Prologue: For Just Us

Bella's POV

"Miss Swan?" The secretary asked as she walked back into the lobby of the building. "The dean is ready to see you now." She whispered and I grabbed my bag and walked down the long, eerie hallway to his office. I took a deep breath and knocked, getting a gruff come in from the other side. I slowly turned the knob and opened the big, wooden door.

"Have a seat, Miss Swan." Dean Gregory said, sending chills down my spine. I sat down and tried my hardest not to make eye contact with him. He handed me a yellow, manilla envelope, and I barely paid any attention to it.

"What's this?" I asked, my voice barely able to be heard.

"Just, open it." He sighed. I took another deep breath and tore open the top of the envelope, and pulled out the papers that were inside. I turned the pages over and tears welled up in my eyes. It was pictures of the two of us together, holding hands under a table in the library, smiling up at each other as we passed each other in the corridors, and the last one hurt the most.

A picture of us kissing, his hands on my lower back...holding me.

"Where...?" I asked and I wasn't able to say anything else.

"I can't tell you who, but it was a student." He said. "She brought it up to me months ago. She told me she believed you and Professor Cullen were sneaking around together. But, without evidence, she couldn't prove anything."

"So?" I asked, trying to keep it together.

"Until I can figure out how to handle this particular situation, both you and Dr. Cullen are suspended until further notice." He told me and I felt nauseous. NYU was my dream school, and Carlisle had been working here since he received his doctorate. "I can tell you that both of you will suffer severe consequences."

"Yes, sir." I whispered. "Can I go now?"

"Yes," He sighed and I stood and ran out of the office.

Carlisle and I met my sophomore year. He was the charming, good looking professor and I was the girl from a small town in Washington. I was the nerd, always grabbing the seat in the front row, and taking notes. I did the work and got the grades I deserved. He seemed to notice me in particular because he was always calling on me, begging me to express myself in the debates in class.

After six months of innocent looks, and a few winks, he called me into his office. Being the naive girl, I thought he wanted to talk about a paper I'd done poorly on. But, I was very...very wrong. It seemed he'd taken more of an interest in me than I thought and the looks weren't as innocent as I thought they were. At first, it was the classic, typical student-professor affair. But, as time went by we grew more and more attached to one another and then...we just never stopped.

I ran into the building where his class was, and prayed he didn't have a class now. I just needed to talk to him...be with him. I got to his door, and noticed the sign on the door saying classes were canceled for the day and grew worried. Carlisle prided himself in never missing a class. I walked around to his office just to be safe, but the door was locked and the room was dark.

I found my way back to my building and threw my books in my room before getting in my old, beat up truck and heading to his house. I breathed deeply, willing myself not to cry. We would work something out...we always did. It was our thing. There was a problem, we'd find a way to fix it.

But, when I pulled up to his house my heart sank. He had a U-haul truck parked outside with boxes already inside. I got out and slammed my car door and ran up the walkway, pounding on the door. He opened the door, and my heart gave a sudden lurch for him.

"Hey," I whispered cautiously.

"Hi, Bella." He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Dean Gregory had already talked to him. "We need to talk."

"No." I cried, letting the first tear fall. "No, don't do this."

"Bella," He sighed.

"This can't be it." I cried, grabbing his hand. I looked up at him, and the look I got from him to me it was. Whatever we had, was over.