Edward threw down the phone, cursing in frustration. He'd been trying to reach Bella for hours, but for some reason the phone kept ringing out. He'd briefly considered just arriving on her doorstep but everything his parents had taught him of manners went completely against this, so instead he played patience between attempted calls, remaining in his father's study well past midday.

A few times Esme made herself known, knocking softly at the door and berating him with her eyes for his obsession, but he steadfastly refused to meet her gaze, mumbling his thanks for the food she brought, and otherwise ignoring her like a petulant child.

The third time this happened, she sighed wearily as she clicked the door closed and wandered down to the kitchen to find her husband.

"I think this is out of hand, Carlisle--it doesn't seem natural!"

Carlisle, smiling widely at the sight of his caramel haired wife, crossed the kitchen in two large strides and enclosed her in his arms. "I seem to recall myself being somewhat overwhelmed with needing you, my love. Barely a moment went by that I felt I couldn't breathe without you."

"Surely you weren't this bad."

Carlisle laughed, tightening his grip on Esme. "Oh, yes. The night you promised to call me back and let me know if you would go to the prom with me…I didn't move from that phone, didn't sleep or eat all night. And you didn't answer me until the next day!" He drew back, his eyes still dancing. "I thought I would die in unending agony."

"But we were teenagers!" Esme scolded, even though she fought against a knowing smile. "Edward is a man, he should be well beyond hormonal flushes."

"Love is never beyond hormonal flushes, my heart."

Upstairs, Edward dialed Bella's number again.

* * * * *

Bella trailed listlessly behind Rose as she entered yet another lingerie store. She had hoped that Edward would have called by now, would have been so desperate to see her again that he couldn't wait another minute. Instead, after a baffling call from Laurent, in which he had said little more than how nice it was to see her at the movie theatre, the phone had remained completely silent. Eventually, after hours of Bella's one worded answers to her questions, Rose had tired of the conversation and had left Emmett with Jacob and dragged Bella and Luned to Port Angeles in the hopes of finally finding the perfect honeymoon attire.

Luned had trailed off long ago, overwhelmed by the many sale signs, price tags salesmen trying to pull her into the stores.

"Surely one time is enough to procure necessary items," she had huffed, and Bella had ceded. For the medieval Welshwoman that one shopping trip where Bella had outfitted her in modern clothing had been more than enough experience in twenty-first century retail for at least this year--instead she remained in the food court, picking at French fries and watching the feature fountain.

Rose held out a faux leather bustier for Bella's perusal. "What about this?"

Bella snickered, despite her lethargy. "I had no idea you planned on spending your honeymoon in a dungeon, Rose."

"Well, anything is possible. After all, what is a honeymoon for?" She was laughing herself as she returned the item to the rack, turning her attentions to things that were a little more wedding related; very white and very lacy.

Bella pulled her mobile out of her pocket and checked it again, only to find the same thing--no calls, no messages.

"Bells." Bella glanced up at her friend, who was watching her with concern. "You're not checking your phone again." It wasn't a question.

"No." She shoved it back in her pocket hurriedly. "No, I just…"

"Bella, he'll call. Stop worrying. Try and enjoy this, would you?"

Half an hour later the two girls left the shop, both grinning widely and clutching bags--Rosalie's overflowing, Bella's containing one carefully chosen set of underwear. They made their way back to the food court to find Luned and head home, but they were blocked by a crowd of people, many of them on their tip toes looking at something that was clearly extraordinarily entertaining.

Bella looked at Rose, raising her eyebrow. "What's going on?"

The blonde woman shook her head. "Beats me. But I intend to find out." Grabbing Bella's wrist, Rose pushed through the crowd for a better view. As they neared the fron, Bella caught snippets of conversation.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"Zac! Close your eyes!"

"Man, am I glad the girls dragged us out shopping today!"

A sense of foreboding washed over Bella, and she glanced up to get her bearings as she couldn't see anything over the crowd. Yep, just as she had dreaded they were right near the food court. In fact, they were in the general vicinity of…

"Miss, if you don't get out now, I'll be calling the police."

Bella groaned and Rose choked on a shocked intake of breath as they broke through the front line. Already knowing what she was going to see, Bella ducked past Rosalie and froze. At the edge of the very shallow fountain was a pair of jeans, a tee shirt and a pair of sneakers. And there, in the fountain was Luned, bare naked and bathing herself in front of the day's shoppers--some wearing expressions of disgust, others--men of course--looking absolutely delighted by the spectacle.

"Luned!" Bella moaned.

The mall security guard spun at the sound of her voice. "You know this woman?"

"Yes," Bella mumbled, her face the exact shade of an overripe tomato.

"Is she mentally ill?"

"No! No, she's…" she stepped forward quickly to the edge of the fountain. "Confused."

"Confused?" The security guard looked stunned.

"See she's, ah, not from around here. She's…"

The furious look from the man silenced her.

"Get her out. Now."

"Ah, sure. Luned!"

The Welshwoman looked over to her friend and smiled. "Oh, Isabella. This is so much better than a shower. It feels like home!"

A snicker ran through the crowd, punctuated by discussions of what home might be.

"Ah, yeah, but see Luned, around here, we bathe in private."

"Yes, you did explain that once, but what is the difference if I bathe here, or in your home?"

Another round of snickers, and the soft footfalls of Rose coming to stand by Bella's side. "She's more backward than I thought." she murmured.

Bella nodded absently. "Luned, there's a huge difference! Please, get out and I can explain better…"

Luned shook her head. "I'm not quite done yet!" She turned her back on her friend and continued. The snickers grew louder.

Quite humiliated now, Bella threw an apologetic glance towards the irate guard and stepped into the fountain. "Luned. Please." She stepped forward carefully.

Luned sighed, and dropped her hands. "Alright, my lady. If you insist."

She started to stand, and Bella leapt forward to cover her friend. Unfortunately running through fountains didn't come easily to Bella. On the first step she lost her step and started sliding towards a now standing Luned, within seconds she had collided with the Welshwoman and sent them both careening to the other side of the fountain.

Where, to Bella's mingled embarrassment and glee, Edward stood chuckling.

"Miss Swan. What a…surprise."

Bella's face reddened until it was verging on a deep purple. "Uh, hi?"

His green eyes sparkled with mischief. "Do you ladies need some help, by chance?"

"Of course!" Bella bristled.

He laughed again, nodded towards the guard who was now looking like he would happily throttle the two women spoiling his uneventful day, and reached his hands out.

Luned slipped a hand daintily into one of his, but Bella balked. "This is so embarrassing!" she moaned.

"Well, from what I've seen and heard, Bella, it's not the worst thing you've ever done."

She flushed again. "I thought you were helping!" She slapped her palm against his.

His laughter subsided, the expression on his face replaced by one of sympathy and gentleness as he pulled them both over the lip of the fountain. Luned nodded to him in an extraordinarily regal way, and strode unabashed to her clothing--to the horror of some, the added thrill of others, and the extreme distaste of the security guard.

Bella stood silently, shivering slightly in her dripping wet clothes.

"Are you cold?" Edward asked, his voice quiet and full of concern.

"Fr…fr…freezing."

Without hesitation he pulled her into his arms, rubbing his hands along her ribs.

The chill on her skin was rapidly replaced by a tongue of flame that followed the path of his widespread fingers and heated palms. She sank unthinkingly against his body, marveling at the hardness of his chest, the strength with which he held and warmed her. Within the space of a heartbeat she had forgotten that anyone else existed, it was just the two of them, alone, warming and getting hotter. She tilted her face up, her lips parting slightly, her eyelids drifting closed, watching from beneath her lashes the surprise and heat spark in the emerald gaze that was quickly reflecting her own thoughts. His own face dipped towards hers, there lips were scant milimetres from touching…

"Geez, Bella, could you make much more of a fool of yourself?"

Rose.

Edward's hands dropped from Bella's sides and he stepped back, leaving a full body's length between them, the fission of want still sparking faintly. Trying to steady her breathing, Bella flicked him a quick glance, saw that his jaw was tight with emotion. She shivered with the sudden chill and the remnants of passion.

"No, I think I could actually make it that much worse." she answered. In fact, I was that close to proving it. she added to herself.

"I see that," Rose scoffed. "Do you think we could possibly get out of here, before anybody actually realized that we're together and I can never come here again?"

"I think it's a bit late Rosie, I've just made the rounds and let every single person know; Bella and Rose came with that girl in the fountain." Emmett chuckled as he walked up behind his fiancée and slid his arms around her waist.

Jacob followed after, chewing his lip and watching a now fully dressed Luned with concern.

Rosalie shook Emmett's hand off and growled in frustration. "If you did, then you'll be paying for life. There's nothing in the wedding vows about me giving out, ever again."

With a face resembling a kicked puppy, Emmett apologized. When Rose sighed, with a "fine," and he slid his arms around her once more, Bella caught sight of the wink he sent Edward, and she couldn't help a laugh.

"Ah, why are you guys here?" She asked quickly, trying to ignore the glare that Rose had now turned on her.

"Well, Edward here just couldn't wait for you to get home. Lover boy has been trying to call you all day; he couldn't wait even 5 more minutes!" Emmett wiggled his eyebrows, and she looked at Edward in surprise – the phone hadn't rung at all! "And Jake and I couldn't miss the fun, now, could we?" Emmett continued. "Swimming in the fountain, Bells, how do you plan on topping that?"

She flushed again.

"I remind you, I think we should leave, not start trying to plan ways to outdo that display of ridiculousness." Rosalie said, tilting her nose up.

"I didn't think it was as bad as all that." Jake said quietly, his eyes still locked on Luned, who in return couldn't turn her face away from his.

Emmett snorted. "I'll bet!"

"I believe Rosalie may be right." Edward interceded, noticing the ferociously protective and jealous look on Jacob's face. "The faster we leave, the faster we can forget this ever happened." With a smile he reached out and tucked Bella's hand into the crook of his arm. "Besides, I was hoping to organize another night out with a beautiful woman, if the one on my arm here would be willing."

Bella flushed, to the amusement of her friends.

And again Laurent watched, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Like a snake, coiled and prepared for the perfect strike. She would make the perfect addition, he was certain.