A/N: I just wanted to thank all of you for the response to this story. I wanted to put something out there that was brought to my attention in a review. There is a reason that Bella can't date a client after she's not working with them anymore, and that will all be revealed later on in the story. I did it for a reason, not to add unnecessary drama. I never do anything in a story for no reason. I just wanted to put that out there. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!

And another thing, over the next month and half my updates will probably be slower. Between working extra hours, packing, traveling to look at apartments, and moving, my posts won't be as fast. I just wanted to put that out there instead of just disappearing for weeks at a time. I am going to try to pre-write some so that there won't be too much of a delay, but we will see if I am able to do that. I would have already done it, but the decision to do all of this came last Wednesday so... Just know that I am going to write as much as I possibly can. I thank all of you for your support. It really means a lot.

Song for this chapter: Feel Again- Onerepublic (Not every chapter will have a song, I don't think. The last couple have been by coincidence. I just happened to be listening to them at the time of writing.)

3. Feel Again

Edward POV:

Watching Bella with my family made me relax some. The fact that my mom loved her put me at ease immediately. My mom was not easy to impress, and she had done it an instant. My father and brother had taken to her as well, but Rose was going to be harder.

I had known Rosalie Hale since I was in diapers and she'd always been overly protective of me, especially after the thing with Tanya. Other than me, she had been the one telling my mother to back off and that I would meet someone in my own time. She would be the one that had the most questions. And when we landed, I would make sure that I would be ready for them.

Bella had told me basically everything. Like her father being the chief of police in her small hometown, her mother was eccentric and ran her own business from home. I knew that she had two roommates, I didn't know their names, but I would have to make sure that I did. I didn't want any crack in the facade that we were portraying. I knew that her favorite color was blue, but that it changed frequently. She loved to read classics, that we had covered right after we met. She was everything that Tanya wasn't. If I wasn't careful, I would find myself falling for her. If I already wasn't, that I wasn't sure of.

Things came so easily with her. I had only known her for less than twenty-four hours and she knew me better than most. I found myself trusting her, my instincts telling me that I wouldn't regret it. There was just something about her. I didn't know if it was the fact that we liked the same books, her intellect, or the fact that my family seemed to be just as taken with her as I was. I was already breaking the rules. I was finding myself becoming attached. That would not make Alice Brandon very happy.

I heard her sharp intake of breath as we got taxied onto the runway, her hands gripping her seat so tight that her fingers were white.

"Breath, Bella." I put my hand on top of hers, my thumb rubbing soothing circles. Her body relaxed with my touch. "You'll be fine."

She sighed and looked at me, her eyes still slightly panicked, "I told you that I hate to fly."

"I just didn't think that you meant that it was this bad," her eyes looked anxiously out the window.

"Why do you think that my parents are always the ones that visit me?" her shoulders were stiff as a board and she took several deep breaths to try to relax them to no avail.

My mom leaned across the isle, "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she just hates to fly," Bella's hand clamped down on mine as we started to take off. "She'll be fine." I took a cautious look at her, not sure that my statement was true.

Eventually, she was able to fall asleep, her fingers slowly unclenching the seat. She slept the rest of the thirteen hour flight, only waking when we hit turbulence, her hand coming on top of mine as she looked out the window, like she didn't realize that she had done it.

"We're not going to crash are we?" her curt whisper low, almost to the point that I couldn't hear her.

"No." I shook my head as I watched her squirm in her seat as we continued to travel through the air. "You really don't fly much do you?"

"I try not to," the plane jolted again before calming, "and that is why."

"If you did it more often, it wouldn't be that big of a deal," I smirked.

"Thanks, mom." she hissed.

"Ouch," I clutched my chest for dramatic effect, "I would at least be dad."

"Touche." she surrendered, looking out her window to the ocean.

We landed an hour later, the evening sun of Hawaii hitting our skin, instantly warming it. The humidity not as bad as it was back home, the air was nice and cool here, making it much more pleasant. They have the saying if your in North Carolina 'it's not the heat that will get you, it's the humidity' for a reason.

At baggage claim, I grabbed both of our bags, feeling the eyes of Rose on me the whole time. Her stare was making me nervous and I was trying not to falter. I didn't want to give her any reason to doubt us. Especially since we would all be sharing a house together for the duration of our stay.

My parents owned there own house here. After coming for their honeymoon, and countless times afterward, they bit the bullet and bought a vacation house when I was in elementary school. We spent all of our summers here since as a family.

"So, Bella," Rose finally spoke, her blue eyes piercing into Bella's, "have you ever been here before?"

Great, the questioning had started and we hadn't even left the airport yet.

"No, but I have always dreamed about it." Bella's answer was smooth. If she was nervous I couldn't tell.

"Well, I think that you will like it." Rose smiled, hiding the sternness that lurked just beneath it.

I wanted to slug her. If she had been Emmett, I probably would have.

&7&

Bella POV:

Rose had her penetrating stare on me the entire ride to the house, making me uncomfortable. I felt like I had to be extra careful not to make a mistake. I didn't know if she was being overly protective of Edward because he had said the night before that she took the older sister role very seriously, or if she just didn't like me. Either way, I was going to be getting the third degree from her later. Hence why I got as personal as I did with my clients; I didn't want to answer something wrong, and get the antenna of the wrong person up.

As we rode up the house, I was beginning to think that this family had an affinity to massive white houses. The front door was all glass and I could already tell that the house was just as huge on the inside. There was a porch that wrapped around the entire house with a swing on one side looking out at the ocean. The view was breathtaking. This was the epitome of my dream home that I would never have.

I stood there looking out at the water, the salt air filling my nose when Edward came up behind me, putting his arm around my middle. I placed my hands on top of his arm, relaxing back into him, completely at ease.

"We have an hour before our reservations at Maison Blanc." Carlisle's voice caught my attention as he spoke to group, my easiness obliterated.

"What?" I looked at Edward who had the same panicked expression on his face, "That's sounds fancy. I didn't bring anything." I gripped his shirt. There went not making any mistakes.

"Edward?" Esme came over to her son, giving him a disapproving look. "You didn't tell her our tradition?"

"Yeah, Edward." Rose quipped, adding to the panic had deep in my belly.

"I wasn't thinking." he muttered, looking at me, communicating only something that we understood. He had left out an important detail in our talk, making me wonder if he had forgotten anything else.

"It'll all be fine," Esme put an arm around me, "I have something that you can barrow because of my son's stupidity." she shot him a look that could kill, "He should really get that fixed." she joked quietly. I really like her.

"Thank you."

"Are you nervous, sweetheart?" Esme asked putting the finishing touches on my hair.

"Mhmm?" I had zoned out looking off at nothing.

"Your leg is shaking."

I looked down at my leg, and sure enough, it was shaking.

"Maybe a little." I admitted, feeling a weight lift off of my chest at the admission.

"Don't be," she gave my shoulders a good squeeze to emphasize her point. "My son looks at you like you walk on water. You have nothing to worry about." she smiled.

She thought that her words would put me at ease, but they did the opposite. Did he really look at me like I walked on water? Was he becoming attached? Was I becoming attached?

"Thank you." I smiled back, putting on my best acting. After all, I was paid to be an actress.

"You're going to knock his socks off," she stepped back as I stood to look in the full length mirror.

I was stunned when I saw myself. I actually looked... sexy? Esme had given me a black lace dress to wear and had curled my hair, putting it in a simple updo with a few pieces hanging down to frame my face. I was lucky that we wore the same size shoe because I would have been stuck wearing my beat up flats instead of the nude pumps that now adorned my feet. She had been able to knock my own socks off.

"Wow," I spoke mostly to myself.

"You're a very pretty girl, Bella." Esme's smiling face was in the mirror next to mine now. She reminded me of my mother, making the ache for her stronger.

I hadn't seen my parents in months, and moments like these, I missed them more than ever. I couldn't wait for graduation. I would finally be able to see them.

"We should get down there," she took my hand in hers, leading me downstairs were everyone was now waiting for us.

I saw him before he saw me. He was standing against rail in a suit and no tie, his hands in the pockets. The sound of our shoes on the stairs made his head turn toward us. When I saw the look on his face, I gulped. Esme was right. He was looking at me like I walked on water. How I had I missed that? How had I missed us breaking the rules? I knew that I was looking at him the same way, and I couldn't bring myself to care. This man was making me break the rules for the first time in my life, and I didn't care. I actually liked it.

"You... uhh," he shook his head, gulping, "You look beautiful, Bella."

"Thank you," I spoke as he took my shaking hand in his. If he noticed, he didn't say anything.

"You look nice, Bella." Rosalie said, looking gorgeous in her skintight red dress. Her words, for the first time since I met her, came out... nice.

"Thank you," I blushed. She seemed like she was flawing, but I knew she wasn't done questioning me, us. My guard was still up.

As we rode to the restaurant in the rental car, I leaned over to Edward, whispering in his ear.

"Is there anything else that you forgot to tell me?"

He shook his head adamantly, "No, it was a mistake. We have so many traditions in this family that they all blur together, but this is the only one that you have to worry about." he took my hand in his, making my skin tingle.

"Are you sure?" I didn't want to come off as a bitch, but I didn't want anymore surprises either.

"I'm sure. You can relax."

He was right, I had to relax. I had to relax or I was going to drive myself crazy.

&7&

As Bella came down the stairs with my mother, my breath stopped. I had thought that she was beautiful before, but seeing this other side of her, I was awe struck to the point that my words weren't coming out right. When I took her hand, I could feel an electric current between us.

In the car, I had assured her that I hadn't forgotten anything else. My family had so many meaningless traditions that I couldn't keep with them all anymore. When I was younger I appreciated them, but now they were just a hassle.

Rose had shocked me when she complimented Bella at the house, her wall breaking. Throughout dinner, it seemed that she was done with her inquisition as we enjoyed polite, easy banter. There was no questioning, until dessert. Rose always liked to save the best for last.

"Bella," Rose took a sip of her wine, "mom says that you're graduating a year early, what are studying?"

"Business administration." Bella looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I gave her a sympathetic shrug.

"What are you planning to do with it?"

"I'm not sure," Bella brought her own wine glass to her lips, taking a large swig before putting back on the table.

"Do you live alone? With roommate?" her questions were starting to annoy me.

"I have two roommates. Angela and Jessica." Bella shifted in her seat, becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Do they go to the same university?"

"Rose," I intervened, "I think that's enough."

"I'm just trying to get to know the woman you kept a secret for two months, Edward," Rose leaned back in her seat, defensively.

"But you're like this with every girl I date," I pushed, "I already have one mother, I don't need another one. And the last time I checked, my mom liked Bella and that's really all that matters to me. So back off."

She stared at me stunned, "I'm sorry, Edward." she placed her napkin on the table. "You're like my little brother, especially now that mine won't talk to me. I can be a little over protective."

"Finally she gets it!" my arm went over the back of Bella's chair. During the whole exchange she had stared at her plate.

"I don't think before I do it."

"I hadn't noticed."

"I think we're all tired." my mom cleared her throat breaking into our conversation. "I think it's time to head back and get some sleep."

&7&

Bella POV:

"We're sharing a room?" I asked, ascending the stairs, holding Edward's hand. I was trying to forget what had happened at the restaurant, but it kept coming back to my consciousness. The circles that Edward was drawing into my palm putting me at ease.

"Yes," he looked nervously at me, "We don't have to, I just thought that it would look weird if we didn't."

"It's fine." I was a little too happy at the prospect of sharing a bed with him.

"Okay," he let out a breath, his shoulders becoming less tense.

When we reached the end of the hallway, he opened the door to a room that looked more like a hotel suite than a room.

A couch set in the middle of the room, pointed toward a TV and coffee table. There was a vase of flowers on the table next to the remote and some magazines. The bed looked puffy and inviting with its blue bedding. The posts of the bed were a stained wood. When I was younger, I had always wanted a four poster bed.

"Are you tired?" Edward let go of my hand, closing the door behind him.

"Sort of."

Sort of was the understatement of the year. I was exhausted and the thought of crawling in bed with him was all too appealing.

"I can take the couch?" he offered, but I declined.

"What if someone comes in? It would look weird. The point of us sharing a room was to make it not look weird."

I knew that we could have come up with something to explain it if we had to. Like we had a fight or something like that, but I had broken some many rules that I thought what the hell, I was going to be there for eternity anyway, so why not go all the way?

"Are you sure?"

"Get in the damn bed, Edward!" I commanded, pointing to the bed. I didn't know where that outburst came from.

&7&

Edward POV:
I stared sleeplessly at the ceiling, the knowledge that she was next to me keeping me awake. She was still and I didn't know if she had drifted off or not. I hadn't shared a bed with a woman since Tanya and I didn't know how much I had missed it. Bella was making me feel things that I hadn't felt in a long time. Tanya had ruined me for women for a long time, and now I was hopelessly falling for the one that I couldn't have.

Why did I do this to myself? I didn't have to come with a date. I didn't have to come with her. I couldn't have come alone and endured my mom's nagging like I always did. Maybe fate was trying to make a point to me.

"I can't sleep." Bella finally rolled over on her back. She huffed, looking at the ceiling, too.

"I can still sleep on the couch." I offered, hoping that she didn't take me up on that. I was enjoying this far too much to go sleep on the couch, no matter if I couldn't sleep.

"No," she sighed.

"Have you ever had a real relationship?" I asked, the curious against my better judgment.

"Yes, Edward. I have been in a relationship before, but it's been a while. Alice doesn't like for us to date." she was biting her nail, something that I had never seen her do.

"Oh," was my smart reply.

"I want one though." her voice was so low that I almost didn't hear it. "That's one thing that I look forward to about getting out of this. I get to have a normal life again."

"What if you fall for one of your clients?" I just had to ask. The self deprecating part of me had to know.

"I can't," she sat up, "She won't allow it. Something about you can claim to be 'dating'" she air quoted, "when your really taking a client with you when you leave and opening your own service. If one goes, more will go. So, no, that can't happen."

"I was just curious."

"I thought you would be." she looked at me with a pained expression.

For a moment, it looked like she was feeling what I was feeling.