Faking It Chapter 21: Don't Move, a twilight fanfic

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Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

BPOV

For the second morning in a row, I cracked my eyes open to the sight of Edward's bedroom around me and the feeling of Edward's body curled against mine. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so content. His breathing was slow and even behind me, which I knew meant he was still deeply asleep. I loved that I knew what his sleeping breathing sounded like.

Yesterday…oh my God. I could hardly wrap my brain around yesterday. We'd barely left this bed. I'd wandered into Edward's bathroom eventually to take a shower, but it hadn't taken long for Edward to join me and then it was like the bed, only with water. Edward left the room only to meet Sam when he brought us food. And it wasn't just sex, although there had been plenty of that. We had talked and laughed and teased each other... I even sang to him when he asked me to. Christ, I was in so deep.

I squinted at my cell on the side table. The alarm beeped, which was what woke me up. Fuck, I had a photo shoot today. Well, as perfect as our little bubble was, I knew we'd have to leave this room sooner or later. I sighed and tried to figure out how I should approach this. For the last week that I had been crashing at Edward's, in the guest bedroom, I came and went as my schedule dictated, and since we'd been in the run up to the Oscars, I hadn't really had to wonder about the appropriateness of coming back to Edward's house every day. Alice was dragging me there anyway.

But now I didn't have any other reason to be there, and now I was certainly more than a casual houseguest, and, well…I was worried that if I just showed back up this afternoon after my shoot, unannounced, that it might feel like I was assuming too much, moving in too fast, pushing myself into his life, or something. And if he sensed I was trying to stake some sort of claim on him, he might freak out. Damn…I had no idea where we stood outside of this bed and I had no idea how to bring it up. I was terrible at this part, keeping it cool, pretending it didn't matter. Especially when I was hopelessly in love.

The alarm reminder beeped again. I had to get moving. I began to edge out from underneath Edward's arm until it suddenly clamped down hard over my waist and he pulled me up tight against his chest.

"You were going to let me wake up alone two mornings in a row?" he growled into my hair. God, his voice was sexy when he first woke up. I smiled and curled my back into him.

"I have to go. Photo shoot."

"Really?" he asked with a flicker of interest. "What for?"

"CD cover, so it's important."

He was quiet for a moment. I could almost hear him thinking behind me.

"Ahh…How long…what time do you think you'll be done?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. Late afternoon, probably," I got the feeling that he wanted to make sure I was coming back here, but that he didn't want to ask me straight out. But then I was worried that I was trying to read way too much into the tone of his voice. But then I decided that I needed to know where the hell to go this afternoon, so I was just going to have to suck it up and put it out there. "Do you…want me to come back over here? When I'm done?"

He rolled me slightly in his arms so I could finally see his face. He was grinning broadly. "I want you to come back here," he said softly, before he lowered his face to kiss me. It was a soft, sweet kiss, but in what was already becoming a familiar pattern with us, it was beginning to escalate and his hands were starting to wander in delicious ways and I was in serious danger of sinking back into this bed for another twenty four hours.

"Ahhh…Edward? I really have to go," I murmured against his lips.

He growled low in his throat and moved to my neck. His hands were moving up my ribcage. My eyes were sliding closed, my hands were creeping into his hair… The alarm reminder on my cell went off again.

"Have…to…go," I whispered.

He exhaled heavily against my shoulder before he rolled away from me just enough to let me up.

"Sorry, I just can't keep my hands off of you," he said, smirking.

"I wasn't exactly complaining," I said as I leaned across and kissed his lips briefly. He reached out for me again, but I scooted back off the bed quickly before he could snag me and pin me. He flopped back dramatically on the bed and shot me a scowl as I headed to the bathroom. I stopped at the door to look back at him over my shoulder. Jesus. He was perfection, lying there like that, his body half-exposed, arms flung out at his side, head thrown back on the pillow. My whole body caught fire again at the very sight of him. It was all I could do not to crawl back into bed with him and just stay there.

He narrowed his eyes at me a bit.

"What is it?"

I shook my head and tried to smile, to dispel the lust raging through me just from looking at him.

"I promise," I said, "when I get back, I want your hands all over me. And I'm putting mine all over you."

He flashed me his wicked half-smile, "I'm holding you to that promise."

"Isabella, darling, lower your chin a smidge…yes…and now raise your eyes…yes…and look over here," Demetri, the photographer, turned back to the camera once he got me just as he wanted me. I held still and took shallow breaths.

"Jasper, lean in against her back a bit more…yes. Emmett, move your hand an inch over…no, the other hand. Now, move it to the right…no, the other right."

Now we all held our breath and didn't move. The shutter went off a million times, making funny popping noises.

Then Demetri moved me microscopically and it started all over again.

"So, Bells…" Emmett murmured, trying not to move his lips, "how were the Oscars?"

It sounded like an innocent question, but I heard the tone of his voice. It was loaded.

"Fine," I returned flatly, "Long."

"Don't move your lips!" Demetri barked.

We were quiet for a minute, posing and holding, not breathing.

"Okay," Demetri said, "I'd like to do some of the girls. Gentlemen, can I have you step out?"

Jasper and Emmett exhaled happily and headed for the catering table without complaint. Oh, how I envied them. I'd been in hair and makeup for two hours before this ever started and we'd been at the picture-taking part for nearly three hours now. It was tedious and insanely boring.

Demetri spent a few minutes setting up the shot of me and Rose he wanted. Rose was curled up on the ground, her legs folded up in front of her. I was sitting on a low box behind her, my arms draped around her and my chin resting on her shoulder. And in this sliced up t-shirt they called a dress that the stylist had put me in, my legs were entirely bare on either side of her, the dress hiked all the way up to my hips. The whole thing was a little too "girl-on-girl action" for my tastes, but Jasper and Emmett were giving us thumbs up from across the room, making cat calls and snapping pictures with their camera phones, clearly enjoying the show. Considering they were blood relations to each of us, it was wildly inappropriate and gross, but also funny. Eventually they were more interested in the chocolate éclairs than they were in us and they turned away.

We relaxed a minute while Demetri adjusted his equipment and swapped out cameras.

"So?" Rose whispered.

"What?"

"Spill."

"Spill what?"

"Bella! You think I can't tell? I mean, even if you hadn't vanished off the face of the earth since the middle of the Oscars, I would still be able to tell just looking at you!"

"Rose! How can you tell?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. You knew the minute Em and I did it."

Okay, she was right, I did.

"And besides," she continued, "I watched that makeup woman spend half an hour this morning covering up the bite marks on your neck."

I swear I felt the blush in my fingertips. It was only compounded when Demetri barked, "Isabella is all pink! Makeup! Fix her!"

The makeup woman dutifully appeared at my side, face powder in hand to fix what no makeup could cure, but it bought me a little recovery time. She scampered back out of the shot and Demetri resumed his fussing.

"You're not answering the question," Rose said softly.

"So…yes."

"You and him?"

"Yes."

"….And?"

"Ladies! Can you get back into your pose, please?" Demetri interrupted. We did as he asked and we were quiet for a moment. Demetri adjusted and fussed and took a million shots.

"Unbelievable," I whispered.

"What was?"

"Him. Us. Unbelievable."

"Ladies! Lips!"

We were silent again, but Rose couldn't contain herself.

"How unbelievable?"

"Like mysteries of the universe revealed kind of unbelievable."

"LIPS!"

I rolled my eyes at Demetri but I shut up and posed and a few more minutes went by in silence.

"Was it just the other night? After the show?" Rose murmured, eyes on Demetri's lens.

I didn't answer right away, until Demetri paused to adjust a light.

"Rose, we didn't get out of bed until this morning."

Rose was silent as the shutter went off a million times in our faces.

"Holy shit," she finally whispered.

"Yeah."

Demetri seemed tired of telling us to shut up, "Okay, gentlemen, your turn. Ladies, take a break."

I straightened up gratefully and stretched, balanced precariously on my high heels, which in reality were just a spike heel with a sole and a few tiny straps holding them to my feet. I smacked the back of Emmett's head as he and Jasper passed us to take our places.

"It's gross to make cat calls at your cousin," I snapped. Then I pointed a stern finger at Jasper. "And it's even grosser when it's your twin sister."

"Oh, come on," Emmett protested playfully, "It made you feel pretty, just admit it."

"Gross, Em. Just gross," I said, but I was smiling.

"Gentlemen? Today?" Demetri was whining.

Rose and I got drinks at the catering table and spent a few minutes making fun of the boys as they struck their poses and shot sexy looks at the camera. Man, I hope we didn't look that ridiculous just now.

"Damn, Emmett's hot," Rose sighed.

I wrinkled my nose but said nothing.

"So," she was right back on target, like a heat-seeking missile, "What happens now with you two?"

I sighed, "I have no idea."

"Are you guys like, a couple now? For real?"

I sighed and looked down at my hands. There was the million dollar question.

"I don't know," I answered, shrugging, "Sometimes it really feels like we are. But this is Edward and Edward doesn't have girlfriends. That's what everybody says. So I'm trying not to assume anything."

"So, what…you're just going to float along in this state of denial?" Rose's voice got infinitesimally sharper.

I sighed heavily, "Rose, I know what Edward is and what he isn't. I walked into this with my eyes wide open. He's not promising me anything and I'm not expecting anything. I just want to be with him and enjoy it, for as long as I can. I'm going to try not to think further than today."

"And when it's over? And he moves on?"

"I'll put myself back together and go on. Look, Rose, I know it's the stupidest thing I've ever done, and I've never been that girl, the one who makes all the wrong choices. I just can't help it. I can't stay away from him. I really did try."

She threw her arm around my shoulder briefly and squeezed, "I know you did, Bell. You've never been that girl. And I really do get it. I'm just playing devil's advocate, I want you to be sure of what you're getting into. But whatever you do, you know I'm cool, right?"

"Yeah, I know, Rose. And I love you for it."

"So, are you still staying there?"

"Yes. I thought this morning, that maybe I shouldn't. I don't know, I didn't want to be presumptuous, and I was afraid he would be weird about it. But this morning he said he wanted me to come back today. So I will, for now. I mean, I can't stay at my house yet anyway."

"You know you could always stay with us," Rose interjected.

"Yeah, but with me comes the media. And people aren't supposed to know about you and Em yet, remember?"

"Right. Hadn't thought of that. You could stay with Jazz."

"And then TMZ posts pictures of me leaving Jazz's house in the morning when I'm supposed to be dating Edward. Also a no. It's okay, Rose. I want to be with him."

Rose gave me a long stare, her anxiety apparent on her face.

"Just try to take care of yourself, honey."

"I'll try," I said, almost a whisper. But I knew there was no way I could protect myself in this. It was too late and I was in way too deep.

Rose and I were wiggling out of the last of the ridiculous, tiny outfits when Jasper popped his head in the door of the dressing room.

"Jazz! Get the fuck out!" Rose shrieked, throwing her discarded blouse at his head.

"Shut it, Rose. Like I haven't seen every bit of it before. Hustle it, girls, Felix from the label is here and he wants to talk to us."

Rose rolled her eyes, but we both got back into our street clothes quickly and headed back to the lounge just off the studio. Emmett and Jasper were already there with Felix. We had a rotating cast of young, hipster guys from the label that dealt with us. Felix was a bit more regular than some of the others. He was probably in his late twenties, but he dressed like a nineteen year old skateboarder with ironically nerdy black framed glasses and his black hair in a stupid emo haircut that was way too young for him.

"Hey, kids!" he greeted us. He always called us "kids" even though he was at most, five years older than us. "I have some big news for you."

Rose sat down on the arm of the couch next to Em and I moved to stand behind Jasper.

"What's the story?" Jasper asked.

"Well, with all the…ah, attention…Bella has gotten you, the label has decided to bump up the release date for the album by a few weeks."

Jasper exhaled through his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck, "But we're not even done in the studio yet."

Felix waved his hand dismissively. "You nearly are. Butch says it's coming along great and you can wrap it up fast. It's a little tight with the new release date, but we should be able to make it. We'll have to, because there's more."

"What else?" Emmett asked.

"You're going out on tour. Soon."

Felix's announcement, which he was clearly excited about, was met by a long moment of stunned silence by us.

"But…" I finally began, "I thought we weren't slated to start the tour for three months."

"That was before we moved the release date up. And you'll still play those dates. We're just adding a sort of mini-tour to coincide with the album release. Ten major cities, a few dates in each. Sort of whetting the appetite, if you will."

"Or cashing in," The words were out of my mouth before I realized I'd said them.

Felix stared at me for a moment before responding, "Well, Bella, that was the point of your whole relationship with Cullen, remember? And it's working. Of course we're going to cash in. That's what we do."

I clenched my jaw and tried not to blow up. I hated this, these strangers brainstorming in offices somewhere about how best to capitalize on what was going on between me and Edward. Especially now that so much more was going on. It made me feel dirty, and made everything between us feel cheap.

I nodded tersely, "Of course."

"Is that a problem for you?" he asked with a slight edge to his voice that hadn't been there before.

Rose reached out and snagged my hand, giving me a squeeze.

"No. No problem," I said tightly, "So when do we leave?"

"Three weeks."

"What?" Jasper and I responded in unison.

"We would have liked to send you out sooner, but the logistics were just too daunting to arrange. You have to finish the album, rehearse the new show…"

"We have to put together a whole new live show in three weeks?" Emmett asked, horrified.

"We're leaving town so soon?" Jasper asked. I knew what he was thinking of, because it was what I was thinking of. He was wondering about Alice. I was wondering about Edward.

"You'll have days off between cities, time enough to come back to LA if you want," Felix said briskly, "There will be a ton of promotional work to do, and we'll be fitting that in around the tour dates."

"But still, a whole new show in three weeks? Along with finishing the album?" Now it was Jasper's turn to freak out about that timeline.

Felix beamed what he thought of as his most appealing smile. "Lots of work to do, kids! You start rehearsals tomorrow, in the evenings after you finish in the studio."

I sank down onto the sofa next to Emmett. Felix clapped Jasper on the shoulder before he left to chat with Demetri.

I leaned my head back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. Three weeks? We were leaving on tour in three weeks. Edward and I had just started and now I was leaving town. What would happen to us? Was there any "us" at all? It was completely ridiculous to hope that he'd want to continue this in any sort of long-distance situation. So what then? I'd leave for the tour and then I'd never hear from him again. The thought of it made me feel ill.

I knew going into this that I would take whatever time Edward was willing to give me and not ask for more. But I had really hoped for so much more than three weeks.