Good morning! Thanks so much to everyone who is reading :)
Beta'd by texasbella.
Shall we hear from Bella?
37
Bella shakes her head, causing panic to rise in Edward.
"I have some stuff I need to tell you as well. Stuff about myself, my past. You need to understand where I'm coming from," she looks up at Edward. "Is that okay?"
"Of course, I'm all yours," he smiles, trying to make her feel comfortable.
"Um, I had a major crush on you when I was younger, when you were in New Dawn. I wasn't one of your screaming, kiss the poster fans, but I always wondered about you. What you liked. How you felt. Would we have anything in common. When the band broke up and you virtually disappeared, I was concerned about you," she laughs. "That probably sounds so childish and stupid."
"No, not at all," he responds.
"Anyway, when a commercial came on tv about you being the Most Eligible Bachelor, Rose and Alice wouldn't leave it alone. They wouldn't leave me alone," she fidgets with her hands, "They said I needed to open up, live again. I guess I had closed myself off from people, especially men," she shrugs.
"I had a bad... experience last year with someone I work with. I was hired a year ago in June. Being a new teacher, I spent a lot of time at the school during the summer, preparing, setting up my room, stuff like that. Sometimes I was the only one in the school, but I also met some of the teachers and staff during that time. Everyone was very nice and friendly," she looks at Edward. "Is this making you uncomfortable?"
"Only because you are and I think you're about to tell me about some douche who hurt you, so I'm prepared to be a little pissed, besides that, I'm fine," he smirks.
She laughs uncomfortably, "Ya, the douche's name is James, a fellow teacher at my school. When we met that July, he was very friendly. He'd come by my room and offer to help me with things. We started dating shortly after we met. He was very attentive when we were alone, but when anyone else was around he'd practically ignore me. Then he'd apologize and say he was just a very private person and didn't want to complicate things at work, especially for me since I wasn't tenured yet. We agreed to keep things on the down low until I got established as a teacher and with the district. It all seemed very reasonable and on the up and up."
She takes a deep breath before continuing. "When the school year began in September, he virtually ignored me at school. I'd enter the room, he'd leave the room. He was always so hot and cold. Hot when we were alone and very cold when we were with others. It started to feel... wrong. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. One day in the teacher's lounge, I heard someone talking about another teacher who was on bedrest and out on leave for a difficult pregnancy. I didn't think much of it."
"A few days later, James was missing from school. I didn't ask anyone about him, because I didn't want to upset him, but I tried to call his cell to see if he was okay. It went straight to voicemail. There was a buzz in the school that day. Some teacher was screwing around with another teacher, I'm not one for gossip, so I didn't pay it much attention," she shrugs.
"James didn't come back to work for a few days. When he did, he wouldn't even look at me. I tried to call and text him a few times, but he never responded. We'd never really talked about being exclusive, but I thought I deserved some closure or something."
"I'm sure you can see where this is going," she looks at Edward, he nods for her to continue.
"James was married, to the pregnant teacher. They were married the previous summer in a big wedding that the whole staff was invited to. She was very well liked at the school, with friends in every department. She got pregnant in the Spring and was put on complete bedrest in June, just before I met James, but the baby wasn't due until December. Apparently in late September, she saw some of my texts and confronted James about me. He told her that I was a new teacher and that I was obsessed and was stalking him. He made up a whole scenario to cover his ass. I had no support from anyone at the school, because no one knew we were dating. I was labeled a 'psycho home wrecker'," her shoulders slump when she says it.
"As if that wasn't bad enough, the argument James and his wife had about me sent her into premature labor and the baby was born almost three months early. She was in ICU for a while. I hear she's fine now. Needless to say, that didn't help my reputation at school either. Even the students heard some of the rumors. I had a difficult time with respect and classroom management for the first part of the school year. Eventually, I gained the respect of the students and even the principal. The other teachers at the school... well, that's a different story. It's been pretty miserable. It's been better this year, though. They seem to have forgotten and I'm a little more accepted. I can go into the teacher's lounge now," she smiles at Edward.
His expression is that of shock and rage. He lunges and pulls Bella into a protective bear hug, causing her to gasp in surprise, but she accepts his hug.
"That's horrible, Bella. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I feel even worse now about what I put you through. The public nature of the show should have been enough to keep you away. Why did you do it? Why did you come on the show?" he asks, confused.
She says barely more than a whisper, "Because it was you, Edward." He hugs her tighter, her hands clasping around his neck in return.
Eventually, she straightens up and moves slightly away from Edward. "Now, I owe you an apology." Edward looks surprised. "I'm sorry I came onto the show as part of a lie. I kind of forced Alice and Rose to join me. They wanted me to audition, to be a contestant so badly, and I wanted to meet you even more so. However, I would never have done it without their support. So for that, I owe you an apology. We never meant to deceive you or make things more difficult for you. I just wanted them there through the first night, after that I knew I could handle it on my own. Instead, it got all messed up. So... sorry," she shrugs.
"If it meant I met you, then it's all worth it," Edward says as he smiles.
"Confession number..." she teases. "Seriously, I was never mad at you or hated you after you eliminated me. I was angry with myself. It brought back all those insecurities and doubts about myself. About my judgement, my ability to read people, trusting my gut and my feelings. When all that happened with James, I really felt like I couldn't trust myself. When you eliminated me, it brought all that back. I even thought I had imagined how I felt around you," she laughs wryly.
"How did you feel about me?" he asks.
"Oh no you don't. I think I've confessed enough for one night," she laughs.
He gets serious for a minute. "Well, I'm going to tell you how I felt and feel about you." He grabs Bella by the waist and lifts her onto his lap, because he can't resist touching her for one more second. She's been completely oblivious to how tempting she is, still wearing the short, sexy dress from the show. Sitting with her long smooth legs tucked underneath her on the sofa she looks so beautiful with her hair cascading around her shoulders.
He looks Bella in the eyes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before he starts talking. "I felt something different with you, something special. You make me feel. You make me want to be a better person. I want to be someone who is capable and deserving of a loving relationship. I want to date you, learn everything about you, meet your dad, but most of all I want to punch James in the face."
She giggles nervously and tries to avert her eyes. Edward gently cups her chin and turns her face back to his. "Is that something that you want to explore with me? To see if we have something special?" he asks sincerely.
She nods, "But you have to be patient with me. Old habits die hard and right now I'm programmed with doubt and insecurity."
"We can go at your pace. I'm all yours," he says opening his arms.
Bella takes that as an invitation and leans into his chest. He wraps his arms tightly around her. They stay in a peaceful embrace for a while.
"I guess I should get you back to your hotel. What time does your flight leave tomorrow?" he asks.
"I think my flight is at 4 pm. and this is my hotel," she giggles.
"Well, then, can I walk you to your room Miss Swan?"
"Of course," she smiles.
He helps her off his lap, each of them noticeably missing the connection. They walk hand in hand to her room.
She turns towards him before entering her room. "Thank you Edward, for your honesty and for trying to protect me, at your own expense," she says, touching his chest with the palm of her hand.
He covers her hand with his, keeping it over his heart. "I would do it again in a heartbeat, but only if it didn't hurt you in the process," he says with total sincerity. "Would you like to have breakfast and/or lunch with me tomorrow?"
"That would be great," she responds excitedly.
He is still holding her hand on his chest with one hand. His other hand lightly traces up her arm to her shoulder and then under hair to the back of her head. "Can I kiss you?" he whispers.
She nods and leans into him. Their lips barely meet, once, twice, before they deepen the kiss. It's hesitant at first, slow, exploring. His tongue searches for hers, both sighing at the contact. She weaves her free hand into his hair, pulling him down to her. He resists the urge to pin her against the hallway wall with his body. When the separate, they are both breathless and smiling.
"I'm going to the hotel gym at 8, so we can do breakfast at 9:30 or meet up later," he suggests, still breathing a little hard.
"Breakfast at 9:30 sounds great. Want to go for a swim afterward?" she asks.
"Absolutely," he answers, pulling her into a quick embrace and a giving her a few chaste kisses. He waits for her to close the door before he saunters back to his room, happier than he has been in... forever.
A/N
Hmmm, the gym, breakfast, swimming... what else could they do? They've got until 2 pm ish...
More authors who have moved their stories, either by choice or force :/
tufano79 .blogspot
Nyddi- www .thewriterscoffeeshop library /viewuser .php?uid=45784
cullenstwimistress .blogspot .com
les-16 .blogspot .com (I don't think she has pulled anything from ff yet)