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To my Readers, thank you for everything. Even when something upsets you in this story with a character at times, you still stick with me, and that means the world to me. Please know that. Oh, and PLEASE come and chat with us on the Twilighted Forums. They got 2 sneak peeks of this chapter, wink wink! (Link in my profile)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Two-parts in one. Continuance of CH 25, and then moving on, 4 weeks later.
We meet Ryan, Bella's coworker, and see how they interact more on their jobs. Edward meets an interesting person, Alice and Jasper figure out a way to communicate, Emmett makes a few realizations about how you can't just snap your fingers and get what you want, and Rosalie and Jacob push it to the limit.
NSFW NSFW NSFW NSFW NSFW
(Do I need to even mark these as not suitable for work anymore?? I'm sure you guys know me by now. Lemons are a MUST in this story!! If you don't like them, please skip over them.)
New pictures in profile!

---- NO BETA THIS CHAPTER; PLEASE EXCUSE ANY/ALL ERRORS. ---

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Twilight or Stephenie Meyer related. But I think she's a genius for creating these two characters that I can play with!

"Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me.
Lying on the floor, surround me, surround me.
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late... you found me... you found me."
The Fray, "You Found Me"

Chapter Twenty-Six: Finding Faith

EdwardPOV

It took us more than thirty minutes, from the moment I got the call, to get to downtown Seattle. This is why I lived in the city. Everywhere around it took forever. When Bella and I arrived outside my apartment, I could see Jasper sitting down, his back leaned against the door, his head cradled in his hands. The boy looked wrecked.

"Jasper!" Bella gasped, bending down to him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, she won't let me in," he replied, exhausted. "and now she's not even talking to me anymore. I don't know what to do. I'm sorry for calling so late, I didn't know who else to tur-"

"You did the right thing," I said, as he moved out of the way.

I opened the door with my key and we all barged in, to an echoey, pitch black, shades drawn apartment. The dogs weren't even making noises. I motioned for the two of them behind me to stay where they were, and Jasper started to argue with me, but Bella quickly grabbed a hold of him and told him to trust me. I quietly walked forward through the living room. My heart was trying to escape out of my mouth, and I swallowed back the thoughts of fear that crossed through my mind.

This wasn't the first time that Alice had gotten this down on herself. The last time was back when I hit my lowest point. We were there for each other then, and I was going to be there for her again. I fucking knew something was up this morning, and I let it slide. I shouldn't have.

"Edward," Bella whispered, nervously.

"Shhh," I replied, opening the door to Alice's bedroom. Spendor was there, laying on her messed up bed. There were clothes thrown around all over the floor, a few shirts shredded with a pair of scissors. A glass of punch was spilled over the nightstand, soaking the latest fashion magazine in red color.

Alice wasn't in her bedroom, or bathroom. Jasper, with the death grip help of Bella, stood outside the door as I walked from her bedroom to mine.

My room was untouched from the last time I was in, other than my bed, which looked like someone had wrestled around on it.

The light was on beneath my bathroom door. I knew it would be locked.

I walked over to Bella, and pulled the bobby pin from her hair, and then turned to Jasper, "She's fine, I promise. I'm going to get the door open."

"You've done that before? Broken in to something?" he whispered, walking besode me toward the dim light on the ground.

I smirked, and nodded. You have no idea what I've done before, I thought.

It took me a few moments to pick the lock, because I knew if I made any type of noise, she'd startle behind the door, and be more reluctant to let us in.

Once it was cracked, I pushed the door open with my finger, hoping to find the best.

There was a broken light on my mirror. Vomit in my toilet. But worse... There my best friend was, broken and crying on the floor, in her raggy pajamas that she hadn't worn since her last incident.

Jasper ran to her, trying to hug her. She resisted, pushing him away with her left hand, as she laid on her right side. He tried again. Same thing.

After a few more attempts, and then a few attempts of trying to talk to her, pick her up, and whatever else, he gave up

I sat on my knees, and then rolled over on my left side, facing her. She looked almost battered, as she clenched the side of her fist over her purplish tinted lips.

I motioned with my eyes for Jasper to trust me, then slid forward, edging my way closer to her.

Once I was a few inches from her face, I took a silent breath through my nose, and willed her to open her eyes.

She did.

"Alice," I whispered, lifting my hand and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

The look she gave me expressed lost. Sorrow. Emptiness. Abandonment.

I tucked the hair behind her ear, and rested my palm on her cheek. Her face was chilled. Skin clammy.

"Alice," I whispered again, inching even closer, until my torso touched the arms that were bent in front of her chest.

We laid in silent for a few moment.

Then she spoke. "I slipped."

I gave her a nod, trying to keep my face calm, "I see that."

Words.

The exact same words, only in reverse, that were spoken between she and I, in this very bathroom. Back when it was me that did the slipping.

"I didn't mean to," she whispered, her voice barely over a single octave, as tears fell from the corners of her eyes, onto my cold, tiled floor. "But... I couldn't shake it. M-my thoughts."

"Edward, do I need to call the d-"

"No Bella," I said soothingly, not taking my eyes off of my best friend. "We're fine."

Jasper started to speak, his lips falling open from my peripheral vision, but he snapped his lips closed, rubbing her back and neck in silence.

"And do you know what I thought?" she blinked, more tears falling down the bridge of her beautiful nose, "W-when I cut?"

"What's that?"

"I thought," she exhaled, closing her eyes, "I wish you were here... slipping with me... that way I wouldn't have to be alone," she covered her face, sobbing into her tiny hands.

I pressed my heart to her arms, and put my hands on her back, pulling her to me a little bit, "you're not alone."

"Yes I am."

I kissed her forehead, "how can you be alone when I'm here with you?"

"It's different," she shook her head, voice so low it was cracking. "It's all different now... you're changed. You're not going back."

"Oh yeah?"

I turned, looking at my beautiful girl, who was nervously chewing off the remaining fingernails she didn't get to in the car on the way here. "Bella," I whispered to her, "I need you to do me a favor, and please do not ask any questions. Can you do that?"

She nodded.

"I want you to go to my night stand, on the side that I sleep on. The drawer toward the carpet, pull that out. Grab everything that's inside of it. Okay? Everything."

She took off, and as I stroked through Alice's hair and gave Jasper a warm smile, I listened as the drawer was opened... followed by silence.

I knew that was coming.

A few moments later, Bella walked inside, cradling a square 10x10 mirror to her chest. She started to question me, but then did as I asked, as she handed it to me.

I gave Alice and I a few inches of space, and sat the mirror face up between us, followed by the short, thick, clear straw, and the baggie of white powder.

On top of the baggie was numbers, 1023, in smudged black marker. The last date I used. I didn't write the year because it wasn't important to me. Just that day.

I think Jasper and Bella were both close to having heart failure as I tapped the straw on the mirror, watching the remaining bits of white powder fall on to the face.

I rested my head back to the tile, and looked over at Alice, "you're not alone. If... breaking yourself is what you choose, then you need to know... whether or not I take this drug is not going to break me... because if you lose half of yourself, you take half of me with you. We're a team, you and me. We've always been a team."

She shook her head quickly, "no, we're not. You're so much better than me, Edward. You're so much stronger, and happier..."

I didn't want to hear that shit. She kept talking, as I leaned toward the mirror and started to hold the straw beneath my nose.

Alice quickly stopped, screaming, "NO, NO!" the same time Bella did, both sets of hands on my shoulders.

I froze, looking directly at Alice, "the next time I hear you say things like that," I whispered, "I'm going to take this. You crash, I crash. No one is better than you. It's all in your head."

She shook her head, "it isn't."

"Yes. It is," I said gentle but firmly.

She shook her head again, and I licked my finger and pressed on the coke. Again, they screamed, "NO!", this time Jasper chiming in on the fight.

"Please stop," Alice whimpered. "Don't do this, I know you don't want to do it, Edward... Don't fail because of me."

"Alice, if you fail, then I do too. What don't you get about this? If I don't help you, whether it is one way or the other, then I do fail."

"No," she sobbed. "I can't... y-you can't. You don't want to-"

"You don't think I want this?" I asked, exasperated. "Trust me, Alice. I want this. Still. It's a constant battle, that's why I keep it here in the house. There's a million and one demons outside these walls that make me want to do drugs again. It can be... images in my mind, voices on the television, couples in the street, grandparents at the supermarket, a phone call from my father, seeing my ex with her new boyfriend... the list goes on and on and on and on. With every day turned, I can find a new excuse to take it... This... fucking addiction... it never fully goes away..."

She started to shake her head and deny it, but I didn't want to hear it. So I kept talking, "But then I think of the things you told me back when I was the weak one and you were the strong person... You said to me, 'One bullet takes out two people, at least'. That stuck with me... I keep this shit in my drawer, to remind myself why I am better than it. Just as I'm sure there are shit in your room that you keep, to see your improvement. That's how we cope. That's how we grow..."

"I don't want to do this anymore," she cried, as Jasper lay behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. She was pinned between us now. "I don't want to feel this alone... I don't want to feel like I am conquered. I need help."

"You'll never be conquered. Not with Jasper, who loves you more than his last breath, and me, who loves you just as much... you have support here."

I motioned for Bella to come closer to me with my hand. She was hesitant, her wide, tearful eyes eyeing down the mirror, as it was the force of my once-demise.

I held my breath, half expecting her to run away, thinking it was too much, that I was a lost cause, and that she couldn't be with me. I half expected her to tell me what a loser I was for keeping it in this house, and how pathetic I was... how she didn't believe I changed, ...so when she knelt beside me and then lay with her forehead pressed between my shoulder blades... I was stunned.

And overwhelmed with joy. She wasn't judging me... and because her heart grew wider as she accepted my demons, my love for her grew as well. I never even knew that was possible.

I fought to keep myself together, as the four of us lay on the floor.

No one said a word.

Now that Alice admitted she didn't want to do this, we didn't need to say anything.

Her demons didn't take her over this time. Not today. They barely skimmed her surface.

And I was proud of her for letting us in.

As Bella held onto me, I held Alice's hands, and Jasper held onto her, I pressed my forehead to my best friend's, and began to hum, 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen softly.

It relaxed her... just as it relaxed me, back when she did it when I needed it.

Because, despite the fact that Bella was my entire world, Alice was my everything as well, just in a different way... and we were a fucking team.

BellaPOV

We laid on that bathroom floor for countless hours. I couldn't even begin to think about how long it was.

I couldn't think about anything... seeing Alice on the floor with her battles, and Edward on the floor with his own, and how they need each other, it went right into my left ear and out of my right. Somewhere, in the darkened, back part of my brain, it registered... just as thoughts of my dads' deaths, of my own past, of the baby, of our relationship now, of not being there for him, of him not being there for me, of how we're here now... it just kept filling and filling, but nothing actually made it to the front part of my brain.

That part was blank.

After the sun came up, when Alice crashed, in the arms of the three of us, Jasper carried her to her bedroom. I couldn't imagine what thoughts were in his own head... he had lost a friend to suicide when he was a freshman at his school. I think his name was Jenson... the guy was a lost case, cutting, drinking, depression, anxiety, drugs... but Jasper never gave up on him. Jasper was the first person to find him, because he didn't show up to school that day, so Jasper cut out to go to his house. Jasper never told me how he killed himself... but I know it changed him a lot. He doesn't drink that much. He's more light-hearted about things. Loves everyone. He tries to avoid conflict. He decided to become a teacher one day, so he could give kids an outlet if they needed it... That's what made me fall into Jasper so easily. I knew he'd change the world one day.

Edward turned to me, dusting off my jeans, "will you help me do something?"

I nodded.

He held out his hand for me, and I took it, allowing him to pull me toward the toilet. He lifted the seat, and handed me the baggie, that still had the corner filled with drugs. "Dump it."

I bit my lip, looking up at him.

"I swear, I haven't used it in a long time... and I only kept it as a reminder of what I overcame... but I don't need it anymore. I have you, and that is reminder enough. So... I want you to dump it out."

"Okay," I whispered, opening the baggie.

We watched as it all poured into the toilet, mixed with water and vomit from Alice.

Then he tossed the straw in, and we flushed down the waste of their demons.

After that, he threw the baggie and the mirror in the trash can, and we laid on his bed.

He pulled me tight in his arms, pressing his chin to the top of my head, "Bella... you amaze me."

"How's that?"

"I thought you would have head for the door when you saw it."

"No," I shook my head quickly, stroking my hand along his stomach beneath his shirt, "I'd never leave you."

He hugged me tighter, exhaling into my hair, "I hope you don't look at me-"

"I don't."

"Because I-"

"Edward," I giggled. "I don't. Trust me."

"Bella, I need to tell you something. I was going to tell you anyway, but now that this has happened, I really need to just get it out. I don't want any secrets between us."

"Okay..."

"And... I want you to know that I am coming to you, not having you ask me about it later, okay? I'm trying to avoid a conflict."

For some reason, I felt completely calm. Not nervous, like I used to be, "There won't be one. What is it?"

"I heard you going through my phone earlier. I wasn't asleep."

I shut my eyes, tensing in his arms, "I'm sorry."

"I'm not upset. I know why you did it."

I stayed silent.

"You wanted to see who called me and why I didn't tell you."

"Yes," I admitted.

"Okay... it was a girl. Her name is Aimee Denson."

"Okay..." I furrowed my brows.

"She works with me, at the hospital. She was the nurse who took your measurements."

"Ohhhh," I gave him a nod.

He exhaled, rubbing my back, "we also had a history together... a long time ago. We were good friends before this, as she was interning out of school at the same time I was interning from college... I slept with her. Well, more than slept with her. I..." Edward growled, rubbing his face with his free hand, "I saw her as a challenge. She had a boyfriend whom she was thinking about asking to marry her, and she was an open virgin. She prided herself on being a virgin, and... I wanted that."

"What?" I asked, looking up at him.

He nodded, face glum, "Yeah. I'm a dick. I know. It was a few months after my ultimate low, and I wanted something to focus on so I wasn't focusing on that other shit, and... yeah."

I didn't know what to say. I'm sure I looked dumbfounded, "why would you do that, if she had a boyfriend?"

He shrugged, "This is going to sound bad but... I wasn't used to not being able to have someone I wanted. I wasn't used to not getting my way... so I did."

"And you guys still work together?"

"Yeah... I mean, it's cool now, but... that's why I didn't tell you. Well, that's one of the reasons. See, when she called, I didn't want to tell you until I talked to her and seen what the deal was... possibly, if I had to, set things straight. She's not a stalker or anything, I swear. She's a sweet girl, actually. I'm sure she just called because I got back into town and haven't been to work, since the vacation and Phil's death and all of this... not to mention we..." He stopped talking, shaking his head.

"Tell me," I said. In a sick way, I was curious. I didn't know why. "I won't judge, I swear it."

"I don't want you to be upset with me or look at me differently."

"I won't."

He pulled his lips in, unable to make eye contact with me, "Aimee went back with her boyfriend after a while, when I got bored with her. But... though she was with him, and I was doing whatever the fuck I was doing with Tanya..., we did mess around a few more times. But it hasn't happened in a long time, I swear it. And... I'm sure she was probably calling to congratulate me or something, or just to catch up. I mean, we ARE friends. I just didn't feel it was right to answer the phone and talk to another girl that you didn't know in front of you. ...But I swear to GOD, that I would NEVER, EVER, fucking EVER hook up with her again. Or anyone else. I really want you to trust me with this. It's not the same. I'm not the same."

I bit my lip and looked into his eyes. He was telling the truth. I knew what he looked like when he was lying. "I believe you."

"You swear it?"

"Yes." And I did.

He studied my expression, to see if I was lying. I wasn't. "Good, because she and I haven't done anything in forever. And I know she really loves her boyfriend, and even if I weren't with you, I still wouldn't try her anymore, because it wouldn't be worth it."

I nodded against his ribs, chewing on my fingernail, "So... you swear she's not interested in you now?"

"I swear it. We're friends now."

"Do you swear it on anything?"

"ON EVERYTHING."

"Okay," I whispered. "But... why did you take me to the hospital where she works?"

"Lots of reasons," he adjusted us, to where he was laying on his side, then pulled me up, so we were face to face, heart to heart. "First of all, I wanted to show you off to all my friends, including her. Show how different I was, now that you were back in my life. Show... how happy I was to be engaged, and to be a dad soon... I wanted to show them the new me. And, Doctor Sherber is the best in the business. There's a reason why I didn't transfer out of Seattle and go somewhere else when I had the opportunity. I wanted to work under her. I wanted her to be my mentor. I admire her and respect her and look up to her. She's what I want to be professionally... and I only want the best when it comes to you. PLUS, most labors happen unexpectedly. If you're treated where I work, then we wouldn't have to worry about me missing anything, because I'd be right here, you know? We wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck in traffic, or anything else. And she's an OBGYN, like what I'm striving for, so I know she could do and handle anything that came our way... whether it be complications, emergency surgeries, whatever. She has it covered... I trust her, Bella."

I gave him a warm smile.

"And... yeah, okay, I could have told you about Aimee before we got there, and maybe that's my mistake. But I mean, come on, what would I say? 'Oh sweetheart, before we get there, I wanted to let you know that there's a young girl that I snaked my way into banging. She works with me still. She's awesome'. You know? That wouldn't go over well. I didn't want to put any more pressure or stress on you, with this pregnancy. We've had enough, already, and we haven't even hit your second trimester yet. Besides... I swear on my life, that Aimee is NOT a bad person. She won't do anything to you. Do you want to know what she said to me when I was walking to you, after talking with a few of my buddies? That stopped me?"

"What?"

"She said, 'Of course it'd take a beautiful woman of THAT caliber to turn Edward Cullen around. There's no way he's going back to Tanya or anyone else now'. And she didn't say it crudely, just matter-of-fact like. And so I laughed and stopped to tell her she was damn straight. She knew about you, about my past. She knew how much I added you up to be, how I compared you to everyone else. She knew who you were. And she complimented you the entire time, which was why I was laughing and smiling like an idiot. I was telling her how smart you were, and what you did for a living, and how we were excited about starting our lives together... the list went on and on."

I blushed, unable to hide it. In my head, I thought they were flirting when I saw them. Not talking about me.

"I never had anyone to brag about before you, Bella. I can't express to you enough, how you are my everything."

I kissed his nose, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

I held my breath, "what does that thing mean? That... code that Andrew, Jonen, and Scotty were saying?"

Edward groaned, rubbing the back of his eyelids, "you don't want to know."

"Yes I do."

"Trust me, you don't."

I pinched his ribs and tickled him, forcing him to chuckle, "Tell me now."

"Okay!" he said, finding my hands and pulling them from his shirt, "okay... but you'll think we're all dicks."

"You're male," I simply stated.

He sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes, "When they said, '154, Bright and Sunny'. They were referring to Aimee."

"What about her?"

He groaned again, cursing under his breath, "Why do you have to be so observant?"

"Just tell me, you chicken. I swear I won't get upset."

He glared at me, "None of my friends besides Emmett really knows about Aimee and I. But at work, everyone knows everyone's business. Word got out, and eventually, I confessed to the three of them about what we'd done. And then I started talking shit, because I'm a guy, and we do that when we're single, and we came up with these code words that talk about random hook-ups and shit..."

He became hesitant, but I pressed the issue, "continue."

He still glared at me, not wanting to spill, "154 is code for laws. It represents both the consensual age to have sex, which they tease me about, because she was only eighteen when we started our... whatever. Also, it's the law that says 'Compelling a woman to enter into a sexual relationship in form of another person, in which they are a subordinate at work'. I'm not telling you about the rest of it. You'll hate me."

"Please," I batted my lashes at him. "Tell me."

"Why?" he growled.

"Because I'm sick like that, and I wanna know."

He cradled my face, "you'll hate me."

"Just tell me." I was getting a kick out of seeing him squirm.

Edward exhaled, "Because I was a dick who talked shit, I told them about how eager she was when I finally got her where I wanted her, and 'bright' means her wide, willing eyes, and 'sunny' means... a reference to eggs."

"Huh?" I giggled, dumbfounded. "That makes no sense."

He closed his eyes, spilling out his words, "Sunny-side eggs. It took one touch, and she was so wet that she was gushing on me... like the egg, when you poke it."

He looked down to me, and I didn't know whether to laugh or throw up, "...Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's really disgusting."

"I told you."

"I'm never looking at eggs the same way again."

"I told you!" he covered his face, "you wanted to know, damn."

Since he was so humiliated, I figured I may as well spill too. "Uh...if it makes you feel any better, I fooled around with a co-worker of mine on occasion."

His eyes popped open, "who?"

I bit my lip, trying not to be nervous, "His name is Ryan Danvers. We never had sex or anything, but... a lot of making out behind closed doors and petting and stuff."

He suddenly looked really interested, and very jealous, "is that a fact?"

"Mmhmm. He's older than us, twenty seven, I think. He wanted me to date him, but I wasn't into the whole office-relationship thing, plus I was gaining interest in Jasper, and..." I shrugged, "it never went anywhere, but we still work together. He's my partner, actually."

"Hmm." was all he said.

"So... besides the sex and disgusting egg descriptions and almost underage parts, we're in the same boat. Both working with people of our pasts."

He nodded, shutting his eyes, "this... why did you tell me?"

"Because we were sharing and I didn't want any secrets either."

"But... now I'm jealous."

"Please, Edward Cullen does not get jeal-"

"THE FUCK HE DOESN'T!!" he said, cutting me off. "Bella. Come on, with you, I'm always jealous. I was fucking jealous of Jasper, I was jealous of Jake, and whoever else... Jealous of your clothes that get to cover you, and all kinds of stupid fucking random shit that doesn't make any damn sense when you say that shit out loud. TRUST ME. I get jealous."

"I... had no idea."

"Well now you do," he replied shortly.

I inched closer to him, "are you... mad?"

"No," he exhaled, opening his eyes and throwing his arms around me, "but... it's hard sometimes, hearing about your life before me. Makes me realize how much I missed."

"Tell me about it," I rested my head on his chest, hugging him tight.

"Never again."

I kissed his ribs, before placing my head back over his heart, "it's a deal."

4 Weeks Later
(Bella is 12+ Weeks long)

BellaPOV (continued)

"So," I said, placing the cardboard add onto the conference table, "what do you think?"

I looked around to my nine colleagues and friends, my boss, the Google rep of the day, and my partner.

In my hands was the new spring logo for Google, which my company, Leverage Marketing, takes credit for. Ryan and I spent countless hours consuming chinese food coming up idea of palm trees and easter eggs into the letters. Anything clicked on through Google, whether it be ads or links, the designs most likely came from this company. We get a percentage of every click. The wheels behind the wheels, behind the operation, so to speak... We have lots of other partners, such as Black & Decker, Travelocity, Spenco, , Yahoo, MSN, etc, but Google was the branch that I worked for.

It's a lot harder than it sounds.

I was toward the end of wrapping up my twenty minute presentation, saving the artwork for last.

Of course, no one ever clapped their hands or even smiled, until Mr. Johnson, from Google, smiled.

And when he did, they all did.

Thank God.

I exhaled, grinning over to Ryan and Colleen. After we adjourned the meeting and I shook hands with Mr. Johnson, Colleen and I headed past the secretaries, toward our offices.

"I cannot believe they bought it," she squealed. "You and Ry did such an awesome job!"

"I know," I exhaled, "all the hard work I put into, after being gone, paid off."

"Of course it did, silly. You're the best."

We turned the corner and I waved to a few people as we past by, "so what are you and Makin up to?"

"He's working extra shifts since Jasper's been home. I've hardly seen it. How about you and Edward?"

"Ugh," I scowled, opening my office door, "he's working so much. We're on opposite shifts, these past few weeks. Plus we're trying to pack up things in my house with Rosalie... oh, did I tell you she decided to move in with Jake? Anyway, so yeah, we're trying to do that, house hunt, work our shifts, sleep, go to my scheduled doctor appointments, and plan a wedding. We barely have time to hug in between." I flopped down in the chair, staring at my blank monitor on my desk, "...I miss him, you know?"

"Yeah," she said, sitting in a chair across from me, "I know how it feels. Does he work tonight?"

"Not sure yet. I don't think so though. I think Aubrey said she's going to try and give him the night off, since he stood in that operating room with her all day yesterday."

"Oh I forgot about that! How did it go?"

"He said it was really crazy. ...Something about triplets and breaches and possible placenta rupture... I'm not sure all the details, but he said it was intense. All she had all day was cesarean deliveries."

"Craziness," she picked up my pen, fiddling with it, "does it scare you?"

I shrugged, "I try not to think about it."

"Good. Don't."

I smiled at her, "hey, why don't you come over after work? We can go finalize my dress for the wedding?"

"YEAH! Oh, but I'll have to b-"

"Miss Swan, Mister Cullen is on line two."

We gushed into smiles as I hit the button on the speaker phone, "Hey!"

"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling? How was your morning?"

"Good and good, thank you."

"Did your meeting go well?"

"They loved it!"

"See? I knew they would! I'm proud of you. When did you get back from it?"

"Just about a minute ago."

"I have such perfect timing. What are you doing for lunch?"

"I don't know, I'm meeting with Amber from TicketCity here at two, I believe. They're thinking about giving me a second account."

"On top of your 'Google' one?"

"Yes. What do you think?" I asked, bouncing in my chair. I was so happy to talk to him, he lit up my entire day.

"Mmmm," he was hesitant, sighing into the phone, "can you handle all of this right now? On top of everything we're trying to do? And my little boy in the baby mobile?"

"We don't know if it's a boy, and I'm pretty sure I can."

'I don't want you to overload yourself."

Colleen rolled her eyes, giggling as she pretended to shove my pen in her ear. I threw a stack of sticky notes at her, "I won't."

"Well... I guess if you're sure... anyway, would you be willing to let me pick you up for lunch? I haven't taken mine yet, and-"

"Edward Cullen, you've been there for almost twenty-four hours and you haven't taken your lunch yet? Have you eaten at all?"

"Snacks here and there. I'm going to be home in a few hours anyway, so..."

"That doesn't excuse your choices, mister."

"Well then come have lunch with me and solve my dilemma."

"Fine, but you have to pick me up, because I rode with Colleen this morning."

"I'll be there around eleven. Sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful, see you then."

"See you."

"Bella," Colleen giggled as we hung up, "you two are so cute. And to think, I helped reunite you lovers."

I grinned at her, "I know. Crazy how things change."

"No shit," she laughed. "Every time I wake up and roll over and see Makin's glorious naked form, I'm like, 'wait, what?'" She giggled. "Life's a blast."

"It really is. So you're coming over tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll have to bring my shadow with me."

I giggled, "That'd be fine."

As we continued to talk about things, my coworker tapped his knuckles on my door frame before entering them.

We both turned, smiling up at him. "HEY RYAN!"

"Ladies," he grinned, walking over and sitting on the corner of my desk, before slapping a stack of papers on it, "Miss Swan, please sign these."

"What are they?"

"Release forms for the new add."

"So they are for sure going through with it?"

He smirked at me, those sea-green eyes shining down on me, "of course. We're the shit."

"We are the shit," I joked, scribbling signatures on each form without looking at them.

"Oh," he said as he gathered them back up, "I'm having a little get together here this coming weekend. You all should come, bring your men. We'll make it a swinger event."

We laughed and I pushed him off my desk, "whatever. What type of get together is it really?"

"Just a barbecue, maybe some gambling."

"I'll talk to Edward about it."

Ryan picked up my metal stress balls and began twisting them in his palm, "He'd probably be more willing if you hadn't told him that we hooked up."

"I couldn't lie to him. He needed to know what type of awful perverse person you were, taking advantage of your coworker like that," I teased.

He ran his fingers through his brown, disheveled hair, "yeah because you were so unwilling."

Colleen giggled as our banter continued about whatever else for the next hour... just catching up.

It felt good to be back at work.

At least, here I felt productive again. Less stress. More facts.

EmmettPOV

I rolled over and opened my drawer, digging for a glove.

By the time I rolled back in the bed, Heather was pulling the covers over her, "I think I need to go."

"What?" I asked, "why?"

"Because we're not ready to have sex again."

"We're already having sex."

"No, we're fooling around. There's a difference."

"Oh, come on," I said, pulling her tiny body to me, "there's no difference."

She looked at me, almost frowning, "there's a big difference this time around."

"What's the difference?"

She pulled the condom wrapper out of my fingers and threw it behind me, before we laid down on the bed, side by side, "the difference is... we're broken up."

"And?"

"And like I said, I don't have sex with my ex."

"Heather," I groaned, pulling her even closer, "you and I go better than anything else. We both know that, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you're too chicken to get back into a relationship with me, even though we've been hanging out practically every single day since you got back however many weeks ago, and I'm too stubborn to change my ways."

"You know why I won't get back into a relationship with you. It has nothing to do with you."

"That is the stupidest thing ever!" she hissed at me.

"Well, even so."

She pushed me away from her and started to get out of my bed, but I quickly grabbed her and pulled her up against me, "Heather. Listen to me... I really, really care about you. Okay? More than anyone else these days... but that still doesn't change the fact that your parents are bible-thumping religious freaks who never gave me the time of day, let alone an actual chance to be your boyfriend, and I'm really not looking forward to them charging into one of my dad's clubs with a shotgun aimed at my head again."

"They didn't even have it loaded, and-"

"And you're working for my dad again, which is bad enough on my end. We all know they're going to think that I influenced your decision to wait tables there-"

"No they won't. I made my decisions on my own, I don't need them to dictate how I will or will not live my li-"

"But they're still your parents."

"SO!" she shouted. "Emmett... come on. Despite everything, I want to be with you. Why can't you just let us be, and not worry about them?"

"Because they'll rip off my dick when they find out!"

"No they won't!"

"Heather. Yes they will."

She growled, pulling away from me, and climbed out of the bed, looking for her jeans, "whatever then. This is hopeless, I guess."

"It's not. Why can't we just be how we are?"

"Because that's now how it works, Emmett!" she slapped her hands on my bed, glaring over at me, "You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't get the milk for free, not with me."

I tried to grab her, but she jerked away, tossing on her shirt and jeans, "Heather, please don't fucking storm out of here mad."

"Well I'm not going to keep telling and convincing myself that you're going to get over this shit when you're not. They were the only reason we broke up, and here we are, fusing back together. But you're too much of an idiot to see that I am and have always been good for you."

She was steaming mad now.

I gave up, tossing the covers over my head, "why does shit have to be so complicated?"

"Welcome to Planet Earth, dickwad. I'm going to go. Call me when you grow some balls."

With that, she slammed the door to my room.

I stuck my hands out of the covers, flipping off the door, before dropping them onto the mattress.

I really was a dickwad.

But I didn't know what else to do.

With all of my friends, it was easy to help them with their lives. But with my own, it was like an enigma.

EdwardPOV

When I entered Bella's workplace and made my way up to the eighth story, my head was spinning.

I was exhausted. I was sore. I needed food fast. I was agitated with things, and all I wanted to do was see her, because I knew she'd make me feel better.

No one around here really knew me, as I've only been here once before, and that was only in the parking lot. Bella texted me the instructions on what to say to the secretary, and how to get to her office. I knocked a few times, shoving my hands in the pockets of my slacks.

The door swung open by Colleen, and I saw Bella sitting behind her desk, talking into a headset, and a guy leaning over her back, reading into her monitor as she typed.

"Come in, she's on the phone with CRS," Colleen explained, motioning for me to enter.

"I completely understand your hesitation," Bella said sweetly, though she held hands in front of her in attempts to strangle her monitor, "and I know that Mr. Coleberry is also understanding of that. But I can reassure you that our references will clearly explain why you shouldn't have to worry. Leverage Marketing is a sure bet. We don't gamble; we stick to the facts."

The dark haired guy behind her nodded in agreement, before pointing to something on her monitor.

She nodded, adjusting the headset in her ear, "you have my full guarantee, sir. Yes.... Mmhmm... Well, how about I set up a meeting with you tomorrow? That way we can meet in person, and have some direct contact? I feel that it's easier to make a decision when you can see who you'll be dealing with, instead of listen to a voice on the telephone.... Mmhmm... Great..." She began scribbling something down on her huge calender on her desk, "Mmhmm... Eight-thirty. I'll be there. Thank you so much, and have a wonderful day. Bye."

She hung up and tossed the headset on her desk, mumbling garbage under her breath.

Then she turned and when she saw me, her caramel eyes lit up, "HEY! I didn't hear you come in. You're early!"

The guy behind her pushed off her chair and walked around the desk, digging into a manilla folder, trying to look busy.

"I know I'm early, but I wanted to see you, so..." I shrugged, looking from Colleen, to the guy, to Bella, "you know how it goes."

"I do... you look spent," she said, standing up and dusting off her black pencil skirt that looked incredible on her form, before reaching behind her and grabbing her blazer jacket.

"I'm pretty tired, but I'll be all right when I get some food in my system."

She grinned at me as the guy stepped forward and stuck out his right hand, "Hello, Mr. Cullen, I'm Ryan Danvers, Bella's partner."

I shook his hand, trying not to be obvious about sizing him up with my eyes, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he answered with a grin.

So this was the guy who Bella spent countless hours on the phone with at night, going over reports and ideas... This was the guy who fucked with her.

I wished he were uglier. The dude looked like a fucking preppy frat boy, with a dangerous edge.

I wanted to fuck him up, all ready.

"So," he said, looking back toward Bella, "give me a buzz when you get back Bells, and we'll go over the main points for the meeting, okay?"

"You got it Ry," she said, throwing her purse strap over her shoulders and walking over to me, "you ready?"

I nodded, making sure to grin at the fucker as I wrapped my arm around her waist and gave her a kiss, "when you are."

"I'm ready," she smiled into my lips. "Colleen, tell Margie not to forward my calls."

"You got it Bella, see you Edward."

I waved to her and led Bella out of the office.

When we got into the parking garage, she squeezed me tight as we walked, "you look so nice in your suit and doctor jacket," she said. "So handsome and sexy..."

"Thanks, love," I opened the passenger side door open for her and brushed through her hair with my fingers before closing it. Then I made it into my side, and revved up the car.

"So what are you in the mood for?" she asked, turning to me and stroking the back of my neck.

I shrugged, pulling out into traffic, "something good. It's been a long day."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, giving her a smile when we approached the stop light, "better now that you're here with me."

"Awe," she gushed, leaning her head on my shoulder.

I held her hand as we drove around, stroking my thumb along the back side of her hand. We decided on Corner Cafe, our favorite here in Seattle.

I opened the doors for her and pulled out her chair, before taking the seat across from her.

She reached over, holding my hands on the table, "I'm so exhausted and my stomach is icky. Not to mention my migraine that keeps coming and going as it pleases. Whoever said pregnancy was easy, was lying or on drugs."

I snickered, running my fingers along her arms, "I'm sorry baby. Maybe when we get home, we can take a nap together?"

"Oh, I wish I could, but I have to do the final fitting on my dress after work. Colleen's coming with me. She's bringing Alyssa."

"Alyssa?"

"Yeah, her daughter."

I leaned forward, furrowing my brows, "Colleen has a daughter?"

"Yeah, I didn't tell you that?"

I shook my head.

"Oh. Yeah, it's a ...complicated situation. She had her when she was nineteen. The father's a dead beat, hardly ever sends a Christmas card. Alyssa stays with Colleen's mom during the week while she works, but here lately, since Colleen has been staying over at Makin and Jazz's place, Alyssa's been there with her, since Makin works nights and she works days. Makin really got attached to her."

"Wait, so teeny, tiny, Colleen has a four year old little girl?"

"She'll be four in a couple of months."

"Holy shit, I had no idea."

"Yeah, she keeps it pretty low key."

I smirked, and we ordered our food, before turning back into each other, "So... I bet the little girl is beautiful."

"Oh my gosh, she is. She's almost a spitting image of Colleen. Very sweet, despite her age... intelligent. She loves music and to dance, and loves hide and seek..."

I grinned at her, "that's cool. I can't wait to meet her."

"You'll love her, Edward. She's a doll."

After we ate for a while, I leaned forward, tucking her hair behind her ears, "If we do have a girl, I can't wait to see what features of you she'll hold."

Bella blushed, wiping her mouth with her napkin, "please. All I want is for our child to have your looks... your eye color, your smile, your long lashes-"

I shook my head, cutting her off, "you're crazy. There's no way, Bella. It must have some of you as well."

"Fine," she shrugged, "they can have my love for you too. That's what I want."

I shook my head, "you're insane, do you know that?"

"You know, I think I've heard that one before," she teased, taking a sip of her water.

I took a glance at my watch and groaned, "We have twenty minutes left. Fuck, if the hour doesn't fly during lunch."

"I know," she stretched out her arms, revealing a hint of her of skin on her stomach, beneath her white blouse and buttoned blazer, "it sucks."

"It does," I said, licking my lips as I stared at her. Then I leaned forward, giving her a wicked grin, "if I wasn't so hungry, I'd be fucking you right now."

Her lips parted, and then a blush formed over her cheeks, and she covered her mouth with her hands, "Edward... stop it."

"Bella, I'm serious as a heart attack," I mused, "it's been... what?... Eight days or something? We haven't had any time for each other lately..."

She frowned, leaning over the table toward me, and kissing my knuckles as she held my hand over her lips, "I know. I miss you."

"I miss you too," I sighed. "Life is hard now that we're here in the real world, both having jobs, and getting all this other stuff planned out."

"I know."

"But," I shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back in my chair, "you could always go part-time... that way you could still work, and have more time at home with me when I get h-"

"Edward," she growled, her mood change swinging fast, "stop. We've had this discussion. I'm not cutting back my hours if you're not."

"Bella, I can't cut back my hours. I don't have a choice. And on top of that, I won't, because I am supposed to work. You're not. You're the soon-to-be-wife, you don't need to work. I said I wanted to take care of you, and I meant it. I don't understand why you're so hell-bent on not letting me do it."

"Because this isn't the sixties, Edward. I don't need you to do everything. I worked hard to get where I am, and I'm not about to blow my education, my degree, and my job, just because we're having some changes in our personal life!"

"Bella, what are you going to do when the baby comes?" I argued.

"We'll have my mom with us, Edward," she sneered. "The same as what you're going to do when we have the baby. I don't hear you talking about taking time off of work to-"

"That's because nothing is final yet with my job, and I am talking to Doctor Sherber about it. But I can only do so much."

"Yeah, well, so can I."

I leaned forward, trying not to explode, "Bella... listen... if Renee watches our child, then we will both be missing out on important moments. At least, with you not working as much, one of us could be there to see them."

She got all huffy, mood swing even worse, "Edward, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't want to cut back my hours."

"It's give and take, Bella."

"Please. I don't see you giving any," she spat.

"Are you kidding me? Bella, come on. I'm working my ass off, picking up extra shifts, staying on call twenty-four-seven to get us in order financially. I'm trying to-"

"It's not enough, Edward. You're not even a doctor, yet. And you look at vaginas!"

I narrowed my eyes at her and leaned back in my chair, stunned, as I gawked at her.

Our first dispute since we got engaged.

"I can't believe you just fucking said that to me. You know there's a hell of a lot more to it than that with my job."

We both took a breath, and she shook her head, "I know, I'm sorry, I didn't think."

"Whatever," I barked, rubbed my face. I was too fucking tired to do this today.

"No, Edward," she said, getting out of her seat and walking around the table toward me. She made me move back a bit so she could sit on my leg and wrap her arms around me, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that... it's just mood swings and this is still surreal to me, and it's a lot to plan and process, and my job and this wedding coming up and house arrangements and not being able to see you and... I don't mean to take it out on you. I know how hard you work and what your job means to you. I'm really, really sorry."

I leaned forward, pushing my face into her shoulder and wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her closer against me in the chair, "I'm sorry too."

"I just miss you, and I feel like anytime we talk, it's about plans and the wedding and moving and finances and family and jobs, and... there's never any other conversation."

"I know," I replied.

She began to scratch the top of my head, and I immediately felt myself loosen up and relax from the tension haunting my shoulders.

God, she was sexy. Even though we fought.

"You know..." I said, inhaling her scent, "I don't have to rush back to the hospital... I've got my pager..."

"...and my meeting doesn't start until two," she responded, catching my hint.

"...and my place is only a few blocks from here..." I continued.

She leaned forward, whispering in my ear, "...and make-up sex sounds in order..."

It only took me a few minutes to pay for that damn check and get us out the door and on the road to my place. I was never happier to get back there.

Alice has been staying over at Jasper's apartment this week, so I knew no one would be there.

We quickly moved into my bedroom, and she pushed me backward on my mattress, before climbing up on top of me.

I waisted no time sliding her skirt up, trying to ignore the lust bouncing around in my head from her stockings and garter belt and fucking sexy heels.

She pushed my white jacket to the sides and tossed the tie over my head, shoved my shirt up, before attacking my neck with kisses and nibbles.

I sat up, pulling her against my erection, panting into her hair.

"Edward," she hummed, as I hooked my fingers into the side of her panties.

She turned us and we crashed onto the mattress, me above her. She lifted her hips, allowing me to pull them off swiftly.

We didn't worry about removing any other pieces of clothing, just pushed them aside when necessary. This was too fucking important to deal with that shit. We needed this.

"Please," she begged, tugging me down to her by my tie, as she fisted her free hand into my locks.

She didn't have to beg me twice, and I pushed into her hard, groaning into her ear as her muscles pulsed around me.

Fucking slick and warmth and pink moist skin surrounding me... this was exactly what I needed to turn my day around.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she panted, nipping at my lips, throwing her legs around me. "Please don't stop."

Breathing heavily, I withdrew and slammed back into her, lifted her hips off the bed, forcing her to meet my thrusts. Each shove and pull got me closer and closer to the back of her, and I was so fucking engorged and aroused that I almost bottomed-out in her, by accident. I could feel myself inching closer to the furthest wall of her vagina. It still wasn't enough.

I refused to go too fast, even if it felt amazing. Just rough... rough enough to make a point.

There was this animalistic, desperate side of me coming out in my mind, and it had nothing to do with our argument earlier. I knew she didn't mean what she said... this was something way before that...

I wanted to fuck her properly today. I wanted to make sure she knew who she belonged to. I wanted to remind her that she was mine and no one else's, and so help me God, I wanted to prove to her that she'd never get it better than she did with me... so she'd remember it when she got back to work with fuckface frat boy.

Because I was a lot more jealous of that dipshit for getting to spend so much time with my girl than I led on... seeing her in those damn skirts and tight jackets... seeing her chew on pencils and all that other shit...

Bella clawed and scraped and pushed me and pulled me, bit on my shoulder, moaned louder than I had ever heard before, egged me on... Never before had I been this rough with her, not even that day when we were on the floor... But she didn't seem to mind it one bit, and so I continued. Yanking her to me, tugging on her hair, flipping her tiny body all around this bed at my convenience. I made sure she had it hard and good from every angle possible, clothes we were wearing, be dammed.

She fisted the headboard as I pushed in behind her, then slammed back against me, her ass and thighs making delicious sounds as it smacked against my skin. I wrapped my arm around her blouse and shoulders, pulling her up to my chest. She moaned loudly, reaching behind her and yanking a fistful of my hair.

Then she pulled all the way from me, departing our bodies, and twisted around, before climbing back in my lap and throwing her arms and legs around me. She made sure to make eye contact with me as I lifted her tiny body up and down on top of mine, connecting us again. I could see it in her eyes... the matching animalistic desperation... She was making sure I knew I wasn't going to get it any better too... that way when I went back to work, she was the only girl on my mind.

As if there'd be any other girl. Crazy.

I watched as her tongue slid out from her lips and into my mouth, before rolling my eyes in my head as she enveloped me. Her fingernails scratched along my shoulders and the back of my neck, and she struggled to hold onto the last piece of her lust. She kept clenching those miracle muscles around me with each push inside of her. She wanted me to go first. I wanted her to go first. So we were both putting it off, fighting for dominance.

"Edward," she said into my ear, tugging on the ends of my hair as our motions became more erratic, "please."

"Please what?" I panted, jerking her hard against me.

She clenched tighter around me and I pushed my face into her collar bone, praying my finger would do it's magic and get her off first. Please let me win.

"Mmm," she moaned, "ahhh.."

"Come on," I muttered under my breath, encouraging myself not to spill.

Bella began to grind harder on me, moaning and inhaling through her nose, "please, Edward. For me."

Oh no she didn't. Girl was damn good, I had to give it to her.

Giving in, I loosened up my resolve on her, and let her ride me until it felt so good, I exploded into her heated depths like a bottle rocket. She shuddered as I came, biting down on my neck hard and with a vengeance. With a few more clicks of my finger, she was mine, and made sure to remind me as she moaned my name and told me how good it felt.

...How good it felt.

Dear God, if she only knew how good it felt to not only feel her body suck me inside it's traps and hold me there when she came, or the way the wetness surrounded every inch of me... she had no idea.

We stayed in a sitting position, and my tie stayed wrapped around her fist, as we came all the way down to a steady breathing pattern.

Then she peppered kisses on my face and climbed off of me, straightening out her skirt and blouse.

I couldn't help it.

I fucking grinned, watching how quickly we went from fucking each other, to situating our clothes and being back in the car on our way to her work, acting like nothing ever happened.

She sipped on her to-go cup of ice water as we walked hand in hand to her office.

My grin grew wider when I noticed the flush on her cheeks that she couldn't remove even though she tried to fan her face... That's what happens when you get properly fucked, the evil narcissistic side of me thought.

And then, if possible, my ego about shot through the roof when I saw the looks on Colleen's and Ryan's face as we reentered her office. They knew something was up.

The both of us looked much more rested and a hell of a lot happier now.

Ryan cleared his throat noisily and began to stack papers on her desk, while Colleen just moved out of our way and smiled foolishly at Bella. She definitely knew.

Bella started to walk to her desk, but I jerked her hard to me as soon as I noticed him look up, and made sure to take my time swirling my tongue around every inch of her mouth in front of him.

I could have been a real dick and squeezed her ass, and I wanted to, but knew it'd be too unprofessional. Plus, it started making me have thoughts of bending her over that desk... And it'd just get me going again, and I couldn't handle another boner without her to relieve it. My hand was retired since Bella came back into my life.

"Mmm," she smiled against my lips, before tightening my tie, "I'll see you tonight?"

"You bet," I winked at her and kissed her nose, "call me later if you want."

"I will, love you."

"Not nearly as much as I love you," I said, kissing her lips once more.

Then I made sure to give Ryan a nod before I left.

There wasn't one fucking doubt in my mind that he knew what I was getting at.

AlicePOV

The past four weeks have been... chancing.

The first few days were hell after the incident, I won't try to lie. The things that made me decide to fall back into old patterns were minor to the ones I felt after I did it... because knowing I caved in made me so depressed that I wanted to do it again, and the pattern just kept repeating itself.

But the good news is, I haven't done it since.

The bad news is, I still think about it from time to time.

And the mediocre news is, every day, it gets easier.

Nine days after the incident, with the help of Edward and Jasper, I agreed to do over-the-phone counseling with an anonymous hot line who helps deal with cases like mine twice a week. My code name when I talk, since I'm anonymous, is 'Sunshine'.

The girl I like to talk to the most is named Andrea. She is very soothing, and doesn't seem fake when she talks to me, like some therapists in the past have. She seems actually concerned and very understanding, not judging and superficial.

I really like her. I'd call her whenever I had bad thoughts, and she'd talk to me for as long as I wanted. She never forced me to talk to her, which was also good. Sometimes, we just stayed on the phone, in pure silence... and it felt nice, to know that someone was there on the other end, but didn't have to speak to know what I was going through.

She's even called me once, just to check up on me because I hadn't called in four days, and I really liked when she did.

Sometimes, Jasper will sit beside me while I talk to her, to show me that he's here for me, but not interfering. He's never once said to me, 'Oh Alice, you're pathetic for what you did', or anything to that nature. He doesn't even pressure me to talk about it, and that makes me want to talk about it to him, just because he is doing this on my time, not on his.

I've told him how it started, with my dad telling me and my mom that we were fat growing up... which was part of the reason why my mom packed us up and we followed Edward's family around when they moved. I told him about why I keep my energy, because staying happy twenty-four-seven is a distraction for me. I told him about some of my triggers, such as certain comments from people, or on television, or dealing with too much stress, or even seeing everyone else around me happy... it could be anything.

No matter what I said, Jasper never once acted like he didn't want to hear it or was looking at me differently.

This took a while to really sink in, as I thought for sure he was going to leave me like everyone else did.

But he didn't.

He stuck it out.

And though my demon side of me tells me that I'm not good enough and will screw it up eventually, the happier side of me says to enjoy feeling loved because he wasn't going anywhere.

Like I said.. still a battle for me.

Jasper even came up with a 'fail-word' scenario for us, so he could help me out more. It's different from a 'safe-word' that other people use in other situations. A 'fail-word' is a word that I use when I am having so much of a bad day, that I want to do something, like make myself throw up or whatever the case may be. It can also be when something triggers me.

I chose my 'fail-word' to be thunderstorm. Because it's the exact opposite of sunshine. It's the darker side of me, trying to come out and take over.

So, when I say that word, we quickly try to change gears and get me out of the room or the scene or whatever the case may be, and go outside... go for walks, go see a movie, go to the batting cages... whatever it takes. And, most days, it really does help.

"Step by step," he told me. "Don't get impatient and it'll work."

So I've been trying to let it work.

Because I never, ever, want to see the fear in his eyes like I did that night four weeks ago.

And I don't want to disappoint my best friend Edward either.

Seeing him with those drugs, though I knew in my heart he was doing it only because I was down, was too much.

It was the awakening that I needed.

The three of them in that bathroom, willing to lie on the cold disgusting floor with me for as long as it took... really proved to me how good I had it, when I allowed myself to have it.

But again, each day is it's own battle.

Jasper pulled me to him, snuggling into my shoulder, "good morning. How long have you been awake?"

I shrugged, taking a glance at the clock, smirking as it read past two in the evening, "maybe twenty minutes?"

"Thank you for letting us sleep in so late."

"Anytime," I smiled, inhaling his scent. He smelled like a newborn. I loved it.

"Want some breakfast?"

I bit my lip, trying to push back negative thoughts about food before they even crossed my mind, "sure. What are you thinking?"

"Mmmmm.... how about biscuits and gravy?"

I thought about it, and it really did sound like it would hit the spot, "that sounds good."

"Great. Want to take a shower with me first, and we can make it together?"

"Sure," I stroked through his hair, "but can we lay here for a few more minutes? I'm just... not sure if I'm ready to face the kitchen yet."

"Of course... for as long as you want."

"Okay," I whispered.

Jasper pulled me down and threw the covers over our heads, causing me to giggle as he pulled me closer.

I turned on my side and he snuggled up against my back, pressing his face into my hair.

"You look so beautiful in the mornings," he said, kissing my head.

"Thank you," I closed my eyes.

"And you smell so good..."

I blushed, "thank you two times."

He pushed against me, and my eyes popped wide as certain parts really pressed into me.

Jasper hummed in my ear, sending shudders through my frame.

His left hand dipped into my tank top and he began to caress the underside of my breast, pushing into me again.

I pushed back, and enjoyed the sound of his breath hitching.

He moved back to me, and I pushed back harder this time, arching my back a bit.

"That's it," he said, throwing the covers off of him.

I sat up, watching him cover his lower half on his pants and jog into the bathroom he shares with Makin, "where are you going?"

"Be right back." A minute later, he was back in the bed, smiling his freshly brushed teeth.

Then he held out a cup of mouth rinse and a glass, "Rinse good and spit."

I looked up at him, puzzled at first, then did as he instructed.

The minute I did, he sat the things on his nightstand, then threw the covers back over us, and started to tickle me.

"JASPER!" I laughed, thrashing around.

He climbed on top of me and arched his back down while his arms were fully extended, amd began shoving his erection into my center, "think it's funny to tease and taunt me like that, Miss Brandon?"

I grinned, spreading my legs further, watching him dry hump me through my white pajama pants.

We've been fooling around for a couple weeks, giving the first two to let me mend my wounds a bit.

But we haven't had sex in a month. And I was itching for it.

"Answer me."

"Yes," I admitted, though my heart rate started to pick up and my body started to tingle.

I watched as he took my left leg in his hand and drug it up, all the way to his shoulder. Then my right.

Then he bent down, and did it worse, grinding on me so hard that I thought I'd explode before we even got naked, "I think payback is in order."

I started to apologize, but he slid down my body, and inhaled as he went, before pressing his face right into my sweet spot.

I gasped, arching my hips up to him, but his hands found my waist, and he pressed me down into the mattress. I shuddered as he stuck his tongue out, licking me through the fabric of my pants.

He kept doing it, causing involuntary moans to escape my throat, until I arched my back and threw my head into the pillows.

Then, he stopped.

I snapped my head up, to find a beautiful mess of blonde twisted locks between my legs, followed by long eyelashes, and wide eyes, as he looked up at me.

Taunting me. The bitch.

He had me and he knew it.

"I'm sorry," I spat, "I won't tease you again, I swear it."

"Mmm," he hummed, sending vibrations to my core, "I don't think you mean it."

"I mean it," I gasped as he pushed his face into me, "I swear, I mean it."

He hummed again, causing me to shudder.

"Please don't make me beg... don't make me beg."

"Asking me not to make you beg is the same thing as begging," he said as he sat back on his knees.

I growled at him and sat up, crossing my arms over my much-aware chest.

He smirked, "payback complete."

I started to lunge at him and wrestle with him, but his hands found my wrists, and he pushed me back into the mattress, laying on top of me, "Mmmm, she likes it rough this morning."

"Quit it!" I laughed as he pushed into me. "Get fucking naked, now."

"And she's demanding."

"NOW, Jazz."

He stopped his torment and raised his head, looking down at me.

Then he stripped off his clothes faster than lightening, and mine as well.

As soon as we connected, I felt better all ready.

I needed that closeness.

Needed it for my well-being.

Needed it more than we both even knew.

EdwardPOV

I couldn't wipe the fucking grin off my face to save my damn life.

Here I was, two hours after I returned to the hospital, and I was still fucking smirking.

Scotty walked over to me, and leaned on the counter at the reception desk, as I looked through a chart Bree handed me.

"What?" I asked, not bothering to look at him.

"Dude, you're so fucking obvious. Knock it off, it's sickening."

I licked my lips, trying my hardest to fight back my smile, as I flipped through the page.

I noticed both Bree and Aimee pretending not to listen to us. I rolled my eyes at them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You have lipstick on your collar," he said, pointing to it.

"Get away," I smacked his hand, giving us some space.

"You've been walking around with that shit ever since you took lunch, E."

"Shit happens," I smirked, trying really hard and failing at focusing on the print in the paperwork.

"And you took lunch with that tight-ass beautiful fucking Fiancee' of yours, didn't you?"

"Watch your mouth," I said, pulling us away from listening ears, to a corner, "...and I most certainly did."

Scotty slid next to me and whispered under his breath, "you did some serious pussy smashing, didn't ya? Don't lie. It's all over your face."

I couldn't help it. I fucking grinned.

And he burst out laughing, patting me on the back, "you little sleeze. Couldn't wait until you got home from work, could ya?"

"I had a point to make," I clarified.

"And what point would that be?"

I glared at him and spoke my words like they were a disease, "Ryan Danvers."

"Dude, are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"You seriously are like... that's all you've talked about the past fucking month. Get over it, she's his partner."

"So? Man, you don't get it. He's been calling her every night while they've been working on that project, working with her every day. He gets her more than I do. Plus, he fucked around with her, and that just pisses me off to no other extent, and-"

"So you felt that taunting his ass would be the mature way to show him that she is now yours?"

"Yes," I smirked, justifiably.

He held out his hand to me, "good job, brother."

I laughed and shook it, exhaling, "thank you. I do what I can."

"When you two are done gossiping, gentlemen, I need to see Doctor Cullen in my office."

I turned and gave Aubrey a tight nod, "Right away, Doctor Sherber."

"Good luck," Scotty said under his breath, before walking to go flirt with Bree like he normally does.

I closed the door behind me and walked toward the desk.

She didn't look up, "Take a seat, Doctor Cullen."

I dropped into the chair, watching as she dug through her purse.

"First off," she said, as she tossed a white sort-of box on the desk at me, "you did amazing with that past pelvic. I didn't have to coach you once."

"Thank you."

"That's make-up remover. Get the lipstick off of your shirt."

A little flushed, I pulled out a moist tissue from the box and began wiping the collar, "I didn't realize, I am very sorry-"

"I understand that you and Miss Swan are reasonably in your pre-honeymoon phase, Doctor Cullen. May I advise you that when you come back on the clock, you take a long look in the mirror before you re-enter my maternity floor next time?"

"Yes ma'am, I will."

"Look, Doctor Cullen," she exhaled, placing her hands folded on her desk as she leaned toward me, "you've been an asset to me these past couple of weeks and my gratitude toward you is constantly extending."

"Thank you."

"But you're exhausted, and you really need to get some sleep."

I shook my head, leaning forward, "No, no, no, I insist, I'm fine. I just needed to get some food and-"

"Edward," she growled, causing me to shut up. She never called me by my first name here. Ever. "Look. It's not going to make me look at you any differently for going home early. It's a slow day, for starters. Plus you've been on call every day this week, sticking it out on forty-eight and even seventy-two hours shifts with me..."

She sighed, meeting my eyes, "you're the best I have. You get away with more things and get into more fields of work here than all of my other interns combined, and for a damn good reason. You are the best student here. But that doesn't meant that I am going to allow you to get sick and/or exhaust yourself. You have a lot that you are planning, a lot that you are dealing with... I want you to go home, catch up on some sleep, and be wide awake for that beautiful girl to come home to you. Okay? I don't think I'm asking for too much here."

"With all due respect, Doctor Sherber," I started to object, "I need this money. Bella and I are getting married in a week, I'm battling with my bank over this loan for a house, and-"

"It wasn't a request, Doctor Cullen. You need to go home."

"B-"

"You have a bonus check coming tomorrow, which I will sign immediately for you to have. I haven't discussed it with you yet, but I may as well tell you before you give yourself a hernia. It's a small thank you, on my behalf, for your hard work this past month. So..."

She stood up, reaching out her hand to me, palm up, "hand me your pager, and we'll call it a day. You can come in tomorrow evening, if you feel up to it. If not, I'll see you Wednesday at eight am."

I exhaled, handing her my pager, and biting my tongue, "thank you, Doctor Sherber."

It sucked, feeling defeated. This was my second life. I loved working, even on the bad days. I thrived to help around here.

"Oh and Doctor Cullen?"

I stopped as my fingers touched the doorknob, and turned to face her, in question.

"You'll thank me for this later."

I forced a smile and gave her a nod, before exiting the building.

EmmettPOV

I am a dumbass.

That's the sentence I kept repeating in my head, as I start running down Piton Avenue.

With a sheet wrapped around me.

I am a dumbass. I am a dumbass. I am a dumbass.

Never in my life have I chased after a girl. I've never had to swallow my pride before.

But Heather wasn't just another girl. And she wasn't just my ex.

We were on and off for a long while, when it was off, it was because of her parents or my stupidity...

The thing was, yeah I really cared for Rosalie when I met her, and maybe I still do. But I fell too deep and too fast with her because I was trying so hard to not think about my ex back in Seattle, and I truthfully wonder if we were never in the cabin and just randomly met on the street somewhere, would I have pursued it? Probably not. She was beautiful and had some good points... but when you get down to the bottom of it, our relationship was blinded with lust. It was what Edward once referred to as 'skin deep', the way he felt with Tanya.

And Heather's been in my life for years. There must be a reason she keeps coming back in it, right?

Regardless, she came over again after a few hours, to find me still naked and in my bed. She threw a fit in my bedroom, telling me how stupid I was and all this stuff, and that she couldn't see me anymore. She grabbed the few sweatshirts and whatever else she left here over the past month, and took off.

So here I am, chasing her toward her car that's parked on this steep ass, motherfucking hill.

"Heather!" I shouted, trying to ignore the pain of fucking rocks and whatever else is on these disgusting roads, which are crushing into the soles of my bare feet.

I watched as she kept strolling, sweatshirt and a few other belongings flopping in the wind, barely in the hold of her arms.

"Heather!"

No answer.

"Heather!" I gasped again, wishing I had a cigarette. "Heather, Heather, Heather, please! Wait the fuck up!"

"Go away, Emmett."

"I don't want to go away, I want you to listen to me."

She reached her car, and fumbled to hold her stuff and find her keys.

When that didn't work, she growled, slamming her clothes on the hood of her car. She dropped her purse on the ground by the door, and began rummaging inside it for her keys.

"Please, please just listen to me," I begged as I finally reached her, hopping around on one foot since it got scraped with something sharp.

"I don't have to listen to you Emmett. I'm not your girlfriend, remember?"

"Oh Jesus Christ, would you stop being so damn stubborn for five seconds?"

She stopped her digging and glared up at me, rising to her feet. She threw her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at me. "I am not the stubborn one Emmett," she said, as she thrusted her index finger into my chest, "you are. It's not me. It's you."

I tilted my head down to her, "How am I the only stubborn one? You're the one who took off."

"Oh, okay, genius, let me explain to you in children's talk, so you understand." She took a step forward, glowering at me, "This is why I'm not stubborn. I'm here, okay? I've been spending time with you, a little more every day. Despite what my parent's have said and done. Despite the freakin' voice in my head telling me that you'll never change. Despite your childish, stubborn-assed, two-year-old antics, I'M STILL HERE. And that is not a stubborn, selfish reason. It's wayyyy past that. I am here because I care for you, okay?"

But she didn't stop there, as she took another step closer, "and you know what? I wish I was stubborn. Because if I was stubborn and selfish, then I could walk away from you. Tell myself not to give in to your stupid-ass smirks, and your stupid-ass grins, and stupid-ass dimples, and your stupid-ass voice, and your stupid-ass hair, and your stupid-stupid-stupid-ass eyes!"

Heather was actually about to sprout a second head or something, she was so fucking pissed off at me. She was loathing. Seething.

...She scared me a bit.

And I liked it.

As soon as she started spitting out my features, I tried really hard to not grin. But that didn't happen.

So she growled and pushed me against her car, before turning toward her purse again.

I quickly threw away my smile and resorted to begging again, lunging forward to grab her arm, "Heather, listen to me."

"GO AWAY."

"No," I swung her toward me, gripping her by her biceps, "listen to me."

"WHAT?" she hissed up at me.

I blew out a gust of air, holding her tiny body in my large hands. Then I swallowed the last inch of my pride, and found her pretty eyes, "I don't want you to go."

"WHY?" She was definitely still pissed.

Start graveling, McCarty.

"Because... you're the best friend I have these days," I began. "Cullen is so fucking pussy-whipped that it's ridiculous, I hardly get to talk to him on the phone. Brandon, whom I haven't spoken to in over a month really, has Jasper. And I don't talk to Rosalie anymore. And all my other guy friends have jobs and shit and..."

I shrugged, trying to hold her gaze, "...I guess you're my someone, you know? That someone I like to spend time with... the someone that makes me laugh and I can make laugh... I don't want you to leave."

She shook her head, fighting back tears and trying to pull from my grasp, "I can't just be your someone, Emmett. Please let me go."

"Why can't you be?"

"Because I love you!" she shouted forcefully.

I shut my eyes, tensing my grip on her.

"Yeah," she scoffed, sniffling. "There. It's said. Now let me go. I can see I've all ready freaked you out enough for one day. Just... let me GO."

I swallowed, loosening my grip on her tender arms, still unable to open my eyes, "I really wish you wouldn't have said that, Heather."

"Why not?"

"Because..." I sighed, looking toward the ground, still unable to let go yet, "those words just lead to a demise... they're a jinx. Everything fucks up after people say them."

She started trembling, and I slowly worked up the courage to look up and find her eyes.

And she was sad, and it made me sad.

"You know," she said, voice almost a defeated whisper, "those words don't fuck shit up when people mean them, Emmett... but, if you want to stay stuck in your last relationship just because it failed and you said those damn words when you weren't really ready to say them..."

She shrugged, looking down, "then that's your choice. But I can't do it. I don't stay in the past, it's not in my nature..."

She pulled away from my grasp and stumbled backward, toward her purse again, "...I'm moving on."

"Please," I whispered, unable to hide the glum expression in my eyes. "I really don't want you to go."

She opened her car door and tossed her belongings all over the passenger seat, before taking one last look at me, "it's not just about what you want, Emmett... Not this time."

She slammed the door shut and took off before I hardly had a chance to move away from the car.

I watched as the car floored down the hill, and sighed.

You didn't gravel enough, fuckface. Now she's fucking gone. AGAIN.

BellaPOV

The rest of my workday went pretty smoothly.

My meeting was a success. My boss praised me.

I got to start discussing my plans for my new account, if I get it.

And Ryan and I got free food for the entire staff on my floor, for all of their help this past month.

So here I sit in Ryan's office, munching on pepperoni pizza with him, watching the clock narrow down the last hour of my workday.

"Bella, you're sitting on my spreadsheet."

"Oh," I giggled, climbing off the corner of his desk and removing my eyes from the clock above the door, "sorry. Distracted."

"What about?" he said, as we both took seats, him behind his desk, me in front of it.

"Edward, mostly. Colleen's bringing Alyssa over, and I want to see how he's going to react with her."

Ryan scoffed, shaking his head and grinning, "she's taking the devil-child over to meet your dude? Oh boy."

"Oh my gosh, Ryan! Alyssa is not the devil-child! She's a sweetheart! Are you kidding me?"

He looked up, cocking his eyebrows, "...Uh, yeah. I am. Jahebus, Bella. Can't see a joke when it's right in front of you?"

I threw my greasy napkin at him, "leave me alone."

"My goodness, who knew you being knocked-up would be so much fun to be around? I'm going to start teasing you more often."

"Shut up, Danvers."

"Maybe teach your man a few things about teasing you."

"RYAN," I growled in warning at him.

He raised his hands, "my bad, took it too far. Couldn't resist."

"Try harder."

He chuckled, marking X's through spreadsheets he already entered in the computer, to keep them separated, "He's quite the character, your man."

'What do you mean?"

"Very... uh... competitive."

I shrugged, "I really hadn't noticed."

"You're not a man."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He licked his lips, leaning forward toward the desk, "Bella. Listen. Hear me out. Guys like that are like... bulldogs."

"Bulldogs?"

"Yeah. As soon as they see any other type of dog in their territory, they get really defensive, and piss all over their shit, so the other dogs won't go near it anymore."

"So..." I furrowed my brows, taking another bite of my pizza, "...you're saying that Edward is... pissing all over me?"

"Yes."

"...Are you high?"

He laughed, slouching back in his rocking leather seat, "Bella, you should have seen his face when he saw me around you earlier. There's no doubt in my mind that when you two were alone, he marked that territory UP."

I blushed, looking toward the ground, "I'm not property."

"Tell him that."

"He knows."

"I wouldn't... be so sure."

I looked up at him through my lashes, watching him shift in his seat, "Yeah, well... technically, though I'm not property, I am willingly his... So... yeah, I mean, I guess, if he feels he must, he's welcome to... piss on me."

He laughed, covering his face, "I hope you mean that figuratively."

I giggled, biting my lip, "yeah, I do."

"Because that would be really sick. Even I'm not that twisted enough to actually piss on someone."

I laughed again, "me neither."

"So what is it about him?"

"Edward?"

"Yeah. What's it about him that's... not like any other male?"

"Well for one, he has a twenty inch penis and a hurricane tongue," I joked, enjoying watching him roll his eyes.

I smirked, shaking my head, "No, really... It's just always been him. Doesn't matter who else I'm with or what else I'm doing, or the past, or how long we're apart... He's it for me, you know?"

Ryan shook his head, trying to study my eyes, "I don't know, but I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

"You should," I smiled.

*&*#!#$^%$^

I swung open the door to Edward's condo, and Colleen and Alyssa were right on my heels.

"Edward?"

"I'm in the bathroom, babe," he shouted from down the hall. "Be out in a sec."

"Okay," I said, smiling to Colleen.

"He needs to shake it off real good," she whispered teasingly with a wink.

Cora Corona came charging and sliding all over the floors, soaking wet.

"Awe, did you have a bath?" I squealed, petting her white, damp head.

She took off again, shaking around everywhere.

Edward came jogging out holding a blow dryer and chuckling, and as soon as I saw him, I lost all my breath.

I really wondered for a second if there would come a time when I wouldn't react this way to him... and then hoped I always would.

There he stood, tall and built, wearing dark blue jeans, and a lighter navy blue shirt, the sleeves pushed up toward his elbows. His bronzed hair was perfected, the top curling up toward the end and spiky. He had an adorable pout on his bottom lip, and those green emerald eyes lit up as soon as he saw me.

He quickly tossed the dryer on the couch and strolled over, wrapping both arms beneath mine and around my body, pulling me to him, pelvis to pelvis, "Hey beautiful."

I smiled, putting my arms over his, and around his back, "Hey handsome."

"I missed you," he said, kissing my cheek slowly.

"I missed you too. You look rested."

He chuckled against my ear, sending me shivers, "yeah well, Aubrey sent me home early, despite my request to stay. I caught a few hours of sleep."

"Awe, that's good," I stroked through his hair, the part I could reach without having to stand on my tip-toes.

Edward hugged me tight and applied his lips to my forehead, pressing tenderly.

Damn, he smells so good and looks too amazing and he's so warm and...

I pulled away, trying to catch my breath before I jumped all over him, "Edward, there's someone that we want you to meet."

"Oh yeah?" he chimed, grinning as he released me.

"Yes," Colleen said. "But she's normally shy around guys so ...pre-warning you."

She reached behind her, and pulled Alyssa in front of her legs.

Alyssa instantly tried to twist around and make her mother pick her up, but Colleen denied her, gripping her hands, "Sweetheart, you're fine. Edward, this is my daughter, Alyssa Ivory. Alyssa, this is Aunt Bella's Fiancee', Edward Cullen. Can you say 'Hi' to Edward?"

Alyssa shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

Edward smiled, bending down to her height, "Hi Alyssa, I'm Edward. I like your pink dress."

Alyssa bit her lip, not removing the back of her hand from her eyes.

"Like I said, she's shy," Colleen giggled. "Well, Bella, if you want to get changed, we can go and give Edward his space."

"Remind me where you are going?" Edward asked.

"To the JLM Cotoure for my final fitting," I explained, stroking down his forearms because I couldn't help myself from touching him.

"Can I come?" he asked.

"NO, you know better. No seeing the dress before the wedding."

Edward frowned but nodded, "will you be gone long?"

"Just a couple of hours."

"Mmm," he smiled. "Well... if you want, I can watch over Alyssa. There's no sense of you two having her running around the story while you get your dress stuff done."

Colleen quickly shook her head, "You don't want to do that. She can be a handful."

"I insist," Edward gave his award winning smile that gets exactly what he wants to her, and she almost seemed... hypnotized.

I knew exactly how she felt.

"Besides," Edward rubbed my back, pulling me into his side, "I need the practice anyway."

I bit my lip, nodding silently to Colleen to let him. I wanted to see how this would plan out.

Colleen looked from me to Edward a few times, then sighed, "Okay, but it's your funeral."

Edward chuckled, "we'll be fine."

As I ran inside the bedroom to change my clothes, I stuck my head out, watching the three of them interact.

Colleen sat Alyssa's bag on the chair and began showing him things, "she has a few outfit changes in here, because it never fails, she'll get dirty. Snacks, potato chips, gallon of juicey-juice, uh... coloring books, a few toys... hair brush... lots of other necessities. She can speak pretty clearly, but sometimes she fumbles her letters still. Uh... she loves to draw and really loves music. She's a bit clumsy, I must warn you. And she's going through this crazy, crazy copy-you stage... anything you do, she tries to do too."

Edward smirked, "no problem."

"And here is...." she began scribbling numbers on a sticky note, "my number, just in case you can't get ahold of me through Bella's... and here's Makin's too, just in case. Oh, and my mom's... and-"

"You've never had anyone besides your family watch her, have you?"

Colleen bit her lip and looked up to Edward, before shaking her head, "no. Not really."

"She'll be fine. I promise. Just tell me what she likes to eat, and if she needs a nap, and I can handle the rest."

I was amazed at how confident he was. Much more confident than me.

After throwing on holy jeans and a simple tank top and jacket, I strolled back inside, wrapping my arms around Edward's waist.

Colleen smiled, "she'll eat mostly anything, but hates Bologna. And mustard. Oh, and she'll probably want to take a nap here in about an hour or so."

"Any allergies?"

"Tide detergent is all I am aware of so far. And poison ivy."

Edward laughed, "I don't use Tide, and there's no poison ivy here, so... we're all good."

"Oh, and when she takes a nap, sometimes she still wants to be rocked or held... I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind if you don't."

"Okay..." she exhaled.

We all looked down, to see Alyssa on her knees, petting a soaking-wet Spendor and a half-soaking-wet Cora.

"She loves animals," Colleen said. "So that's a plus."

"Go. We'll be fine," Edward pulled me into him and gave me a big kiss, which sent more impulsive shivers. "And you, take care... go easy, okay? No stressing. Promise?"

"I promise," I whispered, rubbing his shoulders, "you too."

"I'm going to be fine. I have a date," he chimed, as Colleen kissed her daughter.

I giggled, kissing him again, "Okay. Love you, have fun."

"Bye."

As Colleen and I left the building, Colleen stuck her hand out, holding a ten dollar bill, "Ten bucks says he makes it thirty minutes before he calls."

I slapped another ten in her hand and said, "Twenty says he pulls it off without a hitch."

"Deal."

EdwardPOV

Alyssa was a spitting image of her mother, except a little bit more pale-skinned. Same long hair, same wide eyes and pouty mouth.

I gave her some time to get acquainted with my house on her own terms. I quickly picked up anything off the tables worth value and hid them in a closet, then threw all kinds of pillows and stuff on the floor for her.

She stayed put in front of the blank television for a while, petting Cora while I blow-dried and brushed Spendor.

Then, once I turned to finish drying Cora, she bit her lip and sat closer to me, eyeing down the hair dryer.

"Would you like to help me Alyssa?" I asked, as she took another inch closer.

She thought about it for a moment, then reached out for the hair dryer.

"Okay, here, let me help you though," I pulled her in my lap slowly, and aimed the dryer toward Cora, "be gentle and not too close. We don't want to burn her."

The first time she waved the dryer, she conked Cora in the head, causing me to laugh and Cora to yelp a little.

"Sowry puppy," she whispered, patting where she hit, then continuing to dry her.

As she did that, I began to brush through Cora's hair, laughing each time she knocked her in the noggin. Each time got another apology. Hey, at least she was considerate.

Once the dogs were groomed to Alyssa's approval, we climbed to our feet. While I headed toward the bathroom to put Bella's hair dryer away, I noticed I gained a shadow. Any turn I made, Alyssa made it too.

I smirked and turned toward her, "what are you up to?"

"What chu up to?"

"I asked you first."

"I aststed you... not first."

I laughed and held out my hand to her, "come on, shorty. Let's head back in the living room."

She stared at my hand for a moment, then slowly reached up to take it. It amazed me, how tiny she was. Besides the newborns in the hospital, I really hadn't spent much time around little people. I led her out of the bedroom, and closed the door behind me.

Spendor noticed that I was paying attention to someone other than him, and he didn't like it. He started jumping at my legs, barking playfully.

"No dogsie!" Alyssa shouted, pushing him away, "don't jump! Bad!"

"Tell him," I joked, leading her to the kitchen. "Are you thirsty?"

She nodded.

I lifted her up on the counter and made sure she was okay to sit by herself, then jogged into the living room to grab her bag, "Let's see... would you like some juicy-juice that your mama brought?"

She shrugged, "not reawly."

"Hmm," I pursed my lips, looking in my fridge, "we have orange juice. I'm sure Aunt Bella wouldn't mind if we had a glass. Would you like that instead?"

She nodded, "cwazy straw."

"What's that?"

She pointed to her bag.

I ruffled through it, and found a neon plastic straw-thing that curled around everywhere, "is this what you want?"

"Does in the cup."

I found her plastic cup in her bag, and filled it up, before securing the lid and inserting the straw, "here you go."

"You first."

I snickered, playing with her little pre-school digital camera that I found in my bag, "you want me to take a sip of mine first?"

She nodded.

"Okay," I took a sip, and she slowly followed, watching me as she drank, "is it good?"

She grinned.

We drank our juice in silence, watching each other. Anytime I lifted the cup to my lips, she did the same to hers.

Anytime I sat it on my lap, she did the same.

She really was in that copycat stage.

When we were finished, I carried her into the living room, and attempted to play with her toys with her.

She didn't want to play.

"Hmm," I said, clicking my tongue as I thought, "...do you like cartoons?"

She shrugged.

"I do," I tried.

"Den I do too."

Perfect, I grinned, nestling her beside me on the couch. "What kind do you like to watch?"

"What tind do you like to watch?"

"I like anything."

"Den so do I."

I chuckled, turning the television onto Finding Nemo.

After about twenty minutes into it, I could tell she was wanting to do something while she watched it.

I cleared off the coffee table and sprawled out her coloring books and crayons. Snapping pictures of us as we worked. Again, she'd only color if I did. So, there I was, sitting on the floor between the table and my couch, coloring in little houses and birds and suns.

Every two minutes or so, she'd make us compare pictures. She always said hers was better than mine, and I'd have to agree.

I wasn't the best at coloring. She pointed that out when she said, "Houses aren't porpple, duh."

"Well my dream house is purple," I argued back, trying to justify myself.

She didn't buy it, giggling and shaking her head, "you're not wight."

"You're not right," I teased, pointing to her picture. "You colored that bird yellow."

"Some birdses are that color."

"Ohhhh, I see."

We colored a few pictures, and then she decided she wanted to try and color me. When the crayons didn't work, she took out a marker and began to draw a lopsided heart on the back of my right hand. I let her, thinking hell, why not? What's it going to harm?

...That was, until I got a call from the Hospital.

Aimee and Bree informed me that I didn't fill out my time card correctly or sign it, and my hours wouldn't get put in until I did.

I tried to get that heart, and the little flowers she drew on my arm off, but it wouldn't work.

"Hey, uh, Miss Alyssa, would you like to go somewhere with me?"

She shrugged and as I got a good glance at her, I noticed her dress was now covered in marker.

"Shit."

"Shit," she replied.

I gasped, running over to her, "no, no, don't say that. Uh... that's bad, I shouldn't have said that. Uh... Bad me."

She pointed at me, narrowing her eyes, "bad you."

"Yeah that's right, I'm a bad boy... um, hey, would you like to run somewhere with me and then we can get a snack after?"

She smiled and gave me a nod.

"Okay, let's get you into some clean clothes..." I rummaged through her bag, and pulled out a pair of blue jeans that had iron on flowers down the left leg, and a pink hoodie. "Do you need help changing?"

She shook her head, "I can do it."

"Okay..." I tried to give her some space and privacy, but she took forever getting the hoodie over her head. "May I help you?"

"I can do it."

I paced around, checking my watch. Time sheets go in in twenty minutes, so I had to hurry.

She had her shirt backward and was trying to shove her head in into the left arm hole.

"Sweetheart, are you sure?"

She stomped her foot and yanked the shirt off of her head, "fine. Help."

I rushed over to her and assisted with her dressing. Then I scooped her up and we were off. Alyssa loved my convertible. I didn't have any type of car seat deal for her, so I made sure she was tightly buckled in before we left. She giggled as the stoplights soared over her head, and at the birds, and anything else she wasn't used to seeing while in a car.

"Can I wear does?"

"What?"

She pointed to my Rayban shades.

I grinned as we pulled up to the intersection and placed them gently over her eyes. They slid down her nose, and she grasped them, putting fingerprints all over the lens, and held them to her face. I snickered at her, shaking my head.

She wanted to be carried into the hospital, so I threw her on my hip and we rushed up the stairs, toward the Maternity floor.

Bree, Aimee and Scotty all greeted me at the front desk there.

"Wow," Aimee said as she sized Alyssa up. "a father all ready. That was fast."

"Funny," I snatched the papers from her hand, and began to skim over my times.

"Edward you look adorable with a child on your hip," Bree grinned. "Very suitable."

"Thanks Bree."

Alyssa turned bashful as soon as Scotty slid toward me, and buried her face in my neck, pouting.

"She doesn't like guys that much," I said. "According to her mother."

"She's being held by a guy."

"I know. It's weird."

Alyssa grippe me tighter, rubbing her eyes on my shoulder. She knocked the sunglasses off of her face, and they crashed to the floor, as she started whimpering. She was getting tired, and fast.

"Almost done," I whispered, trying to sit her on top of the desk.

She about started screaming, latching onto me for dear life.

"Okay, I'm sorry" I readjusted her, since she refused to go on my left hip. Aimee slid the paper beneath my right arm, so I could sign my name without letting go of her. I gave her a grateful smile, which she returned, flipping the page so I could sign that one too.

"Edward, you'll make a good father," she complimented me. "I see it in your eyes."

"Thanks," I smirked, shaking my head, "I've had her for a couple of hours all ready, and it's definitely tiring after a while."

"How old is she?"

"She's three and a half."

Alyssa readjusted her head, fluttering her lashes on me. I could feel her arms loosen their grip a bit, and could tell she was falling asleep. More nurses started surrounding us, cooing in whispers and gently rubbing her back. My other two buddies stood in the corner, shaking their head at me. I fought the urge to flip them off.

"All right," I whispered, looking to the two girls, "all set?"

"All set," Bree smiled. "Are you coming in tomorrow?"

"Uh... not sure yet. I have a few things I want to get done, so we'll see."

Aimee stroked through Alyssa's hair, pulling some of it out of the hoodie for me, "there you go."

"Thanks. See you guys."

"Bye, have a good night."

It was much easier leaving there. I put the top up on my car beforehand, so she wouldn't wake up.

I got more smiles from women as I re-entered The Escala. It made me think that the whole man with a child gives him brownie points motto was true.

Once we were back, I laid her on the couch with the yellow cover she had in her bag, and began making dinner.

Alyssa tossed and turned a few times, and woke up as soon as dinner was wrapping up.

She began to cry, so I rushed over there, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She kept reaching out for me, and as soon as I scooped her up in my arms, she calmed down to a tearful sniffle, and began to get tired again.

I put in my favorite Yiruma CD, and allowed the soft piano sounds coat her. I wished that I had a piano here of my own, and made a point to get one for my new house with Bella.

Again, she fell asleep in my arms, her shallow breathing tender and heartbeat gentle against my chest. Anytime I tried to put her down, she woke up and began crying.

After texting Makin to make sure it was okay if I laid down beside her, since I didn't want to bother Colleen, I readjusted us on the couch and shut my eyes, allowing the music to drift me into a nice somber as well.

RosaliePOV

It's been four damn weeks.

Four damn, blissful weeks, since I told my best friend that I was in love with him.

Four damn weeks since we kissed, and he told me he felt the same way.

Four damn weeks since we started moving my stuff in here, permanently.

But you know what hasn't happened in four weeks?

Sex.

Yep, that's right.

There has been no sex in this house. Whatsoever.

Make-outs? Absolutely. Every time we see each other.

But no erotic, passionate, blissful, rowdy, crazy sex.

No sex, period.

And worse, there has been no masturbatory incidents on my end, because fuck me, my life sucks, and vibrators and showerheads and all that shit just doesn't matter now.

They're not good enough.

I want the real thing.

I want to be filled in the best way possible.

And I've tried to be patient.

I've tried to make sure that we don't base our relationship on sex, because we're both nymphs as it is, and we want to make this count.

And it never ever, fucking ever appeared weird that I was in love with my best friend, now that we were acting out on those feelings.

In fact, it felt incredible.

But still, no sex.

And I was at the end of my bitter rope.

I've tried to casually sway him into taking this step with me... remind him that we've had sex before... but that didn't work.

I've tried wearing cutsey little outfits and fixing him dinner and help him around the house... tried stroking his ego, among other things.

No dice.

Therefor, I resorted to drastic measures... first, some butt busting and yoga workouts, which I started ten days ago.

Next, a full Brazilian wax, a manicure and pedicure, and new highlights in my hair.

Finally, setting the mood around the house.

I hate cleaning, I'm not going to lie.

But I freakin' vacuumed and swept and mopped, scrubbed, dusted, and polished, and everything in between, until this house was sparkling.

Then I lit a thousand and one candles.

I knew Jake would get home in about ten minutes, so I finished the final touches on my make up and flipped my hair over, misting it with hair spray, making it build up in body and volume.

Then I took my final position, and closed my eyes, inhaling the beautiful scents of the candles.

A shudder sent through my spine as I heard his car pull down the long drive.

Then more shudders came as I listend to him back it up into the garage.

I bit my lip, praying to God in Heaven that my plan would work.

Okay Rosalie... show time.

JacobPOV

I slapped my visor shut and turned down my radio, before turning my car off.

I was exhausted. Today had been one of the longest, shittiest day of my entire career. My highest pitch of the hour went south. Only a month after I got my bonus. I know it's probably nothing, but to me, it's everything. I didn't want to be frowned upon, even if it were for just one day.

I loosened my tie and rubbed my face, before climbing out of my car. Normally, I'd be hearing the echoing sounds of The Dr. Phil Show in the garage, but today... silence. That's odd, I thought, as I took the steps and swung open the door to my kitchen. Rosalie fucking loves that bald ass freak.

Then I froze, finding Rosalie sitting on my counter, with her back facing me. Bare back, at that... was she?... No... she couldn't be...

It was too fucking dark in here, and I started to flick on the light and find out if my suspicions were correct, but then I noticed all of the glowing candles around my house, and Closer playing on the radio gently... the same song we danced to in the club many moons ago. Shit.

I dropped my shit by the door and slowly walked around the counter, hesitating, trying to quickly distinguish whether or not I could handle this situation. Fuck. I knew I couldn't. When I finally got to the end of the counter, I leaned against the sink for support.

There she sat, her knees drawn to her chest, her ankles crossed to hide anything I wanted to see, fucking stillettos... and I could tell from the volumized blonde sex-hair and Marilyn Monroe type of smoky liner and plum lips... she definitely, without a doubt, had an agenda. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees, grinning over at me with those sex-filled eyes, "welcome home."

I'm sure I looked stunned, but that's because I was fucking stunned.

"....I missed you," she continued, voice seductive.

Then she spread her fucking legs wide open in front of me.

Of course, my eyes bounced from her pierced nipples and down, but then stopped, when I noticed a silk black tie dangling loosely from her neck, trailing between those perfect breasts, covering her belly button, and ending at the arch of her heat.

It was the same fucking tie I spent twenty minutes trying to find this morning.

"That's my tie," I said huskily, trailing my eyes back up to hers.

She grinned wickedly, tugging on it a bit, "yes it is."

"Where did you find it?" I asked, trying to keep my fucking cool.

"Hamper," she simply replied.

Her body... it fucking glowed, and it wasn't just because of the candlelight flickering off of her... She had delicious curves, sexy-ass hips, perfectly flat stomach, and the list just went on and on. I was fucked.

I licked my lips, making sure to show a hint of my tongue ring, as I trailed my eyes back down and she lifted the tie up a bit, all the way to her core... oh fuck me. She was waxed.

"Like what you see?" she asked, as I trailed my eyes back up her body.

I nodded.

She tossed the tie over her right shoulder, and leaned back on her elbows, spreading those sexy legs more, "come here."

I'm not sure if I was breathing, but I was definitely past drooling at this point. No woman had this type of effect on me... I was always in control.

I took a step closer, trying to remember how to exhale. Then another baby step.

"Tsk, tsk," she said, shaking her head. She lifted her legs in the air, found my body, and jerked me hard to her, causing my belt to slam into the counter beneath her ass, "I said, come here."

Her fingers slid down my arms and ribs, beneath the legs that were still locked behind me, and curled into the loops on my jeans. She tilted her head, rolling that tongue seductively on the inside edge of her bottom lip, "did you miss me too?"

I silently cleared my throat, "Yes."

She grinned, pushing me back softly then jerking me back to her, "did you miss me... a lot?"

I smirked, placed my hands on either side of the counter, and leaned forward, zoning my lusted eyes on hers. I parted my lips, secretly enjoying watching her eyes bounce to them, then back up to my eyes, "more than you know."

"Well, Jake, here's the thing," she whispered nonchalantly, "I need to tell you something, and I hope you don't get upset with me for it."

"Okay... what is it?"

She slid her hands up my arms and tangled them into the top of my hair, pulling me closer so she could press her bare breasts against my shirt and whisper in my ear, "I can't get off without you now, and... I'm hoping to get you off, too... I really want to, actually..." She pulled back, locking her eyes with mine, "what do you say?"

I inhaled through my nose, keeping my composure, lingering on her question.

She tilted her head, smiling sensually up at me, "hmm?"

"I'd say," I whispered, leaning forward to press my lips against hers but not kiss yet, "it sounds like you want me to fuck you."

"Ohhhh, I do, very much so." Rosalie tightened her legs around me, fisted my hair around her fingers, and slid her tongue in my mouth slowly.

I hummed and absorbed her sweet taste, gently swirling my tongue around hers. I didn't dare grab her yet. Knew it'd be too much.

Plus, in a way, I kind of wanted to make her sweat it out a little. Because that's the way we were; as friends, and as lovers. We liked to play games and tease each other. In fact...

I pulled away, and took a few steps back, leaning against the sink.

Rosalie's lips were parted, her eyes wide in shock. "Where are you going?" she asked, still stunned.

On the inside, I was grinning like an idiot, but on the outside, it was nothing but cockiness and almost asshole-ish behavior. She loved it anyway. "Over here."

"Why?"

I shrugged, playing it off, "thought you might need a minute to cool off."

"I don't need a minute," she shook her head, trying not to sound aggressive, "I just need... you."

I looked away, fighting back a smirk, "I think it may be too soon still."

"Jacob," she hissed. "It's not. I love you."

I bit the inside of my lip, not meeting her eyes, "I don't want our relationship being based on sex." But I still want to fuck you really fucking badly.

"It won't. Get over here."

Staying arrogant, I shrugged my shoulders and cocked my head, before narrowing my eyes back at her, "how are you so sure that it won't be?"

She took a deep breath, dangling her heel off the counter, remaining her calm, "because... I only want you, Jake. No one else. Ever again."

That's my girl, I thought. That's what I wanted to hear.

I folded my arms over my chest, playing it up just a tiny bit more, "and you're positive you're not going to change your mind?"

She nodded, starting to look rejected and guilty for being sprawled out, butt-ass naked on my kitchen counter.

Wrap it up, Jake. Don't let her freak out. I licked my lips and walked over to her, running my hands from her knees, up along her thighs, to her hips. Then I jerked her hard against me, enjoying the sound of her ass scraping the counter top.

She gasped, her hands finding my biceps, "Ahh, Jake."

I lifted my eyebrow, leaning in to her lips, "so you want it rough, hmm?"

She nodded, scraping her fingernails over my shirt, "a little."

I shook my head, staring into those beautiful, expectant, pin-up eyes, "I can be a little rough..."

She slid the rest of the way off the counter, wrapping herself around me before I even grabbed a hold of her, "let's get to it then."

I chuckled and set her to her feet, where she pouted a little bit. She furrowed her eyebrows, looking a little confused.

The one advantage I had about being her best friend before her lover was, I knew about her sexual history. I knew that she'd done a few things... but no man every, fucking ever had the balls to surprise her, or handle her in a way that she wanted to be, because Rosalie was the intimidator in her past relationships.

She wore the daddy pants, so to speak.

And I wasn't like that. The pants stayed on me, always.

I held her hand, walking around and blowing out a few candles that were on top of my dining room table, along with all of the silver place settings, wine glasses, white table cloth, etc.

She started to question me, looking around as if she was afraid I didn't like the candles and romance.

But if she wanted me to actually fuck her then... I may as well give her a show too, right?

Keeping her to my right side, I swung my arm out, knocking over every god damn thing on that entire table off. It all went flying, crashing to the ground, the glass doors, and the wall, anything that was breakable was crushed, anything that couldn't break was bent or ricocheing back toward us.

I twisted around and grabbed her by the hips, kicking over the closest chair to me sideways, and sat her on top of the table.

She gasped, her eyes beyond wide and shocked. When she reached up to me, her hands were physically shaking.

I smirked, pushing her back to lay down, and crawled over her, on top of the table. I had built the table with my own hands, so I knew it would hold us, no problem.

She began to claw at me, but I held her down a little, before attacking her neck. "Ahhh, Jake," she moaned, arching her back beneath me, as far as it would go.

I slid my hands up along her body, making sure to take my feel as I went. Because hell, if she was offering herself to me, I was most definitely going to enjoy it.

She fumbled between us, finding my belt buckle with her trembling fingers. Even though she was working to undo it, I pushed into her center, enjoying the feel of the heat pushing back onto my jeans. She moaned, throwing her head back so hard it made an awful sound making contact with the table.

I slid my hands beneath her arms, and curled them around the back of her shoulders, yanking her down and against me, "stay."

"Ungh," she moaned and bunched up the back of my shirt, as I pushed into her center again, "let me take this off for you."

"Shhhh," I whispered in her ear, "I said to stay."

I made my way down her body, trailing my tongue ring down the dip in her neck, over her collar bone, between her breasts, continuing so I could swirl around her belly button and linger inside of it.

Again, she started to pull and grasp at my collared shirt, but I only had a few left that were worth a damn these days, so I didn't want her to shred it.

"Jake, please, a-aren't you hot? Let me take this off."

I buried my face into her stomach, feeling my head bounce rapidly since she was breathing so heavily. Man I was turning her on. I fucking absorbed that shit like a sponge.

I kept moving, until I hit the end of the table. Then I fell onto the chair there, and yanked her body until she was spread out like a dinner buffet in front of me. Perfect.

She started to sit up and see what the hell I was doing and why the fuck I got off the table, but as soon as she looked down, I spread her folds gently with my tongue, opening her up. I locked my eyes with her, dragging the flat end of it slowly, all the way up, then turning my tongue on the underside, and trailing back down.

She was all ready wet and slick, and her arousal filled every one of my senses, hypnotizing me. I allowed my tongue ring to dance around her entrance, teasing her for a while, before trailing back up. Then I started to use the tip of my tongue, teasing her, while my lips kissed around her.

Her thighs were trembling, those heels clanking against the sides of my wooden chair while I worked. She fisted her hands in her air, moaning loudly, as I sped and slowed my pace to my leisure.

I remembered how, when we played twenty questions back in the Cabin and she was interested in Emmett, I asked her who gave her the best head. She said me. So of course, I was going to fucking prove to her why she said me and no one else. I thought briefly about turning on the vibrating end of my ring, but realized I didn't need it and should save it for another time.

"Oh fuck," she gasped, arching her back and pushing down toward my mouth, "you're so good at this! Uhhh..."

I smirked against her skin, continuing. Up, down, around, in, out. I made sure to fucking lick and suckle, tease and taunt, dip, enter, lather, I did it all, willingly. Hell, I would have gone lower, if I knew she liked it, because I was sure that every single part of her was edible... I'd have to ask her about that one later.

When I had her going out of her mind and at the very, final edge of her climax, I stopped, forcing myself to pull from the pulsing of her muscles on my tongue.

She shot up, gasping and covering her chest, silently asking me why I stopped. For a moment, I thought she was going to pull my hair and shove me back there. Instead, she took over while I caught my breath, sliding into my lap. I started to grip her hips, but she smacked my hands away, continuing until she was beneath the edge of the table, on her knees in front of the chair that I was sitting in.

I don't know how she did it, but it took about two seconds flat for her to undo my belt, pull that off, undo my pants, dig into my boxers, and pull me out. I was in her mouth quicker than I could blink.

I hissed, arching on the back two legs of the chair as she started to suck me in hard, the end of me hitting the back of her mouth, "fuck."

She hummed, digging her fingernails into the sides of my jeans, and pushed on, sliding me into the heated tightness of her throat.

I couldn't even curse physical words. Instead, I was left with my mouth gaping open, watching her work. The one thing that I never really enjoyed that much was head, because not too many girls were good at it... but she, she was an exception. Better than Bryan. Better than anyone. Damn, I picked a good one.

I blew out a gust of air as she pulled me out, then held it when she took me back in, this time, wrapping her fingers around the base. She simultaneously started to stroke and suck at the same time, licking the underneath. Anytime that I wasn't watching her and the saliva on my dick, I was rolling my eyes in the back of my head. It felt that damn good.

My hands found her hair, and I gently pushed her head down, and she began to hum as she took me in the way I wanted her to. Another breath of air escaped my throat as I leaned back in the chair, enjoying the moment. I didn't even push on her anymore, instead just resting my hands on the top of her hair.

"Unh, Rose," I clamped my eyes shut, trying not to feel how I hit inside of her throat, "I'm close."

She slid her lips up, releasing me with a pop, "I don't fucking think so."

I dropped the chair back onto all fours, narrowing my eyes down at her.

"You're doing it inside of me."

I grabbed a hold of her and pushed the chair back, twisting us around, to where I was above her on top of the floor, "oh, is that what you want?"

"Yes."

I wanted to ask if she was back on the Pill, but I remember her taking it the past few mornings, so I threw caution to the wind, sliding down my pants the rest of the way. This was the first time in my entire life I decided to go without anything. This was the first time I put trust in someone else besides myself.

And of course, she fucking ripped the buttons off of my shirt, because she's horny. I took my aggressions about it on her, sucking on her neck with vigor, pushing her down onto the rug beneath my dining room table. I held her by the shoulders, keeping the rough part of the bargain.

She threw her legs around me and reached her hands between us. Taking matters in her own hands, she started to tease her own entrance with my tip, lapping me with her lubrication.

Before I could even pull in a breath to save my life, she squeezed her legs around me and lifted herself up with them, sliding me inside. I crashed down on top of her by accident, slamming all the way inside, toward her back walls.

"Shit, fuck, I'm sorry," I apologized through a hiss, trying to not think about my dick and how good it felt to be submerged into her.

"Fuck it," Rose yanked me by the back of my hair, licking then biting above my adam's apple.

Gripping her hips, I lifted both myself and her up a bit, then slammed us back down into the ground, pushing back as far as I could go.

She moaned and gasped at the same time, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and clutching to me, "do it, take me."

She didn't have to tell me twice. I didn't play that way. Once I was in, I was in.

I began to pound relentlessly into her, saving up all my built-up sexual tension and throwing it at her. I didn't stay quiet, instead grunting and panting into her ear when necessary. She fucking loved it anyways, egging me on by licking at my ear and neck, biting into my shoulder, raking her nails down my back. Hell, I wished I had neighbors around so everyone could hear the noises I was making come from her. That'd be fun.

It felt like no matter how deep I was in or how tight and willing she was, it wasn't enough. I wanted more of her. More of this. More, more, more.

I withdrew and tossed her around, pushing us both to our knees. Then I spread her legs with my hands and entered her from behind, while she held onto the seat of the chair. She yanked my hair, pulling her back to my chest. So I did it back to her, grabbing a fistful of hers. She moaned, I groaned. She bit my hand, I bit her shoulder.

She wanted to play rough, no problem on my end. I enjoyed hearing the sounds of our skin making contact. I enjoyed smacking her ass and making her shout my name. And it wasn't because I wanted to treat her like she was a piece of meat, because we both knew she wasn't.

But I never got to really let loose with anyone in this way, and I should have known it would have been Rosalie that let me take on those primal, animalistic feelings. I should have known it'd be her, in all of her beautiful, sexy, dominance, that brought out the equal in me.

She pushed the chair away from her and bent over onto her elbows, arching that pretty ass up to me. I watched as I entered and withdrew from her, watched how she was pink and slick, watched how she shivered and trembled, struggling to hold on for as long as possible.

"Jake," she panted, her hands reaching behind her to my thighs, "turn me around."

I licked my lips and parted, turning her around. We slowed our tempos, trying to catch our breath, as she straddled my lap.

We both watched as she slipped me back inside, and she smiled at me, looking me directly in my eyes. Within a second, our entire moods changed completely. I kissed her gently, letting my lips linger over hers, as I raised and lowered her on top of me. It was intimate, both of us sitting, facing each other. She began to rock and push against me, swaying her hips forward, taking all of me in deep, then pulling me almost all of the way out. Fucking slow and torturously perfect. I ran my hands down her back, and she buried her face into the crook of my neck, while her fingers stroked the back of my head.

"I love you," she whispered as she moved.

I shut my eyes, burying them into her shoulder, as I slowed us a little bit more. I never felt this good. Never had it this good. Never went from fun and aggressive, to sensual and intimate, all in the same time... Hell, when I really thought about it, I'd never really been sensual and intimate before. Ever. Not even when she and I were together in the cabin. Because now, our feelings were out in the open. Now, we could show and say how we felt, willingly. Speaking of... "I love you too, babe."

She hummed, pulling back and pressing her forehead to mine. She cradled my face in her hands, helping me lift and pull her. Rose started to shake, and bit her lip, fighting back, "Ahhh, I don't want this to stop. Please don't stop."

I shut my eyes, kissing her. Our tongues met in the middle, and I pulled hers into my mouth. She fisted into my hair, but didn't tug it, instead pushing me into her face. She gently bit down on my bottom lip and tugged it out a bit, teasing me. She knew I loved shit like that. I smirked, peppering more kisses on her lips.

All of a sudden, her eyes clamped shut, and she started to quicken her pace, rocking more fiercefully in my lap. I could all ready feel her walls tighten, and knew that no matter what I did at that point, she was about to go over the edge. I tilted her ass back and front forward with my hands a bit, so she could hit her G-spot with the top-side of my dick as I thrusted on. She bit her lip, panting hot air over my face. I moved her a little bit more, and that was all it took.

She inhaled deep through her nose, squeezing her arms around my neck and burying her face into my neck. She couldn't even speak, it hit her so hard. She shook and trembled, her body pulling me in and clamping tight around me.

I continued to move her as she moaned into my neck, her thighs clasping tight against me. That must have set off a second orgasm, because her lips found my ear, and she let out the sexiest, "Ffffuck," I had ever heard, and her body was so tight around my dick at that moment, I couldn't handle it anymore.

Holding her all the way against me and pushing myself as deep as possible, I released hard. I buried my nose into her clammy collar bone, inhaling her scent selfishly.

More sexy curse words and "uhhhh's" came from her as I filled her up to the brim.

And as soon as I was milked dry, it felt like the entire world fell on top of me. I was exhausted and that rarely happens with me after sex.

But again, this was different.

I lay back on the cold floor of the dining room, closing my eyes and breathing through my nose.

She pushed forward, our bodies still connected and causing me to hiss, and laid on top of my chest. Any little movement she made while I was still inside of her, especially now that she was this tight... damn.

When I was finally able to move and think at the same time, I sat us both us, and lifted her off of my lap. My legs felt like fucking jello, and I didn't want to walk around like Gumbi, so I took my time standing up. I think we were both stunned about how good and numb we felt.

We didn't bother to clean up all of the shit I knocked off of the table. We just blew out the candles, stepped around the clutter, and headed straight to bed.

And I'm telling you, wrapping her in my arms that night... it was the best feeling in the entire world.

It made me feel like a God.

BellaPOV

It took way longer than what I expected for my final fitting. Plus we had to pick up all of the other bridesmaids, maid of honor, flower girl dresses, and all of hte accessories.

We had to have spent more than five hours in that damn store.

I couldn't get a hold of Edward on his cell, which made me nervous, but I didn't want to act nervous, since Alyssa was with him and it'd panic Colleen.

It was damn near eleven by the time we got back to The Escala. Tommy, our bellhop, helped us carry everything to the door. He was so sweet. I nicknamed him 'pops', because he was so loving toward me and Edward. I grew quite attached to him.

Unlocking the door, the three of us fumbled into the dark living room.

I turned on the light, and both Colleen and I gasped, clutching over our hearts.

There he was, my everything, laying on the couch. Alyssa was on her stomach above him, her head over his chest. They were both asleep.

She had a tiny yellow blanket wrapped around her, and her tiny hand pressed beside her head on him. He had his left hand on her little back, and his right hand beneath his head. His face was turned inward, toward the couch cushions.

Cora and Spendor were also asleep peacefully, both on the floor in front of the couch.

Classical music played gently from the speakers, and the television was on mute, the captions playing over the screen.

It was the most adorable, sensitive, sweetest thing I had ever seen.

I wasn't sure if it was all the overwhelming emotions of seeing how nurturing he was with a little girl, or trying on my wedding dress, or being pregnant with the love of my life's child, or anything else... but I couldn't help myself as a silent tear ran down my cheek.

It briefly reminded me of being younger and sleeping on Charlie's chest, when he'd come home from working. All he did was take off his gun belt, and he'd let me sleep on his chest like that, in his police uniform. I said it made me feel more safe in it.

Then I thought briefly about Phil letting me rest my head on his knee when I had a headache, and sleep.

Either way, sometimes a girl just wanted to feel protected.

And seeing Alyssa with Edward... my gosh, it was so beautiful.

"Awe, Bells, come here," Colleen whispered, giving me a side hug. "It's okay. This is a good thing."

I nodded, swiping my face quickly, and whispering back, "I know it is. I just... it's all real. I keep thinking sometimes that this is all a figment of my imagination, and one day I'm going to wake up either alone with someone else, and realize that Edward never came back into my life."

"But he did," she whispered softly, "and he's back, and he's right there, and he loves you... Bella you guys are getting married and are going to have a baby of your own... it can't get any better than that."

"I know," I smiled, inhaling slowly, "I know it can't. I'm just so happy.. I truly am. This is all really real, and it's crazy, but I'm just... I'm happy!"

"Good, because you deserve it. You both do."

"Thanks, Colls."

"I almost don't want to wake them," she giggled, "she didn't even warm up that quick to Makin. In fact, she never really lets guys hold her for longer than a few moments..."

"I almost don't want you to wake them either," I admitted, tilting my head.

She walked over to the chair, and dug into Alyssa's bag.

"What are you doing?"

I watched as she pulled out a little camera, and turned it on, "documenting."

I watched as she tip-toed over there and snapped the picture, without using the flash. Then she snapped a few more. After that, she ran over and hit the button so we can review it. And we both turned into gushing coo-ers, because they were adorable.

"I want a copy," I whispered, "asap."

"You got it." She started to turn it off, but then decided to scroll through.

And then we gasped again. They had documented their entire day! With the dogs, playing with plastic unicorns and horses, coloring, her drawing on his hands, them eating a little bit, her asleep on the couch... I shut my eyes, smiling to myself. Never, ever, ever had I been more excited about where our future was leading.

Colleen and I decided to wait a little while longer, cleaning up around the house and putting the dinner that Edward cooked into the fridge.

I just wanted to watch them sleep for a while longer...

I could watch him hold that little girl forever.

And I couldn't wait until it was ours that he was protecting so dearly.

----AUTHOR'S NOTES----

So there we go, Chapter 26!

-- Real quick, when you look back at the previous chapter where Bella/Edward talked about their past relationships, they were talking about who they had ACTUAL sex with. Which is why Bella did NOT mention Ryan, and Edward DID mention Aimee. ;)

-- NOOOOO Edward would not have and will not again take those drugs or any others. Sometimes he and Alice have to use EXTREME measures to get the other to wake up. It's just how they are. Please start trusting our Edward!! ;)

-- A few people have asked why B/E struggle so much w/money if he's rich. Well, please remember that Edward doesn't get that Children's Hospital until he's 25, as requested by his grandfather. And they also both have a LOT in each of their names, and it can be a challenge w/banks to take out another loan when you have so much out, no matter how good your credit is.

-- Sorry there wasn't that much J/A in this chapter. I'll make it up to you!! ;) And no, Alice's problems will not be just forgotten. It's all in the works. Oh, and if you're a little upset by the way Jasper/Makin's apartment looks in the pics, realize that not everyone is going to have money. It's not that important to them. :D

-- I wanted to go ahead and answer a few commonly asked questions that I get from readers. BC I'm not sure when I'd have time for an Open House on Twilighted just yet.
Hope it helps.1. How long does it take for an update to come?
I normally try to update once a week, AT LEAST, but sometimes twice per week. It depends on how chaotic things get in my personal life or my beta's, but I try to keep it within a steady time each upload.

2. How did the idea for The Ex Factor come across?
I was sicker than a dog on Christmas Eve. My husband and I were staying over at my Parent's, to open presents in the morning, since I hadn't spent Christmas with my family in four years. (I've been living in Florida). Because I was sick, I decided to stay up and watch television, and I came across a show on MTV, "Ex Factor". It was the only thing worth watching at three in the morning. I liked the idea of the MTV show, where they were in other relationships, but forced into this house together to battle out their reasonings, and see if there were any sparks left... the rest of the show wasn't as appealing, but I got a main idea. So, as I got confusingly into this stupid show, I started to think in my head about Edward and Bella... if they had ever been exes in a story that I had personally read, and the answer was no... and then I thought, "well what if something really bad happened to make them break up? Something that a lot of people wouldn't get?" Because most of the stories I read, there was angst, but it was directly between the two of them, in this particular type of situation... so I kept plotting and plotting, I stayed up all night long, and in the morning, I was dying to rush home and type it up. But I couldn't, because I had to spend time with my family, HAHA. But that's where it came from.

3. Why did you decide to not do a back story at the beginning, to get us more informed?
I find the most intriguing movies are the ones that just toss you in the middle of the mixture and make you find a way to dig yourself out. That way, you learn with the characters.

4. How do you keep all the characters straight, with their clashing personalities?
HAHA, I cannot escape these characters if I tried. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, who I'm with, what I'm listening to on the radio, watching on television, or what I'm seeing in print... I know it sounds crazy, but I literally hear these voices in my head. It happens with any story I write, but never this badly. I'll be watching a movie, and have a thought in my head that isn't something I'd say out loud, but then I'd think, "Oh, that's such an Emmett thing to say"... then I go and write it down in my notebook, HAHA, so I won't forget. I keep two notebooks around. A big one by my computer, where I scribble notes and actors names I want to incorporate in my stories, or whatever... then I have a tiny notebook I keep in my purse, where I write song lyrics, or little quotes I want to add, and whatnot.
But I find that the characters are VERY easy to distinguish. Each one has a different characteristic that STANDS OUT.

EDWARD is the cocky and stubborn, but most loving. He wants the best out of people, and the best comes out of himself when he's around these people. EMMETT is the funny, carefree, tell it like it is, whether you like it or not, teddy bear. But he's still very much a child and doesn't get a lot unless it's spelled out in front of him, or happening to his friends and not him. ROSALIE is the girl I tried to hate in high school. She appears beautiful and tall on the outside, but has a lot of insecurities on the inside. But she never gives up, and she keeps trying. JASPER is the one who keeps it calm, keeps it together, has no need to start a fight if he can help it, but also has this sexy, dark, sexual side that is sort of dominant. ALICE is the chipper, bouncy girl, who has many, many, MANY depths to her make-up. She's loving, she'll fight for you, she'll stand up for you and support you, but she doesn't know how to do these things for herself. She's very one-sided and internally challenged. JACOB is my underdog. He's the youngest, so he still has a bit of immaturity when it comes to competition (like w/Edward in the beginning), but is also very smart and FULL of passion, and though he was the last to really start showing improvement, I knew that when it came out, he was just going to come out like a flood, and I loved that. And BELLA, she's everything in a woman that we all love and hate. She's loving and strong and powerful, but she's also insecure, she worries, she has a difficult past, and every day is both a fun and complex challenge, but she overcomes that, because she IS a woman, and as a WOMAN, we find our strength in our moments of weakness -- as she is trying to do.

5. You're so good at making me hate someone in one chapter, then love them in the next, then pick one side, then the other... Why do you keep doing that?
Just goes to show you that we all battle our demons every single day. No one is perfect and we can't all be right. This story just shows both good and bad sides of each type of person.

6. All of your chapters are based on music... What are you currently listening to?
I have so many. Seriously, my computer is on overload, as well as my 60GB Zune. It's awful. BUT currently, I'm loving The Fray, Snow Patrol, Tyrone Wells, Justin Nozuka (thanks for the reader recc on him!!), Secondhand Serenade, John Mayer, Jackson Waters, Kings Of Leon, Lifehouse, One Republic, Ray Lamontange, David Cook... the list goes on and on and on. Of course, I also have my older rock, such as Ted Nugent, Def Leppard, Lynard Skynard, Led Zepplin, Bad Company, White Lion, The Beatles, and the king, Elvis... again, it goes on and on. Anything with strong lyrics that move me are the ones I use in my stories. I'm a sucker for lyrics.

7. Do you read FanFiction as well? If so, what are you currently reading? Any suggestions?
I do read FF. I was only introduced to the world of Fan Fiction in November, and I LOVED it. I thought it'd be great practice for me, to find my strengths in writing, and to be critiqued to learn... that way the more that I write, I'll have that experience under my belt. But I love "Wide Awake" by AngstGoddess. It was my first FanFic that I REALLY got into. (Though I'm like 10 chapters behind on it now!!) What can I say? She really is a genius when it comes to that story. It's rated so high on everyone's lists for a reason. Other stories I've read or am reading are: "The Perfect Wife" by rmcrms5, "The Submissive" & "The Dominant" by Tara Sue Me, "The Honeymoon's Over" by charlsad, "Coming To Terms" by GinnyW 31, "Bella Hale" by JulesSC, "Resisting Edward" & "Seducing Edward" by ooohlala, "Snap" by AllIHaveIsYou, "An Unfortunate Look Into Bella's Lovesick Psyche" by inthestars, and lately I just got into "The Office" by tcby789, as it was a reader recc that I fell in love with. ... Not to mention the COUNTLESS stories on my "TO READ" bookmark list. There's so many damn stories out there, and I want to read them all. It's hard to do that and write, but it's an nice release when you need a break.

8. Are you planning to get The Ex Factor published, or to publish a novel?
Honestly, I don't think I have any plans to get TEF published right now. Reasons being, it uses the F word a lot. More than I say in my life. It's very vulgar and in your face. Sexual. Raw. Honest. Not to mention, I don't know of a book where it's had this many POV's and dramatic situations... a few people have mentioned hiring a screenwriter and see if I can get it turned into a television series (w/new character names, of course) but... I just don't know. But I AM writing a novel I hope to be published, which is NOTHING like these stories. I don't want to say too much about it, bc it's like my unborn child that I want to already protect, but I will say that it's about a girl who's my age (24) who's struggling to find herself, being cast under someone's shadow in a constant basis, until something unexpected happens and everything changes.

9. Are you planning on writing another EB Fanfic story after this??
ABSOLUTELY! More practice!! I actually have a few in my mind (as ideas pop in my head every day) that I'm working on... including a high school story which I haven't done yet... But lately, there's one that's more of a mystery, angsty, edge of your seat one with all these twists and turns, that I'm planning in my head... it was inspired by a few movies, and hit me hard and fast, as did The Ex Factor, so I'm really leaning on that one. When something happens like that, where it's overtaking your thoughts, you know it needs to get out. So yeah, I'm about to talk w/a couple of ppl and see what the odds are of writing it and what they think, and then I'll probably start on it after a few more chapters of this get uploaded. :D

10. Who do you like more, Edward or Robert?
Uh... can I have one of both? :D Please? I'll share, I promise.
... Just a nibble? *begs* ;)

Still narrowing down the Boys's names. Again, thank you for all of the votes and selections. I wish we could use them all!
Here's a list of the highest voted from the last round. So tell me ONE first name and ONE middle name, and then we'll have our selects!!

Here we go:
Anthony, Aiden, Alexander, Asher
Benjamin, Braden
Charles, Charlie, Caleb
Edward, Ethan
Gabriel, Grayson
Jayden
Kingston
Logan, Landon, Lucas
Michael, Mason (Masen)
Noah, Nicholas
Ryan, Robert
Seth
Tristan
William

Reviews are better than coloring hearts on Edward's hand! :D