Chapter 7

A/N - Sadly these characters all belong to SM.

I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to update as much since it's back to reality for me. Gotta go back to work tomorrow ~ sucks, but it pays the bills.

Again, you guys rock. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Edward is still a mystery, but remember… it's Edward - he has that whole Martyr thing going on….

Happy Reading!!!

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"Is that Alice in the background?"

"Yes, my evil sister won't leave me alone until I let her talk to you."

"Well, you better put her on then. I would hate for her to rupture your eardrum."

"Bella, when can we set up our play date? I've already told Jane about it, and we are sooooo excited!"

"Whenever. What's good for you?"

"How about Friday evening? We will be in Port Angeles house hunting again, so we could all come hang out with you guys and the kids can play."

"Sounds good to me. We'll be here. Can I cook dinner?"

"No, absolutely not, we will bring dinner and drinks. What do your kids eat?"

"My kids will eat just about anything that isn't good for them."

"Sounds like Jane. We'll pick something up and be there around 6:00. Is that ok?"

"Sounds great! Can't wait!"

We hammered out a few more details for Friday, and I was really excited about spending the evening with Alice and Jasper. Alice had always had that contagious personality that made you feel good just by being around her. She and I had seen each other a few times since high school, but it was a little awkward. Jacob didn't exactly love the thought of me spending time with Edward's sister, so I never pushed it.

Edward got back on the phone, and he sounded a little amused as he said, "I guess dinner is out for Friday night?"

"Sorry, I didn't know you wanted to do something Friday as well."

"No, it's fine. I'm coming into town on Thursday to really look for apartments. I'll be staying in the Lodge through Sunday, so what about Saturday night?"

"Should be fine. I'll have to run it by Charlie, but I don't think it will be a problem. Do you want me to meet you at the bar in the clubhouse?"

"That would be great. We can have a drink and then decide where to go from there?"

We made our plans and then just chatted for a while. Edward told me how much fun he had with Jane today. They had played outside and then gone shopping for some new toys. The juvenile tone of his voice while he talked about toys that they didn't have when "he was a kid" was quite endearing.

"I still find it strange that you have never met your niece considering how close you and Alice have always been."

"I know, it's inexcusable really."

"Edward, I wasn't trying to be critical. I was simply making a statement."

"I didn't think you were being critical, I just wish I could explain to you the amount of guilt I feel for so many of the choices that I've made."

"Well, guilt doesn't get you anywhere. There is no going back; all you can do is go forward from here."

I started worrying that our conversation wasn't just about Alice and his family, but thankfully, Edward didn't go there. Instead he told me all about Emmett coming home this afternoon.

It was difficult for me to reconcile the Emmett Edward was telling me about, that was a psychiatrist, with the Emmett that I remembered. I always felt so intimidated by Emmett's physical being as well as his intelligence. He was one of those people that you are afraid to talk to sometimes, because you're afraid he will start talking about something of which you have no clue. Not wanting to look like a bumbling idiot, I usually just avoided long conversations with him. And then there was the fact that every time he could, he would pick me up and either tickle me until I almost peed my pants or throw me in water… Somehow, Emmett always managed to find some water when I was around.

My day had gone much better today. Students were back, and as usual after a long weekend, many students were in need of their friendly middle school counselor today. I told Edward a particularly funny story about two students that obviously had a crush on each other and dealt with it by being extremely mean.

I had to get off the phone so I could go make lunches and do laundry and lay out clothes for the next day. I hated to get off the phone after such a pleasant conversation, but it was time. We said our goodbyes and agreed to talk later in the week before our date.

The next day, Edward sent two dozen pink and red roses to my school. The card simply said, "I hope you have another good day. Love, E"

****

Complete and Total Mayhem

That's the only way to describe the chaos that was going on in my living room.

I had let Seth invite a friend over so he didn't spend the evening fighting with his sister and her, hopefully, new friend. All four of the children were playing together well, but they were incredibly noisy. It was becoming increasingly difficult to carry on a conversation in the room, so I suggested that the kids go downstairs to play. We took them down and helped them set up the TV and games and made sure they had drinks and snacks. Alice and Jasper decided that a basement was a must in their new house.

They had planned on renting a house and looking for a house to buy once they got settled, but Alice had found some land not far from where my house was, and they found an architect today that was going to meet with them early next week to help them plan to build their house.

"The only problem is that we are having a hard time finding someone that will rent us a place for the six to eight months it will take for the house to be built. They either want us to sign a year-long lease, or they want us to pay a deposit that would cost us as much if we lived there a year. It's such a pain.

Jasper didn't speak often, so when he did speak, people listened. "We thought the real estate agent could figure something out, but so far, we haven't had any luck. We may have to pull out on the contract for the land and just look for a pre-built house when our lease comes up."

"That's crazy," I said, disbelieving. "You would think that people renting houses would be a little less demanding of tenants that look promising. I know it's not ideal, but you guys can stay in my basement while your house is being built if you want."

"Bella, that's asking a lot of you. We couldn't put you out like that," said Alice.

"It's really not," I was getting excited about the idea. "There's a kitchen and two bathrooms down there, so really, you guys wouldn't have to even come up here. The kids get along great, and frankly, I wouldn't mind having some other adults around sometimes. Even if we just meet on the porch some evenings."

Jasper spoke again, "Bella are you sure you know what you're offering? I mean, of course, we would pay you rent, but three people in your house is a lot."

"Guys, I really think this could be fun. It may be a pain for you all though. I don't know what your schedules are like, but you would probably hear us all stomping around up here at about 6 every morning."

"That wouldn't be a problem. Jasper and I get up around that time anyway, and Jane can sleep through anything."

"See, it's settled then. We can go take a tour if you all want to, so you know what you will need. The rooms are furnished, but you may have my little ones down there sometimes on the weekends because I won't let them play their video games up here. Of course, I would be happy to move them up here for the time being if you would prefer."

Alice jumped up from her seat at the table and threw her arms around me. "Oh Bella, I have missed you so much! This will be so much fun."

"Bella, you know that Edward may come to hang out some. Is that okay with you?" Jasper always seemed to be able to pick up on things that other people never did.

Jasper and Edward were very close in high school, and I think he was hurt almost as much as I was when Edward suddenly turned into someone else and left us all with very little warning. They were in the class ahead of me; Alice was the class behind me, but the four of us were inseparable. When I used to imagine my life, I would imagine nights like this one… with one more person there of course.

"I think it will be fine. I don't have an aversion to my Seth and Leah meeting Edward per se, I just don't want them to become confused about his role in their lives. I don't need any more complications, and that's not one that I am inviting."

"I wasn't just speaking about Seth and Leah, Bella. Can you stand for him to be around you?"

"Well, I wouldn't ask him to move into my basement, but I'm pretty sure that I can stand to see him without breaking down. We are going out tomorrow night, actually."

"Bella, you know that's not what I.."

"Really," Alice squealed. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. We are going to meet at the club by the Olympic Lodge for a drink then just go from there."

"Oh Bella, I want you to give Edward hell, but I also want you guys to work things out."

"Whoa now Tinkerbell, there will be no working things out in the sense that you mean. I enjoy Edward's company, and I am assuming he feels the same, but I have a complete life, and I am not looking to enhance it in any way."

"Bella, I know that things were fucked up when Edward left, and it will take a lot for you to trust him again, but I really think he's trying to make things right."

"Alice, I don't know that we need to talk about this," Jasper said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Alice," I had to say respond, "There is the trust issue. More than that, though, is the fact that my life is complete. I decided when Jake died that I would be okay on my own. That's not to say that I plan to live like a nun, but I don't need a mate to complete me. It's a lesson I wish I had learned a long time ago."

I noticed it was quite downstairs, which instantly alarmed me. I went down to check on the little monsters only to find the four of them asleep. They had managed to pull out the sofa bed and were curled up together with blankets from the downstairs linen closet. It was so sweet, I almost cried. I ran upstairs to get Alice and Jasper, but they were on their way down before I could get there.

We took several pictures and decided to let sleeping babes lie. Alice and Jasper would stay in the guest room downstairs, which allowed them to get a feel for the place. We went back upstairs and broke out another bottle of wine. Since no one would be driving, we got very tipsy and had a blast.

We talked for a while, then we decided to get in the hot tub. Alice and Jasper didn't have suits, but I found Jasper one that I kept of Jake's. It was enormous on him, but it served its purpose. Alice was shorter than me, but she was able to fit into my bathing suit. It probably showed less skin that she would have liked, but it served it's purpose.

We ignored the signs telling us not to consume alcohol while in the hot tub and brought our bottle and glasses with us. We didn't stay in for a very long time, though. Just long enough to be silly and talk about the things we used to do in high school. We were carefully avoiding the topic of Edward, which I thought was a shame, so I brought him up.

"Do you remember when you and Edward used to get in arguments on the way to school when Jasper drove? I thought you were seriously going to choke him to death one morning." I was giggling so much by that point I could barely breathe.

"Even better is the time that it snowed so much and Charlie knew he would be working a ton of hours. He brought you to our house to stay, and you were going to stay in my room, but you didn't and my mom walked in on you two. What exactly were you doing under the covers with my brother Bella?"

I blushed almost as much sitting in the hot tub with Jasper and Alice as I had when Esme walked in that day.

We had been outside having a snowball fight. Edward and Jasper were severely beating Alice and I, and it was pissing me off. I climbed up in the tree house and waited patiently. As Edward walked by, I pegged him with a huge snowball and jumped on him from the opening. I knocked him down and landed on top of him.

"You throw like a girl Cullen."

"Oh yeah, well I certainly don't feel like a girl." He took my hand and slid it to him. I leaned down and bit his bottom lip, thrusting my hip into him.

"No, you definitely don't feel like a girl." I kissed him and slid my hand up and down him.

"Bella, as much as I would love to make love to you right here and now, I don't think we should do this out here in the snow. It may get a bit chilly."

"We could go in the tree house. It seems that no one looks up there."

"Let's just go to my room. My mom is cooking, she'll never notice."

Edward led me into the back door. Neither of us noticed that Jasper and Alice had also disappeared; that just didn't matter. We snuck up the back stairwell, pulling on our clothes as we went.

We barely managed to get the door closed an locked before Edward had my shirt off and was sucking on my breasts. He put his hands under me, lifting me. I wrapped my legs around him and let him carry me to the bed. I was glad that Edward's bedroom was upstairs. The only other room up here was Emmett's, who was away at college, so no one heard me moaning when Edward took my other nipple into his mouth.

"You're so cold."

"Hopefully not for long," I breathed as I licked his earlobe.

My hands were in his hair guiding his head where I wanted his mouth to go. He pushed me back on the bed pulling his shirt off, while he managed to keep alternating breasts. I pulled his head up so that he could kiss me. I thrust my hips into him again and began planting tiny kisses along his shoulders.

Edward unbuttoned my jeans and helped me pull them off along with the new thongs I had bought with the intention of tormenting him the next time I spent the night with Alice.

"Nice," he said, as he flung them across the room.

He slid his fingers into me. I gasped as soon as I felt the pressure. He added another finger and gently bit my nipple. I almost screamed. Edward looked at me then and told me that he had read about something called a G spot in Playboy and he wanted to try something. I was enjoying the sensation of him just touching me, so I had no problem with him trying something new.

My entire body was tensing on the brink of my orgasm. Edward curled his fingers and moved them a little bit, and I felt my entire body react. I bit into the pillow as I came to keep from screaming. My entire body was throbbing, and I could feel every muscle tense. I knew that Edward felt my body react and was entirely pleased. He looked up at me with a grin on his face and said, "Oh, I'm just getting started."

He was not kidding either. After giving me a few minutes of gentle kissing to recuperate, Edward started kissing my neck. He moved his head down and began sucking on my nipples once again. Knowing that I was completely turned on and ready for him, Edward just took his time.

"Edward, I need you to fuck me now!"

"That's too bad. I have other plans."

Edward continued his descent down my body. Licking the area around my belly button, he once again slid his fingers inside me. My body was begging for him to be inside me, which he knew and was enjoying holding out. He licked down my lower stomach area and found my warmth. Edward proved to me that it was completely possible to have multiple orgasms. My body was still clenching and unclenching when we heard a knock on the door.

"Edward," Esme's voice called from the hallway. "Why is your door locked? Is Bella in there with you?"

I panicked. Edward jumped up and gathered my clothing off the floor, throwing it to me. I put my shirt on first, then climbed under the covers of his bed hoping to be able to put the rest of my clothes on.

"Lay down," he whispered.

He put his shirt on and turned on the TV as he walked to the door to open. I was completely embarrassed and praying that Esme did not ask me to get up as I had no clothes on other than my shirt. Not knowing what else to do, I pretended to be asleep.

"Edward, I don't think it's appropriate for Bella to be asleep in your bed with the door locked."

"Sorry Mom, I didn't realize that I had locked the door. We were watching a movie and Bella just fell asleep." He pointed to the TV as if to show her it was in fact turned on.

"Edward, I would like for you to keep the door open. I don't think Charlie would appreciate his daughter being in your bedroom with the door locked."

"Ok Mom, I'll keep the door open. We'll be down as soon as Bella wakes up."

Obviously, I didn't tell Jasper and Alice the details of that afternoon, but they got the gist. We got out of the hot tub and talked for a while more before going to bed. As I lay down that night, I thought of how great it was to have my best female friend back. I knew that I wouldn't let that go again… No matter what Edward did to me.

*****

The thrill of not getting caught!!!

Here's to old friendships that we forget about as real life gets in the way…