DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the intellectual property of the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

-Chapter Twenty-One-

Edward was as complex as the tattoos that covered his body, and intricate designs were an outside mirror of the inner workings of his mind. My old man was two sides of a coin. Head's side up, he was a madman, quick-tempered, and sought out fun in pushing the limit by breaking laws. Tail's side down, the part of him that only I got to see, was funny, tender, and very protective of me.

It used to confuse me how he could be one or both things but neither of them. He kept me guessing at every turn, trying to decipher what he meant or why he acted in a certain way. But, in the end, I was making it too hard. Edward did things for no reason, but he did them deliberately. He said what he meant and meant what he said.

But regardless of how dizzy and unstable he made me feel at times, I could trust him to be there to catch me.

His long fingers glided over my skin, making lazy patterns from the top of my breasts down to my belly button. Each stroke and pass of his fingertips left a tingling sensation that sent shivers down my spine.

"You sleeping?" he whispered into my hair.

The exhaustion of yesterday's events kept us awake but in an idle state. Our bodies were winding down but our minds were still spinning wildly. It was nearly nine in the morning, and sleep was still eluding me.

"No," I answered, holding the Custom Colt in my hand, staring into my reflection and thinking how dull and flat my eyes were. They weren't as hypnotizing as Edward's deep sea-green irises.

"Thirteen more days," Edward murmured as the lure of sleep took over.

Lucky.

I smiled, setting down the gun and snuggling into the nook of his body."Yeah...but it's not really a countdown anymore. The only thing I was looking forward to getting on that day, I already got."

He snorted. "I gave in too easily."

"You should've given up sooner."

"I did..." he yawned, pulling me closer to him, "that first night."

There were so many first nights when it came to Edward and me.

"Which night?"

"That night, I brought you home, and you passed out from smoking that weak weed." Deeper and deeper, he fell, voice ragged and incoherent. "I kissed you."

My eyes snapped open, and I sat up straight in bed. I turned around to look at Edward. He was watching for my reaction, but I could tell he was two seconds away from passing out.

"You kissed me?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "It was just a peck. Barely any tongue."

I rubbed my face roughly, trying to wrap my head around it. Edward kissed me, I didn't know about it, and there may have been tongue.

"And I was unconscious for this kiss?"

He chewed his lip, teeth scrapping against the ring and looking like a kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "You were a little…out of it."

"Out of it?" I narrowed my eyes. "So, how many times have you've kissed me without my knowledge?"

"It was just that one time," he said, sitting up in bed and wide awake.

Through all his 'morals' and teasing, he was the one who'd broken down that first night and kissed me. He didn't even have the decency to tell me about it.

"You're such a…jackass!" I groaned, twisting hard on his nipple and scooting away from him.

He cried out in pain, quickly reaching out for my hand and, in one swift jerk, brought me back to him. He enveloped me in his arms, tightly restraining me as I struggled in his hold.

He laughed. "Why are you so mad?"

"Because if you're going to kiss somebody, at least you can do is wake them up for it," I said, kicking at the sheets.

"What does it matter? I've kissed you plenty since then," he said, trailing his mouth along the side of my neck, "and you've been awake each time."

He drove me nuts. He weakened my will to stay angry at him. He fogged up my thoughts, and all I could think about was how his lips felt against my skin and the sharpness of his teeth as he grazed and nipped me.

He laid us back on the bed, his body positioned over mine. He kissed me along my jaw, up to my lips, my nose, and my eyelids. Every part of my face he was pecking with kisses. Finally, he slid his hand up my shirt and palmed my breast, rolling his thumb over the pert nipple.

I let out a low moan, which he further silenced with his mouth—kissing me forcefully and urgently, his tongue dominant and overpowering mine. He pressed his chest to mine, squeezing my breast and gently thrusting his pelvis.

My hands were in his hair, and my leg was hooked around his waist, pulling him into me with my heel, craving and needing him. The desire to feel him inside me was building and becoming this unstoppable inferno.

Slipping his fingers under the top waistband of my yoga pants, he yanked them down past my hips, and his hand gripped my bare ass. It was painful but delicious, and I kissed him deeper, begging him for more.

He sat on his knees, grabbed hold of my pants, and pulled them down as I lifted my hips. Edward went to throw them on the floor when there was a loud banging on our door.

"Jesus Christ," Edward growled, his head falling to my stomach.

"Eddie? Bella?" Emmett hollered.

"What the fuck do you want?" Edward shouted back.

"You guys need to get out here. Now!"

"What for? We're trying to fucking sleep in here!" Edward said, raising his head and glaring at the door, trying to burn a hole through it.

Emmett guffawed, and I could see him rolling his eyes. "Fucking get out here. It's important."

"What can be so fucking important," he grumbled, grabbing my discarded shorts and slipping them back up my legs. He looked so saddened by the fact.

Sitting up on the bed, I adjusted my clothes, which were slightly cockeyed. I smiled up at Edward. "It's like he knows or something."

"He's just playing the odds," Edward said, getting off the bed and throwing on a shirt.

Once we were presentable and our faces weren't so flushed and aroused, we exited the bedroom. The entire family was sitting in the living room with their eyes glued to the television screen. They barely acknowledged Edward and me, and I couldn't figure out what was so important. But then, I looked at what they were watching.

It was the news, and they were showing a clip of an assault at a police station recorded on their security camera. The black-and-white footage was clear, and it was unmistakable. It showed what had gone down less than five hours ago.

"What the fuck?" Edward hissed, staring at the television, watching as he pressed the gun against Phil's head. "How the hell is this even news? I didn't kill him."

"You didn't kill him?" Jasper laughed dryly. "Yeah, you can thank me for that, asshole. Because otherwise, it wouldn't be an assault with a deadly weapon, it would be murder one."

"But I didn't hit him. I pressed the gun to his head, big fucking whoop," he said, leaning closer to the TV, "and why are they only showing this? What about when he was strangling Bella? Where is that?"

"They don't have it," Alice said sadly. "The camera hadn't panned around at that point. They only caught you."

"Oh, shit," I gasped, falling into the couch beside Alice. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "This is bad."

"What the hell we're you thinking Eddie—in front of a police station? We're you fucking high?" Emmett asked, shaking his head.

"That asshole was choking Bella, Em, what the hell was I supposed to do? Tap him on the shoulder and politely ask him to stop?" he snapped, running his hands through his hair.

"No, but there are other ways to go about a situation," Rose chimed in. "You just don't go wielding your gun around and pointing it at people like some savage."

He glared at her. "Maybe I should use your technique and just stab people."

"Ugh," Rose groaned, rising from her chair and punching him in the shoulder as she passed. "Fucking asshole."

She gave me a fleeting glance mixed with sympathy and irritation and walked into the kitchen.

"They've been talking about the Lamborghini all morning, too," Jasper said.

"Do they suspect me and Edward?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, they don't have any leads."

"But how fucking long do you expect that to fucking last?" Emmett said, his words pointed toward Edward. "Huh? They'll put two and two together, and then the next thing you know, your dumbass is behind bars."

"You're reaching, Em," Edward said, looking back at me. "We cleaned it, right?"

I nodded, but doubt seeped in. What if I missed one tiny spot? My fingerprints are on file from the assault and battery charge, and Edward's fingerprints were on file from his many offenses.

They flashed both Edward's and my mug shots on screen, indicating they knew who was involved in the assault. That wasn't a good thing. The cops were going to be on us in no time. Edward's appearance in the picture looked the same, perhaps younger, but I looked very different. My hair was shorter, and I had blond streaks.

All of them, like a cartoon, shot their eyes at me.

"When were you arrested?" Edward asked.

"Um, a year ago," I answered.

"For what?" Alice asked.

"Assault and battery," I replied sheepishly, ducking my shoulders.

"No, shit," Rose said, strolling back into the room. "Baby Bella was arrested for whooping some ass. Who was it? Was it some girl scamming on your man?"

"No, not exactly," I said, locking eyes with Edward. He was looking at me with this sort of newfound amazement. I blushed under his stare. "I broke a vase over my step-fathers head."

"The same guy you fucking kneed in the nuts on the video?" Emmett asked.

I nodded. "The one and only."

Edward's proud smile faded as he realized why I would assault Phil so violently. He rose from his spot on the coffee table and started to pace.

"Damn, what did this guy do to deserve such hostility?" Rose asked, focusing on the TV and trying to get a better look at Phil.

"He's a dick, Rose; let's leave it at that, alright?" Edward snapped.

He was protecting me. He knew how uncomfortable it made me talk about Phil, but more than that, it was our secret. The family was a taboo subject to everyone outside of our bubble.

"Damn, whatever he did, it seems like he deserves it," Rose said, waving her hand and sitting on Emmett's lap.

"Well, they know who you guys are now," Alice said, hugging me to her affectionately. "They're going to tie you to the stolen Lamborghini eventually."

"They won't," Edward said, shaking his head. "We were careful."

"It doesn't matter, man. If you get arrested for the Lamborghini or the assault, you guys are going to jail," Jasper paused, looking over at me. "Well, maybe not you. You're still underage."

The only time my age will ever work in my favor.

"No," Edward said, decided. "If they come for us, we'll run."

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped.

"Run? Shut the fuck up, man." Emmett laughed. "Where the fuck will you guys run? Mexico? The drug cartel isn't too happy with you after that fucking stunt you pulled."

"I don't know," Edward said, shrugging his shoulders and continuing his frantic pacing. "We'll go somewhere."

"You're crazy," Rose scoffed. "Assault charge is not the end of the world, Eddie. What is that?" she asked, looking back at Emmett. "Five years?"

"Depends," he answered. "If he didn't pull out his fucking gun, maybe five years, but he's a hot-tempered moron and will probably get ten to fifteen, considering this is not his first offense."

"Ten to fifteen?" I asked, struggling to breathe now.

"Bella," Edward said, taking one long stride across the room and falling to his knees in front of me. He took my hands in his and forced me to look at him. "That's not going to happen, okay? So we'll leave and go somewhere."

"And then what?" I asked, gulping back the large lump in my throat. "We'll just live our life on the run as fugitives?"

"What other option do we have?" he asked.

"What about money? Where will we live?" I asked.

"Anywhere we want. If we need a roll of tape." Edward smirked, "We'll stop by a hardware store."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"Come on, baby," he said, eyes imploring mine. "You know you want to."

"You're insane," I said, leaning my forehead against his. "This whole idea is insane."

"Yeah, I know," he said, his green blazing with excitement, "but imagine all the fun we'll have."

At that moment, for no reason, the Lamborghini's hood flashed through my head.

"And all the trouble we'll cause," I added, my lips barely skimming over his, arousal and feeling of thrill overwhelming me.

Edward smiled, knowing that he had me. "Exactly."

Somewhere in the room, Jasper groaned loudly, already predicting where this line of thinking would lead us, utter and complete catastrophe, but the train had left the station.

Hitting the road in a red Chevelle with the windows down and raising hell with my boyfriend wasn't what I'd planned for my life. A few months ago, I aspired to be a writer, but my priorities changed.

I've changed.

And honestly, how could I refuse him?

Not every day your boyfriend offers to steal the world for you.