Chapter 7 – Edward
Edward had always lived by his plans. From the time he was a small child, he had set goals for himself, and he made it his sole focus to hit each and every one in the right particular order.
For about ten horrible minutes, Jessica Stanley had threatened to throw him off course, but thankfully, it had all been one big lie. Losing his mother that very same day was a tough blow, but she had made him promise to keep fighting, and that was exactly what he planned to do – except now he was fighting for a new goal. One that he didn't quite understand yet himself, but was somehow even stronger than any of his previous goals combined.
His new goal, was fixing Isabella Swan.
Sitting next to her on a city bus, as they went across town towards his apartment, was one of the most significant moments of his life. It was like they had come full circle, and he wasn't exactly sure what that meant.
"You okay?" she asked him, noticing the anxious silence he had fallen into.
"Yeah, I just hate busses," he said honestly.
"Me too. They're fucking deathtraps," Bella agreed.
Thankfully, they made it to their stop unscathed, and Edward felt immediately better.
"So, this is it," he said as he let her into his apartment.
"It definitely has a very Bella Luna smell to it," Bella said approvingly. The tiny studio apartment was surprisingly tidy, which kind of made her curious as to where all the expensive items she assumed he had were.
"If you have a pea coat in every color in here, I'm leaving immediately," she said while pointing to the narrow coat closet by the door. Edward didn't protest when she opened it, in fact, he hardly paid any attention due to the fact that he was messing with something in the tiny kitchen. To Bella's surprise, there were only a few hoodies hanging inside, along with one rolling suitcase on the floor.
"Wow, okay," she said, closing the door. Her actual purpose for looking in there was to hang his coat, which she was still wearing, but she wasn't quite ready to give it up just yet. The damn thing was far too comfortable and tasty smelling.
"Come here," Edward told her gently while he brought something back from the kitchen. "Can I?" he asked, before lifting her hand up and dabbing something on her knuckle.
"What is that?" she questioned when it slightly began to sting.
"Just a little ointment. I noticed this at the diner and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to get infected."
Bella hadn't even realized her knuckles were bruised and bloodied from her most recent scuffle in the ladies' restroom at the club, but leave it to the ever-chivalrous Edward to make sure she was well taken care of.
"There. Does it hurt?"
She swallowed roughly hoping to answer him verbally, but the way he was looking at her legitimately knocked the air out of her. Surely, he couldn't be that perfect, could he?
Because she momentarily couldn't seem to find her voice, and he was still waiting for her answer, she settled on just giving him a slight head shake no.
"Good. So, the bathroom is through there if you need it. Do you want a drink, or anything?"
"I'm fine," she managed to finally speak. Because the ointment had made her hands a little cold, she absently put them in the coat pockets. In doing so, she felt something stuffed inside, so she reflexively pulled it out.
"Aww, look how cute I am," she said as she glanced over the neatly folded flyer for her band that she had found. "That was a good hair day for me. I should go back to the burgundy."
Edward came and looked over her shoulder, and then he pulled the flyer out of her hands. "This is actually how I learned where to find you," he admitted. "I was watching the boats on the bay for a bit, just thinking about my mom, then when I went to head to the bus stop, this thing just hit me, literally, square on the chest."
"No way," she said with a giggle. "Someone threw it at you? Fucking bitches."
"No one threw it. It was caught in the wind. It came straight at me and stuck to me like it was glued."
"Sure, it did. More like you just picked it up off the ground when you arrived at the club last night. You really shouldn't do shit like that. Someone probably blew their nose on it, or even blew their load on it. You never know from the people that come to my gigs."
"I'm telling you the God's honest truth," Edward maintained. "It hit me. It came straight for me, and then I saw your name on there, and the address of the club, and I knew I had to go try to talk to you."
"Because of my name? Because it matched one of the names on your so-called professor's list? The one you illegally obtained?"
"I'm sensing your lack of belief," he said playfully, but becoming nervous. That was literally the only story he could come up with as to where he initially learned her name, and if she stopped believing it, he didn't know what the hell he was going to tell her next.
"I definitely think the whole professor thing is bullshit. I told you earlier, I'm good at detecting lies."
"But you believed it earlier," he countered. "You were about ready to hunt down the professor that I got your name from."
"That was earlier; before I really knew you," she argued.
"And you know me now?" he asked with a slight grin.
"Better than I did then. I don't know what your real deal is, but I don't think you're a creep, and since I kind of like you, I'll be patient and figure out the truth later."
"Fair enough," he said, grateful for her patience.
Bella yawned, which in turn, made Edward yawn, which then made Bella laugh. "Man, I still have to hop on another deadly bus and go all the way back home," she said wearily. "Mind if I just sit for a few minutes first?"
She didn't wait for his answer before plopping down on the sole recliner in the room, and quickly falling asleep.
Edward, ever the gentleman, hated the uncomfortable looking position she was sleeping in, so he carefully carried her to his bed to rest more easily. Since he was probably just as tired as she was, he sat in the chair and felt himself quickly dozing off as well.
He had no idea how long he had been out for, but when he woke back up, he was shocked to find himself in his bed, with Bella wrapped securely in his arms.
The moment he reflexively lifted his arm off of her, her eyes opened. "Oh, hey," she said groggily.
"Um… sorry, I'm not sure how I…"
"I brought you over to the bed. Hope you don't mind," Bella cut him off.
"You brought me to the bed? Why? How?"
"I'm stronger than I look," she joked. "No, I just woke you up enough to get you to move, and you went right back to sleep."
"I don't remember that."
"No, you were pretty out of it. But you just looked so uncomfortable in that chair; I couldn't leave you like that."
"Um…thanks."
Edward felt like he should get up to give Bella a little space, but for whatever reason, he felt himself sink back into a comfortable position, and Bella made herself right at home in his arms.
They laid silently together for a while; not sleeping, but neither felt the need to speak either. They just breathed together and enjoyed each other's presence.
Of course, that peace could only last so long. Neither were sure what would come next, but when Bella rolled over and planted her lips to his, both of them were surprised by the intensity of the chemistry between them.
Edward welcomed her kiss as if he had been waiting for it, and without any other words exchanged between them, they both immediately began peeling their clothes off.
Despite not even knowing each other for twenty-four-hours, they came together with an explosive intensity that felt like it had been building up inside of them for years. It was uncontrollable. As if neither had the ability to stop it even if they wanted to. It was a release, so much greater than anything either of them had anticipated, and when it was over… it still wasn't over.
They had sex for most of the afternoon, and when exhaustion took back over, they slept together as they had before – wrapped up in each other's arms.
Bella was the first to reawaken, and when she did, she was stunned by just how much she didn't want to leave. With most of her hookups, she was gone before the man could even get his pants back on straight. And as a personal preference, she never took off any more of her clothes than necessary to get the guy going. She had never wanted much intimate bodily contact before, but with Edward, she couldn't get enough of the sensation of his skin on hers.
Her bare chest on his.
Their legs intertwined.
The tenderness of his fingertips stroking her back.
It was sincerely the best feeling she had ever experienced, and despite all her fears of getting too close to people, she found herself becoming undeniably emotionally attached to the man she didn't even know existed the day before.
How could he do that? How could he make her abandon all of her reservations so quickly? Bella honestly didn't know, and a major part of her was too afraid to even consider any of it.
As Edward began to awaken, he too became lost in thought about the situation. It was so surreal for him. He had known the name Isabella Swan for almost as long as he could remember, but seeing her in person, and feeling her body lying in his arms, it was an immediate affection that he honestly didn't know what to do with. He was supposed to be trying to help her; certainly not jumping into bed with her.
How would she feel about him if she ever learned the truth? Would she ever forgive him? Could she? If he couldn't even forgive himself, how could he ever hope she would?
He wanted to tell her everything. Really, he did. But saying those words out loud had always been his greatest fear. If he gave in to that darkness, how would he dig himself back out? It had taken him almost two decades to feel somewhat normal. If he revisited that horrible event, would it take that long to be okay again? With his mother now passed on, he would have to face it all alone, and even the thought of that was petrifying.
As Edward continued to silently struggle with the position he had put himself in, Bella began to kiss him again, and touch him in a way that made it impossible for him to resist. It didn't take much convincing. He readily gave in to the desire, and ultimately decided that she didn't need to know the truth. He knew it was the cowardly thing to do, but what good would telling her be for either of them? It wouldn't change a damn thing, so why ruin these beautiful moments? Seeing her smile, however short-lived, was exactly what he needed to finally fully move on once and for all.
Edward honestly didn't know what, if anything, would come from their impetuous romance. But their sordid past aside, Edward had never felt that strong of a connection with anyone before. There was real passion between them; which was something he had always struggled with in relationships.
Passion, that never seemed to quit…
"Holy hell!" Bella cried after her latest climax.
"I was going to go with 'holy crap', myself," Edward said as he tried to catch his breath.
Another condom used and tossed to the side, another one put right on.
That was the way they had been doing it, and they were coming dangerously close to going through Edward's entire new, previously unopened box.
"Can I just say that I'm really glad that girlfriend of yours decided to pull that prank on you," Bella said while sitting up to admire the view of Edward's sweaty bare torso. She couldn't help but run her hands over every inch of his unmarked skin. "Now I'm reaping the benefits of the condoms that were meant for her."
Edward's hand ran up Bella's leg. "This is definitely a far better use for them. Although, I will say, they would have lasted me a lot longer with her."
Bella smiled. "Well, you can't really compare the two of us," she said while bending over to kiss and lick his abdomen, causing him to moan from deep inside his chest. As she left a trail of kisses up to his neck, she added, "From what you've said about her, she sounds like a one and done kind of chick. I'm definitely not."
"You're not?" he feigned surprise. "And here I thought you were just this insatiable because of me."
She sat back up and smiled again. "Well, I guess that's true. This is definitely the longest I've spent with a guy. Come to think of it, I'm usually a one a done kind of chick too. What the hell are you doing to me?"
"I'm fairly certain you're the one in control here," he retorted.
He was definitely right about that. Bella was the one in control, and as she continued to enjoy the feeling of his skin, she had an overwhelming desire to try something she never had before.
"Just so you know, I've never done this without a condom," she assured him. "But I've still always gotten annual STD checks."
"Uh… that's good to know," he said, unsure of where she was going with that comment.
"I just want to see what it feels like," she mumbled, ever so quietly. Before he could even comprehend what she was going to do, she had his condom off, and she then she was sliding herself onto him.
Bella honestly didn't know what the hell she was doing. She had always enjoyed taking major risks; adrenaline rushes were almost as good as drugs, but she had never taken a risk when it came to sex. Hell, she had never even touched a man's penis before without a condom covering it, but she couldn't get the idea out of her mind. She wanted more of him. She wanted him deeper inside of her, and the idea of doing it without a barrier made her the most insanely aroused she had ever been.
If Edward would have been given enough warning, he probably would have put a stop to it, but damn, Bella was right to want to try it. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, and he was immediately drowning in it.
But neither had lost their wits completely.
"Bella," he huffed, begging her to get off of him before it was too late.
She was already deep into her orgasm, but she somehow found the strength to pull off just in time.
"Now that one deserves a holy fuck," Edward said while panting for air.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Coming down from her climax had allowed her to think clearly again. "I don't know what the hell that was about."
Her guilt over her stupidity made her begin to clam up. Self-loathing had always been a strong aspect of her; however, Edward must have sensed it because he absolutely refused to allow it to continue. He sat up to be closer to her, and pulled her into him.
"It's okay," he said tenderly before kissing her shoulder. "It's all ok. No harm done."
She could do nothing but sink into him, and once her lips were back on his skin, her little idiotic stunt was all but forgotten.
For the rest of the day, Bella and Edward continued on, exploring each other's bodies, as well as learning more about themselves along the way. But it wasn't all just sex. They laughed too. A lot. And talked about anything and everything. There were never any awkward silences or even thoughts of wanting their time together to end. It just kept going and going.
"I still just can't get over how clean your skin looks," she commented as she continued to stroke his chest. Caressing his skin seemed to become her new favorite thing to do.
"Clean?" he asked with a confused chuckle. "I'm actually beginning to smell a little ripe. We should probably start thinking about taking this into the shower."
"Shower sex, huh? I've never done that."
"No?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?" she asked, jokingly offended.
"I just figured it's something you would have done before."
"Well, I haven't. I never liked… skin," she admitted.
"Skin?"
"Yeah. When I was a teen, my pop let me watch 'Silence of the Lambs' with him… Let's just say the whole serial killer wearing people's skin thing kind of freaked me out," she explained, though she knew it was probably only a superficial justification for a deeper issue. "I've just always hated touching people's skin in an intimate way because of it," she continued. "Plus, since I'm a tattoo artist, I see way more skin than I care to admit, so it's never really turned me on… Well, never before you."
"Hold on, you're a tattoo artist?" Edward asked surprised. "Wow. I can't say I ever met anyone that actually does tattoos before."
"Clearly," she said, rubbing her hands over his pristinely natural skin once more. "I've gotta say, you are the first un-tatted guy I've ever been with."
"I would say that you are the first tatted chick I've ever been with," he said as he traced the large intricate piece on her shoulder. "But my last girlfriend had one."
"Let me guess, a tramp stamp?"
"What's that?" Edward asked clueless.
"Lower back tat. Just above the ass," she explained. "I'm guessing a butterfly of some sort."
"Uh yeah, I think so. It was pretty faded. How do you know that?"
"I've done a lot of tattoos. You can start to predict what certain types of people want before they even ask."
"Okay, Miss Know-It-All, what kind of tattoo would a guy like me want?" he challenged her playfully.
"You're not the type to have any tattoos at all," she said, emphasizing her point by running her fingers on his skin yet again. "If anything, it would be your kids' names when you're like forty. Early mid-life crises sort of thing."
"Well, now I'm offended. Is that you're way of calling me boring?"
"You are far from boring," she denied.
"Then, what kind should I get?"
"So, now you're getting one?" she challenged him.
"Definitely. I've always kind of wanted one, but I never really trusted anyone to not fuck it up. But I've recently met this really cool chick that I'd totally let tat anything she wanted on me."
"Oh–whoa there," she said playfully. "Don't just go and throw around words like that. I may have to force you to follow through."
"Where's your shop? I'll come in. Just tell me when."
"Where are you going to let me put it?" she asked, getting far more excited than she expected.
"Wherever you want. I'll be your canvas."
"I will schedule you in," she said, grabbing her crumpled pants on the floor, so she could pull her phone out of the pocket to check her calendar. "Crap, I have an appointment with a client in two hours," she said, grudgingly getting off the bed for the first time in hours. "But I do have an opening tomorrow," she offered as she took another look at her schedule.
"What is tomorrow? Monday? I have classes all day," he said regretfully.
"Oh," Bella responded quietly. Both of them suddenly struck with the reality of their real lives creeping in to interrupt the perfect little surrealistic world they had been living in.
"Well, I'm sure I'll get my chance eventually," she said wistfully, trying to not think about the very real possibility of their whirlwind romance not surviving past that day. Life always seemed to fuck things up for Bella, so it was rather difficult to believe something so beautiful could ever last.
She began gathering her things, but Edward couldn't help but interrupt her.
"You should probably shower before you leave," he suggested before picking up her still naked form, and throwing her over his shoulder. She squealed, but he just smacked her on the ass, and then ran her straight into the bathroom.
Sex in the shower was an experience Bella would never forget. She loved the sleek slipperiness the water added, but with her needing to leave, they couldn't take as much time with it that they would have liked. A hope for another time that Bella wasn't optimistic would ever come.
"I don't have one of those hair drying things for you," Edward said apologetically as she tried to towel dry her hair the best she could.
"It's not a big deal," she said dismissively.
"It's pretty cold out there, and you have to go all the way across the city, right?"
"Yeah, but I'll manage," she said, trying like hell to re-bury her emotions so she wouldn't act like a love-sick buffoon the second she walked out of that apartment.
They both knew this moment would come. How long could she just stay there like that? They were still virtually strangers. Hell, they would probably never see each other again once she stepped foot outside his door – the possibility, of which, seemed more like a probability to Bella. Anything good she ever had; anything she ever really truly wanted, was always stripped away from her one way or another. That's just how things were for her. Bella had to somehow convince herself that she was prepared for it to happen with Edward, except…
"Here, take my coat," he insisted; picking it up off the chair and holding it open for her to put her arms into.
"I'm not taking this," she protested feebly, but allowed him to put it on her anyway.
"Take it," he said again. "It's fucking cold out there, and with wet hair that little thin jacket you have won't be enough."
"But this is a designer coat, and a gift from your uncle. I can't take it," she said regretfully, but taking one last deep whiff of it to try to trap that scent into her lungs permanently.
"I'm not giving it to you," he said unexpectedly. "Just bring it back tonight."
"Oh," she said, suddenly feeling a hundred times better. "Yeah… I can do that. But if I wear this thing, people might get the wrong idea about me."
"What, that you have awesome fashion sense?" Edward joked.
"I was going to say that I work at an Italian restaurant. I'm sure people will be able to smell me coming. They might even just follow me home."
"Good thing the restaurant is right downstairs then, huh? Hey, by the way, on your way down, just tell Demetri, the restaurant head-chef, that you will be back later tonight. He will make sure he leaves the back door open for you."
"Okay," she said with an adoring smile. She pushed herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him goodbye, and then she grabbed her handbag and went for the door. She stopped just before leaving to look back at the strange man that completely altered her entire way of thinking in an extremely short amount of time. "See you later."
"See you later," he echoed with his heart stopping grin…