Ori: So Jason and I have to give credit to the wonderful Mrs. Cullen959 for coming up with many of the room ideas for this story. She was the one who first gave us the idea for a gym, among countless others.

Jason: Thank you, nikki (Mrs. Cullen959) for the ideas!

Ori: btw, it was Jason's little sister's birthday yesterday. Her name is Evangeline and she turned 7. She's such a cutie!

Edward Cullen

When we walked out of the bookstore, I was still trying to control my emotions. There had been so many times when I began to open up, forgetting that I couldn't divulge any information. I didn't want her abandoning me so soon. On the ride to Seattle I had been trying to decide exactly how much I was willing to tell her. And then there was the problem of Bella's health. Looking at her now as we got into the car, I saw her pale skin and the slight flush in her cheeks, her long hair up in a twist. The knot on the back of her head had receded and her cuts were mostly gone. All that remained was the yellow blooming bruises on her skin.

And now I had met Alice. It confused me why I would even care what she thought about me, but I found that I disliked the way she was looking at me with distrust. For some reason, I wanted to prove her wrong, to show her that I could be a trustworthy person. I wanted her to know that I would never hurt Bella.

As we drove towards Forks, I thought about when she would leave. That time wasn't very far off. She was healing fine and soon she wouldn't want to stay with me. But I didn't want her to leave.

"You should go in alone," I said when I pulled into a parking space at Forks police station. "If you need me, I'll be out here."

She paused, her hand on the door handle. Bella opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then closed it. Closing her coat tighter around her, she opened the door and got out, shutting it behind her. Unable to look away, I watched her walk up the front steps and into the police station.

She would be leaving soon and I would be left alone again, dreaming of her. I had spent countless nights wondering what it would feel like to kiss her, to smell her hair, and now that I had finally gotten a taste of what life was like with her, I knew that I couldn't give her up so easily. I had to find some way to keep her close.

I had to make her love me.

Maybe if she knew that she loved me, then she wouldn't want to leave. I waited for at least ten minutes and she still hadn't come out. When I glanced at the door, I saw that a police officer was leaning out, squinting his eyes as he tried to see into my car's tinted windows. I decided to just get this over with. I opened my door and got out.

"Hello, officer," I said. "How are you this afternoon?"

The officer smiled. "Hello, Edward. I didn't know it was you." He looked back inside, still standing in the way of the door. Then he glanced back out at me. "You're very kind to help Bella when she crashed, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to do some paperwork on this, because she was considered missing."

I nodded and entered the police station. I saw that Bella was sitting before a desk with a squat looking man behind it. She had her coat still closed tightly even though it was warm inside. I went and took the seat beside her. She smiled gratefully at me. It was an hour later that we were finally able to leave. The Forks police knew me, but not for the reasons that other cops did.

I was born in Portland, Oregon, but my parents and I moved to Forks when I was twelve. The next year, mother died and I ran away to Seattle, hitchhiking to get there. That was where I had first discovered the pleasures and agonies of heroin along with alcohol. I had dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and lived on the streets with other bums that shot up and got wasted. It was my father that eventually found me when I was seventeen. He dragged me into rehab and afterwards made me get my GED. I went to a community college so that I could be an accountant simply because I didn't know what else I wanted to do with my life. Then father died when I was twenty-two and I inherited his house and every last cent of his money. Now, I was considered a very wealthy man but that still didn't dissolve the demons that haunted me.

On the way back home, Bella spoke. "How do those cops know you?"

I sighed. "Because my father was friends with them." I suddenly didn't know what else to say. I wanted to make her love me – why else would she stay with me? – but I was reluctant to tell her about myself. "After his hours at the hospital, he would go spend time with them to alleviate the loneliness after mother died."

I knew she was looking at me but I refused to look anywhere but the road just in case I did anything stupid.

"You loved them very much," she said, not a question.

"Yes."

It was silent for a moment. I could feel that she was dangerously close to knocking down my walls. Did I want that? I knew that I wanted her to love me, but did I have to tell her every bit of my past for that to happen? Yes, you idiot, I thought. That's exactly what has to happen in order for her to love you. Maybe I could just leave out the worst parts like my drug addiction and my obsession for her.

"How old were you when they died?" she asked.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter. "I was thirteen when my mother died and twenty-two when father went."

"It must have been very hard," she murmured. "To love someone and then to have lost them.

"It was hard," I agreed, trying to keep my voice neutral. This was a touchy subject with me. Especially my mother. She was the only woman in my life who had ever loved me, who had ever cared for me.

"What did you do when your mother passed away?"

I was getting in too deep. I wasn't ready for this; I wasn't ready to tell her everything just yet, to expose my horrifying and fucked-up past. "I ran away," I muttered.

The next moment we pulled into my drive. I pressed the button on the remote that was clipped to my sun visor, making the garage door go up so that I could pull my car into the garage. I could tell that her silence was from shock. Apparently, she didn't think that I was the type to run away from home. There was a lot she didn't know about me.

I turned off the car, stuffing the keys in my pocket, and got out. I didn't bother to open her door and I went through the door that led into my house. Ignoring her wasn't going to make her love me, but I needed some time alone for a while to think. I needed to plan what I was going to do and how much I was going to tell her. It was getting increasingly hard to keep things from her and to distance myself. I quickly changed in my bedroom. I placed the book that I had bought for myself from the bookstore onto my bed, not bothering to put it away. I would use it later. Then I went to the gym. What I needed right now was a long, hard work out.

I wore my black shorts and a pair of running shoes, no shirt, and headed to the gym. I made use of the treadmill, jogging for a full thirty minutes. By the time I was finished, I was covered with sweat and my legs were sore. I hadn't ran that much in a long time. But the pain at least put my mind on other things. I sat on a padded bench for a long time, my head in my hands.

I loved Bella. That much I knew for certain. And I also knew that she didn't love me. I wanted her to stay also, and she was going to leave soon because she was nearly healed. The only reason she would ever want to stay with me was if she loved me. I had to make that happen. But how? I thought about all the romantic movies I had seen. The man brought the woman flowers, he told her how much he cared for her, he bought her things and complimented her. All of that was foreign to me. Women liked men with a sense of humor, but so far, I hadn't said anything that had made her laugh. Except for a few things. I loved to see her bright smile and her tinkling laughter, and I wanted to see more of it.

I felt a drop of sweat trickle between my shoulder blades and down my back. I sighed, standing up. I hated having the sweat on my body so I decided to shower quickly. Maybe I would come back to the gym – it never hurt to shower more than once. After my shower, I knew that I hadn't got out all of my frustration. Returning to the gym, I focused on the bench press. Maybe it would help me relax.

I put on two large, forty-five pound weights onto each side of the metal bar before lying down on the black padded bench under it, placing my hands on the bar. I decided to start with something light.

"Edward?"

I jumped slightly, surprised, and looked towards the voice, already knowing who it was. Bella stood in the doorway, wearing a pair of light blue Sophie shorts and a dark blue tank top. She was beautiful as always. Seeing her made all the tenseness return to my body. I watched as her eyes looked over my naked chest and then to my face.

"Bella?" I said, surprised. Why was she here?

"I was hoping I would find you here," she murmured, walking into the room. She looked around at all the equipment I had here. "What are you doing?"

"Bench presses." I was recovering from my shock. I couldn't help but smile as she looked around as if she had never seen a gym before. "Would you like to be my spotter?"

"What's a spotter?"

"You just put your hands on this metal bar incase I drop it or I'm not able to push it back up."

She looked nervous. "Are you sure? I'm not very strong, Edward. I wouldn't be able to help you if something like that happened."

I smirked. My change in mood was amazing. Maybe all the working out had helped my nerves. I was actually thrilled that she was here. "That's okay. I won't really need your help with this anyway. I'm not that weak."

She smiled in response. I placed my hands back on the bar as I lay on my back on the bench. She stood up, her legs only inches from the top of my head. From this angle, I could see up her shorts a little. Oh fuck, that wasn't going to help my concentration.

"What do I do?" she asked hesitantly.

"Just hold the bar lightly," I said. I pushed up on the bar that we held up by two metal rectangular poles on either side of my head, pulling it down to my chest. I breathed out slowly and pushed it back up. I had missed the exertion on my biceps. Glancing up into her eyes, I saw that she was watching me intently. "I'm fine, Bella," I assured her. "I've done harder things than this before."

"How much weight is on here?"

I thought for a moment. "At least a hundred and thirty pounds." I pushed the bar up and down, breathing deeply. The first lesson of bench-pressing weights was never to hold your breath; that put unnecessary strain on your lungs and deprived your muscles of oxygen. I could tell she was impressed. I felt a small bit of pride that I had impressed her. I felt like a teenager trying to impress a girl on the first date.

After I'd had enough of that, I guided the bar back to its resting place on the two poles.

"How long have you been here," Bella asked as I wiped my face with a clean towel. Perspiration was starting appear on my skin.

"Just a few hours," I said. "I needed some time to think," I admitted.

She sat down on one of the other padded benches. "No, I meant in Forks. I don't remember you at school."

I took a deep breath and sat on the other bench, facing her. I could choose to be an ass again and ignore her question, or I could man up and actually answer her for a change. I hated that I was such a coward that I couldn't answer her tough questions. They might seem simple to her, but it was hard for me. My past wasn't something I liked to explore.

"I moved here when I was twelve," I began, determined to not be a fucking coward. "Then my mother died the next year. That's when I dropped out of school and ran away to Seattle. I only came back when I was seventeen."

She was silent, obviously not expecting that answer. When she spoke, her voice was soft. "What made you come back?"

I gritted my teeth. She was going to find out. If I told her the truth, she would know about my addiction and she would want out of the house. Who wants to be tied to a recovering drug addict? No one. "My father found me and made me come back," I said, my voice hard from the effort of telling her. I edited out the heroin; she didn't need to know about that. "It took a few years because I had missed so much school, but I finally got my GED."

She crossed her legs, trying to find something to do. The atmosphere in the room was nearly suffocating. My eyes were drawn to the long, smooth lines of her legs. She still wore those heels and they contrasted strangely with her Sophie shorts and tank top. I wondered if she had any regular shoes. Probably not.

I looked back up at her face to see her deep brown eyes staring into mine. Slowly, the air around us changed and began to crackle with electricity. My fingers tingled with the need to feel her soft skin, to hear her moans fill the room. Her eyes darkened slightly with desire and I knew I wasn't the only one who felt the current running between us. I stood up and closed the little space that separated us.

She stood and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her lips. My mouth attacked hers hungrily, her hot lips opening under mine. I was dizzy from the taste and feel of her. My hands gripped her hips, pulling up her tank top a little so that I could feel the skin of her stomach and back. I pressed her hips tightly into me, feeling the cloth of her tank top rubbing against my bare chest.

She sighed, her hands delving into my hair. I picked her up, my hands cupping her ass. My arms were slightly sore from their earlier exertion but I wasn't complaining. Her long legs wrapped around me, pressing her covered core to my growing erection. I laid her down on the bench on her back. I undid her legs from around my waist and stood up.

Bella moved to sit up, but I pressed her back into the padded bench. "Stay lying down," I said, standing up again. I moved so that I sat straddling the bench before her spread legs. She rose up so that she could lean back on her elbows, watching me. I kissed both her ankles before pulling her high heels off her feet, dropping them to the ground. I ran my lips up her calves, enjoying the smooth skin of her legs.

When I had bought her clothes, I had also bought her necessities like razors, shampoo, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and deodorant. I had forgotten other things though, like a hairbrush.

I let my tongue reach out to taste the skin behind her knee. She moaned, her breathing slowly beginning to pick up pace. I continued my exploration of her legs, making my way up to her shorts. I smiled at the way the muscles in her legs tensed whenever I placed my lips onto them. I dipped my fingers into the waistband of her blue shorts and teased them down. She lifted her hips, making it easier for me to undress her. I kissed each new patch of skin that was exposed, placing deep, sucking kisses along her pussy lips. She gasped, letting her head fall back, lifting her hips towards me.

Pulling her shorts off her body, I tossed them to the ground. She was now naked from the waist down. I couldn't bring myself to regret forgetting to buy her underwear. Bella was already wet, dripping onto the bench. My shorts became very tight and I found it hard to breathe.

Then I lifted the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at me. I tried to remember how to breathe. She was beyond beautiful – she was an angel. She was completely naked now and I couldn't help but let my eyes linger first on her breasts, then down her stomach to her soaking cunt.

Suddenly, she leaned up and crushed her mouth to mine, pressing her naked body against my clothed one. Her arms cupped my face, holding it securely to hers. Her nipples were tight and hard as they pressed into my chest. I groaned and grabbed her hair in my fingers, attacking her tongue with mine. My fervor was increased with hers. She moaned deliciously and I ate it before it became sound. Her hands went to my shorts, cupping my erection. I growled and pushed her back onto her back.

"You move and I will tie you to this bench," I warned. I stood up and quickly undressed, throwing my clothing onto the ground next to hers. I considered it a miracle that I had a small stash of condoms in the gym. I had bought boxes of them when I saved Bella, hoping she would agree to this arrangement, and I had put them throughout the house. Some might call it presumptuous, but at least I was prepared.

Her breathing accelerated when she saw my hard dick. I straddled the bench and grabbed her thighs in my hands, pulling her towards me. "Put this on me," I said, handing her the small package. Honestly, I just wanted to feel her hands on me.

She ripped open the package and pulled out the condom, fitting it over my cock. Her fingernails brushed down my shaft by accident and I stiffened, telling myself to be patient. When she began playing with my balls, I grabbed her wrist, taking it away. If she continued that way, I wasn't going to last until I could feel her around my dick. I sucked at her neck, biting and nipping.

"Oh fuck, Edward," she moaned.

I lifted her, holding her ass with my hands, and positioned her over my cock. She brought her hot mouth to mine, her hands clasping in my hair just as I dropped her onto my dick.

She cried out as my hard member thrust into her. It was neither gentle nor smooth but the roughness was just what we needed. Her eyes were clenched shut and she arched on my lap. Her mouth opened as if she was going to scream, but no sound came out.

"Shit, Bella," I hissed, wrapping my arms around her back so that I could move her easily up and down. I lifted her off of me and dropped her again, gritting my teeth against the pleasure. She screamed, pressing her face into my neck. I still had the bite mark on my shoulder from where she had bit me in the bookstore while trying to keep quiet.

When I lifted her again, she stopped me. "Lay down on your back, Edward," she commanded, her eyes blazing with lust. I ignored her. "Lay down!" She got off of me, pulling my dick out of her tight pussy and pushed me back onto the padded black bench.

Fuck, she was delicious when she was demanding, yelling at me like that. It made my cock literally twitch as I lay onto my back, my legs on each side of the bench.

Then she crawled up my body and straddled my waist. Oh shit, I was going to cum right now if she kept crawling like that. I watched as she positioned her self over my dick before sliding down onto me, impaling herself.

Her back arched, her eyes closing tightly as her hands scraped down my chest. I hissed, holding her hips tightly to mine.

"Hell," I growled. "Fucking ride me, Bella."

"Oh God," she gasped as she began to move back and forth, making my hard member rub against her walls. I bucked my hips up into her, causing me to go deeper inside her soaking-wet and hot-as-sex pussy. Suddenly, she reached back to play with my balls as she rode me, her breasts bouncing.

I groaned, running my hands up and down her waist. I pinched her nipples between my thumb and forefinger, pulling. I kneaded her breasts in my hand tightly. It was getting harder and harder to draw this out. Her walls tensed and relaxed around my member, nearly making my head spin with pleasure.

Reaching down to rub her nub roughly with my hand, I used my other hand to hold her hips down onto mine.

"Oh SHIT," she gasped, arching. I was viciously rubbing her, wanting to feel her cum before me. She panted, her hands gripping my shoulders as she rocked herself back and forth onto my cock. I pinched her bundle of nerves and bucked my hips up into her.

I felt her pussy clamp around my cock, holding it still and she climaxed hard.

"FUCK!" she screamed, her fingernails digging into my shoulders.

I gritted my teeth but my long groan came out anyway. It vibrated through my chest and suddenly I was sent over the edge. My body stiffened and I released into the condom, my eyes clenched shut. She relaxed on top of me, lying down on my chest. My softening dick pulled out of her as she lay on me. I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist and kissed her hair, still drifting in the fog of bliss that surrounded me.

I was going to make her love me, no matter what it took.

I glanced down to find Bella's large, dark eyes looking up at me, a smile tugging at her beautiful lips. Yes, she would grow to love me. I didn't want to think about what would happen if that wish didn't come true.

Ori: So now that that chapter's finished, Jay and I are going to get some pizza.

Jason: Don't even mention pizza.

Ori: Why?

Jason: Because of that stupid pizza delivery guy. He was hitting on you. What a jackass. We're never ordering pizza again, Ori, at least not from Dominoes.

Ori: I think you're jealous, Jason.

Jason: No, I'm not. I just don't like other guys hitting on my girl. *pouts*

Ori: It's okay that you're jealous. I think it's sexy. *winks*