The List

Chapter 8: Slight Change of Plans

BellaPOV

That. Little. Panty. Thief.

Here I've been all week worrying about Edward. Feeling bad for us doing things that made him uncomfortable. Only to realize that at some point after Tuesday morning, he stole the white bikinis I had worn.

I would be royally pissed, if his actions didn't give me an immense feeling of hope. Hmmm...apparently, Mr. Cullen has a panty fetish.

I turned to Alice as we made our way back to her house. "Alice? What time are you all leaving?"

"Why?" She looked over at me with a growing grin.

"I don't suppose we would have enough time to fit in a small shopping expedition?"

She screamed, scaring the hell out of me. "Really, Bella? Oh, I think we can make this work." She called the house and informed Esme we would be about two hours later than originally planned. She was fine with that; apparently Edward hadn't returned from hunting anyway.

She looked at me again. "I'm proud of you, Bella."

Her words surprised me. "Why?"

"You found your faith." She started laughing. It was infectious. Suddenly we were both giggling like two school girls.

Alice tore into Port Angeles within twenty minutes. She found a place to park in the downtown shopping district and began walking with a purpose down the street. In the next block she stopped in front of a large store and motioned for me to enter. It was Port Angeles's only department store. I was just about to tell her what I wanted to look at when she turned to me with an injured expression and said, "Puh-lease," then marched her way directly to the women's lingerie department. Alice Cullen is a force of nature.

By the time I joined her she already had an armful of clothes selected for me to try on. A few I ruled out on sight, but Alice snuck them back into the pile with a quick "Trust me" before shoving me into the dressing room.

I reached blindly into the pile and pulled out the first bra and panty set. It was black with hot pink pin stripes and edging. I was surprised how much I liked it on. It wasn't something I ever would have chosen for myself.

"Hand out the keepers as you decide," Alice said.

When I thrust out the black and pink panty set she murmured approvingly, "Good choice."

I rifled through the pile. "Alice, did you find anything blue-never mind." I pulled the blue bra and panty set out next. As I turned it around, I realized I had been wrong. It wasn't a panty, it was a thong. I had never worn one before and shook my head. That can't be comfortable. I was just about to start a reject pile when Alice called over the door, "At least try it on, Bella." It was a beautiful set. A beautiful dark blue with a lighter blue edge and a lighter blue bow on both the bra and thong. The bra did wonderful things for my chest. And since I couldn't really get a good idea of how the thong would feel, I decided to get it based on the bra alone.

In the end, Alice had selected so many perfect pieces that I found it difficult to choose between them. Alice got exasperated at my inability to decide, so she swept the whole lot into her arms and gave me a look that dared me to challenge her.

Just then her eyes glazed over. The vision seemed to end as quickly as it came. "This way," she called over her shoulder.

I had no idea what she was up to, but I followed anyway. Our next stop was the dress department. Alice asked the saleslady to hold the lingerie while we browsed through the dresses. Before long, I found myself in another dressing room with a half dozen dresses. "Um, Alice, what do I need a dress for again?"