Chapter 30: Need
B POV
The rest of Winter Break passed quickly after New Year's. That night Edward and I rang in the real New Years with the rest of the Cullens. We watched the ball drop at their home, kissed when the New Year's song played and then he took me home where Charlie sat with Billy, passed out in the living room, the New Years after party still on the TV.
School started back-up and of course everyone stared again when Edward and I walked the hallways, probably because they forgot that we had made-up before break ended. Our new schedules went into effect. Edward and I had three of the same classes this quarter, Alice and I had two and Angela and I had two classes together. I was happy with this, the only class I had alone was Spanish and Edward's French class was right across the hall, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
Since the tense moment at Christmas between Tanya and I, I had expected something to happen, but it never did. She still glared at me like she always had, but she hadn't approach me anymore. James and Victoria either. even though they were both still in Edward's and my biology class.
As for Aro, he had grown even more unusual. He once left the safety of his groupies and meandered over to our lunch table to sit and strike up a conversation. I was friendly and had answered his questions. It wasn't until Edward had pointed out that all of his questions had to do with my time in Arizona did I understand that he was trying to get information out of me about my singing background. He had asked questions like 'What did you like to do in Phoenix?', 'What kind of friends did you have?', 'Did you do any extracurricular activities at your old high school?'
I realized he was trying to find out where my background in singing had come from, but I wasn't going to let him try and gain something over me, so I just shook off any more advances from him. Eventually I guess he realized I wasn't going to randomly break out in song at the lunch table and hadn't bothered coming over anymore.
Before I knew it, January had passed and the Valentine's Dance/Mixer was coming. Rose and Alice had begged me to make it a big deal, for Edward's sake and I had begrudgingly agreed, hence I'm sitting here in my truck before school, making sure I have everything in my bag that I need to surprise him.
I decided that the thing we needed more than anything else this Valentine's Day was time, alone, with nobody expecting us to be anywhere. There was one thing I wanted Edward and I to share that we hadn't gotten a chance to yet. We had gotten pretty close a couple times but then his cell phone would ring or mine would and we'd be right back to where we started. It was getting very frustrating.
I drag my bag out of the truck and sling it over my shoulder. Walking through the school was like walking through another world. Everything was red hearts, flowers, balloons, love signs and candy. Girls were squealing, guys were chuckling as they shoved their friends towards the girls they were trying to impress and hormones were raging.
I pass a couple girls in the hallway fighting over whose locker a box of candy was stuck to as all it said was "To my Sweetheart".
"Bella!" Someone calls behind me. I turn to see Angela coming my way. I smile and stop waiting for her to get near enough to say hello.
"Hey Ang," I squeak, "What's up?"
"Can you believe how crazy Valentine's Day gets around here?" She exhales as she straightens her hair and outfit. "Ridiculous."
"Yeah," I nod in agreement.
"Hey so," Her eyes brighten, "Ben and are going out for Valentine's Day, do you and Edward want to join us?"
"Thanks for the offer but we already have plans."
"Okay," Angela responds. "I gotta get going but I'll see you in class." Without even waiting for me to answer she takes off down the hallway towards her locker.
I head back towards my destination, Alice.
"Alice!" I call out to one of my closest friend at Forks High.
"Bella!" She shouts in response. "There you are! I've been looking for you! Everything is all set for you to spring your plan!"
"Oh good!" I exhale in response, a little nervous about what I'm planning to do. "Where's Edward?"
"He had to go to class early, you're good for the next twenty minutes if you want to go do it now."
"Sweet, come help me." I grab her wrist and yank her out the doors that lead to the parking lot.
E POV
I'm not happy about having to come in half an hour before school to make-up a quiz, but at least the teacher is letting me take it. It's not hard, at all. I literally think my dreams are more informative.
As I finish the last question the five-minute warning bell rings. I take the quiz to the teacher's desk and lay it in the inbox tray. I return and take my usual seat and am a little concerned that Bella still hasn't arrived. I have a surprise ready for her, but she hasn't gotten here.
My eyes are glued to the door. Four minutes. Three minutes. Two Minutes. Where the hell is she? One minute. Thirty seconds. Fifteen Seconds. The door flies open just as the bell rings and Bella trips in. She catches herself and lowers her face, bites her lip and blushes. My heart soars a little and I smile.
"Ms. Swan," Mrs. Smith scolds, "Cutting it a little close there."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Smith," Bella mumbles. "It won't happen again."
She stumbles over and takes a seat next to me. I reach out and grab her hand and squeeze in reassurance. She peaks at me from under her lashes and I really want to lean over and kiss her, but a few students are still looking as well as the teacher.
The morning announcements start and five minutes in a kid walks in with a cart full of flowers, candy and balloons. As he begins passing them out I drum my fingers on my desk. Bella looks at me from the corner of her eye.
The boy passes her a card. Written on it are the words, Look under your seat.
She turns to face me, her mouth pops open then she smiles. She reaches under her seat and feels around. When her fingers find the flat envelope that I taped there she smiles even wider. She peels it from under her seat and brings it up to her face. She rips it along the side and pulls the 5"x7" booklet of red cardstock out.
The front flap says 'Love Coupons'. She traces her fingers along the edge and then flips it open to the first coupon
This coupon is redeemable for unlimited kisses, anywhere, anytime.
There's a picture of us in our Winter Formal attire, me leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. My mom had taken it the night of the dance and I had printed it out and pasted it on the coupon.
"I'm cashing in on this one now." She says as leans in and I place a kiss on her lips.
She pulls back and turns to the next one.
This coupon is redeemable for a movie in the theatre of your choice.
This one has a picture of us sitting side by side on beanbags in the theatre room watching a movie . It was taken from behind us, probably by Alice when we weren't paying attention, I found it when I was transferring photos from the house computer to my laptop. Bella's head rests on my shoulder and my cheek leans against the crown of her perfect hair.
She giggles and turns to the next one.
This coupon is redeemable for one foot or shoulder massage.
There's a black and white picture I found on the internet of a woman's feet resting on a pillow pasted to this card.
"Hmm," She ponders. "I like this one." She flicks to the next one.
This coupon is redeemable for a vent. Whether about school, your dad, certain obsessive twits or just life in general.
This one has a picture of her I captured. It is of her with her arms crossed and a pout. I took it when she didn't want a picture taken and the look on her face made me laugh so I hadn't been able to resist.
She groans, I'm sure at the fact that she hates the picture I chose. I lean in and kiss her on her temple to calm her. She quickly flips to the next one.
This coupon is redeemable for a romantic evening to the Valentine's Dance tonight.
She gasps and puts her hand over her mouth. "You bought the tickets? When?" She looks at me.
"A few weeks ago." I sigh. The fifteen dollar ticket wasn't really springing for anything too big and I had wanted a reason to see Bella in a dress again.
"Good!" She huffs. "Thank you so much Edward. This is so perfect. It's more heartfelt and romantic than anything anyone else could have done. I mean it, I love it. You are the world's best boyfriend." She leans in and kisses me again.
Mrs. Smith gets our attention and everyone is forced to forget about they're Valentine surprises and focus on class. The day passes quickly and soon Bella and I are walking out to my car. I do a double take when I see some girls gathered around my Subaru.
"Umm," I pause. "Is there something wrong with my-" My breath catches when one of the girls moves and I see what all the fuss is about. "-CAR!" I exclaim. Bella giggles from under my arm and covers her mouth.
"Happy Valentine's Day," She squeaks.
"Oh Lord," I huff. The windows are covered in window marker and the inside is filled with heart shaped balloons. "What on Earth?"
As we near I see that the words on the window are in a certain order starting with the driver's side. I relinquish Bella to the curb and start at the first window.
HAPPY. V-DAY. EDWARD. I LUV YOU. Is written counter clockwise on the windows. I return to Bella's side and chuckle.
"Wow," I breathe. "That was unexpected."
"Good or bad?" She teases.
"Not sure yet," I reply. "Depends on if the marker comes off easily and if there's anything inside.
"Well clean-up is easy." She squeezes my hand. "Here."
She hands me a pin, I eye it and then her. "What is this for?"
"Pop the balloons and find out." She says.
I pull her to my car and open the back driver's side door. I pull out the first balloon, pause for a second then jab the balloon with the safety pin. I flinch at the pop and the red, pink and white confetti that spews everywhere.
"Not it," She gleefully teases. "Next one."
I continue popping balloons until there's only three left. I reach for the one on the ground and jab the pin in, not even reacting this time. The confetti pops out as well as something small and metal. I pick it up and flip it over in my hand. It's a key. My eyes widen in realization as I see the piece of small plastic attached to the key that signifies where it's from.
"Bellaaa?" I ask, confusion riddling my voice. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Uh-huh," She giggles.
"Why did you give me a key to The Forks Hideaway?"
"Because," She blushes. "Tonight is the Valentine's Dance and I thought afterwards we could go there to spend the night."
"How did you?" I leave it at that, wanting to know but not wanting to know.
"My mom," She blushes. "I told her that Angela had recently broken up with her boyfriend and that she needed a nice girl's night out to save her from having a terrible Valentine's Day."
"So wait," I shake my head in confusion. "How did you know I was going to take you to the Valentine's Dance? I just asked you today."
"Promise not to be mad?" She grimaces.
"Yes."
"Rose told me after Emmett told her." Damn that mother fucker. "It's a good thing Edward, because I was able to plan this, so that our evening didn't have to end. Everything works out because your parents are out of town on a romantic getaway and my dad thinks I'm staying at Rose's house. Also, by me knowing it gave me plenty of time to buy a new dress online."
I roll my eyes and then smile. "Oh alright." I huff. "I guess that works."
"Is that it? That's all the reaction I get from all this planning?" She juts her bottom lip out and I can't help but smile.
"Of course not, come here you mischievous little devil you." I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her giggling mouth to mine.
B POV
I take a deep breath as I step out onto the top stair. My heart rate quickens every time this happens. A small part of me always doubts myself and the fact that Edward might not like what he sees. All of my fear evaporates when he turns, eyes wide and his mouth drops a little.
"Oh there you are Bella," Charlie says. "I was wondering if you got lost. You look great baby doll."
"Thanks dad," I smile.
"I couldn't agree more," Edward grins at me wider and I can't help but melt a little more.
"Shall we go?" I ask a little nervous and excited at the same time. I made it clear to Edward ealier this afternoon my intention for tonight.
I had somehow managed to lie well enough for Renee to believe my story and offered to pay for half the room as well. She had agreed and called ahead. I had picked the key up that morning and surprised him with it after school. Ever since then I had this never ending supply of butterflies in my stomach. I had been waiting for this night since Christmas but the timing was always off.
I understood and agreed completely with his idea of having time, space and romantic gestures involved in this...act. I had stopped comparing him to Drake with every nerve ending in my brain after the night he had told me that. I was willing on Christmas Eve to have him take me in the back of his car, but he had stopped us and explained to me his wants, which took me two seconds to realize that I was thrilled with that statement.
I ponder over all of this on the way to the dance and I know he can feel the heavy silence between us.
"Are you okay?" He whispers to me from the driver's seat.
"Absolutely." I grin placing my hand over the one he has torturously skimming along the material covering my thigh.
"Good." He nods once. We pull into the school parking lot and head into the semi-formal dance. We quickly locate Emmett, Alice, Rose and Jasper.
"Bella!" Alice squeals "I love your dress! I'm glad you're finally getting the right idea about fashion!"
"Thanks Alice!" I quirk an eyebrow at her kind of compliment.
"You would have looked great even if you would have worn a brown paperbag," Edward whispers in my ear. I wrap my arms around his neck and press a kiss to his lips, how did he always know what to say?
We dance to the run-of-the-mill Valentine's Day songs, Unforgettable by Nat King Cole, Edwin McCain's I'll Be (which holds more meaning for us as it was on the CD he made me), Taylor Swift's Love Story, Only Time by Enya and others. The slow songs are spaced out by two or three fast songs too, some hip-hop, some rock, some pop.
I have to go the bathroom before long and Edward, trepid as always whenever I go to the bathroom anymore just about follows me in. I go to the mirror, readjust my bra, recalibrate my hair, apply some more lip gloss and turn to leave. I get a weird sense of deja vu as Tanya's form comes through the door. Really?
"Oh Bella," She snidely greets me.
"Hello Tanya," I say flatly.
"How is your night going?" Her voice is venomously sweet.
"Great," I answer perking a little, "Edward is an amazing date as always." Take that you fork-tongued bitch.
"As good as Drake?" She spits icily snapping her head in my direction. What the? Did she just...
"What?" I ask a little breathlessly.
"I looked into your file at school," She says sweetly again as she turns back to her visage in the mirror. "I saw that you're excuse for leaving your old high school was bullying. So, I pretended to be my mother, called your old school, told them that we were having the same problem up here and they filled in a couple of blanks for me. I connected the dots."
"Fuck you," I spit. "You had no right. You don't know the half of it Tanya. You are a jealous bitch who can't handle defeat with grace. Go back to the stinking cave in hell you crawled from." I turn on my heel and walk out of the bathroom, absolutely fuming. Edward's is standing there nervously running his hair through his hands when he looks up at me he lunges.
"Bella, Bella. is everything okay? I saw Tanya go in there."
"Yeah," I answer, the anger seeping into my voice. "Can we leave, please?"
"Tell me what happened!" He demands.
"I will, but please, can we go first?"
"Of course," He nods once, grabs my hand and leads me back to the table to grab our jackets. As we near the table Rose sees me, nudges Alice and they both wide eye the look on my face.
"Bella is everything alright?" Rose calls out.
"Yeah," I grit through my teeth. "I ran into the train wreck that is Tanya in the bathroom, we had words."
"Uh-oh." Emmett says catching up to speed. "Please tell me there was at least hair pulling!"
"Not this time Emmett but if it ever gets to that you have front row tickets, 'kay?"
"SWEET!" Emmett fist pumps. "I put my money on you."
"Thanks Em," I smile weakly.
"Got everything?" Edward asks.
"Yeah let's go."
"You're leaving? Why?" Alice cries out in protest.
"Because I need time alone with my boyfriend." I smile in response and squeeze Edward's hand.
"She's going to think she's won." Jasper points out.
"Let her, she doesn't know shit and I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she does."
"Right on," Jasper nods in approval.
"See you all tomorrow?" I scan their faces.
"Sure thing."
"Yep."
"See ya!"
"Bye!" They all respond.
Edward and I walk arm in arm out of the dance and out to his car, he's peeking at me from the corner of his eye.
"I'm not going to make a run for it," I turn and give him a small smile. "I'm stuck on this."
"Good," He nods once and visibly relaxes, a tiny bit.
"Pop the trunk for me would you?"
"Sure," He presses a button on the remoteless entry and I grab the bag that I had stashed in his car earlier.
"You are a frickin ninja." He shakes his head in amusement. "How did you even get in my car earlier?"
"Had Alice steal the spare key from your house for me." I shrug.
"Of course," He rolls his eyes and leaves me with a kiss as he opens the door for me.
Within minutes we're pulling up to the little motel. We enter the small but comfortably furnished room. There's one double bed, a TV, a small table and bathroom. The picture above the bed is of a local beach.
"Bella," he says turning to me. "Are you sure about this?"
"Ugh, Edward, yes." I kiss him once. "Now stop cock-blocking me."
His eyes widen at my words. "Did you just say cock?"
"Yes, yes I did." I smile.
"That's kind of hot."
"Good." I answer pulling him back to me. "Now can I go to the bathroom for a second?"
"Depends..." He shrugs lightly as he kisses my jaw. "Tanya's not going to try to sneak in there is she?"
"No," I roll my eyes. "Not unless she wants to get a black eye."
"What did she say anyway?" He asks.
"Ooh," I huff. "She claimed that she found out the reason I left Phoenix."
"Did she?" He asks a little surprised.
"I don't think so." I shake my head. "She knows that Drake was the ringleader. But that's about it."
"I'm sorry Bella," He lightly pushes my head into his chest. I nestle into him and let him run his hands through my hair.
"Don't be sorry," I whisper against his chest. "You have nothing to feel sorry for. Tanya is a raging bitch and I'm her target. It's not really about you anymore."
"If I weren't in love with you she wouldn't be after you." He argues.
"I guarantee even if we weren't together, she'd still make my life hell." I pull away and look into his eyes, dark from the lack of light in the room. "And you know it too."
"Yeah," He nods. "She had taken notice of you even before I had."
"See? So don't go beating yourself up about any of this. Now, go look through my bag and see if you find anything interesting. I'm going to go the bathroom."
With that I push my lips away and then detach myself from his grip and walk into the bathroom. I turn in the doorway and look back at him, his eyes haven't left me. I slowly close the door as we stand there undressing each other with our eyes.
E POV
God this is it. She's done this, to me, for us. I can't believe I'm this lucky! She arranged a room for us to be alone so that I can show her how much I truly do love her. As the door clicks shut I turn to the bag she had dropped on the small table. I unzip the top and open it surveying what she's brought with us. There's two boxes of tea lights, a small box of matches, and a CD case. I pull out the CD, the see-through cover allows me to read the elegant handwriting. With Love, Bella.
I flip open the case and snap the CD out. There's a note in the case. Play me. I walk over to the TV clutch and open the cupboard. There's a small CD player. I bring it out, plug it in and start the CD. The song Confidence by Teddy Geiger begins playing, it immediately brings back the memory of her singing and playing the guitar at Christmas. I smile and turn back to the bag of goodies.
I don't need directions to know what she meant me to do with the tea lights. I set a few up on each side of the bed, some on the table and one on each side of the platform the TV sets on. I pull my shirt over my head and sit on the edge of the bed, noticing small scars and scratches from playing sports and helping my dad with stuff around the house.
The door unclicks and my breath catches as the backlight illuminates Bella's flawless skin, perfect loose curls and voluptuous figure. She clicks the light off and stands there in her semi-formal black cocktail dress. I'm stunned motionless and before I know she's standing before me. The song comes to a close as the next one starts, a pretty instrumental piece.
Bella turns her back to me, pulls her curls away from her neck and whispers, "Will you unzip me?" Not needing anymore encouragement than that, my hands fly to her back. I fiddle with the zipper trying to get it down but the tab on it is small and hard to get a good grip on.
"There," I say as the small piece of metal finally gives, releasing her from the confines of the dress. Bella giggles and lets the shoulders of the dress fall, revealing the straps of her black bra. I kiss her neck and help her pull her arms through the material. She sighs and lets the dress pool around her feet. She's wearing a black bra, black boy shorts and black high heels. I groan a little as I go from half-mast to midnight in a moment.
Bella turns back around, wraps her hands around my neck and kisses me, slowly and softly. I pull her body flush with mine, letting my hands roam the expanse of her back. My hands find the clasp to her bra and I pause. She nods a little and licks her tongue along my bottom lip. I groan and begin fumbling with the clasp. This is even more difficult than the stupid zipper. I growl a little in frustration. She giggles and winds her arms behind her back, in less than a second she's unclasped it. She moves her hands back and I kiss her shoulder making my way to the delicate strap of the bra.
I bring one finger up and slowly pull it down her shoulder letting it drop to her elbow. We both let out a sigh as her chest becomes fully exposed.
She turns us so that the foot of the bed is at both our sides. She rests her hands on my chest, letting them glide down until they are teasing the top of the waistband of my pants. My turn to nod and kiss my consent to her. She runs her palm along my length through the pants and then unclips my belt. She kisses me slowly as she unzips my jeans and pushes them off my hips. The tenting in my boxers is now very apparent.
"I love you," I whisper.
"I love you too." She looks up at me, her doe eyes conveying more emotion than has ever been directed at me.
"Are you sure about this?" I ask quietly. "Because if you're not, we can wait."
"No Edward," Her lips set in a firm line. "I want this more than anything I've ever wanted before." I nod once in affirmation, the firmness in her voice allowing the last of my doubt to ebb out of my head.
"Lay down," I step away minutely to allow her to sit on the edge of the bed. She pulls her body to the middle of the dark blue comforter, the color setting her skin off in a glorious way. I crawl to straddle above her, her breathing quickens and I smile at the reaction her body is having on me as well.
I run a hand along her ample thigh, the flare of her hip to rest just above her belly button. She shivers in response to my touch and I drag the backs of my nails the rest of the way to her hearty and perfect breast. Her nipples pebble at my touch and I can't help but smile, I do this to her.
I tickle the soft and tender flesh at the center of her bosom. She arches into my touch and rests her hands on the side of my torso both pushing me away and pulling me to her. I lower my head and take the small point of pleasure in my mouth. She moans and pushes her chest into my mouth more.
She grinds her hips against my thigh and I can feel a trace of wetness, I groan and let my hips press against her. I let the hand on her chest roam its way down to the material covering her warm sex. Her breath hitches a tiny bit as I pull the material over enough to glide a finger along the outside of her folds.
"God Bella," I groan, "You're so wet for me."
"Oh Edward please..." She trails off. I know what she wants and I'm more than willing to give it.
I dip one finger into her warm entrance, she sighs and pushes her head back into the mattress. I add another and slowly work them in and out of her. She mews and sighs along with the rhythm. I push my thumb against the sensitive nub that I've grown accustomed with in past 'discoveries' of her body.
After a few minutes her fingers cling to me as she climbs higher and higher, I am vaguely aware of the song When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating playing in the background. Her hands unclench and clench as she dangles over the edge and I crash my lips down to hers as she cries out. Her moans drown out against my lips.
I bring my hand out and up to the hem of her panties. I push off her a little ways and she lifts her lower half up a little, bending her legs so that I can pull the black material off her completely. I kiss the heel of her foot, her ankle, her calf, her knees her thigh and then push myself back up her body to her face. She reaches her hands down and toys with the waistband of my boxers.
"You too," She purrs. She pushes the cotton down over my ass and then pulls her foot up to peel it the rest of the way down.
"Condom?" I exhale.
"Pill," She confirms. I nod once and reach over to the condom I had placed next to the candles on the nightstand.
"Better safe than sorry," I say as she eyes me. It also would help desensitize me for this, I didn't want it to go too quick. She smiles and kisses me. I take a few seconds to put it on, her laying kisses to my shoulder as I do. Once I'm fully covered I take position above her.
"Tell me if it gets to be too much okay? I don't want you to be in an overwhelming amount of pain."
"I will," She nods and pulls me to her. I reach between us and guide myself to her. Her eyes widen a bit.
"I love you," I reassure her once more.
"I love you to-oooh," She manages to get out before I slowly begin to push in. There's no grimace of pain yet, I let her adjust a little, which is really hard because I just want to bury myself into her and stay there forever, she feels so amazing. I push in a little further. She lets out a long breath and visibly tries to relax which causes me to pause again.
"Go Edward," She urges. I can't help myself and push in more quickly. Her body tenses, her face scrunches up a little and she cries out before burying her head in my neck.
I don't want to say anything, so I just still and kiss her temple.
"I'm okay," She squeaks. "The worst is over. Go ahead." I pull out slowly watching her face for any sign that she is in too much pain. She's clenching her jaw and her eyes are closed. She pulls her legs up further, opening herself wider for me as I bury myself in her again. I sigh at the feeling of being enveloped by her.
"Bella," I whisper. "You feel so amazing." She leans up to kiss me, her arms wrapped around my back.
"Thank you Edward. You've made this night perfect." I disagree with that, she orchestrated this whole thing, but I don't want to upset her or make it seem like this is any less special than it is.
"I couldn't agree more," I insinuate that it's her that has made it perfect.
With that she closes her eyes and I begin to move in and out of her again. I should have used two condoms, I can already tell I'm not going to last much longer. The way her body moves with my movements, the way her chest, stomach and thighs create this almost pillow effect has my senses on overload.
"Bella...Bell-"
"I know, let go Edward." She pulls me to her and kisses me on the cheek and with that I can't help but speed up. I push in once, twice and the third time I spill over the edge, groaning out loud as Bella sighs and pulls me further into her with her legs.
My breathing is loud and ragged as I collapse to her side, my arm and leg left draping over her. She giggles and turns toward me, nestling into my body. I pull her closer and push my nose into her hair, she even smells amazing. God, I am so lucky to have her.
She sings along quietly to the song that is now playing out of the CD player.
"I want to get lost in some corner booth, Cantina Mexico. I want to dance to the static of an AM radio. I want to wrap the moon around us and lay beside you skin on skin, making love 'til the sun comes up, 'til the sun goes down again. 'Cause I need you, like a needle needs a vein. Like my Uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs the rain. I need you. Like a light house on the coast, like the Father and the Son need the Holy Ghost, I need you."