Disclaimer: I may not own Twilight, but I do own lots and lots and lots of zombie movies.

A/N: I'm so sorry that you had to wait so long to get this. I've just gotten a second job so now I'm working 6, sometimes 7 days a week, so my writing time is practically non-existent. Updates may end up being every other week, depending on when I find time to write. My second job is a 330 to midnight shift, and I might be able to squeeze some writing time in there if it's not horribly busy. If you want, you can follow me on twitter (bookwormeg), and I'll let you all know when the story will be updated using that. Okay, enough excuses and ramblings. On with the story. BTW, if this chapter sucks, I apologize. It is also a bit shorter than normal. I wrote it while hopped up on cold medicine and very little sleep. Not to mention that my beta is unavailable for a few weeks, so I'm sure there's a shit ton of grammatical errors. I apologize in advance.

Design For Life

"Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can" William Feather

EPOV

Holy hell, I thought staring at myself in the mirror. My hair was all messed up, my eyes glassy and glazed, and my face was flushed. I looked as if I'd just had the most intense orgasm of my life. Oh, wait. I had. A huge, cheesy grin came over my face, and I didn't even try to reign it in. Bella was amazing, and I was so in love with her. I'd told her the other night but not loud enough for her to hear. I wasn't sure she'd feel the same way, and I wasn't ready to lay it all out there just yet.

Realizing that I was still wearing my messy boxers, I quickly stripped out of them and grabbed the washrag hanging next to the sink. I washed myself off, tossed the washrag in her hamper along with my soiled boxers and slipped my clean ones on. Walking out, I headed back to the bed and crawled in next to Bella. I watched the sway of her hips as she walked to the bathroom to clean up and felt myself getting hard again. She was amazing. I rolled onto my back rethinking everything that had just happened. My mind had been blown. Just wait 'til it's your dick being blown my inner Emmett thought. I quickly tried to banish that thought because if what we had just done had nearly killed me, I couldn't imagine surviving anything else. I tried to keep my eyes open, but they closed on their own accord.

The next morning I woke up to warm lips pressing small kisses to my chest.

"Good morning," Bella sang, giving me a tight squeeze.

I blinked open my eyes and stared down at the beautiful woman who was wrapped around me. How in the world did I get so lucky? I pulled her into a hug, rolling us over, so that I was on top of her. I pressed a gentle closed mouth kiss to her lips. I didn't want to kill her with my dragon breath that I was positive that I had.

"Good morning," I told her, making sure to keep from breathing on her.

We slowly untangled ourselves and began to get ready for the day. After my shower, I headed downstairs and found Bella making breakfast for us. I loved that she did that. Her breakfasts were far better than mine, which usually consisted of pop-tarts or toast.

After breakfast, we walked out to our cars, so we could both head to work.

"See you after work?" Bella asked, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"You bet," I replied, leaning down and giving her a kiss.

Our lips melded together, tongues dueling, passion igniting. I was starting to loose myself in the kiss when I felt a pair of small hands squeeze my butt. It startled me enough to pull my lips away from hers. She had a mischievous look on her face.

"What? You've got a great ass. I've been wanting to do that for a while."

I rolled my eyes at her before giving her one last kiss. The temperature had severely dropped over the past few days, and there was no way I was going to be walking to work in it. Finally, we separated, and I watched from my car as she pulled out of her drive. Once she was safely on the road, I started toward work.

The library was pretty slow which was usual for a Friday. At around ten, Alice swept into the library for her story time. She barely acknowledged me as she headed toward the children's section. I guessed she was still a bit angry with me, but I couldn't find it in myself to care. An hour later, her story time was over, so she headed came to find me. I pretended to be busy, but she wasn't about to be ignored. She stalked over, leaned against the desk, and began tapping her fingernails against the counter. She knew that irritated the heck out of me. Finally, I gave up the pretense.

"Yes?" I asked her.

"How come you agreed to have dinner with Emmett, but you wouldn't hang out with Jasper and me?" she asked, glaring angrily at me.

"Because Emmett asked me. He didn't just demand that we have dinner with him right then and there."

She crossed her arms over her chest, a scowl etched on her face, and I could sense a tantrum coming on.

"Do I need to get Jasper and have him put you in time-out?" I asked her.

"Excuse me?"

"You're gearing up for a major tantrum. You've got the same look on your face that you had when you were two, and Emmett stole your Barbie."

She gave a huff before turning on her heel and stalking off toward the local history room. I was actually kind of proud of myself. Normally, I would've just let her walk all over me, but since meeting Bella, I'd grown a bit more assertive.

Another hour flew by, and Alice left without saying a word to me. Jasper shot me a glare as he followed her out, but I shrugged it off.

"What did you do to your sister?" Angela asked from beside me.

"Stood up to her," I said quietly.

"Good for you," she replied before going back to playing some game on Facebook. I didn't understand the appeal of Facebook. Granted, I didn't actually have one. What was the point? It wasn't like I had many friends.

"You should get a Facebook page," Angela suggested.

I shrugged. "Eh. I don't know if I want one."

"Sure, you do. Scoot your chair over. We'll get you set up with one."

Before I knew it, Angela had created a page for me, taken a picture of me on her phone, uploaded it, and started sending out friend request. It all seemed like so much work. By the time lunch rolled around, I'd learned how to maneuver around the world of Facebook.

How is work going? I texted to Bella.

Slow today. U?

Same. Angela introduced me to the world of Facebook.

Lol. Awesome. R U going to be my friend?

Of course.

We chatted for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. Once my lunch was over, I headed back to the front desk where I got to deal with more than a few calls from patrons. One old lady had me looking up every book ever written by Janet Evanovich and wanted me to put everyone of them on hold for her. It was a long and tedious task, but I got it done. After she left, I logged into my brand new Facebook page and noticed that I had several friend requests as well as a request confirming that I was in a relationship with Bella Swan. Heck yes, I was. Eagerly, I confirmed it. I fiddled around for a little bit before guilt set in, and I logged off.

Before I knew it, Wednesday was upon us and Bella and I were on our way to Emmett and Rosalie's for dinner. The car ride over to their place was a bit tense. Neither of us was particularly looking forward to it. I wasn't too worried about Emmett or Jasper. It was mainly dealing with Rosalie and Alice that was going to prove interesting. Earlier in the week, I'd asked Emmett why he wanted us over for dinner, he said it was so Rosalie could make amends with both Bella and myself. Bella and I had almost laughed ourselves silly. We both figured that Rosalie had some ulterior motive.

I pulled my car into the drive of Emmett and Rosalie's modest house, got out, and opened Bella's door. It looked as though Jasper and Alice had already arrived. We walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Eddie! Bella! Welcome to my humble abode!" Emmett boomed, opening the door, and gesturing us in.

We walked into the living room, Bella's hand clasped tightly in mine. Rosalie and Alice were sitting on the love seat, heads bent together, talking quietly while Jasper was sitting on the couch watching hockey. The minute Alice and Rosalie spotted us, they ceased talking. I got a bit of a bad feeling when they turned and gave us polite, yet fake smiles.

"Bella. Edward. I'm so glad that you came," Rosalie simpered.

"Hello, Rosalie. Thanks for having us," I replied as politely as I could. Next to me, Bella echoed my sentiments.

Then we all just sort of sat there staring at each other. Finally, Emmett broke the tension by offering to give Bella a tour of the place.

"Oh, sit down, Em. I'll be happy to show Bella around. It'll give us a chance to talk," Rosalie said.

I felt that was a horrible idea, so I jumped up to join them, despite the fact that I'd been there before, but I was waylaid by Alice.

"Oh, stay, Edward. Rosalie can show her around just fine."

All I could do was nod as I watched Rosalie lead Bella out of the room. I don't know why I was so worried. I knew that Bella could take better care of herself than I could. Bella looked back and gave me a reassuring smile.

I sat back down on the couch and turned my attention to Alice.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior. You were right. I was acted like a child," she said.

It seemed sincere, but Alice could be tricky like that. I accepted her apology and spent the next ten minutes not paying much attention to what was being said around me. I was too busy worrying about Bella. Finally, Bella and Rosalie came down the stairs. Bella's eyes were angry, despite the calm look on her face. She came over to me, and I wrapped my arm around her.

"Everything okay?" I asked quietly in her ear.

"Yeah. She's a sly one, I'll give her that. Trying to get me to talk about shit about you, or talk about Laurent. But I'm on to her," she told me.

I gave her shoulder a squeeze before dropping a kiss on her lips.

"Ow, ow," Emmett hollered from his spot in the doorway near the kitchen.

Reluctantly, we pulled apart, rolling our eyes at Emmett. He announced that dinner was ready, so we all got up and headed into the kitchen to grab our plates. Emmett had an awesome round table that he'd built as a wedding present for Rosalie. We all sat down to eat and that was when things started to get interesting.

"So, Bella," Rosalie began. "How have things been?"

"Pretty good," Bella replied.

"Really?" Rosalie asked, a bit of disbelief in her voice. "I thought you were having trouble with your ex."

Emmett broke in asking Bella what was going on and if he needed to kick someone's ass.

Bella let out a laugh. "It's fine Brother Bear. He broke into my house and wrecked some of my furniture."

"But you're okay?" he asked, obviously concerned about her which warmed my heart. I was happy to see that my brother cared for my girl.

"I am. Fucking pissed off, but fine. I got a letter from him the other day. Spouting off some bullshit that he was sorry, and that he won't bother me again."

"Do you believe him?" Jasper quietly asked from across the table.

"No. As far as I'm concerned he didn't write the letter. Someone else did. Someone wants me to think that Laurent is gone," Bella said, looking at Rosalie as she spoke.

"Who would do that?" Jasper asked.

Bella shrugged. "I have my suspicions, but I'm not ready to share them yet. I do know that Laurent's truck was found abandoned, and I can tell you right now that he would never willingly leave his truck behind."

"He'd better watch his back if he's still around. I won't allow him to hurt you," Emmett growled out.

I was fascinated by Rosalie's face as Emmett spoke. She looked furious that Emmett was being so protective of Bella. The longer I looked at her, I realized it wasn't anger, but more jealousy that lined her face. Rosalie must have sensed that I was watching her because she turned her eyes toward me.

"What?" she asked, resentment in her voice.

I shook my head. I wasn't getting into it with her.

"Something wrong, Rosalie? You seem a bit distraught," Bella said sweetly.

"I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I was fine," she snarled. "So I hear that you and Eddie have been shacking up."

"My name is Edward. I'd think by now that you'd know that. And what Bella and I do is none of your business," I barked at her.

Rosalie sat back, looking a bit shocked that I'd talked back to her. She was used to me just letting her walk all over me.

"Well, well. Look who's decided to put his big pants on and grow a back bone."

Before I could say anything, Emmett broke in. "Stop it, Rosalie. Just stop it. You're always putting him down, and I'm tired of it. Leave him be."

I was a bit shocked. Sure, Emmett had stood up for me before in the past, but he'd never stood up to me against Rosalie. She was his wife. Maybe he'd finally realized just how much she'd hurt me with her words.

The rest of dinner was tense and awkward. Rosalie kept shooting hateful glances at Bella and me. Alice attempted to make small talk, but it fell flat. Once done with dinner, I excused myself to use the restroom. Once done, I headed down the hallway toward the living room where Bella was waiting for me. I had just passed the small office where Emmett kept his computer, when I heard soft voices talking behind the partially closed door.

"I don't trust Bella. She's going to hurt Edward," I heard Rosalie say.

"Why do you think that?" Alice's voice asked quietly.

"I saw what she did to Laurent. I met him at First Beach a while ago. He was distraught over the way she had treated him. He was talking about killing himself, Alice! She drove him to that. Do you want to see that happen to Edward? Do you?"

"No, of course not. I just—she seems to really care for him."

"Please, Alice. Open your eyes. The woman's a manipulator. She has everyone in your family fooled. It's only a matter of time before she destroys Edward."

"How do I know you're telling the truth? You've lied about Bella before," Alice said, her voice quivering a bit.

"I don't care if you believe me or not. But don't come crying to me when Edward gets hurt," Rosalie said.

I backed down the hall, watching as Rosalie left the room. Alice quickly followed, but I reached out and grabbed her arm, startling her.

"Nice chat?" I causally asked.

Alice flushed, not quite looking me in the eye. "Um ... yeah. Rosalie and I were just talking."

"About what?"

"Nothing really. It's not important," she said before quickly walking away.

"Alice!" I hollered.

She stopped and turned. I beckoned for her to come back to me. Slowly, she walked back.

"Why are you lying to me? I overheard everything you and Rosalie were talking about," I told her.

"I'm worried about you, Edward. What if Rosalie's right? What if Bella breaks your heart?"

"Then my heart breaks. Alice, I trust Bella with every fiber in my being. I love her."

I heard a gasp from behind Alice. I looked over her shoulder and saw Bella standing there, a hand covering her mouth. Her beautiful eyes were wide with wonder. Well. I certainly hadn't planned on her finding out that way.

"You love me?" Bella asked softly, her gaze never leaving mine.

I felt the blush taking over my face, but I couldn't look away from her. I nodded. "Very much so," I said.

She rushed down the hall, pushed Alice to the side before throwing her arms around me.

"Oh, thank God! I'm so fucking in love with you, Edward! So much so, that it scares me a bit. I haven't said anything because I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same," she told me, arms around my waist, cheek pressed against my chest.

My heart was pounding and the most wonderful feeling had overtaken me. Bella Swan loved me! Nothing could have ever prepared me for the way it felt to hear her say those three words. I swung her up in my arms, twirling us in a circle before setting us down. The minute her feet touched the ground, my lips were on hers. I vaguely heard Emmett come down the hall and tell Alice to give us some privacy.

I'd never felt such passion before. I felt as though my heart would burst from my chest. Bella's fingers found their way to my hair, and she tugged the strands gently. I let out a small moan as I gripped her tighter to me. Our tongues dueled gently against one another before I pulled away and nipped her bottom lip gently.

"I love you, Bella Swan," I whispered.

Her smile lit up my heart. "I love you too, Edward Cullen."

We were lost in our own little bubble until Emmett busted it.

"Alright, you two. Break up the love fest," he boomed, coming down the hall and sweeping Bella into his arms.

"I hope that you plan on making an honest man out of my little brother," he told her as he walked with her back into the living room.

I followed, not really paying attention to what he was saying. I entered the living room to find Rosalie giving Bella an evil glare. Emmett was proudly telling Rosalie all about our declarations of love, and she didn't look thrilled at all. Neither did Alice. Jasper was beside himself and was truly happy for us. We spent a bit more time at Emmett's before deciding to head home.

We held hands on the way home, giddy smiles gracing both of our faces. I was sure I looked like an idiot, but I didn't really care.

"I hate to put a damper on things, but I overheard Rosalie talking to Alice earlier," I told Bella.

"What was she saying?"

"She was warning Alice. Telling her that you had destroyed Laurent by breaking his heart, and that you would do the same to me."

"She's such a bitch," Bella hissed out.

"She mentioned that she had met Laurent at First Beach."

"I'm telling you, Edward. She's got something to do with all of this," she told me.

I agreed with her. Rosalie was definitely up to something.

"I want to know how she met Laurent."

"Why not just ask her? Confront her at brunch one of these days. That way she can't really deny it," I suggested.

"That's a good idea," she said.

After arriving home, we went to my house where I grabbed my bag that I had packed for our trip to Seattle. I was excited about going. I rarely got to Seattle and this time, I would be going with my beautiful angel who was in love with me. Once I had my bag in hand, we headed to her house. She too was packed and excited. We would leave early in the morning so we decided to get a good night's rest. Granted there was a fair amount of cuddling, kissing, and groping. I had a feeling that we were going to take things to the next level while we were there, and I was looking forward to it.

a/n: and there we have it. I apologize for this chapter being so short. I blame the cold medicine and lack of sleep.