A/N: Hi All! So I'm going to try and post every 10 days or so. You can look on Fictionators (dot) com on Mondays. If I've posted a teaser, then I'll be posting at some point during that week.

Thanks so much for the reviews. I so enjoy hearing what you all have to say! And thanks so much to Sweetthunder for beta'ing and BellaMadonna for pre-reading.

Come Back To Me

Chapter 2

"Edward what are you doing?" Bella's voice was groggy and her eyes were still closed. Tickling fingers ghosting over her ribs were becoming more insistent, waking her from a deep sleep.

"Hmmm nothing," he responded, scooting up behind his wife's back, taking in the smell of her hair, and allowing his hand bolder strokes across her torso.

"Edward, I have to get ready for work," the annoyance starting to creep into her voice.

"Come on, Bella, it's been too long. It won't be the end of the world if you're a few minutes late for work," he crooned, nuzzling up to her neck.

"Don't make me scrunch. You know that hurts my neck when you do that," she nudged her elbow back, gently pushing him away and firmly indicating that she was not in the mood.

"Sorry. I just...never mind. Go. Get ready for work," Edward sighed as he rolled away from Bella and covered his eyes with his forearm.

"Edward, don't be like this. I'm still in my probationary period as Team Lead. I really can't be late. Banner wouldn't have any problem finding a more reliable replacement for me. And there are plenty of sharks in the tank waiting for my spot." She swung out of bed and was heading for the bathroom.

"I was just hoping for maybe a little lovin', that's all."

To Bella, it came off sounding like she was just too darn busy to be able to squeeze him in to her schedule, which burned her britches.

"Had you come to bed last night instead of staying up 'til all hours farting around on the internet, maybe you could've gotten some lovin', but no. You wait until I have less than twenty minutes to catch the bus before you initiate something and then try to guilt trip me for not giving you enough time? That's crap Edward. Just...Ugh!" She stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Edward rolled out of bed, shrugged off his plaid boxers, and threw on his running clothes. "I'm going for a run," he called. There was another way to burn off this energy that had him riled up. He was just trying to do be closer to her and she shut him down; they were so disconnected, he didn't even know how to approach her anymore. He laced up and was out the door before Bella was even out of the bathroom.

She wiped away the tears and covered the blotchy redness around her eyes with some foundation, grabbed her lip-gloss, and left in much the same manner as the morning before. Though a little more dejected and a lot more frustrated.

When Edward returned home and saw the black mess in the sink again he just left it there, pulled out his phone and fired off an angry text.

Wud it kill u 2 rinse damn burnt crumbs down sink?

A responding text came back swiftly and clearly showed what Bella's position was.

I WAS LATE

Edward rolled his eyes and got into the shower. Once he was clean, he laid back down in bed and fell asleep quickly. Even though he wasn't scheduled to go back in until the next morning, there was no telling when he might get paged in and he really wanted to impress his superiors. It was better to try and get as much sleep as he could, just in case.

Bella slammed her phone down, completely frustrated by Edward's rude text. She would've rinsed the mess but she was late. Not to mention Mike had been lingering around her office making suggestive eyes in her direction every chance he got. She was annoyed and on edge.

Finally she got up, closed the door and the blinds, and just sealed off her little fishbowl of an office. She hated doing that, especially since there were no windows to the exterior, but she needed to get some work done and having to watch Mike leering at her was a huge distraction.

Just before lunch she got a call from the human resources department. A million thoughts ran through her head and an uncomfortable lump formed in the back of her throat. Maybe Banner wasn't pleased with her work thus far; maybe they'd messed up her paperwork and the extra money wouldn't be on her next pay check. The maybe's kept running through her head on a loop until she reached the large brown door that led into the HR office.

The lump, now sitting in the bottom of her stomach, made her feel queasy and like she was about to throw up when she walked through the door. Until Edward started making real money, this was it for them, she really didn't know how they would make ends meet if she lost this job. Plus, she needed to have something outside of the house. She needed to feel like she mattered in the world. And as awful as this job was, at least it gave her that.

"Bella! Thanks for coming down so quickly," greeted Kate Burgoyne, the HR director. Bella tried to smile, but it felt like more of a grimace than anything else. Kate chuckled and then added, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad!"

"So, what can I do for you?" Bella asked, more than slightly relieved by Kate's reassurances.

"Well, Bella, at the end of this month you'll have maxed out your paid vacation, and it's one of those 'use it or lose it' kind of deals. So if you want to - you get to take some time off!"

"Really?" Bella was shocked. She didn't think she'd accrued that much vacation, but then when had she and Edward gone anywhere lately?

"Yup, you have close to two months of vacation time." Bella almost choked when she heard that. It seemed like an eternity.

"Wow. Okay, I'll have to think of something. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Just submit your time off request to your direct supervisor."

Bella nodded as she walked out of the HR office. What on earth was she going to do with two months of time off? She was in a daze as she rounded the corner back to her office. She barely even saw Mike standing by her door. He leaned in close to her as she unlocked her door and tried to squeeze past him.

"Hey, Bella, so I was just wondering if maybe you'd be up for drinks after work?" he oozed, running his pudgy finger down the side of her cheek. He knew she was married, which just made him all the slimier.

Bella quickly grabbed his hand, bent his wrist down and twisted his arm up like a chicken wing behind his back. She shoved him hard against the door jamb and seethed, "Michael Newton, if you so much as breathe in my direction in a non-work-related capacity again, I will knee you in the groin so hard you'll have to change the gender on your drivers license. Got it?" Her dad would be proud that she still remembered some of her self-defense moves.

"Yes," he whimpered.

"And rest assured that this will be going in your complaint file." She pushed him away from her door and looked around at all of the gawking eyes that had stopped to watch the show. It was like looking out at a sea of prairie dogs, heads barely poking over the tops of the cubicle partitions. "Get back to work!" She shouted before closing the door to her office.

Bella dragged herself home, luckily without another stack of extra work. She just wanted to flop on the couch, turn on some mind numbing reality show, and melt into a puddle of unconsciousness. She turned the key in the lock and pushed opened the sticky apartment door.

There was soft music playing and the sound of Edward banging around in the kitchen. She dumped her work bag and purse onto the chair and peeked around the corner. "Hey," she called out.

"Hey, babe," Edward responded over his shoulder, while he continued to stir spaghetti sauce.

Bella grimaced when she noticed the black crumbs in the sink. Silently she walked over and rinsed out the sink. She was very tempted to give the action some kind of flourish as if to say, "So there. Are you happy now?" but she just wasn't in the mood to fight anymore. It seemed like that's all they ever did and she hated it.

Once the sink was clean she turned around and leaned on the counter. "Edward?"

"Hmm?" he replied without looking directly at her.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you anymore."

Edward's shoulders raised and lowered as he turned to face her. "I don't want to fight either. I'm sorry I got so pissed off."

"Can I ask you something?"

He nodded and waited expectantly, turning the heat down on the sauce.

"Would it be okay if we just threw that stupid toaster away?"

Edward let out a genuine chuckle and went over to the defective appliance, yanked the cord out of the wall and ceremoniously dropped it into the trashcan.

"Thank you," Bella said with a small smile.

He gave a small nod and by unspoken, mutual agreement, they came together and wrapped their arms around each other. It had been weeks since the last time they'd really shared a hug like this. Bella rested her cheek on Edward's broad chest and listened to the soft lub-dub of his heart beat. She felt more at home in his arms then anywhere else on earth, and for just a moment, she felt 18 again.

They sat down to dinner and Bella asked about Edward's day. He gave a brief account of his run and napping. He'd only woken up an hour or so before Bella got home.

"How was your day?" He asked, a bite of spaghetti poised right next to his mouth.

"It was...interesting."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, I have two months of paid vacation I have to start using or I'll lose it."

"Hmmm. I don't think I'll be able to get away from the hospital any time soon," Edward mused, a look of concentration on his features.

"And I had to report Mike Newton again," Bella mumbled so quietly she hoped that Edward didn't hear.

"What did that slime ball do this time?"

"Just the same old gross flirting. It wasn't anything serious."

Edward put his fork down and gripped the edges of the table with both of his hands, as if he was going to lift the thing up and snap it in half.

"Do I need to go give him a beat down?" he seethed.

"What? No, of course not. It wasn't a big deal. I took care of it already." She shrugged, smirking slightly, and took a bite of her salad.

"What do you mean?"

Bella then explained her arm wrestling maneuver and her threat, which elicited a chuckle from Edward.

"That's my girl."

A silence then settled over the two as they finished their dinner. The dishes were taken care of in a similar quiet that was both charged and comfortable. They took up their customary places on opposite ends of the couch, medical journal and book in hand, respectively.

"Edward?" Bella asked as he concentrated on studies and reports on the opposite end of the sofa.

"Hmm?" He responded.

"Does everything feel like it's going in the right direction?" She closed her book and laid it on the coffee table.

"What do you mean?" He asked, still zoned in on his article he was reading.

Bella sighed, struggling to find the right words to express her feelings. "I don't know. I just feel kind of...well, I'm just not where I thought I'd be at this point. Does that make sense?"

"Hmm. You just got a promotion, I'm almost done with my residency, once we get past this, it'll be smooth sailing, right?"

Bella frowned and tried to rearrange her thoughts into something that Edward would understand. Before she had a chance to voice her feelings again, Edward continued. "I know it's hard babe, but we're so close to the top of this hill. Once we're done here, we can look for work closer to our families, we can check out adoption agencies and maybe start our own family, everything's going to be fine. You'll see. We just have to stick it out."

Edward was throwing out every reassurance he could think of. The words Bella uttered in her sleep a few days ago still stuck in his mind and had him concerned. He just wanted to be able to fix whatever was going on with her so that they could go back to how they were before.

"Stick it out," Bella mused. "Maybe I could volunteer for the mentoring program at the elementary school?"

Edward nodded, recognizing Bella's need to serve, to nurture something. "I think that's a great idea, you'd be a wonderful mentor."

"I could check into it tomorrow," she said halfheartedly. His divided attention brought her already tenuous spirits even lower, but at least they were actually having a semi-civil conversation.

"Sounds like a plan," Edward set down his newspaper and tugged on Bella's hand to pull her closer to his side. She leaned in to his offered embrace enjoying a moment of calm and agreeability. They snuggled on the couch for a few minutes before Edward started rubbing slow circles on Bella's shoulder. "So how about that lovin'?" He asked in a sultry whisper.

"I was just thinking it was time for bed," she responded looking up through heavy lidded eyes. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to hers enjoying a warm and long overdue kiss. She responded tentatively by stroking her tongue along the seam of his mouth, pulling his lower lip in between hers, sucking gently.

Slowly they laid down on the sofa without breaking their connection. Soft moans floated from Edward's throat as Bella thrust her hands into his mop of unruly copper hair. She shuddered as his hands ghosted over her ribs and the undersides of her breasts.

"Bed. Let's go to bed," he breathed roughly against her throat. She pushed herself up off the couch and reached her hand out to him. They kissed and walked and stopped and kissed some more, somehow managing to finally make it to their bedroom. Pieces of clothing were discarded until they were kneeling on the bed, pressed close together, in just their underwear.

A loud beep blared through the room just as Edward was reaching around to unclasp Bella's bra. "You have got to be freakin' kidding me!" Edward shouted as Bella immediately sagged onto the bed and rolled to the side. He snatched the hospital pager off the night stand to look at the display. When he read the message he groaned in complete and utter frustration.

"Call in. Tell them you'll be there for the start of your shift promptly at six am." Bella pleaded, but she knew just by the look on his face that she would once again play second fiddle to the hospital. She reached for her nightgown which was tucked under her pillow.

"There's a massive trauma in Boston and they're life-flight'ing several critical patients to DHMC. They're calling in all hands. I'm sorry hon. Please believe how sorry I am, but I have to go in." He covered her mouth in one last searing kiss but he was already reaching for a set of scrubs and his shoes.

"Will you call me when you get a free moment?" Bella asked as she pulled her nightgown on.

"When I get a chance I'll call. Love you." And with that he was out the door.

"You, too." she whispered as she sunk into the empty bed, one lone tear rolling down her cheek.

~OoO~CBTM~OoO~

Bella dragged herself home from another tedious and stress-filled day at Banner and Cope, flopping into a chair with a cold bottle of water and her phone. She'd promised days ago that she'd give Alice a call. Her job was so stressful and repetitive that the days just blurred together and she constantly lost track of time.

"Hey, Alice! How are you?" Bella smiled brightly as she greeted her sister-in-law.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so glad you called. We are doing great. Gosh it seems like it's been a million years doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it has been too long. So how is my little Libby Lu?" Olivia Lane Whitlock was two and a half years old and the cutest little button on the planet.

"She's perfect, she looks at your wedding picture and always asks about Auntie Bewwa and Unca Weddie."

Bella choked up at the thought of her sweet little niece and all of the milestones she was missing with their family on the other side of the continent.

"That's really sweet, Alice. You tell her that Auntie Bewwa misses her lots and lots," she couldn't hide the traitor sniffle that sneaked itself in. Of course "Eagle-ears Alice" heard and pounced on the sign of distress.

"What's up, Bella? I know it's more than just missing Libs. Tell me what's going on, hon."

"It's nothing, Alice," she hesitated, not really wanting to spill her guts, but needing to at the same time.

"Don't you dare try and pull that business on me. I can hear it in your voice, Bella. Maybe I can help, please?"

"Ali...I just...I feel so lost. I hate my job, but I can't quit because we need the money and I'd never be able to find anything that pays near what I'm getting there."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Soul-suckingly bad. And that's not including the jealous harpies that start rumors about me or the overweight grease ball that's constantly making passes at me. I am not cut out for office politics."

"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry. That really does sound awful."

"This is not at all where I saw myself five years after we got married. I was expecting to be writing creatively and doing mommy things like park dates and play groups. And it doesn't help that Edward is hardly ever home, and when he is he's either sleeping or we're arguing about something. So stupid...it's just so..." A hiccup and a sob broke through her carefully constructed defense systems.

"Sweetie, have you told him this?"

"Told him? There's no way. He doesn't get it Alice. He just thinks that if we stick to it, that soon we'll be on the yellow brick road skipping to the Emerald City."

"Ugh. Stupid man," Alice muttered a few things under her breath. "Bella, maybe you should come back here for a visit? Change of scenery and all that. What do you think?"

"I don't know, Alice. It's more than just needing a change of scenery. These last few years, it seems like I've been living in someone else's body. I used to have all these goals and dreams. We, Edward and I, had plans, and all of that has been pushed aside and forgotten, and I really hate who I've become as a result," she sobbed piteously on the phone.

"Oh, honey, if I was there, I'd wrap you up in the biggest hug I could manage," cooed Alice trying to calm her dearest sister and friend.

"I've got to take some vacation time soon, so I'll think about coming for a visit maybe. I don't know, I just have this itch that I know if I don't scratch it, I will regret it forever."

"Well, you know our door is always open, so don't hesitate to come whenever you need to."

"Thanks, Ali. Love you sis."

"Love you too, Belly-boo."

Bella hung up the phone and popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave oven. If Edward wasn't going to be home, she really didn't feel like making the effort.

Her mind swirled with ideas of what she could do to get herself out of this funk she was in. She broke into a wide smile as she sifted through the mail on the coffee table and found the cooking magazine that Renee had given her for a Christmas gift.

She flipped through the pages, folding down the corners of those with tasty looking recipes. The bag of popcorn she called dinner was beginning to mock her from the table and she was regretting not putting in a little effort into an actual meal. She got all the way to the back where all the classified ads were. Usually she'd turn back to the start and read all of the bookmarked recipes more closely so that she could come up with a mental grocery list, but this time, a little square ad in the corner of the page caught her attention.

She read it once, twice, and then said out loud to no one at all in the empty apartment, "This is it. This is what I need!"

A/N: Remember to check out my entry into the 2010 Age of Edward Contest, "A Love Not Forgotten".