16

The Hunk

Time moves quickly for Edward and Bella.

Seasons change, and Bella makes slow but steady progress.

He almost teared up when she made it to the bottom stair of the small porch they share to greet him with a kiss one afternoon after work.

With the good days, which there were a lot, there were also bad days for Bella.

One night, Edward got a text message. Bella told him she couldn't sleep because she was having nightmares. He offered to come over, and she met him at the door, five feet from the entryway.

Edward's heart sank.

They'd been doing so well.

He held her on the couch for hours as she slept fitfully.

She talked a lot as she dreamed, and Edward felt guilty because he found out things that night that he knew Bella wasn't ready to share yet.

She talked about a man named James and how he broke her. She mentioned a woman named Victoria in the same breath.

It wasn't in great detail, but he wanted to kill them for doing whatever they did to make her hurt so much.

She cried and clutched Edward closely. And then Bella calmed down a little and spoke of green eyes and a handsome smile.

Regretfully, Edward had to wake her up so he could go to work, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye. Sometimes, he hated that he didn't want anyone else in his kitchen. Because that night, he knew Bella needed him.

It killed him to leave her.

She nodded and burrowed into the couch, denying his attempt to kiss her before he left.

Zafrina's card burned a hole in his wallet the entire day, but he wanted to see how Bella was when he got off work.

He got home, and she wasn't there to greet him from her stoop.

Bella spent days upset with herself for letting her past get to her again. She'd made a promise to herself, and she felt like she let everyone down.

It took Edward days to convince her that everyone has moments of vulnerability. It's just part of being human. That bad days are to be expected.

It took a week before Bella met him out on the stairs again and another two weeks before they were back to how affectionate they were before the setback.

Things have settled, and it's almost as if nothing ever happened.

Thanksgiving is approaching when Bella broaches the subject.

"Hey, Honey. What are you planning to do for Turkey Day?" she asks one night while Edward attempts to teach her how to make a souffle. It's going about as well as the chopstick lesson went all those months ago.

He pulls out another dish, watches the middle collapse, and sighs.

Bella frowns.

"I have a box of instant pudding. I think souffle might not be my forte."

"Rose and I talked it over, and we'd rather keep The Bakery open all week except for Thanksgiving Day because there's so much profit to be made. We're going to make a shit ton of pies and maybe some cookies, well, I'm going to bake everything. Traveling to visit our parents would be pointless for just one day, and Dad works a lot, so they can't come to us at such short notice. Emmett wants to deep fry a turkey, and I'm not going to be anywhere near that disaster waiting to happen, so I figured I'd stay home and pretend to watch football."

She turns to him with a surprised look on her face. "Absolutely not. I always have Alice and Jasper over for the day. Jasper hates football, so he brings a bunch of bootleg movies, and I make way too much food while Alice 'helps' by sitting at the table."

"Alice doesn't cook?"

"No. Alice burns water and turns Nestle Toll House premade cookie dough into charcoal briquettes." Bella snorts. "Please come over. I would love to have some help. You shouldn't be all alone."

"I'd love to come help you, Sugar. Just let me know what I can bring."

"Alice goes shopping for everything, so if there's something special you need, just put it on the list." She points to the fridge. "Considering how much work that goes into the meal, the least she and Jasper can do is fight with the crowds at the grocery store."

"That makes sense."

Edward moves over to the fridge, and his eyes widen at the rather extensive list Bella has made. He glances through the items and adds a couple of things at the bottom.

"Whatcha gonna make?" Bella asks.

"I like to make stuffing from scratch. I need a loaf of stale bread and celery."

They settle on the couch with a mixing bowl of instant chocolate pudding and two spoons.

They talk about the holiday and the probability of Edward's brother-in-law ending up in the hospital's burn unit. Bella offers to invite them over, but he can tell she's uncomfortable with the idea of having two new strangers in her house.

Baby steps.

"No. They want to spend it together, just the two of them. I think they're trying to make me an uncle."

"Emmett can still have kids? From all the accidents he's had, I would think he injured his ... you know." Bella blushes, pointing to her lap with her spoon.

"I never really thought about that. I know my sister wants a baby, and what Rosalie wants, Rosalie gets. If that's the case, she'll probably do the whole turkey baster thing."

Pudding sprays out of Bella's mouth all over them, the couch, the carpet, and the coffee table. She covers her face, laughing so hard the bowl on her lap nearly falls onto the floor.

Edward catches it, setting it on the table.

Bella is still cackling, and he loves seeing her so happy.

He knows he's falling in love with her. He's willing to go as slow as she needs because Bella is more than worth it.

Edward knows it's too soon. He'd hate to push her, and he needs to make sure his feelings are absolute before he tells her. It would kill him to bring her pain if he isn't completely sure.

Instead of declaring his possible love for her, he looks down at his clothes and glares at her.

"I can't believe you just projectile spat chocolate pudding all over me."

"I'm sorry." Bella snorts behind her hands.

"No, you aren't."

He's about to tell her that he's going to his house so he can change when Bella surprises him by climbing onto his lap.

"I am sorry." Her face is bright red, from laughing or from embarrassment, Edward can't tell.

Her knees are blocking him in, so he wraps his sticky arms around her middle, bringing her in close for a steamy kiss. He knows she's comfortable with him initiating a little. Luckily, kissing is one of the areas Bella is okay with handing over the reins.

He loves the feel of her mouth against his, and being able to do it anytime he wants is just icing on the cake.

She's so reactive to him, and it's slowly driving Edward insane.

Sure, he wants Bella sexually. Any grown man with eyes would want that. But he's scared that one day he'll push a little too far, and he'll lose her forever. Instead, he's always a step or two behind Bella. Always letting her take the lead.

When they break apart, Bella has chocolate smeared all over her face. Edward leans up and licks her top lip.

A laughing Bella decides that they should both get cleaned up and that she needs to grab the spot cleaner for the carpet.

Edward is still laughing when he returns, clean and changed into a pair of sweats.

Bella asks him to push the couch back so they won't step on the wet spot left by the cleaner.

The rest of the pudding is packed away in the fridge for another day, and they're cuddled underneath a thick blanket that Bella made last year. She decides to pick out the movie this time because Edward has terrible taste, according to her anyway.

She goes with a romantic comedy that neither of them watches because their mouths are glued together before the beginning credits finish rolling.

Bella tells him all the time that she's never been happier than she is right now.

Edward's starting to realize that he feels the same way. He's been living half a life before he met her. With Bella, he feels complete. He's almost completely sure that he's in love.

When they separate for the night, it's understood that the next couple of weeks are going to be rough and that he'll be prepping for the holiday ahead.

Bella tells him that she'll always have dinner waiting for him and that she doesn't want him to bring home any desserts.

"Too much temptation. I'll eat a bunch of sweets on Thanksgiving, and I don't want to go too crazy." She grabs her soft stomach.

"You're perfect, Sugar. I like you just the way you are."

She smiles, but he can tell it's not genuine. He's been trying to work on her self-esteem, but like everything else with Bella, it takes time. They say goodnight, and Edward prepares for the next couple of weeks, hoping he'll be able to find time to spend with Bella.

Preparing for Thanksgiving is hell. With Rosalie running the front counter during business hours and then bitching and riding his ass about everything he does in the kitchen after they close. Edward manages to persevere but everything comes to a head the night before they close the shop. He gives up and calls his mom. Sure, it's pathetic, but he's ready to shove Rosalie into the walk-in freezer and lock the door.

Instead of being supportive and promising to talk to her annoying-as-shit daughter, his mom starts interrogating him about Bella. "Sweetheart, if we'd known you were seeing someone, we would have tried harder to come out there."

Edward rolls his eyes and pushes his sister out-of-the-way so he can check on a batch of muffins and sighs.

"It's different with Bella, Ma. It would overwhelm her if you and Dad just showed up. She isn't ready for something like that."

"But Rosalie told me that you've been seeing her for months now. Why would you keep this from me?" Edward can hear the pain in her voice.

He slaps Rosalie—who's eating leftover brownie batter—in the back of the head and flips her the bird.

"Mom, Bella is agoraphobic and has severe social anxiety. She can't leave her house. She has panic attacks, but we're working on it. It's just a slow process. Really slow."

"Oh, sweetheart. You must really like her if you're willing to go through all of this work."

Edward smiles. "She's really special. I promise as soon as she's up for it, we'll arrange something. I want you and Dad to meet her because I don't have any plans to let her go."

"Gag me with a fucking spoon." Rosalie groans, using her spoon to gag herself.

"I can't wait. I know you're busy, but I want to hear more about her later. I need to know what to get her for Christmas."

Edward pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'll call you later. Now can you please do something about your daughter before I do something drastic, and you have to come visit me in the pen?" He hands the phone over to his sister and gets back to work.

If anything, the call only makes Rosalie's attitude worse.

"Do I need to go buy you tampons or something?" he asks, burning himself on a pan of cookies. "Shit!"

"No. I'll have you know, I'm late. Only a couple of days, so we're trying not to get our hopes up," Rosalie almost whispers.

Edward stops short; he can't remember the last time he's seen his big sister vulnerable.

"Sup, Ro?" he asks, running water over his burn.

"We thought we made a baby a couple of months ago. The test came back positive, but we got a call from the doctor, and it turned out to be a chemical pregnancy. So we're not taking store-bought tests. We're going to wait and go to the doctor."

"That's great, Rosalie," he tells her. "I can't wait to be an uncle."

He'd hug her if they were like that; instead, he punches her lightly in the arm and walks over to the first-aid kit.

"Really?" she asks, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Yeah, I'm going to make it my mission to teach the little shit his first word. Fucktastic."

Rosalie throws the mixing bowl at his head and stomps out of the kitchen, yelling at him to clean up the mess.

Edward's dead on his feet by the time he makes it home.

He called Bella on his way to let her know, and she's there waiting for him when he walks up the pathway.

"What's up, Honey?" She hands him a covered dish and kisses him on the cheek.

Edward yawns.

"I might be an uncle. And I think I found something worse than shark week. Rosalie is a raging bitch. Raging," he stresses. "If she is pregnant, I might have to look for another job."

"I'm sorry." She smiles, running her thumb over the dark circle underneath his eye.

"It's okay. Just gotta make it through tomorrow."

"You're still getting off at noon?"

He nods.

"Rose wants to make sure everything I've been making sells before we close for an entire day. I told her I was leaving at twelve and not to call me at all on Thanksgiving. We aren't sentimental or anything, so it's not like we wish each other happy holiday, aside from Christmas." He yawns again.

"Go eat and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

He kisses her softly before stepping over the fencing and entering his house.

o.O. .o.O.o

Bella gave Edward a key ages ago, but she tends to leave her door unlocked when she's expecting him. It's a big deal, her leaving her door unlocked. She's spent so much time locking the world out.

He's confused when he finds the door locked on Thanksgiving morning. She told him to come over early so they could start cooking.

He pulls his key out and enters the house. It already smells like turkey. Bella's probably been up for hours.

"Hey, Sugar! Why's the door locked?" he asks, rounding the corner and stopping short.

Bella's standing at the stove, and her sister is sitting on the sink watching her mix something.

"Yeah, I forgot to ask you about that." Alice giggles. "Sugar?"

"It's my nickname," Bella explains. "Jasper probably locked it when they got here. Old habits die hard. Did you get enough sleep, Honey?"

"Honey? Seriously, you guys are so dang cute." Alice cackles.

Edward gauges Bella, silently asking if it's okay for him to kiss her.

She answers him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him senseless.

It's been a long five days.

They pull apart when her sister starts whistling and catcalling.

"I got plenty of sleep. Now, put me to work."

Bella tells him that he can start his stuffing while she works on the gravy. Alice moves to the table and watches them work side by side like they've been doing it for years. They have been doing it for a while now, but Bella and Edward have always worked well together. Some things are so easy for them.

Alice has never seen Bella so happy as she and Edward work. They have their inside jokes, and he knows where everything is in her kitchen. She can't recall the last time Bella called her in a panic, needing her help. Edward is so good to her sister.

Edward's chopping celery, and Bella's asking him to taste the gravy, when a buzz-cut man enters the room.

"Bella, your door was unlocked … Oh, hello. You must be Edward."

Edward waves the knife, apologizing that he can't shake the man's hand properly. "It's nice to meet you, Jasper. Bella talks about you and Alice a lot."

"I bet she talks more about you to us."

Bella's face flushes.

"All good things, I hope." Edward laughs, hip bumping her. "It's all right, Sugar. I talk about you a lot too.

"The door?" Jasper asks, popping the little bubble they find themselves in so often.

"Yeah, I leave it unlocked when Edward's coming over. But he has a key, so he just came in."

Alice's jaw is practically on the floor. She has got to get her sister alone at some point today for a major interrogation.

Hours later, Jasper has rearranged all the furniture in the living room so they can eat while they watch the movies he brought.

Everyone works together to bring everything to the table, and Edward's surprised when the couple across from him clasps their hands together, praying over the meal.

He notices Bella is just waiting as if this is nothing new. She catches him staring. "Later," she mouths.

When Alice and Jasper say "amen", everyone starts reaching for dishes.

"Edward, can you come help me get everyone something to drink? It looks like we forgot."

He nods and follows her to the kitchen.

"My sister and I were raised Catholic. I hope they didn't make you uncomfortable."

"Of course not, Bella. Some people practice religion and some people don't."

"I don't. I'm not an atheist or anything. I don't blame a god when bad things happen, and I don't thank a god when good things happen."

"Same, so no worries. Why was that such a big deal?"

"I just wanted to let you know, but I also wanted to get you alone for a second," she says, giving him a smacking kiss on the lips. "I also wanted to warn you that Jasper buys his bootleg movies from some guy's trunk at a flea market they frequent. The quality is going to be as bad as your taste in music."

Edward chuckles.

"Not a big deal, Sugar. Come eat before everything gets cold."

"Hey, I have a working microwave, punk."

Without thinking, Edward reaches out and smacks her lightly on the ass. Bella gives a squeak of surprise before turning around.

"Bella, I'm so sorry—"

The next thing he knows, he's being pushed up against the fridge with so much force the contents inside shake and rattle.

Bella all but shoves her tongue down his throat.

When she pulls away, gasping for air, she tells him that he needs to stop walking on eggshells all the time and exits the kitchen with a happy little giggle.