The Time We Moved In Together
It's been two months since Bella called me vanilla and if I'm honest, I'm still not quite over it. When she'd initially called me that, I'd been pissed. I'd been called many things in my life but vanilla had never been one of them. I couldn't believe she'd had the nerve to even say it. But then I'd given her five orgasms and thought I was going to physically blackout during my own so it had been worth it.
Also, looking back on the situation with a bit more clarity and less annoyance, I'm glad she felt she could tell me that she wasn't feeling desired or satisfied. I would hate to think she was suffering in silence because she thought she couldn't talk to me about something.
Bella and I are hanging out at my apartment for the night when I hear muttering coming from my bedroom.
"Baby? Have you seen my blue sweater?" Bella calls.
"No, sorry" I call back, stirring the pot on the stove.
I hear her grumble a little before she comes out of the room wearing one of my hoodies.
"Oh, just help yourself!" I tease.
"Thanks, I will. Anyway me casa es su casa and all that" She replies, grinning at me as she pops an olive in her mouth.
"Hey, they're for dinner!" I reprimand.
She rolls her eyes at me before asking if there is anything she can do to help. I tell her to lay the table and half-watch her begin to open cupboards and drawers pulling out plates and silverware. As I watch her, I think the same thought that's been popping into my mind almost nightly over the past couple of months.
Why doesn't she just stay?
Most of her stuff is here anyway and...I hate when she leaves.
I sigh a little before I feel two arms winding around my waist.
"What's that big sigh for?" Bella asks against my shoulder.
I lean back into her body, humming a little at the feel of her.
"Nothing really" I reply, not wanting to freak her out by being so clingy. "I just like it when you're here," I tell her.
"Me too. But I'm with you basically every night Edward so you should be used to it by now" She giggles, moving away and grabbing two wine glasses.
"Well, I'm not" I reply, giving her a smile.
"I kind of feel bad for taking up so much of your dresser" She mumbles and I chuckle a little.
The other night I'd come back to find that my solitary deodorant and two aftershave bottles and been exiled to the very edge of the dresser and an entire congregation of women's beauty products had taken up the rest of their space.
"I told you, it's fine. I wish you brought more stuff here. Save the back and forth" I say, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye to gauge her reaction.
I notice she bites her lip, trying not to smile.
Hmm. Interesting.
Maybe I should start feeling her out about the prospect of maybe moving in together.
Maybe I should talk to Jasper first...
A few days later, I'm sitting at the kitchen table nursing a coffee when Jasper comes out of his room. He's dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair looks a little dishevelled and he has a smear of shaving foam by his ear.
"Morning," He says, grabbing a piece of bread and sticking it in the toaster.
"Morning" I reply, watching him over the rim of my coffee mug.
A few seconds pass before I hear him speak.
"Why are you staring at me?" His voice says as he butters his toast, his back to me
"How did you even know I was looking at you? Your back is to me?!" I ask.
"I can feel it" He shrugs. I roll my eyes at him before Jasper turns around and takes the seat opposite me.
"I want to talk to you about something," I say, feeling a bit nervous now I have to bring it up.
I have no idea how Jasper will react. I don't want him to feel like I don't want to live with him, but at the same time, I really want Bella to stay.
"Okay..." Jasper says, looking a little wary.
I take a deep breath, steeling my nerves.
"I want to ask Bella to move in with me." I blurt out, my eyes turning what I'm sure is comically wide.
Jasper freezes for a moment, his toast halfway to his mouth. I notice a look of surprise cross his face and then...relief?
"Really?" He asks. I give a sharp nod, holding my breath. "Oh thank god" He groans, letting out a long breath.
"Wait what?" I ask, feeling completely confused.
"Sorry, it's just...I've been wanting to move in with Alice for a while now but...I didn't know how to tell you" He says, wincing a little.
"Wait, so you've been worrying about breaking up with me and I've been worrying about breaking up with you?" I clarify.
He nods a little before we both start to laugh. Eventually, when our laughter dies down, Jasper looks up at me from under his lashes.
"So, you want to live with Bella, that's a big step," He says with a small smile.
"Yeah, I know. I've been thinking about it for a while but..." I shrug.
"I'm impressed. Who'd have thought this time last year that you would want to live with a girl?" He chuckles.
I flip him off before grinning a little.
"You want to live with Alice too" I comment.
"Yeah" He nods, smiling softly. "Have you spoken to Bella yet?" He asks.
"No, I wanted to talk to you first" I reply.
"Well, I've already kind of spoken to Alice about it," He admits.
I nod a little before sipping my coffee again. I need to talk to Bella, need to ask her but the very thought makes my mouth dry and my palms sweat. It's not that I think she'll necessarily say no, I mean, she's basically living here anyway but...I don't want to freak her out by rushing into things.
As May begins to wane into June I know I need to say something to Bella. It's been a couple of weeks since I spoke to Jasper and I can tell he's beginning to get antsy. I need to put my grown-up pants on and just rip the bandaid off. So, I've decided that before the night is out I'm going to ask her.
I'm just putting the pasta in to boil when I hear a knock on the door. I run to answer it, revealing Bella dressed in jeans and a pretty pink blouse.
"Hey," I say when I see her, dropping a quick kiss on her lips.
"Hey" She grins. "Something smells good."
"It's Pasta Primavera" I reply.
"Mm, I love your pasta" She grins.
"Well, it will be about ten minutes, so, can I get you a drink?" I ask.
There's a beat of silence before she nods.
"Sure" She shrugs. "Whatever you're having."
I nod before opening the fridge and grabbing the wine I know she likes, pouring two glasses and handing her one.
"So...what's going on?" She asks, sipping her wine.
"What do you mean?" I reply, immediately feeling like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Well, normally, you don't ask if you can get me something to drink, you just...get me something to drink" She shrugs. "This feels more like a date so..."
"Oh...um well I guess it is a date. I just thought it would be nice to have dinner and you know...chat" I shrug.
"Okay," She nods, still looking a little suspicious.
"Want to help me set the table?" I ask.
"Sure" She nods.
For the next few minutes, we lay the table and grab silverware before I dish up our food. I place a steaming hot bowl in front of Bella before taking the seat opposite her.
"So, how was your day?" I ask.
"It was good. We got a new commission" She tells me.
"That sounds exciting" I grin.
"Yeah, it is." She nods, giving me a smile.
"You know...I never realised until the other night, when I was at your place, how much further away you are from the publishing house" I comment, trying to act casual.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"Well, from here it's only...what?...twenty minutes away on the bus? And the bus line is right outside the door. Whereas from your place it's at least another fifteen minutes and you have to catch a cab" I shrug.
She looks at me for a minute before nodding a little.
"Yeah, I guess." She agrees.
"And I never noticed how near you were to the museum Jasper works in" I continue.
"Yeah, it's only like ten minutes walk away." She nods.
"I can see why Jasper likes to hang out at your place rather than here," I say, chuckling awkwardly.
"Yeah and the fact that Alice is there" She giggles, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, it's definitely Alice. I think he'd be with her all the time if he could. Joined at the hip!" I laugh, manically.
I know I look insane, I feel insane and now Bella is looking at me like she's actually concerned for my wellbeing.
"Ooookay...do you want to tell me what's going on?" She asks.
"What do you mean?" I mumble, focusing on my food and pushing a tomato around my plate.
"Edward," She says, making my eyes flash back to hers, "You're acting weird."
I give her the stink eye before sighing and dropping my fork to my plate.
"Sorry I just...I wanted to talk to you about something" I tell her.
"Okay, why didn't you just say that?" She asks, forking a piece of bacon into her mouth.
"Because it's kind of awkward," I admit.
She looks at me patiently, waiting for me to speak.
"I wanted to know...how you would feel about..." I gulp, suddenly feeling like my mouth is very dry and it's far too warm in here.
"About what?" She asks, starting to look a little worried.
"Um...Well, it's fine if you don't want to, I just thought it might be nice if..." I shove my sleeves up to my elbows, trying to get some air on my skin.
"Edward, you're killing me here, just spit it out," She says, putting her cutlery down.
"If you moved in with me" I blurt out.
Bella stares at me much like Jasper did, frozen and with a look of surprise on her face.
"Move in with you?" She whispers. "As in...live together?"
"Yes, that's the general idea" I nod, swallowing thickly.
She continues to stare at me and I immediately feel like a fool and wish I could rewind time to about ten minutes ago.
"It's fine. I just thought that as we were together most of the time anyway that-" I ramble, trying to backtrack.
"No!" She cries and I shut up immediately. "No, it's not that I don't want to it's just...have you spoken to Jasper about this?" She asks.
"Yeah, a few weeks ago." I nod.
"And what did he say?" She asks.
"He said he'd thought about the same thing with Alice. About him maybe moving into your place..." I tell her.
"So we'd basically just swap?" She asks.
I nod in agreement, feeling my heart beating far too fast and starting to marginally worry about my blood pressure.
"Are you asking me because Jasper wants to move out or because you want me to move in?" She questions.
I immediately feel a little insulted but swallow it down. It's a valid question after all.
"I'm asking because I want to live with you," I tell her honestly.
"Really?" She whispers, a small smile on her face.
"Really. I want to come home to you every night. I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to have your stuff in my closet and in my shower. I want to argue over who has to wash up and kiss you goodbye before we go to work. Fuck Bella, I even want a shared Netflix account with you" I chuckle, seeing her eyes turn glassy.
"I want all that too" She whispers.
"Yeah?" I ask. She nods, biting her bottom lip as she grins at me. "So...you'll move in?" I ask, needing to be sure.
"Yeah, I'll move in" She giggles.
I feel like I could float, like I could dance. I almost do but manage to restrain myself. I can't help but grin widely though as I come around the table and pull her into my arms, hugging her close.
"Fuck, I'm so excited" I chuckle, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Me too" She laughs.
"When do you want to do it?" I ask, pulling back and crouching down in front of her.
"I...I don't know... I mean, whenever Jasper does I guess" She shrugs.
"Maybe we'll have a group chat" I nod. "The four of us".
"That's a good idea." She nods.
We stare at each other for a moment, just grinning before Bella's eyes drop to my mouth.
"Fancy showing me my new room?" She teases.
My eyes light up and my dinner is completely forgotten as I grab her hand and practically drag her into my bedroom. I kick the door closed behind us before pushing Bella into the hardwood, my mouth slamming to hers. Now that she's said yes, it's like all the anxiety about asking her has left my body and only relief and excitement and pure desire are left.
I moan into the kiss, swiping my tongue along her bottom lip before deepening the kiss, my hands fisting her sweater. She moans, her back arching slightly and her hands going to my hair before I pull her away from the door and walk her back toward the bed.
When her knees hit the mattress, she falls backwards, bouncing lightly as I fall on top of her, sticking my arm out to break my fall. As we continue to kiss, my hands go to the hem of her blouse, pushing the material up and over her head. I groan when I see her tits before sliding my hand behind her back and flicking the clasp of her bra undone.
I yank the fabric away from her body before dropping my mouth to her nipple, sucking gently. Bella moans quietly before I feel her pulling the back of my sweater, trying to get it off of me. I lean up, yanking the sweater over my head before her hands fly to the button of my pants, popping it open and dragging the zipper down.
I stand to pull my jeans off, watching as Bella wriggles out of her own jeans and panties before I shove my boxers down and crawl back toward her. I kiss her hard once more, blindly feeling for the condom on the nightstand before tearing open the packet and fixing it to myself.
"I love you" I grunt as I push into her slowly.
Bella moans in response before I start a quick hard rhythm. I pant into the crook of her neck, feeling her wrap her legs around my hips and pull me deeper. I groan at the feeling, lifting myself up onto my palms and changing the angle slightly
"Oh fuck!" Bella cries out, her eyes closing and her back arching.
"Oh, shit...you feel so good..." I groan.
I watch as a delicate blush moves up her chest, coating her cheeks as her moans turn more high-pitched and breathy. I can feel the tingle of an orgasm at the base of my spine when I suddenly start to feel Bella fluttering around me.
"Oh shit...I'm gonna cum" She moans, sliding one hand down her stomach until she can circle that small bundle of nerves.
I groan at the sight, my orgasm approaching rapidly before I drop down onto my forearms, resting my forehead against Bella's. She looks at me, her eyes burning into mine and her mouth hanging open as she pants for air.
"Oh fuck, fuck, fuck" She moans.
"Every night. I'm going to fuck you every night." I grunt, unsure how I'm forming words at this point, "No more interruptions, no more back and forth, just you and me."
"Yes" She moans, her eyes beginning to flutter.
My vision becomes blurry and I really need her to come right fucking now when suddenly Bella's body snaps forward and she moans loudly, her legs shaking on either side of me.
"Urgh!" I groan, cumming hard at the feel of her. My body shakes and shudders as I empty into the condom.
When we eventually come down from our highs, I kiss her shoulder once, twice, three times before rolling off of her and disposing of the condom. I look over and see her watching me, still breathing hard.
"So..we're going to have an apartment" She giggles.
"We are" I nod, chuckling with her and feeling high off of the revelation.
"Can I bring some of my furniture?" She asks.
"You can bring whatever you want" I nod.
"Would you prefer to use my bed or your bed?" She asks. "I guess the spare bed could go in Jasper's room, as like a guest room?" She says, already planning it all out in her head. "Then we could have my dad or your parents come to visit."
"That sounds perfect but..." I trail off, pulling her into my chest and fixing her with a serious stare. "I think we should start referring to the bed we sleep in as our bed."
She looks at me before a little smile crosses her face.
"Our bed" She nods, grinning widely.
Our fucking bed.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bella asks seriously as we take the lift to her floor.
"Yes baby" I chuckle. "I asked you anyway".
"I know but, it's okay if you've changed your mind" She shrugs, as the lift dings signalling our arrival.
"Are you having second thoughts?" I ask, grabbing her hand and stopping her in her tracks.
"No! I just..want to be sure you're happy" She says with a small smile.
"I'm happy. I'm ecstatic. I want to live with you" I reassure her.
"Okay," She grins.
"So let's go work out a plan with Alice and Jasper," I tell her, smacking her ass as she walks down the hall. She squeaks in surprise before I chuckle.
Jasper and I have organised a little get-together with the four of us. We need to talk about how we can move him out and Bella in and what's going to work best for everyone.
We reach Bella's front door before she unlocks it and walks into the kitchen, seeing Alice making coffee.
"Hey," Alice says, grinning when she sees us.
"Hey," We say.
"I've just made coffee, want one?" She asks.
"Love one" Bella nods.
Alice makes us both a coffee before we follow her into the living room and see Jasper sitting in one of the chairs by the window, a laptop perched on his knee.
"Hey" He grins as we sit down on the couch together.
"Hey" I nod. "What you got there?" I ask.
"Oh, just a few ideas," He says, looking every bit the researcher he is. I chuckle and roll my eyes at him before Alice returns, perching on the loveseat.
"So...are we really going to do this?" She asks, looking at Bella.
"Yeah" Bella grins, looking over at me.
"Eeeek! I'm so excited!" She squeals.
"Me too" Bella giggles.
"Okay, so we need to work out how we're going to do this" Jasper says, taking control of the situation. Bella and I share a look like we're naughty school children at the back of the class and I stifle a laugh. "I've had a look and there's a van rental company that seems like a good price. I wondered if we rented one for the day if we could have my stuff packed up and moved here and then refill the van with Bella's stuff to take back there?" He asks.
"That sounds like a plan" Bella nods.
"Okay, so the soonest I can rent one is..." He says, tapping away on the computer, "a week on Saturday" He says.
"Perfect. That gives us time to pack" Bella nods. Alice grins and I can't help but smile.
"Now, we need to discuss who is keeping what," Jasper says.
"Well obviously our rooms are our own things anyway" Bella replies, looking at Alice who nods. "What about the living room stuff?" She asks.
For the next couple of hours, we go through all the furniture, as well as 'accessories' in the house, deciding who will be taking what. Eventually, everyone comes to an agreement that means we all have one of everything without having too many double-ups.
"Okay, so everyone happy?" Jasper asks, concluding the meeting.
"Thrilled" Bella replies, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. I chuckle quietly.
"Okay, I'll book the van then" Jasper nods.
"Perfect. Can't wait" I grin.
I really fucking can't.
The next couple of weeks are busier than I expected and it turns out, that moving apartments and basically switching roommates isn't as simple as I thought it would be. Jasper spends time packing most nights and we manage to split up our stuff in the kitchen pretty easily. Bella and Alice on the other hand seem to have far more stuff to wade through and by the time, moving day rolls around, I can't wait to get this show on the road.
I'm up early on Saturday morning, already pouring coffee into two thermos cups when Jasper comes out of his room dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie.
"Wow, you're up early" Jasper grins. "Excited?" He asks.
"Kinda" I admit.
Jasper and I have agreed to pick up the van and drive it back here to meet the others. We've managed to rope Rose and Emmett into helping us too so it shouldn't take too long. Then we will drive the van to what will now be Jasper and Alice's apartment, unload and then load up Bella's stuff, to bring it back here to our apartment. I feel almost giddy.
"You ready to go?" Jasper asks a couple of minutes later.
"Yep. I've got coffee to go and pastries for when we get back to reward the hungry troops" I grin.
"Awesome, let's get this show on the road then," He says before grabbing his keys and heading out of the door.
We manage to find the van rental place pretty easily before we fill in a bunch of paperwork and pay the outstanding balance for the rental. Jasper agrees to drive the van back to our place before I drive to Bella's.
We slide into the van, Jasper checking the mirrors and seat adjustments before we're off, pulling out onto the fairly busy street and heading towards our apartment. I quickly text the others to say we are on the way back before sipping my coffee and staring out of the window.
"So, you ready for today?" Jasper asks.
"Never been more ready" I nod.
"Me too" He grins.
I won't lie, I'll miss living with Jasper but it feels like the right time to move on, for both of us.
Within twenty minutes we're pulling into the loading area of our apartment block and climbing out of the van. We head back up to our apartment, finding the other's all waiting outside, talking animatedly.
"Hey!" Jasper calls.
"Hey! You boys ready for some heavy lifting?" Emmett chuckles.
"Hopefully not too heavy" Bella mumbles, making me chuckle.
"Ooo I love moving days!" Rose says jovially, "It's always so...I don't know...exciting" She laughs.
Alice and Bella giggle, nodding in agreement before we head into the apartment and show them which furniture is to go as well as where Jasper's boxes are.
The next hour passes quickly with Emmett, Jasper and I taking most of the heavy furniture down to the van, leaving the girls to bring the smaller boxes between them. We're just loading up the last boxes when Bella whispers in my ear.
"You'd make a hot moving guy," She says, giggling quietly.
I look up from wiping my brow on my hoodie and roll my eyes at her, chuckling.
"You ain't seen nothing yet baby" I chuckle.
"Love you" She grins.
"Love you too" I reply
"Ready to go?" Jasper asks, munching on a pastry.
"Yep" I nod, checking once more that everything is strapped in safely before I grab the keys from him and climb in behind the wheel of the van.
"See you on the other side sweet cheeks" I tease Bella before I close the van door and turn the engine on.
She flips me off before climbing into the back of Rose and Emmett's car. I let them pull out first before carefully following them onto the street and over to Bella's place. On the way over, Jasper talks excitedly about being closer to the museum and how it will be nice to have an extra bedroom for guests. I chuckle at him, whistling jovially before pulling into Bella's parking lot under the building.
We climb out of the van, heading over to the others.
"So, we have permission to use the service elevator for the furniture," Bella says, pointing to a large lift in the corner of the parking lot.
"I didn't even know you had one of those" I comment. "Should have used it for the fucking Christmas tree," I say, giving Alice the stink eye. She sticks her tongue out at me.
"No bickering children" Rose laughs.
We roll our eyes before Jasper throws open the back of the van and starts to hand various boxes to the girls. Emmett and I take the small couch, carrying it over to the elevator while Jasper grabs a couple of lamps. I only just manage to restrain myself from yelling 'pivot' a couple of times before we manage to squeeze the couch through the door of the apartment.
It takes another couple of hours to unload everything, stacking it as neatly as possible in the kitchen and living room before we can turn to Bella's stuff. I pant quietly, sweating from the exertion before I turn to look at Bella.
"Right baby, your turn," I tell her.
She grins before opening her bedroom door to show us her boxes and furniture, as well as which bits are coming with us from the other rooms. There seems like quite a lot and I exchange a glance with Emmett and Jasper, fully appreciating the pain of living with a woman for the first time in my life.
Emmett, Jasper and I manage to collapse Bella's bed down, carrying the frame and mattress down between us.
"I can't believe I have to handle something you've done the nasty on" Jasper grumbles as he shoves the mattress into the elevator and I can't help but laugh.
"At least you didn't have to witness them doing the nasty" Emmett comments, making us laugh harder.
The girls bring the lighter accessories, like bed linen and pillows before eventually, everything appears to be loaded.
"Right, I think that's it," Bella says, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly.
"Oh my god, it looks so empty," Alice says, looking a little sad.
"It won't be once Jasper has unpacked" She reassures her.
They both share a look before suddenly there are tears and hugging. Jasper and I roll our eyes at each other, giving them a minute to cry it out. When Jasper and I begin to fake cry and cling to each other too they pull apart, giving us the stink eye.
We restrain a laugh before I pull Bella into my side, giving her a kiss on the head.
"Right, let's get this show on the road so that we can get the van back," I say.
Everyone nods before we head down to the vehicles and I climb back in behind the wheel of the van, once again, following Rose and Emmett's car back to my place. When we get there, the sun is just beginning to sink low in the sky.
We work hard over the next couple of hours, unloading the van and dumping all of Bella's stuff in the living room and Jasper's old room, agreeing to sort stuff out together over the weekend.
When the van is finally empty, Jasper and I drop it back at the rental company before returning to what is now Bella and my apartment for pizza. When we arrive, Bella is handing around glasses of sparkling wine and pizza boxes, looking perfectly at home. I can't help but grin.
We all manage to find somewhere to perch, either on a chair or the arm of a couch before Rose raises her glass in the air, smiling at us all.
"To new beginnings. May you all be happy in your new homes" She says.
"To new beginnings," We all say.
I grin at Bella and see her eyes shining into mine.
And very happy new homes.
By the time everyone left on Saturday night, Bella and I were so exhausted from moving apartments that we both just crashed and went to bed. It wasn't until we woke up on Sunday and stumbled into the kitchen, sweatpants on and head-sized coffees in hand that we had a chance to survey the damage.
"Wow, that's a lot of boxes" I comment, sipping my coffee and looking at the chaos of the living room.
"That's half, the rest is in Jasper's old room," She says, looking a little guilty.
I can't help but grin at her, feeling my stomach flip flop at the realisation that she's here to stay.
This is my life now. Bella and I live together.
"Come on, let's make a start yeah? We can always do stuff in the evenings if we run out of time. You are here to stay after all" I tell her, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's true" She giggles, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
I chuckle at her reaction before I perch on the arm of the couch, the one that's visible anyway and watch her open a couple of boxes. She looks so perfect here. It's like being in a dream.
We decide the best thing to do is to rearrange the boxes slightly so that we can tackle the furniture first. Bella's brought the small couch and one of the chairs from her apartment, so we rearrange them around the room before I grab the couple of tools I own and begin to assemble her shelving unit.
"Where do you want this then?" I ask, gesturing to the shelves I've made.
"I don't mind. It's your apartment" She says, biting her bottom lip.
"It's our apartment baby. So say where you want stuff. I know nothing about decorating anyway, so add your woman's touch" I tease.
She rolls her eyes before looking around the room.
"Maybe...on the wall by the TV? We could put some photos and stuff on it" She suggests.
"Perfect" I grin before moving the shelves towards the TV and resting it against the wall, screwing it into place.
"You look kind of hot as Mr DIY" She teases.
I chuckle, rolling my eyes at her before turning to look over my shoulder and pressing the button on the drill. She laughs at me before starting to open a couple of boxes. Over the next hour or so, we find a few things for the kitchen as well as some cushions, lamps and books.
While I make some lunch, Bella sets out her things, placing a couple of cushions on the couch and books on the shelves. When I come back in with two plates of sandwiches, I feel a smile cross my face.
It's strange how she's already made this place feel like our home, rather than just mine. Up until now, I'd had couch cushions, but they came with the couch and matched the fabric. Now, I have cushions of blues and greens, romance novels on my shelves and a potted plant.
"What you smiling at?" She asks.
"Just thinking how nice it looks in here," I tell her, handing her a sandwich.
"Thanks" She smiles. "You wanna help me with the bedroom next?" She asks.
"I like anything involving you and bedrooms," I tell her, winking.
She rolls her eyes, giggling a bit before we tuck into our food. We eat in comfortable silence before Bella helps me clear away and we head into Jasper's old room.
"So, where shall we put the bed?" I ask.
"Maybe on this wall?" She asks, pointing to the other side of the room.
I nod before grabbing some tools and setting to work. Bella helps by passing screws and holding various pieces of the bedframe before we step back admiring our work.
"Huh, not too bad" I nod. "And we didn't kill each other over flatpack furniture" I tease.
She smacks me on the arm before we move her dresser and old nightstands into the room. Bella places two lamps on the bedside tables before I help hang a mirror above the dresser.
"So what's left in the boxes?" I ask, seeing there's still quite a number left.
"Accessories" She winces.
"As in?" I ask, still not having any idea what that means.
"Pictures, blankets, candles...stuff like that. I was just going to store them for now. I don't want to clutter the place up with my knick knacks" She shrugs.
"Don't be silly. I want you knick-knacks cluttering up my space" I say, wrapping my arms around her waist and dipping my head to kiss her. "Your knick knacks are my knick knacks now" I tease.
She giggles before nodding a little and beginning to open some of the boxes. I sit on the couch, watching as she pulls out a couple of blankets, dropping one on the couch before placing another in our new guest room.
I have a fucking guest room!
She returns a few moments later and pulls out a string of fairy lights. I remember they used to hang over the mirror in her old bedroom. She looks around, biting her bottom lip.
"What about around the shelving?" I ask her.
"Yeah?" She replies, looking a little surprised that I want string lights in my living room.
"Yeah" I chuckle, shrugging. I know she thinks I'm some kind of man's man but I actually like the place having a woman's touch. It's homely.
I help her wind the string lights around the shelves before she places a couple of picture frames and candles around the room. She sticks some in what is now our bedroom and the guest room before coming to flop back down on the couch next to me.
"I think I'm done for now," She says.
"Okay. What about those things?" I ask, pointing at the few boxes that are left.
"They're just things like Christmas decorations, old college work and stuff. Maybe I can get some storage containers and put them under the bed in Jasper's old room" She says.
I nod a little before she asks if I want a coffee and disappears into the kitchen. I lean back against the cushions on the couch, listening to her hum in the other room and look around the newly decorated space. I can't help the smile on my face.
I love it. I love everything about it.
I love living with a woman.
"Hey," She says, coming back a couple of minutes later with two mugs. "I wondered about getting some new photos printed, of you and me. A lot of my frames have group photos or pictures of Alice and me" She says.
"That would be nice" I grin.
She grins back before cuddling into my side, grabbing the TV remote and flicking on Netflix. As she chooses some murder documentary to watch I can't help but smile.
I think I'm gonna like my new roommate.