Disclaimer: Is my name Stephenie Meyer? No? Guess, I don't own it then.

A/N: I wrote the first part of this chapter after being up for over 27 hours. Needless to say, I had to go back and re-read and re-write some of it. I was cracking myself up because parts of it made no sense whatsoever. Anyway, a big thank you all so much for your reviews and suggestions last chapter. You all have given me some great ideas to ponder over.

Design For Life

"A tattoo is an affirmation: that this body is yours to have and to enjoy while you're here. Nobody else can control what you do with it." ~Don Ed Hardy

BPOV:

The past week had been one of the best weeks of my life, despite the fact that it had started off so horribly. Laurent's death had hit me hard. Harder than I would have thought and attending his funeral was surreal. As much as I had disliked him toward the end of our relationship, he'd been a good guy at one point, and I was sorry for the loss that his family was going through.

However, having Edward show up in Phoenix had been wonderful. He had perfect timing; arriving just when I needed him most. I was awfully glad that he had managed to get time away, and I'd had a great time showing him around. All too soon, our time in Phoenix had ended, and we'd headed back to Forks. The next week was spent readjusting. Even though I'd only been gone a week, it took me a while to get back into the swing of things.

I was sitting behind the counter at Eclipse, going over our appointment books when Alice walked into the shop. I was surprised and a bit shocked to see her. She had a look on her face that told me she wasn't in a good mood. Fan-fucking-tastic. Just what I needed. I'd just about had it with her and her childish attitude. I knew that Edward was more than a bit annoyed with her as well.

"Hello, Alice. What brings you by?" I asked as politely as I could.

She gave me a stony glare as she approached the counter. I'd heard from Edward all about Alice's temper, and I wasn't afraid to admit that I was glad there was a barrier between us. If it came down to it, I knew I could take her in a fight, but I was really hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"I saw Edward at the library today," she said.

"And?" I asked, wondering where she was going with that.

"It seems my brother has a tattoo. Care to explain that?"

"What's to explain? So, he's got a tat. Big fucking deal. He's an adult. He can do what he wants," I told her.

She fisted her hands on her hips and looked like a two year-old about to throw a tantrum. She opened her mouth to say more, but I cut her off. I was tired of her fucking bullshit.

"Alice. Let it go. I don't know why you feel the need to interfere in your brother's life, but it stops now. I understand that you love Edward and want what's best for him, but you need to back the fuck off and let him live his life. I don't know how many times I have to tell you people. He. Is. An. Adult. Start treating him like one," I snapped.

I could see Jake and Seth hovering around the corner, ready to come to my rescue should I have needed it. I shook my head slightly to indicate that I was fine, while keeping my eyes on Alice. Her mouth had fallen open after my little speech, and she seemed at a loss for words.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Nothing to say to that?"

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally gathered her thoughts.

"I'm not trying to run his life," she quietly told me.

"Could've fooled me."

"I just worry about him. He's always been so quiet and shy and insecure. You're out of his league, and I'm terrified that you're going to hurt him."

I rolled my eyes. I'd heard that crap from her before. "Get over it. I'm not going to fucking hurt him, but even if I did, he'd survive. He's so much stronger than you give him credit for. Just back the fuck off and let him live his life. Stop monitoring his every move and questioning everything he does. It's annoying. To both of us."

She nodded and turned to leave. I guess it was asking too much for her to apologize for her childish behavior. If it continued though, I wasn't above going to her parents and seeing if they couldn't have a talk with her. As she was walking out the door, I heard her mumble something about Rosalie being right. I narrowed my eyes and stalked after her, grabbing her arm before she could leave.

I yanked her around, ignoring her indignant squawking. "What was that about Rosalie? What was she right about?" I asked.

She struggled to get out of my grip, but I wasn't about to let her go until I got an answer.

"Explain what you meant, Alice. I'm seriously tired of the fucking bullshit games you and Rosalie are playing."

Jake came from the back, locked the front door and put up the closed sign. He indicated that he and Seth would be in the back if I needed them. I dragged Alice over to the couch in the waiting area and stood there starting at her until she finally spoke.

"Rose is just worried about Edward, like I am," she said in defense, not answering my question at all.

"Oh, really?" I asked her. "Rosalie has been nothing but a heinous bitch to Edward since she came into his life. Then she decided to try and play nice a couple of weeks ago, and that backfired on her. So, don't try and play the whole 'Rose is worried about Edward' card."

She let out a long sigh, looking everywhere but at me.

"She doesn't mean to be a bitch, she just comes off that way. That's who she is. Emmett had a talk with her a while back about her being so bitchy to Edward, and she's doing her best to tone it down. She's not up to anything."

I gave her an incredulous look. Realizing that I wasn't satisfied with her answer, she continued.

"When we were over at their place for dinner, Rosalie mentioned that she was worried about how fast you and Edward were moving, and she was afraid that you would hurt Edward. You're not the kind of girl that he would date, and you could easily manipulate him. Then you guys exchanged the whole I love yous, and it kind of cemented what Rose was saying."

"It's none of anyone's business how fast or slow Edward and I are moving. It's our relationship and as long as we're fine with how things are going then that's all that matters. You need to get that through your fucking skull," I told her. "And I'm not manipulating him. I would never do that to Edward."

Taking a deep breath, Alice finally turned to look at me.

"I think you are. I mean look at what you've done to him. He's talking back to Emmett, getting mad at me. For God's sake, he now has a tattoo! You're trying to change him into someone he's not!" she exclaimed, hatred oozing from her. "I don't think you're good enough for him. I don't think you're right for him. He needs someone calm and quiet. Someone who isn't going to try and change who he is."

"Hold on a fucking min—" I began, but was interrupted as she continued.

"Rosalie's sister, Lauren, would be perfect for him. She's a nice, quiet, wholesome girl. She isn't covered in tattoos and piercings. She's normal. They would make a wonderful couple, and I just know that they would be happy together. You need to break things off with Edward so that he can have a chance at having a healthy relationship."

What. The. Fuck. It was taking everything I had not to slap her. I clenched my hands at my side and stared hard at her.

"Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you and Rosalie have been spreading lies about me, talking shit about me, and trying to break Edward and I up because you think he'd be better off with Rosalie's sister?"

"He will be better off with her."

"Well, that's just too fucking bad. You can tell Rosalie and Lauren that it's not gonna happen. Little sister's just going to have go through life without a Cullen attached to her arm. Cause that's what it's about, right? Marrying into a good family with lots of money? It's obvious to me that Rosalie doesn't love Emmett for Emmett, but rather for his last name. How the fuck you could condone something like that is beyond me. Thank God, you're not my sister," I said, my voice filled with disgust.

Alice stood up and gave me a haughty glance.

"Once Edward meets Lauren he'll forget all about you," she said as she stormed over to the door, unlocked it and walked out.

I rolled my eyes at her empty threat. I wasn't worried. Edward and I had a strong relationship.

Later that night as Edward and I ate dinner, I informed of Alice's visit to the shop. He was pissed. Once we were done eating, he went into the living room and pulled out his phone.

"Alice!" he barked into the phone. "We need to have a serious talk."

There was a pause on his end.

"Fine. I don't work tomorrow so you can come over in the morning around ten," he told her before hanging up.

He let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his hair. I hated that he was under so much stress, and Alice wasn't helping the situation. We'd spent our evenings discussing and searching varies job possibilities for him, but nothing had really caught his eye. Granted, there wasn't a hell of a whole lot out there. The library in Port Angeles wasn't hiring so that was out. There was a New Age bookstore that was hiring, but Edward had cringed at the thought of working there. He said the lady who owned was a little too hippy for him and smelled of petruli. He mentioned that he was good with computers and the Eclipse website needed an overhaul so I was thinking of talking to Jake and Seth about having Edward work on it while he was looking for something more permanent.

I woke up Saturday morning snuggled in Edward's arms. I didn't want to leave the warmth of his bed, but it was my Saturday to work. Reluctantly, I started to climb out of bed. A warm arm reached out and dragged me back.

"Where you going?" Edward's husky, sleepy voice asked me.

"I have to get ready for work," I grumbled.

"Nope," his muffled voice said, buried in my hair. "You need to stay here with me."

The arm around my waist tightened, pulling me closer to the warm hard chest behind me. When his lips started nibbling on my neck, I was a goner. There was no way I could refuse him, especially when his hand began to make its way up my chest to cup a breast. Fingers toyed with my nipple and small moans of appreciation escaped me. I let out a disappointed groan as his hand moved away from my breast, but I rejoiced when I felt him pull my leg over his thigh, opening me up to him. Seconds later, I felt a gentle finger rubbing circles around my clit, but not really applying any pressure.

"Edward," I moaned, wanting him to stop his teasing.

"Hmmm?"

"Stop teasing me."

"It's not teasing if I plan on following through," he said seductively in my ear.

His thumb continued to lightly rub against my clit, and I lifted my hips, trying to encourage him to do more. He let out a devilish chuckle that set me on fire. He was driving me crazy! I wasn't above begging, and in a wanton voice I asked him to fuck me.

"Oh, we'll get to that. Just enjoy what I'm doing now," he said, pressing an open-mouthed kiss on my neck.

He suddenly plunged a finger inside of me, causing me to let out a porn star worthy moan. He sped up his movements, while his thumb continued to circle and rub my clit. My body tightened, and I could feel the oncoming orgasm.

"I'm close," I gasped out.

A second finger joined the first, and he pumped them harder and faster inside of me. My body started to shake, and I felt wave after wave of pleasure assault me.

"Edward!"

As I came back down, I felt him slide his fingers out of me. I moaned at the loss, but was rewarded with the feeling of his cock nestling against me. With a quick thrust, Edward was inside of me. We both let out moans of pleasure at feeling him slide home. Slowly, he thrust in and out of me. I pushed my hips back to meet his thrusts, loving the feel of him buried so deep. Reaching down, he slipped his fingers between our bodies and stroked my clit. I inhaled sharply as he pressed harder, My nipples were hard as diamonds and I reached up and grasped one between my fingers, pinching and pulling on it. Edward let out a low moan when he saw what I was doing. He began to thrust deeper, harder, and faster. His fingers rubbed my clit faster, and I knew that I was about to come. Throwing my head back, I let out a scream as I came. A few minutes later, he followed me, spilling everything he had inside me.

Slowly, he slipped out of me, then rolled over onto his back trying to catch his breath. I followed him, curling up next to him.

"Good morning to me," I said, pressing a kiss over his beating heart.

"Hmmm. Good morning to both of us," was his reply.

Looking over at the clock, I realized that our romp had taken up quite a bit of time. Hurrying, I scrambled out of the bed and into the shower.

I pulled into the parking lot of Eclipse, fifteen minutes later that I would have liked. I was working with Seth for the first part of the day, and I'd be working with the new part-time artist that they'd hired. I hadn't met her yet, but from what they said she was good.

"You're late!" Seth hollered out to me as I walked in the door.

"Yup."

He stood in front of me, arms crossed over his chest. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared right back. I wasn't intimidated by him. All of a sudden a huge grin broke over his face.

"You had morning sex! That's why you're late!"

Good grief. I rolled my eyes, but didn't bother to deny it.

"Well, that's a perfectly good reason to be late. It's why Jake and I've been late more than a few times," he said, ruffling my hair before going to set up his work station.

He was such a dork.

The morning past quickly, and I before I knew it, lunch time had rolled around. I hadn't heard from Edward and was a bit worried. I'd known that he had met with Alice at ten, but when I checked my phone, I didn't have any missed messages from him. I headed to the little bistro on the corner to grab a sandwich and gave Edward a call once I had my food.

"Hey, babe. I was just calling to see how things went with Alice. Call me back when you can. I love you," I said as I left him a voicemail.

By the time lunch was over, I still hadn't heard from him, and I was beginning to get worried. It wasn't like Edward not to get back to me. Even if he was busy or couldn't talk, he'd still send me a short text to let me know that he got my message. I wasn't worried that Alice had gotten him to change his mind about me, but I was worried that something had happened to him. However, once I was back at the shop I didn't have time to dwell on it much. After I walked in, Seth introduced me to the new part-time artist.

"Bella this is Jane Volturri. Jane, this is Bella Swan."

Jane Volturri. The name was vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't place where I'd heard it before. I held my hand out for her to shake, but she looked at it and me as if I wasn't worth her time. She gave me a cold smile and a nod before heading to her station. I turned to look at Seth with a raised eyebrow.

"She's not much of a people person, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"Well, that's just fucking great. It's not like we have to work with people or anything," I muttered.

He held up his hands. "I didn't hire her. Jake did. He says she's got talent."

I let out a sigh. My afternoon wasn't looking up. I checked my phone once more, letting out another sigh when I saw that I hadn't gotten anything back from Edward. Putting my phone in my pocket, I headed to the counter. They'd had a receptionist at one time, but she'd quit so we each took a couple of hours a day playing receptionist. It wasn't the highlight of my day, but it had to be done. Sitting on the stool, I began to draw up some new designs to hang on the wall, all while keeping an eye on Jane. Something about her really bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't just her cold demeanor. There was something else.

At three, I climbed off the stool and went over to Jane. She'd finished up with a customer and was clearing up her station.

"Hey, Jane? Did Seth inform you that you'd be taking over the front for a while tonight?" I asked, attempting to be polite and friendly.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, once you're done cleaning up, you can go ahead and head up front," I told her.

The following three hours dragged by. I had a handful of customers to at least keep me occupied. By the time six arrived, I couldn't wait to leave. I kept a close eye on Jane as we closed and locked up. I watched as she drove away before climbing into my truck and heading home.

I pulled into my drive an hour later and noticed that Edward's driveway was empty. I frowned a bit but tried not to get upset. If he wanted to go somewhere he didn't have to check in with me and let me know. I was starting to get a bit annoyed that he hadn't called me back though. Unlocking my door and turning off the alarm, I headed inside. I changed into my pajamas, made some dinner, and ate dinner by myself. I mindless flipped through the channels growing more and more worried that I hadn't heard from Edward.

At around nine, I saw lights through my window as Edward pulled into his drive. A few moments later, there was a knock on my door. Getting up, I opened the door.

"Hey," he said softly.

He looked tired and his eyes were rimmed red, like he'd been crying. I gestured for him to come in and followed him into the living room.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, worry tinting my voice.

He ran his hands through his hair, causing it to stick up everywhere, and let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess," he said after sitting down on the couch.

I sat down next to him and took his hands in mine. I didn't want to nag him, but I needed to know why I hadn't heard from him.

"Can I ask why you didn't return my call or messages?"

He pulled a hand away, put it in his pocket, and pulled his phone out.

"I forgot to charge it last night. It died this morning on my way to parents' house so I ended up leaving it in the car."

"Oh. Why were you going to your parents?"

"I figured if I was going to have a talk with Alice, I might as well do it on neutral ground. That and I figured my mom could save me if I needed her to," he said with a snort.

I felt a small smile form on my lips. Sometimes, he was too fucking cute.

"I was really worried when I didn't hear back from you. I was worried that something had happened to you."

His hand reached out and cupped my cheek. "I'm sorry, my sweet girl. I didn't even think about that. I should have called you from my folks to let you know things were fine."

I rested my cheek against his hand before I asked, "How did things go with Alice?"

"She's such a child," he said, pulling his hand from mine and wrapping an arm around me.

I snuggled into him, wrapping my arm loosely around his waist while resting my head on his chest.

"She showed up at ten, and I told her that I wanted to go to Mom and Dad's to hash things out. It was neutral territory, and she agreed. After we got there, I asked her what was going on. She started in on some crap about how you were bad for me. I guess she saw my tattoo at work and freaked out. She went on about dating Rosalie's sister," he said with a shudder.

"Anyway, I told her that was never going to happen. That you were it for me. I'm going to marry you someday. Needless to say, Alice isn't happy with me. Or you. Or Mom and Dad."

My mind was still focused on the whole I'm going to marry you someday line.

"Wait. What? Why's she mad at your parents?"

"Mom came into the room while we were yelling at each other and demanded to know what was going on. So I told her how Alice was interfering in my life and whatnot. Alice decided to retaliate my telling Mom about my tattoo. Which, by the way, Mom thinks looks really good."

I snorted. "Guess that didn't go over well with Alice."

"Not really. She was furious that Mom and Dad weren't upset. Mom told her it was my body, I could do what I wanted with it, and that she'd better not hear Alice talking bad about you."

I felt a sense of love wash over me. It warmed me to know that his parents, particularly his mom, liked me. Edward told me that his parents expected us to be there for brunch, and I wasn't about to argue. I lived for Esme's cooking.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to his parents' house for brunch. I had a feeling it was going to be interesting to say the least. I was wrapped up in Esme's warm hug within minutes of walking in the door.

"I'm so glad you came. I was afraid that you wouldn't want to come."

"And miss out on your cooking? Not a chance, Esme!"

She laughed and led me into the living room. Carlisle and Emmett took turns giving me hugs before I sat down next to Edward. Rosalie and Alice were standing in the corner, each shooting me a glare. I rolled my eyes at their behavior.

"Ignore them," Edward told me.

"Not a problem."

As we sat down to eat brunch, I noticed there was a bit of hostility between Emmett and Rosalie.

"Did you have a good time Phoenix, Edward?" Carlisle asked in an attempt to break the tension at the table.

Edward smiled his beautiful smile.

"We did. Bella showed me around, and we went to some amazing places."

"And got a tattoo. Can't forget that," Alice snarled from across the table.

"Oh, yes. Your mother mentioned that. Can I see it?" Carlisle asked.

Edward rolled up the cuff of his shirt and showed his dad. Every time I saw it, I felt tingles erupt over my skin. It was so fucking hot. I hoped for his next tat, he'd let me ink him.

"That's a great quote. Life on the Mississippi, right?"

"Yeah. It seemed fitting," Edward told his dad.

"I like it. It looks good on you. Much better than the one I have," Carlisle said as his face turned bright red. "Shit. Should've kept my mouth shut," he mumbled while Esme cracked up.

Around the table, mouths dropped open in shock. The hot doctor had a tat?

"What do you have? And where?" I asked.

Carlisle gave me a sheepish grin. "Now, remember I was young and stupid when I got mine. Some college buddies and I had been drinking and playing pool. We were low on cash so we made a bet that the loser had to get a tattoo that the winner would pick out. Long story short. I lost."

"And?" I asked. I had to know more. "What did you get?"

"A bumble bee," he said with a sigh.

I held in a snicker. "Where is it? Can we see it?"

"No, you can't see it!" he exclaimed, red in the face.

I thought Esme was going to fall out of her chair she was laughing so hard.

"It's on his right butt cheek," she blurted out.

That was it. We lost it. Laughter broke out around the table. Poor Carlisle. I felt bad for him, but it was too funny. I'd inked my share of strange, stupid, and embarrassing tattoos, and the stories that accompanied them were usually hilarious.

"Don't feel bad, Carlisle. I've heard some of the strangest stories and inked some weird tattoos," I told him.

"But have you ever tattooed a bumble bee on a guy's ass?" Emmett asked me.

"No, but I did tattoo Tweety Bird on some guy's ass once," I said, shuddering as I recalled it.

When brunch was over, Edward and I cleaned up before having a mini make-out session in the kitchen. Edward had sat me on the counter, his arms caging me in, as I tangled my hands in his hair. His warm lips were pressed against mine, his tongue stroking and licking. We were so caught up in our kiss that we failed to notice that we were no longer alone in the kitchen.

"Oh, aren't they the cutest?" I heard Esme whisper.

Edward and I broke apart. His face was red, and he buried it in my hair as we heard Carlisle chuckle. I was sure my face was red as well.

"Sorry, kids. We wanted to talk to the two of you for a moment," Esme said before she and Carlisle left the kitchen.

Edward helped me down from the counter, and holding hands, we went into the living room. We sat down on the couch opposite of Esme and Carlisle. I felt like a kid who was in trouble, but didn't know what I'd done wrong. Esme must have seen the worry and confusion on my face because she was quick to reassure me that nothing was wrong.

"We just wanted to let you know how much we love you," Esme said.

That hadn't been was I expecting at all. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I blinked them back.

"We're so glad that you came into Edward's life. He's always been a great person, but since you've come along, our dear boy has flourished."

I didn't know what to say. I had no words for how much their words meant to me. Esme came over and sat down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"I can't even begin to apologize for Alice's behavior. Nor should I have too. She's a grown up, despite the fact that she isn't acting like one. I know that Rosalie has a hand in Alice's behavior as of late, and I'll be having a talk with her as well. I know that she and Emmett have been having some issues, and I don't want to contribute to that, but he needs to know what his wife has been up to."

"We just wanted to let you know how much you mean to us. We already think of you as one of our own, and that's not going to change," Carlisle said.

We talked for a little while longer before we were interrupted by Emmett. He knelt down in front of me and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Esme and Carlisle leave the room. I looked down at Emmett, and he looked so sad.

"What's wrong, Emmett?" I asked.

"I feel horrible that Rosie's treated you like such crap. And I'm sorry that I've been a horrible big brother," he said, turning to Edward.

Edward shook his head. "You haven't been a horrible big brother. You just tend to get carried away when it comes to picking on me. But I guess as my big brother, that's what you're supposed to do."

Emmett gave a little shrug. "I'll try and tone it down. But I can't promise anything," he said with a little grin. The grin faded as he turned to me. "No matter what Rosie says, I think you're wonderful for Edward. You're completely awesome, and there's nobody better that I'd want for a sister."

After talking to Emmett, we got up to leave. I wanted to spend some alone time with my boy. We told Esme and Carlisle we were leaving, and Esme pulled me into a hug.

"One of these days, my boy's going to ask you to marry him. I hope you'll say yes," Esme whispered in my ear.

I felt a blush rise on my cheeks. I knew when the time came, I'd say yes without any hesitation.

"Of course I will," I told her.

When we got into Edward's car, he asked me what I'd meant when I told his mother I would. I gave him a grin and told him, "She said that she hoped I'd say yes when you asked me to marry you. I told her of course I would."

The look of delight on his face was priceless, and a silly grin broke out.

"Yeah? You're gonna marry me?" he asked.

"Someday," I told him.

a/n: Alrighty folks. You know the drill. Leave me some love, some hate, chocolate perhaps? I live for your reviews, so let me know what you thought! I'm going to try and get back to my Saturday posting schedule so I probably won't post again until next Saturday. Then again, it depends on how much writing I get done this week.