*Bella*
*Chapter Song - No Spell*
My eyes popped open and I looked up at the ceiling, my stomach already rolling as I slowly moved my head to look over at the empty space where Edward should've been next to me.
It was Sunday and he was leaving tomorrow morning at ten fifteen.
We'd spent the entire rest of the week in the house, only leaving to return the movies and get something to eat when neither of us really wanted to cook.
It had been one of the best weeks of my life. I spent all of my time with him, being part of a normal couple that did normal things without leaving our little bubble of solitude.
He'd read over the script Jeannie had sent him, shaking his head disgustingly when he came to a particularly gross scene and had decided that there was absolutely no way he would act in it.
He'd grudgingly given me Jessica's ticket for the premiere, biting his bottom lip as he handed it over.
I told him that he was spending too much time with me; he agreed and we ended up on the floor of the kitchen after an entirely useless tickle fight, completely oblivious to what we'd been arguing about the minute our lips met.
We had christened ninety-nine percent of the downstairs of his house. I wouldn't let him near the table, though. After my dream, I never wanted to even imagine us on the kitchen table ever again.
We'd shoveled out the Volvo and had done all of our laundry yesterday, neither of us really thinking about what any of that meant for the time being.
Angela had personally delivered all of the pictures to us on Friday morning, informing me that I owed her one hell of a drink when we went out next week. Rosalie had been hounding her about information ever since last Friday night, threatening to show up on his doorstep soon and Angela had had to show her the pictures just to prove that Edward was behaving. Even then, it had taken her quite a bit of time to convince Rosalie that just showing up when she'd promised to leave us alone would be a very bad idea.
I looked away from the ceiling, biting my bottom lip as my eyes drifted to the framed twenty-four by thirty-six canvas print directly across from the bed. Angela had convinced us to strip off our shirts at some point and this particular photo involved me lying on the floor with Edward on top of me, our lips barely touching and our chests pressed tightly together.
There was another one – this one rolled up and placed in a tube – leaning against the wardrobe doors so that he wouldn't forget it tomorrow morning.
We hadn't spoken about his leaving. Not for lack of trying on his part, though. He'd wanted to – he brought it up at every damn opportunity, actually – and I kept avoiding it as much as possible.
I knew that we had to talk about it. I knew that we had to get everything out in the open so that we didn't end up hurting each other when we were apart.
But talking about it made it too real. And I wasn't ready for him to leave yet; I wasn't ready to go back to my empty house and long for the warmth of the home across the street.
I wasn't ready to lose him to real life just yet.
Swallowing hard, I slowly pushed myself up and rested back against the headboard, reaching up and rubbing my hands over my face.
I heard his footsteps on the stairs and dropped my hands into my lap, looking over at the doorway and waiting for him to appear. He did a few seconds later, two mugs of what I assumed was coffee gripped in his hands and what appeared to be a manila envelope held tightly against his chest with his forearm.
"Good; you're up," he smiled, walking over to me and handing me a mug.
He leaned over, gently pressing a kiss against my temple.
"Sleep well?"
I smiled and nodded, wrapping my hands around the mug and watching as he rounded the end of the bed. He set his mug on the end table next to him, set the envelope in the center of the bed and sat down next to me.
"We need to talk, Bella," he said softly, placing a hand on my knee and looking over at me. "There isn't a later anymore."
I nodded again, slowly lifting the mug to my lips and staring down at his hand.
"I know," I said quietly.
He raised his hand to place it on the back of my neck, gently rubbing it as he leaned into me and kissed my temple again.
"I love you," he whispered, briefly resting his forehead against the side of my head.
I reached over and placed my hand on his leg, turning once he backed away and smiling shakily at him.
"I love you too."
He moved his hand from the back of my neck, reaching around to brush his knuckles over my cheek before grabbing the envelope.
"Jeannie may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she knows me," he started, handing it to me.
I raised an eyebrow at him and set the mug down on the end table beside me before taking it from him and flipping it open. He placed his hand back on my knee, rubbing soothing circles on it as I pulled out a packet of paper and a recent Us Weekly magazine.
I glanced at the cover and twisted my lips to the side, seeing another version of our night out splashed on the front cover.
"Look at that in a minute," he said quietly, reaching over and taking the magazine from me.
"What does that even have to do with anything?"
"Don't worry about that right now." He flipped it upside down on the bed in front of us, nodding to the papers I still held in my hands. "Look at those."
Sighing and shaking my head, I finally looked at the papers to see that they were photocopied pages from someone's planner.
Edward; Vacation was written in the box for December seventh with a line drawn straight through most of the month. Edward in Forks was written on December twenty-second and I swallowed hard, sucking in a deep breath. I followed the line that stemmed from that box, straight to the first of the year. Edward; Premiere for Genius; 5PM was written in the box for January second.
I kept reading, frantically flipping pages and shaking my head at all of the things he had to do once he was back in California. He had something to do for every single day, right up until the middle of March when I saw that Jeannie had already written in Edward; New York with a line straight through three days.
"She… she already wrote that in there."
I looked up at him to see him nodding slowly at me.
"She's already got the plane tickets waiting for me at her office."
"March?" I whispered. "That's so…" I looked back down at the papers in my hands and bit my bottom lip. "That's so far away."
"I have a weekend," he said quietly, flipping back a few pages and pointing at a weekend in February that I seemed to have missed through the haze my brain had become somewhere around the middle of January. "You could… would you come to…? I mean…"
I looked up at him when he huffed and watched as he ran a hand through his hair and stared down at the comforter, his jaw tensed and the muscles working quickly.
"Yes," I said softly.
He looked over at me, his eyes locking onto mine as he seemed to chew the inside of his cheek.
"It won't be too much of a problem? With the store and all?"
My heart twisted painfully in my chest as I threw the pages to the bed before I crawled over to him and straddled his lap. His arms immediately wound around my waist and I buried my hands in his hair.
I loved the store; yes. It kept me fed, clothed and it kept a roof over my head – when I was over there, anyway – and it had been in my family for longer than I could remember.
Did it mean that I loved that place more than I loved Edward?
Fuck no.
And if I had someone that I could trust, someone that was willing to take over the entire thing and I thought that I could live without my friends and Charlie for extended amounts of time, I'd be packing everything I owned and getting onto that plane with him tomorrow morning without a second thought.
But my life was here. It was here, in this cabin that he should always be in with my bookstore right down the road and everything we could possibly ever need right here.
"Just because I can't go with you on a more permanent basis," I said softly, taking a deep breath and meeting his eyes, "doesn't mean that I wouldn't close the store every single fucking weekend if it meant that I could see you. Don't ever ask me if it's a problem."
"I don't want you…"
"Do I ever do anything I don't want to do?" I interrupted him, gently rubbing my thumbs over his temples.
I watched the corners of his mouth lift up into a slow smile before he leaned forward and placed his lips on mine.
"I'll buy your ticket."
"I'll buy my own damn ticket, thank you," I quipped, running my hands through his hair and resting them on his shoulders. "I'm more than capable of that."
He sighed heavily, leaning his forehead against mine and closing his eyes. I wrapped my hands around his neck, running my thumbs up and down the column of his throat as I stared at his eyelids.
"Three months is a really long time," he said softly, shaking his head slightly. "But it'll be here before we know it, you know? We won't even realize that it's been that long until I'm standing on your front porch."
"I'll make you dinner," I laughed softly, swallowing hard to cover up the tears that wanted to make their way up my throat. "And we won't leave the house."
He smirked and shook his head again, breathing out a laugh before sighing and pressing his lips into a tight line.
"I know you know this already, Bella, but it's going to be really hard," he whispered again. "People are going to make up so much shit about me being with someone else the minute I'm back in California and I need you to understand that none of it will be true."
His eyes finally opened again and he licked his lips, his arms tightening around me.
"You have my heart," he whispered, laughing once half-heartedly.
"I'll keep it safe," I whispered back, smiling softly and leaning in to kiss him again.
"Those days in March," he started, clearing his throat, "can you take them off?"
I nodded, biting my bottom lip again and watching my thumbs as they continued their trails up and down his throat.
Like I was actually going to spend the entire time working when I knew that he was back home. Seriously, what the hell was he thinking?
"Whenever you're here, I'm here. I'm not wasting any of my time with you."
And then he was crushing me against his chest, his face buried in my shoulder as his hands ran up and down my back. I moved my hands from his neck to wrap my arms around his shoulders, leaning my cheek on the back of his head.
We stayed that way for a few minutes, wrapped around each other and hanging on as if our lives depended on it.
Hell, at this point they might've.
"Okay," he finally breathed, backing away from me slightly. "There are still quite a few things that we need to go over."
I reached up and ran my hands through his hair again, smirking at him.
"You sound like a teacher."
He smiled and shrugged easily.
"I'm up for that."
I laughed and slapped gently at his bare chest, rolling my eyes as he merely smirked and squeezed me once. He grabbed my waist, easily lifting me from his lap and setting me next to him on the bed again. I curled my legs underneath me, leaning my head on his shoulder and getting as close to his side as possible when he slung an arm around my shoulders.
He reached over, grabbed the magazine and placed it face up in front of us, sighing heavily and shaking his head.
"This is your life now, Bella," he said quietly, his hand rubbing up and down my upper arm. "You'll be tabloid fodder, your name will be dragged through the mud no matter what Jeannie has told them and you'll never be the good guy in any outcome."
I swallowed hard, nodding and looking down at the cover of the magazine. My back was pressed against his chest, my head was thrown back on his shoulder and one of his arms was around my waist as we danced. It was grainy, but very easy to make out and extremely easy to tell that it was Edward behind me.
His hair, if nothing else, gave it all away.
"If Kristie's friends haven't said anything about seeing us, then it'll buy you a little time before the reporters start calling and the paparazzi start showing up wherever you are." He sucked in a deep breath and once again, I was crushed – this time very awkwardly – against his chest as he pulled me to him. "I don't want this for you, Bella."
"What did I tell you?" I backed away from him and framed his face in my hands. "I'm with you through all of it. I love you, Edward, and this is what I have to learn to live with. I'm with you."
"Do you realize that nothing you do will ever be private again?" he asked, his voice rushed and low. "They'll have pictures of you out shopping, hanging out with Rosalie and Angela – they won't be able to escape this either; not now. Your father might be able to get away from it because he's a cop, but Rose and Angela won't. Nothing is just yours anymore."
"You are," I said softly, gently shaking his head. "You're mine."
"They'll speculate about you. They'll see you with another guy – maybe someone you just happened to turn around and smile at – and you'll immediately be cheating on me. And they'll be so harsh on you; especially because I'm not around to refute it."
"But you'll know the truth. I'll know the truth. And it's not like we're never going to talk, right?" I asked, my voice spiking as I laughed nervously. "We're going to talk all the time, right?"
He'd never said anything about how we were going to keep in touch once he left. Yeah, okay, we'd just made plans to see each other twice during the next few months, but he hadn't said anything about talking to each other in between that time.
I shook my head a little, clamping my teeth down together and forcing the thoughts out.
No.
"Every damn day," he whispered, reaching up to grab my wrists in his hands and leaning forward to kiss me again. "I'm not going a day without hearing your voice."
I sat up a little straighter, feeling better when he spoke my thoughts out loud and threw my legs over his lap.
"Then stop trying to talk me out of being with you," I said softly, shaking my head. "I know all of what you're saying."
"You don't know the extent of it, Bella. You don't know how far they can actually take it. They'll be prying into your life as soon as I step off that plane without you and questions will be thrown around the news, in the tabloids… everywhere."
"Do you want to break it off with me?"
"What? No!"
"Then stop this." I gently shook his head again. "You want me in your life, don't you?"
"Of course I do! Bella, that isn't at all where I was going with all of this."
"Then you need to trust me when I say that I know, Edward. This is going to be hard enough without thinking in the back of my head that maybe you don't really want this."
"Bella…"
"I told you that I'd wait for you. You have to wait for me, too." I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his. "You have to trust me."
"I do," he whispered, moving his hands from my wrists to place them on my waist and lift me into his lap again.
"Then don't doubt me anymore, okay?"
He nodded, kissing me again and tightening his arms around my waist.
"I'm sorry. I just… if I could keep you from all of this then you know that I would."
"If that meant keeping me from you then I wouldn't want it anyway."
"Maybe it'd be better that way," he whispered sadly.
Anger and pain laced through me and before I was able to comprehend what I was doing, I'd leaped out of his lap and was pacing around the bedroom, my arms crossed over my chest as I stared at the floor.
"Bella…"
"If you don't want this; if you don't want me," I said, stopping and digging a fingertip painfully into my chest, "then tell me right fucking now. Don't put me through this pep talk bullshit if you don't have any intentions of sticking around after you leave tomorrow, all right?"
He was already shaking his head before I'd even finished, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in something that I figured must be disbelief.
I'd never talked to him this way before. Hell, I'd never had to. He'd never been so completely ridiculous and stupid and plain… hurtful before. Not with me; he wasn't like this with me.
"What are you…? Bella, no, that's not…"
"Then don't you dare tell me that maybe it'd be better if I'd kept away from you." I pointed at him then, clamping my hand into a fist when I realized that it was shaking. "That's not fair to me and that's not fair to what we have, Edward. But if you really meant that, then maybe I should leave now."
"No!" he roared, shooting up from the bed and taking one huge step over to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms. "No!"
I kept my arms to myself, standing rigidly against him and clenching my jaw together tightly.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, his voice cracking as he kept his arms tight around me. "Bella, I'm so sorry."
I stayed quiet, swallowing hard and staring at his chest as his hands kept moving around my back, stroking my spine and tangling in the ends of my hair.
"Say something," he finally pleaded, one of his hands cupping the back of my head. "I'm sorry, Bella. Please say something."
"Do you have any faith in us?" I asked softly, the anger almost completely gone as the pain easily replaced it. "Do you believe in us at all?"
"Of course I do!"
I snorted and walked out of his arms, shaking my head as I started to pace again. I ran a hand through my hair, keeping it on the back of my head as I placed my other one on my hip and sucked my bottom lip into my mouth.
"That's why you wished you'd never started dating me, right?"
I stopped and looked up at him, my eyes already wet as I dropped my arms to my sides.
"That's not what I said! Bella, you're twisting things around on me!"
"It's the same damn thing, Edward!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands out at my sides. I crossed them over my chest and looked away from him, sniffling. "And it hurts no matter how you word it."
I turned on my heel, walking out of the bedroom and across the hall to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and stood in the middle of the room, blinking rapidly at the bathtub.
This wasn't how I wanted to spend our last day together. I'd known that it wasn't going to be easy and that we were going to have to talk about everything, but I'd never expected it to end up this way.
I sighed out a shuddering breath and sank down onto the bath mat, pulling my knees up to my chest to rest my chin on them.
I needed to be rational. I needed to clear my head and really think about what in the hell had just happened between us. Now was not the time to fuck it all up.
Running away from him wasn't proving anything. The only thing I was doing was making this whole damn thing ten times worse than it really needed to be.
He loves me. And he's just as worried about his leaving as I am.
I closed my eyes tightly, wrapping my arms around my legs and taking deep, even breaths.
He loves me. He wants to protect me from everything that he's been forced to deal with on a regular basis.
I pressed my lips together and continued to breathe in through my nose.
He wants me to be safe. He doesn't want my life turned upside down just because of what he does for a living.
As if it wasn't turned upside down when I first kissed him anyway.
And God, how I loved him. My life had changed because of him, yes, but it was in such a way that I'd never been happier about it.
The hell with the rest of the world; Isabella Swan was finally learning what it felt like to really be in love with someone.
After so long of just existing with someone else, it was more than I could ever have possibly imagined to finally feel this way.
He had doubts and things that he needed to work out, too. I wasn't the only one that would be suffering when he left tomorrow and the minute he voiced how he felt, I overreacted and walked out on him.
Some girlfriend I was.
I unfolded myself from the floor, standing up and swallowing hard as I slowly walked to the door and pulled it open. My heart ached when I saw Edward sitting on the floor next to the bedroom door, his hands tangled in his hair and his knees pulled up with his elbows rested on them.
His head snapped up when he heard the door open and I swallowed hard at the regret lining his eyes.
He dropped his legs to the floor, his arms falling limply into his lap as he looked up at me.
"I understand if you want to leave," he said softly, his voice cracking again. "I just… let me see you tomorrow before I go, Bella. I can't…" He swallowed hard and reached up to run his hands through his hair again. "I can't go without seeing you."
I shook my head and walked over to him, plopping into his lap and quickly wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, burying my face into his chest as his arms immediately wrapped around my waist.
"It's my turn to be really, really sorry," I whispered, closing my eyes.
"I shouldn't have said it that way…"
"But I shouldn't have reacted like that."
"You had every right…"
"I had no right to say those things to you."
"That wasn't what I meant."
"I know," I said softly, breathing in deeply.
"I never want to hurt you."
"I know."
We stayed that way for a few more minutes, our grips never letting up on each other and neither of us moving very far.
"I believe in us, I believe in you. I love you so fucking much, Bella," he finally whispered, pulling me tighter against him and shaking his head. "I'm just… I want you to be okay when I'm not here. I want you to still be living a normal life and doing the things you always do. I'm so… I'm scared that you'll just get so tired of it and decide that it's not worth it. Decide that I'm not worth it anymore."
"That'll never happen." I shook my head and reached up to tangle my hands in his hair. "You're more than worth it, Edward."
"Will you still think that way when there's a camera in your face and people following you everywhere all the damn time?"
"Yes," I whispered, moving one hand from his hair to cup his cheek in my hand and rub my thumb across it. "Because I love you and if they can find something that interesting about me, then they're either really good at their jobs or really bored."
He let out a choked laugh, burying his nose into my hair and I felt my t-shirt pull up at the bottom as he fisted his hands into it.
"I'm scared too, you know," I whispered, taking a deep breath as I felt him stiffen underneath me. "There are so many beautiful girls out in California and you could want to be with one of them more than you want to be with me."
"That'll never happen."
"Someone could," I laughed half-heartedly and kept my hand on his cheek, "sweep you off of your feet and that'll just be it for you."
"You're it for me, Bella. Please don't doubt that," he whispered into my neck, shaking his head and pressing his lips against my shoulder. "Please."
I nodded, pressing my lips together and moving my other hand from his hair to rub it over his shoulder blades.
"I love you," I whispered into his ear. "More than I ever thought possible."
He moved his head from my neck and my hand dropped in between us as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, pressing my chest against his and opening my mouth to trace his bottom lip with my tongue. His lips parted, his tongue snaking out and into my mouth.
"I don't wish that we'd never started dating," he said quickly, pulling back from me as if I'd bitten him. "I'd never wish that, Bella, you have to understand that."
"I know," I whispered, nodding. "I twisted things, you said so yourself."
"And I don't want you thinking that I don't want you. I want you, always, and you can't doubt that, okay? You can't."
I swallowed hard and shook my head, reaching up with shaking hands to frame his face.
"Calm down," I whispered, sliding my hands into his hair.
"I don't want to lose you."
"You won't."
"I can't lose you."
"You won't," I whispered, slowly dragging my fingernails over the back of his head.
"It's never been like this for me before, Bella. I've never had to worry about leaving someone behind because it never mattered this much before. I don't know… I don't know what to do," he choked out a half-hearted laugh before he shook his head and closed his eyes.
"We'll muddle through this together because I don't know either. But we're not giving up," he shook his head quickly in agreement, his eyes still closed, "and we'll get through it."
"After those three days in March," he started, licking his lips, "I have to go to Canada to shoot a movie for a few months. It's gonna be long days and…"
"You will call me," I interrupted, "no matter what time of day it is."
He nodded, slowly opening his eyes to look into mine.
"I just know how you hate the phone."
I blinked at him before laughter escaped my lips and I shook my head. He smirked at me, leaning forward and kissing me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he backed away again.
"There was a reason for that magazine," he said, twisting his lips to the side.
I took a deep breath and nodded, kissing him again before standing up and waiting for him to do the same. He grabbed my hand when he was back on his feet, leading me back into the bedroom and over to my side of the bed. He sat down first, his hand still tangled with mine as he pulled me in between his legs. I grabbed the magazine before I settled back against his chest and placed it in my lap. He rested his chin on my shoulder, his other arm wrapping tightly around my waist.
"Page twenty-one," he said quietly.
I flipped to the page he wanted, cringing slightly at all the pictures I hadn't realized that had been taken while we were out.
There were twenty times more than Jessica had shown me last week littered around the two page spread, lining the border with little blurbs underneath them.
"This is Jeannie's statement about you," he said, shaking his hand from mine and pointing to a paragraph near the beginning of the article. "You're a very big part of this now, Bella."
I skimmed over the article, swallowing the small bit of panic that flowed through me as I read over a brief summary of my life printed in a national magazine that tens of thousands of people were reading. Almost all of the answers to her questions – excluding the last one she'd asked – were there in some form or another and I bit my bottom lip.
"'Is she just some passing fling? No. We have confirmation that this girl is here to stay'," he quoted softly into my ear. "I hope she is."
"I'm not going anywhere." I snapped the magazine shut and shifted to the side so that I could see him. "Please believe that, Edward."
He studied me, his eyes searching my face before he nodded and leaned in to kiss me again.
"I'm just…"
"I know you are. But here's the thing," I started, turning in his arms and throwing my legs over one of his, "I'm pretty much made for you. And as far as I can see, you're pretty much made for me. So there's something that we need to do right now."
"What's that?" he asked, a small smile flitting across his face as he clasped both of his hands around my waist.
"We need to remember that we're still going to be that way no matter how far apart we are. We need to realize that what we have isn't something that comes around all the time. We need to listen to each other and give in completely to what we make each other feel because if we don't, we're ruining the best thing either of us has had in a really long time." I sat up, crashing my lips to his quickly before backing away slightly. "And I don't want to take any chances like that. Not with you."
His small smile turned into a grin as he leaned forward and gently kissed both of my cheeks.
"How'd I end up with someone like you?"
"I got buzzed and kissed you?"
He laughed and nodded, leaning forward and resting his forehead against mine.
"Best damn thing you could've ever done, Bella."
"And don't you dare forget that, all right?" I asked sternly, pursing my lips at him.
"I won't."
"And stop thinking it."
He smirked and nodded, sucking in a deep breath and pulling me against his chest. I rested against him, reaching up to place my palm over his heart as I tucked my head underneath his chin.
"Are you hungry?" he whispered, one of his hands rounding my back and playing with the ends of my hair.
I shook my head, looking up and kissing the bottom of his chin.
"Just stay here with me for a little while longer, okay?"
His arms tightened around me as he nodded, moving his head down to press his lips to mine.
"As long as you want."
I smiled sadly and tucked my head back underneath his chin, curling up against him and closing my eyes.
What I wouldn't give for someone I trusted to be around right this fucking second. No part of me wanted him to leave tomorrow morning without me by his side. I didn't want to go back to the empty house across the street, I didn't want to go back to work on Tuesday to deal with Jessica's questions and snotty comments when I knew that he wouldn't be there to deflect all of it when I got home.
I wanted to stay right here with him for the rest of my life. I didn't want to move from his arms, I didn't want to stop feeling like I finally had something solid and stable to lean on and I definitely didn't want to remember what it was like to sleep on an air mattress.
I sighed, turned my face to his chest and pressed my lips right above my fingertips.
"I want forever," I whispered.
"It's yours," he whispered back and I felt his lips pressing against the top of my head.
~*~
We finally made our way downstairs a few hours later when my stomach loudly insisted that it needed to be filled. He'd laughed and plucked me up from his lap, ignoring my screeching when he kept me cradled in his arms and walked downstairs with me and into the kitchen.
And then he'd made me promise that I wouldn't move from the kitchen until he said so, which naturally had me itching to follow him as he darted back up the stairs.
So I put my anxious energy to work and began making French toast, casting glances out of the corner of my eye when he came back downstairs with a few thousand bags in his hands and disappeared into the living room, threatening me with bodily harm if I came out before he said I could.
I huffed and seriously contemplated burning his portion of brunch before I realized that he'd probably just end up stealing mine.
I grumbled and slammed bowls and pans around, scowling a little more as I heard him laughing out in the living room as he did whatever it was that he was doing.
And of course he wasn't making any damn noise aside from the soft rustling of the plastic bags, so I couldn't even determine what he might've had up his sleeve.
I didn't care if curiosity killed the cat; I was going to explode if I didn't figure out what the hell he was up to.
Sighing, I flipped the last piece of bread out of the pan and onto the stack on the plate next to me, flipping off the burner and walking to the doorway of the kitchen.
I stuck my head out, doing my best to peer around the corner in an attempt to see what he was doing.
Everything appeared normal; all I saw was the side of the television and the front door. Both were perfectly normal and I huffed again, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting.
This was getting me nowhere.
"Food's done!" I exclaimed sourly, listening to his hasty footsteps as he rushed into the dining room.
"Smell's delicious," he stated brightly, kissing my cheek before he sailed into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator.
I turned and watched as he grabbed a bottle of maple syrup, walking to the counter and grabbing two plates from the cabinet as well as the plate of French toast.
"We're gonna eat in the living room," he stated, balancing the plate in the palm of his hand.
"Why?" I asked slowly.
He just grinned at me.
"Stay here," he instructed, kissing my cheek again as he sailed by me and back into the living room.
I growled after him, narrowing my eyes at his retreating back until he completely disappeared. Twisting my lips to the side, I stomped over to the counter and yanked open the drawer that housed the silverware. I grabbed a few forks and knives, holding them tightly in my hand before standing back in the doorway of the kitchen and tapping my foot impatiently.
He reappeared a few minutes later, a grin on his face as he walked over to me and stood in front of me.
"Let me take those," he laughed a little nervously before taking the silverware from me and grabbing one of my hands in his free one. "Will you close your eyes?"
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Please?" he laughed, gently tugging on my hand and sounding a bit like an impatient five year old.
"Is anything going to jump out at me?"
"No."
Sighing heavily, I stood up straight, squeezed his hand and closed my eyes. I jumped when I felt his lips on mine and resisted the urge to kick him when he laughed at me.
"You'll enjoy this, Bella, I promise."
"Mhmm," I drawled, rolling my eyes and shuffling my feet as he started to pull me.
"You enjoyed the last surprise, didn't you?" he mocked.
"Yeah, well…"
"That's what I thought."
I stumbled a little when my feet met the carpet of the living room, having to actually pick up my feet as opposed to shuffling them against the hardwood floor of the dining room.
"Keep them closed!" he exclaimed before he let go of my hand.
I heard the silverware scraping against what I assumed were the plates and unconsciously began to tap my toes again as I waited for him.
"Calm down, Bella," he laughed. "Nothing's going to jump out at you and nothing's going to hurt you. I'd never let anything happen to you."
"I know," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and doing my best to relax.
It was then that I noticed the slight temperature change in the room. While the house was warm, this room seemed to be even warmer than usual. And it smelled different, too…
I stuck my nose in the air, inhaling deeply and ignoring the snort coming from Edward's general direction.
Vanilla; that was definitely vanilla that I smelled.
What in the hell could he possibly be doing and why in the fuck did the living room suddenly smell like someone had dumped an entire bottle of vanilla extract into the carpet?
Maybe I should've looked a little more closely at the things in his cabinets…
"Edward," I whined, abandoning even the pretense of trying to relax.
"I'm almost done!" he laughed. "You're impatient, you know?"
"I hate surprises. We've been over this."
"Well, I happen to love surprising you whether you like it or not. Something that you'll just have to get used to," he sang.
I grumbled and pressed my lips tightly together, curling my hands into fists at my sides and doing my best to resist the urge to just open my damn eyes.
It was like the blindfold thing all over again.
I couldn't stop the smug smirk that my lips lifted in to, imagining the way he had looked with the blindfold over his eyes, his arms spread out at his sides as I kissed down his chest.
Needless to say, he'd enjoyed it quite a bit more than I had.
"Okay."
I jumped from my very vivid memories when I heard his voice right in front of me and growled when he laughed at me again.
I didn't like this game. I didn’t like that he had the unnatural ability to be as quiet as a fucking mouse, either.
It was unnerving and completely unfair.
"You can open your eyes now."
My eyes popped open and I was met with his chest as he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly against him.
I still couldn't see a damn thing and he was making sure of that.
"I've been planning this for a while," he said softly, all traces of laughter and joking gone from his voice. "So if you really hate it, tell me and we'll never speak of it again."
"Edward…"
"This is our last full day together, Bella," he whispered, backing away from me slightly and meeting my gaze. "And while it got off to a bit of a rough start, I want it to end on a much better note. So if you don't like it or this is too much, tell me, all right?"
I could only nod, his eyes so intent and focused on mine that I couldn't do anything else. He leaned down, his lips soft against mine before he pulled away and stepped to the side.
My breath whooshed out of my lungs and I swallowed hard, tears immediately stinging my eyes.
The coffee table was pushed right up against the couch and a blue, fleece blanket was spread over the floor. Pillows were scattered around the edges and the French toast I'd made was sitting in the middle of it. The vanilla smell and temperature difference came from what seemed like a million candles scattered all around, lighting up the room. He'd closed the shades, keeping the dismal amount of sunlight out and I could barely make out what looked like rose petals scattered on the blanket as well. Christmas lights were strewn up around the wall in awkward and hurried lines and I marveled at the fact that he was able to do all of this without making one damn sound.
There was a small maroon box sitting next to one of the plates on the blanket and the little amount of breath I still had in my lungs got caught in my throat as I rested both of my hands on my stomach.
He couldn't… not yet, right? I mean, it's only been about a week and a half at most.
It didn't have to be a ring. It could be something else entirely. I was probably freaking out over absolutely nothing.
Again.
"Breathe," he whispered, reaching out and grabbing my elbow in his hand.
I sucked in a sharp breath, swallowing hard and looking over at him. He was nervous, shifting the weight on his feet and smiling shakily at me.
"Is this… is it okay? Too much?"
I shook my head slowly, reaching over and grabbing his hand, lacing our fingers together as I looked back at the spread in front of me.
"It's… perfect."
He tugged me close to him again, leaning in to me and pressing his lips against my temple.
"I love you, Bella."
I closed my eyes again, leaning in to him and smiling slowly as I squeezed his hand.
"I love you too."
My stomach chose that time to grumble again and he laughed, kissing my temple again before backing away and leading me over to the blanket. I eagerly stepped on to it, plopping down onto one of the pillows and waiting for him to do the same.
He sat next to me, letting go of my hand and picking up the little maroon box sitting next to the plate.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times before holding it out to me, his bottom lip caught in between his teeth. I laughed at him, taking the box and leaning over to kiss him softly.
"Breathe," I whispered as I backed away.
"Smart ass," he mumbled, moving closer to me and resting one hand on my knee. "Open it."
I took a deep breath and quickly flipped the top open, confused when I saw a key sitting nestled against the velvet inside. I looked over at him again, my eyebrow automatically quirking up.
All right, so it wasn't a ring. That was perfectly okay with me. Can't say as I was expecting a key, though.
"It's to my front door," he said softly. "You still don't have any furniture and if you wanted to just…" He reached up with his other hand and ran it nervously through his hair. "If you wanted to stay here… I want you to stay here… you can… fuck," he whispered, shaking his head and looking over at me. "You hate it."
"No."
"You don't want it."
"Oh, I want it."
He huffed, his lips twitching slightly as he stared at me.
"Spit it out, Edward," I said softly, barely able to contain the hope and absolute fucking elation making its way through my body.
I wanted him to say it.
"You can move in here if you want," he said quickly, the words stringing together. "You don't have to if you don't want to and if this is too soon or it's too much, then it's okay. I want you to have it anyway. I just don't want you sleeping on that air mattress anymore and I want you to be comfortable and if it's too much-"
I cut him off, practically leaping on him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and forcefully fused my lips to his, the box snapping shut as I held it tightly in my fist and crawled into his lap. His hands were on my sides immediately, his mouth working just as furiously against mine.
"Not too much," I breathed, kissing a trail across his cheek and down to his neck.
"Even if you just want to wait to get new furniture, I want you to have some place to stay."
I sat back and raised an eyebrow at him, pursing my lips and tilting my head.
"Do you want me to move in here?"
"Only if you want to."
I dropped the box into my lap and grabbed his face in my hands, squishing his cheeks together again and staring into his eyes.
"Do you want me to move in here?" I asked again.
He nodded and I dropped my hands from his face to rest them on his chest.
"Then ask me."
"That's what the damn key did!"
"The key can't talk."
"Bella," he whined, dropping his head back.
I took this opportunity to move in closer and press my lips against his throat, slowly moving my hands in massaging circles against his chest. My lips curved into a smile when I heard one of the strangled noises I'd gotten used to hearing from him slip through his lips.
"Ask me, Edward," I whispered, trailing my lips up to his ear, "I want to hear it from you."
"Will you move in here, Bella?" he asked, his breathing ragged.
I sat up straight, grinning as he growled and dragged his head back up.
"Yes," I said brightly.
"That wasn't right."
"Worked, though."
"You're going to hell."
"You'll be right there with me." I kissed him quickly. "Reserved seats and everything."
He sighed heavily, his arms winding tightly around my waist as he nodded and smirked crookedly at me.
"Wouldn't wanna be wherever you weren't anyway."
I grinned and kissed him again, my lips smacking against his before I grabbed the box and slid off of his lap.
"Where are you…?"
He stopped talking as my stomach interrupted him. I laughed nervously, set the box down next to me and quickly grabbed my empty plate and a fork. I looked over at him and saw that he was smirking, his lips twitching in what I assumed was a sad attempt not to laugh at me before he leaned over and kissed me again.
"We're gonna be just fine," he whispered before he grabbed his own plate and started shoveling French toast onto it.
I smiled and nodded, looking at the box from the corner of my eye as I grabbed a few pieces of my own.
Yes. We were.
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