A/N: Hola Folks! Sorry for the delay...again. I'm trying to finish up classes, but I'll be done soon and I'll have more time to devote to writing.

Many thanks to our lovely beta Sweek539 and big hugs to my co-conspirator Emmy415. Her and I are going to be let loose in NYC next week...together. Watch out.

We don't own Twilight, but we do have tickets for Eclipse in IMAX!

Chapter 12 (EPOV)

"Oh, for God's sake, go do that in your room!" I cried, as I walked out of my bedroom and caught my baby sister straddling Jasper's lap. "Better yet, go to YOUR apartment, Jazz." I whacked him on the back of the head as I walked past, and strode into the kitchen for some breakfast.

"I'm gonna have to burn my couch. I just know it," I mumbled to myself as I rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs.

"Hey, Alice!" I yelled. "Could you kindly detach yourself from Jasper's face for five minutes so I can talk to you please?"

She skidded around the corner a few seconds later, her short hair sticking up in all directions. She hopped up on the counter next to me, swinging her legs and grinning like mad. "'Sup, bro?" she asked, reaching over to ruffle my hair.

I reached over to the counter and picked up my phone, pulling up the picture of Bella she sent me the night before.

"What the Hell is this?" I asked, holding the phone in front of her face.

Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "A picture of Bella?" she questioned, clearly wondering why I was asking her such a stupid question.

"Yes, Alice, I know that," I huffed. "What I mean is: what the Hell is she wearing? Who let her out in public like that?"

She snorted at me and snatched the phone out of my hand. "You are not serious right now. She's a grown woman, Edward."

"Yes, I am serious and yes I know she's a grown woman. I just...this is weird, for me. This feeling I have of not wanting anyone else to see her like that. I can't explain it and I know it's irrational, but it's there."

She set the phone down gently, and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"

I nodded and looked up at her. She was uncharacteristically serious in her expression.

"Bella told Rosalie and me that she wasn't sure whether or not the two of you were in a relationship. She told us that you haven't technically 'labeled' anything. Is that true?"

"What is there to label after only one date?" I asked her, cracking a few eggs open and whisking them in a bowl.

"Exactly," she stated. "Edward, you can't pull this jealousy thing yet. She's not even your girlfriend. And, if she was, you would need to learn to trust her. She can wear whatever she wants to wear. I really hope you won't bring it up with her, because she got it bad enough from Emmett last night."

My hand stopped whisking, and I snapped my head up to look at her. "Emmett was there? Why?" My brain immediately started flipping through scenarios in which they would have needed Emmett. Did one of them get hurt? Harassed? What if something happened to Bella?

Alice must have registered the panic on my face, because she chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "He just gave us a ride home. We were a bit drunk. You need to stop worrying so much or you're going to give yourself an aneurysm." She hopped down gracefully from the counter and pecked me on the cheek.

"I've got to get back to Jazz. Make me some breakfast, will ya?" I scowled, and turned back to the counter to add more eggs to the bowl.

"Oh, and Edward?" she jested. "I'll make sure to keep Bella's closet stocked with stilettos, okay?"

I froze and felt my eyes grow wide. "She told you?" I said, spinning back around to face her.

"Mmmm-hmmm," she snickered. "I always thought you were a boob man. Guess I was wrong. Oh well, now I have an excuse to go shopping!"

She practically skipped out of the kitchen with me glaring at her retreating form. After we ate breakfast, and cleaned up the kitchen, I went to my bedroom to change into my gym clothes. With my busy schedule, working out had become pretty low on my priority list, except for the day I had gone for a run with Bella. Now, with the addition of a few new employees at Masen's, I didn't need to be there as often, so I was able to have some free time again. I needed to get some weight training in before my muscles turned to jelly. Not that I had huge, heaving muscles, but I wanted to keep the tone and definition to my body that I worked hard for. I walked to the gym a couple of blocks away from my apartment, and stashed my gym bag in a locker. I walked out and found myself an empty treadmill, hopped on and set a good pace for myself.

As I was running, I started to think about my job and all of the hard work I had put in to make it a reality. When I first had the idea of opening a restaurant, I knew I wanted to eventually get away from being in the kitchen everyday. I wanted to experience what went on behind the scenes. If Masen's got off of the ground, and was truly successful, I had every intention of opening up another restaurant in a few years. I also wanted a family at some point in the future, and working six or seven days a week just wouldn't cut it for me. Getting away from being the head chef would allow me that opportunity.

Jasper had been scouting out the nearby culinary institutes before we opened the doors, and found a very talented, recent graduate, who had started working for us recently. Lauren was everything I was looking for in a person to run my kitchen: smart, confident and strong-willed. I had the utmost faith that things would run smoothly under her watch.

I turned the treadmill off and as I was heading over to the free weights, someone stepped in front of me to cut me off. When I looked up and saw who it was, I immediately saw red.

"Jake," I acknowledged icily, throwing my towel over my shoulder.

"Hey, Edward," he said back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fancy meeting you here."

I glared at him. "Cut the crap, Jake. Bella isn't here, so you don't have to pretend to be nice to me. What do you want?"

A smug grin appeared on his face and he barked out a laugh. "You know what I want."

I took a step closer to him and put my face in his, growling out my response through gritted teeth. "You listen to me, scumbag. Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. You leave Bella the fuck alone. She doesn't want you."

He scoffed. "Really? You think you have some kind of control over her? What if she doesn't know what she wants?"

"Here's a clue," I said, my irritation quickly rising. "Wait for her to say the words."

My whole body was vibrating with anger and as I turned around to walk away, I was suddenly knocked to the ground from behind. I quickly rolled onto my back to see Jake coming at me, his hands balled up into fists. He pulled his right arm back to throw a punch, but I was able to duck out of the way and his fist collided with the tile floor.

He yelled out in pain, but grabbed me with his left hand as I tried to get away. I swung my arm around to try to hit him, but he was faster than me and swung, punching me in the eye as I tried to turn my head away. I felt a burst of pain, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins kept me going, and I swung again, finally punching him in the stomach. At that point, two bulky men working with the weights came over and pulled Jake off of me. He was still trying to claw his way free, but then gave up after he realized that it wasn't going to happen. I hunched over, panting hard, as I braced myself with my hands on my knees. After I caught my breath, I straightened up and took the few steps toward Jacob, who was still being restrained by the two men. His eyes were full of fury and rage, and his breaths were coming out hard and fast.

"Don't touch her, don't talk to her, don't even THINK about her...got it?" I spat through clenched teeth, putting my hand on his over-muscled chest and giving him one last shove.

I turned around, stalking back towards the locker room, when I heard his voice call after me. "You're going to regret that you fucked with me, Cullen. You wait and see."

I got to my locker, flinging the door open. It crashed against the lockers beside it, and I grabbed my gym bag, hoisting it over my shoulder. I needed to remove myself from the vicinity of Jacob before I did something rash. I needed to calm myself down. Going back to my apartment would have been an awful idea; at this point, I was liable to beat on Jasper for even looking at my sister, and I wanted to give him a chance to prove himself worthy before I did that.

There was only one thing I knew that would calm me down in that instant. I needed to see Bella. I pulled out my phone as I left the building, and shot her a text message.

Are you home? I need to see you. -E

Her reply was almost instant. She must have been practically sitting on her phone.

I'm home. Come on over. Are you okay?- B

I will be. I'll be there in 10 minutes. - E

I walked briskly through the streets, not caring that my eye was probably turning 12 different colors, or that my gym clothes were all sweaty. The sooner I got to Bella, the better I would be. I knew she wouldn't be happy about the fight, and she would most likely freak out over my eye, but right at that moment, I knew she was the only person that could keep me from beating the life out of Jacob Black.

I got to her door and knocked sharply, resting my hand on the frame. I heard her footsteps approaching and as soon as the door opened, Bella was asking questions.

"Edward, is everything...what the hell happened to your face?" She grabbed my arm, and tugged me into her apartment, kicking the door shut with her foot. She sat me down at one of the stools at her kitchen counter and walked over to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack. After she wrapped a towel around it, she nestled herself between my legs and brought it up to my eye. I flinched at the jolt of pain when the cold hit my face, and Bella brought her other hand up, brushing my damp hair back before settling it on my cheek.

"What happened to you?" she asked softly, her eyes full of worry.

I closed my eyes and leaned into her hand, enjoying the feel of her skin on mine, and sighed. "Jacob Black happened."

Her eyes narrowed and she snapped her jaw shut. "What do you mean Jacob Black happened? HE did this to you?" she almost growled out, her face getting redder by the second.

I nodded regretfully. "I saw him at the gym. I told him to leave you alone and he wasn't too happy about that. Obviously."

"Oh, Edward," she sighed, placing the ice pack on the counter. "I never meant for you to get in the middle of this. I'm so sorry."

I took her small hands in mine, bringing them up to brush my lips across her knuckles. "It's okay, Bella. He's an asshole, and you don't deserve to be harassed by him. I just can't stand around and watch it happen. The only thing I'm sorry for is that you still have to deal with him at work."

"I can handle Jacob. Don't let him mess up your pretty face again, okay?" She smiled softly and leaned forward to brush her lips against mine.

Pulling back, she eyed my gym clothes and my gym bag sitting on the floor. "Why don't you use my shower and get cleaned up. We'll just hang out here and veg today, alright?"

As I slid off the stool and picked up my bag, I gave her another quick kiss. "Care to join me?" I teased, then jumped back quickly as she swung her arm out to smack me.

"Just go shower. You smell," she snarked. "I'll make us some lunch while you're in there."

After a quick rinse in the shower, I rejoined Bella in the kitchen.

"How's your eye?" she asked, pulling some lunch meat out of the fridge. "You still like turkey, right?"

"Yes, to the second question," I said, admiring the view of Bella's ass in her tiny denim shorts as she continued to dig in the refrigerator. "And my eye looks a lot worse than it feels."

My body was drawn to hers like a magnet and I walked up behind her, grabbing her hips and causing her to jump. She spun around in my arms and smacked me on my shoulder as she tried not to laugh.

"Damn it, Edward, you scared me!"

"Sorry," I said with a shrug and a smug smile. "But, you know, seeing you bent over like that, I couldn't help it. It's like a moth to a flame."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk and kissed my jaw. "You're such a pervert."

Turning back around to the refrigerator, she took out the rest of the ingredients for our lunch, and slid past me, depositing it all on the counter. Bella grabbed a cutting board and a knife, preparing to slice a tomato, when I sidled up behind her again, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other took the knife from her.

I leaned down, brushing a kiss on her long, slender neck before pressing open-mouth kisses all the way up to her earlobe, sucking it between my teeth. I released it with a soft pop, and pulled her back into my body more firmly, her soft curves conforming to my hardness perfectly.

I hummed in appreciation at her closeness to my body. "I wasn't much of a pervert until you came back into my life. You bring it out of me, I guess," I breathed out - placing more soft kisses on the column of her neck.

She shivered and let out a content sigh, trailing her hand up my arm and lacing it into my hair, turning her head slightly to capture my bottom lip in between hers. I groaned out loud and opened my mouth, thrusting my tongue out to meet hers. I spun her around forcefully and backed her into the counter, pressing myself up against her. She moaned when she felt my growing arousal pressing into her hip, and wrapped her leg around my calf, trying like hell to get as close to me as she could get. Our kisses were relentless, demanding, and full of want. While every other kiss we had shared had been soft and reverent, this was needy and fierce.

"Edward," she panted when I detached my lips from hers and dove down to her collarbone, nipping at her skin and then sweeping my tongue out to sooth the skin. I nudged the strap of her tank top over with my nose, sucking the newly exposed skin of her shoulder. She grasped my head in between her hands again and pulled it back up to claim my lips again, kissing me slower, but deeper than before. We eventually slowed to soft, chaste pecks, and she pulled away, smiling brightly at me.

"Mmmm...you're fantastically irresistible, Isabella," I crooned, placing the strap of her shirt back on her shoulder and I let my fingers trail lightly down her arm. She shivered again and broke from my embrace, and turned to start slicing the tomato again.

"I got this," I said, hip-checking her out of the way. I threw together some sandwiches for us, and met Bella in the living room. She was sprawled out on the couch, two bottles of water sitting on the coffee table for us. I placed the plates down and picked up her legs, depositing them back into my lap after I sat down. She flipped on the TV, and scrolled through the channels, finally coming across a movie we could both agree on.

"So, how's the restaurant biz?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Good so far. Things are settling down. Jasper and I hired a new chef to run the kitchen, so I just have to finish training her, and then I can get back to the business side of things."

Her eyes drifted over to mine. "You aren't going to cook anymore? I thought you loved it."

"I do love it, and I'll probably still man the kitchen one or two nights a week. It would just suck up way too much of my time, and I don't want to get burned out."

She nodded in silent agreement, and took a bite of her sandwich. "I can understand that. You were starting to look exhausted after all of those long days. This will be better for you in the long run. Now, I'll be able to spend more time with you," she said the last part softly, and her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

"Hey," I said, running a hand up her bare, smooth leg. "I want to spend more time with you, too. You don't need to be embarrassed about that. You can have me whenever you want me."

"Hmmm..." she mused, looking up at me through her eyelashes. "That's a dangerous proposition to make to me, Mr. Cullen. I might just not let you leave."

I smirked and continued running my hand up and down her leg. "I really don't see how that's a problem, Bella."

She grinned at me, and it lit up her entire face. There was nothing more beautiful than her smile to me. Nothing. It reminded me of home and everything that was good about my childhood. And her smile could portray so many different things...excitement, playfulness, joy, or mischief. It was something that I had missed in the time that we were apart.

We finished our lunch, and Bella stood up, taking our dishes back to the kitchen. While she was gone, I turned on my side, stretching out on the length of the couch. Bella bounded back in the room, and stopped when she saw me hogging the couch. She put her hands on her hips and looked down on me.

"What do you think you're doing?" she chuckled.

I reached out and grasped her wrist, tugging her arm towards me. "Waiting for you. Now get down here and snuggle me." I laughed, yanking harder and pulling her down next to me.

She toppled down onto the couch next to me, and my arm flew out to wrap around her waist so that she didn't fall onto the floor. She threw her arm across my torso and tangled her feet with mine, pulling herself closer to me so that we were practically nose to nose on the narrow couch. I could feel the softness of her hair laying on my arm underneath her, and the warmness of her body so close to mine. She reached up and pulled a blanket off the back of the couch, draping it over us.

Bella yawned softly, and I swooped down to peck the tip of her crinkled nose.

"Tired?" I asked her, tracing her full bottom lip with my thumb. She nodded and burrowed further under the blanket, resting her head on my bicep. We laid in silence, just content to be close to each other. After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and I looked down to see her asleep. I kissed the top of her head and laid my head down on the armrest, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

When I awoke some time later, I looked down to see Bella still asleep. Her arm was still draped over me, and my hand had moved while I was sleeping and was now resting on her denim-clad ass. She sighed in her sleep and moved her head so that it was within inches of my lips. I couldn't contain my need to press my lips against hers chastely, kissing her over and over again until her eyes finally popped open. I felt her mouth turn up as she smiled against my lips, and her hand drifted up my arm and cupped the back of my neck, holding my face against hers.

Our mouths found each other again, nipping, and sucking until our lips finally parted and our tongues met, dancing lazily together. My hands began a careful exploration of her body, ghosting lightly over the outside of her thigh, up and down her torso, and over her back. Her skin was soft and silky beneath my fingertips, and I wasn't sure if I was going to ever be able to stop touching her.

My hand skimmed back down her thigh, hooking behind her knee and hitching it up over my legs. It was as if I couldn't get close enough to her. I wanted to be completely consumed by her.

I drug my lips down her chin and neck, stopping briefly to suck on her collarbone, and then licked a fiery trail over to the other side of her neck. She was writhing underneath me, her hands clutching desperately to my shirt before slipping underneath the fabric and clawing at my back.

Jesus Christ. The woman was going to kill me.

I was tired of the making out, hands over the clothes nonsense. I needed more. Pressing my hands to the sides of Bella's face, I pulled back, searching her eyes for any sort of distress or anxiety. I was relieved when all I saw was pure, unadulterated lust written all over her glorious face. I groaned and crushed myself to her again, devouring her lips with my own. Her curious hands drifted south on my back, her fingers drifting ever so slightly beneath my pants. Her lips stopped moving and she pulled back from me slightly, her mouth forming the most delicious little smirk.

"Commando?" she questioned, raising one of her perfect eyebrows. I just shrugged, busying myself again with her delicate collarbones. She grasped the hem of my shirt and inched it upwards over my torso and I broke away so she could wrench the offensive material over my head. I sat back on my heels and she scurried to sit up, pressing her back up against the armrest of the couch. Her hands drifted over my chest and down my abs, her eyes drinking in my exposed upper half.

Fuck this. If she gets a view, so do I.

My hands went to the hem of her tank top and I pulled it over her head, tossing it haphazardly to the floor. My eyes shot to her chest, covered in just a red lacy bra, which currently matched the red on her cheeks. I shifted positions again, sitting back against the opposite armrest, pulling her with me so that she straddled my thighs.

My hand drifted up her back and pulled on the clip that was holding her hair up, letting it fall over her shoulders.

"You're beautiful," I rasped out, running the tip of my index finger along the top of the lace that covered what I really wanted to see. My hands went around her tiny torso to her back and I stopped when my fingers encountered the clasp in the middle of her back.

"May I?" I asked, and barely even waited for her approval before un-clasping and removing the garment from her body. I moaned out loud when I saw her completely bare upper half and wasted no time in pulling her to me, crushing my lips against hers again.

My hands made their way up her sides and over her chest, before brushing over her hardened peaks. She hissed and jerked, causing her to grind against my rock-hard erection.

"Oh…Edward," she groaned, sliding herself again and again across my length. The friction she was creating felt unbelievable, and I dropped my hands to her hips, guiding her movements. Her chest arched into me, and I ducked my head down, taking one of her nipples in my mouth. She mewled loudly and clutched at my shoulders, grinding down harder on me. Each of her downward motions were met by an upward thrust of my own, generating more of the delicious friction that my body so desperately desired. The tension was building rapidly, burning in my abdomen. She was panting in time with me now, and I could tell she was about to careen off the edge with me not far behind her.

"Edward…" she pleaded, lacing her fingers in my hair and tugging her my head back up, capturing my lips with her own. Each of my moans and gasps were being swallowed hungrily by her, and my eyes drifted shut in concentration as I felt myself getting closer and closer to the release I craved.

Bella continued to rock against me, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her hands tugging almost painfully at the hair at the top of my neck.

"Oh, fuck. Yes! Just like that. Shit. I think I'm gonna—"

"Oh, Bella," I called out her name urgently, as she moaned and gasped loudly. I jerked against her a few more times before I followed her off the cliff, groaning her name as my world exploded behind my eyelids.

Our movements slowed, and I took her face in my hands, kissing her softly and reverently, trying to convey how much she meant to me. That this thing we had wasn't just for fun. I needed her…all of her. And not just in a carnal, sexual way. We broke apart and she rested her forehead against mine, her eyelids heavy and her cheeks flushed from her exertion.

I desperately wanted to just come out and say everything that my heart was feeling at the moment. I wanted to tell her that I wanted nobody but her, always. I wanted to tell her that I loved her…that I probably always had loved her.

The joy in her face, though, stopped me. I didn't want that joy to go away, and I was afraid that if I told her everything I was feeling she would run away. I needed to be completely sure of her feelings before I spilled my guts to her.

"God, Edward," She said, dropping her head to my shoulder and placing a kiss there. "If you can do THAT with clothes on, I don't even want to THINK about what you can do without them."

I chuckled softly, running my fingertips softly up and down her back.

"Are you saying you want to get me naked, Miss Swan? Are you just using me as a piece of meat? I'm afraid I don't just get naked with anyone," I replied coyly, trying to gauge her reaction.

She lifted her head and stared at me, her eyes drifting over my face. "I didn't think that I was just anyone," She whispered, suddenly looking extremely shy.

I pulled her chin up with my finger and placed a swift kiss on her lips. "You aren't just anyone, Bella. I was kidding. I was hoping that maybe…I don't know…that we were in a relationship. You know, start calling you my girlfriend or whatever." I took a frustrated breath. "Damn it, this is like high school all over again. But, you know, if that isn't what you want-"

She giggled and cut me off with yet another kiss. "Edward, you mean the world to me. You always have. I'm scared, but I'm excited too. Nobody knows me like you do, so you've already got an advantage. I want this to work and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do so."

My arms snaked around her waist, holding her tightly against me. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

She leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "I'm pretty sure I have some idea."

As she moved to pull away, I tightened my arms around her. "Where are you going?"

"Well, Edward," she smirked "I'd like to put my shirt back on, if that's alright."

I ran one hand up her back, causing her entire body to break out into goose bumps while a deep, red blush spread across her face simultaneously. With her arms wrapped loosely around my neck, I couldn't help but enjoy the feel of her warm flesh against my chest.

"I don't know, Bella. I'm quite content just like this. I don't think I want to let you go."

"Aren't you uncomfortable?" she asked, shooting a pointed look down at my pants. I shifted in my seat and cringed when I felt the remnants of our tryst.

Tryst? That makes it sound dirty and wrong. Neither of which describe this scenario.

"Um...yeah." I lifted her up off my lap and set her back on her feet. We both put our shirts back on and I padded off to the bathroom to clean myself up. When I got back out into the living room, Bella was still sitting on the couch. She was reclined back with her head resting on the back of the couch with her eyes closed, a peaceful look on her face. I stood in the doorway for a second just watching her. If someone had told me ten years ago that I'd wind up falling for my best friend, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were crazy. I tiptoed over to her and leaned over her small body on the couch, putting my face not even 2 inches away from hers. When she felt my hands press on the cushion beside her head, her eyes popped open and she let out a little yelp when she saw how close I was to her.

"Hey, beautiful," I chuckled, pecking her on the lips. "Were you sleeping?"

"Hey, yourself," she said quietly. "I was just thinking. What do you think about getting some Chinese take-out and watching some movies? You can stay here tonight if you want." She barely mumbled the last sentence, her head dropping down with embarrassment.

I lifted her chin with my finger so her eyes lined up with mine. "It's a little late for you to get all shy and embarrassed on me, isn't it? I'd love to stay. I kind of need to run home and grab some other clothes though, since this is all I have. How about I run there, and pick up dinner on the way back?"

She nodded and smiled, and I kissed her softly on the forehead before donning my shoes and heading for the door. "I'll be back before you know it, Bells."

I hurried home and grabbed some clothes and my other necessary items, grabbed us some carry-out from my favorite Chinese restaurant, and was back at Bella's within the hour.

"I'm back!" I called out when I walked in the door.

"That was fast," she yelled from the kitchen. "Christ, Edward, did you buy everything on the menu?" she chuckled, peeking in one of the two take-out bags I placed on the counter.

I shrugged. "I didn't know what you wanted. Plus, I don't know about you but I'm starving."

We grabbed a couple of take-out containers and some chopsticks and headed to the living room, collapsing on the couch.

"So, Alice told me you guys had fun last night." I said, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Yeah, we did, until my brother came and I word-vomited all over him about me and you. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy." She rolled her eyes, and jabbed her chopsticks into one of the containers. "He needs to just let me grow up."

I reached over, placing my hand on her leg. "He will, Bella. He just needs to see how happy you are with me."

She laughed out loud. "You're very sure of yourself, aren't you?"

I frowned. "Well, I certainly try to make you happy. And I'm going to keep trying. That I can promise you."

She set her food down on the table and crawled across the couch, kneeling next to me and taking my face between her hands.

"You do make me happy, Edward. I didn't realize how lonely it was here until I found you again. And you're right, Emmett will see that you make me happy, and he'll lay off." Her eyes were shining with sincerity, and she pressed her soft lips to mine, raking her fingers through my hair.

"Now, let's finish our dinner and then watch a movie together, alright?" She kissed me again and scooted back over to her side of the couch, digging in to her dinner again.

After we ate, we curled up on the couch together and watched a couple of Adam Sandler movies on TV until we were both fighting to stay awake.

"Let's go to bed." I said, lifting her up into my arms and carrying her into her bedroom. I set her down on her bed and she escaped to the bathroom. While she was gone, I pulled off my shirt and slipped into a pair of sleep pants, crawling under the covers of her bed. I buried my face into her pillows, breathing in her scent. I decided at that moment that I was going to try to get into this bed as much as I could.

"That's my side," she giggled, coming over to me and trying to shove me over to the other side of the bed. She only succeeded in rolling me over onto my back, and I grabbed her waist, pulling her down on top of me. I tucked her under the covers with me and pulled her back up against my chest, marveling in the way she conformed to my body perfectly. I brushed her hair off to the side and fluttered kisses up and down the column of her neck.

"Is this side of the bed so bad?" I whispered, squeezing her tighter.

She was silent for a moment, brushing her hands along my forearms. "No...this is perfect," she sighed.

"I couldn't agree more." I said, kissing her cheek, and then resting my head back down beside hers, before we both fell into a deep slumber.

A/N: Welllll? This one was tough to write. These kids are making some progress. Like I said at the beginning, we'll be in NYC next week, so there will probably be a bit of a delay on ch. 13. We won't keep you all waiting too long though.

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