A/N: I'm alive! And writing again! But I'm not sure how long this site is going to be up (yes, yes, all those recurrent rumors). So I'm also uploading all my fics to Ao3, same username there as well. Anyone who's been waiting for the next edition of Smokescreen, that's where it's going to be updated after this chapter!

29.

"That was quite an evening."

Bella leaned back and stared up at the sky. It was still clear, but the weather report said clouds would build up over night. She wasn't surprised. Having lived here for most of her life, she could've predicted that they were unlikely to have a clear night just by the way the breeze had picked up that evening. For now, she would just enjoy the sight of the starts twinkling so far above.

When Edward didn't immediately respond beyond a hum, she considered staying quiet, letting him have some more time to his own thoughts. But he was the one who had caught hold of her hand when they'd decided to call it a night. He'd held on as the others said their goodnights, having decided they all needed time to process everything they'd learnt that day. He had stopped her from following Alice and Rose when they went up to their rooms, tugging her gently towards the backyard instead.

Maybe this was all he wanted, a friend to sit silently by his side. Or maybe he needed her, and she didn't want him to get too lost inside his own head. So, with a slight squeeze of the fingers that still held hers, she asked, "Do you think his story made sense?"

"What did you think about it?" Edward deflected.

She answered honestly. "It sounded plausible. Once I got past my shock at the idea itself, I mean… what he said didn't sound so impossible. It even explains some of the strange stuff she's done over the years."

Edward hummed in what sounded like agreement. Sitting by her side, he was a dark shape backlit by the stars. The dark made it impossible to even guess at the things she found so physically attractive about him in the light of the day, but even so, she found herself unable to look away. Maybe what she really found attractive about him was what no one could see from the outside. She wondered if she could melt into his darkness and disappear; if it would feel comforting and cool like his silences.

The longer they sat there, the harder she found it to stay still. She tried to focus on her breath, on the feeling of the breeze on her skin, on the sounds that made up the stillness of the night. And yet all she could feel was the building awareness… the undeniable need to get closer to Edward, to feel his arms around her, taste his lips again. She wanted to hold him closer than he held the darkness, or to become the darkness itself, that his starlight could dwell within.

Maybe she was delirious. With a small huff of laughter, she leaned all the way back till she lay flat on the grass.

"What?" he asked softly, and she nearly moaned when she felt his fingers gently run through her hair.

"I think I missed you more than I realized," she replied, still amused at her own thoughts. "Ignore me."

She was trying not to stare at him, but she still saw the way his silhouette froze for a second before turning more fully towards her. The fingers that had been stroking through her hair changed course and started tracing the lines of her face instead… A single finger sliding down her nose, tapping her lip lightly before ghosting over the contour of her cheeks, tracing the line of her jaw down to her chin, feather-light over her neck, his restless fingers so gentle yet never stopping their exploration.

"That's never gonna happen," he whispered, and she opened her eyes to see that he had moved closer, the stars now sparkling in his eyes. "Can't ignore you, Bella." He moved closer still, and she shivered in anticipation as his words fell onto her lips in warm puffs of air. "You're all I want to think about."

She closed her eyes, dizzy from the force of his words, and from how badly she wanted to hold onto them. He continued to run his fingers over her skin, so softly that it could have been the breeze, except that his touch made her burn for more.

"Don't tease," she finally gasped, reaching out and tugging him closer.

"No? Then how about this…" and he finally touched his lips to hers. The relief she felt was instantaneous, but he was still too far away. She pouted and tugged at his shoulders again, moving one hand to his hair. Thankfully, he seemed to be done torturing her, and finally brought his upper body down onto hers, warming her and making her want to cry with how safe she suddenly felt. It was as if nothing else mattered when she was caged in his arms, so close that not even the breeze could find its way between them.

Their kisses echoed the same desire for closeness, quickly going from soft and teasing to deep and demanding. With every sweep of tongue and scrape of teeth, the stars seemed to spin closer, exploding in crazy constellations behind her eyelids. Bella never wanted it to end.

"Bella," he murmured against the sensitive skin just below her ear, sounding just as wrecked as she felt, "Can anyone see us from the house?"

It took her a moment to process his words, and another to actually consider his question.

"Uh n..no, I don't…" she focused on breathing, and not pulling him back in for a kiss. He had unfairly pretty lips. "No, there's only Seth's window, but the branches block this part of the yard."

"Good," he breathed, pecking her lips again before shifting to run his lips down her neck, before nuzzling at her sternum. "Don't want anyone interrupting us. God, I need you, Bella." He sounded as desperate as she felt, and it made her flush in pleasure. His hands stroking down her sides made her tremble in anticipation, and suddenly it felt that they were moving far too slowly. Reluctantly dragging her fingers away from where they had been holding on to him, she quickly unbuttoned her top as far as she could without pushing Edward off.

He caught on quickly, shrugging off his own shirt before gathering her back to his chest, touching and stroking as they lay on the grass, mindless of everything but the way it felt to finally feel each other. He sat back up, tugging her along to straddle his lap, and she had to stifle the laugh that bubbled up in her chest at how free and reckless he made her feel.

She made quick work of her bra, losing herself in how good it felt when Edward used their new position to suck and lick trails of fire over her breasts, ignoring her aching nipples till she tugged insistently on his hair and guided him purposefully right where she wanted his mouth. He retaliated by gripping her hips tight, moving her against him in a tight rhythm that had her moaning at the feeling of his cock, hard and heavy right where she needed him. If only they weren't separated by the frankly unnecessary layers of clothing they still wore! She was so turned on that she felt she would combust if she didn't get a lot more skin-on-skin right that moment, and quickly reached down to unbutton her jeans, barely unzipping before she caught at his hand and tried to guide him to touch her there.

Unfortunately, what she wanted needed more space than she was willing to allow between their bodies, and she wanted to cry out when he lay her down again, the loss of his warmth hitting her acutely. He hushed her and leaned over to kiss her again, before taking a deep breath and reaching down to cup her over her jeans.

"I want to taste you," he said, breaths as unsteady as her own. "I want so much, more than I should."

"Take me," Bella responded, hardly caring what he asked for, as long as it got her what she was craving.

Edward hissed and flinched, muttering a curse under his breath, none of which made sense to Bella till a fat, cold drop of water landed on her exposed shoulder, and she came back to reality. The clouds had arrived, and brought along rain, and Bella could not have glared harder at the sky than she did in that moment.

Edward woke with a start.

There was a heavy weight on his stomach and hushed voices in the kitchen that sounded agitated.

A glance down at his midsection explained one of these things, at least. Seth had apparently been brought down for the morning, and had decided to make himself comfortable against Edward's belly. The child had a soft-seeming plushie in his arms and was tapping a foot—the one that wasn't in a cast—in time to the song he was singing under his breath.

"Good morning, Seth," Edward said, trying not to yawn. He couldn't resist reaching out to stroke the kid's hair, and he grinned at the way Seth leaned in to his touch. He really was the most adorable kid. "Did your mom bring you downstairs?"

"Mornin'," he smiled up at Edward, raising his stuffed toy to wave at him as well. "Aunty Rosie brought me down, cause mama's still sleepin'. She's tired," he nodded his head sagely, uncaring of how he was basically kneading Edward's abs. "Her face's mushed up, like so." He scrunched up his face in the most grotesque contortions he could manage, and looked pleased when it made Edward laugh.

"So auntie Rose is up," Edward surmised. "Who's she talking to if your mom's asleep?" He was more musing to himself than seeking an actual answer, but Seth was chatty that morning.

"That's Not my mom," he said, widening his eyes and wiggling his butt a bit. "That's my auntie Izzy. She looks like my mom but it's not her." Seth seemed pleased with Edward's reaction, which was to sit up straight, though he did make sure to put out a hand to support Seth so he wouldn't get jostled.

"That's… you're ok, though? You didn't mind her visiting, did you?" Edward asked, scrambling to make sense of this information with his brain still sluggish with sleep.

"Nah, auntie Rosie said it's ok," Seth seemed unperturbed, so Edward relaxed a bit.

He carefully reached out and gathered the child onto his lap. "That's good, then. Have you eaten anything yet?" When Seth shook his head, Edward hummed. "Me neither! Let's go find something to eat, buddy. What do you think about that?"

Seth cheered and happily let Edward lift him in his arms, settling comfortably against his chest.

Meeting Izzy was something he knew had to happen, something he had even been looking forward to, given that their short association in LA had been overshadowed by secrets. It was just that now that it was happening, Edward realized that he would have really liked to have Bella at his side… but maybe that would have been more awkward? He wasn't sure, but he didn't have much hope of evading the kitchen given the layout of the house. So he just took a deep breath and followed the voices that seemed to be a little less agitated now. If he had to guess, he'd say they'd heard him talking to Seth and shelved their disagreement for the moment.

Sure enough, when he turned into the kitchen, he found Rose and Izzy facing each with unnervingly placid expressions. They both turned to face Edward at the same time, and he would have said something about their almost creepy coordination if Seth hadn't started waving at his aunts cheerily.

"Good morning, ladies," he greeted, trying not to yawn. "Seth needs breakfast, and I wouldn't mind some myself, so…"

"Morning, Edward," Rose responded, unusually polite. "Why don't you go freshen up a bit? Seth can help me and Aunt Izzy set up breakfast for everyone," she suggested, her expression softening when she turned to address Seth. "Wouldn't that be fun, Seth?"

The child grinned back, reaching out to her happily after reminding Edward to brush his teeth well.

Izzy—and it was almost a shock to see her after all this time spent with Bella—didn't say a word, barely glancing his way with a small wave as Edward quickly made his way up the stairs. After a quick stop at the bathroom, he paused outside Bella's room. Memories of their interrupted tryst the night before flashed before his eyes, and he was struck by how much he was looking forward to seeing her again this morning. Not wasting another minute, he knocked briefly and entered her room.

She was up, but didn't look happy about it, which made Edward laugh.

"Why is it morning already?" Her adorably grumpy face reminded him of Seth and sent a wave of fondness coursing through his body.

"What's so bad about morning?" he teased, "Don't you like getting to see me so early in the day?"

"I'd like it better if you weren't at the other end of the room," she mumbled, wriggling her fingers to summon him closer. "And where's Seth gone?"

Edward obliged with a quick but warm hug, and when Bella refused to unwind her arms from around his neck, he just gathered her close and tugged her upright. "Is this close enough? Rose took Seth downstairs for breakfast," he told her. "But more importantly, Izzy's here."

Bella was silent for a few moments, before shrugging. "Okay, I guess it's about time we all got together. I bet Rose isn't happy though," she giggled, before freezing and gasping. "Oh my God, were you ok with meeting her? And Alice… didn't we say we'd keep them out of each other's way for now? Oh fuck, what should we…"

Edward cut off her increasingly frantic stream of thought with a light peck on the lips.

"I'm fine, it's fine, ok? Alice isn't up yet. Even if they did meet, it'd be alright." When Bella responded with a more composed nod, he continued, "So why don't you take a minute, then come down for breakfast, before Rose loses her mind? What's got her so annoyed anyway?"

"She's always hated having her plans and routines messed up, and I suppose you could say Izzy always has been unpredictable. They get along all right most days, but the rest of the time…"

"Got it," he nodded. "I better get down there."

"Go, go, I'll be down quickly," she said, trying to suppress a yawn. "Don't let them throw things at each other in front of Seth, though!"

Edward was glad to see that both Rose and Izzy seemed to have set aside whatever it was they had been arguing about earlier. The atmosphere in the kitchen was light now, with Izzy telling Seth some long-winded super hero story that he seemed completely enthralled by, while Rose bustled around in the background, packing her lunch and steadily demolishing a huge bowl of cut fruit.

Stifling a sudden yawn, he went and got his tea ready, smiling gratefully at Rose when she pointed to the table, where she'd set out scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for all of them, along with more fruits.

"I have to leave in fifteen minutes," she said, casually letting her eyes cut to Izzy and back. "You'll be ok here?"

Edward didn't miss the way Izzy just rolled her eyes at Rose and turned back to Seth pointedly. The tiny interaction made him smile, but Rose was still looking at him expectantly, almost protectively.

Edward found himself both amused and touched. He'd already experienced how Bella and her friends treated him as one of them, extending a sense of belonging and care that he'd seldom experienced despite being the oldest among them. It still hit him in the chest with a wave of unexpected warmth each time, making him wonder if he deserved it. He was older, after all; shouldn't he be the one taking care of them?

"We'll be fine," he assured her with a quick smile. "Bella's coming down in a minute."

Rose smirked at his words, but refrained from teasing him the way he knew she wanted to. "So, Jake said he'd be over to pick up Alice for a day on the Res at about ten. What're you and Bella planning to do?"

He shrugged, taking an appreciative sip of his tea. "We didn't really make any plans for today. Maybe we'll just have a slow day, play with Seth, go for a walk or something? I think we need a little time to come to terms with everything we've learnt. I'm still not sure where to go with all the information we have now."

She nodded understandingly. "Yeah, makes sense. To tell the truth, it's been a lot of fun uncovering the mystery around Esme and Bree and all that stuff, but I kind of don't know where the boundaries lie… where do we stop digging?"

He laughed softly at Rose's words. "You're right. And I need to ask myself why I need to know stuff beyond a point. It's hard for me to be objective about both Esme and Jasper."

In his peripheral vision, he saw how Izzy paused for a brief moment, before deliberately relaxing her shoulders and responding to something Seth said. Despite what Bella had said about Seth getting confused about Izzy's resemblance to her, he was glad to see the child getting along well with his aunt. He may not have the same kind of concern for Izzy as he had developed so effortlessly for Bella, but it was still good to see her happier, and barring the cast around her left wrist, much healthier than before.

"Hey Izzy," he called out, "How much have these guys been telling you about what we've been up to? I know you're staying at the Res, and Jake talks more than anyone else I've ever met, but…"

She looked a bit surprised to be addressed, and he briefly wondered what she'd thought he'd do… ignore her?

"I think I do know most of what you guys have been looking into," she finally said, sitting back in her chair and smiling as Rose reached over to take Seth to wash up his messy but happy face. "At one point, when you guys were trying to figure out the whole Esme origin mystery, I think Jake had pretty much all his friends looking into something or the other. I was just sitting around recovering, so I helped out too."

"I didn't realize that," Edward said, blinking.

"I mean, it was fun," she shrugged. "Gave me something to do, you know? And in a way I guess I felt better too, since we were ultimately able to find out the truth about the accident as well."

"That must've been a shock," Edward commented.

"Not as much as you might think," she sighed, suddenly looking tired. "I thought I saw him here that day. I couldn't be sure, because it was just a glimpse, but… I freaked out a bit. Look, I haven't really told Bells everything about LA, but you can probably guess, right? I knew him for just a few months at that point, but I knew how he got when he was high. He'd never been anything but sweet to me, but that day when we left and he turned up at my apartment… I guess I was more shaken up than I realized back then. And then to see him here? I thought I was so discreet. But he was here, and I just didn't want him anywhere near my family. Especially because of all the things I hadn't told Bella back then."

"I'm glad you told her about me, though," Edward grinned, trying to pull her out of the grim thoughts she'd quickly fallen into. "I would have had a very boring few months otherwise."

That got a small laugh out of her, which grew into a wide grin when Bella walked in.

"What do you mean, boring?" Bella complained. "Edward Cullen, you were so boring and dry when I met you, I don't even know why Izzy agreed to be your fake fiancée! You should be thanking your stars I turned up!"

"Isn't that exactly what I just said?" he asked, pulling out a chair for Bella, who pointedly ignored him to sit next to Izzy. "Hey! What did I do?"

Bella and Izzy looked at each other and giggled, looking more like naughty teenagers than the mature women they supposedly were. Edward wondered if this was what Jake felt like when they would gang up on him as kids. Somehow, the thought didn't sound so bad. He liked how happy Bella looked in that moment.

He got both the girls some fresh coffee, and spent a few minutes observing the way they interacted as they both ate their breakfast. Rose walked in shortly after, handed Seth over to Bella, and rushed to work. Watching Seth shriek in joy as his mother covered his face with kisses, Edward couldn't help but be grateful. Whatever the circumstances that had led him to this place and these people, he was truly grateful.

"What the fuck?" The words were soft, but cut sharply through their relaxed morning like a knife. Alice stood at the kitchen door, eyes wide in shock.