Incognito

Chapter—Twenty-Eight

Edward's hand tightened around the steering wheel as they drove away from the group forming behind Jake, Seth, and Garrett. Bella had remained rather quiet and it was giving him a complex issue.

"My work failed!" Her hands balled into fists, her eyes clenching shut. "You've been identified and my makeup failed. I failed!" She looked close to tears.

Oh shit.

"First of all, our original agreement was that as long as I wasn't identified by Comic Con. I never expected to go completely unnoticed the entire weekend. It was only a matter of time." It had been close, though.

"My makeup still failed." Her pout was nearly irresistible and something he would have to demand she never did while he drove.

Edward cringed when he realized he had a confession to make. "Okay, that's not on you, actually." He felt the heat of her glare on the side of his head; at least the pout was gone. "You taught me how to apply the prosthetic chin so you had time to get ready this morning."

"Yes, and I told you to go shave and apply it like I showed you." Her eyes narrowed in on his stubbly chin. "You didn't shave."

"No." Edward prepared for her anger; it was well deserved. He wanted to learn how to do it himself so that she'd have time to get ready, and for possible use whenever he wanted to go out. Instead, he went about it lazily and the fake chin fell.

Bella started laughing. "I should've known better!"

"You're not mad?"

The grin on her face told him they'd be okay. "I was more upset over the sudden lift off the ground, Edward. One moment, I was ready for whatever came at us, the next, I was in the air and landing on your hard shoulder."

At that, Edward started to apologize. He had no idea it would hurt her that much. They always made it seem so easy in the damn movies.

"Anyway, it was the last day, and we were in a hurry this morning since we had only a few hours of sleep."

"If that," Edward stated with a waggle of his brows. They had been rather busy the night before.

"I'm not mad at you. More at the situation." She shrugged, pulling out her cellphone and frowning on it. "James hasn't posted much yet. Just that you were at the event, but he says he'll have photos and more soon."

"We won't be able to head to my house or yours any time soon." It wouldn't be long before paps invaded their homes. He wouldn't have been surprised to find some there already. "We'll head back to Dom's place, but we'll have to decide what to do. Dylan said he was heading there Tuesday."

He looked over at her to see her furiously typing on her phone. "What's going on?"

"Texting with Jake and Seth, trying to decide how best to handle this."

"May I make a suggestion?"

Bella sensing the seriousness in Edward's tone turned to look at him. "I'm all ears."

"How about I post a tasteful photo on Instagram or Twitter of the both of us in costume? Something along the lines of thanking San Diego and Comic-Con for a great experience, but I won't use your name."

Her brow tightened, nothing her eyes giving away how she felt about his suggestion. "They should work for it. My name, I mean. And it wouldn't look like I'm not using you."

"Exactly. No matter what, James got the best pictures if Jake didn't manage to delete the photos. He'll still be the one to give your name away, but the fact that I'm sharing something may take away some of his glory."

"We'll just use your verified Instagram account."

"I don't have a verified Instagram account."

Bella shook her head. "Yes, you do. Last year, you did an interview and Q & A with fans using Instagram."

"I completely forgot about it. The app should still be on my phone, I turned off the notifications within minutes after the interview. I was getting pinged every other second." Edward unlocked his phone for her to use. Since they weren't being followed, thanks to the quick thinking of his friends, they headed toward a secluded parking lot.

Her laughter immediately started up once she updated Instagram and looked to find over a thousand notifications, mostly likes and comments.

"How are we doing this?" Her eyes shined bright as he looked at her, and damn, he was thankful that he made the decision to try going incognito so he could attend Comic Con. "What is it?"

"I'm so fucking lucky."

Her wink made him smile before they both exited the car, finding a spot that was slightly shaded. They decided to take two photos to share. One of them was in full costume and in character. It looked incredible and Edward decided right then and there that they needed to take studio quality photos soon. The other photo was of them without his face mask and goggles, her headdress off, holding each other close and with her looking at him. Her side profile was gorgeous and perfect, and his smile looked genuine.

Thanks, Comic Con-San Diego for an amazing experience this year, made all the better with someone to share it with.

"A bit vague but also enough for them to know I'm important," Bella said as she looked at the photo before he posted it.

"Ready?" He pressed the "share" button when she nodded. "It's done."

Her answering smile made it impossible for him to resist kissing her, her lips especially soft beneath his. She pulled back after a minute in an attempt to catch her breath, her hands cradling each side of his face. "We'll be okay. As long as we communicate and fight for this, for us."

"With every breath left inside me." Their kiss lasted a bit too long, catching the attention of some onlookers parking a few spaces from them. Startled by the sounds of giggling girls and the sudden, "oh my God," they gave each other one last hug before Edward slipped his phone into his pocket and jumped into the car.

"They had their phones out." Bella sat back but didn't bother to keep her head down.

"And so, it begins." Edward pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the freeway. Soon, they'd be secluded at the beach house, where they'll decide what to do next.

"It began the day you called me." Her sigh was soft and wistful, making him smile.

"And you answered with your nipple."

She laughed and denied it, still claiming she answered with her nose. "Why oh why did you even ask how I answered?"

Edward shrugged and answered honestly. "You had the sexiest voice, which made me curious." He cursed. "My phone hasn't stopped buzzing in my pocket, which means it's my agent." He asked for her to link his phone to the car to discuss their options with one of the best in the industry. "Ready for this?"

She nodded, though there was no disguising her nervousness. "Jane is a ballbuster."

Edward agreed with a laugh. "Then you'll two should get along well."

She punched his arm.

"Lie to me, Edward," Jane answered, the aggravation clear in her voice. "Tell me you didn't just practically announce you were at Comic-Con and that you weren't alone."

"You're on the line with me and my girlfriend." There was no stopping him now. He told her name and where she was from, though he had a feeling she already had that information. Jane had some scary connections, but he never asked questions.

There was a lot of muttering, a few muffled screams before Jane returned to the line. "At least you're getting some. You were becoming such a dick."

Bella started to laugh. "He accused me of calling the paps the first time he came over."

"And did you?" Gone was the frustration; it was full on protective mode. Not that Bella took it an insult. It was nice someone was looking out for Edward.

"No, I technically didn't know it was him when he first called. More like I had a suspicion. Plus, I'm friends with Rosalie, and I know how bad it gets for her. I would never do such a thing."

"So, I'm guessing you were hired to make a costume." There was no missing the accusation that time.

Now it was Edward's turn to be protective. "Yes, I did hire her for that, but we got to know each other since then. I have no problem with letting the media know who I've fallen in love with."

There was a short pause and Edward was sort of frightened that all hell was about to come down on him.

"Aw, that's such a good line. Too bad it's going to be hell for you both. Are you sure you're ready for what this entails, Ms. Swan?"

Bella grabbed Edward's hand from his thigh and slipped their fingers together. "I'm ready."

"I'm am, too."

"Well, you two were smart to share photos and not using her name. It'll look less like you're helping her expand her business."

"I'm well known in the cosplay world." Bella winced as her phone started to ring again, and then quickly silenced it. "James, aka Edward's biggest fan, knows who I am."

"I'm well aware of your work, Ms. Swan. Both on and off screen. Did you mention to Edward that you did some theater?"

She mentioned it in passing but never gave him the details.

"Yes, she did. If this helps or hinders her career in any way, we'll deal with any fallout." Edward squeezed her hand when she went a little pale. He already knew she used to do a lot of acting in high school and college but didn't bother much after that. She found her niche in the details, the costumes; behind the scenes. She hadn't tried to keep that from him.

"Good, just making sure she's being honest with you. Edward, that role you wanted is produced by the asshole that blacklisted her."

Bella's eyes went wide, her head shaking before he even responded. They knew each other enough that she'd know he would want nothing to do with it. She obviously didn't want it to affect his career.

He would never want to work with someone with such a disgusting work and moral ethics.

"Tell them to forget it then."

"Simple as that, huh?" Jane laughed, rolling on not expecting an answer. "All right, I'm going to look at her social media accounts, see if she should remove anything."

Edward didn't want Bella to have to remove anything, but he took one look at her, and she agreed with Jane. They ended the call with the promise to have a more thorough discussion in a few days and agreed to what Jane would tell the media when they called.

"James posted his photos shortly after you did. I think they're slightly blurry." She laughed as she described how people were replying by posting the photos Edward had posted. They were right; James was quick to give any information he had about her, but it backfired when fans of Edward accused him of doxing her.

"My accounts aren't verified, but I have a ton of requests already." She sighed, though it didn't sound like a happy one.

"What is it?"

"My dad is asking me to call him."

Edward knew there had been a falling out when she came to California to live with her aunt and attend college. Her family wanted her close to home and not living with the most eccentric, estranged family member. Aunt Maggie lived with her two lovers for twelve years before they both died in a car accident a year before Bella moved in with her. Her conservative parents worried that Maggie would influence her life in all the wrong ways, and Bella didn't give a fuck what they thought. She moved and lived her best years with her aunt before she passed two years earlier.

"We're almost there."

.

.

.

"Bella," Edward whispered, holding her close as she cried softly against his shoulder. "Please tell me these are happy tears."

"Yes, you have no idea how much I needed to hear what they had to say." Her head lifted enough for their eyes to meet. "We're all so stubborn." Her parents made a lot of apologies and even showed her stacks of unsent letters because they were ashamed of how they handled things before Bella had moved.

Edward grinned, grateful to see a smile on her face again. "Who did you get your stubbornness from?"

"Stop being cheeky!" She giggled, settling more fully on his lap. "But if you must know, from both of them, you're dealing with one hundred percent stubbornness."

They laughed, but hers soon turned to screams as he flung her over his shoulder again and making the way to the bathroom. They had days' worth of sweat, tears, and Comic-Con to wash off…together.

As they lathered up and discussed the day, they each said they had no regrets in the end.

"Well, I wouldn't say no regrets." Bella pouted as she furiously washed her hair.

"What do you mean?" It was hard to concentrate when she was gloriously naked and wet. All those tiny bubbles washing over her breasts and stomach.

"I had bought all the photo ops."

"Holy shit! Why didn't you say anything?" Edward quickly calculated and cursed again. "That's over a thousand dollars." His hands were in his hair and his cock decided to behave for once, guilt hitting him a bit too hard.

The soft touch her hands on his wrists had his eyes snapping open. "It's fine."

"No, it's not, Bella. This is already affecting you and not in a good way."

The softness in her eyes disappeared. "What? You're going to give up before this really gets started?"

His neck protested with a slight twinge when he was little too quick and hard to shake his head. "Never, but I hate this shit."

"So do I, but there's always next year."

"Not with the same stars and you know it." Edward was right. If they went by the Marvel movie release timeline, the following year would likely only be Captain Marvel, Antman and the Wasp cast. If they didn't decide to skip the following year.

"It's fine, Edward."

He nodded for now, but he intended to make it up to her.