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There's an author's note explaining my absence. I tried to make this one juicier to make up for my lack of activity. Enjoy.

When Bella pulled away to breathe, he left warm open mouthed kisses down her neck. She couldn't control the soft whimpers that left her mouth, especially when he pushed his hips up into hers and scraped his teeth against her skin lightly. A quick thought fluttered in the back of her mind.

"No hickies," She murmured softly, tugging on his hair to pull his face back to hers. She

kissed his pink mouth, sighing when his tongue came out to play.

"According to google, the word blood or a word rooting from blood appears around 40 times in the whole play. That's insane." Edward mused, his eyes focused on his laptop screen.

Edward and Bella were sitting at a table in the library, working on their English project during lunch. It was the day before the deadline, and they were rushing to finish it since they had missed 2 days over the weekend while Edward was gone.

"Just one," He breathed into her mouth, his lips stretching into a smile as he continued to press kisses to hers.

"No," She argued playfully, pulling away to giggle. He chased her mouth like a moth chasing a flame.

"That's actually a great fact to include in the essay." Bella suggested, dipping her brush into red paint. A poster was laid out in front of her with hand drawn depictions of the characters of the play. Edward had done the drawing for her while Bella made an outline for the essay, and now they had switched roles. She was painting the poster while Edward was writing the essay.

She looked up at the clock on the far wall out of habit. They had twenty minutes left before lunch was over.

Edward's hand untangled itself from her hair and held onto her chin. He pulled away from her kiss and pulled on her bottom lip slightly with his thumb. Then he bent down to pull her lip with his teeth, dragging her lip as he bit down gently. A very breathy moan escaped Bella's lips, and her legs tightened around his waist without her control.

"Please," He asked in the sexiest voice, his warm breath washing over her as he kissed her full lips even more fervently. She involuntarily imagined him whispering with that voice in her ear as he pushed inside of her for the first time. Bella's core tightened.

"Fuck," she breathed out, "Fine, but somewhere no one will see it,"

"Yes ma'am," He smirked.

"We only have 20 minutes left," Bella told Edward with slight worry in her voice. Edward looked up at her behind his laptop screen.

"I have a page written. And it looks like you're almost done with the poster," he said, gesturing to the painting before her.

"Yeah, I just have to paint the blood everywhere now." Bella explained, continuing on with her steady brush strokes on the paper.

"It looks great." Edward said quietly, and when Bella looked up to catch him staring, his eyes flashed from her to his screen instantaneously. Bella smiled softly as his cheeks reddened.

One second she was straddling his lap, and the next he had flipped them over so now she was under him, feeling the rough fibers of the carpet on her back and the weight of his full body on the rest of her. She let out a surprised yelp while Edward just chuckled, holding her head down with his fingers curled around her neck while he continued a trail of soft wet kisses down her throat. He stopped at her collar bones and licked her skin, eliciting her breath to shake. At the same time, his other hand hooked around one of her thighs and he pulled her leg to grip his hips, causing her skirt to fall away. He grinded himself into her body while his lips found the edge of her blouse. She felt him smile against her skin, and one hand came up to nudge the material away, just above her breast.

"Bella? Will you come read this and tell me if it's good or not?" Edward asked a few minutes later, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, one sec." Bella answered, finishing up the last couple strokes of red. She pulled back and admired the finished product, then moved it out of the way to let it dry. They had 10 minutes left.

She got out of her chair and moved to stand behind Edward. She crouched down lower to read over his shoulder, and his cologne took over her senses. His scent sent her right back to the memory of them on her living room floor, as if she wasn't having a hard enough time keeping herself in the present, and it caused her heart...other parts of her body, to flutter and keel.

He kissed her skin open mouthed, swept his tongue of the area before he started a combination of sucking and biting. Bella could not control her quiet moans, or her hips flexing around his, or her fingers gripping his hair drastically harder. She felt overwhelmed by him, half of her torn in disbelief over how good he made her feel, and the rest longing for more.

"All done," Edward grinned up at her for a second, before slamming his mouth back to hers.

She channeled all of her willpower to read his words, to concentrate on her breathing and make sure she wasn't hyperventilating. Edward's shoulder and back of his head were in her periphery, and if she glanced down she could spot the tiny mole on the side of his neck that she'd kissed before. Her thoughts, already a jumble from working with him during lunch and well, thinking about him all the time, went into overdrive.

She gave up after trying to read past the introductory sentence for the third time, and pulled away from him.

"It looks good to me," She said shakily, walking back to her seat. Edward's eyes followed her the whole way. "I can finish it tonight though, so you don't have to worry about it."

Edward gave Bella a look of disapproval. "Don't be ridiculous. I want to help." They both started to pack up their belongings.

The thought of Edward coming over to 'help' set the butterflies in Bella's stomach aflutter.

"It's genuinely okay. I can handle it." Bella insisted.

"Bella-"

"Honestly, Edward, I'll probably get it done faster without you there distracting me. We weren't exactly productive last time." She levelled with him with an impish grin, her eyes glinting with the mention of their previous activities."I can send you the essay to proofread after I'm done so you can feel better about participating. I'll even forget to add commas and add run on sentences for you to correct. You'll be my official editor."

"Wow, here I am trying to be fair and thoughtful and extending my expertise, and what do I get in return? Sarcasm and ungratefulness. My ego is wounded." Edward huffed mockfully.

"I'm sure your ego will survive." Bella retorted, starting to walk to the entrance doors. "And you should thank me. Now you're free to do whatever you want on your Monday night instead of having to work on homework. So you're welcome."

The few students that had been present at lunch were letting themselves out, leaving the library empty. Edward took advantage of their privacy. He wrapped his hand around Bella's elbow and tugged her to him, pressing himself against her back. Then he dropped his tone and murmured into her ear.

"What I'd really like to do on my Monday night is pin you down and ravage your mouth so hard that I leave your lips bruised and make you forget all about fucking Shakespeare. I'd also really like to feel your skin under that dress and maybe leave another hickey a little lower cause its been four days and all I can think of is how fucking amazing your skin tasted." He deliberately breathed into her ear, and grinned at her sharp intake of breath and the goosebumps that broke on the skin of her neck. His mission accomplished, he smirked and strolled forward. "But it looks like you think you're doing me a favour, so thanks. I appreciate it. Later, Bella."

He waved, his ego intact and smug as he walked away from a stunned, frozen Bella.

…

When Bella got home, she was livid. How dare he have the audacity to say those damned words so close to her, where anyone could've seen them, and diminish what little ounce of control she'd fought so hard to maintain all weekend.

And then just walk away?

For the last three days, Bella had been operating at half capacity. Today, she'd might as well have turned into a zombie considering how entirely brain dead she'd felt. Just being around Edward had some sort of reverse effect on her body that decreased her functioning capabilities and just reduced her to a puddle of want. She loathed it.

They'd barely gotten anything done Thursday, focused more on trying to grind each other into the floor than the actual project itself. Edward left moments before Charlie was set to arrive with a cheeky grin and promise that he would research as much as he could when he got home and would send it to Bella.

After he left, Bella stood in front of her mirror, in her lacy bralette that left little to the imagination for longer than she'd like to admit, and just stared at the angry bruise he'd left on her chest. Just looking at it made her stomach twist and curl.

She'd never gotten a hickey before, even when Mike Newton insisted in grade 10 when they were playing '7 minutes of heaven' in his basement. She always thought it would hurt, or be generally unpleasant. More so, the idea of marking one's significant other as an act of laying one's claim over them seemed entirely too possessive and childish for Bella's liking.

But now that she had a semi permanent love bruise on her skin from yours truly reminding her every time she intentionally or otherwise pulled her shirt down and caught sight of it, of him and his hands and lips and the all consuming passion she felt for him and hoped he felt for her, she understood the appeal. And wished she'd left her own mark on him.

Next time.

Charlie came home with some pizza, and Bella had a quiet dinner with her father. After, she locked herself up in her room, felt extremely hot and bothered, and distracted herself from her hormones by researching for Macbeth. The urge to call Angela came up, but Bella decided she would tell her in person. Around nine o'clock, true to his word, Edward sent her a thesis statement, some ideas for the poster, and research essays with highlighted sections. He also sent her a text.

Hey. just wanted to wish you a good night. you better not be having second thoughts about us.

She wasn't, but she felt like teasing him.

And what if I am?

Her phone pinged almost immediately.

i guess ill just have to try harder to convince you

How a text message made her heart race and her mind fog with desire, she didn't know.

Can't wait. Thanks for the research. Good night, Edward :)

Bella put her phone away and headed to bed before he could reply.

The next morning, Edward was waiting at her locker when she arrived, which completely destroyed the purpose of keeping their relationship a secret. Bella looked around at the hallway and walked nervously to him when she spotted some students milling around. Edward looked unbothered.

"Hey," He greeted her with his usual grin.

"Hi," Bella replied unsuredly. "What's up?" She gave him a questioning look.

"I'm here to talk to you about," Edward started, then drastically increased his volume as he continued, "the English project that we happen to be partners at." Bella fought a smile. "I'm actually dipping at lunch today since the only class I have after is gym. My parents got me excused so that we can get an early start. So, unfortunately, I won't be able to work on the project with you today."

Bella would've been lying if she said she wasn't disappointed, but she tried to keep up a neutral front.

"That's too bad," she said amicably, "but it's okay. I can just work on it while you're gone."

Edward didn't look too pleased. "I refuse to let you carry all the weight. This is a group project, and we will treat it as such. I'll come back home Sunday night and do as much as I can. We can work on it all day Monday."

Bella's manners were too impeccable for her not to insist that she would take on the majority of the work, even though Edward was being incredibly fair. "Edward, honestly, I don't want you worrying about this when you're out with your family. I can handle it."

Edward had had enough. It was final knockout time. He leaned in a little closer so that he could get up close and personal with Bella. Bella felt his minty breath wash over her face, and her brain got hazy.

"I know you can handle it," He murmured softly, his head tilted to the side, his lips stretched into an encouraging smile, "I just don't want you too."

There went the panty dropping grin. And there went Bella's resolve. This was getting old.

"Well, well, well," An amused voice spoke from behind them, "What do we have here?"

They both snapped apart at the speed of lightning and turned around. Angela stood there with her hands on her hips and what could only be described as a shit eating grin on her face. Edward cleared his throat and spoke first.

"Good morning, Angela." He nodded, ever the gentleman. "You look lovely as ever. See you in class, Bella." He smiled and walked away as fast as he could without seeming impolite. Both girls stared after his retrieving form.

"So…?" Angela broke the silence, her eyebrows raised.

"We were discussing our Macbeth project." Bella explained while cracking open her locker.

"You really thought it would be a good idea to get into a group project with the boy who you rejected and who you apparently have feelings for?" Angela asked Bella dubiously. Bella stuck her head out of her locker to glare at her best friend.

"I don't have feelings for him," she clarified, grabbing her books and closing her locker door. "And Edward asked to be my partner. I thought it would be rude to say no."

They started walking towards Angela's locker. "Wow, he's really serious about the whole just friend's thing." Bella nodded, waiting for the right opportunity to spill the tea.

"Seems like it."

"Well, that's really good for both of you. It's very mature of you both that you chose to remain friends and actually stuck with it." Angela turned over to Bella looking entirely impressed. "I'm proud of you, Bells."

"I guess now would be the perfect time to tell you that we actually made out on my living room floor yesterday. And we've decided to keep hooking up. Unofficially and in secret. So yeah. Still proud of me?"

…

Angela made Bella tell her everything, then continued to plan out their prom double date as Bella groaned periodically and cursed her selective hearing. In the end, Angela played the part of the supportive best friend beautifully, concluding the conversation with, "I trust you and your judgement, Bells. And you tell that hotshot jock that if he even as much as makes you frown, he'll have to deal with my bitch ass. I've been watching true crime shows since I was nine. I know how to make someone disappear or make a death look like an accident. You tell him that."

The weekend went by fast enough. That night, Bella joined her father at dinner with the Black's. Jake's mood was subdued. He still seemed bothered, but didn't bring anything up. Bella was preoccupied enough with her own problems that she chose not to push him. He would tell her when he was ready.

Green eyes and crooked smirks bombarded Bella's mind each waking minute. She couldn't stop thinking about Edward and his mouth and tongue and hands and body. She was perpetually bothered all weekend, and could barely stop herself from counting down the minutes until she saw him.

Monday had its own agenda on how it was going to torture her. When she did finally see the object of her obsession, it was all she could to wrench her eyes away from his mouth. Anytime he smiled, her heart raced. In English, if someone had held up a gun to head and demanded her to recall anything Mr Banner had lectured them on, she would have had to regretfully take the bullet. Her entire focus was allocated to resisting every urge to turn her head and glance at Edward. They decided to link up at lunch and work on the project.

And now she was home alone and could only regret that she hadn't asked him over.

No, you made the right call. This is you being responsible. I'm proud of you.

Two hours later, Bella cursed her voice of reason. Charlie wasn't due for another hour or two, and Edward's words from the library echoed through her head like a broken record. The essay was done. Edward had done such a great job with the first half that she didn't have to expend all that much energy writing the rest. She admitted to herself that she was impressed by his words and perspective. With the rest of the night ahead of her and only one thought on her mind, the urge to ask him to come over was overwhleming.

She attempted to distract herself.

She tried working on student council plans. She checked out a few college websites. She started a new netflix show, but turned it off after ten minutes had passed and she had not paid attention to a single line of dialogue. She called Angela, who's phone went directly to voicemail.

Then she sucked it up and sent a text.

Um, I need your help with the poster. Do you think you can come over?

The reply came after a minute.

be there in 20 ;)

...

After what seemed like forever but was most likely only twenty five minutes, Bella heard the doorbell ring. She had freshened herself up and brushed her teeth and tidied her already clean house. She fussed over the condition of her bedroom, just in case. She checked her reflection hurriedly, and then went downstairs to get the door.

Edward stood at the other side with a smug grin. "Hey." His smile widened. Bella couldn't help her own.

"Hi." She said shyly. Edward lifted an eyebrow knowingly. Bella ushered him inside, and closed the door behind him.

"So, you need help with the poster, huh? I thought you said you could handle it on your own." He baited her.

"I changed my mind." She said simply, not taking her eyes off of him.

"So where is it?" Edward asked, his tone distracted and he stared back just as intently. "The poster?"

Bella hesitated for a moment. Then she squeaked out. "My bedroom."

Surprise colored Edward's face. He cleared his throat, but he couldn't fight the anticipation that laced his voice. "Lead the way," He gestured to the stairs with his hand.

Bella skipped up the steps before him, aware of the short length of her dress and Edward's close proximity behind her. She might've even swayed her hips a little more than she normally would, her blood singing with nerves and excitement. She led him into her room.

She'd expected him to look around and observe her safe place, so she was surprised to find Edward sight trained directly on her face when she turned around. The tension between them increased exponentially. He broke the silence between them first.

"So, where's the poster?" He asked again, his voice raspy.

Bella just shook her head, her eyes twinkling. Edward smirked. They both reached for each other at the same time.

Bella's arms instantly reached up around Edward's neck as she craned her neck to reach his lips. Edward bent down and crushed his lips to hers, his arms reaching around and wrapping tightly around her waist. A sense of urgency traced their touches as they both fought for control, angling their necks and mouths to get as close as possible. Bella hadn't even realized they'd been moving until the back of her thighs touched the side of the bed. A moment later, she felt the mattress dip under her weight as Edward pushed her down and climbed on top of her.

Before her mind could process what her body was doing, her legs had wrapped themselves tightly around Edward's hips. This was the closest she'd ever been to him. It was maddening. Her body was out of her control; her need had completely taken over. She didn't control how fast and furiously her lips moved against his, or how tightly her fingers gripped his hair or shirt or even his jaw or when her mouth had decided to place open mouthed kisses on his neck or when she had kissed her way to his ear and now was breathing heavily and sucking on his earlobe as he groaned deeply into her neck.

At some point, Edward's hands had disappeared under her dress, and she felt them warmly trace over her ribs and stomach, her back, her hips. He wasn't being gentle, but his touches were far from unpleasant. They only intensified the feeling of desire that already raged inside her, like a forest fire. Already, the need to rid them of their clothes and feel his skin against hers was too overwhelming.

Edward grabbed her face and crushed his mouth to hers again, tracing her tongue with his, following with a hard kiss, over and over again until she was dizzy. An immeasurable time passed before he changed tactics. She felt his one hand snake out from under her dress and felt it trace her shoulder. At the time, he pulled his mouth away, leaving very wet, very warm kisses down her throat and column bones. Bella shivered, wanting more.

He left sweet opened mouth kisses on her decolletage, leaving a wet trail of saliva that made her tremble. A knot, which had been building in her gut for some time now, started to pulse. An undeniable urge to pull her dress off and let him kiss her everywhere hammered at her conscience. She wanted so much more.

Controlled by her desire and nothing else, she took Edward's hand and brought it lower, right over her breast. He pulled away in shock. Bella opened her eyes, to find him looking at her in question. His hooded eyes were asking for confirmation, his mouth was red from all the kissing. As were his cheeks. And his hair was a mess. He looked so beautiful he made Bella's heart clench painfully.

She nodded wordlessly, wanting him close again. He smiled as he leaned back down to brush his lips to hers, kissing sweetly and softly. His hands, experienced but cautious, tentatively touched her, tracing over her dress, squeezing gently. He pulled his lips away and kissed down her neck more intensely now, his mouth roughly moving against her skin as his touches became more confident, more aggressive. Her mind was heady with the feeling of his hands, and she could barely hold her moan back when she felt his warm breath over her chest, right above breast. He slowed down again, kissing her softly, waiting for more confirmation.

Bella arched her back into him, stretching to get closer to his mouth. This was all the approval Edward needed. He hand tugged her neckline down, exposing a black, lacy bralette. He swore under his breath as he stared at her chest in awe. His gaze of desire made Bella feel sexy, and long for his hands and mouth on her body even more.

She gave out a little sound of urgency. Edward smiled, his eyes fluttering to hers with amusement. He lowered his head slowly, pressing soft kisses against the newly revealed skin. His hand came up again and she felt him tug the lace away. A moment later, she felt his mouth on her nipple, and a whimper slipped her mouth.

Time becomes indiscernible after that moment. She didn't know how long he kissed her breasts, how long she continued to let irrepressible whimpers and moans out. At some point, she felt him bite and suck above her nipples, and as she grinded her hips into his and mewled, she knew there would be another mark waiting for her tomorrow. Edward's shirt might as well have been off of his body considering how much she'd bunch it up, how much of his soft skin she'd been exploring. Her nails had to be leaving their own streaks over his chest and back when a certain bite or kiss inadvertently caused her to dig them into his flesh. She knew in the back of her mind that maybe they were moving too fast, but fuck if anything was in her grasp anymore. She'd pulled Edward's mouth back to hers, and was trying to find a way to get under his skin when he pulled away unexpectedly.

"What time is your dad supposed to be home again?" He panted, his voice soft and out of breath.

It took Bella a moment to even register that he was speaking. Then she played back the words he'd just uttered in her head and tried to make sense of them. Charlie. Home. Time.

She looked up at the clock hanging by her head, and her heartbeat spiked.

"Uh, now."

They both stumbled out of bed and hurriedly righted their clothing. Edward pretty much sprinted down the stairs, skipping over multiple steps with each leap, with Bella close on his heel. He flung the front door open and scanned the street, looking out for a police cruiser. When he didn't find one, he poked his head back in as Bella stepped up behind him.

He bent down to put his shoes on haphazardly. Then he stood up and yanked Bella to him, crushing his lips to hers one last time.

"Thanks for having me over. I'm glad I could help with the poster," He joked against her lips. Before he pulled away completely, he pressed the softest kiss on Bella's cheek. Then he turned and jogged to his car. Bella watched him get into his car and drive away in wonder, her palm pressed up against her cheek.

Later that night, before going to bed, as Bella stood in her underwear infront if her mirror, her mind could only think of one thing as she inspected the new addition over her breast.

I forgot to return the favour.

My god, I know it's been a while.

My intention was never to go this long again without updating, but life got crazy. I moved cities in a pandemic, started school again, and moved out on my own for the first time ever. It took a couple of months to get into the swing of things; get used to living on my own and all the adult responsibilities that come with it, getting used to online class, especially since i haven't been to school in years, and again, living in a pandemic. But I'm back, and for good I hope. One of new years resolutions is definitely to finish the story.

I don't want to make any promises anymore, or give any false hope, but i do have a writing schedule now. There's about another 15 chapters to go more or less. A chapter a week equals another four months give or take. Hopefully, i can get it done, cause i'm getting really tired of a story set in high school when i've been out of that world for so long. I still don't want to abandon it.

I'll start my recommendations next week, cause as i was reading back I really liked that I added them.

And lastly, thank you so much to anyone who reviewed. I appreciate the support so much. Its literally the only reason I end up coming back to the story time and time again.

Hope ya'll have an amazing day. Thank you for sticking around.

See you next week, hopefully.