I said, and my voice was even more ragged than hers. My cock was rock solid, straining at the buttons of my jeans.

I heard her inhale, and I dragged my eyes up to her face. Bella licked her lips, and they moved to form words. I shook my head at her, warning her not to talk. She closed her mouth and lowered her lashes, but her brown eyes were seductive, giving lie to her submission. She sat up straighter, and spread her legs for me.

Fuck.

I stared, frozen, as more amber syrup ran down her stomach and into her, coating the little rosy bud and sliding down each side of her folds. She eased back down, and laid her head on the pillow, and spread her legs even more, offering herself.

The harsh noise in the room was my own breathing, and I tore at the fly of my jeans to take the pressure off. I was on the bed in two strides, kissing her mouth and each swollen nipple once, and then I dug the last of the honey from her bellybutton with my tongue. She squeaked and squirmed, but I held her down with an open hand on her chest, keeping her flat on the bed. I followed the line of the sticky sweet stuff, lapping at her skin, but stopping at the very top where the wisps of silky hair gave way to pink flesh. I pulled away, and she whimpered, and the sound of pure want made my cock even harder.

"Shh." I shed the rest of my clothes, and kissed her mouth, and she grabbed my hair to keep me there, her tongue wild. I let her have her way for a moment, but then moved down. I took one last look at her, spread for me, sweet and glistening.

"This is also mine," I said, and leaned in and licked her, tongue flat on her delicate swollen skin.

She tasted like heaven.

Honey and female and salt and lemons, and I was almost light-headed with it. I grabbed her hips and sucked at her, delving into every fold, searching for every drop of sweetness and girl, while she writhed under my mouth and hands. She was burning hot and delicious, and I was so turned on I was afraid I would explode before I managed to get inside her, but I had to feel her come in my mouth, first. She was as keyed up as I was, and when I finally sucked her clit between my lips, she grabbed my hair in her fists and rocked her hips into my mouth. I slid two fingers into the warm wet where my dick was drooling to be, and she arched up, crying my name as she came, and clenched around my tongue and fingers.

I rode it out with her, but when she finally relaxed, limp and gasping, I was on her, coating my shaft with her liquid and mine, and I pushed inside, deep. She moaned at my entry, and it took all my self control to keep from just pounding into her, but I managed to stay still. I kissed her then, lips completing the circuit, and I could feel the current, feeding from her lips to mine, through me and into her where we were joined. It was crazy good and I could have stayed like that forever, but she broke the kiss, panting for air, and rocked her hips against me, taking me deeper, and I was lost.

I drew back and thrust, enveloped and overwhelmed by the tight slick suction as she wrapped her legs around me and squeezed internally, hips meeting mine. I set a slow pace, long deep strokes that pushed her little body into the bed, and at first she fought me, wanting me to go faster, but then she settled into my rhythm, eyes glazing with understanding and lust.

She was so fucking gorgeous. Some primal male thing in me reveled in it, that I was giving her that look, that I was making her cheeks flush with that dazed smile; her pleasure was my doing, and she belonged only to me. Her breasts bounced heavily against my chest to my strokes, and just when I started to worry that I was being too rough, she pulled me down, wrapping her arms around my back to pull me closer.

Her skin was sweaty and slick and the heat of her was so fucking good it made me insane. My cock swelled inside her with every thrust, until I was so hard and huge I thought I my entire body would erupt, and when she scraped her teeth over the skin on my shoulder, I moaned.

"You're mine," she whispered, and the sweetness of it, that she needed me as much as I needed her, sent me over the edge, ecstasy gripping at my balls, my skin, my cock and my heart, and she was with me, clinging to me as it took her too, hot little muscles convulsing tight around me as I pumped into her endlessly.

I collapsed on her, boneless and shaking, hoping I wasn't crushing her but unable to move. She stroked my damp hair, fingers making languid circles, and after a minute, I rolled off her and pulled her to me.

We slept curled together, unmoving, until Alice pounded on the door, yelling that Bella was due to meet Charlie in the hotel lobby in ten minutes.

We had sound check at the amphitheatre at eleven o'clock, and I tuned the piano they had brought in. When I'd gone to the judges' table to sign us on to sing with Bella, I'd asked Kate from the Denali's to come with me, and we asked about the possibility of getting a piano. They said they would try, and I suspected Aro had something to do with the Yamaha grand tucked into the corner upstage. Each of the four finalists met with the lighting designer to talk about color and spotlights, and then we drew straws to see what order we would play in. We were going last. Jasper was pleased.

Then we went back to the hotel, where they let us use a conference room in the basement to practice, and had an awkward rehearsal with Bella mouthing the words at us while we arranged the songs and the set.

Alice and Rosalie left to go shopping, and I took Bella back to bed, and sucked on her nipples until she was senseless, and filled her deep while she whispered my name. Twice.

Twin bought jeans for Bella and then shredded them down the sides to show her long socks and some more thigh above, and when I started feeling a bit feral about how fucking sexy she looked, Jasper told me to relax and get used to it. He wore a tuxedo jacket and snakeskin boots, but Alice forbade the huge leather cowboy with the excuse that we needed to see his face for cues.

We headed out to the festival and loaded in the equipment, and listened to the other three acts from backstage. As Siobhan and Liam were finishing their last song, I stepped around to the side vom, sneaking a peek at the audience. I couldn't spot my Dad and Esme or Charlie Swan, but I did recognize a few people from various record agencies in the front row. A few had shown some interest in us last year, but my father had not been comfortable with us committing to anything more than a summer tour or weekend shows.

Every seat was full, and the blanket seating went completely up the hill. I guessed at seven thousand people, and hoped to all hell that Bella could handle this crowd.

Hell, I hoped I could handle this crowd.

Something caught my eye, and I began to laugh.

On the conductor's riser in the orchestra pit danced Angela, Lauren and Jessica, with their guys behind them below. And fuck me if each girl of the Bitch Brigade wasn't wearing striped thigh high socks.

Bella:
 "Places in three minutes," the stage manager's voice crackled over the monitors in the green room.

"Thank-you, three," Alice answered, formally. She pulled a stray lock of hair out of my eyes, blasted it with hairspray, threatened me with lipstick until Edward took it from her hands, slipped three extra picks in Rose's back pocket, kissed Jasper and straightened his collar, clipped her smallest harmonica onto a ribbon around her neck, twirled in front of the mirror to see how high her dress flared out, checked the mic pack at Emmett's hip, threw on a transparent silk top with sleeves that trailed behind like an angel's wings as she moved, and took a deep breath.

"Let's go," she said, at the call to places.

Edward kissed me, mouth tender and sweet on mine, and I clung to him, but he took my hand and led me onto the dark stage, sat me down on the piano bench, and slid in behind me. I refused to look to my left, instead locking my eyes on Jasper, upstage. He nodded to me.

It was now or never.

I took a deep breath, and leaned backwards into the broad solid shoulders of the man behind me, aligning my spine to his. As I found my strength, we became one thing and he felt it too. He leaned forward, and I moved with him, keeping the contact as long as I could. A single tight light from the grid above shone down on his hands, and he began to play. His simple notes calmed me, and I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I felt the heat from spotlight as it slowly dilated to include me.

And then he paused, the smallest hesitation, and I knew what he was telling me; that I had to take the lead, and make this my own. I sang the opening line.

"Listen as the wind blows, from across the great divide-"

My voice was slightly rough at the edges, but clear and strong as I sang Sarah McLachlan's Possession; one of the songs Edward had played for me after school. The crowd knew it, and the applause was encouraging. I smiled a little, acknowledging them without looking, and kept singing to the incredible boy behind me. His hands on the keys supported me, grounding my fear and setting me free, and his touch on the notes was as delicate as his fingers on my skin. I sang the first verse, and halfway through the chorus I felt him tense in anticipation. A light cued low on Jasper, and on the last line he thumbed a bass note, and Emmett crashed in on cymbals. The stage lights came full up with a color display and a hot shine on Rose as she ripped the countermelody on her red guitar.

The crowd screamed in delight.

Edward shoved backwards, launching me off the bench as Alice twirled towards me, her hand outstretched, glittering in a follow-spot, and pulled me to center stage. She danced around me, flirting with the audience, showing me off as I faced them and started the next verse, and-

Holy fucking crow.

I sang the next line, my lips and voice moving from memory alone, as I stared out at the mass of faces.

There were more people in that crowd than I had ever seen in one place, and they were all looking at me.

My best friend grabbed my hand, squeezing my fingers almost painfully, but then she joined in on the song, her voice a lovely high descant that gave mine depth. She spun around me, forcing me to pay attention to her and follow her lead, even though she was singing harmony, and I trusted her. The audience adored her, and I grinned with them as she twirled, sleeves floating behind her like a veil, glowing in the footlights. We finished the verse, and then she pirouetted away to dance behind Rosalie, as the beautiful giant wailed on the guitar solo at the bridge.

I stepped back to Edward, my palm flat between his shoulder blades, catching my breath and finding my strength, letting Emmett and Jasper take over. Rose was having none of it though, and walked toward me as she played, challenging, not letting the focus shift off me, and I pushed back, proxy for the crowd that couldn't get close enough to flirt with her. They loved it, and I could feel their energy and desire for more.

I faced them then, not as the shy girl I was two months ago, longing to experience life, bound silent by her own insecurities, but as a woman who had risked her heart to love and knew passion and pain, and could put it into words and song.

And so I walked with sure footsteps into the light of center stage, singing the last verse, embracing their trust, and I gave it back to them with honesty and joy. I sang to the boy at the piano, sharing my soul, and each single person amplified my voice.

On the last line I grabbed the high note with every inch of my lungs, and let it fly, and when I'd held it long enough, I took it even higher, and I kept it there, soaring over the amphitheatre and into the night, carried on the wings of my friends and the man I loved. They brought me in, spiraling down to earth with trilled notes on a slowing tempo, and Edward caught me and kissed me, spinning around, as the crowd roared with approval.

"What's next?" I whispered, laughing.

"The world," he said, and his eyes were filled with lights and love, and music, and me.

What makes you fly?