As always, many thank you to Gabby. And to YOU, my faithful readers. I appreciate each word.

On Christmas day, there was no excuse for Bella and Edward to keep their distance from the others. For the previous couple of days, they had managed to dodge their friends as best as they could, considering they lived together in an otherwise small cabin.

They had spent a considerable amount of time with their friends, but if anyone hinted at asking about the engagement or looked at them for too long, Edward always managed to save them by taking Bella back to their room, or on walks around the cabin with Harley. The dog was Felix's roommate, though he spent as much time as possible outside in the snow.

The previous night, Bella hadn't been able to sleep, so she'd taken their presents to the tree decorated in the corner of the sitting area. On her way back, she had bumped into Edward, who'd come in search of her. They had ended up having a snack in the kitchen – of food and of each other.

On Christmas morning, it felt like Bella was the only one awake. After taking as long as possible in the bathroom, she found Edward still asleep in the bed. So, she went to the kitchen, not encountering anyone on the way. The whole place was eerily quiet.

She was surprised to find Jake at the table, drinking coffee and munching on leftover sausages. He'd been a good sport about not commenting anything about the other night. Bella expected that to change, since it was just the two of them.

"Remind me again why I accepted to come with you here," he grunted.

"Good morning to you, too, Grinch." She ruffled his hair, on the way to the coffee pot.

"No, seriously. I didn't realize I'd be the odd one out."

"Jake, I'm sorry you feel like that. I wanted my best friend to get out of that town and have some fun."

He scowled. "Looks like someone had all the fun last night." He pointed to something hanging on the back of a chair.

Bella's face flushed when she noticed one of her new panties there – torn in half. She couldn't even recall when Edward had ripped them off her body.

"I swear, getting stuck in the room next to Blondie and Emmett will give me nightmares. I'll need therapy." Jake shuddered.

Bella could be stealthy and take the panties from there, but it was just the two of them. Jake would know they were hers. So, she focused on his whining.

"Good thing Jasper is a shrink."

"Ha!" Jake glared at the purple panties.

Their attention was drawn to the stairs creaking, followed by loud voices.

"I'm not the designated carrier here," Edward muttered.

"But she's heavy!" Alice whined.

"Have your husband carry her."

"Jasper is still sleeping," Alice snapped.

They ambled into the kitchen, stopping when they noticed the audience. Cynthia was clinging to Edward, clearly still half asleep.

Alice gasped. "Who fucked at the kitchen table?" Her eyes were on Bella's purple panties.

Bella narrowed her eyes at Edward, shaking her head. He chuckled, clearly amused.

"No way!" Jake cried out. "You!" He pointed his fork at Bella.

"What! No, it wasn't me," Bella lied through her teeth.

"I doubt it was my neighbors, because I could hear them in their room. And Alice looks too surprised to have been her."

"Must have been Felix," Edward said, cackling at his own joke. "We'll have to tell Tanya when we get home."

Bella lowered in her chair, pressing her hands to her face. She felt Edward's presence near, before his hand touched her head.

"Give Bella a break, will you? They're gone," he added in her ear.

Bella peeked around, but Jake and Alice were still in the kitchen, though the offending scrap of material was gone, indeed.

Edward placed Cynthia in her chair, before throwing himself in the chair next to Bella.

Alice placed a plate of leftover turkey, cut into tiny pieces, in front of Cynthia. Cynthia stared at the plate, then frowned at Alice.

"I wan' fuck!"

Jake choked on his sausage, while Bella snorted. Every time Cynthia tried to be serious, she managed to say some funny as shit mispronounced word.

"The lady has manners," Edward joked, pushing a fork toward Alice.

"She can't use the fork on her own, Edward. And she insists to feed herself, these days." Alice hovered over her daughter. "Either use your hand, or I'll feed you."

"My fuck!"

Bella giggled, sipping from her coffee.

"No." Alice glared at her.

Cynthia's lips started trembling, as she looked around with tears in her eyes. She settled her gaze on Edward, who stared at her warily.

"Eddie-doodie!"

"Like, Edward's going to save you," Alice grumbled. "Eat."

By the time everyone was in the kitchen, it got too crowded. Bella realized how she'd abandoned Jake, by spending all the time with Edward. He didn't exactly know her friends.

She bumped his knee. "Let's take a walk. I'll get Harley ready."

"Sure. Let me grab my jacket." Jake hurried up the stairs.

Bella leaned into Edward's side, touching his shoulder. He turned to her, pulled from a conversation with Jasper.

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm going for a walk with Jake. I've been a bad friend," she explained.

"Don't take too long. Alice wants to open the presents." Edward kissed her forehead.

"Okay." She got up, and retrieved Harley's leash.

Bella had the leash fastened by the time Jacob returned, thumping loudly on the stairs. They ambled out of the cabin, and Jacob offered to lead Harley, when he pulled so hard it nearly sent Bella head-first into the snow.

"I swear to God…one of these days, I'll learn all of Edward's tricks on how he makes him obey," she muttered.

Jake laughed, jerking the leash back until Harley walked closer to them. "It's the male authority. I've told you that from the beginning."

"Then, I'll grow a dick," she joked, hooking an arm around his elbow. "So…ask me."

"It's clear you don't want to talk about it," he said softly.

"It's not that. You all ambushed us. It's new." Bella stared at the ring on her finger, resting on Jake's arm.

"It's a pretty ring."

"It is." Bella nodded. "That's not what I meant," she said after a while.

Jake glanced at her, pursing his lips. "You're right. It's not my job what you guys do behind closed doors."

"Exactly."

"But that was rope, Bella!" he exclaimed. "You didn't hear Cullen talking to his shrink friend. It sounded like he planned on murdering you…to make sure you were quiet, the rope was perfect…"

Bella flushed. She focused on making her way through the snow without slipping, while trying to find a good enough explanation for her friend. She knew Jake well enough to know he'd need some explanation.

"Does he…" Jake started, but stopped. "He doesn't hit you, does he?"

"What?" she gasped, meeting his eyes.

"I don't know what to think, Bella! You act like there's some secret whenever we talk about Cullen."

"His name is Edward."

Jacob stopped, grabbing her elbow. "Tell me, Bella. Does he hit you?"

"Oh, my God!" She glared at the sky. Slowly, she returned her eyes on Jake's black ones. She'd been right – this felt like coming out of the closet, not like she knew how that was like. But it had to be similar.

Anger flashed into Jake's eyes, before he cupped her cheek softly. "I'm going to murder him."

"What? No!"

"This is…" He took her hand, thumbing the ring. "…it's a farce? He's forcing you to marry him to keep silent."

"Are you crazy? Do you know me at all?" she shouted.

"You haven't been yourself since you met him!"

Bella wrenched away from his grasp. "You don't get it, Jake." She walked a few paces away, watching Harley rolling around in the snow, having the time of his life. "You won't understand."

"Try me," he sneered.

Bella wasn't even sure if Edward allowed her to tell Jake about the other side of their relationship. "Maybe we should talk about this with Edward present."

"Holy hell! He has you constricted! I've been right."

"No, Jake."

"Then tell me without him," he demanded.

"I can't. He might not want to share this with you." She chewed on her lip, meeting his incredulous eyes. "Look, it's definitely not as bad as you're imagining."

Jacob hugged her tightly, tucking her against his chest. "Answer me honestly. Does he hit you?" he asked in her hair.

"No," Bella answered, but her voice broke.

Jake's arms released her from their grip. "Oh, look!" His eyes narrowed somewhere behind Bella.

She turned around to find Edward walking to them with a furious expression. He didn't have a jacket on, only a knit eyelet sweater, jeans, and untied boots.

Edward stopped next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, facing Jacob. "What's your problem?"

"You are my problem!" Jacob shouted. "I should have known you were an abusive asshole!"

Edward stiffened. "Is this about the rope?"

"It's about Bella!" Jake pointed to her. "She hasn't been the same Bella since she's met you! And just now, she said she'd tell me what's going on only if you were around, because you might not approve. Excuse me, if that doesn't sound like an abusive, controlling relationship!"

"Are you done judging me without knowing a thing about me?" Edward asked quietly, in a guarded voice.

Jake met Bella's eyes. "He's here. Get his approval, before I'm calling the fucking cops."

"You don't owe him any explanation," Bella told Edward. "If you're not ready…If this is not what you want…"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to say this twice. So we better get back. Rose and Emmett might feel left out."

"I know we talked about this, but we don't have to tell anyone anything," Bella insisted.

Edward steered her back to the cabin with Jake and Harley following them. "Do you want to tell them?"

"Not particularly."

"I'm afraid I don't have any other idea but the truth. He won't be thrilled." Edward shook his head.

They stepped inside the cabin, taking their boots off.

"Oh, finally!" Alice clapped from next to the tree.

Jake stormed into the sitting room, past them, sitting on a chair by the fireplace. His eyes glaring daggers at them.

Edward took Bella's hand, walking to the doorway. "We have to tell you something."

Bella noticed Jasper watching them with wide, shocked eyes. He must have figured out what they planned on doing.

"We already know you are engaged," Rose said, amused.

"Is Bella pregnant? That's why you finally asked her?" Emmett asked, watching them curiously.

Edward's fingers crushed Bella's. She could feel his hand sweating. Jasper seemed to have a silent conversation with Edward, holding eye-contact for a long minute.

"Are you going to say anything, or should I bring the rope you used on Bella, and tie you up and extract the answer from you?" Jake barked.

Bella glared at her so-called friend, while extra aware of Rose and Emmett watching them worried. Alice had her hands over her mouth, as she made her way to Jasper. He wrapped his arms around her, still looking at Edward.

"This confession was clearly not planned, but ever since Jacob has discovered something the other night, he seems adamant to make our life hell," Edward started in a soft voice. "My relationship with Bella is more than we let you see."

"Don't," Bella snapped, pointing at Jake, when he opened his mouth. "It's all your fault this is happening."

Edward hugged her into his side, silently assuring her that he didn't mind sharing this with the others.

Bella knew that the moment Edward said he was a Dominant, it was a possibility for him to lose his sister. And as upset as Bella was with Jake at the moment, she'd hate losing him over their lifestyle. Jake wasn't going to understand.

"Jake shouldn't have found out that way…or at all…but we're into some unusual stuff. I like it when Edward ties me up," Bella said, just as Edward opened his mouth to talk. "I don't expect any of you to understand it, but I could see Jake wasn't going to let it go. Uh, I hope we didn't ruin Christmas morning."

Bella dared to meet Edward's eyes, when she felt him staring at her. He was watching her proudly and there was relief on his face, though, his eyes were a frosted green. He was mad at her.

Emmett laughed loudly, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry for you, man." He looked at Jacob. "If you think some kinky shit is unusual, I'm worried for your sex life. Though, I should have known." He turned to look at Bella. "All those threats about tying up Ed were not empty promises. Though, I'm surprised it's him tying you up."

"Shut up, Emmett," Edward muttered.

Bella could clearly remember the time Emmett was talking about – a couple years ago, on Carlisle's birthday. It had been all a joke.

"Okay…now that we know more than we ever wanted about their sex life…" Jasper said, standing up with Alice still clinging to him and watching them scared. "Time for presents?"

As they worked through the presents, Jake mumbled an apology to Bella. She only nodded, warning him not to come closer. She was still worried to leave the room, because she had a feeling that Edward would pummel Jake to the ground.

Edward hadn't said much since her confession, and a part of Bella worried about how upset he was. He had made up his mind to tell everyone about them, but she'd talked over him, saving their relationship with their friends and family.

It was in the late evening, after lunch and more time spent with the others in the sitting room, when Edward stood up from besides Bella. She was coloring with Cynthia, trying to keep a conversation with Alice, Jasper and Edward. She had zoned out into the Christmas tree they were coloring, because Edward's sudden movement, startled her.

"Come." He held a hand for her.

"We'll continue tomorrow," Bella promised Cynthia, taking Edward's hand.

"Turning in already?" Rose asked, surprised.

"I want to call Mom and Dad, before you spill the beans," Edward answered. "Night." He led Bella out of the room.

"Night!" she said over her shoulder, briefly meeting Jake's eyes. He'd laid off her back. "You want to call your parents now?"

Edward shut the door of their room, turning the lock, before facing her.

"If you ever talk over me like that, there will be severe consequences."

Bella gasped, not expecting him to have been simmering like that for hours. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you ruin your relationship with your sister."

A muscle spasmed in his cheek. "I had made up my mind. I was ready to tell them."

"Not like this. Not over something Jake saw…that he didn't understand." Bella took his hands, watching him warily. He seemed to be very upset. "Say my excuse wasn't a good one. A reasonable one."

"It took all my restraint not to turn you over my knee in front of everyone," he said quietly, looking into her eyes. "I appreciate your concern, Bella, but I believe it's time I'm true to myself."

"They don't have to know."

"Don't argue with me." His tone sent a thrill down Bella's back.

More trouble for Bella?