Chapter 1

Dust Storm

Bella's POV

My fingers froze against the counter top as I heard the crunch of wet gravel under the tires of a car outside. A door slammed, a beep sounded, the car now locked.

As I rushed to the window, I could see the shadow of a figure, stumbling towards the house as they shielded their face from the rain.

Edward.

I heard the familiar key click into the lock, and the clumsy rattling of the door opening, and I dropped the curtain from my fingers, striding towards the front door.

The wind from outside swept the rain inside before he slammed the door shut, the lock snapping closed.

"Where've you been?" I seethed as he stumbled through the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly with the back of his hand.

"Out."

"Did you forget?"

His eyes scanned over the neatly laid table, set for two. A single white candle was on the middle, now with the starts of wax dripping down the sides. His eyes accessed the scenery before finally turning back to me. I raised an eyebrow, my chin jerking up definitely as he stared back blankly.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're sorry?" I questioned coldly, my hands slipping to rest on my tense hips, just like the rest of my body.

He shrugged carelessly, tossing his shoulder bag into the corner as he turned away from me, draping his black leather jacket over the arm of a wooden chair. His blank demeanour only fuelled my anger.

"I forgot Bella. I had a late night at the library."

"And that's supposed to explain things, is it?"

"Look, I'm sorry, and-"

"No, you look," I marched up towards him, roughly grabbing his shoulders, as I allowed my nails to dig into. I spun him around, forcing him to look at me. "We had this night to talk, to have dinner, to sit and be like a normal couple!" He flinched away from my expression, dropping his eyes to the floor, ashamed.

"All I asked was for you to take one night off." I raised my hand slowly to his cheek, and he winced as my fingers touched his skin. It was as though I was penetrating him. "Edward?"

"I'm sorry Bella," he whispered quietly, guilt burning behind his words. "I lost track of time, and I had this crazy amount of research to do, and-"

"I get it." I nodded once, my hand falling away from his face in defeat as I turned into the kitchen, my bare feet quiet against the tiles, slipping away invisibly.

"Bella, can we just talk about this?"

"Why?" I stated, refusing to believe his words, no matter how heartfelt they seemed. It was useless to get my hopes up; they were repeatedly crushed. The words were only a repeat of the last few weeks of our relationship. "You didn't want to talk earlier," I continued.

"I got caught up, I told you."

"With what?" I spat, spinning around to glare at him.

He stared, wide eyed at me, no longer breathing, and in those few short moments of silence, doubt started rising up inside me. He was hiding something from me.

"Research."

Liar.

I turned away from him, facing the marble counter as I picked up a used cloth, scrubbing away at the dirty dish that I'd used to prepare our dinner. It was the vestige of what was supposed to have been a romantic evening.

This wasn't my Edward. In the morning, we would have forgotten this fight, and the love in our relationship would return. The promise of a new day, and of the smile awaiting me in the morning, was all I had to hope on.

I heard his footsteps on the tiles of the kitchen floor, and his hands curled around my waist, pulling me gently against him.

"Bella," he whispered, nuzzling my neck softly as he pressed a gentle kiss against my chin, his lusciously smooth lips running along the base of my collar. "It won't happen again. I promise."

A shudder ran down my spine as I found myself subconsciously leaning into his touch, his hands now wrapped around my stomach, clutching me closer to him. This was the Edward I loved.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you."

He chuckled quietly, kissing my jaw tenderly again. "Your anger was actually quite endearing."

"Oh?" I questioned teasingly, folding my arms over his as our fingers entwined. We were on lighter terms again. "And why was that?"

Slowly, he turned me around in his arms, his hands now resting against my lower back as he grinned crookedly. His deep, emerald orbs sparkled with amusement, dancing and glittering in the dim light, and he kissed the corner of my lips, smiling against my mouth as he pulled me even closer, lips meeting mine.

"Edward," I gasped, dazed. I pushed him away slightly. "I'm supposed to be angry at you."

"Well, you're not very good at it," he stated, smirking as he ran a long, pale finger down my arm lightly, watching the goose bumps appear.

"We can't sort out our arguments this way."

"Why not?"

"Nothing ever gets solved!"

"Some things are best unsolved," he implied, spinning me around in his arms. My breath caught in the back of my throat.

"Are you working late tomorrow?"

"Probably."

"And the next night?"

"More than likely."

"See Edward!" I tore my hand out of his. If I stayed connected, my train of thought would have been broken as always. He tended to dazzle me when he tried avoiding subjects. "We can't pretend that this," I continued, gesturing to the space between us, "isn't happening."

"Bella, not tonight," he pleaded, pulling me closer again as his lips collided with mine before I could voice my thoughts. Just like his speeding, stubbornness, and masochism, some things never changed. Electricity burned throughout me as his lips captured mine.

"Edward," I whispered quietly, my fingers automatically reaching out to grab the collar of his shirt. "What research were you doing?"

"Nothing of importance."

"Wrong answer," I muttered bitterly, my fingers leaving his jacket as they moulded around his face, my thumb brushing slowly across his lips. It was impossible to be truly angry when he was this close to me.

"Wrong answer?"

"If it bore no real importance, why did you miss our dinner?"

He sighed quietly against my cheek, "Whatever I gained was useless. It leaves me even more confused than I was before."

"I think you just saved yourself."

He beamed back at me, scooping me up in his arms as the ground disappeared from beneath my feet. "I was hoping you would say that Miss Swan."

"I would appreciate it if you'd put me down… Mr. Cullen," I retorted, trying to ignore how the sides of his lips curled up into a smile at hearing his name said that way.

I couldn't help but agree with him though – not tonight. Despite the fact there were many obstacles in our relationship, what we truly felt for each other wasn't hard to find. Behind the arguments, and the daily quarrels between us, just one simple kiss had the power to ignite the fire and passion in our relationship.

"I'm tired from research," he mused, looking down at me in his arms. "Would you be so kind as to join me?"

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Why?" he raised an eyebrow suggestively towards me. "Are you seducible?"

"Possibly," I smirked as his lips came down hard on mine, still supporting me in his arms. He stumbled forward a few steps, my side hitting the wall gently as he let me down onto the floor, all the while his hands never leaving me.

"I can't believe I was doing research when I could have been home with you," he muttered bitterly, kissing gently down my neck as he reached the top of my sweater.

I put my hand under his chin, lifting his mouth to mine. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again?"

"I promise."

Those were his famous last words.

BlackOxygen Notes:

BIK: I won the coin toss! Go heads!

OAC - Am I the only person who thinks that sounds wrong?

BIK:OAC *shakes head*, silly cookie, it's supposed to sound wrong. It's called an innuendo. You can ask Emmett if you don't know what that means!

OAC - Silly cookie? You want me to call you a spontaneous chocolate brownie now then?

BIK: Nope! But I want cookies. Or reviews! Reviews equal cookies!

Reviews = Cookies