Author's Note:

I hope everyone liked the last chapter. I avoided using profanities until the end but I'm not going to censor my writing anymore. So, don't say I didn't warn you. Also, I'm not used to writing the stuff with the sexual tension or anything smutty so please let me know if it was/is any good.

The book referred to in this chapter is "Dead as a Doornail" by Charlaine Harris (one of the novels in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series).

Please show a girl some love by leaving a review. Please, please, PLEASE?! I've had a few favourites/follows but only one review. I'd love to know what you like/don't like… and if I'm accidently slipping any "Australian-isms" in…

Thank you for reading!

Of course, I don't own Twilight. I'm just playing with the characters a bit…

Chapter 4:

So that's not how you would have chosen to meet Edward. So what? Bella now had her usual makeup on and was wearing a pair of jeans with a tank top and a lightweight jumper. All that was left before entering the living room was her mental preparedness so she was trying to psych herself up before even considering opening her bedroom door. He's taken, Bella. By a model, no less. There's no way he would actually be interested in you and you wouldn't want him to anyway. You don't want to come between a happy couple. You can be friends with him, help him settle in and be his housemate but that's all. Besides, he's your best friend's brother. Imagine if things didn't work out. You could ruin everything. You can't lose Alice, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme!

OK. Just friends.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Bella emerged from her room but Alice and Edward were nowhere to be seen. Making her way to the couch, she made herself comfortable and grabbed her novel from the coffee table. As she opened it to the page she'd marked, she heard Alice and Edward enter the kitchen. Alice must have been showing him the rooms on the other side of the apartment.

"Why'd you get here so early anyway?" Bella heard Alice ask as she continued to read.

"What do you mean? I arrived as scheduled… My flight had an 8:00am arrival time and Dad had organised for a cab to take me here." Edward replied, confused.

"Oh! 8:00am! I thought you were coming in at 8:00 tonight! Well, I guess that's my fault." Alice chuckled at her own stupidity.

Bella cursed Alice under her breath for receiving and/or providing false information. If she'd expected Edward to arrive when he did, she never would have risked a towel run from the bathroom to her room. Trying to block out the conversation taking place in the next room, Bella continued reading.

"Well, that explains things then." Edward commented. He must have received a confused look from Alice because he continued. "Your friend. I can't imagine she would have knowingly put herself in that situation." He chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining. You never told me Bella's hot." And suddenly Bella wasn't reading anymore. She was still staring at her open book but there was no way she wanted to miss this.

"Um, excuse me, Mister I'm-dating-a-model," Alice retorted. "Why should I tell you whether or not my roommate is hot?"

"Wait. How do you know Tanya's a model?" Edward asked.

"I'm sorry, did you forget who our parents are? They gossip like schoolgirls." Alice said, making Edward laugh.

"Emmett's no better… Though I don't think he knows about the model part yet… Oh god. Can you imagine? I don't think I should tell him." Edward joked as they both laughed.

This is why I'm glad he's staying here, Bella thought. It'll make Alice happy to have him around again.

"Anyway," Alice said, continuing her tour after their laughter died down, "this, as you can see, is the kitchen. It contains cupboards, drawers, a pantry, a fridge and, most importantly, a wine rack." Bella smiled to herself. She could practically see Alice gesturing around the room like a model on a game show.

Edward laughed. "Alice, you dweeb, I know wine is important to you but what's in the cupboards and drawers? That's what I really need to know."

"Bleh, boring." Alice replied but she showed him nonetheless.

With the tour back on track, Bella had returned to her book…

He stood by me propped against his desk and set his crutches aside. He put his arm around me. I turned to him and slid my arms around his waist. He held me to him and I felt peaceful for a wonderful minute. The heat of his body warmed me, and the knowledge of his affection comforted me.

"Does your leg hurt?" I asked when he moved restlessly.

…until she heard her name mentioned again.

"– Bella on Facebook." Alice said. What about my Facebook? Bella asked herself.

"Oh," Edward groaned, "please tell me you're joking?" He asked, exasperated. "I hope Bella didn't accept the request. She needs to learn to keep her nose to herself and just trust me." Oh, the friend request from the model? Sounds like she gets jealous. Well, it's no wonder if he looks at every dull woman the way he looked at me earlier. Imagine the way he must look at a women who are actually worth looking at, Bella thought.

"Well, from the way you were talking about Bella a minute ago, I wouldn't blame Tanya if she doesn't trust you." Alice challenged. Maybe Alice wasn't as oblivious to the earlier tension as I thought she was, Bella considered.

"Oh, come on. That was different. My first impression of Bella was a pretty extreme one. She caught me by surprise, I was worried about her at first. She was all clumsy and wet and she wasn't standing up…" He seemed to trail off thoughtfully. "And she was only wearing a towel! What's a man to do?" Edward paused, waiting for a response from Alice. Evidently, he didn't get the response he wanted so he continued on, "The point is, I've never given Tanya any reason not to trust me and Bella was an exception. What would you do if a good-looking mostly-naked man fell down in front of you while you were overtired and jetlagged?"

That makes more sense, Bella thought. So he doesn't react that way to all women… He's just dopey and jetlagged… Explaining Edward's earlier behaviour away, Bella felt slightly more comfortable but she couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment.

"OK, calm down. I believe you." Alice laughed. "It's weird for me to hear you talk about that sort of thing anyway. I'm your baby sister, remember?"

Edward let out a relaxed laugh. It was a laugh that sounded so easy and genuine, it made Bella smile from the next room. "Sorry, Ali."

"So, tell me more about Tanya." Alice asked and Bella could hear the smile in her voice. She was happy to have her bother home.

"Well, she's stunning." Edward explained. "She was born in France but her parents died when she was around… 13, I think? That's when she moved to England to be with her extended family. Her relationship with them is pretty strained though. I'm sure she's thankful to them for taking her in but she doesn't talk about them much. Surprisingly – or unsurprisingly, I don't know – for a model, she's got a lot of insecurities. I don't know if it's because of her upbringing or if it's just the way she is but she can be very jealous. She wasn't very happy when I told her I might be living with a family friend rather than just family. That would be why she added Bella on Facebook. She probably wanted to check her out – see if she's a threat." He sighed, sounding exasperated and tired. "Even after I've tried so hard to convince her, she just doesn't know how to trust me."

"That's such a shame, Edward." Alice replied, her voice full of sympathy. "But we'll get to meet her soon? Mum and Dad said she might be coming to visit?"

"Yeah," Edward replied, "I need to speak with you guys about that."

With these new confessions, Bella no longer knew what to make of Edward. She was still more than happy to be his friend but she didn't know if it would be that easy. She did, however, know what would happen next and her solution was to continue staring at her book, pretending to read.

"Well, follow me. Once Bella hears us out here, she'll join us soon enough. It's our code." Alice said, leading her brother to the living room.

"Really?" Edward asked, disbelief lining his voice.

"Really, really." Alice replied cheerfully as she entered the room. "Oh, look! It already worked." Alice said happily, making herself comfortable on the couch next to her friend.

"Wow," Edward muttered, his eyes locking with Bella's for a moment.

Within seconds, the expression on his face transformed into one of panic – maybe he knows I heard them – followed by hesitation and… Could he be nervous? Bella thought.

"Um, do you mind if we join you?" he asked.

Bella smiled and gestured to the couches. As Edward situated himself on the adjacent couch, Bella felt she needed to explain a few things and decided, while they were at it, they should probably explain the "house rules" to him. That's what friends do, right? She thought as she closed her book, placing it back on the coffee table.

"Edward," Bella started and his eyes snapped to her. Refusing to be intimidated by his gaze – whether that was his intention or not – she continued, "I don't know if you've had housemates or roommates before but, just so you know, our bedrooms are our escape. If we ever need time to ourselves, that's where we go. Lord knows there's enough space in those rooms." She laughed as Alice rolled her eyes. "Out here, however, is common ground. Everyone is welcome and you don't have to ask to join me." She met his eyes with a smile. "Also, I do most of the cooking since Alice almost killed us the last time she tried. There's leftover lasagne in the fridge if you'd like some. If you have any preferences about keeping food, you'll need to label it. If it's not labelled, it's fair game."

Edward's concentration seemed momentarily broken by the word "lasagne" but he continued nodding along seriously, taking the rest in.

"Yeah," Alice chimed in, "these are rules we've taken the time to develop and they work pretty damn well so don't mess with them. Oh and the sticky notes and a pen can be found next to the fridge." Bella laughed at her friend. As soon as they determined a rule, Alice was always the first to enforce it.

"Fair enough," Edward replied, smiling at them and relaxing into his seat a bit more, "that all seems fair. Alice knows this but I've haven't, in fact, had a roommate or housemate before so this is new to me." He paused, leaning forward now but still seemingly relaxed, "Now, there's something I need to talk to the two of you about."

Alice and Bella exchanged a look.

"You both seem to already know that Tanya may be coming to visit in a couple of weeks but I need to know whether or not you would be comfortable with her staying here throughout the duration of her visit." Edward explained.

"How long will she be in town?" Alice asked.

"It will only be a week or two. She has a job lined up that starts in four weeks and the job she's currently completing won't be finished until the middle of next week."

"Well, I don't see why not." Bella shrugged. "Like I said, we've got plenty of room." She looked to Alice.

"OK but what else is there?" Alice asked, looking at her brother with suspicion. "I know you – there's more to come."

Surprised, Bella looked back at Edward who, once again, seemed to look nervous.

"Well, I met Tanya through Jasper and his sister, Rosalie. They were talking about coming out this way too…" Edward said. Where the hell is he going with this? Bella wondered, looking to Alice for clarification but she just shrugged.

"And Jasper and Rosalie are…?" Alice pressed, clearly wanting a proper explanation.

"Jasper's my closest friend." Edward explained, looking between Alice and Bella. "He and his sister grew up here, in the States, but they lost their parents soon after Jasper graduated from school. He was 18 and she was 16, I think. They inherited a lot of money from their parents and, the way Jasper tells it, it didn't take him long to realise they needed a fresh start… So they moved to England. He was Rosalie's legal guardian and he didn't want to them to just live off their inheritance so he got a job at Marco's at around the same time I did. The point is, he's a great guy and I didn't get along with Rose at first but she grew on me. You'd like her, Alice. She can be a bit shallow at times but, other than that, she reminds me a lot of you. She's your age and she's looking to start a career in fashion too."

"Why didn't I know any of this, Edward? If you're so close to them, why haven't you told me about them before?" Alice asked. To Bella's surprise, her friend didn't just look disappointed, she looked truly upset by the fact that Edward had kept such a large part of his life from her.

Looking just at Alice now, Edward explained, "He was there for me, Alice. When I left home and moved to England, he's what kept me sane." Suddenly, with those words, Bella understood and she immediately wanted to leave. This was would soon become a very emotional conversation they needed to have as a family but she was there, in the middle, feeling like an intruder. Oblivious to Bella's desire to escape, Edward continued, his eyes full of sympathy and apologies as he looked at his sister who was on the verge of tears. "Jasper became like a brother to me and, Rose, a sister. Suddenly, I had a family again and it was such a relief. I felt like I could breathe again." He took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm sorry I never told you, Ali. I never told anyone from back home about Jasper and Rose. I just kept my two worlds separate. It seemed better that way."

"What's changed now?" Alice asked, squeezing her eyes tight for a moment, as if willing away the tears that were already running down her cheeks. When she opened them again, she was staring at her hands. "Are you only telling me because you want them to come and stay? Would you have told me otherwise?"

"How about I go and make some tea?" Bella suggested abruptly, standing up and motioning for Edward to come and take her seat so he could be next to his sister. He nodded in thanks and, as she made her way to the kitchen, Bella saw Edward moving next to his sister, holding her hands in his.

"Alice, please listen to me, it's not like that." Bella heard Edward explain. "I just didn't want to hurt anyone. I knew we all missed each other but you, especially, were missing me. I missed you terribly too but Jasper and Rose helped me through it and, in telling you about them, I didn't want you to think I'd replaced you and our family. You know that would be impossible." He chuckled a little but it was weak. Is he fighting tears too? Bella wondered as she poured the hot water into the teapot. "I'm telling you now because I should have told you a long time ago and, no matter what, I always planned on telling you on my return. Plus, I've always wanted you to meet them. You'd get along so well."

Bella smiled, trying not to listen but also trying to gauge the tone of the conversation. Rather than presenting and pouring the tea when she usually would, Bella waited an extra couple of minutes, allowing Alice and Edward to finish talking. She had never before seen Alice look so hurt. It pained her to see her friend feeling that way. She knew, however, that Edward would be able to fix it. She definitely knew that much about him and his relationship with Alice.

Soon enough, Bella chanced a peek around the corner and Edward looked to her, smiling.

"I could use a hand with the tea." Bella said, deciding the worst had passed. Immediately, Edward hopped up and came to help. At the sound of Bella's voice, Alice looked at her with puffy eyes and an apologetic smile. Bella simply responded with a smile and a small shake of her head. Don't worry about it, Alice. She knew her friend got the message so she followed it by poking her tongue out.

"Oi!" Alice shouted, trying to get some form of revenge. "Don't trust her, Edward! She's clumsier than you can imagine and I can almost guarantee she'll drop something on you!"

They all laughed at Alice's words before Bella turned back to the kitchen.

"It's true, you know. You should probably protect yourself." She said, still smiling as she pulled out the cups and went searching for the heat-mat for the teapot.

"Oh, I've noticed. Not everyone is capable of slipping on carpet." Edward replied, his mouth turned up in a teasing half-smile. "Why do you think I was so quick to volunteer myself to carry the one thing here that contains liquid?" He continued, gesturing to the teapot in his hands.

"Correction," Bella defended herself as she rummaged around in a cupboard, "I slipped on the tiles and fell on the carpet, thank you very much."

"Yeah, OK." He replied, still smirking at her. "I'll believe you this time and I'll stop teasing you for it but I make no promises to hold back if it happens again."

After a moment, the double meaning of his words sank in and, in shock, Bella jolted upright and threw a glare at him… but he was gone.

Scooping up the cups, Bella marched into the living room, ready to scold Edward for putting the teapot down without the heat-mat but, apparently, he'd found the mat she was looking for.

"Oh, good! Cups. We'll need those." Edward said, smirking at Bella, to which she responded with a glare.

This man will be the death of me.