Edward's POV

He loves me.

Of course, he does.

I can see it in his every thought. I knew how he felt even before he confessed.

He can't exactly hide his thoughts from me while asleep.

The thing is that I feel the same, which scares me shitless.

And what I've just done? I definitely wouldn't have done it if I didn't love him.

At some point during our ride here, I stopped think that he's a guy, that this isn't right, that all I've been taught to be moral doesn't go hand in hand with my feelings for Jacob. I let go, and I feel so good.

I swallow convulsively, aware how everyone has gone quiet, waiting for my reaction to Jacob's words. Even Jake himself is watching me, worried.

I cup his cheek with a shaky hand and lean closer, resting my forehead against his and inhaling his heady scent. "I love you, too."

His wide black eyes bore into mine. "You do?" he asks, shocked.

"Yes. So much, Jake," I murmur, kissing his lips softly. "You've become very important to me in such a short period of time. I can't live without out."

He thinks of the imprinting bound, but I shake my head.

"No, it's much more than imprinting."

He gives me a watery smile, hugging me tightly. I think we should get dressed, he says in a shy voice in his head.

"You should. I am." I laugh, pecking his lips. "We need to finish painting."

It seems we work with more vigor now. Jake keeps thinking that the faster the room is painted, the best because we'll have alone time.

What he doesn't know is that tonight he's sleeping in a bed. Which makes me wonder; how long does it take for these guys to deliver what I ordered last night? I found at IKEA exactly what he wanted; the kind of bed he had in mind, the same bookcase, the carpets, the sofa and the lounge. I ordered all of them.

When we're done with painting our room, I take him downstairs to feed him dinner. I'm sure that sandwich he had at lunch isn't enough.

A car pulls in front of the house, and through a look out the window, I see it's the IKEA delivery truck.

Yes!

"Esme, can you please take over here and watch the steak?" I ask urgently.

Carlisle opens the front door, greeting the delivery boy, looking confused.

"It's not a mix up!" I say hurriedly, rushing there when Esme approaches the kitchen. "I ordered furniture for our room," I explain to Carlisle.

"That's so nice of you! Have you thought of us, too?" Rosalie asks, upset, from the foot of the stairs.

"You already have a bed and everything you'd want. I didn't have much beside that couch, the old bookcase, and a TV."

"He's right, Rose," Carlisle tells her, guiding me outside with a hand on the small of my back. "I'm proud of you, son. We can all see how much you care for Jacob."

I look away, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry you had to assist with what happened earlier."

He chuckles. "Like you haven't assisted with much more over the years. We'll consider it payback. If you want, we can leave you two alone tonight. You know, for the first time?"

The delivery boy interrupts our hushed conversation. "You can check if everything is there, sir. Then you need to sign here." He is talking to Carlisle.

I step toward my stuff and make sure everything I ordered is there, before taking the pad from the young man's hands and signing. "Thank you."

Huh. Spoiled kids these days… Must do my job to the end. He plasters a smile on his face. "Do you need help carrying everything inside?"

"No, we'll take it from here."

Saying his farewell, he goes behind the wheel and leaves.

I take the bedframe under one arm and the mattress under the other, carrying them into the house and up to our room.

"Don't come in!" Alice screeches. "I'm cleaning the floor. Leave everything in the hallway."

"Thanks, Alice," I say gratefully.

"Anytime!"I already prepared the room across yours as a walk-in closet.

"Thanks," I repeat, going out of the house again to take more furniture.

Emmett decides to help me. It saves me from another walk outside.

By the time Jacob is done eating, I'm in our room with Emmett and Jasper working on assembling the furniture.

"That's a sturdy bed there!" Emmett tells him when he steps into the room.

"Yeah, so?" Jake plops down next to me, keeping the pieces together so I can nail them. I've been trying to do that for the past five minutes, but multiple members isn't one of my super powers.

"Well, don't wreck it," Emmett comments.

Jake gives him a confused look. "How could I wreck it?"

Emmett bursts out laughing. "And we thought Eddie was the innocent one!"

Jasper elbows Emmett, rolling his eyes. "What he means is you should be careful with your…activities. You may not be that strong, but Edward is."

What the hell? You can break the bed? It's made of iron! Jacob is staring at me in shock.

I focus on nailing the shelves of the bookcase in their place.

You don't know the half of it, I think to myself.

"Ah, wolf boy, you have a lot to learn!" Emmett whistles. "My Rosie and I demolished a few houses in our first years. But that's probably out of the question since you imprinted on a monk."

I growl, hurling the hammer at him. He catches it with ease, chiding me for almost destroying the hard work I did painting the walls.

How strong are you, exactly? Jake stares at me in awe.

"I can pulverize a boulder into fine dust."

"Whoa!"

"I won't hurt you," I promise when he conjures an image of his mangled limbs in his head.

I trust you. He nods.

I heard that before, but at least he can push me off him if I manage to seriously injure him, and he has the power to heal faster than the average human.

With Emmett and Jasper's help, we have the bed and bookcase assembled by bedtime.

Esme lends me a bedding set, something I haven't thought of. While we worked in our room, Carlisle made sure the water was running so Jake can take a shower and use the toilet if he wants.

He's in the shower now, and I'm watching Esme as she spreads the sheet on the bed, tucking it under the mattress. It doesn't look really hard.

By the time Jake comes back in our room, I decide to unpack my books and put them on the shelves.

"Oh, don't tell me you're doing that!" he grumbles, trudging his way to the bed and falling face-first. A loud groan escapes him. Heaven! Thank you for the bed.

"You're welcome." I smile to myself, picking a stack of books from the box at my feet.

"Seriously, come here," he mumbles into the mattress.

"Aren't you tired?" I ask, depositing the books on an empty shelf and walking to him. I lounge next to him, running my hand over his back. "You should sleep. You had an exhausting day."

I can see a smile spreading on his face. Yes, it was exhausting. Especially when you attacked me.

I chuckle, leaning to kiss his shoulder. "There's more to come, I promise. But you need to sleep so you can thoroughly enjoy it."

You're no fun. He rolls on his back and stretches, yawning. Can you not make too much noise if you want to unpack while I sleep?

"I'll stay right here with you if you want." I stroke his head, loving the way his short hair feels under my fingers.

Jake moves higher on the bed, looks around, then flops onto his side. No pillows? I can do without one.

I make a mental note to buy him a pillow and a thicker blanket than this throw Esme offered. I also make a personal effort not to comment on his pillow thought. It will upset him. That was a fleeting thought I shouldn't have known. He didn't speak to me directly.

Wow. You're actually listening to me! Jake turns his head to stare at me, beaming.

"What?"

"You didn't comment on the pillow thing."

"I'm trying very hard not to say a thing."

He rolls his eyes, falling back on the bed. Here I thought you'd say, "What pillow?" Baby steps, Jake.

I laugh and slide behind him, wrapping him in the blanket, then placing my arm around his waist. It feels so good to hold him close.

He takes my hand. I stroke the top of his hand until he falls asleep.

At some point during the night, he starts thinking he's cold so reluctantly, I move away. Tucking the blanket better at his sides, I leave the room.

Alice is our walk-in closet. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty to buy a few things for him.

I purse my lips, but shake my head. I don't really mind. She means well.

Continuing my walk downstairs, I find Carlisle and Esme on the couch in the living room, so change my direction to the kitchen. I know how much everyone needs privacy in this family.

"Join us, Edward," Esme says softly.

Come, son. We want to talk to you, Carlisle adds silently.

"Yes?" I ask, feeling slightly nervous. I take a seat on the bench of my piano , resting my elbow on the closed lid.

"You know I love you as my own child, Edward?" Carlisle stares at me seriously.

"Yes."

"I want what is best for you. We see how happy Jacob makes you. I was truly afraid we were going to lose you after what happened to Bella."

I stare at my knees. "Jacob has helped more than he could even conceive. I hate to say this, but he's the perfect rebound."

Esme gasps. "Do you not feel as strongly for him as he does for you?"

"Of course, I do!" I exclaim, annoyed. "I can't seem to find another term to describe how he's helped me get over the tragedy. No, I'm not over Bella's death, but I'm getting there." I make it clear before they ask unwanted questions.

The less I speak or think of Bella, the better. If I let myself go down that lane of memories, I'm reliable to do something extremely stupid.

Do you know what you're doing?

I frown at Carlisle.

I mean, do you have any idea what to do when it comes to being intimate with Jacob?

"Carlisle!" I hiss, outraged.

"Don't embarrass him, dear!" Esme scolds him lightly, and I see it clearly in her head. She's just as worried as him about our sexual relationship.

"We'll figure it out on our own," I tell them in a begging tone. "Really, it can't be that difficult."

"You don't want to hurt each other," Carlisle says in a fatherly tone . I just want to make sure you two will be safe and careful.

Kill me. I let my head fall on my arm, which is now resting on the lid of my piano.

"Oh, why didn't anyone call for me? It's embarrass Eddie time?" Emmett says cheerfully from the doorway.

"That's a good idea now. Family meeting!"

I stare at Carlisle with my jaw slack. "Since when are you pro tormenting me?" I ask incredulously. "If anyone has anything to say regarding my relationship with Jake, I swear I'll take him and move out!"

"Oh, he's getting angry." Emmett guffaws from his spot near the doorway.

"Can you shut up?" I spit. "I don't need any advice at how to…have relations with my boyfriend!"

My very serious statement makes everyone laugh, irking me further.

Esme seems to be the only one on my side, approaching me and rubbing my shoulder.

"Leave him alone. It's his first time. You weren't born geniuses, either."

Or maybe it's just an illusion she's nice.

Carlisle is steering everyone out of the house while Esme stays by my side. Two fingers tilt my chin up so she can look at me. "Whoever of you chooses to bottom, I want you to be gentle and use lots of lube. Don't pull that face, dear. This is something normal. You, out of anyone, should know better what is to be done, so I won't embarrass you further." She drops a kiss on my forehead. "Don't hurt Jake."

With that being said, she's out of the house before I can comprehend what she's told me.

Esme, my mother figure, knows too much about anal sex.

In a vain attempt to forget this conversation ever took place, I decide to play for a while. My fingers fly over the ivory keys, but my mind is on Jacob's vivid sexual dreams.

I know that once he wakes up, everything will change.