Here's the new chapter!

- JayBee

EPOV

I woke up to find myself freezing – again. I felt around for the covers. I didn't need to open my eyes to know that Bella had hogged all the covers. I pulled them out from under her
body and covered myself before pulling her to me. I tried to go back to sleep, but ended up just lying there.

I'll just wait for Bella to wake up. Neither one of us has work today.

I felt her stir and turn around. I opened my eyes to find her looking back at me with sleepy eyes. Her lips were swollen from the position she had slept in, and I couldn't resist leaning
in to steal a quick kiss.

I pulled back, smiling. "Good morning."

Her smile matched my own. "Good morning. And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

"Are we opening presents now or tonight?"

I let out a small laugh. "Tonight. Your dad and the Radkeys are coming over for dinner and we're gonna open the presents after." I laughed again, not able to contain it.

"What?"

"Nothing." I pulled her up so that she was straddling my waist. The covers fell, exposing her breasts. She picked it back up, but I pushed her hands away, letting the covers pool at our
waists. She put her hand son my chest and questioned me with her eyes. "I just think it's funny that you're so eager to open presents."

I cradled her cheek in my palm and stroked the blushed skin with my thumb.

I let out a long sigh. "I missed your blush so much."

She let out a giggle and covered my hand with hers. "You've said that so many times."

"I know, but I missed it!"

She let out a laugh, her body shaking on top of mine.

"I bet I could make you blush."

"You can try."

"It is possible to make Edward Cullen blush, you know."

"You can try." I tried to hide my smile. Bella has made me blush a few times, but other than those few times, I don't really blush.

She bit her bottom lip and ground down as her eyebrows knit together.

I grabbed her hip and held her in place. "Bella! That's not fair."

She threw her head back with a laugh. "But you're blushing. See? I can get you to blush."

"Yeah, by cheating." I gave her a sly smile to let her know I was joking.

"So how is it fair when you make me blush, Mr. Cullen?"

"Because…I can just say, 'Oooh, Bella. I love you.' and you'll blush."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "No."

I narrowed my eyes back at her, still smiling. "Yes."

"No, Edward."

I cocked a brow at her. "Um…are we still joking around?"

She let out a sigh. "You don't control me like that."

What is she talking about? "Control you?"

"You don't have control over me."

"I didn't say I did." I can't believe she's getting mad over this. "Bells, when you make me blush, are you controlling me?"

"No."

I held her chin gently. I held her gaze, making sure she didn't look away. "When you tease me, when you tell me when I can or can't come, are you controlling me?"

"No." She took longer to answer this time, because yeah, when she teased me, it was as if she had control over me, but she didn't.

I saw that beautiful blush stain her cheeks again and pulled her down for a kiss. "No. You don't. But you have an effect on me. When I make you blush, I have an effect on you. That's
all. And I like having an effect on you. I like knowing how to make you blush."

She gave me an apologetic smile and my heart turned to goo. "And I like knowing how to…tease you the way you like to be teased."

I stifled a laugh. "Yeah, I like that too." No doubt.

"Also…okay, this is gonna sound weird."

I gave her thigh a light squeeze. "Tell me."

"I like the fact that I know how to make you mad and how to make you happy. I mean…I never want to make you mad, but I like knowing that I know how to make you mad. And when
you get angry, you look so adorable." I smiled up at her, because yeah, she looked adorable too – when I wasn't fuming during one of our fights. "I like that I know everything you
like and everything you hate."

I kissed the inside of her palm. "It's not weird. I like that too. You know me better than my own family does. And I know you better than anyone else does." I hope I'm not assuming
things here, but by the smile on her face, I know I'm right. She bent down to give me another kiss and I felt my spine tingle. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

She smiled against my lips. "Tell me again."

"I love you." I repeated it again and again, kissing her between words. I pulled back to look at her. "Always." I had to say it. I don't know why, but I had to. It's not that I think she'll
believe I'll ever stop loving her, but I just want her to know for sure that I would never even think of it.

"I love you, too."

Being able to feel someone else's love for you has to be the second best feeling in the world – second only next to loving someone.

I moved to get up and pulled her along with me. "Come on. Let's go downstairs."

We got ready and went downstairs to find Alice making coffee. I took some eggs out of the fridge and made scrambled eggs for everyone as Bella made toast. We sat around the
island to eat. Mostly, I just listened to Alice and Bella speak.

I turned to Bella as Alice got up to get more coffee. "You wanna go see the tree today?"

She nodded as she bit into a slice of toast. "I was gonna ask you a few days ago but I didn't think you'd be up for it."

I laid my hand on top of hers on the table. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"I know I haven't wanted to do anything lately."

"I don't mind. As long as I get to see you, I don't care what we do."

I gave her a weak smile and continued eating. I really did feel bad. The only thing I wanted to do was stay home. To be honest, I never even felt like going to work – the only reason
I go is because I know I have to.

Alice came back, looking between Bella and me. "Where are you guys going?"

"To see the tree."

I gave Bella a look, telling her to be quiet, but she completely missed it.

"Oh! I wanna see it, too! I didn't get to go this year."

"That's great. You can ask Jasper. I'm sure he'd love to take you." She didn't need to come with us.

Alice rolled her eyes and turned to Bella. "I don't know how you put up with him in the morning. He's such a grump."

Bella shrugged. "I just ignore him."

Oh, really? "Yeah, Bells? I'll just ignore you and we'll see how you like it."

She elbowed me and I smiled to let her know I was kidding. "Babe, I'm just kidding. Alice, he's really not that bad in the mornings."

"Maybe not to you. To the rest of the world, he's a grumpy troll."

"Shut up." I'm not a troll. "We can't all be Little Miss Sunshine twenty-four-seven." To that, she said nothing, and I just smiled in triumph as I finished my breakfast.

We spent the rest of the day helping get dinner ready. I wasn't here for Thanksgiving, so I was going to stuff my face tonight.

I finished setting the table with Emmett and turned to see Bella plug in the lights for the Christmas tree.

She stood back with her hands on her hips and looked at the tree before looking down at the presents.

I walked behind her and slid my arms through hers, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her neck. "Ready to go?"

She brought a hand up and wrapped it around the nape of my neck, playing with the small hairs there. "Yeah."

She seemed so peaceful as she leaned against my chest. "Is something wrong?"

"No, why?"

"You're so quiet." I wondered if she was thinking about her mom, but I wouldn't ask. I wanted her to tell me about it, but I couldn't keep nagging her.

"I'm fine. Just watching the tree."

"Come on. Let's go look at a bigger one."

We went upstairs to layer on clothing, and I ended up giving Bella some of my winter gear to wear so she wouldn't have to go back to her house.

The weather was brutal, but breathing in the air was so refreshing – something that's hard to come by in the city. We rode the bus to the subway station and my heart sank when I
saw all the people waiting for the subway.

"Oh, fuck…"

Bella turned to me with a smile. "Edward, come on. Did you really think it wouldn't be packed? It's Christmas."

"I knew there would be a lot of people. Just not this much." Hopefully there wouldn't be too many tourists at Rockefeller. It was just beginning to get dark. We left early so we would
get there right when it became dark. It always worked well, but I guess people got smart this year.

There was nowhere to sit on the train, so we ended up standing with a bunch of people, like sardines in a tin can.

Bella and I held on to one of the poles in the middle of the train, and every time the train shook, everyone knocked into each other. There was a middle-aged man that kept knocking
into Bella, and after a while, he just leaned on her.

She was just looking around, oblivious. Did she not feel his chest against her back? I looked up at him but he didn't see me. He was busy staring at Bella.

Creep.

I pulled her to me and kept my arm around her. She gave me a questioning look and I just smiled down at her. I wasn't going to discuss it right now.

We finally got off the train and walked up the stairs quickly.

We walked through the line of shops at Rockefeller, right by the Christmas angels.

I grabbed Bella's hand as we got closer to the tree. "Don't let go."

We wove our way through all the tourists. I had to stop myself from shoving them all out of the way. I didn't blame them for wanting to be here, but all of them didn't need to stop in
the middle of the walkway with maps in their hands, pointing every which way.

We finally made it to the huge evergreen. Every year, I saw this tree countless times. This year, I saw it every night from my office window, and it never ceased to amaze me. Adorned
with enough lights to cover the entire city, it was beautiful.

Okay, I'm exaggerating the amount of lights on it, but still, it's beautiful.

I wrapped my arms around Bella and pulled her to my chest. I laid my chin on her shoulder and turned to kiss her cheek as she giggled.

She brought a hand up and pulled my hat down over my eyes, taking me by surprise. "Hey!" I pulled my hat up and did the same to her.

"Edward!" She laughed.

"What? It's only fair. An eye for an eye."

"What if I do this?" She turned around in my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck before kissing me gently. She pulled back and looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes as the
tingle that ran down my spine lingered. "An eye for an eye?"

I shook my head slowly. "No. Then I get greedy. You'll have to give me an arm and a leg for that."

She laughed at my attempt at a joke and leaned up to kiss me again. I didn't let her go this time. I wrapped a hand around her silky hair and held her to me. I forgot about everything
around us – all the commotion, all the shouting – none of it existed in this moment.

I pulled back with a gasp and looked into her eyes. They were almost black, as I'm sure mine were.

She turned back around and put her arms on top of mine around her waist.

I pushed her hair back with my cheek and kissed her neck.

"Mm…I love you." She tightened her arms around mine.

"I love you, too."

We stood there for a while, just talking and watching the people beneath us ice skate.

BPOV

I wanted to stay a bit longer, but I could tell Edward was getting antsy. He made a face when I pointed to his office window, and after that, he asked if we could go home about ten times.

He started getting tense after about thirty minutes, but I didn't know why. He kept saying nothing was wrong, but there was obviously something going on.

He seemed better now that we were home, so I relaxed and tried to enjoy myself.

Edward leaned against his doorframe, texting a coworker. I ran downstairs to grab some mistletoe from the kitchen and ran back upstairs.

I walked up to Edward quickly and held the mistletoe over our heads.

"Oh! Baby, Seth and Tanya –"

I cut him off with a kiss and melted in his arms as he embraced me.

He pulled back with a dazed look in his eyes, a crooked grin plastered on his face. "…say Merry Christmas."

"What?"

"Um…" He closed his eyes for a second before opening them. "Seth and Tanya. They said Merry Christmas."

"Thank you. And Merry Christmas to them."

He took the mistletoe from my hand and tossed it into his room. "We'll use that later."

I laughed as we walked down the hall and down the stairs.

Edward stopped halfway and turned around. "Give me a second. I'll be right back." He ran back upstairs and I leaned back to see what he was doing. He opened Emmett's door
and poked his head in. "Keep him here until we open the presents."

"What's he gonna eat? He's whining."

"Bring up chicken after dinner."

Edward closed the door and came back down with a big smile. "Come on." He took my hand and led me to the dinner table, pulling out my chair and pushing it in while I sat. I smiled
up at him thankfully as he sat next to me. Little things like this made my heart melt.

The Radkeys sat across us, with Max between his parents. I felt bad for wishing Mr. Radkey couldn't make it, but I'd never met such a cold-hearted person. I didn't care if he treated
me like scum, but it broke my heart whenever I had to see the look on Max's face after another one of his father's tactics. Was he blind as to how much this kid loved him, or did he not care?

Emmett came downstairs and lowered the volume on the radio before coming over to the table.

I pushed my previous thoughts to the back of my head as we stood to say grace. I silently mentioned my mom before we sat down to eat.

Em turned on some Christmas carols and everyone around the table erupted in chatter, passing food this way and that.

I looked over at Edward and my heart broke in two.

He was hunched over his plate, eating in silence.

I looked around the table. Everyone was yelling over each other. Didn't anyone notice?

I put a hand on his thigh and he turned his head, giving me a small smile.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He turned back around and continued eating.

I pulled my hand away reluctantly.

The lump that was forming in my throat prevented me from eating anything. I forced myself not to cry, but I couldn't bear to see the look on Edward's face. How could someone
smile and still manage to look so torn? He was perfectly fine one moment and closed up the next.

He put down his fork and turned to me with a sigh. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah."

"Excuse us."

I don't think anyone heard him – no one even turned to look at us leave. The only who noticed was Max. We waved at him with a smile as he waved goodbye.

Edward leaned against the kitchen counter, his hands on either side of him.

I leaned against the island, and for a few seconds, all we did was look at each other.

"Edward…please talk to me."

He let out a sigh and looked down at the floor.

"Edward."

"I don't know how to explain it, okay?"

"Explain what? Just tell me what's going on."

"I don't know what's going on."

"Why are you so…sad?" I wish I could think of a better word, but that's all that comes to mind when I look at him.

"I'm not sad. I just feel…different. Weird."

"Edward, you're scaring me." Was he thinking about relapsing? What's going on?

His head snapped up and he moved forward, closing the space between us. He held my hands in his. "No, don't be scared." He searched my face before looking into my
eyes. "I promise you, there's nothing to be afraid of. I just…I don't know."

It was clear that he was struggling to explain himself. I ran my fingers down the side of his face, trying to comfort him. "It's okay. Try your best to explain."

He closed his eyes and turned his head to kiss my palm. "I don't like being around people. I know. It sounds really weird."

He dropped his head again, but I held his chin and held his gaze. "It's not weird."

"But it's not me."

He was right. Edward loved being around people. He's the one who helped me come out of my shell when we were younger. He was always outgoing, almost never a recluse.

I feel awful for not noticing this sooner. Since he's been back from the clinic, I've had to plead for us to go almost anywhere. He never wants anyone to come over, and he never
wants to go anywhere.

Was he going through a depression? My heart sank at the thought.

"Do you want to go upstairs? I'll stay with you."

He shook his head, his brows furrowed. "No. I don't want this to affect you in any way. You should enjoy your Christmas, not spend the night babysitting me."

"I wouldn't be –"

He put a finger to my lips. "No. I'll stay here with everyone. It's Christmas. And I don't want everyone asking me if I'm okay every two seconds."

Mrs. Radkey walked in then, and we both turned our heads as Edward took a step back.

"Oh, sorry, kids! I'm just getting a soda." She opened the fridge and grabbed a can of coda before leaving quickly.

I felt my cheeks burn and looked back at Edward when he placed his hands over my heated skin.

He looked down at me with a small smile. "Why are you embarrassed, love? We weren't doing anything."

"She thought we were," I said in a meek voice.

"I love it."

"Love what?"

"That you can be so aggressive at times – like when we're intimate – and yet you get embarrassed so easily at times like this. I know I've mentioned this before, but really, I love it."

My cheeks flared even more. I tried to pull his hands away, to which he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, letting his lips linger there. "You're adorable."

"Is there any time that you long to be around others?"

He pulled back to look at me. "Not really, no. When I'm with you, I don't mind as much."

As much as I'd love to, I couldn't be with him twenty-four hours a day. "What about when you're at work?"

He shrugged. "I just…grit my teeth and bear it. I try to take it one day at a time. It's been working so far."

"Does it get harder to deal with as time goes by?"

"No."

That's good. I felt a bit of relief wash through me. "Does it get better? Easier?"

"No," he said indifferently. That wasn't such great news, but he didn't look hopeless, which was always a good thing. "Can we please talk about this later? I just want to enjoy
my day off work."

"Yes. But promise me we'll talk about it."

"I promise."

"Tonight."

He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Alright, mother. I promise. Tonight." I scowled, eliciting a small laugh from him. "Now you know how it feels. Stop calling me 'dad'." He took my hand
and turned around, leading me into the dining room. I took the opportunity to swat his butt. He turned around with a scornful look. "Hey!"

I let out a laugh as we got back to the table. Everyone was done eating. They were just sitting around the table, talking.

"Where were you guys?"

I turned to Alice with a smile. "Kitchen."

"Oh."

I was happy she didn't ask anything else. I'm positive Edward doesn't want anyone to know what's going on.

We cleaned up the table and got settled in the living room, waiting to open the presents. Everyone got comfortable on the couches as Mr. Cullen passed out the gifts one by one.

I laid my head on Edward's shoulder and looked up at him with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm."

I didn't push him any further. At times he looked like he was in pain, and at other times he looked fine.

I saw Em run upstairs with a piece of meat and turned back to Edward. "Edward, what are you hiding in Emmett's room?"

He looked down at me quickly, caught off guard by the question. "In Emmett's room?"

"Mhm."

"What am I hiding in there?"

I smirked at him. He was buying time. "Yeah."

"My mom's present."

"Oh." I thought it would be something more interesting.

"Why? Did you think it was something for you?"

"No." Yes. "I was just wondering."

"Okay, well, don't worry. I didn't get you anything this year."

"Really?"

"Really." He let out a laugh. "Why do you look so shocked?"

"Because…" It didn't seem as if he was joking, but could it be true? Wow. After all these years, he listened and didn't buy me anything.

I smiled at this realization, and Edward smiled back. "What?"

"Nothing." I pulled my legs up and snuggled into his side as he wrapped an arm around me. When it came time for Edward to open the present I got him, I sat up to see his reaction.

His face lit up when he ripped open the wrapping paper. "Oh, my God!" I sat back, laughing. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

He gave me a kiss before turning back to the Xbox 360.

Max ran over to us, eyes wide open. "Can I see?" They opened the box together and took everything out, examining all the cords and parts. Edward found my second present, a coupon
I made for him. He took it out and gave me a curious look before silently reading it to himself. The piece of paper read:

Edward Anthony Cullen is entitled to one night with Isabella Marie Swan.
Ms. Swan will do anything and everything Mr. Cullen wants. This coupon can only be used once,
and can only be used in Mr. Cullen's or Ms. Swan's bedroom.

- Bella Cullen

Edward put everything back in the box and read the piece of paper again before looking at me with a sly smile.

Max tapped Edward's knee to get his attention. "What does it say? Can I see it?"

Edward put the makeshift coupon in the back pocket of his jeans. "It says I can get free ice cream."

"I love ice cream!"

Everyone flinched and looked at us before getting back to their presents.

"Shhh…It's not a real coupon. It's just a fake one Bella made."

Max turned back to the Xbox, completely forgetting about the ice cream. "Let's play, let's play, let's play!"

"Now?" Edward laughed.

"Yeah!"

"How about I pick up some games tomorrow after work and you come over so we can play?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

Max considered this for a second and beamed at Edward and me. "Yeah, that works!" He went back to his parents and got settled between them on the couch. His dad kissed the top
of his head, and at that moment, I felt horrible for thinking bad thoughts about Mr. Radkey.

I turned to Edward and whispered. "Did you see that?"

"Max and his dad? Yeah. Why?"

"Edward, he loves him."

By the look on his face, I knew I didn't have to say anything else. He knew what I was thinking. "Nothing he says or does can excuse the way he acts toward his family."

I blinked and looked away. I couldn't say anything. He was right, but I still felt bad.

"Alright, last present." Mr. Cullen turned it around to read the names. "To Edward, from Bella."

Edward's head snapped toward me. "At this rate, I'm not gonna let you take me out."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not as if you were ever gonna let me take you out anyway."

"I will. I promised you. A promise is a promise." He ripped open the package as everyone cleaned up all the pieces of paper that covered the floor.

Max ran over to us again, eyeing he Xbox games Edward was holding. "You got games! Can we play now?"

"Tomorrow," Edward laughed. He bent down and gave me a quick kiss. "Thank you. I love it all so much."

"You're welcome." I was so glad he liked it. I didn't think he'd hate it by any means, but it's always good to hear him say he loves what I get him.

"Edward!" Emmett yelled from upstairs, and Edward's head jerked toward the stairs. He turned toward Max and me. "Bells, I'll be right back. Max, you wanna come help me with something?"

"Yeah!" Max ran upstairs and Edward followed behind.

I sat and waited, because apparently, girls weren't allowed upstairs.

Edward came back down a few minutes later with a big box in his arms. Max followed him down big a huge grin plastered on his face. Just as Edward took the last step off the
staircase, the lid of the box fell off and a puppy poke its head out.

Edward flinched back and laughed as he leaned forward and whispered into the puppy's ear. "Not yet." He walked over with a wide smile. "Merry Christmas, baby."

I sat there, too shocked to do anything. I didn't know whether to jump for joy, hug Edward, hug Max, or hug the puppy.

Max was all but jumping up and down. "It's a puppy!"

I laughed at the way he stated the obvious.

Everyone was staring now, and I wondered if Edward felt uncomfortable.

"You didn't really believe that I didn't get you a present, did you?" He was still smiling own at me, and I realized I hadn't said anything to him.

He put the box down next to me and I flitted up to give him a big hug. "Thank you so much. I love it."

He kissed my neck and laughed. I felt my knees tingle. "Him. And you're very welcome."

I turned around to see the puppy trying to climb out of the box. He had a baby blue bow around his neck. I leaned down and picked him up. "Oh, my God…look at you! You're
adorable!" I noticed a silver necklace hanging from his neck and looked back into his beautiful brown eyes. "And what a beautiful necklace you have!"

Edward cleared his throat behind me. "That's…not the dog's." I turned to look at him. He took the necklace off the dog's neck and put it around mine. "It's yours."

I looked down at the pendant – a silver and gold heart lock with a small key dangling at its side. "Thank you. It's beautiful." I don't know why, but I felt like crying.

Edward bent down and kissed me sweetly. "You're welcome, love."

We put all of our presents into Edward's room and went back downstairs to join everyone in the living room.

Edward and I sat on either side of the puppy on the couch. "We can go back upstairs if you want to."

"No, I'm fine." He gave me a small smile and scratched behind the puppy's ear.

"You sure?"

"Positive." He looked okay, so I let it go. "Why are we watching this? Home Alone is on."

Alice turned from her spot on the floor to look at Edward. "Max's dad doesn't want him to watch that because they say 'stupid' and 'idiot' and stuff."

Edward's face fell. "It's rated PG."

Alice shrugged and turned back to the TV.

Edward took the puppy in his lap and scooted closer to me. "It's not as if he doesn't know what those words mean. He knows not to use them."

He was starting to get mad, so I just shrugged. I didn't want to add fuel to the fire. "As long as Max enjoy the movie, it's fine." I bumped knees with him to lighten things
up. "Don't act like you didn't love The Ultimate Christmas Present as a kid."

He let out a small sigh. "I know he likes the movie. That's not what's making me upset." He turned to the TV.

"I know," I said apologetically. He was mad because of the way Mr. Radkey had to control everything.

I rubbed between the puppy's ears and looked up at Edward. "What's his name?"

"Huh?" He looked at me, then down at the puppy. "Oh, sorry." He picked the dog up and held it in the air. "Bells, meet Connor. Connor, Bells. Or, uh…Bella."

I laughed at Edward. "He can call me Bells." I picked Connor up. "Hi, Connor." I scrunched up my face as he licked me.

It was great to hear Edward's sweet laugh. "He's a black Lab. Just three weeks old. Max picked him out at the shelter. I was gonna get a Boxer, but Max said this one looked
coooooler and that you were lame so you needed something to make you cool." I cocked a brow at him. Max didn't say that. "Okay, okay. He didn't call you lame. But he did say
Connor looked cool. I asked your dad and he said he doesn't mind having a dog in the house. And obviously we don't mind having him here."

I smiled up at Edward before leaning my back against his side. I laid Connor down in my lap and pulled my legs up. I snuggled into Edward's side as he wrapped an arm around
me, pulling me closer.

Edward watched the movie, but I was facing the other way. I cuddled with Connor and Edward reached down to pet him once in a while. I couldn't help thinking that the three of
us were like a family. It felt good to know that the thought of having a family with Edward didn't scare me in any way.

I wondered if Edward thought the same thing when he got Connor.

Right then, he bent down to kiss the top of my head and whisper his love for me. My heart melted at that simple moment, and I turned to look at him with a smile.

After everyone left, we went up to Edward's room, and Edward all but collapsed on his back on the bed.

I laid Connor on Edward's stomach and he let out a huff of air as he held the puppy in place. "You did well today, buddy. Almost chewed off Em's sock, but it's okay."

I laughed as I got undressed. I threw on one of Edward's worn NYU t-shirts and lay down next to him on the bed. "He's so quiet."

"He's just not used to being around us."

Edward got up and put Connor in the bed he'd bought for him. As soon as Edward turned and walked back to the bed, Connor jumped out and followed him.

Edward put the dog back in and laid a hand on his back. "Stay." He backed away slowly, but after a couple of steps, Connor followed him again.

Edward just crawled into bed with a sigh and Connor tried to jump onto the bed twice before giving up and laying down on the floor next to Edward.

He whimpered and I crawled over Edward to peek down at Connor. His ears perked up and he lifted his head to look at me. I looked at Edward and pouted. "Aw…he's sad."

He grabbed my hips and turned me so that I was straddling his waist. "Stop pouting. He's not sleeping with us."

I peered over to the other bed and side-eyed Edward.

"No, Bella. He's fine where he is. He needs to know that he can't sleep in our bed."

I felt my heart flutter at the mention of "our bed." Our bed. That sounded…yeah…I liked it. A lot. I looked back down at Connor. He was already asleep.

Edward hooked his index finger into the waistband of my panties and pulled it back, letting it snap against my skin.

"Ow, baby." I rubbed the skin under my waistband.

"I wanna use my coupon."

I let out a small laugh and looked at him suggestively. "Use it."

He squeezed my thighs and bit his bottom lip. "As sexy as you look in your underwear and my t-shirt right now, I want to save it for a day where I'm not too tired to do what I wanna do."

"What do you wanna do?" I placed my hands on his chest and scooted back a bit.

He grabbed my hips and groaned. "Stop moving."

I smiled at the feel of the soft cotton of his Rangers pajama pants against my thighs – and the feel of his cock against my butt. He wasn't hard, but there was definitely a fullness there.

"Tell me what you want to do when you use the coupon."

"You know how you tie me to the bed?"

"Yeah."

"Well…yeah."

"You're gonna tie me up?"

"Yeah."

Yes! Finally. "Why haven't you ever done it before?"

"Tied you up?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think you'd want to do it."

"You should've asked. Or at least told me you wanted to do it."

He shrugged again.

"Edward, you know I like being teased."

He smirked up at me. "Not as much as you like doing the teasing."

I felt myself blush and changed the subject. "So tell me."

He brought a hand up to my cheek, and I knew he saw the reddened skin. "Tell you what?"

"Why don't you like being around people?"

He dropped his head and looked down at my hands on his chest. "It's not…" He let out a sigh and looked back up at me. "I don't mind being around you or my family. But I feel
uncomfortable when other people are around."

"Do you feel anxious when there are other people?"

"I wouldn't call it anxious. I feel…"

"Paranoid?"

"No. I don't know what the feeling is."

"Do you feel trapped?"

His pressed his lips into a thin line. "No. Stop acting like you're my therapist. Don't treat me like one of your patients."

"I'm – I'm not." It hurt that he thought I was treating him like a patient. I wasn't trying to be a therapist right now. I was just trying to understand. "Please don't think that. I'm your
wi– girlfriend." Please, God. I'm begging you. Please make it so that he didn't catch that slip-up.

"So listen to me and let me explain." I was relieved to know he didn't hear it. I almost called myself his wife. I didn't say anything and he continued. "I don't know what I feel when I'm
around other people, but I feel uncomfortable. I think what I feel is…fear. Because I know they're judging me. And I know you guys aren't. I don't want to be judged, Bella. What I did
doesn't make me a bad person."

"Edward, people are always going to judge you. Always. Whether they know you or not. Whether you make the right decisions or not. You know this – you've told me a countless number
of times. I promise you, everyone doesn't know what happened. It's not possible for everyone to know, everywhere you go. Do people at work ask you questions about it?"

He nodded silently.

"Then they're not judging you. They want to know what happened. If they ask, it's because they want to know the truth. They're not children. They're grown men and women. And I'm
sure they've been through a lot of things in their lives, too. Most of them probably sympathize with you. Don't be scared to be around them. They're people you already know. Do you
feel uncomfortable around people you don't know?"

"Not as much. But if they stare at me, yeah, I feel weird."

I gave him a small smile. "Maybe they're just staring because you're hot and they're not."

I saw a hint of a smile as he nudged me with his leg. "No."

"If they're really staring at you because of what you did, then fuck them. It's not as if they've never made a mistake." I traced the planes of his chest with my thumbs and looked up at
him when he shuddered. His body was starting to get toned again. "How do you feel at the gym?"

"I go with Emmett. When I'm there, I just focus on him. I don't think about anyone else. That's what I did downstairs. When I felt the fear set in, I just focused on you and Connor."

"Does it help enough to calm you down?"

"Yeah."

"But we're not always going to be with you."

"I know. But I'm just going to hope it works for now. And then maybe this will all just go away later."

"What if it doesn't?" I wasn't trying to be negative, but he couldn't live this way his entire life. It would completely drain him.

"It will. I think it's getting better already."

"Edward, we had to leave Rockefeller early," I said dryly. He had to stop brushing this off like it was nothing.

"I know. I'm sorry. It just…got to be too much after a while. There was so much going on and so many people around." He pushed the hem of my shirt up and placed his hand on my
stomach, rubbing up and down. "At first it wasn't so bad, but then…I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't want to keep you from doing things you want to do."

"Baby, I can assure you that you're not keeping me from doing anything." I cradled his face in my palm and leaned down to kiss him. "Okay?" He tried to turn his head but I held it in
place. "Edward, please."

When he finally met my gaze, I knew. He was a completely different person than he was a year ago. "Okay."

He was still my Edward, but he had changed so much. I'd never seen him hurt as much as he had during this past year. He was still a fun-loving person, but he was more secluded
now. He went from being one of the most outgoing and talkative people I knew to a private person in such a short amount of time. I don't know if it's because he's maturing or if it's
because of what happened and where he went, but either way, I love him. It's as simple as that.

I turned off the bedside lamp, laid down next Edward, and curled up into a ball. He turned to face me and pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arm around me and burying his face in my hair.

"Thank you for being so understanding."

"Anytime." I couldn't explain how happy I was that he trusted me enough to tell me these things without a problem.

"And for referring to yourself as my wife."

I gasped. He heard.

"You heard that?" I groaned.

"Yes. And I loved it. Bella, my heart soared at that slip-up."

"It wasn't a slip-up. There's no such thing. Remember when I told you about the Freudian slip?"

"Mhm."

"I believe in that. Edward, it wasn't a mistake. I want to be your wife."

He stopped breathing for a few seconds and I moved my head to look up at him. I could barely make out his features, but I knew he was looking down at me. "I'd love for that to happen."

He tucked my head under his chin and I kissed the hollow of his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I felt myself falling asleep, but stayed awake just long enough to hear it. "Always."

How'd you like it?
Sorry nothing amazingly interesting happened, but yayyy, they got a puppy! (:
Did you all see Water for Elephants? It was sad. And good! I think it's pretty cool that Rob played Reese's son in Vanity Fair, and now they're lovers in WFE. Also, I'm in love with Christoph Waltz. I loved him after I saw Inglourious Basterds and I love him even more after WFE.

And did you guys see Rob's new dog, Bear? Adorable! He said that they used Bear for WFE, and he was going to go back to a shelter, so Rob adopted him. The only pictures I've seen of bear are the pictures of Kristen walking him in NYC.

Hope you guys liked this chapter. (:

Please review!