36.
"I'm proud of you, man," Emmett says seriously. His face is stern and there's no sign of laughter.
"Yeah, that was great, Edward. So all this is Bella's doing, right?" Jasper grins. 'Cause yeah it is, and he knows it.
Knowing what she's been through - what she's still going through - it's humbled me. She's lost so much, and she's still able to find reasons to live, move on, and smile everyday.
I'd like to think I have a small part in that, but the fact is she does the same for me.
She believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. She trusted me after I screwed up, and probably didn't deserve it. She showed me that facing my demons would only bring about good things.
"Bella definitely has a hand in this," I confirm.
It's finally Saturday, I'm at Alice's, and I'm waiting for Bella to join me so we can go spend the afternoon in Port Angeles.
"That's good. She's good for you, and Alice says you're good for her too, man," Jasper adds.
"Yeah... she is." I nod awkwardly. This is getting to be a little too much of a touchy-feely conversation to have between the three of us. "Where are the girls, anyway?" I feel like I've been here forever.
"Alice was giving Bella and Rose some highlights. They should be almost done by now." Emmett pauses his PS3 game just as the girls rush down the stairs.
My eyes immediately land on Bella. Alice seems to have done something to the color of her hair. Instead of the deep, rich, chocolate brown color I'm used to seeing, there are now some streaks in various shades of red. "Your hair looks nice," I compliment, taking a strand of it and twisting it around my finger while my other hand brushes her bangs out of her eyes. "Did she cut it too?"
Bella rolls her eyes and nods. "Yeah. I let her play around with it. She applied to beauty school, and needed to send in a few pictures for her port-folio."
I examine her face for a few moments then drop a kiss to her lips before adding, "You look beautiful."
Except for the hair, I don't really notice anything different, but from hearing them talk, apparently Alice added some light make-up and did something to her eyebrows. Whatever. It's all girl stuff, and she looks good no matter what.
"You ready to head out?" The rest of the gang has moved on to the basement, leaving us on our own.
"Yeah," she bites her lip and for some reason, my mind flashes images of her doing that while we were basking in the sun, listening to the tide roll in, and the birds up above.
I instinctively swipe my thumb over her bottom lip, pulling it from between her teeth. Clearing my throat, I shake my head to distract myself from what I'd really like to do instead of going out. "We should go." Leaning down, I kiss her quickly and pull back. My heart's going a mile a minute, and my breathing is labored. All that from a simple kiss.
Dammit this isn't want I want. I want to kiss her deeply and make her moan. I want to touch her until she shudders and falls apart. I want to lay her down on a bed and make love to her. I want to worship every inch of her body until she can't even move.
I take a step toward the door and start putting on my shoes, distractingly willing my body to calm down.
"Edward?" Her soft voice brings me back to her and my eyes immediately find hers.
"Yeah?"
"I want..." She takes a deep breath and puffs out her cheeks before letting it out. "I want... everything... you know... like we had... then."
It takes a moment between her nervous ramblings for me to understand that she wants... she wants what I do.
"Are you sure, Bella?" I take a few steps forward, awkwardly holding on to one shoe while wearing the other one. "Because once we go back there - to that - I won't stop wanting to touch you and be with you. I can be patient and give you as much time as you need, we don't have to rush into anything."
She looks up at me confidently and grins. "We're not rushing, I trust you. More than anyone. I want you." She takes a deep breath and licks her lips, making them glisten. "More than anything."
I drop my sneaker to the ground, my breath catching in my throat. Closing the distance between us, I pull her to me roughly, making her squeak and giggle. "Don't you laugh at me." I smile against her cheek and kiss it, then drop kisses down her throat, all the way to her ear. "Does this mean I get to taste you again?" I suck her earlobe into my mouth and feel her shiver in my arms. "It's not cold in here, Bella."
"God, I miss that," she whispers, her mouth descending on the little bit of skin exposed by my V-neck shirt.
"We, er... we were heading out... right?" I'm so worked up, my own body is threatening mutiny if it doesn't get release. These damn pants are really fucking uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"Yeah... or we could go to my room..." she suggests, wiggling her eyebrows. Dammit, she's making this hard on me. Pun intended.
"God... that's..." But before I can say anything more, the doorbell rings interrupting us and whatever we were about to do... or not do.
Alice's parents are away so it's just us kids here. Bella rolls her eyes when Alice yells at us from the downstairs to get the door. Dammit, and here I thought we had some semblance of privacy. I hope they didn't hear any of that.
"Charlie, what are you doing here?" Those words send a shiver down my spine and make my skin prickle. This is not good.
…
Just my luck. The moment I'm able to focus and find my path, he comes back to screw it all up.
Tomorrow?
Thank you! 3 :o)
xox
Missy