Ch 11: Workin' for the Weekend

~Bella POV~

I felt myself slowly coming awake. My body tingled with warmth and I just wanted to snuggle in and not quite wake up yet.

The sound of soft breathing and the weight surrounding me was just too nice.

My brain started. Breathing? Weight?

My eyes flew open in confusion. Though there was minimal light, I could tell I wasn't in my room. Or my own bed.

Nor did I fail to recognize I was completely naked, and a very warm, also naked, man was spooning me.

The sputtering of my heart didn't have much time to take off when I remembered what happened last night.

I was with Edward.

The thought made me giddy with excitement. Everything had been so wonderful with him. The way he took me, controlled me, and was still so willing to let me take charge too.

He'd had me orgasm what, five times? I tried to count, but one moment blended into the next and I all I could think was how the whole evening had been one giant climax.

I was getting turned on again just thinking about it. The way he had taken me from behind at one point. My head pressed down, ass in the air as he pounded into me. Or when I'd climbed on top and rode him with wild abandon.

I grinned knowing I was going to be sore as all get out today.

Only the thought of going back to my place had my mood dimming.

I rolled in the bed, wanting to forget about everything except the man who currently had me wrapped in his arms.

Looking at his face now, a deep part of me ached.

He was too freaking beautiful.

I traced the outline of his jaw, smiling when he twitched under my light touch. Tempted as I was to wake him, the clock on his wall told me it was only just after six in the morning. And we had only just fallen asleep maybe an hour ago.

I stifled a yawn as I attempted to sit up. Edward tightened his grip on me when he felt my resistance.

"E, I need to get up."

His brows drew in and a frown fell into place. I rubbed his cheek affectionately trying to soothe him. He only loosened his hands a fraction. I could have laughed.

In the end I wedged a pillow between us for him to hold on to instead of me. It worked decently. He only moved a little as I got up from the bed and dressed.

When I was ready to go, I debated the best way to handle my departure. It felt a little unfair to wake him up considering how little sleep either of us had gotten, but I also didn't want to just dip out without any explanation.

"Hey," I gently nudged his arm, smiling again when he grunted. "I have to head out."

He mumbled something unintelligible, making my lips quirk. He rolled towards me after a moment.

"Bella?"

I stroked the arm he had reached out upon seeing me hovering over the bed.

"I just wanted to let you know I have to go."

"Go?" he questioned his eyes unable to stay open.

"Yeah. I have to head out. You go back to sleep. I'll be back later, okay?"

He frowned, but nodded dutifully. I wondered how much of this he would remember later.

"Kay." The sleepy words drifted out as he relaxed back into the mattress. Unable to stop myself, I lightly petted his head, finding a wicked sense of delight when he hummed in happiness at the action.

Only when I felt he had fallen back asleep did I finally leave.

It was harder than I thought it would be. Leaving.

Heavens knew I wasn't a one-night stand kind of girl, but with Edward I gone into it knowing nothing would come of us. I couldn't regret what happened, but I was worried. How badly was this going to hurt if I kept trying to pretend I didn't feel something for him?

Because I did. A whole lot of something.

My walk back over to the house was slow as my mind questioned everything that happened. We were getting closer than I expected, as much as we would have in a real relationship. Or nearly as much. I found myself wanting to be with him more and more each day.

Last night, coming over to apologize had just been an excuse. I was sorry to have left, but mostly I just wanted to see him. Wanted to be with him.

And when he threatened to fuck me… that had been unexpected. I should have been offended or shocked even. But I wanted him so badly, all it did was send hot chills racing through me. I leapt at the chance, walking into the fire willingly, allowing myself to burn like I never had before. Enjoying the heat, while it burned me to the ground.

And if I was being honest, I wanted to do it all over again.

I breathed deep, lifting my head to the sky. The sun had yet to rise, but I enjoyed the feel of the early morning breeze. A slight chill was in the air; fall was well on its way, bringing with it a relief from the southern heat.

All too soon I was back on my porch where reality was waiting for me.

I entered the house quietly, knowing dad was likely still passed out on the couch where I left him last night. Yet when I passed the living room on my way to the stairs, I couldn't help but notice the couch was empty.

He must have gotten up in the middle of the night.

At least I wouldn't have to help him up the stairs, again.

I touched the side of my cheek wondering how bad it looked.

I'd just go grab a shower and go about my day. Like always.

The wince at seeing myself in the bathroom mirror was unavoidable. Last night it was simply a small reddish smudge. Today it was dark purple, and spread from the corner of my eye, back toward my hairline.

I shook my head, knowing I'd have to dig through old makeup to find the concealer and foundation I never wore. It was going to hurt like a bitch putting it on though.

At least the shower was hot, feeling wonderful on my slightly aching body. I had noticed a few more bruises on my sides. I took consolation that those wouldn't be noticeable.

It felt all too soon that I had to leave the warm water and actually go get ready.

Much to my surprise, as soon as I left the bathroom, dad was standing there very much awake, and looking at me with more than a little concern.

His eyes were on my cheek instantly.

"Bella?" His voice was hoarse. I knew he was trying to remember what happened last night.

"Yeah dad?" I couldn't help but think how I could really use a cup of coffee right about now. And some clothes.

"What… what happened?" He stepped closer. I could still smell the booze on him from last night.

"I fell down the stairs." I told him simply and shrugged.

He looked doubtful.

"Did I.." his voice broke as he trailed off. The look he gave was so horrified, so guilt ridden.

"No." I told him softly. "It was genuinely an accident."

But the worry was still there. I sighed.

"I was trying to help you up the stairs, and you stumbled. We both lost our balance and fell. I hit my head on a step."

The guilt in his eyes intensified, making me feel worse.

"I'm so sorry Bella. I know I had too many." The pain in his voice tore me up. Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes.

I wasn't sure what to say. While it wasn't the first time I had inadvertently gotten hurt, it was probably the first time he realized it. Usually I only sustained bruised toes as he stumbled over my feet, something he never would have noticed later.

"I'm fine. It'll heal in a few days. I really need to go get ready for work." I could tell he wanted to say more, but I was standing in the hallway with nothing but a towel on. It wasn't the best time to be having a conversation.

He closed his mouth and nodded.

"I'll see you later." I called to lessen the sting of my walking away. He nodded again before I disappeared into my bedroom.

I glanced over to Edward's involuntarily. His light was still off, and I wished more than anything I was still there with him.

…

"I need a break. If I have to review another piece of bad writing, I'm going to strangle someone." Dr. Elaine Smith announced rubbing her temples as she gave her laptop a frown of distaste. Her wild brown curls bounced around her nearly wrinkle free face, as she tapped her foot in frustration.

I couldn't help my smile.

"I guess we have been going for a while." I commented looking at the clock, seeing it was already past noon.

I worked as a part-time assistant of sorts for Dr. Elle, as she liked to be called. She worked for Mason University as an English professor. But she was also both chair and editor for her department. With so many responsibilities, she had needed assistance with some of the work. I had sent my resume to the university previously, while I was looking for jobs back in sophomore year. She had run across my profile and thought I'd be a good fit for what she needed.

Turns out, we worked amazingly together. More than once she offered to hire me on right out of high school to work full time. She also didn't hesitate to tell me, full time employees got free tuition. Sometimes, it was tempting.

"I think I'm restless today. It's so nice out." She looked longingly out the window which, in fairness, held an amazing view of the ocean. Though she was in easily in her fifties, her appearance was very well kept, and she looked nearly a decade younger. I considered how much of her youthfulness was owed to her playful attitude.

"I know. Fall is basically here. It'll be harder to work inside now." Most of the work we did was remote since I lived nearly an hour away. She'd email me a list of things to do at the beginning of each week, usually it consisted of papers to edit, or following up with authors on their progress. Nothing too hard, really. And I always did my best to deliver more than was expected.

Occasionally we met on weekends for the things that had to be done on site. Certain documents couldn't be emailed whether for privacy concerns or file size. While this was rarely a problem, Elle liked the face to face contact that was usually absent from our day to day interactions. It gave us both an opportunity to work through things that could be difficult to discuss over the phone. I rather liked it. But now that it wasn't so ungodly hot, I actually wanted to be outside.

"Why don't we call it a day. You already have everything you need from here. We can just pick up some of this stuff Monday."

That sounded amazing.

"I'm not gonna say no to that." I laughed, saving the rest of my work to the portable hard drive I would be taking with me. I finished packing up quickly and glanced over at Elle. She was almost done getting ready too. "Anything else you want me to do? I was gonna drop the mail off and restock the printer paper before I go."

"Oh, yes. Hold on a second. Where did I put…" she rummaged around a few drawers before her eyes lit up when she found what she was looking for. "Here it is!"

She pulled out a very nice, if old, cell phone, and my stomach twisted already knowing what she was about to do.

"Here. Take it." She handed it out to me. "It's been sitting in my desk for over a year and it still works great."

I shuffled my feet uncomfortably.

"You don't have to do that Elle. I can get myself a new one soon."

She gave me an arched brow that told me I wasn't about to win this argument.

"This isn't getting used by anyone and if I don't give it to you, its going to just keep sitting. Plus, this way you'll have something while you figure out what you want. And I won't have to worry that if you get a flat tire on the way home, you won't be able to call for help."

She knew me well enough that I couldn't argue with that logic. I was also pretty sure she purposefully didn't mention anything to do with money because she knew how uncomfortable it made me.

"Thank you." I took the phone graciously, knowing there was no other option. Her eyes turned watchful as she looked at my face.

"How is everything at home?"

Somewhat a blessing and oftentimes a curse, Elle had gotten to know me a lot better than I ever intended. Months after I had started working for her, I had an especially hard day. It was the first time dad had gone on a multi-day binger and I had no idea how to handle it. Elle found me sobbing over my desk when the pressure had gotten to be too much.

She never pressured me to talk about it, but she had been there and was understanding. I found myself telling her my dad was having a hard time, and that I was stressed out about it. We never went into particulars, but after that day I noticed she had become more vigilant around me. She checked in more frequently, and always made sure I felt I had someone to go to if I needed it.

It was nice she cared. I just couldn't ever bring myself to talk about it. There was one thing that I promised I would never do though. I would never lie to her.

"It's…okay. Good days and bad ones."

She eyed me for a long moment before nodding.

"Don't wait for there to be more bad ones than good."

I felt the weight of her words. The wisdom of them. My only concern was if it was already too late.

"I'll keep that in mind." It was the most she would get from me.

"Alright. Well if you don't need anything from me, I won't keep you from your Saturday any longer. Go be a teenager. Have some fun for once!" She encouraged with a smile, but I saw the seriousness in her eyes. And another warning. Life was supposed to be fun.

"Actually, I think I will."

And I had a certain individual in mind for just such an occasion.

AN: Hmm, I wonder who Bella could possibly be thinking of… ;) Also, to the peeps worried about Charlie, I hope this chapter cleared that up.

Thanks for all the comments! Love seeing how you're enjoying the story :)