Forsaken In My Mind's Paste

Chapter 47, "Hurricane" ~ 30 Seconds to Mars

Edward's POV

*A/N: As usual, sorry for the delay. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart to those sticking around and spreading the word. I keep getting those story alerts and they make me smile like an idiot.

THEsnapcrakklepop and fmneff are the most amazeballs betas. That is all. Also, I'm super stoked to have an old friend back as a pre-reader. Thank you, Love Of Escapism!

*I do not own Twilight, the characters or the songs. They all own me, however, as does the fuckery you read below. The fuckery below actually is mine. Now, let's read! Oh, yes, the ever crude, but lovable Emmett is back and all the man-banter, so no offense intended, it's all in fun.

*Song links: Hurricane, www . youtube . com /watch?v=mdJDPepGOAM / I Wanna (Sex You Up), www . youtube . com /watch?v=9g8JADUkjwM / Undisclosed Desires, www . youtube . com /watch?v=pIYvKCfqGB4

XXXX

"No matter how many times that you told me you wanted to leave,
No matter how many breaths that you took, you still couldn't breathe,
No matter how many nights that you'd lie wide awake to the sound of the poison rain,
Where did you go? Where did you go? Where did you go?
As days go by, the night's on fire,

Tell me would you kill to save a life? Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn…let it all burn; this hurricane's chasing us all underground,

No matter how many deaths that I die, I will never forget,
No matter how many lies that I live, I will never regret,
There is a fire inside of this heart and a riot about to explode into flames,
Where is your God? Where is your God? Where is your God?

Do you really want…do you really want me? Do you really want me dead or alive to torture for my sins?
Do you really want…do you really want me…do you really want me dead or alive to live a lie?
Tell me would you kill to save a life? Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn…let it all burn; this hurricane's chasing us all underground,

The promises we made were not enough; the prayers that we had prayed were like a drug,
The secrets that we sold were never known; The love we had, the love we had, we had to let it go,
Crash, crash, burn…let it all burn; this hurricane's chasing us all underground,
Do you really want…do you really want me? Do you really want me dead or alive to torture for my sins?
Do you really want…do you really want me…do you really want me dead or alive to live a lie?"

XXXX

"Mm…mm…mm…I wanna seeeeeeeeeex you up!"

Emmett's incessant howling over the flush of the toilet assaulted my ear canals without mercy. This had been going on since I walked in the door, thirty-five minutes ago.

"For the love of God, man!" I yelled. "Please tell me you are not singing washed up boy-band songs from the nineties!" I should've known that would only serve to increase the decibel level of his singing.

"We'll make sweet love all night looooooooooooooooooooong!" He continued to croon, only slightly off key. I groaned. My best fucking friend was lucky he had a decent voice, or else I would have been searching for a scalpel-like tool to surgically remove his vocal cords. The bathroom door slammed and Emmett marched out into the living room, buttoning his jeans and shaking his ass as he kept…fucking…singing. "Feels so right it can't be wroooooooooooooong! Ooooooooooh, baby, I wanna seeeeeeeeeex you up!"

The sound of stomping on the stairs, followed by an irritated sigh told me that Jasper had had quite enough of the serenade as well.

"Jesus H Christ, man, can you shut the hell up already?" the southern gentleman snarled as he rounded the corner, staring at Em incredulously. Emmett stopped singing, indeed, but only to grin at Jazz and flip him the bird affectionately. "Oh that's real nice, dick. Garrett and I are trying to work on a sound check downstairs and we can't even concentrate on the instruments because our ears are fucking bleeding, dude! I mean, seriously, what is up with you singing this bullshit from the Backstreet Boys, or whatever?"

"Actually, Jazz, that would be Color Me Bad," I said dryly.

"And the fact that you know that…scares me, man," Jasper retorted before turning back toward the stairs. "Any time you two wanna join the band…"

"All I wanna doooooooooo is…let you suck on these giant balls, baby!" Em yelled when Jasper was out of sight.

"SHUT…UP!" Jasper yelled back. I heard Garrett's laughter from the basement and had to laugh myself. It felt good. I needed to laugh after stewing all week about the incident at the fucking park.

"Jesus, what crawled up his ass?" Emmett muttered as innocently as always.

"He's cool with me. Must be just you, man," I replied as I leaned back on the sofa, twirling my phone in my hand.

"That's bullshit. I'm as charming as they come and you know it." He wagged his eyebrows at me. "He's just jealous that I'll probably be getting some ass before he will."

"Riiiiiiiight. You're as charming as a caveman, Emmett."

He pursed his lips for a moment before grinning like the idiot he was. "Homo-Erectus." He smirked.

Like I said. "Besides, did you even tell him about Nicci yet?"

"Nope."

"Well then, genius, how's he supposed to be jealous of something he doesn't even know about. Face it. You're an annoying motherfucker."

"Bite me, dick."

"Nah, I'll leave that up to the infant in the cradle you're currently robbing."

There it was again…the shit-eating grin. This motherfucker…

"So, what's up, fuck-nut?" Emmett smirked as he smacked me on the knee with my sheet music he'd so elegantly rolled up. "Still brooding, I see." The sheet music was for a song I had been working on and finally, as of this week, finished. Although I wouldn't normally have thought this, I was glad we were having our final practice today since I was planning on debuting it in less than a week on Open Mic Night. Fucking thing had to be perfect because, yeah, it was for Bella.

"Gimme that…and I'm not brooding." I swiped the sheet music out of his hand and cracked him on the head with it. The asshat I called my best friend had suggested I name the song, 'I wasn't a pussy, but now I am,' as opposed to what I actually named it, but I could've given two shits as to what he thought.

"Yes you are, in fact, brooding, and if you hit me again…I will kill you."

I laughed. Out loud. "Shut the fuck up, dick, and get off of me. What, do you want a kiss or something?" He was hovering over me like he wanted to jump my bones. Shit was creeping me out. He sat down quickly and furrowed his brow, frowning at me.

"You know, I'm getting a little pissed off that everyone seems to think it's alright to tell me to shut up today. And why the fuck do you keep questioning my sexuality, Edwina? I'm not a cock-jockey, asshole! You know what they say…" He fucking smirked again. "Those that accuse are usually the guilty ones."

I choked on my Heineken. "You fucking wish! Who's brooding now? You know what they say about those that get defensive so easily…riding the bologna pony, Em?" I laughed again as Emmett made gagging sounds.

"I'd rather bang your grandma, Doctor dick-licker." I stopped laughing abruptly and glared. "Besides that, I'm tappin' it tonight. Nicci's gonna be riding the McCarty stallion all night long! You feel me?" Again with the brow-wagging.

"Oh God, now I'm gonna be sick," I groaned. He was such a poser, though. Jesus Christ, my son's language was rubbing off on me. He fronted that he was all about 'tapping that ass,' but I saw the way his eyes lit up when he talked about that girl. From what I understood, he had seen her a couple times over the last week; Lance-romancing her with a couple dinners and a movie. Not too long ago, I would've said that the motherfucker wouldn't have known love if it jumped up and bit him in the Johnson, but lately, it seemed he'd definitely been bitten. He was just too much of a Neanderthal to admit it.

"You and Bells are hanging tonight, right?" Ah yes, tonight. Tonight was the "meet and greet," so to speak, we decided to have with the girls before the big band debut at Moonstruck. Although, the only ones who really needed to meet were Jasper and Alice. Jasper wasn't aware that Emmett had been seeing Nicci through the week; he only knew that Em met her with Bella at the coffee shop that day. Fuck, I hated even thinking about that day though, because it sent my blood pressure dangerously high recalling what the douche-whore, Jake, did to my girl. Anyway, that was probably most of why Jazz was on edge today. The poor fucker was a nervous wreck – as he very well should've been – about meeting the little pixie vixen. I was just hoping she didn't eat him alive before they got to know each other.

"Yup," I replied finally. "For a little while at least."

"The fuck, dude? What do you mean a little while?" He huffed and rolled his eyes. "Jesus, you're such a puss these days."

"Hey, get off my nut sack, Emmett. I'd like to spend some alone time with Bella if you don't mind, and besides that I'd rather not watch you drool all over a child…" I shuddered. "Gross."

"Fuck you, she's not a child, she's almost twenty-four! What is with you?" All I could do was laugh and shake my head as he continued to boast about himself. "You never know, I could be the next Hugh Hefner. I mean, I got it goin' on, and I'll have it going on when I'm an old man too. Because I'm not old, of course, so that'll be a long time, but you get what I'm sayin'. Hey, speaking of old man, where's your boy, Daddy-o?"

I glowered at him. My mood having changed abruptly. "A…don't ever call me 'Daddy-o' again. That's fucking weird, man. Secondly, he's supposed to be with his dumb-ass of a mother, but knowing her she's probably pawned him off on someone else so she can either go shopping or fuck her rapist boyfriend." I clenched my jaw and drew in a deep breath. Emmett's mouth fell agape. He shook his head in disgust.

Yeah, that was another fucking problem of mine…the succubus. Besides this shit that was going on with Bella, I had to deal with that idiot not goddamn listening to me. She was about to lose her son if she didn't straighten the hell up, but of course when I dropped him off and tried to explain to her for the umpteenth time…and informed her of the menace at the park attempting to kidnap Bella's daughter, for Christ's sake, all she could focus on was being pissed that I was there, at the park, with Bella. Oh, she didn't have a working brain cell in her head. I swore, if they ever figured out how to transplant the cerebral cortex, that woman would be my first suggestion for a candidate. And yeah, I suspected that waste of oxygen, James, was the culprit at the park, but of course the succubus would hear none of that. She already knew how dangerous I thought…knew…he was. Really, it was hard to combat that kind of stupid.

"Dude, tell me she isn't still doing that sociopath." He shook his head. "Such a waste of a nice piece of ACE." Oh good, now he's channeling Chris Farley.

I quirked an eyebrow at him before I shrugged. "Not that I can prove, but I'm not a fucking moron. Doesn't matter. She lets my threats go in one ear, through her hollow skull and out the other, but once I get a hold of Eleazar and get this paperwork done, she'll know I'm serious. I have a feeling he won't touch my kid, though. It seems the sick fuck is still after Bella…and now, her family." My body shook with rage and my fists clenched just thinking about it.

"You really think it was him at the park? You think he's a potential kidnapper now too?" Emmett asked. The goofiness in his demeanor was gone without a trace; his face displayed the same dark, disturbed expression I was sure mine shown. I shrugged and shook my head.

"I don't know, man. I just…don't know. I mean, the fucker had a ski-mask on, apparently, so she couldn't really tell us what he looked like. But we know he has a connection to Jake and she said he mentioned something about taking her to see her daddy. If it was him, and worse, if Jake put him up to it, even though he swore to Bella he didn't…" I sighed and looked over at Em. "I'm afraid there isn't a limit to what I'll do to either of them."

Emmett nodded once and pursed his lips in thought. "Well, you won't be alone, man."

I knew it had to be that piece of shit, James. It had to be. Based on what Krissy had been able to tell us about the man in the park… Oh, I could've lost my mind just thinking about it, and the fact that it took me almost the entire afternoon to calm Bella down. Not to mention, she'd left a message for Jake and he decided to call back once I'd gotten her calmed down…and then I had to calm her down all over again. It was fucking ridiculous, and somebody was going to pay for this shit.

XXXX

Bella was shaking, uncontrollably trembling as we walked into the Starbucks not far from my parents' house in Lincoln Park. I sat her and the kids in a large booth – well, as large a booth you could get in Starbucks – and went to order the hot cocoas for all of us. She had informed me when I helped her and the twins out of the car that she'd left a message for Jake.

"I can't believe he would have anything to do with this, Edward," she whispered. "I'll… I swear I'll kill him if he did."

I understood that thought process completely, but still, I needed to get her calm for the kids. Immediately upon sitting in the booth, Bella removed the offending Santa Claus sucker from Krissy's hand and shoved it toward me to throw away. When Krissy began to whine about it, I realized Bella was not in any state of mind to explain the rationale of getting rid of the candy that…fuck, for all we knew, could've been poisoned or some shit, so I butted in and told the child that we didn't want to be unfair to the boys, who didn't get any. That we were all going to get hot cocoa, which was fair. She frowned at me and, for a moment, I thought I'd lost her, so I tried out my wink with a smile and – thank the good lord – it worked.

She smiled back at me and said, "Okay, Edwarrrrrrrrrrrd." Man, for some reason, the way that kid said my name just melted my heart. I was in deep shit and I knew it.

Hoping I hadn't overstepped my bounds, I chanced a glance at Bella, but was surprised to see her smiling at me, a little sheepishly, a little sadly. Goddamn. My heart was a fucking goner.

Bella and I began to ask Krissy little questions here and there so as not to alarm her, but to get her talking about the "man in the park." The boys were chattering amongst themselves, not to mention sticking their faces in the foam and whipped cream that topped their cups, and then pointing and laughing at one another saying, "You gotta beard!" Of course, I had to get on Kellan…again…when he boasted that his was "way awesome-er." But despite all that, I was glad they were entertaining themselves and didn't seem to be worrying about this "bad man" we spoke of. Or, were trying to speak of.

Jesus, it was like pulling teeth with this kid. She mainly answered "mm-huh" and "uh-uh" as she focused most of her attention on licking the whipped cream off the top of her own cup. In essence, we had to come up with the questions to get anything out of her…and she barely elaborated. We did finally get out of her that his coat was black, and he had black pants on. When we asked what color his hair was, she shrugged and said, "I dunno." So, of course, our next line of questioning centered on his facial features. But, Bella was way better at this interrogation than I was. Matter of fact, I learned a thing or two I planned to use on my boy at a later date, when I suspected him of lying. Apparently being the mother of twins was like working for the CIA.

"Krissy, did he have a hat on?" Bella asked. When she replied with her standard, "mm-huh," Bella elaborated. "So, that's why you couldn't see his hair?" Krissy nodded. "What about his face? Did he have a brown face, kinda like Daddy's? Or a light face, kinda like Edward's?"

"I dunno," Krissy replied while shrugging, dipping her finger in the cream and then licking it off. Bella sighed.

"What do you mean, you don't know? You talked to him, right?" Krissy nodded. "So, you didn't see his face?" Bella seemed a little flustered, but kept her composure, thank fuck.

"Uh-uh," Krissy shook her head. And then…finally elaborated. "He had a thingy on his face."

(See, this, right here was where my brain did funny things in what I considered a crisis situation. Okay, more like grossly inappropriate and ridiculously gauche in my case, because when she said he had a "thingy" on his face, I thought of a dick. I thought of a skinny, floppy, impotent cock hanging off of this asshole's face. Kind of like a mini Snuffleupagus. Really, if I could've kicked my own ass at that point in the conversation, I so would have. Christ, I needed a drink. Something a hell of a lot stronger than goddamned hot cocoa.)

Come to find out, the "thingy" in question turned out to be a ski mask. Fan-fucking-tastic. I had all but given up hope that we were going to get anywhere with this mini-interrogation session, when the woman I love came up with a question that showed me exactly why she was number-one-mom material. Actually, I was wondering how my highly intelligent doctor brain hadn't come up with such a question, but then I remembered I'd just pictured a cock on this dude's face. Right.

"Baby, did you see his eyes?" Bella asked her. Krissy looked at her mother like she'd grown a second head, and then nodded. "Well, what color were they?" Krissy shrugged. I sighed. I think I may have made a groaning sound and that must have been why Bella shot me a warning glare. "Were they dark like yours and Daddy's?" Krissy shook her head, licking the chocolate foam off of her upper lip. Just like Bella did that day we were at the park together…

Focus, Cullen…Christ!

"Okay, then were they blue like Mommy's or green like Edward's?" Krissy stopped what she was doing and stared into Bella's eyes for what seemed like minutes. She quirked her little eyebrows, and then focused her attention on mine. As she stared intently into my eyes, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. I felt like I was playing a game of chicken – staring contest style – trying not to blink, and I'm pretty sure I started to squirm. Something happened to me, though. This little girl, who I had no ties to other than the unbreakable love I felt for her mother, reached inside me and took hold of my soul. Really, I knew the moment I saw her come out of those woods that there was nothing I wouldn't do for her and Robby, but in this instance of clarity between us, there was absolutely no doubt.

Finally, she let go of my gaze and looked back at her mom. "His eyes wasn't like Edwarrrrrrd's," she said confidently. "They was like yours, mommy, but lighter. Like the sky with no clouds in it." Immediately, she went back to slurping her hot cocoa.

Bella looked at me suddenly with tear-filled eyes. "James," she whispered. I clenched my jaw, trying to keep the venom from seeping out in my tone as I replied to her.

"We don't know that yet. Calm down. But when you get back to Alice's, you need to call Sergeant Hawkins and let her know."

She nodded her head almost mechanically looking away.

"Bella." She looked back up at me. "Don't let this go, okay?" She nodded again.

"Who's James?" Robby, obviously overhearing his mother's whisper, cut in and eyed her curiously.

"Nobody important, baby," Bella replied blandly. He shrugged and went back to motor-boating his hot chocolate…and cracking my son up at the same time.

"Who's Serrrrrrrrrgent Haskins?" Krissy questioned sweetly. Bella sighed audibly and dropped her head to her folded arms on the table.

I chuckled under my breath because, really, what else could I do? "She's a friend of your mommy's. She's a policema—uh, lady," I explained simply.

"Like Sam?" Krissy replied in awed excitement. I clenched my teeth…again.

"Yep, like Sam." Except she actually knows how to do her job, I added in my head. Goddamn, why did these kids have to be so close to people I despised with every ounce of my soul. I had to keep telling myself that if Bella loved me, so would they. It didn't matter that their dad and his other friends and I hated each other, did it?

Bella's phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. After she checked her caller ID, she looked at me, grim-faced, with her mouth in a hard, thin line. She whispered in my ear that it was Jake, and she was going to take it outside. I nodded quickly as she scooted out of the booth.

"Hello?" Her tone was anything but gentle. "Hold on." She turned and cupped the mouth piece with her palm. "You guys be nice to Edward. I'll be right back." She turned her attention back to the phone as she walked away quickly. "Nobody, Jacob!" My mouth fell open a little because damn if he didn't hear her say my name and damn if I didn't feel like a rooster wanting to puff out my chest…like I was cock of the motherfucking walk. Because I felt like I was…until I realized I was left to corral the three manipulative stooges.

Kellan was betting Robby that he couldn't, and I quote, "chug that hot cocoa like a beer." Yeah, he actually said that, 'like a beer.' And he then proceeded to ask Bella's five-year-old son if he knew how you killed zombies. Fuck. Me.

"Kellan…" I groaned. "That's enough, man, come on. He doesn't need to know—"

"I would just karate chop their big fat heads off like this…hi-ya!" Robby retorted, swinging his hand around and, you guessed it, knocking his hot cocoa all over the goddamned table. I groaned again.

"Oh no!" Robby shouted, to which his sister laughed at him and taunted him with her nearly full cup of.

"That was really stuuuuuuuupid, Robby Wil-e-um!"

"Nu-uh, ugly-face! Gimme yours!" he yelled back at her.

"No way, stupid sucker-head!" Krissy shouted back.

"Okay…okay, you two," I tried to interrupt, to no avail of course, because they were already in The Zone. By this time, Kellan was laughing hysterically. I was glaring at him for starting this whole mess, Robby was grabbing at Krissy's cup like a maniac and she was jerking it away from him, on the verge of spilling hers all over the table as well.

"GIVE IT!" Robby screeched. That's when I had to put my foot down. Or more appropriately, my palm on the table.

"Enough!" Six eye stared at me in utter horror, until I took a deep breath, smiled, and announced that if they stopped this bullshit…well, I didn't say 'bullshit'…I would go and get Robby another cup of cocoa. No more karate chopping at the table, and we were drinking like normal people, not chugging them like beers for fuck sake. Of course, then I got hit with Krissy's big brown eyes and suckered into buying the whole table a round of double chocolate chunk cookies. I was so screwed. When Bella returned to the table and I saw the strained look on her gorgeous face, I smiled sheepishly and held my hand out to her. "Cookie?" I asked.

XXXX

Emmett's belly laugh distracted me from the scene I was describing with the three stooges. "Oh dude, you are so in over your fucking head."

I shook said head and glared at him. "I'm fine, dick. And I'm a grown-up, not a very old child like yourself. I can handle it, fuck you very much." He glowered at me before saluting me with his middle finger and a smirk.

"So, how'd her phone call go with the dick-cheese?"

I chuckled humorlessly and shook my head. "She was a fucking mess. I had to try and distract her the rest of the day to keep her calm." Emmett raised his brow and pursed his lips in a silent response. "Not that way, dumbass, the kids were there. Christ, is that all you think about?" He looked at me incredulously. Oh, who the fuck was I kidding. When it came to Bella, sex was pretty much in my frontal lobe at all times as well. "Anyway, Ron Jeremy, once we got the kids in the cars to leave, she said he swore to her he had no idea about this asshole in the park. I don't know all that was said, but Captain Douche clearly upset her even more. I see him, and I'm giving him a good helping of his own fucking teeth."

Emmett looked away and nodded. When he looked back at me, his expression was dark…ominous. "You know you're not the only one with a special set of skills, right? Jasper and I are…" he paused for effect, "talented in a certain way." I looked at him for a beat before nodding once. "That bastard hurts her, or anyone else does for that matter, well let's just say the marine life in Lake Michigan wouldn't miss a meal for quite some time."

"Emmett," I shook my head. "We've had this conversation before and frankly, I'm tired of talking about it. You find anything else out lately?"

He shook his head. "Nada, really. Couple more phone calls between Sociopath and Red-headed whore, but that's it. I'll keep on it, though."

I sighed. "I'm fucking sick of this shit. I mean, really, I just want to beat his fucking ass. And I will, next time he pulls some bullshit. But I've got to think of Bella first. I can't do anything to put her in any more danger, Em. Don't worry, though. When the time comes – and it will because he's too stupid to lay low – I'll save a couple pieces for you and Jazz, if you want."

"You don't get what I'm saying, man." Emmett leaned toward me, darkness still the star of his expression. "We could nip this shit in the bud. Jacob and his cronies disappear, no more danger for Bells or the kids. You don't even need to be involved, Edward. Jazz and me, we know what the fuck to do. No one would ever suspect anything."

I stared at him for a moment until I realized that he was serious as a goddamned heart attack. "You're fucked in the head. You know that, man?" He shrugged. "Settle down, Godfather," I chuckled. "If I need a hit done, I'll let you know." But then my own voice took a menacing turn, so much so that I barely recognized it. "But if he does anything else…he is mine."

"Yo, ladies, we practicing today or what?" Jasper's voice had our heads snapping around quickly. "I mean, what the hell have you guys been doing up here? Making out?" Emmett and I looked at each other and cringed. "Wait a minute…what the hell is going on? What's wrong with you two now?" He sighed. "Jesus, we don't have all day. We have ladies to entertain tonight. We have food to buy, and we need to clean this place up. It's a mess. So quit fucking around!"

"Whoa, man, this is your place, not mine," I told him. "Besides, I can't clean…don't wanna rip my stitches." I patted my calf effectively. Jasper looked at me and rolled his eyes. "And, I'm going to see Kendyll after this, before I pick up Bella." (Yeah, because my mother just couldn't help herself from telling my friends about my 'heroics' last weekend.) "No time. You know what the ladies like to drink more than anyone anyway, right?" He answered me with a sneer. "Right. Well, we're not staying very long tonight, but don't worry, Mrs. Whitlock, I'll bring a side dish." I smirked. His expression responded with a 'fuck you' before he turned to Emmett, who quirked an eyebrow at Jazz.

"Jesus Christ, Whitlock, you're such a woman. Have you checked to see if your dick's still there?" He pointed. "Clean the house and shop for groceries…" he mumbled. "Fuck, you forgot to mention you had to get a manicure and wash your fucking hair. Stop getting your tutu in a twist, man. You're too adorable for Alice not to love."

Jasper stared at him, possibly trying to think of a way to kill him with his mind. He huffed and shook his head as he headed back toward the stairs. "Whatever assholes. Screw you both, but hurry up and getcha asses down here!" When he disappeared, Emmett shoved me hard in the shoulder. I whipped around and shoved him back.

"Fucking asshole!"

"You need to quit being a pussy and stay longer tonight," he said calmly. This motherfucker…

"Em, it's bound to be awkward enough if Garrett and Tanya are here. And I told you, I need some time with her. Call me a pussy; call me a selfish motherfucker, but I need to treat her right tonight. Fucking her in a hospital supply room is not my idea of treating her right." Aaaaaand at that particular moment, I mentally slapped the shit out of myself for opening my mouth and letting the verbal vomit spew. Especially when Emmett's eyes widened like a kid who'd just walked into a floor-to-ceiling candy store.

"Holy shit, you gotta give me access to these places, man! You're my hero right now, Edwina!" He grabbed my face and planted a kiss right on my fucking forehead. I shoved him off of me and shook my head in disgust. "I'm serious, bro. Oh my God, that is so hot!"

"Wow." I smirked. "Nicci's got herself quite a catch."

XXXX

I smiled and waved at the nurses manning the phones and patient calls in ped's as I walked past them toward Kendyll's room. They grinned sheepishly at me and then leaned into one another, whispering conspiratorially. I shook my head and chuckled under my breath, thinking of the smart-ass sexual comments Emmett would make if he were here with me. Regardless of Bella's status, I was no longer the playboy bachelor doctor he was always so proud to exclaim. Speaking of which, when I called Bella to say…other than I missed the hell out of her…I'd be there in a couple hours to pick her up, she told me she was two seconds from jumping in the shower. The shower. That meant she was naked, or almost; either way, I groaned through the phone. She chuckled all low and sultry, and goddamn if I didn't have to adjust my instant, raging hard-on as I drove and talked to her on the phone at the same time. Never a pleasant experience. Not to mention the fact that I nearly drove off the road while on my way to see a little girl who'd lost her parents in a fatal fucking car accident. Fuck me, I was losing it.

The door to room 623 was open and I stood, peering in quietly for a couple moments before entering. Kendyll had been moved here, one floor up from Carlisle's Ortho department, two floors from my L and D department, and four floors from the ICU on the second floor. She'd been moved here exactly two days, thirteen hours and thirty-seven minutes after she'd come in that awful night. Why I kept track of that was beyond me. I just…did.

She was looking apathetically at the TV suspended in the corner of the room, flipping through the channels. Her dinner tray had been cast aside, seemingly untouched and this disturbed me. The child needed to eat, and I had to tell her this on each occasion I visited her. I tried to make time to see her every day, starting with the evening after what ended up being the train-wreck of a play date at the park. The amazing little girl I was staring at had opened up to me little by little each day, but that first night…man, that first night was rough.

I had given myself a headache debating on whether to reach out to her and hold her hand or not. But she'd answered that question for me when she opened her eyes groggily and reached her hand toward me. I took it. Of course I took it and when she smiled, I was done for. I had murmured things to her like she was going to be okay and the doctors and nurses had taken really good care of her…anything she needed, I would be there…that sort of generic talk. Thing was, she brought my stoic façade down in an instant with one simple question.

"Edward?" she said suddenly. Her eyes reflected the seriousness in her young voice. "My mom and dad…they didn't make it, did they?"

When her voice caught and the gasp took the sound out of her last word, I froze. She was just looking at me, hoping I wouldn't break her little heart, her chin visibly quivering, waiting, and I couldn't speak.

"Um…" I whispered in return. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but that bastard wouldn't go down and I couldn't speak. Finally, I squeezed her little hand and shook my head. "No," I mouthed. It was all I could manage to do. I didn't really know what I was expecting her to do…scream? Yell? Tell me I lied to her? Hate me? Fuck, but what I didn't expect was for her to sit there, silently shaking her head as her tears streamed down her cheeks…steady rivers of un-fucking-fair.

"I'm so sorry, Kendyll." I finally found enough of my voice to whisper. As I bit back the emotion that wanted to literally explode out of me, I cursed God again.

The next shocker came when she grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, holding on for dear life. Yeah, I let a fucking tear slip out on that one. Not that she ever saw it. I could never allow her to see me fall apart. The goddamn Achilles Heel was that since that night, she looked at me like I had all the answers. I knew nothing. Not a fucking thing. Sure, I tried to get my hands on her chart every time I came in here to see her, but those girls in the pink scrubs kept that shit locked up like Fort Knox. I'd even considered dazzling them with my mad sex-stare skills, but fuck me if I wouldn't feel like a total asshole doing that.

Hell, my father was no help either. He was so cryptic about her and it pissed me off. He told me her arm was healing normally…ribs and all the other superficial stuff was coming along just fine. Her white blood cell count was elevated, but they were running tests. Tests. I asked what tests and he wouldn't fucking tell me. Because apparently, I wasn't a doctor worthy of knowing anything about his patient. Right, she wasn't his patient anymore anyway, he just followed her recovery. She was in ped's now, but Doctor O'Neal, her pediatrician, wasn't any more forthcoming. Bleh, Lydia O'Neal…had a stick up her ass around me ever since I rejected her advances. I shuddered. Uppity, know-it-all bitch was not my type and never would be.

I continued to watch Kendyll flip through the channels until she stopped abruptly and a familiar, albeit annoying, theme song came on. I smiled to myself. Phineas and Ferb. It was one of Kel's favorite cartoons too, and I watched the right side of her mouth lift into an almost smile. I cataloged her features, committing them to memory since who knew how long she'd be here. Any day she could be shipped off to Florida, once her next of kin was found. Man, she certainly was a beautiful thing. Auburn hair in waves down past her shoulders, delicate little nose that curled up just slightly at the tip. Her upper lip protruded a little more than her lower, like she was nibbling on the bottom one while concentrating on the cartoon. It gave her an adorable, baby-like quality, and her eyes…really there weren't adequate words to describe them.

Suddenly those aqua-colored eyes snapped toward me and lit up. Her smile widened and I felt the sigh of relief rush from my lungs. Not immediately smiling back wasn't an option.

"Doctor Edward!" Her eyes were positively sparkling. She started calling me 'Doctor' Edward once she figured out that I really was a, well, doctor. I loved it though, almost as much as I loved the way her face brightened when I came by. Sadly, I was the only thing that seemed to make her happy. That and the single pink rose I held behind my back. She pushed herself up in the bed a little with her right hand – the poor thing's left arm was thickly casted from shoulder to knuckles, so it wasn't much for mobility. "I'm so glad you came by!"

I rolled my eyes playfully and grinned. "Like I had anything better to do than to come see you, gorgeous."

Her grin widened and she pointed her little finger at me. "You look especially nice tonight. Gotta date?"

"Maybe, but I found this along the way and just had to give it to a very special little girl who's just as beautiful as my date." I pulled the rose out from behind my back and presented it to her, bowing dramatically. "Mademoiselle." She took it from me and put it to her little nose.

"Merci, Monsieur," she thanked me in French. It was kind of our little thing we did. In one of our many conversations over the past few days, I had asked her about her middle name, Michela, pronounced Mi-Kay-La, but spelled oddly. She told me her mom's side of the family had French lineage and that her dad's middle name was Michael, which apparently meant 'gift from God.' Her mom had always told her she was their 'gift' and thus, her middle name was the female equivalent of Michael…only spelled the French way. She was quite articulate, this one. "Can you put it in the vase with the rest of them?"

I nodded and slipped it in with the six other pink roses I brought for her…one for each of my visits. I pulled a chair close to her bed and sat down, inconspicuously checking her monitors.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little better." She nodded, but then grimaced. "But my tummy's been hurting a little."

I frowned. "You know, my little boy likes this show too," I said, changing the subject and nodding toward the TV.

She shrugged. "It's okay. Your little boy comes here sometimes, right?" I nodded. "To see his Grandpa, Doctor Carlisle, right?" I nodded again. "And Doctor Carlisle is your dad?" I nodded a third time. I hated getting into these conversations about family with her…for obvious reasons. When she'd asked me on one occasion what was going to happen to her, I had no answer. She already told me she didn't have any grandparents, but didn't elaborate on any other family. I really fucking hated not being able to tell her what she needed to hear. "You think I could meet your little boy sometime?" she asked. I didn't even have to think about my answer, it was an absolute yes. This poor little girl could use as many friends as she could get right now.

We talked for quite a while. She asked about my 'date' and I told her about Bella. She said she sounded really nice and really pretty. She wanted to meet her too, and I had to agree whole-heartedly. It was just that my girl was so busy dealing with the bullshit in her life; she couldn't find the time to get here with me. I was hoping Bella would be able to meet Kendyll before a family member was located to take her in. Christ, it sounded like she was some lost pet, waiting to be claimed by her owner. Fucking depressing.

Right before I reluctantly left her, Kendyll tapped the side of her cheek with her tiny forefinger.

"Lay it on me," she said with a cheesy smile, and I did just that, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek. She snaked her free arm around my neck and gave me a squeeze before sending me off to get my love.

Not surprisingly, I ran into my father on the way out. He looked at me with a hint of chagrin, no doubt still feeling badly about the bullshit he pulled in front of Esme regarding Bella and me, but I didn't have time for a goddamned therapy session. Or maybe he was annoyed that I hadn't made it back to work yet. Whatever, it wasn't any of his concern. My life, not his…I was a grown man now and all of that shit.

"Edward." He nodded in acknowledgment. I returned the gesture. "Come by to see Miss Tanner?"

I rolled my eyes. "Her name is Kendyll, Dad, and she's ten, not thirty. You don't have to be so formal." His fucking aloofness sometimes just irritated the shit out of me. "But yes, I did come to see her. I'd love to know how she's doing, but…" I trailed off, letting him catch the hint.

He sighed and scrubbed his face with his palms. "Edward, you know the policy…if she's not your patient, I can't—"

"Yeah, I got it," I barked, turning to walk away. But then I turned back to him. "But you could at least let me know when she's leaving. When I won't be able to see her anymore? Any word on next of kin?"

He shook his head. "Admin is still working on it. No living grandparents have been located, and, it seems that both of her parents were only children. The office is trying to contact Child Protective Services in Florida, as well as the FDLE to see if there's been any legal documents filed by the parents granting anyone custody in this situation. Terrible situation." He shook his head again and looked past me toward her room.

Wow, no grandparents and no aunts or uncles on either side. What were the odds of that? Jesus, this poor girl and her fucked up luck.

XXXX

"Holy shit!"

"What?" Bella looked at me like I was completely insane. Meanwhile, my eyes were raking over her with lust unabashed. I wanted to reach down and adjust myself, but decided that might've been a little crass. She looked unbelievable. Her right arm – previously imprisoned in a bulky cast – was free and delicate, matching her left in this plaid-looking, long sleeved shirt that bunched up tight around her torso, but was low-cut and loose at the top, showing off the subtle, gentle curve of her breasts. Her hair was down in loose waves, framing her beautiful face and flowing over her shoulders. The jeans…oh fuck, the jeans were black and tight…so tight, it looked like she poured herself into them. They were low-cut, a little bit of her creamy skin showing between her shirt and her waistband, and had three buttons that I could not wait to undo later. Jesus Christ, her ass looked so good; I was having trouble keeping my thoughts in order. As if that wasn't enough, she had on these studded, ankle boot-things with stiletto heels.

Fuck. Me.

"Those jeans…those jeans are…you look…" I stammered.

"Like what you see, Doctor?" she murmured with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Get over here. Right now," I demanded, licking my lips. I wasn't sure we were going to make it to Jazz's. At this rate, I was going to pick her up and take her straight to the first bedroom we stumbled across. She walked over to me…slowly…too slowly with a sly grin. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, palming her ass with a groan. "You look incredible," I whispered in her ear. "God, I've missed you so much this week."

She kissed me on my neck, which sent a message directly to my dick to go ahead and strain on my fly a little harder. "You look pretty amazing yourself, and I've missed you too." What she did next was press herself into my raging erection, which made me hiss entirely too loudly. She pulled away a little when – I assumed – Alice came bounding around the corner. I wouldn't have known…I wasn't able to tear my eyes away from the woman against me.

"Good God! I would say get a room, but considering the last time I said that…"

I ignored her smart ass and actually squeezed Bella's again to spite her.

"You like my sister's outfit, Edward?" she chirped.

"Something like that."

"My design," she sing-songed. "What about mine?" I was too busy fusing my lips to Bella's ear lobe and listening to her breathing increase to answer the hyper one. "Edward?"

"You look great, Tink," I murmured finally.

"You're not even looking at me." I could hear the pout in her tone. "Hey, this is important! I have to make sure I look good for Jasper. Edward, come on!"

"Fuck," I muttered before pulling away and lifting my head toward Alice. I looked at her briefly, scanned the outfit in question, and went to return to my oral activities with Bella, but snapped my head back to Alice with an embarrassing gasp. "Christ, are you trying to give him a heart attack tonight Alice?" My guess was yes. This girl had on a long blouse – just about to the tops of her thighs – some kind of see-through material with black leaves or something all over it. It covered her, essentially, but you could still see a lot of skin through it. Did I mention it was low cut in the front? And by low-cut, I mean extremely fucking low-cut, but that wasn't even the best part of the outfit. Her pants were black leather…skin-fucking-tight and tucked into some black knee-high, high-heeled boots.

Jasper was officially going to jizz himself before he even got a chance to say, 'Hello Ma'am,' in his southern-gentlemanly way, of course. She still didn't look as smoking hot as Bella did to me, but let's face it. She looked fucking ridiculously hot.

Alice grinned wickedly. "Too much?" I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the black leather leggings – or whatever the hell they were called – until Bella pinched the shit out of my side.

"Ow! Fuck…ing…hell that…felt good, baby," I said, grinning sheepishly as I took in Bella's raised eyebrow and burning gaze. She rolled her eyes at me and giggled. "Uh, n—no, not too much," I lied as I glanced back at Alice. "Just…take it easy on him, okay? Don't say anything overly sexual to him in the beginning, because I can guarantee if you do? Looking like that? He's gonna pass right the fuck out.

Her smile nearly split her face as she bounced a little and clapped her hands, right before she turned and strutted back down the hall, saying something to the effect of, "Oh, I'll be easy alright." I abruptly turned back to my baby and attacked her jaw. She gasped, just like I liked it.

"If you love me at all, promise me you'll borrow those pants and/or boots from your sister sometime. Please…for the love of all that is holy." She pulled back, smacked me on the shoulder and rolled her eyes again.

Alice caught a ride with us to Jasper's, but when I informed her that we didn't plan on staying very long, which thankfully earned me a hint of a satisfied smirk from Bella, she countered with a noise that stated the obvious. No problem whatsoever. I knew how it would end up. She would likely catch a ride from Jazz…or he from her. Pun definitely fucking intended.

Bella was eerily quiet, so I reached over and rubbed her thigh gently. "You okay, baby?"

"Yeah," she replied. But then after another moment silence, she drew in a breath. "Are, um, Garrett and Tanya going to be there?"

Shit. I knew she was still going to be weird about that, so I gave her thigh a little squeeze. "They might be. Will you…I mean, be okay with that?" I didn't know what else to say and I knew better than to go into a spiel about how she was the only one for me and didn't have anything to worry about, yada, yada. She nodded silently, but then a sarcastic snort came from the back seat.

"Well, that should be interesting."

"Alice…" Bella warned. She looked at me reassuringly and nodded again. "I'm fine, really, it'll be fine." Sure it would.

XXXX

Jasper shocked the hell out of me when we got there. He looked almost as sharp as I did in his basic white button-up shirt, dark-washed button flies and cowboy boots. Motherfucker cleaned up pretty well, if I was being honest. There was no hint of the stressed out, balls-in-a-twist attitude he had from earlier in the day, as he was all confidence and debonair as he greeted Alice with a genuine smile and flattering compliments. I did want to vomit in my mouth a little bit when he took her hand and planted a very gentlemanly kiss on the back of it. She giggled and flushed like a ten-year-old meeting Justin Bieber, and then literally fluttered her eyelashes at him. I was trying desperately to hold back my smart-ass remarks as well as my laughter, and Bella had her hand cupped over her mouth, giggling.

"Well, it took you long enough to come to your senses and ask me out – so to speak, Mr. Whitlock. And I have to warn you, if you keep this up, you might just be stuck with me," she flirted.

"My apologies, Ma'am," he drawled. "And I assure you, my intentions are just that. It would be my honor to be stuck with you, Miss Swan."

Oh Christ, where was I? In a Harlequin novel? Did I act like that with Bella? As a matter of fact, you do…your balls no longer belong to you, my friend. Always lovely when my own inner voice was calling me a pussy-whipped bitch. Yeah, I was completely.

"Get a room, Tink," I teased. The pixie vixen shot daggers at me. Bella peeled her sister off of Jazz long enough to give him a hug and tell him how nice it was to see him again. He squeezed her back and gave me a wink…that I eventually came to realize was just him saying 'atta boy' to me, but at the time, I wanted to grab him by the balls and turn him back to the direction of Alice. I was still considering anger management, of course.

The girls scuttled off to, no doubt, giggle about their very sexy men as well as pop open the wine that Mr. Hopeless Romantic went and bought for them…oh right, for himself too…and I grabbed a beer. The four of us chit-chatted for a while…well, Jasper and Alice traded googlie eyes, and Bella and I beamed like proud parents when we weren't stealing little nuzzles and kisses of our own. I kept expecting Alice to groan and mumble something about a room as always, but her eyes had seen the glory…in the form of Jasper Whitlock…and that was where they stayed.

Oh God, we'd probably have to double-date all the time now, wouldn't we? Fuck. Me.

I was just about to ask where the hell everybody else was, when it sounded like a bomb went off at the front door. I was in mid-pull of my fucking beer and jumped. The shit went all over my chin and dripped down my neck. I was pissed, and I knew exactly who I was pissed at.

"Jesus! What the…" Alice exclaimed

"Hell?" Bella finished her sister's thought.

Fucking Emmett.

He came bounding through the door with a rolling cooler in one hand, and his other curled around the shoulder of a stunning girl. She was fairly tall with very long legs and long, straight brown hair along with a beautiful face. Yeah, I had to hand it to Em. He was right. And the way she was looking at him, the fucker was definitely going to be tapping that later on.

"Put away your vaginas, ladies, I'm taken!" Emmett bellowed. "Besides, I'd hate to have to beat up your men in front of you…because you were ogling me." He dropped the handle of the cooler and stroked his own pecs. This motherfucker…

"Oh good grief," Alice sneered. She turned to Bella and jabbed her thumb in Em's direction. "Is this cat for real?"

"Rawr," Emmett replied with a sly grin in Alice's direction. "Alice Swan! Daaaaaaaaaaamn, girl! Looking sexy after all these years…" He paused a beat for effect. "And so are you." The girl his arm was draped around smacked him in the six-pack, hard. Yeah, I decided I liked her at that moment. He doubled over a little bit, chuckling. "Aw, not nearly as sexy as you, baby girl," he cooed before kissing her on the cheek.

Someone, I wasn't exactly sure who, mumbled something about "Baby girl" and "wasn't that just about right." Judging from the glare he tossed in Jazz's direction, I figured it was him…feeling ten-foot-tall and bullet proof with Alice on his arm. Oh well, I couldn't fucking help it. I chuckled. Pretty loudly, matter of fact, but the real belly-laughing ensued after Alice got another jab in.

"Don't you worry about it, honey," she addressed Nicci. "His narcissism will wear off after a while. It's completely unappealing to everyone else here." Emmett frowned as the room erupted, but Nicci was quick to whisper something in his ear that made him grin from that one to the other one shamelessly. I shook my head with a smile. Fucker looked happy…and I was happy for him.

Bella introduced Nicci and I, and the girl wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me like she'd known me forever. Bella stiffened next to me, but lightened up when I put her coworker at arms-length. Although I had to admit, I liked my girl a little jealous. Rooster…chest feathers puffed out and all that shit. I would've said it was a pleasure speaking to Nicci, however I didn't really speak. Couldn't get a fucking word in edgewise because this girl did not shut up. Ever. I finally walked away from her after I quit listening to some story about her parents' vacations in France…although that made me think of Kendyll again…and went to join the boys. Soon after, I noticed Garrett and Tanya walk in the door.

I made my way back over to Bella because the goddamn tension in the room was thick enough to smother a person, and stuck by her for a while.

"I'm fine, Edward," she hissed under her breath. "I don't need a fucking bodyguard; now go hang with your friends." I finally walked off after eyeing her warily and earning an eye-roll, a huff and a little shove. The spunkiness coming from her went straight to my dick, of course, so I whispered in her ear that as soon as she was ready to go, we were too.

"I mean me…I am…ready to go when, whenever you are," I stated sheepishly. I kept a close eye on her hoping there wouldn't be any claws unleashed and fur flying at Jazz's house tonight, and when Tanya approached her and seemed to try and strike up some sort of conversation, I felt a twinge of panic. Bella nodded her head to something, and then followed Tanya down the stairs to the basement, waving off her sister, who tried to tag along. Damn, I loved Tink; she was just as overprotective as I was. I listened intently for sounds of shouting or things crashing, but heard none of that and, moments later, they reemerged giggling and talking animatedly.

I'll be damned.

I stole my girl away after watching her mingle with her sister, Tanya and Nicci, and sat her fine ass right on my lap on the sofa. My lips found her neck and I held back the tongue lashing I wanted to give her, settling instead for nuzzling and murmuring sexy things in her ear. Her little mewling sounds were sending my raging hard on into a frenzy and I was about two fucking seconds away from ditching the idea of driving back to my place and just finding a spare room to go to town in. I was forced to calm myself – and yeah, I pouted a little bit – when she pulled away from me to answer Alice, who was trying to get her attention.

"Would you look at that idiot," Alice said pointing to Emmett. He, of course, was standing in the kitchen with Nicci – who was giggling incessantly – acting like a fucking frat boy and showing her how he could slam fourteen beers at a time. Okay, it wasn't fourteen, but literally, the fucker slammed like four beers in a row. Bella shook her head with a snort.

"Jesus Christ, McCarty! You're not in college anymore. Give it up!"

He smashed the last can, belched loudly, and patted his abs proudly. "Yeah, but I still got it, Bells!" he shouted back before excusing himself to the bathroom. Actually, he said, "Damn it, now I gotta piss like a Russian racehorse!" Nicci laughed and sauntered over to the group to gush about her man, apparently. I was really just ready to go. Moments later, he came out, zipping his pants and grinning like the Cheshire cat. Why that motherfucker couldn't zip his pants up before he exited the fucking bathroom was beyond me.

"What are you over here talking about, gorgeous?" He swept Nicci up off her feet and twirled her around as she squealed. "How much you love the way I stir the macaroni?" He wagged his eyebrows as there was a collective groan and various shouts of "Gross!" from around the room.

"Oh my God, Emmett! Shut the fuck up!" Nicci shrieked and slapped his arm. For some reason, I was thoroughly impressed that the girl knew what he was referring to.

"What? What the hell did I say?" he asked, all innocent and shit. Right. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Jasper, who was glaring at Emmett like he wanted to burn him alive with his super laser powers. I couldn't help but throw my head back and laugh loudly. It was time to go, though. I was not sticking around to see how this whole scenario played out. Jasper was definitely not a happy camper, judging by the look on his face, that Emmett was getting any kind of action before him.

As Bella and I made our way to the door, I clapped Em on the shoulder. "You are, just, wow…really smooth," I said with a smirk. He shrugged me off and picked Bella up to crush her in a giant bear hug. This earned him a menacing glare from me. As he set her down, he put his fat lips on her cheek and kissed her…just to piss me off. Then he turned to me and smirked.

"Whatever, dick. Way to puss out like I thought you would."

"Gotta have time with my girl, big man." I clapped him on the shoulder again as we got the fuck out of dodge.

XXXX

"Oh…Jesus…Edward," she moaned as I slammed her against the door inside my apartment and went to work on her collarbone. She wrapped her long, amazing legs around my waist and my hips surged forward of their own accord. My cock was like a heat-seeking missile, throbbing as it found its target through the thin material of those tight-as-fuck jeans.

"Where are the kids?" I groaned as my lips made their way slowly up the creamy skin of her neck, stopping at her pulse point to feel the erratic beat of her heart.

"Wh—what? Why are you asking about my kids right now, Edward, it's…weird."

"I just want to know how long I've got with you," I murmured as I sucked her earlobe between my lips. Sweet Jesus she smelled magnificent. It was killing me and my cock was screaming something about entrapment.

"A—Angela's…spending the night…oh God," she moaned again as I thrust against her heated center. Although my body was screaming in protest, I abruptly pulled back and looked at her.

"Not at Charlie's?"

She groaned again in frustration. "And now you're bringing up my, my dad? Seriously?"

Yeah, seriously? What the fuck, man? The one-eyed snake in my pants agreed with her whole-heartedly.

"I'm just curious. Isn't Charlie your go-to sitter? Besides, I thought Captain Douche was keeping them on the weekends."

"Not always…on both accounts," she countered. "Why do you care, anyway?" She ground herself into me, biting that goddamned lip. Oh…so fucking good. But something was off. I could tell she wasn't telling me something, so I stood still…cock screaming, hips wanting to thrust, jaw clenched because of it, with a quirked eyebrow. "She, um, she asked for them…you know, wanting to get some practice for when the baby comes." Wrong answer. I remained still. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, fine! Jake's working late, so he couldn't take them. He'll have them tomorrow and…and I didn't want to lie to Charlie anymore about what I was doing. Apparently, he can tell I'm a big fat liar these days." As she slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from divulging any more info, I raised my eyebrows because yeah…what the fuck?

"How so?"I asked tightly.

"Edward," she groaned, trying to move her hips some more. "Come on!"

I shook my head. "Spill. It."

Oh, and spill she did. Not only did she tell me that Charlie had found out I was at her house the Friday after Thanksgiving, but exactly how he found out. He ran my motherfucking license plates.

God…damn.

My cock actually deflated a little at this fantastic piece of news, and I set her down on her feet. She started to protest…telling me that it was okay now. Right. How the fuck was it okay now? It wasn't even close to being okay because I couldn't seem to get the idea of Charlie confronting her out of my mind and God only knew what all he said. I couldn't believe it, but then again, yeah, I fucking could. Chief Swan was no dummy. I just couldn't stand that she had to go through that confrontation with him about…of all things…me. For Christ's sake, if that man ever saw me again, I was sure I'd be eating lead. Fuck.

She protested my hesitation, and protested and protested. I paced, and paced, and paced some more, cursing under my breath. I mean, yeah, my dad had found out my feelings for Bella, but her situation was a little different than mine. She wasn't the home-wrecker extraordinaire, I was, and something about her father, the Chief of Police of where-the-fuck-ever, finding out did not sit well with me. Ah…fuck me! Her frustrated shriek finally halted my mental ramblings.

"Edward would you stop fucking pacing!" I did just that and turned to her. She was visibly pissed off. Angry, sexual frustration rolling off her in waves, and the angry part didn't make it a good thing. "How many times do I need to remind you that I'm a grown goddamn woman? So chill out! He doesn't hate you…" she shuddered slightly. "Anymore." Something finally clicked in my brain. The 'grown-woman declaration' reverberating from a past, but recent fight made me realize that she was serious and that she wasn't going to let this stand in the way of us…so why the fuck was I?

"Okay…" I walked toward her slowly, nodding, whispering. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she murmured in response, her eyes fixated on my mouth. That's right, I thought. "But he…he did say if you hurt me…or, or my…my kids, he would…"

"What?" I cocked my head to the side, my own eyes fixated on her plump lips. "What would he do?"

"Kill you…" she gasped as I crashed my lips into hers, pouting adorably as I pulled away abruptly.

"Anything else?" I asked with a half-smile. My dick was in full salute once again.

She nodded. "If you, um, look at me cross-eyed… He said that." I went in for another kiss but she held her finger up, halting me. "And he doesn't know the…extent of our relationship just yet, so…"

"So…" I trailed off. "If I did this, would he be angry?" I took her hand, stroking her knuckle gently with my thumb and clasped her fingers in mine. She shook her head no quickly, eyes flaming. "What about this?" I ghosted my fingertips up her arm, through the sleeve of her shirt, up to the delicate skin of her throat, where her pulse was quickening, and tucked her thick hair behind her ear. She shook her head again and mouthed 'No,' but no sound came out. "What if I did this? Would he kill me if I did this?" I cradled the left side of her jaw with my palm and tipped her head to the side as I leaned into her exposed neck. She gasped again as I stroked her skin with my nose, drawing a line up to her opposite jaw, and then to her ear.

"Shit," she whimpered as I exhaled onto it softly and caressed my lips over to her cheek, kissing her there.

"Shit," I whispered in her ear, "is not the answer to my question, Bella."

"Um, n—no, he wouldn't…um, kill you for…for that," she stammered. I smiled. Almost victorious, almost, but not quite yet.

"What about this?" I moved my hands down her sides quickly and around to her supple ass, palming it and squeezing ever so slightly.

She sighed…all erotic and sexy and fuck if my dick didn't leap in my jeans. "M—maybe a little angry," she whispered.

"And this?" I moved my palms back up; letting one linger near her rib cage, I continued the other one up to the nape of her neck and gently gripped a handful of her hair. She gasped again as I tilted her head to the side and attacked her jaw and that little place under her ear…licking, then sucking and pulling her ivory skin between my teeth. My other hand, the one near her ribs, moved quickly up to palm her breast. When I brushed my thumb languidly over her pebbled nipple, her moan nearly had me coming right the fuck in my Levi's.

"Oh yes, he would be…God, very angry…very angry…Edward, please." That was all it took. What Chief Swan didn't know, didn't fucking hurt him…or me, for that matter.

"Good, because if he ever finds out about what I'm about do next…he's really going to kill me." I palmed her ass again, lifted her and, as she wrapped those magnificent legs around my body, I ground into her once for good measure, taking her straight to my bed.

When I finally had her laid out below me…both of us good and goddamned naked…I sat up and just stared at her. Jesus Christ, she was just the most unequivocally beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. From her chestnut hair, sprawled around her like a halo against my stark white pillow cases, her flawless ivory skin, her flushed cheeks and swollen lips – which made me want to grunt in satisfaction at what I'd done to her – to her perfectly round breasts and tight little nipples, just begging me to lick and suck on them. Her creamy skin stretched over her flat abdomen and the gentle curve of her hips had me groaning and biting my lip hard. Not to mention, those long, amazing legs spread wide to accommodate me, and her pink, glistening sex, more than ready for me, nearly sent me over the fucking edge without her so much as touching me. Touching…Oh God, the thought that abruptly ran through my mind had my cock weeping from the tip. I stroked it once as I looked at her to try and ease the pressure, but it didn't help, so I bit the fuck out of my lip again. Her face flushed even deeper and she began to squirm a little.

"What?" she asked, looking bashful and gorgeous, making a move to cover herself.

"No, don't," I said quickly. "It's just you…" I shook my head and sighed. "You're the most amazing…most beautiful woman, and I love you so, so much." I saw her eyes glaze over with unshed tears and had to nip that in the bud. We didn't need any of that right now. "Would you do something for me?"

"I…I love you too, Edward, so much, and yes, anything."

I licked my lips, anticipation buzzing in my veins. "Touch yourself, baby," I murmured. Shock registered on her face, but her expression soon clouded over with lust.

"I'd rather touch you," she said as she reached up and wrapped the slender fingers of her right hand around my aching shaft. I threw my head back with a growl that reverberated through my chest and grabbed her hand. Bringing it up to my lips, I sucked her fore and middle fingers into my mouth slowly, deeply. She moaned and writhed under me as I kissed the tip of them and put them to her own mouth. She sucked them in without question as I held her hand and slowly pulled them back out, gliding them over her chin, down her throat, in the sweet valley between her breasts and lower…inching toward her navel and below. Her breath quickened with each inch, but she never took her eyes off of mine.

Only when her fingers reached where I needed them most, did her eyes leave mine and they rolled back in her head. Her back arched off the bed and she let out a soft, whimpering cry. Her taut nipples were just too inviting and I had to bend over and take one into my mouth. Her hand jerked up from her center as she moaned loudly, so I gave her tightened skin one last lick before moving quickly to her ear.

"No, baby, keep going…please."

I was thanking God, little baby Jesus, Buddha, whoever-the-fuck as she returned her fingers to my happy place and continued. I just watched, probably with my mouth hanging open, drool threatening to spill over, at the pleasure on her face, the ministrations of her fingers getting quicker and quicker. My dick got my attention as I observed her, and I couldn't help myself but reach down and stroke it repeatedly. My hips were surging, the familiar tightening in my balls telling me I was driving myself to the brink, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her…her mouth opened slightly, eyes closed in a euphoric fog, movements becoming more erratic. She was getting close. My baby was getting herself off and letting me watch at the same time. It was so fucking amazing, I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or explode right then and there.

I slowly traced the smooth skin of Bella's thigh. With the fingers of my left hand, I traced down to her knee and gently pushed it open wider, then caressed back up until I reached just below where she was working herself. I teased her entrance, making her whisper my name and 'yes' and a few other incoherent things. I slipped two fingers into her and pumped in and out…in…out.

"Oh God, Edward…Edward, ahhh, oh God, don't…don't stop, Edward…Edward," she chanted my name like a mantra…music to my motherfucking ears. And, just as she began to unravel, I brushed her hand out of the way and took over with my mouth. The sensation of her coming undone on my tongue sent an electric shockwave careening through my body, straight to the massive ache between my thighs. But before I would let myself go, I kissed her from head to toe, not missing a single square inch, and then made love to her…over and over again, until we were both a collapsed heap of panting, sweaty flesh.

After a while, she seemed amiss, lost in her thoughts, and I wanted to know what was on her mind, so I asked her. She replied that she just wanted to get things with Jake over with, and the time of year wasn't helping. She explained that she needed to focus on the kids…Christmas shopping…birthday party planning and shopping, since that was coming at the end of the month, and that she was nothing short of overwhelmed. I wrapped her in my arms and murmured lovely things in her ear, but after she excused herself to the bathroom to get cleaned up, I got an idea. I rummaged through my clothes in a heap on the floor and found my phone. Dialing cautiously, I checked the en suite bathroom door to make sure she wasn't coming out.

"Hey…Alice, it's Edward. Yeah, I know it's late, sorry…no, she's fine. Really she's fine…I promise, Jesus. Okay, sorry to interrupt…no, I was just thinking about something, and…I need your help…"

XXXX

We. Fucking. Killed. It. Absolutely, positively played our asses off and it felt…yeah, it felt fucking amazing. Apparently, we had some fans left over from our days of playing way back when, but the younger generation seemed to embrace us as well. The club had been great, allowing us to play more songs than normal, nobody bands but because we'd been around before, we'd gotten the star treatment.

I had to admit, before we went on – actually all fucking day long – I had a bad feeling. I felt like something was casting a dark shadow over what was supposed to be our night. I wasn't sure if it had to do with Bella, or just nerves eating away at my insides, but it was damn near crippling. Maybe I was afraid she wasn't going to show? I wasn't sure.

Oh, but show she did along with her sister, Tanya, Nicci, and a whole lot of not-much-going on in the way of clothes. Fuck me, she looked ridiculous in the way-too-short, long-sleeved, black dress…and I'll be goddamned if she didn't borrow those thigh-high boots from her sister. Thank you, Tink! Did I mention the pluuuuuuunging neckline on this thing? Holy fucking shit. I literally couldn't function for a few minutes when I saw her, and she pulled the 'what?' again like something was wrong. My brain took the exit ramp right the fuck out of my head, but luckily I had another head more than willing to think for me. When I finally got my motor skills back, I marched her ass straight into the bathroom, locked the fucking door and took care of some business, which my dick and – as it turned out – my girl were happy to conduct. I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to refrain from murdering assholes with wandering eyes for the rest of the night.

I kept my eyes trained on her the entire time I was on that stage. I couldn't look away. The expression on her face when I sang the song I wrote for her and the tears I saw on her cheeks, glimmering in the club lights, were almost too much for my heart. But it was worth it. So worth it, because afterword we found ourselves on the dance floor. Her perfect ass grinding up against my aching hard-on to the beat of Muse's Undisclosed Desires. Perfect song…perfect moment…perfect goddamned night. And a tease to what would be happening later on.

I had my eyes closed just feeling her move against me, torturing me. I was just about to lean down and whisper in her ear that it was time to call it a night when I felt her body move away from mine. The pressure her backside had been putting on my crotch was suddenly replaced with air and my eyes popped open. I couldn't see her. What the hell? She was just right the fuck in front of me…where the fuck did she go?

The next thing I saw was a flash of red hair…and a face that I never thought – was hoping – I would never ever see again. Her hands went to my shoulders, her face right in front of me, and I was stunned into a goddamned stupor.

"Well, if it isn't the sexiest doctor in town," she slurred. Her breath reeked of cheap tequila and I recoiled, my brain finally catching up and snapping to attention. "How've you been, baby?"

"What the fuck…are you doing here, Victoria? Where's Bella?" I tried looking around her, but all I could see were gyrating bodies. She followed my movements to the point that I felt like I was in a motherfucking boxing ring, bobbing and weaving.

"Who?" she asked with a sly smile.

"You know exactly who, and get your fucking hands off me!"

"Aw, come on, baby. Dance with me for old time's sake." Her bright red pout made me sick to my stomach. I wrapped my fingers around her wrists and gripped hard. She gasped, because yeah, I meant for that shit to hurt, and I shoved her own arms into the boob-job she'd obviously gotten done since I saw her last.

"I said get…the fuck…away from me!" I barely recognized my own voice as I pushed her back and watched her stumble before about-facing and shoving my way through the crowd. "Bella!" I yelled to no avail. I had no idea where she went, but Victoria showing up was no goddamned coincidence. I had to get to her. "Fuck! Bella!"

"Edward!" It wasn't the voice I was hoping to hear, but my head snapped in the direction of Emmett's bellow. He caught up to me, palming a bottle of Bud. "Yo, man, Nicci just said—"

"Fucking Victoria's here, Emmett," I interrupted, only half composed. "She just tried to maul me on the motherfucking dance floor!"

"Oh shit…" he ran his free hand over his head. "So is Jake, man."

Come again?

"Wait…what the fuck did you just say?" My jaw tightened of its own volition, and my fists clenched so tightly, I thought I might crack the bones in my own hand.

"Nicci said she just saw Bella being man-handled by some big dark-haired guy. I asked her if it was the same guy we saw at the coffee shop and she said she thinks so. Dude, it's fucking Jake." He spoke quickly, his eyebrows scrambling to the top of his forehead as he saw the change in my expression from concern to murderous rage.

"Where?" My tone was cold, calculating. I felt like my skin was going to start bubbling up any second from the fury pumping through my veins.

"Toward the back exit," he answered excitedly. I knew what he was jonesing for; exactly the same thing I was and the shit was going down tonight. Witnesses, no witnesses…I didn't give a fuck. I was ending this motherfucker.

"Go tell Jazz and Gar what's up. Make sure the other girls are okay. I'm going the fuck over there right now."

"We doin' this tonight, man?" Emmett's eyes danced with anticipation. I nodded once, my chest rumbling. And out of the corner of my eye, I caught the flash of red goddamned hair again, talking to some Goliath-looking dude near the dance floor I'd just come off.

"I'm doing this right fucking now," I growled out the words, jerking my head toward Victoria and motherfucking Goliath. "You keep an eye on that overgrown bouncer that bitch is talking to."

"The one that's eyeing you, aaaaaaaand now starting to walk this way?"

"That'd be the one."

"On it. Ima go get everyone…and then we'll be right behind you, bro."

"Whatever," I spat over my shoulder as I stalked toward the exit. After what felt like a mile, they came into view, and the rage I felt at merely hearing that he was trying to take her was nothing compared to what I felt when I actually saw it. They stopped, close to the pool tables and the dart boards and were visibly arguing. I had a clear view of their profiles, and my baby was in a flat-out rant…pushing against his pecs, her head bobbing this way and that as she verbally let him have it. But this asshole….oh, this motherfucking asshole was trying to grab her, reaching for her hands as she batted him away.

That was when I honed in on my target…and took off at a dead run.

XXXX

Chapter end notes: Oh shit! I know. It's about time, right? Don't kill me for stopping here. This bitch was too long as it was. And you all know what a cliffy h00r I am. *shrugs* I'm working on the next one right now, so I'm not making any promises. I hope to have it to you soon. But… It's going to be different and not what you expect. It is a necessary evil, however, as my lovely beta points out. The good news is, it will probably be a lot shorter than this one!

Those of you who know what Emmett meant by "stir the macaroni" score some awesomeness points with me. If you don't…go and make a pot of Mac and cheese. When you're stirring it up with the cheese in it, think about what it sounds like! *snickers* Oh that Emmett!

Alright, so that review button's waiting. Do you think Carlisle's really being secretive about Kendyll's info because of hospital policy? Or is it something else?

Hope everyone had a fang-tastic Halloween! I can't believe it's November already and I've literally been writing this monster for almost 2 years. Yikes. My goal is to have it completed by the end of the year. Will I make it? That's the million dollar question. Thanks so much to all of you who have stuck with me for over a year and a half…so far!

Last, but not least…I've submitted an O/S to the Season Of Our Discontentment Contest. It's anonymous, so sadly I can't tell ya which one is mine, but if you love angst (like me) you'll LOOOVE these stories. Go andread and try to figure out which one I wrote (Lol), then vote on the 25th! www . fanfiction . net/u/3142288/