Shorter than usual, but the original chapter I planned was too long and had too much in it. I promise it will all be worth it in the end.
To cullenitis for being incredible and reviewing to prevent the cockblocking of Edward! B & E are most certainly a power couple. And to Jas, for blessing me with a plot bunny attack.
Stephenie Meyer owns everything, including my heart on ice in a cooler.
BPOV
The week went by pretty quickly. Edward took me to work on his lunch break and then came back for me after he was home, when he could have been relaxing after a long day. He really was turning out to be the best guy a girl could ask for. I didn't think it was necessary as there wasn't anything on the news about James Campbell coming any closer to Washington, but Edward wouldn't hear anything of it.
The 4th of July was coming up and I had no plans. Alice hosts a party every year, but she was leaving on business on the 3rd. Angela was still in Portland and I didn't know Jasper, Alice's boyfriend, well enough to ask him to hang out without a group of people. So I was left friendless and plan less.
Edward came over after work on Sunday and I made him my famous manicotti. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. We were cuddling and kissing and watching TV when Edward asked me.
"Bella, do you have plans for the 4th?"
"Nope. Alice and Angela are gone, and I'm all alone," I feigned sadness.
"How would you like to come to my parents' party? They host one every year and my mother keeps begging me to meet you."
I turned in his lap to face him, my smile big and my eyes wide open. I felt closer to Edward, going the next step by meeting his parents.
"Edward, I'd love to go! You talk about me to your parents?"
He smiled sheepishly and blushed. I had never seen Edward Cullen blush before. It…humanized him. Made him a little bit more on my level, and also made him impossibly cuter.
He looked down, averting my gaze, and said, "Well…yeah. I really like you."
I gave him a big kiss and wound my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to me. When I came up for breath, I smiled once again.
"I think that's so cute. And I really like you, too." He kissed me again, and we continued to watch TV and snuggle.
We fell asleep on the couch and was awoken when Edward stirred to leave for his place to get ready for work. I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him back on the couch in a groggy haze.
"Get back here, stud," I said, my speech slurred from exhaustion.
He fell back into my arms and chuckled.
"I would, babe, but I have to go to work. I'll be back by six, okay?"
My heart skipped a beat when he called me 'babe.' It was so simple and common among couples, but something about the ease with which he said it made the butterflies in my stomach flutter faster than they normally did.
I ran my lips along his jaw line, feeling the slight stubble from his not shaving yet. It was prickly and oddly sensual. I darted my tongue out to taste his sweet skin, which elicited a hiss from Adonis.
"Bella, I'm warning you," I said.
"What?" I asked innocently. I continued licking his jaw, and placed small kisses all over his face, purposely skipping his full, delectable lips. He grabbed my hips and groaned at the lack of contact.
"I don't have time to sex you up right now, Bella."
I laughed so hard at his words. I don't think I had ever heard something so funny. He didn't seem to understand the hilarity.
"I'm not kidding! I'm going to be late as it is!"
"Sex *giggle* you *giggle* up! Hahahaha!" Edward took advantage of my laughter by sneaking away from my grasp.
"Yeah, laugh it up! See if you ever get a fuck out of me again!"
"Oh, I could get anything out of you if I wanted to," I said,
"Is that a challenge?" Edward asked.
"You bet it is. Go off to work, little boy. We'll see how you'll deal with the sex wrath of Bella Swan!"
Edward snorted. "Goodbye, babe. Do something productive today." He left the apartment and suddenly I felt very lonely. I got up and looked at the clock to see that it was only 7:30. I groaned and smacked my forehead. It was too early and there was no way I'd be able to fall back asleep. I paced back and forth, unsure of what to do. I opened and closed the fridge door about a thousand times, then actually settled on making toast for breakfast. I poured a glass of orange juice and settled down on the couch, putting on the news. There was still nothing on the serial killer; he seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth, which was fine by me.
After I had enough of the mundane morning news, I decided what I was going to do. I didn't want to do it, and it would be masochistic and painful, but there was nowhere else to turn. I went into the bedroom and picked up my cell phone, preparing myself for the disbelief that was going to come my way. I dialed the correct number and the line picked up on the other end.
"BELLA!"
I had decided to call Alice.
"Hey, Ali. Here it goes. Listen to me, okay? Don't say anything until I'm done. You got it?"
"Sure, Bella. You're scaring me."
I'm scaring myself…
"Edward invited me to his family's 4th of July party. I have nothing to do all day and I'm lonely, and I was wondering…if we…could…go…shopping."
"Oh my god! Bella Swan wants to go shopping! Alert the presses!"
"Yes, yes, I know. But I'm going to be meeting his parents and I want to look nice for them, you know? Make a good impression. Plus I'm going nuts over here by myself. So are you free, Alice?"
"When do you want to go?" Her voice was laced with excitement.
"Um…now?"
"Isabella! You not only want to go shopping, but you want to go shopping in the early morning? I think you're ill."
I snorted. "You don't have to tell me twice. Just get your ass over here, now!"
"I'll be there in 15! Bye, Bella!"
"Bye," I said as I hung up the phone.
I hopped in the shower quickly, sad about washing all trace of Edward's scent off of me. There was a knock at the door and I went to answer it still in my towel. It was Alice, of course.
She raised an eyebrow. "Hot, Bella." She let herself in.
"Last time I answered the door like that I had mind-blowing sex on the kitchen table."
Alice laughed so hard I thought she was going to pee her pants.
"I can't believe you did that! Bella, you are a changing woman!"
"I know, I know. Let me go put some clothes on and we'll be on our way."
Shaking my head at what I was voluntarily putting myself through, I walked into my room and shut the door. I rifled through my drawers and picked out a pair of jeans and a Portland State University shirt, along with my simple, so-not-Alice plain tan underwear and bra set, and got dressed. I slipped my converse on and dried my hair a bit with the towel.
"Alright," I said, walking out of my room, "let's get this over with, shall we?"
"Oh, Bella, I am so excited!" she enthused, and we were on our way out the door and down the elevator.
Alice had a most extravagant car that fit perfectly with her extravagant personality. It was a yellow Porsche, but I couldn't tell you anything more about it. All I knew was that it was extremely fast and attracted a lot of attention. I tried to convince her to let me drive my truck, but she was stubborn and insisted we take the Porsche. Knowing there was no arguing with Alice, I reluctantly agreed and got in the front seat.
"So," Alice began as we made our way to the shopping trip that I initiated, "how are you and Edward?"
I couldn't help but smile at his name. How could I explain to her that he was the most incredible person I had ever been with, the most wonderful boyfriend that any girl would be lucky to dream of, let alone be with?
"There are really no words," I said, at a loss for what to say.
"That good, huh?" she questioned.
"Even better. Better than you could imagine. I'm just worried it's too good. Like…it will all be over in a blink of an eye."
"It's normal to think that, Bella," Alice soothed as she got off at the correct exit. "What I think you need to do is just enjoy it in the moment, but be aware of any signs that could make you think this way. Don't dwell on the bad, though. Just make sure you cover your bases so you don't get hurt. Okay?""What the hell would I do without you, Alice Brandon?"
"Die, mostly. And have the most awful fashion sense," she joked and we both laughed as she parked. "Let's go!"
I groaned but complied as we made our way into the store. Alice's eyes lit up as she took in her surroundings. She seemed so happy to be in her heaven, so to speak. She ran up to the clothes and felt them with her hands, and then started to…smell them.
"That's where I draw the line, Alice!"
"Sorry, Bella. I got a little out of hand. Come on, I'll tell you the plan."
I gulped. "Plan?"
"For your outfit! You need to be classy but fresh, and casual but not boring. You know what I mean?"
"Not at all. Just point me in the right direction."
She just about threw me into the dressing room and I sat, waiting for her to make her choices. She was taking a while, so I decided to text Edward. Hopefully he wouldn't be too busy to answer.
Edward,
Alice is torturing me with shopping.
I'm beginning to regret my decision to go.
Please help!
- Bella
She sent the text message and Alice appeared in the doorway with her arms filled with clothes. This was going to be a long day…
I tried everything on to placate her. I refused outright three mini skirts and four dresses. I thought it was either too whoreish or too dressy.
"Alice, you said classy and casual! What the hell are you giving me?"
"Just try these on!" she demanded, throwing an outfit at me.
I put on the clothes and knew immediately that I would buy it. I had on a simple white pair of Bermuda shorts that stopped just above my knee and a blue shirt that Alice called a 'Pintucked Jersey Peasant' shirt…whatever that was. (A/N: Outfit on profile). Anyway, it was Edward's favorite color and the outfit was simple and casual, which was just my style. I opened the door to show Alice and she freaked.
"That's it! That's the outfit! Oh, his parents are going to love you!" She jumped up and down and pulled me in a tight hug.
"You're suffocating me!" I gasped.
She pulled away and shrugged, giving me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Now go change! We need to pay for this and then we'll get some lunch."
I nodded and went back into the dressing room, closing the door. I began taking off the clothes when I heard my phone buzz. Half dressed I took my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and looked to see who it was. Edward.
"Hey," I said, answering the phone and trying to maneuver changing.
"Am I too late?" he asked. He was referring to my SOS text.
"Yeah. But it's alright. We're done, and it wasn't that bad. Just a little long is all." I was telling the truth.
"Damn. I really wanted to come over there to rescue my damsel in distress."
"Oh well," I chuckled.
"Are you coming over tonight?" he asked.
"If you'll take me," I replied.
"Hmmmm," he considered. "I'll take you. I'll take you in more ways than you could ever dream, and I'll take you over and over again until you're begging me to stop you're so sore."
I felt a wetness rush like a waterfall to my panties. His silky voice and sultry promises made me so aroused, you'd think he was in the dressing room with me, touching me everywhere. But he wasn't. It was just his voice over the phone. He was just too ridiculously sexy for his own good.
"Cat got your tongue?" he teased. He was having way too much fun.
"Be quiet, you. Yeah I'll come over. I'll be there at eight. Goodbye, Adonis."
"See you later, Aphrodite." I hung up and put the rest of my clothes on and found that Alice had wandered out of the dressing room area and over to the racks of clothes. I pulled her away much to her chagrin, we checked out, and I submitted myself to even more torture. More torture beyond what I would ever let myself go through ever again.
"Alice?" I asked timidly, scared to even suggest such a thing.
"Yes, Bella?"
"Take me to Victoria's Secret. It's fuckin' on. Edward is going to pay for seducing me via cell phone."
"Isabella Swan, I love you." She took me by the hand and practically ran us down the mall and to Victoria's Secret. Every employee there knew her, of course, and greeted us with genuine politeness. Alice started grabbing every kind of lingerie in every color they had and in less than five minutes I was in another dressing room.
The first set I tried on was basically two very thin pieces of red lace. I didn't like it, and although I'm sure Edward would be drooling, I didn't think it was exactly right. There was something about it that didn't scream 'Bella.' And that's exactly what I want him to be doing…
It seemed like an hour of lace and garters and thongs and leather until I came upon the most simple set that I had seen during the entire visit. It was a short, midnight blue baby doll with a tiny bow in the front, a V-neck cut and spaghetti straps. (A/N: See on profile). It was absolutely perfect, and I knew it would drive Edward wild. It showed a lot of skin but enough to leave something for the imagination. It was sexy but not slutty. Classy but no grandma-ish either. Edward would appreciate it very much.
I told Alice that that this was the one I wanted, and though she would have preferred I picked the pink leather/lace set, she agreed this would be best, and we purchased the lingerie and went to lunch.
After lunch, Alice dropped me off at my apartment and I thanked her for helping me out.
"Call me for help again, Bella. I think we can change you yet," she said, kissing my cheek before she sped out in the Porsche.
I trudged up the steps with my purchases (the elevator was out of order) and stumbled my way into my apartment, exhausted from the day's activities. I would get Edward back for taunting me like that. I planned out exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. He'd curse the day he crossed Bella Swan!
Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will be full of action! *wink wink*
Reviews are like Edward's sexy talk over the phone.