*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 ~ Thanks to my pre-reading and beta'ing pals. Lip lick added, as per request. ;)

Whatever Works

Tension is Thy Name

Edward closed the door to his bedroom behind us and leaned against it with smoldering eyes and rapid breaths through his parted lips. Not even in my dreams had he looked so completely delicious. I wet my lips as I took a step closer. He didn't appear to be deserting his spot against the door anytime soon. My hands went to his chest, gripping the fabric of the unzipped hoodie he still wore. My lips traced the outline of his delectable jaw, and he slumped down just enough to meet my mouth with his own. Tongues swirling together as they met, I brought my hands up to his hair and he brought one of his to my face. The other hand was low on my back, pressing my body closer to his. Flashes of memories from the night he'd made love to me flooded my thoughts, and there was nothing I wanted more than a repeat of that night – except maybe getting to know his body a little better this time. From the hardness against my hip, all indications were that he was anticipating the same. A moan escaped my lips when he pressed me closer still, and he shuddered, deepening his kiss.

"Bella…" he murmured against my open mouth. "God… this is so… I hate myself for this, but we have to slow down."

My hands held fistfuls of his hair and my hips ceased their movement against his as I froze on the spot. "Slow down, or stop?" His arousal was blatant – but he was cockblocking? Seriously?

He groaned and ran both hands up and down my back. "We should talk."

Talk. Seriously? NOW? Well, shit. I had encouraged him to be forthcoming with his worries. I could hardly take that back now. Clearly, something was bothering him. A sense of dread washed over me. This was where he would tell me he'd made a mistake… he couldn't live here with me… he couldn't have a relationship with me… he couldn't…

Could he have sex with me at least?

I berated myself internally as I even considered inquiring about that possibility. That was desperate and pathetic and worse, it would break my heart all over again. I finally released his hair, and he kissed my forehead softly. He looked nervous again.

"I liked the set-up in the house in LA. This feels weird, pulling you into my bedroom to talk. It's just going to be awkward, no matter what we do – stand at the door or sit on the bed."

The brush-off had already taken place; I could totally put off him telling me to get out for another day. Or what if he wanted me to stay, but he would leave? Maybe he would stay in hotels here, too, while I looked after his mother. Back to business? "Would you rather I just left?"

"No!" His hand flew up to his hair, ruffling it even further than it was from my own manipulations of it. It had its own life – like a living statue in the park, only it was, as he had pointed out, in his bedroom. On display – 'Bronze Sex Hair in Edward Cullen's Bedroom'.

He took my hand as I studied the living statue, memorizing it, and led me over to his bed. Sitting against the headboard, he folded his legs like he did when he sat on the floor with Evan.

"This is going to take some getting used to, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been myself." His angelic grin smoothed my anxiety just enough to manage to breathe as I mirrored his position in front of him on the edge of the bed.

"You've been flipping back and forth – something has you uncomfortable here," I commented. Just get it out! The anticipation of a let-down was worse than the actual fall… I thought. Maybe.

One messy lock of hair spilled onto his forehead when he looked down timidly. "I don't work well with an audience," he chuckled. "I prefer to test things out privately before having eyes on me and opinions formed. Even if the critique doesn't actually get verbalized, I still feel it. I can always tell what my mother is thinking – I'm a constant source of disappointment."

"I think you're wrong," I said in a gentle voice, frowning.

He smiled warmly at me before turning morose. "I believe what you're seeing is her love for me – that's different. I have no doubt that she loves me, but she rarely approves of my choices. Honestly, I haven't given her much reason to have faith in me. Now, I find myself in a precarious situation. For the first time in my life, I have a direct path I'd like to follow. A purpose." His grin returned, and I was captivated by the smooth flow of his voice and the intensity in his eyes.

"Here I am, a quarter of a century old, and I'm seeking approval from my mother in regards to my love life? Ridiculous. It's not like I can send her off so I can figure out how to live my stable adult life on my own – I have committed to seeing her through the worst time of her life. She's earned that, and I won't turn my back on her. In the meantime, I worry that I'm going to mess up entirely and disappoint everyone, all because of the pressure to please the various women in my life."

I battled the erotic thoughts of how easily he pleased me and willed myself not to blush – he was referring to pleasing, not pleasuring. Immediately, my conversation with Maggie came to mind. "Maggie said something similar the other day –"

"Maggie?" He sat forward, hastily brushing the fallen lock of hair to the side. "You were talking to Maggie about me?"

"More like listening to Maggie, actually. I don't think I got many words in myself."

"See, that concerns me. I don't know that talking to the girl I had an affair with – and knocked up – is really going to help our situation."

"She didn't say anything bad about you!" Instantly, I realized that was just as bad, if not worse, than searching up information about him on the internet. "She just started talking, and it was probably out of nervousness… she can really talk!"

As he chuckled in agreement, I relaxed a bit.

"I don't know what happened to her – she used to be such a quiet girl. Now she goes on and on… it's like she's stored up years of being the quiet one and has a lot to say about everything at this point. I'd be interested to see her in action with Lauren and Alice now! Anyway, what did she have to say? I interrupted. Sorry."

I had to take a moment to return to what had triggered thoughts of Maggie before I could go on. "Well, basically she was saying how happy she and Ben are that you're taking a role in Evan's life. She believes you're doing it out of a genuine desire to be involved, not strictly out of obligation." Stopping to admire the beautiful smile that emerged on his face, I reached over to brush back the hair that had fallen forward again. "Then she expressed concern over your well-being, in that you tend to put others' wishes ahead of your own –"

"Not true," he stated emphatically. "I'm ultimately very selfish – I'm working on that, mind you – but I lived quite selfishly for years. I drank, smoked, and snorted what I wanted, when I wanted. I fucked who I wanted and dismissed them when I was done. I shut out people I had no use for at the time and secured those I could use. That's being an asshole, not putting others ahead of myself."

"Do you want to hear Maggie's theory on that?"

Edward's brooding look quickly turned into a look of amusement with a little bit of shame thrown in. He looked adorable. "I guess I do, yeah."

"A comment of my own first – I think you and Maggie have more than a son in common. Just saying…"

He returned my smirk with one of his own. "I'm intrigued… go on."

"Maggie thinks you likely felt trapped by everyone trying to control you and get you to do what they wanted you to do. You may have overreacted, and probably didn't choose the wisest outlets to make your stand with independence, but it was necessary for you at the time."

"She took that from our talk after my proposal, no doubt," he commented.

I smiled, knowing far more about that talk than he knew. Maggie had informed me that he began talking to her about me at that point. She claimed that she followed along through their conversations since then, watching his attraction grow into something much more. "That's your common factor, by the way… I see her prattling on as her release, just as you acted out to get your own. She doesn't think you did any of it to intentionally hurt anyone – I don't see her talking to me about you that way either. She's not trying to hurt you or bad-talk you. She's glad to see you moving on with what makes you happy instead of fulfilling obligations and then going and getting wasted as a means to do something for yourself."

"Ah." He grinned at me sheepishly. "So, no harm done?"

"Not in the least," I replied with my own smile. "Actually, she and I have a common bond as well, now that I think of it – neither of us wants to be another woman interfering in your life. She wants you to find your own way with Evan. And so do I. Edward, I know you're under a lot of pressure, and I don't want to add to that. If you're not comfortable with our living arrangement or a change in our relationship, I understand. Your relationship with Evan is the most important thing." The responsible adult in me did understand, but the woman in me desired anything I could get from him. And the girl in me, who'd never been made to feel special by a boy, craved the way Edward made me feel more than anything.

"Bella?" Edward lifted my chin to look at him as he spoke. "I want to make one thing very clear – I want you. I want a full relationship with you. If that's something you want as well, and I really hope that it is, then let's drop all the doubts and move on with it."

His gaze and low intonation during his speech were hypnotic. My heart raced as I struggled to come out of the spell he had cast on me and actually reply. "It is," was all I got out.

Apparently, it was enough. Edward's grin lit up his face as he grabbed hold of my hand. "Good. Then let's chat."

Nestled between his outstretched legs, I leaned back against his chest as his arms encircled my waist. I revelled in the warmth he created.

"I tend to compartmentalize the people in my life," he said softly. "Work relationships stay at work. What Mike refers to as my 'inner circle' is another. I've ended up putting Mum in another one, and Evan certainly is kept separate from all of those. Sex is kept apart from all else as well. It's worked well – it's tidy and efficient. I have very few people to answer to because few know the goings' on in my other compartments. Then you came along…" He rubbed his cheek against the top of my head affectionately.

"You've managed to get yourself into several of my compartments, and I actually like it. It did unnerve me somewhat – the only person to cross into several areas was Jane, and that came about unexpectedly as well. This is different though. I didn't really think I would ever trust someone completely after her. Actually, she may have been instrumental in structuring the strict compartments." I felt him sigh heavily. "I guess she was."

In my head, I ticked off all the compartments he'd let me into – the only one missing was work. I didn't know if the impromptu pool party Mike had arranged for his cast mates was in that compartment. If so, then yes, I had been in every tidy compartment without even being aware of it.

"You, Bella, are the first person I've wanted involved in everything, and it only struck me as such when I discovered you'd been looking me up online. Of course, it made me freak out a bit, but then I considered the fact that you probably didn't compartmentalize and probably didn't understand that I do – and why I do. And if you felt even remotely as drawn to me as I was to you, it would be natural for you to want to know about all aspects of my life."

Nodding fervently, I thought he finally understood that it wasn't a betrayal of trust on my behalf and hells yes, I was just as drawn to him!

"I have a work thing next week – promo stuff. I'd like you to come with me. And I want you to show me how you work, so I can help you with my mother. We can –"

"Wait…" I loosened myself from his grip and twisted around to look at him. "Did you just say you want me to go to work with you?"

He nodded with his lopsided grin. "I really think you should get to know Edward Masen before he goes completely underground. He is part of me, but you may hate him. You may even learn to hate me before I manage to merge the two personas I use. In an ideal world, I'll create a whole new identity – hopefully one you like – and start fresh."

I leaned back into him, draping my arm above my head and around his neck. I tipped my head up to place a kiss on his jawline. "You'll work it out. And I'll still want the person you are when you're with me, regardless of your name. You really want me to go to your promo thingy?"

His low laughter made my lips tingle against his throat. "My promo thingy is just a string of interviews – mostly over the phone. Not interesting in the least, but you'll get an idea of one part of my job. Or you can take off and take advantage of the spa. After the interviews are done, we'll get to utilize the free room in a much more enjoyable way."

"What about Esme?"

"Taken care of," he murmured against my temple before placing a kiss on my forehead. "Will you come with me?"

"Absolutely."

"You'll have to endure Mike, I'm afraid. Sorry about that."

I chuckled along with him and turned onto my side so I could snuggle in better. "We have the room for the night, too?"

"Mm-hmm." More tender kisses lined my hairline. "You smell like strawberries. So sweet. So delectable."

"I'll have to make sure I take that shampoo with me that day." I couldn't help but giggle like an idiot. The ability to get a serious flirt going with this man in person was impossible for me.

The giggling didn't seem to hinder his affection any. He still moaned and nuzzled against my temple, until I was giggling for another reason. "Maybe you shouldn't use it until then. It's going to be really difficult to wait."

My euphoric giggling halted. "Wait? For what?"

It was his turn to laugh. "Are you going to make me say it?"

Um… yeah! Wait for what? Not sex… His laughter tapered off. Oh no… he's talking about waiting for sex!

"Bella, I would very much like to have a romantic night with you… at the hotel… next week. And if I'm not being too presumptuous, I would like it to include some sort of… um… something physical?" His tongue flicked out to wet his lips. The gesture just reminded me of my arousal, and I knew he didn't even intend to do that. "Something sexually related, perhaps?"

Cue the giggling. Internally, I was cringing, but it just wouldn't stop. Did he seriously think we had to wait?

He tossed his head back, eyes closed as I got my giggles under control. "It's okay," he mumbled. "That came out sounding ridiculous. I'm not very adept at asking these things. It usually just happens."

He was serious. I sat up so I could lean over his reclined head. "It can happen. You don't have to wait." My voice sounded absurdly smoky and serious.

Edward gazed at me under heavy eyelids and blew out a hiss.

Clearing my throat, I continued. "We've been there before… sex, I mean. There's not a boundary keeping us from going there again." The clearing didn't help and this time, he moaned and lifted me away from his body briefly before setting me back down in a more comfortable position for both of us.

He stroked my hair as he gazed at me. "Bella, I want you to know without a doubt that this is more than sex to me."

I cheered inside; not only for his words, but for his own smoky voice.

"I know we've been there, and it's only logical that we will be intimate again, but I want a do-over."

"A do-over," I repeated, teasing him. "A do-over of my do-over?" It made him smile.

"Yep. See, it didn't turn out as I hoped it would. The sex did," he added quickly, correcting himself before I could tease him about that too. "It was afterwards that was an epic fail. That's what I want to correct – no rushing out, and leaving you alone in bed. No taking off on you. No misunderstandings or arguments. I just want to show you how I really feel about you. I want to get this new phase of our relationship off to a good start when it's just you and me, without an audience."

"There's just you and me now, Edward. I don't need to be pampered in a hotel room," I said gently. "I just need you."

His eyes closed as he pressed his forehead to mine, and when they opened, they were shimmering. "I know that, silly girl. That's what makes me want to do something special for you. Please? Please let me do this, Bella. Give us this time to get comfortable together so it's not awkward. I'm not used to showing affection towards a woman in front of other people unless it's scripted. But this is our home, and I want to be comfortable holding my girl's hand and giving her a kiss when I want to. My body is telling me the way to do that is to strip you and have my way with you right here and now, but my head is telling me that's never worked for me. I want you to be my girl, not just my lover."

"We'll wait." My voice failed me again, managing a mere whisper on that one.

"Thank you." He kissed my forehead, then my lips very softly and finished up with a peck on the tip of my nose. "We'll build up some good sexual tension in the meantime."

"No shit."

Laughing, he eased himself down so he was lying on his side, facing me. "You're not the one about to split open a reasonably new pair of jeans."

"That's not helping," I groaned and wrapped my arm around his waist.

"Neither is that," he replied.

"Massive amount of sexual tension right now," I murmured against his lips.

"Extraordinary amount of sexual tension…" He chuckled as he pressed himself further against me and hitched my leg over his. We kissed like teenagers left alone in the house for the first time. For hours. The perfect boyfriend had returned.

A/N ~ *Waves* to new readers. Welcome! And to my regulars, thanks for sticking around. XX ~ SR