A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry I've been MIA lately. RL has been brutal. That said, I now have only RoALS as a WIP. So it's gonna be my sole focus from now on. Enjoy!
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Chapter-24: Intruder Alert
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BPOV
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Waking up to Edward's kisses was something that had the ability to make my days perfect. I moved my head to the side as I drifted between sleep and wakefulness and that's when I felt his cold lips on my neck.
"Good morning, Bella," he whispered against my skin, making a small shiver run down my spine.
I sighed happily and looked into his beautiful green eyes. "Good morning, yourself," I replied with a lazy smile. "You really stayed the night?" I asked because the night before felt too good to be true.
He nodded. "I really did. But now, I must go. Duty calls," he said with a wink.
I looped my arms around his neck and held his face close to me as I asked, "Duty? I thought you didn't like working with Carlisle?"
He shrugged. "Who cares about Carlisle? I guess being a doctor isn't that bad," he said, grinning at me. "Not when I have excellent visual of a very beautiful brunette across the street."
Heat rose to my cheeks at his words. I tried to not let it show on my face as I asked teasingly, "Really? Is she really that great?"
"She's the best," he said. "The best human I know."
I couldn't stop the blush this time from showing, and his smile widened. "She's amazing. You can't help but love her when you see her."
My breath caught in my throat as soon as the words left his mouth.
Love
Did he really just say that?
Does that mean that he can't help it either?
Before I could think of a way to voice the questions running through my mind, he was out of the bed and standing next to me holding his hand out to me. "Come on, human, give your vampire a kiss before he needs to leave."
I smiled and took his hand, letting him pull me to his chest.
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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~
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"I don't want to go," I whispered against his lips.
His lips turned upwards in a smile as he sucked my lower lip into his mouth. Then he whispered back, "Maybe I can smuggle you inside with me. You'll fit right into my pocket."
I gave him a little shove and replied with a smile, "I might be a little bigger than that. How about I give you another kiss to help you get through the day?"
He seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, the whole day without you is a long time."
"So you don't want the kiss?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, no, I didn't say that. How about a kiss now, and I'll try to wait till your lunch break to see you again?"
"Try?" I asked back, catching the emphasis he put on that word.
With a cheeky grin he said, "As much as possible." Then as an afterthought he added, "I must warn you though that's not gonna be a lot. You're surprisingly irresistible."
I felt heat rising to my cheeks at his words and just to hide my blush, I grabbed his head and kissed him.
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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~
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Just about ten minutes before Edward was supposed to come to pick me up for lunch, the small bell tied to main entrance to the bookstore jingled, alerting me to a new customer.
I looked at the clock Mrs. Goff kept next to the register and decided to take this customer myself figuring that I'll be able to help them before Edward arrived.
"Hi, welcome to …" I stopped mid-greeting when I saw Rachel Black standing at the entrance with her nose scrunched up. "Rachel, hey! What a pleasant surprise!"
"Still not a fan of the book-smell?" I asked, glancing at her face.
She rolls her eyes. "If you mean the combination of dust and dank, then no, it's not my style."
I gave her a half-shrug and said, "It's not that bad. Anyway, I'm surprised to see you here then."
"It's not a book I'm looking for," she said with a huff. "I'm looking for a friend of mine actually … or I think she's my friend. But I can't be sure anymore as it's been quite some time since we talked. Her name is Isabella. Have you seen her?"
Guilt surged through me at her words. I was reminded how she and her family had welcomed me when I first arrived here. And now, after finding happiness with Edward, I had forgotten about all of them.
"Shit! Rachel, I'm sorry. I meant to …" I started, but she waved my apology away.
"It's okay. I know things must've been pretty busy with the new job and the new town," she said.
Most importantly, the new boyfriend, I added silently, feeling the guilt ease from my mind at the mere thought of Edward.
"Actually, I wanted you to meet someone," Rachel continued, oblivious to my inner musings. I looked at her curiously, and with a smile, she stepped to the side, revealing a guy with his hair tied to a ponytail standing behind her.
"Jacob?"
I saw his eyes widen in warning.
Rachel's eyebrows pulled up in confusion. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah … um …" I tried to think of a way to explain to her how we had met. "You see he works with the rental services I used when I got here at first. He came by a few weeks ago to collect the car."
I could see the tension leaving Jacob's body as I gave his sister the shorter version of the story—forgoing any mention of his bike falling on top of me.
"Oh! Then why didn't you say so?" Rachel asked with a smile. "I thought you could use a new friend." She turned to look at her brother and added, "You should've told me that you've already met her, Jake."
I started to smile politely when suddenly a quiet voice said from behind them, "Just like he should've told you that he's a chicken shit wuss who dropped his fucking motorcycle on top of your friend."
Oh shit!
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EPOV
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Loss of control.
I hated that idea.
I hated anything I couldn't control to go in my way.
Until I met Bella.
That girl had the ability to make me lose control and enjoy it, a small chuckle left my lips as my mind brought up the images of her kisses from just hours before.
Want to share with us, son?
The sound of Carlisle's thoughts stopped my train of thoughts, and I stayed silent, not wanting to even acknowledge him. The fucker was way too happy to see me back this morning anyway.
He waited for a few moments before pestering me once again. "Edward, can you please look for the patient file?" he asked, gesturing toward the filing cabinet next to the window.
Just as I was pulling the file out of the cabinet, my eyes strayed off to the doorway of the bookstore across the street like they often did. And then I felt anger course through me.
That asshole—the one who had dropped his motorcycle on my Bella—was standing there … a merely few steps away from her.
"Edward?"
I kept my eyes trained on the scene across the street as I asked him, "Carlisle, can I take my lunch break early?"
He might have detected the tension coursing through me because he quickly agreed.
As I was walking out of the door, his thoughts reached me. Son, is everything alright?
I didn't answer him because I hoped to hell for everything to be alright, knowing that if everything wasn't alright when I got there, that asshole, Jacob, was going to be either.
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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~
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"Just like he should've told you that he's a chicken shit wuss who dropped his fucking motorcycle on top of your friend." The words were out of my mouth before I could even think about going for a subtler approach.
The woman standing in front of me looked shocked at my proclamation. "Excuse me? What did you just say about my brother?"
I gave the fucker in question a hard glare before answering. "If he is your brother then it shouldn't surprise you that he's a piece of chicken shit who doesn't have the balls to lift his own fucked up motorcycle."
"Edward, don't …"
Bella's response to my statement made the woman turn back to look at my girl. "Isabella, who is this guy?"
Before Bella could say who I was, I proudly said, "I'm her boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" The lady looked taken aback by this. She glanced at Bella as if looking for confirmation.
My eyes followed hers and the moment they fell on Bella's flushed face, rage reared its ugly head again. They must have made her uncomfortable. That's why she looks so flushed. That fucking asshole has the balls to show up and make my human uncomfortable?
I was this close to grabbing the hairy asshole's throat and choking the life out of him when I noticed Bella's eyes narrowing on me as if she could hear my thoughts for a change.
She let out a sharp breath before looking at them. "Hey, Rachel, can you please come by my place after five?" she asked smoothly. "We have so much to catch up on …"
Her words were cut off by Jacob opening his fly-trap. "As long as we're already here …"
Bella shook her head. "I can't talk for long now, Jacob. I'm working. Besides," she said, turning her glaring eyes on me. "I need to have a chat with my boyfriend here."
I felt my eyebrows shoot upward in shock at hearing her speak with so much anger directed at me. What did I do?
With a soft murmur of goodbye, the woman, Rachel, thankfully took her leave, taking her asshole of a brother with her.
Bella waited until we're alone before grabbing the front of my shirt in a fist and asking angrily, "Edward, what the hell was that?"
"What?" I asked back, truly confused about what I might have done to make her this angry with me.
"That …" she started and then stopped to let out a groan before continuing. "That pissing contest you were trying to have here. You might've as well peed on my leg while you were at it."
What the fuck is she talking about?
"Bella …"
She pushed on my chest a little, probably making an unsuccessful attempt at pushing me away from her. "They're my friends, Edward. Why would you act like a caveman in front of them?"
"Caveman?" I repeated the word, feeling the shock from earlier dissipate as anger took its place. "You're calling me a caveman for wanting to keep you safe, Bella? That insolent asshole hurt you the last time he was in close proximity to you. I wasn't going to risk that happening again."
She stood on her tiptoes, meeting my stare head on. "That was unintentional, and you know it. But what you did right now was completely intentional and unnecessary, not to mention extremely embarrassing."
Her words hit me with more force than it would if she had slapped me. "Embarrassing? I embarrass you?" I asked, not believing what she said.
She sighed in defeat and nodded. "You did a few minutes ago. We're supposed to be a team, Edward. This, what we have between us is not a freaking ownership. You need to know that."
My eyes narrowed at her implication. "What do you mean by ownership, Bella? I never claimed to own you."
"Not everything needs to be said out loud," she murmured. "You acted like you owned me. You disregarded my feelings entirely. You made me look like I'm your fucking property, not your girlfriend." Her jaw tightened, a look of determination crossing her face. "Relationships don't work like that, Edward. You need to figure that out."
I opened my mouth to speak, but she started to turn away from me. "My break's over. I'll see you later," she whispered. Then she headed back into the bookstore, but not before I saw the lone teardrop fall from her eye. And that sight right there made me want to die all over again.
Fuck! How do I fix this?
A/N: Thoughts?
Share them with me and leave a review.
Thanks for reading.
Song rec for this chapter: Stitches by Shawn Mendes.
See you next Friday.
Take care.
Ann