A/N:

Okay, yeah, I can barely believe this myself. When I sat down to write today, the plan wasn't to work on this story, but here I am, surprising myself!

I know you've waited a long time for this, so I won't keep you.

Title: Three's a Crowd

Author: MarieCarro

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Bella and Rosalie are roommates and best friends. When the third friend of their BFF trio moves out to live with her boyfriend and her newborn baby, the girls need to find someone new, and it appears that someone just happens to stumble into their laps.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER 6

Rosalie hummed to herself as she packed her large suitcase when Edward came into her room, one of his shirts in his hand.

"Hey, Rose. Could you help me sew this button on here?" he gestured with the broken off button miserably.

She shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, can't. I have to leave soon, so I don't have time. Ask Bella."

Edward sighed. "I did, but she insisted she had to water the plants before work."

"Well, it's true," Bella said as she flitted past the door. "They need some nourishment, you know. The beer you pour over them when the Seahawks wins over the Giants isn't enough."

Still pouting sadly, Edward followed her. "If you cared about me half as much as you care about those plants, I might've actually felt liked around here."

Bella turned to him and matched his exaggerated expression. "Aaaw, poor little Edward," she said and gently touched his cheek before holding up the bottle with grimy water happily. "You want some fertilization too?"

Edward grimaced and Bella pretended to be offended.

"But it's my special concoction," she gasped. "It's rainwater from your gym shoes on the balcony, whisked lightly with horse manure. C'mon, have a taste!" She playfully held the bottle up to his face.

"I'll pass," Edward said and started to back away.

Bella smiled evilly and stalked after him. "But it's so good for you. I promise you'll grow so big and strong!"

He made a full one-eighty and ran, but Bella followed, the bottle raised like a gun in her hand. She chased him around the entire apartment, but then, when he once again faced her, he bumped into the back of the living room futon and fell backward.

With a grin, Bella leaned over him and once again pretended she was going to spray him, but he grabbed the backs of her arms and pulled her down on the floor with him, wrestling the bottle out of her grip and then rolling them over to lock her down on her back.

Edward was straddling her hips and had her wrists held down against the floor by her head when both of them became acutely aware of their intimate position. His eyes involuntarily traveled down to her heaving chest, and Bella's breathing became even more labored as she watched him take in her curves.

A frustrated groan sounding from Rosalie's bedroom interrupted the tense moment. "Bella!"

Edward and Bella exchanged a heated glance. They were both aware their lust for each other got harder and harder to squash down with every time they got close. But then, Bella closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"What?" she yelled back to Rosalie.

"I can't get the bag to close. Can you come here and sit on the lid?"

Edward was still looking at her with lust-filled eyes, and Bella had to swallow hard.

"I'll be right there!" She gently pushed Edward off her, and he sighed in disappointment.

Bella sympathized with him because it was getting increasingly difficult for her as well, but she really didn't want to put her best friend in the position of living with a dating couple. To show him that she wasn't rejecting him for the fun of it, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it before she got up from the floor and disappeared inside Rosalie's room.

For a moment, Edward remained on the floor and contemplated if all the frustration he felt around Bella was worth it or if he should just start looking for a new place again. It appeared as if that was the only solution to a problem he had never anticipated he would have.

The doorbell rang, and Edward was thankful for the interruption of his thoughts to go answer it.

"Hi there, Edward! How are you?" Julie asked cheerily, but without waiting for a reply, she held up a polaroid camera. "I promised Rosalie she could borrow this. She's excited to go to L.A with Alice, isn't she?"

Edward accepted the camera and invited Julie inside. "Are you kidding me? She hasn't stopped talking about it for a week. It made Bella quite angry since she can't go with them." He fiddled a bit with the camera since he'd never actually used one before.

"I can imagine the girls rarely get to see Alice anymore," Julie mused. "What with Alice being a new mom and all, I mean. How old is her baby now?"

Before Edward could answer, Rosalie and Bella emerged from the bedroom, and Edward exhaled in relief. He had no idea how old Alice's baby was since he didn't really know her. He knew of her through the girls, but that was it.

Rosalie gasped in excitement at the sight of the camera. "Oh thank you so much, Julie! This will make the trip even better!"

"It's nothing, honey," Julie assured. "Fred and I bought that thing years ago when we wanted to take pictures of all the exciting trips we were going to make and sights we were going to see."

"How does it work?" Rosalie asked as she took the camera from Edward.

"No idea. We never used it." The look Julie gave Rosalie caused everyone to chuckle. It wasn't a secret that Julie often wished Fred was a little bit more adventurous. "Which is why it's better it gets used now. It's been collecting dust in our closet for years."

The front door opened behind them, and the infamous Alice stepped through. As the three former roommates melted together in a group hug, Alice's husband, Jasper, with a baby strapped to his front, stood to the side with Julie and Edward.

"You must be Edward," Jasper said and held out his hand. "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Jasper, and this is Oliver."

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Edward agreed and accepted the offered handshake.

Julie, after having said hi to Alice, excused herself and left, and Alice immediately complained about how sad it was that Bella wasn't coming with them.

Bella's expression was just as disappointed. "I know." She sighed. "I hate that I can't come with, but no one at work could cover my shift, and I have a test coming up that I really need to study for."

"Don't worry about it, Bella," Jasper said, stepping into the conversation. "We're weaning Oliver off nursing right now, and I have nothing against staying at home with him whenever you three want to see each other."

Bella kissed Jasper on the cheek gratefully and then looked at Alice over her shoulder. "You have the sweetest husband, you know that?"

Alice smiled and looked at her little family. "He's the best," she said, and then her phone chimed. "Oh, that's our Uber, Rose. Let's go." The two girls grabbed their bags and started leaving. "It was nice meeting you, Edward. Bella, I expect to have lunch with just you when we're back, and don't you dare back out of it!"

With her hands up in surrender, Bella nodded in agreement. "Have fun!" She waved goodbye somewhat sadly, clearly wanting to go with them.

Edward wanted to comfort her, but not only was Jasper still there, but baby Oliver stared at him with eyes that looked like he was judging him hard, and he wondered if babies could read minds. If they could, he needed to force his thoughts into a K-rating quickly.

"Well, I'd better get going," Jasper said. "I was only supposed to drop Alice off and it's almost time for Oliver's nap."

"You need to come over more often," Bella said and then turned her attention to Oliver. "I don't want this handsome little gentleman to forget who I am." She lightly grabbed his closed fist to shake it, but the baby was enthralled with Edward and continued to stare at him with an open mouth. "Looks like you've got yourself a fan, Edward," Bella said with a giggle.

Edward let out an uncomfortable laugh. He wasn't very good around babies, and while he had nothing against them, he never knew how to act around them.

Jasper said goodbye and then left, and as soon as the door closed, Bella leaned her head back in frustration and let out a groan before throwing herself on the couch. "This sucks," she complained.

"I resent that. It's a blast hanging out with me," Edward said and leaned on the back of the couch, and he didn't even bother to hide his appreciation for Bella's outstretched body.

She reached up with her hand and squeezed his cheeks until his lips pouted like a fish. "Yes, hanging out with you absolutely trumps going to L.A with my two best girlfriends, one of which I rarely get to see anymore." She removed her grip and sighed dramatically. "Oh, well, I guess we can have equally fun sitting at home. Watch a German silent movie from the 20s or something."

Edward massaged his jaw after Bella's hard grip and then leaned forward, closer to her. "Maybe I can make up for it?" he said, and she turned to him with a skeptic expression.

"How?"

Before she could protest, he leaned down and captured her mouth with his. At first, she tried to lean away, but the moment their lips detached, he whispered against hers. "We're completely alone, Bella. There's no one around to catch us."

There was a moment of hesitation, but then, finally … finally … she gave in and their mouths started to move in sync once more. Without much grace, he climbed over the back and lay on top of her, his hands roaming over her curves in heated lust.

"Edward..." she breathed out. "We sh—"

"Please, don't say it," he begged as his dick wept for a second time. If this pattern continued, his balls would fall off for sure, and he didn't want to live out the rest of his life as a eunuch.

"Just because we're alone doesn't mean the issue is gone," Bella said, but she didn't make a move to get out from under him, either.

"We don't have to tell her," Edward insisted and ran a hand down the length of her body, hoping it would get her back into the mood. "What we do when she's not home is up to us, isn't it? I just want you so much."

Bella reached up and wound her hands around his neck, truly reluctant to move away from him. She wanted him, and he wanted her. It shouldn't have been a difficult equation. "Rosalie isn't stupid, Edward," she said, and he gave her a skeptical look. "She's not! She just has a different way of looking at things, but believe me, when it comes to sex, she's got a sixth sense. She'd take one look at either of us and immediately know."

Realizing nothing would happen, Edward sat back on his knees, and Bella sat up next to him.

"So what if she found out?" Edward asked. "Why would that be such a bad thing?"

"Because we promised each other."

"Promised what?"

"That neither of us would ever have sex with you," she admitted and stood up. Edward stared at her in confusion. "It was one of the conditions we set before we agreed to let you move in?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Edward, you know you're hot and what effect you have on girls. Before you moved in, I saw the sexual tension between you and Rose. I set that condition to ensure we wouldn't have to find a new roommate again if you two rolled around in the sheets and things didn't work out." She grabbed her discarded spray bottle to resume her task with the plants. "I didn't anticipate this … thing or whatever between you and me," she finished.

Edward rose from the couch as well and followed her closely. "But Bella, this thing isn't just sexual tension. Is it?"

"I don't know what it is, Edward," she said, but she had to swallow as her body responded to his proximity. Her skin tingled and she wanted nothing more than for him to grab her waist and pull her back against his chest. Contradictory to everything she told him, she wanted him to not listen to her. She wanted him to take charge and do with her what he pleased.

A part of her resented him for not reading her mind and fantasies even if the notion was ridiculous. Like, was it too much to ask for him to instinctively know all of her innermost desires even if she never talked about them?

As the silence between them stretched, her resolve slowly crumbled when Edward suddenly stepped away from her and started walking toward his room. "I'm going to have a party tonight," he announced out of the blue, and because Bella's mind remained on her fantasies about Edward's hands, it took her a rather long moment to register what he had said.

"What?" she asked and blinked.

"I need to relax and have some fun," he said. "So I'm going to invite a few friends over."

"But Edwar—" she started to protest, but he held up his hand.

"I know you need to study, but you can go to the library. I really need to release some steam." He turned his back and disappeared into his room while Bella stood there gaping in shock, not really understanding what just happened.

~~TAC~~

With more than a little alcohol in his system, Edward danced closely entwined with one of the girls who'd tagged along with his invited friends. The loud music from the speakers drowned out almost every single one of his thoughts except one.

What the fuck was he doing?

And apparently, he wasn't the only one who wondered the same thing. Felix had one of his rare nights off from Murrey's, and he had gladly accepted Edward's invitation. Now, he patted him on the shoulder and with mild violence pried the girl away from Edward.

"Great party, man, but let me just ask one thing," he said and mixed another drink for himself. "What would you have done if Bella came home and saw you with that chick?"

Edward couldn't focus on his face too well, but he looked in his general direction. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Live like a monk until Bella makes up her mind? Do you know what she's doing to me?" His words were slurred, but Felix was an expert on drunk people.

"Apparently not enough," he said, and as soon as those words were out of his mouth, Bella walked through the front door, looking haggard with her hair falling out of the bun on her head, and her backpack tearing at the seams from all the books in it.

"Oh fuck," she said when she saw the scene before her. Edward hadn't been joking, it was a full-blown party, and there was no way she'd be able to sleep with the loud music blaring out from the speakers.

"Bella!" Edward called for her, and she looked him over, noticing his lack of balance and his unfocused eyes.

"You're having fun, I see," she said with a deadpanned tone.

"C'mon, don't be like that," he said and pulled her tight to his side before he leaned down and started kissing her neck.

An electric surge shot through her body from where his lips touched her skin, and she moaned, completely helpless against the tsunami of lust slamming into her whenever Edward touched her in any kind of intimate way.

"Edward, please," she said, wanting him to stop, but in his alcoholic fog, he interpreted it differently.

"I like it when you beg," he mumbled and kissed his way up her throat until he reached her mouth. "Do it again," he said and smirked.

"You're really drunk right now," she stated, but that didn't deter him.

"Not drunk, you're just blurry," he said but then relented. "Alright, fine, so I'm drunk. And? You know better than anyone that I want you just as much when I'm sober." He looked into her eyes, but just as she was about to give in, he leaned away. "We need to get you on this level. I'm gonna get you a drink."

She nodded and exhaled as he left. Then, out of the left-field, a guy she didn't know came up behind her and put his hands on her hips, trying to dance with her while obnoxiously pressing his flaccid dick into her ass.

Annoyed, she removed his hands from her and stepped away, but he tried again, this time from the side. He grabbed her hand and tried to make her spin, but she retracted once again. Still, he didn't take the hint. Every time she stepped away, he was there with his hands and arms and legs. It was as if he had more limbs than normal.

Eventually, she was so fed up that she turned to face him with a glare. "Hey, Octopus-man, do you mind? Could you get out of my face right now?"

Edward returned and placed his entire hand on the guy's chest and shoved him out of the way. The guy fell backward, but quickly recovered and started searching for a new girl.

"Your drink," Edward said and handed Bella a plastic cup.

She accepted it, but she didn't take a drink right away. She and Edward looked at each other for a long moment, then she decided and took a deep swig. What the hell. If you can't beat them, join them, right?

It was already late when Bella got home, but the party was far from over, and it didn't take long for her to be caught up in the music and the atmosphere as the drinks gave her new energy.

With each dance, her inhibitions loosened and before long, she and Edward were entwined beyond what was appropriate around other people. All of their controlled lust toward each other exploded and it was a mess of limbs as they almost wrestled their way to Edward's bedroom.

Their kisses were aggressive to the point where it appeared as if they were trying to hurt each other. Their pent-up frustration with themselves and each other erupted, and Bella was certain she'd have marks on her skin after the slightly painful bites Edward gave her as he had her pushed up against his door.

"If you make me stop right now," he growled against her mouth. "I swear, I'm done, Bella."

Her nails raked across his back as she attempted to get his shirt off. "Then don't you dare stop," she said and pulled him even closer.

The party and the guests were forgotten, the music was just background noise as they struggled to remove their clothes. When they'd gotten his jeans down to his ankles, one of Edward's feet got stuck and when he fell back, he brought Bella down with him.

"Dammit, I can't get them off," he said through gritted teeth, but Bella wasn't listening. With her position on top, she could easily part her legs, effectively straddling him. The skirt she'd put on that day because of the heat turned out to be the best choice she'd ever made.

"Leave them," she moaned in his ear. "You don't need your feet free for this next part."

"Holy shit," he breathed out in awe as she removed her bra, allowing him his first unhindered view of her breasts. His only regret was that he couldn't fully appreciate them in his current inebriated state.

With hurried and rather clumsy movements, they were able to at least pull his underwear far enough down to release the needed body parts, and when they moved her unflattering, and very unsexy, white cotton panties to the side, they locked eyes with each other, silently communicating that the next couple of minutes would be hard, messy, and over quickly.

There was no hesitation as she took him inside her, and they both let out drawn-out groans of pleasure as they connected. Edward's hands shot to her hips to guide her movements even though she didn't need it, and each time she sank down on him, his fingers dug harder and harder into her flesh.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed. "Damn you, Bella, for keeping us from this!"

"Just shut up," she said and placed her hand over his mouth, thrusting her hips down even harder.

Despite her hand over his mouth, Edward continued to talk. "I hope this isn't a one-time thing," he mumbled into her palm.

The pleasure on her face was obvious, but so was her annoyance. "If you keep talking, it will be."

"Right. Shutting up now."

"Finally," she exhaled and placed both her hands on either side of his head for support as they both fast approached their orgasms. "Edward, I need you to touch me," she panted and was infinitely grateful she didn't have to spell out where she meant it as one of his hands sneaked in between them and pressed his fingers against her most sensitive spot. "Fuck, yes!"

Once she clenched around him, Edward was only seconds behind her before he also lost himself to the sweet, torturous pleasure of one of his most intense orgasms ever.

Out of breath and damp from sweat, Bella rolled off Edward and settled down next to him. "Do you always ramble like that during sex or is it because you're drunk?" she asked.

Already close to falling asleep, Edward tried to shrug. "I don't know. Did you hate it?"

"It was a little bit of a turnoff," she said honestly, her own eyes drooping as a mix of the alcohol she'd consumed and her post-coital haze pulled her into unconsciousness.

"I'll get a muzzle for next time."

"Good."

~~TAC~~

Bella's head was pounding and her tongue felt too large for her mouth. Her eyes were glued shut, and her entire body ached. She could clearly feel the body heat of another person next to her, but a part of her was terrified to check who it was. Whoever it was had his face pressed into her neck, snoozing into her hair.

The throbbing ache between her legs told her all she needed to know of what had happened, and her state of undress was another clue for that already solved case. She moaned in pain and pried her eyes open.

She instantly recognized the décor of Edward's bedroom, and she turned her head to confirm what her disoriented memories were already telling her.

He looked peaceful in his sleep, but also absolutely ridiculous with his jeans stuck around his ankles and his underwear halfway down. His hair stood in every direction and it looked as if he had scratch marks on his arm.

An overwhelming sense of warmth washed over her as she looked at him. Her mind told her she had been stupid to drink so much and lower her guard, but she also knew she could never regret what they'd done, and she also knew she wouldn't be able to go back to tipping on her toes around him for Rosalie's sake.

She disentangled herself from his limbs and sat up, and the jostling of the bed woke him.

"What? I didn't … what?" he said and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Bella? What's going on?" His own hangover slammed into him and he groaned before burying his face in his pillow. Then, he became aware of his clothes and how he was still very much flashing himself. As he pulled his underwear back on, he looked at Bella's back and then her neck as she twisted her hair up in a bun.

Her skin was purple from several hickeys and he remembered he'd gotten a little carried away.

"That was definitely not how I imagined our first time to be," he said, and Bella laughed softly to not make either of their headaches worse.

"No, I can't say I imagined it like that either."

Silently, Edward studied Bella as she redressed, and he simply had to ask. "We're not going to just return to before now, right? 'Cause I know I can't do that."

Bella sighed and then crouched down next to the bed to be eye level with him. "No, I can't do that either, but I don't know how we're gonna do this. Not only would it be really unfair to Rose to have to live with us and ask her to put up with our intimacy, but do you have any idea how betrayed she'll feel?"

"Honestly, Bella, why would she feel betrayed?"

"Are you kidding me? She was totally into you first."

Edward chuckled in amusement as he thought back to those first days when he'd harbored a mutual interest in their other roommate. "Yeah, but maybe you haven't noticed that she and I are pretty much like brother and sister at this point. Just the thought of doing what we just did with her makes me shudder." He mockingly imitated a disgusted shiver.

She lightly pushed on his shoulder and stood back up. "Whatever. Get dressed. I am not leaving this room to evaluate the damages to our living room without you."

"Is that so?" Edward asked with a grin and snatched her wrist in his hand to pull her back down on the bed. "What if I don't want you to leave this room? What then?" He nuzzled her neck and slid his hand in under her shirt.

"Aren't you massively hungover?" she asked but made no move to get back up.

"Devastatingly so," he confirmed. "But you know, I might know of a cure." He reached behind her for the zipper on her skirt because this time, he wanted her completely naked.

"Edward—"

"Please, Bella. Let's just remain in this bubble for a little while," he begged. "Let us have a first time we can both remember clearly. I've wanted you for so long, and I don't want this to end yet."

She contemplated it for a short moment, and then lifted her hips to allow him to remove her skirt. "Are you gonna talk my ear off this time as well?" she asked through a giggle.

"That was the alcohol talking," he assured her as he slipped her underwear off at the same time as the skirt and then made quick work of his own. "And I'd rather have you moan my name."

They shifted until she was fully under him, and then grabbed the underside of her knee to bend her leg and wrap it over his hip. Much slower than the night before, he entered her, and she whimpered, both from the dull ache after their aggressive sex and from the feeling of being so full.

He captured her mouth and their hips started moving together, slowly but determined. He focused on her sounds and what movements she reacted to the most because he didn't want to miss a second of it. Once he found that spot that made her gasp, he concentrated on that while also taking care of her other erogenous zones; sliding his fingertips lightly along the length of her inner arm, giving great attention to her neck and clavicle bone, ghosting his touch over her bare breasts.

Edward had always taken great pride in knowing how to satisfy women, but never had he been happier when he could use those skills with Bella. When her panting morphed into his name falling from her lips over and over, he knew she was close, but he didn't want it to end yet.

He slowed down his movements, pulling out almost the entire way, and she immediately protested.

"Edward, please..."

He smirked. "I like it when you beg," he said.

"Shut up."

A/N:

This story has been nominated for WIP of the Year in the Golden Onion Awards, and it made me feel inclined to actually give you another chapter.

Now, this story will continue with slow updates. It's not a priority of mine. I'm using it when I feel low on inspiration and I need to get my muse going again. With that said, it's not an easy story to write.

As much as it's heavily based upon the Swedish version of Three's Company, you will also have noticed in this chapter that I am also deviating a lot from it when it comes to the relationship between Bella and Edward.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, and as always,

Until next time,

Stay Awesome!