A/N: I kind of surprised myself with this one, I hope you like it!
I woke up Monday morning wrapped in a very warm Edward Cullen. The sun was up, but not too bright so I knew it couldn't be past 6:30. Edward's alarm would be going off soon and then we were back to the real world. I wasn't quite ready for it, we'd had such an amazing weekend together, but I'd decided last night that I would go job hunting today.
The past few days had been eventful, but I really needed to find something else to do with my time. I still had a few weeks before I would hear back from NYU and classes wouldn't start for a couple of weeks after that. There were only so many times I could deep clean that apartment before it was just going to wither up from all the bleach fumes.
Reaching one arm out, I tried to reach my phone but it was just a little too far and my attempts were fruitless. Edward sighed in his sleep, his face rested against my chest , and I froze. When he didn't wake up I smiled at him, he was adorable in his sleep. The normal seriousness that crinkled his brow was gone and he looked completely relaxed. I ran my fingers through his wilder than usual hair and he stirred again, this time opening his eyes and looking up at me with an innocent smile. "Good morning, beautiful," he breathed and I leaned my head down to kiss the top of his head.
"Good morning, handsome." Edward released me from his hold and rolled onto his back, stretching his arms above his head. The muscles of his defined chest and abs rippled with the movement and I unconsciously bit my lips which cause him to smirk. Like the evil bitch it was, Edward's alarm blared as soon as my mind reached the wicked places it tended to around Edward and he frowned. Rolling to his side of the bed he turned it off and slowly got up.
"Don't go," I begged, half-heartedly, earning me a warm smile. He walked around to my side of the bed and bent down to place a kiss against my lips.
"I have to, we have a meeting in 45 minutes with the tech guys and I have to be there." I mock pouted but my heart wasn't in it because I really wanted to go back to sleep. Edward headed to take a quick shower and I did just that.
I must not have heard Edward leave because the next thing I knew my phone was buzzing loudly to the point that I couldn't ignore it. Half blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the curtains I'd forgotten to close last night, I fished around for my phone until I found it and pressed the green button, causing the annoying buzzing to stop.
"'llo," I grumbled, pushing my hair back out of my face as I tried to sit up and orient myself to the room around me.
"Am I waking you," Rose's voice asked from the other end and I squinted at the alarm clock.
"Rosalie, it's 7:45 in the morning; of course you woke me." Rose hesitated on the other end and I woke a little more. "Rose, what's wrong?"
"Uh… Honey, I think you should get up and come over here. Don't worry about stopping on your way, I have donuts and coffee."
"It's so early, can't it wait?"
"No, you need to come; now."
It only took me twenty minutes to dress and get to Rose's shop. I was a mess, in yoga pants and a one of Edward's t-shirts; I'd at least managed to twist my hair into a somewhat decent bun before running out of the apartment. The shop wasn't open yet, but Sam, one of the mechanics, unlocked the front door for me when I knocked.
"Okay, what's so important I had to drag my ass down here," I asked Rose, walking into her office and claiming the empty seat on the other side of the desk from her.
Rose looked at me, her eyes filled with concern, then got up and closed the door. "There's something you need to know and I wanted you to hear it from me."
"Okay," I agreed, suddenly concerned. "Is everything okay?"
Rose shook her head, hesitating, then reaching into the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a magazine. She placed it on the desk in front of me and my stomach twisted in knots as I stared at the cover, unable to process what I was looking at exactly.
It was a picture—though I wasn't sure exactly who could have taken it—of Edward and I getting out of the limo at his apartment the other night. At least, I knew that's what it was. What it really looked like was a picture of me straddling Edward, both of us clearly drunk, with my skirt practically around my waist. My hair was a mess and I was looking at him like I wanted to devour him on the spot. "Most eligible bachelor slums it" was printed in big bold letters across the bottom and I felt tears burning my eyes.
"Honey, I'm so sorry," Rose spoke and her voice sounded a million miles away, suddenly I knew I was going to pass out. It was a strangely conscious recognition for someone falling unconscious. The next thing I knew there was a loud crack as my head in the floor of Rosalie's office and then blackness engulfed me.
I woke up again to the kind face of Carlisle Cullen standing over me and the distant sound of a heart monitor beeping somewhere in the room. He was reviewing—what I assumed was—my chart, standing at the foot of the bed I was lying on, and I slowly became aware that I was in the hospital. As clarity took over, so did the blinding throbbing in my head and I winced, alerting him to the fact that I was awake.
"Ah Bella, you're awake," he smiled, depositing the chart somewhere out of sight and come to stand beside me. "How are you feeling," he asked, pulling a pen light from the pocket of his white lab coat and shining it in my eyes.
"My head hurts," I told him lamely. "And I feel kind of sick."
"Well you do seem to be quite accident prone, don't you," he teased. "That twice now you've ended up in my hospital." I shrugged then winced when the movement spiked the pain in my head. "I have the pharmacy filling a prescription for acetaminophen now, we will get you fixed up in no time."
"What happened?"
"You passed out," Carlisle explained. "Luckily you were with Rosalie and not home alone. When you fell, you hit your head; you have a small concussion but nothing to worry about. As I understand it, you were sitting down when it happened so you didn't have far to fall."
"Oh God," I groaned, gripping my head when the sound sent another wave of pain shooting through my skull.
"There is it," he chuckled, realizing that I recalled what had happened. "I was on the phone with Esme, getting an ear full about this nasty magazine business, when Edward called and asked if I was working."
"Dr. Cullen, I'm so sorry," I felt like I was dangerously close to tears and that was not a feeling I relished.
"You're sorry," he asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Bella, you have nothing to apologize for. And please, call me Carlisle."
"I can't imagine how embarrassing it must've been to have that picture of your son..."
He cut me off, obviously understanding my concern. "Bella, Bella, Bella, it's okay. My son is a grown man in a committed relationship, a compromising picture is nothing more than embarrassing to look at for those involved. You were doing nothing wrong; though perhaps moving in doors next time..." he trailed off, amused.
"But you said Esme was..."
"Esme is upset about the headline. She adores you Bella, even more so for the way you've made Edward so happy. Esme is a fierce woman—something that I love and fear about her—and she considers you one of her cubs now. I only hope she hasn't tracked down the editor by now," he added as a quiet afterthought and I almost laughed. "Bella, there is something we need to discuss though."
I nodded, preparing myself for the worst. He'd calmed my concerns about embarrassing them, now he was going to politely ask me about my history. Carlisle walked back to the end of the bed and picked up my file, coming to stand beside me again. I fumbled with the button on the bed that helped me sit up, deciding I should be on as equal ground as possible for this conversation. His siblings knew, would his parents be totally opposed to them now? Of course they would, they were his parents. No parent wants their son dating an ex-hooker.
"When you came in, we drew some blood to run standard tests," he started and I nodded, wincing again at the movement. Dammit, just stop moving! He smiled apologetically and continued, "you're pregnant below. Judging strictly by hormone levels I would say not very far along, but you're pregnant."