I'm at work when Alistair sends me a text to let me know he's organised for Rosalie to come check out the place on Thursday evening. I send him a thumbs up, then call Bella and ask her if she can come over, too.

'Are you sure?' she says softly. The worksite is noisy as fuck today and I have to press my phone hard against my ear to hear her. 'It's your and Al's place. It doesn't really matter what I think.'

'Well, it kinda does,' I say. I wipe sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. December has rolled on in a right temper. The sun is fierce and the days scorching; the nights are still and sullen. 'You'll be around a lot, and it matters to me that you feel comfortable here.'

I hear her soft sigh scrape across the microphone. 'And what if Al and I have differing opinions on her? That leaves you in an awkward position, Edward.'

She's right, of course. If Al is set on having Rosalie move in—and he already knows her well enough to have suggested her as a potential housemate—and it turns out that Bella doesn't feel comfortable with her, then I'm going to have to overlook one of their opinions. But then, I don't want to live with someone who doesn't get on with my girl, so I decide to go with my gut on this. 'Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it.'

'If you're sure.'

'I'm sure.'

'All right then.' I can hear the smile in her voice and it confirms that I'm making the right call. 'Oh. Edward, are you free next weekend?'

'Pretty sure. What's up?'

'So, here's the thing.' Some hesitation creeps into her voice. 'My folks are having their big Christmas get together next Saturday night, and I was hoping you'd come.'

'Of course.' I can't understand where her apprehension is coming from. I've met both her parents now and didn't get any hostile vibes from them. Her dad even invited me to go crabbing with him—although I think it was more a token gesture of approval than a genuine invite.

But then she says, 'The Whitlocks will be here.'

Ah. That's where.

I walk to the edge of the deck I've been sanding and sit down, my legs dangling over the edge. I pull my cap off and, grinning to myself as I remember the first time I met Bella, put it on again backwards.

Mick looks up from the ground floor and yells something about not wanting to fork out for Worker's Comp if my dumb arse falls off the balcony. I give him a mock salute and he flips me off, shaking his head. I'm in his good books at the moment because I'm the only one who's consistently ahead of where they need to be if he's going to have this place ready before Christmas.

'Are you worried about me making a scene?' I tease Bella gently. 'I already promised. No pissing contests.'

'Not exactly.' She sighs. 'I know you wouldn't go out of your way to start anything.'

'But?'

'But you know what a prick Jasper can be when he wants to be.'

Yeah, I do. Most of the time he comes across as a pretty gregarious motherfucker, but the dude also has a really spiteful streak.

'Bel, I'm not worried about him. There's literally nothing he could say that's going to bother me.' I mean, how could it? It's not like I'm unaware of his and Bella's history. I know they grew up together. I know she had a crush on him for ages. I know they've hooked up. And I'm pretty sure they've slept together.

Here's the thing, though: Bella's with me.

'Okay.' I love the way Bella takes me at my word. 'Well, I'm really glad you'll be there.' She giggles. 'Although I do apologise in advance for all the innuendo my pseudo-aunts will lob your way.'

I chuckle. 'No dramas.'

Mick pokes his head out of the sliding door behind me. 'I'm not paying you to chat to pretty girls, Cullen.' He says it too loudly, making sure Bella can hear him.

I shake my head as Bella giggles.

'All right,' she says. 'You should go.'

'Yeah, probably. Hey, remember to put Thursday evening in your calendar.'

'Doing it right now.'

When Bella arrives on Thursday evening, I can tell she's upset. I can see it in the tightness of her smile, the way she doesn't quite meet my gaze when she steps inside. I don't ask her what's wrong, though, because Rosalie and Alistair are already sitting on the sofa, discussing which amenities are covered by the rent.

'Sorry I'm late,' Bella says quietly. 'I didn't forget. I just forgot that I'd need to ask Dad for a lift. He was on a call so I had to wait 'til he finished.'

My stomach drops as I pull her in for a quick hug and press my lips to her forehead. 'I'm sorry,' I say. 'I should've thought to pick you up.'

'And I should've thought to ask you to.' Bella shrugs. 'We could go around in circles all night.'

I let it go. 'Bel, this is Rosalie. Rosalie, this is my girlfriend, Bella.' It's the first time I've gotten to introduce Bella that way and it sends a rush of emotion swooping through me.

It's sort of fascinating, watching as Bella pulls on her social-butterfly mask. It's also slightly heartbreaking. Her smile is wide and friendly, and it's only because I know her so well that I can see the effort that goes into it.

'Hi, Rosalie! How are you? I love your lipstick. That colour looks absolutely amazing on you.'

Bella's told me before that she never says 'pleased to meet you' because it's one of the lines that can cause her—and the person she's talking to—some discomfort. If it turns out she has met the person before, then it makes it really obvious that she doesn't remember them. 'And no one likes to think they made that little an impression on someone.'

Bella moves towards the couch, her hand extended. Rosalie smiles up at her politely and says, 'Thank you. It's really nice to meet you, Bella.'

I see Bella's shoulders relax slightly and her smile grow a little more genuine. 'You, too,' she says. Now that she's confirmed Rosalie doesn't know her, and that she doesn't have to fake her way through their interaction, she's more at ease.

Bella gestures for me to take the empty armchair, then sits on the floor in front of me, her back against my shins.

Alistair has already walked Rosalie through the house and shown her the available room, and she's indicated she's pretty keen to rent it. So all we need to do is work out whether she'll be a good fit for us.

I don't really know where to start, so I go with the banal. 'So you work at the hospital, too, Rosalie?'

She nods, wavy blonde hair bobbing against her shoulders. 'Yeah, I'm a speech pathologist.'

'Gonna show my ignorance here,' I say. 'Is that like… You help kids with lisps and stuff learn to speak more clearly?'

Rosalie smiles like she's used to having to explain her job to people. 'That can be part of it,' she says. 'Basically our area is problems with speech, language, communication, and also swallowing. We work with both children and adults. Sometimes we're working with issues arising from a congenital condition, or it can be problems that have resulted from an injury or illness.' She tips her head towards Alistair. 'In my current role, I do a lot of work with children who have problems swallowing and feeding more generally. Kids who have had nasogastric feeding tubes often struggle with oral aversion so we try to help there. When kids have had mouth or throat surgery, we can help with rehab. Or we might need to work with kids who have conditions that are impacting their cognitive-linguistic function. It's a pretty broad area.'

Rosalie's patience with my ignorance definitely scores her points in the 'could live with this person' column.

Bella's fingers wrap around my ankle as she speaks up. 'I worked with a speech pathologist after my accident,' she says. 'She was super helpful.' Rosalie's curiosity is evident, but she doesn't push for more information. She does nod in understanding when Bella says, 'I had a traumatic brain injury a few years ago.'

The fact that Bella feels comfortable enough to volunteer this information earns Rosalie another tick in my column. I wait to see if Bella wants to add something more, but when she doesn't say anything further I ask Rosalie if there's anything else she wants to know about the place.

She shakes her head. 'Not that I can think of.' She glances at the three of us in turn and says, 'None of you seem the type for wild, drug-fueled parties on a Tuesday night.'

'We save them for Wednesdays.' Al chuckles at his own joke. 'Nah, I'm on nights for another month or so, before I go back to rotating between days and nights. So you won't see heaps of me initially.' He smirks. 'And I assume these two understand basic decency and aren't like, fucking on the couch while I'm out.'

'Al.' Annoyed, I shake my head at him—even as my face heats at the memory of the first night Bella stayed over.

Bella surprises me by piping up. 'We only fuck on the kitchen table, Rosalie,' she says, just the right amount of boredom in her tone. 'But we disinfect it afterwards so it doesn't count.'

Rosalie snorts and points at me. 'The way your eyes just glazed over, I'm genuinely concerned. Maybe I'll just eat in my room.'

Like it's my fault my mind is flooding with images of what it would be like to fuck Bella on the kitchen table.

'No food in the bedrooms,' Al says. 'Ed's super anal about that. No food in the bedrooms, no wet towels on the carpet, and no piss on the toilet seat.'

'Oh, really?' Rosalie sighs. 'That could be an issue. I'm kind of like a sprinkler when I wee.'

Bella dissolves into giggles and Al looks at me, his shoulders shaking with laughter. I nod. Rosalie should fit right in here.