Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or its original characters, SM does. Stalker, his Care Bear, Princess Bree, the twins, and Garrferret belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story

A/N: Welcome back! Sorry for the slight delay... I could list all the "excuses" but I won't waste any time with that. We're here now, and that's what's important. :)

*IMPORTANT* Heads up, you might have missed chapter 36, where Bella and Garrett have their sober talk. FFn never sent out notifications when it went up, so if you did miss it, you'll definitely want to read that before starting this chapter. ;)

There should be another 3-4 chapters after this one, and then the epilogue, so we're definitely nearing the end now. *tear*

A big thanks to my beta, myonlyheroin. Super excited she will be continuing to beta for me with my next story as well. I should be posting the first chapter of that sometime mid/late June and I'll be giving more details about the plot, paired with the summary soon.

Well, let's get to it then.

Closing the Door, Turning the Page

Chapter 37

~.~Bella~.~

Edward's opened palm was at my back, rubbing long, wide circles to match the pace of his soft spoken words. He was trying to snap me out of my dazed blank stare, but he was failing. It would have taken a bomb going off beside me to get me to actually physically react to him. I was feeling far too numb for that. Even blinking seemed like a incredibly strenuous task at the moment.

"Bella, just please- listen. It's not as bad as what you're thinking, I promise! We're still leaving for New York together, just you and I. No one else. In two short hours. We could accomplish everything we'd need to in that amount of time."

Once he'd finally stopped speaking, I turned my head to look over at him. Slowly, I began to attempt to make sense of things, but the longer we sat there in silence, the more confused and enraged I became. "You- you wanted me to kiss him." I whispered, still unable to look him directly in the eyes. My body shifted itself away from his, and my gaze turned to instead fixate itself onto Garrett's shoes across the room.

He'd finally done something smart and remained positioned far away from me, leaning silently against the wall.

"No. I never said that. Those words never left my mouth." Edward insisted, sounding more than a little agitated by what I'd just accused him of.

"You insinuated it, though. You told him it would be okay if it did happen!?" I grilled, feeling my utter and total disbelief beginning to transform into something entirely different.

"I told him if it happened, it wouldn't change anything. Not for me. I said that if you let it happen… if you felt like it needed to happen before you'd be able to say goodbye to him and move on, for good... that I'd deserve that, and I wouldn't hold it against you. I never told him to actually purposely pressure you into doing it! The whole point was for you to not feel like you were being backed into a corner."

His response still managed to shake me. My entire body was beginning to give that fact away while I continued to quietly sit there, processing every single word he'd just spoken to me.

I raised my eyes up from the ground to engage with Garrett's own tortured expression.

He'd gone from looking rather confident in himself, just five minutes ago in the other room, to looking strangely disconnected now, yet somehow- still very much... ready, willing and waiting.

It didn't take long for me to put the pieces together.

From the moment his eyes had met mine, he'd already been silently daring me.

Garrett still wanted to push me to that point. He still wanted to see what would follow if I did finally give in to him and his hugely disproportioned alternative reality that involved him and I.

My head slowly turned itself to find Edward again, but his own sad and broken stare did nothing to change or counter the amount of disdain I was currently feeling towards the entire situation, he himself, had apparently set into motion. Especially while his soft spoken words continued to swarm my thoughts, all the while causing me to question my own self-worth and sanity in terms of all of this.

I realized the palms of my hands were beginning to pulse. When I looked down, I found my fists were now curled up firmly at my sides, trembling in unison, and my legs were silently begging me to run again.

No.

No-more-running.

I couldn't keep doing this. The running. I was a mother. A wife. It wasn't healthy. It wasn't normal. Especially when I knew what I wanted, and what I needed. Edward's plan, though, whatever it was, so long as it involved me having to 'pretend' anything with anyone- it wasn't going to happen.

It was time I finally learned how to stand on my own two feet without having them instantly move beneath me in fight or flight mode at any sign of unwanted discourse.

Apparently, there was only one way to force my… no... our reality down my husband's throat.

Especially since he himself seemed to be suffering from his own psychotic breakdown. Even without hearing all of the details yet, I refused to believe Edward was actually thinking clearly, or with a level head when he'd sat down to map out this so called asinine plan of his.

I took in one last deep breath, then quickly exhaled, feeling their eyes still set on me while they both continued to watch my every move, waiting for me to finally react.

"Fine, then. Let's do this." I clapped my hands together, filled with an abundant amount of fake enthusiasm, then stood myself up from the bed and purposefully walked my body towards Garrett, all the while keeping my eyes locked on him, and only him.

He looked shocked by my abrupt action, almost as if he'd stopped breathing all together for a few solid seconds, but I didn't pause. Not at all. This was me reacting. If Edward wanted to make decisions for me… if he wanted to push me into the arms of another man in some sick and twisted masochistic move, just to prove a ridiculous point and make himself feel better, then I'd give him exactly what he wanted.

If the idea of my lips being pressed against someone else's really didn't bother him, then he could stand there and watch it happen right in front of his goddamn eyes.

My feet took one last step to meet my former art companion's well worn sneakers and I paused.

Once we were standing practically toe to toe, I carefully lifted my right arm to wrap my fingers across the back of his neck. He didn't know what to do, that was obvious. With Edward actually being less than fifteen feet away from us now, Garrett's usual suave like demeanor was without question— suffering. His hands remained opened at his sides, dangling from the ends of his limp arms, the sight of them almost making me smile.

Instead, I rolled my eyes over his sudden, yet very predictable shyness. I decided to purposely help him out by slowly lifting each of his hands, one at a time, up to my hips, so he'd be able to keep me positioned before him.

From behind me, Edward remained silent.

He's really going to sit over there and let this happen?

My knees were beginning to betray me by starting to feel as though they could buckle at any moment. If this was actually going to happen… if he was going to let it happen, it was time to get it over with.

Like ripping off a bandaid.

One that had been super glued and stapled to your body.

I grimaced, remembering the talk Edward and I had shared not even twenty minutes ago right here in this very room, in this very same spot. Only the last time I'd stood here, in the arms of a man, it had been him passionately holding me, and him pressing his mouth against mine.

And now… now he was going to let someone else take his place. Apparently, it would mean absolutely nothing to him, because this was supposed to bring us all some type of fucked up closure that I now knew I didn't even need.

"Well? What are you waiting for? You heard Edward. We've got work to do, but not a lot of time. Kiss me, Garrett." I finally dared outloud. I even took the extra initiative to raise my brow seductively and run my fingernails across the back of his neck again before tugging at his shaggy brown hair.

I blinked several times after his eyes left mine to jet over my shoulder towards the bed where I'd left my husband behind. While waiting for him to look back at me, I could actually feel the rush of adrenaline that was running through his veins from where it was rapidly beating off of his chest, just a few inches away from my own pulsing heart.

Panic briefly swept across his face after I'd mockingly cocked my head to the side with a soft sigh, but the look hiding behind his own veiled expression told me this truly was something he'd been dreaming of for quite sometime. It also told me he was more than ready to experience anything, and everything I would willingly offer up to him.

No matter who was watching.

That very same look, however, the one he was still attempting to shield behind his guarded eyes, had without question, made me want to knee him in the balls. Repeatedly. Harder and harder with each raise of my leg.

"Any day now would be great, Lanali." I snickered under my breath, after a rushed exhale had pushed it's way past my lips. He looked flustered. Almost bothered. My fingertips slowly changed their position to reach over and delicately grab at his chin, so I'd be able to redirect his line of vision back onto only me when he'd glanced over my shoulder again towards Edward. I forced a smirk and grazed his cheekbone with my opened palm before allowing my fingers to latch onto his hair again. Inside, though, I felt as though I were on the verge of falling apart.

I wouldn't be able to handle staying in his arms like this for much longer. Nope. It was time to rip the goddamn bandaid off, staples and all- cut it up, burn it, and then throw the charred ashes into a nine foot deep hole in the ground and bury it all forever.

Once I'd succeeded in regaining his undivided attention, I carefully stood myself up on my tiptoes and guided his partially opened mouth— anxiously shocked expression and all— towards my own parted lips without saying another word to him, or breaking our focused stare.

When I could feel his warm breath on my face, I sealed my eyes shut and began to count backwards from ten.

I didn't want him to see the tears that were hiding, threatening to expose everything I was truly feeling and thinking. I'd just taken a solid gulp down into the pit of my gut when I felt two strong hands grab me at my hips, pulling me backwards away from Garrett's steadily strong embrace.

"Thank fucking God!" I loudly sobbed, then instantly fell into Edward's opened arms, pushing my face deeply into his chest. "Don't you EVER do that to me AGAIN!" I wailed, hitting him hard several times with my closed fists after we'd both crumbled to the ground, me now trembling in his lap.

His hands wiped feverently at the tears that had flooded my cheeks, and he gently cupped my face to look me directly in the eyes. "That's not what I wanted. Seeing that would have- it would have killed me. That was NOT what I wanted to happen when I left you in there with him, Bella." He fiercely insisted, never once taking his eyes off of my own. "I admit I knew there was a possibility… that it could happen… but I'd hoped it wouldn't. If it was what you decided needed to happen, though, in order to leave him behind, for good-"

"Never again! Don't you ever again do that to me, Edward Cullen! I know what I want, and who I want, and it is NOT him! It has NEVER been him, not even for a split second after having a few drinks, or getting stoned in the garage! Not even in my most twisted, wildest dreams, or lowest moments! How many times do you need to hear me say it?! Enough with this bullshit! I'm not playing these games! I'm done with it all! You and I are leaving here, and we will figure it out, but I am not pretending to do anything with him!"

Shock swirled around me, triggered by my tone, and paired with my random bout of confidence and decisiveness, but I'd definitely meant every word I'd just said to him. I had no idea who the person was that had just taken control of me, but I craved to feel that same kind of clarity and strength again. I'd taken charge and I hadn't backed down. It felt… liberating… even though I was currently crying like a damn idiot on the floor. It had been a long time since I'd felt that amount of control within myself and it had without a doubt just changed everything for me.

"You two- It was only going to be some scripted text messages between the two of you, baby, then I was going to have Em do some photoshop stuff with a few pictures, but only if you we're okay with the idea. I was never going to ask you to… ask you to actually..."

"Pretend to fuck him on video?" I spat out, fury and disgust briefly sneaking up on me again.

"What the hell?! I never would have asked you to do something like that! Christ, Bella!" He rushed out, shocking me again, this time with the look of surprise and absolute disgust that had taken over his own face.

"Well, good, because it wouldn't have happened!" I got out between my stubbornly angry tears.

"Bella, baby, please… you can't be serious. You have to know I never would have taken it that far. I can't believe you would even think-"

"What am I supposed to think?! I can't make sense of anything anymore! None of THIS makes sense! None of it!" I boisterously dared to throw back in his face. "The only thing left that I know for certain is that I still want to go home with you, and I want this here, with him, to be over. Send whatever texts you want from my phone. I'm done being a part of it. I'm done with the lies, and the deception!" I adamantly shouted, still sitting on the floor, but now I had my knees pressed into my chest and my arms wrapped around them as I began to rock myself in place, feeling the old me begin to take over again without any warning at all.

"I think I should go. You two can figure out what you want to do. Just let me know what you decide, and what my role will be in all of it. I'll be heading to Arizona from here. I'll have my phone with me, and I'm not heading out until tonight." Garrett suddenly spoke up from where he'd moved himself towards the opened doorway of the bedroom. "I'm sorry, Bella. This- it's not what I wanted, to see you like this, but I know deep down you know that. I just played the hand I was dealt. I hope one day you'll be able to see it all for what it was, and understand… everything that happened between us, it was meant to happen. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, our paths were meant to cross, but you've still wound up exactly where you were always meant to be, with the one person you were always meant to be with." He paused, giving me a moment to process his words, and I was finally able to truly exhale. "Honest to God, Edward, she never even blinked. Not once. Her heart has never once stopped beating for only you. Take care of her... don't ever stop asking to see her sketches. Do that, and you guys will be fine."

I said nothing. I couldn't even look up at him. All I wanted was for him to be gone, so I'd be able to breathe again without feeling as though I were also being suffocated with every other breath I tried to take.

"I'll be in touch. Don't contact either of us again until you've heard something from me." Edward eventually spoke up, saving us from the silence that had swiftly engulfed the room. I closed my eyes and nodded my head, silently thanking him for instructing Garrett to not attempt to reach out to me.

Although, I'd already planned on blocking his number the moment he'd walked away from us.

After seeing how easy it had been for me to just fall back in line with the way we were together… I knew it was for the best that I completely sever any, and all ties with him. At least for the time being. If Edward and I were really going to press the reset button on all of this, in and attempt to heal all the cracks that had formed in our foundation, I didn't need any distractions. Especially distractions that would come from Garrett, and his abundantly bruised ego.

When we heard the main door of our suite open, and then slam shut, I knew we were finally all alone again. I felt my body relax almost instantly. Edward remained quiet, but he stood himself up from the floor, then offered his extended hand downward towards me. It was an offering to help me find my own two feet, so that I'd be able to follow him back into the living room. We walked together in silence, side by side, then took a seat next to one another on the longer sofa that faced the big bay window overlooking the city's skyline.

It was a beautiful sight, but it had nothing on my city.

Edward let out a loud sigh, easily startling me and causing me to sit more upright beside him, "I should have told you beforehand. That wasn't fair. I'm an idiot. I just- I wanted it to be... No, that's not right... I DIDN'T want it to feel forced OR planned if it needed to happen, Bella. I needed- no, you needed to react naturally in that moment when you two talked- once you were both sober, and he'd laid it all out there again for you to hear and make sense of. I didn't want you to question anything- days… months… years from now." Edward carefully shared, with a slight quiver in his voice at the end. "I panicked."

He whispered again he was sorry, then released another exasperated huff with his last word before attempting to take my hand into his. I swiftly snatched it away. I knew his soft and tender touches would only dilute all of the other emotions I was currently feeling. His pursed lips released a rushed breath in frustration and he very purposely repositioned his own hand back over his knee, then began anxiously tapping his fingertips across the top of his faded jeans.

"Stop." I snapped. "We both know the real reason why you did that. Will you please just say it… outloud, so we can finally put it to rest forever."

I looked up into his eyes and found his right brow raised, confusion slowly beginning to take over his entire face again.

"Do you really need me to spell it out for you?" I quipped, annoyance tainting every word I'd just spoken.

Still, he remained mute.

I could tell this level headed, strong willed version of his wife had taken him by absolute surprise. For a brief second, I allowed myself to relish in that fact, and also take pride in the new me that was fighting to become a more permanent part of my existence with him and our marriage.

"You wanted me to kiss him, so you wouldn't feel so goddamn guilty over kissing Maggie. It's fine, Edward. I mean, it's not fine, obviously, but you don't need to feel guilty. I carry just as much guilt as you do in that." He started to say something, but I silenced him before he could finish his first word, "I basically pushed you into her face when I let my relationship with Garrett start to… test boundaries. I accept my part in that, just like you need to accept your part in pushing me towards him over these last couple of months, when you needed to keep me… I don't know... entertained… busy… whatever it was you needed me to be while you ran off to play actor and pretend to be someone else. We both messed up. We both tested our limits. We're both already guilty here. We don't need to keep this tug of war game going, trying to find a level playing field. We're already on the same team. Don't you see that? I don't need to kiss Garrett to know my heart belongs to only you. I already know that, and that is all that matters. I choose YOU. I will always choose YOU. Nothing, no one, will ever change that." My words were pouring out of me now faster than my own rapid breathing could keep up.

I took in a deep breath, then let my shoulders drop with my brash exhale and hard blink of my eyes. "All I want is to be able to close the door on this, and never-ever open it again, but I know that will take time. That being said, and you need to let me finish what I'm about to say next," he'd already begun nodding his head before I'd even completed my sentence.

What would leave my lips next… it would be difficult. Not only for me to say, outloud, but for him to hear and process… but it was something that needed to be said, in order for our healing to truly start to take root and eventually find a way to thrive again.

"I-I do love Garrett, I'll accept that now, and I'll say it outloud for only your ears to ever hear... But I love him in the same way I love Alice, or Charlie. He became my friend, a best friend, someone I thought I could trust… and I suppose deep down… since I'm being one hundred percent honest here... there is a small part of me that still trusts him, but that's only because he was being truthful when he said he'd never pressured me to actually take the initiative and attempt to cross that line with him, never once. At least up until five minutes ago when YOU'D pressured him to so. I honestly don't believe he would ever do anything, not now, to deliberately hurt me… or you again. We had our chance, but I didn't take it. He would respect that." I closed my eyes and sucked back another deep breath, trying desperately to once again settle my heightened nerves, "I have to believe he's truly not a bad person, Edward. Otherwise, the fact that I let him in, the way I did… well, I just can't accept that I would have allowed that to happen if he was a bad person."

He looked a little taken aback now, but I knew as soon as he'd truly processed what I'd actually said, he too would begin to see that my words to him were real, and my love for him, and only him, would never ever falter or be swayed. Regardless of who else might enter my life, or how they might happened by.

"FYI, I don't want to make out with Alice or Charlie." I bluntly added, when a few more seconds passed without him opening his mouth to speak. He smirked, and I felt myself able to breathe again without feeling as though a weight had been pressed back into my chest. "I. Am. Yours. BUT, if you EVER try to push me towards another man again, I will castrate you myself, and make you my gimp bitch forever." I warned, trying to hide my returned smile.

His eyes glistened as they stared deeply into mine and a slight smirk spread across his beautiful mouth. I watched him scan every inch of my calmed face as he continued to silently flounder before me, trying to find his next words.

He was speechless.

The words proud, accomplished, and confident didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling right now. This was definitely a new Bella Swan-Cullen he was seeing, and I finally felt as though I could both see and think clearly again.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to really forgive myself for what I did, Bella. I thought I'd feel better after this morning… after our talk… but the more I held you in my arms afterwards, the more my guilt began to take over again… and then he walked in… and we talked… and then you came in and I saw the look on your face when you saw him… that look on your face… it nearly cemented everything for me, and it scared the shit out of me. I really did panic. Almost as if someone were holding a gun to my head. All over again, I began to question things. Everything. So, I gave him the nod, and he knew what it meant. The moment I came in here though, and left you behind with him, I wished I could take it all back, but at that point it was too late." he finally admitted, his voice breaking at the end, and sending a fresh chill down my own spine.

My teeth bit down hard onto my bottom lip and my shoulders sagged further after I'd leaned forward onto my knees to run my opened hands over my eyes, and then up into my hair, "It's not going to get easier over night. It's not supposed to. It's going to take time. That's why we need the counselor. I'm still trying to navigate through things, too." I reminded him. "Your best, and my best... That doesn't have to be everyone else's best. Just so long as it's OUR best, for each other. That's all that has to matter, Edward."

He nodded agreeing with me, and then steadily attempted to take my hand again.

This time, I allowed it.

His fingers grazed the top of my hand, and he increased his grip to give my palm three solid pulses, almost as if he were stating those three simple words I'd longed to hear from him the most right now.

"I love you." He breathlessly whispered, entering my head to make me beam like a bipolar love drunk idiot. "What?" He cautiously asked, grinning this time.

"You crawled your way back into my head again just then, Stalker." I playfully accused, while attempting to hide my smirk by doing my best to keep a straight face.

"Pft… come here." He reached out to pull me back into his lap, then weaved his arms around my hips to thread our fingers together in front of my stomach. We remained there, the silence effortlessly swallowing the space around us, but this time I didn't care. It felt good just to be there. In his strong arms, with his breath moving against my neck and shoulder blade after he'd pressed his chin against my bare skin to gently kiss my cheek with his soft lips. "Me, plus you, forever we will be."

"Don't you dare forget our plus three." I toyed, leaning the side of my head against his.

Without even turning, I could feel him smiling down at me.

We might not be perfect, but we were perfectly flawed for only each other. This was fact. Our fact, in our reality. Nothing-no one, would ever take that away from us.

Unfortunately Edward's phone began buzzing from his pocket, abruptly ending our moment and making me want to throw it against the wall. I reached my arm back and pulled it out for him, then saw Emmett's face smiling back with his middle finger extended beside it. "Do you need to get it?" I asked, already assuming he would be calling about James.

"No. It can wait. I just want to hold you here in my arms a little while longer. No distractions. No noise. Just you, with me."

I felt my smile slowly give myself away as it raised its corners at each side of my face. My body melted deeper against his, and I pulled his arms more firmly around me before leaning the side of my face into the front of his shoulder. "We still have a lot to figure out. With James, I mean. The sooner the better. That way we can really start to work our way through all of this in an attempt to learn whatever lessons there are to learn. Until that happens… I'm just going to feel… I don't know… Restless? Anxious? A lot of resentment, and built up anger?" I paused to take a breath, "I guess what I'm trying to say is... I'll feel as if I'm waiting for the next big violent drop from James' hammer of bullshit that might send further shock waves into our lives." I eventually admitted, doing my best to actually state everything I was feeling, instead of watering it down, and diluting it the way I would have done a month or two ago. "Leaving Garrett out of it, what else can we do to really go after James?"

Edward took in a shallow breath, and I could see the wheels turning in his head, but he waited a good long couple of long seconds before finally breaking his silence.

"Emmett found some discrepancies earlier this morning in pay outs to a few of the agency's bigger name clients. It's looking like the total from one of them might actually equate to the exact amount he'd promised Garrett if he'd succeeded in coming after us. That client being, Victoria… which is actually pretty fucking funny when you really think about it."

My jaw swiftly dropped like a weighted mallet. What my husband had just shared with me, it made SO much sense. James would have never actually let go any of his own money. He was far too selfish, and self-indulged to do anything like that.

If he was playing with someone else's money... Now that was an entirely different story, and without question more believable.

"That's not even all of 's just the most recent numbers game Emmett found. He was at it all night. After going back through just the last five years of company records, paying attention to the more lucrative big money accounts, there's nearly five-point-five million dollars unaccounted for within the agency, Bella. The most insane part… it looks as though it was all funneled into an offshore account named after James' two damn dogs he has stuffed and mounted in the living room of his home."

I literally wanted to punch my husband in the face.

"You had this kind of information on him, but you still felt the need to bring Garrett here and dangle me in front of his face?! You were actually still tossing around the idea of us pretending to separate, so that Garrett and I could act as though-" I paused, "As though we… we were… Jesus, I can't even say it! Embezzlement is a hell of a lot more serious in the eyes of the law, than James coming at our marriage, Edward!"

"I just got this information a few hours ago, baby, and I haven't confirmed anything yet with the clients who look to have been effected. That will take a few days. Once they're made aware, things are going to get ugly real fast. Since I've already formally resigned, my lawyer is looking into how I should handle things, legally, without bringing the entire firm down, or getting myself into trouble. I'd hate for Phil to take a huge hit on this, too. Especially when he's done nothing wrong, as far as I can tell, except trust the same guy I've trusted all these years." Edward stopped to take a breath, then glanced down at his phone before anxiously shifting his weight beside me and continuing, "When I go to see Phil tonight, I'm certain James, at the very least, will be put on unpaid leave until we sort everything out and charges are formerly brought against him. Once that happens, he could be in handcuffs by the end of the week."

I was trying desperately to keep up with everything he was telling me. I knew better than to trust I was actually retaining even half of it.

"I'll admit, I became a little volatile and erratic sitting in there watching you sleep… when you started saying my name with Garrett's while you slept… It made me think some crazy fucking things last night, Bella. When I came up with that plan, it was only because I wanted James to be riding high on unsubstantiated self gratification over the belief that you and I were done. Once I had him there, then I'd yank his entire world out from underneath him, but not until after he'd handed over that check to Garrett, and I'd gotten their exchange on tape. That's what would have cemented his lack of credibility and also been a direct slap in the face to Victoria, once she realized she'd gotten played too, since he's been stealing a massive amount of money from her for years."

I wasn't sure about all the technicalities of what he'd just shared with me, but hearing that Victoria would have also been served some sweet justice... well, that had caused me to pause for a moment to smirk rather widely.

"I think I might have a better possible plan for Victoria. One that might even favor Alice, in a very huge way." I gently spoke up, feeling much more prepared now to share with my husband that I'd been hearing some whispered hints from my best friend over the last few days about a certain part she was very much interested in.

Before I could even finish my thought though, he was already nodding his head, "Emmett actually talked to me about something, too. I have a feeling the both of you might be on the same page. The latest Pirates movie right? That part hasn't been given to Victoria yet, even though she's been going around saying something entirely different. I'll have Em make the call now. He can probably get Alice a meeting with the casting director for first thing tomorrow morning, but will she be ready? I mean, she'd be perfect for the part, but it could be a hard sell since she's only really done TV stuff thus far."

"Pft. Alice is always ready, and she will nail that audition. She was born to play a pirate fairy." I retorted with a light laugh, feeling ridiculously giddy over the possibility of getting to have a hand in my best friend landing her dream role in a major motion picture with an award winning director and supporting cast.

Oh, to swipe that part right out from underneath Victoria, when she was already out there bragging to the world that it was already hers.

It. Would. Be. Glorious.

Not to mention, it would also be a less than gentle reminder that she's slowly becoming a thing of the past in the industry, while actresses like my best friend were what Hollywood was truly craving these days.

"Well then, can we now agree that we've together, as a team, developed a fairly solid course of action here without me having to take up any spontaneous acting roles of my own?"

His heightened smile reached deep inside of me and engulfed every emotion I was still feeling, but unable to fully react to. We really did work so much better together as a team, and I knew we both remembered that now. More than anything else, though, I was relieved he'd stopped long enough to truly listen to me, before insisting we actually set out on some twisted over thought out scheme that could have potentially reigned even more havoc on our marriage, and our family down the road.

On the way to the airport, I sat in the back of the jeep with Alice, so I could read lines with her while she anxiously rehearsed for her big audition tomorrow. The look on her face when I'd told her Edward and Emmett had gotten her in with the casting director for Disney's next biggest live action film… well, lets just say, she nearly peed herself, and in the process of her explosive reaction, I too found some true belly laughs of my own. The type I hadn't experienced in weeks. God had that felt good.

Every once in awhile, Edward would turn around from the driver seat to send me a crooked smile, or I'd catch him watching me in the rear view mirror with a soft expression hidden in his eyes. It was almost as if he were afraid I might disappear at any minute if he wasn't keeping close tabs on me. I couldn't wait to be out of this car and on the plane heading home, with his hand in mine, and my head against his shoulder.

I'd gotten to talk to the twins on the phone before we'd left the hotel. They sounded happy and thankfully unbothered by their mother's absence. That pained me a little, but it also helped take some of my low key guilt away, so it had been a bitter-sweet mostly one sided conversation.

Esme sounded beyond thrilled when I'd told her Edward and I were leaving together to head back to New York. I thanked her repeatedly for continuing to care for the kids during my much needed time away, but she'd turned it all back around onto me, insisting it had been her pleasure and for me to think nothing of it.

Alice broke into my thoughts after she'd suddenly tapped my phone that was resting beside my leg, signaling she was sending me a silent message from her own electronic device. I picked it up and opened the screen to find a screenshot of a message Garrett had sent her.

He'd given her his own version of what had happened, and apologized to her for initially taking advantage of her kindness. He hoped they might be able to remain friends from afar, but he also stated that he'd understand if she never wanted to talk to him again. His message had ended with him asking her to take care of me in ways no one else could since he'd no longer be able to. I didn't really understand what he'd meant by that, but I also didn't let it settle to deeply into my clouded thoughts in regards to him.

In response, I sent her the shrugging girl emoji character, knowing that would be enough for her to understand this wasn't something I wanted to discuss any further, at least not right now. After that I redirected my line of vision back outside of the window to watch the passing trees and cars as we began to approach the ramp towards the airport.

As soon as we pulled up to our terminal, I saw them.

Paps.

There were at least three of them visible, already standing there, patiently waiting for us with their cameras in their tiny slimy hands.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I mumbled just as Edward tipped his baseball cap downward in front of his face, obviously hoping to pass them by without being noticed. "How did they even find out we would be here?"

"How do they ever find out? Some rat. Probably one of Garrett's friends looking to get a bit of a payday out of this." Alice muttered from beside me.

"I have to drop the jeep off at the rental booth in the garage anyways. I think it's best we all stick together. They're probably only looking for Bella and I, so if there's four of us huddled, walking in together, we might be able to sneak past them through the next terminal entrance, then we can just cross over from inside.

My head bobbed in agreement just as Alice handed me a knit cap from her carry on. I pulled it over my head and shoved my sun glasses onto my face, then took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. This would be our world now. At least for the next few weeks. I'd already owned that, and accepted it. The fact that they had found us here though… if it really had been Garrett, or one of his friends who had sold us out… I'd never forgive him. He knew how much I despised these people, and their vicious verbal attacks.

Alice and I remained huddled together behind a big work van in the garage while Jasper and Edward turned in the keys at the rental booth. Once he was by my side again, Edward took my hand into his and gave it three firm pumps.

"Just shut it all out. We will be on the plane heading home in forty minutes. If you don't react, they won't continue to care. Don't let them see they're getting to you, or else they'll have something to sell." He gently reminded me, sadness now drowning in his eyes again.

I nodded and bit down nervously onto my bottom lip, then extended my other hand out towards Alice, so she would take it into hers and join me at my hip.

As soon as we'd emerged from the garage, I saw one of the vultures already pointing his long lensed camera in our direction. Within seconds, he was gesturing wildly and running our way.

Edward quickened his pace and without pausing, we continued inside through the automatic doors. Unfortunately, the camera wheeling assholes were right at our heels now.

The first guy jumped right in front of us in an attempt to block our path, "Mr. Cullen, is it true you and Mrs. Cullen have an open marriage?!"

"What about the rumors involving your wife with Jacob Black, and your former assistant Garrett Lanali?!" Another filthy pap shouted out, his camera snapping away under his finger tip, less than two feet from my face now.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, how about a smile to show the world you're both doing okay regardless of these other two assholes and their nasty rumors?"

"Bella! How did it make you feel seeing that fuck hot sex scene so shortly after that video came out with your husband sucking face with Maggie Lane off screen?!" The first one shouted, almost falling over his own two feet as he continued to walk backwards in front of us.

I'd never in my life wanted to spit on someone before, but if I had to listen to thirty more seconds of this bullshit, they would all be covered in my DNA, and I'd likely have some of their own DNA buried deep beneath my fingernails.

My eyes glanced up at Edward, but he was looking straight ahead with zero emotion present on his face. He must have felt my heightened anxiety because just then, he firmly increased his grasp around my hand and squeezed it again three times. Thankfully, a security guard noticed what was happening, and was now high tailing it towards us while speaking into his walkie talkie, hopefully calling for some kind of back up. I'm sure they weren't used to this kind of BS here, at this airport, so this was likely a first for him.

Once he was finally standing with us, Edward asked him if he could show the camera carrying asses back outside, as they were likely trespassing without a ticket for this terminal of the airport.

"And so it begins." I mumbled, making sure it would be loud enough for Edward to still hear. He took in a deep breath, then released my hand from his to instead place his entire arm behind me over my shoulder. Once we were standing at the ticket counter with numerous sets of eyes on us he pulled me into him for a deep hug against his solid body.

"Phil already sent me a text. He's going to help me release a statement tonight once we're home. He's also going to head over as soon as I text him we've landed. This will go away, Bella. I promise. Sooner than you think." He leaned down and planted a firm kiss at the top of my head, then returned me to his comforting embrace, instantly cocooning me from all the nosey eyes that were now trying to piece together what it was they had just happened to witness.

All I could do now was hope he was right. The idea of becoming a prisoner in my own home again, when all I would want to do is get out and draw once we'd returned… no… I couldn't let them take that away from me. I just wouldn't.

"I love you."

Three simple words, but the way he'd just said them, and the look in his eyes as he'd looked down into mine. They helped me find a way to once again be able to relax while also accepting things for what they were, and for that I was abundantly grateful .

"They'll get bored. We're really not that entertaining." He further toyed, trying to make me smile. "Plus, Emmett is already working on a nice new juicy distraction for the world, and I've got our own little private distraction in the works as well. One I think you will absolutely love." This time, he gave me a sly and subtle wink. With his last word, I forced a fresh smile, but I was also silently pleading to myself that he would be right.

I wouldn't be able to continued playing this silent role in front of the paparazzi cameras for very long. Eventually not reacting would no longer be an option for me. I knew if our current situation with them remained unchanged… Sooner or later, I could break.

A/N: Well, our two are finally heading home together, and they now have a much more solid plan in place. One that won't drive Bella to her final breaking point. Are we happy? Hopefully all goes as smoothly as Edward is anticipating. ;)

Next chapter Edward will meet with Phil, James will receive some news, Victoria could finally be served some sweet vengeance, and Bella and Edward will go to their first counseling session together.

I'd love to hear from you!

*Reviews Make Me Smile*

*As thanks for making me smile, in exchange for your own words and thoughts, I'll pay it forward with an outtake from Edward's POV after they've boarded the plane and he gets a new text from Phil.*