Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its original characters. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story.

A/N: Welcome back… sorry about that cliffy. ;) It was my goal to update a little early this week. I'm happy my beta and I were able to get it done! Much love to myonlyheroin! Any and all mistakes are mine, thanks to my twitchy fingers.


Cautioned Contender

Chapter 15

...(Edward)...

Bella's mouth was open, but words were not leaving her lips.

She was staring straight through me, apparently trying to process what I'd just told her.

I could tell by the look on her face that she was desperately trying to decide whether or not this was some kind of insane prank or just an absurd coincidence that my middle name happened to also be the same name as her paid for online adult friend.

The longer I waited, the more shattered her expression became.

"The first morning we met, it didn't take me long to realize who you were." I finally began to explain, after speaking up again, "You'd left such an impression on me, I could hardly believe you were actually real, and standing right in front of me at the time."

"N-no." She stuttered, shaking her head almost frantically, "That's… it's impossible. You can't be-"

"I thought so too, but we've proven the impossible, possible." I paused to take in a deep breath, and she continued to shake her head from left to right above her shoulders in absolute disbelief while mumbling incoherent things under her breath.

If I didn't say something else soon, she would likely start shoving me towards the door, and then it would be too late.

Speak, Cullen!

SPEAK NOW!

"I-I should have told you sooner, but I was so scared you'd run, and then shut me out. It was selfish of me, I realize that but I had to get to know you, and for that to happen, I needed you to give me a chance. I needed you to get to know the real me, Bella. I needed you to want the real me, just as badly as you wanted the person I was pretending to be the very first time we'd met online."

She was still shaking her head, only now I was starting to see fresh tears take their place in her confused and broken stare.

"But… no… I would have known. I would have been able to tell it was your voice on the other end."

"They do something to the line so we sound a little different on calls… just in case something like this ever happens." I further explained while I also contemplated reaching over to take her hand into mine.

As if reading my mind, Bella stood up from the sofa and walked towards the window to stare quietly outside with her back turned to me. I watched her, with my heart beating rapidly into my chest as she began to sway side to side with her arms wrapped firmly around her sides.

"I've wanted to tell you for so long." I stood up and walked towards her, "I wanted to tell you the very next time I saw you, after you'd signed on that second time and we'd talked."

"That was the morning you took me to the baseball field," I'd heard her whisper.

She spun around to look at me, and I felt a chill run down my spine with the glare she'd sent my way. "So, what you do… for money… when you haven't been with me, and when you're at 'work'..." She'd used the same air quotations Tanya had earlier in the day, but this time when she'd done it, it hadn't annoyed me. This time it had actually pained me.

"You've really been… you've been having sex online with multiple women for… for money? All this time? That's what you do?"

"It's not sex, Bella."

She took a rushed step towards me with her arms drawn down at her sides and her fists clenched tightly, "Are you actually trying to tell me that you don't get off while you do what you do? Because we both know that's bullshit, Edward! You literally get paid to sit back and jerk off in your damn bedroom for… for HOURS!" She roared in my direction.

"I mean, if you want me to be totally honest, yeah sometimes I do get into it, but it's still not sex. It's all fantasy. Adult pretend play. Nothing more." I tried to insist while walking towards her again.

She extended her arm outward to stop me from coming any closer, then pointed her finger fiercely in my direction, "No! You will stay away from me!"

Her words were like daggers into my chest, even though I'd prepared myself to hear them, "Bella, please just listen to me. I took the stupid job before I knew you. I took it out of pure desperation. Granted… there might have been some curiosity at first, but still, it was only ever for the money." I admitted, "The money is really good. Stupid good. There was nothing else around here that I could do where I'd be able to make what I'm making in a weeks time. If I don't pay my tuition by the end of the summer, I'll be screwed. More importantly, though, I needed money to get my own place, so I'd be able to get away from Tanya. I never expected to meet someone like you while I was working. You were never supposed to come into my real world, but then you did, and when you did, I refused to let you go, because I knew it had to mean something. I knew you were put there with a purpose that morning."

"I want you to leave, Edward… Masen… whoever the hell you are."

"No! There's more I need to say. Just let me finish, and then I'll go."

"Does Alice know?"

"No. Only Jasper knows." I answered her, "And now Emmett because my boss found out who you are, and that I've been taking calls from you. I broke my contract when we met face to face, but I didn't care. You were worth breaking the rules for, so I ignored all of the trouble I could get into. All that mattered to me was getting to know you, and you getting to know me. Everything else meant nothing."

Her eyes went wide and she looked down at my bandaged hand.

"So, it was my fault," She whispered with heartache sneaking into her voice, "You did get hurt because of me."

I grimaced and shook my head disagreeing with her.

I still didn't want her to take the blame.

None of this was her fault.

All of this was mine to shoulder, not her's.

"I tried to quit. Aro, my boss, he wouldn't let me. I punched something else instead of punching his face. That's how this happened." I explained, after placing my other hand over my injury in a pathetic attempt to help her forget all about it. "He wanted to use you against me as blackmail… he threatened to take me to court over breaking my contract since I'd continued to bill calls from you, but also meet up with you in person when I was off the clock."

Her stare narrowed and she crossed her arms firmly in front of her chest again. I could see the anger and rage building in her eyes. The hurt and looks of betrayal were also there, but nowhere near as dominant or profound, "Jesus, do you know how much those stupid calls cost me?!"

I nodded my head and let out an exasperated sigh, "I've felt awful about that part, especially now. I've wanted to pay you back, I've honestly been racking my brain trying to figure out ways to do it, without it becoming too obvious."

"Oh! You mean by paying our stupid water bill, and buying us some groceries? Who exactly is the paid adult entertainer here, me or you, Masen?" She loudly scoffed, before starting to tug at her hair from the top of her head.

"I'd thought it was a pretty clever way to return the um… favor." I mumbled back, looking down at her feet. I couldn't stand the amount of betrayal I was seeing on her face. It was honestly beginning to tear me apart. "Look… I've been trying to come up with ways to do right by you since the first morning we'd met… when I decided to ignore all of the warning signs and just let destiny continue to fuck with me because it all seemed too surreal to walk away from."

Bella took a slow step towards me, and her eyes began to purposely study mine with fervent speed. "Three calls, Edward," She whispered.

"I know."

"You could have refused to take the other two calls after the first one."

"I know," My eyes were looking back down at her feet. I felt so ashamed. I knew no matter what I said it wouldn't change what I'd already done to betray her trust.

"But you didn't refuse them. You accepted them all. Even after."

"I really liked talking with you, B." I softly admitted when our eyes finally met again.

I swear I almost saw her smile.

I definitely saw her blush a little.

"Oh my God, I talked to you about…YOU!"

In the blink of an eye, she was back to looking absolutely mortified again, "I said so much stuff! About you! About what you made me feel. I asked YOU if I should let YOU into my life!"

"Yeah."

"You should have stopped me! Why didn't you stop me?!"

I didn't know how to answer that either. Truthfully, I agreed with her. She was right. I should have found a way to change the subject whenever I'd been brought up, but I hadn't, so this was my bullet to bite and swallow down, "You have every right to be mad at me."

"Oh, do I?! Well, thank you very much for your permission, Edward Masen Cullen! I feel so much better knowing that I am allowed to be mad at you!" She sarcastically yelled into the air with a wild wave from her hand before I'd turned to close my eyes.

Once she'd quieted down, I looked back up at her.

I found her staring at my feet, her thoughts running through her head at probably a million miles a second while she tried to recall all of the talks we'd actually shared when I'd pretended to be someone else for her.

"I.T. call center my ass… I should have known… you… that night we met you said you'd felt like we'd met before... You asked me if I'd ever gotten a feeling like that before."

"I tried to hint. I tried to see if you would notice, or put it together on your own the way I had, without me having to straight up tell you."

"You'd even called it a fact when you said it felt like we'd met before."

"I did, because it was a fact. I was telling you, but you weren't listening."

It was something, that she was able to remember all of that so vividly, and in such detail. I wanted to celebrate it, but I couldn't.

"You've known all this time." Bella whispered again while looking straight through me, still shaking her head from left to right, "No. I need you to leave."

"But-"

"No! I need to be alone. My dad was right… this was a mistake... I don't really know anything about you. I was an idiot to let my guard down so fast."

I couldn't walk out of here with her believing that.

"That's bullshit and you know it. You do know me! I've been nothing but honest about everything else. Even when you've asked me questions as B, when I was Mase, I was still always honest with my answers when they didn't involve my actual identity."

"I can't look at you right now. I need to just sit and think about what this means without you staring at me, making it all even harder."

The glare in her eyes told me she'd meant what she'd said.

It was time for me to go.

I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed my phone up from the table as well as my keys from her countertop, then slowly started to make my way towards her one last time. When I'd reached out to place my hand against her shoulder, she withered away from me and let out a low sob, "Please don't. Just go."

After taking in another deep breath and letting it out from behind her, I turned to finally leave, but then spun back around, "You've become so important to me, Bella. Both the real you and the girl you're afraid to be in front of everyone else. You need to know that. You have to believe it. Please don't shut me out. I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you... that you were right to let me in. I wasn't a mistake."

In response to my words, she pointed towards her door, then stepped further away from me to put even more space between us.

"Just go."

I felt defeat rush over me, then turned myself from her to start dragging my feet across the carpet to head down the hallway towards the front door.

Once there, I hesitated to turn the knob in my hand, but after a few painfully long and quiet seconds, when it became obvious she really wasn't going to change her mind, I pulled it open and left her behind, but not before locking the door from the inside so I'd know she'd be safe.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Two hours had passed and nothing.

I'd been lying on my back staring at the ceiling, listening to myself breathe while the bass from the music in the living room vibrated off my walls.

More than once, I'd actually eyed my laptop and considered signing on just to distract myself and make some money in my misery.

Thankfully, more than once I'd also stopped myself because the last thing I'd needed was Bella signing on to see me working after everything we'd just fought about.

It was almost ten.

Still early as hell for a Saturday night.

The fact that I was actually laying here doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself was utterly pathetic.

I'd done the right thing.

I'd confessed and come clean before she'd found out some other way.

And now you're suffering the consequences for it, Cullen.

Way. To. Go.

It shouldn't have been like this. She should have realized by now that my options had been limited, but that all I'd needed was time to figure out what to do, and how to do it.

With every minute that passed, the more anxious I became.

Jasper had called me about an hour ago.

As of an hour ago, Bella had not reached out to Alice to tell her what had happened.

As far as I knew, as of an hour ago, Bella was still sitting alone in her apartment next door thinking over everything I'd told her, while trying to decide what she wanted to do next.

I couldn't make up my mind if this was a good or bad thing, her not running to her best friend as soon as I'd left her behind. Something told me it was a little bit of both, but I was trying to stay positive and not overthink it too much.

Jasper had agreed to not say anything unless I'd given him the all clear. As of the last time we'd talked, Alice was still in the dark and she was still staying over his place this evening.

That would leave Bella home all alone all night.

My phone began to buzz from beside my head.

I reached up and grabbed it, then lowered it in front of my face. I blinked hard two times as I sat up tugging at my hair.

It was Bella.

She was calling me.

"Hey!"

"Please," She whispered, "Can you come over. He's here and he won't leave."

I was so confused I could barely get any words out of my mouth, "Wha- he? Who? What's wrong? Who's there?"

"Jake. He just showed up. He's acting completely belligerent. I let him inside because he said he was going to jump off the side of the stupid building into the pool six floors down if I didn't. I let him talk, but now he won't go. I don't want to call the police. It will only make things worse, but I need him to leave before I have no other choice."

I was already out of my bedroom and running down the hall towards my front door to get to her. I didn't even bother putting shoes on, or a shirt once I'd heard him screaming in the background on the other end of the line.

"Where are you?"

"I'm locked in the bathroom," She whispered, "I thought it was you, and I opened the door without checking, and he was just standing there."

"Okay, stay in the bathroom. I'm going to just come in if the front door is unlocked, but I don't want you to come out." I turned her doors knob in my hand, and it followed with the twist of my wrist, "Good. It's unlocked. Stay in the bathroom. I want you to hang up and call Alice, tell her to come home. Tell her to bring Jasper with her."

"O-Okay," Bella stuttered, starting to sound as though she might actually be crying, "Please be careful. He's not a violent person, but he's not acting himself. I don't know what he might do. Me breaking up with him has turned everything upside down."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Call Alice." I calmly whispered back, then hung up and dropped my phone into my back pocket before slowly opening her front door to head inside.

"E, what are you doing? What's going on?"

I swiftly turned my head and found Tanya and her friend Jane standing outside of our apartment door, their eyes wide and beers in their hands.

"We heard yelling," Jane quickly added, "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine, go back inside. I'm taking care of it."

Tanya hesitated and tilted her head to the side, eyeing me with confusion on her face.

She could always tell when I wasn't being entirely forthright.

"Do you need my gun?"

"What?! No! I don't want your fucking gun! Just get back inside and mind your damn business." I growled back, waving my hand at them as if they were some annoying bug swarming around me in the air.

They were keeping me from getting inside to Bella, and every second had to count, or I would never forgive myself if Jake hurt her in any way.

When my ex and her friend still didn't move, I made the decision to not wait for them to go, and instead proceeded to walk into Bella's apartment. Thankfully, all of the lights seemed to be on, but a lot of stuff also seemed to be out of place. I saw the shadow of someone pacing at the end of the hallway where it opened up first to the kitchen and quickened my pace.

"Bella! Come out, dammit! I didn't drive four hours to talk to you through a goddamn door!"

With his words, I heard what sounded like him hitting the wall hard and fast with his fists, but I continued to move closer to where all of the noise was coming from without slowing down or hesitating.

"Hey, why don't we try lowering our voice a little, and stepping away from that door?" I managed to get out after entering the main room where Jake was looming outside of the locked bathroom door.

He's not at all what I'd expected.

In my head, I'd pictured some skinny douchebag with bad hair and a face I'd want to instantly punch.

He was about my height, well built, and tan with slicked dark black hair and haunting brown eyes that made him look like he hadn't slept in days.

It was almost sad, just how broken he appeared to be.

His face, however, did trigger a need for violence, because my fist was now twitching at my side in anticipation of meeting his face.

That part I had apparently gotten right.

"Who the hell are you?" He scoffed while walking towards me with his nostrils flaring.

"Calm down, Jacob."

He stopped dead in his tracks, and I watched him eye me suspiciously while he processed the fact that they now had company, and I knew his name. When his stare began to narrow and his shoulders squared more firmly above him, I mirrored his stance and prepared for further confrontation.

"You're him. You're the guy who's been fucking my girlfriend!"

Before I can blink, he's coming at me like a truck. I moved to the side to dodge his shoulder, then ducked from his fist and grabbed at his hand when he'd thrown it again in my direction.

"Seriously, Jake! I don't want to fight you. Bella doesn't want you here. You need to leave. I'm only here to make sure that happens." I firmly informed him after meeting he's enraged stare with my own.

We were both breathing heavily, and neither of us seemed to be backing down.

I heard movement start to come from the bathroom door and panicked, "Bella, stay inside! Everything is fine!"

"Don't you fucking tell her what to do! You are no one to her! Understand me! No one!"

Now it was my turn to scoff at his words, "I'm not here to argue with you about who, or what I am to Bella. That's for her to decide, not us. What I do know is that she called me, and she asked me to come over here because she wants you to leave her alone, and you're not listening. When a woman asks you to leave her alone, you respect that, and you leave her alone."

Jake had nothing to say to this.

Instead, he turned his shoulder and rushed back towards the bathroom door to start pulling and kicking at the handle again. "Dammit, Bella! Just talk to me! Please! If you're going to throw it all away, you're going to look me in the eyes and do it to my face! You owe me at least that much! After everything we've been through! You owe that to me!"

"You left her behind and told her to go find herself. Guess what she did!? She found herself! She doesn't owe you anything except for maybe a thank you for giving her the push she needed to leave that place." I spat out while shaking my head with pity.

He paused his attack on the bathroom door and turned to look at me again, "You don't know shit about what I did, or why I did it. You don't know anything, Cullen! You've only known her for a month. I've always been a part of her life. I'm a part of almost every memory she's ever had! Me! Not you!"

I'm a little bothered he knows my last name.

What else did he know about me, and where had he gotten all of his information from?

Of course, my first guess was James, but none of that actually mattered right now.

"That might have been true before she left home, Black, but I can guarantee you she's made plenty of new memories since coming to a Miami. She told you everything on the phone you needed to hear. Why are you even standing here right now?"

"If she's going to throw it all away… all of our plans… everything we talked about doing, and becoming together… she's going to look me in the eyes and she's going to say it to my face! We've been through too much for her to just tell me we're done with one pathetic fucking phone call. That's not how it works, Bella! We're not kids anymore!"

He'd said that as if he were talking about some kind of a business deal that had fallen through. Not as if she were someone he loved and cared about having an actual relationship with.

"You're a glutton for punishment then, aren't you?" I questioned with my teeth clenched and jaw tight. "Why can't you people just let her live the life she wants to live with the people she wants to live it with?"

"Us people? You mean the people who only want the best possible future for her?" Jake growled after moving closer towards me again.

"She isn't your property. She wasn't some deal you made with her father. She's a grown woman, and she can make her own decisions when it comes to who, and what she wants."

The bathroom door slowly opened, and Bella was standing less than ten feet away from us now with her phone in her hand and tears in her eyes, "Please don't make me call the police, Jake. You know what that would do. Your dad would not be happy."

"Bella, please. I love you. I love us. We're supposed to conquer and change the world together! Remember?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes, clenching her phone in her hand, and bringing it up to the center of her chest, "No. I want more for my life than a big house, a nice car, and the title of being your wife someday. Please, just go, Jake. I have nothing else to say to you. It was stupid for you to drive all the way down here just to hear me say that all over again, but that's on you, not me. I told you everything on the phone... there is nothing you can say or do that will ever make me change my mind."

Jake walked towards Bella, but she didn't flinch away from him. No, she stood her ground and looked him directly in the eyes, "I can't pretend with you anymore. That time is over for us. I don't want to hurt you, but it wasn't enough… I need more than you were able to give. I deserve more."

Her ex looked defeated, and I even saw tears starting to fall from his eyes. I suddenly felt like I didn't belong, but when I started to take a few slow and steady steps backward Bella looked over and took control of my stare, stopping me where I stood. "You've met Edward, you see he's real and not just something I made up to have an easy way out. He's who I want to be with now."

She said it.

She actually said she still wants you… she wants to be with you!

I felt like rushing towards her to take her into my arms and kiss her face, but I somehow managed to keep myself still, and instead only smiled from where I was standing.

"You're making a mistake, Bella."

"Maybe I am, Jake, but it's my mistake to make."

Jacob didn't say anything else, he just looked back and forth between the two of us, then tugged at his hair one last time before punching a hole into the wall beside the bathroom door and stomping his way out of the apartment.

When we heard the door slam shut, Bella ran herself into my arms and hugged me tightly, "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for asking me to."

She pulled herself away from my chest and looked up into my eyes, her own eyes glistening with tears now, "I never expected him to show up like that, but I guess I probably should have."

"Yup, seems to be his calling card since you arrived here, and he'd found out you weren't far." I teased, hoping it might make her smile. "I should probably stay a little while, at least until Alice gets here with Jasper."

She remained quiet, but she didn't break her connection with my stare. I could see she wanted to say something, but she was fighting with herself to actually say it.

"I… I want you to stay… I don't want you to go."

She'd said it so softly, I almost thought I'd heard her wrong. When I remained silent with wide eyes, she smiled and reached up to touch my face. "It's crazy. I'm absolutely obsessed... I can't push you away. Even though there's something inside of me telling me I should… I can't, and I won't."

"Looks like I'll have to prove both your father, and that voice in your head wrong then." Her words had made me so happy, all I wanted to do was pick her up and hold her in my arms. I ran my fingers through her hair, and we stood there staring into each other's eyes, almost as if we were speaking actual words and hearing every single syllable without them ever leaving our lips.

"I don't want to tell Alice yet. Can we keep your middle name between us for now? Enough has happened tonight. I don't need her going on and on about that, too."

I nodded my head and began walking us towards her sofa, "Whatever you want. I'm just glad I've finally told you. You have no idea what that was doing to me."

"I'm shocked my dad hadn't already figured it out. He must be slipping," Bella mumbled with a nervous laugh. I sat us down and brought my arm behind her to pull her body up closely against mine, then placed a gentle kiss at her forehead.

"No more secrets," I promised her.

"Good, because I'd likely end up castrating your ass if there were any more, Mase." She snickered, then surprised me by turning her body around to mount my hips on the couch, and run her hands through my hair, "I'm still having a difficult time actually believing you were really the person on the other end of the line, but… I think you might be able to find a way to prove it to me… that could be a little fun."

Now my brow was raised and my grin was showing again.

"I think I could probably find a couple of ways, beautiful. You and I, we made a pretty compatible team with only our words."

When she laughed and nodded her head in agreement over what I'd just said, I knew she was okay.

We were okay.

"Can we make this official then? Us, I mean?"

It was important to me now.

I didn't want there to be any more questions between us, or anyone else when it came to the relationship Bella and I had with one another.

I wanted her to be mine, and I only wanted to be her's.

"Are you asking me to be your one and only?" She teased, then bit down anxiously on her bottom lip. I could see it on her face, and in her smile. Even with the remaining stress filled tears in her eyes. My question was helping her forget about everything else we'd just endured together and that had helped me breathe again.

"I am, Isabella Marie Swan. If you'll have me."

She leaned herself down and shifted her weight in my lap, then tugged at my hair to bring my chin up towards her lips. We were less than two inches apart, and she was staring directly into my eyes, "The whole 'rebound fling' thing doesn't scare you? Because I want more than that. I don't want to end up only being the girl you bounced off of after Tanya."

"You could never…. You're already so much more than that, Bella. From the moment our eyes met, I knew you would forever change my world."

"Okay then. It's official. I've officially fallen hopelessly infatuated with you. I'll be your one and only, Edward Masen Cullen."

The smile on her face was electrifying, and my own rapturous grin was actually starting to hurt my face.

She closed her eyes, and I kissed her softly until she deepened our embrace and took control of the moment. Her hands traveled down my bare chest and began messing with the drawstring of my gym shorts while our lips continued to move against one another with fervent need and speed. I lifted her up from the sofa with me, without breaking our connection, and began walking us towards her bedroom with my hands holding her in the air against me, and her legs wrapped firmly around my torso to keep her in place. We'd almost crossed over the threshold when the front door swung open and Alice and Jasper came barging in huffing and puffing like they'd just run a decathlon.

"Oh- my God. I can't breathe. Bella! What happened!?" Alice huffed and puffed, holding her hands up to her chest. "Wait, where is Jake? What the hell did we just walk into? Are you two about to have sex?"

Alice was clearly confused by the embrace she'd found us in, but I wasn't embarrassed.

Jasper was smirking and shaking his head, "Only you, E."

I hushed him with a glare from my eyes, then slowly set Bella down onto her feet so she could go to her best friend. Our moment had been paused, but that was okay. She was my girl now, and I would be her one and only. We had all the time in the world to pick up where we'd just been forced to leave off.

"Come sit! I need all the details! Edward, make some coffee because I also need to sober up." Alice ordered without even looking at me. She was too busy examining Bella's face and arms for any signs of bruising.

"I'm fine. Jake didn't touch me. Edward came over right away and got him to leave."

"What was he even doing here?! Did you know he was coming?"

After catching Jasper's eye I jerked my head towards the kitchen, signaling he should come help me with the coffee, so the girls could talk a little more privately.

"You told her everything and she was still just about to jump your bones?" Jasper snickered under his breath after we'd gotten into the kitchen.

I smirked and nodded one time.

"You are some kind of Casanova, Cullen. I swear to God, you need to write a book about this someday,"

I wasn't about to tell him I'd already started writing such a book.

"We also just made things official. I am no longer a single man."

He punched me hard in the arm, and I shoved him back.

"Well that's something, but I think I might have almost topped you this evening."

I leaned back against the counter after pulling the coffee down from the cabinet and looked back over at my best friend, "Oh, yeah? How's that?"

"I asked Alice to move in with me."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, I knew she'd say no, because of Bella, so I figured it was a safe move to make. Earn me some easy points without actually having to change anything."

"You are such a dick."

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm legit falling for her man, and it is scaring me to death."

I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head, "The day you enter a committed monogamous relationship will be the day I get your name tattooed on my ass."

"Careful, buddy. You of all people should believe in miracles now." Jasper warned with another punch to the side of my arm just as Bella and Alice joined us in the kitchen.

I looked over and caught her smile with my eyes, and she made her way under my arm to press her head into my chest to hug me.

"Coffee smells good."

"You smell good." I returned, then tilted her chin upward with my fingers to gently kiss at her lips.

"Ugh, you two are being disgustingly adorable again."

Bella stuck her middle finger out towards Alice, and I smiled kissing her again.

This, of course, earned us a dish towel to our faces from her best friends thrown hand.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out in the living room, laughing together and sharing stories while also making plans for the future. Eventually, she fell asleep in my lap, and Jasper did the same against Alice on the loveseat across from us.

"You really do make her happy."

I looked over and smiled, then looked back down at Bella's peacefully sleeping face.

"She's changed my entire world."

"Well… don't fuck it up, E."

I stifled a laugh and nodded my head, "I'll do my best, Alice." She smiled back and Jasper began to stir beside her. I sat myself up from the cushion behind my back and positioned my arms under Bella where she remained fast asleep against me, then lifted us both up off of the couch to head towards her bedroom.

I didn't want to wake her. I could see the exhaustion in her eyes as the night had progressed. Now that she was mine, we would have plenty of nights alone together in her room.

Tonight, she would sleep in my arms, and I would fall asleep listening to her breathing with her heart beating against mine, and that would be enough.

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The next morning, we got up and started our day the same way we had the last five mornings that had come before it.

Bella showered to wake herself up, and I made the coffee and got breakfast started in the kitchen. We ended up eating together on her balcony with Alice, making plans for later that night until Jasper came out to join us, interrupting our conversation.

"Where's my bacon?"

"In the fridge waiting to be cooked," I grumbled back, then flicked a piece of my toasts crust in his direction.

"So, Alice... Edward and I kind of need to talk to you about something else that happened last night." Bella suddenly spoke up, smirking in my direction.

"Oh my god, are you pregnant?!"

"What?! No! It hasn't even been two weeks, you nut!" Bella laughed, then kicked at her bestie from under the table after she'd moved over to make space for Jasper to sit with us.

"I am so glad I get to be here for this."

I glared at my friend and told him to hush, then leaned back in my own chair to wait for Bella to continue with whatever tale it was she'd decided to so randomly share.

Jasper had clearly already made up his mind over what the topic might be.

I wasn't quite sold though.

"So, you know my friend Masen?"

Apparently, Jasper had been right.

"Oh man! I am seriously sooooo fucking glad I am here for this!" He once again declared, grinning rather wildly after he'd plopped down into his seat and stolen a piece of bacon from my plate.

I'd never seen Alice's eyes as wide as they were right now.

"B, honey… are you awake and coherent right now?"

"Oh, I'm very much awake. More awake than I've been for the last month of my life. Alice, I would like to introduce you to Masen, in the flesh." Bella waved her arm out in my direction and then blew me a kiss from her hand, which I pretended to catch and hold towards my heart.

"Nice to meet you, A."

Alice's eyes were now jetting back and forth between Bella and me, then towards Jasper before returning to her best friends smug face. "Wait… what?"

"I don't exactly do I.T. work late at night from my laptop." I casually spoke up, then took a quick bite from my toast to hide my smirk.

"Shut the hell up right now. What are you two talking about? Is this a joke? Because it isn't funny."

"No joke. He told me last night. Don't worry, I had a difficult time believing it too." Bella further tried to explain.

Alice was jumping up from her chair almost instantly and pacing the balcony.

The way Bella was smiling, it made me feel good. I could see she'd excepted our new reality, and she'd found a true and honest way to be okay about it.

"You… you're him. You're the guy she pays to talk to on the phone?"

"Well, it was only three times." I calmly replied, still hiding my grin.

"Two incredible times." Bella spoke up, "The last time was a bit too vanilla for me."

Now I was tossing my toast in Bella's direction.

"How?! How the hell?! Seriously?! It's too early for this kind of a mind fuck! Did you know about this, Jasper?! Oh my God, you did know! You made so many comments! You gave me so many hints!"

I was instantly narrowing my eyes at my best friend again.

"What?! She never picked up on any of it!" He quickly yelped out in an attempt to defend himself.

"You actually get paid to talk dirty online? Is that not like every man's dream job?"

"Hell yeah, it is!" Jasper chimed in, earning himself another piece of my toast to his face. "What? I'd kill for the opportunity!"

"And you're… you're okay with all of this, B?"

Bella didn't respond right away. That caused me to hold my breath. Then she took in a deep breath, and with her exhale, she nodded her head and reached across the table to take my hand into hers.

"I am. He has to put six more months in, but then he will have his degree, and he will be done. I can live with that."

"Wow, this is nuts. What's it like? I mean do you actually jerk off with every call? Or do you have like a fleshlight or something to help move things along?"

"Alice!"

"What?! I have questions! I need answers! How's the pay for something like that? Bella could use a little extra income these days." Alice teased, leaning over to playfully shove at her best friends shoulder.

"The pay is amazing, or I wouldn't be doing it, and no, I don't jerk off with every call. The fleshlight is a pretty good idea though. That could actually change things up a little."

Now it was my turn to have a piece of toast thrown at my face.

I pulled Bella up from her seat and brought her around the table to sit her in my lap, then kissed at the back of her shoulder blade with my lips.

"What a small goddamn world this is. Like seriously… how does that even happen? It's like you two were actually meant to be together."

Bella looked back at me and smiled, then slowly began to nod her head in agreement, "That's pretty much how I've decided to look at it." I grinned back and leaned in to kiss her lips. She held onto mine, and then turned her body more centered in front of me to drop her arms over the top my shoulders, "When you move in next door to your destiny, you don't keep the door locked."

Now I was beaming like a mother fucker and kissing her like we were the only two people at the table.

"Ahem! Let's keep this PG-rated, shall we?" Alice loudly interjected before spritzing us both with some water from her fingertips.

"You're in trouble, Jasper. To my room for punishments." Bella's best friend suddenly ordered my own as she'd stood up from her seat with her hands at her hips.

"God, I am so glad all of this is finally out in the open! It was really starting to get exhausting."

I slapped my best friends hand, then nodded my head in his direction agreeing with him, "Thanks for not messing it up for me."

"You can thank me by making me your best man for your wedding."

I was reaching for another piece of toast to toss at his head again, but he'd already jumped up to run back inside.

"You and I will talk more later tonight, Isabella Swan! Have a good day at work, honey." Bella's friend kissed the top of her head, then shot me a wink from her eye, and disappeared back into the apartment.

"So, I guess you're ready to tell the whole world now, huh?"

"Did you want to keep it a secret?" She actually looked worried.

"It's fine. I mean, I don't really want anyone else to know, but it's okay you told Alice. My job isn't something I'm exactly proud of."

"Oh," She paused and looked away, "You really meant it… no one else actually knows? Not even Riley, or Rose?"

I shook my head and tapped her sides with my hands, so she would stand up, "It was never supposed to be a long-term thing. I just wanted to make the money I needed and get out once the semester started and I'd paid my tuition. No one else needed to know what I was doing."

"Gotcha… okay. I won't say anything to anyone else, and I'll tell Alice to keep it between us, too."

I thanked her, then began cleaning up our plates to bring everything inside so she wouldn't be late for work.

"Ready to go serve coffee while I get horny women off on the internet?" I teased with my brow slightly raised. She laughed and shoved me with her hands before wrapping her arms around my waist from behind me.

"You're lucky I have such glowing self-esteem these days, or I'd be stomping my way down to your office to tell this Aro guy he can suck a dick."

I laughed at the visual image she'd just forced into my head, then brought her back into my arms in front of me, "Six months and I'll be done. I promise, baby."

She shrugged indifferently and kissed my lips, "It really doesn't bother me. I know I'll be the one you actually touch. They only get to fantasize."

"How did I get so lucky? Seriously?"

"I don't know, neighbor boy… I'm thinking it might have something to do with your address." She teased, then twirled away from me to grab her purse from the counter before returning to my arms with my car keys also in her hand.

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I'd just wrapped up my third call of the morning when my phone began to vibrate from the table beside my bed. I snatched it up and saw it was Bella calling.

This was weird because she shouldn't have been on break yet.

"What's up? Everything okay?"

"He came here!"

She's crying almost hysterically, and I was sitting up much straighter now.

"Who?"

"Jake! He came to my job, and he started making a total scene about how you stayed over, and how he sat outside and watched my door all night… and he saw us leaving together, and how you kissed me outside of your car like I was some basic whore you'd just paid for!"

"Okay, calm down. Is he still there?"

"I left! I had to! My boss told me to get the hell out. I'm-I'm walking home."

"What?! Where are you? Where is he?"

I couldn't even believe what she was telling me right now.

What the hell was wrong with this guy?!

"I'm… I'm passing the gas station two blocks from the shopping center."

"Wait there, I'm coming!"

Her soft sobs were tearing into me.

Once I got her home, I was going to find this fucker, and he was going to pay this time.

"Bella, where is Jake now?" I then asked, already dreading her answer.

"He was following me in his car, but I don't see him now. I told him I was going to call the police. He doesn't want this on his record. It would ruin everything and his dad would kill him."

"Okay, just wait for me inside the gas station. I'll be there in less than ten minutes."

I hung up the phone and got dressed, then grabbed my keys and was out the door without even shutting down my laptop.


A/N: So yes, slight cliffy, but not as bad at last weeks, haha. *wink*

Did you really think Jake would just let it go after driving all that way?

Nope!

What are your thoughts on Bella's reaction towards Edward's job and her willingness to look past it all… for now?

Any predictions for things to come?

I'd love to hear from you!

**As thanks for leaving me your words in a review;

I will share an outtake with you in a PM,

from Bella's POV

when Jake shows up at her job to cause more problems.**