AN: I'd like to thank every single one of you who've put this story on alert or favorite. And a special thanks to everyone who takes the time to review. I'm a little disappointed by the response Undeniable Consumption is getting, if I'm doing something wrong please let me know.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Myer; I'm just making Edward a little mean…

Chapter 6: Exchanges

Getting to know people has never really been one of my fortes. Talking about myself or initiating conversations wasn't something I was particularly good at.

I found the situations where people were pushed into getting to know one another extremely daunting. I found the conversation during one of these interactions horribly forced and polite. One could never be truly honest or open. You just say what you think is the right thing to say when you're obliged to do so, or you act politely interested in whichever piece of information the other person decides to share. During one of these situations, I felt like an actor reading off of a script, one wrong word, and the director would yell CUT; the scene would be ruined. It was extremely stressful in my opinion, and I tried avoiding being thrown in one of these acts as diligently as I could muster.

Last night was one of the most difficult nights I've had thus far. It wasn't because I was home sick; it wasn't because I was missing my parents or the normalcy and familiarity of Forks. It was because spending the night sleeping on the cold, hard floor of a New York mansion gave me an icy dose of reality. I was afraid for my future, for my ambition, for my independence and dignity.

As the shiny sun rays danced their way through my lids, I found myself pondering what my subconscious made me endure the entire night's sleep.

Dreams were a marvelous thing and I've always been fascinated by the unbelievably conniving intelligence of the human mind. You see, dreams were relatively simple to explain. A humans life was guided by many moral and religious codes that suppressed the most basic animal needs a human craves, be it sex, power, independence, money, fun and many others. One would think that walking up to a complete stranger and kissing them passionately would be fun and adventurous, but moral and ethical codes prohibited such ungodly behavior. Dreams were our way of lessening the blow; of giving ourselves a way to cope with the knowledge that no matter who we are, we simply cannot have anything and everything we desire. Our subconscious takes its revenge when we're slumbering; dreams are its way of getting back at the conscious part of our brain that excels at being a goody little two shoes and abides to all the regulations that guide us.

I never dreamed, or to put it more accurately, I never could remember my dreams. Not the good ones at least. Nightmares though, those were the ones I remembered, those were the ones that haunted me after waking up. It was extremely unfair and unjust, that was something I was most conscious of. That was the reason for my many phobias and my slight OCD inclinations according to Freud.

Last night, those nightmares were having a party behind my lids; they were pounding my mind with the most dreadful scenarios. I saw myself as an abused little house wife, my life dominated with resentment and hate. I saw myself accepting the abuse, and welcoming it. I saw myself crying myself to sleep night after night. I saw many more nights on the floor, weeping. I saw myself weak and pathetic, and that was my worst nightmare come to life.

I saw a sour life with Edward, I saw Elizabeth snickering evilly at my heartache. I saw Esme and Carlisle standing on the sidelines, looking absolutely helpless and uncaring.

Waking up, I could feel how sore my back was. My elbows hurt and my ribs felt slightly bruised. It seemed that no matter how fancy this mansion was, luxury and comfortableness were not going to be presented to me easily.

Groaning, I got up slowly, and tried to get my focus back, having slept very little last night. My sight first landed on the unbelievably comfortable bed, it looked unmade and blissfully slept in, but Edward was nowhere in sight. Heading for the bathroom, I knocked gently, thinking he might be using the facilities or showering, and trust me; I didn't want to see Edward in all his naked glory anytime soon.

I used the bathroom and brushed my teeth quickly. After I was done, I dressed in one of the few outfits I had with me at the moment. Jeans and a light yellow t-shirt would have to do.

I opened the bedroom door hesitantly, and tried listening to any sort of noise that might indicate that someone else was awake. It was a stupid idea, the house was massive and even if someone else was awake, I wouldn't hear anything coming from them, being that I was on the third floor of the house.

Padding down the stairs quietly, as to not wake up anyone who was still sleeping, I made my way to the kitchen unsurely. I found Esme and Carlisle sitting at the kitchen table with mugs of coffee in their hands, and I found a still shirtless Edward leaning against a counter with his own cup of coffee.

Great… I thought, couldn't he be out mowing the lawn or taking out the trash or something? But then I remembered that he was filthy rich and probably had underpaid workers who did that for him.

Walking inside the kitchen, all three heads turned my way, two faces were smiling at me kindly, and one face, belonging to my "beloved" husband was scowling at me bitterly.

"Good morning" I said quietly, smiling at Carlisle and Esme.

"Morning Bella." Esme said joyfully. "Would you like a cup of coffee honey?"

"Sure, thank you." I would have offered to fix my own cup, but I didn't know where anything was.

"Do you take cream and sugar?" She asked

"Yes please." I replied.

Edward snorted, mumbling something that sounded like "Yeah, because you need something more fattening."

I looked at him, upset and uncomfortable. I wasn't stick thin, but I wasn't fat either. My mother called my body healthy, but I guess that didn't appeal to Edward much.

I thought about forgoing the coffee altogether, but then decided it would look insulting to Esme, so I decided against the idea.

"Good morning Bella," Carlisle mumbled "Did you sleep well?" He asked

No, not at all Carlisle; your bastard of a son made me sleep on the floor, but it beat having to share the same bloody bed with him , I thought about saying to him, but again decided against it.

"I slept fine." I said instead.

"Yea, she slept fine Dad." Edward said with a little more venom than he should. "She slept on the floor, where else was she supposed to sleep?" He said "All because granny dearest just had to make us share a fucking room."

Esme gasped, and turned around slowly, a killer glare plastered on her beautiful face.

"You made that poor child sleep on the floor?" She whispered incredulously.

"What was I supposed to do Mom? Make her sleep with me on the bed?" Edward replied.

"I can't believe you!" Esme yelled "Had I not raised you right? Had I not engraved in you the ways to treat women properly? Let alone that she's your wife now Edward! No matter the circumstances! You should have slept on the fucking floor, which was the gentlemanly thing to do Edward Cullen! Do you even realize what this poor girl has been through in the past twenty four hours?" she ranged on. "Honestly, I'm so disappointed in you." She scolded him like you would scold an insolent teenager.

She walked up to me quickly and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry Bella, I shouldn't have left you there without making sure my son treated you properly!" she said "You see, I ordered one of those couches…" she tried to continue, but Edward cut her off.

"A couch? A couch Esme?" He said mockingly. "You just handed me my ass on a platter for making her sleep on the floor, and you plan on making her sleep on a fucking couch for the next five years? And I'm the unkind one here?" He continued.

"Hush Edward." She huffed. "If you would have let me finish, you would have heard that the couch I ordered opens up into a very big and comfortable bed…" She trailed off.

"Why can't we just put her in the guest room? Edward whined.

"You know very well what's in that contract Edward." Carlisle said meanly. "The repercussions of breaking any rule on the contract are severe. Not only concerning Isabella's fathers' freedom, but concerning your little inheritance as well. Do you really want to jeopardize that?"

"So… just put another damned bed in my room; in that round area where the couches are." He looked expectantly at his mother.

Said mother scowled and let go of me slowly, for she was still holding onto to my waist.

"Edward, Bella…" She said, this time it was her that was being hesitant. "Carlisle and I have something to ummm… tell you?" She ended the sentence as a question.

Oh god, what more could there be? Did the fucking contract state that they should donate my body for alien experimentation too?

"Well," Carlisle began. "You see, the contract states that you two are obliged to not only share the same room, but the same bed as well. Seeing as that would be inappropriate, especially for Bella, we decided to forgo that rule, without Elizabeth's knowledge. My mother thought that making you sleep next to each other would lead you to closeness and acceptance. But… well we all know she's certifiably crazy."

"We thought that sharing a room might work a little, making the two of you interact better, and let go of the resentment you must have for each other, but sharing a bed is where we drew the line. But here's the punch line, when Elizabeth is visiting, you two have to sleep in the same bed, because… well because she threatened that she'll raid your room to make sure we were following her rules, she even put it in the bloody contract that she has the right to take the proper measurement to ensure that the rules were being followed."

I just stood there, listening to them, trying very hard not to laugh. I don't know what came over me, but the surprises and fucked up "Contract Rules" just kept coming, and coming, and coming…

"Is there anything she didn't put in that contract?" I spoke up, angrily.

"I mean did she specify when was I allowed to go to the bathroom? How many breaths was I supposed to breathe each day? How many times was I supposed to blink? What the hell is wrong with that woman? I'm…I'm sorry Mr. Cullen, I know she's you're mother. But this… this is just unbelievably messed UP!" I hissed.

"I realize this is very hard for you Bella, I know that. Believe me I've said worse things about my mother when I read the contract. I know she's crazy, but she's determined to see this through, till the very end."

"Why didn't I see a copy of the contact? The only thing I saw was the civil marriage papers, but nothing else. I think it's my right to see this horrid piece of paper that's going to be ruling my life for the next five years, right?" I asked, interested.

Esme and Carlisle looked at me skeptically, as if they were afraid to state the reason why the all mighty contract hadn't graced me with the pleasure of reading it.

"Let me guess," I said sarcastically, "another thing in the contract?"

"Yes Bella." Esme stated "Only Carlisle, Elizabeth, your father, Edward and I are allowed to read the contents of the contract."

"HAH!" I exclaimed. "I should have known…" Why was Edward allowed to read the damned piece of paper and I wasn't?

The others, meaning Emmet, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper chose that moment to make their grand entrance. Both Emmet and Jasper were also shirtless just like Edward.

What was it with the young men in this place? Did they not own any shirts? And what was with the chiseled physiques?

"Morning" they all mumbled simultaneously.

I replied half heartedly, thinking what a "good" morning it was indeed.

They hung out in the kitchen for a little while longer, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper, until Esme started fixing breakfast, and I jumped at the opportunity to help, having nothing better to do.

Unfortunately, she shooed me away, telling me that I did my fair share of helping last night, having helped her with dinner.

So, I went back to the table, and sat down next to Carlisle, in the chair Esme had just vacated. He smiled at me tenderly, and told Emmet to switch places with Edward, so that he'd be sitting next to me. "I have to talk to you guys." He said as an excuse.

"Okay," he started as soon as Edward begrudgingly sat his ass down on the chair next to me. "I think it would be a good idea if you two took off for a little while today. Take her to Central Park Edward, take a walk, and learn something about each other. I understand that you two were forced into this, but it's not an excuse for you to hate and resent each other. You could be friends, confidants, and maybe that'll make your lives for the next five years a little easier; bearable."

Both Edward and I started to protest, saying that we didn't think it was a good idea.

I had no idea what it was, but that man just rubbed me the wrong way, I just couldn't get over my distaste for him, and having me sleep on the floor last night like some sort of animal made him a little more unpleasant in my book.

"Alright, look." Carlisle cut us off. "You two have to make public appearances, show up to formal events and parties together. Do you think people would buy our story if you act like you can't stand each? You're supposed to be so in love that you decided to elope, to rob your families the chance to watch you tying the knot in a big extravagant wedding because you just couldn't wait to get married. Your first public appearance will be in two weeks, and given Edwards status in the community, and the people he "was" affiliated with, the marriage is going to make big news. So I suggest you two get your game faces on, you have to take this seriously. Now go to the park, get to know each other, that's not negotiable." He said, breathing a little bit heavily.

"Fine, whatever you want dad. It's not like I have a life or anything. Not anymore anyway right?"

"Show your wife some respect Edward." Carlisle said, looking at him sternly.

We both snorted at that.

It seems that during Carlisle's rant and words of wisdom, Esme was hard at work, for when we looked up, pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and a huge pitcher of orange juice sat on the table in front of us. Emmet rubbing his hands and tummy like a hungry bear caused me to smile, and when Esme sat back down and told us to eat, everyone dug in, devouring the delicious food hungrily.

I just ate some toast and drank a little juice. I didn't like the idea of leeching off of these people. I didn't like the idea of eating their food, and using their water and electricity. I had to find a job, to get some money so that I'm able to contribute, even in a small manner.

After breakfast was done and over with, I helped Alice do the dishes. She talked a mile a minute, happily informing me of how much fun it's going to be having a new sister.

"Do you like shopping Bella?" She asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "OH, I know! Manies and pedies! Rose and I will take you to this amazing little salon, and we'll get all dolled up! We can fix your hair, give you some highlights or lowlight, it'll be amazing." She finished.

My thoughts went back to the little of money I had, what she was talking about must cost a fortune, and I only had about 200 dollars right now.

"I don't really like to dye my hair Alice." I smiled at her, she's such a hyper person, but that quality kind of made her very endearing.

"That's fine Bella, we can do all the other stuff; you won't have to dye your hair." She replied.

Soon enough, the dishes were done and I saw Edward beckoning me with a tilt of his head, asking me to follow him outside.

I quickly walked up the stairs to get a little purse, big enough for me to hold my tiny wallet. I didn't have a cell phone; I didn't need one back in Forks.

Coming back downstairs, I walked outside to find Edward leaning on a little sliver Porsche. One of his many cars I presumed.

I slowly made my way towards him, dreading the time I had to spend alone with him. I'd much prefer spending my day with Alice, or Rosalie, or Esme, or even Emmet and Jasper, but not with him.

But like I said, we don't always get what we want. So, I guess today I'll be getting to know Edward Cullen a little bit more, that is if he shared anything with me.

"We're going to a park" was all he said. I just nodded and reached for the handle to open the door, but he just scowled at me and shook his head. Reaching down, he reached to swat my hand away as I was pulling it back, and our fingers just barely touched. I felt like an eclectic current shot up my arm, leaving in its wake a thousand little tingles from my fingers to my shoulder. I looked at him a little surprised, to find him watching his own had with a look of confusion.

"Static electricity…" I mumbled, as he nodded again and pulled the car door open.

The car I entered was a lot less fancy than the one from yesterday. It looked a little old, but still very beautiful and apparently powerful, because when he turned the car on, the engine roared, coming back to life screaming.

The dashboard was more conventional in this old baby; it had an actual radio and an actual AC dial. Edward carefully turned both of them on, and drove the car down the circular driveway. And thus, we were on our way…

Five minutes into our drive, Edward surprised me by asking me a question.

"Do you like speed?" He simply said.

I hesitated before I answered. "Ummm, I don't really know. Our car back home wasn't that fast, and all my friends also had ratty cars that were as slow as a turtle." I replied.

He smirked, one corner of his mouth turning up a little bit. It was a very stunning look him, compared to the scowl he's had on his face from the moment I met him.

"You wanna find out?" He asked me, smiled, and then shifted gears and stepped down on the gas pedal.

That car shot forward like a bat out of hell, pushing my back into my seat, and earning a little screaming from my terrified lungs.

I hung on for dear life, everything blurring past me, my window displayed a variety of unrecognizable shapes and intermixed colors.

"Relax Bambi." Edward laughed, his voice amused. "I won't kill you by crashing the car. I love this car too much." He said alarmingly.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. Has he thought about that? Killing me? Oh my god! "Why would you say that? Why would you want to kill me? Why are you saying this to me?" I was beginning to panic. The car was still gaining speed, and he showed no intentions of slowing down. "Will you please ju… just slow down already!" I pleaded.

"First off Bambi, I was just kidding, I'm not trying to kill you. I don't think I'd like jail much. Second, relax! I know what I'm doing!" he said "Look, open your window, feel the air on your face; feel the speed, It's an awesome feeling; being out of control…" He trailed off.

"O… Out of control?" I replied horrified "What d do you mean out of control? You can't control the car anymore?"

"Oh for God's sake!" He huffed "I never lose control of my car Bambi, but I'm gonna slow down before you lose control of your stomach and start hurling all over the place."

"Thank you, very much." I said gratefully. "Why do you call me Bambi?" I said, trying to distract myself.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." He smirked at me again, turning his face so that he could wink at me.

"Jesus, keep your freaking eyes on the road!" I yelled

"Would you calm down?" He said annoyed, "I guess you don't like speed after all…"

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied.

It took us a little while to get to the park Edward chose to take us to, I had no idea if it was Central Park or some other place. I wasn't very familiar with New York.

He parked the car, shut off the engine, and looked at me pointedly, warning me not to reach for the handle.

Where was his chivalry when I was sleeping on the floor last night?

He opened my door, I got out and we started walking towards the beautiful greenery that surrounded us.

Tall trees were almost everywhere, their leaves blowing in the beautiful summer breeze. Birds chirped, singing happy songs, celebrating the gorgeous day. The fresh air was refreshing and calming, and despite the company, I felt myself smiling unintentionally.

We walked for at least fifteen minutes, before anyone of us made the initiative to speak.

"This is beautiful." I murmured while at the same time, Edward said "Well, tell me about yourself."

"Umm, my life isn't that fascinating, trust me." I replied.

"Then what exactly are we doing here?" He replied rudely.

"Look, we're here because you're father is right, obviously. We need to get to know each other a little better so that we don't look like complete strangers and mumbling idiot in front of the people who don't know about our messed up deal; our messed up lives." I ranted "So it's not just me, you have to talk too. And if you want me to freaking talk, at least ask me nicely." I finished.

"Alright, alright." He said, putting his big hands up, as if surrendering. "I'll start, sheesh, you're so freaking irritable."

"Uh huh…" I replied sarcastically, looking at him pointedly.

"Fine… let's see. I'm twenty two years old; I majored in business at Dartmouth. I work in my father's company, and I enjoy working out, I love running and martial arts. I have two black belts; one in Jujitsu, the other in Karate. I love cars, speed, and horses. I don't like mayo, and I abhor reality TV." He rattled off … "God, I feel like I'm in an interview or a dating show or something. This is ridiculous!"

"Yea, I know. This is pretty awkward." I said "But a black belt? Really?" He got me excited. "I love martial arts, but I don't know the first thing about how to fight." I said conversationally.

"You'd have to have focus, courage, clear mindedness and finesse to become a black belt." He replied "Many of those things, you lack. I'm not surprised you know nothing about martial arts." He looked me up and down, shaking his head slightly.

"What exactly is you're freaking problem huh?" I asked "Do you have a problem with my body image? Because let me tell you, I don't give I shit about what you think!" In reality, what he said hurt me; he's been dropping hints, making little remarks that were truly getting to me.

Here I was just trying to have a conversation with him, and he just had to insult me.

"Look Isabella." He said, stopping and turning his body towards me. "I'm a guy that's been blessed with good genes. I know I'm good-looking, and I know how appealing girls find me. I've had my fair share of models, actresses, beauty queens, you fucking name it. And to be tied down by a little girl who looks nothing like the girls I'm used to is pissing me off. I liked my life! I had a great fucking life. Sure I partied, I drank, I slept with a different girl every week, hell sometimes every day. But I did the work, I finished my education, I worked my ass off for my father's company. And now, the sweet life is gone because my uptight with a stick up her ass grandma thinks she knows it all, thinks she can just control my life with her deals and contracts and manipulative ways. So excuse me for not taking you in my arms and pledging my love and devotion to you." His voice was raised, his hands wild, signaling here and there, trying to make his point.

"I didn't ask for this!" I yelled, uncaring of who was around us and if anybody heard. "It's not my fault your grandmother is insane! It's not my fault my father did what he did! It gives you no excuse to insult and mistreat me. I didn't choose this Edward! I didn't intentionally try to trap you and tie you down. You can sleep and party and drink with whomever the hell you want, just don't make my life more difficult than it has to be." I was angry with him, and I was angry with myself for showing any emotion towards him, be it only anger and frustration.

"Yea right, because being a married man doesn't do anything to hinder my lifestyle!" He said sarcastically.

"Trust me; you are the last man on earth I would have married. You're cruel and uncaring and haughty and too freaking full of yourself! I don't want you as a husband anymore than you want me as a wife!" I was hyperventilating. He thought I wanted him? Was he for real?

"So you have no problem with me sleeping and partying with whomever I want then?" He asked

"Why would I have a problem? You mean nothing to me. This is a fake marriage, everything about this is fake. You can go your way, and I'll go my way. I won't be asking you who you were with, or waiting up for you to get home. You can do whatever you want, just as long as I'm not involved." I replied.

"Well, that's the best fucking news I've heard all day." He said "Because I want nothing to do with you either. So I guess we have our own little deal." He smiled, and walked on.

"Thank God!" I offered.

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I didn't have to deal with his bullshit, and he wouldn't have to deal with mine. We'd be more like roommates, only acting to care for each other for the public eye, and I could handle that.

My nightmares were suddenly gone, only apprehensive thoughts about what could have been. By making this deal, Edward was saving me a whole lot of heartache. I didn't have to become my worst nightmare. I could act as if he didn't even exist, and he could reciprocate. I was absolutely and totally fine with that arrangement.

"Come on" He said, looking back at me. "Let's keep on walking and talking. I'll get to know you, and you'll get to know me. When we're not being scrutinized, we could go back to not giving a shit about each other."

I was suddenly walking with lighter steps; I didn't know not giving a shit can be so elating and freeing.

What a foolish girl I'd been back then; thinking that little deal could ever last. Little did I know that by making that deal, I was giving him power.

Power to become my worst nightmare…

Power to take whatever he wanted, and then leave me with the consequences of his actions.

Little did I know, he'd eventually take everything I was and turn it into something ugly…

AN: SO, what do you guys think so far? Please review and make my day! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Edward and Bella's relationship will get a lot more complicated, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Anyone who has any ideas or advice, please feel free to share them with me. I'll try as hard as I can to not let you guys down.

Thank you so much for reading.