The sound of laughter awoke me the next morning. I stretched, keeping my eyes closed, not quite ready to get out of bed yet. When I finally opened my eyes I glanced at the clock. 12:34. Nice. I hadn't slept that long since I was a kid on my summer break from school. My meeting with Carlisle was in an hour. I still needed to come up with a good excuse to go out. Aro said that we'd be laying low for the next couple of days before they started integrating me into their day-to-day business.
I rolled out of bed and walked out into the living room, not bothering to run a comb through my mess of hair. I ran my fingers through the tangles as I entered the kitchen. Emmett was leaning against the bar, shirtless, with half of a bagel hanging out the side of his mouth. He was laughing with Jasper, who sat on a barstool eating a bowl of cereal, while Edward waited very impatiently for his Pop Tart to emerge from the toaster.
"Good morning beautiful." Emmett smiled towards me.
"Good morning." I suddenly felt embarrassed by my appearance. I mean, they were just guys, and it wasn't like they were dressed up spiffy. But my homely pajamas weren't exactly very feminine by any means. I tugged at my shirt, feeling a lithe self-conscious.
Jasper turned towards me, offering his greeting. Edward didn't flinch. His eyes never broke from his strawberry pop tart.
"Edward. Did you see Bella has graced us with her presence?" Emmett elbowed him.
He titled his face slightly towards me. "Oh I've seen her."
I scowled. I didn't miss his reference to our bathroom run in last night.
"So," Jasper started. "Are you hungry?"
"Sure." I sat down on the barstool next to him. "What do you guys have?" In a penthouse this extravagant, I couldn't even imagine what amazing food would be waiting for me.
"Well we have cereal," he gestured to the bowl in front of him. "And we have bagels," he pointed to Emmett with his spoon. "And Pop Tarts."
"That's it?"
"No we also have Pop Tarts of the Smore variety if Strawberry isn't your thing."
"Wow." I spun from side to side on my stool. "So you guys don't like…cook?"
Jasper took a big gulp of cereal, Edward paused as he broke off a piece of his pop tart, Emmett froze mid-chew.
"Us?" Emmett pointed to himself. "Bella…we're guys. We don't….cook."
Perfect, I thought. An excuse for me to go out today.
"Well," I smiled. "Since I'll be living here now I will gladly cook for you guys. I can't live on bagels, pop tarts and cereal. What do you guys want tonight?"
"Edward, what would you like tonight?" Emmett smirked at Edward.
"It's his birthday," Jasper whispered.
"Oh!" I jumped slightly. "Happy Birthday Edward. How old are you?"
"Twenty three," he said through clenched teeth. It made me think that birthdays weren't really his thing. But then again he was an ass all the time, why should his birthday be any different.
"So what would you like for your birthday dinner?" I tried to smile.
"Oh you really don't…you don't have to do th-"
"Bro," Emmett slapped his back. "A chick is offering to make you dinner. You don't say no to that."
"Ummm. Okay. Well. I like….steak. I guess."
"Sounds good. I'll go to the store today." I turned to go back to my room and get dressed.
"Ahem." I was surprised by this voice. It wasn't a guy's voice. I spun around to see a short, tiny brunette hopping onto Jasper's lap. "Are you going to introduce me Jasper?"
"Oh right." Jasper shook his head. "Bella this is my Alice."
I smiled and reached my hand out to shake Alice's. "Right. You were at dinner."
"That was me." She seemed incredibly friendly.
"So you're Aro's….?"
"Arm candy. It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it." She smiled.
"And you're Jasper's…?"
She looked lovingly towards Jasper. "Soul mate, other half, one true love." She leaned in and pecked him on the lips. "So Bella, what are you up to today?"
"Well I was going to go shopping…"
Her face lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. "Shopping?"
"For food sweetheart. Not clothes." The fireworks in her eyes faded. "She likes to shop," Jasper said, explaining her sudden change in mood.
"Sorry," I whispered.
"No worries." She hopped up off Jasper's lap and started towards the hallway. "We'll go some other time. I'd better go get Rose up, we have to go to some kind of Charity polo match with Aro this afternoon." She disappeared down the hallway.
"Rose?" I looked back at the boys.
"Rose would be my lady." Emmett grinned.
"Your lady Dimples?," I teased. "You sure don't act like you have a lady."
"Naw. I just kid around a lot. I'm proudly taken. And man is she smoking hot." He stared off into the distance as if he were remembering something.
"So Edward, when is your secret girlfriend going to magically appear?"
"I don't have time for that." He finished the last bit of his pop tart and started down the hall. The bathroom door slammed shut and the sounds of the shower echoed down the hallway.
"Well I guess I'd better go get ready. Dinner at 7?"
"Sure thing," Jasper said, rinsing his bowl off in the sink.
It didn't take me long to get ready. I just pulled on a long sleeve plain shirt and shorts and pulled my hair into a low ponytail. As I left the penthouse, I noticed a small door to the side of the hallway. I inched closer, examining it. It flew open to reveal a wall full of muscle standing before me.
"Hello Bella, I don't think we've been formally introduced." The man held out his hand. "Demetri."
I shook his hand. I thought he had looked familiar, I recognized him from the warehouse.
"Hello Demetri. What is this place?" I tried to peak behind him but he was just too…big.
"You think we'd have the boss's associates living up here without security?" He laughed. "We've got a small room back here with security cameras on all entrances. Felix and I are here pretty much all the time, except for when the boss needs us."
"Oh."
"You heading out for the day?" His eyes raked me over, lingering longer than necessary on my chest. I crossed my arms in front of me.
"Yeah I'm heading out to get some groceries. I'm making dinner for Edward's birthday tonight."
"Oh that's nice. Have a good day then."
"Yeah you too." I turned and left, fully aware of his eyes following me all the way to the elevator.
The grocery store was crowded as ever. I had to weave in and out of the people in every aisle. This was good of course for my purpose for being here. Or at least one of my purposes. A man stepped beside me as I pondered over the raw steaks at the deli.
"How's the weather today?" Carlisle said, looking over the seafood section.
"Pretty fair. Heard about a cold front coming in." I didn't look at him.
"When's that?"
"Not sure. Maybe a month or so."
"Hm." He bent down to examine the meat more closely, then turned towards me and smiled. "I guess I'll have to keep my umbrella handy." Rolling up the newspaper he held in his hand, he walked away.
At least that was over with. It was our "just checking up on you" meeting. Fair weather meant everything was going fine. Cold front was the code word for a possible drug deal. Aro hadn't talked much about anything upcoming, but I couldn't imagine he could go more than a month without something. Carlisle wouldn't get in touch until then now that he knew I was okay.
I finished up my grocery shopping and headed back to the penthouse. I struggled to get all of the bags back, but was quickly helped at the front door by the bellhop. Demetri took over once I got on our floor. With a sigh and a quick thank you to Demetri I started unpacking the food.
"Bella. So nice to see you again!" Aro stood up from the couch and came towards me, kissing me on the cheek.
"Aro. I wasn't expecting to see you here." I smiled at him.
"Well I don't come here often, I like to leave you guys your space. I was just checking in and talking some business with everyone. Speaking of business, we have a small meeting with some of the Denali clan in a few days. I'm sending you with Edward, so you can see how things are run and meet them."
"Great."
He turned to leave.
"Oh Aro. We're celebrating Edward's birthday tonight. Will you join us?" Earning brownie points with the boss was a big plus. It couldn't hurt to invite him tonight.
"I wish I could Bella but I have other plans. You enjoy yourselves. Happy Birthday Edward." He walked out the door. I hadn't noticed Edward leaning against the wall at the entrance to the hallway.
Emmett helped me prepare the steaks, even though he had no idea what he was doing. I decided to do steak kabobs after seeing the absolutely amazing grill on the absolutely amazing balcony that I had failed to notice last night.
"Okay Emmett. You turn it on here." I demonstrated where the "on" button for the grill is. I thought guys were supposed to know how to grill, even if they didn't cook. "Just keep flipping all the kabobs so they don't burn. I'll be back in a little bit. I need to bake Edward's cake."
"Why are you being so nice to him Bella? I know he hasn't been nice to you." He kept a straight face as he flipped the kabobs.
"I don't know." And I really didn't. "It's his birthday. I guess I think everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday. Even if they're a pathetic prick like Edward."
I took my time icing the cake once it had cooled long enough. I even bought some candles at the store today. I covered it and set it aside for later. Edward would have a bitch fit if he saw it now.
"Bella I think they're done!" Emmett yelled from out on the porch. I ran out to check.
"Perfect!" I said, pulling the kabobs off the grill and onto a plate.
"Boys! Dinner!"
We decided to eat on the balcony as the sun set over the city.
We all laughed and joked around the entire time, even Edward. It was like he was finally letting his guard down, if that was even possible.
"Bella this was absolutely awesome." Jasper wiped his face with his napkin.
"So good. So good." Emmett's was tucked into the neck of his shirt as he devoured his 4th kabob.
Everyone's eyes shifted to Edward.
"Yeah it was great. Thanks." He pushed his plate away unenthusiastically.
"Well there's one more thing." I smiled at ran inside to grab the cake and light the candles.
Edward's eyes got big as I walked outside carrying the cake.
"Happy Birthday. Make a wish." I set the cake down in front of him.
He stared long and hard at the cake.
"I wish you wouldn't have done all this." His eyes didn't leave the flames. I dropped the cake cutter I was holding.
I jumped as Emmett's fist slammed down on the table.
"I think I've just lost my appetite." He walked over to me and patted me on the back. "That was the best dinner I've ever had. Thanks." He kissed my cheek and walked away.
My shoulders heaved up and down as I stared at Edward.
"That's my cue to leave." Jasper put his napkin on the table and made a quick exit.
After a few moments composing myself I sat in the chair directly across from Edward, never taking my gaze away from him.
"Is there some reason that you're such a dick all the time, or did I do something to offend you?" I couldn't hold back the bite in my voice.
"I'm sorry, I just…" His face was pained as he looked at the cake.
"You're sorry. You're always sorry Edward!" My voice echoed into the night. "Why don't you just stop doing things to be sorry for? I'm not here to make your life a living hell; I'm just trying to do my job. It would be a lot easier for all of us if you would make an effort to tone down your….you." My arms gestured towards him. "I mean why? What have I done to you that's so horrible? I've only been here a day!" I gave up and stomped inside. "Happy fucking birthday," I muttered under my breath.
I grabbed my towel and my IPod, changing it to my angry music playlist, and headed for the bathroom. I made sure to lock the door this time.
No matter how hard of a day I had, a nice warm bath always took away all of my stress. Especially in a bath tub this nice. I didn't even realize I had dozed off, which I thought was fairly impossible considering the crazy screaming music that was playing in my ears.
When I awoke, I was suddenly aware that I wasn't alone when I saw movement in the corner of my eye.
"Geez I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Edward was sitting on the floor next to the bathtub, propped up against the wall with his head leaning back and his eyes slightly closed.
"What the hell! I thought I locked that door!" My eyes flew to the door. Sure enough the lock was no longer in the lock position.
"Please. I work for the Volturi. You don't think I can pick a lock?" He smiled a crooked smile.
"What do you want?" I rolled up my headphones and placed my IPod on the steps.
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. It was completely unacceptable. I was just never big on birthdays."
"You already apologized. Is there anything else?"
He laughed. "Well…there's one more thing."
He took one of the lit candles surrounding the bathtub and started lighting the candles on his birthday cake, which I now saw was sitting in his lap.
"Happy Birthday to me." He blew them all out in one breath.
He handed me a fork, then started digging in with his own.
I didn't move.
"Bella you know you want some." He teased me by waving the cake in front of my face. "This is fucking good cake. Just a little bite."
I finally gave in and took a bite.
"So why weren't you ever big on birthdays?" I asked as I took another bite.
"It's complicated."
My eyes narrowed at him.
"Okay fine." He took a large bite, pondering as he chewed. "My mom was a single parent growing up. She worked her ass off, but we still never had a lot of money. So we just kind of didn't do birthdays."
"What about your dad?"
"Never knew him. He took off when I was three."
"So where's your mother now? I mean you can surely afford to help her out now?"
He set his cake down.
"She died when I was nine," he said coldly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine."
I didn't ask any more questions about his family or his childhood. I could see how much it pained him. And after what he'd been through, I didn't want to cause him any more by bringing it up again.
"So what's your family like?"
"Well I'm really close to my mom. My dad and I…I mean we obviously love each other, we're family. But he wasn't around much. My mom and him split when I was a baby. Me and him…we definitely have our disagreements."
I told Edward all about my childhood. Well as much as I could anyway. He got the severely edited version of it. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him. He laughed when it was appropriate…and sometimes when it wasn't. He was serious when I told him about the sad times and sometimes managed a smile at the happy ones. His barrier was still up in full force, but I could see it starting to crumble.
"Oh my God. We ate the whole cake." I stared down at the empty cake pan.
"Shit." He smiled at me. A real genuine smile. The first I'd seen from him that didn't hold some element of disdain or sarcasm. I tilted my head slightly towards him. His eyes were bright and alive. He was kind of…sort of beautiful.
His eyes closed as he yawned.
"I'm going to go to bed, I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we'll go over some things about the Denali family." He stood up and headed for the door. "Thank you for the cake. It was really nice."
I nodded.
With one last crooked smile and a shake of his head he was gone.
I laid back in my now chilly bath water.
"This is weird," I said out loud to myself. I didn't feel at all like I was in some mob family. It felt surprisingly…normal. Like I was in a college dorm living with all of my friends. And Edward wasn't someone I knew from work, he was like the boy next door, with a semi-bad boy attitude. I wasn't ignorant to the little butterflies in my stomach that reacted to his every move. Even when I was pissed at him, they were still there, fluttering all over hell.
"This is bad news Bella," I whispered as I held my breath and disappeared under the water.
A/N: Reviews are better than Birthday Cake Bathtime with Edward : )