Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

WOW I got a lot of review for the last chap…thank you all so much for the support! I really am shocked. And sorry I didn't get this chap up yesterday…I didn't have time to write until today…I had such a busy workweek…I hope this is good enough!

Don't own.

Ch. 18: The L-Word

Edward, I discovered that night, was the kind of person who frivolously spent money when he was agitated.

He was that valley-girl type, who went to the mall every time she was upset.

Only he instead made reservations for one of the most expensive restaurants in town, and bought tickets to the same show of the ballet, that we'd missed a few weeks ago.

"This really isn't necessary…" I said, rolling my eyes as I caught a glimpse of the check.

He'd been faking a sort of upbeat, chipper persona, which kind of unnerved me.

But I knew he was trying to cover up the fact that he probably wanted to punch a hole in the wall.

"Nonsense." He said with that strained smile, taking my hand and kissing it. "You deserve the best…"

"Drop the act, Edward." I sighed, as he absently caressed my knuckles with his thumb. "What are you trying to prove? I know you care for me…"

He dropped his gaze, and sighed, remaining silent for a moment.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned. What could possibly be bothering him this much? I mean…yeah the situation at hand sucked, but we were together, and he should be a bit happier just from spending time with me…I mean, I was, just from spending time with him…

"Bella, you're exquisite. You're singly the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, strong, independent, kind…but they don't see that, in the tabloids. All they see is a boss dating his employee. They see your debts, which I paid off, they see it as special treatment, and aside from medical proof, don't know that we haven't done anything promiscuous." He said quickly, and I studied his face, puzzled.

Wow.

This was really bothering him.

His fingers closed over mine, and he wasn't looking at me, but at my hand, at our hands intertwined.

"This whole thing is my fault." He said quietly, only then glancing up at me with his beautiful, apologetic green eyes. "You were right, in saying that something like this would happen, but I wouldn't listen. I kind of forced you into this…"

"You didn't force me into anything." I told him quietly, moving my hand to his cheek, scooting closer in my chair. "I wanted this as much as you did. Every choice has a consequence, and it's up to us to figure out if we're going to let it be a good one or a bad one."

I paused, as he stared into my eyes with his beautiful green. My breath caught in my throat, as I drank in the smoldering expression in them.

He'd been looking at me like that for the past few days, I'd noticed.

I'd never had someone look at me quite like that, before.

And that's how I knew what it was.

Edward Cullen was in love with me.

I didn't say anything, just smiled as he kissed my hand again. He knew I saw it, and didn't say anything, either.

We sat there for who knows how long, just smiling and staring at each other, but there was nothing awkward about it.

"If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd make the same choice." I said finally, and saw the smile reach his eyes. A small one played on his lips, but it was the one in his eyes that really counted.

We left a short time later, not much being said, not much necessary.

I wanted to be with him, I knew. I wanted to stay with him for a very long time.

But…it was too early for the L word, wasn't it? I mean, I had only known him for a few weeks…

How could I not L-word him, though? He was everything I'd ever dreamed of. He was beautiful, inside and out.

Even his fits of rage weren't that bad. And they were getting better, with every day of fighting in the office. And he had essentially saved me from Jacob, and was right in his borderline over-protectiveness.

The more I thought about it, the more it became clear to me.

I was in love with him, too.

And it had only been a few weeks.

How had that happened? I'd never felt love when I was with Jacob…I thought I did, but it wasn't like this. This was…this was too powerful for words.

"I…I think you're exquisite, too." I murmured, in the taxi as we pulled up to the Opera House.

He looked at me, and I wanted to shoot myself.

I think you're exquisite, too? What the hell was I thinking? That was so lame…

I wanted to crawl under a rock.

But…he was looking at me like that. And he was smiling, and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face to kiss my cheek.

How had I gotten so lucky?

We walked in silence into the Opera House, he escorting me by the arm, like a gentleman. The press was there, asking questions and taking pictures, but we didn't stop to drop a statement, or anything.

To be perfectly honest, I was too busy thinking about the L-word to pay attention to them.

I hardly noticed when we reached the Cullen family balcony booth, after we checked our coats.

I hardly noticed that I was semi-formally dressed for this, in a simple but elegant "little black dress" Alice had lent me for the evening.

I didn't even know where Edward and I were going, she just stopped by my house after work with a dress and got me ready.

I was in a dazed state, after my revelation.

"I love you." I heard Edward say in my ear, in a whisper. I was standing by the balcony railing, looking out over the crowd, lost in thought, when this brought me out of my reverie. His warm hands alighted on my shoulders as he whispered this in my ear, then kissed my cheek.

There it was.

He said it.

I turned to face him, eyes wide.

There, the warmth, the comfort, written all over his face.

The L word.

"I think I do, too." I managed to say.

I inwardly cursed. It wasn't very convincing if I couldn't even spit the word out.

"I mean…I think that I…" I started, trying to get the word out. He chuckled, and cut me off with a gentle, sweet kiss.

My heart was fluttering in over-time, just from the L-word itself, and this sent me over the edge. I was weak in the knees, and probably would have collapsed if Edward's arms hadn't snaked around my waist, holding me close to him.

"I know." Edward said quietly when he drew back, looking at me as I had practically melted into him.

He kissed me again, and pulled me down to my seat, next to him.

None of it mattered, anymore. What the press was doing, none of it.

I was sitting here with the man of my dreams, and he wasn't going anywhere.

"Miss Swan—"

"Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan, how do you feel about—"

"What's your take on—"

"No comment." Edward said as we left the Opera House, getting into a cab and avoiding the press as much as possible.

They were waiting outside of the apartment building, too.

Would they leave us alone, already?

Edward was holding my hand and pulling me through the crowd, and we slammed the door to his apartment in their faces. I was breathing heavily from the thrill of it, and let out a nervous laugh.

This was absurd.

We were running from the paparazzi, when all we had to do was walk calmly and rationally, not saying a thing.

He looked at me as if I had three heads, just standing there leaning against the wall, laughing hysterically.

He shook his head at me with a smile, and helped me out of my coat. I didn't have time to even turn before his arms encircled me from behind and he kissed my cheek.

I looked up at him as I turned in his embrace, and saw that same look from earlier.

I couldn't believe it.

Was this really happening? Edward Cullen, the Edward Cullen, was dating me, and had declared his love for me previously in the evening.

He kissed me, starting off very soft and gentle, as if he were afraid he was going to lose control.

I didn't really see how tat was possible, seeing as we'd only ever made out, innocently.

A warmth spread through my body, starting at my lips. I returned his advances with less control than he, and found myself stumbling back, out of my heels, until I found a hard surface to lean against…this man made me weaker in the knees with every kiss.

I didn't know what this was, this new, unbridled passion that I was feeling, but I wanted him. A shiver ran down my spine as he kissed the base of my ear, lightly, teasingly trailing down my neck.

I realized that the wall I had chosen to lean against was the door to Edward's bedroom. I wasn't planning on doing anything, and knew he wasn't, so it wouldn't be bad or anything if I chose to, say, turn the knob…

Edward realized what I was doing as I reached for the knob and stopped me, grabbing my hand.

"Bella…" he said, pulling back with wide eyes. I paid no attention to him, and kept kissing him. "I don't think.." he said between kisses. "…this is a good idea…"

"Don't speak." I replied, wrenching my hand out of his and opening the door. I continued kissing him, the passion taking control of me as it never had before, and pulled him to laying next to me on the bed.

Oh my God, what was wrong with me?

How had I ended up on his bed?

He reeled things in and remained careful, slowing me down a bit, stopping me as I reached to unbutton his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked, holding my good hand to his chest as he propped himself up on one elbow. I could feel that his heart was just as erratic as mine, but he still maintained a collected persona.

I didn't say anything, and looked up at him with wide eyes.

What was I doing? It hadn't been him, it was me who brought us into his bedroom, it was me, acting like a horny little schoolgirl. I had never lost control like that before, and I had never wanted anyone so sexually before.

"I don't know." I murmured, blinking. I flushed, embarrassed that he'd had to stop me, embarrassed that I had lost control of myself.

But…he was so goddamn sexy. How was I supposed to keep myself in check around that?

He chuckled, and kissed my hand.

"It's times like these I think you want me to lose control." He said, amusement in his eyes. Amusement and desire.

He had wanted me just as badly as I wanted him.

But he was the gentleman, waiting for marriage.

And I hadn't known him for that long…it was kind of skanky to give it up after only about three weeks.

And that idea in itself frightened me a little. Regardless of the birth control, I didn't want any little Swans and Cullens running around. There's still that 1 chance…

I'm really glad he had the wits to stop me.

"I'm glad you didn't." I said softly, blushing a little more.

"You're adorable." He said with another amused chuckle, and pecked me on the lips before sitting up. "We're already in here, we might as well go to bed."

I nodded, and my heart skipped a beat at the notion that he meant we'd share a bed.

The few times I'd ended up sleeping at his house, I'd ended up falling asleep on the couch and he'd tucked me in. The only exception was that first night, which I spent most of the night above the covers.

Apparently, he didn't think anything of it, and handed me clothes to sleep in, changing with his back to me, himself.

This stupid dress. The top of the zipper was right in that spot that I couldn't reach on my back, regardless of how I tried.

"Edward?" I asked, sighing, turning towards him. He was finishing putting on a t shirt, and I forced myself not to gawk. "Can you unzip me?"

"You just want to torture me, don't you?" he smirked, and leaned in to kiss my neck as he unzipped with one hand, the other on my shoulder.

"Likewise." I said, as this gave me gooseflesh. I pushed him away, playfully, and he turned around while I finished changing.

Jerk.

He'd done that on purpose.

Now that I wasn't making out with him, I discovered that his room was very cold, and immediately slipped under the covers and bundled up. He laughed, no doubt only able to see the top of my head sticking out from blankets, and was next to me in another moment, using the excuse of "body heat" to remove his shirt as I cuddled into him.

Jerk.

I sighed, as my good hand absently caressed his chest, my face tucked into the crook of his neck. Hopefully tomorrow would end as good as today had…

With my luck, probably not.

"Mr. Cullen, I'm not sure you understand how serious this is." I heard a stern, raised voice say from inside.

We were at the Union building, and I hadn't been allowed in. Apparently, we would be meeting with him separately, and I was told to wait outside.

I felt like a guilty little kid sitting outside of the principal's office. You know, when you're waiting for your turn, when you and your friend ended up in a fist fight over which issues Lex Luther was present in, in the original Superman Comics.

You know that whatever's going on in there can't be good, and can't wait to find out what's going on.

Well, I was like that, except I could hear almost everything that was going on.

"This scandal puts a spot on union record if we don't do anything about it, Mr. Cullen. When you bought the East Side Herald, you signed a contract that pledged your abidance by union rules. Dating your employee is in direct violation—"

I sighed, knowing what would happen.

I would be fired, regardless of what Edward tried to do. Office romance WAS a violation of the rules of conduct in the union, and we were part of the union…

And sure, Edward was the owner of the paper, but they could, and would, seize control of the company because he violated the regulations. The prostitution rumors made the situation worse, as did his payment of my debts.

And the assault…

It just looked really, REALLY bad.

But…it was freaking Edward Cullen. How could I have resisted?

I honestly tried, in the beginning, but he was just too amazing.

…did the chairman have a look at him? Edward was freaking gorgeous!

Well, I suppose he wouldn't think so, he had a wife and children, and wasn't anything like Robb or Justin…

"Mr. Campbell, I'm not sure you understand the situation of this so-called scandal." Edward's voice said, stern and bitter, bringing me back to reality.

I hadn't heard Edward sound like that since his first day at the office, when he was threatening my job for the first time.

"I'm being pressured on all sides to resolve this. Your membership to the union gives us the means to seize control of your company if you don't comply."

See? Told ya. We were kind of really screwed.

"I'm not firing her. She's done nothing wrong."

I sat there, inwardly sighing.

If I was fired, I wouldn't be able to find work until things calmed down. If I was fired by the union, I wouldn't be able to find work with a newspaper that was part of the union, at all. I'd be forced to move to another city and start fresh, and I didn't want to do that.

There really wasn't an option on this.

Unless…

No. I couldn't do that, not to Edward. He needed me around to be the bridge between him and the workers…

Well, Bella, you won't be around at all if the union gets what they want. Any way it ended, I'd still be fired.

At least this way I could still get work, and maybe I could come back later?

I sighed, gathering myself, and went to stand by the window to make a phone call.

"Hello, Mr. Mackenzie?"

Edward exited the office angry, slamming the door while I stood by the window, finishing my conversation.

"Thank you, so much. I won't let you down." I said, as he came over. "Hey how'd it—"

"We're going." He said coldly, grabbing my good hand and pulling me roughly out the door to the coat room.

"I still have my meeting…"

"No. We're going, now."

"O…okay." I said, wondering how I should tell him.

"I'll find a loophole…John knows the legal system better than anyone on the planet." He grumbled as I put my coat on and we left.

"Edward…it's okay." I said, trying to get him to calm down before he ripped my arm off as we walked quickly down the corridor.

"I'll kill that Jacob Black…stupid bastard…" Edward was still muttering to himself.

"I'm taking the job with the Downtown Daily." I said, as we got onto the street. Edward stopped short, before turning to me, incredulous.

"Oh no you're not."

"Excuse me? Yes I am." I said crossly. "I take the job, you keep the paper, and everyone keeps their jobs. And I'll still see you all the time."

"We're not giving into their standards, it's absolutely ridiculous."

"I'm not giving into anything."

"Let me take care of this! You don't know--"

"Yes, I do. I've personally sat in on union meetings, and what the union says is law. They don't bend for anybody, regardless of the situation." I said indignantly. "Your refusal to fire me results not only in a takeover of the paper, but both of us losing our jobs. Furthermore, as a journalist fired by the union, union papers aren't allowed to give me work."

"We can fight this! You always back down on these things, without a fight! What are you afraid of?"

"We WON'T win!" I exclaimed, wondering how thick someone could possibly be. "I don't care if you are Edward Cullen, you can't win. I'll admit I was wrong about the Jacob legal situation, but this is our fault and we won't win. Fighting it would only waste money and energy."

"I can't let you do this, Bella." He said, shaking his head.

"Then it's good you don't have to." I said calmly, coldly. "I've made my decision. This is the best way."

"Bella, that's a crock of shit. This whole situation can be fixed legally. They have no proof of Jacob Black's allegations—"

"I'm not letting you lose the paper over this." I said indignantly, but a little softer.

He was just trying to protect me, just trying to protect my good standing and my job…

I reached my good hand up to his cheek, catching his enraged gaze with mine.

He was pissed, I could tell, but I knew he would calm down soon enough.

"You don't have to do this." He said, taking his hand and placing it over mine, holding my hand fast to his cheek.

His voice was still tense and strained, and his eyes were livid. He hated the idea of this.

Moreover, he knew about Mr. Mackenzie, and knew about his reputation.

"It's just a job, Edward." I told him softly. "It's not the end of the world."

"Now would you still make the same decision?" he asked, looking me in the eye. He was feeling really guilty, I could tell.

"Absolutely. Nothing could keep me away from you."

I'm sure you were all looking for a showdown with the chairman…but stay tuned! It's definitely not over yet… and review!