A Tri Déag (13)

A/N: Hello people of fanfiction. Wow! 90+ reviews. We didn't quite make it to 1000 reviews, but it was so close, so you are reaping the sweet rewards. Here is chapter 13. It is a little short, but it is important, pay attention. Not much more to say, thank you to my crew. Y'all know who they are. Without further ado, here we go!

I was able to extract myself from Alice and Esme's clutches after two hours of near torture. I got away with giving up as little information as possible because they could tell that nothing had really happened while I stayed in Edward's bed. As disappointed as they seemed, I was relieved. Today just reminded me that while Edward was doing better, we still had a way to go before I fully trusted him in a personal manner. When it came to us working together professionally, I was more than confident in him.

I couldn't find Edward after I escaped his mother and sister, so I headed back up to his room to see if he was in there. I had to grab my bag, shoes, and hoodie anyways. I lightly knocked and then pushed the door open, not surprised to see it empty. I put my shoes on, pulled the hoodie over my head, and grabbed my bag. I looked in my bag for my keys before I remembered that Edward had given me a ride here, which meant I needed a ride back home. I trudged back downstairs in search of, well, anyone. I ran into Esme first.

"Hey, Esme. Edward gave me a ride here; do you know if he is done with Mr. Cullen yet?"

"Yes, dear. I just saw him, but I'm afraid they've already left. He did ask me if I'd give you a ride home. Are you ready to go?"

"I can just call an Uber; I don't want to put you out."

"Nonsense, it's not a problem. Come on, let's go."

I got a text message from Edward later that evening apologizing for not being able to give me a ride home himself. I was beyond getting mad at petty shit like that, especially when we had much bigger problems, so I let him off the hook.

Are you busy right now? -E

I pondered how best to answer that. I wasn't busy at all; actually I was pathetically out of things to do. Rose was with Emmett, like she always was lately. Alice was spending time with Jasper, and I had checked on Demetri shortly after Esme dropped me off at home, but he had been asleep.

No, why? -B

I waited for his reply but none came, and then there was a knock on my door. I got up and was surprised to find Edward standing there. He was in his casual attire again, jeans and a t-shirt, with a bright smile plastered on his face. I tried not to swoon and moved aside to allow him to walk inside. I noticed he had microwave popcorn and a few DVDs in his hands.

"I figured we could watch some movies together. We do have a date in less than two days. Might want to build up that tolerance to each other."

I gave him a sarcastic smile. "Well, when you're being an actual nice guy, it's not that hard to be around you. It's bossy Edward that I find to kind of be an ass."

"Well, I'll try my best to keep him in check." His lips slightly tugged up, and I knew he was trying his hardest not to smile.

I rolled my eyes and put my hand out for the DVDs, which he handed to me. I saw the muscle in his jaw jumping and he looked like he was literally biting his tongue. "Are you okay, Mr. Cullen? Aren't you going to scold me for rolling my eyes?"

He shook his head no and I scoffed a laugh. I gestured toward the couch and went to sit down with him, looking at the movies he brought. There was a comedy movie, a horror flick, and an action one. I chuckled.

"I didn't know what types of movies you like," he explained.

"All three work. I like them all. I do tend to scoff and laugh at horror movies though. I enjoy them but they don't scare me per se. I always laughed at Rose because she would damn near crawl in my lap at every jump scare." I tried to keep the nostalgia out of my voice, but I don't think I did a good job.

"You miss her," he said softly. It wasn't a question, but I still nodded my head.

"I'm so fucking happy for her, god knows she needs a guy who actually treats her the ways she deserves, but I miss her. Don't take this the wrong way, because I really like Em, but I also know what he is involved in, and I can't support wanting that for my sister."

"Well, you're involved in it too, Bella. Yeah, you're not as deep as a lot of the family, but you are part of it."

"Yeah, but I know what I'm involved in, and I joined willingly. Rose has no clue what is going on."

"I will admit that I don't know Rose that well, but with all the things that have happened since she got here, I know she's not stupid enough to not at least suspect something is going on. She either doesn't care or pretends that everything is normal, or both."

I sat and thought about what he was saying. Was it possible that Rose knew or at least suspected what was going on and just didn't care? I have to admit when my date with Demetri had been cancelled and I left with my medical stuff, she didn't even bat an eye. I was gone for over twelve hours before she even called to check on me. When I got home this afternoon, she had asked me a few questions before she was leaving with Emmett, not the Spanish Inquisition I had been expecting. I threaded my hair in my hands. "Fuck. She knows."

"What?"

"She might know. She hasn't been nearly as inquisitive as she should be and she strays away from asking me what I'm doing when I leave here in a hurry. She has to know, right? Do you think Emmett told her?"

"I don't know, but if he has, that means that he is planning on her being the one. We aren't supposed to actually advertise what we do, but when we find the one, the one we want to be with for life, then we can tell them."

"So, what, he wants to marry her?" I realized my voice was starting to get panicked.

Edward put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look in his eyes. "Breathe, a phaeta. It's not like you're getting married, and no. I'm not saying there is going to be a proposal tomorrow or soon, but sometimes, you just know."

The look he gave me was so intense and smoldering that I could feel the heat from where I was sitting, and he had called me his pet again. Oh, shit. I prayed that he didn't try to kiss me because I didn't know if I had the strength to stop him. I broke the look he was giving me, grabbed the comedy, got up, and put it in the DVD player. I played with the case while I waited for it to load. Edward came up behind me and turned me to look at him.

"Did I do something to upset you, Bella? I'm sorry about what happened in my room earlier this morning. I thought you wanted—"

"I did. I wanted to kiss you. It's not like you forced me or anything."

"Then why do you keep pulling away from me?"

"Are you kidding me? Up until about a week ago, we fought every time we saw each other. Really, the only times we weren't fighting it was because we spent time away from each other. How do I know you're not just going to go back to being the bossy demanding asshole?"

"How do you know I'm going to?"

"Okay, smartass, if you're going to counter everything I say."

He stepped closer to me, unsure of how I would react. His hand gripped my hip and his other one cupped my cheek. "I can feel that, Bella. Don't tell me you don't. I tried to get you out of my head—a whole week away from you and all I thought about was you. I don't know why, but I can't forget you." He rested his forehead against mine, and I gasped when his eyes opened, staring straight at me. The look in his eyes was sincere, vulnerable, and desperate. "I like you and I know that if you and I were to not work out, it would make shit so complicated, but I can't help but still want to try, mo grá, my love."

I felt tears pool behind my eyes, and I blinked, letting them slide down my face. I closed my eyes, not able to look at him while I was feeling so exposed. I spoke, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm scared."

"Mise freisin." Alice had the same habit of spouting off Irish phrases whenever, so I had learned enough from her to know that he had basically just agreed with me by saying "me too." He brought his other hand up and cradled my head in his hands, and then his lips were against mine. Just like every time before, all rational thought flew out of my head and all I wanted was to just feel.

Desire, passion, being consumed, devoured. I didn't have it in me to stop him this time, and it seemed he was trying to tell me how he felt. His lips weren't as demanding—the kiss firm but still gentle. One of his hands slid from my face, down to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him, while my arms wound around his neck. Too soon, Edward was pulling his lips from mine, and his eyes were searching my face, looking for something. He smiled and his lips were touching my forehead, laying a kiss there. He led me back to the couch and we sat down to watch the movie.

There was a comfortable but charged atmosphere as we watched the movies. After the first movie, he went to the kitchen to make popcorn. I followed him and pulled out a soda for both of us, handing him one, and then pulled out a big bowl for the popcorn. By the time he finished in the kitchen, I had popped the horror movie in the player.

"Am I gonna have to make my lap available to you for this movie?"

I laughed. "You wish, Edward."

"I kinda do."

I just shook my head, and I leaned into him, his arm coming to the back of the couch so I could rest my head on his chest. I was warm and comfortable, which explained why the next thing I noticed, I was waking up to the sound of a phone ringing.

I realized quickly that it was Edward's because the ringtone was just a standard one. With the annoying ring after just waking up, I pushed Edward to wake him up. He bolted upright, almost knocking me off the couch. After looking at me to make sure I was okay, he slid his finger on the display of his phone and the ringing ceased.

I got up and went to the bathroom. When I came back, Edward was pulling his coat on and the light was on in the living room. When he looked at me, I already knew I wasn't gonna like what he had to say.

"I gotta go, Bella. There's some stuff that needs to be taken care of."

"I don't want to know the details, but please tell me that you are being safe, Edward."

"I am. I never go alone."

Before I could say much more, he gave me a quick hug, a kiss on the forehead, and then he was out the door without a look back. I sighed, locked the door, turned the light out, and went to bed.

Translation:

mo grá- My love

Mise freisin- me too

A/N: So how are we feeling now? Progress right. Do you understand now why Carlisle was curious? Let me know what you think and hit that review button. As always, thank you so much for your thoughts and love for this story and I will see you on the next chapter lovelies.