Long live the walls we crashed through, how the kingdom lights shined just for me and you. And I was screaming, "long live all the magic we made." And bring on all the pretenders, I'm not afraid. Singing long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. And long, long live the look on your face. And bring on all the pretenders. One day, we will be remembered. ~ Taylor Swift, Long Live
EPOV
"Mr. Cullen, there's someone here to see you," my receptionist, Anna, said the second the elevator opened. My attention was on the stack of papers in my hand, forms I needed to fill out for Aiden's trust fund.
"Do they have an appointment?" I asked, walking past her desk, knowing she would skitter around and stalk me until I could peacefully retreat to my office.
"Well, no, but she – "
"Mr. Cullen?" That voice stopped me in my tracks. Looking up for the first time since entering the floor, I saw Adeline sitting in the small reception area. "I'm sorry to stop by unannounced, but I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes?"
My first thought shouldn't have been that she was here to blackmail me, but it was. Ever since last weekend when Aiden told us about her, I had tried to keep an open mind. The kind of mind my parents didn't have when I started seeing Bella. Granted, there were a shit ton of extenuating circumstances there, but still.
I didn't want this lifestyle to dictate who he dated or eventually married. I wanted him to have the kind of freedom I never did. But, shit, if dating a future prosecutor wasn't causing me more than a few sleepless nights.
"Of course, come with me," I said with a nod, walking the short distance left to my office and holding open the door for her. "Take a seat."
I watched her carefully when she walked to the chair. She was nervous, her thumb and pointer fingers rubbing together on her left hand, the right clutching her purse like I was about to grab it and run. When she finally sat down and I looked at her profile, she was about ten shades whiter than the last time I saw her.
I grabbed a water bottle out of the small fridge hidden within my desk and set it in front of her. "Drink."
Adeline nodded, taking a few large gulps before setting the bottle back down. "Thank you."
I sat, hands folded on top of my desk, and waited. The second Aiden told me about her, I had been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. I knew all too well what it was like to meet the girl of your dreams and have your parents tell you it wasn't going to work, or try to terrorize the poor girl until she ran.
Sure, maybe going to Bella going to the girls' apartment and threatening her wasn't the best plan, but it was what needed to be done. Adeline needed to know what kind of life she was getting herself into, and Aiden needed to know what he was getting her into.
As much as I wanted to give my son the kind of freedom I never had, the truth of the matter was I lucked the fuck out with my wife. She was strong and resilient and the only woman in the world who could put up with me and my life. As fucked up as Carlisle and Esme were, they were right to be skeptical of her at first, even though it was for selfish reasons. Bella truly could have fucked us all over, put all of us in prison multiple times if she wanted to.
My own experiences with Bella tainted what I should have done. The way Carlisle and Esme treated her was the downfall of my relationship with them, though there were a million other reasons it fell apart later. I never wanted our relationship with Aiden to be anything like mine with them, so I was too soft on him.
Bella was the only logical one of us all in the situation. She never second guessed herself when it came to protecting her son. I grabbed a pen and made a note to stop by a jewelry store on the way home tonight.
My eyes drifted to the clock on my desk and I realized we had been sitting here for three minutes in complete silence. As much as I wanted to know what she was going to say, I really didn't have time for the games. When I looked back up at her, though, the reason for her silence was obvious. Poor girl looked petrified.
"You don't have to be scared," I told her, trying my best to sound as harmless as possible.
"I'm sorry, it's just… you don't go through three years of law school in Chicago and not learn about you."
Me. The man who ended up in the paper weekly for a body or drug bust. The man who had been arrested more than a few times by the police but never charged with anything, the one who faked his death and let his wife go through a murder trial alone.
Yes, I could imagine I was a complicated subject for the law school.
"Yet, you're still here."
Adeline sighed. "Because I met this guy when I was a TA for a criminology course and he… changed everything."
Aiden hadn't told me the specifics about how he met Adeline, but I would be talking to him more next time I saw him. She was his TA, apparently. It made the most sense, considering she was so much older than him.
"Is it not against the rules for a TA to date a student?" I mused, twirling a pen between my fingers. I still wasn't completely sure where she was going with all of this, and needed any kind of leverage I could get.
"It is. That's why Aiden didn't tell you until he was done with the course." Adeline looked down, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I'm not making much sense."
"What did you come here to talk about, Adeline?"
She took a deep breath, seeming to steel herself before starting. "I know how it looks, our relationship. I tried to explain it to Aiden before, but he's got this… blind optimism sometimes, which is sweet, but not always practical.
"I get why you and your wife probably don't like me very much. She was completely within reason coming to my apartment, I don't blame her at all. I just… I wanted you to know I'm not trying to… I'm not with Aiden to try to…"
She would make a fantastic lawyer. She was already keeping her mouth shut, trying not to admit anything incriminating freely. "You're not trying to put anyone in my family in prison?"
Adeline sighed. "No. I'm not. Actually, I started looking for other jobs. I'll have to work at the prosecutor's office if I can't find anything else but…" She shrugged. "I started looking into criminal defense work."
Damn. "You want to be a criminal defense lawyer?"
"I don't really know what I want. It wasn't like my dream had always been to be a prosecutor or anything. It was just a job right out of college that I needed, you know?"
I nodded. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders.
"I know being a prosecutor would put an expiration date on my time with Aiden, no matter how hard we tried to make it work."
It was an interesting turn of events. Part of me also saw an expiration date on them from the beginning. Aiden was young and hadn't really dated much, but the same could have been said for Bella when I met her. Adeline being willing to change her entire life plan because of Aiden was unexpected.
"You know what I do," I said, gauging her reaction.
The girl was strong. She looked me in the eyes, only a little bit of fear swimming in hers. "You and your family are a popular subject around here. Combine that with law school, and I think I have a pretty clear idea about who you are and what you do, Mr. Cullen."
She knew who she was getting involved with, then. She knew what one day having the Cullen name would mean for her and she was still here.
I grabbed my wallet and pulled out Jenks' business card. He wasn't working fulltime anymore, but his son was keeping the firm alive and well. We still had him on retainer, of course, but we also had Jared when necessary. I slid the card across the desk toward Adeline.
"Call Jason Jenks, tell him I gave you his number."
She frowned at the card. "All due respect, Mr. Cullen, I didn't come here for a handout."
I smiled, enjoying her fire. "It's not a handout. It's a phone number. Jenks will make his own decision about you. If you were qualified enough to work for the prosecutor's office, I'm sure you're more than qualified enough to work for him."
Adeline grabbed the card, staring at it like it held all the answers to her problems. I knew her problems were only just starting though. She seemed committed to Aiden and while I was glad my son found someone, I also knew how hard it was to be with someone like me, someone Aiden was on track to become.
I held my hand out for the card and she frowned at me, slowly giving it back. I flipped it over and quickly wrote Bella's phone number on the back.
"This is my wife's number. If you're unsure about your choice… if you have questions about the life you're about to choose for yourself, she's one of the only people who can give you a glimpse at what you're getting into."
"Oh, I…" Adeline looked down at her hands again, fiddling with the card. "I don't know if she likes me very much."
"She does," I told her honestly. After dinner it was obvious Bella liked the girl. "She was just the only one who was able to see the severity of the situation."
Adeline sighed, pocketing the card and standing. "Thank you, Mr. Cullen."
"You can call me Edward, Adeline," I told her, standing and holding a hand out to her. The battle was clear on her face. Shaking my hand was like shaking hands with the devil himself to a girl who spent years studying the law and decided to spend her life upholding it.
She shook my hand eventually. Softly, but with a purpose. When she was at the door, she froze. "Aiden didn't talk to you about my father, did he?"
I frowned. "No. Do you have issues with your father?"
Her eyes widened a little bit, but she quickly turned away. "No. Thank you for your time. Mr. – Edward."
After Adeline left, I didn't get anything I wanted to done. I sat at my desk, realizing I had let a lot of things slide lately when it came to Aiden. I shouldn't have given him an out when telling Bella about Adeline. I understood his apprehension, Bella had a thing about lawyers, but he wasn't a kid anymore. It was his battle to fight, and I should have been more adamant that he face her himself.
Ever since the drugs and rehab I had been treating him with training wheels. Sure, he told me he wanted to start working with me after he graduated high school, but I hadn't taken any steps toward making that happen.
Because I was scared shitless I was going to break him again.
He was solid though, and I knew it. His drug tests were constantly clean, and I knew he had been around some shit since starting at Northwestern. I had eyes on him constantly, but he never had so much as a beer. It was time I took the kid gloves off and started treating him like a man.
Somewhere in the middle of my musings I texted him to come by my office. I was still sitting there, staring at nothing when he walked in a while later.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, sitting down across from me.
I was quiet for a minute, staring at my son. He had a lot of my features; the hair, the jaw, the smirk that probably won over Adeline, but there was a lot of Bella in there too. He had her eyes, not just the color but the compassion behind them, too.
That was the problem. I looked at him and I still saw that baby that was my only comfort while Bella was in surgery, or the little guy Bella once brought to my office dressed in a suit identical to mine because he told her he wanted to be just like me.
Eighteen was still considered a kid to most people, but when you had been through as much as he had there was no doubting he was an adult now. By the time I was eighteen I was already a terror on the streets of Chicago.
"I've been too soft on you," I sighed.
"What?"
"If you really want in… really want to take over when I retire, then we need to get started training you."
I wasn't going to do this shit forever. In a few years, I'd be closer to sixty than fifty. Eventually, I was going to want to retire. Spend more of my days with Bella and less dealing with the fuckers that constantly got under my skin. I'd always have my hands in something, I wasn't just going to abandon Aiden when I retired. I would just let him take the wheel, offering advice when needed.
There was a flicker of fear in Aiden's eyes when I mentioned training. "If you want out, no one will blame you."
I wasn't sure how many times I had said something similar to him. I'd be damned if he ever said I forced him into anything, though.
"I want in. I just… It's big, you know?"
I nodded. "I know. You can start working here a few days a week, getting more acclimated to the business."
Aiden smirked. "How much will I make?"
"It's not like you're hurting for cash," I told him. He had access to more money than any eighteen-year-old had a right to. We had yet to give him access to the trust fund we set up for him when he was born, though. Originally, he was supposed to have access to it when he turned eighteen, but we put a hold on that after his addiction. "I'm going to talk to your mother about giving you access to your trust fund when you turn nineteen."
It was months away, and gave us time to make sure he was stable enough to handle that kind of responsibility. Aiden's trust fund was enough money to keep him safe should anything happen, but I was hoping he wouldn't rely on it too much.
"Oh, okay," he said, nodding to himself.
"Speaking of your mother… we both owe her an apology."
"What'd we do?" Aiden asked, frowning.
"We made her apologize for protecting the family, protecting you."
Aiden sighed. "Dad, she didn't need to go threatening, Adeline. You said –"
"I know what I said," I snapped. That night he came home with Adeline, while Bella was apologizing to her, I took Aiden to my office to talk. I told him I would have felt the same if Esme had gone behind my back to talk to Bella, but the truth of the matter was that Bella did the right thing whether we understood it right away or not. Bella's intentions were good, while Esme's would have been completely selfish.
"Your mother did the right thing, for everyone involved. I let my shitty experiences with my parents overshadow how I should have reacted."
"So… now you guys are going to treat Adeline how they treated mom?" His voice wasn't mad or harsh, but rather sad and… dejected. He had met Esme enough times to know she and his mother didn't get along.
"No. If you love this girl and see a life with her in the future, I'm not going to get in the middle of that. I'm not going to threaten her or point a goddamn gun to her head, but she's a lawyer, Aiden, and I should have been more on guard when you told me.
"Instead, your mother saved both of our asses. Again. And we were both dicks about the whole thing." I could see he wanted to argue, but kept his mouth shut.
Aiden sighed, leaning forward and folding his arms across my desk. "I was kind of a dick about it, wasn't I?"
"Trust me, I get the urge to protect your girl at all costs. But, your mother was protecting everyone in the situation. And, now we know that Adeline has what it takes to stand by you no matter what."
"It's kind of annoying, you know. That Mom's always right."
"Believe me, I know."
"I'll go see Mom tomorrow," he said, nodding to himself and looking rightfully guilty.
"Good. I have one last thing. Adeline came to see me today." I held up a hand when his jaw dropped. "I'm not going to tell you any specifics, but she asked me if you had talked to me about her father."
Aiden immediately tensed, sitting with his back straight and a frown on his face. That was all I needed to know. "What'd he do?"
"He's an alcoholic asshole. I don't think he ever physically abused her, at least nothing serious enough for her to tell me. It was all verbal, but it was so bad she spent most of her time since she was fourteen until she left for school living with a friend."
"Does she still see him?"
"From time to time, yeah, mostly out of guilt. She always regrets it, though."
He had the instincts, I could see it in his eyes. The only question was whether he would act on it or not. "What do you want to do about it?"
"Make sure he never hurts her again."
I nodded, smiling at my son. "Good answer."
…Dark…
My wife's resilience was one of the things I loved most about her. She grew to have a tough skin when she was a teenager and grew up in the public eye, but it was so much more than that now. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and didn't stop until she got it. She was a mother who protected her son without a second thought, and a wife who put herself on the line for me time and time again.
Her plan now, her revival of her reputation, was fucking brilliant. It was underhanded and diabolical but it made a statement, and I wouldn't have expected anything less from her. She was adorably flustered when she told me about her idea a few months ago.
"Hey, can I, uh, talk to you?" Bella asked awkwardly as soon as I stepped in the house.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I just… have this idea and I need you to tell me if it's crazy or not."
I smiled at her, because her crazy ideas usually ended up being multi-million dollar successes. It wasn't even about the money, we didn't need it and it was usually donated to charity, but that was how the public saw a successful entertainer; by the dollar sign.
"What's your idea?" I asked, leaning against the entry way.
"Come here," she said, her voice rushed when she grabbed my hand and led me to her office.
Bella was typically a neat person, she didn't leave a mess behind in the kitchen when she cooked, or clothes scattered about the room unless she was in a hurry. Her office, though, looked like a tiny tornado had ravaged it today.
"Well, there are a couple parts," she said quickly, pulling a large picture frame out from underneath some papers. It was a picture I remembered well, from one of her shows on the reputation tour. It showed not only the expansive stage, but the crowd of thousands, all there for her.
"First is a show. But bigger than this. I have this idea, a stage here, connecting the two b-stages, right?" she asked, pointing at the two stages in the back of the stadium. Those stages were a pain in my ass while she was on tour. I didn't like her flying over a crowd in a tiny gondola, and her walking through the crowd every night was a security nightmare.
"No barricade walk?" I asked with a smile.
"No," she said, smiling. "I want more stage, for the new music. But I want to… combine everything. Make it the story I told the public with everything I've released, but also… the sweeter side of our story. The songs I wrote just about… being in love and not just the ones about setting the record straight."
The songs she had decided to release were definitely different than what she'd put out in the past. She was right, they did show a sweeter side of her, of us.
"That makes sense. So… tour?"
"No, well, maybe, but… I want to do the show the night that television show premieres," she told me, her face flushing a bit.
"Distract sixty thousand people who care about you from it," I said, nodding.
Then, she got this sexy, cocky smirk on her face. "Not just sixty thousand. I want to stream it live… everywhere that I can. Streaming services are going live all the time now. It's going to take a lot of convincing to get it on every service, but I want as many people watching as possible."
"So… you want to put on a live show, not just in front of sixty thousand people, but possibly millions more at home?"
"For starters, yes. I'm also going to put all of my films on every other cable network when the show is airing. I already have Heidi looking into it."
I remembered her stress and anxiety about her Super Bowl performance well. She worked herself to the bone to make it perfect. This was sounding like it would be a show to just as many, if not more people. And that was twenty years ago, when she had been touring for six months already. She was in the mode, her body used to the movements.
Every show I went to there was a knot in the back of my throat as I watched, hoping she didn't fall or trip or mess up. She would have laughed it off in the moment if she did, but then beaten herself up over it later. I had all the faith in the world in her, but I also didn't want her pushing herself too hard.
"What else?" I asked.
Bella started grabbing at the random papers scattered about, holding them up as if they were gold. "I have all of these… things. Original lyrics, awards, old outfits… things people would love to see and hear stories about. So, maybe we rent a space downtown for a week or two around the show and make a little exhibit or something. Alice and Rose could probably make it amazing.
"Oh! And then, the day of the show, we could have everyone with tickets get special access to the exhibit or something. Maybe have some stuff scattered around the stadium too…" she trailed off, her eyes studying the papers surrounding her.
I understood where all of the ideas were coming from. She wanted all eyes on her, and none on the biopic. It was a complete opposite of her publicity tactic that she'd had in place practically her entire life, though.
"You're sure you want to do this? Let so many people in?"
It was a concept that was completely foreign to me. I didn't let anyone in, ever. Except for Bella. I understood why she did it sometimes, why she wrote songs about her life and put her own story out there before others could. It was her survival tactic.
This was a whole new level, though.
"Yes. It's time."
Now, it was nearing the end of February and her plan was about to be put in motion. She had networks that agreed to give her the slots surrounding the biopic. Three of the biggest streaming services had agreed to simultaneously stream her show, live, the same night. Her show that was approximately four hours long.
She had been working with Alice and Rose on her exhibit, though she gave them a lot of creative control over it because she was simultaneously working on her show and her performance at the Academy Awards.
She was busy, working constantly, which was how I managed to get away with a plan of my own. My conversation with Aiden a few weeks ago, about Adeline and her father, got to me. He was young and in love and willing to do whatever it took to make sure Adeline felt safe and didn't have to deal with her father anymore. I was proud he was stepping up, taking the initiative and willing to start putting in the work to join the business. It would make things easier, if the first person he took out held more meaning to him than a random asshole who tried to screw us over.
The determination on his face when he said he never wanted Adeline's father to hurt her again tugged at me. Bella had been through too damn much for me to let people continue to pull shit on her, and it felt like I had been letting too many people slide lately.
There were so many people that had hurt her over the years. Without fail, every time something happened she would make me promise not to hurt anyone over it. She knew my word was my weakness. I could lie and cheat every other fucker on the planet, but I couldn't lie to her.
In my mind, there was constantly a list of people I wanted dealt with. To most people, Bella included, it probably seemed as though I got rid of people at a whim, but I wasn't that stupid. My temper might get the best of me sometimes, but I knew when to get rid of someone and when to plan for the right time of attack.
Riley Biers, for example, was the greatest exercise in self-control I had ever had. Not only did the fucker put his hands on my wife, he took pleasure in constantly reminding her of it every chance he got. It had been years since Bella went to the annual CPD charity function because he was always there, waiting to get to her. The only reason that particular instance broke me a little was because that night was an anniversary of sorts for us. Every year since the first time I met her I would sit at that table and remember sitting next to the sexy brunette that changed my life.
It was one of many things Biers had ruined for Bella and I. She never talked about it, but I knew she was still petrified of him even though he was taken off of her case a few days into her incarceration. You never forgot someone who tortured you when you were already at your lowest.
She made me promise, though, that I wouldn't touch him. She made me promise that I wouldn't touch a lot of people. It was almost insulting, her complete lack of faith in my ability to get away with murder. She watched the news, read the pieces about bodies found around the city from time to time. I supposed she just didn't want me to add to my list of crimes on her behalf, but it was frustrating as hell.
If she let me get rid of the people I wanted, this biopic about her wouldn't have been nearly as reliable, because a quarter of my list were their 'inside sources.'
She was going to be pissed at me, finding a loophole around my promise, but the second the job was done I felt an instant sense relief. Hopefully Bella would feel the same, and it would soften her anger.
She was sexy as hell when she was angry, though. Her eyes narrowed and lips pouted. Cheeks flushed while she paced, hands on her hips. Maybe it made me an ass, but it was quite the turn on, watching her get so frustrated with me.
I hadn't been home in about seventy hours, spending the last few days making sure everything went smoothly. It had, and in about thirty minutes everything would be done. I let out a sigh of relief when I walked in the front door, finally home, though the relief didn't last long.
"There you are. Mom's been worried, said you hadn't been home in a few days. You look like shit, by the way," Aiden said, coming out of the coat closet and smirking at me. After our talk a few weeks ago, he's seemed a little more at peace with everything. It was nice to see him acting more like himself, even if I didn't need the teenager sass at the moment.
"Thank you. Where is she?"
"Kitchen."
I ruffled his hair as I walked by, knowing it would annoy the hell out of him. He was going through a phase where he tried to tame his hair with whatever he could find, and it definitely wasn't working. I ended up with a sticky hand.
I leaned in the kitchen doorway and it only took Bella a second to turn and frown at me while simultaneously walking quickly over to me. Her arms wrapped around my waist, her head buried in my chest.
It wasn't like I had completely abandoned her the last few days, I called and texted and told her I was alive. She hated being out of the loop, though.
"Where were you?" she whispered.
I enjoyed the moment, hugging her close and relishing in her warm body against mine, before pulling away and grabbing her hand. "Come with me."
Bella squeezed my hand as I led her to the living room, kicking out everyone that had gathered there. Aiden frowned at me, and Emmett and Jasper looked like they wanted out of the line of fire.
"Edward, what's going on?" Bella's voice shook slightly when I grabbed the remote control, turning to a local nightly news station. As expected, they were just getting in to the story.
"Riley Biers, a longtime detective with the Chicago Police Department, has been arrested tonight. We're told he's been accused of mishandling evidence, police brutality, and accepting bribes.
"Most notably, Isabella Cullen accused Biers of assaulting her during her first questioning after her arrest for Aro Volturi's murder. The accusation first came when it was showed in her film, reputation, though many believed it was simply a dramatization. We've reached out to Cullen for a statement. More on this developing story at ten."
The voice over was accompanied by a lovely shot of Biers being brought to a station, hands cuffed and a scowl on his face.
Of course, our entire family had flooded the room, all wanting to know what was going on. I kept my focus on Bella, though, who was silent as everyone else erupted in conversation.
"You did this?" she whispered to me.
"Yes," I told her honestly. "You should also know that Tanya and Irina have been charged with tax evasion."
Three out of four of the inside sources for that biopic was okay. I'd already fucked with Call enough for a while, what with his broken nose and all. It was easy enough to get them all charged with their crimes, I'd been having them watched for decades, just in case. Obviously, it wasn't enough to keep Tanya from working with Petrov, but it was enough to get her a few years in prison.
It was all about the timing. If I did anything like this right after Bella's trial, everyone would have thought it was fake evidence, that I was just holding a grudge. I was, of course, but I needed these charges to stick. Then, our lives got turned upside down when Bella had Aiden and my vendettas got put aside for a while.
Bella was quiet, staring at the screen even though they had moved on to a newer, happier news story about a stray dog that had found his way home. A few minutes after the segment ended she quickly slipped out of the room. When I went to follow her, Aiden stopped me.
"You did this?" he asked. I noticed his hand tighten on Adeline's shoulder, who was sitting on the couch he was standing behind.
"Yes." I looked down at Adeline, who was trying her hardest not to look at me. "All completely legally," I said with a wink.
I meant it when I said I wouldn't stand between them. It helped matters that Jenks called me a day after I gave Adeline his number, confirming that I had given her his card. She had an interview with him scheduled for next week, and Jenks assured me he would love nothing more than to steal a promising prosecutor.
She still seemed nervous around us, and no one could blame her, but we were all trying to show her we weren't a family of monsters. There would come a time when she would see us for who we were, though. A time that was coming soon with Aiden's eagerness to get rid of her father.
I left the family to gossip amongst themselves and found Bella sitting on the loveseat we had in our bedroom. I expected her to be mad, upset I went against her request and dealt with the fuckers, maybe mad that I didn't tell her about it before I did it. What I wasn't expecting was her silence and morose attitude.
"How do you always know?" she asked softly when I sat down beside her. I took her left hand and squeezed it between both of mine, enjoying the slight sting her wedding rings left behind.
"Know?"
"I haven't said his name in years, haven't been in the same room as him in just as long. But, you knew. That I still…"
"What I did was as much for you as it was for me, Bella," I admitted. She looked over at me, her eyes quizzical and her brows furrowed. A few strands of hair fell into her face, and I carefully tucked them back behind her ear.
Bella was still traumatized by the trial, not as bad as it had once been, but it would always be something that was in the back of her mind. I never liked to admit it, but it traumatized me, too.
Putting Biers and all of his prejudice behind bars was a cathartic moment for me. He wasn't the biggest threat my family had ever faced. But I knew, even after everything Bella had faced, he was one of the constant reminders of her worst times. She didn't have to tell me that for me to know.
"You always take care of me, even when I don't know I need you to," she whispered, leaning her head on my shoulder and weaving her arm through mine.
We sat like that silently for a few minutes, Bella's hands rubbing against my arm, sometimes squeezing gently.
"Why didn't you kill him?"
The question didn't surprise me. "Well, you made me promise not to, and… He's going to be ruined now. His reputation will no longer be the detective with the most arrests, or the one who came so close to taking down the Cullen's. He'll always be the dirty cop that got caught, who had all of his secrets exposed during his trial, and who eventually died a brutal death while incarcerated."
I would make sure the last part came true. It was easier getting someone killed in prison than it was doing it myself.
Part of me expected Bella to protest at my last admission, tell me I had done enough and that I shouldn't go after him again. Instead, she silently pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.
…Dark…
It took me a while to really understand Bella and her job. Acting was one thing, but writing songs and films about our life together was another. I grew to accept it as part of her and moved on, but it wasn't until I was talking to her for the Vogue article that I really got it.
"I think… growing up I didn't have much of a back bone. I let people walk all over me and its always something I've regretted. I guess I've just always had a thing about having the last word since then."
She didn't put her personal story out there because she wanted to, or because she needed the validation of others. She put her truth out because there were a million other people claiming to have the story right even though it was tainted with lies.
I did some digging when I was writing the article, especially into things written about her before I met her. The world had an odd fascination with her, and it showed. Her clothing choices were picked apart piece by piece by fans and journalists alike, the company she kept were constantly asked about her after a simple afternoon lunch, and everything written from our marriage on was tinged with the idea she was a woman with lose morals because she was with me.
It was no fucking wonder she liked to put her side out there, it was her one chance to get the story straight. Even with her releases, though, she kept herself hidden behind a wall of songs that showed only the toughest side of her.
I knew how personal a lot of the songs she was putting out now were, about her highest of highs, and lowest lows. They were the parts of her that I handled with the utmost care, because she had only trusted me with those feelings in the past. It was a conflicting feeling though, perhaps the same kind of thing Bella tried to explain to me when I agreed to do the Vogue article.
Those parts of her, the sweet love songs and happy memories, those were mine. My part of Bella that I always knew I got to keep close when everyone else tried to claim her as theirs.
I sighed into my coffee, enjoying the last few minutes of peace I would get for the day. I'd been through this more than enough times to know that from now until about three in the morning, things were going to be hectic. Oscars day was never known for being relaxing.
"Hey," Aiden said, mid-yawn as he came in to the kitchen. "Where's Ma?"
"Still sleeping. There's still about an hour before the chaos begins."
I smirked to myself, remembering Bella's inability to sleep last night. She tossed and turned for hours before I pulled her to me. I knew in the weeks leading up to a big moment like this, she got tense and focused solely on what was coming. We'd been here enough times for me to know that sex was usually off the table the week or two before an event like this. But, I also knew a nice, mind-blowing orgasm would wear her out. With her legs thrown open haphazardly she came with a silent scream on my tongue and was asleep ten minutes later.
"Ew."
"What?"
"That… smirk. I know what it means. That's my mother, you know."
I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head. "She was my wife long before she was your mother." It was a playful jab, one that I had said to him time and time again before. This time, though, he got a sudden frown on his face.
"Everything's changing," Aiden sighed, throwing himself in the chair on the opposite side of the island from me. "I mean, they're good changes mostly. But I keep thinking about how I ruined the last year or so where it just would have been you, Ma, and I."
I wasn't going to say anything about last year, because he knew where I stood on the subject. He was long since forgiven, but it would always be something that happened, there was no erasing it.
"Now, Adeline and I are going to look for an apartment together this summer. I'm working with you. And Mom's about to have millions of people obsessed with her again."
"First of all," I sighed. "Just because you're working with me doesn't mean I'm not still your father. That relationship is more important than any working relationship we'll ever have." My voice was firm, because if I had to beat that into his head every day for the rest of my life I would. I wasn't going to turn into my own father.
"Second, just because people are going to be talking about your mother more, doesn't mean anything at home changes." My voice was less stern now, probably because I had been feeling the same thing just this morning. Perhaps Aiden had inherited my possessiveness.
"I know, it's just…" as Aiden sighed, I saw a flash of movement behind him. Bella stood in the hall, leaning against the wall with a frown. I could see her muscles tense, like she was about to come comfort him, but I shook my head slightly. He needed to get this out.
"She's my mom, you know? There're all these people out there talking about how she's 'theirs' – that they've supported her the longest or been there for her through everything or that she met them once and they love her so much… It just gets to me sometimes."
I opened my mouth to speak, but Aiden beat me to it. "I'm the one she freaking created. Everyone acts like they have some claim on her, know her better than anyone else but –"
"But," I interrupted. "She's your mother. She loves you more than any of those people. They're part of her life, though, always have been."
Aiden grumbled under his breath. "I know."
"That's the best part about it, though. Because you have what everyone else would kill to have. In a couple months, you're going to be standing in a stadium filled with sixty thousand people who would do anything to just say hello to her. But you have her at home whenever you need her. She sends you care packages once a month filled with homemade cookies."
That was always how I looked at it. All of these people, they adored my wife. They screamed for her in stadiums, waited outside for hours to get a glimpse of her, but I held her hand when we walked down the street. Held her when she fell asleep every night.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he sighed. He pulled his phone out a second later, laughing and shaking his head at whatever was on it. He slid it across the island toward me.
There was a video and when I clicked play, a group of kids on it all shouted 'good luck!'. It looked like they were in the common area of Aiden's frat house. He didn't live there, probably never would now that he was looking for a place with Adeline, but it was a nice space. It was currently decorated in black and gold and had kids decked out in homemade shirts that said #TeamBella.
It all seemed very genuine, too. They weren't mocking Aiden, they were supporting him and his family. "You should show your mother. She'll love it."
"Show me what?" Bella asked, taking her cue to finally come in. She took a spot on a stool next to Aiden, who handed her the phone and she smiled as she watched the video.
"I don't know how you got to be so sociable. You definitely didn't learn that from either of us."
Aiden smiled, his worries from earlier completely gone from his face. He was young and scared about growing up, but everyone was at some point. Maybe he took his anxieties out on being scared of losing Bella to the public, but that was only when she wasn't beside him, obviously never leaving him for anything.
"You guys could be sociable if you didn't intimidate everyone who wasn't family."
Our quiet moment, just the three of us, was quickly over. Family arrived, everyone hugging Bella and giving their early congratulations. Heidi, Kate, and Claire were next to get here, quickly followed by a team of makeup artists and designers to get Bella ready.
Bella was the quietest of everyone all morning and in to the afternoon. She sat in her chair while people painted her nails and fussed with her hair and makeup. Every once in a while her eyes would meet mine and I'd see the anxiety and stress melt away, just for a second.
I made sure she drank enough, ate at least a few bites of food here and there, and wasn't too overwhelmed with everyone around her. It was crazy enough getting Bella ready for the night, add in that the rest of the family were spoiled brats when they knew their picture might be taken, and it was a madhouse.
Eventually, I was given the task of zipping up my wife's dress and we had a few short minutes to ourselves. The commotion was still loud outside the door.
"Feeling okay?" I asked her, securing the zipper in place and turning her with a hand on her hip to face me.
She replied, I think, but I was distracted. I'd seen her dressed up for every award show imaginable it seemed, seen her in expensive dresses and with hours spent on her hair and makeup. I always stood by the statement that she didn't need it. She was beautiful made up and just as beautiful when she woke up in the morning.
But, this…
I cupped her cheek in my hand, ignoring the number one rule of the night which was to avoid contact with her makeup at all costs. Her eyes were sparkly, both her lids and her deep chocolate iris'. I ran a finger down the delicate bridge of her nose and admired the soft glow her skin had, thanks to the gentle blue of her dress. Her lips, painted a pale pink, moved but I didn't hear what she said.
My hand slid down her neck, along the center of her chest where the gems of her dress met in a deep v. They dissipated to the center, creating her neckline, and flowed down her waist until they ended in the soft blue material that streamed down her legs. Thanks to the heels she was in, she was a little closer to my height, but still not eye to eye.
My hands wrapped around her waist, squeezing her gently to make sure she was real.
A warm hand cupped my cheek, pulling my eyes away from the sparkly blue of the dress, and back to the deep brown of Bella's eyes. "Edward?"
"You're…" There didn't seem to be a word good enough to describe her. "Mind-numbingly beautiful."
Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail on top of her head, but I pulled it over her shoulder, running my fingers through it softly.
This was exactly what I was talking to Aiden about earlier. In a few hours there would be thousands of pictures of her looking like this online, but no one would see it like this, would feel the beads of her dress on their fingertips or see the way they shined every time she moved.
We left the rest of the family in the suite. It would just be Bella, Aiden, and I at the actual show. Everyone else would meet us at an after party to celebrate. I kept Bella's hand in mine on the short drive over.
"Stay near your father all night, okay?" Bella told Aiden.
"Ma, I'm not a kid. I don't think you have to worry about me getting lost."
"Just… stick by him, okay? Or Heidi or Kate."
"I will," he sighed and a second later, the car pulled to a stop.
Typically, Bella arrived on the later side to these things so she didn't get pulled into a hundred different interviews, but today she had to be early to get ready for her performance opening the show. Instead of sitting in an hour of traffic to get out, we only had to wait a couple minutes before there was a soft tap on the door.
The sound of screams and camera clicks assaulted me when I opened the door. It was all very familiar, yet very daunting at the same time. I knew I had about twenty men constantly rotating around the area, looking for anything suspicious, but events like this still put me on edge. Especially given Bella's history with them.
I held a hand out for Bella and she got out of the car gracefully, smiling up at the bleachers of fans that let out a shriek. It was always fascinating, seeing her instantly put on the face that she needed to survive an event like this. She would smile and wave and be as polite as could be to people that wouldn't second guess tearing her apart if she fucked up.
Still, throughout the whole process the smile never fell from her face. Aiden stood in silent wonder beside me most of the time, unless he was beside Kate when my presence was requested beside Bella. She sat through charity functions and business dinners for me, and I had no problem being at her beck and call for a night like tonight.
The moment we were out of the sight of cameras and fans, Bella's smile fell and her face became stoic. I knew there was nothing I could say that would ease her nerves, so I settled for squeezing her hand.
Aiden and I sat in our seats, front and center, in the time leading up to the show. Bella was backstage with Kate and Heidi, changing and getting ready to open the show.
Rarely was I a nervous man. I could be held at gunpoint and not break a sweat, because the odds were I had planned the whole scenario. But, sitting here and knowing how much Bella had riding on this moment was causing my stomach to turn. As confident as I tried to be for her, there was no way I could be certain everything would work out.
My life would have been much less stressful if she were in a field where I could bribe or threaten someone to make sure everything went how she wanted.
Then, the lights dimmed and I was reminded why, even though I would always worry about her, Bella Cullen had a knack for proving people wrong. Her performance was perfect. It was her, summed up in a nine-minute window. Somehow, she managed to show the beginning, middle, and supposed end to her musical career in the time allotted, going through songs I remembered seeing her perform the second night I knew her, all the way up to songs I last saw her perform that rainy night in Chicago the reputation tour ended.
Aiden nearly beat me for first one standing and applauding after the performance. Nearly.
Even though I was under strict rules to keep my hands to myself for the night, I couldn't resist pulling her to me when she appeared beside us. Rarely did we indulge in public displays of affection in a place like this, but I had her locked in my arms before I could think too much about it.
"I'm so proud of you," I whispered in her ear, my throat suddenly tight.
This was the girl that smirked up at me after I practically called her an airhead the first time we met, the one who trashed a New York City hotel with me just because we could. She was the one who willingly tarnished her reputation over and over again, mostly because of me, and never accepted my apology for it.
Seeing her up there, knowing what she was getting awarded with tonight… for the first time in two decades I didn't feel like I had ruined her.
"Are you okay?" she whispered against my shoulder. Perhaps I had been holding on too long.
I pulled back, pressing a kiss to her hairline. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
The next few hours were calm. It was much more relaxing to be here when I didn't have to worry about whether Bella would win or not. I knew what was coming when I saw Kate approach. She grabbed Aiden and Bella frowned as they both ignored her question of where they were going.
"What was that about?"
"You'll see."
"But –"
"Shh. Pay attention."
Then, the announcer said Aiden's name and Bella's head snapped back to the stage.
He looked very natural on that stage, the kind of natural confidence up there I often saw in Bella. The constant tension that had been in the theater since the show started disappeared. No one was nervous about the category because there was only one woman deserving of this award.
Aiden nervously cleared his throat before he started. "I know I'm probably the least qualified person in this place to ever be standing on this stage. My dad was supposed to do this, because there's nothing the man likes more than talking about his wife, but I hijacked it from him."
Bella squeezed my hand. Aiden paused, his cheeks a little red, and continued. "Most of us know all of her accomplishments. I grew up playing with six of these golden statues that everyone is hoping for tonight, so my mom's talent has never really been in question here. You all know she's one of the best actresses of her generation.
"This award is for her talent, yes, but I like to think it's about more than that, too. My mom, she's… the most resilient woman I'll ever know. She's been through hell and back time and time again, but she's still here.
"The most important thing she's taught me, and probably a million other kids around the world, is that the best revenge is proving someone wrong. Her career is a true testament to that, I think. I mean, Look What You Made Me Do exists for a reason, people."
There was a short pause for laughter, and when I looked over at Bella quickly I saw her laugh was mixed with a few tears falling down her cheeks.
"From the time she was sixteen my mother has worked day and night to solidify her place in this industry, whether it be in front of the camera or behind it. She's proven to women around the world that standing up for yourself is never something to feel guilty about. And, for the last eighteen years, she's done that while somehow managing to always be there for me when I need her the most.
"So, it is my honor to present the first Isabella Cullen Lifetime Achievement Award to my mother, Bella Cullen."
I was the first on my feet, applauding my wife. I helped Bella up carefully, because even though she knew this was coming she still seemed a little shell-shocked. I pulled her into my arms, squeezing her as tightly as I could without hurting her.
"That's my girl," I whispered to her before pulling away. With her arm wrapped around mine, a hand gripping my bicep, I helped her up the stairs so she didn't trip.
I got back to my seat, applauding with the rest of the crowd and watching Aiden squeeze her in a hug and hand her the special statue, made entirely of sparkling crystal.
"Thank you," Bella whispered, her voice barely catching on the microphone in front of her. It took her a moment, but eventually she seemed less shocked and more comfortable. "When they first told me about this, I didn't really understand why I was getting it. There are and have been so many phenomenal actors on this stage, so many people who put on performances that deserve recognition."
Bella shrugged, her eyes drifting to the statue in her hands. "Maybe it was all of the kind things my son just said, or maybe the people of the Academy just felt guilty for kicking me out for a while," she said with a shrug and a smirk. "But I really, truly appreciate anyone who thought I was deserving of something like this.
"There are a lot of people that have helped me in my life. People that took chances on me or went on tour with me, people that didn't judge me for what the media was writing about me and I'll never forget any of you for what you've done to help me."
Bella sighed, her eyes finding mine in the crowd and… burning into me. "But, there is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't have Edward Cullen standing by my side since I was twenty. Every time I've thought it was too much, whenever I wanted to quit and never leave the house again you reminded me why I loved what I do. You've always had this unwavering belief in me even when I didn't believe in myself and that means the world to me.
"The first time I won one of these I was nineteen and alone and had no idea where my life was going. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined eventually having my son present me with something like this." Her eyes drifted to the side, where Aiden was standing. "Thank you."
With one more deep breath, Bella finished. "Thank you all for never giving up on me."
She hugged her statue to her chest, and Aiden gave her his arm to escort her backstage. There was another standing ovation as she left.
I had a few minutes to myself, and I was thankful for the commercial break. Cameras were constantly floating around at these things, and I didn't need anyone seeing me show any kind of emotion.
But, fuck if seeing Bella up there didn't make my throat tight and my eyes sting.
Aiden returned a few minutes later, looking awfully proud of himself. He'd been deciding what he wanted to say for months, after he asked me if he could present Bella the award. I knew he still held on to a lot of guilt where Bella was concerned. No matter how many times we both told him to let it go, it would probably always be there. This was just one way he felt he could give back to her a fraction of what she gave to him.
I didn't bother paying attention to the last few awards as they were handed out. Bella never came back, but I didn't expect her. She had one last surprise for the night.
After the final award was given out, the lights dimmed momentarily and then she was there, in the middle of the stage sitting at a piano. Her new dress was elegant, soft taupe chiffon flowing down her in waves with an intricately beaded bodice underneath. She had strings of shimmering metals looped down her upper arm, attached back to her strap.
This last performance was the worlds introduction to her newest project. She intertwined a couple of her songs, including the one I had managed to convince her to release, the one she said was the saddest song she ever wrote.
It was sad, and while I hated that she ever thought she would only ever be a memory to me, I knew this time was about her showing the world who she really was, and she was a woman who would have sacrificed her entire life for me in the blink of an eye.
This night is sparkling, don't you let it go. I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home.
Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress staring at the sunset, babe.
The songs were an appropriate fit for the night. Everyone in the room could probably relate to the night feeling like a dream. I'd probably been to more prestigious award shows than most of these people dreamed about. But, in true Bella fashion, she didn't make the moment solely about her. On the screen behind her, flashes of the night went up, people crying and winning their awards.
By the end of the song, Bella got her third standing ovation of the night. She'd lost the awestruck shock from the first two. Now, she was hungry. I could tell the night lit a fire under her, made her even more eager to reveal all of the things she had been working on the last few months.
"This is it, huh?" Aiden asked beside me when the applause had died down and the show ended.
Aiden had never been around to see this side of Bella. Since he had been born, Bella never took on anything as big as what she used to. She'd never been as popular or talked about as she once had, and I knew she liked it that way. This time, things were different. It was the first time Aiden would she her truly in her element.
"Yes. She's back."
…Dark…
The month following the award show was busy for all of us. Bella jumped right back in to her rehearsals because she had three months left until her show. She also had the occasional appearance to make, sometimes at a late-night talk show or other random press events.
Aiden was busy with school, and his new position working with me. Most days all he did were clerical tasks around the office, but I always made a point to include him in meetings Emmett and Jasper, sometimes having Alec tag along to make Aiden feel less like the odd man out. He was acclimating well. The first few weeks his eyes would widen at some of the things discussed, and his face would be stark white for a while after. That happened less often after a few weeks.
With a few months until Bella's show I needed to start getting the security plans in place. Thankfully, most of it was already done because the layout was so similar to what she had done in the past, but there were still things we needed to tweak.
When Aiden and I got to the rehearsal space, it was like I had traveled back in time. The main stage was a familiar sight, as was the cute little brunette sitting in the middle of it.
"Our smoke machines," Bella said into her mic, giggling. "Need a little work, I think."
She was practically swallowed up by it, something I was sure wasn't what she wanted. When she stood up, probably to talk to one of the technicians that were walking her way, she smiled when she saw Aiden and I standing off to the side. She said something to him quickly, handing him the mic and quickly hopping down to us.
Bella kissed Aiden's cheek, then pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "What are you two doing here?"
"An… assignment of sorts. Aiden is going to be looking for any lapses in security, things we might need to upgrade or change from last time, and factor in the new additions."
"Ah," Bella sighed, smiling over at him. "Well, if you have any questions you can find me. Or, you see those two guys over there?" Bella pointed to a tech station, with two men huddled over a cluster of monitors. "They know every little detail of the stage and show. They could probably help you more than I could."
I smiled at my wife, appreciating that she knew just the kind of attitude Aiden needed around him regarding this. It was an odd thing to get used to, becoming someone like me. He didn't need her tip-toeing around the issue, or ignoring it like there was nothing going on. Whenever it was brought up Bella talked about it like it was the most normal thing in the world, and I knew it was helping Aiden to see the lifestyle in a different light.
"Okay. Thanks, Ma," Aiden grabbed his pad of paper out of his bag and went over to the technicians.
"Considering how big of a production this is going to be, I knew I needed the best on standby for you."
Right on time, Ben strolled in and Bella's face lit up. It had been about a year since he retired. Bella got along fine with Alistar, but it was nothing like what she had with Ben.
Without any hesitation, Bella threw her arms around his neck. Ben looked surprised for a moment, before chuckling. "What are you doing here?"
"I know what kind of trouble you can get into with a show like this," he said, frowning to himself.
I knew exactly what he was remembering, because it was part of the reason I needed him back for this. When Bella was on the original reputation tour, she'd had a bit of a stalker problem. I wasn't going to let anything like that ruin this show for her.
"I'm glad you're here," Bella said, smiling at him. "You're tan."
"I've been on your island the last month, actually. Honeymoon present from Edward."
"You're married?" Bella squeaked. Then, I got a firm punch to my shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know it was for a honeymoon. He just asked to use it and I agreed."
Truth be told, Ben was probably one of the only people I would have let use the island. He'd carried Bella to an ambulance after she was shot, gotten shot himself trying to protect her. He was one of the only people in the world I didn't mind being indebted to.
"Who is she? Is she here?"
"You know her, actually. She used to be your assistant, Angela Weber?"
Huh. I vaguely remembered the girl. It had been years since she last worked for Bella.
"She got married years ago, but divorced not long after that. I called her a few months ago, and that was it. She's looking forward to seeing you again."
"You two will have to come to dinner soon."
Before Bella could make any more plans, her name was called from the main stage.
"I'll see you soon?" she asked Ben, and he nodded. She pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my lips before heading back.
"So," Ben grunted, looking around. "What are we working with?"
The next few hours were spent analyzing the area, finding potential weaknesses within the performance that someone could take advantage of. Aiden watched closely, listening to everything Ben and I discussed, all while taking notes of his own. He was much more focused than I was.
Bella's rehearsals continued around us, and my eyes were constantly distracted by her. Watching her talk with people, watching her move along the stage like she had never stopped performing. I wasn't ashamed to admit I had to adjust myself several times throughout the afternoon.
Later that night Bella sat in the middle of our bed, fresh out of the shower. Her hair was wet as it hung down her shoulders, over an old t-shirt of mine. She frowned at me when I zipped up the small suitcase.
"I wish you would tell me more details," she sighed, tugging at a loose string on the blanket in her lap.
"You know the less you know, the better."
I trusted my wife completely, but that didn't mean I was going to put her in the middle of something if I didn't have to. She would lie to a cop in a heartbeat, but I wasn't going to do anything to put her in that position again.
"I feel like I should be doing something," she grumbled. When I frowned at her, she explained. "Not to… help like that. To help Aiden. When you first, you know, is there something you wish Esme would have done for you?"
Rarely did I ever think of my parents anymore. I wasn't going to dwell on how fucked up the first few decades of my life were thanks to them. Still, I remembered my first kill well. Carlisle didn't tell me his name or what he had done, he simply drove me to a house and handed me a gun. When I got home, Esme was in bed.
"You're already doing just what he needs, Bella. You don't skirt around the issue, don't look at him like he's different than who he was a few months ago. You're there for him, and that's all he needs."
I wouldn't lie and say I wasn't nervous about Aiden taking this next step. It was the point of no return, really. Once you took a life, as cliché as it sounded, there really was no going back.
Aiden and I had talked for hours on end about the next few days. His plan was solid, and I was proud that a majority of it was his own idea. My brothers and I just fine tuned it. But, there was one aspect of it I knew was a mistake. Adeline knew nothing.
From my own research into her father, I couldn't see her being upset of his passing. Everything she had told Aiden about him appeared to be true. From the time she was fourteen she rarely lived with him. He'd been arrested more times than me, usually for drunken disorderly conduct. He never kept a job for more than a few months, and had been evicted from a handful of apartments for not paying rent.
Getting rid of him was a necessity, though, if Adeline was to join our family one day. Despite Aiden only being eighteen, it was obvious he saw his life with her. A drunk, selfish, father-in-law wouldn't work well in our line of work. He would have no problem leaking stories to the press for cash, or blackmailing us if necessary.
That was the one good thing about Charlie and Renee, I supposed. They scared easily, and we hadn't heard from them in years.
While Adeline probably wouldn't be heartbroken over his passing, she might be heartbroken with who caused it. I gave Aiden my opinion, told him about how Bella froze me out for weeks when I withheld information about her parentage from her. He was scared, and I understood it.
He saw Adeline the same way I saw Bella; a woman far too good to be with someone like us. I knew it would take them a long time to find their common ground, to understand each other the way Bella and I did.
"I'll miss you," Bella sighed, crawling over to the edge of the bed, kneeling in front of me. I barely suppressed my groan when I saw all she had covering her legs was a pair of navy-blue boy shorts. "The weekends are the only time I really see you."
We both had been busy lately, Bella with her rehearsals and me with Aiden and my usual workload. We made a pact to leave our weekends, mostly, free for each other though. Except for this one.
Bella's hands slid down my arms, squeezing my bicep as she went. I saw her eyes glaze over a bit when she intertwined our fingers. "You have nice hands," she sighed quietly.
I smiled down at her, shaking my head. My hands were about to go and do unspeakable things, and here she was calling them nice.
Bella's hands got bolder as they dropped mine and roamed across my chest, before she started tugging lightly at a couple belt loops. "I saw you, you know. This afternoon."
My abdomen tensed when one slim finger snuck inside, barely caressing a patch of bare skin on my hip. "I saw you this afternoon, too."
She rolled her eyes, swinging her legs out from underneath her and dropping them over the edge of the bed. "I saw you having issues with this," she whispered, boldly cupping my cock. "This afternoon."
My breath came out in a hiss between clenched teeth. "Bella," I warned her.
Bella, being the temptress that she was, ignored me. Her fingers quickly unbuttoned the shirt I had but on half an hour ago, her lips following closely behind. She squeezed herself between the bed and I, standing now so she could reach my neck. I let out another hiss when she bit down quickly.
We were quickly approaching the point of no return, and as much as I wanted to spend the next few hours surrounded by her, I didn't have that kind of time.
"Aiden will be here in eight minutes."
I expected that to calm her down, figured she would go back to her spot on the bed while I finished packing. Instead, her lips traveled up my neck to my ear. "I bet I could make you come in eight minutes."
All logic left my mind after that. Bella seemed to take her time limit seriously, quickly falling to her knees in front of me and dropping my pants to my feet at the same time.
"Bella." My voice was supposed to be stern, but her name came out as a sigh. I wasn't a fucking idiot; if my wife felt the need to see how fast she could make me come down her throat, I would happily be her test subject.
I looked down at her, lips spread around my cock and a few strands of her wet hair in her face. Careful not to disturb her, I pulled her hair out of her way, knotting my fingers into it. I got a hum of appreciation that vibrated against me in the best way.
I thought about ignoring the time limit and enjoying her mouth as long as I could, then she ran her tongue from my balls to the tip of my cock. It was a rare moment when I had nothing to prove, no need to not come in three minutes like a teenager getting touched for the first time.
Bella looked up at me, eyes sparkling every time she made me groan. Her hands reached up, gripping my waist and scratching down my abdomen.
Her name fell off of my lips in a chant when she took me as far down her throat as she could. My hips jerked in her direction, my hand tightening in her hair, and I came with a loud groan.
Bella sat back on her heels, smirking up at me after a quick glance at the clock. "Six minutes."
Her motor skills were much better than mine at the moment as she fixed my clothes. My hands brushed along her arms and thighs, wishing I could attempt the same test on her. I could probably beat six minutes.
Aiden arrived right on time, two minutes later while Bella was brushing her teeth. She met us by the front door, in the same t-shirt of mine but this time with a pair of cute, dark purple yoga pants on.
It was a fairly awkward moment between the three of us. Each of us knew what was about to happen, but no one really knew where to start.
"Were you nervous? When you…" Aiden asked, looking at his mother.
Bella looked a little taken aback at his question. She never really talked about what she planned so long ago. "I was… desperate. And reckless. I should have been nervous, because my plan wasn't the best, but I did what I had to do to get your father and uncles out of jail."
"Did what you had to do…" Aiden muttered to himself.
Bella wrapped him in her arms, and I could tell Aiden hugged her back just as tight. She whispered something to him, I think, but I couldn't hear it.
I was next, and Bella stood on the tops of her toes to get as close to me as possible. I took a deep breath, inhaling her comforting mix of strawberries and Bella.
"Take care of him," she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my neck. I nodded against her.
"Okay," Aiden said, his voice surprisingly strong and confident. "I'm ready."
…Dark…
All of us kept an eye on Aiden after that night. Bella sent a care package to him every few days the last two weeks, Alec visited him between classes a few times, even Emmett and Jasper took him to dinner a couple times. I was also fairly certain Rose and Alice had sent him care packages of their own as well. It was a stark contrast to Carlisle's nice job to me after my first kill.
He seemed like himself, though. He hadn't reverted back to the angry kid he was before, and his last drug test came back clean. The only thing I was worried about setting him off now was Adeline's reaction. She would find out eventually what happened to her father, and as far as I knew Aiden still hadn't told her.
Tonight, that wasn't my problem though. Tonight, at midnight, Bella's first album in two decades would be out. Bella had adamantly refused to let Alice and Rosalie throw her a party, so on a night as big as her album release we were enjoying a rare night home alone, just the two of us.
I squeezed her to me, her back against my chest and our legs a mess in front of us on the couch. Neither of us were paying much attention to the random comedy on the television, instead opting to read the excited posts Bella was scrolling through on her tablet.
I rested my chin on her shoulder, bare thanks to the cut of her top, and chuckled at the posts floating along the screen. One of my personal favorites was simply Holy shit repeated as many times as the character limit allowed, followed by the tag with the album title. Reputation Revived.
This album release also meant that tomorrow morning Bella's special edition of Vogue would be announced. As promised, I offered to let her read the article before I sent it to be published, but she told me she wanted to be surprised once she had the whole, complete project in her hands.
Then, a week ago when a box of magazines showed up at our home, I found Bella crying on the floor of her office. My first thought was how much money I was going to have to throw at the company to get them to scrap the whole thing, then she threw her arms around me, and that was it.
Bella had been very affectionate since then, always making sure to be by me at all times when we were together. I would get these looks from her, too. She'd stare up at me with this awestruck glance, like I was some kind of hero.
I pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, giving her waist another squeeze at the memory. I reached over for the controls and turned off the television. "Play it for me again."
Bella shook her head, but a few seconds later the familiar beat of the opening track sounded.
I'd grown up knowing exactly who and what I was. I killed people for a living, put drugs on the streets of the city and sold weapons to people who definitely should not have them. I had no trouble admitting that I was a monster to most people, and it was amazing how this girl in my arms made all of that fade away.
To her, I wasn't scary or dangerous. Her songs made me out to be just as hopelessly devoted to her as I really was, something most people never had a problem trying to debunk.
Somehow, she managed to make an album that showed the true ups and downs of our life and relationship, instead of simply the big stuff the public knew about.
There I was again tonight, forcing laughter, faking smiles. Same old tired, lonely place. Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy vanished when I saw your face.
These are the hands of fate, you're my Achilles heel. This is the golden age of something good and right and real.
We had this big wide city all to ourselves. We blocked the noise with the sound of 'I need you' and for the first time I had something to lose.
She was able to make a feeling into song so accurate. I liked to think I was the only one in the world that really understood every word, every sigh in the songs because I felt the exact same thing with her.
Of course, our story wasn't always sweet and happy.
I wish we could go back, and remember what we were fighting for. Wish you knew that, I miss you too much to be mad anymore.
You and I walk a fragile line, I have known it all this time but I never thought I'd live to see it break. It's getting dark and it's all too quiet and I can't trust anything now.
Your kiss, my cheek. I watched you leave. Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees.
Aiden was particularly excited two of his songs were on the album. He had insisted Bella use them.
Ten months sober, I must admit, just because you're clean don't mean you don't miss it. Ten months older I won't give in, now that I'm clean I'm never gonna risk it.
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.
She had to change a few things from the originals, of course. No one could know Clean was really about Aiden, but he was excited about the prospect of the song helping someone else in his situation.
And, of course, there were the songs where Bella set the record straight on old rumors, or poked fun at what the world liked to say about her.
But you'll come back each time you leave, 'cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream.
The rumors are terrible and cruel, but honey most of them are true.
I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain. That's what people say, mmhmm. I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay.
There were so many, so many songs written about our life that were far too pure and sweet to be written about me.
Bella turned in my lap, lying across me and resting her chin on my chest. "I know what you're thinking."
"Oh?"
"Something about you corrupting me or not being good enough for me."
"Well… yes. Those songs are… beautiful, Bella. You deserve -"
"I deserve you." I frowned down at her, but she was looking at me like I was the greatest gift imaginable and took me aback. "We've had this conversation before, Edward."
"I know," I sighed, running a hand through her hair as she smiled up at me. "But you're the best thing to ever happen to me and sometimes it feels like you're too good to be true."
Bella leaned up, pressing her lips into mine with a smile. "I know the feeling."
…Dark…
"Have you always had a big comeback planned?" the interviewer, Kevin I think, asked Bella. We were only a few days away from the show and a few hours away from her final run through in the stadium. Someone, Heidi probably, suggested a taped interview to be released on some music streaming service the night before the show.
So, while people worked to get everything set up for the final rehearsal around them, Bella and Kevin walked through the hundreds of chairs on the floor, stopping a few rows away from the stage to sit. I sat behind the small screen behind the camera, watching.
"No, definitely not. I've been perfectly content acting here and there, working with the production company and the label. I never had this master plan in the back of my mind or anything," Bella said, tugging at the sleeve of her shirt. It was surprisingly cold today, thanks to the storm that was rolling in.
"So, you never regretted taking such a huge step back when you had your son?"
"No, never. There are women who are great at juggling working full time and being a mom, I know that. But, Aiden was a literal miracle baby for us and I wanted to enjoy every second of it that I could.
"It was nice to have a normal life for a while. When you're not constantly on the cover of a magazine for supposedly cheating on your husband or for a film that everyone thinks was snubbed for this or that, you don't get as many stares throughout the day. I got to go to my son's baseball games and science fairs, all of which can be much more fun than a stuffy award show."
My mind flashed back to the first few months we had Aiden at home. It was surprisingly terrifying, bringing home a little person and knowing you were responsible for… everything for them. A memory, clear as if it were yesterday, flashed in my mind of Bella sitting on our bed with Aiden in her lap. She must not have heard me open the door after my shower, because she kept quietly talking to him while she played with his fingers and toes.
It was a simple memory, rather boring compared to others, but it was nice to know she enjoyed our normalcy as much as I did. I loved coming home to find them cuddled up on Aiden's bed while Bella read him a story or meeting her at a baseball game.
Our lives were constantly changing. We went through phases of chaos and work and peace. The only thing that got us to focus on finding that normalcy was Aiden. I knew she needed that time, too. Time to be herself, have a life outside of her job, because otherwise she would have worked herself ragged.
"This show is going to be available for millions to watch live. What can they expect?"
My focus went back on the screen, barely catching the sly smirk Bella tried to hide when asked the question.
"It's all of the best parts of my past tours, reputation especially, combined with everything new. There may be another surprise to two, as well."
The interview ended, the screen went black. It was another thirty minutes of activity as everyone rushed to get things ready. Technicians were cursing at each other from their spots, talking about the impending rain. The stage, the main one at least, had survived its share of rain shows, but it was always tense.
Bella was backstage getting changed and I sat in the middle of the empty seats, watching it all. I counted each of my men surrounding the stage, making sure everyone was in the right spot and paying attention. I watched my family bicker from their spot off to the left, everyone fighting over the few umbrella's that were available.
Aiden was off to the right with Adeline. She found out her father was dead a couple weeks ago, and that Aiden did it not long after that. I was pretty sure things had been rocky for a few days for them. Aiden came and stayed at our house for a few days. Now, things seemed slightly better for them. Especially since Adeline officially accepted her position to work with Jenks.
"Mind if I sit?"
I looked up to see Kevin, the man who just interviewed my wife, standing beside me. I motioned to the chair next to me, and he sat down.
"Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure," I said. The instant shock and excitement on his face were almost comical. "Off the record, of course."
"Of course."
"I did a lot of digging into you two for this interview, and there's one thing that people don't seem to ask a lot."
"That's not a question."
"You had everything before; new women on your arm every night, the kind of anonymity a man like you needs, a life free of the spotlight. You could have had any woman you wanted with your bank account. Why'd you risk it all for her?"
His preface to the question made me think it was going to be one I would have to dodge to get out of, but this one was simple, if not a little offensive. I was in a giving mood tonight, though.
"Because I love her."
The final rehearsal was, of course, a success. Even in the rain. As Bella was taking her final bows in the pouring rain she was nothing but smiles. And drenched hair. By the time I got her in the car she was in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair almost dry.
"It was okay, right?"
"It was perfect, Bella."
Of course, that earned me a roll of her pretty brown eyes. "It wasn't perfect. I mean… I have basically every second planned out, things are going to get behind or forgotten by me or a dancer. I know little things are going to go wrong but… it was good?"
She told me how different this was from a normal tour show. Every second was planned, every camera angel predetermined for the live stream. Thankfully, the stressed and overwhelmed girl I had when she was perfecting her Super Bowl Halftime performance never appeared. "It was good," I agreed.
I squeezed her hand when the car stopped, much earlier than she was expecting. Bella had three days before her show, and I was determined to get her to relax. The penthouse was still ours, though it had changed a lot through the years. New paint, rearranged furniture, but it was still ours. And still held some good memories.
"What are we doing here?" Bella asked, though following me willingly to the elevator from the garage.
I ignored her question, pressing her softly against the elevator wall once it started moving. "What were you thinking?"
When she frowned at me, I elaborated. "That first night I brought you here. What were you thinking… why did you come with me?"
"Oh," she mumbled, blushing. "Well, you were, are, very handsome."
"So, you're just with me for my looks, then?" I asked with a smirk, squeezing her hip so she'd know I was only joking.
"No, you didn't let me finish. You're handsome, but you also talked to me like I was a real person."
The elevator let out a ding and I maneuvered us quickly to the couch. I pulled Bella's legs into my lap, massaging her calves and waiting for her to continue. It was always something I wondered, if she had that same instant curiosity I had.
At first, I thought the curiosity was simply my standard curiosity when I met a new woman, but it didn't take long to realize Bella was different.
"You didn't act like you knew me and you didn't treat me with fake respect like a lot of people did. You just whispered about how much you wanted me and it was… intriguing."
We were both quiet for a few minutes. She already knew my intentions were far from innocent the first night we met.
"What's with all the nostalgia?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "Maybe it's being here, or everything that's going on. We've come in quite the full circle, haven't we?"
Bella snorted. "We've come full circle about ten times, I think."
"You should shower and get in bed. I brought you here to rest."
"Okay," she said, pressing a firm kiss to my cheek. "Don't go anywhere because my idea of resting includes lots of cuddling and making out in front of the fire you're going to start while I'm in the shower."
…Dark…
"This was a crazy idea. Like… insane."
It was the first time we had a moment alone ever since we got to the stadium. There were press vans surrounding the place, fans lined up everywhere, and a constant stream of people coming and going from her dressing room.
I could tell Bella was quickly getting overwhelmed by it all. The entire day I stood by her side, following her around no matter where she was going. She told me once that she felt safer, calmer when she knew I was close, especially in intense situations.
Now it was just the two of us in her dressing room for the time being. "It was… ambitious. But you're a determined woman. Once you have your mind made up, it's going to happen."
"There's ambitious and then there's over-reaching."
"From the sounds coming from out there, this isn't an over-reach, Bella."
The door swung open and Aiden sauntered in, giant smile on his face, with Adeline by his side. He swooped Bella out of her chair, pulling her into what looked like a bone crushing hug.
Aiden had filled out even more in the last few months. He started working out more, realizing the importance of being able to take care of himself in certain situations seems to have motivated him. He was getting rather bulky, but thankfully nowhere near as giant as Emmett.
"What was that for?" Bella asked once she was back on her feet.
"It's a big day. Thought you could use a pick-me-up," Aiden shrugged. "We walked through the place, looking at the merch stands and everything, you know? Then one girl screamed and it was like… screaming erupted everywhere. Then everyone was staring at me. Apparently, I'm a bit of a celebrity these days."
The cocky smirk on his face was entirely too familiar.
"This isn't your day, Aiden," Adeline grumbled, walking over to where Bella sat in front of a vanity. "We brought you these, but it seems there's no shortage of flowers around here."
"Oh, thank you," Bella sighed, taking the vase of flowers from her. The place was a little full of them, flowers, chocolates, anything that could be sent in a congratulatory form was here. "These will go in the pile to go home."
"You're not going to keep all of them? I mean, these are gorgeous," Adeline said, pointing to an elaborate arrangement of roses.
"No. Those are from some arrogant executive whose note essentially said I spent a lot of money on this. Don't fuck up."
Aiden chimed in. "Oh, so are those the ones Dad gave you?" He held up his hands in surrender when I glared at him, quietly laughing to himself. "What? You have to admit that was funny!"
The rest of the day was a lot of waiting around. There was no meet and greet before the show like a normal tour stop. People like Kate and Heidi and Claire stopped by, but didn't stay for long. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie stopped by, but they also enjoyed wandering stadium shows beforehand for some reason, a habit they picked up decades ago. I was sitting back on the couch, knee bouncing, while Bella got her makeup done.
"So, is this what life was like before you guys had me? Tours and backstage and awards?" Aiden asked from beside me.
"Sometimes, yes."
"Why are you so tense?"
I frowned at him. "I'm not tense."
"You're nervous. I don't know if I've ever seen you nervous."
Yes, I was nervous. I could be supportive and confident when Bella asked, but I was always fucking nervous when she put on a show. There were millions of things that could go wrong, and it killed me that I couldn't make absolute certain that this would work out for her. Letting go of any kind of control was never a strong suite of mine.
Aiden and Adeline left a while later, opting to see what was so great about wandering a stadium that had the rest of the family fascinated. Once Bella's hair and makeup were done, we were alone again while she got dressed.
I zipped her into a familiar little black leotard, running my fingers along the intricate beading once it was in place. Her job might make me more nervous and anxious than I would like, but seeing her like this was always enchanting.
"Bella –"
My voice caught in my throat as she turned around, staring up at me. Fucking stunning.
"I know," she whispered.
We stood like that for a while, Bella's hands running along my arms, over my chest and stopping above my heart. I took deep, exaggerated breaths because I knew she was matching my breathing.
Then there was a knock at the door and the moment of peace was gone.
"You should go," she sighed.
"No matter what," I muttered. "I really fucking proud of you."
She smiled up at me and squeezed my hands one more time before I left.
I'd been to my fair share of concerts, especially Bella's concerts. There was always a certain energy, one that I never felt anywhere else. People were excited, some so excited they were nearly in tears, and they were themselves. No one cared that they were covered in glitter or had snakes wrapped around their neck or were in, honestly, some of the most poorly made custom t-shirts known to man.
Tonight, that energy I was so used to seemed to be magnified a hundred times over. This was, quite literally, a once in a lifetime show. There were a few stares and screams when people saw me, though not the screams I was used to in my line of work.
When I got to the designated family seating area, everyone was coupled off; Alice and Jasper were posed like proud parents, phones ready to take pictures and videos of Delilah performing with Bella, Emmett and Rosalie were standing, drinks in hand, smiling at each other. The rest of the family was milling about.
I stood front and center, leaning on the railing and watching the people around us. It was always a little surreal, seeing people so obviously devoted to my wife. Especially after all these years.
"This is insane. All of these people wearing shirts with Mom's face on them."
"Takes a while to get used to," I laughed.
"I know I've messed up a lot, said a lot of things I regret… but I'm really glad you're my parents."
I frowned at him. I remembered, of course, when he was high and said he didn't ask to be born into a family full of criminals, but that was a long time ago.
"All of this… it just puts things into perspective, you know? Like, Mom could have never wanted to stay home with me, could have traveled the world working and filming. You could have dumped me out on my ass when I was using and never let me back in the house. A lot of people probably think that's the kind of people you are, but…"
"But, we're more than our reputation," I agreed.
"Exactly."
"It's taken you this long to understand why your mother is always fighting for her reputation?"
Aiden chuckled. "I guess so."
A few people spotted Aiden and started shouting at him, albeit politely, and got him to come down to them for a few pictures. It struck me how perfect of a combination he was between Bella and I.
He had been doing better than I hoped, acclimating to working with me. He was curious and smart and didn't show any signs of the scared kid he was the first time around. He was able to put up that wall that was necessary from everyday life to our working life.
But, he was also good. He was kind and patient when necessary. He was taking pictures with a group of women, most only a few years older than him, and very politely turning each of them down. He had my ruthlessness, and Bella's charm, and he was going to be unstoppable one day.
I was a lucky bastard. Despite growing up under Carlisle's command, despite all of Esme's bitterness and judgement, I ended up with every goddamn thing I never knew I wanted.
The lights went out and the screaming started. The anxiety I was feeling earlier melted away completely when her silhouette appeared.
"That's my girl," I muttered to myself.
…Dark…
A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. I've got a million excuses from meds that messed with my mood to the stomach flu. Either way, I really hope you enjoyed it. Epilogue is next, and will be up within a week or so.
I also wanna say thank you to everyone who voted for the TwiFicFandom Awards – I came in second place for Newbie Author! And just a thank you for anyone who has read and reviewed this. This story means a lot to me, and it's bittersweet to see it end, but I'm also really excited about what's next. So, just… thanks for everything.
Some housekeeping: Final Academy Award performance song lyrics are from the Enchanted/Wildest Dreams mashup from Taylor Swift's 1989 Tour. All lyrics used within the chapter are from the following songs (in order of appearance): Enchanted, Wildest Dreams, Enchanted (again), State of Grace, Holy Ground, I Wish You Would, Haunted, This Love, Clean, Safe & Sound, Blank Space, New Romantics, and Shake It Off. All by Taylor Swift.
Also, the whole show is an odd but amazing combination of Taylor Swift's reputation tour and 1989 tour that exists in my brain only. In case anyone was curious.
