A/N: This disclaimer is for every chapter hereafter. I do not own Twilight, its characters, or its affiliates. The entire series belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

It seemed such a natural thing, waking up here in this place. The brown fabric of the old couch-the one they had found years ago placed out at the curb of a house they had driven past-was comforting because it was a constant-just like the rest of this tiny apartment. The thick quilt on top of him was just as comforting. Made of dozens of t-shirts from dozens of states (a graduation present from her mother), the blanket conjured up nostalgic scenes of picnics, drive-in movies, and other mornings like this one.

In fact, mornings like this had always been pretty common. At least, since he had turned 21. Bella's apartment was closer to the downtown bars than his own home. And, just like all of the other mornings, he looked towards the coffee table directly in front of him to find a tall glass of water and the bottle of Advil.

"Time to get up." He spoke aloud to himself. He braced himself for the throbbing pain he knew would appear as soon as he sat upright, and lifted his upper body off the couch. He rested there for a moment while the lightheadedness subsided. He reached for the bottle of Advil, opened it in a swift, practiced movement and dumped a few into his hand and then threw those directly into his mouth. Grabbing the water with his other hand, Edward drank half of the glass. With a noise that sounded like the mix between a groan and a sigh, he stood up and with the glass of water and bottle of Advil in tow, he crossed the short distance to the kitchen.

He knew that Bella was awake because a steaming pot of coffee was half full on the counter and both the powdered creamer and sugar jars were left open. Bella had never been very tidy. He finished his glass of water and put it in the dishwasher before pouring himself a cup of black coffee. He put the creamer and sugar back in proper order, but didn't use any for himself. Then, he walked around the corner to the bathroom and put away the Advil (and folded a hand towel which was thrown on the counter haphazardly).

Across the hall from the bathroom was the next stop of the morning. The door was mostly closed, but not latched tightly. He knocked anyway.

"Come in, drunkie," said an amused, airy voice. Edward chuckled lowly and pushed the door open. Bella was sitting in her bed, coffee in one hand and a book in the other. She looked warm and comfortable.

"'Morning," was Edward's only reply. She laughed and patted the empty space next to her. He shuffled his way to the bed and sat down carefully so he wouldn't spill his coffee. He lifted her book a bit so that he could read the title (Wuthering Heights). His grunt seemed to imply that she had read this particular book too many times. She pulled the book from his reach and set it on her bedside table with her coffee.

"Don't hate. It's a good book," she said snarkily.

"Never said it wasn't," Edward replied. "So how bad was I last night?" He grimaced and waited for the bad news.

"Oh, nothing too terrible. You broke up with Rebecca." Bella told him casually. He gasped and his eyes got very large.

"I did not! Did I?" Worry covered his face.

"Okay, no, you didn't. But you should."

"Damnit, Bella, what's your deal with Rebecca? You never had any issue with Amy or Jessie."

"Amy was delightful, and Jessie was a fling. Neither of them were ho bitches," Bella said, crossing her arms.

"Why can't you just try and get along with her? For my sake? I really like her, Bee."

Bella rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms. Her voice was much softer as she responded, "I know you do. Which is why I am trying. Most of the time. Last night after we all decided you had had enough to drink, Rebecca and I both tried to convince you to take a cab with her to your place. But you kept blabbering on about the 'trash couch' and how it was better. So she got pissed and I brought you here. See? I tried to be on her side, but she's a bitch, so it's pretty much impossible."

"The trash couch again?" Edward started laughing. "Why do I call it that when I'm drunk?"

This sent Bella into a giggling fit. "I have no idea, but don't call my couch that. I love Groucho!"

"But I can call him Groucho...named after the muppet who lives in a trash can?"

"It's classier."

As the teasing and laughter continued, Edward all but forgot that he was upset with Bella for calling his girlfriend names. This was the way with them...neither of them could stay angry at the other for very long. They just learned to accept one another's faults and quirks over the lifetime that they had known each other. The relationship between Edward and Bella had always been...different. It was not a relationship easily understood (especially by significant others), and they were under constant pressure to alter their relationship or redefine it by friends and family. These two were happy with their relationship the way it was, and had not the slightest intention to change it.

A morning like this one was rather typical on the weekends. While Edward had his own home a few miles away, he was much more likely to spend the entire weekend at Bella's small apartment so they could go bar hopping with their friends. After the evening of festivities, Edward (and sometimes others) would stagger the few minutes to Bella's apartment and crash. While the apartment was tiny, it was certainly a convenient location for the group of partiers.

The partiers were all very close family and friends of Edward and Bella. Almost the entire group had been born and raised in Forks, Washington and had made the move to Port Angeles nearly simultaneously. Edward's older brother, Emmett had made the move after he and his wife, Rosalie, got married. Shortly after, Edward moved into a modest home in the town. Alice moved next, moving in with her boyfriend, Jasper, who had lived in Port Angeles for several years with his family. Lastly, Bella moved into her apartment to be closer to her friends and all the fun. Also usually included in their weekend romps were a few friends from Forks: Jacob, Seth, and Leah. Of course, Edward's girlfriend, Rebecca, was always invited as well.

When Edward and Bella weren't partying, they spent a good majority of their time working. Edward worked for a real estate company doing mostly receptionist duties until he worked up enough status to become a realtor. His college education seemed to mean nothing when compared to the hierarchy of the employees at the company. Bella, on the other hand, was very fond of her job at the local library. She spent most of her time at work doing research for companies in the area.

Really, weekends were the only opportunity for the friends to get together. So, Sunday mornings were usually reserved for spending relaxing quality time together-sometimes with a large group of them (if they had all decided to sleep over), but usually Sundays were for Bella and Edward only. They both valued this time together and made the most of it. This meant that even if they were irritated with one another, like Edward had been with Bella, they would quickly forget about it. Their time was spent more productively that way.

Truthfully, it was a good thing that they actively sought to spend their time together in such a way. This happy time in their life would certainly not last forever-in fact, it was devastatingly close to ending.

A/N: Thanks for reading! What do you think is going to happen to our favorite characters? Leave me a review with your thoughts! Updates will come about twice a week-sometimes more, but never less than once a week.