Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I do own a new Doctor Who Shirt.

A/N: Not much to say in the A/N this time except thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. Although, I do have to say that writing a chapter while watching horror movies is not the best of ideas. Lol. I had to go back and scrap out a lot of crap that I'd written because I wasn't paying attention. Lesson learned. Alrighty folks. Let's see what Charlie has to say.

Design For Life

"There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book." ~ Marcel Proust

EPOV

We had just settled in on the couch when Bella's phone rang. The caller id showed that it was Charlie. She answered the phone before putting it on speaker.

"Hi, Charlie. Edward's here with me," she told him.

I was unsure of speaker-phone etiquette, but I felt that I should say hi.

"Hello sir."

"Hello, Edward," the gruff voice over the phone asked. "Are you taking good care of my girl?" he asked.

I gulped looking over at Bella. If he saw the state of her face, he certainly wouldn't think I was taking good care of her.

"Uh—she, uh ... takes care of herself pretty well," I stammered out, face flushing.

Charlie barked out a laugh. "That she does."

"What did you find out about Jane?" Bella asked.

I heard him let out a heavy sigh. "Not a whole hell of a lot. Jane Volturri. Born January 3, 1987 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother was a homemaker and her father a teacher. She was an only child, and here's the kicker. She was killed by a drunk driver four years ago."

It took a moment for me to process what he had said. When it hit me, I realized that Bella was either working with a zombie, which was rather frightening in itself, or she was working with someone claiming to be Jane Volturri. Apparently, Bella came to the same conclusion.

"You're telling me that the real Jane Volturri is dead?"

"Yes."

"So, who the fuck am I working with?" she asked angrily.

"No idea. Can you get me a picture of her? If so, we can try and run facial recognition on it."

"I can try or have Jake or Seth do it. Oh, God! I need to let them know."

"Call them. Better yet, give me Jake's number and I'll talk to him. I'm going to see if he has any other information he can give me. Now, Bells. I need you to be careful around her. We don't know who she is."

"Yeah, about that."

Charlie let out a sigh. "What happened?"

"I kind of, sort of, beat the shit out of her. She was talking shit about me and Edward!" she explained.

"I hope you got her good," Charlie said, surprising me.

"Of course I did. You taught me how to fight, remember?"

"Well, no more fighting with her. Stay out of her way as best as you can. She could be dangerous," he warned.

"Can't we just have Jake fire her?"

"We could, but I'd rather know where she is than have her take off."

Bella talked to Charlie for a bit more before giving him Jake's number. After they hung up, she sat back with a sigh, rubbing her head.

"This is a fucking nightmare."

"I know, love," I told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Seeing the bruise and cut on her lip really bothered me, and it terrified me that those monsters on the loose would get a hold of her. It hurt me to see her hurt.

She reached up and cupped my cheek. "What's wrong?"

"I hate seeing you hurt. It really bothers me," I told her.

"I'm fine, Edward," she said, a bit of impatience in her voice.

"I realize that, but it still bothers me. I hate that anyone would want to hurt you. How would you like it if I came home bruised with a busted lip?"

"It would piss me the fuck off," she growled.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I get it. I promise to do my best not to get hurt."

That was all I could really ask for.

We'd spent Saturday hanging around my house. We had planned on going out to dinner, but neither of us were really up for it. Charlie had called us back after he'd talked to Jake. Jake had given him what little bit of information he had regarding Jane, including her last place of work. Charlie had called and talked to her former employer. The guy had vouched for Jane and given Charlie a little more information about where she'd been previous to him. According to what Charlie had learned, Jane had been in New York City before Vegas. When he'd tried to contact the guy Jane had worked with there, he'd discovered that it was a bogus reference. Charlie was becoming convinced that Jane had ties to Caius and Demitri. I prayed that he was wrong.

"Edward! Let's go. If you make me late for Esme's brunch, I'm going to hurt you!" Bella hollered at me from downstairs.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a pair of socks and put them on quickly. Bella was as bad as Emmett when it came to Mom's cooking. I ran down the stairs, tripped, and almost knocked myself out when I hit the floor.

"Edward! Oh, God. Are you okay?" Bella asked, hovering over me.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, my face a bright red.

"Let me take a look."

After seeing for herself that I was okay, she helped me up. Shoving my feet into my shoes, I followed her out the door and into her truck. She'd insisted on driving, so now I was stuck riding in the loud monster.

We pulled into the drive of my parents' house and saw that the others were already there. I truly hoped that Rosalie and Alice were on their best behavior, because I had a feeling that Bella wouldn't be taking any crap from them today. The last thing I wanted was for her to get in another fight. Although, I had no doubt that if it came to that, Bella would kick both of their butts.

Walking in, we didn't see anyone. I heard noises coming from the basement so we headed down to the den. Dad, Emmett, and Jasper were sitting around watching a football game. I hated football. Actually, I hated most organized sports. Probably, because I was horrible at them.

"Hey, guys," I said as we entered the den.

They looked away from the TV and greeted us with smiles.

"Hey, kids. How's it going?" Dad asked.

We had decided not to burden them with the bad news, but that didn't go as planned. Dad took one look at Bella's face and went into interrogation mode.

"What in the world happened to you?" he demanded to know as he took a look at her face.

"I got into a fight with this chick at work," she told him, batting his hands away as he attempted to gage the damage. "I'm fine, Carlisle. She looks a lot worse than I do."

"Why'd she hit you?" Emmett asked.

"She was talking shit about me and about Edward. I couldn't let that happen."

The boys barked out laughs and gave her a high-fives. I didn't approve with her physically fighting, but I also realized that she was a grown woman and would do what she wanted.

"Where's Mom?" I asked, turning the attention away from Bella and her Mike Tyson ways.

"Having a talk with Rose and Alice," Emmett told me.

"Yeah, we figured we'd be safer down here," Jasper added.

"You're probably right," I said just as the doorbell rang.

"Can one of you get that?" we heard Esme yell from upstairs.

I figured since I was the closest to the stairs I'd head up and get it. I had no idea who'd be coming over for Sunday brunch, but maybe Mom and Dad had invited someone. I trudged up the stairs and headed toward the front door. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and found my arms full of a wiggly girl.

"Oh, Edward. It's so wonderful to see you again," she purred as I tried to remove her from me.

I finally pulled her off of me and pushed her away.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" I asked, knowing full well who she was. Her resemblance to Rosalie was obvious.

She put on a pout before running a finger down my arm. "Oh, you silly. You know who I am."

"I don't know who you are, but I do know that if you don't remove yourself from my boyfriend, I will be kicking your ass," I heard Bella say from behind me.

Oh, thank God. I seriously wanted to be rid of this unwanted woman, and who better to get rid of her than Bella?

Laurel or Laura or whatever her name was, pulled back from me and gave Bella a haughty glare.

"I'm Lauren Hale. Who are you?" she demanded to know.

Bella came over and wrapped her arms around me before answering.

"Bella Swan. Edward's girlfriend," she told her before planting one heck of a kiss on me.

Normally, I wasn't a big fan of PDA, but I wasn't about to tear my lips away from Bella's at that moment. I loved kissing her, and I hoped that Rosalie's sister would get the hint. Eventually, Bella pulled away, both of us breathing heavily. Bella turned, gave Laurel a smirk and headed into the kitchen.

"What brings you by?" I asked because my mother had enforced manners upon me at an early age, and it would be rude to just leave her standing there.

She tossed her stringy blond hair over her shoulder before answering. "Rose invited me."

"Excuse me for a moment," I told her before going to find Mom.

I found her coming out of the solarium with two shame-faced women behind her. Her face broke into a smile when she saw me and she grabbed me in a big hug.

"Hello, my sweet boy."

"Hi, Mom."

"Who was at the door?" she asked, attempting to smooth my hair down.

"Rosalie's sister. Laura."

"Her name is Lauren. Get it right," Rosalie snarled from behind us.

That was a bad move. Mom whirled around and gave Rosalie the best death glare I'd seen in a while. Mom was a master at the death glare.

"Well, I don't care what her name is, she isn't welcome here," Mom told her.

"If she leaves then so do I," Rosalie countered.

"Well then, I hope you two have a good day," Mom said before heading into the kitchen.

Rosalie stood there with her mouth open. I don't think that she had believed that Mom would make her go. I couldn't contain the smirk that had come over my face. Served her right. Rosalie shot me a glare, then stomped into the foyer to find her sister.

"Edward?" Alice asked in a meek voice.

"Yes?"

"Can we talk for a minute?"

I held back a groan. I wanted to go eat. I was starving, but she looked so sad that I gave in. I nodded and followed her into the living room and took a seat on the couch. She shifted from one foot to the next, twisting her hands together. I waited, knowing she would speak when she was ready.

"I owe you and Bella a huge apology," she quietly told me.

I didn't refute her. She did owe us.

She sat down next to me and took one of my hands in hers. I could see tears welling up in her eyes, and I could see remorse reflected in them.

"I don't even know how to explain. I—I'm jealous of Bella," she said softly.

My eyebrows raised. I couldn't fathom why she would be jealous of Bella.

"You and I have always been close, and I felt like you were pulling away from me once you started dating Bella. At first, I was really happy for you, and I really liked her. Then I noticed that you were spending less and less time with me, and that you didn't need me as much anymore."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she shook her head. "Let me finish, please. I know it sounds stupid. I was bitching to Rose about it, and she mentioned that her sister had a huge crush on you. She said if you dated Lauren, then you'd have more time for me."

"Huh?" I was confused about how that made sense.

"Lauren and Rose are really close and would spend a lot of time together, freeing you up to hang out with me."

"What about Jasper? You hang out with him all the time."

"Yeah, I didn't exactly think this through. Rosalie started planting ideas that you'd be happier with Lauren than Bella, and that Bella was a bad influence. I began to believe it and convinced myself that it was true."

I shook my head at her screwed up logic.

"Alice? I can't even begin to understand what you were thinking. I'm so angry with you. You've been acting like a childish brat, and I don't appreciate it. Neither does Bella. I can guarantee you that she will have a hard time forgiving you."

She nodded sadly. "I know. Mom asked that I show up early today so she could talk with me. She told me that all of this nonsense had to stop immediately. That I was hurting our family, and she couldn't understand why. She gave me that look, and I broke down and told her everything. She told me just how immature and childish I had been. Jasper had said the same thing last week. I'm so ashamed of the way I've acted," she said quietly.

I nodded because really, what else was there to say.

"Then, when Em and Rose showed up she asked to speak with Rose as well. It didn't go so well. Rose agreed to stop, but she's lying and Mom knows it," she continued.

I let out a sigh. We had enough crap to deal with, and I was tired of the petty games that Rosalie was playing.

"It ends now. I mean it, Alice. I can forgive you, but I swear if you ever pull anymore crap like that, it will not end well. Bella's got enough to deal with and the last thing she needs is to deal with you and Rosalie. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up going after Rosalie. Or Lauren," I added.

"Kids?" Dad asked, peeping his head around the corner. "Come get some food before Emmett eats it all."

We got up and headed to the dining room. I saw Bella was sitting across from Emmett watching in disgust as he shoveled three pancakes into his mouth. It was a disturbing sight.

"Emmett! We do not eat like that at the table. You know better," Mom scolded.

I let out a snort. He was a giant kid. I noticed that Rosalie sat at the table without her sister, and she looked pissed.

"Your mom and Bella had some words with her," Dad whispered in my ear before taking his seat.

Hearing that, I was surprised to see that Rosalie was unscathed. I figured for sure that Bella would have clawed her eyes out or something.

"Esme wouldn't let Bella hit her," Dad murmured.

"Ah," well that explained the lack of bruises.

I was honestly surprised that she was there. I'd thought for sure she would've taken off with her sister. Again, Dad filled in the blanks for me.

"Emmett wouldn't let her leave."

The rest of brunch went well, despite the fact that Rosalie was shooting glares at everyone. After she and Emmett left, the rest of us went to sit in the living room.

"Alright, you two. What's going on?" Dad asked.

Bella and I sat side by side on the couch, hands clasped together. Bella dove right in, telling them everything. By the time she was done, everyone was looking a little pale. Mom got up and wrapped Bella up in a tight hug, promising her that they wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"I want you to promise me right now, that you won't go hitting that Jane person again," Mom told her sternly.

"I promise," she begrudgingly mumbled.

I gave my mom a grateful look. I knew that Bella wouldn't break her promise to my mom unless it was absolutely necessary.

Later that night we were laying in my bed, well our bed, talking.

"Hey, Edward?"

"Hmmm?"

"I was wondering how the job search was coming along."

"It's not," I told her, rubbing my hand up and down her back as she lay across my chest.

"Well, I might be able to help you out."

My curiosity was piqued. "How so?"

"Remember when I talked to Jake earlier today?"

"Yeah."

"Well, his friends Jared and Paul are opening up a comic bookstore in Port Angeles. They just got everything finalized and are going to be getting things ready so that they can open within the next month. They were asking Jake if he knew of anybody who would be interesting in working full-time for them as a clerk. Jake suggested you if you were interested."

Was I? I loved comic books. Went with the whole being a nerd thing, I supposed. It was definitely a possibility. I was going to need a full-time position, and I could carpool with Bella. However, there was the possibility that these guys' store would tank and then I'd be out of a job. But ever since I'd started dating Bella, I'd done things I'd never done before. I'd become more adventurous and more confident.

"Edward?"

"Sorry, love. I was thinking. I would be interested. I guess just have them call me or something."

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at me. Her eyes were bright with excitement.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why not? I love comic books, and I love to read. I'm not exactly great with people, but then again, the people who come into comic book stores are my kind of people."

"I'll let Jake know first thing tomorrow," she said, her voice giddy.

I was finding myself more and more enthused just because she was so excited.

"Just think, if you get this job you can carpool with me everyday," she said. "And have quickies on our lunch breaks."

My eyes grew wide at that prospect. I'd never considered that. We'd never actually had a quickie. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Just imagine," she purred in my ear. "You come to visit me for lunch. I drag you into the break room, shove you against the closed door and start to unzip your pants. We have limited time and the fact that anyone could walk on in on us only adds to the excitement," she began.

I could feel myself hardening at her words and knew I wouldn't be able to take much more. Quickly, I flipped us over so that I was on top of her, and I crushed my lips against hers to quiet the flow of words. She let out a low moan before delving her fingers into my hair and gripping it. I loved when she did that. I slowly broke the kiss and pressed soft kisses against her neck, smiling when I felt goosebumps erupt across her skin.

She grabbed one of my hands and guided it up her body to her breast, and I gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Yesss …" she hissed as my fingers quickly found her nipple and tugged on it gently.

Bending down, I flicked my tongue over her nipple, and she inhaled sharply before letting a lusty moan. If I hadn't been hard before, I certainly was now. I wrapped my lips around one nipple and sucked on it. I was so caught up in the joy and pleasure I was giving her, that I was startled when I felt her small hand on me. She pumped me a couple of times and had me on the edge.

"You've gotta stop or this is going to be over before it gets started," I whispered as I removed my lips from her nipple and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

She pouted, but removed her hand from me. I barely managed to repress the groan at the loss of her hand on me, but I hadn't been kidding. I was so worked up, I knew that I'd probably let go the minute I slid inside of her. Knowing that, I knew I needed to make her feel good.

I reached down and tenderly stroked the moist petals of her sex with my fingers. She closed her eyes and nuzzled my neck as I pleasured her, her tongue darting out to lick me.

"Edward," she moaned, fueling my need for her further.

She shuddered and cried out as my finger, coated with her own juices, ever so gently circled her clit. I kept teasing her, tracing gentle circles around her nub before slowly moving my finger inside of her.

"Stop teasing me," she growled against my lips. "I need you inside me. Please, " she begged.

How could I possibly resist her? I leaned down and brought my lips to hers yet again. I could never get enough of her lips. Bella reached down and gently took hold of me, rubbing me against her moist slit. We both let out a moan. She was so wet and warm, and I couldn't help but thrust into her. Her arms and legs wrapped around me, pulling me closer and holding me tight. I began to thrust harder and deeper into her, and I couldn't contain that moans that were coming from me. I reached one hand down and gently circled her nub, causing her to cry out.

"Edward!"

I always felt a rush of pride flow through me every time she screamed my name. Moments later, I was roaring hers. I managed to keep myself from collapsing on her, but just barely. I rolled over onto my back and brought Bella with me.

"Mmm ... I love doing that," Bella murmured pressing a kiss over my heart.

I couldn't help but agree.

Monday morning I got a call from Jared who asked me if I could do an interview with him later in the week. I readily agreed. I spent my day at work worrying about my interview and worrying about Bella. She had to go in and work with that non-Jane person or so I thought. During lunch she gave me a call.

"Hey, sweet girl. How are things?"

"Okay."

"Just okay? Jane leaving you alone?" I asked.

"She called in sick today, but I found a picture of her online and sent it to Charlie. Hopefully, they can work some magic and tell us who she really is."

"Let's hope so."

"Jake told me that Jared was going to call you. Did he?"

"Yep. I've got an interview set for Wednesday during my lunch hour," I told her.

"Awesome. I've never met Jared, but I have met Paul. He's a nice guy. I really hope that you get the job."

"Me, too."

We talked for a little bit longer before hanging up. I left the break room and headed back out front.

"You got a job interview?" Jasper asked, sitting down next to me.

I hadn't realized that he'd heard me.

"Yeah."

"Well? An interview where?"

So I filled him on. He thought it sounded like a great idea and wished me the best of luck. After that we sat and talked about Alice's apology and how things were going with them. He told me that he was still upset with her, but her attitude had changed, and she assured Jasper that she wouldn't hang around Rosalie as much. I was glad to hear that.

I got off work at six and headed home. I knew Bella wouldn't get home until seven, so I figured I'd have time to prepare something for dinner. Although, I had no idea what. I pulled into my drive and was surprised to see Emmett's Hummer parked in it, and Emmett sitting on the steps to my house.

"Hey," I called out as I climbed out of my car.

He looked up at my voice, and I held back a gasp as I looked at him. He looked miserable. Gone was my happy-go-lucky brother, and he was replaced with a sad looking man.

"Hey," he responded in a weary voice.

I walked up the steps and unlocked the door, gesturing him in. He walked in and took a seat on my couch, burying his face in his hands. I walked into the kitchen and pulled out a can of soda. I didn't have anything stronger to give him, but maybe that was a good thing. I walked back into my living room and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

I sat down in the recliner across from him and waited. Like Alice, I knew he'd speak when he was ready.

"I left Rose," he said.

I was shocked. I knew how much he loved her, despite being a total witch. I had never imagined that he'd leave her.

"We had a huge fight last night. She was mad because I wouldn't let her leave with Lauren at brunch."

He stopped to take a deep breath, and the sadness in his eyes was almost too much to bear.

"When we got home, she really laid into me. Started shouting at me. Screaming that I loved you guys more than I loved her. That if I really loved her, I would've let her go with Lauren. So then I had a few things to say about that. I told her I didn't understand why she was so adamant about hooking Lauren up with you, and that she needed to leave things alone," he said, tugging the ends of his hair.

"I take it that didn't go well," I said.

He barked out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, you could say that. She started in on how Bella was just using everyone, and that we were all falling for her act. She got real mad that I defended Bella. There was a lot of screaming and shouting. She told me that I had a choice to make. Her or you guys. Claimed that she was tired of playing second fiddle to the family and that if I really loved her, I would back her up."

I winced. If you truly loved someone, you didn't make them choose between you and your family.

"I told her that if she loved me, she wouldn't ask me to make that kind of choice. She just gave me a glare and demanded an answer."

"What did you tell her?" I asked just as the door unlocked.

We both looked up and saw Bella walk in. She gave us a apologetic smile and told us she could leave if we needed some privacy.

"It's okay, Bella. You can stay," Emmett said.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"I left Rose," he said, his eyes tearing up a bit.

Bella wrapped him up in a huge hug and held onto him, rocking gently back and forth.

"Oh, Emmett. I'm so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault."

He pulled away from her, shaking his head. "No, Bella. Don't blame yourself. Unfortunately, this has been a long time coming."

He quickly summarized what he'd told me before finally answering my question.

"I told her that I loved her, but I wasn't going to play her games anymore; I was done."

"She took that badly, didn't she?" Bella asked.

Emmett nodded, and she gave his hand a light squeeze.

"I told her I was leaving. That she could have the house or whatever, but I couldn't do it anymore. I told her I loved her, but not enough to continue with our farce of a marriage. Then I left and came here."

"You can stay here as long as you want," I told him, hating that my brother was hurting.

"Thanks, bro, but I don't want to cramp your style."

I rolled my eyes. If he needed to stay, then I was more than willing to let him.

"You can always stay at my place if you need to," Bella said.

"Thanks, B. But I think I'm gonna head to Mom and Dads. There's something about the comfort of your childhood home when you're feeling down."

Bella insisted that he stay for dinner, and he agreed. After we ate, he left to head to Mom and Dads, and Bella and I curled up on the couch.

"Do you think he'll go back to her?" she asked, resting her head against my shoulder.

I shook my head. "No, I don't think so. As much as he still loves her, I think he's begun to realize that she doesn't love him."

Before I realized it, Wednesday had arrived. I was a nervous wreck. Bella had done her best to calm my nerves, but they were still there. Jared and Paul had agreed to meet me at the diner over my lunch break. I thought it was a bit odd to have an interview at a busy diner during lunch, but that was just me. Bella had suggested that I show my interest by wearing one of my X-Men t-shirts. I had thrown it on under my polo, so I didn't look completely unprofessional.

I walked into the diner at quarter to noon and waited just inside the door. I had no idea what either of them looked like. A few minutes of waiting, two Native American guys walked in. I realized that they didn't know what I looked like either, so I walked over and introduced myself.

"Excuse me? Are you all Jared and Paul?" I asked. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Hey, hey, Edward. I'm Jared," the taller one said.

After introductions were made, we got a table toward the back and ordered. I was terribly nervous and could barely contain myself from fiddling with my silverware.

"So, Edward," Jared began. "Why do you want to work at a comic book store?"

a/n: There we have it. All kinds of stuff happened in this chapter. I wasn't expecting Emmett to leave Rosalie, but he was tired of dealing with her. Can't blame him. Again, this was un-beta'd so I apologize for any errors. I know this wasn't the most exciting of chapter, but more of a filler chapter. Anyway, you know the drill. Leave me a little something.