Hey all, I'm backkkkk!
I'm trying to keep to a more regular posting schedule, and by regular I mean frequent, so I hope this makes my readers, YOU GUYS, happy.
I didn't think that I was going to get this chapter finished today, because I kept getting distracted… I was looking at pictures of hot guys that I'm friends with on facebook. Oops. Oh, and then I fell asleep at my computer. :/
Anyway, I want to take a second to thank IvoryAdulation for continually giving me feedback on the story. I'm glad you love it! (Also, I just started reading one of your stories, Law of Inertia… I love it. I really want you guys to pop over and read it… after all, we all need a little angst: Law of Inertia. )
Also, I've decided that I want to start giving you guys "Quote of the Update"… so here's our first one!
"Wouldn't it be weird if the only way people could die was that their heads suddenly exploded without warning? If there was simply no other cause of death? One day you'd be sitting there having a hot chocolate, and suddenly your head would explode."
-George
Hope you enjoy the update (even though it is just a filler chapter… sorry), and I can't wait to hear from you in the reviews! AS ALWAYS, I have a question for you at the end of the update. Answer in reviews!
Things I own: a sassy pair of aviators
Things I don't: Twilight
"Can I stay here?"
The words echoed in my head, repeating again and again and again until I thought I was going to go insane.
How could I even think about letting him stay here? I'm going to know that he is down the hall from me all effing night… there's no way that I'm going to be able to make it through the night without bursting into his room and jumping his bones.
I looked back at Edward, seeing him looking at me expectantly.
I sighed; "Yeah, sure, Edward. Just uhm, pick one of the rooms and go ahead and unpack." Edward smiled a dazzling smile at me, before stooping down to press a kiss to my forehead, letting his lips linger a bit longer than he normally would have. "Thank you so much, Bella. I promise, I'll be on my best behavior."
I smiled and nodded, watching him walk into one of the guest rooms, shutting the door behind him.
I second the door shut, I threw myself back onto the couch, throwing my hand over my eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to slow my heart rate down; it was way too high, especially considering the fact that I was just sitting around.
Sighing, I picked myself up off the couch, and walked down the hallway into my library. My smile was back the second I walked into the room; I loved this room, and was so glad that I had decided to put one in the penthouse.
The smell of old books permeated the air, and I took a deep breath, smiling as the scent filled my nose. I always thought of Charlie when I smelled books.
It wasn't because Charlie smelled like an old book, not at all. Charlie smelled like woods, beer, and fish. Oh, and gun polish.
Anyway, when I was young, and I used to fly up to Forks to visit Charlie in the summer, the first thing that we would do EVERY SINGLE TIME was drive into Port Angeles and go to yard sale after yard sale, looking for as many books as we could find. Sometimes, we came up empty handed, but other times, we found so many things, the back of the cruiser was filled to the brim with books.
I'd loved books since I was a child; it was something that Charlie and I had in common. Renée always liked going out and doing things; she would hear about a new kind of dance, and she would go and do it. She would go to cooking classes, yoga classes, classes at community college, music lessons… you name it and my mother has done it. Charlie and I, on the other hand, loved to take the time to get the background on the things we'd learned about. Maybe that why we were both so great at what we did; Charlie as police chief, and myself as… well, duh.
We used to sit around, reading our yard sale finds for hours for the first few days of the summer. We would read inside, outside, on the porch, in the grass of the yard… it didn't matter. All that mattered was that we were together, and we were reading. To most people, it would have seemed like we were using it to avoid speaking. But for Charlie and I, that was our bonding.
Sighing, I shook Charlie out of my head, and walked over to my large, overstuffed, green chair and plopped down onto the soft fabric. I leaned over the side, grabbing my current read, Four Comedies, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It (by William Shakespeare), off the small table next to my chair.
I smiled, opening to my bookmark that was placed right at the beginning of Twelfth Night. I loved Shakespeare; had since I was a young kid. When I was in college, I took so many Shakespeare classes, I eventually ended up adding an English major to my History major.
Yes, I was one of those overachievers. But don't worry, I still found time for fun… maybe a little too much time for fun.
Sighing, I settled down into my chair, curling my legs up to my chest, and resting the book on my knees, allowing myself to fall into the world of Duke Orsino, Olivia, Viola, and Illyria.
I read quietly, silently laughing at the subtle puns and turns of phrase, and sighing at the more romantic moments of the play, when I heard the door open. I knew it was Edward, so I didn't bother looking up.
When the door shut, I just assumed that he had left.
I read and read, allowing the problems in the characters lives distract me from the problems in my own. When I was reading about Olivia, the Duke, and Viola, I wasn't thinking about the fact that Edward was just down the hall in the guestroom. Probably scantily clad… probably thinking about me… probably masturb-
Oh, stop it!
Somehow, I managed to completely shut off my mind, and force myself to read. About an two hours later, I finished the play, marking my place in the collection and closing the book with a smile. I closed my eyes for a moment, giving my mind a second to rest.
When I opened my eyes again, I nearly screamed.
Edward was sitting in the other green chair that was opposite mine, reading from one of my leather bound Edgar Allan Poe anthologies.
Damn it. How didn't I know he was here? I'm the worst spy ever…
"Enjoy Shakespeare?" Edward asked, looking up at me with a smile on his face. I resisted the urge to walk over there and slap the smile right off of his face.
"Of course." I said, smiling back. "Enjoying Poe?" I said, using the same tone of voice that he had.
"Of course." He answered.
I laughed before getting up off of the chair. "Want some dinner?" I asked, looking over at him and rubbing my stomach, "I'm starting to get a little hungry." "Sure." Edward said, hopping up, "What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking about doing Pasta Primavera. Then some strawberry sorbet for desert?" I said; the suggestion came out more like a question than a statement, which bothered me.
I wasn't asking him what I should make, I was telling him what I was planning on making. Damn him.
"Sounds fantastic!" Edward said, smiling widely at me. I grinned, "Want to help me?" "Of course I do." He answered, holding his hand out in front of him, indicating that I should walk in front of him out of the room.
Always the gentleman… though I am going to shake my ass a little more to drive him a little crazy.
I heard Edward groan quietly behind me, and I repressed a laugh. That's what you get for being so fucking sexy all the time.
We walked into the kitchen, and I immediately pulled out a sauté pan and a huge pot. I filled the pot with my pot filler behind the stovetop, and set the heat to medium, sprinkling some salt into the water to lower the boiling temperature.
Grabbing out a box of pasta, I tossed it next to the stove, smiling when it landed right side up, as though I had walked over and placed it there.
Edward was just staring at me with his mouth open.
"What?" I said, smiling at him. "When you're a spy, you learn things. Now, can you chop?" I asked, walking over to the fridge and pulling out vegetables. Edward just nodded, and I handed him two peppers and three zucchini. "Thin strips, please." I said, smiling at him. "When you're done, just toss them into the pan." I turned on the heat for the oven, reaching over to grab two knives. "Heads up." I said, spinning around and looking at Edward. He was rearranging the vegetables on the cutting board when I tossed the knife to him. He reached up, without even looking, and caught the knife, immediately getting to work cutting the peppers.
Well, if that isn't one of the sexiest things ever…
Trying to forget what I'd just seen, I reached back into the fridge and grabbed myself some veggies to cut up. Walking around the counter, I made sure to rub my chest against Edward as I leaned around him to grab another cutting board off of the hook on the wall.
He took a sharp breath in, the cutting momentarily ceasing, as he undoubtedly tried to collect himself. I smiled, but walked around him as though nothing had happened.
Walking so that I was standing opposite him, I placed my vegetables down on the counter, picking up one of the carrots I had selected and running my hand up and down its length. I pretended to be picking off some stray hairs on the carrot, but I knew what I was doing.
I was trying to make Edward feel as crazy as I did. I was trying to make him suffer just a little bit, because I had spent the entire day walking around with a pool in my panties. Not. Fucking. Fair.
I continued my carrot molestation for a few more seconds before I looked up, my eyes catching onto Edward's. It looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
He was watching my hand move up and down the length of the carrot, which held nothing to him by the way (okay, maybe in size, but no WAY in girth…). His eyes were fixated on the movements, and I could feel the heat from his gaze on my hands even though he wasn't really looking at me. Suddenly he looked up; I'm surprised the look in his eyes didn't kill me.
His emerald green eyes were on fire, absolutely on fire. I could see the emotions warring behind his gaze, his potential paths of action fighting back and forth behind his eyes. I knew that part of him knew that we needed to try and make a friendship out of our fiery sexual chemistry, whereas the other part of him obviously wanted to tell that part of himself to sod off so he could have his way with me already.
I don't know which side I wanted to win.
I pretended to come to, giving my head a quick shake, and ceasing my hand motions. I looked up at Edward with an apologetic smile. "Sorry," I said, smiling at him, "I tend to lose myself in my head a little sometimes." I winked, before placed the carrot on my cutting board and starting to cut.
Edward released a shaky breath, and I saw his hands fly out to hold the edge of the counter in front of him, as though he needed to hold on to something in order to keep himself upright. "It's alright, Bella." He said, his voice highly strained.
Edward resumed chopping the vegetables with a newfound fervor. We finished chopping at around the same time, but when I spun around to toss my veggies into the sauté pan, I didn't expect Edward to be there as well. As I arranged my veggies along the bottom of the pan, Edward took the opportunity to press his body along mine, aligning the planes of his body against my back, pressing his straining erection into my lower back.
I had to remind myself not to moan. Steeling my nerves, I grinned, before grinding my hips back onto Edward. "Oh, I'm sorry," I said, spinning around, "I didn't know you were here. Let me just move out of your way." I said, flashing him a mischievous grin, before shimmying out from in front of him. Edward growled quietly under his breath before grabbing my hip and spinning me around. He was breathing heavily, the fire in his eyes having taken on the appearance of a full-blown inferno.
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
Edward bent his head, gradually bringing his lips closer and closer to mine. My breathing picked up, bringing our chests together, allowing my rock solid nipples the opportunity to rub up against him, even if it was just for a fleeting second.
He continued to bend down until his lips were centimeters away from mine. Our breathing was so heavy, that the sharing of breath between us only served to heat the air around us, increasing the tension, and slowly knocking away all my reservations about jumping into a full-fledged relationship with Edward. Or… at least, having the best sex of my life with Edward. Again.
Suddenly, Edward shot up pulling completely away from me. He held up his left hand, in which he was holding a hand towel. In my… absorption with him, I hadn't noticed that he had been reaching behind me to grab a hand towel off the hook near the stove. Edward flashed me a crooked smile, before leaning down and kissing my forehead, much like he had when I first told him that he could stay here. "Thanks, love. I'm so glad that you're letting my cook with you."
I grumbled a "You're welcome." before walking back to my spot at the counter, and wiping down my cutting board, and hanging it back up on the hook. Putting the veggies in the oven, I set the timer, before checking the state of the water.
"The water is going to be boiling in about ten minutes, so we have some time. What would you like to do?" I asked, looking at him with a smile.
Edward gave me a look, before laughing and shaking his head. "We could always talk about our plans for tomorrow… we do have jobs you know." He said, laughing. I smiled at him and chuckled a bit in response, "Sorry. I tend to forget… rather, I like to forget. It's so much more fun to imagine that I have all this money without actually having to do any work." Edward smiled at me, "I do have all the money without actually having to do any work." I scoffed, before playfully smacking him on the arm. "Alright, alright. We can talk." I said, smiling at him.
We walked over to the breakfast bar, Edward pulled out my stool allowing my to plop down, before he sat down in the stool right next to me.
"So tomorrow, we are flying out to Thailand with Alice." I said, looking at him for confirmation. "Who's Alice again?" Edward asked, looking at me questioningly. "Alice is my best friend, my boss, and my ACTUAL mission coordinator. Jake calls himself that because he is the one that makes sure all my missions run smoothly, but Alice is the one that actually gets me the missions. Did I mention that she was my best friend?" I smiled, trying to stop the word vomit that was threatening to overtake me.
Edward smiled at me. "You may have mentioned it once before…" he chucked. "So once, we get into Thailand, we're going to seek out James. Where did Emmett tell you he was?"
"Emmett has him in the Pathum Wan District of Bangkok. We've got him in a high rise, 14th floor, off of Salasin Road." Edward said, recalling the details of a conversation with Emmett that he must have had since our chat at lunch.
"Damn," I said, laughing, "you Brits are all over the details." I hopped up when I saw that the water was boiling and walked back into the kitchen. I looked over at Edward at the bar as I poured the pasta into the pot, and adding a dash of olive oil to keep it from sticking together. "What are we going to do if we get there and he's not there? Or if he is there? We never really talked about it at lunch."
"Well," he said, crossing his hands in front of him as I leaned over to move the vegetables around in the oven, "if he's there, we are going to have to make it clear that we intend to purchase the files. Maybe talk to him a little bit… get his intentions for the file out of him. I have a feeling that there is someone above him controlling these strings. If he isn't there… we start back at square one. Maybe talk to Laurent and tell him that we are interested in talking to James…?"
"Maybe we could play it like we wanted to go into a partnership with him. When he tells us that he can't, because he is already loyal to someone else, we might be able to get some information about them out of him." I said, as I walked back around the counter and sat back down next to Edward. He nodded, putting his head in the palm of his hand as though he was thinking about it.
"Sounds like a plan." He said, grinning. "Have you talked to Alice about getting the plane ready for our flight tomorrow?"
My face must have blanched because Edward suddenly looked very concerned. "Shit." I said, getting up from my seat and running into my office.
I heard Edward get up off the chair and follow me, shutting the door behind me and sitting in one of the chairs in the corner. I did a quick electronic bug scan of the room, shutting the sound proof, air tight doors before walking over to my desk and sitting down at my office phone. Picking it up, I dialed Alice's secure line, kicking my feet up on the desk as I cradled the phone on my shoulder.
"ALI!" I yelled, when she answered the phone. "Nice to talk to you too, Bella." Alice said with a laugh. "Sorry, Ali, I'm just a little jittery. I forgot to clear something with you." "The flight to Thailand tomorrow?" Alice said, laughing.
I stopped breathing. "H-h-h-how did you know ab-bout that?" I sputtered.
Alice laughed her usual tinkling laugh, "Oh, Bella, sweetie, you forget that I know everything. Well, that, and Jake called this afternoon around four thirty to talk about it. And then Edward's MC Emmett called to clear it with me too."
I sighed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god. I totally forgot to call and thought that you were going to flip out when I called and told you that I needed you to get the plane ready for an eighteen hour flight." Alice laughed again, though this time, it was more of a giggle. When I listened harder, I heard someone else in the background, very close to the phone.
"You know Ali," I said, smiling, "I'm going to go." "O-o-o-okay Bella." Alice said, her voice becoming a little breathier. "Tell Jasper I said hi!" I said, before laughing and clicking off. I started laughing immediately after I hung up the phone, pulling myself out of my chair and unlocking the doors. Once Edward exited, I spun around to relock the doors, securing the airtight door in place, and ensuring that the disguising mechanism locked back into place.
"What was that about?" Edward asked, looking at me in confusion.
I explained the situation to him as I drained the pasta, having him remove the veggies while I shook the pasta back into the pot. Finishing up the pasta with a huge handful of cheese, I grabbed place settings and asked Edward to set the table.
After pouring the pasta into a serving bowl, grabbing a bottle of wine from the wine chiller, and grabbing two glasses in my hand, I walked out into the dining room, and was immediately floored.
Somehow, in the few minutes that I had been away, Edward had managed to find candles to light, and put on light classical music to accompany our dinner. Smiling warmly at him, I held my hand out, allowing him to take the two wine glasses from my grasp, watching as he placed them next to our filled water glasses. I placed the pasta on the table, walking over to the end of the table to uncork the wine, filling each of our glasses ¾ of the way before placing the bottle on the portable wine chiller I hadn't seen Edward snag from the freezer.
Edward saw that I was getting ready to sit, so he swooped up behind me and pulled my chair out, taking my hand and helping me down into my seat. I smiled up at him, blushing and laughing quietly when he pressed a kiss to my knuckles. Edward sat down beside me, and looked over at me, smiling. "Go ahead, Bella. Ladies first." Edward said, gesturing towards to food in front of us. I smiled, and laughed lightly as I spooned pasta onto my plate before passing the serving platter to Edward. "I feel like we should be in at least semi-formal wear. Somehow, jeans and a t-shirt, even if it isa The Black Keys t-shirt doesn't feel right for the setting."
Edward looked down, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to do something nice for you, especially since you agreed to let me stay here with you." "Oh, Edward," I said, reaching out and taking his hand in mine, "you didn't make me feel uncomfortable. I was just… saying." I laughed uncomfortably, before releasing his hand and taking a sip of wine.
Edward smiled at me, and we both began eating quietly. Edward groaned, looking over at me with a smile. "This is absolutely delicious, love. I cannot believe I haven't convinced you too cook for me before." Edward said, shoveling more food into his mouth. I laughed, "Well, technically, I cooked breakfast today." Edward looked up at me and smiled, "Sorry, love. Pancakes don't count. They were amazingly good, but this… this is just unbelievable."
I laughed again; this wasn't the first time that someone had praised my cooking, but it was the first time that it made me so uncomfortable. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the comments when they came from Edward… it was more that I wanted him to start thinking of ways that he could…pay me back. I wanted to hear the complements fall from his lips over and over again. I wanted to please him.
And that scared the shit out of me, if I am being honest. My entire life, it had been about making other people happy before I finally stopped, that fateful night with Charlie, and decided to live my life the way that I wanted to. I don't regret that… I could never regret that. Well, I might regret the way that I went about acquiring my independence, but the results…the results I could never regret.
I am who I am because of what I did… because if what I said. I was sitting across this dining table from sexy as hell Edward Cullen because of the decision that I had made so many years ago.
But now, here I was, finding myself plagued with the almost overwhelming desire to please Edward. Not in a sexual way either, though that wasn't something that was far from my stream of consciousness at the time. I wanted to make him happy, I wanted to make him smile. I wanted to hear him laugh, and see his eyes light up in delight.
I didn't know where this new "eager to please" Bella came from, but I wanted to send her back.
Is that possible?
Shrugging internally, I continued to eat my pasta, listening to the quiet sounds of please that Edward was making.
About an hour later, we finished eating most of the pasta, and the entire bottle of wine, so we pushed my chair away from the table to begin cleaning up. Edward immediately jumped up, insisting that he clean up the mess from dinner, as he did so little to help. I just laughed, and told him that I was going to go put my pajamas while he tidied up.
I walked into my room, stripping off my clothes and tossing them in the hamper in my closet. Pulling on my Weezer shirt and the boxers from earlier, and pulling my socks back into place, I ran my fingers through my hair to loosen up my waves a little bit.
Now what were we going to do?
I needed to let the pasta digest before I even ATTEMPTED the sorbet I had made a few days ago. Maybe we could watch a movie…
Perfect.
Jumping in place a bit, I shook my limbs, trying to get myself to center and calm the hell down. Fingering my waves a bit more, I smiled at my reflection before walking back out of my room and down the hall into the living room. I could see Edward in the dining room from here, leaning over the table to blow out the candles, waving the smoke through the air so that it didn't set off any smoke alarms. He grabbed a handful of dishes and walked into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later to grab the empty wine bottle.
I heard him drop it into the recycling, and turn on the water to, I assume, wash his hands, before he padded off to his own room. I didn't know if he was going to come back out that night, so I waited a minute, walking over to my DVD case to grab Tommy Boy from the shelf, before silently walking down the hallway to his door.
Standing outside, I listening intently from any noise coming from inside when I heard him talking; "I don't know, Carlisle," he was saying, "I don't know if I can keep doing this. I'm… I'm falling for her."
I felt my heart swell at his words. He was… falling for me? How could it be? There was no way that this was –
"Of course I haven't told Tanya, Dad! Why would you even…" he laughed then, and it was a jovial, heartfelt sound.
Damn this Tanya, bitch.
But deep down, I guess that I always knew it. There was no way that he could be single, and no way that he would have been so willing to just jump into bed with me. He must have been missing the company of someone that he left behind in London.
And I now knew what her name was.
I crept back down the hall as I heard him hang up with his dad, plopping myself down on the couch, turning the DVD over and over in my hands.
I heard Edward's door open, and I threw the DVD down onto the table, getting it as far away from me as humanly possible.
"Hey, Bells…" Edward called into the hallway, "did you want to watch a movie tonight? So we can digest our food before we go ahead and dig into that sorbet you made?" Edward rounded the corner and saw the movie lying on the table. "You already picked one out?" he said, walking over to the table and picking it up. "And it is one of my favorites. You are the girl of my dreams." He said, flashing me a winning smile. Edward leaned down and kissed my forehead before walking over and popping the DVD into the player. He walked over, sat down on the couch, before lying down, pulling me with him so that I was lying on his chest, much like earlier when we were playing our little game.
That's all this is… a game. Okay, Bella. Get yourself together. You and Edward are just friends. It doesn't matter how fucking attractive he is…
I sighed, breathing in Edward's delicious scent, before relaxing into him and watching the movie. Every time that Edward laughed, his body shook against mine, reminding me of the many ways that his body had shaken when we were together.
The feel of his fingers running through my hair reminded me of how he used to pull my mouth to his, as he intertwined his fingers in my locks, the gentle tugging enough to drive me insane.
The way my head moved, ever so slightly, as he breathed reminded me of how Edward had pulled me up onto his chest afterwards, allowing me to snuggle against him. The way his skin felt against mine was something that I was never going to feel again, but it was something that I was definitely always going to remember.
We watched the rest of the movie without talking, laughing frequently, with Edward just holding me. I couldn't help but think that I had somehow misunderstood what I had heard him talking to his dad about earlier. There was no way that he was falling in love with someone else while he was sitting here holding me like there. No way that he could feel something so intense for someone else while we were interacting the way we were.
When the movie ended, Edward gave one last laugh, before turning over to face me.
We were laying on the couch, our bodies pressed together, which Edward continued to stare into my eyes and run his fingers through my hair. It looked like he was… looking for something. Almost like he was staring through me, staring into me in a way that no one had ever tried to do before. It was overwhelming, shaking me right down to the core. I almost couldn't take it.
As though he'd heard my internal monologue, Edward smiled, placing a kiss on my forehead, before rolling off the couch. "Sorbet?" he asked, smiling down at me. I grinned, and nodded and moved to get up before he pressed my shoulder back down into the couch. "Stay here. I'll get you dessert. We'll talk when I get back."
"More childhood stories?" I asked, laughing. Edward laughed heartily, "More childhood stories."
He came back a few minutes later, two very large bowls of sorbet in his hands. He held them both out, "Pick." he said, shaking the bowls at me. I smiled, plucking the right one from his hand, before sitting up at patting the seat next to me.
"Want to play a game?" he asked, looking at me mischievously. I immediately became suspicious of him. "What game?" I asked, eyeing him. Edward laughed, "Come on now, don't look at me that way! It's an innocent little game…" "Spit it out, Edward." I said, laughing.
"Okay. We take turns telling secrets." Edward said, smiling down at me. "And this time, I'll let you go first." He said, winking at me. I laughed out loud, shaking my head at him, "What do you mean, secrets?"
"It could be anything. A childhood story, secret thoughts about a certain male spy you work with…" I rolled my eyes, laughing at him, as he winked at me again, "anything. I just want us to know more about each other. And besides… I told you that I wanted to know everything about you Bella. I wasn't kidding."
I laughed, before taking a bite of sorbet, and tapping the end of my nose with the tip of the spoon. "Hmmm…." I said, trying to think of something to tell him. "Oh! I got one! Okay, once, when I was fifteen, I was up in Forks visiting Charlie for the summer. I went to First Beach to visit Jacob, but he was out hanging with his friends. I didn't want to go back to Forks because Charlie was at work, and I wasn't about to subject myself to unlimited time with a bunch of pubescent teenage boys. So, instead of calling Charlie and having him pick me back up, I went over to the cliffs where people usually go cliff diving."
I looked at Edward who looked like someone had bleached his skin. I laughed at his horrified expression before continuing.
"So I decided to jump. It was really stupid in retrospect, but it was also one of the best experiences of my life. The feel of the dive… the wind blowing through my hair, not knowing whether I was going to live or die… I can't even describe it to you. But I never told anyone. I thought that if I told someone, it would make what I did seem less… thrilling. Less "for me." But it didn't. It still feels the same. And I'm so thankful that it does. That, and I knew that if I told Jake, he would tell my dad… who would have killed me."
Edward stared at me in shock for a few seconds before shaking his head and laughing at me. "Only you, Bella Swan, would go jumping off a cliff like that. Most people go when there are other people around. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't." I retorted, "But now it's your turn, so get on it." Edward smiled and began thinking about something to tell me. All I could think about was how cute he looked as he scratched his jaw, now covered in an amazingly sexy five o'clock shadow.
Hello, I'm Bella's dignity. I jumped ship upon meeting Edward Cullen, and I'm going to make an ass of myself very soon. Is there anyway that I could return sometime in the immediate future? Please?
Edward smiled at me. "Okay, you can't tell anyone." He said, looking over at me. I nodded my head, taking another bite of sorbet to control my smile. "I lost my virginity when I was fifteen to my seventeen year old friend, Tanya. She wanted to have a relationship but I didn't, but we're still friends. She's a great person… who happened to swipe my V-Card."
I stared at him. Just stared. I resisted the urge to yell, 'Is this the same Tanya that you were talking on the phone about?'
Thank god I have some semblance of self-control.
The game continued, back and forth, for what seemed like hours. As we told each other our secrets, and the stories from our childhood, I could feel us moving closer emotionally. That, and we were also physically moving closer.
By the end of the first hour, we had finished our sorbet, and I was lying on Edward's chest again, while he fingered through my hair.
It seemed to be a favorite position of ours.
The things the we told each other ranged from deep, to downright silly, but it didn't take away any of the significance of what was happening here. I, Bella Swan, was falling in love with Edward Cullen.
Once I admitted it to myself, I could feel my body start to freak out. If I was in love with him, why couldn't I be with him? It was all I'd wanted, all effing day. What was stopping me?
We have to try and make this friendship work. We can't go into this sleeping together… Besides, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since you slept together. Calm the fuck down.
It was finally my turn again, and I was struggling to think of something to say. I knew that if I didn't come up with something soon, I would probably end up blurting out that I was falling in love with him.
And we know how well that always works out.
So I decided to tell him something that I had never told anyone, not even Jake. This wasn't something like my cliff-diving story… it was much more personal.
"Before I left Forks to work for the CIA, Charlie and I had gotten into a huge fight." I said, feeling the tears start to accumulate in my eyes. I think Edward sensed to tension, because he wrapped his arms tightly around me, and turned on his side so we were facing each other, our eyes level.
"We had been talking about my departure for weeks. Every single time I brought it up, it turned into an argument. I wanted to leave, I knew that I needed to; Charlie, on the other hand, wanted me to stay. He didn't want me all the way across the country from both parents by myself. I don't know if it was because he didn't trust me, or he thought I was going to get into some sort of trouble… whatever, I guess it doesn't matter now." I let out a shaky sigh when I felt the first set of tears trickle down my cheeks.
Edward reached out to wipe the tears from my face, as I took in a breath to steel my nerves. "So the night before I was supposed to leave, Charlie and I got into a full blown fight. We were yelling back and forth, making idle threats… it was horrible. Charlie and I never fought, let alone like that. This type of fighting was reserved for Renée and me." Silent tears continued to trickle down my face, and Edward continued to wipe them away; I was glad that he wasn't stopping me, even though, judging by his expression, it was painful for him to watch my cry. I think that he knew I needed this.
"I did the worst thing that I could have done, Edward." I said, taking in a gasping breath. "I threw my mothers leaving words back at him. 'Let me go, Charlie. I can't build a life here, not like this. Just let me go.'… you should have seen the look on his face. It was like I had stabbed his straight through the heart. He just nodded his head, and walked up to his room, shutting the door quietly behind him. I left in the middle of the night that night… I left him a note apologizing on my bed, but I'm not sure he ever got it."
The silent tears then became full blown sobs. My body began to shake, and my face was covered in tears. Edward gathered me in his arms, and I pressed my face into his chest, breathing in his scent to try and calm myself down. It wasn't working. Edward pulled back, and ran his hands through my hair.
"Don't cry, love. Please, Bright Eyes, don't cry." Edward's hands were cupping my face, his thumbs wiping away the tears. He bent forward and placed a gentle kiss onto my forehead, before placing his forehead on mine. "Did you just call me Bright Eyes?" I whispered, smiling a watery smile at him. "Yeah, I guess I did." Edward said, pulling back and looking around nervously.
"Where did you get that from?" I asked, chuckling, sniffling, and wiping the remaining traces of tears from my skin. "Well," Edward said reaching out to catch some tears I'd missed, "I noticed how bright your eyes were when I met you that day in the dressing room. How… alive they were. I'd never met anyone with eyes like yours. I've been calling you Bright Eyes in my head every since. I didn't mean for it to slip out…"
"That's what he said." I said, my body rocking with laughter. Edward looked at me in disbelief, before saying, "Oh, you think that's funny?" and attacking my sides with his fingers.
I started screaming with laughter as he tickled me, squirming around, and attempting to get up. Somehow, Edward wound up hovering above me, his fingers tickling all across the skin of my abdomen. "Edward… Edward… get… off!" I said, laughing, "I'm… going… to… puke!" I continued laughing as Edward rolled off of me, bringing us back to "Position One" as I was going to refer to it; Edward on his back, his arm around me, while I was curled into his right side, my head on his chest.
Sighing, I snuggled closer into Edward, who gripped me tighter. "Thank you, Edward." I said, smiling as I tried to stifle a yawn. "No problem, Bright Eyes." Edward said, his fingers continuing their usual path through my hair. Sighing, I snuggled even closer, buried my face in his chest, and allowed myself to succumb to sleep.
I awoke with a start sometime later, in my own bed. It was dark outside, so I knew that I hadn't slept through the entire night. I leaned over to check my clock; one am. Perfect.
Kicking my covers off, I slid out of bed and went to the bathroom, washing my face, brushing my teeth, and otherwise getting ready to go back to sleep.
The last thing I remember was falling asleep on Edward… wait, was he in my bed?
I leaned my head back into my bedroom to check. Nope, no Edward.
Shaking my head, I walked back into the bathroom to clean myself up, running a brush through my hair a few time before I tied it back to wash my hair.
A few minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom, and was just getting back into bed when I heard noises coming from the hallway.
It sounded like someone talking, and of course, I immediately flipped. I got out of bed and walked over to the door, not even bothering to grab something to defend myself, as I was content with my fighting skills.
I crept out of my room, and stood outside the door just listening. Once I got a good idea of where the sound was coming from, I walked towards it. As I followed the sound, I realized that I was quietly approaching Edward's room. Shit.
I stood outside his room for a few minutes listening to him, trying to determine whether or not he was awake.
Once I determined that he was still sleeping, I crept into Edward's room. He was laying on his back in bed, his hands gripping the comforter around him, and saying, "I killed them! It's not okay, I killed them!"
I stood in the doorway, watching him for a few seconds, as he tossed and turned in his sleep, repeating the same thing over and over again. Eventually, he let out a strangled cry and then I realized… Edward was crying in his sleep.
Whatever he was talking about had racked him with so much guilt that he was crying in his sleep.
I didn't even think, I just walked over to Edward's bed, moving back the covers and sliding underneath. Laying on my back, I pulled Edward to me, holding him much like he held me on the couch. Edward's sniffling slowed, and the tears had stopped flowing from his closed eyes. Frowning, I reached up and wipe the tear trails away from his gorgeous face.
Edward sighed a sigh of… I'm assuming contentment, before burying his face in my neck and gripping my waist like it was his lifeline.
"I killed them… and now Bright Eyes is leaving me." He murmured in the saddest tone of voice I had ever heard. "Oh, Edward," I said, reaching down and running my fingers through his hair, "I'm right here, and I'm not leaving you."
I kept mumbling quiet reassurances and running my fingers through his soft, bronze locks, until I felt Edward slip into a deeper sleep, his words ceasing.
I allowed myself to relax back into Edward's bed, sighing as I felt the exhaustion from the day overwhelm me. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep with Edward pressed against me, my fingers wound in his hair.
Talk about déjà vu.
I woke up the next morning when the comforter was ripped from my body.
My eyes shot open, and I realized that Edward was still pressed into my, still holding onto my waist, his face still pressed into my neck.
Okay, so it wasn't Edward that ripped the blanket off…
I looked up, over Edward and saw Alice standing at the end of the bed, the blanket in her hands.
"Bella and Edward." Alice said, her voice loud and authoritative. "Wake the fuck up. We have a plane to catch."
Edward groaned, burying his face closer into my neck. But I knew he was awake because his teeth began nipping at the skin of my neck. That, and I could feel his rather impressive erection making itself known against my thigh.
"I see you Edward. Get the hell up."
Edward laughed quietly against me skin before leaning up and whispering, "Is she always this loud?" I giggled, "Yes, always." I replied, running my fingers through his hair, before moving out from under him, rubbing my thigh up against his erection before completely moving out from under him.
Edward growled quietly, looking at me. I just winked, letting him know that I had done it on purpose.
"Alright, Alice, come sit in my bathroom with me while I take a shower."
Alice agreed, and we both traipsed out of Edward's room, leaving him to deal with his issues by himself.
"So what's the deal here, Bells?" Alice asked, wiggling her eyes at me.
I just sighed, shaking my head. "It's insanely complicated… I'll explain once I'm in the shower." I answered, as we walked into my room, and shutting the door behind us.
Alright, so what did you think? Sorry I left it kind of cliffie… and sorry that it is a total filler.
Question of the Update:
Do you want to see other POV's? If so, who's? Tell me in your review!