*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.

A/N ~ This best part of this fandom is finding remarkably special people who will hold your hand during chapters like this. I feel very fortunate for my hand-holders. Thank you, ladies. *squishes* As always, Shug makes my update a little closer to perfect with her mad beta skills. Taking a deep breath before hitting update... here we go.

Whatever Works

Lost and Beautiful

Waking naked in Edward's bed – glorious experience.

Waking naked in his bed, without him – horrid.

I found his note before leaving: Good morning my sleepyhead. Tried not to wake you while I picked up around the room this morning. Hope you found your knickers? Then I tried to wake you to kiss you goodbye, obviously to no avail. I kissed you anyway. (Told you I could do anything to you while you sleep!) I WILL call you. Bella, I took a picture of you. I hope you don't mind, but I just can't be away without seeing your pretty face. It's a nice shot, I promise. No drool. Oh, and I emailed you an audio file. I think you'll like it. Yours, Edward

Like a lovesick teenager, I kissed it, folded it, and stuck it in my bra before going down to see his mum. Gah!

Emmett stuck around, as discussed, and we had Esme's pool session and a nice lunch. Then he went to join Edward on the set, party to follow. Edward didn't call. I tried not to take it as a broken promise. I hadn't seen the picture he took on his phone to check the damage, so I didn't know if that one was kept – that was a definite promise. I re-read his note fifty times.

I also devised a plan to get him past the ideals he had of romancing a girl on a date. He didn't have to take me out, dinner and dancing could be done with a lot more intimacy in his own room than in a public setting. I planned to set it all up when he returned from his trip. While Esme watched her gossip shows, I clicked on the laptop to go through some recipes in order to make a menu for our date night. There was a new wallpaper up – a baby picture of Edward. Cute! Really adorable. I bookmarked some options and shut it down to get Esme ready for her bath, then got her settled in bed.

Ready for bed afterwards, I sighed, feeling sorry for myself that Edward hadn't called at all. He had said it would be an early night, and it was already after midnight. And he'd said he would call. I checked my phone to make sure the battery hadn't died and smacked myself when I realized the ringer was off and I had a message. It was a text message, not his voice, but it was better than nothing. I got in bed to read it:

'B… I pushed my flight back. Em & I will be home late pm. Plz don't mention to Esme. Can you meet me? 7? We need to talk. E'

It lacked the Edward-esque flair of his handwritten notes, but it was a digital message probably sent from the party – I assumed he was being careful. I'd see him at 7… I wished it was 7 a.m., but at least I'd see him. If he pushed his flight back, why wasn't he coming home tonight? My fingers worked the frown lines out of my brow… only last night, he'd made me his queen. I shouldn't be frowning over anything. I put my headphones on and played my newest download courtesy of Edward. Van sang me into a sleep filled with dreams of a beautiful man with adoring emerald eyes, sex hair, and the hands and mouth of a god.

~ 0 ~

Giving Sue a hand in the kitchen after an early dinner, I spotted Emmett out at the pool. They were home! I wondered again why he didn't want me to mention it to Esme, but that would explain why he had snuck in rather than joining us for dinner. Sue extended her invite for tea later on and headed off to her house. I got a tray of food to take up to Edward. Not exactly the dinner date I had planned for him when he returned from his trip, but impromptu dates were fun too.

Patting myself on the back for making it up the stairs without tripping or spilling anything on the tray, I struggled to balance it with one arm while I dug for Edward's key card. When it threatened to topple for the second time, I gave up and kicked on the door instead.

I started rambling even as it was swinging open. "Sorry! My hands were full, and I've already ruined the floor in Esme's sitting room. I didn't think you'd want your hallway damaged as well! Hungry?" I finally looked up and into the face of a stiff Edward.

"Bella. It's actually not a good time," he said tersely. "I thought I asked you to come at 7."

"Oh." I chewed on my lip, embarrassed and hurt and more than a little angered by his reception. So I was an hour early. So was he! "I'll come back then. Do you want this or not?"

"Actually… don't come at 7. I'll come find you when I'm done."

"Edward, everything's reversed in there!" A singsong voice with a thick accent rang out from within his room. "I had to search for the flusher on the toilet!"

Edward tried to step out into the hall with me, glancing her way and then back at me. Did he think I hadn't heard her? That I didn't know he had another woman in there only a day after he'd made love to me? Did he think I was fucking stupid? And then I saw her – a tiny, porcelain doll. My size, but much curvier. Full, deep red curls framing porcelain skin. He told me he liked pale girls! She was absolutely beautiful and vibrant and young.

Secret girlfriend… super young…

And she was smiling at me and giving a little wave. I slammed the tray against his chest, tipping the cover off his meal and knocking the cutlery onto the floor with a loud clamor.

"Bella –"

"Don't say one word," I hissed and retreated with lightning speed. I couldn't let Esme see me this seething mad, so I ran through the kitchen and outside with the intent to enter my room from the garden. I ran straight into a wall that was Emmett's chest.

"Whoa! Nice tackle, Swan, but you should keep your head up when you… hey…" He tipped my chin up and frowned. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head at him. If I talk, I cry… no fucking way am I crying over this. I knew this would happen! I knew it was nothing to him. I knew…

"Hey, hey, hey… Bella…" Emmett took my arm and whisked me over to some chairs in the corner. "Talk to me. What's got you so upset? Did your talk not go well?"

"He's got… there's a girl…" I panted out the words, trying to catch my breath. "Upstairs!"

"What? Who?"

"I don't know! Some fucking girl! He didn't introduce us!"

Emmett looked confused by my outburst. "Okay. Take a breath. I want to go up myself and see who you're talking about, but I'm not leaving you like this."

"Emmett! Come on! I know you've got this insane fucking blind loyalty to him, just like Esme, just like Sue… Emily at least tried to warn me… Maybe Alice is the only one who really knows him! I should have talked to her more, but he was working on me the whole time she was here. God, he can spin a story just as well as his handlers and the media he despises! Is that really why he didn't want me at the wrap party? Because she was there?"

"She…? Who? I don't know who we're talking about, honestly. I was with Edward the entire night. Even when he went to take a piss, he wasn't alone! And there were no girls with us, I swear."

"The party went on all night?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. We bailed pretty early –"

"You've been home since last night?"

Emmett's body language changed, becoming more of the chill Emmett he usually was in watchdog mode, but there was something forced about it this time. "Uh-uh. We crashed at the hotel. The room was booked and paid – figured we may as well use it." The watchdog faded out, and his look of a deeply concerned friend returned. I just couldn't tell if it was concern for me or his unworthy friend upstairs. "It gave him time to get his head straight… Bella, there's something wrong about this. He wouldn't hook up with someone just when… we talked a lot last night. He told me."

Oh god! He knew we slept together. "Does everyone know how stupid I am?" I couldn't face Esme if she knew I'd had sex with her son. And Emily… she'd been a good friend trying to warn me. Stupid!

Emmett shook his head adamantly. "No! No, just me. I won't say anything, don't worry. You're not stupid and he – Look, he only told me because he really needed to talk it out. He put off leaving so he could talk to you beforehand. This doesn't seem right." He frowned and rubbed at his neck, trying to figure this out. "Was Mike up there? She's got to be one of his girls. He called and said to meet him here."

"No Mike. Just her. And Edward." And a stupid, lovesick girl out here with a guy who deserves a life of his own rather than covering up for an asshole!

"You saw her? What does she look like?"

I closed my eyes, seeing her face in my mind. The tears I'd been fighting were threatening to overtake me. "Really pretty. Really young. Red hair."

"Maggie… Fuck!" Emmett cursed under his breath and covered his head with his hands. "Bella, I'm really sorry. I had no idea she'd come here."

Maggie… I'd heard him call the person who called when we were messing around the other night 'Mags'… His girlfriend. His secret girlfriend. It wasn't a rumor. She's real. And here. There was no stopping the tears, and I collapsed into Emmett's strong arms like a fool, sobbing and convulsing as my heart shattered into a million little pieces.

Damn him!

Stupid me.

~ 0 ~

Emmett wouldn't leave me. He wouldn't let me go back to my room alone, and he agreed that Esme shouldn't see me so upset. Despite my aversion to the stairs and every room up there and every person in those rooms at the moment, he convinced me to go with him to his own room. He had a similar set-up to Edward's, including his own bar. He made me a vodka and lemonade, which I downed, and then he made me a tea – no doubt fearing what a drunk, stupid love-struck girl would do to the precious down the hall.

The tears had dried up and left me feeling void of anything except the searing pain in my chest. I hadn't felt like this when James dumped me. This fucking hurt. It was pointless sitting there with Emmett; he wouldn't tell me anything about Maggie except that it wasn't what I thought, and there was nothing else to say but I had nowhere else to go. This was my workplace and my home. I was friendless. Alone. Trapped. So I sipped on my fucking tea waiting for time to elapse, and for Edward to get the fuck away from this house and the fragile shards of my heart.

Knock, knock.

Two rapid raps on the door broke the silence, startling me. Emmett placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed before going to the door.

"I need you to take Maggie to the airport." Edward instructed his best friend. His voice held a hint of desperation. I hoped he felt as trapped as I did at the moment.

"Yeah… are we –?"

"Different flights," Edward replied in a clipped voice. "We'll leave as planned. I've got to find Bella. She came to my room –"

"I know. I've been with her since," Emmett informed him softly.

"Is she…?"

"Pissed off, dude."

They continued their muted conversation, and I bolted for the bathroom at the other end of Emmett's suite. I couldn't face seeing him. I still had a job to think of – though how I would be able to stay after this was beyond me.

Emmett's voice outside the door told me he'd be back soon and pleaded with me to wait. I didn't leave the safety of the ceramic and marble room until I heard his door thump closed. I took a moment to take in my surroundings. Emmett's bedroom was comfortable and lived-in. He had several boxes lined up against one wall, just like I had in my old apartment. Packing up his life, ready to move on or were these never unpacked, just like mine? I thought about Rosalie and how lucky she was to have this fantastic man – a real man who didn't act his way through life. And he was willing to give up all the luxury that came with being a friend and employee of an asshole. He would give it up for love. I was envious but so happy for them. They'd make it. Emmett's heart was gold.

I felt Edward's presence even before I saw him. He stood with his back to me, staring out the window. "We have to talk," he said quietly without turning around.

"So you said. Or typed, anyway." I kept my voice smooth and even, attempting to keep out immature sarcasm and any sign of the distress I felt.

"I should have come home last night and talked to you in person. I just needed some time to get my head straight."

"Hmm. So Emmett said. Is your girlfriend very upset with you?" Okay, so much for being mature.

He turned around, face grim and eyes full of ice. "Did you find out anything interesting about me?"

"From Emmett? Please! He didn't talk about you! He was just being a friend to me. You know he wouldn't say a word about your indiscretions. I'm sure he's placating your girlfriend as we speak – smoothing things over for you."

"I'm not talking about Emmett. I'm talking about your research." He leaned against the window ledge, hands in his pockets in an attempt to appear casual. His body was rigid and gave him away.

Bad acting, Edward!

"When I left you in my bed yesterday morning, I went downstairs to leave a message for Mum. She didn't know I was going back to England, you see. I only told you because…" He paused and sighed heavily. "Look, it doesn't matter. My point was, I went to upload a picture onto her laptop. In doing so, I discovered a rather lengthy history of searches."

Shit! Oh shit! I couldn't look at him.

"Mind telling me why you were doing such an extensive look into someone you could ask those questions to in person?"

I briefly considered hanging Esme out to dry, saying it must have been her. She did follow his gossip.

"And before you say it was Mum or Alice, I know it wasn't. They wouldn't have been looking for what you were."

God, I'm so transparent! I wanted to see you naked. I wanted to know if you were the person you showed me, or the person the magazines show you to be. I wanted to see you – to know you. And yeah, I wanted to see you naked. Mostly, I wanted to know if would be worth getting my heart broken. "I…" I closed my mouth. There were no words. I risked a glance at him. He looked crest-fallen; like I had hurt him and not the other way around. I believed his hurt too. Damn him!

"I trusted you," he said in a whisper. "I would have told you anything, Bella. I asked you to wait."

"I've only done it twice." It wasn't an excuse. It was simply pathetic.

"I've been asking you for months to be patient. To give me time to get everything dealt with."

"Months. You really got on that, huh? Rushed right out to sort out your life!" I had to get past wanting to beg him to forgive me. "Did you need time to cover up an affair with a staff member from your girlfriend, or time to ditch her because of the affair? Who did you need the time for, Edward? Me or her?"

"Neither, actually!" he hissed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. And I guess it answers my own question – you didn't find any truth online or you would understand."

"Ever think that if you'd just been straight with me I wouldn't have had to look up another source?" I was dangerously close to caving and dropping at his feet and latching onto his legs to plead for another chance. I had to get out with some dignity left. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. All of this, actually. I signed an agreement that granted you complete privacy, and I have not kept my part in that. I shouldn't have looked anything up, and I shouldn't have expected you to tell me anything about your life. I overstepped. I apologize."

His eyes softened. "Bella… I planned to tell you everything…"

So ready to cave… Frowning, I shook my head. "No. It's not necessary. Not part of my job. I'm only here for Esme, and your private life has nothing to do with that. I never should have gotten involved."

Silence thickened the air in the room. I was holding my breath and listening to the sound of my own heart thumping in my chest. Edward stared off to the side and then closed his eyes, not moving at all. I couldn't even see the rise and fall of his chest – he didn't appear to be breathing either.

"You're only here for Esme…" he repeated in monotone. A few moments later, he took a deep breath, grabbed onto his hair with both hands and opened his eyes before turning to me. His lips clamped together in a grin that held no humor. "Right then. In regards to your job… My mother will be cranky for several days, possibly more. I apologize for that – for making your job tougher than it has to be. Jake and Sam will be around to help you out with the pool therapy. Both would do anything you asked of them. If you need anything else while I'm gone –"

"Call Mike?" I inserted my own guess.

The humorless grin dropped and his mouth contorted in several different ways as if he was holding in words or an expression – as if he didn't know what to feel and what to display. There was clearly no script for this. "You have my number," he said softly. "I'm sorry to have involved you in something you regret."

I have regrets, beautiful man who made me feel pretty, and desirable, and… But I don't regret our time together, Edward. I would take every second I had with you all over again.

I had my apology – that was an apology for crushing and stomping on my heart, right? And I apologized for intruding on his privacy. Done. Back to business."I won't drag this out, I swear. When you get back, it will be like nothing ever happened."

His lip twitched; his whole face did the I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself thing, and he looked away from me with haste, dropping his eyes to the floor. His scent enveloped me as he rushed towards the door, seeping into my pores and bringing with it that searing pain I thought the tears had taken care of. They hadn't. But I would not cry in front of him. I wouldn't give him a reason to turn back, because if he did, any strength I had left would be gone. And if he didn't turn back, I couldn't even think about that pain. Why did he have to look so beautiful when he opened the door to leave?

"Take care, Bella."

Why did he have to look so beautiful and lost?

The door closed as softly as he'd uttered those words, and my beautiful, lost asshole of a king was gone.