AN: The day before Christmas.... I made it! I think this is the quickest I've ever posted a chapter (which I apologize for making you guys wait so long all the time). My beta, SwallowedxInxThexSea, is the best and got it back to me this morning and now I pass it on to you wonderful readers! :)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be. Damn....

Chapter 11 – Adjusting

BPOV

The night was over much too quickly. Alice and Jasper came to pick me up from Edward's less than an hour after we got back from New Moon Pizza.

I sat petulantly on Edward's couch with my arms crossed as he let my friends into the room. He just laughed at me, but I could tell that he felt just as reluctant to let me leave. We didn't want this day to end.

"Bella, you look like a three year old in the throes of a temper tantrum," Alice said when she saw me.

"Nah, I'd say the terrible twos would be more accurate," Jasper laughed.

"Thanks for the support, guys," I snapped.

Edward came back to the couch and wrapped his arms around me from behind. Without even thinking about it, I melded myself into his side and intertwined my fingers with his. He kissed my temple and I had to smile in response.

"Holy crap, you two look like you've been together a lot longer than a day," Jasper commented.

"Hopefully that's a good thing," Edward said.

"It's fuckin' adorable, that's what it is," Alice noted with a smile. She skipped over and sat, facing me, on the couch. "So? Tell me everything!"

I knew she was going to try that, but I didn't want to discuss that in front of Edward. Alice loved to go in-depth and get me to admit things I didn't even realize I knew yet. I didn't want to get into any probing details while Edward was still around.

"What?" I asked. "You want to know how you and Jasper were practically christening the backseat of his car while Edward and I so graciously brought you back to your place?"

Alice just shrugged it off. "Maybe it taught you a thing or two. Now tell me about this," she insisted, indicating me and Edward.

"Ali, you know she'll tell you eventually," Jasper put in. "Maybe you should let her wait until she's comfortable."

"She's never going to be comfortable while she's talking about it, so why does it have to be in a comfortable setting?"

She obviously didn't see the point. Jasper shrugged apologetically. He tried; that's what counted.

"You're not going to tell me right now, are you?" she pouted.

I shook my head and tried not to laugh. There was no way she was getting the information out of me yet.

"Fine. Be that way. We need to leave anyway. I promised your mom I'd have you home by eleven," Alice said.

"It's already quarter past ten," Edward whispered in a sad tone.

I leaned further back into him, not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms. Leaving meant going back to my screwed up family and impending nuptials.

But I knew we needed this. Edward had already set his plan in motion, but it was only in the beginning stages from the sounds of it. I needed to try to convince my parents without the evidence.

I just didn't want it to have to be right at that moment.

"I don't want to leave," I whined.

"Isabella Marie Swan, do you want me to show Edward those pictures that you wanted to burn?" Alice threatened.

"Shit, you have those?" I gasped.

"Yes, I do. They're hidden away so don't even try to go hunting for them," she said. "But if your ass is not out that door in two minutes, everyone will get to see them."

"You are evil, Alice Whitlock," I seethed.

"You still love me. Remember, two minutes or the pictures go public."

With that, Alice skipped back out of the apartment, dragging Jasper behind her.

"I guess that means I should let you go," Edward noted.

I sighed and turned to face him. "It's just not fair. If it weren't for my stupid mother, I wouldn't have to do anything in the morning and I'd be able to stay tonight."

"If it weren't for your mother, we might never have met, though," he said.

Damn it. He was right. My mother had set me up on another blind date that night. That was the only reason I was even walking alone then.

"Well, that doesn't count," I sputtered. "Or it shouldn't."

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "Come on, your two minutes are almost up. I'll walk you out."

Alice glared at me when she saw Edward and I walking hand in hand toward Jasper's car.

"Wasn't the whole point of a deadline that you would come out alone so we could get back faster?" she inquired.

"We'll still make my mother's precious deadline," I snapped.

"Hey," Edward said quietly. He cupped my cheek with his hand and turned my head to look at him. "Don't bite her head off. She's just trying to make this easier."

I sighed and leaned into his hand. "I just don't want to go," I whispered.

"Tuesday," he reminded me.

"Tuesday," I agreed.

We kissed one last time – a sweet, chaste kiss – before I finally wrenched myself away from him. I didn't look away from him once as I moved to the car.

"I love you," I called just loud enough for him to hear.

"And I love you, Bella," he answered with a weak smile.

It took all of my self-control not to look back at him as we drove away. Alice and Jasper noticed my distress. Jasper didn't comment, thankfully. I didn't get quite so lucky with Alice.

"You look like someone just ran over your dog," she said.

"Feels more like someone ripped out my heart and left it back there," I grumbled.

"Wow, now you sound like I do when Jasper has to leave on a business trip," she added. "Like you could use a spoon and a pint of chocolate ice cream."

I sighed and rested my head against the window. "I just need to deal with it. I'm going to be away from him more often than not until I can get away from James," I said. "Edward's got his plan all set in motion, but I have yet to do anything. I need to at least try to convince my parents." I thought about it for a second before scowling as I realized something. "Jasper, how come you never mentioned to your parents how much of an asshole your brother is?"

"Simple," he said. "No one would have believed me. They all knew he was a smartass, but he's also their golden boy. He can do no wrong to anyone, not just our parents. Plus, I didn't even realize quite how fucked up he was until Edward told me about the files."

Well, at least it was a valid excuse. I had a feeling no one would believe me either. My parents both knew how much I disliked James and would see my explanation of James' attitude as something I made up as a way to get out of the engagement.

I needed to bring it up before we found evidence, though. There would be no use in bringing it up out of the blue after Edward found enough evidence. If I didn't bring it up beforehand, then my parents would see all Edward's evidence as a fabrication.

My gaze fell on my engagement ring. Playing with it had become a nervous habit over the last few weeks. All I really wanted to do was rip it off my finger and throw it in some bottomless lake or never-ending cavern. It was a ridiculous, over-sized rock that didn't even look right on my hand. I'd always pictured something simple when I thought of my engagement ring, but now I had to deal with being trained as a trophy wife. There was no room for what I wanted.

For the first time in my life, I was ready to fight for what I wanted. I wanted the chance to be with Edward, unchallenged and unhindered. I would deal with the consequences of that decision when the time came.

"Bella, you zoned out," Alice said. "We're back at your place."

I looked up at the building and grimaced. We had pulled up in front of my parent's house. It was time to leave my perfect world and head back to reality.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later, I guess," I mumbled as I got out of the car.

"Hey, Belly?" Jasper called.

I turned around to see that he'd rolled down the window.

"Yeah?"

"We're not gonna let them win. You know that, right?"

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Jasper," I said before I turned to go inside.

My mother was waiting just inside for me. She had a watch out and was counting down the minutes.

"What? You finally decided to enforce a curfew? Nice, Mom," I said as I tried to go past her and up to my room. She grabbed my arm and led me toward the dining room.

"Not so fast, Isabella," she said. "We need to go over some things before the tasting in the morning."

She spent a half hour poring over different brochures and bridal magazines for reviews. I must have looked at two hundred cakes that had minute differences. There was no way I would taste that many cakes at ten in the morning on a Monday.

I was exhausted by the time she finally let me go to my room. Not even the pull of my favorite books could get me away from my bed once I was laying on the sheets.

Yet even as I got under the covers and tried to sleep, it wouldn't come. I tossed and turned for another half hour before I noticed the sketch on my bedside table. My mind jumped to thoughts of Edward and our time together.

I had grabbed my cell phone and was dialing before I even realized it.

"Bella? Is something wrong?" he said, worried.

"I love you," I said simply.

"I love you too. Is something wrong?"

I sighed and settled back into my bed. "I can't get to sleep. My mind is everywhere…. My mother had me look at hundreds of cakes and we aren't even going until tomorrow! I don't even want to be doing this and it makes it ten times worse than it would be otherwise and-"

"Shh, it's okay, Bella," he said softly. His voice was calm and soothing. I took a deep breath, amazed that he could have that effect on me with just his voice. "Everything will be okay, Bella. I promise."

"I know," I said. "This is just so stressful. I need to just tell them, but I know they won't believe me…"

"That's what my plan is for. Once I have more information, there's no way they can just ignore it," he said.

"Right," I agreed. "And we'll still be able to see each other. We have Tuesday. We can spend as much time as we want together after about four. That's when my mother leaves and my father won't get home from work until about five, but he never worries about me like my mother does."

"That's perfect," Edward answered happily. "Just let me know when your mother leaves and I'll come pick you up. Then we'll come back to my place until it's time to go."

"Go? Where are we going?" I asked. He'd sparked my curiosity. I would be happy with whatever he had planned, but the cryptic way he'd brought it up made me a bit nervous.

"Ah, see, that I can't tell you."

"Edward… you know I hate surprises."

"Yes, but I'm hoping you'll enjoy this one once we get there. But it needs to stay a surprise. Please let me do this."

I bit my lip as I thought about it. On the one hand, I really despised surprises. Most of them when I was younger consisted of my mom bring me to debutante training or finishing school. I hated every minute of it. I hated the poofy dresses, the three-hour long salon trips, the endless parties, the never-ending social functions… I just wanted out.

But on the other hand, this was Edward. Edward was nothing like my mother. He was doing this for me, not indirectly for himself. I could trust him. He'd been sweet to me since the moment I met him. For ages he'd been bringing me a change of clothes after horrendous blind dates. He didn't even want anything in return except to know I was safe. This wasn't some hare-brained scheme to get in my pants. He really cared. I owed him this, at the very least.

I sighed, "Okay, I'll wait. But I at least need a hint for how to dress."

"Just dress however you'll be comfortable. It'll be a fairly casual evening," he said. It was completely obvious that he was thrilled by my acceptance. I don't think he realized that I was about to deny him anything.

"So, showing up in sweats and sneakers would be fine?" I teased.

"I don't know about that," he said dubiously. "At that point you may as well just show up naked. Of course, then we'll be forced to stay at my place and I won't even be able to show you the surprise…"

His voice had dropped to a husky tone by the time he trailed off. I found myself breathing heavier and there was an interesting tingle in the pit of my stomach. It took me a minute to realize that I was turned on by his voice alone. I didn't even know that was possible.

"And would you be partial to that?" I managed to choke out.

"There is nothing I would like more," he said softly. Then he groaned and I heard a thump on his end of the line. A distinct creak let me know that he was in his bed. "Bella, I swear you're going to be the death of me."

I bit my lip and smiled at the tone of his voice. "Should I take that as a compliment?" I asked innocently.

I'd been around Alice and Jasper enough to know the difference between a light-hearted joke and serious arousal. With them, I'd just taken the first chance to run away and leave them alone. But I'd made Edward have this reaction about me.

With all the scantily clad women he probably had crawling all over him at the shop, he still chose me. It amazed me that he could love me, but I wasn't about to throw it away or deem it impossible. I would embrace it and hold onto it for as long as I could.

His breathing had grown even heavier in my ear and I heard him groan again. "Bella, you need to stop," he pleaded. "I don't want to go this fast and if you keep that up…"

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I mean, I didn't mean to. But just so you know, you seem to have a similar effect on me."

Edward sighed and I had to bite back a chuckle. "I have half a mind to come over there and rip all your clothes off," he muttered. I gasped at his words, the sound of his voice and the images his words had created going straight to my center. He wasn't even trying. "Shit, Bella, you weren't supposed to hear that…"

I bit my lip and tried to think of a good answer. "It's fine, Edward," I answered quietly. "I kinda… liked it."

This time he moaned. "Bella…."

"I'm sorry. I'll stop, I promise," I said with a giggle.

"I'm never going to get to sleep now, love," he teased.

So I'm not allowed to tease, but he is? I thought.

"And maybe that was the point," I teased right back.

He sighed. I thought it sounded like a happy sigh. "I love you, my Bella," he whispered.

I smiled and resisted the urge to squeal like a little girl. "I love you too," I said. "And you have no idea how much I wish I could be there with you right now."

"I know. But we'll be together on Tuesday," he reminded me. "And you know you can call or text me whenever. I'll have my phone on me all day tomorrow."

"What if you're with a customer?" I countered.

"I will still feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and the second I put the needle down, you will get a response. I promise you," he reassured me sincerely.

"You don't have to do that, Edward. I understand that you need to worry about things other than me throughout the day."

"Well, worrying about you has become an essential part of my life these past few years," he laughed. "I'm not about to stop now."

"Alright then. I won't try to completely change your lifestyle."

I tried to stifle a yawn, but Edward clearly heard it.

"Go to sleep, Bella," he coaxed softly. "You've got a long day tomorrow and it wouldn't do well for you to fall asleep in a plate of cakes."

"You're right," I sighed. "I love you, Edward."

"I love you too, Bella. Sweet dreams, love."

I was finally able to fall asleep shortly after I hung up the phone. I clutched the phone to my chest as I tried to remember the feeling of Edward's arm around me from the night before.

My alarm went off much earlier than I would have liked the next morning. With the imminent cake tasting appointment, my mother wanted me ready as soon as possible. Why that meant two hours before the scheduled appointment time, I had no idea, but it gave me a perfect opportunity to bring up my aversion to James.

We were seated at the table looking over even more brochures for cakes. My mind had started wandering only three minutes into the one-sided discussion. The text from Edward wishing me luck for the day reminded me of what I wanted to talk to my mother about.

"Hey, Mom?" I interrupted hesitantly.

"What, sweetie? Am I going too fast, I'm sorry," she said.

"No, uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about something really quick," I said.

"Oh, okay."

"You're not going to like it, Mom," I warned her. "So please, don't yell or anything. Just try to see it from my side."

"Okay, now you're scaring me, honey," she said cautiously. "You're not pregnant, are you? Oh, that would ruin everything. It's not anything like that, right?"

"No, Mother, I am not pregnant," I said with as much force and finality as I could manage. "It's nothing like that. It's just that… Well, you know I've never really been overly thrilled about marrying James, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I've been even less comfortable with that idea lately."

"Oh, Isabella, don't even think about-"

"You said you'd listen," I snapped. She stopped at my tone and slowly lowered herself into a chair near me. "Sorry. I just need to get this out. James… James is not a good person, Mom. He's an abuser who's gotten away with it because he's bought off his victims. He cheats on every girl he dates. I didn't love him before and now I know I never will because of those things."

"Honey, I'm sure those are just rumors to make him seem more mysterious," she said, patronizingly patting my hand. "And people in situations like ours have relationships on the side all the time. I'm sure it will be fine. You don't need to love him to have a good marriage."

I felt my jaw drop in response, but my mother went right back to her brochures like nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the last few seconds.

The rest of the morning didn't get any better. I tasted cake after cake and after the tenth one, they all started to taste the same. My mother pressed me for my opinion on each one and I kept going back to the only one that tasted any different back at the beginning. Two hours and a cake-filled stomach later, we were finally on our way back home.

I lay on my bed curled up with a book for the rest of the day. I'd fulfilled my commitment for the day and I wouldn't step foot downstairs until it was time for dinner. I felt like an irrational, rebellious teen, but I was sick of my mother not listening to me and I just wanted time to myself.

Edward and I exchanged a few texts, but it was a surprisingly busy day and he couldn't talk for long. He made sure to throw a heart or an "I love you" at the end of each one, though. It made me smile every time.

Tuesday night couldn't come fast enough.

I made it through dinner barely saying anything. I didn't dare bring up James again with my father when I thought of how my mother had reacted exactly as I'd feared. It was out in the open now, so that was all I really needed to do. I just had to hope that Edward's plan would work.

Tuesday seemed to creep by even as I was freaking out about Edward's surprise. I called Alice when I realized that I had absolutely no idea what to wear. Usually, I just needed someone to zip me into a dress and Alice was there anyway, but this wasn't as simple as one of my mother's ridiculous cocktail parties. I just needed something casual tonight.

Usually when I was with Edward, I'd wear whatever I had the motivation to pull on that morning. I had no thoughts toward putting an actual outfit together, but I needed to try to look good and have it be effortless for whatever surprise Edward had planned.

I was trying to decide between two ensembles I'd thrown together when Alice walked into my room.

"Please tell me those aren't actual options," she gasped.

"Well, yeah," I sighed. "He said I could go as casual as I wanted, so I figured jeans and a t-shirt would be fine."

"It would be fine if it wasn't a date," she explained. "But since it is, you need to try a little harder. Now let's see…"

She went straight for my closet after reviewing what I had on the bed. In two minutes flat, she had my favorite pair of jeans paired with a vintage fitted tank top and a dark brown sweater. Before she could stick my feet in a pair of stilettos, I grabbed my old, worn Chucks from under my bed.

"Ah, that's actually what I was looking for," she said proudly. "Good job, Bella."

By three o'clock, I was ready. Alice gave me strict orders not to move until Edward came, but I told her I at least needed to be downstairs so that I could know when my mother left. She conceded to that when I told her I would just sit on the couch and read.

"Don't have too much fun tonight, Belly," she teased as she walked out.

I rolled my eyes and settled into the couch for a while.

My mother walked out of the house at 3:52. Before the door closed, I had my phone out and a smile plastered on my face as I dialed Edward's number.

"Hey," he said happily.

"Hi," I replied. "She just left."

"Okay, I'll be over in a few. Love you."

"Love you too," I said before we ended the call.

I grabbed my purse before I headed out to the point that I'd agreed to meet Edward. We couldn't meet in front of my place since too many people knew I was engaged to James.

Edward pulled up a few minutes later and we were off to his apartment. The same security guard from the other night was stationed in the lobby once again. He smiled at us politely and his smile grew when he noticed our hands clasped together.

It was hard for me to believe that just the other day I'd been thinking about what it would be like to walk into Edward's apartment building like this with him on a regular basis. Now it looked like it would actually happen. That thought made me smile.

"What is it with you and the lobby of my apartment building? It's like a switch flips in your mind after you cross a certain point and then you're all smiles," Edward said with a laugh. "Will you ever explain it to me?"

I decided it would be good to tell him. Relationships were built on being honest, after all.

"Well, when we came in on Saturday, the same guard was out there," I started. "He saw your arm around me and he obviously thought we were a couple even then. Well, actually he probably thought we were going to be doing something really naughty since I had to have been about ten different shades of red."

I hadn't even noticed that the elevator had come, but Edward took advantage of that. He quickly pulled me in and hit the button for his floor and the "close door" button before he pressed me into the back wall of the elevator.

"Maybe I should go tell Old Gregg about the really naughty things you said on the phone the other night," he whispered in my ear.

I gasped and melted against him. He certainly knew how to get a reaction out of me. He'd probably been letting the ideas build up inside him for the past three years. We would have to explore those….

"How about you just tell me?" I whispered back.

His gaze flew to mine and our eyes were locked. The green in his eyes had darkened to a deep emerald. His breathing way labored, and he didn't make a move away from me.

Finally, the elevator beeped and the door opened to reveal his floor. Edward sighed and raked a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than usual. He took a deep breath before leading me over to his door.

When we were successfully situated on his couch, our breathing finally slowed and Edward kissed my temple.

"Do I get to know the rest of your thoughts?" he asked.

"Well, I started thinking about how nice it would be to actually walk into the building with you like that more often as an actual couple," I said, looking up at him. He smiled and pushed some hair behind my ear. "It wasn't the first time I'd thought about something like that either. But today, I was thinking that it was actually happening. And that made me happy."

"It makes me happy too, Bella," he said.

I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder, content to just be with him and not move. This was where I wanted to be.

I let the real world fall to the wayside and focused solely on my time with Edward. Nothing else mattered.

AN: *peeks out from behind the corner* I know I said it would have the date... But would you rather have waited an extra few days to have it, or get a decent length chapter now without it? You probably want it, but that's okay. I kept my promise and that's what counts for me.

Next chapter: The date (I swear), more of Edward's plan, and some fluff.

I know it's the holidays, but please, please, please take two seconds to review! If you have time to read it, you have time for a tiny review! I really want to know what you think. :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Festivus, Happy whatever it is you could possibly celebrate this time of year,
-Kaylee