*Disclaimer - Sadly, I own nothing of Twilight with the exception of merchandise, bought and paid for. I do, however, own my love for borrowing the characters and playing with them however I choose to. I thank Stephenie Meyer for creating the TwiWorld and for allowing us to have our fun with it. She owns Twilight, the insanity it created in my mind is my own.

Shug rescued this chapter for me. I hope you all like it.

Whatever Works

The Rooms Upstairs

"Good morning, Bella," Sue greeted me cheerfully, and handed me a coffee. "Before I forget, Sam is coming back to pick you up at nine. You're supposed to be meeting with a supplier for gym equipment."

"I am?" I looked at her curiously.

"That's what I hear. Apparently Edward met with Dr Banner after Esme's check-up, and now he's arranged for you to go get whatever you need to get Esme back on her feet. And, honey, he truly means whatever. No limits. Your discretion."

"Um, okay?" That was the last thing I expected to hear, and it made me curious all day… and I mean all day. I was with the suppliers, breaking for lunch only, until they closed at five. If I was going to be replaced, I wanted Esme to have access to everything she would really need to strengthen her legs, not just keep the muscles toned and give her a light workout. She would walk again, provided my replacement was halfway decent.

I almost flattened my nose when I went to go into our rooms. The door didn't open when I turned the handle and walked. Why was it locked? I dug out my keys and froze when I saw the entire mechanism had been changed. My key wouldn't work. There wasn't even a keyhole. Heart pounding, I looked around for someone to explain, even though I didn't really think it was necessary. I let myself out the back door and ran around to the garden entrance to my room. Peering into the window, I confirmed my thoughts. My things were gone. I was so out.

"Hey! Bella!" Edward ran up behind me, startling the life out of me. I actually cried out and then got weepy. "Oh shit, I didn't mean to frighten you! I just wanted to warn you that Alice arrived early. It was completely unexpected, so I didn't have the chance to ask you about anything. I took your stuff upstairs already. I mean, I didn't actually do it myself… I asked Emily to gather everything… didn't think you'd appreciate me going through your personal items. And Jake brought it all up. I hope you don't mind."

I laughed and sobbed simultaneously. "Okay?"

"God, I really frightened you. And to think, you haven't even met my sister yet." His tone was playful, and there was concern in his eyes. Exceptional acting skills. He had to hate me. "I was hoping to get you to myself for a few minutes before you do meet her. Do you mind?"

"No?" I cringed as my second reply in a row came out sounding like a question.

"Are you okay? I know I made things awkward for you –"

"No! It was me! My fault. Totally. I should never have… I was completely out of line responding that way."

A small crooked grin appeared. "I thought it was rather clever, myself. I can appreciate a good 'fuck you.' Not to sound completely into myself, but it was rather flattering that you used my line."

I frowned at him. "So you're not totally pissed at me?"

"Not at all." His reply was cool and delivered in an even tone. "So can we talk for a minute? In private?"

"Sure?" And I was back to responding in question form.

"I'll get you your new key card while we're up there. Remind me. I had some work done today, and they changed all the locks over. So you'll have two for the time being. Sorry about that. How did it go today? Did you bankrupt me?" He talked as he led me up the stairs. Upstairs. I had only ever been there twice – the original delivery of the Toe Contract and then the infamous 'fuck you.' I felt a trickle of sweat between my shoulder blades when he turned to the left. I was standing outside of, and about to enter, Edward Cullen's bedroom. This wasn't a star struck thing. He wasn't Celebrity Edward Masen at that moment. "Well…?"

He'd been speaking to me. Right. "Oh! Right, the equipment. Sue said you wanted me to get whatever Esme would need."

"And so you did, I hope?" He swung the door open as the magnetic lock beeped and held it for me. "Come on in. Make yourself comfortable." He snapped on a light and tossed his card on a table by the door.

I stood and gawked. It wasn't his bedroom; it was a room very similar to Esme's sitting room. Only it had guy stuff rather than hand-stitched cushions and baskets of wool. He had a kitchenette as well, with a small fridge and a microwave behind a bar. I sat on one of the bar stools as he bent over the fridge.

"Drink?" he called back.

"I could sure as hell use one," I muttered, tapping my fingers as I looked around. It was decorated in warm chocolate brown and beige. There were tasteful paintings on the few walls that weren't glass. He had a balcony out of this room that I'd never bothered to look up at. I wondered if he used it. I wondered where he slept!

"Bella…? Hello? I could take a guess, but I'm sure I'd be wrong."

"Oh! Right. Um, I'll have whatever you're having."

He smirked, slapping a beer down in front of me. I tried to twist the top off and just about ripped all the skin off the palm of my hand. His laughter rang out as he took out a bottle opener and removed my lid and then his own. "Import. Doesn't twist. Is your hand okay?"

"Fine," I muttered as I rubbed at it in my lap.

"Want a glass?"

I huffed and lifted the bottle to my mouth. "So the guy said they'll deliver everything and set it all up next week. It will look like a lot, but I swear, she could really use everything."

"I'm anxious to see what you got," he grinned, tipping his own bottle to his mouth. "What do you get for a woman who can walk but refuses to?"

Thankfully, my mouth was free of beer or he would have been wearing it. "What did you say?"

He rolled his eyes and headed over to the couch. "It's more comfortable over here. You can come tell me when you figured it out yourself and why you've never mentioned it to me."

I sat at the opposite end, drawing my legs up under me. I tended to fidget a lot when I was under pressure, and that was the safest place for them. "Well… I… uh…"

"Okay, I'll go first. The morning you came here – when you were hired, I mean – I saw her out in the garden early on. I have a good view from out there." He pointed backwards at the balcony. "She wheeled herself over to the roses. They were planted specifically for her, you see. Dad bought her a new rose bush every spring back home. Each one of them is represented here."

My jaw dropped. That was incredibly thoughtful.

"Well, she can't stand seeing wilted blooms, so she was picking them off, and there was one that was just out of reach. So, my cheeky mother took a peek around, saw no one in sight, and hauled herself out of her chair to reach for it. Mission accomplished. I'm not saying she ran a marathon around the garden. She was shaky on her legs, but she did stand up. No dead legs there."

"And you never called her on it?" I grinned in amazement. I didn't have the nerve to, but I figured he would.

He waved his hand. "Mum has reasons for everything she does. I figured she must have a good one for wanting her ass to get fat and lumpy in that chair all day. I think I know why, but I wanted to hear your thoughts."

"I think she's punishing herself," I blurted.

Edward raised an eyebrow and sipped on his beer. "Is that so?"

"She mentioned something about only losing her legs and not her life. I'm not a psychologist, but it seems like she's got a bit of survivor's guilt. Why did she live and Carl… your dad… didn't."

He nodded slightly, giving it some thought. "I assume that you figured it out fairly early on. You're smart, and you're good at your work. Did you ever plan on telling me I was wasting my money?"

I hadn't thought of it that way, but he was right. I had been wasting his money. "I'm sorry! I still have every cent – you can have it back! I'm living here for free – you pay for everything! I haven't gone anywhere to need money –"

"Bella, I don't want it back. You earned your wages. You're available to my mother 24 hours a day! And she loves you. You've been worth every penny. You've helped bring her out of a depression, and for that alone, I'm very grateful. It's true what they say – if you smile enough when you're down, eventually you start not feeling so sad. I've acquired a certain set of skills from my mother. Act like your heart isn't breaking when, in truth, it's trashed. She's better at it than I am. The smiles you see, Bella, are for your benefit. But more and more they're coming back to her naturally. Sometimes I get the bad stuff, when we're alone…"

"Like the other night. God, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't all tragic. At least you outted Jessica's nasty habits. She's gone, by the way. The lock changes are due to her as well. I'm not too pleased with Mike. I knew nothing good would come of him having her stay over, but he swore to me she wouldn't invade my space. He swore it wouldn't affect me at all, but it has. Worse than I imagined."

My mouth hung open. Mike was banging her, not Edward! There was still the matter of Bree, however. I tipped the bottle so it appeared to have a reason to be open, clanging it off my teeth. Edward drew his legs up to the couch and hugged his knees against his chest as he looked at me, completely amused.

"Are you sure you don't want a glass?"

I clenched my entire face closed and shook my head. I heard him snickering, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a man filled with youthfulness, very relaxed in his own little world that he had created upstairs. I owed him an explanation, at the very least. "I stuck it under your door before that, like you said to."

"I know," he replied quietly. "Sue told me."

"She told you?"

"Bella, Sue is extremely loyal to me. They all are. For that, they will always be family. Yes, she told me everything."

Our little meeting in the pantry sprung to mind, about how Edward and I looked at each other. Oh god… had she had a talk like that with him too? I risked a glance over at him. He was blushing. Dammit! "I can be really impulsive," I blurted. "It's a skill I acquired… Dammit, no. I can't even blame it on my dad, because he's never done an impulsive thing in his life. This is all me. I own it. But I am sorry."

He sighed and went for another beer. "Look, my ego took a huge hit, and I'm trying really hard not to be a dick about it, so can we drop it now? Apology accepted."

I ran my tongue over my teeth to check for any chips while his back was turned. Seemed okay, but they were still buzzing from the impact. "So what are we going to do about your mother?"

"Entirely your call," he said as he returned. "You've been doing so well, I'm leaving it up to you."

"I'll get her walking."

"I know." He smiled easily at me and held out his hand. I took it and stood, unsure of where he was going with this. "Want a tour? You'll be staying here for a while, so you may as well get the lay of the land. As you can see – my living room." He stretched his arm out to exhibit it. "Kitchen area is back there. If you want anything, and don't feel inclined to get your ass downstairs, help yourself. Balcony is out here." He opened the French doors, and I popped my head out. He did have a perfect view of the garden. I wondered if I'd ever done something stupid. I'm sure he would have spotted me rescuing my underwear from the crack of my ass after bending over the roses to smell them. Great.

"Over here is my bedroom." He led me to the far end of the room and opened a door I hadn't even registered. The bedroom was decorated with the same colours as his living room and looked very inviting. He bent over and picked up a pile of clothes before tossing them into his closet. "Sorry, I haven't picked up in a while… wasn't really expecting visitors. There's a bathroom there, with… ew, lots of hair in the sink." He clicked the light off and led me back through his bedroom. It smelled like him.

"I'll show you your room. Come on." He picked up his card and then another before leading me out. He took me to the door that cornered the door to his own little apartment.

"I thought I'd be down the other end," I commented aloud.

He smiled as he deactivated the lock on this door. "Seeing as I'm evicting you from your own room, I thought I'd give you my own guest room." Clicking the lights on, he revealed a similar set up to his own suite of rooms, only instead of a living room, it was a music room. There was a piano, and guitars, and what looked like recording devices.

"You have your own studio? Awesome! Do you play?"

"Occasionally. When the mood strikes." He was grinning from ear to ear. "Your bedroom is in here." This room was mostly white, with a soft blue and dove grey quilt on the bed. Obviously Esme's work. "You have your own bathroom here so you don't have to gag going in after me in my room. There are toiletries and whatnot in there, in case Emily forgot anything of yours. If you need anything else, just let me know."

I turned around and frowned at him. "Edward, this is amazing. Way beyond anything that I need. Thank you. I feel like I'm in a hotel!"

Then he frowned. "That's how I feel every time I leave my own rooms. I was hoping you'd feel at home here, but you're right. It's hotel-like. Bree is the only person who's used it, and she never said anything about it feeling stuffy or impersonal, but she's young and easily impressed."

My heart did leaps – Bree hadn't slept with him! She had slept in his guest room! Wonderful job on judging a man you don't really even know, Swan. Ugh. Stop jumping to conclusions. Start listening and learning…

Another frown line appeared between his eyes, and he held up a finger. "Come with me."

Back at his rooms, he opened the drawer on the small table by the door and pulled out an envelope with cards similar to the one he had given me for the guest room/studio. "This is a master key, like mine. Come in here for your free time rather than sitting alone in your private hotel room." He smiled shyly at me. "I'll behave appropriately, I promise. There won't be a parade of women through here. I promise not to get sloppy drunk, and under no circumstances will I be fucking the maid. Of course, we don't have one now so that resolves that problem. You will never have to tell me to fuck off again because of that."

"I thought we were dropping it," I said dryly.

"You were to drop it. I, the wounded party, can bring it up."

"Is that how it works, Mr. Cullen?"

"Absolutely." He grinned. "Did you seriously think I'd put any body part in any part of her?"

"I know. Gross."

He shuddered. "I hope I'm doing an adequate job at restoring your faith in me. Of course, I don't really know if you had much to begin with, but I am trying. Normally, I don't give a shit what people think of me, but for some reason I give a big shit with you."

"A big shit, huh?" I snickered.

"Huge. A massive shit. I have been told, though, that my shit doesn't stink, so you're okay."

"Oh god." I rolled my eyes. "Your ego is like…" I held my arms wide apart.

"No!" he replied, wide-eyed. "You crushed it. It's hiding like a frozen set of balls, tucked way up inside until it's safe to come out."

"Then my job is done?" I teased. He was so easy to laugh with like this. I figured this was how he must be when he was just hanging out with his close friends.

"You should be my handler. You could manage my handlers. There's a team of them, you know. All handling me, because I'm so outrageously fucking real or whatever. You've managed to do what they've been attempting to do for years. You knocked me on my ass, Ms. Swan. One 'fuck you' was all it took. Point taken, and I'm charted to grow the fuck up."

"That's a lot of fucks you just mentioned," I pointed out.

He nodded. "And all in the past."

"You won't shrivel up and die with no fucking while I'm staying up here?"

"Uh…" He blushed at my bluntness, even in jest, and then groaned dramatically. "You're fucking killing me."

"When can I meet your sister?" I let him off the hook and started a new topic.

His frown returned. "Yeah, about that… this was actually my whole point of asking you up here right now. My sister doesn't agree with my assessment of our mother's condition. She thinks I'm blowing smoke out of my ass and being heartless. Be prepared to have to do a lot of backtracking once she's gone, because she will coddle Mum and probably actually convince her that she is truly paralyzed. Alice can do that. She's convinced me that I'm a total dick, so I have faith in her. I'm sorry for the extra work she'll cause you."

"You really don't get along, huh?" This was so contradictory to the pictures I'd seen of them together. His eyes now held none of the adoration they had in those images. They lowered as he thought of a response.

"We have… issues. It's not entirely her fault. We've both done things that hurt the other. She just keeps adding to it, and it doesn't make it easy for me to get over the shit I have to deal with. There are usually fireworks whenever we try to sort things out. And I don't know whether to hope she's alone or hope she's not – she really lets loose on me when it's just us. If she's brought her boyfriend though…" He raked his fingers through his hair. Ends flew out in all directions. "Either way, I'll behave while she's here. For my mother."

I had one more thing that I had to blurt. "You're not a total dick."

His smile reappeared instantly, and he turned away quickly, leaning on the bar. "Damn! You never fail to surprise me with the things you come out with."

"Edward…" I approached him, and he cleared his throat before he turned to face me. "You never told me why you think Esme is faking her paralysis."

"Same as you," he said, a little too quickly. His face showed that there was more. "And… something else… perhaps."

"Something that you don't trust me with."

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Another time, perhaps."

He turned away once more, dropping his head to the marble top of the bar and muttered under his breath. "Fuuuuuck."

A/N ~ Sorry, I didn't get the chance to respond to reviews with the holiday weekend and R/L taking over. I was overwhelmed, to say the least. Please know that I appreciate every comment, and I love the thought you're putting into this story as you follow along. Edward may be mysterious, and not exactly angelic, but he would NEVER do Jessica. Ew! ;)
We'll meet Alice next time. Thanks again! ~ SR