Faking It Chapter 30: Something to Talk About, a twilight fanfic

Okay, here it is, my friends, the final chapter of Faking It. Except that there's a really long epilogue that's already written that I'll post as soon as this goes up, so if it's okay with all of you, let's save our goodbyes until then!

Thanks to all of you for reading and steadily reviewing. I've been bad about responding to reviews lately, but I do read and cherish every single one!

Two huge thanks: One to Alice on the Twigasm podcast for the shout out. The other to Sue and her blog, So You Think You Can Write? ( .com). She did a whole interview with me about Faking It!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I do own all the non-Twilight-y parts.

EPOV

I rolled onto my stomach and instinctively reached an arm out for Bella, like I had every morning for weeks. Except on all those other days, I was dismally accepting that I wouldn't find her there and this morning I fully expected to. But I was met with bare, rumpled sheets.

Fuck.

My stomach plummeted. Please no. Please don't let her have changed her mind and run away.

I sat up in bed and dragged a hand across my face, trying to summon the mental fortitude to open my eyes and face the situation. When I did, and I looked around the room, I realized that I was looking at Bella's jeans still draped casually over the back of the arm chair near the bed where she'd discarded them last night. Okay, that was reassuring, but I still wanted to find her quick. I was afraid she was like a mirage and if I looked away for too long, she'd vanish. I scrambled out of bed and dug a pair of sweats and a t-shirt out of a drawer and dressed quickly.

As soon as I opened the door to my bedroom I was assaulted by the smell of bacon cooking. She was still here. I was pathetically grateful. When I reached the end of the hall, I heard the soft sound of her singing floating up the stairs. I slowed to a stop and closed my eyes. She was singing. In my house.

I tried not to sprint downstairs, but it was hard. As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I spotted Bella at the stove wearing one of my t shirts and her favorite grey yoga pants that she'd left here. Her hair was a loose, chaotic mess around her shoulders and back. She had one knee bent and her hand on her hip while she hummed and poked at the bacon and pancakes she had underway on the stove.

I love her. Fuck, do I love her. And she's still here, so everything that happened yesterday was real and she loves me, too. It was all such a blur. The emotional confrontation in her house, our desperate tumble into her bed. Then we'd been incapable of much more coherent thought or conversation. I'd just left the house with her and brought her back here and straight back to bed where we held on to each other and whispered and slept.

I slipped up behind her silently. She gasped with surprise when she felt my hands touch her waist, but before she could jump too far away I slid my arms around her, pulling her up flush against my chest.

"Why do you always sneak away from me in the morning?" I murmured into her hair.

She chuckled and relaxed back against me, gesturing lightly with her spatula.

"Sorry. Early riser. I didn't want to wake you. You looked so tired."

I sighed into her neck, "I haven't slept too well lately."

She was silent for a moment before she said, "Me neither." She reached back up behind herself with her free hand, running her fingers into my hair. I closed my eyes at the sensation and nearly moaned in delight.

"That's all done," I said firmly.

"Yes, it is."

"Where did you get all this food?"

"Seems like you forgot to cancel the grocery service before you…um, left."

Of course not. Alice usually did that stuff for me, but we hadn't been talking and I just ran to Rome in a panic. I felt terrible…again. Alice. Another disaster I'd have to put to rights soon.

Bella nudged herself free of my arms to turn the pancakes over. I moved to lean on the counter next to her where I could watch her. I noticed my copy of Eclipse's CD on the counter near the stove. I knew I left it out on the table in the livingroom, but I couldn't figure out why she'd brought it in here.

"Found this, huh?" I said softly, dragging it closer to me across the counter.

Her eyes cut to it briefly, nervously. "Um…yeah."

"I'm sorry," I said impulsively, "About the song." I hesitated to say anything more, not sure if Jasper was okay with her knowing of his involvement, what he'd told me.

Bella was quiet for a long moment, focused on her cooking.

"I thought, when you said yes, that it didn't matter to you… that you didn't care," she finally said, not looking at me.

"I thought when you asked me that it meant you did care," I said. She finally looked up at me and when our eyes met we both laughed.

"Fuck," I dragged a hand through my hair and pushed of the counter so I could wrap my arms around her again, "I'm such an idiot."

"We both were. I guess that's what happens when you start out lying. I never felt like I could trust what was happening."

I rested my chin on her shoulder, "Trust me now. I love you. Madly."

I couldn't see her face but I could feel her smile nonetheless. "I know," she murmured.

We stayed that way for a moment, my arms around her, just enjoying the moment. I couldn't believe I'd almost lost this, that I might have gone the rest of my life never having my arms around her again, never feeling her pressed against me. The thought was too terrifying to contemplate so I pushed it away and fervently hoped I would never have to face it again. She sighed and let her head fall back against my shoulder. I tightened my grip around her and let my thumbs brush back and forth across her stomach. Just that tiny touch sent my brain off in all kinds of unwholesome directions.

"Hungry?" she finally said, pulling free of me to lift the pancakes off the skillet and onto a plate. She next retrieved the bacon and arranged it on the two plates she had set up next to the stove. I was momentarily bemused by all the kitchen stuff I apparently owned and had never seen before. She cut the heat off on the stove and moved the pans off the burners.

I reached out and trailed my fingertips down her spine.

"Hungry? I suppose so…in a way."

Her head fell back a little and she exhaled.

"Edward…"

I stepped forward, to press myself against her back again, "Bella…"

I reached up and brushed the hair off her neck, bending down to kiss a trail to her ear. She reached forward, bracing both of her hands on the counter, still grasping the spatula. I was already hard and I knew she could feel it pressing against her ass.

With a clatter, the spatula hit the floor and Bella spun in my arms, wrapping her arms around my waist, her lips finding that sensitive spot under my ear that she was so good at working with her tongue. In an instant, the tables were turned and I was pliant putty in her hands, weak in the knees and desperate for her. She ran her hands up my sides, pulling my t-shirt up with them. I raised my arms obediently and she stripped it off of me.

"Bella…" I murmured, "What about breakfast?"

I really couldn't give a fuck about food right now, but she'd been working on it and it seemed like I should ask. But I felt like I would die if she stopped touching me now.

"I'll re-heat," she said darkly. Thank God.

I gripped her shoulders, pinning her against the counter and crushing my mouth down onto hers. I slid my hands to her waist and began to work my t-shirt up her ribcage. I was pleasantly flipping through my mental erotic rolodex, trying to decide what I wanted to do to her first when the intercom for the front gate buzzed.

Motherfucker. Who is that? And can I fucking murder them? We need to get out of here, go on vacation somewhere private where no one can find us. Johnny Depp's got the right fucking idea with that private island in the Caribbean. I needed to ask him how he found that place. I exhaled heavily, pulling away from Bella and leaning past her to press the intercom button over the kitchen counter.

"Yes?" my voice was like sandpaper, but I didn't care. I just needed to get rid of this delivery person, or repairman, or whoever it was so I could get back to everything I planned to do to Bella right now.

The voice I heard on the intercom seemed designed to shrivel me on the spot.

"Edward? It's Rose. Let me in."

I whipped my head around to look at Bella. Her eyes were wide and intense.

"You'd better put your shirt on," she whispered. I hit the button to open the gate then turned to retrieve my clothes from the floor. I was back in them and relatively put together when we heard Rose's jeep pull up in front of the house.

"Why the hell is she here?" Bella murmured, almost to herself.

"Um," I began, realizing with a sinking feeling that there was a whole lot that I hadn't filled Bella in on yet, "It might be because I decked her brother."

Bella rounded on me, eyes wide, "What?"

I started to respond, but the pounding of Rose's fist on the front door killed the words in my throat. I looked at Bella, who stared back at me, open-mouthed for another moment. Then I started for the door. Might as well get this over with.

"No," Bella finally spoke, holding up her hand, "I'd better open it." She scooted in front of me and I let her, but I stayed close on her heels. No matter what, we were presenting a united front. We were a team now.

Bella took a deep breath and I put a steadying hand on her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Edward…" Rose had launched into whatever she planned to say, but the words died when she realized she was looking at Bella. Emmett stood behind her, his face just as surprised as Rose's.

"Bella…what the hell are you doing here?" Rose barked. Then she took a quick glance over Bella's unkempt hair, our rumpled clothes, my hand on her shoulder, and she rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you guys better come in," Bella said tensely, stepping back to let them in.

Rose swept past me and fixed me with her rock-hard stare. Damn, this woman hated me. But then again, with what she'd dealt with for the past several weeks, I suppose I couldn't blame her.

"What's going on, Rose?" Bella's voice was high and strained.

Rose spun on her heel and jabbed her finger at me. "I got this crazy phone call from Alice last night, saying Jasper came home with his jaw fucked up and he said you did it! And that you actually thought he was sleeping with Bella?"

Bella pivoted to look at me, her face stunned, "What the fuck?"

This was so not how I wanted this conversation to go. I tried to make my expression as conciliatory as possible.

"Okay, yes," I shrugged, with my hands up in front of me. "I may have thought you were sleeping with Jasper when we met."

Bella gasped in horror and her hands flew up to cover her mouth.

"But in my defense, the two of you made me think that, the night we met!" I said quickly, before this whole disaster could get further out of control. That stopped her in her tracks for a minute, because she knew I was right, she was remembering that night, too.

"And after that?" she finally asked.

"I wasn't sure. I thought there might have been some history between you guys. I mean, the way you are together, the way he walked into your house. You know…that night in your kitchen…Oh, fuck…" I threw my hands up in frustration, feeling like an idiot for having to explain all this stupid shit to her.

She just stared up at me, blinking, for a minute, clearly remembering. Then her expression changed, like she suddenly understood something.

"So when he came in that night, you thought…"

"Yeah, I thought." I finished for her, "The way you shut down, it was like you were hiding it from him."

Bella shook her head, eyes closed, "Just because they warned me away from you."

Rose snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. Bella was quiet for a moment, digesting what I said.

Finally she went on, "Did you think that after you and I ….?"

"No! No, once you were with me, I figured it was done. After….after that night at the club, I thought that maybe you guys would get back together. And I thought he was better for you than me."

Bella blushed to her hairline at the direction this conversation had taken and I seriously wanted to end it, too.

I chanced a glance over at Rose and Emmett, where they still stood by the stairs. Of all the ways I had imagined finally telling all this to Bella, I never imagined having Rose and Emmett as an audience. Rose stood there, eyes locked on me, looking furious. Emmett looked endlessly amused, like he was watching some great movie.

"Look, Bella, can we just talk about it later?" I pleaded, reaching out and taking her hand, "I promise, I'll tell you every single embarrassing boneheaded thought I had. It's just not important anymore. It's all in the past."

Her face softened and she looked like she was more than willing to let it go, but then Rose piped up.

"But you punched Jasper!"

I swiveled to look at her, "I thought he was with Bella and then he tells me he's dating my sister! So, yeah, I might have lost my mind for a minute. I think it's understandable."

Emmett nodded sagely behind Rose. He seemed like he might be on my side a little bit, but I knew he'd still cheerfully pummel me if Rose told him to.

Rose opened her mouth to issue her snappy retort when I heard keys in the front door lock. I groaned and rolled my eyes. Great. Fucking brilliant. There was only one person who had keys to my front door, and who'd let themselves in unannounced. Alice was here.

We all turned towards the sound of her voice, and…of course, because this morning can't suck enough…Jasper's voice, too.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have called first, Al?" Jasper was asking.

"He won't care. And I suppose I should warn him that Rose is on the warpath. Plus I want to see if he's talked to her yet and kick his ass if he fucks this up. He's avoided me long enough," Alice answered him.

Then they appeared around the corner and stopped, staring at the four of us, who were staring back at them. Jasper's jaw was a mess, an explosion of purple bruising covering the whole lower half of his face on one side. Bella gasped at my side and I groaned quietly. I really just wanted to kick all of these people out of my fucking house and take Bella back to bed. Things were simple when it was just her and me. But Bella came with a…posse. One that inexplicably now seemed to include my own sister. And if she and I were going to have a future together, it clearly had to include them. So as much as I wanted to tell them to all go mind their own fucking business, I knew we needed to sort all this shit out, get everybody on the same page and start fresh.

"Jesus, Jazz, you look like hell!" Rose shouted, then cast her stink eye at me.

"Damn, Edward…" Emmett muttered softly. Did he actually sound…impressed?

Bella finally spoke up. She raised her hands, palms out, one facing Rose and Emmett, one facing Alice and Jasper.

"Okay, everybody take a step back," she said calmly, "Clearly there were some misunderstandings. But I think it's all sorted out now?" She raised her eyes to me questioningly. I rolled my eyes but I nodded. Jasper snorted and looked away, arms crossed, but he nodded tersely, too.

"So then, Edward knows I never slept with Jazz," she blushed to her roots just saying it out loud and I felt the ridiculousness of my mistaken assumptions all over again, "And he knows Jazz is with Alice." She took a deep breath before she went on. "And you all should know, Edward and I are back together and… I'm moving in."

BPOV

I decided it would be best to just say it, put it out there and deal with the shit storm now while everybody was already upset, so I just did it. Edward's eyes shot to me in disbelief, like he couldn't believe I just blurted that out. I just shrugged back at him, slightly apologetic. He softened and smiled, silently reaching out and grasping my hand, squeezing my fingers. I took strength from that.

There was a long pregnant pause while no one in the room said anything.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Rose snapped first.

The others weren't far behind, all speaking at the same time. "Are you sure about this, Bells?" from Emmett. "Already?" from Jazz. "Wow, that was fast," from Alice.

"Jesus, Bella," Rose interjected, "You're just going to take him back? Just like that? What about what he did?"

Edward was glaring at Rose. Rose was staring at me with her jaw open. Ugh, I hated this part. But I'd made my choice, and if they loved me, they would just have to learn to deal with him. Because he was here to stay.

"It wasn't what it seemed, Rose. Edward explained it all to me," I said softly, hoping she would just accept what I said and leave it alone.

No such luck. She rounded on Edward, eyebrows up.

"Oh, really? So what exactly did she see, if she didn't see you making out with another woman?"

Edward sighed, "Not that it's any of your business, but I was beyond wasted. I don't even remember half the night. She kissed me, but I shoved her off. That's all. Bella just saw the worst part."

"You were drunk? That's your excuse?" Rose was beside herself.

"Rose…" I started, but Edward touched my arm to stop me.

"Yes, I was drunk. I know it's a fucking lousy excuse, but it's all I can say. Bella has forgiven me for my fuck up and we're moving on."

Another long pause while Rose pulled herself together for another attack.

"Then I guess we should, too," Emmett finally spoke into the silence, laying a hand on Rose's shoulder. As it always had, it seemed to work, calming her down, taking the wind out of her sails. I loved her for her fierce protectiveness, just like I always had, but she needed to understand that this time I was making my own choices, no matter what any of them thought. She stared at me a little longer. I looked back at her hard and nodded my head slightly.

"I love you, Rose, but I'm okay. We're okay. He loves me, I love him. It's okay."

She looked between Edward and I and conceded defeat. She said nothing. No one said anything. The awkward silence began to stretch out, to fill the room. Then Emmett cleared his throat slightly.

"Hey, Bells?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, trying to ready myself for the next round of angst-filled discussions.

"Yeah, Em?"

"Do I smell bacon?"

There was a beat, then Rose, Jazz and I burst out laughing. Fucking perfect.

"Yes, Em, you smell bacon. Do you want to stay for breakfast? Everybody?" I swiveled around to take in Alice and Jasper across the room.

"What else is on the menu?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"Pancakes."

Jasper was across the room like a shot.

"Bella makes the best pancakes," he said to Edward as he headed towards the kitchen. Edward watched him brush past with a scowl.

I took a deep breath and turned to Edward. "Can you get everybody set up in the dining room while I finish breakfast?"

He looked at me blankly, eyebrows drawn together.

I pointed over his shoulder towards the dining room. "The dining room, Edward? The one that seats ten?"

"I've just never eaten in there, I guess," he said with a smile, shaking his head.

"Okay, then. All kinds of firsts today."

I turned to head to the kitchen, because if Emmett and Jasper were staying, I needed to make a hell of a lot more pancakes. But Edward reached out quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Hey, I'm sorry. For all that shit. Every stupid idea I had in my head."

I shook my head, "You're right. We did it on purpose that night. I remember."

He shook his head in return, "No, I should have asked you, talked to you….fuck. I should have talked to you about so many things. And I will. We'll talk about all of it. Once we get all of these people out of our fucking house."

I laughed and stretched up to kiss him briefly. He tried to hang on to me, but I wiggled free.

"Breakfast first." I said quickly, heading to the kitchen. Rose fell in behind me to help.

EPOV

I stood there for a second longer, watching Bella disappear into the kitchen. How the hell did our blissful reunion morning turn into this freaking cast-of-thousands soap opera, culminating in a huge sit-down breakfast in my untouched dining room like we were some twisted version of the Waltons? I shook my head in disbelief.

"Well, this way to the dining room, everybody," I said brightly, waving them towards the beautiful room my mother had decorated and that I'd never had cause to use.

Jasper started in, but then changed direction and came to a stop a foot away from me. He fixed me with that intense blue stare again.

"Look, they know I came over here and we had it out. But the rest of it? All that shit I said?" he looked painfully embarrassed.

"It goes to the grave," I reassured him solemnly.

He looked relieved and turned to head into the dining room after Emmett. Alice was behind him and she stayed put, glaring up at me with her angry little face.

"So…" I said to her. She and I had a lot of shit to talk about.

"Don't you 'so' me, Edward. What the fuck?"

"Alice, there is so much shit we have to get through right now that I don't even know what you mean when you say 'What the fuck'," I sighed.

She laughed in spite of herself, "Jesus, you're right. Let's start with you not calling me for a month. Don't ever do that again. I hired a private investigator to spy on you in Rome just to make sure you were alright!"

I burst out laughing. "Alice, I texted you. You knew where I was!"

"But you weren't calling me! All that stuff went down and you just vanished! Everybody was thinking the worst of you and I was trying so hard to believe the best, since you told me how you felt about her! But it would have been soooo much easier for me if you'd explained it to me yourself!"

"I know," I sighed, "and I'm sorry, Alice. I was just…fuck. I couldn't face it. I felt like I'd let you down as much as I had Bella."

Her face softened and she cocked her head to the side, reaching up to put her hand against my cheek. "It's okay. We're cool now. So you and Bella? It's okay?"

I grinned ear to ear like a fool "Yeah, it's great. Although after this morning I have about a years' worth of explaining to do to her. But yeah, it's good."

"I'm so happy for you, Edward. It's just….well, she's perfect…for you."

We smiled at each other in silent understanding.

"And while we're airing dirty sibling laundry," I said finally, waving a hand in the direction Jasper had disappeared "What the fuck, Alice?"

She had the good grace to blush lightly and look away. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Ed. You just seemed to hate him so much! I couldn't bring myself to tell you!"

"I hated him because of Bella, Alice!"

"I know, I know!" she said, rolling her eyes a little. Then she chuckled, "It's like some sort of twisted Gift of the Magi shit, right?"

I laughed at her analogy then slung my arm around her shoulders, so glad she was here and we were good again.

"Yeah, a little. So, you and him? It's serious?"

Alice sighed, looking towards the dining room where I could hear Emmett razzing Jasper about his messed up jaw. "Damn, Edward. So serious."

"Okay, then. It's a good thing that we're all straight, finally."

"Yeah, it's great," she agreed.

"Okay, round one is up!" Rose shouted, catching everyone's attention. Alice pulled free of me to join Jasper in the dining room.

I headed into the kitchen. Rose had just exited with a platter of pancakes. Bella was busily pouring out more on the pan. I slipped up behind her and put my arm around her waist.

"Hey. Crazy morning, huh?"

She sighed and shot me an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry it just sort of exploded on us like that. I'm used to them but you must be…"

"Hey, they come with you," I said softly, wrapping my other arm around her and turning her to face me, "And in case you didn't notice, one of them, the little crazy one, came with me. So they're all just going to be part of our life now."

"I like the way that sounds. Our life," she was smiling up at me, her gorgeous face soft and radiant.

"Me, too. And Bella? It is our life. You and me. I know we still have a lot to talk about and a lot of catching up to do…fuck, we have to go on a real fucking date for once. We haven't done anything the right way and I know you're taking a big risk here with me. But I want you to know…I'm in. All in. I love you and I'm not going anywhere." I waved a hand at the voices coming from the dining room. "No matter what happens or who gets in the way."

Bella blinked, her eyes a little watery, "Nobody will get in the way of us again. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that. And I promise, too."

I leaned in to kiss her gently. It had been a whole hour at this point since I'd kissed her and I was pretty desperate for closer contact, so I deepened it, tightened my grip on her. She was leaning in to me, kissing me back, wrapping her arms around my neck when we heard Rose clear her throat from the door.

"Seriously? You guys can't make it through breakfast?" her words were sharp, but her tone was infinitely more cheerful than it had been earlier. That's when I knew that eventually she and I would make some sort of peace. She held up her hands in front of her, "I just need the syrup. As you were."

She snatched it off the counter and left the room again.

I sighed heavily.

"This," I said, as I leaned in to kiss Bella lightly underneath her ear, "will just have to wait until…later."

Bella closed her eyes and sighed against me, "God, I love it when you say that word."

She turned back to the stove and I watched her work for a minute. Yes, we still had obstacles in front of us. People, strangers who didn't know either of us, would always say horrible things about us, and try to tell the story of us. There would always be an army of Hollywood bottom feeders and music industry hangers-on with a vested interest in driving a wedge between us. Our own lives would be a hindrance, rather than a help in keeping us together. But in this moment, I knew we would do it. We'd defy the odds, rise above the lousy gossip and heartless opportunists. We'd both seen the alternative now, bleak existences without each other. And there was nothing I wouldn't do to ensure Bella stayed in my life for every single minute of it.

She glanced back over her shoulder at me and smiled, her eyes going soft, and I knew in my gut that she was thinking the same thing at that moment. I returned her smile before I picked up the platter and turned to go join our family.

A/N: There you have it (except for the aforementioned Epilogue). At the suggestion of a reviewer, I started working up a little prologue to Faking It, which I will post a little later down the line. Not right away though, as justaskalice and I are ready to post the first chapter of our new joint effort, Girl with a Red Umbrella, as soon as Faking It is up and finished. So keep an eye out for that!