A/N: Hi there. Welcome to this week's chapter. I can't believe there are so many of you who come back each week to read my little story. Thank you all for your love and support for POMH.

I'm sure most of you will be glad to finally get what they've been waiting for, well, at least part of it.

Before I let you get to it, I want to send love and kisses to my betas EdwardsMate4ever and evelyn-shaye as well as my pre-reader Vampgirl79. I'm glad to be able to work with you ladies. To make one thing clear, though, every error you'll find is all mine because I always change things around until the minute I post.

Now, enjoy Bella and Edward's "Coming Out". See you at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but I love to play with it's characters.

******POMH******

Chapter 21 – Coming Out

The week had gone by quickly, with Edward and me working long hours. We talked on the phone every night, but only on Wednesday had he left work early to come to bring me dinner at my studio. We spent a nice evening with a very memorable photo-session. Edward persuaded me to pose for him, first in my underwear, then later in the nude. In the end, he had joined me in front of the camera to take some juicy live action pictures. We had a great time, although it was strange for me to be the model for once. Before saying goodbye, he had asked me to stay the weekend with him, which made my heart skip a beat.

On Friday night, Edward had picked me up to meet our friends for dinner. Alice's eyes popped wide open when she spotted Edward and me walking toward the table, holding hands. I hadn't talked to her much since Thanksgiving and, since I wasn't really sure myself what had happened, I hadn't told her about the changes in our, well, relationship. But I was aware that Edward and I would have to talk about us, our status, and before that talk I wasn't sure what we were. I knew what I wanted us to be, though, and for the first time, I wasn't afraid of truly being with someone. I was only afraid that Edward might feel differently.

Although I wanted to make things clear between us as soon as possible, I had decided not to address the topic before Edward's business trip. I didn't want to leave things being awkward between us if we weren't on the same page. So I pushed those thoughts away and just enjoyed being with him.

"Hey guys," Alice greeted us, her eyes locked on our joined hands before she managed to look up at our faces.

"Hi, Alice, hi, Jazz," we answered in unison, then laughed about it. We shared a round of hugs before Edward pulled out my chair for me and we sat down.

Alice looked smugly at us sitting quite close together, Edward's hand on my thigh, as she started the conversation. "So, Edward, how did you get along with the chief? I know he can be difficult sometimes."

"Actually, we got along very well. He took me to a bar, and we watched sports." He deliberately left out the part where my dad had asked him to be good to me and take care of me.

I could see in her eyes that she knew there was more. "And, how did you sleep on the couch? I think the chief has had that old thing for, what, twenty-five years?" Although Alice was beating about the bush, I knew that she was fishing for information.

"Well, I don't really know. I found another place to sleep, and that was pretty cozy." Again, Edward hinted but didn't really give anything away.

"How did you like Forks, Ed? I remember when I first went there I thought I had traveled back in time," Jasper laughed. Usually, when I was around, he didn't talk about the time he visited with Jacob, but he seemed to notice that I was finally over my past.

Edward laughed heartily. "It's really something, I think. It's unbelievable that a hicksville like that has bred ladies like these two, isn't it? But the landscape is really beautiful. Bella took me to First Beach. I totally understand why it's so popular with tourists."

Both Jasper and Alice looked at me like I had grown a second head, surprised that I had given up my resistance to go near La Push. Even though the past was finally in the past, we all understood that going back there had been a difficult decision for me. Over the years, there had been several occasions when Alice or even both had wanted me to go there with them, but I'd always refused.

"So, how was your Thanksgiving?" I tried to change the subject, just when the waitress came to bring the menus and serve the bottle of red wine Alice and Jasper had already ordered.

"It went well. Jasper and my dad got along surprisingly well. They even went out together Saturday night." I wondered if that was when he had asked his future father-in-law for Alice's hand. Edward had already told me that Mr. Brandon had given his blessing. In a strange way, that was exactly what Charlie had done with Edward, although he wasn't even my boyfriend — at least not officially.

"What did your parents say when you told them you're planning to spend Christmas in Chicago?" Even though the two of them had been living together for three years now, this Christmas would be the first they'd celebrate together. Since Alice was an only child, her parents would probably be sitting alone around their Christmas tree.

"My mom was close to tears, but my dad said it was okay before she could object. He was acting a little strange Sunday morning. Maybe he had too much to drink. Jazz refuses to tell me anything about their guys night out." She elbowed him in the ribs in mock outrage.

He chuckled, holding his side to protect himself from further attacks. "Ed, would you please tell her that the bro code forbids us to tell on each other? She won't believe me."

"He's right, Alice. It's against the code. Sorry." Edward had the sincerest expression on this face, but the way his hand lightly squeezed my thigh showed me that he was helping his friend out.

After the waitress had taken our orders, Alice announced that she had to go to the ladies' room and that I absolutely needed to freshen up my lipstick. Because I wasn't wearing any lipstick, I knew what she intended, and I knew her well enough to be sure that there wasn't really a way around giving an account of myself.

As soon as the bathroom door had closed behind us, Alice turned around with an almost crazy gleam in her eyes. "Bella, how couldn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I wasn't sure what there was to tell.

"That the two of you are together!" She squealed.

I looked down at my hands, too insecure to look her in the eye. "Because we're not, at least not officially," I answered in a small voice.

"What do you mean? You look very together." She led me over to a sofa that was standing against a wall.

"And it feels like that, too. But we haven't talked about it yet," I replied uncomfortably.

She took my hand to show me her support. "What changed? When did it change? Did anything happen?"

"Well, things have been different since Thanksgiving. We talked a lot. We still have great sex but, there's more, you know? He holds my hand, and I let him. He puts his arm around my waist, and I don't feel like I have to run away. It just feels … right." I spoke quietly, afraid to say these things out loud and jinx it.

"Bella, that's good. You are so right for each other. You're perfect together, just like he was the piece of the puzzle that has always been missing. If you're honest with yourself, you'll see that you knew it all along." Her gaze held mine, and I understood that she was sure of her words.

I nodded slowly, making Alice beam with joy. "So, when are you going to talk to him? Tonight?" She seemed calm and sincere on the outside, although I knew her well enough to know that she was jumping up and down on the inside.

"No," I blurted out. "Not before his business trip. I'll wait until he's back."

Her eyes were full of sympathy. "What are you afraid of, Bella?"

"That he doesn't want to be with me," I whispered, unable to hide my embarrassment. I felt like a teenager all over again.

"You're being absurd. Of course he wants to be with you. Don't you see the way he looks at you? How proudly he smiles when he's holding your hand? Don't be afraid." I wanted to believe her, I really did, but still, I wasn't ready to talk to Edward.

"I'll wait anyway. What's another week?"

"Okay, but don't wait too long." She let go of my hand and walked over to the big mirror on the wall to check her makeup. "I have to admit that I've been suspicious since you told me that we didn't need to pick you up tonight. But I hadn't really expected to see you two walk in holding hands like it was the most natural thing in the world. Did you really do it in your bed with your dad sleeping in the other room?" she asked while she powdered her nose.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as Alice's eyes lit up. "Well, yes."

"How did you do it?" She was beyond excited now.

"Alice," I scolded.

She rolled her eyes at me. "I mean, how did you do it that the chief didn't notice?"

"Edward snuck into my room when Charlie and Sue were asleep. He kind of surprised me that first night. The second night, I had invited him. I set the alarm early enough for him to sneak back downstairs before they woke up." I left out what we had done and what we had talked about. It was way too private even to share it with my best friend.

"I'm dying to hear more, but I guess the guys are only seconds away from sending a search party in here to look for us." With that, Alice took my hand, and we joined Edward and Jasper again.

****POMH****

Edward never asked what Alice and I had talked about. He just greeted me with a kiss when I sat down again. It was the first time we'd kissed in public without being on a crowded dance floor and horny beyond reason.

Alice watched us the whole evening, keeping a mental record of every kiss, every touch and every gaze Edward and I shared.

This double date situation was a first for me. I'd been on double dates with Alice and her various boyfriends, but I'd never enjoyed it. Tonight, everything was perfect. We all knew each other very well, and I didn't feel the need to pretend to be someone I was not, as I always had with other men.

The night passed by in no time. After dinner, we relocated to a bar and had a few drinks and a lot of fun. When the time came for all of us to go home, it felt unbelievably good to say goodbye to our friends and drive home with Edward like it was the normal thing to do.

****POMH****

Saturday morning, I woke up in our now-usual position: my head on Edward's chest, his arms around me. His bed exuded the familiar smell — a combination of the fresh scent of the washing detergent and the very prominent, thick odor of sex.

Without lifting my head, I took in our surroundings. Our clothes were scattered on the floor around the bed — we had pulled them off in a hurry last night — while the condom wrapper was still lying on the nightstand.

The display of Edward's digital alarm clock told me it was nine a.m. Unaware of any plans for today, I sighed quietly, happy that we weren't in any hurry to leave the bed. I didn't want to wake Edward, so I just stayed where I was, reveling in the feeling of perfection I felt there and then.

About half an hour later, he began to stir, moving his hand up and down my back.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered against my hair as he kissed the top of my head while his hand grabbed my ass.

"Good morning," I answered when I lifted my head up to meet his lips with mine. Before the kiss could turn into anything serious, I broke away. "Did you have anything special planned when you decided to keep me here till Sunday?" I asked in a light and playful tone.

"Well, I had a few things in mind." He captured my mouth again, kissing me deeply, but I stopped him after a few moments.

"Don't get me wrong, I love what we're doing, but if you planned to stay in bed, taking care of this" — I wrapped my hand around his very prominent erection — "all day, then I'll be very sore tomorrow."

Edward chuckled as his fingers started to slowly run down the middle of my chest. "I actually did have something planned. I was going to get some Christmas shopping done, and I hoped you would help me. I could really use your input finding presents for my mom and Rosalie. And tonight, I wanted to cook for you. But you just gave me an idea, and I'm very tempted to postpone the shopping."

His index finger was circling my belly button with the intent of moving farther south as his lips were on my neck.

"Edward, I think shopping is a really good idea, but if you don't stop what you're doing right now, I don't think we'll be leaving this bed any time soon." I closed my eyes and was about to start working his cock with my hand when his lips left my neck with a sigh.

"You're right. But hold that thought until later."

I rolled to my back before he jumped out of the bed and headed for the door. Standing in the doorway, he turned to look at me. One of his brows was raised in a playful way. "Are you coming? We could both use a shower."

****POMH****

Although we had decided to head out soon, we spent a good while in the shower. As I washed him, I gave him a hand-job, and in return, he made me come twice by the use of his magical fingers.

We had breakfast at a cute little cafe before we dove into the crowd of early Christmas shoppers. We decided to call it a day earlier than expected when we realized we'd found gifts for every one. Edward had bought a beautiful black leather purse for his mother, a special edition of a medical book for his father, a colorful silk scarf for his sister-in-law and a limited edition DVD box of the complete Harry Potter movies for Emmett.

While we had been at it, I had purchased an outdoor jacket for Charlie and a pair of brown leather gloves for Sue.

All day, we'd had our arms around each other or were holding hands, laughing a lot. I couldn't remember why I usually hated Christmas shopping when it was so much fun doing it with Edward.

Back at his place, he showed me once again how well he knew his way around the kitchen when he cooked us a special meal including steak, baked potatoes and glazed carrots. Edward whirling around, frying, baking and boiling stuff was one of the sexiest things I'd ever seen and made me fall for him all over again.

After dinner, we picked up where we'd left off in the morning before we fell asleep happy and satisfied with the world.

****POMH****

Sunday morning, Edward was in the bathroom, about to take a shower, when the phone started to ring. I was still in bed, naked under the covers, but about to join him once the water was running.

"Baby, would you take that call, please?" he shouted through the closed bathroom door.

Never before had I picked up his phone. "Are you sure?" I asked insecurely. Did he really want people to know I was here?

"Yes, I'm sure. It has to be Emmett. He wanted to call before I leave for New Orleans tonight. He won't be surprised if you answer the phone."

I was still unsure if it was alright when I took the phone in my hand and pressed the green button.

"Hello?" I greeted the caller a little hoarsely.

"Hello," a female voice on the other end of the line answered, obviously surprised. "This is Esme Cullen. Am I speaking with Bella?" she asked. My eyes went wide and my heart began to race. This was Edward's mother on the phone, she seemed to know my name, and she didn't sound bothered by me answering her son's phone early on a Sunday morning.

I realized I had been silent for a bit too long and forced myself to talk. "Good morning, Mrs. Cullen. Yes, I'm Bella. I'm sorry, Edward asked me to pick up." I wasn't sure, but I might have stuttered in my nervousness.

"There's no problem, honey. I just thought I'd give my son a call before he heads off to Louisiana. But if he's busy, I'll just wait for him to call me back." I thought I heard amusement in her voice when Edward came hurrying over to me, taking the phone out of my hands.

"Hi, Mom. Sorry, but I was too far away from the phone. How are you? How's Dad?" He threw me an apologetic look when I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to avoid listening in on his conversation with his mother.

I took my time in the shower, hoping Edward would eventually join me. But when my hair had been shampooed and conditioned, my legs and other areas shaved and my whole body cleaned with shower gel repeatedly, I couldn't delay leaving the shower any longer.

When I was putting away the blow dryer, Edward finally entered the bathroom. He walked up to me, threw my hair over my right shoulder and started to kiss my neck as his arms wrapped around my waist to pull my back against his stomach.

"Sorry, baby. I really wanted to shower with you, but my mom just wouldn't stop talking." He sighed with unmasked disappointment.

"Hey, how about you take a shower now, and I'll see if I'm able to cook breakfast in your kitchen?"

Reluctantly, he let go of me, and after cleaning up the bedroom, I went to the kitchen.

****POMH****

"Hmm, if you don't stop doing this, I'm going to miss my flight," Edward moaned into my mouth as my hand moved up and down his thigh, getting closer to his erection with each upward stroke. We'd been sitting in Edward's car in front of my apartment building, saying goodbye to each other, for a good fifteen minutes.

It started as a chaste kiss, building up until we reached full make-out mode. He was right; if he wouldn't stop me soon, I'd jump him here in the middle of a relatively busy street in his car in broad daylight. Edward's mother had messed up our schedule for today, and since he'd still had to pack a bag for his business trip that started this afternoon, we'd had no time to make up for the missed shower time together.

After a few more minutes, he pulled away, holding my face in his hands, his eyes locked with mine.

"I'll miss you, you know?" he said in a serious tone.

"I'll miss you, too." I love you! Oh. My. God.

Where did that come from? I hadn't dared to think these words before. I hadn't been aware I was feeling them. And right now, they had almost spilled out of my mouth. I couldn't get into that, right then. It was neither the time nor the place to start that conversation. That talk had to wait until Edward would return from Louisiana.

"Bella, I really have to go. Please, take care of yourself." He touched his lips to mine once more before forcing a smile on his face. "I'll call you, okay?"

I smiled back, hoping he wouldn't notice the treacherous moistness that was starting to fill my eyes. This was absurd and embarrassing. Usually we didn't see each other more than three times a week, so we'd only be missing out on maybe two meetings. But somehow, I felt my chest getting tighter, which was my cue to leave before he would notice my disproportionate sadness and think I was a total nut job.

"Have a safe trip," I murmured before crushing my lips to his for one last time. I took my bag from the backseat and stepped out of the car. Slowly, I walked towards the entrance of my building as I watched Edward wave at me and drive away.

********POMH********

A/N: Hi again. Was the chapter what you thought it would be? If not, what did you expect? I don't know if you paid close attention to the first paragraph. If you did, you may think the photo-session they had on Wednesday would be worth writing. That's what I thought, too. It actually was chapter 21 in my original draft. The closer I got to having it beta'd the more I thought that it doesn't really fit the story. It's fun and all, but it doesn't move the plot forward, and therewith, it messes with the flow of things. BUT, since I wrote it, and I like it, I'll give it to you as an outtake some time later. I don't know when yet, but you'll definitely get to read it.

Now, what's going to happen next week? Here's a little peek:

… "What are you wearing?" Edward inquired huskily. …

I'm sure you all know where this question will lead, don't you? Before I'll let you go, I want to remind you that I'd love to meet you on Facebook in the Payton79's Fanfiction group where I post teasers, pics and some other stuff. The link is on my profile.

See you again next Tuesday.