Almost at three hundred follows! Very cool. You reviewers are freaking awesome though. Thank you so much guys!

Music: Stolen Dance by Milky Chance.

. . . . . . . . . .

I woke up with a pounding headache, drooling from the smell of bacon wafting through the hotel room. Mmm, Bella was cooking.

Bella.

My eyes shot open. I fucking kissed Bella last night. I told her that she was mine, and she… actually fucking agreed with me.

Holy shit, I actually kissed Bella last night.

How the fuck did I get into my bed?

Was she okay? Did I scare her?

I threw back the covers, running to my bedroom door and realizing that I had full on morning wood. I went to the bathroom quickly, then ran into the kitchen. She jumped when I barreled into the room, flinching when her hand hit the frying pan. I was at her side in a second, taking her hand and inspecting it to make sure she was okay.

She didn't say a word. She didn't move, and she wasn't looking at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, pulling on her hand. I didn't let go.

"How's your stomach?"

"It's fine." She pulled on her hand again.

"Look at me Bella."

"If you keep up that fucking tone I'm going to punch you in the face," she spat, glaring at me as she twisted her wrist around in a way that easily broke my hold.

I smiled.

There was my Bella.

"Sorry, you scared me."

"Well, so did you. I thought there was a fucking zombie chasing you or something, barreling in like that." She went back to flipping bacon. I looked at her closely, finally taking in her appearance.

I'd never seen her look this dishevelled before. Her ponytail was really messy, and she was wearing a pair of her black yoga pants and a loose, long sleeved, dark grey cotton shirt. There were dark circles under her eyes.

"What's wrong? Did you not sleep last night?"

Nothing.

"Bella, please-"

"You were really drunk last night," she whispered. I watched her quietly for a long minute, and understanding set in.

"You think I don't remember what I did? That I kissed you because I was drunk?" She didn't say anything, and I gently turned her around to face me, tilting her face up with a finger under chin, and I was surprised as fuck when she didn't even flinch. She was tense, but she didn't pull away from me. "I remember everything, and that had nothing to do with alcohol. I kissed you because I've been dreaming of kissing you for months. I said you were mine because I want you to be, I'm never going to let you go, share you, or try to hide my feelings from you anymore. I can't. I need you, and seeing you get hurt last night… it was too much for me. I couldn't stop myself, I didn't want to."

She was searching my eyes for a long quiet moment, and I held her gaze until she spoke.

"You… actually meant it?"

"Yes."

"Are you still drunk?" She asked, a small smile starting to form on her lips.

"No, silly girl," I chuckled, pulling her against my chest and hugging her gently. She felt so fucking small in my arms, and I hated that she was shaking. Fuck, I'm pretty sure I had scared her, and that she didn't fucking sleep last night. After a minute, she slowly wrapped her arms around my waist, hugging me back gently. I smiled, inhaling the scent of her hair. She stiffened after a couple seconds though, and I pulled away to look at her. "What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

She grinned, wrinkling her nose. "You need a shower Hollywood. Go get cleaned up. I'm making waffles," she said, with a very impressive impersonation of Eddie Murphy. I grinned, walking back out and heading over to the shower.

I did need a shower, but I think she needed a bit of space too, and it was the least I could do to give it to her.

I felt like a completely new person after a long shower and pulling on a pair of jeans and a khaki pullover. I went back out just as Bella was setting out two plates on the table. I dropped down onto my stool, grinning up at her.

"This smells amazing."

"Thanks."

I dug in, moaning as the fluffy waffles melted in my mouth. She was watching me with a smirk. I grinned back.

"You know, for such a feminist, you're awfully good at this home maker stuff," I said, biting off my laugh as her face went an angry shade of red.

Her arm shot out, punching me in the shoulder. Hard.

"Fuck you Cullen." She grabbed her plate, walking over to the living room with it. I skipped after her, dropping down next to her on the couch.

She looked fucking adorable with that scowl.

"Come on, you know I'm just teasing you."

"No, you were trying to piss me off, and it worked," she growled. I froze, thinking maybe I had pushed her a little too far. My stomach sank.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

She grinned at me, and took a big bite of her waffle.

"You fucking player." She winked at me, and went back to eating her breakfast. I laughed before turning my attention back to my own plate. I took our dishes when she finished, and she seemed shocked by the action. "You cooked, I'll clean. Why don't you grab a shower? I've never seen your hair this messy before," I teased, ruffling her hair. She flinched the slightest bit, but then she swatted at me playfully before she got up and walked over to her room.

We left quickly after she came out, dressed in her usual work clothes with her hair in a tight bun. It felt like the plane was taking off only seconds later.

"You have a bad habit of setting off the metal detectors," I teased. I was curious though, she was four for four now, and it didn't really make sense with her organized nature.

"Yeah… I can't really help it. I have some metal pins in my hip."

"What? Why?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"The accident. They had to rebuild my pelvis."

I nodded numbly, and we were both quiet for a long minute. I was trying to reign in my anger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make a joke about it," I told her guiltily.

"Don't worry about it," she said easily. "Emmett calls me a cyborg whenever we fly." She seemed to find that funny, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh. I didn't find it fucking funny, and tried to think of something else to talk about. She was fiddling with a button on her sleeve.

"You know, I'm surprised Alice hasn't burned all of your pants-suits yet," I mused with a forced smile.

"There's a reason she's never been to my house before," she laughed.

"You were serious about that?"

"Yeah… you're the only person who knows where I live except for Emmett and Rose," she whispered guiltily. "It's not that I don't trust her, because I do, it's just-"

"Hey, it's okay," I said, reaching out and taking her hand. She stiffened, her eyes darting around the cabin, and I quickly let go. "Sorry," I said sheepishly. "You don't need to apologize though. I understand. And Alice wouldn't take it personally. As long as you're still talking to her she's going to be happy. She wouldn't hold that against you."

She gave me a tentative smile, and a small nod. I grinned at her, and looked around to make sure no one was watching or listening to us before leaning in close to her. She gave me a speculative look.

"So. You're my girlfriend," I told her, just in case she hadn't figured that out yet.

"Excuse me?" She squeaked, the colour draining out of her face. My smile grew.

"You said you were mine. That means you're my girlfriend, B," I told her in an obvious voice. She just stared at me. "Are you going to tell Emmett and Rose?"

"Uhm…" She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was so funny seeing this shy, nervous version of herself that was so rare. I would never laugh at her for this though, I just thought it was cute.

"What's the big deal?" I asked, knowing for her, that it was a big deal. I wasn't going to sit back and pretend nothing happened though. Keeping my distance from her in public for her own safety was one thing, but not around our friends, our family.

"It's just… I've… never really had a boyfriend before," she whispered.

I shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that," I said easily.

"I don't really know what this entails. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing."

"That's okay. We'll figure it out as we go. I just want to be with you, I don't care about anything else."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You know Emmett's going to punch you in the face."

"It'll be worth it," I told her truthfully. She laughed, and relaxed in her chair once more.

"Okay, I'll tell them."

"I think I should be there when you do."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want them to think I'm hiding behind you. I don't want you to protect me, I want to be there to protect you. I'm proud that you're mine, I don't want to hide that from the few people I'm permitted to not hide it from."

She looked at me guiltily again. "You know how this is going to have to be, right? It won't change anything. You still can't use my name, or tell people we're together. We can't go out on normal dates or hold hands in public or any of that other crap. Are you sure you want to-"

"Yes," I said immediately, not needing her to finish. "I don't care about that. I'm much happier hiding in one of our apartments compared to a restaurant or whatever. We've been going out as friends for a while. I can keep that up. I'll behave, I swear."

She let out a soft sigh. "Okay… can you just promise me one thing?"

"Anything."

"If it gets to be too much, just... talk to me about it?"

I thought about that for a moment, trying to figure out her meaning. She was looking at me like she was ready for me to bolt at any minute. Did she think this would be too much for me?

I had to admit, I was a little worried it would be too much for her.

"Sure, if you promise me the same thing."

"Okay."

. . . . . . . . . .

I didn't sleep a single fucking second last night, my entire body buzzing with a nervous excitement.

Calm the fuck down. Emmett knows you like her, and you've hung out with him like a hundred times. We're friends.

He's not actually going to kill me.

Why couldn't I believe my own words?

I lost track of how many coffees I had this afternoon, and was starting to get nauseous from my body's shaking while I paced around in my apartment. I eventually dropped down on my piano bench out of exhaustion, and the familiar feeling of the ivory under my hands instantly started to sooth me.

Just like Bella. The thought made me smile, and I brushed my fingers gently over the keys. One note stood out in my mind, and I hit it again before moving up. My fingers started to move on their own, morphing into the song before I even realized there was a song.

It was the song Bella had played at Rose's wedding.

I smiled, playing with it, but I couldn't remember the whole melody in my head. I pulled up some sheet music on my android, and started learning more of the song.

It made me miss her even more.

With a sigh, I stepped away from the piano, calling Riley to send my driver so I could go see my muse in person.

I felt myself starting to calm as soon as I stepped into her building. Going in through the garage and taking the service elevator like we usually did. Just in case someone recognized her in a picture with me, we didn't want them to be able to use me to know where she lived. No one could see me get in this way.

I paused when I stopped outside of her door, listening to the soft, muted sound of her violin. I closed my eyes, leaning against the door to listen to it. It was a very gentle song, something so beautiful that it shook your soul and made it hard to breathe.

I wasn't close enough, I needed to be next to her. I knocked on the door, and the music stopped abruptly.

I waited a few seconds, grinning up at the security camera above her door, then listened to her undo all the locks before opening it.

"Hey Hollywood. You're early."

"I missed you," I said, stepping inside. Saliva pooled in my mouth. "Fuck, what are you cooking? It smells amazing."

"Oh, I have a peppercorn sauce simmering right now," she said with a grin, closing the door behind me. Zeus bounded over, and started jumping in circles around me excitedly. She sighed, and went over to her stove to turn it off. "I was just about to take him up to the roof, want to come?"

"Yes," I said quickly. She opened the door back up, letting Zeus run into the hallway ahead of us before going up the stairs.

He started running around in giant circles on the roof, chasing pigeons, and I sat down next to Bella on a small outdoor couch. I watched her while she watched him with an adoring smile.

Her long hair was in a straight pony tail, and today she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans with a slightly baggy Led Zeppelin t-shirt. So beautiful. I watched her thumbs fiddling with the hem of her shirt, and reached out to gently take one of her soft hands.

She didn't even freeze up. She smiled at me, and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. That one little action, this tiny difference that was not tiny in the slightest, filled me with joy.

"So how was your day today?"

"It was pretty good. Played with Zeus in the park for a bit, did some grocery shopping. Nothing too exciting. Yours?" She looked up at me, and grinned. "You look like shit today, Hollywood."

I grinned, dragging my hand through my hair. "Yeah, I didn't really sleep much, then ended up drinking about a fish tank worth of coffee."

"I don't see how you can drink that stuff, it doesn't even taste good. And you know it's not healthy."

"I don't think the amount of bacon you eat is healthy," I teased. She laughed.

"I always run it off right afterwards anyways. There is nothing wrong with having a healthy appetite," she said, stomach rumbling. "Hmm, speaking of food," she said patting her flat stomach. She brought two fingers up to her lips, whistling loudly, and Zeus bounded over. "How about a snack boy? What do you think about that?" His tail started thumping on the ground loudly in excitement while he grinned up at her.

She didn't let go of my hand while we walked back down to her apartment.

I settled in on her couch with a rye and coke. She came and sat with me twenty minutes later with a giant plate of nachos, and turned on her Netflix. I scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tucking her into my side. I saw her smile out of the corner of my eye before she leaned her head against me.

"This is perfection," I breathed quietly, closing my eyes and smiling. Bella laughed.

"What?"

I grinned down at her. "I've never been as happy as I am now, sitting here like this with you. It's amazing."

My words seemed to confuse her for a second, but she smiled back at me after a minute, reaching up and taking my hand that was hanging over her shoulder hesitantly. "I feel the same way," she whispered quietly. "I like this, being with you like this."

Her words sent a flood of warmth through my chest, making my smile grow even bigger, and my pulse started pounding loudly in my ears. I was filled with a nervous excitement and I slowly leaned in towards her soft lips.

Then there was a knock on the door.

I sighed dramatically, making her laugh as she stood up and walked over to the door. I looked over at the monitor on her desk, and saw Emmett and Rose standing in the hallway, waving at the screen with big smiles.

Fuck. I had forgotten about them for a moment. I sat up straight, and forced myself not to fidget as I heard the door open.

"Bells! Fuck, it smells delicious in here. Is that your peppercorn sauce? What's the special occasion?"

The two of them froze when they walked in, and saw me sitting on the couch. They stared at me, wide-eyed, not saying anything for a moment.

"What would you guys like to drink?" Bella asked casually, voice utter calm. I was forcing myself to breathe.

"What's he doing here?"

"We're hanging out, having dinner," she said obviously. She bit her lip, trying to hide an amused grin.

Bella won't let him kill me. She won't. Calm the fuck down. You've been punched in the face before, you'll survive.

I've never been hit by someone as big as Emmett though.

"You told him where you live?" Rose asked. She was smiling excitedly at me, while Emmett was still blinking, probably waiting to see if I would disappear.

"Yeah, he's known for a while, actually."

"How long?" Emmett asked, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Since your wedding."

"So, you really told him everything?"

Bella walked over and sat down next to me again, Rose followed, leaving Emmett where he was.

"Yeah."

Rose looked nervous, giving Bella a strange look. "Did you tell him about… me?"

"No, of course not," she scoffed, leaning in and kissing her cheek. Rose relaxed.

I wasn't going to ask. Not now anyways.

Emmett came down and sat next to Rose. "So, what does this mean?"

Bella looked over at me, a flash of nervousness in her eyes. It was my turn to be the calm one. I smiled at her, and reached out to take her hand in mine. She relaxed, smiling back, and we both looked back to them.

Rose had tears in her eyes, smiling brightly.

Emmett looked… resigned.

"Well, I can't say this is a complete surprise," he sighed, leaning back against the couch. My eyes went wide.

"That's it?"

"What's it?"

"You're not going to punch me?"

He grinned. "Not today Cullen. There are no promises about tomorrow though," he said with a smile. I laughed, and relaxed against the couch. "Looks like you're in the circle of trust now Fucker, don't screw it up."

"I won't."

Well, that went better than expected. Bella gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"Awesome. So, drinks? You want a daiquiri Rose?"

"That sounds lovely," she said, still smiling at me.

"Emmett?"

"Beer is fine."

Bella got back up, hopping over the back of the couch gracefully and walking over to her bar. She came back five minutes later with drinks, even a fresh one for me, before going back over to the kitchen. I flinched when the apartment was filled with a loud pounding noise, looking over to see her beating chicken breasts with a big rubber mallet.

"So, what's for dinner?" Emmett asked excitedly, craning his head also.

"Mushroom stuffed chicken," she called.

"Fucking A," he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Hey Cullen, pass the remote, there's a game on," he said easily. I tossed him the remote, and he switched it over to cable with obvious familiarity as he put on a football game.

We ate in the living room, stuffing ourselves on a feast of amazing chicken, roasted potatoes and steamed cauliflower with string beans. That sauce was fucking amazing beyond words, I wanted to drink it. By the time we finished dinner and some awesome fruit flan, Bella and Rose were on their third pitcher of strawberry daiquiris, and were whispering to each other loudly and giggling. When I scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her, she easily took my hand again, rubbing circles on the back of it with her thumb. Emmett didn't even give me a dirty look. He smiled, actually, and gave me an inconspicuous, approving nod.

We were good.

I helped her with the dishes once they left, drying for her while she washed. She had a goofy smile on her face, swaying slightly where she stood.

"Bella, I do believe you are quite tanked right now," I mused with a smile. I'd had a few drinks, but they didn't have much of an effect on me after the feast I'd eaten.

"You would be right in that assumption," she said, grinning at me.

"I always thought it was kind of weird. You just turned twenty-one, and you already had this giant, fancy bar."

She laughed. "Are you saying you never had a drink before you were twenty-one?" She asked knowingly. I smiled. "I started college when I was fifteen, early exposure to the whole scene I guess. I was never a lush, I only drink on my own time, I never touch the stuff if I'm working."

"Fifteen? When did you finish? What were you taking?"

She frowned slightly. "I started with taking criminal law and computer sciences, but about two months after I started Victor started sending letters to my classrooms. I withdrew and went back into correspondence from home. I got my law degree in a year and a half."

The glass I was holding shattered in my hand. Fucking prick.

"Shit! Edward, what the fuck," she shouted, taking my hand carefully. Zeus ran into the room. "Zeus! Go to your spot!" she ordered, and he retreated quickly as she dragged me over to her washroom. She sat me down on the edge of her Jacuzzi, and pulled a big first aid kit out from under her sink before kneeling down in front of me.

"Sorry, it's just… thinking about was he did to you, it makes me fucking livid."

"It's okay," she said in a gentle voice, pulling pieces of glass out of my hand with a pair of tweezers. "I'm sorry I said it, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, don't you fucking apologize. I don't want you to ever... it's not your fault that ass-" I hissed when she started cleaning the cuts with the alcohol swabs.

"Don't be such a baby," she teased, grinning up at me.

"Hey, that fucking stings," I said defensively. She rolled her eyes at me, making me grin.

Yup, not the coddling type. But she could be sweet, when she wanted to be. She finished cleaning up the cuts, using these little sticker-stitches to close the bigger ones, before putting Polysporin on my palm and wrapping it up.

"So, you have a law degree and an EMT license, anything else?"

"I don't actually have a licence as an EMT. My law degree is the only program I actually ever finished. I took a lot of other stuff for fun though. I've done some business courses, computer programming, some accounting… and my Librarian technician courses."

"Fuck, where'd you find the time for all of that?"

"You end up with a lot of spare time when you're not able to leave your house or make any friends," she said quietly.

"Oh… yeah. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing for things that are completely out of your control," she said seriously, shooting me a look. I smiled, and nodded.

"How did you afford all of that stuff? How did you get into security?"

We walked back over to her kitchen where she started cleaning up the broken glass on the floor.

"Well, I made a lot off of that screen play I wrote, that was more than enough to pay for my schooling. I had some scholarships too. Then my dad died, and he had a pretty big life insurance policy, being a cop and all. I had started taking karate, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing with Emmett after I got released from the hospital, and took to it pretty quickly. It was like therapy, punching shit calmed me down. I made a lot of contacts through all of my schooling and competitions, and when we moved… I used a big chunk of my savings to buy Emmett the gym, started teaching my own classes while doing some private investigator work on the side. I got a few offers to do some security work, and found out that I was good at it. When I met Rose, and introduced her to Emmett, I helped her get her business set up and accepted the job happily when she offered for me to run her security." She looked up at me when I didn't say anything, and gave me a suspicious look. "What?"

"You're fucking incredible. You know that, right?" She rolled her eyes, and finished putting away the dishes. "I'm serious," I said, turning her back to look at me and backing her into the counter. "The passion and drive you have for life is fucking inspirational Bella. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I still struggle on a daily basis to believe that you're even real."

She gave me a strained smile. "You're sweet, but I don't know what do to with your intense compliments. They're a little hard to absorb," she said, her voice a little nervous.

"You don't have to do anything with them except for believe them, because I'd never fucking lie to you."

She swallowed loudly, and nodded once, looking up at me with those big, nervous, beautiful chocolate eyes. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but she was drunk, and I wanted our relationship to be stronger than that. Next time we kissed, we were both going to be fucking sober.

So I gave her a gentle smile, and leaned in to kiss her forehead softly instead, and felt her relax when I wrapped my arms around her.

. . . . . . . . . .

They're both trying hard. How do you think they're doing so far?

Bella's Strawberry Daiquiri's

1 can Strawberry Passion Fruitopia concentrate
2 cups fresh or frozen Strawberries
White Rum
Ice

Pour Juice concentrate into blender. Use empty can to measure out your rum, or whatever liquor you prefer! Then use can to measure out two cups of ice. Add Strawberries, blend. Take a slice of orange, and slide around rim of glass, dip in sugar. Sit orange slice onto rim of glass, pour, and serve!

I'm not trying to encourage you to drink or anything, but I love Strawberry Daiquiris. A lot. What do you drink?