A/N: *Group Hug* Thanks to those of you who are still sticking with me, especially after last week's sad panda of a chapter. We have only 1 more after this, and it will go up this week. All this angst and sadness made me kind of emo, and I've written a 2nd shot for my o/s Inhale Her (it was my entry for the AwkWard Contest). I'll post it after this fic is done...think of it as a silly, fluffy palette cleanser after this fic, LOL. So, put me on alert if you haven't already. Part II of Inhale Her will be up the 1st week of 2011.
Big thanks & love to my own personal dream team: Char, Gin, Caren & Ash - they help make my words purdy and my ideas not suck so bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I just come up with random things for them to do.
Edward
"Sorry," she replies. "I was just lost in a memory."
I think she realizes I was about to ask her something as she turns back to me, giving me her undivided attention.
"I was wondering if you would like to come back to my room," I ask and then realize how presumptuous that sounds.
Bella looks at me warily, as if she's weighing her options.
"No!" I hurry to clarify. "I don't mean it like that. I...uh...I just mean. I don't know. Maybe you'd like to watch a movie or something?"
A smile appears on Bella's face, and the knots that have formed in my stomach loosen up. She nods her head and wipes away some crumbs from dessert that have fallen to the table.
"I would really like that."
The heat that builds up in my stomach is only eclipsed by the nerves snaking through me at the thought of Bella in my room. In my haste to stand up, I knock over my cup of coffee, the remnants splashing across the table onto Bella's shirt.
"Oh, shit. I am so sorry."
But Bella is already waving me off, pulling some napkins out of her purse and blotting at her shirt.
"It's fine, Edward. Really, it is. I get worse spilled on me at work all day."
She really does seem okay with it, but I still can't help feeling awful as I watch the light brown liquid refuse to come out. I'm still beating myself up over it when we reach my room. I immediately walk over to my closet and pull out one of the clean shirts hanging within.
"Here, please," I say as I hand her the shirt. "I insist."
Our fingers brush as she takes the shirt from me, and I wonder if would be strange to let them linger a bit longer. When I feel Bella's pinkie rub up against mine, I decide she's okay with it, even if it is potentially awkward for her to wear my clothes when we've only just met today.
I watch as Bella holds up the shirt to check it out, and I swear she lifts it up to her face to sniff it. I can't help but smile at the sight.
"There's a bathroom right through..." I start to point out where, but Bella is two steps ahead of me, and all I see is the door closing shut.
While she's in there changing, I pace around the room nervously. Bella seems almost eerily calm, which should calm me down, yet I can't help but feel ramped up around her. I do a double check to make sure there's no dirty clothes laying about or something out of place, but the room looks like its usual neat and boring space.
I pale at the thought.
What if Bella thinks I'm too boring? I didn't give her much information about myself over coffee, yet that didn't seem to deter her. To be honest, even if she hadn't spent most of the time talking about her work and interests, I would have still been intrigued with her. Out of the corner of my eye, I spy my red notebook, and a subconscious pull inside of me cries out for me to write something down, out of fear that I'll forget. I grab a pen and jot it down haphazardly before hearing a lock click. Without bothering to reread what I wrote, I toss the notebook on the table before turning around.
That invisible thread that seems to tie me to her sparks back to light as soon as the bathroom door opens. Bella's standing there wearing my button-down shirt.
Only my button-down shirt.
I gulp and take a step back. I bump into something hard, not realizing the couch is right behind me. I lose my balance and stumble backwards onto it.
"My pants must have gotten coffee on them as well. They were all wet and stuff," she tries to explain before averting her eyes from me.
I gape at her, wide-eyed, not sure what to say. All of a sudden I feel like a fifteen year old boy and I just can't seem to tear my eyes away from her.
"Shit! It was too soon. Fuck!" Bella mumbles to herself, but I can still hear her.
"No, it's...okay. I mean, are...um...are you okay?" I ask, unsure what she's talking about.
I feel like I must have been a world class flirt in another life to get saddled with this sort of verbal clumsiness now. Bella's cheeks are flushed with heat as she chances a look at me.
"Are...are you okay?" she asks, and I can't help but chuckle at her words.
I sit down on the couch and pat the cushion next to me, hoping like hell that she'll indulge me. Truth be told I have no clue what I am. My body is responding to Bella fiercely while my mind is swirling with thoughts and emotion...some I can't even pinpoint.
"I have no idea," I say with a laugh as I shake my head. "Maybe? I just..."
I trail off, not really able to put together a cohesive thought as Bella flops down next to me. She folds her legs underneath her, but I can still see a creamy white expanse of skin where the shirt doesn't cover.
"You're fucking gorgeous."
The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them, and my eyes widen at the unfamiliar cursing coming from me.
"I mean...I..."
Bella's blush deepens, but she doesn't look upset. I take that as my cue to keep talking, spilling whatever is on my mind.
"Oh screw it, that's what I meant. You look beautiful, Bella. Actually, you look perfect in my shirt, just like that."
I expect Bella to smile or blush some more, or hell, even bat her eyes at me. What I don't expect is for her to grab me in an extremely tight hug and bury her face in my chest. I can feel her mumble against me, but I have no idea what she's saying, so I just hold her tight until she's ready to sit back up. When she does, she's still sitting not just next to me but almost on top of me. The proximity is making it hard to concentrate on anything she says, but I do my best.
"Thank you," she whispers, and I notice that her eyes are bright and shiny with tears, yet she doesn't look upset at all.
My hand comes up as my thumb almost reflexively brushes against her cheek. I lean forward just enough so that our heads are touching, and I brush my lips lightly against hers. Pausing, I take in the moment of our first kiss. Only, it feels like our thousandth kiss, her lips familiar and warm under mine. This feeling spurs me on, making me crave her lips. I push back for another, deeper kiss.
Bella meets me for each one, her fists grabbing my shirt, pulling me closer. My lips capture hers once more before moving to explore the rest of her skin - her cheeks, her jaw, her nose, her throat. Each new bit is sweeter than the last, and hearing her soft moan as I nip at her makes my heart clench until it hurts. Gentlemanly thoughts rise up, making me wonder why Bella's not stopping...why she seems more than okay with this progressing so far. Yet I fear that if I question her apparent willingness she will stop.
This internal struggle eats away at me until I feel Bella's lips tease my ear lobe. How does she know that it's one of my favorite spots? Her tongue flicks out and I hold back a groan. At this point, any nerves, fear or questioning gets pushed further from my mind as Bella's teeth tug at my ear, this time causing me to shudder.
There's no way I can stop now.
It feels too damn good.
"I...I...wow."
Again, I congratulate myself on my slick handling of the English language. Bella giggles and then pulls me in for another hug. I kick off my shoes and look over at the bed. For any other couple this might seem way too fast, but something about being here, like this, with Bella feels right. It seems natural to plunge ahead and ask her what I'm thinking.
"Do you want to...?"
I don't need to ask twice, as Bella stands up and allows me to lead her to my bed. I shuts the lights off before we crawl under the covers, holding each other tight.