A/N: Every time I get my groove on real life gets funky. One of the things I love about the people I count amongst my friends in the fandom is their capacity for caring and their encouragement of me even when real life is raging like mad. As Always, thanks to my best fandom friends, my beta team SSHG316, Charmie77, acireamos and Savage Woman for beta'ing and helping to make TLC the best it can be. I also want to thank Anythingzombie for pre-reading for me and giving me a younger woman's POV on the subject matter of this chapter. Thank you all for continuing to challenge me in various ways that blesses and inspire me.

I have Gift Fic completed which appeared on The Twilight Gift Exchange last week. Go check it out. For web address and more info see below.

Trust, Loyalty, Commitment

STOP THE WORLD

By Maxwell

Someone stop the world, yeah
Seems like the moment has come and I'm gonna get you girl
The shadows are forming across your parts the vision looks absurd
No one around to interrupt the feelings you stir babe

Imagine if it was, if this was you, if this was I
So perfectly designed to be here all night
Let the world rage outside, cause when I'm here with you
The world stops for me, the world stops for me

And then extraordinary, ordinary things
Things I can't explain, with subtext, the world stops for me
And girl you know just what I mean, I need you girl...
Sing me a song, sing it soft, sing it long, girl stop my world, oh

We about to stop the world tonight
We're about to love we ain't got no worries no battles
I'm gonna be with my girl tonight

You are my own, yeah
We about to stop the world tonight
Make yourself at home
I'm gonna be with my girl tonight
And lay here all night long
We about to stop the world tonight
Oh yeah

"The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it."
--Nahum 1:5b NIV

Chapter 18 - Someone Stop The World

BPOV

"Now, about where you're going to be staying, can we discuss that for just a second?" Edward asked softly. His green eyes were still smoldering from that soul-stealing kiss he'd just laid on Bella. For a few seconds she felt incapable of a response because he was idly caressing her back, sending mini shock-waves through every nerve his hands came in contact with. She tried not to react to his knowing touch, but her traitorous body was already doing so. Her ability to speak was still severely impaired.

"Um." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, shook herself mentally, and began again. "Sure. Tell me again why I can't stay in my apartment?"

"Your place would be the first place someone would look, and until an alarm is installed, hopefully right after the holiday; I won't feel comfortable with you being there alone." Edward moved his hands under the curtain of her hair, his thumbs massaging at the base of her neck.

"Ooh, ah—neither do I, if you put it like that. Well, I could stay at my parents," she mused, fisting her hands in his shirt involuntarily as his thumbs continued loosening the tightness and stress in her neck. Thinking finally of the idea of staying at her parents' home, Bella got a vivid visual of her dad sitting in the den waiting up for her just as he had done all the years she'd lived there. That was not something she wanted to relive as a young adult. She was also not ready for the barrage of questions he would inevitably have if she had Edward coming by multiple times while she was staying there. "But I don't want to bother them with my comings and goings at odd hours, and it's a holiday weekend. I could bunk at Angela's or Alice and Jasper's—"

"Or with me," Edward interjected calmly. His hands migrated to her shoulders, and he kneaded the muscles there as he set about convincing her that his was the best option. "It's perfect because I have an alarm system in my apartment, and if you're not going to stay with your dad, who has police training, then I am your next best option. I mean, I love Jasper, but he's a youth pastor for goodness sake. I know you and Angela would give your lives for one another, but I prefer it not be on my watch or at all, for that matter."

It took Bella a few seconds to grasp what he was saying. Had he actually just offered her the option of staying at his place? This was not something she would have expected at this stage in their relationship, but the means justified the end, or was it the other way around? She absolutely could not think straight. All she had to do was say yes, and she would be having a sleepover with her extremely gorgeous boyfriend. This was a milestone that she hadn't seen happening for months or, at the very least, several more weeks.

Who was she kidding? She had no frame of reference for this. It had never been an option in any other relationship she'd ever been in. Her father had drummed that whole "shun the very appearance of evil" thing into her brain. But this situation was different. She was emotionally invested in Edward in a way that she had never been with anyone else. He was someone that she could see herself falling in love with very easily, and perhaps she was already more than halfway there. Not to mention the fact that his touch sent her to the moon and back frequently. It occurred to her that this was something he had done before, numerous times, and here she was quibbling over it in her head like a teenager.

"I promise," he said raising his right hand as if he were being sworn in. "I'll be the perfect gentleman. You can have my bed. I'll take the couch."

Bella smiled, hastening to reassure him. "I wasn't hesitating because of that. I was just thinking I'll need to run by and pick up a few things, okay?" Not quite the truth, but how do you tell a man who practically melts your ovaries that you will spend several nights with him and not fear that you will give him everything he wants and then some?

"Then it's settled?" he inquired eagerly.

"Yes," she said finally. "It's settled." Memorial Day weekend would definitely test her faith. Big time.

The Festival was a rousing success; the residents and children left worn out and happy. Bella, Edward and the volunteers made quick work of clean up. They were so busy she didn't have time to think about where she would be spending the night or what to expect while there. And it wasn't that she didn't trust that Edward would be the perfect gentleman he promised to be, she was more worried about herself and the fact that she couldn't keep her hands off him when they were alone together. She gave her libido a stern talking to while she packed her overnight bag. Only time would tell if her libido would behave. Before she knew it, they had left her car parked in front of the leasing office of her complex and were on their way to Edward's apartment. He explained to her that if someone were looking for her car, they would look in front of her apartment building, and moving it might save it from vandalism if someone looking for her was so inclined to inflict damage upon her car.

Edward gave her a host's tour of his apartment, and once she knew where the towels were, she was good to go. He insisted on changing the linens on the bed for her, and she stepped in to help. While stripping the bed, she wondered how many women in Tallahassee alone had shared his bed. She scolded herself immediately, realizing it wasn't fair to him. He had given up that lifestyle for her, and she needed to not even entertain those thoughts. Shaking herself internally, she became immersed in watching him make the bed. Edward was definitely a product of the military when it came to bed-making. The sheets were taut, crisp, and all the angles were just so.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Edward stood erect as he dropped the last corner of the comforter in place.

"Your bed-making skills put me to shame."

"One of the first things I had to learn in the Marines. Improper maintenance of your sleeping quarters was grounds for corrective action."

"Corrective action?"

"Yeah, extra push ups, extra laps, extra rounds through the obstacle course..."

Bella didn't know what came over her, but she grabbed the comforter and yanked it. "What, um, corrective action will I be subjected to for mussing up the bed?"

A smile erupted on Edward's face. He began to walk slowly around the end of the bed toward her. Dropping the comforter, she did a handspring onto the bed trying to elude him, but he changed course and moved quickly back to the side of the bed where she was headed and caught her. They both tumbled onto the bed, a mass of tangled arms and legs. Bella allowed him to draw her close into his arms, and his lips claimed hers. He broke the kiss only because his cell phone buzzed. Groaning he sat up and retrieved it from his pocket. Bella continued to lay splayed out on the bed, kind of miffed at whoever interrupted them, while Edward answered his phone.

"Sorry," he said, looking quickly at the screen. "It's Emmett—just a sec." He flipped the phone open. "Hey, bro. What's up?"

While listening to Emmett, he looked back at her lying on the bed. Bella smiled and crooked her finger, silently calling him back to her on the bed. He leaned down and pecked her lightly on the lips.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Edward said into the phone, then he smiled mischievously at Bella and took her bottom lip into his mouth gently sucking it.

Goodbye, dry panties. She let out a low moan.

Edward released her lip reluctantly.

"Yes, Bella's here. Why do you wanna know?" he asked as he caressed her slowly down her side, his hand coming to rest on her hip.

Edward laughed. "Sure, hold on." He offered the phone to her. "Em says Rosalie wants to talk to you."

"Me?" Bella questioned. "Why?"

Edward shrugged and handed her the phone as he sat up and pulled her up with one hand.

"Hello," Bella said into the phone, not taking her eyes off Edward. As her fingers danced across his chest, he caught her hand in his and kissed her palm.

"Hey, Bella. I just wanted to make sure the plans these oafs were making are okay with you," Rosalie said without preamble.

"What plans?" Bella asked. She touched the slight dimple in Edward's chin and kissed it.

"Dinner and a movie over there with you guys," Rosalie explained.

"Yeah, that's fine by me." Edward kissed her behind her ear, and she steeled herself not to make any sound.

"Good. You never know with these two. They've had a bromance going on for years." Rosalie laughed heartily as Emmett protested in the background. "What time do you want us to show up?"

"Seven?" Bella asked. She looked into Edward's green eyes for his answer to the same question.

"Seven's good," he murmured as he assaulted her neck.

"Seven's really good," Bella almost sang as she closed her eyes in appreciation of Edward's lips driving her crazy.

"The timing couldn't be more perfect. I want to run something by you later, and um, Bella," Rosalie said. "Tell Edward to behave."

"How did you—?"

"I have a super-sensitive make-out radar," she replied.

"True dat," Emmett yelled into the phone.

Bella laughed. "You guys are full of it."

"See you two at seven." Rosalie hung up.

Bella flipped Edward's phone shut and dropped it on the bed as they made good use of the time they had left before their guests arrived.

~888~

EPOV

"Really, you guys. Em likes Lady Gaga," Rosalie said, laughing. She sat on the sofa with Emmett on the floor in front of her, his hands lazily stroking her legs on either side of him. Bella and Edward were in a similar position, with Bella idly playing with the hair that curled at the base of Edward's neck. They had just finished eating dinner and were listening to the radio, relaxing before watching the movie. The DJ was playing Lady Gaga's "Love Game."

Edward chuckled. "Dude, say it ain't so. Do I need to put you through the Edward Cullen School of Great Music, my man?" Bella, giggling, continued to plunder Edward's hair with both hands, staying out of the fray.

"I just find that whole Madonna-like mystique she has kinda sexy," Emmett said. Rosalie looked appalled. "Just saying."

"She's a copycat," Rosalie scoffed. "And everything she doesn't copy is done for maximum self-promotion."

"That may be true, but I'm gonna be asking you to wear that kinky outfit she wears in that video." Emmett waggled his eyebrows. Rosalie popped him on top of the head, but then she leaned down and kissed the very spot she smacked.

Edward looked up at Bella, and sure enough, she was blushing profusely but smiling nonetheless. She stood up, and he wound his arms around one of her legs playfully as if he was not going to let her go. Damn. Even her legs give me a hard-on.

"I'm just going into the kitchen to get more wine," she explained, struggling to extricate her leg from his hold. "I promise I'll be right back." Finally he released her so he wouldn't embarrass himself by humping her leg like some adolescent pup.

Bella disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oh, you need to make sure you keep July eleventh open, dude," Emmett said. "Rose and I have decided to make it official while her family's in town this summer, and I can't do this without my best man."

Edward grinned and looked between him and Rosalie, who was smiling her little Mona Lisa smile. Emmett held up his fist, and he bumped it. "That's fantastic. You know I'm there for you, man."

"You think Bella would be interested in the other job?" Rosalie asked. "I can't choose between my friends without causing World War III—and no offense—but Alice is not going to get the top spot. She would take over."

"Ask her," Edward encouraged. "And no offense taken regarding Alice. She does tend to gravitate toward the elaborate."

Bella came back into the living room with a newly uncorked bottle of wine.

"More vino, people," she announced and began topping off everyone's glasses. Just as she finished with Emmett's glass, the doorbell rang.

Bella looked at Edward dubiously. "You want me to get it?"

"Sure." He took the bottle from her hand and began filling Rosalie's glass as Bella got the door.

He heard a voice he recognized. Oh shit! It was Melanie from two buildings over who had been January's flavor of the month. What the hell was she doing just showing up at his apartment like that? He pushed the wine bottle into Emmett's hand, who was looking at him with something like sympathy. Moving as quickly as he could, he joined Bella at the door, pulling her back flush against him and draping his arms around her body so Melanie would get the picture.

"Oh, hey," Melanie said sheepishly. "I was just telling your girlfriend that, um, my boyfriend moved in with me today, and I just wanted to return your TPD t-shirt." She thrust the shirt towards them, which somehow ended up in Bella's hands, and scurried away.

Edward reached over Bella's head to shut the door. She ducked under his arm to walk back into the living room, but he caught her hand before she could get away and turned her gently around to face him.

"Bella, I'm sorry." Her face was impassive, but she was chewing one side of her bottom lip, so he knew that little interchange had been awkward for her. "I wish she had just thrown the damn thing away. You didn't need to see that."

"As recently as a month and half ago, you were a different person," she said wryly and handed him the shirt. "It's ancient history as far as I'm concerned."

He took the shirt but pulled her into his arms as he accepted it. Rosalie and Emmett made a big production of looking for the movie they had brought with them and tried not to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Edward wanted so much to shield Bella from who he had been, but it was clear now that from time to time, the skeletons from his past would resurface at some point, the bones rattling around and making a lot of noise in his current relationship. Taking her hand in his, he led her into the kitchen to the trash can. He dropped the shirt in it.

Bella was horrified. "You didn't have to—"

"I know. Those shirts are a dime a dozen. I can get more at the precinct."

She looked relieved. "Thanks."

"Are you still up for a movie?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," she said, lacing her arm through his. "I'm curious to see what Emmett's choice is."

"You and me both," he said as they walked together back into the living room.

Despite the ever-present undercurrent of concern for Bella's frame of mind regarding that little incident, Edward decided they would move forward and try to get back into the festive mood they had forged earlier. Emmett had chosen the movie "Role Models." Edward thought that Bella and Rosalie would find the movie choice asinine, but they all found it oddly hilarious, even the potty-mouthed little kid. Mood restored, they really got into the movie. They were deep in the final medieval reenactment scene where the characters were dressed as members of KISS and going to help Augie win the Battle Royale, when the doorbell rang again.

Edward closed his eyes briefly in exasperation. Bella stiffened at his side, and he kissed her temple hoping to calm her. "Sorry," he whispered. He paused the movie. Then he turned to Emmett and Rosalie. "Excuse me, guys. I'll be right back."

He looked through the peephole, an audible groan escaping his lips unbidden. Two bikini-clad women with Coronas in hand stood at his door, one of whom he'd had a short fling with about six months before, whose name he couldn't quite remember. Cracking the door open just enough to hopefully turn them away quickly, he addressed them.

"There is a convention that most people in polite society practice. Ever hear of calling before just dropping by?" he asked sarcastically.

The women apparently found his question extremely funny and doubled over laughing.

"I have guests," he said shortly and began to close the door. The bolder of the two, the one with whom he'd been briefly involved, stepped into the door and bowled into him, pushing the door open wider. "Edward, this party looks boring. Come out and play with us by the pool—you'll have more fun." She slurred her words, and her breath smelled like day-old beer.

Emmett moved forward and stood a few feet behind Edward just in case he needed help getting the obviously wasted girls out the door.

"Um, you ladies need to leave," Edward said stiffly. "Now." He knew he was using the term "ladies" very loosely in this case. Glancing at Bella, he could tell that she was embarrassed and probably upset that this was happening, yet again. This night was turning into a nightmare. He felt like he was starring in an episode of "Punk'd" and Ashton Kutcher was about to run up to him wearing his trademark John Deere hat and laugh this whole thing off. But Ashton wasn't showing, and this girl, whose name he could not remember if his life depended on it, was getting gropey.

"Hey, girls," Emmett yelled, using his authoritative sheriff's voice. "You need to move along now. We're just two guys trying to enjoy an evening with our girlfriends. Come on now—"

The bold one sneered at Emmett. "This is Edward's apartment not yours." She tried her sexy voice on Edward again. "If you come out and play with us, I can promise you a ride on that beautiful disco stick of yours that you won't regret." She punctuated her request by grabbing his crotch. Edward forcefully removed her hand and pushed her outside the door into the waiting arms of her tipsy friend, then stepped back from her. Her Corona bottle dropped and shattered, beer and glass spewing everywhere.

"No! What are you... get the fuck away from me," he growled.

Bella, at this point, sprung up off the sofa and headed toward the door. From all indications, she looked calm, but in the blink of an eye, she methodically divested herself of her earrings and twisted her hair up, ready to come to blows with the woman if necessary. Emmett saw her intentions and grabbed her around the waist, but Bella strained to get to the woman who touched Edward. Rosalie moved behind Bella, picked up her earrings, and set them on the coffee table.

"Hey," Bella spat through clenched teeth. "What part of 'no' did you not understand?" She somehow eluded Emmett's grasp and was in the woman's face and pushing her further away from Edward, who promptly jumped between them.

"Baby, don't," Edward pleaded to Bella. "It's not worth it." He pulled her gently to him, trying to shield her from the inebriated woman.

"Who do you think you are, bitch?" the woman screeched, lunging for Bella but unable to get around Edward. The woman's friend grabbed her and pulled her back from the door, both of them crunching glass under their feet.

"I only see one woman here conducting herself like a female dog in heat," Bella replied dryly, looking around Edward at the woman. "And if you touch him again, I will put my foot so far up your well-worn reputation you won't be able to sit again, let alone accommodate a man. You got me?"

"From the feel of things, somebody's not doing their job," the woman snarked at Bella. Turning to Edward, she added, "Just say the word, baby, and I'll come back when they're gone and take care of that for you." She gestured toward a promising bulge in his pants. Apparently, his weeks of abstinence were weighing heavily on his libido.

"Okay, Bella might be too nice to say it, but I'm not. Bitches, if you don't get your cunt-trary asses out of this damn door right now, I will personally stomp the skank out of both of you." Rosalie rushed them, and the ho-bags bolted. Apparently, they didn't like their odds against the Amazonian blonde. Emmett grabbed Rosalie, closed the door, and then pulled his angry, physically shaking fiancée into his arms.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Bella looked up at Edward, her face crumpled with hurt, anger, embarrassment, and a range of other emotions she was unable to conceal, but he could not identify. She stepped back from him, her eyes not leaving his.

"Excuse me," she said softly and fled quickly to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Guilt assailed Edward. He glanced at Emmett and Rosalie, dropping his head. He then took a determined step toward the bathroom door.

Rose stepped in front of him.

"Let me go talk to her, Edward," she said calmly. "I've got a perspective on this sort of thing, remember?" She smiled at him and looked pointedly at Emmett.

"What?" Emmett said innocently but grew pale under Rosalie's glare.

"Rosalie, I should be the one to talk to her. This is my past biting me in the ass. I need to let her know that I am not that guy anymore," Edward protested.

"You'll get your chance later," Rosalie assured him. "She's hurt and embarrassed right now, and probably a little pissed at you, so give her a little time to calm down. I promise I won't bash you if it comes to that."

"Okay," Edward relented, running both hands through his hair in frustration. "Try the door from my bedroom. I don't think it's locked."

Rosalie disappeared through the door, leaving him and Emmett staring helplessly at one another.

~888~

BPOV

Bella was seething over what had just transpired with not one, but two of Edward's former hook-ups. She had never been so enraged in all her life, especially over a man. In similar situations in the past, she had always been able to rise above the petty jealousies of girls competing with her over a guy. But this situation was somehow different. The second woman had actually had the audacity to touch her boyfriend's package like she had the right to do so, and in a mixed group of people no less. What ever happened to common decency? Or respecting people's personal space? Or just not touching someone in intimate places as if you own them, when clearly they are with someone else?

She was pacing in the barely six by six foot bathroom, trying to calm down, when she heard a knock at the door from the bedroom side.

"Bella?" It was Rosalie. "Can I come in?"

Bella didn't respond. She simply opened the door, and Rosalie entered. She was glad Rosalie wasn't looking at her with sympathy or pretending to be sheepish, but just pranced in and shut the door behind her.

"Men are pigs," Rosalie announced unceremoniously. "They wallow for years in promiscuity and take whatever comes their way. Eventually, when they want to settle down and have a relationship with a woman of substance, they promptly forget the sty they left behind until the slop is reeking at their door."

Despite how angry she was, Bella found this analogy uproariously funny coming from the mouth of one of the most beautiful women in Tallahassee. She laughed so hard, she dragged herself over to the toilet, put the seat lid down, and sat there with tears streaming down her face. Rosalie cracked up, too, because Bella's laughter was so infectious. They laughed together for a good minute or so.

Rosalie smirked. "Anyway, I do have a further point, if you want me to continue."

Bella grabbed a tissue and dabbed the tears from her eyes, coming down from her laughing high. "Yes, by all means, continue."

"Edward would give anything for you not to have witnessed that. You are the first woman I've ever seen him this happy with. Well, I don't really count Victoria in Terre Haute, because I never met her. But you I've met, and you're good for him, Bella."

"Rosalie, Edward is the first guy I've ever been this happy with. But he's giving up a lot to be with me, and I wonder how long he's going to be able to resist women who are handing it to him on a silver platter, like tonight." Bella held her head in her hands as her frustration overwhelmed her.

"If he cares about you as much as I think he does, he'll be able to resist because he'll want to." Rosalie's cerulean blue eyes were soft.

"I worry that I'm asking too much to expect him to abstain when I push him too far all the time." Bella wrung her hands helplessly.

"Have you two talked about this?" Rose moved in front of her and perched on the edge of the bath tub.

"Yes. He says he can handle it, and I believe he's willing. It's just—sometimes I don't know if I can handle it, you know? And we have this insane chemistry. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to spontaneously combust, I want him so badly."

"Sounds like you both need a little release," Rosalie offered. "How far do you feel comfortable going?"

"Um, right now, second base, maybe second and a half base."

"We can work with that," Rose said confidently. "Clothes on or off?"

"Probably on, for now," Bella answered, a dark blush rising warmly on her cheeks.

"Okay, there's tons of stuff you can do even with clothes on that can get you both to a happy medium, if you will." Rosalie's tone was professorial. "You look like you're quite athletic. Have you ever done a lap dance?"

"No."

"Have you ever seen one performed?"

"Just simulated ones on TV."

"Do you think you could simulate one?

"I guess so. I-I could also use some gymnastics moves that might be kind of sexy."

"There you go, just use any skill you have at your disposal that will create friction on that special spot on his lap. I guarantee you he'll reciprocate if he enjoys that lap dance. Then there's always straight dry-humping—"

"Rosalie."

"Yeah?"

"I think I'll just try the lap dance first."

"Okay, young Padawan learner, we'll give you a chance to get used to that technique first," Rosalie teased.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan Kenobi." Bella laughed. "I love 'Star Wars,' too."

"So, we're good?" Rosalie asked, patting her on the knee in a motherly fashion.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well, I've got a proposition for you then."

"Really?" Bella's brow furrowed. "What kind of proposition?"

"Emmett and I have set our wedding date. We're going with July eleventh, and Em has already asked Edward to be his best man. How about you round this party out and be my maid of honor?"

Bella's mouth fell open. "Me? You want me to be your maid of honor? Rosalie, I'm sure you have other friends you've know much longer. Why me?"

"Here's the deal. I do have other friends I could ask, but every one of them would be jealous if I asked one of them over the other, so they're going to be my bridesmaids. And I love Alice, but she would turn my wedding into a freak show if she had that much control. Besides, Edward is best man, and I can't think of any other girl he'd enjoy escorting down the aisle on that day more."

"Well, since you put it like that Rosalie, I'd be honored," Bella said with a smile.

~888~

EPOV

Edward looked at his watch again. It had been fifteen minutes since that ridiculous altercation with those hoochies had caused Bella to retreat from him and lock herself in the bathroom. He had practically worn a hole in the carpet since Rosalie had gone in behind her. This whole situation smacked of a monumental fuck up. What had he been thinking when he thought it had been a good idea to date several women in one apartment community? Apparently, he had been thinking with another part of his anatomy then, and not his brain.

Emmett's single acknowledgment of the whole mess was to simply say, "Dude." Then he calmly commenced eating leftovers while watching Edward pace.

"Emmett, if I've fucked things up with Bella, I swear to God—" Edward ran both hands through his hair for the umpteenth time. His already wild locks had become even wilder looking.

"Calm down, Eddo. Rosie's really good at diffusing shit like this. Didn't you hear them laughing in there earlier? Everything's gonna be copacetic." Emmett hit the lever on the lounger and got comfortable in the La-Z-Boy.

"That's easy for you to say. What if she decides to leave? Better yet, what if she decides she chose the wrong guy? I invited Bella to stay here as a guest in my home, and a couple of my former hook-ups picked tonight, of all nights, to come out of the woodwork. Smooth move."

"You broke a cardinal player's rule, bro. Never have more than one chick in the same vicinity. You should have diversified." Emmett shrugged his shoulders, then a light seemed to go off in his head. "Wait. You and Bella were planning on having a sleepover? Tonight?"

"Not the kind you think, Emmett. I really respect Bella and the commitment she's made to wait until marriage to have sex. I know you think I've lost my mind, but I believe with everything in me that she's worth it and then some. I invited her here because a former classmate of hers assaulted her at the Festival earlier today and might be casing her apartment. I'm getting an alarm installed in her place after the holiday and setting up some safety precautions for her and the other women at the Center."

"Good luck with all that. I'm a selfish son of a bitch. I don't think I can go more than three days without it. But I do understand that when you believe you've found the one, recreational sex doesn't have the appeal it once had. I don't want any other woman but Rosalie now." Emmett was in one of his serious conversational moods now.

"How did you keep your former hook-ups at bay when you got serious about Rosalie?"

"It took some time, but when they saw that I was serious and had really retired my little black book, they stopped coming around. What you did earlier is a start, but if you have more than the two who showed up tonight living here, you might wanna consider moving. I mean, you wouldn't want that situation recurring."

Edward blanched under Emmett's gaze.

"Damn. How many more—?" Emmett was incredulous. "Never mind. I don't wanna know."

"I thought it wouldn't matter because I had no intentions of getting serious about any of them, and I never expected I would meet someone like Bella."

"You need to start looking immediately if you don't want any other women showing up at your place looking for repeat performances while your girlfriend is here. Not cool, man."

"I was thinking about buying a piece of property in Tallahassee anyway. My tax adviser has been after me to do that for years."

"Then, there you go. It's time to get away from the riff-raff, dude, especially if you don't want their presence to undermine Bella's confidence in you. Also, buy a new bed when you move. The symbolism alone will get you major points with her. She'll love the idea that you've never done the horizontal mambo on it with anyone else except her. That is, if she ever takes enough pity on your sorry ass to put you out of your misery."

Just then the door from the bedroom opened and Rosalie and Bella came out arm in arm with big smiles on their faces. "Who's putting whom out of their misery?" Rosalie smirked.

Edward was so relieved that Bella had come out and wasn't making a beeline for the door. He sighed audibly and took several involuntary steps toward her. He stopped briefly only to get a feel for whether she was going to run in the other direction. When she did not, he strode purposely over to her and stopped mere inches from her, taking both her hands in his. Rosalie slinked away and joined Emmett on the La-Z-Boy. "Bella?" he began.

"I'm fine now, Edward. Really," she said softly. She shook her head quickly as if to clear it. "I don't know what came over me. I just felt like hitting something, preferably that girl, for touching you. For the first time in a long time, I wanted to do serious bodily harm to someone." He would have laughed out loud at that remark if he weren't still so afraid that his past would eventually be their undoing. Emmett did chuckle, and Rosalie swatted him.

Edward pulled her into his arms and held her as close as their bodies would fit together. He looked down into her beautiful eyes. "I'm so sorry. They were looking for the guy I used to be. You are my life now, Bella. I promise I am going to make it comfortable for you to be with me without worrying about skeletons jumping out of my closets."

"It just took me by surprise. I know you dated others before me. I guess I need to get used to the fact that a large portion of the female population of Tallahassee finds you just as irresistible as I do." She caressed his back lightly with her hands. "Shouldn't we finish the movie now?" He was so happy that she seemed to have put the incident behind her. She didn't look like she'd been crying at all, and for that he was very thankful.

"Only if you want to," he said, cupping her cheeks in his hands. She nodded in the affirmative. He kissed her soundly on lips, and they turned to their guests. "So, let's see if KISS-My-Anthia is going to win the Battle Royale."

~888~

BPOV

Bella was nervous, yet determined to put into practice what Rosalie had suggested. She was not going to sit idly by and let the random women littering Edward's past before her tempt him into casual sex with them again. To date, all she and Edward had enjoyed together were some steamy make-out sessions that one of them ended before the point of no return, or as Rosalie had suggested, before there was any release. Bella felt like it was high time somebody experienced something other than heavy doses of sexual frustration. She had no idea how Edward was able to abstain given the healthy sexual appetite he had been used to satisfying on a regular basis before her. This made her have so much more respect for him, considering that now he was living practically like a priest or monk with a few benefits.

Her eyes had been opened. Women could be blatant and forward, even some women in the church, but she had never bargained on competing against women like the drunken slut who'd touched Edward tonight. That sad display had convinced her that she needed to get a little more serious about marking her territory. She knew that women like her who made the chastity commitment were in the minority. Heretofore, it had been easy to keep, because there had never been anyone who had moved her as much as Edward did emotionally, or who had turned her on as much as he did sexually. Now she truly understood what all the fuss was about, and she was so afraid that she would not be enough for him. Maybe in the short term, but what would happen when what she had to offer didn't satisfy him? It was a truly scary thought to consider because she simply could not fathom not having him in her life. She would be devastated if she lost him for any reason, but to do so because she couldn't express her feelings for him through shared intimacies beyond first base was unconscionable.

As the movie concluded, they finished up the bottle of wine she had opened previously and sat around talking about anything and everything. As always, Emmett and Rosalie were fun to be around. Bella found herself laughing so much that the nervous jitters finally went away—that was until Emmett and Rosalie left for the night.

Edward graciously gave her first dibs on the bathroom to take care of her nightly rituals. After she finished, she found herself sitting stiffly in the middle of his bed wearing a soft cotton babydoll top and boy shorts. Edward emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a pair of plaid, cotton pajama bottoms with a drawstring waist. His bronze hair was damp from the shower, and his naked torso was such perfection, it spawned an immediate ache in her core that seemed to intensify as he ambled toward her on the bed. A sudden sense of shyness overcame her. She knew what she wanted to do, but she wasn't sure, just yet, how to broach the subject, let alone make a move.

He smiled, his eyes drinking her in, mirroring the way she was assessing him. "I won't keep you up since I know you have church in the morning. Do you need me to set an alarm?"

"No, I've set my cell phone alarm already." She gestured toward it on the nightstand. Bella met his eyes again. "I'm not really sleepy yet. Will you stay in here with me for a while?" She patted a spot on her right.

"Okay," he said softly and, without further ado, slid next to her, their shoulders touching. She realized then that he was probably just as nervous as she was, despite the fact that they had previously discussed intentions and expectations regarding their brief foray into cohabitation. It was like they were teenagers contemplating their first kiss or something.

Bella cleared her throat lightly. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

He grimaced and immediately began to apologize again, "Bella, I am so sorry about tonight."

She put her forefinger over his lips, silencing him, and angled so she could look into his eyes while she was talking to him. "That skank reunion is old news. I want to talk—about us."

His eyes and then his voice became anxious. "What about us? You're not thinking maybe you chose the wrong guy or anything are you?"

Bella scolded him through her chuckles. "Will you stop thinking the worst?"

Edward reached out and took her hands in his. "Okay, okay."

He took a deep breath; his sculpted chest rose and fell in front of her eyes as if in slow motion. She licked her lips involuntarily, sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, and took a deep breath of her own before she could speak again.

"It's really something good, or I hope so anyway," she said, freeing one hand from his and cupping his cheek. She smiled coyly. "Would you have any objections if we moved our physical relationship ahead a base, or maybe even a base and a half?"

His mouth began working, but sound seemed to elude him. Bella moved her mouth sympathetically, hoping to encourage him to get his words out.

Finally, his voice came back. "Sure, I—I mean no, no objections—not at all." He reached out, touched her thigh, and then moved his hand involuntarily as if it burned.

Exhaling with relief, Bella said the rest of what she wanted to say tentatively. "Good, I just worry that you—that we need to stop frustrating ourselves so much and do something to relieve, um, the pressure."

"Are you sure?" he asked judiciously. "If this is about me, I really don't want you to feel like we need to rush into this because you think I need you to."

Although she tried not to show it, her face must have registered just a hint of disappointment. She looked down as he began to speak again.

"But, as I've said before, we can do as much as you're comfortable with." His words were earnest. Edward nudged her chin with his hand, and she looked into his eyes again.

"It's just—I know it has to be hard for you, all the make-out sessions. It's hard for me and I don't even have a true frame of reference," she said solemnly.

"Baby, it's been hard for me since the first day I met you," Edward confessed readily, laughing easily at himself and the unintended double-entendre.

Bella laughed and launched herself at him.

~888~

EPOV

Edward had quickly shaken off his nerves about the events earlier in the evening and was in someplace similar to heaven. Bella had taken him completely by surprise by asking him to turn things up a notch. His libido was not complaining. As a matter of fact, it was safe to say both his and hers were cheering right about now. Bella was currently sitting straddling him on the bed, kissing him as if there were no tomorrow. Her warm center was creating delicious friction on his confined erection, which made it difficult for him to think straight, let alone speak. A strange sound escaped him—some variation of her name, maybe. He couldn't say for sure, as pleasure flowed through him like hot lava down a volcanic mountain.

"Am I doing this right?" she asked anxiously.

She rocked her body against his most sensitive of places, and he groaned. "That—will do just nicely," he ground out with a bit of difficulty. His little virginal vamp then kicked it into high gear and gave him a pseudo-lap dance that would have put a pro to shame. Using all the gymnastics moves that she could modify to tantalize him with, she created enough friction that when he came, he was almost sure he'd burned a hole in his boxer briefs straight through to his pajama bottoms.

Bella, encouraged by his responding groans of satisfaction, fisted her fingers into his hair and pulled his head to her chest. He buried his face greedily in her delicate bosom. She arched her back while he made her top moist with his insistent kissing of her turgid peaks through the fabric of her pajama top. Edward then slid both hands under the fabric of the top and cupped her breasts in his palms. Bella moaned in response as her nipples pebbled effortlessly in his hands.

Mimicking his move, she splayed her palms across his pecs and began a series of sensual caresses that made his nipples stand to attention, as well. Growing frustrated with the barrier of her shirt, she crossed her arms at the hem of it and pulled up. He watched in muted fascination as she slipped it over her head and threw it on the floor. Edward was enraptured by the beauty of her breasts. The nipples were a gorgeous dusky rose color like her lips. Licking his own lips involuntarily in anticipation, he dipped his head to taste the exquisite buds. He licked and sucked and devoured her with such alacrity, he elicited a symphony of moans that slipped wantonly from her lips. Edward could see the strain on her face building like a storm cloud close to imminent eruption. She was so responsive to his touch, he knew it wouldn't take much longer. Taking as much of her dainty areola into his mouth as he could, he alternately sucked one while manipulating the other with his fingers until he felt her body quake as if it were imploding.

She shuddered violently and moaned his name loudly. "Oh, Edward!"

My God! I just gave my Bella an orgasm without touching anywhere below her waist.

He scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly as he kissed her full on the mouth until she relaxed from her release. She was so beautiful when she was fully sated. He was certain that the happy smile on her face mirrored his exactly, even though they were both a throbbing, sticky mess.

"Oh baby," she said. "That was, that was..." Bella couldn't find any words right away.

He decided to ask her a question he'd wondered about, but never had an opportunity to ask before. "Was that your first orgasm?"

"Yep, while I was awake, anyway," she murmured dreamily.

"Bella, if we can do this to each other and not even have sex, I don't think waiting will be as big a problem as we anticipated."

~888~

E/N: During the holidays I wrote a Gift Exchange Fic that was posted on the Twilight Gift Exchange Site last week. There was a tease for it on Fictionators last Thursday: http://www dot fictionators dot com/2010/02/teaser-thursday-gift-exchange-edition dot html . The actual story is on this site: http://community dot livejournal dot com/twi_exchange/ . Please go there, and see if you can figure out which one is mine. Writing it was an awesome ride! I think I love this Edward even more than I love Copward, but don't tell him that please :) - Reviewers who guess correctly will get the next chapter of TLC a day earlier than the regular update.