Diclaimer: I own nothing. Twilight's characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any songs/lyrics/poems that may be used. They belong to their respective writers or artists. No copyright infringement is intended.

Big thank you to TheUnderStudy for being the wonderful beta and friend that she is!

When we left chapter 8, Bella and Edward had done the dirty! Finally! Let us now continue:

Chapter 9

BPOV

I'm running. I'm running so fast and I can't catch up to her. I can't seem to reach the beautiful, shimmery being that's floating away from me.

"Mommy! Mommy don't leave me!" I scream to the woman's back over and over again.

I can't see her face as she turns around. All I see is a billow of brown wavy hair, so much like my own. "I can't… I can't stay. You're just not good enough. You lied to me; they lied to me. Everyone has lied to me. I've got to go," a melodious voice says before she turns and glides off into the distance.

I cry out at her again, "Mommy! I need you! Please don't leave me!"

I run even harder, but I can't seem to get any closer to the apparition that is so close, yet so far away. I reach a hand out to try and reach her, but my arms just aren't long enough.

She stops and turns once more. But this time I don't see the faceless ghost I've come to know as my mother. This time the ghost has a face, the most beautiful face I've ever seen, with piercing green eyes. Edward's.

"Isabella, I can't stay with you. You've taken so much, and you lied. You lied to me, Bella." He says.

I fall to my knees and wrap my arms around my front, feeling as though I've been punched in the stomach. "Edward! You can't leave me too! Don't go! Please, don't go!" I scream at him.

The Edward faced ghost moves to me, and glides a foggy hand across my cheek in a caress that is impossible to feel. "You took my love Isabella, you took it shamelessly and then lied to me. I can't stay. It's best if I go. Please, let me go."

I scream his name as he disappears into the darkness.

"Isabella! Isabella! Wake up!" I hear the ghost calling my name.

"Edward, don't leave me," I mumble once more, as I feel strong hands shaking my shoulders gently.

"Isabella, you're having a bad dream. Please wake up, baby. I'm here. I'm not leaving," he coos in my ear. I can feel him gently stroking my hair, moving it from my face.

Slowly my eyes open and adjust to the light shining through the window.

My breathing is still accelerated and I'm covered in a fine sheen of sweat. I look to my side and see Edward, panic and fear painted on his face.

"Hi," I whisper.

"Hi," he says back, running his hand through his hair. "Are you alright? You were screaming my name over and over. At first, I thought you were having dirty dreams about me, until you screamed for me to not leave you."

"Shit," I breathe. "I'm sorry, Edward, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Hey now, none of that is necessary," he pulls me into his arms and continues. "You sounded so scared. Do you want to tell me about it?"

Silently, I shake my head no. This is not a conversation I want to have this morning. Besides, I'm not one hundred percent sure what Edward's appearance in my nightmare means. I've been having the same bad dream for years and, until now, it has never changed.

"I need to shower," I quietly tell him. I don't want to leave the warmth of the bed or his arms, but I feel gross and the water will help ease the remaining tension from the horrible dream.

"Sure thing, babe," he replies, placing a light kiss on my temple as he helps me stand. "I'll call and order some breakfast for us."

I take my time in the shower. As I lather the soap, I briefly think about the fundraiser and wonder if I won the auction for the picnic with the orphanage kids. I remember telling Edward a little bit about why I placed my bid. I told him that I understood what it meant to be unwanted, even though I wasn't an orphan myself. I guess I'll have to explain that to him one of these days.

I wasn't even a year old when my mother walked out the door, leaving my father to raise me alone. She said she was going to the store for milk, but then she never came home. To this day I have no idea why. No one has ever offered an explanation and I learned from an early age that Charlie wasn't going to give me any answers to the questions that constantly roamed my mind. I'm not even sure he knows the answers.

I grew up like a normal kid I suppose. Charlie did the best he could, providing me with all the necessities. I had a roof over my head, food on the table, a decent education and a father's love, even if he didn't overtly show it. He always supported me in whatever venture I set out on, be it a bake sale, playing my instruments and even trying to sing. He never once told me I wouldn't be able to accomplish whatever goal I had set for myself.

He was a good father, still is actually. While he never answered the questions about why my mother left, he did constantly tell me that it wasn't my fault she left. But deep down, I have always harbored the guilt that it was somehow my fault. In fact, I've been told the nightmare is a manifestation of this guilt.

Yeah, I've been to a shrink, so what?

Logically, I realize I was only a helpless baby when Renee left, and there was no way I could have caused her do such a thing. But at the same time, I can't imagine it not being my fault. Surely if Charlie had done something to make her leave she would have taken me with her. Right? What mother leaves their baby behind? None that I can think of, except for a mother that doesn't want her child.

But like I said, my childhood didn't suck. Charlie supported me and cared for me. Plus, I had Rose and Alice with me from the time that we were little girls. Their moms took up the mothering role in my life. They were the ones who took me shopping for my first training bra, the ones I went to when my period first started, and the ones I cried to when I lost my virginity to Mike Newton.

Ugh. Let's not go there right now.

I can't honestly say that I ever felt shorted for not having my own mother around. In fact, most of the time, I felt as if I was lucky. I may not have known my birth mom; but instead I had the unconditional love and support from not only my dad, but that of my best friends' mothers as well.

Sighing, I turn off the shower and grab a towel from the rack and slowly dry my body off. I slip into the plush robe that hangs on the door, frowning as I realize that the only clothing I have with me is the dress I wore last night. I do not look forward to doing the walk of shame through this beautiful hotel's lobby in that beautiful gown.

Looking around the bathroom I spy Edward's toiletry bag. I should feel bad about going through it, but I don't. I dig around until I find what I'm looking for, a hair brush.

Once I tame the mess on my head and rinse my mouth with the Scope, I feel ready to face Edward again. I just hope he doesn't ask any more questions about the nightmare. I'll tell him one of these days, about Renee and the dreams, but today is certainly not the day.

Opening the door, I immediately notice that Edward is no longer in bed. The covers have been pulled back up to the pillows, and there is a shopping bag sitting at the foot of the bed. A single red rose lies beside it, along with a note.

Smiling, I walk over and lift the rose to my face, inhaling its sultry scent. I put it down and grab the note. My smile widens as I read what is written in Edward's perfect block letters:

Isabella,

As I called room service this morning, I noticed your dress in a heap on the floor and realized you don't have anything else to wear. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of having something sent up from one of the shops in the lobby. Hope you like it!

xoxo

Edward

PS: I had an amazing time last night!

My heart swoons. I can hardly believe how generous and courteous he is! Normal guys don't do this shit. In fact, most guys I know would have called for a cab and kicked me out last night. But not Edward.

I reach inside the bag and pull out a short, pale blue dress with three quarter-length sleeves. There's also a fresh pair of underwear, a thong no less, a bra, in the correct size, and a pair of white wedge sandals, also in the correct size.

There's a knock on the door as I am strapping the sandals to my feet. "Isabella, can I come in?" Edward asks tentatively, as he stands in the doorway.

"Of course you can, Edward," I say and stand, giving him a little twirl. His face lights up, presumably because the clothes fit. "Thank you, for the clothing. I really wasn't looking forward to walking out of here in a ball gown in the middle of the day!"

He brushes my hair off my face and kisses my forehead, "You're welcome, Isabella. You look stunning in blue. Breakfast is here. Are you hungry?"

My stomach grumbles before I can answer, making us both laugh.

"I'll take that as a yes," he laughs, taking my hand and leading me out of the room.

EPOV

Bella is absolutely stunning in the simple blue dress that had been sent up. I felt bad that she didn't have any clean clothes to put on after her shower, so I took a chance and called down to the concierge, Mr. Jenks. He laughed, and asked me to describe her and to see if I could get a size from the tag on her dress. I got frustrated when I couldn't find the tag anywhere. He just laughed and said to leave it to him. Fifteen minutes later he was at the door, bag in hand.

I must remember to slip him an extra-large tip later.

We ate breakfast together in silence. I would be lying if I said it was a completely comfortable one. I still want to know about the nightmare she had. I want to ask her more about it, but I don't think she is up for that.

I am also nervous as hell because I've never experienced "the morning after" with a woman before. I am a little unsure of what to do, but so far I think I'm doing alright. I really want to ask her to spend the day with me, but I worry I might be out of line.

You'll never know if you don't ask her dumbass.

Deciding the voice in my head is right, I take the plunge. "So, Bella, did you have any big plans for today?" I start.

She lightly chuckled, "Edward, what did you just call me?"

I'm confused now. I have no clue what she's getting at. "I called you your name, Bella."

She laughs again.

"What's so funny?" I'm not getting this joke, and I'm not sure I like being laughed at by her.

"Nothing, it's not really funny. You've just haven't called me that before. It's always been, Ms. Swan or Isabella. But never just Bella," she tells me with a smile. "I think I like it."

I laugh with her. I never noticed that I always call her by her proper name before, and I tell her so.

"It's okay, Edward. You can call me whatever you like. But I must admit, when you say 'Isabella' with your accent, it sends tingles down my body."

"Accent? What accent? I don't have an accent," I reply defensively, completely not picking up on the second part of her statement.

"Yes, Edward, you do. You just used it. You have a very subtle British accent. It doesn't present itself often, but when it does…," she trails off and licks her lips.

"When it does… then what? I know there's more to that, Bella," I smirk at her. "I can read you like an open book."

"When you speak with your accent, I feel like I'll need a new pair of panties by the time you're done talking," she hesitantly says, blushing a beautiful shade of pink.

I smile at that. I hadn't realized I had picked up an accent while I lived in London. Yet, if it makes Bella wet for me, then I'll definitely take it! I'll definitely be using that to my advantage as well!

"So, I asked you a question that has yet to be answered," I prod gently. I still want to know if she'll spend the day with me.

And maybe the night too.

"Well, Edward, the answer is no. I don't have any big plans for the day." I smile big and start to say something but she quickly interrupts. "But, I do have to check in with my roommates soon."

I can deal with that.

"Well, since I'm new to town, maybe you can give me the grand tour?" I inquire. Sure, I'm not really new to town; I did spend most of my childhood here, but still, things change. Besides, I haven't been around Seattle as an adult much.

Unfortunately, Bella calls me on my bullshit. "Edward, really? New in town?" she raises an eyebrow.

I can't help but to grin widely and shrug my shoulders.

"Fine, we'll explore the town today. But, no complaining about where we go or what we do. And we're going to my condo first, deal?"

"Deal," I agree.

I can't wait to spend the day with Isabella. I could care less what we do; I just want to spend time with her.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go get dressed so we can leave!"

Laughing, I walk into the bedroom to quickly shower and change. Within an hour we're pulling up to Bella's building, and my nerves have returned.

I'm not nervous of being around Bella, but I'm nervous about her roommates, whom I know are her best friends in the whole wide world. I know I met them briefly last night, but somehow, I feel as if I'm walking into the lion's den. I know that she will seek approval from these two and I hate to think of what it could mean if they didn't like me.

Sensing my fear, she tells me about them on the drive. She tells me about Alice and her budding fashion career. She mentions that Rose was a professional dancer, and that she runs her own studio now. She tells me about how they've been friends since they were practically in diapers.

I envy that about her. I don't have any close friends like that. We moved around a lot when I was younger. We didn't settle down until we moved to Seattle. I was in middle school at the time. That was when my mother decided to retire from playing professionally, and took over as the music teacher at my school.

I spent so much time on my music and studies that I never had time for close friends. I was happy though, and I never felt unfulfilled. I was always working hard at achieving some new goal. I suppose that's how I managed to graduate college in only two and a half years, and how I managed to land a job right out of school at Vamp Records. Working in music has always been my goal and I like to think I managed to do pretty damn good with that one.

I managed to become the youngest Junior Vice President in Vamp Records history at the young age of twenty three. That was when they sent me to the London offices. I was second in charge there, and now, four years later, I'm a Senior Vice President and run the entire Seattle office. I'm proud of my accomplishments, but spending time with Bella is making me realize that maybe I've been missing out on something.

You never felt like that until you met her.

"You coming?" I hear Bella ask, effectively removing me from my thoughts. I glance around and realize I've parked in front of her building.

"You okay there? You were a million miles away." She gently strokes a stray lock of hair away from my face.

I pick up her tiny hand in mine and place a kiss on the knuckles. "I'm good, let's go."

She smiles and opens her door. Before she exits the car though the turns to me, "Edward, you will tell me later what you were thinking about."

I smile at her and simply nod my head. I know I'll tell her, I just don't know when.

A few moments later, we're on her floor. Bella pauses as we approach the door. She turns to me with an odd look on her face. She looks frightened, anxious and happy all at the same time. "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me."

She seems as if she wants to say more, explain what she's said, but she doesn't have the chance. The door is opened from the other side quickly, throwing Bella off balance. I reach out and steady her just in time.

"ROSE! What the hell?" she yells once she's steady on her feet. "Can't you wait for two fucking seconds for me to open the door?"

I turn my attention to the woman who answered the door. She's a beautiful blond, with long legs and a practically perfect body. There's a shorter woman, with spiky black hair standing next to her. I know I met them both last night, but I was so excited to get Bella that I didn't pay much attention to these two.

Now that I have the chance to take a good look, I realize they both look somewhat familiar. I can't place where I've seen them before. Deciding to let it go, I reach my hand out instead. "Alice, Rose, it's nice to see you again."

"Edward," Rose says, moving out of the way so Bella and I can enter.

Bella hands the dress to Alice on the way in and whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh. "Edward, you're a very lucky man," the pixie size girl says to me on her way past me.

"Damn Skippy, I'm the luckiest motherfucker in the world right now," I respond, pulling Bella close to my side.

The girls ooh and aah over what I said and soon we're all seated on the sofa with coffees. Bella tells them about the fundraiser. I tell them about how Bella was the most beautiful woman there. I earn another round of gushing, as well as a peck on the cheek from my girl. I love the attention, but honestly, it was the truth.

This whole meeting the best friends thing isn't so bad and I'm actually enjoying myself. However, I still want Bella all to myself, so after about an hour, I nudge her with my knee. "We should probably get going, if you're going to guide me around Seattle today."

"Sure, just let me go freshen up a bit," she says, standing and heading towards what I assume to be her room.

Alice and Rose exchange a glance at each other, and then at me. "We'll be right back," they say in unison, as they bounce off the couch and head to the same door Bella just walked through.

I laugh gently to myself. I may be a dude, but I know what it means when all the girls go off together. I go pour myself another cup of coffee and settle at the table with the Sunday paper. I have a feeling it's going to be a while before the three come back.

BPOV

Three.

Two.

One.

And in enter the BFFs!

I giggle to myself. I knew they wouldn't be able to leave me alone for more than a few seconds.

"Wait! Before you start, Edward and I do have plans for the day, and I don't want him to have to wait all morning before we can leave. I promise I will give you all the details… later," I tell them before the questions can start flying.

"Fine," they both say with pouts.

"Oh stop it! Fine, I'll give you a little something," I cave. I can't help it. They're my best friends and honestly, I want to tell them as much as they want to hear. "You can each ask one question."

Alice starts first, "Did you have sex with him?"

I roll my eyes at her. "No, we played checkers all night long," I joke with her.

"Come on, Bella! Be serious," she scolds.

"Yes, Alice, we had sex. We had sex and it was fucking fantastic," I tell her. She squeals in delight, clapping her hands.

"Rose, what's your question?" I ask, as I start brushing my hair.

She taps her perfectly manicured finger on her chin for a moment. "Hmmm, what to ask. I know you'll tell us all about Edward later. What I really want to know, what are you going to tell him about Victoria?"

Damn-it!

"Well, damn. You know how to bring a girl down, Rose," I huff. I so don't want to go there right now. Last night was perfect. It was just Edward and I. I didn't even think about Victoria once, nor did he mention her.

"I don't know, Rose. I did tell him that I would give him her number. I have no clue what to tell him about that now," I frown.

"Here," Rose says and hands me a shopping bag.

I reach in and pull out a shiny new iPhone. "What's this?"

"That, my dear friend, is Victoria's new phone," she answers, looking at me like I should have known that.

"Oh my God! Rose! How did you manage to do this?" Seriously. I have no clue; I didn't think you could get iPhones with a prepaid package.

"It was no big deal. I went to the AT&T store and started talking to a really nice sales guy about prepaid phones. He showed me a lot of them, but they were all crappy. I asked about getting an iPhone prepaid, he originally said they can't do that but…"

I raise my eyebrows at her, and look to Alice. She shrugs her shoulders, having no clue what Rose did at the phone store.

"But… what, Rose?" I encourage her to continue.

"Well, I sort of promised I'd go out with him if he would pull some strings on that one. He did. So now you have a prepaid iPhone and I have a date on Friday!"

I hug her tightly. "Thank you so much, Rose!"

"It's no biggie. Here, let me help you," she says, taking the brush away from me. Alice nods her head and starts working on my make-up.

I can't help the big smile that spreads across my face. I have the most wonderful friends in the world.

Once I'm dolled up, I hug them both again.

"Okay, I'm going to leave this phone here," I say, handing the iPhone to Alice. "Text my phone in a bit so I have the number, please."

"Sure thing, Bella," Alice says.

I turn to open the door when I hear Rose. "Um, Bella. I have something else to tell you, something concerning Victoria," her voice waves slightly, as if she's worried about what she wants to tell me.

"Yes, Rose? What is it?" I have a sinking feeling she's going to ask me to sing again, but I try to be patient and listen to her before I jump to conclusions.

"Um, you see, Emmett, the guy from the phone store, he uh, sort of has a band, and they're performing tomorrow night. They, um, need a singer to fill in," she says, looking down at her toes. "I didn't tell him yes or no, or even anything about Victoria really. Just that I had a friend who won a contest last weekend and that I'd ask."

I sigh and look at my friend. It's not like her to offer to help someone like that, even if they did help her first. She has a hopeful, but somewhat remorseful look upon her face.

"You really like this guy don't you?" I question.

"I do, Bella. He's funny, cute, and we just seemed to click you know?"

"What kind of stuff do they sing? Is it original stuff? Or are they a cover band? If it's a cover band, then fine. I'll probably know everything they play then," I tell my friend, who is now jumping up and down.

"Oh Bella! Thank you! They're a cover band, most of what he told me they play we listen to anyways. Thank you!" She pulls me into a huge hug.

"No problem. I'll be home by five tomorrow. Just make sure everything is ready to go," I say and leave the room to find Edward.

As I walk into the kitchen area, I spy him sitting at the table, completely absorbed in the Sunday paper. I wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him on the temple. "Anything good in there today?"

"Why yes, there is," he says, reaching his hand up to rub my arms. "There's an interesting picture on the cover of the Social page."

"Is there now?" I place my chin on his shoulder, curious as to what could be so interesting.

Flipping through the paper, he finds the correct page. "Here it is," he breathes, smoothing the page out on the table.

I gasp out loud. Splashed across the front page of the section is a rather large photo of Edward and I dancing at the fundraiser last night. In the picture, I have an arm draped around his shoulder; he is holding my other hand in his against his chest. His other arm is wrapped around my waist, pulling me close. We are gazing into each other's eyes with very content smiles on our lips. The caption reads "Vamp Records Vice President dances with date at Music and Me fundraiser."

I skim through the article quickly and learn the fundraiser earned the foundation almost double of what their goal was. Glancing down at the end, I see a list of the items that had been auctioned, as well as the winning bid amount. I quickly find the picnic in the park one, and am both happy and sad to see that my bid won. I'm happy because I'm glad I won. But sad, because I know mine was the only bid.

"Edward, I won!" I tell him. "I get to have the picnic with the kids! I can't wait!"

"That's great, babe! I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time with you," he tells me with a smile.

I read through the other bids, scoffing at the $1,500 winning bid on one of the pet-spa packages. Seriously, that much for a doggy spa? That's just a waste of perfectly good money, if you ask me.

As I finish reading the rest of the list, one obscenely large bid jumps out at me. "Someone bid $10,000 for a spa weekend for two? For real? Who would drop that kind of money for that?" I wonder out loud.

"It's for a good cause," I hear Edward say quietly. His cheeks are flushed and he seems embarrassed.

"Yes, it is. But I still don't get it. It's like someone was just flaunting what they have," I say, standing up straight.

Edward's cheeks turn from pink to red. "I don't flaunt my wealth," he grunts out, crossing his arms over his chest. His tone holds a mix of anger, sadness and petulance.

"Edward? Did you place that bid?" I have to know. There's no other reason for him to be reacting like this.

"Yeah, I did. So what?" He sticks his chin out slightly.

"So, nothing, that was very generous of you," I kiss him on the cheek. I don't want him to feel bad for my comments, so I add, "For the record, I know you don't flaunt your wealth."

"Thanks," he sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I don't normally show off like that, but, well… I wanted to do something nice. For you."

I'm shocked. We've barely known each other for a week, and here he is spending that kind of money on me? I want to be put off by such an outrageous gesture, but I can't be. It's just too damn sweet. Plus, deep down, I really like that he did it.

"Edward," I say to him, waiting until he turns to face me before continuing. "Thank you, no one's ever done anything so nice for me before."

He smiles.

"Come on, big spender. Let's get out of here," I hold my hand out to him.

"Let's," he takes my hand.

Without a glance back we head out to enjoy the rest of the weekend together.

End Note

Not too many exciting things this week, but we do get another peek into Edward's past. Are you surprised? He's not actually British! He just picked up a few things during his time in Jolly ol' England.

We have an interesting chapter coming up next! And we get to see Victoria pretty soon again as well! I won't tell you what happens, but oh man! You don't want to miss out!

A big thanks to all who have read and reviewed and added Victoria's Secret to your alerts! This story would be nothing without all of you!

If you want the chance to help develop the story, follow me on twitter (at)RobinsFF I often ask opinions of my followers for certain situations these two could get into! If you want a follow back just say "Hi" and let me know!

I appreciate any and all feed back I get! Good, bad- you can leave out the ugly. LOL I do my best to respond to everyone!

Until next week...

~Robin~