*Edward*
"It's going to be crazy out there," I started, looking over at Bella as she brushed her fingers through her hair absently while we waited to get off the plane.
"I know," she stated, looking over at me and smirking.
"They're going to be everywhere, Bella. You can't let go of me."
She dropped one of her hands from her hair and reached over, sliding her hand into mine and linking our fingers together.
"I won't."
"Jeannie said that there will be a limo waiting for us, but we have a lot to get through just to get there."
She huffed and leaned over, her free hand coming up behind my head and pulling my face close to hers. Our noses brushed and she looked directly into my eyes.
"Edward," she said softly, "I know."
"Bella, I don't think you do," I said, exasperated. "We're gonna be attacked by photographers and asked ten thousand questions and…"
I stopped when one of her hands reached up and tugged on the pendant hanging around my neck. My mouth snapped shut and I licked my lips, sighing heavily.
"You won't let anything happen to me," she said quietly, leaning her forehead against mine. "I won't let go of you. I'll be fine."
"I'm just worried."
"Really? I hadn't noticed."
"Shut up," I grumbled, smirking at her.
She smiled and kissed me quickly, letting go of the pendant and trailing her hand down my chest before sitting back in her seat.
The morning had been hectic. My parents had driven us to the airport after we'd completely combed through my entire room to make sure that we had everything. Emmett had nearly choked Bella to death while hugging her goodbye, Alice had almost broken down into sobs like she wasn't going to see her for the next fifty years, Jasper had twirled her around a few dozen times just for the hell of it and I was positive that my mother never wanted to let go of her even though she'd be saying goodbye to us at the airport in about an hour. My father was the only normal one, waiting until we got to the airport before merely hugging her and kissing her forehead and then clapping me on the shoulder with a "Call us soon, son." My mother, however, had once again latched onto the both of us and nearly made us late.
Nevertheless, we'd made the flight with seconds to spare. A few people had come up to me with their cocktail napkins so that I could sign them during the flight, but that had been it and I was thankful.
I'd tried preparing Bella for the chaos the entire two hour flight, but all she'd said was that she knew. And the more she said that she knew, the more frantic my thoughts became because she didn't know. Being in my life had already drastically changed hers, but at least when she was at home in New York, she was relatively safe. A few paparazzi staking out her bookstore was nothing compared to what she was going to have to deal with when she merely walked outside of my condo to get the damn mail or God forbid get some fresh air into her lungs.
And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to call Jeannie and tell her that I was quitting no matter what Bella had said before. If I could shield her from any of what she'd be dealing with in a matter of hours, I'd do anything to make sure of it. She didn't deserve the scrutiny she'd be under all hours of the day; that wasn't her world, it was mine and she didn't have to be a part of this.
"Bella…" I tried again, squeezing her hand.
"I swear to God, Edward," she started, looking over at me and narrowing her eyes, "if you tell me one more time about what I don't understand, I will never touch you again."
I pressed my lips together into a tight line and huffed, turning to look at the front of the plane and pout a little.
That wasn't fair by any means.
She sat up, grabbed my chin in her hand and made me look back at her.
"You have to trust me," she said softly. "I know what's waiting out there for us. I know that my life is never going to be the same after tonight. But I also know that you're going to be right there with me and that makes it okay. So trust me, damn it, because you're driving me nuts."
I smirked as much as I could and leaned forward to press my pursed lips against hers.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled as her hand fell to her lap when I backed away. "I just want you to be aware of everything that's going to happen."
"You've informed me pretty well, Edward. And it doesn't matter to me. You matter to me."
I sucked in a deep breath and nodded slightly, leaning forward and kissing her again.
"I'll keep you safe."
"I know." She smiled and reached up to quickly comb her fingers through my hair. "I have no doubts."
We were finally allowed off the plane a few minutes later and I waited until most of everyone had filed out before I pulled my laptop bag out of the overhead compartment and grabbed Bella's hand again. I kept her close to me as we walked down the terminal and into the airport, heading straight to baggage claim.
Once we'd grabbed my suitcases and her duffel bag, I held my elbow out to her and watched as she looped her arm around mine, smiling brightly up at me.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
I leaned down and kissed her forehead before quickly walking toward the lobby. The text I'd gotten from Jeannie while we were in the air had given me a detailed description of the limo driver and even the license plate number. I didn't even want to know how she'd gotten all of that information so quickly, but it was very convenient. The less time we had to linger around outside, the better.
I didn't want them screaming questions at Bella, or maybe even hurling insults at her like they'd done on occasion to me just to get a rise out of me and make me lose my temper. Apparently, those pictures would've been worth my weight in gold.
"Here we go," I mumbled to myself, walking into the mass of people near the exit.
It took all of five seconds to have a circle of photographers around us, snapping pictures and calling out my name as we walked. I felt Bella's other hand come up to twist around my forearm and clenched my jaw, smiling tightly.
"How were your holidays, Edward?"
"Fine, thank you," I answered quietly, nodding and looking over their heads to see that we were almost at the doors.
"Are you ready for the premiere tonight?"
"As ready as I can be."
"Is this your girlfriend?"
I felt her hand tighten around my arm and merely nodded, still doing my best to smile at them while walking as quickly as possible and wanting to tear their heads off one-by-one.
Fuck, we needed to get out of here.
"Bella! Bella, look over here!"
Now.
They followed us outside and I stood up on my toes, searching for the license plate number to the limo Jeannie had waiting for us. Spotting it, I dragged Bella down the sidewalk, nodding at the driver as he stood at the trunk and impatiently waited for him to open it.
The photographers were on the sidewalk, far enough away from the limo as we quickly shoved our luggage into the trunk and dove for the door. Bella smiled nervously at the driver, offering a small thank you before she crawled in and slid to the other side of the seat.
"See you tonight, Edward!"
I waved at them, offering another smile before I slid in next to Bella and yanked the door closed. I threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me and running a hand down her hair.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine."
I leaned forward and looked at her face, grinding my teeth as I reached in to my pocket and grabbed my cell phone.
She was not fine. She looked fucking terrified. Because of my life and the shit I had to deal with on a daily basis.
We both looked up when the driver climbed into the front seat and rolled the partition down, his faded brown eyes meeting mine in the rear view mirror.
"Where to, mister Cullen?"
I gave him the address to my building and leaned back in the seat as the tinted window separating us rolled back up, turning my cell phone on as I kept Bella close to me, my hand still smoothing down her hair and my heart still beating ninety miles an hour in my chest.
"Bella, you're not fine," I finally said as I felt the car start to move.
She looked up at me, placing one of her hands on my chest and pursing her lips.
"I'm in one piece, am I not?"
"You're not fine," I insisted.
"Edward, it's a lot to take in and it's a lot different than New York. You need to give me a minute to get used to this."
I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, nodding as I placed my phone on the seat next to me and reached up to grab her other hand in mine, lacing my fingers through hers.
She was right. New York was our little slice of solitude and it had been very easy to forget that Bella didn't know the extent of what happened when I stepped foot into LAX airport. I just needed to give her a little time to adjust to it all.
"It'll be more controlled tonight, Bella. They have a line that they can't cross and they can only follow us as far as the theater entrance."
"All right."
I opened my eyes to look down at her and saw her smiling slightly at me, her thumb rubbing over the back of my hand.
"We don't have to go the after party if you don't want to."
"And if I want to?"
"We don't have to."
She raised an eyebrow at me and immediately dropped my hands, moving from the space beside me to the seat across from me, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head at me.
"Okay!" I exclaimed, quickly launching myself over to her again and winding my arms around her shoulders. "We'll go if you want to!"
I threw my legs over her lap just for good measure and began noisily kissing the side of her head. She laughed and I smiled as her arms wrapped around my waist, leaning down and gently pressing my lips to her cheek.
"I'm on your turf now, Edward. You have the upper hand and I don't want you to drastically change your lifestyle just because I'm here. You had a life before me and now I want to be a part of it." I pulled back from her and moved one arm from her shoulders to stroke her cheek. "Don't change anything for me."
"But my life has drastically changed because of you," I whispered, trailing my thumb over her bottom lip. "I've changed because of you."
"Is that a good thing?"
I smiled and nodded, taking her chin in between my thumb and forefinger and leaning down to press my lips to hers.
"You have no idea."
"Just don't change everything too much, all right? I'm gonna be right here with you no matter what. You're not getting rid of me now, Edward Cullen."
I grinned and wrapped her tightly in my arms again, burying my face into her neck.
"I don't want to," I whispered, shaking my head.
She pressed her lips against my shoulder as her hands slowly moved up and down my back, managing to completely calm me down and have me nearly asleep in her lap after a few minutes.
I didn't notice when the car stopped moving; I only noticed when Bella's hands stilled on my back and she started pulling away from me. I tightened my hold on her and heard her laugh, smiling sleepily into her neck.
"I think we're here," she said softly, her lips pressing into my shirt. "Maybe you should go inside and get some sleep?"
"Mm," I mumbled, shaking my head before slowly sitting up straight and yawning. "Can't sleep. There's a lot to do."
I moved my legs from her lap and leaned back, kissing her forehead before moving my arms from around her and stretching out as much as possible.
"What does getting ready for a premiere entail?"
I looked over at her, dropping my arms into my lap and listening as the driver door slammed shut.
"Well, Jeannie will probably be here in," I looked down at my watch and sighed, "an hour and a half with her arms full of suits for me to try on, directions on what time we need to be there, complaints about everything I've done or haven't done and then we'll be in another limo at around five-thirty."
She blew out a breath, her cheeks puffing out as she nodded and wiped her hands on the legs of her jeans. I reached over and squeezed her knee as the door opened and sunlight poured in the cab. I let her get up and out first before grabbing my cell phone off the seat, joining her and nodding to the driver who already had our bags sitting on the front steps of my building.
"I'll see you both in a few hours."
"Jeannie roped you into all day, huh?" I smirked, grabbing Bella's hand as he closed the door behind us.
"That woman terrifies me, sir." He nodded, smirking. "See you then."
I snorted and shook my head as I led Bella toward the entrance, looking around and thankful that I didn't see anyone hiding in the bushes with a camera lens poking out of them. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I handed her duffel bag to her before grabbing my own suitcase handles and walking through the automatic doors.
The lobby hadn't changed at all. There were still potted plants in every corner, the red and gold rug leading to the elevators at the other end of the room didn't look like anyone had ever walked on it, framed photographs of the Hollywood sign and the nightlife littered the walls and even better than the familiar sight of my second home, was the fact that no one was lingering around. It was peaceful and everything I'd hoped for when looking at places to live a few years ago.
"Damn," Bella breathed.
I looked over at her and smirked as we made it to the elevator banks, watching as she looked around and shifted her bag on her shoulder.
"This is just the beginning, love," I said quietly, dropping one handle of the suitcases and punching the button to take us up.
"Huh."
One of the elevator doors opened and I pulled her on, pressing the button for the fourth floor and leaning against the back wall as we started moving. She leaned against me and I smiled, reaching over and draping an arm around her shoulders.
"You like it so far?"
She nodded, turning and resting her chin on my shoulder. I leaned in and kissed her softly, swallowing hard when one of her hands came around to begin tugging on the bottom of my t-shirt. I let go of the other suitcase handle, turning and pressing her against the back wall of the elevator. Framing her face with my hands, I pressed my lips more firmly against hers as her hand slid underneath my shirt and easily flicked open the top button on my jeans. I breathed out a small moan, sliding my tongue into her mouth and threading my hands back through her hair.
It was amazing how this woman could make me forget everything that didn't have to do with her. I didn't remember my own name, I didn't remember that we were in an elevator, and I definitely didn't remember that we were back in California.
And I didn't care. It was nice to be with my family and spend time with them and it was even nicer that Bella had joined us, but I'd missed this. While New Year's Eve night was great, we'd been a little more than half drunk and we hadn't been allowed enough time on our own to be with each other like I wanted to be with her now.
I heard the elevator doors sliding open and groaned unhappily as I backed away from her. She giggled and I shook my head, smirking over at her as I grabbed the handles of my suitcases and quickly led us out and down the long hallway.
I cursed as I reached my door, forced to bend down and unzip one of the pockets to search for my keys, nearly ripping the zipper off in the process.
"Easy there, tiger," I heard Bella mumble, one of her hands coming up to rub my back. "I'm not going anywhere."
My heart jumped in my chest and half the blood in my brain quickly disappeared into my groin as I wrapped my fingers around my keys. No, she wasn't going anywhere. She was staying with me. She was going to be living with me and making her life here with me.
And the inevitable separation we'd be dealing with tomorrow didn't feel as horrible as the one on the twenty-second had because I knew that she would be coming back to me. She'd be back with me as soon as she got everything cleared up at home and she'd finally be here to stay. We'd be together every day and I couldn't be any fucking happier about it.
Standing back up, I jammed the key into the lock and all but kicked the door open, shoving my suitcases inside and impatiently waiting for Bella to follow me in. She already had her duffel bag on the floor when I grabbed the keys and slammed the door behind her, shaking her hair back and making my mouth water as I flipped the lock.
"Are you going to give me the grand tour?" she asked, smirking at me.
"No," I said, slowly taking a step toward her and placing my hands on her waist as I dropped my keys in the bowl by the door.
"No?"
I turned her around and pressed her up against the door, smiling as she laughed and placed her hands on my shoulders.
"Maybe later," I mumbled before my lips were on hers.
She hummed against my lips and ran her hands down my chest, stopping at the bottom of my t-shirt and sliding her hands underneath. I backed away from her long enough to pull my shirt over my head, licking my lips as I watched her do the same. I pressed her up against the door again, burying my head in her neck and pressing my lips against her shoulder. She rolled her hips against mine and I moaned, closing my eyes tightly and pulling her close to me so that I could unsnap her bra.
"Welcome home," I whispered, dragging the straps of her bra down her arms and throwing it to the side.
She laughed breathlessly, her hands already at the zipper of my unbuttoned jeans and sliding it down.
"We're not quite there yet," she whispered back before grabbing the waistband of my jeans and shoving them down.
"Anxious?" I laughed, moving from her neck and running my hands over the sides of her breasts.
She bit her bottom lip, whimpering quietly and trailing her fingertips over the top of my boxers. I moved my hands down, quickly unbuttoning her pants and watching as she toed off her shoes. Licking my lips, I hooked my thumbs over her jeans and panties, pushing them both down and attacking her lips as she kicked them off. She shoved my boxers down and I reached down to grab the backs of her thighs, pulling her up and moaning as she wrapped her legs around my waist. She wrapped her hands around my neck, leaning back against the door and pressing her lips more urgently against mine.
I slid into her quickly, digging my fingertips into her thighs and breaking away from her to kiss across her cheek and down to her neck.
"Now," she breathed, her fingers curling into the hair at the back of my neck, "I'm home."
"Bella," I moaned, slowly thrusting my hips up.
She moved her hips with mine, sliding her hands from my neck to grab onto my shoulders as she tightened her legs around me.
The world faded from around us as we moved together. I forgot about the premiere, about the stress we'd both be under after our official debut to the world tonight; nothing else mattered but the woman I was holding up against my door.
I slammed one hand onto the door beside her, turning my head and attaching my mouth to the side of her neck. She moaned loudly, her fingernails digging into my shoulders as I wrapped my other arm tightly around her waist and pulled her even tighter against me.
I closed my eyes tightly, moving my hips faster into hers as I felt the coil growing tighter in the pit of my stomach. She slammed her head back into the door and arched her back, her chest pressing against mine as I pulled her tighter to me.
"Edward," she moaned, one of her hands reaching up to fist in my hair and pull.
"Wait for me," I demanded into her neck, angling my hips and moaning loudly as I slid even deeper into her. "With me, Bella. Come with me."
"Fuck," she breathed, her fingernails probably permanently embedded into my skin at this point.
Not that I really gave a shit. She felt right and perfect and amazing and I never wanted to let her go again. If we could make a living off being with each other all the damn time, I'd be perfectly content with that. I didn't need to be anywhere that she wasn't and at the first sign of her unhappiness, I was packing my bags and we were going back to New York.
She was all that mattered anymore. She was my life now.
I grabbed onto her hips with both of my hands, moving my face from her neck and roughly crushing my mouth against hers. She slid her other hand up into my hair, pulling roughly and whimpering as I felt her entire body start to shake.
"Edward," she moaned again, tearing her mouth from mine and leaning forward to rest her forehead on my shoulder. "Almost…"
"Yes, Bella. Wait for me."
Her hands clenched and unclenched in my hair and I dug my fingertips into her hips, moving my hips almost frantically against hers. I let my head drop back onto my shoulders when I felt her tongue licking around my collarbone and hissed out a breath through my teeth. And when she bit down on my shoulder, that was all it took.
"Now," I growled, tilting my head back up and watching as she threw hers back, hitting the door again.
I buried my face into her neck once more, moaning loudly into her skin as she shook and writhed in my arms, small, choked whimpers making their way out of her mouth as I released into her.
I slumped against her when we were finished, our chests working against each other as I held on to her as tightly as I could even though my entire body was still shaking.
"And that is the proper way," she breathed, her hands loosening from my hair and running soothingly down my scalp, "to welcome me home."
I laughed breathlessly into her neck, pressing a line of kisses against her shoulder.
"We have to move," I sighed, turning my head and kissing the side of her neck. "Or I'm going to drop you."
She sighed heavily and I smirked, kissing her neck once more before sliding out of her and taking a step back.
Unfortunately, my jeans and boxers were still around my ankles and all that I ended up doing was falling backwards, landing us both on the floor.
"Fuck!" I yelled, quickly pulling her legs out from underneath me and running my hands up and down her calves. "You all right? Anything broken?"
"Edward," she laughed, leaning down and burying her face into my chest. "Oh, you should've seen your face!"
I pursed my lips and rolled my eyes up to the ceiling, shaking my head as I rested my hands on her knees when she placed her feet flat on the floor.
"I guess you're fine."
"When you spend half of your life falling," she gasped between giggles, "you learn to start ignoring the small things."
"But are you in pain?"
"No," she laughed, shaking her head before wiggling down to rest on my thighs and leaning down to rest her chin in the center of my chest. "Are you?"
I sighed heavily, shaking my head and looking down at her as I reached up and ran my hands down her hair.
"No."
"Okay then," she smiled brightly, tilting her head and pressing a kiss against my chest. "No worries."
"You are… absolutely amazing," I laughed, shaking my head again as I linked my fingers behind her shoulder blades.
"Mm," she hummed in agreement, looking up and resting her chin on my chest again. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"I'm in California," she whispered, folding her hands underneath her chin and grinning up at me. "I'm with you in California."
Just the way she said it had a grin pulling at the corners of my mouth and I untangled my hands from her back, grabbing her underneath her arms and pulling her up so that she was hovering over me. She laughed, quickly slapping her hands onto the floor beside my head as she straddled my waist. I moved my hands and framed her face, pulling her down and gently pressing my lips against hers.
"Yeah," I whispered back, nodding as I threaded my fingers into her hair. "You are."
"And tomorrow, I'm gonna go back to New York," she whispered, tilting her head and pressing her lips against my neck, "to get everything squared away and in its place before I come back to you."
My eyes fluttered closed and I rolled my head to the side as she kissed her way up to my ear, my hands trailing down her neck to rest on her shoulders.
"Permanently," she whispered again, nipping at the bottom of my ear.
I breathed out a small moan before swallowing hard and squeezing my eyes together tightly.
"But right now," she mumbled, kissing a trail up my cheek and back to my lips, "we should probably get off the floor."
I breathed out a laugh and my eyes popped open, looking up into hers as I sucked in a deep breath and nodded.
"Probably should, huh?"
She smiled and picked up one hand to run it through my hair, stopping when she met the carpet and gently dragging her fingernails over my scalp.
"Probably."
I sat up and she slid down into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me soundly.
"I love you," she whispered as she pulled back from me.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, squeezing her to me tightly and brushing the end of my nose against hers, smiling like an ass.
"I love you, too." I leaned in a kissed her once more. "Now, how about that tour?"
"Do we need to get dressed?"
"No."
"Then let's get to it!"
She hopped off my lap and I laughed, toeing off my shoes and kicking off my jeans and boxers before standing up and walking up behind her. She was standing at the edge of the living room, looking out the wide windows that took up most of the back wall, her hands clasped in front of her and her bottom lip in between her teeth. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against me again, leaning down to rest my chin on her shoulder. She placed her hands on my arms and I started to slowly sway us from side to side.
"I'm home," she whispered, her pointer finger rubbing up and down my arm.
I smiled softly and buried my nose into her shoulder, squeezing her tightly as I placed a soft kiss against her skin and nodded.
"So am I."
~*~
I took a deep breath and reached over to grab Bella's hand as the limo inched along in traffic, indicating that we were close to the premiere and would have to get out and face the crowd I knew was standing around and waiting for me and my co-stars.
"Are you ready?"
I watched her take a deep breath and nod, squeezing my hand and scooting closer to me.
"They're gonna want pictures of just you, Edward," Jeannie stated from her seat across from us.
She was, for lack of a better word, babysitting to make sure that we made it to the premiere on time. It was absurd, but with the tight strapless short black and white dress that Bella had shimmied herself into, maybe it wasn't completely unwarranted. Going to a premiere when she looked like that hadn't been the first thing on my mind.
Alice had dragged Bella into her room the minute we'd returned from dinner the night before to choose a dress for the premiere, but neither of them would let me see it. I suspected that Alice had more to do with that decision than Bella did and couldn't understand it for the life of me.
It wasn't like it was her wedding dress for Christ's sake.
But upon seeing her as she opened the bedroom door fifteen minutes ago, I was pretty damn thankful they'd both kept it from me.
"So, Bella, you'll have to step back from him for a few minutes and let them do their thing."
"No," I said quickly, looking over at her and shaking my head. "They'll get over it, Jeannie. I'm not letting her go."
"Edward, I'll be fine," she said softly, placing her other hand on my upper arm. "It's only for a few minutes."
"Bella…"
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to my ear, squeezing my arm.
"Your world, Edward," she whispered. "Do what you need to do and I'll still be here when you're done."
I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, nodding before opening my eyes and looking over at Jeannie who sat there with an amused smile on her face.
"You need to keep her around," she stated, pointing at Bella. "I wonder if you can make him get to places on time?"
Bella laughed nervously, still not a hundred percent comfortable with Jeannie and shrugged her shoulders.
"I can try."
Jeannie's cell phone chose that moment to start ringing and I quickly turned to Bella, cupping her cheek in my hand and leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
"Don't go too far," I whispered, tangling my hands in her abnormally straight hair.
"Trust me," she whispered back, smiling up at me and nudging the tip of her nose against mine, "I'm never going any further than I have to."
"Edward, there's some girl harassing the security guards saying that she's your date," Jeannie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Says that you gave her a ticket and everything."
"Oh my God," Bella breathed, laughing as she buried her face in my neck.
"Oh Jesus," I moaned, closing my eyes and sighing heavily as I shook my head, my hand falling from Bella's hair and into my lap. "Forgot about her."
Bella only laughed harder, one of her hands coming up to rest on my chest and her fingers curling into my shirt.
"I didn't think she'd…" she choked out before bursting into laughter again.
"Care to explain?" Jeannie asked dryly.
I opened my eyes and looked over at her, barely able to contain the smile on my face as I licked my lips and took a deep breath.
"Her name's Jessica, am I right?"
Jeannie merely nodded, one of her eyes narrowing at me as she tapped her bitten-down fingernails against the side of her phone.
"Tell her to look closely at her ticket."
"No!" Bella gasped, sitting up straight and looking at me with wide eyes. "No, wait! I have a great idea."
"What?"
"Can she just… stand there? By the guards for a few minutes?" she asked, looking over at Jeannie.
Jeannie shrugged and nodded, still eyeing Bella cautiously.
"Why?"
"Just look at her, Edward, and smile," Bella said, turning back to me and grinning brightly. "But don't go to her, okay? Just wait for me."
"What do you have in mind?" I mumbled, smiling down at her and resting my forehead against hers.
"Just a little payback," she said innocently, shrugging her shoulders. "I know it's childish but…"
"No," I said quickly, shaking my head and laughing lightly. "I'll do whatever you want."
She laughed brightly and leaned up to place an exuberant kiss against my lips before sitting back.
"All right," Jeannie sighed, shaking her head as she hung up the phone. "The girl is standing by the guards and waiting for you. We're up next." She craned her neck to look out the windows and nodded before sitting back. "George here is taking me back to my place and he'll be back at around one a.m. If you need him before that, call me and I'll call the agency."
I nodded, my leg nervously starting to bounce up and down as I looked out the tinted windows and swallowed hard when I saw the crowd standing outside. The calm I'd been feeling a few seconds ago had immediately disappeared and I was left nervous and anxious, my stomach tied up in knots as the realization of what this event would mean for Bella's life. It'd be turned completely upside down and she'd never just be a normal girl again.
I looked down when Bella squeezed my hand and smiled softly, my leg immediately calming down as I looked up at her. She reached up with her other hand to run her knuckles down my cheek and tilt her head.
"We're fine," she whispered.
I grabbed her hand in mine, squeezing them both before leaning down and kissing her softly.
"Edward, don't forget about your interview with GQ tomorrow," Jeannie stated, making me jump.
Sure, she might've just been talking to me, but it was fairly easy to get lost and forget things when Bella was looking at me and reassuring me and being everything that I needed her to be.
"Yeah, I remember," I mumbled absently.
"What time does your flight leave, Bella?"
"One-fifteen tomorrow afternoon."
I squeezed her hands again, still hating the fact that she'd have to leave me for any amount of time. It sure as hell helped knowing that she'd be back as soon as she possibly could be, though, and God knows it wouldn't be as hard to see her off as it had been to say goodbye to her last time.
I jumped again when the door next to me opened and heard Bella laugh as she let go of my hands and slid away from me. I pouted slightly before sighing and sliding out of the limo, immediately greeted with a roar of screams and flashes from cameras.
Fuck, I hated premieres.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from the door and immediately spotted Jessica standing by the guards at the start of the ropes, blocking off the photographers and fans from the carpet. She was wearing a hideously bright purple dress, her blonde hair was up in some sort of fashion that looked to me like a rat had nested in it and she was bouncing up and down excitedly, waving at me.
Seeing her so excited and acting like any other fan on the red carpet would if they'd seen me up close and personal had me feeling a little bad about this whole payback thing Bella had been talking about in the limo.
But as she started fanning herself for reasons I couldn't understand, images of what Bella had looked like upon coming home from work with her, and having Jessica throwing herself at me when I picked Bella up at the end of the day slammed through my mind and every little bit of doubt and regret I'd been feeling a second ago was erased.
She'd made Bella's life a living hell and fuck if she didn't deserve this.
I forced the most genuine smile I could manage at her but didn't move – as I was instructed not to – and looked at the guards who were watching her carefully. I watched as her bouncing stopped and her hands fell to her sides, her eyes narrowing at me. I could practically see the steam coming from her ears and held back the bark of laughter that threatened to come forth.
I looked over when I felt Bella's hand slip into mine and grinned over at her, watching as she smiled brightly at Jessica and actually raised her other hand to blow her a kiss as she stood proudly at my side.
I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and kiss her senseless just for that small action alone, but squeezed her hand tightly and waited for her to look at me again instead. She did, her smile bright and her eyes dancing with triumph.
I laughed at her and finally moved from the limo, approaching the carpet and ultimately, Jessica. Her jaw was practically on the ground and her eyes were tiny slits of barely controlled rage, her hands clenched into fists at her sides as we approached.
"I'm truly sorry for the misunderstanding, Jessica," I said quietly when we were close enough to her that I wouldn't need to scream, "but Bella will be my date for any future outings. I hope you enjoy the movie."
I was quick to whisk Bella away from her, barely hearing Jessica's aggravated screeching and cursing as someone helped her behind the ropes. I stopped a few feet in, turning both of us toward the mass of photographers with their cameras up to their eyes and their mouths moving a mile a minute in words that I couldn't even begin to understand.
I looked down at Bella when I felt her other hand wrap around both of ours to see that she was grinning up at me, her entire face lit up.
"That was fucking priceless," she whispered into my ear as she stood up on her toes.
I laughed and nodded, turning to press my lips against her forehead quickly.
"Yeah," I agreed before turning back to the photographers and for the first time, being able to actually give them a real smile.
And what was even better than watching Jessica's jaw drop and being able to set her straight was the fact that Bella was here to do it with me. She'd be there to do it all with me. I wouldn't be alone anymore and that was one of the greatest feelings in the entire world.
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