Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
"Bella!" She heard Esme shout her name from her office. "Thank god! Get in here!"
Bella grinned as she shut the front door behind her and wiped her rainy boots on the mat. She was slowly gaining confidence in her own design skills thanks to Esme's tutelage, but Bella still felt like Esme was humoring her some of the time. Hearing the relief in Esme's voice however, made her feel like she might actually be contributing to her work. She darted down the side hallway to Esme's office as soon she was inside only to find the woman standing in the middle of-well, what used to be her office.
"Um, is this the right house?" Bella asked slowly. Esme's office was never anything but impeccable, but this room barely qualified for a room.
"Ha ha," she said, frowning. "Mrs. Bryant is driving me crazy! I have done dozens of models for her. Dozens! It's only a bed for god's sake! I swear if she criticizes the next one I'll bite her!"
Bella giggled and pretended not to see Esme's panicked face at her slip up. Hell, she wouldn't mind biting a few people herself.
"How can I help?" she asked, eager to assist but highly doubtful she'd make any impact.
Esme sighed. "I've read her emails more times than I care to count. I can't look at them anymore. Would you go through them, see if there's something in her descriptions of what she wants that I'm missing?"
Bella nodded, sitting down at the computer while Esme separated the designs and models into a discernible pattern. Wow, Bella thought as she scrolled through a total of 62 email messages between Mrs. Bryant and Esme. The client's thoughts were all over the place, like she had a strong sense of what she wanted but just couldn't put it into words. The attachments with Esme's designs reflected each email's discussion...but they were never exactly what Mrs. Bryant wanted.
One word caught Bella's attention though: sinewy. Soon after, she noticed a smattering of other highly specific descriptors scattered all over the messages...cascade, flow, and ripple among them. Why not, she thought, and started to draw.
"Bella, what on earth is that?" Esme asked, staring at the paper in her hands. Bella looked up from the task that had engrossed her for the better part of 45 minutes.
"An idea," she said. "Mrs. Bryant likes Tolkien. I've seen her renew the Fellowship of the Ring twice in the library. The way she was trying to describe what she wanted...I dunno, it reminded me of Rivendell."
"Er..." Esme looked at her drawing with confusion.
"You've...never read Lord of the Rings?" She asked her.
Esme shook her head, looking a little abashed.
Seriously? Bella thought...what else was there to do when you're immortal?
"Well...I think she wants to wake up and forget that she's indoors. The bed should resemble a tree that's never been trimmed, or rather, its roots. They should flow down from above the bed to all the sides..."
Bella explained her thought process and each feature of the crazy bed she had sketched, while Esme listened carefully.
"Ok, sweetheart," Esme said, after scanning her drawing, "I'll send it to Mrs. Bryant. Don't feel let down if she doesn't take to it though. God knows she hated all my stuff."
Bella nodded.
Esme smiled softly, and surprised her by kissing her gingerly on the forehead. "I'm very proud of you," she said.
Bella blushed, and for the thousandth time she thanked god, fate, whomever for allowing her the chance to be part of this incredible family's lives.
"Hello?"
Bella walked up the stairs to the main level of the house, looking for any sign of human, er-vampire life.
"In here."
Bella's heart skipped a beat. It was Rosalie. Breathe.
Since she had found out their secret, and more importantly since she learned the object of her affections was happily married to her best friend, Bella put a stop to every temptation within reach. She avoided sitting directly next to her. She fought to keep her gaze level with her eyes, and never faltered when she looked at her despite the tempest that always raged inside her. She didn't think they actually physically touched at all in weeks. Rosalie, if she even noticed Bella's drastic measures, did not comment. She went along with all of her new unspoken rules without so much as batting an eye.
The only thing Bella could not bring herself to do was stop talking outright to Rosalie. Just the idea would sent her into a panic attack. Rosalie's voice was a drug Bella could not live without, and so she made up for her austere measures by indulging in that drug as often and for as long as she could. And so over these last weeks, Bella and Rosalie's relationship grew stronger through endless conversations and, when one of them thought the other wasn't looking, through hard and longing stares. She had come to her shed frequently, but after the first night together they never again left the gnarly couch, let alone shared a bed. As much as everything in Bella screamed at her to, she knew if she ever touched her again while feeling this way she'd lose control. Bella was grateful Edward couldn't read her, because even though things with Rosalie were frustratingly G-rated, her thoughts were anything but. All Rosalie had to do was enter the room for Bella to feel a most pleasant and distracting stirring deep inside her. She hoped beyond hope that she was masking her emotions well enough to fool Jasper, but she could never be sure. Thankfully, she never heard him whisper anything about it.
Bella steeled herself, and entered the living room.
Her breath caught in her throat, but for once it wasn't Rosalie's doing. There was a new addition to the Cullens' living room...a gleaming white piano. Bella narrowed her eyes. They didn't...did they? Surely they wouldn't spend this kind of fortune on something so blatantly for her benefit?
Bella decided to play it cool and sauntered over to sit on an armchair opposite of Rosalie, who was looking at her intently as she always did. Suddenly she let out a small laugh (Beautiful, Bella thought) and raised an eyebrow.
"You're not fooling me little girl," she said. "I'd rather you get it over with and get it out of your system now. I won't have you ignoring me."
Bella frowned mockingly. "Am I that obvious?"
Rosalie looked at her hard for a moment. "Yes, you are."
Bella gulped but held her gaze, ignoring the double entendre.
"Any requests?" She asked and started to walk over to the baby grand.
"Actually, how about a duet?" Rosalie replied.
Bella whipped her head to stare at her. "You play?" She asked. How had she not known that?
"Yes. Not like you though," Rosalie laughed. "But I was talking about the violin."
Seriously, how had she not known that? Bella shook her head and sat down in front of the piano while she waited for Rosalie to bring her instrument. She ran her hands over the keys, trying not to imagine how Rosalie would look as she played. If the ache developing in her core was any indication, this was going to be a very long afternoon.
Rosalie came back, and Bella kept her head down while she helped her get in tune. Please, please stand behind me, she silently begged her. Please stand behind me, and far, far away. As if she could hear her thoughts, Rosalie, in her usual mocking fashion glided to stand a few feet in front of the piano's curve...directly in Bella's sights. Fuck...
"Your wish is my command," Bella said, bowing in her seat.
Even with months of practice under her belt now, Bella still melted from Rosalie's killer gaze. But she'd had lots of practice keeping her face neutral, so outwardly, Bella just stared back and waited.
"Canon in D," she said, and waited for her to start.
Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes, remembering that Rosalie didn't know the extent of her musical repertoire. Canon in D was a good song to throw out there because any semi-serious musician would know it. Bella's official musical schooling ended at 9, but even then it seemed that every book she'd studied had some version of the song. Ok Rosalie, she thought. Let's see what you can do. And she began to play the intro.
Rosalie came in about 20 seconds later, and Bella smiled at the perfection she heard. She stole a glance her way and immediately wished she hadn't. Bella's fingers were on auto-pilot but her eyes stayed trained on the other girl and didn't leave her body till the end of the song. The precision of her wrist...the agility of her fingers...the smoothness of her strokes...the way her hair fell on her shoulders as her body shifted with each movement of her bow...Bella's eyes never grew tired. Every inch of Rosalie's body ignited a fire in her own...a fire very different from what she was accustomed to.
Bella never took her eyes off of Rosalie, even as she played the final chords. The blonde lowered her instrument and stared back.
Shit, speak. Say something.
Bella cleared her throat. "You've been holding out on me," she said.
Rosalie's expression softened somewhat, and a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.
"Yes...but I don't think I will anymore."
What the hell did she mean by that? Before she had time for another thought, Rosalie was suddenly sitting right next to her. Oh god. Oh god, Oh god.
She quickly moved over to her left a few inches, and tried to order the right side of her body to stop buzzing. A second later though she stopped breathing altogether, because Rosalie was holding her right hand. Bella froze. Even her heart seemed to stop beating in her chest momentarily before it tripled in speed.
"Let's see if you can play...under pressure," Rosalie said softly.
And then she leaned closer and whispered the name of a song in her ear...and Bella's eyes rolled into the back of her head when she felt the girl's lips on her ear.
"Ready?" Rosalie asked.
Huh? Ready for what? Her mind was still on Rosalie's lips.
"Hmm?" She asked, dazed.
Rosalie smiled that goddamn half smile again. "Habanera, Bella. Are you ready?"
Bella could only nod. Rosalie set her burning hand down on the board, adding to her torture by maneuvering each of her fingers onto the correct key. Bella took a deep unsteady breath and, when Rosalie nodded to her, began to play.
Bella had never done a 4-hand variation on anything since, obviously, she had no one with which to play. The novelty of it kept her focused at first. The whole thing was an improvisation for her which she had to admit was pretty fun. Except this fun was going to give her a heart attack. Bella hadn't been this close to Rosalie in weeks. She could feel her body next to her. She could feel her hips swaying. Her shoulder kept bumping into hers. Her arm kept grazing Bella's. She was doing it on purpose, Bella knew. Otherwise she would've stopped long ago to at least inquire about her racing heart and trembling legs. She knew Rosalie could hear her. Hell she could probably smell her arousal-it was that strong. Breathe, Bella. Fuck, she smells amazing. Ok, don't breathe. Shit, that's not gonna work.
Bella was physically exhausted when they finished the song-not from playing but from working so hard to keep herself from leaning into Rosalie...from grabbing her hands...from pushing her onto the piano and kissing her until neither of them could breathe. If Jasper could feel her now...
She kept her eyes shut after the last notes died off. She was afraid of what she would see, but more afraid of what she might do if she saw it. Bella's control was finite, and she was grasping at the last of it. She tried to focus on the rain outside but could barely hear it over her thundering heart.
She whimpered softly when, without warning, she felt Rosalie's hand on her cheek...her thumb softly stroking her flesh.
"Bella, open your eyes," Rosalie said.
Bella complied, and inhaled deeply when she looked up at Rosalie. Bella thought she might cry. She had seen small hints of this over the weeks, ever since the night at the music hall. This...this was the whole shebang. This was everything Rosalie could show her in a glance, everything her eyes could communicate about how she felt. Any doubts Bella may have had about this terrible situation being one-sided were promptly thrown out the window.
Bella's heart somersaulted in her chest when she realized Rosalie's gaze had shifted to her lips.
She released a ragged breath, and watched Rosalie slowly lean forward, while her stomach coiled around itself painfully.
Outside, a tree exploded.
Author's note: I feel so evil. Punish me in the reviews :P