Title: Sinful Thoughts
Author: Readingmama/Vampiremama
Beta: AcrossTheSkyInStars, Are you reading her stories yet? Cause you should be.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

Continuity: AH/AU
Rating: M cause you never know when a lemon writes itself.

Chapter 7

BPOV

Before I knew it, the school year was ending and summer was upon us. Mikey and I had been dating for around three months; I honestly didn't keep track of the time. He had asked me to start calling him Mike. I think he thought the more mature name would get some boob time, but he was wrong. Not that we hadn't done a bit of groping, but it was all above the clothing. I tried to think of Edward while we were doing it, just so I could get into it, but even having never felt Edward's hands on my body like that, I knew Mike's small, clumsy hands were no substitute.

I was happy to be getting a break from school. Alice and Jasper had turned into one of those couples who spewed pet names at each other all day, and all it did was remind me of the fact that I hadn't heard Edward call me 'Sweetpea' in ages.

Time apart from my brother was not helping my attraction, if anything it was getting stronger. It seemed everything he did was erotic. One morning I came into the kitchen and he was drinking out of the milk carton, and the way his Adam's apple bobbed as the liquid coated his throat made my knees weak. Then there was the time I walked in on him playing a video game; he was so into it he was making these grunting noises that resulted in me having to take a cold shower.

I pulled the lasagna out of the oven; Mike was coming over for dinner. I had invited him because I knew Charlie and Renee were going out and I needed a buffer in the house with Edward. I set the dish on top of the stove, allowing it to cool. I popped the bread into the warming compartment on the bottom of the stove and then proceeded to make the juice.

"Hey, can I help with anything?" His honey voice didn't startle me; my body had learned to sense him when he was in the same room.

"Nope, I got it," I said, keeping my tone as clipped as possible.

"Okay," he replied. "Uh, Bella….I…" He was cut off by the doorbell and I let out the breath I was holding.

"I'll get it," I said, walking a wide circle around Edward to get out of the kitchen. I opened the door and greeted Mike.

"Hi Bella," he responded, giving me a chaste kiss. "It smells great in here."

I took him to the kitchen where I noticed that Edward had taken a slice of lasagna and left. I told the part of me that was disappointed to shove it, it's not meant to be.

The more you spend time with someone, the more you notice their little quirks, and the more those little quirks become giant annoyances. Mike for instance, talked with his mouth full. I tried to eat while watching him masticate, but it was repulsive. I wanted to keep my eyes on my plate, but for some reason I had the reaction of a deer in headlights, I couldn't look away.

"So my mom is taking us to the cottage for a couple weeks this summer," he said as the garlic bread rolled around his mouth. I tried to keep my lips from turning downward in disgust. It took me a minute to compute what he had said. Two weeks without him. It almost felt like a weight being lifted.

"That sounds like fun," I said, my enthusiasm real.

"Yeah, maybe your parents would let you come for a week."

"I doubt it, Charlie is really strict," I replied quickly, causing his face to fall. "But I'll ask," I backpedaled.

We finished up with dinner and then decided to watch a movie. I hadn't sat at my couch and watched a movie since before Hawaii. It was always my and Edward's thing to do; the couch looked empty without him. I took a seat next to Mike, leaving a small space. He had chosen an action movie that I knew like the back of my hand, which meant he wanted to make out.

Mike slid his arm around me and I adjusted into his side. I had to crouch down a little bit because our bodies never seemed to line up right. About fifteen minutes in, I felt Mike's hand trail down my arm. I shivered, but it was more due to the fact that the action tickled. He seemed to take it as a good sign so he leaned over and kissed my neck. I tilted my head to give him better access; it all felt very methodical.

"Bella, you're so beautiful," he said as his kisses traveled up my chin to my mouth.

We kissed for a while before I felt his fingers graze the skin of my abdomen. I tensed for a minute before realizing that there was nothing scandalous about a stomach. It was when his hand started travelling upwards that the panic kicked in. My heart started to thump and my eyes started to water. I sat back quickly, pulling his hand out of my shirt.

"What's the matter Bella? We've been dating for a while. I just want to make you feel good." If I wasn't so shocked I would have laughed; it was like a line from a skeevy guy in a harlequin romance.

"I'm not ready," I said, repeating the words I had uttered to him many times that past month.

"Bella, please," he said, shifting towards me.

"No!" I said rather firmly. I didn't believe he would press the issue but my instincts took over quickly.

"Bella? Is everything okay?" Edward asked, appearing in the doorway.

Mike's face looked hurt but he adjusted himself and stood up. "I was just leaving."

I should have told him not to go, but I was feeling tired so I walked him to the door instead. Edward stayed close behind me, his heat blazing into my skin. Ironically, it was causing the reaction Mike was trying so hard for just a few minutes earlier. His protective nature made me feel safe and more at home than I ever felt with Mike. We said our goodbyes from a distance. I shut the door after he left and turned to lean against it. Edward had left, giving me exactly what I needed but not at all what I wanted.

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The smell of eggs and bacon engulfed the kitchen. Mom and I were bonding over our kitchen stove; it was practically the only place that didn't breed awkwardness between us. My mood was exponentially better than it had been. The knowledge that Edward was still there to protect me as my brother made me feel lighter than I had been in months.

I put the last of the breakfast dishes on the table just as Edward sat down. He gave me a quick smile, and before I could control myself, I returned it. His eyes widened in surprise but then returned to the poker face I had been used to seeing.

"Hello," Charlie's voice bellowed through the room as he entered.

"My name is Inigo Montoya…" both Edward and I jumped in before catching each other's eyes and fading out. The Princess Bride was one of our favorite movies and we would use almost any situation to quote it if we could.

The familiar banter seemed to catch us both off guard so I positioned my eyes down as I had been doing when I was around Edward. I hadn't really looked at him in weeks, it was too painful.

The doorbell rang and I hopped out of my chair quickly, nearly shouting, "I'll get it."

Mike stood on the other side of the door with his hands clenched at his sides. "Hi," I said, hoping things weren't going to be too weird.

"Hey," he replied, "can we talk?"

I motioned to the bench on the porch and he sat down. I hesitated briefly before I joined him. His posture was bone straight and he seemed to be nervous. I wanted to say something to put him at ease but I couldn't think of anything.

"Listen Bella, I'm sorry about last night."

"Don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay," he said before falling silent for a few minutes. "I like you Bella, but I don't think we are right for each other."

I wasn't expecting this. I had been holding on to him for months when I knew I had no right to, assuming that he would stick with me. I felt hurt but I knew enough to know it was my pride that hurt, not my heart.

"I know," I replied.

"So, is that it?" He asked.

"I guess."

He let out a breath and smiled at me. "See ya around."

"Bye Mikey," I said quietly as he stood up and walked off.

EPOV

Bella likes to jump ahead, but I need to back up my portion of the story a few weeks. Every year our school did a trip abroad in the first three weeks of summer. I had never been out of the States and I was interested in the trip offered that year. It was a tour of Ireland and Scotland, and I had always been interested in seeing the Loch Ness Monster, well trying to, anyway. I would have loved to take the trip with Bella, but if she was going to refuse to talk to me, I figured it may hurt less if I had a three week break.

I approached my parents the same way any child does that wants something. I separated them and then went for the weaker of the two. I cornered Renee in the laundry room. Grabbing a towel, I started to help her fold. Anything to look helpful.

"Mom, there is something I want to ask you," I started, making my voice saccharine sweet. "It's a great learning experience."

"Out with it," she said, trying to hide her smile.

"The school trip abroad this year is to Ireland and Scotland and I would love to go."

"How much?" She asked, folding another towel. I was still on my first one and it was looking more like a triangle than a square.

"They have done a bunch of fundraising, so it's only fifteen hundred dollars. All I have to do is get my passport," I said, getting more excited.

Her eyes stayed neutral but I noticed her mouth make a small frown. I knew we didn't have a lot of money but I was sure that fifteen hundred wouldn't break the bank.

"I'll have to talk to your father." Her tone effectively ended the conversation.

I waited six days for their answer. I left little hints around the house; turning some Celtic music on, leaving four leaf clovers on their pillows, and I even started saying 'top of the mornin' to ya' in a horrible Irish accent. When they sat me down in the living room I knew it was bad news.

"Listen son," Charlie stated, "we just don't have the funds right now to let you go on this trip."

"And I can't find your birth certificate so we wouldn't be able to get you a passport in time," Renee chimed in. Charlie shot her a quick glare, and if I hadn't been so disappointed, I might have wondered what it was about.

"You lost my birth certificate?" I asked, feeling miffed.

"Of course not…it's around here somewhere….I just can't remember where," Renee stammered.

"It doesn't matter, Edward, we can't afford it, so that's enough about it." Charlie's authoritative tone stopped me from persisting.

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I sat in my room, feeling every bit the moody teenager I was. My mother's personality may have been flighty but she was meticulous with important things. Something didn't set right with the idea that she had lost my birth certificate. I knew that Renee kept all of our essential documents in the filing cabinet in Charlie's office. It seemed strange that she would lie about it, and that was enough of a reason to investigate.

Charlie was working the graveyard shift, so I waited until he left the house before leaving my room. I could hear my mother's snores down the hall. Bella and I had a running joke about which parent was louder. I missed her. I listened quietly outside of Bella's door, if this had been a few months ago, I had no doubt she would be out in the hall with me. Probably dressed in black and humming the theme song to Mission Impossible.

When I heard no noise I continued down the hall to my father's office. The door made an unusually loud creaking noise as I opened it. I held my breath and listened for any movement. After I was sure that no one had heard, I stepped into the room. I turned on the small lamp on the desk and pointed it towards the filing cabinet.

I slid open the drawer and gazed at the well organized files. My eyes swept passed the 'mortgage bills' and the 'appliance manuals' folders and settled on 'family documents'. I let out a quick sigh and pulled open the file. I went through paper by paper, only to find the birth certificates were clipped to the back of the folder. I took them off and began to look through them. Charlie and Renee's were older and done in a different format. Bella's was much smaller and laminated, and holding it made me feel closer to her for a moment. It only lasted a moment before I discovered that there were no more. Renee hadn't lied. She had lost my birth certificate. My only question was, how?

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"Hey honey, can you run your clothes up and put them away?" Renee asked, holding out a basket of clean clothes.

"Sure mom," I replied taking the basket from her.

It had been two weeks since I had gone looking for my birth certificate, and I had all but forgotten about it. I took the laundry and set it on my bed, pulling out clothes and returning them to my drawer. I got to the bottom when I discovered that there were a pair of stray socks. I recognized them as my mother's right away, as Bella wouldn't be caught dead in white socks. She claimed they didn't go with anything and shone out like a beacon that says 'hey everyone, look at my feet.'

I took the socks and headed over to my parents room, intending on dropping them off. I pulled open the top drawer and went to throw them in, when I noticed a familiar looking piece of paper sitting under some things. I reached in and pulled the paper out.

It was my birth certificate.

Planning on taking it down and telling my mother I had found it, I glanced and noticed something was off. The birth date said June twentieth, but my birthday was in August. Again, I found myself asking why she would lie.

"Edward?" I heard Renee call from the hallway.

I shoved the paper back in the drawer, scared of what it might mean. "In here," I shouted back as I headed for the door. "Extra socks," I explained as calmly as I could when she gave me a quizzical look.

"There's always one pair that tries to escape," she laughed.

I retired to my room early that evening. Bella had gone out with Rose and Emmett and I was looking forward to some quiet contemplation. I closed my bedroom door and sat down at my desk, turning my laptop on and waiting for it to boot up. If what I'd seen was true, it meant I was two months older than I thought, making Bella and I only nine months and seven days different in age.

Was that even possible?

It only takes nine months to make a baby, so why wouldn't it be? Maybe they were embarrassed about getting it on again so quickly. I abandoned that thought quickly as the thoughts of my parents doing the horizontal mambo grossed me out.

I typed a few key words into Google and hit search. The first had said that you can get pregnant as soon as you ovulate. Most women don't ovulate for at least a month after giving birth. The second said most doctors recommend that you wait at least six weeks before having sex to avoid chance of infection, but it is possible to conceive as soon as you start ovulating.

So while it was unlikely, it was possible. But if it was possible, why was I pretending to be two months younger then I actually was? Part of me was scared as to what I would actually discover if I asked my parents for the truth. My mind is truly a creative thing, and before the night was over, I suspected that my parents had to hide my true age for protection against a mafia drug ring. It was about that time I finally drifted off to sleep.

E/N- Please review.