Summary: It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone. But it takes a life time to forget someone. Patience is bitter, but it bares the sweetest fruit. What will happen when Bella and Edward are reunited after being separated for so many years since childhood? Is it too good be to be true or is Bella's life finally as good as her dreams?

Hi everyone! I literally wrote this at 4 AM because I couldn't sleep due to the mess of thoughts spinning around my head. This story is based on very real events in my life and I basically used Bella and Edward to help me get them off my mind haha

DISCLAIMER: Bella and Edward and all other Twilight-ness belong to Steph Meyer :)

If Only for a Moment

Have you ever had one of those moments where you imagine something and see a whole lifetime that results from it flash before your eyes?

Well I have.

I'm Bella Swan and I'll never forget the hyper drive my brain felt the day he walked back into my life.

But first the context: I'm a 20 year old college student and have loved theatre since I can remember, mostly writing though I do have hopes of being a director. A few months ago I found out a play I wrote was going to be produced! My mom being my mom called our town paper and they did an article about it which is totally cool though slightly weird because people who don't know me or haven't spoken to me in years now knew my business….But the story I'm telling actually goes back much farther then that. You see, when I was in Pre-school I was already quite boy crazy and at the tender age of four I developed a rather advanced crush on a boy in my class: Edward Mason. He was your typical cute little boy as I was your typical cute little girl…I was really into Full House at the time and on the show one of DJs boyfriends hired Frankie Valli to sing "You're Just to Good to be True" to her and I thought this was the perfect way to win someone's affections so I memorized the song and then had my Grandma help me write out a message (on the envelope of the card) that said "Will you be my boyfriend" with corresponding yes/no checkboxes. The deed went down on the playground soon after and he checked yes. We stayed friends for quite sometime after, even though we went to different schools post pre-K, to put it simply I was invited to his birthday party into the second grade. Then for some reason or another we lost touch…we lived in a relatively small town so we saw each other every once and awhile and when we were still young we'd socialize like 1 random day we ran into each other at the lake and had swimming races together but after that it was like we didn't know each other….Myspcae came into being and we decided to try and reconnect but it was short lived, our AIM conversations fizzling out after a week….we became facebook friends later on but NEVER spoke and we knew some of the same people but it never brought us together. Through the grapevine I found out he'd enlisted in the Marines (which made me feel really weird) and we sort of just continued down our paths - I really never thought I'd see him again….and that brings us to the very recent past you see my play was being produced the week of Thanksgiving and he happened to be home and happened to see the article about me and my play in the town paper.

I was out with my mom running some errands when my cell phone rang - it was my dad - he had called to say that Edward Mason and his mom were going to be stopping by around 5 because they wanted to congratulate me! My mind went into overdrive and I was flipping out - how weird was that? I hadn't seen him in God knows how long and he was going to be coming to my house? Ahhhhh! But I pulled myself together and of course made myself look more then presentable by the time they were due to arrive. My heart was fluttering and I was trying to keep myself busy when the doorbell rang just after 5. His mom hadn't changed one bit and I greeted her first but as she stepped into the house I got my first visual of my toddler soul mate in years and boy oh boy did four year old me have good taste! He was gorgeous! He was tall, his hair was trimmed close to his head as the service required he had the most defined arm muscles I'd ever seen, he was tan and had PIERCING eyes. He took a step closer to me and I realized he was holding a bouquet of flowers - he had brought me flowers! I took them before hugging him out of reflex and shock I think and then smelt the flowers telling him to come inside. I ushered them both into the kitchen where my mom was waiting and I busied myself/ calmed my nerves by dealing with the flowers; getting the vase and water and all that… They sat and my mom took away my busying task by saying she'd handle the flowers and that I could (more like should) sit - curse her! (Though it ended up being for the best!)

I sat at the table across from his mom, diagonally across from him and we talked about the play first and then about school and then about the Marines and about how my grandfather had been one and I guess about an hour had passed before we started wrapping things up and they were telling me that they were coming to see the play for opening the next night! I was in shock once more - the boy of my past had LITERALLY just walked back into my life and I would be seeing him 2 days in a row. I hugged him (and his mom) good bye and walked them out talking about how I'd see them tomorrow and word vomiting thanks and appreciation for the visit and the flowers. As I closed the door I exhaled and leaned against it once closed - had that really just happened? Were they actually coming? Was this really happening?

The next day was show day and my mind was all over the realm of possibilities but didn't real go near the Edward situation, though early in the day I didn't "stumble upon" his facebook page to confirm that he was single (yayy!) . The doors opened and I watched as the people filed in - he was nowhere in sight… I went to give places to the actors thinking all had been lost when in he walked! They had gotten on the wrong subway but made it just in time. They quickly took their seats and the show began soon after. It went so smooth, without a hitch! I was bombarded by people after the show was over but I managed to make my way over to him and his family - they congratulated me once more and told me they enjoyed the play. We talked a bit about it and my inspiration before it was time for them to go and as they began parting I hugged his mother and him once more and as I hugged him I told him I didn't want to lose touch again and he agreed. And with that he was gone. I had no idea whether I'd ever hear from him again but that didn't stop me from spinning around to squeal with my best friend since the age of 5 Alice Brandon. I had filled her in on the whole story and she was very excited for me and allowed me to get a bit ahead of myself, discussing how cute he was and how cool it would be if something formed between us. However, I was uncharacteristically realistic and said "No, no, no I can't get ahead of myself he's going to Afghanistan in 2 weeks (he had told us that while in my kitchen)and there's no way this is going anywhere." After everyone had parted and my family had had a celebratory dinner at one my favorite restaurants we departed from the city and headed home.

Once home I logged onto my facebook just to quickly check a few things and was soon made aware of the fact that I had a message - from Edward. I of course opened it right away and it was thrilled to read it's contents:

The play was enjoyable, I liked it. I was wondering- if I'm not being too forward here - but I was wondering if you'd like to get together and do something? I leave next Tuesday so let me know if you have any free time between now and then and if you want to do something - here is my number just in case 123-456-7890. I'll talk to you - take care - Edward

I was dying! Of course I wanted to get together! I needed to know what this meant though so first I asked my college room mate Angela who was ecstatic for me and just as I had kept getting hung up on the part about being too forward - we were both baffled….So I called Alice who told me to respond as neutrally as I could while still being excited and we came up with:

Hey - I'm so glad you liked the play! I'd love to get together, that would be great! I'm only home till Sunday night and then I go back to school but anytime Sunday or during the day Friday or Saturday I'm free so just let me know what's good for you - my numbers 908-765-4321. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I'll talk to you soon

I stayed up only a little longer after sending the message and awoke to a text message simply saying "Happy Thanksgiving" - from him - as well as a reply to my facebook message saying "Alrighty ttyl :)"

I could not believe it! Even if a part of me did think I'd hear back from him I NEVER thought it would be sooo speedy - did this mean he wanted to spend time together as more then friends reconnecting? Did it mean that maybe I wasn't so delusional to be feeling and thinking everything I had been trying to push away in fear of getting hurt? Did this mean anything or was I just getting worked up and he was just simply a prompt guy? I didn't have any answers so I spent the ride to my aunt uncles (where we celebrate Thanksgiving) texting Alice trying to get to the bottom of it and in the mean time I texted him back saying "Same to you" (which in retrospect was WAYYYYY lame but it was neutral so it wouldn't risk damaging anything if anything happen to be coming of this). Alice and I decided that if I hadn't heard back from him by the end of the night it would be ok for me to text him some point the next day asking about when we'd be getting together…

The day inched by and every time I checked my phone I died slightly as I hadn't received any response….day became night and night became day and soon it was a bit after noon and so I decided I would text him, I still played neutral and simply sent:

Hey - I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! I was just wondering when you were thinking of getting together?

Short, sweet and to the point. I was expecting another fairly speedy response and every time my phone dinged my heart stopped but it was always a family member asking for directions to the theatre for night #2 of my play (we didn't have a show on Thanksgiving)….Around 2:00 I felt really sleep and decided to take a nap warning my mom to wake me by 3:00 as I had to get ready for the night.

However my sleep was interrupted by the bing of my phone once an actor wondering about what time they had to arrive that night twice a friend asking how to get there the third time I was ready to throw it out the window I just wanted to sleep but was glad I didn't as it was a response from him!

Hey -sorry it took me a bit to get back to you! How's Sunday around 2? I could pick you up if you need a ride…

I was delighted and was totally glad I had fought the impulse to ignore the beep till post nap time! I quickly responded:

Sure that sounds great - and I could definitely use the ride! Where should we go?

I waited anxiously as the second ticked by as I waited for his response which came mere moments later simply saying:

Diner? I figured we'd grab something to eat

Not exactly the worlds greatest correspondence but I was elated:

Can't wait! :)

The hours passed slowly as they faded into days but at last it was Sunday afternoon I was wearing a simple but cute outfit (a grey cami with a pink sweater with jeans and converse) and I was anxiously waiting for him to arrive.

I watched from the window as he pulled up in a silver Volvo I was preparing to go outside to meet him when I saw him walking up to the door. He rang the doorbell and greeted me when I opened the door, we gave our now standard gesture of hugging and he came in I told him I was about to come out and he said "What sort of guy would I be if I didn't come to the door - besides it would be rude of me not to say hello to your parents." I smiled at how old fashioned he was, and how different he was from other guys I knew before saying, "Well that's really nice of you - but my parents are out."

And on that note we were out the door driving to the nearby diner. On the short drive over we discussed music and our families and generally sort of getting to know you type things because even though we've known each other since forever we didn't really know each other at all….

Once at the diner we were seated rather quickly, we perused the menu and placed our order before beginning discussion again. Once we did start talking we slowly progressed through a variety of topics, we first picked back up with my play and school and that evolved to why he didn't go to school and how he made the decision to enlist. Once we were caught up on the present we revisited the past talking about people we both knew and experiences somehow we started talking about exes which was interesting since the advent of facebook made me aware despite not even talking to him at the time when he was in and out of a relationship over the past few years it was nice to put reasons to status updates…..

The talk of exes brought us to our current situations where we both redundantly told the other we were single and it was this point where our food came out.

As we ate we discussed why we thought we'd lost touch over the years and what a same it had been and how different things probably would have been for both of us had we remained close friends or even just friends period…I trying to bring some sort of philosophical reasoning to the table brought up how though if things had been different then this moment wouldn't be happening as it is right then. To which he smiled and said wll then maybe it was for the best...

I smiled and we looked at each other for a moment before we both hesitantly looked down at our food, it was reaching the end of our meal and so I brought up the one thing we hadn't discussed

"So, you're only here till next Tuesday? And then…"

He cut me off saying, "I head to Afghanistan" while nodding . We were silent for a minute but then he spoke saying, "Listen I don't want us to lose touch again either" referencing what I had said at the theatre, "but I am leaving in a week and you are heading back to school…"

This time I nodded. I looked at him then though and boldly said, "So what do we do?"

I think he was taken aback by my question, probably having been expecting me to just leave it be and accept it would be near impossible to form a friendship in these circumstances….it would've been hard if we'd been in touch but to start from scratch this way seemed sort of nuts but I think we were both ok with that.

Since he'd responded with a silent stare I continued saying, "Listen, I know I'm going back to school but if you have a free night you should come up and see the show I'm working on there - I didn't write it or anything I'm just working backstage as part of a requirement but it's pretty funny and we could hang out afterward or even before - or both" I ended with a laugh. He smiled and said "That sounds fun - sure."

We ended our lunch with a feeling of happiness and friendship but still with very vague notions towards what this all meant and what either of our intentions was.

Flash forward he came to my school and saw the show - afterward we went to the student union and grabbed coffee, seating ourselves in the way back away from the crowds. We talked briefly about the show but since it was Saturday and he was leaving Tuesday there was weight bearing down on us that made us feel like talking about bigger topics and more important issues - namely what this all meant…. We had been having fun - we'd been texting since the diner - not non-stop but consistent enough…and there was definitely some flirting going on in both directions….but neither of us addressed that. We talked about how weird it all was and how unfair it was that we couldn't have become friends again sooner we laughed at the fact that they could access facebook in the desert (though only on rare occasions) and then it was time for him to go. I got his address where I could send him letters, which he strongly encouraged sending and I walked him to his car. We were in the parking lot overlooking the water and the bridge that connected the island my school was on with the city and there was a full moon glowing above us. I bit my lip out of nervousness not knowing what to say and I just hugged him and he wrapped his arms around me in return and we just stood there for awhile like that - as if time had stopped and we were frozen in that moment forever but that would have been too good to be true. We pulled apart and he told me he'd text me when he got home and I just nodded, unable to find my voice - he tried to lighten the situation by saying I'd better write or he'd never speak to me again causing me to say "of course I'll write!" That time it was him who just nodded - it wasn't awkward but it was one of those situations where you just don't know how to part gracefully….After just standing there for a couple of minutes he got out his car keys and was starting to get ready to go for real but I grabbed him by the arm and hugged him again and just quietly said "be safe." And I felt him nod against my shoulder and with that he got in his car and drove off. We didn't say good bye because we both knew that it wasn't one.

Flash forward I become the best pen pal known to man. We wrote each other back and forth every week - sometimes twice if something big happened - for the rest of the year and into the next one. We saw each other over his next time home and it was as if we'd been inseparable best friends for years. I ran to him when I saw him at the park where we'd decided to meet and he wrapped his arms around me twirling me around like we were in some old movie. We spent the next few hours catching up and explaining things that we'd said but just didn't make sense in letters. The sun was setting and we were walking to a field where there was going to be a fireworks display, we set up a blanket and sat down, I leaned against him without even thinking about it for support and soon after he'd wrapped his arm around me because I'd said I was cold…it felt totally normal and not out of the norm at all… like we'd been doing that forever. We watched the short display and decided to walk around for a bit longer, our hands kept brushing as our arms swayed as we walked and after a few times they ended up clasping each other - I don't know how it exactly happened but when it did we just looked at each other with sort of shocked expressions on our faces which melted into shy smiles. We continued our walk hand in hand and when we got back to our cars it was hard to part. I broke our silence first asking "How long are you home for now?"

He looked up at me with a serious sort of look in his eyes saying, "About two weeks."

I nodded, knowing this was going to be the case but disappointed nonetheless, he lifted my chin with his finger and smiled, our eyes locked and the next thing I knew he was kissing me and I was kissing him back, my mind filled with what the future might now hold for us. It was an amazing moment and I was overjoyed but it was interrupted by the incessant beeping of my phone, not just once twice or three times but repeatedly over and over and over again but no matter what I did I couldn't make it stop until I pulled away and took it out of my pocket and fumbled with it and as I did so the moment faded away and as the noise stopped my eyes adjusted to the light and I was in my bed in my room awaking from my nap - my alarm on gone off right on time and I still had not received a response from him.

It had all been a dream and now I wondered even deeper what the future may hold for us when, if ever, he texted me back.

The End.

Hey everyone I hope you enjoyed that - if you did please review it! I'm debating continuing it with another chapter with another mini story following what happened next so the more reviews the more likely I am to continue ;)