PEOPLE LIKE US – JUSTGINGER

CHAPTER 1

Bella Swan pulled her rental car out of the parking lot into the busy, narrow and crowded street. Fuck! All she had wanted to do was to take a day off sight seeing in Florence, and it seemed as if the whole fucking world had come too! She was irritated beyond belief. She had been in Italy for 2 months now and she loved it. The summer had been everything that she had always dreamed of, hot, dry and endless.

As she slowed yet again in the traffic a blur of activity caught her eye, what the fuck? She slammed on brakes as a body slammed into her passenger door.

"PLEASE HELP ME!".

She looked up into the greenest eyes she had ever seen "What?"

"Ï need to get out of here NOW!" He barked.

For some reason, Bella didn't hesitate "Get in the back – quick"

He pulled the door open and jumped into the back seat. "Lie down between the seats." She covered him with a sarong that she had on the seat – and a basket of fruit.

Just as she pulled forward again, a crowd of people came running out of a side ally, the same one that he had come out of. She ignored the photographers and people, slowly moving the old Fiat Uno forward until someone hit on the hood of the car. Once again she slammed on brakes. She stuck her head out of the window "What the FUCK? Get away from my car – NOW!" She hit the accelerator and finally picked up speed to clear the street.

She could hear him in the back, it sounded like he was having a heart attack! "Hey are you okay? We are almost clear now; amazingly enough none seems to have seen you. Just hold on a little bit longer, okay"

"Sure"

The voice. Oh my God, the voice! It was like velvet and chocolate, smooth and thick and perfect, much better than she remembered it to be. "Um, I'm Bella, by the way, Bella Swan."

She heard a chuckle "Edward, Edward Cullen".

She looked at the road and smirked to herself "yes you are indeed"; she muttered to herself and heard that chuckle again.

Bella drove out of the city limits and soon found herself back on the road heading towards Tuscany. She checked that once again they were alone and pulled over to the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" the Voice asked,

"Well, for one, you can get up now and two, where am I taking you? And three you need to answer that fucking phone and four, is the secret service going to be looking for me for kidnapping you?" Bella didn't wait for any answers but opened her door and stood out side.

XOXO

Edward Cullen had had a shit day. He was pissed of and tired and so fucking sick of all these people that pawed him and shouted stupid questions at him and where the fuck was Alice? She was supposed to be with him, to protect him from all this shit and she couldn't get on the same flight as him. She had told him that PressItala (an Italian publicity company) that they had used in the past would be assisting him for the Florence premier, but here he was, getting out of the limo and there was no fucking security, and far too many people and photographers and press. He didn't have an interpreter and everyone was shouting at him in Italian! He had FUCKING HAD IT!!

"FUCK THIS!" he muttered and took off almost at a run into the theatre, pushing past everyone, he saw a sign showing an emergency exit door and stormed through it, he blinked and saw that he was in an ally of sorts, not pausing to think, he turned and ran for the road that he could see. A blue car was in front of him, he quickly ducked down and looked in the window he got a quick impression of brown eyes, brown hair and a parted, shocked pink mouth,

'PLEASE HELP ME" he said.

She told him to get in the car and he didn't even hesitate, he dived in between the front and rear seats. She threw a cloth of sorts over him and put a container of some sort on top of the cloth. He lay pretzelled up, his 6 foot 2 frame squashed into this little space, and he couldn't seem to get enough air in his lungs.

The girl spoke to him for the first time, telling him that he was safe and that no one was following them. He listened to her voice. It sexy, soft and a little husky. Her name was Bella, Bella Swan.

He laughed in spite of his current predicament. She had given no indication that she knew him, but seriously, how could she not? So he introduced himself and silently braced himself for the squeal or gasp or whatever as she realized that she was driving though Italy with the latest and most in demand actor of the big screen. She would probably say some shit like "This doesn't happen to people like us! In the real world! SQEAL! But she never did. She muttered under her breath "Yes you are indeed", and he couldn't help but laugh again.

It seemed that ages later, she was indicating and pulling over and stopped the car. He asked her why they had stopped and she had rattled off some shit about his phone and the secret service? (Too many movies Miss Swan) and where was he going to. He heard her get out of the car.

Edward slowly tried to sit up; he was sweating under the cloth and the fruit basket?? He struggled to get up and cursed as he tried to pull the front seat forward. Finally in frustration he shouted at Bella

"A little help here?"

She reached in and pulled her seat forward "Not that hard to do" she muttered.

He climbed out the car and they stared at each other.

He is beautiful; she thought to herself and felt the blush in her cheeks. Fucking blush.

She is beautiful; he thought to himself and pulled his finger through his hair. Fucking hair.

"Are you mentally unstable?"He asked

"What? You ran into my car! And probably half the western world is looking for you and for FUCK SAKE, ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!!!" she stormed away from him.

He sighed and fumbled for his phone. "What? ALICE WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? Jesus, I don't give a shit. No. I am not going back to that fucking circus. What are you doing in Rome? I'm in Florence! Fuck that Alice, you screwed up this time, kid. I need some time off, and it starts today. No, I'm not going to the villa now. I'm with a .."His eyes flicked over to Bella "a friend. I will call you later." He disconnected the line.

"Bella?"She turned around and looked at him "where are you going?"

She looked away and looked nervous "Um, to Cortona. It's a little town in.." he interrupted her, "I know where it is, do you live there?"

"For now. I'm on holiday. Graduation present. I rented a small renovated barn. Where are you going to?"She walked around the car to stand in front of him.

Now he looked uncomfortable and a little nervous. He didn't want to leave her. He had been watching her when he was speaking with Alice. She was petite and beautiful and she hadn't wanted to eavesdrop on his conversation so she had walked a distance away. That was a first for him, it seemed nowadays that everyone wanted to know what he said and thought.

She was looking at him with a slight frown, waiting for his answer.

"Are you holidaying alone?"

The frown deepened "yes, why?"

"Take me with you"

Her jaw dropped "what?"

"Take. Me., With. You" Was she high?

Was he high? "I am not deaf, Sparky. And you ask if I'm unstable? Are you? Why would you want to come with me? You don't even know me. I'm a fairly penniless Art Grad. I'm here to paint and travel. I don't live in the lap of luxury and I'm not any easy lay. So, what do you want with someone like me?" Bella was flabbergasted and pissed off. Was he fucking with her? "So, yes you are Edward Cullen, Mr. Perfect and such and I would be killed by 6 million women for being with you, but I don't know what you want or need from me, and I'm pretty sure that it's more than I can give you."

They stood glaring at each other and then he smirked at her "Wow. All that? Thanks for the offer, but I'm not looking for an 'easy lay', thanks for the thought though. Just a little peace and quiet and a little anonymity for a couple of days. Look, I'll pay you rent or shit for the time and trouble of having my prima donna ass around."

And just when things couldn't get worse, he smiled at her and gave her the full affect of the Edward Cullen stare. Fuck Me. She thought.

Bella looked at him for a long time. Just when he was about to phone Alice to come and rescue him from the side of the road, she huffed out a breath and said "Okay."

"Okay?" he felt his heart jump a little

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes. You may regret it and I will probably regret it, but come on, we'd better move before someone sees us."

She opened the car door and looked up at him, "Get in the back, just in case someone drives past us. Then you can slouch down if anyone comes, Sparky", and she laughed and shook her head.

Edward smiled at her again "You are eager aren't you?" he climbed into the back and tried to stretch his legs out as much as possible.

Bella got in and slammed her door "Vain much? Don't flatter yourself", she huffed again and started the car.

They drove in silence for a while and every now and then she would sneak a look at him in the rear view mirror. He was looking at her and smirking. Fuck. Good looking just didn't cut it. He was incredible. The hair, not quite bronze, but close, that looked like he had just got out of bed, the chiseled jaw, the cleft in the chin and a very, very kissable mouth. She bit her lower lip, far too kissable! She caught his eyes again, and felt herself blushing furiously. Oh! Fuck it! It's not like he didn't know he was perfect.

Edward closed his eyes and lay his head back on the seat. The silence felt good. At least she wasn't chattering aimlessly. He sighed and tried to remember when the last time was that he had felt so relaxed.

Bella cleared her throat, "Edward? A tux is great and all, but if you are staying for a few days, you will need clothes" she spoke quietly.

"Fuck! I didn't think of that. Can we stop somewhere and pick up a few things?"He frowned as he looked down at his pants.

Bella snorted "Cortona doesn't have an Armani Exchange. More like a Target or a Wal-Mart. Think you can handle that, Sparky?" She giggled a little at the thought of him in Wal-Mart.

"Fuck it! I don't care what I wear, anything will do." He scowls at her in the mirror.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist. Why don't you relax for a while? I will tell you when I find somewhere suitable. We have got a ways to travel still."

He settled back and closed his eyes and a few moments later, Bella heard his slow and steady breathing.

What had she gotten herself into this time?