OKAY.
If anyone is still here, reading this, let me know? I've had some issues with this fic in terms of switching my outline into something that's worth your time reading. This chapter will be unbeta'd, and if you'd like to see the next chapters I'll get them to you -beta'd and all :D

Chapter 18.

EPOV

I did not like Jacob Black.

I hated him, passionately.

He thinks he's all that, with his bronzed skin, buffed body and stories —legends of all his conquests. I hated and despised him, even before I knew he was Bella's ex. Jake is a fairly common name after all. Every Monday morning, like clockwork, it was the Jacob Black-show at the free-weights section in the gym, the one day I dreaded coming and the one day Emmett hated since his little steroid Q&A with Jacob himself. He'd talk to his friends, Paul and Seth about their weekends, boasts about it while he didn't even bother to ask them how they were doing. Jacob would use his outside voice to inform us in the how's and what's of his Friday and Saturday evenings. He'd even go as far as telling everyone with a working set of ears in which room he had shown a girl all he was capable off and how hot she was. What he always managed to sneak in, was how his conquests told him how incredibly hot he was and the amount she'd screamed his name. Mostly, Jacob talked about the sex-on-legs brunette he'd known since forever. She had the longest legs he'd ever seen and a fuckhot bod, along with a crazy libido. The two of them had dated, for a couple of years apparently. After their official break-up, they morphed into friends with benefits, since—according to Jacob Black, she couldn't get enough of him. He yelled it over the rooftops that she'd always come crawling back for more, but that he recently pushed her aside for the wonderful Leah. Knowing that he was lying all that time, since Bella was the one to cut ties with Jake in the first place, made it even worse. The only good thing he did, was never telling anyone the names of his lovers —at least he had that much common sense, or he'd been slaughtering Bella's reputation, along with those of many other girls. Perhaps the reason why no one was supposed to learn the identity of the women that lay at him feet, was that he was lying. Bella told me he was looking for the one girl to settle down with, have kids with, and live in his father's backyard with —fucking pathetic.

When I saw Bella, talking to him in the parking, I wanted to burst out of my skin. I felt so stupid that I hadn't thought of him being the guy she used to be hung-up on, the one asshat who'd made her think she was incapable of having a steady relationship. The one she told me about, that he had cared for her when she was drunk out of her mind and even undressed her to tuck her in into his bed. Thinking about that night, made me almost nauseous as I imagined his hands all over her body, undressing Bella and laying his filthy eyes on her. I wanted to be there for her, but I hadn't been, it was one of my biggest insecurities. What if something was wrong, and she called him instead of me? I shook my head at the thought. Worst of all: Bella was the girl whose dirty laundry got thrown around at the gym. All his stories and all his talk was about her. How dare he defile her like that. Not one woman in this world deserves to be treated like that, it made me feel incredibly sorry for his new girlfriend Leah. At least with her around, my mind was at rest. He'd leave Bella alone, hopefully. The way Jacob looked at me in that parking lot made my skin crawl. He didn't even know me personally, but it seemed like I disgusted him. I know had no clue as to what kind of friend of person Jake was, but I knew what he'd done and what kind of guy it was. Paul and Seth never seemed to miss him if he didn't show up, anyway, talking and laughing even more when it was just the two of them. Some friend.

Bella had been mad at me, furious even. I'd acted like an ignorant, childish prick. I almost got into a fight with Jacob, after all, before Bella raised her voice at us. It was beyond juvenile and totally not my style, I was embarrassed that I'd let it get to that. It was more Jacob Black's style, I imagined. But when I saw him shove Bella aside like that, all my cares flew out of my head. You don't treat a woman like that and you most certainly don't shove her.

I sensed Bella's heart shattering silence in the car this morning, the air thick with tension. Bella's anger was tinged with anger and it wore me down. It made me feel utterly stupid, I made a horrendous fool out of myself instead of just supporting my girl. She could defend herself perfectly.

My boss had been up my ass all morning for being slow and distracted. He wasn't used to Edward Cullen slacking around and he immediately discovered he didn't like it. I played it off as not having slept well, confiding in my work-friend, telling Eric all about Bella and what happened. Eric hadn't dated for over six years now, so he reveled in my story and in the way that we met. I told him he needed to get back in the game, although his situation wasn't that easy, since he was living with his grandmother to care for her, but I was sure he'd find the right partner someday. The conversation I had with Eric about Bella, about us, was the main reason he was being so damn awkward when my Enchantress showed up at work for lunch. It was a total surprise, unexpected and unannounced, but I was so happy to see her. It made her even more real, seeing her in my work environment, talking to Eric —who couldn't keep his eyes off her. I knew why though. Bella was borderline goddess-like with her delicate, yet strong features and her long, wavy dark hair. That dress she was wearing didn't really help either, it clung to her body perfectly, showing off her narrow waist, shapely legs —her tattoo and some cleavage, but the long sleeves even made the dress appear a little conservative.

Because of her dirty little snapshots, I also knew exactly was she was hiding underneath that dress, so when she told me she had something yummy for me, my mind couldn't do anything else besides roll around in the gutter. My hands were itching to peel that dress off Bella and see the alabaster of her skin against the deep green color of her underwear. I kissed her, right there and then, in the middle the office cubes, in front of my closest co-worker. It was amazing. It felt right. It was glorious. I didn't care who was looking —except for Lauren, I hoped she'd seen me planting one on my Bella and that she'd get the message that I wanted nothing to do with her, once and for all.

I took my girl out for lunch, in the fresh air and midday sunshine, where her hair would transform under its rays; coating dark chestnut with a reddish hue as her deep, brown eyes turned into melted honey. Bella's skin always seemed to gleam in the sunlight, soaking up the warmth and radiating it through her smiles.

Talking to Bella was great. We got along so well, we laughed together like buddies and she could always lighten my mood even if that meant she was kicking my ass in a video game. When Bella started talking about the Front Desk Bitch, I immediately told her about Lauren. She'd been sickly sweet before she asked me out —several times. I declined —several times. The most recent time she did, I bluntly told Lauren I wasn't interested and she should find a new guy to prey on. Lauren didn't seem to like me telling her off like that, and ever since she'd turned into a FCB, as Eric and I called her —A First Class Bitch. Bella told me she thought Lauren was pretty, her eyes cast down and looking away from me. I could sense she thought she couldn't compare to the sunkissed blonde, which almost made me laugh out loud. Lauren wasn't ugly, per se, but she had nothing on my Enchantress. The way Bella kept blushing whenever I complimented her was adorable. I'd never tire of seeing that, every time I made her blush was a battle I'd won, a wall she'd let down to accept me.

When Bella opened up the crumpled, paper bag she brought from a deli, I fell in love with her a little more. She brought me pasta salad with pesto, parmesan cheese and chicken... I tried to be polite about it though, although she gave it to me anyway. Still, I was glad I didn't just snatch the food out of her hands —I was that crazy about cheese, chicken and pasta. I wasn't lying when I told Bella I'd gladly eat anything she served me. And I wasn't exactly talking about food —just thinking about her, tasting her, made me hard as hell. Sex with Bella was phenomenal, but holding her hand while strolling around time made me feel equally as ecstatic, especially today. I felt so lucky to have her next to me, this wonderful human, inside an out. I was a little afraid she'd stop talking to me after this morning, after all, it'd been our first little spat. Luckily, it wasn't anything serious besides me being a total asshole, some Neanderthal who thought a woman couldn't defend herself. Bella was perfectly capable of telling Jake off herself, the punch she threw at him seemed to affirm that statement. I wish I could've taken a picture of Jake's face when she did, it was simply priceless. Still, I was glad Bella didn't hurt herself on the motherfucker's face.

At the gym, I got the first degree from my brother Emmett, asking about the mystery girl I took to his bistro. Apparently, word got out fast amongst his staff. I'd rolled my eyes at him when he told me I ditched family for a girl, so that had to mean at least something. I filled him in on everything Bella, but it all seemed to be old news to him, courtesy of Miss Rosalie Hale — recently the woman of Emmett's dreams and my girl's best friend. It still was so odd to me that we ended up dating two girls who were best friends, and neither of us knew one of them. Well, I guess I'd known my Enchantress for a while now, but since I hadn't seen her in real life before she came over to my apartment, that didn't really count.

Emmett was happy for me, glad I found a girl that seemed to make me want to settle down. My big brother was the only person who knew anything about my sex life, and he knew it was Tanya's fault that I never had a real girlfriend after everything that happened with her. First love sticks with you, so they say, although I was very ready to forget her. I was afraid though, afraid to get betrayed like that again, which made me stick to one-night stands. It filled the needs and wants. But it did nothing for my heart of soul. Everyone used to see me as a nerd, a total dork not worthy of their time, especially in school. In college, some girls seemed to be interested, but I kept to myself mostly, focussing on my job and my hobbies. Emmett wouldn't stop nagging about the fact that I needed to lay off the gaming and fooling around and focus more on work in order to one day own my company. He knew that was one of my dreams for the long-haul, being an entrepreneur himself only worked as an advantage. My brother had nothing but good advice for me, he had ever since we were little. Emmett was a goof, a brute, but had the biggest and kindest heart you could imagine. I was honestly so glad when he told me about Rosalie. It was time some love and good fortune came his way.

Something I also dreamt about for today and the very faraway future, was my relationship with Bella. I hate that I almost gave her a heart attack the night I explained to her how I felt. I could see it in her eyes, she thought I was getting rid of her. I was afraid to come on too strong, fucking Jacob Black had damaged her too much. Sometimes I didn't speak my mind, since I wanted to tell her how I feel, how much I liked —loved her, but I couldn't, not yet. My feelings could wait until my Enchantress was ready. I could express myself, muse online to get stuff off my chest, it always seemed to have helped. Since I didn't have a lot of friends in school, blogging had always been my coping mechanism. I adore words, hence my gaming name —WrithingForWords, and I couldn't believe I was dating an actual book editor in training. Books and poems were the perfect past-time, besides gaming. Lately, I'd take Bella over any of those things, of course. I knew Bella liked words too, since it's her profession, so maybe I should let her look at my blog sometime instead of writing about us, about her without her knowledge. Of course, I never posted real names or locations, that was all fictional and up to the imagination. The only person who knew about it, was my brother. Emmett had stumbled across my blog once when he was borrowing my laptop. I hadn't closed the tab of the web browser, giving him the immediate access to my latest and most raunchy blogpost to date. My first time with Bella. At first, Emmett thought I was writing fiction, but as he went on asking questions about what I'd done the night before and whether or not I had a date, he completely figured me out. He couldn't believe his little brother had such knowledge of the female anatomy. He even asked me: 'are the piercings real, though?', muttering something to himself that I didn't even want to know. The amount of followers I had seemed to increase rapidly the moment I started writing about my Enchantress. People were interested, and well... Sex sells, even though it was on paper and I only did this for myself; some kind of journal. I briefly thought about taking the blog down, or setting it on private, but it wouldn't have the same kind effect on me. Readers were giving me their input, their advice.

A smile appeared on my face when I recalled my lunch date with Bella again. Her question stared me in the face again: 'Are you my boyfriend?' The way she asked in the morning was a little harsh, since she was agitated with me and my behavior. Plus, I kinda spoke out of line, calling myself her boyfriend when she introduced me to Jackass Jake. At lunch, her words were soft, as were her eyes, carefully prodding at me and what I wanted. I left it up to her, cuddling her to my side, but she wasn't having any of that crap. Instead, she asked me if I wanted to be. Wanted? Of course I wanted to be her exclusive boyfriend, her Chosen One. It was all I hoped for at this moment, wishing she needed the same from me, the promise that there'd be no one else. I told her so, carefully choosing my words to express to her I craved everything with her, which meant whatever she was willing to give me. The way she'd looked at me, made my heart burst at the seams. Her eyes were melted chocolate, the sunshine illuminating the gold specs that were there as well. Then she kissed me. A kiss so filled with love, I didn't even need to hear her answer. Any answer. It was all right there, softness, tenderness, truth. Embracing her, I put my heart and soul in that kiss. When she pulled away, her eyes gleamed wildly, uttering but one word. 'Okay.' It was so Bella, and it was so much for her to admit that she wanted me to be hers, so it was enough for me to burst out the cocky grin. I blamed the next thing I did on her, on the dress, the glances, the pictures of her in her ravishing emerald lace and just plain Isabella. My horny ass wanted my girl, especially since I could now call her mine, loud and proud.

On the outside, we just looked like a couple who walked back to work after lunch. But I knew my heart was thumping erratically, my cock was rigid and my mind was on only one thing. Feeling my girl wrapped around me, her warmth enveloping me and her hands on me. I needed it. I craved it. I longed for it. So I did the least romantic thing I'd ever done. Ever. I lead her to the company's underground garage where I'd parked my car and tugged her along with me. I told her about the pictures, that she should've expected me to jump her the first chance I got. She didn't seem to mind at all, not even when I pushed her against the rough walls of the stairwell, groping her like a teenager underneath her sinful dress. We couldn't do that here, there was too much of a chance of someone walking in on us. Although it did sound incredibly exciting to take my Isabella right then and there, I could't risk a trip to HR and possible repercussions. We'd had to that someplace else, maybe.

I pushed her against the hood of my car, like I was starving for her, my inhibitions and manners shoved aside completely, ushering her to be quiet. When I uncovered her underwear, I couldn't think anymore. It was too much, she looked too fucking sexy. I didn't care that my car was dusty, that any noises would echo through the parking garage like crazy and that we were sneaking around. The only thing it did, was turn me on even more. Why she asked me if I liked the lingerie, I didn't know. I loved it, and I made sure to show her my appreciation. She dared me to prove it to her, anyway. My girl liked to play dirty.

I had a lone condom in my wallet, and felt glad. Taking my Isabella bare was something I dreamed about daily, but since my girl wore a black dress and had to go back to work, I didn't want to risk making her feel uncomfortable later. Bella shuddered and moaned quietly before I'd even touched her and then it hit me. She had been up to this, she'd wanted this all along, her panties soaking wet when I touched her. Was this little rendez-vous what she planned as an after-lunch activity? Like I thought, she wasn't quiet. I pulled my hand back, which she didn't like and warned her again. She was being a good girl, using her own arms to suppress her noises. I loved it, the way her upper body was sprawled over the car, her legs shoulder-width apart and her body willing. I felt like a king, even more so when I finally entered her, the feeling of her around my cock intense and addicting. It felt too long ago since we did this last. My movements were hard, deliberate and I could tell she felt good by her hitched and panting breaths, but there was no way in hell I was going to last long, not long enough to make her orgasm, anyway. She touched herself and the muscles around me tightened, telling me it was the best idea I'd had today —apart from fucking my girlfriend in an underground garage. I wanted to slow down to make it last longer, but Bella told me not to stop, so I obeyed my lady, leaning down to kiss her neck, to be closer to her. The feeling of her, clamping around me and her silent moan and gasps were my undoing. I crashed on top of her, coming down from an intense orgasm, breathing hard, smiling like a lunatic against her back. I took in the smell of her shampoo and perfume, she smelled like flowers and warmth and sexiness. The clock was ticking though and we both had to get back to our daily activities, so I slid out of Bella's warmth and took care of her, pulling her panties back into place and smoothed out her dress. I stuffed the condom in a napkin I found in my jeans pocket and laughed loudly when Bella told me she'd bring me lunch more often.

I noticed Bella seemed hurried, probably worried someone would catch us, so I walked her back upstairs and outside where she told me she was sorry for what just happened. I thought she was going mental and told her I wanted that as much as she did. Bella was one of those girls who talked about the sex she just had with great ease, calling me out on my demands of her, pretending to be mad. Yeah right, she liked it, alright, her panties were still wet to prove my point.

Our kiss might have been a little too much at the workplace, but I didn't care. I told her I felt bad about leaving her like this: thoroughly fucked —literally and on her own. Like I'd just used her for my benefit, even if she was a willing enough participant. She told me she'd be fine, but I'd still preferred to take her home instead and spend the afternoon naked with her —not gonna happen, Cullen. You've got work to do. I noticed some of my co-workers going up to the office again, some of them lingering their gaze on me and my beautiful girlfriend, so I kissed her again, softer this time, marking her as mine. As I let my eyes wander over her shapely body, I could see it. The twinkle in her eyes, her hair slightly in disarray… She looked royally fucked, as did I —probably. I knew I'd have to act cool since Eric will probably ask me what took us so long, surely I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut. Besides, it was written all over my face, anyway.

The party with my Enchantress' friends was tomorrow, and I felt a little nervous about it. I admitted that to her, but Bella assured me I'd be fine. I was finally going to meet the famous Alice and Rosalie, which scared me shitless. Then she said it. 'The'll love you, as —I'm sure.' Was she going to say what I think she was? She seemed to trip over her words, telling me they should be the ones to be nervous, since to her, I'd be the most important person there. Her boyfriend.

I was Isabella Swan's official, non-caveman, lovable-by-her-friends boyfriend.

I loved her, if only I could man up enough to tell her that.