Disclaimer: None of it the characters belong to me. Everything is Stephanie Meyers.

All Our Hard Work

Preface

I've always had my head on straight when it came to relationships. Throughout high school, I stood on the side-lines as my high school friends Lauren and Jessica got their hearts broken from stupid guys who I never thought were worth it. I'd never had a boyfriend, and from what I've seen it didn't seem like anything worth doing.

By the time I got to my junior year in high school, I figured I'd wait until college for that milestone because there was no way I was going to do the whole long-distance thing. Anytime guys asked me out and I felt tempted, I just thought of my own parents who were once high school sweethearts and are now divorced and living thousands of miles apart.

My mother, Renee, supported me 100%, still jaded by her failed relationship with my father. But, when I first walked into my honors biology class everything changed when I laid my eyes on Edward Cullen.

It started off innocent. Playful flirting, laughing, and light touches. But before I knew it, we were texting everyday. Mid-year during our junior year, our attraction to each other was undeniable. I forced a shy confession out of him one night over the phone.

"Bella…" Edward said softly, "I…" I smiled a little to myself. My heart was beating out of my chest but the obvious tremor in his voice helped me feel better about what had come out of my mouth. I had just asked Edward to tell me how he feels about me.

"Yes?" I asked. He had to like me. But what if he was just being nice? He is a gentleman after all, to every girl. Not just me.

"I'm crazy about you. I like you a lot." Edward rushed out.

"As more than a friend?" I wanted to clarify before I could confess my feelings as well.

"Yes."

"Me too, Edward." I said. He inhaled a breath.

"Are you sure?" He seemed shocked.

"Of course, Edward! Why would I joke about that?"

"I…I always thought you were so out of my league." He gave a small, relieved laugh. "I've been crazy about you since I first saw you freshmen year and—"

"Wait. Freshmen year?" I asked.

"English class..." He seemed nervous again.

I was quiet as I thought about it. Suddenly, I remembered. A quiet boy with piercing green eyes and firm opinions in politics. He didn't sit near me, but I recalled a time when I sat next to Jessica during a group assignment. He sat behind me that day and we somehow had gotten into a conversation about politics. I remembered I couldn't stop looking into his eyes and I was mesmerized by him and the fact that a boy in high school could be so eloquent.

"Yes! You ranted about the war in Iraq." I told him. He let out an embarrassed groan and I couldn't help but laugh. "No, don't worry!" I assured him. "I found it charming."

"How do you find that charming?" He questioned.

"Well, I like you remember?"

I could almost hear the smile in his voice.

The next night, we went to the talent show together. Our shoulders touched the entire time and the feeling between us was paralyzing. I couldn't tell you now what kind of shows we had. But I remember the way he smelled and the butterflies in my stomach as my shoulder rested on his.

Like our attraction, my mother's fears were also undeniable. She didn't want me to dating him and even though I didn't live with her, I couldn't on good conscious date Edward knowing my mother was worrying about me. Edward was unhappy about it at first, but we decided to take the time to get to know each other. And it proved to be the smart thing.

Still, our chemistry was electric and although we kept trying to keep everything in the "just-friends" zone, we weren't perfect. Edward was a teenage boy, so of course he was pushing things physically. His looks allowed me to let him. Everyone in school by senior year was used to seeing us holding hands, and whispering sweet things to each other. Although I'm sure we disgusted them on some level, we became the "it" non-couple on the mere fact that even actual couples had not lasted as long as us.

The summer before our senior year, we expressed that we were in love with each other. He said it first and I followed about a month later. He had been good about waiting for that too, understanding that there was still a part of me that was scared and fearful of the feelings I got around him. Especially since my mother always brought me down to her cynicism when I mentioned Edward.

By the end of senior year, happy with where we were that I successfully persuaded him to wait on dating until after our freshmen year of college. Why? Well, I was persuaded by my friends and my mother.

"Bella, you can't be tied down freshmen year of college!"

"What if you meet someone else?"

"You're going to be THAT girl in college who's going to be obsessed with her high school boyfriend!"

I appeased them and made Edward wait for me. If we made it through freshmen year of college, I told myself I'd have no more doubts in our potential relationship. The summer before college, we tried to see each other while going out with our group of friends but we were each preparing for college. Edward was going to a college in Port Angeles, and I was going to a small one in Forks. We both got good scholarships and Edward would be living in a dorm while I was going to be commuting.

The day before we each left for college, we met at a private meadow Edward had found. I smiled as I saw him standing in the sun. I always loved how Edward looked in the sun. His skin and eyes shined and I could see all of his features clearly. He really was gorgeous. His smile when he saw me was contagious and I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer to me in a hug. He put his arms around my waist and pulled my body flush against his. I moaned softly, as I did every time he did that.

I was nervous to see him today. I hadn't told anyone that I was meeting him today but Jessica. I told my dad, Charlie, that I was meeting her today. Edward and I would spend a couple of hours completely alone at the meadow. It was as close to a date as we had ever had and we were going to do something we have wanted to do for two years now.

We were going to kiss on the lips.

He kissed my cheek.

"You look gorgeous." He said.

I smiled slyly to myself. We may have been innocent in our actions so far, but Edward and I made up for it with talking. I knew everything about him. I guess that's what happens when two people who love each other have nothing to do but talk. So, knowing I was going to kiss him today I had worn a blue t-shirt. A low-cut blue t-shirt. Blue was his favorite color on me and well…boys tend to enjoy a little cleavage. He ran his hands over my back and I melted into him. He's touched me almost everywhere but I still reacted strongly every time. He put his forehead against mine.

"I've waited a long time for this." He whispered. So had I. It felt natural as he softly pressed his lips against mine. We'd wanted to do this for a while now, we'd always gotten so close but I always resisted because of the guilt of the fact that we weren't really 'dating'. But the moment he pressed his lips against mine, all thoughts of guilt, or being 'smart' about where to go with our relationship were forgotten. My hand went in hair and I leaned up on my tip-toes to press my lips harder into his. He tightened his grip on me in response and I was lost. I had such an urge to wrap my legs around his waist, to just get….closer.

Then he opened his mouth. I did too. We didn't introduce tongue that day, but we kissed for the whole hour we had together. Talking was the last thing on both of our minds. My mind was racing but I couldn't logically think of anything but my need to press my lips against his again. Every time I tried to explain what I was feeling, I'd glance at his lips and I'd find them attached to mine again. I didn't care though. We were leaving each other and wouldn't see each other for a while. We needed this. We had waited long enough.

We kept our hands innocent that first day but by the time I got home my lips felt bruised. My smile didn't leave me for the entire day. When I called him that night we both laughed at ourselves.

"We're probably terrible at it." I said, referring to kissing, it had been both mine and his first kiss.

"Probably." He chuckled. My heart melted at the sound of his laughter. Edward was never the type to laugh a lot. He was always the more serious one, when I did see his smile or hear him laugh…I was a goner.

"I'm not complaining. I love it." I said.

"And you know I did." He said. "Plus, practice makes perfect."

"Mmmm….don't forget about me in college, okay?" I asked.

"No way, honey."

The next day, he was off to Port Angeles studying Political Science and History on his way to becoming a lawyer and I went to school to study my favorite subject, English. I declared my major as English and minored in Creative Writing hoping to be an editor. I saw Edward about once a month. Each time, our kissing would become more intense. More sexual.

The second time we kissed, he timidly introduced his tongue and I moaned instantly at the feeling of his tongue inside my mouth. To my delight, he had the same reaction when I swirled my tongue around his. Sex was never far from our mind, and although we talked about it he wanted to wait for marriage. His morals aligned with my fears of getting intimate with him so I never argued. Plus, I was enjoying kissing too much and was perfectly fine focusing on that.

When we both finished our freshmen year of college with no doubts, no temptation to stray from each other, and a 4.0, I knew he was the one. I didn't want to wait anymore and I was ready to go out on a real date with him. He called me before he got in his car to drive back home to Forks for the summer and we basked in happiness that our plan to be careful and mature about dating was going to work. We were going to make it the through the "long-haul" as Charlie would say.

I was still smiling to myself when I got the phone call that changed my life.

A/N : Constructive Criticism appreciated!