*Bella*
“Rose, you have to behave!” I exclaimed, the phone cradled in between my neck and shoulder as I scrambled around my office at
Christ, I still had dinner to cook when I got out of here. When did an entire day start going by so quickly? Why did it seem like Edward and Alice had just been here five minutes ago? Why did it feel like I was going to hyperventilate and pass out?
Maybe the five extra coffees I’d had throughout the day was making a dramatic difference.
“Of course I’m going to behave, Bella. What ever makes you think I wouldn’t?”
“Don’t start with me,” I growled, snapping a blank post-it on top of a pile of papers before grabbing a pen.
“Someone needs to calm down. Or get laid.”
The pen slipped out of my fingers and rolled underneath the heater on the opposite side of the room. I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath and started gently tapping on my forehead with my free hand.
She had a point, but neither of those things would be happening anytime soon. Calming down at this point was not an option and the getting laid part… well… I’d cross that bridge when we came to it.
“I need you to call Angela,” I said calmly. “I have too much to do and I’m running out of time.”
“What time did you want us there?”
I looked over at the clock above the doorway and groaned, realizing I’d been wasting massive amounts of time with silly things like telling Rosalie not to scare away my boyfriend when I could’ve been thinking about what to make for dinner tonight.
“Seven-thirty. Park in my driveway and then just walk over.”
“His house, huh?”
“Mine has nowhere for everyone to sit,” I grumbled, grabbing my coat, purse and keys and setting them on my desk. “I haven’t had a chance to get new stuff yet.”
“You really should do that soon.”
I rolled my eyes, running my free hand through my hair. Because God knows I didn’t already have more than enough to do now.
“And I will. Call Angela, please, and tell her that she can bring Ben if she wants. Edward will appreciate another man in the house, I’m sure,” I grumbled, shaking my head.
“Fine,” she sighed heavily.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as I grabbed my coat and started to throw it around my shoulders.
“I’ll see you in half an hour.”
“Bye, Bella.”
I nudged the phone off my shoulder, quickly grabbing it before it fell and turning it off. Placing it in the base, I finished getting my coat on, grabbing my purse and keys and all but flew down the stairs and out of the store altogether.
I locked the door and ran up the small driveway until I reached the back parking lot and jumped into my truck.
I still had absolutely no idea what I was going to make for dinner. I hadn’t had any ideas when I thought about it and I’d officially run out of time.
Okay, so I was nervous, too. It had been two months before I’d had Rose and Angela finally meet Jake and that really hadn’t gone over well.
Meeting at a crowded bar in the middle of downtown
They’d never forgiven Jake for getting piss-ass drunk and throwing up all over their shoes – Rosalie’s expensive Manolo Blahnik’s, no less - as we walked out of the bar.
And everything between them had been pretty much downhill since then. It was a very rare day when Jake had been included in our plans no matter how much he’d tried apologizing to them over the years.
I should’ve known right then. My girls had never steered me in the wrong direction before.
I could only pray that they saw how amazing Edward was, how much he meant to me and how completely different he was from Jake.
And the day – or, at least, the few minutes after the alarm clock had woken me up to find me in Edward’s arms yet again – had started out pretty well.
Alice and I were starting over. I couldn’t fault her for being cautious about me; I’d be cautious about me if I were in her shoes, too. Granted, my feet would probably be screaming at me by the end of the day if I even attempted to wear those things she called shoes.
It was only natural and I’d told her the truth. There was no point in holding anything back when I knew that she was just trying to make sure that I wanted more than his fame.
The day had still been going fine when Rosalie glided in, yet another bag from the deli swinging from her hand as she plopped down into the chair and grilled me for details about how meeting
That meeting had gone over almost as smoothly as I’d hoped and getting to spend the few moments with Edward while I was at work was perfect.
But then the stressing had begun when I’d started thinking about everything that could go wrong during dinner. There were so many things that had popped up into my head that it immediately had me on guard and nervous about tonight.
Shaking my head fiercely as I parked in my driveway in an attempt to think positively, I got out of the truck and sprinted across the road, running up the porch stairs and impatiently knocking on the door.
I heard angry shouting from the other side and furrowed my eyebrows, shaking my head again and sighing heavily as I knocked again.
We didn’t have time for this. As much as their sibling rivalry amused me, now was definitely not the time for it.
I looked up when the door opened and before I had time to do much of anything else, his arms were around my waist, his head was buried in my shoulder and he was stepping forward onto the porch with me.
I stumbled backward, grabbing onto his shoulders for support – completely dropping my purse and keys in the process - and holding on tightly.
“Edward? Are you okay?” I asked softly, almost afraid to raise my voice.
“She’s driving me insane,” he whispered into my ear, pulling me tightly against him. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now.”
I laughed lightly and wrapped my arms completely around his shoulders, burying my nose into his neck and closing my eyes.
Yes. This was exactly what I needed; this was exactly where I needed to be. All the stress, the extra baggage I’d been carrying around all day, all of it melted away as he stood with me, securely wrapped together as if nothing else mattered.
“What should I make for dinner?” I asked softly.
“Already taken care of,” he mumbled, placing soft kisses against my neck.
“Huh? You didn’t cook, did you?”
“No,” he mumbled, chuckling, “
A huge weight was immediately lifted off my shoulders and I relaxed even more into him, smiling and humming contentedly.
“Did you really think we’d make you do all of the work when it was her idea?”
“I just figured…”
“You figured wrong, love,” he said softly, standing up just enough to press his lips to mine.
Did he just call me love? Did he really just say that? I wasn’t imagining that, right? It sounded real. And the effects it had on me sure as hell felt real enough.
Pounding heart? Check.
Euphoric feeling building just underneath my rib cage? Check.
Absolute desire to kiss him senseless and say to hell with the rest of the world?
Oh, yes. Check.
“How tired are you?” he whispered when he backed away, his hands immediately cupping my face as he studied my eyes.
And if he couldn’t see the stupid ass grin on my face that would completely answer that question, then he needed to get his eyes checked.
“I’m perfect.”
He smiled slowly and leaned down to kiss me again.
“Yeah, you really are,” he breathed against my lips.
My knees wanted to give out and if it weren’t for the fact that I had a death grip on his shoulders, then I probably would’ve been a very embarrassing heap at his feet.
“You two!”
We both jumped when we heard
“I need you to set the table!”
I looked over Edward’s shoulder to see her standing in the doorway, a white frilly apron that Edward should never admit to owning tied around her waist as she dangerously shook a spatula at us.
“What time are they arriving?”
“
“Twenty minutes?” she screeched, throwing her hands over her head and turning around to walk back into the house. “Table! Now!”
“I guess we’d better go inside. Mom’s mad.”
He snorted into my shoulder, tilting his head slightly and pressing an open mouthed kiss against the side of my neck.
My eyes fluttered closed and the already tight grip I had on his shoulders only increased as I felt his tongue flick out over my skin. My mouth fell open slightly as my head dropped back, his tongue making slow circles across my skin as he dragged his mouth across my neck.
“Seriously!”
We both cringed and he sighed heavily, placing one soft kiss against my neck before standing up straight and grabbing my hand. I snatched my purse from the porch without managing to break my stride and dropped it onto the table when we walked inside.
“They’ll like me, right?” he asked softly as he let me go long enough for me to shed my coat and throw my keys next to my purse.
“Yes,” I nodded as I quickly grabbed his hand again and let him lead me into the dining room. “There’s really nothing to worry about.”
It looked like a picture out of a magazine but with the little I’d already learned about
The lasagna that she had made smelled delicious and I smiled, leaning against his arm as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“Why do you keep these stuffed in a box, Edward?”
It was absolutely amazing how fast that girl could move and easily multi-task.
“What are you doing in my closet?” he shouted, squeezing my hand quickly before taking the stairs two at a time and snatching the plate out of Alice’s hands.
“We can use these tonight!”
“For what?”
“Dinner! What else, moron?”
“I have perfectly good plates in the kitchen!”
“They’re boring and informal.”
I watched as
I had to cover my mouth so that I wouldn’t end up laughing at them because really, neither of them looked like they’d join me if I burst out into laughter right this minute.
“They’re plates,
“We’re having guests, Edward! Do you want them to think you live like a pig?”
“Yes, actually, I do!”
Then I really did laugh and had to press my lips together tightly when they both looked down at me, Edward smirking at me and Alice looking disapprovingly down her nose at me.
“What do you think, Bella?”
“It really doesn’t matter. They won’t care either way.”
She rolled her eyes, throwing her free arm in the air.
“You two are perfect for each other!” she growled, storming back into Edward’s bedroom.
“Thank you!” he yelled back before following her.
“Why are they even in your closet? They should be out!”
“I have no room to put them anywhere else!
I laughed, shaking my head as I walked into the kitchen and began pulling his plain white plates out of the cabinet.
I listened to them as they continued yelling, their words muffled but their tone the same as it had been since
I was getting the silverware out of the drawer when I heard Edward come back downstairs, mumbling and groaning unhappily with his hands in his hair as he walked over to me.
“I think we should run away,” he grumbled into my ear, his arms coming around my waist as he stood behind me.
“She’d probably find us,” I mused, closing the drawer and snatching up the plates and silverware in my arms.
“Not if we ran fast enough.”
I laughed and leaned back slightly to kiss the bottom of his jaw before walking out of his arms and setting the plates on the table.
“She’s leaving tomorrow, right?” I asked over my shoulder as I placed the plates on the mats.
“Yeah. Bright and early, of course.”
He leaned against the doorway that separated the dining room from the kitchen and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling softly at me.
“Any ideas what you wanna do for your vacation?”
I shrugged, stretching across the table to place the last plate on the mat and then started on passing out the silverware.
“Spend it with you.”
“Naturally.”
I looked over at him and rolled my eyes when I saw him brushing his fingertips on his shirt, a cocky grin lighting up his face.
“I could decide that I wanted to go somewhere.”
“We can do that, too,” he said easily, shrugging and swinging one leg in front of him to cross his ankles. “Whatever you want.”
“I meant without you.” I pointed a butter knife at him as his mouth dropped and smiled smugly to myself. “I don’t have to spend my entire vacation with you if I don’t want to.”
“I’m the only reason you have that vacation!”
I shrugged again, neatly lining up the fork with the edge of the table, making my way around it.
“You can have it back then.”
I continued my meticulous placement of the silverware even as he stomped his way over to me and stared hard at the side of my face, leaning over me as I desperately tried to hide the grin wanting to make its way across my lips.
“Bella Swan.”
“That would be me,” I said calmly, still walking around the table and placing the silverware next to the plates.
I screeched as he grabbed me around the waist when the last of the silverware was on the table, laughing as I tried to fight out of his grip.
“Edward!” I screeched as he plucked me off of my feet and turned us around. “Put me down!”
“You tell me that I can, basically, take the vacation I coerced out of a certain Jessica that you work with and shove it up my ass and expect no retaliation? I think not!”
He walked us into the living room and unceremoniously dropped me on the couch, jumping on me and pinning me down before I had the chance to even breathe normally.
“Edward!” I screeched again, laughing as he gathered both of my hands into one of his and placed his free hand on my hip. “No! Don’t!”
“What in the holy hell are you two doing?”
“Revenge!” Edward shouted before digging his fingertips into my side.
I screamed and wiggled underneath him, my breath sobbing out in laughter as he moved his fingers over my stomach and back again.
“You’re both absurd,” I managed to hear
“Edward!” I managed to get out, arching my back and pressing myself against him. “Stop! Please!”
“Tell me that you appreciate your vacation time!” he bartered, digging his fingertips into my ribs.
I screamed and wiggled beneath him a little more, throwing my head back as he continued across my stomach.
“You were selfish about it!” I panted out, trying to free my legs from his and screaming again as his fingers found my sides again.
“Well of course I was selfish about it,” he said as if it made all the sense in the world. “It’s a God-given right that I get to spend time with my girlfriend, uninterrupted for an entire week!”
“I don’t know what planet you’re living on,” I screamed when his thumb found that spot on my hip that was especially ticklish, “but I don’t think it’s a God-given right! Edward!”
“Say it!” he threatened, his fingertips once again underneath my rib cage. “Or this torment will never stop!”
I gasped for breath, still trying in vain to get my hands out of his grasp.
“I’ll die eventually! I can’t even breathe!”
“That’s what you get! Say it!”
“I appreciate it!” I finally yelled, squirming even as his hand fell away from my hip.
“That’s what I thought,” he grinned, letting go of my wrists to anchor himself over me.
“You’re such an ass,” I laughed, grabbing his chin in my hand and forcefully pressing my lips against his.
“She finally agrees with me!” we heard
“Shut up,
I laughed and reached up to wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers immediately tangling in his hair.
“Thank you for my vacation time,” I whispered, pulling away from him.
“I was only joking with you, you know,” he smiled, reaching up to run the back of his hand down my cheek.
“I know, but thank you all the same.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Are you two quite finished?”
“What do you need?” Edward sighed heavily, easily moving off of me and holding out a hand to me.
I placed my hand in his and let him pull me up, smiling angelically at
“You need to go brush your hair,” she pointed at me, “and you need to help me cut the garlic bread.”
“Because that’s definitely a two person job.”
“I’m more than willing to poison your portion of the lasagna,” she threatened, pointing at him as well.
I laughed and gently patted his back before walking out of the living room and up the stairs to get to the bathroom. Flipping on the lights and looking in the mirror, I cringed at my appearance.
My cheeks were red, my hair was absolutely everywhere and I looked like I’d just survived an attack from a rabid animal.
Which I kind of did, in all reality. A very nice attack, but an attack nonetheless.
And the way his body felt on top of mine was definitely an experience I was willing to have again. Many times, in fact, and most definitely as often as humanly possible.
I snatched my hairbrush from the counter in front of me and hummed softly as I ran it through my hair, straightening and working out the snarls that had resulted from the not-all-that-unpleasant attack.
“Bella! They’re walking over here!” Edward’s nervous voice shouted up the stairs. “And why is there a man with them?”
I laughed and placed my brush back on the counter before flipping off the lights and running down the stairs to stand in front of him.
“That’s Ben, Angela’s husband. I hope you don’t mind, but I figured that you’d probably like another man in the house.”
He smiled shakily and shook his head, grabbing my hand as I offered it to him and letting me pull him to the door.
“You invited someone else?”
“There’s enough, right?” I called out over my shoulder, biting my bottom lip.
I knew I should’ve told her sooner. Although, between being attacked before I even made it into the house, listening to them argue and then being attacked again, I had a pretty plausible excuse for it slipping my mind.
“Yes, but you need to tell me these things beforehand, Bella! I have to re-work the entire table set up!”
“Sorry!”
“I don’t need to be here for this,” Edward laughed nervously, staring hard at the door as we heard their footsteps on the porch. “I mean, you can answer the door, right?”
“Stop being such a girl!”
“You’re not helping!” he yelled back, jumping when the footsteps stopped and a knock sounded through the door.
“I’m not trying to,” she sang loudly.
I laughed at them and reached up to place my hand on his cheek, gently running my thumb down the bridge of his nose.
“You are going to be fine,” I said softly, watching as his eyes closed when he leaned into my hand. “They’re going to love you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because they’ll see how much you mean to me and they’ll see how important you are to me and everything will be fine. Trust me on this, okay?”
His eyes slowly opened and he took a deep breath, turning his head to place a kiss in the palm of my hand as he nodded.
“Okay.”
I nodded, reaching over and pulling open the door to see Rosalie standing in front of me, her hand raised to knock again.
“It’s about damn time, Bella. Don’t you know that it’s cold out here?”
“Rose,” Angela sighed, shaking her head and sighing heavily.
“Hello to you, too.”
I moved out of the way and the three of them walked in and started shedding their coats. I grabbed Edward’s hand and pulled him next to me, doing my best to stifle the laughter at his stiff posture and slightly delayed reactions.
“Rose, you’ve already met Edward.”
She nodded, shooting him a blinding smile as she handed me her coat.
“Nice to see you again.”
Angela rolled her eyes at the back of Rosalie’s head before throwing her own coat over her arm and sighing again.
“Ben, Angela, this is Edward.”
“Nice to meet you,” Angela smiled, reaching over and offering her his hand.
He stiffly reached up and grabbed it, shaking it mechanically before moving on to Ben and doing the same.
“Boy, you really need to calm down,” Rosalie stated, patting his arm before walking further into the house and looking around.
“Ignore her,” Angela and I said at the same time.
“You get used to her after a while,” Ben stated, rolling his eyes as he stepped up next to Edward. “It takes a bit, but eventually you just start tuning her out.”
“I heard that!” Rosalie snapped, barely turning around to glare at him as she looked over every detail of the dining room table that
He smiled angelically at her and Edward managed a nervous chuckle, squeezing my hand tightly.
“You have a lovely home, Edward,” Angela piped up, smiling up at him. “Thank you for inviting us over.”
“Thank you for coming,” he said quietly.
I set Rose’s coat on the rocking chair behind us, motioning for Angela and Ben to do the same with theirs.
“So you like it up here quite a bit, huh?” Angela asked, looking up at Edward.
“I love it up here,” he smiled broadly, squeezing my hand again and looking down at me.
I laughed and smiled brightly up at Edward as I led them all into the dining room, doing my best to shove the nerves that were surfacing down as far as they would go for just a little while longer.
“I’ll be out in just a minute!”
“Don’t threaten them, Alice,” Edward sighed, “we don’t want to scare them away just yet.”
“Shut it!”
“That’s my sister, Alice,” he explained quietly to Angela and Ben. “She’s staying with me for a few days.”
“Where are you from again?” Rosalie asked, circling the table and admiring the framed family pictures hanging on the walls that I’d never really noticed before.
Huh. Had those always been there? Or had I just been that wrapped up in Edward that I didn’t notice them before now?
“Our family lives in Forks,
“Forks?” she snorted, turning to look at him. “Is there a town named Spoons, too?”
“Oh, Christ,” Angela mumbled, slapping her forehead and looking down at her feet.
“How about Knives?”
“Rose!” I yelled, narrowing my eyes at her as she looked at me. “Enough.”
“Oh calm down, Bella,” she sighed, waving at me as she turned back to the pictures. “I’m only joking with him.”
“Okay!”
We all looked over when
“Dinner will be done in about ten more minutes. Does anyone want anything to drink?”
“Yes,” Edward and I said at the same time.
Angela stifled a laugh and
“I’ll get them. Anyone else?” I asked, anxious to have something constructive to do.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. It was too soon. This happening tonight was just too soon because he wasn’t comfortable having my friends in his house; in his sanctuary where he was safe and secluded.
“Do you have any wine?” Rosalie asked, turning completely around and nodding in acknowledgement at
I wanted to roll my eyes but found myself wanting to snort more. She hadn’t been kidding earlier about thinking that they’d be perfect for each other.
“Yes, there’s wine in the refrigerator,”
“Beer, Ben?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as he made his way to the other side of Edward.
“Sure,” he grinned quickly, nodding before turning to Edward and asking if he knew anything about baseball.
“I’ll help you, Bella,” Angela said, hooking arms with me and walking with me into the kitchen.
I looked over my shoulder at Edward to see him shift uneasily on his feet, his eyes pleading with me before I disappeared completely into the kitchen with a small reassuring smile on my lips.
“Bella,” Angela whispered, laughing as I handed her two wine glasses from the top cabinet and walked over to the refrigerator. “Breathe.”
“He’s a really great guy, Ang,” I whispered back, snatching the bottle of wine from the bottom rack. “He’s just… he’s really nervous and he’s…”
“There’s no reason for you to be making excuses,” she laughed again, holding out the glasses in front of her as I yanked the cork out of the top. “It’s going okay.”
“I want you guys to like him. He’s… I…” I shook my head as I poured the red wine into the glasses, snapping the cork back into the bottle and turning around to stick it back in the refrigerator. “I’m in love with him,” I whispered, turning back to face her.
Completely full-blown, earth-shattering, life consuming sort of love. I was done falling; I’d gotten there approximately the minute he’d offered to have my friends over for dinner that night.
He was giving up his hiding spot to meet the people in my life because I’d asked him to. His hide away was being compromised by people that weren’t related to or living next to him and he’d willingly given it up… for me.
“Yep.”
I blinked at her, holding the refrigerator door open in preparation of grabbing the beer.
“Excuse me?”
“Bella, I know you. And I know when you’re in pretty deep with someone. You’ve never looked or acted this way when you were with Jake, so I know that there’s something about this one.”
I breathed out a sigh and pressed a hand to my nervous stomach, chewing on my bottom lip as I turned and grabbed four beer bottles.
“He’ll warm up to us,” she whispered when I turned around and moved from the refrigerator. “We just got here and of course it’s going to be nerve-wracking for the both of you. But remember that we’re your friends and we know the difference.”
I smiled at her and hugged her awkwardly, doing my best not to spill the wine in her hands or drop one of the glass bottles I held in mine.
“Thank you.”
“We’ll get him talking. Don’t you worry,” she winked as we walked back into the dining room.
I handed off the bottles of beer to Edward and Ben, watching as he smiled genuinely at me without losing his place in the conversation with Ben that had been ongoing while we’d been in the kitchen.
I smiled back at him, twisting the top off of my own beer bottle before walking over to where Angela, Rose and Alice were still standing by the pictures. I handed Angela the beer I’d gotten for her and listened in as
Edward seemed a little more relaxed, at least. He wasn’t entirely comfortable just yet, but he wasn’t as rigid and tense as he had been a few minutes ago.
And I grinned to myself as I sipped off my beer bottle, for once that day feeling as though everything really would work out the way that I needed it to.
~*~
By
Edward had calmed down considerably the longer we sat around the table, humming and complimenting Alice on her lasagna and eventually asking little unimportant questions to get some sort of conversation going.
It had only taken Rosalie asking
I’d learned that Edward hadn’t been exaggerating when he said that he was the worst third baseman there ever was.
His face had burned almost as brightly as mine usually does before he retaliated by telling everyone how they’d been playing hide and seek when they were younger and she’d gotten stuck while hiding behind the toilet in the bathroom. She’d been there for almost an hour before Emmett finally found her and almost had to rip the toilet out of the wall to get her out before their parents returned home.
I didn’t even want to ask how she’d gotten behind there in the first place. Yes, she was tiny but I never would’ve thought that she could’ve wedged herself behind a toilet of all things.
Even Rosalie had managed not to insult either of them that badly and I’d caught her staring at the pictures of Emmett on the wall more than once.
Edward had discovered that Angela was a photographer and took a great interest in that; wanting to see her portfolio and telling her that if she wanted him to, he’d put in a good word when he got back to California and drum up some high quality clients for her. She’d beamed at it, but had declined, citing that she planned on staying in
And I’d beamed at that. Even though it had been Edward that offered, the fact that Angela didn’t think twice before declining made me want to lunge across the table and smother her in a hug. While I wanted her to take every opportunity that she could – because she was one of the best photographers I’d ever seen – I was thrilled that she didn’t want to do it through my boyfriend’s celebrity status.
She did, however, offer him a photo session with her if he wanted it.
And when he’d nodded at her, agreeing to call her sometime during the week, it felt as though I were flying.
He liked my friends. He wanted to spend more time with them. He’d finally relaxed enough and felt comfortable enough to talk freely with them, taking them up on offers, laughing and joking and recalling embarrassing events from his childhood with his sister.
For the most part, the night had been a success and I couldn’t be happier about it. Rosalie had behaved herself as much as she could, Ben kept Edward entertained when the rest of us went off on some tangent about something that I could never keep up with to begin with and everyone had gotten along fine.
I walked next to Edward as we followed everyone to the front door twenty minutes later,
I hugged them all once they’d gotten their coats on and stood by the front door, saying their parting words in preparation to leave.
And as much as I loved the three of them, I was fighting to keep my eyes open yet again. All I really wanted to do at that point was drag myself up the stairs and into bed so that I could get a few good hours of sleep before the alarm went off.
“All right, we need to get going,” Ben stated, interrupting the little conversations still going on around him and stifling a yawn as he reached over to hold out his hand to Edward. “Nice meeting you, man. Let me know if you need anything. Bella has the number.”
I smiled at him, watching gleefully as Edward grasped Ben’s hand tightly in his and said his thanks.
“Oh! One more thing before we go.” Rosalie turned around before she opened the door and the glint in her eye terrified me when she looked at Edward. “If you hurt her, I will not hesitate to string you up by your balls with fishing line.”
And I just gaped at her, my mouth dropping to the floor as my eyes widened. I couldn’t even say anything – the absolute shock and disbelief running through me seemed to completely paralyze me.
If there was ever a deal breaker for our relationship, that might have been it. And if I could prolong that conversation even for just a few minutes, I’d do it.
“Rosalie!” Angela sputtered, harshly smacking her arm.
She merely shrugged innocently, as if threatening him was no big deal and made no difference.
“Fair warning. Thanks for dinner,
And then she was out the door, leaving the four of us standing still in a state of shock.
There had never been two people in the whole word that I’d wanted to murder more than Rosalie and Alice at that moment.
“I have no words,” Angela finally broke the silence, shaking her head slowly and blinking rapidly.
“Don’t worry, buddy,” Ben laughed nervously, clapping a hand on Edward’s tense shoulder. “She said the same thing to me. In some form. Kind of.”
Edward managed a shaky smile and nervous chuckle before he nodded and moved his hands to stuff them awkwardly in his pockets, nervously eyeing the doorway for any sign of Rosalie, I’m sure.
“Thank you for having us over. Really, it was very nice to meet the both of you,” Angela smiled wearily, reaching out to squeeze his arm as she eyed
“Thanks for coming!” I squeaked out, watching as they finally disappeared out the door.
“I like her!”
I turned to her, my eyes narrowed as I watched her pull herself up off the floor and wipe tears from her eyes, leaning back against the wall behind her and holding her stomach.
“Don’t you think she’d be perfect for Emmett?”
“Yes,” Edward choked out, nodding quickly. “Yes, I fucking do.”
“I’m really sorry about her,” I said quickly, biting my bottom lip nervously as I turned back to him. His crazy sister could wait. “I didn’t think she’d actually…” I tossed my hands in the air helplessly. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head slowly, reaching out and pulling me against him, wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders and burying his face in my hair.
“She’s only looking out for you,” he breathed. “But please don’t ever let her near me with anything that even remotely resembles fishing line.”
“Promise,” I mumbled as I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist.
“All right you two,”
“Gladly,” Edward mumbled, keeping one arm draped around my shoulders as he pulled me toward the stairs.
“Thank you, Alice,” I said quietly, smiling as I made him stop in front of her. “Tonight went pretty well.”
She’d gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to make a nice dinner for people she didn’t know and I really had no right to be annoyed no matter how much she encouraged Rosalie’s comments.
She was his sister. She was supposed to find embarrassing things like that very humorous no matter whose expense it was at.
She smiled brightly and quickly wrapped her arms around my shoulders, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek loudly as she backed away.
“You’re more than welcome, Bella. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
I nodded and let Edward lead me up the stairs, leaning against him as we walked into his bedroom.
“And thank you,” I said quietly, turning to stand in front of him before he could move too far from me.
“For what?” he asked just as quietly, placing his hands on either side of my waist and gently rubbing his thumbs over my stomach.
“For giving them a chance and for having them over here tonight. It really meant a lot to me.”
He smiled and leaned down, softly touching his lips to mine as he nodded.
“Anything for you, Bella.”
My heart jumped and I couldn’t do anything more than smile up at him.
“It wasn’t that bad, right?” I asked, reaching up to run my fingers through his hair.
“It could’ve been a lot worse. I like them,” he nodded once, twisting his lips to the side. “I’m a little scared of Rosalie, though.”
I laughed, stepping up on my toes to kiss him again. “I won’t let her near you without witnesses.”
“That’s all I ask.”
I laughed again and he smiled.
“We should get some sleep,” he said softly, leaning up to kiss my forehead. “It’s gonna be a long morning.”
I nodded and stepped out of his arms to grab the shirt I now claimed as mine. He definitely wasn’t getting it back and I was pretty positive that he knew that by now.
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