A/N: Thank you everyone for all the love! These next few chapters are a turning point. Next one is EPOV.

Plenty of clues in this chapter...

Songs: Dress by Taylor Swift

King Of My Heart by Taylor Swift

Can you tell I'm a Swiftie ? ;)

"Are you sure?" I asked, wearily. "What about Bree?" I twirled my damp hair, nervously. I had just gotten out of the shower when the phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with Edward's picture.

Bree was Edward's world, so I always tried to be mindful of her. She had to come first no matter what. Fridays were usually their Daddy-daughter night after school. He only popped into the bar if it was absolutely necessary.

"Yes, I'm sure." Edward laughed over his end of the phone. "Bree's staying with my mom to help her prep for the show," he added.

Saturday night, Esme was showcasing her newest art collection. There was a lot of buzz around it and she was very busy getting it prepared for its introduction to the public.

This was a big step. Sure, I'd spent the night the first time we fooled around, but this was different. This would be the most time we had spent together in an extended period.

Then there was always the chance I'd have one of my classic nightmares. That would really scare him off.

Bella, he isn't going anywhere, I tried to convince myself.

Especially after he asked you to be his girlfriend.

Technically we hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks. The week after our pool table escapades, I came down with a cold. I blamed it on me walking around New York half naked.

Edward disagreed, stating it was Jake and his "lingering allergies.'' He probably only said that so I would wear another inappropriate outfit to visit him. Nevertheless, I stayed away from Edward. Even when he insisted on bringing me essentials, I declined. I didn't want him passing my germs off to his kid.

Of course, Edward, being the amazing man he was, hadn't listened to my refusals and delivered some of his homemade food anyway. He set the bag filled with my care package, knocked on the door, and then ran back to the elevator before I could infect him. Attached to the bag was the sweetest handwritten note. It read: "will you be my girl?"

Who could refuse?

I called him immediately after I read it and told him yes.

"Bella, are you there?" he asked. Thankfully Edward wasn't fazed by me checking out every so often.

"Yeah, I'm here. Just thinking of what to pack." I smirked even though he couldn't see me. Please say nothing, please say nothing, I chanted mentally.

Edward chuckled. "Baby, you won't need anything," he said in a hushed tone. "Especially not clothes."

"Promises, promises," I taunted, wanting to rile him up for tomorrow.

"You're gonna get it."

God, I hoped so.

Later on when I went to bed, my dreams were exciting but not in the way I wanted.

SDSD

The doorbell buzzed, and I groaned. I wasn't ready for Alec and his bullshit yet.

I looked down and saw I was clad in just my underwear, so I threw on my silk nightgown and robe and headed toward the foyer.

"Alec, I thought I told you–" I started, but as I opened the door fully, my face fell. It was like I had seen a ghost, and in some ways, I had.

Icy droplets of rain pelted toward me, and I shivered from the gusts of wind.

"Jane." I gasped, surprised to see her. I had missed her. I tried to hug her, but she shrugged me away, pointing out her lit cigarette.

"Let me in," she demanded, as I crossed my arms, trying to warm myself. "I'm fucking freezing out here. I'm getting drenched." Jane gestured to her casual clothes which consisted of a band t-shirt, jeans, and a half-zipped hoodie. She looked tired, like she'd aged in the months since I'd last seen her.

Jane wasn't much older than me, but she looked haggard, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

I moved aside but not without muttering, "Put the cigarette out. You can't smoke in here anymore." I'd just gotten the walls repainted. My mother insisted on a sage green for a more classy look.

Jane flicked the butt off the porch and pushed her way inside, mumbling some profanities.

Once we were standing in the doorway, neither one of us spoke. We just looked at one another. We used to be so close. I don't know what it was like for her, but for me, it was as if I was staring into the face of a stranger. When did my sister become unrecognizable to me?

After a moment or two, I started for the stairs. I wasn't presentable for the company I was expecting shortly. I had my celebratory gala to host for my partnership with Chanel.

"Where are you going, Bella?" Jane demanded, huffing as she climbed the stairs after me.

I laughed. It was comical that she was asking me where I was going since she hadn't been around in months and before that at least a year.

Jane ran away. It suited her. When the going got tough, she couldn't be bothered to stay and deal with the wreckage.

Last time we spoke, Jane told me she was in Florida. So this visit was a shock.

I texted Jane about this brand deal. It was the biggest one I had ever signed. Even though she hated this stuff, I expected her to acknowledge it. She didn't even message me back until a week later. A simple "congrats" text was all I got.

"To get ready. The creative director of Chanel is co-hosting an announcement party for me tonight." I sighed, stopping midway up the staircase.

Jane laughed with no humor. "Still following Renee's orders, huh?"

"It's a multimillion-dollar endorsement campaign. For the exposure alone, I should be paying them," I defended, tightening the belt of my robe.

She completely ignored that fact. "And you're going with Alec Deville?" Jane scoffed, her eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. "I don't know why you even hang around with him."

Maybe because I can't hang around with you. I was so lonely I could talk to the freshly painted walls.

I looked at her, willing her to see me. Help me. Just to show up for me, like she used to.

"He's a friend," I finally said, defeated.

Yeah, a friend who you do drugs with and sometimes fuck. I cringed.

"Oh my fucking God, Bella! You're insufferable. Everything I've tried to teach you has gone right out the window, hasn't it?!" Jane yelled, throwing her hands up and almost hitting the vase on the console table. Always very animated. "Just like Mom," she spat.

SDSD

I was standing outside Edward's door, shuffling my feet. I was nervous. He brought out feelings in me that were foreign.

All of my priorities had changed drastically since I met him in September—had it really been two months already? I think he might have been what I was searching for all this time.

Fancy cars and yachts were nothing compared to being with Edward alone.

Alone and naked, preferably.

Edward's door swung open. He had a dish towel swung over his shoulder and a megawatt smile on his face.

"Baby." His smile widened farther than I thought was possible.

"Hi handsome." I couldn't help but smile back.

It took everything in me not to jump his bones right there in the doorway.

Edward took my Louis duffel bag and gestured for us to move inside.

"So I made brunch. I hope you came hungry." He set my bag down on the couch and moved into the kitchen.

"Can I help with something?" I asked, as I looked over the array of pans going on the stove. "Are you feeding an army or something?"

When I peered over to the table, I saw that Edward was making different trays of food. Some were covered in aluminum foil, and then in one of the pans looked like a frittata.

"Something like that." He chuckled, and I looked at him questioningly.

Edward glanced over at me and handed me a whisk. "Can you stir the berry compote for your pancakes?"

I nodded, apprehensively. I'd never helped in the kitchen. I hope I don't ruin brunch.

"You won't," he assured me, going back to the trays of food.

Damn it, I must have said that aloud.

"What's with all the food?" I inquired. It seemed like a lot for just the two of us.

"I'm preparing food for the shelter tomorrow. Usually Bree and I go Saturday morning and volunteer. But since we are spending the day together, I figured I would just pop in an hour earlier, drop this stuff off, and I'll be back before you wake up. Okay?"

Just when I thought he wasn't perfect enough, it turned out he volunteers at a shelter and cooks food for the homeless.

In my world, you threw a check at charities and went on your merry way.

Not Edward—he took care of people.

"Can I come?" I blurted, not really thinking before asking.

"You want to come?" He paused for a minute, and I got self conscious.

I sputtered quickly, "I don't have to go if you don't want me to. I just thought…it would be nice to give back for change."

I wanted to change. Since I was already vastly out of my comfort zone, I might as well go all in.

Edward was the epitome of a good person, and I wanted to be one too. This was a step in the right direction.

A smile appeared on his face. "No, of course I would love for you to come with me. It's just…some of these people have had it really rough and it can be hard to watch."

I nodded, assuring him I wanted to do this.

He shut off the burners before he stepped toward me, cupped my chin in his hand, and pressed his lips to mine.

Once we broke apart, I grinned and clapped once. "I'm excited to help."

Edward chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, we'll see if you're saying that once you have to wake up at 7 AM."

I rolled my eyes hard and giggled.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Edward inquired, his eyebrows rising.

"Yeah?"

"Oh that's it," he insisted as he threw me over his shoulder. We were on the move. "You're gonna get it," Edward promised, as he smacked my ass for emphasis.

We didn't leave his bed for the rest of the afternoon.

SDSD

"Finally." I breathed, as I shook my head and laughed to myself. "I was getting worried."

"What?" Edward asked, confused, as he reached down to grab the wine from where he'd set it on the floor.

We were on the roof of his building. Apparently his loft was the only one that had roof access. It was a really nice setup. Edward had a patio set, grill, and a small playground area for Bree.

It was after six and the sun had already gone down. Even though New York was the city that didn't sleep and there were building lights all around us, it was a bit dark on the roof so Edward had turned on the rope of twinkling lights to illuminate the area.

I was sitting at the table, watching him set the food down in front of me. He made us steak and potatoes on the grill. Mr. Perfect had forgotten to bring wine glasses upstairs so I was teasing him.

I snuggled into the soft cotton of the oversized hoodie Edward gave me once we finally broke away from each other so we could take care of a different kind of hunger. The pancakes and berry compote had long since gone cold, so we opted for an early dinner instead.

"You forgot the glasses," I stated and then paused, biting the inside of my cheek. "It's just—Edward, you're perfect. Literally a dream." I chuckled to myself.

I sounded like a crazy person.

Probably a little ungrateful too.

He was so perfect, and it scared me because I was holding back from him. I wasn't even sure if it was that I was consciously holding myself back, or if it was just that these thoughts had become so ingrained that they were impossible to get out.

He served me my steak and baked potato with a puzzled expression on his face. There had been corn on the cob as well, but I distracted him so it burned. Edward reached across the table to grab the Solo cups.

"And that's a bad thing?" Edward asked, pouring the wine into the plastic cups.

My eyebrows raised at how unbothered I was by his choice of cup.

The stemware didn't matter.

If I've learned anything it's that you can't judge outward appearances. For example look at Bar—in my prior life, I would have thought it was a dump. But inside it housed somebody who was worth their weight in gold.

I also loved how Edward didn't care about appearances.

"Not a bad thing." I shook my head. "When I'm the one who gets to appreciate the perfect." I joked.

Edward smirked. "I'm pretty sure you were on the receiving end of things a little while ago, baby."

I rolled my eyes again but nodded. It was true. His eyes danced with amusement as he handed me my red Solo cup. I took a sip. Best glass of wine I'd ever had.

The air around us grew heavy, and I felt like I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach.

"I'm worried I'm not good enough for you," I admitted, sheepishly, taking a bite of my steak. It was delicious. Cooked perfect, medium rare. Five star restaurants were long forgotten.

It felt good to be forthcoming about my thoughts and feelings. There was no sense in lying or hiding anything else. I already had enough baggage threatening to rear its ugly head.

Edward pursed his lips and frowned. He took my hand in his from across the table, almost knocking over the cups.

"Bella, please don't say that," he whispered softly. The earnestness shone through in his voice. Like it always did. This man was definitely one without pretenses.

"It's true though. I'm not good," I choked out, on the verge of tears. "Once I tell you everything about myself, you might hate me." I whispered the last part.

I closed my eyes and was honest with myself for the first time in a long time. "I've been through a lot of shit and survived. But you hating me…" I trailed off and shook my head back and forth. He squeezed my trembling hand. "I don't think I can survive that."

I was falling for him. I'd probably already fallen. I wanted it to be him and me forevermore.

"Baby." Edward took a breath and rose from his chair. He took my face in his hands and cradled me like I was a piece of glass. "I can't fathom what you would tell me that would make me hate you. Not when I … not when what I feel for you is quite the opposite. But I will say this: holding all of the poison inside kills you slowly. Sometimes when you finally let go and set yourself free from the secrets, you'll feel clean."

Like brand new—that was how Edward looked at me.

All I wanted was to be brand new.

For him. For me. For us.

I gulped and nodded in understanding. "Okay." I breathed out. "Let's get back to this fantastic meal."

Edward gave me a weary look but obliged and sat back in his chair.

If ignorance was bliss, then why did I feel like shit?

SDSD

"I love your tattoos," I complimented him. The water sloshed around us in the bathtub as I reached forward to gesture to his upper body.

"Thank you. I got this one after I took over as the owner of Bar." He pointed to his chest where an intricate tattoo of Bree's name was surrounded by vines and red outlined roses. Edward had some ink on his upper bicep but as far as I could tell, they were just random designs. The one on his chest above his heart obviously had deeper meaning.

"It's my favorite," I told him. "Is your mom excited for her big night tomorrow?"

I maneuvered as best as I could considering our close quarters. Not that I was complaining.

Edward had just gotten off the phone with Bree and Esme. Once we had our rooftop dinner, we finished cooking for the homeless shelter. By we, I mean Edward. Although I did stir a few things.

Edward and I were sprawled out in his bathtub. We were both a bit tipsy from the wine.

We brought our elegant red cups with us and continued drinking, while playing with the bubble bath I dumped in. One of the upsides of Edward being a girl dad.

So far, it had been the best date I'd ever been on.

"Very. But also nervous. One of the magazines is going to cover it. I forgot which one," Edward remarked.

Thankfully, he couldn't see my face as I turned to grab my drink because I blanched at the mention of the press being there. Now I was nervous for the art show.

I really hoped I didn't know the reporter covering the show. Or rather—that they didn't know me.

This was going to be my first time at a public event since the incident. I was attending in support of Edward and Esme, so the last thing I needed was my presence causing an unnecessary stir and taking the spotlight off his mom's hard work.

Neither was obligated to invite me, but they did. I appreciated them trying to bring me into the fold and make me feel welcomed.

So there was no getting out of this. I had to go. Even for a little while—to show support.

Edward must have felt my tension because he scooped up some bubbles in his hand and proceeded to blow them in my face.

"My eyes!" I shrieked, grabbing bubbles of my own to plan my attack on him. There was no sense in worrying about the what-ifs. Not when I had this wonderful man taking such good care of me.

A/N: Thoughts on the flashback? Let me know:)