Love me, love me – say that you love me,

Fool me, fool me – go on and fool me,

Love me, love me – pretend that you love me,

…I don't care about anything but you

-Lovefool by the Cardigans

Chapter 4

As Lovers Go

Fast, loud, staccato footsteps from outside interrupted our moment. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion – the rest of the Cullens weren't supposed to arrive yet and I wondered who would come up to the house.

Within a forty-fourth of a second the familiar doorbell of the Cullen house rang and considering how fast they'd gotten here, it could only mean one thing: vampires.

Edward's body tensed and he stood up stiffly – as if he knew exactly who was waiting on the other side of the door and he wasn't exactly happy about it.

"Who is it?" I whispered and my voice was drowned by the sound of the doorbell ringing again. Whoever was at the door was getting quickly impatient.

As if he hadn't heard my question, Edward continued to walk towards our front door and I couldn't help but notice he was stalling – his pace was slow and his feet were dragging. Obviously, he didn't want to see the person standing on the other side of that door – what I didn't know was why. I opened my mouth to ask him again, but Edward beat me to it. With chagrin, he opened the door and answered my question.

Instantly, I felt like I was in one of those TV shows where you have to pick one out of three doors trying to find your prize – and I'd picked the wrong one.

Five stunning vampires stood by the open door. They were all so beautiful – making me feel self conscious and stand where I was, in the living room, away from their line of vision.

"Eddie!" she squealed. Out of the five vampires, the most heart-breakingly beautiful one had to be the strawberry blonde woman – the most excited to see Edward – that wrapped her arms around Edward's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. A strange feeling washed over me when he turned his head at the last second so that she ended up kissing only his cheek.

He placed his hand on her shoulders, pushing her back a bit as if to get a better look at her and skillfully maneuvered his way out of her embrace.

"It's Edward, Tanya. You look good." He smiled but it looked more like a grimace to me. I watched as his eyes focused and unfocused. I hadn't seen that look recently – since he couldn't read my mind – but I'd figured out his eyes unfocused when he got a view of other's minds. A more noticeable grimace appeared on his face for a fraction of a second and no one seemed to notice but me. Involuntarily, I smiled as I realized that he must not like her very much.

Or maybe that's what you want to believe, the little voice in my head taunted me and I simply shoved the thought away.

"I know, right?" She giggled like one of those preppy high school cheerleaders shamelessly flirting with the school jock. She slowly twirled around as if to give him a better view and then wrapped her arms around his waist as the rest of the vampires became an audience. "Ah, Edward, I've missed you," She said in a low voice that made me think she was trying to sound seductive.

"I missed you, too, Tanya. You've always been a great friend," He tried to step away from her and keep a safe distance from her but she wouldn't give. I noticed she fumed silently at the word friend before the smirk returned to her face.

"You know I'm better at other things," She whispered in his ear and he squirmed, in a you're a creep kind of way.

Edward's expression quickly turned to desperate – desperate to get away from her. His eyes locked with mine from across the room and widened pleadingly.

"Help me?" He mouthed to me when Tanya wasn't looking and he wrinkled his nose in disgust as he motioned to her with a slight nod. His eyes widened even more than I'd thought possible and he bit his lip – it was impossible to say no this man.

I watched, plans formulating in my brain, as her hands slid down his neck and rested on his chest, playing with his shirt. She and her little hands were quickly getting on my nerves and I picked the plan that sounded best in my head. A new found confidence rushed through me and if I was going to hell, I was going to do it thoroughly. I walked determinately swishing my hip left and right over to where Edward was standing – my eyes focusing on him and no one else in the room. I smirked as I took his hands in mine and pulled him down to me as I kissed his surprised, half parted lips. I could tell by his unmoving lips that he was bewildered for a sixteenth of a second and then his mouth started to move in synch with mine while his hands caressed their way to my lower back as mine made their way up his chest – earning a shiver from Edward – and around his neck, twirling a lock of his soft hair in my fingers. His lips were soft as they parted slightly against mine and his sweet, intoxicating breath filled my mouth as he moaned.

"Ahem," Someone – a very irritated someone – cleared their throat.

Tanya, I thought her name and made it sound like a bad thing.

Unwillingly, I slowly pulled away – savoring each feeling and every touch. I stood there, panting trying to even out my breathing when I saw Edward smirking – and I saw an expression in his eyes that was gone way too fast for me to figure out what it was.

I turned around slightly as Tanya cleared her throat yet one more time. Edward wrapped his arms around my waist securely and it felt right to lean slightly on his chest, breathing in his scent and cherishing the feeling of his arms around me.

One look at her expression had me pressing my lips together to stifle the laughter. Her expression was a comical mix of anger, fury and jealousy – and I couldn't help the smirk that made its way onto my face.

"Oh," I pretended to having just noticed our audience and looked down a little embarrassed as the other four vampires looked at me with amused looks on their faces, "I'm Bella, and you are…?" My eyebrows pulled together, creating an innocent yet confused expression.

The woman with the pale blond hair walked in, "Hello, Bella. Edward," She acknowledged us, "I'm Kate and these are Carmen and Eleazar." The two remaining vampires approached us. They were both black-haired with a hint of an olive tone complexion. They were all beautiful, of course.

"I'm Tanya," She looked like she was about to combust – the look she shot me through her impossibly wide eyes was filled with hatred and jealousy – I couldn't help but smirk at her.

Instead of the I've heard so much about you line that everyone uses, I went for a more original/ to-make-Tanya-furious line, "Eddie! You didn't tell me you had friends in Denali!" I laughed and smacked his arm playfully, making sure to put a slight emphasis on the word friends.

Edward had his soft lips pressed together – something he did whenever he was trying extremely hard no laugh – yet his lips twitched up into a smile every once in a while.

"Sorry, Bella," Edward's velvety voice turned my name into a caress, "I guess I was too busy thinking about you," He whispered, his lips kissing my forehead and that small gesture screamed I love you.

Oh, he was good – better than most of my favorite actors.

Or maybe he's not lying, the voice in my head started making unwanted commentary.

"Oh, Edward," Tanya leaned on his other side and I tightened my hold on Edward, "Carlisle mentioned you had an accident," When she spoke the last word, her fierce eyes turned accusingly to me. That little…

Venom pooled in my mouth and my fists automatically tightened as a growl started building in my chest. I would have attacked her right then and there if it weren't for Edward – who had his arms wrapped tightly around me, crushing me gently to his chest while his thumb rubbed soothing, distracting circles on my stomach.

"That's none of your business," I snapped – I'd had enough of her crap. Her face turned into a smirk as she made sure she'd gotten to me.

"Feisty," She laughed at me and not in the way some people do – when they can still say I'm laughing with you, not at you – she was plain out laughing at me. "You were never one for feisty ones, Edward." She whispered in his ear.

If looks could kill, she'd be dead right now. I was practically shooting daggers at her with my glare and she pretended not to notice after she flinched.

"I mean – no need to worry, Tanny-kins" She grimaced at my new nickname for her and I settled for a sweet, innocent expression. "Edward and I talked it out and everything's perfect now," I grinned easily and then felt a slight pressure for a fraction of a second on the top of my head – his lips?

"Oh, if you're sure, Izzy." She looked at me, waiting for me to get angry at my new nickname but it sounded kind of nice and there was no way in hell I was going to give her even one ounce of satisfaction. "But, I mean, you talked it out? Just like that?" She trailed off skeptically with an eyebrow raised. A growl had already been building in my chest but I quickly thought of another way to get back at her.

"Well, Edward and I are alone in this house for the next month or so…and we're making the best of it…" I trailed off suggestively, "Though I guess you're right – there are better things to do than…talk." I placed my hands on Edward's chest and started playing with the top buttons of his light blue shirt. The response to my action was exactly the one I was looking for – out of the corner of my eye I registered the fact that Kate's jaw dropped and Tanya looked like she was this close to ripping me to shreds while she was scowling at my hand.

Tanya muttered a low oath under her breath and grumbled as she attempted to get herself together quickly. "Oh, well we just came by to see if you needed any help." She giggled and smiled but the fakeness was as visible as Edward's disheveled hair – you could see it from miles away.

"Aww, thanks, but we're great," I smiled that too-innocent smile again; "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" I said with much enthusiasm and giggled. She glared at me and then her expression became calmed. Her eyes looked me up and down once – as if measuring up the competition – and then she smirked. A low growl left my throat – she needed to leave soon.

"You know where to find me, Edward," She smiled and winked as she pursed her lips in a pout and blew him a kiss. As if this meant nothing to him, not even the slightest bit, Edward turned to me and kissed me fervently right in front of her making her walk away while my mind was filled with surfing emotions and I was left breathless. When he pulled away, the other four vampires mumbled their goodbyes awkwardly and quickly followed a very upset Tanya out the door.

"Have fun!" Kate yelled before I shut the door. Now, why couldn't all of them be like her? I decided I liked her – she seemed nice.

We waited, giggling in silence, until they were out of hearing range – when we stopped hearing Tanya's high voice grumbling and their footsteps vanished.

Relieved sighs left both of us and I looked up at him from under my eyelashes to find his eyes intently on me – his grin wider than I'd ever seen it. My mind raced to find a way to prevent what seemed inevitable – the awkwardness left over from our little show earlier.

And so I did what I knew best – I burst out laughing. Not a chuckle, nor a giggle – laughing hysterically. The best thing was that he joined in - really laughing and clutching his stomach because it hurt so much. I giggled as he stumbled his way to the couch in the living room – taking my hand and towing me with him. For some reason I couldn't stop laughing – mostly because I didn't want the awkwardness to take over – yet I knew, I knew we'd have to talk about it sooner or later; and I'd just chosen later.

I sat down giggling non-stop and he watched me, grinning, as he took the seat next to me, putting his arm around my waist as if it were the most casual thing we did. I was too caught up in this that I simply sighed contently and he pulled me closer to him, tucking my head under his chin. Without a worry in the world, I closed my eyes and snuggled against him. The world could fall apart and I wouldn't even notice.

Unmoving, we stayed in that position for what seemed like hours – neither one of us wanting to break the comfortable silence. And I didn't want to move. Even though I was afraid to admit it, I would stay like this forever if it meant being with him. I didn't want this moment to end and although I'd only known Edward for a month, it was enough for me. The good, the bad, everything felt perfect when I was with him, blissfully happy.

"Thank you," His whisper in my ear sent shivers down my back and it wasn't because I was cold.

"Hmmmmm," I struggled to find a coherent thought as his mouth lingered by my ear and neck, "for what?" I whispered back, confused.

"For saving me back there," He breathed. "I'm sorry about Tanya. She can be a handful sometimes." His hand started repeating a never ending cycle running up and down my arm, drawing lazy circles here and there.

"Ha! Sometimes?" I muttered.

I felt his chest vibrate and move as he laughed and I felt myself involuntarily smile.

"I'm sorry," I whispered quietly, waiting for the awkwardness to come.

"For what? His eyebrows pulled together – it was his turned to be puzzled.

"For what happened back there – you know, for getting carried away. I shouldn't have – but she's just so…and I couldn't…I was this close to….yeah, I'm sorry." I looked down at my hands after my one minute rant – I didn't want to look into his deep, golden eyes when he'd say I'm sorry, too. I shut my eyes close and I was glad I wasn't human anymore when the tears would've easily given me away. It was silent for a minute – the longest minute of my life.

His warm fingers gently caressed my cheek before drawing a line down my jaw and under my chin, lifting my face up to look at him – his face only inches from mine.

"I'm not." He whispered tenderly as he leaned in, closing the small distance left between us.

A/N: Awww, right?

Hello, darlin's :)

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! This chapter has been rewritten and it makes me giggle even more :*

Disclaimer: He's mine! Rawr! Fine, so Jazzy doesn't belong to me and neither does Twilight :)

LINK ON MY PROFILE for what I think Tanya looks like!

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Love, Alex