N/A: It's me again. My trip was postponed for tomorrow and since my dear friend and beta returned me the chapter, I didn't see the reason why not replace the chapter ASAP, right?

Oh, I forgot telling you guys this: the link for the pictures of the house, floorplan and this stuff are on my profile, in case you want a visual reference. I also added links for photos of the cast, because they are older than the cast of the movie.

I'd like to say thanks for the patience. I know lots of you have been reviewing and following the story since the very first chapter and this really makes me happy. Independent Bella is definitely, my favorite story. I'm really happy that you guys like it.

Lol

Ushio-chan

Chapter 17

Viva La Vida

"One minute I held the key

Next the walls were closed on me

And I discovered that my castles stand

Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand"

Coldplay – Viva La Vida

BPOV

The rest of the day passed in a blur of mugs of hot chocolate and old Meg Ryan movies on DVD. Well, at least, for Alice and me. Emmett and Edward gave up after the second movie – French Kiss. I think Kevin Kline's mustache was just too much for them.

We were in the middle of "You've got Mail" when Carlisle and Esme got home. I could swear they were in their room or in Carlisle's study this whole time, but apparently they left last evening for a cocktail and just came back now… 3:30 pm.

Wow, I mean. I think people don't manufacture parents like they used to in old times. Because look at them and look at us! They had more social life than all of us together.

How freakish.

They politely asked us if we were okay and we kind of nodded our heads, automatically. I think what the four of us were asking ourselves was "what were they doing all this time?" Seriously, my insight was something along that the lines of that movie "Eyes Wide Shut", with that group of people in cloaks and masks on a patio illuminated by candles. The rest was so bizarre that my face went red immediately and I jumped on my feet the second the door of their bedroom was shut.

"Er, guys. Hmm, since we are moving tomorrow, how about we start packing?"

"Great idea!" Alice jumped off the armchair where she's been lazily sitting and polishing her nails. "I don't know why I didn't consider that before. Let's keep ourselves busy."

From the maniac look on her face, I think she probably was imagining something worse.

Emmett grumbled something and went to his room and Edward stretched his long, lean muscles… he seemed like some feline predator, so graceful I whipped the drool of my mouth when I saw a bit of his white skin that his movement showed, just before he turned to me. He cocked an eyebrow:

"See anything you like?"

My cheeks burned and I tried to hide my embarrassment by coughing. He just chuckled and cupped my face with his hand.

"Why don't you rest here and I ask Serena to pack your things?"

"And leave me here with my thoughts?" I said with a smirk, getting up and stretched my shirt over the jeans "Thanks, but no thanks."

He rolled his eyes. "Can you tell me how you are going to pack with one hand?" his voice was smooth as silk, as he pointed to my wounded hand. I'm not going to win this one, am I?

I gave him my best response.

"Hmm." Good one, Bella!!

I'm pathetic.

Then he gave me his final attack. He took both of my hands in his, kissed my knuckles lightly and purred, his eyes buried in mine, like emerald pools.

"Bella let me take care of you, please? "

Oh, my God! How does he do that?

"Okay." I said, sitting back on the sofa. I'm pretty sure I acted like that because of guilt. I didn't tell him that Jacob kissed me. It didn't matter. I don't care about Jacob. I'll kick him again if I have to.

But I know I'll have to tell him about this sometime.

Edward chuckled softly, probably because my eyes looked glassy and unfocused.

"Do you want to watch the movie?" he asked.

I shook my head and he went to his room. I turned off the TV and the DVD and then he came back with a collection of Jane Austen's novels. I hugged him.

"I love you."

He laughed. "You're easy to please." I pouted and he kissed my cheek. "I have to get things ready for tomorrow. I really hope it stops snowing." He sighed, looking outside and then he looked at me. "Are you okay? Do you feel any pain?"

"I'm fine. Just go pack your things and come back." I said. He kissed me again and headed to his room.

Actually, how we were going to take our things to Lennox Hill was a problem. It wasn't that far, but if keeps snowing, we'll have to postpone. And we'll have to do this pretty soon tomorrow or, the worst perspective, on lunchtime. Tomorrow was Friday, after all. A working day.

For everyone except for me, of course.

I think we could use Edward's car and Carlisle's, but there were other problems. I'd have to go to the grocery and buy us some food and other survivor articles, like toilet paper. And fresh towels too. Jesus, I had forgotten so many things we had to buy to turn a house a place to live. Jacob and I moving in the same house was a smooth process. His father rented an apartment near the campus and we lived there. It was a nice place near downtown. But things were different now. It was scary and thrilling at the same time. Things were starting to happen for me. It seems it passed a long time since I told Alice that I'd leave Seattle and get settled here.

Much too thrilled to control myself, I grabbed a piece of paper and started taking notes of what I should be buying tomorrow, like cleaning material. It was a big house, after all.

"Excuse me, Miss Bella?" called a voice and I looked up to see Serena standing in the door with a creamy dress in her arms. I cringed.

"Yes, Serena?" I asked with a weak voice.

"I'd like to know if you want me to wash this dress. I see it's used, and the zipper need to be fixed, but since you and Mr. Edward are moving out tomorrow…"

"Yes, Serena. Do what it's necessary and then I'll come here to pick up the dress." I said between my clenched teeth. I almost told her "Burn it in the fireplace." Or "Throw it in the trash." I hated that dress. It was lovely, it was designer made, but I hated. It represented everything I didn't want. But I couldn't throw a Dior dress in the trash, could I? I may not care about clothes, but I knew that was a very expensive outfit. So, I'll get that cleaned and fixed and I'd send it, with the pearl necklace to Seattle. I'd leave to Sue Black the decision of what to do with the dress.

Besides, the fact that my ex-fiancée was making out with his sister in law didn't contribute for my consideration with the Black Family.

Or, I could call Jacob and ask him to pick up the dress himself.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I would think about that later. I forced myself to finish the list, trying to remember all the items. I grabbed my cell and called the gas company and then to the telephone company. I'd need Internet there. Since I was in a productive mood, I signed TiVo to the main TV and cable for the rest of the house. My Grandma used to have all of this, but since she died, I'd have to sign for everything again.

For a seventy-one year old lady, my Grandma was actually a pretty modern person herself. She got from her agent a very expensive Toshiba lap top and I knew she liked searching things on the Internet, because she used to send me since interesting forensic articles and also questions about Police tactics to photos of Brad Pitt naked. . For her work, though, she used an old Olivetti writing machine that I found in the basement. It was a lovely piece, actually. She said there was nothing compared to writing old-fashioned style, with a nice glass of wine and Miles Davis playing on CD.

She positively drove her agent crazy.

After half an hour, I was stressed from talking to so many attendants and listening to annoying music while I waited on the line (just God knows how much this is going to cost) to talk to another attendant. I think the only good news about that it's the company telephone's service is as annoying in other parts of the planet as ours, from Sweden to Brazil.

Maybe it's a requirement.

I put the piece of paper carefully between the pages of "Sense and Sensibility" and went to check the weather. It continued as icy as a couple of hours ago.

From the other rooms, I heard some Linkin Park song ("What I've Done" I guess Emmett is a bit depressed because of Rose) and Alice yelling at Emmett. I smiled. I had this sense that Alice and Emmett's arguments would be like some kind of background music of the house. A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and I leaned against Edward's warm chest. He rested his chin on the top of my head and we stood like this for a few moments, watching the snow fall over the city.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered, after a few moments.

"Toilet paper." I answered, distracted, caressing his jaw with the tip of my fingers.

Edward bent to look at me and he seemed a bit perplexed for a second, and then he laughed. "You are so romantic, dear Bella."

"Maybe not, but you won't feel very romantic if we ran out of detergents and stuff like that, Mister." I said, raising my chin, pretending to be offended. "We have tons to do tomorrow." I turned to face him and folded my arms around his neck. He brushed the hair off my face and stroked gently down my back.

"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure."

His smile fell for a second. "What? You' don't want to go?" I asked, anxiously. He leaned against me and rested his forehead on mine. "Edward?"

"Of course I'm happy, love. I was… " He grimaced " Kind of thinking that you don't want me to move in with you."

"And why wouldn't I be happy about it?" I asked, surprised, placing both of my hands on my hips.

He smirked "Because you invited us just to pick on Tanya,"

I blushed and stepped away a bit, to escape from this intensive stare. But it was useless. Edward knew me too well. I let my arms fall back to my sides, defeated.

"Yeah, that was… I was jealous of her." It was horrible confessing something like this to him. "I guess I still am. A little bit."

He rolled his eyes "Bella."

"I know she's your best friend from Julliard, but she had announced she was your girlfriend and I was freaking out a bit, okay?" I bit my lip and looked at him "But I was totally honest when I invited you guys to live with me. It's much better than putting an announcement in the newspaper and living with strangers."

Edward raised his eyebrows "That was your plan?"

I shrugged "Or maybe open an asylum for cats."

He snorted, "I like the newspaper stuff better." He passed his fingers though his tousled hair and reached for the mug of coffee that was resting on the top of a near table. "But I still want to know if you think that we are going too fast."

I looked at him, surprised and then I took sometime to think.

"Maybe you are right, but the fact you are moving with me doesn't scare me, Edward. I like having you in my life again." I sopped and looked at him. "Why? Do you think we are moving too fast?"

He smiled and took a sip of coffee. "No. I'm just checking to see if we are on the same page."

I bit my lip. "I'm happy because you are coming with me. It's much better than living with strangers." I thought for a second "But I still have more room to spare."

He raised his eyebrows and sat on the arm of the sofa.

"True. What do you have in mind?"

I pursed my lips and picked up the mug in his hand and took a sip. "I was thinking about offering it to the Hales because they are in the same situation than us, but with Alice in some sort of "love-and-hate" stuff with Jasper and Rosalie really hating Emmett… I don't think it's a good idea."

"We really don't know them that well "Edward observed quietly.

I sighed, "I agree. But I like them already. They seem to… fit." I shrugged and Edward handed me the mug; "I mean, I feel an ease with you and Alice and Em. You're like my family." He smiled at me. "But they seem somehow to fit, too. I kind of cheer for them to get things right."

"You are sounding like Alice." He said and I chuckled.

"Do you like them?" I asked, suddenly. I knew Edward well and besides his differences with Emmett and Alice, he cared about them a lot and, despite the fact he never approved of Laurent, he tried to no make judgment on Alice's choices.

He took some time to answer.

"Well, I like Jasper; at least, he doesn't seem to get high every weekend, like Laurent." He rolled his eyes "He seems more stable. He has a job. But Rosalie… she's more complicated. But I cheer for them too. Talking about them, are they going to the dinner on Sunday?"

I frowned "I invited the Hales. I guess they are coming. Jasper for sure. But I don't know how it is going to be with Rosalie and Kate."

He rolled his eyes. "With that wedding bat on the table, just God knows what those two will be up too."

I snorted and he laughed. I could see a frantic Alice dragging the poor Jasper to the Alley and the catfight between Rosalie and Kate.

"This is going to be fun." I said, and I grabbed my much forgotten mug of chocolate. I hit my mug on his.

"To the new house." He said.

"I couldn't have said better."

*****

The next morning, it didn't snow, that was a good thing. But it was a mess. Apparently, Alice had the monstrous amount of 20 bags alone. So, she took her yellow Porsche just to take her things. How can she have so many clothes, purses and shoes, I have no idea. Edward and I pilled our poor 4 bags each on his Volvo and headed to Lenox Hill, followed by Emmett. He didn't have much to carry, except if you counted his videogame and his collection of DVDs, his "two babies".

We traveled in the troublesome traffic of Manhattan, slower than usual because of the snow and the slippery streets. It was less stressful sitting in Edward's warm car, listening to Debussy's Clair de Lune. Everyone would have to work after lunch. I'd be waiting for the telephone, the cable and the Internet the rest of the day. But I had plans for a nice dinner, with pasta and wine, to make everyone chill a bit after all the stress.

Edward pulled his car behind Alice's. She was already jumping up and down in excitement. I stood in front of the house, staring at the clean windows that reflected the grayish sky. I couldn't help but smile too. I think Alice's excitement is contagious.

"I'm going to open the door and turn on the heater." I said to Edward. He nodded.

"Good idea. Be careful. It's kind of slippery."

I carefully climbed the front steps and opened the door (it took a bit because the door had 3 locks). The vestibule was dark, so I turned on the lights. I walked, amazed at the large living room, with it's the warm, creamy walls and fluffy carpets covering the wooden floor. The cold wind hit my back and I walked quickly to the front bedroom and turned on the gas fireplace. It was working fine. Pleased, I crossed the Living room; passing by Edward's piano near the windows with view to the backyard and went to the dinning room. In a few minutes, it would be warm enough.

"Bella?" called Alice and I heard a noise of something heavy hitting the floor "Oh, God! It's looks awesome!"

I headed back to the living room to find a radiant Alice surrounded by suitcases while Edward and Emmett dragged the rest of her stuff inside.

"Alice." Growled Edward while he left a trail of bags on the floor. Alice stopped her dance to look at him; her eyebrows raised "A little help?"

Her smile fell and she blushed. She looked so cute that I almost went to hug her. I felt just the same way. Despite the photos, I was kind of scary of seeing one of those "modern design" things, like chairs that looked like bookshelves or sinks on the living room, but, so far, so good. Even better. The old fashioned furniture my Grandma used to have was all restored and painted in a pale white color, except for the home theather, which contained a huge plasma TV (Emmett…) that was in a soft baby blue. Here and there, in the curtains and cushions, there were different shades of beige, caramel, cream and gold, with a touch of dark blue. It wasn't masculine or feminine.

I liked it. A lot.

After about fifteen minutes, all the bags were on the room. So started the battle to take everything upstairs. In the end, we met in the family room, looking exhausted, but Emmett insisted on plugging in all the electronic stuff. Edward offered himself to face the cold and grab some nice coffee from Starbucks for us. I don't know what was happening to us. I guess we were happy of being home and everything looked great. I haven't seen the boy's rooms yet, but mine was huge, with the bay window facing the street, filled with historical houses. The walls had a lovely shade of sky blue, with a big iron king size bed. As I asked, there were two bookshelves flanking the fireplace, with a comfy armchair in front of it. An old-fashioned worktable, a big Provence wardrobe and a bench under the bay window completed the design.

Alice started putting the DVD collection in order as well and I grabbed a few books that didn't fit in my room..

"Yes!" said Emmett turning on the CD player. I recognized Belinda's "If We Were" and we started singing quietly, almost shyly.

"You two look like a set of wallflowers, you know?" grumbled Emmett. "Let's get the fucking party started." He said, turning on the volume button and started playing 'Love is Gone", by David Guetta. We both raised our eyebrows when he took his classic Ray Ban sunglasses from his jacket's pocket and put it on. He started pretending that he was playing a guitar and sang along.

"What are we suppose to do

After all that we've been through

When everything that felt so right is wrong

Now that the love is gone"

Alice and I chuckled and we started singing too. It was very difficult because Emmett started shaking his hips. I could swear he took some samba classes or something. He hit on my hip and Alice's to make us dance.

"Oh, come on, girls! You want to dance too. Dance with Uncle Emmett." he pleaded, shaking his butt.

We laughed, but started dancing too, shaking our heads and moving our arms out the rhythm. I think we were like savages dancing for the Gods. In the end, we were more laughing than dancing when the door was open.

The three of us turned to see if it was Edward with the goddamn coffee. But it wasn't.

"Oh, crap!" said Emmett and then he added, "I mean, sorry, Mr. Swan."

My father shot him a dirty glare and Emmett grimaced, like a student in front of the school director. He turned to look at me.

"Hello, Bella."

______________________________________________________________________

N/A: Sorry for the cliffy, but as I was writing/typing, I had the impression that the chapter was over and also that it was quite big. Personally, I like smaller chapters; they are less tiresome to read. But this is just me.

See you on the next chapter.