Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Twilight… other than all the movies, books, magazines, a few cups, a notebook, some wallpapers for my laptop and… oh, wait… that's just merchandise; so, um, never mind. I own nothing.

Shall we continue? Sorry for the long delay.

Last chappie we had some desperate store sex and another appearance by psycho Lauren. When is she going to just go away already? Geez. I know, right?

Lauren left the antique store devastated. She'd begged Edward, not in so many words, but he'd known what she meant. He knew she needed him. Well, not him really, but she needed sex. And not just any sex, she needed Edward. He was the best fuck around. Even when he didn't want to be there. She could tell he didn't like it but even not liking it, he was still better than anyone else.

Lauren drove past her house and wasn't surprised to see a moving van, a police car and Alice. That damned woman, ruiner of all things, was standing on her porch. Lauren's eyes narrowed as she thought about jumping out of the car and beating Alice to death with her bare hands, but another look at the size of the two police officers changed her mind. She drove on.

Lauren pulled the stack of bills out of her bra and counted it. She could buy enough booze to last a while with it. Or…she sneered and turned toward the cheaper side of town. The pavement grew rougher when she crossed the railroad tracks and her heartbeat sped up. She would have relief soon.

An hour, an unsatisfying fuck and several lines of cocaine later, Lauren spotted Edward's Jeep still in the parking lot where she'd left him. She pulled to the back of the lot and parked under the shade of an old oak tree. What was he still doing here? The coke was taking effect and her vision was blurring. She rubbed at her face and remembered a time when using made her feel euphoric, but not anymore. She felt numb, but it didn't feel good anymore. She reached into the seat beside her and grabbed the bottle of whisky she'd bought with her windfall. Cracking it open, she gulped down a fourth of the bottle and waited. There. The pain was completely gone now. There was nothing but emptiness left. She felt something wet on her chin and swiped at it, only then realizing that she was crying. She scrubbed at her eyes angrily. She hated crying. Instead of staunching her tears, she only succeeded in smearing mascara into her eyes, making them burn.

She caught movement in the parking lot and saw Edward's Jeep backing out. Taking another hit from the bottle, she put her car in gear.

~O~

Edward sat on the counter and watched Bella chop vegetables for their supper. She had changed into shorts and a tank top and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

"You look like a teenager," he said with a chuckle.

She gave him a playful look over her shoulder. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

He grinned at her. "I'll keep that in mind." He listened as she chatted away about the weather, football, homework, everything but what had happened earlier. He slid off his perch and stepped over to grab a carrot off the cutting board. He kissed her cheek and leaned back against the counter. She was adorable.

After supper, they snuggled together on the couch and watched a movie. Her head was leaning against his shoulder and he kept leaning down to sniff her hair and place soft kisses on her head. He heard her sigh and smiled. She sounded as content as he felt. Most of the movie passed before she turned her head and looked up at him with sad eyes. His brows drew together and he leaned away to better study her face.

"What's the matter?"

"What did she mean, Edward?"

He knew who Bella was talking about but was at a loss to what specifically she meant. He wrinkled his brows and tilted his head in response.

Bella picked up one of his hands and played with his fingernails.

"When she said, 'You know what I need'?"

Edward studied her face and thought about changing the subject. But Bella's eyes were on his and he wanted to be as real with her as she'd been with him. So he cleared his throat and moved his arm from around her shoulders. He slowly pulled his hand from hers and scratched at his hair. His body was tense, but he was learning not to be afraid of the truth. He stood and paced over to the fireplace where he spent a few minutes rearranging the picture frames sitting on the mantelpiece.

"Bella, Lauren has problems. She's pretty messed up actually." He watched his own hand stroke the edge of the ledge and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Her dad was a really, um, he was horrible. He molested her most of her childhood and she's never stayed in therapy for longer than a few months at a time." He couldn't look away as his thumbnail scraped paint out of the crack in the wood. "Anyway, she developed some addictions. I didn't know about them when we met." He chuckled humorlessly, "Hell, I didn't know about them until we'd been married a couple of years." He glanced at Bella. She was sitting on the couch, her legs drawn up and a blanket gripped in her hands. Her eyes were soft as she waited for him to continue. He had to look away.

"She had a drug problem, cocaine. She went to rehab and that's been under control for a while now." He looked doubtful, "At least, I think it has. But her other… well, she's got a sex addiction. And that was bad the first couple of years, but then we worked out a deal. She wouldn't, you know, go out looking for it and I would…" he swallowed again. "I would keep her supplied, so to speak, as long as we used a condom. She kept her end of the deal until recently." He refused to meet Bella's eyes and paced around the room. "I spoke with a therapist and did some research online. They all said the same thing: sex addiction is real and until she was ready to deal with it, it wouldn't stop. So, I coped as best I could. I figured if I gave her sex and kept her satisfied, then she wouldn't go elsewhere. And if I could keep her from going elsewhere and being safe, then my risk of disease was much less and Lauren's risk of getting hurt or killed was less too. So that's what I did. What I tried to do anyway." He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Bella.

Bella looked down at where her fingers were picking at a loose string on the blanket. "So you've only had sex on demand all these years? Weren't you afraid she was going behind your back?"

Edward ran a hand through his hair and pulled. "I did what I thought was right. I made her get tested regularly. I tried to protect her, to keep her safe, to save her, I guess. But eventually, I started hating her. It all spiraled into this sick, twisted game and I realized that not only was I not helping her, I was killing myself in the process. I had to get out and when she fucked a random guy in my bed, well, that was it. I was done."

He heard Bella get up from the couch and stilled. Her small hand touched the back of his arm but still he didn't move. "She was asking me for sex today. She wanted me to feed her addiction." He raised pained eyes to hers, "But I won't do it anymore. I refused."

"I'm so sorry, Edward," Bella whispered, not knowing what else to say. She was sorry for the emptiness he felt and sorry, too, for the broken woman who had caused it. There was also a deep anger in her at Lauren; an anger that screamed for Bella to do something to make Lauren pay. She knew on an intellectual level that addiction was a terrible thing, an uncontrollable beast; but when she saw the utter devastation it caused, she wanted to make that beast pay.

Edward turned suddenly and held her. "I gave her money today. I know her. The only thing she wants as much as sex is money. I knew it would appease her. Bella, I hate the person I've become. I hated having to use condoms and feeling the need to get tested regularly even though I'd only been with my wife. I hated the doubt I felt every time she promised that she'd not been with anyone but me and the fact that I had to force her into getting tested. I hated being with my family and seeing their happy marriages and knowing I could never have that." He shuddered and swallowed heavily. "I don't ever want to go back there. I hate that Lauren is killing herself, but I can't let her kill me too."

He felt Bella's hands stroking his back and held her tighter.

"Let's go to bed," she whispered into his chest. "We're both worn out." She stepped back from him and took him by the hand and led him from the room, flipping lights off as she passed. She crossed her room to her bedside lamp and switched it on instead of turning on the overhead.

Edward watched her turn down the bedcovers and felt the hint of a smile touch his lips. She turned back to him and saw him watching her. She crossed back to him and tugged up the hem of his tshirt. "Come on, up you go."

Edward lifted his arms and smiled when his shirt passed over his head. He stood still and let her slowly undress him. When he was down to his boxer briefs, she leaned forward and kissed his heart.

"It's going to be okay, Edward. Maybe now she'll reach the bottom and get the help she needs. You did the right thing for you. You're going to be happy one day. I know it," she whispered.

Edward pushed her away from his chest just enough to look into her eyes. "You make me happy, Bella." Her smile dazzled him. He slid her hair behind her ear and ran his fingertips over her cheeks. And when she reached for the edge of her tank top, he pushed her hands away. "May I?"
he murmured.

Bella nodded and lifted her hands, mimicking his actions from moments before. She closed her eyes and hummed at the sensation of him running his hands up her sides, her shirt collecting at his wrists. She gasped when she felt his lips gliding between her breasts and moaned when she felt his tongue slide over her nipple. His name left her lips on a sigh.

"Bella." Edward's voice was rough and made her insides flip over. Once her top was on the floor, she slid her hands into his hair and watched him, bent over, tongue laving first one nipple then the other. It was the most erotic sight she'd ever seen.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up, her legs hanging down, bringing her breasts within easy reach of his hungry mouth. He felt her gasp and then her arms were around him, her shoulders hunched as she held his head to her breast. He looked up at her, his eyes half-lidded, his lips red and wet and felt her tremble in his arms.

"Can I have you again, Bella?" He held her tighter when she nodded breathlessly at him. Tilting his head back, he waited for her lips to descend to his, then kissing her voraciously, his mouth devouring hers.

Bella's hands gripped his hair and she tried to keep up with the demands of his mouth. When she felt the wall at her back, she reached down and wriggled out of her shorts, then wrapped her naked legs around his waist. "Please, please," she panted.

Edward used one hand to pull the front of his boxers down enough to free his straining erection, then plunged inside her heat.

"Oh fuck, Bella. You feel so fuckin' good on my cock." He growled as he started lifting her over him. Filthy, dirty words were on the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back, not wanting to say something that could be a trigger.

Bella whimpered at the sensations coursing through her. Edward's mouth on hers, his chest rubbing against her sensitive tips every time he lifted her and the amazing fullness inside her. She opened her eyes to find him watching her face intently and the look on his face had her orgasm rushing up faster than she was prepared for. She screamed out his name as she clenched around him, triggering his climax. She felt his hips jerk once, twice and then his head dropped to her shoulder.

"Oh my god, Edward. That was amazing." She kissed the side of his face and tightened her legs around him. "You are amazing. I never knew it could feel like this."

He lifted his head and grinned at her. "Me either." He kissed her gently on the lips and lowered her until her feet could touch the floor. "Bed?"

Bella nodded and crawled under the covers. She felt him crawl in after her and then she felt the heat of his body wrap around her, spooning her to his chest. "Mmmm," she moaned. The last thing she knew before sleep found her was the kiss he placed on the back of her head.

~O~

The doorbell woke them at six the next morning.

Bella cracked her eyes open and looked first at the still darkened window and then at the clock beside the bed. "What in the world?"

Edward sat up and touched her back when she sat up on the edge of the bed. "You want me to go see who it is?"

Bella turned and took his hand or a brief second before crossing the room to shrug into her housecoat. "No. You're not supposed to be here, remember?" She kissed his cheek and smiled. "Stay!"

She flipped on the hall light as she made her way to the door, the bell ringing once more before she could get there. "Coming!" she called.

Her heart was immediately in her throat when she saw the uniformed police officer on her steps.

"Can I help you, Officer?" She croaked, furiously running her fingers through her tangled hair.

The officer grimaced apologetically. "Yes, ma'am. I'm really sorry to wake you on a Saturday morning, but we got a call from one of your neighbors who was out for a jog. It seems there's a body on your lawn." He stepped to the side and Bella saw a crumpled heap of what looked like clothing. In the distance she heard the ambulance sirens. "The ambulance is almost here to take her to the hospital. Looks like she's just passed out drunk." He turned back to look at the pale face and giant eyes of the small woman before him. "Do you know anything about this? You know who she is?"

Bella felt coldness creeping into her chest and shook her head hard enough to swing her hair into her face, forcing her to push it back again. "Who… why… um, who is she?"

The officer patted her on the shoulder and gave her a small smile. "I didn't figure you knew anything about this. The neighbor who called it in said you were new to town and had a little boy that you were raising on your own." He lifted a hand to the EMTs who were on the scene. "You're a widow?" he asked, sounding like he already knew the answer.

Bella nodded and covered her mouth with her hand to try to keep the tears in. When the EMTs lifted the woman onto the stretcher, Bella realized with dread who was passed out in her yard. It was Lauren.

A/N :

I suck, I know for the long delay. But thanks so much for the reviews and kind words. For all who have me on Alert, you are my sunshine and motivation when I get stuck. Thank you!

Reviews are better than falling asleep to Edward hair kisses…