We ready for chapter nine? I am! Sorry that its been a while since the last update, I haven't found the time to sit and write it. So here it is! :)

BPOV

I don't remember much after we got back to my apartment that afternoon. About the last thing I do recall was Edward kissing me on top of my head before I drifted to sleep.

I woke up on the couch and was instantly scared. It was dark and I was alone. I sat up at lightning speed and twisted my head around in search of Edward. When I couldn't find him anywhere within my sight, I jumped from the couch and ran towards my kitchen.

There was noise coming from my kitchen and I carefully snuck forward inch by inch. I rounded the corner to my kitchen, and caught the smell of something cooking. Who the hell was in my kitchen and what the flying shit were they cooking?

Deciding to find out what in the name of blue penguins was going on, I stepped fully into the kitchen. Edward was standing at the stove flipping what appeared to be pancakes in one of my many skillets. I was excited to see he was making pancakes, and realized I had no clue what the damn time was. I glanced at the clock on the stove to see it read 3:13 A.M.

Why in the world was he making pancakes at three o'clock in the effing morning? Maybe he was even crazier than I had originally thought he was. I crossed my arms and cleared my throat. I was going to find out why he was making pancakes. I was also going to make sure he was making enough for us both. I loved me some good pancakes and I wouldn't advise anyone to screw with me and pancakes. Dangerous decision that would be.

"Hello, Bella."

"Edward."

"Can I offer you some pancakes?"

"It would be a bad decision on your part if you didn't."

"Why's that?"

"I like pancakes. I wouldn't get to close to me when I'm eating them, I may bite your arm off if I think you are trying to take them."

This earned a whole hearted chuckle from Edward.

"I'll try to keep that in mind whenever I make you pancakes."

"And when exactly do you plan on making me pancakes again?"

"Well, umm.. You know, it's a breakfast thing, and umm. Yeah."

He was too effing cute when he was stuttering. Turd bucket looked nervous too. This was priceless shit ladies and gentlemen.

"I certainly wouldn't mind if you made me pancakes sometime in the future."

"You wouldn't?" His voice sounded happy at my previous statement.

Yes, I am aware I was sorta playing him, but I was having too much fun to consider what I was saying.

"No, I wouldn't mind that."

"Do you like chocolate chips in your pancakes?"

"Hell yes! Who doesn't?"

"You're in luck. I made chocolate chip pancakes and plain ones. You sound just like Emmett. He loves anything with chocolate."

"I hope my voice isn't as deep as Emmett's. And I know Emmett loves chocolate. He found my hidden stash one time and ate all the damn Snickers, but nothing else!"

"He always has had an obsession with Snickers. Actually, he eats any kind of candy with nuts in it first."

"Guess Emmett just likes nuts in general. Maybe he has been trying to tell you guys something! He likes boys!"

"That's what it is! Thanks Bella. I don't think we would have ever figured that out if you hadn't said it yourself."

"You are very welcome. Speaking of Emmett, is he dating anyone?"

"No I don't think he is. Says he can't get the ladies off of him, so he just stays single to keep them all happy."

"What a goober. Do you think he would mind if I set him up with someone?"

"Is she hot?"

"Well, I don't check girls out all that frequently, but I think she is extremely pretty."

"What's she look like?"

"Tall, blond, blue eyes, tan skin, gorgeous in general."

"Long legs?"

"Very long legs."

"That sounds just like his type."

"I've got pictures if you would like to confirm that he would be interested."

"Show me the pics."

I whipped out my blackberry and scanned through my photos. I stopped on one of Rosalie and I we took at Bob Evans less than 24 hours ago. We had Jasper snap a picture of us before we left. We were standing at the the checkout with one of our arms around the other's back. I was smiling like an idiot and Rose had her perfect smile plastered on her face.

I handed Edward my phone. He looked down and his eyes grew wide. I felt a little inferior. I knew Rose was beautiful. And in comparison to me, she was miles ahead. It upset me to see that Edward apparently thought she was pretty.

Handing me my phone back, Edward grabbed the plate of finished pancakes, syrup, and forks before walking over to my tiny table in the middle of the kitchen.

"What do you think?"

"That's Emmett's type alright."

"She's even prettier in person.. That's just my opinion though."

He turned and looked me straight in the eye. When he saw I wasn't moving, he made his way to stand in front of me. He placed both of his hands on my cheeks and leaned forward to place a kiss on my forehead.

"She doesn't compare to you."

"I know that."

"No. You think she is prettier than you."

"Well, she is."

"Not in my opinion. And my opinion is the most important one. Look it up. It's recorded somewhere."

Edward then sat down at the table and began devouring a plate of pancakes. I sat down across from him and took my own stack of pancakes to begin with.

I was left speechless from what Edward had said. He thought I was prettier than Rosalie. Freaking drop dead gorgeous Rosalie! This boy must be insane.

"Do you think you could give Emmett her number if I gave it to you. I've already cleared everything with her. I think they will be a great match."

"Sure thing. What's her name? Emmett has trouble with names."

"Her name's Rosalie. We call her Rose for short, but she doesn't like it when people you have just met her call her that."

"Rosalie. Rosalie as in your roommate from college?"

"Yup, that Rosalie."

We ate in silence after that.

Edward insisted on staying with me the rest of the weekend until Jacob was rested enough to come stay with me. I agreed to this because I was honestly scared to be alone knowing that James was somewhere in Washington.

Monday morning Edward and I got up and got around for work. I was glad that my car was back now though. I didn't want to get out of his car and go into work with him. I would have got so many strange looks.

I arrived at work after Edward. After all, I'm a girl and take longer to get ready. I entered the office to see a note on my door that said to meet in Aro's office. Below that note, was Edward and I's names.

That meant Edward was already in his office and I would appear to be the one who was late. Fantastic, that's just what I needed to start Monday with. I reluctantly headed to Aro's office and was surprised to see his door was opened. Aro rarely ever kept his door open. I stepped into his office and instantly felt suffocated.

Aro sat behind his desk and Edward was standing in the right corner by the door. And directly to Aro's left was none other than James. I froze in my place and looked straight ahead at James.

He stood there in his traditional outfit that I remembered from back in high school. Dark jeans with a buttoned up plaid shirt, This particular shirt was the same ice blue as his eyes with gray and white plaid accents. James looked the same way he used to look, minus the pony-tail.

I didn't understand why he was here. I thought Edward was going to get him fired for good.

"Good morning Bella dear! Would you mind shutting the door and joining us?" Aro's voice hinted that he wasn't as happy as he appeared.

I shut the door slowly, partially because I didn't want to be in a closed off space with James, and the other reason being my skirt. It was shorter and also poofier than my usual pencil skirt. I most definitely didn't want it to fly up.

"Please, sit or stand where you want Bella."

I looked around the room and considered my options. I could stand where I was by the door, sit in front of Aro's desk, or stand with Edward. I didn't like where I currently was because James had a direct way to look at me. The chair in front of Aro's desk was closest to him and James. An automatic no. So next to Edward it was.

I walked over to him and stood in front of him slightly to the left. His arm shot out and wrapped around my waist. He pulled me back to stand right beside him. James's eyes had never left me and I was much more than uncomfortable at this point.

"Is there a problem that we need to discuss Aro?"

Edward sounded very angry as he spoke. His grip on me tightened.

"Not a problem exactly. I just wanted to clear up some, hmm..issues so to say."

"Aro, if this has to do with my inability to complete the photo shoot, then you should be speaking with me, not Edward." I somehow found my voice and was surprised that I was defending Edward. I guess I must be returning the favor since he was holding onto me like a hawk at the current moment and glaring daggers at James.

"Very well then. That is what I want to discuss with you. But I would like Edward to remain a part of the conversation."

I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want him to excuse Edward from the room. Who would protect me from James if he left?

"I understand that Edward called the photo shoot off early. Is that correct?"

"Yes, I called the photo shoot off early because Bella was not feeling well."

"What exactly was wrong with you Bella?" Aro questioned, looking directly at me. James and him both were eating this up.

"I..uh, had a stomach ache."

"Is that so?"

"Very much so. Bella felt so sick, she was literally in tears."

I was shocked how Edward just jumped in and defended me. I was glad he did though.

"Was that the only thing that was wrong?"

"I don't believe this."

James spoke for the first time since I had entered the room. The sound of his voice gave me chills. And they definitely were not good chills.

"James, do you have something to say?"

"Yes. I do Aro."

"Speak boy."

"All I know is one second we were in the middle of the photo shoot, and the next Bella was taking off for her dressing room. Edward made a comment about how she looked disgusted and then called for a break. If you ask me, she didn't have any damn stomach issues."

"What do you believe was the real issue James?"

I can't believe that they were actually discussing my "issues" right in front of me.

"I think pretty boy over there didn't like his girlfriend modeling with another guy and the whole thing was staged so she didn't have to finish the shoot."

Aro, Edward, and I all erupted into laughter. Edward and I, a couple? This dude was even stupider than I had thought I remembered him being. If he thought we were a couple, then he really needed a full out head check.

Aro was the first to speak, simply because Edward and I were still dying with laughter.

"Bella and Edward. A couple! That is hysterical!"

"I don't see the humor in it. It's clear that they must be an item."

"Please, please! That's too funny! Edward is single and we can barely get along for ten minutes!" I was still laughing and I thought I felt tears rolling down my cheeks due to this said laughter.

"She's threatened to pour acid on my penis! How in the world could we be dating?"

Aro's hearty laughter joined back in with Edward and I's after Edward's comment. James stood still with a blank expression on his face. He probably thought we were all insane. I don't give a shit though. He was the psycho one after all.

After a good five minutes of nonstop laughing, the three of us began to calm down just a wee bit.

"Alright! Now that we have our sanity back, let's continue. Bella can you tell me what the problem was? I cannot fire James until I know of a legitimate reason to go forth with such an action."

"You want me to be completely honest?"

"I want nothing less than the entire truth dear."

I took a deep breath before I released it.

"I would be more than willing to tell you Aro. There is just one slight issue with that."

"Whatever we need to do in order to get this settled, we can have it done."

"Could James leave the room?"

"Is this a very private matter?"

"Yes."

"Edward should leave then as well."

I looked up at Edward and he nodded, showing me he agreed with Aro.

"Could Edward stay? He can actually help with the story a bit."

"If you are comfortable with that, then he may be permitted to stay."

"I would be okay with that."

"Fair enough. James, would you please wait out in the lobby? I will speak with you once we are done with our conversation."

James said nothing as he exited the office. I immediately felt so much more secure without his presence in the room. Aro motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. Edward and I each took our respective seats. We began the long explanation and Aro's facial expression remained the same the whole time we spoke.

Once we had explained everything up to the day of the photo shoot, Aro finally showed some emotion.

"Bella, I think of you as a long lost daughter of mine. I care for you very much. I am incredibly sorry about all of this and I wish I had checked into his background more. You don't need to worry about finishing your shoot with him. He will be fired and banned from any type of business here."

"Thank you Aro. That means the world to me."

"No, thank you Bella. You are a strong young lady. You have a very bright future ahead of you. And don't worry about this conversation being leaked out. It will stay between us three."

"Oh thank you!"

And for the first time ever, I really meant it. I was forever grateful to Aro in this moment.

Before I could even blink my eyes, it was Friday once more. The whole company had been piled up with papers and calls all week long. It certainly hadn't thinned out on Friday either. I had arrived at work an hour early so I could work longer.

I knew that hour would give me a head start, but there was no way in hell I would manage to get everything I had to do, done.

Since I had arrived at work an hour early, I had to get up an hour earlier than normal. I was dragging, so I hit up Starbucks on the way to work. My coffee perked me up a bit and I had energy for about five minutes.

I had kept my throw away Starbucks cup because I thought I had coffee grounds in Edward and I's office. I had planned on brewing a pot and chugging it for the rest of the day.

I was very disappointed and pissed off to see that all my coffee grounds, were indeed gone.

I opened my mini-fridge in search of any form of a beverage. All I had was apple juice. I poured a good amount of it into my Starbucks cup, and took a large gulp. I set in working on the mountains of papers on my desk and I was a little upset to see that I had more papers on my desk than I had left there the night before. Damn paper work should know how to organized and file itself.

Shortly after I began working, Edward emerged into "our" office. He looked like he had basically rolled out of bed and drove to work. He had on a light gray suit, light blue dress shirt, and was trying to adjust his light gray tie with light blue lines on it.

I heard him mumbling curse words under his breath and had to let out a slight chuckle. That caught his attention and his eyes darted to look at me. When he saw my Starbucks cup, he all but ran over to my desk. He picked it up and took a huge swig of it.

I began laughing at the disgusted look on his face.

"What the hell is this shit?"

"Apple juice."

"Why the hell did you put apple juice in a coffee cup?"

"Because I got a coffee this morning and I had saved the cup so I had something to put more coffee into. Turns out I don't have any coffee left here and all I had was apple juice. I was thirsty so I poured some apple juice in my cup."

"I thought this shit was coffee! You can't do that to a person who is only running on three hours of sleep!"

"You shouldn't have drank it. And you should have went to bed earlier."

"I went to bed at ten! My neighbor's dog was barking all night!"

"Aw. Poor Edward."

I went back to work on my papers and ignored Edward the rest of the day.

Edward left the office around seven that night, and I had not been ready to call it a day yet. Finally around eight o'clock, I was gathering my things to go home.

I glanced at Edward's desk before I closed the door to the office and saw his suit jacket was on the back of his chair. I grabbed it and headed to Aro's office.

I knocked lightly on the door, and heard his voice telling me to enter. I opened the door and stepped inside.

"I don't mean to bother you, but Edward left his suit jacket here. I was hoping you could give me his address and I could just run it over to him on my way home."

"Of course Bella! Let me look it up for you."

Aro typed something into his computer and began searching through files. Once he found what he was looking for, he scribbled the address down on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"Thanks Aro."

"You are very welcome. Have a pleasant weekend."

"You too."

I exited his office and made my way to my car. As I waited for the heat to kick in, I looked at the address on the little piece of paper in my hand. I didn't recognize the street name, but I knew it was in Seattle.

I entered the address into my GPS and wrote down the directions because I hated the voice on the stupid thing.

I put the car in drive and began following the instructions. It was beginning to get rather dark, and the area I was driving through was more than spooky.

Some people walking down the sidewalks had cigarettes in their hand, others a beer bottle. There were homeless people digging through trash cans and prostitutes on every corner. All the cars were dented and rusted. I believe I even saw a few drug dealers along the way.

I was starting to think I must have made a wrong turn somewhere, but then I saw it. Manal Apartments. That was the building that was named when I entered the address into my GPS.

The structure was old and made of bricks. The name blinked in bright red lights above the door, minus the the first 't' in Apartments.

I carefully parked my car a few feet away the apartment building, grabbed my purse, and Edward's jacket. I locked the car and began walking towards the front entrance of the complex. I heard a few whistles and walked a little quicker.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside. I approached the front desk where an older woman with red hair was sitting.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Edward Cullen. Does he live here?"

The woman looked up from her magazine and chopped on her piece of gum while nodding her head.

"What floor is he on?"

"You'll have to go outside to get to his apartment. He's the only one who still has an outside door. Go out the door and to your left. There should be a staircase there that will take you straight to his door."

"Thank you."

"Yup."

She popped her gum as I walked away and I swore I saw a rat run across the filth covered floor.

I did as she said and went left when I walked out of the door. True to her word, there was a staircase. I took the creaking metal stairs one at a time. I was really wondering why Edward would live at such a place when he came from such a wealthy family and had such a nice car.

I stopped in front of the single door at the top of the stairway. The door had gold numbers on it that read 79. The gold furnish however, was barely there. I raised my fist and gently knocked on the door. I was afraid that if I knocked on it too hard, that it would fall over because it looked so old.

The door shot open and there stood Edward still in his work clothes. He looked furious.

"What the hell are you doing here Bella?"

What's your thoughts? I would like to hear them! :) I am again very sorry about how long over due this chapter was. I was busier than I had thought I would be, and on top of that, I got kinda sick. Enough excuses from me though! Thanks for reading and reviewing!