A/N: Once again, massive apologies for the delay in posting. Pesky real life getting in the way of writing again. At least I left you guys in a good place though, eh? ;)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Chapter 33

Bella felt a sudden movement against her butt. Oh, Edward! she thought, deepening the kiss and pressing her body closer to him. Edward's hand then started vibrating insistently and making a loud ringing sound. Crap, who's calling me now? Bella tried to ignore the buzzing cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans and concentrated on exploring every inch of Edward's delicious mouth with her tongue. Much to her dismay, he was too easily distracted and broke off the kiss. "Shouldn't you get that?" he asked.

"Um, let me think about that. No!" Bella felt her heart flutter as Edward's irresistible grin slowly spread across his face and he lowered his lips to hers. But the renewed kiss was short-lived – almost as soon as the phone had stopped ringing, it started again. This time Bella was the one to pull away. "Sorry Edward, I…" she shrugged.

"Maybe you should just take the call, Bella. It could be important." She reluctantly took the phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID. RENEE. She sighed. Great timing, Mom.

"It's my mom," explained Bella, relishing the feeling of Edward's hands still lightly resting on her hips, as she touched 'Answer' on the screen. "Hey," she greeted, trying not to sound as pissed off as she felt.

"Bella, thank god you answered, sweetie!" Renee sounded distraught. Bella winced – this was not going to be a quick call to see how she was spending her Saturday night. "It's Phil. We're breaking up. Oh Bella, it's been just awful!" Bella could hear her mum sobbing at the other end of the line.

"Okay Mom, just calm down. I'm here. It's gonna be all right. Just slow down and tell me what happened." She looked up at Edward and mouthed the word "sorry" as she stepped out of his embrace and turned away. Renee and her long-term boyfriend, Phil, were always "breaking up." It happened every couple of months and they always got through it. They loved each other passionately – the flipside of that was they fought passionately, too. Every fiery argument escalated into a full-blown volcano and it was usually Bella who had to douse the flames. She knew as soon as she'd managed to calm down her mom, she'd have to call Phil to do the same. Through her whole life Bella had felt like the parent, with Renee the child.

"He's really done it this time, Bella. I swear. I just can't take his shit any more!" Renee cried down the phone. Bella sighed.

"Just a second, Mom. Then you can tell me all about it." She covered the mouthpiece of her phone and turned back to Edward, who was starting to shiver on the porch. "This could take a while," she said to him. "I'm gonna take a walk, okay? Go back inside and get warm."

"Sure, take your time," nodded Edward, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Thanks," smiled Bella. "Okay Mom, shoot." She skipped down the steps to the beach, and glanced back up when she reached the bottom. What she saw chilled her bones more than the cold night air: Tanya stepping out of the front door to join Edward on the porch with a big, flirtatious grin on her face.

Bella hesitated. Should she try and end the call and go back up to him? No, she couldn't. Even though she knew the drama would blow over, her mom was pretty upset. She'd be a terrible daughter if she hung up on her now. She gritted her teeth and walked further down the beach. She may not like the idea of Tanya trying to sink her claws into Edward, but she sure as hell didn't have to stick around and watch it.

oOoOo

Two hours and fifty-three minutes. Two fucking hours and fifty-fucking-three minutes. The exact amount of heart-breaking, teeth-gritting, bone-chilling time Bella had spent on the phone to Renee and Phil. She'd kept on walking to try and keep warm, and while she wasn't exactly lost - she'd just followed the beach – she had ended up a pretty long way from Esme's beach house. The upside was Renee and Phil had agreed to sleep on it and try to make amends in the morning. The downside was her cell phone battery was now completely dead, she was probably suffering from frostbite, and she'd missed out on two hours and fifty-three minutes (and counting) of kissing Edward Cullen. "Fuck my life!" she shouted to a passing seagull.

She hugged her arms around herself in a pitiful attempt to retain the little body heat she had left, and eventually the huge mansion came into sight. Bella noticed some of the bedroom lights were on. Have people gone to bed already? she wondered. A glance at her watch told her it was much later than she'd thought. She sighed in frustration. Why did Renee have to pick tonight of all nights to have a crisis?

As she drew closer to the house, Bella spotted a figure bundled up in a blanket on the porch swing. Her heart skipped a beat. Had Edward sat out waiting for her this whole time? She realised with a flush of warmth that it was the sort of kind and romantic thing he would do. Her secret smile was soon wiped from her face as she got nearer. Not Edward. It was Leah, smoking a fatly rolled joint.

"Party sucks that bad, huh?" asked Bella through chattering teeth as she climbed the steps.

"Oh, hey Bella," smiled Leah, in a sleepy voice. "Want some?" Bella shook her head to decline the offer. "Where've you been? You look frozen."

"I am! My mum called. It was important, so I left to take the call. I didn't plan on walking as far as I did, though. It sounds pretty quiet in there…" The music that had been blaring through the house when Bella had left was silent.

"Hmmm, well, Bitchface's friends got word of another party somewhere and bailed on us. Good riddance, by the way. I think the rest have mostly gone to bed or something." She took another deep pull from the joint. "Oh, and your friend, um, Rosalie and, uh… erm…."

"Emmett?" prompted Bella.

"Yes! Yes, Emmett! Muscles, you know… They went off down the beach a little while ago. Beats me why. It's fucking freezing out here…" Bella smirked. Leah may be too stoned to realise, but Bella knew Rose was a big fan of Sex on the Beach, and not just the cocktail.

"And did Bitchfa- I mean, Tanya leave with her friends?" asked Bella, praying it was true.

A look of pained concentration came across Leah's face. "You know, I really don't remember. Sorry dude."

"It's fine," said Bella, waving it off. "But what about Edward? Did he go to bed too?"

"Actually, I haven't seen Edward in ages. I don't know where he is. I saw him talking to Tanya… and then I got so mad at him that I went to get something stronger to drink. And after that…." Leah scrunched her eyes closed as if she could replay her last scenes with Edward on the insider of her eyelids. "Nope. I got nothing. Are you sure you don't want some of this, Bella? You can come under here with me and I'll warm you up…" She lifted a corner of the blanket suggestively.

"Erm, thanks but no thanks, Leah. I need to find Edward. See you later." Bella rushed into the warmth of the house, feeling life flood back into her extremities as she did so. Her mind was racing – had Leah seen Edward with Tanya before or after she went for a walk? Was Tanya still here? Where was Edward? She had to find him.

Inside the house was deathly quiet, as if everyone had left the party in a hurry. Empty red cups and spilled bowls of chips were strewn across the floor, the lights on the silent sound system flashed forlornly. Bella didn't waste time checking any of the downstairs rooms for signs of life. She had only one destination on her mind. Edward's bedroom.

It took her a while to locate the room in the maze of corridors. Just as she was about to give up she spotted the little sailboat sign on his door. 'Edward's Room.' Bella smiled and sighed with relief. She could already picture herself slipping under the sheets, pressing her cold body against his, letting him warm her up with his hands, his lips, his tongue… She shivered in anticipation.

Something caused her to hesitate as she stepped up to the door. Should she knock first or just go in? Was she being too forward? Should she go back and brush her teeth? As the questions whirled around her mind, Bella heard something from insider Edward's room that made her stomach turn to ice.

"Oh! Em! Gee!"

Tanya.

In Edward's bedroom.

And judging by the murmuring male voice that followed, she wasn't alone.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Poppy x