Disclaimer- Stephenie still owns the usual suspects.

I own my original characters and original story.

* This chapter parallels Chapter 21 of V&V: 'Valentines & The Masters of The Universe'.

Enjoy!

*******************************LRM*************************

21. Valentines For The Enamored

I hadn't 'done' Valentine's Day since high school. Junior year of high school to be exact. I remember going out of my way to leave little gifts for Meghan in each of her classes that day, not realizing that she was meeting her real boyfriend later that night, no doubt to get high and have sex with him.

I shuddered when I remembered what a fool I had been. Before my mind started to wander down a dark path which I had no desire to revisit, I turned my thoughts to Bella.

Bella. My beautiful Bella. The reason my outlook on everything has changed.

And the best I could do for the woman that had changed my life was send her some stupid flowers.

When I spoke with her a few minutes ago, she said she understood that I had made a commitment to this film, but deep down I knew we both yearned to spend our first real Valentine's Day together.

On my way to the shower, my cell rang.

"Hello."

"Hello Edward, it's Hal. I called to let you know that because of all this rain, we're going to have to cancel shooting for today and tomorrow. The forecast is looking good for Tuesday, so hopefully we'll be back up and running then."

I was elated.

Oh my God. I can go see Bella. Today.

I can make this happen.

"Sorry about your film schedule Hal, but this is fantastic news. I could kiss you right now!" I responded enthusiastically.

Hal burst into laughter. "Hey, I appreciate that kid but, just so you know, I don't swing that way." He continued to laugh.

I joined in his laughter. "Seriously though Hal, you've given me such a gift. Now I can go spend Valentine's with my girl. Thank you."

Hal was still chuckling. "Maybe you should thank Mother Nature. You go and have a good time Edward. I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Bye Hal, and thanks again."

As I hung up, I heard some commotion downstairs in my living room.

"Edward, move your hiney. We've got to get you to Bella pronto." A voice shouted up to me.

Alice.

She started throwing clothing into my suitcase. "I've already booked your flight, well Jasper did while I drove over here, and he's sending a text to your phone. Get your shower, and put this on." She said as she pushed a shirt and suit into my hands.

I showered and dressed quickly. By the time I emerged from the bathroom, Alice had finished packing my bag. She handed me my phone, displaying the text with my flight information.

"Come on, and don't forget Bella's present." Alice called as she rushed out the door to her car.

I ran to my dresser and shoved the necklace I had purchased for Bella in my pocket. Because I thought we wouldn't be spending the day together, I had intended to give it to her next time I saw her.

Alice drove me to the airport. "Should I call Bella to let her know?"

Alice grinned. "I think it would be quite a grand gesture if you surprised her brother dear."

As usual, Alice was right.

I touched down in Seattle at approximately 1:30.

Perfect. There's plenty of time to make arrangements for dinner.

I hailed a cab and headed straight to Bella's. I knocked and knocked before giving up and trying Rose and Emmett's apartment instead.

They both greeted me with surprised smiles. "Edward, what are you doing here?" Rose asked.

I shrugged my shoulders a little sheepishly. "Work's been cancelled for a couple of days. I wanted to surprise Bella."

"That's fantastic. She will be thrilled!" Rose said excitedly, then she frowned. "The only problem is that she just left to have dinner with Charlie in Port Angeles. Their reservations are for five o'clock. If you hurry, maybe you can arrive right after her." Rose ran to the kitchen and wrote the name and address of the restaurant on a piece of paper.

"Do you have a car?" Emmett asked.

"No, but I have a cab waiting. I told him I'd be out shortly to let him know what time to pick us up for dinner."

"Dude, I'd drive you myself but we've made reservations that were a pain in the ass to get and ..." Emmett said apologetically.

"No Emmett, that's fine. I'm sure the cabbie will appreciate making some extra money today." I said as I grabbed the paper from Rose and bolted for the elevator.

"Good luck." They both shouted after me.

After explaining things to the driver, we headed out. On our way out of the city, I spied a flower vendor and had the cabbie pull over. The vendor did a double take when he saw me. I had him put together a small bouquet of red roses and threw him a hundred dollar bill before hopping back in the cab.

While nervously watching the time, I kept throwing cash at the driver in an effort to speed things up. At five o'clock, I started to panic, until I remembered that Chief Swan had entered all his contact information into my phone.

God bless Clint Eastwood.

I dialed the Chief, he answered immediately.

"Hello."

"Hello Chief Swan, this is Edward Cullen. Are you and Bella at the restaurant?" I asked.

"Yeah we're here."

"Great. It turns out that filming was cancelled for the today and tomorrow, so I flew up to surprise Bella." I rushed out my explanation.

"Oh really?" Chief Swan sounded surprised.

"Of course when I got to the apartment, she'd already left. So I'm in a cab about fifteen minutes away from you."

The Chief chuckled. "Well doesn't that just figure?"

"I will be very grateful if you can stall for time."

"I'll see what I can do." He answered quietly "Thanks, bye."

"Goodbye sir."

As promised, we pulled up in front of the restaurant less than fifteen minutes later.

The hostess seemed to go into shock when she recognized me. I just handed my bag to her, asking her to stow it away until I had finished dinner.

She answered with a nod as she took the bag.

I scanned the restaurant looking for my girl and spied her immediately, sitting with the Chief.

Every time I saw Bella, she took my breath away. No photos did justice to her beauty. I stood there mesmerized, unable to make my legs work.

Chief Swan noticed me before Bella did, and grinned. I watched as her eyes followed his gaze over to where I stood by the door.

An expression of absolute joy overtook her beautiful face. She sprang from her seat and flew across the room to me. As soon as she was in my arms I relaxed. She was everything I had been missing in the few days since I'd seen her last.

Our lips met in a passionate kiss, neither of us caring where we were, or that her father was watching us like a hawk.

We stayed locked in the kiss until I heard someone clear their throat.

Chief Swan. Speak of the devil.

We reluctantly broke the kiss, and Bella grabbed my hand to lead me to the table. "How are you here?" she asked.

I laughed at her bewildered expression. "After I hung up with you this morning, I got a call informing me that filming was cancelled for the next two days because of the weather. All my scenes this week take place outdoors you see. I've never been so damn glad to see rain in southern California." I smiled as I realized that Bella and I were really together. On Valentine's Day.

"Alice arrived at my house before I'd even finished the call, and threw a bag together. She forced me into this suit and drove me to the airport."

"When I arrived at your apartment, Rose informed me that you'd just left. I kept throwing money at the cab driver to drive faster on the way here."

"Wait a minute." Bella turned to the Chief "Was that Edward you were talking to on the phone a while ago?"

Chief Swan got a guilty look on his face. "Yeah, I had to stall for time until he got here."

Bella laughed. "Gosh Dad, I thought you were losing it."

Charlie smiled. "On that note, I'm going to head out. I just remembered a football game on TV that I don't want to miss."

I like this man more every time I see him.

"Dad, I thought football season was over?" Bella knew her father well.

"Well, er, Bear Grylls, I don't want to miss Bear Grylls." Charlie grinned as he kissed her goodbye and shook my hand.

After the Chief left, I took a good look at my girl. She was beautiful in her red dress, but as I took in her features I realized she'd lost some weight since I'd seen her last. I had a suspicion when we talked on skype, but seeing her in person confirmed my fears.

"Bella, what have you been doing?" I asked as I grabbed her hand.

I'd be willing to bet that she's been so nervous about the damn court case, that she's not been eating.

"Look at you. You haven't been eating. I suspected as much, but hoped I was wrong."

I felt as if I'd been punched in the gut. This was unacceptable. For Bella to be this upset….once again I felt myself wanting to track down the Ranger and maim him. "Bella, you can't do this to yourself."

"I don't know what to say Edward." She whispered.

I let out a breath. "Bella, you have to promise me that you'll eat. Please. I wouldn't survive if anything happened to you." She needed to understand how sincere I was about that.

She suddenly looked remorseful. "I'm so sorry Edward. I promise I'll do better. I love you so much, I don't want you to worry about me."

I relaxed, but knew that I wouldn't stop worrying about this until the court case was over. We ordered our food, and I watched as Bella attempted to eat everything on her plate. As we waited for dessert, I remembered her gift, and pulled it from my pocket.

"I didn't think I'd be able to give this to you on Valentine's Day. But it seems that fate had other plans." I smiled.

"Happy Valentine's darling." I said as I handed it to her.

I watched as Bella's eyes lit up at the sight of the diamond necklace. "Edward, it's lovely." She smiled. "Would you help me put it on?"

I clasped it around her neck. "You know you didn't need to get me anything. You are enough." She said as she held my hand. "But thank you."

Silly girl. She has no idea how much I intend to spoil her.

-LRM-

By the next morning, Bella was a nervous wreck. We sat in the courtroom, her tiny hand in mine, waiting for the proceedings to start.

"Isabella, you can stay seated, I'll do all the talking." Wendy directed.

"What exactly is going to happen?" Bella asked.

"The court needs to determine that you have legal representation, and the Judge will set a court date. It should only take a few minutes."

"Is he going to be here?" Bella asked nervously.

"Yes, unfortunately the ranger has to be here." Wendy whispered back.

I can't wait to lay eyes on that fucker.

"He will not come near you Bella." I said in a forceful voice.

The courtroom began to fill, and I kept my eyes peeled for an asswipe in a ranger uniform. I knew the moment he walked in because I felt Isabella's entire body tense beside me. She squeezed my hand to signify that it was him.

I knew that every bit of hatred I felt for that piece of shit was showing on my face as I glared at him.

I wrapped my arm tight around Bella's shoulders. Fucktard had the nerve to look surprised when he saw us together.

Five minutes alone, that's all I need to wipe the surprise from his stupid face.

Soon after that, the 'prosecutor' arrived. She was an absolute freak show. I was almost certain that we were the object of a practical joke. To say she dressed unprofessionally would be an gross understatement.

I glanced at Isabella, smirking when I realized that she was having rather 'unkind' thoughts about Ms. Chance.

Probably mirroring my own.

We didn't spend a lot of time in the courtroom. The proceedings were over in a matter of minutes. I made a mental note of the trial date, March 11. Unfortunately, I was fairly certain I wouldn't be able to get away, but that wouldn't stop me from trying.

As we exited the courtroom, I made sure to give the ranger a 'fuck you' glare.

On the way to the car, Bella's formerly fearful expression gave way to one of anger.

I looked at her questioningly. "What are you thinking Bella?"

She stopped near the car and turned to me. "I'm thinking that I'm tired of being upset about this. I'm thinking that I've let that piece of shit ranger ruin too many days of my life already, and I'm not going to allow him to ruin any more. I refuse to let him have that kind of power over me."

"I'm thinking that a fat bitch in clown makeup is not going to get away with having me punished for something I didn't do."

"I have allowed those assholes to mess with our happiness long enough Edward. I'm through letting evil people hurt me, because when they do that, they're also hurting you, and they're hurting my family, and that's unacceptable."

"I'm going to fight. I'm going to do whatever I can to stop those two. Their sick little game ends with me."

"We need help though, we need the expertise of someone well-versed in all the elements of revenge. We need someone who can devise and execute a plan that will be lay waste to their pathetic lives, and leave them powerless. We need Rose."

I stood there in stunned silence as I let her words wash over me. It was unexpected, but so wonderful to hear that she wouldn't roll over and let the bastards win. "Glad to hear it baby, let's go." I said with a smirk as I grabbed her hand and walked to the car.

-LRM-

After arriving at WIRI, I trailed along behind Bella as she burst into Rose's office without knocking.

Rose was on the phone.

"Okay, sounds good." Rose smiled while talking on her phone. "Everything is coming together beautifully. Talk to you later, okay bye Wendy." She hung up.

Strange. Rose is speaking with Bella's lawyer?

Rose looked at Bella before she spoke. "Well, well, well, I'm thinking that Bella finally got rid of her Little Mermaid underwear and put on her 'big girl' panties."

Oh shit. Does Rose know I took those Little Mermaid panties? Emmett's going to kick my ass.

Rose continued. "I've been working on something, with Wendy's assistance, that will rock Geri Chance's world." She chuckled. "But not in a good way."

Oh thank God. It seems she doesn't know about the underwear.

"Kyle Browning is putting together the civil case against Ranger Dickhead. He's planning to serve notice to him during your court case, make a little show of it." She chuckled again.

"So, all you have to do Bella is sit back and enjoy the ride."

This was good news, but Bella looked skeptical.

She looked at Bella as she continued. "The judge will believe you Bella. Now, you two go home and enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

We left the station, and I took Bella out to lunch. After that, we went back to the apartment and relaxed for the afternoon. I held her in my arms until it was time to go.

On our way to the airport, we drove past the two paps who were still shadowing Bella's every step. Emmett waved and blew air kisses to them.

What the hell is that about?

Bella then relayed the story of how Emmett helped her escape to the airport for the trip to Aspen, by farting on those two guys.

I stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to react, then I burst into hysterical laughter.

"What can I say? It's a gift." Emmett chuckled in response to my laughter.

The gift of flatulence-on-demand.

Emmett is fucking awesome.

-LRM-

Once again, we found ourselves in the shitty position of having to say goodbye at the airport.

Bella didn't fall apart, and I was grateful for that. Our separation would be difficult, but these two days had been a gift. It would have to be enough to get us through the next few weeks.

As soon as this damn trial business was out of the way, my priority would be to plan the best spring break Bella has ever had.

Upon landing at LAX, I was bombarded by questions from a mob of paps waiting there for me.

'Edward, there are photos of you dancing with Isabella Swan at Sylvia McGuire and Mark Sargent's wedding.'

Damn, I didn't realize the People issue with Sylvia and Mark's wedding had hit newsstands.

'Does this mean that you've broken up with Tanya or are you just continuing to see Isabella on the side?'

I ignored them and kept walking.

'Edward, is Isabella more than just some random hook-up?'

'How long do you intend to string her along?'

I realized that they only asked these questions to get a rise out of me.

Ah if I only Emmett were here. Maybe he could unleash his 'secret weapon' against the paps.

The thought brought a smile to my face.

*********************************A/N************************

A/N Short but sweet. Hope everyone had a very happy Christmas. We are enjoying several inches of new snow…started early Christmas Day, and is supposed to continue falling until very late Sunday night. Hence.. I am snowbound and writing.

Next up one more LRM…still trying to catch it up with V&V.

Please leave me love…it makes me write faster…then I can get back to V&V. (my review count for LRM is looking a little sad). **As incentive...anyone who reviews this chapter of LRM...will get a sneak peek of the next chapter of V&V at least 1 whole day before it posts. Come on, you know you want it.