A/N: Thanks for the birthday wishes. One of my friends got me an Edward action figure to inspire the writing of the uh… action… in this story. We'll see if it works. My original plan was to have Charlie show up in this chapter, and I was almost done writing it when I convinced myself that it wasn't working. It wasn't flowing right to have Charlie come AND THEN go back to all this stuff, so – that's why it took a little longer.
TWIKE the super beta is out of town, but I'm not patient enough to wait for her. I hope she doesn't kill me, because she's really smart and pretty. SO my dear friend afk stood in and proofread. If you notice more mistakes blame her.
Disclaimer – I'm using other people's stuff.
Chapter 6 Possession
"I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"What?" Bella asked lying on the couch in the backyard watching TV with her head on Edward's lap.
"I was pretty sure this was a dream, but it's not," Edward scratched his head in confusion.
"You're awake," Bella giggled. "I was wondering why you were so relaxed."
"Did you take your shirt off earlier?" Edward struggled to make sense of the morning's events.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He could tell by the color of her face that she knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Um, do you uh… you know?" he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"I think the moment pretty much passed, when you were more concerned about your Volvo then the fact I was throwing myself at you," Bella said flatly.
"Oh no, I forgot!" Edward jumped up knocking Bella's head off his lap and onto the couch. He ran to the front yard and stared at his car. It was wrapped over and over with saran wrap going between his car and Bella's truck. He tried to rip it off, but it wouldn't budge. After minutes of searching, he found the edge and started rolling it back up. It was going to take hours, but it seemed like the best way to get it off without hurting his car.
The garage door opened, and Bella came out holding a pair of scissors.
"Wait, what are you doing with those?" Edward asked nervously. He considered throwing himself in front of his car but worried Bella might stab him instead.
Bella just rolled her eyes, walked over to her truck, and started cutting through the saran wrap. Once she got all the way across the truck, she started pulling it off in one big sheet. Edward was impressed. Of course, they could use scissors on her rusty old truck. Bella was a genius.
They worked together to pull it off the cars, and Edward stuffed the plastic into the garbage can. "I think we're going to need some help with the furniture."
"You work on that, and I'm going to run home and change," Bella said.
"Okay, I'll call Jasper and have them come help us." Edward's hand took on a mind of its own as Bella walked past him. He reached out and gave her a sharp slap on the butt. She turned and stared at him with shock and indignation on her face. Edward winked at her, shrugged, and walked inside. This was turning into a very strange morning.
Esme had to threaten his life daily, while he was growing up, just to get him out of bed. Edward had never been a morning person. If he didn't focus, he could just sit and stare for hours after he woke up. He couldn't think straight until he'd had a shower and coffee. Most of the morning so far was still a blurry, but Edward was sure he'd just screwed up the moment he'd been dreaming of since he first met Bella. If Emmett only knew the irony of just how effective his revenge had been. He was taking the role of protecting his little sister's virtue to a whole new extreme, or maybe he had some sort of sixth sense about what was going to happen.
Edward got Japer's voicemail, so he called Alice. She didn't answer either. Edward refused to be denied, so he tried their house phone.
"Hello," Alice answered with a gruff voice and seemed groggy.
"Are you still asleep?" Edward was confused. His distaste for mornings was not genetic. Alice was definitely a morning person and a night person and an afternoon person for that matter. Regardless, she was never still asleep at this time.
"No," she yawned.
"Why are you still sleeping?"
"I'm not," she answered, but Edward didn't miss the quiet giggle that slipped out before she said it.
"I need you guys to come over and help me move some furniture." Something with Alice wasn't quite right, but he wasn't sure what it was.
"Furniture?" Alice giggled again.
"Alice, you have a key to my house." Edward didn't know why he hadn't realized it sooner.
"So," Alice giggled.
"YOU LET EMMETT IN MY HOUSE!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she sang.
"I can't believe you would betray your only brother like that."
"Oh don't be such a drama queen. We'll be over in a little bit." Alice hung up on Edward. Edward wouldn't put something like that past his sister, but Jasper was another story. Bella defended Jasper tirelessly, so she'd kill him if he had anything to do with this. Edward rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He was looking forward to witnessing that.
Bella came bounding back into the house, threw her keys down on the counter, pursed her lips and said, "You'll never believe what I found at home."
"They moved you're furniture too!"
"No, I found my granddad lying on the couch sleeping with a tube of Ben Gay beside him. I woke him up to see if he was okay, and he said his back hurt. I think he helped Emmett! Every time I asked him, he just started laughing and speaking in Italian!"
"It seems our entire family is conspiring against us. Alice and Jasper were here too. That's how they got into the house and unplugged the garage door opener."
"That conniving little fairy!" Bella scowled.
"Oooh good one. Call Jasper a little fairy again after they get here. They're on their way now."
Bella tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it.
Bella came up with the perfect plan to get back at Emmett. They would not mention his little prank to him at all. There would be no giving him a hard time about it, acting mad, complaining, or laughing about it. There would only be silence. Emmett would be counting on their reaction, but completely ignoring him would drain away all of his fun.
Edward and Bella started moving the deck chairs to the backyard, and a few of the smaller things back inside. Alice and Jasper arrived. Alice handed Bella an iced coffee, and motioned for the two of them to sit down out of the way.
"What are we doing?" Bella asked her.
"Watching the show, silly."
"Alice, what do you think you're doing, get your butt up and help us," Edward growled.
"No, this is more of a man's job." Alice shooed him off with a wave of her hand and put her feet up on the coffee table that was sitting next to them in the grass.
"Leave em be, if they want to sit over there and watch me do the heavy lifting, it's not like I can blame them." Jasper was obviously turning on the southern charm, and Edward nearly threw up when he flexed for the girls.
Alice and Bella started giggling like twelve-year-olds at a Jonas Brothers concert. "Bella, don't encourage this two-timing traitor!" Edward chided.
"Oh right, like he had a choice. Jasper would never work against me. Alice and Emmett obviously coerced him," Bella responded.
"Oh right, perfect Jasper never does anything wrong," Edward mocked her. Sometimes he got tired of Bella's devotion to Jasper.
"Hey ya'll, calm down. I'm pretty sure the joke's on me. Not only was I up all night moving your crap around, but now I get to move it all back."
"Alright," Edward agreed smugly. Jasper was right, the joke was on him. He was right about another thing too. Having the girls watch them work was actually kind of satisfying. Edward tried to make it worth Bella's while, and he didn't fail to notice the smile that played on her lips as he lifted the furniture. He considered taking off his shirt or pouring a bottle of water over his head, but he knew Alice would never let him live it down. There was only so much showing off he could get away with in front of his sister.
Jasper kept winking at the girls and Edward was pretty sure he was purposely bending over in front of them to give them a better view of his ass. When Bella and Alice both started applauding, he'd had enough.
"Bella! Would you mind not acting all hot and bothered over Alice's husband?" he growled.
"What's the matter?" she laughed. "You don't like a very attractive, smart, and did I say attractive…"
"Thank you, Bells," Jasper interrupted.
"You're welcome. Like I said, attractive man flirting with your fiancée?" Bella challenged. Edward glanced at Alice who was also staring him down. Okay, okay, he got it. Bella put up with Edward's irrational feelings of possessiveness and jealousy when it came to her. Edward didn't even like it when he paid too much attention to Aro, not to mention all the times he'd pictured himself pulverizing Jacob's face. It was unfair of him to blow off her feelings about Tori, no matter how little impact she could really have on their relationship.
"I get it," Edward reached out a hand to help her up from her seat. He pulled her up so they stood face to face and fastened his hands around her waist, while she held his shoulders. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Bella said. Her eyes shifted from Edward's face to something behind him, and her lips curled into a smile.
"What is it?" Edward asked and tried to follow her gaze over his shoulder.
"Mmmm, Jasper's bending over again," she breathed.
"Belllaaa!"
The weekend that Edward had set aside to just relax with Bella turned into a weekend of working on the house. Bella took the opportunity of having the furniture moved to do what she wanted with the place. Edward didn't mind. He enjoyed watching her face as she contemplated where she thought things should go to make it feel more warm and fuzzy as she called it. She had him move the furniture at least nine times and ended up with everything back almost exactly where Emmett had found it the day before.
"I think I want to work on the bedroom now," Bella announced once they were done moving the furniture. "I'm sorry, but that comforter you're using is a little too masculine for my taste."
"I picked that one out," Edward grumbled. He liked the simple black and taupe stripes.
"You can do whatever you want with the third floor, but I will do what I want in my bedroom."
"Our bedroom."
"If you want to share that bed with me, I will be picking out the comforter." Bella gave him a sultry look that drove him crazy.
"Mmm kay," he croaked.
The next day Edward followed Bella around different stores carrying bags and pushing shopping carts. He learned quickly that when she asked for his opinion, she cared about what he thought. If she did not ask, her mind was already made up.
By the time they got home, they had new bedding, curtains, art work, and accents for their bedroom. Bella also purchased candles, frames, vases, books, and a bunch of other stuff, because she said the living room and kitchen needed to look more 'us'. None of it made much sense to Edward, but when they got home and she started putting it around the house where she wanted it, the pieces fit.
Bella assigned Edward several tasks, which he did without complaint. She had him hanging curtain rods, putting pictures on the walls, and installing shelving over their bed. He caught her staring at him more than once. He loved that he could see her attraction to him written all over her face. Take that, Jasper.
They made their bed together with the new sheets and comforter they'd agreed on. Bella had let Edward voice his opinion, and they'd finally compromised on a light brown one with and Asian inspired black floral design on one side. It was feminine, but the colors were masculine.
Edward wondered how to direct the two of them back to where they'd been the day before when Emmett blared his horn and interrupted them, but Bella barely gave him a chance to try. She was preoccupied with making everything look just right.
They'd taken another step forward in their relationship. Edward rested on the couch, while Bella worked in the kitchen reorganizing the cabinets and making a list of things she wanted. He looked around the living room and felt all warm and gooey on the inside. In two days, Bella had taken Edward's house and made it theirs. The renovations were nearly finished, and it wouldn't be long until the two of them together would call it their home.
Bella finally decided to call it a day. They were both too exhausted to go out or cook, so Edward ordered take-out, and they relaxed on the couch and ate.
"I love what you did here. It looks so much better," Edward complimented her.
"It does, doesn't it," she answered proudly.
"Why did you decide to do it all the sudden? I didn't mind, but why the rush?"
"I was thinking about my dad coming at the end of the week, and I just sort of panicked. I guess I wanted to impress him, or make him see that I've done okay without him," she shrugged.
"Well he met me, so he already knows you've done well."
"Very funny. I'm just nervous. He's been saying all the right things lately, but I just don't want to get hurt anymore. It's hard to trust someone who got rid of you when times got hard."
Edward had the urge to run upstairs, pack their suitcases, and take Bella far away from anything that could hurt her ever again. He hated what he knew was coming. "I have a feeling that things with your dad are truly going to change. It might feel worse before things are right, but I believe it's going to get better."
"I wish I had your confidence," Bella sighed. Edward set his plate on the coffee table and scooted toward Bella. He wrapped his arm protectively around her trying to shield her from feeling any more pain. Bella put her own plate down and let herself relax in Edward's arms. It wasn't long until Edward could tell she was asleep. He carried her up to their bed, laid her down under her sheets and her comforter, and watched her sleep. She looked right there. She belonged there.
How in the world do you get this thing open? Edward eyed the garlic and tried to figure out what it meant to mince it. Should he just put it on the counter and start pounding it with his fist?
Bella said she was coming over with a surprise for him, and he decided to surprise her with dinner. He googled romantic dinners and came up with a recipe. Baked ziti seemed simple enough. That was until he got to the garlic. In desperation, he picked up his phone and dialed his mother.
"Edward! You haven't called me in over a week," she scolded.
"Sorry, mom," Edward groaned. "I'm cooking dinner for Bella, and I need some help. How do you mince garlic?"
"Well, you either put it in a garlic press or you just kind of smash it and cut it up into tiny bits."
"Smash it, that's what I thought," Edward said. "I have a garlic press, but this thing won't fit in it."
"Did you separate the cloves?" his mom asked. "First you break apart the bulb and pull out the cloves you need."
"How do you do that?" Edward turned the garlic over in his hand trying to figure out how to pull something out of it.
"Just break through the skin. It's like an onion with lots of little onions inside."
Edward pulled on the outer skin and found that his mom was right. There were lots more little garlics inside. "Okay, I see the smaller pieces. Now what do I do?"
"Pull out however many cloves you need," his mom answered.
"Wait these things inside of here are the cloves? I thought this whole thing was one clove. I guess I bought too much, if I only need six of these little guys." Edward looked at the other five balls of garlic sitting on his counter.
"Oh dear, if you would have put six bulbs of garlic in your dish, it wouldn't have been edible," his mom chuckled. "I'm glad you called me. Do you want me to come down there and help you?"
"No, it will mean more if I make it myself," Edward answered feeling less confident than before. "I'll call you if I have any more questions."
"Promise you'll bring Bella up to see us soon."
"I promise mom."
Edward hung up with his mother feeling thankful he'd called her for help. Bella would never let him live it down if he ruined this dish. Edward followed the rest of the directions and put the dish in the oven to bake. He was about to run upstairs to shower when he heard the doorbell ring. That was strange. Bella was early, and she didn't normally bother to ring the doorbell.
Edward wiped his hands on his jeans and went to answer the door. He found Tori waiting on the other side smiling widely. For a second he considered telling her she needed to leave and shutting the door in her face. He'd successfully avoided her for over a week now, and he didn't want any more conflict with Bella revolving around Tori's behavior.
"Hi, Edward. I just came to drop off the project I've been working on this week. Angela said you were working from home and would want to see it before I presented it to the clients." She didn't seem to act inappropriate, and she was right. Edward needed to see what she'd done before she handed it off to any clients.
"Come in." He stepped out of the way so she could walk past. "We'll have to go upstairs to my office."
"What is that smell?" she asked. "Whatever you're cooking smells divine," she gushed.
"Oh I'm cooking dinner for Bella. She'll be here any minute," he emphasized hoping it would speed her up. "Follow me." Edward made his way up the staircase, and Tori followed.
"Bella's a sweet girl," she said as she climbed the stairs. "I had fun with her and your sister at the game."
"I'm glad," Edward said politely. He was careful not to encourage more conversation than necessary.
When they got to the third floor, Edward showed her into his office. His desk was set up much like his old house, but updated. He had the three monitors side by side so he could work on multiple projects. An entire wall was covered with dry erase board so he could brainstorm ideas with a comfortable sitting area nearby. There was even a basketball hoop in one corner where he could goof off if he got stuck and needed a brain break.
"This is amazing," Tori said in awe. "I can see how a space like this inspires productivity."
"I like it," Edward shrugged. Part of him wanted to lower the projector screen and demonstrate his Smart Board and the way he'd synchronized his gaming systems. Tori knew enough about technology to be impressed with things like that. Wisdom dictated that he remained focused on the task at hand and get her out of there quickly.
"Here's what I have ready for the credit union in Cheyenne." She handed him a jump drive. Edward sat at his desk and typed in his forty-two digit randomized password that would give him access to his work programs. He had one password for his work, one for his email and personal programs, and another one to log Bella or other guests on to the computer. There were backdoors to certain programs and information that only Edward knew how to access. Edward loved making his home system more and more complex. It was more of a hobby than a safety precaution. Next he planned to develop a keyboard that read fingerprints. When someone put their fingers on the home keys, it would open up to their personal desktop.
"Just give me about five minutes." Edward nodded to the arm chair across the room and started pounding on the key board. He would explore her program, test it, break through it, and then tell her what to fix. When he was finished with his process, he called Tori back over and motioned for her to take a seat next to him at the desk.
"Did you read the latest issue of 2600?"
"What's that?" Tori asked.
"Tori, if you are going to work for me, you are going to have to know how to keep the people out that we don't want in. You need to be up to speed on this stuff. Write these down and get subscriptions. You can bill it to the company." Tori nodded and grabbed a pen off the desk. "At a minimum you need to read 2600, Phrak, Hack Monthly, and Phreak. I can give you some other stuff to take a look at next week at the office. Anyway if you had read 2600, you would have known that you need another layer of encryption on the client info database. You did pretty well on the account protection. I don't see a direct way through it in just a few minutes, which is pretty impressive for your first time. I want you to take one more look at socket layer and see if you can expand that at all. Oh and I only want you to use the hardware at the office from now on. This drive has a worm on it. You've probably infected every PC you plugged it in to. Run Bit Defender when you get home."
"See this is why I wanted to work for you." Tori said as she sat back and shook her head in amazement. "I've never known anyone with your skills."
"You're good at this too. You've got talent," Edward admitted.
"Yeah, but you… you… wow."
Edward had to admit it. He was pretty impressive. Not just with the technology, but he'd also successfully rendered Tori speechless.
"If you think that's cool, you should see my toilet," Edward joked.
"Excused me?"
"I set my toilet up with a remote control. I can push one button to open the lid, one to flush, there's even a self cleaning feature," he explained proudly.
"I'd love to see that," Tori giggled.
"It's downstairs in the bedroom."
They both jumped when they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. Edward's eyes shot to Bella who was standing there with an irritated look on her face.
"Bella! You look so beautiful!" Edward's eyes ran up and down her body appreciatively. She was wearing his favorite blue dress. Her magnetic force drew him and without thinking he was instantly standing in front of her pulling her body flush with his.
Bella gave him a quick hug, but she felt tense.
"Edward the timer is going off downstairs," Bella stated.
"The dinner!" Edward rushed past Bella and flew down the stairs. Thankfully he got to the ziti before it burned. Edward set it on the counter, turned off the oven, and rushed back up stairs. He didn't like the idea of leaving Bella and Tori alone together. It was time to get rid of Tori and start their evening together anyway.
As he neared the doorway, he could hear them talking. Instead of going in immediately, he stood in the hall and listened.
"He's obviously crazy about you to have given up so much to be with you," Tori's voice held the condescending tone she so often used with Bella.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bella asked coldly.
"He's so obviously settling for this little domestic family life. Owning a small company, contracting with small independent financial institutions – he should be doing so much more."
"What Edward does professionally has nothing to do with me."
"Right," Tori said sarcastically. "You don't even realize, do you? Edward is a genius. I don't mean talented or good at his job – I mean a true genius. He could have so much more than this."
"Don't come into my house and tell me that I don't know MY Edward. You have no idea what he's been through, the personal pain he's had to overcome, the sacrifices he has made for the people he loves. I know him. I know who he is and what he has and has not settled for, and you will not come in here and try to ruin what we have. He may have settled for me, but he chose me. He wants me. If you have a problem with that, you probably need to find a new job." Bella wasn't yelling, but her voice was full of anger.
Edward decided it was time to make his presence known and stepped into the doorway. Bella and Tori both looked at him, and the angry passion in Bella's eyes made his heart rate quicken.
"We were just talking about how wonderful you are," Tori smiled sweetly at him.
"I heard what you were talking about, and I'll be honest - I don't like the way you talk to Bella. She's right, if you are going to continue working for me, I expect you to respect my family. For all intents and purposes, Bella is co-owner of my company, and you can consider her your boss as well."
Bella gave Tori a look that said, "take that."
"Oh, of course. I was just… I was just…"
"Leaving," Bella finished her sentence for her. "Let me walk you to the door." Bella motioned for Tori to lead the way, and Edward followed the two of them down the stairs. Bella wished Tori a pleasant evening, closed the front door, and turned to face Edward. He froze when he saw the look on her face. The anger was gone, but the passion was still there.
A/N: Review or I'll fade to black. Don't dare me.