Chapter 9: Talking is Overrated
Disclaimer: Dear SM. I flove you and have gotten several people addicted to your wonderful books. Please don't sue me as I'm pretty sure you make more money off me a year than you would get in any settlement.
"Bella, you are never going to believe the hats I found," Jasper's voice snapped Bella out from the reverie she'd been in.
A couple of days previous Jasper had caught her undoing the button of her jeans as she went over some paperwork at her desk. He'd finally been able to convince her that it was high time she shopped for maternity clothes.
She had to admit that Jasper knew what he was doing when it came to clothes. Bella had been dreading this part of her pregnancy, picturing obnoxiously girly clothing that she would never choose to wear normally. Her fears were proved unfounded when the first shop he steered her into had very smart looking clothes.
Shopping with Jasper meant letting him take control, for the most part. Bella was fine with that. She wasn't bad at putting together her own wardrobe - he was just undeniably better. How many times had he handed her an outfit that she would have sworn would look ugly as hell, only to try it on at his insistence and love the way she looked in it?
She'd been skeptical when he'd put selected several fitted tops, but once she was in the dressing room, as usual, she could see what he'd done. Though her baby bump was still slight, in the outfits he'd chosen it was very definitely defined. While as before she might have looked like maybe she'd eaten a few too many burritos, now she looked undeniably pregnant.
"Bella," Jasper's voice startled her again. She was too busy staring in the mirror to answer, and he rapped on the dressing room door. "Sugar, are you alright?"
"Fine," Bella replied, opening the door so he could step in.
Jasper looked her up and down, a huge, gentle smile lighting his face. "Look at you. Stunning doesn't even begin to cover it."
Blushing, Bella turned to the side, taking in the way the cloth clung to the curves of her body, accentuating her belly and breasts. "What were you saying?"
"Hats. I found some amazing hats. We're definitely getting them," Jasper responded, holding up his hat covered hands.
Bella looked him in the eye in the mirror. "If you buy any more hats you're going to need a bigger house just to store them in."
He rolled his eyes, giving her an exasperated look. "They're not for me. Well...okay, there's this matching fedora set that just can't be passed up," he admitted, gesturing at the fedora on his head and an identical, though infinitely tinier one, on his hand.
But the hat on his other hand was what caught Bella's attention. "There is a huge skull on this very little hat," she said, a little horrified. It wasn't exactly macabre, but it just didn't sit well.
"It's a baby hat," Jasper said, pointing out the obvious. To him it was beyond adorable. Rocker-punk baby, even.
"It's a skull!" Bella protested, not seeing the cute factor at all.
Another eyeroll and Jasper tossed the offending hat on the bench. "That one is for Alice's baby anyway. This is for your little darling." He tossed the mini fedora on the bench revealing the hat he'd hidden under it.
It was very pink. More exactly, it was an infant sized, knit, pink, cowboy hat with a rhinestones in the shape of a crown stitched onto the front. Bella blinked at it, her lips turning up, down, up, down, up. "I don't know whether to be horrified because you know how much I hate pink or admit that my heart is melting," she said finally, grinning at her friend. "But what if she's not a girl?"
"Alice says you're having a girl," Jasper replied, as if this should be obvious.
"Oh, well if Alice says so," Bella mumbled, still a little awkward about all the new people in her life.
Not to mention, every time Jasper mentioned Alice, Bella inevitably thought of Edward.
Ever since their first kiss, almost a week ago in Bella's house, they'd tried to find time to talk. Edward had a deadline and Victoria had Bella running around non-stop as usual. Still, knowing it was important that they figure out what exactly they thought they were doing jumping from being barely able to stand each other to making out in Bella's kitchen, Edward had dropped by her work for lunch the day before.
He'd brought Canter's pastrami sandwiches and Florentine cookies to lure her away from the studio, around the corner to a park. There..well... things hadn't gone as planned.
They'd found a picnic table and Bella thought nothing of the fact that Edward sat beside her instead of across from her. His warm body seemed to omit a pleasant hum, stopping any protests Bella might have had. She was amazed by how utterly aware she was of him. The impulse to lean against him, as if they were lovers instead of ... whatever they were, was almost too hard to resist.
Then he'd set the cookies out in between them, and Bella couldn't resist. Their sweet scent
hit her especially strong, and her mouth watered. She'd grabbed for one like a humming bird flitted its beak into and out of a flower.
"You'll spoil your dinner," Edward said, his stern voice negated by the bemused curve of his lips.
She arced an eyebrow at him, slowly putting the cookie in her mouth with a bratty twinkle in her eyes. But then the cookie had hit her tongue and her eyelids had fluttered. "Mmm," she all but moaned. They were heaven in a vaguely circular shape - crispy, soft, and perfectly sweet.
When she opened her eyes she was immediately struck by the look on his face. His eyes, normally a light shade of green close to the color reflected in dew drops that gathered on leaves, had gone dark at the center, his pupils dilated. His mouth hung slightly open in a distinctly hungry pout that she sincerely doubted had anything to do with the delicious food he'd brought.
Just like the first time, the atmosphere around them grew heavy and heated. They didn't try to resist. Her head tilted, meeting his lips as he leaned down. Her hands had again gone straight for his hair, running through it and reveling at the way he hummed his approval into her mouth. His hands ran from the small of her back up to her shoulder blades slowly, as if he were memorizing her shape through the pads of his fingers alone.
When Edward was kissing her, Bella found it extraordinarily difficult to form a coherent thought. In the brief moments their lips were free, she would try to convince herself to move away from him - unwrap her hands from behind his neck. But his scent would lead her to bury her nose against his neck, breathing him in as he peppered light kisses against her hairline. Then his hands would traipse up her back and come to rest under chin, guiding her face back up so he could kiss her again.
It was worse than being a teenager. When her senses and sensations were new everything was so much more intense. That, at least, she understood. Whatever was going on between her and Edward she couldn't make sense of at all. But oh lord - she couldn't seem to stop.
The day before - at the park - they'd made out for ages until they'd both had to literally run back to work. They hadn't talked at all.
"Hells Bells," Jasper said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.
Bella started and looked at him. "I'm sorry. What?"
He studied her for a moment, pursing his lips. "You're a million miles away. Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine. I'm just having trouble concentrating - that's all," Bella assured him hurriedly.
Jasper chuckled. "I'll say." He shrugged. "Alice was telling me that's one of the more annoying side effects of pregnancy - it messes with your memory and the like."
Seeing a good way to take the conversation as far away from her distraction as possible, Bella jumped at the chance. "I've been such a bad friend lately, I'm sorry," she said as he sorted through the clothes she'd already tried on. "I just realized I don't know much about how everything with you and Alice has gone. I've been wallowing in my own problems."
Jasper glanced at her askance as he rehung the clothes she'd decided firmly against. "Your situation isn't the same as mine by a long shot," he said quietly. "You have so much to deal with, so many changes. The only thing that's changed for me is I get to shop for two little ones instead of one. Not only that but, I don't know if you've noticed, I adore Alice. She's like… a piece of my life I didn't even realize was missing."
Amused, Bella turned away from him so she could take the shirt she was wearing off and put her original back on. "Things are going that well, huh?"
"I don't even know how to describe it, Bella. I feel like I've known her all my life. We along so well," he said, and even not looking at him Bella could hear the smile in his voice.
"Jeez, Jasper. You're not going to leave Peter for her are you?" she half-joked.
He chuckled. "You of all people should know what it's like to fall in love with someone who you aren't physically attracted to. It's not the same thing."
Bella turned back toward him and smiled. It was true. She loved Jasper and Jacob with a strength that sometimes winded her. She was proud of their achievements, constantly amazed by their separate ingenuity, and happy in their presence. It was a truer love than she'd ever experienced with a romantic partner – but without any of the heat. You could be completely in love with your friends. It wasn't the same thing as being in love with a significant other – she understood that.
They had discussed this concept more than once. The idea that no one person could ever be all you needed was one they both subscribed to. It was better to fill your life with a multitude of amazing people, taking a little of what you needed from each. That way, you never chipped away at one person until you couldn't remember what it is you wanted them for.
Sitting down beside Jasper on the dressing room bench, Bella laid her head on his shoulder. "Tell me about her."
"Well, I'll tell you this much. You don't have to worry about me bugging you to come out shopping with me. You know – aside from when you need a wardrobe change," he patted her bump tenderly as he wrapped his arm around her.
Bella laughed, feeling her worry and tension drain away as they talked. "Oh no. Peter might have competition after all," she mumbled. How many times had Jasper bitched that neither his best friend nor his lover took enjoyment in buying anything?
"No, really Bella. It's so perfect. You know, women have so many choices it's downright unfair. If I wasn't so happy with being a man, I'd be pissed off that I wasn't a woman. With Alice, I get the best of both worlds. She's awfully receptive." He bumped Bella's side softly. "And unlike some people, she doesn't get annoyed when I spot something I want to see."
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Alice and Rosalie.
Rosalie, Jasper said, was having the biggest problem of the three of them. She was struggling. It had only been at Alice's insistence that she was at all open to getting to know Jasper.
"It's hard for her," Jasper said as they walked along the sidewalk toward their lunch destination. "When Edward was going to provide the DNA they needed, the baby still felt like he was completely theirs, you know? Edward's DNA is her DNA. Even though I have no interest in being the kid's dad, she still feels a little threatened, you know?"
"I imagine it doesn't help that you and Alice are getting so close," Bella mused.
Jasper grimaced. "No, she gets a little insecure some days. Not that Alice would ever leave her – just that I'm an important person in her life now. An intruder."
"And the baby is – biologically at least – yours." Bella chuffed lightly. "I understand where she's coming from."
"You have every reason to. Alice and I think it's a little sad. I think you and Rosalie could help each other a lot."
Idly, Bella wondered if Edward had told his twin anything about the newest twist in their extraordinarily complicated relationship. Somehow she doubted Rosalie would be pleased. There was no way they were going to end up friends in all of this mess.
"Edward told her," Jasper said quietly. Bella's head snapped up to stare at him in vague horror. "About the tape," Jasper clarified, his eyes going a little wide at the look on her face.
"Oh," Bella said, trying to reorient herself. "How did that go?"
"She doesn't believe you," he answered ruefully. "But she will, Bella."
They walked in silence for a few moments before Jasper asked, as lightly as possible, "What did you think I meant when I said Edward told her?"
The tips of Bella's ears began to burn. "Nothing," she insisted.
Thankfully, Jasper dropped it, knowing she didn't want to talk.
~0~
Because Jasper was in contact with Edward's family, Bella didn't know how to talk to him about Edward.
There was this vague sense she got, when she thought about kissing him, that felt like she was doing something elicit – wrong. Bella couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. They were both single and willing. Kissing him felt good – beyond good, it felt amazing. It made her blood heat in her veins and made her heart pound. Remembering the way his hands moved on her made her want more.
Uninvited, her mind would provide little fantasies. She could picture perfectly the way he would look above her. That grin of his…and his eyes piercing and heady as he gazed down at her. She could picture his body, even though she hadn't seen it. She'd felt the definition under his shirt as her hands had pressed against his chest when they were kissing in the park. In her minds eye his musculature cut his body just right without all the bulges of muscles that she'd never found attractive. She could perfectly imagine his stubbled cheek – the same cheeks that she'd stroked with the palms of her hands only days ago – brushing along the sensitive peaks of her breasts or the inside of her thigh.
Fucking pregnancy hormones, Bella thought more than once. She was hornier than she'd ever been in her life.
"Earth to Bella," Jacob said, waving a hand in front of her eyes.
Bella blinked at her other best friend. Aggravated that she'd spaced out again, she slunk deeper into the make-up chair she'd been occupying. "Sorry," she murmured, smiling sheepishly at Jake.
He grinned at her – full of teeth as always. "No problem. Sorry you had to wait. What's up?"
Not for the first time, Bella wondered if this was a good idea. What she needed was an unbiased opinion - someone to talk things out with because her brain was so muddled on the Edward subject that she couldn't even see straight. Jacob was hardly an unbiased party. Despite having never met the other man, Jacob was quick to proclaim his dislike of Edward.
Still, she had Jasper and she had Jacob that she could trust with this information. Since Jasper was out of the question, Jake was all that was left. She sighed, and told him that about that afternoon at her apartment...and the park...
Jacob's advice was simple...and made Bella choke on her drink. "I say you go for the sex."
After she was done sputtering and coughing, Bella managed a very smart reply. "What?"
"Believe me, when Rachel was pregnant last years, she wouldn't shut up about how horny she was. Paul was wearing a shit eating grin for five months straight," Jake shuddered, recalling his sister and brother-in-law's frank discussion. Off her flabbergasted expression he continued. "Bells, you've already fucked the guy by proxy, you might as well get the real experience," Jacob said, looking remarkably and disturbingly serious about his suggestion. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen? You're already knocked up."
"You don't even like Edward."
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Who said anything about like? You don't have to like someone to have sex. Honestly, you could probably use a lay, kid. Besides, sex with someone you hate is its own type of intense." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Bella frowned at him. "Yeah, Lizzie is so lucky to have you," she said dryly.
"Speaking of which," Jacob began, tilting his head at her with feigned irritation, "You've infected Lizzie with the baby fever. All I get is reminders that all of our friends are married with babies. Rachel and Rebecca both have babies."
"She's talking about a baby now?" Bella asked.
"No," Jacob said, drawing out the o. "That's not what she says. She started hinting around about marriage, but you know that the drooling little poop machine is what she wants."
"You're so intuitive about women," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "Just stall. I'll let her be there when I give birth. That'll dissuade her." She shuddered.
Jacob clucked in sympathy. "Not looking forward to that, huh?"
"What do you think?" Bella gave him a look. "Of course I'm looking forward to the result. All this waiting to see the baby is killing me. But I've never been big on pain. I'm pretty sure babies only look tiny when they're not coming out of a vagina. And don't even get me started on the horror stories." She stared up at the ceiling, running her hands over her belly contemplatively. "Honestly, there's a lot of great things about being pregnant, but there's even more that's a pain in the ass. And I mean that literally."
Jacob winced. "Thanks for that TMI moment."
"Oh, hey. No problem," Bella responded with an innocent smile. "Anyway. Are you ready to go? This is what I love about summer blockbuster season - the movies all suck but at least you don't have to think for a couple of hours. Let's go. Action. Violence. That's my thing."
"Sure, sure," Jacob replied. "Do you mind if Leah goes with us?"
Bella tilted her head at Jacob, raising a curious eyebrow. "You and Leah are friends now?"
"He wanted my experience in case things with your baby's father got really bad," Leah explained, making them both jump as she breezed into the make-up room.
"Jeez, Leah..." Jacob muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Bella apologetically.
Leah snorted. "He's also not used to the fact that I'm as blunt as a prison razor."
As it turned out, the summer blockbuster was so mindless that even the gunfire and punching of faces didn't capture Bella's attention. She tried to distract herself from the Edward-centric fantasies that threatened to get her all hot and bothered by thinking of the story Leah had told her the first time they'd met.
It had been hard to let go of that particular horror story, especially after everything with Edward happened. How many times, when she was frustrated that Edward wouldn't just disappear, had she told herself at least I'm not in Leah's shoes.
Since Leah had so blatantly pointed out that Jacob struck up a friendship with her based on the fact she'd lost her baby to his birth parents, Bella figured that she wouldn't mind a question. "Please tell me to fuck off if the question is too personal, but why didn't you go for partial custody of the baby?" Bella asked after they left the theater.
An agonized look flitted across Leah's pretty face. When she spoke, her voice sounded more tired than Bella had ever heard it. "What for? I'd get him for a few days here and there... and I'd be what? Momma 2.0... Aunt Leah? And eventually I'd have to explain to him how his daddy and I planned for him and planned to love him together...so I let his daddy knock up his mommy... and then daddy and mommy fell in love," she trailed off. "Just...no."
"I'm sorry," Bella murmured, her heart twisting. "I shouldn't have asked."
Leah took a deep breath. "No. It's fine. Honestly, most people don't ask, so I never get to talk it out. It's good for me. Or so my shrink keeps telling me," she rolled her eyes. Then she looked at Bella, a completely serious expression on her face. "Just, whatever you do...make sure you're doing what's right for the baby...even if it's not the right thing for you. That's what he deserves."
~0~
Edward had not been able to talk Alice out of going with him to see Bella.
There were many reasons why this was an unfortunate fact. The first, and most obvious reason he would have preferred to be alone was because he and Bella needed to talk about what was happening to them.
That lead directly to the biggest reason that Edward wished he was alone.
Bella had invaded almost every thought he had. Just the night before he'd been at the opening of a new restaurant. He was sitting across from his editor, Mike Newton, watching the other man's surprisingly dainty movements as he speared bits of the antipasto plate with his cocktail fork. All he could think about was Bella's lips wrapping around the olives and her eyes fluttering closed the way they had that day at the park. And that moan...
She'd had him completely riled up in the space of a single bite. It had been utterly impossible not to kiss her in that moment. He was only lucky that she was apparently on the same wave length because nothing could have stopped him from licking the remnants of honey and chocolate off her lips the way he had.
The need he felt to kiss her or have her in his arms made him dizzy with want. Even then, driving toward her work with Alice chattering beside him, all he could think about was the way her skin felt underneath his fingers.
Touching the silk over solid swell of her baby bump had made him feel almost caveman - all biology and nature with very little thought involved. Kissing her hadn't been enough in that moment. He wanted to pick her up and claim her completely, driving any thought of anyone else out of her mind forever. She was his to have and his to protect.
The emotion had scared the hell out of him as much as it had thrilled him. He'd never been so completely out of control of his actions. It was all he could do to stop at just kissing her. He'd fought every urge he had to pull her impossibly closer against him. He wanted to rip off their clothes just so he could feel all of her skin against his. Then, at the park, he hadn't been able to keep his hands off her for more than five minutes.
Nearly every minute since then had been filled with a thousand ways to touch her.
Her ass in his hands as he kissed her deeply and she wound her fingers into the hair at the base of his neck.
His tongue tracing the line of her spine down to that dimple above her ass. He'd only felt it through her clothes, but he'd bet anything that if he could set up camp and move in there, he'd be happy for life.
The hardness of her belly pressing against his - skin to skin - as she moved above him.
"Is it hot in here?" Alice's voice brought him back from his fantasies.
"What?" Edward squeaked as if his testicles were caught in a vice grip.
It perfectly exemplified the reason why this upcoming hour would be one of the longest of his life. Edward couldn't even think about Bella without wanting to touch her, and Alice was annoyingly perceptive at times.
Now, though, she was just looking at him with annoyance. She looked...hot. Not in the attractive sense, in the flushed cheeks, damp hair sense. "It's hot in here," she repeated, fanning her face in demonstration.
He took the hint and upped the air condition as high as it would go. Alice got miserably hot at times - which Edward delighted in telling her was because the baby took after her and was obviously a little devil.
When they got to the studio, Alice decamped to the back seat. Bella came out a moment later looking stunning and visibly pregnant. Perhaps it should have scared him, but instead all Edward could think was that she looked stunning.
And that her top would look even better on his floor. Or her floor. He wasn't picky.
Jesus, what's wrong with me?
Edward couldn't help the thrill of gratification that went through him when Bella stopped short, her eager expression falling when she saw Alice in the back seat. "Um. Hi," she said awkwardly as she opened the door,
"Hi!" Alice responded cheerily. "I'm crashing your lunch."
"Sorry, Bella," Edward smiled in apology. "I couldn't talk her out of it. You made the mistake of poking her back on Facebook and this little freak takes that as a token of everlasting friendship."
Bella looked at Alice. "So, if I'd thrown a sheep at you..."
"I would have left Rose immediately to raise cattle and fat babies with you in Texas," the other woman nodded seriously.
"I like her," Bella said to Edward.
"See! I told you," Alice hit Edward lightly on the shoulder.
"But don't call my baby fat," Bella said, feigning anger.
Alice wrinkled her nose. "But babies are so chubby. Chubby little cherubs."
"Oh, I know. They're like tiny Santas...without the hair. Meant to be cuddled," Bella answered, surprising everyone, herself included, with the way her voice went slightly sing-song.
But then she caught Alice's glance in the mirror and the two women burst into giggles. Neither of them were the baby-talking type, but it was a relief to indulge, if only for a second or two.
"Alright you ridiculous preggos. Where am I going for lunch?" Edward interrupted their giggle fest in amusement.
Just then a craving hit Bella with the force of a mack truck. "Oh. Ohhh. You're not going to like it...but I need it. Like, literally. Need." Already just the thought of it had her mouth watering. She brought her hand up to her lips just to make sure she wasn't drooling.
"What?" Edward said, more curious than scared. She looked absolutely ravenous - and not in the way she'd looked at him seconds before he'd kissed her in the park. She was legitimately hungry and looking at him with big, pleading eyes. "Just tell me what you want, and you can have it."
Her voice dropped down to just a whisper. "McDonalds."
"Ooooooh Yeeeeees," Alice said from the backseat.
Edward's grin fell. "You're joking," he hoped.
"Not this time." Bella shook her head slowly. "Please?" she asked. "We can go through the drive thru and we can go somewhere else for you."
His eyebrows shot up. "You mean you want to eat in the car?"
Alice started chortling. "Oh, Edward. You're going to have to get over the whole not eating in the Volvo thing. You're going to have a baby soon."
The atmosphere in the car went from lighthearted and teasing to tense and stifling in an instant. All three of them fell silent. Alice literally held her breath, both exasperated with the pair and hoping she hadn't ruined something when Edward and Bella were apparently getting along so well.
Bella still wasn't entirely comfortable with referring to the baby as his.
Edward still hadn't gotten used to the idea that he was going to be a father.
One, two, three, four, five horribly long seconds went by before Bella let out a long, slow breath. Then she looked at Edward and smiled. "Please," she murmured, her eyes dancing with the humor that had permeated the car just seconds before.
Loving this side of Bella - the easy, light, smiling side of her that she was just beginning to show him - Edward could deny her nothing.
"Fine," he said grudgingly, starting the car.
Both Alice and Bella fist pumped in triumph.
A few minutes later the girls were enjoying Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese and enjoying every bite. "It is ridiculous how good these fries are,"Bella muttered, dipping hers in barbecue sauce.
Though Edward would never admit it, he was rather enjoying his Big N Tasty. He was enjoying watching the girls devour their lunch as if it were a five course meal at a five star restaurant.
Well, he was enjoying watching one of them in particular.
He'd never been jealous of a fry in his life.
It took him a minute to process what Alice was saying to Bella. "You should come to Rose and Edward's birthday party next weekend."
"Wait, what? We're having a party? Since when?" Edward asked.
Alice turned to stare at him like he'd grown a third head. "We always have a party."
"Yeah, with just the family," Edward said before he could think about what he was saying. Alice's eyes narrowed, and Edward did a mental face palm.
Bella chewed slowly, suddenly finding her burger less than appetizing. "That's fine. I don't want to intrude."
"No," Edward said quickly. "Please, forgive me. I wasn't thinking. I'd love it if you would come."
Bella looked at him skeptically. "You're not lying because you just stuck your foot in your mouth. Again. Right?"
One side of Edward's lips lifted in amusement. "I've never lied to you yet, right?"
After a moment of consideration, Bella nodded. "Right."
"I'm not going to start now," he said earnestly.
She studied him for another few moments, seeing that he was being truthful. "Still, I'd hate to ruin Rosalie's birthday."
"You won't," Alice chimed in. "She doesn't really hate you, Bella. She just needs to get to know you. Besides, everyone wants to meet you."
"I'll think about it," Bella allowed after a minute of contemplatively chewing her fry.
After they said good-bye to Bella at the studio, Alice told Edward to wait before he took off.
"I'm going to get a ride back with Rose. Now ask me why."
"Why?" Edward asked, feeling like he was about to walk into a trap.
"Because the sexual tension in this car was so g'damn thick, I'm going to explode if I don't do something about it soon."
Edward faced forward so he didn't have to look at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Edward. If you weren't staring at her like she was something to eat, she was staring you at as if she'd rather be licking the barbecue sauce off of your cock instead of that fry. Normally, you bite the damn thing, you don't pleasure it. I'm pretty sure, if I wasn't in the vehicle, you'd have been ripping each others clothes off," Alice ranted.
"Alice!" Edward protested, a little scandalized.
"What? You know it's true. So before I march in there and jump your sister - because right now, I really don't give a fuck who sees me - you better tell me what's going on between you and Bella."
~0~
Despite her initial harshness - she'd been a little worked up - Alice was actually very understanding about the whole situation Edward found himself in.
Alice thought that some things were meant to happen, even if they chose a less than desirable way of coming about. It was possible, she mused, that he and Bella were actually destined to be together.
Edward had dismissed this fanciful notion outright. People weren't fated to be together. If people were lucky, and worked very hard, they could have a good life together Even then, it took a lot of sacrifice and compromise to make a relationship last a few years, let alone a lifetime. And no two people agreed on how to raise a child.
That was why he'd washed his hands of it initially. After all, if his parents - demonstrably loving to each other after all these years, and his father being a child psychologist to boot - could mess up as hugely as they had with Rosalie, what were the odds he could do better? His parents were both incredibly patient people. Edward had problems with his temper. And that was just him - not considering anyone else in the equation.
Edward hardly even knew Bella. He knew she was stubborn and fiercely protective. He knew she had a sharp tongue. He knew she had a penchant for dissecting movies and a work ethic that kept her from telling her boss to go back to hell she'd obviously sprung from.
He knew he wanted to do more than kiss her.
"It would be so like you to do things so out of order. First the kid. Then the lust. Don't be surprised if you fall for her," Alice had laughed.
But, all kidding aside, regardless of what they would eventually mean to each other, they needed to untangle the web they were weaving before it got so snarled a it could belong to a Disney villain.
And that had been Edward's plan when he arrived at Bella's house that weekend.
It took exactly seven minutes for that plan to crumble like dust in the wind. Their bodies were magnetized, straining toward each other though they both held back. Still, it was useless. As long as they were so close, they came together with the audible, satisfying clack.
Or, in their more human, less metallic state, the sound of their lips occasionally smacking or their clothes rubbing against each other.
"We need to talk," Bella whispered as her head tilted up, allowing him access to her neck.
"I know," he murmured against her throat. Then he darted his tongue out to taste her skin, eliciting a tiny gasp from her.
He brought his face back up to look at her, leaving a trail of light nips in his wake. The slight moisture cooled her super-heated flesh wherever his lips had touched. "I don't know what we're doing. I don't understand this," she admitted, running her cheek against his - flawless skin to grainy, stubbled cheek.
Pulling back slightly, his hands came up to frame her face. His thumbs stroked her cheeks. "Shhhh. Bella. I don't know how to wrap my head around it either," he said, leaning forward as he spoke to pepper kisses on her nose. "But I know I don't want to stop," he confessed.
Tell me to stop, some still sane part of him begged even as he kissed her once, twice, three times.
Her face still caught between his hands, and her own arms wrapped around him, they both paused, breathing the same air for long moments.
Finally, Bella gave in with a quiet whimper. She pressed her body against his, suffocating all remaining distance between them. "Don't stop," she whispered against his lips.
And he didn't.
A/N: Soooo. Yeah.
I forgot to thank jadedandboring for beta work last time. Shame on me! She neglected her well-earned nap to beta this chappy for us and I love her.
I'm doing a little better with review replies. I got through half of them. ::sighs at self:: Really. I read them all – sometimes over and over. Thank you so much. You make my day brighter.
What's the worst thing about being pregnant?