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It's been a little intense yes? How about a little break?

Theothebella is my grammar goddess – you should get one, they rock.

I don't own, I just play.

Chapter 7, Calling John Hughes

BPOV

It felt so good to be held.

I'd received hugs and kisses from Jake, Rose, and Alice, but to be really held - to be made to feel safe and comforted, I hadn't felt that way since Sue hugged me before I boarded the plane to New York all those years ago.

His arms were strong and kept me pressed to his broad, stable chest. I fit so nicely there. He lifted his chin to rest on the top of my head, and while I was still crying, still exhausted and overwhelmed by everything, what I really felt was relief. I had accused him of not knowing a thing about my pain, but I was so wrong. He may not have known why, but he seemed to know exactly what I was feeling.

I let myself luxuriate in the feeling of him around me, even after the tears had stopped. When I realized that we were simply in his living room, holding each other for no reason any more, it made me nervous. What was I doing? Yes, he helped me. Yes, he paid for my tattoo. And yes, he opened up and was honest with me. But he was also a man who referred to himself as a beast - I had a feeling he didn't just mean the scars.

I wiggled a little and pushed away from him when his arms loosened.

"Thank you. I seem to be saying that a lot."

"You don't have to."

"I want to though."

There was a very awkward and long silence.

"I..." he started but stopped.

"Yes?"

"It's nothing."

"It was something."

He took a couple of deep breaths, psyching himself up for whatever he was about to say.

"I want to wish you a belated Happy Birthday."

"What?"

"Yesterday; it was your birthday."

"How do you know that?"

"Your driver's license."

"Christ, right. Well, thanks. I won't soon forget that one huh?"

"You didn't really get to celebrate your 30th properly."

"What's properly anyway?" I shrugged, trying to act cool. He couldn't have known that all I had planned when I got home was a hot shower, some serious crying, and a pint of coffee Heath bar crunch.

"What were you planning on doing?"

Busted.

"Umm, nothing really. I'm not big on parties or going out or, having any kind of social life whatsoever."

"Sounds familiar," he added.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Ya."

"A shower, a good cry, and a pint of ice cream."

His answer threw me for a loop.

"What kind of ice cream?"

"Coffee Heath bar crunch."

"LYDIA!"

"If you tell me you happen to have it in the freezer right now, I'd have to kiss you."

It just slipped out - I blushed out of pure embarrassment.

"No, there's no ice cream in the freezer, let alone coffee Heath bar crunch."

"What? Not any? Like no ice cream at all? Not even a lousy pint of vanilla?"

"No, I haven't..." Before he could continue, Lydia showed up. "Lydia, could you please go out and buy two pints of coffee Heath bar crunch ice cream?"

She nodded and started to walk away, taking off her apron. I wasn't all that thrilled that he was having this woman run around for me, but I couldn't let her run around all night either, I mean sometimes you can't find the right flavor.

"Ummm, Lydia," I asked timidly, she turned to me. "If they don't have it, you can get mint chocolate chip." She smiled and nodded before walking away.

I turned to face him again, "Well, that was new."

"What was?"

"Telling the help to go fetch me something."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I'm putting her grandkids through college?"

"Maybe a little, why?"

"I'm not easy to work for and I know it. I pay people well for their troubles."

"You're honest, I'll give you that much."

A pained expression crossed his face suddenly, then it was gone.

"So tears are done with, ice cream is on its way, would you still like a shower?"

Awkward!

"No, I think I'm OK actually..." I said a little uneasily. It was one thing when I thought he wasn't in the apartment, but just then? Not OK He must have picked up on my uneasiness.

"I'm sorry. I'm not good with people anymore."

"You're doing fine, really. It's just... well, let's keep the topic of showers out of the convo for a bit, OK?"

"Right, out. Got it."

"Let's get back to this ice cream thing... there's really no ice cream in the house at all? Jesus, man, what do you eat?"

"Bananas, protein, whole grains."

"No wonder you're grumpy. When was the last time you had real food?"

"I have real food every day."

"No, you don't, you have stuff that's good for you. When was the last time you had a cheeseburger and fries?"

"Can't remember."

"Pizza?"

"Can't remember."

"Dan Dan Noodles?"

"Don't even know what those are."

"Oh my God. That's serious, we're going to have to fix that."

"We?" Something seemed to dawn on him. "We are?"

"Ya that's what friends are for, right? Introducing new things to each other?"

"Friends? Is that what we are?"

I couldn't tell if he was confused, angry, sad, elated or what.

"Yes. I can't very well call you my hero, don't want you getting a God complex after all."

I was hoping he would crack a smile at that, but instead he muttered the word "friends" to himself and started walking away. He walked out of the room without even so much as a follow me or right this way or anything!

"Hello!" I shouted, a little put-off.

"SHIT." He came running back in. "I'm… shit. I'm sorry. I'm not used to company. Umm, follow me? Please?"

"OK. Where are we going?"

"Would you like a tour?"

"Yes, I'd love one."

He took me through his massive home. There were three bedrooms besides the master, two more full baths, and two half baths. There was the kitchen that made me drool again, his office, a home gym, a formal dining room, and another room with a massive TV and overstuffed chairs and a pool table, I suppose it could have been considered a family room, but from what I could tell, there was no family to enjoy it.

Everything was perfectly maintained and perfectly decorated. Some of it seemed overly formal to me, like the red silk walls and gilt frames in the dining room, then some of it seemed cold and modern like his bedroom, then some of it seemed kind of... catalog-ish and banal. I couldn't get a sense of him from anything he showed me. It was odd. I knew he lived there, his clothes were in the closets and everything, but his apartment seemed to have just as much as a personality crisis as he did.

Of course the grand jewel of the penthouse was the balcony space. It wrapped around almost the entire apartment - from his bedroom, dining room, living room, and family room. You could see the city in all its splendor before you - Central Park, Midtown, even Jersey. There were no tables or chairs out there though. No gas grill or plants - nothing. It was barren, only the gargoyles and red brick of the building adorned the space. It made me sad.

We were out on the balcony when we heard the door close. We walked to the kitchen to find Lydia pulling out two pints of coffee Heath bar crunch and two pints of mint chocolate chip. She put out an ice cream scoop and (bless her) chocolate sauce. She set two places at the kitchen table with glass bowls, spoons, napkins, the ice cream scoop, the ice creams, and the chocolate sauce then ushered us to the table. She had a smile plastered on her face the whole time... exactly how much did Edward pay this woman that setting up ice cream made her that happy?

EPOV

Lydia was all smiles. She never had people besides me to fuss over. I think the smiles had more to do with my reaction to Bella, though. I was talking…to a woman…who wasn't Alice…and I hadn't kicked her out or lost my temper. She ushered Bella to her seat, and before she left, she slipped a lighter and a thin cardboard box into my hand. She smiled warmly, winked, then left. I looked down to my hands and saw she had given me sparkling candles and a lighter - wily woman.

"Coming? I can't eat all this myself; I mean I can, but..."

"Ya, I'm coming."

I sat down just as Bella had finished scooping out her ice cream into her bowl. "Wait," I said before she could take her first bite. I pulled out three sparklers, placed them in her ice cream and lit them. I looked at her, at her beautiful eyes, kissable lips, creamy skin, and had to wonder what I had done to deserve the likes of Bella Swan sitting in my kitchen. I lit the candles and said, "Happy Birthday, Bella."

She started laughing. Not the reaction I was hoping for.

"Something funny?" I asked, just slightly annoyed.

"Oh, Edward, don't be upset, it's just so Sixteen Candles."

"Sixteen Candles?"

"Remember - the John Hughes film with Molly Ringwald?"

It took me a second, but then I did remember. Some girl I was seeing in college insisted I watch it with her. At the end, the lead guy... Jake! That was his name, found Molly, and wished her a happy birthday over a cake with sixteen candles on it. I couldn't help it. She was right, it was oh so Sixteen Candles and to my utter surprise... I laughed.

She stared at me, jaw dropped, before she started laughing again. I was laughing in earnest and it felt so fucking good. She did that. Bella did that for me. She made me smile, she made me laugh. And whatever the future held, that alone was worth a lot. When I finally caught my breath and stopped laughing, I couldn't help but let her know.

"I haven't laughed like that in, man, I can't even remember."

"I'm glad. It looks good on you, Jake!"

"Thank you, shit, what was her name?"

"Come on, you can do it!"

I took a second, "SAM!"

She laughed again, "That's right!"

"Wait, we have to make this accurate, hold on." I moved my bowl, the ice creams, and the sauce to the kitchen counter. I sat on the table, crossed my legs, and pulled the bowl toward the middle of the table. "Coming, Sam?"

She wasn't laughing anymore. She seemed scared or shy or something.

"Will the table hold our weight?"

"Only one way to find out. I won't let you fall."

"I think I know that," she said and winked. Fucking winked. Jesus, I thought I would combust right there!

She got up, sat her stellar fucking ass on the table, scooted back, then swung her legs up and around. After a little wiggling and adjusting, there we were: Jake and Sam, or Bella and Edward - cross legged, on a table, with a bowl of ice cream between us, three sparklers glittering away. I didn't know I had it in me to be that cheesy. It was really fucking nice to know that I could be.

"This is seriously cheesy. You know that, right?" Bella said, taking the words out my mouth.

I laughed, "I was just thinking that."

"I kinda like it."

"I was just thinking that, too."

There was a moment when we just looked at each other. I couldn't be sure if she was staring but I decided it didn't matter. Just to have her there was enough for me.

"You know," Bella started, "this is the point when Jake kisses Sam. Umm, in the movie I mean," she said nervously.

My heart threatened to pound out of my chest. Shit, what did I say to something like that? Instincts took over where my mind couldn't travel.

"Do you... want me to kiss you, Bella?" I asked slowly, not believing the words that were coming out my mouth.

She swallowed, when a timid smile crossed her lips she said, "Yes, Edward, I think I'd like that."

I actually felt like I was thirteen again, worried that I was going to slobber on Jessica Stanley when I kissed her for the first time in Summer Camp. I hadn't kissed a woman who asked me to in years. I hadn't kissed a woman who knew what she was kissing in my entire life as Edward Masen. She couldn't have known any of that, of course. She also couldn't known how much I wanted to run away, worried it was all a cruel joke. She couldn't have known how terrified I was, or how desperately I wanted her to like my lips.

I leaned in over the bowl of ice cream and sparklers and saw her lean in to meet me. I was centimeters away from her lips. Her perfect fucking lips. Now or never, I thought to myself. I closed the distance and pressed my lips to hers. My whole body seemed to hum at the connection. Her lips were so tender. She smelled like cucumbers or something, so fresh. Before I could figure out what to compare the softness of her skin to though, she pulled away. And so I didn't seem like the thirteen year old loser I felt like, I pulled away too.

"I won't say thank you. I'm tired of it," she said.

"Good, I don't like hearing it anyway."

We had a moment – a cheesy, silly, extraordinary, life affirming moment. It may not have meant much to her, but it meant the world to me. That little glimmer of hope I kept locked away started worming its way out in the open. Could she actually learn to care for me? Maybe it was just emotions and being overwhelmed as she had put it earlier. It could all pass in a few hours and we could go back to just being a beauty and a beast.

If she went home that night and never spoke to me again I'd be upset and angry but not surprised. She felt she owed me something for taking care of her. She thought of me as a hero, that was laughable, but those were her words not mine. Maybe that was her way of thanking me? There were a million questions running through my head, but one above them all screamed the loudest.

"Bella, I don't want to pry or make you uncomfortable but, I want to know something."

"Okayyyyy," she said suspiciously.

"Do you think you could tell me about last night, the tattoo, the tears, all of it?"

She looked down to her hands, then back at me. She smiled a sad little smile, "Maybe someday. Do think you could tell me about the scars?"

I froze. Could I? There were only a handful of people who knew the truth. The risk was huge. I didn't know what to say or do. The prospect of the telling her my past was terrifying, not only because she would know who I really was, but how would she possibly want to stay when she knew what I had done to my friends, to myself, to my family? I must have been silent for a long while because she interrupted my inner monologue.

"'Maybe someday' would work, Edward."

"Then, maybe someday."

A/N

Up next… well Alice, Jake, and Rosie need the dirty little details don't they?

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